《Void touched Soul》 Chapter 1 - Traveling the Void to another place Why do Gods call for Heroes from another world? This question was one of the few that were muted by many subtle ways of the ones, who trekked with him on the way to defeat the ¡®Great Evil¡¯. The more pressing question was, what happens afterwards? Maybe other Worlds have a more¡­ delicate way of treating their Heroes. The World who summoned me, was less delicate. I thought I liked it there, but was forced out. Into the Void¡­ The Void is a horrible place. The place between Universes and Multiverses, where reality is a mere suggestion and it rips everything apart without a shred of hesitation. The only reason I am still partly complete might be a grave mistake of the ¡®gods¡¯ of the former World. But I digress. I am now in a conundrum right here. An opening to a World different from where I was summoned and where I was from is in front of me. It is not the question where I go at the moment, not even IF I go there¡­ it is when I go. As I said, the Void is extremely weird and hostile. An instant marks a soul forever with something that should not be. A longer time would annihilate it completely. But as I already was touched by the Void and because of the thing I am dragging with me, I am still stable and at the same time¡­ well everywhere in TIME. I am at the same time thrown right into the Void and also forever here. Time is a suggestion, too. I have to see when I want out. If I travel further into the future I see myself slowly ripped to shreds but understanding way more about the Void. Going back I''ll forget all the truths of this Eternal Chaos of Everything and Nothingness. Reasoning is harder the longer I am here, but if I go too early, I might not have enough knowledge to go back. Yes, going back. Again through the Void to where I really want to be. What I really want to do. Pondering about it in my long time here and the eagerness of me being here only a moment ago I have to know when it is the best Time for me to move into the opening. And the Time is¡­ NOW! Dragged into it I notice something else trying to connect with it, but has no power as I am closer. What it is I never knew, but I have known why I was closer to the Rift into the Void. I pondered about it after I gotten into the Rift and have realized why, but as of now I will forget everything about it, as I am no longer in the Void and with it never learn what the future me had found out. Time is a suggestion inside the Void, but now I am not in the Void anymore. I am¡­ _______________________ Here I am. Although I do not know where ¡°here¡± is, but it does not matter. What matters is, where I AM. I am everything, everything EXCEPT the small spacial Anomaly right there¡­ Strange, it feels like ¡°there¡± is a totally foreign concept now. Well I won''t think too much about this, as I remember close to nothing about what happened after I was banished. Yeah, no it wasn''t a ritual of Return to my own World, where I came from. Everything that happened was on purpose, and I now know it. My heroic Body ¨C Gone My purifying presence ¨C Gone My glorious Artifacts ¨C Gone My Companions ¨C Never were My trusted lovers ¨C Lies What do I have now? Void. At least not THAT Void, but my own Version it seems. Everything here is me, and everything in here knees to my will. Even the Anomaly is subject to my will. Although what is on the other side is a different matter. I can not for the life of me go through or even see what is there. There is not much that is possible right now, but it should be possible to use this in some way. ¡­ No, I do not see for the life of me how I can do anything with it. Looks like there should be more interesting things to explore before this can be solved. First of all everything in ¡®here¡¯ should be explored. At first how I see things is like a scrying of some sort. The feeling of how it works is still in my memory, even if I still don''t know why I have it in my memory to begin with. Scrying was a spell of the former World, that banished me. It is like an ¡®eye in the sky¡¯ but not really. What it shows is the area and everything in the area. No dead angle or hidden corner exists in this place. Maybe better would be saying I ¡®touch¡¯ everything, as I neither see any light nor colors, but that would make the whole explanation only more complicated. The way to focus on something is similar to zooming in and only perceiving this area, like ignoring anything in the peripheral and only acknowledging that one point. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Now that the perception question is solved it should be easier to understand what is in here and what ¡®I¡¯ am. Everything is space and inside the space is something like a chaotic storm. I know that stuff creating that storm and now I understand what they banished with me. It is the Miasma I was fighting against. The bane of the World as I was told. It changes harmless Animals into strange creatures and imbues them with power and heavy aggression while changing plants into something inedible or outright poisonous. Alchemists can use them and sometimes even clean them, but it is rather hard work, I was told. Never did alchemy myself, as I was on a crusade the most of the time and when I wasn''t, I was doing¡­ other things. It''s strange, now that I don''t have a body. There are extremely strange discrepancies to my acting and my true feelings. Like something controlled my movements and actions in the direction they wanted, instead of the things I found more logical. I would be angry about how they used me and thrown me away like a garbage bag full with the titanic amount of Miasma, if there was not this emptiness inside me about the whole ordeal. They used me, took advantage of my naive self by bending my thoughts and took everything I gave them for granted. Everything I earned and worked for was stripped away. And now I am here with nothing but that which they never wanted. And if they don''t want it I will use it to further my goals. The whole ¡®Miasma¡¯ was more interesting than what was told to me. It was corrupted Mana, and Mana was the whole reason Magic existed. Mana is something that is, like light, multiple things at the same time. It is not matter but neither is it Energy. What it is, is something that can be manipulated by thought and other esoteric means. So what would Miasma be? Dirty Mana. Thoughts, intent and purpose ingrained into the Mana and working in that intent. And Miasma is the last remnants of what people had cast prior, it seems. And if numerous Intents come together, Miasma is created. Magic with no aim, no goal, just raging without any aim. As I am the Ruler of this place I order it to stop. ¡­ Nothing happened. Intent is not in my domain of Rule as it seems. Well, not yet. If I can¡¯t use it the easy way, I''ll use it the hard way. Filtering the different Alignments out of each other and sorting them into some kind of categories, I get way more aggressive and volatile Miasma. If Intent and Alignment comes together Magic happens with Mana. But with Miasma, it''s the opposite. If Miasma with Intent comes together the Miasma gets more aggressive. And now with this aggression I let two Intents that seem to be close to exact opposites collide. The effect was extreme, like ice in boiling oil. They ripped each other apart and mixed together afterwards. Well, let¡¯s try again and this time I''ll try to hold them close enough without them tearing into each other. Heavy grinding happens and I see something I was hoping to see. MANA rips itself out of the Miasma and I have way better control over it than the volatile Miasma. So it IS possible to turn Miasma back to what it originally was. With this Information I have better Understanding about the whole magic pollution and can work out what to do with it. Now back to the hole in my domain. ¡­ Directly going through it is still impossible, but it has an interesting effect with Mana. I can push it through and sense some kind of World on the other side, but not enough to say what kind of world. At the same time it seems Miasma exists on the other side, too. Way angrier Miasma it seems, as the raging outside is a multiple of what I have to bear in here. So what I try is to pull Miasma into the portal from the other side with my Mana and it somehow works. This Miasma is strange¡­ It is not my Miasma and therefore has no connection with me. But I can make it mine with a little bit of effort. The now new owned Miasma is still different than my Miasma in some kind of fundamental level. So what I try is putting it into the miasmic grindstones and filter a bit of Mana out of it. The way to make Mana is extremely slow and tedious, but it works, although with specific refinement of some specific Miasma it gets even more tedious. The grindstones need to be the same Intent as the Miasma, and the other one some kind of opposite, the more opposing the better. The Mana that comes out of this reaction is still a bit different, but can be used like my other Mana. ¡­ The great breakthrough came when I put the Mana back into the other World. Unlike the Mana I created from me the Mana behaves way more fluid and seems to react with the other side in kind of a positive way. The first effect is the way it becomes easier for me to pull Miasma into my World and the second is a better reach with the local Mana. Mixing both types of Mana makes it more sluggish, but it''s reversible by separating them. This is a great start and makes me slowly grind the Miasma from the other side into Mana. The more Mana I create the more I can reach, the more I can reach the more Miasma I can pull to grind. Slowly the task takes on momentum and the Mana on the other side creates a bubble. A limit seems to exist as I get less feedback the further out I get, but unlike before, now I can slowly see where I am. ¡­ On the other side I see a rather thick storm of Miasma. Normally Miasma does rage but not that violently. Something is stirring it and making it volatile. I don''t think living creatures can survive a long time inside this place. It''s a no man''s land even if something other than Miasma exists¡­ And the question of whether something else exists was easily answered after looking closer. Unlike my place, there is air. I never thought about looking for it, as it was more of an ¡®of course there is¡¯, but that is part of my old thoughts about the world. Pulling in air was harder than I thought but with a bit of trial and error I was able to get it in. Taking over the air was easy and had the strange effect of it becoming harder to put back into the world where it came from. After putting it back, the air got swept away, but my Intent stayed like some sort of presence. The Presence needs to be stuck to the hole, but it can be used like a tendril otherwise. Touching other things does nothing but understanding there is something. I have taken over space, it seems. Not the air itself, but a small fraction of the other side that was pulled with it. My immediate goal was clear with this. Chapter 2 - touching, smelling and finally seeing the light Time is still a blur with being touched so deeply by the Void, so how long I had worked to clean Miasma into Mana and taking over Space to create a kind of Domain for myself I do not know. The World itself has rather mundane things to offer. Air was a mixture of gases in a pressurized form. Some Dust and Water particles I did get too. My Miasma reacts with them in predictable ways. The one Intent is to heat things up. Burning, destroying, erasing and other intents have a rather similar source. If I put something inside this Miasma it starts to vibrate with high force. The bonds between Atoms seem to be way more susceptible to break and bond anew and create¡­ well, fire! It was one of the favorite past times of many Mages. Fire was the go to when it came to attacking anything that had no Fire affinity. Many things had Fire affinity, and I wonder if it was because the Miasma had so much of this kind of Intent. How much in this other world is Fire affinity I can not ascertain right now, as I am in the middle of a miasmic Storm and everything is present in extreme quantities. The progress is rather looking good, as I have a better look at my present position and I even found ground. Hovering around this¡­ Well I should just call it Portal¡­ hovering around the Portal is rather a lot of miasma and It seems I am close to if not the center of the storm. The Ground itself is not perturbed by the Storm. It is Miasma that wrecks havoc, not wind. The World itself is still for the most part even if there is a slightly strong breeze. Something LIVING I did not find until now. What is positive for the better part is the taken over Mana seems to slowly ebb the storm around my Portal and with my domain slowly getting bigger and more dense, Miasma gets slowly converted to my Rule. The Portal got more Stable and even a bit bigger with time. I do not know if it is because of my presence on both sides now or the transport of different Materials around, but it helps. It is hard to use Mana as an appendage to get some Dirt inside my World, but for now it is not that necessary to have too much of that stuff in there. The strangeness of my world is much more concerning. Using the little bit of matter I had gathered I slung it in one direction to see where it would go, as my consciousness should stop at some point. So with the Portal as a fixed point I watched it move through me until it came back from the other end. The World is a Loop with no start nor end. So the next would be to measure how far it is but it was rather¡­ Impossible without some kind of ruler or other way to put points into this place. So I go to the other side with my awareness and raised my Domain to get a better understanding of this place. ¡­ I got confused with myself now. With the way I think of the World, my World, the Domain and what is mine and what not I need to sort my own reasoning for what is what to better my Understanding to all. So I should create some Synonyms for my own thinking and hope I do not mess with those too much. Now let me start: - Myself - My consciousness. What it entails should be my Soul, but right now it is hard to understand how I even can think without a body. So I refer to my thoughts to myself. - My Realm - The World where I exist. The one Myself started from. Way better than World, as there is no World only things I have taken or the Miasma it came from. - The World - The World behind the Portal. It is not clear what this place really is, but I at least have more of an Understanding of how it is different than my Realm or the World I was banished from. - Portal ¨C Well the Portal is clear. It is the Hole between my Realm and the other World I have dubbed ¡®the World¡¯ - My Miasma/Mana ¨C The one I came with. It is subtly different than the World provides and even if it mixes, it does not blend. Like some sort of Law is different and with this the World does not allow it to be part of it. - The Worlds Miasma/Mana ¨C Well, the other side of the Coin. Miasma and Mana from this world, that is slightly different. It is like Gears with slightly different Size. The original Gears can work perfectly with the Clockwork of the World, while the foreign Gears grind hard and have a hard time to catch. What the difference is, I can hardly say. It looks the same but feels different. The most difference is I can take my claim from it away and the World accepts it back as its own. This should make it easier to sort my thoughts. At first the strange circumstance about my Miasma and the worlds Miasma. Mine I can not let go. It is like tar on me and does not let go. At the same time it it has a natural drift back to the Portal like it does not belong. To be honest it really does not belong. The Portal itself seems to have a harder time to let things through into the World or my Realm if they are supposed to belong on the other side to begin with. Mana travels easier than Miasma as it is more flexible. The Intent makes Miasma unbending and can not do what it could if it were Mana. Letting the worlds mana go from my grasp it gets blown away through the miasmic storm and vanishes. If it has my grasp it can be blown around until it reaches the end of my claimed space, and it gets some kind of pull the further away it gets from that space. I can bend the Space in some direction but has the same pull and gets into an equilibrium around the Portal as a Sphere. New Synonym: - My Domain ¨C The Place I own in Space around the Portal. Inside I can move all claimed Mana and Miasma freely and am able to convert unclaimed Miasma even without pulling it into my Realm, although with more resistance. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. All the Mana I convert helps with my Grindstones, as I now have different Grindstones with different Intents split into different kind of Aspects. By changing the Form into kind of Cones I can use multiple Intents to heighten the Effect, as Miasma is way more complex than first thought. Every single miasmic particle of Mana is different, like some kind of angry snowflake. A perfect opposite does not always exist and will not break it into mana without. The method of grinding it just heightens the Chance it happens. Now the Chances are a bit more skewed towards destruction than before. My Mana bubble grows and I can now more or less see the surface of this place. There is much Wasteland around me, and I do not know if the whole World looks like this or if this is some kind of dead place. For the Prospect of Life it does not look good, but would be a positive for a foothold until I reach my goal. For the time I should try again to absorb more soil for further experiments and tests. While it is nice to have so much Mana to use for this endeavor of excavating, it happens to come to my Notice, that Mana gets turned into more Miasma by moving dirt through Levitation. This Miasma is again unruly and would need to be ground down. Rather ineffective, if I have to do it again and again, so I should try to do the same with Miasma. Although I can not stop the Intent of the Miasma, I can construct out of Miasma with the Intent to Levitate an saturated area. The effect is Promising, although not perfect, as the Dirt gets flung in every direction. With more fine tuning the flow is mostly in one direction and the dirt starts to create a mount slowly dragging in more Dirt from the sides towards and up to the Portal. With enough pressure from the Intent it gets pushed through, and inside my Realm I can convert it rather easily. The only few problems are, I have to hold the Miasma in check and my Miasma works counter productive to the native one. More experimenting shows more promising aspects about using native Miasma and my Mana. As it mixes but not fully interact with one another it can hold the built miasmic Structure in place and leaves me with more attention to other things. More experiments show more possibilities. One of such is creating a kind of synthetic obsidian. Using Miasma that was intended to burn things. I can heat up and start reactions between the Soil to burn it into this kind of Obsidian like Material. If I am able to smelt rock, I should be able to process it in more ways than this. ¡­ While experimenting with all the possible uses of the Miasma, the Storm is finally ebbing. Having Mana within Miasma slows the strange force down quite a bit and I notice even new things falling into my domain. Some kind of dead leaf finally arrive in my perspective. Seems like it is thoroughly dead, but the Structure is still standing. Inside the Storm it would crumble to dust in no time, but now it starts to slowly accept some things without degrading them to nothing. What this means is at least a good thing. There is something more than Wasteland to explore. But until the Storm is low enough, it will be impossible for things to travel into this hostile place. As long as this is the fact I should start more projects. The Portal is rather vulnerable and I do not know if some kind of beings can seal it, as I do not know anything about Portals into other dimensions. If it is like teleportation or magical gateways, they can be interrupted. If something seals this hole I do not know if it can be reopened or I am sealed away for good. At first an Obsidian Shell should be the first thing I try. Using different types of Miasma I am able to create a flow of Magma creating some Pillars of Obsidian. Connecting is harder, as putting Magma into the seams between those Pillars often heats them unevenly and cracks them. The first try of an enclosure was not really good, but as I get better it should be possible to create something way more stable. Although it is rather unwieldy the Eggshell I now have should help for the time. Sadly I need to keep some holes, as Obsidian has some insulating properties against Miasma and Mana. The flow need to be unimpeded, so I can still expand. ¡­ More and more of the Wasteland is in my presence and I get more former Life to see. More leafs have been found, but still they are totally dead, like the former one. Miasma in such strong storms are horrible for life in general. It can be looked like high radiation. While weak Miasma creates mutations, stronger leads to death, and the kind around me is so volatile it does not even let life exist. What I am doing right now is more a kind of environmental change. What this will create, can be good but also catastrophic for the place I now reside in. Who knows what will happen to the World when I have created my own Domain large enough for my liking. At the same time I have been digging deeper. The rock below the dead soil seems to be volcanic in nature but has strange aspects I can not identify. It is like ingrained into the Stone is yet another Law of another World, but it is so faint, I can only notice the ¡®smell¡¯ of it. This World gets weirder and weirder. At least the training with the controlled Miasma has bore fruit. The more I learn about the Miasma the easier it gets to manipulate it the way I want. It becomes a way of instinctual movement of Mana, like how moving muscles is for animals. Maybe someday I''ll just have to think of something and it happens out of reflex. But for the time I have to work my will to model what I want, and focus to sustain it. My time is split in expanding, exploring and experimenting. While expanding is simply grinding Mana out of Miasma and slowly claiming space, exploring is more interesting. The deeper I explore into the earth, the stronger the third Law gets. Something is below this place, but it is way too deep for now. On the other mana tendril the area around the Portal seems to slowly rise in every direction. Experimentation starts to have great effects about my way to perceive my surroundings. While my main way to perceive my surrounding is touch with Mana and Miasma, with different Aspects of Miasma there are reactions with more than just matter. I can now feel Light and with this I should have the ability to see beyond my Domain sooner or later. Right now there is more of the feeling of if light is there, what enables me to know when it is bright and when it is not. There is a day and night cycle. Slowly breaking into such simple things like ¡®there is light¡¯ or ¡®the dirt is wet¡¯ is somehow sad, but at the same time it starts to help me feel alive, even if I do not even know what I really am. Better stop thinking about that again and work on what is in front of me or better yet outside the Portal for me to explore. ¡­ 3 cycles of Night and Day later I seem to have now the miasmic Storm under control. The third Law under the soil seems to aggravate it, but by me pressing against it, there is a significant slowing down. At the same time I can now see. Better I have a lens out of Miasma reacting to light and I can interpret the reactions. Although colors are still beyond me, there is a way to focus now and direction too. What is being shown is a crater. It is a very old crater already filled with different kinds of sand and dirt. How old this crater is I can not directly say, but it looks old. Measures seem to be more on the huge side. Around 4 or 5 kilometers in radius, if the scale of the World I perceive is right. Hard to be sure while I do not have any kind of measurement. My next goal is now getting to the rim of the crater. My second Goal is to understand what is behind the crater walls, but until now it is nice to see some kind of new environment. Chapter 3 - Void snail coming through, step aside While trying to expand I feel the pressure of the World rise more and more. It seems not to like me being here and makes it apparent. If there is no way to remove this pressure I will not be able to grow my Domain further. Now that I am a bit stuck and try to push myself getting my presence bigger, I should go back to my roots, or my Portal. New Synonym: - The Portal ¨C Connection between my Realm and the World. It can let through Miasma, Mana and Matter. What it can do more, I have to experiment with it. Being able to more or less see with light I can say, I do not see the portal. It is there, but it is a sphere of pure darkness. Nothing seems to reflect, and I do not understand how it works. It is a stable hole right in the middle of the air. I would say it hovers around 20 centimeters over the Floor, if the leaf I found is around 10 centimeters. I know it is a kind of Portal since the first time I touched it. But when did I first touch it? How it works is a definite must to know. I have to work on that, so I know how stable it is and how much I can rely on it being there. What I really want is being able to open a hole back to where I was banished from. ¡­ My ego is rather too big, thinking I can control the miasmic Storm. It is not that it is lowering rather some kind of windstorm is raging behind the rim of the crater and throwing leafs all over the place. What there is I do not know, but I see many flying leafs falling down. The fact, that I have caught some of them is just the weather. Great to know, how I can still miss simple things like that. On the bright site, the miasmic Storm DID slow to a crawl in my presence. Just with my new created ¡®mana sight¡¯ I see it is just here where I am. Oh I have mana sight now. After understanding how there is Miasma for light, it was easy to find Miasma reacting to Mana by letting different kinds near the grindstones until one flips out. Although I was mistaken with the scale I have on the world, I am still right with nothing survives inside the crater. I can see leafs right out of my bubble wrinkling up in fast forward. ¡­ I have to leave this place. Not that there is any danger right now, I am just in a horrible position, where a miasmic storm rages around me, I am in the middle of nowhere and right below me is something definitely wrong, as there is this strange thing, more alien than me, forcing such a storm for unknown reasons to rage and destroy any living thing in a radius of at least five kilometers. Before thinking about where, I should rather think about HOW to leave. This hole in the world is rather perplexing, but still I did not try to move it for now. And now that I try it is not possible for everything I shove against it, it goes through or makes the Portal itself intangible. A new discovery, If something bigger than the Portal tries to shove against it, it just lets it through without moving it to the other side. Neat, party trick, but nothing I can use. I am a genius! Or maybe, I am an idiot, not trying it further, but using a tendril of Mana fixed against something heavy outside and dragging it inside my own Realm I can drag the Portal slowly. It is not more than a snails pace but I move. Now the question where to. ¡­ Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. It is a risk, but I decided to move in the direction from where the leafs are coming. The other way are more Mountains anyway, so I think I choose life rather than rock. While dragging my Portal through the wasteland I still keep up with absorbing and converting Miasma into controllable Mana. The pressure is still hard on my Domain, but maybe it helps in some way to have a more solid presence? Keeping up the positive attitude and trying to remember my goals. To be honest my goals should be put in line of priority, so I do that while I drag myself through the soil like a spiritual snail with a black hole for a shell. My priorities should be simple and understandable. First I should get more powerful. I have an own Realm, but nothing to do with it. While it is rather fascinating, there is nothing inside, so what should I do with it? Putting in all the things I find is nice and dandy, but the only thing I find is soil and remnants of leafs. The second should be a body. While I do not find it necessary to be human I need something to at least ¡®VOID SMASH¡¯ something when I am in need to. Well I can throw magma, but that is not something I should use as an attack. Unless I have prep time, the enemy is very close and does not notice the glowing mud flying directly into the direction of them, I would have more of an uphill battle to fight. Third point is a base¡­ Or maybe this should be the second point in my list, as I still do not know how fragile I or even this Portal is. What I need is a place to experiment. This World is different, but similar to my last. There are same principles like Mana, Miasma, Sun, Moon(s), and even Lifeforms, but what it entails more, must be looked into. What kind of materials are in this world and what can be made to help my overall goals would be really helpful. Fourth point is going back. This will be tricky, but as I have a hole in reality already, I should be able to get some insights in how to do this. I really want to see my ¡®friends¡¯ again and show them the same hospitality they gave me. And not forgetting the Kingdom and the Gods. Jeez, my list is rather dramatic with ¡®beat up GOD¡¯ on the list, but what can I do? It is one of the points I really want to do, but if I can traverse entire Dimensions this should be possible, too. They are not all mighty like some religions name them to be, it seems. ¡­ I must again reiterate, that I am an idiot. I drag myself like a Snail over the floor and not even considered for hours to use a second tendril to improve the motion. The only thing, that lets me look less dumb is the fact, that it heightens the speed not that much, as the drag of that hole is more of an exponential rise type. Wait, that is bad, too. On the really positive side, dragging myself through the dirt like that pushes things trough the hole. The more I collect, the more I can use later. For what I do not know, as I am still working on finding out more about the Portal. What I can say is it grows. Not much, but it does. I am a Genius, this time for real! The Portal is malleable, and can be formed into different forms. The trick is rather strange, as if I form the Portal inside my world It does nothing as the Portal outside my Realm is the reference what can go through. The outside Portal can not be changed strangely so I tried to use my Mana to stretch out while it is between both Portals and it changes the form on the other side, too! There is heavy pressure and wants to go back to being a ball, but I can stretch it now to a flat portal if I use enough power. The pressure just does not let me hold it in place for long. But if I can make a frame I should be able to hold it bigger. While I am working on this conundrum about how to use the Portal efficiently a day is gone and I have moved to the rim about¡­ 5 percent. The Obsidian thing I burned is not far from me and I suspect I will be there in two weeks. Oh boy¡­ ¡­ The strange thing about not being¡­ a literal being, is boredom does not exist. I just crawl in the dirt and don''t get annoyed or bored or anything. This can be good and bad. The good part is, I can do mundane things for long, without resting, getting annoyed or needing to do something else to keep my morale. The bad thing is, I could fall into an endless loop without noticing and doing one thing for weeks without realizing. There were old Stories in my original World about abominations beyond our reality, that are eons old and just¡­ exist. Is it maybe those ¡®old ones¡¯ are not doing much, not because they are older than time itself but they do not get bored of doing nothing and just existing? One even slept for millennia under the ocean and uses star positions as the wake up call. Remembering to never idle and always look what I do and can do on a regular basis. I want to be back in a reasonable time, and not in a million years. While I am philosophizing about time and existence I got close to the rim. The rim itself is completely rock. Spiking up like shark teeth and interestingly extremely sharp edges and spikes. Nothing problematic for me but extremely dangerous for anyone who would want to go over to the other side. Breaking some of it apart was rather hard, but after I got a piece broken of I could absorb it into my Realm. This is no ordinary rock. It is imbued with a scary amount of Miasma over the years. On the other tendril the soil I deem uninhabitable is rather tame. So many questions about how that is even possible. ¡­ Now I do not know if the travel to the rim was really the best Idea. Over the rim is more Miasma as inside of the crater. The sheer amount is enough to tell me this is not natural. It is some kind of shell or bubble to keep the World from interfering of whatever happens inside the crater. And suddenly I have a new number one on my to do list: Survive this messed up situation. Chapter 4 - New job unlocked: Hole in a bubble This is so messed up. I am at the border of the Miasma bubble and outside is Miasma too. Not as much as inside the bubble and not in a Storm, raging without care in the World, but still rather strong. The bubble absorbs slowly the Miasma around and I bet it filters it right into the crater. I have still no idea what in the Void is going on here. Escape was my first thought, but right outside the dome of horribleness my tendril got intercepted with enough rage, that I felt for the first time in my new state pain, that made me scared of my existence. The Mana of the World I took over was ripped out of it like it was an affront to even be near my own Mana while the rest was hammered back into my Domain with enough hate it made my Mana unable to move for a time. My Domain has fared even worse. It felt like I was skinned alive as the part of it got shaved of me from where I poked out of the miasmic bubble. Note to self: this World does not like me¡­ at all! Now I am stuck here. Escape is futile and staying will be scary too. I have made many stupid conclusions but I can say with certainty this crater wants to invade this World. A crater of some kind of meteorite, Miasma to numb the Rules that apply here, a gigantic dome drawing more and more Miasma into this shell and a Hole into the Void, that happened to just appear right in the CENTER of this place as if summoned¡­ Yeah, even I can read the writings on the wall without explanation. The thing, that wanted to connect with the rift inside the Void should be the original invader, and if the first hole did not work I can suspect they, whoever ¡®they¡¯ might even be, will try a second or even a third time. While drawing back into the miasmic wall I think of my options. The wall is rather thick and has so much Miasma that it is scary, but the inside has way less, even if it is a deadly amount. It draws even more inside this giant bubble and should be even more dense in the future. The reason why it would need so much Miasma, should be evident by the black hole it punctured into the World, and am now using. So, to stop whatever unthinkable horror tries to link itself into this place, I can call my prison, clearing out Miasma should be the proper response. Absorbing Miasma into my Realm and grinding it down is one of the first things I learned and it would be nice to improve on that anyways. ¡­ First realization while filtering the Miasma into Mana and pushing it out of the Bubble of Doom, is free Mana reacts violently with the Miasma. I have seen lightning, blue fire, sudden frost, light in whatever color it might be, as I still can not see color, and black fog. It is like a war zone where the Mana flows out, so I have to stretch myself really close to the end of the bubble wall and push it out right there with gusto so it has the least possible time to react much with the Miasma. The second realization is a good, but painful one. The more cleansed Mana I push out the more my Domain grows. Why in the Void this happens, I have no Idea, as I am just releasing something and not claiming anything. It is like my overtaken domain just decides now is the time to relax and expand. Painful was it because the first few times I thought my concentration slipped and I overstretched myself too far and got shaved by the World by my own lack of control. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Staying here on this cliff is rather futile, as I should go back down. But back down I can not push the Mana out of the crater. There is a solution, I just have to work a little bit, and at the same time I get more stuff for me to fiddle with. ¡­ Crawling down the rim I plan the coming project. The first thing I have to do is create a tunnel. Not only will I have access to the outside later, I will have a great pipeline to shove the Mana right out the front door. While I keep my Domain locked on the crater opening side I should be able to keep the unclaimed Miasma out and only the released Mana in. What happens on the other side with the miasmic wall will not be my problem as I am far away from any explosion or cataclysmic light show to care. Just push everything out and do not care, yup. The place I chose is right where I land when I am down this cliff, as I am neither picky nor smart enough to know where I should just bore my pipeline into the rock. ¡­ Finally back down I start the processing of the cliff wall and remove it with a new Idea I came up with. There is rather much decomposition Miasma I can filter out and touching the Stone with it creates dust. It shreds it down to tiny particles and with a bit of Wind Miasma I can draw it right into my black Sphere. The Portal seems to still grow and I have no Idea if it will stop growing, or maybe someday devour the whole Planet, but by this time I should be gone, and with me, maybe even the hole itself. Maybe in a year it will be around 4 Meters in Diameter, while right now it is still just around 20 centimeters. Digging into the wall I find interesting things like small iron ore pockets and even copper. The sad thing is, they are not entire veins, as I believe the impact of the Meteorite just threw everything everywhere and whatever Power is working created those walls as a kind of barbed wire to make it undesirable. The dig is rather mundane as I just drag myself a little bit forward, the Miasma does it job by creating a deeper indent and shoving me full with dust, but as I stated I am beyond boredom in my state. I even appreciate the rather smooth walls I leave inside this circular tunnel. ¡­ Breaking the wall I realize now how big the trees are. When I was up on the cliffs I should be up around 500 meters and thought nothing of seeing the treetops at the same height, but 500 meter trees are huge! The trees themselves are rather far away with the miasmic wall and such, but I can clearly see how big their trunks are. I would not fit one through my created tunnel even if the diameter is 4 meters. What monstrous trees they are, able to grow that massive. How I wish I could go outside and take one for testing. Sadly It will not be. Now for my most anticipated experiment. I carefully make the domain reaching to the forest filled with only Mana, while I create a border with my own Mana¡­ New Synonym: My Essence: Mana and Miasma that came with me and is fully mine will be now named Essence. I make myself crazy to think of Mana and my Mana otherwise. Again! I carefully put Mana on the side to the Forest and stretch a film of Essence as a border, so it does not mix with any unclaimed Miasma on the other side. Then I let it loose and push more Mana inside to push it out as fast as I can. Repeat until forever. Oh, Fireworks! It seems to work but the Miasmic bubble is very angry, that it works, so I retreat slowly while pushing more and more Mana into the pipeline to eject it out of the tunnel and therefore the Crater. Hopefully I can do this now without being disturbed by accidentally touching the outside World and being reminded what it means to feel pain. ¡­ Back at the Entrance into the crater I can see some lights working and I bet it is quite loud, I should work on sensing sound next to be sure about this. Right now my domain is only slightly bigger than the tunnel without deforming it, so unless I want to let Miasma inside, I am stuck. The good thing is, the Domain grows rather quickly now. Taking over Space gets somehow easier too. With this all working, I can wait and watch myself grow. Chapter 5 - Counting my achievements until a ferocious beast appears Remembering myself to not fall in some kind of fugue state, I check on my progress. Over the past few days my Domain grew rather substantially. There is a negative as I can not be everywhere at the same time. More room is in my domain, but my attention does not grow with it. In my Realm it is rather unproblematic, as in there, it is rather instinctual creating something perpetual, like a program or maybe more like an assembly line, but out in the World this form of instinct is rather limited. The next point in line, I have mastered brick making. Rather I have questioned why I have to use heat to smelt materials when they are under my command. In the end I started just mushing them together and will the dust to connect. What I got first was a rather brittle clump of dust, but with practice and pushing my will evenly the first brick was made. The concentration on it was rather complex so I started first with a small assembly, one brick at a time, and will scale it up, if needed in the future. Checking the instinctual made bricks, they show less finesse but are still hard and have the same measurements, like my personally made one. With this I should be able to work on more things in the future. The next thing on my list, the fireworks stopped in the tunnel. I push still my Mana through it, but only a few flashes are shown here and there. I wonder what happened, but I am not bothered enough to check right now, as I am using the bricks right now to decorate the entrance of the tunnel with an arch, and creating a brick floor. Why I do that? Because I can. I have to live here for a while and will make this place mine. At the same time my bricks have my own intent in them, blocking the annoying intents of the World and thing deep in the ground. ¡­ How long have I been here, and never seen a drop of rain? There should be Rain but the only thing I notice is moisture in the air and ground. Does the miasmic storm even shred rain that travels inside? Might be possible, as the Miasma is rather aggressive against everything it touches. Then why is there water in the ground? Is there a water table? I mean there should be a water table, as there are trees outside, but it is rather surprising it can get inside through the rocks around. Or better said out. Should this place not be a giant lake or something with moisture in a meteoric crater? Maybe I remember my science class wrong. Well at least I can think about digging down to find the water table and look if I can do something with it. ¡­ MOUSE! There is a mouse in my Domain! Where did that thing come from? It is the first real living thing I have been able to interact with. Or not interact with as it seems, there is some kind of aura making it impossible to do anything around it for about a few centimeters. It feels like its own domain, and somehow blocks any way for me to touch it with my essence. It definitely felt my presence as it ran right away between the bricks and the rock wall when I tried to grab it. What a disaster, the first creature in my Domain and I am not able to interact with it. I need to find a way to capture it, but how? Maybe a trap, but for that I would need cheese. Even if I want I can not create cheese out of thin air¡­ at least not yet. What to do, and what to make. It should be something simple. Something It does not suspect¡­ ¡­ I got into the tunnel for a few meters and made a hole in the wall. Into the wall I put a rock with a crack I made deliberately. Then I put another rock into the tunnel for later. Now I have to wait. ¡­ The mouse got hungry and wants to leave my place back into the woods. I knew it came from there somehow! Well, it made the trek back while I watched until it was near the rock with the crack, when I struck my trap. I press my essence against it and make it look I want to grab it again. Shocked it tried to run but I push from both sides of the exits. It panicked and ran around until finding the crack. Running into the crack my essence stops pushing and make it feel safe while levitating the second stone over. Putting it over the crack it can not get out and I can levitate the rocks back! A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. The disrupting Domain of that Mouse makes it extremely hard to hover those back, and while transporting, it made itself clear, it was not as harmless as it looked, by shooting lightning at the blocking rock. This Mouse is already transformed by Miasma into a monster, as I should have suspected in the first place. In that miasmic forest, nothing should be living without being changed by Miasma in some way. Nearly dropping the rocks multiple times I had a hard time transporting the package into my Realm through the Portal. After entering the Mouse got seriously enraged and clawed even harder at the rocks I now let go and let hover inside my realm. After exiting the Rocks the Mouse tried to ran in the air, as there was no gravity and it looked a bit funny how it made multiple rotations. ¡­ I think I broke the mouse. Not that I really wanted that, but it happened by taking the mouse over. The Domain¡­ New Synonym: Aura: The area around a living thing, that disrupts my Powers in the Domain. Back to the explanation: The AURA was strongly weakened in my Realm and I was able to use force to take over the mouse. By taking over the mouse it stopped moving. It is alive, but does not do anything right now. There is breath, heartbeat and even reactions, but no complex movement. It just hovers there without doing something. I should feel sorry about it, but strangely I can not feel anything for the mouse inside my Realm. Must be something I lost in the Void, too. Anyway, I can now see it in its entirety. Brain, bones, heart, even the small core, that identifies it as a genuine monster, everything is in my grasp. The most amazing shock was, as I felt around its brain. I saw all of its memories, how simple they might be. It was an experience of everything it remembered of its life. The rummaging around the forest, fights against predators and prey for survival. Most vivid were the most recent memories, and gave me the explanation why it came in here. It was chased by an acid spitting snake, obviously a monster, too. After the snake cornered the mouse against the forbidden Zone, what was the Bubble around the crater, the mouse noticed the strange soothing Mana and a hole it came out from. Between certain death by the snake and the highly possible death of the mysterious hole it took the survival path and made a leap of faith. At first it was like heaven in there, as the Mana soothed the pains of constant Miasma, but then a presence of extremely wrongness was pushing against it like a terrifying abomination had their eyes on it. That was a little bit hurtful to me, for thinking about me in that aspect, but it might be even more truthful, than I want to believe about me, myself. The next part is how it hid between some rectangular Rocks and kept there until it was sure there would be no more attention of it before thinking about fleeing that place, for all it knew it could be a dragon hoard. Trying to stealthily escape the presence was suddenly back and extreme panic came again. Cut of from any reasonable escape route it found a crack and thought itself lucky until the crack was plugged and moved. In its last attempts to escape death, the mouse started to use its innate Magic and hammered all it could muster into the plug with some reaction, before feeling like it was thrown into a place so wrong, it made every instinct panic and went berserk. Then the last thought was how it lost itself by something entering its body, like a freezing cold when thrown into a freezing river. After that, nothing. ... I am a mouse! Imamouseimamouseimamouse. I can move like a mouse, I can sniff like a mouse and I can even squeak like a mouse. I¡¯m a mouse. By putting my consciousness in the mouse I AM the mouse! I can feel, hear and even smell! Seeing should also be possible, but I forgot how dark it is in my Realm. There is not even one light source. That must be changed someday. One problem though is the attention I have to keep on the mouse to use its body. I can hardly concentrate on something else, so I is rather restricting to notice anything in my Domain and even in my Realm. Thankfully the automation I made is still working like clockwork, otherwise it would be unusable to take over a body for the most time. My powers are still there and can use them instinctual. Experimenting with my ability to use my Essence I move the mouse to the Portal and drop it right through. I can see! What a nice difference in light perception. Even some colors are present, although I feel something is missing in the spectrum, or I just feel that way, because I have long time not seen anything. Who knows. Moving is rather hard at first, but with time I got used to how to shoot electricity through the muscles to make them twitch like I want them to. Sadly this body will starve to death, as I do not have anything inside my Domain to feed it. Before I lose the new material though I will try my best to feel out how to move and how to control my Domain inside a body. Chapter 6 - How life ticks and start of trapmaking The experiments were rather fruitful, as I have all aspects of my Powers, just not all of my attention. Although I can for example concentrate and use light perception, it feels like I am looking at two things at the same time and is hard to combine both views to make something usable. The next experiment might be a bit gruesome, but it is needed to understand life in itself. I disassemble the mouse. While it twitches sometimes when I remove parts it is more Instinct than real life, as she (oh by the way the mouse is female) did nothing while my consciousness is not inside it. Taking it apart was rather easy, as I just have to will it and the mouse came apart where I want. When taking the heart out it stops beating after a few seconds. The core of the size of a grain of sand was right next to the heart, and connected to the blood vessels and nervous system. Strange place to be, as there is nothing it needs from the blood, while the nerves are more understandable. ¡­ I took everything apart. Everything is gone, and still there is something. It is like the framework of the mouse. A kind of ghostly presence. It is nearly imperceptible, were it not for me touching everything in my Realm. It is like a spiritual body of what was or what should be. I do not really understand how it even exists, but I feel it is made out of Mana and more strangely, Miasma. As it is out of my claimed Mana and Miasma I can move it where I want but am rather careful, as it looks somewhat fragile. I need to study it more to see if it deteriorates, what it can do and how it can benefit me in any way. Maybe I can create Ghosts, or other ethereal beings under my command. This would be interesting. ¡­ The mouse is back. Not another mouse, coming to my Domain, the original mouse is back together and alive. It was just a thought on my part to try to reassemble the mouse with the blueprint of a spirit, but it worked. I noticed even in the reassembly the spirit helps parts click into place when I was not precise enough. After a while I noticed way more like tethering parts to the spirit leads it to drift to the right place and even imbuing the spirit with more Mana makes the assembly close to automatic. I can build life. Well not new life, but it is a start. Now I have to see if anything is wrong with the mouse, as it literally got torn apart and stuck together. The first I inspect is the brain, as the long time of death should have averse effects on it. Empty. Not that the brain is not there or it does not function, but the memories it had are not there anymore. It seems the framework does not retain those, and leaves the brain blank. Curiously the instincts are still there. Breathing, heartbeat and even instinctual reactions to the senses like reacting to tickles against the whiskers or activating the pain receptors makes instinctual movements. It is fascinating how those are still there but the memories are not. If I want to know something from a taken over creature I have to read it before I put their organs in numbered jars, noted. The next thing I should try is modifying the Framework or look what would happen if I change parts of it by removing unneeded parts, like the gender specific organs, as I do not think a lobotomized mouse can even get children anymore without forcing it. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡­ It broke. The spirit body broke and I can not put it back together. Should have known, this fragile and rather complex framework of Mana and Miasma is beyond my realm of editing. To be honest I was able to change the mouse a bit, as I could take away the Fallopian tubes and the hair follicles. This was all fine and dandy, but after I tried to change it in the spirit to see if I can change the body forever it unraveled and became a mess without any of the patterns surviving. On the uptake I have found more out of monsters, as all the Miasma I could harvest of the broken spirit is electric Miasma. The spirit seems to only take on Miasma of the specific mutation and reject any other. This explains so much about Monsters being able to use spells sapient species use. They take the remnants and use them like they were spells. Now I want to add Miasma of different kinds to see if something happened, but as I do not have anything I have to wait for another desperate creature entering the tunnel. For now I have a new goal: Making traps to catch anything that gets inside! ¡­ The work is not the problem, the problem was thinking how and what to create in form of traps. The first I want to do was a kind of gate, to stop the creatures from escaping. At the same time it had to have holes as Mana needs to get through. Then it had to be deep inside the tunnel where I do not have my Domain right now, as I am on the other end. This will be a rather complex project, I did not have a clue how to start. I do not have ropes so chains need to be made and gears and pulleys, and wheels and¡­ I start simple first. While thinking about how to use it I should think about where I want it. The best would be on the other side of the tunnel, so I should start on finding the best place for a door. The Door should be made out of metal, but I do not have enough metal to begin with so it is a no on that. Rock it is. ¡­ Traveling through my tunnel I see what the mouse vaguely noticed and remembered. A hole directly inside of the Bubble. Seems like the Bubble kind of ¡®gave up¡¯ fixing it and just sparks a bit at the border. There is kind of a mirage effect around the overlapping line of Mana and Miasma. Light gets bent in interesting ways. Kind of cool to watch, but I have other things to do. First of a test if I can maybe go further out the hole as the Miasma is pierced. ...and I hate my curiosity. It hurts like hell being peeled like an apple, and worse of, as I seem more like an onion while the World thinks ¡®oh neat, another layer¡¯ and works right at the next peeling of agony. Outside is a no go. I have maybe a one meter space after the wall before I get the worst experience in my life. Although it ¡®feels¡¯ lighter, agony is still agony even when it gets lowered form a 10 out of 10 to a 9.9 out of 10. Well back to what I am here to do. What to create to make the exit not an exit anymore. First of all I go deeper, as I do not trust a gate being helpful right at the entrance. Worst of all something could notice it and think directly of a trap. The best thing would be an invisible door, but as I am architecturally challenged, I have to live with a compromise. Making the circular hole square. As my Domain has grown considerably, I can now make it bigger as I am far more reaching. The Entrance stays kind of circular and transforms slowly into square to not spook incoming wildlife too much. At 15 meters I start with the shaft on the ceiling for the stone gate. I have still a few hundred meters to the exit so it should be fine, as I hope nothing can outrun a falling slab of massive Rock. How to lift it and let it fall, I already started to think about, but also am still working on it. Great Idea to create the door without the workings to use said door, but whatever. Next thing is the massive slab of Gate I have to manifest. As I need to create some kind of way to let the Mana through, I have to work on holes inside the door. And remembering how happy I was, to create some sort of Material, that is impervious to all things magical. Positive thoughts, positive! The created slab has many holes and has enough throughput right now to keep the stream steady. Great progress. The next thing is, how to lift and how to lower it. For this I came with a great Idea of a gear system. Making it should be not be that hard. Chapter 7 - Trial, Failure and more Visitors It is hard! I forgot some important factor. Trying to pull the gate up by the right side only with a gear system, as I forgot how a heavy object only pulled up by one side makes it near impossible to even move. Back to the drawing board and redo everything I just did for a new method. The new method uses both sides to heave it, so I sincerely hope it helps. The way to use both at the same time is through a chain. Not a normal chain, but a one with plates held by a rivet and made into a circular chain without end. I made a bike chain! Great for moving gears, I hope it works with this contraption. On both sides the gears are in place and now I can try to use kinetic power with my miasma to spin it¡­ and the chain broke. Back to the drawing board again. ¡­ I hate it. All the thought about how I want the Door so deep inside the Tunnel I have to put it near the exit inside the Crater. No chain I can make can handle the strain of 500 meters and even then, they can not handle the tons of rock holding it. I hid my shame of workmanship by pasting Rock over the Places I hollowed out and forgot all about it, now back to what I wanted to do, namely a gate. First of all I have made a wall out of Bricks I have still laying around by processing the sand, as a Rock gate the size of a house is a bit too heavy to move. Creating a smaller Entrance will make everything a whole lot easier for me. The wall needs to be thick, as I do not know how strong some of the Monsters are, reinforcing it by melding the Bricks together. I did not forget the holes for Mana to go through. Everywhere are beehive like holes in the bricks to let the Mana flow. The biggest hole is the entrance around 2 meters width and height. The gate is a simple rock wheel. It is held in place by a metal chain and handled by a pulley. Maybe I can later use water to pull it rather than my miasma¡­ or maybe I can create something more sophisticated as a door, than the kind used by ancient tombs, beforehand. The next thing I do is create a pitfall trap, right in front of the gate. The release is easily created and works unexpected without a hitch. The best thing is, as I paved the place beforehand, I can hide it perfectly, as I use the same stones just melded together in a plate that falls away after the chain is pulled. Resetting it needs manual labor, but whatever, I have my base here and will not move for the foreseeable future. Why do I have a feeling I jinxed myself? ¡­ Nothing much happened. While making more and more Mana, I have not seen one animal the whole time. To pass the time a bit, I pave the places I can reach while I grow more and more. It shows my achievements quite good, as I can now use my essence in a 50 meter radius just by itself. While it is impressive to have so much space to myself it is more impressive, that I have now more control of my Domain. Training to form it on a daily basis made it now possible to hold it in place where I want it to permanently. With this I should be able to not let the World touch me again, hopefully. More new things that happened is a storage house I made. My first house I build and it looks rather neat. The only aspect, that makes it less impressive is it has no roof, as it is purposely made that way. I might not be able to break the aura with either Essence, Miasma or Mana I have, but a heavy object from above is not in that category. If something dangerous gets inside and I am sneaky enough, it should be dead in a few rocks. Different kind of Rocks got made too. Balls, spikes, bricks everything I can drop and hope to hit my target. Now I wonder, what about things, that are smarter or faster, than this. I will think about that for later. ¡­ Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. While building a frame for my Portal, something came through the Gate. It is some kind of pack of Wolves. Rather mangy and no one has no scars. Evidently they were the losers of some territory dispute. So they found this tunnel and thought it a cave to make a new hideout. The first thing I did was changing my vision to light and pulled my essence back to not spook them. Sniffing around they seem to look for danger and find luckily nothing. Scratching at the floor does nothing buddy, as the bricks are hard as¡­ well rock. After a bit of time more came through. Those are the least impressive, as the one limps and the other has no tail anymore. Kudos to their solidarity for letting the weak stay behind while the strong investigate. All in all they are now seven and seem to look for a nice place to rest and lick their wounds. Noticing the black orb they are extremely wary of my Portal, but seem not to disturbed, as it does nothing. Yeah guys, it is rather harmless, as the whole area around you is the predator, heh heh. Now that all seem to be inside I should start my great trap and close the door. The noise lets them perk up right away and look for what makes it. Realizing the gate closes they run directly in front of it, luckily too late to escape as it is already closed. While scratching at it, all were there except the one with the limp, as it was too shocked right now and did not react with the others. The Pitfall was perfect and got nearly all, but it was close as some had clawed on the floor before skidding down the hole. Did I mention It was 6 Meters deep? I was more wary of things jumping out of the Pit than dying of the fall, so I overdid it a bit. There is a small tunnel down there that goes to nowhere but winds a bit around, as I can not stretch my Portal that wide of a Pitfall for taking anything, so I thought about making an ¡®escape route¡¯ where I have it easier to capture an animal at the end. Up to my next step. I take my Portal and hover over the Pitfall and every Wolf growled. Next I use every Essence, Mana and Miasma I have at the ready to try to overtake the Animals, but their Aura keeps me totally at bay. My ruse worked as everyone panicked and slowly shrunk back. Sadly no one seems to back away completely. I get closer with my Sphere and start to stretch it in the biggest oval I could. Finally the tailless one could not take it anymore and ran into the hole. After one fled the others followed while the Alpha who seems to be the biggest of the bunch waited for all to be inside before running inside itself. Onto the next step. As I can stretch my Portal only as far as the small tunnel is I cover the whole outline with it. The Tunnel is around 20 meters long, so It takes time, but at the end there were all the Wolves. Some seem to bite each other as they could neither go back or forward and nobody knows what to do. One after the other I take them into my Realm and there they hover in Darkness. The last was the tailless one, who I have to thank for its cowardly, as otherwise I would not be able to take them inside. The Wolves were over a Meter standing up and would not fit without crouching down and squeezing. The first I took over was the last I captured. It was tailless, as he had the lowest Aura of them all. It took me still 10 minutes to do it and had to transfer my Portal inside my Realm at the other end, as they learned how to swim inside and knew somehow my Portal was the exit. Taking him over he stopped struggling and I go to the next one. ¡­ Two hours. It took me two hours to take over the alpha. He was the hardest of them all and had only started to give up as I took away the Oxygen in the air to make him unconscious. Even then, it was still harder than taking over tailless. Now that I have all of them I have time to get the last one, limpy. ...Nothing I can do for limpy, as he ran away from my domain and out in the crater. Yes, the crater is deadly even for things like wolves. He has already leaked everything that is liquid and the flesh is mummifying. I take him in anyway as it would be sad to have any material I can use turn to dust. ¡­ Alpha had an outing with the other storm wolves, as I call them. It seems like the place got too small for their pack, as they explosively multiplied over the last months, triggered by the ebb of Miasma. Every female was pregnant and used this calm time to have cubs. Alpha was one of the ones who were on the branch side and expendable, so they got less and less of the hunt as the most got to the females to bring healthy cubs into the world. Finally Alpha challenged the true pack leader to have a chance for more food and miserably lost. As he was thrown out the others rebelled too, and it got bloody fast. Desperation of the old unruly who were tolerated until the time got better, had thrown them into the World where they found maybe their best hope in the danger zone they always feared. A hole and Mana that soothed their acing scars made it possible for a rest and maybe a refight with a way better outcome. Sadly they found their way back blocked and then hunted by eternal darkness. Never to give up again Alpha fought with everything, even if he died, he will make his flesh taste the worst possible. ¡­ Well, what a story. The most interesting was the ebb of the Miasma, as I think the creation of the Portal was the reason of it all. If it takes so much magic to create a rift into the Void, how much to create one through it? So much to do, hopefully everyone will be delighted to see me back. ¡­ Reassembling tailless I take possession of its body. I have something to try, that either loses me the wolf or gives me new hope. Walking through the tunnel on four paws I have the knack out rather fast, as I still know how move like the heroic mouse that opened the first door to me. I should never forget this mouse as I have much to thank her for. In front of me is the hole and outside is the World, that does not want me. It is strange, I feel nothing really, but tailless seems to respond to my dampened feelings by shaking a little bit. Well I am a bit scared but also anticipate something good happening, so a light shiver should be appropriate. Stepping out of the Tunnel I slowly go to the place familiar to tailless but alien to me, hoping my idea turns out to be right. Chapter 8 - Traveling in a body and body modifications Step after step I take and do not stop slowly reaching the deadly border. The wind is rather pleasant on my fur, but my but is rather cold¡­ oh, no tail, gotcha. The reason I took tailless is he is more expendable than, for example Alpha with his rather taut body. Another reason is, I had to thank him, as he is the one who helped me, even unconsciously, so it should be his honor to do the testing. My feelings for him might be shallow, but what can someone do, who has dampened or maybe even no feelings anymore, because of¡­ While I ramble in my head I now stand in front of something. It is beautiful and the smell is soothing. The giant tree of the forest is up close way more impressive than seeing it via my silly mockery of sight. I am outside. ¡­ The feeling of being out in the forest the first time and not being a stolen memory is breathtaking. If I had one, I would wag my tail, although I am not sure if I just feel happy, because I think that I should be happy or if feelings still exist somewhere deep inside my husk of a Realm. Walking around I remember the different nuances of the forest I learned from all of the Monsters I took over. There are some herbal plants, that are bitter but help the stomach stop hurting. This Moss when someone rubs their scars on them they heal better. That vine¡­ better not go near it, as it can strangle even strong wolves, and tailless is far from strong. So many things to see, but I have to keep levelheaded, as this is a dangerous place. What I am searching for is what they ignored most, so I have a rather bad start. Seeds are not tasty and ignored for the most part. It is as much as humans often ignore things like dandelion, even if they are tasty as my elven companion¡­ never mind. Nuts, seeds, fruits. Something like a plant is needed for some experiments. As I would like to take the Moss, it needs the bark of the tree, and I can not take the tree. Maybe a sapling, if I find one around, but I have a hard time searching for non prey as a predator. Carefully smelling the air for kind of dangers, as the wolves explained to me, I trod forward and search the area. Because it is the danger zone in their minds, no Monster goes even close to it unless they are desperate. Sad to think my place is rather avoided, but it explains why I needed to wait for weeks until something thought of looking into a place with soothing Mana. It was not only the mouse, the wolves liked the pure mana too, as it soothed their spirit. Although they would never stay long, as wolves got stronger only in the miasma, it is a nice resting place for recuperation. Always learning new things. Mana is nice, but not good, Miasma is good but not nice to Monsters. What I am more interested in was their place where they lived was rather less in Miasma and more full with Mana, and I would like to know why, but I am not stupid enough to go as tailless. The pack would rip me to shreds after exiling him. ¡­ Not much to find right now, but I found a stick. No I am not suddenly getting more dog than hu¡­ Void creature, I just thought maybe I can plant the branch and it takes root. It is a magical World after all and Mana I have enough to make magic happen. Bringing it into my Domain I already broke a small place open for the stick to be planted. I have even created the best nourishing soil out of the dirt of the crater and limpy. It should have enough nutrients that way. Planting the branch I search again for more things in the woods. Maybe I can bring another Monster back to throw into the portal. ¡­ The hunt is not going well and I still look for some kind of seed. It should be possible to find even one in a forest, but I am not able to. Are they invisible or maybe they do not fall until another season? The herb I saw earlier is the best thing I can find right now, so I take that. Digging out the roots I take the whole thing including the dirt with me. My tongue does not appreciate the taste of dirt, but it is not even my own tongue so who cares. Looking for a nice place to plant it I take tailless back into the Realm and disassemble him for the time. The best way to preserve my Monsters is in parts, as those do not use energy and calories to function. Rather crude and brutal, but I have to stay effective until I can have more options with preserving my helpers. By the way, tailless does not have a tail in spirit form. I at first thought it was a recent injury, but his memories talk about a bear with a rocky carapace which he too late noticed. This shows another thing I did not know before, as injuries can affect the spirit. Most recent scars of the fight with the pack were healed after reassembly by the way. ¡­ The experiment with the branch did not work, but the herb is thriving. Right now I did not take over the herb, as I want to see if anything can grow in the crater, while I am here, and the herb shows promise. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. With more variations of plants I should be able to have a herbal garden and maybe see if I can dabble in alchemy or potion making. You never know if it could come in handy with anything, and I will be throwing everything including the kitchen sink at my problems and see what sticks. The next experiment might destroy a few of my spirit bodies. I sure hope not, but I can not stay passive, if I get no new bodies for a long time. Maybe this would be a suggestion not to work with rare materials, but it is a priority to empower my only Avatars until I get new ones, so it is more of a necessity. ¡­ The first thing is understanding what Mana and Miasma does inside a Monster. For this I take one of the other ones and look at infusing it with more of the same Miasma, as it has in his system. I called them storm wolves as they are filled with wind affinity Miasma from the start. So if they have only wind Miasma, I give them only that kind of Miasma for now. The Miasma seems to flow inside without effort, but slightly damages the body. Looks like it is still harmful to have Miasma inside a body. Then why is there Miasma anyway and how does it relate to becoming a Monster? So many questions. ¡­ The conclusion came later, as the Miasma needs to settle it seems. It damages the body, but does it to reinforce it in a new way. Mutations slowly arise over time and look like a kind of Metamorphosis into something else, but what I do not know. The next thing is, Mana flushes the body out and makes the Monster halt its progress of mutating. That is why they rest in Mana rich environments as it helps them not to change too fast as it will cripple or even kill them, when the Miasma inside rages too much. Another aspect got clear after seeing the Miasma moving through the body. It transforms into Mana over time and gets expelled. Monsters are walking Miasma filters, and are rather efficient at that. Problem is only, they can just filter wind Miasma. Other affinities get rejected and when they enter the body they damage the body way more than wind Miasma. Maybe multiple affinities are possible, but the pain and injuries a creature has to endure must be torturous. For now I want to see what the changes do, so I let him slowly absorb pure wind Miasma and let him rest on occasion to mutate. I call him boost, as he gets boosted with the benefit of not getting wrong miasma dragged in his system. ¡­ Now I have two other wolves in their spirit form in front of me. Those two are the most similar of their brethren, maybe even brothers. Their framework seems to be even quite similar, as I have an Idea that needs testing. Editing spirits is for me rather impossible without unraveling them, so the only thing I can try is to reinforce them. This test is, if I can fuse spirits. Slowly I move the spirit bodies together, while carefully watching for some damage or even destruction. The bodies slowly overlap and seem to not react in any bad manner, what is surprising. No rejection or any other happening, is eerily comforting, as I could empower my Avatars in just fusing them. ¡­ After they overlapped completely something changed. Like a switch being pressed the spirits start to entwine each other and connect. It is rather mesmerizing, but at the same time terrifying, as I have no way to interfere with it in any way. I could, but it would most probably end in both spirit bodies ripping apart at the seams and vanishing. Nothing I can do as to watch the Spirit taking their own time and watching what happens. Similar connections fuse and get thicker, opposite connections fight until the better one absorbs the other and changes the structure, parts where they are in different positions move, as the central knots where the core should be are on two different places. They compromise by moving to one place and merging, but it strains some paths. ¡­ It seems complete. Well at least it stopped merging, but it looks brittle and unstable. The only way to have it stay in the new state might be making the physical body it shows, so lets assemble what was created. Flesh and Bone of both wolves gets used but seems to have problems. I had to make their whole parts into mush for it to fuse in the places they are needed. Luckily the spirit body just makes new bones, flesh, sinews and nerves. Another great find, as this means I don¡¯t have to preserve the organs or bones in one piece all the time. Maybe I can just preserve a large blob of biomass to create anything back into the form. Best for later experiments, when I have enough to just mix creatures up in a stew. What I first notice by creating the body is, that it is bigger. The spirit was not that big, but it seems reality stretches the body into the proportions it needs. The muscles are dense as are the bones. Scars have vanished, as the superior skin won in creating the body. Bones sometimes crack themselves to readjust the size and it looks extremely painful, especially when the skull just breaks to become a size bigger. Side effect is, the fur is close to bristles now, as the hair also grew thicker. Skin is rough and the blood vessels are reinforced. The brain is bigger and has many more connections, although it is still empty. After all this is over and the Body does not want more biomass I put the rest away for now. Around 20 percent of one of the wolves is still there, what makes me first question why it does not need it and second being astounded how the wolf is now almost double muscle and bone size. This one is a unit right now and even slightly overshadows alpha. This one I name twin, as it is two wolves in one. Now I have to see what it feels to control this body, and oh boy are the muscles strained. Moving the body is rather problematic, as the whole body is a bit too dense right now. With regular movement it should be possible to make the muscles more flexible, but right now it is a rather slow albeit sturdy body. Maybe I should have him named tank, but I already have made my decision. Twin himself is a work in progress right now, as the body needs training and at the same time needs to settle. The spirit body was unstable and the physical body should hold it in place, but disassembling him would threaten his existence. So starting for now I build a dog house, or rather palace, as this thing has multiple rooms for all of them if necessary. Now to the last one I have. I do nothing with him, as I want to see how long spirits stay. I can reassemble them but if I do not know how long those ghost images are stable, it would threaten my body count. So he will be the sacrifice for prolonged disassembly. I name him ghost. ¡­ Getting twin out of the Portal was hard, as he is bigger than all the others now. Walking him inside the doghouse, there is a big entrance room with four side rooms, two on each side. If needed I can make two more on the back or lengthen the building, but for now it is fine. Getting out of twin I reassemble alpha. This time I go out as alpha and search the area. He is rather fit for the job anyway and I might need some muscle to get more Wood inside my Domain. Sadly I still do not have any way to grow trees, as I still can¡¯t find any seeds, but branches and other parts should be enough to at least build a wooden gate. Yes, I still hate the stone wheel and hope to retire it soon. I hate, that it even works. With alpha as my avatar now, I walk through the tunnel into the forest to forage more things. Chapter 9 - Hunting prey, being prey Carefully trekking between the trees I look for any sign of danger. Even now this place is alien to me and should be handled with utmost caution. The massive trees can even hide the biggest of creatures with ease, so any Monster can sneak into the range of alpha and just dismember him. I am the only one who is allowed to dismember alpha and so, I am careful to evade any and all possible places of ambush. Searching for more herbs got more species, that might thrive in my Domain, but fallen branches are quite tricky. There are many around, but the most are way too massive to move with alpha. Cutting them down to size must be made with the special ability of the wolves and that ability is rather draining. Cutting wind is rather strong, but leaves alpha exhausted and drains quite a bit of Miasma inside of him. As alpha has less Miasma as the environment, obviously it replenishes the missing one from the area, and it hurts. The wind Miasma is not even the problem, but the different kind of affinities accidentally absorbed make the whole body ache. No wonder Monsters are always aggressive. I would be aggressive to, if I was always in some sort of pain. Taking plants and wood back I notice the smell of acid in the air. This might be a good find, as it is the telltale sign of a spitting snake around here. If I can catch it of guard I would have some food for twin to acclimate to his body better or at least some more material to work with. I am in no thought about catching it alive, as those things spit acid, and I want alpha as unharmed as possible. Traveling after the smell shows the snake, how it hurriedly gulps down one of the electric mice. While it is wary of the surroundings it has its half dissolved prey in its mouth and devours it. Lucky for me, as acid snakes need an empty mouth to spit their acid, unlike other Monsters that just can manifest their skills around them. Still they have a rather nasty second skill where they secrete their acid. Standing on a root of a giant tree I look down and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike. The snake closes its mouth to press the prey down to the stomach and I use this opportunity to strike. Jumping down on top of it I bite right below the head with all my might and try to sever the head while chewing. Shocked about the attack the Snake can do nothing but wriggle before it got limp. Luck was on my side as it did not use the acidic secretion over its body. Carefully I bring the prey back to my Domain. It is a new specimen and should be studied first. ¡­ As I thought there was no spirit body after disassembly. The fangs were hollow, but had no venom, which was odd. Maybe the Snake was venomous, but started to only use acid in the further mutation. I can not tell. The Miasma inside the body was nearly completely gone but the hints of Miasma with the intent to melt something shows where it got this ability. Otherwise there is no dangerous part inside. The mouse on the other hand was a total loss. It was attacked with acid and dissolved inside the snake close to completion even before the stomach got to it. Nothing I can do, so I just give alpha and twin something to eat. Twin as I am afraid of turning him back into a spirit body and alpha as I feel generous and he was the one who caught it anyway. Huh, snake really tastes like chicken, but leaves a strange aftertaste. ¡­ Alpha is gone. I did not even see, what got him, just gone. I relaxed, as I was still in the tunnel and did not think anything would happen there, but after seeing just a slight flicker I was cut of from him. What in the Void happened? How can he be gone without me even realizing anything? Did he die? What did he die to? So many questions but my alert level is rising steadily. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. First thing was checking on my pitfall trap, as I might need it in a few Minutes. The release is even already pulled halfway to put it on a hair trigger. The next is checking the door as I want to capture whatever comes through, if something comes through. Twin is ready and able although a bit slow. I hope I do not need boost or tailless, but assembling them and putting them in the doghouse is the best option right now. Not five minutes later, both of them jump out of my Portal and go hide inside, as I am now prepared as I can be. Let the waiting game begin. ¡­ Twenty minutes later, something started to stir in my Domain. Light did not reflect much and I can only vaguely notice my Essence brush against an aura. This made whatever there is stop at first, but later did come in further. First I wanted to take my Essence back, but whatever it is would definitely notice the change, so I let it just be natural background. What I could see after it was near the door was just a slight shadow of a creature. It is cautious with getting close to the gate. It took its time to finally show itself slightly. It was human. Not quite human as I would call them but rather a dirty gray elf. What it does in my Domain I do not know, but I make sure it does not leave, as it might the killer of alpha. Although I had alpha only a few weeks at most, I hate it if someone or something takes things away from me. It took alpha, so it will take his place. I have just the right things to experiment on with a humanoid creature as they can not become Monsters, unless for extreme circumstances, strangely. A creature without being a Monster will be new insight, unless even humanoid creatures can become Monsters in this World. Typically for an elf it has a bow, but a rather strange one. The shaft even has still some leafs and is strangely formed. The arrow it has in its other hand looks also strange to me. Whatever the tip is made of is neither rock nor metal, and confounds me. It is extremely careful until it came to the door and searched everything by touching it carefully. Obviously for traps, but I hope my trap door is not noticeable for whatever it is doing. As a precaution I create some sand in the pit and levitate it up to the cracks in the floor, hopefully deceiving it not noticing the difference. Also I started to use wind Miasma to let the faintest draft vanish inside the pitfall as this might also a telltale sign. The hollow sound¡­ should not be a problem at how light it steps. Finally at my gate it notices the rock wheel and chain before grabbing into its small pouch and pulling out¡­ mud? SON OF A¡­ He used the mud with some kind of magic to grow vines blocking the rock wheel. I nearly got a shock as the vines grew frighteningly close to the dirt filled gap of the trap door. Well trapping him with the door is out of the question now. I need to get him with the pitfall directly, but this will need some kind of distraction. ¡­ Moving inside after making sure the Wheel would not budge in any way, it perceives its surroundings. The first it noticed and stared at the longest was my Portal. Whatever it saw, it was extremely unnerved, as it regularly looked back at it, while searching the rest of the area. It saw the storage and doghouse, but stays with its sight longer on the doghouse, as it seems to know something is inside. Suddenly, I have an Idea. A few steps inside is the ideal place for it to stand for my plan to work and I start part one of my plan. I trigger one of the instincts wolves have, without taking over their bodies. Although it is rather flimsy, instincts work somehow, even without me being fully in control, luckily. The wolves howl. As an instinct ingrained somehow in their psyche, I could make them howl. What even shocked me, was the howl of twin. I let him not use his voice before and it is loud, deep and unsettling. And the elf is of this opinion too, as it readies its bow and nocks an arrow. But too bad, this was not the area, that is dangerous. The tiny focus on the wrong thing was enough and the floor vanished under the elf making him jump, but not quite enough to escape the pit. Now I have to be fast, as I had not anticipated a sentient creature that early, as the wolves never seen anyone in the vicinity. Flying my Portal over the pitfall I stretch it with all my might into a disc and descended. At the same time I use wind Miasma to pull all the air I could muster out of the vicinity and hover rocks from my storage. First I block the gate with as many bricks I had in my storage while readying the spikes I created beforehand to drop them if it is necessary. While I did that, the elf was not idle. The first thing happening were three arrows directly shooting through my Portal. The power of these are impressive and understood what took alpha out by just seeing them fly. Now it starts to use its magic to create vines to climb, but with all my Essence and Miasma I fight against it casting. I lost the fight and the vines grew, what I took as signal to move my portal to the wall with the vine and going deeper into the pit. If it climbs it will have to go through me. Shock is evident on its face and maybe noticing the rather thin air. Shooting more arrows I pretend to warp and being pushed back. It is luckily not smart as it shot more and more arrows while I warp and pretend to struggle going down. At the end it tries to use the vines and to jump around me, but just as it got a hold on the wall, a spike fell from the sky and impaled its shoulder. Dropping back down the elf starts to hyperventilate. The less air and heavy fight seems to take it slowly out but not fast. Trying to stand it fell down again after being weakened. My Portal gets nearer and it seems to try to find a solution, and how many knew, a desperate solution could be a bad solution, as it crawled into the tunnel, sealing it with more vines. Those Vines are a bit annoying, but my Portal can take them in after finding the best position to absorb them without turning the Portal intangible accidentally. Now going down the tunnel I take away all air I can to not let it recuperate. After the last turn I finally found the elf at the end, miraculously still conscious, but heavily weakened. Next was absorbing it into my realm. The fight is won. Chapter 10 - Eastern Redwind Tailless wanders the tunnel warily to see if the elf was alone, as I still have not taken over it, for that was already a done deal. The threat of another one or a whole team is worse than him swimming inside my nothingness searching for the exit. The first thing I see is poor alpha. Dead and gutted. Out of his head grows a tree. How in the Void does a tree grow in here and out of poor alpha was my first question, but have more as I saw him ripped open but nothing missing. Ah, wait a second I was wrong. There is something missing, and it is the core. I had to search the intestines with tailless to see the reasoning for the gutting. Not even taking some materials, are elves in this World that barbaric? Being as careful as I can, I did not find any other person or Monster in the vicinity. Nothing to do but bringing back the tree with alpha in tow. But before that I take tailless back to the house and start converting that damnable elf. ¡­ Eastern Redwind, his name was always said with a troubled expression, as he was the most problematic of the root elves. His love for bloodshed was a problem the Roots had to live with. Not respecting the matriarchy and even hunting for fun were just a few problems with him. As the Roots believed killing is only reasonable for the good of the woods. When he finally crossed the line, by disrespecting the Queen in hearing range of herself, he was made to do a task. Find out what changed in the Starfall area and look for proper hints about the sudden relief of Miasma in the forest. Only two options were acceptable: bringing back credible leads to any happenings or not come back at all. It was out of respect for his late mother tree, they did not banish him directly, although it was a rather obvious tell to him to just ¡®go die¡¯. He was the last one to be pulled of from his mother tree. Why it died was because of rotting roots, so he was himself a bit rotten, as many said. But that was not really the reason of his lashing out. He was just angry. His mother tree died, and everyone looked at him with pity, as if this would help. His brethren were totally fine, as they were fully integrated in the community, but as he was the last, they looked at him differently and he was hurt. Killing things just took the pressure of him and disrespecting everyone around him was a way to get back at them for treating him that way. But now it was already too late to really change a new leaf. The seed sprouted and where he lies, he will have to grow or wither. On his way to the Starfall area, he noticed one lonely wolf. Normally they are in a pack so it was definitely an outcast. At first he wanted to kill it and even had his arrow nocked to slay it then and there, but then just watched it move strangely and hunting somewhat odd. The snake was killed nicely, but wolves hunt normally in a different way. They do not jump from above, they stalk their prey and eat them that way. Something seemed wrong with it, so he followed it and was shocked to find where it had its lair. A hole inside the shell of the Starfall area spewed out Mana instead of Miasma and the wolf brought its catch back. It must be domesticated by whatever lived inside this hole. Redwind made his plan. Kill the wolf, when it came out, sneak inside and find whatever lives inside. If it is in his capabilities kill it and bring the head back to the matriarch. Afterwards he would be able to even curse in front of the matriarch without repercussions as he did already a great boon for solving the mystery of the Starfall area. The wolf was killed easily and after taking out the core, he threw a bit of scent masking dust on the wolf. Very slowly started Redwind searching for traps, and got more and more nervous, as he did not find any. If there were none, either the being inside was an idiot or strong enough it did not need any traps. Therefore he used his utmost care to follow the path. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. It took close to half an hour as he carefully searched every ounce of the place to be totally sure of his safety and only stopped as he noticed the air change with an ominous presence ingrained in it. Looking for any kind of hint if he was discovered, he readied his retreat, but after a while nothing came from it. The path found its end to a bricked wall definitely manmade by one of the Grassers or Mountainfolk. Both savages, living in places made of cold stone and dead trees. Their whole thing is killing the forests and using it to fuel their expansion. If this is their doing, nothing good can come from it, and should be destroyed immediately. Redwind thought about having enough evidence to get back to the Roots and be welcomed back, but his own ego would not allow it, as he wants to show exceptionally work as to never questioned again, so he continued. The Door was a simple rock and a chain. Mountainfolk would make such, but it is out in the open, so more like a Grasser is living here. The door is so simple and stupid, Redwind relaxed a bit. A being with such craftsmanship is no one who can create a proper trap, so it should be easy to at least flee if necessary. Using a bit of mud and growing a dripvine was enough to let this door never close again in the near future. The way is open and more evidence can be collected. The cockiness faded right away after seeing the black sphere hovering over some kind of pedestal or altar. It has an ominous vibe to it and seems to be the amalgamation of wrongness in the World. Whatever it is, it is nothing that should be existing and deserves to be destroyed. While looking around more he finds two houses, while being wary of the sphere. One seems to be a stockpile for something and the other a house with no door. Maybe this is where the Grasser lives, but it is rather simple for it being something those pompous degenerates live in. It would be nice to kill him in its sleep to make it easier, especially if it is some kind of mage. One try should be done before escaping, as he already sees the miserable face of the Matriarch Queen thanking him for a job well done. The horrible howl of wolves were heard and Redwind was clearly spotted in some way, but one or three shots right at whatever comes through this door will make the escape easier. While aiming the arrow, the shock of losing footing was gut wrenching. A trap and he stood on it without even noticing! A quick jump nearly helped him escape but alas, was too shallow. Shocked beyond believe was what made its way to the pitfall. It was not the owner but the black sphere! Shaken by the shock, Redwind needed precious seconds to blast into action before all is too late. Shooting the thing seems to do nothing at first, so escape via quickvines were the best way. Putting Mud and a quickvine seed on the wall made something react with horrible intent. Something pressed against him like it wants to lick him all over, breaking his concentration slightly but not enough. The vines grew fast and right as he wanted to escape the black thing descended right where the vines were. As a last resort he fired more arrows to an effect, so more arrows followed. Breathing got harder and his strength started to fade so a quick climb and jump at the opposite end the pitfall was a likely escape. With clawing at the rock, right at the time he wanted to pull himself out of the nightmarish pitfall a piercing pain radiated from his right shoulder. The next few seconds were rather blurry, as he did not remember anymore how he fell or why he was so much in pain, the only thing he did know was he had to escape somehow. Desperate Redwind crawled in the small burrow of whatever made this and sealed the Entrance with the rest of the quickvines he had at hand. Crawling slowly he thought there must be some exit, as he felt slight wind in front but after a while he noticed only air leaving form the back and not getting replaced. Engulfed in the Darkness was the most horrible experience he ever thought possible. It was as if Nature just stopped existing, no song of the trees and no whispers of the World. Nothing. Trying to escape he moved through the world to the sphere, hoping it would bring him back but with a cruel joke of fate the sphere he feared so much now ran away and let him be inside this place. It took maybe an hour before things got even worse. Something started to invade his entire being. Like a fungal growth or a infestation of larvae from ravenous bark beetle it tried to enter him. The whole ordeal made him not only fear for his life but for his existence in general. Whatever it is, it is not from his world, as this is a being beyond comprehension. The torture kept going and going. Out of fear and desperation Redwind cried, soiled himself. It is like nothing can stop the invasion and he will be worse of than dead. ¡®Treemother save me¡¯, was his last comprehensive thought before he broke into instinctual resistance to keep the last bit of his sanity. And then it all ended¡­ Chapter 11 - Sorting a brain and expansion ideas This was the longest fight I had. Three days, three whole days he resisted until I had taken him over. Now I am sorting his memories and find rather few holes inside it. Must be because of heavy damage on his psyche. I found many nice things like herbal knowledge and even much needed territory knowledge. While sorting I will review his race for starters. The root elves who call themselves the Roots are the first elven race known to walk the forests in general and they take extreme pride in it. They are the ancestor elves who are so close to wood sprites, they might even be a distant cousin of the dryads. The definite signs of their ancestry is the bark on their back. The Bark is the cast of bark of their mother tree, as the gestation of a root elf has more stages than normal creatures. The first impregnation is normal and goes into a different Direction after they are born. With the placenta not at the front where the navel is but rather at the back of their body they are put on the bark of a tree. The placenta merges with the tree bark and starts a symbiotic lifestyle. I bet there is some kind of CO2 exchange going for nourishment growing their bodies. While the pregnancy is only around a solar cycle (should be a Year in this World), the time an elf is growing on the mother tree is fifteen to twenty sol¡­ well years. It is fascinating how this works. They grow slow old and would, for this even have a pregnancy close to decades, but Roots circumvent this by lending the nourishment from trees for that. Even their blood is kind of green. Impressive! ¡­ I now know where I am. Starfall crater seems to be the name from the Roots. It is to the North of the Woods, which means I am on the south side of the World, as the sun travels over the northern Mountains I can perceive on the other end of the crater. The mountains might have a name, but for the Roots they are just ¡®the mountains¡¯ so nothing of worth there. The Woods are at least two hundred kilometers in diameter it seems and are formed slightly like an acorn. Red saw a map in the city of the Roots and knows it by heart for traveling purpose. The ¡®city¡¯ is fantastic and I would love to see it myself, but the Roots are rather heavy Isolationists and rarely even let other elves in the city. Their city itself is made out of living vines and other sturdy Lianas to create whole streets on the top of the trees. If you do not know the city is there it would just look like another dark place in the forest without much telltale. Quite ironic for the Roots to live in the treetops, but okay. About a square kilometer with multiple stories it is impressive to think this whole thing is made out of only living things and no processed materials. While the City is in the middle of the forest there are outposts hidden in the treetops invisible for even the most perceptible outsider. Around Starfall crater is no such outpost as they just look every few years if something did change in the circumference and stop worrying about encroachment from it. They more keep the other sentient creatures out of the woods as there is a rather by mouth non aggression pact between them. Humans do not go deep into the woods and for that they will not suddenly go missing. Rather brutal, but effective, as people stop cutting too much trees or find Monsters deeper inside. The Magic of the Roots are primal in nature and only make plants do their bidding. This can be amplified with multiple members and could topple cities or even kingdoms if they really want to. If they want they could triple the size of the forest in mere months by infusing the growth speed of trees. They just don¡¯t want to, as they are content with their freedom, and a bigger forest means more land to guard. Their clothing is¡­ non existing. Vines, leafs and pouches of bark are the most they wear and use. Art is also on the low end, with their best aspects of artistic prowess to blend perfectly with the environment. The kingdoms around them are all the same in their sight. Grassers all the way and nothing else. By the way Grasser is their derogatory term for People other than elves. Even other elven races are not spared from their spite. ¡®Pretty flowers¡¯ they call other elves, as an insult as they are only flower, no root and as such useless. ¡­ Taking Red apart gives me luckily a spirit body and this means not only Monsters have them. I was scared about that at first, but now happy to be right with my assumption. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. No Miasma inside but still intent is there. Strange to see this fusion of plant and animal in a spirit body. It is a mammalian creature crossed with a plant in a rather strange way. The wood on the back is part of him and not some remnant of his mother tree. Oh, by the way, no bellybutton. Should be obvious, but it is an interesting thing to mention. I see the bark is a part of the body, but it should be possible to remove it with surgery on the physical body and let the spirit adapt, like tailless has no tail. With more changes I could create a humanoid avatar I can use to speak and inspect other parts of the world. Unfortunately this will have to be far in the future, as I have more pressing matters. For now I put him back together and his shoulder wound should be fixed. Next is to understand how his skin feels like. It is a long time moving a humanoid body. ¡­ It is hard to relearn how to walk on two feet again. Every step I take is wobbly and rather clumsy. I think four paws are easier, but then again it should be good training to move different bodies. Maybe I should capture a snake or a bird to have more knowledge about moving in different ways. And one thing I could do without are the voices I am hearing. At first I thought I go crazy, but I can hear the whispers of the plants. They are no words or anything but more like kind of brabble. If there is a way to understand them, I can not. Well best ignore it for the time being. Left foot, new center of mass, right foot, new center of mass, left foot¡­ Woah, that was wobbly. This will take time to be used properly. I will have to train every day. In the meantime I build a House for Red. He needs a place to rest, if I start to peel away the bark and modify him in other ways. Maybe I can catch another one and fuse them? It should make the body stronger. ¡­ While building a small mansion I create a small place for trees. The arrows Red had were in secret tree seeds, made to grow a shaft with nutrients inside to explosively grow inside the body of the one who is hit. The arrowhead is the seed. Rather sinister to make the pierced arrow take root and kill by wrapping, squeezing and piercing the internal organs. With those I should be able to make more arrows and the best of all I can start farming wood. I need some better materials for doors, frames and many other aspects to become sufficient. Sadly I still do not know how to create good metal wares. Iron and copper are nice, but they are not the best materials. I know about steel and it had to do with something of carbon, but would that make steel? Need to burn a few trees to get coal then. While I am at it maybe I should start to build a whole base here. I am already invested in this place, so I can build the first area here, as I already have a body and right now am searching for a base to study the Worlds laws. ¡­ Tailless is out and searching for more plants. With the knowledge from Red I can say, with tailless I can now find things way better. I never knew there are Plants hiding under the ground and only quickly blooming, when they want to spread new seeds. The World is different with such knowledge. Also I can now find more places where different plants grow. The local flora is rather versatile if you have the insight to look for it. Although Roots eat much tree sap and drink collected dew favorably, they know some edible plants hiding in the forest. There is a kind of radish, that is hard to see, and some berries. They are not the best food for the wolves, but can be sustenance for a while for Twin. Boost did get disassembled for the time and I look after ghost to check for changes. Until now no changes are visible to me and gives me hope I can store bodies with this kind of trick forever. Right now I am foraging for my garden, but I notice more and more small Monsters in the vicinity. Some look more fit than the desperate kinds I saw a few weeks ago. Maybe I can finally capture more Monsters for more tests. ¡­ The Mansion is ready. Red helped with it, as with him I can increase the growth of plants. The stress on the plants is rather high and they have a hard time to create new seeds, so I can not do that with all plants, but to get wood, it is rather nice. Wooden frames and wooden doors. How wonderful to have something resembling civilization. Just you wait rock wheel, you will be replaced in the near future with a massive wooden gate. While I try my best to create glass It is not the best. It has a rather strong tint and seeing through is not really possible but it lets in some light while not letting draft in. Final touches can be made later, but I am happy with it for now. The Mansion is has two stories and is rather big for simple housing. The bottom floor has the entrance hall with stairs up while two separate rooms on the left and a large storeroom at the right. Up the stairs there is a small balcony leading to two more rooms on the left and two on the right. So I have six rooms and a storage. With this I should be able to make a library and write my findings down, while having a ritual room, experimenting room, alchemy room, rest room for Red and some to spare. I am starting on making glass jars for some things I want to preserve and have at the ready. The next step would be creating a well and a few separate gardens for different tests. Oh, a Mine would be nice too, but I do not know where would be a good place for that. The mountains are way to far away for now. I grow steadily and have a Domain of around five hundred meters but this is not even close to be reaching the other end of the crater. More metal should still be nice. What to do, what to do¡­ Chapter 12 - Village building for later and the flourishing forest Seems like my thinking is still too complex for my own good. I want to create a well, so I already dig myself a hole where I can at least mine in multiple directions. Might as well create a cistern down there for keeping water at the ready. The dig site is further away from the entrance, way behind my first dwellings. The reasoning is to be careful of a cave in. Twin could get hurt if something happens. Digging down is rather easy. First take away the soil, as it is rather useful for my gardens, then layer the hole with bricks while fusing them together. The next thing is just turning the Rock down there into powder. It is still rather interesting how the rock is porous, but it benefits me right now more than it hampers my excavation. I will find the water level easier that way. ¡­ Well there it is. Beyond the ten meter mark I found finally moisture, that replenishes itself. Now it is time to dig in multiple directions to search for more ore. Hopefully there is some kind of vein, but even small pockets would be nice, as I really want to start a metallurgy study. Going in different directions at the same time I imagine some sort of web structure for the tunnels, as I am in no way an expert in how to dig. I know, there is some sort of necessity for structural integrity to not let everything break into itself, so I start fusing bricks inside the tunnel walls to hold everything up. Bringing out the dust, or rather now mud is becoming more and more challenging with the water rising, but digging is still possible. As I do not need to breathe down here I can just relax and let the water fill the tunnel, while I am working. Occasionally I watch the entrance for any movements, as I am still scared of any intrusions from another creature. I could close the door, but why should I, as there is more benefit for catching things than demerits to let something snoop. The forest is getting more noisy around my place, so just waiting for new ¡®residents¡¯ is better than being too secure. ¡­ Digging tunnels in water has brought me new insights. At first Mana mixes with water very well. Too well to be honest, as it washes it away from where I put it. Second is Miasma does nothing with water. It just moves through it as if it were not there. There is some current but it pulls way less on it than Mana. Next thing is my Garden. It is rather nice to see things grow slowly. At least I can work with plants way more than before, as I am now able to cultivate my own. Gone are the times I have to bring them back myself. Well that was a lie, as I still want way more variants of plant life. The third thing is, I am building a village. An empty village with different housing, market center, storage buildings and what you all need for a village. I even started to fuse small pipelines for a kind of waste disposal, but that is more for my vanity than making it believable. The reasoning is easy. Make more places to search before the intruders have time to escape. Most of the houses have even a cellar, and every cellar has hidden doors to a tunnel system connecting them, to hide any of my bodies and be able to make search parties ¡®vanish¡¯. I am in no way overcautious, as getting Red was a fluke. He was weak, an idiot and totally full of himself. Hurting monsters and speaking ill of others showed that in full force. The harsh punishment might even be meant to bow his head and apologize before dying, but who am I to understand the thinking of the Roots and their philosophy. Taking into account, that a dead village is way more eerie than seeing some kind of living things I decided to let simple monsters like the mouse roam the village. It is the least I can do to remember the brave mouse, which opened a whole new World to explore for me. Anyway, I put some herbs in different houses to dry and create more furniture mockeries as a way to make things look homely. With a little dust out of rock on them they will look more abandoned than never used. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡­ A change in my positioning of my Portal is necessary. I remember how any creature thought of it as the ultimate horror, and should be hidden somewhere to be revealed at the end, not be right there at the start. While I am happy to see it grow large enough to nearly let Twin through even without stretching I have the feeling capturing someone by just hunting them with it through my village is impossible. So hiding it is. The best place would be the underground tunnels, but As I need the Portal to make Mana, it can not be in a sealed area. Bummer. Perfect would be finding a way to make Mana without the need of my Portal being there, but that would require more knowledge or a monster farm, maybe both. The next problem would be my steady resource transport. I have to move everything inside my Realm to effectively create what I want. Making bricks outside is still impossible for me, as I can not will the dust enough to become bricks. There MUST be some knowledge I can use. Is there anywhere a Mason or Builder, that might not mind me reading out their brain? It is frustrating to know I am some kind of all powerful abomination from beyond the stars and not even be able to create the simplest things without cheating. I need books, and I need them last year. ¡­ The best I came up with was a hidden room below the back of the mansion. As I can move the portal through solids, I can just pull it down when people wander into my Domain. The walls down there are porous and lead to the tunnel system so I can still work on Mana conversion but not on materials. For now no hidden door is installed, as it would be nice to have it mostly secure in a kind of sealed area, to not be accidentally found while I search other places for prey. The hidden tunnels are also connected to the canalization, but as it is just a mockery, it should still be clean. I could create a permanent flow of water into the septic tank with water to make it more believable. More for the ¡®to do¡¯ list. While I am at it the gardens come quite good along. Although I can not force them too much with Red, but it is enough to create the initial batches for the different beds later. The initial testing place is one huge garden for growth of new test plants, one reference garden, where I do nothing, one Mana infused garden, seven different miasmic gardens and one large garden for splice work. With splicing I want to try to fuse different plant spirits together. Disassembling live ones gave me a extremely faint and simple one, so fusing should be possible. There is the whole backlog of combining identical plants, similar plants, different plants and later Monster with plants. I can not wait to see if I can create something incredible, as fusing different life might really be possible as I can see it on Red already. ¡­ The first time for Boost to be taken out of the crater. It is rather remarkably how much he changed by absorbing so much Miasma. His body got sleeker and his pelt is extremely silky and flows with its own wind. Although someone can still see the wolf in him I would even say a bit of greyhound is within him now. His head has become sleek too, and resembles now a slightly hairier Anubis. His essence is inundated with wind and not only the Miasma inside him is now flavored, even his Mana and in some aspect his whole being. The first thing I notice is a new sense of Boost. He can feel the wind and anything it touches in quite a radius. It is a strange feeling of touching everything without touching. I would say it resembles me touching everything with my essence, but then again, it is way different, as the wind is not only Boosts, that tell him where what is, rather all the wind around him just seems to love to tell Boost what is around him. There are more transformations in his body I do not understand. One is the change in its paws, as the front paws are more agile and have better digits. Even the small claw on the side of the paws, whatever they are called again, got further down and slightly extended. Is this to climb better? Would make sense as further up the trees the wind must be even stronger and should help them out. ¡­ Boost is quite a mage. One slicing wind and he cuts far and deep. There is not even that exhaustion Alpha had, when he did it. The regeneration of Miasma still hurts, but is a slight bit tamer, as the Miasma is mostly filtered outside his body now. The aura takes over the rough part and filters it first before the body absorbs it. Effectiveness got an upgrade and way more Mana gets created through the process. Even my own way is only more effective, because it breaks down every Mana and not only wind. If I could learn the aspects of breaking Miasma down how they do it¡­ Oh, I am in the forest, as I need more food for Twin and Boost. Both are more or less permanent residents now in my village. Twin more, Boost less, but more often than not. I tried different kind of Miasma absorption on Boost and the best was without a doubt a fleshly body with full rest periods exactly inside that body of his. Miasma wrecks havoc inside the spiritual body way too much and the physical body stabilizes both absorption and refinement better than without, so he technically is now required to stay assembled. Lucky fluffy wolf, you are. ¡­ The fauna seems to really diversify around here. New creatures look for new nesting places right where the whole Miasma expands. I even saw some of the storm wolves in the memories of my subjects, but they stay rather distance and just fletch their teeth at him. Don¡¯t care, there is enough to hunt for everyone here. I myself just killed a kind of gigantic mole which came out of the burrow at the right time for me and the wrong time for him. One cast of my cutter cut the head open and showed all his thoughts to the rest of the world in the worst way possible. Right now I transport that thing back. It is heavy, I give it that but Boost is stronger and can throw it on his back while applying heavy updraft to cushion the weight. Still I need to hurry back, as the high Miasma cost is rather alarming and I want to have some backup for some ambushes. Not losing any more of my wolves to stupidity. Chapter 13 - Residents and bloody tests Mole tastes bland, earthy and the whole thing is chewy to nearly rock level. The only uptake is after eating with Boost it was way easier to eat that with Twin. He just chews through everything, Skin, flesh, sinew, bone¡­ How he even can crush bone with his jaws is perplexing. While I was away I had some intruders, but of the welcome kind. Rodents came slowly to look for shelter. Mice started to search the place for shelter and a new kind of visitor is here. Some kind of rat. They are gray normally, but in shadows they get obscured. I bet it is some kind of shadow miasma. Whatever it is, they are already a bit annoying, eating my plants in the garden. Oh well, at least they do not eat all of them and the plants roots are still there for growing back. The different kind of gardens are already seeded and now growing on their own. Hopefully it will show me some good results, as I really want to create some drugs and enhancers for Red and the others. Not that I want them becoming addicts or something, but I need to boost their growth to make sure they do not get killed. I have only a limited count on bodies, and if I do not want to walk around as a mouse again, no offense dear mice, I need to make sure they stay healthy. Until I have a way to capture new bodies with more strength I should be careful with what I have, even if I have to be overprotective. ¡­ Time flies, when you have a garden. The greens are growing fine except in the miasmic fields. One field is flooded with Miasma I thought is plant growth, but I am not so sure anymore. The Plants are growing in strange ways and look all different. Similarities between even the same plants before this are non existent. They only grow and they do not care in what way. Even the monsters are avoiding them and I think this is more of a dud. If I want a garden to scare someone to death, I could always create a new one. The next is filled with darkness. Do not judge me, there are plants loving the dark, and some of my experiments even survived. Their growth is extremely slow and seem to take their time, but they are promising. I keep them for the time. The fire Miasma was a no go. Magical plants grow inside Volcanoes, I have seen them in my earlier life, but it seems they need a bit more adaption time than what I gave them. At least their ashes are good fertilizer? Light Miasma should have better results, but they are dead too. Some kind of radiation poisoning maybe. Water drowned them. That¡¯s it. Earth is sad too. All plants are now calcified. Not a whole disaster, as I now have chalk. I think it was useful with metals and masonry¡­ wait, aren¡¯t bones out of chalk? Scratch that, a dud too. Wind ripped their leafs to shred, so nothing there. Maybe it had to do with the quantity and not the affinity. I should try it again with less oompf on the next batch, excluding darkness, as there is still hope. Now to the Mana field. It grows fast and lush. Most of my rodent residents take their meal from that part of the fields. As for the few who do not, they just take their meal in form of another rodent resident. Those field rats are rather omnivores and quite good in hunting mice by hiding in the shadows. Everyone evades my Portal with a wide berth by the way. Not that I am complaining, as I caught some mice and rats still with just locking them in a house and cornering them with my portal. Mice and Rats work the same as the wolves. Fusing them makes them bigger, albeit slower and giving them Miasma starts changes. But as I have my wolves right now as the prime example, the new subjects will be used later in different experiments like cross fusion and flooding their bodies with Mana to see what happens. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡­ More time flies and I have to sadly say Boost is not evolving anymore. He seems to have reached some kind of limit or maybe there is something what needs to happen for him to further go. As of now I will not push more into him. He now looks like a true combination of a furry wolf and greyhound. His Front paws have changed rather strangely as he has dexterous claws, but I do not see the reasoning for now. The next thing is my plants have rather poor miasmic properties. So slow as they grow it shows how bad miasma is for them. As for the Mana garden it is now in phase two. The main garden where I use the plants to reseed all other gardens are now also made with Mana induction. The original Mana garden got a wall and I now press Mana with more pressure in. As my walls are Mana proof, it should overcharge those fresh seedlings. Hopefully I find some kind of nice effect on overcharged plants I can use. The mine under the well now reaches into the middle of the village, so I created another well there for more authenticity. Into the walls I even made ladder steps. If someone is so crazy and goes down there I could catch him rather easily. With so many tunnels down there, I have the feeling something should have caved in until now, but It seems I do a good job in reinforcing the walls. Acid spitting snakes are now in my growing soul storage too, as some had found their way into the village. For now I am tolerating them, but I do not like them very much, as their acid already has melted some parts of my wooden doors. It is easier for Twin to find a snack though, as he just needs to go where I last saw one and take it down. By the way Twin has finished readjusting. I thought about it and took him apart once and the spirit now fully resembles his fleshly body. I will not add another body to Twin, as I do believe it would cripple him more than benefit him. His Muscles are already taut and his body lumbering. If any more gets added he might not be even able to move anymore. ¡­ A new opportunity has risen for new experiments. As I am looking through my village I found a snake in the sewers hunting a rat. The rat already is hit by acid and some of its flesh already dissolving. I can even see the ribs slowly getting thinner. While the snake seems to be extremely sure about its victory it slowly moves to the rat. The rat itself is nearing its last moments and the snake looks to enjoy the struggle of its prey, but as strangely many of the snakes, they never look up. While looking only at the rat and the surrounding side tunnels I dislodged a rather big piece of brickwork over it and smash it into paste. Right after my portal slowly drags itself through the wall near the rat. To start the experiment I need helpers so I take the fused mouse named Brute and the mutated mouse Shocker out of my Portal for possible mishaps. The next thing was taking rat biomass and a spirit body I own of a rat out. As the rat seems female I take an appropriate rat for my experiments. The next thing is taking my spirit body and shoving it in the dying rat. The aura of the dying rat is nearly completely gone, so it was possible to push the spirit in albeit with extreme effort. At the same time I keep track of the rat itself. Before I thought the process would fail it just plopped right into the rat and now they are merging. As I look at the rat I notice no heartbeat and slow degradation of my own spirit body in it, so I take surge over to quickly give a shock to the ribs and see the rat convulse. Next taking over brute I start massaging the place where the heart is with its strong claws. Ever so often I hold open the maw with brute and push a small gust of wind inside it, while noticing the working as the right lung, that is out in the open moves. Between those aspects I assemble what I can from the merging spirit body and close the wounds carefully. Until now It seems like futile attempts but I do not worry, as the probability to work was never that high. Time moves on and the rat repeatedly has a heartbeat and then it stops again for for me to restart it. It took hours of careful fusing flesh and letting the spirits settle until it was finally finished and the rat was whole again. The whole place was drenched in blood and the rat is just shallow breathing, but alive. The operation was successful. With this experiment I now know I can heal, more or less, and able to fuse my spirit bodies into not overtaken physical bodies. What this entails, I will now see, as the aura of the rat is so low, it shows how close she is still to death. A watchful eye on this specimen is utmost priority. ¡­ While repairing the sewer was easy, watching the rat was a bit tedious. The heart stopped twice again already and is still comatose after two weeks. I am force feeding it with a salvaged blood vessel from a snake to push food and water into the stomach. I hope she wakes up soon, as I have put too much time in it right now to just let the rat die. By the way the rat is living in the mansion in a nest I created with straw from the plants I have lying around. The village is getting bigger with time. It has now twelve houses, my doghouse and the mansion. Maybe I should build a church, but what kind of design do they use in this world for churches? The gothic type with towers, the rounded domes, pyramid shaped and even the black cube come to mind, when I think about it. Sadly the Roots are too isolationist to know and therefore Red did not know too, but there should be some places of worship. The most positive aspect was the modification of the gate. A wooden interior with plated stone makes it lightweight and robust enough to be lifted by the pulley with counterweight. If the ropes I crafted through lianas get cut the gate stays closed. At the same time the Gate is not that obvious anymore, as it blends more into the ceiling stones. Now I hope I will be able to close it, when other Roots are visiting. Chapter 14 - Fighting former brethren while naming the rat Something strange happened to the rat. At first the fur got whiter and now is purely white. Then she woke up and showed her eyes, which are now red. She is likely now an albino. Although she is awake, movement seems to be rather bad. Maybe she got brain damage from the operation, or needs to understand her new body. By the way she is not a hulking rat, as I first thought she would become, but still looks like a normal rat albeit an albino one. For now I feed her and give her water by the nest with food being ground to a paste for better intake. More tests should be made after she has recuperated more. The tests I can make are rather interesting in their results. I do not own her. She is her own Monster and does seem to do what she wants, albeit right now it is nothing. The next is, the aura is not deflecting my essence anymore, but the body is. I can not see anything inside, but it is enough to feel the heartbeat, so I can frequently check her pulse. For now this is the only things I can do, but maybe later I can see how the fusion has changed her. ¡­ This rat is so interesting. It seems to feel my presence, when I am near her, as she always perks up, when my attention is near her. A few clumsy steps are already possible, but I still have to clean the nest of her droppings myself, as she can not go out on her own. Sadly one annoying part is, my retry with other Monster is still failure after failure. Either the spirit breaks or the fusion goes horribly wrong. One snake has another snake head growing out of the deadly wound on its stomach while a mouse just ripped itself apart when trying to heal the wound. There must be something I am missing. What it is, I do not know. To have a level head I just start on more enhancements. Snakes combining makes them thick but not longer. Right now I try to make them longer by modifying the muscles and bones directly. It is extremely complex to add more flesh and bone, so it will take its time. The enhanced snake grew horns and has rather shiny scales. Also the lost genes are starting to get activated, because some kind of bony nubs grow on the front of the snake. Some kind of lizard trait might get reactivated with time. Or it becomes a dragon, as there are many fairytales that say snakes are extremely distant related to them. Would be nice to have Monster under my control without wearing their skin, but it is still not possible. There are still possibilities, but right now I have more pressing problems. ¡­ The wolves who had thrown out Alpha and his troupe often come looking inside the tunnels. The more often they come here the bolder they get. Although they do not go trough the gate right now, it is annoying for them to stalk around the tunnel entrance, as nothing will immigrate in, when they guard it. High Mana is a relief for many creatures, they know that too and think about making this their new hunting ground. Unless they get into my gate, I can not capture more wolves, and they just annoy me to no end. For this I am taking Twin to make a stand. Let us see who is the big bad wolf in this forest and who is the stray. Moving out of the tunnels with Twin I already see four wolves in the vicinity. Growling and showing their teeth mean nothing to me, but shows how they do not like me. Well if they do not want to be friends, I won¡¯t be either. Doing the same they do, I show them Twins teeth and growl in a extremely deep rumble. Moving towards them shows them how I am not even close to be intimidated by their attempts. Although I do not quite understand how wolves work, normally there should be some sort of duel with the strongest, but they disregard any decorum and attack at once. What do they think will happen, if they attack something close to double their mass in pure muscle? The first one trying to get my leg was swatted by my wind miasma infused paw. A heavy gash was seen on its snout, but seems to just yelp and retreat for now. The other one who tries to get my throat got a reminder, that my teeth are way stronger by just breaking the skull and killing him immediately. One got my back left leg and one bit right into my scruff to break my neck, but was unsuccessful. A heavy shake took care about the one on my leg although he took a rather heavy chunk of flesh. The next be thrown over was the one on my back, directly on top of his dead friend. While he struggled to get up I bit down but just got his front paw. At first he wanted to bite back, but after feeling the leg separate he took hobbling of. The other two just ran with him and were gone. Although Twin won, he was not unscathed and needed reassembly with more wolf parts. Luckily I just got fresh parts to make those even multiple times If needed. Dragging the body and the leg into my Domain I take Twin and everything back to my realm. While disassembling Twin I take over the rest of the wolf carcass and start turning him into biomass. With the new biomass I just reassemble Twin and he is back in action. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡­ The wolves did not come back and I can now hunt again without problems. I sometimes see a group hunting, but they did not get near Boost or Twin. They rather run away and evade any conflict for the time. Luckily It gives me time to get more plants and prey. The more I have the better. Variety is necessary for the plant tests and food for my bodies is also nice. I could hunt inside my Domain, but the Monsters are better alive than dead, when they are already in capture range. By the way, more testing failures are present. Fusing more than two bodies together makes the spirit body too unstable and it ruptures. Even with quick assembly of a body it does not do much, as the Body is so dense the heart can not pump properly and just gives up. This happens with mice, rats and snakes, so I will not try it on my wolves. Fusing different Monsters was a disaster, too. The spirits just rip and then vanish. As expected from such an Idea, but was worth a try. The only interesting experiment was using high amount of Mana on spirit bodies. The miasma normally holds onto the framework, but with enough Mana those parts get removed with time. With this I created a non monster mouse. Tests with other Monsters will be concluded in the future. Noticing Ghost in the background I could use him to create a regular wolf, but would be a waste. He is still stable and seems to be the same as usual. As long as there is no difference, he will be staying there for a while longer. After a time, I will maybe see if there is some problems with reassembling him, but right now it is not worth to do that. ¡­ While feeding my rat I try myself on the plants finally. The low kind of fragile spirit they have is concerning, but at the same time good to work with. I can even see the fusion better. Sadly no real monster plant has risen, but I do not have high hope to that right now, as the forest is filled with Miasma and if that did not happen over how long this is going on, then it won¡¯t happen with me experimenting on it. Fusing plants creates hardier ones, but something is off. Maybe there is a way to create fusions with better results, but I do not see how right now. The fusion of plants with different miasmic properties ended like expected and they dissolve right at the start. Nothing there for me to learn unless new ways to ruin my crops is a thing I need. By the way the Monsters are starting to adjust to the Portal and just ignore its presence. My avatars get ignored like they are scenery too, even snakes do not want to dabble with a mouse under my control, as they just stay out of their way and search something else to eat. Maybe they can notice my presence and rather not antagonize me, as I already took multiple brethren down in different ways. ¡­ Today Boost is again the one who will move through the woods. It is a nice feeling to use him once in a while, as he is rather agile and a great caster. With his power I should be able to take down most of the threats around my vicinity unless the Roots or a rocky bear happens to wander in. Hope I didn¡¯t jinx it. I feel kind of sad for Tailless, as he is now permanent resident with ghost in my Realm, but right now I need more useful bodies, as the density of creatures is growing steadily around my tunnel. What surprises me is the addition of more plant life around here. Although the Mana helps with growth I did not understand how more plants just happen to pop up without seeds. Maybe there were seeds and they waited years to bloom? Some deserts have such plants, so it could be hibernation. Well, this time no research for me, as I need fast results and not seeds, that survive centuries. All in all my haul was rather nice this day, as I got a few snakes and another of those moles. Enough food for a few days. ¡­ Red is being modified right now. I slowly remove the bark on his shoulder blade, and try to connect the blood vessels anew. The reason I am doing that now is the process I used on a mouse, assembling it with snake materials and kinda worked. It needed some parts but not all from mouse biomass, what means I could create skin from previous iterations of Red and just take that skin to overlay the wound of removing the bark. At the same time I could take some parts of him and enhance them. The enhancing will be a next try if I can finish this cosmetic surgery. While thinking about tailless, I might add a tail to him or maybe give him something else, but fusing parts of different wolves is tricky and dangerous. It should be first tested on Rats to see the reaction of their bodies. Peeling away the bark shows quite strange flesh. It fused with the bark in some way and looks a bit rotten. With my other bodies, he always had a sweet smell on him somehow, and I think that this flesh is the source of it. Taking away the most fused flesh and giving him new one out of his prior extremities I carefully put the skin flab on the part I removed. Obviously I just do it on a small part near its shoulder for the first test, but if it works all the Bark goes away in bigger batches. It is his own flesh and skin, so I hope no reaction is shown. It is risky to start with Red, as he is my only sapient, but without cosmetic changes he will be recognized and that would mean a whole lot of explanations. ¡­ I name the white rat from now on Snow. It is nice to have something, that has no true fear against any of my presence. She is now able to move by itself but still is a bit slow. A few days recuperation are needed and while I am at it I keep her food and water bowl filled for now. She might later hunt on herself. As she is the only one who survived the fusion of a spirit body I am reluctant to just look inside to see what makes her tick. Maybe I can do it later, but not right now, as she is even rarer than my wolves. The rest of the time I am working on mixing ingredients of the plants I harvest. I see different changes inside the goop while mixing them, but nothing until now seems to have added effects. By the way I need to hack the parts or grind them down, as disassembling them makes them somehow inert in magic. For this I can either use Essence or Red. To use Red is more favorable as my Essence seems to interact too much with the ingredients, when I touch them. I am not hygienic enough, damn. For this I can only slowly work on the mixing, as Red needs to recuperate from his surgery. Luckily it seems to work and just feels strange but has no real problems. After homogenizing his body by taking out the plant parts I can start working on changing more direct structures. The first will be the bone structure of his face, as I already said, it would be bad if someone can identify Red. Chapter 15 - New Visitors It has been weeks and I notice something definitely wrong with Snow. Often she hangs around the darkness field, not eating the plants there but¡­ meditating? Well, darkness is her element, so I would think that is her way to grow. Other rats do not do that and only stay in there for a short while. Most have even started to be more visible in the shadows, as they might leave their monstrosity behind to become animals again. Not that I am complaining, real animals in my Domain are nice too. It just livens the place up a bit, with all the vermin being here. Shows dedication to the ¡®realness¡¯ of this Village. Back to Snow. She is rather dedicated and her form starts to change with time. She even hunts other rats and just holds them and suddenly they stop living. She did not even break the skin with her teeth to kill them. Must be something magical, as their Mana and Miasma are totally gone. At least she presents me with the corpses like presents. Maybe she just kills them as bounty for me, as I have occasionally taken one or two Rats since she moved in. Most other rats avoid her, but are not outright hostile. Just don¡¯t want to get in her way it seems and mostly do their own business. I am so intrigued with the whole thing, but as she is the only tame Monster I have I will not crack her open just yet. ¡­ It has only been a few months since Red came to my Domain and now new Sentients are here. How is that even possible? Now there are four adventure looking people here. I really thought I would have more time to create a better mock Village, but it has to do. Luckily I had everything planned out already as I stop the miasmic fields immediately and hide my portal in its chamber. Snow was clever and notices in her strange meditation the ebb of miasmic flow and starts to move on her own. After seeing my Portal gone she hid too. ~~~ Clarke was one of the first who thought it a waste of time to go to the Starfall mountains. They bordered the infected peaks and would never be any problem, as the road between the dark Woods and them is so slim nothing would wander those ways. The Infected Peaks are the disaster the dwarfs made by digging into a mushroom filled cavern. To be honest, no one knows if it really is only mushrooms or it is just the thing, that spread out most, but the truth is, they now own the whole mountain. Every tunnel, crack or crevice is filled with their spores and only by Aldrin¡¯s grace are they vulnerable to light. The only thing that made him go to this forsaken place was the coin and possible promotion as a Scout of the Mages Order. Although the promotion was slim to non existent, as it would need great new information to be found, the coin is always there, even if nothing was found. Together with his three companions, Elaren the half-elf, Mink the apprentice mage and Burk the hauler, they just took the week long trip through the razors edge between deadly terrains as training and wandered on. The first two days would take them to the Starfall Mountains, and the third to the other side, where the Dead Mountains lay. Why they are dead, the Magistrate does not know, or rather does not tell their lesser Scouts such sensitive Information. Afterward it is just going back the same way they came and maybe even get home a day early, when nothing happened. ¡°Clarke, sword and shield ready. There is a strange liveliness of vegetation in front of us¡± Although Elaren often commanded like he was in charge, most of the time he had a point so I begrudgingly obeyed and readied my weapons to shield the range fighters. Burk was the bulwark behind us and to be honest he is not really smart, albeit somehow rather lucky at times. ¡°He is right, something is different. The Miasma is lower at this site and Mana is flowing in large amounts around us.¡± It was nice to have Mink telling us this Information, as we normal people unlike her can not see the flow of Mana. Mink was more amenable, but way more dangerous. If we three die and she escapes, nothing would happen. If she dies and we came back we would be executed. In the Magistrate of Telk Mages are the Lords and she is right now thrown into the grindstone of dangerous Missions to become a Lord herself. ¡°¡­¡± As I said, Burk is being Burk. Hardy as a Rock and possibly smart as one. The whole Forest seems to liven up. Such changes are mostly seen at the hunting grounds, where high Mana flow radiates around the dark Forest. Is there some kind of new Mana well or some kind of natural treasure here? This could be the reason for the low Miasma. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Be careful and fall in line. Expect anything happening while scouting.¡± My words were rather vague, as I myself also do not know what to expect. If a Mana vein just popped it would be the tamest and most logical explanation, but I have not lived for that long without knowing, that the simplest answer was never the case when it came to Magic. Finding the source took us more time than I had hoped, as we carefully searched for the answer. Seeing the cave was the first red flag, as it was piercing direct inside Starfall Mountain. ¡°It is getting dark, we should find a place to rest at the corner of this affected area and search tomorrow.¡± It was my honest view and should be the best answer, but¡­ ¡°Overruled, we should at least look inside to not sleep next to a possibly dangerous area.¡± Although Minx¡¯s argument sounded logical I could hear in the undertone how exited she was to find something magical, she had never seen before. Even If all of us would argue against it, she was highborn and so we had to do what she said, or face repercussions. With a sigh Elaren readied himself to shoot his bow at any time as I walked in front with a torch in hand. The second red Flag was the sudden feeling I got when I was a dozen steps inside the cave. It was kind of wrong and rubbed me the wrong way. Elaren and Minx definitely felt it too and Burk, well I can not see anything on his face other than that dumb look, so I guess not. ¡­ That was strike three. I would have loved to knock our Mage out right now and drag her out of here, as I saw a fucking town on the other end. We talk about houses and even a Market place. Which damn trader would dare come here? At first I thought it an Illusion and asked so. ¡°It is not an illusion magic in any way. It is a dwelling place of some sorts.¡± This makes it more suspicious than less. ¡°Elaren, is there some knowledge about who might live here?¡± My only hope for an answer was the half-elf, as he was the most traveled between us, as he is also the oldest. ¡°It is neither workmanship from the Kingdom or the Empire. Magistrate is out as well obviously and neither elf nor dwarf use that kind of structure. Ferrals use no stone in construction and semi Sapient do not have that kind of craftsmanship. It could be some kind of people from another continent or a forgotten civilization, which has their last remnants here.¡± So either Foreigners or Relics. Either is problematic, as they might not speak the common tongue of Litrak. ¡°Clarke, we will try to communicate at least once before retreating. If the people are friendly we can stay, if not we will retreat right away. Nothing to lose except a warm meal and a real bed, if we don''t try.¡± That was the first time I really considered to just drag her out of here repercussions be damned. This might look like a simple village, but we are INSIDE Starfall Mountain. This place was always been deemed a deadly place. And now we are inside exactly that deadly place. One mistake and we might be dead. ¡°Lady Minx, might I protest?¡± My last hope, as she is rather reasonable, when it came to the thoughts of her companions. ¡°I know what you think, and I would even suggest not being too hasty, but look to the corner of that house.¡± Where Minx pointed I saw nothing but a mouse, then I understood what she meant with the mouse. If a thing like this can live here, we are in no immediate danger, at least that was her thinking. I was still not too sure, but she had a point. If it was that dangerous, nothing would run around inside. ¡°OK, we go to the first house on the right. The House on the left has no doors and might be for shelter of some animal of burden or slaves.¡± Against my rationality I did go with what Minx told us to do. Moving inside carefully we searched for hidden dangers while not directly have our weapon drawn. My knuckles were white at the pommel of my sword, but I endured. Knocking on the door left us with a rather uneasy feeling, as the door was not even locked in any way. Entering we saw a dusty room with some necessities, but many normal things were missing completely. No cloth, no bread, no people, no tools, not even any stains or the smell of people living in here. Everything in my body shouts TRAP. ¡°This is definitely wrong Minx.¡± As I told her we heard a loud rumble and the Gate to the outside was closed. The first thing we did was making a beeline to the Gate and trying to open it. After that the floor vanished. A trap door right at the Gate was a clever move, but Minx was luckily able to levitate us out of it before something happens. The next thing was, when I was shot by an Arrow. It pierced my leg and I was immobilized. Burk dropped his backpack and for the first time I saw him take out something different than our own stuff from it. It was a black ball which he twisted and threw at the Gate. The Explosion was a shock to me as to the others. He just took Minx right then and there and with a massive vault just crossed the pit right into the hole he made with it. Elaren looked at the hole, then at me. ¡°I am sorry.¡± ...and left too. ¡­ Now here I am. In a World filled with darkness and the feeling of being taken over. It will not take long until I cease to exist, but at least Minx is safe. I never thought Burk was the true guard and we just pawns. While losing myself I just want to know, where I went wrong in my life to be devoured by this thing, whatever it might be¡­ Chapter 16 - Rumaging through a dropped backpack while contemplating the World I never had thought they would have Bombs. The worst part is, I lost a chance to have a Magic user. She was right THERE! And now she is way out of my place to find. At least I have new Information. It took me a few days to get into his brain but it was worth it. The Continent I am on is called Litrak. They came from the East where the Magistrate of Telk has its land, and moved the rather dangerous route between the Mountains, which have a Fungal problem and the Forest where people vanish if they go too far in, possibly by Root arrows to the skull and growing into a tree. Their direct neighbor is the Republic of Ilstin. Not quite what I would call a Republic, but is similar enough to be called as one by me. They are rather Merchant oriented, as those have the most power. As for why I don''t think of them as a Republic, the people vote with their wallet. If they do not like the merchant in their area, they just buy from another and they lose not only commerce but also power in the Republic, as that is the rather strange way to measure power in their lands. Right at the bottom of the South is the Kingdom of Ulk. They have the most basic Noble ordered Kingdom and are totally human. Other races are mostly slaves. Even Elves and Dwarfs are only lower class creatures and worthy of enslavement. The West is a rather problematic thing. There are the grasslands directly next to the Kingdom, but hard to tell who is owning them, as there are more Tribes of Beastmen, derogatorily called Ferrals. They live and move in those large fields and love to fight. Elves are there too, but they are treated special and given the treatment of non aggression, as they often tend to the ailing lands. Then there is the Empire. It is rather behind the grasslands, but border right at the Mountains of the Dead. It is rumored the Empire is at fault for the Mountains deadliness, but no one knows really what the real reason is, at least Clarke didn¡¯t. Why are they called the Dead Mountains? Too many rumors to count. The most came from strange illnesses turning skin and flesh black and swelling, teeth and hair falling out, others died drowning just laying in their beds with fever. Most just never came back. If I could guess, that sounds like kind of radiation poisoning, and if this is true, the Empire has nuclear capabilities. Not good. ¡­ The new knowledge opens my view wider. There are many political powers fighting openly and covert for many generations and those fights are always for either territory, power, resources or simply hurt feelings. Although outright wars are not directly involved right now, the whole area is sitting right on a powder keg and just waiting to explode. The reason is the Dark Forest. The Monsters are strong and their resources even more valuable than somewhere else. The deepest parts of the woods are uncharted and most only hunt the surroundings or go inside the shallows. No one goes deeper than around ten kilometers as this means vanishing. Taking away trees is also dangerous, as it often sends a monster wave to the logging place. The risk and rewards are rather skewed, but every Country still buys about one tree of magical wood each year, but holds on to no more than that as the retaliation of the dark Forest gets way fiercer, with more plundered resources. It should be the Roots, that incentivize the reaction, as they are commanding the plants and by proxy the Monsters living inside. Just let the food source for some monsters dwindle or make them wander somewhere else and the whole ecosystem starts moving in predicted ways. Red never had seen such an event, but knows of the mechanics, without the full understanding of it. ¡­ Clarke was a fully human. His body is way better to blend in than Red. No offense to Red, but Roots are not seen in the Cities. So I am able to get more Information with him, when I go to Cities. Modifications are already on the way, as I changed the structure of his facial bones. His skin color became whiter and his Hair changed to a rather off white. Well he is no albino, but it might be seen as special inside Telk. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. My next goal will be able to go into the hunting towns inside the Magistrate, but not right now, as I have the hulking Backpack of the guy called Burk to unpack. So many interesting things to find. ¡­ Two sets of rather camouflaged tents, heating rocks, runic pot to heat water and food, spare clothes and some reserve cloaks with perception inhibition(that does not work on me), some magical light and a spacial pouch with different kind of ingredients. There are facial masks against spores, dried meat and some potions. Another healing kit with different salves and bandages for non life threatening injuries and then there is a pair of magical gloves, obviously for protection, when someone harvests some new plants or materials. Until now there is all the miscellaneous stuff known to be inside. Then there is the hidden pouch of Burk. High antivenom, life potion, two additional bombs and some empty places. He must have grabbed the rest of the stuff, when he took the bomb. Luckily not the whole thing, so I have things to use for myself. To look into the magical pouch I use my Presence, and find the inside rather weird. The restriction of ¡®no living beings inside¡¯ is not there, as then a Hand would also not go inside, and it does. The whole Magic is duplicating the space multiple times and holding it over the same place. Like overlapping two spirits but with space and holding it in place. A jewel on the cord lowers the weight, and that is it. It sounds simple, but I have to understand the runic system, they use to make the whole thing work. This will be a great start in a new aspect of discoveries. I should be able to create some own ways to use it. With only using miasmic intent I have a rather limited abilities, but with runes giving it more direct meaning I could make it permanent without me being present. The next item is the rather dangerous bomb. Two are still there, and they have a rather frightening power. They explode, made a sphere of inertia and captured any shrapnel before it hit anybody. This is even for Clarke a rather expensive explosive. By spinning the two halves a rune gets broken, that holds the whole sphere stable. All contained Mana gets agitated and runs wild in the runic circles. In that unstable state another impact like hitting the floor or my former gate is just the last straw and all the Magic escapes the confines with intent. The curious thing is, there is another finer inscription and another Monster core for Energy inside. This must be the inertia bubble, that stops everything in a specific radius, making the inside of the bubble even more volatile as it contains also the explosion like a pot put over a firecracker. The sources are monster cores. Rather expensive for one time use, as monster cores are precious alchemic materials in Telk. Not every core can be used and needs to have the right element, so it has to even be more specific to create those things. I bet one of them could be sold for at least five to eight small gold coins if not even a Large. This is enough to buy a House or a few Slaves. The runes are rather readable and should help me finding the connections between them better. Disassembling them although will be too dangerous. I keep them complete until I understand every single Rune inside. ¡­ The runic alphabet is an extreme puzzle. It makes no rhyme or reason. Every Rune is separate but works differently with runes around them. It is like someone created this system as a practical joke. There are redundant runes which do nothing particular but are not random at all, while the runes themselves are so convolute, they do different things at different places. My favorite is the ¡°start¡± rune of most runic circles. They siphon Mana from the monster core and let it in the circle. The rune that gets the flow after the siphon first is the sixth rune unless there is this specific rune between siphon and the sixth, then it is the seventh, but if there is another of this redundant runes, then it becomes the third, as the seventh just is a pass through right back to the third without doing anything. What in the Void is this chaotic system, and who do I need to punch in the face to thank him for that? The worst thing is, the Bomb itself has another kind of Rune, that holds the rings stable, and this one is a completely different system, as it is 3d and looks way more organic with round edges instead of the sharp, close to Celtic style of the most used rings. This different Rune looks like it is from a different civilization. So I can hope to find different ways to use runic scriptures in the future. Reverse engineering will need much time. I question if this is some kind of copy protection or if Sentients really can read those things normally. ¡­ Five days passed way too fast. My main focus was on taking over Clarke, resuming my Garden projects and understanding the strange new Items I got. Instead I should have rebuild my Gate. I expect a new expedition from the Magistrate in about one or tops two Months with Mink as the leader, so it was not in my priority to repair it too fast, just creating a bridge over the Pitfall and stabilizing the walls near the hole where the Gate was. This was a rather poor decision from me, as I have visitors. Not from Telk this time, but from the forest, as they are Roots. Just how do I suddenly catch so many peoples eyes, is something I have to think about. Right now I have seven elves right here, and am out of traps. Chapter 17 - What I want, what I lost, what I take again. Four Guards, two Scouts and one Leader. The leader has the markings of a tender. Tenders are the ones who have the say of how the woods are to be preserved. They also deal as arbiters between Roots and have the mildest temper most of the time. Sadly their mild temper is seen from the perspective of a Root. They can be rather ruthless, and were the ones who suggested the trial for Red. Right now they look through the hole, where my Gate should be into my Village. As they see the pitfall they do not enter and just search for clues. Right now I am not able to capture any of them, but this does not mean, I can not at least negotiate. Clarke is right now in the Mansion and should be able to work as my mouthpiece. With my Miasma I create sound amplifying and create a listening field. Using a body and at the same time listening through my essence is rather disorienting, so Clarke needs to close his Eyes and just lie on the operating table. The noise should be reflected by the amplifying effect of the Miasma, hopefully. First time using it, so here it goes. ¡°Who are you, and why do you invade my Domain?¡± Shock is imminent on their faces and directly guard their Leader. She is rather young, so hopefully she already learned the common Language of this Continent. Seconds turn to a Minute and tick even further but they just wait. ¡°I ask again. Who are you and why do you invade my Domain?¡± Finally the tender reacts and gave a signal to lower their weapons a bit. ¡°State your Name and why you invade our sacred forest, before we will see you as hostile and eliminate you.¡± Silly to think of such snobbish elves to be reasonable. ¡°This crater is no forest and you are near rock and not trees. Do not treat me like a fool.¡± If they are pompous, I am pompous. The whole thing is rather silly of them, entering my realm asking my reasoning and even my Name¡­ Name¡­ What is my Name? ¡°You people have no right to be even in the presence of our forest. Me talking to you is giving you already grace.¡± Just say what you want, I have another crisis right now. I do not remember my Name. Who am I? ¡°There were no Elf here so this is my Domain. Without my entrance you would not even be able to go inside, so do not act so upright outside your own forest. The Questions still stand and I want answers.¡± This should give me a bit time to think again. My mind hurts trying with all my might to remember my Name. There is Nothing. Where is my Name? {Scout, bring the hunting Team, we raze this filthy place. I will distract him for the time} ¡°We are the Elves of the woods behind the tunnel you bore through the rock. Your Mana contaminates it and we came to inspect the reasoning. Now answer our Questions!¡± One of the Elves slowly hides and escapes. They do not know I can understand Root elvish, and have no idea how annoyed I am right now. The Name I always had¡­ It is gone. There is nothing. Lost¡­ ¡­ the Void¡­ It took my Name. I have nothing as a Name anymore. Why did I not notice? Like a rift in my Memory. Nothing there, where something should be¡­ ¡°My Name is¡­ Null. I have taken this place as my own Domain, as it was without Owner. Or do you claim to be able yourself to wander this place?¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Null. My Name is now Null. The Void took my Name, maybe for the grace to come here, but I hate it if something is taken from me. So I take what is left and make it mine. Null ¨C finding nothing where something should be expected. A fitting Name. ¡°We do not like People, who just take Land next to our own. While we are in the open you hide behind an echoing voice. How about you show yourself to talk in person?¡± Right now I am hard at work to create a nasty trap for them, when they enter the Village. Sadly some of my rodent residents already died because of this, but Snow is luckily in the furthest away sewers so no problem for her. ¡°No, I do not think this would be a good Idea. You elves are famously known for your handling of the bow, and I am right now too weak to fight a group of bandits again.¡± That rather agitates not only her but the guards too. Seems like they can understand common. ¡°Bandits! We Root never stoop so low to¡­ We are not Bandits! So do not call us that ever again!¡± Ha, she realizes her hypocrisy and nearly had a mental whiplash. Although it was an accident on my part, it was rather fitting of accusing them of banditry. They want to raze this Village after all. ¡°Then do not force me out of my own place. I have a claim on this Crater now and will stay.¡± ¡°There is no way, we can get you to leave? This place is forbidden for a reason, and we want it to stay that way.¡± ¡°If you are talking about the Miasma I am working on it.¡± And right now I am working on creating a filled bubble with the deadly Miasma of the crater right in front of the Entrance. It is extremely hard to hold my Essence over it to not mix with the Mana to make it visible, but I have it mostly stable. More concentration is not possible for me, and when their Aura reaches the bubble it will pop and I will push everything I have into the tunnel, eradicating not only them but their hunters too. This should kill most and let me harvest the crippled. Let us see who hunts who, elven snake. ¡­ Negotiations are tedious, when they are just drawn out to bring an army, but I humor her and work out what I want and what they get. What came of it was rather nice for my part of the Bargain. Free travel through the forest for myself and my companions for up to 20 Kilometers inside the rim, acknowledgment of my Domain, able to harvest berries and plants to a limited degree, non aggression between myself and the Roots and a sign for negotiations, which can be used once a year but not more. They get protection of the deadly Miasma from the Crater, a steady flow of Mana to nurture the forest (suddenly it is totally OK for my Mana to invade, hypocritical bitch), my promise to not fell any trees of the forest and the right to send a Negotiator for any occasion, they might deem a necessity. For her it is more of a play and I am her victim, but I can learn to articulate, what I really want. And what I want is my freedom, right of passage, right for resources and to be left alone for now. The whole thing took hours, but as elves are long living, they also can discus for hours, if not even days. The whole discussion finally ends, when someone unexpected came through the tunnels. I am a bit shocked, as another tender, this time with a rather imposing statue came through the tunnel. If I remember right, she is a high mother and was even there, when Red was sentenced. The Name was Flowing Leaf, but to be honest I do not care. What I care about was the drama happening. The slap of the high mother echoes through the tunnel from the cheek of the young tender. {You have overstepped not only your ground, you even have the audacity to order a hunt as a sapling tender. Have you any idea how disappointed I am with your handling of such delicate Information?} {High Mother, I¡­} {Do not dare to play the wind and bend out of the way of your punishment. Eastern Redwind is gone, and even if this is the most suspicious area for his disappearance, he has sown his own seeds of punishment for a long time. He is GONE, and no one is at fault but him. Mourn him like a tree sibling, but do not poison the roots with your stupidity!} Now it makes sense. She wanted me gone, because she was searching for the latest brother of their dead tree. They might not even be from the same Mother, but being plucked from the same tree made them siblings nonetheless. {I understand High Mother. At least let me explain the circumstances right now} {As long as you leave your feelings out and work like a tender you want to grow up to.} {...of course.} And she explains my reluctance to leave and how I am a threat to the forest. So much for leaving feelings behind, but maybe she thinks that, because of the Isolationist mindset the Roots have. ¡°My Name is Flowing Leaf and I am the superior of this young elf prior. She asked me to come, as she is not yet trained in negotiation with outsiders. Not only did she not send for me earlier, she even started negotiation without her superior at her side, so this lead to this embarrassing event. Please accept my apology for this.¡± Rather more eloquent with her Words, but still hiding the whole ¡®trying to kill me¡¯ problem. Well I had my own plans, and still have, as I will not remove the miasmic bubble. ¡°I am honored to be in the vicinity of a high mother of the Roots, Flowing Leaf. My name is Null and I reside inside the crater of what you call the Starfall.¡± ¡°You do know about us Roots?¡± Oh, ups. She got suspicious, hurry and find the answer to this dilemma. ¡°Your inferior had told me of your name Roots and as elves are almost always matriarchal, the position as high mother is the most fitting person to lecture an impulsive young elf.¡± ¡°Now, that we know each others name, it would be good to discus the further relations between us and your Domain.¡± And here we go again, with the Negotiations. I bet these will be rather tedious, as she is way more schooled in true diplomacy. Chapter 18 - Final negotiations and a Schroedingers Corpse My reasoning almost slipped in those negotiations¡­ twice. Falling Leaf might have tried to ignore everything Dancing Wind (the Name of the young tender) was promising, but as she already said many things, it was not possible to just ignore everything. The only problem is, Falling Leaf renounced many things. First of the Signal for a meeting. This was revoked immediately, what also means they do not have any right to talking to me. This was the easiest to stomach. Then it came to my bottom lines. First no passage through the Woods. As we do not have anything to say, I should not travel their forest. It was a long, tedious and frustrating discussion, until I threatened with withdrawal of the creation of Mana. It was rather beneficial for the forest and help not only this place but the whole Forest by being nourished for a long time. The whole Discussion got heated after that, first saying I was bluffing, then after showing her I can stop the release I would purposefully threaten them. Asking how I can threaten someone with something I just give for free made her shut up and gave me ten kilometers free reign. The next discussion was about what she tried to swindle in. Ten Kilometers from my tunnel in every direction would not let me go to other countries. I wanted ten Kilometers around the whole Forest for me to travel and get resources. This took us well in the Night of discussion, as she tried to hold me in for the long game, until I get tired. Sorry, I do not even know how sleep or exhaustion feels like, so we can run in circles until you are blue. It took very long for her to realize I do not tire and this is going nowhere. She tried everything. First was trying to negotiate with her Queen, so I gave her a deadline of a week before I evaluate this Negotiation failed and I do what I want in the forest. Threats were insinuated by telling they would retaliate, but I just told them I would just put deadly Miasma from the crater out into the woods to sterilize the area of any threat. Suddenly I was the aggressor, for saying such a thing, but remembering her, I would do this, when my people get attacked by something, and this would be self defense. Saying I have no power and just bluff, when I relaxed my grip onto the miasma and it started to react with the mana around to show her how close they are to a huge bubble of crater Miasma. Their gray faces getting even whiter was my favorite part. Everything she tried failed. Playing the victim, threats, false accusations, luring me out (as if I could go to their queen, they would kill my Avatar somewhere on the way anyway), delaying and finally just bargaining to one kilometer. The last try I showed sincerity by giving in to five kilometers. I wanted to move not too near the fungal Mountains was my reasoning that I made up, but I really wanted the freedom for hunting prey and finding plants. And that was another giant negotiation on itself, for me to be allowed to even get one dead branch from the forest. This was the second time I wanted to just burst the bubble and mummify every single one of those damn elves. I even asked how much taxes the wild Monsters pay for being allowed to eat the plants of the forest. Falling Leaf was not amused. ¡­ ¡°We stay on the terms for now. For supplying the forest with clear Mana, your people are allowed to move through and forage some plants in a five kilometer ring around the forest, but have to leave the roots intact. Your¡­ tamed beasts, can hunt some food for their own, but have to stay near your cave. Any transgressions and the whole agreement is void.¡± ¡°I accept those terms.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. What else can I do, but accept? The only other thing I could do is war, and I have too much to do right now to squabble with some Barkskin having Treehugger. Although I understand, this is more of a grace to even negotiate, as Dancing Wind messed up so heavily, it would be close to another banishment. Still I do not like them. They have a superiority complex, and see themselves close to Gods in their little forest. Would my cleansed Mana not be such a great benefit against the ever encroaching Miasma, they would have not given me anything. ¡°For now, we need to tell our Queen and the guards about the agreement so it would be best to wait for at least one Moon Cycle to be safe.¡± Lie. They have ways to fast travel through the woods and can even communicate long distances inside the forest by whispering to the trees. ¡°I understand and will be careful. At least be conscious about my tamed beasts, as they need food, so let the guards around here know not to kill wolves that look different than the ones living inside the forest¡± I do not care about a small timeout. They definitely want to think about any way to remove me, but how can they do that, if they do not even know who or what I really am? Have fun conspiring. ¡°We wish you a long life. Our paths should rarely cross again.¡± Yeah, ¡®we never want to see you again¡¯ can be told in flowery words, but both of us know the meaning. ¡°As your own roots are far from here, I wish you a peaceful travel back.¡± Oh, that gave her a grimace for a fraction of a Second. She understood my meaning of ¡®Go home and stay there¡¯ very clearly. {High Mother. Please ask.} sigh ¡°One last thing. Before we came, another of our elven scouts were send on a mission to seek out any anomalies in this area. Do you know about any elves traveling this path?¡± Well it must come to this, but I already know my answer. ¡°I saw two elves. One alive and one dead. The dead was in my tunnels dried up and mummified. He must have been searching the tunnel while it was still filled with Miasma. The other one came here not long ago with a mage and two fighters, all three human except for him.¡± ¡°¡­It was the former one. Is the corpse still here?¡± ¡°Sadly the body was heavily decayed when found. I can give you his remains, what still exist at least.¡± With this I levitate a crate with body parts from the disassembled Red right in front of the small bridge. First I saw hate for using wood and even putting him inside those dead tree constructs, but after a few breaths two guards go over to retrieve it. Afterwards both tenders look inside. Dancing Wind looked away rather immediately after seeing the quick dried leftovers. {No sign of any wound before he died. His parts have some bite marks from rats and mice. All shows the corpse being found later and not killed by him. At least not directly or intentionally. Do not hold a grudge on the tree, that threw its shadow over the plant to let it die of hunger Dancing Wind. There is no Murderer in this case.} Dancing Wind does not move, but seems to understand what Falling Leaf said. After five Minutes they close the box and take it away. ¡°Farewell.¡± The last I heard from Falling Leaf and now I have finally time to repair everything I have. I will not again be open for such a dilemma. So many bodies and no way to get them. ... ...Maybe it was lucky I did not get them, as I notice my Morals slipping further and further. I would have killed them if they annoyed me enough, but as I am rather resilient to wasted time I did only go to the thought twice. Well, twice was already two times too much, so it makes sense to be careful, as I want not become a murder machine. ...At least not before I am back to where I want to go. Chapter 19 - Building up my war potential Not only do I mistrust the Roots, the expedition from the Magistrate will be coming in a few months. So I should be ready for any attack I might get. The reason I know it is coming is easy. Clarke knew Mink rather well and the knowledge about a strange new mana well is extremely valuable. So valuable in fact, Mink will not let the opportunity go to anyone else but her caste. For a Country of Magicians who want knowledge above anything else, they are extremely tight lipped about it. The idea of ¡®freedom of Information¡¯ would break their minds. Learning how to read and write is not common and rather a skill you have to pay quite a hefty sum for. I digress again, right now there is only one thing I have to do and this is building up my defense and offense. ...or are those two things? Whatever¡­ First of rebuilding my Gate. As my Pitfall was already seen I revise it into a kind of moat with a secondary wall for better protection. The first Gate gets further into the tunnel and the moat extended into 6 Meters with a retractable drawbridge. The second Wall is build into a half circle and the top gets a walkway with towers for a new project of mine, explaination later. First Gate becomes a grate. Rock Pillars reinforced with iron lattice will be enough. Sadly the iron is still rather weak, but it would be enough for now. I need more Information and fast. The next is the second gate. As those Bombs are rather problematic I just hope my second gate can hold with Iron as reinforcement. Wood was too weak, so I use this. The ropes I have to use to pull it are really thick. I mean arm width and they still groan. By creating wedges to fall into place after it is lifted it takes a bit of weight from it. With this it should be stable for now. The drawbridge was a rather problematic part. Creating it on the towns side makes it rather nice and easy, but when someone is on it, It can not be retracted. So I started to create a device to just drop it, when it is detrimental. That was the problematic part, as I do not want to lose the bridge too early or not being able to. Self destruct buttons are tricky. The final product was a runic circle where I just drop a core inside from a Monster. Instantly it heats the shaft holding the bridge. The shaft melts and lets the bridge fall. Horrible inefficient, but whatever. I find better ways later. Now to the towers. They have dart throwers! I tried different kinds, but rock darts are the most efficient. Metal is better, but more expensive so sharpened rock it is. The dart throwers throw multiple darts directly into the opening of the tunnel. Their power is rather okay. Not really scary but the reloading part is the nice thing. In a Spiral, there are multiple darts and when a dart touches the copper plate it activates the runic circle behind it and fills the dart with kinetic power. Mana reloads the circle while the spiral slowly rotates to let the next one fall into place. There should be a better way, but right now it does the trick. The last resort is the liquid metal thrower. Yes it sounds overkill, but we are in a Fantasy world, so I try my best to survive. It is a trap door below the street. By starting a runic circle it heats the metal above it to melting. Opening the trap door a kinetic circle starts throwing the liquid right into the tunnel. That is the theory, practice will show how effective it will be. My tests had shown it thrown up to 30 Meters, so it should paint the walls of the tunnel entrance with a new metallic look. ¡­ Rebuilding the whole Mansion was a bit tedious, but worth it. It was way too close to the entrance to be secure. For the place the Mansion was prior, I build a barracks. Filled with traps for now. A sealed room with heavy door looks like an armory or treasure room. The treasure? Unfiltered Miasma under heavy pressure. Kitchen was filled with knifes and other kitchen utensils and the trap is kinetic circles with different directions. Knife Pinball from hell! A few pitfalls are also made with rocks falling right on top of it, If someone can hold on the edge, they will not be able to be happy. In the commander room I put some papers in common language on the wooden table. Also some in my original alphabet to take them for a ride. It has to only hold them up until the high pressure breaks the seal of the ceiling trap and sprays the harvested acid from my snake bodies over them. The Plug is made from scales of my mutated dragon snake, as they are close to completely resistant to their own acid. As I need something that can break before the rock by pressure I use that. Small pipelines bored inside the ceiling just sprays it like a sprinkler System. This should make them think it is all on how I can defend myself. Now to my magnum opus. On the marketplace I put the prior pedestal for the Portal. Creating out of glass a female statue stands on top holding a clear crystal ball like her precious treasure. This crystal is specially made and took me days to get it how I wanted it to be. Finding the best silica and filtering it over and over I finally was able to create clear crystal glass. The thin sphere is filled with the strangest Miasma. Miasma, that rejects other Miasma. It even glows in the dark and sparkles in the sun. Strange stuff, as it has a kind of holiness to it. Might be some kind of Miasma from prayers, or it has been created by cleansing other miasma while the Mana took its intent over. Who knows, not me. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. So, what do I need it for? Simple, I create around the statue a big amplification circle. This Circle amplifies the miasma inside the sphere. Now, I do not have to always put pressure over this place to keep it clear. The reasoning is the last trap. Breaking the sphere stops the bubble. In mere seconds the Miasma of the crater will take over the Village, and what happens then is the Miasma of the crater taking the place of the crystal ball. The amplifier is multiplicative with high reach. So multiplicative Miasma will blast out to eradicate anything and everything, before after a few seconds the amplifying runes burn out under the extreme miasmic blast. A miasma bomb! The rest of the time I ward every channel with blockades to keep miasma out of the tunnel system. Funny how I try to keep it OUT of the sewers than in. Well it blocks both ways for now. The system itself has a charged rune which holds for a few minutes but reduces the power of the ward significantly. Rune circles are strange and work in convoluted ways. At the same time I just hold the Miasma off everything I want secured. Maybe I should try to see what the multiplication of the Miasma would do, but I just hope for the best. It is the last resort and should not be used, unless I want to wipe everything out. ¡­ Clarke is now named Ava. He will be my Avatar for now as he does not hear those pesky plants babble incoherent stuff like Red does. The change in Name is not without reasoning, as I changed much, much more on his Body than on Red. His Facial structure is now different and does not resemble his original look at all. Scar tissue got removed with skin grafts and precise removal of the tissue in question. I even removed the ability to grow a beard, so he stays smooth in every situation. And that are just the outer changes. Bone reinforcements are made by increasing the density. For this I needed to crush the bones and form new ones to be inserted inside the body. Making changes like that needs time for the spirit to readjust, so right now he rests on the makeshift bedding and make him occasionally rehabilitation training. Muscle mass will be another issue, but right now I am a bit apprehensive to change too much as Red had some reactions too. His magical talent is sadly non existent. Only a few people seem to get the ability to use magic and others do not benefit from it. Magic can be used on them, or work through them and even triggered by them, but using is a whole different thing. Forcing Magic into people is written to create a strange illness, but except for the name ¡®Mana Burn¡¯, and sudden scaring of the skin, nothing is known in particular. Whatever the other effects are, the common people were not told, just that it is treated like a curse and stigmatized. Back to his not existing magic. By looking at Reds and Avas spirit I can see some differences. While Red his Mana is flowing the one of Ava is stagnant. It is the difference between made out of liquid and made out of solid. I will not touch this stuff unless I have more bodies, as I have still not found a way to stop the unraveling. To circumvent the Magic I start creating magical weapons. My first attempt was a staff with the core of an electrical mouse. Lightning staff, and it worked like a stun baton with a bit more power. Throwing lightning¡­ I do not have the right runes for that. I am happy enough to reverse engineer the kinetic rune from the inert field of the Bomb. For the next experiment I create a glove out of mouse leather and insert copper lines inside. The runic circle and the core are hidden behind a second layer of leather. With this, it should be able to throw shocking handshakes, punches and slaps. Even a conductive sword should work¡­ and Reds hand exploded. Back to the drawing board. ¡­ Runes have to be precise. They do not like to be scrunched or warped. The next is runic circles can not be bent when loaded or they go haywire. Luckily I got the Information with body parts I can rebuild. For this the glove became a gauntlet. The runic part is inside the guard while it gets loaded into the hand via harvested nerve strings of the mice. The copper Idea was nice, but a failure too. Dislodging the gauntlet from cooked flesh with molten copper inside was the third way Red lost his arm. The second time I do not want to mention, but hey, at least I know magnetic currents exist and are usable. The new prototype is usable and can charge the modified sword he had with him with the electricity. As the gauntlets runic circles are now amplifying with the bigger surface it packs a real punch. Even Red has still his arm after using it multiple time without pause. It seems stable. Now kind of Magic is possible. As Ava can inject Mana it is a great addition to his repertoire. Strangely, he had no Idea this was possible to inject Mana and I could do it as Red knows how to meld Mana into Magic. I can understand no magical people can do no magic, but activating runic circles and other artifacts should be possible for everyone. Does this knowledge not exist or is it suppressed? Who knows, not me. While rehabilitating I test out all the skills I could learn about wielding a short sword. The balancing is a bit off at first, but I start to adapt to Ava. He is shorter and heavier than Red and has more muscles as he is scout or rather mercenary. They get called, get an objective and get paid afterwards. Sometimes an apprentice Mage hires him or herself to the mercenary group or starts their own group. Using the gauntlet for the first time with Ava, it did pretty well. The copper core made the sword a great conductor and makes heavy sparks by hitting something. It should be deadly enough to kill a Wolf on touch, so humans or elves should also not fare really well. ¡­ The perception inhibition cloak is my next improvement. First I thought the hard shoulder plates were for protection, but they are for the stability of the Runes. There must be a better way to create circles, as not all materials are non bendable. To make it better I put a core of a rat in a new plate right in the back part. Ejecting Mana from the back will activate the runic circles and add to the perception inhibition, another camouflage effect the darker the area is. In bright light it does nothing, but between trees or at night it should be close to invisibility. The test of the prototype is ready and Red will be the subject again. Using the cloak I walk through the Village. As many things ignore me already I wander around and try to see how I look in my light perception. Nothing is there where I stand, so it seems a success without a lost body part. Deactivating the cloak makes Red visible again and goes back to Ava. Using it on Ava does the same and while holding it stable I look through the eyes of Red to see still nothing. So it works better than anticipated. This should give me the ability to get out without being seen by Roots. Even if they do not let me out of here, like they promised, I have an exit for my Avatars. Chapter 20 - revisiting Visitors Finally I found out how to fuse things differently. If something has a physical body and I put a spirit inside it enhances the original. The body holds the spirit in place while it gets fused. There is a caveat of still being the same kind of plant or animal, but it shows promise. Should have tried it right after fusing Snow like that, but did not think her abnormal growth was because of that. The finished plants have a way higher potential for Mana and siphon more for their own growth. Plant evolutions are way more often seen in those plants and can even take in Miasma better for mutations. This opens many roads to improvement I tried to reach in one simple move. For this occasion I take over Reds body and facepalm myself, for wasting so much time for such an easy solution to be right there. New batches are in work for my testing gardens. Hopefully they can get interesting affinities. Well Alchemy and Potion making are still in early stage and can not even been said to be started. ¡­ While being out with Boost I notice the smell of humans in the air. If I found them Roots should have noticed them too, but let them through without fuss. They are coming from the east, so it might be Mink with her expedition to my tunnel. Earlier than expected and before the Roots. Clever from the Roots to just let us fight and reap the benefits. Even if they are not that evil as I depict them, letting such a large group of Mercenaries travel through the woods without fuss is an obvious sign of them wanting us to crash against. Looking through the trees with Boost I notice the group slowly making their way forward. Guards with heavy weaponry are all around, scouts being inside the circle for protection from the forest and just scanning the area, Magicians holding wards up and travel with the supplies, this whole expedition is made for breaking any resistance to accomplish their goals. This 20odd Group is way more powerful, than I anticipated. They might really value my Domain for using so many Mages and Mercenaries. I need to prepare and add more defenses to hold this much firepower at bay. As I turn around to get back to the Tunnel an Arrow nearly misses me. Not an arrow, a small tree with a sharp seed as tip. The reason they missed was the Wind around me helping Boost out as he is liked by the wind. Using a storm as a shield I tried to flee until a barrage of arrows ended Boost. They took now even Boost. ¡­ Why do all of them just take from me? I hate this feeling of people taking from me without giving anything. I will make them all pay! ¡­ The Tunnel is silent, but I am hard at work. On top of the Tunnel I start creating rocks for dropping right on top of the whole Gate. Even Magicians can not hold multiple Tons of Rock in the air for long. Snow was shocked as I just grabbed her with kinetic Miasma and threw her into the Portal. Seeds and dried plants got also put inside. Many resources get protected and hopefully all wards do their job, like they should. Red got disassembled and Ava put in the sealed room for my Portal to be thrown in, right when the first Attack is thrown. I will not let them take anything more. Preheating the metal I just thought about implementing acid sprayer into the second wall, but that is now too late, I will remember building more destructive traps in the future. Checking the dart towers I start to notice the first movements at the outside. They seem to be here and start building camp. I have not much time to prepare more. Heating the tunnel to cook them should be a fine addition to my traps later on. When they are inside it will be first negotiation, then eradication, even if I feel more like the later right now. Capturing them and taking them over would be preferable, but death is fine too. I will kill them all and make them regret going against me. I will take every Root, every Human, every being to become mine and... ¡­ Stop! What is my mind slipping into? Although I am angry, it should not be that angry. Something in me stirs to take this World for myself, but that is not my goal. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The Void again¡­ It took my Name and now corrodes my sanity. As I already said, I do not like things being taken from me. So I take what is trying to take from me. Something in me clicked. I do not know what it was, but I feel more levelheaded. Hopefully it holds. It feels like I have devoured something trying to devour me. Taken over something that wanted to take my rationality. Whatever it was, it is now mine and I feel more calm. ¡­ While having an existential crisis, Mink came with an old wizened man on her side to the gate. A rather slick beard shows his gray hair while the wrinkles on his face his age. Rather smaller than Mink and a bit stocky it would seem he is short for a human but way too large for a Dwarf. Maybe some dwarven blood in his family? Right now it is not the time to wonder who he is and what his lineage might be as I need to react to intruders and start the whole discussion. The first reaction was dropping the gates and pulling the Bridge up. ¡°This was not here last Month master. Someone is building more defenses around this place.¡± Well, duh. Houses do not grow like Mushrooms, so it should have been a giveaway someone is living here. Intelligence is not a necessity to become a Magician in this World, noted. ¡°Whoever has taken this place, seems to protect something mysterious or valuable.¡± Well, kind of true, as it is myself and think of myself ¡®mysterious¡¯ and my Portal is valuable for me. Well they deserve an answer to their non question. ¡°And I want it to stay protected, so please just go and leave my Domain.¡± The voice coming from everywhere unsettled Mink a bit but her ¡®master¡¯ seem unperturbed. Their Guards stay in place to protect them. And block the direct line of my dart towers. ¡°My name is Seldar Greenspark, Magi of the Order of the Green Fire and Noble of Telk. Might I ask who am I speaking with?¡± ¡°Null.¡± ¡°...It is an honor to talk to the earlier explorer, finding this Place, but I never heard of a Magi named ¡®Null¡¯¡± ¡°I am not from your Country, and also not a registered Magi of any Order. Is there a reason for your travel from Telk to the Starfall crater?¡± ¡°So it was a crater as expected. The Meteor itself should have immense value and should be obtainable with this hole in the shield.¡± No answer and rambling about the knowledge taken from my words seems to be the basic of a true Magi. I bet he rambles everything in his mind, while reading books and doing wizardly experiments. After a few seconds I still do not get an answer, so it seems he forgot where he was. ¡°I ask again, why did you travel to my Domain?¡± ¡°Ah, sorry. Obviously we came to explore the crater. As there is a way inside, it should be filled with treasures to benefit the whole continent.¡± Trying to say ¡®we should share¡¯ is rather laughable for a Magi of Telk, as they mostly do not share between Orders. The common pieces of Information is often spotty or riddled with errors. They do not share, they only want to become more powerful for their own good. ¡°Then I welcome you to trade with me in the future. Knowledge, resources and secrets of magic are all welcome to be traded for the things inside.¡± ¡°¡­ While I have nothing with me of this kind, I would still welcome to enter with my retinue to explore and forage. It will be an honor for you and your affiliation to house a Magi of Telk and drinking some wine together. Or does your affiliation think it can hold the whole place for themselves?¡± In other Words ¡®be happy to accommodate me while my men plunder your house¡¯. No I am good. ¡°There is not much in here and I am not someone who drinks wine.¡± ¡°Then you should have no problem of letting us see this ¡®not much¡¯ as we can tell the others about the crater and stop their own expeditions to waste their time.¡± Nice try, you just want to get in. ¡°I do not believe anyone else knows about this place. It is too far away and just the elves in the woods visited me.¡± ¡°Elves? So there are guardians and not only Monsters, who hunt the foolish. Nice to know.¡± I do not care about those elves anymore. They killed my wolves. Twice now. So we stay silent for a while until Seldar notices nothing happening. ¡°Are you inviting us in or do you reject a request from a Magi of Telk?¡± ¡°We are not in Telk. Here I do not have to care about your Nobility. Here, I am the Lord and I decide not to let you in.¡± ¡°...You are right, we are not in Telk and this is not my Land. Let us see each other again in the future. Good bye.¡± ¡°Master?¡± ¡°We leave, so be silent and do what been told.¡± Shockingly he left with his guards and the apprentice. Huh, maybe we do not have to fight. It would be the best outcome. Chapter 21 - Siege Battle until... Yup, it was a ruse. He just left to ready all his men. Three Mages plus apprentice, six archer scouts and ten Guards with now heavy armor and shield walking right to my gates. ¡°As it looks like you did not accidentally forgot something in the tunnel and searching for it I will humor you and just ask the obvious question Geldar. Why are you still here?¡± ¡°It is Seldar! And to answer, we are not in Telk, as this is unclaimed territory. I take it myself and you are in the way.¡± ¡°I claimed it.¡± ¡°And I deny your claim.¡± ¡°Those are not the rules.¡± ¡°They are, as unclaimed territory has just one rule, and this is the Rule of the Strongest. Attack!¡± As he said Attack, I did what he wanted and attacked. My Dart throwers shoot directly in the midst an make them stop to weather the storm. I even hit someone right in the skull. That poor archer was not quite dead but as his skull is cracked open and only heavily twitching with foam over his mouth... Yeah, no he is dead, the brain is too damaged for a potion to heal him. The others are sadly all protected. Scouts duck and Guards have heavy shields. The Magi have their wards up and nothing gets inside. ¡°Flamearrows! Cut the ropes of the bridge!¡± When you hear something like that with Magicians in the group you would not expect the scouts to just fire arrows that immolate when they hit something. Well they think high and mighty about themselves, so it should be logical to not deign their Mana to be wasted. The Heavy infantry breaks the rock pillars and bends the Iron easily to make a decent hole all the while. After a few minutes one of my Dart towers is malfunctioning and two others got blown up. While looking why one is malfunctioning the Bridge fell down. The reason for the malfunction are the runes. They somehow do not work right in this constellation over longer periods. Back to the drawing board with this, and start the melting of the bridge. Four people stand on the Bridge, all Infantry and now they are falling with the bridge. As the Bridge caught on their side it fell to the side and the men rolled right off into the spikes. One dead as impalement should not be healthy up the butt, one screaming in pain as he ripped his arm of on one spike and two groaning between the spikes. Most survived sadly. ¡°Eldar, make a bridge!¡± The one is named Eldar? His superior is Seldar, is that not confusing? Well I am looking more on the machinations of the Mage named Eldar right now. Creating a weave of Mana with the intent he wants to make the whole rock into putty and create a Bridge with it. Rather effective and quick, I am impressed. The Miasma on the other hand seems to go unnoticed. Yep, Magic is the primary source for Miasma. They work in reverse order of Monsters. Or the Monsters are working in reverse. Who knows, not¡­ Oh! Quickly I create the rockfall by breaking the supports and let them drop, before they could start with the battering ram. They really came prepared for war it seems. Wow! If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Bastard! Eldar again, this time with protection!¡± Again Eldar works his magic and even chanted. Chanting is only used if you do not know the spell per heart or if you want to charge it with way higher mastery. A Bridge with a roof solidified and afterward even crystallized for maximum reinforcement. The way he is sweating shows these were his last fumes he had in his tank. Only Seldar, Mink and the third Mage have hidden tricks to be wary of. And they are rather clever letting Eldar stay behind with one guard to be the warning of the rear. This is not the first time they broke a Rampart it seems. Quickly on the other side Seldar shows his magic and green flames corrode the Gate. He is done with playing tricks, but I am not, as right as the gate was gone The glowing hot Iron blows out of the pipes right at the intruders. Most got guarded by the shields, but the rest flew over and catches some of the heavy coats of the scouts on fire. Two got blasted where one seems to fare better as he was quickly fed a healing potion and survived with only a lost eye and heavily burned face. There should be better potions, but definitely hoarded by the mages for themselves. The other one died, albeit not quickly. Taking a Potion was not possible as he got some Iron in his mouth. Seemed like he wanted to shout something before it hit him, poor guy. Infantry had to remove the shields and parts of the Armor that has extremely hot Iron on them, as it starts to heat up. Right now Eldar was called to get back in the group as they needed the Guard back as heavy Infantry. With him there are four Infantry alive. Over half dead is a good result. Two scouts are still alive but only one healthy. The four mages are the ones, who are the least inconvenienced. One drained, One pristine, one partly without Mana and one Mink. ¡°Beryl detect life¡± ¡°As ordered!¡± The third mage is a Woman. Well I¡¯ll be. She was already wrapped up I could not see that. Before she makes the first move I look again to see if I forgot anything. No, everyone is in my Realm. Snow is¡­ sleeping. Hovering there in the dark place and just rolled in a ball. Red is ready to be assembled and Ava is also floating inside my realm. Outside is nothing but plants and rodents. ¡°Only weak monster signs and plant life. No higher being or magical Life.¡± As I already said. ¡°Where are you Null?!¡± Well, nowhere you can detect. Now search the rest of the traps. ¡°Stay together. Do not enter a building and search the area!¡± That is not what I had planned. What about the whole juicy Barracks waiting for search? This makes it way harder. Starting to hover spikes in the air I ready them to drop onto the unsuspecting Group. Some guards do not have helmets anymore because of the Iron, so it should be possible to be used. Dropping a rain of spikes and darts, it pummels on them head on. The impaired scout got hit and one more Guard was unaware of his demise. The others reacted too fast and the mages were protected by some kind of barrier. Sad days. ¡°Burk ready the retreat! Mink, go over there and take the sphere, it is some kind of source of warding. It will help us in the future to make our own entrance!¡± First of Burk is still here and now in shining Armor it seems. And second it is a bad Idea to take this from the statue. As they started to retreat Mink herself closed in on the statue. I would call it foolish, but they seem to disregard the rest of the danger as they want to quickly retreat, and an apprentice Mage with levitation has definitely more slippery spells to escape, so she is the person of choice to take the sphere. ... What happens next was not entirely planned. I wanted to make a deadly zone of miasma for them to just die, but what happened was a bit different from my expectations. Mink, nimble as she is, strangely for a mage came closer to the Statue. As she noticed the multiple runic circles around it she stopped and has gone into a further position when she chanted for the first time. It seems she was wary of the circles and just force pull it out with all her might to not step into a trap. Ripping it out of the arms, the whole bubble collapsed. Miasma touched Mana and began their light show. The woman named Beryl quickly threw a new shield up to block the Miasma raining down. It held and Mink was protected by the Sphere with way less of a range than with amplification. ...then the Miasma hit the focal point of the already starting to fail runic circles and Space started to¡­ break. Chapter 22 - Too many Visitors Rifts in Space appear all around. Some just float and fluctuate, in others presences try to connect to the World. This effect I never had thought would happen. In my shock, a few things happened. First the runic circles exploded. The explosion broke the whole market place and left a smoking crater. The body parts of the statue are floating over the crater, as if they forgot how gravity works. Mink was blown away from the explosion. To her luck she held the sphere rather firm, and survived with only bleeding from her eyes and nose. Her Master was less lucky, as he and the other Mages are dead. Scratch that, the robed female has survived and seems to desperately breath. Her Shield broke but seems like she had some precautions and was only mildly corrupted by the Miasma. How much damage she got, I have to look into when taking her in my Realm. Anything else did not survive. Almost every Monster and Human got mummified in a flash. Plants got right over the process and fell into dust. Doors broke apart and cloth was destroyed. Leather fared better but that did not mean much. It was dry and brittle, nothing could be made with it. My houses survived, albeit with explosion damage. Most windows are broken. Next time I make them thicker. Mink ran and I could not stop her, as I am right now way too occupied. With taking the Sphere, I have to hold the space myself Miasma free, but the rifts did not vanish. This will be a horrible problem, as some things I can feel on the other side are not something, that should exist. Closing them is my main priority. ¡­ Sealing the rifts is hard. I still do not know how those work, but I found a way to corrode them. Slowly the most dangerous rifts get closed by using my presence to shave off the corners. The worst thing is, there are so many. Thousands of small ones, dozens of large ones. Luckily the most soul shattering existences seem behind the smaller ones. But working hard to close all those small rifts were a test of patience. Not, that I feel annoyed, rather closing the rifts is slow and every moment the rifts exist is another moment for something to be able to invade like myself. When the rifts get small enough they implode with extreme fury and throw all of their Miasma in every direction. Keeping it contained and leading it out my Bubble of Mana made the whole thing even more attention heavy. I have only a small part of attention to spare for other things, but I try my best to salvage everything I can. Right now I use Red to haul Beryl into my realm. Taking Red into my Realm for safekeeping I start converting Beryl. To my surprise her Body was made of different human parts. She used some kind of Artifact near her heart to keep everything alive. Long story short, she was already gone. Her Body was only alive, because of that thing right near her heart and spine. The most curious part is her Body has been infected with Miasma and that particular flavor is rot. My hypothesis is a curse on her. Rather effective to just cut of the rotting parts and add new ones to circumvent the curse. By the looks of it, she was only spine and skull. Even one of her eyes got already replaced. Now to the Artifact. A kind of golden cage holds a core with a peculiar Miasmic taste. It should be regeneration or some kind of healing. Right into the spine is a needle embedded coming from the cage. The Magic is pushed into the spine and from there into the body. The Miasma working against it gets pushed into the furthest parts of the stitched together body and wrecks only in those parts havoc. This should be interesting to experiment on. Wait, stop! I need to focus. The Rifts are still my number one problem. With Red I take care of the rest of the corpses and clean up the battlefield. While it is hard to split my attention like that, I am able to work on a rift, when I look in the direction with Red. It helps to focus. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡­ Maggots spew out of one rift. Something wants to infect it with their children. Luckily they are heavily suppressed and easy to take over. But the mass of Maggots is horrifying. They are at least a meter long, hairy, white things, that just start gnawing the rock like it is tofu. This rift got now priority as the Maggots invade faster than I can take them over. Taken over Maggots became food for the others, as they seem to not recognize their lost brethren anymore. To have a few for later I hover a few away from their hungry siblings. Another disturbing presence is working like me in trying to take over the area. I am way better at it and hold it at bay for the time being, as it is not a priority right now. Other rifts also have some strange happenings around them and get put on the list, but for now they do not have the capability to invade. I need to prioritize those, that do, to be ahead of the curve. ¡­ The more I close the rifts the more I understand about those phenomenons. While my Portal is a sphere, those rifts are non-euclidean shapes, bending in different kind of ways, sometimes even overlapping on themselves. Dimensions work like a framework and holds it together. Folding space like the bag I got last time uses those framework with Mana to overlay it. Those rifts are different. Space got twisted in a way it works against it and with enough force just folds into a direction it does not have any reign over. Like a small gash into skin it bleeds in a direction where no blood vessels are and gives entry to infections. Those gashes close slowly unlike my own Portal. Sadly not fast enough to not let something dangerous in, so I have to force the healing. The knowledge helps me to understand my own Portal better and can now see how it works. It is stable in aspect of using some kind of loophole. A piece of my Realm is in this World while a piece of the World is inside my Realm. The borders are the Portal and needs to travel through this superimposed space to get to the other side. Neat! While understanding this new and useful Fact of dimensional travel I closed the Maggot Dimension and fighting right now against Tentacles with eyes sprouting from another. Cutting them from the Rift makes them fall into some kind of oily substance, so no new creatures for me. ¡­ The Mansion is back up and running. It has now a small entrance room as a kind of airlock. It was needed as Snow got bored. I did not want her to let her hover inside there forever, so I made a place for her to stay, additionally it makes a great place to store Red and even Ava for now. Sometimes I need a Body for something. Although she is happy to run around again, she is a bit protesting to be under House arrest. Just keep up with it for a week or two, until the Rifts are all closed, little one. While pushing back some kind of rainbow colored tumor growing out of one of the rifts, I look at the statue. Arms head and torso just float without reason at first sight, but it is different. They are dimensionally locked in place. Like the Rifts, they just stay in place and do not move. The way it works is rather strange, as the parts hold itself up. The space is made like a knot in that place and gravity works in both ways at the same time and this holds it right where it is. I can not explain it better, as it is just strange. At least I will remember how it works, maybe I can build something impossible in the future. ¡­ Finally I have a respite and another problem appears. While still closing the Rifts, the Roots decided to visit in full force. Fifty soldiers wrapped in a leafy plant armor is led by Falling Leaf. Maybe she is designated for negotiations against me, or she is made a sacrifice, as this resembles a suicide attack against me. To be fair, I have no patience anymore for them, as they not only let those People led by Mink and her Master move inside their territory, they killed Boost for the only reason I can imagine to hide the fact a small army nears my Domain. At the same time Falling Leaf has with her a truth seeker. A self cursed elf, losing most of their senses to only have one sense, and that is to notice truth or false in said words, gestures or other ways of communications. They are not even aware of their surroundings or that they need to eat or drink. Their World is only seeing true and false. The worst part is, the curse needs to be willingly self inflicted. By the way Mink did not escape it seems, as Falling Leaf holds the Sphere like saying they are invincible against anything I can do to them. They are so misinformed and annoying, believing them superior than anyone else. I am so done with them and will show them what despair really means. This will be fun. Chapter 23 - Accusations before the slaughter starts The looks on Falling Leafs face is a great look on her. She looks at all the rifts in spacetime and some of them look back. The further in she goes, the less proud and noble she looks, rather severely intimidated by what has happened here. The Soldiers on the other hand are rather unflinching. They sent their elites, and it seems not to negotiate. The truth seeker on the other hand is led by Falling Leaf like an elderly with care. Not that I know what they are thinking to bring someone that fragile into a battle zone, but I have some Ideas, what they try to do. ¡°NULL! Show yourself and explain why you send that horrible Miasma into the woods!¡± So that is the reason they try to frame me with. Miasma got pushed right out the tunnel when the space broke. Should have known that would happen, with such a strong reaction. Not that I am sorry for their loss, as I am working on destroying those pesky rifts. ¡°This all happened, because you have send those humans to attack me.¡± {Truth} Obviously it is the truth. Maybe just in my opinion, but it did not matter if it is only my believe, that is the truth I believe in. The Voice sounds young under the hood. Maybe 50 or 60 years of age as Elf. Slightly feminine, but females have the highest rank as also the highest burden, so it does not surprise me, she had chosen that life. ¡°Those were not our People and have nothing to do with us!¡± {Truth} Well as truth seekers only can see truth, they will answer on every sentence, that can be weighed as true or false. So I can use their own lie detector against them. ¡°Oh, is that so? To keep me in the dark you killed my wolf and led them travel to your oh so precious Forest. This shows how you only let them do what they did, you even encouraged this outcome. Do not talk sins, when you did borrow the dagger that did this!¡± {Truth} ¡°We do not know about your Wolf.¡± {Lie} A slight twitch on Leafs face, but she holds her composure, as she still believes I can not understand elvish root. ¡°And those People just wandered the Woods, we did not know their purpose or reason.¡± {Lie} ¡°What is that blind Elf always talking, when we discuss? Rather, why are we talking anyway, as you obviously came to fight me.¡± {Truth} ¡°She is one of the victims of your attack on the forest, we want to show you, what happened because of your Miasma.¡± {Lie} Wow, she thinks I am that stupid, so lets play along. ¡°To be honest I am rather tired of all of you.¡± {Truth} ¡°Because of you letting those people in, they stole the statues sphere, and all this happened.¡± {Truth} ¡°Now you are holding that Sphere like a trophy and think it will protect you all from the nightmare of this Crater, but is only a stopgap that maybe holds for a few years before stopping to work.¡± {Truth} ¡°You clearly think of me as an Enemy, so I will treat you like one too from now on.¡± {Truth} ¡°And either way, the Root will all die. If I win this fight from my wrath and revenge by releasing more Miasma and corroding your oh so precious Forest. But if I lose you will die by the thing, that wants to break a hole into this reality to conquer it.¡± {Truth} In my Monologue Leaf wanted to talk in between but did not gave her time. By now she is rather white and is not that composed as before. ¡°So when you die, you mean Miasma will flood into the Forest?¡± ¡°No, I mean when I die you will have maybe ten, maybe fifty or maybe a hundred Years, before something will break the barrier between Worlds and invade your cozy dimension to destroy everything.¡± {Truth} ¡°Nonsense! You just believe that, but have no proof!¡± ¡°I have more proof than you think.¡± {Truth} ¡°I have SEEN the Invader!¡± {Truth} This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°I KNOW what it wants to do, to come here!¡± {Truth} ¡°And I can see from the signs of this Crater, that it is not coming in friendly intention.¡± {Truth} ¡°Still you will not evade your sentencing for breaking our treaty.¡± She still thinks I give a damn about their mockery of a treaty? ¡°You never wanted the treaty to begin with, and just wanted to delay for an opportunity to remove or eliminate me.¡± {Truth} ¡°I was honest with the Treaty. The whole non aggression was already being signed by the Queen!¡± {Truth} Oh? They did really want to have a non aggression? That does not explain their behavior with my Wolf and also not why the Mages were let trough. ¡°That does not make any sense. How did those Mages go through¡­¡± Well that is an inopportune time or maybe an opportune time for a rift to spew something out? What came out can only be described as a void slime. Black as tar with mouths, eyes and tendrils all over. It is rather weak and I can take care of it easily, but it gives me an Idea. ¡°You oh so mighty Elfs should try to kill that. It might devour your whole precious Forest, if it breaks out.¡± {Truth} ¡°You bastard use unholy summons to fight? Come out yourself to die in honor before we find you and kill you!¡± {Kill that beast!} ¡°You misunderstand, that is not one of my creatures. It is something living between the void. If you can kill this, maybe you have a chance against what is trying to invade here¡± {Truth} Well I hope she did hear it. What happens next was arrows pelting the Slime, but the only thing it does is wailing while devouring the roots growing inside of it. And wailing it does. Like hundreds of baby voices modified with some kind of distortion module. And it is LOUD! Some try their luck in fighting that thing in close range with living blade weapons. Bad luck as they got just stuck and devoured. One was got by the tentacle and shoved into one of the maws with razor teeth. To his luck it was head first, so he might not have lived long enough to feel too much agony, but then again, it is a void Creature so he might be stuck inside it now. ¡­ ¡°ENOUGH! I will take care of that useless thing. Order your men back Leaf!¡± {Get back! Defensive position around me!} At least she kind of has a level head. She might not believe me, but it shows she notices the futility right away. Magic, Arrows, Weapons, nothing works. Using my Presence, I engulf the now humongous slime and invade. The thing was rather persistent, as it had already been in this World for half an hour, so I have no choice. With my presence still over it I pull my Portal out of the floor and start funneling it into my Realm. In there I can start crushing it way more effective. The Eyes and arrows are now aimed at the Portal while the Slime howls in some kind of Agony, while being dragged into the Portal bit by bit. Five Minutes later the thing is gone. The Portal goes back underground out of sight. ¡°What was that Null?¡± ¡°My Magic¡± {Lie} Argh, the damn truth seeker is still here, I forgot. Whatever, if I do not want to explain, I will not explain. That is all. ¡°What was that thing? You know it, so it must be your machination!¡± {Lie} Even she does not believe her own words. She just wants to blame me for the deaths of the Soldiers. ¡°You know very well this thing was not mine. Those Rifts are unstable and random. What comes through is mostly vermin living in pockets of space or weak entities, that can fall through those tiny pinprick sized holes to escape the Void. The thing, that is trying to Invade is different, as it waits for the opening from this side and aims to overtake this World¡± {Truth} ¡°Lies. Nothing will come, when you are gone. Everything will be back to normal.¡± Is it a coping mechanism? She heard the truth seeker, but still denies it. ¡°Then we are back at square one. We will now fight to the death, and if the winner is me, I make all Roots pay the price, and if you win the whole World will pay the price. Ready when you are Leaf. Call the start of the slaughter!¡± {Truth} ¡°¡­¡± No word from Falling Leaf. She is sweating bullets. ¡°Do you think you have a chance? How many people do you have on your side?¡± ¡°I am alone.¡± {Lie} FUCK! Forgot Snow. ¡°Well I have a Rat at my side. She is rather cute, and might not help much, but I will try to protect her for the time being. So we are two exactly.¡± {Truth} ¡°Either way, I have a rather good chance to win. It will take a while, but you all will die and after that I will just start anew.¡± {Truth} ¡°How¡­¡± ¡°How what? More talking?¡± ¡°How are you so knowledgeable about what is going on here? Why did you come here, and why did you do all this?¡± ¡°Oh, you want my Story before the killing. Alright, I humor you. The short version is, I was discarded, thrown away like garbage, then got touched by the void and it changed me. It ripped so much from me and left me nothing. I took the name Null, as I do not have any other Name. In my Language it means ¡®nothing while expecting something¡¯, as it is fitting.¡± {Truth} ¡°While I did not want to come here, it was my only option. If I did not came here, I would be dead or worse. By coming here, I foiled the plan of whatever that thing is, that wants to invade your little World and destroy it¡­ or whatever it wants to do with it.¡± {Truth} ¡°When I came here I was nothing of my former self. I tried to build up strength to go back to where I came from, when Eastern Redwind just came in and killed my Monsters I preciously needed for the time¡± {Truth} ¡°So I killed him. Not only that, I ravaged his brain. I took every memory and learned about your species.¡± {Truth} ¡°Not only do I know how you tick, I know how deceiving you are and how you would rather kill me, than have another Neighbor to worry about.¡± {Truth} ¡°And especially I know this:¡± {Your Language is no secret to me, and I can not only speak it but understand how often you lied to me through your own truth seeker.} {Truth} Well that made her shiver. She should now know what she has angered. It is a bit too late for that though, as right now¡­ rumble ...the escape tunnel is caved in. Obviously by my doing. Chapter 24 - Repairing an already burning Bridge Now we are at the climax. She has nowhere to run, nowhere to hide and no hope for survival. Come on, fight in vain, I need new bodies to create a super Root to wreak havoc in the Root Town. ¡°Please wait¡­¡± Dear Void, does she only know how to talk? We are beyond talking. You know too much and I will not let you leave Leaf. ¡°What is it? I need to hurry up with your killing to stop things invading from those rifts¡± {Truth} {All Soldiers! Disarm yourself!} And like an oiled machine, they threw away their blades and bows. ¡°Seeking quick death?¡± ¡°No, I seek a bargain! One, that will benefit all of us, and this time I will bet my life on it to get through as fast as possible.¡± {Truth} Huh¡­ Nah, it is easier to kill them, but right now I need a bit attention on the slime rift, as it might spew another one and this thing is really annoying. It was reforming and molding over and over. Now it starts to just stay liquid and mixes itself to stop the takeover from happening too fast. I will need a month for this one. Another one and it would not add but multiply the agony. ¡°I am listening. Maybe we can find a way to bury the hatchet.¡± {Lie} ¡°Fuck, I forgot your Lie-detector! Well I am still listening, as I am already occupied with closing that rift, where the Slime came from, to stop another invasion. I do not think, there is much of a chance for successful negotiations, but you can try.¡± {Truth} With that truth seeker it will not be possible to tell lies. Also I can bide my time as even if they would grow a tree to speak to the others, the roots have to touch the Forest for it to work. If there is no connection they can not talk with tree whisper over long distances. So whatever. ¡°And try I will. We misunderstood each other on such fundamental levels, there needs to be a way out, before everything is too late.¡± {Truth} What ¡®fundamental levels¡¯ is she talking about? I know their language, culture, behavior and even their whole philosophy. Well, let her talk. ¡°You say, you learned about us from Eastern Redwind, yes?¡± ¡°Yeah, I did. I have taken him over and scoured his brain for everything he knew about you People.¡± {Truth} That made her flinch. I think it would be horrible for someone to hear their whole brain is searched for Information. ¡°Then you only know the perspective of Eastern Redwind and not all of us.¡± {Truth} Well, it is reasonable to think, some things might be still not clear, but I have a majority of insights, as he lived a long life, albeit short for an elf. ¡°I have seen your City, your People and your agenda to outsiders. I know how you despise everything non Root and I know how you rather eliminate everything, that might threaten the Forest, even if it is not.¡± {Truth} Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°And there lays the misunderstanding, as not all of us think in this radical ways.¡± {Truth} ¡°Well, whatever. You already tried to destroy my place with a borrowed knife, so the obvious thing to do for me is retaliation.¡± {Truth} ¡°We did not try to kill you with a borrowed knife.¡± {Truth} Again, truths where I do not know what to think. ¡°All this happened by my misguided trust in Dancing Wind.¡± {Truth} Now it is the fault of her inferior. Well to try to sacrifice her subordinate to save all Root-kind makes sense. Still I do not buy it. ¡°So all of this, the attack on me, the rifts appearing in my Domain, the injured Forest, all will be blamed on Dancing Wind?¡± That took her for a spin for now hopefully, as I am right now really busy preventing another of those slimes pressing into this World¡­ Argh! Tentacle from another rift, this one has teeth! The Root reposition themselves to be out of harms way, seems like they understand how useless they are in that fight. Just hold your heads high, I chop them off right after I am able to relax a bit. ¡°You are wrong. It is the fault of me. I should have taken Dancing Wind from the north-eastern position, as it was too close to your domicile.¡± {Truth} ¡°What has anything to do with this?¡± ¡°She was the one, who ordered your Wolf killed. Also she let the Mages through. Her statement sounded reasonable, as she did not see danger for the Forest, but still let them travel without our permission was stretching her Order to protect the north eastern position rather thin.¡± {Truth} Well it definitely makes sense. This shows how it was not really their intention, but that ship already sailed. ¡°Nice to know why you will all die. A disgruntled Youth made a lapse in reasoning. Quite sad, as this all could have been prevented.¡± I made my villainous speech already, would be a bummer not to fill my body storage with more sapient creatures. ¡°For this I would like to apologize. It was our lapse, that made all this happen.¡± {Truth} ¡°And what? Now you are here with an army to fight me to the death. But instead of fighting, you just talk and try to backpedal.¡± ¡°We do not need to kill each other, or you killing us. We came, as we thought this Miasma as an attack on us.¡± {Truth} ¡°So, you would have been going back, right after finding out it was a misunderstanding?¡± ¡°¡­¡± No answer is also an answer Leafy. You should know that. ¡°Let me get your story straight, you came here with a truth seeker to find out the truth. After finding out it was a misunderstanding you would have left me alone. You would not have asked me if I am the one who holds the Miasma out of the Forest, and you would have been going back, even if you knew, I was not necessary for me to exist in upholding the miasmic bubble, right?¡± ¡°¡­ No, we would have attacked and tried to kill you, if we knew, you are not needed to stay safe. We even interrogated the Human for the whole three days to find out everything. That is the reason I am here with the Artifact, that repels Miasma. We would at least use it to ward the hole.¡± {Truth} ¡°Well at least you are truthful in your last moments.¡± ¡°I will not eschew from my Sins and will die. I just want to negotiate to not attack the Forest in false rage.¡± {Truth} Huh. She wants to sacrifice herself to stop my lashing out. The question is¡­ ¡°Why should I stop now, as we already are on such bad terms? If you do not get back, there will be a next attack. A first strike on my part would be more reasonable.¡± ¡°I will write a letter of apology and explain the faulty understanding between us.¡± ¡°And what would that bring?¡± ¡°Let me ask you a question. What do you seek?¡± ¡°Going back to my former World. Gaining enough Power to shake their corrupt kingdom. Punch a God in the face.¡± {Truth} She is a bit aghast, but recovers fast. Is it that shocking? ¡°And to do this, you would stay here for a while and protect us from¡­ Whatever wants to breach into our World?¡± ¡°Well not only protecting. The thing has the capability to send a beacon to create a stable path. I want to dig that thing up and use it for my own reasoning. Right now I have not enough Information for traveling through Dimensions, not to speak about traveling through the Void.¡± {Truth} ¡°Then we have aligned ways¡­¡± Finally I have crushed this darn rift. No slimes for now. The Tentacle is not that dangerous, so I have a bit time to do something else. My attention is now directed way more on the Roots and they feel my Presence. Chapter 25 - One last chance or a final end? Dancing Leaf feels my Presence around her tightening. The Soldiers notice it too, but stay put, as they did not have gotten any order. What a quite disciplined bunch. ¡°Please, let me explain further before ending us!¡± ...What the hell¡­ ¡°...continue.¡± ¡°We¡­ We have aligned ways. Our goals are different, but you are not an evil presence.¡± {Truth} ¡°You want to save our World, even if it is just for you to want back to the World, that banished you.¡± ¡°It is true, I don¡¯t want to destroy this World. The reasoning is just rather pragmatic. I do not care about this World. If someone treats me good, I am OK in helping a bit. If they fight me, they get what is coming to them.¡± {Truth} ¡°For¡­ For this I thank you. Thank you for helping out the World, even if it is only on happenstance. I would like to write a Letter to the Queen, so no more Misunderstandings happen. I will do my utmost to make you and us Roots not only non aggression partners but allies.¡± {Truth} So much bravery, such a big sacrificial ambition¡­ so many loopholes¡­ ¡°Your utmost must not mean it will happen. You can do your best, but only doing your best is not enough to assure it happening. At worst they will think I had you made it under duress and will send everything to eliminate me.¡± ¡°I assure you, I have high standing and can sway the Queen in at least never quarrel with you ever again.¡± {Truth} ¡°Hidden code can be written inside, to explain everything I do not want someone to know.¡± ¡°I swear onto my Ancestors roots, I will not try to include any Information, you don¡¯t want to share.¡± {Truth} ¡°Then the final Question. HOW does this mysterious letter be sent to your Queen?¡± ¡°By a Soldier.¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°And I shall just leave a Soldier go? I told you so much about me. You have seen so much you should not. And I shall just let a Soldier go?¡± {Soldiers! You are not allowed to lie! Step forward, if you can understand common!} Twelve of the remaining forty two step forward. ¡°Those can not be sent. The rest do not speak common and have not understood your story at all. With one of these most secrets will stay secret.¡± This is getting more and more troubling. I do not really want to kill all of the Roots, as it takes so much time, but they would also be great Material. Their knowledge about everything in the woods would be such a boon¡­ But I do not need all of them. What to do. To genocide or not genocide¡­ The small part of Human, still in me stirs to not kill without cause. I want revenge, but not mindless slaughter. Seeing People and Animals only as Materials shows, how far I am away from my former self, but it is rather a necessity to find a way back. ¡°¡­let me ponder a bit.¡± ¡°Sure, we will wait.¡± ¡­ Time flies. Another day is now taking the former one. The whole Night I have thought about it. Eastern Redwinds line of sight was really a bit skewed. Rummaging through the Memories again shows how he is rather on the high Xenophobic side. Everyone around him had the same thinking, but around him were not all of them, just a small part of Roots. Mainly groups of the hunters, as they are known. Using their skills to eliminate threats, they always see the worst of the peoples and monsters. While pondering some more things tried to invade, but I had most of it under control. The Roots on the other hand had seen things, that should not be. It was definitely traumatizing them. Falling Leaf wants to sacrifice herself and the twelve Soldiers for another chance. If something happens it would be an inconvenience, but not an all out catastrophe. Unless they find a way to banish me. The fear of this is rather high. ¡­ Taking the Door of the Mansion I walk out to the waiting Roots. ¡°I have decided to give you a last chance.¡± Hobbling on a wooden staff and bandaged up I stand in front of the People. The whole body smells heavily of blood. ¡°This is the last chance. I have no time or patience to swat away all your attempts to kill me. I am in need of power and a way back to where I came from. I hope you understand this and stop making me your enemy.¡± {Truth...Lie} This damn truth seeker. I forgot a special aspect of them. ¡°Let us go to the mansion. There should we discuss what to write. I will let all Soldiers go, that can not speak common. The others have to stay, either living inside, dying or becoming my test subjects, I do not know for now.¡± {Truth} ¡°She stays here. The truth seeker annoys me. The Soldiers can take her back afterwards. Right now your last chance will be us writing the letter and seeing if you are really truthful to your words. Otherwise I will stop being nice.¡± {Truth} Well, now we see if the honesty is real of fake. As I can read their language, nothing should be hidden within. All that is needed is for them to play nice. Otherwise everything will be a dead end. ¡­ {STOP!} There is the last thread of hope, ripping and dissolving right behind me. We did not even walk all the way to the Mansion, when the ugly part of the people shows their face. I bet they think about ¡®how dare someone talk about experimenting on the Root¡¯ or something other than this. Anyway this should be the end of the whole farce. Right now three Soldiers jumped me from behind. Although they have no weapons, they should be able to overpower Red and break his neck in moments. Seems like they remember me saying only two people are on my side and one is a Rat. Well whatever they think is irrelevant, as Reds death will be all their deaths, including the whole City in the Forest. Closing Reds eyes I wait for the final end of this whole spiel¡­ Chapter 26 {To our great Queen Mother of the first Child, we made a grave mistake in evaluating the Person Null as an enemy. He is not only an ally, in aspects I can not explain right now, he is guarding our Forest from a great evil. Inside the crater of the Starfall lays at rest a dangerous Object, that might destroy the whole World. Null is right now not only guarding this Object, he works on delaying the end and even removing the threat on the whole World. As our misguided attempts at suppressing him made our positions worse I have only the last option available to sacrifice myself to appease his wrath. Please interrogate all Soldiers to hear about the things they have seen, as these are only the smallest of the creatures waiting to invade. Their danger was already unfathomable and whatever is able to direct its way right to us can not be weaker, but only incomparably stronger than what we have seen. As the fault laid with me, I accept all punishments out of free will and suggest to not only remove Dancing Wind from her position in the North-east, but all who might have a grudge against Null for who might not be able to make it back. Nulls roots align with ours, even if his branches reach a different goal. Please never antagonize him again and understand our sacrifice as our last chance to make amends. Although I am not proper authorized to make negotiations I have taken upon my last will to create these for the benefit of us all. Please accept those as stated, so my end has a meaning. 1. Null has free reign over 10 Kilometer around the Opening to Starfall crater. Additionally he is allowed to travel through the Forest unimpeded. A sign for him and his companions will be created to show alignment. 2. Null is allowed to forage for Herbs, berries and other plants. He promises not to hurt our trees and will not fell more than one every year. For compensation Null will put Mana inside the Forest to further the cleansing of Miasma and increasing the growth of plants. 3. Null has full autonomy of the Starfall crater. It is his Domain and will not be disputed. If someone from another Kingdom desire his Domain for themselves, we Root will help him deflect those attempts. 4. The Roots will treat Null as an accepted Ruler of his own Domain. We will give him honor to send dignitaries and Letters. In exchange, we are allowed to seek audience to discus changes in our alliance and propose new compromises we might need. 5. For the good of our friendship, Null will be giving us the Sphere, we took from the human Mink. The accident of the escaping Miasma will all be blamed onto the Magistrate of the Humans in the North-east. Further I wish for all our lost Roots to be understood, that this shall not become a thorn that injures our stretched out hand. We all made mistakes in ways we can not fathom from our perspective. The Forest is big and our hearts need to be as big as the Forest, otherwise neither will be a good example for the growing saplings in our midst. I wish I could have brought you this Letter myself, but I have already paid the price of my hubris. Please oh dear Queen Mother, let my last act under your reign be a fruitful one. I do everything for the betterment of our Forest, that I promise on my family roots. Your always faithful subject Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Falling Leaf } ¡­ What a twist. Right before they grabbed me the other Soldiers tackled the three and even Falling Leaf was in the quarrel doing her best to restrain them. Not only did they barely escape me calling the last chance void, they even apologized profusely. Restrained and gagged they were thrown into one of the rooms in the Mansion, while I watched over Falling Leaf writing the letter on a big Leaf she created with her magic. By asking what I wanted, she just accepted everything I needed. I want free passage. I want resources. I want to be left alone. I want to be treated right. I want not be held responsible for this fiasco. Well that all was placed as neatly as possible into a written letter. What happens afterwards, who knows? ¡­ I had to test the soldiers in front of the truth seeker, but everyone else does not speak common. It was nice to know, they are at least honest, if a bit backstabbing. Right now I turn the Rocks to dust in the tunnel with Red as my Avatar. When the last of the Rocks vanished, other scouts could be seen on the other end of the tunnel. The first reaction of them was to draw their bows, of course. {Do not shoot!} Falling Leaf is at my side and she shouts the order. For a second they were a bit surprised, but then they let the bowstring relax while putting the arrow back. {Soldiers, go deliver the Message. We might not see each other ever again. Remember not to antagonize Null in the future. Farewell.} With a salute all Soldiers except the ones who can speak common left the tunnel. 30 People plus a truth seeker and no one tried to stab me or incapacitate me. Impressive, maybe I really have misunderstood Roots. ¡°So, you are not trying to flee? The Tunnel to freedom is right in front of you.¡± ¡°I might flee to live a few more days, but with this I would doom all my Family, am I right?¡± ¡°...yep.¡± ¡°Then it is better to die for the Sins of others, than further the spiral of distrust.¡± ¡°To be honest, you will not die. At least for now. I would like you to help me with my Garden experiment. I can not understand Plants that well and would like you to tend to them.¡± ¡°So I become your personal Gardner?¡± ¡°Something of the like. I need to understand Plants, Potions and Alchemy, to create enough ways to become powerful. Without a powerful body I will not be able to get my revenge.¡± ¡°So Potion making. I can not help with that, but I can help you with understanding the needs of plants.¡± ¡°This would be appreciated. Let us move back.¡± The walk back I start to stop pretending to be injured wit Red. He is rather fit, so it was hard to play sick. The Blood around me was from Ava, as I disassembled him and the bandages are from the Backpack Burk had with him the first time he was here. ¡°You know, I want to travel back to my former World, and might destroy it. Does it not concern you?¡± ¡°The other World is not my problem. My family is in this World, so I will protect them, even if it means I have to damn a different World. And after what you said about this World, they made their own demise it seems.¡± Well she is not wrong. I should start building my strength and find a way back. I am already over a Year in this World. There must be a way back. Chapter 27 Working overtime on those Rifts. Those things get more dangerous the longer they exist. Things find more and more of them on the other side, and I had to massively overstrain my Presence. Falling Leaf is for now in the Mansion locked away, as I have to focus all my power. Luckily I found out colliding my Portal with them destabilizes them harder, but the effect is quite apocalyptic to put it mildly. Space bends, Gravity stops playing ball and lightning of whatever color you want make a scary backdrop. I notice Leaf looking out of the rather tinted window. She can not see what happens, but I bet she feels the chaos. Even Snow dug under her cozy nest and waits for the Armageddon to stop. Breaking rifts that way only takes a few Minutes but there are so many, I restart the end of the World in local theaters again and again, going slowly down the danger list. ¡­ Who would have known bigger rifts close way faster. As they hold open more space only touching them roughly makes them wobble. The Explosions after they got closed are more extreme though. It is like a second Miasmic Bomb but in smaller scale. The rest of the large ones are now definitely on the Backlog, as they nourish the smaller ones, when imploding. Reinforcing the most annoying ones is a no go right now! For three whole days I just hammer my portal into rifts again and again. Those things have to go, as the ones who are left ALL have some kind of presence behind them, trying to understand the Laws to invade. My portal has started to change because of the whole ramming. It is already quite big, but now it pulses. Like a heart it seems to beat every time it starts fighting with another rift. For a while I stopped using it in fear of breaking, but could not halt for long, as now colors bleed in from two rifts, while another starts to hum in an ominous way. Better see the damage later than being invaded by some creature that has all letters of the alphabet inside its name¡­ twice. I had to feed Snow multiple times and nearly forgot to feed Leaf as well. She was quiet and did not complain, so I nearly forgot her. The Guards were also there, but I ignore them, as I do not think of them too much, although I gave them food. The three, who wanted to attack me on the other tendril were already thrown into the Portal. In front of Leaf and the Soldiers. They did not protest in any way, just shivered. ¡­ The last large rift is closed. Finally it is OVER! While resuming the Mana generation I also push away all Miasma. It is now safe outside. Six additional days I needed to close them. Well additional to the time I already fought, was invaded, got bloodlust, became appeased and let the soldiers go. I am more peaceful right now. The Roots came out of the Mansion and Snow is happy to be outside again. I am by all means not finished with everything, but I have breathing room again. The next thing should be creating the Gardens again. Everything inside was lost, but should be recoverable, as I have some spirits and seeds. The next thing is rebuilding everything. Creating glass out of the silica, making new doors, repairing walls and roofs, opening the entrance again, creating new Gates and a new drawbridge, refurbishing the traps¡­ Damn, I now see how thorough the Damage is. It will take weeks to return everything to working order. ¡­ The Soldiers are dead. Well not dead dead, but not really alive either. They committed suicide in their own way. As they know they are not allowed outside they had Leaf ask me for permission to become trees. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. With my knowledge I knew what they wanted to do. They wanted to insert one of their seeds right into their hearts and nourish it with their own Mana until they are gone. The Tree eating their whole body grows into their new ¡®form¡¯. It is believed to be the path to become closer to their origin and is their way of passage for People who either do not want or can not do anything anymore for the Roots. I am not that pissed anymore about the whole fiasco, so I let them. The place they now live is outside the crater, where the destruction ravaged. They stepped in Formation and took their lives right there, with Red as my Eyes. At first they wanted to die inside the Crater like promised, but as I am not able to secure their survival if something like that happens again, I gave permission to do it outside, but under my watch, so they do not just escape. Red and Leaf watched them slowly sprout branches and their legs becoming roots. Their Formation is a protective phalanx mostly used to keep an important person safe, right around my Tunnel. It seems they think the same way as Falling Leaf about me now. I do not know if it really is that, or if they just try to soothe me into thinking Roots are peaceful. At least I will try my best to think a bit more positive about their brethren¡­ no promises though. ¡­ ¡°These are the plants I am cultivating. Right now I try to improve their mutation rate to create new species for use in Potions.¡± ¡°This is fascinating¡­ and rather horrifying. You use filtered Miasma against them to force them in a specific transformation, that is rather unnatural. Miasma itself is pollution, but using it like that is never seen before.¡± ¡°Yeah, I try to extend my missing components for Potions by forceful mutation. As I have no access to other plants deeper into the Forest I am trying to create some alternatives myself.¡± ¡°You will have access soon enough, the Letter has reached my Queen for a few days already. No need to torture Plants too much.¡± ¡°Well¡­ Let us see how they even react. The whole Matriarchy of the Roots is in full Isolationism. I bet the letter back will have revised proposals and after that it will be a long back and forth until I am even allowed to walk out of the Tunnel without an Arrow aimed at my skull.¡± ¡°I have faith in my sisters and brothers. They will do the right thing. If you want you can search my Brain too, to make sure I am telling the truth.¡± ¡°Nah, this will kill you, as I told you. Right now you are worth more alive as dead. Not only for my purpose but as person at my site for further negotiations.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± ¡°¡­¡± I do not understand her. She is suddenly tame and dedicated to me. How can someone suddenly shift so much? I have her now as a resident, for better or worse. So I have to see if she can be of use. If not I could still take her over and disassemble her, but it rubs me the wrong way, as I start to search for my humanity and find only definitions, but neither a moral compass or apprehension to do things anyone would find horrible. Right now by the way, I wait for the fusion of Red and one of the Soldiers to end. Their body lays in a closed room. Leaf did not even ask why my voice or height changed, she accepted it like it was a matter of course. Let me change the subject, before I start pondering about all this too much. Snow right now is bigger than before. In retrospect to the rats living in the town (Void knows how some of them had survived the whole chaos) she is huge. Also she often walks adorably on her hind paws or hops around. Her favorite four things are Meditating, Sleeping, Eating and Exploring. Most of the time in that order. I do not know what is happening, but right now I take it for granted. With the exception of Falling Leaf I have no other creature by my side, and Leaf behaves closely like a Slave. ¡­ Right now I am working on Reds body with Ava. Exploring the changes the fusion brought is best seen with an outside look. The reformed muscles show promising strength and flexibility. Everything seems to improve in a positive way. The bark on the back has the strangest transformation. It got smooth, like an armor plate. It seems closely like it started to become carbon fiber than wood. The density and robustness is extreme. Backstabbing will be close to impossible. Sadly this means the Spine is now completely rigid. I tried to make him more bendable, but now he is the opposite. While probing the whole body I notice visitors. The Root finally brought their reply. I could go out, but it is more fun to see how they behave and what will Leafy do with them being here. Sinews are made out of stronger material it seems. Red can use them perfectly but they are not bigger, just stronger and more resistant to tearing. They are still bendable and perfect for long stressing work. Fingernails, bones and teeth have a high density and still leave some bend, it is a rather surreal combination of durability and flexibility. {Leaf! You are alive!} Ah, they found each other. I apologize for eavesdropping, but it can¡¯t be helped. Chapter 28 {Sister Petal? You are the delegation leader?} Their hug was heartwarming, if I had a heart¡­ Wait I am in Ava, so right now I have one. {Our Brethren thought you had died! After the scouts saw our Sisters and Brothers come from the Tunnel to become trees we thought you were already dead. The whole City will be joyous to know you are alive!} {No Sister, you got it wrong. Tell everyone of lower rank I am dead. You can tell the high Mothers and Queen Mother but not anyone else.} That took the wind out of her Sister called Petal. Seems she has something in mind with this. {But¡­ Sister! The saplings mourn your passing and would break out of their shaded state with this message. Why?} Well my question in more flowery words. {It was their fault.} {What?} {The whole thing became this severe, because the saplings started to feel complacent. They thought everyone non Root was beneath them. Because of Eastern Redwind Null got the wrong impression about us Roots. Dancing Wind not only wanted to raid this place, she killed a Wolf of Null and let Foreigners trample our Forest and in fact have created themselves the dead Trees around the tunnel¡­ LET ME SPEAK! It all came to it, because we were too tender with them. If this happens again, we might have truly war with something, we can not beat. It is better for them to feel the consequences.} Wow, she had a rather long monologue as explanation. Petal wanted to interject multiple times and when she wanted to protest she even got scolded by Leafy. I do not understand why she thinks of me so highly right now. I am rather powerful, yes, but not some kind of God. {Leaf¡­ What happened?} {You should have heard everything from the Soldiers. I am not allowed to speak too much about what was spoken. All lucky Soldiers who did not know common got back. The ones who did not sacrificed them as a symbol of protection. There were three who wanted to kill Null¡­ We stopped them luckily¡­ Their fate might be worse than death¡­} Well she scrapes on by at the things she is allowed to say. No bending of the rules right now, but better not say a word about¡­ {What about the mentioned black sphere? What is it? Demonic powers?} ...my Portal. {I can not and will not speak about it. I promised on my Ancestors Roots to not tell anything. Please accept this as my answer.} {Are you¡­ really my precious Sister Leaf?} {Please Shimmering Petal. Do not try to break my heart, as I hold with me more than just a small secret. What they told you was real. Everything they saw, I saw too. Whatever wants to invade must be more dangerous.} {And you believe that?} {We had a truth seeker with us. Everything was under her oath of truth laid bare.} Ah yes, that truth seeker. It even saw through my disguise as weak and injured and said it was a lie. Luckily it was not understood, so the three imbeciles tried to kill me. {By the way Leaf, our Tree Mother set her new leafs to the east¡­} {Stop it, please. I will not speak in code with you about it. I really swore on my Ancestors Roots. It will not only tarnish my own soil, we might lose a precious ally.} Wait, right. There are ways to tell things in code, I totally forgot many siblings have their own secret language. Damn, I nearly thought it was just smalltalk, I have to be careful¡­ Or not, as Falling Leaf seems to really think about this Alliance as something precious. {...as you wish. I just hope you are still my beloved Tree Sister.} {I¡­ I am, but now we are on two different sides of a river. The closer the gap between us, the more we will touch each other with our branches and roots dear Sister. Please understand and help us come to the best solution to our problems.} Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. {I¡­ I will try.} Another hug. More gentle this time and way longer. They seem to have missed each other rather much. I should feel sorry taking her sister away¡­ Should, but sadly there is nothing. Well just as there is nothing doesn¡¯t mean I can not act like I am feeling things. Let them just hug each other. The two Guards seem to think the same, as they did not even say one word the whole time being in the background. Playing tough, but having wet eyes, I see you elf on the left! ¡­ Leafy brought them to the Mansion. To be honest they walked right past it as they saw someone working in the fields looking familiar. I will just keep a closed eye to the small disrespect, as it was Family they met. Sitting them in the Study they are rather standing than sitting down. Yeah forgot, elves do not like processed wood. And sitting on a Rock bench would be bad too. Maybe I should create a kind of negotiation place? Later¡­ knock knock ¡°Master Null? We have guests from the Forest. They bring Message about the Propositions.¡± ¡°Huh? Oh yeah, I am right there. If you want you can make some tea for our guests.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± Even Elves have tea. They do not like processed materials but processed Food and beverages are somehow different. Who can understand their priorities. Right now Leafy is holding a iron pot at the glowing plant in a flower pot and the water inside the pot starts boiling. One of the first achievements of having Leafy with me. She knew which plant can at best handle which Miasma and had one transform into that Pyroflower. You touch it, it sears your flesh. Best way to fight a food predator by cooking it while it tries to eat you. Also Leafy made bark cups. The whole bending the bark and taking it off from the tree without hurting them is rather strange, but she said she made them often in her sapling years. Right now she had made the whole kitchen I created her Domain. Although I just can disassemble and reassemble my bodies or give them nutrient mixtures, hand made food is different. Eating delicious made food and tea echoes inside my hollow self a bit. It seems as it searches for¡­ happiness. Maybe I can grow new emotions like happy if I try to indulge, so I accept her hospitality and eat at least once a day her food and tea at least twice a day. As I make myself ready to meet those Root, Leafy gives them their Tea. The atmosphere is a bit strained, as Petal tries to compose herself seeing her precious sister working like a lowly Servant. To not over stress the situation I open the door and greet the party. ¡°Welcome Ambassadors of Root. I apologize for having you in a room with dead wood, would you like to wander the town while we discuss, or would you rather stay inside?¡± ¡°Thank you for your hospitality. My Name is Shimmering Petal and with me are Dark Bark and Guarding Crown. And ...I would like to walk around outside. Having stone roof over my head is rather claustrophobic.¡± Petal seems to be in diplomatic mode, she is polite, accommodating and all in all cold. No emotion can be read from her gestures. ¡­ ¡°Our Queen Mother has read your proposition of the Alliance. We are rather shocked about what our Soldiers have brought back and many whispers are still in opposition of this proposition.¡± Like I thought. The whole thing will be delayed and we will be back at the start. Maybe another ¡®accidental Misunderstanding¡¯ disguised as ¡®disgruntled saplings¡¯ will be happening. After that will be another try to cease fire, when they notice I did not lie. ¡°So there are complications. To be honest I discussed those already with Falling Leaf. When should I expect the answer of acceptance or denial?¡± ¡°I am Sorry, you misunderstood me. The oppositions are right now being put on the south side of the Forest to not hinder any negotiations between Lord Null and our Queen Mother.¡± That is surprising! So the Alliance will be made? I do not really understand the inclinations but Leafy seems to be exhaling the whole stress she is holding in. Wait, are we one person more all of a sudden? Oh, Snow walks beside me on two feet. She seems to want to be included. ¡°So about the Propositions. Which one will be accepted and which will be rewritten to suit the Roots better?¡± Well rather a loaded question, but I am really curious how they will bend this into their own little scheme. ¡°All will be accepted. Nothing will be changed for now, with one caveat as our southern Forest is right now filled with opposing voices, it will be better for now not to visit the south as not to visit the vicinity of our City without telling us beforehand and an escort, as we Root are not completely unified like we look.¡± Am I dreaming? Suddenly the Root are coy as little puppies! Did I really misinterpret them that much? ¡°Our Queen Mother is in full support of your endeavor to cleanse the Crater from any evil. The legend of the fallen Star is older than the recent Forest. Most think of it as a fairytale, but our Queen Mother believes the reasoning seen by the Soldiers and written by my Sis¡­ by Falling Leaf.¡± ¡°And I am able to go out¡­ when?¡± ¡°When your Lordship made a sign for your People to freely pass the Forest. If you have nothing against it, my People would like to rest for a few days here.¡± ¡°...your true reason?¡± ¡°...I¡­ I want to be with my Sister I thought dead for a while. I hope you will accommodate my wish.¡± ¡°Falling Leaf?¡± ¡°Yes Lord?¡± They are a bit strained right now. Whatever, they need their time and I do not wish them unhappy. They brought rather good news anyway. ¡°Please remember your promise while Shimmering Petal is in your domicile. I can not give your Guards an appropriate accommodation as I did not thought about Roots staying on their own accord in my Domain. They can either rest in one of the Houses or sleep near the Gardens.¡± ¡°Thank you Lord!¡± {I am sorry Bark and Crown. I have asked for a stay to talk with Leaf without asking you. I hope you forgive me.} {We will survive.} {Family first, Petal. Keep connected with your Sister.} Rather soft hearted those two. Bark is short for words, but starts bawling when seeing Sisters reunite. Should I say tough bark sweet core? Nah, too cheesy. Chapter 29 While surveilling the Sisters for hidden codes or slip of tongues I start a new project. My sign should be something, that can not easily be duplicated. For this I create a substance infused with Miasma. The way I do this is with a small pearl and inside that pearl I put the warding Miasma. With copper rings around it I have a place to bring some runic circles in place. The Rings are layered over each other to keep the glow unobstructed as much as it gets. ¡­ Seventh try is the charm¡­ I think. With the rings I finally have made a rainbow glowing pearl with a miasmic warding capability. It can not beat the Craters bubble but can hold of normal Miasma quite easily. The light is for Monsters rather annoying, as I tested with different bodies, and should deter them coming too close. Demerit is the necessity for Sunlight to be present. So I can only use the warding in the open, but the rainbow glow is there even at night. With weak bodies I can only walk at Daytime while a strong body can punt the Monsters at night and still have a sign with him. I make it an Amulet and create for now two. A third will be in the works later, when I have the time. Right now I need to accommodate our small crew, as they are already here for two nights and not only one. ¡­ ¡°It might be time to go Home, do you not think so Miss Petal?¡± ¡°Yes, I have strained my welcome here a bit too far. I thank you for your hospitality. Please keep my¡­ Please keep Falling Leaf safe.¡± ¡°I will try to do that. By the way, I have created a sign.¡± ¡°So soon? Be wary of plagiarism.¡± ¡°It can not be easily copied. Here is the prototype. It will help as a reference.¡± Giving her the Amulet she looks at it. Rainbow light is seen inside the small pearl in the middle of three rings held together by three bolts. The top bolt has a hole for a small chain or band to wear it. Runes are seen over the rings and show they have meaning. ¡°And this will be the sign? What do those Runes do?¡± ¡°By passing Mana into the amulet the glow intensifies and deters Monsters from getting close. I have only tried it with smaller Monsters, so I do not guarantee the effectiveness on stronger ones.¡± Using her Mana she tries and the glow got stronger. Behind me I hear a hurt squeak and see Snow look away from us. Sorry, forgot you are a Monster too. ¡°A quite nice bauble. I will bring it to our Queen to explain it to the tender. It will be known in one Mon¡­¡± ahem ¡°¡­one Week. A Week will be enough time to send the information to everyone.¡± Falling Leaf really wants to let everything go as smooth as possible. She even intervened right away, when the time got stretched. Maybe in time I can really trust her and even let her go back to her City for vacation? ¡­ ¡°Master Null?¡± While I create a place for a living gazebo Falling Leaf approaches me. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I would like to¡­ Please do not Misunderstand, but I want to know your history. Before you came here.¡± ¡°You want to know, who I was to better understand who I am right now?¡± ¡°Something on the line of that. I just want to know what happened to better understand the Master I now serve.¡± ¡°I am no Master. I did not leave you alive to be my maid or slave. It rather irks me, you think like that.¡± ¡°I¡­ I understand that, but I have dedicated my life to you¡­¡± ¡°To stop my rampage against your kind.¡± ¡°...well¡­ yes, but also to further our understanding to each other. I want to know what happened to be more insightful and not accidentally step on an injured root.¡± ¡°The trust is not there right now. We were enemies just two weeks ago.¡± ¡°Not quite enemies¡­ I was just following orders, as both Eastern Redwind and Dancing Wind were under my canopy, so I took it on myself to step in for them.¡± ¡°In Reds mind you were a vague shadow. You were there at his Judgment but only a shadow of a memory otherwise.¡± She flinches. ¡°So, Redwind never really asked for his mentor¡­ It makes so much sense now.¡± In the other minds of the Roots I understood what she meant. Guidance is already signed off right after they got plucked. The only thing that needs happening is for those saplings to official want guidance and they will be introduced to their Guardian. Until then they can learn from others however they think it would fit. Quite a special way to make their schooling. They wait for the children to play as much as they want and get put in jobs here and there while learning, but when they desire to learn something intensive they will meet their Teacher. Red never asked, and never knew about his true teacher. He wanted to show how good he is without help, as all thought of him as damaged and rotten. ¡°He was rotten, but not only because of the dying Tree Mother Leaf.¡± That shocked her out of the melancholy. ¡°Most people looked at him with pity. Not that it may be true, but he saw it for himself like that. To show he is a worthy Root, he did his best to learn alone, never realizing he might be better with a Mentor.¡± ¡°He was thinking, that he was ostracized?¡± ¡°In a way, yes. The only respite he found was with the hunters, as they were a rough bunch to begin with and thought he could win his place with them. That was the reason I thought of all of you as extreme Xenophobes.¡± ¡°So, you understand now, we are not that?¡± ¡°No, I believe you are still rather Isolationists, but not as ruthless as I first thought.¡± ¡°...it is a beginning.¡± Maybe, maybe not. I still keep my mistrust with me, as I still remember how they stole from me my wolves. ¡­ The Gazebo is slowly blooming. Leafy is the one who creates the place, as I do not want to show her, that I can do that too with Reds body. If she knows about him being Root and sees behind the bandages, she might get scared into something desperate. Reading Brains made her already uncomfortable, taking over Bodies will definitely make her think horrible things. Right now I take away the bandages and give Ava an iron Mask. The Mask can be taken away later, but my face and race should not be made definite, because she sees my second Avatar. Why I need that is, because I am finally ready to go to the first city. First I check all my readied possessions for the trip ahead. The first thing is my Equipment. Gauntlet, Robe, Amulet, Sword, Bomb, Potions, spacial Bag, Backpack¡­ Get out of there Snow, you are staying here! Where was I? Ah yes, further Items. Five copper, seven Silver and three Gold. Rather meager, but the second expedition did not have any Money with them. Luckily their Money is base ten. 10 Scrap = 1 Copper 10 Copper = 1 Silver 10 Silver = 1 Gold 10 Gold = 1 large Gold (looks like a bar) 100 large Gold = 1 Mithril And this is only legal tender in the eastern and southern parts of the Continent, as the Merchant Country has their coins spread into other lands, and everyone else assimilated them. There are even Coins made with their own banners, but no one would mix in metals or make them lighter, as this would make them a laughing stock for other Countries. So every Coin is worth the same in every country because of pride. Next up, what I want to maybe sell. Pelts, Cores, Herbs and clothes. The female clothing of Mink is unusable as I have no female Avatar, and Leafy just wears¡­ leafs! So I pack everything I do not need and buy cloth and books for it. ...Why is this Backpack so heavy? ...Snow, you are staying! Chapter 30 The first kind of step is the worst. As I am right now risking Ava, I have to walk through the woods right to the next town. My Amulet is showing and active, so I hope the whole Alliance is real. I am just one and they think of their city as a Country, so it could be thought of just erasing myself by you know, killing Ava, albeit they do not know, this would not end me. Traveling the woods again I can see the full Damage the Miasma made. Trees got killed from inside out and dry up. They are standing corpses, luckily It had only a radius of half a Kilometer. The only living trees inside that place are nine fast growing trees. My destination is called Kilt. A rather rough Town right near the Forest. Mercenaries travel there to get their hands on all kind of Potions and fight Monsters to bring back all their parts for a high price. While it is not the most famous town near the Woods it is the second Town from the top. The first is the base of the Green Fire, and they just lost a bunch of Mages. Another expedition will not happen for a long time, as they have their hands full with the aftermath of losing those Members. At the same time they will be paranoid to no end and search for spies, traces, suspicious people and of course hidden caches of their former Members to plunder. Going there will end up in imprisonment by having Minks underwear. ¡­ The Body works fine and even far away it is still easy to work with. At the same time I am sometimes looking at the Crater and am able to just switch between one or the other. By luck I see a Root scout swiftly entering the Crater and after leaving a rolled up leaf, he ran away before Leafy could say anything. Taking the Letter she seems conflicted, but puts it in her barkskin pouch. Let¡¯s not forget the Letter, and see what will happen next. While on the way I need to rest a few times, as this body is heavy and not enhanced with better muscles. For now I can take of the iron Mask and put it away, as I am far away from the Crater. Resting a bit and drinking some water I start the second and hopefully last trek through the woods. While working on my cardio in this body, I make small rests and look at what is happening at home. Snow is happy to look at my presence and Leafy is still working on the Gazebo, ignoring the letter completely. ¡­ Finally I can see the town ramparts. Rather ugly for a Town, but the Ramparts are build for function and not aesthetics. Approaching the Gate I can already see I am in the evening rush. So it will take a bit of time before entering. ¡°New here?¡± Someone seems wanting to kill wait time for a while. ¡°More or less. It was a long time those bones entered this shithole. What about it?¡± To blend in, I take note of the memories of Avas previous owner. Not my favorite way to speak, but it will do. ¡°Just asking. New faces might need to learn the ropes, so I thought of selling you info.¡± ¡°Keep your head low, never antagonize the Guards and definitely do not piss of Pedro.¡± ¡°Shit, nothing to gain from you.¡± And that was it. Pedro is a rather famous bartender in the city. Former Mercenary and more dangerous as the guards, as he can crush a head inclusive steel helmet. Not that I have any Idea to go to him. I want to go to the self crowned peddler King. ¡°Name and reason for entering.¡± I am finally at the front. ¡°Ava, Mercenary, selling herbs.¡± ¡°One copper, next.¡± Yup, that was lax as it can get. The copper is officially not needed, but if you want to antagonize the Guards they will search your whole baggage and something will accidentally be broken. The Magistrate is rather corrupt in that way, but for their flaws, they accept every race and anyone can make enough money to feed themselves. Unlike other Countries this one has nearly no slaves. So this shows how the Magistrate has both good aspects as bad aspects. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Mages are the Nobles here and also the Lawmakers. If there is any dispute, you go to the underlings of the Mages to settle. If it is a rather big thing, the Mage himself might be the judge. While reminiscing all the Information I have about this Country I am now in front of the peddler Kings shop. His name, nobody knows. Some think it is simply King and it is a play on words, but nobody is sure. He just says he is the peddler King. Rather pompous, but this gave him a rather wide reach in business. Entering the establishment I am greeted by an enthusiastic assistant. A lanky beanstalk of a youth. ¡°Welcome to the Peddler King. How can I help you?¡± ¡°Selling in bulk. I have some herbs, pelts, cores and clothes.¡± ¡°Right this way please.¡± The word ¡®cores¡¯ makes all of it way easier. If it is cores they are always in need. Mages use them in so many experiments, they go through them like they are water. ¡°Please put everything you want to sell on this table.¡± Entering one of the private rooms I start unfolding everything in the backpack. First the Herbs on top. Some dried, some pristine. The looks I get for the fused specimen is encouraging. Then come the pelts as they are wrapped around the cores. Wolf Pelts, Mice pelts, Snake skins, even Rat pelts. Everything I have. No reaction from the assistant, as I suspected. They are rather mundane, but still worth a few copper. The cores got looked at with a jewelers eye. I would say it has an enchantment for seeing the kind of core they are. Mice cores were rather small, but still worth a lot, as electric or lightning like they say it is hard to come by, while they are mostly from bigger creatures and often wasted in mundane experiments. Finally the clothes. I take out every part of Minks prior garderobe. ¡°From where are those clothes from?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ask, won¡¯t tell.¡± That is the best part of the Peddler King. You sell whatever you want, you do not need to explain where it came from, but if something is a bit suspicious, you get docked a sizable chunk for not claiming the legality. ¡°This will be together one large Gold, three Gold, nine Silver. One Gold will be claimed.¡± Rather a hefty sum. If a Gold is claimed, then it should be five Golds alone for the clothes. It is inlaid with spider silk, so understandable. ¡°I want to purchase, too.¡± ¡°Very well, we will put your Items together. What do you need?¡± ¡°A steel ingot, a book about basic Alchemy, Masonry and Metallurgy.¡± ¡°...this will cost together a whole lot. An Ingot costs just five silver, but the Books¡­¡± ¡°I know about the price. I made enough money to buy them, have I not?¡± ¡°Of course! It is just surprising for buying those in that range. One second¡­ The book about Masonry will be two Gold as well as Metallurgy. The Alchemy will be six Gold, as it is under the higher knowledge and therefore pricier.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Well then the end result will be two Gold, three Silver and five Copper.¡± ¡°Done Deal.¡± ¡°Thank you for your patronage! I will Order your Items right away. As it includes no exotic Items, we should be able to have everything for you tomorrow Morning.¡± ¡°Excellent.¡± ¡­ Leaving with my Note of purchase and my now bigger purse I search for the next goal, an information Center. ¡°I need Information.¡± ¡°How much and which.¡± Information Centers are rather crude. They just collect rumors, happenings and Gossip. In short, the Newspaper of this World. ¡°A Silver. I want to travel North from here to Halk. But there is something off right now, so I rather ask before killing myself in some kind of Mage war.¡± ¡°You got lucky, there are rather disturbing news. One second.¡± Going in and searching for the happenings of Halk, that rather bulky bearded man looks through the papers. ¡°Here it is. There is a rather massive upheaval in progress. Seldar of the Green Fire has traveled with a sizable party into the Woods. He took his Cousin Eldar and even Beryl the cursed witch with him. An apprentice was seen too, but no Name as of yet. They then vanished for now close to two Months. In one week they will be named missing and the border of the Forest will be searched for hints. There are no noticeable reasons for the trip and the reasoning for their disappearance. Speculations tell about the sudden ebb in Miasma, the Starfall Mountains, Fungal bloom or a cure for Beryls curse, but no lead was found to what it really was. Right now the whole place is in a rather strained period. If notice of Seldar comes back everything will be fine, but if not a lock down of the City might happen. I suggest not going there, as it might not be easy to get out or even survive. Any suspicious person will be hunted and interrogated.¡± Quite a bunch of Information. Well I paid the highest price, so I got everything. ¡°What the fuck. I nearly ran into a death trap. Is there anything else I should know?¡± ¡°Not directly, a reference is put on the Information about strange experiments of Beryl, as she bought more and more Slaves for her healing spells. Also some say they have seen ghosts in the treetops of the Forest. There is an increased request of spores of the Fungal Mountain, but no one is stupid enough to take the request for spores deeper out of the tunnel. This is all I¡¯ve got.¡± ¡°It is enough. Money well spent, as I am turning right around and just search for other endeavors.¡± ¡°Good luck with that.¡± CHapter 31 Resting at the Inn I lay Ava to rest for a while and look around the crater. Nothing has happened in any way, and I have kept my figurative eye on Leafy. No Messages were sent in or out the crater area and she seems a bit down. While I could not read the letter, it seems to have sadden her a bit. Hopefully no death in the Family or something. Although if Shimmering Petal kept her wish in her mind, she should not have told many Root of her being alive. So it should be an open secret for now, at least for the ones who have no high position. As a plus point she has not made any attempts to reply for now. Hopefully it will stay that way. ¡­ Snow is a bit sluggish this night. Is it, because she is sad she could not go with me? I will see to find something delicious to bring her back. Maybe this will heighten her mood. I have decided to keep Snow with me, as she seems to add to my positive side to the small leftovers of my humanity. I do not know, if it will help me completely, but at least I can try not to become a mindless Void beast. While thinking of Void beast, the slime is close being finished taken over. It holds on with all might, but loses mass by the minute. It feels like digging a deep hole with a spoon. Albeit the spoon got bigger with practice, it is still a spoon. Thinking of it as practice is the best way to describe it. Taking over Subject 1,2 and 3 (the Root Soldiers who tried mutiny, they did not deserve their Names) only took a few hours each. 3 is gone, as you could now fuse the Names and call them Red 3, but I am not some kind of edgelord who needs some kind of call sign as name, so Red he stays. 1 and 2 are in spirit stasis next to ghost, tailless and twin. Half of my Wolves are already gone. I need to be careful with them, as I am not able to force live Monsters into the Crater. They need to go over the drawbridge by themselves, and only small Animals care for right now. While thinking about what to do, I start to think about farms. If wild plants are able to mutate, crops should have a similar effect. For this I think about creating a street up to the center of the crater. My ugly Obsidian shell in the middle can be a nice place to stop the Road. Right Now I am still not able to get completely there without stretching, but I can hold out with a radius of two Kilometer. If I would go out of the Village with my Domain and let the new Sphere take the work, It would be possible to maybe stretch far enough at day, but that would have so many problems. I will not leave Leafy alone for her to backstab me, also the Gardens are right there, and need my attention for the flowing Miasma to work. Then there are the Monsters, who can be unruly sometimes and need a culling. No, I stay for the foreseeable future in the Village. ¡­ The new Day is not even more than a slightly reddened sky and I am already looking around. Most Farmers start to bring the next batch of food for the Food Shacks. Restaurants can they not be called, as their meals depend on the ingredients they can gather. Some Farmer sell in the morning, some in the early evening, but I was way too late for yesterdays Farmers Market. It is rather dirty, but the friendliness is way better than what Mercenaries will radiate in a few hours, when they take over. Looking for things I want, I buy a whole stock of various things. Eggs with the strongest auras from a giant yellow chicken, a few white radishes, some corn, wheat and what could be some kind of rice, some live insects (the people are not that pansy with their food), berries and a few Fruits. With this my Backpack is already close to full again with things, that should grow nicely in my Domain. As the Market came to a rather fast stop, after the first Bell ringing I start my walk to the Peddler King. ¡­ ¡°Please inspect your Order.¡± The books are rather battered, but it is normal, as printing is not a thing yet, and copying needs either magic or manual work to be good enough. Ilstin might have better books as they are more Merchant oriented, but they have no direct border with the Forest, sadly. The words are legible and all sides are there, so it is a plus. The alchemic book has some private Notes, as it seems to be someones prior apprentice book, but whatever. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. The Steel is a solid piece of Metal. I hope with taking over I can understand how it is made and can recreate it with my Iron. Maybe my Metals will then not that easily breakable. ¡°It is acceptable. Everything is here.¡± ¡°If there is anything more you need, please visit one of our Peddler King stores again!¡± Yeah, only if it is easier to find, what I need. The five Copper fee is enough to stay at a cheap Inn for five days. One Copper is enough for a full days meal with meat. ¡°I will remember that. Bye.¡± ¡­ Traveling back is as tedious as towards. Maybe even more, as the muscles did not fully relax from the first travel. I might be back later than yesterday. Best I let Ava rest for his Muscles to heal, before removing the flesh, so the spirit has better muscles remembered for the next reassembly. Traveling through the woods I wonder, when there will be an ¡°accident¡±, but until now everything is like promised. The free passage might really be true, that makes my mood a bit lighter. I might be a bit paranoid, but for now I can not relax as the Portal is my only way in, and if anyone understands that and seals it in some kind of way, I have lost. Maybe when I understand the Portal completely I can relax, as I can maybe create a failsafe or backdoor, but right now I am building a boat in a bottle, except I am in the bottle and need a boat to travel ¡®home¡¯. ¡­ When I was back it was close to fully dark. It might be an exceptional sprint of over a hundred kilometers through a forest on foot but I am rather pathetic in hindsight what could be possible with Magic. As these death zones like the crater, the fungal and death Mountains and even the dark Forest have no resources worth losing their heavy hitters, no one cares to increase the scouring of the rims rather than what might be deeper inside. Root are close to invisible and their higher ups might be able to do more in the forest, than just kill with Arrows. There might have been a time before Red when the Root have eliminated some elite search team, as all Countries respect the Forest. While thinking about those things I finally enter the dark Tunnel and am home with Ava. Although I was always here, it is nice to not worry about my precious body and can now start the new projects. ¡­ Putting carefully the brought Items into the storage I relax the stress of the body and sit on one of the chairs. A knock shows Leafy noticed my return. ¡°Come in.¡± Right afterwards Leafy shows up with a hot tea. I am rather parched in this body, so liquid intake should help out. Drinking the tea I start to relax even more as the warmth soothes the body. ¡°I brought some new plants I want to turn into a whole field. There will be large changes behind the Village in the next few days. Has something happened in the Gardens, while I was away?¡± Right now I am not interested in what the Gardens do, but I want to test Leafy a bit more. Trust has to be earned and the Root started way in the negative before the Alliance was made. ¡°The Gardens are fine, although the water plants need a bit rest, they will drown otherwise on their own Water. The most important happening was not in the Garden though. I got a Letter from my Mother.¡± Ah her Mother. Not the Tree kind but her flesh one. Tree relatives are precious, but blood relatives are too, for Root. Such a tight knit Community. ¡°Oh? Root were here, when I was away?¡± ¡°Only a Scout and he left before I could decline. The letter is rather formal but shows how happy she is I am alive. The problem is there was code inside. She called me her Sunshine, which does only make sense for outsiders, but she never called me that. The code is made so I write something Weather related to show if I am for example under duress as cloudy or caged with foggy. Rain is the code for indoctrination and if I use hail I am tortured.¡± ¡°So, you are telling me this, because¡­¡± ¡°As I said, I will strengthen our bonds between the crater and the Forest. I have seen what came out of those openings, and Root have no ability to fight most of these things.¡± ¡°Well that is true, but why do you explain me the hidden code? If you had not said anything, you could at least keep a small line open to your brethren.¡± ¡°That would be detrimental for what I am trying to do. The more honesty I show, the more you will understand the side of the Roots. We may be not perfect, but if I hide our deceptive side from you, then when those things come to light for you it would multiply the distrust you would have against us.¡± That just means she told me one code, but there might be more codes and this was the one to make me relax my guard. I might be a bit too paranoid, as nothing Leafy knows about me is critical information. ¡°Well if you want to write back, you have my allowance. Please do not tell anything about me or what I am doing to the others. As long as we can stay friends, I will treat the Roots as friends and that includes you obviously.¡± ¡°Thank you. Do you want to read the answer, before I send it back? You can ask me to change things, if you are suspicious of anything written.¡± Well, yes I would like to, but¡­ ¡°No, it is OK. I will try out to trust you. I just hope it ends well.¡± ¡°It will, I promise.¡± Yeah, write your Letter, I just peek over your shoulder with Miasma¡­ Chapter 32 Chicken coup is ready, eggs need warmth, but should be OK. For what I know those Chickens are hermaphrodites. They need a partner, but they have only one gender. Who is the female and who is the male might depend on who is the strongest most aggressive or most presentative¡­ or they hump each other day and night, for what I know. The Insect farm is also in the start. Those things look like big grasshopper but without the massive legs. They eat mostly plants and are rather¡­ clean? Seriously, those buggers are living together and clean their nest themselves. One dedicated corner is their waste disposal place. They keep the floor close to spotless. With some kind of wax they create their own little rooms for their children, and even work in team to grow their offspring. Otherwise they are the dumbest creatures I have ever seen. Throw a little food on the floor and they come. You can just pick them up and bring them to the frying pan, no self preservation at all. I think we had a bird called Dodo like that in my first World. A long street is in the making for where I want to create the Fields. Planned are four fields, but I start with two. In the middle of the four, or better said the far reaches I create a windless Windmill. It is working with runic circles and uses residual mana. To create something using Mana in the air needs giant circles. Right now I have multiple stacked. One giant to gather the Mana, three separate circles inside to hold it and inside those three are four for each side of the gear to be kinetically moved. Now, for what the ¡®Manamill¡¯ is for. It uses the rotating shaft from the three Gears to pull Water up for the fields. We do not have rain, and have only slight moisture inside the dirt. By channeling the water up it can irrigate the fields. Those white radishes are hungry for water, as is the rice. Those two will be the first ones to be cultivated, as they do not need much other than water. With a tunnel below the road I create a connection to my other cistern for now. With that I can dig further and further down, when I grow my Domain without someone seeing hovering mud. So how big did I make those fields? Too big. Each one will be 4 km2 and that is massive. Right now I create irrigation channels and cut them into four 1 km2 Fields. There was something with crop rotation in my head, maybe it will help me somehow. Right now I just build what I want, later I can see if I build too big. ¡­ ¡°Those Fields are massive Lord Null. It would take time for enough Plants to grow on their own.¡± ¡°I think I overdid it a bit Leaf¡­ Well nothing I can do for now.¡± ¡°For what purpose did you create the fields Lord Null?¡± ¡°I¡­ um¡­ to be honest I got carried away. I wanted to bring new Plants to experiment with, but thought of food crop and fields, so I wanted to create fields. So I did.¡± chuckle ¡°What is so funny?¡± ¡°Nothing Lord. It is just nice to see you working on creating something you just want. It shows your ambitions.¡± ¡°Well¡­ thank you?¡± ¡°You are welcome, Lord Null.¡± ¡­ Growing Food is easy! Well I cheat, so that takes away the accomplishment. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. The whole thing is rather an accident or quite the catastrophe. The Mill I created works too well. Not in the flood kind, but in the Mana kind. The giant Circle to siphon the Mana is working too good as it had needed to start up slowly to reach full potential. While the three capture circles have a rather poor intake they take only a limited amount of Mana, so where does the rest of the Mana go? Right down the shaft into the Cistern I created. The whole water is filled to the brim with concentrated Mana. The plants grow so fast you hear it. An eerie cracking sound can be heard and the crops grow in fast forward. The whole dilemma started after a week of the start from the waterworks. The time frame might show how long it took for the circle to need to spin up. Now it is a bit too late. Even if I stop it now, it would be back to the drawing board, so the fields are now experimental places for Mana infused water to grow mutating crops. ¡­ It is another moon cycle, so one month has passed since I came back. What a wild ride to think about how we now have fields and even livestock. Leafy does not eat any animal products, but uses them for my meals. I had brought them back for fusion testings and to see if they can become monsters, but now I have some bug meat as breakfast, which is nice too. The chicken just hatched, so It needs a bit of time for them to grow to be able to lay their own eggs. I do not even know how long they need to grow, but I feed them daily. Snow eats a bug everyday too, first raw, but now she wants them cooked too. Leafy indulges her, so that is a nice thing. Until now, there is no new Scout, who came for a letter. Maybe they wait until I move out again. Right now I am working on multiplying the crops. With Reds body I start working on the crops while Leafy is not looking. Over time they grow how I want them to. As for the seeds, they grow fast too. The strange part is, the soil does not lose nourishment as fast as I would think for the plants to grow that fast. Taking one apart shows why. The high Mana inside imitates the missing parts. It is like the spirit got real. Maybe over time the spiritual parts inside the physical body get real? I will have some experiments to do. While that is cooking in my mind, I look at the little chicks eating the Mana infused rice. They gobble it up and nothing bad seems to happen. Hopefully it stays that way. A few of the radishes will be put away. One dry, one in a glass of water, one out in the sun and one in a freezing room with miasma around to keep it cold. I thought of filling them with Miasma to see their behavior, but they are so filled with Mana, it does not fit in any way. I need new radishes and rice, as those are not usable anymore for miasmic infusion. ¡­ It was too peaceful for my own Good, right? Of course something had to happen, right when I wanted to start a new journey. Snow is sick. She has some kind of fever and breathes shallow. Temperature is high and her heartbeat is drumming nonstop. With my presence I feel the Miasma and Mana around her whirling like some kind of storm. As long as she is sick I will not go anywhere. It is strange how this experiment of me got into such a sentimentality for me, but I am not complaining. She is a rather nice pet, even if she is sometimes naughty and tries to sneak into the Insect Farm for a late night snack. Her bedding is changed to a cloak I have lying around. It is more comfortable as the stray hay and cushions her better from the hard floor. Leafy is sometimes here too, but tends to the garden and fields most of the time. I on the other tendril have not left the body of Ava for the whole time I noticed her fever. Staying by her side and giving her sometimes something to drink or a bit pureed food. Gently I pet her to let her know, everything is okay. Well I do not know if it is okay, but I hope I can assure her, maybe for the last time on this world. ¡­ The fever is going down a bit and the Mana seems to calm down. It is kind of nice to know the worst seems over. What she has I still don¡¯t know, and taking her apart for looking what is wrong does not even register as a feasible Idea anymore. While sleeping I guard her for the time. The crops are doing great, as they start to take over the first corners of the fields. Also the Garden has promising changes, but in the Alchemy Book were no references to use variations of plants. The books helped a little bit but not much. They had mostly Information I already knew. Steel is really made with coal, so I have a nice boon in that aspect. The knack I needed for better metal was not even the composition, it was the heat. By shock cooling metal it gets harder, I should have known that but it evaded me, so stupid. Masonry has shown more on how to build than how to create bricks. At least I now know how mortar is made. Lime, sand, blood or other additives I have plenty. To be honest I stay with fusion of bricks, as this makes it way easier for me. Alchemy is a rather boring book. Many chemical reactions are mentioned first, and show more Chemistry than magical Alchemy. Some real alchemical things were strewn into it. I would have loved a Potion Making book, but to get one I need way way more Money, as it is a trade secret for every Potionmaker. So I need to find a Potionmaker, who annoys me and pick his brain clean. ¡­ When I was at the cusp of feeling at ease with Snow, something has happened again. Now I do not know what is happening. Chapter 33 From Snows whole body I hear bones breaking. The cracking is loud and has to hurt. Other things are happening too as her skin starts stretching and folding. Purple blood drips out of her nose and onto the Cape. Monster Blood always has a slight tint of purple, but is always mostly red, this one is way too purple, and I worry very much. Right now I can do nothing and hope for it to not kill her, whatever happens, as I am rather fond of her. I hate when something gets taken from me. Every time I have something it gets taken away. Always the same, something good comes in my life and then it gets taken, be it by someone else, by getting broken or by fate ripping it out of my hands. Everyone just takes, and takes, and takes¡­ I want to take¡­ No one takes from me anymore, I will take everything¡­ I take¡­ take¡­ ¡­ Where am I? What? Oh yes, Snow! What happened? I do not remember, but Snow is still here. I blanked out and just forgot what I should focus on. Snow seems to be¡­ different. She looks more like a... kangaroo? No, that is not right. Her back legs are a bit more¡­ Is she now a were-rat? She looks kind of more human, no that can not be¡­ At least she is breathing, so that is good. Her fever is gone and the heartbeat is down. Whatever that was, it was not a normal mutation. I would say she has surpassed her body and needed to reform? But why? ¡­ My hypothesis right now is the Miasma. Miasma is made by humanoid Sapient creatures using Mana. Their will is embedded inside their Magic, so maybe their body shape is included as well? It is a far fetched hypothesis, but it is one. So to accommodate the miasma better the Body changes into an appropriate form. That would explain Boost and his nimble forepaws. But there were limits to Boost. He could not further mutate into something different, as his spirit was not able to hold the Miasma for that. Does it need a kind of trigger? The only one who has a key for the answer would be Snow, but I would rather take over the Void slime again from the start than taking her apart. She is the only thing I can even mention as Family or Friend in this far away World. ¡­ ¡°Lord? Is that Snow?¡± Ah, Leafy came with tea again. A good timing, as Avas body is rather sore from watching Snow. ¡°Yes, she changed into something¡­ different. I do not know what happened. Do you know anything?¡± She gave me the bark cup and I drink while she thinks. She is rather trembling. Something not right? Snow looks not terrifying at all, so that is not it. ¡°I am sorry, I know not much about Monsters, just some might become Demons.¡± ¡°Demons?¡± ¡°Some Monsters change into different things and start rampaging. A Rock Bear once started to spew fire and his body was fully engulfed in molten plates. It did not stop destroying anything in its path before we had to take it down.¡± Multi miasmic invasion? Boost hurt pretty bad as a second kind of Miasma was introduced. Is this what happens, when more than one kind takes over? They lose their minds even more? ...But that does not explain Snow, as she seems still only Darkness type. ¡°Must be something different.¡± ¡°She was often in the fields with darkness attribute. Maybe she overloaded?¡± ¡°Could be, for now she needs rest.¡± Leafy nods but looks worried. ¡°Do not worry, if she rampages, I will keep her in check.¡± ¡°As you wish Lord.¡± ¡­ After I forgot how many hours, Snow finally woke up. She has problems standing up and is rather wobbly. It reminds me on how she was, after the fusion experiment. Weak, barely able to move and kind of helpless. This is the repeat of the story. Carefully I help her up and give her something to drink. Lapping the water out of the bark bowl she starts to shake of the rest of her sleepiness. The first thing she notices were her front paws who suddenly move differently. Then she starts to move a bit around and tries to familiarize herself with what had happened. Right now she goes me right to my hip. After understanding how she changed she became the same Snow I knew, first food, then wanting attention. It should be a good idea to let her move around for a bit of workout, so I go out and she follows. ¡­ It is now three days since Snow changed, and she is rather fit. It looks to me rather, as if she already forgot her torturous transformation and does everything what she did prior again. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. With this I should be able to finally travel again. I need more materials and more Information. Furthermore I would like more things for my place. Feather bedding would be nice, especially for Snow. Leafy sadly does not need anything, as she has her living gazebo to rest inside and nothing interests her in the outside World. With my backpack filled with some more pelts, cores and new crops I start travel to Telk again. As I do not know how the Chaos in the City of Halk is going I go again to Kilt. It is a bit further, but still more secure. ¡°Have a good travel Lord.¡± ¡°When I am gone I suspect you will get your chance to send your letter. Remember your promises and please keep being honest.¡± ¡°That is a matter of course, Lord.¡± I nod and start my trip again. The Muscles of Ava are again fresh, but will need rest later on. I should stay a day or two longer this time for easier movement back. ¡­ Right after I left a Scout sneaks in. It seems he is careful, but I can see everything, if I anticipate the intrusion. Working his way inside (I think is a he, rather hard as he has a leaf in front of the face like a vegan Ninja) he finds Leafy waiting at the Gazebo. This time she is not surprised and starts conversation before giving the Letter. {Stop sneaking in. You can visit every week and exchange letters, even if the Lord is here.} {But¡­} {No buts. He knows you are here, and allows sending letters. We just taint the relationship with sneaking. Please say those to your superior.} {...I will. Anything else?} {Yes, I have written a letter for my Mother. Please deliver it. If any other of my friends and family who knows I am alive wants to write me, please bring their letters to me too.} {Understood. Farewell.} With the Letter in hand he vanished the same way he came. He might think he is a Ninja, but right now he is the mailman. ¡­ ¡°Name and reason visiting?¡± Still bored out of their mind those guards¡­ ¡°Ava, mercenary, selling my findings.¡± ¡°One copper.¡± What they even do on the front, I do not even understand. They just sit there and let everyone in. As if someone would say ¡®Spy McSpyington and stealing precious Information from your Mages¡¯. The only reason is the Money, They get enough out of it to not only fill their pockets, they can eat lavishly without it coming out of their pocket. Why they ask is only for the rare occasion of someone powerful in front of them. If they slight a Mage, their pay being cut is the least of their problem, as it is likely their head is being cut off. Whatever, It is just one copper, and I have enough in my backpack. ¡­ ¡°Where did you get this vegetable?¡± Again at the Peddler King I get questioned. It is tedious, but to be honest it helps, rather than going from shop to shop, selling everything separately. ¡°I know someone, who experiments with mana infusion. He would like to stay anonymous.¡± Nodding the this time female assistant looks over the white radish a few times. ¡°Would you please wait? I need someone who can appraise this plant, as I have no specialty in this kind of magical crop.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± And she quickly left the room. While waiting I sit on the chair for customers. Mostly it is in and out, so chairs are not needed, but when someone happens like this, then it is better not to offend a valuable buyer or seller. It took a bit but she comes back with a man in a robe. Assistant mage, it seems and the academical type. To work at the Peddler King as appraisal specialist he might not be from a family with much money. ¡°And you are saying it came from where?¡± ¡°My source wants to be anonymous. I hope you do understand his standing by his products.¡± That shut him right up. Normally only Mages dabble in things like magical crops. Those sell for quite good money, although that was only hearsay in the memories of Clarke. I can only hope I get a good price. ¡°...one large gold per Stone.¡± A Stone is really close to Kilo in this world, and gram is pebble. I just translate it in my head right away, otherwise it would be tedious. ¡°This is acceptable for me.¡± ¡°Well, your magical radish weighs four and a half kilo, so it will be Four large Gold and five small Gold. Now to¡­¡± ¡°One Second.¡± The apprentice interjects and the assistant reacts. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°The Order of Kindek will be interested in this vegetable. Please put it on hold for us.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Bartering for it even before I sold it. So arrogant¡­ ¡­ Well this time I got Five large gold Coins and a bit of change. This should be nice, as I do not need anything from the peddler right now. Looking in a Bookshop I find rather many Books about Legends, History and even romantic Novels, but nothing practical, as those are precious. Searching weapon and armor shops I do not find anything enchanted. The tool shop also does not have anything. I remember Mink bringing the tools for better work, or maybe she was just flaunting. I do not think Mink will answer me that question as she might be right now a tree swaying her branches. The Potion Shop is on the other tendril a jackpot. Even if I do not know, what they are made of, I can analyze them within my Realm, so it should be a good idea to buy different potions. ¡­ Healing Potion, Antivenom, Blindness salve, Monster deterrent, anti Diarrhea, smelling salt, Mind clearer and a wart removing tincture. The Potion lady looks quite strangely as I bought such a variety and only one each. This cut deep, as it cost me over one large Gold coin. You could buy a small house or¡­ oh, a slave or two would be nice. They could work on my fields and live freely in my Domain. I would like to know what the high Mana would do to them, as I remember Mana burn was a thing. Looking around I search for a slaver, but as expected of a Country which does have the least slaves, there are none. I should think of something else while resting and digging the Cistern below the fields further. Chapter 34 The next day I walk again to the Information Center for News about the Halk. With one more Month, there should be happenings. ¡°I need Information.¡± ¡°Which you want and how much?¡± ¡°A copper, I am on the road to Halk, heard some rumors, so I want to make sure.¡± ¡°One Minute.¡± Standing up the rough man trundles to the written documents and looks through them. The area, where Information for Halk is put is rather big as of now, seems there are many happenings. Should have paid a Silver for all Information, as this would had better worth. Not long after the man came back ¡°I suggest to not go to Halk, high banditry, unstable City climate, missing People.¡± That is all I got for one copper. Not much but Information is really expensive. Books are worth so much already, so I should be happy to even have the possibility of Information brokers. ¡°Still such uprising?¡± ¡°Yeah, something happened a while ago.¡± Tight lipped as suspected. If no Money is on the table the mouth stays shut. ¡°Thanks for the Information, I will rethink my travel. Bye.¡± ¡°Better do that, bye.¡± ¡­ So few things to do. Walking around this place, I find not much entertainment, if we exclude¡­ that kind of entertainment. Even gambling is limited to bones, which is funny, as dice seem to exist everywhere. Rules are different, but dice are similar. Carved out of bones and made cubic. No other dice forms, from what I know. ¡°Wanna try your luck with little brother?¡± Little Brother is the common Game around here. Two dice are thrown. The high number is the old brother, the low number the little brother. High number is the score and the little brother adds or subtracts in a specific rule. Normally the lower number means minus one point, but if the little Brother is 1 he gets sold as slave and adds a point. Same Numbers mean twins, so no little brother and they neither add or subtract a point as they share. The whole Game revolves about the old telltale of inheritance. The Father died and two Sons have right for it. The stronger gets the land but has to pay out his little brother, but if he is too weak or young, he might get sold as slave. It is a cautionary tale to know not to be too weak in the family and keep your worth, as otherwise your siblings will sell you after the parents are gone. ¡°No, only have Money for booze and bed. When I get a payday I will come back.¡± It is a lie, but always better to look poor, than telling someone you have money, those guys often search for suckers to get beat up and taken advantage of. ¡­ Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. While wandering I got into the slum district. Not quite slums, as most have at least some kind of work, but Families share a House. Maybe I should explain ¡®House¡¯ as it sounds cozy and big. They are shacks, barely big enough to sleep on the floor while the residual warmth of the small oven keeps them warm. Windows are closed with boards and doors look old and grimy, as repairs cost too much. Enough space to barely live. While walking I obviously got the wrong attention sadly and encounter a small group closing in from both sites of the alley. Right now they play drunk and walk swerving but even drunkards would not be out on this time. As they close in they start looking up with a sharp look but my arm with the gauntlet is already raised. Seeing suddenly the sparks between my fingers made their eyes grow wide. ¡°Mage!¡± And like scared rats¡­ no offense Snow¡­ they scurry away. How anticlimactic that was. ¡­ The food here is rather bland and has not much greens inside. Corn, Onions (reminding me to buy some), fat and what the Farmers Market had early this morning got cooked together in a kind of slop, of a soup. It just costs a scrap and fills, so whatever. If I want meat I would pay five scrap, five times the Money, and you do not know what kind of meat will be served. They will tell you though, when too many orphans got missing in a short time. Suddenly everyone wants to know what is in the food. While eating my mush, I watch the others. Right now only workers are in the town, so it is rather relaxed. The only mercenaries walking around behave more relaxed and rest for another deadly job to come. While I am at it I can look at the Bulletin board for Mercs to see what people around here need. A mercenary group always needs one who can read, but there are also often just Marks stuck to it, meaning a meeting for a job. Yellow Circle is Morning discussion, Red Circle is evening discussion. Black dots inside the circle say how deadly and high the salary is. No dot is mundane work like weeding or hauling work, barely Mercenary work at all, while one dot is the standard safe work like finding some herbs or getting monster parts. It goes up to five dots, but anything more than three is nearly never seen, as those already are a gamble with their lives. Exploration in the unknown or Guarding precious transports long distance can be three dots. Right now there is a rather high demand on healing moss, but seems to be for export¡­ Obviously for Halk. Wolf pelts are in demand for preparation of winter clothing, is it already Winter? Should remember the seasons, as crops might get rarer in the Winter times. Although Mana in the air slightly circumvents seasonal growth, it does not mean Winter is able to grow anything. Well maybe my supersaturated fields are different. We will see in a few months. ¡­ In the evening I buy everything all I need for the travel back. New radish and rice, while not forgetting the onions this time. I would love one of those hairy cows, but they are way too slow for the woods. Maybe they are more like yaks, as they give wool, milk AND meat. Whatever¡­ Such cows cost a gold each. A hundred copper, and give enough meat for a hundred meals easily, if the butcher would not take his tithe it would be way more affordable, but alas. Chicken eggs would be nice, but I should not overweigh myself again. It would be nice to be back before total Darkness this time. While I am at it I purchase some spare leather armors for protection. How to harden leather I still do not understand, so for now I have to buy everything. New Boots for traveling are second hand, as I have no time for tailor made. Capes would be nice, but no magic capes are available. Mink must have let those be made and not bought them directly. ¡­ While resting I watch Snow walking around. Right now she walks only if she wants to wander slow or short distances. All the other time she hops around, so my first thought of her being a kangaroo was not fully wrong. The transformation seems not fully completed, as she still seems to meditate in the Dark field. Right now she is the queen of the sewers. Pulling herself into the tunnels below trough the openings on the streets look awkward but somehow she is really bendable and squeezes right trough. Still I show her next time how to use the secret doors, as it can not be comfortable. On the way through the sewers Snow spots the rather sizable snake den, near the smithy. As this is one of the only high temperature areas around, they seem to have made their nest below to keep a bit warmer, or maybe it is just happenstance. Hopping into the dead end filled with snakes, she looks at the writhing mass, while the snakes threaten her and ready their acid. Although, you seem sure of yourself Snow, please do not overdo it. That is rather dangerous, as the mass is more than you combined. Standing right there Snow just breathes in and¡­ something gurgles in her stomach and throat¡­ ...Did I just see Snow throwing up dozens of black rats running into the horde of snakes? Those rats are to my understanding not real. Phantoms maybe, but with way more physicality than just that. If normal rat Monsters hide in the shadows, these Rats are manifested shadows by Snow. I¡­ I better stop trying to make sense of what Snow just did, it might be a new skill or maybe some spell. It is effective though, as when some of the rats die she just threws up more for reinforcement. Victory was just a matter of time. ¡­ Today I am up early for my travel back. My dreams were strange, I saw a rat vomiting rats¡­ Wait, that was no dream¡­ whatever. Packing up everything in the light of the oil lamp I store carefully every Item I have purchased. Right now I am ready to go back, as I have rested a day. The muscles are flexible again and fully functional. Leaving the Inn my goal is the rampart to leave early. Although the Gatekeeper looks annoyed, as I go out way earlier than other groups, I just ignore him. The travel is treacherous and long, so I need all the time I can get. Chapter 35 I am being followed. Something must have been triggered a scouting group following me, but I have not really a clue what especially has made me a target. There are some possibilities, but nothing I can directly pinpoint. While walking, one takes the front and travels closer to me while his members fan out to different vantage points, not suspicious at all, you idiots. How about you shout out ¡®we wanna rob you¡¯, while you are at it. ¡°Fellow Merc, would you wait a bit. You are too close to the forbidden reaches.¡± So what, I do not care about the imaginary boundary. ¡°Sorry, I have no time to waste.¡± ¡°I said stop or my friends show you their archery!¡± Annoying. But maybe I can experiment finally with something, I wanted to use for a long time. Stopping and turning around the bandit rather brazenly shows his face like it is no concern of him being identified. Clean shaven, so it should not be a desperate attempt to just rob me as I am alone. ¡°What do you want?¡± Smiling, this guy thinks he is in the superior position. ¡°First of all we want to know where you are going, and after that you might leave your Backpack. Your life is worth more than a few items, don¡¯t you think?¡± The backpack is a ruse¡­ They are too wealthy to want my supplies, they want to know where I came from. This removes the small scuffle in the alley, and attempts to identify me as a spy. So it should be an Item I sold. The magical radish should be the the culprit. ¡°And why does the Order of Kindek want to know where I go?¡± Slight twitch was seen, but else he has a rather good poker face. ¡°Think what you want, do you comply?¡± Slowly grabbing the hilt of my sword. ¡°And what if I just fight?¡± ¡°With a backpack still on? Are you an amateur?¡± Even his members chuckle lightly in the background. I am weighed down and so I am theoretically at a disadvantage. Still I draw it and lunge with a sideswipe. ¡°You Idio¡­¡± The Idiot is you, blocking my sword with your gauntlet and trying to draw your own sword. His friends ready to fire, but let their arrows fire in the wrong direction, as the lightning blinded them and the thunder roar disorients them. While his muscles are locked I pierce my sword in his stomach and cook his innards with another lightning strike, before activating the cape and vanishing into the shadows of the smoking carcass. ¡°Mage!¡± ¡°Find him!¡± Try all you want, I am in this twilight between the trees invisible. Remembers me kind of a movie where an invisible hunter stalks some Soldiers. In the end it died from the last Soldier, so I take this as my queue to just leave them right now and travel back home. ¡­ Sneaking away took a bit of time, but after an hour I could remove my stealth and start walking again. The next town should not be again Kilt, as I am on the blacklist if they were really from the Kindek Order. The Order of ¡®Kindek the kinetic¡¯ is normally rather tame, as their Order is only able to work a resource outpost. Well if worst comes to worst I go down right to Malek next time. Malek is way bigger and much more important as it borders not only the Forest, it corners the south kingdom and the Merchants border is the closest to Malek, so the business is booming. While walking I review the efficiency of the gauntlet. The electricity should have been only close to deadly, but by touching the Mana of the man it increased in power tremendously. My original plan was to shock him, evade the arrows and kill him from the side, but with the extreme effect I just cooked him inside out. The smoke coming from his body was hiding my escape, so it was even easier getting into the shadows. As the others were far away anyway, they would have lost my sight right after the first corner, but the smokescreen effect was helpful. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Sadly I could not take back the corpse to look up the damage. I should have tested the Weapon on monsters first and not only on dummies. ¡­ Getting home with the last ray of sunlight shows it is really better to rest before overusing the muscles. I do not have the heightened stimuli of pain inside the bodies, so it is rather hard to understand how to be careful and not overstrain them. At least I remember to regularly drink liquid for not accidentally die of thirst. Through the gates I see Snow hopping over and greeting Ava. Petting her head she squeaks in delight. The commotion also draws Leafy from the Gazebo. ¡°Welcome home Lord. How was the journey?¡± ¡°It had its up and downs. The radishes seem to be worth heavy coin. For now it might be okay to sell one or two, but they draw attention. Bad attention.¡± ¡°Did something happen?¡± ¡°Some Bandits. Nothing directly worrying, I escaped fast.¡± ¡°By the way, you are not wearing your mask anymore?¡± SHIT! Forgot to put on the mask! Why do I not remember such simple things earlier? While revisiting the whole thing, I have forgotten this aspect completely. Sigh ¡°I forgot. Well now you see that face. It is not my true face though. I might look different sometimes, so try to not be too startled.¡± ¡°I understand Lord.¡± Hope she thinks I am a shapeshifter or something in the category. If she knows I have a storage full of bodies to wear, it will be awkward. ¡°Did someone come after I left or while I was away?¡± Of course someone came, I saw it. ¡°Yes, as you expected Lord, the Roots are still careful with their approach. My hope is for your understanding, that this is only our careful Nature and no hidden agenda.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know. They hate contact with other species, and keep to themselves. If you weren¡¯t here I would only know they are watching, but not exactly where.¡± It is true, they are masters of stealth, given they do not want anyone know their existence in the first place. Other elves might not be this heavily defined on secrecy, but are still known for their ability to blend into the forest, what shows how over the top Roots are. ¡°I am sorry for the inconvenience Lord Null.¡± ¡°Nothing to worry about. So long as they do not take something from me, I am content.¡± ¡°...take?¡± ¡°Huh? Ah, it is nothing. I just hate when things get taken from me. I might get cranky.¡± ¡°Understood, Lord Null.¡± ¡­ I am an Idiot. Yep I did it again, I forgot something simple. The water in the cistern in front of the Village is now completely saturated with Mana, too. Why? I made a tunnel to the mill for removal of mud. The water streams are connected! While the water slowly gives off Mana, the Water is slightly less infused, but that does not mean much. I create some water urns to store water for later, so the Mana dissipates from it by itself. What I do right now is to make transporting Mana into the forest easier. A tunnel is connecting the waterway with the Moat in front of my tunnel. Right below it I create a new waterway out of the crater into the Forest. The water overflows right into this tunnel and makes it out through it. This is the theory, now to the practice. While I hammer away on the now more usable strangely blue iron anvil I hammer a pick and shovel for further aligning the waterways outside the Crater. As I can just do my work inside with just thinking about it, outside I have to do it myself. ¡­ A rather crude pick and shovel made it easier to create some grooves inside the earth for the water to dissipate. It would go into the woods anyway, as the way into the forest is slightly going down, but it is not enough to not overflow the nine trees right in front. Whatever happens, those nine should be honored, so I dig grooves between those trees to let it not accumulate and drown the roots. As I have no Idea what I am doing, I just hope I do the right thing. It is hard work and will take time. ¡­ Four days I worked on this whole thing. Laying stones on the sides to help the water go around the trees and not over them, making channels in different directions into the forest for a few hundred meters, making it end on the lowest point possible and even thinking of a runic circle around the tunnel entrance infused with the residual mana of the water to create a slight mana flow to not let the Bubble close somehow. Now the removal of the Mana is automatic. I FINALLY do not have to think about it anymore. Never thought it would be automatic in the end. I can stop the mental automation and use it for something else. While drinking the tea Leafy made for me, I notice a presence enter my Domain. It is a scout from the Roots, obviously visiting Leafy. First he searches her at the gazebo, but right now she is at the gardens. Unsure he stealthily searches forwards until he notices her. Rushing to her side, he opens the pouch and takes out three leafs. This time she has three letters, well she said she would like some penpals between her friends, so it is at least something. ¡°Thank you. Do you want to drink tea, before you leave again?¡± ¡°Orders to neither dawdle or talk to much, sorry.¡± ¡°I understand, good bye.¡± Nodding he runs out the Village right into the tunnel. Seems like he was ordered to be tight lipped for some reason. Distrust can not be cleared that easily it seems¡­ on both sides. The first thing Leafy did was leave the Gardens be and came to the Mansion. Knocking she enters and brings me first message before even looking at the Letters. ¡°Lord, I have gotten letters from my people. This time they are three different sender, let me see. Um¡­ what?¡± ¡°Is something wrong?¡± ¡°Uh, no no, just¡­ One is from my Mother again and another from Shimmering Petal, you have already met, but the third is¡­ from the Queen Mother?¡± Chapter 36 {My precious subject Falling Leaf, your survival brings Us great joy, albeit also burning sorrow for your displacement from our holy Forest. While I am torn between trying to order your release and keeping your wish, dark rumors start to brew about your Loyalty. We do not mind those thorny whispers all around us, as it is Our happiness to know your well being, and nothing else will matter. While your roots might not touch Ours, We know your mind will always think for Our whole benefit. The time you are gone might be short or forever, but the Forest will always welcome you back as long as We are the Queen Mother of the first Child. Keep in your heart Our permanent best wishes for your future and health. With sad voice We have to say, Our subjects think of you as a potted Plant right now, not whole with the Forest and have forced Us to renounce your Title as a tender of the Trees. Albeit, with slight protest from the Mothers, We have still held some of your Authority in a new Title for you to bear. We announce you to be the Speaker between the Crater and the Forest, representing the Crater with mind of the Roots. With this Title We grant you the same rights as Ambassadors and visiting Rights if these will ever be possible. Right now only We, the Eldest Mothers and their direct Subjects are aware of you being alive, as you wished. Even if they turn their feelings for you as hard as Bark, they understand the Lesson of loss for the saplings to be a good thing. If you come back We will celebrate your survival inside the maws of the Beast as grace of our forefathers, but until then We have your Name temporarily written as deceased. Signed Your Queen Mother of the first Child PS: Shimmering Petal will be the Ambassador on the Forests side to make it easier for you, as she is wholly trusting your Integrity. She is directly ordered to work under Us, and will go over her higher Mother as by Our order. } ¡­ Well these are good and bad news. The good news is, her Queen seems to trust her, the bad news is, most of the Elders do not, as to overrule the Queens decision it needs more than two thirds of the Elders to do that. Not really a plus for their Race itself, but a plus in my Book for Leafy, as she gave me the letter right after reading, while trying to sort her feelings. The second Letter from her blood Mother seems not really be good either, as her face contorts rather severe, but the letter from Petal gave her a smile and even a small tear, so at least it balances out. Her trying to hand over the other letters makes a nice gesture, and while trust is not really that big I refrain, as those are definite private affairs I should never snoop into, without clear reason. ¡­ More to the things I brought, As I now have no water without Mana, I disassemble the plants and put them into storage. The onions get planted in a part of the fields where the water is a bit more regulated. Onions in this World are strange. They are purplish red and have a rather interesting taste¡­ no wait, red onions existed in the other Worlds too, so scratch that. I am just dumb. While trying my best to work on plant life I stop the growth field completely. As Leafy said, those plants have no way to control their growth and just balloon out of control. They are able to live, but anything else different than their creepy form is not there. This place will be the first orchard for the Fruits I bought. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Removing the Miasma the Garden got plowed again and the seeds planted. Mana is already in the soil thanks to the water. By thinking about Mana I had forgotten about the test with the high concentration of Mana. Sadly the test got corrupted by the miasmic bomb and I totally forgot to repopulate that field¡­ Well Orchard it is, another one will help the variety. Albeit trees are everywhere, Fruit trees are rather rare in the Forest, so Leafy would like to eat some fruits herself. So it comes rather fitting to make two Orchards for now. Later the Gardens can be put elsewhere and the trees will be the corner of the Village¡­ Well the Village is a bit distanced from the future Orchard, so more Houses need to be build. All the while I can create a few simple Tree garden and more gazebos, if her best friend Petal visits again. ¡­ The market place needed to be moved¡­ again. The Sphere was not in the middle anymore and only that can hold away the miasma without me. So better safe than sorry. By moving it right in a center where not only former and later new houses will be placed, the new Sphere will include the orchard itself. If I want to add the fields into it I would have to change the statue from a female human to Atlas, as the Sphere would be way too big, so the fields stay by themselves. The high Mana concentration should help anyway with the push back of Miasma, even if it might be rather violent. Finishing the new sphere, now double the radius the prior sphere had, I carve the runes. Taking care to create enough multiplication circles I stack below the street a charging circle with waterways flowing over to supercharge it with Mana. This should give enough power to make the shield stable. Thinking of what happened last time I even build in a kill switch. IF the Sphere is removed, the circles stop amplifying and even reverse the Mana right back into the charging circle. This gives a nice nudge to the charging Runes to ALSO reverse in a catastrophic way. What happens is an ejection of Mana in every direction at the same time. The Sphere might break in but the high Mana will hold it for a few minutes and fight against total failure. This will give me time to make my own field or just take all I want alive into my Realm. ...And yes, I tested it before. After the happening of the Mana overload in the mill and the gauntlet I start to work on things with proper stress tests. ¡­ A new letter is coming for Leafy. After a week she replied to all three and now another week later a new letter came. Only one this time. It is from Petal, so at least it is something she can be happy of. Her Mother did not write and I never suspected the Queen write again afterwards. While being friends between direct Ambassadors is a necessity, it mostly is kept at surface Level. Deep friendships might be problematic in the future. Let us hope nothing problematic comes from it. I would hate to see their friendship wither or being taken advantage of. While being on the notion of friends, Snow grew further. She now stands often straight and has a rather awkward posture for now. As I can see how her hind legs slowly grow and her front legs start to become arms I would say in a Month maybe two, she would be able to wear something an early teen would be able to wear. Maybe from Were-rat to Rat-kin? What will happen then? Hopefully not again something agonizing. ¡­ Today is the day. I have made it into the reaches of my first landing¡­ not quite¡­ with a bit of stretching my Domain in that direction¡­ at least I can see my place of rebirth damn it! What made me start exploring there was the rather focal point of miasmic activity. It shows the making of the Portal in the early stage. Right now I do not disturb it to understand the weaving. By the fact it is so faint it will take¡­ 10¡­ No maybe 20 years for another one to spawn. But I will not take chances, lest it speeds up. The weaving shows me how the Miasma is aligned and it is utterly complex. No Runes are used, as they might be sourced locally in every World. If I can understand what is going on, it could be the key to my way back to that rotten World. At least it should show how to create portals on a fundamental Level. No Teleportation Magic but true displacement of space. Would that be a nice thing to have. ¡­ Those potions are something else. It is not really magic but also not normal herbal remedies. They are more a fusion of both. If one half is missing the other does not work properly, or at all. They have a stabilizer, herbal ingredients a potent Mana source, some poisons of all things and miasmic intent. Healing Potion works like I do it funny enough. It takes redundant mass of the body and the Mana inside of the Potion and creates the body part back to normal with help of the spirit body. Rather ingenious to use that, but it has side effects. First it takes matter from elsewhere. So if someone loses his whole leg muscle, with a high potent low Mana rich potion, I can guess where the mass is coming from. The other is the poison. It is a needed component as it transforms into what kills off the needed cells to repair the damage elsewhere. While it gets used up some stays in the places, where it disassembled the mass. This will slowly be absorbed in the bloodstream and then through the liver into the kidneys and out the body. And antidotes do not clear that as it is already part of the body, rather than a foreign substance wreaking havoc. Potion poisoning is possible and even rather fast if you already have some damaged liver or kidneys, for example by using the cells elsewhere by the use of a potion. Now to the Mana. Filling the body with Mana is a sure way to Mana burn. What this entails, I do not know, but it might be like overdosing on something. It can not be pleasant for starters, but what do I know. I still need guinea pigs in human form, who show me the symptoms. Animals just mutate. Why Sapients are different I can not understand in any way. Need to ask someone higher up for that, maybe before or during the punching. Chapter 37 ¡°Ssnoo peas pet.¡± Well this is a revelation. Snow the not so little kangaroo rat starts learning to speak! ¡°Of course, Snow is a good girl and deserves all the pets she wants.¡± I indulge in scratching her neck and back. It is incredible how far she has come. Her brain must have evolved too. As she often hears us talk, she must start to understand our language. Maybe she already understands most of it from before and just now starts to imitate it with her vocal cords? For the time I will keep her company and try to see how good she can understand me. While I am at it I create some toys for her. There are logical puzzles for children and might help her growing in the right direction. The first is well the standard shape in hole, then there is a small puzzle maybe with a cute picture of a white rat on it, the ring game where I forgot the name and a labyrinth board, where you have to find the way to the other side with the wooden peg. As I said, first the shapes and holes. ¡­ ¡°Lord, a new letter arrived.¡± Yes I noticed, but it is better she does not know I see everything right now. ¡°Is it that time already? Or was it send urgent?¡± ¡°It is that time already. I already read it as it is from Petal. They pressure her right now into harsh circumstances, as the political climate got cold.¡± Yeah, if your chess piece does not walk like you want you discard it. Although they would not just kill her, but giving her harsh work does the work. ¡°How about calling her to us on an official trip? It would give her time to relax while being here. Although it is not the Forest and maybe uncomfortable, but it should give her some kind of rest.¡± The Idea resonates a bit with her, before shaking her head. ¡°It should only be used, if we have something, we want to discuss. If she goes back without something urgent or important, she would only get the worst of it.¡± You make it hard Leafy¡­ Well something important¡­ ¡°Can you make some kind of flask with your techniques? Something your people would deign to touch? My flasks would be rock or dead wood, so that is a no for my crafting.¡± ¡°Of course, Lord. What should it contain?¡± ¡°Oh, just some water. Maybe try to make it more Mana resistant.¡± ¡­ A few days passed and I wander in Avas body right up the paved road with Leafy and Snow in tow. ¡°What do you want to do, Lord?¡± ¡°Well as you know, there is this mill, which pumps water right out of the earth. The mill itself is the center of a rather large mana concentration. I created an alcove to see the effect of it on long exposure to water.¡± The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Any truth seeker around? ...good, because that was a bold lie. The alcove just got forgotten by me while drilling. Some water has accumulated and starts to show strange signs. I do not know what to do with it, but the Root want Mana in the Forest. So a transportable source should be nice. Afterwards I create some more alcoves and look at the effects myself. ¡°And for what do you need this, Lord?¡± ¡°I do not need it, but Petal can use it as a reason to get to us. This water is so thoroughly fused with Mana, it might be a great ingredient for herbal remedies, a portable mana source for something or maybe a way to bring Mana to where it is needed in the Forest urgently.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Well she is silent right now, it should be a good sign, as she did not refute the possibility of this being some kind of tonic. ¡­ Visiting the mill is strenuous with a body. Right now I am inside and the Mana needs to be blocked by my presence. I want to see the effects of Mana burn, but not on Ava. I need him functioning. Taking the Miasma out of the small dent in the digging chamber I float it right into the flask. I have to be very careful, as the water is even more infused than the air and touching it should do something bad. Man I wish Ava would be a Mage. I need a new body stat. Putting it in the flask, the water should only be a few milliliter but it is enough as sample. I need to quickly leave that place, or I need to disinfect Ava. ¡°This is the water I mentioned.¡± Taking the flask Leafy seems to notice the massive Mana inside that flask. This should help her to bring her friend over in a ¡®formal meeting¡¯. ¡°And¡­ you are giving me this, just to invite Petal over for a bit of free time? What do you want for this water?¡± Huh, what do I want¡­ What to bargain for¡­ I should have thought about that before now, dammit! ¡°I¡­ let me think¡­ Your wares are useless for me¡­ Money you do not have and herbs I can harvest already¡­ Right now I need humans, but that would be impossible¡­ Farm Animals are impossible to¡­¡± Rummaging through my memory of what I need, I get blank after blank. ¡°For now I have no Idea, I will find a list of things that may be possible for Root to give, while waiting for a reply. The thing right now is to give Petal a way out. You could insert code if you want to make clear to her, she can stay a few days as ¡®heavy discussion¡¯. I will think on the way back to the Mansion for some kind of excuse that would stick.¡± ¡°...Thank you, Lord.¡± And with hard thinking we go back. Snow wants pets and she gets pets on the way. It would be so nice if she could give me an idea for something though.¡± ¡­ ¡°You want morning dew and tree sap from the Forest, Lord?¡± ¡°Yeah, maybe. It can be a nice ingredient for Potion study, but I rather think it would be nice for you to have the taste of home once in a while. Albeit it seems no problem for you to eat and drink produce from here, it might be detrimental for you to be denied your true diet. At least it will help you mentally to not grow too far apart from your home.¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know what to say, Lord.¡± ¡°Sorry about not coming up with a better solution, of what I want. Maybe later I find a better Idea for tradable goods.¡± ¡°That is not what I meant, Lord.¡± ¡°Well, whatever. You can write the letter for Petal and give a sample with. I call it Mana dew. Maybe Mana jelly would be better, but dew might be okay. ...Do the first slimes come from this jelly, while corrupted by Miasma, or¡­¡± An amorphous creature, spawning out of too thick Mana water should be impossible, as there is no frame for it, but the frame is out of Mana anyways and there is way too much Mana for it. Maybe slimes are a colony of single celled organism? Fungi? I need to find a slime and dissect it, when I have the time. Well only if the World even has slimes to begin with. ¡­ With the sending of the sample I start creating alcoves to see if I can manufacture that stuff effectively. Further I check the properties, as it is rather curious in its own way. It has way too much Mana inside. The Mana does not know if it should manifest itself or stay ethereal, for why it is kind of jelly like. Taking a small drop I ram Miasma with water affinity inside and¡­ Now I have more water. Much, much more water. So it conjures water with the internal Mana and creates about a cubic meter of it out of the drop. Maybe a bit more, as it still swells a bit. The Water is formed from Mana, so it is not fully stable, but starts to manifest into real water rather quickly. This shows, Mana can become other things. I just have to know how it works and how to use it. Is it something like how my home World suspects Mass being made out of condensed energy? Nah, this would mean a fraction of Mana would have enough energy to melt the planet. That can not be right. It is more like ¡®I think, therefore I am.¡¯ The Mana thinks it is water so it is water. The reverse should be true too then. If things think they are Mana, they are Mana, and behave like that. This would still not explain spirit bodies, as they think they are bodies, but need body parts to be bodies. ARGH! Forget it, I run in circles, I am no scientist, so this will be put on the back burner! ¡­ Right now I create a digging site where it is the most scary in this Crater. Right down the middle under the portal. While still learning about how it works I try to find the source of the presence, but the deeper I get the harder I have it to dig. My Presence versus that presence. It is a nice workout, as it should solidify my grip on space. While working on mining out whatever there is down there I look more into the webbing and weaving of Miasma. Unlike me that thing down there can work with all Miasma at the same time on such a minute level, it is fascinating! What I have in raw strength and range, it has in detail and focus. So, what is scarier, sledgehammer or scalpel? Well it comes to how to use it, and I am scared of this things latent creativity. Chapter 38 Well, the answer for Leafy got personal, as Petal came next week with two guards again. The second Gazebo is half finished, so it should be a nice place for the Guards, albeit they look grumpier, than the previous two. ¡°As spokesperson for the crater, I welcome you all into Lords Domain. ¡°I thank you, spokesperson. We came to negotiate about the Mana rich water you called ¡®Mana dew¡¯. Although direct appliance seems to be toxic, using it diluted can be¡­¡± ahem What a rude guard, is he the ambassador or her? I find their presence rather suspicious. ¡°It has it¡¯s uses, and would like to ask for a small trade between us to deepen the friendship between us.¡± ¡°This might be possible. Negotiations should be made with Lord at our side.¡± With this, they finally walk to the Mansion. At least I have an early warning about the Guards, as those might not been selected by the Queen. I hate politics¡­ ¡­ ¡°Welcome to my Domain. I hope the travel was not too stressful.¡± ¡°We thank you for your hospitality Lord. My name is Shimmering Petal and represent the Forest. These two ladies with me are my guards, assigned to me by my high mother to protect me, please take no offense in them being here.¡± Rather clever her answer. The notion of them being from her Elder is saying much. They are not here to protect her, but to oversee. Saying, I shall not take offense means they are here to create offense in any way they can. If we fall out it would be best for the elder maybe. But there might be better ways to use that information. ¡°There is a gazebo made out of living plants nearby, I suspect it would be better to talk over there, as cold rock might not be to your liking. Leaf, might you please brew tea for our guests and us to relax while we discuss?¡± ¡°Yes Lord.¡± Moving to the gazebo Snow came from the sewers to see what the ruckus is. She likes the dark and maze like tunnels and sometimes I prank her with changing the layout, she always searches everything anew, so it became a game between us. The Guards got ready to draw their leafs, while I hold my hand up to stop them. ¡°Snow is a member of my Family. Please take no offense on her inquisitive nature.¡± The guards relax, but one uses it to sow discord. ¡°Even the monsters are Freaks in here.¡± If she did not want to hear me that, she would have used elven Root, so the attempt was obvious. Has no one explained to her I can speak Root? Well she is way too clumsy. ¡°Snow no Freak. Snow is Snow.¡± {It speaks?!} I not even need to answer, as Snow retaliated splendidly for herself. I hold in a small laugh by the yelp the guard did. I sign her to come over and scratch her behind her ears, as she is still too adorable for her own good. Going to the Gazebo we sit on the shaped roots while we wait for Leafy to come back. Yeah, your neck will be massaged too Snow. No worries. While keeping attention on snow with Ava I watch their expressions and behaviors with Miasma. It is still disorienting to see double, but not that vomit inducing anymore, luckily. Their mimic shows, they guard against me and watch Petal with scrutiny. Nothing I can do right now, but it helps knowing what is happening right now. As Leafy came with the tea, Petal took one cup with a thank you, but the Guards ignore her as if she were air. Nothing lost, as Leafy did one less, as she did not foresee Snow coming back right now. She mimics me with paw under the cup and one paw on the side. ¡°As we have our refreshments now, we should start discussing the feasibility of trading commerce with each other.¡± ¡°Yes, the water has some worth for us Roots, so we would like to ask a steady stream of it for our use, for exchange we would part with some of our own items. You seem to be interested in our sap and dew, might I ask, what you are thinking of using it for?¡± ¡°There are some aspects, I want to try to explore with it. On the other ten¡­ hand we could have some use for it right now.¡± Bending down, one of the Guards whisper in Petals ear. {we can not just give it away without knowing how it got used.} ¡°The same could be said about our Mana dew, as you did not explain its use to us, no?¡± Slight shock and anger on the face is a nice picture on that guards face. Maybe she just tries to remember if she spoke common by accident. Her head might also be just decoration. ¡°The true worth should be discussed between our ambassadors, so how about we leave them alone to discuss the worth between the traded goods. What do you want to do Snow?¡± ¡°Snow wanna play! Puzzle with Snow on it!¡± ¡°We will not leave our sister unguarded.¡± That is not the right answer Guard Number two. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°I assure you, the place is secure and no one will harm your ambassador. It would be detrimental for both of our sides if that happens, so there is no worry.¡± ¡°Still, we stay by her side.¡± ¡°Is that so¡­ Well then I should stay, so you do nothing untoward my own voice.¡± They are pissed, but can not say anything. It is their same reasoning. Let the games begin. ¡­ ¡°It is not feasible for trade our water for such a low amount, the creation needs months¡­¡± Snow has stayed, but right now is napping with her head on Avas lap. ¡°That might be so, but the water is not too useful to argue for such a high sap and dew count¡­¡± I watch the Guards, unblinking by the way, while using miasma to moisten them once or twice. ¡°It should not be such a great strain on the whole harvest¡­¡± In fact I cut the nerves already from the eyes. They are blind and just staring by not moving. Looking with Miasma is easier. They sweat and are strongly pressured. Well I use my Presence on them. Only slightly, but increasing it very, very slowly. ¡°Without proper explanation for what our products are used for, it will be hard to appease the eldest Mothers for the proper amount¡­¡± How long are we talking? Dunno, when they came it was Morning, now it is getting dark. As they refused to sit, they stand with strong determination, but with that much pressure, they start to crumble. ¡­ ¡°Ambassador Petal, we need to go back to the Forest, it is already dark.¡± ¡°Oh, that is no problem, we have for this eventuality these gazebos for your own convenience. This one would be a nice place for the guards, as I have to apologize for the inconvenience to ask to rest with my voice in her own gazebo, as hers is the most elaborate and should be comfortable enough for an ambassador.¡± Still being nice I tell them my opinion. Restarting my eyes a phantom picture has burned itself into them. Need a bit restructuring to get their faces out of my peripheral. ¡°Well I thank you for your hospitali¡­¡± ¡°No, we need to go back.¡± Wow, how rude are those guards? The last ones slept in the dirt and were happy, as the tree sisters were just talking the night about some gossip. ¡°My canopy might not be the Forest, but I can assure¡­¡± ¡°Shut up, potted plant!¡± Someone snapped. It was nice for them to snap first. This gives me ammunition. ¡°For Guards to think of them higher than my voice, it seems I have to learn more about how the etiquette of the Roots work.¡± ¡°We are her Guards and know better than you folks outside of the Forest what is best for her!¡± They really are not thinking straight, the pressure, dehydration and strain on their body seems to have influenced them way more than anticipated. Nice! ¡°You are overstepping your Authority, Soldier. The Ambassador sits there, and you order her like a child.¡± ¡°I do not mind¡­¡± ¡°Shut up! We are under the Orders of the Elder Mother, she is going back!¡± Not even hearing out her own thinking. As scared she looks, she definitely wanted to say she would want to go home. ¡°If you say so, Elder Mother. Might I knew your name?¡± ¡°¡­ we¡¯re leaving.¡± Rather rough the Soldier took Petal and left the gazebo. Her partner has her hand on the leaf blade pommel and looks at me with daggers in her eyes. Well, the cards are rather chaotic, but I should have a good enough hand to take the opposition down a peg. Getting out of the gazebo, I raise my voice on the leaving party. ¡°Ambassador! We will travel to the Root city in tree days. Inform your Queen of it, as there are things to discuss directly.¡± ¡°You are not welcome!¡± ¡°Shut up Soldier! You are not above the Queen! She herself gave permission to travel in the Forest which includes the City!¡± ¡°You bas¡­!¡± Did I mention I train my Presence on the alien in the middle of the crater? Yeah, it is stronger and sharper than ever. Not that I want to take over, but the intent to CRUSH has some nice effects too. ¡°Three days. I need an explanation on why two guards can stride around, insult my voice and deny our proclamations of our Alliance right in my face. I hope for a sufficient reasoning for sending obviously untrained Guards to a meeting between supposed friends.¡± Taking away my Presence they start breathing again¡­ and fell to their knees sweating bullets. Did you only NOW notice you are in the territory fifty of you did not scratch? Who informed these guys? Have they even been informed about what is going on? ¡­ ¡°Lord, what are you thinking? I thought you wanted to help my friend, but this¡­¡± ¡°I am helping her. Obviously someone is messing with the orders of the Queen. By officially complaining it will be hard for anyone to do that again.¡± ¡°But this is the opposite of what I was trying to do.¡± ¡°You wanted to stop us from fighting, but that is only one reason. The true reason was, you wanted me to not start eradicating the Root or the Forest with collateral attacks.¡± ¡°Yes, that is true. If we fight¡­¡± ¡°It is OK. I do not want to kill any Root. As long as you are here, I can assure you that. The Elders of your clan want to take away the autonomy of your Friend and at the same time break off your friendship. I will not let that happen. They will not take your tree sister and turn her against you.¡± ¡°Again with¡­ But this is a detriment for our Alliance!¡± ¡°Quite the opposite. If I just sit there and let them insult you with a smile on my face, they will get only more brazen. As Root you should know, cutting the problem by the weed does nothing. You have to burn the root of the problem to stop it.¡± ¡°But¡­ isn¡¯t that a bit too reckless? What do you gain Lord?¡± ¡°Huh, gain? Isn¡¯t it obvious, that with this the Elders have a way lower chance to mess with Petal, so she can be more free to write and visit you? That was the goal, was it not?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Well for now, we should be readying us ourself for the meeting in three days. You should prepare for a few days, as I create an Amulet for you to wear as sign you are with me.¡± ¡°Wait, I go too?¡± ¡°Obviously? We do that for you two, so you should be there too.¡± ¡°Snow will too!¡± ¡°Sorry Snow, I need you here, as if I leave with Leafy, who will guard the grasswalker? Imagine someone stealing all of those, you would have no snack anymore.¡± The glutton likes the cooked insects too much to evade that trick. ¡°No, Snow guard walker!¡± ¡°Thanks Snow.¡± ¡°L-Leafy?¡± ¡°Ah sorry, my Nickname I have for you in my head. I shall call you Leaf again. Sorry.¡± ¡°No, it is nothing Lord. You can call me Leafy or anyhow you want.¡± Still rather submissive like always. I hate seeing her bow her head to every whim of me, but she wants to stop a disaster to happen to the root. Well right now I need to modify much to be ready for a sudden intrusion into the City. Chapter 39 Modifications on Red are hard. The back shell is hard as diamond for the most part, so that is no problem. The face has some cosmetic changes to be unrecognizable and the bones got infused with more carbon to make them sturdy. Right now he hangs on chains in the tunnel under the mill. The Mana infuses into his body slowly and I have a hard time to use it fast enough to not break him down. If Miasma can make Monster grow, Mana should have a similar effect hopefully. While at it I create new Armor. The grasswalker gave me the right Idea. Chitin armor should have the right durability as well as low weight. A new chitin mask will be my new face protector, as the Iron is too heavy. I need something, what stays on while fighting. Hopefully it does not come to this, but be prepared for every occasion. First I thought about the cape of stealth, but I made another with snake leather. Fusing the skins in a wide enough cover was easy, and the empowered skin is extremely acid resistant. This should help out with anything that tries to corrode and surprisingly burn me. Fire retardant leather is nice. Sadly it has no heat or cold resistance, it just does not want to singe or burn. Hardened gauntlets with mouse leather inlaid and processed nerve endings should have the same power as my other gauntlet but this time both are modified with shock. Shoulderguards inlaid with leather and small openings get a kinetic acid thrower, and yes I tested it multiple times,it does not melt anyone under the armor. While I want the breastplate something special, I do not have anything. Alpha lives in my Sword. I had his core, but only as memento. Better would be boosts core, but the Roots have their core somewhere, or already destroyed it. Using steel I finally made a nice sword, or better falchion. Swinging the falchion makes the infused mana inside activate with lengthening and sharpening the cutting place. For energy source I put some Mana dew in the hilt right next to the runic ring for infusion. His green core shines right in the middle of the guard. Please help me again by my side Alpha. It looks more like I armor myself for war, but it is just needed for intimidation, so that should be okay for this occasion. Maybe I should make another one for Ava later. Now to the Amulet for Leafy, I create a similar with miasma repellent and¡­ ¡­something happens to Red! I cannot control it, oh shit oh fu¡­ ¡­ Well the time is here, morning has come and Leafy seems rather stressed out. Well we go back to her home, but not in full friendly intention. It should only be talk, but will be a bit strained. ¡°Lord, you look rather intimidating in your new garderobe. Is this necessary?¡± ¡°Albeit I am no warmonger, I should show strength if needed. My outfit is just for intimidation and security.¡± She is not really sure about this, but it will help out. I just hope they are reasonable, as they did throw mud first. ¡°Do not worry. Nothing will happen unless they attack. I promised you not fight with your kind, and I am still keeping this promise. As long as you stay at my side and are not suddenly taken back by them, there will no real bad blood between us.¡± ¡°That again¡­ I think I understand a bit, so I will always be on your side. If this is what Lord wants, I will stay for as long as you need my company.¡± Huh, that was a weird phrasing, but seems she wants to stay for now. That is good¡­ I guess? I not really want her to think she is a prisoner, but she is now part of my Domain. While walking I scratch one last time Snows head and say good bye for now. She is a bit sad, but knows I am back in a bit. It should not be a long stay, it just needs an explanation. With this all puzzle pieces should click into place. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Out of the tunnel I hear whispers and stories, I never before understood. Seems like the whole Forest is a wealth of knowledge talking with each other on permanent base. {Calamity is out of the tunnel. With him is the traitor.} What the¡­ How hateful are those Root to say such things with tree whisper? {Lord Null came out, with him is Falling Leaf, she might come with him and hopefully stay with us again} That was another voice. The first was some spy of the elder and the second the outpost? Then it seems there is a slight split in unity. This will get complicated. ¡°Lord?¡± ¡°Ah, sorry. I was in thought about something. Do you know someone who would hate to even deign to talk to someone outside under the Elders?¡± ¡°You mean the Eldest Mothers? ¡­ Not directly, but under the dead was a direct nephew of High Mother Silent Dew. She dotted on him, but he was eager to be with the Soldiers to rise in rank. He died by¡­ whatever that thing was.¡± I see. Loss in the Family, and when you think about it the high isolationism just needs to be stoked a bit to make others unhappy too. She might be the culprit. We will see. ¡­ ¡°Lord, a way up is¡­¡± ¡°Right over there, I know. This will bring us faster to the City by using the Liana walkways.¡± ¡°Wha¡­ ah, yes. This will make it easier for us. Please follow me Lord.¡± She might think I know it because of Red. Well I do know their ways up and down from him, but the plants even tell me where to go for the easiest ways. It is rather nice, but noisy. Taking the way up I get warned by the plants of bad eyes looking at me, but ignore it. If something happens, it will be rather painful for the Roots. Even if something happens, this might be the final test for Leafy. I am still paranoid of her, but without her, there would be less¡­ fun. It is nice to have her with us, so hopefully she stays true to her promise. The climb was rather easy. The grappling points were creatively hidden, but also sturdy and easy to use. Even rest places were made by fake branches to get the breath back. I would say a bit more than half way the bridges can now finally be seen. Half tied branches half Liana those can not be noticed from below, as they just resemble everything else up here, but from this vantage point it is clearly engineered. With the new way forward I can really say it is way easier through the Forest, I would love to use those ways while going back and forth, but this would be a rather affront to Root, as that are their streets and I would need permission to just walk them casually. The free passage through the Forest is already a great boon, so not pushing my Luck just to strain our already brittle Alliance. ¡­ I really wanted to see the City myself. It is a masterpiece in form of a living City. Close to nothing is made out of dead things, everything is alive and I can feel their vitality. This is the paradise for any plant loving person. It is magnificent. Right now many whispers are heard from the hundreds of bridges, but I can not hear much of them, as they are coming from Root and not from plants. The Guards seem to have already expected us. Well they had our way completely surveilled and called every step back to their headquarters. I was gladly spared from any more slander, as the spy did not say anything anymore. Maybe he ran back or stayed to not blow his cover. ¡°We welcome you Lord Null. I hope your travel was a pleasant one.¡± A nice welcome? Nice, it seems those are under the Queen or an amiable factions. ¡°Thank you for your hospitality. I heard from your great Forest City already, but it is such a Miracle I am in awe of your paradise you build for yourself. May you lead us to our resting place, until the time for the audience has come?¡± My courteous reply seems to string a cord with the Soldiers, as they relax a bit from their hard stares. Leafy relaxes a bit too after seeing I really want to stay on the nice side. I already told you, I am only here to help you, jeez have some faith. While walking through the City many eyes are on us. No wonder, as the last visitor might be multiple centuries back, and then it might be some kind of elf, well I am right now elf¡­ Kinda¡­ Actually I do not know really what I am right now, so whatever. The destination can be seen as the canopy of that tree is not only giant, it is the biggest most prominent tree around. If some kind of Tree of Life exists here, this might be it? Maybe not, it is just a big tree with vitality and the oldest whispers of generations so long ago. It is a survivor of the Starfall by the whispers it tells. Impressive! Our stay is on the tree right beside. Water was presented to us and some Fruits. Even some fresh dew and sap was there, what Leafy made her nostalgic right away. It was just a few Months since you are gone. What is this for the life of an elf¡­ Half a day in human lifespan? Well if she is happy, I am happy. Nothing to protest about the hospitality, so it seems hopeful for a nice negotiation between true allies and not a heated discussion. Chapter 40 It was somehow expected, but them sending scouts in my Domain was rather sad. They will not trust me, so I have a hard time to trust them. To be fair, they would not be going far, with Snow guarding the place. But it is better to stop the snooping, before it comes to a clash. The gate falls, drawbridge gets pulled and door closes. That was enough for them to understand, they have been found out, and escape right away. Maybe I should have captured them, but I try to be as hospitable as they are right now. Without their courtesy I might have, so lucky them. Waiting for the audience was rather long and no one disturbed us, expect for someone asking if we would like a hot tea, which we accepted. I take it neither as positive nor negative, so scoreboard is still nudging toward positive. Six hours later the audience finally is granted and we walk to the large tree. ¡°Your weapon please.¡± It was courteous, but a bit annoying. Disarming someone right before entering the heavily guarded throne room is a bit concerning, but I have contingencies. ¡°Leaf, is it a necessity to disarm yourself to go in front of your Queen?¡± I know the answer, and it is ¡¯no¡¯ but I need to play my part. ¡°Definitely not, Lord. Normally only parties coming for a parley or mistrusted people got this treatment. I do not think our Queen has a hand in this decision.¡± That answer was rather sad in two ways, but it is what is to be expected from her mind. Keeping up the play, I give my Sword to the second guard. ¡°I am sorry, sir Null. It was not my Queens doing.¡± The first Guard apologizes, which shows how embarrassed they too are. Well there is definitely brewing something. While the lianas draw the way forward open, we walk slowly to the throne room. On the throne sits someone with the first time not gray hair. Her hair is golden, seemingly glowing a warmth that appeases the mood of the people seeing it. Her crown is, obviously, a living plant. Some special kind of vine having silver leafs rather than green. ¡°An audience with our Queen, Protector of the revived Forest, chosen by and with direct ancestry of the first Child, is requested by Sir Null, Lord of the fallen star crater, in attendance with Falling Leaf, former resident of the Forest.¡± How rude. Even the Queen looks at him not amused and he falls directly to his knee. What in the Void is going on? Are they really that brazen with their open hostility even in front of the Queen? How curious and extremely foolish. While I was standing Leafy fell to her knees and bowed in full respect. The Queen seems to accept my non bow, but the elders around are looking rather angry. I rather think of her title. I thought the Name in the letters were already the long form, but it seems it was the short version. Is it something important to be in direct line to some kind of first Child? And I thought the Root are all incestuous related¡­ ¡°We have seen Lord Null from the Crater. To what do We have the honor of your visit?¡± With light bow I answer. Now that she has shown me courtesy I can give some back. ¡°Esteemed Queen of the Forest, there were some rather rude guards last time your ambassador visited. I wanted to ask what was this about and if I have to take it as the position of the whole Forest.¡± ¡°How dare you question¡­¡± ¡°Silence. We heard of an outing with the guards, but have not much information about it as the descriptions were quite apart like leaves on different branches. Please do tell the happenings out of your perspective Lord Null.¡± Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The Elder who wanted to interject was silenced with a rather calm and not even loud voice, at least they know who their Queen still is. Well, it would be good to explain all the happenings as truthful as possible. ¡°There are a few discrepancies with their behavior and our status as allied, esteemed Queen. The first was the inclusion of Weapons in my Domain. I was not aware before of the need to disarm yourself like I did when entering the vicinity of the Ruler, but those guards did not do that.¡± ¡°You uneducat¡­¡± ¡°Silence. We are perturbed by the thought of you thinking it necessary, it was an error to take your weapons, as you are not an enemy, and this should be seen as an error today. Guards are mainly not needed for visits, but were requested to be sent by some of our Eldest Mothers.¡± ¡°I understand now, your Majesty. Then this will be water under the bridge and I will resume my telling. After changing into a better environment, as houses are not well suited for your esteemed Root kind, Leaf was asked by me to cook tea. Albeit I would have understood the tea to be denied, the Guards did not even react as if she were air. Afterwards I thought of leaving my voice and your competent ambassador alone to talk, but they refused leaving the side of their person to guard, which was very odd, as no danger was even close in the vicinity.¡± I let the slight on Snow slide, as she is a monster, and would be ignored, but I will not ignore it. ¡°As they did not leave, I was not quite comfortable with them there and Leaf being all on her own, so I was with them. The talk about the Mana dew and what we would like for compensation for the trade was friendly but competitive, as expected for our two chosen speaker, while the guards did nothing but stand, until they ordered your ambassador to start finishing.¡± ¡°They did what?¡± ¡°Preposterous, obviously they would nev¡­¡± ¡°Silence. Did they really do that?¡± Looking at Leaf, she nods to me. ¡°As I was there, at the start of dusk, the Guards wished to go home, the tone was rather rude not only to us, but to Shimmering Petal too.¡± ¡°We understand. Please continue.¡± My cue to get back to the story. ¡°Well after suggesting to stay, as we especially had gazebos planted out of living lianas and young trees to be as comfortable for Roots as possible. They did not care about our hospitality and even shouted back. In the heated argument they called my voice a ¡®potted plant¡¯ and even forced your ambassador with heavy hand out of the gazebo for talks.¡± ¡°We assume you know our lingual meaning of what they said?¡± ¡°Obviously, dear Queen.¡± She nods. ¡°Anything else, what happened?¡± ¡°As we exited the gazebo ourselves, we gave them notice of our arrival today, for an explanation of this rude behavior, and were told we were not welcome, as the authority lied with them to decide this. As I told them, how I already have the right of visitation from their Queen they threw half a slur while trying to draw their swords, when I used a bit of pressure to remind them in which place there are right now.¡± ¡°You attacked them with Magic!¡± ¡°I did no such thing, otherwise they would be dead.¡± ¡°Who do you¡­¡± ¡°Silence. We have heard your side of the story and are rather disturbed about those insinuations. Those guards will be punished accordingly. Do you wish for anything else?¡± ¡°I accept your judgment in this event, as I was only angry about the direct slight against my voice. My anger is abated, if my voice is content with the ruling.¡± Put in the limelight Leafy was shocked. With how flustered she is, even with her strong composure she stutters a bit. ¡°Ah¡­ I, I am completely con...content with the ruling!¡± Nodding the Queen seems a bit torn. ¡°We see how well you treat our lost sapling. Would it be possible to let Us take her back?¡± This can sadly not happening. Right now she is mine and I do not want her to be taken away just like that. The reaction of Leaf by the question seems to be shocked and signs of not asking that to the Queen. Does she not want back? ¡°I am sorry, but right now she is needed as my voice and is a great asset to understand plants and many nuance aspects of the Forest. With her by my side, our relationship between the Forest and the Crater will steadyly bloom.¡± ¡°We¡­ understand. For now We will not ask for her return, and only ask to care for her. While the slight is now resolved, there is still something We need to address and it would be good for you two to bear witness.¡± Huh. This should be the end, as next time no grumpy Soldiers will come and I would add a small addendum for the trade later. There seems to be some hidden card I did not expect? ¡°Dewy Leaf, We would like an explanation of the happenings around here, for the recent events. What have you to say for yourself about the obstructions you created in this cooperation between the Crater and Our Forest?¡± Who in he Void is Dewy Leaf? I thought the ringleader is Silent Dew. They have both Dew in the name, so maybe they are related? ¡°Grandmother?¡± OK, the outburst of Leafy shows, she is maybe in a way more precarious position, than I expected. What is going on right now¡­ Chapter 41 This Dewy Leaf was not one of the Elders who had an outburst. Something seems to be out of place. I do not know anything about what is happening right now. ¡°It seems the great Matriarch already has found out. I wish to discuss this between ourself without those outsiders here.¡± ¡°It was you, Grandmother?¡± ¡°Do not call me that traitor. Go back where you came from!¡± ¡°We will not accept you calling one of Our subjects that, Eldest Mother.¡± Chaos is brewing. I never thought it would have such a twist. How exciting! ¡°The other Eldest Mothers only protest, while We understand their concern, they understand Our ruling like how sunshine and rain work together, but your work behind the shadows of the trees are an obvious breach in trust We can not accept!¡± ¡°I am sorry my Queen.¡± Wow, this is all right in front of us. The reasoning I can understand. The happenings laying bare right now and showing the ugly behind the scene, shows sincerity, as we are the aim for her. What I rather want to know is why, as they are obviously blood related. ¡°Do you have anything to say to Us?¡± ¡°Not in front of the two outsiders.¡± ¡°No, We order you to speak now!¡± ¡°¡­ My Family is proud of our roots always being aligned with you my Queen. We live and die for the Forest. To have someone in our branch to not only leave the Forest, but fraternize with an outsider, I had to act to show our dedication.¡± ¡°I am not fraternizing¡­¡± ¡°SILENCE WHORE! Do you think I did not see how you denied your former Queen to the question, of coming back to the Forest? Your face showed how you do not want to! Your branch is CUT!¡± ¡°That was not because¡­ I cannot tell you why!¡± ¡°Leaf, I allow you to speak freely for a bit. Although do not overuse that privilege, otherwise I will be stopping you.¡± To be honest I want to know what is in her head going on as the next one. If they show a bit of what is going on, I show some too. She does not know anything worthwhile anyway. ¡°Lord¡­ I¡­ Understood, Lord. My refusal was because of the Queen wanting me to ¡®take¡¯ back.¡± ¡°That is why¡­¡± ¡°Silence, let her speak.¡± Strange, how Leafy is talking right now. Luckily the queen blocked her grandmother to admonish her. ¡°It is dangerous to ¡®take¡¯ anything from Lord Null. He will not allow it, he may ¡®bargain¡¯, ¡®exchange¡¯ or ¡®give¡¯, but if someone ¡®takes¡¯ something from Lord, it incenses him. His anger can be furious, so please never ¡®take¡¯ anything!¡± Huh? Well I am rather possessive sometimes, but what would be so bad about¡­ Let¡¯s make a thought experiment, someone takes away my pickled radish I am testing right now¡­ My reaction would be appropriate taking his lif¡­ No, that would be excessive, maybe his arms are enoug¡­ Also excessive¡­ I hate it, when people taking something I do not allow. They will pay a hefty price for it. Always! OK, I am rather damaged in that way, so at least I know my slightly skewed bottom line. But what about Snow taking some grasswalker to eat? Nothing is there for me to rage. Well she takes something it already belongs to us. ...Huh. Everyone I accept is exempt from it it seems? It might be the reason I can take things so easily, then that would be what the Void had given me as kind of Power. Experiments will be needed to understand. ¡°...not an excuse, Lord can get really dangerous, when he thinks someone might take something from him. When Snow was sick and transforming his whole Domain shook with voices form everywhere saying how he will take¡­¡± ¡°That is enough Leaf.¡± Stolen novel; please report. Shock made her stop talking by hearing my voice. It was close to a heart attack how she starts sweating. Luckily I snapped out right before she talked too much about something even I did not remember. I need to ask her what I did in that time frame, I remember only being out for a bit, but not why or what happened between. ¡°You have not said too much. Do not worry Leafy. It is OK.¡± ¡°Yes Lord.¡± ¡°As you heard, there is no reason for hostilities against her.¡± ¡°That is not for you to decide, outsider!¡± ¡°No, it is Us that decides that.¡± That shut her right up. Nice catch Queen. ¡°We see no traitor here, only someone dedicated to her role, she was accidentally pushed into.¡± ¡°And I might even assure you further about that, your Majesty.¡± My queue to make it a bit easier for Leafy. Well I just take it farther to make it even more awkward for her Grandmother. ¡°We would like to hear your opinion of that.¡± ¡°Leaf never directly felt like a member of my Domain. She is there, but rather than being Family, she keeps her distance from any of us. Her role is clearly defined, as she wants to show Root are trustworthy and how it would be beneficial to not go to war.¡± ¡°Spouting about war, like you would win!¡± ¡°Further, Leaf never ever said something like ¡®our Domain¡¯ or ¡®my Lord¡¯. She defines perfectly of her being inside my Domain, but never includes her as citizen. The last reason for her loyalty to the Forest is for her to casually be saying ¡®our Queen¡¯, when explaining to me something. She never once stopped her faith and to you, your Majesty.¡± I just ignore the rabble. Some are more poised, but many are incensed of this forced alliance. Leafy on the other hand seems to be a bit ashamed. I just told the truth, but seems to understand, how I understand her stand more than clearly. ¡°We heard your testimony and got hope for her coming back to us in the future. I understand how it might not be possible right now, but maybe in a later time, we can discuss a¡­ ¡®trade¡¯ maybe for her freedom.¡± ¡°Her blood is already red from your pollution, take that pretty flower and leave!¡± ¡°Silence!¡± This Grandmother really annoys me to no end. Lets just make her regret ever opening her mouth. ¡°Leaf is no pretty flower, and I would not be able to make her blood red.¡± Taking of a gauntlet I make now a statement to make them even more confused. I hate those bastards thinking of them high and mighty, because they have some kind of plant in their DNA. ¡°Your useless slander just shows, you do not even care and rage blindly, as you do not even know who you are speaking to.¡± My Hand is already green. A really inconvenient effect all over my body. The Mana infusion was close to a disaster, luckily Red survived. ¡°While you old weed are blabbering about how red someones blood is, you should know¡­¡± My own Fingernail rips into Reds flesh and a drop of blood deep dark green flows over my palm. ¡°...my blood is way greener than yours!¡± Shock was immediate visible, even the composed Queen shows a rather perplexed look. ¡°This is a trick! You are human, you were seen!¡± ¡°I have many faces, but that is none of your business. You just spout holier than thou phrases and never think of outside of the Forest as anything worthwhile. While I protect you from what slumbers below the crater, you would rather see me gone for a century of peace, even if it means destruction later!¡± ¡°Only you say that. Making us fear some unknown we never saw.¡± ¡°Your Queen believes me, the Soldiers saw the dregs invading and Leaf sacrificed herself for that purpose!¡± ¡°And how do we¡­¡± ¡°Silence! We already warned you so much Dewy Leaf and you now have finally reached Our limit in patience!¡± Wow, her rage is heavy. She seems to have some kind of presence also. Everything feels heavy. The whole audience hall was silent until the pressure stops. Afterward the Queen looks at my hand. The wound has already healed automatically, as the Artifact right next to the heart holds Reds body in top condition. ¡°We might a bit presumptuous, but would you please remove your Mask?¡± ¡°Albeit, it would be no problem, my face would say nothing, as I am not bound to this shape like other people.¡± ¡°Rather mysterious, but We would still know what lies behind. If you could humor Us, it would be a great boon.¡± sigh¡­ Well I have no problem with that. Maybe it would be nice to at least be on good terms with her. She seems more amiable than the Elders. She looks young, but has a frightening Aura of age, even the tree we are on recognizes her as an equal. With reluctance I open the latches on the helmet and take it of. Green hair looking like fresh grass is appearing, while gasps are heard from the onlookers. Removing the face plate was sadly impossible, as it was linked with the helmet for protective reasons, so the whole helmet had to go. Such a design flaw... The face was luckily changed and the obvious parts of root were mutated. The ears got extended with a leaf pattern, they are now wider to the back and seem to hear nearly every plant clearly. While the skin has turned from gray to a whitish green, thanks to the green sap like blood flowing through the body. Even the hard shell on the back is now leaf patterned with the spine the central vein, but that was luckily not visible. It is still hard but flexible now. Well flexible is an overstatement, it still feels like a heavy plate and only bends a bit. Eye color is a glowing green, I transformed him into a Dryad it seems. ¡°Woodwalker¡­¡± Or¡­ A Woodwalker? Chapter 42 Another new word. Were those soldiers and Red that uneducated? What is a ¡®Woodwalker¡¯? Maybe Leafy can talk about it, when we are back. Dewy Leaf seems to want to protest, but holds it in. The chiding of her Queen has worked. Whatever happens now, I have no cards to play. Right now I try to analyze everything to create a new Hand to play. If Red dies, I have still two Guards, albeit mixed gender to create a new Body for retaliation, the only loss is if Leafy does not come back, so¡­ ¡°As We can see, Our guest is even in higher standing as the Root first thought. This shows even more Our displeasure of how the Root act against outsiders.¡± So, maybe I do not need some cards right now? Sounds more like it has an unexpected positive effect. Lets just wait for what will happen for now. ¡°Our kind has become complacent and distrustful of outsiders over the recent centuries. Instead of leafs We grow thorns and Our saplings get more and more assured about Our superiority against anything outside the Forest. Sir Null gave without prompt and what did Our children do? They attack, conspire and sabotage. We are saddened by the whole affair, and need to speak with each Eldest Mother about changing this outlook.¡± Huh? What is she talking about? Sounds rather nation changing, how it is phrased. ¡°Sir Null, if nothing more is needed with Our attention, We would ask you and your entourage to look around our humble City. Although, if you wish to go back to your own Domain, We would wish you well on your travel. What do you think?¡± Huh, I really have nothing more to say, so the slight of asking me if I want something else while directly throwing us out is not hurtful. Rather she seems to want to set some heads straight before more mud is thrown in each others faces. ¡°I would love to see more of your great City before leaving, but sadly it can only be briefly, as we need to be also back to ponder the new events we witnessed. To see the machinations behind the scenes opened my eyes to the true disposition of the Root and need to sorted in this new, more positive light. I thank you for handling the affairs in the way you have, dear Queen.¡± I am really thankful, as it shows not only the dirt, but also the truths behind the whole dirt. It can be said she has a rather thick skin to show all those things, without even flinching. I would have thought such display to be an embarrassment for most rulers, but she just opened up the whole bag of worms and threw it upside down to see what is in it. Putting on my Gauntlet I ready my helmet, and align the straps. ¡°We do not mind your face be a temporary one. If you want, you can leave the covering. No one will harm you in our Forest in any way.¡± Looking in the direction of Dewy Leaf, she continues. ¡°As this is a Royal Order for everyone to obey.¡± Dewy Leaf seems to understand and bows as deep as she could. Well I do not know about leaving my helmet off, but the Queen seems to want something with this. What it is, I can not fathom, as I am no ruler¡­ wait, I am, but not a competent one. Did I just demean myself? ¡°Your word is guaranty enough, dear Queen.¡± With a bow I put away the helmet into the spacial pouch. As it is rather full I put it over the Bomb I had put in front for easy grabbing. I just need to remember the Bomb is inside the helmet to not accidentally activate it or something. Leafy is still a bit perturbed, but breaks out of her stupor when we start to leave. ¡°Lord Null, how¡­¡± Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Later Leafy, I need to talk to you about different things anyway.¡± ¡°I¡­ I understand, and hope I can give an appropriate apology for any slight I might have done.¡± ¡°What? Nothing of that kind. There is just some things I need to ask, do not worry.¡± Stepping in front of the Guard with my sword, he gives it with a deep bow back. ¡°My apologies, again.¡± ¡°Those were orders, nothing to apologize for.¡± Taking my sword I feel rather good for having Alpha back. Sadly I do not know how Alpha would feel about my feelings. He was rather wild and antisocial, but whatever. ¡­ The city is incredible to watch. All those different ways they created a huge multilevel City without anything other than living plants. It is not only the ingenious way to knit together the plants, but even the way to lead the rain to every single plant for nourishment and way for having enough sun at the same time is incredible. Through Reds Memories I thought it just a fantastic view, but the construction is even more intricate than first thought. Maybe the Body has something to do about how I feel about the City itself. After I disassemble Red again I will review my thoughts again. While walking around, we are followed by guards. No normal guards, but this time honor guards. No weapon or armor, rather elegant leaf coverings of the finest making. The statement is seen in how the citizens are behaving. Some had strange looks in their eyes, but after seeing the whole company, they either bow and leave or continue their work. I feel like a VIP, and Leafy feels a bit uncomfortable. Samples of berries or herbs are given without asking and I am treated like one of the Root, albeit a bit strained or with overzealous respect. Not that I want to complain but¡­ well a small complaint, as I feel like some kind of attraction in a zoo or something. Seeing the Roots kind of Music shows the differences in what is thought of ¡®art¡¯ Their music imitates sounds of wind, birds, animals and other noises inside the Forest in a kind of melodic combination. It is kind of harmonic, but just imitating the noises and not using self made sounds of string instruments or whatever is rather alien. If I would not know, it is a play, I would ask myself, why the Monsters around have a slight rhythm with the lead of the rustling leafs. Tasting dew and sap for the first time I have to say, it is somehow refreshing. The dew has an interesting taste like ice water, without being cold, and the sap has an intense taste of thick herbal tea. I would have thought it sweet, but it has a strong spicy taste. There seems to be more different saps, and I can believe it, as not every tree has the same sap. For now we need to go back. Whatever the Queen is discussing I felt the pressure a few times even at distance, so some heads got cut to size. Whatever she wanted to accomplish by me showing my face, I hope it is positive for my future travels, as otherwise I will have to come again, with a more horrifying body, if I can create some. ¡­ The travel back was uneventful, as the bridges are quite easy to navigate. The only difference was by the messages sent through the trees. ¡®Lord Null¡¯ was changed to ¡®our Guests¡¯ and some directly named Root were ordered to immediately travel back and wait for further sanctions. That sounded like the groups of the disgruntled Elders got put right into some kind of community service. Not that I care though. Finally being back I only wish to get out of this Body. The voices of the Forest drone right into my head and sometimes I do not even know anymore which thought is mine and which is some daisy on the ground. It was luckily already dark and even plants get more silent in the night. Do those Woodwalker or whatever I am even think their own thoughts, or do they let think by Nature itself? I myself feel rather foreign in such a hivemind scenario. ¡°Lord Null, I have some questions I hope to get answered.¡± ...There goes leaving the body for the meantime. ¡°What do you need to know?¡± ¡°Your body, it is like our Root but different¡­ powerful and majestic. What are you?¡± ¡°An invader from another World.¡± That was not what she wanted to hear and looks a bit angry. ¡°Lord, you know what I mean. This look is imposing and has some kind of familiarity, I can not fight. What is with that?¡± sigh ¡°Let us go into the gazebo. The answer will be a bit longer and should even frighten you to maybe even unable to stand.¡± She did not quite believe me about it, but whatever. Going into the gazebo we sit down. Snow woke up right away and found us, cuddling with me as if I was gone for years. ¡°You already have an inkling, of me being from another World.¡± She nods, it might be time to come a little bit clean. Only a little bit though¡­ ¡°I was a Hero in another World¡­¡± Chapter 43 Although she had a slight shock upon this revelation, but is still listening. To come clean is annoying, as I am still unsure if I can trust her fully. ¡°They summoned me to fight the self proclaimed Demon King Eg-Never. After he was slain, I was thrown right out of the Kingdom. The God who helped with the summoning has thrown me right into the Void, with all Miasma they collected over my stay to keep the garbage.¡± ¡°But what about¡­¡± ¡°I am coming to it right now.¡± She is rather unable to stay put by wanting to know about my body. ¡°He just threw away my Soul. Nothing else was sent. Therefore I came here as a kind of incorporeal being.¡± ¡°But you have a Body. How did you become this?¡± ¡°Not only one body. I have multiple.¡± She was looking at me with a face of not understanding what I am talking about. ¡°My first Body was a Mouse. I still remember the first being I had come in contact with. Then there were my wolves. Walking through the Forest with my body as a Wolf was nice, until Red¡­ Eastern Redwind killed one of my most powerful bodies. As revenge I got my first Root body.¡± Her face got white. She finally understands what is going on. Yep, I am a Ghost! Whoo~ ¡°The body right now is half Red and half one of the guards who disobeyed your orders, when you came here.¡± ¡°...please, wait¡­¡± ¡°The fusion was one of my tests with the Wolves and other beings. It was later refined by chaining Red as I call this body in the direct flow of Mana to start a qualitative change.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°As I saw how Snow, a rat fused with an overtaken Rat had such a great effect I tried it out with Red and this is the outcome.¡± Silence is between her and me. She shivers and sweats bullets. Well she wanted to know about it. Now she knows. ¡°...this means¡­ Your Body is¡­ not your own but just an experiment? A Marionette? ...are they still alive in there?¡± ¡°Yes, the experiment to get a body was summarized into what I right now have in my possession, but it is not a Marionette, as I am in full control. And they are gone right after the first time I disassembled their bodies. Nothing remained of their memories afterwards, so I had to read their brain before disassembling them.¡± ¡°Dis¡­ disass¡­¡± ¡°That should explain my body for now. Is there else you want to know?¡± ¡°What¡­ a-are you truly?¡± Huh, this question goes over the Body question over. Well It should be OK, to at least say a bit, with a small white lie inside. ¡°A Soul thrown into the Void, changed by it and now able to take over beings as new host.¡± Her shivering shows, she would have not be able to stand, like I thought. It was even more shocking for her, than I thought, as she might even hold back peeing herself. Red did that, when he was taken over I remember. ¡­ Finally out of that body. It is deep in the Night and right now I am happy to be able to not hear any whispers anymore. While it is more silent at night, they do not stop, just getting simpler and quiet. While I do not know what is right now with Leafy, she is shivering in her hammock. I mean it is rather horrible to hear what happened to me. Helping out then thrown away as a soul to be a kind of ghost haunting the wrong World, but still it is a bit over the top with her reaction. Then again to talk with an interdimensional ghost, might be scarier than it sounds, as we are in a rather middle aged society and superstition might be higher, than I have imagined. Glad, I had her sit down. This would be way more awkward if she needed to crawl back and I can not even touch her as she would think she would be cursed by just a touch. Snow is happy to play with me, I remember rats are more active at night, and it shows. Hovering her favorite puzzle from the shelf we sit on the ground and I look over her putting it back together. With time I cut the parts smaller and smaller, but she has always put it back together, even when the parts start to become over five hundred really small ones. ¡­ The next day was rather lonely. Leafy still had not recovered and is right now hunkering down inside her gazebo. Maybe she needs a while, hopefully not too long, as some herbs I got as gifts would be a great addition to the gardens. Especially this glowroot is interesting. It glows faintly on the tip of the stalks and brings animals closer by those lights to let their seeds travel in their fur. Those barbed seeds just hang on, when something brushes against it. We had some kind of similar plants hitching a ride in my World, but not glowing. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The effects of this herb is deep sleep in tea. Maybe concentrated would be instant comatose, this would be a nice way to capture a few monster, which do not come freely, like birds and such. The Understanding, why not many Animals do come is clicking in my head too. Small monster are simple in their mind and often desperate. Larger monster see the cave sending soothing Mana and great shelter inside the terrible place of doom and just think ¡®TRAP¡¯. Even Alpha and co just came here, out of desperation. If I want more variety I need to capture it myself¡­ somehow¡­ ¡­ Three days and Leafy starts tending the Gardens again, albeit holds a respectably distance between myself and her. It needs time, and while I think that a new letter arrived. It might be seen as vile, but I was nosy and just overlooked the Letter with my Miasma while she was reading it. It was from Petal, and I now know why she did not greet us, when we were there. She was send on an assignment, but seemed to be more of a farce, the work she had to do as a tender was rather tedious and her assigned ¡®helpers¡¯ were playing incompetent to make her work even harder. After our visit, she got called back and suddenly her work was not only back to normal, she had more privileges, better underlings, higher freedom and a new superior, who is not only friendlier, but she gets additional training for her future growth. Wow, that was better than what I tried to do. For what my plan was made of, I wanted to complain and show a bit of power, so they know I am not a toothless kitten and then add more ¡®special requests¡¯, like how I do not condone any guards or other people with weapons being in the vicinity of my voice while talking with the ambassador, making it mandatory for the ambassador herself to collect the Mana dew, letting the delegates stay at least one day, for not offending my trying of great hospitality, etc. Now it seems, she has no need for the second part of my scheme, but I keep it still in mind, for sudden changes. Well it is all according to my plan still. As long as Leafy feels valued and the ambassador of the Root feel my helping hand, I have a way better standing. With better standing I have way better access and with way better access I have a true ally in the Root, and not that farce from before. Me? Helping her, because I like her? Nah¡­ well, maybe. She is rather nice for a Root¡­ ¡­ ¡°So¡­ they are already gone?¡± ¡°Yeah, nothing is there anymore. I can create copies, but they do not have anything resembling them except their form.¡± Strange questions, but Leafy starts to talk again with me. Something seems to have changed her again for the better, after the letter. It is nice to have her back. ¡°And you can create multiple bodies?¡± ¡°Not really. Only one alive, as the others can not live without¡­ well one part I can not copy. So that is all.¡± ¡°I see. They are already in the afterlife and you just use their likings as you do not have your own anymore. Sad, scary, but I understand your plight.¡± And I understand not, why she just asks those things. It is a bit close to things, she should not know, but as a body is not a true necessity for me, it is still alright, just do not ask about the ¡®black sphere¡¯ and we are good, Leafy. ¡­ ¡°Improving plants is you taking two plants and fusing them? One whole and one in spirit¡­ That explains their powerful spirit, as their spirits got more stability and can manifest better roots.¡± ¡°Yeah, it is a horrible memory for me, as I first thought to fuse their bodies and got¡­ fat herbs¡­¡± giggle ¡°That is rather logical. Twice the body will have that effect, twice the spirit can ascend. Although I really hate how you just change plants of your own whim, I understand your reasoning to know more about life. You want to create a true body for you right?¡± ¡°Like I said, those bodies are not really mine. They just work, but have nothing of¡­ ¡®me¡¯ in them. You understand?¡± ¡°Truthfully, I don¡¯t. But to not have your own body can make someone desperate, I guess.¡± My own body¡­ Yeah, I wish I had one, as Leafy reminded me how¡­ not me, those bodies are I am using. It feels wrong and limiting, especially as I can not use my miasmic powers with the now bodies, not mentioning my presence. I need to be here to do that, and this is¡­ like sending a robot to do the shopping. It works, but it is limited to the functions you can use of the robot, while you have better grasp of yourself. I can not better explain it, there is truly a difference. ¡­ ¡°That might be the reason your plants are so silent¡­ And nothing ever has their own will you create?¡± ¡°Nothing. The only exception was Snow. Snow is special, and I am happy to have her.¡± Nuzzling me, Snow tries to hide her embarrassment. It is true, without Snow everything would be so monotone. The sewers would have been a simple design and not that twisting labyrinth, the houses would be all the same, now are decorated differently for her to explore, the gardens would have been made for function and not sorted by color of the plants, as aesthetic did not much for me, but now it does. She might have given me the start of growing new feelings, as my old are seemingly gone. Maybe they were just drowned, but feels more I learn right now how to be social again rather than remembering. ¡°What is so different with her?¡± ¡°Well¡­ she was a Monster I did not took over. I fused her with a spirit to save her from dying, as she was nearly killed by an acid snake.¡± ¡°Snow got revenge. Beaten up many nests down in the sewers!¡± While she is being proud, I pet her head. How can she always be so adorable? ¡°Sadly she is the only one who survived this experiment. Nothing else could fuse.¡± ¡°And why is that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. If I knew that, I might be able to create more monsters.¡± ¡°Oh, lucky you do not kno¡­¡± ¡°Snow knows!¡± Huh. Snow seems to think, she knows, why she survived and others not? That is rather curious, as not even me could figure that out. ¡°You do know that Snow? Could you tell me, what I do wrong?¡± ¡°Lord, maybe it is better¡­¡± ¡°Of course! When Snow was close to¡­ Dying? Yes, I was close to dying, I knew Null made the Snake broken. Snow was scared, but when feeling Null doing something to Snow, then Snow just started to trust Null. Null saved Snow, so Null might be friend Snow thought. It was¡­ painful, but Snow was saved by Null.¡± ¡°I am sorry Snow. I had no choice other than shocking you, as otherwise your heart would have not restarted.¡± It still hurts me remembering how I electrocuted Snow multiple times, but it was necessary. Hugging and petting her I try to sooth her, or rather myself. ¡°Snow is not angry. Snow likes being alive.¡± That is nice. I like Snow being alive too. So we are two. ¡°So it has to do with trust¡­ Not really possible to get the trust of Monsters so easily. It will be close to impossible to create other monsters like Snow. And they might not even be on my side, so I scratch that for now.¡± ¡°It might be for the best Lord, really!¡± Leafy is rather stressed out. Well do not worry, just because there could be more monsters, I do not want to just forget our friendship Leafy. We will still be able to talk as much as you want. Chapter 44 ¡°It might be possible¡­ but is way to risky to experiment on someone just to try to create another Woodwalker outside of my own Avatar.¡± Leafy seems to be in a good mood, so I am too. It is now a few weeks, since the visit into the Root City. Petal wrote back again twice, while Leafy always answered. Another delegation is scheduled to come for the resuming of the talks about Mana dew. This time without nagging guards, hopefully. ¡°Good to know, Lord Null. It is nice to see you apprehensive to try modifying just anyone for your goal.¡± ¡°Of course not! This would be such a bad Idea!¡± I would lose resources without any reason. The created Woodwalker would not certainly be on my side and giving the Root more power might be detrimental for my goals. There might be some day an outing, when they try again to take from me, and it will be harder to retaliate with them stronger than my own Avatar. For some reason Leafy smiles, so I get a bit embarrassed, as I do not really know how to respond. Finally I remember something important. There was some talk about ¡®taking¡¯ being dangerous. I need to understand what is happening there. ¡°Leafy, I forgot something important to ask.¡± Raising her eyebrows a bit she seems to have forgotten too. ¡°What is it Lord?¡± ¡°Well you had talked about something with the Queen at that time about ¡®taking¡¯. There was the notion of something I do not remember, and need your help to understand it.¡± A slight gulp came from her. She seems to remember the talk, well it helps she knows what I was referring to. ¡°I have no recollection of that time. I was with Snow at that time, and did not think straight it seems, but was only for a short while¡­ at least I thought that, but seems wrong. What really happened, while I was out of it.¡± She seems a bit reluctant. Maybe she tries to find the best words for it. ¡°Lord¡­ If that time is the same as what happened within your Domain, then I can tell you about it. Just please promise me to always reign in your anger, if this is something, that happens, when you are distressed.¡± Sounds ominous, but what can I do. I can try my best, but if it happens it happens. ...then again, if something takes my consciousness from me and makes me do things, I do not want I will fight it with everything I have, so for now I nod to her. ¡°When you were attending Snow, I was in the Garden tending the herbs, and collecting fever medicine, when it happened. The earth was quaking and wind was blowing, but the feeling was all wrong. I felt hate, distress, sadness and... madness inside everything. Even space seemed wrong and started distorting. Then the voices came.¡± She shivers and holds herself. It seems there was more to all of it than I expected. Warping space? This could be a clue to going back. I should look into that part. ¡°The voices always revolved about things like ¡®taking¡¯. I will take back what they stole. Never again will they take without bleeding horribly. Everything will be taken away by me. They will suffer until I finally take their lives. The voices did not stop. They overlapped themselves and said more and more¡­ insane things like taking the World for themselves and taking away every ones way to die for eternal suffering.¡± This sounds rather manic. If this is inside of me, I have much to do in form of coping. ¡°Well, it seems the whole betrayal has left a deeper scar in me, than I thought. Those things sound rather crazy¡­¡± Leafy nods. Well I can not blame her, hearing such things are a tall order. Taking death away. Is it even possible? Well one or two might be worthy of that, but not all of them¡­ And taking the World? Well the Kingdom was big, but not the whole country. But the elves were in it too¡­ Maybe the dwarfs too¡­ Beastmen were also not fully innocent in that World. Seraphs might be under the rule of that God¡­ I will see, when I am back. ¡°That explains my lapse in recollection. Thanks Leafy, I might need you for holding me back maybe in the future.¡± ¡°I¡­ I will try my best to help you staying sane. For your own good and the World, Lord.¡± She is rather clammy right now, but it seems she will help me¡­ for now. ¡­ Stolen novel; please report. It is time for Petal to come, and she did not let us wait for long. Early in the morning she came through the tunnel with two guards. This time we awaited them right at the Market place next to the Statue. After seeing us the Guards slowed down and stood further away while Petal and Leafy start their greeting. ¡°Voice of the Crater, I am glad to see you in good health.¡± ¡°Ambassador, it is good to see you visiting our humble Domain again.¡± With small bow they look at each other¡­ this can not do. ¡°Come on you two. We worked so hard for you two to get some time to visit each other as friends. Don¡¯t be so official.¡± My talking made them look at me incredulous at first, but then both giggle and start to hug each other ¡°How are you Petal? Are you well? Is everything back to normal?¡± ¡°I am great! How are you? It got so different suddenly, but in a good way. I still acclimate myself.¡± ¡°To be honest I am still a bit shaken. Too much happened in such a short time, Lord Null is also not helping in making me feel less frightened.¡± ¡°Um¡­ Leafy?¡± Rude! Ah, well whatever. The two are back to being friends and talking like they done before, so it is a good thing. ¡­ The whole Mana dew was quickly decided. As I can not make much of it in a short time, it will be rather exchanged every Month. A large vial of about 200 Milliliter will be exchanged for two flasks of dew and one flask of sap. Every flask has around 2 liter, so it is rather much for the low yield. It is enough for Leafy to have a taste of home and for me to try potion making with it. The reason it is so sought after is now revealed too. No one stopped her from spilling the beans. The Mana dew itself is toxic, but diluted it can help plants to strengthen and fight of parasites or illnesses otherwise hard to cure. Also it has an interesting effect if left out in the open in high Miasma areas. It dissipates the Mana and helps the Miasma to dislodge. Although it is not the only way to clear those places, it is by far the easiest. Nothing disturbs the pure Mana dew as it is toxic to a degree to even radiate a sense of danger to Monster, the Root only need to watch it from afar and not go inside after putting it up. The herbalists already work on more ways to use it as it has enough mana to overfill someone with mana just in its presence. I can tell a tale about it, as it worked WAY too fast on Red, and he was not even a full day inside as it suddenly broke through the limit. Petal and Leafy are already gossiping again, while the two guards rest in a recently finished gazebo. They are this time really relaxed, seems like they see it more like a small vacation. ¡­ ¡°Lord Null, why do you have the face of a Human right now? I heard you were a great creature of the woods, while with the Queen Mother.¡± Ah yes. Petal is inquisitive and luckily not afraid of me. Better not explain again how I am a Ghost, I do not want a repeat of Leafy. ¡°This form is right now a necessity. Albeit it is extremely restraining, it is better to train in this form, as when I go to the human Cities, it is easier to have enhanced control in this Form.¡± She nods, it is nice to see her understand right away. ¡°The shape of a human needs training right?¡± ¡°Yes, otherwise it would be way too weak and might not move like I want.¡± ¡°I understand. To blend in with humans, it would be easier to not only look like a human but also walk and talk like one. Unlike us in the Forest, you cannot just hide in the trees, as you need to be unsuspecting when in the open. Must be hard.¡± ¡°You have no Idea. Even a small mistake made them follow me. I had to escape them one time.¡± ¡°I heard the recounting of the scouts. So they followed you because you stood out somehow. Luckily you escaped in this limiting form.¡± ¡°I made some tools to help for such situations. In this form I can not hear the trees warn me, so I have to make do with that.¡± ¡°Like this, you can not hear the plants? Must be horribly inconvenient walking through the Forest like that. You have my respect, Lord Null.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± It is nice to talk to Petal directly and informal. She has a rather bubbly personality in opposition to Leafy. Leafy is more a rigid and honor bound person, but has her kind side too. While thinking about her, she has a rather strained smile on her face. Looks like she is a bit torn seeing Petal admire me. Well I do not blame her, as I do not really know, what I did do for the admiration, but oh well. ¡­ Petal is leaving today. She was here two nights and her guards did not bat an eye. They had provisions and even started to braid some ferns to a living¡­ Well it was not finished, so I do not know what they worked on. While they are going I have to equip Ava with his new armor. This time I have made some configurations better suited for it. The Acid thrower in the shoulder guards of Reds prior armor got put into the helmet this time for Ava. Way better way to control the aim. Adding mice veins into the Alpha Falchion I have now not only the wind cutting, but a way to use lightning. Testing shows something incredible. I can throw lightning by swinging! The wind blade cast by the core of Alpha gets infused with lightning and a shocking wind blade gets shot. Not lightning fast, but it has its uses, as the range is about five meters. The mask is now more of a visor. Better to move, and I do not have to take the whole helmet of. I am ready to go back to the City! Just which one? Chapter 45 The place to go would be Malek. Sadly I have no way to travel fast to this city, so I need either rest or make a stop in another City. Kilt is not an option for right now, so it needs to be Halk. I just hope the uprising is starting to slow down. With my new and improved armor, it should be possible to stay out of danger, but I still take with me healing moss and a potion. This potion is the rest I have from my research by the way. Nothing to be done, as I can not cheat my way into new ones. The ingredients need to be balanced in a way I still do not understand. By putting it back together the potions resemble the earlier potion, but it is not holding together. The Miasma dissipates, different ingredients react with each other and start clumping, and afterwards it got rancid. There was something I lost, when taking it apart like when I lose every memory inside the living beings. Something fades away, but I can not fathom what. Back to the topic, I put my Items I want to sell inside my backpack and start my journey to Halk. ¡­ It is snowing. I should have known Winter is coming, but where is it in my Domain? Not only is it not snowing it is still rather warm. Only at night is a bit of frost visible. And I thought I was in a climate, where Snow does not fall. Should have sorted the minds of all the things for Information about that, but if you do not search for it, you will not find it. I should be able to still harvest food. It is really strange for this to be the case, but is a positive. In a few months even the fruit trees will be ready. Mana is one heck of a fertilizer. ¡­ The signs are not good. Halk is barricaded and entering is only allowed by trusted personal and accomplished traders. It is multiple months already, but still chaos, shows how bad the whole rule by local Mage is. I bet some Mage infiltrated and locked the whole city down to have time for breaking the seals of some stash he desperately wants. If greed is involved even Mages start losing their minds. Mistrust and gaining Power is a real struggle for them, but as they might have already send the quota of their taxes to the City Arcana, no one cares what happens here. Right now I rest in the temporary outpost made by Mercenaries, who need to find special ingredients. Fungi or other dangerous Materials can bring good Money, but are life threatening. Either they are in dangerous places, or are themselves dangerous. Mostly both. The price to stay in this ramshackle shelter is one silver. Haggling did nothing, so I have no choice. Those people must make a killing for just giving a place to rest secure from danger¡­ ¡­ The next day I was pleasantly surprised to found nothing happening while ¡®sleeping¡¯. At least they are honest and do not steal more than with their price gouging. Rations I will not buy from here. I might be wealthy, but that is straight up robbery. The next area to go will be more inward of Telk. I want to go around Kilt and maybe look for Information brokers for more recent happenings. Traveling inward shows the temperature is even colder. Woods hold temperature it seems, or is it the Mana/Miasma inside? The worst thing is, I see some broken houses. Farmers seem to be robbed by bandits, as the Guards are hunkering down inside Halk. They are useless, when they do not have the support of their Mages it seems. ¡­ Crying is heard from the broken down House. It is not burned down, so at least that is a plus, but seems ransacked completely. By knocking the sobbing stops right away. ¡°Who is it!¡± Rather aggressive, but I can understand why. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Names Ava. I was passing through and saw the broken down House.¡± ¡°Go away! We do not have anything anymore!¡± ¡°I do need Information, so I would pay for that.¡± ¡°We know nothing of worth!¡± ¡°Yes you do. I want to know how dangerous this place got, before traveling further. I can pay.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Well the whispers show at least them thinking about it. ¡°Do you have food?¡± ¡°Not much, but I can pay in food for Information. Otherwise I can pay with Copper.¡± ¡°No, we take food. The money will just get stolen again.¡± Pulling something heavy from behind the door, the door opens a small gap. ¡°You at least do not look like the bandits.¡± ¡°As I said, I just travel through.¡± Slowly the door got opened wider. The Man looks haggard and has a nasty looking bandage around his left cheek. Behind him two boys protecting a big but also haggard woman. Maybe their Mother. ¡°You are alone?¡± ¡°Yes, I do not mingle good with other Mercenaries.¡± ¡°Really dumb idea around here. Come in and show the food.¡± Well it seems it is working. What I have with me are berries, boiled grasswalker, a few of the first eggs those lazy chickens finally deign to lay, and other edible plants. I have some radishes with me but obviously I can not give them these, as they are way to high in Mana¡­ or can I? It would be a nice experiment. ...nah, maybe someday but not right now. ¡­ ¡°The longer Halk is closed, the bolder the Bandits got. No one is safe right now outside. If you want to stay save you have to pay those bloodsuckers in the small outpost your monthly earnings to stay one night. The whole area is starting to become a lawless region.¡± ¡°I can not understand why this place is that chaotic. Would no one from Arcana do something about this?¡± He grimaces. ¡°They would, if it were any other Season. Right now the Fields are barren, so no food or money is made. As we are right at the dark Forest and the Fungal Mountain, this place is the least needed area. Farms can be plowed again, farmers can be reassigned¡­ we are left to fend for ourselves.¡± The Woman starts bawling again. Her sons care for her, as she seems extreme unstable. ¡°Can¡¯t you just leave?¡± ¡°Where to? We have nothing anymore, the cities do not need us and our last hope is for Halk to finally open up again.¡± Really sad. How hard must be their life right now. Staying means death but having nowhere to go. ¡°How strong are the Bandits?¡± ¡°Strong. They banded together and are now half an army. Twenty, maybe thirty men strong and look for more and more to steal around here.¡± ¡°What can they even steal anymore?¡± That was the wrong question it seems. The woman broke and cries even more, their sons hold her tight, but she is shivering all over. ¡°I apologize for my Wife. The time before the last time they came they took¡­ they took our daughter.¡± Oh, I understand now. This is rather horrifying. ¡°Any hope for rescue?¡± ¡°No¡­ No, they brought they back last time they came¡­ We¡­ we buried her body¡­ what was left of it at least.¡± The man is crying now too. How horrible are the happenings right now? ¡­ ¡°Open up old man! We know you are still here!¡± The Bandits are back. I stayed for a while, even if the Farmer told me to go, before they came back. ¡°I have nothing anymore! You took everything!¡± ¡°You have a Wife! She might be ugly, but your good one already broke, so she will do!¡± Okay, those guys really want not things, they just want to make people feel despair. I would pity them for how sick and broken they are, but they do not deserve any sympathy. Chapter 46 As the Door opens slowly a kick from outside smashes it open. ¡°Finally you comply you old bag of¡­¡± The next thing he saw was me piercing his stomach and pushing him right out. The shock did not really set in before he lied on the ground holding his lacerated abdomen. The twitching shows how the wind inside him perforated not only one Organ, he is not even able anymore to scream. ¡°Who the fuck are you?!¡± ¡°A passerby.¡± ¡°You will be dead after what you did to our Brother! Get him!¡± Ugh¡­ Can you not even bring something like ¡®when we are done with you you will pe passed on¡¯ or something witty? Lets start the slaughter. With a heavy swing I split one right in half from crotch to skull, the Wind blade gets stronger the harder I swing and I swung hard. The archer gets a swing down with lightning and the lightning blade flies and fries him right after shooting the arrow. Nothing to worry about, the chitin can handle that. ¡°A fucking Mage! We have to¡­¡± Whatever he wanted, he was beheaded right after. The last one tries to escape but not on my watch, I ram him and cut his leg. The scream is horribly loud, but no one is here to help you. ¡°Why are you doing this? Do you know what trouble you will have, if my brothers¡­¡± A kick shut him right up. ¡°What will they do? Hunt a Mage?¡± ¡°I am sorry, just let me leave!¡± Nah, not likely. I just grab his head and slowly increase the Mana intake of my Gauntlet. As it seems the violent reaction with the opponents Mana is always there, as he died not even two seconds later. And I hoped for better results with low output¡­ whatever. ¡°Lo¡­ Lord Mage, we did not know¡­¡± The Farmer seems to babble something, but I have to look at the results. The whole stomach is mush from the one I stabbed. Only a slight bit of Mana should have activated, but has nearly liquefied his organs. Has it to do with the static mana frame? Monsters did not react in that aspect, but their Spirits flow like Reds, so is it that? The archer is fried and has a rather nasty cut where the armor did not stop the Magic. As long as I cut, they just have a horrible day. Well this one has a rather crispy one. The halved one was clean cut right through and the beheading too. So there is a rather good impact on non magical beings. Well let me clean up. ¡°Is there somewhere where I can put this garbage? It would only pollute your home rotting here.¡± ¡°Ah, Lord Mage does not need to make his hands dirty, I myself¡­¡± ¡°Stop it with the Mage here and there. I am not from this lands, so I do not care about how people are tiered by their magical standing.¡± ¡°Ye¡­ Yes Lor¡­ I mean Mister. Is there anything I can do?¡± ¡°First of, when do you think the rest will come to search for them?¡± ¡°Ah! They will kill me and my family! What shall I do?!¡± Does he now remember what will happen? Well maybe he needs a reality check. ¡°They would have done the same to your Wife as your Daughter, then when they get bored of you, kill you in a gruesome way. Do you think they did all that just because they had to? They wanted to see you suffer, for whatever twisted reason they had in their minds.¡± Not the smartest one, is he? Now that he realizes it, he fell to his knees and is silent. Well nothing I can do right now. Five guys came, maybe a sixth has been hidden, so it might not be long before they will be back. ¡°You should take your Family and flee.¡± This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°...to?¡± ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°WHERE TO?! We have nothing! Nowhere is safe! All we have left is despair, our Daughter got killed and fed to their dogs! We have no valuables and no food! We will starve! Please! Please just kill us!¡± Huh, in that aspect he is right. Maybe I am not so smart myself. Should have known, there is nothing to do. So killing them in the most peaceful way should be their best option. Sad for them to die like that, such good materials¡­ Wait, maybe I could¡­ ¡°There is a small Village with nearly no people, their farmlands can be used and food and water is aplenty.¡± ¡°Stop spouting nonsense! It is Winter¡­¡± ¡°Not there. It is filled with Mana. A rather ominous place, but the ones living there would welcome you.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Just to be honest with you, the place itself is not without risk. As you are normal people, the high Mana could make you slightly sick, but you would live in peace there.¡± ¡°¡­¡± No answer. Maybe he is already broken. He lost so much already. ¡°It was an idea. Sorry for the whole debacle. I will first hide the bodies and maybe they think some Mercs had killed them off on the way.¡± ¡°Please¡­¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°If¡­ If there is such a place. Please save my humble family!¡± Well maybe he is not fully broken. ¡°Sure. Anyone else here around, who would like to travel with you?¡± ¡­ I did not think I would go back that early. Desperate Farmers in tow I go back. With a round trip I got together eleven Farmers. Three Families, Three Men, Two Women, six boys and miraculously a girl. She was hidden under the floorboards when the Bandits searched the home, so her Mother was taken, for whatever they do. Most had it rough but such sadistic tendencies like the Belks, the Name of the first Family, were not there. Not saying much as they also were just let slowly die of hunger. Maybe it is a game to see who would first eat one of their family members for the Bandits. To put their trust on a stranger, it shows how desperate those people are. But whatever. It will help me having farmers and maybe some experimental subjects. ¡­ ¡°We are going through the dark Forest?!¡± ¡°Do not be afraid, I have permission from the guardians to go through.¡± ¡°Guardians? This is insane! We will die by the monsters or worse!¡± Desperation is one thing, Fear is another. They all have a rather bleak way to see the world, I can understand their thinking, but¡­ ¡°I am telling the truth. Nothing to gain from me to turn people into monster food. There truly is a hidden Village, as I am resident there. If you do not want to go, you can go back. I would understand.¡± This shut them up. Now it is the farmers choice to do what they think is the right thing to do. ¡­ Right now we are resting in the middle of the way to the Crater. No one wanted to go back. They know what would happen to them. While I was foraging for a few berries, the families huddle together in a blob of people. They are scared out of their wits, but have to rest. When the wolves appeared, they thought it was over, but after noticing me, they ran right away. Seems like they remember me from the time I was inside Twin. Maybe they notice me being too strong. Whatever the reason was, no wolf meat for Snow sadly. The sun is starting to rise and although the people did not sleep well and are close to frozen to death we go further. When we finally reach the tunnel the people were shivering and had blue fingers. The children had it best, as they were mostly protected by the parents from the cold, but even now they notice the rather higher temperature coming from the tunnel. ¡°Follow me, we are here. Behind this tunnel is the Village.¡± They do not speak anymore. Either it was to hard for them, or they have given up. Maybe they think it is a trap, but are too far to not go with me anymore. Whatever the reason was, when we were on the other side the Temperature was in the realm of six degrees Celsius. Not warm, but it was not freezing anymore. Seeing the Houses, the light in their eyes start to come back. Right after the children started to cry and the Parents hug them to soothe their finally ebbing down stress. ¡°Welcome to the lost Village.¡± Just named the Village on the fly. A real name did it never have. ¡°It is still growing, so you can at first take the houses you might like. Be careful, acid spraying snakes live here right now, but have been culled to near extinction by a dedicated giant Rat we have as a resident also.¡± They seem to not quite understand, but at least the warning is understood. ¡°Lord Null, you are already back. And who are these humans?¡± ¡°...Elf¡­¡± ¡°Ah Leafy. Those were farmers, who were left to die by some bandits as fun. I brought them back to tend to the fields and maybe help with harvest. They might be useful to liven up the place.¡± ¡°Refugees, I see. As you wish Lord.¡± Well she accepts everything I do. Rarely she interjects, like she is not allowed to. I wish she would come a bit along, but for now, I just hope of her being honest with me. ¡°Welcome to our Domain. If Lord brought you here, then your fate is now aligned with his. Please rest for now, I will make a warm soup to heat you up right away.¡± With this finished, I need to find out what they need, to have a better stay here. Maybe there will be a way for them to help more than just farming. Who knows what those people can do for me. Worst comes to worst I have more Materials for Fusion experiments. Chapter 47 Eating something warm was the best way to ease their strained nerves. Afterwards everyone had to sleep for a while, and huddled together right in the foyer of the Mansion. Not everyone came with us. Some declined and thought of it as a trick, others left their Grandparents, as they were stubborn and wanted to stay. I bet they just did not want to burden their travel. Maybe I should go back and bring someone with me to explain to them I am telling the truth? More Materials are better than letting them starve to death. Whatever, first the people need to recuperate. Waking up after their quick rest it was already evening. ¡°Well Now to the temporary housing. As said, the Village is still being build, so your Houses will be changed when the Village reaches the Orchards. Then you should be closer to the farms and have an easier travel.¡± ¡°Yes Lord.¡± ¡°This here is Snow. She is a resident like you, but has higher standing, as she is a Member of my Family. As is Falling Leaf, so please be respectful to them.¡± ¡°Y¡­ yes Lord.¡± A bit hard for them, but they might just see a monster Rat in Snow. Hopefully it gets better with time. She is rather tame, if she is not going to war in the sewers. ¡°For now I show you the houses around.¡± ¡­ Their wonder is somehow funny, but also understandable. My housings are way better than their ramshackle buildings. Although theirs were rather sturdy out of wood, mine are stone. Including the living room and sleeping area I made the Houses different and often unique. Some had a big storage, other had multiple small bedrooms. Kitchen was most of the time separate from the living room, which they found odd, but sometimes it was connected with a kind of window to just get the things through. Even the Glass windows made them gasp, as every single one had albeit not fully see through but still glass windows. Having a Toilet was also seen favorably. No going out to the outhouse in the night and risk being attacked by a wild animal. I did not forget to show them every single house has a cellar, which is sometimes able to be locked from below. I thought about showing them the hidden entrance to the tunnel system below, but that is not necessary right now. Maybe later I can show them, when I am again at war, for escape purposes. ¡­ ¡°And that is why you should put the water in the urn for a while to have less Mana inside. You might still get sick, as everything in here is inundated with Mana, but it should not life threatening.¡± ¡°We were already cursed to begin with, to change the curse from suffering to maybe Mana burn, we are already fully willing.¡± Father Belk seems to be the temporary Leader of the farmers, as he was the first I recruited, so it is nice. His name is Belk, so his whole Family is Belk. Strange concept, but that is their way to hold surname. If the Sons marry their Name will become the surname of the Family. If a daughter marries the Name of the man will be her new surname. How patriarchal but humans were always that way, and elves see it more matriarchal. Now I need to know what dwarfs think about who is in charge. Maybe the one who can drink more before being under the table? ¡°Lord Null?¡± Argh! I got in pondering mode again. ¡°Just thinking about how to help you more with the high Mana here. Sadly I can not think of something. If symptoms show, please tell me so I can see if there is anything I can do.¡± ¡°Thank you for your concern Lord Null.¡± ¡­ Snow got accepted by the children rather quick. They like her and play with her, when they have free time. I had to stop her from taking them with her into the sewers and explained, how they would get scared if she threw up her rats, so she just plays with them for the time being on the surface. Hide and seek is often chosen, but why is it always Snow who is seeking? Maybe, because she is too stealthy for it to be fair. The Farmers start their own work after familiarizing with the whole fields. How big the fields were had them shocked, but relaxed as I said, they do not need to tend to everything. For now they can take as much as they want, but later we will split 7/3 as I remember how this was the ideal way for splitting the earnings between Farmers and Lords. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. I was surprised as they were ready to give me 7 and they take 3 but when I corrected them and said I just want 3 and they get 7 the surprise was turned around. They lived horrible taxed lives it seems. First they got taxed for going into the city by the guards, then they needed to tax their selling. Then they needed to give a tithe to the City Arcana and after all that, they needed to pay a tax for the land. Jeez, what did those people eat afterwards? Dirt and air? I explained them I want them to work on the grasswalker, chickens and the fields for now. When the work is stable and we have enough of the animals and plants we start the taxing, not before, as they need to live and the breeding for larger coops is a priority. ¡­ Bedding! I always forget bedding, but the people start their own creations. They use plant fibers to create mattresses and some rough blankets for now, but later we have feathers from the growing chicken farm. It will be nice for Snow to get her own bed and not the straw nest, she is using now. Also the first symptoms show their ugly heads. Many working in the fields complain about itching. The reason seems the Mana inside wants to go out and irritates the skin while it is pushed out. Nothing serious yet, but a start. With Mana sight they look like they are always steaming. While being with them for a while I notice something I totally forgot to ask. They can neither read nor write. This would be rather bad, as they need to at least understand, when I set up some warning signs or some instructions later. So I start to teach them the first letters of their alphabet. The runic look of the alphabet is made on a tablet and I make a storage house into an impromptu School. With them there, I show how to pronounce the different Letters and create some wooden cards with words on one side and a picture of it on the other. Teaching the youth at the Morning and the older ones at the evening makes it easier for me to show them how to write their own names. Some asked me to write it for them, but after telling them how their own Name should be written by themselves to feel the liberation of being able to claim their own Name they worked hard. ¡­ Many Words were already learned. Many houses have wooden boards in front of them where the Fathers name is on the top and the further down the wood you go you see the Names of the Mother and then the names of the Children ordered by age. They are so proud, that everyone wrote their own Name themselves and how they want to make it a tradition to always being reminded how to write and pronounce Names. Even some common Words already got remembered. Snow was one of them and they understand how it is a Name and the flakes falling from the sky outside. Others are Snake, Farm, Orchard, Tools and Lord Null. A shack with Tools written on it is in front of the farm and the Orchard is the favorite Wooden plate remembered by the children. Snake is feared, as they remember the sewers have snakes. I started to make the sewers a bit safer by smoothing out the walls so they can not just crawl up into the pipes. By the way the Morning routine for many Children is to get water for letting it rest, to reduce the mana and flushing the Toilet to let the stink vanish. Sorry, no plumbing is planned right now, as this would be tedious. ¡­ Not even a month is passed and now the signs of Mana burn are visible. Glowing scars break out of the skin. The Farmer who has this, is the one who mostly works in the rice fields. Definitely high Mana burn as it seems. While it looks strange, it is no real problem right now. Mana just vents out of the scar and other side effects do not seem to exist. Snow is now sitting in with the other children and works hard to learn reading and writing. I even created chalk boards and chalk, which I needed to remind snow was not something to eat. With her high smarts she quickly catches up to the other children and has fun finding her own picture when the wooden pieces with the Words on it got shuffled. Making learning words a game was the right Idea it seems as the children all love to search the whole floor filled with wooden plates, when it is their turn. After that, math will be the next. The people understand how I want three of every ten later, but calculating how much that would be is not in their capability. ¡­ Petal is back today. She and her delegation seem less surprised by the humans. I bet they were informed beforehand of me having brought them here by scouts. The children on the other hand reacted frightened. They still have in their subconsciousness how strangers mean danger, as everyone has lost at least one family Member by the hands of Bandits. They ran right back to their houses or ran to the fields to warn their Fathers. Leafy and I were already walking to greet them. ¡°I welcome you back Ambassador, as the voice of the Crater.¡± ¡°Thank you for your hospitality, I bring greetings from our Queen of the first Child.¡± They definitely do that to annoy me. I roll my eyes and wait for a few seconds, before they start laughing and hold their hands. ¡°How are you Leaf? We heard you have new residents? Or are they just visitors?¡± ¡°I am fine Petal. We indeed have new residents. How are you doing and is everything fine in the Forest?¡± ¡°More than fine, the Miasma starts getting thinner. Using the Mana dew helps breaking the worst places without risking any Root. My work is now rationing the Mana dew to the different high Mothers, as it is still scarce.¡± ¡°I wish I could help, but the creation is slow. Do you think the Forest will be Miasma free in the future?¡± Petal sadly shakes her head. ¡°This question was asked all our eldest Mothers and they looked into it. Even with all we do, the Forest will never be free from Miasma. The World needs our Forest as filter, so we have to obey.¡± Rather bleak. Well I try my best to filter Miasma as best as I can, but I have my limits too. I am not even able to fully keep my own Domain Miasma free anymore, as I am now too large to hold enough Mana unless I want to stop the infusion of the water, and right now I have an experiment to watch in those farmers. Ahem ¡°How about we go to the large gazebo and talk there, as it would be more comfortable.¡± ¡°Ah! Yes, of course Lord Null. I am just happy to see Leaf being fine.¡± ¡°Of course she is fine. I would not eat her all of a sudden. I bet she tastes bad anyway.¡± ¡°Excuse me?!¡± giggle ¡°I thank you anyway for keeping my Sister Leaf safe. The Queen sends her greetings also to you, Lord Null. The reformation is going smooth for now, but some still have bark as their face and just obey because the Queen said so. The south is still a bit dangerous, but starts to lose its thorns one at a time.¡± Well it seems the reform was the Queens agenda anyway and used me for her own machinations. Well I gain from it too, so nothing I care about too much. While we talk the humans go to their own houses and look wary to the visitors. Not bad to be careful about strangers, so it might be the right call for them to stay that way. Chapter 48 ¡°Is there any discomfort?¡± ¡°No, my Lord. It just feels¡­ itchy on the places it grows.¡± Nearly all people have now Mana burn. The blue glowing scars are looking ominous, but have no negative effects on them. Rather they feel fine and are full of energy. Well, figuratively and literally it seems. If they have too much Mana they get dizzy spells or feel sleepy, but afterwards they are fine again. I can not find any dangerous parts as of now about being filled with mana, except the glowing scars being a small hindrance in sleeping peacefully. Why is it so stigmatized? Maybe it is more superstition than real fear. ¡°And there is nothing you thought would happen?¡± ¡°Well nothing I always thought. It is called burn. I thought the scars would burn like fire, but they are not.¡± ¡°It is scar tissue, so you need to wrap them up in high sunshine. Otherwise nothing should be problematic. For the itching I can give you a salve to numb the place a bit. Use a small rag to put it on, as your Fingers will get numb if it soaks into them.¡± ¡°Thank you, my Lord!¡± Understanding the whole burn thing, it seems more like a over saturation of the Body. Nothing dangerous with too much as of yet. What it entails I do not know. Everyone has the small blue glowing scars on different parts of their body. While they are small right now they are growing longer like splitting the skin. A bit of fear is still there in them about it, but they are more thankful to be here, as they have shelter, food, teaching and even free time, as the farms grow rather fast and they are not obliged to use all the farm plot as they first feared. ¡­ I am now out with Robert, going back to Telk. He has volunteered to go with me as a familiar farmer to try to convince others to come with us. While at the same time with him, I can bring more supplies for the travel. He is the father of his one and only daughter, and lost everything else. Even the bandits ignored him, as they thought they already had everything he possessed. To be honest he is the most shrewd one, as he had a hidden cellar right below the stone in the fireplace, where his wife and him hid their beloved daughter. Not much food could be put inside with her, but is was enough for them to ration. A place, where the bandits would not find his daughter was the most precious offer he heard, so he came with us. The travel was slower than alone, as I had to stop multiple times to let him rest. Maybe I should try to rest my Avatars more, as I do not know if I work them to destruction right now. ¡­ Looking at Halk shows finally open entrances. It seems the curfew is over. While pondering if it would be a good idea to go inside, I should at least try to get new information and maybe see if the Peddler King inside this Town survived. ¡°Name and reason for visit?¡± ¡°Ava and this is Robert, was going through to sell my spoils at Kilt, but see the town is open now. Is the Peddler King still available?¡± ¡°Who would dare to mess with them? Yeah they are here. Two Copper for Entry.¡± ¡°One question, who owns the town now?¡± ¡°Blue Ice.¡± The caste of Blue Ice, huh? Not much I know about them. They are also a small fry caste and had maybe a Village to govern. Many castes are roaming or paying rent to higher castes to stay in their Cities. To get this town is their boon or crux, as it is the lowest grossing outpost for having the lowest part of the forest to explore. As Robert looks like a Farmer he is just ignored and seen as a baggage carrier. The best would be going to the Peddler King right away. But maybe we should do this tomorrow morning, to flee right away. The event last time makes me a bit more careful. ¡°We will first rest. Afterwards we go to the Peddler King and sell all our baggage and buy more Food quickly after. We need to go right away, when we have sold the Radishes and Rice.¡± ¡°As you wish, my Lord.¡± Nodding, I go through the streets. A slight bloody smell is still here, so there might been a few killings, but has abated right now. Going to rest in the Inn I leave Robert behind, and go to the Information Center. There is no real way he would flee, as his daughter is still inside our Lost Village, and would never leave her alone. The Farmers are tight knitted and help each other well. Everyone had suffered similar fates and now they are rather happy. That was the reason Belk has asked to send someone to get some of their acquaintances to maybe settle with them. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The only problem is the Mana burn. As they are still fearing some sort of horrible curse, they see my noting of the effects of Mana as medical treatments and are thankful for my experiments. Lucky for me, so I can keep them happy. ¡­ ¡°What do you wanna know and how much?¡± ¡°The obvious and the full silver. I want to be sure I am not in danger anymore.¡± ¡°Yeah, understandable. You can relax, the takeover is nearly complete. Let me get the copies.¡± Walking to the back he takes the already finished bundle and gets back. They make a killing right now. ¡°The basics are Blue Ice, Alton and the Crimson Skulls got into a fight. Alton was smart enough to save his strength and pulled out as he calculated the chances. Crimson Skulls are now a side Note in history, while their apprentices search for new Circles to join. The whole chaos was more incensed because of the stashes of the Green Flames. While Seldars stash was the most profitable the one from Beryl the Cursed Witch was paid of to become silent.¡± Bought silence. Unlike ¡®speaking is silver, silence is golden¡¯ being just a phrase in my original World, here it is fact. Albeit Silence is a big Gold, and often Information is put into sub categories. To pay to not tell anything about place, opening, dangers and loot would have definitely cost quite a lot. ¡°It took months to scour the whole city and to find every single secret, so right now they are counting their findings. The next aspect is the illegal happenings around the City. Bandits banded together to raze all the Farms from every valuable, right now some have died, vanished or currently starving. Blue Ice is trying to help, but do not give much of the food to the Farmers, as they would likely be changed to their own trusted Farmers early Spring. Some Farmers saw a poacher searching for the Farmers, and might be a Mage, as corpses of a group of bandits were found, mutilated in different ways. His or her alignment is unknown, but as Lightning magic was the cause of it, Letric was suspected until found out he and his group were relocated already to the western reaches, so other lightning oriented Castes are all suspect. A Rogue Mage would be possible, too. The Guards were informed not to interfere, as the less Farmers there are, the less will be have thrown out, so you have to be careful, as you will likely not get any backup from the Guards, when they see you fighting someone with lightning powers.¡± Good Information! I am seen in a positive way right now. I do not care about it for now, but could be good to have in the back of the mind. ¡°City Arcana was already sending an envoy to hurry up the takeover, as they got annoyed by the high banditry. As now the Guards search for the Bandits, but they smelled the danger and disbanded back into their smaller groupings, while some stayed together to form roaming bands of bandits, as they liked their feeling of power.¡± Can imagine. Have to be careful about that. ¡°You have to be careful on the streets for they are still not secure enough. But in a few weeks the Mages will go themselves to eradicate any Group, who is dumb enough to still be around here. That is all the News. Any questions?¡± ¡°There was need for healing Moss to create salves and bandages. Anything to do with the happenings here?¡± ¡°Yeah, Guards fought each other, as they thought the Green Fire would come back. Many got killed and the ones who were on the side of Blue Ice were treated right away in a rather generous way. Even Potions were given freely, so they had quickly the majority of the rough troop on their side. Beleken, the prior Guard Captain was killed as an example, while the other Guards on his side were exiled after treatment.¡± Keeping a good image by treating not only allies but the enemies. Rather clever. ¡°Something else to know?¡± ¡°Fungal outbreaks are at minimum, as it is Winter. Forest is rather quiet. Some Orphans vanished, but not as much as when the Cursed Witch was still here, so nothing particular. Kilt requested all Information about any knowings about the Lightning Mage, but their offering is way too low for Information about a Mage, so better not trying to find something, as the danger is too high for the paltry silver you get.¡± ¡°Noted. What about the Farms? What do the farmers now, that the help is sparse?¡± ¡°Huh, one minute.¡± Going back he searched the notes and finds something. ¡°Ah, here it is. Normally people do not care about that. They huddled together in the south to be in one place to get the food and be ready to get exiled. Bandits tried to attack them once, but were repelled by the guards after only a dozen Farmers deaths. Some Farmers had not been robbed, which seemed at first odd, but they were either accidentally overlooked or clever enough to play dead with whatever they had thought out in their heads.¡± So, some have their Family and valuables intact. Interesting to know. They even might have better tricks than Robert, who hid his daughter. It might be possible to recruit more Farmers with daughters and Wives, then they could reproduce¡­ No, not needed, as I want to not stay too many years here. ¡°Any happenings of the Mercenary camp, which was here?¡± ¡°You work me right to the bone for the Silver, eh? Well, no hard feelings were made about this small outpost. It was disbanded and the place is now a small camping ground for Mercs, who have no Money for an Inn, as it is now free but also not secure anymore. We will see how long it will stay, as it is winter, and after the first Mercenary froze to death and gets stripped to his underwear, it will vanish, like all the other tries before.¡± Well that is true. Albeit Mercenaries have a high solidarity, when someone dies they go over his belongings like vultures taking apart a carcass. At the end, there will be no one who would want to rest there in fear of natural or supernatural things, and just pay their Inn inside the cities. ¡­ Rested and with new vigor, Robert and I in Ava go to the Peddler King. As we go early the store is mostly empty. ¡°Welcome to the Peddler King. What can we do for you?¡± ¡°Wholesale some rare ingredients. Worth will be high.¡± ¡°I see. If that is the case, please come this way.¡± Bringing us into the private chamber I put the produce in front of the female clerk. Her hair was brown in a kind of bob cut. By seeing the produce first she has a disappointed anger in her eyes, before noticing them being rather different than she first thought. Testing them with a runic disk shows Mana and she studies the produce thoroughly. ¡°It is rather particular, and I can not directly say a price. I need to ask a specialist. Could you give me a minute to get him?¡± ¡°Before you go, I have to mention the last time I sold this produce I was hunted down by the hounds of Kindek. If you promise me no danger this time, I allow it, but otherwise I will go.¡± This made her stop for a second. She was rather perturbed, as this would be problematic if she just told something but still happens. ¡°I understand, so no direct member of the current towns caste. We have our own appraisal specialists, but will take a bit longer to call one over. Is this alright with you?¡± With a nod, she bows to me and I tell Robert to sit down. This will take a while, and we should relax for that time. Chapter 49 It took over an hour until the expert came. Rather miffed to be called so early into the job his gray beard looks slightly less groomed as he would like. ¡°So you called for a specific expert? Hope you do not waste my time.¡± Rather annoyed he walks over to the table and scrutinizes the produce. Noticing the higher than normal Mana inside he got serious and looks at it professionally. Different kind of instruments were used, showing his rather meager magical abilities but alchemical prowess. ¡°High purity Mana with strong interweaving of elemental water. Exceedingly rare find. This must have been grown in a pure Mana well with no disturbance over months at least. Where did you find it?¡± ¡°It was grown in the Field of a specific Lord, which Name would want to stay anonymous and would not even ring a bell if I said him.¡± ¡°Nonsense! If this is cultivated, it should be in a known Field with high Mana, and most will be used for precious herbs! This is produce, and not even worth that much.¡± ¡°Last time I got one large gold per Kilo. Do you say it is worth way less?¡± That shut him up for a second. ¡°Where did you sell it to?¡± ¡°Kilt. The expert was from Kindek and put their Mercenaries on my trail to rob me.¡± ¡°Over there? Yeah, that makes sense, they are looking for someone recently, might be you. I am Rendlar, Vice President of the branch in Halk. If you want to sell it, you might get that price for a unique species, but you just said it was not unique, as you already sold this kind of plant. I would still buy it for five Gold per Kilo of both root and rice and even make a contract with you.¡± Not what I hoped for, but it is logical. Uniqueness makes something valuable, but if it is just rare, it will drop in price. ¡°Eight Gold should be fine, and what about the contract?¡± ¡°Six Gold, as the contract will give you direct selling of this kind of produce right to us without appraisal and we will keep our mouths shut about your involvement, this means we will send it to Meldek directly and from there it will be sold to further hide your tracks.¡± ¡°Why would I want to keep my tracks hidden? Seven and five silver.¡± ¡°No, Six is fine, as you definitely do not want to be known, otherwise you would have told us openly where it came from, without hiding the true origin. We still have the risk of you sending us fakes or more we can handle. If we set it too high, you will break our budget.¡± ¡°What makes you think that.¡± ¡°You mentioned fields, not experimental garden. This is definitely a produce in large quantity¡­ right?¡± Damn, I got caught! ¡°...OK, six Gold. How much can you stomach?¡± ¡°A hundred Kilo per Month combined should be a start. The Magistrate does need many mana intense food products for their Mages to supply them, but this produce is not known for now. Also we need to show it to the Markets in other countries to see how they would like a high Mana food product. Anything else you would like to sell? We take this here serious now.¡± ¡°Not at the moment. But if we have something new, we will send it in a sample size.¡± ¡°This will be doable. If you do need anything more, we would like you to just ask and we waive the wholesale fee for the search. With whom do I have made a deal right now, dear Lord?¡± ¡°Why the sudden Lord? I am just the messenger.¡± ¡°No, you are the Lord, as no messenger would have the authority to just accept a deal like this without asking back.¡± Am I stupid? I did not even notice him wringing me out for Information! Vice President is a true merchant it seems. ¡°My Name is Lord Null. If I am incognito I go with the Name Ava for now.¡± ¡°Lord Null¡­ You are right, your Name is not known to me. I will still remember it. Please come to my office, we will make this official with a writ and give a special sign for directly bypassing the counter next time. By the way, this contract is only valid inside our branch. Albeit we are the same Franchise, all of us are working on their own highest revenue. If you ever go to our main branch you might tell them you are an acquaintance of Rendlar in Halk, it might help you to get to the right connection for a direct sell there, but otherwise other Peddler Kings will not know enough.¡± While we are walking to his office he told me the whole limitations and how I can at least sell in Meldek if needed. I did not know there is even infighting between branches. I thought it was more of a huge corporation holding the reigns tight. The ¡®contract¡¯ was just a small understanding for both of us to have the right to buy/sell my produce for the told money, if I sell them fakes like no magical versions, they will stop buying and if I think I do not need them anymore I can also just stop selling. It is more a verbal promise in that way, but held in faith for profit on both sides. Complicated contracts do not exist it seems, but they might stop buying if I do not regularly sell or they lose money. I get a piece of leather with the seal of the vice President seared in and the selling amount written down. Also it has a sign for a kind of VIP on it, telling assistants to directly bring them to a more tight lipped assistant. It will not hold all rumors from circulating, but will stop the knowledge of valuable transports happening from leaking to bandits. I appreciate that, and need to find a way to transport a hundred Kilos for the sixty large Gold next time. ¡°For now I can bring the first large batch in two weeks. I need some things in that time frame though.¡± ¡°And what would that be, Lord Null?¡± ¡°Various cloths, pots, pans, cups, bowls, cauldrons, farming equipment, Books to learn reading, processed leather, clothing in different sizes for Farmers, lamps and lamp oil, lots of bandages without healing moss and some with healing moss applied.¡± ¡°Are you building a town? No, I do not want to know. I would suggest some nails too and string will always be a necessity.¡± ¡°Alright those too. As we can not transport much at first it should not be over 200 kilos of traveling goods.¡± ¡°This should be no problem, I will see to give the most needed things in a starting Village most attention. Do not worry, Lord.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Well he is shrewd. Albeit I did not say it, he just suspects me of building a Village or Town. Well I do, but as he did not really ask, we have each other deniability if any of it gets leaked, as no one ever said something truly about it. The only thing is to remember to never trust a Merchant, as they always look for their own wallet first. Peddler King is mostly honest, but that does not mean anything in the hindsight of profit. ¡­ While hurrying up through the food shacks Robert and I buy as much food as we can carry and start our journey right inside the town. Some members of their distant families seem to live here and have other jobs. While talking to the people the whole ¡®family¡¯ part is no real help to convince them in coming with us to a not mentioned village. Trust is never high even between cousins, but a mason with his two daughters and Wife have agreed to come with us, as Blue Ice uses their own to renovate the Fort in the middle of the town and see the writings on the wall, that they might be pushed out later. We even explained the dangers, and that the place has some demerits, but not what kind of. The Parents were rather pushy in the way, that they want to go before they have to ¡®sell¡¯ their daughters. They do not want to give them away in wedding, as the ones who want them are rather old people with multiple wives already. Understanding their plight, I take them with me after they packed their belongings and we go out of town. ¡­ ¡°And you say, we will have work, food and shelter just by going with you? That is too good to be true, even a child would not fall for it!¡± ¡°There are problems with the Land, and going back would be for the time impossible, so take those as the catch.¡± ¡°That sounds way too dangerous.¡± The discussion between Robert and the Farmers is rather heated. As I already said, trust is hard to come by. ¡°And where should this place be?¡± ¡°My Lord, made me promise not to tell the full location for now, but it is further into the Forest.¡± ¡°The DARK Forest? Are you insane!¡± ¡°No, there is a hidden valley, where things can grow and is protected against most Monsters. Some snakes are there, but get culled by Sn¡­ the senior residents.¡± I would not believe him either. Maybe Robert was the wrong kind of person to take? ¡­ Five Families took our offer. They were more lucky with the raids, but lost some Sons by fighting back and all their livestock. Most had the common sense to hide their women and just gave them their food and belongings but would fight to the death if the Bandits go too far. Even if they have nothing of value, they at least have more than the last ones. Most of the Food was distributed to the Farmers, the Families who came with us got more, but the rest was given to the staying farmers as a little help for a better future. This helped at least to numb the voices to the families I took to reconsider this dangerous gamble, and they just wished them luck. Traveling with such a large group made it hard, and complains were heard of how deep we already are in the most scary place, they never really wanted to go. ¡­ In the night there were a few monsters lurking, but after seeing flying lightning blades they rather looked elsewhere for a meal. Right at that moment the complains were also silenced and no one even dared to look me in the eye again. Ava is not even a mage, but just using tools made them think of me as a kind of being higher above them in any way. While the people in Telk are worked to the bone, the awe and propaganda seems rather over the top. Well there is the freedom in what they want to do and the rather low slavery rate only seen in very few Mage castes. When we finally reach the tunnel most of them were exhausted, as we did the whole travel as fast as we could to minimize the danger. I do not understand why the danger is so low right now, but maybe it is because of the winter and the Monster going inward the Forest to keep warm? Maybe something else, but I can not put my finger on it. Coming inside fresh food for the frozen people was already started to be made, as I had told with Red of our return. Leafy was shocked to see me, as I was officially out, she did not know I could just pop back like that, but composed herself quickly to make the people start cooking some food and boil water. The heartfelt greeting was a nice touch for the families, and notice some familiar faces around. It took a while for them to bond and ask how they were doing. After the rest and relaxing atmosphere the whole shocking truth was revealed to the new residents. ¡­ ¡°We will be cursed too!?¡± ¡°I had known, there must be a horrible secret here. This is worse than I thought!¡± The people were rather incensed about hearing of the Mana burn, but are already here. Calming them down was not easy, as they felt right now like a prisoner in the middle of the most dangerous place they could imagine. ¡°Mana burn is not as bad, as it is told. As you see we have some glowing scars, but what of it? Just put some ointment on it and wrap it. Warts are more annoying.¡± ¡°We talk about a CURSE you fool! A wart is just some skin rash going bad, but that is corrupting the Soul!¡± Huh, they do not know what warts really are and the same about Mana burn¡­ or are they right and it messes with the Soul or spirit body? Maybe I should disassemble¡­ No, not yet, they would be wondering where one of their people just went and all will go to waste. ¡°There is no curse.¡± I interject. ¡°Mana burn is happening, when someone eats or drinks things with too much Mana inside. Have you seen someone eat just one thing the whole time and suddenly smell different or start having a strange kind of look on them?¡± ¡°Well, yes. Old barney ate nearly only his own onions for a long while. He never understood why we never got too near to him, as if he could not smell it. But that is different, Lord!¡± ¡°Not really. It just looks ghastly, but has no really bad effects. Look at the people. Do you see any other ominous thing? If they did not take the bandages off, you would not even see some kind of difference.¡± ¡°And what if not?¡± ¡°Have you ever seen someone with Mana burn? It is told in scary tales, but many tales you already know are just to make children stay away from things. This is the same. If you get Mana burn you have eaten something valuable for Mages, and they hate to know you wasted something.¡± That was a half lie. I suspect it is the reasoning for the scary stories about Mana burn, but I can not be sure. ¡°Then the things here are too valuable to eat Lord! What should we do?¡± ¡°For me they are not. Just eat the pickled and dried kinds, while putting water in container to make it less Mana intensive over time. You are now living here and have the right to be satiated.¡± That was met with confusion. They did not know they have a right to food. ¡°Here I do not want my Residents to be hungry. You can eat enough to not feel the pain of hunger, as long as you do not destroy our own food source. We need also some of the things to sell. Later we will put in order a tax, but right now we build this place up and it would be detrimental.¡± ¡°But¡­ The burns.¡± Still not convinced? ¡°Belk, do they hurt?¡± ¡°No, my Lord. Just itch from time to time.¡± ¡°Robert, have you any problems?¡± ¡°My hand is still working, even if there is this scar on it. Nothing to worry about, my Lord.¡± ¡°What about you Anna?¡± ¡°Me, my Lord!? Um¡­ There is this annoying itch, but otherwise it is nothing. I hate just, that my scar is on the back where I can barely reach to scratch.¡± A few giggles were heard, when I asked Roberts daughter. ¡°As you see, there is no burn. It itches maybe like some Wart, but we make our own salve to take care of it. Just wrap them up and when something worse happens, I will look for a solution.¡± ¡°Lord did look out for everyone of us. No one was turned away and he encourages us even to say if there is some discomfort. He had made the salve for the itching.¡± Well it was rather easy to make. We have some numbing weeds which use it in different ways to sneak seeds in fur or catch prey. Just diluting it makes it usable. ¡°We will not be able to go back for now, right Lord?¡± ¡°As I try to keep this place hidden from robbers and other Mages who want to take it for themselves, yes. You should know even if you do not have magical knowledge how precious this place is.¡± ¡°Yes Lord. Well we already made the deal. We will follow and live here.¡± They seem to abate for now. Hopefully they do not try to run. This would be problematic later on. Chapter 50 A new symptom has manifested. Their Blood is now black. Strange, but not ailing. Noticing it as someone had injured himself rather severely. The skin had a rather large laceration, so I needed to use some Potion to help the Farmer. Laceration has abated, but I asked everyone to come and let some blood to see if everyone had strangely colored blood. The result was the latecomers have blackish red blood, but the longer time visitors had all black blood. After the blood is fully black, the glowing scars should start. Many were unnerved hearing those things, but slowly calmed down as I asked what ailments they also have. Surprisingly everyone felt fine. Not only that they were energetically and have no other direct problem for now. Warts, rashes, even pimples or toothache are more or less gone. It should be the spirit form holding the physical body in an ideal state, where it can. Their fear abate with that but the farmers still feel a bit shaken. To hear they suddenly have black blood, has an ominous ring to it, so they need time. With the notion of having still nothing to fear, everyone goes to sleep, albeit a bit uneasy. ¡­ Finally a breakthrough has been found in creating synthetic Monster cores. The ingredient is blood! As the happening with the Farmers reminded me, Monsters have slightly purplish blood. Using this blood with Miasma did nothing, but with my chickens not being a Monster right now I found the solution. It has to be clean blood. Miasma reacts with blood and infuses it with their intent, but only if no other intent is already inside. When the blood first gets polluted, it creates extremely small crystals which coagulate into a core. This core is now infused with my taken over Miasma. As I can not put my taken over Miasma directly into the body as it loses my Presence, it has to be put in after the creation of the crystal. Slaughtering a Chicken and giving its blood Miasma, which align at most with them I create a core from it in a jar. The next thing is putting it in the chicken sedated right now. Cutting carefully where the feathers have been plucked I see the internal organs. A bit Potion is put on side to close the incision later on. The heart is visible and next to it deeper inside the spine. With careful precision I put the core inside. ¡­ What a disaster and success at the same time. The fusion of the chicken and the core was more successful as I would have imagined. Right after putting it in, it literally fused with the chicken and even closed the wound. Then it woke up and went on a rampage. The sedation was gone and it started to scream and attack anything and everything. I needed to put it in my Realm right away, as the shouts were so loud it sounded like I slaughter thousands of chickens at once. Inside the Realm the next problem showed itself. It needed Biomass. The body changed in a rather extreme way and needed so much mass to become a true Monster. When Mana and Biomass was given it started to go comatose for the time it did not need more, when it was used up it started to rampage again. Putting more and more mass on, I really thought it would never stop growing. Now I have a two and a half meter chicken with scales on the bottom of its body inside my Realm. The talons are very sharp and it even has teeth in its beak. Some old Genes must have been activated. This thing seems aggressive but hears my commands and does follow them. I can now create Monster. With enough of them I should be able to automate the miasmic cleansing. The only problem is, a two and a half Meter giant Chicken is very noticeable. I need a better place for my creations. ¡­ Two weeks had passed. Right now I start two projects. One is a fort or castle in the middle of the Crater. The other is bringing the hundred Kilo of radishes and rice to Rendlar. I also need more Potions, Animals and different kind of Materials. With the synthetic cores I will be able to create large pastures full of them for a way faster Mana production. Taken with me I have Robert, Belk and two of the Youths with me. I can not really trust all the new Members of my Farmers right now, as they might try to flee, therefore I keep the more trusting people with me on this trip. A hundred Kilo between us is not that much, especially as they are more fit the more Mana burn they have. The scars got bigger, but they start to ignore the whole thing now. Some use them at night as light, hopefully we have enough lamp oil for all of the households after this travel. ¡­ ¡°Name and reason?¡± As lazy as ever¡­ ¡°Ava, Mercenary, selling stuff. Those are my haulers.¡± ¡°Five copper and go.¡± Yeah, it is easy to get inside without even being asked what we are hauling. Well for the better, as when the whole World starts to know, what we have, it will be more problematic. ¡­ ¡°Potions is it? Well we have some in storage. How many would you like?¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°If possible a dozen. If something happens, it will be better to safe a life than dig a grave.¡± Hearing my words, the Farmers are moved. Well it is partially true, as I need them for more experiments. I have some ideas I need to test, so it is a necessity to be fully stocked. ¡°The twelve Potions should be strong?¡± ¡°Yes, they can have high Mana, I don¡¯t care.¡± ¡°As if high Mana Potions for healing are that common¡­ We have quality potions, which can be used for even reattachment, they are rather expensive however. One gold for each.¡± ¡°No worries. We have Money.¡± With the slip in the hand I go with the Farmers through the streets eating an evening meal. Tomorrow we get our Items and trod through the snow back home. Oh, the snow is getting rather deep right now, but nothing the farmers care about. They are fit as an ox it seems. ... ¡°Lord, the food tastes somehow bland.¡± Huh? Something wrong with the food? ¡°Now, that you mention it, my food is bland too brother.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Ah, sorry my Lord. The Youth just talk before thinking. Do not worry.¡± ¡°I am not angry, I just want to know what they mean.¡± ¡°Lord¡­ The food in the Crater has more flavor than this one. Even raw it tastes better than this apparently spicy soup.¡± Huh, this might be another side effect. Things without Mana tastes now bland? Interesting. Is it just taste or does it work like a drug? We will see. ¡°Relax, we are back the day after tomorrow. Then we have a few chickens to eat. Maybe a Monster too.¡± ¡°Lord, Monster are not really edible. Their poison will be making us cramp up.¡± ¡°It is my thinking, that the Miasma inside would do that, but you have so much Mana inside, it might be possible for you to eat some of it without cramps. Mages do eat Monsters, too. There should be a correlation.¡± ¡°Well, I would like to try.¡± ¡°...Youths.¡± With that sigh from Robert, everyone on the Table starts laughing. Nothing wrong with a bit fun at work. We have spare time and now we need to sleep as I need to go to the Orphanage early in the morning. ¡­ ¡°We are very thankful for this generous donation, but what do you want from our children?¡± ¡°Well I need them for a job¡­ No, nothing suspicious or dangerous. They shall search something for me, and no I do not mean stealing. I want Insects and Rodents.¡± ¡°Insects? Rodents? What for?¡± ¡°To be honest, I do not know much about what that old coot makes, but he writes everything over Animals. So I just need them to search for the bugs and small animals around who capture the warmth of this House to bring them for his documentation.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ You have a kind of Mage as friend?¡± ¡°Not really Mage, he is a writer and looks for all common animals found in different regions. Now he wants to write of all things about things living with us in the Towns.¡± ¡°...your Friend is rather strange, is he not?¡± ¡°Yeah, he is really strange, but it is his passion. What do I have to say about his things he wants to study?¡± My plan is to capture as many Insects here as I can find. With them I should be able to breed them hopefully. With them as materials I can start small with Monster creation. The Kids were extremely motivated, when they heard, they would get one copper for each uninjured small animal they brought. And I was overwhelmed with what they brought. Who would have thought there were even some shivering kittens and a mangy puppy with them. Those will come in handy. Even two Birds were brought, sadly different species and I have the notion those were stolen from someones cage. My many jars were not enough for all of them, so I had to chose the most valuable ones. Spiders, Roaches, kittens, puppy, Birds, mice, rats and even some earthworms of different kinds. All got put into my backpack and stored. This will be a great way to experiment on so many things. Going back the Farmers did their job and got all the necessities ordered earlier with the slip including the Potions. While feeding the different animals I now possess we go to sleep early as we want to rise before sunrise. ¡­ The travel back was uneventful but slow, as we were all overburdened. Although the Farmers were enthusiastic, as nearly all Items were bought for them and will be shared between them, their Mana powered strength was not enough. We rest right now for a bit and start our tour right after a small lunch. With filled stomachs they were back on track and we reached our destiny even before the sun has vanished behind the horizon. ¡°Welcome back Lord.¡± ¡°Welcome back! I missed you.¡± Snow has started to use ¡®I¡¯ in her sentences. She seems to start getting smarter by the day. It is great to see her grow up so fast. ¡°I missed you too. Sorry for not playing with you, but I was busy with some overenthusiastic children on the other side.¡± Scratching her head makes her relax and I start ordering the unpacking of the new tools. We have now lamps and lamp oil. The oil itself should be able to be made with animal fat, right? I should take some of it apart, maybe I can give a steady stream of oil for use. Chapter 51 The experiments run smoothly. Not every blood can be used by every Miasma it seems, but otherwise there are limitless possibilities to create Monsters. Grasswalker transformed into a crystal being and grown wings. Well ¡®wings¡¯ is the wrong word. They are sharp crystalline blades. By charging their Miasma inside of them they can propel themselves close to the speed of sound. The Miasma itself has a strange intention. Kinetic and light, might be some kind of homing magic or maybe some archer skill for sure hit? Hard to read the remnants if you do not know the original spell. While building my fort some more specimen got slowly bled to create synthetic Cores. The hard part is the small insects and spiders, as their body is rather small and they do not have much of blood. The most interesting Monster right now is the Earthworms. They got bigger and can devour rock and stone as if it is clay. The earth shaping Miasma seems to be similar as that Eldar Mage from before, so it is now a rock burrowing kind of Worm with the length of one meter. Interestingly all the Monsters do not need much to eat. They get their nutrition from Miasma and the created Mana. Those Monsters are kind of different than natural born ones. Especially the extreme need for sustenance in their transformation. Luckily I found out how to slow the transformation down, with just keeping the core smaller. The time is longer, but the stress on the creatures is lesser. And I do not need too much Blood for the core, so win/win. In different vats lie different kind of animals slowly transforming into monsters. Some need more Biomass, some more Miasma. There is rarely a correlation between different species, so I have to write down every single experiment and their creations. By the way I named the Grasswalker Monster now Bladehopper and the Earthworms just Burrowers, as I have no way to know if some similar creatures even exist. ¡­ The Building of the fort is progressing well. While I was at it I create a Moat in front of it. As I already dig deep into the Earth I can just make a crevice deep into it. Right now it is not deeper than fifty meters, as the presence is extremely hard to work against for now. The crevice is filled with some water and deadly Miasma of the crater. If someone falls in, he is dead in seconds. As the newly forming Portal is right in the middle of the moat I decided to create a bridge over it in form of a Ring. Two bending bridges on each side and a hole in the middle. As it is invisible for the naked eye (for now) it should just look like a strange quirk. But it has a reason. The Portal pulls Miasma in from below and above. Why not from all sides, I can not tell, but it helps me to keep it contained and able to feed its creation I watch eagerly. The walls behind the moat grow steadily and keep eyes away as well the screams of the Monster mostly contained. I can tell them what to do, but they are¡­ dumb as a bag of rocks and sometimes even forget their orders. Some Bladehopper were eaten by the Cockatrice, I named the chicken after, albeit forbidding it. Well they have retaliated for they are not as tame as their non monster brethren, and had shed an abundance of feathers, scales and purplish red blood. The Cockatrice will need a garden, as it eats plants and insects the same. Bladehopper and Burrower need the same. They already breed and seem to create monster I can also feel, which is a good sign. The Spiders have not taken to the change and the Birds are right now in the bath slowly transforming. I hope to see what they become as they used some curious Miasma to create their cores with. ¡­ ¡°And the bread is still fresh?¡± ¡°Yes, Lord. It is as if it does not want to go bad. It is most curious.¡± The Farmer had started their own testing with the land and crops. The wheat like crop was after only a Month ready for harvest and the next one is already growing. Milling with the hand is horribly tedious, but they do not care for now and tried their own bread. Normally the Bread goes bad after three days, but it has been a week and it is still soft. ¡°This is good, but still be careful with it. If you see some small places, where felt grows and has a different color, do not eat it. Bring it to me so I can see how dangerous those might be.¡± Still it is pretty nice to see, they can make bread with just those few ingredients. Well true, it is a flatbread, but still it is impressive for me to make it soft with their techniques. The Wheat has much Mana in it, the water too as well as the wood they use to bake, so it might be that. But if a Mana eating Mold starts to come by, it might become dangerous. This reminds me, single cell organisms can not hold Mana¡­ Dead creatures have living cells but no spiritual body anymore, can it be a connection of some sort, where only organisms of a particular size can be magical¡­ ¡­ OK, fusion of my synthetic Monsters is a disaster. The first try was promising as the spirit and the body both were under my control, but the result was a bomb. The Monster pulled Miasma and Biomass in, until critical mass was reached and¡­ boom! The whole body just burst into every direction. The vat was broken and much of the liquid biomass was flowing around. The other Monster just hid out of fear, but when it was all over they came and licked the floor for more biomass. Strangely they can sustain themselves for long with Miasma but need food for reproduction. Seems like there needs to be at least some Matter to create a fertile egg. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. I need more specimen to experiment with. Maybe some humans, but I do not want to take them from my workforce. ¡­ The greenhouse is coming along. It is on the west side right behind the wall. What I created is a glass wall with many different plants growing in the perimeter. It has no ceiling, and I do not know if I should seal it up, but right now everything inside grows wild and is seeded randomly. I even induced a bit of growth Miasma, which changes the plants eerily. The rest of the Miasma I put inside is the one which the Monster I created need. For now it should be a great place for nesting and breeding. With this they should keep their population stable, hopefully. I need to remind them to not kill each other into genocide, am I? Well for now they will be my Mana filter for those kind of Miasma. Right now I create a kind of Castle. Not a big one right now, but as I knit the space to make the rock stay where they are, it will be able to become some ridiculous structures, if I want to. ¡­ I knew this day would come, but hoped it would be way further in the future. Ava got Mana burn. The blood starts to go black and Mana presses through the pores to reduce the over saturation. First I disassembled him right away. The Spirit holds way more Mana than before. The direct problem seems to be, it is stagnant. Nothing moves and with this the Body fights against that much Mana and just removes the overflow. How to fix this¡­ ejecting it into runic circles halts only the symptoms, but not the spread. It seems not a real sickness, just a reaction to an overstimulation of the spiritual body. The Mana gets ejected and at the same time used up to keep the body in mostly ideal shape. I already tried my best to create a human core with blood, but nothing. Humans can not create cores. At least not in that way. Giving Ava a core would be a bad Idea, as it could kill him if the core and the blood not match. Dang it! ¡­ The experiment I right now work on is extremely dangerous. It could destroy Ava, but that is a needed sacrifice. Worst comes to worse I need to take a Farmer and create a new liking from him. It would need a few Months until size and facial bones are set right, but should easily be done. What I am doing right now is what I did not want to try in the first place. I start to move the strings holding Avas Spirit together. To stabilize it Ava is in physical form. On the table, he is held with clamps and chains to not accidentally move, as I have no idea what I am really doing. Slowly I move some strings in ways how Reds Spirit moves, and I get resistance against it. Slowly heightening the strength of will, the channel slowly moves and Ava is convulsing. I just move a small portion in his left Arm and the whole body is thrashing without me even in it. While watching the Mana move a bit, his muscles rip and the skin blisters. This can not go on like that. I put him in cold biomass. In that soup he should have the possibility to regenerate easier with my help. ¡­ The process is slow and I need to reassemble some parts of him over and over. It is like I need to remake him again and again. All his nerves get burned repeatedly, this would be a horrible pain and I need to go slow for his heart to not stop accidentally. At least I start to understand what I am doing wrong. The strings are connected to each other and need to flow at the same time. The problem is, if I start all of them he would just break apart without any way to rescue him. Slowly the threads get easier to move and the body reacts less bad to it. But for all them to get loose enough to be moved at the same time, it would take some time. This could only be described as torture, if Ava would have still some consciousness left. Definitely impossible to use on normal humans. The flesh melting and regenerating has a reasonable background. The whole body rewires itself to be able to let Mana flow directly through the body not only storing it. If the human body is not made for working Mana, then why are there Mages? It is like the Human is totally cut off from Magic. Then why was I as a Hero be able to use it and why can so many people still use it? Something is not right with all this. ¡­ One Week. I pulled on all the strings one week for it to finally work. The flow is still worked by me, but starts to find its own rhythm. The worst thing right now is the state of the living body. I even inserted the fake core Artifact of Beryl to hold him together. Some parts melt while others get regrown. If I would not focus on holding the body in one piece he would be Ava soup right now. The good thing is, the body stabilizes slowly and holds form longer over time. I hope it is ready in the next week as then I have to deliver more produce, and I do not want to go with Red. By the way, Petal came Yesterday. Right now the two Friends were talking, and Petal was in awe seeing Red for the first time. I have no other choice. I could not go there with a barely holding together body which is always melting and reforming. I would not even move an inch, as he needs to be in the liquid to have enough materials for repair while I recycle his discarded parts for the next ingestion. ¡­ Finally Ava is back! Snow was grumpy all week for me to be so focused on holding him together, but now he can walk again. His nerves are too oversensitive right now and his skin needs to harden back to be in a better state, but right now I can walk again in a human Body. ¡°Lord Null, this body seems to be somehow different than before. What happened?¡± Leafy is inquisitive as always. Maybe a bit nosy, but that is how she is. At least she does not hide in her gazebo anymore. ¡°Ava was having Mana burn. I had to do drastic measures, so he does not go into advanced stages of it.¡± She looks surprised. Well it was a new Information she did not know before. ¡°You have found a cure for Mana burn? This would be great for the ailing Farmers.¡± ¡°Sadly no. To make him resistant to Mana burn I had to work on his body in a way I can not do to other humans. I had to reassemble Ava over and ov¡­¡± ¡°Ah! That is a shame. Better not talking about it near the Farmers. Let us change the topic, you need to go again to the town in three days, no?¡± Leafy got a bit clammy. Don¡¯t know what in her head is going on, but if she wants to change the topic, then we change it. ¡°Yes, I will go with the same Team. Do you need something from the Town?¡± ¡°Um¡­ Not really, but it would be a good Idea to not hoard too much Money, would you not think Lord?¡± Well, money that is not flowing makes the whole commerce bad. She has a point, but I do not need anything right now. I just hold the possibility open for later as I do not know if I need some kind of artifact or material¡­ wait, materials would be a good Idea. ¡°Yeah, you are right Leafy. I just got a great Idea of what I need. Maybe I can purchase some of it.¡± ¡°That is nice, Lord.¡± Leafy smiles and goes right to making me a tea. Well I had not eaten for a long time with Ava. Would be nice to have something warm in the stomach. I hope the tongue is not atrophied. Chapter 52 ¡°This is a rather large request dear Customer. Such metals are not easy to come by.¡± ¡°That is why I ask the Peddler King. Who else would be able to get something inside the Magistrate but your Shops?¡± Right now I sold all my Vegetables and using all the Money I got for it for purchasing magical Metals. All the rare and usable Metals which work in mysterious ways. I totally forgot about them until Leafy remembered me of the need of such things. ¡°We can reserve ingots or scrap metal of that kind if you want, but when we will have them in stock will be questionable.¡± The Clerk with the fine mustache explains to me. Well I do not want them right now, but it would be later I get them. ¡°That is no problem. We will be back in a Month and afterwards I would like you to have the things ready. My direct Budget is right now sixty large Gold as down payment and later I bring another batch for another sixty large Gold. This should help with purchasing some different things, right?¡± ¡°Well yes. I understand, this will be a large purchase, so the transaction fee¡­¡± ¡°Is waived. Did you not see my signature on the sign you imbecile?¡± Ah Rendlar came right in time. I would have asked anyway why I suddenly need to pay a fee. ¡°Hello Rendlar. Everything fine with my produce?¡± ¡°Vice President!¡± Standing straight the Clerk is rather shaken to see him. Well I remember he likes to sleep in, but right now it is evening, which means he should at least be here then. ¡°Yes, the radishes and that rice makes quite a commotion right now. Some cooks might be in despair to think of a meal from the cattle feed right now for Mages to dine on.¡± Laughing at his own joke I remember. Rice is poor mans food and mostly used for cattle otherwise. Well It just needs water and a bit of nourishment to grow, so I can see how they think about it like that. ¡°I have brought some Wheat also. It is just a testing sample as I told you. Potatoes are also here.¡± ¡°Yes, it seems you are crazy enough to grow everything in your magical Farms. If others know you do not grow essential herbs, they will try to kill you with their thoughts.¡± ¡°For the herbs to grow there needs to be a phenomenon near it to grow. I just have Mana.¡± Some high quality herbs only grow where something strange is happening. Miasma is normally just chaotic, but sometimes they create dangerous areas with strange attributes. Or at least that is what Mercenaries know about rare herbs. If someone found one it would be worth up to a Mithril. Mithril is the one above large Gold, and is in the hundreds afterwards, meaning 100 large Gold equal a Mithril. I only know about Mithril as the legendary Coin. No low Mercenary even knows about what is upwards that, just that there are always hundred steps, for everyone who handles those coins can count without using their fingers for it. ¡°Still, they would want to take your Land. That is the reason I came, by the way. The Information Center is hunting for every Information to the source of the plants. Right now they have no lead, as it could come from anywhere, as Malek has three and a half borders near it and is not telling anyone anything.¡± Malek the silent City. Well it counts to be profitable in multiple countries which could fight against each other any time to be the most closed lipped City. Rumors say the black market is bigger than the open market, but I do not know anything. Ava never had any connections in that city. It was a City of Ilstin prior, but was attacked by Ulk and ¡®liberated¡¯ by Telk afterwards. Let¡¯s stop with history. I never liked it in school either. ¡°So I am in danger.¡± ¡°Not yet. The President above me is a smart woman, who just keeps everything about this under the covers, as she rather likes the steady stream of Money it makes. Maleks Merchants are all silent too, as the boom makes them famous and they would not know if the next owner of the land would sell them even the dirt under their fingernails afterwards. The integrity holds for now.¡± ¡°Sounds like a good reason for me to reinforce my walls.¡± ¡°Please do not speak about your land in any way, so I have deniability. It would just make everything complicated.¡± ¡®I buy anything you bring, but do not drag me down with you¡¯ kind of thinking, huh? Well he is a merchant, so it is logical. ¡­ While I would like to buy Animals, there are none anymore. Suddenly the Mercenaries notice what happens, if you do not help the local Farmers in defending their plots. The Food is getting more bland the colder it gets. Stocks got bought with high prices and maybe later all of the food shacks will have only moldy ingredients. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. It is sad, but they are just reaping what they sowed. Rations get pricier, food gets worse and happiness lowers even further. As food is bland for all of us anyway, we have our own rations made out of high Mana ingredients. I must say, it is the first time eating the vegetables and they are nice. Their flavor is impressive and at the same time it is filling. No wonder the farmers said the food is better in our Village. Albeit the Animals have also high Mana, they are no Monsters as of now. At least the ones still in the Village. Getting home will be the first experiment with Monster produce. ¡­ ¡°That¡­ is an Egg, Lord?¡± Leafy is wondering about this thing in the kitchen. It is the third Egg of the Cockatrice. They get really angry if you want to take their eggs, but abate with laying unfertilized eggs for food. I am impressed, they are able to create eggs even without them being fertilized, but seems to be a possibility for them. They even know when there is life in them and when not. ¡°A Monster Egg. As Ava is now able to eat magical produce I thought of testing out, if those are edible.¡± ¡°But it looks really strange. What Monster did lay this Egg, Lord?¡± ¡°Ah, it was from a Nest I came upon. Do not worry about it.¡± ¡°This does not lessen my worry, Lord.¡± The Egg is huge. I would say about forty centimeter in height on the longest side. The Shell is bumpy and made out of separate black calcine plates looking a bit like scales, held together by a thick, green, leathery substance between them. I can do nothing against their ominous look, but can say it should be able to be boiled. ¡°You just boil such a big egg in a cauldron, like it is nothing Lord. What about the Parents? They might rampage.¡± ¡°No, they are rather chill, as this one is not fertilized.¡± ¡°And how do you know that, Lord?¡± ¡°...I just know, alright? It is better to not ask too much, as this is more of the kind of thing, I want to not talk about.¡± ¡°I, I am sorry. I forgot my standing.¡± sigh ¡°It is alright Leafy, but the facts about these Monsters is not yet explainable to you. When I have more Information and am able to tell you about it, I will. Just not now.¡± ¡°Yes Lord.¡± That was the wrong move it seems. She has gone back to her subservient side. I really thought we were on better terms, but I still forget she distances herself from everyone of us and differentiates between us and her. Nothing I can do, as long as we have no way to bridge that gap. Maybe I should just let her go back to the Forest. She might not even be happy here. ¡­ Two hours later the egg is cooked. Right now I have it put into cold water to eradicate the heat out of the shell, so I can start peeling it. Waiting next door are four guests. Belk, the two Farmer boys who would like to taste test a Monster and Snow. Belk is a bit hesitant about trying to eat something from a Monster, but came anyways, as I asked and maybe would thought it rude to not come to this invitation. Snow loves to eat Snakes, so I have no worry about her getting sick. Ava will also eat, as he is the only Creature close to a human Mage. Leafy would never eat any animal products, but does not judge others, so that is at least nice. Peeling the egg was easier than I thought. The leathery seams can be cut with a sharp knife and after the first scales dropped away the red egg white was seen. What a strange color for the egg. What will be the yolk? Blue? Purple? Rainbow? Putting the Egg which might weigh around half a dozen Kilo onto the platter I carry it out. The red blob is rather bendable and lies down like a giant pudding. Looking at me bringing the Food to the table everyone stands up. Snow did not understand but stood up a second afterwards. You do not have to be so formal you all. ¡°Don¡¯t be so formal. The food is an experiment of myself, so I want to know if it is edible. Potions and antidotes are at the ready. If it is edible, we might have more variety for everyone in the Village.¡± ¡°Yes, my Lord!¡± Belk I just said¡­ Whatever. Setting it down I take a knife and start cutting some pieces of it. The first cuts show only the red for now, as I want to test this first. The yolk will be cut open later, as I want to see the different textures separate before combining them. ¡°Hot!¡± Well I cooled it down, but not to the core. Obviously it is hot Snow. Tasting it myself I find it rather flavorful. A strong spicy start going over into a rather mellow taste. If the consistency would not be like that of a chicken egg I would even say it is beef. Slightly spicy seasoned beef, but still needs salt. Luckily I had some and gave it around the table to make the taste ideal. After the sample I ask around and got all positive reviews. Snow just had her third helping, as I was sure she would be okay, if she can stomach acid spitting Snakes. Finally I was cutting it in half and the yolk shows its color. Yellow. Somehow a bit disappointing but in the red shell it is rather fitting somehow. Taking some of the Yolk to everyone the first thing was, it was rather solid. It was more like old cheese that has aged a few years, as it was dry and somewhat brittle. The taste was strong. Way stronger than I anticipated and many thought the same. Not that is was horrible, but overwhelmingly intense. Everyone needed a glass of water right afterwards, but made me wonder. The third experiment was the ones together and with the mix of spicy and intensity, the mellow aftertaste gave off the right flavor to end it. So it can not be eaten alone but together for the best dining experience. Otherwise the Yolk can be used to make soups have more flavor, so a kind of spice. All the participants have to tell me how they find the food while I was writing down the thoughts. The real reason they are still here are for checking if there is any discomfort or poisonous effect. Looking into Avas digestive system I see no anomaly and no strange happenings around his body. The most effect I see is the high Mana activity. ¡°This would be great for my Wife and Kids. It tastes fantastic and fills me up with only this much. The only thing is right now the Scar on my stomach itches like crazy.¡± ¡°Mine too.¡± The third nods to the explanation. ¡°I understand. This seems to be as the Egg has a bit too much Mana. Right now it aggravates the scar by pulling it out of your body. Any other discomfort?¡± ¡°No discomfort, my Lord.¡± ¡°Rather the opposite, I feel great. Like I did not had to haul all the dirt the last few hours.¡± Huh, rejuvenating, or maybe just relaxing the muscles. It is nice to know there are such effects. Maybe I can sell it later in Halk. Chapter 53 The Greenhouse is coming along. Over a small area all the plants run wild and between the Monster there is no problem. They eat each other, but just hold the balance for now. Cockatrice eat sometimes Burrower and sometimes Bladehopper, but stay in their own lanes mostly, as each of them can really hurt a Cockatrice, if they are in Numbers. For now five Cockatrice, around 20 Bladehopper and a dozen Burrower work together in that small jungle to make their homes. By flooding the place with their favorite Miasma I notice changes in the foliage. The Plants seem to adapt to their surrounding Miasma and make a nice jungle, but why now and not earlier by the tests? The reason I come up with just solidifies my thinking of me being dumb. The Miasma is a combination of different kinds of Miasma. While Monsters evolve by getting one kind, Plants might not care about that rule. I am a total idiot to believe everything has the same way to change. Why am I this blind, when it comes to such simple solutions? ¡­ Right now I have dug a sizable dungeon under the ground and am working on an experiment chamber. To put it mildly it looks extremely like a dungeon, as I have created cells, chains and separate rooms with the vats for holding nutritious fluids. Everything gets hardened and dimensional locked in place. Remembering the nice trick of the statues makes the building extremely stable and strong. The whole area are leveled into three floors below the ground level. The lowest is the holding cells for¡­ noisy creatures, so it does not travel too far, while I test things. The middle section is holding cells with a moderate comfort and lesser chains. Bigger experimental rooms were calculated as there might be extensive workings later. The upper part is a simple jail. Nothing much to see, just that the cells are rather neatly aligned and have in some of them hidden doors for taking someone to the lower levels via tunnel, as I think it better to not be openly visible, that there are some more nefariously chambers below. The main entrance to the lower levels are in a Storage room right before the guard post of the upper jails. Keeping appearance. Why that convoluted system? Just because I want to. As a child I was enamored with secret doors and hidden passages, why not living it through my creation of my place of work? Sounds fun and I can always just go through the walls with my Portal, if needed. ¡­ The Foyer is finished. I can¡¯t believe how many bricks I made. I never stopped with them and just let them run. Now I can plaster all of it down right away without any semblance of waste. So much rock was harvested by the sewers, cisterns, tunnels, crevice and now the giant Dungeon, I have no problem to create a giant welcoming chamber. To the Left of the Chamber entrance is a small two Story barracks for resting guards and soldiers, albeit I do not have any. On the right is the guard post for the entrance in preparation to hold the main door if attacked. I even made some weapons, albeit crappy ones as decoration for it. The beds in the barracks are also just wooden and have nothing resembling comfort. Fabrics and bedding is still rare, so maybe later. The entrance are three doors. Two to each side to enter the Barracks and guard post and the huge middle one which goes right into the foyer. As it is quite a bit away from the Wall as on the left is the Greenhouse I might make a Fountain in the middle of the way. Just for flexing, but that will come later. The Foyer is huge, as the ceiling is six meters up and the place could be used as a small ballroom, but I will make a ballroom later. This is just the foyer to bring a bit of awe into the people. I found a way to create infused candles with Miasma. They just pull Mana and burn forever. Nice way to light the place, albeit the flames are blue, and have a cold feeling with that light. It can be changed by using my Presence into warmer light, by adding special flame Miasma, but needs attention, so if not for special occasions it stays cold. ¡­ I can not believe how efficient I got. This whole build of three floors down and the audience hall took me two weeks. Just two weeks to create this place, and right now the Farmers start to prepare for the new Year festival next Month. I even suggested to Belk to have the festivals in my Foyer, but he declined, as this would be too much grace. Later I found out they are a bit scared by how fast I build while I am not even being near the place where it got build. Well true, Ava is not there on the workplace, but I am getting better at multitasking. I still can not control two bodies at the same time, but can be working on Crater things while walking with a body somewhere else. In this World a new Year is at the beginning of Spring. Way more logical in my opinion. The people say goodbye to the last year decaying away while welcoming the new year getting born. Sounds somehow like Easter. Well no eggs, bunnies or some carpenter nailed to a piece of Wood, so maybe not really like it. The whole festival will be held in the Mansion. My experimental equipment is already moved and has so much room, so why not. At first they wanted to do it at the house of Belk, but that house is way too small and I was adamant to let them at least use the Mansion, as I work right now at a way bigger house and this will become later the main building for festivities anyway. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. This shows how I need a Mayor for this little Village, so he can organize everything and calculate the full amount of taxes later. The whole thing is still too complicated for poor Belk. ¡­ Petal is back, but has some interesting news for me. Search teams roaming the imaginary border. Some brave ones already have gone further, but ran right away, when one of their furthest scouts were found bursting into a tree. People never learn it seems. Right now the places that get searched are on the lower east side where Meldek seems to be. Maybe they search for some kind of treasure? They should be more adept at killing the Monster, as they start to multiply from what I have heard of Petal. Stampedes might happen in the future. Well that can mean a wide area of time for a race stretching millennia in their lifetime. They just told me, as it is near some places they start to clean with my Mana dew. Smalltalk is always nice to understand the World around you. ¡­ ¡°And the Castle you are right now creating is needed why?¡± Petal is inquiring of the big building far behind the Fields. Nothing I really need to keep secret. ¡°I just want to look into things before going back to where I came from. For this I need a place to work on things to be prepared. All the while I search for Portal magic to see if I can make the travel easier.¡± Well, to make it possible at all, as I am not from this World, but Petal does not need to know that. ¡°And when do you think you will go back?¡± She seems eager to know that. Well if I am gone, Leafy will go back to the Forest obviously, so she has her best friend back. ¡°This will take time. I would love to go back the earliest I can, but before ten Years might be impossible, without finding some things. Fifty to a hundred years at worst, but I still hope to be back before they forgot me, as I want to meet all the people I really miss.¡± I want to be back smiling at them, even if they might not smile. ¡°Then it is for a short while longer. And you will remove the danger from the Crater when you leave, right?¡± To be honest I first did not want to take it with me, but might be a fun tool to see the other World burn. ¡°Taking it, destroying it, whatever I can do, I will do it. It might be the key for my travel back.¡± ¡°I still do not understand, why you not go there with your own feet, but it seems far away. As you are so beneficial to the Forest we Root will be helping you on your search. What do you need?¡± This is nice. Never thought about it but¡­ ¡°To be honest I need to find ancient ruins or places where people traveled far distances. Maybe even to different Worlds, as this might have the Magic I am searching for.¡± ¡°World travel? That is really far. You are from a different World?¡± Oh, shi¡­ ¡°Kinda, I do not know directly, as I was accidentally teleported here and the place looks so different. I might be put here, because of the thing brewing below the earth. Might be fate.¡± Fate my arse. I came here, because it was the only rift I could go into. But telling them that might give me a better disposition for the Populace. ¡°Yes, this might be so. Mighty beings might get summoned by the World, if it is at risk. Some Gods and Goddesses have done that in legends, too.¡± Wait, HOLD ON! There are legends of Summoning Heroes? If there are, then there should be Rituals written down. I need that! ¡°Oh? Never thought such legends are believed. Do you have some anecdotes or which countries might have some Fables about that? Could help finding an old gate back to where I came from.¡± Keep it cool, not too nervous, just ask casually, do not let her see you needing those things. ¡°I remember some Fairytales about a Kingdom, which needed a champion and made a plea to their gods to send someone.¡± No, please no god again. Those bastards are complicated. ¡°As he took pity their Gods gave them the way to call for their Champion, but it had cost them so much, as their fertile Land got barren and their mages lost all their strengths.¡± Yes! Right, that means it uses a massive amount of Mana, but that is not the problem. I have enough Mana for a whole Kingdom anyway. ¡°The Kingdom won against their enemy, but only slowly crawled back to their position in the World. Then the Starfall happened and it got eradicated.¡± NO! Why is this Legend that old? Dang super old Creatures! Maybe Ruins are still intact somewhere? ¡°Sad story. Where was that Kingdom, and what was the morale of this story?¡± ¡°Ah, the Moral was that humans are like bark beetle. They can ruin their own realm and still survive to ruin it again. The Kingdom was told to be in the southwestern area, where the animal people live.¡± So southwest. There might be a possibility to be still something there. Wait, what was the moral? Those Root are really skewed with their perception of external people. Chapter 54 ¡°Null, I want to grow more. I think I need your help.¡± Snow is a bit agitated for some reason. Lets hear what she is thinking. Maybe I can help. ¡°What do you need? If it is something I can help with I will try my best.¡± ¡°While Snow is still more Rat than Person, I can not travel with you. You are thinking of going to the wild Grasslands, right?¡± ¡°Well, yeah I am thinking of that. But why do you want to go with me?¡± ¡°I am close to a Beastkin, but not close enough. I want to grow before going there.¡± ¡°Still, I do not understand, why you want to go with me.¡± ¡°...Snow wants to be helpful. I want to be with you, as you will be there longer than just a few days, right?¡± ¡°But I am still here.¡± ¡°But I want to help.¡± We are running around in circles. If she wants to come, then maybe I should take her with me. Just, she is still a Monster. That won¡¯t do, as I never heard of something called a tamer, and the only ones who have marginally tamed Monsters were Mages who have them in chains. ¡°I understand Snow. What do you want me to do? Please do not say I shall remodel you, that I will not do, as it might eliminate your will, and I am not risking that.¡± ¡°I¡­ I need more spirits and goop. First change was with a Spirit. Last change was me becoming more Miasma than spirit. To go further I need Spirit and need to change again.¡± ¡°Is that safe?¡± ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know, but I will try.¡± This whole thing is rather risky. Putting in more Spirits in a body was always a Failure, but right now Snow might be at a bottleneck. She always meditates in the darkness and I made her her own little meditation room next to her chamber in the Mansion, but she seems to have reached her limit in digesting Miasma. The whole thing is a bit too risky for me. I mean I love to experiment, but Snow is the only one I really have next to me besides the dumb kind of Monsters. What to do¡­ ¡­ ¡°Are you sure about it Snow? It is still not too late to go back.¡± She shivers in the vat. I have restrained her by the limbs and shoulders to prevent her injuring herself if she starts to seizure. Right now she just lies there¡­ vulnerable¡­ ¡°I am sure. Snow is scared but I want to become more Human.¡± ¡°But why? Do you not like being a rat?¡± ¡°I like being with Null. I like Leafy and the new people, but I like most being with Null. Null likes to be human and I want to be human too.¡± ¡°We do not know, what will happen. You might not become human, you know that, right?¡± ¡°Snow is sure. Snow wanted to become more like Nulls bodies and Miasma had puzzle parts inside. I have so many puzzle, but still need to put them somewhere.¡± ¡°Puzzle?¡± She likes her puzzle. Always putting the Puzzle with her on it back together. Maybe she subconsciously or even consciously can lead her Mutations? Is that possible? Well she is an intelligent Monster and not many have been known to exist in every knowledge that I scoured. Snow nods. She seems determined. ¡°I can puzzle myself into a human. Maybe not complete but Snow will try.¡± The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. She is still nervous. She falls back to her old habit of telling her Name if she is nervous, so I know it. But denying her the chance is also not good. With a sigh I start to fill the Vat slowly with nourishing fluid I call Biomass. She calls it goop, but it is all the same. Disassembled flesh and plants mixed in a homogenized slime to give access to every amino acid and mineral something would need to grow. Add in some Mana and it stays fresh forever¡­ okay lots of Mana. To make it as comfortable as possible I preheated the Biomass to be a cozy temperature. ¡°Are you ready?¡± She nods, and I pull some rat spirit body out of the Portal. Slowly I let it travel to her side and it seems she uses her own spirit to draw it inside. I did not need to do anything. Doing her own thing I just sit there with Red and look worryingly over her inside the vat. While she starts to fuse with the Spirit I increase the darkness Miasma slowly to give her a push in the right direction. As feared she starts convulsing. This looks really painful, and unlike Ava or Red she can not leave her body to not feel the changes. ¡°Null¡­ another¡­¡± ¡°One might already to much. Please just try and stabilize for now.¡± ¡°Want¡­ to finish¡­ while I already hurt. Please¡­ another¡­¡± I did not know Red can cry anymore, but his eyes are wet. Maybe it is not him but me. Still I give her another. ...Her shouts of pain were tearing through the Dungeon below the started Castle and I really want to shout myself so damn much, but have to keep her stable and watch over her¡­ ¡­ ¡°My Lord, you want us to go alone?¡± ¡°Yes, right now I have to watch over something too important for me, I can not leave.¡± ¡°But¡­ the Merchant could lie to us. And what shall we bring back?¡± ¡°I allow you to buy for five large Gold coins all you need for the Festival. Presents, Clothing, Drinks and toys for the youths. With this we will start the new Year right with everyone having a smile on their face. Five large Gold is for each finger on one Hand, remember?¡± ¡°That¡­ That is too much! We could live for that much for a Year without starvation!¡± ¡°You would never starve here, as I would not allow it. You need so much for being here, I do not even know everything as I am sadly unknowing what you People all need. Bring with you many spices and vinegars, so everyone can taste nice things. I would love some for me too, so it is not all for you anyway, right?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ right. I thank you my Lord! By the way¡­¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°We have long time not seen little Snow, is she¡­ Ah, please excuse me!¡± My face with Ava must have been horrible. Still I guard her and her body still has not reached equilibrium after three torturous days. I knew I should have stopped her, but somehow I felt it would be bad to take her wish away and just do nothing. ¡°She is ill right now. Something is happening, so I need to be by her side. I hope you excuse me for the time, next time I go with you again. I trust you will not run with the Money?¡± ¡°I would never! It is way more than I would spend my entire life, but being here is more wonderful than living somewhere else. You can trust me to be your faithful servant, my Lord.¡± Belk is rather trustworthy. I still do not trust them, but right now I do not care if they ran away, Snow is more important. And still I would find them. Oh, I would find them everywhere, alright. Their Families are still here and would go on the List of the next experimental subjects, if he would leave. ¡­ Seeing off the people often going with them I gave them extra Money, if the Guards are especially greedy this time without me, but should be fine anyways. Two of the newcomers are with them this time, as they do not have me helping the transport. They know the way and have the Amulet. As they unwillingly eject Mana Belk just needs to touch it to increase the glow. He was also ordered to hide it before entering the city as it is rather auspicious. By the way I improved it with a very small addition. I can feel the trace of the Amulet now and know where it is. If they run, I know it firsthand, so nothing to worry about. What I am really worried is the extreme heat Snow is emanating. I started to lower the temperature of the Biomass to compensate, but with her still convulsing it just helps a tiny bit. Please Snow, do not die. ¡­ While feeling the Amulet coming back from the City it seems I was right to trust them. Sstill being next to Snow I see her slow changes. They are not what she hoped, so I hope she is not disappointed. Right now I see a rather scary looking massive Ratbeast in the vat. Giant muscular arms with black claws, purple veins running over her skin that shed its fur. Black spikes have grown on the tip of her tail and her teeth became razor sharp and golden. I had to put her in a different vat as she was outgrowing it. Right now she would tower over a Cockatrice when standing on her hind legs. I had to stop her thrice already because she nearly woke up and gone on a rampage by the wild and bestial shout she gave. You are still in there Snow, right? Please come back¡­ ¡­ The Farmers came back. They were laden with many fabrics, spices and shiny new tools for Farming and so on. It is nice to have them back, so I can maybe send them more often alone to get what they want. I was grateful for bringing back some pieces of Metals the Peddler King has put back for me. I already forgot about them, as I was right now in different thoughts. The Materials were stowed in the Mansion for now and the preparation for the festival was ongoing. Two weeks and the next year would start. Spring would come and wash away the sn¡­ the cold and Winter. Leafy is right now a bit troubled by me not telling her where Snow is. But what should I say right now? She is mutating into a hulking Wererat? At least she has the decorum not to ask more than once, while I take the time to drink a tea once a day with Ava. Leafy sometimes forces me to eat something, but it is just a body I can reassemble if he is too lean. Snows eyes are now purple too. I saw it when she was shortly awake to cry out and lash around her. While she is sleeping I go often to her exposed head looking out of the vat and scratch behind her floppy ears. Whatever happens, she is still Snow, so I will have her with me, even if she might go berserk. Chapter 55 ¡°Are you awake? Can you hear me? You have been sleeping for nearly two weeks.¡± Today Snow woke up and stopped convulsing. Her body is having new fur, as the former one had fallen out, but luckily seemed to just have been for the transformation. While blinking she starts to yawn. Her giant maw is filled with razor sharp teeth. Two rows on the upper and lower jaw respectively. What she bites with these will be cut and crushed. She might even be able to chew through granite with them. ¡°Are you still the Snow I know? If you are, please nod.¡± While trying to comprehend what I try to talk about with Red she slowly nods. I take that as the sign to loosen the restrains a bit. Moving I hear her new muscles groan and her joints crack from being used without seizures. Opening her eyes fully she cogs her head and smiles a bit. Yes, this is Snow, so I open the restraints fully. While Snow crawls out of the vat I start to clean up the mess inside. Biomass can be repurposed, so it goes right back into my Realm. Standing tall she looks at her claws. She might be disappointed. Her tail was the next she looked at and saw the spikes gleaming ominously like a kind of sinister mace. ¡°Look Snow, it might not be what you have expected but¡­¡± Shock flows over me as Snow closed her eyes and started to shimmer into a kind of shadow form. Her body was now made out of liquid shadow and shrunk slowly. Not much but I could see how it changes little by little. It seems to be a kind of new skill she has, as she seems to have her problems with it. Seeing her becoming less and less I really want to process what I am seeing, but it is rather hard to even fathom. Can she now change her form willingly? That is something I need for my own Bodies. Experiments will be needed and I have to ask Snow about it. Finally the transformation was finishing and the liquid started to seep into the new body. White hair below the shoulder blades, a kind of nose between a rat and a human, fur on the face and shoulders. On the arms are also fur on the front half until the wrists, becoming fully human hands with blackish gray fingernails. She has a rather big belly as if she is either pregnant or well nourished, but the rest of her body seems slender. Her legs go with the same style as the arms and are furry in the front and smooth at the back ending in human feet with the same colored toenails. Her rat tail is still there. Fleshy and long enough to easily lie on the floor while she is standing straight. Eyes are purple and look mostly human. Her ears are a total giveaway, she is a ratkin, as those flabby things still are attached on the upper head. No human ears though, while I really do not think four ears would be that good. ¡°Sorry for the long wait. I had some¡­ troubles while becoming my new form.¡± Well at least she can still talk and is my Snow I cherish. ¡°You mean by the Mutation or the transformation right now?¡± ¡°Um¡­ Both to be exact.¡± She blushes a bit. Well she came back at least before the new Year festival. So I can at least smile without strain to the Farmers. ¡°Any problems with your new¡­ you?¡± ¡°I think not. It is still hard to hold myself in a human form, but I should be able to stay like that for most of the time.¡± ¡°I was really worried about you. Thought you might go berserk. I am glad you are back.¡± ¡°I am sorry. I know you were there all the time. I remember being scratched behind my ears.¡± She came to me and hugs me. Now I can see she is the height of about one and a half meter. I would say she has the proportions of a sixteen year old girl? Maybe older, but seems not to be younger than that. What age would that be for the Beastkin folk? I remember them growing up faster, but not every race is the same. ¡°Well you need now clothing it seems. Would not do for you to walk around naked.¡± ¡°Really? Well I never thought about it, but why do Humans wear clothes?¡± ¡°Lesser fur, weaker skin and they are ashamed of their own sexual organs.¡± ¡°...Humans are weird.¡± ¡°Yeah, they are. I was one time human. Twice to be honest, and can say they are rather strange in many things. Better to mimic their strange behavior, to mingle better. Otherwise they ostracize us.¡± ¡°Will do. I want to be with Null on adventures. Would not do to be a problem on our adventures around.¡± ¡°Thanks, Snow.¡± I scratch behind her ear and she giggles while hugging me stronger. I really need to go out of Red and disassemble him. He was so long in the dungeon he started to wilt a bit. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Let us go back. Jump in the Portal?¡± ¡°Can I walk? I still have some problems with the body, and want to see if I can find a better balance.¡± ¡°Alright, but at least wear this cloth shirt and cape, so the Farmers do not wonder, why a naked person walks around our main street. I come with Ava from the other side. Red needs to rest a while.¡± While letting go of Red she nods and I give her the clothing I have. Explaining how to wear them was rather easy. She was always a smart little rat, so nothing to worry. I even gave her pants where I cut for now a hole for her tail. This should work for a while, but I need to get some boots from the farmers for her, as I do not have her size. ¡°Leafy? I am going outside. Snow came back and I want to go get her on the way.¡± ¡°She is back? Thank the Forest. So she was where the castle is being build? Can I come with you? I have not seen her for so long.¡± Leafy is happy, too. She riddles me with semantic questions and seems to be relieved to hear nothing happened to her. As we start the walk I can already see a small silhouette coming to us. Sometimes hopping sometimes walking, trying different movements and some acrobatics are seen too. She seems eager to understand her new body. Maybe I should make a kind of parkour hall inside the castle for her to work on her dexterity and agility? Rewriting the sketches I already made is not a problem at all. ¡°Welcome back¡­ Snow? You are Snow, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, I am back Leafy. Happy to see you again!¡± ¡°Lord, what happened?¡± ¡°Ah, Snow wanted to become more Human, as I might go to the Grasslands. She hurried the transformation and I had helped her. The whole thing was way too dangerous and I will not do that again, as I thought I lost her.¡± ¡°Aw! I was fully under control! Well mostly.¡± ¡°And that is why you will be not doing such a dangerous thing again. Mostly is not enough, when it comes to your life. For now there is no next time, as you have been too fast with your changes.¡± ¡°...okay¡­¡± ¡°And what happened now, Lord?¡± ¡°Ah, sorry Leafy. She asked me to help and I reluctantly helped her with this. Explanation about how I do not want to give. She is now able to mingle between Beastmen and other people easier. I did not want to deny her the wish to go with me on adventures, so that is the outcome.¡± Leafy still did not really understand. Well I can not blame her. This is not even her real form, she is more a rat Empress right now. Queen is not enough for the muscles, size and claws I saw. ¡°By the way Null, I can put things in my Shadow now. Not much, but about so much as I use space in my true Form.¡± ¡°...True Form?¡± Well Leafy got more confused, but seems like Snow can now even store things. Impressive! So wait, does that mean Darkness is not only absence of Light in terms of Magic but rather absence of everything? This would make some things clear and might help with going back, as I need to create a Tunnel and with Darkness as absence of maybe Dimensional boundaries¡­ ¡­ ¡°Snow you are back! And you have changed¡­ Even more cuter than before!¡± ¡°Thank you Anna. How have you been?¡± While the youths mingle with the new and improved Snow the Farmers and I work on the decoration of the House. Tomorrow is the new Year and we will have our festivities. Right now I captured one of the five Cockatrice and started to take him over. Right afterwards I pull the spirit out of him and start the processing of the body to make a totally ridiculous roasted chicken. Bleeding it and removing the innards I start creating a nice start for the whole thing. The Women in the Village thought I was crazy as I requested so much filling to be made, but accepted my request anyway. The whole thing needs to at least bake through a full day to be edible, so filling it putting it in a empty shack and heating it to a high degree with Miasma while keeping the Oil on it was my work schedule for now. The decontamination of the Cockatrice of residual Miasma will be hard, but I will do it for everyone here, as I am in a great mood right now. Snow has a strange problem I have to address in a later workmanship, but otherwise everything is so peachy, I would say the new year can come and we are all ready. I know the Food will not rot as the bread needs extremely long time until it finally starts to get hard, so the meat will be edible for at least a Month before it starts to rot. Everyone has enough to eat for multiple days with this and should feel appreciated. Even the newcomers start to relax and forget the Mana burn they have. Everyone has some bandages here and there, but no one cares, as they are all together and healthy. ¡­ Of course it was my privilege to make a speech. I never said it, but I hate speeches. Well whatever, here goes nothing. ¡°We all met in a rather troubled way. Destiny was not kind to you and mistrust was sadly everywhere. Albeit all those troubles you made it here to the Lost Village and became its residents. Many of you had lost people, and we need to remember them in our hearts to always have them by our sides.¡± Some tears fell down, many had lost their family members, their belongings, their mementos and their livestock. It was a bleak time when I had recruited them, so it should be not forgotten what they already had survived. ¡°While you suffered a lot, I will try my utmost to give you respite. While all of you have suffered loss please look around and see what you still have. It was hard times, but for the rest of our families we have to be strong. Take your destiny into your hands here anew and try your best to regain your smiles. The ones passed would love to know you are still able to walk forward, not only for you, but also for who are still with you. The last Year is now gone, but as for our fallen, we will remember it and walk with hope in our hearts into the new Year.¡± While hugging each other they understood, they are not alone. They still have each other. At first I thought them of Materials and experimental Objects, but they might be now a part of my Community¡­ well a little bit. After a while the first claps were heard, they notice my speech being over and all slowly started to clap. In the meanwhile I was building a large table in the front of the Mansion and hovering the grilled Cockatrice on its place. This thing must be close to a ton in weight. The filling is included obviously. Finally everyone stopped clapping and I again call out to the People. ¡°And now we should eat. I have extra caught a special monster for the festivals and begged your Wives to help with the filling. It was hard to make, but hopefully it is tasty, as I could not test it before the Festivals because of its¡­ size.¡± Wondering what I meant, they were rather interested. Obviously the Wives already spread the word of what I asked them to do with so much produce of our Farms, so they have been ready for a surprise of mine for a Feast. What they see outside the Mansion still shocks them to the bone. The Bird is bigger than an Ostrich, so it is understandable. I cooked a freaking Dinosaur! Asking for help to cut the Cockatrice we realized early the skin was sadly not edible as it was extremely hard and leathery. Snow was the only one who could eat the skin and was elated. The Flesh underneath was way better. Tender close to melting and the filling piping hot made the festival a great way to talk, laugh and dance. Some instruments were bought by Belk and I saw some of their folk dances. Very simple and easy to understand, so Snow and I participated, while Leafy was abstaining. The Root do not have a new Years festival and just see the spring as the time of waking up for the plants. Still she was with us and drank tea at the side. With this the new Year has started, and what it will bring I do not know. But I hope for the ones I cherish good things and for me new insights in going back. Chapter 56 At the entrance of Halk there is a curious combination of people waiting for entry. A petite looking small beast girl lady is humming while seven haulers are with her. She is wearing a simple purple black dress and holding a black parasol, while the haulers are all in brown farmers clothes. The clothes on the haulers look rather pristine and they look well nourished and strong albeit having many bandages on different parts of their bodies. The work for haulers is not always easy as they might get into the line of fire for Mercenaries, but that is the strange thing, as the girl does not even look like a Mercenary, rather a young lady of a Family to have some fun out in the city. This is extra strange, as the entrance they use is in the direction of the Forest and no known City or Town would be further up, but no one even dares to ask, as her haulers feel somewhat menacing and some even believe they saw a slight glow in their eyes, when they were looking right into them. Humming enthusiastically to herself she finally is the next in line. ¡°Welcome to Halk. May I know your Name and why you visit our humble town?¡± Huh. When I was coming here, they never were that enthusiastic. I might need some kind of Noble clothing. I will check for some fabrics later. Should not be hard to create something, as I even made Snows dress from the fabrics we once brought back. The dye was a challenge but finding the coloring in fruits and berries and just putting them on it was easy afterwards. I digress again. ¡°Snow, with me I have some haulers.¡± ¡°Do you mind looking at the Items you bring in?¡± That is not the right question. ¡®Snow, tell them you will not let them search the things and show him the sign of the Peddler King.¡¯ With a slight nod she rummages in her small pouch and took out the sign of the Peddler King. ¡°I do mind. I think the Merchants who have their wares disturbed will ask heavy questions for that.¡± ¡°Ah! I am sorry, just routine questioning. The toll is¡­ you know what, never mind. Please right in this way, have a nice stay.¡± Yep, even the Guards of the Mages are terrified of the Peddler Kings reputation. Not because of their Powers, but they wholesale a lot of ingredients and resources for the study of the Mages. If they suddenly got cranky and sadly have suddenly some Bottlenecks in purchasing goods for the Mages, they would flog the Guard in question publicly, just for good luck for next weeks wholesale. I often question how the Mages even make money, but they do somehow. They have their taxes on the Farmers and Merchants, selling potions and magical work to a lot of people, they even restore Fields for a fee with nourishment or in dry weather cast rainfall locally for a large sum of Money. The most Money they make is still with selling their knowledge between each other. Arcana loves all results of experiments, especially the dangerous ones. All hearsay sadly, as Mink was more tight lipped about how it was under the Green Fire¡­ Or maybe no one wanted to ask her really. I really need to pick a brain of a Mage someday. But right now we are hunting other prey. ¡­ ¡°This will be sixty large Gold coins. Do you wish to buy something?¡± ¡°Ah, yes. We need more fabrics. Mostly linen for clothes, so the workers have something in the hot times to wear and Flax would be nice for hats. Um¡­ There was also¡­ Ah, yes! Silk and other fine fabrics will be needed. And dyes. All colors but especially black and purple, I love purple!¡± As long as Snow has fun, being her Messenger in a bag is not annoying at all. Right now I am a mouse. Not a regular mouse but an upsurged mouse with enough power to fry a guy. I think I am being her self defense Taser right now, but maybe that is not really true as she can maybe kill half the city on her own before someone could interfere anyway. The whole charade has a meaning, and this is, because I need some experimental materials. Sadly those kind of materials are not sold in Telk so I need to improvise. And this is where Snow comes in. ¡°The fabrics and dye will be ready tomorrow morning. With the large quantity there will be a rest of fifty seven large Gold, three Gold, seven Silver, three Copper and two Scrap.¡± ¡°Keep the coins of Silver and below as a thank you. Null is happy to make sales with the Peddler King of Halk.¡± With a bow as thanks the Clerk leads the party out of the Building. The hospitality is getting better and better. Snow was delighted about the Tea and Cookies they brought out while they carefully repackaged the produce. While the haulers just drank the tea, Snow eliminated the cookies by herself. That was one reason I told her to give the clerk the tip. The other is, she needs to be looking rich and at the same time innocent. The rich thing I need to help her with, but the innocence was ingrained in her. ¡­ ¡°We sold again great. The Lord will be happy with the Money we got! Now lets eat and drink. The day after Tomorrow we will go back. While you rest in the Inn I go a bit shopping.¡± The Farmers are a bit strained by how loud Snow was. Buying their food and drinks with a Gold coin was also a no go mostly in the Towns, but they have been told Snow was to make a ruckus for a secret Mission, so they kept quiet. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. While eating Snow drank fruit juice and might have eaten nearly the same volume of Food the Farmers did¡­ combined. Where does she store that much Biomass? Is it the Shadow Magic, too? Monsters do not really need to eat as they get their nourishment mostly from Miasma and Mana, but Snow breaks that rules back right over her knee and buries it deep in the ground. At least she holds back at Home, She would decimate our Grasswalker coop otherwise. While the small party was still ongoing some eyes were always on our little party. Snow herself chose the mostly dark corner table out of preference, but while they were already that loud and happy, no one did not hear about their great haul. ¡­ ¡®Good morning Snow.¡¯ yawn ¡°Morning! Is it time already?¡± ¡®I think so. Belk and company will stay at the Inn. You go around and can Shop as much as you like, but do not go over one large Gold, please.¡¯ ¡°Should be enough! I hope they have fun toys or puzzles! I love puzzles!¡± ¡®Yeah, you do. Need to build you a new one. I hope you can wait.¡¯ ¡°Of course! Nulls puzzles are the best, I will wait eagerly!¡± Such enthusiasm. By the way I found out she can understand me even with a small body. I need to be near her and she can hear my thoughts. Might be the Spirits she merged with. Sadly I need at least a Body near her, otherwise she can not hear my thoughts clearly outside. We tested it while traveling. She was so happy, when my Mouse body was back in her pouch at her side. Is she scared I would just let her be alone? Never! As long as she wants pets¡­ I mean company, I am there¡­ to pet her¡­ ¡­ ¡°¡­ and after winding the String and pulling the wood spins. The colors on the side make interesting patterns. Only two silver and another one for the bowl for spinning it in.¡± ¡°I buy it! It is so fun! Anything else you have, that would be a nice thing to play with?¡± ¡°Of course! This bird out of wood is a great piece. The feathers are colored intricate and when you push down the tail¡­ It opens it wings and shows a rainbow!¡± giggle ¡°Such a cute bird. Anna might love that little bird, too. I buy it also.¡± While on a shopping spree, multiple people are snooping around her. Obviously looking for an opportunity to get her alone. She looks rather weak with her small dainty arms. Then telling about how much Money they made and now the shopping spree makes her a walking gold mine. Some pickpockets tried their luck but she evaded them always. Anyways in her Pouch is only me. The Money is in her Shadow, but seems I am worth more for her as she is professionally evading every attempt. She would have clobbered some of them if I did not soothe her. ¡­ Asking where the Orphanage is, Snow traveled the way and came in a rather dark back corner of the streets. This place was nice enough for the would be robbers and came right out of the woodwork. ¡®There they are. Be careful.¡¯ ¡°Always. Someone is on the roof watching. I can not catch him, but remove him, OK?¡± ¡®Do not need that many anyway. Remember I need them alive, not well, but try to not do too much damage to at least one male.¡¯ Nodding she stops as she saw the men in Front blocking the way. Behind her were also people. Looking I count one two three four¡­ Nine People with the one at the roof. ¡°Little Miss, this is a bad place to be right now. We do not want you do harm just what you have on Money. Do not try to shout, there will no one be able to hear you anyway.¡± Grinning they come closer. At least they are humble and do not want to sell her or kill her. Still they are in the wrong so I have no problem taking them, because they want to take from us. ¡°No one is going to hear us here? Are you sure? Guards are everywhere in the Town!¡± chuckles ¡°Not here Miss. Downtown is the wrong place to be to search for help. Now give us the Money or we will be rough with you.¡± ¡°Phew, good to hear. I thought I needed to be swift, but if no one will even notice I can do it easier.¡± The Leader seems to think something is wrong. Well he is right. He thought he is the predator, so he was always wrong. Snows Shadow suddenly became way darker and it looks like she is standing over a hole in the abyss, when hundreds of Rats with red eyes start pouring out of it like a tide. ¡°WHAT THE FU¡­!¡± Agonizing screams were heard and while some rats ran the wall right up as if it were level ground the last of them fell from the roof with an ugly crunch. That landing was his end. The Rats are pulling the screaming people right into the Shadow with their teeth in their flesh. Those rats are bigger than I remember. They are now as big as a large Housecat. ¡®Can you change the size of the Rats?¡¯ ¡°No, they grow with me. I can make them a bit smaller like myself, but why bother? They can become intangible liquid shadows and spill through every crack anyways.¡± ¡®...impressive!¡¯ ¡°Thanks Null!¡± A radiant smile was on Snow as the last chewed on arm scratching on the floor got pulled into the Darkness before becoming a simple shadow again. Scratches, scars and Blood are visible, but not really any great hint of a fight, as those are everywhere anyways in a Town full of Mercenaries, just not that fresh. The only one standing there is Snow in her dress and her parasol. The reason for the parasol is sadly a necessity. Snow is albino and her skin is susceptible to high sunlight. I totally forgot that part until she said her skin is uncomfortable in the sunlight. Well she looks cute with her parasol, so why not? Now to our side quest. ¡®Remember to regularly change the air inside, otherwise they will suffocate.¡¯ ¡°I will! Now to the children.¡± Snow grins and starts to travel the rest of the way to the Orphanage. Chapter 57 ¡°You can not hide, I am going to get you!¡± Manic laughing is being heard by a rat girl while she is walking the room with children. They scurry all away like scared bugs while she menacingly holds out her fingers and searches for her prey. One girl is hiding and stopping her bleeding while trying to not make a single sound. She holds it in, as she understands how it was her fault being so foolish. While giggling Snow slowly walks forward and corners one of the children. ¡°Don¡¯t go that way! She will catch you, you can not hide there!¡± One of the boys calls out to the little girl, but it is already too late. She is cornered and can not escape as Snow is way to agile for that. Her last try to escape made too much sound and she was caught right in Snows hands. ¡°Now I got you! You know what that means¡­¡± ¡°Aw¡­ I am ¡®it¡¯¡­¡± Taking off the blindfold Snow gives it to the little girl. The other children all aw too, as it is rare for a visitor to play with them. Mostly the grown ups come, smile a fake smile, give some donation and bathe in the thank yous before leaving again. Snow is different. She does not care about them being a bit dirty or unkempt. She plays with all of them even if her dress out of rather valuable materials get dusty. The Caretakers were at first a bit worried, but as she does not say anything and seems to genuinely love to play with them, they do not bare her from it. After all she made another great donation of another large Gold coin. The Money is not only enough to repair all beds and clothing, it makes it even possible to give the children a slice of meat once a week. This makes them rather happy. The reason I know it is, I heard all of it while Snow was talking to them. It is nice to help, as the children helped me too. Some experiments are still ongoing, but the burrower are a great help right now, as they help with mixing the nutrients in the fields every night. I have a bit too many of them right now, but can thin them out later. No, I will not grill one of them, as they seem to secrete a rather potent rock melting slime. The girl hiding was extremely naughty. She thought of stealing from Snow while she put her pouch in the corner. Thinking she might have more Money, the hand reaching inside was bitten by me, hard. The scar will be there definitely forever, as I reached bone. I only did not bite her whole finger off, as she is a child and might not know better. Still taking from me and my family is a no go. ¡­ ¡°So you are an acquaintance of Sir Ava! Madam Snow has great friends, as he also gave us a great deal of Money that one time. How is he? Has his friend found out what he wanted to know about those critters?¡± ¡°His friend?¡± ¡®Oh, yeah. I told them I collected the animals for a Friend of mine to study.¡¯ ¡°His Zoologist friend. That was the reason he collected those Insects and Animals, was it not?¡± ¡°He seemed to be a bit shy about his needs. Ava collected them for himself, he is his own weird friend who studies Animals.¡± ¡®Hey! That is embarrassing!¡¯ ¡°Ava might be embarrassed, that I told you this, but studying is one of his favorite hobbies.¡± ¡®Stop telling them everything Snow!¡¯ With a giggle Snow stops spilling the beans. Darn, can¡¯t she not just lie and be less honest? ¡°Ah, is that so. Well it is a bit odd, so I can understand his embarrassment a bit, but he does not need to worry, we have seen¡­ worse people with extremely weirder ¡®Hobbies¡¯ trying to ask for something of the kids.¡± That sounds not ominous at all. Well their integrity seems to be steadfast as long as no one forces them to give up some child for reasons of labor, human experimentation or ¡®playing¡¯. Maybe I can scour the Cities of those degenerates and cleanse the Gene pool a bit¡­ ¡°Ah, no Ava might be scary at some times, but has a heart of Gold as long as no one touches his bottom line. So you do not have to worry.¡± ¡°Of course, we understand. Might you still think about our proposal?¡± ¡°There might be a time in the future, when the House is build, where we live to maybe recruit some of the grown Orphans to be helpers, but right now our Domain is¡­ not really suitable for others to live in.¡± ¡°We understand, but when the time comes we hope you would bring our children sometimes back to ask if they really live well. We worry about them often and hope they find their luck in the World later, as all of them had bad luck at the beginning.¡± If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°This will definitely be no problem. Still it is not the time yet.¡± Well, the asking of Labor started way earlier, as Snow had given already the Money. Older children have grown out of the Orphanage and are in a kind of limbo right now. Not everyone can get work right away, and being able to work at some rich persons domicile, especially one who does not care about being silly and still playing with the little children would be a great boon. Becoming Mercenary or a hauler for them is never a good life choice as the death rate is way too high. Even Bandits have it sometimes easier, as long as they know how to lay low. Well not the ones Snow has in her shadow though¡­ ¡­ ¡®Snow, can you buy something for me to eat?¡¯ While going back to the Inn I ask Snow for a Snack. ¡°Hungry? Sure, what do you want?¡± ¡®Not really hungry, as Monsters do not need to eat for a long time, just seeing you always eat made the stomach of Surge rumble. It would be nice to eat something. Cheese might be good¡­ Oh, and a sweet fruit if possible!¡¯ ¡°Right away. It is nice to tend to you sometimes Null. It is also nice to scratch you sometimes behind the ears.¡± While petting me I get somewhat embarrassed, but to be honest it feels nice and if she can indulge in it, I can too. I am a Mouse right now, so whatever. ¡­ ¡°Is everything alright Miss?!¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know! There was that scream, and I do not know where it came from! Is this Inn haunted?¡± ¡°I assure you, it is not. We will look into the screams. Please lock your door and be safe.¡± That was a lie from Snow. Wow, she can lie if she wants to. Then why did she embarrass me so much? What happened right now was changing the air inside her shadow to not suffocate those bastards. While it was open it was a little too wide open as they still had the strength to scream bloody murder after hours of being inside. By the way three bodies were ¡®disposed¡¯ of earlier. The one from the roof was dead on impact, one hyperventilated and just had a heart attack and the third killed himself before Snow had the chance to remove all weapons from their bodies. Six is still a sizable amount of working materials, so no sweat. Five men, one woman is a great haul. Phew ¡°So, that is dealt with. Now finally off with the clothing. I still am not comfortable with them. Can I cuddle you while I sleep?¡± ¡®Sure, just don¡¯t squeeze Surge like last night. If he dies, I have no connection to here anymore.¡¯ ¡°That was an accident. Won¡¯t happen again.¡± Pulling her tongue out she seems less apologetic as she sounds. I do not think she made it with ill intention, so I just let it slide. ¡®Tomorrow you need to go very early and vanish quickly, remember?¡¯ ¡°Yes, Belk and the others are all ready. We just go out while it is dark, so no one can follow us. Besides I can¡¯t carry any more bodies anyways.¡± Lying in bed she throws the blanket over herself and starts dozing off. Wait, Snow too tight, too tight¡­! ¡­ ¡°Are you ready? We will need to hurry.¡± ¡°Of course, Lady Snow.¡± ¡°Ah, stop it! When we are alone just call me Snow. I am still who I am, it gives me goosebumps.¡± A slight laugh is heard from the Farmers. Belk pats her head. ¡°Of course Snow. We are just still shocked of your change and have to work on being formal.¡± ¡°I hate it. Sounds like I lose my playmates later, if this high and mighty goes on.¡± She lets her ears flop down. Well I understand her. She plays with all the kids in the Village. Since they are living with us, she can finally play as much as she wants even if I am working on something. Nearly all of the Children call her their friend, except for Anna, as she calls her her best friend. As work is not that hard and school is kept slow and simple, everyone has some free time for themselves. Right now I have created some wooden and metal blunt swords, as many older youths want to train for never again lose someone important. It is nice to see them working hard for a goal. With Avas old Memories, I can explain them the standard move set and let them train them to give muscle memory a chance. ¡°Everything packed?¡± ¡°Yes Snow.¡± ¡°Then lets go!¡± Ah, departure already. I really need to stop my random thoughts while traveling. But as I always multitask this is somehow become a strong habit of mine. ¡­ After moving out of the doorway near the Gate, Snow unfurls her tail tucked behind the cloth sash on her hip. Pulling it long behind her she orders the Farmers. ¡°Hold on tight, but not too tight, I am sensitive.¡± That is a bold lie¡­ The tail is like a steel whip and can smash rock to dust. It might not be long enough to be able to be used as a direct weapon, but everyone who tries to go behind her will be pulverized. The Farmers grab hold and while still moving south we all get slowly swallowed by the thicker and thicker darkness and afterwards Snow hopefully makes a wide U-turn right back to the north. ¡°Six followers. Heavily armed and form the City. Ah, there are four more. Might be another group. They already lost us, I am better in hide and seek. Ha ha.¡± Yep, I knew that would happen. Sadly it would be a bad idea to catch them on our way back, as Belk and company should not see what Snow can do. So whatever. After a long while we start to come out of the darkness and I can finally see again out of the top of the pouch. I need to make new clothes for our Farmers, possibly give them weapons and armor for looking more like Mercenaries next month. Would also better hide their bandages and give them a more professional vibe. ¡°Some in the tree. Hard to see, but when they hide in the shadows, I can see them clearly.¡± Ah, Snow has shadow sight it seems. Everything in stronger dark spots than the ambient seem to look more prominent than when they are out in the open. Such a strange way to see the world¡­ look who is talking, with sight working on the principle of Magic garbage¡­ ¡®Just Roots. They always look around for intruders. As long as you wear the Amulet, they should behave.¡¯ Snow nods and goes deeper into the Forest while the Farmer follow. I should really call them just Villagers, as they do more than farming and are now part of our little Village. Maybe I should start thinking about bringing a Merchant and his guards to come to us willingly instead walking the whole way to them. Rendlar will definitely squeeze the prices, when I suggest that, but would be nice to not always risk people I care for. Chapter 58 ¡°Welcome back Snow.¡± ¡°Leafy! I¡¯ve missed you!¡± Right away Snow runs into a hug. Such a spoiled child, but I have no complaints. While caressing Snows head, Leafy starts questioning. ¡°How was the first time out in the town?¡± ¡°Wonderful! I found so many toys! There is that spinney thing, a moving wooden bird, a game where you jump over different colored stones, even a puzzle sphere! I never thought puzzles can be round and go upwards, I need to show that to Anna, she loves puzzles too, but first the bird, as it is so cute¡­¡± ¡°Hold on, Snow. I can not understand all of it at the same time. At least you had fun. I was a bit worried, something might happen, but maybe I just had to wonder why Lord Null was not going with you.¡± ¡°Ah he was with¡­ I mean was with his studies. You know how he is, when he found something interesting. At least I could still go.¡± That was a bit close Snow. Well she knows I have different bodies, but does not know I still can use monster bodies. Who would not stay human after having a new human body? Well, me! So restricting sometimes, and monster bodies are able to use intrinsic magic, so even better. ¡­ Snow is happily playing with her new toys. Anna and the others are looking at the simple but still nicely made things Snow brought back. I could at least convince her to bring my new ¡®toys¡¯ first to the Dungeon. First thing first I took over two of them. The one female and the one with the closest build to Ava. The story of the woman was kind of tragic, kidnapped by Bandits and the first who wanted his ¡®fun¡¯ with her got something bitten off right away. In his weeping shock she bashed his head in, and when the bandits wanted to kill her for it, the leader stopped them and she was made a member, as she has the will to fight. Later she was one of the most brutal fighters of them, as she enjoyed the fear of her opponents and the awe of the members of her group. I think there is some kind of syndrome or something, that makes abused to abusers, but now she is as all of my bodies a blank slate. Being a woman has its positives and negatives. Her rather strong body is quite bendable and she has a higher pain tolerance. The negative is the abdominal muscles feel way different and her pelvis is hard to get used to. No back pain though as she was rather small in the upper portion of the female anatomy. Well, whatever. To the next experiment. ¡°BB! You¡¯re out! Hurry up and release us, before those things come back!¡± Oh, BB was her nickname. Butcher Bella short form BB. Well she does not need that anymore. ¡°Nah, too late. Who were you again? Doesn¡¯t matter, you are meant for the fusion experiment.¡± ¡°Fus¡­ BB?! What is going on!¡± ¡°Just sleep.¡± Using my kinetic abilities I just throw a sedative needle right into his flesh and wait for him to go numb. ¡°What¡­ in the Abyss¡­ is going¡­.¡± And sleep! ¡­ So right now his chest is pulled open. His heart is beating and the bleeding is temporarily stopped. Carefully fusing two different veins on the main Arteries I am ready for the blood exchange. The test is easy. The blood makes cores, and cores make Monster. If I use a human body but transfuse all the blood from another creature the core might stick. Success chance? Maybe one in a thousand, but having a human body without intrinsic Magic is horrible. I have no way of learning it right now, as the Millennia old secret of it is held in the hands of Mages all around the Globe. So why not create a human with a Core? Sadly human blood can not create cores no matter how much I try. Something just does not work, but who needs human blood if someone can just replace it? He might die, but there are many stories of creatures with hidden Monsters inside, so I just test my theory. The synthetic core is made of Wolf blood and Tailless is already cleansed of all the former Miasma. He is a normal Wolf, but the core is made with the second best Miasma working with his blood. A derivation of Light Magic, that corresponds with the Moons. Yep, Lunar Miasma, that is the reason for the test. It might be possible for me to create a Werewolf. For now one under my control would be nice. Later I can create one more with Twin or Ghost. Right now I do not need them, but would hate to let them rot inside my Realm without purpose. Finished with the new ways inside the arteries, so lets start the transfusion. Pulling the blood out with putting foreign blood in will have a fast reaction, so I need to be quick. Pushing the new blood in while draining the previous blood starts the convulsing. The core is placed in the place it should go if it works, but no reaction as of yet. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Still pumping the blood I have maybe transfused half of new blood inside. The body is reacting violently and his eyes snap open. The sedative is gone too, it seems. Well he shouts bloody murder, but we are already in the end phase, so just stay for the ride. Nose and eyes start to bleed, the pressure I use is too much it seems for the veins, but it is necessary for the fast transfusion, a normal human can not live long with Lupine blood, so bear with it. Finally, as nearly all blood is transfused and his spirit starts to show death the core snaps in. Confused the core and the spirit fight over who is the rightful owner and start to destroy each other. For this I have Tailless as spirit ready and throw him right in. It clicks in place and fuses with the other spirit seamlessly in seconds. Success! The body starts transforming in strange ways and spewing black and purple blood out of every orifice. He just needs to survive and I should have a Werewolf! ¡­ Well it is a failure and a success. It is a success as the fusion seem to have worked. I have made a human wolf¡­ thing¡­ And that is the failure, it is not a Werewolf. He looks like a deranged kind of creature. Huge snout with jagged and uneven teeth, a giant tongue flopping mostly out of the open mouth, white eyes with only a small black dot and otherwise just some veins inside. I do not think he can really blink, as he just stares while breathing heavily. Claws instead of fingers and fur all over. He looks like someone drew a kind of creepy cartoon Wolfman. This won¡¯t do. Such a creature can not be seen outside without scaring everyone. ¡°Can you understand me?¡± He nods. ¡°Do you know who you were?¡± This gave him pause. He cogs his head in thinking, then he looks up to the right, afterwards looks at me again and shakes his head. ¡°Can you speak?¡± Only brabble came out, and after he realizes it he shakes his head. ¡°How much is two plus four?¡± While thinking, he uses his claws. It took him some time but shows me seven claws. Well not really right, but it was a try at least. Kinetically moving a broom to me I give it to him after freeing him from his restraints. ¡°Please clean the halls down here periodically. I make you a room to sleep and live later.¡± With a nod he takes the broom and starts sweeping. At least he does what someone tells him to do. ¡­ ¡°WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING!?¡± Ah, the last Prisoner has noticed Loopy. I can not call him Tailless anymore as he has a tail, albeit a small one, and Smalltail sounds just demeaning, so Loopy it is. His body and his strange behavior seems to fit that name. At least he seems happy to do something. He hums sometimes, even if that humming does not make any semblance of sense. I had used another one with a forced fusion. This time it was a mild try. Roots are a combination of Plant and Sentient, so I thought why not try it on a human. The result was¡­ a walking bush. Fusing him with a vine made him grow vines and leaves from his body, so I inserted some more, different vine like spirit bodies and¡­ overdid it a bit. Impressively he survived, if that is survival. He even got a Core, which made me wonder if there was something of a threshold. Why do I know he has a Core? He suddenly sucks in Mana and a specific Miasma. As for the Miasma it is similar to what the snakes imbue and his ¡®sap¡¯ is nearly as potent as some kind of Xenomorph in a Movie franchise I knew. By the way he loves gardening! Tending to other plants is somehow his life goal. Might be the voices of the plants nagging him to do things for them. Root might have it also bad with all the talking plants it seems. ¡­ Finally my main experiment. It is time for the fusion of Ava with Bandit A. His name? He was one of the Robbers who were responsible of the sufferings to the Farmers around Halk and afterwards hid into the Town as a Mercenary to lay low. I would not deign to allow him to have a Name anymore. Ava is resting in the Vat and right now I put inside him the Spirit of Bandit A. Let us see how Humans mutate. Body and Spirit are still normal, the flesh gets replaced slowly and the bones get¡­ wrapped? The structure seems to change for better flexibility with maximum durability. Why did I not think of that idea? They stay light but breaking them is difficult. The muscles change in a different kind of pinkish purple. Those veins and nerves, are they some kind of network to let Mana flow easier? I do not know any spell, so what¡­ Oh! Muscles react to the Mana and can multiply their strength while precision is still spot on! That is possible?! The brain got another fold. He has now four hemispheres. What in the Void? I do not understand any of this. ... Outside nothing changed with Ava. Inside? Is he even still human? The heart grew new arteries and has a perfect blood flow. Brain, I can¡¯t even braining. Muscles are Mana infused and ready to twitch any time I want. I can now see ultraviolet and even some Infrared. Well that needs to be get used to. Mana is visible too. Ears have a kind of volume membrane. I can if I want to set those ears on sensitive, common noise level or dampen them even further. Lungs do not look normal too, but I have no Idea how to explain it. They filter way better somehow. And then there is the spine. Thicker, sturdier and the nerves inside multiplied. I have control over every single muscle. I can even control the heartbeat! So much control is overwhelming. What is Ava now? High Human? Something like that maybe. While working out with the new body I notice my ability to put Mana in my skin to harden the part. Nice, I have a Mana shield. This will come in handy if I ever get hit. ¡­ ¡°Hello Null! Is that the new Ava?¡± ¡°Yes Snow. Thanks for bringing me some things I needed to make it possible.¡± I pat her head. She is delighted like always. Right now she is in her favorite linen clothing, obviously dyed purple. It has way more freedom than the silk dress and has less delicate parts. Well, if she is happy I am happy. Still, her Parasol does not leave her side, if she is outside. Poor girl¡­ ¡°New Ava?¡± ¡°Ah, it is nothing Leafy. I just needed to tend to some demerits, as it was not easy for me to work around some problems, as it is not my own body really. So I had made a kind of crutch to make it easier to work with what I have.¡± Hope that lie does not make her ask too many questions for now. I just don¡¯t want to put all my cards on the table, if I do not need to. ¡°I see. Do you want to eat something?¡± ¡°Yes, I am starving. The whole time I worked without remembering, how I need to eat sometimes.¡± ¡°I want something too!¡± Snow you glutton, did you not eat an hour ago? I saw that. Chapter 59 Training with a sword I notice how fast my Muscles move. This new Ava is a precision machine. If that is the evolution of Humans, they have a great way to the pinnacle of brawn and precision. I just notice the Sword might not be the natural best weapon for such a Body type. The whole swinging is fast and precise just because the Body is tuned with Mana, but seems more to like close quarter combat would be the better choice. Grappling or maybe some Batons? Well whatever, I go with the normal kind of weapon Mercenaries use for now, and that is a sword. I would hate to let Alpha put on dust. ¡­ ¡°Are you sure Lord?¡± ¡°Of course. When Petal comes next time you can go on a vacation and visit Root City. I mean you worked so hard, it would be bad to hold you back from where you came from.¡± Snow looks a bit sad, as she knows what I really wanted to tell Leafy. She knows, but it is not time yet. Falling Leaf was never truly a Member of our Domain. She rather stays distant and often ostracizes herself from others. Working to cook animals is also not her favorite but does it only to be helpful. Someday she will leave us for good, and as our relationship with the Roots seem to have become stable, it would be good for her to be more¡­ with her true family¡­ Even I find it sad, but I can not do anything about it. She is a Root and I should not stay in her way, if I really like her. ¡°Do not worry, the whole work here is slowly taken care of by our Villagers. With that you should have a nice rest in two weeks. We ourselves will go outside for a while, so you can rest too.¡± ¡°And the transport?¡± ¡°The Mana dew will be ready, and for the transport of the produce we will be back. I just want to travel the Grasslands a while to search for some Ruins. The faster I can go back to where I came from, the faster you are free from my shackles.¡± ¡°I do not feel¡­ I understand and hope you good luck. Please be assured I will not tell any secrets of you. I just want to¡­ see my Family again. I hope Grandmother is appeased, I somehow fear she is still angry with me.¡± ¡°If there is still tension, I will go knocking again. This time maybe a bit gentler just to make amends with your Family tree, okay?¡± ¡°Thank you Lord. I will keep your grace in my heart.¡± That was this and now for the travel. ¡­ Snow has been fully kitted out. Purple leather armor with black straps. A new Parasol made from spider silk. I did not even know they had such silk in stock, but Snow brought last time some samples back for me to use. Costly but durable. Arrows should bounce right off. A bit of Mithril was woven into the iron holding the fabric. Enough for them to not break easily. Same with the hidden surprise inside the handle. Yep, I made a rapier inside of it. She does not like it as much, as she likes the massive iron claws I made her at first better, but still takes it with her as a sidearm. Right now we are coming out of the Forest on the west side. The first time I am here and the grasslands are visible far and wide. The travel had an encounter with a Rockbear, but he just ran as he saw us. We still do not know if he ran because of Snow or me. Maybe both? Walking the rather dry patch of Sand between the Forest and Grasslands I realize how strange this border is. Must be some kind of Magic or maybe the Forest is stopped by the Root to not grow further. I have no Idea, but still it is strange to have around a hundred meter of nothing before the grass stands tall as Snow. ¡­ ¡°Found it!¡± ¡°Ah, that is a cricket. Nice to see one of those here too.¡± ¡°It makes such a funny sound! Can I keep it?¡± ¡°Sure Snow, just be careful not to accidentally kill it. Maybe it can become a Monster?¡± ¡°Only if it keeps chirping like that. In the cage you go, little sound bug.¡± The second day being in the Grasslands. They are huge! It is like an ocean of grass on hills and valleys. Sometimes there is a patch of barren rock, but otherwise the grass stands tall. Different kind of seeds are already in my pouch. The barren wastes of the Crater might need a bit more life. With the Monsters the conversion starts to become easier, but still is not enough to keep all my Domain empty of Miasma. Well I have now nearly grown my Domain to three quarter of the diameter of the Crater, so it is logical to have not been able to keep it clean. I have somehow the feeling it is not only my ineptitude to keep it level, it seems to me like the miasmic flow into the Crater is rising. Maybe I just imagine it as my Domain is now so big, but it makes me a little uneasy. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡­ ¡°Seeing anything?¡± ¡°Nah. Just grass and some more grass.¡± Right now Snow is standing on my shoulders. All around us is so much grass I thought maybe the higher vantage point might show some more around us. ¡°I start walking again.¡± ¡°¡¯kay!¡± While walking she balances on my shoulders with her tail as counterweight. As we are both enhanced, it is not really troubling to walk like that. Without my ability to feel the crystal sphere in my Domain, I would too be totally lost. Losing Ava in an ocean of grass. Somehow scary. ¡°Ah over there! Some smoke is visible.¡± ¡°Finally, I knew they had to cook someday. Which direction?¡± ¡°A bit to the right. A bit more¡­ Perfect, now only forward. Coming down, catch me!¡± And with a hop she lets herself fall. She could just land on her feet but wants to be caught. Well whatever, she is rather light and I have no problem with it. ¡­ Right now we are surrounded by cats. Catkin to be precise. Their spears and bows are drawn and no one seems to want to talk. We just stand there and appreciate the scenery. Those cats all have different stripes or spots. Tiger, leopard, cheetah¡­ there might not be a distinction of different feline clans. Their clothing is made from leather and flax, not badly made either, they are way more elegant and precise as I would have thought. Boots are not in their repertoire, as they might need the stealth. Gloves are missing too, but otherwise they look rather stylish with some feathers here and there as decoration, maybe some kind of markings for rank. Snow was at first really interested in their looks and looked at each one a long time separately until she got bored. Now she yawns, as I am bored too. When do they want to speak? ¡°Look what we got here. We caught a little mous¡­¡± ¡°RAT!¡± Snow, do not be that angry. It might just be a phrase. The apparently superior who came out of the grass right now is a bit shocked being interrupted like that. ¡°Well¡­ RATkin, you are in the wrong part of the Steppe, and why are you wearing foreigners clothings? Are you a Slave of that blankskin there?¡± Blankskin¡­ What a poor slur¡­ Are Elves not even more ¡®blank¡¯? They are your friends, are they not? ¡°Nah, I am his family. We just came to ask for direction.¡± ¡°Foreigners are not welcome here, we would have killed you right away, if we did not see you with him. We can give you directions to the afterlife, if you are not careful.¡± ¡°No, we need other directions. Do you know about some ruins of the old Kingdom, which were here a few thousand Years ago?¡± Snow is unperturbed. I still had no chance to talk, as I was not asked, and to be fair, Snow can also talk about what we want, so that is that. ¡°Little bitch!¡± An arrow was fired, obviously just to scare Snow, as it would just fly over her side, but she caught the arrow with two fingers. ¡°Still RAT, no mouse and no dog. Do you not even be able to see the difference?¡± Breaking the arrow with her two fingers she made the whole group¡­ were a group of cats not called clowder? Chowder? Clutter? ¡­ ah whatever! The catkin are all tense now. They thought themselves in a superior position and now suddenly they puff up their fur. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Snow, and this is Ava. We are just passing by.¡± ¡°Snow¡­ Strange Name, you are not from the Steppe, are you or were you a slave?¡± ¡°No, I was always free. Ava found me, when I was injured and healed me back then, since then we are Family.¡± Hugging my Arm, she is rather relaxed. Well it is a bit bad for us to hold hands while surrounded, but both of us should be able to escape. Worst comes to worse, Snow can pull Twin out of the shadow and pull Ava in. This would give her time to escape while I wreak havoc with Twin as sacrifice. ¡°Lower the arms. Snow, we normally do not tolerate Foreigners in our midst, so consider yourself lucky. My name is ¡®the one with the cloud in its fur¡¯ but Cloud is enough for now.¡± Jeez! And I thought Root Names were complicated. What about Names including whole poetry? ¡­ ¡°Wise Leader, these are Outsiders, who want to know about Ruins around our Steppe. Snow is strong, but no Member of the Steppe, so I did not know how to further approach. Please guide me.¡± Sitting in front of a rather old looking Tiger, with white fur. It seems not originally white, so they have that in common with humans, as their color fades over time. Albeit old he looks strong, must be the genes or maybe the Steppe does not allow weakness. Strange, as I did not even see one strong animal in the whole area around us. There were signs, but every time we saw something, it just evaded us. ¡°You have done well, little Cloud. I feel their strength just being near them. We welcome you to our humble tent, travelers. What might you seek in those old and forgotten ruins?¡± ¡°Thank you wise Leader of this mighty Clan. I am Ava and search for a way home. My home is far away and might only be found with teleportation Magic, so I am searching for clues of strong enough Magic to bring me back.¡± ¡°An arrow shot by a strong bow will not hit, while the target is not known, traveler. You might find the Bow, but remember the further the target the more precise the shot you need.¡± Well¡­ wise words. I need to be extremely precise. If I just open a portal in the dark I might miss. ¡°I will remember this. I might only have one shot, so I will always keep your wisdom in my mind.¡± Nodding he got silent for a while. ¡°Do you know, why our land is still unchallenged by humans as of now?¡± ¡°No, I do not.¡± I do not even know what is going on in the Grasslands they call the Steppe. So I can say with certainty I do not know anything. ¡°It is a long kept secret we¡­¡± ¡°Leader!¡± With a hand he silences Cloud. ¡°A long kept secret. We have Shamans who can talk to the World. The World mostly slumbers but can tell us the past, present¡­ and sometimes the future.¡± So they have Future sight. Neat! But why¡­ Wait, were they aware of me? Chapter 60 The white haired Leader continues his Story. To be honest I am a bit nervous, what will come next. ¡°We can not see much, but we can see glimpses of what is happening. And a few years ago I saw the birth of a dark Crystal devouring the World. I could not sleep for days, but when the time came the Future changed.¡± Dark Crystal? I do not get it¡­ ¡°Something without a body took its place. The future was rewritten as it often is, and new visions came to me. Terrible visions¡­¡± Okay, I am lost, but now it starts to become a horror story. Whatever he wants to say, I feel an ominous Aura. ¡°There was one of a massive Beast, coming to us to destroy all of us and making the less fortunate in new strange forms by its companion. It was a small beast, becoming a monstrous being and hiding in the form of a weak prey. Then there was the companion, being there with a body but not his body. The nightmare was ongoing.¡± ...I am not dense, does he mean us? We destroy them? ¡°Right now I am sure of the ongoing of the World, and want to make a trade.¡± ¡°What kind of trade?¡± ¡°As the future is not always linear, there are other Visions. If we stop the calamity of the Beast and the Unbeing, there will be another in the future. Metal moving on their own will come from the far western side of the Steppe, trampling our home and killing everything that does not submit.¡± ...Tanks? Maybe Mechs, we are in a fantasy world, and Magitech might be a thing. Far West would be¡­ Maybe the Empire, but as I often seem to be proven wrong I do not fully commit on this mindset. ¡°What I want to ask of you is help us defend the Steppe with your Family in a few dozen years. We will help you find what you seek, as there are remnants of ruins everywhere, and too much for finding the right ones.¡± Does he suggest I fight a War for them? I do not even know if I would still be there. ¡°You will be still here, do not worry.¡± He said, he can see the future, not read freaking minds! ¡°I do not have the ability to read minds, be at ease.¡± That does not put me at ease at all!!! ¡­ ¡°What do you think Snow?¡± We are in a tent especially for visitors. Normally the tent is only for other kin, but right now we are welcomed guests. I do not know how to think about them seeing the future. They know way too much and might be a threat. But if all of the dozens or hundreds of tribes can see the future¡­ Eradicating the whole Steppe would be tedious. So much Materials though! ...Nah, it would be hard to transport so much back, and to be on friendly terms with some of the Tribes would be nice anyways. ¡°So, about the War? Well it is still a few Years. If you are really still being here, why not?¡± ¡°I think just about going to a War is not like fighting some bandits or snakes in the Sewers.¡± ¡°Um¡­ Null?¡± Something wrong? ¡°Yes Snow?¡± ¡°You are working on Monster creation right now. How many Monster would you have in¡­ around 20 Years?¡± ¡°So you mean I would have an Army anyways¡­ I just want them for clearing the Miasma, but you are right. They might be able to help. But still, a War might be over our heads.¡± ¡°They just want our help, not that we have to win it all on our own. Besides¡­ They are somehow kin, even if we were born different. I still can not fathom, why the one thought I am a dogkin though¡­¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°That is not what he meant with bi¡­ never mind.¡± ¡­ ¡°Yes, these Vegetables would do nicely for our youths. You might not know, but we Beastkin grow stronger the more Mana we ingest. While we can not use Human magic, we have our own shamanistic ways of things. What do you want in exchange?¡± I am in business mode right now with the Elder of the Cat tribe. When we already have one deal, why not more? It would help tremendously. ¡°In exchange I would like some animals. Maybe some I can let graze by itself, as I only have some Chicken and Grasswalker.¡± ¡°Sadly we can not help too much with that, as we are hunters, but one of our friendly tribes is having a large herd. We could buy it per proxy for other goods we find. Becoming friends with some of us, will be beneficial to you.¡± Crafty. Let the others haul the things to our Village and just buy afterwards. Well cats are mostly crafty, albeit silly, so¡­ ¡°If someone wants to be fiends with me and trade, I would not say no. Who are they?¡± ¡°They are a bovine tribe.¡± Let me guess, milk? ¡°We are in a long truce between us, as they give us food for all kinds of findings, which are for us useless. Tomorrow we would send an envoy with you to explain all the things, we talked about.¡± ¡°This would be nice. For now we take all the things Snow wants to keep for those radishes.¡± Well the rainbow stone necklace looks rather nice on her, so whatever. At least she is happy. ¡­ ¡°Are you sure about that wise Elder? Those are the horrors of your Dreams?¡± It is not nice to eavesdrop, but still it is better to know who you are making deals with. ¡°I am sure. I have had a hard time not to shiver. That girl must be the Beast, as her body looks way different than the Soul she emits.¡± Aha! He can see Souls too! Maybe he can identify the spirit body or something of that kind. ¡°Should we not just kill them while they sleep?¡± ¡°Shush! Can you kill a demon while it takes a nap? No, you can not! Those two are more frightening than the Snake with eight heads! You do not have a chance.¡± ¡°And what now?¡± Yes, dear Elder¡­ what now? ¡°We befriend him. Mother Earth said ¡®greed is pain, altruism is salvation¡¯, as long as we do not antagonize them, we are safe. The truth behind the words of Mother Earth might be his vice laid bare. Do not take from him without giving. Do not demand something without reason. Mother Earth never lies, but always lets us ponder her wisdom.¡± Friendship out of fear¡­ Not what I really wanted, but at least they are friendly. Maybe someday they do not see us as some kind of demonic beings. ¡°What about the human? He looks normal.¡± Yeah, what about me? All the talk about Snow makes me envious about her power rating¡­ No, I am not sulking! ¡°His body is strong, but¡­ there is no Soul inside. He is controlled by something unfathomable. It might be the Puppet of the Unbeing. Searching for a new body before going back where his hate lies.¡± Okay, I take it back. I do not want to know anymore how they think about me¡­ ¡°Then, what are your Orders for the Clan?¡± ¡°Tell them, they are friends send by Mother Earth. They will be handled like members of our Clan. Esteemed guests.¡± ¡°As you wish. We hope you do the right thing.¡± ¡°I hope the same. The Dreams I have the last weeks before their arrival are showing promise and a way further into a future without us being slaves by the walking Metal, so please have trust in my decisions.¡± ¡°Always, wise Elder.¡± Slowly putting back the membrane over my inner ear I finally stop hearing every cricket in a kilometer radius, not helping that there is one right in a small cage on Snows backpack. ¡°What do you think?¡± Snow heard everything too with a Shadow Rat. So she can advise in. ¡°Um¡­ At least they like us? Well if we are treated like Family I think I want to help even more. What do you think Null?¡± Putting me on the spot. Well I have similar thoughts, so maybe I should say them out loud. ¡°It is sad, that they just like us out of fear, but it is better than us decimating them right away. It also would have cost much time to get back with the survivors for me to pick their Memories. So, win/win.¡± So this is a great thing for now. At least we have an inlet to the Grasslands with those as allies. ¡°By the way Null, do you think this Necklace would be a great present for Anna? Mack needs something to give her for an engagement present, this would be great, no?¡± Oh, Anna has a betrothal candidate? I did not know that. Damn, I should sometimes watch over the Villagers or someday I am totally out of the loop. ¡°Better not Snow. If Mack gives the Necklace to Anna, she will immediately know you have given it to him. Maybe not to mess with their courtship, as it might not be the one which Anna really wants. You do not want her to be pressured into it, because she thinks you chose him, right?¡± ¡°Ah, nearly made a mistake!¡± That made her sit upright while sweating. Well if it is Anna she would not want her to be in any dilemma. Those two best friends¡­ Chapter 61 ¡°So, you are the calamity which could devour many of our tribes?¡± Right now I sit with Snow in front of a cow person. He is the elder of the Bovine tribe and he is old. And I mean it, he looks at least a hundred years old, while smiling at us. ¡°Well, maybe? I do not know really about your powers of seeing the future in your dreams, so I can not tell anything.¡± ¡°Do not worry, we had similar dreams, but only for the tribes around us being devoured by Darkness to become strange creatures. Seems black Claw has headed my warning.¡± ¡°Your warning?¡± ¡°Yes, our Clan is a peaceful one. Well for you we might not really that peaceful, but we only go to battle if we get attacked. That is a difference between us and the Cat tribe you met. Telling black Claw about the difference in our Dreams and why we believe our Tribe to be spared was the reason to go more diplomatic towards you.¡± Makes sense. They looked quite warlike with everyone being armed to the teeth¡­ well their teeth are armaments themselves so maybe even to the ears. ¡°And what do you think about me?¡± ¡°To be honest, I see you as a blight on Mother Earth, but also a boon as the original calamity was stopped by your arrival and got contained. While you are not one of this World, she slowly accepts your presence, as you help her clean a heavy wound. Like a leech taking the bad blood out to let it heal better, you are here for a reason.¡± Was that praise or offense? Old people make me crazy, I never know what is something nice they said and what is something bad. How the hell should I answer this assessment? ¡°Null is no blight. Null helps who needs help and is nice to people who deserve niceness.¡± ¡°Yes, little Rat. That is one of his noble sides. He might be like a puddle. If you look angry into it, it looks angry back. If you smile it smiles back. And we Bovine always smile first and only get angry if someone hurts us.¡± So¡­ An ally? ¡°To be honest, I am having a hard time following, but it seems you would be ready to be friends with us?¡± ¡°Yes human. We would like to, as we seek also shelter behind you for the angry Metal.¡± Angry Metal is a rather strange saying, but might be okay. ¡°You seek the secrets buried by time, and we can ask our friends to help. Not all will be happy to see you in the Steppe, but we will abstain from fighting you even if you eradicate some of our allies. Please remember, not all are fighting out of rage but out of fear. If you find it in your heart, spare those who just are scared by your presence.¡± Well¡­ ¡°I can try, but it is often not really easy to see who attacks with what intent. If they try to kill me I will retaliate, you should know.¡± ¡°I understand that. Just I thought I give it a try to help with blunting the spear, that might be thrown against my kin.¡± Okay, he is a nice guy. With him I can easily communicate. There should be way better opportunities to negotiate with him. ¡­ ¡°Snow is such a fitting Name. Your hair looks really like the color of snow. If you were born in the Steppe, they would have called you ¡®hair as white as snow¡¯ for sure!¡± ¡°Thank you little Dot. Your Name is also fitting. That dot on your Nose gives you such a nice charm.¡± Right now we mingle with the Bovine Tribe. They seem to be way more comfortable around us after Red Horn, their Elder was announcing us as friends of their tribe. While a soup is being made I gave a few magic onions to the people cooking for flavor. Feeling the Mana, they were profusely thankful and the festivities are now even a notch higher with that. Instead of leather clothing this Tribe wears nearly all flaxen clothing. It is not that intricate of a design as the Cat people had in their clothing, but you can see the love of their craft in them. ¡°You seem happy, Human Null. That makes me also happy.¡± Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Near me the Elder of their tribe is sitting on a cushion and watches the whole tribe and us. ¡°Yes, it is nice to be welcomed like that. I rarely have been welcomed like that, and those times¡­ I hope not all of them were fake, but I will find out.¡± ¡°There is deep hatred in you. I can not speak for the place you came from but destruction does not bring change it only brings an end. If you really want revenge, then you should change what was bad and empower what is good, so you can show them how it is done.¡± I thought he would tell me not to go through with my revenge, but his speech was enlightening. What do I want to destroy is not the whole World, but the status quo, which made it so despicable. There are many heads that need to roll, but not all the heads of the Kingdom. Maybe some changes in their upper caste will make it easier for them to become decent. The God on the other hand needs a flogging. And while I am at it, I found a great way to turn Miasma into Mana, so making a monster Kingdom for filtering that Miasma into Mana should show them what the World really needs. Reduce, reuse, recycle! ¡°Your Words hit a cord in me. Maybe I should look for who is really to blame and try to be careful not to hurt innocent.¡± ¡°If I can make you be more humane, I can visit my Ancestors proud. When I am gone, I hope you remember me.¡± ¡°Wait, gone?¡± ¡°I am old. There is no way I will live until the Metal is walking the Steppe. What I am doing right now is maybe the last great decision I make before meeting my Ancestors. So please be an ally for my successor.¡± Yes¡­ he is old, but I did not even think about¡­ So this is his last will? As the Tribe is nice to Snow and me, I have no reason to not help him. His descendants and I might be even friends as long as I exist in this World, so long as they want to be friends. ¡°I understand. I am sorry for forgetting your age. For all I can promise you, I will try my best to be on good terms with your Tribe and if we someday have an outing I will remember you, so I will not do something I might regret.¡± His old face grew an even wider smile. He seems to have no teeth. He really is that old... ¡°That is all I am asking for.¡± ¡°Grandpa, here is some Soup. It has rich Mana in it and is delicious. Come on eat!¡± Little Spot brought her Grandfather a wooden bowl filled with soup. As I can see the pieces were already mushed so she might have worked extra hard for him to eat right away. What a nice Family. I wish¡­ ¡°Null, here you go. The soup is still hot, so be careful to not burn Ava. Do I have something on my face?¡± Maybe I do not need to wish. I already have. ¡°No Snow. Sit down, lets eat together.¡± ¡­ The next Morning arrives and while I take over Ava again, Snow wakes up, too. Yawn ¡°Good Morning.¡± ¡°Morning Snow. Petal has arrived today in the Crater.¡± ¡°Huh? Is it two Weeks already?¡± ¡°We searched rather long time. The Steppe is wide.¡± ¡°So we need to begin our trip back to the Lost Village. I will kinda miss Spot, but at the same time I want to see Anna again.¡± While being guest with the Cat and Bovine Tribes the last days were faster over than the ones we searched for them. Now that we know where they are I have it easier next time to find them, even if they are nomadic and might move around. The way to find the way in the Steppe was explained to me, but has gone right over my head. They can read the earth, the way grass was bent, see in the clouds, the wind currents and can even differentiate smells over Kilometers apart. And I thought Ava was superhuman, those guys make him look like a faker. ¡­ ¡°...and the light itself shows the direction to where my Village is located. When worn the Guardians of the Forest know, you are with me and will not attack you. Also the light is annoying to Monsters¡­ ¡° ¡°~uuuh~¡± ¡°...and Snow, as she is an Albino.¡± Explaining the Amulet to the people who might come for trade I show it to them. Snow herself uses the Parasol to not see the light it produces. Poor girl¡­ ¡°Such a great Artifact. Sadly it can only show us to you and not back, but if we have gone the way once we should be able to go the way every time. We will breed some more livestock for you, but will take us time until maybe Summer. Wait for us, we will not forget.¡± ¡°I anticipate your arrival. We will have a nice feast when you visit us. I have some Monster meat, so there will be enough to eat.¡± ¡°Keep the meat at minimum please, we eat more Vegetable and fruit. Although we also eat meat, it is for us more the side dish to fill us up.¡± Ah, yeah bovine, I should have known. ¡°Got it. I have many produce and can give you some Water with high Mana also, for the trip back.¡± ¡°Do not go out of your way to be nice to us. It will just be seen as patronizing.¡± Well Hoof has misunderstood me and looks angry. I should explain better. ¡°No¡­ that is not what I meant. We have a problem with it. All our Water is imbued with Mana. There is no non Mana having Water so we have to put it in urns to dissipate it slightly.¡± ¡°...wow, to see that as a negative¡­ Well, yeah I can see how problematic that can be with time. I am sorry I misunderstood.¡± ¡°No, I was the one who did not explain in the right way brother.¡± Well they keep us like family and want to be called brother or sister, so I oblige rather happily. It is nice to be welcomed into a community even if someone is an outsider. If I see some Beastkin slaves I should buy them and bring them back to the Steppe. The guys are really welcoming¡­ Oh, yeah forgot not all of them are. Hoping for the best in the future for all the other Tribes I meet. Chapter 62 ¡°Anna!¡± ¡°Snow!¡± Let the hugging war begin with a shout. Well those two really seem to have missed each other. In two days the next transport is scheduled. With the many presents Snow has in her shadow we will be hard pressed presenting them all before the next trip is ready. ¡°It sounds so cute! Never thought an Insect can make such cute noises!¡± Ah, the darn cricket. Still with us it seems. Snow even learned how to feed it from Spot, as they know what all the animals around love to eat. Where was I? Ah, the transport. Well I will go again with the Villagers, but seems Snow will come too, as she had so much fun shopping last time. Well I have no complaints, as she has fun with all of it. By the way the Ballroom in the Castle is ready as is the Study. The ballroom in the east is rather large and has a balcony right to the outside, around the balcony is much shrubbery as I have started a second kind of garden for Bush Man. A giant labyrinth is in the working and while I form the ways and even some parts which are movable to change the ways, Bush Man just tends to his siblings. He is not really under my control, but he does what the plants say and I am in control of the taken over plants so whatever. For all that is worth he is rather the most peaceful and passive Monster right now. Working on keeping the plants well fed and maybe lashing out, when something gnaws on the roots of a distressed shrubbery, otherwise a total pacifist. On the West side right opposite from the Foyer is the Study. A rather large room with a nice flooring and big study tables. While there are bookshelves there is a spiral staircase upwards to a still empty library. Just making room as, if the Visions of the Beastkin is to be believed, I will be here for some Decades at least. North from the Foyer I started something a bit more weird. I call it the towering Stairs. Entering the Room it is kind of an extremely tall room with two large Pillars left and right. Stairs are winding the way upwards to the separate floors. And now to the weird part: You can reach the ground level, second level and fourth level from there. The first third and roof are only reachable if you are on an uneven floor number as the second staircase winding perpendicular to the first one does not start on the ground floor. Why? Just because. Well Snow and me can always move there without the stairs as I can use my Portal an she just jumps that distance as if it were nothing. If I ever have some kind of ¡®invasion¡¯ they will wonder what is going on. Well, to be honest I just want to create something silly, as I love strange layouts. For now the only way to the uneven numbers for other people is the Study, to the library via stairs and then from there to the other levels. But who would even need to move around there except us? ¡­ ¡°Name and purpose?¡± ¡°Ava, Mercenary. With me is Snow and our haulers.¡± ¡°This way please.¡± Wait, what? ¡­ ¡°Where did you get those plants?¡± ¡°None of your business.¡± ¡°TALK! We know you stole them from somewhere! Do you think we can not find out where you came from?!¡± ¡°Then find it out. You will not have any luck.¡± ¡°Well, if you do not want to talk we just ask your little Mouse girl. We can be very persuasive and she will squeal until she talks.¡± Deep breaths. If he wants to go against my Family, then he will have hell to pay. Well Snow is able to defend herself, so keep your cool and do not let him antagonize you. Deep breaths¡­ ¡°If you want to, you can try. I hope you understand what you just implied, as you will have to be held responsible.¡± ¡°Do you want to make a threat against me? You might still not know, where you are! Right now I am the one who holds you responsible!¡± Yeah, yeah¡­ How about you finally unveil what is going on here. You will be oh so sorry later¡­ If not the whole Town will have to pay¡­ ¡­ Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Sir, this is the Leader. He might know where it is.¡± ¡°Where what is? You still have not made any resemblance of sense.¡± ¡°Silence!¡± ¡°Be quiet guard, I take over.¡± ¡°Yes Sir.¡± ¡°So¡­ You are Ava?¡± In front of me is a Mage or an apprentice maybe. Black hair, black mustache and a small goat beard. ¡°Already told my Name. When is the reveal, what you really want? You keep me from selling my wares.¡± ¡°You mean our wares. Where is the place for them to be grown?¡± ¡°If you do not even know where they are grown, how come you think they are your own? Is suddenly everything you guys see your own property?¡± ¡°Obviously those came from a hidden place the Green Fire owned before vanishing. Where is the Mana spring?¡± Now they make finally sense. So they think those came from a place the Green Fire owned and now they want the right to it. Well then I can help them. ¡°Ah! Now we go in the right direction. What was his Name? Seldar? Eldar was with him and¡­ Beryl? Yes, I remember even Mink, who led them to us.¡± That gave him a twitch. Does he know Mink? I remember the Name of the apprentice was not known who vanished with them. ¡°As you now know, tell us where it is, or you will be sorry. The more you wait the more your female companion has to suffer.¡± ¡°If you had touched her, we would not even talk anymore, as the whole town would be in a state of emergency. Do not talk nonsense.¡± ¡°...what? Do you know in what situation you are?¡± ¡°Oh yes, I know. First came Green Fire and thought of taking our land and died miserably. Then we started to sell our produce and all of the Mages got greedy, now you try to take from us again and think you are so superior for having the least sought after border Town in the whole of Telk. Stop me if I am talking too fast by the way.¡± He does not even know what face he should make, suddenly going through shock, anger, apprehension and uncertainty. ¡°Like Green Fire you think yourself on the strong side and running into your demise. You are from Blue Ice, right? Just call Rendlar here from the Peddler King Branch, he will tell you who I am. Now if you excuse me, I am currently busy with being restrained on this chair and have no time for any other questions.¡± Huh, for someone who is from Blue Ice, his face is beet red. ¡°Karl! Break his finger!¡± And he tries. By the way my Fingers are bendable and durable. ¡°What is taking so long!?¡± ¡°Eldrik! What are you doing here?!¡± ¡°Master!¡± A fine woman comes in. The Guard stops desperately breaking my finger and stands upright. ¡°What is going on!¡± ¡°Master Elane, you see¡­ He is the one who knows the whereabouts of a hidden cache of the Green Fire. The things he brought are proof, and we interrogate him right now.¡± ¡°And who gave you permission of that?¡± ¡°I¡­ um, as a representative of Blue Ice it is my duty to find all secrets forgotten by Green Fire for our Caste.¡± ¡°That is not an answer, who gave you permission to just incarcerate, interrogate and now torture some people you do not even know if they have something, that belongs to us?¡± ¡°But¡­ The Vegetables are¡­¡± ¡°...Are right now a sought after commodity in the whole of Telk, while you are trying to break the fingers of the one, who seems to be the source of those commodities. Do you want war with every Caste against us, or are you so silly not to understand that?¡± ¡°No, the reason is, those belong to us rightfully as¡­¡± ¡°I already TOLD you, Green Fire tried to rob us and died. Do you want to have the same end?¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± A backhand came from the apprentice. I just caught it with my now free Hand. ¡°How did you...¡± And crushed his arm. ¡°YAAAAHRGH!¡± Throwing him away I break the other restrains slowly while looking at the people in the Room. ¡°So¡­ Are we finished with the charade? You are the great Rescuer who will free me and I show you out of thanks where the Products come from? Or is the script different?¡± Well she starts to get white in her face. She might not thought of me for much, but now she is on guard. ¡°Prisoner Escape!¡± The guard shouts for reinforcements. Seconds later the Room is full with Guards. ¡°Well?¡± I await the start of the slaughter. My patience is at the end and this City will¡­ ¡°Guards, lower your weapons. You would die without reasoning.¡± ...survive? Chapter 63 ¡°My Name is Elane. I am sorry for the behavior of my Apprentice. He is¡­¡± ¡°PRISONER ESC¡­ ARGH!¡± ¡°What is going on!?¡± Well I know what is going on. Seems I am not the only one who is at their limit with the whole imprisonment. ¡°SNOW! Over here! Do not kill all of them, they are just stupid!¡± A Wall of darkness entered the Cell and after vanishing a Rat girl sat on my lap. ¡°There you are! Those guys just asked over and over where we came from. As one wanted to slap me right now I just could not stand it anymore!¡± ¡°So, you are talking how sorry you are while still interrogating my Family¡­¡± ¡°Karl! Immediately stop all Guards! Do not lay your hands on the Pri¡­ on our Guests or I will decapitate every single one of them myself!¡± All Guards ran at the same time to stop any more interrogations. Well too late for most of them, as I will not appease with only some apologies. ¡°Where is Rendlar? Does he know, what you did to his Customers?¡± ¡°Rendlar? You mean the vice¡­ So you are sending them from here to Meldek, but why?¡± ¡°To prevent the thing from happening right now? How do you explain the reasoning behind our sudden incarceration?¡± ¡°I am ask¡­ No, sorry. We have gotten a tip of a Ratkin having made a rather large sum of Money, so there were some questions we wanted to ask.¡± ¡°That is questioning? Wow, I am so glad to not be invited to Tea by you. I might have my armor cleaned from all the blood and gore afterwards.¡± ¡°You¡­ Well I understand your misgivings, as this was not meant to happen. You should just be put in a cell for a while, until we can question you about something written in Seldars Diary.¡± ¡°...and this is?¡± ¡°A Mana well was found by his Apprentice Mink. She lead him to an expedition and never returned.¡± ¡°Oh, and you could not connect their vanishing with maybe dying against a faction they had no way to win against?¡± ¡°...I am courteous to you, so please¡­ be courteous to me too!¡± She really thinks I give a damn right now. First they incarcerate us without reason, then they interrogate us, threaten us, try to break our bones and slap Snow. Now they play victim as if they did not start the whole shitstorm. ¡°Snow, let me stand up.¡± ¡°Hop!¡± Jumping from my lap I stand up and go over to the apprentice. Elane watches me but does nothing. He just keeps silent and tries to play dead, but he looks ever so often to us with shock in his eyes. ¡°Wait¡­ What do you want from¡­¡± That were his last words. Should have told something cooler. They did not remove my armor and just sat me down. So, I have still my nice gauntlets with the electric cores. This time he had way more resistance against the invading electricity. So Mages are also resistant against Magic. Good to know, bad for him I can overcharge now with how much Mana is inside of Ava. ¡°What are you doing?!¡± Elane stood up and made a kind of magic Shield. She guards against my attacks, but right now she is not my target. For now at least. ¡°Making a point!¡± She is still a bit dazed and starts retching of the fried smell of human flesh. ¡°You all started this disaster, and suddenly you want to be talked to in flowery language! We just came to sell our produce, but suddenly that is a taboo! While bringing your City wealth, you throw us into the dungeon and have the audacity to say we shall treat you with respect!¡± She finally seems to understand, what is going on. Yes, we are close to a Battle, and she just talks about being courteous to each other while we are right now in a smelly, moist and dark cell inside their Prison. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Tell me Elane! Is this the kind of place to be diplomatic, or is this only the waiting room for your esteemed guests?!¡± While spreading my arms around to make her look where we are, she realizes how demeaning she sounds asking for courtesy inside a jail cell for maybe the worst kind of offenders. ¡°Please be at ease. We will right now make some preparation while you get escorted to the visiting Room. I am sorry for not realizing how uncouth I was. All your people and possessions will be brought to you immediately.¡± The guards looking into the cell scurry away, as she claps her hands. Maybe now it is going in the right way, otherwise this City will burn. ¡­ ¡°Welcome to our humble Town. My name is Harvey, the Leader of the Caste of Blue Ice. I¡¯ve heard about what the member of our Caste has done to you. Sadly I also heard, he has already been punished by you, before we could do it.¡± So he is the new leader of the Town? Harvey, what a strange name for a Mage. Whatever, we are right now in the meeting Room of their Fort. I notice some strange fluctuations around the room, might be a way to attack us. ¡°Ava, Snow and company.¡± His brow twitches a bit. I do not care. ¡°We apologize about the handling of you, as we did not know you are Mages too. Some people just look at the clothing to see the person instead of their demeanor.¡± How nice¡­ Now it is my fault for not wearing a conical hat to walk around their city? Are they for real? ¡°Sorry, I did not know, there was a rule for people to wear clothes specific of their magical capabilities. I will remember next time.¡± ¡°You stupid¡­¡± With just one look he made the Member on his side stop talking. Well at least he can keep them in check while they are near him. Maybe work on your range for that ability. ¡°No, we have no such rule. Please let us lay down the sarcastic knife and find a solution of this debacle. It would not help us all to further stoke the flames. We have called for your friend Rendlar to come to the Fort. Right now he seems unavailable, but will be let through right away.¡± I just nod. What should we do otherwise? ¡°Do you want some Tea?¡± ¡°No I am good. I think we should just drink our own water. Snow?¡± Giving me a flask of water I just jug a swig and give it back. It should tell him I am wary of poison. I am not stupid, as I just killed one of their apprentice and Snow had ended one and crippled three guards. ¡°Shall we start the talks? I would like to tell my side of the story, and hope you can later explain what happened.¡± ¡°Well, I had already heard the Guards telling me what happened, but it would be beneficial to hear the other side too. Please do tell.¡± So I explain how we just came for selling purposes, the writ was ignored, we were put in separate cells and while we did not even resisted in the slightest they just tried to insinuate what they would do to Snow, tried to break my fingers and nearly slapped Snow while we were already working on the appeasing from Elane. ¡°I¡­ understand your discontent, but for you to just kill¡­¡± ¡°Do you have someone you love? Family who is so dear to you, that you would do anything for? How about I tell you I will do what I want with that person and give you the broken rest of her back when I am bored?¡± ¡°You¡­ Wh¡­ Ha¡­ No I understand. I am sorry, you might be a bit impulsive, but have the right on your side. In the Name of Blue Ice I apologize. For the meantime you are our guests, I hope you do not go right away. I would love to know where you come from and how you got such interesting Vegetables.¡± ¡°For what reason?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°For what reason do you want to know where we come from and where we got our things? Green Fire is now History, after trying to take our valuables. And you want to know our position just because you might visit for Tea and Cookies?¡± ¡°That is not the reason we want to talk. We just¡­¡± I wait for the answer. Maybe he hopes I would just interject or maybe show again how impulsive I am to veer the Discussion into some other direction, but I just look at him. ¡°We just want to know, where our Friends live, so we can be more welcoming later on. If we know the direction there can be a road be arranged or maybe we can keep the track clear of bandits. It is just for our benefit on both sides.¡± ¡°Excuse me Lord Harvey? Rendlar vice President and Miss Celia President of the Peddler Kings branch are here. They want to answer the audience request about their supplier and customer, um¡­ Named Lord Null.¡± ¡°Lord Null?¡± ¡°Ah, that is me. My true Name. Now I can not be incognito anymore. Dang.¡± ¡°So your Name is truly Null. Ava is just a pseudonym?¡± While waiting of my answer, I do not answer. Why should I? ¡°...Ah, let them in. We do not want to be rude to our visitors.¡± Finally the Peddler King reinforcement is there. This will be messy, but funny at the same time. ¡°Lord Null, are you all right?¡± ¡°Hello Rendlar! Yeah, they just wanted to break my fingers, and I fried one of their apprentices as revenge, but we are right now being all friends with each other.¡± The sarcasm was just oozing out of me. Snow giggles slightly, but everyone else is rather staunch. ¡°Hello Lord Null. I have heard many things of you. My Name is Celia and I am glad to meet you finally.¡± Well she is not really happy, as she just wanted to have me useful before being robbed, but such are merchants. ¡°Nice to meet you Celia. As you see we are right now in a precarious situation. The end result might mean no more produce, I hope you understand my plight.¡± ¡°That must not mean, we should just go different ways. We would be happy to support you with your selling of your products.¡± It was not Celia but Harvey who interjected. Does he really think he can bend a strained relationship like that back with all those cracks visible? ¡°No offense Lord Harvey, but how will that even work? Now that everyone knows how valuable the things are which are send through here, how would there not be more robbery attempts and greedy eyes looking for usurping this towns Caste to hold the Line for themselves? They will come with hostile intentions also to our Lands, as they will search far and wide for our location. There is nothing to mend, as all is not only broken to pieces but ground to dust.¡± Ho, the panic and chaos in all of their looks. Blue Ice is thinking of how to bring everything back to how it was, Peddler King is calculating their losses and how much they will punish the Caste without being retaliated against, Guards who were with us interrogating us sweating profusely and pray at least their families will survive their culling, and I look just at Snow as I scratch her behind her ears. Total Anarchy! I love it! Chapter 64 ¡°Ahem!¡± Harvey clears his throat. Does he have an Idea how to create a new bridge out of the sawdust there is laying around? My work is done, now for the reaping of either gains or souls. ¡°First of all, there is no leak in Information, as only we know of the transport through Halk.¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± ¡°...yes?¡± He is really vary of me now. I have shown the pile of destruction and put a small cherry on top just to mock him. But he can not ignore me, as he does not know where we came from and is not sure if he can even restrain us long enough to get the Information he needs. ¡°With all the Guards who rummaged through our backpacks and the Jailers who saw the interrogation, how can there not be a leak in Information?¡± ¡°...The Guards can just be re¡­ no, they will keep their mouths shut if they love their families. Do not worry about them.¡± Ooh. The Guards shiver, I can hear the teeth clatter without enhancing my hearing. ¡°We all have been stepped on the wrong foot here. We can all bring everything into a brighter light, don¡¯t you think?¡± Looking at me, he waits for the end of the conversation or the last thread of hope. Lets give him hope, I want to get something out of it myself, anyways. ¡°There is a possibility. I do not want to stop our produce just because of some greedy apprentice wanted to rob me. I have a rather good relationship with the vice President albeit only in hindsight of a Merchant. We did not even increase the sale before it came to this abrupt stop.¡± ¡°Increase in sale? You can procure more of it in a Month?¡± ¡°Sure, Rendlar just could not sell all of it right away, as it was not known and needed to be seeded first into the Market.¡± ¡°How much would you be able to sell if there were no limit?¡± ¡°Right now? Um¡­ A ton? Maybe two? We have not enough Farmers for more, as it comes with demerits and I will never force my friends to work until their deaths.¡± ¡°Two tons¡­ How far¡­¡± ¡°Far enough for large fields.¡± Already reading your mind. Still I am not even close to how that old Bull could do it. I have still shivers. ¡°We can support you with Farmers. There is an abundance of them.¡± ¡°No thank you, I do not need spies.¡± ¡°We would never¡­ no, you would not believe us anyways. So it would be possible to be part of the distribution?¡± ¡°We of the Peddler Kings do not have anything against a partnership as long as it benefits us. If it would be a demerit for us, then we would rather stop every transaction for the foreseeable future.¡± ¡®Make it happen or we cut you off from our Merchant network¡¯ never sounded so professional. I bet Blue Ice noticed the choice of Words too, from Celia. First she thought of me as a lucky finder of a precious resource, but now she rethinks it as she sees how stressed even Blue Ice is. ¡°With this, we are all of the same reasoning, to keep the transaction as it is, we of Blue Ice would support it with our own guards to make it as profitable as possible.¡± ¡°I would like to add something.¡± A split second I could see despair on Harveys face. Well lets bring some benefits for me and my people into the boat. ¡°The transport of the goods is rather tedious and stops some of my workforce. I would like to have the Peddler King or another Merchant visiting my Domain for the buying and selling of wares, so it is easier for my Lost Village to get all their needs.¡± Confused Harvey looks at me. I might have transformed into Loopy right in front of him with the incredulous look on his face. ¡°Did you not keep your place of origin secret? Why do you want to lay it open like that suddenly?¡± ¡°You misunderstood. I just want to keep it secret from would be robbers. Right now we are talking about a partnership and not about how you want to swindle the location out of me to kill us all and take it for yourself. The Peddler Kings President and Vice President are here to hold you to your Words. I do not think you would make the mistake to show them not to trust you ever again.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Breath Harvey, breathe! Your head is going to explode! ¡­ ¡°Thank you Celia for coming. With you here it was way easier than with just Rendlar. He might be a great boon in discussions, but with both of you together the whole weight of the Branch was pushed onto their promise with this contract.¡± ¡°Well, to be honest I would have not come, if the Guard send was not pleading for Rendlar himself to come fast, as he always mentioned your name instead of Blue Ice wanting to meet him.¡± So it was shock and awe which made her move, as she was interested in seeing what was going on. Noted, be more flashy sometimes. ¡°With this, you have better control over the transport as Blue Ice fully supports your transports in and out of the Town.¡± ¡°Well yes, but they have for this given privilege also first pickings of the produce. If they want, they could become a competitor of us.¡± ¡°Stop with the jokes Claire, if they do that you would just create a new transport route to another depot for this. Am I right?¡± ¡°No you are wrong. I am not demeaning your products, but with all of it together you might come close to the money flow of the town, but this would not mean I would just hop on a shaky boat for that bit of profit and antagonize some more Mages. Coin is nice but I do not want to die by being frozen to death.¡± Oh¡­ Yeah, I might think too highly of my position right now. A ton might be worth Mithril, but does not mean the whole world will bend their knee for me. I have a valuable resource but I am not ungodly wealthy. ¡°Sorry, I might be all to high and mighty right now for putting Blue Ice in its place. I would love to leave the contract as is for now, just that an envoy of the Peddler King is bringing and taking commodities to my Village.¡± ¡°We would love to, but the transport costs¡­¡± ¡°Are you sure the transport of stuff will be such a large strain for the Branch Business?¡± Well she wanted me to be humble, so please be humble yourself. ¡°...fine, we stay with the six Gold price for now. As when the selling goes over five hundred Kilos we will reduce it to five Gold, as the Market will be a bit too saturated and I believe then will be the knowledge about your Village be public. This will make the later transports way more dangerous.¡± ¡°Fifty large Gold cut for transport? Are you hiring the Knight order of Arcana?¡± ¡°...I am sorry, I misspoke. I meant to slowly reduce the price, as the value will fall if there is more to buy. The five Gold was the lowest we would go.¡± ¡°That makes it even worse, Claire.¡± ¡°Ah, I am sorry, we stay with six Gold for the foreseeable future then. I might be a bit greedy otherwise.¡± What a merchant. Thinking I can not count and just see the gold I will have and not what they cut, she tries to swindle me out of so much money. Rendlar is maybe shifty but at least he is honest. It might be the reason why Claire is only President in the smallest Town on the Forest border. ¡°I think so too. Well then we just need to schedule the next transport to our Village. I will bring you personally there or might ask Snow to do that.¡± ¡°This will be no problem, we just come to you directly. Just tell us where the Village is hiding and we should be able to go there. The sign of the Peddler King gives us rights to nearly travel every road inside the Magistrate.¡± ¡°Well, I will still bring you there, as it would still be better, because there is no street there. The Village is behind a cave in the Starfall Mountains, right in the middle of the dark Forest.¡± ¡°...excuse me, where?¡± ¡­ Reflecting how everyone was handled in the interrogation, we sit in a private room of an Inn. What I wanted to hear was how they were treated, but the first things they all tried to say was, that they did not tell anything. I soothed their worries and told them, this is not the main point, I was worried about their well being. For a few seconds they were stunned silent, afterwards Belk started with telling his story. Well they were rather roughly handled. A slap there, a kick here. There was a challenge by the guards who could get the Information first out of them, it seems. Snow was treated a bit more special as she was last time seen in more Noble clothing, but after seeing Elane coming they seems to be a rush in urgency to get the Information quick and tried to use physical methods, which Snow did not let slide. The Offender died right away, three more Guards trying to keep her in were brutally wounded and then I made myself heard through the door with my shout and she came right to me. I am still torn in how to handle this situation. They really made a mess with the incarceration. Right now there is someone in the Room at the side to listen in. His breathing is at the Wall and I can imagine how he has some kind of horn or cup on the wall to hear in. Whatever, shall they know, that I am still angry. ¡°I am still a bit perturbed. Right now I am really pondering if I should call all of our Members to fight.¡± ¡°Lord, we are Farmers we can not¡­¡± ¡°Not you. Don¡¯t worry. But in the Castle that is getting built are more Members of my¡­ Family? Well yeah, they can be called distant Family¡­ So there are more you did not have really seen.¡± ¡°You mean Loopy? He looks so funny! I think he can be a good fighter.¡± Snow interjects. Well yeah, he too, but would he be humming his strange inharmonic song while he slaughters too? ¡°Also Bush Man. He might be slow in the head, but if we can get him for a minute not to tend to his plants, he might come too.¡± ¡°What about the little ones in the Greenhouse? They would love to wreak havoc once in a while!¡± ¡°I am not really sure. They are somewhat weak on their own. Whatever, lets think about it further for now. That Karl one was threatening you Snow. I really can not let that slide. He will have to pay. I might just kill all their Soldiers to get to him.¡± ¡°Was it really that bad?¡± ¡°He insinuated¡­ terrible things I can not leave like that. You are all Family, but I hope you understand I feel more for Snow as she is longer with me.¡± ¡°No Lord, we understand! We are already grateful for you to ask for our grudges. Those guys were holed the whole time inside the Town while we were ravaged by the Bandits, we will always be grateful!¡± All the others nod from Belks speech. Since when is Belk so articulate? Does he grow into the Village Chiefs role? Then I do not need a new Village Chief, but a Secretary for him to work with. Male obviously, as his wife will be beating him, if he were to come home ¡®late¡¯, even if it is not what she thinks. No slapstick for my Village. ¡°Let us just breath deep for now. I really am pissed about the whole chaos, but should not rage around for most people seem to be just in lapse of their control around their Members. If there are more slights we retaliate, but right now we play nice. The Peddler Kings were always friendly and starting a kind of war just because of this, would strain my Friendship with Rendlar. Claire is rather unlikable, but not everyone can be a nice person it seems.¡± With this the Spy seems to be satisfied too and left while we ate. While eating I whisper to Snow. ¡°Snow? I have a job for you¡­¡± Chapter 65 - Snow POV Snow is glad she got with Null. Since I was a Rat he was nice to me, albeit there were the dark times where the healing hurt, but that is long gone. For him to be at the same time in some form and around the whole town was weird, but I never feared anything. He was nice and gave me food and water. While not being able to move right, he just fed me directly and I remember how he often pat me while lying in my Nest. Now I finally can pat him and help him out, I am so glad! True, the change hurt more than the healing, but I was ready! At least I thought, but now that is over and I am finally like his favorite form! ¡­ Right now there is a secret Mission for me. My Shadow Rats, how Null named them are following the person who snooped next to our Room. Walking around in circles he entered the Fort after a while. ¡°Report!¡± ¡°What did you hear?¡± ¡°Their strength is higher than just the two of them. I heard of some Fighter called Loopy and an Alchemist or Herbalist with the Nickname Bush Man. There are more it seems likely working in a kind of Greenhouse, where maybe the Products came from.¡± ¡°Anything else?¡± ¡°No more Information, just that there are more Farmers of unknown Number. They were the Farmers in the Fields we forsake while snuffing out the embers of takeover in the City. Their Loyalty lies deep, as they lost everything and now seem to have some kind of easy life.¡± ¡°...No wonder they did not even flinch. Elane, what can you say about this?¡± ¡°It is not possible for me to say anything. The man called Ava or now Lord Null is no true Mage. His Armor seems to have runic mechanisms he can use.¡± ¡°So just a fighter?¡± ¡°...no, that is the strange thing. He just ripped the chains without activating any runic circle. His bodily strength is way too high for being a simple Fighter. He might be a trained Knight.¡± Another seems to be disagreeing with that mean girl Elane. ¡°Unlikely! The higher Castes would not let a fully trained Knight walk around without supervision. We talk about a non Mage using Mana. That could throw the whole Caste System out of balance!¡± ¡°Nothing to learn for now. Elane what about the girl?¡± ¡°She is even weirder. The Magic she uses is neither Shamanistic nor Druidic in Nature. If I would not know better I would rather say she is a Demon, but no Demon would just walk around like a normal human.¡± Stupid Elane! Snow is Snow! Not a demon or whatever. Well maybe I am a bit more than a Monster now, but still I am myself. ¡°So, might she be the true Leader? I can not think of a maybe Knight to be the ruler of a Mana well somewhere.¡± ¡°It¡­ it might be, but their relationship is somehow strange. They act like lovely siblings, but nothing shows her being in charge.¡± Yes! Very lovely Siblings! I love Null and want to be with him as it is always fun! ¡°Some peons with way too high morale, an unknown Knight, some demonic Ferral, hidden people¡­ This gets worse and worse. Any reason to believe they are a split Caste or maybe a branch of a higher one?¡± ¡°Negative. No one knows about their affiliation. They just appear and disappear like they are ghosts.¡± ¡°What about the position of their supposed Village?¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Obviously a Lie. How can there be anything inside Starfall Mountain. I heard it might be a Crater, but even scrying does not show anything but pain to the seers.¡± ¡°Maybe it is true. If there is a hole, there might be valuable things inside.¡± ¡°Too vague to start a fight over this.¡± ¡°It might be really the reason for the vanishing of the Green Fire. Seldar was no fool, but greed always clouded his reasoning. He might have poisoned his mind with his vile flames long ago.¡± Everyone talks, but they just argue, argue and argue some more. Just be friends like us, and then everything would be easier. Humans are really weird¡­ ¡°Anything more?¡± The sneaky one pipes up. ¡°The talk was about going to war with us but were at the end appeased. Albeit they want a stable relationship, the one called Null can not tolerate what Guard Chief Karl said about his beast companion. How I heard it, he would fight the whole garrison just for his head.¡± ¡°That is troubling. That one is not only impulsive but rather rash in his emotions. If I do not fear, what might lie behind their shadows, I would have frozen that bastard into an ice sculpture¡­ What to do¡­¡± ¡°How about just giving him Karl? He might be a reliable member our Caste, but for an unknown Power to be antagonistic for his head is rather foolish, no?¡± Yes, Null did not like that guy. He said something about me, that really made him mad. I am happy to be dotted on, but if he made Null that angry, I want to dote on Null too and give this guy hell. ¡°...For now set him under House arrest. We might give him over as an apology, but it would be good if we find a way to keep his head attached. The morale of our troops would rise, if they heard of us protecting our own.¡± What is there to be thinking about? If you want to help someone you like you help. If you do not want to, you do not. Why do humans need to decide for so long to even consider helping? Somehow I am glad not to be human, so complicated and annoying. ¡­ ¡°Rendlar, you will take care of the whole commerce with that Null.¡± Right now a Rat is also snooping in the chambers of that Peddler King. They have nice Cookies, but maybe they are not so nice after all? ¡°Well you might have underestimated him a bit too much.¡± ¡°Shut it. As Merchants we need to keep our profit as high as possible. I would have given him three Gold per Kilo. You are too honest.¡± ¡°And you are too shrewd. I started with five Gold and just got haggled to six. He seems to like honesty more than Money.¡± ¡°That is why you should have put the price even lower. Look honest and reap the Money he does not care about.¡± What a mean Woman. ¡°...That is the reason you are sent to this Town, Claire.¡± ¡°So? You were sent because of your stupid honesty ruining some great deals.¡± Nah, I like that Rendlar Guy way more. He is the nice Merchant you are the crummy one. ¡°So, I am send to be the official visitor at first for the contract?¡± ¡°Of course! Do you think I would go into the Dark Forest? Maybe he just wanted to make a sick joke, but it sounded like he meant it. No, thank you.¡± sigh ¡°As you are the President, I oblige. Remember, with the commerce I could be making, the position might shift between us.¡± ¡°And that is why you are too honest, Ren. Telling your competitor how he might be in danger, just to be a good sport. Then let me tell you something, Blue Ice now knows about it, the place is maybe in the worst location ever and Arcana might meddle with the whole transaction later on. There are more than one way to lose not only your head but not even have anything of a body anymore to bury. If you survive I give you the crown with a kiss on the hand, I have my presidency back next time.¡± ¡°Then I take over the whole contract. As this thing is way too big for the need of your underhanded transports, I have to trust the Blue Ice for transport security.¡± ¡°Do what you must. Anything else?¡± ¡°No¡­ good luck, Claire.¡± ¡°Go to hell.¡± Well, at least we have the nice Merchant. I would not like to have the one who is that vile. With this I might have more Cookies and ask for more toys for reasonable prices. That reminds me, I have to nag Null for my new toy he wanted to make, as he seems to have forgotten about his promise. That scatterbrain sometimes¡­ ¡­ A dark tunnel and bending pipes. It is hard to maneuver in those. Our sewers are way better than what they use. The direction should be right¡­ whoops! Someone threw a bucket of water down the drain. Lucky evade! Well then where to¡­ Down here might be right and now a left. Ah there we are. So this is their house arrest place. Quite cozy for a supposed jail. Why did we have to sit between mold and smelly water, when they had such a place? Blue Ice is really not nice¡­ Looking around I can see some Guards being inside those rooms through the bottom gap of the doors. Some I remember. The one there I remember being in my way. Seems like his leg was not being able to recover, sorry not sorry. Here is he not. So maybe in another wing¡­ The higher security place is not really that high. Still iron bars as doors where I can squeeze through or gaps where I can just puddle the Rat and slip under. Such lax security. There he is! Hi Karl, there is someone who wants to meet you again. Now let us carefully see how to bring enough rats to open a hole to pull him in¡­ Chapter 66 Finally going back home. Snow has had her fun and we have bought some more toys. She reminded me I promised her a new plaything. I totally forgot! Sorry Snow, I will repent. Before going though, I wanted Karl¡¯s Head from Blue Ice. The whole discussion was rather long and tedious until they abate and sent someone to get him. Right after coming back sweating and with white face the Guard said he was gone. Of course he is, Snow got him earlier. With the whole discussion strained, I ask them to find him and not play tricks on me. As if one of their Guards who made such vulgar threats just can walk right out without them knowing. Of course they told me they did not know about anything, but I demanded for either him, his full body corpse or something valuable as an apology, if they really want to keep him that protected from me. Harvey might have close to having Steam coming out of his ears, but could do nothing, as this time it was not my cause directly¡­ at least he thinks that. He might die on a heart attack, if he does not be able to keep his cool. They wanted to steal my peace, now who has still their peace and who hasn¡¯t? If they tread not carefully for now, they might be getting an edict of Arcana. When the secret from where their fancy new food source is coming from gets revealed and the ruling Caste of Arcana hears about how strained our relationship is, there might be a polite request to pack their bags and let someone with more friendly people have the supervision over the route. Ah, Snow was on many secret and personal Missions the whole time. Personal Missions included walking with me from store to store, going to the Orphanage to donate again¡­ and maybe play with the children¡­ tasting every shack and looking over the Farmers market for maybe new things we could plant or raise. I had to tell her we would have no way to bring that woolly Cow home with us right now, and the seller looked at Snow funny, when she said she would just put it in her ¡®pocket¡¯. No Snow. We get some later, they would be too scared in your Pocket for the travel. ¡­ ¡°We are back! Leafy you are here too!¡± ¡°Hello Snow. Welcome my Lord. How was the travel?¡± ¡°It was rather bumpy. Some things happened, that were rather unpleasant. I am glad that it is over.¡± She was back earlier, but missed us by a day. Nothing seems wrong, but as she came back she was extremely gloomy. Somehow I think there happened something. ...wait. What did Leafy say? ¡°Leaf? Something is not right, is it?¡± ¡°No, everything is fine. The whole vacation was just so exciting, I am exhausted. I just make a Tea for us and relax while you tell me about the last Month. How were the Grasslands my Lord?¡± There it is again. ¡°Falling Leaf¡­ You are really her, right?¡± ¡°Null? Is something with Leafy?¡± ¡°Snow, did you ever hear her saying to me ¡®my Lord¡¯?¡± Shock seems to course through Leafy. Something is definitely not right and right now I am not in the mood for more problems, but when they come knocking I will knock them out. ¡°Now that you mention it¡­ Leafy, what is wrong?¡± ¡°Snow¡­ Lord¡­¡± ¡­ We sit in the Mansion and drink Tea. Leafy shivers a bit. Something is definitely not right. What is it this time? ¡°My Lord, you know how we were in front of the Queen Mother, and my Grandmother¡­¡± ...yes? After a deep breath Leafy continued. ¡°My Grandmother said she would cut my branch. She really did. I¡­ I am not a Member of their Family anymore¡­¡± They disowned her. Disowning is serious in Root culture. A branch cut will be left to rot. It might not be an exile, but emotionally it might be the same for the Person. They just¡­ just threw her away¡­ like trash they threw her out¡­ like trash¡­ like¡­ me¡­ Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ~~~OOOHHM~~~ ¡­ ...am I being hugged? What happened? Somehow I feel a bit suffocated, but what is¡­ Ah there is Snow and I smell a strangely rotten sweet aroma too¡­ Leafy? ¡°Um, girls?¡± ¡°Please, you promised to keep your sanity, my Lord!¡± Leafy said something¡­ Yes, she made me promise to try to not¡­ Oh, did I have an episode again? ¡°How long was I out?¡± ¡°Just a few seconds, Null. Suddenly there were voices around talking about how you were not trash, but they are trash. Leafy just jumped up and hugged you, so I did the same. Seems you are back?¡± So I still am not emotionally stable. Yay¡­ ¡°It is okay. I am back. Just needed to take a deep breath.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Leafy is rather scared. Well she might remember the last time I was¡­ irrational, so maybe it is that. ¡°Believe me, I am back and well. Please sit down. I would like to hear the whole story.¡± ¡­ The whole Story was¡­ sad. Her Grandmother officially said the words out loud in front of the Queen Mother and had to go through with it, but that seems to be just be an excuse. Leafy was on her way back with Petal, they were so happy about them having a whole week back in the Root City. The greatest present I have given her for she told me, being for a short while back where she belonged. But that was rather short in her happiness. As she visited their residential tree she was greeted by her Father. That strange slight was already a big slap in her face, as Root like all elves are Matriarchal and if not the highest Mother in their Family tree might welcome her, her Mother would normally be the one who would greet her from long absence. It all went downhill from there. Her Father told her, she has been cut from their Tree and is not anymore a Member of their Family. Her belongings she had collected over the decades were destroyed and thrown away. Her residence was refurbished as a storage, as no member of the Family would want to live in the place where a cut off branch lived. Her whole World, was just uprooted and destroyed. She was now a stranger in her own House. She broke right then and there. All she did for the Root is suddenly paid with pain and suffering. Petal took her right in as she heard what happened. Albeit Petals Family was somewhat kind, a cut off branch does no one want have in their homes, so they only reluctantly gave her shelter. The Queen herself was like all of the Root, except Leafs own Family, not told anything about it. The Wrath of her was the only shimmer of light for Leafy. Sadly she could not do anything. What is once cut is always cut. Not only that, but who to cut off from the Family Tree is all in the hands of the Matriarchal Leader of the Family. Not even the Queen has a right to tell who or when they prune their own. Even Redwind after all what he did, was not cut. He was just send to die as Root for it would be too cruel to not even leave him with his belonging to the whole. So now, there is the way to make a new Tree out of the cut off branch. This is not possible, as Leaf is not married. For someone to marry her, there needs to be a suitor, but she denied every single one outright for some reason, and never became a blooming Mother. Now that she is cut no one would court her, even is she would desperately search for one. Albeit the Queen Mother could ¡®suggest¡¯ a suitor and make a kind of forceful Marriage, this would strain her standing, as this would be seen as extremely vile overuse of her Power. Now we are here. Nothing to be done, and nowhere Leafy can go back to. She is now a wild flower, not connected to the field and not able to be with the others. Deep breaths¡­ Do not let the urge win¡­ deep, deep breaths¡­ ¡­ ¡°And now you have chosen to call me your Lord, as this is now your Home?¡± Leafy nods. If it were not so tragic I would laugh¡­ while punching a hole into the face of her Grandmother¡­ ¡°Leaf¡­ I never wanted you to be sad here. Snow and I discussed about how you might need to go back someday to your Brethren. That was why I wanted for you to go¡­ on vacation. Slowly bringing you back to your people, so that there would be no hard feelings.¡± Well she cries. And I can not do anything as I have promised her not to eliminate the Roots. ...Well she told me to not kill her Brethren, but are they her Brethren anymore? I could just cull them all and maybe¡­ no stop, Leafy would never want that, now I have to tend to her first. ¡°You have not to force you to be a member of our Family. If you do not want, we will always be friends. Someday you might want to go somewhere, and we will always be letting you go, where you really want to be.¡± While crying she shakes her head. Seems she wants to be staying here? ...And suddenly I am getting hugged again. Well if it helps her I hug her back¡­ somehow. I remember it is not allowed to touch the bark and raw flesh on her back, as is not even looking at it is allowed normally. So head pats are right now a necessity. ¡­ Such a gloomy situation right now. I would not even be happy to experiment on our second resident of the deep dungeon. What am I going to do? Right now Snow is hovering around Leafy and talks with her, but I cannot do anything. What shall I do? Go to the Queen and demand they change their Laws? Burn the fucking Forest down? Make a new kind of creature out of her extended Family? Nothing I can do, as I am just Void incarnate and need even a stolen body to just hug her for soothing. Right now I have so much free time and so little to do¡­ I want to start a new Garden and I know where I want to put it. Right on top of the Castle. This might become Leafy¡¯s personal garden. Who knows. For now I build the Castle up. The Second floor behind the Tower of Stairs will be the place for Guest Rooms. It looks more like a hotel with so many rooms and corridors, but I do not care. Below is the same but I decided this place is the rooms for the Servants, as it is not accessible from the Tower directly. The ground floor is for now Storage, as I do not know what to make of it. Dining rooms might be good and some meeting rooms? Later¡­ Third Floor, experimental Rooms. Here I can finally work on understanding every plant and metal in detail. Starting to create magnifying glasses stacked over another, I try my best on a microscope and put all those jars with different cloned body parts in the shelves. Maybe I can build a body without spirit and give it life with electricity? Later tests¡­ Fourth Floor, Snows playground. I forgot her Toy, so I make it up with that. Mirror Labyrinth later, as I need to make so much glass. Colored tunnels to crawl through and climbing equipment attached to the ceiling. Swings, slides, rope bridges, nets, giant puzzle on the wall¡­ More should come, there is enough room. Fifth Floor, Roof Garden. Putting many plant boxes inside and places to let trees grow, this should be a nice place for relaxation and maybe some herbal experiments. As it is connected to the third Floor via stairs in the Tower, there is no need for complicated transports, when I need something, for some specific tests. Chapter 67 Petal is already back? Wait, three weeks are already gone. I just built like a maniac, but never focused on the time. Snow seems not to be perturbed, she was always together with Leafy. By the way the Bandit found a way to end himself in the cell, so Karl is getting sedatives in his food from Loopy, to not lose him too fast. It seems the Bandit got to realize over the Months, he will not escape and just gave up. Need to keep hope up for Karl as I have plans with him. Walking out of the Castle for a while I start sprinting right to the Village. Ava has enough stamina and strength to be there in about 5 Minutes, which is already unreal, but hey, Magic. ¡°Hello Petal. Forgot you were coming today, I am sorry, for not being there earlier.¡± ¡°Lord Null, I am grateful for your presence. I see Leaf is looking a bit better. Later I would like to ask you about something, hopefully you can fulfill my request.¡± Ah, yeah¡­ Well I will at first ask for my grudge to the Root to be excused by what I am doing right now. ¡°Ah, by the way, we had a problem this month and I have to apologize to the Root. As you know the creation of the Mana dew is fickle and needs a special environment. Right now in the place where it accumulates a branch was cut off by a rather serious crack. Albeit I am sorry, there will only be half of what I traded earlier for now.¡± ¡°My Lord, Petal has nothing¡­¡± ¡°I understand Lord Null. It seems to have been a really serious break that happened, and maybe if my clumsy self had been tending it, it would have been a total dry up. Luckily you have the far sight to be able to handle this.¡± The strain on the Guards faces was all too visible, but Petal was even more vicious. Well we have the same line of thinking it seems. The message will definitely be heard not only by the Queen, but every Family head. Do not mess with my Family, or you will lose. Period! ¡°The Guards are rather heavy laden, what is this about?¡± ¡°Oh, you might heard about Falling Leafs outing. I brought some belongings from the Root City, but that will be talked about, when the departure time comes. At first we need to talk about the mending of the¡­ crack, that seems to have a detrimental effect on our long time trade.¡± ¡°I see¡­ I am sorry, but it will take a long time for it to be mend, but with help and maybe some understanding of the Root the process can be quickened, if it is possible to repair at all. I have to look at the damage first and this will take time.¡± Petal smiles rather knowingly and seems to be genuinely happy to hear me standing up for Leafy and even approves my punishment. Well she is her best friend, so it is totally understandable she would be on her side too. They fucked really up sending her to mend it, as it looks like the Root in general will bleed a lot for making Leafy cry. ¡­ At night Leafy and Petal are back in their Gazebo. The Guards are with the bags stuffed into another Gazebo. They notice the rather gloomy if not slightly bloody air, but seem to stay in line. Talks were more in the line of how Leafy is feeling right now and what she might need. The whole thing is still a rather open wound, even after three weeks, but it needs to be addressed, even Petal thinks that. Snow made Tea for us and it was¡­ bitter. Well she never did boil Tea before and just looked how Leafy always did it. She will learn, while I am thankful for her to be such a Darling and tries to help our slightly wilted Family member feel loved. I am a bit less murderous because of Petal being there for her, but still I will make the Root pay somehow. While thinking about lowering the water flow I find it not enough to have them feel what they did. So I am still a bit lost in how to deal with them. Even cut they are Leafy her Brethren, so I can not just attack and experiment on them, she would cry even more. ¡­ ¡°Thank you for the Mana dew, even if it is a bit less for now.¡± ¡°Nothing to thank me for, there are people who I like on your side, which might be troubled if I do not give at least a bit from my reserves. Are there any other things you want to discuss, before going home?¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. It is a bit strange for her to have me here right now, but wanted me to be at the departure to ask me something. Must be important. ¡°Yes Lord Null. As I see, you have more than two Gazebos build and might have Room, so I wanted to ask, if I could stay here and become a resident of your Domain?¡± ...what? ¡°...sure?¡± ¡°Petal!¡± Ah, Leafy restarted a bit later than me it seems. Well the shock of that revelation was a bit abrupt for all of us. The Guards still look blank. ¡°I thank you for your hospita¡­¡± ¡°Wait Petal, why do you want to stay here? Do you want to be cut like me? This is not a decision you can make without repercussions! Please overthink it again!¡± ¡°Leaf, I already know what I am doing. You know too why, are you not?¡± ¡°Petal¡­ we can¡¯t¡­¡± Wait, wait, wait¡­ What is going on? ¡°What is going on?¡± ¡°I am sorry Lord Null, please do not look down on us too much. We¡­ well, we are dirty women.¡± Doesn¡¯t make sense, what does she mean? ¡°I can not comprehend, what you are telling me. What do you mean?¡± ¡°We live a Taboo for a long time. Women can not beget women, as it is seen as dirty. I think the right term in common is ¡®lesbian¡¯? We love each other.¡± ...so? ¡°So what?¡± ¡°My Lord¡­ We love each other. We live a forbidden life for some time now.¡± ¡°...and?¡± ¡°Lord Null, what do you mean ¡®and¡¯? This is a rather serious thing going against our rules. While you might think of us just having some affair and going back to our mates we¡­¡± ¡°No, you two are together. I get that. Just¡­ Well I remember where I came from, there were some disputes about it being uncouth, but most people accepted it without any problem.¡± ¡°...there is such a place?¡± ¡°Yeah Leafy, and to be honest I am totally open about that. Why should I not, it is the love of others, and I have no say in it. As long as all the lovers can and are consenting, there is nothing against it.¡± While Leafy and Petal look somewhat shocked about something that I do not really understand the Guards look lost, confused and have a slight revulsion in their eyes. What is so strange about it? Love does not mean you need to pump out babies to be allowed to be happy. Do they throw infertile people in the wood-chipper, when found out? ¡­ ¡°So those were your belongings.¡± ¡°Yes, I said it were things from Root City to live here, but I never said they are for my Leaf.¡± Putting out the tongue, she looks somehow adorable. Leafy still hasn¡¯t fully comprehended what had happened, but she needs Petal right now more than anything else. Why would I just send her home, if she wants to stay? Would be stupid. Instead of what she said of having multiple Gazebos, she directly invaded Leafy her Gazebo and spreads her things. ¡°My Lord, I do not know if this is¡­¡± ¡°Leafy, she is here for you. You need her, and she needs you.¡± ¡°I still am confused¡­ I love her, but our love¡­¡± ¡°Here it is totally normal. Just be happy and be yourself.¡± ¡°I¡­ thank you my Lord.¡± And there go the tears again. Walking inside the Gazebo she hugs her Girlfriend and I take that as a sign to go. They can heal now in peace. ¡°Snow, while I was working I finally made you something. I hope you would like it.¡± ¡°And Leafy?¡± ¡°She needs to be alone with Petal. You helped her greatly, but right now she needs her the most it seems.¡± ¡°Okay! What did you make me?¡± ¡°You will see.¡± And with that I go with her to the Castle. I hope she likes the whole Floor full of adventure Park gear. I had really overdid it, but needed to tear my mind away from Genocide. The urge is nearly gone completely. Chapter 68 ¡°Catch me Anna!¡± ¡°Wait up Snow! You are so fast!¡± Of course she invites her best friend over right away. Well the first guest we had which is not scheduled to be experimented on is nice to have. Right now those two run over the rope bridges and through the tunnels. While Snow could just run in unfathomable speeds, she lets her best friend catch her and afterwards slowly catch her. What a lovely pair. While they are in the Castle I am right now with Ava in the Village explaining the soon to arriving Peddler caravan. The arrangement is, they can trade what they want and ask them to bring specific things to barter, while my exchange is the first to be processed. As they have always helped with the Farming they got Money from me for their contribution. I will buy their produce mostly cheap and sell it right away to the Peddlers. They are all in agreement to keep their own vegetables from the Market, as they are rather hooked on Mana now and have enough Money anyways. I buy from the rest of their harvest after tax everything over for one gold per Kilo, while selling it for five. It would be thought of as stealing, but they are in agreement as everything would be mine anyways, as for the Village, Fields, Water and the whole Crater itself. They believe in me and are even happy to have so much money, as without me they would still try to catch a Mouse to have meat on the table¡­ their Words, not mine¡­ ¡­ ¡°Can we first go shopping again, before we leave again Null?¡± ¡°We should have time. Still not enough toys?¡± I tease her a bit. She had to carry Anna on her back to the Village. The poor girl was drenched in sweat but had a big smile on her face, so she found the playground fantastic. ¡°No, but your library looks a bit empty. How about we put some books in?¡± That stings. I know it is empty, as I have no good books for it. It is hard to get factual books. ¡°There are many books in the bookshop, maybe we can buy from them at least one of each?¡± Ah, those are¡­ wait, I do not need to only store work books. Some romance books or adventure books might be nice for Snow to read, or anyone else who comes visiting. I am an Idiot¡­ ¡°You are totally right. I should have thought about it sooner. Thanks for reminding me. We will buy as much as possible.¡± ¡°Great! And we have to go to the Orphanage. They still need some help.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± She loves to help the children. I think she would just take the whole orphanage with her for the kids to live with us. Sadly that is not possible, do not try to sneak a child out for you to cuddle Snow. ¡­ ¡°You are not joking? The Village is hidden inside the Forest?¡± ¡°As I said, it is not directly inside the Forest. You just have to go with me. You already know about my wares.¡± ¡°Suddenly I am not sure about the costs for the transportation being waived. This is rather dangerous in my humble opinion.¡± ¡°No, not really. I have the permission of the Guardians of the Forest to travel to and from my Domain. As long as my sign is visible, it is all okay.¡± ¡°Just keep it unlit Null. I hate that light.¡± ¡°Of course Snow. Only if Monsters come too close. Well not that one would get near us anyways.¡± ¡°Lord Null, you mentioned Guardians. What are those?¡± ¡°They do not want to know about you, and definitely do not want them be known by you. Keep it that way or vanish in the Forest. Your choice.¡± ¡°I keep my curiosity in check, thank you very much.¡± Rendlar is a bit skittish, but has nothing to worry. The whole trip is rather easy, as I already know the easiest path without the most plants in the way. Otherwise they would need way more time. No Cart can drive through here, and after they traveled the path it repairs itself. Might be the Root, might be the Forest being weird in itself. Whatever it is, if you do not know how to travel these paths or have anything to show the way you need to be very careful. Well the way to the Crater can be used by the Amulet, as it shows the way. Back they have to use their own ways to it work out, not really my problem. I will be courteous to Rendlar, but if Blue Ice wants to travel to us, they can find their own ways. Telling him to keep the Fungal Peaks in sight are not helping him in his worries, but I think he understands what I mean. Just walking with the sight on them and against the glow of the Amulet is the easiest way home. His haulers all listen in too for their own reasons. Mostly survival, but I bet some will sell the Information about what they see. Not to the Information Center of course, as Blue Ice will have an eye on them, rather they sell what they have seen to Blue Ice directly. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. To be honest I had hoped of better resonance with Blue Ice, like them being more chill, pun slightly intended. With the power to hold a town comes responsibilities, but for them to vie for the least sought after resource Town in the west of Telk seems to mean they would eat their own to survive. For now we work together, but with what Snow found out, the trust on either side has nothing substantial. I will need to work on the crater, so their spies will have find it so welcoming, they do not want to leave anymore. ¡­ ¡°Welcome to the Lost Village. Domain of my Family and myself. Burial ground of Green Fire.¡± The warning was effective. Rendlar was fascinated and the Haulers suddenly were more focused on their job and less focused to remember all the details. The market place was already stacked with the 200 Kilo of produce. For changing of the distribution of the Vegetables, the storage room is not far, while on some counters are packed with different special products I have in stock. ¡°Is that a Monster Egg?!¡± ¡°Yeah, an Egg from a giant flightless Bird. It is unfertilized, so do not have your hopes up.¡± ¡°How do you kno¡­ No, please do not tell me. So it can be used for a Gala of Mages or Vanity object. Maybe both. The intricate shell can maybe be opened to keep it intact¡­¡± There goes the Merchant. Searching for worth in all the things at first sight. Well it is good we have Rendlar here. If it was Claire I would show close to nothing, but as Snow said he is trustworthy I will trust him too. ¡°Those feathers are from the Parent I guess? Are the cores here too?¡± ¡°I need them myself, so no.¡± ¡°A pity.¡± A white lie. I just do not want to give synthetic Monster cores. I do not know if it is visible or not. So I keep them for the time. ¡°Unpack the stocks! We start selling to the residents in an hour!¡± Rendlar starts the peddling. The Villagers know about the Peddlers, but are still a bit wary. Well they will come after the different kind of booths are stocked. Clothes, food, tools and other miscellaneous things for daily need are put on display. ¡­ ¡°An Elf?!¡± Petal was interested in the strange wares of the Peddlers. Wearing a cape with hood she hides her Root heritage well enough and just looks over what there is being sold, but lost interest pretty fast. Well much of it was already dead tree or just cloth she does not like. The cape might be also not liked by her as she went back to their gazebo rather quickly. Where did she get that cape from? It was not alive¡­ was it? ¡­ The transaction was rather smooth. The wares got sold with inflated prices, but they were not that over the top. Around double the worth inside the town, so it was not that bad. All of my Villager had enough Money, but were aware of the inflation and haggled rather fierce, so most of it was sold under double with the promise of bringing specific wares next Month. With this there is at least the promise of return. ¡°So, was it so bad to come here Rendlar?¡± ¡°Do you want a real answer to it?¡± ¡°...Yes?¡± ¡°The travel is horrifying, going through a forbidden zone just like that might have aged me a bit. Your Village is rather sparsely populated or way too mistrusting as only so many came. While we sold nearly everything, there is the problem with the next transport, as through that uneven terrain it will be hard to transport fragile things fast. And then there is the mystery of all of them having bandages somewhere on their bodies, as I can suspect a terrible thing happening to the People in such a rich Mana presence.¡± Wow, that was really honest. Brutally honest to say the least. It might be scary, but not as much as he thinks. With time they would have it easier to come and go. ¡°Honesty is really your best strength Rendlar. I am happy to have you as direct partner of this transaction. While the transport this time was with me, the next time would be on your own, so I would like to ask you, how much do you think would security for the transport to be at ease cost?¡± Scrunching his brows and thinking he seems to calculate the rating for different Mercenaries and what he can scrounge up as force for protection. After a while he lifts his head. ¡°Four Gold minimum. I need at least some hardened Mercenaries with a good reputation.¡± I nod. It might be lower than he would normally say, but seems to try to give me a bargain. Well I can be nice too. ¡°Lets make it a large Gold. You can take it from my Money as securing the transport of the wares to my Domain and goodwill for our long lasting partnership.¡± ¡°I would like to thank you for the generosity. This will put me more at ease. Do you need something specific?¡± To be honest¡­ ¡°I am starting a Library. Not a small one and would like to put in not only those Novels in bookstores but make a true Library with many different skill related Books and different inventions or research logs. I would like to use all the Money for the next shipment to be turned into those books. You never know when you need knowledge and have not the one you need at hand.¡± Surprised he looks at me. We talk about over a Mithril worth of Money. I am officially in the category of middle class and the first thing is not vanity to buy but books. Well it is some kind of vanity to have so many books, but seems like people do not think that. ¡°This will be a rather sizable collection. We might add some people for transport on our caravan.¡± ¡°Would that cost more?¡± ¡°No, no! It will just be a bigger convoy and we need to keep them dry and secure. The price will be a bit inflated, but as it is a large buy it will only be around two tens higher than normal.¡± So 20%¡­ Remembering their kind of speech and changing it directly in my mind to what it really means. Noted. ¡°This sounds good to me. Next time I might be able to show you my Fort.¡± ¡°Sadly, I am not always ready to go myself, so I have to excuse me for the future travels and just send one of my trusted subordinates. Mordred, please come here!¡± ¡°Yes Boss?¡± ¡°This is Mordred. He is an honest man and will be in charge of the transport and transaction. Sadly I see in the future Claire sending some of her to sell the wares to the People in your Village, but Mordred can be trusted, if something goes awry.¡± Looking at the rather large guy, he is build like a brick house. Albeit towering over two meters, he has an honest face and seems rather intelligent. Rendlar seems to trust him, so he will be on my positive list for the foreseeable future. ¡­ ¡°Can we go shopping again?¡± sigh ¡°Of course Snow. But did we not already buy everything we wanted?¡± ¡°There might be new stuff! And I like to walk around with you. Oh, and the Orphanage!¡± We already gave them¡­ On second thought, we might be back only in a few Months or maybe a year, now that the Merchants come to us and not otherwise around. She is right, we might give them a bit more Money, so the children are fine. Chapter 69 ¡°This is too much!¡± ¡°My Sister is right. This is way too much to accept, please put it away.¡± Well this is rather awkward. We want to spend, but they refuse. Well it is ten large Gold, but that was what the egg was halfway bringing us in, so no worries about that. ¡°This might be our last donation for a while. We came to sell our wares here, but right now a merchant caravan will come monthly, which means we might not be here for several months. This will be the farewell gift.¡± ¡°Still, it is too much. We would be in your debt way too much.¡± ¡°What debt? We donate and do not want anything, but seeing the smiles of the children.¡± Nice catch Snow. She is right. The poor should have to eat and poor children should have a smile while eating. Well I am rather attached to the whole Orphanage somehow. I do not know why, but I just want to help them. ¡°...Okay, but you have to take some of our older Children with you.¡± What? ¡°What?¡± That¡¯s what I said, wait I was the one who said it right now. I am confused. ¡°Give me a Second, why do we need to take some children from you?¡± ¡°The truth is, right now there is some pressure of needed Workers.¡± Isn¡¯t that good? Those children might be getting a nice job and have a great life. Why should we just take them? ¡°The need is for expendable soldiers and stress relief, as the next Monster stampede is starting to form.¡± Oh, the stampede¡­ I remember, but not really. Was it not Petal who said something about it? So her ¡®soon¡¯ meant really ¡®soon¡¯. ¡°You want to make us take the Orphans and put them in a safe place, where those people do not get them?¡± Well she nods, but there is a problem. ¡°Our Domain is extremely overabundant in Mana. Everyone who lives there will be hit with Mana burn. Although the truth about Mana burn is overinflated, it is still something those children might not want to bear and you should be aware of it.¡± Now those two Sisters are shocked. Well it is a revelation they might not have expected. Now we are in a stalemate, what to do. Can they really go through with that, what they right now try to rationalize? ¡­ ¡°Anna! We are going on a trip!¡± ¡°Huh?! Where are we going Snow?¡± ¡°To Halk! Your father will obviously come too. And Belk with his two youngest Children.¡± Snow, if you just throw that right in her face it is obvious, she does not understand. She can not read your mind, jeez. ¡°Let me explain, the Orphanage is in a dilemma. Right now they are not sure if they really want those children come to us, because of the Mana burn. The travel is to explain how the symptoms are and if the children would like to come with us. We do not want to force anyone, so we show them what the demerit is, to go with us.¡± Now Anna is in deep thought. Well it is rather much for a teen. How old she really is is sadly not known, as her Family first learned to count after coming here and the age plank with the carved lines of how old she really is was destroyed to hide her existence. ¡°Do I have to go?¡± ¡°Of course not. Snow just was too overenthusiastic. If you would rather stay here and not travel that far again, nothing will happen. Snow just thought you would be the best candidate to explain it to the Girls inside the Orphanage, as she trusts you the most.¡± While thinking she looks at Snow. ¡°Anna, I am sorry. I was just a bit too direct, of course you do not need to do it if you¡­¡± ¡°I am doing it.¡± ¡°Please do not force yourself for me Anna.¡± ¡°No I am not forcing myself. I am a bit scared to go back. It feels as if I have to go back to my old life,if I travel there, but you would not leave me there, would you?¡± ¡°Of course not! You are my best friend, I would never just¡­¡± ¡°Then there is nothing to worry for me. As I told you I have still Nightmares sometimes of the shouts of my Mother. You helped me, and I should help others decide if they want to come here too.¡± I pat her head. ¡°Brave girl. No wonder your father is so proud of you.¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°He is?¡± ¡°Of course I am.¡± Ah, there he is. Right on time after talking with Belk about the expedition. Maybe he should have been the one to ask her, if there were not such an overenthusiastic Rat, jeez. ¡­ Here we are, but why are there even the small children in the room? I thought only the ones in the higher age group need a place to work¡­ I have to seriously talk to the Sisters later. ¡°Children, you remember Sir Ava from before, right? He is with his¡­ younger Sister Snow here to give you an opportunity, but it has some demerits, you should know about.¡± Why the long pause because of the Sister? Just because we are not the same species, we still see each other as Family. Rude¡­ The children are way more enthusiastic. Many smiles and some even wave to Snow. She made a real impression in those kids. Well it is now our part to explain. Maybe I should start, so the others can explain what is the problem with my place. ¡°Hello children, some of me might remember me as the weird guy, who wanted those bugs and animals. I assure you, I am not that weird as you might think I am.¡± A few chuckles, but rather muffled, as the Sisters are here and want to keep it serious. ¡°Snow and I have a rather large Domain, which needs some tending to. Our Village is still only filled sparsely and we have a big castle which ever so often gets dusty. But there are problems with our place. To explain I have brought some of our Villagers, who can explain it better by showing what is the problem. Robert would you please unwrap your Hand?¡± Coming forth he does not say anything really and unwraps his hand. The blue glowing scar is rather visible. Over the time this scar has become as large as going all over his arm up to his shoulder, but as he always wears heavy clothing he does only need to wrap the Hand. Gasps are heard, some huddle together, others step one step back and in all eyes are seen fear but also some kind of wonder. Well you would be a strange kid if you were not full of wonder about everything on this World. ¡°Our Land is filled with Mana to the effect, that everything has Mana. The water, the food, even the air. Almost all of our people have those scars and live perfectly healthy lives despite of them. Normally we should just explain to your grown up brothers and sisters these Information, but somehow you little ones are here too¡­¡± Looking at the Sister in charge she bows slightly. Well the others just evade eye contact, maybe they discussed something without telling me? I want answers. ¡°We explain everything after the talk to the children. Do not worry.¡± This is the least you can do. Well lets go to the next thing to do. ¡°To understand what you would be going into, we have brought two fathers with their children, so you have honest explanations from people of similar age, as many of you definitely know how many grown ups often lie.¡± I see a few nods and some sad or painful expressions. I knew I made the right choice bringing the children. ¡°While asking questions, maybe they want to play with you something. Their Fathers will be with them, so no secret romance.¡± giggles ¡°Snow will be here too, I bet. So be nice and have some fun while asking. Remember some of you should really think about the proposal, as I heard there¡­ Nevermind, just try to think about if you would like to be living in a new place, as I believe some of you will find the thought alone scary. Have fun!¡± And with this the children mingle a bit. Some older ones even came to the fathers and ask about what they need to work on and if there is enough food. Many different voices go all over the place, I can make out ¡®does it hurt¡¯, ¡®its creepy¡¯ and even some ¡®we can get those?¡¯ and ¡®awesome!¡¯ was mixed in it. I just hope not too many will come. We have the space but not enough hands to handle that many pipsqueaks. ¡­ ¡°Care to explain?¡± Right now we are in the visitors lounge. The Sisters and Workers look rather embarrassed, but right now the ship has been sailed. Now you have to explain the breach in our plannings. ¡°Apologies Sir Ava, while you were gone, we had a meeting to discuss the sending of our children into such a dangerous area. But rather than voices of discontent there were many who were in favor of the plan. In fact no one seems to be against sending our Children to someone who not only revealed the problems of his Lands but are genuinely and openly concerned about the health of our children.¡± I nod, but that does not even explain what is going on. So I hope there is a continuation, or I will have to dig deeper, as the main question of the little rascals being there is still not explained. ¡°You should know, it is the first time someone came here and wanted to outright ask the children of their own volition. Mostly worker come and ask for us to just choose some of the stronger ones or make some demands we have to find in them to be worthy of the work. You on the other hand wanted not our input but the genuine feelings about it from the children. We thought it would be better to give everyone of our protected the same chance to choose, as you are a rare Person, who thinks of the children more than of himself.¡± So many Words for just ¡®we think you are nice¡¯, well they have to learn how to smear honey around the mouths of people if they do not just give disposable workers for dangerous jobs, maybe. Still there will be demands from me. ¡°I understand now. Still I will have demands on you also. We had a verbal agreement and now the stacks are different.¡± ¡°Of course, you can always take the money ba¡­¡± ¡°I do not want the money I gave with open hands. I need caretakers for the now bigger band of rascals that might go with me.¡± ¡°Excuse me, what?¡± She seems shocked. ¡°One or more of you need to come with us, so he or she can help with caring for them and keeping them save.¡± That was met with silence. Of course you will need some more handlers if the little monkeys increase in number. Do not be so surprised. ¡°I¡­ I understand. We need to discuss if someone is willing to go with you. Might we wait until we know how many of the children will be going with you? Maybe it will not even be necessary to send someone if they do not feel to go with you.¡± At first she wants to throw the whole Orphanage onto me, now she hopes the opposite will happen? It is scary, when you have to travel too, it seems. Well they made their bed, now lie in it. ¡­ ¡°Three and¡­ um¡­ Four!¡± ¡°Seven!¡± ¡°Woah!¡± Oh yeah, Anna can count and do addition. The others are impressed with that. School has improved in those aspects, as I made an addition table and even gave some easy questions for now. All the children in the Lost Village are smart and even willing to learn all I have to offer them. While the school is irregular as I am not always there, the children work on their own as they really want to become better for themselves. Many come and play with the word Memory and make their own equations to make others solve them. Self study as the School shack is always open and warmed up for children and adults to keep learning. ¡°Seven and six!¡± ¡°Um¡­ the horse rides the one¡­ Thirteen!¡± applaud Do not misuse Anna as your personal calculator you rascals. Snow on the other hand plays a dancing game with the others. Hopping on one foot a specific time before changing and start hopping to the other side, the looser is who falls over while bumping into one who you do not have to touch. Rhythmic exercise, nice game it seems. The fathers talk with the caretakers a bit while keeping an eye on their own children. The two brothers of Belk seem to play with the other children knight and Bandits or something. Everything is harmonic. Some questions are still being asked then and there, but seems they see nothing wrong with their temporary new friends. clap clap The Sister in charge just claps her hands and the children start aligning. Our children were a bit confused and got in line too while they were cooed by their parents to their side. Are you already thinking of you as an orphan? ¡°You now have heard the story about their Lands. The ones who think they would like to go with them, please go to this side, the ones who definitely want to stay with us, please on this side.¡± Well there they go. Some decide directly, other think about. When seeing their friends standing on one side, they go from their side to them, while others still stand confused. Going back and forth this might take a while for all of them to decide their destiny. ¡­ Well are you sure you all stand on the right side? That side is the one mentioned to leave and not the one to stay. There are one, two three¡­ stop moving¡­ Thirty six¡­ There hides a small one inside¡­ Thirty seven want to migrate? I definitely want one of their caretakers for that amount. Seeing my look, she should knows that it is inevitable for one of their members to go with me. Better make it a good one, or I have to improve her myself. Chapter 70 ¡°Searching the forest for gold, nothing to see in the fold. Is there a thing to be sold, such tellings of riches be told. Is there a glint behind the tree? Finally my luck I can see. Turning around and denying to be, has no time to run or now to flee. I was waiting for you old Dan, said the withered old man. Unable to see how he can, does he have no route to quick ran. With all the mourning and tears, the old widow realizes her fears. Old Dan was not out for his beers, he was now below, so said the seers.¡± Not the nicest song to sing, while in the Forest which had brought this children song to life, but at least they behave and walk with determined stride. Snow mingling in the middle of the rabble while the Villagers are at the back to watch for stragglers and me at the front with the determined looking Caretaker. She was so close to becoming a Sister, but now she is with us. Sisters are their own institution as I heard from them. Started by widows of old, they dedicated their lives to care about the orphans of war. The Institution grew and is now accepted in all three Kingdoms with some caveats. To become a Sister you need three years caretaker work and afterwards a recommendation. Afterwards you need to work as ¡®Sister to be¡¯ in a different Orphanage for another year before they accept you. Rather convoluted but seems to be really sought after, even if the title does not have many privileges. ¡°And what is your story Katie?¡± I just try a bit smalltalk maybe she will be not so uptight with me, if I know her better. ¡°What do you mean Sir Ava?¡± ¡°I mean your life story. How you became a caretaker in an Orphanage.¡± ¡°Ah, yes. I was a maid in a lordship once. While I dedicated my life to keep the house tidy the first son was poisoned. Chaos broke out and to not be accidentally killed by the other sons while taking over the fief I became a Caretaker.¡± ¡°Why not another Maid? You have the experience.¡± ¡°Would you take in a Maid, which came from a fief, where a Member of the Family was poisoned?¡± Well¡­ ¡°...I am right now, am I not? You will help the children acclimate and live peacefully. Right now I think to put the children inside the castle until I have a kind of orphanage or if they create their own family and become Villagers.¡± ¡°Well that is not the same, is it not?¡± ¡°Sure it is. I think of you more as the head maid. Explaining them the ins and outs, while not overworking them. They can do some dusting and maybe cleaning of some clothing, but for the most time they will be having free time to learn and play.¡± ¡°I really do not understand how you think about your new workers.¡± ¡°They are children, not workers. Well they can work, but have to at least find their own destiny. Many might become farmers, others might love to clean the Castle. Others might work on creating beautiful art and others hopefully become teachers. By the way, can you teach?¡± ¡°Um¡­ I have been through rigorous training in literature and calculating, for the purpose of being able to purchase goods on the Market, if that is helpful.¡± ¡°It is. Could you help with teaching the children reading, writing and calculus?¡± ¡°Calculus?¡± ¡°Sorry, counting, and other kind of Math.¡± ¡°I can. Albeit I would ask for a remuneration for the extra work.¡± ¡°That is a matter of course. We can talk about the pay, when we are on our destination. Right now the prices of the Wares from the peddlers are double the Market price so it needs to be addressed in the final pay.¡± Looking around the Dark Forest, she mumbles to herself. ¡°I can understand why.¡± This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡­ With thirty eight new residents in tow and a promise to bring some back to ask of their well being in at most a year, we arrive at the Lost Village. The eyes of the children wander here and there. They are suddenly in a Village right after a scary Forest and a dark tunnel, so¡­ ¡°Welcome to the Lost Village. Here we have a few rules, but they will not be that problematic to keep. While you might want to live in one of the Houses later with maybe someone you always liked, to make a Family, the others can either come with me to the castle or start working as an apprentice for the Farmers we have.¡± Yes, I mean you two couples. No need to blush, your relationship is definitely known by everyone. While you might be only fourteen, in this World sometimes twelve year old get married. I wish to complain about that, but the life expectancy is rather low, so I will not say anything about the low age for creating Families. Sadly we are in some kind of middle ages, so I should be happy to be spared something like right of first night or bed activity being part of the job description of a Maid. Still my emotions slowly grow, if I am uncomfortable in some kind of way. ¡°While you have freedoms, you might not be used to, there are the demerits of being here too. Remember to tell me or an adult, when you feel not right. It is better to be safe than sorry.¡± While nodding the children get to meet the Village folk. Explaining the routines and how we keep our stocks and how the taxes work bring wonder, even on Katie¡¯s face. Well we are already rich, so no need to think about that. Right to food is one of the strangest parts for them. Doing nothing but have something to eat is unfathomable for them. Explaining how this only works with water and normal soup shows their understanding, that better food must be worked for. Still they are shocked about it, as illness mostly means no food and sometimes directly death. Not that any illness seems to wander around except the Mana burn, but it is good to have a catching net to be able to live. Health related things are mostly administered by me and the wife of the Mason right now. Her Name is Elle, and she once worked as assistant to a doctor, so she knows a bit of cleaning wounds and bandaging them. She has shown me a few things and I corrected some misunderstandings in their medical knowledge. She was surprised, that bloodletting makes many illnesses worse and keeping fresh air in the house at night helps with sleep and not getting sick. Simple things like that. ¡­ The awe in the children¡¯s eyes of the not finished Castle makes my work less useless. It seems they like it, but I have heard from Katie already how some things need to be changed to be seen glamorous in the eyes of Aristocracy. The showing was nice and with wonder, why the Servants room are not connected to all the other floors, we arrive at the Floor for their temporary stay. There are more Rooms than children, but still they are put in rooms of four. Katie the head maid gets her own room near the children for easier handling. The small dining room for the Servants was seen as huge in their eyes and while it is hand pumped the existence of baths is seen as luxury. I still have no way to create heating, so only cold water or using the experimental one where I put a wood oven below it, sorry. Now to the hidden staircases. Yes, there is a staircase to go up and down from the Servants Floor. It is just hidden behind alcoves which spin around. The children are excited while Katie looks like she is close to a headache. Going down to the storage we come out into the Tower Stairs. With this I explain the rules here. Forbidden are the Cellar, third and fifth floor. Also the glass house and the big labyrinth are forbidden too. Every door, that is locked or barred with something is also off limits for now, as the Castle is still being built and some rooms are still unstable. Normally I would say fourth floor is also not open, but Snow will be definitely playing with them up there on some daily basis, so I let her. Books are here and I do not care if they read them, as long as they are careful and do not damage or destroy them. Study is fine to walk around in but the large room to the side is my Bureau and I keep it clean myself. The reasoning is rather not to scare those kids. My anatomical drawings of the insides of many creatures and especially humans are not the kind of pictures they should see. The logs of my experiments from Loopy and the others are also not a nice thing for weak hearts. ¡­ As I forgot about the Bast they were obviously seen. Luckily the two are rather tame and just keep a distance, otherwise someone would have died. Bast are the cats the kids gave me. Sadly nothing great came out of them. They got a bit bigger and the fur had gone black with golden paws and eyes. The only real thing to see, that they are Monsters are the two tails. Well the two are mostly keeping to themselves and would not even care if the World ended, but seems the ruckus of the children being here made them look. With wonder and a shocked stiff Katie the group were fascinated in their own ways of them walking in the distance and then vanishing again. Their Miasma is Illusion as I expected it to be the case for those two, but the specific flavor of Illusion was creeping me out a bit so no direct experiments on them for now. At least the dog is wandering the lowest levels of the Dungeon far away, that would have been worse. ¡­ ¡°So there are Monster here? That would have been good to know!¡± ¡°Nothing World shattering. They are mostly harmless and keep to themselves. That is why the children should not go in the Greenhouse or the Labyrinth. ¡°There are MORE?!¡± Locked away and unable to harm anyone. Be relieved Katie.¡± ¡°How can I, if I know some Monsters might stroll right into my chamber and just eat me while I sleep!¡± ¡°First, they won¡¯t. To be honest they hate the taste of human flesh.¡± ¡°How do you know that?!¡± ¡°Second, all doors are able to be locked by a bolt. Those bolts are strong enough to be keeping the Bast out of your Room with strength to spare. The third thing is, as the Mana is so dense in here, there should be no wonder some strange creatures are living here.¡± She is still angry but starts to breath deep breaths. Why so scared, I promise they won¡¯t do anything. They hate being near people anyway. They just attack, when they see them as an intruder, and I already told them you are not¡­ better not telling her about me talking to them... ¡°¡­ Is there anything more I need to know you have been hiding?¡± ¡°Nothing that comes to mind. Well the doors are locked for a reason, but that has just to do with my secrets, so please don¡¯t snoop.¡± ¡°Of course not, I have integrity.¡± ¡°The bedding and necessities are already transported, but the Merchant will be here in three weeks. Not only do you get your salary, you are in charge of buying necessities for the children and the Castle.¡± She nods, well that is going well at least. She accepted her fate with grace and now is ready to work. ¡°While there is not much work for now, the cleaning of the beds, clothes and Snows chaotic floor¡­¡± hey ¡°...are more of a priority. Obviously the food has to be made by yourselves, so I hope some of the children can help cook, as the four Kilometer to the Village might be a bit too far for every day. The food in the cold storage is lying there for a while and has the least amount of Mana so it will be a good idea to use that first, as the other things might be too strong for the children right now.¡± ¡°I understand. Anything else?¡± ¡°If any of the children has any problem, come directly to me or Snow. I will look right into it and try to remedy the problem. At worst I bring the child back to the Orphanage, if the stay here might become life threatening, I will not allow any child to suffer here, is that clear?¡± ¡°Of course. ...Even if there are some scary things here, Sir Ava is rather nice to the children, so I have hope we made the right decision to trust you.¡± Well now I am the one who nods. With this there should be nothing to worry about. For now her Salary is two Gold per Month, as the Salary of a Maid is one Silver and food while a teacher gets seven Silver minimum, rounded up to one Gold and doubled because of the inflation of the prices with the Peddlers. The children get all one silver except for the one pair who was bold enough to accept my offering and became direct citizens of the Lost Village, as they started directly their apprenticeship under the other people. By the way the other pair is still with the others, as they are maybe too shy or not ready for the commitment. No rush, no rush¡­ Chapter 71 Days pass and rumors come and go. Some say there is a moving shrubbery in the Labyrinth they saw while wiping the windows. Another could have sworn he heard a cry from the cellar under the guard post. The mysterious two tailed cats were sometimes seen but vanish right afterwards, like they became air. Katie herself starts to like her job. Bathing once a week in the hot bathtub lets her fatigue melt away. Better not say it might be the Mana rich water. Also she is leading the Children with an iron fist, and drills all the demeanor of Servants in them, as she blooms back into her old job. Every two to three days is School day, where she is teaching the more intricate things about reading, writing and early math. While my ways of teaching the children and adults were new to her, the efficiency shows her how it is better than monotone drilling the syllabus into them and making them say the addition table over and over like a mantra. All the clunky remembering of things are easier to do, when it is made into a game or at least is a bit more fun. With the new thoughts she tries my ways, while still holding the stick for when there is a need for reigning the rascals in. Misha, the girl who had taken the opportunity to get a House with her Lover has taken after Elle and starts working under her. With her, the grinding of the numbing herbs and creation of the relieving salve became easier and now we have some stock. Washing and reapplying the Moss on healing bandages is also her work for now. All have accepted the two orphans as Members of the Village, so there is no problem anymore. ¡°Please¡­ let me die¡­¡± ¡°Not yet. Still working on something.¡± ¡°Please¡­ stop¡­¡± Right now I am with Karl. I was thinking of why I had to put the cores for using them into the gear, if I could put them in the bodies. Opening the hand and putting in the core makes an adverse reaction so I had to work around that somehow. Using cut off and taken over body parts made it easier to make it stick as I can just change some parts with Mouse biology to make the effect stop. Reattaching the arm back though... ¡°It hurts¡­ I am sorry¡­¡± Not so much. The Body does not want to take the arm back. Putting a clean one back is easy and already did it on Karl multiple times. As long as Blood type and bone Marrow is identical it just pops on in. But when there is something foreign, it at first grows on and right after the nerves connect it fights against it. Dang it! Well for now I can not create a Human with cores inside. Always something I can not do I wish I could. ¡°Loopy, please bring him back to his cell. I have to find another solution.¡± ¡°Huh huh!¡± Nodding and afterward carrying the delirious Karl back to his cell I clean up the Surgeons table. Where do I go from there? He is rather close to collapsing. Neither connecting Monster parts or a Limb with a Core inside is working. How can I make a better Body if not with splicing it together. Do I have to grow one? ¡­ ¡°Katie today should come some guests to the Village. I will have to go there.¡± ¡°Is it already three weeks? Can I come to purchase the necessities?¡± ¡°Ah, sorry. I might have been more thorough with my explanation. The Guardians of the Forest might come, so I need to meet them in person. The Merchants will arrive next week.¡± ¡°Guardians¡­ Are they those, who are allowing safe travel?¡± ¡°Yes, but they hate other people with a passion somehow. My workings with them was in an accidental happening and might be the only one in a long time.¡± ¡°You are quite known in the whole dark, Lord Null.¡± Is that a compliment? Ah, by the way I told her how I am called normally. She even was told I could look different sometimes, but for now she does not understand what I mean. Maybe better that way. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Um, thank you? I have to go, so you can let the children relax and remind the kitchen staff we are out, so they do not make too much. Well Snow would eat everything cold anyway, but still.¡± ¡°As you wish Lord Null.¡± ¡­ ¡°My Lord welcome. Today the new ambassador should arrive. I hope they chose a dependent one.¡± ¡°Me too Leafy. How is Petal acclimating to her new home?¡± A slight blush can be seen on Leafy her face. I did not ask about anything intimate, stop blushing! ¡°We are quite happy here. Petal helps Elle and Misha with the gathering of the herbs and we get from it rice and other food. Albeit she still works on her new diet, there are already some favorites she became fond of. Thank you for supporting us.¡± ¡°Why should I not. You supported me, I support you. We are all a Family, so no worries.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Always the thanking¡­ It is nice, but maybe a bit too much for my liking. It seems to itch. Ah, there they are. Four guards this time and a new Face. Let¡¯s see what part of a Tree I have to remember this time for a Name¡­ ¡°I am Slow Seed, you must be the infamous Lord Null, am I right?¡± Ugh, strange start, but whatever. ¡°Yes, I am the infamous Lord Null. And you might be the new Ambassador of the Root, am I right?¡± ¡°Yes, I am here to discuss the drying up of the Mana dew. Might there be a way to increase the output again? We would like to have more leeway for our own studies.¡± Ho boy, rather neutral girl that is. At least she seems to not talk around the bush. This will be a long day. ¡­ Leafy stepped in right after and the discussion is holding nothing back. Reducing the sap and dew count does nothing to us, as it is just a slightly more luxurious commodity for the two wildflowers to have some taste of their former Home. I myself have studied it intensely and see aspects in making medicine, but it is not truly a necessity, as it just increases the potency for now. Asking about what materials are needed to repair the crack seems to show her namesake of Slow rather nicely. The branch cut off sits right in front of you, you dumb little¡­ deep breaths, I promised Leafy to not be too angry, albeit I still feel they have not lost enough for what they did. A Letter from the dancing Tree family head was also given, but for now no one wanted to read it and was placed like some kind of garbage on the back shelf made out of vines. Maybe she starts to realize what we or rather I really want, as she finally tries to mend the relationship between us. The talks show some improvements, as the south is not a danger zone anymore. All the Root are now finally understanding the necessity of me being here and the folly of thinking to harm me or anyone who might be related to me. Also while the official title of Leafy being my voice is lost, the former Root inside my Domain will always be treated with utmost respect or the Queen will enact severe punishments... so sayeth the Slow Seed. No edict, no leaf as paper, nothing written, so whatever she says might be true or might be total bull. By the way bull, we are starting to come close to summer. I will have to remember to work for the welcoming party of the bovine Tribe. They welcomed us with open hearts, I should do the same as I really liked their mentality. Oh, right I am in a discussion. Well the Root have right now more to do, as the Stampede seems to be ready in a few Years, maybe Months. All the Monsters got livelier, have more children and get antsy. Asking me for more of my Amulets, as they might be able to use them to stop them trampling places they want to protect, is all nice and well, but those were maybe on the table around one Month ago, now suddenly I have no Materials and they are really hard to create anyways. For now they have to use their old techniques of herding them with arrows and making the places impassible with vines and other foliage. Must be hard, good luck! ¡­ The delegation left at night and did not stay. Well I am not surprised, as there is still friction between us for now. ¡°My Lord, I think you are a bit too harsh with my¡­ the Root, as not all of them have been in the machinations of my Grandmother.¡± She might be right, but I see it a bit different. There is no way for a whole Family to just remove someone without any leak anywhere. Did the Queen really not know? I can¡¯t believe that, how can she be able to see right through the conspiracy behind Falling Dew and not see anything right inside her own city? I am not stupid. ¡°Maybe, but as I see it, there would be no merit for us right now being courteous to someone who slighted me like that. They could see that as me smiling to the slap they gave me and think next time they could slap harder without getting any repercussion. I am holding myself already back as I really want to go there and rip the whole tree your former family lives in, out of the ground and make firewood with it.¡± Well she looks like she does not know if she should laugh or be offended. Still the Leafy I know, she is hopelessly loyal to the people who did the worst she can imagine to her. ¡°If that is your thoughts, it is nice of you not going to¡­ rip out some trees. But would the Amulets not be a good way to let them owe us for something. It might have helped to mend the relationship, while we have a favor lying in our branch.¡± ¡°If I were not here, they would still work with their old traditional ways to keep the stampede in check. With or without my help, they would have not much to worry about the whole event, just that they have a bit of an easier time and maybe some less wounded, but not enough for a real favor. We keep the status quo for now and wait for a better time to have a real discussion about how to repair our friendship.¡± ¡°As you wish my Lord.¡± And now to the Letter. I really do not want to read it, but it is a semi official letter, as it was brought by the ambassador, so no way I can just make salad out of it and digest their words that way. Unfurling the leaf I start reading¡­ Chapter 72 {We greet the owner of the Starfall Crater Lord Null, our child got lost in your Domain and we would like to ask, if there is any way for you to have it in your Heart to find her and send her back to us. We really miss her presence and hope you can understand our plight. Right now her mind is a bit confused and might think of it as the best way for her life, but to follow a dream and not accept the reality of the situation is neither healthy nor sustainable for the future. Her Mother, Dancing Shimmer is struck with grief, knowing her daughter is walking a path, which is led by a sickness, that can be cured by being in the midst of her Family. In our great understanding of former Falling Leafs plight, we are willing to find a distant relative to create a bond for her in hope of building herself a new tree. We know our child is worrying about her and for this we are willing to bring this sacrifice. All our grudges would be forgotten with the simple reconnection of our own into the Forest and everyone will be happier in the end. Please consider the heavy burden on our hearts and the way to mend all our offenses in such a simple way. If you are willing to give us our child back please let the guards we sent be her guides back to her true home and be assured we will be thankful forever. With all the well being of the Forest be upon you, Matriarch of the Dancing Tree Dancing Mist } Well the only thing I can say to such a beautifully written Letter of asking to let her child be guided home by armed Guards is¡­ ¡°Can I throw this Letter now in the fireplace? If it is too long in this Village, it might pollute the air.¡± No answer. Petal is still reading the Letter over and over with moist eyes. Leafy caresses her and tries to hold her back from shaking too much. Somehow I have an urge to uproot two Trees in the Forest now, but better hold it in. The Root see homosexuality between Women as illness. By the way homosexuality between men is fine, as long as they are there, when the woman needs them for their own time in bed. Otherwise some Women experiment with each other but never are allowed to just be together. Some dirty play, a bit experimenting sure, but being in love with each other? Bam, forbidden! Such bigots. Petal was ready for the Letter but seems to have just thought of cutting her off. They want to bring her back and reeducate her. That must sting horribly, as they treat her like something diseased and needs their help. In their mind, they just want to help, but for an outsider who can see the whole picture, they are starting to twist the knife they pierced into her heart by telling her how her love is vile. To be safe I might bring them to their maybe new place of living, so they are more secure, if the Matriarch sends more forceful approaches. I bet Snow or myself alone can snuff that out with ease, but better not keeping their goal in reach so easily. ¡­ ¡°Who is this? WHAT is this?¡± ¡°Oh him? This is Bush Man. An experiment, which became a bit different than I anticipated.¡± ¡°Bush? He seems to be made of Vines, why Bush? Not a Root, not fully plant, was he human maybe?¡± ¡°Ah yeah, he was a bandit who tried to burgle Snow. Now he is the gardener of the Labyrinth.¡± ¡°I can hear his voice. He is like a child, but a bit confused. At least he is happy to tend to his plant sisters. And you made him?¡± ¡°Yeah, I overdid it. I tried to fuse a person with a Vine, and as it worked I put in another one¡­ and another one¡­ and another¡­ he he¡­¡± ¡°Petal, I know you are interested in it, but for me I see just an abomination, dear¡­¡± ¡°Really? I think he is just like us. Misunderstood, but happy in his own way, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°...If you put it that way¡­ He is being rather happy to keep all the plants around healthy as can be. Maybe that is why I fell for you, as you show me beauty I alone never saw.¡± ¡°My Leaf¡­¡± ahem ¡°Well this way please. I am sorry for disturbing, but it would really be better to show you where you can be alone.¡± Finally they realize I am still here. Blushing to their ears they follow me. Left here¡­ right over there¡­ this time right again¡­ ¡°Here we are. I can draw you a map and show you the easiest way through it. There are some moving parts, which can make the Labyrinth totally different. Do not worry anyone who disturbs the Foliage around angers Bush Man, oh he gets angry alright. The safest place, as it is right in the middle and perfectly secure with levers to make it an unsolvable Labyrinth at need.¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°It is beautiful in here.¡± Petal likes it. Great! ¡°No need for a map. The plants can tell us the way by guiding us a bit. Maybe for you the plants look all the same, but we can remember their differences and find our way.¡± No need to boast Leafy. I know I am not a Root, even if I have a supercharged body in store. Just right now I hate being inside that body, as the plants just WON¡¯T STOP TALKING! Spring is a horrible time to be able to hear plants, I assure you. ¡°And we can live here? The place is rather big, for what did you create it?¡± ¡°Ah, that was the place for a nice tea Party originally. I imagined some nobles and aristocrats traveling the Labyrinth to find their way on their own to the hidden tea party for a nice relaxing evening of stargazing. By the way that way goes to a hidden shaft right into the hidden stairs inside the Pillars of the Stair towers. It is a direct way to the top of the Garden. Just please do not use the door down there, it leads to the sewers, which are right now in use because of the children.¡± ¡°Huh. You really build anything you want out of your own Design do you not?¡± ¡°Yup. And if that is already impressing you Petal, the Garden on top of the Castle roof was made as a place of respite for Leaf, as she was down and I did not know what I can do for her while she was broken.¡± ¡°So you build something for me? Why though?¡± ¡°Firstly because I wanted to do something for you, as I care for you Leafy. And as distant second it distracted me from razing the Forest to the ground out of anger.¡± giggle ¡°Leaf dear, I think we are in good hands with Lord Null here. Maybe we can really be carefree and live like we always wanted. I would love to be with you forever here in this mystic Labyrinth.¡± ¡°I realized it sadly a bit too late. If I knew about how big my Lords heart is, I might have stopped the Soldiers who became trees from doing what they did.¡± ¡°It is not your fault. It was their decision. Come here, let me hug you.¡± Aaand that is my signal to leave. They have all the room they need. Luckily the Gazebo has a fully sealed roof and the children do not see something they have to learn on their own, way later. ¡­ ¡°Welcome back Mordred, how was the travel? Welcome Elane¡­¡± Of course they send someone. Blue Ice should have sent someone who I would have not known, as she is not on my List of faces I want to see really. ¡°The Leader of the Blue Ice sends his greetings. We were interested in making amends for our slight against you.¡± If that was a slight I do not want to know what they think is a serious offense. ¡°So, it is about that. Well I might not be without a fault myself, as I did fry one of your Students right in front of you.¡± And there is the flinch. Yeah I can sting back Elane, remember that. ¡°As we are really sorry, would it be possible for me to be accommodated for the few days the Peddlers are selling their Wares. Last time some really wondrous things were brought back and Master Harvey was thoroughly impressed.¡± The Egg. What else could have made him send someone to go all buddy buddy after we nearly gone to war. Well I should not make her take the full blame. She was the teacher of that piece of charcoal, but might not known what he really did before coming into my cell. ¡°Well I can give you a place in the Village if you want. Otherwise you can come to the Castle, but I must warn you, it is neither finished nor ready for Guests to be surely accommodated.¡± ¡°You are too courteous, as I would like to come to your Castle. I would have even lived in a shack for a few days, but if I were to be housed in the Castle we could negotiate easier and you would not need to come to me. Do not worry, I brought my own provisions, if it can not be arranged for me to have a meal.¡± ¡°Albeit I am rather miffed about Blue Ice, I will not let you feel the brunt of it just because they sent you for whatever reason. We will have food and drinks ready. Do not worry.¡± My saying telling her I know she is the punching bag to vent my anger, I am still pissed, but I will not just be randomly hostile to someone who might not be even fully at fault. At her slight exhale she has thought of having it worse here. For now I lead her to the castle. ¡­ ¡°Impressive architecture. This place is rather large for you, is it not?¡± Trying to feel out my numbers? No way I tell you anything. ¡°It is still in building. Albeit right now it is not really cramped, it might be in the future.¡± Have fun deciphering that. This will be worse the more you are thinking about my sentence. Good luck! Bringing her to the first Guest room she sees the long hallways and many Rooms I built. While I overdid it, now they make a nice impression to keep her at bay. The Room itself is the most ready Room for guests. Still there are things missing like paintings, a rug and other decorations, but for now there is a magic lamp and even a fully workable Bathroom with an oven to heat the water inside. A nice Idea I came up with, but still a work in progress. ¡°This Lamp¡­ It is no simple glow lamp out of the workshop of our Kingdom. How does it work?¡± ¡°A secret. It is my own creation, but I am still working on the fine aspects.¡± Well they have a tendency to just stop working after a while, so I have to still be humble. Those Runes are a damn menace. Where do I get a dictionary for them? ¡°You made this? Not one of your Rune Scribes? And which old text did you copy to create it?¡± Well I gave her too much information right now, but she gave me some in return. They copy only runes. So they are as in the dark of them as I am. Maybe I have a leg up on them, as they seem to not be able to modify the whole ring. Good stuff to know! ¡°Still a secret. For now you might be need some rest, as the travel here might have you fatigued. In about an hour should be the dinner ready. Do you want something with low or high Mana?¡± ¡°If I would be able to choose, then high Mana please. I have held the way here a field up to detect dangers.¡± ¡°I understand. I will ask the cooks to make something with fresh ingredients.¡± As I leave, her mumbling comes to my ear. ¡°Cooks¡­ more than imagined¡­¡± No need to tell her those are children, just believe what you want to believe. Chapter 73 ¡°Today, the meal is white river soup.¡± Katie is serving us our food in a really elegant way. The soup itself is nicely decorated. An onion soup as base with a line of pureed white radish in the middle while being garnished with herbs on each side. It looks like a white river over a grassland. It may be simple but really effective in visuals. Elane is with me and looks around. You will not see any other person. The Food will all come up with the dumbwaiter. As the kitchen is below the residential part of the Castle you will not be able to see who is cooking. By the way the teens were elated to show their prowess in making a nice meal for an important person, as they often helped in the kitchen, when someone came to the Orphanage to donate. While I am not able to be on the food table with the children today, I have made Snow bring an extra dessert for the enthusiastic cooks as a thank you. I hope they will be elated, as frozen and crushed fruits is not really known to the children, I believe. ¡°So, as we are right now in private, what does Blue Ice want?¡± ¡°First of, thank you for your hospitality again, this Soup is brimming with Mana. We just want to know if there are more rare and unique things we might be able to acquire, which could help us in our studies.¡± ¡°Right now I do not have anything new. You might have already noticed the eggs and feathers. They can be gotten maybe regularly, but there is no promises as raiding Monster dens is always tricky.¡± No need to tell her I grow them. Better for me to keep some secrets. ¡°That is a matter of course. We were sad to notice the egg was dead and unable to grow. Maybe the next one might be able to hatch?¡± No, definitely not. Never and ever. In your dreams. Wait until you are dust. Better luck finding a fish in the desert. Close your eyes and you see your chances. ¡°Maybe the next time I have more luck. You might know how hard it is to find a single egg. Right now I have two in my possession but¡­ they seem to not have been growing either, so they are duds too.¡± ¡°A pity. Might we buy them from you? We have the money and going through the Peddler King is always happening with a surcharge.¡± ¡°Then let me sell them to you directly for the thirty large gold, and we have a deal.¡± ¡°Yes, deal!¡± What? An egg was sold to the Peddler King at 20 large Gold? Might have misremembered. Ah well. Te he! ¡­ ¡°You have rather many places I shall not go Lord Null. I know our relationship is strained, but is that necessary?¡± ¡°Sadly yes. Those are not off limits without reason. The Greenhouse for an example is right now a danger zone. Some plant might have been mutated and people inside never came back. I have to find out if it is recoverable. The Labyrinth is having residents, that do not want to be disturbed, and at last I believe not even in your own domicile would you want people seeing your laboratories, do you?¡± ¡°You make a point. Might we get some of the plants, when you have the Greenhouse back under control?¡± ¡°Possible, but right now we are close to burning it to the ground, as we do not want an outbreak of something and lose our place of living.¡± ¡°...well, I wish you the best of luck. We will keep contact through the Peddler King and hope of more chances to work together. I wish you well.¡± And with that the Peddlers and Elane go back. Nice being finally being rid of her. I really do not want to have her always looking around for clues and information. I needed to order the Bast to hide the whole time, and they can get cranky when told to do things¡­ typical cats¡­ ¡­ ¡°And you did get all you need Belk?¡± ¡°Yes, my Lord. Everything we asked of was brought back. While the prices were steep, it was still bearable.¡± This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Remember to not be taken advantage of. If they rise the prices too much, I will have to talk with them directly. At worst Snow and I will go and bring you all you need. No way I let them swindle you.¡± ¡°Thank you for the offer, but it would be way too precious for us to ask you¡­¡± ¡°Stop with the flowery speech. We are all friends here.¡± ¡°I¡­ um¡­ Of course Lord. Thanks for this. We will tell you if they try anything, but do not think you need to bring us our necessities. We can do that ourselves with an amulet of yours.¡± ¡°Better. Yeah, you could do that. I am just worried of greedy bastards taking you hostage again.¡± ¡°We will manage and be subtle.¡± ¡°Fine. How is the market going?¡± ¡°Well we found out they even buy magical water. While they take some from outside, it is rather muddy and needs filtering, so they begrudgingly buy the already drawn water for a bit of coin.¡± ¡°Well, find all the ways to take their coins for yourselves. You have all the right to be happy.¡± With this, there is finally all done. Now to the one who did not leave. ¡­ In the Sewers, one rather dark clothed, slim man walks around. He might be wondering if he were on that crossing a while ago, and yes, yes he was. The whole Sewers are a maze in its own. Many corners leading nowhere and suddenly a small gap for only water to go through. Moving with the streams and sometimes not, he finally finds more straight paths, but I would suggest him not to take those. Well, Rott will have his fun with him, so let him. Walking the way to where the tunnels lead to, he first looks at every corner. While he finds some hidden doors, the doors can only be opened from the other side and only sealed shut from the sewers, so no dice mister spy. Finally walking the way to the sewage pit, he looks down the place. Filled with rotten refuse and excrement there is something squirming below, but he cannot fathom what it is. It does not matter, he will find out. Rott! He is there, shove him in. Right away a gust of wind comes from behind him. A black thing shoves him into the deep pit and with a loud scream he falls into the soup. Searching for his attacker he sees him perched on his favorite rusted railing. Rott, one of the birds I got from the Orphanage. His strange transformation comes from the decomposition Miasma inside of him. Not only that he is looking like the bringer of doom itself. He hates light and so he was happy to become the owner of this pit. Sometimes he plays with Snow, but mostly he keeps the Void maggots in check. Ah yes, I remember how I got those. The whole Rift chaos is a long while back. It is strange that they do not pupate but make new maggot eggs between themselves. There is some kind of limiter or stop to let them not pupate right now into¡­ whatever they become. As they are not native, their whole Biology is more of a mystery for me. Oh they start nibbling on our ¡®guest¡¯. Shouts and fearful cries come out of him. Pulling his dagger and trying to kill them but they are unfazed. The only thing that can kill them is melting them by decomposition or my disassembly, tough luck. It might take a while, but with only so much strength and Rott looking over him to not let him escape, he will be nice fertilizer for the fields soon. The end, thanks for visiting! ¡­ Finally some peace of mind. I start to build behind the residential Area a new project. Stairs! Stairs going up, stairs going down, stairs on the wall, stairs over a bridge. It looks like a chaotic painting with no rhyme or reason. Why do I build such a strange thing? ¡°Catch me Null! I am over here!¡± ¡°I built this thing, I know the outline. Be aware!¡± ¡°Yah! There is a hidden door there? No fair!¡± ¡°Says the one who swims the wall upwards inside her shadows.¡± ¡°It was never forbidden, ha ha!¡± Yes, for fun and play. While it is confusing it also has ways to every Floor and access to the crawl spaces between. The doors are mostly inaccessible if you do not know the trick, so it is more for me and Snow right now. There are some respite points, but are unnerving to be on, as they have neither railings nor safety, while being surrounded by a web of stairs. ¡°It is fun in here! Sad I can not show Anna or the others this.¡± ¡°For them this would be too dangerous. I made it for us and for a way for them to escape to the panic Room, if we get attacked. I do not trust Blue Ice.¡± ¡°Should we just bite them dead? It would be easier and we would have less problems.¡± Snow, that is too simple¡­ ¡°Sorry Snow, but if we do that we will be looked at as scary people and the Merchants would not come again. Also where would we go next, when we are barred entry into the City in fear of us killing randomly?¡± ¡°OK, no biting for now. But if they come I will bite!¡± ¡°And you have my permission, if they come with hostility in mind. Rott already had a nice meal, so we have some leeway.¡± ¡°Ah! Almost forgot!¡± Oh, is there something urgent I forgot? I quickly go through my schedule¡­ Nothing I can remember, what makes her so antsy? ¡°Snow? What is it? Something urgent?¡± ¡°Of course! It is almost time for dinner!¡± ...glutton¡­ Chapter 74 ¡°Could we please look for her?¡± ¡°Fine by me, look around the Village as much as you want, just do not disturb the Villagers, or I will see that as an aggression.¡± ¡°We do not mean harm, we just want to search for her. She is ill and needs attention. Please understand.¡± ¡°Well, I do not, but whatever makes you happy.¡± The Root are here again. Most of the time I tweaked our playground of hide and seek the adorable rat in the chaotic staircase. Now it is time again to butt heads with them. While there are now eight guards, six of them are here to only search for a ¡®missing child¡¯ which they say has an illness that needs attention. Of course they mean Petal. Leafy is with me, but they ignore her as she is officially not a Root anymore and can do what she wants. While Leafy is angry and holds it in like a Volcano close to eruption, we both knew she is not in the Village. If they want to find her, they need to go to the Castle and if they would ask, I would forbid it anyways. So that is that. ¡°I apologize, but they are under the order of the Dancing Tree and not directly under the control of the Queen Mother.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it Seed, I know your Queen would be way more open minded and not that rough with our friendship. They just do, what they think is right, even if it isn¡¯t.¡± While Leafy can not throw her anger around, I can do it for her. She is a bit more relaxed by hearing my words, and the Ambassador inclusive the normal two guards more stressed. ¡°I must apologize again, as I have a message from our Queen. Right now she works hard to just let her two lost saplings sprout how they want, but she can not stop the direct asking of their child back. If they do not get her back this time, next time or the time after, they might come with an edict of giving back the Member of the Root, which does not belong here.¡± As it is per saying it is not official talk, but shows a hint, that she can not stop them from forcing us to give her back. Dear Queen you have a plus point in my book for warning me, this will make everything more problematic, but with forewarning I can send them maybe out of the Forest to be happy somewhere else. ¡­ ¡°I do not want to go.¡± Well scratch that Idea. ¡°I understand you Petal, but there are some things I can not stop. Leafy has worked so hard to make peace with me and the Root. Right now I have such a big problem with keeping peace, like Leafy wants and just eradicating the Root of the Problem, if you understand.¡± ¡°Thank you my Lord. But I am with Petal. If there is nothing we can do, we have to bow to our Matriarchs. Our love is beautiful, but if there is no option it has to wilt and we keep our memories.¡± That is not what I want to allow. Those guys can shove it. If there is nothing I can do, I rather do the wrong thing, as nothing at all. Seems like we will have some more trees around the Crater later on. ¡°¡­there is a way.¡± Huh? Petal seems to have an Idea. ¡°They want me back, because I am Root. If I am not, I would be not in their ruling.¡± ¡°Petal! Do not say, what I think you are saying! Do you know what might happen to you? Losing you is heart wrenching, but seeing you¡­ it would kill me!¡± Uh oh¡­ Does she think what I am thinking? That is no laughing matter. The only time it worked was¡­ ¡°I am rather here with you than being reeducated by Grandmother my Leaf. Please understand, I would risk everything for you.¡± ¡°This is insane! Did you not see them? They are grotesque! You would¡­¡± ¡°She isn¡¯t.¡± You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Pointing at the only one being what I can imagine as perfect¡­ Snow. ¡°Well, I can help maybe with explaining how to become what you want.¡± ¡°Really Snow?¡± This helps not Snow¡­ You might bring her further into something, Leaf might hate you for later on. Petals eyes show hope, while Leafys eyes show despair. ¡°Snow, please stop. If I lose Petal, everything will be gone for me!¡± ¡°But you will lose her, if she gets stolen, no?¡± ¡°But¡­ I¡­¡± Petal hugs Leafy. Seems she wants to sooth her, but how much it helps I can not say. She really wants to change into something different, then it might be very dangerous. The thought about this twists even my innards. ¡°Leaf dear¡­ I know it is dangerous, I know there might be a chance for me to lose myself¡­ But if I get taken away to be indoctrinated I will for sure lose myself. Without you¡­ without us being together I would rather die. What about you?¡± ¡°I¡­ if you are gone I would be already dead. Wilting while still being alive. But if you are gone that way¡­ What shall I do?¡± ¡°I will not be gone. I will stay. Trust me, please.¡± ¡°I¡­ I trust you and always will. Please be sure about what you do. I want to be with you forever.¡± ¡°Lord Null, could you¡­ I want to become something different.¡± Ho boy. This will be such a scary experiment, as I like Petal way too much. It is close to seeing Snow changing in the Vat. So, at best I should make it like Snow and give her Options. ¡°...I am uncomfortable with this as I would hate to see Leafy or you hurt in any way, but whatever. There is just one question I need answered. What is your favorite plant?¡± ¡­ Right now three people are walking through the Forest. A Root with a rather sad look but determination burning in her eyes. She is not really sure about everything we do, but forces herself to go through with the wish of the one she loves. With us is a Rat Girl. Just for precaution she needs to be with us, as I do not know if there might be some ¡®accidents¡¯ for right now Leafy is the reason for one of their own not going home¡­ despite her being one of her own just months ago. And the third is me in Ava. What? Thinking I should be better going with Red? Close to summer, while the plants talk without pause? I would rather go as a Mouse than him right now. Our destination is a small place in the south of the Forest. The place is one of the more vile places where Miasma is being cleansed right now. The place has some different Phenomenon, which means the Miasma sorts itself and makes that place really dangerous. Inside grows a patch of flowers called dream Flowers, but we are not here for them. We are here for the one which grows on the most dense place and the most beautiful one in Petals eyes. The Tombstone Flower. A giant flower with carnivorous tendencies. When a Tombstone Flower entices its prey with their beauty and magic it wraps around it gently and while the prey sleeps a beautiful sleep it gets digested. The name comes from the way it folds around itself, like giving the prey its own tombstone in honor of their sacrifice for nourishment. Leafy is right, Petal sees in many things beauty, even if they look scary in other eyes, I would not say this flower is beautiful, rather frightening, but as it is not big enough to eat a sapient or larger animal, it is still alright. Finally being at the border I can see the stale Miasma in the air with my enhanced eyes. Why did no one say, this is a swamp area? I have the wrong shoes! ¡°Leafy, Snow. Be careful we come into the danger zone.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Leafy just nods. Now we have to wade through that area. Great, new kind of Monsters are here I never seen before. That Mosquito looks prehistoric. Luckily it keeps its distance, as we travel deeper inside. Purplish pink Flowers are visible. There are the dream Flowers. They are rather nice looking, but maybe we should rest before going further, as I am rather sleepy right n¡­ wait, since when do I need to sleep? Dang those Flowers are powerful! ¡°Careful those things want to make you sleep, so you drown in the swamp!¡± ¡°Just a nap for a second¡­¡± ¡°No Snow, if you sleep now you might miss the new dessert the children have thought of.¡± ¡°I am awake!¡± Good, that helps. Asking Snow to use her rats to harvest the Flowers directly in our way the sleepiness slows down. Also the other flowers start to furl back and stop with the sleep as if they notice us harvesting them because they try to make us sleep. Clever plants. Are those already monsters? Seeing our goal in front of us. The Tombstone flower is huge. About a meter diameter unfurled she waits for some prey. Maybe we should just let it, as¡­ No we need it for Petal¡­ but what do we gain from it¡­. DANG IT! Pushing all my Mana to circulate finally the suggestions stop and I can start working. Going to the huge flower it furls itself like a scared child, if I would not force myself to be clear headed I would already move back but no dice you annoying flower. Digging out the roots the earth is filled with hundreds of little bones from different animals. That thing has eaten healthily. ¡°Snow, put the plant into your shadow, we need to get out of here quick!¡± ¡°Do we have to, it looks so sad and¡­¡± ¡°No dessert for you if you¡­¡± ¡°DOING IT!¡± And gone is the plant. Now we need to get the hell out of this death trap. Leafy is close to falling over, we are not safe here! Chapter 75 ¡°Thank you dear for being here, but if it is too much for you¡­¡± ¡°I am not leaving your side. Before doing that I will want to become something similar to you if you do not come back to me, do you understand?¡± ¡°...Leaf¡­ I will be back for you. Nothing will stop me from being with you forever.¡± Why do I feel they are saying their last words to each other, stop that! You might jinx the whole thing! I am unsure myself now, look what you did! ¡°To be able to become the best of what you want to be, trust Null. If you do not trust and accept what he is giving you, then you might break. The definite way to being like me is having an open mind and being ready for change. Okay?¡± Snow, I do not know what you are trying to say. I hope your idea is really the reason someone does not break, otherwise I have two broken Root here and I would hate to see that. ¡°Are you ready? I mean all of you.¡± Leafy still holds Petals hand. Shivering like a lonely leaf in a storm is right fitting for her state right now. Finally she lets the hand go and it sinks into the Biomass, filled especially with plant materials. ¡°Ready.¡± Petal says she is ready, but am I? Even I am a bit shivering, but what can I do? While the dark Portal is hovering inside the Room, Petal already has become used to it somewhat. I pull the spirit of the Tombstone flower out. Maybe I should have used the one Guard I already have. This will be risky. ¡°I will now fuse now the Flower with you. Please be ready and try to accept it with all your heart.¡± ¡°I will see you after my rebirth my love.¡± With a smile Petal closes her eyes. Please let it not go horribly wrong. ¡­ ¡°Searching for someone?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh no Lord! I just thought I might have seen someone I know. Must have been mistaken.¡± Yeah sure Mr. Spy. You were to retrieve Rotts plaything, but are too late, not even bones are still there. Keep it up and you might go the same way. ¡°Would be rather strange, as the people here are mostly Farmers. A Mercenary like you never bat an eye for their profession, are you not?¡± ¡°You are right Lord! I should go back to the Caravan before I get deducted my pay for lazing around. Have a great day!¡± The Peddler are back. No Elane or other open members of their Caste. Don¡¯t they want some more eggs? Well maybe they think I would not have enough luck to get more of them. Right now I have some, but will not sell them, as I want them for myself. Two more Cockatrice have been hatched, and I must say those little newly hatched chicks¡­ are ugly as hell. No feathers and looking like some kind of fat turkey with bumpy skin. Right now I rather not antagonize the Cockatrice, as they are on a war path keeping the young safe. Even the other Monsters hide right now. They are angry! Seems like those were the last Eggs for a while for me to ask for. I let them be, as I can understand how Family is worth more than anything else. While they are keeping the Greenhouse in check Petal is resting in the middle of the Labyrinth. The whole thing has changed dramatically and now can not be used anymore for Tea at night, if you do not know who is living there. Well nothing lost, as the mishaps this time were at a minimum, even if Leafy wanted to murder me with her looks at the final product. She is not the only one angry. I am angry too! I made the whole Labyrinth in a way for it to be modular. It is STILL modular but the whole gears and pulleys are now useless as Petal¡­ you know what? Never mind. As long as she is happy with all of it I am happy too. Still Leafy needs to acclimate herself, and talks on daily basis to her. Mostly making sure she is really the Petal she knew. And yes, yes she is. Do not worry, about the whole difference. ¡°Snow, when the Root come in a week, make sure Loopy and Oros are hidden inside the Labyrinth for retaliation. They might do something really stupid.¡± ¡°Sure Null! And the children are already told to go into the Panic Room for one day as a ¡®test¡¯ of how it feels inside.¡± ¡°They shall tell us after the day what they felt like inside and if something was missing. Keep appearance, they do not need to think something is happening. Maybe nothing will happen, but if the Queen herself sends a warning I do not think nothing will happen.¡± Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡­ ¡°My Name is Dancing Shimmer. I am here for my Daughter. You might keep her hidden here, but as her Mother I have the right to not only see her, but have a say in her place where she lives. Please do not strain our relationship just because of a sapling being misguided, as the Queen has given me authority to see her.¡± Her authority ended right after the last tree, but they still think of themselves higher than everyone else. The poor Queen has really some work to do, I pity her. ¡°I apologize, but who do you want to see?¡± ¡°My daughter Dancing Petal!¡± ¡°We have someone here with the Name Petal, but if she really is your daughter¡­¡± ¡°Of course she is! Now please do not keep me from my own blood, I need to talk to her and bring her back.¡± ¡°¡­ as you wish.¡± The whole chaotic happenings are really annoying, but also exciting. While giving Leafy at my side a dirty look she does not say anything, so that is nice. At least they do not go that low to verbally abuse someone, who is protected by me. They might not want me to kick in their front gates again and make more chaos. A shame¡­ First of she gets hold back for a time as the ambassador comes first. She was really incensed, but knows the pecking order quite well. Even if she wants to complain, Seed is directly ordered by the Queen to be here. If she does not even hold it in for the spokesperson of her own Queen, she might be punished later. The whole talk was more or less bland, but a bit needed, as we just invaded a danger zone without calling beforehand. Taking the Flowers might have been a slight if they were not dangerous things they already try to lower as best as they could, so we talk about the reasoning. ¡°The whole thing was a bit abrupt, as we needed it for a quick wish from a dear friend of mine. Right now it is mostly harmless as it was used in an experiment. Do not worry, all people involved in the experiment not only gave consent, but even pleaded for it. So nothing to worry.¡± Cold sweat is rolling down the face of Dancing Shimmer. She knows not what this means, but has a horrible feeling of foreboding. Well maybe we let her cook a bit more. ¡°As we are slowly beginning to make better work with the broken off branch in making the dew, I can be glad to say we can increase the production to three fourth of the original. Sadly we still have work to do, but right now there is another place rather dangerously strained, which might be problematic. I hope you could keep everyone in the Root community be at ease, so we all have time to make everything work like always?¡± Seed shows a bit confusion, but writes it down anyways. She will know what I mean later. As long as we keep the cool between us, there will be nothing we can not solve. ¡°And about the sap and dew? Do you need more of it, for the heightened Mana dew outcome?¡± Slow Seed is rather nice. It is great for her to ask if I would like to bring the produce up a bit more but¡­ ¡°That is alright. As we have only one former Root here, so much extra is not needed. It will be enough for now, that we not need the increase. Take it as an apology for all the happenings between the time the dew got reduced and up and including today. We all want to be peaceful about our alliance, so let us keep an open heart.¡± Seems like Dancing Shimmer is a bit more relaxed right now and thinks we just give her Petal back. Her eyes still swim a bit as if she tries to make sense of some words in my speech. ¡°As Ambassador I am grateful for your humility. We Root will be gratefully accept your proposal and just see everything as washed away by the clear water of friendship. My Queen will be delighted to hear the news. By the way as we often have your¡­ Multivitamin juice you call it? We would like to ask if it would be possible to have some of your Fruits who made this for our own to consume. Our Queen heard of the taste and wants some for special events and her own use.¡± ¡°Ah, that is no problem. Leafy, can you ask the Villagers to bring a sizable portion of each Fruit? I would love to give some as a gift and for testing, which one would taste the best to you Roots.¡± ¡°We are grateful, and our Queen Mother will decide if there will be a later trade of fruits of your kind. As the juice is already sweet and energizing I can not wait to taste a fruit freshly plucked.¡± ¡­ All had to come to an end, and I can not further antagonize Petals (former) Mother. Now we are walking to the Castle. ¡°So, you grow those plants only for the reason of consume? Your people outside are rather strict with your plants to force them into such a poor life.¡± ¡°It is the way of the humans, Seed. They need sustenance, and as they are living here, they get it from these farms. A necessary evil especially as the Mana inside is too strong and would grow way too wild, if it were not the plants cultivated by them.¡± A white lie, but they do not know better. ¡°You might be right. Still sad to see them so caged. At least they sound happy, so it is not that strong of a demerit.¡± Walking further they see finally the castle wall. ¡°Cold Rock¡­ I can not understand how people can live such a life. I hope my daughter is not more sick because of that.¡± Dancing Shimmer does not hold back. Well she thinks she knows everything, so let her keep the nose high until it chafes the clouds. I do not care. ¡°Petal is inside of her own place, this way.¡± The Labyrinth is inundated with many purplish pink flowers. As the Root see that, they were scared. Yeah, those are dream Flowers. ¡°What do you mean by that! My daughter is in that dangerous place?!¡± ¡°First of it is not dangerous. Do you see anyone of these flowers bloom? No. Second, she made it like this herself. It is her own place where she put her roots and makes it how SHE likes it. I made the place, but now it is hers.¡± ¡°Not for long. She will come back!¡± Whatever you say. I do not care about your outbursts. Twelve people go inside. Leafy, Me, Seed, Shimmer and a whole eight guards fully armed. No token weapon but those dangerous ones, who were wielded by the Soldiers with Leaf the time she invaded. Such a long time ago, rather nostalgic. The whole company is rather unwell seeing how the plants seemingly show the way. For effect Petal was so mischievous to send us into a dead-end and then opening a way forward. She really wants to make it more mysterious as it is¡­ Okay it is as mysterious as it is. Finally entering the place of her resting. Everyone was shocked to see what was in front of them, except us of course. While still being shocked silly, Petal starts to unfurl. Chapter 76 {Hello, ¡®Mother¡¯} {Petal! What happened to you! What in the Forest is this!} {I set root where I want to stay. This is my place, I will be happy.} {No, you are not Petal! You are a Monster! Worse, a Demon! What happened, did that vile Null experiment on you?! This means war!} {All of it was my own wish. You see me here in that form because of my former Grandmother Dancing Mist.} {Do not mock our Matriarch! What does she have to do with¡­ THIS!} Flailing around her new look. She is rather scared and distressed. Petal is sitting inside a gigantic Tombstone Flower. It looks rather comfy, but she can not come out of it as she is connected on her spine with the¡­ um¡­ pollen thingy¡­ pistil? I think that is it, pistil. Her look all in itself has changed a bit but you see still it is Petal. Her Hair is now a purplish pink falling down like a wavy waterfall, her skin is peachy and silken smooth. Even her br¡­ Well she is very beautiful indeed. While Leafy is angry at me, she still begrudgingly says her beauty is on a new level even for her. ¡°You!¡± Oh, Shimmer shouts now at me. ¡°What did you do to my daughter?! That is an abomination!¡± ¡°I did only what she wished for, and I asked her multiple times if she really is sure about it.¡± ¡°Shut up! Make her my Child again!¡± ¡°No can do. I can make her like that, but returning her is impossible.¡± ¡°That¡­ THING is not my Daughter! Give me my Daughter back!¡± ¡°You are right in that. She is not your daughter. Her name she chose for herself is¡­ do you want to say it?¡± ¡°My Name now is Dreaming Petal. I am no longer a Root, do you have the right to take me to a home, where I do not belong anymore?¡± Her anger and distress are fully visible. {You¡­ You are not my Daughter! You are an Abomination! This can not be! Guards, Kill that Monster!} ¡°AMBASSADOR!¡± I shout before the Guards could draw their weapons. Still in shock they remember where they are and look for confirmation of the Ambassador who is shaken like them. ¡°You have heard the Woman right now, have you not? She said this is NOT her daughter. As she is not her daughter and neither Root she is not under your jurisdiction. Please chose wisely if you want to really harm someone, who is as of right now officially a Member of my Family inside my Domain.¡± ¡°What?! Wait, no! She is¡­ you¡­ I remember you can speak Root, but that does not mean she is¡­¡± ¡°You said it yourself. She is NOT your daughter. As this means you have officially denounced her she is in MY Domain and under MY Protection. Just cut her off like you did to Leaf and be done with it. There is nothing you can do but make it worse.¡± ¡°...what have you done to her?¡± ¡°Nothing she did not want. Do you still not understand? You wanted to take her away from the one she loved. Maybe you think their love as wrong but SHE does not. Desperation made her take the path of no return.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t right!¡± ¡°Maybe so, but it is the truth. I bet you knew about their love, did you not?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°When the Falling Tree made their decision to cut Dreaming Leaf off, did you even think about what might be going on in her heart?¡± She flinches. Calling Leafy Dreaming Leaf shows her relationship more than anything I could otherwise say. I bet she knew. Obviously she knew but hid every Information so long from her own daughter that it hit her like a dagger in the heart. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°I do not deny, I have also fault as I helped her becoming like this, but see the whole thing. Her love of her life was thrown away from her Family, her own Family hid it, she ran to her love in desperation, instead of helping her, talks about reeducation came forth, and now here we are.¡± She fell to her knees. Well a broken Mother realizes the reality. There were so many other ways, but this is now not possible anymore. ¡°¡­ you took my daughter from me¡­¡± ¡°I did no such thing. She left long ago and you know that.¡± {...Guards! Kill everyone!} Does ¡®everyone¡¯ even include you? You are so desperate you might really mean it like that. Looking at Seed all guards wait for his order. I look also to her. She is the only thing holding all the carnage back. Sigh {Stay your weapons.} {No! Please kill everyone! Kill her, kill her, kill him, kill¡­ please just end it¡­} ¡°I am sorry for the sight you are seeing, but a Mother just lost her daughter. She needs to mourn and will need time to be able to fathom what she¡­ what we all have seen. I will tell our Queen Mother about what I have witnessed and there might repercussions coming. Do you understand?¡± ¡°I was already aware of that, just tell her one thing from me.¡± ¡°...and that is?¡± ¡°I did it because she and her love are both people I care very much about. I am not sorry for the outcome, as I would help them in any way they think is right.¡± ¡°...I do not know if that is helping your case or worsening it, but I will tell her.¡± {We are leaving, please be careful with her, she is in distress.} And so it ended in peace. Petal was ready to open the dream Flowers, Snow and Oros were ready to pin all of them down and Loopy¡­ Well he might have beaten some of them unconscious with his broom he still holds, maybe I was not thorough enough when I said make him ¡®battle ready¡¯. With all the stress gone the people were led to the Entrance of the Crater and left without a further word. The fruits might taste a little bitter to the Queen, but she needs to sort it herself, as it is out of my Hands now. ¡­ ¡°Are you alright?¡± ¡°I am still shivering. It was sad to do that to my own mother but¡­ I needed to do it.¡± Well she is not alright. She needs time to stomach her own Mother breaking down. Luckily I was quickly thinking of what she said and could stop the Guards with the help of Seed, otherwise that might have been ugly. ¡°Petal. I am so sorry. Only for me did you¡­¡± ¡°No, it was for me too. I rather lose them than you. I just never thought it would hurt more than the transformation. Can you stay with me for the time? I need you by my side.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Lord Null, I need a bit time. Can we talk later? I need a bit time with Leaf.¡± ¡°Understandable. We all leave you alone. Rest well.¡± ¡°Thank you¡­¡± And with that the petals on the giant flower furl back into their cocoon with Leafy inside. I hope she not accidentally digest her, that would be horrible. ¡°Snow, let¡¯s go. We are disturbing them.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ She is really sad. I hope her all the good in the world. Please be happy again Petal.¡± ¡­ The reply of the Queen did not take long. After a week the letter came but the flowery speech did not interest me at all. ...having lost a child¡­ shimmer being bedridden for a while¡­ yadda yadda¡­ ah there. Repercussions will not be made as the creature freely admitted her own will in becoming that grotesque form, but handed a warning to never make a mockery out of the Root ever again. Not that bad as I thought. I can even show this letter to Petal, as she might want to know how her Mother is right now. She has been hit by it the worst, but for now she is holding on and might be out of bed in a while. She really loved her daughter, huh? Maybe she did not understood her at all. The outcome might have been better if her family pushed not that hard in the wrong direction. Whatever¡­ ¡­ ¡°I am sad about Mother, but am mostly over it. I am just worried about something.¡± Did I miss something? What is there to worry? No repercussions just a warning to never do that again, as if I even have the possibility to even do that again. Nothing I can see is worrying for now. ¡°No, I thought about it every which way, I still do not see what you are worried about. Can you tell me?¡± ¡°There does not stand anything about me being cut, seen dead or anything in the form. Does that mean they did not put me out as Root or will they try to find a way to transform me back?¡± Oh! Damn, I really did not see that in the Letter! That might make some things way worse with time, if there is something brewing in the dark. Why is there always something to worry, can the whole World not keep to themselves and leave us all alone with their problems? ¡°What do you two think could happen? I have just cursory knowledge about your people. Is there anything I should be wary about?¡± While shortly looking at each other Leafy and Petal grew silent. They seem to really try to go every possible scenario in their heads as they seem deep in thought. For me it just makes me more uneasy. I hate not being able to use brute force because of their two feelings! ¡°Nothing I can think of by now. You Leaf?¡± ¡°No, they can not do anything. You are not even be able to move, what shall they do, dig you out?¡± giggle ¡°To protect me you would do that and carry me anywhere, right?¡± ¡°True, but that is only if there is no other way, you might not know, but you have put on a few kilos.¡± ¡°Excuse me?!¡± ¡°Girls? Anything you can think of? Back to the topic.¡± ¡°Ah! No, not really. As said, we are safe for now. It is worrying for there not being the official notification of a cut, but otherwise we can be at peace for now.¡± Chapter 77 A lone Root came into our Domain. She looks rather old but has still the demeanor of a Matriarch. I really hate surprises, what is it now? Moving to the Market with Ava, Snow is still out in the sewers as she is culling some snakes which started to overpopulate again. Leaf is with Petal for now and security is being taken care of by Bush Man, if needed. Hopefully not needed, but who knows? {Do you speak Root?} Nice greeting. Not even a Name. Well whatever I just keep up appearance and throw her out if I get annoyed. {Yes I do. Can I help you?} {Great, as I hate that common tongue of the Grassers. I would like to meet my Granddaughter, former Dancing Petal, now Dreaming Petal.} Fuck! Her Grandmother, this is now not a good timing. She might be thinking of chiding her or forcing her to bow down and be uprooted to become a stationary guardian or something. Whatever she wants to do, I can not think of a positive thing she might be here for. {She is no longer part of Root and has no need to be disturbed by¡­} {Hush, male! This is a talk my Granddaughter and I have to do. We might be different now, but my Blood runs partially through her veins still.} ...can I punt her? Please let me punt her right out of the crater. I will even make a hole in the Bubble for her to make it mostly intact right into the City of Root! Deep breaths¡­ deep breaths¡­ {I see. I will bring you to the entrance of the Labyrinth and ask her myself, if she wants to see you. If not I will bring you right back and you will be asked to leave.} {This will do.} And we are walking silently to my Castle. ¡­ ¡°Grandmother?!¡± ¡°Yeah, she said so, albeit not even deigning to tell me her Name.¡± ¡°...yes that is what Grandmother would do. She is ruling mostly with an iron fist since she became Matriarch of the Family Tree.¡± ¡°So, can I tell her you do not want to see her? She is rather getting on my Nerves even if she did not say much to me.¡± ¡°No! I¡­ I need to hear her out. That is the least I should do.¡± Ugh, now I have to bring her here. Well nothing I can do about it. I might be the owner of this place, but right now this is Family business, and I should not meddle inside. Consider yourself lucky you old hag¡­ ¡­ {Follow me¡­} With a nod she follows and we walk the shortest way possible. No walking in circles or opening the maze right in front of a dead-end? ...okay¡­ Finally being there Petal sits with Leafy together inside her beautiful Flower with Tea ready. It seems they want her to be welcomed as much as they are possibly capable. I do not know why, but whatever. Walking up the petal which is lying down like a carpet she stands now in front of the two looking at them with cold eyes. Sigh {Stupid Girl, could you not find another way? Look at you, there is no way back now. I should have known you would go drastic measures for your fling, but this¡­} Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. {She is not a fling Grandmother! I really love her!} {Yeah, I see that now. To do that you must have been really cornered by us. Still you are so stupid to become¡­ that.} {It was my decision. I always had to do what the Family wanted me to do, now I finally stood up for myself.} The Grandmother stretches her hand out. I am ready if she wants to use a spell but seems not necessary. She just pats her head. {That you did, that you did. You always were a dangerous child. Seeing beauty in most things and thinking differently. You might have made a great Matriarch if you had been able to reign your impulses in. How are you right now feeling?} {I¡­ am fine?} {Good to hear. Your Mother is still heartbroken, but with herbal tea she can already sleep again. You really shocked her to desperation, you know?} {Grandmother¡­} {You know, I had also a female lover long time ago. We were together so often and were really in love. Sadly she died one stampede. I was grieving so much, oh so much¡­ Your Mother was already born at that time but still blooming at her Treemother.} {You had¡­ and still had a child?} {It is our duty to grow the next generation. As long as it is behind the leafs no one bats an eye, you know? You just had to find a husband you maybe can tolerate once in a while, and drink a bit more of strong wine. Deed done, you can live how you like.} What do you think of man dear Grandmother?! Are they in your eyes just walking fertilizers?! Root are really messed up! I can change my sex, that much is clear but I feel male, so I am offended too! {Still, I would have never been able to be with anyone else than her. I am already old and never saw a male as even a bit appealing.} Ouch! You do know I am still here, right? Sigh {You might really not be able to handle this. Still, it was foolish. I tried my best to help. Even thought of making her a new Family Tree. You just needed to make some children sometimes and then you could have been together.} {As I said, I could not.} {That you said. I needed to drink myself into a stupor too, the first time. Maybe I was wrong, as I do not care about your Grandfather being dead but Ivy¡­ I miss her.} {I¡­ I am sorry for not being up to your standards Grandmother.} {Don¡¯t be. You were more courageous than me. Still you are a fool. You are now a pretty flower rather literally. Could you not find another way? I even put guards on patrol to let you flee, if it came to this, but no¡­ it must be something not even I could foresee, silly girl.} {So, why are you here? I have not heard about me being cut off. What is that about?} {You just made a new Family Tree of Dreaming. While it is destined to die out rather quickly I just thought it would be fine to let it stay that way. Even in leaving our Family you make a ruckus. Can you do nothing without making a scene once? Last time you became an Ambassador, making the Queen reform our lookout on the World and bring back a cure for the bogs like it was a normal spring day!} Um¡­ that was my work mostly, thank you very much? With how the talk is going I am somewhat sorry for wanting to punt her¡­ but I still wish to do that. So overbearing¡­ {Sorry Grandmother¡­ that is how I am.} {Don¡¯t be. Just be happy or whatever you want to be. If there is nothing anymore, I will go now. Might be never come again, so I wish you luck in your life.} {Wait! ...Grandmother, please make sure Mother is well. She really was destroyed seeing me like this.} {Bah! She is so brittle sometimes. Normally she should be the Matriarch after me, but your Aunt shows more promise. Well, at least I will do what I can to bring her back to her own two feet. It will take a few years, but I will knock some sense into her to not condemn you, like I heard she did. Farewell new young Matriarch.} {Farewell¡­ Matriarch Dancing Mist¡­ dear Grandmother.} Okay, she is really nice, if a bit rough. I like her more and more, maybe I have misunderstood her and might be able to connect with. {You, male! Bring me back to the exit, now!} No, punting her to one of the Moons it is! ¡­ ¡°Do you feel better Petal? She was rather an old hag in my eyes, but seems really to care about you.¡± ¡°I never thought¡­ At least we have her acknowledgment. It feels so much better to be free without bad blood. I feel so much better now.¡± ¡°But I have a question Leafy, why did you not say anything. I myself was just there to keep her from attacking you, so I just kept silent, but you¡­¡± ¡°Well I am in our relationship more the male, so I just kept shut until asked something. Nothing came up so I did not say a thing.¡± ¡°Ugh¡­ Wow, the matriarchal impulse in you Root flows deep. Still I am happy you two seem to have finally peace of mind.¡± Snow herself was napping in a side entrance after hearing there might be trouble. If something had happened she would have been there, but luckily it was not needed. With this the whole chaos will be over¡­ I hope? ¡°So do you think there will be still some dissent coming our way?¡± Petal shakes her head. ¡°Not much at least. I do not think anyone would go over their Matriarch to just force revenge on something, that she already solved. There are some outliers though. Better be careful, but not paranoid.¡± Well that sounds like a good plan. Staying careful but not becoming paranoid at every moving shadow. Chapter 78 ¡°Snow, we need to prepare a welcoming party.¡± ¡°Huh? Who is coming?¡± ¡°The Amulet of the bovine Tribe is moving. They might be here in about four to five days.¡± ¡°Really?! Does Spot come too?!¡± How should I know? I can not look through the things¡­ Is it possible to create surveillance in small form factors? Might be an interesting try¡­ ¡°I do not know. I can only tell they are moving. We have some Houses still free, so there should be a bit room for them to stay cozy, but we need to tell the Villagers of them, otherwise they might be too wary.¡± ¡°Then lets prepare! Please let Spot be with them.¡± ¡­ ¡°So Beast people come to visit? This sounds serious, I will tell everyone to be on their best behavior and not hide from your friends.¡± ¡°Thank you Belk. There might be some cultural differences, but I hope nothing goes wrong. Could you ready some Food for a welcoming feast? I will pay.¡± ¡°No worries, we will prepare the accommodations and work on the festivities. Anything else you might need, Lord?¡± ¡°Ah, yeah. Some of the larger Houses are still empty, right? Might you be cleaning them for them to be hospitable? I do not know how long they might stay, but better be ready for them, so we do not look unwelcoming.¡± ¡°This can be arranged. We have still some blankets in reserve, should they need them. Is that alright?¡± ¡°I believe they have all they need, just the shelter for now. If they ask, you can obviously share some. They come to trade, so there might be a great possibility.¡± This is a great thing. Finally a visit where the visitors not at first come with drawn weapons. A nice trade of our things with theirs¡­ Ah! ¡°I remember! Sorry, but they do not use coinage, the trades are wares for wares. You might to tell the people that, so they do not wonder why they do not take Money.¡± ¡°Huh! Better tell the people, otherwise there might be a slip of the tongue, that might be insensitive. I will remember to tell them, Lord.¡± ¡°Thanks Belk. Now for the preparation of the wares they might need¡­¡± ¡­ Zip, zip¡­ zip, zap¡­ Right now I am in a Bladehopper. As they are hard to see and can move very quickly I thought it might be the best way to look at the people coming. Right now they are at the border of the Forest and the Steppe. Who they all are, I can not see without going there, so here we are. The reason for it was my stupid foreboding thought of ¡®finally someone without drawn weapons are coming¡¯. So stupid to make irony that thick! There could be a chance they are not the bovine, but a Tribe which stole the Amulet to attack me, so better be safe than sorry. Lets see their camp. ¡­ ¡°And what about Spot?¡± ¡°Snow, I was just looking from afar. They are bovine and a small delegation of some Elves. I can not tell who is with them and who isn¡¯t¡­ but¡­ I might have seen a bovine girl with a spot on her nose while searching¡­¡± ¡°Yay! Spot is coming with them! I want to introduce Anna, hopefully they become friends and I can let them visit together my playroom and play all night while¡­¡± ¡°Snow, start breathing. You get overenthusiastic. If she wants she can go with you to the Castle, but do not be disappointed, if she does not want to. You know she is a passive and steadfast girl.¡± Finally she starts to stop dancing. Is she that happy to see her again? We should have more guests to make her happy. ¡°Understood! I am asking her nicely, and if not we just play in the Mansion. Some puzzles are still there.¡± That is a good rat. ¡­ ¡°Welcome brother Hoof. You seem to have found your way to us safely. Are you hungry or tired?¡± ¡°Null! Good to see you again. So this is your place? Rather¡­ rocky. No grass and no wind, I will need some time to become acclimated to this. We are a bit hungry and I see you expected us? Or do you await someone else and we just came at an opportune time?¡± ¡°No this is for you. I noticed you, when you were in front of the Forest, but had to work and could not come to you directly. I hope you excuse me for that.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be so formal! We are happy to see you, and would even be glad to be here, if we had surprised you. Thank you for the welcoming, we¡­¡± ¡°Spot!¡± Ah, there she is. Running right to her friend, like lightning to a pole. Well it is nice to see her happy. Anyway I should show them in, before we just stand the whole time. ... ¡°As I wanted to say, we have brought members of the elves Tribe with us. They are the mediators of the Steppe, and heard many¡­ dreams of other races.¡± The last thing was been whispered. I understand their plight. If it came out they could see the future, everyone would try to bring them under their banner. A miracle they told me, but as they want to be truly friendly with me, they just tried to be open, as they do not want to be eradicated by their nightmares. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Not that I would just ravage the Steppe without reason. I do not understand why they think I would kill them all, when I am rather chill¡­ most of the time¡­ ¡°I understand. Is there something to discuss with them?¡± ¡°As the mediators, they want to understand what our worry is, so they sent with us two of their own to see you.¡± While talking, the two in question came closer. ¡°We are the elven delegation. I believe ¡®stomping right hoof down¡¯ has already told about us?¡± ¡°Not fully, but I understand you wanted to meet me? Can I help you with something?¡± ¡°Great disturbance was being told of, and we came to inspect the cause of different pleads to help with defense. We do not want to cause harm, but if we do not travel back to our Sisters, there will be consequences.¡± Starting right of with a threat, eh? Well they were told maybe different viewpoints and need to understand the problem directly. ¡­ {We greet our ancestor...} Well I thought they would be more relaxed with Leafy here, but they are rather¡­ stiff? No, more distant or hostile. The sentence was more forced out of them than truly meant. {Do not see me like that. I am a wildflower, cut off from my Tree and living in isolation with my lover. We neither need to care about some superiority nor hostility between us.} While they seem more relaxed, the air is still a bit strained. {Can anyone¡­} ahem ¡°Can anyone explain what is going on?¡± Accidentally talked in Root too. Seems there is only a slight dialect difference? Maybe different syllables and intonation, but I can at least understand them. Well my accent will always sound like Root, unless I find some Elf wandering where he should not and pick his brain clean. ¡°To speak their Language¡­ I am sorry, but we Steppe Elves are not good to speak with our rather Bigoted origin.¡± ¡°You¡­ As strongly I would protest, you might have some point. My former brethren are quite staunch in their believes, but try to better themselves under our¡­ their Queen Mother.¡± ¡°Still they are¡­ no, we should keep our bad words to us. My apologies.¡± ¡°Leafy is no Root and her love is definitely not Root, so please try to keep an open mind for now. I really thought this would relax the atmosphere to be with someone of the same heritage, but it was my mistake.¡± For the talk about Petal I got a rather sharp elbow from Leafy. She might not want to talk about her to strangers. ¡°We understand. So for what we want to know, are you thinking of creating an ocean of Blood in the Steppe?¡± ¡°No¡­ but you would not believe me just like that, right?¡± ¡°Right. We never saw you directly, but while you were in the Steppe, you were watched and some said you were friendly, but others said you are dangerous. To tell the truth, we just visit you directly to see their fear with our own eyes.¡± Nonsense, no one has watched us. There could have maybe one or two, who might have been out of our sight, but so many? They just don¡¯t tell about the Shamans ability to see the future. ¡°I can understand the confusion. While the bovine Tribe sees us as harmless, the cat tribe looks at us torn. Some might think we are a danger, but believe us, if we are not antagonized, nothing will happen.¡± ¡°...what would you see as ¡®antagonizing¡¯?¡± ¡°Taking things from me or my friends.¡± ¡°...and?¡± ¡°That is the broad spectrum. Under it falls also hurting or even killing me or my friends. I have a rather low fuse to threats being thrown at my Family.¡± ¡°I really do not understand the danger they see in you then. Just stay here and do not disturb the Steppe.¡± ¡°That is the crux on the whole scenario. I need something from the Ruins inside the Steppe. A way home.¡± ¡°We¡­ heard you might not be from here, so I suspect your body is¡­¡± ¡°Not my own. Stolen from someone who wanted to steal from me. I can be rather vicious in that aspect, but am peaceful otherwise.¡± Sweat starts to run down his face. His female partner shows more restraint. For him to talk, she might think of me not worth it? They are normally matriarchal, or are those Steppe Elves different? ¡°If you are really from somewhere else, you are definitely not welcome to the Steppe. Could we ask you to search somewhere else?¡± The question is rather logical and I have no right to wander their territory without their permission. The whole Steppe is more or less their own Country and I invade it, blatantly so. I know I should be peaceful and just search somewhere else. ¡°...Sorry, what I need is already been mentioned by multiple sources to maybe still exist in the Steppe. I do not want to invade or ravage your Lands, just look at the old ruins, most of you not even care about. Can I not just go there in peace and leave after I have seen what I wanted to see?¡± Finally the female one pipes up. ¡°This is no place for negotiation. A thing from beyond should be killed right then and there. You are not welcome here so be happy to just stay where you are and be happy not being hunted down.¡± ¡°Elara!¡± ¡°Those are the tenants of our Tribe. Those are the rules of all Elves to secure the sanctity of our World. We are the protectors, are we not ¡®Root¡¯?¡± ¡°As I said, I am no Root anymore. Also he is here to keep another Invader at check.¡± ¡°As expected, the Root have become too weak to just eradicate both dangers.¡± ¡°You¡­¡± ¡°Where were you, when the dark Crystals wanted to invade?¡± My throwback was right in time for making vent Leaf her anger and make them perturbed. ¡°Those are not here, are they?¡± ¡°Yes, because I am here. Did you not hear about that, or are you only listening selectively to the plights of the Tribes, and decide which you might be able to handle?¡± ¡°It did not come! We would have protected the Steppe!¡± ¡°So you just hid behind your meat shields of Beastkin and now are heckling the one who single handedly stopped the Invasion? What brave Elves you are.¡± ¡°You!¡± ¡°Feeling aggrieved? That is what happens, when you mess with someone who I care for. Do you want to try again with the talk or are we finished?¡± ¡°We are finished. Sildren we go.¡± ¡°Elaren, we are here for negotiations not your vanity!¡± ¡°I am the Leader! We go if I say we go!¡± And that was the end of it. No loss in my eyes. ¡­ ¡°The Elves just went directly without us. Have the negotiations failed brother?¡± ¡°First they were courteous¡­ to a degree, then they threw insult after insult and suddenly they think they are better than anyone.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t¡­ wait, Elder said it might happen as you are¡­ the Unbeing?¡± Again with the whisper at the end. ¡°Might be true, if it means what I think it means. They just asked me and I answered honestly, then threw a fit.¡± ¡°This will not end well. They take the protection of the Steppe serious. It might be possible, they will try to eliminate you.¡± ¡°...I think I have a bad feeling about what your Elders Dreams really meant Hoof.¡± ¡°Shh!¡± Ah, I forgot. Secret, sure. Still if the destruction is really what I think it is, I am not the factor of the massacre. I am just defending against the fanatics, who think attacking me without reason is the way to go. Chapter 79 ¡°Why is it not working, dammit!¡± In front of me is a huge glass tank. Inside floats a corpse, but not really. For it to be a corpse it must have been alive in the first place. What I have here is a full body put together from parts of the prior bodies. There was a thought experiment in my original World, of a Boat made out of a hundred pieces of Wood. Each day a piece gets replaced by a new one and at the end all pieces are replaced. Putting the old pieces together into a new Ship the question is, which is the original? With my experiment I have the definite answer. The one with the spirit of the original ship as without it, the new Ship is just driftwood¡­ My rambling makes sense, when seeing the tank in front of me. Ava2 is not moving and not even able to move without injecting lightning into the muscles directly. A soulless puppet and not even having strings to move. All parts were originally from Ava, but now put back together¡­ Nothing! If it would be brain activity, then why can I reconstruct Ava, if he is not living? What does the spirit Body entail, as their knowledge is erased after the first time they get reconstructed. What is going on? Dang it, the whole Magic stuff messes with the rules of this World way too much! ¡­ ¡°Something wrong?¡± ¡°Not really Snow. I just can not get a Body to live without first having a Spirit.¡± ¡°Why do you want that?¡± ¡°To create and modify a Body, which is more like¡­ ¡®me¡¯.¡± ¡°Huh. You are you, as a mouse, as a bug, as Ava or as Red. You just look different from the outside, but I always know it is you.¡± ¡°I am happy you see me like that. But If the body is dead, then I can not move it.¡± ¡°Of course, dead things do not move, silly.¡± ¡°That is not wh¡­ hah¡­ You are right, but I still try to make something dead something alive. It is just hard.¡± ¡°Can you not just¡­ mush something together, like always?¡± Mush something together¡­ The fusion is rather explained crudely by her. Well it is true I just mush everything together. Just I have no way to mush life into it. I already tried, it wants to create just the something right in the middle of the not living body as if it is some kind of parasite. Seeing an Onion burst out of the chest is becoming old. Also mice or other things breaking out of the skin. Nothing works¡­ ¡°Maybe you need to look at it differently? When I was small, snakes were scary, but when I got bigger, I could look down on them and they were only food for a time. Now I just see them as something to clean once in a while.¡± Huh¡­ Maybe she does not mean what I understood, but it makes sense. Taking time off to see it later from a different perspective might be the right thing to do. ¡­ How many Months did pass? Three, maybe four? Ah, it is Four. We are officially in the Autumn of this year. Reading books, looking at my diagrams and working on different things I forgot the time. I wanted to be careful with working on things, but forgot it a long time ago, as Snow often throws me out of the stupor. The creation of a Homunculus is slowly getting better. To have Life you need to first create one live Cell. This Cell then needs to grow in a tank full of Mana into a body. Here is the Problem. One Cell can not hold Mana. A being must have a minimum of three things to hold mana. Nerves, liquid and circulation. I have still no Idea why, but imagine it has to do with having nerves for infusing the Mana and the circulation as kind of circle to flow inside. If that sounds complicated, that is the most simple explanation. I have a whole Rack full of analytics about the simple feasibility of something having just Mana. That is one rack for one problem on a project with hundreds of problems. In front of me is my most recent and most promising work. A blubbery, human looking¡­ thing. The proportions are mostly right. There are a few problems still¡­ like no eyes, mouth, nose, ears or other orfices¡­ or the fact it has no bones. Or the need of the feeding tube in its belly to even stay alive¡­ Okay it is a failure, but it already looks somewhat human! Think positive, be positive! Next time maybe I can have him grow five fingers and not three large ones on each hand. Progress is still going strong¡­ yeah¡­ ¡­ This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Snow I need a vacation. Where do you want to go?¡± ¡°Where to go? Um¡­ We could go back to the Orphanage? They wanted to see some of their children, remember?¡± Oh! That is a nice idea. Well they all have already gotten Mana burn except two. Those two¡­ Seems like they have the promise to become Mages, if they would have a teacher. Sadly there are not many, who would take in disciples without long and costly tests, while pushing all the monetary weight on the ones who want to become Mages. Sponsors are also not really a thing. They get mostly indoctrinated and are bound to their Caste. Is there not a single one, who is free roaming and might want to teach? I will pay double! ...bummer... ¡°Good Idea, let us ask Katie and see who would want to go back to tell how they are faring.¡± ¡­ ¡°I would suggest asking the Children directly, like you always do, Lord Null. Also while choosing you might want to take at least one girl and boy while also thinking of different ages, so everyone sees, you do not have any hidden agenda or otherwise dark secret.¡± Why does she say it, like I am some kind of villain? There is neither a strange agenda nor a dark secret¡­ well there are, but that is a different point! ¡°Okay. Can you pack some things already? I think about taking four of them and you, while we are at it?¡± ¡°I go too?¡± ¡°Who can tell them better to not worry as someone, who for the reason of the Children even broke off her one year ¡®Sister to be¡¯ and visited an unknown place on her own? Just do not talk about the monsters¡­ And not too much about those strange rumors, as they might be spun into folktales.¡± ¡°...so only the good parts? That is not really an honest explanation.¡± sigh ¡°I do not mean it like that. You can always tell there are some things negative with the place but cannot tell out of security reasons.¡± ¡°That does sound way more ominous, my Lord.¡± ¡°You can do it. I just don¡¯t want the Mages trying to wring out the Orphanage for information. It might make their life even worse.¡± ¡°...So you are worrying about the children still there. I understand. I will try to be cordial but secretive.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡­ ¡°Name and reason for entry?¡± ¡°Ava, Snow, Katie and some children. We want to visit a few people and buy some supplies.¡± ¡°Seven Cop¡­¡± ¡°Go right in! My colleague does not know you, I am sorry. Please have a nice visit.¡± Woah, suddenly another Guard ran up and just waived the fee. Talking with the other one in hushed tone seems to mean, he told him about what happened last time. I am not that scary, am I? While walking around we notice some surveillance on us, but they are decent enough not to snoop too aggressively. Just seeing where we go. Hopefully they do not do something stupid. ¡­ ¡°Sister Katie! Welcome back. Do you want to switch with one of us, or are you only here to visit?¡± ¡°I am rather happy with my new place of living. While it is looking dangerous, scary and gloomy, there are more upsides than downsides. At least from what I have seen so far.¡± Hey! That was rather mean. I mean yeah, there are Monster roaming around, whimpering could be heard for a while in the Dungeon and I might be a bit eccentric with the design of many Rooms and especially stairs and secret passages, but¡­ um¡­ Okay, you have a point Katie. While looking at the children, they take off the bandages for the Caretaker to see. They look rather perturbed at the now glowing scars on their bodies, but when they see their nourished cheeks and good hygiene they seem to be appeased. All of the children talk to their Friends they left. Many questions are asked, but I hope they do not talk too much about the things I asked them not to tell. Children have rather a loose mouth, so please be careful. ¡­ So why am I here again? ¡°Would you maybe just think about this proposal? I do not mean you should take everyone. But if there is really enough space, then it would be good for you to have more cleaners, no?¡± ¡°And that is why I should do a pilgrimage to every Orphanage and ask for their children?¡± ¡°We do not mean it like that! I am just asking if you would like to maybe look for more helpers in other Orphanages, that might give some to you to¡­ have them work for you.¡± You wanted to say ¡®shelter¡¯ did you not? Maybe even ¡®keep¡¯ or ¡®protect¡¯? You definitely do not want me to take them for work, you want me to keep them safe against what will happen. I can somehow understand her, but how much do we talk about here? There are hundreds of Orphans in the resource Towns, and thousands in the inner Cities. ¡°I can not take every Child there is. You know that as much as I do. I know you are desperate, as I heard of the ¡®bait¡¯ tactics some Mercenaries use. I can not just vanish with thousands of children.¡± ¡°No, not all children. Just the ones in the Towns directly at the Dark Forest, which means just those three, if you do not take the fortified Villages strewn across the roads into consideration.¡± Ugh. What shall I say to deny her request? It seems logical, that taking the children might save them, but the ones who stay will have to work even harder and might be destined to die. Also we can not just take all the children and make them our Servants, that is just wrong! ¡°We can take some of them with us, right Null?¡± Snow! You too? I know you want to help, but we have our own problems. We can not take all of the Orphans over the World and put them just inside our Castle. Sigh ¡°We can maybe shelter some more, but it means more Caretakers and definitely more of them will become Farmers. The Food is starting to get strained, but the Fields are not fully in use. Can you stomach them working hard hours for food?¡± She looks at Katie. Maybe she can help me and keep it at a Minimum. The whole Castle is for her still scary, she will be on my side. ¡°While the work is hard, it is not unbearable. The Fields are rather forgiving and the work can be easily done by most of the older Children. I am for it.¡± You too?! Chapter 80 Getting a reference Letter with maybe some secret code inside, shows they really see my place as a secure and maybe even sought after refuge. I really do not want more children. While it is nice to see them smile and I often eat lunch with them on the same table, there is a limit on how many people can be put into my Domain. Whatever, I am right now raising over the Library more Rooms. Can be the Children Wing, when it is ready. While the older children are working as all kind of servants the really young ones will be educated and shown how to dust around the Castle. Nothing too straining, just keep the place clean after yourselves. Snow is happy, like hyped on sugar. More playmates for her. Need to think of connecting the fourth floor with their wing later. Do you never get tired by all the Children around you Snow? We are coming close to a hive made out of children, if we keep this up! Already some of the Children which were not going last time are ready to come with us. Especially as they finally notice the writings on the wall¡­ in blood. The readying of all the weapons and armors but not enough Men should give them time to think, especially as there are no halflings living in this World and those cheap armors are rather too slim for bulky dwarfs. With this I have a new mission and a headache, even if I do not even have a head¡­ Well Ava is courteous enough to lend it to me, wish he wasn¡¯t¡­ ¡­ While Katie waits with our children in the Inn we bring the ones who changed their minds back to our Lost Village. Not much I can do but assure them I am not messing with them and we are going the right way. Maybe they would have been more at ease, if Katie would be with them, but no dice, she can not walk a hundred Kilometers every day just cause. I am High Human and Snow is¡­ Snow. We can, but Katie can¡¯t. Bringing them back right into the Castle the other children welcome them and now I am eight heads richer. More heads for headaches, but Snow is smiling. We did not even wait for it to get Morning, we just walk back in the middle of the Night. More Towns need to be scoured for Children. Man, that sounds wrong! ¡­ ¡°So Sister Annette send you. For her to tell this proposal I am both shocked and torn. The children really need to be saved, but we can not just throw them into the inner Cities, as they are even more filled than us.¡± Imagine. The richer Cities have more Orphans. Who would have guessed? Yes, I am cranky. We fill the Castle with a hundred children and have not even a clue of how long they might be staying. I do not believe a Minute, they will take them back, after being fed and well off. ¡°That is why she made the proposal. I understand, that you might not want to give your children to strangers. We will just leave and pretend as if nothing happened.¡± ¡°No, No! We are glad you would be willing to help us. Especially with the time we are in right now. Some children¡­ Some are already drafted and can not leave anymore. The time is rather dire. While they just took mostly for the ones who are having a chance to survive, next spring might be the search for¡­ disposable workforce.¡± She seems rather sad. So the able boys close to men are trained in battle, for they would later make good Mercenaries but for now they do not need the bait and toys, as it would cost them too much food. How delightful the whole of Telk is. And you all are sure slavery is uncommon here? It sounds like more of an age thing, than being someones property in my ears. ¡­ Fifty two¡­ That is the count of Children just from Kilt¡­ Fifty Void damned two¡­ Yes I am cranky! If we go to Malek we will have even more Children and that is the biggest City of them all! Two more Tender have been with us for now, Isabelle and Karen. I really hope they keep them in check. Stupid Snow is grinning from ear to ear. Those kids are a responsibility and not playmates! Ugh, I can not be angry at Snow for long. Suddenly there are Bells heard. Really loud bells and they are coming from Belk, as we are close to the city. Early Wave alarm. Seems some Monster could not wait any longer, as I see the mixed ball of frenzied beasts between the Trees. Sadly we are not far enough for us to be in the safety of the city walls, as everyone can be seen panicky rushing into the now wide gates before closing them again. Luckily, I have a bad day. ¡°Snow, can you protect the children? I need to vent a bit.¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, yeah I can do that? Why do you need to vent Null?¡± ¡°Just some stress I accumulated, be right back.¡± ¡°Sir Ava! Please do not abandon us! We trusted you!¡± I am abandoning Nobody! I. Just. Need. To. Vent! ¡­ First time I used Ava with full power. About fifty Monsters are strewn across, I can not count them, as they are mostly in pieces¡­ or melted¡­ or charred into unrecognizable chunks¡­ For now I have a bit more peace of mind and can now think better. While the archers on the walls are just decoration, I collect things I might be able to use. Cores, blood samples, body parts. ¡°You made a mess!¡± You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Yes, Snow I know. I just overdid it a bit. At least I feel better. Why are you here and not with¡­ Oh, everyone is here too, but further away. Am I that scary? I do not even have a bit of blood on my armor¡­ Maybe that is scary in itself, but my reflexes are fast and Alpha can cut really smooth. ¡°I might have overdid it, but now I feel better.¡± ¡°Is that so? Well then that is fine. Are we going home now?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± While thinking that someone comes to us. ¡°You! State your Name and Affiliation!¡± Nice welcoming of the one, who just cleaned up for you. Do I have to pay a toll for saving your hide too? ¡°Ava. Lord Null of the Lost Village. Ask Blue Ice and they will explain. I am going now.¡± ¡°Wait, we need to first check your credentials!¡± ¡°Not interested.¡± And with that we just walk away. He might want to use more force to persuade me, but I just cut a rock Bear in half while dodging a blade Deer. So we go the rest of the way and vanish in the Forest with our full retinue. ¡­ While the Children and new Caretakers are getting comfortable I am in the study. The whole Monster wave was crazy. No, I do not mean myself being a tornado of gore, I mean they seriously did not care about anything. They just attacked like there is no backing off or retreat. It was not even desperation just¡­ rage. What is a Monster stampede anyways? How come they just breed like crazy and then just decide to ram themselves against a human Wall to die a worthless death? There has to be a reason. I need to get to the bottom of it. Maybe I should go out as a Monster and look around? No, I was never accepted as a Monster between the Forest Monsters. Still I should watch out and look for signs. Maybe there is something I can understand from their behavior and maybe I should check the Miasma inside the Forest. ¡­ ¡°Malek is still there. We need to go there!¡± Snow¡­ We have so many children already. More and the Servants floor will be halfway filled. ¡°Do we have to?¡± ¡°Yes! You saw the Monsters already getting angry at something. I do not want to see an Orphan getting eaten.¡± Me too, but it will happen one way or the other as not all¡­ maybe I should not explain that to her, she would want to cleanse the Forest. ¡°...Understood. I just write the last few results of checking the Miasma and we can go.¡± ¡°By the way, what did you find out?¡± ¡°The Miasma is seriously strange. It is more aligned and has more working intent as chaotic one. Either something is deliberately pulling the Miasma into such a state, or there might be a phenomenon on this World, that makes it a natural occurrence. My money is on¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡°So¡­ Nothing?¡± ¡°Not nothing in the broad sense. With the way the Miasma moves I can predict next time, if there is a Stampede¡­¡± ¡°And we can gather more Children earlier?¡± ¡°...no Snow, we can maybe find a way to stop the Stampede from forming.¡± ¡°Aw¡­¡± Snow, do you really need thousands of playmates? I know you are rather energetic, but the Castle is already filled with so many people running here and there and waving and smiling¡­ Well okay, it is way more livelier now and maybe I can also smile, when I hear happy laughter¡­ I am not making a good point here, am I? ¡­ While on our trip many eyes are on us. You go crazy once and suddenly all of the people want to tell everyone where you go and what you are doing. One even comes directly to us. ¡°Lord Null? I am Richard. The Blue Ice would like to express their thanks for eliminating the small horde. While they were busy, they could not be at the front themselves and are glad you made an impact. If you want you can come for a visit to Halk before you go further?¡± ¡°Sorry, we are only walking through.¡± ¡°Information has been heard, you are collecting children? Might we know what you are trying to achieve?¡± So nosy. I do not need to answer anything, but Snow did answer before I could. ¡°We just protect them from you using them in the stampede. Clean your own mess and do not use children!¡± Snow, that might just be some Information for them to use against us. Well whatever, if they really try to force us to move with children as bargaining chip I eradicate them. I finally have a better grip on that Void Slime body I taken over. Might be trying it out on them, if they do not play ball. ¡°Might you be interested in helping us out? You could save those children directly?¡± ¡°Robert was your name?¡± ¡°No Richard.¡± ¡°Listen Richard. If you try to threaten us into working with Blue Ice, you might first ask them what happened to the last one, who tried to threaten us. Do not think they will safe you from me. We are going now.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to thre¡­¡± ¡°We are going! Bye!¡± And that was it. Maybe the people think of me as some kind of soldier for hire. I am not and will only help if I want to. While walking Snow nudges me. ¡°Maybe we could help? If we help, less people will be hurt?¡± ¡°Snow¡­ If we do what they want just to help every Orphan, they will try to exploit that weakness. What would you do, if they say we need to go to war with another Country or they will use the children as Soldiers?¡± ¡°I would bite them!¡± ¡°But if they say it more subtly like now, you would help them. If they know how to talk to you and insinuate there might be hurt Children otherwise, they would have a way to control you. Do not get me wrong, I think it is really nice of you to care for the Orphans, but the more you want to help, the more they might try to exploit that. We are already doing too much.¡± ¡°You think we should not help those poor boys and girls?¡± ¡°We should, but should be more subtle. Donations was a great thing, but now we collect them and bring them to our Domain. This will be seen by all of the others and will be looked into.¡± ¡°More subtle¡­ I really do not understand this.¡± She is still confused about the real World. Action and reaction. She might be too much of a child for now, even if she looks grown up. Chapter 81 ¡°Welcome to Malek. Please state your Name and what you want to do in our humble Town.¡± Humble? This is the direct City cornering multiple Kingdoms. Merchant Mecca. The Las Vegas of trade in this world! Whatever¡­ ¡°The Name is Ava and this is Snow. We are just here to buy some wares and maybe look at some other things.¡± ¡°Please wait a moment.¡± While looking into a book he seems to check our credentials for might be Robbers or Bandits? I do not really know how they work here, they are completely different than the other Border Towns, maybe because they were originally a part of the Merchant Republic. I bet deep below they are still but no one wants to just tell Telk about it. Crafty guys. ¡°We have heard of you. A request from the Peddler King was sent for you to be asked for a visit. If you have time, please meet their Headquarters. It is in this street on the corner. You might not miss it.¡± He shows a rather detailed Map and just waves us through. Wow, the Guards are not from the Mages, but the Merchants? Maybe they are from the Mages, but the Merchants are scarier and therefore they just do, what they tell them to do. This City is seriously different than the other two. ¡­ ¡°Welcome to the Peddler King. Can I help you?¡± While the greeting is the same, the clerk holds his Nose rather high. Maybe he thinks we are not worth to be in their headquarters? Well there are a few branches on nearly every gate into the City for normal Mercenaries to use, but I am not one of them. ¡°My Name is Ava and this is Snow. We were asked to come to you for a visit from the western Gate.¡± We could have taken the northern Gate, but why not just mingle with the Mercenaries and not look that much out of place. Did sadly nothing, as we just got caught and asked to visit anyways. ¡°One moment, I will look into it. Please wait over there.¡± Where we are send to were some rickety chairs to rest on. Finer chairs were seen somewhere else but we get those¡­ Well I will remember that, as they first want to meet us but suddenly show us not even a bit hospitality. ¡­ ¡°Excuse our meager welcoming, but we could not see on your look your status of being a supplier. Might we know if you are Lord Ava Null, the producer of a special kind of produce?¡± ¡°Either Ava or Lord Null. Those are two different Names. And yes I am the producer of the Vegetables you are selling across Telk right now. You wanted to speak to me?¡± ¡°Ah, yes. We would like to ask about a new contract with our Headquarters directly. The security will be way tighter and benefits will be higher for either of us. Might you be interested in higher profits and easier transport?¡± ¡°Not interested.¡± ¡°...what? I am saying, that you would get more for less and we would even take more than what is sold right now. I heard you could still produce more and we would be delighted to take everything you have to offer without any complain.¡± They just want to boot out Rendlar. The demerits will be less honest peddlers visiting, pissing of my direct neighbors, who need to play coy, as they get something out of it and having a way shakier place to sell. I bet they think I would just fold for quick profit and not see how they would have the Monopoly of our Produce, so having the power to crank the prices down later. No thank you, I keep Rendlar. ¡°As said, not interested. I am right now working with a trusted merchant on my own, and for betraying his trust would be more of a slap in his face. My trust in him is way higher than from someone I just met.¡± ¡°I see¡­ If you might rethink your decision, please just come to us. Albeit I believe the merchant you have is capable, he might not be able to handle some complications. We will wait with open arms for you.¡± ¡°Do not worry, if there are complications I will find out who or what made them and eliminate it.¡± ¡°...is that a threat? You might be careful about threatening the Peddler King, as we are not a small business.¡± snicker ¡°If you believe that was a threat, then you just told me you would mess with the selling of my products. Also I am working with the Peddler King, how am I able to threaten the Peddler King by protecting their profits? You might be careful yourself of what you insinuate, as I do not believe it is wise to threaten the profits of your own business would go over with your Superiors. Are we finished?¡± Well he looks uncomfortable. Does he think I do not see how he tries to use the brunt of this place, while I am already working with them under another person? If he really cuts into our trade, it might be seen as competition, but if he tries something that hampers the profits of the Peddler King itself, there might be a nasty awakening. With that we just go and never look back. So many greedy people. I make what? A couple of Mithril? They make hundreds of that and for one of their higher ups to try to gobble it up from under Rendlar he might not even that high up in their corporate ladder. Such waste of time¡­ ¡­ Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°I do not care about what Sister Annette is thinking, we will not just give someone our protected to go somewhere we do not have seen ourselves.¡± This was rather brazen but maybe a good thing for me. Not any more children for us, as they are against it. Still¡­ ¡°Can you explain why, so I can tell Annette about your opinion?¡± ¡°She does not need my opinion, as I am the Sister in charge. The Children are safe here and will be staying under our protection, as long as they need it. To just give them away for¡­ to people we do not know even a little bit is against our consciousness.¡± She wanted to say something else. Might be a slight slip of the Tongue, but I think she has other intentions. While grabbing a handful of large gold coins I just ask. ¡°And if we donate a bit, so the rest of the children will be better off?¡± Her eyes look at my Money. There is a slight glint of greed inside. She is definitely thinking about it. ¡°While we would accept the donation, we would need to think about the proposition further before we even could give the Children to you. There are many different aspects we need to think about before just giving them to you. Please understand.¡± So taking the Money and ¡®maybe¡¯ giving us Children. She sounds like she sells them more than thinking about their safety. ¡°For now I leave a donation of three large Gold for you to reconsider. I hope we can see the children before we go?¡± ¡°We can show them to you, but please be cordial.¡± Walking the hall we come to a door to the dormitory. Right after opening it the children inside twitch rather scared and assemble. Their clothes are dirty, but this could be seen as normal. The problem is more in the category why the largest and maybe one with the most donations is that cheap in cleaning and repairing their gowns. Mostly the children seem well groomed, while I see more than one with blue and purple spots on their arms or backs through the small holes. They definitely are not as well here than in the other two. What is going on? ¡°Children, this is Ava. He has donated a rather large sum of Money. With this we will be able to give you more food and even repair your clothing. New toys are maybe even possible.¡± ¡°Thank you, Sir Ava.¡± The chorus sounded happy, but not genuine. As that Sister told them about food, clothes and even toys, no one sparked up. Would you not be happy, if you knew you would get more than before? Most children would be elated to hear about presents. I would say the reasoning is clear. They heard it already and it never came true. The whole spiel is drilled into them. The promises get told but never were they fulfilled. I am really lucky right now Snow is a bit dense in that aspect. She would rip the Sisters apart before we could really save the Children. We might be able to take on Halk or Kilt but Malek? This City is a notch higher than I am comfortable to maybe hold down. Nothing against the other Cities, but here are so much commerce, they have not simple Knights but the ones they call trained Knights. Telk really wants to hold this City, otherwise they had not stolen it from Ulk after Illstin lost it. We need to be subtle for now. ¡­ So much work to do. First asking of Snow to make sure she can do what she needs to do¡­ Well, if there is no light and she does not show herself it will do, otherwise it will be a disaster. Next the plan. How to at best be conspicious. There are some rather sad looking haulers and bums around¡­ I got an Idea! It needs to be made into something big for it to stick, but should work. So let me prepare¡­ Food, check. Bribe, check. Location, check. Hearsay, check. Workers, check. Tables, check. It seems I have everything ready for now. This should be funny. Maybe I am a bit too paranoid, but to keep all of those Children in check there must be some of those kinds between all of them. Snow is surveilling, but still no sight of one behaving differently. I will not risk it, I¡¯d rather be oversensitive than being unprepared. Let the games begin! ¡­ A week later, deep at night. The caretakers are already sleeping while the children are locked in. Why looking after them if locking them in works fine it seems. Well because of what will happen right now. A slight smell is emanating form the darkest corner of the Sleeping quarters. Some already wake up from the smell of food and even meat. ¡°Hush. Be quiet little children. If the caretakers hear us. I can not give you delicious food. Stay quiet and sneak to me.¡± They might remember her voice. It is Snows voice coming from the dark corner. While most of them are scared, one used up all her strength and bravery to go there. Others tried to dissuade her, whispering it is a trap or a child eating monster, but were still quiet. They were scared, but making ruckus might lead to lashes from the Sisters, so better not being too loud, if it is just some dream or maybe nightmare. ¡°Good girl, just reach out. I will not do anything, just giving you food.¡± The small child was scared, but still did it. Something warm was felt in her little hand and when she pulled her hand out of the dark¡­ there was a piece of bread and some meat on it. At first she thought she was dreaming, but after tasting it, she knew it was real. Quickly she ate it and put her hand again into the darkness. ¡°You already had. Go sleep. I come again. Promise.¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Snow. Remember Ava? Little Sister of him. The rat girl.¡± ¡°I remember. Thank you. Please be careful, those Sisters are not nice.¡± ¡°I know. I just want to help. Go sleep. Let others eat.¡± With the first another came, and another. After a while the whole room silently made a row for her to give them food and while there were some who tried to stand in line twice she just said they already had. Telling her Name and who she is to everyone. After all the children had their morsel she vanished like a Ghost. While the children thought of it as a dream at first, the warmth inside their stomach said different. They rarely slept that good in a while, comfortable and not so hungry. Many hoped she would come back as promised, but were not that optimistic as many people already said so many promises and no one held them. This happened in all four sleeping chambers. Not one chamber shouted or screamed. Some Children did not trust her and did not move from their place, but many did. The night was slowly coming to an end and what was expected happened. Chapter 82 ¡°These are the people! Arrest them!¡± ¡°Can I know why you are shouting at us with guards and even disturbing our meal?¡± In front of us is one of the Sisters. She looks angry and waves her finger in our direction. ¡°You broke into the Orphanage! The children were all so scared! Do you think just because you gave us some money you can do anything to them? I wish for them to be arrested!¡± ¡°When did we broke in?¡± ¡°The day before yesterday! Your Rat girlfriend was seen by many children and while not directly seen by the caretakers, they saw her silhouette while thinking it was the trick of the light. Later came the truth of you burgling into our poor Orphanage! You will have to pay a rather hefty reimbursement for not to be held responsible.¡± There it is. Money, as if they would care if someone ate one of their children in front of them, as long as the money is in their pocket. ¡°For such a blatant lie, you will be held responsible. You know that, right?¡± ¡°Hah! As if that is a lie. We have eyewitnesses, you can not wiggle your way out of this.¡± All around us look at the scenery, but I do not care. All is according to plan. ¡°Fine. I will ask our eyewitnesses also to be at the courthouse. Shall we go?¡± She seems smug, but thinks something is off. Well because it is. The trap is already sprung. ¡­ While under rather comfy house arrest for the night, Snow was seen again and albeit most children were happy, a few were really confused. No wonder you little spies. Maybe you got for the telling a bit more food and preferential treatment, but that does not hold on for long. You will be sorry and I do not have to even lift a finger. Seeing all of it while inside a Mouse, Snow had graciously taken with her shadow we both lie on our beds in physical form. Snow really has some neat tricks, if you do not look too deep into it. The reason to not look to deep into it is her copy is made out of melded together shadow Rats. She is a mountain of rats in human Form. If a child might see this, there will be panic for sure. Now we are even under arrest and the children might blabber about her being with them while we are literally on watch. Have fun with that! ¡­ A slightly bored looking apprentice sits on the Podium. Our trial is next and might look at first sight easy to handle, but somewhat irks him, when he saw the record. Must be the long list of witnesses. Ah well, not my problem. ¡°The next trial is the Orphanage asking for repercussion from a break in. Snow is the culprit and Ava is here to defend her¡­ right?¡± Such a sloppy telling. He just does not care about it at all. Now lets rattle some bones. ¡°Yes, your honor. We were accused of a break in, but it is impossible for us to have done that, as we were at a totally different place at that time.¡± ¡°Lies! She was seen by more than one person. She even told everyone her Name!¡± ¡°Can not be possible, as we were at the slum district distributing food to the poor. We have Four Guards as witnesses and as the list shows six workers and about a hundred poor fellows who even thanked her personally for giving it.¡± ¡°Those poor were obviously bought.¡± Not so sure anymore, eh? You just jumped over the other witnesses. ¡°And we also bought the Guards we had with us for a calm distribution? Maybe the Workers we had with us were bought, too?¡± Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°That¡­ These children here have seen her!¡± At first the apprentice was just giving in and judging for the Orphanage by the look, but now he has a problem. Those Guards are of his own Caste. There might be a really bad problem, if he just disregards their account. Yup, we bribed some of the Guards to be our watchdogs for the night, where Snow was inside the Orphanage. They saw us and even had as thanks from us something to eat later too. And some booze, do not forget the booze they greedily took from us. ¡°So, let us hear the children first. I want to know what they saw.¡± And there came their telling. How Snow was with them three days ago and yesterday. Did I mention we were under arrest that time? Yeah, that can not be good looking, if even the Guards stationed at the arrest hall are questioned if they might just let us out. After the first said it, the others were already rather scared to even talk by the looks of the Sister. ¡°Your honor, may I talk?¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Already having a headache, eh? Let me make a rather sharp observation. ¡°Those children look extremely intimidated. And how the Sister looks they might be forced to tell such stories.¡± ¡°Nonsense! What do we get from this?!¡± Did you really just say that? Oh, you really are dumb¡­ ¡°Of course, Money! We gave the Orphanage last time three large Gold. They even saw how heavy our pouch was. It is obviously greed, which they made them think of such a ridiculous attempt in framing us!¡± No response? A white face and shivering like a newborn calf is also a response dear Sister of the Orphanage. ¡°This are rather strong accusations. Are you sure you will want to keep them in front of this court?¡± Trying to intimidate me now, dear judge? I knew you were bought from the first time I saw you. Have fun explaining a false ruling, with so much proof. ¡°Of course. We have heard the Children telling when we were apparently burgling their Orphanage, and in both cases we cannot even be close to doing that. The Money was paid one and a half week ago, there must be documentation of it in the Orphanage and the children there also thanked us for it. Maybe those intimidated children will not say it, but the others will definitely tell the truth of our donation. Shall we go and ask them?¡± Nothing to do. What will it be? I bet the donation was not logged and ¡®vanished¡¯ into thin air, but if the children were asked, there will be a discrepancy about us being there being thanked and not even having given anything. What now? ¡­ The final verdict: Innocent. Not only that, the Orphanage has to pay a horrendously large fine. Five large Gold, and that was only the monetary damage, as they also need to apologize inside the Food shack where we were last time in front of all the guests AND give back our donation, as they have been shown unworthy of our help. Pleading for leniency as the children would hunger and suffer from it did nothing, the Money was already reduced by their bought Judge as the Orphanage might suffer, so no dice. Well¡­ maybe he wasn¡¯t bought, but who knows really? Better seeing him as an accomplice than thinking an honorable person sits where a snake is hiding. The reason for the Verdict are manyfold. First they lied, even if not. Second we were put under house arrest for a day, would the Caste pay our wrong incarceration? Void no! Third is the Sister making a scene, we were in the public and she said Snow had been breaking into the little children bedchambers. The question of how the apprentice would feel if someone would throw a rumor around him doing that made him coming close to sanctioning me. We are close to the final act. Right now we are barred from ever going back to that Orphanage again, but that is not our goal anyways. Right now we plan something different. An escape plan. ¡­ Leaving Malek, we travel into the Forest. Everyone saw us go, as we were the talk of the City for bleeding out the Orphanage right after giving the poor workers food. ¡°Have you found a way?¡± ¡°There were some, but all are guarded Null. We need to remove the obstacles. Are you fine with that?¡± ¡°Why not? I do not care about humans, other than who are cared for from myself or my family. You want to help them, so we help them. All the others can just die.¡± ¡°...Sometimes I think you see the World strange Null.¡± ¡°Yes, I see everything rather strange. You are growing up it seems.¡± ¡°A bit. The whole thing we are doing right now is showing me how sad this World can be.¡± ¡°...I am sorry.¡± ¡°Null?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Do I need to grow up?¡± What should I answer about that? I really like her happy go lucky demeanor, but¡­ ¡°A little bit. It does not mean you do need to change completely, but there are dark undercurrents in the world. Like a Snake hiding to catch the rat searching for food.¡± ¡°I remember sometimes my old life¡­ While I got stronger, the World also got more complicated. Why do we not just take them by breaking the walls?¡± ¡°We would be seen as the bad guys, destroying and kidnapping the children.¡± ¡°But we are somehow kidnapping them, right?¡± ¡°We ask them if they want to come with us. If not, then they can stay.¡± With a nod we travel the Forest. There are some plants we need. Extracting the poison from them is harder when you can not just disassemble the plants, but it is still possible. We have until the evening for the work, and then we need to be ready for the final play. This will be ugly¡­ Chapter 83 ¡°Children¡­ be quiet, I am back. This time I have a question for all of you.¡± The children woke up. Some beds were empty, I would have thought to sedate their spies to make it possible for this right now. While I have done too much I am rather cautious and be ready for some different happenings. ¡°Children, I want to know. Do you want to leave? We have a nice place for you to live. It might be scary to go, but I really just want to help you. Please think about it, I ask now the others too. I will be back in a while. Who wants to come wait for me, the others please just sleep.¡± While vanishing a small rat was still there and listened in. Most were scared, but some were determined. ¡®What can be more horrible than being here?¡¯ was the most memorable phrase Snow told me she heard them say. The whole place was rather filled with many talks. Snow even found the spies, but they were in really poor condition. While she really wanted to help them I told her not to. She has to be clear, they made their own choice and now have to suffer the consequences. As she described their state even I had sympathy for them. Hanging in chains over the floor, naked and caned. Losing so much money made the caretakers that angry. Still I was able to work it into the plans. The hidden room was easily marked by some smearing on the floor to be found and Snow made that with heavy heart. Finally the first children came through the shadows. ¡°Be silent children. Here is something to eat first. We need to be quiet and escape through a tunnel, when everyone is here.¡± Seeing me, they were a bit apprehensive, but remembered my face rather quickly. Afterwards the children nibbled on their bread and waited. After some needed to go back to tell them, that it was really safe a rather large stream of children came. Now we had all of them on the outside and the ones who wanted to stay¡­ well there were none somehow or Snow did not tell me everything. That place must be more horrible as I imagined for everyone to want to leave. Two hundred and six children were a rather massive blob and would be impossible to get out if there were not the secret tunnels. A rather huge merchant City without black market hidden entrances and exits? Rather unlikely and Snow found many. Even one right next to the Orphanage for a rather gloomy use I would believe. The owners are already rat food. Strewn into the sewers for Snows siblings to feast on. Now we have to leave before the Guards find us. That Tunnel was rather meticulous built and came right out of a tool shack of a Farmers house. They are sleeping really tight with the sedative in their systems right now. The walk into the Forest was rather awkward as the children had to hold hands to keep track. As they could not see in front of them it was already hard for them, but we needed the darkness to hide our escape. ¡­ ¡°And that is when you came with Leafy right to us to get the children before they were found by the followers.¡± Katie, Karen and Isabelle were stunned silly, but what can I do? They asked and I don¡¯t want or need to lie. The whole travel back through the Forest was more harmonic, as the three Caretakers could organize them way better than us. ¡°You really stole every child out of the Orphanage. You are insane!¡± Thanks Isabelle, I know. ¡°Better getting them where they can live peacefully than what they do inside there.¡± ¡°I heard rumors, but that were just tales, like they always have been around. They are true and even worse? We need to tell the Guards!¡± ¡°No need Katie. Snow? Can you tell her what happens right now?¡± ¡°Sure. They are searching the whole Orphanage. While I was not allowed to save the beaten children, they were already found. The whole Orphanage is being turned upside down and not only Money but some books where they noted the sold children were found.¡± ¡°They sold¡­ what for?¡± ¡°Do I really tell you that Isabelle? We are on the corner of different Countries. Slavery is not well seen here, but a few Kilometer in different directions¡­¡± ¡°Still, they would not give that much as slaves.¡± ¡°As normal Slaves no, but illegal ones who you have no proof for ever having existed? You can make money with pretty girls and boys in every place¡­¡± ¡°Please stop!¡± This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Karen is still a bit horrified, but finally said something and not only listens. Right now we are rather deep inside the Forest and rest, for the children all need rest. We talk about a travel of close to two hundred Kilometer in uneven terrain. We are happy for the four bringing food and water with so much Mana in them to let them keep going, but they still need to rest. Worse is, we have to cull some of the more crazy Monsters coming at us. As of right now, we had about a dozen encounters with the biggest being around a dozen Wolves. This is a rather heavy fight between the Monsters around being scared and frenzied. What is the reason of this Stampede coming? ¡°Ah! I got found!¡± ¡°What happened Snow?¡± ¡°Some Mages came to search, they found my Shadow Rats hiding here and there. I got them out luckily but it was close. They are on their way back.¡± ¡°So no more information anymore. At least the Orphanage was cracked open and they found more than enough evidence for illegal slave trade.¡± This will be the talk of the City for a while. Even if they would like to put it under the rug, the sudden vanishing of two hundred children will not be easy to explain and the discovered corruption will have their consequences. I hope the next Orphanage will be more caring and less corrupt. ¡­ We nearly lost a few children. Luckily the surrounding of the Monsters was not planned. If they were attacking all at the same time we would have not been able to protect them all. Why are they so aggressive? It does not matter for now, as we finally made it. All 206 Children are there. Some were even carried by the older ones, when their little feet did not carry them anymore. All were brave enough and now we are here. ¡°Welcome to the Lost Village. Here you will not hunger or suffer. As you can see food is already in the making by the Villagers. Please warm yourselves on the food and afterwards rest in the large House over there.¡± The Mansion is being filled with blankets and makeshift beds. I might just ask them to come directly to the Castle, but that would be just cruel. Let them rest. ¡°Belk, we have too few farmers for all of us. When we start sorting I will send some to live in the Village.¡± ¡°Of course, my Lord. What is with these children? They are looking rather¡­ scared.¡± ¡°They came from a corrupt Orphanage. We broke them out, no need to explain further, but keep your distance and speak softly to them. They are through worse than you can imagine by what Snow told me.¡± With that done there is just waiting for them to become less scared. I do not understand how Snow did it. All children? How?! ¡­ ¡°Um¡­ I just told them the truth and they believed me?¡± That does not answer the question, but it might just Snow being Snow. Whatever it is, she brought them back now she has to work extra hard. Right now I prepare an emergency travel to Halk. We do NOT have enough caretakers. There must be a way to bring more. Katie wanted to go with me, but right now we might be wanted men. It will take some time for the Message to be sent to other places, but if they make us responsible even if we were officially gone, I better be ready for anything. The aftermath will definitely not be pretty and they need a scapegoat. If the Sisters can wiggle themselves out they might frame me again. Luckily we already had a sentencing against them, so there will be some problems to frame us again as they might just sound vindictive. Still we are some prime suspects, as we told them we were there for taking kids. Man that sounds still wrong! ¡­ ¡°You did what?!¡± ¡°Please be a bit quieter. You sent me to save Children and I did. Now I need some help from you.¡± ¡°I¡­ I told you to ask for the poor Children to be sheltered by you, not for you to just kidnap all of them!¡± ¡°Still a bit quieter, the others might hear us. The Orphanage was corrupt. You did not see the caned and hanging children in their ¡®reflection rooms¡¯. Also there were stashes of Money hidden and even a booklet explaining when and where a child went ¡®missing¡¯, and for how much. Do not tell me you would have not done anything.¡± ¡°I would have called the guards!¡± ¡°In a City that big and an Orphanage existing that long, you think there are no corrupt higher ups somewhere? You might be found in a ditch with cut throat and they would say it was a robber. Do you not know how the World works?¡± ¡°...was it that bad?¡± ¡°Worse. Twelve Children were hanging in the rooms nearly flailed to death. We only let them there because¡­ they were a risk. We created a ruse to see who is a snitch and who is not. Luckily we made special plans for everything.¡± ¡°Please¡­ Albeit I still do not condone your approach, can you at least explain everything?¡± ¡°Only if you swear to not tell anyone. You are right now on a List of liabilities, do you want to be put further up on the list?¡± That made her gulp. She did start everything, now you have to keep the consequences. ¡°I understand. I will go with you, but first I want to hear everything.¡± So I told her. The greedy looks on their faces, the children scared and hopeless, the trick we played by being on two places at once while feeding them. The accusation and quick apprehension even if there were just some hearsay of a few children. The escape and locating of the half dead children. The work to make the secret rooms easy to find with smearing some of the dripping blood on the floor next to it. The travel and how many we now have. ¡°This is so much. How can there be such a corrupt¡­ no, it is Malek. Albeit it is the richest merchant City of Telk, the black market runs deep. How many Children might have been sold¡­ And I even sent some myself when we were overcrowded¡­¡± Self pity will not help you. Now I want your answer. ¡°So, are you coming with us? We need at least four more Caretaker, Sister Annette.¡± ¡°I need time to prepare, but there are some I trust most. They might come with me.¡± And with that I waited while eavesdropping and being sure not to be sold out. Trusting people is hard. ¡­ Sister Annette, Mirabelle and Sina are now coming with us. One less as I demanded, but there is nothing I can do, as the others would not follow into the unknown even if it is the pleading of their Sister in charge. The talks all were rather secretive and nothing was told, just that there is an emergency and Children need their help. Still they are leaving the Sisters of the Orphanage behind¡­ Or are they? Maybe they can create a branch with us, even if we are not officially on the World map as of now. Bah, at least we have caretakers. I hope she can really work with them, they are extremely scared of grown ups¡­ Chapter 84 After a few discussions we have the general care plan for the whole army of kids worked out. Sister Annette takes over with the whole organization. Under her are all caretakers except Katie. Katie will be still our head maid and train the most able for the specific tasks. We now have twelve older teens dedicated for the Kitchen¡­ well, 11 and a half, the one kid is a bit younger and dedicated to keeping the kitchen clean. While I am not sure about it, the child itself was happy about it, as it is somehow her passion to clean and learn to cook. So an apprentice? As long as that pipsqueak is happy¡­ Next area. Eight Maids for sweeping duty of the stairs and floors, while also keeping the sheets of the beds and tablecloths clean by changing and washing them. Why only girls was answered with ¡®a duty of being a Maid, boys are not allowed¡¯¡­ How sexist? I just keep it as is, as this World has really strange thoughts about genders¡­ when in Rome¡­ Next area. I never thought about Servants¡­ Everything that needs hauling, transport, inventory management, repairs and dozens of other things are for those guys. Heavy workforce and greeting Guests. Twelve Teens and Kids in training, eight boys, four girls. I especially forbade any training or even thinking of needing to attend beds or anything other in that regards. We are not a brothel. Luckily Katie was with me in this, as she came from a former Fief which did not like that too. Their reasoning was more iffy, as they do not wanted bastard sons¡­ Well now they had an infighting with their official sons as she told me earlier of the poisoning. Maybe if they were more humane¡­ whatever. Next area. Gardeners¡­ Nope! We got one, and should not be disturbed. And our flowers can tend to themselves mostly. I might need to tell them about him someday, to not shock them too much, when there comes a time, but right now there is no way I will let someone else tend to the two gardens. Yes, he even tends now the greenhouse as he suddenly just walked over. The monsters leave him now alone, after tasting the strong acid he has as blood. I told the Monsters to leave him alone, but nooo¡­ Next area. Farmers. All over the age of 11, that still have no job. At first I thought of only over 14 but those were only seven more¡­ So I had to go down and was even encouraged to let them create their own destiny¡­ I am torn¡­ Well fifty three new Farmers it is. Eighty five now have a job so now there are fewer children right? WRONG! We still have a hundred and sixty three! Only five Caretaker and one head Maid is really low, but they need to keep them in line, good luck! The Children themselves have their own giant bath and shower place, dining area, sleeping floor, school corner and at first I thought of giving them a dedicated playpen but then Snow was nagging, that we already have one, and forced me to make a direct way to her Floor. Annette and the others were shocked by my dedication, but they all said I need to be responsible. Now I am, and they are surprised! What do they want? ¡°We thought of shelter and food. A bit of work to keep them occupied but this¡­ The bath is huge and they can even play in the water with each other, no wonder we are surprised!¡± Okay, the Bath is a pool. Not chlorinated, but automatically pumping water up and letting it flow down the drains through the channels for the Labyrinth and the Greenhouse. THIS time I have learned to create a pump which does not massively infuse the water with Mana, but the groundwater itself under the crater is already tainted beyond repair, so¡­ Mana swimming pool¡­ yay¡­ At least no bacteria can survive long inside. ¡­ The Merchants should come today at evening, but I noticed the Amulet coming near and then directly returning from where they came from. Stampede is growing, huh? Well while I have some work in teleportation in the works I can go out for a day or two. ¡®Snow, can you come to me into my Laboratory? We seem to need to go to Halk one last time for a while. Oh, take the Mouse with you, I am switching back to another body.¡¯ ¡°Okay!¡± Where she was, was easily found. Obviously playing with the children. She loves to make this her free time activity. As long as she is happy, the whole wrangling of all the little ones is worth it. ¡°What do you need Null? We are going out? And what is that?¡± ¡°That? Oh the first prototype of a Teleporter. Well it does not teleport it displaces space, but same thing.¡± ¡°Can I try?¡± ¡°Um¡­ no?¡± ¡°Why not? Looks fun!¡± ¡°Because it is still dangerous? I tested it for now, but we do not know if it works like intended. I will use it and then see.¡± ¡°And why are you allowed and I am not? Oh, and why are you running around as BB?¡± ¡°She is expendable. I need to see how it works now. Afterwards we go to Halk bringing them some Veggies and afterwards we lay completely low.¡± ¡°Why are we laying low?¡± ¡°Snow¡­ Orphanage? Raid? Kidnapping of hundreds of Children?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ yeah¡­ he he!¡± Scratching your head and putting out your tongue does nothing to me you ditsy, little¡­ adorable rat¡­ Well I can not stay angry anyways. Now the test. Standing on the left Teleporter I scrutinize it for defects. Two rings are stacked onto each other and between them a strong concentration of darkness Miasma with an intent especially manufactured for this test. The platform I stand on is held in the middle by the inner ring and the outer ring is ready for spinning. ¡°And ignition.¡± The outer ring spins sideways three hundred sixty degrees and envelops me with a bubble of darkness. The bubble fluctuates and afterwards pops and I¡­ ¡°You are still standing on the same platform Null.¡± ¡°Yup! Is a sad truth for the Teleporter to only work if you are on the platform once when it is active. Wait for it¡­¡± Going to the right Teleporter I scrutinize it the same and activate it. The sphere envelops me and with a pop¡­ ¡°It worked Null! You are on the other Platform! Can I do it now?¡± Seems to work. No dizziness or discomfort. The body is not torn to shreds or suddenly in a whole different dimension. All the organs are where they should be and I do not turn into some gigantic fly¡­ Nice, it works! ¡°As I already said, no! Give me at least a few weeks to see if something goes wrong with anything. I do not want to search you between the Dimensions if something happens.¡± ¡°Aw¡­¡± Well she is sad, but we can maybe work out some transportation system with them. No one can use them anyways when they did not have been to another one of them. Strange limitation, but seems to have to do something with the spirit being there at least once? That will make the way to transfer back to the other World more difficult. I need more Information! If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡­ ¡°Seventy three!¡± ¡°Eighty one, ha you are going to lose Null!¡± While going to Halk we get attacked incessantly. When Snow started to count her take downs I started too, now we have made it a game somehow. Still It is annoying to be attacked over and over. Luckily they are just single ones and not some kind of tide, still how many Monster does this Forest hold? There are just about 2,000 km2 space. Are they stacking themselves somewhere? Finally we are out of the Forest, but the stragglers still followed us. When we are close to the Town of Halk the doors are closed and seem to be bolted shut. No way but to go around to the other entrance. After the last one of the Monsters was killed we knock on the South Gate. No North gate exists, as the Mountain is thoroughly ignored. I mean not all of it is filled with fungal growth or is it? Whatever, maybe I look someday into it. The door opens and we go in. Afterwards the Door gets closed right away. ¡°Why are you coming from the south? Are you crazy? Use the East gate next time!¡± ¡°Well we came from the Forest, so the nearest was already nailed shut.¡± ¡°You WHAT?!¡± ¡°Sir Ava! I see you are safe. Why did you come?¡± Do I know that Guard? Huh¡­ not really, but I think I saw him once or twice. ¡°You know that lunatic?¡± ¡°Be quiet if you want to keep your head. He is affiliated with the Peddler King and working with Blue Ice.¡± ¡°I am sorry Sir. I hope you are fine and have no injuries?¡± Wow, one eighty in half a second! That might be some record. ¡°We are fine. Just passing through, before going home.¡± ¡°Sure Sir, tell us if you need something. Otherwise we wish you a nice visit in our humble Town.¡± ¡­ ¡°Lord Null? We are sorry, but if you want to ask of our transport, the possibility to bring you wares is right now not possible, as¡­¡± ¡°I know. Stampede is raging. Needed to cut my way through, I did not even had a time to loot. Is Rendlar in?¡± ¡°Of course, please wait in the resting area, we will bring you tea¡­¡± ¡°And Cookies!¡± ¡°...and Cookies.¡± It did not take a long time and Rendlar was already there. Seems like sadly Elane also is with him. ¡°Lord Null, I am sorry, but¡­¡± ¡°I know! Stampede is imminent. We are just here to bring some last produce. Might be a long time before you have the opportunity to come again.¡± ¡°That is wonderful! Some of our customers do not care about the shortage and demand some or pressure us with sanctions. While we always can blame the stampede, they do not want to hear it, as they live cozy in the inland.¡± ¡°How about just hunkering down and letting the Monster run through?¡± ¡°We could not just¡­¡± ¡°It was a joke Elane. Do not be so uptight.¡± ¡°So, where is the Produce?¡± ¡°Non¡­ Um¡­ We will talk about that with Rendlar in private please. For now I would like to ask you, why are you here?¡± ¡°Ah, yes. A few days ago we got a wanted call for two people with identical names and similar stature of you and your Sister. We would like to ask about that.¡± ¡°What? Let me guess, must be Malek? I already got that damn Orphanage in paying me restitution for defaming me! What did they say now? Did we somehow set fire to it, while we are already long gone or did we steal their underwear?¡± ¡°Huh? There was a request for you to be found and asked to come to Malek if possible. The talk was about the Orphanage but¡­ what is that about the Orphanage and you?¡± I told her about the meeting where we donated three large Gold and even asked to take some Children from them to have a lesser burden, as I needed light workers for just washing and a bit of sorting the Vegetables to store them easier for the transport. They got greedy and tried to frame us by saying we burgled the Orphanage, but had unbeknownst to them helped out with Soup for the poor having Guards as witnesses. The fine for defaming us was massive and now I believe just they want to get back at us again to get the Money somehow back. ¡°Interesting. I cannot tell you the whole details but children were Kidnapped. All of them and while this event had unveiled corruption inside the Orphanage, the Children are still not found. Do you know anything about them?¡± ¡°Even if I would, do you think I would tell them anything, when they are that corrupt in that Orphanage?¡± sigh ¡°Just to be official, we left the City right after the disaster. I do not care about their problems and I do not want to go back to a City, where we got incarcerated for something we never could have done, right after helping out the poor AND donating to the greedy Orphanage, which put us on trial. I would have a bad taste in my Mouth going back there again.¡± While she is a bit taken back Elane seems to sympathize with me. ¡°I understand. We from Blue Ice will tell them we met you and asked you about it and that will be your answer. Although I do not think they will look too far into it, but we will stay neutral to the happenings for now and do not tell your official residence.¡± Yeah, Blue Ice wants more profit before selling me out. I told about a large transport of Vegetables, so they smell money. At least they are docile as long as the money flows. ¡°Anything else?¡± ¡°No, please excuse me. I will now send the Message. Please stay safe, the Stampede is getting real close, they might not even wait for the Winter to end, like always.¡± Like always? So there is something messing with the natural timeline. What could it be? ¡°Thank you. Please be safe yourself, the whole Forest is filled with Monsters.¡± ¡°I will try. ...not everyone is a monster like you two¡­¡± The last was mumbled after the door was closed. I bet she did not think I could hear her. Sadly I did, but I do not even care about her description of me. Finally we are alone. ¡°Did something serious happen in Malek? I can not help much, but I have some connections still.¡± ¡°No thank you. The Orphanage was corrupt anyways. Let us just say the Children are having it better right now anyways.¡± ¡°Wait, did you¡­¡± ¡°Better not ask, what should not be asked. The real question is what is with the Merchants in Malek? Someone wanted to visit me for a direct sell of the Vegetables without you in the frame. Do you need help?¡± ¡°I heard of it. I am glad you trust me enough to stay on my side. Right now there is some bad Blood in the whole franchise. King is rarely seen in the office anymore and many believe him to be sick. Some think of many different schemes in such troubling time.¡± ¡°Are they stupid? What if he just fakes it to see who is working behind the scene? That is a dangerous gamble.¡± ¡°While it is possible, risks are always a necessity in our line of job. Somehow I am glad to be that far away from the whole chaos. Sadly this means in a while we will not be able to use the connection with Malek anymore and sell it from here. Many have already traced the distribution route back to the Northwest anyway. Blue Ice is subtly flaunting their Mana intense Vegetables, while not buying from Malek. Simple Idiots.¡± ¡°True. Do you have an empty and foremost secure storage? We have about four tons of Produce with us. Hope this will be enough for a while.¡± ¡°Four T¡­! That is way more than enough! We have to pay with Mithril directly. So much Gold do we not have right now.¡± ¡°Would be fine. I would love to talk more and buy things, but we are right now in a real hurry and need to leave as fast as possible.¡± ¡°You need to? Well please come with me.¡± ¡­ The shock of Rendlars face, when Snow just threw tons of Vegetables out of her Shadow was priceless. We made him promise to not tell anyone, and as trustworthy he is right now, he seems to be able to keep it. Right now we are in a hurry back. ¡°Why do we need to leave like that? Could we have at least not ate something before we leave? How about shopping?¡± ¡°Sorry Snow, next time. We need to hurry!¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°We are under attack at the Crater!¡± Chapter 85 ¡°Attention Villagers, Lord Null speaking! Monsters are trying to invade the Crater, please hurry into your Houses, lock the Doors and go into the Cellar to seek shelter. Again, Monster trying to invade, please hurry into your Houses and go into the Cellar to seek shelter. The Gate is still holding, but might break later.¡± While Snow has Ava inside her Shadow for storage, I echo Reds Voice with Miasma through the Village and the Farms. With that ready I need to hurry up to start more precautions. The first Gate was already broken through by a Rock Bear, which directly fell into the moat. A Rock carapace does not really swim well, so he might not be a problem anymore. While the dart throwers are working better, the sheer amount makes them rather inadequate. At least they hold them at bay for a little while. ¡°Children and Caretakers inside the Castle, this is Lord Null. Please go to the Bunker, the older Members know the way. Do not worry, it is just for a precaution and right now there is no danger. Please keep calm. Oros wake up, I need you outside the Castle, Loopy lock the main Gate right behind Oros and barricade it for extra security. Petal keep Leafy with you and open your dream Flowers, as a precaution.¡± Oros is happy to go out a bit. His two heads are huffing in delight and the flames out of his snouts are intensifying. Oros was the dog I got with all the other animals. His transformation is rather extreme as he looks like a Wolf from Hell right now. Albeit only two heads, he can be really frightening if you do not know about him. By the way he is as big as a fully grown Stallion. ¡°Rott get out of the sewers, some insects might need culling.¡± Rott moves himself right out of the Septic tank and perches onto a House nearby. The roof tiles needed restoration anyways, so I do not care them starting to age under his talons in fast forward. I myself drag the Portal right into the front of the Gate into the Crater. At first I wanted to take Twin out but decided for Prototype One. It might be finally time to try it out in real battle. Out of the Portal black tar like substance oozes right onto the pavement. Forming a semblance of a two legged form, the void slime holds the form I tried to gave him with my will. Sadly it is still wobbly and does not really work as I want, and therefore I go into a four legged form. With the appendages the movement is better than the slime itself had. I can throw myself at anything that comes by, so I hope of good combat ability tests. The Rock Bear I thought useless wants to make me a liar, as he crawls half drowned out of the water with its claws. That thing is close to losing consciousness and still wants to rage, what is going on? While it can hold itself only barely, others use its head as a place to stand while ripping into the Bridge. Well It was nice to have you, as I put the core into the hidden circle and the whole bridge just falls after the hinge was liquefied. The steam from the water shows how hot the metal bar was. THIS time the Bear is gone. Finally it has drowned as it was stuck below the drawbridge. Sadly I could not do much as the barrage of Magic they threw ripped right through the second gate. As the gate was breaking down the last trap was activated and hot Metal was thrown out of the trapdoor right before the entrance. Screams were heard and after a while nothing, then they came out of the steam jumping the rest of the way into the Village. Close combat time! Oros bit into one of the Wolves while the other head spewed fire right onto the oncoming Rock Bear. It distracted him long enough for Oros to throw the wolf right onto the Bear which disoriented him. A Blade Deer came directly to me brandishing the razor sharp antlers in his rush at me. Piercing right through my body nothing happened. This Body does not even have a core, physical damage is nearly negligible. Throwing the Deer right into the Portal I let him stay there until I have the time to take him over. I want to understand what makes them so manic. A wolf starts to throw wind blades at me. Sorry magic is also not working, this body is rather cheating. Hammering down with one of my limbs I slap the head right onto the pavement and crack the skull open. Except twitching the wolf does not do anything anymore. As I expected the insects came too. Rott was already ready and hunts them down with prejudice. They are nearly as big as him, but when they touch him they get damaged and not him. Rott is such a sadist sometimes, rotting away one of their wings and then throwing them into the moat to drown. While the Rock Bear got pinned down by Oros, he starts to melt under the concentrated barrage of two heads. I got attacked by some Mosquitoes which then stuck to me like flypaper and were either thrown into my Portal or crushed outright. The worst thing was, one even escaped my Portal. I forgot they could fly and had a way to just zip right out of the zero gravity. I have to find something else to keep them inside there, dang it! Two more bears came right over with a mighty vault. One got punted right into the moat by me, the other was enveloped by me. That thing is rather hardy, but with finagling I got one into my Portal. Rott melted the wings of one of those insects and I took it from him and threw it right into my Realm. He was really indignant for stealing his prey, but I need that thing for later. I get you something other to play later, okay? Another horde of Wolves got into the City. Some spread out and searched for other targets while I was wrangling three until I heard their spine break. Even if you scratch at the doors, there is nothing inside for you. All of them are in the Cellars and secured away from you bastards! Taking one of the wolves and slapping him multiple times on the floor like a child would do to a doll when hyperactive it stopped moving and I got to the next one. Mice started to appear, but while their shocks were annoying Oros, no one else gave two hoots to their tries. As he was incensed Oros became a roundhouse flamethrower and turned the streets into a sea of fire by spinning around and breathing out all his Miasma he could. Who would have known, Fire beats lightning. Right afterwards I heard something massive raging inside the tunnel from the outside and started to relax. Snow is here. ¡­ Now to the aftermath. The Gates are gone and so is the bridge. Some Houses have scratch marks but held up way better, than I would have thought. Great engineering from me! A pat on the back for me and a gold star. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. The streets¡­ Well they are there, under the pile of burnt and mutilated corpses. Rott is happily decomposing them and getting his nourishment through it. I do not understand that thing at all sometimes¡­ Oros is right now really happy to have his time outside. Sorry boy, but while I would like to let you out sometimes, you are a bit too aggressive. Enjoy it while it lasts... I will think of letting you out once in a while, when everyone is sleeping, okay? I never saw Snow panting so much. Seeing her demolish the back lines in her true form was awe inspiring, she ignored nearly everything and just ripped all of them to shreds. ¡®Oros, Rott. Better go back to your dens. I will seal the entrance for a while so no more come through. Thanks for helping guys.¡¯ With a massive howl and an ominous screech both of them said goodbye and got back to their posts. With this it is done for a while. I already started to take over the Creatures. They are somewhat different than the other Monsters. I need to look into it. ¡®Can you get Ava out? I would like to get back into human form to tell the People everything is alright¡¯ Squeak And with that Ava pops out of her shadow. Right afterwards she slowly transforms back into her human form. Putting back Prototype One I have seen the potential. Now I have to just test if I really can go out with him. The body is not from this World so it might be rejected. ¡°The Front is now sealed, I seal it a few times more to make the tunnel more secure for more time, if they come again.¡± ¡°hah¡­ hah¡­ That was a rather big horde. Hah¡­ hah¡­ Is everyone alright?¡± ¡°Well yes, but some of the children were seeing Loopy and Oros. They got a mighty scare from them. Otherwise no one was injured.¡± Well I should tell all of them, that the danger is over. They might still be scared. Oh! The Portal, back into the Castle with you. ¡°This is Lord Null speaking. The Danger is over. All Monsters are eliminated, I am sorry for scaring you like that, the Entrance is sealed for now, nothing can invade for a while.¡± Slowly the people got out of their Cellars. Looking through the tinted glass they watch for Movement and some of the more brave start to unbolt their doors and look through a small gap. Scorch marks can be removed later, but I might need help to clean off the blood and gore. With so much purple even Snow seems to be disliking the look. The cleaning is throwing the pieces into the sewers, so the Villagers would help me hopefully. ¡­ ¡°All of you can relax tomorrow. Sleep long and tight, we are safe. When the Sun is high, we will search for the rest of the pieces and clean our Village to make it beautiful again. Thank you for your hard work.¡± The Villagers are relaxing. This was a rather scary day, for Monster to invade like that. Luckily no one was injured, just scared out of their wits when they heard the heavy scratching on the doors upstairs. For Tomorrow there is just cleaning and maybe some repairs. While explaining the Crater is sealed for a while the whole Village sighs out of relief. I need to create an alert for the Village. The best would be two different Bells. One bell for Alert and another for notifications and telling the danger is over. Will be working on that. The Village is done, now to the Castle. I need to see if the Children are okay. Snow is with me, but still panting a bit. Did you sprint the whole way here? Seriously you should try to at least keep some of your energy. What would have happened if you pass out right in the middle of the foes? In the front of the Castle I can see Petal has already stopped using her Flowers. Oros is waiting in front of the door¡­ Wait why are you not already in¡­ Darn, I forgot! ¡°Loopy you can open the door again.¡± While looking inside I see the door ram shackled with nearly everything. Did he put more and more in front of the door the whole time?! Ugh, better helping him with pulling the crates from the Gate. This will take a while¡­ ¡­ ¡°What were the things the children saw?¡± Annette was the first demanding answers. I do not even know what she means specifically. ¡°Can you please narrow it down more Annette? What directly?¡± ¡°Wait, are there still more things¡­ I mean the scary big dog and the strange man coming out of the jail area!¡± Ah, yeah some saw them. ¡°The dog is the guard dog of the lower levels. The man is the janitor of the Jail. Better not letting it get dusty, right?¡± ¡°And why did some children swear that dog had two heads and others said the man had a gigantic mouth and scary eyes?¡± ¡°Maybe they saw wrong?¡± ¡°Did they?¡± ¡°Maybe¡­¡± ¡°Did they?!¡± ¡°...no, they are Monsters living under the jail for guard purposes.¡± ¡°Why under the jail¡­ you know, never mind. Are the Children safe in their vicinity?¡± ¡°They are mostly tame. Those two do not come up unless I allow them to. So no worries.¡± ¡°That ¡®mostly¡¯ makes me worry very much, but it seems they are not dangerous for now. Are there more things we need to keep our guard up?¡± ¡°You already saw the Bast and with that, there are not many more living inside the Castle¡­ You can relax, there is not much to worry. Just do not go to the third Floor please.¡± ¡°You have a real talent to say things about not to worry with the worst words.¡± Not my problem? Well a bit my problem, as she will nag me even more if there are more surprises. While we are at it, the children are fine. No danger and no problem. While Annette complained about the slightly insecure stairs, she stopped after seeing the fully equipped Panic Room. For now we are isolated in the Crater, but should be fine, as no one is visiting us anyways. The Root were here last time already, so nothing to worry. I have three weeks, and when they see the solid wall they might understand, we are not open for business anyways. Chapter 86 This Miasma does not make any semblance of sense. Those Monster have not even a full consciousness for one. They are not raging, they are just doing what the Miasma makes them feel and¡­ go to town at everything and anything that is not like them. ¡°Snow? Can I make an experiment with you?¡± ¡°Sure, what kind? I am bored anyways.¡± ¡°I give you Miasma and you just absorb it, I want to see something. If I am right, then it may be interesting.¡± ¡°Okay? I usually absorb Miasma, so I can not really understand. Will you explain later?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± With that I start giving her the Miasma in the form the Monsters had. ¡°This feels weird. I can let the Miasma in, but it does not do anything? It does not even mingle with my own Miasma. What is that?¡± ¡°Ah, let me explain. Do you see this tank?¡± ¡°The one with the Bladehoppers? Yes, what about it?¡± ¡°While there are three, only one was in the tank before. When I put the Miasma inside of it I thought it might start to go crazy like the other Monster, but it did not do that. The Original Bladehopper over there is different than the other two, right?¡± Snow scrutinizes the Bladehoppers and nods. ¡°Yes, the one there is rather normal. The others are¡­ dull? Maybe they did not have eaten right while growing up, and they have grown stunted?¡± ¡°Not really Snow. As I said only one was in here before. Those two I did not put in it.¡± ¡°I do not understand, where did those two come from?¡± ¡°That is the strange part. I put the Miasma in and when I took my attention from them later there were two. He just doubled. Both are tame and keep doing what I order.¡± ¡°That is weird. Did it just split in two?¡± ¡°No, another just appeared. I tried it again and looked intently while both were filled with the Miasma. I had thought I would get four, but the copy just dissipated the Miasma and it did nothing. The other held on to it.¡± ¡°And then he split again? Like pop, or rather like swosh?¡± Um¡­ How shall I answer sound effects Snow? Never mind, back to the topic. ¡°That is the strange part. It just did not appear. It held on to it but nothing. When I took my attention from it and then back a third was there.¡± ¡°So it is shy and does not duplicate while watching?¡± ¡°Yep, and that is why¡­ Ah, there she is.¡± ¡°Is who, where? ¡­WAH! Where did you come from?!¡± Another rat girl is in my Laboratory. Instead of white hair she has black hair and gray fur. While she is similar to snow her face is totally different. ¡°So, there she is. The Miasma takes the form of the spirit and manifests it right after. It is not aggressive to the origin it seems and would just leave or maybe follow.¡± ¡°I have a sister now?!¡± Um, that is your thought about it? Well maybe it can be seen like that but sorry Snow. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°Not quite. While she is a monster like you¡­ Let me show you instead. Can you speak?¡± ¡°Speak? ...yes.¡± ¡°What is your name? Do you know where you are?¡± ¡°My¡­ Name? I am¡­ no, do not remember¡­ where? I¡­ am here?¡± As expected. She has fractured simple instincts the original has trained in her whole life. She can stand, talk, move and even understand her surroundings a bit, but she is not a carbon copy. The gaps would be filled by Miasma, but my filtered Miasma has nothing, so she has nothing in those gaps. ¡°She is a manifestation of Miasma. It just made a simple copy of you. The sad part is, she might not be able to grow and while she slowly becomes physical, her whole being is right now made out of Mana and Miasma.¡± ¡°And that means¡­?¡± ¡°That means the Monster we fought are all just some inferior copies of the original. Right now they multiply and the unfiltered Miasma makes them rage like crazy. They bundle together and just attack anything, the original did not like or was wary of.¡± ¡°So she will just run around and hunt snakes, because I do not like snakes?¡± ¡°No, as my Miasma has no anger in it. I filtered it out while I was at it. Never thought the anger would make them that different.¡± ¡°But Null?¡± Snow is really inquisitive today. It is good, but the copy just wanders right now in my Laboratory¡­ naked¡­ ¡°What is it Snow? I think I need to study your copy before removing her.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t remove her! She came from me, that would be cruel! I wanted to know why there is anger in Miasma anyways.¡± It might be really cruel. If I just made an autopsy on her it might feel like I would cut open Snow¡­ No, better I keep her around, yes. It would be a great Idea to see how she might live for a long time with us. Is there a limit or can she grow in some direction Snow cant? I will work on that. ¡°Understood Snow, I will not hurt her in any way, okay? And for your question, Magic is mostly used as a Weapon. The Miasma has so many intents inside, like how you found the intent of the body which used it and made your human form. As it is mostly used as a weapon it is often thrown with negative emotions or even rage. That sticks to the Miasma and makes so many Monster angry, as I at first thought it might just be the pain of absorbing Miasma.¡± ¡°So she is not angry? What is she then?¡± ¡°Confused? There was not much inside of the Miasma. She has no forced feelings right now.¡± While talking I gave the rat girl my cape to wear. She seems to know how to put it on. Good she has many instincts of Snow in her, then she is rather docile and might learn quick. ¡­ ¡°So Black One, how are you feeling today? Did you sleep well?¡± ¡°I am feeling fine father. Mother did play with me rather long and I fell asleep quickly last night.¡± Ugh¡­ I still can not understand why Snow did put that into her head. Well I am in a weird kind her father and she came from Snow so maybe mother, but¡­ ¡°And what do you think about being around here? Do you not like something? Maybe you need something?¡± ¡°Can I have more tea? I do not like to eat much, but tea is nice.¡± Wow, she does not like to eat¡­ Totally different than Snow, that came from somewhere I can not even fathom. ¡°Sure, I will bring you more. Sorry for not letting you out of the Laboratory often, but I need to look if there might be a chance you might hurt someone.¡± ¡°I understand. I do not want to hurt anyone mother likes. Please make sure I am not dangerous father.¡± ¡°I do not really believe you are, you are a way too good girl for that. You were even sweeping my laboratory for me. I could not wish for a better assistant.¡± giggle ¡°Thank you father.¡± Just to be safe, I have to keep her on the third floor for now. Luckily she is rather weak for a copy of Snow. That is true with all copies by the way. At first I thought they might not be able to fight like they used to do while raging, but they are really weak. No wonder we could eliminate so many Monsters without a sweat the other day. The whole not looking at the Monster with that Miasma makes me think of some kind of¡­ Quantum physics? She can not spring into reality if someone looks, but when no one looks she can be at a different place than her original and after the next look she is her own person? Magic is weird, but Miasma is even weirder! By the way she can not transform into Snows original form. She can turn into some kind of were rat with longer nails and bigger teeth while her feet become elongated for extremely high agility, but otherwise she can not change much. Good thing I did not copy Snow when she was in Beast mode. Would be hard for a gigantic rat to hold a broom and sweep my Lab for me. ¡­ Experiments with humans and fully taken over Monsters was futile. The Miasma needs both a core and working brain. Walking around in the body myself does not count sadly. The cores of duplicated Monsters are horribly crude as is their spirit body. Everything of them is more simple and inferior. The flesh itself might be classified as inedible, as it has more Miasma than Mana and might really be poisonous. The only real plus for the creation of them is the sudden ebb in Miasma around them and the ability to digest more Miasma like the original. There might be a diminished digestion of Miasma, but it is negligible. While the copies can eat they are not comfortable with it for now. It might be easier for them later, as their bodies are only forced physical form from the start. Black One is the first child in training for now, but Snow is nagging me to make another one, and I believe she will want more friends over time. Luckily she was abated with the reasoning, that we need to see if she gets sick or something before we can make more. I already have an Idea what I want to do with those children, they might be a great workforce for us while also being a great way to keep Snow happy. Chapter 87 ¡°And you build another one¡­ why?¡± ¡°I might not be able to take the original with me, but this one will be inside of my Realm, so it will be with me, when I finally be back to the former World.¡± ¡°And the real reason, Null?¡± ¡°...I was bored¡­¡± Snow looks at my new creation. Our Castle, but inside my Realm. The outline is similar, but not fully the same. I even made a place for the Labyrinth, but right now it is only an empty plot¡­ How do I get Sun inside to bring them to bloom inside? ¡°It looks nice. Especially I am not floating around anymore.¡± ¡°Yeah, I found out how to make my Realm have some Gravity. Well it works a bit differently, but otherwise it is fully functional.¡± Creating a law like that was rather easy, when you understand how to work this plane. While creating the Castle I just locked the Dimension on the most points to not move from its place. With that I have a fully transportable Castle! ¡­ Well not quite, as it needs still to be connected to my Portal, but I am working on a way to make another entrance right now with the help of my Teleporter Project. Still they do not connect, but I have a few different approaches which might work. ¡°My Playroom is not finished?¡± ¡°No, I need a bit more time for that. The Structure itself was already hard work. Be patient.¡± ¡°Aw¡­ Okay¡­¡± You already have one, you want another? Well I would build it anyway, so¡­ ¡­ ¡°So, we are locked in for now Lord Null?¡± ¡°Yes Annette, there are many Monster scratching at the wall where the tunnel was. While Snow and I could eliminate all of them, there is nothing to gain from it. The peddlers will not come until the Stampede is finished.¡± ¡°As we do not go out anyways, there is no demerit except the missing necessities, we mostly buy from the peddlers.¡± ¡°What do you need anyways?¡± ¡°Mostly yarn to repair torn clothes and wooden bowls, which sometimes break.¡± ¡°With the bowls can I help, the yarn though¡­¡± We have some grazing animals from the Steppe, but nothing with wool. Wasn¡¯t there a way to create string from plant fibers? ¡°I might ask the Villagers to create string from plants, will that help?¡± ¡°If they know how, yes. Those strings are mostly coarse, so maybe it would be fine for now, but they will not be good for the long term.¡± I need to look into how the Beastkin create their strings. Theirs were fine and really smooth. There is definitely a way to use the hay we get from the wheat. ¡­ ¡°This is Black Three. If you need anything from me, she knows how to contact me. Any other questions Katie?¡± ¡°...Many. First of where does she come from and why does she wear a mask?¡± ¡°I made the masks on a whim, and somehow they liked them and just love to wear those rat masks when they are with others. I just let them.¡± ¡°Them? Her name and number¡­ Better not asking, so you are Black Three? You will work under me like the others for now, so be up early and work diligently.¡± ¡°Of course. Do not worry, I will not disappoint fa¡­ Lord Null.¡± Whew! That was close, but she got the corner on the last second. Better not make some strange rumors for now. ¡°So Snow and I are of to the Steppe. We might be gone for a longer while, so take care of yourselves. If there is anything missing in the medical room, go to Misha, she knows their whole stock of salves and bandages by heart. When there is danger, just send a message and we will rush back if possible.¡± ¡°This will work for me. Is there any other order?¡± ¡°Just keep the children out of trouble. Some of them start to challenge each other to walk the chaotic stairs or visit the Jail. I do not want them hurt, so keep an eye on them. Annette already knows about it, but better have more eyes on those troublemaker. Nothing else comes to mind.¡± ¡°Understood. Please have a safe travel.¡± Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. And with that Snow and I start to go to the Tunnel. Right now I created multiple gates out of massive rock. The movement of them is even for me hard, but should hold them all in. The Villagers also have a rat girl living with them. Black Two is living in her own House and can be visited at the morning and evening. Otherwise she either cleans her own house, makes tea or kills some snakes in the sewers. Seriously not even I can get all of them. Miss one nest and they are back to their numbers real quick. Well they keep the population of Mice and Rats at bay, so they are only a nuisance. Because they are not Monsters anymore they are again poisonous, but acts rather slow in a human, so antivenom is also with the healers inside the Village. ¡°And here we are. Now I just have to lock the walls in place¡­ And the last wall will be melted by me. Get ready outside is cramped.¡± ¡°Sure! We just need to run right away, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, the faster we get away the better. Just ignore the ones we already have behind us.¡± ¡°¡¯Kay!¡± The wall starts to turn into sand and after a while we could almost escape. ¡°Get ready¡­ Go!¡± And we are off. Slashing left while Snow claws right we get out of the chaos right away and run for our¡­ well their lives, as we just can¡¯t be bothered in killing useless copies, which have no real parts worth looting. The farther we go, the less of them are there. They seem to have come especially for the cave, so their originals knew the whole time of it. Could have visited already, I would love to dissect one of those real Rocky Bears. Maybe I could make him a good armored body for the next invasion. Oh well¡­ ¡­ Fighting, fleeing an fighting some more. We work our way to the Steppe with a rather large ball of Monsters behind us. After entering the Steppe we just eliminated the followers and started exploring the Steppe in the direction of the bovine Tribe. Winter is interesting in the Steppe. While it is rather cold, the whole place is still a bit warmer than the Forest. How that is possible is another mystery, but not my problem right now. Traveling through, we encounter ever so often a crazed copy we just removed right away. The whole travel is otherwise silent, as we trudge through the really tall grass. After two days we came to a small tribe which at first attacked us, but we did not retaliate. I gave the bovine Tribe my word to not attack without reason, even if they attack first. They were some kind of Mongoose by the way. While they attacked we tried to talk to them but they just said either ¡®kill the Beast/Unbeing¡¯ or ¡®we will never surrender¡¯ in different words. They never really listened and just thought of us as some evil invading their place of living. ¡°Red Horn had told the truth.¡± ¡°In what way Null?¡± ¡°I would have eliminated them, if I had not promised to not kill them, if they are just scared. Their attacks were horribly annoying. The brave idiots who noticed we did not attack back needed a beating though. Coming to us and fighting in close range¡­ They were really suicidal.¡± ¡°Yeah, I had my own problems keeping my temper. They just did not listen. If we had met them first, they would be gone. Still we might have overdone it with their frontal attack, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°They would have become even more brave, if we did not at least give them that lesson. And we just took two of them for us. Later I activate the latest prototype Gateway and see if we can push them through. I hope they come into the Cell alive and in one piece, but if not I have more Data to work on the principle.¡± The night came and the second day is gone too. After a few screams of fear in the dark we were resting for a while to get our strength back. ¡­ ¡°Welcome Null! We did not expect you to come to us. The beast flood is at it right now.¡± ¡°Hello Hoof. What do you mean ¡®beast flood¡¯?¡± ¡°You do not know? The Monsters in the Forest flood out like a tide into our direction. They mostly dissipate the further in we are, but they attack any Tribe they find, even if they have no chance.¡± ¡°Oh the Stampede! Yeah, I know about it. We have another Name for it, I did not know your term, sorry.¡± ¡°Nothing to be sorry for. We have all our own little titles. How are you? Is everything okay?¡± ¡°Yeah, we had a slight incident on our Crater with the Stampede, but no one was injured. The Crater is sealed and nothing gets inside. I have some ways to get a message if something happens.¡± ¡°Then that is good. Come, I will lead you to our Elder. Snow¡­ Never mind she seems distracted with Spot for now.¡± ¡°Sorry, that is how she is. Just let those two bond, I can go to the Elder alone for now.¡± The Elders tent is still the biggest, but has new furniture. His resting place has more blankets and it looks like there are more vials of¡­ Medicine? He seems weaker than before. I wish I could help him, but age is something everything has to challenge¡­ and later lose to. ¡°Ah, you have returned. I have seen your visit coming, but did not think it would be so early. Have you been well?¡± ¡°Yes, Elder Red Horn. We have been well. How are you feeling? You seem to have some challenges with the Winter? Do you need something I can help you with?¡± ¡°Courteous as always. No, I am just old. The Steppe is not a good place for people my age. I might be one of the oldest still living, if you ignore the elves of course.¡± He laughs a bit, but has a slight coughing fit. While it hurt me a bit to see his health deteriorating in not even a year, I still hold my smile and wait for him to get his breath back. cough cough ¡°...You came at an opportune time. We have heard of an old ruin not far from here. It is closed for who knows how long and might be dangerous. If you want, some of our hunters can you bring into the vicinity.¡± ¡°That would be a great help. Thank you Red Horn. Also Snow brought with us some Vegetables. I hope you will eat a healthy soup, while we are going to that place. I would like to see you in good health, when we come back.¡± ¡°Thank you, we appreciate your present. I must tell you I am sorry for what you might find inside and later outside of the Ruins, as I can only see vague shadows of danger. What you might find will have to be fought for. We can only close our eyes to that, so please excuse our inability to help.¡± That sounds rather ominous. I just nod, as the hint of danger is already helping with the whole endeavor. What we find will be fought for, so we need a battle plan. ¡­ ¡°Please be careful. Grandpa Horn did say we can not go further than the red rock with you, so keep straight and you will find the ruins.¡± ¡°Thank you Spot. When we are back we talk more. There is more about I want to tell you about the one who wants to court Anna. He is such a dunce, as she would already say yes, if he would just ask.¡± ¡°Also thank you from me, too. Please take care of your Grandfather, it hurts to see him rather fragile like that. I wish I could help him somehow.¡± ¡°I would love to hear about it, and thank you Null, but you can not do anything, he just needs some rest, the wild is starting to call him.¡± The wild¡­ The believe of them going to a place after their life where the grass is always green and everyone is living peacefully. A nice story, maybe it is even true, as different Worlds exist. ¡°Good bye, and we see us later.¡± ¡°Later Spot!¡± ¡°Have a nice travel. Take care you two.¡± And with this we are off. The way should be easy to find, if what they said was true. Chapter 88 In a hill is a half buried door. The door itself is out of some kind of stone and has intricate decorations. Nothing shows high tech, so I hope at least for some kind of magical remnants I could use. The Door itself is sealed shut and does not budge. No way for us to open it or remove it without fully destroying it over days. ¡°Snow, do you think you can create a Shadow Gate through it?¡± ¡°I need a Rat on the other side, otherwise there is no way. Let me try to find a crack.¡± With a wave her Shadow spews out a few dozen Rats and they search for a crack to squeeze through. We wait for them and just sit down for a while. ¡°They found a way in. It is rather roomy inside, so I will be able to bring us in.¡± With laying her hand onto the door she starts creating a Gate through the door. ¡°Strange¡­¡± ¡°What is it Snow?¡± ¡°This Door does not want to let me through. Well it is just resistance and I can force it. Maybe it was stronger, when the Kingdom was still standing?¡± Promising start. If they can stop teleportation or Gates, then this means they knew much about Magic. If even now the Magic is still working somewhat, then there might be something we could find inside for our work. ¡°After we are through, can you spread out some of your rats? Red Horn said we will be in some kind of battle, inside or later outside.¡± ¡°Roger! Gate is open, lets go!¡± With that she just gets consumed by the Darkness. I myself jump through the still open Gate and come out on the other side. The place itself was dark, luckily we had some magical light and a oil lamp with us for such happenings. ¡°Looks broken everywhere. Down there is some light. Do we go there?¡± ¡°Not yet. I want to look at the ruins more thoroughly. There might be hints I want. Can you maybe look with some Rats for dangers?¡± ¡°Okay. Can I have some snacks while you at it?¡± ¡°Sure, just don¡¯t eat all at once. We might be here for a while.¡± The door was not a door, it was a piece of a wall. If that piece of wall was that thoroughly decorated, then they were either high in vanity, or they had an intricate culture. Both shows at least high technology or magic. Maybe both? We will see. Pieces of the Wall were strewn across. The material has magical properties, but I should not take too much. Those ruins are property of the Steppe and I will not make myself an enemy for robbing their ruins. ¡°Found something. A big metallic man who stomped my Rat.¡± ¡°Metallic man? Golem?¡± ¡°Dunno.¡± Well there is the enemy within. Now we just have to make a plan. ¡°Anything I should know about him?¡± ¡°Um¡­ Three red eyes, one arm was missing but his feet were heavy.¡± ¡°By the way, when you lose a Rat, does it hurt or makes you weaker?¡± ¡°No, just makes me not able to summon her again until she is grown back.¡± So her rats are limited. Good to know, but also worrying. ¡°How many do you even have?¡± ¡°Um¡­ I can not count that high. Sorry.¡± That makes it more assuring. Hopefully she does not run out of stock somehow. While still searching for scriptures on the wall, I also keep my eyes open for possible attacks. The wall itself has some scriptures, but they are brief and not really descriptive. While seeing them I note them down in my Realm, maybe I can later find out what this language means. Further inside are some lights still working. Looking at them, they have some functions I can copy. Their way they work is with Miasma, really strange for a human place, but they draw their own from the surrounding, so it is a great find! The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. And also the Origin of the three dimensional Runes is solved. They are from this Kingdom. Still intricate, but this one is way simpler. It is great for learning how to use them. I hope one light will not be missed, I need only one anyways. Walking through the occasionally lit corridor the place goes down. What was put that deep into the earth? What did they store here? So exciting! ¡­ ¡°What is this place Null?¡± ¡°To be honest? I don¡¯t know, but it is some kind of Factory or Industrial Complex.¡± ¡°Well complex is it. So many corridors.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t mean¡­ Well you are right. It is big and complex. The whole thing had to be built underground to be that stable. Just what for?¡± The corridors were snaking through the earth and seem to go rather far in different places. Slowly we find our ways deeper down and search for the reason for such a large Facility. After the final corner we come into a large Room filled with pillars, slowly humming and absorbing Miasma while pushing it into different directions deeper below. ¡°So that is it. A Miasmic Plant! They sorted and converted the extreme Miasma they created with the Summoning. But where does the Miasma go?¡± The whole time I was more interested in the pillars. Luckily they were all differently inscribed and partially transparent so I could see the Runes inside. Two of the twelve were broken, but some of the runes are still visible. Taking a part of the crystal remnants to have a sample I inscribe every single detail in my notes. This will be so beneficial to not only sort but convert Miasma. While scribing I did not even notice the heavy footsteps of the supposedly Golem. I only noticed its arrival, when Snow mentioned him. ¡°Null? The tall metal man is here.¡± ¡°Huh? Oh yeah, I remember now there was something. I totally forgot!¡± The Golem itself was looking fully mechanical, so maybe a Robot? If it is a Robot, maybe there is worth a try in¡­ ¡°Intruder, verify yourself.¡± A female metallic voice asks for my credentials, now to make crap up on the fly in quick succession. ¡°Maintenance Officer Null, Serial eight two zero six four. Coming as requested for damage surveillance. State your Identification yourself.¡± ¡°...Error, No Officer with this Name in Database. You will be removed from the Facility.¡± His eyes flash, but I am not done yet. ¡°Requesting you to do a self check. Inquiring the actuality and integrity of Database.¡± ¡°Invalid request. You have not the authority to call for a self check.¡± ¡°I have the authority as of the recent Database update, Requesting override to force self check, as I am seeing major damage on your mechanical parts. A forced integrity check of the Database is needed.¡± ¡°Error¡­ Attempting routine self check. Damage to right appendage detected. Validity of request possible. Please wait¡­¡± Maybe we can go out of it without a fight. Bullshitting myself through the routines was a good idea. Luckily their Hero seems to come from my own or a rather similar World and gave them extremely predictable things at Hand. ¡°Database integrity a hundred percent. Last updated five thousand seven hundred forty two years, two months and six days ago. Database outdated, searching for update¡­ please wait¡­¡± Whew, it works! Now if we just disable him before... ¡°Aborted, no transmission available. Start defense Protocol. Disabling weapons, start protection of Facility.¡± ...shit¡­ ¡°Snow, evade!¡± His left arm came crashing down. By the way, why do I call him a ¡®he¡¯ when it has a female voice? Maybe it is the rather imposing body and massive frame. Could be as Snow called it at first a metal ¡®man¡¯? ...Argh! We are in a fight! ¡°Snow, try to hold its attention! I search for a weak spot!¡± ¡°Roger!¡± While he is trying to catch that agile rat girl I am searching for a weakness. The left arm is missing, so maybe¡­ crunch ¡°My Claws! They did break on his skin, you meanie!¡± Those were made out of heavy black steel. And they did not even scratch it, so brute force is not viable. But if not external, maybe internal? ¡°Snow, take me in and let Surge out. Try to get him into the open hole on the left shoulder!¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, Okay.¡± With a jump over the next haymaker of the colossus, Snow came to me and put Ava into her shadow and took Surge the Mouse out. Rolling away from the next stomp of the huge menace, she takes Surge into her hand and runs around. ¡°Initiating eye lasers. Error, no weapons allowed.¡± Jeez! Maybe it was worth to make the talk. That thing has Eyebeams! I do not know how much more weapon it has, but I am now really REALLY happy I made that gamble. ¡°What is an eye laser Null?¡± ¡®Later, first bring me to the cavity. We need to work quickly, before that thing changes his mind on weapons!¡¯ While he flails precise around, Snow was faster than that hunk of metal, and could evade into the direction of the missing arm. I see some gears move inside the shoulder, so it might have forgotten about its inability to use the right arm. No database error¡­ as if! It can not even remember its own checks. ¡°And in you go!¡± Snow rather rudely throws me right into the opening. Inside I have to at first escape the gears from making me into Surge smootie. Afterwards I bite on what looks like insulation material for cables and blast the innards with Lightning. ...Some jerks, but nothing like it stops. I need to go deeper. Finding a rather organized place with many cables, next to a suspiciously round and sealed off part I try my luck again. First gnaw some of the horrible tasting Insulation away. When I say horrible, I mean horrible. The taste is nearly overwhelming me with the instinct to not even touch that stuff again, but I keep at it. After an ungodly long time, that is a few seconds of mind numbing taste inside my mouth the insulation is through and I surge again. This time it had a way better reaction, but still not enough. Ugh, I need to go at it again? I would rather die than going near that stuff with my tongue, but I have to be brave. Chapter 89 ¡°The Metal man stopped moving. Did you do it Null?¡± ¡®Urp¡­ One second Snow, I have the urge to vomit right now. Need a b¡­ Urp!¡¯ ¡°Everything okay?¡± With a few last retches I was finally be able to make the taste go away and now I just taste some bile and stomach acid. Normally it would be a bad taste, but right now it feels like the finest honey on Surge¡¯s tongue. They really overdid it with making the cables inedible for rodents. Urgh. ¡®I am fine. Just needed to gnaw through something horrible tasting. Is he done?¡¯ ¡°Twitching a bit, but no light in his eyes.¡± Whew, for all I know, that thing could have eliminated us, if it were fully functional. Better we keep our guard up for another one of these things. ¡®Coming out. Can you put Surge away and take Ava out? We need to take that thing away, before it comes back to life.¡¯ ¡°On it!¡± And with that Ava plops down outside my escape hole and Snow grabs Surge and puts him away. Never thought he would be usable like this. I just thought he would be great to go through some cracks in the wall. I am so glad to have him brought with us. ¡°Ah, back to human again. I need your help. That thing is rather big, and I need to overcharge the magic gate.¡± ¡°How about I put him in my Pocket?¡± ¡°Do you even have enough space?¡± ¡°Um¡­ If we squeeze a bit? Well, maybe not. Lets teleport him right away.¡± And with that we grab both onto the artifact I have made. This thing is an extending ring with a small dark spot in the middle. The more Mana someone put inside the bigger the spot in the middle grows. The more it grows the more the ring expands. With the help of Snow I can even supercharge it, but it gets rather unstable, so better be quick. When the first part got into the gate I can pull it with my will through from the other side to make it quicker. I notice the twitching of the body getting more pronounced. It tries to restart! ¡°Hurry, that thing wakes up Snow!¡± ¡°Pulling as hard as I can.¡± The light slowly comes back from its eyes but its lower body is already inside the Gate and with a last pull I get it right trough. And right into my Portal to take it over inside my Realm. ¡°Reboot comple¡­ Error, foreign transmission detected, shielding Core.¡± And with that we are in a stalemate. I do not know how long it will take, but I try my best for now. In the meanwhile I resume my search for more things inside this facility. ¡­ ¡°Three more that way. Patrolling the big room in the middle.¡± Okay this way is a dud too. One was already too much and there are three of them? No, thank you. Even Snows Rats are quickly eliminated. We are right now on the third floor below, if the Pillar room where we fought the Robot was labeled as the ground floor. The deeper we go, the stronger the resistance. We found a wholly crushed Robot, so I have parts and materials. I just guess the Natives will not be angry if I take some scrap¡­ I do not take too much, just a bit, okay? Back to the topic, the deeper we go, the more functioning Robots there are and the thicker the Miasma gets. Right now we are still searching for more places to explore. We had already luck, but want to see what is further down before raiding those places. There might be a way to get into the sealed rooms further up with something down here. The deeper we go the more armored and maybe equipped with hidden armaments the Bots get. If that place up there was just a small piece of unimportant equipment, then what is down deeper might be too advanced to even fathom. ... ¡°Null, I am feeling weird.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the Miasma. The deeper we go, the more concentrated it gets. I have problems with Ava too. Weird twitches and seems like I get hallucinations.¡± Sixth floor is the limit. Even the Robots are not to be trifled with. Snow only knows that they are there, as her Rats suddenly evaporate. We are way too deep for our own good. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Luckily those Robots seem to have a set route. Horribly inefficient for keeping spies out of the Facility, so they are maybe here for Monster eradication. I have some sweat on Avas brow for the simple thought of what would this place be, if it were fully functional. Without the network, they might not have any semblance of Alert. If they would get alerted to us, we would be in deep trouble. I know that, as I still work on the first Robot I have taken. The parts I took got me more information, but those are even more scary. Extremely durable Materials, Memory Metal, magical superconductors, even the scrap plating is interwoven with different kinds of stuff to make it scarily resilient and self repairing. It is a Miracle we found a broken one without an arm and still working. Why it did not self repair, I do not know, but will find out, when I have finally found a way to drill into its ECCM or whatever you want to call it. The shield it made of Mana is still up, but I can shave off the used Mana slowly. As long as it does not produce its own somehow, I should be through in a while. ¡°We go back up. It is too dangerous and even for us too concentrated in Miasma. It scares me how much is below here. Might be hundreds of times more than what is in the Crater.¡± ¡°Yeah, I want to go. I feel sick. Do we look at the Rooms further up?¡± ¡°Yes, but not the fifth floor. It is too close to the strong Miasma and¡­ Those Robots with the long stick with the hole at the end you have seen worry me.¡± ¡°I just saw it a second and then my Rat was somehow gone. Do you know anything?¡± ¡°Yes, but that would be way too long of an explanation. Lets crawl back. Take Ava and I squeeze back through the crack.¡± Obviously we did not take the official way down. Albeit some doors are open, many are sealed and even Snow can not use Gate through them. Cracks it is. I can squeeze with Surge and Snow can just¡­ Well she can turn herself into rats¡­ Many many rats. She surprises me over and over. ¡­ First Room fourth floor. Nothing. Well not nothing, but the things in here are¡­ ¡°So many skeletons. Wah! They fall into dust when I touch them!¡± Looks like an emergency shelter or a cafeteria. Maybe both? Nothing in here is usable. Whatever was here is already gone. The only good thing about this Room is, it is shelter from the Robots. They never go here. ¡°Come over here Snow. Help me with this.¡± ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°This is a ventilation shaft. With this, we might go to another place. Can you put some rats inside?¡± ¡°Okay!¡± And while she does that I look around. Maybe some of the Skeletons has something on them to use. Books, some kind of item or maybe just some notes I can use. After searching around I see Snow sulk. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°All are gone. None survived inside the Vent. Something just flickered red and they were gone.¡± Lasers? Maybe a spell? Something to keep rodents out. ¡°Sorry, seems like the Shafts are a dud. Let us go to the next room. How many do you still have?¡± ¡°Um¡­ about a third. It starts to sting losing them.¡± ¡°Understood. We keep the casualties to a minimum for now.¡± ¡°At best none at all. I feel so empty.¡± ¡°Let us try our best. We just need to be careful about the Robots.¡± ¡°...¡¯kay.¡± It hurts a bit to see her to sulk like that. The Rats need time to reform and I do not know what it might do, if she has none left, so best not be too careless anymore. The second room was empty. Only dust, dirt and some boxes. What was stored here was perishable and five thousand years is too long to keep it. Luckily nothing like an own ecosystem grew. Would be scary. All the others are sealed and not able to be entered. A plate is on their door side as how Snow described it, but I can not say what it might be. Handprint, Access Card or maybe wavelength of Mana? Who knows, not me. Third floor had only one room to explore, and I was giddy as I saw what there was. Books! I bet those are Maintenance logs and maybe even some blueprints. Carefully I move them and they were still readable and even pliable. The ink or what it is was slightly faded, but still readable, now I just need to understand their Language. What is even more fascinating is, that those sides look as if they are out of plastic or something similar. Not dried out plastic after how many years? I am impressed with their technology. Borrowing the books I take them with us. At first I thought about just scribing them, but they are extremely full with Information. My reluctance to just steal is already gone, so I say sorry to the bovine Tribe later and give them back later¡­ maybe. Second Floor. On this Floor is not even one functioning Robot anymore. The first Floor just merged with this in a catastrophic way. It is here, that I got some parts of the mangled Robot. A room was still here to explore, but to get there we need to dig. ¡­ ¡°Found a crack!¡± ¡°Nice, is it big enough for us?¡± ¡°Barely. Surge will have no problem, I need more time through.¡± ¡°Okay, then lets do it.¡± Jumping in her Shadow and overtaking Surge, I start to go where she points before she turns into a tidal wave of Rats. Inside is a maintenance bay. Great find! With this I can see what tools they use for repairing those Robots. Searching in the Form of a Mouse before Snow was fully through I see some kind of screwdrivers, pliers and many tools I can not recognize. ¡®Those we need to bring out. The whole thing is a treasure trove for building Robots!¡¯ Snow is close to reforming and can already hear and respond. ¡°That will¡­ be difficult, as I have¡­ Not much space left. Ah, finally whole again. Can¡¯t you just take the things through your own Gate thingy?¡± ¡®Sorry, but no. The Walls down here make it impossible somehow. Same like your own Gate. We need to get one Floor higher to do that. That place is not spacial sealed. Maybe it never was or broke down, when the whole Kingdom fell.¡¯ ¡°At least show me what you really need. I can not take everything, okay?¡± Aw¡­ Like a Kid in a Candy shop I show her the most valuable things for me at the moment. Maybe we can come back later? Yeah, this will be on the schedule anyway. I need to know why there is so much Miasma down there. Chapter 90 ¡°We are surrounded.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Outside are many People and Elves. I see no Bovine, but many other Kin.¡± Snow is right now trying to make a Gate out of this place, but it seems we have a welcoming party. They wait for us to exit. What to do¡­ ¡°We should be as welcoming as they are. How about I bring the Claws out? I myself take Lindwurm and make a tunnel afterwards.¡± ¡°Are those children already able to fight? And Lindwurm needs long to make, right?¡± ¡°We have time. How about a small snack before we fight? They do not know we prepare, so no rush.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Snacks are always the answer. With her help I open the Gate again and bring the Claws through. The Claws are more Rat girls, but they are training in fighting. It is an experiment to see if they can improve their abilities by training. As they are only made out of Mana and Miasma at first it seems unlikely, but the tests show, that they can build up muscles and learn techniques. Claw Weapons are not the specialty of Avas former Body and no one had training, but they created their own fighting styles with them. Slowly getting them through I occasionally ask of their well being, as it is the first time outside the Crater and there might be complications. Nothing bad seems to happen. By the way the Claws color their Masks red instead of Black like the Blacks under Black One. Everyone has a different marking they made themselves. Why? Because they look all eerily similar behind those masks. They love their individuality. Eating a late midday snack while I form Lindwurm, we talk about how they are acclimating and Snow mingles with them like a good Sister¡­ albeit they call her Mother¡­ Now to explain Lindwurm. He is a Burrower which has been supercharged. Those guys do not stop growing, when they have enough Miasma to work with. To create Lindwurm I forced so much Miasma inside of him, that he just grew over months to see the limit and how it works. That thing has serious demerits though. It needs to be in highly concentrated Miasma of its alignment, otherwise it will just die in a day or two. It also needs to be its exact Element, or it gets sick over time. Also it is huge and needs a large place to move in. Lindwurm is what happened when I let it grow until my own Limit in pushing in Miasma. He is now a sensitive being, which can not live without borrowed time, but for that time he is rather a force to recon with. ¡°Snow? The easiest way out here without destroying the Ruins are over there right?¡± ¡°No, if we think about the crack, it would be there, but this direction is only Soil. At first my Rats tried to dig through, but then found the crack. Better that way.¡± ¡°Ah, thanks. By the way how about your Shadow Rats? How many do you have?¡± ¡°They are still diminished, but I now have again over half.¡± ¡°Then we wait a bit more. No need to hurry, just let them wait out there.¡± ¡­ The Sun was slowly leaving behind the grassy hills in long shadows and the Darkness starts to make their debut. With this I think a small change of plans would be a nice thing. With Snows three fourths of her Rats back she puts some into the distance for Guerrilla tactics, while I take the direct way. ¡°A dark Portal! They are coming out!¡± Yep, I come out flashy with Lindwurm and take their Attention while the others keep to safe tactics of hit and run. The claws hold open the way for Lindwurm and right away I go through Snows Gate right into the midst of their Army. ¡°What on the green Earth is THAT?!¡± Introducing Lindwurm. A gigantic Maw of four Diameter with movable shredding teeth attached to a Twenty meter long tube plated with rocky scales harder as granite. Albeit chubby he is not slow in any way. Like a dolphin in water Lindwurm just rushes through this soft soil like it is nothing. As I am a gigantic target like that they fight desperately while I am attacking the back line, which is not in the vicinity of the Ruins. It would be horrible, if the Ruins get damaged even more while we fight. ¡°Try to restrain that thing! Use bombs to blow up the stomach!¡± The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Sorry, its stomach is also tough as nails. It digests rocks with ease, and you think that will do anything? Let me play hurt, so they think they have a chance. ¡°It is working! Fire everything in that huge mouth! The weak point is in the¡­¡± And that was the last thing he said, Claw seven just rammed her claws through the neck. Only a few noticed it, as I am their main concern. The ones who noticed were attacked by other Claw Members or Shadow Rats. Snow fights with her Rapier, as her Claws are still broken. The whole Pandemonium makes the whole battlefield unobservable, but I can still notice the multiple Tribes. Warthog, Elf, Wolf even some Lizard people are here. They really created a coalition to just hunt us. ¡®Snow, some need to be alive. Claws, you can just fight how you want, I want not one of you dead, no need to answer, stay hidden.¡¯ With the fight going on I can count around a hundred people left. They might have been a hundred fifty or two hundred. As we only fought for about fifteen Minutes, the whole battle is not going to their favor. ¡°Enemies are between us! Kill at least those masked ones!¡± ¡®Snow, wreck havoc, I do not want our Children be hurt!¡¯ ...Wait, did I really say that out loud right now? I got infected with her Parent speech now too! I am so embarrassed, better eat some more people to try to ignore the reality for now. Snow got back in her original Form and starts her rampage too. Some lie crippled around, so she already has procured some experimental subjects. With the addition of a second giant Enemy, the whole Army starts to dissolve. ¡°Keep at it! This is our best chance to destroy the Beast and the Unbeing! Do not waver! Sacrifice yourself for your Children¡¯s future!¡± ¡®Girls, keep that one alive, his speech keeps them from fleeing too early.¡¯ And with that the whole slaughter gets finished up, while escapees are hunted down to get captured. ¡­ ¡°So¡­ What did we learn?¡± Right now I sit in front of the restrained and injured people. With that we should have a way to maybe bring them back to their senses and stop attacking us. ¡°Keep your breath Unbeing! You will never break our spirits!¡± That Elf was useful, while he kept the morons together, now he is just annoying. ¡°Claw One, please bring the Ring. He is the first, who volunteered for Modifications.¡± ¡°Mod¡­ Wait, no! Do you know who I am? I am the son of¡­ No, STOP!¡± And in he goes. The portal spits him out right into the dungeon and Loopy just sorts them into their own Cells for now. With this, the others might be less mouthy with me. ¡°Again¡­ Did we learn something?¡± Silence¡­ Well they are prisoners, so they try to be at the same time defiant and looking pitiful to not get tortured. ¡°No one? Well then let me explain. Attacking us is a futile attempt. The only reason we would even think of attacking you back is when you attack us. So right now all of your Tribes are on our List of problem Children, that might need to be removed.¡± Some have realization in their eyes. The mere fact, that they attacked us made their Tribes a target. Remembering who has a light bulb over their head I mark the still not repenting ones as materials. ¡°The Elves came to us, you have already known that, right? They had even gone back and nothing happened to them, even if the female one was rather insulting. Now you are here for some reason of defending your Steppe, even if I do not want to do anything...¡± ¡°Shut up! Our Sister already told us about you, Unbeing! You are a blight on our Land!¡± ¡°Did she also tell you how I am keeping you safe against the Crystals or how I just want to go home and not bother anyone? I am searching for clues to go back where I came from. This World is nothing I¡­¡± ¡°Lies! You do not belong in this World! Vanish to where you came from, or die from our wrath!¡± ¡°AS I SAID, I am trying to go back. You have such pointy ears, but are they only for decoration?¡± Those Elves are starting to annoy me. Does everyone have something wrong with their brain? ¡°We will never surrender to you!¡± ¡°That¡¯s it. In the Ring you go.¡± ¡°Unhand me you vile creatur¡­¡± Wow, even the Claws might have been annoyed. They just threw her with all their might right through. She even slid on her face over the dungeon floor, dragging a large red line of blood. Loopy just put her into another Cell, and now she seems to realize her plight. Was she on drugs? So fanatic, and now she seems like a scared kitten. ¡°AGAIN! I did not care about you in any way. I am searching for a way back, as the technology to bring and send people to and from other Worlds is maybe in some of these ruins. Sadly there was nothing here, so I just left it mostly as I found it, as it is your own possession and I just want to look for clues!¡± With that I have said my piece and now to the punishments. ¡­ I tried to have at least one member of each Tribe bring back my Message. Some had more repenting or at least looking like repenting people and some had none. One of the ones with none were the Elves. I left the most sensible looking one, so I hope she will bring back my story. ¡°By the way Elf. If you had listened to the male Elf, maybe it would have been better, the female¡­ Elara or something was it? She just insulted me and my Family and thought I would cower or maybe she never wanted peace. All your brethren died, because she thought herself so superior. Now you get one last chance to just leave me alone.¡± With that only fourteen People were still here. Their fear is still in their eyes and I think I made my point. ¡°Release them. And the next time we are attacked by these guys, we will visit their Tribes for a nice chat about how to be more sensible. Remember that!¡± And off they go! Wow, even the injured ones have still so much strength in them to flee at extreme speed. One even jumps on his one remaining leg like his life depends on it. I decided to let them go, so they have nothing to worry for now. Chapter 91 ¡°How was your travel? As I see you are fine I suspect you could handle¡­ every occasion.¡± He knew what was going to happen. Well for giving us a hint even against his own neighbors it shows his sincerity with full force. ¡°I gave them a final warning. Every tribe has at least one survivor to tell them I will not attack if they do not attack me. Let us hope they are sensible.¡± ¡°...Well you try to be accommodating, even if your margin is rather small to only let so few go. I can not judge you, as they attacked you first. We work on a similar principle, but are not that ruthless.¡± ¡°I can understand you not liking my heavy handed approach. It might be seen as rather extreme, but if they do not even have fear against me, they will come back. Being gentle for them to accidentally touch my bottom line might be worse than what I did now. I really do not want to just eliminate whole Tribes, but have no qualms against it.¡± ¡°I see. We see things rather differently. While we often fight and kill each other on the Steppe, we never fight until one Tribe loses all of his members. At the worst one tenth of the losers side will be killed, then they just rob the losers belongings and leave. The back and fourth hones our skills and also our tactics.¡± Well that explains their rather strong phalanx and coordination against Lindwurm but¡­ This is the totally wrong way to go at different kind of battles. Cavalry was King until Mortars and Cannons were everywhere. This is¡­ ¡°You are going to lose against the angry Metal with those Skills.¡± He was surprised. Indignation and even a bit of rage is flickering in his old but unwavering eyes. ¡°Let me explain. Your fights are all against people. You will have no problem with similar infantry or Cavalry, but the angry Metal will be completely different. Do you know the reason the enemy lost against me?¡± Red Horn shakes his head. He is interested but also worried about my next words. ¡°Our side had a gigantic Monster at our side. This monster just broke through the phalanx and ran directly into the back line. Attacking the back is then countered with a pincer approach, but our Monster could just bury itself and come right out of one of the flanks destroying the pincer maneuver.¡± My words hit hard. He could imagine the slaughter himself. There is not much to say how something suddenly breaking through the Front and bulwark to just vanish when it got pincered is a nightmare to fight. ¡°With the whole chaos and all eyes on the Monster they not even noticed the infiltration in their lines until it was too late. The angry Metal will most likely use strategies you will never have even heard of before.¡± ¡°What can be possibly those strategies be? I have lived a long life and fought hundreds of battles myself.¡± ¡°How about flying creatures armored in metal? Dropping Bombs right on your fighters. Another strategy is using catapults to throw their heavy armored close combat fighters right into the middle of the Army? Moving giant citadels just walking right over the Tribes and grinding them into mush.¡± ¡°Do not ridicule me! How can such a thing be possible?!¡± ¡°We are talking about moving metallic beings. Can your metal move on their own? I myself have used a strategy you never thought about, as gigantic Monsters are normally not usable for you. The angry Metal will be something, that defies your own rationality.¡± Still looking slightly angry at me Red Horn starts to think. With the time we are silent the guards sometimes looked inside the tent, as we were rather loud before and now way too silent. Sigh ¡°Those are things talked by a maniac. But maybe there could be some merit to think of impossible things, as this Enemy will be rather strange.¡± ¡°Red Horn¡­ I came from a World, where those things are definitely possible. There were metallic birds, flying through the air and letting hundreds of bombs fall. Gigantic structures just moved right through buildings and were hard to even destroy with their own weapons. People would fly inside those metal birds and jumped from far above the clouds out of them to only fall slowly by means of a giant cloth on their back. Their bows were shooting faster and more precise than anything you could imagine. I do not want to bring you fear, but you have to think differently if you want to beat whatever is on its way.¡± Primal Fear. That is what I can see in Red Horns eyes. I might have told him too much, but it needs to be told to shake him awake from the simple thought of fighting like they used to. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°So we are doomed¡­¡± ¡°Who said that? I talked about my World. This World is different. What is coming might be something similar, but if we have more information it would help us immensely. Also I am here. I know some of the old tricks of my World, even if they are maybe a bit dirty in your eyes.¡± ¡°So we have at least a chance, if you help us. I always knew you are dirty, but I do not care, you are nice otherwise and we will not judge you by what you do elsewhere, but how you behave between us.¡± Again with the maybe compliment/insult. I just take it as a compliment¡­ ¡°Thank you?¡± ¡°You are welcome. Now please let me rest, I am rather tired, as these old bones can not stay that long upright anymore.¡± With that our talk was over. Nothing can be done for now. I have to analyze all the different pieces I found. Hopefully I can break the Robots shield soon. I need a better look inside. ¡­ ¡°Is it this animal Father?¡± ¡°Yes, this is the right one Claw Nine. With this I should be able to work on what I am trying.¡± I pat the girl on her head. She brought me a special kind of lizard I needed. The Lizard People are all quite different, but have some traits of specific animals roaming around the Steppe. As the Steppe is wide, there is an abundance of life here. Some life does not even make sense to be here. It is like a Zoo just exploded and everything just thought ¡®here I now dwell¡¯. Maybe the Kingdom which was here had many Zoos and everything just mingled together? Mysterious¡­ Putting the animal through the Ring I immediately take it over and create enough blood to make a sizable core. While I am at it I test the feasibility of making the taken over Lizard into a monster and¡­ Water, of course it is water. The normally dry living Lizard became an amphibian reptile Monster. It even can create webbing between the claws at wish. Nice! While it looks different I just work with that one for the time, as already three days were coming and going. The Claws all have found some animals, sometimes the ones I need, sometimes something I could investigate later. Snow and I just slowly walk back to the Crater, enjoying the slow trip as I need to work on converting what I have gained. The elves are already converting into first a new body for me and second being dissected. I have no way to find something that might work on these bodies, so I just see how I can increase my medical knowledge on living tissue transplant from one to another Elf. With these experiments I can later reattach new limbs on people who have lost them in my Village. Luckily there is not such a need for now, but better be prepared than having to fumble to get enough knowledge, when the Patient is bleeding out. ...I am feeling like I am doing something wrong here¡­ Whatever, might be my imagination. Lets improve my knowledge on how the bodies work and think about that maybe later. ¡­ ¡°These are the new Members Null?¡± ¡°Yep. I really thought, they would become something different, but here they are.¡± ¡°They look strong. What is wrong with them?¡± ¡°Yeah, they look strong and also are. Just for Lizards of those rather earthy tribes to become something like a fish¡­¡± Yeah, in front of us is the first test on fusing the lizard Monster with the lizard People. What shocked me was the quick fusion of the Core and body. Even the Spirit afterwards had no problem with the fusion to make them stable. What I have got was what I am seeing right now. Lizard People are now looking rather fishy. Giant shimmering scales grew on their bodies, bendable but hard to break. On their back is a foldable giant fin with barbs. Those barbs are not poisonous, but somehow I can only ask for how long. They also got the retractable skin between their fingers which end in razor sharp claws. Their mouths look like elongated piranha mouths or like a barracuda with way too much teeth. Their eyes have a second skin to keep them moist out of water and can retract it inside. For Voids sake they have not only lungs but even GILLS! ¡°For now you can live in the cistern I have made under the Castle. I need to make you an appropriate place later. It would help to know how you like your environments to create the perfect place for you.¡± ¡°Yesh, Mashter.¡± Oh and they can speak. Their new mouths makes it hard for them to communicate without a lisp, but are a way better result than Loopy. Do not worry Loopy, you will always be my silly assistant cleaning up after me. I even started to like his strange humming when he mops the blood on the floor. The whole travel back needed a little bit over a week and after we got attacked by relentless hordes every now and then we sent the Claws back first through the Ring and dashed right to home. Exactly the time, when the new Family members opened their eyes and stopped rampaging in the tanks. The others are still growing into their new forms. The whole experiment shows me how to create hybrids better. With the new insight I might give a homunculus some new traits while growing. A simple infusion with prepared cells should create a new way to form their bodies. ¡­ I call the new elvish body Beta. His potential is rather low in my opinion, but he is flexible, agile and has rather keen senses. With tests I even found out I can dislocate nearly every bone in his body without damage to any tissue and fold him like he is a piece of paper. He can go through ridiculously small holes. If his pelvis fits, everything fits, and he has a small and bendable pelvis. Red, I am sorry, but you are now with Twin in the closet for maybe later use. The voices in Betas head are way more lenient than yours. And his are just the voices of the wind like the poor deceased Boost the Storm Wolf heard, before he died. Wind affinity might be the go to for Elves. Maybe I can find other uses for Patch and Work, the two Elves where I switch parts over and over to see how to improve myself¡­ nah, those two are already close to death anyways, the last experiment will just see how they will react to a more creative approach. Chapter 92 ¡°Finally! You son of a Toaster finally ran out of juice!¡± ¡°Null?¡± ¡°Oh, sorry Snow. The Robot finally broke down after I tried to take him over since we came back from the Steppe.¡± ¡°Oh, you mean three months ago?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ wait, is it already be that long? The Stampede is still ongoing, is it not?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. We were always in the Crater, remember? Did you hit your head Null?¡± ¡°No sorry, I just was losing my sense of time. Yeah, the Forest is filled with more and more Monsters. If I remember correctly the Stampede should have been over already, but for it to even start in the Winter was strange.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about it. I was not even born, when the last happened.¡± I pat Snows head. She is rather young in human years, but to be honest the Stampede last time should have been around fifteen years ago? Better wait for it to end naturally. ¡°I am letting Ava sleep. If you need something I am in the Realm Lab in Beta to look at that hunk of Metal.¡± ¡°¡¯Kay! Have fun and do not forget the time again. I want to go out, when the Stampede is over. I am so bored to just sit around.¡± ¡°Sure Snow. We go into some of the Towns and maybe look around a larger City next time.¡± I pat Snows head and let Ava become comatose inside his bed afterwards. Now to the tin can I can finally open up. ¡­ I wish I had never brought that thing back. This is more complicated than I could even fathom! Everything looks so simple at first and then you notice the engravings on every single piece is not decoration but a rune for something. On a small gear are around sixteen runes. SIXTEEN! And those are not the simple ones, oh no. They are three dimensional runes including their own runic circle and language to lead the Mana and/or Miasma into the right way. The whole thing is a nightmare. A treasure trove of knowledge so complex, someone can not even understand the first letter of the first word. And if that is not enough there are traps inside the whole runic system. That thing has COPY PROTECTION! Every time I try to create a Rune the one fizzles out before it is even finished, as that diabolical genius made it in a way to form a simple rune with wrong spelling to blow it up before the full rune is created. My thesis right now is, that it must be inlaid in a specific way to even be completed before a wrong Rune is created accidentally. So I just have to guess right, which one of the lines I have to first draw and every single line afterwards until I am finished with every stroke. Oh, and the simplest one has sixty one lines bending and weaving like a drunk snake. There are less sand grains in a desert than combinations of possible solutions for this conundrum. I give up, the whole runic system is out of my league until I understood the simpler ones inlaid in the crystal pillars we found. Those were simple with the simplest one having only seven interconnecting lines and could be recreated by me already. They are effective in ripping Miasma in different kind of elements. I even got one modified! I am really proud of that. The mind one was destroyed and I could recreate this one. When you understand the basics you can slowly test out the possible combinations. The rules of them are rather convoluted, but make sense in a strange magical way. The Rune inside the Bomb is by the way Circular and Stability. The two dimensional Runic Circle in the Bomb was making a critical explosion, but the three dimensional rune holds the Mana forcefully in an equilibrium. Breaking that rune starts the chain reaction and boom! The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Ah! The Robot, yes. I started to ramble again. While I can not find out the runes I can recreate the memory metal, the gear system, the synthetic muscles and what I am most happy about the camera or rather eyes of the Robot. What I can not recreate is everything else. The Eyebeam is somewhere, but I do not know where. This thing could have a nuclear reactor and I would not find it. Oh! One thing I can also maybe recreate is the Core. The core itself has so many runes I do not even want to think about it. It even has its own Mana converter somewhere between all of them but has a small crack and did not have enough Mana for even repairs. Lucky me! What I mean with recreating ¡®maybe¡¯ a Core is, that core seems awfully like a Monster core, just synthetic and I have a way to create synthetic Cores. If I am able to build a Golem, I might be able to go deeper into the Facility or explore the other Danger Zones right next door. ¡­ ¡°NULL!¡± ¡°WAH! Huh? Oh Snow, what is it?¡± ¡°What is? You have been working on something for over a Month! When one of your Bodies got tired you just change it and work the next to the bone! I came to you, because the elves died, and you never reacted to anything I said!¡± Huh? The elves? Which one? Oh, Patch and Work! Damn it, I wanted to stitch their bodies together to see what the two spirit bodies would do, when there are twice as much body parts than¡­ ah, whatever. What was the earlier¡­ A month? Might be right¡­ Oh wait! Did I really just work on that hunk of junk for over a month? ¡°Ugh. Sorry Snow, I fell into a rhythm. Thanks for bringing me back. I might have been here for maybe a year or two otherwise. That thing has so many secrets and I¡­ No, not important, the Golem I try to build can wait.¡± ¡°Are you finally back?¡± ¡°Yeah, what happened in that month?¡± ¡°Enough for you to finally come out of your Laboratory. Anna is engaged with Mack. Our Servants and Maids increased as some Children started their apprenticeship and our stocks on Vegetables is overflowing, but meat is still scarce to only be eaten by the Villagers once per week.¡± Once per week is already rather good for their former standards, we have finally some new workers and A¡­ ¡°Wait, Anna is engaged?! When do they want to marry?¡± ¡°When you are ready for taking their vows. They would like to be wed by you, so they waited.¡± So her best friend is getting married. They grow up so fast. ¡°We can make the ceremony at any time. I am always ready to do something for your best friend. How about a wedding event in our Ball room? We have so much space.¡± ¡°I already asked, but they would love to be wed in their new home the Lost Village. Do you think you could do that?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± I pat Snows head. I should maybe slap my own head for being out for a whole Month just working like a machine. The Golem still needs more parts as I am at a bottleneck, and I think I know where I can find some angry Metal which could be Golem shaped to snag some more Knowledge about creating a machine of dea¡­ experiments! ¡­ ¡°Will you Anna be the Wife of Mack, be his support and faithful partner, in good times as in bad times until death do you part?¡± ¡°I¡­ I will!¡± ¡°If anyone has any complaints about this bond, so say it now but be silent for the rest of their lives¡­ With my authority, given by the Lost Village, I now announce you as Husband and Wife. You can now kiss if you want.¡± And they did. Applause all around, and finally I am finished with all the weddings. It could not only be the one wedding, no. They had to make an event out of it for me to be the speaker for a whole seven weddings. For Anna being the main event, we put her at the back for she is the main Wedding and also the one, which will start the great festival for the newlyweds to be congratulated by all. I was already asked to do another wedding event next year. Can they not be wed by the Town Chief? Well, whatever¡­ The festivals had food, drinks and now sweets, as I got some sugarcane on the most ridiculous place. They grow in the wet plains inside the Steppe. When I saw some bovine Tribe kids gnawing on them as their kind of sweets I bought some from them. They were happy, as those things grow rather near their place of living. But to be honest I never saw some in my previous lives so I would have not noticed them even if someone would slap me with them. My knowledge is rather large, but not really mine. If I do not search the thoughts of the taken over, I do not know anything. Why I elaborate on it so much? A white haired girl was really torn being the bridesmaid and going to the sugary cookies. Her reason has prevailed, as this is a one in a lifetime event for her best friend, as divorce is not known. By the way, normal Citizen are monogamous. Noble are often polygamous, where the higher standing person has the right to more partner. Yes, there are some high standing Women with multiple husbands, but it is a bit rarer than other way around. All hearsay from the Villagers and Caretakers, but if they say it, why should it not be true? Chapter 93 ¡°Are you sure? I mean absolutely sure, as this is a rather large step and can not be reversed. You never were one who liked the whole modifying your wife, and had a long time to acclimate yourself to her new look.¡± ¡°I¡­ I am sure. She is so beautiful, even in this form. But I¡­ I want to be stronger and foremost also leaving my former brethren behind. I am no Root anymore and I want the branch be cut completely. For me as for her to be forever together.¡± Leafy¡­ I understand your plight, but this is not something to do out of affect. Changing into a different species is normally impossible, and some risks are there. ¡°There are risks and also do you not think you should talk to Petal with this?¡± ¡°I am sure. Petal says I do not need to change, but I feel it needs to be done. Not only for her but for me. I want to end my hesitation and become something able to be truly with her.¡± ¡°...Okay, but I have one condition.¡± ¡°And that is?¡± ¡°Talk to Petal before. I want her to not be suddenly seeing you changed and maybe not be able to love your new you. I know it sounds hypocritical as she changed so much, but this affects not only her but you too.¡± She sighs in relief. What did she think I would ask her? ¡°This can be troubling, but I have to go through that anyways. I suspect you want to be there to make sure we both are approving?¡± I nod. Of course I do not just take her word for it. It might be a catastrophe if she lied to me. I know, she would not normally do that, but we talk about an extraordinary circumstance. ¡­ ¡°My Leaf¡­ I know about your troubles, but are you absolutely sure? You had inquired so much to see if I am really still me. What if it might be just a subconscious lure to change you too?¡± ¡°The fact you are trying to tell me not to do it shows me it is safe. If you were under some kind of control, I would have already noticed that. You are my Petal and therefore my ground to set my roots in forever. Let me do it, I am not scared to be changed, but scared to be suddenly forced back to a Forest, that I do not belong anymore.¡± ¡°My leaf¡­¡± My Void¡­ It was not the right decision to be here for that. I am close to throwing up sugar and rainbows! Not that I can not feel for them, but that is rather too much. Their aura of worry and determination is so much, there is a pink aura around them¡­ Wait no, that are Petals petals¡­ ¡°My Lord, as you see Petal is also conceding. Can you change me now?¡± ¡°...Well she conceded and not approved¡­ Ugh. Fine, we can do it. What kind of Plant would you like?¡± ¡°Can I become something similar like¡­ Red?¡± Huh¡­ Well it might be easier, as it only needs a simple fusion. She would not even be a Monster like that. Just an enhanced kind of Root. ¡°I still have the materials for it. We can start whenever you are ready.¡± At the word ¡®material¡¯ she twitched. She might remember, what it entails to become like that. She will fuse with a former Root. With that I do not have any more female Bodies, but still one male¡­ What to do with that body, I have no clue as of now. ¡°Um, Lord Null? Can the transformation be done here while I watch?¡± Petal wants to watch? Well if she wants to¡­ ¡°It is possible, but I need to get a Vat here and have the Portal stationary for a while. What do you think Leafy?¡± ¡°Um¡­ I don¡¯t know. Do I have to change in front of you?¡± ¡°You demanded to be with me, when I was in the Vat, now it is your turn.¡± Well, she has a point. Still Leafy is fidgeting around. What will you do now, Leafy? ¡­ ¡°Huh, Leafy wants to change now too?¡± Snow visited the Labyrinth, as I am working on the fusion. Leafy has accepted the spirit, albeit there was a slight resistance. As expected, while she is ready, there are subconscious barriers still rejecting the Idea, but now it is too late. Now we need to wait for her transformation. As it is not a simple experiment I am at the ready, if there is some complication. ¡°Yeah, she wants to be similar like Petal and be changed. Her body will be like Red. So we need to see how she turns out.¡± ¡°I see. While I am here, how does the outside look like?¡± Ah, she wants to go shopping for a bit. Well it might be a bit boring right now and we are already close to Summer. Let me see¡­ ¡°The blockade is close to non existent, while there are some still around, they seem to just linger, but not really do anything. Give it a week, and the Stampede should be finally over.¡± The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Yay! I want to look around some Cities! Can we go to the Orphanages?¡± ¡°ONLY¡­ If we just donate. We do not take any more Orphans.¡± ¡°Aw¡­ but many have gone to the Village. Is there not a way¡­¡± ¡°Snow, we can not take every Child with us. I sympathize with you, but let us keep your playmates on a reasonable level, okay?¡± ¡°¡­okay¡­¡± She seems to sulk a little bit, but it is the truth. ¡°What about all your new Friends? The Black, Grey and Claw?¡± ¡°I am not complaining, they are nice and I like to play with them while they train, but¡­ I am sad how Children in the Orphanage have no home. I was homeless before finding the Crater. Then I walked around the dark Sewers and finally I had a home with a warm bed and plenty to eat. I want to give them similar things to be happy together.¡± sigh ¡°We will look into it. When the count in the Orphanage Wing decreases to below a hundred, we might bring more in. Otherwise the beds that get free need to be ready if there is another time like Malek. Okay?¡± ¡°Only emergencies or when the older kids left. Got it.¡± ...Please do not cause an emergency¡­ ¡­ ¡°...Where? Ah, I remember. Petal? Are you there?¡± ¡°Of course I am here, silly. Still a bit sleepy?¡± ¡°I need to adjust¡­ Ah I can see clearly now. Did it work?¡± ¡°Um¡­ You are still¡­ No, there is a difference.¡± Well that is obvious. Red did not himself come out like a Woodwalker or what he became. ¡°My Lord, has it worked? Am I¡­ changed?¡± ¡°Well you are changed, but right now you are what Red became after his fusion.¡± ¡°...and this is?¡± ¡°Well¡­ a Root with a hard carapace on his back. Your muscles should be way stronger and your body more pliable, right?¡± Stretching and moving her limbs she looks around and finds herself to be more agile. Still she is mostly resembling a Root but with a smooth shield on her back. ¡°I feel better and can hear the Plants clearer, but¡­ Why am I not like you in the form of a Woodwalker?¡± ¡°As I told you, I had Red inside the Mana stream in the Farms until he suddenly became what he now is. I really do not want to chain you right in the middle of it, so no dice for that.¡± ¡°Leaf?¡± ¡°Yes dear?¡± ¡°Can you come here and show me your back? I believe I know what you are.¡± Without hesitation she walks to Petal and shows her back. This shows their intimacy as no Root would show their back to anyone which they did not trust. Well they are lovers, so that much is totally normal. ¡°My back feels different. Something to worry about Petal?¡± ¡°...No. The opposite to be exact. You are a Seed.¡± ¡°A Seed?¡± A Seed? Well that makes sense with the smooth back, but what does it mean? ¡°I am a Seed¡­ So I need to first go through the third phase but without a Tree. I understand. This will be problematic¡­¡± ¡°Um, could you two explain what is going on? I would like to know if I did something wrong.¡± Ah, they remember I am here and totally clueless. Maybe they can explain? ¡°Lord Null, as you know we Root have two births. First from our Mother, then our Treemother. A third phase is not written down anywhere, but in some fairytales described as becoming your own tree. Like how a fruit is falling down is the first stage but the germination of the new tree is the second. Or after an Animal ate the fruit.¡± So¡­ She needs to be planted? I don¡¯t understand. ¡°Still a bit confused. Does that mean she needs to be planted somewhere?¡± ¡°Um¡­ Exactly?¡± ¡°Wait, I was just saying what I thought I heard out of it, but it is right? Where does she needs to be planted and why is Red able to walk if he is not planted?¡± ¡°She needs earthen nutrients for a long time. Mana will help tremendously too.¡± ¡°I need a secure place to meditate for a while, shallow seeded in the earth and wait for my transformation.¡± ¡°And why did Red not do that?¡± ¡°You forced him? The transformation was started by too much Mana in too little time? Whatever you did, it can not be good for the body and maybe has some severe side effects, which might be crippling.¡± Well, yes he hears every single plant, but I do not think that this is the demerit. Maybe he ages faster and dies earlier? I never have him physical over a long time, so he just reverts back to the ideal afterwards anyways, but it might be possible if he were assembled over years. ¡°Okay, I understand, but what is the problem?¡± ¡°Um¡­ She needs to be in a rather quiet and desolate place.¡± ¡°So with you?¡± ¡°No, even quieter. For her to grow, nothing too powerful can be near her to be the best result.¡± ¡°Then there is the Roof Garden. I already created it and she grew most of the plants there. It is her own place anyway.¡± ¡°There is the problem my Lord. I do not know how long it will take. At least a Year. Maybe more. So I will be away from Petal for a long time.¡± Oh! I understand now. Yeah, that would suck, what to do? ¡°I will wait for you my Leaf. Not that I can run away from you anyways, right?¡± ¡°But¡­ I will miss you and also¡­ Are you fine with me being away?¡± ¡°Not really, but I would love to see what you will become. Will you show me? A year or two is not long for us, right?¡± ¡°...If you say so, but I want to be with you for a bit more, okay? In a week, and I will prepare in that time the garden in between. Fine?¡± ¡°Fine. Come here my little Seed.¡± And my cue to go. Packing all the things and going out. Hey, Snow you too! You are too young for this! Chapter 94 ¡°And the Forest is safe to traverse again? Wonderful! Our supplies have already run out last week. This will take the blade from my neck.¡± ¡°Give it a week Rendlar. There are still some stragglers, but they start to not fight without reason for the most part. They start to get reasonable again.¡± ¡°We noticed already. The Waves of Monster attacks stopped after a while. But the emergency is not lifted yet. By the way, some Mages were searching for you. They were from Malek and from Arcana. Both sides have found out about you and are thinking of visiting you.¡± ¡°This might mean trouble. Well no matter. As long as they do not mess with the buying and selling of the Merchandise you have nothing to worry. You might even trade with warring Nations, as the Peddler King is not directly affiliated with Telk, right?¡± ¡°...We have been known to be left alone in times of war, even if we traded with both sides of the battling camps, yes. I am worried about how you are mentioning this, please be reasonable and do not do anything foolish Lord Null.¡± ¡°Do not worry, I just hedge all bets to not be in trouble if the worst case sets in. As long as no one tries to steal my Land or my Possessions, I am totally docile.¡± ¡°I am worrying even more right now¡­ I do not worry about Malek, as they might be rather strong in their own Domain, they do not have much external power, for Arcana would not want this City defecting. If you are messing with Arcana you might be really at war with Telk.¡± ¡°They would not fight me openly, if there is a hint of a chance for them to destroy the Fields.¡± ¡°True, but if they are thinking you are more of a threat, then they might just eliminate you and forgo the Mana rich food.¡± ¡°For that I would need to want to invade. I am in my own place and under my own People.¡± sigh ¡°Just be careful, okay? What do you want to do now?¡± I could not answer that fast, as Snow already threw her reasoning in. ¡°Sightseeing! We want to walk around Telk and look for more fun things we could buy! Also I want to see other Cities, as I heard the inner Cities are way bigger than Malek!¡± ¡°Ah, that is a nice Idea dear Lady. How about I sell you a common Map for traveling?¡± ¡°It would be appreciated Rendlar, thank you. Snow we first eat something and get the Map tomorrow, okay?¡± ¡°I would love to dine out with you.¡± Still trying to sound like a lady after that outburst? Well you try your best. Etiquette will be needed in the future, so work hard. ¡­ ¡°Welcome to the City of Magus, Second biggest City of Telk. With whom do I have the honor to talk and might you need a Guide?¡± Wow, clothes really make the difference. I am wearing clothes for lower Nobility right now and Snow is wearing a close to Victorian dress. We suddenly get preferential treatment and not even the normal question of what we want here but if we need someone to guide us. The Clothes were not cheap with fifty large Gold, but for our coffers, that is not really much right now. ¡°My Name is Ava and this is Snow. We would like a Guide and transportation. Might I ask if the Guide and coachman are dependable?¡± ¡°Of course! All the people on the waiting side inside are vetted and no bandit or thief is under them. Do not worry about such trivial things, we are here in a renowned City.¡± ¡°Ava, this City is way cleaner than the towns we came through. Do you think we find something interesting here?¡± ¡°Do not worry Snow. This is the former Capital. They even named it after the Job of most Nobles. We find some new Toy for you.¡± ¡°Young Lord is knowledgeable. Yes, we were the Capital until Arcana was founded. And do not worry young Lady Snow, what we do not have, only Malek might have it, but will be guarded by cutthroats or other ruffians.¡± Way to tell how below Malek is, even if they have more commerce. But I think this is normal for a City, that is more Sightseeing and enjoyment than the other Cities. Here are living many high standing Families of magical background. Many have their own state of mind and are less¡­ crude in the handling of their affairs. Green Fire was rather aggressive and tried to steal, what did not belong to them. Blue Ice thought everything going through their land belongs to them and Kindek and his band of¡­ Mages, just wanted to steal. ...Man, the lowest kind of Mages inside of Telk are noble robbers. While retaliation will put them in their place, they are playing their nobility card right after they lost. There is really not a good light on them. Che¡­ This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡­ ¡°This is Earthen Taurus Steak. Cut from the scaled horned beast from inside the abyssal Ruins. While it is rich in Mana it also has a hearty taste and strong aroma. The special herbs are from the Misty Riverside and Dark Forest for the intensity and spiciness of the sauce.¡± ¡°Ava, it tastes even better than the Cockatrice! This is heavenly!¡± ¡°Snow, decorum. But you are totally right. The Mana intensity is maybe not that high than our produce, but it has a way better taste nevertheless.¡± The thin long mustache of the waiter was slightly twitching, but it was rather clear how special those products were. This Restaurant has not only the long time of perfecting Mana Cuisine, but has a long tradition. While we eat, I explain to Snow the ins and outs of dining eloquently. She is a bit confused on so many rules, but that is the sad part of being under Nobility. We will be under them sooner or later, as I need access to their knowledge and also they will come to us. Our fields are non stop producing. You can hear the plants grow, and are ready for harvest in only two weeks. The farmers are not even able to harvest and reseeding that fast so only two of the four Fields are used and not even fully. We make per Month twelve tons of Produce. The fields were left bare, as we have no place to stock them. They are still fresh, as the Mana inside slowly dissipates and keeps them in perfect condition. Even cuts in the Vegetables heal like Magic¡­ well, it is Magic, so not that surprising. ¡°Can we ask to see the Cook, who created this? Maybe the Owner? We would love to say our thanks and maybe ask, if they might be interested in special products, that I am trying to sell over a Merchant friend of mine.¡± Yep, I am here for business. Rendlar always noted, he has not that long for Halk been seen on the map as the supplier of the Produce. He will not be able to handle it on his own, when Malek stops playing Ball, but if we sell right at a Restaurant in a large City, there will be connections rather quickly coming, smelling profit. ¡°I am sorry, but our Owner is not disposable and our Cook is rather busy. We can not fulfill your wish, as your time would anyhow be wasted for waiting for an opportune time.¡± Short answer, Owner would not deign to show up for a lower Noble of unknown origin and the Cook is not really interested in seeing for whom he cooks. This is the third Restaurant with this demeanor. At least Snow has fun, she never ate such luxurious food. I am also a friend of this cuisine, as it really tastes phenomenal. I should be able to grow some herbs to be able to recreate some of those intense sauces. It would be great for Snow, as she loves to eat fancy things and the cooks in our Castle love the challenge of creating special foods for her, as she is like a big Sister for all of the Children. They even found a way to make a good meal out of a Burrower for Voids sake! That thing has melted three Pots until they found a way to marinade it, so it is usable. Kids ingenuity is scary sometimes, but Snow loved the thin sliced meat ring, so I tasted it too and was impressed. ¡­ Well we blasted through our Money rather quickly but did not find a decent shop for now. Every Meal we ate cost around 15 large Gold per Plate, so even I notice the drain in the coffers. What we still have is around Six Mithril and some spare, so nothing to worry for now. It would only put on dust in my coffers anyway, so a bit of splurging should be okay. Our next place is a rather warm Family restaurant. While the Customers are less, they are always regulars as I heard from our Guide and the Food is always hearty and not small. That makes at least Snow drool in delight. ¡°Welcome to the Glowing Ladle. You seem new here, I hope you will enjoy our homemade Cuisine. Please have a look at our Menu and ring that bell if you have decided.¡± To be honest I like that kind of Restaurant better. Not a Waiter for one table, rather a friendly elderly woman, which knows her Customers per heart and has a genuine smile. The whole Interior is clean, not spotless, but definitely cleaned daily as the tables have a used sheen to them, that shows their age and history. Also the Prices are rather low. The highest single Dish is only 9 large Gold while other Restaurants would see that as mid range. The prices are not overinflated and have an honest range. This is not a place for high Nobility, rather for Mages who want to fill up and go out with a smile. I like it already. ¡°I take the Rockbiter fin Soup and what do you want Snow?¡± ¡°I take the Tremor Mole roast. I remember it from the Dark Forest.¡± ¡°Good choices! The Rockbiter is a swamp Fish, that has a smooth taste to it like a mixture of honey and spicy herbs. The Tremor Mole is recently brought back and is tender, if made correctly. You will not be disappointed.¡± Well, we will see. I am looking forward to it! ¡­ The old Lady was not exaggerating. The Soup was really interesting. The Sweet did not come from something added but the fish itself, while it has a spicy prickly feeling in the aftertaste. Snows Roast was not only tender, it fell apart even with the lightest touch of the Fork. She gave me a small fork and I must say I can not connect the taste from here to the Tremor Mole I ate as Twin. This is Magic of the Cooks, making things edible I would never think possible. ¡°This taste is great. The Mana inside is rather high, albeit not as high as our own ingredients, but really nice nonetheless. Also I wonder how you even made that rocky nightmare into such a tender and succulent meal.¡± ¡°I am really glad you liked it. We pride ourselves on our ability to create the best possible meals out of every ingredient.¡± ¡°That I can only praise, it was delicious. Is there a way to thank the cook and maybe talk to the Owner? We have some curious products, that might be interesting for them both.¡± ¡°Well, if you want to talk to my cranky husband, he will have a bit of time after the early rush. I am the Owner¡­ sort of, as it is in our Family for three generations and is given to not only my husband as the most able cook but also as a kind of dowry to his Wife, me. What do you want to discuss?¡± Ah, a Family business. Not a fake kind of business where only the owners Name is given to the next owner, but the one who really cooks and has their own hand in the middle of things. I think we have a jackpot. ¡°I am the owner of a piece of Land, where magical produce is grown. Also I am near some special Monster which lay unfertilized Eggs and have a rather nice taste itself. We would like to ask if you were interested.¡± ¡°I dunno, as we need stable supply and that is rather tricky without a reliable Merchant behind it.¡± ¡°That is no Problem. The Merchant is from the Peddler King, and a rather trustworthy and able person.¡± ¡°Oh, the curio Shop. I heard, they have some new products, but they are always sold out, before someone can get them.¡± ¡°That¡­ could be my products. I have magical Vegetables. Would you like to see them?¡± ¡°Could you wait for about an hour to an hour and a half? My Husband needs to be there too. I can do the finances and tables, but he knows special products better than me.¡± ¡°No sweat. We just sit here and eat something sweet to kill time. What would you recommend Mrs. ¡­¡± ¡°Eliza Berwick. I would suggest the honey baked berries, as they have a nice acidity to the sweet to support the digestion of the Mana.¡± Well I do not need that and Snow never had indigestion even when she ate the whole skin of the Cockatrice nearly alone, but it is a great Idea, especially seeing Snows sparkling eyes already. Chapter 95 ¡°So you are trying to sell ya things to us, bub? I warn ya up front we take only quality, even if we are cheap with our prices.¡± Honest but grumpy. Stereotypical cook, but seems to have dedication. Well I already like his wife, so he does not bother me too much with his honesty. ¡°And quality we have. Please have a look and decide for yourself.¡± Putting out the radish, onion, beets and fruits he scrutinizes them thoroughly. His frown deepens more and more, and after a while he sighs. ¡°Not interested¡­¡± ¡°Wait, why?¡± ¡°The quality is out of our price range and those produce smell like some kinda scam. We can not gamble with our Money for a supposed gain, bub.¡± So he is more afraid to be scammed right out of hand. Well I can understand him. Those things are rather high quality and would bring a nice price on the open market. ¡°The price is rather low, as I am the producer, and if you do not want to pay up front then you can pay at delivery, I just ask the Peddler King to make it contractual obliged.¡± ¡°Peddler King? Ya have rather interesting connections, bub. So, next question. Why us?¡± ¡°To be honest we were looking for other Restaurants, but they all held their nose high after seeing us eating¡­ crude.¡± Snow blushes a bit, but I am not better. We are not really Noble, I just know what I could scrounge together and what I knew of my old Worlds. ¡°Ha! Let me guess, they excused ya with some flowery speech about how busy their higher ups are, bub?¡± ¡°Yep, and they did not deign to look at our things, so we just did not care. We want honest buyers and not some Idiots who would annoy us to no end.¡± ¡°¡­ I like ya, bub. But the price will still be an issue.¡± ¡°I sell it to the Peddler King at Five large Gold per Kilo, but will lower the prices to four in a while, when the Farms give more. I make an appeal to our contact to sell it at most at five large Gold per Kilo for you.¡± ¡°...This would help immensely. A Kilo would be two dishes worth with extra ingredients. We would make rather bank with that, but what do ya get outta that, bub?¡± ¡°You are honest and would answer the question where you got the ingredients. With that, the word of mouth would go around and my contact would make more Money and I would sell more Ingredients.¡± ¡°Rather clever for a small Noble, ain¡¯t ya bub?¡± ¡°I am not even from this Kingdom, so not even Noble to begin with. What I am, is an owner of a rather large plot of land, and I it happens to have extremely high Mana inside it.¡± ¡°Lucky one. We would like to buy, but only a small margin at first. Our life depends on a steady stream of produce, and we cant give ya our lifeline, bub.¡± ¡°Completely understandable. Would you like to buy a bit for testing? I give it for 3 Gold for the first selling, as you might need to experiment with the Products.¡± ¡°If ya have some, we would like to buy what ya have to see how they will taste.¡± ¡°Can I say something too, you bloke?¡± Oh, so long silent, now the Wife is fed up with it. I can understand how she does not like how her husband takes the whole discussion to himself, as she said earlier she was the financial head. ¡°Sure, Sweetie. You can crunch Numbers better, but if he is honest, that produce can make us some cash.¡± sigh ¡°Let me jump in. We would like to buy some of your Produce, when they are available. If my Fanatic of a Husband not even has anything to complain about the quality, then they must be pristine. How much do you have with you, so we can try them out with our current menu.¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. The bargaining is rather complete. I do not want profit from them, rather want to have word of mouth. Advertisement in this World is horribly outdated, so the telling of my Idea to Rendlar made him look at me like a total genius. With that we left some Cockatrice Meat, an Egg and many different Produce for them to wonder about. The Egg itself made them gawk and telling them I could sell them two each Month was igniting fire in the eyes of Marcus, the Cook. He might know way better ways than just cooking it for two hours to make it a delicious Meal. Prices are set to a rather humble margin, as they are asked to be our advocates, when someone asks, and how honest they are, they will even tell if they are not asked. A nice Family business getting produce from the Farmer of their trust. Sounds nice! ¡­ ¡°Only the basics are publicly available. If you have someone, who can use Magic, then you should find a Caste to take him in to learn from them. We highly dissuade from learning Magic alone, as it has many dangers, which might be not only dangerous, but can lead to deadly accidents.¡± ¡°I understand this, but it is only for testing their aptitude and maybe early start before going into apprenticeship.¡± That was a lie, but she does not need to know that. In front of me is an elderly Woman of the Bookstore in Magus. I had to try my luck with at least some Books here about Magic. They have one Book for the public, it is expensive with a massive and fully made out of Gold ¡®E¡¯ at the front. A Mitril for a book, with just the basics as she said it. The Book is huge and rather convoluted written. So many theories and not many real spells. While we eat the first test dishes of Marcus, I skim a bit. It is true, Magic is dangerous, but as far as I can see, because of their traps they put inside. The first training regime makes the person aware of their Mana flow and moves it. Ones with static Mana will not only writhe in pain but even injure themselves, maybe even irreparably. Basic movement of Mana is even usable with static Mana, as I already know. The training is way easier, if you learn how to eject Mana from your body with your will. The Body gets into equilibrium on its own without any repercussions. What they write is a dangerous test for making the unable suffer without reason. The first spell I see is a rather simple Wave of pure Mana. Just throwing Mana like a gust of wind to maybe dust a room, but nothing really worth it. The way is ejection and kinetic change, interesting. ... ¡°Father, there is a occurrence you should see. If you have time, could you maybe focus on the Kitchen?¡± Black three has messaged me. Well we are right now in the middle of testing the taste of Marcus¡¯s work. He uses the Egg white and yolk separately in containers and only uses it for flavor in different combinations, genius! Oh! The Kitchen in the Castle, of course. ¡®I am on it. What is going on?¡¯ ¡°We have a¡­ Visitor? Maybe a new being in the freezer. The children kept telling there were Fairies in the Freezer and something really is there.¡± Fairies? Wait, the little bug humans which dance on flowers? What does she do in the freezer? There are no Flowers there¡­ ¡®Oh. Um¡­ Hello?¡¯ cling cling Her¡­ or his? Looks female, so her¡­ Her way to speak is bell sounds, or rather ice resonating. She is not a fairy, rather an¡­ Ice sprite? ¡®Where do you come from?¡¯ clong You dunno, huh¡­ Well I can see that you are harmless and out of my taken over miasma¡­ ¡®Let me try something, maybe I can understand you then better.¡¯ cliling Affirmation huh? Okay now touching her with my presence. Not too much to take her over, but having a small frail connection. ¡®So, you are a recently born creature.¡¯ I feel her affirmation. The time she is living might be two weeks or maybe a little bit more. ¡®What do you do here?¡¯ She was ordered to cool things? When did someone¡­ No, it might have been me. I put the sorted Miasma in here for exactly that purpose. But still something is not really right. ¡®So, what was the first you noticed, when you were born?¡¯ A blurry picture was sent. I can not really decipher it completely, but can make out the silhouette of a white haired rat girl. I got it! cling clong ¡®Oh sorry, I disconnected by understanding what was going on. You were born from the residue Miasma on Snow.¡¯ Further in the rather strange dialogue I found out she had no body at first, but with more Miasma she became something. So what the Miasma did was create something similar? If that would be true, then there would have been many more of those sprites¡­ Oh wait, there are. At high concentrations of specific elements and specific Miasma some kind of ¡®knots¡¯ are hovering around. Most have no body and might not even be aware of themselves, but if I give one of them preformed Copy Miasma¡­ Nothing happens¡­ Oh, wait I am an Idiot! Looking away and searching for different things to see what happens around here. Leafy is resting in the earth growing¡­ Leafs? Wow, she is enveloped in them like a cocoon. ...back to the place and¡­ Yup, a small doll like earth sprite is born. The knot was in the fields and I just formed out of Copy Miasma a body. It never worked with anything, but now it works? I hate how Miasma makes no sense at all! Well, I have new avenues in creating something fun! Chapter 96 Sitting in a coach wagon, we were transported to Halk. While the money is high for a transport like this, it is not over the top. Two Gold for the transport, as the Coachman needs to travel back again. If it would be only a short visit, we could even use him to go back. Halk has those Coachmen too, but we never thought about using them, as we could run the distance in about the same time¡­ and the Horses are afraid of Snow. While shivering, those Horses right now are rather disciplined to not buck out. Just what are they seeing normal Sentients cannot? Whatever, we are close to Halk and have to talk to Rendlar about the new Contract. Connections to Magus directly are definitely the best business for him. This gives him direct access to the Market there without meddlesome middlemen. ¡­ ¡°That works splendidly. With this I have a transport direct into the middle of Telk always going anyways. The Word about the Vegetables coming from us will be strewn across the large City in no time. But are you sure you will not hide anymore?¡± ¡°I am sure. The time I needed was to fortify the place. Now it is and my Domain is secure. Nothing but an outright war can make me lose that place.¡± ¡°Could you PLEASE not say such ominous things, as I really do not want to lose this lucrative business.¡± ¡°You will not. If there is a blockade they would cut only in their own flesh, as I have another route to other people for my Products.¡± ¡°...You have?¡± He is rather flustered, maybe he should know where it goes to, before I throw him right into a heart attack. ¡°Yes, to the Grasslands on the other side. The Beastmen love my Products, as they have so much Mana without the hassle to eat Monster. Many are having a close to meatless diet, but still need Mana.¡± ¡°Oh! The far West! I thought¡­ never mind, please just never make me so scared again, I thought you would jump ship.¡± ¡°Nah, I would not want to lose you. You are honest and are one of the few Merchants I can trust to not cut my throat for a Gold coin.¡± ¡°While I appreciate the compliment, I do not really think¡­ Oh, no you mean Claire. Yeah, that checks out.¡± He and Claire work together but have completely different views of being a Merchant. I bet they were put together to make the honest one more ruthless and the ruthless one more honest. No, they just despise their different tactics even more. ¡­ ¡°Hello little one!¡± ~hello~ Snow is delighted about the little Ice sprites showing up now. They are small and were scared and confused, but now that I am able to notice them, they have their own small place. A Freezer under the Freezer. The trapdoor gives access and the grate over it is way too heavy for the children to pry open, so they have their own little domicile. The more they are talked to, the better they can communicate. Still they just chime, but you can make out words now in their chiming. The earth ones hum rather deeply and the water sprites are sounding like a singing baby whale. So many Sprites to give bodies, but they do not keep the made bodies, but start to form their own ¡®best¡¯ form. Ugh, the Earth sprites became fat gnomes. And I mean fat¡­ They are wider than tall and look like someone hit them with a cartoon hammer. The Water Sprites are¡­ Mermaids¡­ Sadly the wrong parts to be really mermaids. Fish torso and legs with webbed feet. They are made out of what they have available. The Ice Sprite out of crystals, Gnome made out of mud and reverse mermaid out of water. They have coloration, but as ice and water are transparent, they are mostly see through. I am thankful for them showing up, I really am! They showed me something I can try with the Homunculus body, that might finally make them more¡­ Human. ¡­ ¡°Haau doou Aaii looog?¡± This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Um, Null? You still can not really talk with that body, but it resembles already¡­ human? Why are you in that thing anyways?¡± Letting the Homunculus flop down on the earth I go back to BB. ¡°Ah, better. Bones are the best! I was trying to see if I can control him like I want to.¡± ¡°...and?¡± ¡°It was a success. I can work him like a normal Body, now I just need to find a way to make him a bit better looking. Oh, and Bones are a must too.¡± ¡°So you might someday have the Body you wish for, right?¡± ¡°Oh yeah! I love to have a body like yours, that can change form into something I can use my whole mental power for, but for the project I need a good human start. Do not misunderstand me, I like to be human as somehow I love the nostalgic feeling, but in Battle, there is nothing better than having all your options right at your tendrils.¡± ¡°Oh, I understand clearly. I like being human like you do, as they are strange and funny, but for battle my true form is more appealing.¡± ...Huh, our discussion is somehow sounding quite unnerving from the point of human standards. Not my problem though, as I have to put Prototype Two back to the Incubator. Well all of them are Prototype Two, technically. In front of me are sixteen tanks with floating bodies inside, in different states of growth. Some have a few defects like a second left arm or more eyes than necessary. I need to work out the right frame for them to grow, so it is better to see what they become, if left alone before reaching their target mass. Some have even benefits I could first find after they were finished, like the maw on the stomach being invisible while¡­ I start rambling again. Next topic. The Castle increased with a rather deep pool. In the middle is a small Island with a nice fruit tree with vibrant flowers. Also there are a swing, a nice place to sit and a nicely trimmed grass field. The Island is just decoration on the tower going deep under the water. Right now there are six floors to the Tower spiraling down. The walls around are also housings for the Fishmen. While they like the dark, the lake is for them ideal, as the water is covered with water lilies in a nice way. The lilies are been taken care of by the Fishmen, as they can regulate themselves how much Light they want. This is right behind the Labyrinth, while behind the Greenhouse is now a Workshop. I work in there on my special robotic body Tinhead. He is still in the workings and horribly unresponsive. I need more insights in the Robot I have captured. What is been build between them is something that can only be described as an Arena. Multistory building to house different Monster in different Forms, while I pump Copy Miasma inside to make them multiply. As they are only out of Miasma they just decompose after they die, but if a copy eats the flesh of another different copy they get stronger and get to the threshold of their Original. But there is a caveat. The more different Miasma inside the more they rage out of confusion and pain. The anger abates after they have digested all of it, but most of them do not come to that time, because the Claws and the Grays train their mettle in cleaning the place up regularly. It was their wish for better training, so I created it. On top of the Arena I have created the Miasmic Laboratory. The dissipating Miasma gets filtered there to be studied and refined. By the way, I was right with Mana dew becoming slimes through Miasma. If Miasma from dead Monsters get too strong, the Miasma invades the Mana dew and starts creating a core without blood. I was so thrilled at first, but disappointed as the slimes are not really that strong. They can jump, suffocate and digest nearly everything but only if they are large enough. Their weak point is so obviously the core, that it is not even funny and except for the perfect garbage disposal they are only useful at an ambush. No great abilities like absorbing the powers of what they ate or limitless evolution. It is just a giant synthetic life form shaped as an amoeba. Tests are still ongoing, but I have no great hopes. ¡­ ¡°What are you writing Null?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, my Army size.¡± ¡°Your Army?¡± ¡°Yeah, I experiment on so many Monsters right now, it is better to keep a list and their capabilities. They will be a great help, when I get back to where those bastards live.¡± ¡°And you can take them all with you?¡± ¡°Well¡­ Yeah? Maybe not all¡­ It might be not possible for every Monster, but it would be good for an overall list, if I can take them.¡± ¡°Null¡­ What I am scared of is¡­ Can you take me with you? Or do I have to be here without you?¡± ¡°This big Castle would be yours to rule. All the Children are here and you have so many Rat girls at your side. Are you not happy with that?¡± ¡°It is nice, but without you I would not want any of them. I want you!¡± That is a surprise. And I thought of making her a small Kingdom for herself to rule while I renovate a whole World of my own design while squashing a few bugs¡­ She wants to come with me? ¡°Are you sure? To travel to another World is not only dangerous it changes you irreparably. I was dragged through the Void twice. Once quickly, the other time way too dangerously long.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t care! I wanna be with you!¡± How sweet. Maybe I should ask the others too. While I work on another large room, it is not even close to finished. The Transporter. While I thought, I would be the only one to traverse, there might be more. That will make a change of plan. ¡­ A Month is already over. The Root started to trade again with us as they noticed the open Tunnel. They were in desperate need of my Mana dew, as it dissipated way quicker with so many Monsters around, but except reading it out of their demeanor, there was not much they said about it. Today Mordred came again. With him are way too many people to be just the normal Peddlers, and I was rather right as two separate Envoys were seen. The sign of Malek is on one and on the other is¡­ A spiral Tower? Maybe someone high up, as Elane is with them and she is rather courteous to almost kissing their feet. This might be trouble¡­ Chapter 97 Maleks Ambassador stands away and offers the first greeting to the people with the Spiral Tower emblem. ¡°So you are Null. Quite a great Land you have found, you have done well. We are from the Ivory Caste under the authority of Arcana of Telk. We came to investigate the new Land you have brought into our Domain and want to see the best way to improve the output of our Produce.¡± He really said it¡­ This will not end well for them. There might be some undercurrents, but whatever it is, there will be a rather harsh response of what they want to do here. ¡®Claws, Greys, Blacks. Code red! Go through the secret Tunnel right to Black Twos House and from there get into position to interact with hostiles. Lethal force only in emergencies or per order.¡¯ ¡°Maybe we have some misunderstandings here, but I would love to discuss what Telk might want from my own Land. Right now I have a contract with the Peddler King about the selling of my harvested goods from this place. Is Arcana interested in a long time contract too?¡± ¡°...Interesting. While there seems to be some kind of difference in our outlook, I would like to deepen our understandings a bit further, before we go into deeper discussions about more complicated topics as in changes of crops or how to build a steady road.¡± ¡°Well there will be a long discussion to be had. While we have not much, I invite you into the Mansion, especially built to house someone to discuss over finer details. My Maids will boil some tea for us, as I see two more groups wanting my attention. I hope you are not slighted by seeing them before we are finished, but our talk will be the longest in my opinion.¡± ¡°Ah, no worries! We understand the need to clear up the small details before the main topic should be started. I heard from Maleks people, you are a rather sought after man, who is hard to find.¡± ¡°Not really, I just live in a rather hard to reach place, as you can see. Later I can show you maybe the Castle a bit, but right now I need to attend to everyone similar to not accidentally slight someone.¡± ¡°Fine, fine. Go and we will follow your¡­ Maids.¡± They were led away by Black Three and Four. The rest of the blacks are right now finished with arming themselves with their batons, while the Claws and Grays never are without their weapons and already on their way through the tunnels to their designated places. I never thought they would be fighting so soon. ¡­ ¡°We from Malek wanted to apologize to you, as you might have gotten a rather bad view on our City. After reviewing the circumstances, we thought of coming ourselves to be more cordial with the owner of the magical Vegetables spreading around our Country.¡± So they came as they found out what I sell. Not quite honest, but at least they came in friendly terms. ¡°I just wanted to help some people. The whole debacle was more the problem with that strange Orphanage. Now I heard about them trying to frame me again?¡± ¡°Ah no, it is way different. We found out of the heavy corruption and raided the Orphanage to seize evidence¡­¡± ¡°Wait! You raided an Orphanage? What about the Children?¡± ¡°They are gone, have you not heard? Nearly every Child was missing except of a few in¡­ detention, which were locked away. We wanted to know, if you would know something about their whereabouts.¡± ¡°I heard of some missing Children, but all of them? How can there be so many missing children in a City that large? Not one was found?¡± ¡°We found some, but they had fled the Orphanage before you even came to the City. No Child was found as of yet. It is a blemish on our City to have poor children suddenly vanish, so we came here to ask.¡± Yeah, I can imagine how it sounds like. If they just lost a few Children, then it would not be that problematic, but all of them from a renowned Orphanage and finding out, they were even corrupt to begin with? While they can try to hide the facts, the rumors would even be worse later on. While the thing with the Cursed Witch Beryl was an open secret, if Malek does not tread carefully, the people might exaggerate the happening into talk about how the Mages of Malek used two hundred Children for a blood ritual to summon something outlandish. I could help with nicknames. ¡®Bloody Malek¡¯, ¡®Malek the Child eating City¡¯ or how about ¡®Child graveyard Malek¡¯? ¡°As I already said, I was gone before anything got too serious with those greedy People. Why does it haunt me still?¡± My mock anger was already visible, and maybe he would have lashed out, if not the Ivory Caste was right now in the Mansion drinking tea. ¡°We understand and do not disturb you anymore. If you have some leads, please tell us in a letter later on. The one who finds the Children will get a rather nice reward.¡± ¡°Not that I need some Coin, but if it does not make any problems for me or anything, I will think about sending information. Do not think bad of me, but I really do not see, how I can help in any way, as Malek is way too far away to be in the margin of possibility for any clue to be unveiled about that problem of yours.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Understandable. The way is what¡­ Four Hundred Kilometers, if not through the dark Forest? We had to scramble to the smaller private Orphanages while the Stam¡­ Never mind, I am sorry for disturbing you.¡± So the private Orphanages needed to sacrifice their children as cannon fodder. Rather sad, but those houses were mostly a pet project of some Nobles with either a good heart or really ugly secrets¡­ Impossible to know what though. Most work more like a school for Servants to be¡­ Kinda like mine¡­ Whatever¡­ Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Ending the Talk I go over to Mordred. ¡°Mordred, I am happy you are fine. I hope Rendlar is well too. Listen, maybe you should build your peddler stands nearer that storage hut. It is empty, and you can put your luggage for now inside. If there is something problematic, it could be a nice shelter, like if some beast enters the Village or another emergency.¡± ¡°Um, of course. We will do as the Lord thinks it is right.¡± ¡°While we are at it, take your time, the People will be at the earliest on the streets after the¡­ talk and will be having a longer evening meal, so do not hurry and rest for a while, at best close to the shed.¡± ¡°...that bad?¡± He whispers to me. As he finally understands my clues I will whisper back. ¡°Not yet, but there could be an incident. Keep your head low, as there are Mages. The Rock is sturdier than it looks, so hunker down in case of emergency.¡± ¡°I will. Thank you for the forewarning.¡± ¡°I just hope I am only paranoid.¡± ¡°Please be. It might complicate everything otherwise. Rendlar is getting pressure not only from Malek, but Magus and even Arcana too.¡± So Rendlar is pressured. It shows he wants to stay with me, for that can make or break his career path out of the boonies into a specialized importer for the Peddler King. ¡­ ¡°Everyone is ready. Villagers are secure, Units in position.¡± Black Two Informs me. I nod and think more about her status as of now. I think I should give her a true Name. Maybe Ville? Has a nice ring to it. After the Discussion I have to see how I go forward. Entering the Meeting Room with Snow, I get to the couch and sit down, while the Mage not even deigns to stand up. Am I that low, you can just ignore me? Well, it might be a rather hard talk, but for whom it will show in a few Minutes. Sitting down I take the Tea from Black Four and take a sip. I really do not want to demean Snow, but their Tea is way better than what she can do. Well they nearly only take sustenance from Tea and rarely eat something, so they became apprentices of Leaf before she got to sleep. It is still not the perfect mixture like Leaf does it, but their flaws inside is rather their charm. They keep it more thin and not that fragrant, rather they are more wary of it to get way to bitter, so it is nice with a bit of sugar we started to manufacture. ...the reason I am philosophizing about Tea is, that I ignore the person in front of us. If he wants something, he can talk. I am not the weaker part in here. Maybe he notices my rather blatant provocation, as he has a little bit of anger in his eyes. ¡°So, Null. As we have seen how nice you already have it here, I would like to ask of a bigger tour over¡­ your Territory to see how it can benefit Telk the most. Would you not agree?¡± ¡°We already benefit Telk a rather large amount. As Mages need Mana rich Food, the Vegetables are a better source and have low to no Miasma in it. This helps with digestion and even cleansing the body from it.¡± ¡°That is a matter of course. The Produce shows rather good performance in keeping a steady diet with better results, but the Farms could be used better in different aspects.¡± ¡°That would mean I would not use the Fields for Vegetables anymore? How would the Mages react, which already think of them as a great way to accumulate fresh Mana?¡± ¡°They would not dare to meddle, as this is business of Arcana. I would like to see the fields of the validity of creating herbal fields in the future. Today would be a bit early, after we settle in the Castle, we would like to see them.¡± ¡°Well, I told you, we would show you our Castle, but why would you settle in it? Does the Mansion not have enough space? Furthermore you are leaving after the peddlers are finished, no?¡± ¡°...For a while we would go, but afterwards come back, of course.¡± ¡°For what? I rather think that our Village is beautiful, but not that beautiful to be a sightseeing object.¡± ¡°...are you playing dumb?¡± ¡°I am right now more inclined of probing the other side, if they are themselves just playing or rather are.¡± Finally an open scowl of him. His demeanor changes, as he notices we are not on the same wavelength in this discussion. Maybe if he not look at us as part of Telk right now, then we would have a way better climate. ¡°Then let me spell it out for you. Ivory of Arcana will take over the handling of this place. We will change the residents and especially the Farmers and¡­ Maids. I still do not like how you force them to wear masks, even if they might be ugly.¡± ¡°First, they wear the masks out of their own accord. It is their believe to not show their faces to Guests, as they find it rude and honor their way of being a Maid. Second, those Villagers will stay, as they are rather fond of being here. Third, the last who wanted to take it from me¡­ wait, the second to last was it? Whatever¡­ They were Named the Green Fire and are now gone like smoke in the wind.¡± ¡°You do not understand, do you? We would not even need to fight against you, to make you beg to give us your land. We could just close up the Border of Telk for you and you would not even have the opportunity to sell your wares and buy necessities, so be reasonable.¡± ¡°If you close the Borders, I just sell them in the Grasslands to the West. The Beast Kin are rather fond of my products as many of them are more fond of eating plants than meat and while there are some herbs, my Products come in abundance. They would be glad to get your share of my products too. I bet many Mages will ask why Ivory ordered the forceful stop of such a good product, but that will be your problem, not mine.¡± ¡°Are you threaten us to throw your products in the trough of Ferrals? Do you want a war that desperately?¡± ¡°How can I threaten you, if you are the one, who wants to cut me off? I just say Telk is not the only one I sell my produce to.¡± ¡°...You really have an annoying tone on you kid. I could just let my men cut you down and take everything right now, don¡¯t you know?¡± Raising his hand with index and middle finger extended the Soldiers unsheathe their weapons. Huh! What a nice coordination. ¡®When I snap with my fingers come out of your hidden compartments and be ready with your weapons drawn. Do not attack until I give the order or if they start first, just stay organized and ready for an attack.¡¯ ¡°Huh. You maybe could, some of your men look rather strong. But you are in my Domain, and not the other way around.¡± snap With the snap of my fingers the wall ceiling and floor opens on different places and twelve rat mask wearing Girls are inside the now rather cramped meeting room. While his six Soldiers look rather more professional, the blood thirst on my side is stronger, as I put a bit of pressure on all of the foreign people inside the room. I hear something rattling¡­ Ah! Elane, were you here the whole time? I did not even noticed her, as she tried to be as inconspicuous as she could be. Are you trying to become a Ninja? Well her teeth rattle, as if it gets to a slaughter, she would definitely not come out unharmed by that many professionals, even if she is a Mage with shield Magic. In completely opposition Snow is drinking tea with way too much sugar in it. She even nibbles on a cookie as if the whole thing with drawn weapons and the ominous presence of a mutual slaughter fest is not even there. Chapter 98 ¡°...Rather impressive! I did not even notice them hiding everywhere around us. You have a rather good working piece of Land here, I must applaud you. Soldiers, put your weapons away.¡± Suddenly the Ambassador of Arcana makes a completely different demeanor. Does he finally understand? Well it is better he does, as otherwise it would be a bloodbath. With a smile on his face he seems in a rather good mood. Well my side still has their weapons out, as I am not budging right now. The Girls are ready and look like they are frozen solid in their readiness, one false move and they become a living blender. ¡°I did not introduce myself, I am Edgar of the Ivory Tower Caste of Arcana. We are the caretakers of disputes around fiefdoms in Telk. As we heard of this place, it was in our best interest to first see if the owner is able enough to be holding this place.¡± Yeah, not buying it. He noticed it would get rather bloody, if he pushes me and now wants to say it was all a test. Let me just play naive. ¡°Then why would you just threaten us? There is nothing to gain in our animosity.¡± ¡°Ah, we would not gain anything, but the assurance you are able to hold this place. If there are disputes and the whole place gets ravaged in a fight against Mages, then no one would benefit from it. Unless the person who is living here can defend it, then there will be a time, where the fields might be damaged. Better to make sure you have what it got to defend your little fiefdom.¡± Bet you already calculating how to remove me, without high losses. But I bite. I want to make the place a bit more¡­ secure, before going into an all out war. ¡°So it was that. I was really worried about going to isolate the Crater for a while. While the Beast Kin of the Grasslands have a rather large appetite, they do not have coin and only trade for other wares.¡± ¡®When I wave, get back into hiding and seal the hidden doors, then go to the sewers for eventual escalation later. Thank you for your help.¡¯ As I wave everyone just vanishes through their own entrance and seal them right up behind them. Without a noise they skitter away and afterwards ready themselves in the chamber next to the sewers for a possible second strike. It all was looking so choreographed, but if you put in hindsight their ¡®play¡¯ with Snow in her playtime floor and the chaotic Stairway, then their acrobatic prowess makes sense. ¡°¡­ So you really are trading with F¡­ Beast Kin. You are really ambitious, as for us the Grasslands on the other side of the Forest are not really reachable. If we do not get infected by the Fungus, we get thinned out by the Forest while suffering strange diseases if we go too near to the Death Peaks.¡± ...The Death Peaks and Fungal Mountain. I really need to find a way to look into them. Maybe I sacrifice a body or two for looking into what makes them that dangerous. ¡°They are rather wary of me as I am no Beast Kin, but as I have some as Family Members they at least trade with me a bit. Other humans might not be able to be seen as friendly by them.¡± ¡°I heard some things from the Kingdom about them. To be able to even talk to them is already a rather great feat. If you allow us, we would like to rest for the night. While I am curious about your Castle, I think the Mansion is comfortable enough for us.¡± ¡°Of course you are welcome to the Castle, but if you are comfortable in the mansion, then the Maids will be readying the Rooms for you and your men.¡± ¡­ The whole time the people were rather cordial as of now and did not do much. The peddlers loaded their gains and all the people were happy. Well Maleks ambassador was a bit peeved about them crammed into a small house, but asking them if they would rather be with the Ivory Tower or come to my Castle to be resting there, they suddenly were happy about their frugal and endearing resting place. A few codewords were thrown here and there from Edgar to his people, and he wrote everything in a note stack, also in code. Nothing to gain for now, let us see how much time I have until the whole storm breaks. Some precautions have to be made, so I asked Mordred for the Amulet for a checkup and switched it with a new one containing a few new gimmicks, I finally am able to produce. Impressive how the small things work out to become something big in a short time. Sight, presence detection, Sound and even noticing the different Mana waves around the Amulet are now all working. Limiting a micro Gate to only be able to let a thin thread of Mana through makes it close to self sufficient, but still needs a bigger Mana gathering circle, so nothing else can be put into it for now. When I get the three dimensional Runes decoded I will have to redo them again. ¡­ ¡°All of you did a good job. Thank you for your help.¡± ¡°Of course Father!¡± They are rather happy about my praise. To be honest their prowess raises day by day. While I watch the Arena ever so often I see them fight more refined by the day. Some Rooms are now having special residents, as some Monster have claimed them to be their training area. Those are even respected by the Girls and train with them in their special way without eliminating them. The more the Monster fight in the Arena the hardier they get. I think that has something to do with the building Copy Miasma. The dissolving Monster share their experiences with the newly formed Monsters somehow. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. The central room is now the proving ground for new Members of the slowly growing Monster residents. It already became a rite to¡­ I am rambling again¡­ ¡°Black Two, I give you a true Name, your Name will be Ville. Black Three you will be Maiden. I hope great things of you. Please come to me later, as the experiment with the Spirits have been fruitful and you can be connected to me now.¡± ¡°Is this true?!¡± ¡°Thank you Father!¡± Well they are happy, while I do not understand why. I rather take something out of them, so it should be a demerit¡­ but somehow it strengthens Prime and even gave her a way to use and change more Miasma for her own. Prime is former Black One. She is now my full time assistant and was the first to get modified after rigorous tests on lower Monster. With her help I have way better results in my experiments. After the accident with being so occupied with my experiments, she is also reminding me of everything around me. ¡°Grey, you three will be connected too. It is a necessity for your work anyway, so please be ready. Have you mastered your shape shifting?¡± With a nod they start to change. Grey One becomes a little bit smaller and more stocky with hazelnut brown hair. Grey Two grew a bit and changes into a more lithe body type, her now human ears have a slight point, resembling far of elvish bloodline. Grey Three is now a normal looking girl with black hair and brown eyes, while she has a more fit build for a woman. ¡°Great. From now you will be named Angie, Betty and Christine. Angie your infiltration will be in Halk. I suspect some undercurrents there anyway. Betty, while I would like you to go go Arcana, it would be bad for you to just wander in, so try to set foot in Magus and just watch for rumors of the upper castes around the place. Christine, you will be roaming as Mercenary and improve your notoriety as a capable Soldier for hire.¡± ¡°Yes Father.¡± All three answer. Now only taking a piece out of them and they are finished for their dangerous Mission. ¡­ ¡°And what did you do to them?¡± Snow is here. She has noticed the work I am doing on the Girls and asks me right away. ¡°I can not change Spirit bodies, but they work on a way different aspect in relation to dimensions, so I started to experiment in swapping parts of the Spirit with my Realm like how my Portal works and I can connect them right to me with this.¡± ¡°I see! ...And what does that mean?¡± Snow¡­ If you do not understand, just say it¡­ ¡°It is like their most precious part of their Spirit is switched with a Portal right to me. As it is only on the spiritual base it does not even need much Miasma to be stable, as it has nothing to do with Space¡­ I make it more simple. I take a piece of their Spirit for safekeeping. This has some benefits like if they die, I can create them a new Body before their Spirit dies for real and are connected to me in a way I can hear them wherever they are.¡± ¡°So they are immortal now?¡± ¡°...To be honest I do not know. While I have tested it with Monsters of different varieties, they are heavily weakened for a long time. It might even injure their Spirit if they die and be resurrected like that, so I do not want to test it on them.¡± ¡°But you would save them, when they die somehow and come back, right?¡± ¡°In a sense yes, but I do not want to really see it happening.¡± ¡°Me neither, but it makes me more reassured of them doing this Spy game. I was a bit worried about them, when you asked me to train them in shape shifting for that.¡± ¡°I know, but you should know, I do not want to put my Family in too much danger. They will be fine for they are rather strong for even experienced humans.¡± ¡°Yeah, humans are weak. So Null, when do you do this to me?¡± ¡°...what do you mean?¡± ¡°The whole switching spirit and making me connect to you directly. Would be so much easier to talk to you, when you again stop responding for a month you know?¡± Ugh, again right in the wound I still work on forgetting. ¡°Is that necessary? I mean you are so strong, It would not really be needed for you, as you are a Stampede of Monsters yourself, right?¡± ¡°That is not the matter of needing it. I want to be tethered to you!¡± Snow¡­ Well maybe it would be a nice Idea for her to always talk to me, if she needs something without using an Item or directly coming to me¡­ ¡°I will schedule it. You are rather strong and I would need preparation for safekeeping your part of your Spirit in my Realm.¡± ¡°Do not let me wait too long. I will nag you, you know?¡± ¡°Sure¡­¡± ¡­ A Month came and was gone in close of an instant. The most surprising thing was the visitors after the Root for their monthly Mana dew. The Bovine came right at the same time Mordred was visiting. Mordred and company were shocked to see them, but after a few distant greetings they traded a small amount of their own stuff to each other as a nice offering to break the ice for maybe later visits. While Snow was sad to hear Spot was not here with them, she understood it right away after hearing the state of her Grandfather. Life can be so cruel with letting your dear Family waste away like that. Hoof was at first selected to be the next chief, but put it down for he has not a good line with his shamanistic powers. Huffing Loudly is the runner up and has a good magical affinity to lead them. While he is more scared of us, he understands we are not an enemy, and would love to strengthen the connection by assigning Hoof as direct ambassador to be in contact with us. It is so sad to think this will be needed in such a short time now. Maybe I should visit Red Horn at least one time before he dies? ¡°You are always welcome to visit, but Red Horn knows how you are working on things we would not even understand, so do not worry. The only thing he wants to ask of you is for you to help Spot out in the future, if she is in trouble.¡± ¡°Of course we help Spot! I would never abandon my friends!¡± Snow answered right before I could even take a breath to answer. Well she is right, we would always help her if she is in peril. ¡°He does not need to worry, as I will always help your people out. We are Friends and Friends help each other in times of need.¡± ¡°Thank you, that means much to us, Null.¡± The whole trading comes to a peaceful end and both Parties Human and Beast Kin left with their Luggage. Mordred was shocked at the amount the Bovine could transport. Everyone can heave more than two hundred Kilos and they were twenty of them. This time they wanted to come back in one and a half Month, so maybe Spot will be there this time. Chapter 99 ¡°Angie here, Halk has more people who are heavily armed than usual. Blue Ice is buying large quantities of Monster meat. Sounds like an army.¡± ¡®Thank you Angie.¡¯ They might wait for their Spies to bring back information, but those are already gone. Maybe they will stop their fight, when they notice the vanished Spies, but I do not think they will. For now I just wait and see what they will do. By the way Angie is now a barmaid in a better visited restaurant. Her high intelligence, Memory and ability to count makes her a great boon and helps out the bar with so many Mercenaries. Her cute look makes her also a great hit with the customers. Grabby hands are sometimes an issue in such a rowdy Town, but otherwise she has no problems in her new role. The talk around the tables are rather moot, but sometimes a few tidbits of interesting things come to her, like the buying of so much more Monster meat in the last few days. They might hide their presence in most ways, but if someone needs so much Mana rich food, everyone will know there are more Mages than usual in the Fort of Blue Ice. Such fools. I am not really worried, as I anticipated it somehow. Prime was even sent to the Root explaining the possible invasion of my Domain from Telk, I made it clear they have to not do anything. Still they are willing to thin them out a bit. While I was not expecting anything from them, I am grateful for their offering of help. While those happenings start¡­ happening, Betty is right now working in the Glowing Ladle on probation. With the increase of variety in their Food and higher Mana inside each dish the place is booming. For a nice Person with a supposedly rather awkward family tree, she fits right in. It was my Idea to make her transformation slightly elvish to explain her departure of where she came from and strained family relation. Also it is a great way to reduce mistrust, as the more extraordinary their background sounds the less she looks like a Spy. Who would train someone if the person in question would stand out everywhere later on? Christine has made her debut as a rowdy Mercenary of Ulk. Her reasoning to move is her disgust against the discrimination against other races. The story was, that she traveled with a half-elf, but he was killed by a Noble for ¡®fun¡¯. Such stories are dime a dozen in that supremacy laden Kingdom, so it is not out of place. While she was first not seen in a friendly light, after a few caved in faces and her using chicken blood to look also beaten and bloodied she got the moniker silent Chris for now. It will improve with more and more finished quests. Her most difficult problem is not bleeding accidentally to show her purple blood. New Grey are in training right now. While they do not have a direct Mission for now, it might be needed, when other Countries start meeting me. I am rather busy for the whole playing nice thing. I am working on a Dimensional Rift Room and can not be annoyed with bad surprises anymore. ¡­ ¡°Welcome back Mordred. Everything all right?¡± ¡°Everything all right Lord Null. You do not need to worry about me. Is there anything you might need, as you are here in person?¡± Well I am just here to see how you are reacting to the Militia hunkering down right outside the tunnel. Are they really that stupid and attack right away? Hearing the conversation through the Amulet he is forced to play coy or will be seen as a traitor of Telk. His new bodyguards are all not his own and are listening to any hidden message, so I should not poke the bear and use my own ruse I created. ¡°I just wanted to ask when the increase in Produce will be needed. Rendlar should have his own connections open right now, right?¡± ¡°Ah, yes they are slowly building, but right now there are circumstances to not increase too fast. It might change in a few Months though. Please be patient.¡± ¡°Oh, I hope there is nothing to worry about. The Fields are right now plowed for more production. If the increase is not in a while the Stocks might overflow and I have no choice to sell most of it to the Beast Kin on the West.¡± ¡°I will bring that Message. Anything else?¡± ¡°We had Spies in our Castle. Albeit we caught the five, they just killed themselves, so we can not tell from where they came, but Rendlar could be in danger too. Maybe someone wants to take our produce for themselves, you should increase the Guards and scrutinize them more.¡± ¡°That sounds terrible! I will tell him right away, when I am back. Thank you for the warning.¡± With that I left and the whole peddling be and go over to phase two. ¡­ ¡°Meyers, over here.¡± ¡°Blick, you are all right?¡± ¡°Do I look like that? The whole place is more horrible as you can imagine. Bring me out, we have to regroup before we attack.¡± Blick is held up by Meyers and brought to the others. ¡°Excuse me, is your friend Okay?¡± Belk notices the two and asks worriedly. ¡°Nothing to worry about. He just ate a spoiled ration.¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Oh, we have a herbalist if you want to look over him.¡± ¡°No thank you you are all right, right Blick?¡± ¡°Of course. It is not the first time I ate something bad. I have some stomach medicine, but it takes a while. Thank you anyways.¡± ¡°If you say so. Please be careful.¡± And with that the parties disband to their own things. Heaving Blick into the group of spies, he was first looked after. Snake bites and some ugly infected wounds are below his armor to be seen. ¡°Report, what happened?¡± ¡°The sewers are dangerous. Every entrance is warded and I needed to stay there the whole time to not be caught. Fucking Monsters down there and ugly snakes. Do not enter it.¡± ¡°So you just hid? What is with the others?¡± ¡°...Dead. We invaded the Castle but those Maids are no joke. If they see you, they do not stop attacking until they or you are dead. Killed multiple just to escape but the others did not make it.¡± ¡°Rest and explain outside more. We wrap the peddling up tonight and set out right tomorrow. You will be guarded.¡± ¡°Give me an antidote. I do not know how much Poison is in my body, but I can not even feel my fingers anymore.¡± With that the night rest started and the Militia outside hunkers down for the signal, which did not come. ¡­ ¡°Blick, what the fuck is going on inside there?¡± ¡°The Castle is a whole maze. Every single nook has a hidden door or some kind of trap.¡± ¡°Any other people there?¡± ¡°Several we could find. The so called Greenhouse has a Botanist experimenting with some species. He should be a good target for us explaining the Fields and the curious area. At night one of the Mistresses is often using a hidden tunnel to go into the middle of the Maze. It looks like the Flowers are dangerous, but they are fake and just grown to look like that, probably by the Botanist. A normal Maid is training some children in becoming Servants, not like those killer machines, but normal ones.¡± ¡°Children? The one missing in Malek?¡± ¡°No, too few. Might be a dozen of them probably from the Orphanage in Halk or maybe Kilt. Poor Children, but they might need to go missing too later on.¡± ¡°Not your job to decide, keep reporting!¡± Rather anxious is the Leader. Maybe he thinks Blick will die of some kind of injury before he reported everything? Whatever¡­ ¡°After losing two of us at the same time the Guards are patrolling the main gate more often.¡± ¡°Guards? How many?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know precisely. Maybe twenty? Maybe more. They are heavily armed and can fight like real Soldiers in groups. We already found a way to eliminate them. Just poison their regular food.¡± ¡°And how?¡± ¡°Hidden entrance in the Maze. Leads right into the lower parts where the Kitchen is. Those idiots put the ready food into the hallway to cool down before sending it to them. Kitchen is always doing something. Poison their water flasks, use paralyzing powder on their bread or just mix into the soup a sleeping drug. Easy pickings.¡± ¡°For professionals rather clumsy, do you not think?¡± ¡°Fighters are all only fighting, cooks are only cooking. The Lord is an idiot to make his Castle into a cheese of hidden tunnels.¡± A smirk came from the Captain. Well he understood how valuable this vulnerability can be. ¡°Anything more?¡± ¡°Avoid the white haired Ferral! She is more dangerous than you can imagine. She ripped Malte right in half with her bare hands. I nearly pissed myself.¡± ¡°That strong?¡± ¡°She is the reason I not even made a peep after seeing her kill the last of my team. She can not be a normal human¡­ Fuck, there was something important I forgot.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°The Villagers have a reason to shut themselves into their houses at night. Be careful of the fields as different Monsters hunt at night. While it is more dangerous, no one will see us entering. Just break the gate into the Village silently, as they have a warning bell. They are dead anyway, when Null is gone, as he is rather weak and only relies on his Ferral bitch.¡± ¡°Gotcha, anything else?¡± ¡°No, nothing that I can remember. Martin was the one with the notebook. He died first with his cousin. Needed to eat snakes the whole time down in the Sewers.¡± ¡°Good work. Drink something and relax. You have performed your last Mission well enough.¡± ¡°Thanks¡­ Wait, the water tastes¡­ You bastard! Why did you¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think it is humiliating for you to be the only survivor? Rest well to know you did good enough. Oh, don¡¯t look at me that angry, orders from above: If only one or two survive, treat them as traitors and squeeze their info out of them before disposal. At least you die between Soldiers and not as snake food¡­ well you might still become some. Goodnight.¡± And that was the last thing Blick could hear, before falling down and never opening his eyes again. ¡­ ¡°...Wow, how brutal!¡± ¡°What is it Null?¡± ¡°They killed Blick, the one you captured after ripping the other one apart.¡± ¡°Why did they kill one of their own? I do not understand.¡± ¡°Talk about him maybe being a traitor. I really wanted him to be staying alive to see their whole plan through his eyes, but now¡­¡± ¡°Change of plans?¡± ¡°No, we can keep the plan, but tweak it a bit around the corners. They have bought all the nonsense I told them. We ready the Wings as we decided earlier, but keep them hidden until they are all inside the Castle.¡± ¡°Sure! The Panic Chamber has already been filled to the brim with toys and food. The little ones will be resting a bit.¡± ¡°Remember, the ones who can do Magic, incapacitate not decapitate, okay? We need the knowledge for the capable children and for me to analyze.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. Just break bones not the skull. Got it.¡± With that we are ready. Let us see how long they will need to build a working strategy for something that is totally different. Chapter 100 The answer at how long they built up strength was: Three Months. What they worked on I have no idea, as they have eliminated my direct spy right away. The Information from Angie are not really helpful as of right now, only the movements of the hidden currents could only seen vaguely. The Fighters left for two Months, before new fighters came. Their behaviour has changed a bit. While Angie notices the rather heavy armed people first, the more subtle lithe people were more in the background. She noticed them mostly as they were the silent kind and were even ignored by most of the Mercenaries, except the new people with their heavier equipment. Scouts or spies before the heavy infantry? They go at the infiltration in a two tiered approach, maybe more. I should be wary. The last visit of Mordred had been a week before the motion of the Amulet suddenly peaked. Normally it gets stored in the chamber for valuable products right after the use, as it is the key for even entering the Forest. Prime got sent with a message to the Root about the incoming force to be careful. She will be back in half a day, at most. ¡­ ¡°Remember the briefing. Orders from above tell about heavy forces. Main target is a white haired rat Ferral. Do not approach her alone after the breach. She might use strengthening Magic to be able to fight with able Warriors alone.¡± Wrong, she is that strong to begin with. I pity them trying to attack Snow, maybe I should have told them a different lie, but now it is too late. ¡°Goal is the elimination of all forces. Collateral is allowed as long as it does not pollute the Mana well.¡± The commander is rather monotone in his commands. He obviously has done that more than once. While we are at it, they are about a Kilometre before the entrance to the Crater. Far away but still if they wear my Amulet, I can hear everything around them anyway. They analysed it and deemed it ¡®safe¡¯ and even helpful, as the anti Monster field can be amplified with Magic. If they could not find the small rift, it is their problem for letting me spy on them. ¡­ Deep in the Night, at the entrance of the Crater. The gates are closed and the Drawbridge pulled up for security. With some kind of magical acid the bars on the first Gate were silently removed by the six spy type Mercenaries. Using a cushioned grappling hook two of them slowly invade the towers. Noticing the dart thrower, they carefully disable the runic circles with cuts by magical daggers. Afterwards the two try to figure out the mechanism for the drawbridge before slowly lowering it to be as silent as possible. Carefully climbing down into the Lost Village they wait for their other members to melt right through the rock and wooden Gate. The locking mechanism was too complex for them and signalled to use the more destructive method. While the Village is silent a bright glow was over the Village and lit up the streets. A female Statue holding a large Sphere glowing like starlight illuminate the darkness. No one is walking around except the now again six people wrapped in darkish blue cloth. The next step surprised me a bit. They split up! Two were going into the Barracks I totally forgot about. The traps in there are still working, so they will have not a nice stay. The other four hurry right into the night to the castle. For now about the two poor souls entering the Barracks. They found a few traps that were rather obvious. Simple trapdoor and dart thrower were easily removed. No Guards meant for them easier work, but made them uneasy to see the sleeping quarters unused. Checking around they find two interesting spots they wanted to look into at the same time. A rather heavy door locked tight and the briefing Room. They really split up again while the one with his lock picking tools started on the door after searching for traps, while the other lit a candle for reading the documents. Now I have to wait¡­ Not that I like to wait, as I could already start the carnage, but the door needs to open first otherwise the lock picking guy would stop and flee. After an agonizing fifteen minutes the lock finally opened and I broke the cork. While the one in the miasmic Chamber wanted to shout, he was enveloped in Miasma that killed him outright. The other one had longer to regret his decisions, as the acid melted him slowly to the bone. His cries were not heard, as the walls were rather thick. On to the other four. Entering the gates they got even quieter as they saw movement behind the glass windows where they suspected the Guards to be stationed. Splitting again in two teams, the first two were going into the Greenhouse while the other two silently went into the Labyrinth. While the flowers ever so slowly unfurled behind the two in the Labyrinth the other two have been searching for someone inside the Greenhouse. It is in the middle of the night, but still they are in luck. A silhouette of a man was being seen walking around and seemingly tending to the creepily wild flora. Searching for other in the area, the two sneak right to the person before jumping him. Their shock was imminent, as they noticed him being a whole amalgamation of vines wrapped around themselves and only looking like a person. Immediately one of them drew their weapons and attacked. Bad move, as the acidic blood of Bush Man is not to be trifled with. With this one, two people got melted by acid tonight. The other one was more wary, but after hearing something behind him he did the wrong move. He looked. It was no mere accident I called those Chickens Cockatrice. Looking right into the eyes of a Cockatrice without preparation means the hardening of the muscles at first. It is like you clench every muscle to the absolute limit in your body and if you look longer¡­ Well that happens. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The body of this one starts to dry up and becomes petrified. It is not like becoming stone directly, it just removes the blood and starts a calcification process. That way the Cockatrice can hoard food for later digestion, as they can decalcify the meat in their stomach. Nothing to do, but this one is already dead. Luckily the half melted one still had some breath in him to put into my Realm before dying for more Information. ¡­ Travelling through the Labyrinth the two people start to see things. They know something is off, but are on a Mission, so they forced themselves forward. Even if they want to go back, the way outside is already gone. Moving deeper and deeper the vibrant flowers seem to lead them further into a sweet dream. After days of travel in their dream Worlds they finally reached the middle of the Labyrinth. In reality they just wandered about fifteen Minutes, but the Dream Flowers have a rather vicious way to mess with the sense of time. ¡°Ah, Visitors. Did you hear me sing?¡± A honey sweet Voice came from Petal. She is just sitting there and relaxing. While one of the intruders is mesmerized, the other tries to break out of his stupor. Petal notices the struggling one and slowly stretches her roots to him. ¡°Is there a need for Weapons? As you can see, I am totally unarmed. Why don¡¯t you leave your weapons there?¡± One pulls out his Dagger and drops it. Also hidden weapons came out of hidden pockets and were dropped too. The other struggles and while he also draws his dagger he plunges it into his other hand. Snapping out of his stupor he wanted to shout, but then was gagged and restrained by Roots enveloping him. As he was occupied with his self mutilation he could not retaliate as Petal just twists his head three hundred sixty degrees around and lays him next to the hedge. The hedge itself starts to move the now lifeless body into itself and starts to prick him with thorns coated in some digestive enzymes. The other did not even notice as he slowly walks to Petal. ¡°Good boy. Or are you a girl? Might you unveil yourself?¡± With the request of Petal he unveils himself and with a totally normal face he stares at Petal. ¡°Do you need him still, Lord?¡± ¡®No, I already took the other one over. They wiped their memories with some kind of Magic. I try to look into the remnants, but the only thing I can find is training, Gospel of some kind of Spy codex and Pride to be a tool for his Master, even if he does not know how his Master looks like.¡¯ ¡°So he is useless?¡± ¡®He only needs to send the Signal. Afterwards he is disposable.¡¯ ¡°As you wish, Lord. So, could you please send the signal for the infiltration? The main group will finish the job thanks to you, afterward come here and rest a bit on my lap.¡± While the one was confused a bit about his mission, he nods and gave the signal. A rather crude crystal was infused with his Mana and after registering, that he is really the true person a Mana Wave was released. The Wave came and¡­ bounced back on the miasmic bubble. Dang it! Copying the specific Wave I send it out of the Crater via the tunnel. The reaction was imminent as the People are already moving through the tunnel right to the Village. All the Villagers are resting in the Bunker below the Village, so they are safe. Oh, the one stripped right to his birthday suit and just laid his head on Petal¡¯s lap! Caressing his hair while the Flower closes and starts to fill with enzymes, he does not even notice how his skin and flesh slowly melts and drips from his bones. Goodbye Mister Spy. ¡­ The entrance of the Soldiers was rather forceful. Not silent at all Sixty Soldiers trudged into the Village and start spreading out. A small group entered the Barracks while another invaded the Mansion. The main part ran right into the direction of the Castle. With them were about a dozen non Soldiers. I would say four are Mages, and one is an Arch Mage. Rather Fancy for them. The others are something similar, but they have not really the magical pressure of their companions. Elane is with them, but she does not look like she is here on her own accord. Some Artifacts are locked on her neck and wrists. Who knows what is up with that, but I do not care, as she never was liked by anyone of my Family. For now I look at the ones in the Barracks. They find the poisoned Cellar and after one was falling to its knees, they escaped right away. Also the Soldiers in the Acid room are leaving right away. The greatest thing was seeing the Kitchen trap in action. The kinetic Blender was somewhat effective, but after some heavy injuries the runic circles got damaged by their own flying pots and knives. Should have known after reviewing the dart towers, this would happen. Oh well, I have more data to work with now. While the Barracks got evacuated the Mansion got literally ripped apart. Breaking walls and floorboards to search for hidden entrances and maybe ambushes. The documents in the Mansion are all already in the Castle. No sensitive data is in any of the strewn across notes in the hidden compartments, but they still collect them all. As they are rather busy destroying all the walls and other furniture I use the only trap I placed in the Mansion for exactly this occasion. With a creak and heavy rumble the Mansion folds in like a house of cards. Only a few got heavily injured, but most of them are now trapped in the rubble. It was made for emergencies to gain some time, but right now it is only for annoyance. As they do not know anything about the structure they might think is was their own idiocy. The main group did not even care about what happened. They are directly on the way to the Castle with a rather grim determination. ¡­ Bush Man is back in the Labyrinth and all the Monsters in the Greenhouse are awake and giddy. As already told, they need some Biomass to reproduce, and they want to grow their numbers, as I increased the size of the Greenhouse to the west part already. All the Flowers are already blooming and have started to emanate a small mist of water against fire attacks. Ice is still a problem, but it spreads not that easily, so Petal argued with her hedges to be prepared for this. Maybe the mist should be a permanent feature? I could maybe¡­ no, focus! Enemies are coming. Invading the Army regroups and starts to argue. ¡°Where are the Scouts? They should be waiting for us, but no one is here. Except the Signal nothing was heard!¡± The Archmage seems rather incensed. ¡°We have no notice Baron Willard. Maybe they are still poisoning the food?¡± ¡°They would have not sent the Signal without finishing it. Those people are trained better than this! Search Point B and C for them!¡± ¡°Yes Sir!¡± And with that a group of Soldiers split up into the Greenhouse and Labyrinth. Well now, that their attention is split, I can start my great Entrance. The Front Gate slowly opens and the Light in the Foyer is growing brighter. With this their attention is on the one Person coming from the Hallway leading to the Tower Stairway. Looking angry the Baron Willard orders with a wave of his hand to go into the Foyer, as the surprise attack already failed. To be that uncaring is either bold trust in his might or foolishness, where I suspect the latter as he is in front of all of them. ¡°Welcome to my Castle. If you had sent some nicer Messengers than those Scouts, I would have called for a nightly tea. Can I ask if you stop this foolish invasion and surrender? With this, the relation between Telk and the Crater can be still¡­¡± Boom Chapter 101 I underestimated the powers of an Archmage. Without casting or even an inkling of a tell he just evaporated Ava into a pink mist. Now I am pissed! Meanwhile the Soldiers fight with the Cockatrice while being stalked by the Bladehopper and losing a few legs against the burrower. The ones in the Labyrinth are worse, as they got separated right at the beginning.. Most succumbed to the alluring flowers and got dragged into the hedges while two of them started to cut through them and got the rage of Bush Man. One was strangled to death while the other got a face full of acid by his own doing. No more pulling punches, those guys will be experimental materials or fertilizer, at worst both while still alive! ¡°Now you have done it! With this there is no redemption for you all.¡± ¡°You are the second in command speaking? Your Leader is gone and so will be everyone else who does not surrender to me!¡± ¡°Sorry to disappoint you, but I never died. You destroyed my most used body, so I have to create a new one. But for you especially I take out Prototype One. Everyone else is free to fight. Capture or Kill at your leisure, everyone!¡± While I used the time to bring Prototype One B out of my Realm the others came out of the doors. Fish men were mostly armed with spears and scale shields while the Hog brutes nearly all used their fists. Hog brutes are a real good description for their form. Their arms are thicker than their legs and walk fast like gorillas on all fours. They throw haymakers like pros right after or uppercut someone''s whole body close to three meter into the air, even with their heavy equipment. One special Hog Brute is rather eerily visible with his giant cleaver in his hands. His Name is Butcher and is the leader of the Brutes in the Arena area. At first he used a kind of axe made out of a femur but later he was recognized as one of the rulers so I made him that cleaver. His Vice Commander and arch nemesis Brutus is looking more hidden in the Hog Cartel. His way of fighting is way more dirty and has transformed his technique into a crude martial art. While others mostly just punch, he grapples and twists arms and legs into holds before breaking bones or pummels them into a pulp without a way to retaliate. The Battle just started and the Mages start to chant their spells. Oh, no you don¡¯t! Slap With my arm becoming a whip I tried to hammer that Willard guy into the ground, but he dodged right out of the way. How fast is that guy? Must be some magical buff. ¡°What in the Abyss is that thing?!¡± ¡°Do I look that different? Lord Null my Name. You killed my human body, prepare to die!¡± Yeah, yeah¡­ It is a bit cheesy but I could not help myself. ¡°So you were a Monster from the beginning? This whole place is a Monster Nest!¡± ¡°Not really, I am something completely different, but this place being a Nest of Monsters is right. Had you been good I would have let the higher ups go with a ransom, but now you will be experimented on.¡± With that the fight between us started anew. His Magic is powerful and even throws the improved Prototype One back. The shape of a Human is now way more visible in its form, but still needs skin and key details like a face. At least I can mimic human speech now instead of only crying out loud. Oh, his Magic. Yeah it throws me around more than I would have guessed, he has way more power and even if the Magic does not hurt the body, the kinetic power alone forces me to tumble. At the same time I cornered him in our own duel and just take his wrath. Whip lashes, piercing spikes and hammer falls were my attacks, but he is rather slippery and dodges most of them. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Some hits got him directly and I see his Blood flowing out of some wounds. It is blue! So that is what happens, when a Mage goes over the threshold of humanity? Dissecting later, fighting now! While occupying Willard I also keep an eye on the battle behind us. Some of the Fish Men are already injured, but unlike their opponents no one is dead. On the other tendril a Hog Brute is lying on the ground slain, but the Soldiers are culled way more than on the Fish Men site. Those guys are really muscle for brains, raging and ignoring their injuries for the glory of fighting. Could be because they live in the Arena. Escapees are having it worse. One was found hiding by the Bast. Did I ever say what their illusion ability is? Overloading an opponents senses. With extremely vertigo this Soldier falls down and has an epileptic fit. Right now he is drowning on his own vomit not even realizing it, poor guy. Another one was caught by Water and Ice sprites. He is not dead, but comatose and frozen stiff. The ones which ran outside over the bridge were food for Oros, he was hiding and now guarding the escape route. The ones in the Village are captured by the Claws and Blacks. There is no danger, and I closed the hidden walls in the tunnel, nothing can come in or go out. Ah, Snow is swooping between the battlefield inside the Foyer right now, knocking out all the Mages and special people. Two seem Alchemists, as they threw volatile flasks with heavily injured one Brute before he was slain. The others are either herbalists or healers, who work to keep the wounded alive to fight again in a few minutes. Dang, Willard started to chant, that can not be a good sign! But you are not the only one who has an ace up his sleeve, as I transform Prototype one in a porous net and envelop all his escape routes before turning into a bubble. Now I got you! BOOM ...Or not. The explosion was contained, but ripped Prototype One in two. While I reform the body with haste Willard has lost his left arm and rummages for something in his singed robes. A Crystal is shown, I do not know what it does and I have no time! Dang it! ¡°The Crater is a Monster Nest. It needs to be destroyed immediately! Send the whole Army!¡± And he broke the Crystal. The magical wave escapes the castle and echoes containing the words towards the one, who needs to hear his last cry for help, but¡­ I capture Willard unaware and restrain him. ¡°And I was worried what you would do. Luckily nothing dangerous, I was really worried right now.¡± ¡°Dumb Monster or Demon or whatever you are! I am just a Baron of the inner Lands! Do you know what will happen if the whole might of Telk comes and eradicates this vile place? You are all doomed!¡± ¡°Yeah, if they came that would be really dangerous, but they won¡¯t.¡± ¡°Oh they will! And you all will die for my death!¡± ¡°No they won¡¯t. Did you not know the Crater is shielded by a miasmic bubble? Nothing can go in or out. The only way is the tunnel, but that one got sealed right after your complete Army got into it.¡± ¡°Ha! Try other lies Demon spawn. You are just searching for a way to make me despair. I might die but the Willard Family will be seen as heroes!¡± ¡°If you say so¡­¡± With that I engulf him in my body and enter my Portal by the side corner into my realm. He just wanted to talk more to accumulate more Mana, but that time is wasted for I did not allow more Mana to go to him. Noticing his demise, he tried to bite his tongue, but my oily body was faster and kept the jaw open. Quickly creating a gag and restrains he now resides in a cell of the Realm Castle. Taking him over will be horribly tedious, but will be worth it. The final act does not need me in this battle. Snow knocks out or kills the last stragglers and the Hog Brutes remove the heads inclusive spinal cord as trophies and mementos, while the Fish Men collect meat for their tadpoles and look for usable materials for better armament. ...yes, Tadpoles. I have no better way to describe their Young. They are giving birth to a clutter of eggs, those hatch ugly fish things growing longer and developing arms and legs in the late phase. They are like Tadpoles of frogs at first, being something completely different. They do not even have lungs at first, they grow them in adolescence! What are they really? Lizards first, then fish and now that¡­ ¡­ The Battle is over and the cleaning is under way. Loopy is happily sweeping the floor and removing the organs from the chandeliers. The Jail is cramped and right now I am taking over all who look like leaders. The first gave me insight in Elane¡¯s plight. She was ordered to show them around the Castle as she was the only living one seeing it, but was not willing. Why she was not willing, there is no explanation for now, as the one I have taken over was not there, when she declined. I will try my best to look into it, as I want to take her over last. Better ask her before that is happening. Chapter 102 ¡°Hello Elane. Long time no see.¡± In the corner of the cell she is huddled together and looks miserable. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Oh, you never saw me in this body. I am Null, remember me?¡± ¡°You are not Null, you are a Woman. Null is a man.¡± ¡°Oh, this Body¡¯s name is BB, well her former Nickname, but now it is the designation of it. Ignore the discrepancy and just call me Null like always.¡± She looks incredulous at me. Maybe she does not believe me, but that does not matter to me. Right now I am here to understand what she is doing here. ¡°What I need to know is, why are you here?¡± ¡°I¡­ I can not answer that.¡± ¡°My mistake, it is because of the collar, right? Let me see this. Loopy, open the door and guard me.¡± Opening the door he holds his broom like a weapon. I really need to give him something better to work with in such situations. The collar is a restraining and obedience device. I believe a similar thing was in my former World too. Slavery Collar was it? Never mind, here the slaves do not need that thing. They get whipped into obedience normally, maybe those collars are for dangerous slaves or disobedient workers? Who knows, not me¡­ ¡°No, please do not mess with it! It will kill me if you damage it!¡± Yeah, the trap inside is already visible to my Mana sense. Touching it with BB is all I need to look into it even if Elane¡¯s Aura keeps otherwise getting in the way. Multiple different runic circles are engraved in the internals. Most are for modulating the Mana inside the wearer to follow orders like some suggestion. The wavelength of the marked owner is Willard. So he was the one who put it on her. Right now I still try to take him over, but he extremely struggles. Shaving of his defensive Mana is tedious and annoying, as it seems unconscious behaviour. His body is even in a comatose state struggling. Back to the Collar. If forced open the Mana inside bursts in the inner circle and cuts the neck like butter. While it can be opened, it has some booby traps to make it burst if analysed in the normal way. I do not use the normal way, so it is fine. If I starve off the perpendicular rings around the trap will not be activated and with that I can take out the Mana in the charged rune to¡­ click ¡°...and open. So now you should be able to talk normally to me without being strangled if you tell me something you should not. Can we begin anew?¡± ¡°Wha¡­ How did you open it without permission of¡­ What is going on?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, that thing is more of a toy in light of how that bastard of the ancient Kingdom copy protected his own Runes. I am still analysing the whole vocabulary of runic Circles but for now I have already mapped all two dimensional writings of those simpler ones.¡± ¡°You can read¡­ That is impossible, even our highest Magi have only ever deciphered one or at most two Runes of their true potential in their lifetime!¡± ¡°Do not sweat it, I work differently on them. So do you talk, or do I have to wring the answers out of your brain?¡± Ah, she realizes again where she is and got white again. Back in her corner she looks at me in fear and does not know what to do. ¡°I ask again. Do you talk willingly or do I need to make you like this BB here?¡± Maybe she understood, maybe she does not know what I am threatening her with, still she seems to try to bring her thoughts into words. ¡°I was ordered to come here, but I refused! While Master Harvey gave Willard the most hospitality, he also gave me to him as a present for a steady cooperation, when he took over this place! They chained me with the bracelets and the collar to lead him around the Castle! ¡­Could you remove the bracelets too?¡± ¡°I know those are for regulating your Magic. If I remove them you can use your Mana again and might attack me. So no, I can but will not remove them. Anything else?¡± ¡°Master Harvey gave me away and the others had only slight concern but were appeased quickly. I am¡­ not of the Blue Ice anymore¡­¡± Figures. I have a suspicion of how Magic works and it shows their ugly side more and more. Harvey is an Ice Mage, inundated with Mana filled with cold intention. He might gotten cold in his emotions because of that. Willard is the complete opposite of him. Explosive Magic leads to an explosive demeanour. He not even wanted to talk, just kill right as he saw me. Talk about a short fuse. The more someone is in his element, the more he is behaving like it. Do they not try to suppress that? ¡°I can imagine. So it means Harvey is cold like his Magic and Willard is explosive like his. Does that mean everyone is like their Element? You were always guarded and careful, so I would think the Shield spells have an influence on you?¡± ¡°I¡­ Maybe you are right, we Mages normally work on this demerit, but why are you asking about that right now? Did you not want to interrogate me?¡± ¡°Ah, you are right! I am drifting off in different directions sometimes, sorry. So thank you for remembering me on my task.¡± She noticed, how she said something stupid to bring me back to the main topic. Too late, sorry. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°I suspect you want to live. So I will think about it, if you cooperate.¡± ¡°...that won¡¯t do. I will not cooperate on that vague promise.¡± ¡°What? Why not? You could survive, you know?¡± ¡°Yes, I could survive. The truth is obviously I will most likely not and just throw everything I know into your hands.¡± ...clever! She understood the crux of the problem. As expected of someone that guarded. ¡°Do not worry, I could just take over your body and rummage in your brain, but that would mean you will stop existing, and I am right now thinking of how you might be more worth alive.¡± ¡°...as bargain for blackmail. I was collared and might have a grudge against Blue Ice and the Willard Family. You want me to pressure the ones who invaded to pay up.¡± ¡°Something in that line, but not quite. I am thinking of making the whole Telk not think of messing with me again for a while.¡± ¡°That is impossible. They will come to eradicate you, did you not hear how Willard sent the signal? Even if he was manic, they will believe him. This whole place will be raided and eradicated.¡± ¡°...and like I told Willard already, the Message never got sent. It bounced against the natural¡­ or rather unnatural shield of the Crater and vanished.¡± ¡°He used a highly precious tool for¡­¡± ¡°And the whole Continent used highly precious tools to scry the Crater, but only got bleeding eyes or a vague inkling of it maybe a crater instead of a mountain range. Nothing goes in or out, even many natural Laws are unable to enter. If you do not understand the Miasma on a fundamental Level, there is no way to pierce through it.¡± Finally she starts believing me. I might bring her in as a ¡®guest¡¯ maybe. As long as her Mana is restrained, she is weaker than a normal Human. Mages have the whole side effect of relying on their Mana for better cardio, so without it they are frail. ¡­ Such a long discussion. With the whole back and forth we finally got to an agreement. I will not kill her, but she will have to be tethered to me. What this entails she does not understand, but realizes the aspect of being chained to a Monster/Demon/Eldritch being. What she understands is, how this means she is now subordinate of a non Human being, as Snow has affirmed me as Null and having multiple human bodies. I even changed into Beta to make it even more clear. Prototype One and Two would be too much for her psyche maybe, so better not using them. To prepare the tethering, I have to modify a few of my vats. I never thought about taking only a piece of a being not under my control in any way before. It will be a nice experiment, and if it not works, I can just take her over and fuse her Body with BB. I am still thinking of just taking her over, as she also has some information of Magic, but right now I digest the other three Mages and work on that annoying Archmage. ¡°Why do you connect her anyway? I do not really like her.¡± ¡°You know Snow, I do not like her either that much, but it is a needed experiment to see if people can be taken over even if they are not in any way tethered to me. If there is any need for it later, then it would be good to know if it even works or if there might be complications.¡± ¡°I can hear you two, you know?¡± ...maybe we should talk about it without Elane in the vicinity. Well, not that it matters. ¡°So what if you hear us? You do not like us, too. Isn¡¯t that right?¡± Way to be direct Snow. ¡°We are in the same boat. I do not want to die and so I am aligning myself with you even if it costs me my humanity, you know?¡± ¡°Does that mean you like us? I do not think it does!¡± ¡°Well¡­ Not really, no. But we are now working together, right?¡± ¡°Gunu¡­ Still you said mean things about us to this Harvey and the others after you incarcerated us!¡± ¡°...wait, you know about our talks behind closed doors? How?!¡± tehe Snow¡­ Well nothing to have hidden between maybe later allies. ¡°One of Snows abilities is to summon rats out of shadows. She eavesdropped on your behind the door talk. Do you think we would not at least gather information against the ones who attacked us?¡± ¡°But¡­ How?! Our whole Fort is secured with anti scrying wards!¡± ¡°Nothing to ward if Snow is physically there as a Shadow Rat. The wards are rather toys in view of how often she slips through the wards of the Lost Village Sewers.¡± ¡°All the same wards, nothing exciting to puzzle out.¡± ¡°Of course they are all the same, otherwise¡­ Wait, are you building different Wards on a whim?!¡± ¡°...Of course? Otherwise I can not see which one is the most effective.¡± ¡°That defies all reasoning! The complex runic circles would not work if even one rune is written wrong! You¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, I know. The whole thing is so convoluted. The runic system works in a way, that makes it hard to understand without threading the whole Mana flow.¡± ¡°Threading the flow? But¡­¡± ¡°Can we come back to the main topic? You will have to work with me on this, so there are some things for you to do. Meditating in specific Mana and accepting it fully is only the first step. I will take something out of your Spirit, but you will not be injured in any way, at least I hope not.¡± ¡°You make it really compelling to me, you know?¡± ¡°I never did it with someone who is not having my influence at least a bit in their body. Snow was the furthest of what I can call disconnected from me, and she is filled with my Mana, Miasma and fully trusts me.¡± ¡°A matter of course!¡± I pat Snow¡¯s head. She is delighted and I am soothed. This adorable rat is so trusting to me, and I do not even understand why she is like that. I am happy about that though. ¡°I will try my best. As long as I survive, the future can hold more for me.¡± Good mentality. With that she might even survive the experiment. ¡­ ¡°Are the Children okay?¡± ¡°They are all right, but the smell in the foyer¡­ What exactly happened?¡± ¡°We were invaded by Mages of Telk. They wanted to take the Crater for themselves. To do that they were ready to eliminate all people here just to keep Information from leaking.¡± Sister Annette was shocked. Katie is lesser perturbed, I would think she has seen her own share of battles between Nobles in her time as Maid. Both have understood the hint I gave, that all people had to be removed, including the Orphans and themselves, if the takeover had succeeded. With that the Castle is back to normal. Belk had already brought the Villagers out and the reconstruction of the Mansion is under way. While the Villagers are helping in cleaning the streets the mechanisms of the Bridge and the holes in the Gates get fixed by me. Their acid is quite potent to go through rock like that. A few samples are still in some pouches, so I can look at it at my own leisure. All the ruckus of yesterday night is slowly vanishing in the normalcy of another work day. The children work at dusting the chambers, Villager harvest more vegetables and Snow is playing around with the Blacks in the chaotic Stairway. In all the chaos I had a nice Idea and with it a change of plan. Chapter 103 ¡°Name and reason for visit?¡± At the eastern Gate the Guard asked a Woman. Her face has the signs of long sun exposure and some wrinkles. Brown eyes and black hair shows below the cowl she wore for travelling. Brown and slightly dirty clothes are worn and over her shoulder is a small knapsack with maybe all her belongings she might possess at the moment. ¡°Grey, I am visiting my sister, as she did not visit for a long time and I am worried.¡± ¡°So family visit. One Copper and have a nice day.¡± Paying with a dirty copper Coin, Grey enters the City of Halk. Her first visit was a bar in the centre of the Town. Sitting down she got comfortable and rests for a while. ¡°What can I bring you?¡± ¡°Tea please. I am a bit thirsty after the travel.¡± ¡°Of course! A tea will be three scrap. Do you want to eat something too?¡± ¡°No thank you. I only want to drink something before going further.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± After a while the Clerk got back with a tea and gave secretly a piece of leather with an engraving on it to Grey. ¡°Thank you for the tea. Here is a Copper. Keep the rest.¡± ¡°Thank you for your patronage!¡± With this the conversation was over. While drinking the Tea slowly, the piece of leather got stashed away. Relaxing and waiting for a while, Grey left the cup filled with a small pouch where it is. The Clerk Angie took the cup and vanished with it into the kitchen where she put the now empty cup near the basin to be washed. Grey¡¯s next target is a small House. This house was dilapidated and known as abandoned but with determination she entered it without being seen. After a while a different Woman exits the place with platinum blonde hair and a fair face. Her clothes are clean and made out of blue coloured silk. Right afterwards she walks directly to the Branch Office of the Peddler King. Her looks made some people look twice and also inside the building she was noticed right away. A Clerk directly approaches and greets her. ¡°Welcome to the Peddler King. May I know how I can help you, young lady?¡± ¡°Very courteous, I thank you. I am visiting to see someone called Rendlar. He is working in this Branch, is he not?¡± ¡°Um¡­ He is working here, but is also the vice President. I can not just tell him to visit someone, I do not even know how to call.¡± Slight apprehension is seen, as he has not the authority to just ask the Vice President to come right to an unknown person. ¡°Ah, I should introduce myself. My Name is Shadi, I came on the Order of my Family. Please give him this, and he might understand.¡± With this, she gave him a piece of leather, where a special crest is burned into. The crest itself seems simple, but resembles Rendlars own crest with subtle differences. ¡°I will bring it to him. Please wait in this meeting room for a while. Do you need something?¡± ¡°No, thank you. I do not need anything at the moment. I will just wait there until he got some time for me.¡± With this the two separate. Shadi waits for not even five Minutes until Rendlar came right through the door. The assistant got shooed away from him and the two of them are now alone. ¡°You have it?¡± ¡°Yes, it is in my possession. I was informed to heckle you about your poor security. Next time it could become a rather problematic occurrence.¡± ¡°I know. I am sorry about that. When I got the letter I was shocked beyond believe, that someone could just steal something right out of our storage. How did he get it back?¡± ¡°It was brought by the ones who ordered the theft. They are gone now, so do not worry. Better be wary of your people, there are some spies around.¡± ¡°I bet they are from Claire. She would sell her own Sister to a Cannibal if the Money is right¡­¡± Rendlar has never liked Claire¡¯s way of handling things. She is way too shrewd and focuses only on Money and Profit. Honesty is nothing she could sell so it was worthless for her, but Rendlar is the opinion to have lower profit for better relation to the customers. His demeanour might be too honest sometimes, but even he knows when to be honest and when to be silent. ¡°Here it is, and just keep silent about the whole stolen part.¡± ¡°Why? It could be a great way to finally burn her fingers, even if I think she will just throw one of her persons into the maw of the lion to safe herself.¡± ¡°It was stolen to invade and conquer the Crater. If this will be found out, then there will be heavy repercussions on both sides. I was told to tell you ¡®if the Baron never had invaded, there would be no reason for war.¡¯¡± This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. While holding the Amulet, Rendlar looks incredulous to Shadi. ¡°It was a Baron, which did that? This is definitely the doings of the Telk higher ups. If that is true then¡­¡± ¡°Then it would be great to never been mentioned. If Telk wants to retaliate, they need to tell they tried to invade which makes them the aggressor. By keeping quiet they have no choice as to never talk about it. Will they say how they stole an Amulet from you? Attacked unprovoked another piece of Land? Admit how they had enslaved their own Mages?¡± ¡°Wait, wait, wait¡­ They enslaved Mages?¡± ¡°Elane of the Blue Ice was given as tribute to the Baron by Harvey the leader of Blue Ice. She did not want to help out in showing them around the Castle and was made willing with a enslavement collar.¡± ¡°By Aldrin! If that comes to light, Blue Ice would be ostracized and even Arcana would be stained in dirt!¡± ¡°That is why they will not tell anything. She would have been eliminated and Blue Ice would be profiting out of it, if it had all gone successful. They underestimated Null¡¯s capabilities and now they are more of a liability.¡± ¡°There might be another lockdown¡­ Better to stock up on food and necessities.¡± ¡°Yes, but back to the topic. Do not mention it to anyone. With the knowledge alone you have the upper hand.¡± ¡°...I know. I just don¡¯t like those underhanded methods. But if Claire really wants to play like that, I will use her own foul play against her. Please leave it to me.¡± Shadi nods. With this the talk is over and Shadi bought new clothes for herself and different Gems on Nulls behalf. Afterwards she leaves high handed, the same way she came, now with a new necklace and precious rings on her hand with a small pouch swinging on her side. Escaping the prying eyes Shadi got back to the hut and after a few minutes an adventurous looking Girl with toned skin and a scar over her face came out of the building having a rucksack on and venturing into the Forest from the west Gate. ¡­ ¡®good work. Come back right away. It will be problematic, if they track you down.¡¯ ¡°Do not worry Father, they could not find me even if I paraded right in front of them all. Mother trained me especially thoroughly in transformation.¡± ¡®Yeah, I saw. You are a prodigy in that, Doppel. Otherwise I would have not named you that.¡± ¡°What does my Name mean Father?¡± ¡®Oh, it is an old tale about a being which could change into a nearly flawless copy of the one it saw. It was called Doppelganger. I think it was a German Word? Whatever. You can transform into multiple different forms, so it fits.¡¯ ¡°Doppelganger, huh? I will try my best to become that!¡± Somehow I think she misunderstood me, but nothing wrong with her keeping training in mind. With the jewels she brings back I can finally try to use them as amplifiers for the three dimensional Runes. Right now I work on experimenting with different materials, but crystalline objects work best for now. I really do not understand fully, but seems like their repeating structures makes them work way better than those non structured and chaotic mixed materials. Right now I need some different Jewels to grow crystals for my further experiments. Later I could even use them as amplifiers for different runic circles, hopefully. ¡­ Three weeks vanished in the blink of time. Elane studies all my documents on my experiments and looks way less apprehensive any more living here. Especially the runic system is for her a treasure trove. Seeing how Mana behaves inside the Runes is nothing normal Mages can do, so my knowledge is for her a completely new approach. The conversion of her was rushed because of the person I noticed in the vicinity of Mordred¡¯s Amulet. Elane had internal not really stopped resisting and it was hard for me to switch a piece of her out of her body. I even needed to sedate and cut her open to go deep enough next to her heart to finally make her one of my Family. When she woke up and saw me healing her wound she was at first horrified, but I did not care. She is now tethered to me, and she knows this. Tomorrow they will be here, so better make sure she is all right and explain to her, what this now means for her, as she is also another experiment, as I finally took over Baron Whatshisname and pulled peculiar and hidden secrets of Magic and¡­ Miasma out of his Mind. ¡­ ¡°Welcome back. What does the Ivory Tower want this time¡­ um¡­ Edward?¡± ¡°...Edgar. And I am here on official terms. Are you alright Sir Null?¡± Not really, the first time I had to reassemble a Spirit from its core. Ava has many defects right now and can not fully be used, but he should not know that. ¡°I am rather fine, thank you. And how are you Edgar?¡± ¡°¡­ I am still a Lord, so please call me Lord Edgar. Otherwise I am fine. There were some¡­ strange happenings I have noticed and came to warn you.¡± ¡°Warn me? Sound serious. Is there something wrong?¡± ¡°A rogue Mage wants this Land for his own, and might happen to attack you. We have no relation with this attack.¡± What a blunt lie. The Information came right from the Ivory Tower and even had many Details only your own party had known. You gave him all of the Information and used him as a probe of my ability. Telk noticed they can not invade by show of power and then used an Archmage with no way to inherit the Barony of his Family to take it by force. If they were sure about all of my Cards, they would have invaded directly, but better to lose a disgruntled third child with a rather short fuse, than someone with any kind of worth. ¡°That might be problematic! We will heighten our Guards against him. Do you know, when he might be attacking?¡± The twitch on Edgar¡¯s Eyes corners are even noticeable by a tone deaf person. Is he that incensed? Well I play further and see how long he will stay put or if he really wants to bury him into obscurity just like that. ¡°To be honest¡­ We though he might already have travelled here to attack. But you seem fine and I see no damage.¡± Obviously. I built that Village in only Weeks. Repairing all those little things are way too easy. I needed only a day. ¡°Of course there is no damage, he never was here. Do you think, he ventured into the Forest and was swallowed by it? The Forest is rather dangerous, without the Amulet.¡± Wow is he angry. His Mana is fluctuating heavily. Not that it looks like a spell, but I already started to create a new Ava with all what I now knew through his death. This body will not hold for much longer anyway. It never had a will to survive any more and the internal organs start to deteriorate. ¡°Let us stop the charade. We know he must have been here. I do not know, what you are trying to do, but the facts can not be hidden.¡± ¡°What facts? Are you insinuating you knew someone would attack me?¡± ¡°We just had a hunch, but were too late to inform you.¡± ¡°But then there is just a hunch. Why do you say there are facts? Can you put them openly on the table?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Nothing? Then he was never here. Sorry, I do not play your silly game. If you want to use the vanishing of a Baron as a reason for an invasion, you will have to say how you knew he would come here and find people who would say so. Right now there are only a few people who can say it, and those are Blue Ice. Sorry Blue Ice, but you know too much. Chapter 104 In the middle of the Night a white haired girl is looking from the Forest onto Halk. Her demeanour is sulking, but I can not do anything about it, as she is too conspicuous. ¡°Just stay here. We are back before the Sun rises.¡± ¡°But I wanna go too!¡± ¡°They know how you look. It will not work.¡± With a wave of Darkness she transforms into a fully human Woman with an aged up look. Her Dress is rather flattering bulged on specific places and changing her Parasol into a Fan, she now looks completely different. ¡°How about now?¡± ¡°That might work. But you will have to not use your Rats in the open.¡± ¡°That will not be a problem. I just use my Shadows as tendrils. I can do that.¡± ¡°Well okay, but are you sure about using that form. You will not be able to use it otherwise.¡± ¡°It is okay! I have a even more lascivious form, prepare for it Null!¡± ¡°Not with the eyes of this trash. He would not deserve seeing you, even if he is already gone.¡± Right now I am in the body of this Willard Guy. If I wreak havoc it would be great in his body to make it even more awkward. ¡­ An explosion rips apart the south gate and through the Fire came a noble clothed Baron Willard with a seductively woman with fan in one hand and a rapier in the other. She has a silken veil too, but is so see through nothing was hidden of her beautiful face. ¡°HARVEY! Bring your Blue Ice covered ass out of here! You pay for tricking me!¡± The guards came quickly and saw the gigantic hole in the wall. Normal people can not see Mana but as Baron Willard is an Archmage, his ejection of Mana makes different visual phenomenon appear. Flickers of light, sparks and floating debris shows his extreme power. Arrows were fired but broke before even coming close to his body. The Woman on the other hand was like a phantom. Every Arrow either just vanished or sailed through her like she was not even there. What a nice trick Snow is doing here. I need to ask her, what she is doing, this is a great defensive ability! Giggle ¡°Stop looking so fascinated, we have work to do.¡± Ah! I got distracted again¡­ ¡°Get out here Blue Ice! Explain yourselves!¡± The Guards notice their attacks do not do anything and stop. After a while some of Blue Ice appeared but Harvey is not with them. ¡°Baron Willard, you are alive! Great¡­¡± Boom ¡°Not so great for you, who sent me into a trap! If Harvey does not want to explain himself in front of me, then I just make my way there myself!¡± After exploding the greeting committee Snow and I got moving into the middle of the Town to the Fort of Blue Ice. It has many safety procedures, but Snow already saw through many of them and the rest were no match for Willard. His full name was William Willard¡­ the sixth... The Willard are a renowned family, but their Naming sake is definitely off. Back to making havoc! While breaking through the wards, I notice their repetition. A dozen Wards all repeating themselves over and over. As I do not want to look too suspicious¡­ well too late but still¡­ I need to break them how Baron Willard would do this. His Father is a Count, but as he is not eligible for the¡­ Concentrate! ¡°Harvey! Get out!¡± ¡°What in the World is going on William!¡± ¡°Do not call me that name again! For you BARON Willard! You sent me right into the wrong place and this Elane you enslaved for me broke free from the Slave Collar you assured me would make her my Toy for Life!¡± And there we go! Shouting all the dirty deeds out. She was ¡®lent¡¯ to him originally to be disposed of, as Elane started to have doubts of fighting me. She had seen too much of my hand to keep a brave face, and was vehemently against the attack while also did not want to help moving around my Castle. Willard was extremely incensed, as his mood is as explosive as his Magic. Harvey just made a calculated risk with forcing Elane into Slavery. It was a cold and calculated risk. If Baron Willard had taken over the Crater the dirty deed about the slave he had gotten from him would be a bonding point to let the wealth flow to Blue Ice. Enslaving a Caste member is a high breach and would be punished by Arcana and even Willard would have not gotten out unscathed. Not that it is uncommon, but it is handled like ¡°vanishing¡± of a Mage. Nobility is in every World corrupt it seems. ¡°What are you talking about Wi¡­ Baron Willard?!¡± Hiding behind the strongest barrier, Harvey is sweating profusely. This Barrier is one of their last resorts, and I can not break it. Well I can, but Willard is not capable originally. I just take it as a loss for now. He can vanish by Snow later. The higher ups vanishing should make it more believable, they are hiding the truth. ¡°You definitely know what I mean! I will have my revenge!¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ...No, he does not know what I mean. Just seeding chaos more and more. Who is who and what is what. With this the put on guard duty Ivory Tower Knights have heard what they needed to hear, time to leave. ¡°I will be back and WILL have your head Harvey you scum!¡± Boom A large explosion of Mana stopped the line of sight on us and we vanished like we were never there. The broken down parts of the Town show, we were definitely there. The whole chaos will be the talk of the whole Town and later the whole Telk. My reasoning? Chaos! Ivory Tower can now try their best to puzzle together what information they have. The Guards of Ivory Tower staying in the Fort saw Willard alive and angry, the whole Town knows about how Blue Ice enslaved a fellow Mage of their Caste, the town was wreaked by a Baron and need closure and at my Word made by Ava there was never an attack on the Crater. Try to make sense out of those things. ¡­ Entering the Fort via the Channels and ducts, the whole place is in a panic. They do not know what is going on and while the apprentices and lower Mages are all ordered to their Chambers the heads all discuss about the whole Scene. Shouting, accusations and total confusion were all around. Out of the liquid shadow came Beta armed with knifes and bow. Wearing a special mask to not let the pollen through, as even my taken over bodies start to stagger by them. What pollen? Of course Dream Flower Pollen. I got a pouch of them right here and right after Snow vanished with her shadow I start to open the pouch. Those things are effective. While without Dream Flowers Illusions can not be made, it numbs and with more time the people start to sleep. I do not think I will bring them to sleep, but they will be numb enough in about five Minutes for me and Snow to take them down. Right now Snow removed the Guards at the front door and seals the cracks between the Door for the Pollen to dissipate into the whole Fort. We only want the ones who know about the whole thing. Elane told us only the higher ups know about everything, as lower Mages only knew Willard was here, but not for what. Minutes pass and finally the people notice something wrong as the first one fell down without reason. With my archery I shoot the most dangerous ones directly with paralysing arrows. Normal People would die right away from them, but most of them should be okay. If not, oh well¡­ ¡°Ambush! Guards, come quick!¡± What came inside was not what they hoped for. A wave of Rats came and with it Snow in half Beast form. Quickly we took the rest out and Harvey got some potshots at us, but was restrained right afterwards. Now we needed to work quickly. Taking all the People into Snows shadow I use Beta to break the seals on the Emergency exit. Yes, they have one of those, but can only be used by Harvey, normally. Opening it we vanish through it and no witness was left after closing the door haphazardly. ¡­ Snow and I work our way through the tunnels right to the storage and took also all necessities and precious things to make it look even more like a hasty escape. They will never be found and now Halk is without a leader¡­ again. Two of Green Fire were still there under Blue Ice, but now all of them are gone. It is really a shame, they did not even get one respite before becoming experimental subjects for me. Maybe they were destined to go the same way of their former Caste. Elane¡¯s former Room was already cleaned out and her apprentices reassigned. She was rather high in the pecking order, and still she was made a sacrifice like that. How extreme Blue Ice was trying to get higher in Telk¡¯s hierarchy is apparent. Is it that hard to get up in their position? Well they will never learn the truth about it. Better going back before Edgar gets back here. His Guard dogs he left are already searching for the higher ups in the meeting room and even found the unsealed escape tunnel. ¡­ ¡°Elane! What is going on! Where are we?!¡± ¡°You are in the lower Dungeon of the Castle in the Crater. Welcome and I hope you have as nice a stay as I had here.¡± ¡°The Cra¡­ We are in Starfall Crater? Who is this Elf and why are we getting kidnapped?!¡± Ah, Ava is close to breaking down. So I am here as Beta, but Elane should talk about it, as she is the one damaged by Blue Ice Leader the most. ¡°This Elf? He is my new Master, Lord Null. His normal Body is heavily damaged from the Battle against Willard. Remember the one, who you presented me to?¡± ¡°I did not do it out of malice! You know that he could have killed us all if he got incensed! You should have just listened and gone with him on your own accord!¡± ¡°Let me jump in right here. If she did that, she would have died like Willard.¡± ¡°Bullshit! I do not know why she thinks you are Null, but Willard is alive, he attacked Halk out of strange reasons!¡± ¡°Yeah, that was me. I took his body over and used him to look like he is still alive.¡± ¡°You¡­ WHAT are you!¡± ¡°None of your business. Elane is here for you to answer her questions.¡± ¡°Elane?¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Null was gracious enough to let me see you before he removes you. I just wanted to know why? Why did you throw me away?¡± ¡°I already said it. The Willard Family was always short fused. It was better to lose one and safe all of us and your precious apprentices.¡± ¡°Buzz! Wrong, as I already looked in Willard¡¯s Memories. He never was that angry about it, even if he was rather miffed, that a lower Mage was rejecting him. The whole Idea came from you, as you met him in private and gave him this Idea in the first place. Remember telling him how it was a present for a good relationship for the future?¡± ¡°...How did you¡­¡± ¡°I already said, I read all his Memories. Now you should explain your former subordinate why, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Have you no explanation for me, Harvey? You just sent me here to die! Did you not tell Willard to remove me right afterwards?¡± ¡°No! I never did, this one lies to you!¡± ¡°¡¯After the takeover we need to remove all knowing participants. Put Elane either in the piles of the losses or clean her mind of anything she might know¡¯, weren¡¯t that your words?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°William might have a short fuse like all Willards, but his Memory was crisp after takeover. So? No answer from you?¡± ¡°HARVEY! WHY?!¡± ¡°You knew too much about the Crater! They wanted to make you the direct Connection between the Crater and Halk afterwards! Those Arcana higher ups only looked at you, for how you knew more than any other person to keep you in their Reigns! I outrank you and you would have become a honorary Baroness for that, just because you were here TWICE!¡± Just because she was here, Arcana would have made her¡­ No, that makes sense. To make it easier to work with the rabble below, they needed a less dirty person and this would have needed an honorary Noble for just the transport. I can already see the misunderstanding running through the higher ups. Blue Ice knows about the Crater, so better make one of them a Noble to keep them level. Asking who knows most of the Crater, they mentioned Elane, as she was here and even in the Castle. So make the Person with the most relation to the Crater a Noble, and be done with it. It is just an honorary and will not be inherited anyway¡­ Just because of this little thing, he send her out to die, so he could get the position, as no one was here otherwise and he is the highest person. Ice cold like his Magic, damn. ¡°Just because¡­ I did not even know! How could you just remove me for something I did not even know!¡± ¡°You had to have known! You already strutted around like all of us are beneath you and even declined the order by me AND a Baron to go into the Crater for logistic information!¡± ¡°I did not want to go here because I knew how dangerous it is here! I did not want to die in vain!¡± ¡°Even if that were true, I could not risk it. Were you to become a Noble with a Title, you would have taken over Blue Ice sooner or later. We pseudo Nobles are not even real Nobles in the eyes of Arcana. At best we are Village Elder who are slightly higher than the livestock working on the fields!¡± Such harsh and stupid thoughts. It would have made Blue Ice way more prominent. At least if it had worked, but never would it have, as long as I am here. With this no one will mess with the Crater for a while, at least I hope so. Chapter 105 ¡°And you are really sure, I will not be corrupted by it?¡± ¡°Honestly? No¡­ But the truth is, by my method you have a way better chance to become a true Witch without side effects.¡± ¡°To be honest, I am not sure I want to become a Witch, but you do not let me choose anyway, right?¡± ¡°Well¡­ This time you have the right to choose, but this will mean I will try other things on you.¡± ¡°And those things are¡­?¡± ¡°Let me see¡­ We have a Girl connected with a Flower already and another one growing up in a cocoon¡­ The fusion with different animals was a rather sad setback, as you can see on Loopy¡­ It might be a good Idea to let one of my Homunculus grow in a real uterus or maybe I can transplant your Spirit into an improved Body while you are still aliv¡­¡± ¡°I am gladly accepting the chance for me to become a true Witch!¡± I knew Elane would come to her senses. The transformation into a Witch is rather simple and with my help about a hundred times safer than in the open. The only half Witch I ever met was Beryl and she was a failure. Her Body was cursed in the wrong way, probably by a true Witch or maybe by practising in a wrong way. The difference between Mages and Witches are: Witches use Miasma as a secondary power source. Human Bodies are not made to hold Miasma, but like always Humans try to find some kind of way anyway. The Archmage knew about those ways as hidden knowledge. He never would have used it, as Warlocks and Witches have a rather unstable mood range. The Danger to become a Witch is between benign and outright death a full plethora of things. A successful true Witch might have warts, skin rashes and deformities, as those hamper them not much, and can be hidden by transformation anyway. I hypothesize with my own Miasma, it will not even have an inkling of a deformity, but better try it on a less needed Person first. ¡°Okay, we can start right away. You just have to use the basic Mantras and create a natural second flow of the Miasma in your body.¡± ¡°You sound like it is so easy, the first thing would be finding a way to get Miasma in my body through my already thick Ma¡­ AHH!¡± ¡°Oh that? Not a problem, I just slowly infuse the connection between us with Miasma. It manifests right inside of you without you needing to work on it.¡± ¡°Could you not just let Miasma flow into me like that?! The shock nearly made me lose consciousness!¡± ¡°To be fully honest I just let go a little bit. Since a part of your spirit is with me you were shielded by myself from any Miasma, I just lessened the guard a fraction.¡± ¡°THIS is a fraction!?¡± ¡°Yes. And you might find the Miasma to be the only flavour you at the moment could stomach the most. Protection and warding miasmic consistencies.¡± ¡°Hah¡­ hah¡­ It is true, but hard to control. The Mantra¡­ Mana is the River, Miasma is the Root. While the Mana flows, let the Miasma grow. Become the Tree of Might, while hardening your Soul. Nourished by both become the Witch of Old¡­¡± ¡°It should work. Willard learned it out of an old Tome he deemed useless. His House has so much Wisdom they can not use¡­¡± ¡°Shut¡­ up! I need to concentrate!¡± Okay, I stay silent. The whole thing is rather perplexing, as the way they found to make a Witch or a Warlock is letting it not touch the Mana but let it rip a whole new flow inside the body. Must hurt like hell! Especially as Witches go through so many cleansing rituals before they try¡­ Those were not in the Tome the Archmage read. Lost Knowledge maybe? It could be in the hands of some Wizards of Ulk or in a Library in Ilstin. Sadly I am not able to go there¡­ yet¡­ I COULD, but why should I multiply my problems? By the way ¡®multiply¡¯ is the right definition about the power increase becoming a Witch or Warlock. A quick way to become a powerhouse in the shortest time frame! Risk? Death more often or becoming crippled like Beryl was. Every one in a thousand might become a true Witch, others are only failed Witches¡­ If we take body mutations into the category of failure then maybe more like one in a hundred thousand become a true Witch. The reason was the volatile Miasma and I think the intent inside. To prove my speculation Elane is right now in the middle of her transformation. She will need at least a Month for the initial stabilization. Good luck! ¡­ Halk is on lockdown. This time in an instant, as Edgar is putting his foot down right away. The search for William Willard is at the high, the whole Blue Ice got incarcerated and is in interrogation right now. Luckily we took most of the documents, but even then, the higher ups would never let any Information be written down about anything dangerous. Still I have a fear someone of the higher ups that died before the takeover had a Diary hidden somewhere. Wanted posters are already put up for the higher ups of Blue Ice. Their crime is plotting against a Baron of Telk. With this all ways to blame me or the Crater is thrown out. What are they gonna do? Frame me for killing a Baron who was seen three Weeks after he was supposedly been in the Crater for an attack and ignore Blue Ice fleeing suddenly? Nah, they only can try to make it look like I colluded with Blue Ice, but every single Apprentice and Guard knows about our relationship, as they were warned to not poke this shaky non aggression pact we had any further to not lose their golden Goose. Angie was interrogated too, as all Citizen were combed over at least twice. The Peddler King was throwing a fit with all the questions, as they are directly connected with the Crater and with a rather non courteous apology they were left alone afterwards. Celia herself is rather silent and Rendlar is right now the most sought after person. Food prices at least doubled again and Angie was already asked about taking another side job for income as the whole City is stressed to the limit. She declined the offer of the night district and even accepted the salary cut in the Bar with grace and no complaints. ¡­ ¡°It¡¯s alive! It¡¯s ALIVE! HAHAHAHA!¡± ¡°Null, are you now finally crazy? What is going on?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh hi Snow! Sorry, I always wanted to shout that and it is finished! My new Body! This one will work great!¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°That huge¡­ Ah, no you said you wanted to use transformation, right?¡± ¡°Yes! And this Body not only can use it, it has many features, I normally could not use with my other bodies! This one will be able to fight and even support my abilities greatly!¡± ¡°Nice to know. Did you name it yet?¡± ¡°Oh, yes. Nemo. He is Nemo, as it means Nobody in some language in my original World I think.¡± ¡°And you used all this time for this Body?¡± ¡°No, it just needed to grow. I used it to finally made the Transfer Chamber ready. The runes are working, but have no coordinates. Also the transport will be tricky, as the Void will destroy anything inside. Therefore I increased the digging for the thing under the Castle to be able¡­¡± ¡°Okay, okay! I do not understand any of it! Jeez!¡± ¡°Ah, no worries. How about we go a bit out, after I have the knack about the transformation Magic working?¡± ¡°And where to?¡± ¡°Dunno¡­ The Steppe or better Telk? Wait, I really need to go to the nearest Empire outpost behind the Steppe. I think I know about a rather stretched out camp next to the Death Peaks¡­ Yeah, there is Information about them.¡± ¡°Empire? Would there be more Toys?¡± ¡°As I know, the Empire is rather technological advanced in their manufacturing, they should have Toys you have never seen before.¡± ¡°Okay! Empire it is!¡± Such a simple mind, but otherwise grows up much more elegant. She still loves to play but has a more mature demeanour as of recently. Subconsciously I pet her again, and am happy for her to be at my side. Now for the work I have to do in making that huge thing into a human form¡­ ¡­ ¡°Countryspeak, eh? What are you bumpkins doing here in Trashtown?¡± A rather dirty Military person asks us that. So this is Trashtown? What a great name¡­ Not! ¡°We search for an Inn and a place to wash our clothes. We got ambushed by some wild natives in the Steppe.¡± ¡°Yeah, they do that often. Something seems to make them wary of us. Maybe our Empire finally will turn that place into new fields. Would be nice to see our Town being more than just a Garbage site.¡± With that we were let in. No pay, no deeper interrogation, no security. I would have thought more about the Empire. Are they not scared about spies? ...wait, to go through the Steppe they would need to encounter Beast men. I am an Idiot, as long as they just not let anything in with sharp ears or animal traits¡­ By the way Snow is right now in full human form. She can hold it for a few days if not weeks, but needs to rest in her simpler form afterwards, as it pushes her ability too much. How is Doppel able to¡­ never mind, I am rambling again. I myself am in human form, so I know how hard it is to hold it. The fact, that I have made the body to be easily transformable into this form makes it way easier, but still is needing a sliver of my attention. Now to Trashtown¡­ Yep, it is a Town made out of trash, but what wondrous trash it is. Rusted metal everywhere, gears, pneumatics and hydraulics are reworked into what was needed. I see even a Power hammer in one of the Smithies. That whole place is made out of recycled parts. Perfect! I should be able to find more knowledge about Robots here. Tinhead is theoretically working, but to be honest he falls over more times than I am able to keep balance. I need those mechanics for his internals as the Robot I stole out of the Facility is way too complex to even fathom how those gears work. Not only I am fascinated by the things here. Snow is too, but I need to find someone who I can sell some herbs to. My Produce would be too suspicious right now, so better not using them, but herbs should be a pretty penny, especially the one Dream Flower I have with me. ¡°We need to sell first, Snow. Right now we need a Potion maker or maybe a Herbalist? Um, excuse me, do you know where I can sell some of our magical herbs we found?¡± ¡°A new forager? Better be careful out there, we lost many of you to those Ferrals. The best place to sell them is over there. Billy is the most known Biologist in town. He might take your stuff at a good price.¡± ¡°Thanks!¡± ¡°No need to thank me, we Countryfolk need to stick together.¡± Countryfolk¡­ Well the whole Country speaks the same Language, that is true. Something with the Ruins down here. The Empire on the other hand speaks their Empire Language on their Continent and both Languages on this part of the Continent. The Continent of the Empire is connected with a Land Bridge to the other Continent. The difference is the accent and some facial traits. I would say it is like in my original World North and South America had a small part connecting both Land Masses. More I do not know, but it seems they use this Continent as their Garbage heap? I bet the Kingdoms and the Empire knows more about each other than what is known by a lowly Baron, but I have no access to such secrets between Continents¡­ yet. ¡­ ¡°And you are sure, you do not know, where you got this Flower? It is really precious.¡± ¡°I am sorry, but after finding it we were somehow even thinking of not getting even one of them. With all my will I got one and then we just went away. Afterwards we did not remember to write down the way to them.¡± ¡°...sadly understandable. Those Flowers have a strong suggestive drive. One is already good enough for now. If you find them again, you need to try to harvest more. I will pay handsomely.¡± Great. A nice way to get those Empire Coins. The Flower alone brought two thousand creds. A cred is about the worth of a copper. There are half and quarter creds, but nothing below. Better than all the different Coins of the Kingdoms. ¡°So much! We will try our best to find those Flowers again, but it will take some time to retrace our steps.¡± ¡°No worries. The flower is already a great boon. When you find more, do not destroy the whole patch out of greed¡­ I suspect you will not even be able to, as the Flowers have a strong survival instinct, so be careful, please.¡± As we nod and went out of the Bio lab, how the inhabitants call this Pharmacy, I appreciate the nice take of the People here around us. Well the blatant racism against others and even each other is a demerit, but as long as you are in the right place, the people are nice. To be honest, I have an Idea¡­ ¡­ ¡°Be good little piggies and give us your creds Countryfolk. Be thankful, I do not touch lower goods and not dabble with your girl there.¡± Yup, protruding chin, heavy cheekbones and that large Nose. Empire traits and a bandit. Nice catch! ¡°Of course. Here take it.¡± ¡°Good, you are rather sensible, do not make a mistake, a small scratch of my dagger could kill¡­¡± ¡­ And he his devoured. Well the Poison on the dagger tingles a bit, but is not that problematic. ¡°Ew, that was a bit creepy!¡± giggle ¡°Come on Snow, Nemo is at least not that bad. Do you know how hard it is to make him? Aesthetics are secondary.¡± giggle ¡°Do not sulk Null. I did not mean it in that way, but you could make someone die out of fear if you do that so suddenly.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah¡­ But I needed to get him, before someone else noticed us. He was at least so dumb to work alone.¡± ¡°There are three on Outlook on the ends of this small passage. So he was not alone.¡± ¡°They will not mention anything after we got out.¡± Walking out we saw someone looking in our direction confused. I just made the finger motions to be silent and the cut-throat signal and he ran fast in the opposite direction. What will he do, alert the Guards to say we killed someone while they wanted to rob us? Finally we have the time to walk around and appreciate the market. It was so much, I had no idea where to start. The first is, the technology is rather high. Electricity, Steam, Gears¡­ you would think this is the Industrial Revolution painted in new Colours. The new Colours are the need for magical infusion into the parts. Magi-tech! Fuel Cells work with some kind of liquid, that has a rainbow hue like some kind of Gasoline or Oil mixed with water. Looks rather dangerous, and by the kind of deformities some people seem to have, it is. Asking around, the bumps, skin issues and growths come from using bad Fuel. The Name of the Fuel is ¡®Source¡¯ but I just translate it right into my mind into Fuel. Better to use. So Fuel gets used, it becomes worse with time and needs to be taken out and renewed. Pure Fuel is even safe to touch, but the more it deteriorates the more dangerous it gets. Not to be unfair, but pure Fuel is not to be found in this Town called Trashtown. Machines with samples are somewhat expensive but we have the creds. What we need now is a place to rest. Right now I am waiting for the conversion of that thief. Chapter 106 ¡°This place is rather loud¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, I had the thought it would be, seeing how they all try to make Money out of that stuff everywhere.¡± It is loud, but when you try to sleep, you notice the hammering and grinding on Metal everywhere through the whole night. The Hotel is already far away, but the people seem to not know what sleep means, as they work Day and Night throughout, without a semblance of silence for even a Second. What they mostly do is disassembly. They just cut the large things into small things and then use their Fuel powered Smelters to create as pure of Ingots they can manage to sell back to the main Continent. Everything else gets thrown into the deep Pit¡­ ¡­ and that is where we have the first hint of where the Death Peaks gets their Names from. They have a Pump restored pushing their most used up Fuel they can not again filter right into the Ancient Pipeline. Where it goes to? No one knows, but they have no problem pumping the deadly sludge right into somewhere they never saw. What. The. Actual. F¡­ The Pump is apparently from the Ancient Kingdom and was a waste disposal system or something in that line of thinking. They at least say it is, but was it really? It could be a dried up ground Water pump and they replace all the pristine Water with that gunk forever polluting the whole Continent for all we know! I need some answers, but I need a Body for this. Better not using something biological for that. So our next aim is the restricted trash. ¡­ ¡®We need to be careful. This place feels rather highly secured¡¯ ¡°Oki¡± squeak Snow and I are in Mouse/Rat form right now. Searching through the restricted part, where the broken military parts get sorted before they get removed. Yep, they have Military trash here too, but that trash will be put into a gigantic grinder¡­ also an ancient machine I expect. Searching through the Hangars We come into contact with some Guards, but they are rather relaxed. At night they were all over, but at day? No one expects an intruder, while the Grinder is running, eh? The Pipes are a no go. The channels all are coated with used Fuel and might be doing something I could not repair in Snow. Better be safe than sorry. While the Fences are rather large they have holes and we can squeeze through nearly everything easily. ¡­ ¡®That one too. Looks like a broken core, we might be able to use it.¡¯ Squeak While carefully looking, we found Conveyor Belts right before the Grinder. No one looks after it is thrown on the Belt, as the Place has only ventilation holes, and no one should be able to take something out through it. Our luck is their negligence. To be honest, the Parts have already been broken down to near destruction. Nothing can be used as is, but with the parts I can at least reverse engineer the things I want. ¡®This was the last. Let us stop and go back. Better to be back early than be in danger.¡¯ While nodding to me Snow crawls back into the ventilation pipe and I travel right after her. The Exit goes to a rather large filter we just gnawed and clawed through. They will just think it was a random rodent I hope. After all this it is great to go back to the Hotel. Snow took Surge back into her Shadow and I transfer my Consciousness into Nemo. Luckily he did not revert, as I had a sliver of my attention on him, but it was annoying. ¡­ With this we could go back to the Steppe. As we ran fast, we did not even visit the Bull Tribe, so we took our time to visit them on our way back. The Welcome was a bit low, but I understood why. Red Horn is no longer with us. The death was last Winter in peace. While his last Words were written down he sent us also some. ¡®Always remember, forgiveness is worth more than destruction. Keep your wrath low for what will come.¡¯ ¡°¡­ Are you sure, this is what he wanted to tell us Spot?¡± ¡°Yes Null. He especially chose me to say it to you and not Hoof. Huffing Loudly is now our Chief.¡± ¡°May Red Horn be grazing on the evergreen Fields and be at ease¡­¡± ¡°Thank you Null.¡± ¡°I am sorry Spot. If I would have known, I would have been¡­¡± ¡°It is okay Snow. No one did know it was this Winter. We can suspect, but never be sure. I am glad you are my Friend. I will always be happy about this.¡± ¡°Spot¡­ *hic* Thank you¡­¡± Snow is so sensible sometimes. But to be honest I am myself sad to not have seen him at least one more time. It was my hubris, to not visit him last year at least one more time¡­ Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Being with Hoof I talk a bit. He is also sad to have lost his father, but as he said, he was not going to get the Chieftain position, as he has other qualities that define him better. He chose his own path and albeit telling Hoof also cryptic last words Red Horn will live on in our hearts. I already told Red Horn, I would keep my promise. Now I even know who is the attacker, by the Garbage I collected. Angry Metal is right. Those things can be angry. We got some Robot parts while dumpster diving and even some large electronics, which definitely belong to some kind of Tank or Artillery. ¡­ ¡°...Welcome Unbeing. I am the new Chieftain of the Bovine Tribe. Our late Chieftain has made a pact with you, but I am a bit more reserved about you being in our midst. His dreams might not be the same I saw, but I think it is better for you to be working with my Brother Hoof in the future.¡± Strange monotone talk, but he might be under stress of becoming the new Head of their Tribe. I just assure him, we will help them in need and go back out of the tent. The short talk shows a bit apprehension, but to be honest I did see him for the first time. The Tribes are rather huge, but normally Family lives together near each other, no? Whatever, we were already in another discussion with sudden visitors from the far South¡­ ¡°We greet you, discarded Hero. Do not be alarmed of us, as we are the children of the dreaming Machine.¡± The what now? ¡°Um. Hello, how can I help you, and why did you call me that?¡± They are¡­ Gazelle People? They have a rather ominous air around them and while the Bovine People did nothing against them they keep an extremely wide berth. ¡°Ah, some of us saw your fall from Grace and rise into an Abomination. Do not fear, we are no enemy as we are here to invite you for a short visit to our Holy Land. Please decide while your Bovine Friend tells you about not trusting us, afterwards we wait for you at the south side of the Camp.¡± And with that they just¡­ went away. ¡°Null, please listen to me.¡± And right on cue Hoof with Spot scared silly came to us and wants to talk. ¡°Those guys are an occult bunch we never talk to. They are Members of the Steppe yes, but a fully autonomic cult praying and worshipping something strange. They not only are ominous, the way they work together and fight is like they are under some kind of mind control.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Many stories were told. Fighting against them is suicide. They do not care about anything and die if they think they should die. There is always an anticipation of what you do before you attack and they sacrifice their own Soldiers, just to kill their enemies.¡± ¡°Only war Stories?¡± ¡°Not only deny they the existence of the eternal Fields, they pray to some thing under their holy place. Going there to talk to them will make you have scary dreams, and some who sleep there too long go either insane or become something like them.¡± So some kind of Mind warping thing under the Earth is messing with their brains and gives them visions. To be honest they sound crazy and dangerous. ¡°I will go to them and look into it. Do not worry, I am rather immune to such things like Mind Control.¡± ¡°...If you say so. Just¡­ Please be careful.¡± With that I went south and there they are. Four Gazelles waiting for us. ¡°We appreciate your decision. While we knew you would make the right choice, we always be glad to know those were made out of free will.¡± Wow¡­ Those guys are more messed up, than I thought. With their speech over they showed us how fast Gazelles were in the Steppe. Snow and I could keep up, but they did not even slow down for a minute the whole stretch. ¡­ ¡°Here¡­ we¡­ are¡­¡± ¡°Go¡­ go in¡­ we just¡­ rest¡­¡± And with that they just¡­ fell over and panted like they did not even care about their image. You guys could have slowed down, you know? huff huff ¡°Those Guys¡­ were fast¡­ you okay¡­ Null?¡± ¡°Yes Snow, I notice the lack of oxygen in the extremities, but not too much. Are you Okay?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ Just need¡­ A few breaths¡­¡± With Snow huffing a bit, we enter the¡­ How should I say it, Crater? No, a Crater is that not. More like an indent of something big breaking under the Earth and indenting because of it. Some Ruins are sticking out, seems like another Facility, but this one¡­ Total loss. Going deeper into the Hole we were welcomed by two neat rows of Beast people of all kinds on each side bowing. In front is a Group of some kind of Shamans. They look old but their eyes¡­ Something is wrong with their Eyes, as they look like some kind of¡­ How should I put it. Miniature Lava lamps? Something is swimming in them and glowing. ¡°Welcome to our humble Sacred Place. What you are searching, we can lead you to it. The way back is not far, but you will have to use time to make yourself into what you are.¡± ¡°I do not understand anything what you just said after the Welcome.¡± ¡°We know, we know. You will understand, when you need to understand. Right now you are here for these.¡± Giving me flaxen paper on them are¡­ Runes! Those runes are descriptive and show how to create the sorting system for Miasma! What the¡­ ¡°How do you get this?¡± ¡°We can not only see the Future, but the past. Our Brethren have dreams of things which might be happening, we are tethered to the source of those dreams. Chained to them to never be free of them. We know what you are and what might happen. To push you to the most favourable outcome you need some things we provide.¡± ¡°You are saying, you just giving me these things out of the reason of me doing the right thing?¡± ¡°Yes, we thank you for the things you will do for this World.¡± What I am wanting to do is going home. Just because I help the Steppe¡­ ¡°It is not cause of the Steppe, you remedy the worst Error of the Tilean Kingdom.¡± ¡°The who?¡± ¡°The Ancient Kingdom of the forgotten Time. The Tilean Kingdom did not only one or two mistakes, but many. The worst made the Crater you right now inhabit.¡± ¡°So the thing in the crater is¡­¡± ¡°Not the worst Mistake, but has happened because of it.¡± DANG IT! It is so annoying to talk to those Loonies! ¡°I am sorry, we all are in a state of time dilation. Let me explain in full historically happening.¡± And then he explained. What he told me was so far fetched, that it might be even true. What the hell did Tilean think, when they decided those things? Were they insane?! Chapter 107 The Tilean Kingdom could be better said to be a Proto Empire. They owned the whole Continent and had outposts on the connected Continent. Their Wealth and knowledge was unrivalled. Then the Seers of the Kingdom had found out about the End of their Kingdom. Happening through their Miasma by way of a Lord of the Demons. A Demon controlling and ordering other Demons came to be and will be their end. Magic would not work against it as it would it only strengthen it. Physical strength would not help much, as it had a total domination Aura that would weaken every Fighter of this World. It was a Cheat, but one the Kingdom accidentally nourished themselves. Using their Powers of calling to the God Aldrin they asked for a Miracle. He could not give such a Miracle but gave them a way out out of pity. Summoning Ritual. Nothing on their World was able to cut Strings of Fate, but pulling a being from another World would be able to reshuffle those Strings. A being not from this World can beat the Demon Lord as it is not tethered to what the Future originally had planned. Everything growing has to ebb, and the Kingdom refused to die, when it was their time so they Summoned a Hero. This Hero was the one who would destroy the Demon Lord and reshuffle the Deck in Favour of the Kingdom. But Fate is not to be cheated like that. The Summoning made the Mana into Miasma and the Fields dried up while the Kingdom was plagued by Monsters. As their Fate was reshuffled the Kingdom started anew with Determination. Their Magic and the knowledge of Technology from the Hero combined created Miasma Filter. The Miasma got collected, sorted, stored and slowly returned into Mana. The Fields bloomed again and the Technology grew further. But Aldrin gave another Warning, as they have to break their Kingdom up and become humble. This time the Kingdom, long after the Hero died did not listen to their God and worked on higher peaks. The Seers now able to see the Future close to perfection saw the rise of a Fungal Infection from deep below. It was more than their time to perish and Fate had it in for them. While they knew they could not cheat Fate just like that someone came up with an Idea. If they ¡®accidentally¡¯ use that place as the unfiltered Miasmic storage place, it would not be against Fate¡­ directly. The Plan was slim and obviously dangerous, but the Fungal outbreak was unable to digest Miasma in any Form, so the Seers told. The new King made the Order to reroute the Miasma. The lower Tunnels of the Fungi flooded with bound Miasma in some kind of Oily substance. Not only was the Miasma taken care of, but the Fungi could do nothing and nearly fully perished before even breaking out. As Miasma was bound in this substance, Mana got thinner and thinner on the World. Below, the Miasma could not return to the natural state of becoming Mana and although the Fungi was beaten, Seers suddenly saw nothing of the Future. After a specific Time Frame it just stopped like everything vanished. To find the Reasoning the Seers ordered to build a new specific Temple for concentrating all the Scrying Magic and even the filtered Miasma with the most potent telling of the truth. The next King acknowledged the need, as it sounded like a new Danger was looming. Finished Building they found the truth in a Flash of Light, something hammering from the Firmament and making a gigantic Crater with a wave of destructive Miasma killing most inhabitants instantly. The Warning came and as the Kingdom of Tilean wanted to take shelter the bright light illuminated the Night and afterwards a Miasmic Winter buried the way too old Kingdom for good. ¡­ ¡°So you are saying¡­¡± ¡°Yes, the Star that fell was their own Fault. They tilted the Scales so much to their favour, Fate snapped those scales back with vengeance.¡± That is insane but might have a kernel of truth in them. Flip a coin and you get heads of tails. Do this a million times and you get half time heads and half time tails. Now we have flipped the coin half a million times and always got Heads, everyone would think someone has cheated. But we now have a World with Magic and there might be even an Entity ruling over probability to make everything fair. This Entity lays out the play board and throws the Dice. Okay, the players use a small boon to change the Die roll, nothing to worry, it is fair play. But if they do it over and over and over again, I would be angry too. On a million sided Die only one million would be a good outcome and someone nudged it on a million, the next one million Die I would throw would only have the Number One on every side. ¡°This explains the Crater, but not your meddling.¡± ¡°It does. This is the place, where the Temple was built.¡± ¡°Hang on, we are at Ground Zero?!¡± ¡°Null, what are you talking about with them?¡± ¡°Remember the Ruins we explored? They were the Remnants of this lost Kingdom. They messed with something they should not have messed, as they bent the Laws of Probability too much and it messed them right up. This place was the last Straw, and made the Crater we are living in right now.¡± ¡°So we are in danger?¡± The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Snow took out her Claws. They are reinforced, and will not break that easily any more, as I infused them with every magic Metal I could shove into them. ¡°You are not in Danger beautiful Rat Empress. The place was destroyed Millennia ago. Fate slowly brings all back to where it should be. We are just remnants and not change but follow the way. If the Fate deems us to die, we die, if it deems us to lead, we lead.¡± ¡°...Fate is telling you to tell me this?¡± ¡°Indirectly. You are already working on what you are doing. We give you a boon to let the Fate be balanced again.¡± ¡°And what is the thing in the Crater slumbering?¡± ¡°...the second calamity if the first would not have eliminated the Kingdom. It was not needed, luckily.¡± ¡°And¡­ What is it?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know. It never will awaken, if you survive it.¡± ¡°If I survive¡­ Hang on, why suddenly that ¡®if¡¯?¡± ¡°While you should contain it, if you do not, the thing will do your work and this World will go a completely different way we can not even see if we try, as we are all dead, such is Fate decided to be.¡± Okay, that is way too ominous! So they see me beating it, but sounds like by the skin of my teeth! If I slack I will just be removed and nothing comes out of it. What the heck! ¡­ Understanding the Cult of the Dreaming Machine is impossible. They told me their secret, that this is the source of the dreams the Shamans of the Steppe have. They are at the source and are now enslaved to it. Those who do not want to bow to their visions this place gives them breaks their Mind and goes crazy. Those People are forsaken by Fate, so the Cultists say and either die or bring misfortune to their Tribes, if they find their way back. We are immune, as we are not born here¡­ so they say, but staying here on the place where Fate is residing is not really comfortable, as stepping accidentally on her toes might make her angry. Especially, as I want to make my own Fate. I do not want to be a plaything any more! Right on cue an Elder came in. This one is a Ferret elder. They have all kind of Beast People here. ¡°Do not worry, Visitor from another World. Your Fate is still your own. What you are doing is just cleaning up a bit, while you are here. Whatever you do is that what you decide, if you want to do something different, this will also be acceptable.¡± ¡°Yeah, like you knowing what my worry is. It feels like you read my Mind.¡± ¡°We do no such thing, we just say, what we are supposed to say, and do what we are supposed to do, as we are already trapped in the weave of Fate to never do something on our own. You on the other hand are not.¡± ¡°...is Fate a Spider, creating a web?¡± ¡°No, but you can think of it like that, if you will. If you want to know what Fate really is, just ask, and I will be answering.¡± ¡°If you already know everything, does that not mean you know my answer already?¡± ¡°Yes, but the notion to ask is still needed, or the answer will not be able to be given to whom would ask.¡± ¡°But you just came in while I did not say¡­ And just answered something I did not¡­ I give up, I do not understand you at all.¡± ¡°So do you want to know¡­¡± ¡°No! Some things are better not known. Even if it is not a Spider, knowledge of something far beyond the realm of my own being, might damage me even worse than the Void did.¡± ¡°A wise choice¡­ and by the way, you are right.¡± I DID NOT WANT TO KNOW THAT! ¡­ ¡°If you are so anxious, I feel anxious too, Null.¡± ¡°I know, but I can not relax here in a place, where they know everything like they are at a knot of all the knowledge in the World.¡± ¡°But you could ask them how to get back where you want to go, no?¡± ¡°...Yes, but that frightens me. I feel like I am right now on a gigantic Game Board and am so small. If they really are truthful, they know how and when they will die, and what they will do until then.¡± ¡°So? What is that problem?¡± ¡°Imagine you knew already, you will see Anna die in front of you or I will be going somewhere where you will never see me again. Would you be calm about that?¡± ¡°WHAT!? No! Of course not! I would do anything to stop that from happening!¡± ¡°Those guys¡­ They know about what will happen. Every good thing, every bad thing. They can not change even one Iota without going insane, so they accepted their now linear Life.¡± ¡°I could not do that. If I knew, you or Anna or Spot would get hurt, I would change that!¡± ¡°But they can¡¯t. If they do, they get some kind of backlash. Going insane and worst of all, they said if they got back home ill will happen to the people around them. Those people either go die alone or bring suffering to their loved ones. They are not Cultists¡­ they are Prisoners.¡± ¡°...and you can not help them?¡± ¡°No, I would not even know where to begin to help them. How should I do that? I do not even know what Fate really is, and if I knew it could not only endanger me but everyone I know¡­¡± ¡°We can not help and if we try we could get in danger. Now I am anxious like you, too.¡± ¡°Sorry, but¡­ I have the inkling if we would see beyond the Veil of what is really here¡­ beyond the place of what we can sense, we would see something that we should not perceive.¡± ¡°You think so?¡± ¡°I am sure about it. This was a place, where highly advanced Seers tried to see into the Future of something that did not exist any more. There was not a single thing, that tethered Fate into this. Also this place is way too far out the reach of the crate for it to be so heavily damaged, that it just deteriorated itself. The other place we were was way more stable than this¡­ hole. This place looks like¡­ something has slammed right into this place after they were peeking. I do not believe the Seers had a chance to tell the Kingdom before they were themselves extinguished.¡± ¡°What do you mean? I am getting scared¡­¡± ¡°What I mean is¡­ Whatever Fate is, it was angry and stomped them dead.¡± Chapter 108 ___Chapter 108 Sleeping here was impossible. I do not need sleep, but Snow did not have one shut eye herself. The place is eery even for our standards. The full stay we were awake and had different talks. The Cultists are extremely courteous and have many things for us to hear and even made us a small feast for being here. While we are rather tired, we indulged in this for a while. The whole thing about what we need to do was not mentioned any more, as if we will figure it out ourselves. What I am really doing right now is listening while trying to improve the Miasmic Filter I started in my Realm. The Room I made for Transportation into the former World is a perfect giant place for that huge endeavour in my Realm. Glad I made a Copy of my Castle out of bore¡­ I mean necessity. Everything they had written is true, the whole thing might seriously work, if I did not make some dumb mistake. Hopefully I can use the whole System in a few Weeks. I might even draw out the high Miasma below the Facility we explored before to keep going deeper. ¡°Right now we can not help you on your Quest any further, but we will in the Future, you can count on it.¡± ¡°As you already know about it, it should not be a surprise.¡± ¡°Ah, no we still could all die by the thing in the Crater. So, as long as you keep it from happening, we will help you.¡± Yeah, right¡­ That thing. I understand slowly what is going on, but it still scares me. If they would say, I would beat it, I would have goten content and the thing would kill me and maybe everything on this Planet. As long as I am being kept on my toes, I will win, but that would make me content again and all will be over. That thing just got Priority Number One on my List, right after we got back. ¡°There is one thing we would like you to do, if you will hear us out traveller.¡± ¡°And that is?¡± The Elder waves his hand and two People came forth. ¡°This is Baa, and this is Pho. As you can see Baa is a Goat Kin and Pho is a Ram Kin. Both were born here, but only saw specific Dreams. Dreams of their own rebirth into something¡­ different. After that nothing. Those two are not chained like us, but led to be out of here.¡± So those two are Immune to the full brunt of the Broken Temple. They want to go out? ¡°I can give them a place to live without worries, if you want.¡± ¡°That would be nice, but please hear out their wish, right after they got to your place. It will be nice for them to be free of their plight, as your chains are way gentler than ours.¡± Ominous¡­ To explain how ominous, someone would have to paint it on a wall¡­ in Blood¡­ with only splashed handprints¡­ in a haunted Mansion¡­ with¡­ STOP! I really need to get out of here, or I might scare myself to death! ¡°As the Sun is starting to rise, you should start your journey home. We might see each other again.¡± Why not say we will or not, you already know that you old, lava lamp eyes having¡­ ARGH! ¡°Snow, let us get going. Baa, Pho, welcome to our small party. I will hear you out at home, but right now we need to get out of here, as I feel like something a few Dimensions more having thing is not only watching, rather licking me over the back.¡± ¡°As you say. Let us go.¡± ¡°Thank you for your help.¡± ¡°I am Snow. Nice to meet you!¡± Nice to make acquaintances Snow, but I want to get out of here right away! ¡­ The Way back was way more relaxed. Those two walk with us without complaint. They even start to open up about their plight a bit. The Two are¡­ Lovers. They always hold hands and never let go. Snow already likes them and talks about how nice it is to have company back home. Back to the plight. They are both sadly sterile and were even born at the same time. Instead of their normal all seeing eyes, they know everything about each other. Strange, but seems, like they are connected somehow. Their reasoning is, they can be together forever with my help, but I do not think I am the only one, who could make that happen. They just need to marry, no? Marriage should exist also in the Steppe, although no one wants to house one of those Cultists, I can understand, but the two are not even cursed to know everything or even their own death. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. If explained to the Bovines, there could be a chance they could live as foreign Members, no? I do not know how hard headed those Goat and Ram Tribes are though¡­ no pun intended¡­ Otherwise the whole Travel was rather¡­ Okay, there were attacks, but most have learned their lesson and kept a distance while not overstepping their boundary. They just¡­ directed us in a wide roundabout, maybe because the Tribe is right now residing in that part of the Steppe. ¡­ ¡°And you are completely sure? This is insane what you are asking!¡± ¡°I am sure.¡± ¡°Me too. It was destined.¡± ¡°Null, are you¡­ really doing it?¡± ¡°To be honest I would rather not to, but it is their wish and¡­ it might help me using more of Ava into Nemo, to stabilize the human Form even more¡­¡± ¡°But, then those two¡­¡± ¡°We will still be here Snow.¡± ¡°Yes, as Baa said. We are always here and can talk and play together with you.¡± ¡°Baa¡­ Pho¡­ You are crazy¡­¡± ¡°Why did I even think those two are more sane than those People in the Ruins¡­¡± ¡°Um, Null? Those are still our People as our Parents are under them.¡± ¡°...Sorry Pho. Still This is an insane ask.¡± ¡°We know, but it is the only thing we could see our whole life and otherwise we only knew how each other felt. It is our Destiny.¡± ¡°...Come with me.¡± ¡­ While the Vat is cooking I start to work on fine tuning the Absorber. Miasma goes in, filters into different forms and¡­ yeah, and then what? The People never thought about much of it, and fed it to some specificity grown slabs of¡­ Things. A kind of Homunculus creature for every kind of Miasma to turn it back. Horribly inefficient, as they were kept in sleep or better they could never wake up, as they did not have enough brain function for that. My way is living Monsters. Better, but needs a larger amount, if I want to draw out all of the Miasma in the Facility. Oh, and Death Peak is also filled with metric tons of Crude Miasma Oil by those crazy Empire bastards. If I realize it right the Western and Eastern Mountains were one in a prior time. The Fungi in the East is the Plague the Tilean stopped, but were smashed right afterwards. Next on the List is the Fuel Cell from a small trinket I have bought. Snow has taken all toys working with them to her Play Room to test them out, but this one is¡­ or was a metal saw. The Cell is filled with an oily liquid. This liquid is made out of rather strange polymers holding an incredible charge of Mana in such a small space between them. The Mana itself can not be removed but replaced. If it gets injected with Miasma from one side the Mana just evades it to the other. A simple Battery, but needs a spark to start. And if it is not contained everything inside gets the spark and reacts violently. Nemo did not get injured, luckily. This all does not explain the phenomenon of Death Mountain. So there IS still something I do not know about this place. Better prepare Tinhead with the knowledge I can get out of this military Garbage we stole¡­ ¡­ ¡°Good Morning. You are up rather early. Are you alright?¡± ¡°Still¡­ Working on my new form. How long did I sleep?¡± Prime told me she woke up. It is already a year, but now she is back. ¡°You have slept for around a year. Right now we have the middle of Spring Leafy. Petal missed you.¡± ¡°Yeah, Petal. How is she? I¡­ I hear the Flowers in the Maze sing, so she is alright, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, she is alright. Are you now hearing every Plant like Red could?¡± ¡°Yes, I can understand them so much clearer now.¡± Leafy has changed rather extreme. Her Hair is now Red. Hanging right down until her hips and hiding her back completely. Seeing her back with my Mana sense shows a scale armour like pattern out of leafs. Those seem to be harder than steel, but I would not want to test it. They are also completely fused with her. Skin is green. And I mean GREEN, while Red had a pale green she is a dark and healthy green of plants. Her eyes are black and she has vines running over her arms rolling around them like snakes seeking warmth. I bet she can unfurl and use them like a whip, as they are connected below the shoulder blades and look like extra limbs. Her feet are brown. Not dirty, but fully made out of roots. She could just stand there and drink through them and eat nourishments I bet. Red was a poser in front of her. She is a true Woodwalker¡­ Whatever that even means. ¡°My Lord, the place is a bit¡­ silent. Would you allow me to grow some trees in the places, where no one lives?¡± ¡°Sure. Just be careful, as I still have not taken all the Miasma out of the places.¡± ¡°I can now see different kinds of Miasma and Mana. Nothing to worry about, my Lord.¡± ¡°Good, but now better hurry to Petal. She missed you dearly.¡± ¡°That was my first goal, before you came and caught me.¡± She wanted to go to her first? Rude! ¡­ Well to be honest understandable, they both are a Couple and should be together as much as they want. ¡­ What a Disaster¡­ I never thought it would react this extreme, but now I understand why the Cultist gave me the runic Blueprints. The time was extremely slim between the finish of the place and the Entity starting to fight back. I finally found the Entity. It is a gigantic crystalline Geode. It not only broke open but grew down there. The Second I touched it with my Presence it started to go into Attack mode. While I thought it had just its measly Miasma at hand to create the Crater I was wrong¡­ oh so wrong! Right now It beams Miasma out of the Crevice like a miasmic Geyser and I can barely keep up absorbing it! Chapter 109 ¡°What is going on?!¡± ¡°Elane, evacuate the Children in the Castle to the Panic Room! Prime, warn the inhabitants of the castle and tell them to keep away from the front!¡± Shouting orders I start to use my Portal as a plug to keep the powerful eruption under control. Whatever it is, it finally noticed me. Too late buddy, I noticed you way earlier and now my preparations will come to fruition! ¡°Null, what are you doing?¡± ¡°Snow evacuate with all the others, this is a Fight between me and that thing!¡± ¡°But Null I can¡­¡± ¡°Do it!¡± ¡°...Okay. Please be careful.¡± With that I am finally alone. The Castle in my Realm is already starting to change. A nice trick I thought about for this bastard down there, I just hoped to have more time before using that. Breaking the different Wings apart I first isolate the ones with living beings or spirit vessels. Now I have way more room for taking this darn thing in. Its size is around a hundred diameter and has already sprout some pillars everywhere. While I already learned to increase the size of my portal, that thing is still a bit too big, but only barely. The Pillars growing out of it are a nuisance. EEEEEAAAAAAAHHHH Sorry buddy, you can cry as much as you want, you woke up and now I put you down for good! If not for the Miasmic sorting System I would have way more damage. Should thank those guys for it, but they most likely gave it to me exactly this time, because it was somehow needed for their Fate Machine or whatever is running down that hole. Nothing can survive that much Miasma in this World, but luckily I have some things not from this World. Prototype One is bringing its oily Body near the first pillar embedded in the ground like a stake. Only touching it I feel how something wants to invade my mind, but right now I have more problems than something entering where it shouldn¡¯t. Using different Materials I finally found a way to injure this Crystal and ironically it is Miasma. Sound and Vibration seems to make small fractures, and if I concentrate it¡­ EEEEEAAAAAAHHHH That was not a war cry I bet, but crying out that it hurt. The pillar is slowly breaking, but it is hard to hold the place smooth. Something tries to keep it from breaking horizontally and deflects it back out to force only a small chunk being broken, but I am not perturbed. With enough time I will break that thing, and right now I have time. Cracking one piece after the other the Crystal slowly breaks where I want it to break and I was surprised, when some kind of Liquid came out of it. The Pillars are Hollow? SCCCREEEEEEAAAACHHH That does not like it at all. Better pump that liquid out of it. Holding up the broken place I use the Liquid body of Prototype One to function as a pump sucking as much liquid out as I can, but this thing quickly stopped the flow. In my Realm I study the pieces and Liquid to find a lead for better attacks. Luckily the Realm is big and can hold much Miasma, but now I notice I have also a limited Timeframe until everything spreads through the whole Crater and outside of it. It should be day, but suddenly it got dark. Sensing the sky I notice how thick the Bubble is right now. Ah, that thing wants to create a shell to fill it with so much Miasma everything dies before returning to a needed Level. Better hurry before it works. Luckily the most Miasma is coming from below, but the Miasma from the Sky is getting thicker and thicker. While I am at it, the Villagers evacuated the fields and right now the Crystal ball is going into overdrive by my command to keep the shield strong. The Castle has a few emergency Crystals too, but they do not work good enough and everything hides in different spaces to be not vaporized by the thick miasmic Cloud. Let¡¯s see¡­ The Liquid might be its blood¡­ Liquid crystals? Something like that. It can not only inject Miasma, but can even use it how it likes. I got an Idea! Working right away at the Miasmic Filter I use the Liquid to redraw the Runes and¡­ Success! Effectiveness goes up by an extreme margin. Now I just need to¡­ EEEEEAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGHHHH Silent you Crystaline Urchin, I am working on something. The filtered Miasma is still being taken over by me, but right now I need more of the Vibration Miasma. I bet those are soundwave, shockwave and bardic incantations¡­ Whatever they are, I need them right now. The hole does not spew any more liquid, but that does not mean I can not use it. Squeeeeeeeeeeee How do you like Vibration Miasma right into that pipe into your Crust you oversized bowling ball! ¡­ ¡°Is it over?¡± ¡°As if. That thing just shut itself into its shell and now tries to concentrate all its power. It might even self destruct or something crazy, I am building as many wards as I possibly can right now while it is held in the Miasma containment.¡± This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Seven days¡­ Well it was a real kicker that thing started to go haywire, but I won¡­ somehow. The first three days I needed to find a way to keep it from rampaging. It has more power than me, but is not that good in using the Sledgehammer method like I am. Prototype One is¡­ Well it is still ¡®alive¡¯ but needs maybe a Month or two to regenerate to full usability. When it noticed the full attack did not work on me it was going back to the scalpel and started to take Prototype one apart. I did not even think that was possible, that thing is close to invulnerable, I needed Months to take it over slowly, and that thing just cut right¡­ not that I am envious or something¡­ okay I am. That thing can really dish out the hurt. At the sixth day it encased itself. An impenetrable shell out of whatever that thing is made of. Even the open part just closed up and hid those ugly crystals inside. Well they are not ugly, but I am a bit miffed, so for now they are ugly. Cutting off the last pillars I could stretch my Portal to the limit to get it inside, but right now I have a Guest I really do not like. Oh, and the Bubble is getting unstable! How could I forget that¡­ Dang it! If the Bubble breaks, I will be pushed back inside my own Realm with my Domain. Better working on keeping it stable. The only way I am right now trying to make that is using those Pillars around the Crater like some kind of beacons. I use the Liquid and those spikes to create an amplifying field to keep it running. What is good on this is, I now can control it myself. That black shell was a nice trick I now have seen, somehow I think it is some kind of boost or maybe it has the key to travel the Void without being hurt, as that thing seems to be from another Dimension anyway. So much to do, and the social problems are not even scratched. The Children were scared, Villagers thought about the End of the World and Loopy still does not come out of the Broom Closet. Those are the internal problems, but the external are even worse! Ambassadors of the Root came. That cry of this thing was heard through the whole Forest. Not only that, it spread with it a malice, they never felt before. Queen of the first Child seem to have went on a full panic attack, as she remembered the Starfall, however she is able to do that. Maybe through their kingly Tree that had survived the Meteorite? Right now I am really incensed and do not mess around. Twenty guards and four Elders? Yeah, okay, let them wait, I am right now busy keeping the World from falling apart. Ville was rather rudely treated by the Visitors, so later I give them a piece of my Mind! ¡­ ¡°Finally you deign to show yourself, Null! Do you know how long we had to wait for¡­ Woodwalker!¡± Yes, for dramatic purposes I take Leafy with me. The whole thing is already annoying, as I am right now still busy sealing that thing in a hundred and one Wards and Seals made out of its own Crystals and Blood. The time to explain is annoying and would have been easier to have been done, if they had accepted the explanation Ville gave them, but noooo¡­ ¡°What is it? I am rather busy keeping that thing, what made you fertilize your precious trees accidentally in a sealed environment.¡± ¡°How dare you! Do you know who we are?¡± ¡°You are four of the Elders who got lectured to be more nice to me, after the first official visit I made to your Queen, and also four of the people who not only never helped Leaf here stay in their Family, but hid it from her Lover to be exiled forever, am I right? I am right now not in the mood to talk Politics, so better be courteous to me or be sealed with that sphere that fell from the Sky two thousand years ago.¡± ¡°You! What¡­ She is Leaf? The Calamity of Star¡­ Do not mock us! What did cry out so malicious?!¡± ¡°As I said, the Star Geode!¡± ¡°Star¡­ Geode?¡± ¡°The thing that fell from the Sky, did you not hear? That thing is a crystalline Entity and noticed the invaders of this Crater, so it tried to purge us. Right now I am sealing it before it has the chance to destroy us and force the next Rift to its home Dimension.¡± Now they look dumbfounded. What is with those idiots? ¡°Did your Queen not inform you?¡± ¡°She did, but it was thought to be a bad Nightmare, so we came¡­¡± ¡°...to verify your Queen is still sane? Are you still sane to question your Queen? I have right now way worse problems keeping that thing sealed, and you are disturbing me.¡± ¡°...we can not believe you, if we did not see your work. Let us see proof.¡± I WANNA MAKE THEM INTO A SALAD!!! ¡­ ¡°What?! We shall go into that Dark Sphere? Are you mad!¡± ¡°This is the Portal into my Realm. The Place where I originate and also the place where the second Palace seals the Entity. If you do not want, just go home, I have work to do!¡± ¡°You¡­!¡± ¡°Golden Sap, it is enough! Do you not think it is already a cordial move of them to show us something before our history?¡± ¡°If it were tru¡­.¡± ¡°Sap! Silence!¡± That one has at least a bit of survival instinct, I am really not myself right now. Maybe it is because of the Fight? Maybe because of the extreme Miasma I am right now having in my Realm, but I am not in the mood for their silly little games. ¡­ ¡°By Yggdrasil!¡± Yeah, the Sphere is ominous. In front of us are also some Materials from it like pieces of its pillars and what I could siphon of its Blood. ¡°This thing! That is not something of our World.¡± ¡°No kidding, Salad brai¡­ Elder.¡± ¡°What did you say?!¡± ¡°This thing is still dangerous, and I am right now in the middle of¡­¡± EEEEEEEAAAAAUUGH Bad timing. They bleed all greenish red out of their orifices. I need to take them out as quickly as possible! ¡­ ¡°...Where¡­¡± ¡°You are back in the Crater. Right now we try our best to heal your Wounds. Is your curiosity sated?¡± Misha is tending to their still not fully healed forms. I would love to just bury them, but right now I can not think straight. Something is making me¡­ angry¡­ ¡°That sound¡­ a¡­ a cry? Anger, Desperation, Indignation¡­ I think¡­ No¡­¡± Well they are still dazed, maybe something broke in them, but right now Leafy can take care of those Fools, I have to seal that thing. The Wards are all in place and working fine. The sound it emits is dampened, but not fully mute. Right now I am experimenting with the hardness of its carapace. Somehow there must be a weak point, but it just is a perfect grey sphere all around. I can not even see a scar where the opening was earlier. Maybe I should seal it away? No, it might have the way to get me back to that cursed World, I will not just put it somewhere. Chapter 110 ¡°We were sent earlier than scheduled to ask you about the nightmarish cry we all heard. What was this?¡± ¡°Mordred, Halk has their own problems I believe. It might be something dangerous living in the Steppe or out in the Death Peaks. If they want to find it, they might look there for it.¡± He seems not really convinced, but that is my answer, and I keep it that way. The whole selling of the Produce is still ongoing, even if the City of Halk is right now again quarantined to be searched for possible leads and for the new Caste to settle in. I wonder which Caste this time will mess with me and be killed by... Still working on my mood. At first I thought the Miasma made it, but it was more the Fight. The thing invaded my mind and tried to destroy me internally. Luckily, it did not succeed but shows how vulnerable I still am, if something can travel through my taken over bodies to my¡­ Soul? The reason I believe it tried to attack my Soul is the mood swings and piercing pain in my thoughts. Also I feel where it¡¯s presence were before. Like a tunnel it burrowed through Prototype One into my Consciousness. The positive thing about it is, I now have a further lead to know what I really am. Meditating about this way into my Consciousness gave me some insights of me being more than just that Realm and strewn thoughts. Just what really, I have to find out through the way it showed me accidentally. After Mordred is gone I will try again and see what is on the other side. Dang, that sounds ominous... ¡­ Darkness¡­ I feel like I am falling deeper and deeper. My vision is filled by nothing but darkness. Where am I? Is this where my Soul resides? Deeper and deeper I fall into what I can only suspect is myself and I have no way to perceive anything. I am alone¡­ Suddenly I hear something. It sounds like¡­ an Ocean? Waves but they sound off, like they are not made by Water, but by something more vile¡­ Hovering over it it is a black Ocean out of¡­ What is this? Miasma? Liquid Miasma and whatever the Void was made out of mixed in? The Sky is dark¡­ I perceive silver grey clouds looking like made out of razor sharp blades. Lightning sometimes illuminates the place. I am somewhere¡­ somewhere broken. The lightning brings the rumble of thunder, which sounds like a beast growling through the whole infinite Ocean, but I can see something far far away in the slight shimmers of those multicoloured flashes. What is this? Travelling further I see a dark dome shaped piece on the horizon, but it looks wrong. Closer and closer I can make out the gigantic spherical thing embedded in the only piece of Land there is. This Land¡­ I know that Feeling! It is the Former World, that banished me! What is making a piece of Land here right next to my¡­ Wait¡­ That is my Soul! ¡­ ¡°NULL! WHERE ARE YOU?!¡± ¡°Ahh! Snow? What is wrong?¡± ¡°Everyone heard your Voice in the Crater! You just cried out and shouted about something Broken, over and over!¡± Back in Beta, I remember. Meditating the place where it invaded me brought me to where I was¡­ That Dome¡­ It was¡­ Broken¡­ My Soul is broken! I am not only damaged, I am broken beyond repair! ¡°Null! You look like you have seen a Ghost!¡± ¡°Ah! Damn it! I have seen my own Soul. It is not damaged, it is broken. Some parts of Crystals lay around the Island of the former World, but the Entity was not the reason for the Damage¡­ It was broken by the Void. I am¡­¡± ¡°What are you talking about? Null is Null, and even if there is something broken, you are still here!¡± I am¡­ still here? Yes, I am broken but not fully destroyed. The pieces of crystal were attacks by the thing, but could not get near my Soul¡­ Not only is it broken it is filled with Void. Like an overflowing chalice, I brought with me my own Void, but what does this mean? ¡­ ¡°Ninety seven? ¡°Check! ¡°Ninety eight?¡± ¡°Check!¡± ¡°Ninety nine?¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Ninety nine?¡± ¡°A small derivation, but now it is working right. Check!¡± ¡°One Hundred?¡± ¡°And¡­ Check! All Wards are working. You can work me to the bone you know that?¡± ¡°Elane, you are studying the Runes like a Maniac. In only one Month you had learned not only every Rune, you even found some synergies I did not notice.¡± ¡°Of course I could learn them. The way you could show the flow lines and even how the Mana is reacting to each and every Rune is cheating!¡± ¡°...and just fusing those Runes in new Runes like it is nothing is not cheating?¡± ¡°No, as it is a logical conclusion for the overlaying Runes to be in a dual flow Synergy, by connecting their nodes right where they surge in the same direction. This makes a heteronymic Mana synergy between those two, to enhance and fuse the meanings of the runes into one for a multiplied outcome. It is basic Runic Knowledge!¡± What is basic on what you just said?! ¡°To be honest I did not understand anything after the word ¡®logical¡¯ Elane. Is the Bastard sealed?¡± ¡°By the overeagerness of your hundred seals¡­ Yes, it is sealed. The cries still pass through, but nothing damaging can escape. It even charges the runes, by trying to break the seals.¡± ¡°Do not be so sure. That thing is a professional in exquisite and precise Miasma control. It might break out when we do not monitor it.¡± ¡°...To be honest, this thing scares me thoroughly, but it is still an Outsider. It has no knowledge of our Runic Systems and should not be able to use them or break them.¡± ¡°I am an Outsider too. I could do it.¡± ¡°By using your Mana or Miasma invading it. All main sources of Energy that are manipulating the workings are outside and can only have your own messed up wavelength.¡± ¡°Messed up¡­ Thank you.¡± ¡°Kuhuhu¡­ You are welcome!¡± Since the transformation into a true Witch Elane is like a different Person. Outgoing and carefree. It has to do with the side effect of Miasma, as it normally overwrites the mood into what the Miasma carries. My Miasma carries next to nothing of this and she gets flushed of the guarded Personality of her Mana. Now she is¡­ Flighty. Her compensating her whole life against the guarding feeling now slings her into the other extreme, but she will get the hang of it, hopefully. Also she is now the Teacher of the four Children who have magical aptitude. She creates out of them three Witches and one Warlock. Well it is her talking, but when they have learned all of the Mage knowledge I might infuse them with Miasma too. Only if they want to, though¡­ ¡°Can I now go back to the Pillars in the Filter Room?¡± ¡°...Sure, but remember to take breaks once in a while.¡± ¡°Look who is talking.¡± giggle ¡°I will be careful, but those Runes are so fascinating!¡± Yeah, she tries to decipher the 3D Runes right now. Nothing I can say against it. She has that hobby since she was an apprentice. That is why she learned Shield Magic to begin with. ¡­ ¡°You can go to the Root and tell them the Entity is fully sealed for now. Right now it can not harm anyone, but I will have to find a way to end it somehow. For now we are in a short respite phase.¡± ¡°And why do I have to go? I do not like them that much any more, you know?¡± Well I understand Leafy in a way, but she is the best person to send. ¡°Multiple reasons. First you are now what they call a Woodwalker, and can prance around however you like, while they regret to have you and your loved one exiled.¡± ¡°...true, that might be fun, but I do not understand why it has to be out of vanity.¡± ¡°No, the true reason is, you need seeds to create a Forest inside the Crater, no? We have some on hand, but would need way too much time, if you start with only these. This is the best way to ask the Trees for their Seeds, as you can talk with every single one of them. I know that you will be able to ask them, as I remember them never stopping to talk.¡± ¡°Yes, that would be a great way to get the best seeds for a pristine and healthy Forest. Now I understand, leave it to me.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you mean ¡®le¡­¡± ¡°End that sentence and I wrap you in vines so fast, you might not be able to escape your body in time.¡± ¡°Sure. Well your humour is not being grown that time you were in your little cabbage.¡± And with that the Root should be less stressed. Also maybe Leafy can ask how the Elders are. They have gotten a really hard trauma through the scream. The Guards nearly attacked me after we came back. Sadly they didn¡¯t. It would have been a nice way to have more to experiment on. Well I was incensed that time, so maybe I should see the whole thing out a more passive direction. The next visit I expect might be Ivory Tower again. Angie has called me as she noticed a high influx of Guards with shiny Armour. Christine has more juicy Information, as she found remnants of Tilean in the Abyssal Ruins. The Ruins itself are albeit magical not really dangerous, at least not for her. Going deeper she found some old pens, which lets me suspect that was a Meat production Facility for Monster Meat. As the Meat of the Earthen Ox is rather tasty, it might be true. The place itself shows how Tilean was able to tame Monster. The People right now have not even an inkling about it. They just chain their wild trophies and keep them, even if it is forbidden officially as an outbreak might kill innocent people. Betty is hearing much gossip. Halk is a Footnote to it, but as it is the transportation route for the tasty Vegetables and spicy eggs, the rumour mill is working hard. Most people do not care who owns the Farms as long as they get the good Food, but some think it would be nice if an ambitious Leader would take over. Interestingly nearly no one knows where my Domain is. They just know, the Food goes through Telk and that is it. Ivory Tower seems to have put a gag order on the Information. ...Always me with the rambling. Back to the topic. If Edgar visits again it would be nice to trick him again. But I do not believe they would really just visit again, as last time they just rudely insinuated something about an Army attacking me. Chapter 111 Here we are again. The miasmic Ocean under me, the razor sharp clouds above and lightning in eery rainbow colours snaking through the Darkness. The Island in the distance gets closer with each instant. I am ready to see the damage. Bearing myself my presence looks down on the piece of Land. It is feeling like the World I came from, but why is something like that here? It is not real, as it¡¯s only an echo, that is now a piece of me. Embedded in the muddy dirt is that gigantic bloated Dome. Not only is it broken, it is filled with Void. This Void is also an echo and now mine. Like a drowning man has filled lungs with water, I am drowning in Void. It looks like a broken Egg sitting in its nest oozing black innards right out of the large hole it has on top. Tendrils and other unexplainable things flicker in the light of the Lightning, but are otherwise invisible. What am I? Taking my time to get my bearing I float to the Crystals strewn across. They are broken into tiny pieces. I feel desperation and fear in them. What destroyed them that thoroughly? Touching them turns them into dust. They were already close to vanishing, and the slightest touch just let them turn into sludge being swept away by the foul waves. This is my internal Space. Broken and flooded with all the Malice, but my Soul is still barely intact and working. How is this possible? The Void should have ripped me apart without remorse, but here I am. Exploring the exterior of my Soul shows how smooth and dark it is. Black as Night, having a strange colouration like crude Oil. I am not reflected in this shiny exterior, as I am not even here right now. I just look from the small hole into the World that should not be seen. The cracks look different, like broken glass but still swim around, as if the whole thing is liquid, I can not explain what it means. Is my Soul ever changing, or is every Soul like liquid but still a hard shell? There! That looks not like it should belong to my Soul! What¡­ Is that a Mouse? An image of a Mouse is floating in the reflection of my Soul. That is¡­ Is that the Hero Mouse I took over first? More and more Creatures are seen, but they are neither soul nor spirit. They are¡­ They are imprints of what I killed? Those things are here because I eliminated them? Are Humans here too? ...No Human is visible. Only Monster have some kind of effect. Their end made a small imprint to heal my Soul. Either Humans are the best tonic and evaporate without leaving an imprint or have no effect at all. At least it seems to be healing, but how small those imprints are it would take Millions if not Billions of dead Monsters to make a difference. There must be a better way. ¡­ Opening the Eyes of Beta, Snow looks worried at me. ¡°And? Is everything alright?¡± She worries too much. I now knew what to expect. My Panic and screams were having seen something I should not. Like someone in an accident who thought they were uninjured to see suddenly an arm in the wreckage with horrifying similarity to their own left arm. ¡°I am alright. Well not really, but I am composed about it.¡± ¡°I do not think you should look where I can not go with you. How shall I comfort you, if you are sad?¡± ¡°You already worrying about me comforts me. Thank you Snow.¡± ¡°So, what did the Crystal thing do to you?¡± ¡°Nothing. It was not able to get close enough before the parts it sent were obliterated. But I do not know how. At least it did no damage.¡± ¡°So, why were you so angry?¡± ¡°It must have awoken something in me, that defended its territory. Whatever I am, I can not even say I am something that should exist.¡± ¡°Do not say that! You need to exist or I get sad!¡± ¡°I did not mean it like¡­ No, I understand Snow. For your sake and for the sake of all of our Family I need to exist, and will go forward. Just¡­ realizing how damaged I am is so scary.¡± ¡°I heal you. What do I have to bandage?¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Snow, you are sometimes so adorable, I can only hug you¡­ ¡­ ¡°Edgar, you seem to visit me rather often?¡± ¡°Not that I have a choice. What happened here?¡± ¡°After the shout came from the western area our Livestock was nearly totally hysterical. Every single Villager and even all the workers in the Castle were in a panic. What was that?¡± ¡°That we want to know from you! It came out of this area, did it not?¡± ¡°From the Death peaks or far north of the Steppe. Whatever it was, it made our Ears nearly bleed.¡± ¡°So not from here? Are you sure?¡± ¡°If whatever made that sound were here, do you think we would still be alive?¡± ¡°...You make a point. Maybe we should increase the protection of this place. How about we let some of our roaming Castes guard the place?¡± Yeah, you want to insert men to usurp this place, right? That won¡¯t happen. ¡°We are safe, as only one way exist to get inside.¡± ¡°And what if it comes over the Mountain range?¡± ¡°If that would happen, no one could stop it. The only way in, is the Tunnel, otherwise the whole Crater is sealed by that miasmic Bubble, you know?¡± ¡°...it should still be worthwhile¡­¡± ¡°No, it is not. If you have People to spare, they should be finding out what was making that horrible Sound in Death Peaks. It sounded angry and scared, so maybe it died after entering that place, but still is an unknown.¡± The back and forth still was rather long. Eventually Edgar stopped trying to force people inside, as he has not the endurance of an Elf to negotiate. I remember Leafy close to being squished by me¡­ twice. Damn was that a Discussion. I ramble again¡­ ¡­ Weeks passed and finally I found it. Searching my Domain for something unusual was hard, as everything was under my control and looked totally the same. But this place is different. Laws are slightly different. This must be it! ¡°This must be it. I am sure of it.¡± ¡°And what exactly? There is nothing we are looking at.¡± Right now we are hovering on a huge floor Tile I use as a place to stand on. In front of us is nothing, but empty space. Still it is different and has other Laws than what I am now acclimated to. ¡°Please stay back I will work a bit with Miasma, and that could be dangerous.¡± After stepping back I use my Miasma to seal the space in specific Miasma. As I already have knowledge to break rifts in space, there was not much difference in creating a Rift inside my Realm. The feeling is¡­ weird, as my Realm is different than outside, but especially this place is weird. Creating a rift in space I see not a way into the Void but another pocket space. ¡°This must be it. That is why I was not destroyed by the Void!¡± ¡°Null, what is it?¡± ¡°This is a piece of the other World I was banished from. It was hidden inside of me, when I was thrown away. Afterwards it encased what was left of me and protected me for the instant I had to come here.¡± ¡°So it saved you? Thank you space!¡± Snow¡­ No, she is right. I should thank it too, otherwise I would have never been able to get back. It was like driftwood on the Ocean for me to hold on to. I never had thought something like that was hidden here. ¡°Null, while I really am thankful for it, you should close it. It is rather gloomy, don¡¯t you think?¡± She is right. That small space alone has enough Miasma to manifest into something sinister. I know that with pressure most gasses can become Liquid, but for etherial Materials to become the same¡­ ...Wait, should that not mean it would explode outside? Why is it still inside and not rushing into my Realm? Using my will I invade and take a small portion like half a drop and try to pull it out. It resists with heavy might and looks like it does not want to move into my Realm until a few seconds in. And then it exploded. Miasma filled the whole realm in a cacophony of strange events until it finally spreads out into every corner, before filtered by the now overheating Crystals. ¡°Do not do that again!¡± ¡°Sorry, Snow¡­ I did not know that would happen.¡± ¡­ For now I know where the whole mass of Miasma is stored. They have really sent all of it with me, but somehow only a bit of excess was infused into my own Realm. Crunching Numbers and hypothesis I found the reasoning for all of this. Inside is a piece of the former World. The Laws hold it inside, as it does not follow the now acclimated Rules of the new World. Forcing it out forces the new Rules on them albeit still retaining most of the Laws that can work parallel. What that means is I have a miasmic Bomb inside a hidden part, that can explode if forced too much. Great! Exactly what I wanted, thank you former World! I will bring a bigger present for you back. It comes even wrapped in a grey sphere, maybe I crack it right after visiting you? ...Nah, I need that for transport. And I want to take the World over, not destroy it. It would be too simple for them to just¡­ perish. While I have now a way to find the Coordinates, as I have a small piece of the World somewhere in that tar Dimension, I still need to get there and might need more Mana, than I realized¡­ If the Tileans used that much Mana for one Summoning, what about making a Bridge to another World? So much to work on¡­ knock knock Something knocks on my Study. I already knew they would come, I heard the Children scream as they walked through the Halls. It was too late for me to stop them anyway, I have to explain Sister Annette who this is¡­ I so do not want to, but can do nothing against her accusing tone, when something strange happens... Chapter 112 ¡°Come in¡­¡± The door opens and through the door frame squeezes an obscure creature. At first it needs to bend down to get its head through. The four Horns do not help in any way. Next the two pair of arms squeeze themselves in the room. The body muscular and strangely sensual came afterwards and with heavy fur covered Legs ending in two enormous Hooves finishing the grotesque show. Sadly the Room itself is not large enough to have them stand. They are more than three Meters tall and then there are still the Horns. The Face looks like a Goat¡­ Or Ram? Well they have a beard like a Goat so Goat head. Three Eyes one in the Middle of the Forehead shows how the Fusion was not fully perfect, but it looks more like they themselves wanted to lead their Body to become what they are now. Strange guys, like their cultist Parents¡­ ¡°We greet you, Lord. We have a Message that should be told to you after we were born anew.¡± The Voice is a duet out of a male and a female voice. Baa and Pho fused into their new body but still¡­ are they fused or are they just having one body while sharing it? ¡°What is it Baphomet?¡± ¡°Is this our new Name? We like it. The Message is about the way back to your place. You need to create a way with a child born out of tar, a shot into the dark while harmonizing the speck of dust and casting the hidden incantation in reverse.¡± ¡°...Anything else useless?¡± ¡°We understand your plight. Let me elaborate more. The Child might be a Minion created by you in something that does not belong to this world but the other. So are our deductions of the words of our rather cryptic brethren. The speck of dust¡­¡± ¡°¡­Is the piece of the World that those Idiots forgot inside my soul, but the Incantation I do not know.¡± ¡°You are smart. We know about where one part of Incantation may lie.¡± ¡°And you know that, because¡­¡± ¡°Never did Fate show us any favour into making us Slaves. Now we can see beyond Dimensions. We can see where the World twists. We might help you forming Worlds.¡± ¡°And how?¡± ¡°Your twisting of Dimensions to put Pieces in stasis. We can do that too. Also we can help you find the reason why your Rails of Teleporters do not enter your own World while helping you with a better Ring into your own Realm.¡± ¡°Sounds good! You are hired!¡± ¡°We would have never leaved anyway.¡± ¡°Okay, ominous but helpful. You should maybe wear something you are¡­¡± They have rather voluptuous Breasts and have a rather heavy tackle down there. Both genders are in their new body. I still do not understand why they wanted to get fused like that, but helps me understanding the anatomical challenges of fusing different sexes. ¡°We would rather not hide our perfect Body. Just give us a place where we can be ourselves.¡± That would be deep under the Castle. Now I can build deep down without problems. That Geode of doom is not messing any more with my Presence there. By the way that was also the reason I forgot about those two. Focusing on beating something into submission while finding my own soul in total disrepair makes one forgetful, might I add. ¡­ ¡°This¡­ THING was¡­¡± ¡°Just a special kind of Beast person.¡± ¡°And you think I would believe you?!¡± ¡°Sister Annette, it is the truth, so I can not make it any more obvious. Baphomet is a special case of a sad birth. You can see how they would be ostracised, anywhere else, do you not?¡± ¡°¡­ And you just took that in? How can you be so brazen!¡± ¡°I took all the Orphans in too. I do what I can to help the less fortunate. Without my large heart, you all would not be here.¡± ¡°...Can you at least warn us before the children might see something, that will haunt their nightmares?¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Does it even? They were scared by seeing Baphomet, but afterwards they were more curious and nothing seems to have made them have nightmares.¡± ¡°I have¡­ never mind¡­¡± So all of this tantrum is, because you nearly lost consciousness by seeing Baphomet¡­ Do not roll your disdain onto the children, that shows you in a rather bad light Sister Annette. ¡­ Baphomet really made themselves a place under the Castle¡­ I was kidding at first, as this place would be filled with ground water, but they just bend space in a way that makes water move in the other direction. I am learning so much! The way to create a reverse Waterfall is interesting. Water flows upwards but only on the place where the space was bent. It flows now right into the channels for the Fish men to traverse. Also the excess flows up in a new built Fountain right in the middle of the Entrances to the Greenhouse, Hedge Maze and Foyer. Looks great and the Children sometimes come and play in the water or relax after their work. You guys have a whole pool but¡­ Well I understand the fun of going through the curtain of water, so have fun you rascals. Also the waterways were redrawn to give the Maze and Greenhouse a bit more Water. While playing and working on the whole renovation I also came closer to a new breakthrough. I got a piece of shell from our Entity! The process was extremely laborious and only got me a small piece but it is enough. The more I test on it the more I am sure the Shell was especially made to resist Void. If I make a cocoon, the test subject I send in a few years might even survive the travel. That would be nice, as I do not know, how many I can send before this World is only a miasmic dump. On the thought of miasmic dump, I finally have improved Tinhead. With his now stable Body I should be able to look what is below Death Peak. For this I start digging a new Entrance to the western Mountain range. I am not that stupid and throw my new robot body into that grinder they have in Trashtown. Better make my own way. The Polymer holding the Mana and Miasma will be valuable for me, and the Miasma can be transformed by me into new Mana. I need enough Mana for the Teleport, so better be safe than sorry. ¡­ ¡°KEEP THE DOOR CLOSED, AFTER I ENTERED. THIS PLACE IS TOO DANGEROUS FOR ORGANIC ENTITIES.¡± ¡°Sure Null. But I am still miffed, that I can not go with you.¡± ¡°I CAN NOT ASSURE YOUR SAFETY AND FOR THIS I NEED TO GO ALONE.¡± ¡°...Okay, but be safe.¡± ¡°TINHEAD IS EXPENDABLE. YOU ARE NOT.¡± ¡°Aw¡­ Okay I understand your feelings. Still strange how you can make me blush while in a metallic being.¡± ¡°I AM ON MY WAY. IF SOMETHING IS PROBLEMATIC MESSAGE ME.¡± And I am off. The Voice synthesiser has no Volume control, but otherwise I am fine. Fine as in I can not regulate my strength and have still problems with the conservation of Energy, but as I use a tethered Core, I do not need some kind of Fuel Cell, luckily. Now what is hiding below this ominous Mountain. ¡­ Disappointment. That is hiding here. This place is boring as watching paint dry. The sensors I created for Tinhead are wrecking havoc but that is it. Miasma is normally rather easy to find, but this kind of Miasma everywhere is subtle. No wonder, the liquid Polymer is holding the Miasma and Mana bound. Only the finest specks can escape that net. And that seems to be the reason for the heavy problems for organic creatures. If you get damaged by the Miasma you will not even notice it but the Body needs to repair. So fever and rapid ageing is the outcome. Parts that can not repaired get black and rot away. We had something similar in our World, called radioactivity. It rips away at the seams of cells. This makes it similar but on the spirit level. If the Spirit is damaged, the Body tries to repair it and we have similar results. Death Mountain is a death sentence for nearly every Creature. Now I have to find the pumps and storage places. Maybe I can get samples to find a way to recycle the stuff. I have some nice effects with Void Oil. Maybe I can create a reaction to unleash the Miasma from the Fuel into a Grinder. Searching for a while I know now how hollow this Mountain is. This must have been a Quarry or mine before they started to use it as a dump. Looks like they dug too deep, when the Fungi started to appear. Searching the areas I try to find the way to the source of the heavy miasmic radiation, but I have a hard time, as my miasmic sensors are MAXED OUT! How the hell is this even possible? The whole place is filled with so much Miasma only my hidden pocket Dimension could compete with it, and it is still not forming into matter. Tinhead is now fully radioactive and can only be described as a glow stick. Literally, as the Body started to shine bluish purple. He might be a lost cause. After searching for about three Days I finally found something I did not expect here. A Facility right before a gigantic hole down below. Maybe I can find answers here. ¡­ Entering the Facility was rather easy. The whole thing works! It might only be a tiny Facility but it seems to be the control room of the pump system. Pipes run directly into the depths and while many of the needles are way to far into the red and warning lights are blinking, the Facility works perfectly. The only question I have is HOW?! We are next to the impact zone, how can this thing even¡­ It is the Miasma, isn¡¯t it? Miasma has strange properties. Some of them bend Space, some bend time and some Reality. That place here is filled with it. I could imagine the cataclysmic Shockwave just going through a different fold of reality or being absorbed by the dense Miasma. I give up, I have no Idea how Miasma really works. I fumble around and still wonder how something so destructive can be so weird¡­ Still I need to find better ways to filter Miasma and right now I am growing hopefully the best ways in vats. Those guys will never be able to leave my Realm, at least in this World, but might help me finally to limitless Mana! Explanations, after they are born and working like they meant to be working¡­ Now back to what I am doing here. Tinhead starts to not be so glowing any more. The Runes filter the Miasma right out of my body and even nag on my core a bit. Great thing! I just need to find out how that works. Later, now exploring the place. Magic Orbs working like monitors are showing the depth of this hole and most of them are broken. One is still barely working and shows how overflowed the bottom is. There were tanks down there. Not any more, they broke open and flooded the deepest parts fully. Holes go even deeper and those are filled to the brim. I can not say how deep down those holes go, but I bet they are not shallow. That is an enormous amount of Miasma¡­ The next rooms are strange. One is a room, that resembles outside. While the walls are painted blue, the Light has enough UV for plants to grow, and someone or something made it completely into a¡­ Garden. There is even a chicken coop with live chickens! I did not think there would be people living here. This might be more dangerous than I thought¡­ In the next room were containers and many spare parts for¡­ Robots. Those Robot parts look exquisite and only below the quality of that damnable Toaster I still do not understand. While looking at the parts I was a fraction too late to notice the Guards coming in and aiming their weapons at me. Chapter 113 ___Chapter 113 Hands held up I stare at the Guards. Robots and one¡­ Knight? Well he looks like a knight in a rather reworked armour, but I can not really tell. ¡°Follow¡­ Us¡­ Or¡­ Be¡­ Dis¡­ assembled¡­¡± The knight talked, but was that really a human talking? It sounded hoarse and metallic. The Language is Empire Speak, but as I had taken over the Thief in Trashtown, I can now not only understand but also speak that language fluently. I have no choice but to obey¡­ well I have, but I am rather intrigued. As long as Tinhead is working, I can still find out more. Following them deeper into the Facility in the lowest part I hear drilling and hammering. After a while I am in a workshop of some kind. In front of me is a dirty, haggard black haired mess of a man just working on making more and more Parts of those Robots. ¡°Intruder¡­ Captured¡­¡± ¡°Good work. A Minute. I need time.¡± With a Nod of the Knight we wait. And wait¡­ After half an Hour he finally finishes what he is doing and looks up. His eyes are hollow and his look shows more interest in my design. ¡°Name. And Serial.¡± ¡°NAME IS TINHEAD. I AM THE FIRST PROTOTYPE MADE TO EXPLORE THE TUNNELS ON MY MASTERS BEHALF.¡± ¡°Loud. No Serial? Not Empire Design.¡± Looking me over he comes near and shows interest on my parts. ¡°WITH WHOM DO I HAVE¡­¡± ¡°Silence. Too loud. Will change that. Lay down there.¡± Well Nothing I can do but obey. I lay down Tinhead and after a small look he disassembles the front plate of my neck and rewires my Voice box. ¡°Try again.¡± ¡°Test one two. It works. Thank you, may I know your name?¡± ¡°Dr. Simov. Doctor is nickname. Not really Doctor.¡± ¡°Thank you Doctor Simov. Why are you here?¡± ¡°Empire. Searching for me. Wanting me back.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Repaired Hermann. Not wanted. Hermann is Friend. Now new Name. Leader now.¡± With a Clank the Knight salutes. I do not understand anything. He speaks so bad I have trouble understanding him. This will be a long talk¡­ ¡­ The History of Dr. Simov is the best Prosthesis maker of the whole Empire. Not long ago Simov was hired for creating those for the Army, as only recently they started using their new Weapons and were only using Humans on the frontline. Hermann was his best friend. He was the Leader of the reserve Brigade. Mostly he was around the Castle where Simov was working on his Prosthetic limbs. The Reserve was mostly filled with People who lost Body parts but Hermann was not one of them and had all his limbs intact. To work on fine tuning every single Prosthesis Simov created ingenious Golem cores. Those Cores were not only able to work without high Fuel need but could attach all new parts, when they were needed. With those dummies the creation of Limbs was such an easy concept, but the Empire wanted the Cores even more. If they had an army of Golems, they could rule the World, but Hermann was the one, who protected him from any direct and indirect try to reassign him into making War machines. The most help he got is from the Veterans, as many of them had Prosthetics from him and many of them had influence in the Military. With this protection Dr. Simov made himself one of the most liked people in his area, but was still an extreme recluse. An order came in for Hermann and the Reserve to go to a crucial point as it was attacked by former inhabitants. Not able to decline he was going, but said to Simov, it seems to be time for him to get his own Prosthesis, as it sounded dangerous. While Simov was worried, he was assured by Hermann to be at ease. If he came back with something wrong, Simov would just fix him back up, as they are best Friends. The time was not long for the Reserve to get back. It was a complete trap and maybe the higher ups already knew it. The inhabitants of the dangerous area were waiting in an ambush to show their determination. Hermann came back in a coffin. As his best Friend Simov was there, when the Coffin was temporary stored in the morgue to wait for the military Funeral, and not even a day later came an order for Simov to be reassigned to the Mechanical Experimentation Corporation. The MEC were already working on the Cores they could snag, but now they would squeeze him out for every single Knowledge he has over Golem Design. Three days Simov was not seen but working in his Laboratory. No one noticed the missing Coffin in the Morgue until Simov came out with Hermann from his Place. Immediately Simov was incarcerated. Hermann wanted to stop them but was rather stiff and got overwhelmed before they took the heart replacement out of his body. The higher ups had now a dilemma. For desecrating a corps of an Army General only the death sentence could be given. But his work needs to be first copied so others could recreate his genius inventions. Meanwhile something happened in the Morgue again. Even without his energy source Hermann extremely slowly stood up. After an hour of slow movement he could insert his new heart that was still on the table for further study of function. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. With his Heart back the body worked again in normal speed and started to arm himself. Slowly entering the sealed off Workshop of the newly dishonoured Dr. Simov he started up every single Golem. As they already knew what was happening they removed their stick arms and legs and put the Prototypes on. The Night was quickly turning into a battlefield as the Dummies broke out their creator lead by Hermann, who was now calling himself Leader to the Golems. Out of the Castle only five ¡®people¡¯ escaped. Dr. Simov, Leader and three Dummies. The others were either destroyed, disassembled or self destruct. Finding the War Criminal Dr. Simov would net the Person who brought him in alive two Million creds, but no one could find him. While some people swear to have seen him in Trashtown there was no lead any more, just some empty place where someone created something before vanishing again. ¡­ ¡°And now you are here, hiding in the most dangerous place of them all?¡± ¡°Best Hideout. Wanted to purify. Was my Dream. So much Waste.¡± So he normally was working on something for the betterment of Humanity, but they wanted to create Weapons out of it. Where did I hear this story before¡­ Oh, I know! Every single greedy bastard who thought about how to make a weapon out of a great invention. The Empire is high on War. If they can not fight, they search somewhere they might break a Struggle out. With that their Military expenses are over the top and their technology further out than other Continents. There are only two kinds of People who over inflate their Military budget. War hungry People who want to rule the world and paranoid People who want to bend the World to their will. ¡°If that is so, I would like to ask you to come with me to my Domain.¡± ¡°No! Never again! No War. I want peace.¡± The Guards and Leader have readied their weapons on me again. ¡°Easy, I did not want you to go to war. That kind of thing is the least of my Problems. I want you to help me build helpers to mine and create pumps to pump that dangerous stuff into a filtering plant, so it can go back to Mana.¡± ¡°You Lie. Everyone wants War. No one cares.¡± ¡°I do not lie. If you do not trust me, I can do it myself with you here. I just need your help to get the stuff out from below to make it to my experimental System.¡± ¡°You not lying? Can I help? Help the World?¡± ¡°Of course. But I live in a place where People Speak a different Language. We are on the Continent where the Common is different. Can you adapt?¡± Within a few breaths he starts talking in Common. ¡°Learned a bit. Still working. Where to help?¡± ¡°You mean where I live? I live in the Starfall Crater. I am of no affiliation of any Country on this Continent. What my true purpose is, is going back.¡± ¡°Home? Where to?¡± ¡°Not home. I lost my home long ago. I was summoned into another world, and now I am here.¡± ¡°A Robot? Summoned? Why though?¡± Argh, I forgot I am in a freaking Tin Can! ¡°This Body is only temporary. I have different ones, and needed this one to go deep into this place.¡± ¡°¡­ Leader? What you think?¡± Hermann or better Leader looks at me. Long¡­ Very very long and does not say anything for a long long while. ¡°Trustworthy¡­ but¡­ be¡­ careful¡­¡± ¡°Always. Thank you Friend.¡± ¡­ Dr. Simov might not be a Doctor in the true sense, but he is a genius. The reason the Facility is free of miasmic radiation? His invention! A frequency of special runic waves make the radiation collide with each other and while most of it gets ejected back where it came from some stays as either harmless Miasmic energy that gets harvested by his Dummies and Leader or changes right into Mana itself. Outside of the Bubble the Mana gets again irradiated and becomes Miasma, so it is not that cleansing, but as long as you are inside this place? Easy living. To be honest I have no clue how it works, but it has to do with always changing runic circles. He can create GEARS WITH RUNES! That is what I need, Maybe he can decipher that piece of Junk I have laying around. The way back was easier, as I can just follow my sense of direction to where my true being is. Entering my place I ask Dr. Simov what he needs but only the word Workshop, nothing else came out. He can go where I built Tincan and ask him to refine him for me, so I can use him better. ¡°No Fighting. Not War Machine.¡± ¡°I would lie if I say I would never be in any battle with him, as I was close to battle when we met. Remember how I was captured?¡± ¡°...No intentional Fighting. I hate Battles.¡± ¡°This I can approve of. I do not want to use Robots to fight anyway. The only thing is protecting my Friends and Family, and otherwise I do not care about any kind of War.¡± ¡°Protection Okay. First Strike not.¡± ¡°I understand your sentiments. Maybe there will be Fights in the future, but I will never ask your Robots to be in any of them. You shall help me clean that mess up down below.¡± ¡°That is okay. I will help.¡± His short sentences are annoying but still, it seems to be his quirk. Maybe some kind of Spectrum, as he seems to think differently than many other. Not a disability, but a way to perceive things different and see solutions in his own way. Well he just fixed Tincan¡¯s Voice box with a simple Spring. One simple difference and I can now use it with volume control. How he explained it, he just looked at it to understand how I created the box and made the change on the fly. So he not only never saw a similar design, he just remodelled it in his head and with the fewest new parts. If that is not a genius, what is? ¡°Dr. Simov, This is Maiden. I need to change into another Body, this one is not really comfortable.¡± ¡°Rat Girl. Not Beast Person. A Monster?¡± He can deduct that? ¡°How do you know that?¡± ¡°Breath different. Miasma gets expelled. Like you. But different.¡± Different Breath? I do not understand¡­ ¡°In this Castle, everyone is welcome who wants to live in Peace. Monsters, People, Robots, Villagers. As long as you are peaceful and want to live in harmony, you are accepted.¡± ¡°Understood. Name Dr. Simov. Simov is Okay.¡± ¡°Welcome to the Castle. I was already messaged for your arrival. The children did their best to make something delicious.¡± ¡°Children? Your Workers?¡± ¡°Orphans I took in. Some of them have a passion for cooking. They work to make everyone smile with their meals.¡± ¡°Helping Children. Good Person. Nice Monster.¡± ¡­ After the food I asked him if he wanted a bath, but just said he wants to see the working area. While saying nothing he readily started to create¡­ new tools. Well most tools seem crude to him I bet, so just create what you want. The place is filled with Materials and other things. His Followers guard him, so nothing should happen. Simov reacted positive to seeing the smiling Children. Out of this fact I will see to send the meal by a human servant more often, so he really remembers to eat. He is rather haggard, maybe he just takes in sustenance but nothing more? How is he still alive? While he is working I can survey his techniques to make my own knowledge about those things better. To have such an Artisan in my Domain makes it much easier for me. Chapter 114 To look at his work makes me more confused than giving me insight. He just creates everything without writing anything down and puts it where it should go before even making a frame! Is it not normal to work on one place and let it extend into all the other parts? He just starts at dozens of places at once and just clicks them together, when they are close to completion to make them one part. The parts themselves are more strange, as they are non conform. Triangular Gears? Spiral Piston? That is definitely organic muscle, how did he hammer that out of Mithril and Silver?! I¡­ No, it is better not to look any more, as I have no Idea how or what he makes. The more I try to understand the more psychic damage I get. No wonder the Empire wanted to take all his ideas before executing him. He is definitely not a normal Human to work like that. ¡­ In front of me are metallic Trilobite looking digging robots. These things are rather huge and have different appendages with different drills picks and shovels. He just made them in less than a week? Are you serious? ¡°Can dig well. Just tell where. Cleaning up commences.¡± ¡°Yeah, the tunnel needs to be reinforced and be water and air proof, as the Fuel would otherwise pollute the ground water. To make them more stable we need some runic rings. Are your Trilobites able to do that?¡± ¡°Trilo? Ground diggers. They not bite.¡± ¡°Ah, sorry. A word from my former place. Are they able to insulate and graft runes?¡± ¡°Yes. They are smart.¡± Waving their smallest picks as if showing their best tool for the work the Tri¡­ Ground Diggers show their support to their creator. I did not even notice they are already running. Of course the Mana flow was easy to see, but I thought they just charge or something. ¡°Then that is good. Elane our local Witch has made simple runic bands to mostly reduce the pollution to a minimum.¡± Looking over the plans and where we would like the tunnel directly to the Castle, Simov shows a really scrunched thinking phase. ¡°...Not enough. Miasma will kill. Better increase density.¡± And that is where I had to show him to Elane. With him they work slowly on creating better warding for higher reduction of miasmic escape. They did not like each other. Simov has his speech impediment and is rather quirky while Elane mostly tries to make him explain more for every single change. At best they are two worlds colliding. Magitech and classical runes are somehow not fully compatible and show heavy discrepancies. The first time I understood the differences between the two and three dimensional Runes fully. Two dimensional ones are for humans to work with. Three dimensional are made for machines like a magic code. So that is why they are also a circle in themselves. They are Modules like some kind of programming language! ¡­ While they discuss, or rather fight over the best combination of Runes the Ground Diggers are right now working hard at the perimeters of the Tunnel. Before breach they are working hard to not only make the path but isolate and insulate the tunnel over and over. The Walls are already shiny and near indestructible in themselves, as the repeated coating and reforging of the walls made them scarily dense. They are just robots, but why do I feel pride emanating from them? I think Simov has found a way to synthesise Souls with his cores. How interesting! The rest of the week is so peaceful, I suspect something is brewing in the shadows. The Magistrate makes strange moves and show hostility in their passiveness. Maybe I am just paranoid, but having Time for myself¡­ ¡°Null! Emergency!¡± There it is. ¡°What is it Snow? Do we get attacked?¡± ¡°No, Ville messaged a Villager mangled his arm! It is Belk¡¯s oldest Son!¡± That is something I did not expect, but luckily already anticipated. ¡°Tell them to stop the bleeding. I am right there.¡± And with this we exit the castle post haste. ¡­ ¡°How is my son?!¡± If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. It has been three days and Belk is already heavily malnourished. He really loves his Children, especially after losing his daughter to¡­ Let¡¯s not reminiscence about that¡­ ¡°He is all right. His arm needed to be removed, but I am right now growing him another.¡± ¡°Another?!¡± ¡°Yeah, luckily I have some experience with creating body parts. He needs to learn again how to use it, but will be fine otherwise.¡± ¡°Can I see him?¡± ¡°Of course. Let us go.¡± Bringing Belk to the third Floor I open the Laboratory. I totally forgot about how the Jars might frighten him, but after a while Belk composed himself and followed me. ¡°Jarden! Thank goodness you are alive!¡± ¡°I am, Father. Can I go home already? I am a bit scared about¡­ all this.¡± Waving his left arm around the room I can understand him somehow. Body parts are in many glass jars and some of them are twitching. Well It is just muscle reaction on the salt inside the nourishment solution, but still¡­ ¡°I think nothing is in danger any more of rejection. Lets open the cast.¡± Opening the metallic device on the part of his remaining arm I slowly pull out the arm out of the now a bit jelly like nourishment goo. The place where the old arm and the new one intersect make a rather obvious line on his biceps. The skin is still snow white, as it was never touched by the sun. Curiously the Arm has no problem with Mana burn. Rather it shows so much potential, if the whole body would be changed he could¡­ Nah, Belk would protest on this experiment. Maybe somebody else? The Caretakers of the children seem to be rather sad about the scars unlike the Villagers. ¡°Is this my arm?¡± ¡°Yes, it is completely made to be exactly like your former Arm. I could not create parts directly as this would have been more invasive, so I needed to make it slowly with the help of what your spirit remembered. The colour will be back to normal in a while, like your strength in this arm.¡± Jarden looks at me in awe and back to his arm. He thought it gone, as heavy damage would either mean amputation or the need of a very high magic potion. I could have used like that on him, but growing an arm was a great experiment to see how a not taken over Spirit would grow flesh naturally. ¡°As it looks, the Arm needs rest, but you can for the next few days work on moving the fingers and elbow to get the feeling back. Afterwards you should be back to normal. And one other thing.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°If there is something in the shed you need, take the things on top of them off first and not just yank it out. Next time you could even lose your life!¡± ¡°Understood!¡± Yeah, Jarden was so clumsy in that way. To not waste time just pull the box out under the one filled with the sickles. If the Box had fallen any other way he would have one of them in his eye! ¡­ Back to what I was really concerned. No mention of any problems in Telk or anywhere around makes me worried. It feels like they work different ways right now to find the best place to attack. No direct spies, only indirect ones asking about simple matters when the Caravans come. Halk is now under Ember Woods Umbrella and from the Information I got, they are rather famous in passivity and negotiation while having strangely been in places, where quick and decisive takeovers were made by Telk. Kilt was with the next placed Towns under their cover, while Malek was invaded by the Kingdom and after only a few Years Malek was suddenly theirs¡­ Sounds like deep cover Spies to lever the Gates open before the strike team gets their poisoned knives in the back, but right now everything is more than silent. Not a single thing out of the order, if Betty did not have found some rumours I would have thought about them as the most innocent and forthcoming diplomats they could muster. The highest pacifiers with a great reputation. They have a rather soothing power on the populace and many people get in line and even work harder under them. Why? They are strangely invested in making sure everyone under them is content and often send apprentices to many places and ask about their feeling about how the City would benefit in one way or another. Being asked by the People in charge and even supported in their endeavours to rise to new heights makes many work harder and even more enthusiastic, but that is only one part. Angie mentioned how every one of the apprentices smelled the same and nearly overlooked how the subtle smell suddenly makes its way through the streets. Either it is more subconscious training or they use a more drug-like incense to bring the populace under their Banner. As corruption and other things still are running under the cover of the darkness, it is not a full on mind control or something, that is directly noticeable. Subconscious leading of the thinking and emotions, those are mostly the tricks of either Charlatans or Politicians. As Magic is able to lead the mind in more obvious ways, such tricks are totally invisible under the guise of interpersonal care. Luckily, those special methods need time and I am able to go to more Ruins inside the Steppe. Stomping Hoof told me about two deer People asking for special products in exchange for a place with high probability to be the summoning place of the Hero. What a great exchange for me! Dew, Vegetables and Metal are no problem, where Metal is imported by Telk for now, but Dr. Simov starts to build an own furnace for the magical ores his little buggers start to unearth in the tunnels they dig. ¡­ ¡°Thank you for the generous exchange. I am ¡®Antlers like twigs of a tree¡¯ but you can call me just Twig for short. My friend is ¡®Silent buck through every season¡¯, just call him Buck, he rarely speaks.¡± The other one nods. Behind them are a few deer people, but they keep distance for some reason. They are the same Clan, right? ¡°The place we need to go is rather far and partially inside the Kingdom, so we need to be careful.¡± ¡°I understand. Anything else I should know? Your brethren are rather timid and not only to Snow and me.¡± ¡°To be honest we are rather distant to our brethren and chose ourselves the challenge to bring you there.¡± Ah¡­ I do not understand at all, but whatever. If they are distant, then something seems to be at odds inside their own clan and is not my problem. The travel was rather long and after we were at the area of their place the delegation just split without many words and just vanished into their home. Twig and Buck are still with us, but the others ran like hell. What is going on? ¡­ ¡°What are two humans do with that Ferral scum around here?!¡± Great, another expedition into the ruins. Those are knights of the Kingdom of Ulk apparently. With them are a few people looking like some kind of Archaeologists? Maybe Scholars looking for old history and knowledge. This might get ugly¡­ Chapter 115 While the Knights of Ulk seem to be rather rude, one of the Scholar type people seems to be trying to pacify the Knights. Those ¡®Knights¡¯ are nothing like the Telk Knights. Their powers are more in reinforcement as I can feel. Heavy Infantry brimming with inhuman powers but not enough for¡­ I ramble again. ¡°We are scouting the Ruins further south west from here, what about it?¡± ¡°Commoners do not have the authority to go there!¡± ¡°That would be true if they were on Ulks land, but most of it are in the Grassy plains of the People showing us the way, are they not?¡± ¡°You! Those Ferrals do not have¡­¡± ¡°Now, now. Please abate your anger Gilbert. If they want to go there, just let them. That place is dangerous and a few people more would help out, don¡¯t you think?¡± Somehow those nice words seem to have a kind of undertone I can¡¯t put my finger on it, but he is right. If others are there too, we could help each other in need, right? ¡°Since when are you so¡­ Wait, I understand. You! We enlist you for the scouting of the place with us. Afterwards you get the reward you deserve.¡± My alarm bells are ringing, but why? Whatever, no matter what I have somehow more the creeps of the two deer people for some odd reasoning too, so maybe I got over the time a bit oversensitive? ¡­ A true ¡®Party¡¯ we are not. Snow is in her human form as we noticed them way earlier and she just adjusted her look to be more like that. She hates it, as no tail makes her complain about the balancing being off, but she is still as athletic as with it, so maybe only feeling like that? Back to the Party problem. The Knights with the Archaeologists stay with themselves, the deer guys are with us but we keep them also a bit distant. Like this we look more like three groups working only reluctant together. Seeing the place I understand why only now they seem to want to look into the Ruins. A landslide made the place visible and is only now known to exist. So that place is never been searched for? Curious¡­ Wait! How do the deer people know what I am searching is in here if they never¡­ Ah, I was tricked, wasn¡¯t I? They just wanted a better remuneration. I will make their lives hell, if I do not get out anything valuable afterwards though! ¡­ The work is rather obviously us being bait! The first who have to go in were we, and every Room is our team of four to be the first to go in. Complaining would be an easy fix, but to look as some kind of Adventurers, who have paid some pacified Beast men, we can not go too overboard with our backtalk. Why not taking them out right away? I am no murderer who kills senselessly. Intriguingly the whole place seems to be powered off. No Mana and all the security systems are more or less deactivated. Gates were still an issue and the breaking open needs hours per door. Sometimes we were in luck and the bolts were not in place, but not often. That place goes deep and no Miasma or anything other. What is this place? When we were further down finally we notice magical circuitry slightly working. Maybe residue or a emergency power? What it means would be at the same time easier passage and also more problems. While some defences are not powered, not all of them are offline and those are mean! We talk about Lasers, disintegration fields and even turrets! ¡°So, you are from the City near this place, knew those Fe¡­ People from a while before and they gave you this Information for a fee? Interesting, but I can not understand why you would work with them to begin with.¡± The Archaeologist who were pacifying that Gilbert person talks to us while we have our rest. It is nice to see some interpersonal relationships growing. It is more tedious, if we can not even talk with each other. ¡°Well, they are different, but as we live as Neighbours I just have a better hang to them, even if it is not that good and more of the kind of not killing each other, if we see us hunting in the same place for prey.¡± ¡°Yes, I also notice many slavers not visiting this area any more. The F¡­ Beast People further south are easier to handle than those in the North. I wonder why that is¡­¡± ¡°Nothing to do with us, I assure you. Those guys seem to work on their abilities to fight more and more. That is the reason I even thought of trying a distant truce. Too many injured and dead in the northern towns and that after the Stampede is not really productive.¡± ¡°You have a sharp mind. So sad you were not born a Scholar, oh well. After you help us with this place you will have our thanks and your rewards. Be assured of it.¡± ¡­ The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Nine days are we now down here. It is more than only a scouting job for now and while I anticipated the long time the Knights were wondering why we are still here, as normally the first few chambers were already enough. Especially as we did not even show much interest in the findings. What is there to be happy about? Just rotten reagents and while the Books might be worth Mithril in price, those show less information than I really need. Yes, I have partially encoded the old scripture, and can on the faded title see how worthless those things are. ¡®Inventory Stock List¡¯, ¡®Shift lists¡¯, ¡®The adventures of the flying Bard¡¯, ¡®Weather protocol¡¯¡­ That place is only a written database for useless crap! The one book out of order was obviously a forgotten Novel someone read while supposedly working and was the most damaged one, as it was not made out of super resilient materials like those scrolls and books. For being just a Document storage facility this place is way too secure, so something is off! ¡­ ¡°Yes! This might be the right place! Finally, we are close.¡± The Leader Erdigal, the only Archaeologist who talks to us is suddenly very exited. I wonder why¡­ ¡°What are you referring to?¡± ¡°Oh, we have Information about this place, but is a high secret, so do not worry about it too much. Can you maybe scout the hallway to the right, while we organize the Informations we have?¡± I can read the signs on the walls and we are going to the¡­ Meeting Room? Visitor Room? Still not truly connecting all those glyphs with their Words, but it sounds more like a place to welcome guests, but the high security shows more how that place is a defunct bunker with no entry for anyone. This is some really strange place. While Buck an Twig are at the front we go the place, that shows the most promise, a security gate. The first door is slightly open and we can slide those doors into the reinforced walls but inside are definite signs of Mana. ¡°Be careful, this place is active. We do not want to die uselessly.¡± Buck snorts and just goes inside. What a rude guy, I wanted to warn him! Nothing happened and we all are going in. The other door is obviously sealed. Breaking it open will take time, but the defence grid is active and would start eliminating us right away. ¡°Well, this is it Buck. We finally made it to the promised place. Are you as excited as I am?¡± Buck nods, and I wonder what in the Void they are talking about!? ¡°Void Walker. It was an honour to see you in the flesh, while we are just some simple gears in the machine of time. This place can not be used again, please make sure about it.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? Are you suddenly going hostile?¡± ¡°We would be no match for you, but there are things, we need to apologize in advance.¡± Wait, when did Buck go to the strange terminal plate on the closed door? With a punch that broke his hand in a bloody pulp, while he damaged it and the Security starts up. WHAT THE VOID!!! ¡°INTRUDERS DETECTED. ELIMINATING INTRUDERS IN THREE MINUTES WITHOUT ARREST FROM SECURITY.¡± While speaking those ominous words the way out just closed and sealed shut. Not only that but a field draws over it. ¡°We have not much time¡­¡± ¡°What did you DO!¡± ¡°Please listen. The Door back is not possible, but the ventilation has a broken security system. You can enter from there.¡± ¡°SNOW! Check it out immediately!¡± I am not worried about Nemo. But Snow is with me, and I do not want to see her hurt. Those bastards will PAY! ¡°You will pay for this!¡± ¡°We already have. There is no way for a human body to go through there.¡± He points at the ventilation shaft that is at most a small pipe for a bit of airflow, but nothing more. Even that thing has a security shell, that luckily did not close up. Broken down and inoperable. What luck! ¡°So please just go with a small body through and leave us here to die. We finally can be at peace.¡± Their smile is like they are more relieved than¡­ Those guys, don¡¯t tell me¡­ ¡°You are Cultists!¡± ¡°Yes, we never said we weren¡¯t. You would not have come immediately if we told you as cultists as Fate had written it before.¡± Those guys! Why in the Void did they made it so elaborate! ¡°Questions are answered, if you see what is down here. Be sure Fate is watching you amused and we can not disobey, we are sorry.¡± Insane! They are totally insane!!! ¡°Null! That way leads to a strange Room, other ways are taking my rats out without remorse!¡± ¡°We have to go fast! This place will not leave anything afterwards, so take in Nemo and give me Surge!¡± With a body change, I get ready to crawl that place up to the pipe, but not before Snow is through with all of her Rats she can transform in. ¡°Thank you Null. Please let the present in the Room abate your anger towards our humble people.¡± If there is nothing you will see your whole Cultist Clan on the other side right after, you bastards! ¡°Let me remind you, dying is not the worst thing for us. It is the agony to know what will happen until we are dying, that shows only relieve at the end.¡± Those Nutjobs need to SHUT UP! Snow is through, I can go now! ¡°At last¡­ Peace¡­¡± Those were the last words I heard. Never came a countdown. Maybe the Countdown broke or the System would never tell their Captured any Information, but right after entering I heard the Grid activate. I do not know how many attacks were done, but it was thorough. I heard so many different noises one after the other, I could not count them all. They were not only dying, they were being erased without a trace! Chapter 116 ¡®Those crazy, insane, mental, bastards! Are you all right Snow?¡¯ ¡°Yes, I am. Do you need Nemo again?¡± ¡®Yes, that would be nice. I think a human form is better in this facility. Now where are we?¡¯ While changing bodies I scan the area. What I see is¡­ A museum? No that is not it. It is a Vault filled with old Memorabilia of a time before even their technological breakthrough. ¡°This Place is strange Null. Why is there so many glass cases with scary looking stuff?¡± She is right. The things here are really not simple. That broken sword in one vitrine is emanating some heavy erasure intent. Is that their former Holy Sword? Rather practical to just erase what it destroys, but would not give much power back to the¡­ No, my Sword was more of a trap for me to be holding all that Miasma before sending me away. That one is the real deal. ¡°I think this is an archive of Things from the Hero or Heroes they summoned.¡± ¡°So that dangerous stuff is¡­¡± ¡°The equipment to kill the Demon, they could not beat without their summoned help.¡± The Runes on them are archaic but have something I can not put my finger on. They are somehow warped. Like something made them bend into directions, they should not be in. Also they are not in circular form like all the normal two dimensional runes, it shows old and maybe dangerous origin. ¡°Those Runes are not invented by Mortals.¡± ¡°Null? What do you mean?¡± ¡°That should be God Language on them. Those Runes are made by a God to work over the realm of natural Laws and eradicate whatever they are used on.¡± ¡°So you might use them to be more powerful?¡± ¡°Not those. This sword was used heavily and each use bend those runes out of shape. They are now as brittle as clay and would break with overuse. I can not even see their original shape any more. Normal Runes would just blow up, when even bent a little bit but these¡­¡± Those two crazed deer said this place should be destroyed¡­ So Fate does not like those things used. Noted. ¡­ ¡°Hey Null, why are you excited about this piece of floor so much?¡± ¡°This is what I was searching for! Here the Hero was summoned! While the Runes are gone, the whole piece is inundated with Void Energy and shows the form of how they were written!¡± I found it! With this I can reverse engineer a small part of the way those guys used it. While I do not want to summon but transport, it should be¡­ wait, Baphomet said about it being in reverse. So drawing in and shooting out is usable by just reversing them! The opening I can do myself, but sending something will need an anchor, and this should let me throw that anchor. Writing those convoluted Runes is hard, as they are even less euclidean than most Runes, but I do not need the full language, I just need to puzzle them together. So many things are archived here, but I do not care about much of them. The Armour is broken down by their own wards, as they do not conform to the natural rules, as is the sword. The core of the Demon King or whatever it was is not only split but drained from anything magical and just a calcified lump. Funny is the high awe of the Smartphone the Hero had with him. He was transported with his body, and not like me reformed from my spirit. This will be a great boon, as I thought I could just send Spirits, but now¡­ ¡­ ¡°There you are. We thought you were also included as the stain on the wall in the trap room. What luck you have to be alive.¡± Erdigal and his group were finally be able to open the seals. To be honest, the seal on that door is worse than all of them above, but as the Mana is only residue, the place might be just open to anyone. ¡°Sorry I am busy. I am finished in a few Minutes.¡± Yeah, I worked on this floor for now three days, I think? I forgot time, as this is really important for me. Even Snow did not nag me, as she notices how needed this Information is. ¡°You can stop with that, as there is no hidden way out. This is the summoning Circle of the last Hero. It might feel like a teleportation device, but not to where you are thinking it goes. Let me thank you for your work, your reward is a quick end, as you have seen too much.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. Killing us to make us silent, I get it, but I am still busy. Snow, can you please be a dear and take care of them?¡± ¡°Sure Null!¡± ¡°How dare you! Do you know in what position you two are? The Gate behind us is locked now, as no other rat shall enter this place and defile all this knowledge we will gain from it!¡± Yup, they knew about what is down here with us, but who cares. They also found it recently, as the wards finally broke down completely. Using us as bait to step on the tripwires was nice and all, but while some were really still working, that whole place is even less dangerous than the Filter Facility we searched for. Not even Robots were used, as this place was completely sealed off for¡­ reasons. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°How do you know, I am a rat? What gave it away?¡± Snow, I would retort, but I am busy. ¡°Little Miss, we are really tired of your escapades. While we are rather stressed and my underlings are pent up you can live a few days longer to relieve them. So just be a nice girl and obey while we kill your lover over there. ¡°Lover?! We are not¡­ well I mean, I would not be¡­ It would be nice, but¡­ Ah, I have to work right now, do not distract me so much!¡± Snow is a bit flustered, as always that little scatterbrain, but finally threw a Shadow Bolt against the Knight Captain Gilbert and he just sways it away with his gauntlet. Did I not tell Snow¡­ No, I did but she is just playing around for a bit. ¡°Little Girl might be a Wizard, but do you not even know Ulks armour is superior to your Magic? Just lay down and let my men be nice to you, I just need to¡­¡± Bam Well the Knight Captain just wanted to go around Snow and was hammered into his own People by Snows now back to where it belongs tail. The dent in his Armour is rather fascinating. Yes, they have anti Magic Capabilities as Mages of Telk are their most hated rivals, but who cares if you can just beat them to a pulp anyway? ¡°What! You are a rotten Ferral too?! How did you shapeshift!¡± Erdigal finally threw away his niceness. After reflecting on how he always talked with us and seem to seize us up. All his niceties were to use us until we are not longer useful. Those higher ups in Ulk are more rotten than the other Countries around us. Maybe even more than the Empire. All those bad rumours about Ulk might be overstated, but everything has a kernel of truth. They are Supremacists and do not care about others. While they might be nice on the surface, they just need you until they can dispose of you. This Kingdom is the worst if it comes to human rights. ¡°If she is a Ferral he might be also one. Just dispose all of the trash and let my Disciples work on the Artifacts Gilbert!¡± ¡°Yes Duke Erdigal!¡± A duke, eh? And only that few Guards is not only suspicious, it makes me wonder. No matter, I have to work on the last Rune for only a few Instances more. All the others are either recreated in my drawings at home or too damaged to be read. Without my connection to the Void, I would not even get one out of this place. Lucky, I guess? Not really, but whatever¡­ ¡°Keep Erdigal alive, I want to read him later. You can play with the others, I need at most ten¡­ no fifteen Minutes Snow.¡± ¡°Roger!¡± ¡°You little insolent¡­ KILL THEM!¡± And with that we can see how Snow might be a bit like a cat. Playing with them until they break. Swords and spears come and miss while she hammers them back to square one in one swing. While some try to get to me Snow just lunges to them and makes them fly back onto the place she desires. Do they even notice how they all fall on the same spot, when they drop down from being thrown? ¡°ENOUGH! ~Erdigas Levitius Slosh~¡± A magic staff! Never saw one of those. Mages do not use them, so the Wizards of the Kingdom are completely different like I heard. Using the Staff as a focus they inject passphrases to¡­ No dawdling, finishing one task first¡­ A water Jet tries to cut Snow in two, but while her claws are made out of all the things and can withstand it her Clothes are a different case. Drenched and even slightly injured Snow is pissed. ¡°You Ferrals are really cocky to think you can beat a Kingdoms Wiz¡­ Wait, why is your blood purple!?¡± The answer was easily seen, as Snow transforms in her original Form. Her Head changed somehow¡­ It is rather wide¡­ Is she close to a further change? I should ask her about this. SQUEAAAK ¡°High Demon! Watch out!¡± Someone is angry and the Soldiers felt the brunt. No playing around, limbs fly through the chamber now. While the Water jet worked on her in Humanoid form, with her now steel fur, there is no way it can hurt her without hitting a sensitive spot. Crack ¡°Ahh!¡± And there goes the arm of Erdigal which held the staff. I feel sorry for the obliterated staff, as I would love to analyse it, oh well¡­ ¡­ ¡°Finished.¡± ¡°Me too!¡± Yeah, she is finished. Two people are still alive, all the others... not. Erdigal and for some reason Gilbert too. ¡°I just needed Erdigal. Why Gilbert?¡± ¡°Just want to play more with him. He got on my nerves quite much!¡± Ah, she is a bit miffed. Better not poke the rat nest about it. Let her have some fun. ¡°You¡­ Why are you with¡­ A DEMON! Who¡­ What are you?!¡± Erdigal is still quite chipper for having so many broken limbs. Let¡¯s humour him. ¡°Name is Null. I am the Lord of the Starfall crater and just searching for a way home. Snow is Family for me, so do not call her Demon or Ferral any more, please.¡± ¡°Do you know who I am!? I am¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t care. You are here in secret obviously, so no one will know where you vanished to. Shall we start?¡± ¡°Wait, you can not really, are you human?!¡± ¡°I was, but bastards like your kind used me and threw me away, now I am only searching to go back and make them regret.¡± ¡°If you are human then why¡­¡± ¡°WAS! Well whatever, you can think of it how you like. Now let me take care of you.¡± With that my jaw split vertically. The throat shows a seam and opens further and further while my ribcage opens up like a vertical jaw. Deep inside is the ring made out of bone leading to my own Domain, but down here it does not work. I just pack him in my small dimensional pocket I learned from Snow to create with shadow magic and invade his Mind right here and now. It is not really efficient, as in my Domain I have more power, but I think not a simple Wizard will be that much harder to take over than that Arch Mage last time. ¡°Demon¡­ No, ABOMINATION! NOO¡­¡± And gone. Chapter 117 ¡°What now Null?¡± This place¡­ When those Cultists talked about it, they said for it to vanish, but how¡­ Shall I destroy it? Well That is not really hard for me. I just need to¡­ ¡°Snow we demolish that place completely. But there is one thing that needs to be done before this.¡± ¡°And this is?¡± ¡°You have to get out of here. Can you take Surge out and escape with me that way?¡± ¡°Okay, I just put Nemo in¡­¡± ¡°No, he will stay here. I need him later. Just let him Meditate here for now.¡± ¡°...That serious?¡± ¡°Yeah, I need to make this place vanish forever. Those Runes I just copied are more than Forbidden. Also all these things either do not belong in this World or were made by a crazy God, who just gave his followers access to the fabric of reality, without thinking.¡± ¡°And you are sure about that?¡± ¡°Completely. Just by the use of that stuff the Geode had an entrance to this Dimension and while fate just used it for destruction, if the means of reality bending powers without remorse came into the hands of humans this reality bubble might just go ¡®pop¡¯ and vanish. Everyone might die, if used wrongly.¡± I have no Idea, if that really is the matter, but if Fate wants it removed I just do it for now. I hate to work for whatever fate is, and I hate being used again and again! So why do I do it? They gave me the key to what I want to do, go back. So I owe them one, but only this time! Back in the Crater I will focus on finalizing the Gate and send the Anchor through double time and get out of this fucked up game of Chess! ¡°If you say so. Do not overdo it please.¡± ¡°I never overdo anything.¡± ¡°That is a Lie and you know it!¡± Ugh¡­ Okay Snow is angry and while she played with Gilbert, she is still rather angry for some reason. Better not argue right now. ¡°Sorry Snow, I will not overtax myself, I promise.¡± ¡°...That is better! Now let¡¯s go!¡± ¡­ Snow is outside and with Surge I made sure she is far enough away. What I am doing right now? I use their own piece of Floor against them. This place was put deep down inside the Earth after it was used, as they noticed the danger it might still have. Yes, this place has a deep connection to the Void. So why not open it and make it into a rift, absorbing the place and everything else? Transforming Nemo in his true self I go to work. So much Work and I can barely use the Portal to draw Miasma for my workings, as the Place is sealed off by the Materials used. Void on the other hand plays by different rules so I just create a small rift with what I can muster. The rift was the ignition and the shadows of the Runes still embedded in ghostly appearance start to work again. Of the curiously only seven runes sadly just four still work, so the Circle breaks, but still does not stop. The rift gets bigger and while the intangible membrane between Dimensions holds them separate I¡­ poke a hole into it. As I know about Void I know how ravenous it can get and like a black hole it starts to rip everything around be apart. Pandemonium while Nemo hovers over a Maelstrom of angry currents devouring the whole place. While I have barely control and see how it also wants to rip space and time into nothingness I hold on with all my will to stop that from happening. Nothing entering the currents can escape and just vanishes like it never existed. The upper parts start to bend inwards and break into fragments, then dust, afterwards into atoms, then energy and after that¡­ nothing. Okay, this is enough. I only need to destroy the lowest parts and not the whole place! CLOSE AGAIN The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. With my Will I shrink the Rift and try my best to seal it forever more. It resists and fights against my hold onto it but with time it finally was close to being sealed again. What I had seen on the other side of the rift in the last moment gave me shivers! Twenty eyes¡­ No twenty one but one eye was closed like it deigned not to look at me, were watching me amused how I close the Rift. Nothing was said and it did not make a move to invade or anything, but after it was closed I just heard one small sentence not with my ears but with my broken soul. ¡®Good boy¡¯ ¡­ Duke Mark van Erdigal was a prominent Scholar and also one of the more ruthless peoples around. While his power and prominence came sorely out of the ruins in his Lands his ancestors gave him, he was ambitious. The work on improving Knights to higher standards was his doing and while the ¡®machines¡¯ the Ancients used to call those artefacts were more than damaged, he used slaves and workers to bring them back to life. The ¡®Hospital¡¯ he had studied had wondrous things to show him, but most was forgotten with time. Human experimentation showed the possibilities of improving the highest Race to further heights. Not only could they be close to demigods, but every other race would grovel in fear of them after only a few generations and his Name would be sung in praise forever! ...at least that was his ambitions, but there were problems. Many, many problems. The first was the destruction of most of the Information about human anatomy and soul/genome treatments. Also no Information on how to use these Artefacts were written down anywhere he could find. But the treatment Documents had a much more interesting titbit inside, that made him wonder. Many documents had a few small talk related notes inside and often they talked about how many treated patients gave their thanks at the Heroic Archive, where the Summoning was taken place on. This was mostly overlooked as they had teleportation and some flying artefacts, but could it be near this ¡®Hospital¡¯ area? Searching never brought anything to light and while years passed, he never gave up, while his experiments got more bold. Information about ¡®transplanting¡¯ new grown Organs were in those documents, so many people were sacrificed to see if one Organ can just be put into another body, that could possibly lead to a longer lifespan, if not immortality! While studying the whole documents a landslide very close at the border unveiled a hidden door leading to new ruins. As it is in the West like many Documents noted the Heroic Archive should be, he took his most trusted Chief Gilbert and a few of his private Elite to go on a small ¡®travel¡¯ without saying anything to anyone. If his hunch is correct, this place might be what he was looking for! If not for those Ferrals, the Grasslands would have been dug over multiple times now, so better be quick and silent to find the most needed things directly or those Mercenaries dirty the place by taking everything that looks valuable without thinking of how they might destroy Knowledge! On his travel he was right by being fast, as some dirty Mercenaries were already on their way with two Ferrals in tow, like they were similar beings and social levels to begin with! But he never was below in using useless dreg to further his goals and Gilbert already knew about what he was planning. Albeit the Ferrals and the Guy were only useful for a bit of scouting for traps, the white haired pretty girl might be a nice respite while his Disciples study the Artefacts. Maybe they really find the Summoning Area and could Summon a Human from another World to squeeze him out of Knowledge, they lost! Maybe they could find something in dissecting one to see if they are different? There is so much to do, but first let those peasants believe in his benevolence after removing the dirt and giving the Soldiers that Woman to toy with. Oh did he regret it now, in this smelly dark stomach of what he can only call an Abomination. He created some himself, but not one were this powerful than what he had thought was just a lousy Mercenary. And that high Demon¡­ Only Higher Demons can transform that perfect into human form. But those had vanished and only were known in Fairytales. Is this World now going to an End? Demons are back and whatever this Null is. The end is nigh, and now he is in the Stomach of the thing, that will eradicate all Humanity before they had the chance to rise again. Why is the most superior Race so plagued with calamities? Are the Gods envious? The mind finally broke down and something invaded and took over in the most painful way Erdigal could imagine. ¡­ ¡°We are from the Ember Woods and would like to ask Lord Null to speak with us as we are now Neighbours of some sorts.¡± ¡°We are Neighbours, Mister...?¡± ¡°Ah, I am sorry. My name is Ericsson. Yes, we are now working in Kilt as their Ruling Class. While we have much to do for betterment of the Town and extinguishing some upheavals we thought it would be best to visit our neighbouring Friends, especially as we are in a great trade relation. Would it be possible to ask him for an audience?¡± Great, and right as I am not home with Nemo. It would likely take three days for the Travel back, so that is not really possible right now. I wanted to go to the Deer Guys and ask them thoroughly what the Void they thought to set me up like that¡­ What now¡­ ¡°I am Sorry, but Lord Null is right now not inside the Crater. Would you like to wait, come back another time or maybe talk with someone else for now?¡± ¡°Ah, I did not know he was travelling. It might be a bit presumptuous to ask but where might he be and when does he come back?¡± Poking at Informations? Huh¡­ How to make best use of it. Ville tell them- ¡°Our Lord is right now in the Grasslands deepening the Friendship he has with the Beast People. As he is human the work is hard to make them trust him more than just being a produce Merchant.¡± ¡°Yeah, that is true. While Beast People live in Telk, even them are not accepted in the Grasslands, when they go there. He must be a great Person to be able to make them even accept him. And how long will it take?¡± ¡°While he is gone for about three days now, he should be back in three to four Days, if nothing came between him and the travel back.¡± ¡°Then we would like to accept the hospitality and stay for a while. If the Castle or Mansion over there are occupied, we would also take a small cottage here, we are not as picky as other high nosed Mages.¡± Buttering up, smearing honey, giving freely carrots¡­ They are smooth and courteous. If I did not know it better, I would think they were Merchants pulling a Whale. ¡°Do not worry, I will send a Message right away to the Castle to make Room for guests. Do you need any special accommodations I shall ask for? As the Merchants come every Month, you might need to stay here for a while, and it would be a demerit to not be as hospitable to our neighbours as possible.¡± It sounds like Ville is charmed by them, but I just told her to pretent to and be wary of their smell and words otherwise. The smell is being noticed by the others already and while Ville is not showing much reaction, all the people in the Caravan and my Villagers are showing a friendlier enthusiasm. Yep, some kind of subtle mind altering Substance. All Humans should be guarded against them. Chapter 118 A really quick detour makes the travel not that much longer, I just wanted to know ¡®why¡¯. The answer was begrudgingly reasonable. The two Cultists came to them and told them they had the cure for what their people get plagued by. Near their Camp ground was a subtle miasmic well. They did not notice it much, only the higher Miasma here but could not do much for now. I bet they had dreams of it going out of control, as those guys have the Precognition ability, but did not say anything about it. They just said the Mana Dew was needed to eradicate that place. Symptoms were described and they were all the signs of becoming Monsters. Sudden aggressiveness, drawn to the deeper parts of miasmic clouds in the area, loss of reasoning, deformities on their bodies. So Beast People CAN become Monsters of their own? Maybe it is the specific Miasma they had. But annoyingly the Cultists seem to have seen my curiosity in advance and told them to douse the place in Mana Dew. A few Drops would have been enough to slowly remove it, now it is a place where not even Grass grows, as the Mana intensity is way too high. The Grass around Ground Zero is getting more lush though. They have now maybe the greenest Fields in the whole Steppe. Of the Miasma that is still here I can not see much, as it is fading quickly and is impossible for me to see how it could be benefiting my studies any more, damn it! With this we were begged to just go. They fear us, but still hold back in attacking us. I can tell them many times I am Null, but ¡®Unbeing¡¯ was my moniker the whole time. Nothing to gain from them, they are too scared to even talk to. ¡­ ¡°My Name is Beta and this is E¡­¡± ¡°Esther. My Name is Esther.¡± Damn, I totally forgot Elane is not a name she should use. Well there goes my scatterbrain again. At least she is now on my side¡­ hopefully. ¡°I am honoured to meet you Beta, Esther. I am Ericsson, direct contact to the Caste of Ember Woods. This is Quise and Chris. They are here with me to learn more about the World, so please be negligent with their lack of courtesy, they are my most precious apprentices.¡± ¡°I am glad to meet the people, who harvest such delicious Vegetables. Thank you for sheltering us for a month.¡± ¡°...likewise.¡± ¡°Chris! I am sorry, he is like that. Still a bit green behind his ears and not as gentle as my other apprentice.¡± ¡°Master! Don¡¯t embarrass us, please!¡± Small talk, an open demeanour and a grumpy side character to break it into a lovable skit. Yeah, if they are faking it, they are really, really good. ¡°Would you like to eat something before we go to the talks? It is rather late right now, but we have made some dishes, that have high Mana. I hope our palate is somewhat the same in taste.¡± ¡°We are delighted to have something to eat. Thank you for your hospitality.¡± ¡°Yay, Food!¡± ¡°...glutton.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± ¡­ How different their real personalities are in aspect of what they show. They are good, almost perfect, but I can sense their spells working. Ericsson is using Mana in his speeches, using audio suggestive tendencies nearly impossible to notice. Normal people would think of it only as his Mana radiation, but it has purpose and I can analyse it, while it is emanating from him. Quise is having the finest trails of Mana coming from her. Scrying or maybe observation Magic. They are extremely subtle and while they touch some wards, they are barely registering and bounce off like natural Mana. Chris is¡­ Yeah he is like his character. Guarded, protective and observant. He uses some cleansing spells and shields the others and himself from any magical influence. So he is the Bodyguard for the Spy and Diplomat? Great combination. Even in their Chambers they do not show any difference and play their innocence further. Quise plays lively and noses a bit around by pretending to stretch her legs, ¡®accidentally¡¯ meeting some of the children. While they are guarded against outsiders, they are swayed by her innocent look and sweet talk. Nothing they tell can be a demerit, but still interrogating my protected¡­ Do not go too far little girl. Not much is talked about, she just innocently asks about their well being and why they are so bandaged and if she can do anything to heal them of some pain they have. She broke through their defence and the boy showed her the magic scars of Mana burn. Her gasp and tears made it even more heartbreaking for the boy. They should already know, most people have Mana Burn inside the Crater and only magical adept people can live without. So either they really did not give her Information or she can play innocence well. ¡­ ¡°The place is really big Teacher! I feel a bit sad for the Children.¡± (Many areas are warded against intrusion. While there are many non combatants, I can not find many who are able to fight.) ¡°What do you mean, you feel sad for the Children my dear?¡± (Map the place you can see for now and try subtle intrusion after mapping the area.) The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I¡­ I am sorry, I promised not to talk about it, and I want to keep that promise, those Children earn at minimum that.¡± (All children are non magical Beings and have Mana Burn. While the head Maid also has Mana burn, the masked maids are all magical Beings with high aptitude.) ¡°I can not do anything, if you are that stubborn, can I? Well we are here to make a good example of our Caste, so it is all right. Is there anything we can do to help them at least?¡± (Their behaviour shows slight influence on smiling incense, while ¡®Sound Suggestion¡¯ seems to be rendered useless. Their internal Mana must be really high to not been swayed in the slightest. Better to not to use it on priority targets and be found out.) ¡°Master, this place is nice, but I am bored.¡± (Strange probings were found by my senses. Might be not known magical Spells, but seem to not able to endanger our guard. Wards are all of some type I never encountered, might be an inheritance of some Ruins.) ¡°If you do not go out on errands, how can you become a good Member of our Caste? I know studies are important for you, but if you never see other places, you lose out on knowledge of other Mages by simple visit.¡± (If there are Ruins around, this would complicate the matter. Check for strange wavelengths of Mana and increase the security, there might be some Magic we never encountered before.) ¡°I still do not get it, why I have to leave my Laboratory. The earlier the Study is finished, the faster I can help people in need.¡± (I understand. Also, except high Mana and strangely subdued Miasma nothing is being added to our Food. Still better to cleanse the Mana veins regularly for maybe overlooked contaminants.) sigh ¡°You and your work. As I said, with more knowledge of the World, you would be faster by being slower. Just trust me on this. Now you two go sleeping. I need to write the happenings down for our superiors.¡± (Good call. Be wary even if you do not see anything suspicious. This place is different than most other places we encountered. Remember to ingrain the findings in the memory shards. Everything can be useful, even if you do not see the use.) ¡°¡±Good Night, Master¡±¡± (Understood!) ¡­ ¡°So they had a whole conversation under their conversation. You are really something to just put a circle together to snoop on them Elane.¡± ¡°Esther. I have thrown away the other name after I heard what Harvey said. Now I am Esther.¡± ¡°As you wish. But still, what are Memory Shards?¡± ¡°No clue! Maybe some kind of Crystal somewhere on or in the bodies? I am glad you trust me already this much to make introductions, you adorable Being beyond comprehension, you!¡± Still not able to keep your emotions and flighty personality in check, huh? Well whatever, she is more honest that way. El¡­ I mean Esther is a real genius with Runes. She might be in the top three¡­ No I am below her, she might be one of the two most knowledgeable people of them. Just writing a circle to listen to their talks in Mana waveform. I would have needed to touch them, but she can make this with the residue emanating from it. I created a Monster¡­ Cute! Well I will need to give them some terrible secrets, to find out before Snow is back with Nemo in her pocket. What should they find out, that would look useful, but might them adverse from attacking me in the future¡­ Hum¡­ ¡­ ¡°So, Null messaged me and said he is on his way back. He is rather pissed, that Telk is again trying to invade us.¡± Me as Beta told those things to the People in the Meeting Room of the Study. The four of us plus some guards and maids just lounge without any care and no wards against any kind of surveilance. ¡°They are so annoying. They attack again and again. What did Null say?¡± Esther exasperated asked about my Message. ¡°He really is fed up with those guys. If they want war, he would love to show them how it is done.¡± ¡°No! War not good! Better peace. Cut them off?¡± Simov with his accent and metallic Soldiers behind him threw in. ¡°Yeah, he knows how you think of it, and starts to reign his annoyance in, but they now tried a fifth time to undermine the Crater and what we try to do here.¡± ¡°Fifth? So much? Can you explain?¡± sigh Simov does not know about how much we already fought with them. Better explain, and this will also make the little spy know how thin our skin is right now. ¡°First came¡­ Well Fully first was this invasion of the Apprentice¡­ Mimi was it? Afterwards she came with the small Caste of Green Fire back and we needed to eradicate them, as they ravaged the whole town. Then came Blue Ice and messed with our Transports. Afterwards came Edward¡­¡± ¡°Edgar.¡± ¡°...Edgar, thank you Esther, and tried to threaten us. The Archmage Willard wanted to kill everything that lives here to make it his own Domain and now such underhanded works with those spies in our Castle¡­¡± A small fluctuation of the Magic in the area was felt. ¡°...Five. Plus half one. They are Obstinate. Retaliation necessary?¡± ¡°Null knows how you and many others do not want bloodshed, so he will this time not kill them but send them home with a Message. The message is ¡®do not mess with us, or you will be sorry. Esther can you maybe set an example for this?¡± ¡°What is the plan?¡± ¡°Just break every ward in Kilt. This should rattle them a bit.¡± ¡°And the Message will be brought back by the little spies, they have left here. Kuhuhu. This sounds fun!¡± ¡°You are all too lenient to those humans. They tried to snoop inside my wives area just now!¡± ¡°Leafy, I know. That is why I made an emergency meeting, and you were invited, even if your existence should have been better be hidden. That is why the others are not here but just us.¡± ¡°And you just let her listen to all of this?¡± ¡°How else do they know, they are way out of their league, if not with hearing everything first hand?¡± Another wave of Magic is noticeable. Yes, Quise had heard all of it, and might think of calling an emergency of the three, but too late. ¡°Baphomet, you can hear me right? Throw those three out and send them back to where they came from.¡± Out of nowhere comes a voice, that is a duet out of a male and female. ¡°As you command, Lord!¡± Quise wanted to stand up from her meditation, but felt the suction into a dimensional fold before she had the time to shout, as the two others were rattled too by being devoured by nothing and vanishing on the spot. All wards they had on their bodies broke by the instant Baphomet dragged them into Nowhere. ¡°Ah, that is better. Now to the real talk. Esther, you can try your new trick on those Wards. Also make sure to use both ways to show what you are. They shall know, they are messing with something, that is too powerful.¡± ¡°I am allowed to?! Great! I wanted to stretch my powers a long time for now! Thank you Null!¡± ¡°Baphomet, Please lead her to the target town, that would be the easiest.¡± A fold of Space opens and the Face of Baphomet is visible. They were still somewhat a Beast Person, but starting to mutate into a Monster now. If they were still a simple Sentient with that Power, how strong will they be if they monsterfy? ¡°As you command, Lord Null.¡± ¡°Leafy, you have work too. Please go to¡­¡± Chapter 119 In front of Kilt, three People fly out of Nowhere right into the dirt and roll like skipping stones on the ground. ¡°What just happened!?¡± ¡°Master! Emergency, they noticed our Infiltration way earlier and even knew about my way to spy! They not only sent us back as a warning, but¡­¡± This time a great rift in space opens up over the Town of Kilt with lightning as background and storm clouds to show off. All these things are not really needed, but while we are at it, I appreciate the method of Baphomet in letting Esther appear in style. Walking on nothing like an invisible platform is over the Town, Esther walks leisurely out from the rift and looks down on Kilt which started all of the defensive wards up. ¡°That is the one who greeted us. Quise, why is she here?¡± ¡°They want to give us a warning and destroy every ward we have in the Town!¡± ¡°Impossible! She would need Months to break every single one! Even Archmages would need time to break the core ones. How long does she want to wreak havoc, is she not scared of war?!¡± ¡°They are not, they talked about crazy things right now!¡± As finally all Wards are fully active Esther made her move¡­ with talking. ¡°How quaint! First you disrespect us that much, now you cower behind those paper defences. I was ordered to only do a slight warning, but let me have some fun, will you?¡± First Esther unleashes her full pressure of Mana and Miasma. While she is rather weak in both parts, if they are used together they are extremely fear inducing and destructive. ¡°Witch! Beryl?! No, she never transformed into a true one. Who is she?¡± With a wave of Esther¡¯s hand a gigantic runic circle appears below her feet. This is normally not possible, but for her now? Well she had nearly fully comprehended the whole runic System and made even her own personal Runes. Something must have broken her limits, when she became a Witch to be able to compute that much Data. ¡°What in the Abyss!¡± ¡°BREAK!¡± Like Glass every single Ward broke. Not one was spared, and this meant also the ones on the ¡®specimen¡¯ in their laboratories. I bet there must be chaos right now. ¡°Oh, also a small present from me to you all.¡± Huh? Wait Esther, there was nothing more, you should just go back and¡­ ¡°CLEANSE!¡± The Runic circle just flickered and then there were new kind of Runes, those runes hammer her Mana right into the whole town and evaporate not only the Incense but also all implanted suggestions. She did not do it delicately but erased them right out of everyone¡¯s brain with ruthless prejudice. Some bled from eyes and ears and some even fell unconsciousness, but all the others who have their mind cleansed start to remember and puzzle every instance they worked on something that was strange in their rational thinking. Sealed away knowledge and lost memories came back and show everyone how there seems something off with the Ruling of the Amber Woods. I bet normally those things dissipate slowly over time after the Amber Woods were gone from their territory or maybe get forgotten forever like a strange dream, but how Esther did it, it shows how they were manipulated. While so many are right now in a daze, I can imagine the Havoc later on. Jeez¡­ ¡°Now I feel better. Kuhuhu¡­ Have fun with our presents you spying vermin!¡± And with that she enters the rift again and vanished like a Nightmare. ¡­ ¡°Report.¡± For an emergency at this state, their leader is extremely calm. Either he has a great temperament or had sniffed too much on his own incense. ¡°We were¡­ banished from the Crater by someone called Baphomet on the behalf of the supposed elven vice leader called Beta. They noticed our intrusion maybe even immediately, but let us look around until we maybe touched a few spots, they really do not want us to look at.¡± ¡°What are those spots?¡± ¡°A¡­ I do not know this species¡­ Some kind of Plant Humanoid told about how her Wife¡¯s place was being surveyed. I believe it is either one of the sealed off floors or one of the two Gardens in front of the Castle, as those places were being traced by Chris.¡± Damn right. Leafy is rather pissed on the intrusion. I bet they were¡­ busy, when the flowers noticed something magical barging in. While it was swatted away, it annoyed both of them, as there should be no attacker and had their supposed free time. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°A plant Human, huh? Anything else?¡± ¡°A Foreigner and some metallic Golems were also with them as we already noted in our Survey. Quise was caught right away, but they just ignored her, until the talk about our uncouth behaviour. They talked about how they would teach us a lesson for being so brazen.¡± The great leader just nods. ¡°That they did. All Wards were broken, and while most people were only subtle controlled, the talk about the ones who were deeper in trance made their rounds and in time we might be mistrusted in nearly every place of this town.¡± ¡°This was not even the punishment, only all the wards should be broken. This Witch Esther just did that as some kind of ¡®bonus¡¯.¡± ¡°A terrible Bonus. We might lose our public image, if we are not careful. How are the wards?¡± ¡°Sir Kart, we are right now working on the most needed ones. While the anti scrying ward was repaired in this room, all the defensive wards are still not functional. If we get attacked right now, there would be horrible consequences.¡± ¡°I do not think, they would attack us. They said this was a warning, and we better heed it. While we are out of our depths, we can not fight something, that has that much powerful individuals. This True Witch might only be able to be slain by a Grand Magus reliably, and if Arcana does not want to go to that lengths for a piece of land, we will just be watching and documenting every single thing.¡± ¡°But, are we not infiltrating¡­¡± ¡°Silence. This order was told, as we thought the Crater had only limited capabilities. This time, they showed us the true powers of the people inside. Even Telk should know how futile it would be to risk so many sacrifices for so little gain. Even if there is a pure Mana Vein, the entrance is not large enough for a high number of Soldiers and sending our most capable Grand Magi to maybe lose their lives because of the unknown threats would make us vulnerable to Ilstin and Ulk.¡± ¡°I understand. The Message will be written to Ivory Tower tonight.¡± ¡°Good. Now to how to reduce the damage to our Image. Our times as hidden Blades might be over, if we do not find a way to hold the Information in check. Has anyone an Idea?¡± ¡°The attack was sudden, and maybe we can induce a suggestion of mind manipulation to let most of them think those memories were a ruse implanted¡­¡± I have heard enough. Slowly dissipating the small black rat into shadows I stop my hold on Angie. ¡®Thank you for letting me borrow your powers¡¯ Sweating and a little pale Angie bows to nothing in particular. ¡°I am honoured to be at use to you, Father.¡± Well to use shadow Rats I needed to give her more Miasma than normal. She might be overwhelmed still. Sorry for the circumstance, but you were the nearest point. Better think of repaying her with something¡­ ¡­ ¡°Home sweet home. Why were you so obstinate to walk back? Baphomet could have teleported us as an emergency, Snow?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t wanna! We were strolling around together, and just for some flies to run back home? No, thank you!¡± She just wanted to be travelling around a bit more, huh? I can understand her somewhat. Snow must be bored to death, only being able to run around in the Castles. Leafy did her job too, but some protests were coming from the Root. Talking about how we just do what we want with the Forest and how we have no right to do what we are about to do. Funnily enough Leafy does not care any more what those Elder say. While Leafy still has some respect for her former Queen, the Elders are for her not even an afterthought. While the Elders kept protesting, the Queen just asked for the details and agreed with the changes, because they might happen to be very beneficial. Dr. Simov already has made more Tri¡­ Ground Digger and started the channels deep under the Forest. I would not even care, if the Root had said no. I need an outlet and the Forest is the best place to dissipate everything, so deal with it. Right now I am working on the FINAL Project. So many things to put together, but I am so close! Just a little bit more and I can do what I wanted to do in the first place. While I inscribe the Runes and test them how they work in reverse order even Esther said she would not touch those with a ten foot pole. Those are even too dangerous for her¡­ for now. She is interested, but said ¡®I am not suicidal. That there is not runic language, that should be handled by me... yet!¡¯ While she is flighty she is still a bit level headed. Great to know. Another thing I am working on is the thing I let grow inside the Dimension hidden in my Dimension. ...That sounds so confusing¡­ So the little shard of Space has the right Laws of Physics to make an anchor. This one grows now, as I have found the perfect specimen to be used. What it is? Secret, hehe! Still, scary things are creeping around the World without care huh? As long as the thing does it¡¯s job, I am happy. I even used a small shard of my broken soul, that was hovering inside my mental Ocean to create a proper soul. Dr. Simov helped and made a tiny core that is neither Monster nor Golem. It took a while to get him to help me, but he understands how I need it to send something before I can go myself. Still he is so stingy by only helping me on one artificial Soulstone. ¡­ Three weeks passed, and while the Root visited a bit miffed, they still gladly accepted the Mana Dew with their heads held high¡­ Maybe more their noses high, but I do not care about People who do not even thank a benefactor of their Forest appropriately. There might be a rotation for now, as the Ambassador always changes. Maybe they try to find the right one, who might be the best Person without prejudice, or they train their People to talk to non Root on us. Do not care, I lost most of my hope on them after the Petal/Leafy incident. While I work on the Final Project the side Project with Dr. Simov is finally running. Runic Circles do not really work with the Fuel directly, but when the Runic system is used with the addition of that oily substance from those tentacles, they discharge violently. Using this after the test we created multiple chambers with the rest of the Crystals from the Geode and its ¡®blood¡¯ to make filters including a filter membrane splitting it into inert¡­ Whatever that polymer is and volatile Miasma. The Things I created are being held in suspension for now, to work as Mana filter. They will grow and might go insane, if not regularly being tended to, but please hold on for the most crucial event please. One of the Circles is right now running, as when we start the other six we still have on standby, we might have too much Mana at the same time. I might need it for the transport, but if we just start it, then there would be so much even ejecting it through the Forest would be polluting the World with Mana. If my deduction is right (and most of the time it is not, somehow) the whole World starting with this continent would suddenly have Mana Burn. Not what I want, but that can be Dr. Simov¡¯s problem after we are gone. I just gift him with that, as he helps me with the Source of enough Mana for a Dimensional Jump through the most dangerous place I can imagine. Fully working, I would bet the whole Fuel would be turned into Mana in about¡­ a Century? Maybe two? Assuming of course those children do not break out and destroy the World on their own. I have improved the design of the Runic Circle. The truth is, those Tilean people never wanted to overcharge the Circles to create Mana but just filter it into sealable components¡­ I wonder why that is. Anyway, using Seven with alien Crystals and blood of a Misasmic eating Geode made them supercharged. Even the former Great Kingdom had not so much luck in Materials than I have. Luck, ha! My Mind was invaded for those crystals, so better be useful to me you oversized salt shaker! Chapter 120 - Final Chapter Is it already another Month? The Caravan came and with them¡­ Edgar¡­ This is annoying, but what shall I do? ¡°Sir Mordred? I have a Message for you from Lord Null.¡± ¡°Oh? What is it?¡± ¡°Please be a bit quieter. This time we will not directly barter, as you might not have much time. The Second Storage on the Left there is filled to the brim with pickled Vegetables. Please just exchange everything you have with them and be ready to leave right away.¡± ¡°Something bad?¡± ¡°Really bad, Lord Null is in a stressed mood. Just quickly exchange and be ready to leave. Do not tell those people with you, as they might use you as a shield if bad comes to worse.¡± The Colour drains on Mordred¡¯s face and orders his People to just unload at the Storage and change the Goods with the ingredients quickly. While Edgar is aware of the rather strange atmosphere he walks with determination in the direction of the Castle. His determination seems he would even incapacitate someone who would stop him, but no one does, as I already told everyone to just leave him. I am now strong enough to even frighten those guys. I am not here any more for a long time to begin with, so my goodbye is a lesson in humility and to never mess with the people I leave in this Crater ever again. ¡­ At the front gate we see Edgar and with him three more Arch Mages. One might even be close to a Grand Magus, but whatever. His soldiers are also the best of the best, with the most shiny armour and from the feeling pure magical Metals. Those might be worth more than a small fiefdom each. He really wants to make me scared, huh? On our side is Snow to my right, Esther to my left and Leafy at the back. Nothing to do, but show some of my people to ¡®greet¡¯ him. ¡°Null, for your attack on our fiefdoms, we will need a plausible explanation and remuneration, or you will be seen as an aggressor and taken care of by Telk. If you do not wish to be in a bloody war, speak now!¡± ¡°That¡¯s it? I really had thought more of you Edgar. So many tries to get my Lands and you come here with a delegation for an answer you already know. You sent spies in our Domain and tried to find weak points for attack. Now we gave a warning and you ignored it and came without a good reason. Did Kirk not tell you before you were going here, the risk is too vast for such a small gain?¡± ¡°How do you know that?! Do you have spies in Kilt? This is also an affront you need to explain!¡± ¡°You had sent so many spies already, most of them came back dead, and now you insinuate I am the evil mastermind? You just do not get it. You want this land, but the Land is nothing without me. Without us here there would be no Mana Vein.¡± ¡°Has the Mana gone to your head? This place is too good for you already. You attacked a whole Country and now need to suffer the consequences!¡± A little bit and the stars are right. Somehow I think Fate did that too. How can it be, the exact time the Rift would be at the best angle would be now? I really am annoyed by those happenstances. Since meeting those Cultists everything suddenly clicks perfectly in time and place like something just puts them there. I hate it! It feels so rushed as if something wants me to hurry up. ¡°You want this barren land? Without me here, there is no Mana well, because¡­¡± The other six runic Circles already started up but needed time to fully run to create Mana in quantities, now it works perfectly. Wait, I have an Idea! ¡°because¡­¡± The Mana streams get redirected. Not to the Dimension Circle but¡­ to my Portal. Absorbing so much Mana is the first for me, but for effect I need it right now. From one Portal into the Ring Gate and out of my body with a typhoon of Mana that is visible with the naked Eye. Not even Willard was able to send so much Mana out at once. Obviously, as I do not do that either, but Eddy and his posse does not need to know that. ¡°I AM THE MANA VEIN!¡± Ah, shit¡­ The Mana rams right into the shield at the top and pokes a scary hole inside. I repair this later, I am such a klutz¡­ ¡°Looks fun, me too!¡± Snow said that and ejects her Darkness. Better boost her too, She is connected to me, so why not giving her ample Mana and Darkness Miasma. Somehow she is still different than a Witch, as it melds right together rather being two different energies. ¡°Then, me too?¡± Esther also wants to brag? Sigh Why not? So now there are three pillars¡­ ugh, you too?! ¡°Nature is me and I am Nature, so see my power.¡± Such cringy words Leafy¡­ Ah well, here is the Nature Miasma I have, but better more Mana for you, I do not want you to mutate, Petal would chew my ear off, if she saw anything growing on you, she never explored before¡­ whatever¡­ Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Whh¡­ wha¡­ What in the Abyss¡­ What is going on here!¡± ¡°You wanted to know, why this place is like it is? Because I came here! I am the Mana Well you are searching for. Try to fight me, try to kill me, but what you have at the end is a wasteland inside a crater without life! You never thought about thinking the Place might just be like that because of the People who live here right? So now you know! I am rather busy right now, so would you kindly take the hint and¡­ FUCK OFF!¡± Mordred is finished and hunkering down, so better make this quick. The vertical Mana geyser goes horizontally and just washes the peanut gallery away, in snaking through the air, with their guards in tow. I really just wanted to use the Mana pressure to make them fly right out of the tunnel, but seems like they hobble too much in the currents, a small shield and they fly steady. Mordred looked spooked as he saw the blue beam in the distance just go right through the Town and dragging something unseen but shouting bloody murder out of the tunnel. Great, now there is too much Mana on the fields. So much to do¡­ ¡°Lord Null said, you need to go now. Hurry out of the Tunnel!¡± ¡°Understood, I do not know what is going on, but it looks bad!¡± And with that Mordred escapes. After exiting he sees the delegation either knocked out, vomiting or shaking like twigs in a hurricane. ¡°Oh, we almost forgot!¡± Out of Nowhere Esther just appears. The fear still inside their bones the Ivory Tower makes defensive manoeuvrers, but have a rather hard time to even get a proper formation. ¡°Mordred, be a dear and give me the Amulet.¡± ¡°But without it, we will¡­¡± ¡°Do not worry. Lord Null wishes to let them go! They shall go to their own country and do not have our protection afterwards!¡± The wind rustles through the leafs but nothing else was heard. ¡°Good. They understood, and now give me the Amulet.¡± In a daze Mordred gave the Amulet and wants to still ask questions. ¡°Ah! Not now dear. We are rather busy and I have to go back now. Better to close the door behind me.¡± With a wave the Runic Circle originally in place stops and a seal with extremely complicated Runic structure just engraves into the rock. Afterwards a silvery field just made the entrance vanish like a impenetrable metal Shell. ¡°Good, we have now work to do. Maybe we see not each other again for a very long time. Better not mess with anyone in here any more, if you want your souls stay intact, little ones.¡± After the talk Esther just disappeared and everything was quiet. The pressure of the Forest though seems to have increased like it does not want them to dawdle that much. Mordred wanted to just run back with all his might, but still tries his best to wake those high Nobles out of their stupor first. The words ¡®monsters¡¯ and ¡®inhuman¡¯ were told often by the still shivering delegation. Even Mordred does not know what to make out of this event, as he has no clue what happened and does not know anything about how Magic works. ¡­ Resetting the flow was hard, but I got it in time. The Runes devour Mana like a never ending sponge. In the middle of the Circle is a small¡­ egg. The inside is not visible as the shell is made out of the stuff the Geode is made out of. It is rather thin, so better be thorough and send it with all I can muster. Aligned Stars¡­ If Baphomet did not tell me about it I would not have noticed. The World Shard is vibrating more and more inside the Dimension. Like it noticed it¡¯s Homeworld being near. Funny how there is a near and far in that chaos. Everything in there is endless and right next to each other, but whatever is up with the Void, I could never make any sense out of the rules or non rules inside. ¡°Lord, the worlds are close. I see the folds aligning in time and space.¡± For this endeavour Baphomet hurried their Monsterification. They are unstable but said, it would help them to see better into the Ends of reality. Two more eyes were there, but while they are still underdeveloped I feel somewhat sorry for Baphomet, as those two are forced open and drop tears of blood. So much pain... I would have waited for another hundred years, if I knew¡­ No, if I said that, Baphomet might think of it as pity. Better be strong and accept their conviction. They were not even so long with us and still¡­ ¡°Thank you Baphomet. For all you did, thank you from the depths of my heart.¡± ¡°We are honoured. Be relieved, we will make it work.¡± ¡°Of course, I trust you. You are Family Bapho.¡± A smile came on their face. Still looking at the bend space on the top of the Runic circle. The vibrations of the egg get worse and worse. Please hold little one. You have a destiny to fulfil. ¡°Please do your best little Egg!¡± Snow encouraged the little thing. When she is cute, she breaks all scales somehow. ¡°The runes are nearly filled. It is fascinating to see those ones work. They break all rules by spawning more Runes just by existing to create different effects¡­ They feel alive and so alien!¡± Good for you to have fun Esther. Better to have a genius of Runes here for this. We do not know what will happen, as three of the full set of Runes are missing. Please just work! ¡°I feel Dimensions with the same smell as the one you seek Lord!¡± Finally! ¡°Open!¡± Breaking the Rift open with my will Baphomet kept it stable with their powers. Nothing but Void and chaos on the other side¡­ No wait! There is something glimmering like a small speck of dust reflecting moonlight! ¡°FIRE!¡± The Runes start to inject their powers inside the Circle and engulf the Rift with an enormous explosion. The little Egg was¡­ gone. Something just rammed the rift and destabilized it. While the Rift bent out of shape like lightning it broke through the ceiling and got further and further. The Shield around the Crater¡­ I just repaired that! The Rift stretches right out of sight and when I thought it would break it came back with vengeance! Protection magic on all people made it a bit bearable but the Room is toast. Luckily the rest of the Castle still stood. What a rebound! Miasma got ejected like geysers from the depleted runes but I used my Portal to absorb it before it kills everything inside the Crater. The rift¡­ is still there. Something I haven¡¯t felt long long time wafts out of it. This feeling. ¡°Success! This is the feeling! The place I wanted to find is on the other side! It is the right place! I will be back soon!¡± Ertralis! Chapter... ever after ¡°And then the Evil Demon just escaped into the hole and started his war in the other World, Grandma?¡± ¡°No, not at this time. He was here still for a long long time.¡± ¡°But he had the way back! Why not go right away?¡± ¡°Oh, little one. He found the place, but it was not ripe for his invasion.¡± ¡°...don¡¯t get it¡­¡± ¡°You do not need to. I did not understand either, but he could not go right away. So he made the Countries around suffer some more while cleaning up the Mess the ancient Kingdom had left. Many Secrets were broken by him, while mighty Heroes got humbled.¡± ¡°But he was evil, right?¡± ¡°Oh yes, very evil. As we are cursed to wear his marks on our skin, we were not able to become without flaw, when the Mana came back. His Generals made clear here and on other continents, that this place is only accessible for those who are cursed like us.¡± ¡°I think those blue scars are pretty. I do not see them as a curse¡­¡± ¡°...To be honest? No one thinks that, but we still pretend. As long as the World fears this place, we are safe to live peacefully.¡± ¡°But we are already living peacefully, is the Flower Queen not protecting us?¡± ¡°There are so many people still protecting us. Better not knowing everyone. I have seen the Armies and Generals. I even was best friend with one of them.¡± ¡°You were?! Was it the Woodwalker or the Witch of the Crater?!¡± ¡°No, it was the Rat Empress. She and her played together when I was little. While we had our own lives to live after I got married, we often talked. So many Memories¡­¡± ¡°Grandmother, is that really true? You look so¡­ boring sometimes.¡± ¡°Anna! Do not disrespect your Grandmother and my Mother! You have her Name for a reason! She does not lie or is boring!¡± ¡°It is okay Snow dear. Your daughter just says what she thinks. It is a blessing for our children and grandchildren to be that free while everyone thinks we are cursed, no?¡± ¡°Well¡­ true, but still! No Dessert for tonight, for that remark!¡± ¡°EHH!!!¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°I can not do anything, your Mother spoke, and I can also understand her.¡± ¡°Grandma¡­¡± ¡­ ¡°You should not tell her too much Mother. She is a whirlwind, and might someday travel the World. There are so many Secrets to our place better not be told.¡± ¡°They will be revealed sooner or later. This place will still hold. The Lake where the Castle once was has so many Fish Men inside and the Boar Berserkers inside the Woods are also a deterrent.¡± ¡°But those are the ones, that were left¡­ are they strong enough to secure the place?¡± ¡°You do not understand. Just because they were left here and called the weakest does not mean anything. Lord Null used the years to grow more and more Power. When he sent the first Generals through the Gate he suddenly worked hard to increase the power of the People.¡± ¡°...Why did he need so much? Was he not able to shake the World already?¡± ¡°Yes Snow. But we do not understand what it is in another World. Maybe the Power over there was more than he remembered? Maybe everyone gets weakened by travelling through Worlds? Maybe both¡­ I miss somehow the turbulent times.¡± ¡°You do?¡± ¡°Yes, it was always fun. His Mana soothed everyone. It made us enthusiastic and work harder. Now the Mana is just Mana. It has still strengthening powers on us, but¡­ The enthusiasms and drive is gone.¡± ¡°Sounds like mind Control.¡± ¡°Maybe, but if it was, many miss to be controlled.¡± ¡°While I was just a Baby, I am content with all right now. We lived under the umbrella of a Demonic being. That could not be good at the end¡­¡± ¡°...maybe you are right¡­¡± (You are not, my silly daughter¡­) ¡­ Visiting the Lake in the middle of the night, some Fish People look who intrudes, but after seeing Anna, they swam away and left her to reminisce. She often comes to the place where the former Castle stood. Now there is only a hole, that filled with Water over the time. A runic Circle glows below the surface and is guarded by the Fish people to turn Miasma into Mana over time. With time somehow Miasma now drifts to places to be turned back into Mana. All of them are Monster Nests full of the strongest and most dangerous Creatures ever wandering the tunnels of the now called Dungeons. ¡°...except here¡­ No that is not right, maybe this is the most dangerous place of them all.¡± Outside of the Crater is the Illusory Dark Forest, that has so many dimensional folds, it could be called its own continent. To find their way here¡­ close to impossible without a guide. Then there is the Gate of the Witch of the Crater. No one can enter without being given permission. Oh the Boar Berserker are not afraid of dying and often do in their bloody spars. Fish People have the upper hand in any place where there is water, and their dark Sorcerers have the ability to turn the Blood inside the bodies of their Enemies into a weapon to cut them from the inside. The Flower Queen and her Wife are also present, living their lives in solitary embrace with each other. Every Plant would alarm them if there would be an invader, and attack with the wrath of Nature themselves. While it is so lovely and peaceful, since Her Husband Mack died, she often reminisces of the old days. Running around and trying to catch the white rat girl she always called her best friend. ¡°I hope you are well over where you are. When I am dead, I wish to be reborn in your world to play with you again Snow.¡± While she turns around she hears a little voice from behind her at the corner of the lake. ¡°Anna¡­ Let¡¯s play again?¡± ¡­ End Book 1 Poll - on what should I work? So... what can I say? My Life is right now a bit chaotic but I try my best to work around the chaos. My next endeavor is unclear as I right now started to rewrite the original Story as I said I would want to, but the question is more if the Readers even want that, so I thought I just ask directly. To be honest I am rather insecure in my own writing, so I have always this nagging of not making the right decision with my choice of what to write. The best is to know what you want to read first before I start months of writing just to end up with disappointed Readers.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. While I write to have fun I would not want to have my readers not have fun in what I write. Hopefully this Poll can help me understand what you really want to read, so I can work on that first. Thank you in advance for your feedback. I appreciate you all for reading my Story and hope I can bring out the best I can muster. Story 2 - Prologe A magical World is floating through space abiding its time. This World is home to a Continent named Litrak. On the northeastern Coast a crater is hidden under a miasmic fog, but the next moment a dark pillar shot right up into the sky. This Pillar broke the stratosphere and was close to scraping the first Moon of the Planet before stopping to grow and receding as fast as it grew. The dark pillar was a bad omen for not only the people living on the continent. The foreign powers also had noticed the strange happenings and even Gods pulled their eyes to a place they were barred to even notice normally. As the Pillar was vanishing after only one Minute of existence the whole crater quickly was back to being shaded by Miasma, but many noticed this place having some dark secret and maybe even danger or opportunities to fight or grasp. Many were wary of the strange pillar feeling like a bad omen and started to prepare for any defense against a disaster that would happen next. The Steppe in the West were getting ready for a battle against something foreign they were dreaming of for a long time, the Magic ruled Magistrate of Telk was reevaluating their relations with the hidden inhabitants of the Crater, Illstin the distant Merchant ruled Nation finally started to notice the rather strange happenings of this place and sent a message to all their connections for Information about the Starfall Mountains while Ulk the Kingdom of Humans were preparing for a change of where they would aim their accumulated war preparations if necessary. Far away on other Continents, many Kingdoms and Nations were pondering about the need of finding out what kind of Insanity was happening on the wasteland of Litrak. The strong magical influx made many powers aware of the Crater and not only was it of high interest but made some ponder the risks against their insatiable greed for Power. ¡ª ¡°Baphomet! Are you alright?!¡± Broken down was a three meter tall creature with human body, two Hooves, four arms and a Head of some kind of Animal. His head was adorned with four horns, two of a ram and two of a Goat. Not only do they have five eyes aligned like a circle but two of them were bleeding heavily. The body was naked and was showing the body of both sexes at the same time. Right now this Creature, Baphometh was hard at breathing and shaking uncontrollably. Over it in caring fashion was Null in his self made Body, Snow in her Rat Beastman form and a human Woman which named herself Esther. ¡°We are fine. Hah¡­ hah¡­ We saw too deep into the void. We saw it¡­ The brood of chaos. It has a message¡­¡± ¡°Bapho, what are you talking about?¡± Snow was worried about her friend, she caringly held onto one of the four arms to hold them steady. ¡°Lord, the Message is you have to free the God and devour the tainted flesh to become what you always were destined to. This is the last step.¡± ¡°Baphomet, what are you¡­¡± A jolt broke through Null¡¯s soul. He remembered the twenty one eyes looking at him and the words ¡®good boy¡¯. Pain came like something in him changed in some kind of fashion. He could not describe it but it felt he was changing in ways he never should be. Like something has risen from its slumber, breaking chains and reforming¡­ in a totally wrong way. ¡°What is¡­ happening!¡± ¡°Null! You too?! Esther please watch the dangerous place, I bring them into the vats! Maybe this will help them!¡± ¡°Okay, I seal the place to make sure nothing breaks in. Ask Leaf to help out. Maybe she can find some herbal remedies for their ailments.¡± ¡ª An Ocean made out of black tar, a violet sky and on the sky a black sun. This sun was bleeding directly back into the Ocean like an endless stream of cosmic Blood, the sky inundated with prismatic clouds looking like broken shards. The waves and the howling of the Wind were distorted and sounded more like agonizing cries and war shouts. All in all this place was all kinds of wrong but Null knew where he was the second he saw the sun or better¡­ his own Soul.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. It floated out of the black Ocean of Miasma and Void and now was the sun radiating its power and corruption like a beacon of chaos. At first Null was disturbed but remembered his first time he saw his broken soul just swimming in this corrupted and vile Ocean and calmed down. ¡®I am still me, so whatever happens in this place of insanity, as long as I am living I can still work with it.¡¯ Finally, out of the Ocean came some black landmass. It was not much but it was stable against the waves, wind and occasional prismatic lightning. ¡®Does that mean my steady will is this Landmass? That is a rather small landmass, I am a bit offended.¡¯ The place is only a small rock in a vast endless ocean but how much Null protested it would not grow. Trying to breathe he remembered, he could not breathe and steadied his own feelings with his will. Looking around he tried to understand why the changes came to be and what he should do now, when he noticed how he felt a warm embrace and something liquid. ¡®I am still in Nemo, right? I should go back and understand what is going on later.¡¯ ¡ª Opening his eyes Null saw how he was hugged by Snow while the rest of his body was lying inside the experimental vat with nourishment. She must have put him in it as he lost consciousness and waited for him to be back. ¡°Snow?¡± ¡°Null? Are you back? I am so glad!¡± Snow¡¯s hug increased in intensity and made Null feel her worry and sorrow. Null himself hugged her back and made sure she could let out all the worry she might still have in her somewhere deeply buried without an outlet. ¡°Everything is fine Snow. I am sorry to worry you all the time. Something changed and I needed to adapt. What about Baphomet?¡± ¡°They are still resting. While they woke up earlier they had overextended themselves too much. Right now they lie in their own vat as they need to recuperate.¡± ¡°Good they are fine. I will help them later with Miasma. Their whole process is still not finished. Their eyes are still not fully developed.¡± ¡°I shall say it has time. You have to work on the prophecy, they said.¡± ¡°Nonsense, I would never let them suffer while I prance around to make someone else¡¯s tellings come true. Whatever it is that tries to make me do something, it all has time until they are fully healed.¡± Without further ado Null stood up and came out of the vat. ¡°How long was I out?¡± ¡°A few hours. Not that long, but are you sure you are fine?¡± ¡°Of course! Whatever happened, it was nothing worth mentioning. Some kind of weakness. Maybe from my excitement to break back into Ertralis.¡± In a few Minutes Null and Snow found themselves in front of Baphomet¡¯s Vat. It was not their own Vat but the vat Snow remembered being used as Baa and Pho being fused into what now is called Baphomet. Noticing them coming closer Baphomet started to open some of their eyes. ¡°Lord, you are well, we are glad.¡± ¡°How are you feeling?¡± ¡°A bit weak, but we should be fine in a day or two.¡± ¡°You rest first. Everything can wait until you feel better, okay?¡± ¡°...Master you are so kind.¡± ¡°I am no Master, we are Friends and friends care for each other, right Snow?¡± ¡°Of course! You can count on us, Bapho. We are here if you are sick!¡± While it was not quite what Null meant, Snow gave her heartfelt opinion on how Baphomet should rest until fully cured. Baphomet was moved by their honest feelings as there were nothing like those when they were growing up in their sect. ¡°Lord Null, to be honest now we have started to turn gears, which will not halt for anyone anymore. We need to be wary of everything and be ready for what will visit us. This World is now aware of the Crater and it will be bloody.¡± ¡°I know, Baphomet. I already knew this would happen. While I am only here for a temporary stay I will clean up a bit of the mess the former Kingdom made with their stupidity and I will make sure no one of the ones I like will be in danger when I finally leave this place. There will be a bit of chaos but they will remember my Name.¡± ¡°If it is you, there will be a lot of Chaos!¡± ¡°Snow¡­¡± ¡°Lord, she is right. There will be a lot of carnage, but we are glad you are doing it for everyone''s sake. We will follow you not only out of obligation but our free will.¡± ¡°Thanks Baphomet. Now rest, as the Carnage will begin quite early. I do not think they would ignore what we did right now. I make sure this Crater will be seen as the true forbidden Zone and never be messed with even if I am gone!¡± While talking about the future, the World starts to turn in many ways, all because of a dark beacon breaking out of a miasmic cloud inside an old Crater. V2 - Chapter 01 ¡°Null! Glad you are fine, but this Rift won¡¯t close! I can hold it for now but if it keeps to stay open we do not know what might¡­ HOW did you do that?!¡± While Esther was panicking, Null raised his arm and the Rift closed to become a small fluctuation with a few light flashes inside the runic Circle. With only a small gesture the volatile rift into absolute chaos came docile and made no attempts to break open again. ¡°To be honest, I do not know, but I feel some kind of¡­ connection. I tried to make my will be heard by it and it just closed for now.¡± ¡°We worked that hard on creating the right Rift with all our might combined and now you can just wave your hand?!¡± ¡°Well, no. I am connected to this one. Creating new ones would be¡­ problematic.¡± ¡°You get weirder every day, but whatever. How is Baphomet?¡± ¡°They sleep. Overexertion made them heavily fatigued and their form is not¡­ stable.¡± ¡°Figures. That horned freak had worked the hardest of all of us. What are you doing now?¡± ¡°Waiting for the fallout? We made a rather large spectacle, better be ready for many new inquiries.¡± ¡°While you are right Baphomet said something disturbing-¡± ¡°Do not care, not my problem. If something outside our reality wants us to do something we will do it, when the time is right. I am neither their lackey nor an errand boy.¡± ¡°...Can I distance myself from your faction? I might not be able to handle something out of our comprehension being miffed about you.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°...Great. Well better working hard to make the best out of the situation. What do you want to do in the imminent future?¡± ¡°Huh, that would be the tunnels to the liquid Miasma and the creation of all the Mana in existence.¡± ¡°So Global chaos? Neat! I will look forward to what will happen to the Surroundings.¡± With the talk finished everyone went to their Rooms to recuperate after the first phase of Nulls plan to invade another World was finished. Null himself was not too exhausted as he not only could not get exhausted himself but only his bodies and as he ¡®dreamt¡¯ about his Soul changing into a black Sun. ¡ª In a far corner of the Castle is a now rather large machine Factory. The air was filled with the smell of metal and lubricants while gears were seen inside the walls slowly clinking silently in a weird rhythm. Null was wandering the corridors and saw some walking crates bringing parts from one place to the next for assembly. ¡°Dr. Simov really has taken over the whole wing. While all here is mechanical it not only looks but even feels¡­ alive.¡± Wondering about the mysteries of what Dr. Simov could create out of just a few raw materials, Null came to a stop in front of a large pair of Doors. In front of the doors were two mechanical Soldiers. Those soldiers were inundated with gears and while not being visible Null knew how their internal parts were made out of metallic muscles. Noticing Null coming closer they made a small bow and the door itself started to open without anyone doing anything. ¡®Yup, the door is a Robot too. Wait, they still call them Golems, even if they are way more technologically advanced? Or was it Automata?¡¯ Inside the large hall were many machines and tools moving on their own without any direct surveillance. At the end of the hall was a man with dirty clothes, unkempt hair and a hunched over demeanor working concentrated on some kind of core. Next to him was a tablet with a now cold soup, bread, fruit and some meat, completely untouched by himself. Null sighed and came closer seeing Hermann, an Automata which was a former human but was rebuilt by Dr. Simov after he died. His best friend Hermann had his own will and still was with Simov, even without being forced to. They were close before and still work together after his untimely death and resurrection by shoving a Golem Core into his body. ¡°Simov, you need to eat. The Children especially made this for you, it would be a waste, if you were to let it go bad.¡± ¡°Later. Need to concentrate. Will eat afterwards.¡± Dr. Simov has a speech quirk, as he at most said three Words in one sentence. His whole demeanour was that of someone who was a genius in one aspect and a bit stunted in others. In other words he was autistic, but this made him one of the best in mechanical body parts. Also his Golem Cores are way more advanced and scrape on the extreme technological marvel of the lost Kingdom, which was destroyed by the Starfall event. ¡°Is that so? A bummer, as the transfer was a success and now I would start the full endeavor of cleaning all the Miasma that is accumulated under the Mountains.¡± This got his attention. Dr. Simov himself is extremely against the harm of the World and also War. He can build the strongest Army in a matter of Months but was one of the most passive people Null knew. His original genius was used for prosthetics for old Veterans in the Empire. Now he is a fugitive as he ¡®defiled a war hero¡¯s remains¡¯ as he somehow had been able to revive Hermann as an Automata. ¡°I have time. What comes first?¡± ¡°First? Well the first thing you need to do is to eat, afterwards we will start all the Circles to grind Mana. Right now I am changing the direction to where the Mana is led to.¡± A frown was seen on Dr. Simov¡¯s face. He knew how Null would not really start if he would not at least eat, as he noticed how caring that creature was with the people living under him. While he appreciated the strange Demon giving everyone, especially the children living in the castle, a healthy and stable life full of smiles, he himself would rather work until he passed out. A human''s life was limited and his even more so. That is why he was working tirelessly to fix what the old Kingdom broke. Resting was a waste of time in his opinion, but right now his opinion was overruled by the one who gave him shelter. Hermann, Simov¡¯s best Friend was nodding mechanically. Although he could not smile anymore as his facial muscles were not usable anymore, he showed his approval of how Null forced Dr. Simov to take care of himself. ¡ª The next day the Root living in the Woods south of the Crater noticed a sudden change. Mana was flowing slowly into the Forest and getting stronger by the Minute. They were warned beforehand by Leaf, a Woodwalker living inside the Crater before, but the sheer Mass of Mana was rather startling even for them. Mana and Miasma do not like each other. If Miasma and Mana come into contact they fight and grind each other until they find an equilibrium. Adding Mana in a Miasma pool would make it more volatile and displace it while also diluting the severity of the mutations caused by the Miasma. Now that Mana is flowing out the ground, at first a trickle then a tide, the Miasma gets incensed and starts to roil while being washed over and over by the Mana. Many Monsters and Beasts were in a frenzy, as the Forest was starting to change from within. Even if it was a positive change, the Beasts were panicking out of the fact that some unknown event was turning their home upside down. {Tell the Queen, the Crater started to dispose of their Garbage into our Forest!} The messages were sent but the Queen was having a completely different opinion. {Hear my Command! The Forest will go through a change, this will be beneficial, as the Mana will cleanse all Miasmic pools we still have not cleansed. Get ready for our Forest returning to the glory we had ten thousand years ago.} Sending the Message through the Forest the work for the Root was tripled. Many still have animosity against the Beings of the Crater but the Word of their Queen Mother was Law. Changes were documented and quickly being informed to the Elders. Slowly a specific phenomenon was noticed and explored. Old texts were reviewed and legends being scrutinized to see the truth of the changing Forest. Myths of the Forest of old were proven true, while things were cautiously explored. Inside the Crater Dr. Simov was measuring the Mana for impurities while being pumped through the Tunnels the Ground Diggers had created under the Forest. Some old caverns were found but except for some Roots of the Trees from Upwards only a few underground ponds were found. Now with the Mana streaming into those caverns the former static Roots started to draw more and more Mana into themselves and started to visibly grow. ¡°Purity over expectations. No side effects.¡± ¡°That is great Dr. Simov. With this we should be able to cleanse the Mountains in about¡­ twenty Years?¡± ¡°Unexpectedly fast. World will heal.¡± ¡°What about the Ground Diggers?¡± ¡°Working hard. Forest tunnels grow. Miasmic tunnelers die.¡± ¡°We need another way to get to the deeper parts of the Caverns. Do you have an Idea how to get to the deeper parts?¡± ¡°None. Everything breaks down. Too dangerous.¡± While the tunnels are inundated with waste Fuel of the Former Kingdom and now the Empire, those Tunnels were layered. Deeper down the Miasma breaks apart everything that works with Mana and even Fuel. Nothing could hold on to those high levels of corruption.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°We slowly need to pump the upper layers out to get to the deeper parts. the broken pipes are the most disturbing thing.¡± Down in the Tunnels were the original pipes of the old Kingdom corroded through and broken beyond repair. Normally the Miasmic Fuel was stored in tanks but those were already under an eerie rainbow colored Lake made out of used up fuel. ¡°We will keep at it until we can not reach the rest of the source of the Pollution.¡± ¡°Understood. Thank you. Wish comes true.¡± ¡°I never heard why you want to heal the world from this Miasma filled Fuel anyhow. Can you explain?¡± ¡°Just want to. Better than war. Everyone is happy.¡± ¡°So you think if the source of the Pollution is gone and Mana is filling the World Wars for resources will become unnecessary?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°A noble view but I know how Humans work. This will not happen.¡± ¡°Better try. Trial and Error. People need chances.¡± Dr. Simov was optimistic but Null wasn¡¯t. It was a great experiment on a large scale so Null was enthusiastic about it. If he wants to change the other World, this world will be a first experimental trial. What will happen to the Forest? What about the Continent? If enough Mana is flooded the World will it change the laws of physics? Null was giddy to see how much the World will change just because he forcefully reverted the Worlds damage in a way too short time. ¡ª ¡°Null? A delegation of Root are in front of the Entrance of the Crater.¡± Esther was telling Null about what she noticed through her Wards. Right now a Month was over and strange changes of the Forest were being noticed even by the surrounding Nations, but Null did not notice any of it as he was right now working on streamlining the five Miasmic converters, as the long work time and heavy corruption was breaking them down almost daily now. ¡°Huh? Why do they not come in right¡­ Oh, right! You sealed the Entrance. Let¡¯s see¡­ Everything is stable for now, so we have time to hear their nagging about us soiling their sacred Forest again. Could you please open the Wards to let them in?¡± ¡°Sure! I was bored anyway. Can I slap some of them if they are too impudent?¡± ¡°No, we need them still on our side, as they hold most of the other Idiots from our Doorstep.¡± ¡°Aw, fine. But I will be with you, I want to see how they still think they have more say than us in how we should do things.¡± ¡°You are enjoying this rather much, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Of course! They get so much for free and still complain, but when you say you stop giving it is wrong also. They think they are the center of the World but are so insignificant right now.¡± ¡°Well they are rather elitist.¡± ¡°Like the Humans in Ulk.¡± ¡°Ugh, I remember them. They even injured Snow one time. I do not like those Idiots, but the Roots at least know to not go overboard unlike those humans. By the way, when do you go remove the Wards?¡± ¡°Already done." ¡°Huh? Oh, they are on the way inside. Why did you not say it beforehand?¡± ¡°They can wait for us, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°You really want them to throw a useless tantrum?¡± ¡°Of course! It is so funny if those hundreds of year old wise elves behave like little children.¡± ¡°You really got twisted, Esther. Well nothing to complain about.¡± ¡®Snow, Leaf, there are Ambassadors of Root coming to the audience Gazebo. Could you meet me there?¡¯ Mentally sending a notice to Snow and Leaf both send a confirmation before finishing their work and walking from the Castle to the Lost Village. Inside the Gazebo were many high ranking Elder of the Roots looking grumpy of waiting so long but did not say a single word of discomfort. Arriving at the meeting place the Elders wanted to say something but held back before bowing. Null noticed their rather strange behaviour, as they were more held back as they normally were. Looking over the Elders, Null noticed neither Leafs or Petals former High Mothers were with them. This would at least help with them not being too accusing or demeaning, but should not reduce it to zero. ¡°You want?¡± Before Null could even said something Esther threw some words into the powder keg to see how they would react. She was rather bored the last few weeks so she was searching for a bit of entertainment in the form of conflict. ¡°You! ¡­ I am sorry, we are here by the Order of our Queen Mother. The strong Mana you¡­ blessed our Forest with has reverted it back to the misty Legends of old.¡± ¡®Misty? Oh, outside is really the Forest filled with Fog. Is this some kind of side effect of too much Mana? How did the Monsters react and what would the Plants mutate in? So many new questions, exciting!¡¯ Null was pleasantly surprised by the sudden change. He had thought there would be changes but the Mist was interesting to say the least. ¡°I hear the Song of the Forest even from here, former brethren. The Woods are delighted even if they feel a bit hurt by the sudden influx. Like a massive downpour after a long drought.¡± ¡°You are right, Leaf. That we are grateful for. By the way, would you-¡± ¡°No, I''m staying with my wife. A cut off branch will not mend back.¡± ¡°But it can become a new tree! You are a Woodwalker! We would-¡± ¡°I do not care. You can ask over and over, I am entwined with my Wife.¡± ¡°...such dirty women¡­¡± ¡°What was that?¡± While Null did not care about those slang words, he knew about how damaging they were for Roots. At least normally, but he also knew how Leaf and Petal did not care. Even if they were cursed and defamed, they would not care as they stopped caring for their Family after they were cut off their Family trees. ¡°Ah! I did not¡­ I am sorry, please accept my apology.¡± ¡°Wrong person you are apologizing to.¡± ¡®Wow! They are so incensed but still bow their heads. The murder in those eyes is palpable.¡¯ ¡°I apologize, Leaf. It was a slip of the tongue.¡± Not only Esther but Null were having a nice time annoying the Root ambassadors, but somehow they held their tongue today. It feels like something had happened, which made them careful with their Words. ¡°Our Queen Mother invites you to visit our City. She wants to speak to you before¡­ um¡­ before next year. Would you be able to make time for a visit¡­ please?¡± Not only Null but everyone was weirded out of the Roots being so courteous. Null, having enough from their whole ¡®more noble than tough¡¯ demeanour was entertaining the same idea as Esther to make them uncomfortable for once, but right now he felt they work hard to be as hospitable as they are able to squeeze out. ¡°Are there signs of the Seed stirring?¡± {Leaf! Don¡¯t talk so casually about sacred things!} Suddenly one of the Elder started to speak in Elven Root to reprimand Leaf. Leaf herself just scoffed and spoke back in common. ¡°I am no Root anymore, you cut me off. While I respect Queen Mother you lot are beneath me.¡± ¡°How dare you!¡± ¡°Easy, I dare because I respect only those who show respect.¡± ¡°Um, Leafy? What do you mean about a stirring seed?¡± Not caring for the heavy atmosphere, Snow just casually asked about what was going on. ¡°Oh, it is about the Seed of the World tree-¡± ¡°Stop it right now!¡± ¡°What is it?! Do you think if Queen Mother would want us to come over she would just ask for time for tea and fruit? As you still did not deny it, am I right or not?!¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°So it is true.¡± ¡°What is going on, Leaf?¡± Null was intrigued too, but right now Leaf was thinking about what would be the appropriate thing to do right now. ¡°Sorry Null, but the specifics should be told by Queen Mother. If I explain my half truths I heard as it was passed down I might tell something wrong. If those tree bark Elders say we need to visit this year, it might be possible we could not see her afterwards ever again. Would you be able to work on a schedule?¡± ¡°That urgent? We should be able to go any time. The Grinding Circles are working fi- Dangit! Four of them are working right now. I need a day to repair the fifth.¡± ¡°So we could go tomorrow? That would be great. Petal might be able to go too for a short while.¡± ¡°Wait, Petal can walk?!¡± The Elders were shocked, but Null knew what Leaf meant. Petal, an Alraune, is originally rooted to where she is. There should not be a possibility of her going anywhere, but for a short time she could separate from her stem and walk around. While this is possible it was not without a burden on her. Splitting in Elf and giant Tombstone Flower makes her use of nutrients rise exponentially. The time she can be like that is at most a few hours and it was never tested on how far she could travel. ¡°It should be feasible, but at most we can stay for an hour, maybe two. Otherwise her form will wilt and she needs a long time to regrow her humanoid part.¡± ¡°Hey, we asked a question!¡± ¡°She is aware, but it might be better for her to be with me. If it really is an announcement about the World Tree seed, I bet she would love to be hearing it herself too.¡± ¡°I understand, then I will see how I could maybe help her to elongate the time. So, back to the topic. We would be ready in a few days.¡± ¡°...We understand. Would you like a delegation or do you think you can find your own way to us? You know the way to our City, right?¡± {Morning Sap, we were ordered-} {Let them choose. They keep disrespecting us and who would want to guide them?} While hearing their words Null thought they were up to no good, but thought he would be better to step into their little trap to see what they are up to. ¡°Sure we know the road. I would say in four Days?¡± ¡°We will expect you in four days when the Dew glows.¡± ¡®Ugh, why not say early in the Morning? Such plant brains.¡± While secretly cursing their speech, Null smiled at the receding delegation. After they vanished Esther showed her annoyance. ¡°Ugh! So uptight, but they were rather cordial this time. Something serious is going on as it seems. By the way, why do they walk the way the do?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh their walk. They do not want to show their backs.¡± ¡°Huh, and why do they not want that?¡± ¡°They do not show outsiders their back, mostly because they have open flesh and bark on the back.¡± ¡°So their sickening sweet smell is-¡± ¡°-their back going between flesh and plant. It looks like festering wounds with a piece of wood inside, but is their natural look as they are growing on their trees.¡± ¡°While I should protest talking about our¡­ I mean their sensitive point being criticized, but I don''t really care. It is true Roots are born twice where the newly born by the root are placed on their family tree to grow on their bark until they are plucked afterwards.¡± Leaf threw in her own knowledge of her former race. After so long she really had lost her patience with how highly the Root thought of themselves. Their elitist thinking had made the collaboration between the Crater and the Dark Forest way harder by an order of a few magnitudes. ¡°Ah, how mysterious. Better for me to stay at home. I do not like that smell and a whole City of them? Ugh!¡± With this the whole Discussion was settled. Null was reinforcing the Runic Circles with the help of Esther and Simov, while Leaf talked to Petal about the upcoming trip. V2 - Chapter 02 In the early Morning hours Null and Snow were visiting the hedge maze. Bushman, a walking humanoid completely covered in vines, was tending to the dream flowers which were growing everywhere through the hedge walls. ¡°Hello Bush! How are you?¡± Snow greeted Bushman but did not get a word back. He was not able to talk but over time he became more and more social. He looked at Snow and made a nod. For an experimental Monster without direct connection to Null he was starting to notice more than just tending to the plants and even responding to orders¡­ sometimes. Deep in the Hedge maze was a Pavilion without a roof. Inside the Pavilion was a gigantic flower which had their Pink petals unfurled. Inside the middle sat Leaf with an extremely pretty girl with long pink hair hiding her ample breasts from view with the hair. On her back of the Spine was a large flexible stem which connected her to the Flower below them. This pink haired Girl was Petal, who was a former Root and now an Alraune by her own request. ¡°Good Morning you two. Are you ready for the trip?¡± ¡°Kind of. I never left my Flower for so long and went so far away from it.¡± ¡°While it should have no ill effects the worst would be that your separate body wilts and needs to regrow. We do not know how long it would take, so better not try anything funny.¡± ¡°I would like to leave my wife out of your experiments, my Lord.¡± ¡°Leaf, I would never mess with any of you if there is no need for it.¡± ¡°I remember you about Esther.¡± ¡°Esther is an exception. She was originally an invader. Now I would not mess with her¡­ much.¡± ¡°She is now family!¡± Snow told the truth right out at the end. Null himself was at first a bit guarded against Esther who was formerly Elane from the magical Caste of Blue Ice, but now she is part of the people who are living here. With time she became a Member of the Castle and even helped out in the Lost Village. Her runic knowledge has exponentially grown after Null showed her how to feel the Mana flow inside of Runes. ¡°By the way I increased the Mana and miasmic flow. You should be packed up to hold on for longer, right?¡± ¡°Yes Lord Null. I feel rather bloated, but understand what you are trying to do. Okay, here we go. Hold me please, dear.¡± While Leaf held Petals humanoid body the flower stem wriggled and came slowly loose. After Petal groaned the stem detached with a bit of green sap oozing out of the spine and stem. ¡°It still feels wrong. Let us travel, as I would like to be back before this human body wilts too much.¡± ¡°Sure Petal! Let¡¯s go Null, I want to finally see the City myself!¡± As Snow never saw the true City of the Root and only knew about it from hearsay she was happy to visit them for the first time. Snow loves to see new Cities especially with Null, as she loves traveling. This time she was determined to go with them. ¡°By the way my Lord, do you not want to go with Red?¡± As Null had multiple bodies one of them was similar to Leaf, a Woodwalker named Red. This Body was long time not used and would be a perfect fit to visit the Root. ¡°No, firstly I do not want to listen to all the plants in the Forest at once through him and second I do not care about keeping appearance. I might not even be here that long anymore. I am waiting for a call from my little invader and setting the cleansing Circles for Simov to work. Maybe Snow and I will say goodbye to the Bull tribe in the Steppe and break some Empire outposts for them before leaving as an apology for not helping with the coming war.¡± ¡°As you wish, my Lord.¡± With this the party walked briskly to the tunnel exit out of the Crater. Seeing the Mist around the Trees made the full view only white and at most five meters and at least not being able to see the hand directly in front of them. ¡°Wow! The Forest changed quite a bit! I can not even smell the surroundings fully.¡± As Snow said this she let some of her shadow rats out. Those scurry right into the fog and vanish like they were not even there anymore. ¡°Huh! Even my little ones can hardly notice anything.¡± As the sight was heavily limited, Leaf took the front. ¡°No wonder the Queen Mother wanted to send us a delegation. Message of our departure was sent through the trees already to the City. They will be expecting us in a few hours.¡± Walking through the Woods the group vanished into the eternal white of the Forest. ¡ª ¡°Rather interesting.¡± ¡°Did you notice, my Lord?¡± While walking they snaked through the trees sometimes going abruptly left sometimes going directly after a tree right. Once they had gone into a small clearing only to directly go back where they came from. ¡°Of course. I am connected with the Crater. I know where it is and feel it suddenly changing where it is supposed to be if we were going straight.¡± ¡°And how you walk is making me dizzy, Leafy. Left, right, right, left. Even I notice that these Woods are not making any sense anymore.¡± ¡°Yes, the Fog makes directions spin, but it is not all Snow.¡± ¡°You mean the spatial disturbances, Leaf?¡± ¡°So you also noticed that too, my Lord.¡± ¡°This Forest is not the Dark Forest we know anymore. It knots its ways like a ball of yarn and has now even some kind of Pocket dimensions expanding it in different ways I can not fathom right now.¡± ¡°My Lord, I find my former home totally foreign, but the way is still the same for the trees will lead me.¡± ¡°Thank goodness, Leafy. My rats have no Idea how to navigate.¡± *giggle* ¡°What is it, Leafy? Did I say something funny?¡± ¡°No, there was a Message to the City. It just said ¡®they figured it out¡¯.¡± ¡°So their poor trap did not work, huh? Better to hurry up now. Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°As you wish, my Lord¡± With that the group of four hurried along the Forest to an auspicious large Tree where some grown steps were hidden, going up into the treetops into a spiderweb of secret suspension bridges between most of the trunks. The travel further was still convoluted but way less as before, supposedly because the magical distortion does not work that strongly higher up. Looking down from the bridges, the Mist was not that impenetrable anymore and showed giant bubbles of different parts of Forest moving irrationally like they were some kind of dreamscape, exchanging places and even intersecting in mysterious ways. ¡°How pretty. Is this our former home in its true form, dear?¡± ¡°Yes Petal. The legends of our Forest being formerly magical Woods seem to be true. I am glad to see it for the first time with you by my side.¡± ¡°Aww, they are so cute Null. Can you cuddle me too while looking down on the Forest moving?¡± ¡°Well I can hold you and pat your head. How about it?¡± ¡°...Okay, that is fine too.¡± So while they took their time to marvel at the new mysteries, they further traveled to the City of the Roots in the middle of the Forest. ¡ª ¡°...Welcome to the City of the Roots. You are early.¡± ¡°Not really, we took the scenic route to watch the spectacle in the Mist from above.¡± ¡°...scenic route and still¡­¡± ¡°Let me guess, your Elders said we would need more time?¡± ¡°Yes, they said you were presumptuous and declined our guidance through the labyrinth of trees.¡± ¡°We never declined, they just said we would not need it, but whatever. We have Dreaming Leaf and Dreaming Petal with us, so even if it were true, it would never be presumptuous.¡± ¡°You¡­ No, you are right, I apologize, as you have a Woodwalker and¡­ um Petal with you.¡± ¡®Not really knowing what Petal is now, right? Well the words should not be that spread about what she had become inside the City.¡¯ While thinking about those things the Guard leads them to the waiting tree for the audience to be ready. ¡°It will not take long, our Queen Mother wants to speak to you urgently.¡± ¡°We understand. Thank you for your hospitality. An appreciation for your hospitality.¡± Null gave a small bark vial to the Guard. ¡°This is¡­ ?¡± ¡°Mana dew. While I guess the need is not that high anymore it should still be worth something for your herbalists to experiment on.¡± ¡°I appreciate this gesture. Especially being in a proper receptacle. Please rest and I will see to it you get fresher dew for yourself and your friends.¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Afterwards the Guard spoke to a few servants who changed the dew for new ones. Null knew they would get rather old things instead of the good ones but the honesty of the Guard herself made him understand the slight shift into less supremacy and more acceptance of them as peaceful neighbours, even if it is still rather small steps into more friendly connections. The time was rather good as Leaf and Petal were having a good time being back to their home together and having fresh dew with their home grown fruits they had only after each escort brought some. Although they felt homely, deep inside they knew it was not their home anymore which made the vacation here bittersweet. Snow herself made no restraints and ate her fill on the Fruits but the dew was not to her taste and took more a liking to the tea even if it was brewed cold. It took only half an hour before the Servant came again. ¡°The Elders and Queen Mother would like you to meet them in the audience Tree now.¡± With a nod from Null the others made themselves ready to see the Queen Mother. ¡®My Lord, you can ignore the Elders, but be friendly to our Queen Mother.¡± Leaf sent through their Soul connection a thought to Null. Imperceptible Null nodded for only his retinue to notice. ¡®Do not worry, she was always nice and I repay behaviours back with the same coin.¡¯ Hearing this, not only Leaf but Petal were more relaxed now and visited the biggest tree in the City, which also held not only the audience hall but also the throne Room of the Queen Mother of the Roots. ¡ª ¡°Lord Null, as I see you are in another new form. You are rather active in changing your look and even body.¡± ¡°Queen of the first Child you are still as radiant as I last saw you. Ageless like the Woods themselves.¡± ¡°You flatter us. Right now we are here because of the Mana you send to the Forest. We thank you for the revival of the true form of our Forest. This is an auspicious event.¡± ¡°I thank you for noticing our work in making the World a better place without so much miasmic pollution. While I will not be here for that long anymore I would like to ask to guard the entrance of the Crater for the runic Circles are hard to keep up if someone messes with them.¡± ¡°So you are readying yourself to leave our World. We heard about you wanting to leave. We did not know it was so soon.¡± ¡®Let me guess my plants in the farms did tattle? Annoying how they can talk with things that should not, but whatever. Nothing that needed to be hidden.¡¯ ¡°I am waiting for word from my Guide. It can still be a few months for the first message and one or two years to be ready.¡± ¡°We would like to ask, would the Mana still be spread through the Forest without pause?¡± ¡°Highly possible. The other way would be to create another exit. It would be annoying, but if it is too much I could think about it for the friendship between us two.¡± ¡°No, that was not what I meant. I would love for it to even increase. To be honest this could be the beginning of a new chapter of this Forest if it would at least keep like that for a short time of about a hundred Years.¡± ¡®Short¡­ Those long living, long eared, anti aging freaks of Nature¡­¡¯ ¡°A hundred years is not short for other creatures, but while the intensity would drop after twenty to thirty years as the Miasma stored below the Mountains would be cleansed, the flow would hold on still.¡± ¡°...For it is regrettable for the Mana to stop growing after such a short time, it should be enough to start.¡± ¡°Could you tell me what you are trying to do? Has it something to do with some kind of World Tree?¡± ¡°Impudent!¡± An Elder was blowing up as she already was incensed of the casual talk between Null and her elated Queen Mother. Now asking about such a delicate topic made the most incensed one break her silence. ¡°You, an Outsider not even of the Forest but the whole World should not even mention such things! Who do you think you are!¡± ¡°¡±Silence!¡±¡± Not only the Queen Mother but Null at the same time shouted at the Elder. At first both were surprised and after a small cough Null bowed as apology and gestured to her to have the word. With a nod the Queen Mother accepted the apology and looked to the Elder. ¡°We invited Lord Null out of Friendship and we know very well how you all treat him despite our Orders. Do not think just because you being a high Mother makes you immune to punishment for disrespecting not only official Visitors but Ourself!¡± ¡®Wow, the queen has started to be more direct. She does not wait that long anymore for them to mess with me before roasting them over coals.¡¯ Null was impressed about how the Queen was more active and demanded respect. Prior she was more lenient and was taking a long time to explode. Also what made himself surprised was his own shout, as he just¡­ felt like it. ¡°Back to the query to us; Yes it is true, the World Tree seed is stirring.¡± ¡°Queen!¡± ¡°I said SILENCE!¡± The Elders were shocked, but were shot down directly by the Queen herself. ¡°You might have already heard from Fall¡­ I mean Dreaming Leaf, the information about the World Tree, no?¡± ¡°She is honorbound to your Majesty and would never reveal something she should not talk about. Also she was hesitant to speculate about it, as she might have the wrong folklore about it and could say something false.¡± ¡°Honorable and dedicated like always. Being cut off by your Family Tree was a great sin I am starting to amend, dear Leaf.¡± Bowing her head, Leaf was not sure what the Queen meant at the moment. ¡°We need to talk about the World Tree, as you might be the lynchpin and greatest Benefactor Lord Null.¡± While the faces of the Elders show their hard reluctance about their Queen talking about the World Tree, they held their tongue way more than in the former Visits. ¡°The World Tree we have is a Seed, which needs a place with abundance of Mana to grow. Also the supply is needed to not stop and Miasma can not be too close while it germinates. Otherwise it retracts back into its seed.¡± Null nods. Understanding until now he was the source of the Mana and if he just stopped suddenly the World Tree would fail to grow. ¡°If this happens, my Sacrifice would be in vain and another would take my place.¡± ¡°Sacrifice?¡± Null was somewhat confused and the look showed the Queen he really does not know, which made her appreciate Leaf and Petal even more for their silence until now. ¡°The World tree seed is in our womb. While it waits to grow we protect it until we die and the new queen keeps it safe.¡± ¡°Queen!¡± ¡°Again, silence!¡± Null was collecting his thoughts about this Information. The whole honesty was a breath of fresh air and also concerning. The Queen herself seems to just do what she herself wants to do and the reason was she would¡­ ¡°So, you are saying you would die if it succeeds and if it fails?¡± ¡°Partially correct. We will become the Spirit of the World tree if it succeeds being connected through the Worlds to our Allmother the World Tree Yggdrasil.¡± ¡°And you are telling me this because¡­¡± ¡°We have faith you might bring enough Mana to this World to let the Tree germinate and grow into what it should have been thousands of years ago before the start of all these calamities.¡± Nodding Null understood. What was needed was the steady Mana he supplied and obviously some more things like the Mana Dew he had on hand. ¡°What do I get out of it?¡± ¡°Insolent little-¡± ¡°SILENCE! Do we have to raise our voice every third sentence!? Do you all want to be replanted with your family Trees so much!?¡± ¡°Replanted!¡± Leaf gasped and Petal was also rather startled. To get better Info Null rummaged through the memories he still had stored from the Root and other elves he had taken over. Red was his main source but he had such a skewed mentality he was the worst source and Null understood this over time. ¡°This means the Falling tree was replanted? They had to change their Tree Name to atone for a grave sin?¡± While cutting off a branch was the Name of disinheriting a person or small group of Root Elves, replanting meant they were moved from grace and everyone who had that Name must change it to show the shame of the whole bloodline. ¡®It is starting to get interesting.¡¯ A slight smirk was seen on Null¡¯s face. He was somehow enjoying this total chaos creating a different order on a deep level. ¡°Let¡¯s keep track first. What would I get from it?¡± ¡°...Our thanks would be insufficient?¡± ¡°Well it is a start, but to be honest the Root are rather unpleasant Neighbours since I made my Territory open. What would I get out of helping stuck up pointy eared green bloods like those old fossils around your Majesty?¡± A massive pressure of Rage was erupting from the Queen, but not against Null but the Elders who all were close to exploding into insults against him. It held for a long time until someone fell to their knees and was near fainting. The Queen was not playing around and all too aware of how Null was helping them all this time accidentally but was being scorned like a troublemaker and scourge needed to be expunged. It was all too ironic how something from the Void would heal the World instead of devouring it, but now they had to work hard to not only appease something completely foreign but also amend their past slights. Finally the pressure was vanishing and heavy breaths were heard from all elders. ¡®So the World Tree seed gives her so much power? Why is she so ignored before I muddied the waters? Maybe because she was only seen as the World Tree vessel but not as the true Ruler? Huh, if she was chosen when she was just a little elfling or what they call their Infants, I can understand how she was indoctrinated and finally had the upper hand now.¡¯ ¡°We do not know what we could give you as a true compensation. All we have is this Forest and what is inside.¡± ¡°Oh, you have to give nothing. I would help you personally just if Leaf and Petal asked me politely. You were the most honest of all the root that did not become my subordinates or died going against me. I am more perturbed that the Root themselves are gaining everything and are still so high and mighty against us.¡± While many faces were screaming out to interject, not one Elder even thought about making a noise and just swallowed the humiliation. From behind Null could be heard a slight giggle coming from Petal. She already knew how Null was if he was playing around and knew there would be a solution, mostly making the ones he does not like even more humiliated. ¡°We thank you for your generosity. No, I thank you. I was never able to have a friend, just subordinates or those old barks telling me how to behave as Queen, you are the closest to an outside friend I ever had.¡± ¡°Queen, if you do not behave we have to-¡± ¡°You have to do WHAT?! Dethrone me?! Sure, take the Seed and replant it into a more docile candidate, but remember it will take Centuries for her to adapt and be able to start the process of germinating the World Tree! If you think the risk of losing the last chance seeding this World is worth your manic control, vote now!¡± Even the leaves of the Tree stopped making any sound. The World felt silent and no one wanted to argue for the risk of losing their only chance. Out of an unexpected Root came finally a comment. ¡°Our Queen is finally putting her roots into the earth to shake it up.¡± It was Petals Grandmother. While she was silent all the time and only had angry or indignant faces to make, she could notice the shift of power and commented like she always did without mincing any words. ¡°Great Mother Dancing! This is serious!¡± ¡°Oh, old bark you should know this is the best and maybe only time for the World Tree to set root. If you keep bickering you all will be the greatest sinners of our race. Who is ready for this?¡± Again Silence, but shortly after she doubled down. ¡°Also the stronger the will of our Queen the better will the Tree grow. This is my opinion.¡± Null nonchalantly interjected afterwards. ¡°We could let the Tree also grow in the Starfall Crater-¡± ¡°¡±¡±No!¡±¡±¡± There was a unanimous chorus in the Chamber. The elders, the Queen and even Petal and Leaf were making a statement. ¡°Fine, but better find a good compromise, as if you even think of dethroning your own Queen I will protest.¡± ¡°And what will you do, outsider?¡± ¡°...War?¡± ¡°You think you can win a war against us in this now awakened Forest? Do not kid yourself, weakling!¡± ¡°Changing the flow of the Crater to not only let the Mana stop but flood the whole Forest with so much Miasma you had never even thought possible is work I can do in less than half an hour.¡± ¡°You DARE!¡± ¡°I dare. And not only that, I will make it the one Miasma that does not mutate but eradicates all life. I do not care for any of you treehuggers, but I like your Queen, Leaf and Petal. I would feel remorseful but still strike with all I¡¯ve got for someone being taken from, I care for.¡± This time the tension was heavier than ever. While they thought about Null being able to revive the Forest with so much Mana they totally forgot how it had to come from somewhere and if it was true, that there was so much Miasma in his small crater, they would die before the next day would even start. V2 Chapter 3 Threat of War was often mentioned as the Elders always discussed the fragility of the collaboration of the Crater and felt offended by the ¡®lesser beings¡¯ living in the surrounding Nations scraping Materials on the corners of the Forest, but thinking of what would happen if Null made this threat come true, there would be at least heavy casualties and the destruction of everything they held dear. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t soil yourselves. This Null said he would only do it if you would dethrone our Queen Mother. You are looking like it is already a done deal.¡± Petals Grandmother chimed in into this heavy atmosphere. The Words held meaning but the threat they felt was still there. ¡°We see how disturbed our Mothers are over the words of Lord Null. You want to dethrone us that badly?¡± ¡°No, Queen Mother, that is not our thought, but-¡± ¡°But what? I said War would be only if you mess with your own Queen, as I feel more indebted to her and only her than to the whole Root, who are still seeing me as a nuisance after awakening your oh so magical Forest.¡± That shut them up. They had so much to say but every sentence they had in their minds was filled with insults and right now that would just increase their worries. If they attacked Null for threatening them, they would be asked by their Queen again if they want to do regicide, if they insult him for being too crude as to even mention War, they would smear the one their Queen thanked for awakening the Forest. They were in a dilemma and could just shut up. Every time they just looked at the group of outsiders they felt their blood boil but had no way to vent their frustration. ¡°If one of our Elder Mothers wants to dethrone us, please speak now for we need to hold the vote early for my successor might be able to maybe have enough time to grow the World tree if it is quick enough. Oh, and if the Forest would still stand at that time. ¡­ No one? Then we see this discussion as over and we hope this will not be brought up again, as we have for once not much time to argue about such trivialities.¡± With this the Elders all bit their tongue. While the Queen was the highest authority the Elders were unofficially the rulers as they held the power in all the family trees and could force the Queen into submission by vote of majority, but this is right now impossible as the Queen Mother could finally grow the World tree. What Null did not know was the next Queen would not be called ¡®Queen Mother¡¯ any more but ¡®Elven Queen¡¯, as she is not bearing the Seed and therefore would not be in such a passive position. Not only would she be able to be more active in Politics but hold a higher position as the direct voice to the World Tree and its spirit. ¡°Well, I would like to go back to the topic. If you want to grow a Tree with Mana, we can help you out and hold the flow stable, but what do we get from it?¡± ¡°...How about a true Alliance? You said you are only here for a year or two? We will not only guard the Crater, but be ready to fight side by side with you against your Enemies. A high promise to not be hostile to you and your inhabitants for the time after your departure.¡± ¡°Queen, this is too much for-¡± A look of the Queen made the Elder shut up. Right now all the Elders had never felt so powerless, as not only had the Queen all the Cards in her hand but Null became, even if they hated to admit it, their greatest benefactor in Millenia, which made their cold and rude attitude over the years a poisonous weapon that now was against their throats. Losing an opportunity to grow the World Tree would be a Sin written down in the history of this World forever. While the Elders were forced into silence Null was pondering. ¡®I will not be here much longer. A Year, maybe two? Who would protect Anna and all the other people in the Lost Village? This is great as even if the Alliance would be only for one Generation this would mean a Millennia, as they have such a long lifespan.¡¯ ¡°This would be more than enough for an exchange. I Null and the Starfall Crater would be honored to help you Roots and especially the Queen Mother to nurture the World tree with pure Mana.¡± Null did something he rarely does anymore and bowed to the Queen Mother once. A smile grew on the face of the Queen as she knew how random that being called Null can be, but also knew it kept his promises and was trustworthy, as Leaf and even Petal were trusting him. ¡°We are glad you are content with only our measly tribute to an Alliance. Our whole reason for living is to grow this glorious Tree in different Worlds.¡± ¡°So you are Outsiders too?¡± ¡°Not quite. Our Race travels the branches of the World Tree to different Worlds to help them grow more radiant life. Our trees roil the earth, plants feed the creatures to make them multiply and the World Tree¡­ When the World Tree is grown strong enough it will pulsate the Mana and filter Miasma.¡± ¡°Wait, the World Tree is for cleansing Miasma?¡± ¡°Partially, yes. It filters it to keep the growth of Monsters through the taint in check but not completely. Without struggle there is no growth, with only struggle there will only be barren waste. As the first Demon Lord was walking the Continent we were ready to start the growth but then he was killed by the Hero spreading the Miasma it kept in itself sealed and we lost the time to grow the Tree. Then we waited for the Miasma to recede enough but the former Tilean Kingdom suddenly expanded their technology by leaps and bounds through the Hero and Mana was drained too fast to grow the Tree again. Keeping the Mana secure was our next try but suddenly the Kingdom flooded the nearby Mountains with so much Miasma to keep some deep fungal Infection in check. Afterwards the Starfall happened and now we are here, Millenia into the future and maybe the last time for the Tree to set root before this World might lose all its Mana.¡± ¡°Losing all its Mana? Why is that?¡± ¡°If the World can not live with the Miasma it sheds everything of it. A world without Mana, without Magic but still somehow living. A fox caught in a trap would gnaw its own leg off to escape death even if it cripples itself.¡± ¡°There are no other ways?¡± ¡°While there are, the World Tree is the easiest and gives the World itself the tools to rule Mana. Not Gods, not Kingdoms, not some kind of being but the World itself.¡± ¡°Well then let us grow this tree and keep it nurtured for a while. You said a hundred years would be needed at minimum?¡± ¡°Yes, the roots need to grow far and wide. Creating a network of lines to let the Mana flow through the World.¡± Small questions were asked and the Queen patiently explained while the Elders became numb. They would like the Queen not to explain too much but as the People she discussed it with were the ones who could single handedly help them grow their treasured tree, they could only stay silent. Afterwards the Queen for the first time stood up from her throne and went to Leaf and Petal personally for a bit of small talk. ¡°Petal, it is great to see you healthy. We are glad you have a good life.¡± ¡°Thank you Queen Mother, but right now I am starting to wilt. I can not stay here for much longer, so I hope to talk to you in a more quick manner.¡± ¡°We understand. You can not be long and far away from the Flower your Elder Mother told me?¡± ¡°Yes. Right now I am only able to be here because of Lord Null¡¯s help with it.¡± A slight sneer came from the side. It was Petals Grandmother. ¡°To have the aid of a male. You need to work harder.¡± Petal wanted to say something but Null was quicker. ¡°I am helping her out of my free will and she wants to be here. Not like you piece of old Bark can understand, but gender has nothing to do with it.¡± ¡°Shut it male. You were not asked.¡± ¡°I do not care if I am not asked, I step on every cockroach that nags me. Try me if you want.¡± Looking at each other''s eyes with heavy animosity for many seconds no one blinked. After a while Petals Grandmother nods. ¡°You finally have the guts of a Ruler. Maybe you can grow up. I do not know what happened in such a short time but right now you have an aura of someone who is qualified to have their own little place.¡± ¡°I do not need anyone''s approval. Where I live I rule.¡± ¡°And that is what you should do. The change is surprising, and maybe you will not meet an uninvited guest like me as some kind of errand boy anymore.¡± Null remembered the first meeting with her. It was true she was coming to see Petal and he greeted her personally. Now he would find it silly to even think about that Idea. ¡®Did I change my thoughts or¡­ I feel different, she said, and I feel it too. Something happened to me, better check myself and reflect on what is going on.¡¯ The talks were short afterwards as Petal was visibly wilting. Her pink hair was starting to go matte and her skin looked dry. With the last goodbye from the Queen, Null and retinue went back, this time with honor guards and presents being quickly made ready for them. ¡ª ¡°Ah! Back on my stem. I feel like I was in the desert before. I loved to see our Queen before the ritual but it was torture to be that long away from the rest of my Body.¡± ¡°You need to recuperate for a while. It was a close one. If you had dried up on the trip back you might have to grow a new body and I do not know anything about botany and Alraune in specifics, so I do not know if the Body would be the same.¡± ¡°While it would be bad I would have had a reason to ask my Leaf to explore my new Body for any-¡± ¡°Petal!¡± *giggle* Leaf got red in the face while Petal was giggling weakly while resting on her flowery main body. Null just thought that Petal at least did not lose her humor, while being so drained, trying to force himself to believe she just made a joke while going out of the Maze with Snow back into the Castle. All the new Information was rather interesting for Null, as the World Tree is some kind of main Filter for Miasma while Monsters are the normal way for low Miasmic pollution. ¡®With this I understand everything a bit more clearly. So Mana is there to create growth in magical ways. Enchanting and forming the World into something like a paradise. Miasma is the side product which challenges the creatures to grow hardier and expand in new areas. The Root appear and plop a symbiotic Tree for better control into the World and Humans¡­ Do what humans do and exploit the shit out of the Mana resource without caring about pollution. If the Tree were already here it would be no problem as the World would counteract it, but without it either the World drowns in Miasma or just cuts off their own Mana forever to become a pure physical World.¡¯ Realizing how Humans often are the parasites of the Worlds, Null wondered where they came from. How do Humans often come into these Worlds and why? The Root uses the original World tree somehow, but how he does not know. But Humans just pop out somewhere without a reason? ¡°More mysteries, but for now Miasma grinding.¡± While they were gone for only a few hours the Runic Circles are again not working right. The Runes they use often fade and with more tests Null hopes to find a fully working system without backlash. ¡ª ¡°World Tree? Such a Saviour.¡± ¡°Yeah Simov, if the World Tree grows strong enough you would not need to worry about Miasma anymore and live freely.¡± ¡°Other work awaits. Still much pain.¡± While working on the Runic Language to make it more stable Null explained the World Tree to Simov. Esther is also there but is not bothered about something like Miasma or Magic but more interested in perfecting the Runic Language. ¡°Such a bother, Runes have such a fragile state if touched by concentrated Miasma. It feels like it breaks apart the rules by not conforming directly. A buffer rune might be better but this would mean a whole rewrite of the circle.¡± ¡°Changing to Runesource?¡± ¡°Bah! Your convoluted three dimensional Runes are not only unreadable after being created, they can not be rewritten afterwards! What will happen if a part breaks down? All must be remade and I get a headache to understand how you can do that even after I learned from Lord Null how to feel the Mana flow.¡± ¡°Just writing logic. Runesource more stable. Could help many.¡± ¡°And how do you want to give the people the knowledge to copy cleansing runes?¡±The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°...point taken. Working on Circles.¡± Simov and Esther are in a kind of hate relationship. Esther herself does not like Simov and is envious of his genius in Runesource, the three dimensional Runes working Automata and Golems. Simov himself does not directly hate Esther but does not like her attitude. If not for working together on the Circles they both would not even want to meet. ¡®Arcane Magic and Magitech seem to make people hate each other. Still the Industrial Magitech Engineer is an environmentalist and the Arcane Person is working on efficiency first is somewhat ironic.¡¯ Null mused over the two, challenging not only the task but each others patience. While thinking about if that hate might become a romantic relationship he dismissed that idea fully. Esther would never care for anything other than Runes and knowledge while Simov was always a Workaholic, never doing anything other than work and sleep being only forced to eat by the people around him. ¡°So any ideas for stability, you two?¡± ¡°Right now? Scraping the failed circles and starting anew. The Runes need to either be sourced by only pure Mana or have a way to filter each miasmic intake. If it were just a bit it would maybe work decades, but with how much Miasma they have around all the time it is like keeping a book in a bucket full of water and wondering why the ink gets smeared.¡± ¡°It worked fine before. Why now?¡± ¡°That was the surface Miasma. While we thought it high, what flows through those pipes dug by those things that guy made is now the real deal.¡± ¡°Not nice. Named Ground Digger. Hard workers all.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. Your toys are great.¡± ¡°Not toys!¡± ¡°Stop, both of you. The fact is, we need to work on it to make the flow work for a Century. While I am gone in around a Year, Esther would go wherever and I do not know if Simov can handle it all on its own.¡± ¡°Yes, dawdling here a Century would suck. I would rather find more runic Knowledge of the ancient Kingdom elsewhere.¡± ¡°Cursed knowledge. Made this Disaster." ¡°Knowledge is a tool you moron! It depends on who wields it to make it good or bad.¡± ¡°You are bad. Knowledge would hurt.¡± ¡°You scrawny little toymaker I will show you-¡± ¡°I said Stop! So we need to find a way to either route the miasma or make it not touch the Runes?¡± ¡°We could just use your freaky powers and make it flow docile, Null.¡± ¡°I am gone in a while, remember? What then?¡± ¡°Just stay a bit longer?¡± ¡°Never, I would have sent myself through, if it were not suicidal. Making the anchor was the only way to appease Snow not to throw a tantrum.¡± ¡°I can understand her somewhat. You are a bit too crazy for thinking of sending yourself first. While we are only acquaintances you would make me worry, if you were so reckless.¡± ¡°Um, thanks and sorry for being a bit impulsive.¡± ¡°Null be careful. Thinking before acting. Not worrying others.¡± ¡°...Okay, okay. I get it. To hear someone as distanced as Esther worry and Simov saying I need to care about myself shows I was a bit too overboard. Can we go back to the main problem?¡± With this the drawings were reviewed and adjusted. All knew they needed a new Circle, but right now they had to stabilize the current ones for the Roots and their Tree to grow. ¡ª *sigh* ¡°So much to do, so little time to waste.¡± ¡°Null, everything okay?¡± ¡°Ah Snow. Yes, everything is okay, but we need to contact Rendlar for the next transport of wares.¡± ¡°We can ask Doppel to do that, she is capable, beautiful, strong and dependable!¡± ¡°No, I just told Angie to send a letter for the meeting so we can- wait. Snow? No, you are not Snow, Doppel?!¡± ¡°Ah you saw through me.¡± While giggling the body of Snow transforms into a new form. A woman with platinum hair in a rather grand dress stood before Null. ¡°You really have increased your expertise to even copy other people. You¡¯ve changed?¡± ¡°Yes, after a long time I have finally become what you described.¡± With another transformation Doppel became a somewhat pale humanoid. While the proportions of a human were all there, no features were to be seen. The Skin white and looked somewhat wet, the face had indents for eyes and a small bulge where the nose should be but no openings or even sensory Organs were there. Hair was black and thick like tendrils and not like normal hair. Her whole Body was like a clay doll crafted before the final details were made. After a short while she transformed back to her platinum Blonde form. ¡°I prefer for now this form, as it does not scare the children.¡± ¡°Yeah, that is better for now. You are extremely diligent in your training.¡± ¡°Thank you Father!¡± While still feeling slightly uncomfortable of them calling him ¡®father¡¯, Null accepted they would never stop with it for the rest of their or his existence. ¡°Still I need to go with Snow a bit out. Angie made a point for our meeting at the corner of the Forest.¡± ¡°And you are working on what?¡± ¡°Oh this?¡± Pointing at the lantern Null was making. It had a strange form and was filled with runes and strange Miasma. ¡°This I call the Demon''s Lamp. You know the Forest is right now a bit crazy with all the small pockets, right? This Lamp forces not only the pockets to be intangible, but also reduces the fog in front of it. Well, hopefully." ¡°Neat! But would it not be dangerous if someone would recreate this lamp?¡± ¡°Not possible, at least as far as I know. It uses Miasma and radiates it. Like the Amulets I made before, but in reverse. This one is using pollution to mess with the surroundings. Not much and the small bubble it creates gets cleansed right away. Mana and Miasma really do not like each other while being both one and the same, huh.¡± ¡°And you finished it right now?¡± ¡°Yeah, that is why I wanted to go right now. I at first thought you were Snow, but I need to call her here.¡± ¡°Already here!¡± Out of the shadows Snow manifested and startled Null. ¡°How did you manage to not be noticed by me?!¡± ¡°Evolved too! Well not quite as spectacular as Doppel, but I can now sneak in other peoples shadow without them noticing!¡± ¡°Is everything Evolving right now? Well no matter, we have to go. Hope the Queen has somehow already put the Alliance in motion. I bet the Elders will try their best to make it as difficult for her as possible.¡± Exiting the Castle, Snow and Null wandered the street through the magical Fields to the Lost Village. While the Village was rather small and had only so many people it grew slowly with the Orphans growing up inside the Castle and migrating into the Village to become apprentices or making their own Families while farming the Lands Null gave them to tend to. Being in the Village Snow put away a few tons of Produce into her Shadow as they exited the Village and further wandered through the Tunnel into the Forest. ¡°Well here goes nothing.¡± Null pulled out the Lamp and lit the wick. After a few seconds the orange flame became a greenish purple flickering between the two extremes like trying to devour the other color to just be devoured afterwards ad infinitum. The fog slowly recedes as it gets pushed away from the light of the flame, slowly the forest is more visible and some strange twisting mirages are seen at the furthest ends before the Fog takes over again. ¡°Well it works, but not how I wanted it. Too much Miasma pollution and the Miasma fights against each other making it rather volatile. I need to streamline that thing before making some for others, as that thing feels like it could explode if handled incorrectly.¡± ¡°Null, you should not hold it, if it is dangerous.¡± ¡°That is exactly what I need to do. I keep it from exploding. While it is a failure I can use it for the time. Also I can check what Runes are wrong and maybe scrutinize the source. In the Lab it worked fine, but under so much cleansing Mana it works more like-¡± ¡°Null, you are rambling again.¡± ¡°Oh, sorry Snow. Let us walk to the meeting place. We meet at dusk, so better not let them wait too long in the dark.¡± Wandering through the Forest Snow is carefree and happy to walk with Null alone while Null himself watched not only Snow¡¯s silly twirls and how she jumped around happily but also the Path and the Lantern. Hours later they were finally on the corner of the Forest where they saw a delegation already waiting. ¡°Welcome! You must be Lord Null, I have heard so much about you. We are delegates from the Peddler King. Could we ask, why we had to meet at this distance from the City?¡± ¡°The last time one of my people went to the City they wrecked nearly all wards. I do not think Halk would greet me with great hospitality. Can I ask a question too?¡± Smiling to each other the person in front of Null was extremely courteous. ¡°Of course, if it is something I can tell you, I will do so immediately.¡± ¡°That is great to hear. It is just a small question I have. Where the fuck is Rendlar?¡± While the first few sentences were extremely friendly from Null the question oozed hostility and also heavy pressure. ¡°Ah, please do not be that way Lord Null. Boss Rendlar is occupied, as you know he has so much to do, he can not see you always, so he sent us to make it easier for the transaction to work. For the slight he also said we are to pay two tenths more than previously arranged to make up for it.¡± ¡°Ah I see. Then you are?¡± ¡°My name is Bickle. I am honored to be the middleman for now on.¡± ¡°Great Pickle-¡± ¡°Bickle.¡± ¡°Great Bickle. As we are right now here I would like to ask you to bring Mordred here. You know, the one who is directly in command of the Transaction between me and Rendlar?¡± ¡°This will be hard, as he is not here, for he was transferred to another place.¡± ¡°Understood. Then I have no other choice but to go to Halk directly. I really did not want to trample on their feet right now as they might be a bit sensitive, but if it is not possible to see familiar faces here right now it cannot be helped.¡± ¡°Please wait! As you said, it would be a problem if you were to go to Halk right now. While we are independent in transactions, if they want to arrest you for the attack, we can not help you in any way!¡± ¡°So, you do not want us to go there?¡± ¡°It is not like we want you to go, but it would be problematic for your sake Lord Null.¡± ¡°Then could you answer the Question?¡± ¡°Which Question exactly?¡± ¡°Where. Is. Rendlar?¡± ¡°As I said-¡± ¡°Stop with the bullshit. I am not dumb. You might be Claire¡¯s Men or even higher up. Rendlar has a handful of trusted People and I know their faces. You on the other hand are not one of them.¡± ¡°This is just a misunderstanding. I am rather new and-¡± ¡°For someone new you are rather pretty clothed. I thought people work from the bottom up? You work from the top down?¡± ¡°Please do not mock me, Lord Null. I am just a humble Merchant working for the Peddler King. Would you like to see my certificate?¡± ¡°If you have Rendlars seal with you we can cut the chase.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°You know, he had his seal made especially for such occasions, right? His own seal with special markings to make it harder to just copy the one he has, but needs special attention to see the difference in the standard one he uses?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°So will you now talk where Rendlar is, or do we have a battle on our hands?¡± *sigh* ¡°We are not here to fight or swindle you. Right now Rendlar is on his way to Ilstin. Mordred also, as he was multiple times inside the Crater of yours.¡± ¡°And he is going there, because¡­¡± ¡°Ilsitn sent an inquiry of the happenings inside the Starfall Mountains. While the Peddler King is still in his sickbed the higher ups ordered Rendlar to travel to Ilstin in order to give a statement directly.¡± ¡°And this could not be made by Message?¡± ¡°The Managers made the Order and I am here to fill in for the small time he is gone.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t kid yourself, he will not come back, right?¡± ¡°Why would you say that?¡± ¡°As you are rather eloquent and your Guards have a rather impressive set of armaments it is clear this is not for a one off deal. You were sent with purpose right?¡± ¡°You are really bright Lord Null, I am humbled.¡± ¡°So you work under Claire?¡± ¡°No, former Branch Manager Claire is now elsewhere. Let us say she might be happy if her underlings are a bucket and a mop and if she got it worse she might do night shifts inside some old guys bed. Rendlar made clear how she sold the Amulet which gave people free passage through the Forest to some Noble before he left. If the Noble had taken over the Mountain, it would have been ignored, but he somehow vanished.¡± ¡°Better not ask where to. So, where is Rendlar supposed to be?¡± ¡°I don''t really know, but can imagine him either in the Capital City Mammon or being in the border City behind Malek which would be Meldrin.¡± ¡°So Mammon it is. Meldrin would be too close for him to come back and resume the trade. Funny how corrupt Merchants can be if it might bring them Money.¡± ¡°I am sorry for you to see this site of the Peddler King, but we all work under our own superiors to step higher on the ladder.¡± ¡°No sweat. I Understand you for trying to be as humble as be to lull me into giving you trade goods. Well goodbye for now. I have somewhere to go.¡± ¡°Wait, what about the product?¡± ¡°No deal. Did you not know? I made a direct contract with Rendlar and not with the Peddler King.¡± ¡°That is inconsequential. If you just break the contract, you need to pay the penalties.¡± ¡°Read the contract. I made a contract with Rendlar and it also states you need to haul the Produce from the Starfall Crater to Halk yourself. Better find a way through this Forest then, as right now it is not only a death trap, it is also a maze with no exit.¡± ¡°But you took the Amulet!¡± ¡°Was in the contract ever mentioned an Amulet? I lent it to Rendlar¡­ Well rather I lent it to Mordred, but whatever¡­ It is not stated anywhere else. Oh, and the cheap price included the regular cheap selling to the Restaurant named Glowing Ladle, which you had neglected last Month.¡± ¡°How do you know?¡± ¡°Of course I talk to the people who market my Products. You don¡¯t do that?¡± ¡°...¡± Null had heard about the last shipment of Vegetables and other produce not being delivered by Betty, a Doppelganger working in the form of a quarter Elf girl in the Glowing Ladle. If she had not mentioned the missing shipment Null would have completely forgotten about how he needed to send more Products into the World. ¡°So I hope you can do something to not break our contract, Bickle. Otherwise you need to pay the fee for breaking the contract.¡± ¡°...¡± With this Null just wandered south into the direction of where Kilt is. Behind the City of Kilt is Malek and from there the Border of Ilstin is not far. Right now what Null was worried about is not the Peddler King making a mess, but finding Rendlar and looking into if he is alright. ¡®Leaf, please bring Doppel with a Carriage full of Vegetables and Cockratrice eggs to the border of the Forest. She needs to deliver them to Magus, to the Glowing Ladle disguised as a Merchant or Transporter, her choice. Oh, and she should take some Gray with her for security and training.¡¯ ¡®As you will, my Lord.¡¯ ¡®I am going on an adventure? Thank you Father!¡¯