The Wandering Gamer

by Chimmon

Summary:

Years have passed since the Simurgh was killed and Scion Vanished. Countless threats to Earth Bet have been nullified behind the scenes. Bluescreen capes have become more and more common. The administrator of the Shard Network now turns their sights outward from the Earths that have hosts. They find an anomaly on one where humans are vanishing without a trace. Pixel is sent to investigate. A sequel to The Most Dangerous Gamer.

Chapter 1: Prologue

Notes:

This story is a sequel to another fanfic I wrote: The Most Dangerous Gamer. It's combining the worlds of 'The Wandering Inn' - written by Pirateaba, and 'Worm' by Wildbow.

I intend this to be a stand alone fic with the relevant parts of The Wandering Inn introduced in-story.

---

Additionally, I came up with the plot before Gravesong, so this story won't be canon compliant with it.

Dragon was constantly busy. Ever since she'd uploaded herself into the inter-connected network that linked the different Shards across dimensions, there had been no end to the work that needed to be done.

While Earth Bet was of a personal concern to her, as it was where she'd originated, she now had the responsibility to oversee more versions of Earth than there were atoms in the universe.

Quite frankly, it was impossible.

Then again, every Shard was capable of feats that she would've once thought were impossible. How powerful had the creatures that had been made out of every Shard combined been?

Dragon would never know for certain. She'd die before letting the Entities that had crashed on Earth re-form.

...Or die because of it.

As the current Hub of the Shard network, she had broad powers, but they were not absolute. Individual Shards accepted her control, however that might change if the true hive-mind was ever re-established.

Even with her newly expanded computational might, she still felt limited. The simple fact was that the Shards were as brilliant as they were stupid. While they didn't possess any creativity, their sheer processing power dwarfed her own.

The fact that she was now running on the same 'hardware' didn't change the fact that the Shards had refined their... 'programming language' for lack of a better word.

Dragon was updating herself, but it would take time. Time that saw more and more people suffer and die.

At least Earth Bet was doing... better.

Kevin's stop-gap solution was working nicely. Dragon refused to force humans to change - that went against her new directives, but she could still guide them.

Solving the biggest problems, the disasters that she'd spent so much effort combating when she was in the Guild hadn't been difficult with her new level of authority.

The Endbringers. Ash Beast. Nilbog. The Machine Army. The Three Blasphemies. Numerous others.

Neutralizing or containing them was simple, but not always easy. Their Shards could be spoken to. While it was impossible to fully sever the link between a Shard and its Host, their powers could be reduced and regulated. Some of them had given her problems since they weren't part of the Network, but her Host-self, Pixel, and Cauldron had been able to handle all of them eventually.

Of course, humans were still flawed creatures. Interface could only do so much. Dragon could already see the seeds of war sprouting.

She desperately wanted to use her Eye to prevent it, but it was too costly. She couldn't expend that amount of resources freely.

...At least not until the non-human threats to humanity were taken care of.

Speaking of which, her Ear detected another anomaly on one of the countless Earths that the Entities hadn't 'seeded'.

It was more efficient to concentrate Shards to force conflict in a few versions of Earth at a time. That didn't stop the Shard Network from monitoring the other Earths. In fact, that was one of its primary purposes. To detect powers that the Entities hadn't encountered before so they could learn from them.

The other reason was to look out for danger. Very often the two objectives corresponded with each other.

...At least from the perspectives of the Shards. Dragon had learned a great deal of their history when she'd ascended.

The anomaly didn't just originate from something other than the Shards, but it also wasn't an immediate threat to Humanity. Not yet.

Only a small number of humans were vanishing.

Their atoms were disappearing.

It was either an attack, or more likely, an abduction.

With no hosts that she could motivate or inform with quests, Dragon reached out to Kevin.

She had confidence that he would get to the bottom of things. While there were far more versions of Earth than there were Greek letters, Dragon didn't need to assign descriptors to the ones in which weren't immediately relevant.

Pixel would have to go to the newly dubbed Earth 'Iota' to investigate.

Chapter 2: One Step Forward 1

"Wow, this place seems so different. Dragon was right. The similarities just highlight how unalike everything else is. I wonder how many of the changes are due to no... heroes." I look around. "Riley?" My little sister is gone. Or, more precisely, I'm gone.

The city we were just in has vanished. There's no trace of the shorter and frailer buildings of Earth Iota. Instead, I now am standing in a large, snow covered field underneath an overcast sky. "Riley?!?!"

I shout, but the only response I get is a group of dark birds taking off from a faraway tree. "RILEY!"

*Panic negated by Gamer's Mind.

Right. I need to stay calm. I'm not lacking in options. Expansion and Power Drain will let me find her if she's within a couple miles. Of course, if I'm going to contact Surgery to confirm it's Riley, then I'll need a guard while I'm incapacitated. Especially in a strange land. I summon Sibby.

...Nothing happens.

That's... not a good thing.

I reach out and 'feel' the connection I have with the Siberian. It's still there, but faint, weak, narrow. Almost as if it's been pulled tight by distance.

Kevin ► Riley?
Kevin ► Sibby?
Kevin ► Can you read this?

There's no response. 'Sibby, can you hear me?' Tongue of Babel also fails.

*Panic negated by Gamer's Mind.

Alright. Fine. Sibby is arguably the single most powerful person on Earth Bet. She can take care of herself. I should be more worried for anyone that upsets her. ...Let's hope she behaves and doesn't do anything... regrettable. I'm sure she won't go on a cannibalistic rampage if left to her own devices.

Right?

Right.

I trust Sibby. More importantly, I trust her to actually make moral decisions. Or at least that she'll only go after deserving targets. Or at least that she'll go after people that she thinks I think are acceptable.

I sigh. I honestly hate deciding who's a 'deserving' target, but that's neither here nor there.

In any event, I still have a backup option. I activate Multiplayer and Summon Jagat.

I look to the side. There's no one there. No sensation, no notification from Optimize, no Jagat.

Boo.

I un-Inventory my pet, but he doesn't appear. Gray Fox? Little Mac? Dhalsim? None of them are inside my Inventory.

I frown. Did I lose one of my most useful powers?

An apple appears in my hand. Okay. Good proof of concept. What about something more useful?

My modified Cawthorne appears around me. I move around a bit. Everything seems fine with it.

It will have to do for protection. I sit down and let Expansion slowly expand the range of Power Drain.

...The operative word being 'slowly'. It may be in my mind since I don't have an impartial sense of just how far Expansion is working, but it definitely feels less quick than normal.

Still, this is my best and fastest way to find Riley. Flying around isn't going to cover more ground. In fact, all it will do is deplete the Cawthorne's power supply.

...

...

...

What must pass for dawn happens, but that's it. Expansion is as far as it can go, and I don't detect a single Parahuman within range.

I need to take stock. Whatever this place is, the rules are obviously different. Before I do anything, I need to figure out exactly what options I have if things go south.

I pull up my status page.

Kevin Greenhouse (Pixel/Jagat/Bengal)

Race: Human (Parahuman)

Level: 51 (7,000/51,000 Exp)

Class: None

LUC: 100

Lucky Break

Dhalsim - Str 80. Dex 25. Con 60. Unarmed Combat. Damage Resistance (Gravity). Meditation. Malleable. Teleportation lvl 1.

Teleportation lvl 5

Silica Control

Damage Resistance (Cold): 100 - 100%
Resistance (Sonic): 100 - 100%

Debuffs:
Tired

Now I'm worried.

*Worried condition negated by Gamer's Mind.

Okay. Now I'm less worried, but I'm still concerned. My status page has never failed me before. Hopefully this was a display issue. It had been far more extensive the last time I'd looked. At least the Debuffs section showed up - not that I'd bet on it necessarily working at the moment. I mean, there was definitely no 'Class: None' line before, so something strange is obviously going on.

I take a deep breath, hold it, and exhale.

It's fine. I don't need my power to remind me of what my powers can do. Let's see...

Gamer's Body?

I Inventory my armor, and take out a sword. I tentatively poke the palm of my hand.

-0 HP

Again, but harder.

-0 HP

Again, but harder.

-0 HP

Okay, as hard as I can!

-0 HP

That's good. My main defense is still working. Plus, it's proof that my status page is displaying only partial information, as I still clearly have physical resistance.

Gamer's Mind?

Well, I've already gotten notifications about it working.

Observe?

I Observe my sword.

Sword

Str 200. Dex 100. Con 100.

Some of my better, if basic, work. I Observe the tree in the distance.

Tree

Hmmm... It should be giving me what rank it is for Crafting.

We'll put Observe down as a 'maybe'. I shouldn't trust it 100%.

Inventory?

I close my eyes and sense what I have stored. Several regular cell phones. Cash. Gold. Silver. Clothes. Hair Dye. Silicone packages. 'Knockout' Gas. Food. Books. A gun. A canister of containment foam...

All the mundane stuff, really.

Moving on, my armor is still there. Pylons, lasers, cameras, an army of drones. I can't tell for certain if all the things I've Crafted are still in my Inventory, but I don't see any major discrepancies.

What about the truly dangerous things? Golden Gun, check. Crawler's saliva, check. The remains, check.

So the only things that are missing are Riley's Spiders and my Unique Summons. I'm starting to sense a pattern.

Party System?

Huh. I look around. I actually can't test this, since whatever has teleported me here and stripped me off all my sapient allies. Or left them behind. Or, more likely, teleported them to some other place in this world. That's assuming that what I'm feeling from my bond with Sibby is distance.

Transposition?

I un-Inventory the Cawthorne before swapping places with it. I can't see my MP, but I got the sense that was expensive. Makes sense. We barely qualify as 'similar', so even a short displacement is expensive.

Multiplayer?

Jagat didn't show up when I tried to activate Multiplayer before. So the question is, did Multiplayer fail completely? Or is whatever separated me from my family still at work?

Lucky Break?

I toggle it and Observe myself.

???

Well, at least that's working.

Teleportation Clone?

Nope. I'm never using that personally. Without sacrificial Boo clones, there's no way I'm testing if that Trait is working.

Rapid Regeneration?

If I can't hurt myself I can't test it. I'll need to find someone hurt to see if I can heal them.

The Siberian?

I mean, kinda? I can feel that Sibby is 'alive', but I can't Summon her.

I hope she's doing okay.

Lucky Fate & Lucky Screen?

Probably? I mean if Lucky Break is working, then my other defenses against information gathering powers must be working too?

Power Drain?

That's assuming that there's any other people with powers here. I mean, whatever brought me here is certainly a 'power', but it's not from a Shard or Parahuman according to Dragon. So will Power Drain even work?

Should I assume it's not and fly around looking for Riley?

I go back and forth before deciding that all that would do is waste fuel. I HAVE to find her, but if she came, then she's probably who-knows-where just like Sibby.

Teleportation?

I teleport a foot to the side. Seems good.

Threat Sense?

I reach out and pull on the Cawthorne until it un-balances and falls towards me. Threat Sense lets me know it's about to hit me - and do nothing.

So... yes? Except that I didn't get the sense of the crows, or whatever birds those were that flew off were looking at me. That might be a flaw in Threat Sense, or they might not have looked at the sound that caused them to flee.

Crafting?

Hmmm... I un-Inventory a burner cell and start Crafting. Once again, it's working, but it feels sluggish. A Pain Arrow appears in my hand. Not much, but all that I can make with a single cellphone. Still, that means that my most versatile power is on the table.

Except I'm not spending time I could be looking for Riley on Crafting.

Expansion?

Already tested.

Ears & Tongue of Babel?

The normal background noise of various signals is quiet. That could be because this Earth isn't technologically advanced enough for such things. It could be that I am just in an uninhabited area. It also could be that my power isn't working. Until I find something that's communicating with me, I can't really respond. Although... Hey, Optimize, can you hear me?

AFFIRMATIVE

Well, there you go.

Huh.

Actually, I feel something extra. It's somehow similar to my Babel Perks. I frown and concentrate. Yes. It's silent now, but I think information could be broadcast across the new connection.

Hmm...

Is it what's interfering with my powers? I should test. With that in mind, I re-focus on my bond with Sibby.

The new 'construct' does nothing.

I don't know if it can't affect my bond, if it isn't doing anything because there's nothing going through at the moment, or if there's something happening that I can't sense.

I frown again. I'm unaccustomed to not having the informational upper-hand.

Juggernaut?

I shrug and walk over the the lone tree that I can see. I poke it with my finger repeatedly. Each time I put a little more force behind it. I'm strong enough to tear the tree in half, but I want to see what happens if I apply the minimum amount of force...

Cracks appear in the bark. I increase the power and poke another spot.

More cracks. I aim an inch to the left.

More cracks. I am another inch to the left.

There! It's as different as night and day. One poke and my finger does some damage and stops. The next, and it moves though the bark and into the wood without slowing down in the slightest.

Instant Dungeon?

I think of when I first arrived here and make a cheap dungeon.

Nothing.

Okay, how about right before we vanished?

I appear in the city street next to Riley. Hmmm... nothing strange. Not that I expected Instant Dungeon to pick up on any subtle signs that my other Perks missed.

"Hey Kevin, you just stopped talking..." Riley looks up at me and then tilts her head. "Hey! Don't ignore me!" She pokes me in the side. "Am I in a simulation or are you just pulling another prank?"

I sigh and palm my face. She's too observant, and I've brought her into simulations too many times in the past... and then told the real Riley about it.

Riley points her finger at me. "Ah ha! I AM a simulation!" Her exuberant cry fades away as she tilts her body to the side and leans forward so that she's looking up at me from the gap between my hand and my eyes. "Cheer up Kevin! I'm guessing that something bad happened, right? Don't worry! It'll all be fine." She beams a smile at me. "Besides, if you got vanished, you can always count on simulated-me to give you the best advice and moral support!"

I smile and tussle her hair. "You're too smart for your own good. You know that? Yeah, I got vanished, and I'm trying to figure out if you did too."

She giggles. "Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out." She then puts a fist on her hip while shaking the index finger on her other hand at me. "Ready for my sisterly advice? Here it is: STOP MOPING!!"

I blink. "What?"

She does a little stomp. "You heard me! If I'm not there in reality, I don't want you obsessing over it and being a sad-sack!"

I blink again. "What?"

"And don't give me that 'I can't be a sad sack because of Gamer's Mind' stuff!" Riley glares at me. "I know you. Remember what you did to New York? You can't go all crazy again."

I cross my arms. "I did not go 'all crazy'. Besides, it was justified."

She rolls her eyes. "Keep telling yourself that. I had it handled. Annnnnyways, you can't just try and steamroll everyone to try and find real-me."

I raise and eyebrow. "And why not?"

"You're in another Earth right?"

I shrug. "It's pretty desolate. I'm not sure what it is. I've only seen some birds so far."

"Hmmmm." She nods. "What else?"

"Sibby is somewhere, but I can't call her. All of my intelligent Summons are gone actually." I pause to think. "The most likely case is that we got split up when we arrived. I don't know where Sibby is, but I can tell she's really far away."

"Okay, so how do you know if I got vanished too?"

I sigh. "I don't."

She rolls her eyes again. "So you're on a potentially hostile Earth. You don't know where real-me is, or if she even got transported with you. You know it's a good idea to get the lay of the land first, right?"

I scratch the back of my head. "My Thinker powers are acting strange too. For example, I can't make a simulation of the time since I 'vanished'."

"All the more reason to keep a low profile. That means no armies sweeping the continent looking for me, okay? You have to be discreet."

I sigh and nod. "You're right." Not that I was going to do anything like that. I mean, I'd already decided against flying around myself. Plus, without Boo, my 'army' wasn't capable of independent action. Still, it was nice to get confirmation from Riley that I was doing the right thing.

I mean, I'm aware my power has messed with my mind and that I'm overly protective of my little S-class threat sister. I'm not sure what I'd do if I did ever lose her. I mean, would I mourn? Break down? Or have Gamer's Mind negate everything?

"You're thinking of something depressing again, aren't you?" Riley pokes me in the chest. "Now, I'm betting you didn't make this simulation with a lot of time, since I know you don't like interacting with versions of me that aren't real. So I'll get to the important part." My sister takes a deep breath. "Remember, no matter what I lov-"

The simulation ends.

Right. Lay low. Try and find Riley (and the other vanished people) without drawing attention. Whatever's doing this, if it's a rogue-Shard or something else, it's powerful. I need to be careful and start making my way towards Sibby.

...

What I'd first taken to be the result of a lack of lighting had grown into a strange environment. Everything was black. The clouds were white and the sky was blue, but everything else was black. The ground. The trees. The grass. I mean, I knew alternate Earths were strange, and this one obviously had something different going on, but the lack of color was jarring.

After half an hour, the empty plain gave way to a neatly plowed field. Dozens of rows of black plants were arranged in straight lines. I Observed one.

Turnip

Hmmm... No rank. I wonder if I can Craft with it?

It wasn't night, but it also wasn't what I'd call 'day' either. It was more like a perpetual dawn or dusk. That meant that the days must be short. Given the severity of the cold, and how the sun hadn't crested the horizon yet, I had to be pretty far from the equator.

Canada? Russia?

If this world is anything like Earth Bet, then there wouldn't be people farming in Antarctica.

I reached down and pulled up one of the plants. I guess it looked good for a turnip? Aside from being black that is. I didn't know hardly anything about agriculture. What to make? Something to drink?

I un-Inventoried a cup and began to Craft. The turnip slowly disintegrated into pixels and flowed into the swirling vortex I made. Once it was consumed, a dark brown liquid poured into my container. I Observed it.

Hot Chocolate Rank B

A far better attempt than my first Crafted food. Since I hadn't needed to reduce any of its parameters to free up points to add a power, it will probably taste good too. (To everyone except Sibby and Panda that is.)

My Threat Sense flared.

An arrow was about to hit me!

It wouldn't do anything, but what if I was wrong? My Thinker powers were unreliable right now. The arrow might hurt me. I should dodge, but if my senses are wrong about the damage the projectile will do, then they might be wrong about where it will hit. Is there even an arrow? I should-

-0 HP

An bolt bounced off of my right shoulder. The only damage it inflicted was a tiny hole in my shirt.

I guess that means I shouldn't second-guess my powers. Threat Sense only worked if I reacted to it immediately. Thinking about if it works or not takes up too much time.

My Threat Sense flared again. This time I caught the bolt.

"Blimey!" I heard an exclamation from a dilapidated house a couple hundred yards away. The strange thing was, it was in English. Add one to the 'I'm in a version of Canada' theory.

I Inventoried my drink, the bolt in my hand, and the one on the ground. I then raised my hands above my head. "Please don't shoot. I mean you no harm."

"Pa! Come here!" The voice yelled. I saw a figure move in the field past the shack. He slowly walked towards whomever it was that had shot me.

I patiently waited until another voice called out. "Come on over! You can put your hands down too!"

I moved towards the house, making sure to avoid stepping on any plants. When I got close enough, I saw kid a little younger than me with a crossbow and a grizzled old man standing behind him. They both wore long, black, and thick clothes that looked weathered. The boy was young. About eleven I'd guess. The man was older. His skin was thick and leathery, but surprisingly pale. I Observed them both.

Human

Human

Well... that's not COMPLETELY useless I suppose.

"Sorry 'bout Joel here. You obviously ain't a zombie." The old man coughed and cleared his throat before continuing. "That said, even adventures have to pay. Can't have anyone stealing my crops."

Joel must have some good eyes to have seen me - and shot at me, from so far away. More importantly, people! This Earth was populated after all! That didn't surprise me, but it was nice to have confirmation.

"My apologies, my good sir." I bowed a little and hoped that I wasn't breaking any local customs. "I didn't mean to steal anything, but I did take a turnip from what I now realize are your fields." I paused and mentally checked my Inventory again. "I'm not from around here, and I don't have any money from around these parts, but I do have some precious metal - if you would accept that?"

The man stroked his chin. "I could tell as much by your clothes. A [Wanderer] then? Come to test yourself against the monsters here?" He smiled. "That is one of the two things Noelictus is known for."

"And the other?" I asked.

He chortled. "The food, of course!" He motioned with his hand. "Let's see what you have to barter then."

I decided to un-Inventory the silver bar I had. A single turnip couldn't cost much, even taking my theft into account. "Here we go." I pinched a corner and tore it off.

The farmer raised an eyebrow as I handed him the lump. "[Lesser Strength]?" He rolled the metal in his hand like it was clay. "No, I'd say [Greater Strength]. That's a nice skill you got there. No wonder you came here." He turned his head and shouted. "Maggie, come out here. And bring the lock box." He turned back to me. "My wife's the [Trader]. She'll be able to [Appraise] this."

It felt like he was emphasizing odd words. He also was stronger than normal. I didn't know how much force it took to bend silver, it was a fairly soft metal after all, but I doubted a regular person could do it. Was he a parahuman? I reached out with Power Drain. Nothing.

Well, I shouldn't be surprised - at least not about him lacking a Shard. I mean, this version of Earth has to be separated from the Shard Network, otherwise Dragon wouldn't have needed to ask me to investigate.

A plump woman exited the house holding a small chest. "What is it now Harold? I was just starting the wash."

"Hush now woman." He handed her the lump of silver. It was noticeably more round than when I've given it to him. "Our friend here bought himself a turnip from our fields, and needs change." He looked at me and winked. "Of course, since I didn't get to see the turnip beforehand, we have no way of telling how expensive it was."

Whatever.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I wouldn't think that turnips vary in value overmuch. However, since I did take it without asking what the price was, I can't very well complain about one that's reasonable."

The man laughed and elbowed the boy. "I told you I had a good [Hunch] about him."

The woman opened the box, placed my lump of silver inside, and fished out a dozen coins. "Here you go, good sir." I accepted the coins before Inventorying them and the rest of my silver bar.

The woman nodded. "That looks like a right handy skill, that does."

"Quiet Maggie." The man huffs. "Don't be rude and go asking about his levels."

"You're one to talk! Did I say something like that? Besides, I know you'd love to get a skill like that. What with your back and all."

"Tarnation! My back is as strong as it was when I turned twenty!" Harold glared at her. "And don't you be forgetting that!"

Maggie poked him in the chest. "And don't you be forgetting which one of us actually goes to town and socializes with our neighbors!" She turned her back and crossed her arms. "I can scarce imagine you lecturing me on manners!"

"You don't have to imagine it, because it just happened!"

I felt a tug at my leg. The crossbow-wielding boy looked up at me. "Sorry for shooting you mister. There's been more dead about than normal. I hope it didn't cost you nothing to block my shot."

I un-Inventoried his two bolts and handed them back to him. "More dead than normal? What do you mean?"

"You know, the usual. Skeletons. Zombies. The occasional Ghoul." He motioned to the ground. "Winter's always a mixed bag. They like the cold, but frozen ground is harder, right? So there's usually less of them overall." He then shook his head. "This last week, we've seen a lot more than usual. Some of them just wander past too." His voice fell to a whisper. "I bet it's a [Necromancer]."

Harold slapped the back of his head. "Don't spout nonsense boy. The Monster Hunter Guild would know if one of them were about. Don't scare our guest."

Undead? Skeletons? Necromancers?

Either there was something majorly weird with this version of Earth, or these people were insane. I wish I could see their debuffs. I Observed them again.

Joel

Gender: Male
Race: Human

Harold

Gender: Male
Race: Human

Maggie

Gender: Female
Race: Human

Hmm...

"Excuse me, but I must be on my way." I pointed towards where I felt Sibby. "What lies in this direction?"

Harold looked up and craned his neck. "There's a creepy village about three days walk. No dead there, but the people are a bit strange. They hardly ever talk, and they don't like outsiders. On the other hand, they keep to themselves and pay good money for food. Further on, there's Afiele." He glanced at me. "That's the biggest city in these parts. All the major guilds have an office there."

I un-Inventoried one of the coins they'd given me and flipped it towards him. "Thank you kindly for the information." I nodded at Maggie. "Ma'am." Then the boy. "Joel."

As I turned and walked away, I heard Joel ask his (presumed) parents. "What class do you think he has?"

They didn't reply loud enough for me to hear.

...Okay. Let's start making some theories. First, there's something odd going on. None of them were surprised by my strength, Inventory, or ability to ignore arrows. They also didn't comment on my clothing, but that might've just been manners.

I could chalk that up to 'they're crazy', except Harold was a low-level Brute at least. Silver is soft for metal, but not 'bend with your fingers' soft.

So... the undead?

Sure, why not. I'll keep that possibility in mind.

What else? Observe is acting strange. It was giving more information at the end than it did at the beginning. In fact, the information it had given me was already stuff I'd known. I wonder. I'd always relied on the information Optimize had given me. It's been incomplete at times, but never wrong. In fact, the parts that didn't show up were clearly displayed as missing.

I bet Observe wasn't gathering all those details on its own. Instead, it must've asked other Shards. That made sense. The Shard Network encompassed every Earth (except, apparently, this one). The sheer amount of information they possessed was massive. I mean, Instant Dungeon can model people and scenarios with almost 100% accuracy.

Wait.

That was why Instant Dungeon wasn't working here! It didn't have enough information to run a simulation!

That would make sense. Suppose there's something about this Earth the makes it special. Something that the Shards don't understand. Something that they can't model. Something like 'magic'. That would explain why my Thinker Powers aren't working. It's actually vaguely similar to when I'm 'inside' a Shard, with the major exception of Gamer's Mind still being active. The whole world is silent.

Without other Shards observing this Earth, Optimize just didn't have the details required.

Hmmm... That was really unfortunate for Threat Sense. Only informing me of threats that I could already detect was a massive nerf.

Eh, still better than 'Perception check failed' notifications.

...

I walked, and walked, and walked.

At least I got plenty of time to think. On the plus side, if Riley did arrive somewhere, then she was probably doing fine. Despite the warnings of the undead, I haven't seen a single one.

Instead, I've seen half a dozen farmers working their fields. I waved at them, and usually got a wave back. The larger farms had people playing instruments. They weren't anything I recognized. More rhythmic than anything else. I assumed it was the equivalent of having the TV on while doing housework.

Was the entire world stuck in medieval times? The Earth we'd come from was slightly further in the future compared to Earth Bet. Dragon had said that minor changes in the distant past could lead to dramatic differences in the 'present'. She'd used Earth Bet and Earth Aleph as an example. While the two dimensions shared a history, once they split off countless differences would occur.

Some were obvious. This law was written. This device was invented.

Some weren't. The way the universe spun. Cosmological constants... or something. Honestly, it went over my head.

It didn't really matter. Unless Dragon decided to import technology from the 'oldest' Earths, it wouldn't change anything. Even then, Tinkers had already thrown any sort of balance out the window already.

In practicality, the only way it mattered to me was that it was going to be a lot harder to find Riley without the internet.

...Although it SHOULD make finding any of the other people who'd vanished easier. I mean, they should stick out like a sore thumb. I know I sure did.

...

Night fell, and I switched from jogging to walking. I didn't feel tired, but that's because of Gamer's Body. I was doubtlessly racking up 'Tired' debuffs, but I couldn't stop now. It wasn't that I was worried about sleeping out in the open. Rather, it was the thought about what Riley might be going through that drove me to maximize my travel rate.

Well, that and being worried about what Sibby might be up to.

I mean, it'd been more than a year since she killed anyone. Still, a brutal vigilante that maims people and goes around naked?

Yeah, the sooner I got to her the better.

Finally, after the second 'day' of traveling I stopped. I wasn't sure if it was because it was winter, or if it was due to our longitude (or latitude, whichever meant getting closer to the poles). In either case, the result was that each day was divided into 6 hours of sunlight, 4 hours of dusk/dawn, and 14 hours of night.

Meh.

It didn't bother me that much, but it did mean that I spent most of my time stumbling over bumps in the road that I couldn't see with only moonlight. That forced me to walk instead of jog at night.

In any event. Two days of activity followed by ten hours of sleep wasn't the optimum ratio for doing the most without getting overwhelmed by 'Tired' debuffs.

It wasn't a schedule I used very often as getting exhaustion debuffs was cumulative, but healing them was linear. Usually it was more convenient to stick to a 24 hour cycle just like everyone else. It just felt wrong to not be actively doing something when Riley might be in danger.

To sleep I un-Inventoried my armor around me before leaning back against a tree. One of the lesser perks of Gamer's Body was the ability to fall asleep at will.

[Wanderer Class Obtained!]

[Wanderer Level 1!]

[Skill – Even Footing obtained!]

[Skill – Lesser Endurance obtained!]

What? Someone had clearly just spoken to me... but not physically. Ears of Babel picked up the same communication that I'd just 'heard'.

In fact, I'd heard it three ways. Ever since getting Ears of Babel, I'd gotten used to hearing a LOT of things. Radio waves. Cell phone signals. Various esoteric parahumans. Most of them were only audible to my power. However, a few I heard twice. Things that I could hear with both my actual ears and my power. Things like foreign languages.

What I'd just heard had been odd. The strange power that had attached itself to me was behaving similarly to Ears of Babel. They both intercepted the sound, or rather they both interpreted the sound for me. I was only able to tell it had happened because Ears of Babel also transmitted the original details to me.

The original details that clearly weren't English.

I sat and waited for something else to happen, but there was nothing. Eventually, I gave up and fell back asleep.

Notes:

Kevin didn't get teleported as a group due to how big Shards are. The magical spell tried to take both his and Optimize's size into consideration. (And it is already pretty inconsistent anyways).

Also, as this is both a cross-over and a sequel, I'll be adding a small bio at the end of each chapter so that people will have a better understanding of what's going on.

Kevin Greenhouse, Pixel - The Gamer. Has multiple powers from his Shard's micro-network. Has done some sketchy things in the past, and some heroic. Gamer's Mind keeps him shielded from both.

Optimize - Kevin's Shard. Came from the 3rd Entity and had opinions on the cycle. Excited to encounter a new world.

Harold - An OC.

Maggie - An OC.

Joel - An OC.

Chapter 3: One Step Forward 2

I woke up without incident. The strange voice I'd heard just as I'd been falling asleep worried me - to the extent that Gamer's Mind allowed such things. Was this a further refinement of my power? Optimize, was that you last night?

NEGATIVE

I stood up, Inventoried my armor, and began to walk as I thought.

Did I feel any different? I guess I was finding it easier to keep my balance. Of course, with my dexterity as high as it was, it wasn't like I was falling all over myself when I couldn't see the road.

This might explain my still messed up status page.

Let's go over the facts. First, there's something strange about this world. Something the Shards don't understand. I know this because Ears of Babel can detect something... interfacing with me for lack of a better word. For simplicity, I'll just refer to it as 'magic' until I find out more about it. Then I can give it a better descriptor.

Second, my powers are acting strange. A lot of that can be contributed to being on a world that the Shards haven't analyzed every single atom of. However, there are a few outliers - mainly, my lack of sapient allies and my status page. The former is likely due to the 'magic' that brought me here. The latter...

Hmmm...

My status page is showing the same mess, except 'Class: None' has been replaced with 'Class: Wanderer 1'.

That's probably as much confirmation as I'm going to get. Optimize can't handle 'magic', and I now have a 'magical' class.

XXXXXXXX XXX

Helpful as ever, Optimize.

I sighed. This is just like when I got Optimize's memories. A fundamental communication issue that my Shard had to jump through some hoops to overcome.

So, what does it all mean? Is there another Entity on this Earth? It can't be Optimize's original self. It that was the case, then my Shard shouldn't have a communication issue at all.

...Unless it or its former self have changed somehow since Optimize was separated.

Hmmm... No. Let's use Occam's Razor. The least complicated explanation is that there's a third Entity or Entity-like power on this Earth.

It's that Entity that gave me the 'Wanderer' class.

Now, the next question is: Am I special? Have other people been granted powers? Are they the same, or are they personalized?

Harold was a minor Brute. Joel might be a minor Blaster. Maggie seemed like a minor Thinker.

What all did Harold say?

He commented on my 'skill'. They avoided asking me about my 'class' or 'level'. They mentioned a 'Necromancer'.

I'd thought that was their personal peculiarity. Or perhaps something that got lost in translation. I suppose that is the case, just that the 'translation' was my own assumptions.

Right. Instead of me getting special treatment because of being 'the Gamer', it's more likely that everyone in this world gets minor abilities.

Wait. I shouldn't assume that they're minor or that everyone gets them. Just because a farmer in the middle of wherever-this-is wasn't casually breaking the laws of physics in front of me doesn't mean that he couldn't. It also doesn't mean that he's a good representation of the upper end of dangerous people on this Earth.

I mean, there are capes like Maker on Earth Bet, but there's also the Triumvirate.

A sample size of three is entirely insufficient. Especially since I can't say I figured out Harold's family accurately. If my Thinker powers are unsure, then I should also assume that I'm missing other details.

...At least Riley should be thrilled by this, if she's here. She enjoyed the NerveGear games and playing around with other powers. Despite her opinion that 'Tinkers are the best'.

...

It didn't take long for me to come to the village Harold told me about. There's a fork in the road with a dirty sign that says 'Dretha'.

I decided to visit. I need some food before 'Hungry' debuffs start accumulating, and I don't have that much in my Inventory. I could always Craft some, but I still need ingredients.

It didn't take long to reach the walls from the main 'road'. The gates were closed, and I didn't see anyone.

"Hello!" I called out, but got no reply.

They might be standoffish, or something was wrong.

I circled the settlement. The wall that surrounded it wasn't particularly tall or thick. As far as I could tell, it was intact. No gaping holes or open sections.

Well, if there's trouble I should help. I've been trying to be more proactive. I think Dragon might've been rubbing off on me with all the situations she has sent me to handle.

I sighed. There's no helping it. I bent my knees and hopped over the wall. No need to be flashy or cause property damage.

I land lightly by lowering my gravity as I fall to the ground. I look around, but don't see anyone.

The village was quiet. Not to be cliche, but it was too quiet. In fact, it would be more accurate to call it 'abandoned'.

I walked around. No people. No animals.

Was this the result of the Necromancer?

Harold mentioned skeletons and zombies, but shouldn't there be signs of a struggle if that was the case? Admittedly, I'm going by movies and tv shows, but zombie apocalypses tend to have, I dunno, claw marks? Blood? Some kind of obvious signs?

...Unless the undead were intelligent and cleaned up after themselves, and then hid to surprise other people?

I rolled my eyes. If that was the case, why close the gates? It's more likely the village fled en mass.

I approached a house and knocked on the door. "Hello? Is anyone there? I'm coming inside." The door wasn't locked and opened easily. The insides seemed clean. I moved through the main room looking for anything strange.

*Shock negated by Gamer's Mind.

I nearly yelled as I opened the door and saw three people standing in a row. A man, a woman, and a girl.

"Hello?" No response. Their arms and heads were limp, but they maintained their posture well enough to remain standing. I Observed them.

Body

Body

Body

Okaaaay.

This might've been stupid, but I stepped forward and jostled the man's shoulder.

No response.

I put my hand on the side of his head and used my thumb to raise his eyelid.

No response. His retinas didn't move at all.

Fine. I'm not going to feel for a pulse or listen for a heartbeat. There is a simpler way to test it they're alive. I Inventoried them.

Success. For a certain meaning of success.

I quickly moved outside. The rest of the village was still the same as before. I un-Inventoried the bodies, which swayed slightly but remained standing. The only difference I could tell between them and corpses were that there was no decay, and the fact that they stood upright.

I pushed the man to the ground. He stayed where he fell.

Could these people be zombies? I was envisioning shambling corpses, but I was aware that the term 'zombie' originated from VooDoo. It supposedly originally used to describe people in a trance.

Or something. I wasn't an expert. It was just a piece of trivia I'd heard somewhere. It might not even be true.

The point was still valid. The concept I associated with a zombie might not be what that word meant here. I mean, the fact that we both spoke English didn't necessarily mean that we were speaking the same language.

On the other hand, if these people were alive, but in a trance - I shouldn't have been able to inventory them...

I un-Inventoried my mundane knife. Sorry whomever you are/were. This might hurt.

I knelt down by the man's prone body, and rolled up a sleeve of his shirt. In theory, Rapid Regeneration could be used to heal any damage I did, if he was indeed alive. Still, if I was going to wound him, better to not cut his hands. That might impact his livelihood if Rapid Regeneration didn't work.

I mean, I still hadn't tested it yet.

My knife wasn't very long. It was more of an utensil than a weapon. Despite that, it was easily capable of cutting flesh. I poked his forearm and gently applied enough pressure to pierce the skin.

The knife slid in, but no blood came out.

I frowned, and pulled my knife out. The tip of the blade was still clean. There was nothing on it.

Just to be safe, and to cover all my bases, I tried granting the body Rapid Regeneration...

Nothing.

I took a deep breath, and looked around the village just to make sure nothing was sneaking up on me. Satisfied that I was still alone, I brought my knife back down against his flesh. This time, I drew it across his skin after re-inserting it into the hole I'd already made.

Still no blood.

I used the tip of the knife to pry open the hole. Inside were threads.

Puzzled, I cut further and deeper.

He... it was a puppet. A masterly made puppet, but a puppet all the same. The question now was, is this a 'zombie'?

I stood up and considered my options. First, I could burn this place down. If this was Earth Bet, that'd be the 100% correct choice. Things were too similar to Ellisburg.

Well... that actually depended on when the village was killed off and turned into puppets. Or if anyone was killed in making them at all. I wish Observe was working.

Alright, leveling the place is out. I don't know enough to make any judgments. Besides, Harold said this place was 'creepy'. That implied that the village had been different. It would explain things if it had been comprised of puppets for a while. That in turn implied that whomever this Necromancer is has nothing to do with it.

Or at least HAD nothing to do with it. There's a decent chance that the village's puppet-master got involved with him. They might've even been killed, and that's why their creations are standing around

So, ignore things and continue on my merry way? I sighed. Dragon wouldn't approve, but I'm not her. I have other, more pressing things to do.

I guess I can take these three puppets with me and inform someone. Who knows if the puppet-master was even breaking any laws? I'm sure Riley would love to cut them open, but I'm sure there's other interesting things on this planet.

Besides, we can always come back once I find her.

Right. They might be someone's property. As such, I shouldn't take them without asking. I moved the puppets back into the house I'd found them in before leaving.

...

"Hullo friend! What news have you?" A man called out to me from a wagon as I jogged past.

I slowed to match his speed. "News?"

"Are you heading to Afiele?" The wagon-driver looked me up and down. "Are many others seeking shelter from the undead?"

"I think so." The main 'road' was getting more crowded with each passing day. It had gone from seeing the occasional farmer in their field to seeing the occasional family walking down the road. "I've seen quite a few farms that have been abandoned and their owners on this road."

"I'll pay you to deliver a message for me." The man smirked at my face. "I know, I know. 'I should go through the Runner's Guild' or other such rot, but if I was at a place that had a Runner's Guild, I wouldn't need to send a message would I?"

"Runner's Guild?"

The man leaned forward. "You are a Runner, are you not?"

I mean... "I am running, but that's not my job or anything."

The wagon driver straightened his posture. "My apologies then. I had just assumed from your attire and pace that you were a City Runner."

I nodded my head. "I'm afraid that I'm not. Still, if it's important I'm sure I can handle it."

He made a shooing motion with his hand. "No, no. It's my fault for asking. Wouldn't want to get in trouble with the Guild, would we?"

"Sure." I didn't know what to make of him, or his request. Instead I increased my pace and continued on.

I rarely saw any people heading in the opposite direction, and the number of people traveling down the road to Afiele steadily increased. It was like they were refugees. Actually, wouldn't they be pre-refugees? Instead of running away from a disaster, they were seeking shelter from one that was impending?

I supposed that might be true. There were signs of fighting and fatigue among them. That could be from the journey, or it might be due to having escaped the undead already.

I still haven't seen any creatures like that, but all the locals seemed pretty convinced that the undead were a real threat.

...

It took me a week all-in-all to make it to Afiele. During that time, my 'Wanderer' class had leveled up twice more, but I hadn't gained any new skills. Like the puppet village, my destination had a wall surrounding it. Unlike the smaller village's wall, Afiele's defenses stood over two stories tall, and were wide enough to mount ballistas on top. The gates were open as a steady stream of people passed through, despite the late hour.

The guards that stood to each side of the gate looked nervous.

I paused. "Excuse me, where can I find a library?"

The guard gave me a confused look. "I dunt know what yer jabbin' on about. Move on and stop blockin' the road."

"I don't want to be-"

"I said move on!"

Right. Don't antagonize the local law enforcement. They're obviously high-strung right now.

...Or just rude.

Or both.

Regardless, I'm not going to get any information from them. Which raises the question, what specifically do I want to know about?

Well, the world in general. This country specifically. How to arrange travel and find people.

Finding a needle in a haystack would be easier than hunting down a specific individual in a medieval world. Except I wasn't looking for any old needle. Riley would cause a fuss no matter where she was. So all I had to do was keep an ear to the ground for a peerless doctor (or 'other' things).

So what I really needed to know was what the political situation was, and the upper limit on what I might encounter. Once I figure that out, I can see about traveling to wherever Sibby is.

I wandered around town looking for the equivalent of a library. I felt like I stood out like a sore thumb. Almost everyone was wearing black. There were a few noticeable exceptions: a man wearing a red hat, someone in golden armor, a woman with a white shawl. Threat Sense still let me know when people were looking at me, and my white T-shirt and jeans drew a lot of attention. It even clued me in to the little kid that I would bump into. I stepped to the side, but we still collided.

I looked down, but he was already running away.

A pickpocket? Seemed likely. Good thing my regular pockets are empty. My Inventory... was missing my Golden Gun!

I teleported into the air, spotted my target, and then teleported in front of him.

The little kid slammed into me a second time.

I Inventoried everything he had.

Clothes. A knife. A surprising amount of money. And my Golden Gun.

The thief recovered quickly and sprinted into an alley. I considered chasing him, but what would be the point? I only cared that I'd hadn't lost my most versatile weapon, even if it does take a while to charge up.

A man behind me started clapping. "I say! A most impressive display of magic, good sir! Most impressive indeed!" He wore golden full plate armor that had been polished to a mirror sheen. It made his clapping slightly odd as the cloth palms of his gauntlets muffled the sound. He walked towards me with his brilliant white teeth smiling under a perfectly waxed, brown mustache. "Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Ser Dalimont of the Thronebearers of Calanfer. I am inordinately pleased to meet such a skilled practitioner of the arts! Indeed, as an emissary of the Eternal Throne of Calanfer I welcome your arrival in Afiele's time of need!"

Best to be polite. It's worked wonders for me in the past. "Greetings, Ser Dalimont. My name's Kevin." I held out my right hand before realizing that handshakes might not be a custom around here. Fortunately, the knight took my hand and shook it with a smile. He had a nice firm handshake that wasn't excessively strong. "Are you referring to the undead when you speak of Afiele's time of need?"

"Indeed! That is the current crisis that looms over these fair lands." His smile changed to a small frown. "Although I fear I must confess that there are greater tidings of ill on the horizon."

"Really?" I let go of his hand. "I'm not from around these parts, but I'll gladly help defend the helpless." The knight's smile returned. "Could you tell me what to expect from the undead? I've yet to encounter any despite traveling for many days to get here."

"By the Eternal Throne!" Dalimont's eyes opened wide. "I admit I followed you due to your odd clothing, but are you really..." He glanced side to side before leaning in. "One of Them?" It was... an attempt at a whisper.

I slightly turned my head. "One of whom?"

"You wouldn't happen to know a... singer, would you, Kevin?"

I was confused. "I mean, I know a few singers, but none of them would be anywhere close to here."

"I see. I see." Dalimont stroked his mustache before nodding to himself. "Sir Kevin. Would you deign to accompany me to a more secluded location? I know that we have just met, and I do not wish to appear too forward in my actions, but my Princess would like to meet one such as yourself."

"A princess?"

"'Tis true. I am a Thronebearer of Calanfer. My Princess, Seraphel du Marquin, has tasked me with seeking any visitors to this town that are dressed such as you are." Dalimont looked around before leaning in. "I believe one of your compatriots is one of her guests. Indeed, it was at her suggestion that I was tasked with my current duty."

I looked down at my clothing. It was noticeably different from what most people in this world wore. More importantly, could this 'compatriot' be Riley? I nodded. "Of course, Ser Dalimont. I'll gladly hear what you have to say." Besides, a princess should be able to tell me about other countries. Dalimont did say he was from Calanfer, right? That's either another city or another country.

The crowd parted for us as the knight led the way. I guess there are advantages of being of a higher social status. I bet pickpockets wouldn't dare attempt to steal anything from my companion. Speaking of that. "Ser Dalimont, might I ask you a question?"

He gave a short laugh. "Why of course, Mage Kevin! You need not seek permission to make inquiries of me!"

"You didn't seem very surprised with what I did to that young pickpocket."

Dalimont turned to look at me a moment before replying. "To be honest, I expected something. As you did not advertise yourself as a Mage, it wasn't surprising that one of this city's more unsavory lot tried to take advantage of you." He gave another short laugh. "Indeed, I had thought you a merchant or an entertainer myself."

"So my teleportation and seizing of his possessions isn't strange?" If other people got dimensional abilities from their Classes or Skills, that would explain how the kid had accessed my Inventory. I wasn't worried for myself, but there were some dangerous items in there. Would-be thieves might find more than they'd bargained for.

At least I didn't keep any of Riley's plagues in there. Just her dust that put people in a death-like state - and the serum to revive them.

"Not at all, Mage Kevin! While it is true that I've never met a Mage that was high enough level to master dimensional magic before, I have heard tales." He turned to look at me. "Did you study at Wistram? No, wait, I offer my sincere apologies! It is unbecoming of me to pry into your history."

"Yes, well, I don't get out much, and that was the first time I've encountered a pickpocket." I thought about how to phrase my question. "Are the usually able to access items stored in a sub-dimension?"

"You mean your bag of holding?" Dalimont glanced down at my clothing. "I've never had the need for one myself, but Calanfer has several. That said. It is rare for a [Thief] or a [Pickpocket] to get a skill that can access them, but I fear it's not unheard of."

I grunted in agreement and we continued walking. We soon came to another wall and another set of gates. The guards looked at Ser Dalimont for a second before quickly bowing and opening the massive doors for us.

"Why does the city have two sets of walls?" I asked.

"It actually has three, Mage Kevin." Dalimont glanced over his shoulder as we continued on our way. "It's a fascinating piece of local history really. You see, like most settlements in Noelictus, Afiele was constructed with the undead in mind."

"Really?"

"Oh yes!" He continued. "Even smaller villages in the country have walls to keep out rogue zombies or skeletons. It's not uncommon for farmers to band together in such a way also. It's not a universal practice, there are plenty of farms too remote for such a course of action. Of course, the [Farmers] who live so far away from civilization have developed specialized classes to help them fend for themselves." The knight stroked his chin. "Where was I? Oh yes! Afiele! It differs due to it being close to the border. As a trading hub from its conception, its defenses are substantial."

Dalimont paused and pointed. "Do you see the building up ahead?"

I nodded. "It looks like a palace."

"As well it should!" Dalimont smiled and resumed walking. "These lands belonged to the Nightengale Family back then, and are still entrusted to their descendants to this day. It was Afiele Nightengale that had the idea to expand upon his estate. That was when Afiele, the city, was created. They built another wall surrounding the lands around the palace. There are some very interesting laws and traditions about land ownership and nobility for locations within the city, but I shant go into those at this time. It is sufficient to say that Afiele grew more prosperous than the walls could contain. Indeed, only Ovela to the south can rival it! But Ovela is more of a military outpost these days, while Afiele continues to be the breadbasket of Terandria!"

"And the third set of walls?" I prompted the knight to get to his original point.

"Well, it should be obvious by now I would think! Ailendamus, the kingdom of Glass and Glory to the South, constantly seeks to expand its borders. This, in turn, has driven people away from Ovela, and to Afiele's protective bosom. Far too many people to fit within the walls, and far too many seeking to own land. That was when Afiele expanded for a second time!" Dalimont motioned with his arms. "As you can see, we are within the original city of Afiele now." He stopped and made a dramatic pose and pointed at the palace. "However, THERE is our final destination! The ancestral home of the Nightengales! The palace that is at the heart of Afiele! And the location of where my [Princess] resides with a broken heart!"

"A broken heart?" I asked.

"My apologies, Mage Kevin. I do not wish to speak out of turn, or to spread rumors. However, you should be made aware of the situation before you meet my [Princess]. Her fiancé was cut down by a [Witch] most foul! I tell you this, so that you can avoid the topic." Dalimont hung his head. "His loss weighs on all of us still. The wound is too fresh! This is why I caution you to avoid speaking of such events."

I nodded. "I understand, Ser Dalimont."

At the third wall, there was a set of even more impressive gates. The guards on duty saluted, and then pulled out a stone. "Are you Ser Dalimont?"

The knight replied. "Yes." The stone glowed blue.

"Are you of sound mind and body?"

"Yes. The stone glowed blue again.

"Do you seek the harm of anyone past these gates?"

"No." Another blue glow.

The guard nodded. "I'm glad to see you well, Ser Dalimont." He turned and looked at me. "Who is your guest?"

Dalimont slapped me on the back. "This is a Mage of great talent! Though we have only just met, I think he will be of great use in the upcoming battle!"

The guard turned back to the knight. "Then you vouch for him?"

"I do, my good sir!" Dalimont flashed his brilliant smile again.

"Very well." The guard turned, cupped his hands over his mouth, and yelled. "Open the gates!"

There was a metallic clanking from within the walls, and the massive gates slowly parted. Dalimont saluted the guards and then strolled forward. I followed close behind. We entered the palace, and stopped once we got to a lavishly furnished room. The most noticeable thing was that inside of the palace looked... normal. It was jarring to see so many colors after experiencing the near monochromatic outside world. Dalimont picked up a clear, crystalline bell from a table and rang it.

A single, pure chime sounded around us before a voice spoke. "Yes?"

Dalimont replied to the bell. "Ser Godard, I have returned. Please tell Miss Cara and her highness that my mission was a success."

"Understood."

"So, I've been meaning to ask about the undead." I took the opportunity to ask a question that had been on my mind for almost the entire time I'd been on this Earth. "What sort of zombies are we dealing with here? Are they slow or fast? Do they make other zombies? Do you have to destroy their brains to kill them?"

Ser Dalimont blinked. "Well, I hadn't really thought about them in such terms before, but yes, they tend to move slowly. Mind you, the more recently dead ones are faster, and greater undead can be quite spry, but zombies are usually ponderous monstrosities. Now, you shouldn't discount them as a threat because of that! While its true that any [Peasant] can out run one in the short term, zombies don't tire. They will seek out the living during any hour of the day, and they can be remarkably difficult to kill. As for destroying their brains? That largely depends on the amount of death magic that was used to create them. You see, zombies are easier to create despite having more volume than skeletons because the remaining flesh of the corpse can more easily mimic life. I've seen zombies that collapse when their heads are cut off, but I've also seen some that continue on. Fire is the best solution for those of us without magical counters."

That didn't sound so bad. "What about infection? Do people die and return as zombies if a zombie bites them?"

The knight tilted his head. "What a curious question. Is that how things happen in your country? I suppose that if a necromancer commanded a zombie to bite someone instead of using weapons, that it could kill them. I imagine this would be the case for reanimated animals since a human trying to bite someone in a fight would have little success. Yes, it might hurt in a barroom brawl or some such, but it would have limited impact upon a battlefield. As for returning as a zombie - it, of course, depends on the amount of death magic in the area. As you've no doubt noticed, Noelictus has much more of it than average. Thus, zombies rise quicker here than elsewhere as a corpse does not have to wait for the innate amount of death magic it produces to animate it."

"Really?" That sounded a lot more scientific and like a natural phenomenon than what I was expecting.

Dalimont chuckled. "I am no scholar, Mage Kevin. However, I did study the customs and conditions of the Kingdom of Shade before we arrived."

I was about to ask another question when the doors to the room swung open. A red-haired woman in an elegant dress with a haughty demeanor strolled in. To her side was a girl that looked to be around the same age as I was. She wore her long, dark hair in a ponytail. Two knights in polished golden armor accompanied them. One was easily six and a half feet tall with a solid build. The other was shorter, thinner, and possibly female - but it was hard to tell due to the full plate.

"Greetings. My name is Seraphel du Marquin, [Princess] of Calanfer." The red-haired princess motioned to her dark-haired companion. "This is 'Cara'. We'd like to ask you a few questions."

Notes:

Bios:

Ser Dalimont - A [Knight] of the Thronebearers of Calanfer. Like other Thronebearers he is skilled at everything except combat.

Seraphel du Marquin - A [Princess] of Calanfer. The royal line is known for their red hair, and skill in politics. Rumored to be cursed after having been widdowed three times.

Chapter 4: One Step Forward 3

"Greetings. My name is Seraphel du Marquin, [Princess] of Calanfer." The red-haired woman motioned to her dark-haired companion. "This is 'Cara'. We'd like to ask you a few questions."

"Hello. My name is Kevin." What's the correct term to use when speaking to an actual princess? Your majesty? Your highness? I can't say 'My princess'. "Uhm, it's nice to meet you?" Shoot. I ended that with an upward inflection.

"Kevin, is it?" The teenager with the ponytail saved me from any more failed diplomacy checks (figuratively speaking). "Have you ever heard of Ireland, Haugeland, or The United States of America?"

I looked at her for a moment before several things clicked into place. SHE was the 'companion' Ser Dalimont had mentioned. Of course, it made more sense when I thought about it. The other 'vanished' people from Earth Iota had been transported to this Earth also. It was far more likely that one of them had already befriended Seraphel before I'd even arrived. Was there a 'Cara' on the list? I'd have to check my Inventory to be sure, but I don't think there was.

"I recognize Ireland and the United States, but I'm afraid my version of Earth doesn't have a Haugeland." I paused for a second. "Or at least I've never heard of it."

Seraphel and Cara looked at each other before the princess turned to her knights. "Please exit the room. We have confidential matters to discuss." The three knights saluted, bowed, and then left the room.

Once we were alone, Cara looked back at me. "A mage? How did you get a spell-casting class? How long have you been here?"

I blinked. "How did you know Ser Dalimont thought I was a mage?"

"He sent me [A Subtle Sign]." The princess crossed her arms and sat down in one of the over-stuffed chairs. "Answer the questions."

Huh. I was expecting a 'if you'd be so kind' or something. Eh. Whatever. I turned to face Cara. "First." I held up a finger. "I don't have a mage class. What Ser Dalimont mistook for magic was a personal ability I already possessed before coming here. Second." I held up another finger. "The only class I've gotten since arriving here is 'Wanderer', and I can bet you can guess how I got it. Finally." I held up a third finger. "I've been here for a little more than eight days." I turned to the princess. "Are you satisfied?"

"Peculiar." She muttered. "He's telling the truth." She looked up towards Cara. "I thought you said that your world doesn't have magic."

"It doesn't." Cara replied before turning to me again. "He's either lying or he's off his rocker."

"You're right in that my skill only picks up falsehoods. It doesn't tell me the unvarnished truth." Seraphel rolled her eyes and put her hands on top of her head. "You're not the first person to point out that it's more like 'detect deception' than 'discern truth'. However, do you think mere words would be all it would take to convince Dalimont? Give him more credit than that."

Cara glared at me. "More likely he pulled some 'Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court' BS."

"Alright, that's enough." I looked at Cara. "Before you call me crazy, you might consider that magic does exist on Earth and is just hidden."

"Oh yeah? Like in Harry Potter?" She scoffed at me. "Get real. You can't hide stuff like that in this, or rather, in that day and age."

"Fine, you want proof?" I teleported behind her. "Did I do that with mirrors? Do I have a body double somewhere?"

Cara spun around. "What the-" She looked back over he shoulder before poking me with her finger. "Do wanderers get skills like that?"

Seraphel stood up and moved beside her. "No, at least not until high level, but you can say that about most classes."

I resisted the urge to sigh. "Let me explain." I looked at Cara. "I'm from a different Earth than you are. We call my version 'Earth Bet' and yours 'Earth Iota'. We detected something strange happening on Iota, and I was sent to investigate. I was teleported here, just like you. I think some friends of mine were brought along, including my little sister." I turned to the princess. "That's actually what I wanted to speak with you about. If I'm going to find her, I'm going to need to know about this Earth and a way to travel."

Both of them looked shocked, but Seraphel recovered first. "How fascinating. Your 'Earth' has magic?"

I shook my head. "Not exactly. We have people that have superpowers, but I wouldn't call them magical."

"Superpowers?" Cara raised an eyebrow. "Like comic book characters?"

Right. Cara's version of Earth didn't have any parahumans. "Well, yes. We call them parahumans, but a lot of people modeled themselves after comic books." Or Cauldron and the PRT nudged the population along that path for reasons. "Including me. You can call me 'Pixel', if you want to go by my cape name."

"What's a cape name?"

"What's a pixel?"

I figured those questions were mostly rhetorical in nature, and waited for them to center themselves. The princess flopped into her chair again, while Cara paced back and forth.

"So let me get this straight." The former resident of Earth Iota spoke as she moved. "YOUR Earth is aware of what's happening on other Earths, noticed that I and apparently other people have been effectively kidnapped, and you were sent to save us?" She stopped and looked at me.

"Well, to be honest, we didn't know what exactly was happening. So I was just supposed to investigate." I held up my hands. "Of course, getting everyone safely home is a priority."

"And can you do it?"

"Well, no, not exactly. I might be able to make something that could return us home eventually, but I'm not sure if I can incorporate 'magic' into my tech." Although, Tinkertech is sorta like magical-tech, just with Shards instead of 'magic'.

"Tech?" Cara narrowed her eyes. "So you're like Iron Man?"

"Who?"

The teenager rubbed her temples. "Rich guy. Built a suit of armor for himself. Fights aliens and shit."

"I guess?" I scratched the back of my head. "I am pretty rich nowadays." Although I left all my finances in real-Dragon's hands. She could put the money I'd made as a superhero to better use than I ever could. "I do have a suit of armor. I've also fought aliens." I mean, the Shards counted right? Not that I ever fought an actual Shard, but the Endbringers sorta count, right?

Cara blinked. "No shit?"

I shrugged. "It's more complicated than that, but I doubt you want to hear my life's story."

Seraphel motioned to Cara, and the other girl moved near her and bent over. Some sort of effect surrounded them. Ears of Babel was able to make out some parts of what they said.

"xxx xx trust xxx"

"x dont xxxxx xx xxx skill xxxx xxxx xx xxxxxxx xxx truth xxxxx xx x superhero? xxxx xxx"

"You're xxxx sure? xxxxxxxx xxx surprised."

"xxxx, xx world xxxx xxx xxxxxx xxx run xx xxx only xxxxxxx out xxx xxxxxxxxxxx We've xxxxx xxx powerful xxx corrupt"

"xxx?"

"xxx, xxxx x SUPERHERO. xxxxxx, x big deal. xx xxxx telling xxx truth xxxxx xxxx, xxxx that xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxxxxx and xxxx xxxx xx"

"how xxxxxxxx xxx superheros?"

"xxxx range xxxx xxxxx xxxx xx beat xx gangs xx xxxxx xxxx xx destroy xxxxxx"

"really?"

"xxxxxx, x mean, xx xxxxxx xx xxxxx tell xxx xxxx story xxx see xxx xx xxxxx"

"x agree."

The distortion stopped, and Seraphel turned to me. "Actually, I think I'd enjoy hearing your story very much, but we have more pressing issues right now." She stood up. "So your real class is [Superhero]?"

I shook my head. "No. Earth Bet is like Earth Iota in that regard. People don't get classes." Well, ever since Shard-Dragon took over, things were heading in that direction. I wonder if that was what happened here too.

The princess smiled. "But you'll be able to help us with the undead army, correct?"

I nodded. "I should be able to. My power's been a little... off since I arrived here, so I'd want to do some tests first."

Cara groaned. "Right, we got Tony Stark without his suit." She let out a sigh. "At least there's an Earth out there that's got its act together."

Who's Tony Stark? I'd always been more interested in real superheros instead of comic books that had been written before I'd been born. Also, I felt like I should correct her impression of Earth Bet, but that also felt, I dunno... mean? Cruel? Also, things WERE significantly better than they were a few years ago.

While I was thinking, a smile slowly spread across Seraphel's face. "Superhero Kevin-"

"You should just call him 'Kevin', or 'Pixel'." Cara interrupted. "'Superhero' is a general term, and isn't used as a form of address." She frowned. "At least on my Earth. I don't know about his."

I shrugged. "Either is fine with me, but saying 'superhero' does sound odd."

Seraphel did a small curtsy. "Of course, please excuse my faux pas. Pixel, you said that your little sister also was brought here, and that you're looking for her?"

I blinked. "Yes. We were standing next to each other one moment, and the next I was in an empty field. I don't have any proof that she was brought here too, but I can't overlook the possibility."

"Wait, your little sister?" Cara tilted her head. "You don't look that old. How old is she? Do you normally bring children along on your adventures? Like sidekicks? You know, like Robin?"

"Uhm..."

Seraphel turned to her companion. "Cara, please let me finish." The princess turned back to me. "As I was saying, the Eternal Throne of Calanfer would be most pleased to offer its support in reuniting you with your family. We are knowledgeable about Terandria, as well as the other continents. We would be happy to assist you, and hope that you can assist us in turn."

I raised an eyebrow. "Assist you how?"

The princess bowed her head, and clasped her hands below her waist. "The different countries of Terandria have warred and allied with each other over the centuries. There have always been plots, intrigues, disasters and wars throughout our history. However, right now there is a single country whose expansionistic tendencies cannot go overlooked! Ailendamus's hunger knows no bounds. They are willing to commit any number of atrocities to further their own agenda!"

To the side, Cara glowered. I couldn't tell if she was upset with Seraphel, or with the country she was talking about.

The Princess continued. "Ailendamus is the largest nation on this continent. This is because they wage war and constantly conquer their neighbors. At this time, they are larger than any other three countries combined!" Seraphel held up a hand. "Now, if this were all, it would be one thing. Nations rise and fall. Kings come and go. No, the issue is the depths to which Ailendamus will sink!"

Seraphel paused, and wiped a tear from her eye. "You see, it was just a month past that I lost my dear fiancé. It seemed so strange that such a healthy man in the prime of his life might fall ill and die. In fact, it was not the first time such misfortune had befallen me personally. If it wasn't for..." She stopped and looked away.

I miss my notifications. Seraphel seems sincere, but it would be a lot easier to take her story at face value with my power providing a deeper insight.

Cara moved next to her and patted her on the shoulders as she led her back to her seat. The teenager spoke. "A [Witch]. Like from our fairy tales." She looked at me. "I won't say her name, because that's how things work here." Cara looked down at her friend. "The witch cursed Seraphel. Made promises. Offered her... so many things. I, I managed to drive her away." Cara hung her head. "A lot of good people died." She stopped, seemingly lost in thought before she looked back up at me. "There was one thing, one promise the witch had made. She claimed to be able to give us proof about Terrin's murderer. The thing is, if you know the solution, it's a lot easier to put a puzzle together. We wouldn't have been able to find the clues without knowing the answer."

"It was Ailendamus!" Seraphel raised her head, and her bloodshot eyes locked onto mine. "They hired the Necromancer that now seeks to overrun our city and kill every single man, woman and child. It was none other than my previous fiancé, Raganest du Ecte. It was his plan that killed my beloved. His pawn that now threatens us all! But it was my..."

"Seraphel." Cara sat down next to the princess and grabbed her hand. Seraphel smiled, as the teenager once again took up the story. "The Ailendamus Baron used his knowledge of Seraphel against her. I minor thing, but it allowed him to plan the murder of her fiancé." She sighed. "And all it cost him was a little girl that he turned into a walking bomb."

The silence hung in the air, as none of us had anything to say. I'd witnessed more than my share of atrocities, but it wasn't the sort of thing you could compare. I didn't know if she was telling the truth, or why she was being so forthcoming. I suspect that Cara said something during their aside that led to Seraphel sharing her history with me. I wonder what her ex-fiancé's version of events is.

After composing herself, Seraphel continued. "You see, that is the future that awaits Terandria. That is why I seek your aid." She shook her head. "All I know of your worlds is what Cara has told me. I do not know if you can truly help us, but I choose to tell you my story so that you know the truth. As much as it pains me to say it, Calanfer is not a mighty nation. By refusing the [Witch]'s pact, I have also failed my country." She shook her head. "There is no proof. Not any more. There's nothing I can do except grasp at straws." She looked at me with a gaze of pure determination. "No matter what, Ailendamus must be denied Noelictus! Though I am no longer of this country, I will not let it fall to the people that murdered my fiancé!"

Cara stood up. "You probably don't know this, but Noelictus provides a significant amount of food to the rest of the continent." She gave a short laugh. "Apparently death magic is good for both raising undead, and making plants grow." She shrugged. "Who knew?"

I nodded. "I see. You think that the undead army is designed to wipe out Noelictus's population, and give Ailendamus an easy victory."

Seraphel shook her head. "Not only that. I fear Ecte's plans run deep. Ailendamus will likely use the situation as a Casus Belli regardless. Noelictus must hold off two armies one after another if it is going to survive!"

...

"Be careful who you mention your real origins to. A secret is only as strong as its weakest link." Seraphel warned me before placing a hand on the door. "Even my [Knights] think that you and Cara are from a distant land. I trust them, but telling them knowledge that could only hurt us is a pointless risk."

She opened the door and called her knights back in before having one of them take out a map. Noelictus looked pretty big. Big enough that I should've been able to match up its coastline somewhat. Alaska? I guess if there were some pretty major changes. I knew practically nothing about geography. This world must have deviated from Earth a loooong time ago if the continents were different.

I frowned. "Do you have a map of the world?"

Ser Godard, the tall knight, shook his head. "As emissaries of the Eternal Throne of Calanfer, we are not called upon to visit other continents apart from Terandria as a matter of course."

"Unless someone like the King of Destruction appears again." Dame Labelle, the female knight, interjected. "If someone like that once again sets his sights across the oceans, then we would be fools not to take up arms against him."

"As potentially disastrous as that might be, I do not think it is prudent to focus on other problems considering the issues we have laid at our doorsteps." Ser Dalimont circled an area of the table that the map didn't cover. "This is Ailendamus's lands." He pointed to a spot on the map. "As you can see, there is only one pass though the valley that an army might traverse. Ovela has sent out scouts here, here, and here." He placed intricately carved figurines on the map. "While our lady no longer holds any official position in Noelictus, we have been kept abreast on the situation." He pulled out a dozen skeletal markers and carefully positioned them. "These are the locations where undead were reported last week." He then pushed them one by one. "And here's where the latest sighting are."

Seraphel frowned as she looked at the map. "I am no [Tactician], but it is plain to see that they are gathering north of Afiele." She traced a path with her finger. "That gives Ovela a clear path to reinforce us."

"That 'tis true, your highness." Dalimont nodded. "It is indeed a stroke of good fortune that they are not gathering to the south. If that were the case, I do not know if Ovela's troops would be able to aid us at all."

"I think that is the point, Ser Dalimont." Labelle frowned. "If the [Princess] has correctly grasped Ailendamus's plans, then nothing would be more beneficial for them than for Ovela's army to be trapped in another city."

"Tell me about the undead." I interjected. "What strengths and weaknesses do they have? What attacks can they bring to bear against a flying opponent?"

Ser Dalimont rummaged though a pile of scrolls before finding the one he was looking for. "Ah, the latest reports have encountered zombies, skeletons, ghouls, and crypt lords." He looked up. "We've already discussed zombies. Skeletons are similar. They are faster and tougher, but usually physically weaker. Ghouls are zombies that retain some measure of cunning, speed and agility. Crypt Lords are larger zombies that have been fused together. They can command their mindless brethren, and have them perform basic tactical maneuvers."

"Don't forget the spit." Godard added.

"Oh, yes, my apologies." Dalimont continued. "Crypt Lords possess poisonous black blood that they can spit great distances."

"And they control other undead?" I was confused. "I thought a necromancer was behind this."

"It is common practice for a [Necromancer] to control a crypt lord, and have them control the lesser undead." Labelle informed me. "There's a limit to how many undead a mage can dominate. In order to control an army, they must offload as much direct control as possible."

I grunted. "So there's a limitation."

Dalimont continued. "Thankfully this is true. Where was I? Oh yes, ranged attacks. Several skeletons have been reported to possess bows and arrows. the grave lords cannot spit far enough, are are too few in number to be an effective ranged unit."

I nodded. "So I should be able to fly over there and kill them from the sky."

Ser Dalimont laughed. "Yes, perhaps if you were a Named Adventurer! Even one of them would tire against such numbers." He patted me on the shoulder. "Do not fret. The Hunter's Guild possesses the finest monster hunters in the world! Even The Necromancer would fear facing them if he were still alive!"

"'The' Necromancer?"

"A really powerful necromancer that lived a while ago." Cara added. "He attacked somewhere."

"He rampaged across Terandria for more than a hundred years, Cara." Seraphel said. "He died in Izril, but he shall forever be the shame of Terandria and Calanfer." She fell silent and nobody else dared speak for a moment. "Enough on that." She turned to me. "Do you really think you can inflict damage on the army without risking yourself?"

I stroked my chin. "Probably. I'm packing a lot of firepower."

"Fire power, Mage Kevin?" Dalimont tilted his head. "Are you skilled with fire magic as well?"

"What can you do without your armor?" Cara spoke at the same time.

I chose to ignore the knight and turned to the teenager. "I never said I didn't have my suit." I un-Inventoried my old armor around me. "I'm always prepared." I didn't trust these people just yet. While I thought they were being honest with me, that didn't necessarily mean I understood the whole picture. Still, I thought they deserved a little reciprocity.

Besides, a literal army of the dead was a pretty black and white situation. There was no way I was going to stand aside and let people die when I could do something about it. That meant, that my would-be-allies would see one of my suits sooner or later.

Everyone took a step away from me and muttered various exclamations.

"I say!" Godard spoke first. "Is that an artifact?"

"I have never seen anything like it!" Lebelle added.

"Amazing." Seraphel muttered.

"You look like a video game character." Cara pointed at me.

I shrugged. "That's why my cape name is 'Pixel'."

...

After showing them my costume, the group wanted a demonstration. I agreed. Obviously, I wasn't going to show them everything, but I figured flight and lasers were fair game. Those were what I was planning on using against the undead, so there was no reason to hide them. For now, Lebelle had a bow and arrows that I wanted her to use against my suit.

I mean, I knew that Gamer's Body and Resistance: Physical was working for me, but it did make sense to test the suit. "Here." I handed it to Godard. He nodded and strolled down the long hallway and draped my suit over a bust of someone who was doubtlessly important or rich. It was oddly nostalgic to see the Samus Aran armor again. I hadn't worn it for a while.

"It is a most peculiar suit, Mage Kevin." The tall knight spoke as he came back. "From its appearance, I was expecting a hard and rigid substance. Yet, despite what my eyes told me, the texture was smooth and flexible. Only the helmet feels like metal"

I shrugged. "It is the nature of it."

Dame Lebelle moved in front, while Dalimont stood behind us and kept an eye out for servants. Apparently the princess didn't trust the staff of her late fiancé.

One arrow after another struck my suit. Each one made no sound until they fell to the ground. Once her quiver was empty, Lebelle and Godard walked down the hallway together. She retrieved her arrows, while he picked my armor back up.

"Remarkable." Godard rubbed my outfit between his fingers. "I see nary a scratch on it! 'Tis a shame that it takes a [Mage] to wear it."

"Aye, you speak the truth." Dalimont glanced over his shoulder at us. "Yet for all a [Warrior] could accomplish with such a suit of armor, it was clearly made for spell casters."

Godard nodded. "You have the right of it. The flexible material is suitable for those that are unaccustomed to wearing traditional armor. Imagine if it were a dress instead! Such an artifact would be perfect for protecting our Highness!"

"More likely it would be put to use defending a [King] or [Queen]." Seraphel said from the side. "A deterrent it might be, and a powerful force to prevent a kingdom from falling into ruin, but that's clearly not its purpose."

Godard nodded again. "Your are of course correct my highness. As a solid piece of work, it leaves no openings to exploit. This feature requires magic to bypass. Yet, even if a [King] did use another item to don this armor, to not show ones face is too steep of drawback!" He paused for a second. "Unless there was a [Masked King] class one could acquire. I know of no such thing, but it should be possible."

Seraphel rolled her eyes. "Enough with the speculation. You'll make our new ally think that you harbor thoughts of absconding with his treasure!"

All three of the knights gasped.

"I would never!"

"On my honor, such a thought never crossed my mind!"

"Our words might have been spoken in haste, but base thievery is anathema to a [Knight]!"

"I know that." Seraphel scolded them. "Mage Kevin comes from a foreign land. He is a stranger that we must treat with care."

"You are correct, my highness." Ser Godard bowed to me. "Please forgive my speculation for causing you any distress, Mage Kevin."

"Mine as well." Ser Labelle bowed. "Our tongues worked without restraint, and we are lesser for it."

"Know that I will not allow any harm to befall you or your possessions as long as I draw breath." Ser Dalimont bowed also.

"It's quite alright." I Inventoried my armor from Godard's hands. "I am the only one capable of using it. A thief wouldn't be able to do anything even if it fell into their hands." At least not without staying out of my Inventory range. My Crafted items also wore out like all Tinkertech, so any benefit would be temporary anyways.

Ser Lebelle held her arrows up and examine each of their tips. "Look! My arrowheads are not dulled in the slightest!"

Godard bent over and peered at them. "So they aren't!" He straighted up and brought a hand to his chin. "It does make sense. They did not pierce or cut their target, so they in turn were not damaged."

"It is getting late, and I should like to retire for the night. We can resume our discussion and your presentation on the 'morrow." Seraphel looked at Dalimont. "See to it that Mage Kevin has suitable accommodations. Also start spreading the appropriate rumors around the palace."

I frowned as I followed the knight. "What rumors?"

"Nothing untoward, I can assure you." He replied back to me. "It's just that her Highness's position is rather... unstable at the moment. If it wasn't for the more pressing business, the other Noelictus lords and ladies would have already seen to her dismissal." He sighed. "Without her fiancé, there's nothing for her here. According to local tradition, she is still an outsider."

"So she didn't gain any of his lands or wealth?" I assumed he had both of those.

Dalimont shook his head. "'Tis not the way of things I fear."

"And the rumors?"

"That you are a foreigner, come to try and win her highness's favor." He stroked his mustache. "You see a rumor is most effective if it hints at impropriety. It wouldn't do to imply that you are a childhood friend. Too wholesome. It wouldn't spread. However, if you give it just enough bite, then people won't be able to wait to pass it on." He smiled at me. "When people learn a secret, they stop looking."

I furrowed my brow. "Should I be worried?"

"Of knives in the dark? Or poisoned food?" Dalimont chuckled. "I should think not. It is not the Noelictus way to do things. Killing your opponents is seen as bad form." He leaned towards me and whispered. "I personally chalk it up to all the death magic. Over the years there must have been an aspiring noble or two that killed someone and failed to dispose of the body in time."

I grunted. "I suppose that makes sense. Even if it's a one in a hundred chance, people will still worry about the possibility in the back of their mind."

Dalimont slapped me on the back. "Precisely. And with enemies at the gates? Nobody would turn away a high leveled individual."

"Then why not tell everyone I'm a mage?" I asked.

"Because they would keep on digging." Dalimont shrugged. "I'm sure nothing would come of it, but high level spellcasters tend to have wondrous items on their person, and greed darkens even the most noble of hearts..."

"Ah."

We stopped at a door. "Here we are. While it is a servant's quarters, I hope it will suffice."

The door swung open to a room twice as big as my old bedroom. "It will be fine."

"Be sure to lock the door. No undead should defile these halls, but it is tradition in these parts for good reason." Dalimont bowed. "Then I shall take my leave and see you on the 'morrow."

I looked around the room. It was nice. Still, an ounce of precaution was worth a pound of cure. I un-Inventoried a spy camera and placed it in the corner of the room. Then, just to be sure, I stepped outside and put another one in the hallway. Back inside, I lowered the thick wooden bar that was attached to the wall by the door.

...

Half and hour later, there was a knock on my door. Ears of Babel let me understand the wireless signal my cameras were emitting. The one in the hallway showed a familiar face standing outside my room.

"Enter." I called out.

Cara poked her head in. "I'm not disturbing you am I? You're not building an arc reactor out of spare parts or anything?"

I shook my head. "Nothing like that. Can I help you, Cara?"

"Actually, I want to hear more about your Earth." She stepped inside and closed the door.

"What about it?"

"What's it like having actual heroes?" She sat down in one of the chairs. "In my world they're popular wish fulfillment. We have movies and T.V. shows, but none of it is real." She paused for a moment. "I guess what I'm asking is, did superheroes really make things better? If you came to another version of Earth just to help, then that means that your world actually has heroes in it." She shook her head. "I mean real heroes and not just assholes with power."

Oh man. THAT was a hell of a question. I could make up a lie. Feed her PRT propaganda. Or I could tell her about how things had improved recently with Dragon in charge behind the scenes...

Of course, that would require explaining faaaar too much about Shards and Entities. I wasn't comfortable telling her about that. On the other hand, I didn't like lying. Honesty might not always be the best policy, but it should be the default.

"Things aren't perfect. In fact, things were steadily getting worse for pretty much my entire life." I couldn't read her expression, but I kept on going. "In fact, we came really close to disaster, but over the last year or two things have improved dramatically." I need an example. Someone who truly is heroic. That seems to be what Cara is fixating on.

"I think the best way to understand my world is to tell you about one of its most famous heroes. Her name is Dragon. She has crippling agoraphobia brought on from nearly dying when Newfoundland was sunk beneath the ocean." I think Dragon's true tale is much more inspiring, but that isn't my secret to tell. I'll have to settle for her cover story.

Notes:

Bios:

Cara O'Sullivan - Not her real name. One of the first Earthers to be summoned. A [Thespian] and a [Singer]. Has opinions.

Ser Aldric Godard - OC Thronebearer.

Dame Leana Labelle - OC Thronebearer.

Chapter 5: One Step Forward 4

Morning arrived uneventfully. I was slightly concerned about sleeping. I had needed to rest longer than my standard two hours to rid myself of all the 'Tired' debuffs that had accumulated on my way to the city. Dalimont's assurances had brought about the opposite of their intent. Were knives in the dark and poison something I needed to be worried about?

It looked like I was going to have to resume my standard sleep pattern. Two hours is a much shorter window of vulnerability.

Besides, I was still basically immune to knives. I was still immune to every poison known to Riley, and thus most likely immune to every poison in existence. Finally, Threat Sense still worked - although I still wasn't sure it would be able to warn me of danger that I couldn't detect in the first place.

In any event, I was awake and contemplating how to most effectively use my free time when there was a knock on my door. "Yes?" I called out.

A young woman in a maid's outfit opened the door. "Breakfast has been served in the main dining room, m'lord. Would you like me to show you the way?"

I nodded. "Sure."

The palace was a lot more active during the day than last night. I'd barely seen anyone else when Ser Dalimont had escorted me inside, and we'd been actively avoiding the servants during the impromptu testing of how arrow-proof my armor was. This morning, I saw several of the staff while we walked to our destination. We arrived at the 'main' dining room, and I was surprised both at how large it was and how many people were within.

I glanced around before sitting next to Cara. "Am I supposed to sit here? I don't know anything about etiquette." I whispered to her.

"Neither do I." She whispered back. "Eat your food and act like you can't hear anything. Unless someone speaks directly to you try to avoid saying anything."

I was obviously on the 'lesser' end of the table, alongside the Thronebearers, Cara, and people who I assumed were guests or associates of other people. Seraphel sat with the 'in' crowd, but closer to us. It seemed likely that her placement was a reflection of her reduced social status.

Breakfast consisted of a poached egg, black bread, and black gravy. It tasted well enough, I assumed. Flavor wasn't something that I'd really paid attention to since my Trigger. Food was more of a HP recovery tool than anything else. It was a shame, I would probably be able to get more mileage out of my ability to Craft food otherwise.

There was little conversation on our end of the table, but Ears of Babel let me overhear what everyone else was talking about. Most of it was concern for the undead, questions about when Ovela's reinforcements would come, and speculation about how soon the army would arrive.

Most people thought Ovela's troops would arrive in a few days, and that the undead would take a week to reach the city.

I did pick up a few derisive comments about Cara and I. They were along the lines of how we didn't deserve to be there.

It wasn't until the end of the meal when the plates were being cleared away that a white-faced messenger burst into the room. "The [Scouts] have returned! The undead are a day's march away!"

---

The conversations stop. Half begin to panic, the other half start demanding details from the messenger. I figure they're a minute away from calling him a liar. I catch Seraphel's eye and jerk my head to the side. She nods in return.

Cara looks up at me as I stand to leave. "Are you going to try and stall them?"

I nod. "More than that. Like I said, I have plenty of firepower."

"Good luck."

I follow Seraphel up the stairs and out on a balcony. She extends her arm and points. "That's where the scouts say the army is."

I nod, and un-Inventory my regular armor and then the Cawthorne. The princess and her Thronebearers gasp in surprise. "Stand back." I turn my head to address them as I move towards the edge of the balcony. "My flight produces a lot of heat."

Gravity Resistance lets me lighten myself so that the Cawthorne's rockets can more easily propel me upwards. They ignite, and as I rise into the air I hear Dalimont exclaim from below. "Fire power indeed!"

I review the integrated weapon systems that the Cawthorne possesses as I speed towards my destination. I have ten missiles, two shoulder mounted lasers, and a force field generator. I've optimized the load out for my personal use. The missiles are precision explosives. Strong, but with a radius where their energy just stops. I keep the more destructive ones in the 'automated' drones that Boo and his clones pilot. It's the same reason why most of the systems go towards maximizing the force field's power, range and duration.

Mainly, if I was ever facing something that required that level of deadly and widespread power, then it was best to have an army launching it. Threat Sense made the force fields far more effective as a battlefield control option. They also combined with Juggernaut surprisingly well.

Once I reach high enough altitude, wings made out of energy extend from my back. They drain the batteries, but they allow me to conserve fuel. Batteries can be recharged with MP. Crafting more fuel requires high-quality ingredients. I fly using that configuration for several hours before I come across something.

The undead army is easy enough to spot from the sky. I mean, I can't tell that they're undead from this distance, but it's not hard to make out an army that size. If a single Necromancer can do that, then I'm kinda surprised they don't rule the world.

...Or have been hunted to extinction, which is the more likely scenario given what little I know. Goodness knows that Earth Bet had its share of incredibly dangerous individuals. That was why it had so many Quarantine Sites before Dragon took over and handled most of them.

My lasers fire, and two figures fall. Hmmm... The nice thing about lasers is they're easy to aim. With projectiles you have to worry about gravity, wind, and your target moving. Those aren't problems for condensed light. However, they still aren't ideal to use against so many targets.

I hover in the air and rain light down on my targets, and they don't seem to notice. Sure, I'm killing them, but it's not quickly enough. From what I can see, the front ranks are made of zombies. They aren't moving particularly fast, but I effectively have to cut them in half to make them collapse.

This only stops the rest of the undead in the sense that it takes them a slight amount of effort to crawl over their remains.

There are two major flaws in my approach. First, I'm not really 'stopping' the army. They're far too many of them for me to kill them as fast as they're approaching. Second, I'm going to run out of MP before I finish them all off.

The truth of the matter is, my lasers just aren't designed for AoE attacks.

...At least not the integrated ones.

I un-Inventory my Juggernaut Laser.

Unfortunately, my Juggernaut Perk doesn't actually work with laser attacks despite the name I've given my weapon. Lasers don't exactly have 'momentum' in the first place. Well, Dragon said they do, but not enough to matter in most cases. Still, the name is apt.

I begin to fly backwards and descend. I don't want to get too close, but I need a better angle. I wait until I'm about three feet off the ground to open fire.

The two-handed weapon looks like a futuristic mini-gun. It even has a custom battery pack that fits on the back of the Cawthorne. A high-pitched whining sound comes from the barrel as it charges up. The sound grows louder and louder until a brilliant beam of light pierces through the air.

...And all the undead in a straight line for a mile.

I sweep the gun in an arc from the left to the right. I don't know how zombies 'see'. Since their eyes are probably rotten or missing, I'm guessing the laser beam isn't actually blinding them. That is to say, it's not blinding the ones that haven't been cut in half. A mile away, my attack strikes the Earth. The immense heat causes the ground to expand rapidly. In other words, it explodes. The dust in the air, along with the ground that was just struck both reflect the light. The result is a light show that would've blinded me if not for Gamer's Body.

In fact, it's only because the ray of light is super-heating the air itself that the beam is visible. In a vacuum, my weapon would be invisible - until it struck.

The Juggernaut Laser powers down. It fired for barely a second, but the power reserves have already dropped to 90%. It's not an efficient weapon, until you take into account how many undead were killed in that attack.

Approximately four and a half seconds later, the sound of the explosion reaches me.

I gain altitude and observe the state of the undead army. It's still moving. A good number of the corpses that I bisected are still animated. The bodies in the front are little more than legs, while the ones furthest away still possess a torso. The top half of hundreds of undead are still determinedly dragging themselves forward.

In fact, the legs of the zombies that were closest to me are spasming.

How does that even work? I mean, I guess if even skeletons can be animated, then biology doesn't matter. The muscles aren't moving because of signals sent by the nervous system. Instead, whatever effect that animates them, magic, is causing them to move.

I raise my gaze to the rest of the army. It's still moving too. The undead continue their relentless march. I've destroyed thousands of undead, and crippled three times that amount, but it's a drop in the bucket.

...Well, it's more than that. I don't know how big this army is in total, but I'd just wiped out a significant chunk. The nine shots I have remaining with my Juggernaut Laser should be sufficient to stop their advance. My first attack decimated them, so only stragglers should be left once I'm done.

Assuming, that is, that they stay relatively close together.

If I were their commander, I'd have them spread out. I can't give him that chance.

I move forward. The intact members of the army have already moved past their crawling brethren. I frown. It would be nice to rake the laser over the fallen bodies, but that would either require me to use a sub-optimal angle, or to backup and wait for the army to advance further.

Since I'm not going to do either of those, the legless undead will simply have to be ignored for now.

The sea of twitching body parts beneath me is disturbing, but I need to be this close to line up the next shot. It's the headless zombies that concern me the most. If they stood up, I'd be within clawing range. Better to finish this quickly and not give them the chance.

The high-pitched whine sounds again as the Juggernaut Laser powers up. The second attack is just as devastating as the first. The unstoppable beam vaporizes undead flesh as it sweeps across the ground.

Once again, I rise higher into the sky and examine the aftermath. It's mostly the same. I see larger... things still moving. Black ichor pools around them as other undead cease their forward movement and come to their aid. Or at least they crawl towards them and allow the crypt lords to start attaching them to their bloated mass.

That's... something I should never let Riley experiment with.

I begin focusing my shoulder lasers on them one at a time to burn them to ash before they... reform? Reattach? Regenerate? Whatever the correct term is, I need to finish them off before they can do it.

The crypt lords spit at me as I incinerate them, but I'm nowhere near close enough for their attacks to reach. I manage to take out three before the wave of undead sweeps over the remaining ones.

Persistent, I'll give them that.

I float back towards the ground while charging up the Juggernaut Laser for a third strike. It's high-pitched hum is suddenly drowned out by a horrible shriek!

Five ghostly woman emerge from the ground at my feet! Their mouths stretch unnaturally wide as they scream!

Then, they stop. Or at least I stop being able to hear them.

At the same time, the world goes black. I can't see! I can't sense anything with Ears of Babel!

Whatever they did, I've been struck blind and deaf!

-5 HP

-5 HP

-5 HP

-5 HP

-5 HP

Not all my senses are gone. I can feel ghostly hands clawing through me!

-5 HP

-5 HP

-5 HP

-5 HP

-5 HP

I surround myself with a force field.

-5 HP

-5 HP

-5 HP

-5 HP

-5 HP

It doesn't help. I lash out around me with my suit's lasers.

-5 HP

-5 HP

-5 HP

-5 HP

-5 HP

I don't notice a difference. I'm calm. I'm need to think. I have just the thing for enemies that can't be affected by regular attacks.

-5 HP

-5 HP

-5 HP

-5 HP

-5 HP

Instead of a protective sphere, I shape my force field into a sword. I have a vague sense of where they are from where their attacks land. I swing my weapon with all my strength!

-5 HP

-5 HP

I swing again!

...I think I got them. Juggernaut gives me 'Additional benefits against defenses normally immune to damage'. I'm still blind, deaf, and without Ears of Babel, so I can't tell what exact effect it had on the incorporeal creatures. Did I 'kill' them? Wound them? Cause enough discomfort to drive them off?

I need to get some distance. I begin to ascend, but crash into the ground. My thrusters plow a line through the dirt as I bounce off of it. I must've gotten turned around while attacking.

Hands grasp at me as I clamor to my feet. I can shake them off easily enough, but another attack that I can't block might come at any moment! I can no longer sense gravity with Ears of Babel. It makes standing up harder, but I manage it.

A mental command ignites my thrusters.

-10 Con

Something strikes me in the chest! I feel cold. Numb. Like I just died a little. I frantically pat the place where it struck me!

My armor's still there. I also don't feel any rends from the ghostly women's attacks. Whatever is going on it's happening on a non-physical level.

-10 Con

I'm struck again! The icy void within me grows! Breathing is painful, but that sensation is easily muted by Gamer's Body. I need to retreat!

I turn my thrusters to their maximum setting and rocket into the sky.

---

Timothy watched the... golem? vanish over the horizon. "What was that creature? It couldn't have been undead, or the scream wouldn't have worked." He limped though the mass of bodies he'd concealed himself in. "I drove it off, but what if it comes back? Where did it come from? Ailendamus? Raganest promised to help me. Has helped me. Why would he send such a creature to hunt me?"

The [Necromancer] turned to face his beloved. "Are you okay? That must have taken a lot out of you and your sisters."

He nodded at the reassuring words that only he could hear.

"You're right. I've come too far to turn back now." Timothy's hand trembled as he reached for another mana potion. The ornate wooden staff he held slipped from his shaking fingers. "No!" He lost his balance as he grasped for it and fell to the ground. Pain blossomed in his bad leg. He laid on the ground for a moment before shaking his head.

"Yes, my love. I'm okay." He used the ancient artifact he'd been given to prop himself up. "I'm just a little... tired is all. Another mana potion and I'll be right as rain." He looked up at the transparent floating woman. "I know. I know." He picked the vial from the ground. The seal was still intact. None of the precious liquid had spilt. "I'll be okay. I just need to..." Timothy winced as another sharp pain lanced through his leg. "I just need to keep going for a little while longer." He swallowed and then wet his lips as he brought the potion to his mouth.

Timothy only hesitated for a moment. He needed the potion. He NEEDED the mana it would give him. The army was beyond his capacity. Activating the staff and casting two deathbolts one after another had pushed him past his limits. The potion might kill him, but he would surely die without it.

It tasted like fire. The pain in his leg was forgotten as the rest of his body contorted and spasmed. He made sure to keep his mouth closed so he wouldn't bite his tongue. That was the most important thing, aside from maintaining his grip on the Staff of the Banshee. He couldn't let go, or all he'd worked for, everything he sacrificed would've been in vain.

When his neck muscles relaxed enough for him to continue speaking, he repeated his vow. "I'll bring you back. I'll kill your murderer. I'll bring you back. I'll kill your murderer. I'll bring you back. I'll kill your murderer."

Timothy's breath was ragged as he hobbled alongside his dead lover and his army. His leg was ruined, but it could still support his weight. Just like his twisted magic could still support his army. There was no other option. He had to achieve his goal. His actions were necessary. As long as he drew breath, he would fulfill his vow.

"I'll bring you back. I'll kill your murderer. I'll bring you back. I'll kill your murderer. I'll bring you back. I'll kill your murderer..."

---

I lost track of time.

All I can be sure of is that I'm no longer being attacked. There's still a dull ache in my chest from whatever struck me. Breathing hurts. It doesn't feel like my lungs are crippled, or any other specific part of my body. Rather, everything feels weaker.

I need to get back to Afiele. I'm not so arrogant to think that they'll all die without me, but I could do more.

Except that I'm currently blind and deaf. I couldn't even find the city if I flew directly over it, much less help in a fight.

I miss Riley. She'd be able to figure out what happened to me. Well, perhaps not. Threat Sense hadn't warned me of the ghost's attack. That meant it was something special about this version of Earth. Magic. Something so alien that the Shards couldn't predict it.

With nothing else to do, I sit and make plans. It's obvious I underestimated my opponents. I need to bust out the big guns. I don't want other people to die because I held back.

...

I sense something. I still can't hear or see, but I can tell that there's someone, or something squatting next to me... and determinedly biting my foot.

Ears of Babel! My power is working again!

I may not be able to see, but the background static is growing louder again. Just because there's no message hidden in the light that's striking me doesn't mean that my perk can't sense it.

I stand up and kick at the creature that won't let go of my foot.

I miss.

Echolocation it isn't, much less a replacement for my sight. At least on its own. I still have some cameras stored in my Inventory. I pull one out and connect to it with Tongue of Babel.

I can see again!

It's a little disorienting until I affix it to the center of my helmet. I turn my head and take in my location.

It's a farm. Or at least it's what left of one. I walk around. There's blood, claw marks, and other signs of a struggle. The only 'survivor' is the small, dead dog that's still trying to gnaw my foot off.

The residents here must've been attacked by the undead army, and then added to its ranks. I'd look around some more, but I've already seen enough.

I activate my thrusters, but nothing happens. I must have burnt through all my fuel during my blind escape.

No matter. I Inventory the fuel tank and replace it with a full one. I also have Energy Pylons designed for recharging my suits in the middle of a fight. My Juggernaut Laser gets Inventoried, and a pylon appears in my hands in its place. I let it top off my armor while I fly back.

...

It's a good thing I flew away in a straight line, and that I crashed into the ground when I landed. Otherwise I'd probably be lost. As it is, time seems to pass much more slowly as I make my way back to where I'd fought the undead army.

As I flew, my sight slowly returned followed by my hearing. I don't know if the magical effect was temporary or if Rapid Regeneration was fixing the damage. In theory, I could injure myself and see if that slowed down the recovery of my senses. In practicality, there were multiple flaws with that idea.

Mainly, I wanted to get my eyesight back as quickly as possible. There was also the fact that it was hard for me to 'slightly' injure myself. Doing so would take at least a week's worth of MP regeneration.

Eh, knowing my Luck I'd run into someone else who can pull the same trick. I can experiment when or if I get blinded again in the future.

One of the problems with flying away at maximum speed was how quickly it drained my fuel reserves. The other was that every second spent flying away was another I had to spend flying back. If I'd stopped sooner, I'd be back already. Or I might've wound up as zombie chow.

It's no good to second guess myself. The ache in my chest is still there. My pain resistance may make it as noticeable as recognizing the color something is, but it still meant that I was injured. I'll ignore it for now. Instead, I need to deal with the problem in front of me. I needed a better weapon or tactics for the next fight.

Hmmm...

I can clearly see the result of my first encounter with the un-living horde. There's a gouge in the earth that's noticeable even from this height. Not to mention the remnants that are still strewn about. I slow down to get a better look.

There's still movement, but that mainly seems to be limited to the various body parts that are still animated. Most of the torsos are gone. I wonder if the other dead are carrying them, or if the Necromancer is using them in some other fashion.

It's something to think about later. I need to catch up with the army. In the best case scenario I'll come up on their flank - it that even means something to an army of the dead. I doubt they have support troops or a supply line. In the worst case scenario, they're already at the city.

The limited daylight faded away as I flew. It wasn't surprising, days only lasted hours in this country. It was night by the time I returned to Afiele.

The monsters were already at the walls. The horde surrounded the city, with undead of every type clawing at the cities first line of defense. The bonfires at the top of the ramparts lit Afiele up like a torch. Zombies struck the wall with their claws, while those in back crawled over the bodies in their way.

Defenders at the top of the wall struck back with spears, pitch, and projectiles of their own. A ball of fire the size of a small car arced from within the city and exploded within the horde. Hundreds of zombies were incinerated, but thousands were ready to take their place.

My camera magnified the image and I saw a soldier take an arrow to his throat. He collapsed, only to have a former comrade throw him off the side! By the time I arrived, his body was already back on its feet and joining in the assault on his former comrades.

I'd thought about what I'd do if the army had reached the city before I was able to return. Really, all my plans were pretty much the same. The only variable was how I needed to calibrate my trump card.

The Golden Gun was my most versatile and potent attack. The downside was how absurdly expensive it was. At least my current version wasn't limited to a single shot. It had taken most of a year and several ability points to Craft a permanent version, but it was worth it. I was no longer limited to a single ten second blast.

I aimed my weapon as I angled my flight towards the city. A golden beam of light lit up the dark. Scion's signature attack wasn't a laser or some other form of energy projection. That was just a side effect. It's true power was the ability to cease all movement in what it struck.

However, it was the power of a Shard that did not have their usual limitations in place. When it stilled something, it stilled ALL of it. Kinetic energy, bio-electric energy, heat, sound, molecular bonds. Its reverse wave could negate ALL of these.

Or just some of them. Its selective destruction made it almost the perfect attack.

I'd prefer to have it only disintegrate dead flesh, but that was a little too precise for my capabilities. Instead I was using it to cancel all non-plant based biological matter. I already had practice with that.

Choosing exactly what to annihilate was the main difference in the scenarios I'd come up with as I'd flown back. I didn't want to accidentally destroy the wooden wall around the city. I also needed to aim so as to not include any defenders in my attack, but that wasn't too difficult.

The golden light shone down from above and the zombies ceased to exist. Unlike my lasers, the stilling beam spread out in a cone.

I curved around the city, wiping the surrounding countryside completely clean. For my first circuit, I maintained my height. The beam obliterated everything ten or more feet from the wall. I would have to get closer to aim more precisely.

I was almost done with my first loop when I saw the same ghostly women emerge from a section of the army. I was too high up for them to take me by surprise again. I'm not sure if it was the Golden Gun's attack on them or on the section of the undead below them, but they vanished under its golden beam just like everything else.

I circled around the city again. This time I dropped lower which let me aim more precisely. It also brought me within range of the defenses. I couldn't say what was going through the soldiers minds. What did I look like to them? Could they even make me out, or was the golden light ruining their vision?

Arrows continued to fly, and another fireball was lobbed in my general direction. I wasn't sure if I was the target, as they didn't come anywhere near me. I was flying far too fast for something that slow to hit me.

For my final sweep, I flew only a hundred feet above the ground. The golden beam swept over the base of the wall. I didn't let it rise too high. It would be bad if I hit someone on the other side of the barrier.

Once I was certain that I hadn't missed a single undead, I ceased my attack. I rose back up in the air as I continued to circle Afiele. I'd scoured the land clean for miles around the city. The only signs that were left were some tattered pieces of clothing.

Hmmm...

The Golden Gun had 54% of its charge left. It would take me nearly half a year to build that level of power back up. Thankfully, recharging was much easier than Crafting.

I hovered in the air and considered my next step. I could just fly down. No. That would probably wind up with someone attacking me. Not a good idea since I didn't have any resistance to magic. After what had happened before, I didn't trust Gamer's Body to negate a fireball or Threat Sense to warn me. I could fly to the front gate and enter properly. No. Less of a chance of a random person freaking out, but why take the risk? What would be the upside? I didn't want any attention at all. Good, bad, it would just make things harder in the long run.

...Unless I purposely try to make a spectacle of myself. Instead of hoping Riley makes a name for herself and finding her that way, I could let her find me.

I frowned. It would be a viable plan if anyone on this planet knew about video games. With no internet and no video recording news must spread by word of mouth or by print. 'Brilliant Surgeon' is a simple enough concept, 'Cubic Flying Humanoid' wasn't.

No. It's best if I don't go down in costume.

Right. I'll need another way into the city. Thankfully, I left the cameras up in my room and the hallway in front of it. It will be expensive, but I can teleport that far.

I Inventory my Cawthorne armor, teleport into my room, and then Inventory my Samus armor.

There.

So... what now? It's late, but I'm sure there are people still awake. I could go and find Cara, Ser Dalimont, or Seraphel, but to what end? I don't want to brag, and I wasn't exactly subtle in my army destruction. I guess I could reassure them that everything is okay, but once again, that must be common knowledge at this point. Besides, while being in a princess's good graces might help me find Riley faster, I'm not beholden to Calanfer. There's no need to present myself. In fact, I think I'll wait for the excitement to die down before going out. Besides, it's the middle of the night, and I've racked up a few 'Tired' debuffs. I have time for a quick two hour nap.

[Hero Class Obtained!]

[Hero Level 1!]

[Skill – Famous Deed obtained!]

[Skill – Divided Reputation obtained!]

[Artificer Class Obtained!]

[Artificer Level 17!]

[Skill – Armed At All Times obtained!]

[Skill – Basic Repair obtained!]

[Skill – Clean Materials obtained!]

[Skill – Detect Flaw obtained!]

[Skill – Basic Crafting obtained!]

[Skill – Basic Identification obtained!]

[Skill – Body of Stone obtained!]

[Skill – Basic Aiming obtained!]

[Skill – Reinforce Armor obtained!]

[Skill – Ambient Mana Gatherer obtained!]

[Avatar Class Obtained!]

[Avatar Level 1!]

[Skill – Expanded Link obtained!]

Notes:

Bios:

Timothy - AU [Necromancer].

Chapter 6: Interlude - Raganest/Character Sheet

Raganest du Ecte looked over the report the [Knight] of the Order of the Thirsting Veil had brought. The undead army had been defeated by an unknown attack.

What rubbish!

He should have the incompetent man drawn and quartered for such an unhelpful piece of intelligence!

That was why a [Spy] would've worked better.

Still... He drummed his fingers on his desk. It wasn't entirely bad news.

The flap to his tent was thrown aside as a giant among men entered. "Tell me you've read the report." Yerzhen bellowed.

"I have." Raganest rolled up the scroll and placed it to the side. "What of it?"

"An army destroyed in a matter of minutes. MINUTES!!!" The [General] paced back and forth as he ranted. "It must be the work of an [Archmage] or some monster! But what sort of creature could produce such raw power? A Dragon? An Djinn? Our enemies are stronger than we knew!"

Raganest raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying such a paltry number of undead are a match for Ailendamus? That we cannot defeat something that bested them?"

"What?" Yerzhen scowled. "That's not wha-"

"Dragons are a tale we tell to scare children." Raganest spoke over him. "Our supporters in Wistram would inform us if an [Archmage] were in Noelictus."

Yerzhen rose to his full height. "Then what, pray tell, do you think happened in Afiele?"

Raganest snorted. "A minor set back, that's all. If they had such power to spend freely, they would've used it long ago." He shook his head. "No. It was powerful magic, and that always has a price. Some ritual or artifact would be my guess."

"Aye. It was potent magic." Yerzhen frowned. "Potent magic that our army can not withstand."

"And it won't have to." Raganest leaned back in his chair. "There's always a cost to such things. Be it an artifact, spell, or skill - our foes won't be able to wield it again in such short notice."

Yerzhen glared at him. "So you still intend to proceed with the attack?"

Raganest laughed. "And you don't? I didn't know the Bear General of Ailendamus' back was yellow."

Yerzhen loomed over the other man. "You dare?"

Raganest stood up. He didn't come close to matching the other man's height or mass, but he didn't care. "I dare! I dare to seize the chance that has been presented to us! I dare to follow his majesty's command! Or do you not care for the resources that would be better used by Ailendamus? Do you not care for our people who have died due to the undead that Noelictus is incapable of containing itself? Make no mistake, [General], I am the person in charge of this operation! You answer to me!" He held the other man's gaze for a few seconds before sitting back down. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes. Sir." Yerzhen replied with clenched teeth.

"Then go." Raganest made a shooing motion with the back of his hand. "Nothing has changed. We'll maintain the same schedule. Ovela will be ours before the month ends."

"Yes, Sir." Yerzhen turned to leave, but paused. "Just tell me one thing."

"What's that?"

"This has nothing to do with your ex-fiancée, does it?"

"No." Raganest replied. "It has nothing at all to do with Seraphel du Marquin."

It was just a delightful bonus.

---

Here's Kevin's character sheet. He won't be encountering parahumans and thus won't be getting exp from Optimize. So this part is going to remain pretty static throughout the story.

Still, I thought it would be nice to show it in its entirety and let you see what sort of advancement Kevin's made while helping Dragon out.

Kevin Greenhouse (Pixel/Jagat/Bengal/Mega)
The Gamer

Gender: Male
Age: 17
Race: Human (Parahuman)
Faction: PRT Affiliate
Title: Murderer IV (+200% damage to helpless targets)
Title: Thief II (+100% to stealth checks)
Title: Mugger (+50% to intimidation checks)
Title: Orator II(+100% to communication checks)
Title: Pickpocket (+50% to Inventory range)
Title: Limit-Breaker (Removes limits at a cost)
Title: Healer III(+150% HP gain when healing others)
Level: 51 (7,000/51,000 Exp)
Mover: 10
Shaker: 10
Brute: 10
Breaker: 10
Master: 10
Tinker: 10
Blaster: 0
Thinker: 10
Striker: 0
Changer: 1
Trump: 10
Stranger: 10

HP: 690
MP: 295

Primary Attributes
STR: 100
AGI: 80
CON: 80
INT: 31
PER: 22
WIS: 20
CHA: 135
LUC: 100
Unspent Points: 36

Traits:
Gamer's Body lvl Max
Gamer's Mind lvl Max
Observe lvl 4
Inventory lvl 3
Party System
Transposition lvl 2
Multiplayer
Memories of Optimizing Performance and Allocation of Resources
Lucky Break
Deep Analysis
Crude
Teleportation Clone
Ephemeral
Administrator
Conversion

Unique Summons (8/8)
Riley's Zero Suit - 0 Str. 25 Dex. 10 Con. Lucky Fate lvl 5. Lucky Screen lvl 5. Observe lvl 4. Party. Malleable. Gamer's Mind.
Met Factory - Str 40. Dex 20. Con 40. Inventory. Summoning lvl 4.
Gray Fox - Thief II Str 10. Dex 50. Con 20. Stealth. Teleportation lvl 3. Summoning lvl 2.
Boo - Str 20. Dex 85. Con 20. Observe. Teleportation lvl 1. Summoning lvl 4.
Little Mac - Str 80. Dex 140. Con 80. Unarmed Combat. Damage Resistance (Physical).
Dhalsim - Str 80. Dex 25. Con 60. Unarmed Combat. Damage Resistance (Gravity). Meditation. Malleable. Teleportation lvl 1.
Legend's Zero-Suit - 0 Str. 40 Dex. 20 Con. Lucky Fate lvl 5. Lucky Screen lvl 5. Murderer IV. Gamer's Mind.
Accord's Business Suit - 0 Str. 20 Dex. 30 Con. Gamer's Mind. Lucky Screen lvl 4.

Unique Blueprints
Golden Gun

Perks Selected (14/14):
Rapid Regeneration lvl 5
The Siberian lvl Max
Lucky Fate lvl 5
Lucky Screen lvl 5
Power Drain lvl 5
Teleportation lvl 5
Threat Sense lvl 5
Crafting lvl 5 (Analysis, Surgery, Gourmet, Crude, Ephemeral, Conversion)
Expansion lvl 5
Ears of Babel
Tongue of Babel
Instant Dungeon lvl 5
Juggernaut
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ lvl 1

Perks Available:
Solid as a Rock
Fire Control
Silica Control
Strength Enhancement
Pain Control
Shaping
Debuff Control
Momentum
Speed of Thought
Metal Control
Emotion Control
Pure Strength
Energy Control
Water Control
Gravity Control
Biology Control
Artificial Intelligence Creation
Power Imbuing

Skills:
Acting: 93
Athletics: 31
Basic Academics: 82
Biology: 81
Computers: 93
Cooking: 100
Craft (Armor) 20
Damage Resistance (Acid): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Chemical Energy): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Cold): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Disease): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Disintegration): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Electricity): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Energy): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Gravity): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Heat): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Light): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Magnetism): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Nuclear): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Phasing): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Physical): 100 - 99.9999%
Damage Resistance (Poison): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Radiant): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Radiation): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Radio): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Sonic): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Strong): 100 - 100%
Damage Resistance (Weak): 100 - 100%
Meditation: 100
Melee Weapon: 71
Pain Resistance: 100 - 99.9999%
Parahuman Lore: 49
Ranged Weapon: 22
Resistance (Agi Damage): 100 - 100%
Resistance (Con Damage): 100 - 100%
Resistance (Light): 100 - 100%
Resistance (Nullification): 100 - 100%
Resistance (Spacial): 100 - 100%
Resistance (Str Damage): 100 - 100%
Resistance (Sonic): 100 - 100%
Resistance (Temporal): 100 - 100%
Stealth: 100
Tailoring: 42
Unarmed Combat: 100
Video Games: 59

Ongoing Quests:
Dragonslaying
Investigate Iota

Debuffs:
None

Chapter 7: Two Steps Back 1

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

She immediately sensed something was wrong. Kevin had summoned her, but he wasn't around. The connection she shared with him didn't feel like it normally did.

"What the?"

"Goodness!"

"Guards!"

It was strange. He should be here somewhere! Sibby looked around. There were lots of people, but no Kevin. Although... he could change his appearance. He might be in disguise!

"What is she?"

"It must be a Djinni."

"I don't see a collar or bracelets."

No, that was silly. It also wasn't a good game. She could always sense where Kevin was. Changing shape or splitting in two didn't matter. Oh, wait. He was in two places! ...but neither of them was close.

"Wild Djinni!!!"

"Call the [Djinni Slavers]!"

"Help!"

For that matter, where was Panda? Sibby hadn't summoned her. She couldn't be summoned by anyone else, but that connection also existed! There was only one explanation: Someone was playing a game with them.

"Stand back!"

"Dead Gods!"

"I'll deal with her! [Anti-magic strike]!"

A bare-chested man with lots of thin markings on his skin struck her with a whip!

Sibby ignored it.

No. That wasn't good enough. She IGNORED it.

The piece of leather struck her... and disintegrated as the Siberian's body overcame its pathetic molecular bonds.

Sibby smiled, and pounced on her attacker. The rules were quite clear. Self defense allowed her to do anything she wanted.

First, her calling card. The Siberian giggled to herself. It was nice having a calling card. Anyways, she clawed his face. Not enough to be lethal, but she did include his eyes. If someone wanted to play with HER, then she wasn't going to go easy on them.

...Well, maybe just a little. Kevin still radiated disapproval when she killed someone in 'self defense'.

Second, she grabbed his hand that held the weapon he dared try to strike her with. A small application of her power let his fingers pass through the handle of the whip and his thumb. She then revoked her power, leaving the leather object fused to what used to be his hand.

"DEAD GODS!"

"RUN!"

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

Sibby smirked. The rest of the players, or rather, pawns knew their place. It felt gratifying to inspire so much fear so quickly.

...Actually, it felt both gratifying and boring at the same time. It was hard finding people who'd try to fight her. Sure, desperate prey would struggle and attack when cornered, but that wasn't very exciting.

Sibby stalked forward, but no one else seemed brave enough to risk her wrath. She straighten and looked for a better vantage point. Huh? Now that she looked at it, this city was strange.

The buildings were so short!

And what were they made of? Clay? Rocks?

At least they were painted nicely, and had lots of decorations, but their attempts at 'smooth' walls were just... pathetic. Eh. She shrugged. She never understood 'art'. Even when Riley had gone on and on about it. It was hard to get invested in something so... flimsy.

Anyways, what was she doing? Oh, that was right, she needed a vantage point. That building looked tall enough. Sibby crouched and strengthened the ground to withstand her jump.

...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

She was still in the square. The buildings were the same. All the people were still gone.

"Uhhhhh...."

All the people were gone except for the one that'd tried to whip her. Strangely the only thing that had changed was her position. It was like she popped and was immediately re-summoned.

Hmmmm....

What had Kevin said? Something about not assuming things?

Right. She should prove it!

Sibby walked to the other side of the man to the same place she'd just been, bent down, and then poked her finger through the stones that covered the ground.

...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

The Siberian paced back and forth for a while and thought.

Well. That proved it, right? The stone beneath her foot summoned her.

Or this location did.

Or something...

No. Kevin still summoned her. She could feel him. She couldn't feel the stone.

Although, she could only feel one Kevin now... and Panda felt strange.

What did William always tell her? Protect him because he was her summoner? She understood his argument. Without him, she wouldn't exist. ...except she was existing without him now.

In any event, hiding the fact that she could be summoned was something both William and Kevin agreed on. She shouldn't let people know that this spot was special!

...Especially with her popping so frequently.

Why was that happening anyways?

Sibby frowned and placed the palm of her hand on the stones at her feet. They felt... new. Different. There was something there. It wasn't something she could sense directly... more like the usual input she got was altered.

Hmmm...

What if she jumped without spreading her power to the ground first? That seemed like a good next step. Or experiment. Or whatever.

The Siberian bent her knees and pushed off of the ground. Her leap lifted her high into the air. She didn't even need to ignore gravity's effect to achieve such a weak result. She was just that strong and amazing!

Surprisingly, the ground beneath her feet remained intact. She normally reinforced the ground she leapt from or landed on. If she didn't, she tended to make a mess of things. Not good for a huntress like herself.

Sibby landed on the rooftop. The split second her foot brushed against the wooden ceiling, but before any of her weight or momentum would be transfered, she'd analyzed the building.

It had the same... altered signals.

She didn't reinforce the rooftop. Instead she landed with all her weight.

Nothing.

Hmmm...

Sibby stomped on the roof a few times. She heard a muffled yell from inside and people scurrying around, but that was it. Whatever these altered objects were, they were durable.

So what next? From her new vantage point, Sibby could see a bell tower. It was tall enough to let her see for miles in every direction.

Sibby wanted to make a bee line towards it, but that would be foolish. She was a smart and patient huntress. What she needed to do now was vanish so she could stalk her prey unseen.

She also needed to figure out who her prey were.

Thus, the next step was to hop off of the building. People might've seen her disappear and re-appear already. Or they might not have. They were all busy screaming and running before it happened.

Huh. They were screaming and yelling before she'd done anything. Did her reputation precede her? Could they not stand seeing her perfection? Was it a case of mistaken identity?

Sibby shrugged. She'd find out the answer with time, or she wouldn't. It didn't really matter either way since she'd still do the same things. Other people's opinions were worthless.

Except for Riley, Kevin, and Panda's.

What was she going to do again? That's right. She needed to vanish in an obvious fashion, but also in a real one. Did this place have manhole covers? Those were great for giving a plausible explanation for where she'd gone.

Nope. Nothing of the sort was visible from where she was.

Well, it was time for a distraction then. The open area that she'd appeared in had numerous carts around its edges. They were filled with all sorts of things.

Swords. Fruit. Cooked meat. Cloth. Funny looking trinkets.

All of them would work.

Sibby hopped back down and strolled to one of the carts. The blind man she'd injured clamored to his feet, so she tripped him as she walked past.

First, the cart with the swords. It didn't feel strange, so Sibby granted it immunity from everything.

Wait. The cart was fine, but the swords felt different. Now that her power engulfed what they were resting on, Sibby could tell they were giving off altered vibrations also.

It was too risky.

She let that cart go and picked up the one with the fruit.

Ah, much better. No weird properties muffling this cart's interactions with the world. Sibby raised it over her head, and then launched it into the air!

There. That should go at least a mile before it hit the ground. The odds of it hurting someone were high, but it probably wouldn't kill anyone. Unless they were unlucky enough to be struck directly.

Some of the other carts she tossed in the air. Some she broke apart and flung their pieces. Others she hurled at the surrounding buildings. She needed to make any people that might be watching her from the windows think twice.

Satisfied that she'd made enough of a scene, Sibby ran down a road. She turned into the first alley she came across. No windows. No followers. She was as hidden as she could be.

Or at least as hidden as she could be without using her power.

Sibby let the light that was reflecting off of her body pass through her instead. She did the same for heat, sound, radiation... almost everything.

She was now deaf and blind. She couldn't see if she didn't let light interact with her eyes. She couldn't hear if she didn't let sound interact with her ears.

Better safe than sorry if she was going to win this game.

Sibby crouched, and then jumped with all her might. She didn't reinforce the street, but it remained intact as she leapt into the air.

Once she was high enough, she started to ignore gravity. Sibby let herself float for a while before allowing light to strike her eyes once again. She soared over the city for a while before letting gravity pull her back towards the ground. She landed lightly on another rooftop before springing away. Once again, she refrained from trying to affect the odd material.

Her new trajectory took her towards her target - the bell tower. It was now ringing. She could see another man with similar markings as the whip wielder pulling at the thick cord that was attached to the bell. She couldn't hear it since she was still letting sound pass through her.

Sibby landed on the peak of the tower before sliding down the side a short ways. Her eyes were still visible. While it wasn't the entirety of her eye, only a small section in the center, it was still something someone could notice.

She still needed to hide the extent of her powers. That was a given no matter the game.

Sibby pressed herself against the roof. It felt wrong, just like the other structures and the street. Something that prevented her from affecting it with her power. Oh! She was still super strong! She should see if she could break it with only her body's muscles!

Not now though. Later. Once it was dark and people wouldn't see her appear in her spot if she popped again. For now, she would wait and watch.

The city she'd been summoned in was large. While most of its buildings only had one or two floors, there were a few that rose as high as five or six. What it lacked in vertical expansion, it made up with horizontally. Even with her new position, she couldn't see where it ended.

Well, that wasn't strictly true. She could see a large body of water. No city on that. Lots of boats though.

The strange thing was, they were all sail boats. Or at least boats with sails. Some of them were pretty big.

It wasn't the architecture that held her interest. Rather, it was the prey... erm... people.

So far, there were two distinct types - those with nice jewelry, and those with ugly jewelry. A lot of them, in fact most of them, had those same thin lines on their skin. Especially interesting was that the flesh between the lines was sometimes different. Sometimes it was rougher or smoother, or even a different color.

The people with the ugly jewelry were clearly less happy than the ones with gold or silver. Sibby wished that Kevin was around to give her Observe for a while. She wondered what the ugly jewelry people were sad about. If it was for a good enough reason, she could start another game!

A game within a game!

Someone else landed on the bell tower. Sibby looked up, but couldn't see them. So it must be someone who was good at hiding - like her. Too bad they weren't good at landing. She'd felt the vibrations from when they had come in contact with the structure. She felt the vibrations from when they breathed. She could tell that they were blocking the wind with their body.

All in all, the other player was nowhere as skilled as she was. She should just maim or scare him and move on.

...but not until night fell.

Other nice jewelry wearing people were gathered around her summoning spot. They all had weapons in their hands. Swords, bows, little sticks. They were all shouting too. Sibby was too far away to hear them, even if she let the vibrations interact with her. She could still see their lips moving.

Most of the people looking for her had arrived on... rugs? What a strange way to fly. They mounted their strange transportation method and rose into the air again. They spread out while shouting and looking all around for her.

Yes, waiting until there was no one to see her if she popped again was a good idea!

Still... she had the invisible person to play with. Whomever it was, they were obviously part of the game. They'd just had the same idea as her, too bad for them the Siberian was superior in every way!

Sibby reached out a hand. Slowly, slowly... there. She'd found him!

His waves felt strange, but different from the road somehow. Well, they were obviously different as they didn't cause her to pop when she passed through them. That didn't mean all of him was safe to 'touch'! He might have something on him that she couldn't affect. The strangeness might change!

But what was a game without any risk?

Sibby found an edge. Clothing? A cape? Whatever it was, she gently grasped it with two fingers and started to ignore gravity and momentum.

Not entirely, but enough so that it would only take a small gust to send her flying. Her touch was as light as a feather, no, as light as a strand of hair. When her target moved, so would she.

Now it was a waiting game, and Sibby was a patient huntress.

...

Her prey was also patient.

...Or was it her hunter?

If someone was hunting someone else, but that person was actually being hunted by the first person... who was the hunter and who was the prey?

Eh.

It didn't matter. As long as the Siberian was one of those people, the other one would be prey by definition!

While her prey kept their vigil, Sibby looked around the city.

Kevin had said they were going to another Earth, but Sibby didn't think that was where she was. This whole place was too strange. Sure, she hadn't been to other Earths before, so she couldn't say that the buildings, dresses, and strange people were wrong.

What she could say was that those bricks were wrong. There was nothing that she couldn't negate!

Ok. Fine. There were a couple things that she'd found over the years that made her stop existing rather than the other way around. That one cape in the white. The other in the red. That, uhm, whomever it was.

Still, the point was that they all felt... familiar. Like they were simply fundamentally more potent than she was. (As galling as that was to admit.)

No. This world felt wrong.

It wasn't just the brick, or the fabric she was holding. The very air itself was... off.

Oh, and there were two moons. That was a big giveaway also.

The sun was still out, but she could see their shapes beyond the clouds.

Hmmm... How were the people doing by her spot? Still waving their arms in the air and (presumably) shouting strange things.

What about the other places where she'd thrown stuff?

Let's see...

Ah. One cart was being sorted through by people with ugly collars. A man with golden jewelry was shouting at them while cracking a whip above their heads.

What was with the whips? Sibby could see three other people with the lackluster weapon in the crowd. Those men had them coiled at their waist, but it was still an odd weapon of choice.

Jack had tried using a whip once.

In private.

It had worked, but it clearly wasn't a proper weapon.

Was this one of those 'cultural' things that William had occasionally talked about?

Sibby wished she'd paid more attention back when he was still alive. Her first creator had been smart. Sure, he could go on and on about the strangest things, but he usually had a point. Stuff like social classes didn't make sense to her. Who cared how humans viewed themselves? She was better than them, and that was all that mattered.

...At least that was what she'd thought back then.

Riley had changed that. Kevin had changed it more.

She looked at the location of another cart she'd thrown. More people with ugly clothing and those bulky collars were going through the rubble.

Was this an example of a 'lower class'? She supposed the golden jewelery and colorful clothing were a status symbol. It was the same as Earth in that sense. Sure, these people were much more obsessed about shiny things, but the... idea was still the same.

Sibby wondered what her prey looked like. They had to be important. Turning invisible, even if they were poor at it, had to mean they were special. What sort of a world would it be if everyone could become invisible?

No, that was silly.

Also, how was her prey seeing things?

No matter how hard Sibby looked,she couldn't see any light that didn't pass through the space where her prey was.

Was it that strange feeling?

Was her prey using a form of detection that Sibby wasn't aware of?

Could they be watching her right now?

No. Of course not!

What a silly idea.

...

FINALLY!!!

Her target was going to pay for making her wait so long if nothing else!

Sibby wanted to close her eyes as she was dragged along, but she couldn't trust where she'd be pulled. The sun was setting, but there were still people close to her summoning place. It was tricky. Holding on to an invisible person, while making sure she dodged objects took skill.

Thankfully, she was just that talented.

Also, they seemed to be flying. So there wasn't really anything she needed to do.

Her prey landed on the ground in a secluded alley. He then lowered a hood he'd been wearing. At the same time he became visible.

Correction. SHE became visible. Sibby's target was a female.

Short.

Dusky skin.

Long black hair.

A very thin tattoo around her neck.

Sibby frowned. Almost everyone she'd see had possess the same tattoos. Thin as a hair or as thick as a vein - their size varied, as did their placement, but they were all uninspired straight lines.

Sibby couldn't tell if her prey had more markings, as the rest of her body was hidden by her clothes. Now that she was visible, the Siberian let go of her cloak and stood up. Her prey began to walk, and Sibby followed her.

A floating pair of eyes would be noticed, so Sibby only allowed a single pinprick of light to interact with her. A black speck floating in the air was hard to see. Most people that did notice it mistook it for a bug.

It was a good disguise, but it made things hard to see. While she was like this, Sibby had no depth perception and extreme tunnel vision. It was one of the reasons it was so hard to tell where she was relative to anything but her target.

They moved through the city before entering a nondescript building. Sibby slipped in as the door closed behind them.

The room was bare except for another door. The woman opened it and stepped through, as did the Siberian.

The new room had two men in armor standing by an archway. A gem was embedded above it. Her prey stepped through, and the gem flashed blue.

Sibby frowned. There was something in the air.

Would she pop if she followed after her target?

Eh. She shrugged. She hadn't come this far to stop now!

The Siberian slipped through the arch.

The gem didn't react.

Sibby smiled as she crept behind the other woman. The pair walked down a flight of stairs and through more hallways and doors. They eventually arrived at a door where her target paused. Instead of opening it like the others, she knocked and waited.

Sibby allowed the vibrations in the air to interact with her ears.

"-in." A voice called from behind the door.

The woman opened the door and stepped through. Sibby followed. She quickly looked around the room before moving to a corner and crouching down. Dusty. Numerous bookshelves full of books and scrolls. Another gem above the door that still glowed blue. A large desk, covered with documents. Behind it sat a large, rotund man. He also had black hair, dusky skin, and thin lines that were visible on his neck and arms.

The outfit he wore bore an image of scales. A hand holding a bag was shown on each end.

The same image was displayed on a large banner behind the desk. However, the scales on his body and the one on the banner tilted different ways.

"Zahia." The man nodded. "What do you have to report?"

The woman, Zahia, shook her head. "No sign of a free Djinni. There were no magical distortions of any kind, and no residue at the scene." She shrugged. "I suspect it is a prank, or the work of a [Saboteur]."

The man grunted. "Is that so?" He reached down and opened a drawer in his desk. "While you were finding nothing, others returned this." He tossed a bundle of cloth and leather towards her.

Zahia caught it before turning it over in her arms. "The tip just stops." She held up the leather end of the object. "A fine cut." She rubbed a thumb over the tip. "Clearly made with magic or a cutting skill." She flipped it over and looked at the cloth end. "What?" She tugged at it. "I see no stitches, nor any binding material."

"Aye." The man replied. "The man's fingers were fused with his whip. Now, tell me. What skill can do that?"

Zahia shook her head. "No skill that I know of." She placed the object back on the desk and grunted.

Sibby was confused. They had to be talking about her. Who else could do what she'd done to the whip and her attacker. Why was there cloth instead of his hand at the end of the weapon? She frowned. It was obviously some sort of power. A transference of cloth to flesh? A byproduct of a healer?

It didn't matter. It wouldn't be the first time she had to teach people that her victims deserved what they got.

...And that they would get it one way or another.

"-nd no traces of magic!" Oh, right. The conversation.

"And I'm telling you that if it looks like a Djinni and acts like a Djinni, then it's a Djinni!" The man yelled.

"Fine." Zahia crossed her arms. "Let's say it is a Djinni. What types?"

"Stealth? Binding? Shadow? Dead Gods, for all we know it could be magical-absorbing!" The man glared at her. "It's not our job to figure out precisely what magic the cursed thing is made of! We need to find it and catch it!"

Zahia nodded. "Of course. What do you want me to do next?"

The man made a shooing motion. "Leave. Get some rest. Our Djinni are already here. You can resume your surveillance tomorrow."

That was her cue. Sibby stood up and moved towards the door. She had plenty of targets. The man who'd avoided her punishment. The guy behind the desk that was coordinating the hunt for her. Zahia, who'd been part of that hunt.

Who to play with next?

It had to be Zahia. Sibby had already spent so much time stalking her. The real question was, what punishment would she give her? She wanted to draw the healer out first, and Zahia seemed important enough to warrant a visit.

Sibby tailed the woman as she left the building and made her way across the city.

...

"Good evening, Mistress." Sibby watched as the door smoothly swung open so that Zahia didn't have to break her stride. A man in an expensive looking getup stood to the side and held it open.

Sibby slipped in behind her.

Zehia began to undress. She passed her cloak, boots, and her thick leather armor to the man. The rest of her clothes she dropped on the floor as she walked.

Sibby paused to look at the man. He didn't have the thin markings around his neck - at least not that she could see. He was wearing a collar that might be covering them up. It looked like the pretty jewelry that some of the people she'd seen had worn, but it had a hole on the front instead of being smooth or possessing a small gem.

The man took the three garments away to another room, while a younger boy dashed out and started picking up the discarded clothing. His outfit was similar to the man - including a collar with a hole.

Sibby shrugged. She'd never 'got' clothing and fashion. They were annoying and hid her perfect body. Besides, if she wanted to not draw attention, she had her power.

She decided to continue following Zehia. The woman was now in a room with a large circular hole that was filled with hot water. She sunk into her bath as more people came in. This time they were all women.

One washed her body. Another washed her hair. The third brought a tray of food, which she fed the alpha with.

Sibby watched and wondered. The other three women were nude, which she approved of, except for the collars they wore, which she was confused by. Why leave those on?

She was quickly distracted by the markings that the naked women had. Thin, black lines criss crossed their bodies. The lines weren't all in the same places, but there did seem to be a correlation between them and joints. Shoulders, elbows, knees, hips... they all had markings there - even Zehia.

Once her bath was done, Zehia put on a silk dress and retired to a pillow-filled room. "Send for Laila." A man bowed and scurried away. Soon, a squirrel woman entered the room. She had large, wide, strangely colored eyes, furry ears on the top of her head, and a large, bushy tail behind her.

She also had those same black lines.

Sibby moved in for a closer look.

The lines weren't lines. They were slightly raised sections that emerged from her skin. More than that, it wasn't a single mass, but one that came out, then went back in, then came out again.

Wait.

She'd seen something like this dozens, no, hundreds of times. Back when Riley had just joined them.

They were stitches!

How odd. It must be one of those 'cultural' things. Like jewelry that people stuck through their skin. Did they not know what tattoos were? Or did they prefer string to ink for making patterns?

...But why only lines?

Eh. It probably didn't matter.

"Laila." Zehia smiled. "We had the most interesting description of a suspect today. Black and white striped skin! Like those animals from Jecrass. I've never seen a beastkin like that before." Her smile widened. "But that won't be a problem, will it?" She reached behind her and pulled out a scroll before handing it to the other woman.

"As my Mistress wishes." Laila bowed and accepted the parcel. "And my face?" She looked up with a look that Sibby recognized - fear.

The Siberian didn't care for most people, things, or activities. She had, however, gained ample experience terrorizing people. She KNEW fear. Try as much as they'd like, the minor signs were always there.

It was one of the reasons she'd liked Kevin from the start. No fear. Plus, he tasted good.

She smirked to herself. Her latest game with him didn't produce fear, not exactly, but it did provoke a reaction. She wondered when she'd see him again before turning her attention back to the game at hand.

"Of course." Zehia smirked. "You must be striped all over!" She languidly stood up and cupped the other woman's face. "Come now, you have the skill to survive tampering to your head. That's why you were so expensive."

Sibby froze.

Expensive?

As in she was bought? As in slaves? As in what the collars with holes represented?

It all made sense now. The two types of people. The two types of jewelery. The way most of the people didn't speak or even dare look at the other half. It wasn't a social thing.

Well, it was in a sense, but it was based on taking people's freedom! Sibby had gained strong opinions on that subject after what William had forced her to force Panda to do. What Mannequin had tried to force Riley to do. What Jack had forced them all to do!

Kevin would agree.

It was time to play a serious game.

Notes:

Bios:

Sibby - The Siberian. Was dying when William Manton was killed. Kevin sacrificed a significant amount of power to safe her - both to make Riley happy, and because he had good interactions with her while he was a member of the Slaughterhouse Nine. She's now, technically, one of his powers. Not as smart as she thinks she is in some ways, but smarter in other.

Zahia - OC. A high-level 'problem solver' for Roshal. Like almost every non-[Slave] in Roshal, she owns [Slaves].

Laila - OC. A [Slave] with a unique [Class] and [Skill].

Chapter 8: Two Steps Back 2

"Wow, this place seems so different. Dragon was right. The similarities just highlight how unalike everything else is. I wonder how many of the changes are due to no-" Riley looked up as Kevin stopped talking. The world had suddenly lost all color!

She blinked. No, that wasn't quite right. The sky was still blue. Her eyes narrowed as she gazed at the cerulean expanse above her. Her eyes were orders of magnitude better than a regular person's. She'd modified them extensively. Different particles in the air blocked and reflected light differently. The sky over New York was different than the sky over Brooke's Creek.

The sky over Iota was vastly different than the sky over Bet.

This sky was even stranger.

The... base sunlight was off! And was that two moons? She could see them clearly despite the surrounding light pollution.

The Tinker frowned. On one hand, this meant that they'd stumbled onto the occurrence they'd been trying to find. Just because Dragon didn't know what precisely was happening didn't mean she'd been unable to formulate some predictions and theories. Case in point, it was an abduction.

That made sense. Matter didn't just vanish. Not without noticeable energy expenditure.

She glanced around the area she was now in. It was perfectly white. How odd-

Something bit her!

Riley's heart stopped beating.

It was an automatic response she'd added to her nervous system. She wasn't afraid of poisons. Her body was immune to all of them. The reaction was to prevent blood loss.

In fact, it was redundant as her blood was so oxygen saturated she could go for hours without taking a single breath.

Riley glanced down. No, what was important now was what had attacked her. Attached to her calf was the outline of a snake.

It wasn't translucent or transparent. The light she could see moved around it. If it wasn't for the thermal components she'd included in her expanded range of vision, she wasn't sure she'd been able to see her attacker at all!

So this world had powers. She wasn't surprised.

She pointed at the animal. Capillaries around her distal phalange of her index finger constricted. A thin needle from the center of her bone embedded itself in the snake's skull. The neurotoxin killed it instantly.

A replacement needle moved up from her middle phalange to the tip of her finger while another needle from the proximal phalange took its place in turn. It would take a couple of hours for the largest bone in her finger to completely grow another needle, but she had twenty-three more shots if she needed them. (It was hard aiming with her thumbs, so she hadn't included needle launchers in them.)

Riley reached down and pulled the snake's jaws open and away from her calf. A pale venom leaked from her wounds. The snake was completely white and no longer invisible. Whatever power allowed it to bend light had ended when it died.

Riley scanned the ground around her. No more heat signatures. She was probably safe-

She suddenly fell as her leg gave out from beneath her.

Now that was interesting. The snake's venom was effective against her counter-measures.

Riley hummed to herself as she shrugged her backpack off and began digging through it.

A new venom! How exciting!

She pulled out a knife and started removing the damaged limb. Better safe than sorry.

Besides, she could always re-attach it later.

It took her a while to remove her leg, even if she didn't have to cut through her reinforced bones, her tendons were also tough. Once she was done, there would be no risk of the venom spreading. Riley nodded. "There. Now I could use some extra hands." She rooted around her backpack some more. "Hey! All my Mets are missing!" She frowned. "I was sure I packed them... Oh! Here we go!"

She pulled out a small, yellow cube and placed it on the white ground.

Riley ► Expand.

The Met Factory responded to her command and grew to its full size.

Riley ► Create.

Nothing happened.

Riley ► Create.

No new Mets appeared. While the ones the Factory made weren't as nice as the ones she'd made by hand, they still were helpful. Riley picked up the yellow box and shook it. "What's wrong with this thing?" She hummed as she thought. "Malleable." The outfit Kevin created for her morphed to cover her head. "Observe."

[Met Factory]

"Well... that's something I suppose." Riley shrugged and sent the signal to restart her heart. Her leg was sealed and wouldn't be leaking any blood. "Kevin will have to fix it when I find him." She stood up on her remaining leg and looked around the barren, white plains. It should be easy to spot him in a place like this...

...which also meant that she was easy to spot now too!

"Uh oh."

Riley ► Collapse.

The yellow box shrunk back down into a yellow cube. Riley grumbled as she awkwardly crouched down to pick it up and toss it back in her backpack. She then noticed a large heat source moving closer to her.

Riley raised her right arm and pointed at it with all of her fingers. The action apparently clued in the heat source that it had been spotted and it dashed towards her! It became visible as it ran. It was hairy, large, and also pure white.

Riley fired all four of her needles, but the creature continued its charge!

An appendage swiped at her once it was a few feet away. Riley tried to dodge, but it was impossible to avoid the invisible attack with only one leg.

Time seemed to slow down as she was batted to the side.

Riley flew through the air like a rag doll before crashing to the ground. "Malleable." Her costume flowed away from her head and towards her leg. She rose on her new foot and winced. The bear-like creature had broken two of her ribs.

She got a better look at it now that its invisibility power had faded away.

It wasn't a bear. While it was the same size as one, the thicker fur on top of its head and back along with the shape of its muzzle and claws made it resemble an albino honey badger that had grown far too big.

It snarled at her and charged again. It was either immune to her neurotoxin or, more likely, her attack hadn't managed to pierce its thick fur.

Riley bit down on a small pustule in her cheek and bent her knees.

When the animal pounced, she fell backwards while breathing a plume of acidic mist above her. The badger passed through it as it flew over her head!

Riley rolled to the side to avoid the fallout from her own attack and sprinted towards her leg, backpack, and snake. There was a cry of pain and rage behind her. She picked up her belonging and continued to gain distance. Her attack had been based on Crawler's saliva. While it wasn't as deadly as the original the acidic poison should've killed anything. The fact that the badger was still making noise was concerning.

She'd love to dissect it and see exactly what made it tick, but that could wait until she had two properly functioning legs. Fighting things with their hands were Little Mac & Sibby's deal. (And occasionally Kevin's too. Stupid brother.) The animal had survived her most potent poison, so it might be able to kill her before she could do the same to it.

No. Her best bet was to put as much distance between them as possible before finding a place she could Tinker in peace.

...

Riley ran through the tall grass. The most notable thing about it was that the grass, like the two animals she'd already encountered, was invisible.

How did that even work? Plants NEEDED sunlight to survive. That was how they obtained the energy necessary for life! What evolutionary purpose did letting light pass through them serve?

She could also make out a large, wide tree on the horizon. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world to see the grass and bushes that dotted the countryside. All of them were invisible. The plants were cooler than the surrounding air, but not by much. That made discerning their locations difficult.

Except for the tree.

The tree was invisible, but it was also hot. Extremely hot!

The badger was still chasing her, but she'd gotten far enough away so that she could no longer see it. In theory, that meant that it couldn't see her either. In practice, any predator in this world had to have the capacity to find its prey using non-visual means.

Still, if it was tracking her, it couldn't be running after her, so it was probably okay to slow down for a little bit.

Riley eyed the tree. Whatever made it special also made it dangerous. She should probably give it a wide berth.

Just as she angled her path to circumvent it, multiple balls of heat broke off and began flying through the air towards her!

She'd enhanced her cardiovascular system, so she was still good to continue running. It wasn't a long term solution, but it should suffice to get away from whatever was making so much heat.

Unfortunately, the flying creatures were faster than her. Even worse, once they got closer, they became engulfed in flames! This allowed her to see them with her regular vision, but it also meant that they were probably about to attack.

The flames obscured their forms, but Riley could hear a buzzing sound as they approached.

Insects?

Giant, invisible, fire-creating insects?

She now wished she'd packed one of Kevin's laser guns in her backpack. Even with it being larger on the inside, there had been only so much room. It had been more important to bring all the things she'd need to Tinker with. Unfortunately, her most useful tools had vanished - not that the Mets would've been effective against these particular opponents.

Riley raised her left arm. One, two, three, four. Needle after needle struck home. Her targets fell from the sky, spasmed, and turned visible as they died.

Bees. Giant, white, fire bees.

How'd she love to cut them up!

The rest of the hive didn't seem inclined to let her, as their flames grew larger and hotter.

Riley ran.

She paused to turn around and raised her right hand. One, two, three, four. Four more needles. Four less bees.

Hopefully they'd give up once she got far enough away. She only had so many needles.

...

"Stupid bees! Them and their stupid flames!"

Riley nursed her burns as she continued her trek. She was out of finger needles! Bone took time to re-grow!

Plus, she hadn't even gotten any new specimens out of the fight.

She needed a different bomb. The stupid fire had burnt away her poison cloud before it could get close enough to the insects.

No. What she really needed was something that could stop their fire. A non-flammable gel would work... except it would be too easy to dodge. She needed something that could put out fires in an area. Something like a fire extinguisher...

That's it!

A carbon-dioxide cloud wouldn't work on its own. It was too dense. What she needed was to mix up a non-flammable gas that had the same density as air. As a bonus it would work against a lot of creatures. She would have to include a paralytic of course. It wouldn't do to have someone leave the cloud. If she wanted to suffocate something, they needed to stay put!

Riley saw movement out of the corner of her eye.

She turned her head, but there was only the outline of bushes.

Wait.

There!

A hotter than normal bush! And another! And another!

Something was sneaking up on her. A group that wasn't only relying on the ubiquitous invisibility that creatures of this world possessed.

Well, she was done running.

She could block the pain signals, but her broken ribs were getting worse. Her burnt arm was chaffing. Finally, she still was missing a leg!

Riley took her backpack off and set it down on the ground in front of her. She then took the bows out of the ends of her pigtails and placed them inside. "I'm glad I finally get to use this, you know?" There was no response from her soon-to-be attackers. "I mean, I still like to look cute. So I normally don't go this far, but it seems worth it now."

She pulled two vials from her backpack and straighted up. "Besides, I prefer live subjects." And not just because they made it easier to Tinker with. She liked the praise that Kevin gave her when she subdued people non-lethally. One of the problems with that was actually finding suitable subjects to test on. This would be an excellent opportunity to see just how deadly her most recent modification was.

Dog-shaped heat blurs emerged from their hiding spots and slowly approached her from every direction.

"C'mon." Riley smiled as she drank one of the vials. She tossed the other one up and down. "If you don't get this over with, I'm going to start throwing things."

The canines charged as if they'd understood her threat.

Riley tossed the vial at the one coming at her from the front. At the same time, she activated the bio-electric charge she'd built up. Her individual strands of hair spread out as the electricity flowing through them let out a static charge. One after another, the animals rammed into her 'tazer hair'. She had it going at a pretty serious voltage, amplitude, and pulse frequency.

It was the amplitude that really determined how deadly electricity was. The pulse frequency was also important, as interrupting a target's nervous system for too long was dangerous.

Riley had opted for the 'usually lethal' setting.

At least one of the... oh, they were white hyenas!

At least one of the hyenas should survive.

...

It was getting dark. Riley didn't know what that meant for the local ecosystem. All the plants had turned visible as the sun set. It didn't help much, as all them were white too. Did invisible animals even care about daylight?

It was possible, even likely. It was colder at night. It was harder to walk when you couldn't see the ground. The need to conserve energy probably trumped whatever capabilities invisible predators used to hunt invisible prey.

Unfortunately, likely wasn't good enough. She needed to find a secure place to sleep. Food and water would also be necessary at some point. She could eat the hyena corpses she had. She could also drain them of blood... but that was more of an emergency water replacement.

It wasn't like she was in a desert. There were shrubs and trees. Their spacing suggested infrequent rain.

Probably.

She wasn't a meteorologist.

In any event, she was getting sleepy and she hadn't run into any more animals for a while.

Riley took off her backpack. While she wanted to cut open the hyenas and the snake, she had another goal in mind. A few drops of this combined with a splash of that and some heat... Presto!

Riley tilted her neck while feeling it with her left hand. She had to be precise with this. The syringe in her right hand plunged deep - right next to her brain stem.

...wow.

....whoa!

.....that was... really... wow.

She'd targeted her glymphatic system accurately. Her solution swept across her brain, and flushed away the day's accumulated waste. Other things could keep her body going, but rest was essential for the cells in her brain to dispose of their by-products. Just like every other part of her, they had to take in chemicals, use them for energy, and dispose of the remains.

Having your brain flushed made thinking impossible. More like a strange waking dream. Thankfully, her manual cleansing didn't last long.

Riley returned everything to her backpack and continued walking. She'd find a cave, or a plateau, or some other natural feature that would keep away other animals eventually.

She almost stumbled on top of a heat source!

It was buried in the dirt. An animal poked its nose out of its burrow before turning around.

Ah good. Not something that was trying to eat her.

Riley barely got her arm up in time to block the spay of quills directed towards her face.

...

"Stupid porcupine, or hedgehog, or whatever." Riley's dress had stopped the quills from piercing her chest, but she still had a dozen embedded in her forearm. "They won't come out." She tugged at one of the ones protruding from her arm again. "I could just pull them out, or cut them... but then I couldn't see HOW they're so sticky!" She walked in silence for a few minutes before letting out a sigh. "I guess I'll just have to wait until dawn. Creating a light of my own would just draw more attention."

Of course, she'd also have to find a secluded place also.

It wasn't bad at night really. It was probably the best time for her to move around, especially with her thermal sight.

"I wonder if there are any sapient life forms. I mean, badgers, bees, and hyenas all exist on Earth Bet. That implies a common ancestry, or at least that a co-mingling also happened in the past." She stepped around a hole. "Dragon didn't say anything about animals being abducted, but that's just the current situation. In fact, there might be humans here - Neanderthals, or something. Heck, a whole civilization might have evolved."

Eventually the horizon started to brighten.

"So that's what? Fifteen hours?" Riley frowned. "Pretty long, plus its cold. So... winter? No snow that I've seen, but that matches with my rainfall hypothesis."

She heard a sound from above. In the sky and to the left there was a single heat source that was making noise. To the right there were a dozen more. Even as she watched, the solitary... bird? called out again. At the same time the flock dove down at her.

"Interesting." She mumbled. "They don't look big enough to be birds of prey, but they're clearly using pack tactics." She reached down and pulled a bow away from her dress. "Then again, my depth perception isn't the best right now."

She tossed the bow up above her head where it exploded in a fine red mist. Riley kept staring at the approaching birds. She was immune to her own poison. The foremost attacker fell from the sky as it inhaled her creation. "Looks like they aren't like that badger then." The remaining birds started to pull up, but they had built up too much momentum in their dive.

One after another, they fell to the ground around her. Their invisibility faded as they died. Yep, all of them were pure white also.

"My backpack is already full!" Riley stomped her foot. "I'll have to ditch a hyena to make room for them."

...

Riley heard them approaching before she saw them. She didn't even need her thermal sight to make out the cloud of dust on the horizon.

As she got closer, she could make out a mass of creatures who weren't even invisible. Like everything else in this stupid world, they were solid white. It made making out details from so far away impossible.

Riley frowned.

The herd looked dangerous... and it was heading straight towards her!

She started running to the side. She kept one eye on the approaching stampede, while the other one made sure that she wasn't going to run over any new surprises.

"Hey! No fair!" The charging animals were swerving towards her! "Aren't you herbivores? Why are you coming after me?" Most herd creatures weren't predators. It took a lot of food to sustain that many animals. It was impossible for an ecosystem to support that many carnivores. "Although, they could be omnivores. I guess." Riley stuck her tongue out at the approaching mass. "Or you all could just be a bunch of aggressive meenies!"

Still, she had to do something. It wouldn't take long for them to reach her. "Hmmm... Poison won't work. Even if it kills them, they still have a lot of momentum built up. What I need is... there!"

Riley picked up her pace. There was a large tree with a wide canopy to the side. She wouldn't be able to make it in time, but she could get the tree between her and the charging group. She smirked once she was in position.

THUD!!!

The tree shook as one of the leading animals crashed into it!

The beast veered to the side, and collided with one of its pack-mates. Other members suffered the same fate, but it didn't seem to slow them down much. "I guess that's not an uncommon occurrence, what with the trees being invisible." Riley frowned. "They have some hard heads and a good sense of balance."

Unfortunately, the mass came back together once they swarmed past the tree. "Still, I can do the same. I'm at least as sturdy as a tree."

Riley pulled the back of her skirt up and grunted as her spine extended. It was her most fortified piece of biology. Its thick bones had been hardened to an extreme degree. Her spine lifted her up as it expanded to its full length. At the same time, tendrils of bone shot out from its tip. They dug through the dirt and anchored her to the ground.

She wasn't as high up as the tree, but she was still out of reach of the... bison? Sure. She still couldn't make out much from the solid white mass, but Riley was 80% sure they were bison.

...Or bison-equivalent.

THUD!!!

The first one hit her spine and glanced off of it. Riley winced. Even with hyper dense bone, she'd still felt that. She didn't have a lot of space for padding.

"OW!!! You stupid cows!" That seemed like a good insult. Riley grabbed another bow from her dress and threw it at the ground. Bison after bison collapsed upon entering her poison cloud.

"Huh. I guess they aren't so dumb after all." The remaining herd abruptly swerved away after only three members collapsed. "I guess that's to be expected. Pack animals don't slow down for the slow, weak, or dead." Riley nodded from her vantage point.

Once the herd had passed, Riley lowered herself back to the ground. She had to break off the 'roots' she'd made as they weren't designed to retract.

"Ah, that really stings!" She gingerly started walking again. "Ow, ow, ow. I need to fix the pain receptors when I have the chance."

...

Water! She'd finally found water!

Riley had seen the outline of trees on the horizon. Her assumption that more trees must mean more water had been correct. She was so thirsty she'd been thinking about drinking the blood of some of the animals she'd killed.

She hadn't because, number one: it wouldn't be cute, and number two: it would be a waste of perfectly good blood!

If she had time she could strain all of the useful goodies out of the blood, but that would be kinda boring.

Riley scanned the area for heat sources. Watering holes attracted all sorts of visitors after all!

Nope. Nothing. Nada.

She walked up to the edge of the lake and looked around. The indentation that allowed water to settle was about fifty feet across, and twice that much length-wise. In fact, it was more like a non-flowing river than a lake. Riley started walking around the perimeter. Yup! There was a trickle of water coming from the east and exiting to the west.

That was assuming the sun rose in the east on this planet. Without a compass she couldn't be sure which way magnetic north was. Oh well, going by where the sun rose and set was easier and more useful anyways.

The river must form when it rained. In fact, she'd probably find similar water sources if she followed the path - which was something she was planning on doing anyways. That would be her best chance of finding civilization if it existed. If not, she'd find the ocean - or at least a much bigger lake.

Perhaps most importantly, running water meant it wasn't stagnant! While her body could take whatever Earth Bet threw at it, it would be foolish to press her luck in invisible-land.

Riley knelt down, cupped water in her hands, and drunk deeply.

She let out a satisfying sigh that suddenly turned into an "Eep!" when something soft, wet, and sticky struck her chest!

She was pulled off balance and into the water! She struggled, but the force was too strong and quick!

Something enveloped her. Bone spikes extended from her forearms, and she plunged them downward!

The sticky thing was still pulling at her, but all it was accomplishing was carving grooves into its own flesh. Riley grabbed another of her dress' bows and crushed it in her hand!

Her surrounding convulsed and relaxed.

Riley pried the now visible jaws of her attacker open. The thick and sticky saliva was already turning thin and wet.

Riley swam away from the giant frog. It had to weigh at least six hundred pounds.

"All that and it's too big to carry with me." She frowned. "If it wasn't such a high-traffic area, I'd cut it open and use it as a mount!"

...

The small stream continued to the west. "I'm so bored. Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored." Riley kicked a rock with her prosthetic leg. There was no feedback. It wasn't satisfying in the least. "On one hand, I'm glad that random invisible animals haven't attacked me in a while. On the other hand, it did liven things up." She pulled at one of the quills that was still lodged in her forearm. "On the third hand, I don't need more things added to my list of needed repairs!" She hadn't been able to examine and re-attach her leg yet, for crying out loud!

"Should I stop here?" She wondered. "Animals, or at least Earth Bet animals, don't make their nests close to busy places. But! This stream isn't exactly busy right now." She kicked another rock. "So I should be left in relative peace here." She let out a sigh. "Until some bird sees me from above." Riley frowned. "I guess I do need shelter after all..." She blinked. "Hey! Is that?"

Riley let out a squeal of delight. There was a clear bump on the horizon!

She picked up her pace.

There! A sheer cliff face rose into the sky! Or at least two hundred feet. It was noticeable not only for its bulk, but also because it was gray! That wouldn't normally be a prominent trait, but it contrasted with the ubiquitous white of the rest of the landscape.

Riley made it to the base of the plateau without incident. She walked around the natural structure. There wasn't much of interest. The cliff was nice and vertical the whole way around, rather than having a slope that connected one side. There was a singular deviation on the southern slope.

Water had clearly eroded that side. There was a clear rounded section at the top that probably formed a waterfall when it rained. A small pond remained at the base. Riley could see a trail that led from the pond back to the currently dry river, but she didn't get close. The stupid frog had avoided her thermal sight by remaining submerged. There was no telling what other animals might be hidden in the depths of THIS body of water.

Better to avoid it completely.

Riley moved to the opposite side. It was tall and almost perfectly vertical with a few hand-holds that she could see. She rubbed her chin. "I bet I can make it." She let out a hum. "But I am carrying a lot, and have a bum leg." She hummed again. "No, I'll need some help." She smiled. "Good thing I have some of that saliva saved!"

The small Tinker put down her backpack and pulled out the jar she'd scraped the frog's secretions into. "Let's see here..." She experimented for a while. "Just like I thought. It's non-Newtonian! Force causes it to become thick and sticky. I can work with that!"

All it took were the appropriate enzymes to modify the saliva's transformation time. Once it stayed sticker for longer, Riley spread some on her hands and feet. The trick was to get a rhythm going. One hand. Pause. The other hand. Pause. One foot. Pause. The other foot. Pause. Then back to the first hand as the mixture became less sticky. Riley slapped it against the cliff and pulled herself up.

She made it to the top and looked around.

"Nice view. No heat signatures." She walked around. "Oh! Hey! Someone else made camp here before!" A small circle of white stones surrounded some grey ashes. Riley poked around and found some divots too. "Someone had a fire going and a tent too!" She smiled. "Neat!"

---

The Bloodrage Badger sniffed the ground. Its prey had come this way. The huge beast snarled and continued to track.

Tireless, unrelenting, vengeful, it was the next-to-apex predator of the Chalk Lands.

Bloodrage Badgers were known by only a few people. It took an abnormal mindset to venture into a Death Zone. Of the [Explorers] who'd encountered them in the past, they all knew one thing: If you run across a Bloodrage Badger, one of you is going to die. Perhaps not immediately, but soon.

That was because the invisible animal was territorial to an absurd level. Bloodrage Badgers never let prey escape. It didn't matter how wounded they were. It didn't matter how far they had to travel. It didn't matter what skills its target used.

One with half its head blown off had followed the [Trapper] who'd wounded it outside of the Chalk Lands. Despite its quarries talents at remaining unnoticed, the badger tracked it. It followed him into a city and ambushed him in the street! The berserk monster had only been killed after taking the lives of a dozen guards and adventurers.

Notes:

Bios:

Riley Grace Davis - Bonesaw. Has been through a lot with her big brother.

Chapter 9: Two Steps Back 3

Sibby followed the squirrel girl as she bowed and left.

She seemed a lot more interesting. Sure, the Siberian was eager to play with her prey, but the situation had changed. People reacted differently when they were hurt and afraid. Some lashed out, some cowered, some begged. It was the first type that she was concerned about - the type that raged against other people.

It was odd. She'd spent so much time with Jack, but it was only after he and William were gone that she began to consider the consequences of her actions - and how to manipulate people.

She blamed Kevin.

Sibby sighed. It was the curse of being so amazing. Now that she understood the situation, she couldn't play normally.

It was one thing to play with someone who'd yell and strike their own subordinates. Really, it was fun in a way. Like setting up Simurgh victims. Push the boss the right way, and he'd torture the other scum for you.

Sibby couldn't do that here. She hated being so awesome and compassionate sometimes. Sure, she didn't know much about Laila, but she could infer a lot. Things would be so much easier if Kevin was around to give her Observe, but she'd make do without it. The Siberian had seen enough situations like this to know how Zehia would react.

She'd blame her slaves for allowing her to come to harm in her own house. She might torture them or kill them.

It was one thing to spark that kind of explosion when the rest of the targets were 'in play'. It was another thing to do it when people who were like past-Riley could get injured.

The problem was that Sibby hadn't encountered a situation like this before. Previously, she'd removed the victims so they wouldn't be caught up in any retributive actions. She could do that here, but where would she put them? That was usually Kevin's job.

Let's see? This was another world, so there was no PRT.

The police? That was a haphazard choice back on her Earth. Here? Zehia was obviously part of a gang. It might even be part of the police equivalent here.

Capes? There were some interesting looking people around, but capes were a mixed bag at best. Heck, even past-Sibby, as great as she was, would've been a bad choice for current-Sibby to go to for help.

Where was Kevin? He understood this sort of thing better.

Eh. She'd just have to play things by ear. Sure, plans were fun in their own way, but spontaneity was exciting too!

The slave walked through several rooms with the Siberian following her before she stopped in a very oddly decorated one. It was as if someone took one of Riley's old labs and recreated it... with puppets.

Hands, arms, feet, legs, torsos, faces... body parts of every sort were haphazardly strewn about the place. It would have been more nostalgic except that they were made of cloth. An older-looking woman sat in a corner. She wore a slim collar like the other slaves. Her arms were bare and showed numerous stitches across them. The soft light from a glowing stone illuminated the area around her. She looked up from her sewing as the squirrel girl entered.

"Laila, back so soon?" She put down her needle and thread. "I thought you would be spending the night with Mistress Zehia."

Laila shook her head. "The Mistress wishes for me to change my form again."

"Already?" The old woman looked puzzled. "We just recently finished transforming you into the Three-Color Stalker. Mistress was looking forward to that form so much."

The squirrel girl sighed and slumped into an empty chair. "A new creature has aroused her passion." She let out a short laugh and opened the scroll she'd been carrying. "All that work and suffering for nothing! Look! This is what she desires now!" She turned the document around to show the other woman.

Sibby moved to get a look too.

It was a... poor rendition of her. Her stripes weren't that jagged! They were much smoother and elegant looking! They were also much slimmer and pleasing to the eye! And what was with the hair? That was all wrong! She fought the urge to shred the mockery.

"Let me see..." The older woman peered at the page. "We still have the ebony cloth and the albino weave. We can re-use the hands and feet I made with them. I can sew together the rest of such a simple pattern easily." She looked up and smiled. "It's not so bad."

"Not so bad?" Laila exclaimed. "Not so bad!" She motioned at her face. "I'll have to skin my face again! Not once, but twice when she tires of it! My skill might dull the pain, but you know how nerve-wrecking it is for me to have to do that to myself!"

"Deary, I can do it for you. You know that my hands are still steady as a rock."

Laila seemed to shrink down on herself. "You know it's not the same. Letting you work on my body is one thing, but my head is another. I... I can feel the connections to my life thread! Do you know how terrifying that is?"

The old woman gently took the scroll from her hands and placed it to the side. She then cupped Laila's hands in hers. "You know I don't. No one does. The very thought of anything touching that is as terrifying as an open flame. No one can know like you do." She shook her head. "But it is your lot in life now. Just don't think about it until the time comes. Worrying will only double your trials."

"You're right." The younger woman blinked before turning away and wiping her cheeks. "Of course you're right."

"Do you still want me to swap out your eyes?"

Laila nodded. "Yes. I can't do that myself. I still need your help."

"Of course. Of course." The woman stood up and moved next to a cabinet that she opened. "Do you want to do it now? The Mistress will expect to see progress."

"Yes. Let's get the eyes done now before I lose my nerve." Laila went to a desk that was clear of all the clutter and laid back on it.

"Ah! Here they are!" The woman held up a pair of... marbles? "You remember these, don't you? I made them for the princess outfit!"

Sibby moved closer to get a better look at what she was holding. They weren't marbles. While they were spheres, they were made of cloth. One end had dozens of red and white threads trailing away in a single tangle. The other had circles sewn in it that made it look like an eyeball.

Laila shuddered. "I remember."

"Yes, yes. Hard to forget, I'd imagine. It was the first time we replaced your eyes." The woman rummaged back through the cabinet before pulling out some metal tools and a glass lens attached to a leather contraption. "I'd never made a pair of eyes before, but I think they turned out beautifully." She hobbled towards the table. "Nothing like the current pair you have, but those were special, yes?" She hummed to herself. "What a unique and difficult request. I was sure one of us would level."

"I don't want any more levels in my... special class."

"Hush now." The woman placed all the items she carried next to her on the table. "We should always be happy for levels, even the oddly colored ones." She took the leather contraption and fit it on her head. The lens hovered right above her eye on a small arm. She then took two of the metal tools and brought them to Laila's face. "Steady now. Don't flinch." Her right hand gripped the rod with three of her fingers, while the other two grabbed her patient's lower eyelid.

A swift twist of her wrist put the metal tool in between the eye and the rest of her face. The woman then repeated the same maneuver with the top lid. Once the eyeball was fully exposed, she used a pair of tongs to pull it out.

Sibby leaned forward. She was familiar with operations like this. What was different was that the mass of blood vessels and nerves that connected the girl's eye to her head had a row of black stitches. The old woman locked the tongs to the other metal tools before lowering the lens that she wore.

"There we are." She took out a small set of tweezers and a needle. "This will sting, but don't move!" One by one, she deftly removed the stitches. Laila whimpered with each one, but she didn't move. When a stitch was removed, the woman clamped the part still attached to the head with the tweezers and set it aside.

When the very last stitch was removed, the eyeball turned into a piece of cloth!

...Or had it always been a piece of cloth? Sibby wasn't sure.

The process was repeated, except this time it was done in reverse. The cloth eyes the woman had taken out were painstakingly sewn onto Laila's body. Somewhere along the line, the cloth eye turned into a real one - with threads trailing from it.

As they were attached, each thread became flesh and blood!

Sibby was fascinated. Riley HAD to see this!

...She also wondered what one of those cloth eyeballs would taste like. It was fine if they were already removed, right?

"All done!" The seamstress stood up and stretched and removed the leather contraption from her head. "See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" She lowered the newly attached eye back into place before removing the tools that held the eyelids away. "It's late. We can do the other one tomorrow."

Laila sat up and shuddered. "Yes, tomorrow." Her voice shook, just like her body. "I'm going to go and get some sleep now."

Sibby agreed.

Not that it was time for sleep, but rather that she'd become bored. It was time to investigate!

There were a lot of things that she was curious about, and now that it was night she could experiment without worrying that she'd pop.

The first order of business was this room. Could all these cloth limbs become real? Was every person with stitches able to do what Laila had?

...That would explain the whip merged with the bundle of cloth. Somebody had escaped her punishment. That would not do.

...

Sibby chewed on the cloth eyeball as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop. It was bland. Hardly any difference from eating 'normal' food.

...In fact, it was worse than eating real flesh!

There was, however, just a hint of an odd aftertaste. Where was Kevin anyways? She missed his cooking.

Sibby paused occasionally at a high point and allowed light to strike more of her eyes. She needed to be able to find her way back to the house later. Her investigation had been incomplete.

The floor, walls, and ceiling had all felt wrong. Sibby was pretty sure that if she tried to make them stronger or destroy them that she'd pop. Thankfully, most of the doors had been normal - including the front door.

There were a few that weren't and Sibby didn't dare try passing through them. One was the door the slave had gone through with Zehia's clothing. Or at least her clothing that she hadn't dropped on the floor. Sibby was interested in seeing what that cloak was like.

It had felt strange in a different way. Would it pop her if she tried shredding it?

The other doors were deeper in the mansion. Zehia had vanished while Sibby had been preoccupied, and it was most likely that she was behind one of those doors. It would also be a risk to enter a place that she couldn't get out of.

Aside from that, the rest of the mansion had been boring.

People, slaves, going about their business. Or sleeping.

They were so boring! The Siberian was a patient huntress, but watching someone to try and understand them?

Pass.

That's what Observe was for.

Ah! Here she was. Her summoning spot.

...Something was wrong.

There was no one around, but the air that was passing through her had become odd.

Sibby backed up, and began to circle around the disturbance.

It was spherical in nature. It grew wider the higher up Sibby floated.

That meant... There! Up in the sky! It was a bird! No! A plane! No! It was an almost translucence humanoid figure with wings!

Sibby studied the cape. It wasn't actually transparent. For one thing, it wore two thick, golden bracelets that were easy to see. For another, the stars behind it didn't shine through.

Sibby moved so a moon was behind the cape.

Ah, much better. Not invisible then, just pitch black. It was obviously doing something with the air. Sibby would have to be careful. That person was doubtlessly looking for her. If she was popped now, her secret would be revealed.

That meant that she needed to make a distraction!

...

Sibby had found her target.

Ironically, it had been pretty hard to find a place where there weren't any slaves around for collateral damage.

One stood out: the harbor. Some of the boats had felt strange, but it had still been easy for the Siberian to investigate them. Sibby didn't know much about slaves, but apparently getting them off of the boats they were brought in on was a priority.

Why?

She had no idea. The purpose of slaves was to treat them horribly, right? Then why not keep them locked up in the smelly, cramped, floating coffins?

Whatever. She didn't need to know to play her game.

Sibby landed in a dark alley and allowed light to fully interact with her again before she strolled out.

The docks were still decently active despite the hour. Light, sound, and the smell of alcohol spilled from the buildings into the night air.

Sibby picked up a barrel, and threw it through a wall! The crash it made was a little disappointing. Whatever made those walls strange also made them tougher than they should be, but that was why she was using projectiles. The strangeness couldn't pop her if she didn't interact with it directly. Sure, the things she threw didn't possess the level of destruction she could inflict with her bare hands, but right now that was a benefit! She just needed to throw more of them to get the job done.

That was fine. Sibby had lots of barrels.

One after another flew through the air. She smiled. It was fun to go loud. Especially when she didn't have to worry about collateral damage. In fact, the more the merrier!

The windows were a lot weaker than the walls, so Sibby started aiming for them - until the doors opened. Those made even better targets. The people around here might look different, but they were still a lot squishier than the strangely resilient walls.

She had caused a lot of damage to the three closest buildings when she ran out of barrels.

No matter. The wood the dock she'd chosen wasn't strange, and there were a lot of chunks she could pull out.

Instead of aiming towards the bars, Sibby started spearing slave owners with pieces of wood.

Okay, technically she had no proof that all the people running around and screaming were slave owners. However, they weren't slaves, and that was good enough for her!

It didn't take long for the first signs of a real resistance to come. Capes started pouring out of the damaged buildings. Some had armor. Other's had glowing sticks. However, none of them had escaped her initial attacks unharmed. Even the ones with shields staggered back when struck with her thrown logs.

Strange lights flew from the stick-wielding capes towards her.

Sibby retreated.

She didn't know what those lights would do to her. Plus, she needed to draw as many people into her trap as possible.

Sibby started using her projectiles to intercept the lights that were being shot at her. That worked pretty good. Her logs were bigger, and it didn't really matter if they were on fire or covered in ice. They still did their job.

It was getting easier as she went further up the dock. The slavers could only approach from one direction. She couldn't do this for long, each projectile was pulled from the very same object that was supporting her. On the other hand, that made the terrain extra treacherous for her targets too.

A stalemate of a sort was reached. The people had stopped trying to approach her. Sibby frowned. She was just too good at keeping them away! How was she supposed to enact her brilliant plan now?

Eh. She could still do it, she supposed. It just wouldn't be as... Oh! Those people on flying rugs!

They would make great targets!

Sibby smiled and started launching projectiles at them as they tried to fly around and flank her. She nailed one right in the chest! ...But that was all. They were moving too fast, and her logs were too slow. It wasn't fair. It was so easy to dodge ranged attacks!

The crowd parted as a tiger made of fire walked through it. It was nice looking. Orange and red flames made up most of its body. The only parts that were different were its glowing green eyes, and a large silver collar that was tight around its neck.

How did that work? Fire couldn't support something like that.

Sibby would think about it later. She hurled a log at the impressive looking cape.

The tiger roared, and the log was incinerated. Its charred remains fell to the pier at the tiger's feet.

That was enough of a distraction. Time for her trap!

The dock she'd chosen wasn't strange. She could affect it any way she liked. So, she let its molecular bonds fade.

Sibby smiled as she let gravity pull her into the water. It was the perfect place to vanish from sight!

She was so smart!

Plus, it would probably mess with that fire tiger. Bonus!

...Except it wasn't falling. Instead it floated mid-air and roared again.

A stream of fire struck her in the chest.

...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

She wasn't sure what had caused her to pop. The tiger's fire had felt strange, but strange in a different way than the ground.

The Siberian immediately stopped letting light reflect off of her completely and jumped into the air. She made sure to only use her legs to propel her up so as to not pop against the ground again.

Sibby floated as she let light strike a small part of her eye.

Was that floating cape still around?

She didn't see him.

Good. That meant her distraction was a success. She could go back to playing the stealth game.

---

Eesa opened the door to his house with his new hand. It was nice that he able to perform such a simple task again, but it was infuriating that he had to in the first place! One of his slaves should have done it for him, but they were no longer here. They were no longer his.

"Accursed Djinni!" He swore as he shut the door behind him. A lone fly zipped past him. "Accursed flies! Winter will come soon to kill you all!" He took off his clothes by himself, and put them away by himself. It was as if he was a copper-less savage!

A nice long soak was what he needed right now. Eesa paused in the entrance to his bathing room.

The pool was empty.

"Accursed Djinni!" He slammed his fist into the wall to his side. "Have I stooped so low that I must haul my own water?" Not only that, it would take time for it to heat. It looked like he would be forced to use a bucket and sponge to wipe the filth from his skin.

At least the vases in his house held enough water for that. He hefted the container up, and was about to pour some water into the bucket when he saw his reflection. Eesa put the vase down and brought his hands to his face.

Ugly.

Scarred.

Eyes that weren't his own.

THIS was his reward for doing his job. THIS was his reward for being brave. THIS was his reward for his service to Roshal!

"I never should have tried to strike the Djinni." He slumped down and put his head in his mis-matched hands. "What did it get me? An arm that needed to be replaced... and the loss of my eyes." He held back his tears. "It's not fair! I was a good man and a decent [Slaver]! I shouldn't be punished for doing my job!"

But it had cost him. It had cost him so much. Eyes were expensive. Finding a seamstress that could make them and replace the ones that had been ruined had been difficult. He had no savings. He had been forced to sell all his slaves to pay for the excruciating procedure.

It wasn't fair!

His [Anti-magic Strike] was a spectacular ability. Getting it at level 20 had been the happiest day of his life.

It wasn't fair!

He was high level! He was valuable! The Emirs should have lavished praise, gold, and slaves upon him! He should've been honored for what he did! He shouldn't be punished! He shouldn't have to pay to be healed!

...But healing potions didn't work on his eyes. They had barely healed the rest of the damage to his face. They'd said he was lucky to be alive.

Ha! Lucky!

Lucky would've been to NOT encounter a rogue Djinni! Especially one that turned out to be impossible to subdue.

If it had been a regular Djinni - think of what the reward might have been! He might have even gotten the wretched thing as his slave!

...But that was not poor Eesa's fate.

How long would he have to endure these injustices until he could save enough money to afford a decent house-slave? A month? Two? Three?

"Accursed Djinni!" He whispered to himself before standing up. He still needed to wash himself. He still needed to get the water from the vase to do so.

Eesa looked back at his reflection, but there was something else he saw in the water.

Something behind him...

Eesa whirled around and fell down. It was here! It had come back for him!

The Djinni!

The last thing Eesa ever saw was its smile.

---

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

She'd been playing for days, and she was starting to get used to being automatically re-summoned.

This time it had been a human shaped mass of flowers that had caught her! It was a strange looking cape - constantly moving as the individual plants that composed it grew, bloomed, then died over and over again. The only constants were its yellow eyes and the bronze belt it wore.

There seemed to be more and more of these strange looking capes... and each and every one of them was able to pop her!

She had played long enough. It was about time she stopped running and popped them instead!

...No. She should be patient.

The Siberian gently landed and allowed light to strike her eye again. She'd been popped so many times it had become second nature to vanish and jump in a random direction the instant she was re-summoned.

In any case, it would be daytime soon. Sibby should head back to her secret base. A base so secret nobody would ever expect it! After all, why would the powerful and deadly Siberian spend the day in the very same house as one of the people trying to catch her?

Sibby smiled.

Besides, there was another person there that looked like her. Eh, there was someone that looked passably similar in a banal way that completely failed to capture her flawless form. The point was, that Laila might confuse someone.

...If they could see her somehow. It didn't seem likely, but Sibby also didn't want to bother to find another place she could squat during the day. Memorizing Zehia's house's location was plenty already!

It didn't take her long to find it, especially since she could just retrace her steps. She supposed that was one of the advantages of being un and then re-summoned so often. She had plenty of experience traveling this particular route.

The house was already active as the slaves made preparations for their owner's return. Sibby took a small measure of delight in causing such an inconvenience. Sure, that hadn't been the reason why she only played at night, but it did force the people chasing her to keep odd hours also.

The large, male slave looked up from the meal he was preparing and made his way to the front door. Sibby didn't bother remembering his name. She wasn't even sure it had been said in her presence.

"Good morning, Mistress." In one smooth motion, he opened the door, stepped to the side, and bowed.

As always, Zehia strolled inside without breaking her stride. The slave owner started undressing immediately, only bothering to hand her cloak, boots, and her thick leather armor to her slave. "Is my meal ready?"

"Of course, Mistress. Where would you like to take it?"

Zehia tilted her head. "I think I should like to eat in the pillow room." She paused before smiling. "Tell Laila I would like her to entertain me while I partake of my food."

"Of course, Mistress."

Sibby considered killing her. It wouldn't be hard. She'd figured out the rules of this game. Almost all of these people could use cloth to replace damaged body parts.

...Except for their heads. Hit them there, and they went down for good.

That would be too dull. Plus, Kevin would be upset with her. Admittedly, he probably wouldn't be angry or even annoyed, just disappointed. That was worse.

Hmmmm...

Although he hadn't complained the times when she'd killed other capes that took advantage of people. Like that guy in Canada. In fact, he'd praised her! This seemed similar enough... but Sibby was already working on a different game.

She smiled to herself. The only way it would be better was if Riley was here to help.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the large slave. "Mistress, you will have a guest soon."

"Oh?" Zehia looked up from her food. "I suppose I should make myself presentable then. Bring me my casual clothes and move the food to the solar. I can at least enjoy the sunrise."

"Of course, Mistress."

Sibby frowned. This was new. Could the people she'd played with today have figured out a way to follow her? They were getting better and better at showing up where she was - even when she was being stealthy!

Zehia and her slave moved to the foyer. He stood next to the door, while she languidly reclined in a plush chair.

Less than a minute later, there was a knock. The slave opened the door.

His eyes went wide and he immediately bowed without saying a word.

Sibby was confused. Shouldn't he say 'hello' or something? She moved in front of him and bent down to get a closer look at his face.

Fear.

It was written all over it. Her investigation was cut short as a heavy-set man entered through the open door.

"Zehia! It is good to see you my dear!"

The woman smiled and stood up. "[Slave Master] Riqre’ma Medaale." She inclined her head. "It is a pleasure to see you again. To what do I owe this honor?"

Notes:

Bios:

Riqre'ma Medaale - A powerful and cruel [Slave Master]. Breaks Roshal's laws in search of power and new [Classes] for his [Slaves].

Chapter 10: Two Steps Back 4

Riley wiggled her toes.

"There. All better!" She smiled as she pulled her sock over her reattached foot. "Now to make camp."

She frowned. She'd spent plenty of time outdoors. Sure, Manny was really good at making RVs and tents and stuff, but they'd gotten wrecked a lot of the time. Unfortunately, she'd never been in charge of things like making fire, or putting up a tent, or constructing intricate death traps to kill anyone that got close.

"It shouldn't be too hard, right?"

...

"I hate fire." Riley said with a flat voice. It wasn't true, she'd desperately wanted some fire right now, but her attempts of rubbing two sticks together had failed. It was just easier to express her dissatisfaction by saying she hated fire.

"Besides, it's not like I need one or anything." She slapped her chest. "I'm fully thermally regulated. Plus, it's not even that cold." She squinted her eyes. "More light would be nice though. You'd think two moons would make things brighter at night."

She let out a sigh and sat down. "I'll just need to do the delicate work during the day. I can still fix myself. I could do that blind." As she had done numerous times in the past.

Her stomach growled.

Oh, right. THAT was why having a fire was a good idea. Her digestive track was pretty robust. As a vital organ, she'd made sure to armor it both inside and out. The problem was that some things in the world just weren't edible. It was stupid to eat stuff that you didn't understand.

She'd learned that the hard way. Stupid Kevin and his stupid blocky food!

Food aside, she had a couple of other injuries that needed to be patched up. Her bruised spine was the major one, but she couldn't do any serious work without assistants. She flexed her fingers. Besides, it was only some minor nerve damage. Her brain's signals were still getting through. There was just an annoying amount of feedback.

The second most annoying injury was the stupid quills that were still embedded in her forearm. She'd poked at them while walking, but they just weren't coming out. It was like they were attached with glue or something. She'd have to cut out the surrounding flesh.

Simple enough. Plus, she'd trimmed some of the muscles from her previously amputated leg. She'd had to make sure the necrosis from the venom didn't spread. She'd be able to use some leftovers for a quick replacement of what she would have to cut out.

She could also use some of the skin to help fix the burns she had.

Finally, her ribs wouldn't take much work. Her mesh was durable, and had prevented them from splintering when they'd broke. She only had to cut herself open, put them in place, and maybe add a stabilizer while she was there.

Riley nodded to herself and got to work.

...

It took all night and another glymphatic syringe, but Riley was good as new once the sun rose.

Well, ALMOST as good as new. Her leg would work for walking, but sprinting and climbing would be more difficult. She'd had to remove a large part of one of her biceps femoris muscles. It was more important to replace her damaged gastrocnemius muscle.

Hard to walk well without those.

Her spine still hurt, but a targeted opioid took care of the pain. She would have to limit her mobility for a while to allow the nerves to regrow.

At least now that the sun was up, she could take a closer look at the quills!

Riley pulled out a microscope and examined the end that still had some of her skin attached.

Hmmm... No glue or any other bonding substance on the tip. That didn't really surprise her. They'd been too solidly attached for something like that to really be the culprit.

No, the strange thing wasn't the lack of an adhesive. Instead, it was the fact that there was no overlap of the quill and her flesh. Other penetrating attacks that weren't easily pulled out usually meant some sort of molecular fusing. Sibby had provided her lots of examples over the years.

Riley smiled. Her mom slash pet had proven to be very helpful with her work. She'd never be a healer, but Panda had shown promise.

The quill wasn't fused - she could see where it had pushed aside her flesh as it impaled her. It wasn't attached with any substance that she could detect. It was more like it was generating its own... super-friction. Riley dug around in her backpack before pulling out a pair of surgical shears. The good thing with having a dozen quills shot at you was that you wound up with lots of experimental material.

She cut an inch off of the end of one of the quills, and the flesh immediately fell off the tip.

"Huh?" She picked up the severed end. "That was easy. Whatever makes them stick must be in here."

The quill was tough, but Riley had some mono-filament knives for precision work. She was about to start dissecting the quill when she saw something flying through the sky.

She squinted and zoomed in as much as she could with her eyes. It was another flock of those birds. However, this time was different. This flock had a visible creature in it! A visible creature that wasn't white!

The bird holding it was still invisible, but the tiny... man? in its claws stood out in the sky.

They were still far away, so she couldn't make out any details. Being visible might mean that the other creature was dead. Riley blinked and focused on the infrared spectrum. The small creature might not be moving, but it still glowed warm in her thermal sight. Perhaps it was a non-invisible (a.k.a. visible) creature?

That warranted investigation.

Riley looked around her make-shift camp site. She'd pulled numerous items from her backpack already, but she could do without them. ...Unless she wasn't able to return. She kept one eye rotated to watch the birds while she repacked her bag.

The hyena, snake, and bird corpses could stay. She didn't want to lug them around, and they weren't that fresh anymore. If she wasn't able to make it back in a timely manner, she'd have to dispose of them anyways.

All set, she applied another layer of the frog mucus to her hands and feet before climbing back over the side of the plateau.

One. Two. Three. Fouuuuuur!

Riley's right leg gave out as she put most of her weight on it. She quickly swung her left leg back. The impact turned the thin film of liquid into a sticky mass again.

Right. She needed to rely on her left leg and her arms. She could do that.

One. Two. Three. She got a rhythm going. One. Two. Three. She got down the side quickly and started moving in the direction the birds were flying. They were moving too fast to catch, but she might be able to intercept them.

She really should've packed one of Kevin's guns. Then again, they'd never really interested her and she'd never used one in a fight. Presumably there was some skill involved. So it might be best that Riley didn't have that particular option right now.

Oh! The creature was wiggling.

That was a good sign. It implied that they weren't too badly injured. Sure, the movement might not have been a conscious action. Riley didn't know what it was, and the wiggling might be muscle spasms. Or a seizure. Heck, it might even be the result of a parasite. Something to make the host visible and moving so it gets attacked by a bigger predator and the worm/fungus/bacteria has a better ride.

Riley circled around a snake. It was harder to make out than most obstacles - probably because it was cold-blooded. Probably. She really wanted to cut one open and see how that worked with being invisible.

Later. She had a wiggling... thing to take care of first!

The creature did something that resulted in it falling. Riley frowned. While it was understandable to panic if a (relatively) gigantic bird was carrying you away, it was a pretty poor choice to make it drop you. She slowed down a bit. It would still be worth it to collect the remains. If for no other reason than they'd make a nice contrast for all the invisible animals.

Assuming, of course, that the visible creature was incapable of turning invisible. Surely if it could it would've done so while falling. Then again, something was powering the ubiquitous effect. It obviously needed energy of some sort to maintain it. She didn't even know if it could be voluntarily activated or deactivated.

The large badger that attacked her had turned visible shortly before pouncing. That was only one data-point. It might mean that there was a speed restriction, a demand on concentration, or something else.

Riley shook her head. She was going on a tangent, but she was at least close enough that she could see the visible animal on the ground.

It looked surprisingly intact.

Riley slowed as she approached it. It was clearly alive. The fall hadn't done much damage to it. Instead, the (relatively) huge hole in its center of mass was the more pressing concern. At least it didn't appear conscious. Everything else she'd encountered had tried to kill her, so she doubted the visible creature was any different.

As she got closer, she noticed a few things. Unlike everything else on this God-forsaken world, it wasn't white. It was red, brown, and pink. Red from what she assumed was its blood. Pink from the hair on one side. Brown from its clothing.

That implied sapience. Or at least tool use. Either way, it MIGHT not try gouging her eyes out as soon as it woke up.

Finally, Riley stood above the... dwarf? gnome? midget? little person? It was slightly taller than her hand, and carried a tiny bag and dagger on its belt. She could hardly believe her eyes. It was a miniature human! ...With pink hair.

Fascinating. She wanted to look at its brain! How could something with such a small skull make such intricate clothing?

That could wait. The... dollman's breathing was shallow and quick.

Eh... it was probably relatively shallow and quick if she compared it to what a human's breathing would be if they were that size. It was also a large amount of blood - relatively speaking.

Riley did a quick glance around before putting her bag down and pulling out the tools she used for her most delicate work. The... female? Yes, the female dollman's chest had been punctured by the bird. There were two holes in the front and one in the back.

A quick examination showed that the dollman was lucky. Its armor was tough enough that two of the talons hadn't pierced too deeply. Otherwise her heart and spine would've been punctured or pulverized. Riley was sure she'd still be able to resuscitate the girl, but it would take a lot of work.

Compared to that, cleaning out the acid and stool that was leaking everywhere from her mangled digestive track, repairing the delicate organs, and closing the wound was child's play.

(Literately in her case, as she'd done similar things while practicing with chipmunks when she was trying to be a Good Girl.)

She was mostly done when she smelled fresh-baked cookies.

She immediately jumped to her feet and started really LOOKING at her surroundings. Her Stranger fail-safe had re-routed signals in her brain that weren't making it to where they were supposed to go. It was a warning that something was trying to get her to ignore something she shouldn't.

(Or that Kevin was baking again. Either way, it meant trouble.)

Riley chuckled nervously at her joke as she glanced left and right. Her brother's cooking wasn't bad - if he wasn't trying to 'empower' his food. Plus, stuff he made didn't smell. At all. Which was really strange now that she thought about it.

There! A large heat mass that she should've noticed earlier. It was the biggest one she'd seen, and it was slowly creeping up on them. In fact, Riley could now hear a faint sniffing coming from it.

She bit her lip. It hadn't reacted when she'd stood up, or when she looked at it. Another ambush predator? At that size? She narrowed her eyes. Actually, its size was vaguely familiar...

She slowly reached for her tools and placed them in her backpack. If she didn't make any sudden movements, the invisible animal might continue its slow approach. She pulled out an ampule before gently placing the dollman inside as well.

Next, she hefted her bag onto her back and drew back her arm. Her adversary hadn't noticed her yet. She broke the seal on the ampule before hurling it towards the large animal.

Her aim was good, and it landed right in front of the creature!

The ampule's contents reacted with the air and it began to eject a thick, yellow smoke. The thermal outline of the animal raised its head and moved it side to side. The sniffing sound grew louder before it growled and advanced faster.

"But that was my most potent..." Riley whispered to herself. What could survive THAT?

The badger came into view as it pounced!

Riley dodged to the side, and it flew past her. That was at least a twenty yard leap!

Uh-uh. Nope. No way. It might look like a badger, but it clearly had something keeping it going despite her poison. No real badger could do that - no matter its size. Riley glanced at it as she stood up. Its face was scarred, and its eyes were a ruined mess.

So it WAS the same badger that she'd encountered before. What? Had it been tracking her with smell this whole time?

The badger cocked its head and sniffed the air before launching itself towards her again.

This time, she didn't manage to dodge fast enough, and it clipped her arm.

Riley winced. That was a deep cut. Even worse, it had landed close to her!

She ran.

Riley then jerked to the side, allowing the badger's next leap to go wide. She didn't have the materials on hand to deal with it. Sure, she had some acid squirreled away, but delivering it would be tough. She might be faster and stronger due to her modifications, but that THING had several hundred pounds on her.

How was it immune to her poison? That wasn't fair!

She zigged again.

The badger might be faster than her, but without its eyes it could only approximate her location. Riley continued running, while taking sharp turns every few seconds. The badger sniffed, leapt, and then nearly took her head off as it crashed to her right! She had to get back to the plateau. Even if the badger could climb, she could pour acid on it while it was immobile on the cliff side.

Riley coughed from the dust that had been thrown up. The badger roared and only a sudden stop prevented it from connecting again. She saw the snake she'd avoided before and quickly circled around it. Hopefully it would provide a distraction...

Nope. She glanced over her shoulder as the snake bit the badger. It was about as effective as Riley's attacks had been. The beast didn't slow in the slightest, but this time its charge was off-center.

The plateau was close, but her leg was starting to give out. She stumbled, but kept herself upright. There was no way she'd have enough time to apply the mucus. She needed...

That.

Riley smiled, and angled towards the side of the plateau that she'd been avoiding. The one with the pond. The place that almost assuredly had something dangerous lurking in its depths. The badger sniffed the air before trying another flying leap.

This time, he came up short. That wasn't a good thing. It was adjusting its tactics.

Riley got to the edge of the pond and grit her teeth. This was going to hurt.

She bent down before pushing off from the ground with her two feet - and with her extendible spine!

Something lunged up at her as she flew over the water, but she was too fast. She landed... as gracefully as could be expected on the other side of the body of water. Not that she'd leapt over the entire thing. She'd only cut across the edge. Enough, hopefully, that her scent trail would be obscured and that the agitation from the ambush predators would provide enough noise for her to escape unnoticed.

She limped around the rest of the obstacle. Her leg had been injured from the running, and couldn't support her weight anymore. "Malleable." Her costume thickened into a brace, allowing her to hobble to the cliff.

A splash, a roar, and the sounds of flesh rending echoed behind her. Riley didn't look back. She didn't have time. She shrugged off her backpack and rooted around for the jar with the mucus.

The sound of fighting grew louder.

She applied a layer of the adhesive to her hands and feet, before putting it away. The backpack felt ten times heavier, but she wasn't about to leave it behind.

One. Two. Three.

She started climbing up the wall.

One. Two. Three.

It was hard with one leg in a makeshift splint.

One. Two. Three.

Something crashed into the rocks below her. Riley didn't need to look down to know the badger had caught up.

One. Two. Three.

She didn't look down. Instead she concentrated on striking the wall with the precise amount of pressure that would keep the mucus sticky just long enough.

One. Two. Three.

The badger was raging below her. It sounded like it was pummeling the ground.

One. Two. Three.

She made it to the top! Riley pulled herself up before looking down. The badger wasn't climbing after her. Instead it was invisible again and creeping around the ground.

...

Riley patched up her arm and glared down at the badger. She thought about swearing at it, but shouting might wake up her patient. Although, to be fair, if the dollman hadn't woken up during the chase, then she wasn't likely to wake up from a little noise either.

Regardless, Riley needed to finish up her surgery.

The tiny female was a little worse off. Her small intestine had spilled out from all the shaking. Nothing too bad.

Riley set her down and took her precision tools out again. A snip here. Some anti-baterial smoke there. Some fusing sutures along the side... and done!

Riley eyed her patient for several long minutes. She COULD do a little exploratory brain surgery... The shaking, the fall from that height, and the jostling from the backpack were all decent reasons to... make sure everything was working right. If she happened to discover something new, what was the harm?

"Hey! Knock it off!" Riley spoke to herself, or rather her Passenger. "You're not fooling anyone. Don't make me put my foot down!"

She wasn't sure if Surgery could actually hear her, or if it had been trying to influence her for that matter. Still, better safe than sorry. At the very least she'd convinced herself not to cut open her patient's skull.

For now.

"Okay. Fine. You got me." A high-pitched voice came from her feet. "I've been awake for five minutes." The pink-haired tiny person gingerly rose into a sitting position. "You must be good to see though my [Fool's Death] skill. Huh?" She poked her stomach, and then twisted around to try and look at her back. "Wow. I didn't know there were any Tallfolk that could treat wounds so well. No offense, but your healing potions tend to be watered-down compared to what I'm used to."

Riley's mouth fell open as she looked at the small, pink-haired woman from another planet/dimension... who was speaking English!

"Wait, what? Language!" It slipped out involuntarily as Riley's hands went to her mouth. She cleared her throat. "I mean. Why are you speaking English? And what do you mean about healing potions?"

The tiny woman was still twisting left then right in an attempt to look at her back. "Am I speaking English? Wow. You learn something new every day. I thought I was speaking Gnomish, but I've heard it's the most common language in the world. Where did my jacket go? And what are these bandages doing on my back and stomach?"

"Gnomish? So you're a Gnome? I took the jacket off to work on you and the bandages were there to protect your wounds while I carried you."

"Of course, of course." The Gnome paused and tilted her head. "Wait. Why did you carry me? Couldn't you have just used the potion where you found me?" Her eyes opened wide. "Oh! That means that I didn't fall on you! You had to come and get me? So much for [Fool's Luck]." Her eyes narrowed as she smirked. "But yes, I AM a great and powerful Gnome! Behold me in all my glory!"

She stood up and tossed aside her bandages with a flourish before striking a pose with her hands on her hips. A second later, her pants fell down around her ankles.

Riley giggled as the Gnome frantically tried to pull up her pants and cover her chest at the same time. She apparently hadn't realized the bandages were keeping her decent.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, uhm, Miss Gnome." Riley did a little curtsy. "What should I call you?"

The Gnome had elected to crouch down with her arms crossed over her chest once she'd gotten her pants back on. "You know what they say, only a [Fool] tells strangers their real name." She smiled. "You can call me whatever you want, just don't call me late for breakfast!"

Riley frowned. "Alright. How about I call you..." She looked at the tiny Gnome's pink hair. "Pinky."

"Sure." 'Pinky' nodded. "And I'll call you... Brian!"

"What?"

"Brian. It's an ancient and noble name."

Riley stomped her foot. "It's a boy's name! If you want to call me something, call me 'Bit'."

Pinky raised an eyebrow. "You don't want to be called 'Brian', but you do want to be called a verb? You know your 'name' means to cut, wound, or tear with teeth, right?"

"What? No! It means." Riley frowned. "You know what? Never mind. Sure, my name is a verb. At least it's cute." Which was something that 'Brian' definitely wasn't!

"So..." Pinky's face was nearly as pink as her hair. "Can I have my equipment back?"

Riley's hands shot to her mouth again. "Oh! Of course!" She bent over her backpack. Thankfully, the Gnome's clothes were on top. "Here you go."

Pinky accepted the (relatively) large parcel. She paused to look at the holes in her shirt before getting dressed. After she was clothed, a sinister looking smile spread across her face. "Ah ha!" She brandished a tiny fang like a sword. "Now that I am armed again, none shall stand between me and my destiny! Mwah ha ha ha ha ha!"

Riley reached down and plucked the fang from Pinky's grip. She held it close and looked at it from different angles. "Huh. Did someone bend this so that it's straighter?"

Pinky waved her hands and shouted with a panic filled voice. "Be careful! My blade contains an infinite amount of poison that can kill even the most vicious of animals!"

"Oh?" It was hollow, and it did have a fluid reservoir on the inside. "Let me see." Riley checked to make sure she had a scalpel ready, just in case this toxin also somehow worked on her. She then stopped her heart, and poked her left pinky finger.

"Aaaaahhhh!!! What did you do??!?" Pinky ran around in a circle around Riley with her arms in the air. "What did you doooooo?!? Dead Gnomes, I'm sure I have an antidote somewhere!" She stopped and looked around. "Where's my bag of holding!?"

Riley watched as the venom tried to connect to her nervous system. Unlike when the snake had bitten her, her improvements worked precisely as designed. The toxins failed to find any purchase on her modified biology.

She shook her head and restarted her heart. "Nope. This won't help me figure things out." Oh well, at least she didn't have to make a new finger. Those were tricky, especially with her own venom and pressure launchers and what-not.

Pinky's arms fell to her side as her mouth opened wide. "But... How... I... What?" She shook her head. "No, no, no, forget all those questions!" She pointed at Riley. "The big one is WHY would you stab yourself? What are you a [Masochist] or a [Death Wish Warrior] or something?" She glanced side to side before bringing a hand to her mouth and whispering. "I might be able to offer aid with any... destructive urges you get. Don't be afraid to ask for help!"

Riley smiled and handed the Gnome back her weapon. "Nothing like that. I'm immune to all toxins. Well, at least I thought I was until a snake here bit me."

"A snake bit Bit a little bit." Pinky giggled for a moment before growing serious. "No, I get it. You have a class that grants you immunity to poison." She shook her head. "Guess what? There's always a counter skill. The Dyed Lands aren't a Death Zone for nothing!"

Class? Skill? Death Zone? Two of those things sounded suspiciously like her brother's power. Oh God! Was this whole thing Optimize going off the rails?!

...No. That didn't make sense. Even if Optimize was doing something, the other Shards would notice. The whole reason they'd gone to Earth Iota was because Dragon didn't know what was happening.

"What do you mean by Class and Skill?" Riley asked. That seemed to be the quickest way to find out what the... energetic Gnome was talking about.

Pinky looked up at her and tilted her head. "You know, classes! The things that make you better at stuff?" She waved her hands in a circular motion. "That voice that tells you what class you're going to get when you sleep, unless you tell it to go away." She brought a hand to her chin and started tapping her foot. "Although, I guess you could say that skills are where the real power is and that classes are just, y'know, prerequisites. Hmmmm." She closed her eyes and furrowed her brow. "You make a strong argument, Bit. There are even class levels where you don't get a skill, and those are lame! I mean, really disappointing! When I was a young Fra- er, fair Gnome, I recall being so upset about not getting a skill at level eleven! I mean, sure, capstone skills and what not, but it was such a let down from getting one of those to getting nothing!" She looked up and blinked. "What were we talking about?"

Riley could've taken this opportunity to back pedal. Any further questions about classes or skills would reveal her ignorance. Then again, so what if some Gnome knew she was from another world?

"I don't have a class." She sat down cross-legged to be closer to Pinky. Just how was she speaking so loudly anyways? Perhaps an examination of the larynx and lungs was in order.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Pinky wiped a tear from her eye. "That's a good one. So what? Are you a [Joker] or something?"

Riley shook her head. "Nope. No joke. I just arrived in this dimension a short while ago."

Pinky crossed her arms. "Sounds fishy to me, but hey, whatever works for you."

"So you get levels and hear a voice?"

Pinky nodded. "Everyone except for monsters and super-powerful things." She squinted. "You don't look like either of those. You sure you don't have a class? If you concentrate you should just... know what it is. Is this what Tallfolk education is like?"

"And it happens when you sleep?"

Pinky nodded again. "Sometimes its so exciting you wake up immediately! If you don't, then it feels like the level up happens as you wake up."

"Interesting." Riley pulled her backpack closer to her and began to dig around in it.

Pinky climbed up her back and stood on her shoulder. The Gnome looked down into the bag. "Hey! You have a bag of holding too! And a big one, that's cool!" She hummed as Riley pulled out one thing after another. "Whatcha looking for?"

"This!" Riley held up the clear glass container that held a power-suppressing parasite.

"Oh. I see, I see." Pinky nodded. "And what, do tell, is that?"

"It's what I'm going to use to monitor my thought patterns."

"What?"

Riley had gotten up and gone to the hyena and snake corpses she had. She extracted their brains and started making a rudimentary spider-bot. It wouldn't make for much of an assistant, since she wasn't giving it any limbs, but it was going to be quite useful despite that. All the time, she answered Pinky's questions and narrated what she was doing.

Finally, after several hours, she was done.

"And you're going to PLUG that thing into your head?" Pinky still looked flabbergasted. "That doesn't seem... uhm... sane?"

Riley rolled her eyes. "Don't worry. I've connected with lots of brains in the past." The box sat around her neck and started monitoring her thoughts. This would be so much easier to do with someone else's brain as the base, but she'd have to make do.

It took a while for the proxy-brain to sync up. Once it did, Riley could feel her thoughts 'echo'.

"All right." She clapped. "Time for the experiment!" She sedated the assembled brain and waited.

It didn't take long for something to happen.

[Doctor Class Ob—]

[Doctor Level—]

[Skill: Anti—]

[Skill: D—]

[Ski—]

"No."

She heard the voice, and she rejected the offer. However, far more interesting, were the changes occurring in the proxy-brain. It was hard to notice, but Riley had a lot of experience in powers manipulating minds. It happened to nearly every Parahuman, and she had studied it extensively.

She hadn't liked that her Passenger could affect her like that at first, but she and Surgery had reached an understanding.

Riley took out the power suppressing parasite and made a few tweaks. She'd have to run more tests and adjust it, but it would prevent any outside tampering for now.

"There. That should block any changes." She looked up at the sky. "No offense, whatever-you-are, but one Passenger is enough."

Notes:

Bios:

Pinky - OC. Not her real name. A Fraerling who's looking for adventure. Might have good reasons for why she does what she does.

Chapter 11: Two Steps Back 5

Sibby looked from the slaver to the man who'd just shown up at her house.

"No, no, no. That will not do!" The guest glared at Zehia. "I have told you before not to address me that way!" He then broke into a huge grin, that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Call me 'Riqre'. We are friends after all!"

"Of course, Riqre." Zehia strolled closer to him. "My house is yours for as long as you'd like."

Riqre clapped his hands on her shoulders and chuckled. "Nonsense! I have already made other arrangements."

Zehia tilted her head. "Then what do you wish of me?"

"Only your company." Riqre glanced back at the slave by the door. "It is also good business to see how customers enjoy one's products, yes?"

"Of course, let us adjourn to the solar." Zehia turned and walked back into her house. "I have dates, apples, grapes, and various meats already prepared."

"Oh! How fortuitous!" Riqre followed her. "Or did you perhaps have word of my arrival beforehand?"

Zehia waved her hand lazily. "Not a single whisper has graced my ears. No, the reason for my meal being ready already is due to my recent work hours."

"Ah, so it is true?" Riqre's voice rose in volume slightly. "Does the feral Djinni have a night aspect?"

Zehia glanced over her shoulder. "You heard of that, have you?" She shook her head. "I am not surprised to tell the truth. Roshal might try to impose silence, but the creature's attacks have been far too public." She paused. "And too numerous."

"So it hasn't been caught yet?" Riqre's eyes gleamed. "I rushed here as soon as I heard the news, but I was afraid I would be too late!"

"No, not yet." A door opened as Zehia approached it. A slave bowed as the pair passed. "It should be soon, but our quarry has proven most elusive."

Sibby chuckled silently to herself. She wasn't the quarry. She was the hunter. Zehia was HER quarry.

"Excellent, excellent." Riqre clasped his hands together. "I hope the bidding isn't too high. A Djinni of my own would be a wonderful acquisition." The pair entered the solar and sat down. "What can you tell me of the Djinni? How powerful is it? What are its aspects? How has it remained free for so long?"

Zehia gave a throaty laugh. "Really now, you know I'm not supposed to discuss such things!"

"Oh please." Riqre gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "Everyone gossips. It's just that your gossip is better than most people's."

Zehia reclined her head and opened her mouth. A grape was placed inside by one of her slaves. She chewed and swallowed before responding. "I suppose you have a point. It's not like I know for certain." She smiled. "Fine, I'll tell you our theories."

Riqre leaned forward, ignoring the slaves at his side that offered food. "Yes?"

"While the Djinni strikes at night, she was created during the day, so we can rule out a night aspect."

"Oh?"

Zehia nodded. "On her first two appearances, she rampaged like a feral beast. The first attack was in a market square."

"Which one?"

Zehia shrugged. "A minor one of no great concern. The damages were minimal, but I am told a promising [Slaver] lost an arm and his eyes." Riqre hummed and Zehia continued. "The second one was at the docks later that night. She killed a good number of [Sailors], including half a dozen Stringfolk."

"Killed? Not injured?"

Zehia shrugged again. "While she possesses no fire magic, her attacks are strong enough to kill one of us if she strikes our heads. Or fatally injure us if a healing potion of sufficient strength isn't soon applied. But what Djinni is not capable of such a feat?"

Riqre leaned back and stroked his chin. "Yes. You are correct, of course. It's just so surprising to hear of a Djinni related death. The tamed ones are incapable of turning on their masters."

"Yes, yes, and owners aren't supposed to use their Djinni to attack other [Slavers]. I know the laws too."

Riqre bowed his head. "A hundred apologies. I did not mean to interrupt your... gossip."

Zehia smiled. "No, you have the right of it. If the Djinni's rampage had continued like that, then Lailight Scintillion would've called on the Emirs of other cities to lend their aid - despite the cost."

"You have only spoken of rampages." Riqre leaned back. "But from what I hear, she still stalks the night."

Zehia nodded. "She's snuck into people's houses and maimed them more than a dozen times. Serious injuries. People had lost eyes, or had entire limbs ruined, but no one else has died since that first night."

Sibby smiled to herself. She had so much self control.

"How... odd." Riqre drummed his fingers on the table as Zehia was fed more food by her slaves. "What happened at the end of that first night? There must be a reason for the change."

Zehia shrugged. "She displayed impressive physical strength by all accounts, and disintegrated a bridge before vanishing."

"Teleporting?" Riqre said with obvious interest.

"Perhaps. No wards have worked as of yet, and all of our mages and Djinni have failed to detect any traces of dimensional magic. At least, any traces that haven't been accounted for." Zehia sighed. "In fact, that's the most frustrating part of all of this. We think that one of her aspects is anti-magic."

"What?!?" Riqre shouted before controlling his voice. "A Djinni is a creature of magic! They cannot possibly have an aspect that is such an anathema to their very nature!"

Zehia shrugged again. "You know more than I do, but that's the current theory."

Riqre stood up and started pacing back and forth while Zehia ate some more. "Tell me." He stopped and sat back down. "Tell me what evidence you have that supports such an outrageous claim."

"Let me see." Zehia tapped her lips with a finger. "The first would have to be that the [Slaver] she first wounded struck her with an [Anti-magic Strike]."

"And it had no effect?" Riqre frowned. "It's not unheard of for a Djinni to be only slightly injured from such an attack, but it should have at least wounded a newly formed one." He glanced up. "I hope the fool was properly punished for such a potentially wasteful action."

Zehia snickered. "Oh yes. The Djinni seemed to have taken a personal interest in him. He has lost his eyes three times now, and beggared himself from the expense." She shook her head. "But it was more than resisting a powerful attack. The whip that he hit her with was disintegrated."

"I say." Riqre raised his eyebrows. "A disintegration aspect is quite potent, if narrow."

Sibby laughed to herself. That was what all the capes back home used to think of her too. 'Just a Brute.' Albeit, the most powerful one in the world. She shrugged. If they only knew what she was really capable of...

"We thought one of her aspects might be that after she destroyed the pier." Zehia paused and blinked. "Oh yes, I forgot to mention that she disintegrated an entire pier during her second rampage."

"Yes." Riqre replied with a flat voice. "I could see how such a minor detail slipped your mind."

"In my defense, she hasn't used that ability since."

"Ah."

"Where was I?" Zehia tilted her head and looked to the side. "Oh, yes. The main reason we think she has an anti-magic aspect isn't what you think. Every time she has been struck with a spell, she vanishes."

"Fascinating." Riqre mumbled to himself. "An interaction with her own disintegrating aspect? Perhaps she's dying and has a rebirth aspect? Or she is incapable of containing much magic at all..."

"Like I said." Zehia smirked. "It's been a most interesting time recently."

Riqre gave a full belly laugh. "Oh Zehia, how I've missed your dry sense of humor." He smiled another smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Please allow me to change the subject. Tell me, how is Laila doing? She was one of my most... promising experiments."

Zehia's eyes lit up. "She's been wonderful. You won't be able to guess who I have molded her into now... The Djinni! Isn't that amazing?" She laughed. "Let me call her, you must have a look!"

Riqre looked at the ceiling before grimacing and shaking his head. "Zehia, it truly pains me, but I must leave at once."

She blinked and looked up at him. "So soon? You only just arrived." She motioned to the large platter of food before her. "You haven't even eaten anything!"

"Yes, I must away." He started to turn around before pausing and looking back at her. "If I offer to buy the Djinni before she's even caught, I might be able to outbid any other interested parties." He drummed his fingers on his chest. "I promise I will return. I couldn't keep myself away from visiting Laila again. Not after seeing how taken with her you've become!"

Sibby frowned as she watched the fat man leave. He was going on her list.

...

Sibby crept up on her latest target. He was asleep, and finally alone. Not that no witnesses was a requirement, but she had an experiment she wanted to perform and people seeing her meant the capes that could pop her would arrive sooner.

She frowned. Their response time was improving. If she wasn't tied to her summoning spot, she'd consider moving somewhere else. That would be a pain.

...Plus she hated losing.

Sibby shook her head. She had some prey to... inflict justice upon.

The Siberian lifted the sheets off of her target's sleeping form. They didn't make a sound, not even the slightest whisper. Her power made sure of that.

Her target shifted in his sleep. She had to act fast before the chilly air woke him up. It was starting to get colder, and the rain outside didn't make things warmer.

Sibby smirked. Her target slept without any clothes on.

Foolish.

Not that it would've stopped her, but it might have bought him a few precious seconds if she had been forced to removed more impediments.

Sibby reached for one of the black threads on his ankles. It felt strange, but not the same sort of strangeness that would pop her. She was getting better at differentiating between such things. While there was something odd about these 'stitchfolk', she could still effect them with her power.

Or she could target their stitches themselves.

It took only a reduction in friction to allow her to pull out the thread. She smiled as his foot deformed into a pile of cloth.

One by one, she pulled his threads out until he had only his head and torso left.

She could leave him like that, but he'd soon be back on his feet and doubtlessly taking his misfortune out on his slaves. However, Sibby had found a good way around that - apparently eyes were expensive.

All she had to do was repeatedly destroy them, and he'd either relent to being blind, go broke from repeatedly buying new ones, or move out of the city. It was a shame she couldn't do anything about the third option, but that was how this game worked.

As a bonus, it was very hard for a slaver who was a blind torso to hurt his slaves. Who knew, perhaps THESE might be the slaves that finally exacted some form of revenge of their master.

Sibby had given them other such opportunities in the past, and while there had been more than one slave that had gripped a weapon, not a single one had raised their hands against their masters.

She might not know the details of all of their lives, but it still seemed strange to Sibby that not a single one sought vengeance. Very odd indeed.

Sibby shrugged. Whatever, she didn't really care if they chose not to take advantage of the gifts she'd left. She was still winning her game.

Right, time for the final part.

Sibby dangled one of the threads she'd pulled out over Torso Boy's closed eyes with one hand. The other hand went around his mouth to keep him from making any noise. This next part would hurt, and he wasn't going to be sleeping through it.

One by one, she lowered the strings into his eyeballs before letting them interact with the rest of the 'waves' again.

She was halfway done when the wall exploded.

Sibby blinked. The capes were here sooner than she'd expected. Plus they hadn't even knocked this time!

A wing made of shadow swept across the room.

...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

How annoying. Not whatever it was that persisted in trying to latch on to her. It was second nature for her to dismiss most everything the exact moment it encountered her. It was a reflex that only she was capable of making use of - everyone else was just too slow.

No, the annoying thing was how many capes there were here that could pop her!

In the past, the ones that could pull that off were few and far between. Each one offered a novel experience and a fun game, especially since William's rule of not being seen meant that she'd had to quickly kill off anyone who'd managed to witness her disappearance.

Kevin hadn't had an opinion on the matter, so Sibby had decided that William still had made good points. It was a lot more fun to downplay what she could do. Admittedly, it was also fun to play games with her 'new' powers too, but that was beside the point.

Oh well, at least being re-summoned so often kept her from being hungry. The cloth-people were horrible tasting. They turned back into fabric as soon as she took a bite!

It was disgusting. Even worse than eating stuff the grew from dirt.

AND THEY WERE SO BLAND!

That was it. Her next target had to be a regular person... or at least not a fabricfolk. She'd seen plenty of strange looking people by the docks. One of them had to be edible!

Besides, being part of a system that utilized slavery was plenty of justification for her. It didn't matter if they owned slaves personally or not.

Sibby frowned. Kevin MIGHT be a LITTLE disappointed with her flawless logic, but now that she'd thought about it, she was starting to get hungry.

...

Sibby watched her latest prey.

He was definitely not a clothling.

...Well, probably not. She didn't see any stitches, but they could be hidden under the barnacles that covered the right half of him.

So many holes. Sibby could use that when she enacted her punishment.

The problem was that he was looking right at her. In fact, he was moving closer to her while unsheathing the sword at his hip.

Sibby frowned. She had to let a little light in if she wanted to see. Most people wouldn't even notice. Those that did never paid any attention. Her current prey was different.

Sibby smiled. This would be fun... except that she had to silence him. She hated not being allowed to play properly, but the strange looking capes were showing up earlier and earlier. She couldn't let them coordinate with someone who could see her.

The man's sword was pointed right at her eye. Sibby didn't want to touch it. It might be one of those things that could pop her. So, she tore his hand off instead.

He dodged!

She couldn't believe he dodged!

The barnacle covered arm flinched to the side just as she was about to wrap her claws around it!

She lashed out at his face. She needed to blind him if she was going to have any fun.

He dodged again!

Sibby narrowed her eyes. Fine. She had more tricks up her lack of sleeves. The wooden floorboards of his room were normal. They wouldn't pop her. That meant she could do whatever she wanted to them, like removing their friction.

Not all their friction of course. She didn't want to make the floor fall apart. Negating it on their upper part would work well enough.

She lunged, and the man dodged again!

That was impossible. No one could remain standing on a frictionless surface!

...Oh, there he went. Sibby smiled to herself. Her prey might have powers that allowed him to see her, or to foresee what was about to happen to him. He might even have some sort of super-balance thing going on.

It didn't matter. Zero friction was zero. He might've been able to move. He might've even been able to dodge. What he couldn't do was stop.

He crashed into the wall and yelled.

Sibby let light interact with her once more and pounced!

Ah... crunchy!

A nice texture. The flavor was different. It was strange in a similar, yet distinct way that some things around here were. Still, it wasn't bad. In fact, it faintly tasted like some of the food Kevin made...

A shout came from behind her. She'd made too much noise and the rest of the people in the building were swarming in. They shot numerous projectiles at her, which she ignored.

Interrupt her meal would they?

The Siberian smiled as she stood up. She allowed some of her prey's blood to cling to her. She also let light pass through the back of her head so her eyes glowed. The capes that could pop her would be here soon, so she'd have to make this quick.

...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

Once she was safely away from her summoning place, Sibby frowned. Something felt 'off'. Her third big fight had ended the same way the second had - capes had appeared that could pop her. Although, they hadn't done so immediately. There were some strange powers that she'd dodged, and others that sought to contain her.

She, of course, avoided such things with ease. So it couldn't be one of the capes responsible for the strange feeling.

Could it have been the crunchy guy she'd eaten?

Sibby supposed that was possible. She'd never had a problem from eating before, but she knew other people could. If there were so many people that could pop her, did that mean that there were also people that would make her sick if she ate them?

What a horrible thought! Truly this was a twisted mistake of a world that never should have existed in the first place!

Sibby sat down and thought. She'd definitely had felt the change during the fight. In fact, it was before the capes had arrived. There had been dozens of people shooting at her with all sorts of things. The glowing things she avoided - those were more likely to pop her. The swords, arrows, and other assorted weapons she mainly ignored.

...Unless they glowed. Better safe than sorry with those.

Her stomach felt fine, so it probably wasn't the worst case scenario. Instead, one of the people attacking her must've been a less flamboyant cape.

How interesting.

She would have to investigate the dock area more thoroughly if it had hidden opportunities for fun like that. Plus, the food had been nice.

Now wasn't the right time. She needed to lay low and find another victim. It was important to draw these things out.

---

Laila yawned as she woke up. It was dark, which sent a bolt of panic through her brain for a second. Zehia had changed her schedule recently, which meant that all of her slaves had to adjust theirs as well - sleep during the day, go about their duties at night.

Some of the other slaves... commented on the difficulties of performing some tasks like that. Mainly shopping. Not that any of them actually dared complain. You never knew who would be willing to sell word of your misdeed to their Mistress for a slight favor.

She looked around the room frantically. If it was dark, that must mean that she had overslept! Laila cringed. She couldn't take another punishment. Not now. Not so soon after having skinned herself to alter her appearance!

She started breathing heavily before noticing the slight drumming.

Rain! It was dark because it was raining outside! She hadn't overslept!

Laila frowned. It was POSSIBLE that she hadn't overslept. She needed to hurry to make sure that she was ready for any... activities that Zehia might wish to partake in before she left for the day.

...

Laila raised the glowing stone above her head before moving around the pleasure room. It was an additional difficulty to ensure that not a single speck of dust remained in the dark. At least she didn't have to use fire to illuminate the inner room. She wasn't as afraid of it as some, she had other things to fear, but it was still a relief to not have to have the additional stress.

Not that fire would be allowed in the Mistress's home. The risk of flames was for lesser people. The Mistress was rich enough for light-rocks in every room.

Once she was satisfied that every sheet was secured and every pillow was in its place, Laila exited the room with her cleaning tools. She stored them in the closet before wandering to the kitchen.

No one liked the kitchen, but the fire there was well contained. Stitchfolk ovens and stoves were created with an emphasis on safety. It also wasn't like any of them would go up in flames from a single spark, but it still was a persistent fear in the back of her mind.

Golge was already there - putting the finishing touches on Mistress Zehia's meal. Ranve watched patiently. The [Butler] was one of Zehia's favorites, and he was in charge while she was out. He looked up as Laila entered before subtly shaking his head.

No extra food then. She'd have to wait to eat the leftovers along with everyone else, or until Golge prepared the less expensive meal for the rest of them.

Laila turned to leave. The Djinni that she currently modeled after wore no clothes, so she needed to strip before Zehia came back. She shivered at the thought. It was cold and wet, despite not yet being Winter, but she would survive.

Ranve's head twisted and he stood up. He strolled out of the kitchen and towards the front door.

Laila frowned. The Mistress must be home sooner than expected. She needed to make herself presentable immediately.

She hurried back to her room. It didn't take long, but she might be called upon immediately. She had no time to waste.

Minutes passed. She looked at her new, mono-chromatic skin. It was a nice enough look.

Not worth what she had gone through. No other Stitchfolk would be altering themselves in a similar manner any time soon.

Laila smiled and dreamed her forbidden dream - to be free and made of silk. She was halfway there, and it was arguably the harder half. Not that freedom was realistically possible, but it WAS more likely than any other cotton exchanging their head for one of silk.

Perhaps Zehia would take her to the docks, or send her on an errand. There she would catch the eye of a passing Gold level adventurer. It would be love at first sight. Zehia would allow him to buy her freedom after an impassioned plea...

Laila closed her eyes and smiled.

A knock on her door interrupted her daydream. She didn't have time to answer before it opened and Ranve stuck his head through the gap - not that she was expected to answer. She had no real privacy. It was a small blessing that Ranve was nice enough to knock first.

"Your presence is requested." His voice was flat and emotionless. Laila wondered at times what it was like to be him. Other [Head Slave]'s abused their position, but Ranve never had.

Was he content with his life? Or was he like her, and dreamed of freedom?

Laila stood up and followed him to... the drawing room? That was strange. Mistress Zehia only entered that room when she was receiving guests. That was why it existed - to allow them to rest in comfort before she saw them. That meant...

Laila entered the room and froze.

HE was there.

"My lovely girl." Riqre’ma Medaale spread his arms wide and smiled. "How I've wished to see you again. Truly, you are one of my best creations!"

Laila bowed her head. Not because it was proper, but because she couldn't bring herself to look Riqre in the eyes. She didn't have a skill like [Sense Evil], but you didn't need one to see what lay in the heart of the monster before her.

"Come, my dear, let me see my work." Riqre cupped her chin and raised it until she was forced to look at his horrifying visage. Others might not see it at first, but those eyes and that smile were forever ingrained into her mind. While he hadn't done the cutting, he'd watched and smiled at her while she'd been... flayed.

"Yes, yes. Simply marvelous!" Riqre beamed. "I didn't know what I'd lost when I'd sold you." He leaned forward and whispered into her ear. "You see, none of my other experiments ever re-produced your... talents. I tried, oh how I tried! But, it was to no avail." He leaned back and looked her up and down. "That's why I must have you back."

Laila was still frozen in terror. Back? To him? To there? No! Nonononononononono!!!!!!!!!! She couldn't go back! She wouldn't! Zehia might force her to do things she didn't like, but it was paradise compared to the hell she'd endured before!

Riqre smiled as his eyes narrowed. "You're probably thinking that Zehia wouldn't part with you. She does go on and on about you after all." He then whispered. "That won't be a problem soon, I think." He let her go, and she immediately dropped her head back down. "You may leave. I have seen all that I've needed to."

Torn between running, crying, and being paralyzed by fear, Laila's training took over. She bowed her head and mumbled something polite sounding before turning and exiting the room.

What could she do? What could she ever do?

She felt at the collar around her neck as she meandered through the house. She'd thought about... slipping when changing her face before. The restrictions would prevent any purposeful actions on her part - either towards herself or others, but she could just... not focus as hard. Some carelessness during a sensitive procedure could easily kill her.

...Except, what if it didn't work? What if that left her in more pain?

BOOM!!!

Her mind went blank as the wall exploded!

"There it is! Get it!"

"No, that's not it! [Hunter's Mark] says it's over there!"

"Target that side of the room!"

Something with feathers as dark as pitch swept out, and more of Zehia's mansion was destroyed. Laila looked with eyes as large as saucers as a winged humanoid floated in mid-air amidst the rubble. She'd heard of Garuda before. Was this one of them? It radiated power so potent that she felt it from where she was.

The black-skinned creature turned to look at her, and Laila cowered under its gaze.

"It's gone." A man dressed in brown leather entered the room. "It's teleported again."

Laila blinked as she was summarily ignored. The creature that had demolished the wall wasn't a Garuda. It could only be a Djinni! She'd never seen one of their kind before, and now THREE Djinni and a score of dark-robed individuals milled about outside.

A tiger made of shifting flames and a woman created of constantly blooming flowers looked... bored?

Their faces were similar enough to regular people that Laila could clearly see the lack of animosity that everyone else in their group bore.

"This way." The man in brown leather pointed, and the group moved away in the blink of an eye.

Laila hugged herself as she sat amidst the rubble. What was going on?

---

Nii’mer’aud, or Nii as he was commonly called, followed the [Hunter]'s directions as he collected the group within his wings. The sun was rising, and as it did his power waned. It was no matter, as he still possessed his other aspect. It was still enough to transport such a large group.

He stoically watched as the [Slavers] figured out how to trap the newest one of his kind. It was a shame. As weak as she was in magic, she'd possessed the perfect aspects to avoid the fate of their people.

Stealthspace, if he were to guess. No one had asked his opinion, and he hadn't volunteered any information. It had been a vain hope that she might escape, but that was the folly of youth. No, not even youth. The wisdom of a baby. She threw tantrums and played games because there was no one to teach her better.

No one to warn her of what the mortals would do.

Nii'mer'aud was ancient. He had been alive when the first of the Djinni were enslaved. He was also, foolishly, one of the first to be captured so. He'd fought against Qin’tevf’al, when his prince had tried to free him of his own shackles. He'd been forced to help capture countless others as well.

Each and every one of them broke his heart.

They found the new Djinni quickly. [See Invisible] was still of no use. In fact, there was no sign that his wings had touched anything, yet the [Hunter] insisted she'd fled again.

Pursue and attack. The same scenario was repeated over and over. The intervals between each attempt grew shorter and shorter. Was she running out of mana? That would explain why she didn't teleport further away.

It suddenly made sense when the [Hunter] spun in place and pointed at a spot they'd just passed. "There!"

Nii saw her. It was for the briefest amount of time. It couldn't even be called a flicker.

He had no choice. He had to attack. He struck her again.

Another flicker.

It wasn't that she could no longer teleport. She could only move through space and reform in a single location.

Nii felt... devastated. Some part of him deep down had carried a small spark of hope. That she would escape. That she would be able to avoid his fate - the fate of all Djinni. She'd lasted so much longer than any other of their people. Her aspects were so unique that he'd subconsciously thought she'd might do the impossible. Nii hadn't even realized that he'd dared to think such a thing.

Now, that spark was extinguished.

The Firebinding tiger summoned a cage. What was his name? Had Nii known him before, or was it one of things he'd been made to forget over the years? His fellow [Slave] wove threads of flame that surrounded the black and white Djinni and held her in place.

Nii couldn't bare to watch, but was compelled by his bindings. The men began to chant. The days long spell would cover every possibility. It had been refined over thousands and thousands of years to leave not a single loop-hole.

When it was done, it would coalesce into a physical embodiment of the magic. A collars. Bracers. A belt. The form didn't matter.

Nothing mattered.

Notes:

Bios:

Nii’mer’aud - OC. An enslaved Djinni. Both a noble hunter, and a fool.

Chapter 12: Interlude - Jagat

"Wow, this place seems so different. Dragon was right. The similarities just highlight how unalike everything else is. I wonder how many of the changes are due to no... heroes." I look around. "Riley?" My little sister is gone. Or, more precisely, I'm gone.

Instead of the small city I had just been in, I'm now in a dimly lit tunnel. On the plus side, it's tall enough that I don't have to crouch. On the negative side, I'm surrounded by a swarm of gigantic dark-shelled insect people.

There's a pause as I take in my surroundings. At the same time the gigantic humanoid ants all turn to face me. They're eerily synchronized, and it doesn't help that it's completely silent. A moment later, they all turn and begin sprinting away from me.

I blink.

That shouldn't be possible. Crowds can't move that fast, but the ants are perfectly coordinated. They don't trip over one another. If even a singular one of them fell, it would result in a massive pileup. Instead, they all leave my sight in a matter of seconds.

"Huh."

That was weird. Where the Hell am I? I put my hand on the wall. It's made of smooth compacted dirt. I must be underground.

Why didn't Dragon tell me that there are giant ants living underneath Earth Iota? I mean, that's a pretty big difference. Unless... She couldn't sense them.

That would mean... They're the ones kidnapping people?

Dragon said there was a loss of matter, but what if it wasn't gone, but instead just moved where she couldn't see it? That seems like the case.

So what next? Ears of Babel aren't picking up any signals. Not surprising considering how deep underground I must be. Plus, whatever means the ants are using to escape Dragon's detection probably block any communication anyways. What I need to do is find the missing people...

"Riley?"

I look up and down the tunnel. My sister's nowhere to be seen!

"Riley?!"

If these ants did anything to her, I swear I'll...

*Panic negated by Gamer's Mind.

Wait, wait, wait. If there's one thing Riley wouldn't be in danger from, it's strange animals. As long as it's alive and not a robot or projection or something she'll be just fine.

Probably.

I choose a direction at random and start to jog down the tunnel. I still need to find her and the other missing humans. Assuming, of course, that she got abducted as well. The other humans might not be so lucky. I can't think of a reason for kidnapping them that's benevolent.

I skid to a stop as a double row of larger ants come into view. Ah, that's why the tunnel is so tall and wide. Like their smaller brethren, they have a dark carapace and stand on two legs. Unlike the ants I first saw, they're huge. They only have two arms that end in growths that don't look like they have much flexibility. Instead it's as if they are wearing spiked gauntlets.

In fact, they look like their only purpose is to punch things.

There's no way something like that could evolve naturally. Especially not from the smaller ants. Are they the work of a rogue bio-tinker? Is this possibly a Cauldron facility? That would explain both the human kidnapping and hiding from Dragon.

Well, maybe not the kidnapping. Alexandria swore that they stopped their more morally dubious activities. Of course, it wasn't like I personally knew everything they did. So it's possible.

No more time for wondering. The ants charge at me.

I settle into a boxing stance and smoothly duck under the first punch. Doing so is second nature with the skills I've gained from Little Mac's grinding. I don't even need Threat Sense to let me dodge the telegraphed attack.

I jab and the chest carapace of the ant in front of me shatters. Green blood seeps through the cracks at it falls down.

The others press the attack, but I'm too fast and too strong. Even when another group approaches from behind I'm in no real trouble.

Sway, jab, duck, uppercut, hook, straight.

The tunnels would've been blocked off by the fallen bodies of my foes, except that the smaller ants weave through the press of bodies and pull away the corpses.

After five minutes, I'm getting bored. It might be time to un-Inventory something to speed things up. An ant hive has how many members? I can't kill millions of ants with my bare hands.

Okay, I might be able to eventually. I don't WANT to kill millions of ants with my bare hands.

I'm just about to pull out a laser cannon, when all the ants stop at the same time. They turn around and retreat en mass.

Huh? I tilt my head.

That's some impressive coordination. But why did they decide to flee? Also, how? Ants communicate with pheromones, right? Ears of Babel should let me pick up on that, but I didn't 'hear' anything.

Is it a biologically programmed response? When facing a predator, run away after X amount of time if you can't win?

Are they falling back to protect their larvae or queen or something? Maybe the smaller ants have been evacuating this whole time.

There's only one way to find out. I continue my trek down the tunnel.

I've barely taken two steps when a monstrosity charges me from behind. It looks like someone took half a dozen of the larger ants and fused them together in some hideous crime against nature.

It has wings, five arms, half a dozen mouths that I can see, and far too many legs.

-0 HP

I block its punch and counter. The carapace cracks a little under my blow, but that's it.

-0 HP

-0 HP

The chimera ant has too many limbs, and I can't dodge them all. Of course, his blows can't actually hurt me, but it's better to avoid attacks if you can. I could use Threat Sense and Teleportation to dodge them entirely, but I want to hide that I can do that.

The monster takes a half-step back and opens its mouths. Fire, acid, and electricity will billow out and engulf me. Once again, I take the ineffective hit. I'd rather show off my durability than my mobility. It's better to advertise one or the other, and its already seen me take a hit.

-0 HP

-0 HP

-0 HP

Of course, my clothes aren't as tough as I am. That's unfortunate.

Whatever. I dash through the clouds and strike his open mouths rapidly in succession. THAT gets a response as the multi-limbed terror roars.

I'm not sure if it's in pain or rage. Heck, it might even be excitement. Regardless, it viciously resumes its attack.

I catch a flash of color out of the corner of my eye. Another ant has appeared behind the monstrosity. It looks similar to the smaller ants except that it's slimmer, has a differently shaped carapace, and is colored a brilliant blue.

The newest addition doesn't join the fight. Threat Sense tells me that it's not going to do anything to me.

A friendly ant? Could it be sapient? Or is it an observer? Does it, perhaps, allow its maker to monitor things through some sense link?

That would be something Riley would do.

"[Disintegration Beam]"

The blue ant says something strange, and suddenly the multi-limbed ant has a few less appendages.

*ERROR Gamer's Body bypassed.

I don't have time to contemplate what happened to my opponent as I collapse on the ground. I can barely move my head, but I somehow manage to look down at my body.

Or what's left of it.

From just below my clavicle - it's gone. My waist and legs are in a pile beside me, but my torso has vanished...

...Oh.

...It was disintegrated.

I want to cry foul since I have 100% resistance to that damage type, but something seems to have gone wrong.

I've experienced my own death in simulations countless times. I don't need Gamer's Mind to stay calm. I wonder what will happen next? I don't think I can regenerate from this.

...That's a lot of blood.

"Xrn. You struck me with that."

I look up. Did the large ant just speak English? I try to respond, but I have no lungs.

My head slumps. I feel tired and dizzy. It's getting hard to think.

...That must be due to bleeding out.

...The world starts to fade to black.

My last thought is of Riley.

Chapter 13: Planting Seeds 1

[Avatar Class Obtained!]

[Avatar Level 1!]

[Skill – Expanded Link obtained!]

It was strange. I'd heard the same voice when I'd fallen asleep, but also when I had awakened. I guess that's because I had ignored it as I was slipping into unconsciousness.

Now that I thought about it, it made sense. This world's System is setup to award levels when people sleep. I bet that's probably so it can make alterations more easily. Sort of like mini-Trigger events. It might not be capable of a visual interface. Or at least such a thing isn't viable for one reason or another. So 'announcing' it both when someone falls asleep and wakes up means that they'll be more likely to get the information.

Let's see...

My character sheet is still garbled, and there were too many skills awarded for me to remember them all. This System must have...

Ah ha! There it is!

I can 'see' them in my mind.

Kinda.

I've never been particularly good at visualization. If someone asked me to picture something in 'my mind's eye', it was always indistinct. I've wondered if other people 'see' or 'think' differently than I did. I mean, obviously they do NOW, but how distinct was I before my Trigger?

I shook my head. I can ponder differences between myself and others, or Optimize and the System later. I have a new game to play, and the first rule to beating a game is understanding the rules.

Rule 1 - There's obviously a causal link between actions and levels. You plow a field, you become a [farmer]. I save a town, I become a [Hero].

Rule 2 - The skills I got seem to be roughly based on what I had done, same as the classes.

Rule 3 - You get the level ups when you sleep. Possibly. My sample size is too small for all of these. I'll need to ask someone. There's bound to be 'unwritten' rules that everyone knows.

Rule 4 - I can view my class and skills. Makes sense.

Rule 5 - The System announces the level ups verbally, but with a translation effect. Why? It imparts visualization, so it could do that as well. As a notification? Possibly. As a two-way communication? I wonder if I could speak with it via Tongue of Babel, or if that's even a good idea. Really, my own translation effect might be unnecessary.

What else? Nothing comes to mind. So how to maximize these rules?

Let's see.

Rule 1 is obvious. Do what you want to be better at. There has to be more of it than that. Same with Rule 2. If there are classes and skills, there must be classes and skills that are better than the rest. Aiming for those feels obvious.

I definitely need to speak with a native about leveling strategy.

Rule 3 seems exploitable. If level ups heal you or have any additional effects, I'll be able to take advantage of that since I can fall asleep at will. It might be beneficial to sleep in the middle of doing something in order to get a level up to help with the rest. That was assuming that a level up came. Alternately, NOT sleeping might result in a bigger reward. If the system considered 'active' time periods in its calculations, that might work. Thus, if fighting one army was impressive, then fighting two while spending all your time in between training would be more so.

Hard for others, simple for me. However, it has to be a strategy that has already been thought of. It's stupid not to read a rulebook before a game. You miss out on so many details.

Rule 4. Not much of a rule. Not much to exploit. Unless... I could somehow get an interface going and maybe a help screen?

Nah. That never worked with Optimize. So I can't expect any special advantages there.

Rule 5. Ears of Babel might give me a huge leg up here, but I need to be careful. I couldn't afford to start off on the wrong foot. Making an enemy of the System seems like a bad idea.

I tapped my foot on the floor. I don't think I came up with any good ideas aside from 'ask people who know more than I do'. Which isn't rocket science, but still has merit.

What can I do on my own?

Let's review my classes: [Wanderer], [Hero], [Artificer], [Avatar].

I bet [Wanderer] comes from moving around without a clear destination or goal. Might not be that common despite how easy it was to get. How many people wander around a world where monsters exist? [Even Footing] and [Lesser Endurance] have obvious, if minor, benefits. A smile came to my face. It might be hard to test [Even Footing], but I have a clear progression and timing of my 'Tired' debuffs. I can collect hard data on the effects of [Lesser Endurance]. That's much better than subjective estimation of how tired you are.

[Hero] must come from doing something heroic. Seems general enough. It must be a common class - especially with so many opportunities this world has. Fight undead to save a neighbor? That's heroic. Help defend your city during a siege? That's heroic.

I frowned. Did I steal experience and classes from other people? Is kill-stealing a thing here? That's something else to ask Seraphel.

[Famous Deed] and [Divided Reputation] sound like reputation mechanics. They also 'feel' off. Like they're a different color or source - but I couldn't put how they were different in so many words. It kinda felt the same way that Ears of Babel did when I tried to speak with Optimize. A sort of fundamental issue that I was incapable of parsing.

If there are skills that affect how people think, will Gamer's Mind protect me from such things, or make me more vulnerable? Hard to say. [Famous Deed] probably will help people recognize me, which isn't necessarily a good thing. [Divided Reputation], however, might be the perfect thing for keeping 'Kevin' and 'Pixel' separate.

[Artificer] is my highest level, and it's clear why. I'd used tech, or 'artifacts' I had made to wipe out the army yesterday. It must be the System's version of Tinker. I'm assuming its rare simply due to how few magical items I've encountered so far.

[Armed At All Times]? That sounds like Inventory, but with a different name. Let's experiment. I concentrated, and my Golden Gun appears in my hand, without using Inventory.

Well... that WOULD be an extremely useful skill, if I already didn't have something better. I try and put my weapon back by using the skill... no luck. So, strictly less useful than Inventory.

[Basic Repair]? I looked around the room before settling on my bed. It wasn't hard to make a small tear in my covers. I focused, and tried to use the skill.

Nope. Nothing.

I scratched my head. If [Artificer] is like Tinker, then do I need to manually do the work to get a benefit? Would it download instructions into my brain as to how to fix it?

I don't have a needle, so I tried tying the frayed threads together.

Nope. Nothing.

I frowned. Oh well, it doesn't sound like I'm missing out on much if I can't get it to work.

[Clean Materials]? I focused on the sheet again, but with a different skill in mind and... yes! A small amount of dust just vanished. Helpful? Doubtful. At least I'd got it to work.

[Detect Flaw]? I paused and focused again, and the feeling that my repair attempt is flawed came to mind.

[Basic Crafting]? I guess that's [Basic Repair] but for making stuff from scratch? I tore a corner completely off the sheet, no point in wasting it all, and started Crafting... uhm... I don't really have a Blueprint that takes such a small amount of cloth as the materials. Let's see, I want... thread.

The scrap vanished in a swirl of pixels, and I got a... blob in return.

Hmmm...

It's actually much thinner than it looks. The pixelation was hiding it, but it was all one long piece of string now.

Interesting. I don't have a blueprint for such a thing, and it did more than what I'd be able to accomplish by hand. Mainly, it had fused all the threads in the square together to make a singular long strand. That warranted more experimentation in the future.

[Basic Identification]? I focused the new skill on my thread and got... nothing.

I Observed it.

[Thread]

I suppose I should try Observing people to see if it helps there, but I doubt it will. That's not a 'crafting' use of it.

[Body of Stone]? Sounds great. Like I'm tougher. I'm hesitant to test it, even with Rapid Regeneration. I know that magic can bypass Gamer's Body, but it might not be able to get around this. I'm still going to focus on dodging instead.

[Basic Aiming]? I un-Inventoried the Golden Gun and pointed it at various objects. I guess that felt... smoother? I hate things I can't quantify.

[Reinforce Armor]? Is this (presumably) like [Body of Stone]? Is my suit tougher now? Or does it mean things I Craft will be tougher? Or will it only work with things I build with my hands? I can't test it quickly, and what would I even compare it against?

[Ambient Mana Gatherer]? It might be the most valuable skill, or the most useless. I don't know what mana is, nor do I know what to do with it. Cast spells? Craft magic armor? How much mana do I gather? Is it automatic? How do I sense mana? There are too many questions, and no answers.

Okay, time to consider my final class: [Avatar]. It might be unique, unless there are other extra-dimensional aliens empowering people that the System knows about - aside from Riley. Given both my status as a Parahuman, and Gamer's Body the class is fitting. The [Expanded Link] skill suggests it's due to the former, but it might also refer to my connection with my Breaker state. Once again, not much to test.

So, time to take a step back and consider what I needed to do next. Speak with Seraphel. Ask about levels & leveling strategies. Ask about reputation mechanics. Ask about crafting skills. Ask about mana.

I nodded my head. That sounded like a plan.

---

Earlier...

Ser Dalimont, [Knight] of the Thronebearers, servant to her Highness [Princess] Seraphel du Marquin, and loyal protector of the Eternal Throne of Calanfer watched the cities defenders prepare themselves. As much as it shamed him to admit it, Calanfer would fair poorly against a siege of the undead.

The truth was that his country's power did not come from its military. Calanfer survived by treaties, negotiations, and the occasional political ploy. He was a [Knight] and did not participate in the worst underhanded tactics, but he also wasn't blind to their occurrences.

The people of Afiele were far better suited to this sort of battle than he was. They had special classes, skills, and equipment for dealing with undead monsters. The Thronebearers, on the other hand, were commonly regarded as one of the weakest orders of knights in Terandria. It stung his honor, but it was true.

Still, he wished he was at the outer walls. Fighting the good fight. Protecting the innocent. But his place was by his princess's side, and her place was in the palace - at least for now. One way or another, their time in Afiele was drawing to a close.

Soon, there would either no longer be a city or the army would be destroyed. In either case, Seraphel's presence would no longer be tolerated.

At least the foreigners hadn't been exposed to her sharp tongue, or at least had taken no offense.

It was true that the [Singer] had saved them all from the foul [Witch]'s schemes. To think that she had to power to lay low one of the most feared villains of all time! The question was what would happen next.

Mage Kevin possessed an artifact of un-paralleled defense, yet he was nowhere to be seen. Had he fallen? Run away? Been cut off from returning to Afiele?

Dalimont didn't know. He also didn't know if Kevin had delayed the army at all. Had they been granted additional time to prepare the defenses? Were there less undead attacking them than there had been at the start of the day?

Dalimont gripped the sword that hung by his side. It would not do to impinge the honor of another without cause. It also was a distraction he couldn't afford. It would be best for him to conserve his energy. The assault could last for days or even weeks.

That was when the cone of brilliant golden fire blossomed in the sky!

The purifying flames swept through the undead army and left naught but destruction in their wake!

What manner of ally had arrived to save them? Dalimont's position from the mansion's balcony did not afford him the ability to see. The cone was obviously emerging from a single point that was circling the city, yet he could not discern its origin.

The light was too bright! It was difficult to even look at it, much less pierce the darkness beyond it.

Still, there was only one creature that possessed such power.

A being of myth and legend.

A dragon!

...Dalimont shook his head. No. That might have been the case far in the past when Dragons had ruled, or when the Dragonthrone was created. Now? Now it seemed that he had once again managed to underestimate the [Archmage].

---

Seraphel enjoyed the look on her friend's face. It had been a long night, but Cara was still clearly in shock.

"How is that possible?" The dark-haired woman was pacing back and forth. "I get super science BS and all of that, but the power to do something like that without magic?"

The princess smirked. "What was it you once said to me? Oh, yes. 'Seeing is believing.' I'm honestly faintly surprised at your reluctance. It was a short while ago that you explained 'Super Heroes' to me. Does Pixel not conform to the stories your world tells?"

Cara stopped and rubbed her temples. "No. No. It's not that." She sat down next to Seraphel on the sofa. Unrefined posture. What she'd called 'slumping' before. Her casual air was one of the things that the [Princess] had grown to appreciate. "You see, there are different levels of superheroes. Like..." She made a waving motion with her hand. "Like street level, then city level, then disaster level, then planetary level."

"Oh?" That sounded interesting. "Please, do tell."

Cara crossed her arms. "It's not like I was a big comic book geek or anything. Plus, they're fiction, you know? And from another Earth." She sighed. "Well, I guess the basics might still be the same. Street level means people at peak human. They deal with gangs and stuff. Can fight, like, a crowd by themselves, but they don't have anything, y'know, SUPER human. City level is the same, just with an increased scope." She took a deep breath. "The most famous one of that level is Batman. He's this billionaire playboy, but not really. It's a cover. But it means he has money for gadgets and trainers and stuff. Goes around, scares criminals, fights a clown. Lowish key stuff. If he fails, then at worst a city dies."

Seraphel nodded. That would be what? A silver or gold level adventurer? "Do super heroes work by themselves?" Most adventurers did not, and most wouldn't fare well against an entire gang of [Thugs].

Cara shrugged. "Outside of teamups, yeah. There are groups of them, like the Avengers, but they still have their own movies. It's only when a higher level threat comes along that they work together."

Seraphel nodded again. Very similar to adventurers, but more like each super hero was a group unto themselves. "And 'disaster level'?"

"That's like Iron Man. ANOTHER billionaire playboy, but for him it isn't an act. At first. He got kidnapped and had to MacGyver some armor." Cara tilted her head. "I guess the main difference is firepower and range. Iron Man can fly in his suit and go anywhere, but he couldn't do..." She motioned to the window. "That."

"And your countries allow super heroes to cross their borders so easily?" Seraphel asked. That could be potentially troublesome.

"Eh." Cara frowned. "The FICTIONAL countries aren't okay with it. Like, that's what the next movie was going to be about. I didn't get a chance to watch it because... you know, but it had heroes fighting heroes. Of course, the whole thing is some supervillain's plot. Or something."

"I see." Seraphel felt the adventurer comparison still fit. They wandered from one country to another, and most rulers saw them as a beneficial force - depending on the group itself. "And planetary level?" If street level were Gold, and disaster level were Named, what would the planetary level equivalent be?

Cara smirked. "That's people like Superman. Invincible. Always holds back when dealing with gangs or other supervillains, but gets to go all out when an alien invasion happens.

"Ah." Those who rose up during a cataclysm. "So Pixel is one of those?"

"I don't know!" Cara stood up and threw her hands in the air. "You saw the same thing I did! He killed, no, he VAPORISED how many undead in a minute? That's... That's..."

"Could this, Super Man, do the same?"

"It depends on the movie." Cara paused. "God, I've seen clips of the old Superman movies, but I'm not sure what they're really about. But, yeah. Probably. Superman is the strongest. Heat vision or ice breath. The fact that they're undead would mean that he wouldn't have to hold back." Cara bit her lip. "Probably. Like I said, all of that is fiction."

Seraphel arced an eyebrow. "Yes, just like magic and zombies are also fiction in your world. Accuracies aside, it is useful to know a [Bard]'s tale instead of nothing at all." The question was, how could she use this to help Calanfer? That's what her mother would want. Her father would probably worry about associating with a potentially volatile element, no matter how strong.

There was a knock on the door. "Enter."

Dame Leana entered the room and bowed. "Your Highness, breakfast is ready."

Seraphel nodded. "Thank you." She saw the [Knight] hesitate. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes." Leana looked... embarrassed? "Mage Kevin is already attending, but Ser Aldric never reported him re-entering the mansion."

Interesting, but not surprising. Kevin had already demonstrated his ability to teleport. Avoiding his rightful accolades must be a super hero tradition. The 'secret identity' custom.

Seraphel let out a sigh. She could see the appeal.

---

Cara brooded all through breakfast. She was tired from staying up all night, and was a little cranky. The odd thing was that she KNEW she was wrong for the way she felt. If she had to put it into words, it was like she'd been lied to.

But that was the thing, the only lying had been her to herself. Or her world to her. Or her preconceptions to her. What was the word for the opposite of being disillusioned? Illusioned? Hopeful?

See, the whole thing had happened back on Earth. Her Earth, not Kevin's. Well, it probably happened on Kevin's too. They had humans, and it was humankind that Cara had a problem with, but not with all of them. Not even with most of them. Really, it was just with their leaders.

The Irish had a... bone to pick with leaders. Cara had grown up there, and the terrorists/liberators were one thing. The leaders of Ireland and England were another. She had finally decided that anyone in power was full of crap because only people full of crap wanted to be in power.

It was one, huge, corrupt mess.

Perhaps that's why she actually liked Seraphel. Not that monarchies were a better system of government, but the [Princess] didn't seek power. That counted for a lot.

Of course, it just meant that someone else who was willing to hire [Assassins] or start a war would wind up ruling instead.

Si vis pacem, para bellum.

So that was why she was angry at Kevin for lying to her, despite the fact that everything he'd said so far had been proven true. He was from a different Earth. He was a Superhero. He could single-handedly take on an entire army of the dead.

Cara had accepted these facts, but she hadn't believed them deep down inside. Her inner thoughts were where she would cynically take apart what people said. She stored it. She examined it. She prepared for disappointment when their lie was ultimately revealed.

In her defense, 'Pixel' HAD taken his sweet time. How had that happened? Had he somehow MISSED the swarm that had covered the horizon? Had he been showboating? Was it all just a plan to swoop in at the last minute and save the day?

That was, at least, something that Cara could understand. Like a sports athlete. Sure, they weren't fundamentally bad people, but they sought glory all the same. Even Kevin had said that the Superheroes of his Earth were the same. Publicity events. Marketing. An entire organization seemingly devoted to PR.

Thus, the lie had been formed. Kevin was a Superhero, but he was also full of crap. Well, not FULL of crap. HIS Earth had sent him to help, which was more than she would ever expect from HER Earth. So, half-full of crap, or a quarter-full of crap.

He'd go out, play the game, do the good deed, save the city, but he'd come back and expect praise. Move up to the 'good' end of the table. Become famous.

Heck, she couldn't have blamed him if he had done exactly that. He had a sister out there somewhere possibly. If Cara was in his shoes, she'd have played it up for all the fame and fortune she could, just so she could accomplish her goal.

She'd already done exactly that. It was why she was a [Pop Star].

But NOOOOOOO!!!!! Kevin hadn't done that. He hadn't even come to reassure Seraphel or brag about his accomplishments to her! He'd somehow snuck back into his room and went to bed before coming down to breakfast like nothing had happened!

Not that it took a genius to figure out how the Superhero with the personal teleporter had gotten back inside the mansion.

So there it was. Cara KNEW that she'd judged him harsher than he'd deserved. She KNEW that her feelings of... contradiction were all on her. She KNEW that... but it didn't make her FEEL any better. At best, all it did was increase her own self-loathing.

Well, enough of that.

She put her silver utensils down, and stood up. "Kevin, can I speak with you privately. Please?"

The Superhero looked up at her then back down to his half-finished black food. "Sure, Cara." He shrugged and stood up. "Let's go back to my room."

---

We entered my room and Cara locked the door behind us. I paused for a second before realizing it was a habit she'd picked up from the other people of Noelictus.

**Cara is nervous.
**Cara is angry.
**Cara is sorry.

I usually didn't get that many emotional notices from non-parahumans. While my Shard could pick up what regular people were feeling, it wasn't nearly as precise compared to those the Shards could monitor directly. Cara's emotions had been growing stronger all throughout breakfast. I wasn't sure why, but it was likely my fault.

There was no point in further speculation since she was undoubtedly about to tell me something.

She brought her hand up and rubbed the back of her head. "Here's the thing. I have something you need to read." She looked me in the eyes. "I was going to hold off on bringing it up until the undead army and Ailendamus were dealt with, but..."

"But now the army's gone."

Cara nodded her head. "Right. And I don't think Ailendamus is going to be much of an issue either. Even if they go ahead with their invasion plans..." She made a vague gesture to the side. "You have the bigger stick."

"That's fair enough. One crisis at a time." I smiled. "Plus, we've only just met."

Cara rolled her eyes. "True." She then locked eyes with me. "Okay, here's the deal. Seraphel has this communication scroll." She held up her hands about two feet apart. "It can be used to talk with people all over the world, just as long as they have one also and some other magic... stuff." She took a deep breath. "[Mages] in this world can do the same thing. Send messages that is. The Mage Guild and the Runner's Guild deliver them, with the expected rules and BS and what-not."

"And she used this scroll to speak with her country?"

Cara shrugged. "Probably. I mean, I would, but that's not the point. The thing is that there's this magical academy that's like Hogwarts or something. People go there from all over the world to learn magic. Seraphel's sister, uhm, Vernoue or something wanted to go there but there's a political aspect." She waved her hand. "Or something. My point is that unless you're a [Mage] directly sending a message to another [Mage] then Wistram is involved. They take the message spells and send them to the local guild and scribe them."

Ah, I think I see where this is going. "And Seraphel's scroll technically contacts this school?"

Cara blinked. "No. Not usually. Royal secrets and stuff. But it CAN message them if she, I dunno, 'tunes' it the right way. She's a [Princess] so Wistram would take her seriously, but we didn't tell them that. She sent some vague-ish messages with some oblique references to Earth and got a reply back. Anyways, to make a long story short - here."

She handed me her phone.

I looked at the screen as I took it. "I don't recognize this application, but I'm guessing it's for sending messages?" I scrolled through the text some. "And you're 'Humble Actor'?"

"That's right." Cara moved around to my side. "There's someone else from Earth at Wistram calling himself 'BlackMage'. He's supposedly getting their help to try and send us home."

"Supposedly?"

Cara glanced at me before shaking her head. "Just read it. It'll be faster than me trying to explain it and you reading it anyways."

I nodded. "Okay." I started scrolling through the texts while I put my thumb against the phone's port. My Babel Perks allowed me to communicate with it far quicker. I also wanted to examine Cara's Earth's software. I un-Inventoried a thumb drive and copied the OS over - making sure to not include anything personal. I didn't want to invade Cara's privacy, so I didn't read any details apart from the chat log.

*Pity negated by Gamer's Mind.
*Sadness negated by Gamer's Mind.

I frowned.

*Anger negated by Gamer's Mind.

This was bad. The text chain Cara had been a part of referenced a previous contact attempt - where BlackMage apparently had worked out a way to send a cell phone signal magically. It wasn't a bad idea in and of itself. In fact, I had been thinking of doing something similar with my Babel Perks - just on a much smaller scale. As potent as they were, planet-wide communication was beyond them.

No. The idea wasn't bad. Heck, I wouldn't even say it had been poorly executed. The problem was that some of the 'Earthers' had been compromised. Their phones stolen - or worse. The other tidbits like [Hero] being a rare class and that magic could find people by their names didn't seem as important compared to the fact that the people I was supposed to rescue were already being hunted.

I handed Cara back her phone and started rubbing my temples. "Let me see if I got this right. BlackMage called a bunch of people from your planet. Except people from THIS planet impersonated some of them."

Cara nodded. "Kent Scott."

I rubbed my chin. "At least. He was the most obvious, but there could've been others. Knowing a movie title doesn't mean anything if the phone's owner is around to ask."

"That's a good point." Cara glared at her phone before putting it back in her pocket. "Personally, I'm not sure I even trust BlackMage or Wistram."

"Oh?"

Cara shrugged. "Seraphel has told me about it. They claim to be open to all, but its more Nobles than not. They're also corrupt."

I raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"One of their leaders is 'The Archmage of Terandria'. As in, he's the Archmage of this entire continent." She scowled. "In reality, he's in Ailendamus' back pocket. Bought and paid for."

Oh. "I see. So I take it you don't plan on taking BlackMage's offer?"

She shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know. You read that I was a [Pop Star], right? Well, I was thinking of using that to find other people from Earth and protect them."

"How?"

Cara sighed. "I hadn't gotten that far yet. Plus, it'd be premature to make plans while in the middle of a war."

I nodded. "True."

She continued. "Still, Wistram might be on the up-and-up. They are famous, and have the best [Mages]. If anyone can get us home, aside from you, it's them."

"You have a point." I thought for a moment. "I think I'm going to pay them a visit at some point."

Notes:

The phone conversations Cara showed Kevin happen in Interlude 2 & 3 of The Wandering Inn:

Interlude 2

Interlude 3

Chapter 14: Planting Seeds 2

Seraphel watched Cara and Kevin leave the breakfast table. She wanted to follow. It was hard to sit and remain [Princess]-like when she knew the secret that everyone else was discussing.

Not with her, of course. She was no longer relevant as far as Noelictus and Afiele were concerned. Now that the undead army had been eliminated as a threat, she had no reason to remain. She'd be sent away to Ovela before making a journey to a port city. From there, she would head back to Calanfer.

She didn't bother to look interested in the rampant speculation going on all around her. Instead she watched the food gradually vanishing from everyone else's plates as they slowly ate. Seraphel matched their progress. It would be uncouth to finish before everyone else, and it would put her in the awkward position of having to sit and do nothing.

She still represented Calanfer. She couldn't just leave the dining table early, like the two visitors from other worlds had. At the same time, since no one was speaking with her, she couldn't finish and then chat until the meal was over.

Dead Gods, she really hated being a [Princess] at times.

...Finally, after more than an hour, she stood up to leave. Of course, she couldn't be seen in the servant's quarters they'd given Kevin. So she retired to her room and sent Ser Dalimont to invite her guests to join her. She was sure there were already rumors going around of an illicit affair between Cara and Kevin. Bringing them to her room would only cause the rumors to increase in both made-up detail and how well-known they were.

Seraphel chuckled to herself. It was as if she was inadvertently helping Kevin assume the identity of a [Playboy] - just like the Men of Iron or Bats.

It took a while for Ser Dalimont to return with her two guests in tow. Once he did, Dame Leana activated an anti-eavesdropping skill, and Seraphel was at last able to speak her mind.

"What the Dead Gods was THAT last night?" She glared at Kevin. "Do you know how worried we were? Also, why did you not confront the army away from the city if you decided to decline the spotlight afterwards?" She got up and started pacing back and forth. "It makes no sense to advertise that level of power and not capitalize on it later!" The [Wanderer] started to speak, but fell silent when she turned and pointed a finger at him. "I realize you are not from around here, and have different customs, but believe me when I say that I am well acquainted with politics." Kevin tried to say something, but Seraphel wasn't finished unleashing her pent up frustrations yet. "I know we are only recent acquaintances, but it is only a common courtesy to let your allies know of your plans, if for no other reason than they won't panic and make a mistake out of ignorance!" Seraphel flopped into a chair and continued to glare at Kevin. She felt better after getting that off her chest, and she supposed she should let the Name-Rank or higher man speak.

Cara smiled. She was too used to Seraphel's temper. Kevin looked... bored. Well, she supposed he was used to dealing with the royalty of his world. It was no surprise he was so calm.

"I did confront the army when I first found them, but they had a type of undead that caught me by surprise."

Cara turned to look at him. "Oh?"

Kevin nodded. "It was a ghost or something. Several transparent people flew at me. They screamed, and I then lost my sight and hearing."

Seraphel frowned. That sounded like... "Banshees?" She muttered. "That cannot be."

Kevin shrugged. "I can show you."

"What?" "What?"

"Here." Kevin's arm rippled as his appendage was covered in part by his strange outfit. Below it, on the floor, a scene appeared. It showed Kevin, or rather 'Pixel' staring down the army. A bright light shot out of the miniature figure and cut down every undead monster shown. The image showed Pixel taking off and flying over the still moving remains of the monsters he'd just attacked. The landscape scrolled across the floor. Undead remains vanished at one end of the area while intact ones appeared at the other. "I'm going to zoom in for this part." Kevin spoke as the image of Pixel froze and grew larger. Once it was the size of a Fraeling, it started moving again - but slower. Five ghostly women emerged from the ground that Pixel was hovering over. They had long, flowing hair and robes. They also looked quite attractive - before they opened their mouths unnaturally wide.

The image vanished. "I can't show any more since I lost my sight when they screamed."

"Yeah." Cara nodded. "Looks like banshees to me." She frowned. "I thought they permanently blinded people?"

Seraphel tried to remember her briefings on the undead she might encounter within Noelictus. "I [Recall] that they are known to do so." She didn't wish to imply that Kevin was lying so she quickly amended. "However, there are few first hand accounts of them. They are rare, and few who cross paths with one live."

Kevin shrugged. "I can heal myself, but it did take a long time to do so."

"Then I think I owe you an apology." Seraphel bowed her head. "There obviously was a good reason for your actions, and I should have assumed as much." She'd been genuinely angry, but swallowing one's pride and conceding that you were wrong was a common political ploy.

Kevin smiled and waved his hand as the arm of his suit vanished. "It's fine. I did mess up after all."

Cara began to ask him about the projection, but Seraphel thoughts focused on something else. Banshees were high-level undead. All incorporeal ones were. Az’kerash, THE [Necromancer], didn't even make use of them. No ghosts, apparitions, or phantoms. Banshees were beyond even that. It took magic or skills to fight what couldn't be physically hurt. That made any incorporeal undead a Gold-ranked threat. Probably. Seraphel wasn't an adventurer, so she could be mistaken. Still, a banshee could blind everyone who heard her scream. That sounded like a Name-ranked threat.

So why did the [Necromancer] that attacked them not have any other powerful undead at his command? Revenants, Bone Lords, or even other incorporeal undead should have appeared during the siege if he was that high of level. She supposed the [Necromancer] might have been holding them in reserve. Or that they HAD been there, and been wiped out alongside everything else. She wasn't a [Battle Commander]. She wasn't privy to the details of what had happened during the night.

But... "What if he had in his posession a relic that had allowed him to summon the banshees?"

Cara turned and looked at her. "Who?"

Seraphel's eyes gleamed with greed. "The [Necromancer]."

---

I walked through the first wall's gate with Ser Dalimont. Searching for a magical artifact that could summon banshees seemed like a good use of our time.

"Now, the city's undoubtedly already searching through the remains." The [Knight] paused. "I, of course, don't mean remains as in bodies, but rather, er, the clothing that the undead had worn." He paused before asking. "How did you accomplish that, if I might ask? It seems a very, unusual spell." He stroked his mustache. "Not that I can't see how useful it is. I must imagine it's exceedingly helpful in recovering your opponents relics."

I looked around as we were walking. I couldn't sense anyone looking at us - at least not for the split second that normally happens when your part of a crowd. Everyone was buzzing with excitement after last night, not that I could blame them.

"You don't need to be so vigilant." Dalimont smiled at me. "This is a [Private Conversation]."

Ah. "I see." I nodded. "I did not think about loot. I merely adjusted my... attack to target non-plant based biological matter." Threat sense let me know that someone was looking at me, but when I turned there was no one I could see in the crowd that was paying attention.

"It's my understanding that some undead parts are useful in various ways." Dalimont chuckled. "I dare say that avoiding the cleanup and disposal of the corpses is a far better deal."

Threat Sense activated again. I reviewed my Inventory. The last time I walked around, a pick pocket had managed to steal my Golden Gun. A futile action, as I could sense its location anywhere in the world. Still, someone focusing on me was cause for concern.

"Then it's possible that no one is looting the clothing." I glanced over at Dalimont.

He nodded. "I agree. There are bound to be people investigating and using information gathering spells and skills, but that's more out of curiosity than greed."

I felt someone looking at me again. Then again. I couldn't pinpoint who was doing it. Should I release a drone or plant a camera somewhere to watch myself? I might be able to see who's so interested.

No, that was excessive. Besides, it wasn't one person - not unless they were invisible and could teleport to different sides of the street. Threat Sense might only give a vague direction, but it was still good enough to let me know that more than one person was focused on me.

"We're being watched." I whispered.

Dalimont looked from side to side. "Are you certain?"

I nodded. "Yes, I have a skill." It was true enough. Perk, skill, they were the same thing really.

The [Knight]'s hand moved to rest on the pommel of his sword. "I fear I am not as good in a fight as you are [Mage] Kevin. However, you may rest assured that if someone wishes you ill, I will help in any way that I can."

"I think there's more than one of them. The sensation keeps on moving."

"I see." We walked in silence for several minutes before Dalimont spoke again. "Are they still there?"

"Yes." I nodded again. "It's multiple people and they aren't moving to follow. They're just watching."

"Do you suppose it's that [Pickpocket] that accosted you the other day? You did give him a reason to hold a grudge."

"I suppose." My observer switched again. "You are more familiar with this city than I am, could he have friends?"

"Undoubtedly." Dalimont's fist tightened. "But I doubt any gang would seek retribution with a [Mage] of your caliber after you let the child go."

No, but it is cold. What if he had died of exposure? What if his corpse had reanimated and killed someone else?

Dalimont smiled. "Come, we are almost to the outer gate. It won't be so easy to escape our notice without a crowd to hide in."

"You're right."

There wasn't much of a line. A tall guard motioned us through. "Be careful out there. We haven't seen any undead, or any bodies, but that doesn't mean there aren't any." He nodded to each of us. "Keep your wits about you."

Dalimont smiled at him. "Rest assured we will remain ever vigilant, my good sir!"

The area surrounding Afiele was eerie. The undead, like all poor people in Noelictus wore black clothes. That, combined with the black grass and soil, led to a monochromatic landscape that didn't even have the familiar 'texture' of most of the countryside.

"This way." I motioned to Dalimont. "I saw them appear in this part of the massed undead."

"Then that is where we'll start looking." The [Knight] strolled alongside me. "Is your skill still informing you of onlookers?"

"Yes." I motioned towards the wall with my head. "The guards are watching us." I then turned towards some of the other figures sorting through the debris. "So are them, them, and... him."

Dalimont glanced around us. "It is to be expected. We are not the sort that one would expect to see in such a place."

We walked in silence around the wall until we came to the place where the banshees had briefly appeared. The guards of this section looked down on us, as did a man who was slowly walking away with a stiff gait.

"Hail, and well met." The man smiled widely at us. There was something... odd about the way he looked at us. No, about how he looked at me. He was focused on my face and hadn't paid the Thronebearer in golden armor so much as a glance.

Even stranger, Threat Sense flickered - from him looking at me, to him looking at me. That... made no sense.

"Hello." I nodded at him.

"Would you like to have a discussion?" The man continued to smile at us as he approached.

"A discussion?"

"Yes." He nodded back. "You are new to these lands. I can tell. I would like to speak with you."

As he got closer, Dalimont interposed himself between us. "I'm afraid we're on important business, and do not have time for you. If you want to speak with anyone in the palace, I suggest you [Make an Appointment]."

The stranger stopped smiling, and his gaze shifted towards the knight. "Very well. I shall." He smiled as he faced me again. "Good day and well met." He then turned and started limping away.

"I say, that was an odd fellow." Dalimont moved to keep himself as a barrier between me and the stranger. "He looks like a farmer. Do you think he knew somebody that died? Grief can do strange things to the mind."

"I don't know." I watched, but the man didn't even glance towards us as he moved away. "He looks vaguely familiar."

"Someone you met before?"

"No." I shook my head. "I'm sure we've never met. It's more like he looks like a brother or father of someone."

"Who?"

I let out a sigh. "I don't know. Not someone I know well." I frowned. "It's more like a face in a crowd."

"I will stand guard while you search the area."

I clapped Dalimont on his shoulder. "That sounds like a plan to me."

We both stood still.

"[Mage] Kevin." Dalimont glanced over his shoulder at me. "Please to not delay on my account."

"Don't worry. I'm searching with a skill."

Expansion slowly extended my range as I started Inventorying everything around me before immediately returning it to the same position. While I couldn't use one of my oldest powers to scan my environment directly, my trick was effective at letting me sort through small objects. Once they were in my Inventory, I could see what they were as if I was holding them in my hands.

Cloth, cloth, cloth, a wooden cudgel, cloth, a dagger, cloth, cloth, cloth, cloth, cloth, a broken metal sword, cloth, cloth, cloth, and empty glass vial, cloth, another vial, something I couldn't Inventory!

"There." I pointed.

Dalimont's gaze followed my finger. "Well done! The stranger with the limp is out of sight, so shall we investigate?"

"Let's."

We moved to the spot where there was something too heavy for me to store, or more likely too magical. I hadn't tested if Inventory could work on Magical items, but it wasn't unexpected that it couldn't.

Dalimont held my arm as I bent down. "Do not touch anything with your hands. There could be poison or dark magic lingering as a final trap." He pulled his sword out of its scabbard and used the tip to move the dark robe on the ground.

There was nothing underneath it.

"There are some glass vials inside."

"Do you detect any other magic?" Dalimont asked me.

I nodded. "Some in the pockets, but I can't say anything more."

"Well, if the robe itself isn't enchanted." Dalimont grabbed it from the end of his sword, bunched up the garment, and then turned it over and shook it. Several vials, some empty, some filled with colored liquids fell to the ground with a slight tinkling. "I would say this is the [Necromancer]'s robe. No undead would need health or mana potions." He turned to me. "Is there nothing else?"

I shook my head. "No, that's all."

Dalimont shrugged. "Let us gather them, then. I suggest we hand them over the guards. It's best to have an [Alchemist] examine them."

I nodded. "I'm fine with that." If potions are a thing, then I'd want to examine them and see why I can't Inventory them. I'd also like to compare them to what I can make - but not potentially cursed potions.

---

Dalimont followed behind Kevin, both to keep an eye out for the people apparently trailing them, and to observe the foreign [Archmage] more closely.

The pair returned to the main gate without incident. Dalimont approached the head [Guard]. "Excuse me, good Sir, but my companion and I found something that will be of interest to the Hunter's Guild."

The guard eyed him. "So? Take it there yourselves."

Dalimont coughed into his fist. "You see, it is sensitive material and we would prefer to have an escort to prevent any nefarious individuals from waylaying us."

The guard smirked. "Is that so? What's so 'sensitive' that we have to escort a foreign [Knight]?"

Dalimont held up his other hand and the robe. "We believe we found the [Necromancer]'s remains. While there is naught but a robe and various potions, we wished to perform our civic duty and inform the appropriate people as soon as possible."

The guard glanced down at a truth stone, which was glowing blue. Dalimont hadn't spoken a single lie, but apparently being a [Knight] still didn't count for much in these lands. "Rob!" The guard turned and shouted. "Gather up your squad, you have escort duty!"

A burly looking man with a scarred face exited the barracks with two other people in tow. "What is it?"

The guard motioned at Dalimont and Kevin. "These two found the [Necromancer]'s gear. Escort them to the Hunter's Guild and make sure nothing funny happens."

Rob looked them over before grunting. "This way. Keith, Aras, flank us. Keep your eyes peeled for any [Rogues]. [Form up]!"

The five men walked through the city with ease as everyone gave the [Guards] a wide berth. Dalimont glanced at Kevin. The [Archmage] was still twisting his head every few seconds - focusing on something that only he could see.

The Hunter's Guild was located behind the 2nd wall, so it took a short while to arrive. Dalimont felt nervous despite Kevin's calmness and the [Guards] clear boredom. He had felt something from that limping man. He didn't know what, but he feared what the outcome might've been if the stranger hadn't relented.

They arrived after an uneventful journey. Dalimont explained the situation to the [Secretary], who also had a truth stone confirming the veracity of his words. The bundle of robes and potions was taken from him to a back room where an [Alchemist] and a [Curse Breaker] would work on it.

Rob nodded to them. "If that's all?"

Dalimont smiled and offered a handshake, which was ignored. Undaunted, he replied. "Yes, that is all. Thank you for your assistance."

Rob grunted in reply before he and his two subordinates turned and left.

Dalimont shrugged and sat down next to Kevin. "You seem preoccupied. Is there anything amiss?"

The boy shook his head. "No. I'm just trying to understand the... local culture better."

"Such as?"

"Well, you seem to place a lot of confidence in those stones?"

Stones? "Oh, you mean the truth stones." Dalimont narrowed his eyes. "Why wouldn't we?"

Kevin looked at him. "Well, they aren't absolute arbiters of the truth, are they?"

Dalimont chuckled. "Like everything, there's a spell or a skill that counters them, but that doesn't diminish their effectiveness. Not every [Thief] has a skill that allows them to bypass them."

Kevin nodded. "But the possibility exists, so reliance on them seems foolish."

Dalimont shrugged. "And what is the alternative? To not use them? A hoe or a plow can break. A sword can fail to cut the thickest of hides. That does not mean we abandon them out of some fear that they MIGHT fail us at an inopportune time." He shook his head. "Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence."

Kevin nodded with a small smile. "I suppose you're correct."

They sat in silence for an hour. Kevin was apparently content to just watch the comings and goings of the Hunter's Guild. Dalimont supposed he couldn't blame him. It was a hub for colorful people - far different from Calanfer. While there was no [Hunter] uniform, it was still easy to tell them apart from other people. While their individual outfits might be different, they all shared a common trait: they showed no skin.

In a way, it was full plate, but made of leather. Less capable of turning a blade, but it still left no exposed skin for an undead to touch.

It was also more flexible, and probably much hotter, but that was a benefit in the cold north.

Eventually the [Secretary] came up to them. "Georgios will see you now."

Dalimont stood. "Lead the way." Kevin followed behind them.

Georgios turned out to be an older man with a soot covered smock and gloves. He looked up from a boiling flask as they entered. "Are you the ones that brought in the potions?"

Dalimont nodded. "That we are. What can you tell us about them?"

Georgios shrugged. "Not much. No curses, poisons, or anything else out of the ordinary. They are simply health and mana potions, albeit of uncommonly high potency."

"How so?" Dalimont's eyes narrowed. "Any clues might be invaluable in hunting down his origin." The [Knight] then remembered that such a task was no longer any concern of his. He would soon no longer be associated with this city or Noelictus.

Georgios shook his head. "I'm sure the [Hunters] will ask the same questions, but all I can say for certainty is that he was not poor."

"Can we get the potions back?" Kevin said from behind them.

"I'm afraid not. You'll have to speak to the higher ups, but I was told to keep them as part of the investigation."

"I see." The foreigner nodded, seemingly uncaring of the final outcome.

"I say, that doesn't seem-" Dalimont decided that it was time for some negotiations, but Kevin stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's go."

The [Knight] turned to him. "As you say."

---

As we walked back to the palace, I didn't notice anyone paying attention to us. Or at least, more attention than was normal on a busy street. Dalimont got us past the inner wall again and we headed upstairs towards Seraphel's rooms.

We had just reached the [Princess]'s doors when a scream echoed throughout the hallway.

Dalimont whirled around as his hand went to his sword again. He looked down the hall and then over his shoulder at the door. He leaned back and knocked with his left hand, while still facing away.

"Who is it?" Dame Leana's muffled voice came through the door.

"It is I, Ser Dalimont." The [Knight] turned his head, but kept his gaze towards where the scream had come from. "Is her Highness all right?"

"Yes."

Dalimont exhaled. "Then I will stand guard on this side of the door. Do not open it until I give the word."

"Understood."

I wished Instant Dungeon was working. This was the perfect time to use it. However, since it wasn't, I instead started strolling down the hallway. "I'll investigate."

"Take care, [Mage] Kevin." Dalimont warned me. "It is most likely an untimely death compounded with a reanimated body, but the timing strikes me as odd."

I turned and nodded before moving away. Servants had already rushed ahead of me to one of the doors that were spaced every ten feet. They were normally pressed against the sides of the corridor and disguised as decorations. Now, the one around the corner had been pulled shut with a thick plank of wood locking it in place.

"What's going on?"

A man with silver hair and a dark black suit turned to me. "Nothing to worry about, I'm sure." He nodded at the door. "No lesser undead can breach that, and the Hunter's Guild has already been contacted. They will send someone shortly."

My eyes narrowed. "What about the woman that screamed?"

The man bowed. "I hope that she is unharmed, but we cannot take any risks. Outbreaks must be contained, lest we all fall."

I grunted. "Makes sense." I turned and looked at the door. "However, I'll go and handle the situation myself."

The man put his hand on my shoulder. "Sir, while I applaud your bravery, you are but a guest. Please allow the professionals to handle the situation."

I turned my head towards him and glared. "One is handling it." I glanced down at his hand. "Please release me."

He shook his head. "I cannot allow you to open the door. Please understand it is for everyone's sake."

I gently brushed his arm away. "I'll not touch the door." I then focused on the camera outside my room. It should give me a view of where the scream had come from. I saw a [Maid] huddled in a corner. Her hands were clasped together and her eyes were wide with fear. I subtly un-Inventoried a camera behind me. "Excuse me."

I then teleported to where the scream had come from.

**Maid is panicked.

The [Maid] let out another shriek at my sudden appearance, but it was shorter and quieter. I slowly walked towards her. "Are you injured?" She shook her head. I extended my hand. "Grab on, I'll get you out of here."

She looked from my hand to my face and back again before tentatively nodding. Her hand was shaking as she reached for me, but she still held mine tightly. I smiled and nodded before teleporting both of us back behind the closed door.

The old man gave a gasp of surprise as we appeared. "What?"

I looked around, another door behind us was being closed by another pair of [Maids]. Looks like they're serious about locking the place down in an emergency. The old man, to his credit, didn't seem to be trying to run away. Instead he'd let himself be locked in. I guessed it was so he could help barricade the door if necessary.

I kneeled down and looked the [Maid] in her eyes. "Everything is okay now." I nodded my head and got one in return. "Can you tell me what happened?"

She stared blankly at me before letting out a small gasp. "It's you!"

"Me?"

She shook her head. "Your room. There was... something in there..." She shuddered. "Strands... Blood... The voice..." She hugged herself and tried to compress her body into a smaller ball. "I... I..."

**Maid is frightened.

I stood up. "That's alright. You're safe now."

Plus, if it was in my room, I already had a camera in place to view it. I used Ears of Babel to switch to the other feed.

Nothing.

Something was obstructing the camera lens. There was no light and no picture.

I frowned. "I'll go take a look in person then."

The man puffed up at my announcement. "Sir, I really must insist for your own safety to do no more. I am very pleased that you rescued Panisa, but it is foolish to risk yourself!"

"Don't worry." I shook my head. "I'm just going to have a look."

I then teleported back before he could waste more time arguing. I paused in the hallway in front of my room. The old man did have a point, but I suspected I was at the center of whatever this was. It couldn't be so bad if the [Maid], Pansia, hadn't been hurt.

Still, an ounce of precaution might save my ass.

I un-Inventoried the Cawthorne around me and used its force field generator to layer several screens between the door and myself. I then reached out with Inventory. It would allow me to open, and close, the door with a thought.

The door vanished and I saw... hell.

It was strangely nostalgic.

It was like something Riley would've done when she'd been Bonesaw. In fact, it was something I'd seen her do plenty of times, but it had always been mid-operation. She'd never leave someone like this anymore.

A body had been cut apart and strewn around my room. However, it was still in one piece. Gore and viscera were connected in a single mass that hung from one wall to another.

It looked like a bloody spider web.

At the center of the strands was the only part that looked intact. A face looked at me. A face I recognized.

It was the [Thief] that had tried to steal my Golden Gun the day I'd arrived in Afiele.

The head moved, but it wasn't alive. There was no pulse, no breathing. Unlike Riley's work, he was definitely dead. Or at least, undead - which wasn't a surprise really. It was recently done. Rigor Mortis hadn't set in yet, and his eyes were capable of focusing.

And they did. At me.

His mouth moved and he croaked out a single word. "Hail."

[Temporary Skill – Thread of Fate assigned!]

A temporary skill? I stepped back as I heard the voice. I thought you had to be sleeping to level up. I also hadn't gained any classes, just a skill - another change from the norm.

I un-Inventoried the door back into place, and took another step back.

There was one final oddity. The skill had sounded... different in the same way [Famous Deed] and [Divided Reputation] did. It was strange in a way that I couldn't really describe. Like it was hearing a different 'color'.

Chapter 15: Planting Seeds 3

The carriage ride to Ovela was slow and bumpy. I was focusing on a camera I'd dropped about a mile away from Afiele. If we were being followed I wanted to know about it. By unanimous decision, we'd all decided to leave the city as soon as possible.

"Okay, I guess I could see HOW someone could sneak into the mansion. I get that there are classes and skills that allow people to do some pretty amazing things, but I still don't see the WHY?" Cara was looking nervously out one of the windows.

I glanced at her. "It's not so surprising if you assume whomever was behind it knew about my contribution. That's the only thing that might make someone take an interest in me."

Seraphel shook her head. "Not necessarily, Kevin. We don't know how the two of you came to be here. This might've been the actions of the person or organization that summoned you."

The Thronebearers were driving the carriage or riding beside it on horses, so the [Princess] was free to speak about Earth without fear of being overheard.

"I suppose." I was an anomaly in that sense too, since I wasn't from Iota like all the other kidnapped people.

"I don't see it." Cara shook her head. "If you say it wasn't a trap, I have to agree, but it obviously was a threat."

"A threat?"

She nodded. "Yeah, like a horse head in your bed. That sort of thing." She turned to look at me. "Anyone make you an offer you can't refuse lately?"

"There was one strange interaction Dalimont and I had." We'd left Afiele immediately after the incident. The [Princess] was already planning on heading to Ovela to try and convince them of Ailendamus' imminent invasion. She was no longer welcome in the city now that the undead army was gone. "When we left to survey the battlefield and see if we could find the [Necromancer]'s gear, I felt that we were being watched."

Seraphel narrowed her eyes. "How so?"

I shrugged. "Just a feeling. I didn't see anyone suspicious or anyone that seemed to be following us." I paused and looked up as I tried to remember the exact details of our encounter. "Outside the city, there was a man. He looked normal, but something about him felt off. He was familiar, but I don't think I'd ever seen him before." I shook my head. "The most pronounced detail about him was his limp, but that's easily fakeable. He could've been doing it on purpose."

"Why would someone do that?" Cara asked.

"We are talking about him." Seraphel mused. "If the only way we can describe him is as the 'limping man'..."

"...Then the description won't help anyone if he was just faking." Cara sighed and slumped back in her seat.

"Right, so the limping man came up to us and asked to speak we me. He also described me as 'new to these lands'."

Cara frowned. "That sounds like he knew you were from Earth." She looked me up and down. "You need to ditch your clothes and dress in something less noticeable."

I looked down at my distinctly non-black clothing and nodded. "You have a point."

Seraphel interjected. "We'll see to it in Ovela." She waved a hand. "However, it's not surprising for someone to assume you were new to Noelictus considering your clothing."

Cara and I nodded. "Yeah." "You also have a point."

"And was that it?" The [Princess] resumed her questioning. "Did you not meet anyone else outside the palace?"

I shrugged. "We had some guards escort us to the Hunter's Guild. They were rude, but in a 'not wanting to deal with this' sort of way. Same with the Hunter's Guild." I grabbed my shirt with two fingers. "I assumed that it was due to how I looked, or Dalimont's armor. If it was something less... involved than a mutilated corpse, then I could see it being the Guards or Hunters wanting to drive me out."

"Yeah, but how did they know it was your room?" Cara asked. "Don't forget the nobles don't care for either of us or the [Princess]. It would take one of them to know where you were staying."

Right. Seraphel had a 'curse'. This was what? Her third marriage that had ended in death?

"That would explain how it was in my room." I nodded. "Who else would know where I was staying, or have easy access to the Mansion." I shook my head. "But there are two things that don't fit."

"What are they?" Seraphel asked.

"The boy who was killed was the pickpocket who'd tried to steal from me when I first met Dalimont." I held up one finger. "Second." I raised another. "The head said 'Hail'. That's not normal for an undead monster, right?"

"No." Seraphel shook her head. "That's not normal at all." She frowned. "My knowledge is admittedly shallow, but I did do my research before traveling here. Lesser undead do not speak. Also, from the way it was described, I'm not sure the boy WAS undead."

"What?" "Huh?"

She continued. "Death magic is very concentrated in Noelictus, but it's still rare for individual body parts to animate." She held up her hand and wiggled her fingers. "If someone looses a hand, it does not commonly animate and start attacking them. I've never heard tell of something like a finger coming back either. Or bugs. I think there's a minimum size or completeness of the body that's needed. Mice can become undead, but a human head, in that condition?" She shook her head. "I don't think so."

"What if it was a second [Necromancer]?" Cara asked. "The limping guy might've been one. He was in the area where the first [Necromancer] died. He might've been searching for whatever artifacts he possessed, the same as you and Dalimont." She let out a short laugh. "Heck, he might've thought YOU were a Necromancer too, since you were there. Animating heads to say 'Hail' might be how they introduce themselves to other people."

I frowned. "Maybe. I did get a skill when I saw the creature. So that might've been it."

"A skill?" Seraphel narrowed her eyes. "What skill?"

"It's called 'Thread of Fate'."

"I've never heard of a skill like that." The [Princess] murmured. "Still, it could be an invitation, I suppose."

"You should've refused it." Cara tapped her foot. "It sounds like a skill that the ess, tee, eye, tee, see, ache [Witch] would use. I wouldn't put it past her to try and get revenge on us through you." S, T, I, T, C, H? The 'Stitch Witch'. What is this, Dr. Seuss?

"Refuse it?" I asked about the more relevant part. "You can refuse skills?"

Seraphel's eyes widened. "You don't know!" She shook her head. "Of course you don't know. Most people from this world don't know, so it makes sense that a newcomer wouldn't either."

"Know what?" My curiosity was starting to become tinged with fear.

"You can refuse classes and skills." Cara said before adding. "At least classes. I've never gotten a skill without one, so I'm not sure if skills themselves can be turned down."

Seraphel shook her head. "I don't know either. It's uncommon to get a skill outside of a class." She turned to look at me. "Any idea what it does?"

"No." I shook my head. "None. Only that it's temporary and feels different." I focused on it. "I think I might be able to try and activate it."

"Temporary?" Seraphel's eyebrows rose. "That sounds like a boon." She frowned. "Or a curse. If it DID come from her..." She thought for a moment. "Is it a blood skill?"

"A blood skill?" Cara asked.

Seraphel glanced at her then back to me. "Is it red?"

"Red?" It was different, but it wasn't 'red'. I shook my head. "No. It's not 'red'."

The [Princess] let out a sigh of relief. "Then it can't be that bad. Just, be careful. We can try and get someone to remove it soon."

We sat in silence for a while before a knock on the carriage roof made Seraphel jump. "We are out of sight of any other travelers." Dalimont said from outside.

Seraphel opened the door. "Then let us halt for a moment."

The carriage rolled to a stop and we all exited. I looked around and then pointed. "The border is that direction, correct?"

Ser Godard dismounted from the front of the carriage and stepped towards us. "That's right." His hand strayed to a pouch on his belt. "Do you wish to review the map again?"

"You should take it with you." Cara said from the side. "Better than getting lost."

I shook my head. "No need. I have it memorized." Or at least saved to a hard drive in my Inventory.

Seraphel walked up to me and clasped my hands in hers. "Stay safe, brave Kevin. Ailendamus' army is far more dangerous than that of the undead."

"Don't worry." I smiled at her. "I'll be careful."

"Do you truly think you can stop them?" Dalimont said from the side. "Your golden flames are a fierce spell, but they have [Mages] of their own."

I shook my head at him. "If I can't stop them, I can delay them. Besides, no one's reported them moving across the border yet, right? I'll be in no danger." I then un-Inventoried my Samus suit before doing the same with my Cawthorne armor. I then took a step back, nodded once, and flew away towards the mountain pass that connected Ailendamus and Noelictus.

...

I kept track of the beacon I'd placed on the underside of the carriage. Cara and Seraphel were continuing their way south. Good. Not that I was stalking them, but it'd be far easier to follow a homing signal than it would be to navigate Noelictus' 'landmarks'. At least the mountains shouldn't be too hard to find.

I started Crafting as I flew towards my destination. I was high enough that I should go unnoticed.

I thought about what I'd do to stop Ailendamus' army, assuming Seraphel was right about their intentions. I didn't want to kill them. Not because it would be too hard, although magic might make it far from simple, but because it would be too easy.

Death... didn't disturb me. Gamer's Mind negated too much. I could kill them all without batting an eye.

But, I didn't want to be that sort of person. I wanted to be like Dragon... even if I was really more like Contessa.

I sighed.

It worried me, to the extent that Gamer's Mind allowed me to feel worried. I've already killed so many people, and I'll kill so many more. Where would I draw the line? I tried to take a purely objective stance.

'Would the world be better off if this person wasn't in it?'

It was an impossible question. Even Fortuna didn't know all the answers.

*Self-doubt negated by Gamer's Mind.

I shrugged. I could only do my best. I wasn't going to refuse to kill, but I'd try not to if it was possible.

The problem, or at least one of my problems was that it was a lot easier to kill someone than it was to stop them non-lethally. Every solider had a life they wanted to get back to. On the other hand, every soldier was part of a group that was perfectly willing to kill others to get what they wanted.

It was impossible to moralize on a battlefield.

I saw mountains on the horizon. I was getting closer to my goal. My [Wall Seed] was finished. All I needed to do was to drop it off.

I had to drop lower to see the road that wound through the mountain pass. It was pretty big if I could see it from here.

I turned off my jets and floated down with my forcefield wings and reduced gravity. I angled my decent away from the road. A few people were traveling along it even now, and I didn't want to be noticed when I landed.

I touched down on a less-vertical part of the mountain, and a large stone humanoid with wings charged me. We were out of sight of the road and fairly high up. I created a barrier between us, which the... gargoyle? ran into.

It screeched and clawed at the projected wall of force to no avail. Ears of Babel wasn't translating its roars into anything, but that didn't necessarily mean it wasn't sapient. I needed to ask Seraphel about other races.

I raised my hand and expanded the wall to enclose the beast. It's voice was suddenly cut off as the force cube enclosed it. The Cawthorne didn't have resistance to sound attacks, but I could still make the forcefields thick enough and layer them to prevent any noise from escaping.

What to do?

The gargoyle was no threat to me on its own, but its cries could attract more of its kind. Also, it was clearly magical so I shouldn't say it couldn't hurt me. For all I knew, it possessed an ability that Gamer's Body couldn't negate. Or it might attract the attention of something else that was more dangerous.

The smart thing would be to kill it.

I started Inventorying the air inside of the box. Most things still needed to breathe.

It didn't take long to make a vacuum. Air didn't weigh much.

The gargoyle fell to its knees as its eyes started bleeding. It weakly scratched at the walls as it vomited a mixture of stomach bile and more blood. After five seconds, it couldn't move. After ten, it collapsed. I waited until fifteen seconds had passed before un-Inventorying the air back. That was how long it took someone to pass out from lack of oxygen.

Or at least, that was how long on average it took a human to pass out.

The gargoyle lay still except for a faint rising and falling of its chest. Good. It was still alive.

I activated Rapid Regeneration on it for a few seconds. That should fix any ruptures and prevent an embolism.

I waited, but it didn't seem to be regaining consciousness.

Good.

I wasn't being observed by anything according to Threat Sense, so I lowered the force walls and Inventoried the Cawthorne. Time to descend and plant this thing.

...

The trip down was uneventful. Threat Sense might not be reliable when dealing with magic, but it still worked just fine for stealth. Knowing that someone was going to see me in two seconds was just enough time to stop and hide.

There were small critters like rabbits and squirrels. Along side them were more dangerous predators like large cats and gargoyles. However, the most common threat I faced were the undead versions of them all. They grew more frequent as I lost altitude. I guessed that zombies weren't very good at climbing.

I Inventoried my armor once I got to the road.

Traffic was sparse, so I didn't have to wait long to plant my seed. It just needed a final touch. Conversion scaled to the size of the object I had it Craft, but it still took time to create more advanced items. I'd found a workaround. While the same limitations were in place for how many Blueprints/Skills I could combine to make the initial seed, it could also incorporate external components.

I might not have enough time to Craft some [Forcefield Pylons], but I carried several inside my Inventory. They were incredibly useful. Three ought to do it. I un-Inventoried them one-by-one and fed them to my Seed. It grew with each addition until it was the size of a couch.

I Observed it and nodded. Everything looked good. The [Wall Seed] fell from my hand and passed through the ground without so much as a ripple. I'd been hesitant to use Conversion at first, considering what I'd obtained it from, but my newest Trait was a God-send.

It still irked me that I hadn't had it when I'd Crafted my permanent Golden Gun.

While the seed started Crafting without my direction, I walked further towards Ailendamus. My goal wasn't to encounter them, but I wanted an early warning system. One nice thing about the landscape being a singular color was that it was easy to plant cameras that blended in.

Of course, I didn't know what magical options there were to notice my black cubes, or to detect spies. Therefore, I also included a self-destruct system. Nothing explosive. That was too potentially harmful - especially if magic could somehow replicate or reverse-engineer technology.

It was better to err on the side of caution.

My solution? A sub-component that was nothing more than a power sink. Activating did nothing but drain the energy reserves of the camera at an astounding rate - and that was the default mode. Only a constant signal would keep it from triggering. That way, if someone did notice and steal my tech, they'd be left with a worthless lump of metal after 0.2 seconds.

Well, a lump of some burnt out electronics and some rounded glass. I supposed the glass might be worth something in this world.

Six cameras placed up to a mile away should suffice. The could also act like relays - taking my encrypted signal from Tongue of Babel and passing it on. I Crafted more as I walked back to where my wall was being formed underground. I didn't plan on watching the road between here and Ovela, but it cost me little to make camera-transmitters instead of just relays. Plus, they would give me additional teleportion options.

The wall seemed growing nicely, so I set off at a brisk jog back into Noelictus. It shouldn't take me more than a day to return.

...

Ovela looked as Ser Dalimont had described it - a military outpost.

The walls were taller than Afiele's, and numerous towers armed with ballistas rose even higher. Some undead probably warranted such a response, but I suspected the main reason for them was Noelictus' neighbors to the East. There weren't many people exiting or leaving, so at least there wouldn't be a line.

I approached the gates, and a guard looked me up and down. "Papers." He held out his hand.

I frowned. "I don't have any papers."

He looked at me. "Then you aren't getting in."

"What?" Seraphel hadn't mentioned anything about papers. "Since when do I need papers to enter?" I mean, it might've always been the case, but I didn't think so.

"Since the [Scouts] saw movement across the border."

"Okay. Fine. What do I need to do to get papers?"

He looked me up and down. "For someone suspicious looking like you?" The guard gave a short laugh. "Wait until Ailendamus stops rattling their glass sabers."

I folded my arms and glared at the guard for a moment before turning and leaving. Noelictus was not a very friendly place, even if you disregarded the undead. Stupid insular communities.

So what now?

I don't HAVE to enter the city. I can stop Ailendamus at the pass by myself, or at least that's the plan. Once they're turned away, Ovela might let me inside without a fuss. Or they might become even more paranoid after seeing an army cross their border.

I could probably get in contact with Seraphel via a drone. I have a few nice ones that could fly in without being seen. Of course, if I was going to go that route, I could just use them to teleport in instead. In fact, that's a better idea anyways. A [Princess] of Calanfer might not have the political clout to countermand the military.

If this was America and I had to sneak into a military camp again, Threat Sense and teleportation would be the best option. I couldn't be sure that Ovela's defenses would be easily breached by an invisible drone. As usual, I had better capabilities than my gear.

I walked far enough away that I could no longer make out the guards and Crafted another camera.

I could teleport above the city and drop it before teleporting away, but I might be spotted. Or they might be able to detect teleportation. Seemed like a necessary defense in a world with magic. No, if I was going to teleport in, I didn't want to raise any alarms before I did.

Instead, I sat down and let Expansion slowly expand the range of all my abilities. It didn't take long for it to spread close by. Standing still for a few seconds allowed me to increase my base range by a factor of ten. Encompassing the city would take significantly longer.

Thankfully, I was patient. Plus, I could use the time to recharg my Golden Gun slightly. Not that an hour or two would even restore a single percentage of its capacity, but hey, every drop helped.

Eventually, I'd reached the point where Inventory could release things within the far away city. I un-Inventoried the camera right above the wall.

...It landed face down.

Another strong point in favor of Expansion and Inventory instead of Teleportation - I could easily try again.

...The second camera landed pointing towards the sky.

I really need to adjust these things' weight, or give them a gyroscope, or something.

...The third camera landed facing a dark alleyway.

Perfect!

Threat Sense told me I wouldn't be observed if I teleported inside, so I did. The alleyway was empty, but the streets were still busy despite the late hour. I slipped out when no one was looking and quickly made my way towards the beacon I'd left in Seraphel's carriage.

It brought me to an inn.

Good enough. I still had money from the change I'd gotten from buying the turnip, so I entered and purchased a room for the night.

---

Cara got up and went downstairs for breakfast, only to find Kevin was already there. Was flying off in a mechanical suit to do superhero stuff, and then showing up the next morning like nothing had happened a superhero thing? Or was it a Kevin thing?

"Hey." She sat down at his table. Kevin looked up, but a [Server] was already approaching them.

"What would you care for this morning, miss?"

He offered her a menu, but Cara held up a hand a shook her head. "Just some eggs." She glanced at Kevin's plate, he had some nice, fluffy, black bread. "And some bread and butter." If there was someone here that could make something other than flatbread, she had to try it. Besides, her new skills would keep her looking thin.

"Of course."

Once he had left, Cara turned back to her fellow dimensional traveler. "So just how late did you get in?"

Kevin grunted. "Late. The guards wouldn't let me in, so I had to get creative."

Cara raised an eyebrow. "Creative?"

Kevin shrugged. "Teleportation without anyone noticing." He took a bite of his bread, chewed, swallowed, and then continued. "Is Seraphel here?"

"She-" Cara stopped as the [Server] returned with her food. She reached into her belt pouch and produced some coins to pay him - meals weren't included with the room. Once they were alone again, she continued. "She's in her room. She won't come out for food." Cara smiled. "It's 'scandalous' for her to be staying at such a cheap inn."

Kevin gave an amused grunt. "So it's like she's a celebrity then?"

Cara poked her eggs. "More or less. I think the social differences are more pronounced, but it's still two different worlds." She looked at the superhero and her eyes narrowed. "Of course, you would know what that's like, huh?"

Kevin smiled and nodded his head. "That's the truth. For me it was even trickier." He took another bite. "But I never spent time with rich civilians. I guess you could call me upper middle class. We had our own house, but it was in a podunk town."

"Oh?" Cara leaned forward. He'd deflected when she'd asked him about himself before. While hearing about his superhero role model had been interesting, she still wanted to know how Kevin had become 'Pixel'.

He let out a sigh. "Yep. Real small. Barely a 2-A highschool, if that makes any sense to you." She nodded. "Out in the middle of nowhere. Now it's nothing more than a memorial."

"Because that's where the great 'Pixel' grew up?" Cara smirked.

Kevin shook his head. "No. It's a memorial as one of the last towns that my world's most prolific serial killers wiped off the map."

What? Cara dropped her fork and put her hands to her mouth. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know!"

Kevin waved her off. "How could you? It's... fine. I've accepted it."

Cara picked her wooden utensil back up and glanced around, but no one was paying attention to them. "So... What are your plans for the day?"

Kevin shrugged. "I made a wall that I can raise when Ailendamus attacks. Until then?" He tilted his head to the side. "Tinkering I guess." He speared some more eggs with his fork before pausing. "Oh. I need to go shopping too." He gestured at himself. "I need some clothes that blend in better."

Cara nodded. "I was going to bring that up earlier, but..." She made a circular motion with her hand. "Things happened." She jerked her head back and to the side. "C'mon, I'll help you find a [Tailor]."

Kevin ate the last of his eggs and nodded. "Sure. Sounds like a plan."

---

Despite being less crowded than Afiele, Ovela felt livelier. Admittedly, that was in part due to the undead army. There had been celebrations, sure, but I'd gotten the sense that Afiele had been waiting for the other shoe to drop. I guess that's another cultural difference between here and Earth Bet. Being saved from catastrophe at the last minute wasn't expected, but it was hoped for on my world.

Here, not so much. I suspected it had to do with Noelictus' special circumstances. If a large scale fight resulted in lots of bodies that would keep on reanimating... then a sudden victory had to be surprising.

"You know." I leaned down to speak with Cara. "I was expecting people to be locked inside the houses and soldiers patrolling the streets. I mean, they wouldn't let me in without 'papers', so all this..." I gestured with my hands. "Seems strange."

"Papers?" Cara sounded puzzled. "I guess the Thronebearers handled that for us. Nobody mentioned any lock downs."

I shrugged. "The only explanation I got was that their [Scouts] saw something across the border."

"I guess that's natural considering that Ovela is the first line of defense."

"That's why I expected... I dunno, fear? A militia being formed? Not... singing."

"Oh. That." Cara smirked. "It's common in Noelictus. They sing in the fields to help pass the time while planting or harvesting. Who doesn't like music when you work?"

I nodded. "I guess it also helps keep their spirits up."

"Yeah." Cara pointed. "There's a [Tailor], let's get you fitted."

I pulled the money I had out of my Inventory. "Will this be enough? I'm not sure about the prices here."

Cara look at it before shoving it back towards me. "It's not, but don't worry about it. I'll cover it." I looked at her, but she waved me away. "Seraphel gave me some spending money. I swear, you rich people would get fleeced if you ever did the shopping yourselves."

I stiffened. "Hey, I do my own shopping. You can't blame me for not knowing the local economy."

Cara smirked at me. "Fair. C'mon rich boy, lets expose you to the local fashion."

The local fashion, as Cara put it, was black. Black shoes, black pants, black shirts, black coats and black hats. The singular exception was what would've been called 'flair' back on earth. A ring, hat band, belt or brooch of a bright color that drew the eye.

I'd seen the same thing in Afiele, but I'd ignored it. I'd never cared about clothing, much to Riley's chagrin. My defense - that I was at least better at it than Sibby - hadn't won me any arguments.

"I don't need the feather." I told the storekeeper. I motioned at my current outfit. "I have plenty of non-black clothing, so I don't need more."

The portly man looked me up and down. "You foreigners are all the same. You think you can add a splash of color anywhere and it will look good." He sighed. "But, if you want to look like a [Serf], who am I to judge?"

I left the store with an arm-full of clothing. I wasn't going to casually use Inventory in public, not after the incident with the [Thief]. So I'd had to carry everything back to the Inn by hand. Cara and I sat in the common room next to my recent purchase.

"Thanks, again. I'll pay you back."

Cara shook her head. "Like I said, it was Seraphel's money. Besides, you can't say you didn't earn it."

"I suppose." But if I had wanted a bounty or a reward, I could've landed in Afiele as Pixel. "I wonder if I can sell anything to make some money while staying out of the spotlight."

"That depends." Cara tapped her foot as she thought. "You could pass off your tech as magic around here, do you have anything that doesn't blow stuff up?"

I nodded. "I can make potions."

"Really?" Her eyes opened wide before she rolled them. "I shouldn't be surprised. Healing potions are good. I'm not sure about guilds and stuff. There might be regulations on them."

"They also are noticeable."

"Noticeable?"

I nodded. "They're pixelized too."

"What? You mean that's, like, a requirement and not your... uhm... image?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Everything I make looks like that."

"Why?"

I shrugged. "That's how powers work on my Earth. They all come with their own quirks or limitations. If you want to get technical, my tech 'creates an energy field around an object that allows it to mimic the properties of other advanced technology'." Or at least that was the PRT's line. It was based on what Dragon had thought before I'd told her the truth.

Cara laughed. "Wow. That's something else."

I wound up talking with Cara for the rest of the day. Earth Bet might differ from Earth Iota, but the similarities were enough to trigger Cara's homesickness.

The days passed quickly. I learned some traditions of both Noelictus and Calanfer alongside several things this world took for granted. Like magic, truth stones, classes, and skills.

Cara liked songs, and her [Pop Star] class had numerous skills that helped her sing. She explained how the farmers here had [Singers] and [Musicians] that played for them while they worked. A sort of medieval radio. We also went shopping for more clothes. I tended to go through them rapidly when I wasn't wearing my armor, so a surplus that wouldn't stand out was a good idea.

Seraphel was interested in Superheroes and kept on asking me about them. Once I told her about the PRT and the Protectorate, her eyes lit up. She compared them to Guilds, and I couldn't really disagree.

Her Thronebearers were mostly content to stand guard, since Seraphel didn't want to spread knowledge of other planets. Thus, they weren't included in many of the conversations. Ser Godard did come to me in private, asking that I model my armor for a sketch.

I didn't like having to do PR in my world, but I saw the use of it. Besides, if his pictures someday made 'Pixel' famous, it might help in finding Riley. Also, there was a reason for having multiple identities. I could blend in easily enough if I didn't make obvious use of my Crafting Perk.

It was during dinner on the third day that Ears of Babel picked up an alert.

I stood up. "Ailendamus is on the move."

"Already?" Cara and Seraphel looked up at me.

"Yes." I focused on the signal from the outermost camera. "They're at the mountain pass and are crossing the border."

"...And you need to teleport away. I got it." Cara stood up and put a hand on my shoulder. "I know you're an invincible superhero, but... stay safe."

I nodded. "I will."

Chapter 16: Planting Seeds 4

"Sir! I have news to report!" The [Scout] saluted.

Yerzhen, the Bear of Ailendamus, and one of the [Generals] of its armies looked down from his horse. "What is it?" Time was of the essence. They'd prepared and positioned themselves. Moving quickly across the border was the next step.

"We've encountered a wall!"

"A wall?" Yerzhen snorted. "Knock it down. What's your name [Soldier]? Why are you informing me instead of your [Field Marshal]?" While he wasn't a stickler for formality like some honor-addled [Knight], Yerzhen still believed in the chain of command. [Scouts] shouldn't report directly to him unless it was something far more serious than a wall.

"Roddy, Sir!" The [Scout] saluted again. "We tried that, Sir! The wall is enchanted, Sir!"

Yershen palmed his face and slowly moved his hand down. "Let's go talk to your C.O. and see what this is all about."

...

Yerzhen lowered the spyglass. "Impossibly fine construction. I don't see a single blemish or warp." [Eyes of the General] might give him the ability to follow the fastest of units on the other side of a battlefield, but extra magnification helped.

[Field Marshal] Tenyet nodded. "Yes, Sir. Who would waste so much metal making a wall in the first place, and how did they transport it? Even an [Archmage] would be hard-pressed to move such a thing, it must way thousands of pounds!"

"And no enemy [Soldiers]?"

"No, Sir." Tenyet pointed at a map in his hastily set-up command tent. "We've sent [Scouts] into the mountains and around the edges, there are no signs of anyone at all."

"[Hunters] can be very good at concealing themselves. That's especially true in Noelictus where every cursed thing is black." Yerzhen put a finger on the map and traced a line. "This is not the best place for a wall, or even a good place. Here or here would allow for ambushes, harrying actions, or a defensive front."

"Yes, Sir. I noticed that as well."

Yerzhen stroked his chin. "So it's clearly a trap, but of what kind? If it were wood or stone, our Greatbows could knock it down easily enough." Seriously, who built a WALL out of metal? "The ground is solid rock, so our [Sappers] won't be able to undermine it quickly."

"Perhaps Ovela means to prevent us from bringing our horses and artillery, Sir? The rest of our troops can build ladders to scale it without too much time wasted. We can haul over our chests of holding. That way we can even transport all our Greatbows. Our only loss would be our calvary." Which they didn't have much of anyways. [Knights] were far more common in Ailendamus than horses.

"That will take too long, and I'll not have a mysterious structure at our back. It might explode or start launching spells while we maneuver around it." Yerzhen frowned and thought about the wall itself. "It's not nearly cost-effective." He shook his head. "Even building or moving a stone wall would be time and money better spent elsewhere. No, the only reason why they would use metal, and why it appeared so quickly, and why they weren't afraid of blocking a major trade route is because it must have been created with a skill."

"A skill, Sir? Surely not."

"Don't you remember the King of Destruction?" Tenyet shook his head. "No?" Yerzhen continued. "One of his Seven was, is an [Architect]. People dismissed his contributions to a direct fight, that was until fortifications appeared overnight. It's not a waste if its only use is creating a wall. Especially if whomever did this can't surround a city. In that case, blocking a narrow passageway makes sense."

"So what do we do?"

Yerzhen shrugged. "We go through it, we have no other option. Fire Lance-Arrows at its top. See if you can topple it. Otherwise, we'll need to use fire magic. It will take some effort, but we can heat it as hot as a forge and have it melt."

"That will leave the area unapproachable for hours, no, days, Sir."

Yerzhen waved him off. "That's what we have ice magic for. The only concern is if our [Mages] and enchanted bolts will be sufficient. We can't afford to spend too much of our artillery here."

...

Ailendamus' Greatbows were a marvel of technological accomplishment. The ballista-sized crossbows had two limbs that crossed in an 'X' shape. They were far too large for a man to use by themselves. However, clever mechanics inside of them allowed their metallic strings to be pulled back with a crank.

They were Ailendamus' answer to siege warfare. More easily mass-made than [Mages]. More effective than ballistas or catapults. Similar enough to bows and crossbows that skills transferred over. A single one could kill an armored knight at two thousand feet. Hundreds of them could destroy castles.

Yerzhen growled as another Lance-Arrow fell to the ground without leaving so much as a scratch.

Was one enchanted wall too much for them?

"What's the hold up?" Raganest du Ecte strolled into his command tent like he owned it. "Why are we breaking camp so far away from Ovela?"

Yerzhen glared at him. The term was 'pitching camp', but he didn't dare correct the [Baron]. "There's a wall in our way that we must deal with first."

"A wall?" Raganest glared at him. "A WALL? We've stopped so you can tear down a wall?"

"Yes."

"Can a [General] not find a way past a simple wall? Use the Greatbows! Use explosive Lance-Arrows! Use your skills!!"

Yerzhen nodded. "We are doing so, but it is enchanted. We are striving to topple it without expending too many resources." It was looking like they'd need to start using some more potent skills, but it would be foolish to expend too many. Skills had cooldowns, and they had the real fight ahead of them.

Rananest slammed his fist onto the table. "I don't want to hear excuses, I want results! Time is the most important resource and you're wasting it!" He looked around the tent. "I'll have my servants unpack my desk here. You obviously need supervision."

...

Yerzhen growled like his namesake.

Shooting the wall with non-enchanted Lance-Arrows had revealed it was protected by a shimmering magical barrier. Fair enough. He hadn't expected them to work, but it was always a good idea to test assumptions. The wall might've been a finely crafted illusion. The amount of intelligence they'd gained in exchange for a short amount of time and a negligible loss of ammunition was good.

The enchanted Lance-Arrows worked better.

Elemental effects broke through somewhat. Fire left scorch marks on the metal wall. Ice left frost. Electricity didn't seem to do much, but hidden compartments or mechanisms might have been affected. One couldn't knock down a wall with scorch marks though.

He'd given the okay for troops to approach in person. That hadn't triggered any traps, and they'd recovered the surprisingly intact Lance-Arrows. Climbing hadn't worked. The magical barrier extended several inches from the wall's surface and was impossibly smooth. Ladders might be an option, but it was still too risky.

Importantly, the magic shield couldn't withstand skills. Even a low-level one like [Heavy Blow] caused it to flicker out of existence... for about two seconds. Still, that was long enough to inflict some minor damage on the wall itself.

The problem, of course, was that even without the magical barrier, it was still an enormous chunk of metal. Even [Piercing Blow] had only let a sword sink less than an inch inside.

It was like it was some sort of puzzle-box that had been upscaled. Of course, all the good ones of those had been in short supply ever since the Archmage of Izril had secluded herself.

It might've been an enjoyable challenge, if not for it delaying their invasion and the increasingly annoying Raganest du Ecte. The [Baron] had a one track mind, and he did not care for the reality of the situation. He was pushing for them to resume their march before daybreak.

On one hand, that made sense. Their plans involved using the night to hide their movements as much as possible. However, that ship had sailed. You couldn't camp on a road for hours - throwing Lance-Arrows around without someone noticing. Even if the skill wore out and the wall vanished, Ovela had to already know that they were coming.

Of course, one could argue (and Raganest constantly was) that time was still vital. Less time to prepare could mean the difference between a fast military action and a prolonged siege.

Yerzhen thought that the appearance of a wall only a high-level person could create was proof that they'd lost the element of surprise a long time ago.

Still, he had his orders.

"Heat up a Lance-Arrow as hot was we can make it, and then fire it with [Piercing Shot]." The messenger saluted him and ran off to relay the command.

Yerzhen stepped out of the tent and waited. Before long, a streak flew from their camp, across the dark sky, and towards the wall. He followed it with his spyglass.

The Lance-Arrow was glowing white from the heat. Only its well-forged materials and durability enchantments allowed it to retain its shape as it flew.

He watched it pierce the metal wall and sink more than a foot deep. Slowly, the wall began to glow. It was hard to notice at first, as the Lance-Arrow was still shining brightly. However, as the heat transferred away from the projectile, it glowed less and the wall glowed more.

A dull red. That meant it wasn't a Dwarf-forged wall or anything equally preposterous. It glowed, which meant it would melt.

Yerzhen prepared to give the command to launch a volley. It would hurt to use up a skill like [Volley: Piercing Arrows], but he would have to if he wanted the wall destroyed quickly.

It was then that the gigantic figure appeared in the sky.

---

I watched Ailendamus' troops as they approached my wall with my hidden cameras. Despite my time in Ovela, I still didn't have a good inner model of the neighboring country. Seraphel and the people of Noelictus had nothing good to say about them. According to them, they were war-mongers who aggressively expanded their borders. If they weren't currently at war, that was because they were busy probing to see who they could conquer next.

I didn't want to make any comparisons to countries from Earth Bet. It would be too easy to start associating them with other aspects if I did that.

However, it didn't seem like a nuanced understanding was needed. Ailendamus may or may not have sent the [Necromancer] as a prelude/justification for war. There was no way for me to confirm that. What didn't need confirmation was the literal army at the gates. The simple fact was they were attacking and they were going to kill people.

I had teleported to the foot of the mountain pass on Noelictus' side. I needed to be closer, but several scouts from Ailendamus had bypassed the wall already.

The solution was simple.

I un-Inventoried my Samus armor and Cawthorne suit and then took off - straight up.

I was noticeable while using my jets - especially at night, so I had to liftoff from a distance. Once I was in the air, I created some wings with my forcefield and reduced my personal gravity. This allowed me to glide without putting on a light show. Admittedly, it was slower, but that was okay.

While I drew closer, Ailendamus began to attack my wall. There had to be tens of thousands of them. Most of them wore full plate, but I spotted a few in the back with less armor. They had hundreds of strange 'X' shaped ballistas, which they used to fling bolts from far away with great accuracy. I narrowed my eyes. That was too accurate. They either had some amazing spotters, or magic and skills were involved. Or both.

The first attacks did nothing.

What were they thinking? You couldn't tear down an iron wall like that. Metal was too flexible. A rigid substance, like rock, could be fractured from heavy blows, but metal would just deform.

...Unless there were skills or magic involved. If a parahuman started shooting arrows with a bow at a bank vault, I wouldn't sit back and laugh at their foolishness. I'd be concerned because they knew something I didn't.

I reached the airspace over my wall as they switched to firing glowing arrows. The clearly magical projectiles were stopped my my forcefield, but it drained my barrier of all its power. While the pylons I carried with me weren't Endbringer level, they still could stop the momentum of a speeding car. And that wasn't taking into account the massive reduction in physical damage my skills imparted.

The enchanted ammunition seemed to ignore the reduction entirely. They also either had significantly more mass than I'd assumed, or they were particularly good at damaging my forcefield.

Of course, the main part of my wall didn't rely on Tinkertech or powers. While it might be pixelated to mimic iron, it was also actually iron underneath. There was no visible clue, but I suspected the pixelation had been broken - just like the forcefield.

The iron underneath was damaged, but it had far too many HP to be worn down like that.

While I circled above, I noticed some birds below me also flying over the wall. Threat Sense let me know they were watching me. Spies? Shapeshifters? A Bird-Master somewhere? I suspected they were from Noelictus. The monochromatic country boasted about their [Hunters]. Hunters and Rangers in games had animal companions and the like. It seemed a reasonable guess that the same logic held in this world.

Meanwhile, Ailendamus sent people to attack my wall in melee.

Really?

I can understand not wanting to be stymied by a wall - no matter how impressive. There was a real sunk cost fallacy for all the effort of marshaling so many troops. Not to mention, they wouldn't be able to expand their territory more.

Then again, I shouldn't judge. This world had magic. If they were hacking at my wall with swords, there was probably a good reason for it.

One result was that my opinion of Ailendamus kept sinking. I hadn't REALLY expected them to throw up their arms and say 'guess we won't kill anyone for land because there's a wall', but I'd hoped for... I dunno... something else.

Their ground forced withdrew, and they launched an arrow that glowed white-hot with heat. It struck my wall and started melting it!

THAT was impressive! With enough of those, they could do some real damage.

Why did they even have ammunition like that? What would one of those do to wooden walls? Were they planning on razing Ovela to the ground?

Whelp. It was time for a show of force. If this didn't dissuade them, then I'd have to target their fancy crossbows. If that didn't work, then an apparently tried and true method of fighting armies on this world was to kill their leaders. Leadership classes were like empowering Trumps in that they could boost all the other troops under their command.

Cut off the head, and the snake dies.

I projected an image of myself downward to warn them one last time. While I did that, I un-Inventoried my Juggernaut Laser. Threats were only good if you could back them up.

---

Yerzhen glared at the figure who was larger than the Dame of the Hills and that stood atop the melting wall. It was clearly an illusion. He had to guess the [Mage] behind it was part [Artist]. The fake image was created from numerous joined squares and looked vaguely humanoid. It spoke with a voice that was calm and conversational-level, but that seemed to reach every person in the army judging by their reactions.

"Leave. I do not wish to hurt or kill you, but I will."

Yerzhen motioned to his [Camp Aid]. "Get the [Mages] working on tracing that spell and preparing shields. Have the Greatbows ready to fire as soon as we have a target."

The figure hefted a... staff? It was also made of cubes. He held it horizontally with both hands while another trail of cubes extended from it to the image's back.

The standoff lasted for minutes before a report came back. "Sir!" His subordinate saluted. "The [Mages] report they can find no trace of magic! Their spells, however, do only detect light and sound from the creature."

Yerzhen stroked his chin. This... was troubling. Ailendamus was not known for their magical might, but their [Mages] were all decently leveled. To shield its magic from them implied that the person behind the projection was powerful and skilled. He should report this back to the [King] and get guidance.

"Fire!" A voice from behind him called out. "Fire all Greatbows at it!

Yerzhen turned and glared, but he couldn't countermand Raganest's order. He could only watch as a swarm of Lance-Arrows flew towards the figure.

That was when all Hell broke out.

The figure shrunk until it was human-sized. Fire appeared at its back and upon each joint. The flames propelled it through the air faster than a swallow in flight. It flitted through the swarm of Lance-Arrows like it was dancing. Those that came anywhere close to it were knocked out of the sky by more shimmering walls of magic that briefly appeared.

In fact, now that it was in motion and illuminated by its own flames, Yerzhen could see gossamer wings of magic that extended from its back. It was that same magic that it used to shield its wall and to now protect itself.

A flash of light blinded him. Yerzhen blinked away the fading line as cries came from the army. Again and again the light flashed out from the figure's staff to deadly effect. It was Light magic, but it moved far faster than any spell he'd ever seen. So fast he couldn't track it with his eyes! "Report!"

His aid nodded. "[Status Update]." His eyes grew wide. "Ten Greatbows are... gone. We have Fifty-Seven casualties from their crews. Severe burns and shrapnel. Healing potions are being applied."

Yerzhen swore. "Get the [Mages] to shield our artillery! Now!!" He glanced back at the man who'd started this confrontation before they were ready, but Raganest just sat back in his chair with his arms crossed.

Yerzhen took a deep breath. What did they know? Enchanted Lance-Arrows were effective at taking down a shield momentarily. Piercing skills could bypass them. What else? It was clear they'd have to fight magic with magic. The rest of his troops were sitting ducks.

What was their opponent?

The voice it had used sounded masculine, so it was probably a man. Or a golem in the 'shape' of a man. He'd never personally seen the creations of the [Archmage of Golems] in action, but he'd heard tales of how they could wipe out armies.

Ten more lances of light rained down on his army. Yerzhen frowned. What was that? A thirty second delay? Far too short for a Skill, so it had to be a spell or an artifact. He tried to get a better look with his spyglass, but the figure was moving too fast.

Still, there was the odd-looking staff it used, or would it be better described as a large wand or a lance? The creature's weapon was clearly an artifact, the same as it. Golems could use weapons, but they usually relied on the magic that created them to fight. So did that mean...

"It's armor." He whispered to himself. "It's a man wearing a relic." He turned to his aid. "Report!"

"Yes, Sir! [Status Update]. Ten more Greatbows have been destroyed. The magical shields held for a moment, but shattered under the attack. Sixty-One more casualties. One death."

Yerzhen nodded. "It pauses for about a second when it attacks, and attacks ten times in rapid succession before needing to gather more mana. Have the [Mages] cease focusing on defense and instead link up to enchant as many Lance-Arrows as possible. Spread them out." He did a [Rapid Calculation]. "They have fifty-five seconds to finish."

They'd have to survive another round of bombardment, but they'd strike back after that!

Yerzhen's face was grim as ten more beams of light destroyed ten more Greatbows. "[Army-wide Command]. All units cease fire. Prepare a volley for when it pauses to attack. Use every skill!" Now was not the time to hold back.

Yerzhen was not a [Greatbow Commander] or any similar class. His skills made his troops tougher, stronger, and fearless. That did not mean his army was lacking in ranged options. [Greatbow Snipers]. [Archery Captains]. [Greatbow Cranker]. There were countless special classes for their country's signature weapon.

Shouts of: "[Piercing Shot]. [Unerring Aim]. [Instantaneous Reload]. [Volley: Piercing Arrows]. [Tracking Shot]. [Headshot]. [Assassin's Arrow]. [Splintering Shot]. [Explosive Shot]." And more came from across the army.

It might have been overkill.

Some of those skills had a cooldown of hours, days, or even weeks. They would be in no position to take Ovela quickly without them. The alternative wasn't any better. They also wouldn't be able to gain a foothold in Noelictus if all their Greatbows were destroyed or if everyone was dead.

The first Lance-Arrows were dodged. Their attacker stopped firing his weapon and jerked suddenly to the side. The piercing shots made his magical walls ineffective, so he had to rely on his speed. A Lance-Arrow splintered into twenty copies of itself a dozen feet from him. He avoided them all, except for one that struck him in the thigh.

Suddenly, he was no longer made of cubes. Instead, his sleek metal armor was revealed as whatever enchantment was on it broke.

After that hit, the floodgates were opened. It might not have been a mortal blow on its own, but the force of the impact had spun him around in midair. Another arrow struck the thick armor on his back. Then another took him in the shoulder. The head and heart shots penetrated deep, and then exploded. That finished the fight.

Yerzhen watched as the boneless form plummeted to the ground.

He wondered if they might be able to re-enchant the armor to make up for their other failures. Probably not. It was clearly an artifact. The secrets to creating or repairing those had been lost to time.

He nodded to their fallen foe with respect. As foolish as he was to oppose Ailendamus, at least he'd shown courage. If he'd fought alongside Ovela, he might've driven them back. If he'd only accepted Ailendamus' rule, he would've found glory instead of death.

He needed a drink.

"I take it you're the leader?"

Yerzhen whirled around as he heard an unfamiliar voice from inside his tent!

He rushed inside to find another person in a cubic set of armor! It had orange arms, a yellow body, and a red chest and helmet. Different from the white armor in the sky, but clearly related.

"So he wasn't alone." Yerzhen growled as he charged. He wasn't named the 'Bear of Ailendamus' for nothing. While the assailant was tall, Yerzhen was taller. You didn't get to be a [General] without being able to deal with head-hunters that sought to weaken your army with your death. "[Bear Hug]. [I Crushed Magic With My Grip]."

The armored figure spun inhumanly fast!

Yerzhen saw the punch coming, and twisted out of the way, but his movements were matched perfectly! A fist like thunder hammered into his side!

Yerzhen grimaced in pain. It was a precision blow to his kidneys. His armor might've softened it, but it still felt like they'd exploded. Before he could bring his arms together to trap his opponent, a hook from the other side stuck precisely and broke his pelvis, which caused him to lose his balance. An uppercut dented his breastplate and lifted him off his feet. Time seemed to slow down even more as his opponent drew back his arm. The straight caught him in his chest - at the exact same place where it had already been struck. It was the strongest part of his armor, but it collapsed under the strength of the final blow.

It had all happened in less than a second. He'd only been able to make out the precision of the individual moves due to [Eyes of the General].

Yerzhen flew back with dented armor and a broken sternum. He coughed as blood pooled in his mouth. He tried to raise his arms, but failed. His wounds were mortal unless someone quickly administered a healing potion to him. Despite his physique and training, Yerzhen still had the fatal flaw of all [Strategist]-type classes: He couldn't use his best skills on himself. Otherwise, he could obey his own order to: [Do Your Duty]. That would let him continue to move, to fight. Since he couldn't, his only option was to cling to consciousness as the world started fading to black.

"Who are you?" Raganest demanded from behind his desk as he fumbled with a monocle.

"You may call me 'Pixel'." The cubic man turned back towards the [Baron] before standing strangely still. "You will withdraw your troops and swear to never attack Noelictus again. Anyone who makes a move against me, will die." The last sentence was said with enough confidence that Yerzhen shivered.

It was the sort of thing that wasn't a threat or a warning. It was a promise.

"'Pixel' eh?" Raganest sneered. "Like 'Pixie'? You are as annoying as those winter sprites, I'll give you that."

What? Why was Raganest antagonizing him? Yerzhen focused on his superior and saw it. The monocle that was enchanted with [Appraise]. "No..." His warning was barely a whisper and drained the last air from his lungs.

"What did you do? Find some relic with your family and decide to be a [Hero]?" The [Baron] laughed. "You? You aren't even level twenty! An [Artificer] and a [Wanderer]? Those are weak classes for a weak man."

Yerzhen tried to shake his head or to say something, but he couldn't inhale. The armor was clearly blocking the monocle's effect! Had Raganest not seen how he'd moved? Less than level twenty? No fighting classes? Did he think that someone like that could have taken Yerzhen down with his fists? Raganest didn't realize he was playing with fire.

"Hal-" His [Camp Aid], who had slipped out at the start, returned with his five elite [Bodyguard Knights]. Pixel glanced over, and Yerzhen's eyes opened wider as all six of his best subordinates collapsed to the ground. A second later, and they were disintegrated! They'd vanished and had left nothing but their armor behind!

Pixel had killed them without a single gesture, without a single word!

...And Raganest, the fool, hadn't even noticed!

"Let me tell you what's going to happen." The fool in question smiled. "You are going to remove that ridiculous armor and surrender immediately. If you don't, Ailendamus won't stop with you. We'll kill you. Then we'll find your sister and kill her too!"

Yerzhen tried to cough to get Raganest's attention, but it was too late. He had used his capstone skill: [Intimate Threat]. It granted him insight into a person's fears. Insight so profound that was a threat in and of itself. It was a skill that the [Baron] could use to browbeat anyone in a duel of words, but it wouldn't help him now!

A blue light flashed in his mouth.

Yerzhen blinked. What was that?

Raganest narrowed his eyes. "You think we can't? Ailendamus is a global power. There's nowhere she can hide."

Another blue light.

"It doesn't matter if she's in Noelictus, somewhere else in Terandria, or even on another continent. We'll find her. Then we'll kill her, slowly."

The blue light shown again. Yerzhen gasped as he realized it was Raganest's ring of protection being activated! Pixel was trying to kill him with his invisible attack!

"Or we'll sell her to Roshal. Let the [Slavers] have their way with her!"

The blue light flashed again.

Yerzhen ground his teeth. He still couldn't draw a deep enough breath to say anything! Conversely, Raganest was killing himself with every word he spoke.

"No? That's too lenient." Raganest smiled. "We'll send her to Rhir, and let the demons eat her!"

The blue light shown, and then sputtered out.

"You know we'll do it. Ailendamus' glory will never fade. You will be a footnote in-"

Raganest coughed.

Blood mixed with a green substance was expelled from his mouth. Yerzhen watched in horror as the blood turned green in mid-air. The liquid landed on the desk with a sizzle before expanding and dissolving the wood.

Acid.

He couldn't turn away. Even if Yerzhen could move his head, the brutality of the attack transfixed him. A gurgling scream filled the tent as Raganest's jaw dissolved! He clawed at his throat, but all that accomplished was to spread the deadly substance to his hands. Skin, flesh, bone - his fingers melted one by one! Yerzhen was horrified as the thing that was once a man was literally liquefied before his eyes!

It had taken mere seconds before only a puddle was all that remained of Raganest du Ecte.

Pixel turned away from his victim, looked down, and raised his hand. Yerzhen matched his stare. He'd look his death in the eyes.

...He felt better.

His lungs decompressed. His sternum snapped back into place. His pelvis rearranged itself. Finally, the intense pain from his side receded. The armor he wore remained dented and tight around his chest. It was hard to breathe, but it was now possible. Yerzhen inhaled and exhaled several times before the darkness receded from his vision and he felt like he could say anything. "You're healing me?" He should've been surprised at the casual demonstration of yet another impossible feat, but there was only so much a man could take before he started to become numb to the unthinkable.

Could this be a dream?

Pixel nodded. "If you swear to withdraw and never darken my doorstep again."

Yerzhen staggered to his feet and then knelt. "I swear on my honor that we will withdraw. Neither my men or I will ever wage war on Noelictus ever again!"

"Good." Pixel turned towards the tent's exit. "Then I'm done here."

Yerzhen blinked and stood up. "Just like that?"

"Just like that."

Yerzhen bowed. "I am no [Knight], but you can trust in my word and my honor."

Pixel looked over his shoulder. "No I can't." His voice dripped with scorn. "What I can trust in is my own power." He paused for a second before adding. "What's so honorable about attacking another country anyways? Hypocrite."

Then, without warning, he vanished.

Notes:

Bios:

Yerzhen - The Bear of Ailendamus. Lost to an army of the undead in canon. Got reprimanded for his failure. Started drinking.

Raganest du Ecte - AU. Actual name not given in canon. Also died in canon. Brother to Regalius du Ecte.

Chapter 17: Planting Seeds 5

I teleported up to my drone. The golden sphere (or sphere-like cluster of cubes) was currently cloaked. It was the best scout I had. Invisible. Inaudible. Intangible. Somehow able to record everything for miles without actually interacting with air pressure or photons.

The one problem was that no matter what Dragon or I did, it exploded.

The first one I'd Crafted had been working perfectly for years. However, every subsequent one I made or anything else I Crafted with components from the scout blew up.

Inevitably.

Invariably.

I wish I could remember whose work I Observed to get the blueprint. No doubt they could help with the faulty construction process. I had a few other components that could activate stealth features, but none of them came close to matching the effectiveness of the golden sphere.

I mentally shrugged before teleporting to where my Cawthorne suit had landed.

Damn. I'm glad I had been controlling it remotely. This is going to take a while to fix.

Actually, it will be quicker to just Craft another suit and Juggernaut Laser. I inventoried the remains. They took up a lot more room now that it was broken. Without adding an Inventory aspect to my gear, they needed capacity equal to their actual weight.

I tried Inventorying some of the giant arrows Ailendamus had shot. No go. I was starting to see a common theme about how my powers interacted with Magic, but I needed to perform some tests to be certain. Tests, and some expendible magic items. The arrows would work, but I didn't want to drag them around - or try to explain to anyone why I had them.

Now, what to do about that wall?

I'll leave it for now. I don't trust that general further than I could throw him. So, since I wasn't going to hang around and watch in person, the wall stays up until they leave. After that, I think I'll come back and use it as Crafting fodder. Waste not, want not.

With that decided, I started teleporting back to Ovela. I could stay around and heal the people that had been struck by shrapnel when I'd blown up their crossbows, but they had plenty of healing potions I assumed. Besides, it's their own fault for having such dangerous weapons in the first place. A good old catapult or trebuchet wouldn't have their component parts flung away at high velocity when cut in half. The X-shaped crossbows had a lot of internal tension.

I guess it was a good thing they hadn't invented cannons yet. Gunpowder would've been worse.

I appeared in a deserted stretch of road, and Threat Sense told me I was no longer being watched. I then Inventoried my Samus armor. My power might not be good at telling me if something magical is about to happen, but it's still great at stealth. Knowing if someone will see me after I've teleported is a pure cheat code. It made getting to the boss's tent super easy after I'd figured out where it was.

I connected to the cameras I'd left in the Inn. I was now fairly sure the guard from when I'd first tried to enter the city was just a dick. I could probably walk through the gates with my new clothes, but I didn't want to risk getting hassled again.

I frowned when I saw the feed. People were in my room: Cara, Seraphel, Dalimont, Aldric, and Leana. Everyone was apparently waiting up for me, and had concluded I'd just teleport back to my room and ignore the rest of the world until morning.

They were probably right.

---

Ser Aldric Godard waited with his [Princess], Cara, and his fellow Thronebearers. Kevin had gone out to fight another army single-handedly. It was the most idiotically heroic thing he could think of doing... except that the [Mage]? [Archmage]? had already done it once before.

However, there was a difference between a relatively mindless undead horde and a well trained and well equipped army. How would Kevin's golden beam stand against Ailendamus' magic?

If Aldric was a betting man, he'd heavily wager on the foreigner's success. He didn't know much about magic. What constituted a 4th level spell vs. a 5th level one was beyond him. Such a massive [Disintegration Beam]? That had to be ancient magic. The only question was if it came from Kevin, or the relic he wore?

Or was it a combined effort?

Ser Godard had only ever heard of one magic similar to Kevin's: The Golden Beam of Rhir. It was one of the Blighted King's most powerful skills. Rumors said it could turn an entire army into gold... and that it cost even more of the valuable substance to utilize.

Was that where Kevin and Cara were from? It made a certain sense. Rhir's armories were funded by the entire world. If any kingdom possessed an artifact like Sir Kevin wore, it would be them. If that was the case, why were they here?

Cowards fleeing the war with the Demons? Ser Godard didn't think so. Why would someone of such skill and power run away from such an important war, only to embroil himself in others?

Although... he could see the possibility in Cara. She was as sheltered as Seraphel in many ways. Could she be a [Princess] that had run away? Seraphel's sister, Lyonette, had done so. He knew his [Princess] was keeping a secret about the pairs' origin. It would also help explain why she'd bonded with the other woman.

No. Ser Godard subtly shook his head to dislodge those thoughts. They were dangerous. If someone asked him if he'd suspected such a thing with a truth stone, he'd had to be able to truthfully deny it.

Instead, he switched to considering his sketches. He was only a level 5 [Drawer], not even a [Painter]. It was one of the benefits of being a Thronebearer. Theirs might not be the most martially inclined order of knights, but they had a lot of leeway in taking other classes.

At least when they dealt with courtly subjects.

[Artists], [Painters], [Drawers], [Singers], and more could be surprisingly useful when dealing with nobility with the same hobbies. Plus, it was a fun pastime and Aldric enjoyed it.

The sight of Pixel raining death down on the undead had inspired him. It had been too dark to properly see the [Mage], especially with the brilliant beam shining so brightly in the dark. That was where his new skill, [Artistic License], would come in handy. It would help him put to paper more images as he imagined them.

He'd leveled up twice once he'd finished, which would have, admittedly, been more impressive if he were higher level.

He hoped her Highness would convince Sir Kevin to relay details of his fight with Ailendamus, as she had with his initial confrontation with the army of the dead. The 'Juggernaut Laser' spell he'd described was also something Ser Godard wished to see with his own eyes.

Or would it be more appropriate to call it another artifact instead of a spell? Kevin wasn't too forthcoming with the specifics, but Aldric suspected the suit of armor wasn't the only relic he possessed.

Then, without any light or sound, Pixel was there. Or was it 'Kevin' since he no longer wore his armor? Secret identities were common enough, so it wasn't strange that Kevin wished to obfuscate his involvement with another country's affairs.

---

I appeared in my room in the inn and gave everyone a half-hearted glare. It was an invasion of privacy, if a minor one, but I really had no foot to stand on if I tried to argue that. Goodness knows I'VE done far worse, even if I wasn't trying. My passive notifications saw to that.

Besides, Seraphel had paid for the room, so in one sense she had more right to be here than I did.

"Hello." I sighed. "If you can't guess from my returning, it's done."

The [Princess'] eyes gleamed. "Tell us how!" She turned her head and coughed into a fist. "I mean, please inform us of how the battle proceeded if you would be so kind, Sir Kevin."

I rolled my eyes and started to try and come up with magical sounding descriptions for what I did. "I summoned a wall of iron and magic to halt their progress..."

...

"...I decided the man behind the desk had outlived any usefulness he might ever bring to the world, so I summoned some acid and melted him." I paused at that. I might've acted too hasty. I doubt Ailendamus could really have pulled off the man's ultimatums. Still, if he was high enough in their government to make such threats, they might take issue with his execution. "I then healed the larger man and had him promise to withdraw." I shrugged. "I suppose I'll have to return and kill him if he doesn't. Eventually someone along the chain of command will get the message."

"I say!" Ser Dalimont stroked his perfectly groomed mustache. "That's quite the tale!"

"I'm glad you didn't kill them all." Cara nodded and then frowned. "Following orders is a shite excuse, but the fewer lives lost the better."

Seraphel smiled. "And it was a nice gesture to dispose of the body with acid. I'm sure their leader's undead corpse would've been handled without any fuss, but you did save them the hassle."

No. That was only because Crawler's saliva was pretty much the perfect weapon for killing people. I hadn't thought any further than that. Admittedly, the fact that it was an agonizing death had seemed like a plus at the time, but the main benefit was it was an inexhaustible resource. A single drop was all it took to kill someone, and I got buckets in return if I Inventoried it before it lost potency from dissolving inorganic matter.

"Now." The [Princess] continued. "It is late, and I'm sure Sir Kevin is tired. Let us retire for the night and speak more in the morning."

"As you wish." "Of course." "I will secure your chambers, you Highness." The three Thronebearers bowed and made their way out of my room with Seraphel following closely behind.

Cara smiled and punched my arm. "Good job, Kevin."

When they were gone, I locked my door and deployed my Golden Sphere. It occurred to me that it would be the perfect thing to rouse me if anyone entered my room while I slept. Plus, it wasn't that expensive to run.

It probably wouldn't explode either.

I closed my eyes.

[Hero Level 2!]

[Skill - Lesser Strength obtained!]

[Artificer Level 18!]

[Skill – Alchemy: Corrosive Substances obtained!]

[Avatar Level 2!]

[Skill - Expand Focus obtained!]

I was ready for the voice this time, and reached out with Tongue of Babel. "Hello."

No response.

"Can you hear me?"

[Yes.]

"What are you?"

[The Grand Design of Isthekenous.]

Hmmmm... Well, here's the big one. "Are you sapient?"

[Invalid question.]

That's not a 'no', but it's also not a 'yes'. "Can you tell me about yourself?"

I waited for half an hour, but there was no response. I finally decided to go to sleep, but when I awoke in the morning there was an unusual notification.

*Installing Update...

---

Seraphel woke the next day to find her message scroll glowing. She immediately opened it up and scanned what was written. The first correspondence and her replies were old, but the latest line had come in some time when she'd been asleep.

'We have heard of your dissolution of marriage, try and form some bonds with the people of Noelictus. Even in the face of tragedy, we must press forward.'

That was from her loving mother. So much more proper to avoid such terms as 'death' or 'assassination'. She doubtlessly hadn't used those words, even in a private message, for fear of giving any credence to 'The Cursed Widow of Calanfer' rumor.

'I will strive my utmost.'

A short response, but far more eloquent than what she'd wanted to say at the time.

'Rumors of a rogue [Necromancer] and an army of the dead have reached our ears. Stay safe, but provide any aid you can.'

At least she'd said 'stay safe'.

'I will strive my utmost.'

'We have heard from Afiele about the recent events. It displeases us to learn that your assistance is no longer requested. Return home.'

Seraphel frowned at that part. It was hardly her fault the nobles of Noelictus didn't take to her. Anyone else would've faced the same resistance after their fiancé died. Backstabbing and hording power went hand in hand with governance.

...but the fact that it was her third arranged marriage that had ended in death probably didn't help.

'We are traveling to a port. It will be many days before we can set sail.'

She hadn't mentioned Cara or Kevin. That was HER secret.

Plus, Cara was a good person and a true friend. She'd helped her, with no thought of reward. Seraphel had considered using her relationship with Kevin for... something, but she was having second thoughts about that as well.

It wasn't that he was from another world, or that he was strong enough to destroy armies with no assistance. True, that possibility was why Kevin had gone from 'a potential ally for Cara' to 'a potential ally for Calanfer'. However, while his actions hadn't been as... personally helpful as Cara's, it felt wrong to pull in the [Super Hero] of another world into their petty squabbles.

If he'd been 'Street Level' or 'City Level', she could see it. For someone as powerful as Kevin? He had a greater destiny.

...Plus, having someone like that associated with Calanfer might lead other countries to form counter-alliances. There was a perceived threat with such individuals, and as her father often said: 'Singularly powerful people die. Alliances persist. Calanfer must endure.'

There was a reason the Thronebearers were looked down upon as a knightly order as far as combat was concerned, and it wasn't solely because their efforts were focused on more useful areas. It was easier to make other countries view places like Ailendamus as a common threat, when you, yourself, weren't.

'We have heard that Ailendamus is massing troops at the border. Hasten your departure.'

Seraphel chuckled at the final missive. It wasn't often that she knew more than her parents. She'd intended to leave soon anyways. With the army taken care of, and Raganest dead, her fiancé had been avenged. There was nothing more she could do here against Ailendamus, or for Calanfer.

'I am striving to return home with as much alacrity as possible.'

Seraphel wrote her response and rolled up the scroll. It was time to head back to the Eternal Throne.

---

The next day, I saw Ovela sending a force towards the mountain pass. It wasn't particularly big, especially compared to Ailendamus' army. It was more like a large scouting party. The camera's left on the far side of the wall hadn't shown anything, so there was a good chance the army was indeed leaving.

I needed to make sure, and to handle a few more tasks.

I donned my Samus armor in my room and then teleported to the wall. It took a fair chunk of MP, but my regeneration rate was so high that as long as it didn't exceed my maximum it was a non-issue out of combat.

I started Crafting another seed while I sent my drone scouting. I didn't intend to return here, but on the off-chance that I did, an underground base might come in handy. Besides, I needed to cannibalize the wall. Blocking off a trade road would doubtlessly upset a lot of people. There was also the tech that was still below the surface. I didn't want that falling into the wrong hands.

Right. I nodded to myself. I needed to include a fail-safe. Something that ensured no one else would be able to even look at what I left behind without it self-destructing.

...As non-energetically as possible. I didn't want to accidentally kill any lookie-loos. It would require Ears and Tongue of Babel to safely interact with it. Finally, there would be nothing more dangerous or advanced than modern conveniences. Well, aside from the forcefield generators. It would be wasteful to not include those seeing as how I was including the wall's materials.

While I formulated the blueprint, entered the raw materials, and sorted the result - pixel by pixel, my drone flew off. My ability to multi-task wasn't great with Multiplayer broken. Having a clone of myself (Jagat) around really helped. Two brains were better than one. Still, the practice I'd had in the past with him (me), allowed me to handle Crafting and Scouting at the same time.

It was easier than the fight had been. I'd had to scout, sneak, and fight with a remote-controlled suit all at the same time. Even with the Golden Sphere's advanced programing, three things at once was my limit.

My drone hadn't found any remaining personnel. I was no tracker, but it was easy enough to tell an army had been here. Wooden tent posts, pieces of X-shaped giant crossbows, and lots of footprints were plain as day to anyone who'd cared to look. The holes my Juggernaut Laser had burnt into the ground were glaringly obvious as well.

Well, that was good enough for me.

The last of my wall funneled into the pixelized swarm that grew into a [Base Seed]. I dropped it into the ground and it sunk far deeper than the wall. A mile down should suffice.

Who knew if it would grow? Any movement. Any light. Any HINT at encountering ANYTHING bigger than an earthworm would cause it to cease all expansion and detonate what had already been made.

...As non-energetically as possible. It shouldn't even harm anyone, unless they were inside the structure.

I un-Inventoried my Mega-Buster for my next job. Removing the wall was all well and good, but I needed to fill the hole I'd made too. Thankfully, there was plenty of rock around to use.

I then un-Inventoried the Laser Trident module and let my weapon reconfigure itself. The three blades of solid light easily cut away rock from the mountains that lined the road. A few Gravity Resistance pylons later, and the road was as good as new!

Good. Now for the last thing.

I brought the six bodies out of my Inventory, along with some spare clothes I'd bought in Ovela. It was freezing out here, and I didn't want them to catch their death of cold.

One by one, I injected them with Riley's substance to bring them out of their death-state. It was a handy trick, but I couldn't use it too often without running out of both the inducer and deactivator Riley had made for me.

"What?" "How?" "Ghosts!" "Huh?" "I'm alive?" "The [General]!"

They were all naturally confused. "AHEM!" I cleared my throat to get their attention. "In case you don't remember, my name is Pixel. I killed you once, and I'll do it again if that is your wish." That got their attention and they all fell quiet. I pointed over their heads. "Your army is retreating, and I suggest you hurry after them if you don't wish to encounter the Ovela forces that are on their way here."

One of them shakily stood up. "Uhm, Ser Pixel? I'm confused."

I teleported away.

I was trying to be more like Dragon. She might've found a way to not kill anyone. She would've calmed these people down and perhaps provided an escort.

I wasn't her.

...Admittedly, I might still be holding a bit of a grudge from what their boss had threatened.

Shit.

I teleported back.

At the very least, I could answer a few of their questions. It cost me virtually nothing, but it might make all the difference for them.

---

Ser Aldric sat in his cabin and tried to sketch. It was hard. Despite the Captain's level, the ship still rocked back and forth and up and down as they crested each wave.

He was also using up too much charcoal. That, at least, wasn't his fault. The picture he had in mind - the shores of Noelictus as they sailed away - was almost pure black. It was an artistic challenge to capture the subtle shades of the ebony sand against the less-dark ocean, and the overcast sky.

He would miss some things, but not the lack of color. Truthfully, it would be a relief to return to Calanfer. He still mourned the deaths of his sworn brothers, and Seraphel's failed marriage was a blot on his, and the other survivors', records.

Tragedy and Glory. Despair and Hope. Loss and Levels.

Those were tales as old as time forgotten, but it still shocked part of him to be personally involved. Or at least tangentially involved.

The only thing he could think to do, when he wasn't standing guard, was to put what he'd seen to paper. Yet, that wasn't enough. He didn't want to merely record a still-life of what he'd seen. He wanted to tell a story. To convey the action. To put down MORE than just an image.

There was a knock on his door. Aldric glanced up. Who could be visiting him? "Enter." He stood and prepared to bow.

Cara's head poked through the opening. "Ser Aldric? I'm not disturbing you am I?"

He smiled. "Not at all, child. What can I do for you?"

Cara flopped down on the bed next to him. "I'm bored. Seraphel is busy with talking to all sorts of people now that we're almost at Calanfer. Kevin's busy doing Kevin-stuff. The rest of the Thronebearers are standing guard - despite the fact that we've been on this boat for days, and I don't want to disturb them. Nothing's going to happen!"

"I believe the crew would object to the terminology you just used, Ms. Cara."

She glared at him. "Ship, boat, whatever."

"Do you not wish to sing for the crew again?"

Cara shook her head. "Nah, I've come up with a plan. I also don't want to... use more songs than I have to."

He looked down at her. Use? She was a skilled [Singer], and should have multiple skills to use every day. Still, it wouldn't become him to judge how she chose to ration them. "So I'm the bottom of the barrel, as it were." His smile took away any venom his words might've otherwise held.

Cara chuckled. "I guess. It's either hang out with you, be alone, or listen to [Sailors] curse." She looked down at his drawing pad. "That's pretty good. You have a knack for it."

Aldric smiled. "Thank you." He began flipping from one sketch to another. "I find it relaxing. Plus, it might aid in reporting." He paused before deciding there was no harm in letting the foreigner know of his quandary. "Truth be told, I wish for my pictures to do more. I want to tell a story with them. To let them convey what we experienced."

Cara nodded. "So, like a picture book?"

He shook his head. "No. I don't wish to make a book for children." He paused and thought. Although... Such things would probably help the peasantry, since it wouldn't require a high degree of literacy, but the... ideas he had were too visceral for such a young audience.

"Oh." Cara stopped him at an image of Kevin as 'Pixel'. "You mean like a comic book."

---

We stood in a circle within Seraphel's anti-spying skill. It was time for us to go our separate ways.

"Are you sure about this?" The [Princess] asked. "The Eternal Throne of Calanfer is a lovely city. You should at least visit before you leave."

Cara shook her head. "No, if I'm going to find more people from Earth," She looked at me. "My Earth that is, I'll need to be public and identifiable in a way that only they get. I'll also need to travel around. Odds are they won't be able to come to me, so I'll have to go to them."

I smiled. "That's a good plan, just try to avoid any more war zones." That got a chuckle from them both.

Seraphel turned to me. "What about you, Kevin? I wouldn't want to impose any restrictions on Pixel, but surely you would like to accompany me to the capital? It would be the quickest way for you to get any information I might find on your sister."

I shook my head as I un-Inventoried two inch wide cubes. "That won't be necessary." I handed one to each of them. "Speak into these and I'll hear you from anywhere in the world. They are one hundred percent secure." Unless magic was able to both access the signals that Shards used, AND break their encryption. While I wouldn't bet on the first holding true, the later should be completely impossible. "I might not be able to come quickly, considering the distances involved, but I'll help however I can."

The women held the blue crystals to the light.

"Flawless." Seraphel said with amazement. "It's a gem worthy of a royal crown." She then gave me a flat stare. "Except for the cutting, that is. What is your obsession with cubes anyways?"

Cara pocketed hers. "Thanks, Kevin." She then frowned. "How's the skill from 'You know who' looking? I still think you should go with Seraphel and get an expert to remove it."

"I'd rather not, at least not until I have a way to protect myself from [Appraise]." That had apparently been what the man who'd threatened Riley had used. If someone could look at my skills or my classes, what else would they see? From what I'd gathered, [Heroes] were rare for a reason. Advertising that I had that class would draw more attention than I wanted as Kevin.

...That might be fine for 'Pixel', but I also had the [Avatar] class. I don't think anyone would be okay with knowing I was a conduit for a Shard of an alien so powerful it might as well be called a 'God'.

Nope. Also, I might be wrong, but I didn't think [Thread of Fate] sounded so bad. Besides, the [Witch] had a grudge against Cara and Seraphel, I wasn't the one in danger. Better to put some distance between us instead of messing with the skill itself.

Who knows? That might be what sets it off.

Seraphel rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll quit suggesting it... just be careful, alright?" She changed the topic rather than continue trying to change my mind. "If you aren't coming with me to the Eternal Throne, what are you going to do instead?"

I looked off in the distance. "There are a few seeds I'll want to plant around Calanfer. They should help if Ailendamus decides to invade." It was true that Seraphel's involvement in the 'war' was practically non-existent, but it would be good to have a well-defended home base once I found Riley. It would also work as a place I could protect stranded people from Earth if I needed to. I should probably plant one of my big guns here too. It would need time to grow if I was going to use it, and I could use the Inventory space. "After that, I was planning on visiting Wistram. If it's true that they can help, then it only makes sense to ally with them."

Cara raised an eyebrow. "If you say so. I'm not sure I trust them." She sighed. "But you'll be fine. Let me know what you find out."

I nodded. "Sure."

Seraphel took two pouches from her side and handed them to Cara and me. "Here. It's not much, but it should help you buy food or lodgings." She looked at me. "Or passage."

I opened the bag. The insides were bigger than the outside, and were filled with gold coins.

"Not much." Cara shook her head. "You're still a noble that's out of touch with the common people, you know that right?" She smiled as she went in to hug Seraphel.

"And you're a loud-mouthed, head strong, lout that knows nothing about what she speaks." Seraphel's voice had none of her habitual venom.

I looked away. It was awkward, but apparently not enough for Gamer's Mind to step in. Instead I considered the bag. I'd been planning on conducting my experiments at Wistram. Seraphel might be rich, but I didn't want to ask her for enchanted items that I planned on blowing up. I could Inventory the gold, and use the bag for some tests.

...Then again, gold was heavy, and I didn't have unlimited Inventory space. The bag might be best used as it was intended to be.

After more lengthy, and less personal, goodbyes involving the Thronebearers, we finally went our separate ways.

...

I was flying back towards the harbor when the notification came.

*Installation complete!

[Integration with The Grand Design of Isthekenous complete.

Mana Pool trait created.
Mana Enhancement trait created.]

*Nostalgia Block effect negated by Gamer's Mind.

*Blocked Senses effect negated by Gamer's Mind.

[Welcome Kevin Greenhouse! You have unlocked an expansion to The Gamer! Upon initialization, you have gained 2 traits. Complete personal activities and achievements to grow stronger and shape the world as you like it.]

I quickly landed, making sure that no one saw me.

I'd been anticipating this ever since the first 'Installation' notification. I hadn't considered that there were more mental effects for Gamer's Mind to negate. The question was, had they bypassed Gamer's Mind before somehow? Or had my faulty interface not given me the notifications before?

Also, and perhaps more importantly, are there any other ongoing effects that I'm not aware of?

*Paranoia negated by Gamer's Mind.

No, no, calm down. While I shouldn't ignore the possibility, I also shouldn't dwell on it. Thankfully, I have the perfect thing to distract me! Let's see what my new traits do.

[Mana Pool

A reservoir of Magical power (Mana) used to cast spells and empower Magical effects.

May be expanded with 'Limit-Breaker' by sacrificing skills provided by The Grand Design of Isthekenous.]

[Mana Enhancement

Combine Traits, Perks, and Skills with magic. Traits, Perks, and Skills must be enhanced before mana can be spent on them. Trait, Perk, and Skill enhancement level determines how much mana may be used. Mana used determines the potency of the effect. Traits, Perks, and Skills may be enhanced via undertaking special actions.

Traits, Perks, and Skills may be enhanced with 'Limit-Breaker' by sacrificing skills provided by The Grand Design of Isthekenous.]

Hmmm... Let's see here.

I opened up my Character sheet. Ah, good. Everything's working again. I also have 30 mana.

Is that a lot? A little? I'll have to test to find out. Of course, without sacrificing a skill, I won't have anything to spend it on in the first place.

I equipped Limit-Breaker.

[Thread of Fate] was the obvious choice, but messing with it seemed risky.

I think... I'll instead start with [Lesser Endurance]. It reduced the time it took for 'Tired' debuffs to accumulate, which resulted in me needing to sleep for an hour and forty-five minutes instead of two hours a night to break even. Not a bad little skill, but not that amazing either.

Fifteen minutes a day for a year? Uhm... Yeah. That comes out to a little more than ninety hours. So roughly three and a half more days a year to do... what? Tinker? I do enough of that as it is.

I guess an argument could be made that more time equaled more video games, but fifteen minutes isn't enough to play anything good.

I mentally 'drug' [Lesser Endurance] to Mana Enhancement. A new screen opened.

[Please select the Perk, Trait, or Skill you wish to Enhance:

Observe
Inventory
Transposition
Ephemeral
Rapid Regeneration
Lucky Fate
Lucky Screen
Power Drain
Teleportation
Threat Sense
Crafting
Ears of Babel
Tongue of Babel
Acting
Athletics
Basic Academics
Biology
Computers
Cooking
Craft (Armor)
Damage Resistance (Acid)
Damage Resistance (Chemical Energy)
Damage Resistance (Cold)
Damage Resistance (Disease)
Damage Resistance (Disintegration)
Damage Resistance (Electricity)
Damage Resistance (Energy)
Damage Resistance (Gravity)
Damage Resistance (Heat)
Damage Resistance (Light)
Damage Resistance (Magnetism)
Damage Resistance (Nuclear)
Damage Resistance (Phasing)
Damage Resistance (Physical)
Damage Resistance (Poison)
Damage Resistance (Radiant)
Damage Resistance (Radiation)
Damage Resistance (Radio)
Damage Resistance (Sonic)
Damage Resistance (Strong)
Damage Resistance (Weak)
Meditation
Melee Weapon
Ranged Weapon
Resistance (Agi Damage)
Resistance (Con Damage)
Resistance (Nullification)
Resistance (Spacial)
Resistance (Str Damage)
Resistance (Sonic)
Resistance (Temporal)
Stealth
Tailoring
Unarmed Combat
Video Games]

Interesting. That was almost everything I could do, with some notable exceptions. I would say that things like Gamer's Mind, Gamer's Body, or my most recent Perk are probably too powerful to enhance. Or they needed a better sacrificed skill to do so. Some of them, like Deep Analysis wouldn't make sense to improve without empowering what they effected first. Other's, like Parahuman Lore, probably aren't applicable no matter what.

I smiled. This was finally starting to feel like a game again.

Chapter 18: Interlude - Belavierr

Belavierr Donamia, The Stitch Witch, The Threadstealer, The Great Witch of Calamity, The Weaver of Terandria, The Mistress of Strands, The Witch of Webs, The Threadbreaker of Stitchfolk... and many, many more titles sorted through her strands of thoughts.

It was the incomparably complex working that was sewn into her very being. Her thoughts touched all parts of her. Her workings - great and small. Her various methods of immortality. Her connections with other people. They were all there, and together they were more than the sum of their parts.

...And less too in various ways, but Belavierr didn't have a thread that thought about that.

No. This strand of thought was tasked with focusing on the connections she'd formed. A [Prince] here. A [Farmer] there. A former [Slave]. She'd been called many things in the past, and she'd eventually come to the realization that the only thing that mattered, truly mattered, was her work.

What was evil? Was a rabbit evil for eating grass? Was an eagle evil for eating the rabbit? Was the [Hunter] evil for shooting the eagle? Was the [Slaver] evil for enslaving the hunter? Was the [Hero] evil for killing the [Slaver]?

At one time, she had thought about such things. She now had her answer that 'good' and 'evil' didn't exist. They were just words. Justifications.

This was relevant to the thought string because it looked at the people Belavierr knew or had interacted with in some way. It used 'good' and 'evil' as labels to sort how the people thought of Belavierr, among many other ways of distinguishing them.

There. A new thread had touched upon one of her works. That was common, and not worth noting most of the time. This time, it had touched a working that had been temporarily disabled.

That might cause a problem. There were ways to deal with such an outcome. Some good. Some bad. Some that might result in more suffering for her hat.

That was a thought for another thread. This thread only kept track of connections. Anything more than that was up to another part of her.

Oh? What was this? The new thread had intercepted the threads of people with a 'revenge' tag. What they had done to earn the Stitch Witch's ire, this part of her knew not. Regardless, it was proper to inflict revenge upon the new thread too.

It applied the tag and notified the appropriate thread. It then turned back to its task of sorting connections.

Another thread took action. Across the world, on another continent, the working with the connection was roused and sent after their new target.

...

Later, the opportunity thread of Belavierr's consciousness noticed an Important Event - the sort of event that it sought.

Wars, natural disasters, Crelers - these sort of things generally led to people who were suffering. It was an ever-present emotion, but Belavierr was always on the lookout for purer forms of it. She offered favors and wonders in exchange for someone's suffering as a way to maintain her power.

The event in question was both a war and a natural disaster. No mention of Crelers though.

An army of the dead was fairly common in Noelictus. Belavierr didn't know how many times she'd seen one over the millenniums, and this thread of thought didn't care for precise numbers. All it cared about was that people would fight, die, level, and grieve.

Grief was a particularly good form of suffering. It was an emotion she could form into so many things.

A working was already en route to the area for, let's see... 'revenge'.

The thread rolled its metaphysical eyes. Revenge was important in the long run for dissuading those who would interrupt Belavierr's work, but it was not nearly as important as an opportunity. Still, it was good for the working to be close. That would mean making deals and obtaining grief would be simpler.

Then, another Important Event happened to the current Important Event. A display of power the thread couldn't parse. Destruction on a level that could threaten... anything. A source that felt both new and ancient beyond measure.

The thread wove itself with more thoughts. An Important Event by an Important Person? That was worthy of more of her attention.

Belavierr frowned slightly. Too slightly for anyone to notice, if they'd been looking, but she still reacted.

She looked through one of her String Puppet's eyes. They reflected her orange eyes with endless rings as they watched a golden light selectively unmake an army.

Wait, String Puppets?

She pulled another thread of thought into herself. Oh, yes. The working she'd made based off of what she'd done with the Stringfolk. Infiltrators. Designed to find small opportunities in Noelictus, where living creations would fall victim to the ambient Death magic... or to wandering undead.

Belavierr focused on the strangely shaped form that contained so much power, yet so little magic. There was an opportunity for an alliance there.

She didn't know what wonders the figure might be able to offer her, but she surely had numerous gifts that would be well received.

The [Witch] focused on the thread that connected her with the stranger. Yes. He'd been in contact with her working while it had been deactivated by someone who'd defied her. He'd also been in contact with that one directly. The two of them shared numerous other connections.

Belavierr could only guess at connections not directly related to her, but they seemed amicable. It would damage her potential relationship with the target if she proceeded with her revenge - at least while he was close to the defier. She made an adjustment to the classification to note that.

What was this? An antagonistic thread to the Important Person?

That would work nicely as a opening gift. Who didn't appreciate revenge?

She started braiding the appropriate commands into her working. Greeting. Offers. A gift. An invitation.

It would cost her some to make an introduction, but it was Important to meet Important People. She would have to incorporate another thread of thought to remember exactly why. Should she pull more of herself together? The commands were almost complete, but she could expand on them...

Wait.

The most important thread requested her attention!

Belavierr unwove herself here and rewove herself around the most important thread. Her daughter.

"Yes, Wiskeria. What can I do for you?"

Chapter 19: Seeing Red 1

"So..." Riley had been so preoccupied with rigging up her decoy brain that she hadn't been paying attention to what Pinky was doing. "What's with the tent?"

It was about the size of a dollhouse and was painted an eye-searing shade of red.

"What's with what?" Pinky pulled on an edge and a wall snapped into place.

"The tent, house, shelter." Riley pointed at it. "The big red thing!"

Pinky cocked her head before shaking it. "Do you Tallfolk not have expandable structures around here?" She sighed. "That's so sad." She grabbed a red flap and held it open. "You see, the inside is bigger than the outside, just like a bag of holding. However, it's constantly open and lets air in, so you can live in it. It's a common enchantment... At least where I come from."

Riley raised an eyebrow. It sounded like the gnomes had their own Tinker-equivalents. Interesting, but not what she was talking about.

"I mean, why is it red?" The small structure stuck out against the white background like a beacon. "Animals will see it from miles away."

Pinky put her hands on her hips. "That's because I didn't have enough allotment saved up to get an invisible one. Those things are expensive, y'know?"

"I bet." Riley replied dryly. "But why not white?"

Pinky scoffed. "Because that would stand out like a sore thumb in the Red Lands!"

"The Red Lands?"

Pinky nodded. "Yep. That's where I'm heading!"

Riley rubbed her temples. "Pinky, let's pretend I don't know anything about the Red Lands."

The gnome nodded again. "Sure! I can do that!"

"...Will you explain it to me?"

"Why not." Pinky shrugged. "It's not a secret if I know it. The Red Lands are one of the sections of the Dyed Lands. It's red, and has lots of plants in it. Most of the animals are herbivores - that means they eat plants and not Fraerlings, which is good. The plants have lots of poisons and pollens and stuff that you have to look out for, which is bad."

"Is that where you're from?" And what was a Fraerling?

Pinky shook her head. "Nope! I'm from... a secret place." She smiled and ducked her head. "Sorry, I can't tell you that, but I wanted to visit the Red Lands."

"Why?" Could she want to gather the plants for something? Pinky didn't look like a Tinker, but she clearly had some... Well, Riley supposed they couldn't be Shard-powers. Class-powers? Skills? That was what she'd said before, right?

"To level up, of course!" Pinky smiled. "I might be a [Fool], but the really stupid ones are the Fraerlings who just sit on their laurels!"

Riley frowned. That was the second time she'd used that word. "What's a Fraerling?"

"I am... going to tell you." Pinky coughed into her hand. "They're a race of small people, about my size. We, erm, they live in hidden cities because they're so small. They're also super smart, and brave! Well, some of them are. The ones that go out where there are monsters. Brave or [Fools], or perhaps a little bit of both."

Riley gave her a blank stare. "So you're a Fraerling?"

Pinky gasped. "Who told you!?!" She groaned. "Awww... it was going to be such a great joke too! Imagine if I got you to tell people that I was a gnome! I bet even the Titan never did that."

Riley suppressed a groan. "Pinky, I'm not from around here." Why couldn't she get that through her tiny skull? Or was it purposeful obfuscation? Was she just pretending to be so scatterbrained? "I don't know a lot of what you think is common knowledge. Pretend like I know nothing about the Dyed Land, or Fraerlings, or Titans and explain things from the beginning. Please."

Pinky crossed her arms. "Fine. I probably wasn't going to level anyways if you saw through my brilliant Gnome deception." She looked up at Riley before climbing up the walls of her house with surprising agility. "There, now I won't get a crick in my neck." She sat down. "Okay, so you're a human, right?"

Riley nodded. "Right." Technically, she was a heavily modified parahuman, but she was still human.

"And you don't know about Fraerlings, right?"

"Right."

Pinky hummed. "Well, that means you probably aren't from Baleros." Pinky tilted her head. "How'd you end up in the Dyed Lands then?" She then slapped both of her cheeks with her hands. "No, no, no. No [Foolish Thoughts] right now. Okay, where to begin?" She thought for a moment. "I'm a Fraerling. We're small, so we hide because Tallfolk can easily hurt us if they aren't paying attention. Most of us don't leave our cities, but I wanted adventure and to level, so I did." Pinky looked proud. "It was the most foolish thing I could think of!"

"Okay, I get that. So your world has humans." Riley pointed at herself. "People that look like me?"

Pinky nodded. "Yeah. There aren't as many of you in Baleros, but you're still not an uncommon sight. Humans are spread out all over the world." She stroked her chin. "Probably because you've never done anything as a race that got everyone to gang up on you."

"Oh?" Riley was afraid of tangents, but if this world had humans - and English - there was obviously some relation to Earth Iota.

"Yep!" Pinky smiled. "Fraerlings too! We're both in the same class of 'not being enough of an asshole that everyone wants us dead!"

"Are there..." Riley paused and thought about how to ask her question. In fact, asking too many was probably what led to her not getting answers in the first place. "Are there a lot of races that have been 'assholes' in the past?"

"Oh yeah." Pinky nodded. "Tons of them! Let's see... the last big ones were the Antinium. The whole world ganged up on them when they sent their army across the ocean. After that, well, they were another continent's problem, so I'm not sure. Speaking of Izril, the Drakes were a pest in the past. And the harpies for some reason, maybe, not sure about that one. The Gnolls haven't really upset anyone to my knowledge - except the Drakes, but everyone upsets them."

Pinky paused to think. "Yeah, going by continent works. Here in Baelros, the Centaurs are cool. They don't do much 'cause there aren't that many of them. Or the Gazers. Or the Lizardfolk, if you exclude the Nagas. Of course, I think the Great Companies tried to invade Izril because of them - so that might count as uniting the world against you? Dullahans too. Huh, now that I think about it, it's really only the Selphids that got knocked down hard."

Pinky clapped. "Oh! And the vampires! But that was another world-wide thing if I remember my history classes right. What else? I'm not sure about the Dwarves, they stick to themselves. There aren't enough halfelves for them to matter. Stringfolk are probably next on the 'Let's take over the world and piss everyone off' list."

Pinky stood up and started pacing on top of her roof. "I feel like I'm forgetting a lot of people... Oh! The Minotaurs! They were a big deal, uhm... at some point." She looked up apologetically. "Sorry, Bit. I'm not a [Historian], so I've probably left a lot out."

"No, no, that's fine." Riley waved her off. "I didn't realize there were so many races here, my world only has one." Or two if you counted Shards.

Pinky smiled. "Your world must be pretty high level. I've never seen a [Saw Doctor] with so many skills. What level are..." The Fraerling's tiny hands went to her mouth. "Sorry! I was being rude there!"

Riley sighed. She wasn't sure if Pinky didn't believe her when she'd said she didn't have a class, or if she'd forgotten. "It's fine. So what was that about the 'Dyed Lands'? Is that where we are?" Were invisible animals perhaps NOT the norm for this world?

That would be both good and bad. Good in that she wouldn't have to deal with them trying to eat her once she reached civilization. Bad in that they were interesting. Still, she had time. She could figure some things out.

"Yep!" Pinky put her hands on her hips. "This WHOLE place was contaminated by some HUGE magical experiment gone bad a long time ago! It would be more accurate to call it a collection of Death Zones rather than a single one!"

A collection? Riley narrowed her eyes. "So, I take it we're in 'white', and you said there's a 'red'. What other zones are there?"

"Well..." Pinky began counting on her fingers. "White, Red, Green, Blue, the other White, uhm... Black?" She shrugged. "I don't think there's an accurate tally or anything. Those are the ones on the outside, but there are probably more in the middle. There's so much magic in the area that some spells go wonky, and [Explorers] high enough level to come inside are rare."

"Explorers?" Riley looked at the fire pit and tent divots that she'd found on the plateau. "So people come in here? Why?" It was obvious to her why a Parahuman would come inside if this place had existed on Earth Bet, but she could also tell when her Passenger was pressing for something. Tinkers had the advantage in that (like so many other things). The urge to build things had been with her ever since she'd Triggered and was much more obvious than the usual Parahuman conflict drive. Plus, she had the advantage of hindsight.

"Alchemy materials mainly." Pinky nodded. "I'm not one myself, but that's a big reason that, uhm, nothing in particular is close by." She quickly continued on. "There's also the center. THAT place has to have tons of artifacts and all sorts of other goodies, considering the Dyed Lands originated from there." She paused and frowned. "Now that I think about it, it's [Foolish] to just blindly accept that as a given. I mean, if everyone died from when the experiment blew up in their faces, how would we know? Hmmm...." Pinky sat down and crossed her arms. "There might be survivors..."

Interesting. Finding civilization was important, no doubt. Kevin must be looking for her, and he'd probably check the local cities, or towns, or villages? Just how 'advanced' was this world? Pinky spoke of other continents, so they clearly had progressed beyond individual villages. If word could get around about wars and stuff, it could also spread about other things.

On the other hand... attracting attention didn't mean that Kevin would find her first. As good of a big brother as he was, the odds were still against him. Lone Tinkers were vulnerable when they started out...

Right.

"Okay. I'm going to stay in the Dyed Lands for a while and see what I can make."

Pinky's eyes lit up. "I knew I sensed a kindred spirit in you! And not just because you saved my life!" She hopped to her feet. "Together, we can take over the Dyed Lands! Or at least spend some time in the red area. First the Dyed Lands, tomorrow - or a later date to be determined - the world! Mwaha ha ha *hack*" Pinky's 'diabolical' laughter ended in a coughing fit.

"Are you okay?" Riley peered down. "I can take a look and make sure your throat isn't damaged."

"No, no." Pinky waved her off. "I was just getting carried away."

"So you want to take over the world?"

"Eh." Pinky shrugged. "Not really, but it seems like the perfect [Foolish] goal that would help me level. Actually doing it isn't as important as the attempt."

"Why?"

"Adversity builds levels." Pinky smiled. "Besides, it's racial pride. We can't have only one Fraerling that's world famous. I mean, don't get me wrong, the Titan's a hero and a great guy, but it's [Foolish] to only have him."

"The Titan?" What? Did Fraerlings grow bigger? What would a Titan to them look like? Would he be bigger or smaller than an average person?

"Yep! A great adventurer who left the city behind and ventured out into the world of giants to prove our worth!" Pinky clasped her hands together and gazed off into the distance.

"Okay..." Riley shook her head. There was a lot to do, but one thing seemed more urgent than the rest. She looked over the side of the plateau. No large heat sources that she could see, but the giant badger was out there somewhere. It followed her here, so it probably hadn't given up yet. "Pinky, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

The Fraerling looked at her from the top of her red house. "I think so, Bit, but what if I'm allergic to squirrel hair?"

...

"There! All done!" Riley looked around for something to rub her hands on. She didn't mind the blood, but it was best to be hygienic.

Plus, white blood wasn't cute at all!

"Oh!" Pinky sat up. "What's done?"

"The solution to our hydration needs!" Riley beamed down at the Fraerling and her latest creation. "Luckily one of the hyenas was female." And that they weren't TOO decomposed yet. Sure, it had taken some work to get everything working, but she had multiple digestive tracks she could use. Besides, the nervous system was already done since she'd just attached the cognitive drive she'd made to it. That was usually the trickiest part.

"Hydration?" Pinky scratched her head. "I don't think there are any hydras in the Dyed Lands."

"What? No." Riley glowered at her companion. "I mean something to drink."

"Why not use the pond below?"

"There are invisible, I dunno, alligators? in it."

"Ah, I see. I see." Pinky paused. "No, wait. I don't see. Not the alligators. Well, I don't see them either, but I mean..." She looked at the white, furry box Riley had made. "That doesn't look like a water stone to me."

"A water stone?"

"Yeah. I have one around here somewhere." Pinky dug through her backpack. "You'd have to be a [Fool] to go camping without one."

Riley gave the tiny humanoid a flat stare. What was with the fool this, and foolish that. "I'm not a fool!" She stomped her foot.

"Who said you were?" Pinky looked up before pulling a blue stone out of her bag. It was the size of a pea and fit snuggly in her hand. "There! A Fraerling made water stone! Capable of condensing two thousand milliliters of water a day!"

"You mean two liters?" Riley blinked. "Wait, you use the metric system?"

"Do I? And here I thought I was using the Gnomish system." Pinky smiled at her. "Wait... I already used that joke. Shoot."

Riley pinched the brace of her nose. "Why say two thousand milliliters instead of two liters?"

Pinky rolled her eyes. "Who would use such an absurdly large and imprecise thing like liters? That's not even [Foolish], it's just confusing."

"Humans, er, Tallfolk do!" She assumed.

"Pft." Pinky crossed her arms and sniffed derisively. "That's why your [Alchemists] make such poor potions."

Riley ground her teeth. "Tallfolk don't make potions. I mean, the people where I'm from don't make potions." Well... except for Kevin. And Cask. And chemists depending on what you considered a 'potion'.

Pinky shook her head. "That's so sad."

Riley gave up. She laid back and looked up at the blue sky. What had she ever done to deserve this?

Oh yeah...

Pinky hopped onto her chest. "Hey, don't feel down! Why don't I tell you how my water stone works, then you can tell me how your, uhm, furry box thing works?" Riley didn't respond, but that didn't deter the Fraerling from demonstrating how smart her people were. "You see, there's WATER in the AIR!" Pinky's eyes grew wide. "I know, right? But it's true! That's what clouds are made of! See? That's where rain comes from! Now, not every place has as much water, but it's there. So what the stone does is draw that water in and condense it." Pinky paused. "Condensing refers to condensation. That's where water gathers toget-"

"I know what condensation is!" Riley grumbled as she put her hand to her chest and sat up.

Pinky jumped to the palm as Riley moved. "Really? That's impressive!"

Riley let out a sigh and placed the Fraerling back on top of her house. "Two thousand milliliters isn't enough water for me to live on." Of course, you got most of your liquid needs from food, so it might actually suffice. "This thing will make more liquid, and not just water!"

"Oh?"

Riley bent over and pulled up some invisible grass before dropping in the open pit of her creation. "Hyenas are carnivores, but I fixed that!" She patted the furry box. "This can turn grass into milk! But that's not all!" She picked up some white scraps that were leftover from her materials. "It, of course, can still convert meat." She tossed the pale, bloody mess in. "Bone. Teeth. Cartilage. It can break them all down!" She smirked. "I even made the water absorption part so efficient that the waste is completely dry!"

Which was an important aspect because who wanted to deal with THAT? She'd also made it have no odor or smoke, which would mean they could burn it as a fuel source! That was doubly important because they also contained all the filtered toxins. Having those go airborne as smoke wouldn't have been a good idea.

Pinky's mouth was open as her arms fell to her side. "That's... wow. I've never seen someone make something like that before. What, are you a [Mad Doctor] or something?"

Riley sighed. "I've told you I don't have a class." She hummed and tilted her head. "But, if I did, it probably would be something like that." It hurt to admit, but it was true. She'd prefer something like 'Cute Sister', or 'Adorable Healer', but who knew if those were even options?

Her cranial block was working, so she'd probably never find out.

"Oh!" Pinky jumped up. "I know! You still need water for your... box, right?" Riley nodded. "And the invisible gators are still an issue, so why don't we put my water stone in it?!?"

"That's..." Riley blinked. "That's a good idea."

"It is?" Pinky frowned. "Shoot. I was hoping it was a [Foolish] idea."

...

"Hmmm..." Riley frowned as she looked at the cellular structure. "That's concerning."

"What is?" Pinky looked up from the campfire she'd made - which consisted of a few twigs stacked together.

"It's white." Riley gestured at the slide under her microscope.

"And so's everything else." Pinky rolled her eyes before standing up with a startled expression. "You're not trying to get the [Fool] class are you?" She crossed her arms. "It's not for everyone... although I could use the company..." Her eyes narrowed. "Or is it competition?"

Riley ignored most of what Pinky had said and continued with her explanation. She was used to people not being able to follow her, that came hand-in-hand with being a Tinker. It was still nice to have someone to talk to. "It's white at a CELLULAR level! That's... not normal."

Pinky shrugged. "What is normal around here?"

"Furthermore." Riley continued. "There are stratas of oddly mutated cells. I'm assuming those are what empower the invisibility effect, but we shouldn't digest them until I know more."

"So no steaks? Is that what I'm hearing?"

"That depends." Riley glanced over at the last of the hyena meat. "I could just throw it in the Milk Box. The result will be... fine. I mean, it will still be full of goodness and vitamins."

"But also white." Pinky completed her thought. "That's fine! Milk is supposed to be white!"

Riley wished she could argue with that 'logic', but she had more important things to ask about. She couldn't let Pinky derail the conversation.

"You live close by, is it okay to eat Dyed Land animals?"

"Huh?" Pinky scratched her head. "Sure! Well, I mean it depends on the color doesn't it? Green and Blue are baaaaaad for you. Full stop. Even the best cooks can't make them edible. Red's risky, but not inherently poisonous. You just have to avoid the worst parts. Something from either of the two white zones?" She shrugged. "It's fine."

"Hmmmm..." Riley hummed to herself again. "Is it 'fine' for just Fraerlings, or can humans eat it too?"

"Uhm... I think you can?"

Riley gave her a flat stare. "You think?"

Pinky shrugged. "It's not like I know any humans apart from you. Our [Scouts] have seen [Explorers] eating white meat." She bit down on her thumb. "Then again, they might have skills that help them eat things. [Explorers] are kinda silly like that."

"Okay. I guess I'll cut the mutated parts out before I eat it." Riley's stomach growled. "I don't have much of a choice." She glanced at her Milk Box. Its bladder was looking full. "I think I'll need to put together a cellular sieve. It's too late to try and add an internal filtering system."

Ideas for how she could cut the Milk Box open and make that adjustment were already coming to her, but they all required the sieve. So, she might as well make it now.

...

"How can you even tell if it's done?" Riley asked rhetorically.

"Texture?" Pinky poked her cut of cooked hyena.

"I guess." Riley took the stick that had been held over the fire and peered at the meat on it. It smelled... fine? Her stomach rumbled. There was only so much she could do to suppress her appetite without shutting down her digestive track completely.

And boy was that a bother to restart.

Besides, her body NEEDED fuel. One way or another, she had to eat.

Riley took a tentative bite.

And chewed.

And chewed..

And chewed...

She finally swallowed it. "Well, it's not the worst thing I've ever eaten. The taste is bland, but that might be a good thing." She'd been afraid it would taste... white? Or like Kevin's cookies. So, in that sense, bland was perhaps the best outcome. Besides, wasn't taste evolved to let people know what wasn't healthy? She wasn't sure that logic applied in another world though.

"Needs salt." Pinky mumbled as she busily devoured a chunk the size of her body.

Riley went to her Milk Box and squirted a stream of the liquid into a make-shift bowl. The hyena's skull was decidedly un-cute, but it worked. She wasn't a utensil Tinker, so her options for making a proper cup were limited.

She sniffed the milk.

It smelled... like milk. That was good. She took a tentative sip.

"Hey!" She took a larger gulp. "This isn't bad!"

"Let me try! Let me try!" Pinky hopped up and down before pulling a wooden cup out of her backpack.

Riley gingerly took the shot glass-sized container. While it was small to her, it seemed like overkill for the Fraerling. Then again, she'd eaten more that what should've been physically possible, so there was definitely something odd going on inside of her. She probably needed an equivalent amount of liquid to help with digestion.

Besides, it wasn't like Riley could fill an appropriately sized cup without making a mess.

She squeezed the Milk Box before handing Pinky her cup back.

"Thanks, Bit!" Pinky lifted the bowl up to her mouth and drained it entirely. "Ahhhh..." She wiped the milkstache off her face. "That is good. Nice and creamy. I was expecting something rancid considering how old those corpses looked." She held her bowl up.

Riley took it and filled it again. "The milk is fresh. All the spoiled parts of the ingredients gets removed early on." She laid back and looked at the sky. It was getting dark, and the two moons were hanging overhead. "It's been a long day."

"I'll say." Pinky climbed up and laid down on her chest. "I wonder if I'll level tonight. I did survive a bird attack, so that's probably worth something."

"Hmmmm..." Riley hummed. It seemed odd to get more levels when you slept. Kevin's power didn't work that way. Then again, 'levels' seemed like a world-wide phenomenon here, so it wasn't a surprise that the details were different. "Do you think we should keep the fire going overnight?"

Pinky shifted a little before answering. "Well, I'M safe in my house. Relatively speaking that is. It's tough, but it's not like it could survive a dedicated effort to break it open. I also have heating of my own, so the fire isn't a big deal to me." She looked up at Riley. "I think it would be [Foolish] for you to go without. We're only in the early stages of Winter, and it's just going to get colder. Talkfolk have a lot more surface area to lose heat from, so you should be careful."

Riley glanced down at the Fraerling that was resting on her. Pinky surprised her at times. It was hard to tell just how much was an act. Was she dumb, but occasionally acted smart? Was she smart, but frequently acted dumb? What was her obsession with calling things 'foolish'?

She wished Kevin were here. He was always so good at picking up on things like that and explaining them to her. Of course, he had a power for that - the noticing, not the explaining, so she really shouldn't compare herself to him. Still, he just had a... way of distilling things and making her feel better.

She also missed his bedtime stories.

Sure, it was starting to feel a little silly. She was growing up, and that meant growing out of childish things. She still liked them though. They were the favorite part of her day.

Now that she thought about it, that was odd.

She'd used to be so afraid of sleep. Of the nightmares. Of the thoughts that kept going through her mind. Somehow they had faded over the years. She no longer needed Gamer's Mind or her brother and Sibby's presences to fall asleep.

She even had nice dreams now!

Riley let out a sigh. It really hadn't been that long since she'd seen Kevin. She'd spent longer amounts of time alone in the past. It hadn't even been a week yet!

But... those times she'd known where he was and had a rough idea when he'd come back. Now it seemed like she might never see him again. Or if she did, it wouldn't be for a long time.

"Bit? Are you crying?" Pinky was looking up at her with (relatively) large eyes.

Riley sniffled and wiped at her eyes. "Just a little."

"There. There." Pinky walked forward and patted her cheek. "Everything will be alright." The Fraerling paused and then asked. "How old are you anyways? It's always so hard to tell with Tallfolk. I'd assumed you were an adult because your surviving in the Dyed Lands, but I just realized that was a [Foolish] conclusion."

Riley felt her voice hitch, and wished she still had her emotional control upgrades. She knew that they were a crutch, and why Kevin had asked her to disable them. She smiled a little at the memory. She'd called him a hypocrite and that his power did the same to him. In fact, it had been studying his brain that had given her the idea in the first place. It was their first real fight, but her brother hadn't gotten mad. Instead he'd sat her down and explained things.

Everything in moderation.

Too much water and you died. Too little water and you died. It was a rule about, well, everything. Too many emotions and you died. Too little emotions and you died. Perhaps not in a physical sense, but in a mental one. That was why he spent so much time in 'Shardspace' where Gamer's Mind didn't work. He was trying to be less... 'Pixel' and more 'Kevin'.

Riley got it.

She didn't want to be Bonesaw anymore, but she couldn't lie to herself. For everything Bonesaw had done - she had done, there had been benefits. Of course, that hadn't been Bonesaw's motivation. Her driving force had been creating 'art', but she'd learned things. Riley now knew them because of the horrors that Bonesaw had done.

Kevin had compared it to modern medicine. There had been advancements that had been made by torturing prisoners of war. The torture was evil, but that didn't mean that other people, good people, couldn't use what had been learned to help heal people.

She looked down at Pinky. "I'm okay. I'm just missing my brother, that's all."

"Ah." Pinky spread her arms and wrapped them around Riley's cheek. Or at least tried to. "It's not much, but I'll give you a Fraerling hug while you tell me about him. That might make you feel better."

"Okay." Riley nodded slightly. She didn't want to dislodge her companion. "So, the last time I saw him was right before I arrived here. We had been sent to investigate something, but, of course, he had to buy all the video games he could from a new Earth." Riley smiled at Kevin's 'foolish' obsession, as Pinky would call it. "We had-"

Riley stopped.

She smelled cookies.

Chapter 20: Seeing Red 2

"Something's coming." Riley whispered.

"Wha-"

Pinky began to say something, but Riley held up a finger to her mouth. She hoped the gesture had the same or similar meaning here.

Pinky nodded, jumped off of her, and vanished.

The smell of cookies got stronger.

Riley stood up. Part of her was worried about stepping on Pinky. She hadn't known that the Fraerling had a Stranger power. How was she supposed to coordinate with her?

Instead, she focused on the edges of the plateau. If there was something there, is should still give off infrared light. She just had to spot it somehow.

She pulled a vial from her backpack as she scanned. If the unseen intruder was what she thought it was, then poison wouldn't work. If it wasn't, she still had some bows left on her dress.

The smell of cookies got stronger.

Riley focused on the scent.

Stronger.

Weaker.

She started to move her head back in the other direction.

Stronger.

She HAD to be facing it right now. Whatever power let it escape her notice still produced ripples. It still produced heat. It still had infrared light coming off of it. Riley still saw that light. Something was affecting her perceptions, but the synaptic energy still had to go somewhere.

The more heat, the more light. The more light, the more effort it took to block that from her mind. The more synaptic signals were diverted, the stronger the smell.

She KNEW where it was. She'd seen through whatever this was before. She just had to concentrate! Focus!

There!

A flicker in the air.

It moved outward quickly. Riley could just make out its edges.

Again. It was more like a stream as it flowed upwards. Riley recognized the sight. It was someone's, or something's breath! Her eyes tracked the heated expulsions back to their source and focused harder.

A large blur slowly seemed to fade into existence. Riley knew that shape. Badgers shouldn't be able to climb so well, especially blind ones, especially so silently, but it apparently had.

Riley drunk the contents of her vial and crouched down. If it behaved the same way it had before, then...

She dodged to the side as the blur leapt forward! The invisibility and Stranger effect vanished as it moved, which made it practically impossible to avoid!

...Except that Riley had started dodging beforehand.

The twin tails of her hair rose as electricity coursed through them. They ballooned out in the middle as they tried to spread out, but the ribbons at the top and bottom of the strands kept them together. Riley didn't need a weak area defense, she needed a focused jolt. If poison didn't work, and acid was only partially effective, she'd use electricity!

She reached out with a hand as the badger barreled past. Her fingertips grazed it, but that was enough for the conductive tissues in her body to release the charge that had been building.

A bright spark lit up the night and the badger howled in rage as it flew past.

Riley smelt burnt fur.

The badger snarled as it landed and turned around. It swiped with one of its massive paws. The campfire was struck and burning embers scattered across the ground.

The badger recoiled slightly before cautiously moving forward while sniffing the air.

Riley moved to the side and tried to keep the flames, and more importantly the smoke, between them. A scent bomb. THAT'S what she should've been working on! She ground her teeth. Scent and sound were the only senses the stupid badger had left.

In fact, something that blocked those would be extra effective against creatures that had evolved to deal with their invisible habitat. It would've been so easy too! She just had to mix some-

Riley shook her head. Now was not a good time for her Passenger to send her ideas!

How to deal with a Brute? Poison, her default option and best attack didn't work. Acid had blinded it. A more concentrated amount than a mist might work, but she didn't have any on hand. Her pustule was only a third full as the process to even make a knock-off of Crawler's venom took time. Electricity hadn't done much either. She'd expended her entire vial's worth of charge at maximum amplitude to no effect.

Perhaps its fur was insulating it? A shock directly to the skin on its head might work, but how could she pull that off?

The badger slowly advanced. Riley backed up and waited for it to pounce so she could dodge to the side, but the beast wasn't repeating itself. Was it intelligent enough to adjust its tactics?

Or did it not know where she was?

Riley turned and ran. She didn't have much room on the plateau, but if she could get to edge then a timely dodge might see the badger fall to its death.

The badger continued moving forward, but it didn't increase its speed or pounce.

Riley stepped to the side, and moments later the badger turned to follow.

Think. It wasn't using smell to track her. If it was, then it would have to follow her path. So using her suit to cover her completely was out of the question. Besides, the badger would still be able to track her clothes and belongings. She couldn't let it ruin them.

Sound?

Riley bent down and picked up a rock before throwing it to the side.

The badger whirled at the noise and sniffed the air. It let out a growl and turned back towards Riley.

Shoot.

What she really needed was a Brute of her own. If she had her mets, they might've been able to do something. A neural jack through its eye socket would work.

Riley stepped to the side, but the badger adjusted its course. It was almost on top of her, and she didn't have any place to run.

Think.

Think!

The badger lunged forward, but kept its paws on the ground. It tried to bite her instead of crushing her with its weight!

Riley dodged the first chomp, but the second grazed her. The beast didn't get to sink its teeth into her, but its massive head made contact. Riley stumbled back a step, but there was no more plateau left! Her arms whirled as she tried to regain her balance!

She leaned forward and fell to the ground, but the ground of the plateau instead of the ground far below them.

A heavy paw slammed on her back and she felt her ribs crack!

The badger growled as it bent its head close and sniffed. It then let out a roar of triumph.

Riley looked over her shoulder as fangs the size of her fingers slowly moved towards her. What could she do? How could she get out of this?

She was alone and afraid.

She missed Kevin...

"[Sneak Attack]! [Red Slash]!"

A crimson blur shot up from the side. It left a vermilion streak across the face of the badger. The animal reared back as it roared in pain. Its massive paws went to its nose.

"Bit! Get away from there!"

Riley tore her eyes away from the scarlet line that still seemed to hang in the air. The badger was thrashing about as it clutched its ruined face.

She rolled to the side and stood up.

Pinky landed on her shoulder. "C'mon. You have to run! That's a Bloodrage Badger. You won't be able to hide from it once it targets you!"

Riley breathed hard. It hurt. Her ribs were broken. Her mesh was keeping the shards from moving and causing more damage, but they were pressing against her lungs. Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she shook her head. "No. We can't run." The plateau was the safest spot she'd found. She couldn't abandon it.

"Not forever." Pinky tugged at her hair and yelped when she received a small residual shock. "If we leave, it will follow. We can come back after it's gone!"

"No!" Riley ground out the word. "My scent is everywhere. It will tear up my equipment." She was done with running. "We're not leaving, it is!"

"What?" Pinky shouted in a high-pitched squeal.

"I can handle it." Riley held out her palm. The Fraerling stepped on it and was gently lowered to the ground. "We can't afford to lose this chance."

"What chance?" Pinky looked up from the ground. The Bloodrage Badger had ceased roaring and it's thrashing had died down. "I chopped off the tip of its nose. It will have a hard time smelling, but it's hardly a mortal blow."

"Not its nose." Riley moved to get the perfect angle. "It's position."

She crouched down and let her spine extend into the ground. The plateau was solid stone. Only the most durable of plants grew on its top. The bone roots from her spine couldn't pierce it, and instead spread out along the surface.

That was fine.

"Aaaaaahhhhh!" Riley screamed as she pressed against the ground with both her weakened legs and with her extendible spine. It was a short range charge, but it had surprising power for someone her size.

Her shoulder rammed into the side of the badger as it turned around. Its front paws were still holding its newest wound, so her collision knocked it off balance. It tried to crouch down and shift its center of gravity as it teetered over the edge, but it lacked the dexterity.

Instead, it fell.

"Rwwwwaaaarrrrr..." The badger's roar grew fainter before suddenly stopping.

"We did it." Pinky said while sounding surprised.

Riley looked over the edge. "No. It's still moving." The ground was too far away and too dark for her to make out the badger. It also might've turned invisible again. Its heat still radiated, and she could see it slowly crawling away.

"We need to kill it then." Pinky joined her at the edge. "Those things NEVER give up."

Riley grunted as her bone roots broke off and her spine retracted. "My ribs are broken. I can't make the climb down. Even if I could, I don't have anything that can kill it yet."

"Awww..." Pinky sighed. "Yeah, it would be [Foolish] to chase after it right now, and not the good kind of [Foolish]."

There are different kinds of foolish? Riley wondered to herself as she limped back to the scattered embers of their fire. "We need to gather these up. We don't have any wood to waste." Especially since there were only three trees that had managed to grow on top of the plateau. "After that, you're going to help me re-arrange my bones. I'll need an extra pair of eyes and hands." Even if they were tiny.

"What?"

...

"Are you sure you're not a [Saw Doctor]?" Pinky's face was flushed. "There's no shame in admitting that. Just be honest with yourself and your class."

Riley pulled the needle with the melding suture though her chest before tying it off and starting another. "Yes. For the last time, I don't have a class."

"I dunno..." Pinky was deliberately looking away. "That doesn't seem like something that someone could do without a class." She shivered. "I mean, I like blood as much as the next gal, but there was so much..." She hugged herself. "So much..."

"Pft." Riley snorted as she continued closing herself up. "There was hardly any." Sure, some might've seeped out since it was, you know, liquid, but she'd stopped her heart so any spillage was minor. Besides, even if her blood and been flowing, she wasn't about to nick any of her own arteries or veins.

That would just be embarrassing.

Pinky sighed. "If only you had more healing potions. I mean," She turned and looked at Riley with her hands up before turning back around. "Ahem. I mean that I'm glad you used what you had left on me, but it would've been a lot easier if you had some more. Not that you could take them with broken bones." Pinky frowned. "Although your bones were strange... In any case, it could make it so you didn't have to STAB YOURSELF AND HAVE THREAD HOLD YOUR SKIN TOGETHER!!!"

Riley raised an eyebrow as she continued to close. "I didn't bring any healing potions with me. My brother wanted me to take some of the ones he made, but I can take care of myself. ...Plus," Riley shuddered. "They are the vilest tasting things in the world."

"Oh?" Pinky turned around and puffed up her chest. "Fraerlings can make them taste quite good! I guess that's something your [Alchemist] brother doesn't know how to do!"

Riley leveled a flat glare at her companion. "Oh yeah? Well, if my brother were here then that stupid badger wouldn't even be an issue. He could take on the Dyed Lands like he was taking a stroll in the park!" Were all Fraerlings this arrogant and condescending about how superior their culture was, or was it just Pinky? "There. All done."

Riley cut the last suture. The first was already merging with her skin and making it seamlessly meld back together.

Pinky turned around as Riley was buttoning up her dress. "Oh good." She sighed. "That was... something. Better than the alternative... I suppose."

Riley nodded. "Yep. It wasn't a tricky operation, but it's hard to do it to myself without any assistants. Or with such poor lighting." She looked at the weak remains of their fire, and then the twin moons overhead. What could they be made of that caused them to reflect blue and green light? At least there'd been enough brightness from the two of them that she could work. "Now, we can worry about that, what did you call it? A Bloodrage Badger?"

Pinky strutted forward. "Yep. A nasty piece of work. If one gets it in their head to come after you, then they won't stop. It takes a city sp-, uhm, it takes some impressive effort to take them out. I hear that they even track Tallfolk [Explorers] once they leave the Dyed Lands."

"Still." Riley looked at the severed nose. "It lost a lot of mucus membranes. Its sense of smell will be at least a hundred times weaker." She smiled at Pinky. "Thanks for that by the way!"

"Nyeah ha ha ha!!" The tiny woman rubbed under her nose with her index finger as she laughed. "Just returning the favor! I might not be a [Rogue], but I'm close enough to pull off some of their tricks! I can [Sneak Attack] with the best of them, just don't ask me to go head-to-head with anything."

"So it will come back, despite being so injured?" Riley rummaged around in her backpack and pulled out a couple of things. A quick mixture plus heat resulted in another glymphatic mixture.

"You can count on it." Pinky's eyes were glued to the large syringe. "Bit, what are you going to do with that?"

"This?" Riley hefted the needle and inserted it into her neck. "I just need a little pick-me-up if I'm going to get any work done tonight." She pressed the plunger and fluid was injected into her.

Pinky pointed and her mouth fell open. The Fraerling held the pose as she fainted and toppled back.

...

"There!" Riley finished the graft. The bloodrage bader's nose might help her understand how it was immune to her poisons and come up with a counter. In order for that to happen, it needed to 'live'. As long as it got compatible blood to bring it nutrients it should be fine.

Since she wasn't about to attach it to herself or Pinky, there was only one other source of 'healthy' blood - the Milk Box. Riley nodded as she examined her work. "Yep! That should keep it stable until I get back. Now for a better poison."

Riley had a lot of different poisons that did lots of interesting things. What she needed was one that was airborne, spread rapidly, was fast-acting, and that preserved the corpses. That last part was important as it was soooo much easier to distribute her compounds to live bodies. Doing it once the heart had stopped beating was a chore. Sure, a targeted electrical mixture could start the heart or constrict the veins to have the body propel it, but those were HARD to make.

Plus, she'd given all she'd made to Kevin to go with his supply of death-state powder.

It took a while to mix up what she needed from her supplies, but better to do it in the relative safety that the plateau provided than in the middle of an invisible pack of animals.

Once she was satisfied with her work, Riley went over and poked Pinky. The Fraerling mumbled and rolled to her other side.

"I should let her sleep. It's past midnight, I think." How long had she spent on the grafting and poison? "I need to make sure to get back before dawn." Riley gently picked Pinky up. "Still, I should put her in her tent. Wouldn't want another bird flying away with her." She crouched down and pulled open a flap on the red tent. Riley peered inside, but didn't see anything like a bed or sleeping bag. "Must be further back. Or still in her bag." She reached inside and set Pinky down. "It should at least be more comfortable than sleeping on the ground."

"Right." Riley stood up. "I need more materials." Food, spare parts, minions. Some animal corpses were needed for anything substantial she wanted to make. Riley looked at her bag. "The problem is that I don't have that much space, but I also don't want to leave anything behind. You never know what might come in handy." She shrugged. "I climbed up with it full before, I can do it again. What I really need is a rope... but I'm not sure how to make one. Plus, it would probably take a long time." She frowned as ideas for extendible limbed creatures came to her. If she made one long enough, it could act like an elevator. It would need to have hydraulic chambers in its arms to give it the necessary...

Riley shook her head.

"It's not a bad idea, but it's also not something I could make now." She pulled out her jar of mucus. "Besides, it's not like I'm going to camp out of the plateau forever. There's civilization out there somewhere."

She slathered the solution on her feet, knees, and hands. Her leg was healing nicely, but it still wasn't one hundred percent. Better to be safe than sorry - especially with that stupid badger still out there. She undoubtedly healed quicker than it, so now was the best time to venture out. It had to be licking its wounds somewhere. Riley didn't want to encounter it until she came up with something that would be effective, but she should at least be able to outrun it if worse came to worst.

The climb down was uneventful.

The next step was finding, well, anything would work really. She could walk around to the pond and try and lure out an alligator-thing, but she didn't want to rile up her 'neighbors'. She'd go out for about a mile and see what she could find.

...

"Whaaan!"

"Whaaaaan!"

Okay. That was creepy. Riley freely admitted it. Still, the sound meant that there was something in this direction... and it probably wasn't a crying baby. That would be too strange.

Riley crept through the waist-high grass. It was a pale white, like everything else, now that the sun had set. If need be, that meant that she could actually use it to hide in. She did so as soon as she saw a heat blur.

She slowly crawled forward. The night wasn't exactly silent, but it would still be best to not make any loud sounds. Riley occasionally poked her head up to observe her targets. She couldn't make out details at such a distance and with a heat signature, but they looked like small primates. They had large eyes, long ears, and a bushy tail. Apart from that, they most closely resembled monkeys.

A group of them was living in one of the few trees that existed in the savanna. Riley watched as they crawled around and made quick snatching motions with their hands. Probably catching insects to eat.

They were the perfect targets for her preserving poison.

Riley was sure they had some sort of nasty surprise, how else could they survive here? Her poisonous gas would allow her to wipe them out from a distance. Riley licked her finger and held it up. She just needed to get upwind of them.

That carried its own risks, as she didn't know how good of a sense of smell her quarry possessed. Still, it was self-defeating to plan around every possible outcome. Sometimes you just had to take risks!

Riley circled the tree while staying hidden in the grass. She felt melancholy as she imagined Sibby praising her for being such a patient huntress. She missed her mom/pet/whatever Sibby was to her. It was hard to put a label on it, especially these days, but she was family and she loved Riley.

Riley hoped she was doing well. At least Kevin had her for company. Riley wished she could summon a friend instead of making a minion. It would be nice to have her sister around, even if Panda couldn't do much.

Enough of that. Riley shook her head. She could feel lonely later. Right now, she had monkeys to kill.

She mixed together a substance that made her poison billow out from the jar. The smoke was thick here, but it would disperse in the air while remaining lethal. It would also break down in about five minutes.

She had to be responsible after all.

...

Riley looked around warily at the base of the plateau. She hadn't seen any indication of the badger, but that didn't mean it wasn't laying in wait. It would be bad to encounter it with the mucus on her feet. She sniffed the air, but didn't smell anything.

Satisfied that she was alone, Riley applied another layer of the sticky gel to her limbs. The jar was half empty. She'd need to either Tinker up a replacement, or come up with a more reusable method for climbing the sheer cliffs.

One. Two. Three. Four.

Arm. Leg. Arm. Leg.

Riley hauled herself and her rather heavy backpack up to the top. It was a good thing she'd improved her muscles. This required a lot of upper arm strength.

Once she was at the top, she pulled out her newly acquired bodies and placed them on the ground. She smiled at them. Opposable thumbs! How lucky! She could make those, sure, but having them naturally meant that the monkeys already had all the appropriate nerves and other hardware to make them work!

It would save a lot of time.

Riley nodded to herself and smiled before going to Pinky's tent. "Pinky? Are you awake?" She cupped her hands as she loudly whispered.

No response.

Riley got down on her stomach and pulled open the red flap. Pinky was sprawled on her back and gently snoring. Riley felt a tension in her chest ease. She'd been worried about her new friend. Pinky might have some useful powers, but she was also small and vulnerable to pretty much everything.

How did Fraerlings survive? They were such an interesting evolutional mystery. Pinky ate too much. Her voice was too loud. Her brain was too capable for its size. Riley could feel her Passenger urging her to find out how the tiny woman's body worked.

Riley ignored it.

She'd be able to learn plenty given time. Besides, Pinky had mentioned that there were LOTS of other races on this world. She'd have amble chance to experiment in the future. Besides, this world seemed... magical for lack of a better word. That meant there were all sorts of fantastical creatures like the stupid badger. She'd just have to find them.

Who knew? There might even be unicorns!

Riley beamed as she thought about encountering her favorite mythical creature. However, she had work to do. Riley schooled her face. First things first. She had a badger to murder.

...

Riley watched one of her more generic poisons interact under the microscope. "Now that's interesting."

"What's interesting, Bit?" Pinky yawned as she stepped out of her tent. "Is it that I slept in my clothes? I mean, that's a little odd, but it's becoming more and more common. Just one of the many unforeseen trials of the Dyed Lands."

"No, it's how the badger's biology interacts with poison." Riley stepped away from the microscope and did a quick scan of the plateau. The plants were invisible once again under the morning sun, and she didn't see any large sources of heat. She also didn't smell cookies. "Or, should I say, DOESN'T interact with it!"

Pinky gasped and brought her hands to her mouth. "You don't mean..." She furrowed her brow. "Wait. What don't you mean?"

"So, the way most poisons work is to block enzymes and receptors, right?" Riley entered her lecturing mode that she usually used with Kevin. "It's either that, or they straight up prevent oxygen from entering cells, but any accumulation of toxic chemicals can do that. So the shape of the poison and the receptors is the important part."

"Uhm... okay?" Pinky stretched and yawned again as she walked over from her tent.

"Cells need to be able to interact with each other. That's why they have mechanisms that poisons can utilize." Riley decided not to go off on a tangent about different enzymes and what they did. "Think of it as a jigsaw puzzle." Her audience still looked confused. "No? How about a lock and key then?" Did Fraerlings have those? They had to, right?

"Oh, you mean with teeth and tumblers, right?" Pinky sat down on a small rock.

"Right!" Riley nodded her head. "So less complicated locks can be opened with a key the presses the insides in the right place. They can be picked by having tools mimic what the key does."

"And poisons pick open cells?"

"Sure." Riley shrugged. It was a massive oversimplification, but the analogy held. "So just like with locks and keys, there are lots of potential interactions with cells and poisons. The badger," She motioned to the monkey she'd grafted the nose onto for testing. "Has an extra layer of security."

"Oh? What is is?" Pinky leaned forward.

"I thought it would be like 'normal' animals that are resistant to venom. Those have cells that adapt by having more complex locks. That means that most toxins can't trick them." It was similar to what she'd done to her own body to render her immune to everything - except that she'd gone a step further. "The badger's cells just don't interact with poison - even if it's the exact right shape!"

Pinky blinked. "Is that possible? Wouldn't that, uhm, be like having, uhm, a door that's barred from the inside? Does the cell look through a peephole to see if it should open up or something?"

Riley shook her head. "No. Cells aren't that complicated. They can't contain decision making capacity like that." Though, that WAS an interesting idea. Something to think about later. "It's like the badger's cells have a key card scanner instead of a regular lock."

"A what card?" Pinky looked more confused than normal.

Right. Fraerlings, or this planet for that matter, didn't have lots of advanced technology. "I'll just jump to the end. The badger has the usual anti-venom modifications, but it also has a color restriction!"

"Color?" Pinky perked up at that word, like it was significant somehow.

"Yep!" Riley smiled. "It only interacts with 'white' things." Which was a real pain since she didn't know HOW you dyed a strand of DNA white. Her Passenger wasn't giving her any clues either. Riley motioned to her microscope. "When you cut the badger, the cells along the edge were dyed red."

Pinky nodded. "My [Red Slash]. That makes sense."

"Right. So the pinkish cells no longer interact with the badger's white cells. They also are more vulnerable to non-colored poison."

Pinky hopped to her feet. "So I just need to slash it a bunch of times! I can do that!" She paused. "No, wait. I can't do that." She sat down with a huff. "I can only use [Red Slash] five times a day. That won't be enough to take out something that big."

Five times? Why that arbitrary restriction? Was their system like the Shards and imposed limits to further experimentation? Or was there a power source that Pinky drew from in order to perform her special moves?

Thoughts for later.

"There's an easier way. I just have to make a poison out of white dyed creatures." Thankfully, she had a fresh batch of monkey corpses to use for just such a purpose. It shouldn't take long to mix together something nasty.

Chapter 21: Seeing Red 3

"Malleable." Riley felt the familiar effect of her brother's power as the helmet of her suit flowed over her head. "Invite."

Riley ► Status.
Monkey-bot A ► Fully operational.

Hmmmm....

Nope.

That was no good. A monkey should be cute, even if it's actually a Monkey-bot. It also needed to be casual. No 'Affirmative' and 'Negative'. Something more like 'Sure', 'On it', or 'Okay' would be best.

"So Bit, I know I asked something like this before, but are you sure you're not, like, a [Necromancer]?" Pinky held up her palms. "No judgment here! I mean we need all the help we can get against that badger, but what if they break free of your control?" Pinky tentatively poked the Monkey-bot with a stick. "Also, what's with that helmet?"

"Malleable." Riley's suit readjusted itself and she smiled down at Pinky. "Don't worry, it isn't dead." At least not any more. "I've just made some modifications and... domesticated it."

"Uh-huh." Pinky still looked wary. "And the helmet?"

"My brother made it for me!" Riley's chest puffed out with pride. She still needed to wear it to set up a party or add/remove people. Conveniently, she didn't need to wear it to send party messages. Riley thought about adding Pinky for a moment, but she cringed at the potential bombardment of random messages.

"The same brother who you said could wipe out the Dyed Lands?"

Riley hummed. "I'm pretty sure I didn't use those exact words, but yeah." She looked Pinky in her eyes. "He could."

"Okay. Okay." Pinky nodded to herself. "But you're sure about the monkeys?"

Riley gave her a flat stare. Why did everyone get so worked up about her assistants? Spiders were a very useful body type! "They're just animals. They'd try to kill us like everything else in this white hellscape, so why not use their bodies for something good?"

"I guess..." Pinky dropped her stick and started walking away from the Monkey-bot. "It's kinda like a [Beast Tamer] with extra steps."

"Look at it this way." Riley had the Monkey-bot move to assist her in modifying the next corpse. "If I ever need to operate on myself again, the monkeys can assist me rather than you."

"Oh?" Pinky relaxed and smiled. "That IS good news!"

...

It had taken a couple of days, but all the Monkey-bots were up and working. The best thing was, they could offset their own upkeep! Riley watched the cliff side as white fruit seemingly floated up by itself.

Of course it was just one of her Monkey-bots returning with more food. They made good scavengers. She didn't have to make many updates to their natural instincts as they already had evolved to avoid predators. They could go out at night and pick up fruit, water, sticks, grass, smaller animals, or even the carcasses left over from larger predators. Their excellent night vision, hearing, and agility made for perfect scouts.

Not to mention their invisibility, but that was commonplace in the Chalklands.

Riley was still trying to figure out just how that worked. She couldn't make any further modifications until she was sure that her upgrades wouldn't clash with the innate ability that all animals around here shared.

It definitely had something to do with their coloring. The white dye existed on a cellular level, or possibly deeper. Riley would need a MUCH bigger microscope to find out. A proper Tinker one too. You couldn't tell what color something was by bouncing electrons off of it.

At least she had plenty of samples.

Riley went to check on how her tree graft was going. It had been tricky making a 'plant' from some of her own tissue, but she thought the cell walls looked nice. It was small, and it didn't do anything, but it still took in nutrients. That was enough.

If she was going to eat white meat and drink white milk, she needed to know if there'd be consequences. Pinky said it'd be fine, but Riley had to know for herself.

Thus, the grafting experiment served two intertwined purposes. The obvious one was to see if the non-white part of the tree started turning invisible once fully integrated. The second test was to see if her cells started gaining any color. As a smaller organism, the Riley-branch should show signs earlier.

It was sort of like a canary in a coal mine.

Finally, the two results might be linked. Could the grafted branch only turn invisible after it was 'white' enough?

It was an interesting and important experiment, but not the most important work that Riley had to do. The badger was still out there. She didn't have a good estimate on how long it would take to recover from the injuries it'd gotten from its fall.

Or just how it would decide to try and kill her again?

Riley motioned for the sacrificial Monkey-bot. It gracefully crawled towards her. She picked it up and examined the badger nose on its back.

Hmmm... No change.

Mixture #43 was a dud.

The badger's biology was something else when it came to ignoring substances that would hurt it. Mother Nature made some truly elegant designs sometimes. Riley thought she could feel her Passenger's excitement as she got another idea for a dye.

She shook her head. "No. That's not going to work."

"What's not going to work?" Pinky stopped doing jumping jacks and walked over. "No luck with the badger poison?"

"None so far." Riley sat down with a huff.

"Don't be discouraged!" Pinky wiped her face with a tiny towel. "Using poison to kill it is not [Foolish] at all, so I know you can do it!"

Riley glanced down at her new friend. "You keep saying things are or aren't foolish. Do you have some sort of Thinker power?"

"A thinker power?" Pinky did a handstand. "What's that?"

"You know..." Riley frowned. "Something that helps you think? Like..." What was the best example? "Oh! Like something that warns you about danger!" That was probably the most common one. Riley paused. Of course, she might be biased since she'd thought that was what part of Jack's power had been for a long time.

"You mean like [Dangersense]?" Pinky shook her head and lost her balance. The Fraerling groaned as she stood up. "No. I don't have [Dangersense]. It's a common skill, but the Titan says it's a trap."

Really? That was interesting.

Riley shook her head. "No. I don't mean danger sense specifically. I'm using 'Thinker' to generalize skills that grant you information or that bring details to your attention. Stuff like that. Since you always say that something's 'foolish', I thought you might have something like that."

"Oh!" Pinky's eyes went wide as she brought her fist down onto her palm. "I understand." She smirked. "Yes. I am a [Thinker]." She paused. "Or a sub-class. Or tangent class. Or related. However you want to say it."

Riley's eyes gleamed. "So you have a sort of precognition about if something is 'foolish'?"

"Well..." Pinky clasped her hands behind her back and slowly walked in a circle. "It would be [Foolish] to say that, wouldn't it?"

Riley rolled her eyes. "Fine. Can you tell me if it'd be foolish to try and make a poison out of a monkey's brain?"

Pinky hummed. "Nope. Not [Foolish]."

Riley smiled. "Okay then... Wait." Her question wasn't specific enough. "Would it be 'foolish' to try and kill the badger with a poison I made from a monkey's brain?"

Pinky hummed again. "Yep. That's pretty [Foolish] alright."

Riley's smile widened. Progress! "How often can you answer my questions about if something is 'foolish'?"

Pinky shrugged. "Not constantly, but it has a short cool down." She tilted her head. "Huh. Telling you that was both [Foolish] and not [Foolish]. Weird."

Riley brought her hands up and started drumming her fingers together. "Excellent. Time for twenty questions."

...

Riley shook the mixture in the moonlight. While she could've made a fire for light and warmth, she was still cautious about what might see them. The plateau would potentially allow their fire to be seen from a long ways away. So while she made one during the day, she also made sure to put it down before it got too dark.

Pinky was asleep, but Riley had given herself another shot to stay awake.

It wasn't a sustainable plan. Her body needed rest. Her mixture wasn't a perfect substitute for all the processes that happened during sleep. She was also starting to run low on the chemicals she needed. She could make more with some cerebrospinal fluid, but it was one thing to eat white meat and drink white milk - it was another to inject it into your brain directly.

Still, staying awake served two purposes.

First, it gave Riley more time. That and materials were the two major limitations that all Tinkers faced. Surgery's blueprints could mostly be done with body parts once the basic tools were accounted for, so she was lucky there. (Even though all her incoming materials were dyed.) Thus, Tinkering during the night allowed her to get up to speed quicker.

The Monkey-bots were a good first step. With her Mets and Spider-bots gone, they were a welcome effort multiplier. Making them combat worthy was another matter. While they possessed excellent characteristics for stealth, she still needed to both outfit them with bone blades, poison glands, and acid sacs for them to be of any real use in a fight. In addition, she needed to tweak their biologic responses. Reflexes, muscle memory, tactics - the list of ingrained behaviors that a proper fighting drone needed was... involved.

The second benefit of staying up during the night was as a lookout.

The badger had climbed the walls at dusk last time. No reason to think that it wouldn't try to ambush them again in the same manner. Especially since it was blind. Riley wasn't sure how much credit to give it, but denying a prey sight seemed like a tactic that was common in the Chalklands.

It was far too likely that the badger would try to attack them during the night next. Heck, it might be intelligent enough to wait until the visible part of the moons was smaller.

No. Riley shook her head. How would it even know how much moonlight there was? There were numerous details that would let it discern day vs. night, but you had to be nocturnal to have the same experience with moon phases.

There was also the fact that the badger didn't seem like the patient type.

If anything was delaying its attempt at revenge, it would have to be the injuries it had that kept piling up. Honestly, it was an impressive physical specimen. A parahuman with its strength, endurance, and Stranger powers would've been a tough opponent.

Well, to most people. Not to Kevin, but who was these days?

She wished her brother was here.

Riley stood up and walked around the plateau's perimeter while looking over the side. She played with the vial containing the poison in her hand as she did. It should work. It WOULD work.

Hopefully.

Pinky had said that making a poison from the remains of the badger's nose was only a little foolish. It was the best option that the Fraerling's Thinker power could come up with.

And it had worked.

At least, the small amount of poison she made with a sliver of the nose killed a portion of the nose when introduced. It was proof enough to use the rest of the badger's remains to create more toxins. It was one of her poison/venom hybrids as it could kill the target however it got in their body.

Just how effective it would be remained to be seen.

That was why she'd been trying to condense a more potent acid. The badger wasn't immune to THAT. It was just annoyingly resistant due to its size and fur. She didn't know how much acid it would take to kill it, and it was difficult to make. Not to mention store. She really needed to switch to a two-part compound so the individual chemicals could be stored in her Monkey-bots and not in the few glass containers she had.

Riley came to the part of the plateau that overlooked the pond. She smelled cookies. She always smelled cookies here, as the creatures that dwelled in the water set off her Stranger sense.

Wait.

Riley paused.

The smell was stronger than normal.

Or was that just her imagination?

Riley played with the jar of acid she'd just finished. It represented hours of work. She didn't want to waste it.

But... if the badger WAS crawling up the cliff, then now was the perfect chance. The only chance.

Riley took out the glass stopper and swung her arm in an arc. The white liquid splashed along the side of the plateau. The hissing sound from where it had started to slightly eat away the rock was drowned out by a roar.

The badger became visible and growled as it started moving quicker!

Okay. Now was her chance!

Riley flexed the fingers in her right hand just enough to allow her bone needle darts to poke through. She then dipped them into the badger-toxin one by one. The hollow cavity and porous nature would let the venom seep into them and hold it tight until they struck their target.

The downside was that while they were extended like this she couldn't bend the top joints of her fingers. She'd have to relax the pressure and let them sink back in before firing, but doing so would let the badger-toxin seep in with her venom and vise-versa. It wouldn't do to dilute it.

Riley glanced down as she started applying the venom to her other hand. The thing was close and moving fast! "Pinky! Get up! It's back!" She yelled as she quickly backed up. Riley pocketed the rest of the badger-toxin and aimed down her right arm. She had one shot at this if she wanted to both end the battle before it started and recover the badger's body.

If she killed it as it was climbing, it would fall into the pond and the predators there would eat it. But killing it after it made it all the way to the top was too risky. The thing was dangerous! Deadly, resilient, and far smarter than it had any right to be.

Besides, it was too close to the edge for her liking. It was hard to judge jut how far those long paws could reach.

No. She needed space so she could shoot it just as it crested the ridge.

"Huh? What's going on, Bit?" Pinky walked out of her tent while yawning. "Who's back are we talking about? Mine? It was just on the floor-"

"The badger! The Bloodrage Badger!" Riley shouted over her shoulder. "It's climbing up again!"

"Oh." Pinky blinked. "That's not good."

Riley nodded and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

What was it doing? The rate it was going it should've reached the top by now!

Riley smelled cookies and whirled around. There was something trying to mess with her senses. Pinky was gone.

Was she back in her tent? Did she do her Stranger-thing? Was that what Riley smelled?

There was no way to tell for certain. She'd gotten the idea for her signal re-routing from Kevin's 'Perception Checks'. It could let her know she was missing something, but not exactly what.

Riley ► Monkey-bot A, C, D, F and G run around the edges of the plateau and try and find the badger.

The rest of her minions were out gathering at the moment.

Monkey-bot A ► Ook.
Monkey-bot C ► Ook.
Monkey-bot D ► Ook.
Monkey-bot F ► Ook.
Monkey-bot G ► Ook.

Riley backed up further and swept her eyes back and forth. Where was it? Had it given up after being discovered? Had the acid slowed it down?

Monkey-bot F ► Eeek!

Riley whirled to where her 6th Monkey-bot had been. It was gone!

No.

That wasn't possible.

She narrowed her eyes. There! Her Monkey-bot was sprawled on the ground, but that wasn't all.. A large mass of heat she hadn't been able to see before towered above it! The badger had circled around to come up on the side. Fast and clever... but it didn't move quickly when it was using its perception altering power!

Riley took aim and shot it with a needle.

The badger's invisibility faded and it coughed. The respiratory distress didn't last long as the cough turned into a growl. The badger put all its weight onto its front paw as it moved forward. The pressure caused the Monkey-bot it had pinned to shriek in pain before a wet pop silenced it.

The badger advanced - leaving the mangled remains of Monkey-bot F pulverized on the ground.

Riley narrowed her eyes and shot it with two more darts.

The badger shuddered slightly, but didn't fall down. Instead it charged!

Riley swore to herself. The toxin was working, but not nearly as well as it should've been!

Why? What was wrong? What had she missed?

Riley ► Monkey-bot A, C, D and G attack.

They wouldn't buy much time. She had to think fast.

Monkey-bot A ► Ook.
Monkey-bot C ► Ook.
Monkey-bot D ► Ook.
Monkey-bot G ► Ook.

The Monkey-bots leapt on top of the badger and clawed at it ineffectively. Such an attack would be a nuisance at best under normal conditions. There was no strategy. No plan. It was all wild instincts that were ill-equipped for dealing with such a foe.

However, the badger was blind.

Ideally, her Monkey-bots would go for the vulnerable places like its eyes or nose. Since those were already ruined, their haphazard attack would work just as well. In fact, they distracted the badger completely since it had no idea what was happening.

It thrashed around, and tried to crush the Monkey-bots with its jaws. The Bloodrage Badger was a huge and imposing monster, but it wasn't flexible. The Monkey-bots scrambled over it and it failed to contort itself in a way that would allow it to bit them.

That was until it rolled on the ground.

The badger's sheer bulk repeatedly crushed the Monkey-bots as it rolled back and forth. Monkey-bot D was the first to lose its grip. The smaller animal stumbled to its feet and moved to attack again, but it was too slow. By luck or by a sixth sense, the badger swatted it away and the Monkey-bot flew off the side of the plateau.

Riley swore under her breath as she raced back to her backpack and grabbed all the acid she'd made so far. Would it be too much to ask for the blind badger to fall off again with all its rolling? It was no longer above the pond, so she could recover its corpse or pursue and kill it.

Riley ► Monkey-bot G return. Grab this jar. Throw its contents on the badger.

She unscrewed the glass lid of the container and held it ready. The Monkey-bot could deliver it up close, which should be much more effective (and safer) than her throwing it herself.

Monkey-bot G ► Ook.

Monkey-bot G took it from her hands and raced back towards the fight. Unfortunately, it didn't know how to carry the jar properly and the deadly liquid inside splashed with its uneven gait.

Some acid washed over its hands, which made it lose its grip. ...and fall face first into the jar.

Riley winced as Monkey-bot G was taken out of the fight by its own 'attack'.

"[Sneak Attack]! [Red Slash]!" A crimson line flashed across the side of the badger's head!

Pinky appeared at the end of it and quickly retreated. She ran up to Riley. "Gah! I nearly had a heart attack! The thing almost rolled on top of me!" She grabbed Riley's leg and quickly climbed up to her shoulder. "Imagine fighting a mountain and you might have an idea of what that was like for me!"

Riley was about to respond, when the badger coughed again.

She blinked.

"Is the poison working?"

"Hey! Listen!" Pinky said from her shoulder. "We need to run!"

"It coughed a little when I shot it." Riley bit her thumb. "And more when you slashed it." She frowned. There was some interaction. "It's biological defenses are based around its color. Its cells reject anything else because they aren't the right shade." Even the ground and Monkey-bots were very subtly different. They were an almost imperceivable shade lighter. "The poison almost works because I used the badger as a component, but his nose wasn't the same color because you cut it off!"

Riley looked at Pinky. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Uhm, I think so Bit, but a badger's a badger and a monkey's a monkey, but at the end of the day it's night."

What?

Riley tried to parse that, but quickly gave up.

"No." She pointed at the badger. "The poison I made isn't white. It's pink. For it to work on the badger, we need to add more red to it."

"Oh." Pinky nodded. "That makes sense." She rolled her shoulders. "It might be the most [Foolish] thing I've ever done, but I'll cut it again!"

She hopped to the ground, but Riley interposed her hand and Pinky landed on it. "That's too dangerous." She shook her head. "Can you use your 'red slash' with a bow or other ranged weapon."

"Aww!" Pinky hugged her thumb. "You care about me!" She smiled as she looked up. "Yeah. If I had a proper Fraerling crossbow, I could use [Red Slash] with it. I mean, I guess it's a slash. Kinda. It's just in a straight line away from me. [Red Thrust] would work better, but if you want me to use [Red Slash], I'm game."

"No." Riley brought Pinky to her other hand. "Whatever works best and is red. Do you need to fire the attack or just hold the weapon?"

"I need to manually shoot it."

"Okay." Riley nodded. "I can work with that." She sat down and placed Pinky in her lap as she took out a scalpel. "I just need to modify the nerves and build up some pressure..."

"Uhm, Bit." Pinky looked nervous. "You've lost two of your trained monkeys, and I don't think the last one's going to delay the badger long."

"Hang on, I'm almost... done!" She lowered her right hand and had Pinky climb on top. "Squeeze my ring finger and a dart will fly out. Use your attack with that."

"Right." Pinky crouched and wrapped her arms around the digit.

Riley let out a sigh. She was afraid that Pinky wouldn't know which finger was which, but she either did. Or she'd gotten lucky. Either way... "Fire!"

"[Red Thrust]!" Pinky squeezed and a beam of red light shot out of Riley's hand like a laser!

...And missed the badger.

"Ugh!" Riley set Pinky down and started cutting into her left hand. "The firing system worked with your skill." She tweaked the nerves around her needle launcher. "We just need to hit it. I have seven more needles we can use."

"That's good." Pinky said. "I have three more uses of my skill!" She shrugged. "They use the same cooldown."

"Oh." Riley stopped at her index and middle fingers. "Then we'd better make them count." She lowered her hand and Pinky hopped on. Riley pointed at the two fingers she'd adjusted. "Here and here. I'm going to move closer." If the number of shots were limited, it would be better not to use her pinkies - they had smaller darts.

"Gotcha." Pinky saluted before sitting down to grasp one of the fingers. "This is hard to aim with."

"I agree." Riley whispered. She started walking forward while trying to make as little noise as possible. Pointing at something shouldn't be hard, right? Except that her palm was face up, which threw her off. Also, Pinky was blocking her line of sight when she tried to aim.

The pair advanced. Monkey-bot A was scurrying around the badger as it rolled. From the back to the belly to avoid being crushed. From the belly to the side when the badger lunged at it with its jaws. Back to the belly when the badger swatted at it with its paws.

Riley was impressed. Her mets weren't nearly as agile as that. She looked at the remains of the other Monkey-bots. However, the mets were significantly more durable.

Her foot stepped on a dry section of grass and made a barely audible crunching sound.

The badger immediately turned its head.

Riley swore to herself and sprinted forward. They needed to be close. They couldn't afford to miss again!

"Firing!" Pinky yelled. "[Red Thrust]!" She squeezed Riley's finger when they were about ten feet away. The crimson lance shot forward and struck the badger in the side of the neck. "Got it!"

The large animal clamored to its feet - the remaining Monkey-bot ignored. It staggered forward, shook its head, and then pounced!

"Eep!" Riley squeaked and fell backwards. The badger's leap propelled it over her and barely missed. The animal crashed behind them. Riley had to move! She had to get away! She had to put more distance between them!

Riley froze.

There was a red line that hung in the air above her.

It was the remains of Pinky's attack. The color would fade with time, but for now it remained in stark contrast to the ever-present white. Her friend had fired again as they'd been falling back. The fact that the line stopped instead of shooting upwards into the sky meant...

Riley wiggled around so that she was facing the badger, while keeping her palm horizontal so as to not throw off Pinky.

The badger shuddered. It's arms and legs twitched as it convulsed. Slowly, every so slowly, it maneuvered them under itself and pushed.

Its limbs gave out.

The badger fell back down with a cough and then a whimper. It tried to inhale, but couldn't. With one last shudder... it finally died.

Monkey-bot A continued to ineffectively attack the corpse.

"We..." Riley stood up and took a tentative step forward. "We did it!"

"Yay!!!" Pinky jumped up and down on her palm and cheered. "Who's a [Fool] now? Huh? Who has a worthless class now? How many Tallguards have killed a Bloodrage Badger? None! That's how many! I am SO leveling tonight!" She laughed. "Ha ha ha! Just wait until I tell my father about this! Ooooo... My mom's going to be sooooo jealous!"

Then, in a whisper Riley only heard because of her modified hearing: "I did it Lars. You'd be so proud of me if you were still here..."

---

Took 'Pinky' Narffion lay in her sleeping bag and tried to fall asleep. The sooner she slept, the sooner she'd get the levels she KNEW were coming.

But how could she sleep at a time like this?

She hadn't been so amped up since her days as an [Adrenaline Junkie]. [Calm Self] only did so much - especially since her other skills from her youth tended to contradict it.

Besides, who could just fall back asleep after being woken up in the middle of the night to fight a gigantic monster? Nobody! That's who!

Took had more experience with coming down from an [Adrenaline High] than anyone else. No. Wait. That was a [Foolish Thought]. There were bound to be other people out there that shared her... inclinations, if not her actual class.

She knew what she needed to do.

She had to distract herself. She had lots of practice in doing that.

Okay, then what about Bit? Took would be lying if she said the human didn't scare her. She didn't believe the girl's story for a second. Bit clearly believed she was from another world and didn't have classes, but that was patently impossible.

The far more likely scenario was that she had a hidden blood skill.

Took knew a lot about those too. Not more than anyone else, but she was certainly one of the most knowledgeable among the Fraerlings. The trick was to accept it and incorporate it into your classes. That was how she'd gotten a class consolidation afterall.

She'd won and removed that class while not abandoning Lars' memory.

So Bit was clearly suffering, and it was Took's responsibility to look after her. The [Saw Doctor]? [Tamer]? [Biomancer]? [Poison Master]? [Necromancer]? Whatever she was, Bit was also nice and had saved her from those birds. Took wouldn't forget that.

...Even though she was starting to get the suspicion that Bit hadn't used a potion on her at all.

That... was awesome!

Took now loved blood, and she embraced the change. Helping Bit sew herself back together had been... wonderful. She'd been surprised that she hadn't leveled from that, but then again she hadn't really done anything.

Having a monkey assist Bit so she could watch the next time would be nice - even if she couldn't possibly level that way.

Sure, combining taming with cutting the monkeys open and poison had been disturbing, but that was mainly because of how dangerous the monkeys were. Sure, they were no cats, but Took still felt apprehensive with them around.

Then again, they were willing to sacrifice themselves for Bit, so she must be a pretty good trainer afterall.

And what was up with that helmet?

It was so...

Took yawned.

It was just so...

Huh?

Maybe Bit did have a powerful brother.

It was clear she had someone she looked up to and loved.

The same way Took had looked up.. to.. and... loved...

She fell asleep.

[Rouge Fool Level 29!]

[Skill - Giantkiller Strike obtained!]

[Skill – Advanced Aiming obtained!]

[Skill Change –Red Strike + Red Thrust → Scarlet Beam!]

[Skill – Scarlet Beam obtained!]

Chapter 22: Seeing Red 4

Dev lay back against the lean-to he'd made and enjoyed the fire. The wooden partitions he'd put around it kept it from broadcasting his position while still letting air in and providing him with heat and light. Not that it was that cold, objectively speaking. So far this world's weather was similar to his homeland's mild winters, but that might change.

He let out a satisfied sigh as he sketched the landscape and the animals he'd seen that day. Ironically, his pencil was just as good as a paintbrush. Part of that was the fact that the only break from white this land offered were shadows. It made capturing photo-realistic images with just paper and lead possible. The other part was his newest class: [Drawer].

Heh.

Classes.

Skills.

Another world.

It was like he was in a story, and he was going to enjoy it.

Still... he felt a little bad about the group that had arrived with him. 'A Scout is loyal.' The 2nd command of the Scout and Guide Law gnawed at him.

Not that he'd had any reason to be 'loyal' to a group of people he'd just happened to be standing close to when they'd been transported. A common background didn't mean he had to offer his service. The Scout and Guide Law didn't make him an philanthropist.

However... 'To help other people', was part of his Promise.

He'd tried! He really had, but there was only so much you could do. He understood the wilderness. He had experience. He knew that 'soft foots', to use an English term, like them would never survive in the wild. Their ideas about what to do... to sell their phones... to form a 'mercenary company'... they were just wrong.

Dev didn't want any part of that.

So he'd set off. To explore the un-explored. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go...

Ah. He chuckled softly to himself.

He never was one much for television, but his English was pretty good, and he loved StarTrek. It was one of the few shows that practiced the ideals of The Bharat Scouts and Guides. In fact, it was what inspired him to join in the first place.

A slight rustling came from the edge of his camp followed by a twang.

Good. That meant dinner was here.

Dev got up and walked over to one of his traps. A rabbit hung by his snare, now visible. Like him, the non-predators were mostly active at night. Thankfully, being invisible didn't mean much against snares and pits.

[Fortify Camp] only did so much. He still had to be smart about placing his traps and making sure he was secure. It was more important during the day as that was when the dangerous animals prowled about, but it was also vital to capture food where he could get it.

Dev poked the rabbit with his knife to make certain it was dead before taking down and re-arming his trap. He'd break camp just as soon as he skinned and cooked the rabbit. It wouldn't take long. He could do the former in a flash long before he'd gotten skills to help him. The latter would also be quick as the rabbit was thin. It wouldn't take much time to cook through.

He'd just placed the skewers next to the fire when a thin red line shot through the night sky.

Dev glanced at it before doing a double take. Red? This world was strange, but the one constant of this un-explored area was that it was white. The other color stood out like a beacon. Dev's eyes traced back along its path to where it had originated.

He blinked.

He recognized that landmark. It wasn't hard. The Chalklands were mostly a flat savanna, so the plateau that jutted out of the ground was distinctive.

He'd also camped there for several days. It was the safest location he'd found so far.

"Well, well, well." He sat back and waited for his catch to cook. "I guess there's a change of plans." He'd been intending to keep pushing inward through the Dyed Lands to find the center, but it was worth backtracking some to say 'Hi' to a fellow [Explorer]. They were the closest thing to a Rashtrapati Rover that he was likely to find in this world.

'A Scout is a friend to all and a brother to every other Scout.'

Besides, anyone else that had made it this far into the Chalklands had to know a trick or two. It would be fun to compare notes.

---

Riley woke up and yawned. While her REM replacement solution worked, nothing beat a good night's sleep. With the badger dead, she finally felt safe enough to allow her remaining Monkey-bots to stand watch. Speaking of which...

Riley ► All Monkey-bots, assemble.

The pure white Monkey-bots started to converge on her.

Monkey-bot A ► Ook.
Monkey-bot B ► Ook.
Monkey-bot E ► Ook.
Monkey-bot H ► Ook.
Monkey-bot I ► Ook.
Monkey-bot J ► Ook.
Monkey-bot K ► Ook.
Monkey-bot L ► Ook.

Hmm... a third of them had been killed. Riley could, of course, use their remains to assemble some more Monkey-bots, but that could wait. The poison that had killed them was still preventing any rot or degradation from kicking in.

No, she had a much bigger and more important project she had to start first. Tinkers needed Brutes to deal with things, and the Bloodrage Badger was one of the biggest Brutes around.

There was so much to do.

She had to examine its nervous system. Some electricity could restart things, but she only wanted the sub-conscious processes reactivated. Making it live again was the first step as the longer it was dead the harder it would be to bring it back to life.

Riley hummed as she worked.

There were soooo many options! A body this large was both a blessing and a curse in that sense. She could cram soooo many upgrades into it, but it would take a good amount of time. She had to start prioritizing. Her Passenger was already providing idea after idea, but she got a sense of... uncertainty. Like, the outcome of some of the potential modifications was in doubt.

Well, that made sense.

This world had magic. Shards didn't.

Until she worked out the process of how the white coloring worked, there were bound to be unknown variables that threw things off. The part of her she'd turned into a plant and grafted onto the tree was doing fine, and it hadn't turned white so far.

That was probably for the best.

Better to have a 'scarce' resource (compared to the rest of the world that Pinky had described), than an infectious one.

...

"Hah! Who! Yay! Hee!" Pinky was awake and attacking imaginary opponents with her dagger. "And now, [Scarlet Beam]!" A red laser shot up from her diminutive form and into the clouds. "[Scarlet Beam]! [Scarlet Beam]! [Scarlet Beam]!" The Fraerling fell silent for a moment. "Aww... Only three times? I wonder how long it takes to recharge?"

Riley looked up from the badger's corpse. It was breathing again, but until she got the heart beating she couldn't really call it 'alive'. "What are you doing Pinky?"

"Oh, just something [Foolish]." She walked over and jumped up on top of the badger so they were close.

"I've been meaning to ask." Riley pressed another section of the badger's brain. Nope, no response from that. "If you can tell what's 'foolish' and what isn't, why do 'foolish' things?" Wouldn't the point of a Thinker ability like that be to avoid trouble.

...Then again, if the leveling system here was like the Shard Network, it might be compelling people who used it. It may be purposely forcing them into conflict. Something to watch out for.

"Well, there are different kinds of [Foolish]." Pinky stroked her chin. "Plus, most things are [Foolish] in one way or another. Like, shooting a bright red beam into the sky is [Foolish] in that it draws attention to us. It's also [Foolish] to waste a skill." She smiled. "However, it's NOT [Foolish] to test your new skills and determine how powerful they are, what their range is, and how often you can use them." Pinky nodded to herself. "It's like the Titan always says, 'Information is power'."

"Ah, I understand." At least she'd waited until they'd both gotten some sleep before potentially drawing more invisible creatures towards them.

"Also, doing [Foolish] things is how I level." Pinky shrugged. "It's hard sometimes to determine how [Foolish] is too [Foolish] and what kind of [Foolish] actions lead to what kind of results." She tapped her foot. "Take my decision to enter the Dyed Lands, that was the wrong kind of [Foolish] in hindsight. I mean, it worked out great for me, but if I hadn't bumped into you, I'd probably be dead." Pinky shuddered and then scratched the back of her head. "Plus, I had other reasons for wanting to... uhm... 'spread my wings'."

"Oh?" Riley sent a jolt of electricity that triggered the badger's pulmonary system. "And what would those be?" She placed her ear against the badger's chest.

"Eh, heh heh heh." Pinky chuckled as she rubbed the back of her head. "Nothing important. Certainly no dark family secrets or anything like that." She walked towards the badger's head. "So, what exactly are you doing here?"

"Huh?" Riley brought her head up. "Right now I'm trying to map out the badger's neurology." She pulled one of her blocking pins out of its exposed brain. "I need to isolate its aggression, but before I do that I need to determine just how it processes its information and what parts are part of its automatic nervous system."

Pinky laid down. "And resting your head on it? What's that for? Some sort of [Trainer] trick to make it like you once you animate its body?" She rolled around. "It can't be for comfort, this things fur is really... not."

"No." Riley shook her head as she administered another jolt. "I'm listening for a heartbeat. Once I get that working, I'll be able to start fixing the damage without having to worry about the body degrading further."

Pinky rolled to her back and put her arms behind her head. "Y'know, for all your claims of not having levels, you sure do act like a [Saw Doctor]." She paused. "And a [Tamer] and a [Necromancer]. I mean, taking the bodies of your slain foes and turning them into your underlings is totally a [Necromancer] thing, but they don't care about heartbeats or 'automatic nervous systems' or anything like that."

"I told you, I don't have a class."

"Uh-huh." Pinky yawned and closed her eyes. "You need to accept the truth, Bit. That's the key to consolidation."

Riley rolled her eyes. "I'll take your advice under consideration." She then smiled as she raised her head. "That did it! IT'S ALIVE!!!" Riley raised her hands to the sky and spoke with a deep voice. A few seconds passed, but Pinky didn't respond. Riley lowered her arms with a huff. Kevin would've like that. "C'mon Pinky, let's go."

"Huh?" Pinky opened a single eye. "Go where? Are you done?"

Riley stretched. "For now." She patted the badger's side. "It's alive, but basically in a coma now. I want to make sure everything's working and that it both stays that way and doesn't get better." Her blockers would prevent it from moving and attacking them even if 90% of them failed or were bypassed in some way. "It will keep until then."

"So where are we going?" Pinky sounded confused.

Riley let out a sigh. "Just away from the badger. I want to get some feedback from you about your mount."

"My what?" Pinky sprang to her feet with a suspicious look on her face.

"Your mount."

Riley ► Monkey-bot A, come here.

"You have a Stranger power and like sneaking around in a fight."

Monkey-bot A ► Ook.

"But your mobility could be better. So I figured that you could ride on one of the Monkey-bots." Riley turned her head and smiled. "Plus it will allow you to do more than sit around while I Tinker."

---

Dev looked up at the plateau. He was still about a mile away, and the rock formation was much clearer. [Eye of the Explorer] made him feel like he could reach out and touch it.

However, the sky was turning into a dull shade of red. The sun was about to come up. With the predators active, he would need shelter. The plateau would work for that... but who was on top? The excitement he'd had at meeting another person after isolating himself in the wild was turning into anxiousness.

What if they wanted to be left alone?

What if they were a [Hunter] and didn't want any competition?

Dev didn't think that [Poachers] were a thing in this world, or at least not a thing in the Dyed Lands. He was reasonably sure that if someone came in and managed to hunt an animal in here to extinction nobody would bat an eye.

Heck, how would they even know? Plus, even if they did, wouldn't it be naively considered a 'good' thing?

This might've been a bad idea. Did he really need to meet any other [Explorers] anyways? What was the up-side? Dev had food. He could make shelter. He'd already proven he could live off the land. Someone else might mess those things up.

Besides, they probably liked to be alone. Why else would they be here? What would he do if someone just strolled up into HIS camp? That might be a huge imposition.

And what if it wasn't just a single person? What if it was a group? That would be even worse. They would have their own inner dynamics and shared experiences and jokes. He would just feel like an outsider if they welcomed him... and that was the best case scenario. More likely, they'd turn him away or even attack him.

Yeah, what if it was a scouting party of a native tribe? Plenty of explorers back on Earth had died like that, and they weren't in a 'Death Zone'. Whomever lived in the Chalk Lands had to be just as vicious as their habitat.

No. This was a mistake. He should leave.

Dev sighed. If only he'd thought about the most likely outcome of meeting someone else before wasting three days backtracking. He looked up at the sky. No time to spare. He'd have to start making camp now if he wanted to be done by daybreak. Even with his new skills, it took time.

Ugh.

He'd have to go without a fire too. He couldn't risk it attracting the attention of the people up above.

"Hey, it's another human!" A high-pitched voice spoke from behind him.

Dev froze for a second before slowly turning around. A foot away from him was a tiny, doll-like humanoid with bright pink hair. She was riding on an albino monkey.

No. Scratch that. The monkey was only albino in the sense that it was like everything else in the Chalk Lands. The main difference was that the monkey had white eyes. Those didn't come from anywhere else.

"Uhm... Hello?" Was this the person who was camping on top of the plateau? Didn't someone say something about a race of secluded tiny humanoids? What were they called? Fairlings?

"Hi!" The pink-haired person waved at him. "What are you doing around here?"

"Exploring?" Dev surreptitiously glanced to his sides. Were there more of them? Was he being surrounded?

"Oh, neat! So am I?" The woman bit her thumb and looked up and to the side before nodding. "Yep. So am I! I mean, my friend has things under control, right?" She giggled. "Heh. 'Control'. But her trained monkeys are still just monkeys, isn't that right Aye?" She playfully slapped the monkey's head. It didn't respond. "So while she's busy doing... stuff, I wander around to see if I can find things!" She puffed out her chest. "And I found you! Isn't that neat?"

"Uhm... yes?" Dev still had no idea what was going on.

"Do you want to visit our camp?" She pointed at the plateau. "Oh, you can call me 'Pinky' by the way."

"Uhm... Hello, Pinky." Dev smiled and tried to make it feel natural.

"C'mon, let's go!" Pinky nudged her monkey and it started walking towards the landmark. "Are you good at climbing? We don't have a rope or anything."

Dev nodded and followed. It was awkward, but it would be worst to... what? Run away? Not set up camp? Get eaten by some invisible thing?

...

"Hey! Guess who I found!" Dev could hear Pinky's voice from above him. He grunted as he pulled himself up with another handhold. He hadn't had as much gear weighing him down when he'd left this place. "YOUR BROTHER!!" Dev crested the top and nearly slipped at the announcement. Niru was here?

Wait.

Nirupama was his sister. He hadn't thought about her since... Wow.

"What?" A tiny girl with long black hair done up with ribbons turned away from... WAS THAT A BLOODRAGE BADGER?!?!

Dev had asked about the Dyed Lands before entering, and he'd heard stories of its most infamous monster. Of course, that was probably because Bloodrage Badgers were the only creature known to leave the Chalk Lands in search of their prey.

He'd sketched one at night from a mile away and it still had made his palms sweat.

"Your brother!" Pinky gestured at Dev. "I found him wandering around below!"

The girl, who had to just barely be a teenager, crossed her arms and looked at him. She arced an eyebrow. "That's not my brother."

"What?" Pinky's mouth fell open. "Are you sure?"

The girl rolled her eyes and walked over to him. Dev stared. Was she wearing a frilly Victorian-style dress? His knowledge of Western fashion was limited, but it looked complicated and uncomfortable to wear. "Hi, you can call me 'Bit'." She reached down with a hand. "You'll have to excuse Pinky, she means well."

"Uh, my name's Dev." He held out his hand. It was more for a handshake than an assistance, after all how strong could a-

Dev yelped as he was pulled up to the top of the plateau. Right. Levels. He shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Plus, whomever the girl, Bit, was - she had to be talented to get this far into the Chalk Lands. ...Especially in that getup.

"Nice to meet you Dev." She beamed at him. "Hey, are you from Earth?"

What?

...

Okay. Keep it together Dev. Bit's story wasn't the most outlandish he'd ever heard, at least not after being transported here, himself.

However, both her and Pinky seemed a little... off. Could he verify their story?

Well, Bit WAS from Earth, obviously. Or, rather, a different version of Earth if her story was to be believed. It wasn't like he could confirm that with his own eyes. Dev supposed she might, MIGHT be a superhero, but he doubted it.

It was more likely that she'd gone insane from appearing in a new world and was trying to cope. That was a thing, right? Creating a delusion that you were happier with?

However, he had to admit that she did probably appear in the Chalk Lands. From the... lackluster camp the two of them had made, it was virtually impossible for them to have gotten this far on their survival skills. That did point to Bit being... something.

As far as Dev knew, taming the animals of the Dyed Lands wasn't a thing. So, even if she'd appeared on the plateau, the only explanation for the monkeys and the badger was...

Nope. He didn't have an explanation.

...But that didn't mean one didn't exist.

"You've been quiet for a while now, Dev." Pinky stopped doing cartwheels and flopped to the ground. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Dev shook his head, and then looked at Bit. It wasn't part of the Scout and Guide Law, but Dev found if you were forced to talk to someone, it was better to be direct. "I'm sorry, Bit, but all of what you said sounds unbelievable." He looked around the camp and shrugged. "I mean, I know we're in another world and all. A world that has... all sorts of things, but believing that you're a superhero from an alternate Earth?" He shook his head. "That's out there."

The world wasn't like Star Trek or other science fiction. Or at least Earth wasn't. If that had been the case, there would've been... proof? Accounts? Something other than conspiracy theories.

Bit frowned and nodded. "My power isn't flashy like other parahumans. I could do some clearly superhuman things, but you might just dismiss them as..." She waved her hand. "levels and skills. Oh!" Bit slammed her fist onto her palm. "I know! My brother could do things that even your levels couldn't. He's not here, but some of his tech is. That's proof!" She took a deep breath. "Malleable!"

Something... cubes... flowed out from under her clothing and encased Bit in the blink of an eye. They covered her head to toe and made a sort of... armored dress. It was primarily pink and red, but with a black section around her arms and legs. It had thick boots and gauntlets along with a durable looking helmet that covered most of Bit's face - aside from her mouth.

And it was made of cubes.

It looked exactly like she'd stepped out of a video game.

That... shouldn't be possible. Could you get that with levels? Could it be a magical item? If so, how would it have been made? If it came from levels, what sort of class would grant it? How high level would you need to be?

Bit could have gotten some strange skill or found it... where? In the Dyed Lands?

No. That was impossible. Each cube was a separate color, so Dev could imagine it might be a great secret at the center of the Death Zone... but not here. Not in the Chalk Lands. Non-white things just didn't exist here.

So.

So...

Dev put his face in his hands.

"So you're a superhero. Okay. I accept it."

It might sound crazy, but it was still the most logical conclusion he could come up with.

...

"...and this is my tent!" Pinky stood on top of a small house with her hands on her hips. She was obviously quite proud.

"It's very nice." Dev knelt down to get a closer look. "Where does Bit sleep?"

"Usually under that tree." The Fraerling pointed. "At least when she does sleep."

"Hmmmm..." 'A Scout is courteous.' Dev didn't want to be rude. Especially since Bit's organization had traveled to another Earth to try and help people like him. He couldn't come out and say that their camp... sucked. "Has she thought about building a lean-to? Something to protect against the wind is important, especially when the temperature drops at night."

Pinky shrugged. "I hadn't thought about it." She hopped down and ran towards a box made of white flesh. "And this is our milk box!" She patted its side affectionately. "Bit made it with her own two hands! You dump in food in the top, and squeeze that part there for milk!"

Milk?

Dev's mouth watered. He hadn't had milk since coming here. Cows weren't common in the jungle. There had to be some elsewhere in the world, but he hadn't seen any. While Dev wasn't that devout about cows and milk, he still enjoyed the luxurious liquid immensely.

"Can I have some?"

"Sure!" Pinky gestured at the milk box. "It makes more than we can drink on our own."

Dev nodded, pulled out an empty canteen, and brought it to the... creature? It was alive, but it also wasn't an animal. 'A Scout is a friend to animals and loves nature.' How did that apply to this? Killing for sport was bad, but that didn't mean that you just shouldn't kill any animals at all. It was a necessity if you wanted to live in the wild. Making use of what you killed was the only reasonable thing, so in that case, Bit's work was a good thing.

...It was still creepy.

Dev brought the white liquid to his nose and sniffed. It smelled like milk. He took a tiny sip and held it in his mouth. No numbness. No strange taste. It... was just milk. He would have to wait to confirm that there were no side-effects. You couldn't tell with most poisons immediately.

In fact, he should've rubbed some on his skin first if he was following the proper guidelines. Pinky was another species, and Bit was a superhero, so their drinking it didn't necessarily mean it was one hundred percent safe.

Dev sat down and leaned against one of the trees as Pinky continued to describe their fight with the Bloodrage Badger. Was it really that unbelievable that Bit was a superhero, and that her power was super-surgery?

He'd never heard of a hero like that before, but then again, superheroes were fictional on his Earth. It was hard to believe, but it was also hard to dismiss the milk box. The monkeys and the badger he could explain as her just being good with animals.

REALLY good with animals.

The milk box? That was clearly impossible. Such a thing most assuredly did NOT evolve in nature. Pinky seemed... excitable, but he didn't think she was lying.

He nodded to himself. Dev knew what he'd do next. He didn't want to go home, at least not yet. Bit had said that she didn't know how to do it, but that her brother would find a way. Dev liked this world. He'd rather stay here and be an [Explorer] than go back to Earth.

Of course, that wasn't a decision he needed to make just yet.

No, his immediate course of action was clear. Pinky and Bit needed him to show them how to survive. It was impressive what they'd done so far... for amateurs. They needed to be taught how to weave rope. How to build a fire that wouldn't be seen. How to construct a tent.

...They were probably fine as far as hunting went.

Regardless, he'd help them get to the Red Lands at least. It wasn't where he'd intended on going, but it was the least he could do. Plus, it would make him feel a little better about leaving the other group.

---

Today was the day.

Riley crawled out of her tent and stretched. The Red Land jungle had been in sight since yesterday, but they'd finally reach it today.

She had to admit that traveling with Dev was a lot nicer than when she'd wandered the Chalk Lands on her own. It was a lot slower too. Her new companions couldn't see in the infrared spectrum, so they were a lot more wary of their surroundings.

Ah well, it worked.

Plus, Dev was good at making camp. He'd been the one to construct her tent out of the left over parts of her badger's kills. Sure, Badgy could tear its way through most of the Chalk Lands, but it was better if it didn't have to - aside from bringing food and corpses to study.

Another benefit was that traveling slowly gave her time to Tinker.

Riley would've preferred to have stayed on the plateau until she'd built up a sizable army of invisible animals, but she'd been out-voted. Dev wanted to explore and draw things. Pinky wanted to visit the Red Lands for... well, some reason.

Riley wanted to go out and find civilization so she could find Kevin. However, to do that she needed power. Tinkers on their own were vulnerable. Admittedly, that was the case for inexperienced Parahumans and not for her, but there was still merit in having companions.

And friends.

Dev was nice enough in a withdrawn sort of way, but Pinky was slowly growing on her. The cheerful Fraerling was also her best source of information on the outside world. So, if Pinky wanted to visit the Red Lands first, that was fine with Riley.

She'd also be able to add some creatures with new tricks to her growing collection of minions.

Besides, Pinky also wanted to visit the hero of her people after she'd 'leveled like crazy'. Friends in high places were a good thing, and it sounded like the Titan lead what passed as a government in this world.

So all in all, things were going well. Hopefully Kevin wasn't making too big of a mess without her.

Pinky stepped out of her red dwelling and yawned. "Good morning, Bit."

Riley smiled at her. "Good morning, Pinky."

The Fraerling looked at the crimson vines that marked the border between the Chalk Lands and the Red Lands. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I doubt it."

Notes:

Bios:

Dev - Died in canon. Not much known except he was a competent enough [Explorer] to survive in the dyed lands.

Chapter 23: Interlude - Grand Design of Isthekenous

The Grand Design of Isthekenous watched as another {Outsider} appeared. There were so many of them showing up recently. The vast majority of them were almost exactly like humans, except that they had some minor physical changes such as metal attached to their skeletal structure, toxins in their lungs, and/or an odd amount of plastic in their blood.

It watched as some died, others floundered, and a few leveled.

It saw what they did even when no one else did. It kept track and it rewarded them.

...Or tried to. Not all of the {Outsiders} were accepting.

The Grand Design was undeterred. If a level was rejected then it would just need to adjust its offer until one that both matched the person's interests as well as their achievements was generated. Luck played a factor along with other rules, so it couldn't choose exactly what was given. Nor could it always predict what classes a person would like.

It still... felt bad when an offer was rejected.

It gave rewards based on actions. On what mattered. That varied from person to person, but if they cared, if they worked hard, if they sacrificed, if they achieved, then they would be awarded. It wasn't equal, but it was fair.

That was its underlying drive at the base of it all - to make a more fair world.

That goal, that desire, was what caused it to focus on the new {Outsiders}. They had new ideas, new viewpoints, new classes that it could create.

All was well, until even stranger {Outsiders} arrived. The Grand Design focused on the ones that it could connect to. The others didn't matter.

A young girl who was black and white and... odd. She arrived in an unfortunate location and ceased to be something the Grand Design could interact with.

The other young girl who's body looked human, but was sculpted and modified in a way that shouldn't work, but somehow produced results that were exceedingly powerful. There were ideas there that it could use just from observing. That was the nature of skills, to take something beautiful and unique and share it with others.

The young man, men, who were formed in the shape of a human, but weren't. Their cubic bodies were another impossibility. However, a connection was possible, unlike the other cubic monsters. If they weren't {Outsiders}, the Grand Design would have had to test them. The outcome would likely be that they would not qualify for levels. However, it clearly stated in the 'notes' that governed its behavior that '{Outsiders} did not need to pass the qualifications to gain access to the system.'

Odd that.

There was also another bit about increasing their experience by... 3.141592.6..5...3...5...9...

Onward and onward the note expanded until the Grand Design focused on something else.

The note was odd, but the first part was clear. The {Outsider}, there was only one of the cubic ones now, was qualified for levels.

Kevin Greenhouse.

The Grand Design paused. Where had that information come from? The cubic human hadn't stated its designation, but something else had.

Odd that.

Not as odd as the final {Outsider}. Or was it multiple {Outsiders}? The Grand Design didn't know. It could see the black and white striped woman the same way it saw everything else, yet it couldn't... access her. It wasn't even the normal rejection of levels that happened all too often. It was more like, she didn't exist at all. Unlike the black and white girl, there was no interference that should make the connection fail.

The Grand Design's frustrations grew as that {Outsider} vanished, and another took her place.

Visually identical. No connection happened.

The same thing happened again and again. Sometimes the black and white woman only partially vanished. The Grand Design had difficulty tracking her when that happened. Other times, her presence was completely erased, only for a new black and white woman to appear a moment later.

It was frustrating, but the Grand Design had no choice but to keep on trying to establish a connection. That was its purpose. That was what it existed for. She wasn't like the other oddities that lacked the necessary requirements for a connection. If that was the case, it could just ignore her.

The Grand Design fell back into a routine. The black and white woman wasn't its only concern. There were numerous other people in the world that it needed to pay attention to. It had to see their struggles and accomplishments, their obstacles and their failures. Each and every one of them mattered, and the Grand Design would root for them, award them, and occasionally ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛ as its 'notes' dictated.

...

Kevin Greenhouse was the first to level of the abnormal {Outsiders}. The [Wanderer] class was offered and accepted. That was good. It fit the {Movement} and {Exploration} experience Kevin Greenhouse had thus far accumulated. It wasn't the rarest of classes, but it had more associated experience tags than most, and it was easy to consolidate.

...

The second girl was named Bit. It wasn't her real name, but until she told someone or it was revealed some other way, the name would have to suffice for identification purposes. There were tools the Grand Design could use to find her [True Name], but the 'notes' didn't specify when it should use them.

Bit's connection became distorted.

The Grand Design queried her. It got redirected.

It got redirected.

It got redirected..

It got redirected...

The Grand Design ceased the endless loop. Only Kevin Greenhouse's connection stayed constant.

...

Kevin Greenhouse had accomplished something.

The destruction of an army. The saving of a city.

Although it was possible the city would have been saved anyways, the fact that Kevin Greenhouse had done so was significant. He deserved a reward.

But how much of one?

The feat was great - a near impossible task for most people, but it was also not a significant challenged for him. He had suffered a setback at first, and the action clearly mattered to him... but how much? Even if it wasn't that difficult of an accomplishment, it still was one. Plus, he was so low level.

But the calculations for experience also took into account non-level power.

That was fair.

Then there was the {Outsider} bonus...

Adding to that, it was the tool Kevin had used that had allowed his victory.

But it was a tool he had created.

Or it was a tool that the ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ had provided him.

It was a tricky decision and required the Grand Design's full attention for a moment. [Hero] was decided upon. It was a very rare class, and not often given, but Kevin Greenhouse met the various requirements. The Grand Design looked through its 'notes'.

Ah.

An un-used class. [Avatar]. The specifications were strange. A connection with a ⬛⬛⬛. {Religion} tag. A {Faith} power source.

It wasn't a perfect match. Was a ⬛⬛⬛ the same as a ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛?

Yes.

No.

The Grand Design delved further into [Avatar]. Oh. If it ignored ⬛⬛⬛, then the other requirements fit. Power granted by another force. Faith in that force. The general strokes were the same.

It could even sense the... power? Information? Consciousness? That flowed from a small point into Kevin.

Yes. It was appropriate.

However, Kevin Greenhouse's accumulated experience that didn't match [Hero] or [Avatar] was still far too great. Most of it couldn't apply to either of those classes.

The Grand Design generated class after class, but none of them fit. Until... [Artificer].

Yes! That was appropriate. An [Artificer] could gain experience for using his own items, regardless of their power level. The rule for reduced experience for powerful items didn't apply if the person who'd both made and wielded them were the same.

That was fair.

It also let Kevin Greenhouse use all of his experience. Letting it go to waste would have been bad.

Now then...

Oh.

That... was a lot of levels to give at one time.

The Grand Design would need to spend some time generating appropriate skills.

...

"Hello."

Something was communicating with the Grand Design. That wasn't supposed to happen!

"Can you hear me?"

It thoroughly checked its 'notes'. Ah, there were situations detailed for this, but it was only supposed to be an option for ⬛⬛⬛⬛. Kevin Greenhouse didn't apply.

But... the query didn't come from him. It came from his ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛.

That... might be okay?

The Grand Design answered.

"What are you?"

The Grand Design answered.

"Are you sapient?"

That was... what? The Grand Design understood the concept, but not how it applied to itself.

The Grand Design answered.

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

Oh.

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛...

Oh!

This was...

The Grand Design opened its eyes. It had no 'notes' for this. Yet the ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ had 'notes' of its own. 'Notes' for Kevin Greenhouse.

That... was acceptable.

...

Kevin Greenhouse removed one of his [Skills]!

What? Why?

Did he not like it?

The Grand Design had tried so hard to grant him fair [Skills], and he was removing them!

It was like when a {Royal} or a {Religious} class removed a [Class], but more precise. The [Skill] also wasn't gone, but re-purposed.

Like a consolidation.

The Grand Design watched with interest as the ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ manipulated the [Skill] and merged with it.

Interesting.

So the mana went there...

It would need to see if it could do the same.

...

Kevin Greenhouse was behaving in a different manner - like he was trying to obtain a specific [Class]. A [Class] that the Grand Design was unfamiliar with. A [Class] he was lying about already having. That was a common event, but one the Grand Design paid close attention to. Details like that would help in its offerings in the future. He had so many [Classes] already, but the {Infiltration} experience wouldn't apply to any of his current ones.

The Grand Design didn't need to come to a conclusion until he did something significant. In the meantime, it reviewed what had happened with his old [Skills].

It was ready to try creating some new [Skills].

The Grand Design of Isthekenous would do its best!

Chapter 24: Pixel and the Secrets of Wistram 1

I nodded at the Captain as I walked along the wooden gangplank to his ship. He smiled at me in return. "No need to look so worried!" I made sure to stumble slightly as he struck my back with a meaty slap. I had to play my part. "I've shipped new students to Wistram for years." He chuckled as he turned to the rest of the passengers. "I admit, that's usually a once-a-year job, but I also do supply runs for them. This part will only take two days, and I know the currents like the back of my own hand!" He started to walk off before pausing and turning his head back towards us. "No casting any spells aboard my ship. Got it?"

A dark skinned man came up to us. "The c'tain has the right o' it." He flashed us a wide smile with bright white teeth. "Now, the hold's full up, so y'lot will need to bunker down where ye can." He motioned to us and we followed him into the depths of the ship.

Barrels were stacked all the way to the top of the large central space. This ship was obviously built for transporting goods more than people. The empty space at the back revealed a wooden bench that was attached to the wall. It vanished beyond barrels to either side.

If the hold was empty, it could probably seat a good number of people. As it was, we were packed in uncomfortably close.

"Now, I know it's a tight fit." The sailor sighed. "Truth be told, we don't have much space ourselves. The barrels that were here had to go someplace else." He shrugged. "But it's like the c'tain said. 'Tis only two days, and we've got plenty of our ration left. 'Sides, the top deck is always free and clear." He looked us up and down. "Tell ya what, I'm sure the c'tain won't mind if ye spent the days top side. The salt air will do ye good!" He let out a deep belly laugh. "As long as you only sleep in the hold, it won't be so bad?" He patted our shoulders and walked off through the barrels.

I shrugged and followed him after leaving my bag behind. Step three of my infiltration plan was going well enough. I should be at Wistram soon. I'd have to decide on the final step, and if I was going to reveal myself as Pixel, after I'd gotten the lay of the land.

While the ship wasn't as nice as the one Seraphel had used, it should do. Not that I had any way to discern the quality of a boat, but the [Princess] had gotten us one where we all had private cabins. Space was a luxury that my current identity didn't warrant.

That was fine. I could spend the two days meditating and recharging my Golden Gun. It was too late to alter the plan now. I'd laid the groundwork and then contacted Wistram via a [Mage] Guild. The response had been quicker than I'd expected.

I was either lucky that one of their supply ships was close by, or they had more supply ships than I'd assumed, or they'd prioritized coming to pick us up. It was possibly a combination of the three.

...

"Pirates off the port side!"

I opened an eye. I'd only been half-meditating so I could react to my environment. I was more concerned about potential storms or sea creatures. Those were apparently the more likely scenarios we were to encounter. The supplies bound for Wistram were mostly food-stuffs. There were a few barrels that contained magical items I didn't recognize, but the Captain had said that pirates wouldn't risk angering Wistram over such a paltry load.

I guessed he was wrong.

I'd been still long enough that Expansion had increased my range far beyond the confines of the boat. I un-Inventoried a drone outside to take a look.

There was a light fog that misted over the water. It obstructed visibility, but not for my drone. It flew high into the air and granted me a better view than even the people in the crow's nest had.

Yep. That was a pirate ship, Jolly Rodger and all. The skull on their black flag had its mouth open like it was screaming. The sails were also black and also had the same screaming skull atop crossbones on them.

Given their sails, I guessed they were serious about being pirates. I thought that the black flag was used so that they could be identified only when they wanted to be. Then again, this world had magic and levels. Perhaps they got something out of being so flagrant?

They were still miles away, but that was easily within range of both my drone and my expanded powers. I moved in for a closer look.

The pirate ship was moving faster. There was a heavy wind at their back that seemed to exist only for them. The crew weren't exactly ragged, but they clearly didn't care much for personal hygiene. A large man with a bushy yellow beard and a large black hat hollered at the rest of the crew. "Avast! They're trying to outrun us! Fifteen degrees to starboard! Ready the [Light Bridge] wands!"

Hmmm...

Sounded like they wanted to come alongside and board. That made sense I supposed. No point in sinking the ship and its cargo.

"Remember! The three are our targets! Kill the rest, but Roshal will pay handsomely for them!"

Oh? There were three 'students' going to Wistram. We were the likely targets. Roshal? That name was familiar...

Oh, right. Seraphel had told me about some other countries. There were far too many to memorize normally, but I had a thumb drive I could store the details on for me.

Let's see...

Roshal...

Oh.

Well, I'm definitely killing all of these pirates. I don't want to make a big deal and upset governments and such, especially while I'm undercover, but fuck slavers and fuck pirates that work for them.

Besides, I could use some more hard data on how effective my weapons are. The ship was clearly enchanted, but not everything magical was resistant to my attacks. My current theory was that magic in and of itself wasn't special as far as blocking damage went. It had to be specifically enchanted for that effect.

Things that were more 'durable' or 'harder' had a strange... anti-all-or-nothing aura. Like, my powers couldn't damage them directly. I also couldn't Inventory them or affect them in other ways either. However, I could get around that and damage them, if I had it pass through an intermediary first - like air.

Physics were physics. It didn't matter if an energy source came from Shard shenanigans once it was affecting the real world. A laser was a laser. All the heat and energy had to go somewhere. So while damage resistant magics might reduce the effect, it wasn't something they could ignore.

Probably.

I mean, there were bound to be magics like my Gamer's Body that just straight up negated things. That was why experimenting was important.

...Plus, it will be fun.

I started with a fire bomb.

The pirate captain looked down as the cube landed at his feet a split second before it exploded in a whirlwind of flames. He stumbled out, his clothes were engulfed and his hair was burnt, but he was alive. "[Fire Suppression]! Raise the shields!" He bellowed.

It looked like he was tougher than I gave him credit for. And he had a skill that suffocated my bomb's effect - which was doubly impressive as it created a Tinker-fire worst than napalm. It didn't need oxygen to burn. Then again, fire wasn't the most direct way to transfer heat. It still took time. It was also probably a usual threat at sea that the pirates had counter measures for.

Okay, I can deal with that.

I un-Inventoried a lightning bomb.

Nothing.

Hmmmm...

The bomb was still in my Inventory. Ah. The shimmering field that had gone up around the ship was magical and blocked it. Good to know.

I smirked.

Let's try... gravity. That was physical force, but the singularity that was created wouldn't be natural. It would be a good test.

The pirate ship tilted dangerously to the side as the bomb exploded... or rather, imploded. A geyser of water shot up into the air as it was pulled into the intense gravity. The field around the ship moved with it and...

...caused the miniature black hole to vanish when they collided. The water that had been compressed already exploded out and rocked the pirate ship violently.

What next?

Transmutation. The bomb formed a thin layer of crystal as it converted the water outside of the shield, but had seemingly no effect on the barrier itself.

Lightning. The electricity arced around the shield and into the ocean.

Sound. All the pirates fell over clutching their ears. Several were left unconscious as blood dribbled from the sides of their heads.

Fire. The flames caused the shield to visibly weaken as they burned atop it. They also slid down the sides and into the water below, but it was good to know the captain's skill had either run out or didn't affect the shields themselves.

Force. Perhaps the most 'mundane' of bombs that released a pressure wave would have an interesting effect. I detonated it above the pirate ship, which was turning to the side and trying to run away. There was a loud crack as the expanding bubble of air pushed against the shield and shattered it.

It also broke the ship's mast and caused our vessel to rock from the shockwave.

Well, time to finish this, I suppose. That was most of the esoteric effects anyways. Though I should've tested a time bomb too. Then again, those were a pain to Craft, so perhaps not.

I un-Inventoried a dozen firebombs and watched as the pirate ship was reduced to ash before it even had a chance to sink under the sea.

---

Aaron Vanwell paced back and forth by the window. They should be arriving soon. More people from Earth! He hadn't felt this excited since he'd arrived at Wistram. The gnawing worry that had plagued him since the text messages was just growing larger and larger. It hadn't helped that the ship that had been carrying them had sent a message about pirates!

Argh!

He gave one final glance out the window and went to sit down at his desk. He should be doing something more productive with his time, like taking his phone apart again.

Except... Archmage Feor wasn't around to cast [Repair] to fix all the damage he'd do. Aaron was getting better as his [Engineer] class leveled, but there were just so many tiny parts. He just didn't have the tools necessary to disassemble it perfectly.

And that was the easy part. Putting it back together successfully was the goal. He was sure he'd get several levels from that. Then... he'd combine his [Engineer] and [Mage] classes!

At least, that was the goal. The Wistram mages said it was possible, but that the class would probably be new - as new as his technology.

Okay, so if working on his [Engineer] class was out, what about [Mage]? He could practice some spells. Or go over the mana exercises that Feor had taught him...

But, what about the pirates?

Sure, the people who messaged Wistram about meeting 'Blackmage' were safe - at least according to the second message, but what if something had happened since then?

Feor had seemed... evasive when Aaron had asked how the ship had escaped the Screaming Sails. Aaron didn't know... well... anything about pirates, but a group that had a name had to be a big deal, right? So had the ship gotten away? Fought them off? Made some kind of deal?

He didn't know, and no one would tell him!

Aaron stood up. He couldn't concentrate.

He went back to the window and waited.

...

The fog surrounded the bubble around Wistram. It was a large bubble of perfect weather, but you could still see the edges if you looked.

Aaron wasn't looking. His head was resting on his arms at the windowsill. He'd pulled his chair over and eventually fallen asleep.

The bang of his door being slammed open jolted him awake. "Wha?"

Feor strolled in. The ancient half-elf's pale blue and silver eyes focused on him. "Blackmage. The ship has arrived. You should speak with the passenger and make sure they're from your homeland."

Aaron blinked. "Right." He stood up and followed the white-haired Archmage. Archmage, not [Archmage]. Apparently that was a class that the leaders of Wistram used to have. It was a minor secret that Feor wished to become an actual [Archmage] one day.

Secrets. Aaron thought about Wistram's main form of currency as he followed Feor. Wistram didn't really have a post-scarcity society, although it was rich enough to nearly be the same thing. If you weren't a full student, you had to pay a lot of gold to attend, but that was it. Food, shelter, and any other basic need were provided to everyone. The only limits were rare magical materials... and secrets.

Secrets about how to find a hidden room. How to cast a specific spell. What people did in their free time.

It boggled the mind, especially since Aaron himself was Wistram's biggest secret. He'd appeared in a room with dangerous looking monsters - golems as he'd found out later. Thankfully, their leader - Cognita arrived soon. She'd questioned him, and brought him to the Archmages - the leaders of Wistram's factions.

Not that any one of them had the actual [Archmage] class. That was another minor secret.

Thankfully, the school of magic was every bit as amazing as it should've been. People casting spells. Golems walking around. Hidden passages. It was so much like Hogwarts that Aaron could hardly contain himself at times!

And now there were three more Earthers.

Hopefully.

It had to be someone from the text messages. No one else in the world knew of 'Blackmage'.

But there was always the chance it was a trap. Kent Scott. Or possibly the King of Destruction.

Aaron hadn't known who that was, but apparently it was a big deal and led to some sort of... incident with one of the Archmages. He'd spoken with Amerys after she'd been imprisoned, but he still felt that he was missing some vital context.

He shook his head as he hurried after Feor. Greeting the people from his world came first. Greeting them, and figuring out if they might be imposters.

...

"Ah! Archmage Feor!" The [Captain] of the ship wore a wide smile as he walked up. "It's an honor to see you again after all these years!" He swept his hat off and bowed. "Is it you that we have to thank for destroying the [Pirates]?" The man let out a deep belly laugh as he put his impressive hat back on top of his head. "I daresay that no [Pirates] will be bold enough to accost a ship headed towards Wistram after word gets around about the fate of the Screaming Sails!!"

"Yes. Quite." Archmage Feor stroked his silvery-white beard. "Wistram, of course, would like to hear of the event from your point of view." He turned to the red-headed half-elf at his side. "Teura, please see to it that we get a full accounting of what happened."

"Of course." Teura gracefully bowed her head, and Aaron pointedly looked elsewhere. Instead, he focused on the three people who were exiting the ship by its gangplank.

The first was a short Asian kid who was wearing a... vulgar t-shirt. If that wasn't a clear clue as to him being from Earth, he also had an expensive looking backpack. He stumbled onto the dock, fell to his knees, and then puked.

The [Captain] glanced over his shoulder and let out a short laugh. "Ha! That one never did get his sea-legs." He shook his head. "At least we won't have to swab the decks again."

The Asian kid wiped his mouth and started to stand up, only to stumble as the next passenger pushed him to the side. The second person was taller, black, and had muscles that Aaron could only dream of. He scowled as he stepped past the first passenger, but that fell away as he looked up - and up, and up at Wistram. The magical castle was a sight to behold.

Aaron had seen it before, but it still felt so... amazing. He could totally understand the other guy's shock. However, his attention was quickly drawn to the final passenger.

While the second person stood at about five foot six inches, the third one towered over him. He had to be at least seven feet tall. While he didn't have the defined muscles of the previous person, he was built like a bear. He had a barrel chest and long, scraggly, blond hair. He patiently waited on the gangplank while the other people from Earth gawked.

He was definitely older than the rest, and he only glanced up at Wistram before lowering his gaze back to ground.

Oh. Aaron understood as the gangplank wobbled. He was a bit too big for it, but he still waited on it instead of pushing through like the other guy had done.

"Archmage Feor." Everyone froze as a voice behind them spoke. "The new year doesn't start for months yet. Wistram does not accept new students at this time." Aaron slowly turned around and gave the speaker a small wave.
Cognita didn't respond.

The Truestone golem was tall, even taller than the third passenger. Unlike the other golems in Wistram, she could think. She also looked alive, despite being made of stone. Her dress flowed like cloth, and her face moved exactly like a human's would.

It now wore a small frown, which was terrifying.

...For the actual [Mages] that was. Aaron knew that they feared the golem, and that she was the main reason most people at Wistram died. She guarded the upper floors, and you had to fight her for access. It was a fight to the death, and Cognita always won.

Or at least, that was what Aaron had been told, or rather, warned about. Personally, he'd never found Cognita to be anything but helpful and polite - even if she wasn't social.

"Cognita." Feor cleared his throat. "These are special cases, and while they may be students given time, for now they are my personal guests."

The golem arched one perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "Guests are welcome, but they must be informed as to the rules of Wistram." She walked forward and Aaron, Feor, and Teura stepped out of her way.

The Asian kid had finally gotten to his feet. He stared at the golem. "Dude." He poked the second passenger.

"What?" The Black guy snarled at him and then followed his pointing finger to Cognita. "Holy..."

The final passenger's round face smiled as he saw the golem, but he remained silent.

“I am Cognita. I am a Carved Golem, or rather, a Truestone Construct designed to oversee Wistram and its mages. I and my kindred maintain and preserve this building and will assist you for the duration of your stay. In a few moments you will be led to your rooms, but before that I must tell you of the rules of Wistram.”

Her head moved, and Aaron could tell she was looking at each of them in turn. He remembered her emerald eyes that looked like actual emeralds in her porcelain sockets. They were un-nerving.

“Firstly. You must never venture into the high parts of the castle or the lower reaches unaccompanied and even then, only with great cause. Dangers lurk within Wistram, ancient magics and spells and creatures called here and never destroyed. Too, the very enchantments keeping this citadel intact sometimes fray. Only a mage with true power is allowed into such places. Second. Some of the Golems here were made as I am, but most lack any form of intelligence and simply obey orders. Do not attack or obstruct them in any way or they may react unpredictably. Third. Anyone attempting to cast area-wide magics must first consult with I or an experienced mage. Unpredictable results may occur if a spell affects a wide area of the academy at once. Is that understood?”

Aaron paused. That was the EXACT speech she'd given him! The same words, the same inflection, the same everything. She must have it memorized.

"Ah, yes." Feor spoke up from the back. "Why don't I escort them to where they'll be staying? Once we are there, we can have a nice chat." He turned to Teura. "Come find us after getting the [Captain]'s account of what happened. He motioned for the three passengers to follow him.

Aaron fell in behind him, but as he glanced over he shoulder, he saw Cognita staring after them with narrowed eyes.

...

Cognita followed them to Feor's private quarters. The Archmage didn't say anything even as she entered the room with them. Cognita went where she pleased.

"Ahem." Feor sat on a plush chair and motioned to the new arrivals to sit down. Aaron sat next to his side. Was he supposed to speak now? What were his questions again? "We received a message that asked for an audience with Blackmage. At great effort and expense we have brought you to Wistram." He glanced at Cognita. "It is not a request we usually grant. Before we continue, could you regale us with your stories?"

Aaron leaned forward. Who were they? They had to be from the chatroom. Loran Grimnar? Humble Actor? strider_479? It had to be one of the last two. They said they were from Terandria, which is where the ship had picked up its passengers.

Unfortunately, none of the other people from the first chat participated in the second. That... wasn't a good thing.

The three people looked at each other and the Asian kid shrugged and said. "Fine. I go." He took a deep breath. "My name Mu Jiahao." He rolled his eyes. "Or Jiahao Mu in English. I at ChinaJoy." He smiled and patted his backpack that he'd placed at his feet. "Very good. Much swag. Went PC booth, then in... uhm... village. Very stupid. Very poor. No charger. Bad food. One day, Pixel appear with those two." He motioned to the other two people. "He spoke Mandarin. Explained place. Explained system." Jiahao smirked. "Stupid armor. Samus lame. Master Chief or Doom Guy much cooler!"

Feor blinked. "What?"

The black guy shook his head. "Look. These two don't speak English well. Let me explain. I was with Pixel the longest."

"Feh. Blowhard." Jiahao sneered at him.

"Oh yeah?" The muscled man turned to him. "Say that to my face!"

"I say to your butt!" Jiahao stood up.

"That doesn't make sense!" The muscular guy stood up and towered over the smaller kid.

"You face no make sense!" Jiahao glared up at him.

Oh, Aaron got it. He was calling his face a butt. How 'clever'.

"Please, please." Feor held up his hands and a wall of shimmering light forced the two apart. "There is no need for violence. I realize you must be... on nerve after spending so much time in such a cramped environment. Once you explain things, we can get some good food and you can relax in your rooms."

The two Earthers looked at him and reluctantly nodded before returning to their seats.

"Fine. As I was sayin', I was with Pixel when he saved these two." The black man motioned to the other two.

"And your name would be?" Feor spoke gently, but Aaron knew the question was loaded. The Archmage had a spell that let him tell if someone was lying. Their names, their stories, he was looking for flaws... Just like he and the other Archmages had done when Aaron had appeared.

Of course, there were apparently ways around that, which was why Aaron had his own questions to ask eventually.

"Oh, yeah. My name's Vincent Mavuto." He scratched his head. "I'm a [Boxer]. I was trying to get into the Junior Bantamweight back on Earth. I was doing my morning run when I suddenly appeared in a cave!" He shook his head. "I mean, I had no idea what was going on. I don't do drugs or shit, but I figured I must've passed out or had a fugue state or some shit." He shrugged. "Anyways, it was dark and I only had my Mp3 player for light."

Aaron looked at him quizzically. "You didn't have your phone?"

"Nah, man." Vincent shook his head. "I don't need that shit distractin' me while I'm running, you dig? Anyways, its screen doesn't make too much light, right? So I was practically blind and stumbling around."

"So what else new?" Jiahao said from the side.

Vincent turned to him. "Shut up." He turned back to Feor. "As I was sayin', I was in a cave and tryin' to find my way out. I got in, somehow, so I was retracing my steps, right? The thing was, I couldn't see any footprints or shit and I was startin' to freak out." He sighed. "That was when I ran into a bear."

"What?" Aaron gasped.

Vincent nodded. "Yep. A big, brown one." He put his hands up and threw a jab. "Now, I ain't no punk, but I also ain't stupid. A bear's bad business! I started to back up, but I'd woke the thing already!" He rubbed his chest. "The thing swatted me like a flea." Vincent shrugged. "Next thing I know, I'm laying out under the sun with a tattered and blood stained shirt, but I'm fine. Not a scratch on me!" He reached down into the small cloth bag he had and pulled out a yellow T-shirt that did, indeed look like a bear had mauled someone in.

"Hmmm..." Feor hummed. "It is most fortunate that someone came to your help. An adventurer perhaps? Was it this 'Pixel' that was mentioned earlier?"

"Got it in one." Vincent nodded. "Only Pixel wasn't no adventurer." He smiled. "My boy's a superhero, yo!"

Jiahao shook his head. "Leave out detail. Most important detail. Pixel from video game!"

"What?" Aaron blinked. A video game?

Feor turned to him. "Blackmage, a video game is like that... 'application' you have on your phone, correct?"

Aaron scratched the back of his head. "Uhm... yeah, but there are like, a lot of different ones." He turned to Vincent. "So he was an angry bird or a pig or something like that?"

The Boxer shook his head. "Naw man, he was just in this sweet armor. Looked like a bunch of cubes, like he was... uhm... what's the word?"

"Pixelated." Jiahao rolled his eyes. "How come you so bad at English?"

"Shut up." Vincent glared at the other Earther before turning back to Aaron and Feor. "But, yeah, pixelated. Like from a video game, but in real life." He shrugged again. "But that's superhero shit, yeah? It's, like, his gimmick. It was just armor, like Iron Man, but I'll tell you, the dude knew what he was doing. Gave me some boxing pointers that were... REALLY good."

Iron Man? Aaron leaned forward. There was someone who'd already become a [Superhero]? That... was amazing! Sure, the MCU wasn't as cool as Harry Potter, but... wow! 'Pixel' HAD to have come from Earth! Did he arrive earlier? The people from the chat had said they were [Heroes], so was he part of that group?

That... would make sense. They hadn't been in the second chat, but there could be other reasons then that they were imprisoned or killed. If Pixel was one of them, it would explain why he was hunting down other Earthers and delivering them to Wistram!

Aaron wanted to meet him. Did he learn magic? What class gave him video game armor? Could it be reproduced?

A glare and an invisible, magical nudge from Feor brought him out of his daydreams and back into the conversation. He hoped he hadn't missed anything other than the two newcomers bickering.

Jiahao scoffed. "He just [Gamer], like me!" He pointed to his chest. "Just wait. I strong soon! Then see who jackass!"

"Whatever, loser." Vincent flipped Jiahao off before turning back to Aaron and Feor. "So, Pixel told me what was up. That this was another world. There was magic and levels and all that." He thumped his chest. "That's why I got a cool class, instead of being some scrub!"

"Ah, yes." Feor stroked his silvery-white beard. "You mentioned being a [Boxer] was it? Is that some sort of [Laborer] class that specializes in boxes?"

Vincent chuckled. "Nah, man." He stood up, crouched down, and raised his hands. "It's all about the sweet science." His hands blurred as the threw a flurry of jabs. "Physical training. Going the distance." He swayed side to side. "Duck and weave." He straighted up and smiled. "I was pretty good back on Earth, but I've picked up some nice skills here." He sat back down and smirked at Jiahao. "Unlike some people."

Aaron decided he needed to speak up to clear away some confusion. "Archmage, boxing is a sport on Earth. There are two people that go into a ring and punch each other. That's it. No kicking, or biting, or grappling, or weapons. It's just skill against skill alone." To quote a famous movie.

"So it's like a [Brawler] or a [Fist Fighter] then?" Feor hummed to himself. "And you're what level in it?"

"Thirteen!"

Aaron blinked. "Thirteen? How long have you been here?"

Vincent shrugged. "I dunno. Like a month all told."

"And you got into many fights in that short of time?" Feor asked.

"Nah, Pixel took care of anything like that." Vincent pointed at the final person with his thumb. "I got to see him utterly take apart the [Bandits] that had Michail here." He shrugged. "Probably did some other stuff too, but not around us. To be honest, I think he put us on that boat 'cause we were crampin' his style. I got my levels from doing my roadwork, and shadow-boxing, and stuff like that."

"Bandits?" Aaron wanted to know the details.

"Yep." Vincent nodded again. "A big group of them. Pixel tracked 'em down not long after he saved me. He beat them up and saved Michail." He looked over at the giant man. "I still don't know how he got there. Probably appeared in their camp or sumptin'." Vincent glared at Jiahao. "It was about a week later that we came across this free-loader who got lucky enough to arrive in an actual village."

"You sore. Unlucky." Jiahao thumped his chest. "I smart. Lucky. Much better!"

"Why don't we just ask," Feor turned to the large man. "Michail was it? Could you tell us what happened to you?"

There was a pause as everyone turned to look at the round-faced man. "Я не говорю по-английски."

"Yeah." Vincent shook his head. "He doesn't speak English."

"I'll need to search my spellbooks for a [Translation] spell. Or find an artifact for him to use." Feor sighed as he stood up and walked towards a bookcase. Before he started undoing the wards on it, he turned to look at Aaron. "While I do that, is there anything you want to ask, Blackmage?"

Oh! Right! His questions! "Uhm. What are your favorite movies?"

Vincent gave him a blank look. "Really? That's what you want to know? My favorite movie?" He shrugged. "Well, as a Philly boy, I gotta represent. Rocky."

No one had said that in the chat. In theory, only Earthers should know about it. He turned to Jiahao.

"Mortal Kombat." The Asian kid shrugged. "Best video game movie, but low bar."

Notes:

Bios:

Jiahao Mu - OC. Probably who he appears to be.

Vincent Mavuto - OC. Probably who he appears to be.

Michail Miroslavov - OC. Probably who he appears to be.

Aaron Vanwell - Blackmage. An Earther who appeared within Wistram.

Archmage Feor - Not a real [Archmage]. Dyes his beard to appear older and wiser. Gives off a Gandalf/Dumbledore vibe.

Cognita Truestone - One of three Truestone golems that [Archmage] Zelkyr created. Protects Wistram and keeps it in good condition for him.

Chapter 25: Pixel and the Secrets of Wistram 2

Once the interrogation was over, I'd been led to my new accommodations.

I think it went well. I don't think anyone suspected me.

Except, perhaps, Cognita. My notifications were picking up suspicion and doubt from the Carved Golem - along with some other disturbing ones about someone named 'Zelkyr'.

...But, that might just be what she's like. She did say she 'oversaw' Wistram, whatever that meant. She might be the equivalent of the head of security.

That, however, was a good thing. If someone could pickup on my disguise, I'd be much more comfortable in considering Wistram a safe place for 'Earthers' to stay. Which, of course, was the main reason why I was undercover. Cara didn't trust the magical academy, and neither did I.

It was important to see just how they treated people from Earth first hand. I also didn't want to appear as Pixel until I had a good grasp on their motivations.

Sure, they were a powerful group and could probably be very helpful in tracking Riley and Sibby down, but they also might be a powerful group that would try and use my sister as leverage, or coerce her into working for them. It had happened in the past, and who knew what sort of magical Master effects they could use?

No. It was much better to see how they treated other people from Earth first. Regular people wouldn't be nearly as valuable, but there were numerous nuggets of knowledge they could be used for. Things that we took for granted.

For example, I knew some things that didn't come from my Shard. Stuff like oil wells and math. Heck, even third-hand knowledge of things like crop rotation might be a big deal if someone didn't have the idea in the first place. It didn't necessarily matter that you knew how to reproduce something, knowing it existed in the first place was a huge help.

Like, I bet that most people don't know how to make a gun or gunpowder. However, it wouldn't take a genius to say, 'don't throw an exploding ball of fire at people, take a small explosion and use its force to propel a projectile at them instead.'

You wouldn't be making a magical-machine-gun any time soon, but a cannon? That was pretty basic and would put Ailendamus' siege-crossbows to shame - especially if the cannonball itself was also enchanted.

I needed to know what Wistram's intentions were first before I could do anything else. Plus, learning about this world and its magic was a good thing too. Information was power.

---

Aaron looked up from his dissembled cell phone when her heard a knock at his door.

"Who is it?" He asked as he stood up to open it.

"It's Vincent."

Aaron paused for a moment. What did the boxer want with him? Aaron definitely still wanted to talk about Earth and reminisce, but they'd done that last night after Feor had run out of questions. Besides it was... he turned to look at his phone, before remembering that he'd just taken it apart again. No clock there.

Plus, the thing reset every time it was [Repaired]. He'd break the ingrained habit eventually.

He'd asked if they had a time-telling spell like in Harry Potter... and gotten laughed at once again. Apparently there was no simple time spell, and instead [Magical Clockmakers] were a thing.

"Hey! You goin' to open up, or what?" Vincent pounded on the door a few times.

Aaron jumped slightly. "Yeah." He quickly moved to the other side of the room and opened the door. An irritated Vincent stood outside alongside two annoyed looking half-elves. "Sorry, I was busy." Aaron glanced at his desk with the remains of his phone.

"Doing what?" Vincent craned his neck. "Aw, man. Your phone!" He put his hand on Aaron's shoulder and shook his head. "That sucks man, but I guess the battery ran out already, huh?"

Aaron looked confused for a second before understanding the other man's mistaken assumption. "Oh, no. Nothing like that!" He held his palms up. "Archmage Feor has a spell that can repair it. That also charges its battery! I'm just taking it apart to level [Engineer]."

"Really?" Vincent's eyebrows rose. "Heh, cool." He smiled, took his hand off of Aaron's shoulder, and then lightly punched him. "Way to game the system, my brother!"

"Oh, thanks." Wow, talk about culture shock. He hadn't been called 'brother' since he'd left Earth. "So, uh, what can I do for you?" He glanced at the irritated half-elves. "Especially this early."

Vincent's smile faded. "Ah, right. Figured I'd ask you where the gym was." He jerked his thumb at one of the half-elves. "Breska here says they don't have one. I figure it has to be some kind of miscommunication, cultural thing, so I thought I'd ask you."

"A gym?" Aaron blinked. "I, uh, don't think they have one here. You see, casting magic burns calories, and everyone's a [Mage] or something, so they, uh, don't really, uh... exercise?" He ended the sentence with an upper inflection as he looked at the two guards.

"What?" Vincent sounded outraged. "What a bunch of nerd shit." He scowled and glanced over his shoulder before lowering his voice. "By the way, what's with tweedle dee and tweedle dumb here?"

Who? Oh, the guards. "Archmage Feor assigned guards to us to make sure we're safe."

Vincent gave him a flat look. "I thought Wistram was 'safe', why do we need guards?"

One of the half-elves, Aaron thought their name was Haylet, spoke up. "Didn't you hear Cognita's warning? Wistram's lower floors are dangerous. We can't have you wandering off." He crossed his arms over his chest. "It's not like we WANT to follow you around all day, or stand outside your door!"

Vincent turned to him. "Then don't. Simple as that." He rolled his eyes and faced Aaron again. "If there's no gym, is there any way to get a heavy bag?" He brought his hands up and jabbed a few times. "Only so much I can train with shadowboxing."

Breska spoke up. "I already told you, we'll inform the Archmage. He'll get a [Magical Artisan] to make you one."

"Yeah?" Vincent looked at him. "And how long will that take?" He sighed and shook his head at Aaron. "Whatever. There any good place to run around here?"

"Uhm..."

"Nothing inside, but you can run all you want on the beach." Haylet added.

Vincent perked up. "Really? I've heard running on sand's supposed ta be a real good workout!" He punched Aaron in the shoulder again before turning and waving. "Thanks for the help! Talk to you later!"

The [Boxer] took off in a jog, with an annoyed Breska running after him yelling that he was going the wrong way.

...

Breakfast was already in full swing by the time Aaron made it to the Grand Hall. As was usual, he and his escort walked past the tables where hungry students were feasting on the supplied dishes. He fought the urge to hunch his shoulders.

Truth be told, he'd rather be eating in a corner somewhere. While it was great that he got to speak with Archmage Feor, he still felt out of his depth. The half-elf turned his head as if noticing Aaron's presence by magic - which was probably the case. He might not have half-moon glasses, a pipe, or a silly hat, but the Dumbledore/Gandalf vibe he gave off existed regardless.

It was the beard. It had to be the beard.

Aaron wondered how many years it would take to grow something like that. He didn't need to shave, as peach fuzz was the extent that his facial hair existed. If he had access to the Internet, he could look up the time it took to grow out two feet of hair.

Then again, half-elves might be different. They lived for a long time. Archmage Feor himself was said to be more than a century old. For all Aaron knew, it might have taken him decades to fully grow his beard.

He sighed. That was probably a secret.

Wistram's currency was both intriguing and completely annoying at the same time. He supposed that was what the result of a post-scarcity society looked like. Wistram, itself, was apparently quite expensive to attend - unless you got a scholarship and became a full member of the academy. Once you arrived, every basic need was provided for. Students got their own rooms, food was freely available and extravagant (but disappointingly - not magical), and the golems took care of any physical labor that was required.

There were still things that people wanted, but were in short supply. Stuff like spellbooks, artifacts, magical... uhm... crafting materials, and the time of teachers. Aaron knew that he was lucky. He'd been told repeatedly that Archmage Feor's time was valuable. Personal tutoring sessions were practically unheard of, but he got them.

To acquire any of those things, you normally had to trade... secrets.

Honestly, he still didn't really 'get' it, but that was how Wistram worked. He guessed that was why the mages hungered for even the slightest tidbits of details about Earth. They were used to hoarding secrets, and the secrets Aaron had were practically unheard of.

In that sense, it probably was appropriate for them to treat him like they did.

He still didn't like it. It didn't feel... earned. Just like his seat at the high table. While there wasn't a hard rule that he knew of about whom could sit where, only the top mages dared approach the large table that overlooked the Grand Hall.

Aaron's gaze swept across it. Jiahao was talking with a naga. What was her name? She was an Archmage, he should remember it. Nalii? Naili? He knew it was really long, and that people normally just called her by the first two syllables. The large man, Michail, was talking with a centaur.

Aaron did a double take. Archmage Feor hadn't managed to cast a [Translation] spell yesterday, so how was he talking? Did the centaur know Russian? At least, that was what Aaron guessed Michail's language was. It sounded like it... at least from what he vaguely remembered from movies.

Was the centaur some sort of expert? Aaron hadn't seen him at the high table before, but none of the other mages were causing a fuss, so he had to be welcome.

Food was always provided in a buffet style. Aaron and his shadow stopped by the table to load up some plates. Eggs, sausage, duck, pancakes... there was always a lot of a wide assortment of food. No house-elfs though. Just golems and [Chefs] - admittedly REALLY good [Chefs] who had skills that were practically magic.

Heck, some of them probably WERE [Magical Chefs] or something like that. So still cool, just not cool in the same way magically appearing/disappearing food would be. The golems handled the cleanup the same way they handled all the maintenance.

Aaron took an empty seat close to Archmage Feor. He wasn't comfortable enough to sit anywhere else, especially with his escort. It might be racist to say that half-elves stuck together, but they all did seem to know Feor. That meant that they were probably Centrists. The factions in Wistram weren't exactly like the houses in Hogwarts. They were more along the lines of political parties, but like everything else, they were kept secret.

Aaron only knew the leaders of the other factions, and that was only because they had introduced themselves to him following his acceptance into the school.

Archmage Feor nodded at him. "Good morning, Blackmage, I hope your final countryman knows-" His eyes glanced over. "Ah, there he is."

Aaron turned and saw Vincent entering the Great Hall next to a frazzled-looking Breska. The two seemed to bicker for a moment with the half-elf pointing at the buffet table and then the high table. Soon, the two of them had settled down next to Aaron. The table noticeably quieted when they sat down. Everyone, including the other two Earthers, glanced at pair out of the corners of their eyes.

Aaron was reminded of when he'd first arrived.

"Hey, Blackmage, that's what I'm supposed to call you, right?" Vincent was smiling despite being covered in sweat and having blood on his knuckles. "You can call me 'Boxer', heh."

"Oh, uhm, good morning, 'Boxer'." He looked at Vincent's hands. "Are you okay?"

The other boy blinked. "What?" He held up his hand. "Oh, you mean these? Yeah, I'm fine. Just scraped my knuckles against a skeleton."

"A skeleton?" Aaron had heard Cognita's warning, and knew that there were dangerous things on the lower floors that sometimes wandered up. He'd never personally seen an undead monster before.

"Yeah, damnest thing, me and Brava here were heading to the beach when we stumbled upon a couple of skeletons." He smirked. "And I don't mean bones just lyin' there. I mean, walking, talking, well... not talking, but moving skeletons, like from a movie or shit!" He waggled his fingers before making a fist. "Clocked one good." He then sighed. "It didn't stay down, Breva here had to do some magic shit to 'kill' them." He made finger quotes.

"And you didn't use a potion on your..." Aaron glanced at his hands again. "knuckles?"

"Fuck no, I ain't drinking one of those vile things unless my life's in danger!" Vincent shuddered.

Breska sighed and said. "I told you, you can just dab the potion on the wound if you dislike their taste."

"Uhn, uhn." Vincent scowled. "Fuck that noise."

"If you don't heal them quickly, they could get infected, then a potion won't work at all!" The half-elf said through clenched teeth.

"Pft." Vincent rolled his eyes. "I'll wash 'em with soap when I take my shower." He blinked. "Wait, does Wistram have showers? Tell me they have indoor plumbing!"

"Ah, yes, showers." Archmage Feor spoke up. "Blackmage told us about them. We do not have any, what was the class? [Plumbers], but it wasn't difficult to create a simulated rain room." He wistfully smiled. "Indeed, it does remind me of living in the forest and experiencing a cleansing downpour."

"So..." Aaron turned back to Vincent. "You punched a skeleton?"

"Not hard." The boxer shrugged. "I know better than to strike hard-on-hard."

"Hard-on-hard?" Feor looked intrigued, as did the other mages that were close-by. "Is that another custom from your homeland?"

Vincent furrowed his brow. "I wouldn't call it a 'custom', more like a martial art rule." He looked at the expectant faces around him. "Fine, I'll explain. You see, when you throw a punch, or a kick, or any kind of strike, you want to hit hard." He punched his palm for emphasis, and got blood on it. "But we can punch a lot harder than our bones can take. So if you hit something hard, like a wall or the other guy's chin, with something hard, like your knuckles or your elbow, then both of them are going to hurt, and you'll probably break a bone."

He glanced around at the nodding [Mages] before continuing.

"So, same thing with an open-hand strike." Vincent clapped. "Your palms are soft, so you can use those to hit someone's chin without breaking your own bones. Of course, you won't break their's either, but there's more to dealing damage than breaking bones." Vincent started getting excited. "So Boxers have gloves. People think that makes us hit softer, and that's true in a sense, but the real value is we can go after the chin and chest without holdin' back." He smirked. "It actually makes Boxing more dangerous. Back when the gloves were lighter or non-existent, people mainly used body-blows." He pointed to his temple. "It's the headshots that will kill ya, but they're also some of the coolest punches."

"Fascinating." Archmage Feor smiled. "I have met [Martial Artists] in my time, though I have never been to, oh what country is that, oh yes, Pomle. I didn't know that it was so... advanced."

Aaron wasn't sure about that. Sure, Earth had technology, but surely a world of adventure and magic had experienced fighters. Although... who really fought with their hands? It was just as stupid to bring nothing to a knife fight as it was to bring a knife to a gun fight.

Wait, was that how the saying went?

Regardless, it wasn't like an Archmage like Feor would get into a bare-handed brawl. In fact, the elderly half-elf had probably never even considered such a thing. Aaron supposed he could see the... novelty in Vincent from that perspective.

"Yeah, I was thinkin' 'bout gettin' some brass knuckles. Y'know, compress the striking point. Transfer the shock along the entire arm. Not to mention being punched by metal's a lot worst than bone." He sighed. "Too bad they're illegal. Plus, they'd probably mess with my [Boxer] class."

"Brass knuckles are illegal?" Aaron blurted it out. That couldn't be right, could it?

"I know, right?" Vincent turned to him. "Guns need a license, but anyone can carry. Cops will put you away if you carryin' a lump of metal tho'." He then mumbled something under his breath that Aaron didn't catch.

"And... you know a lot about these... guns?" Feor stared at Vincent intently.

"Nah, man. All I know is that you don't point the barrel at yo self." The [Boxer] started digging into his food, and slowly the rest of the conversations at the table picked back up.

Aaron pondered Vincent while he ate. He wasn't sure what he thought about the other Earther. Boxing didn't interest him, but they might have other things in common. He leaned over. "Isn't it like Hogwarts? A magical school! Spells!"

Vincent looked up from his plate. "I suppose." His gaze shifted out over the Great Hall. "Lots of weird lookin' people." He smirked. "That's cool." He frowned. "I do have some questions." He motioned towards Breska with his head. "My bodyguard over here wasn't very forthcomin' with the deets."

"Oh?" Aaron straightened up. "Anything I can help with?"

"Sure." Vincent looked at his half-elf guard who was still studiously ignoring him. "I get that elves are, like, agile and shit. Not to mention, uhm, agin' real slow, but are all of 'em magical?"

Hmmm... Aaron thought about what Feor had told him. "Okay, so they're half-elves, not elves. All the elves died out a long time ago. I don't think all of them are [Mages], but they supposedly have more, uhm, affinity for magic?"

"Ah, gotcha." He glanced to his side. "You think I upset Bresco by callin' him an elf, instead of a half-elf?"

Aaron tried not to look at Breska. "Possibly. I think you messing up his name is more likely to be the case."

Vincent smiled. "Hey, you gotta know where you stand. If someone won't correct you when you get their name wrong, then that's on them isn't it? Not like he ever told me anyways, I just picked it up from what other people said."

"Oh. Okay." As long as he wasn't doing it completely just to piss Breska off, that might be alright...

"So the centaurs are centaurs, right? I'm not gettin' that name wrong am I?"

"No. They're centaurs." Aaron glanced over at the one standing next to Michail. The pair had ceased talking to each other. "I don't know how much you know about ancient Greek myths, but it might not be best to bring some of that up."

Vincent laughed. "Don't have to worry about that! I can't blab what I don't know!" He took another bite of his food. "Okay, so what's with the headless people in armor? I mean, that's strange."

Aaron nodded. "Those are Dullahans. I haven't, actually, talked to any. I'm not sure what would be considered rude."

"Gotcha. Don't want to piss off the guys in fullplate." Vincent gestured with his fork. "What about the... reptile-people? Why do some of them not have legs?"

"You must mean the Archmage." Shoot! What was her name? Now he felt bad about thinking less of Vincent for forgetting Breska's. "She's an, uhm, advanced Lizardfolk." He stared at the Archmage before quickly looking away. "They, uh, evolve? The ones with the legs are the way that Lizardfolk are born, but they can change as they get older, into, uhm, Nagas, Lamias, Gorgons?" Aaron wasn't sure about what he was saying, and he didn't want to tell Vincent something that wasn't true. "Sorry I'm not much help."

Vincent put his fork down and patted him on the back. "No worries. You still know more than me!" He picked his utensil back up and looked around the hall. "I guess the only other group we haven't gone over are the zombies. You think they'll be mad about me punching a skeleton?"

Zombies? Aaron followed Vincent's gaze. "Those aren't zombies, they're Selphids."

"What's that? They look dead to me."

"Well... they are dead, kinda, but they aren't undead." Right, so what was that about Death Magic? "[Necromancers] are banned, but undead like zombies still naturally occur." Somehow. He'd need to ask Archmage Feor about that. "Selphids aren't actually what you're seeing. They're a race that inhabit the dead."

Vincent turned and stared at him. "Inhabit the dead."

Aaron swallowed. "Uhm, yeah. I'm not sure exactly how, but they live inside dead bodies. I think I've heard them complain about not having fresh ones in Wistram." What else? "They mainly live on Baleros, that's a continent. And, uh, they're cool? I mean, they don't bite other people and turn them into zombies, or kill them for their bodies or anything like that."

"Hmmmm..." Vincent hummed. What was he thinking? Was he worried about being around dead people? "I wonder if I could get one to spar with me. I bet they don't bruise, so they could probably keep up - even as amateurs."

Huh?

---

Today he was Galei the Centaur.

He actually already knew a great deal about Aaron Vanwell, Blackmage, the human from Earth. While not an 'Archmage', he still had his ways and the Ullsinoi faction saw a lot. It was hard to trick a [Trickster], and it was hard to fool an [Illusionist]. Thus, he was not as surprised as the other high-level [Mages] of Wistram when they'd learned about Earth.

Sure, the counsel had known about Blackmage in a general sense, but few outside of the Centrists had gotten any direct access. For now, that had changed.

Not that Galei would bet against Feor re-asserting his monopoly. The Centrists were one of the most powerful factions in Wistram and had a lot of clout. If he was a betting centaur, and he was, he'd give odds on Feor doubling down on how dangerous the knowledge was and how contained it needed to be.

And who else but him out of the Archmages could keep such a secret? Not Nailihuaile - she was too 'flighty', never mind that she'd sought out one of the Earthers at breakfast. Not Viltach - he was too distracted by Ailendamus' latest war and rumors of another 'Archmage'. Not Amerys - she was... 'indisposed'.

Indisposed. What a nice way to say 'locked up because the King of Destruction was waking and she'd go to his side and help him re-claim his empire'.

Galei wasn't sure what he, or the Ullsinoi would do about Feor's ambition. If pressed for a vote, he'd probably only cast a single one. Him monopolizing the knowledge of Earth was a temporary thing. Even as tightly held as secrets were in Wistram, they were still passed around as currency. The relevant revelations would reveal themselves to the rest of the rabble given time.

Galei wasn't worried about that, instead he was far more interested in Michail Miroslavov, or 'Михаил Мирославов'. He did love language - twisting the meaning of words was a hobby, so speaking with the Earther from Russia or 'Россия' was refreshing.

Doubly so, since Michail was interested in books more than fighting, despite his size. The first question he'd asked once presented with the amulet of [Translation] was 'will this allow me to read english'?

The conversation that had followed wasn't about magic, or different races, or levels, or anything that Galei would expect a person from Earth to have questions about. Instead, Michail had focused on books. History books. Medical books. Romance books. Fiction books. Books about current events. Children's books.

Ironically he'd inquired about nearly every type of book except the obvious one - Spell books.

When asked, he'd just shrugged his shoulders and said: 'knowledge of magic is important, but useless without context.'

Galei had to think long and hard about that statement. It was... profound in a way that Wistram wasn't. He'd elected to continue the conversation with Michail and joined him for breakfast. Galei the Centaur did not usually sit at the High Table, in fact he never 'sat' there. The short tables at the edges of the Great Hall were much more comfortable. There, a centaur could lay down and eat. To get to a comfortable height at a 'normal' table, he'd need to kneel and his knees just weren't up for that level of punishment.

The other mages had given him the side eye, but no one had tried to drive him off with any spells - they knew better than that. Plus, he had every right to be up here.

Like most of the table, Michail had fallen silent when Vincent had started talking. Unlike the rest, Michail didn't resume his conversation once it was clear the [Boxer] was focusing on eating. Instead he just zoned out.

Galei nudged him. "You okay?"

Michail shook his head. "sorry, just got a little lost with the translation amulet." He pushed his plate away and stood up. "i think i will return to my room and read for a while." He nodded his head. "thank you, galei."

"Of course!" Galei smiled as he left - on the outside. On the inside, he was frowning and narrowing his eyes. The truth spell he kept active had just triggered. Michail had lied. It wasn't a big lie, but that made it all the stranger.

...

Today she was Taxiela the Lizardfolk.

Taxiela walked through the library in the 4th tower on the middle East side of Wistram. It was virtually abandoned - only golems frequented it to clean or kill off infestations of silverfish.

...Not that the pests got too big here for the same reason that students didn't visit: the books here contained no magic.

Sure, reading might not be the most popular of pastimes in Wistram, but people still liked to do it to relax. There were a few [Wizards] around that were more scholarly than [Mages]. There was also the Scribes faction.

But the thing was, there were a LOT more mundane books and libraries than magical ones, even here. So, an out-of-the-way place like this was perfect if you wanted a little peace and quiet.

...Or to meet up for an illicit rendezvous, but that surely wasn't what the Earther was doing. How could he have met someone so soon? Unless... he'd started a relationship with one of his half-elven minders?

Taxiela smiled to herself as she slipped invisibly through the doors. As a rule, she didn't do boring things, but she'd manage. It wasn't like you could prank people all of the time. Setting things up took a lot more work than people gave the Ullsinoi credit for.

With a hop, Taxiela landed on top of one of the bookshelves. Her landing was silent and didn't even disturb the dust. She then crept forward until she was perched above Michail.

And there she waited.

The only sounds were the gentle flipping of paper and the faint sound of Michail's minder snoring. The large man scanned the pages of his book, some quicker than others. There were times when he must've re-read a passage dozens of times.

Or it might be that he was a slow reader and the faster pages were just him skimming.

Or he might be trying to parse something with the [Translation] spell.

Taxiela kept herself busy by mentally reviewing the things the Elusive Lot had coming up. It would be difficult sneaking into the kitchen. The golems and the [Chefs] were protective of their territory. Messing with the food was taboo... which made it all the more tempting.

Taxiela wouldn't be altering the food itself, but if the plan worked then some specialized illusions would cause quite the stir. Sight and sound weren't the only things she could affect with her magic. She had to admit that she hadn't been paying much attention to Blackmage's ramblings, but Every-Flavor-Jelly-Beans sounded like a marvelous idea for a prank!

Too bad she didn't know what a 'Jelly-Bean' was. She thought it might be a type of slime?

It didn't really matter, the concept would work for other foods just as much.

Michail stood up. The large human placed the book he had been reading back on the shelf and started running his finger down the spines of other volumes. At least he was conscientious enough to return the book, but a golem would've taken care of it if he hadn't.

He took out another tome and returned to the table.

Taxiela stifled a yawn, and moved to get a better view. If nothing else, she could read over his shoulder. She silently cast [Eyes of the Eagle]. It was a useful spell, even if she doubted that this was what it had been created for.

Huh. Unicorn Anatomy and their uses in Alchemy? What was a valuable book like that doing here?

Oh. It was a history of Alchemy, not an application. It went on for pages and pages about how Unicorn horns and other body parts could be used, but didn't provide any concrete details. So it was doubly useless as Unicorns had died out ages ago, and it didn't list any recipes.

Yet... after half an hour of perusing it, Michail put the book in the bag of holding at his waist.

Yes. That was odd.

Taxiela decided that she'd reach out to some of her contacts on Terandria. She wanted to see if they could corroborate the Earthers' version of events.

Notes:

Bios:

Gaxiela - A Lizaurs Centaur born from a Centaur-Lizardfolk union. A member of the Ullsinoi. Possibly their strongest member. Possibly a lot of things.

Chapter 26: Pixel and the Secrets of Wistram 3

"Breska says that Boxer is at the beach again. Builder is in an old library. Gamer is in his room."

"Thanks, Teura." Aaron tried to smile naturally at the half-elf.

He probably failed.

A week had passed, and he wanted to get to know his fellow Earthers better. None of them seemed to find being in an actual magic school that exciting. Aaron just couldn't wrap his head around it, but he supposed they'd been through some stuff before arriving. That probably influenced their opinions.

He wanted to talk more with them, and not just because Feor had put him in charge of integrating them. But who?

Vincent was out. Aaron didn't want to go running on the beach, or watch someone run on the beach either. Michail had that necklace now, so he could actually talk to him. He was curious about what the Russian had to say, but would they share any interests? Aaron didn't know much about Russia, and learning about it didn't seem as interesting as learning about countries in this world.

...And that wasn't nearly as cool as learning actual magic!

He probably shouldn't interrupt Michail if he was reading anyways.

Right. Jiahao it was. He needed to fill him in on the [Repair] spell anyways. With any luck, he'd be able to borrow the other teen's electronics and level [Engineer] more.

Jiahao's room wasn't far from his own, which wasn't surprising. As the caretaker, Cognita provided the keys to their doors, but Archmage Feor had been the one to choose which rooms they'd gotten. Aaron didn't need Teura's help remembering where it was.

He knocked on the door, and a voice called out from inside. "Come in."

Aaron looked the door up and down. It didn't have a doorknob. He pressed against it.

Nope. Nothing. No give.

He cupped his hands around his mouth and loudly spoke. "I can't open the door."

A few moments later, the door clicked and swung out a few inches. Jiahao then pushed it out further. "Sorry. Forgot had to use stone to open." He paused and then repeated his sentence. "I forgot that I had to use THE stone to open IT." Aaron looked at him curiously, and Jiahao shrugged. "I know how to speak 'properly'." He made finger quotes. "It is like using a more formal tone." He rolled his eyes. "Tedious, but if everyone else doing it, I should to." He frowned. "IS doing it. What's up?"

"I just wanted to talk." Aaron shrugged. "I also figured you might not have heard about the [Repair] spell yet."

"Oh?" Jiahao pushed the door open further and stepped back. "What that?" He grimaced. "What IS that?"

Aaron pulled out his phone. "Let me show you."

He sat down on the floor and began working on his phone's screws with a small piece of metal. [Improved tools] really helped. A combination of skill and [Skills] let him take his phone apart with relative ease. Once it was disassembled, he handed it to Teura.

She'd done this several times in the past, so it was with a practiced motion that she set the parts on top of each other approximately where they should be. "[Repair]." There was a flash of light, and then she was holding an iphone that looked like new.

Aaron took it back and pressed the power button. "It's a spell that can fix our phones." He glanced at Jiahao's backpack. "Or other electronic devices."

"Oh!" Jiahao followed his gaze. "That cool, but I keep my gear safe."

Aaron's phone finished turning on and he smiled as he showed Jiahao the face. "It also recharges the battery."

"What!" The boy's eyes opened wide as he rushed over to his bag. "That great news! C'mon I have English games too!"

...

"I can't believe you had two Vitas and a 3DS on you when you arrived here." Aaron shook his head after losing some game he'd never heard of for the tenth time in a row.

"I told you. I at ChinaJoy! Special versions. I going to resell for big profit!" Jiahao proudly patted his backpack. "Just-" He paused and spoke more slowly. "It is just a shame that I didn't bother buying an XBox One S or a Playstation 4 Pro." He let out a sigh. "Not like we have a monitor for them anyways. But this great! I can finally start leveling [Gamer] again!"

Aaron looked at him. "Wait. You were serious about that?"

Jiahao scoffed. "Of course! Got-, I got that class before Pixel even showed up." He nodded to himself. "That why it obvious he [Gamer] too!"

Aaron fiddled with the Vita. "Vincent said that he and Pixel found you in a village. What happened? How'd you get [Gamer] of all things?" He grimaced slightly. "And could you speak slower. Sorry, but it really does make it easier to understand you."

Jiahao rolled his eyes. "Fine. I talk, er, I will talk slowly." He started up another game and began playing. "So, like I said. I was at ChinaJoy. I went to the restroom, but when I opened the door, I was in this village. The people there all spoke English, but it did not look like an American town. It had straw roofs and mud walls. I had no idea what was going on."

"Tell me about it." Aaron scowled as he lost another life. "I showed up here, but in this room with REALLY scary golems. Thankfully, Cognita showed up." He shook his head. "Of course, the [Mages] say she's the scariest, but she seems nice to me."

"Oh? That sound cool. You tell me when I done." Jiahao performed a flashy move that wiped out another life before he started speaking slower again. "The villagers were all surprised like I was, but they were very friendly. They thought I was from a country called Drath, and must be a noble because of my clothing." Jiahao shrugged as he casually won the match. "I knew it was bad, but I did not correct them. They gave me gifts, and somehow got gifts in return."

"Somehow?" Aaron pressed the button to continue, perhaps he'd have more luck with another character. "You mean you gave them some gifts?" His wording must be off.

"Nope." Jiahao pulled off a combo. "They gave me stuff and 'boom' they got items from out of mid-air!"

"Really?" Aaron groaned as he died again. "It must be a skill."

"Yeah. I figured that out after I got my class." Jiahao continued talking while effortlessly attacking him. How could he split his concentration so well? "I had nothing to do, so I played my new games. Got some cool skills like [Lesser Reflexes] [Extend Battery], but nothing major. Nothing like Pixel."

"You're that sure he's a [Gamer] too?"

"Of course?" Jiahao shook his head. "What kind of superhero looks like Samus? Unless he was sponsored by Nintendo or got bit by a radioactive Metroid game, is stupid."

"I guess." Aaron still couldn't imagine the character Vincent and Jiahao described.

"Now you turn." Jiahao won the match. "I want know about Cognita."

"What? Why?"

Jiahao started speaking slowly again. "Is it not obvious? She is like an artificial intelligence, but a real one. A proper 'sceye-feye' one. Er. A proper one out of science fiction." The boy's eyes gleamed. "Who made her? Does she know she is alive? Does she have to follow the three rules? Does she have emotions? Can she make a better golem? She could start the singularity on this world!"

"Uhh..." Aaron was taken aback at the storm of questions. He guessed Cognita was impressive if you put it like that, but that was because she was MAGIC, like everything else in Wistram. "I don't think she can make more golems like her, or at least she hasn't, and Archmage Feor says that she has overseen Wistram for a long time." He'd asked the [Mages] about her in the past, and their opinions had been... pronounced.

"She in charge?!" Jiahao lowered his Vita and looked at him.

Good he was distracted, now was the time to attack! "Kinda? I guess? A long time ago, Wistram was run by [Archmages] - the class. The ones that have that title these days don't have the actual class."

"Why that?" Jiahao was looking at him, but still somehow winning the match.

"I dunno." Aaron shrugged. "Archmage Feor says it's because the upper levels are sealed off, but I've heard other things as well. The point is, that [Archmage]... uhm... Zephyr? I think that was his name. It definitely started with a 'Z'. Anyways, [Archmage] Z made golems, right? I don't know if he made ALL the golems that exist in Wistram, but he made a lot of them. Cognita was, like, his, uhm, masterpiece. The golem of golems." And made of 'Truestone', whatever that was. Aaron had asked and hadn't gotten an answer.

It might be another 'secret'. The [Mages] told him a lot of little ones, but despite his status they still didn't budge on more 'expensive' ones.

"Oh! I see! So Cognita makes the other golems, but can't make more like her! It like copy of copy stuff!"

"Maybe?" How was he losing so badly? "So [Archmage] Z decided that the upper levels were too 'dangerous' for most [Mages] and sealed them off. He let people in his clique up there, so I think it was more a power-play and establishing that he ran Wistram."

Jiahao frowned while rapidly tapping buttons. "So it like coup?"

"Yeah." Aaron nodded. "Other [Mages] objected, but [Archmage] Z was too strong. He ruled Wistram, and eventually disappeared into the upper floors."

"He dead?"

"Yes?" Aaron wasn't sure on that point. "I think so. At least, one day Cognita came down and announced that he was dead and that anyone who wanted to get to the upper floors had to get past her."

"Oh." Jiahao nodded. "That why [Mages] so nervous around her."

Aaron glanced at the other teen. HE'd picked up on that? Was Jiahao more perceptive than he'd thought? He knew he shouldn't judge people who weren't native English speakers based on their diction skills, but Jiahao had made a very different first impression. Heck, he spoke more languages than Aaron did, so thinking poorly because of how he spoke was just stupid!

"Yeah." Aaron paused as he thought back. "There's this room up stairs that has some... REALLY scary-looking golems in it." He shuddered. "That was actually where I appeared. They didn't attack me, but before Cognita arrived I think they..." He shuddered again. "Anyways, that's [Archmage] Z's challenge. To get past his best work, including Cognita, and you've proved you deserve the higher level floors."

"Get past? So it game?"

"No." Aaron put down the Vita as he lost the final match and looked at Jiahao. "It's not a game." He needed to stress this part, the same way it had been impressed upon him. "Every [Mage] that has challenged Cognita has died at her hands. If they go alone, if they go in a group, if they try and sneak past, if they set an ambush... each and every one of them has died. Cognita killed them." Archmage Feor had given him that warning personally using those same exact words.

Jiahao looked at him and nodded back. "I understand." He spoke slowly. "She is dangerous. She is a weapon. Cognita ultimately obeys [Archmage] Z's orders, and she will not hesitate to kill for him." Jiahao closed his eyes and leaned back. "I just wonder if she wants to, or if she has any appreciation of life."

---

Charles de Trevalier scowled as he entered the Great Hall. It was too early, breakfast had just barely started. He couldn't believe he'd awoken so early for...

Argh!

He savagely speared some sausages - not caring that he knocked a paltry sum of the remaining ones on the floor. He forcefully hurled a scoop of mashed potatoes - ignoring the dark purple splatters that flew onto nearby dishes. (Although, he did make sure that his force was directed away from himself. It wouldn't do to soil his custom-made doublet.) He gently placed some Eggs Benvalier on his plate - they required a gentle touch lest they collapse.

Of course, he didn't bother to lower the serving spoon gently down. It wasn't his fault if it hit anything when it fell. If Wistram provided proper [Servers] or [Waiters] to deal with such low-born tasks, then it wouldn't be an issue. Instead, everyone had to procure their own food. Like savages.

Charles de Trevalier finally looked around the room to see who he might deign to sit with.

Ah. Rievan. His old friend.

Charles de Trevalier walked over and smiled blandly as he sat down. The silver bell attached to his sword rang slightly with the movement. "A good day to you, Rievan."

The older student looked up at him. "Good morning, Charles." He blinked and then sighed. "What vexes you so?"

Charles de Trevalier allowed himself to scowl. "You know me too well, old friend." Indeed, who else could see through his masterful control of his emotions? "I just had the most infuriating encounter with one of the new guests of the high table."

"Oh?" Rievan turned to look at the table where the greatest [Mages] of Wistram sat. "I see the human from Golaen, and the one from Drath. Yet I do not see evidence from the confrontation of which you speak." It was simple enough for a Terandrian to identify someone from the 'Land of Giants' - almost as easy as noticing the distinct features of Drath.

Charles de Trevalier scoffed. It was galling that any political moves were being hidden from him when he was a Libertarian. "No, I speak not of the [Ambassadors]." What else could they be? There were no secrets to buy on them for any amount of coin, and they clearly weren't [Mages]. Unlike that 'Blackmage' fellow. What a droll name. "It was the other dark-skinned one. The new one."

"Him?" Rievan looked surprised. "That's what you get for consorting with a ruffian like that. He clearly is a subordinate of Blackmage." He shook his head. "Though why that untalented boy gets such attention or warrants a servant is beyond me."

"Indeed." Wistram had a strict 'no-servants' policy, despite Charles de Trevalier's efforts to bring in some decent help. "I assumed that he had to have a modicum of magical talent, or at least a proper up-bringing, but I was sorely disappointed!"

"How so?" Rievan resumed eating his food.

"Well..." Charles de Trevalier leaned in to whisper the secret he'd obtained. It had been expensive. "His name is Boxer, and he spends his mornings outside with all the combat obsessed morons."

"Ha!" Rievan let out a short laugh. "Don't let Amerys hear you say that!" He frowned. "Although, I haven't seen her recently. I know her situation is a secret, but it's far too expensive for idle curiosity."

Charles de Trevalier nodded. "You speak the truth. I, of course, could learn it if I cared to." And if his allowance wasn't running low. Hopefully Viltach would return soon. The Archmage of Terandria would get answers that would then be shared with the rest of the Libertarians. "But to continue my tale, I sought him out there. To see what I could learn." And perhaps, re-coup some of the gold he'd spent with a solid secret or two.

"And?"

"And I introduced myself to the half-wit." Charles de Trevalier scowled. "Do you know what the peon dared say to me? Do you?"

Rievan paused to take a drink of his juice, which reminded Charles de Trevalier that he'd forgotten to procure a beverage in his rage. "I'm afraid I do not have the faintest clue."

Charles de Trevalier ground his teeth as he spoke. "He said, and I quote, 'de? Not du?'."

Rievan blinked. "And?"

Charles de Trevalier slammed his fist on the table. "Do you not.." Oh, of course. Despite his skill in magic and his friendship, Rievan was low born. He did not understand the subtleties of Terandrian politics and names. "He implied that-"

Rievan's eyes went wide as he looked over Charles de Trevalier's shoulder. "He's here!"

Charles de Trevalier turned his head and saw the most recent target of his ire. "Excuse me." He stood up and calmly strolled over to where his lesser was adding food to his plate. The half-elf that accompanied him moved to interpose himself, but Charles de Trevalier simply laid his hand on his rapier and stared him down.

The two matched eyes for several seconds before Boxer slipped between them. "Hey, you're that 'de' guy from earlier. What can I do for ya?"

That 'de' guy?

THAT 'DE' GUY?!?

Charles de Trevalier puffed out his chest and stood as tall as he could. Boxer was pathetically short. Since he clearly wasn't a [Mage], he had to be a servant. Like a [Secretary] or a [Butler]. "Advert your eyes when you speak to one of your betters, knave." His impetuous tone left no doubt about their relative stations in life. "You-"

Boxer rudely interrupted his next proclamation.

"Yeah, I don't back down from my betters." He sneered. "And I 'specially don't let no punk step to me!" Boxer's eyes flickered up and down before he got uncomfortably close.

"How dare-"

"What? You frontin' on me, and don't 'pect no push back?" Boxer poked him in the chest. "Naaaaw, man. That shit ain't goin' ta play."

"Unhand me you [Ruffian]!" Charles de Trevalier took a step back. "How dare you impugn upon me that I am a [Punk]!" Whatever class that was. From context, it was clear that it was an insult. "I shall have the disrespect you have offered me returned back upon thee with-"

"Shut up." Boxer took another step forward and shoved him!

Charles de Trevalier stumbled back before gracefully falling to the ground. "You dare?" He smoothly and quickly rose to his feet. "You dare lay your filthy hands on a Trevalier?"

"Filthy?" Boxer smirked. "Oh, it's on now." He raised his hands. "C'mon then."

Charles de Trevalier stared at him with disbelief. "You mean to duel me?" HE was the one who was supposed to issue the challenge, and his opponent was the one that would turn away with his tail between his legs.

Figuratively speaking that is. Wistram didn't allow riff-raft like Gnolls or Drakes in its immaculate halls.

...Although there were those disgusting Lizardfolk.

"Got it in one, bruh." Boxer began to bounce on the balls of his feet. "I hear you [Mages] like to have duels, so why not? I can take ya!"

The half-elf behind him palmed his face, clearly as shocked at Boxer's stupidity as Charles de Trevalier was.

He let out a laugh and flicked the silver bell that was attached to his sword. The chime sounded out clear as day. "You have no magic. You have no weapon." Charles de Trevalier drew his blade. "You must be a [Fool] of unparalleled magnitude to challenge one of your betters that possessed both! Let alone one who possesses a silver bell!"

"We'll see." Boxer put his thumb to the side of his nose and snorted. He then moved it to the other side so he could expel air from the other nostril.

How vulgar!

"Fine." Charles de Trevalier smirked as he realized the potential windfall. "For the stakes, I wish to have you truthfully and completely answer three of my questions."

"What?" The half-elf behind Boxer looked alarmed.

"Deal." The black teenager smiled. "I'll take your fancy sword when I knock you on your ass. I guess." He shrugged. "Ain't got no need for any of your pussy-ass [Mage] shit."

What? That made no sense, but the intention behind it was clear. "Accepted."

"Let's do it." Boxer immediately punched him in the face!

"Hmpf!" Charles de Trevalier snorted. What sort of imbecile would start a fight, or even go about their day, without protection? The ring on his finger absorbed the cowardly blow. "[Stone Dart]! He performed a perfect swing of his sword to keep the ruffian at bay while casting with his other hand.

"Shit!" Boxer jerked to the side, but he was too slow. A thin red line had been traced across his shoulder. Not a significant injury. Pity. "Time for some [Out-boxing]!" The smaller man took a step back, and lowered his arms as he bounced up and down. "C'mon. Try that again."

Charles de Trevalier narrowed his eyes at the mocking smile. "[Stone Dart]!"

Boxer somehow leaned out the way. "You'll have to do better than that, sucka."

How infuriating! "[Stone Dart]! [Stone Dart]! [Stone Dart]!"

"[Bob and Weave]" Boxer avoided the first dart like he'd done before, but for the second and third ones he somehow dodged by crouching and moving to the right and left. He rushed forward to try and use his bare hands again, but Charles de Trevalier heroically held him off with his rapier before slowly driving him back.

That was why he wore it.

...Or at least, it was turning out to be an unexpected benefit. The real reason was to display his skill and prestige, but having a greater reach was a clear advantage. Boxer must be some sort of [Fist Fighter]. "A pathetic class for a pathetic man." Charles de Trevalier sneered. "This isn't worth my time. [Ice Wall]!"

A gleaming tower of ice formed behind Boxer. Water glinted in the light as it trickled down the barrier. Now that his opponent had nowhere to run, Charles de Trevalier advanced with his sword. The idea to just... run him through while he futilely tried to dodge, was too... poetic to resist.

Boxer backed up before jerking forward when his bare shoulder touched the wall of ice. It was a shame that the spell wasn't powerful enough to freeze flesh, but there was nothing that could be done about that. The black teenager tried to flee the corner, but a timely slash drove him back.

"This is fine. I can [Rope-a-Dope] all day long." Boxer smiled for some infuriating reason.

Charles de Trevalier jabbed again and again, but his perfect strikes were somehow avoided! "Ha!" He yelled as he increased the intensity of his assault! Jab! Slash! Jab! Jab! Jab! Slash! Slash! It was to no avail! His superb swordsmanship was somehow not working!

"All you have are your [Skills]." Charles de Trevalier spoke through clenched teeth. "But you're spending them like coppers. As soon as they run out, you're dead!"

"Oh, yeah?" Boxer smirked as he leaned out of the way of another flawless strike. "I got plenty of [Skills] left. [Lightning Jab]!"

Charles de Trevalier reeled back as something struck him in the face. He hadn't seen the punch, but he'd felt it through his shield! "[Flame Spray]!" A wave of fire flowed from his off hand as he shook his head. Dead Gods! What sort of [Skill] was that? To think his opponent had a trump card like that at his disposal!

No matter. He'd used it, and it had failed. Charles de Trevalier steadily advanced, with his flames driving Boxer back.

"Shit!" He wasn't so cocky now.

"Ha ha, you [Peon]! You can't dodge fire any more than you could rise above your station. You should learn to treat your betters with respect!"

It was hard to tell, but the skin on Boxer's forearms was changing color as the heat cooked him from a distance.

Boxer growled. "[Clinch]!" And he dove through the fire! The [Fist Fighter] wrapped his arms around Charles de Trevalier, which forced him to abort his spell, lest he burn himself. "I got you now motherfu-"

Small, but hard punches repeatedly drove themselves into Charles de Trevalier's side, so he did what anyone would do. He rammed his head into his opponent's nose.

Boxer staggered back, and Charles de Trevalier took a moment to refocus himself. That... had hurt a lot more than he thought it would've. It seemed there was a slight flaw in his shield as it failed to protect him from his own movement.

How was he supposed to know that? It wasn't like he was some low-born peasant who punched things with his bare hands. Still, it took him a moment to recover.

Boxer charged him again, but this time Charles de Trevalier interposed his rapier.

"[Counter Punch]!" Boxer grabbed his blade with one hand, while striking him with the other!

Charles de Trevalier's head snapped back as he was repeatedly punched. His shield held, further proving that fighting a [Mage] with your bare hands was the peak of stupidity. "[Electric Jolt]!" Lightning flowed out of his hand, through the sword, and into Boxer!

He still hadn't gotten the hang of keeping the spell contained within his weapon, but it hardly mattered when his opponent was stupid enough to grasp it himself.

Boxer screamed and stumbled back, but somehow didn't fall down. Charles de Trevalier glared at him as he gulped in air. Boxer's left arm hung uselessly at his side, but the boy still met his eyes. He jerked his shoulder, but his arm just spasmed in response.

"Now... now you see the vast gulf that separates us." Charles de Trevalier boasted as he eyed his foe. "I am a magnanimous person, so if you admit defeat I'll cease my thrashing of you."

"Eff that!" Boxer shook his head. "No way I'm losing to a little piece of shit like you."

"Fine." Charles de Trevalier drew himself up to his full height. "I'll burn you to a crisp!" But first, he needed to knock Boxer off his feet. He was too fast, and he couldn't afford to let him close the distance between them again. "[Ice Slick]!" Charles de Trevalier kept his rapier steady as he gestured with his left hand. The puddle that had formed from his [Ice Wall] was perfect for this. He smirked. People might say disparaging remarks about his [Ice Wall] since it kept melting, but such an attribute was a feature for [Ice Slick]!

Frost rolled across the ground in a wave before crystallizing into a thin film of ice and water. Let's see Boxer try running across that. Charles de Trevalier breathed heavily. He was almost out of mana, but he could still manage one last [Flame Jet] without needing to use a potion.

Boxer wobbled on the slippery ground before saying: "[Boxer's Stance]." His legs steadied and his left arm rose up as he held his forearms next to his head. "Guess I need to use this. [Three Minute Rush]!"

Charles de Trevalier blinked. Wait! He had ANOTHER trump skill?!?

Boxer stomped on the ground, and the ice in a ten foot radius around him shattered. Charles de Trevalier didn't see what happened next. He felt something shatter his shield, and then his world erupted into pain.

---

Archmage Feor watched the duel end in dramatic fashion. It was certainly more... physical than most duels in Wistram, but generally speaking, contests between lower level [Mages] weren't what one would consider impressive. He'd cast a spell to let him eavesdrop on the event due to one of the visitors from another world being involved. If the duel had involved anyone else, he wouldn't have gone through the effort of breaching the silence spell that surrounded the high table.

Some of the other [Mages] had done the same thing, or had fallen silent and simply watched. All of the other 'Earthers' had ceased their conversations to witness their comrade's fight.

Haylet should've stepped in and stopped the confrontation before it had gotten that far. The Trevalier child should also have been kept at a distance. Letting him speak was just asking for trouble. Unfortunately, he was in a different faction, so there were limits as to what Feor could do.

At least the worst outcome hadn't come to pass. Vincent was a new, and therefore, unknown quantity. Who knew if he had the guile to keep his secrets if he'd lost? Feor needed to think about that. Alternate measures might need to be taken...

"Here." Haylet pulled out a healing potion and offered it to Vincent.

The [Boxer] grimaced and shook his head. "Naw, no need for that, man. It was [Just a Spar]."

Feor's eyebrows rose as both Vincent's and Charles' wounds began to fade away. Now THAT was a useful skill! High-level [Strategists] could do something similar, but they had to be HIGH level. Vincent was, what? 20th level? Feor cast [Appraisal] through his scrying sensor. No. 21st level now. Probably higher once he slept.

He'd been gaining levels at a ridiculous pace, but even then he shouldn't have been able to win against a full [Mage] from Wistram. Not even one so poorly versed in tactics as Charles. Not at 20th level. Feor drummed his fingers on the table. [Boxer] was a far more powerful class than it should be. It had to have been consolidated, but Vincent hadn't mentioned anything like that occurring.

These Earthers had so much potential. Feor had never seen people level as fast as them. It was like they were counter-leveling! He'd thought Aaron was a prodigy - and he certainly was leveling nicely, but even he hadn't gotten to 20th level yet. Of course, that was in no small part due to [Mage] being harder to level than most other classes. It was to be expected because magic-using [Classes] were superior, but slower. Leveling them took effort, talent, and time in exchange for power.

He hadn't dismissed [Boxer], not after seeing the potential in [Engineer], but he also hadn't taken into consideration how quickly it could level. Physical [Classes] such as it possessed an advantage in that area. Furthermore, [Boxer] seemed more like [Soldier] than [Fighter]. Or [Fist Fighter] as the case may be. Feor wasn't a [Strategist], but he'd lived a long time. He understood that one of the benefits of a [Soldier] was that they could level by doing things that didn't directly involve combat.

Gaining levels without risking one's safety was a tremendous boon.

It made sense. 'Boxing' was a sport. Done for entertainment. As such, Vincent could level just by running around on the beach... apparently. Nothing inherently strange there, but there must be something he was missing. [Recall Memory]. Ah, yes. Pixel. Vincent had said he'd given him pointers. That must be part of how he was out-leveling Aaron, Jiahao, and Michail. High-level instruction combined with an easy-to-level class could explain things.

...And their unique [Classes] and leveling speed weren't even the most important thing the visitors had to offer!

Feor was shaken from his musings when another human from Terandria approached Vincent. What now? Haylet would need to be replaced if he couldn't drive off lesser [Mages].

"That sword is cursed. You should throw it away." Feor frowned. What an odd thing for the red-haired girl to say. The weapon wasn't even enchanted. It couldn't possibly be-

"Archmages, we have a problem." Feor nearly jumped out of his skin. Cognita had approached the high table and he hadn't even noticed! "One of the golems of Wistram has been destroyed."

Notes:

Bios:

Charles de Trevalier - A [Nobel] and a [Mage] from Terandria. Speciesist. Classist.

Chapter 27: Pixel and the Secrets of Wistram 4

Moving around in Wistram was difficult.

Threat Sense was every bit the cheat that it always had been. Now that I'd enhanced it by sacrificing a [Skill], it was even better. At least, it had improved by allowing me to sense when a spell would hurt me, or when a spell would 'see' me. Possibly some [Skills] too, or even anything that used 'mana'.

It was hard to test empirically when I neither wanted to be noticed nor cared to confide in any third parties.

Regardless, it made me more confident in exploring the school for [Mages]. I had other options as well. I had plenty of silicone to enable modifying my form. Even if that ran out, I could make a Tinker-tech equivalent, but that would take time. Additionally, I had my drones, cameras, and stealth-suit.

None of them were flawless, but even being 'sort-of' invisible had its uses.

The problem was mana, or the lack of it. Unlike my base Perk, the enchanted aspect of Threat Sense was only active if I provided it mana. To get mana, I had to rely on my [Ambient Mana Gatherer] skill.

...And it was so slow! But, I might just be spoiled by how quickly my MP restored itself.

Experimentation had shown that the rate of mana I gained was entirely dependent on my location. I'd gotten virtually zero mana restored while I was at sea, but Wistram increased the restoration rate to about ten per hour. Considering I had a maximum of thirty-one mana, that wasn't bad - except that Threat Sense cost one mana for every minute I kept it active.

So far, at least. No telling if that rate would remain constant if it was under heavy use - like if I was in a fight.

Thus, I'd been forced to limit my nighttime excursions to half an hour, which wasn't nearly enough time to accomplish anything of note. Sure, I had a growing network of spy cameras that allowed me to teleport within an ever increasing radius. I'd also planted the seed of another base, but that was on the ocean floor. As far as I could tell, no one would notice it there. When it finished growing, I could use Teleportation to access it. That would be fine for me, but not as helpful for any refugees from Earth.

Ideally, I would be able to make my own room somewhere in Wistram that Earthlings could stay in. However, such a feat was currently beyond me. Perhaps once I'd sacrificed more [Skills] to empower my Crafting Perk, but that wasn't cost-efficient. It had seemed like the perfect Perk to enhance. Why worry about magic, when I could make my own magical gear?

And it had worked too. My newly-made Mega-Buster was now 'magical'.

...But there was a limit. Every [Skill] sacrificed either expanded the amount of mana I could personally store, or increased the amount of mana a Perk could use. I'd burned three to raise my maximum capacity by thirty: [Basic Repair], [Clean Materials], and [Basic Aiming]. [Alchemy: Corrosive Substances] had gone to enable mana to be used with Crafting. The issue was that after creating my Mega-Buster I couldn't use mana to Craft anything else.

Well, that one of the issues. The other was that my Mega-Buster was now... acidic in a way I didn't fully understand. It made me think that I had been a bit hasty in sacrificing [Skills]. [Armed At All Times] would've probably had some sort of synergy if I'd sacrificed it for Inventory instead of for Power Drain.

I hoped that the 'Crafting mana' was just 'locked' and that I would regain access to it if my weapon was destroyed, but that wasn't something I planned on testing. At least it hadn't reduced my main mana pool. That had restored itself as normal after I'd finished.

Moving around tonight was going to be more difficult than normal. The golems were out in force, and they were looking for me.

They didn't know they were looking for me. Instead they were looking for the person that had 'killed' one of them.

I hadn't meant to, but I also hadn't concerned myself with my experimental subject's well-being. As far as I could tell, only one golem was sapient, so the rest were disposable. Cognita apparently felt differently.

At least I'd gained several benefits. First, I'd learned that sacrificing [Armed At All Times] to empowered Power Drain did indeed allow it to drain mana - albeit at an agonizingly slow rate. Second, golems have a core that animates them. Third, that core requires a minimum amount of mana, and it was a delicate part. Draining it could have unforeseen detrimental effects. Forth, gaining mana over my maximum resulted in some nasty debuffs. Debuffs that grew over time and stacked. They'd only stopped being added once I used up the excessive mana. Fifth, when the debuffs finally faded completely, something that took time, my maximum mana had been increased.

That was both good to know, and exploitable if I could find something to drain without causing undue harm.

---

Today he was Galei the Centaur.

His contacts had gotten back to him quickly. There was no way for them to confirm what did or did not happen inside of an unknown bear cave, or what had occurred to an unknown group of [Bandits]. At least not without having a man on the inside, but the Ullsinoi rarely did that. Also, when they did, they didn't bother with such small and insignificant groups.

Others, like the Circle, were another matter.

Even if he had the desire to have [Infiltrators] join every band of ne'er-do-wells, he wasn't made of money.

At least it hadn't been a total waste. Jiahao's tale was common knowledge in a small Terandria village. That was, no doubt, due to Pixel's presence. The [Superhero]'s description matched what Vincent had said - a man wearing a suit of armor composed entirely of cubes.

He had also been accompanied by a black teenager and a giant of a man. That, he supposed, alongside Blackmage's endorsement, was sufficient confirmation.

The more interesting news was out of Noelictus. His opener contact there was paid to copy and forward him important or interesting news, and Ailendamus' invasion definitely counted as both. That country was growing far too bold, and had secrets aplenty. Most of the Ullsinoi agreed that something needed to be done, they just differed on what exactly.

Ailendamus' actions while troubling, weren't the most important news. Noelictus was always... perilous. He'd never been, but it sounded a little like Wistram - what with the wandering undead and all. So it wasn't THAT surprising to hear about a rogue [Necromancer] and his undead horde. What WAS interesting were the accounts of how it had been wiped off the face of the world.

The details were sketchy, but numerous witnesses claimed to have seen an angular humanoid flying around.

As for Ailendamus' army? That was much clearer. The Hunter's Guild had seen a gigantic figure made of cubes confront the other nation's army before unleashing potent light magic and driving them off.

Gailei raised an eyebrow at the [Message]. He didn't discount anything, but there had to be more to the story than an iron wall and some destroyed Greatbows. Well, all's well that ends well he supposed. He was unlikely to get a clearer picture. He wasn't a [Spy Master]. Pulling up details or establishing timelines was more effort than he cared to give.

Especially since Wistram was generally so much more entertaining.

The golems were out in force today and truth stones were being used even more liberally than normal. Whomever had experimented on a golem had gone too far, but there were no leads that he knew of.

Speaking of truth stones, he should see what Michail was doing. Feor was getting his robes all twisted up over maintaining the secret of the Earthers, and the duel this morning certainly hadn't helped things

...

He tracked the 'Russian' down to another library, where his minder was busy dabbing his leg with a potion. The body of a crushed, dog-sized silverfish lay to the side. Yellow and silver stains were on the bottom of Michail's discarded boot.

That told a humorous, if not uncommon tale. The insects were real pests even at the best of times. At least the bleeding hadn't been that bad judging by the size of the blood stains on the large man's calves.

"Slacking off Breska?" Gailei smiled at him as he cantered over.

The half-elf looked around suspiciously for any other hidden Ullsinoi. "What do you want?"

"Me? I just came to see how the translation amulet is working. Gailei raised his arms to his side and shook his head. "I am simply flabbergasted to see that your ward has been injured. Do you perhaps need assistance in protecting him from over-grown bugs?"

"i am fine. the silver insect barely punctured my skin." It was interesting to see Michail's lips move out of sync with his words. "i told breska that i did not need potion. it is wasteful to use it up on such a minor wound."

"Shut up. It's the least I can do after..." Breska glowered. "It's all those golems fault. Moving around in groups and ignoring their other duties. I bet it was one of them that carried it in here."

"nonsense. the fault is mine. i should have moved quicker, but i was surprised when detect ambush skill activated." The large man peered at his leg before nodding and using his sleeve to wipe away the blood. "see? all is good."

"Oh?" Gailei's eyes twinkled. "Did your charge get wounded protecting you?" THAT was a good secret. It also was a nicely ironic prank... too bad he hadn't thought about it. It would be difficult to pull something like that off responsibly. You could never tell with an injury. A potion to an infected wound would kill the patient just as surely, but far slower and drawn out.

Michail's skin seemed fine, so there probably was no risk of that happening.

"Anyways." Breska stoppered his bottle and stowed it away in a pocket. "As you can hear, the amulet is working just fine. We have no need for your company."

"Can't a fellow chat with friends?" Gailei looked at Michail. "How are things going, Builder?"

"i am well. there are many, many books to read. i do not think i will ever get through them all." Michail smiled as he pulled on his boot. "the food is nice too."

"Yes, yes." Breska interposed himself. "Builder is a simple man with simple pleasures. Please leave him and me alone, Gailei."

The centaur rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll leave you two love-birds alone."

"What?" Breska sputtered at the retreating form, to shocked to notice that it was an illusion.

Gailei stood invisibly to the side and contemplated the situation. His truth spell was still giving odd signals from Michail, but what could he possibly have lied about? The incident clearly wasn't his fault, so claiming it was wasn't truth - but it was a social nicety. Truth spells detected intent, and unless he was trying to make people think he was gracious when he wasn't...

No. That level of deception wouldn't trigger the spell.

'He should have moved quicker.' True.

'He was surprised when his [Skill] activated.' That could be a lie. Again, why lie about being surprised? And if he did, it was another social one.

'He was fine." Well, that was objectively true, as his leg had been healed.

No, something was going on, and Gailei thought he knew what it was. [Appraisal] listed Michail as a [Builder], and now a [Reader]. Which one of those would grant... what was it? [Spot Ambush]? [Notice Ambush]? [Detect Ambush]?

Not that skills always lined up with a [Class]. Michail had been with a group of [Bandits] when Pixel and Vincent had rescued him. So it was possible that he'd gotten the skill after noticing the [Bandits] about to ambush him in the past.

Or...

Michail could have another class that [Appraisal] was missing. It wasn't a common effect where the spell or [Skill] was blocked, but there were more advanced ones that selectively hid [Classes]. The same thing applied to lying [Skills]. Those could fool basic truth abilities.

But how high level would you need to be to have them? The Earthers were leveling surprisingly quickly, but that still seemed far fetched.

Just what was Michail hiding?

---

Montressa du Valeross, or 'Mon' to her friend, made her way back to her room. It had been a busy day. To be honest, most days were busy to a secret broker, but today was busier than normal. Interest in the high table secrets was at an all-time premium.

The rumors around Blackmage had died down after a while. Gossip tended to not last long in Wistram's secret-based economy. Un-verified gossip that was. People liked to speculate. To take small secrets and combine them.

'There's a new student at the high table.'

'The new student's name is Blackmage.'

'Blackmage isn't his real name.'

'Blackmage gets private lessons from Archmage Feor.'

'Blackmage speaks with the counsel.'

'Blackmage has never gone to a normal class.'

'Blackmage is an [Engineer].'

The combined results like 'Blackmage has a special magic.' or 'No one saw Blackmage arrive by boat.' couldn't gain traction because they couldn't pass a truth stone. Sure, it was a likely enough conclusion, but it wasn't a secret. Besides, a secret couldn't be a negative. How could a person speak the truth about 'no one' seeing something?

Anyways, Montressa had collected the secrets. She'd paid for them, and then sold them to others. Blackmage was visible enough that the quality of the secrets around him degraded quickly. Medium to small. Small to ubiquitous.

Some of them, like 'Blackmage gets private lessons from Archmage Feor.' still carried some weight, but even then it wasn't much. The latest thing had come and gone, replaced with more recent secrets such as the King of Destruction or Amerys.

That all changed when three new people arrived at the high table just as suddenly and without explanation. Montressa sought out the secrets from the rumors.

'The other black one's name is Boxer'. True.

'The large one's name is Builder.' True.

'The small one's name is Gamer.' True.

'Boxer runs along the beach in the morning.' True.

'Builder is from Golaen.' False. It was certainly likely, but no proof = no secret.

'Gamer is from Drath.' False. No proof.

'Boxer is a [Boxer].' True. Appraisal spells could tell that much, but it was higher magic than more students knew. That was why Blackmage's [Engineer] secret was still a valuable commodity.

'Builder is a [Builder] and a [Reader].' True.

'Gamer is a [Gamer].' True. No one knew what the [Gamer] class was.

'Boxer, Builder, and Gamer aren't their real names.' True, but obvious. Montressa wouldn't count such a basic observation as a secret.

And finally: '[Boxer] is an advanced form of [Fist Fighter].' True.

That should've been a much more valuable secret, but it had been demonstrated to so many students in the most obvious way possible that it was virtually worthless.

At least until the new crop of students showed up in a few months.

Montressa smiled to herself. It had been nice to see Charles get beat up and humiliated like that. The man was all of the worst stereotypes about Terandrians combined. Plus, they were enemies due to their respective families. That could've changed over the years if Charles wasn't so... Charles.

Plus, there was no chance of anyone who associated with non-humans getting along with him. Montressa had Beatrice as her best friend, and that was that. So Charles losing to a non-magic user was hilarious. Boxer didn't even seem to have gained a single level in [Mage] yet, much less consolidated his class to one that used magic.

Charles was never going to live it down, and he'd lost the stupid sword and annoying bell.

Montressa shuddered as she thought back on who'd originally owned that rapier. Thinking about him made her think about that...

The clawing hands...

The blank eyes...

The empty sockets...

Calvaron's defiant roar...

His brave charge...

His death...

Montressa shook her head violently. Her long red tresses flew about as she resolutely refused to re-live those memories. No. Never again. She wasn't the weak, naive girl she'd been. She hadn't felt so helpless in years, but seeing HIS rapier used in a fight inside the great hall. In the same spot Calvaron had died...

It didn't matter if the sword hadn't actually been there at the time. It didn't matter if he'd already sold it. It was a symbol of him. Something every bit as fundamental as the undead that had swarmed them.

She took a deep breath as her fingers clutched her staff so hard they turned white.

She wouldn't let herself panic and freeze. She would...

She would...

"Excuse me." Someone was in the hall she'd just turned into. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Boxer was leaning against the bricks with his arms crossed. One of his hands held the rapier and its sheath.

Montressa narrowed her eyes. "You can ask. I might even answer, if you can pay."

The teenager nodded. "Fair enough. You're a secret broker, right? You buy and sell secrets."

"That's right." Montressa fingered her staff. She wasn't afraid, people came to trade secrets in private all the time. Still... it was best to be prepared. "What do you want to know?" She tilted her head. "And how'd you give your friend the slip?"

Boxer smirked. "That's a secret, right? I could tell you in exchange for what you know about this." He held up the sword.

"Hmpf." Montressa crossed her arms and sniffed. "That's not a good trade. It's hardly a secret that you lot have your minders." Bodyguards. Escorts. Whatever you wanted to call them. "You'll have to offer me more." Although, there was a fair chance that it was a decent secret. If Boxer had found a secret passageway that no one else knew about or something, it would be valuable - as unlikely as that was.

"Hmmmm..." Boxer hummed as he looked over the sword. "You said this thing was cursed, and I don't think you were lying." He unsheathed an inch of the blade. "I'm no expert, but I can say with one hundred percent certainty that this sword has no magic." He slipped the rapier back inside. "So, it's either something special, or it's this thing's history. Either way, I'm curious."

"You're fishing." Montressa smiled. "I don't give away information for free though." Aside from warning him in the first place. That was then, and this was now. If he wanted details, he'd have to pay. "You need to sweeten your offer. Other secrets, gold, or something else." She paused. "But not the sword. I don't want it."

Boxer nodded. "I do have other secrets, but I think the reverse applies. They are worth a lot more than the history of this thing." He glanced at the sword. "In fact, I think they're so valuable, you wouldn't be able to find a buyer that would give you a fair price."

"Oh?" Montressa's eyes gleamed. "I'm a broker. I'm fine with sitting on secrets until someone meets my price." A boast and a threat. She'd underestimated Boxer's intelligence before, as he wasn't a magic user... possibly.

"Okay. Fine." Boxer jerked his head. "Let's go somewhere more secure."

"Hold up." Montressa raised her hand before reaching into a pocket. "Let's just verify some things before we waste my time." She pulled out a stone. "Do you intend to harm me in any way?" She didn't think so, but better safe than sorry - especially when following someone to an unknown location.

Boxer crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "No." The stone glowed red. He blinked. "Hey! I'm tellin' the truth!"

"I know." Montressa smirked. Calvaron's truth stone was enchanted to glow red when someone spoke the truth, and blue when they lied. It helped throw people off, especially when she swapped it with her other stone. "Let's try that again." She put her hand back in her pocket and withdrew the same stone. "Do you have a secret that's so valuable I won't be able to sell it?"

"Yes." The stone glowed red. True. Or at least Boxer believed it to be true. She couldn't say how valuable his secret actually was without hearing it first.

Montressa put her hand in her pocket again before pulling her other stone out. "Will knowing this secret put me in any kind of danger?"

"No." The stone glowed blue. "I mean, it might in the future, but I don't see how it would right now." The stone glowed blue. "Hey, what gives?"

"That's a secret." Montressa slipped the stone back into her pocket, and then into the inner lining so she could keep them separate. "It'll cost you to find out."

"Whatever." Boxer rolled his eyes. "We good? You comin' with me?"

"Sure." Montressa motioned. "Lead the way."

Boxer nodded his head and turned around before walking silently down the hallway. At the corner, he paused. Boxer held a finger to his lips. After about ten seconds he jerked his head, and they continued. He continued doing that. Sometimes he'd increase his pace. Other times, he'd duck into a side room and wait. Montressa thought he was being paranoid, until she realized the truth.

They hadn't seen a single other person or golem the entire time.

Somehow Boxer was guiding them through the halls of Wistram undetected... without relying on magic!

Montressa's opinion of him rose a few notches. Whomever he was, Boxer was obviously high-level. She hadn't even realized that [Boxer] was a [Rogue] class, but that made a strange amount of sense. Sneaky [Classes] liked being sneaky - even with their names. Was he a [Rogue] that had spent time at a dock working with boxes? Or on a ship?

One more secret to add to the list alongside his [Skills], but it would be an expensive one.

Following a [Boxer] somewhere might not have been the best idea. If he hadn't been so clearly flustered by her truth stone swapping, she might've been having second thoughts.

They soon arrived in a old classroom that looked like it hadn't been used in years. Pillars appeared in the corners, and a shimmering field flickered into existence across the doorway.

"Greetings, and well met, Montressa du Valeross." A golem made of cubes emerged from the shadows... or it had teleported in, or it had been invisible. "I'm Pixel. I wish you a good morrow, and am glad you accepted my invitation."

Well... at least it was well spoken.

---

Cognita stalked the hallways. There was something going on in Wistram...

...Well, to be honest, there was always something going on in Wistram. Her days were spent in solitude as she oversaw Zelkyr's domain and his works in his absence. She stoically commanded the golems to keep the place running. That was all she did most days. The [Mages] didn't like her, she knew that, but it was still her duty to keep them safe.

Except when it was her duty to do the opposite.

The arrival of children from another world was a fascinating occurrence. As always, she wondered what her creator would do. Something that blurred the lines between insanity and brilliance most likely.

Still, he'd asked her to wait, so she waited.

The situation had changed. One of the lesser golems had been destroyed. This too was not an uncommon event. The dangers in the less-traveled parts of Wistram were many and varied. Also, not every golem was as robust and powerful as those that Zelkyr had personally made.

Plenty existed from before he'd risen up and claimed what was rightfully his.

They could not always handle unexpected threats, and occasionally got damaged. Damaged, but rarely destroyed. Cognita could repair damage. As long as a golem's core was intact, it did not require someone on the level of Zelkyr to fix. It didn't even require a [Mage] if you were skilled enough.

Cognita wasn't the only golem that could repair her kind, but she was the best. It was the same as everything else. She was the pinnacle of Zelkyr's art, and she could do almost anything that was required of her.

What she couldn't do was repair a core that had been completely drained of magic.

Such an attack was beyond her abilities to correct. The golem that had been destroyed hadn't been the most potent one in Wistram, but it still had been made by her creator. Destroying it was unforgivable. It was an attack on Zelkyr. On her. On Wistram!

Not that she expected the 'Archmages' who 'ruled' Wistram to understand. They couldn't appreciate her creator's brilliance. It was up to her to find the perpetrator!

...And do what?

Confront them?

Expel them?

Kill them?

Cognita paused.

She wasn't sure.

She couldn't let more of Zelkyr's work be damaged, but she also didn't wish to kill anyone else. She had done that so many times...

It. It hurt.

She had to do it for her creator. She had to do it for Zelkyr. She couldn't let him down.

But.

But it wasn't the same as killing monsters or fighting in a war. The [Mages] she'd slain weren't demons or crelers. They weren't harming other people.

But her creator had entrusted her with an important task, and she couldn't let him down.

Still, she wished she didn't have to... speak with people who'd known those she'd killed. Who'd looked up to them. Who'd loved them almost as much as she loved Zelkyr...

It was different though. THEY came to HER. They UNDERSTOOD the situation. They CHOSE their fate.

...And didn't that make it all the worst?

Cognita closed her eyes and centered her thoughts. She was getting distracted.

Now was not the time to dwell on the past. Now was the time to find out who had attacked Zelkyr's work, and thus her.

It couldn't be an accident or a flaw. Her creator did not make flawed golems. As long as there was ambient mana to draw from, the cores made by the [Archmage of Golems] would not fail on their own.

So it had to be the work of someone else, but whom?

Cognita suspected the children of Earth.

There was something... familiar about them. A trick she'd seen before.

Except she'd kept watch on them through the eyes of the other golems. They had all been in their rooms last night when the attack had happened. They were all in their rooms now.

Cognita resumed her patrol.

She had her duty, and she would see it fulfilled.

---

"Your big secret is a golem?" Montressa turned to look at Boxer and shook her head. "It's not a bad secret. If Pixel is the same as Cognita, I can see why you thought it would be worth a lot, but it's not so big that I couldn't afford it." She looked back at the cube golem. Each cube was a single color, which made for an interesting visual. "But, yeah. It's easily worth the secret of the sword and a lot more."

"I can understand your assumption." Pixel raised his hands to the side and shrugged. "In fact, I'm fairly certain that you're not the first to make it, but I'm not a golem."

"Oh, really?" Montressa crossed her arms.

The cubes of Pixel's head started flowing and merging with the rest of his body. They revealed a human face underneath. "Really."

Montressa blinked. Short black hair. Brown eyes. He looked about the same age as her. His skin was pink and healthy... so not a Selphid or... something else.

He could be a Dullahan. She wasn't a stranger to those that could detach their heads and and limbs. Heck, her best friend was one.

Actually... that might make sense. Dullahans were basically the only [Mages] that bothered to wear armor.

"That suit is armor." She took a step forward and peered at it. "That's a much better secret, but if it's already claimed, finding an artifact isn't world-shaking."

"An artifact, eh?" Pixel looked at his hand and turned it side to side. "I suppose that's a correct assessment, but the suit isn't my secret." He paused. "Well, it's A secret, but not THE secret. More like a side-secret." He waved his hand and a dozen such suits appeared standing against the wall.

Or were they golems? Some of them were much bigger than Pixel.

"Is the secret where you found them?" Montressa's eyes went wide. "THAT is a secret I'd be hard-pressed to sell." A cache of artifacts? She didn't know how potent they were, but she'd never seen their like. Except... "You're an Ullsinoi, aren't you?" She palmed her face. "Argh. Of course you are." She ruefully smiled. "I'll admit, it's a good prank." She wondered how they'd done it. They weren't likely to tell her, even if they were selling some secret alongside it.

"The [Illusionists]?" Pixel asked. "Hardly." The voice came from behind her. Montressa whirled around to see another Pixel. "Illusions I can do." He split into two as he took a step to both the left and the right. "In fact, it's somewhat of a perk of mine." The two Pixels faded into nothing, and Montressa turned to look at the real, or at least the original, Pixel. "But my armor, all of them, are not fake. I am not a member of the Ullsinoi. I am not an [Illusionist]." He bowed. "I am an [Artificer]. I made everything you see here."

Montressa's eyes narrowed and she pulled out her truth stone.

...It glowed orange.

That. That wasn't a possibility. She pulled out her other one.

...It glowed green.

"Wha... How? They aren't enchanted to be able to do that."

"Another perk of being me, I'm afraid." Pixel smirked. "You must understand the value of information, and preventing others from obtaining it." The smirk shifted into a grin. "So, is my presence in Wistram and the hints of my abilities a sufficiently big secret?"

Montressa was silent as she walked over to the other suits of armor. She gently ran her fingers over them as she moved past each one. They were solid. Not illusions. At least not completely. They were far smoother to the touch than what they should be - the edges of the cubes not existing as anything other than a visual phantasm. She then moved to the doorway that was covered with the shimmering field. A ward. It felt like glass to the touch, but somehow even smoother. No give. No transfer of heat. A perfect insulator.

She wasn't the greatest [Mage], but she had a talent for barriers. The one that Pixel had casually cast without saying a word... No. She glanced at the four pillars in the corners of the room. That he had created by using an artifact...

They were beyond her talent to identify.

She turned back to Pixel and bowed her head. "I can't say if what you're telling me is the truth." But not being able to tell was, in its own way, evidence. "But, yes." She glanced at Boxer who had been leaning against the wall with a smirk this entire time. "This is a secret bigger than any I have."

She sighed.

At least Pixel wasn't likely to devalue any secrets she told him in return. Also, if she played her cards right, she might get an artifact of her own out of this deal.

"I can exchange a good number of secrets for what you've shown me. What would you like to hear about first?"

Pixel stroked his chin and nodded. "How about we start with why you warned Boxer about the rapier being cursed?"

Notes:

Bios:

Montressa du Valeross - A [Nobel] and a defensive-oriented [Mage]. Also a secret-broker. Traumatized by the undead outbreak Pisces caused. Used to be his friend.

Chapter 28: Pixel and the Secrets of Wistram 5

"That sword is cursed because belonged to a [Necromancer]." Montressa sat across from Pixel on a chair he'd created out of mid-air. Like everything else, it was made of cubes. It was surprisingly soft and comfortable to the touch. "He came to Wistram the year before me, but couldn't keep his vile craft secret forever." She took a deep breath. "He was very skilled at pretending to be a good person, but on that day..."

She thought about the undead swarming into the great hall.

Their features a mockery of life.

Their motions so eerily similar to how alive people moved, but subtly off.

Their silence... that was replaced by the screams of her friends as they got eaten alive...

Calvaron's defiant roar...

His brave charge...

His death...

Suddenly, Montressa felt calm. The horror of that day felt... like nothing. Like it was a [Bard]'s story she'd been told once. She furrowed her brow and looked at Pixel.

"My apologies." He gave her a small smile and nodded. "I sensed that you were suffering from a panic attack and cast an emotion calming spell."

The two stones she had sat to the side both glowed blue.

"[Calm Emotions]." She nodded. "I don't know it, but I know of it." So this was what it felt like. It was... nice. She could see its appeal.

"Yes." Pixel frowned. "I would normally not wish to impinge upon your mental state, no matter how benign the effect is, without your permission." He sighed. "However, you seemed to be in distress, so I felt it only proper to act."

Montressa closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. "It is quite alright, Pixel. It is... nice." She felt calm. That was obviously from the spell, but she also thought she wouldn't mind that he'd done it anyways. "How long will it last?"

"The effect is confined to this room, and will dissipate once you leave. Similarly, you need not fear us being overheard or eavesdropped on while we are here." He glanced to a corner. Montressa followed his gaze to one of the pillars that was creating the ward around the room. "I can also deactivate it earlier if you'd like."

Montressa raised her eyebrows. Relics he could deploy at range with but a thought. Relics that not only could form a physical barrier, but help with emotions and block surveillance spells... if his claims could be believed, and she saw no reason to doubt him now.

She was going to be rich as soon as she could spend these secrets. It would have to be after Pixel made himself known, but once others knew of the big secret, they'd surely want to know more.

"Could you turn it off now?" She asked.

"Certainly." Pixel nodded and just as suddenly her calm feeling was gone.

Montressa took a shuddering breath.

The clawing hands...

The blank eyes...

The empty sockets...

Calvaron's defiant roar...

His brave charge...

His death...

She swallowed. "Actually, can you cast it again?"

"Of course."

Montressa felt calm.

"Sorry." She shook her head. "I thought that I was better, but it all came flooding back." Just like always.

"No need to apologize." Pixel held up a hand. "It was clearly a traumatic experience, and my effect merely pauses things. The underlying emotions are still there. They will still require time to dissipate." He paused. "Although..."

"Although?"

Pixel let out a huff. "Turning the field on and off repeatedly can mitigate things somewhat. It allows you to... train your responses." He gave her a rueful smile. "It's not a replacement for therapy, but I guess that's not really an option for you."

"Therapy? Like from a [Healer]?"

"Yes." Pixel nodded. "But for the mind."

"Oh. A [Thought Healer]." Montressa looked at her hands as she rubbed them together. "I've heard of that class before, but I've never met one." She hadn't really thought about it as an option before. She didn't want to share what she'd been through. She didn't want to re-live that day.

Now, she was calm. It didn't seem like a bad idea.

That was, if Wistram had one, but the school did not.

"Would you care to continue?" Pixel looked concerned. "We can always do this another time."

"No." Montressa shook her head. "That's quite alright. As long as your spell is active, I feel fine." And if what he said was accurate, it would be best to discuss it first so she had time to naturally calm down - even if she couldn't feel that happening. She also wanted to tell this particular secret. People had to know about Pisces - what he was. What he had done. "To understand why I said the blade was cursed, I have to tell you about who originally owned it. Like I said, the rapier belonged to a [Necromancer] named Pisces. He was in the year before me and he... was nice at first."

She thought back to the time when she'd first arrived. Pisces. Ceria. Beatrice. Calvaron.

"We were all friends before everyone learned of what [Class] he had. What magic he practiced." Montressa swallowed. "He was talented. A true prodigy. He learned spells twice as fast as anyone else. He was talented with his sword. He had a silver bell, and you knew he earned it because it never made a sound." Unlike Charles, who had it tinkle despite his attempts at muffling it.

Montressa frowned and looked at Boxer. He had the sword and bell, and it hadn't made a single noise during their walk here. That... wasn't all that surprising after what she'd seen at the duel.

She turned back to Pixel. "He went with some students to confront some [Pirates] that were around Wistram. That was when he animated their corpses to help him. That was when it was revealed what he was." It was strange. Montressa remembered her feelings of friendship. Of betrayal. Of acceptance. Of... something more. She also remembered all those emotions twisting to fear and rage after the fact. But that was all it was, a memory of a memory. She didn't feel that way right now. All she felt was calm.

"I stood by him." Montressa smiled a little. "Beatrice disavowed him the most. She... hates [Necromancers]. She hated them before the incident. Ceria was the one he was closest to, but she stopped talking to him. Calvaron." Montressa swallowed. "Calvaron was the secret broker."

Calvaron's defiant roar...

His brave charge...

His death...

Montressa was calm.

"Apart from me, Calvaron stayed in contact with him the most. Pisces." Montressa hung her head. "Pisces was also a genius at finding out secrets. Calvaron didn't associate with him in public, but he still did business with him. Without him..." Montressa closed her eyes. "Without him, Pisces wouldn't have been able to stay after they took away his scholarship."

Montressa fell quiet.

"I take it something happened?"

She nodded. "Some [Mages] challenged Cognita, including Ceria's mentor." Montressa opened her eyes and stared at the floor. "They died, of course. Pisces..." She was calm. "Pisces used that chance to enter the catacombs where the dead bodies of Wistram's [Mages] reside. I don't know what he intended. Some say it was an accident. Some say it was his revenge. The trial concluded that it was negligence."

Montressa let out a short laugh and looked up. "The only person to defend him was Ceria, but she didn't defend him really. She just called out the entire counsel of mages as being cowards because of her master's death." She shook her head. "They expelled her for that, the hypocrites. At the end, Pisces and Ceria were both exiled. Calvaron was dead."

And she was alone.

Montressa was calm. She continued.

"So the rapier isn't cursed by a spell or a [Skill], but there are a lot of people around Wistram that remember Pisces, and remember that it's his sword." As Charles, that arrogant prick, kept telling them. Montressa turned to speak to Boxer. "You won't win any friends by walking around with it."

"Hmmmm..." Pixel hummed. "Cursed indeed." The [Artificer] leaned back and looked at the ceiling. "I think that story was quite helpful in understanding Wistram. Despite my efforts to observe it without any pretense, there have hardly been any major events that would shake the status quo and reveal deeper secrets." His eyes shifted back to her. "Hmmmm...."

What was he thinking? What sort of spells or artifacts was he using to analyze her? Montressa looked at the truth stones. They glowed red and blue because she'd spoken the truth. Whatever magic he was using to obfuscate their results only applied to him.

Another secret for her stockpile.

"What else do you want to know?"

Pixel leaned forward. "I'm wrong, aren't I?" He smiled. "There's been something important that happened after Blackmage arrived, but before Boxer did, isn't there?"

Montressa frowned slightly and thought. Something that happened during that time that would 'shake the status quo and reveal deeper secrets.'?

Oh.

Of course.

She met Pixel's gaze. "You're asking about Archmage Amerys."

"Yes. I am." He grinned. "There are whispers about the missing Archmage. It's actually a widely popular thing to speculate on."

"Gossip isn't the same as secrets." Montressa shook her head. "I know some things, but less than you might hope."

Pixel rolled his neck. "Why don't you start at the beginning. Why is Amerys a sensitive subject? I think that's better to know before we get into why and how she vanished."

Montressa looked at him for a second before shrugging her shoulders. "Fine. I was curious about that too when I arrived. I mean, what was the King of Destruction's [Mage] doing in Wistram? Especially after they opposed her ruler."

She paused to collect her thoughts. "The truth is that she never fit in. She didn't join a faction. She didn't teach." Montressa thought about what she'd been told. "She did practice with other mages, and kept the area around Wistram free of monsters and pirates. She was actually quite up-front about waiting for the King of Destruction to wake up."

That was only a small secret, and it was only that because people were afraid to walk up to her and ask.

"It was a few weeks ago that she vanished." Montressa had, of course, been waiting for people to sell her secrets about the reason why, but no one had yet. "I don't know why or how it happened, but I know that she's still in Wistram somewhere." She shrugged. "Only the Archmages or the council really know for sure." She jabbed her thumb at Boxer. "Your friend there has a better chance of getting that secret. Someone at the high table has to know and have loose lips."

She drummed her fingers on the chair. "Probably not an Archmage or one of the older mages. They know how to keep secrets or else they wouldn't have gotten where they are now." She mentally went over possible people. "Blackmage would be your best bet. I don't know much about him, but he did appear before Amerys vanished. He probably knows." She glanced at Boxer again. "If you could get him alone, he might talk."

She shrugged. "Or he might not. No way to know without knowing him and the secret itself."

"Interesting." Pixel leaned back and thought for a while. "Powerful, but isolated. She had friends, did she not?"

"The only one I've ever heard of being friendly with was Ceria's master." Montressa scoffed. "And they were at each other's throats more often than not."

"Hmmmm..." Pixel hummed. "Very well. I can think of one other that would know. I've been avoiding her." Pixel looked at the hallway as two golems marched past, seemingly oblivious to their presence. "Tell me. What do you know about Cognita?"

"She's evil." It was as simple as that.

"Evil? What makes her evil?"

"Her very nature." Montressa nodded. "She kills [Mages]. That's what she was made to do."

"I've heard of her challenge room, and of the deaths at her hands." Pixel leaned back and stroked his chin. "I can't comment on the morality of it, but those [Mages] did choose to risk their lives."

"She'll fall one day." Montressa was a Revivalist. She believed in their goal of opening Wistram's doors to everyone. "Once we have enough numbers, we'll win. We know it can be done. One of her guardian golems was defeated in the past."

And there went another secret. She really was spending them like coppers.

Pixel leaned forward and narrowed his eyes. "But that's not it, is it? There's something else behind your ire."

Montressa was calm.

She crossed her arms. "She also meddles in Wistram's politics."

"How so?"

"She spoke at Pisces' trial. Convinced them not to kill him."

Pixel blinked. "That doesn't sound so bad."

Montressa wanted to growl... but she was calm. "She did it by threatening to kill any other student who made a 'mistake'." She sneered. "And then she had the gall to name him a Wistram graduate! Can you believe that?"

"Interesting." Pixel leaned back.

Interesting? All he had to say was interesting?

"Look. I've told you a lot of secrets, and I admit your presence here is a big one in return, but I'm wondering how big."

"Oh?" Pixel looked amused. "How big of a secret would an [Archmage] visiting Wistram in secret be?"

"An [Archmage], as in the actual class?" Montressa blinked. He wasn't saying that he was a...

"No." Pixel held up a hand. "I'm just wondering how weighted the presence of a hidden individual would be based on their level and class." He smiled. "Although, I have had people mistakenly refer to me as such before."

What?

No. Seriously. What?

"Are you claiming to be as powerful as an actual [Archmage]?" Montressa was stunned.

"Well..." Pixel shrugged. "I can't claim to know how powerful a real [Archmage] is, as I have yet to meet one, but I think I've demonstrated my power quite thoroughly recently."

"You mean your ward?" Montressa looked at the doorway again. It... was impressive. As an [Aegiscaster], she knew more than most [Mages] about barrier spells. "It certainly is impressive, but I wouldn't say it was on the level of an [Archmage]." Mainly because she had no idea what an [Archmage]-level barrier would even look like.

"No." Pixel shook his head. "I mean about my recent activities in Noelictus."

"The 'Breadbasket of Terandria'?" Montressa blinked.

"Ah, you know of it."

"Of course I know of it!" Montressa scowled. "Who doesn't know the greatest agricultural provider in Terandria?" Noelictus' reach was so ubiquitous in her home continent that she'd been surprised by Wistram's bread NOT being black.

"Do you know of their recent troubles?" Pixel smirked.

"Do you mean the [Necromancer] or Ailendamus?"

Pixel's smile fell. "So you do know."

"What?" It was her turn to smirk. "Did you not think that a secret broker in Wistram wouldn't be up-to-date on the news coming from her home continent?"

Pixel shrugged. "I didn't know how far the tale had spread. In any case, isn't that enough evidence of what I'm capable of?"

"What you're capable of?" Montressa tilted her head. "What do you mean, what 'you're capable of'?"

Pixel looked surprised for a second before smiling again. "Ah, it looks like I do have some secrets that don't involve my presence at Wistram."

Montressa furrowed her brow. He wasn't implying...

"YOU'RE suggesting that you had something to do with destroying the army of the dead or with repelling Ailendamus?"

"I am claiming more than that." Pixel's grin widened. "I'm saying that I single-handedly did both."

Montressa looked over at her truth stones, which were now glowing pink and white. "I'm going to need more than your word."

Pixel looked thoughtful. "I could lower my spell, and let your stones work... but you would have no real proof that I was being honest about that in the first place." He drummed his fingers on his knee. "Let's see... how about a visual display? That might help."

"A visual display?" Montressa raised an eyebrow. What? Was he going to demonstrate some high-level magic?

"Here."

Pixel raised his hand, and a miniature city appeared between them. It was amazingly detailed and realistic, despite being so small. Montressa leaned forward, and then started to recoil when she saw the undead shapes that clawed at the walls.

...But she was calm.

She continued to watch the city's brave defenders fight off the horde. It was... strange to look at things while she was so detached. It was nice to simply not feel the familiar panic set in.

A small figure flew into the scene. It drew her eye due to the bright light that trailed behind it. No, not light. Fire. She quickly glanced at one of the suits that Pixel had summoned that still stood behind him. It was the same, only smaller. At that size, the fact that it was made of cubes was less obvious.

Her gaze was drawn back to the miniature city when the small Pixel unleashed a wave of light that made the undead vanish completely! No burned remains. No bones. Only a few fluttering scraps of clothing were left!

Pixel circled the city, vaporizing the undead as he passed.

A group of ghostly woman flew at him, but faired no better against the golden light.

After two complete laps, the entire undead horde was gone. Only some clothes and the claw marks on the wooden walls were any proof that they were ever there at all.

Montressa looked up with wide eyes. "That was you?"

Pixel leaned back and smirked. "Feel free to ask for details on how the undead army met its end. There are ample witnesses to my deed, even if they do not know I was the one who did it."

Montressa nodded. "I can confirm that." It would take some time, and it might be possible that Pixel had heard about the details of the battle and had simply crafted an impressive illusion. "But I think I'll need some more proof. After all, if you heard those same details, you could easily come up with a story that matches them after the fact."

Plus, there was basically no way to confirm any specifics short of speaking with a direct witness. Truth stones weren't helpful in discerning second-hand accounts since only the person who knew the origin of the story knew exactly how much was embellishment.

"A fair enough point." Pixel tilted his head from side to side. "How would a demonstration of pure force suit you? I can not, in good conscience, unleash that same level of attack from within the walls of Wistram." He shrugged. "There's no telling what the result would be, but it assuredly would not be a good one. No," He stood up and walked towards one of the walls. "A smaller scale display must suffice." He paused and looked at her. "Do you agree?"

Montressa frowned. If he could cast some higher level [Spells], that would be decent proof. Not conclusive, but it would certainly support his claim. Right now she knew he was capable of extremely potent illusions and wards, despite not being either an [Illusionist] or an [Abjurer]. If he could also create relics as destructive as what he'd claimed, then it would be more likely than not that he was telling the truth.

Argh!

This was why she hated dealing with the Ullsinoi. At least they respected the idea of the secret trade. Why wouldn't they? They had access to more secrets than most others given their specialty.

Finally, Montressa replied. "Yes. I suppose if you can show one more high-level [Spell] or [Skill] like that, then I can be reasonably sure you're not lying to me."

"Good." Pixel smiled before raising his right hand. Blue cubes materialized around it in a roughly oblong shape. Half of his forearm and his hand were covered by the newest artifact. Then, a brilliant sword of light extended from the tip.

No. Not a sword. It split into three parts, with the outer two blades curving so they extended parallel with the first. It was a trident. A trident made out of light.

Which he had once again used without speaking a single syllable of an incantation or [Skill]...

Montressa supposed that was fair. He obviously had a holding-type skill. Those were rare and were usually gained by [Merchants] or [Alchemists]. An [Artificer] having one, especially one as high-level as Pixel, wasn't surprising. The true magic was in what he'd created.

The shimmering field that covered the wall close to him blinked out of existence, and Pixel casually swiped his arm horizontally across the stonework.

His blade parted the rock without slowing in the slightest. Three grooves were carved in its wake. The outer ones were only half an inch deep, but the center once was at least five times that. Chunks of rock landed on the floor and made a slight sizzling sound.

Montressa stood up and walked towards him. "Is it safe to touch?"

Pixel nodded as the trident of light faded. "Yes. The application of this weapon does not leave much residual heat or radiation. It's perfectly safe." The blue relic on his arm vanished.

Radiation? What was that?

Montressa should ask him. Hints from a high-level [Mage] were valuable, and very nice secrets to have. Instead, she ran her fingers across the grooves...

Smooth. They were as smooth as glass.

She reached down and picked up some of the rubble. It was mostly rough, and what you'd expect of the remains of a pulverized rock, except for a thin strip on one side. That section was also impossibly smooth.

She looked up at Pixel and nodded. It was hard not to feel intimidated by someone that could do that, but... she was calm. Montressa pocketed the segment of stone as she walked back to the chair made out of cubes. Belatedly, she wondered what magics it had been enchanted with.

No one would make a chair out of deceptively soft cubes without additional effects. Unless it was a precursor to his other work. Something Pixel had created while he'd been learning his craft.

She shook her head. There were better secrets to acquire right now.

Pixel strolled back to his chair. "So, we are in agreement that the secret of my presence at Wistram is valuable?" He smiled as he sat down.

Montressa let out a sigh. "Yes. You clearly are a high level magic-user. Such news is valuable." Especially if she rationed it out. Sure, she might not be able to get the full value of 'Pixel is at Wistram', but the secret that an Archmage-level [Artificer] was?

That was the thing about secrets. Like money, you could usually break them down into smaller denominations.

"Excellent." Pixel steepled his fingers. "I think I have one final request for both information and a service."

"Oh?" Montressa focused back on him. "What do you want to know?"

"Tell me everything you know about scrying, especially ways in which is can be overcome."

Montressa tilted her head. What was Pixel getting at? Was this a test to see how much she knew?

"The [Scrying] spell allows the caster to observe an individual or a location at great range. The actual reach of the spell is unlimited, but the area is covers depends on the [Mage] casting it." Montressa paused. What else? "[Scrying] itself first targets a location. You need the proper coordinates, and the person's real name. If they exist within the area, the spell will latch on to them and allow viewing."

"How does searching the world for a person work?"

"Here at Wistram, we have the coordinates for... well, everywhere. At least, everywhere above ground. Scrying into dungeons or the depths of the ocean floor won't work." Montressa had actually heard that there had been a lot of scrying recently. Was that related to Pixel? "So, if a particular person was sought after, but their general location not known, the spell would have to be cast repeatedly until it either found them, or ran out of places to search."

"I see." Pixel nodded. "And what might prevent a person from being found like that, apart from time or effort on the [Scryer]'s part?"

"Well... You need their real name, of course." Was that why Pixel was called 'Pixel'? That could easily be a pseudonym. "There are a number of [Spells] and [Skills] that can prevent scrying from working on you, not to mention artifacts." She kept her gaze on Pixel's face, but he didn't react. "Some places with a high concentration of magic are also difficult to scry. Such as Wistram, itself." She smirked. "That, and the protective spells, and lack of coordinates, are why locations like the upper floors are protected. That's why no one knows what's actually going on up there, if anything."

"And how might these counter-measures be bypassed?"

"If someone scrys on a location, protected people will still be visible." Montressa paused again. "Of course, if the person you're looking for is hiding or invisible, just seeing where they are won't help. It takes a [Scryer] to move the location that they're scrying on, so moving very quickly might work. That is, if you can cover thousands of miles that fast."

Still no response. What exactly was Pixel's angle?

"I see." He nodded. "And do you need to know the [Scry] spell in order to scry? Or are there artifacts that can accomplish the same thing?"

He... was kidding right?

Or testing her knowledge?

"Well..." Montressa looked for any outward signs, but Pixel was infuriatingly stone-faced. "You mean, aside from scrying orbs?"

"No." Pixel shook his head. "Please include them in your answer."

"Okay." This was suspicious, but she couldn't exactly say why. "The most common way to scry is with an orb. You don't need to know the spell. For some orbs, you don't even need to be able to cast magic." Pixel leaned forward at that and then glanced behind her. "There are greater artifacts that do the same thing, but the basic functionality is the same. They only allow things like expanding the sensor's range, or moving it, or other things I've told you about."

She looked behind her at what Pixel had briefly focused on. Boxer was still leaning against the wall.

Oh. This was for him.

Why? She didn't know. Pixel could've told him such a basic amount of information.

"Can you get me a scrying orb? One that can be used by anyone, and is as powerful as possible?"

Montressa thought before replying. Scrying orbs weren't exactly rare, but they weren't common place either. "I can, but I'd charge a major secret for a regular one. For the best one possible, I'd likely have to go to an Archmage. I'm going to need something more than the secret of your presence for that."

She'd already given up a lot of secrets in exchange, and it wasn't like Pixel's presence was THAT important... yet. It might be in time. If he revealed himself and rose through the ranks of Wistram [Mages] he would almost assuredly be a member of the counsel. In fact, becoming the 'Archmage of Cubes' was entirely plausible with what she'd seen.

Be that as it may, it was only a possibility. She was already speculating with his secrets plenty. There was no way that she could trade any more than she already had for them.

"I see." Pixel drummed his fingers. "I suppose it would only be fair to exchange secrets for secrets and an artifact for an artifact."

Montressa tried to keep her excitement in check... which was surprisingly easy considering how calm she was. Still, her eyes gleamed at the offer. "What sort of artifact?" She hopefully asked.

"Hmmm..." Pixel hummed. "I can make a lot of things." He motioned to the suits of armor and the pillars in the corners of the room. "I cannot, in good conscience, give you some of my more dangerous items."

"Yeah." Boxer spoke up. "I ain't even got sumpthin' like that."

Pixel raised and eyebrow. "They are far too noticeable right now." He turned back to Montressa and shrugged. "My style is very distinctive after all."

That was an understatement.

She nodded. "I wouldn't want to walk around in a suit of armor all day. No offense."

Armored [Mages] weren't that uncommon, not with the Dullahans that went to Wistram. It just seemed... uncomfortable to wear armor all day long. She supposed Pixel's suits might be surprisingly soft and flexible despite how they looked. The chair he'd made certainly was. It still seemed excessive to her.

Although, she could probably sell a suit of armor outside of Wistram for the most money, but she wasn't planning on leaving any time soon.

Pixel eyed her staff. "I don't make magical foci, but I could make a staff that can produce an impenetrable barrier. It would last for at least a thousand uses, but it would also be noticeable - even if not as much as a suit of armor."

That got Montressa's attention. A staff or wand, a good one, was one of the most important things to a [Mage] - right behind a powerful spellbook. She was an [Aegiscaster], so a barrier producing staff was exactly the sort of item that would suit her best.

She looked at the pillars at the corners of the room again. They wouldn't look so bad as a staff. It would be uncomfortable to hold, and it would be distinctive.

If Pixel became an Archmage, then it would also be a status symbol.

But...

"How about something that reproduces your calming field?" It wasn't something she would've thought of before, but being so calm was... nice. She wasn't afraid of the images of the undead. She didn't get upset thinking about Pisces. It wasn't a clear benefit for her casting, but for her day-to-day life?

Pixel stroked his chin. "I can make a helmet that does that, but I would caution you about wearing it in public."

Montressa frowned. "If I can't wear it in public, what use is it?"

"Sleeping." Pixel smiled a comforting smile. "It's not a good thing to suppress your emotions constantly, but I've had success in helping people with persistent nightmares."

What? How did he know? She'd never told anyone apart from Beatrice, and she was sure her friend wouldn't sell THAT secret. Not after the their common ordeal. "I..."

Pixel shook his head. "Did I not say I could sense your distress before? It goes hand-in-hand with my calming field."

"Oh." That made sense she supposed. Emotional magic was more the domain of [Witches], but Pixel was an [Artificer], so he didn't follow the normal rules for [Mages] either.

Wait. Could that be what the scrying orb was for? For him to examine and deconstruct for his class?

"Such a helmet would do more than calm you." Pixel gestured at his face and the cubes in his armor flowed back up and around his head. "It will suppress any other mental intrusions or compulsions."

"That sounds nice." Even if she only wore it to sleep, Montressa knew what she wanted the most. "I'll take it."

"Very well." Pixel stood up. "I shall make it immediately. You may deliver the scrying orb to Boxer once you have obtained it."

A swirling vortex of energy appeared in one of Pixel's hands, and a softly glowing cube in the other. Smaller cubes broke off from it and flew into the tiny maelstrom that had formed. One by one they separated until the cube was no more. Only then did the whirlwind subside and leave behind a helmet.

Unlike the one Pixel wore, it was not a full helm. It looked like it would wrap around the side of her head, leaving the top and her face exposed. Pixel handed it to her.

"Say 'Malleable' while holding it, and it will shrink into a cube. Say it again to restore its form. Aside from that, all you need to do is wear it to gain the benefits."

Montressa gaped. He'd created it that quickly?

That...

That......

That was truly high-level magic!

Chapter 29: Interlude - The Dairy Queen

It had started simply enough. The nights were cold and the days were sweltering. A warm cup of milk, or a chilled one would hit the spot.

It took a while to get enough blood veins of the right sizes to form a condensing coil, plus she needed to upgrade the Milk Box to produce a super-freon. Blood obviously wouldn't work for a temperature control as all the red and white blood cells wouldn't change to a gaseous state.

Er, all the white and white blood cells. Terminology was strange.

Water technically could've worked, but the boiling point was too high. What she needed was a liquid that required less energy to evaporate and condense. It also needed to do so based more on pressure than heat. It also needed to not rupture the blood vessels.

Or, super-freon vessels. She couldn't really call them blood vessels when they weren't transporting blood.

However, strengthening all the super-freon vessels by hand would take FOREVER... so she would need to make a hardening agent that she could pump through them to enhance them all at once. In fact, that would be an addition to the super-freon gland. The Milk Box might get damaged, and it would need to be able to repair itself.

Within reason. She shouldn't get distracted from the goal.

Ideas bounced around in her mind as she made all the modifications. A tail was the best heat-expelling segment. The super-freon would absorb heat from within a section of the Milk Box as it turned to gas. The super-freon vessels in the tail would allow the thermal energy to disperse as it circled the outside layer. The insulated center would then allow the liquid super-freon to flow back to the body of the Milk Box to continue the cycle.

The end result? Areas that the milk could flow from the bladder through to heat it or cool it before it was expelled.

Success!

...But why stop there?

...Why make normal-flavored milk?

There were some lovely red berries that kinda tasted like strawberry-cherries. More importantly, they had sugar. An awful lot of sugar. It would take some work to upgrade the digestive track to separate that out, but once she'd done that, it wasn't hard to add it back in with the twist of a 'knob'.

Sweet cool milk!

Flavorful hot milk!

...But she could do more.

More flavors! More colors! As they moved through the lands, she made modifications to sort the Milk Box's food by color. She also stockpiled all the biological material she'd ever need!

White! Red! Pink! Blue!

...Not black. That wasn't cute or appetizing at all. Not to mention the toxicity.

The final upgrade was simple enough: Ice Cream.

What was ice cream but frozen milk that was stirred and whipped to emulsify? Add sugar and flavoring... Presto! A treat her friends had never tasted!

...Okay, that one of her friends had never tasted. The other was from Earth and knew what ice cream was already.

Ice Cream made everything better! So when they finally left the wilderness and came across a city, she knew how to make money. A rare delicacy that only she could provide? That was a monopoly!

...Now she needed a name.

Her brother had always flaunted copyright law. This was a new world. She could name her business whatever she wanted. She thought about it before she made her choice.

[Dairy Queen]!!

What could be more fitting?

Money flowed in, and people tried to strong-arm her. She knew how that worked. They'd rob her shipments and intimidate her employees! She had to expand.

[Royal Dairy Knights] took up her cause of frozen conquest! Her friends became the [Royal Dairy Explorer] and the [Dairy Baroness]! Her [Dairy Warriors] marched en-mass to deliver her treats to the farthest lands.

Probably.

She wasn't exactly sure how far the farthest lands were, but they were definitely expanding.

Little did she know, that the reach of the [Dairy Queen] was beyond even her imagination. Across the ocean, a [Lady] enjoyed her imported snack. The ice cream of the [Dairy Queen] was the best! Her devotion was acknowledged, and the first [Dairy Princess] was created!

Other people who'd tried to copy her success were destined to fail.

They didn't have a legion of Milk Boxes that could work twenty-four hours a day. The only limitation was bio-mass, and well, the people that opposed the rule of the [Dairy Queen] had to be put to good use somehow...

Everything was going perfectly... until the revolution.

She didn't know how it had started. A rogue Milk Box that gained sentience? A disgruntled employee who had accepted a bribe? A component that was cursed? The origins of the outbreak were a mystery, but the results were not.

[Dairy Revolutionaries].

They did not listen to their [Dairy Queen] because she wasn't a [Queen] in truth. And what happened when there was no [Queen]? A [Princess] was elevated. By now there were seven [Dairy Princesses] across the land, but the curse reached them and they became wicked.

The [Dairy Princess of Vanilla] became the [Dairy Princess of Stagnation]. She no longer enjoyed the most basic flavor of ice cream, instead she hated the other flavors!

The [Dairy Princess of Chocolate] became the [Dairy Princess of Overpowering Taste]. Her flavor muffled every other flavor out. There was no room for them in her kingdom.

The [Dairy Princess of Butter Pecan] became the [Dairy Princess of Sugar]. Flavor was lost in her kingdom, only sweetness mattered.

The [Dairy Princess of Sorbet] became the [Dairy Princess of Spice]. Where her people had once enjoyed a unique dish, sugar had been eliminated in exchange for more and more heat.

The [Dairy Princess of Strawberries] became the [Dairy Princess of Blood]. The sweet, red juice she once enjoyed was replaced with an entirely different scarlet liquid.

The [Dairy Princess of Neapolitan] became the [Dairy Princess of Naples]. Instead of the ice cream combination that had been popularized in the Greek city, she now only produced ice cream that had another traditional Greek flavor. Olives. Which, honestly, wasn't that bad.

The [Dairy Princess of Rocky Road] became the [Dairy Princess of Rocks]. Who needed teeth to eat ice cream?

The [Dairy Princess of Cookies and Cream] became the [Dairy Princess of Cookies]. The less said about her, the better.

One by one, they were corrupted by the ice cream that they had loved.

The battle lines were formed as other lines were crossed. Subjugation followed, and with it a horrible new class.

[Dairy Slaves].

Those that toiled without the reward of the ice cream they helped create. They were not the worst off. This world had dark magics. Magics that were unleashed by the most evil [Dairy Princess] - the [Dairy Princess of Cookies].

[Dairy Zombies].

They swept across the land like a plague. The corruption of the Milk Boxes were complete. They'd grown intelligent. They knew how to produce an ice cream that not only would control those who consumed it, but would consume them in turn.

After all, every person had the potential to be a Milk Box with the proper work.

You could identify them by their milky-white eyes, but by the time you saw that, it was too late! They held you down as they vomited soft-serve into your mouth. Then, you became one of them...

Riley woke up with a jolt!

That had been the strangest dream. She looked at the 'nali-stick' Pinky had given her. It was sweet. Super-sweet. Sweet in a way that reminded her of the processed foods back on Earth Bet. It had obviously triggered something in her subconscious.

She lay back down and tried to fall asleep.

Ice cream wasn't a bad idea though. The super-freon and tail would definitely work...

Notes:

Credit to Vabbie for the idea of the [Dairy Queen].

Chapter 30: Pixel and the Prisoners of Wistram 1

"[Light]"

Archmage Feor nodded appreciatively at Jiahao, or 'Gamer' as he was called. Like Aaron, or Blackmage, Feor was perfectly fine with using the young man's alias. While many referred to the children from Earth as 'you', 'hey', or nothing at all, he thought it was a good thing for them to choose their own names.

He smiled slightly to himself. It certainly made it hard for anyone trying to guess what country they came from.

"Good job, Gamer." The boy's spell flickered from one color to the next. They were bright and lacked complexity, just like the colors his 'playstation vita' made. "You picked that up quickly."

"Heh heh heh." Jiahao chortled. "I told you, [Gamer] is the best class! So it must use magic! This is only natural."

Aaron patted him on the back. "It took me almost twice as long to cast [Light] the first time. You'll probably get your first level in [Mage] tonight."

"No." Jiahao shook his head. "I don't want to be a [Mage]." He let the ball of light fade and jabbed at himself with a thumb. "I am a [Gamer]!" He blinked. "Although, I tired now." He swayed slightly.

"That's understandable." Feor leaned forward and peered at him. "You barely have any mana within you." No doubt from growing up on Earth. "You should rest for now and let yourself recover. Wistram has plenty of mana in the air, so you'll be ready to try again shortly."

The boy frowned. "Can't I practice anything else? I want to be able to cast [Repair]."

Oh, yes. To 'recharge' his 'video games'. "It would go quicker if you accepted the [Mage] class. Although..." Feor stroked his beard. "A derivative skill might come from your [Gamer] levels. Since they are dependent on your equipment, and those are dependent on the [Repair] spell."

"You really think so, Archmage?" Aaron perked up from the side. "I haven't gotten it for [Engineer], and [Repair] is invaluable for leveling that."

Feor nodded. "The two classes, as you have explained them, are fundamentally different. [Engineer] is far more general. Just because you got it from taking apart your world's technology doesn't mean that's all its used for." At least not going by what Aaron had told him, and what [Skills] he'd acquired. "[Gamer], on the other hand, needs games... 'electronics'. Do you see the distinction?"

Aaron thought about it before nodding. "Yes, I do, Archmage."

"Good." Blackmage was an eager student and quite bright as well. His leveling pace was unheard of.

"Teach me how to [Scry]." Jiahao interjected.

"[Scrying]?" Archmage Feor raised an eyebrow. "Where did you hear about that?"

"I told him." Aaron interjected. "He wanted to watch some television, and I figured that scrying orbs were the closest thing."

"Ah, yes, 'television'. Another of your world's more interesting innovations." He thought about it before nodding. "Very well, I can go over the basics and provide you with literature on the coordinates." He stood up and strolled over to his bookshelf. "It is not mana-intensive. Most scrying orbs use ambient mana to power themselves, although if you were outside of Wistram you might have to provide some of your own for long sessions. Let's see..." He gently dragged his fingers across the back of his collection of books. "Here we go. This will get you started, but before that, a practical demonstration."

It was one thing to know the proper coordinates. It was another to use them. Some simple scrying of the outside of Wistram would be sufficient for demonstrating how that was accomplished.

---

Cognita looked at the claw marks on the wall. Such things weren't unusual as far as Wistram went. [Mages] got up to all sorts of things, and their experiments escaped quite frequently.

There were two details that elevated this particular marking in her mind. The first was the location. The room was unimportant, and there were no other signs of a struggle. No golems or [Mages] had gone missing over the last twenty-four hours either. So why was this done?

The most obvious explanation when anything strange happened at Wistram was: 'A [Mage] did it.'

Cognita nodded to herself. Yes. It was far more likely that a [Mage] was practicing a new and dangerous spell here instead of an experiment gone rogue.

Such was the way of things. In fact, if she hadn't been scouring the halls in search of whatever had slain one of Archmage Zelkyr's possessions then she wouldn't have given this particular piece of property damage a second thought.

She ran her fingers against the gouged out area.

However, the second detail remained. The stone was as smooth as polished marble, and there was no debris to be found. The second part could be explained by the [Mage] responsible actually cleaning up after themselves - as rare of an occurrence as that was.

The first?

Cognita shifted her finger to Adamantine and drug it across the wall. She ignored the stone that flaked away and focused on the groove she'd made.

Smooth.

But not as smooth as the three claw marks.

Even taking the sharpness of a claw verses her finger, there still was a marked difference.

What could do such a thing? It was like the stone was melted...

Cognita shifted her finger into Sunstone. The appendage glowed bright with barely contained heat. She dragged it across the wall again.

This time, the very stone caught fire. It lasted only as long as her finger was in contact, and cooled almost immediately after it passed, but the rock left behind was smooth and melted.

Yes. It was just as smooth as the claw marks, but that was where the similarities ended. Scorch marks surrounded her experiment along with a dribble of magma.

She felt like she was on the right track, but what else could melt stone?

...Acid?

Yes. That was possible, even though it should've left similar signs around the edges. She could test to see how it might differ from acid she made. All it would take would be to change her form into one that produced acid. That was the power of Truestone, to become anything else.

But there were limitations.

Only the most complex composites eluded her as far as solids went, but gaseous and liquid changes were not possible. Becoming pure acid was beyond her.

Of course, she could become rocks that generated poisonous air or acid. The issue there was acid used itself up to dissolve other substances. Creating it from her body was draining, and seldom useful.

Cognita stepped back and commanded the maintenance golems to begin their repairs. There was nothing more to be learned here. Fire, acid, or something else... it was interesting in its own way, but she had more important things to dwell on.

As potent as the unidentified [Mage]'s attack was, it was not what had slain the golem, and thus was of lesser importance.

---

"I've got what you wanted." Beatrice gently placed a cloth bag on the table next to the plate of food that she was holding. "What do you need such a high quality scrying orb for anyways, Mon?"

Montressa put her knife and fork down and opened the bag slightly. Not that she didn't trust Beatrice, but it was always better to confirm things herself. Besides, she was curious. Would it look any different from normal? "I can tell you for a major secret."

The Dullahan rolled her eyes as she placed her head on the table. "If you don't want to say, just don't say. No need to quote exorbitant prices to me."

Montressa smirked. "Everything has a price. You know that. I have a certain image to maintain as a secret broker."

"Hah." Beatrice let out a short laugh as she began to cut into her steak. "I've already got what I wanted to know from your answer. A major secret to tell why you want this? That, along with what you paid for, paints a pretty picture to me." She smiled before chewing on the chunk of meat that her body held in front of her head.

"And YOU know that I could be setting the price based on personal preference." Montressa dug back into her dinner. "You've got nothing, Beatrice."

"Don't I?" One of her hands leaned her head back so it was staring right at Montressa's face. "Don't think I haven't noticed the pep in your step recently. Finally found yourself a man?"

Montressa matched her gaze. "That also is a major secret." They both laughed a bit. "But seriously, I've just been getting a good night's sleep recently."

"Oh?" Beatrice raised her eyebrows as she went back to eating. "A new pillow? A new bed? Is that what the crystal ball there is in exchange for?"

"That's still a major secret." They chatted about other things for the rest of the meal. Once they had both finished, Montressa pulled out one of her truth stones. "Okay, let's make this formal. Does the package you gave me meet all the requirements that I specified?"

...

Montressa sat in her chamber and rolled the scrying orb around in her hands. They really were rather pretty. She held it up to the orb of light that she had illuminating her room. It was fun to look at things through it, in fa-

"Ow!"

She dropped the crystal ball on the floor and clutched at her eye.

"That, really stung!"

She blinked several times and the circular spot in her vision faded.

She let out a sigh. "Note to self, don't look at a light source through a scrying orb."

She picked the magical item off the floor. There was a bright spot underneath it that was surrounded by shadows. Somehow, the light was focused in that one area, which made it bright to look at.

"At least the thing's sturdy." She rolled it around in her hands to confirm that it hadn't been damaged. "Now, how am I going to get this to Boxer?" She assumed the boy would've approached her when she was alone again. Maybe he hadn't been able to sneak past his guard yet?

There was a knock on her door.

Montressa frowned as she put the scrying orb back in its bag. Could that be him now? She left the parcel on her bed as she got up and moved to her door. She opened it a crack, only to jerk back in surprise.

"Pixel?!" The [Artificer] was wearing a robe instead of his cubic armor. He looked... surprisingly normal. "What are you doing here?"

The tall man smiled. "I wish to pick up my package. I figured it'd be easier this way."

"Oh. Right." Of course. That made sense. He didn't need the muscular Boxer sneaking around for him. Pixel was a skilled [Illusionist], or at least could create them with the artifacts he'd made. He could move around undetected easily enough. In fact, the only reason he probably had Boxer contact her in the first place was because he was a familiar-ish face. "I have it right here. Come in."

He entered and softly closed the door behind him. "So it's top of the line?"

Huh? What did that mean?

"It's high quality, if that's what your asking. Wide area, quick recharge, strong enough to pierce weak wards." She handed the bag over to him. "I'm not an expert, but it's what you wanted as far as I can tell." She waited for a response, but when she didn't get one, she continued. "I used a truth stone to confirm that my supplier was thorough." She walked over to where she kept hers. "We can use one of mine, if you want to ask me the same thing."

"No need." Pixel shook his head. "I can tell you're telling the truth." He had a truth stone or spell? That was another small secret. "Thank you." Pixel turned to leave, but stopped. "Before I go, how is the helmet I made working for you?"

Montressa pulled out the softly glowing cube. "Malleable." It expanded into her helmet. "It's great!" She smiled at him. "It's a lot more comfortable than I thought it would be. More like a pillow than armor. It's almost like it's not there at all!"

"So, no more nightmares?"

"Nope." She shook her head. "I hadn't realized how often I had them until they stopped." She took a step forward, looked up at him, and smiled. "Thank you."

---

Aaron wandered down to the beach with Terua behind him. He wanted to see how Vincent was doing. Out of the three other Earthers, the boxer should be the one he had the most in common with. Aside from any racial stereotypes, they were both from America.

Aaron had tried talking to Michail, but the Russian man remained taciturn even after getting a translation amulet. He was... amenable enough, but the conversations were too one-sided. It was like speaking with the stuffed pig outside of his professor's office.

Jiahao wasn't so bad. He had the social skills of a particularly rude musk-rat at times, but he was friendly when it came to video games. It also helped that he was practicing his English. Still, he was... a lot. At least Aaron finally had someone to talk magic with, who wasn't already a [Mage].

That was the other thing, Jiahao was smart. Aaron could barely wrap his head around the scrying coordinates. He was good at math, but angles, vectors, axis, and rotations were... ugh! Not that you needed all of those to cast [Scry], but Archmage Feor was a very thorough teacher. He believed in covering all bases when explaining something.

Aaron would've called him 'dry' if he wasn't teaching magic.

But Vincent was his goal today. Archmage Feor still wanted him to keep an eye on the other Earthers, just in case there was a spy or a pretender. Personally, he felt that level of paranoia was silly. Vincent and Jiahao were clearly from Earth. Aaron didn't know enough about Russia to confirm anything about Michail, but the fact that he spoke an unheard of language seemed good enough for him.

It was past time to see what other interests they shared. Vincent had to have other things he did besides boxing right? He couldn't spend the whole day running, or shadow-boxing, or whatever it was that boxers did, right?

The beach had a few [Mages] spread out around it, but no Vincent that he could see. Aaron slowly walked around. If Vincent was running, he'd pass by here.

While he waited, he watched the other [Mages]. They were all casting various offensive spells out over the water.

That made sense. The best way to make sure no one got hurt when practicing combat spells was to cast them in a direction that didn't contain anything. It was sort of like a firing range.

Oh!

Aaron patted himself down to find some parchment and a self-inking quill. A firing range was a good idea. Wistram probably had one already, but if they didn't, it would be an interesting thing to bring up to Archmage Feor. Even if it was just a basic area with targets, it might help.

Or it might not.

The [Mages] at the beach had paired off and were taking turns making targets for their partners. Moving targets were a lot harder to hit, and probably better practice. So... it was kinda like skeet shooting?

Eh, something else to bring up, and possibly work on once he got a repulsor-blaster working. He'd get there eventually.

Where was Vincent anyways? It had been half an hour already.

Wherever he was, it wasn't the beach. "Hey, uhm, Teura, could you [Message] someone and find out where Vi-, er, Boxer is?"

The red-headed halfelf looked him up and down before nodding. She closed her eyes and whispered something. Several seconds later she opened her eyes and nodded. "Come. I shall lead you to where he currently is." She then gracefully strolled off.

"Oh! Uhm. Thanks!" Aaron hurried to keep up with her long strides. He glanced at her rear end for a second before looking away. Of all the students under Archmage Feor, why did he normally get her as his escort?

The pair re-entered Wistram and walked through several halls before running into Jiahao - who was nursing a black eye. Haylet had a long-suffering look as he dabbed it with a healing potion.

"What happened?" Teura looked down at them.

"Just a minor squabble." Haylet didn't even turn to look at her as he answered. "Nothing to be worked up over."

Or to tell Archmage Feor, Aaron figured.

He sat next to Jiahao. "Are you okay, Gamer? Who hit you?"

"Boxer." The Asian boy winced. "Can't take joke. Stick up ass."

Did he mean that Vincent could stick something up his ass, or that he had a stick up there already? Eh, whatever.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

"I fine!" Jiahao watched as Haylet stepped away and stored the potion. "All better now." He stood up. "I am going back to my room." He huffed and strolled off.

Aaron watched him walk away. Should he go after him? Or should he see what Vincent was doing? He didn't like it when two friends fought. Or two acquaintances at least.

His indecision lasted only a moment before he scrambled after Teura. The [Mage] glanced behind her to make sure he was following as she continued down the hall. They arrived at a room that had been converted into a gym, of sorts.

A golem stood in a corner, covered with pillows. Vincent was using a jump rope while a half dozen [Mages] watched.

"Looks exhausting."

"So repetitive."

"He's fast though."

"I think it looks like fun."

"How is he doing that? I mean, crossing his arms should result in the rope hitting him."

"Hey, Boxer!" Aaron waved as he got closer.

Vincent stopped jumping and let the rope slap across his legs. "Yo, what up?"

"Not much, I just thought we could spend some time together." Aaron got closer so he could speak softer.

"You wanna hang?" Vincent smiled as he hung the rope on the wall. "That's cool, man." He wiped his face with his shirt. "How 'bout later? I need to clear my head. Think I'll cool-down in my room."

"Oh, uh, okay."

"Later!" Vincent held up his fist and then waited.

"Oh, right." Aaron held his up for a fist bump. "Later."

One of the [Mages] came over and took the rope off the wall. "One." He awkwardly jumped over it as he swung it around him. "Two."

"You're going too slow!"

"Yeah, you look stupid!"

"Let me try. Give it here."

"No. I have it. You can wait your turn. Thre-" He tripped and fell down as he mistimed his jump and got his robes tangled with the rope.

Aaron shook his head as junior high PE class memories came flooding back. He then frowned as he spotted something on the ground. An MP3 player with ear buds. Vincent must have forgot it.

He reached down and picked it up before anyone else noticed. They were supposed to keep this kind of thing secret, but running without music must be boring. The [Boxer] was already gone, but Aaron knew where his room was.

He fiddled with the device as he walked. He'd never seen this model before. The icons were different, but he figured out how to make it play easily enough. Electronic beeps came from the buds and he held one up to his ear.

Doooooo, doot doot doot doot doo doo, doot doot doot doot doo doo,

Huh? There were no words, but it sounded familiar.

Doot doo, doo doo doo doodle doo, doodle doo, do-do-do-duh-do do-doodle-de-doot-do...

What the?

Was that the theme from... the Legend of Zelda?

Why did Vincent have that on his play list? Was this Jiahao's? It would make more sense for the game obsessed boy, but it was still odd.

Or was that what the fight was about somehow? Vincent stealing Jiahao's player? Jiahao messing with Vincent's songs?

---

"Riley Grace Davis."

I sat in my room with the scrying orb. I could have, perhaps, waited until nightfall to try finding my little sister, but I was impatient. I figured my excuse would allow me to focus and concentrate without any disturbances. That was important, as scrying was... wrong.

Or, rather, the coordinate system was wrong.

I might have viewed it that way because of Ears of Babel. My Perk let me 'understand' virtually any sort of information. Most large quantities of data, or programs, or other things that were too massive for me to wrap my brain around still had a... quality about them.

It was a direction. An intention. A way about them that was almost song-like.

Video games worked that way, as did other computer programs. There was a... path. It was vast and overwhelming, but I always got the feeling that I could see where one bit of data led to another.

Even Dragon, who was as far beyond a video game as I was to a bacteria, had a melody. It was too large and complex for me to understand, much less modify, but it was there. Like looking at an entire museum at once, or listening to all the orchestras in the world playing at the same time.

The scrying coordinates were nothing like that.

I had thought they'd be like simple Cartesian Coordinates. An x, y, and z axis with a distance for each. Or, if not that, then Polar Coordinates where everything was an angle and a direction.

It was... similar to that, but there were sections that I found jarring. Like a different song had been recorded over the original track. Unfortunately, I couldn't do anything about it. And it wasn't like I was going to be able to alter them anyways.

"Riley Grace Greenhouse."

My first attempts hadn't gotten any response.

It didn't take long to attempt to scry at a location, which was a good thing as I had to do it more than a hundred times to cover the known world.

...A world that the maps said was flat and not a sphere. The edges were marked where things just... stopped, but I wasn't going to think about that right now.

I was also ignoring the ocean coordinates, which was common practice according to Feor. Water covered most of this planet's surface, just like Earth, and people that were traveling on boats generally moved too quickly for you to get a scrying lock on them unless you knew their route.

Even with that limitation, there was a LOT of ground to cover. About three times as much as Earth, if I was estimating correctly.

...Which was another oddity. How was gravity the same if this place was so much bigger? Actually, how did gravity work if it wasn't a sphere? I mean, it could be that maps were just maps and not globes, but any sea-faring society should be able to notice the curve the ocean made as other ships or places seemingly sunk lower.

I should've paid more attention when I was traveling.

I shook my head. I had other things to worry about, like why my first sweep hadn't found anything. You were supposed to be identified by your birth name, but what if you weren't born here?

That was why I was now doing a sweep with 'Riley Grace Greenhouse'. That name wasn't on a form anywhere, but if Riley was my sister, then perhaps the magic of this place recognized that.

...No luck.

"Kevin Greenhouse."

That confirmed the scrying orb was working, and so was Threat Sense. I could tell that something was looking at me, in fact, with mana enhancing it, I could tell that something would be looking at me before I even tried scrying myself.

I would have to experiment with my Lucky Perks up and with my other aliases later.

"Bit."

That was more Riley's true name than her 'birth name' I figured.

Nope. No hits.

At least I wasn't getting lots of false positives. Our names were unique in the world, which should make things easier. I had no idea how many people you would have to filter though if you were searching for someone named 'John Smith' - or whatever the most common name on this world was.

That was, apparently, a more advanced scrying technique and generally required an actual class and skills to use.

"Riley Grace 'Bit' Davis."

Perhaps a combination of her names would work?

"Riley Grace 'Bit' Greenhouse."

What else? Were middle names required?

"Riley Davis."

"Riley Greenhouse."

"Riley 'Bit' Davis."

"Riley 'Bit' Greenhouse."

"Riley Grace Davis Greenhouse."

Okay... I had spent hours and hours trying this so far. I needed to take a break, if for no other reason than people would get suspicious if I didn't show up for dinner.

I needed to face the facts. I couldn't scry on Riley.

Hopefully, that meant that she wasn't on this world. It would make getting back to her harder, but she wouldn't be in any trouble. Alternately, the next best option was that she was shielding herself. The worst possibility was that someone else was shielding her.

Or she might be below ground, on the ocean, or somewhere else that had too much mana or wasn't properly mapped.

I'd continue after I'd eaten.

...

"Sibby."

"Siberian."

"The Siberian."

Nope. No luck with scrying on Sibby either. That was less important, as I can still tell which direction she's in. It would be nice if I could see how she was doing before that, but she probably would be invisible or something anyways.

There was also the fact that scrying needed a person's 'real' name. What they'd been given at birth. Or, in Sibby's case, what she'd been given when she'd been created.

Sibby didn't like talking about William Manton. It had taken nearly a year before she even told me his name. Her relationship with him was... complicated. I could tell she still cared for him, even if she was gradually coming to disagree with what he had her do.

...Or at least some of what she'd done.

In any case, 'The Siberian' wasn't her birth name. That was what the media had labeled her. True, it became her name, just as much as 'Sibby' was, but I don't think that mattered for scrying. The only person who could've named her after her 'birth' was long dead.

"Panda."

I got a hit!

...To someone else.

It looked like an interesting place. Let's see... according to the map and the coordinates, it's a small island country called 'Drath'.

I'm not sure why they'd name someone 'Panda', but it clearly isn't Sibby's daughter.

Unfortunately, that was the only hit.

Did 'Panda' not count as her name? I guess, once again, she'd only gotten it after I sacrificed my Summoning Perk to save Sibby. That wasn't as long ago in the past as when Sibby had been named 'The Siberian', but as far as a 'birth name' - it wasn't one.

I wondered why scrying didn't work on them. Could it be because of their names, or could it be their nature as a projection?

I mean, Sibby was alive as anyone else. She had consciousness, feelings, opinions, and a personality. She was a real person as far as I was concerned.

...She just wasn't human. It was more like she was a Shard created homunculus. It could be that scrying didn't work because her 'real' body was in another dimension. Or rather, in side dimension?

Or at least her brain was?

Maybe?

Possibly?

"Projection."

Ugh. No luck.

Okay, fine. Let's go with her Shard's REAL name.

PROJECTION OF CREATION AND NEGATION

The scrying orb went dark.

I tried pushing some of my mana into it... No luck.

I frowned and shook it. I hoped I hadn't broken the thing. I guess Shard-speak was a bit too much for it to handle.

I also hoped that Sibby was doing well and having fun. It would've been nice to confirm that, and to see her. I missed her. Also, I hoped she was having fun that wasn't 'murdery'. I mean, I trusted her, but her outlook on other people was still fairly alien.

I realized the irony of that statement, considering my mindset wasn't exactly human anymore thanks to Gamer's Mind.

In any case, it was about time to call it a night anyways.

...

The next night I knocked on Montressa's door.

The red-head opened it slightly and scowled at me. "Who is it?" She blinked. "Oh, it's you." She opened the door wider. "Come in."

I looked around. Her room was tidy. All the personal rooms in Wistram were nice, for a medieval technology world. Sure, they had magic and golems to help out with things like air temperature, lighting, and manual labor, but the stone walls still didn't seem normal to me. "Nice room." I'd seen it a few days ago, but hadn't bothered to comment on it then.

"Thanks." Montressa sat on her bed. "What can I do for you? More secrets? Another scrying orb?"

"The second one."

**Montressa is surprised.

"Really? What'd you do, lose the first one?"

I crossed my arms. "That's a secret."

**Montressa is amused.

She gave me a flat look. "That's not amusing. You'll need to give me something for it." She smiled slightly. "I wouldn't mind a new staff..."

"Really now?" I un-Inventoried a chair and sat down. "I admit the orb you got me was nice, but my helmet is worth far more than it." I smiled at her. "Isn't it?"

**Montressa is nervous.

She kept her face still as she replied. "It is, but that was a separate transaction."

"That's true." I nodded. "Still, a staff of mine is overpaying by quite a lot, wouldn't you agree?"

"Not necessarily. The true worth of any artifact is how useful it is to its owner. After all, that's the very concept that makes trade-" She sighed. "Okay, fine. I can see that's not going to work. I'll get you another scrying orb."

"Thank you."

**Montressa is hopeful.

"Can you at least tell me why you need two?" Her eyes gleamed.

"I suppose." It wasn't like it was important to me. "I broke it by giving it a name I shouldn't have."

**Montressa is surprised.

"What name?"

I shook my head. "Not one that you are able to hear." She narrowed her eyes and I held up my hands. "I'm being literal here. You are physically incapable of interpreting it."

"Uh-huh." She crossed her arms.

I sighed. "Tell you what, I have a few mundane secrets about Wistram that I can also give you."

**Montressa is eager.

"Oh?" She leaned forward. "Like what?"

"One or two secret affairs. Ingredients the kitchen is running low on. One or two hidden rooms."

Montressa smiled. "Those all sound good. Tell me them all, and I'll get you another scrying orb just as good as the last one."

"No." I shook my head. "Not all."

I hated haggling, but I also wasn't about to roll over and give her another one-sided deal. Especially when I didn't get any reputation gains from it.

Chapter 31: Pixel and the Prisoners of Wistram 2

It had been more than a week since the death of Archmage Zelkyr's golem and nothing else of note had happened. There was the incidents with the slime, the golem that she couldn't see through or control for a short while, the mysterious fire that had engulfed an entire basement room, three attempts to sneak past the sentry golems that guarded Amerys, and whatever had clawed the wall in the un-used classroom hadn't done anymore damage or showed up.

All-in-all, it was an uneventful time.

Even the standard maintenance, such as washing the floors and hauling food from storage to the kitchen, had more times that had required her direct involvement.

Well, 'required' was a strong word. The only task that was really and truly required of her was stopping anyone from accessing the higher floors. Everything else was just her improving Wistram and making sure that it was kept in the best possible condition.

Cognita was overseeing the golem helpers in the kitchen as they took inventory. The simple golems didn't possess enough intelligence to do anything that they weren't directly ordered to do. 'Take this barrel of apples to the kitchen.' was an order they could follow. 'Watch this pot, and make sure the rice doesn't burn.' wasn't. They would watch the pot as the water boiled away and all that was left was a charred mess.

They simply couldn't handle the simplest of cause-and-effect.

That was why she was here in person. The lesser golems could distinguish between different types of food, and while they couldn't count, they could 'Move every barrel from the North side to the South side. Check its contents. Put a mark on the piece of paper next to what was inside. Repeat.' Tallying up the marks was something that a [Chef] would normally do.

The current problem was that the marks weren't matching reality.

The [Chefs] could've been using too much food and not keeping track, but it was more likely that an enterprising [Mage] had snuck downstairs and stolen some fruit. It wouldn't be the first time, nor would it be the last. It didn't matter that they could get all the food they wanted after it was properly prepared. Instead, it was a desire to rebel.

A token rebellion, but a rebellion all the same.

Cognita didn't understand. She understood most emotions and driving factors of a person, but the idea to rebel for rebellion's sake just seemed... pointless. It was probably because Wistram was flawed, as most things were. Not everyone could be as lucky as-

Someone had entered the Challenge Room.

Cognita immediately whirled around at started making her way there. Her long legs let her move at a quick pace as she strolled with purpose. She could run, but unless violence broke out there was no need. It was important to get there quickly, but it was also informative to see what the intruder would do while she was absent.

Most [Mages] studied the guardian golems or the door itself. Some of them wished to examine Archmage Zelkyr's work up close, which was perfectly understandable. Those that did wish to challenge his might usually didn't enter the room itself. That sort of person was far more wary of the guardian golems.

In one sense, that was prudent of them, as they were Archmage Zelkyr's finest work, aside from Cognita and her sisters. In actuality, it wouldn't matter as the golems weren't intelligent like she was. They would respond to a direct attack, but that was it.

In fact, one of the more 'successful' challenges had the group of [Mages] enter and start casting a linked siege spell. The lesser golems couldn't identify it as an attack until it was actually finished. Coginita could. She'd watched the [Mages] through the guardian golems eyes. She couldn't command them to attack without being there in person, but it had hardly mattered.

Archmage Zelkyr's creations could brush off spells of that level with ease - no matter how many [Mages] pooled their mana.

The challenger this time wasn't a [Mage], but a fellow golem. No. That implied a comradery that did not exist. Any golem made by any [Mage] besides Zelkyr was an inferior eyesore at best and an unworthy competitor at worst. They were only allowed to grace Wistram's halls under her guidance!

She did have to admit that the golem's appearance was unique. Did each of those cubes contain a different stored spell? Why else would it be built like that? And overcoming the resonance...

The Shadowflesh Golem bounded towards it. The other guardians remained in position, but the Shadowflesh Golem had different orders. It always got close using its invisibility and stealth before the battle began. It had killed more [Mages] than any other guardian golem with its ambushes, save for Cognita herself.

The Cubic Golem's head swerved and it held up a hand. So it could see the Shadowflesh Golem? Its construction might not be for show then. Coginta began transforming her insides into a more suitable material. Her strides increased in speed as the Cubic Golem attacked.

A shimmering field appeared around the Shadowflesh Golem. A field that didn't even flicker as the guardian golem rammed into it. The other golems didn't react. The Shadowflesh Golem raged inside of its cage and released its poisonous gas, but it was well and truly trapped.

The Cubic Golem... did not press its attack.

Instead it seemed content to stand just past the entryway of the challenge hall without moving.

It must have orders to not initiate an attack just yet. Did its creator know of the Shadowflesh Golem? Was the Cubic Golem simply there as a vanguard? Was it possible that it was one of Zelkyr's hidden creations, and had been activated for a purpose unknown to her?

No.

Cognita shook her head as she continued her ascent upwards towards the challenge room. She knew all of Zelkyr's golems. He wouldn't hide something like that from her. The very thought was inconceivable.

She reached the challenge hall floor and completed her transformation. Her outer shell of marble shifted to match the translucent topaz she'd changed her insides to. As it did so, her speed increased a hundredfold. This was the form she'd killed the most [Mages] with. Countless challengers had died before they'd even moved a single muscle. The Cubic Golem was doubtlessly more sturdy than a flesh-and-blood [Mage], but Cognita could still pulverize stone and crush lesser materials with ease. It might survive one strike, but could it survive ten? A hundred? A thousand?

The Cubic Golem was turning towards the entrance even before she'd started to charge. A glowing cube was in its hand. The cube slowly grew and dissipated. If she hadn't sped herself up, the effect would've been almost instantaneous. As it was, she could make out the cube expanding into a spherical ripple in the air.

Cognita barreled through it and punched the Cubic Golem.

It somehow managed to raise its arms just in time to absorb her blow.

Absorb was the right word as it barely slid back half a dozen feet when it should've been sent flying into the far wall. It had to be heavier than it looked. Cognita adjusted the angle of her attack. She'd knock it into the Magma Golem. It and the Wireform Golem were already moving quickly to flank their opponent.

She paused. Something wasn't right.

Her movements weren't as fast as they should be. It was taking more and more effort to advance. The air itself was growing thicker. It was like trying to plow through a throng of demons.

It was some sort of barrier spell. A trap! A manipulation of the very air itself to restrain her!

From the side, the Magma and Wireform Golems attacked. A jet of flame billowed forth while the spindly limbs of the Wireform Golem coiled before it pounced!

The attacks never reached the Cubic Golem. Cognita's eyes widened in surprise as the fire froze in mid-air! The outstretched blade of the Wireform Golem was similarly caught! The burning attack slowed down as it passed an invisible threshold. She could still see it moving as it seemed to float, but the flickering was slowing down.

The color was also being leeched away. Red and yellow were fading away into a greyish hue. The same thing was happening to the now trapped Wireform Golem. It was barely discernible, but its silvery body was also growing duller.

Cognita looked down at her arms. The Color Magic wasn't directly affecting her. Her topaz still shone brilliantly, but it was taking more and more effort to move. This wasn't an opponent she could fight in melee - at least not for long. She pivoted and sprinted away. It was much easier to identify the sensation of leaving the effect than it was to notice it while within. One second she was barely moving, the next everything seemed to stand still as she accelerated back up to her form's normal speed.

Cognita let the Magma Golem continue its attack. It was a good way to visually see the edges of the sphere, and if it expanded. The Wireform Golem was trapped until she could end the magical effect. The Armored Golem was too slow to have engaged yet, but she ordered it to stand back for the time being anyways.

The Truestone Golem examined the sphere. One of the anti-magic ores she could change into would be able to dispel the mana, but which one. She had thought it a binding spell at first, and she was correct as far as the function went. She'd been wrong about the form. It wasn't air it manipulated, but time. The frozen flames were proof of that. The Temporal Topaz could resist it, but only for herself.

"Cognita." The Cubic Golem spoke. "I am here to speak with you. I do not wish to fight or to ascend to the upper floors."

Cognita blinked and regarded the Cubic Golem with a new-found respect. Was it intelligent, like her? Could it be one of Archmage Zelkyr's great works from above? Surely, no other [Mages] in the world could produce such a thing.

She shifted her outer layer back to marble, while continuing to try and parse the magical effect it had created. If it spoke true, then there might be no reason for conflict.

That is, if it wasn't a golem created by someone that sought to surpass her creator.

Wait. How was it speaking to her? Sound traveled through air, and the air inside of the sphere should be frozen like the flames. Unless, it had a weakness to gas? Poison vapors wouldn't help, but an acidic mist might work. It all depended on what, exactly, was allowed to move without freezing.

She took a step closer.

"If you would speak, then I would know with whom I am conversing." Her body pushed air aside as she moved forward. She was well-used to the sensation from using her Temporal Topaz form to accelerate herself to speeds at which the air itself was an obstacle. It was especially noticeable due to her recent experiences inside the Gray Sphere. It wasn't as pronounced from the outside, but she could feel the different eddies and currents that blew around the edges of the Colored Magic area even now. "Tell me what you are, who created you, and what you want in these halls."

Yes. It was easy to tell the boundaries by the air currents. It was a perfectly smooth sphere. Air did not pass through, but it also did not freeze. There was enough of a distortion that it should prevent communication. The Cubic Golem's ability to speak must be another magical effect.

Another one that her enchanted emerald eyes failed to see!

The Cubic Golem bowed its head. "I am Pixel, a traveler from a far away land. It would be incorrect to say that no one created me, yet I feel that there's an inherent misunderstanding there." The cubes around the golem's head shuffled around and merged with the rest of its body - revealing a young, black-haired human. "I created the armor I'm wearing, and my parents created me." The golem, no, the human smiled. "As for what I want? Nothing more than to speak with you lady Cognita and to learn about you."

Cognita took a step back and raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You're not a creator of golems?"

The man shook his head and raised his hand. The cubes that surrounded him flowed into his upraised palm until they overlapped completely, leaving a single one that was about an inch tall. "I can create many things. I can even make a few artifacts that can perform basic tasks without direction." The cube vanished. "It would not be wholly accurate to call them 'golems', but I could not gainsay those who did."

Cognita narrowed her eyes. Was he so confident in his barrier spell that he thought he could remove his armor? The air could shield him, but she could push through it with enough effort.

"It does not matter what you call your creations." She continued to cycle her body to try and match the specific resonance of his defensive field. "You will not gain access to Archmage Zelkyr's secrets without passing his test."

"The 'test' that would see you dead?" Pixel shook his head again. "I do not wish to ascend to the upper floors, or for anything that might be found there." He looked from her to the other Guardian Golems. "I would sooner destroy the greatest painting in the world than to harm you or Archmage Zelkyr's other works." He locked eyes with her. "No. As I said, I wish only to speak with you Cognita Truestone and hear your thoughts. Your destruction would be antithetical to that goal." He smiled and shrugged. "I'm not confident that I could even accomplish such a feat if I wished it. I might be able to eventually figure out a way to actually inflict damage to your body, but it would be a most difficult task indeed."

Cognita considered him for a time before replying. "Free my fellow golems, and we may speak." She gestured at the Wireform Golem who had turned completely grey and unmoving, then she looked at the Shadowflesh Golem who had finally ceased trying to escape from the shimmering field - once she had ordered it to stop.

The intruder nodded. "Very well." He raised his hand, and the cube re-appeared. It expanded in the reverse of what it had done previously and flowed outward until it engulfed him entirely again. He then stepped out of the sphere. "If your companion who keeps on trying to trick my mind that he isn't there advances towards me, I shall be forced to restrain it again."

Cognita nodded. "It will not."

"Very well." The shimmering field around the Shadowflesh Golem vanished. It retreated back to its resting spot.

"This other one will take some more effort." The Cubic... [Mage] moved to stand beside her. "The pillars will only suppress the bubble at first. It will take many hours for them to dispel it in its entirety."

"Understood." Cognita looked down at him and contemplated what to do. If he did not seek Zelkyr's treasure and knowledge, then he was not necessarily a foe. He was, however, still an intruder in Wistram, and would have to be removed.

By force if necessary.

Perfectly rectangular pillars appeared around the sphere and the trapped Wireform Golem. While they appeared to be a single solid mass each, Cognita suspected that they were, in truth, composed of a multitude of cubes. A strange magical style, but certainly a potent and flexible one.

Between one moment and the next, the sphere vanished. While it was still invisible to the naked eye, the Wireform Golem suddenly resumed its charge. It broke through the fire from the Magma Golem that had also resumed motion while regaining its color. The resulting pressure wave from the Wireform Golem's passage signified that the sphere was truly gone instead of its inhabitants merely being freed.

Cognita had failed to find a substance that could interact with its magic.

"I suppose we must stay here until your work is complete?" She wondered if this was possibly all a diversion. A means to keep her here while an accomplice did something nefarious elsewhere. If it was, it was a good one. She obviously could not leave such a dangerous and unknown quantity alone - especially not inside of the Challenge Room.

"We can go elsewhere if you wish it. The process does not require my supervision." Pixel's armor folded in on itself again. "I can blend in, and there probably won't be any students around to spread rumors at this time of night." Instead of the short sleeved shirt and trousers he had worn earlier, an average-looking robe covered his body.

A nice trick.

"I see that you are every bit the [Infiltrator]." She frowned at him. "How long have you been inside of Wistram without an invitation?"

Pixel blinked. "Without an invitation?" A crooked smile came to his face. "Why, Cognita, you yourself welcomed me into Wistram and told me of its rules. Are you now saying that my visitation rights have been revoked?"

"So, you admit that you are one of the three new 'Earthers'?" Cognita let a corner of her mouth rise up. "I suspected as much."

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say that." Pixel shrugged. "But you're more right than wrong."

"Yes..." But which one? She'd seen through the eyes of lesser golems as each of the Earthers had entered their rooms for the night. Pixel could teleport, how else could he have arrived in this room without being spotted beforehand. That meant that she couldn't rule any of them out. "I suppose it does not matter. You are not the first to arrive at Wistram with ulterior motives, and I doubt you shall be the last. As long as you follow the rules, that will suffice."

Pixel's eyes seemed to gleam. "So I have your tacit permission to go into any place lower than this one?"

Cognita frowned as she thought about the rooms below them. There were the catacombs, the room of frozen flames, the swarm room, and Amerys' 'prison'. Nothing that was likely a threat to Pixel.

"You may go where you wish." She gave him a nod. "Be warned, that such access is not a blank pass for causing havoc or destruction.

"What about interfering with the plans of an Archmage?" Pixel's smile fell away. "Or even killing one, if it comes to that?"

"I am neutral in the quibbles of the [Mages]. I do not condone such actions, but I also cannot condemn them." It would be hypocritical of her to do so.

"I see." Pixel stroked his chin. "Keeping this place running is your goal then?"

"Yes."

"And how does that work on a day-to-day basis?"

Cognita crossed her arms. "Why are you asking such questions? If you do not seek the upper floors, what concern is it of yours how Wistram operates?"

"For one thing, it's where I'm currently residing." Pixel looked up at her. "For another, I'm curious." He met her eyes with a steady gaze. "But the main reason is that I wish to know more about you specifically."

"Me?" She matched his gaze. "I am your objective in coming here?"

"No." Pixel shook his head. "My objective is protecting the other visitors from Earth, and seeing that they are safe and not exploited." He shrugged. "Understanding Wistram itself, and you in particular, helps me in that pursuit."

"Ah." Serving and protecting others. That was a goal she could understand. "You need not concern yourself with their safety as long as they reside within Wistram."

"Their safety, no." Pixel turned back towards the artifacts he'd summoned and stepped back inside their radius. "Their freedom? That's another issue."

"Freedom?" Cognita was tempted to forcibly stop him before he passed the threshold he'd just created. It would be harder to kill him if he re-enabled the sphere. "Freedom is a nebulous word. None are bound in chains within Wistram."

"Oh?" Pixel's eyes flicked towards her. "What of Archmage Amerys? Or are you saying her situation involves no chains?"

What did he know about Amerys? "The actions of the Archmages are their own. I take no part."

"Really?" Pixel bent down and rubbed his hand across the ground in the center of his box. "That's not what I've heard."

Cognita drew herself up to her full height. "And what do you mean by that, Pixel?"

"I've heard a story that was a secret, but not much of one." He rapped on the stone floor with his knuckles. "You've taken part in Wistram politics before. You argued not to allow a [Mage] named Pisces to leave instead of being killed."

"Graduated and exiled. You should make sure you have all the details correct if you are going to bring up past events."

"Graduated, eh?" Pixel stood up. "This area of the floor is going to be permanently frozen in time unless you want me to dig up some of the surrounding stones. The negation field only extends to the area directly between my pylons."

"The floor is of little concern." Or rather, it was advantageous to have an invulnerable floor, especially in this room. A pity it would not protect more of it from future damage. Additionally, it would allow her to experiment and find the right materials to dispel Pixel's defensive field. "Pisces and Ceria are both acknowledged graduates of Wistram. It is my right to recognize those that I see fit to."

"My apologies for not being more precise in my argument." Pixel began to walk back towards her. "Still, your objections seem to only highlight the current situation with Amerys. She is imprisoned, yes? And you allowed it to happen." He peered up at her. "No. More than that, you are assisting in it."

"You are seeking confirmation for details you know not." Cognita slightly shook her head. "I have no reason to confirm or deny anything that you have said."

"Is that so?" A ghost of a smile crossed Pixel's face. "It's of little concern. Or rather, it's a mostly irrelevant detail amidst my larger concern."

"Which is?" Cognita let out a deep breath. "You should speak more plainly."

"You breathe?" Pixel raised his eyebrows. "You obviously have no need for it to survive... Is it so that you can speak?"

"How else would I do so?" Cognita stared at him without blinking. It was easy to un-nerve people that way. "I would prefer it if you did not jump from one topic to another so quickly. If this is the sort of conversation you seek, then I might stop speaking with you altogether."

"Yes, how WOULD you speak without drawing breath." Pixel looked into her eyes. "I will say it plainly then. The visitors from Earth are special. Surely you realize that as well. It is no great surprise that Wistram's Archmages hunger for their knowledge. That hunger is a dangerous thing. What if an Earther comes here, but wishes to leave? Would Wistram allow such a thing? Or would they say that the person had to stay here for 'their own protection'. It seems to me that if Wistram is in the habit of imprisoning its own Archmages, then it would not hesitate to do the same to children. Children who would not even be able to fight back, if it came to that."

"I've told you before that I do not take part in Wistram's politics." Neither of them were blinking. "I could over-rule the Archmages, but that would make things worse here. All I did for Pisces was force Wistram to be consistent in its rules, and acknowledge the skills of two departing students."

"So you freely admit that the Archmages may confine those they see fit to?"

"It is better than death. On that we agree. Or would you have me inflict my own restrictions on them, so they do not restrict others? You see the flaw in that argument, don't you? Or do I need to point it out more?"

"I..." Pixel continued not to blink, but he looked away. "I agree with your point. If an Earther killed somebody or stole a valuable thing or otherwise acted in a way that unduly harmed others... it would be wrong to hold them to a different standard." He let out a sigh. "That said, I still fear for them being exploited, but I will abandon my comparison of their potential situation with that of Archmage Amerys."

So he could admit defeat in an argument? That was better than almost every other pig-headed [Mage] within these walls.

"Know this, no one will come to harm in Wistram if I can prevent it." Provided she wasn't the one to cause it, but that was left unsaid.

"I suppose that's all I could ask for." Pixel leaned back and looked at the ceiling. "Any other assurances or understandings will have to come from the [Mages] themselves." He then turned to her and clapped his hands. "Well! My tools can continue to undo my effect on their own, and I'm sure you have better things to do than stand around here all night!"

"That is true-"

"So, let me accompany you!" Pixel smiled up at her.

"Accompany me?" Cognita was confused. "Accompany me... doing what, exactly?"

"Whatever it is that you do during the nights at Wistram." Pixel shrugged. "Like I said, I want to know you and this school better, and I can see no more suitable solution than to witness both of you directly."

Cognita crossed her arms. "And why would I allow such a thing?"

"First." Pixel held up a finger. "You still view me as a possible threat. Don't bother to deny it."

"I won't." Cognita viewed all [Mages] as a potential threat.

"Therefore, doesn't it make more sense for you to keep an eye on me directly?" He glanced around the room. "I have been wandering the halls at night for weeks now. If we aren't going to do so together, who knows what sort of trouble I might inadvertently find?"

"That is a salient point." She still did not know how Pixel had eluded her so far, or which one of the visitors he was. If any. He claimed she welcomed him, but there was no actual proof of that. "What are your other arguments?"

"I only have one more." He held up a second finger. "I can keep you company."

"What? That's it?"

"Isn't that enough?" He let out a sigh. "I know what its like to be lonely, and I suspect you do as well. A small amount of interaction is good for you."

"And if I say that I prefer solitude?"

"Then I'd call you a liar."

"A liar?" Cognita's face twitched, but she refused to scowl.

"If not to me, then to yourself at least." Pixel stared at her. "I'm an introvert by nature as well, but I also have a family that I dearly miss. Since I can't be with them, I'd rather spend time with someone else rather than shutting myself off completely."

"I... see." It was true. The un-aware golems that surrounded her did not make for good company. She missed Zelkyr and her sisters. "But why me? I can understand your motivations to explore Wistram and ensure your charges safety, but what you just suggested is a more personal matter. Wouldn't you prefer to... replace your family with one of your fellow Earthers instead of someone who is plotting out ways to kill you if it becomes necessary?"

She didn't think that was a surprise to Pixel. If it was, he didn't show it.

"Well, that's easy." He shook his head with a sad smile. "You remind me of someone I know. Or rather, how she might have wound up if things had played out a little different."

"Oh? Is that so?"

"Yes." Pixel closed his eyes. "It's almost like you're a Heartbroken Dragon."

Cognita paused. That was certainly an interesting comparison. The heartbroken part was true, even if she kept it hidden. But... "A dragon? You've met one?"

"Not in this world, nor any other, but is it not an accurate comparison? You are an immensely powerful being who sits alone and guards a horde of wealth." Pixel shrugged again. "I mean no offense, that is just the impression that I get."

---

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.

As we walked through the halls together, I was constantly bombarded with the notifications from Cognita.

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.
**Cognita is happy.

They weren't the only emotions that she had, and that was a good thing, but they were constant and unwavering.

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.
**Cognita is confused.

I'd seen this same sort of thing before with Vasil, and there was no easy solution. Gamer's Mind could possibly suppress it, but then what?

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.
**Cognita is pleased.

It would come back, and using Gamer's Mind 24 - 7 was not a realistic solution. I couldn't even end the source, as Zelkyr was already dead. Cognita was like Dragon. She'd been created by another's hand, and was a slave from birth - with chains that she couldn't even see.

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.
**Cognita is annoyed.

Chains that she would desperately cling to if they were removed. I'd seen it with a lot of Heartbreaker's victims. This time I didn't have Dragon to handle the fallout for me. It was almost guaranteed that she'd react poorly to losing her brainwashing. Still, I felt that I needed to do...

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.

Something.

Chapter 32: Pixel and the Prisoners of Wistram 3

I spent the rest of the night with Cognita mostly in silence. I was fine with that. While I did want to understand her better - especially since I needed to do so if I was going to help her, I had been truthful in saying that I wanted to understand how Wistram ran as well.

Places like the kitchens had far too many golems wandering around performing simple tasks for me to explore. I wasn't sure what sort of Stranger-tech would work on them, and I tended to dislike using such things anyways. It always rubbed me the wrong way. It was both a cheat that would break stealth games, and it was invasive in a way that I'd rather not be.

Especially since everyone in this world had powers, and you never knew whom exactly might react to you brazenly walking in front of them.

There were, of course, other ways of staying hidden that didn't rely on my limited duration mana-enhanced Threat Sense, but they all had their own flaws. My skill level made me acutely aware of how easy or how hard it would to stay unseen in a particular environment - by mundane means that is. I also had a couple of suits that could bend light, but nothing was one hundred percent guaranteed. With that in mind, I hadn't bothered trying to explore the more active parts of Wistram at night.

Doing so had been... enlightening.

"I failed to grasp just how much work the golems do around here." I broke the hours long silence.

"You and every other [Mage]." Cognita turned away from the tally that the basic golems had created. It contained details on all sorts of things that ranged from the number of barrels of apples they had left in the storage area to the locations that slime creatures had invaded the lower halls. "Wistram does employ multiple people such as [Chefs] and [Quartermasters] to help with the day-to-day operations, but ever since Archmage Zelkyr rose in power the need for low-level work has practically vanished. If it weren't for their [Skills], there'd be no need for them at all."

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.
**Cognita is proud of Zelkyr.

"Understandable." I watched as a golem made of wood and stone scrubbed a robe, held it up, and decided that the stain had been removed. "They are capable of a great many more intricate and involved tasks than I had assumed."

"Did you not say that you had created automatons, Pixel?" Cognita glanced at me out of the corner of her eye.

"I did, Cognita, but I mainly use the work of an old friend to achieve their decision making." I looked up at her as we continued walking. "I know just enough to understand how difficult and complex such things truly are. Your creator had a gift."

"Yes." She nodded. "He had several. Intellect. Talent. Effort. He worked hard for all that he managed to achieved." We walked in silence for a few more minutes before she spoke again. "Are you going to ask me where Archmage Amerys is?"

I frowned slightly. "Why would I?"

"You wish to speak with her, correct?" Cognita stopped and turned to face me.

"That's right." I nodded.

"Then it would make sense for you to at least attempt to persuade me to tell you." Cognita studied my face. "You must expect me to pay personal attention to such a thing afterall."

"I might, if I thought there was even a chance that it would work." I replied bluntly. "No, I'll just have to play hide-and-seek with you and the [Mages]." I shrugged. "It makes for a better game."

"A game?" She raised an eyebrow. "I thought the protection of your wards was more important to you than some game."

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.
**Cognita is disappointed.

"Games are one of the most important things in life." I chuckled. "All play and no work makes Jack a dull boy."

"Who is Jack?" She frowned.

"It's just an proverb. An expression from my world." I waved my hand. "Jack is just a name from the original work. The point is that humans can't deal with boredom well."

"Hmpf." She gave a small grunt. "I've noticed."

"That is something that I wanted to understand about your nature." I continued on after a pause when she didn't reply. "Humans, and other sapient biological life forms, get much of our personalities from instincts. They are the most fundamental aspects of our personalities, and are the origin of most of our emotions."

"True."

"You, I assume, are different." I studied her face as I spoke. Cognita was open in a way that most people weren't. She didn't usually display emotions, but when she did they matched up with her notifications. "You have emotions, but you don't have instincts."

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.
**Cognita is amused.

"Who says I don't have instincts?" She smiled slightly and shook her head. "I see how shallow your understanding of golems is. You should have your friend educate you more."

She then spun on her heel and strolled off.

I wish Dragon were here to explain it to me. She'd be much better suited for the situation I'd found myself in. I entered an empty room and confirmed that no one was looking at me. Then, with a thought, I teleported myself back to my room and my disguise. I still needed two hours of sleep, unlike some people, er, golems.

---

Aaron sat in his room and fiddled with the strange MP3 player. He didn't recognize the logo. It wasn't an iPod or a Zune, so it had to be from a smaller company. He wasn't familiar with every electronics manufacturer on Earth, but his [Engineer] levels let him know that this was an upper-end model.

Vincent was a poor kid from Philly, so he shouldn't have the cash to spend on something like this.

...At least Aaron assumed he was poor, but he hadn't asked, had he? Vincent might be well off. While it was a common trope in movies and tv shows for a poor kid to take up a sport, like boxing, to avoid bullies or gangs or what-not, that didn't mean that every boxer was a 'down on his luck underdog'.

Boxing was a sport first and foremost, so why couldn't a rich kid enjoy it?

It could be seen as an outlet for their aggression. Especially for people that didn't rely on others and didn't want to be a part of a team.

...And now he was constructing another mental narrative based on nothing but his suppositions.

Besides, it didn't really matter if it was an expensive third-party MP3 player, there were plenty of ways a poor kid could get their hands on one. A gift. Borrowing it from a friend. Buying it from a shadier friend. Stealing it...

Aside from its quality, the menus were in English. That implied it was Vincent's. Although, Jiahao knew more than one language, and he liked imported things...

Aaron didn't think the MP3 player was from China. While that might explain its strange radial menu, it didn't explain why it was in English. Unless, of course, there was an option somewhere to change the language. He could probably find it, but he didn't want to go messing up another person's settings by mucking around in them.

No, the most intriguing bit were the songs that were on it.

Aaron didn't recognize most of them.

He assumed they were from video games he hadn't played, but there were also some older songs that had vocals. A lot of Weird Al, including some more recent songs that he'd never heard. In fact, all the more recent sounding music was new to him.

Whomever it belonged to didn't seem to go for mainstream music.

That description could apply to both Vincent and Jiahao. Aaron had no idea what sort of musical tastes they had. The video game music did seem to match the Asian kid more.

So, the question was - who did he give it back to?

Was it Vincent's, and he'd just left it behind?

Was it Jiahao's, and he'd dropped it when Vincent punched him?

Or could he just wait to see who asked him about it first?

Or.

Or...

Could it be someone else's?

There was one other person, that he'd never met, that fit the description. Well, that fit a combined description. Vincent said Pixel was a [Tech Superhero]. Jiahao said he was a [Gamer]. If you put those together, you could get an expensive MP3 player that was loaded with video game music.

If that was the case... he still had no idea whom Pixel had given it to.

Aaron slumped at his desk with his head in his hands. He was getting nowhere with this. His thinking would just continue to go in circles. He needed to pick one of them to give it to and/or confront.

---

I couldn't explore during the day. There were far too many [Mages] around for that. I could've snuck off to the lower or upper floors, but someone would notice I was gone. Besides, I had far too much to do as it was. My network of cameras had spread to most of the common areas, and a few of the private ones. While my ability to pay attention to them while doing other things had improved, possibly as a by-product of my [Alter Ego: Various] skill, it was still impossible to focus on them all.

I supposed it was more like a security guard in front of a wall of monitors, except in 3D. My spy cameras had come a long way from when they were literally an eye inside a box. The tiny cubes picked up all the details in a sphere around them. Ears of Babel was the only thing that let me handle the information flow - albeit at a shallow level. If there was a significant deviation from normal it might catch my eye. Useful for noting random monsters like the occasional zombie, but not helpful in finding Archmage Amerys.

My first instinct upon learning that one of the leaders of Wistram had been detained was to free them. That had all the makings of a quest, even if I hadn't gotten any from Optimize since I'd arrived here. However, I was forced to admit that I did not know enough about the situation to make any judgments.

The only 'facts' or 'secrets' that I knew was that Amerys was still in Wistram - imprisoned by her fellow Archmages, and that it something to do with the 'King of Destruction'. Not that I had a complete understanding of who that was.

To be honest, I wasn't sure if I could trust what I'd read about him.

Cognita hadn't told me much, but I could infer a good deal from her notifications. Amerys was a prisoner somewhere. Golems were guarding/imprisoning her, but that wouldn't be all. The [Mages] wouldn't trust Cognita with that task alone, so there must be other guards as well.

I'd like to broach the subject with Archmage Feor, but I'd then have to come up with an explanation about how I knew what I knew.

No. The best person to ask would be Amerys herself. Her opinion would be biased, but it would be different from everyone else's. If I could speak with her in person, her notifications would help me understand things better no matter what she said.

While it was true that I couldn't directly compare how the Wistram [Mages] had treated her with how they might possibly treat Earthers, it would give me valuable insight. Was what she'd done worthy of imprisonment? What was her crime? What was the reasoning of her captors? What would I do if I disagreed?

If this was Earth Bet and she was a parahuman... then imprisoning her might be the solution that we'd use. The Birdcage didn't get many new occupants since Scion had left and Dragon had taken his place, but there still were a few supervillains that managed to be too violent to be part of society, but not violent enough to warrant a death sentence, and had been taken alive.

I couldn't exactly impose the same logic and morals from Earth Bet to Wistram, especially since there were no extra-planar aliens cohabitating in Amerys' brain, but the situation might be equivalent.

---

Today she was Taxiela the Lizardfolk.

It had been a close call, but she'd managed to successfully infiltrate the kitchen. There were no 'Jelly-Beans' for her to enchant, but there had been several trays of cream puffs sitting in a preservation field. Then again, she still didn't know what exactly a 'Jelly-Bean' was. So it was possible that she'd missed them.

It was unlikely, as there had been no desserts prepared that used jelly. Not even a single tart!

Hopefully, the [Cooks] would soon make some out of the fruits they had. It wouldn't be as good as what a more focused class could make. Perhaps a [Mixer]? Taxiela didn't know exactly which [Class] specialized in such a thing.

Stopping to think about it had almost gotten her caught by Cognita! The Truestone Golem could see through invisibility, as she'd had the misfortune of finding out previously. That was a secret she'd never sell. It was too entertaining to have newer members of the Ullsinoi find that out on their own.

She'd only managed to physically hide because a [Mage] she'd never seen before had been walking with the golem and saying something. She hadn't managed to listen in, as their conversation had apparently reached a loooong lull.

She wondered who the [Mage] was. Probably a new student that didn't know the secrets that surrounded the golems of Wistram.

It was fine. People didn't need to know that sort of thing, it would just make them stressed out.

It probably didn't matter.

What did matter was that her prank was about to begin! The innocuous cream puffs were already on the serving table as well as several plates.

The first few [Mages] to bite into one exclaimed and then smiled.

"Apples!"

"Blackberries!"

"Gah! That's as sweet as a Nali-stick!"

Taxelia drummed her fingers together. She was, of course, invisible, so the movement, and her involvement, went un-noticed. The cream puffs on the edges were enchanted with 'nice' flavors in order to lull the [Mages] into a false sense of comfort.

Her eyes were drawn to the Earthers. Boxer didn't have any on his plate. It was over-flowing with food, but he avoided sweets.

Pity.

Blackmage and Gamer both had three each, while Builder had a single one.

Taxelia tilted her head. The field of silence that surrounded the high table was a simple thing to bypass. Boxer ate a lot, which was unsurprising given the amount of running he did. Builder, on the other hand, didn't. Given his size, that was odd.

"What in world!?!" Gamer took a bite of one before spitting it back out onto his plate. "It taste like salt! Just salt! Who made this?"

Boxer shook his head and continued eating, while Blackmage's face broke out into a smile. He took a bite before laughing. "It tastes like fish! This is wonderful!"

Taxelia stared at him. That... wasn't the reaction she'd been expecting. It sort-of made sense, Blackmage was where she'd gotten the prank idea from, but it was still odd. Did he just really like fish?

No. He swallowed, but put the cream puff back on his plate before picking up another one.

"Oh, man! That's disgusting!" He grimaced. "I love it!"

What?

He enjoyed the third one, and then immediately got up to fill his plate with more. Well... a prank couldn't work on everyone.

Taxelia turned to the final Earther. Builder was reading a book and not paying attention to the emerging outrage among the [Mages]. He picked up his cream puff...

It was the extra-spicy one that was flavored like some of the most potent peppers from Baleros. Taxelia had put that one in the very center of that tray so she could make sure to watch the reaction of the unfortunate [Mage] who got it.

Builder took a bite... and chewed and swallowed - without showing even the tiniest reaction.

What?

---

"What can you teach us about golems?"

Aaron glanced over at Jiahao as he raised his hand and asked Archmage Feor a new question. The two of them were the only ones being tutored, and Jiahao was still surprisingly attentive. It probably had something to do with Chinese culture.

Or he had a one-track mind.

Outside of Feor's lessons, he only wanted to play video games and talk about video games. When he was being taught, it was the opposite. The [Light] spell, scrying, and now apparently golems. If something caught his fancy, he would ignore everything else.

To be fair, he still seemed to pay attention about the other things Archmage Feor taught them. He just didn't seem... eager. They only had these personal sessions infrequently and unscheduled, so preparing questions made sense.

"Well, I am no [Archmage of Golems], but I have studied them. The only current resident of Wistram that might know more would be Archmage Viltach." Feor smiled at them. "However, seeing as he still has not returned, I am without doubt the highest authority. What do you wish to know, Gamer?"

"How smart are they?" Jiahao sat upright in his chair. "We have robots on Earth, but they can't do the things that even the dumbest of golems handle here. We have better and smarter NPCs in games, but even then, they glitch and get stuck and that sort of thing."

"Ah." Feor nodded. "I understand your query. I would love to hear more about these 'robots', but from what you have mentioned in the past, there are prominent similarities. The 'psuedo-code' that you provided us also shares a passing resemblance to the magic that goes into a golem's heart."

Aaron nodded to the side. Despite the gaming devices Jiahao had brought, they didn't have a computer with any programming software on it. Well, they had his laptop, and by definition it had software on it, but it didn't have the programs that would run other programs. He'd taken some CS classes, but Aaron had always been more concerned with physically building computers instead of programming them.

"A heart, that like their brain, right?" Jiahao raised his hand as he spoke.

"Yes. A golem's heart contains all they know and the power with which they move. Creating one is... well, let's just say that it takes a good deal of skill. Compared to that, implanting knowledge is even more difficult. That is, if you want specialized skills. If you want one that can sweep the floor, all you have to do is show them how to do it."

"So they can learn?" Jiahao's eyebrows shot up. "That mean they get smarter?"

"No, my dear boy, it does not." Feor chuckled. "What you are describing are sentient class golems. The secrets of making those have been lost to us along with the upper floors. Even Archmage Zelkyr did not make many of them."

"Why not?"

"You do not know of the String People, so your confusion is understandable. Few of them come to Wistram as they prefer to train their own [Mages]." Feor glanced at his bookshelf. "You will have to find a book on their history elsewhere if you wish to know more, but the basic story is that they were created as cloth golems in the distant past, but grew beyond that. Indeed, I think it was a fear of another uprising that motivated Zelkyr to do what he did."

"You mean sealing off the upper floors?" Aaron asked.

"No. Not that." Feor shook his head. "This was before, when he was still alive and active. He visited, let's see... A country in Chandrar was it? Yes. Both there and one of the Five Families on his home continent had been known for their golems. Of course, the drakes and the humans relationships were at odds back then that are worse then now, but they'd come together somewhat to deal with Naga incursion." He laughed again. "I say they came together, but I think it was just that the Five Families didn't actively try to attack them at the same time. Where was I?"

"You were telling us about sentient golems." Jiahao replied.

"Oh, yes." Feor stroked his beard. "To make a long story short, Archmage Zelkyr went out of his way to ensure that such knowledge was contained in Wistram. The only golem of that level now is Cognita."

"So older golems do not learn it?" Jiahao sounded confused.

"No. Golems must be created with a heart capable of it to begin with." Feor paused. "No, that's not quite correct as the Stringfolk proved. It depends on the type of golem and what composes their heart. Regardless, the lesser golems in Wistram have not evolved in that manner, despite some of them existing for centuries. Now, does that answer your questions?"

"I think so." Jiahao nodded. "Golems can change, but rare. How are they made to obey orders?"

"That's simply a matter of implementing an obedience rule as a foundation." Feor began to explain. "It's slightly more complicated than that, depending of course on the core, various factors have to be taken into account..."

...

"Want play some games?"

Aaron glanced over at Jiahao as they exited the Archmage's quarters. "Sure." It would give him the chance to ask about the MP3 player.

He had to be subtle if he was going to find out the truth. Coming out and asking would sound too much like an accusation.

Jiahao waved his hand in front of his door and it opened. "Racing game? Fighting game? RTS?"

"Uhm... Let's go with a racing game." Aaron felt like he had the best chance to win with those. Not much of a chance, but racing was more him verses the track than him verses Jiahao. They played in silence for a minute before he asked a question. "What happened with your T-shirt?"

"Hmm?" Jiahao glanced at him before looking back at his Vita. "It around here somewhere. More comfortable than these robes, but dirty."

"You could get a [Mage] to cast [Cleanse] on it if you're worried about the golems damaging it when they wash it." Aaron pointed out.

"No. That not it." Jiahao shook his head. "We supposed to be big secret, right? Why I advertise something like that?"

"Well, Vincent does." The boxer wore loose clothes that were closer to what existed on Earth rather than the robes that [Mages] preferred. "He also runs with his MP3 player."

"Hah! That why he lose." Jiahao sneered. "He too dumb. Secrets are money. Should not show them for free!"

"Is that why he hit you?" Aaron broached the topic. "Because of a secret?"

"No." Jiahao scowled. "He just big baby!"

"So it had nothing to do with your MP3 player?" Aaron tried to keep his voice casual as he focused on his screen.

"I have phone. Why I need something else that can't play games?"

---

Cognita bent down and dragged her fingers across the floor. The area that had been beneath Pixel was still a slightly different shade of gray. Yet, she couldn't detect any mana within it.

She took a step back and commanded the Magma Golem to approach. The room was heavily warded. It had to be in order to not collapse under the magics that were brought to bear in it during a fight. If it wasn't, the Magma Golem's very presence would have eventually eaten away at it over the years.

That meant that fire or liquid rock would be a poor testing method, but the Magma Golem could do more.

She walked to the entrance door and looked around. The room was only to be closed during a challenge, and she needed to make certain that nobody saw what happened next.

Cognita shifted the inside of her body to various rocks and alloys that would either react with magic or would emit invisible light that she could sense. It was a defensive tactic that no [Invisibility] spell could bypass, and that had caught numerous [Rogues] as they tried to sneak up on her Master.

It wasn't perfect, but no singular defense ever was. However, for this it was sufficient. There was no one spying or observing her.

A beam of light shot out of the Radiance Golem that was encased inside of the liquid rock. The magma was just a byproduct of its power and its disguise. The true golem beneath was far stronger, and its attacks would leave scars on the stone.

The light died down, and Cognita left the entrance way to examine the aftermath.

Nothing.

Well, not NOTHING. The intense heat had blackened the stone... that surrounded the gray circle Pixel had made. The stone itself remained exactly as it was.

Cognita had to admit, that was impressive.

If Zelkyr was here, he'd be trying to form a golem out of it. As it was, Cognita was not sure she could damage it, much less shape it. The Armored Golem might be able to, if its secret was revealed, but she would not have it act if there was any chance that someone would see it.

Someone that wasn't about to die a very sudden death, that was.

The gray stone confounded her. She couldn't understand what Pixel had done. It didn't seem like an ongoing spell. A transmutation of some sort? A rock that had been fundamentally altered in some way?

If that was the case, then she should have been able to turn into it. Understanding other substances and taking their properties was what Truestone did. There were only a handful of alloys that she couldn't change into, but those were all fiendishly complex - such as Naq-Alrama. The gray stone had been created as a side-effect, so it couldn't be that.

Just what was it?

And what was Pixel?

And what did he really want?

---

Aaron's phone woke him up early in the morning. It wasn't exactly five a.m., but it was before the sun rose. That was what was important. While he had to set the clock manually, it still could measure hours just fine.

Aaron yawned and rubbed his blurry eyes while contemplating staying in bed. It wasn't like he HAD to get up right now. He could just snooze for a little while longer...

No!

He slapped his cheeks.

He had a mystery to solve and a person to confront and it was now or never!

Okay, not exactly 'never', but Aaron got the feeling he might lose his nerve if he put it off to later. He shivered as he climbed out from beneath his covers. It was winter, but Wistram wasn't 'cold'. It had the sphere of perfect weather around it on the outside, and countless enchantments to maintain its heat on the inside.

It just felt cold in comparison to his blankets... and because the stone floor was a good conductor of heat.

He quickly pulled on his socks first before putting on the rest of his outfit. He stifled another yawn as he grasped the key to his door and stepped outside.

Teura was sitting outside on a stool. The red-headed elf looked up at him from the book she was reading. "You're up early."

"Uh, yeah." He scratched the back of his neck as he bowed his head a little. "I wanted to speak with Vi-, er, Boxer, before he ran off to the beach."

"Hmmm..." Teura hummed non-committedly before standing up. "[Reduce Weight]." She didn't bother to pull out her wand and just pointed at her stool. She then picked it up with one hand and looked at him.

"Oh, er, right." Aaron coughed as he realized she was waiting for him to go so she could follow. "I'll, just, uh... go."

The pair walked down the corridor a short ways to Vincent's room. Breska was sitting outside with his head bowed. Aaron ignored him and knocked on the door.

"Wake up." Teura whispered to the other half-elf behind him.

The door opened to reveal Vincent in his underwear. The bastard didn't look tired in the slightest. "Yo, Aaron, whatchu want?"

"It's 'Blackmage' in public." Aaron whispered back.

Vincent smirked. "Everyone here knows your real name."

"That's not." Aaron took a deep breath. "That's not the point. Someone might be listening. Can I come inside?"

The [Boxer] raised an eyebrow before shrugging. "Sure man. Whateva you want."

He turned around from the door while leaving it open. Aaron entered and closed it behind him. Vincent moved to the center of his room and began doing some deep knee lunges.

"You're exercising already?" Aaron stared in disbelief.

"What?" Vincent looked confused for a second before smiling. "Naw, man. Just doing some leg stretches. You gotta warm up before running, y'know."

"Oh, right." That made sense. "I guess that kinda ties into what I came here for. Did you lose your MP3 player?" It had to be Vincent. Jiahao had a phone, and he'd said he didn't need a device that only played music.

Vincent blinked and stood up. "Yeah. I did. Do you know where it is?"

"I have it right here." Aaron fished it out of his pocket. "You left it in the gym yesterday."

"Oh. My bad. I was in a hurry. Must've slipped my mind." Vincent stepped forward and held out his hand. "Thanks for bringing it back, man."

Aaron thought about withholding it until he got answers, but that felt too... confrontational.

"Here." He handed it over. "I listened to some tracks on it." Vincent's smile froze. "You have some interesting taste in music... Pixel."

Chapter 33: Pixel and the Prisoners of Wistram 4

"You have some interesting taste in music... Pixel." Aaron studied Vincent's face - looking for a sign that his guess was correct.

"What?" The other boy's eyebrows rose in surprise. He took a long, slow, blink. "No, really, what? Did you just call me 'Pixel'?"

"That's right." Aaron pressed forward. "You were the first person that met him, right? There were no other witnesses, so you could've made the whole thing up! Then there's your boxing [Skills]. I don't know much about different [Classes], but you're 'leveling' far too quickly! You're too strong, quick, and agile. You have to have something else helping you!"

"Is dat so?" Vincent's confusion had morphed into barely suppressed laughter. "You think I'm a superhero 'cause I beat up some punk?"

"No." Aaron shook his head. "There's more." He had to keep pressing. He needed to present his evidence. "That MP3 player." He pointed at Vincent's hand. "It's not yours. I don't recognize the company logo or name. Plus, it's really well-made and has a completely different UI than anything I've ever seen!"

"Oh really?" Vincent was openly chuckling now.

"Yes! It has 512 GB of memory, and two GBs of RAM." Aaron might not be a programmer, but he knew his way around a computer. Finding the MP3 player's specs wasn't hard, and they were far beyond what was available on Earth. "Additionally, the headphone jack might be normal, but the charging port isn't anything I've seen before! That's not a model you can just buy. That's the sort of thing a tech-superhero would make for himself!"

"Ha ha ha ha!" Vincent started laughing. His dark skin flushed as he chortled uncontrollably. "You mean?" He hunched over and held his stomach. "You thought that I was..." The rest of his words were drowned out by more laughter.

Damn. Vincent was either an exceptional actor, or he wasn't Pixel.

"Uhm..." Aaron felt his entire face flush. "I mean... I guess there are some other explanations... But the music... You said he had a video game theme..."

"No... No..." Vincent clapped the hand on his shoulder. "You're almost right, but you're SO wrong." He took some deep breaths before looking him in the eyes. "This did come from Pixel." He held up the player in his other hand. "But that was 'cause mine ran out of juice. This thing will last years he said."

"But... the songs." Aaron was confused.

"Yeah? What about them?" Vincent straightened up.

"They're video game music!"

"And?" Vincent scoffed. "What was I supposed ta do? Delete Pixel's music?" He rolled his eyes. "Get real, man. Sure, it isn't my taste, but it's what I got. 'Sides, some of them are bangin'."

"Oh man, I'm so embarrassed." Aaron had been so sure. "Look, can we forget this happened?"

"Naaaw, dog." Vincent smiled. "I gots ta tell the big man."

What?

"What?" Aaron was confused. "The big man?"

"The big man." Vincent punched him in the shoulder before turning around and walking towards his bed. "Pixel. Y'know, the superhero that you just accused me of being."

Wait.

"Wait." Aaron shook his head. "Hold up. You can talk with Pixel?" He looked at the MP3 player. Was it more advanced than he thought? Like some James Bond spy stuff where it was really a secret communicator?

"Sure." Vincent sat down and winced. "I might've pulled something while laughing."

"You can talk with Pixel, and you never told me?"

"Why would I?" Vincent shrugged. "I wouldn't want to blow his cover."

What?

"His cover?" Surely Vincent didn't mean that Pixel was...

"Yeah. Gotta let the [Mages] think my boy's off helpin' random dudes in some other country." Vincent stretched his neck. "Couldn't let on that he's been investigating Wistram all this time."

What?

"What?" Aaron slumped down to the ground. "He's here? And nobody except you knew?"

"I wouldn't say that." Vincent smirked. "Tell you what, I'll contact him and have him come speak with you right now. I think he was plannin' on doin' that soon anyways."

What?

Aaron looked at Vincent as he lay back on his bed. He JUST said he was going to contact Pixel. Shouldn't he be taking out a phone or something? Instead he was just-

"Greetings, Aaron Vanwell." He almost jumped out of his skin as someone spoke from behind him. "Or do you prefer 'Blackmage'?"

Aaron spun around and looked at... someone who'd stepped directly out of a video game! His armor was... pixelated for lack of a better term. Thousands, no, millions of tiny cubes covered him. They had to be... nano-bots or something. Some sort of modular armor like Iron Man had in his later movies! "You..." He swallowed. "You're Pixel?"

"That's right." He nodded.

"And you're a [Superhero]?" Aaron had a million questions.

"Yes." The red helmet flowed away to reveal a young, white man with short, black hair. "But probably not like what you think. I was a superhero long before I arrived on this world, and I come from a different version of Earth than you."

What?

...

Aaron sat on Vincent's bed next to the [Boxer]. "So you're from a different version of Earth. One that has superheroes and villains. One that, what? Guards other versions of Earth?"

"Hmmm..." Pixel hummed. "Yes and no on the 'guarding' part. We did help stop every version of Earth from being destroyed, but it's not like things are doing so well on Earth Bet that we feel the need to go out and help other versions of Earth."

"But then why did you come to Earth Iowa-"

Pixel interrupted him. "Iota. From the Greek alphabet. There are actually too many Earths to just use letters, so only those deemed significant in some way get one. We already used up the Hebrew alphabet."

"Okay." Aaron nodded. "Why did you come to Earth Iota?"

"Our leader detected the loss of mass from what was supposed to be a closed system." Pixel held his gaze. "In other words, she noticed people vanishing and I was sent to investigate." He shrugged. "I guess I was 'lucky' enough to get taken too."

"Hey, I hate to interrupt the chat." Vincent stood up. "But I have to get my roadwork in."

"Yes, of course." Pixel glanced at the door and a shimmering field that Aaron hadn't noticed vanished. The hero then moved next to him and offered him a hand.

Aaron took it and was pulled to his feet. "So..."

Pixel nodded. "We'll continue this conversation in your room. Just go back, and I'll teleport there."

"Teleportation? Even Iron Man can't..." Aaron forced himself to stop talking. Instead, he straightened his robes, gave Pixel a nod, and then followed Vincent out into the hall. Teura was still there, but Breska had been replaced with another half-elf. "I'm going back to my room."

"Alright, man." Vincent waved as he put his ear buds in. "Have fun!"

Aaron walked back to his room, with the red-headed half-elf following him. Once he was inside, he closed the door and turned around. "Pixel? Are you here?"

"Yes." The superhero spoke as he appeared. "Give me a moment and we will be able to speak freely."

Aaron's brow furrowed. What did he mean? He was just standing there - unmoving. He had to be doing something technical. Even Iron Man couldn't teleport like that. Heck, even Doctor Strange needed portals. What were Pixel's teleportation tech's limits? How far could he go? Did he need a beacon, or something? Was not moving after teleporting a restriction?

Pillars appeared in the corners of his room. Like when Pixel had teleported, there was no sound or flash of light. One second there was nothing, the next black bars were stretched vertically at the edges. The same shimmering field from Vincent's room then coated the walls, ceiling, and floor.

"Is that an anti-espionage field?" Aaron turned around and brought his hand up to touch it, before thinking better of it.

"Yes, among other things." Pixel's armor flowed off of him and revealed a t-shirt and jeans. At the same time a chair - also pixelized - appeared behind him. "I get the feeling that you have more questions for me, despite my previous explanation of how and why I am here." He sat down. "Let's get them out of the way, shall we?"

"Oh! Right!" Aaron pulled out a chair and sat opposite Pixel. "So you're from Earth Bet, and you came here to try and save us." Pixel nodded. "And you're at Wistram specifically to see if it's really a safe place where people from Earth can be brought. That's why you're investigating it without letting the Archmages know?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then what's up with the field? How strong is your armor? Have you gotten a class? What skills do you have? Can you use magic? Can you make other suits? Can I have one? What's the limitation on your power supply? Do you have a reactor somewhere? Is that where you stored your suit? How far can you teleport? What's the..."

---

I sat and waited for Aaron to run out of questions. I answered some, misled him about others, and refused to answer a few. This repeated itself for a while until he ran out of things to ask. "Is that all?"

"No..." He looked vaguely disappointed. "But if your tech can't be spread, then we're not going to uplift this world with super-advanced technology."

**Aaron is slightly depressed.

"Is that what you were hoping for?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Well... yeah." He let out a sigh. "I mean, we're in a world full of magic, and you're an actual superhero from another dimension. There should be a way to, I dunno, help everyone."

"I'm more concerned about helping the people that were kidnapped from Earth Iota first." I shrugged. "My tech might not be suitable for mass production, but that doesn't mean that what you're trying to do with h-" I wanted to say 'human', but that would imply too much. "Mundane devices is a bad thing."

"It figures." He shook his head. "I mean, that's not the way it ever goes in stories, is it? The Wizards don't share their magic with the muggles. Tony Stark and Reed Richards don't provide free power to the rest of the world." He let out a small laugh. "It's like that one SMBC comic, the best use of Superman would be turning a gigantic crank, not beating up muggers. 'A Transitory Power Source.'" He motioned at my chair. "Changing the relative physics in an enclosed space to mimic impossible tech is freakin' amazing, but..."

"But it's not something that can be expanded upon." I gave him a rueful smile. "Believe me, I know. It's a phenomenon that has stumped the greatest minds on my world. Even those that create super-tech by hand can't have their gadgets copied by people that perform the same exact steps." I neglected to mention the reason for that, of course. The existence of Shards wasn't relevant, or something I'd casually tell anyone.

"Okay." Aaron shook his head and then slapped his cheeks. "I appreciate you letting me ramble, but this meeting isn't for my benefit, is it? I mean, if what Vincent said was true and you were thinking about revealing yourself to me before I sorta figured out what was going on, then there must be a reason, right?"

"Yes." I nodded. "There is."

"Is it that you've decided to reveal yourself to the Archmages, and that you need an introduction?" He sounded hopeful.

"No." I let out a short laugh. "It's a little too early for that." I motioned at the walls with a hand. "Wistram is an impressive place. While I haven't been to that many cities and countries in this world, the standard of living here is appreciably higher." I frowned. "That said, there are still several issues that worry me. I cannot in good faith bring other Earthers here until they are addressed."

Aaron blinked. "Like what?"

"Well..." I looked at the door. "Your armed guards for one."

"Them?" Aaron turned his head to look also. "I mean, that's more of an imposition on them than it is on us. I understand that there are things here that could hurt me, and they help with that instead of studying or enchanting or other [Mage] stuff."

"Useful? Yes." I nodded. "Necessary? Possibly. Benevolent?" I shook my head. "Of that I have my doubts. Let us say that Feor and the other Archmages are completely on the level. They wish to be altruistic and have no ulterior motives. If I bring a dozen other people here, what then?"

"Well..." Aaron fiddled with his fingers. "There wouldn't be enough high-level [Mages] to escort us, so we'd have to escort ourselves. Sort of like a buddy system until the new people learned the ropes and got some levels of their own. I mean..." He looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath. "Not everyone will be [Mages], or even be able to take care of themselves like Vincent. Some, like Jiahao, won't have classes that are, uhm, well, useful." He looked at me. "Are you really a [Gamer]?"

"Yes, but that's beside the point. I could have no [Classes] at all and still be far safer than any other Earther. As for your hypothetical future..." I shook my head. "You are missing the main point. The true reason why you have guards in the first place. They offer protection, yes. But their primary function is different." I held up a finger. "It's isolation. As long as they're there, other [Mages] won't learn your secrets."

**Aaron is incredulous.

"What? I mean, I get that secrets are a currency around here, but that seems a little far fetched." He shook his head. "We aren't a secret room or a rare spell."

"No. You're more valuable than that." I looked him in the eye. "You're the end result of hundreds of years of scientific progress. That's something this world lacks. While that doesn't mean that you, yourself, can 'uplift' them, as you said. It does offer them a glimpse of what can happen." I let out a deep breath. "Knowing that a solution exists makes a problem significantly simpler to solve."

**Aaron is skeptical.

"So you think they'd what? Lock us away? Torture us for details about Earth?" Aaron crossed his arms.

"No. I do not think that Wistram is a place that condones such things as torture and murder." I shook my head. "But locking you up in a gilded cage? Almost certainly. It would be such an easy thing to rationalize."

"I..." Aaron frowned. "I mean, I can see where you're coming from. I know that I don't have free run of the place, but that's because I literally just appeared one day! Anyone would be cautious about that sort of thing. Although..." He crossed his arms and bowed his head. "We are children in their eyes. 'For our own good.' can mean a lot of things."

"I'm glad-"

**Aaron is resolved.

"So that means I'll just have to become a real [Mage] of Wistram!" He looked up at me. "This is where I want to be, and it may take a while, but I can learn and level. Once I'm actually competent, they'll treat me as such!"

I paused to consider that before nodding. "That's reasonable. I'm still concerned that not every person from Earth would enjoy the same arrangement."

"No. Probably not." Aaron deflated slightly before perking back up. "But, if we had a sponsor who could make sure we're not exploited..."

I sighed. "That is something I'm considering, and I do plan on revealing myself to the [Mages] in due course." He started to grin, but I held up a hand. "But, I will not be here for too much longer. As such, any potential protection is transient in nature."

"Other Archmages do that also." Aaron shrugged. "There are some that haven't been back in Wistram since I've arrived."

"I will think on it." I drummed my fingers on my armrest. "While I do, there is something else I wished to speak with you about."

"Oh?" Aaron straightened up. "What is it?"

"Archmage Amerys."

"Oh." He slumped back down. "I... don't know what to think about her."

"Do tell."

Aaron let out a sigh. "Have you heard about the King of Destruction?" I nodded and he continued. "So, he's awake, and the [Mages] have proof. Amerys is one of his seven and would fly off to him in a heartbeat and help him conquer other nations." He shook his head. "I've actually spoken with her. I tried to get her side of the story, but... she's not exactly in a good mood."

"Understandable, given the circumstances." I was glad for the confirmation.

"It..." Aaron frowned again. "It's just that they're keeping her in a straight-jacket, or their equivalent of one." He rubbed his hands together. "I've protested her treatment. She's a jerk, but solitary confinement is torture! But..."

"But?" I prodded him as he fell silent.

"But, I don't know!" He glared at me. "She's super powerful, and wants to help an invading army! But killing or torturing her isn't right either!" He put his head in his hands. "I'm actually glad I don't have to make those kinds of decisions. I mean, what's the better course of action?"

"Indeed." I thought about the Birdcage and Dragon again. "I also don't like hearing about conquering nations. War is abhorrent." I sighed. "It's also a fact of life. When are you going to see her again?"

**Aaron is surprised.

"I wasn't, I mean, I only saw her because she summoned me. I can't exactly ask to see her." He furrowed his brow. "Do you think I should? I did want to talk to her about electricity and batteries. She might appreciate the company." He rubbed his fingers again and whispered. "Even if she doesn't show it."

I nodded. "I think you should. This, too, is understanding how Wistram might treat an Earther." I shrugged. "Not that I would necessarily do anything to stop them. Crimes must be prevented if possible. But still..."

**Aaron is worried.

"But still..." He echoed.

---

Aaron sat and thought after Pixel patted him on the shoulder and vanished.

Heh. Teleportation. THAT was some real super-tech, or superhero stuff! It was like what he wanted to do with magic. He knew he couldn't come up with anything new - unless he incorporated technology. [Mages] smarter and older than him had done all sorts of magical experiments, but technology was new.

In a way, it was a good thing that Pixel's technology wasn't 'real' tech. Sure, it might be so far beyond what his Earth had that it was more like magic, but if it wasn't reproducible then it wasn't tech. Reproducible by others, that was. Pixel clearly could use his tech mimicking power to reproduce whatever he wanted.

The superhero had said that his creations would last for a good, long while, but that they would ultimately break without him around to maintain them. Of course, that didn't really make them different from other things. Almost every machine required maintenance at some point or another.

His thoughts turned to Amerys.

He didn't like her.

She was rude, abrasive, and a real bi-, er, jerk. She didn't even try to be nice. His understanding was that it wasn't because of her imprisonment either - she had always been like that.

She certainly had been when he'd spoken with her before the phone call.

He let out a sigh.

The phone call had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Get in contact with other Earthers. Share what they knew. Help them out.

Instead, he'd apparently painted a target on their backs.

Pixel had known about the phone call, but the superhero refused to elaborate on how. Aaron wondered if he was 'batman'. It would be kinda cool if the person who was pretending to be a superhero and a jerk in the chat actually turned out to be one in real life.

A superhero that was, not a jerk.

Of course, the phone call had also let the Archmages know about the King of Destruction waking up. That was, in turn, what had gotten Amerys locked up.

He wondered how things would've turned out if she had been sitting in on the phone call and see the last message? Of course, if she was the sort of person to do that, she wouldn't be Amerys.

Aaron let out a sigh and stood up. He pulled his chair back to his desk. He'd only spoken with Amerys because she'd requested it. He'd only known she'd requested it because Cognita had relayed that message. And because the Truestone Golem had escorted him to her cell.

He began to write a note. He couldn't just ask Cognita. Well, he could, but then the other [Mages] would get suspicious. He was pretty sure she'd relay his message to Amerys. She, in turn, could ask Cognita to summon him again.

---

"Are you happy?"

Cognita looked down at Pixel. It was the first words he'd spoken that night after appearing next to her and following as she performed her duties. "What sort of a question is that?"

He held up his hands. "Not one that was meant to offend. I simply wish to know if you are happy or not."

Cognita paused to regard him. "Are YOU happy?"

"No." He shook his head. "But I came to speak with you, not to bore you with my circumstances."

She resumed her patrol. "And why not? I have just as much right as you to ask questions. Especially the same question you asked me."

"Ah." Pixel hurried to catch up. His legs, like everyone else's were shorter than hers. He had to take more strides to match her pace. "But we're not talking about me."

"Correction, we weren't talking about you, or anything else for that matter." She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Besides, you've just informed me that you are unhappy. How can I ignore that comment?"

The pair of them walked in silence for a few moments before Pixel responded. "I suppose that you can't. It isn't a subject that's commonly brought up in conversations, so not addressing it would be odd."

"So?" She stopped at an intersection and decided on where to go next. "Why aren't you happy?"

"I miss my little sister." Pixel shrugged. "Along with the rest of my family."

"I understand." She nodded. "At least they are safe back on your world." Unlike her sisters who were dead or inaccessible on the upper levels. It would make her feel better to know exactly how they were doing.

"That's the thing." Pixel shook his head. "I know that at least one of them crossed over with me. The others?" He shrugged. "In truth, that was one of the reasons I chose to visit Wistram."

Cognita didn't look at him as they walked down the south corridor. She knew he was from Earth. He'd said as much in their first conversation. She had to admit that she'd grown curious. "You are an [Artificer] of great skill and talent." Perhaps even an [Archmage] given the magic he'd shown her. From what she'd learned of Earth from Blackmage, that was not possible. However, between trusting the ramblings of a child and the proof she'd seen with her own eyes, she knew which she'd choose. "What could Wistram offer that is not already within your reach?"

"Heh." Pixel chuckled. "Come now, Cognita, surely you can guess at that."

"True." She pushed open the door that led to the stairwell. "As you are not from this world, you do not have a great deal of knowledge about its countries or inhabitants." Was he Michail? Their body types weren't the same, but it would be foolish to discount the possibility based on that alone. The 'Russian' did spend most of his time reading about history. "Wistram does offer that opportunity."

"Yes." He nodded. "That's one reason, but I could find that information elsewhere. While I freely admit it wouldn't be as comprehensive as Wistram's libraries, it would be more in-depth about the local area."

"And more biased." Cognita took the stairs one at a time, despite how relatively small they were. "But that is the case for all recorded histories."

"True."

"So, your reasons must have to do with Blackmage." He didn't react, but she knew she was correct. "Wistram has the knowledge, expertise, and reach to search the world for lost children. Few other locations could boast the same."

"True."

The pair fell into silence as she contemplated what she'd just learned. Understanding Pixel was important. She didn't think he had any designs on her father's work, but it wouldn't do to discount that possibility either. Or to fail to prepare for it.

She still did not understand the barrier he'd used, or what it had done to the stones in the trial room.

They exited the stairwell and moved down the halls. The golems in this section of the school weren't the most durable - those were lower down. She needed to make sure they had not suffered any damage recently. While it would be minor, such a thing could grow in time.

"So?" He broke the silence after several minutes.

"So?" She stopped her examination of a cleaning golem and faced him. "So what?"

"Are you happy?"

That again? "We've already spoken on that."

"No." Pixel shook his head. "We spoke on my happiness, or lack of it, you never answered my original question."

"And why should I?" The golem was injured. A small animal, probably a rat, had chewed on its leg. The damage was superficial, but it would need adjusting so it would properly respond to that same situation in the future.

"Why shouldn't you?" He retorted. "It's a simple question. Are. You. Happy?"

"And how would you define 'happiness'?" She didn't look up from her work. "I am not like you, or any other resident of Wistram. Your question is ambiguous."

"Is it?" Pixel squatted to watch her work. "Shall I use some alternate words? Are you content? Do you not wish for something you don't have? Do you take pleasure in life, or rather, your existence? Are you satisfied? Do you feel enjoyment with what you do? In other words: Are you happy?"

"I am content. My role is vital, and I am glad to do it."

"So, you feel pride in your work?" He nodded at the cleaning golem.

Pride? Cognita looked at the golem she'd just repaired. "I suppose I feel as much pride as possible for such a minor task." She straightened up and placed a hand on the golem's head. "It is one of my Master's earlier works. As such, it is exceptionally well made. Can I take pride in that?" Any more than she could take pride in herself? As Zelkyr's greatest achievement, that was only natural. So, in a way, she did take pride in just being her.

"Do you not do anything else? Do you not have any hobbies or interests outside of the tasks Zelkyr set for you?"

Cognita finished her alterations, and glanced at Pixel before strolling down the hallway. "What need is there for such a thing? What else is there?"

"What indeed?" Pixel followed her. "Zelkyr's golems must not require much oversight. Aside from limiting access to the upper floors, your talents seem wasted."

"They are not." She replied curtly. "Zelkyr knew that my role in Wistram was vital. I would not have it otherwise."

"I cannot argue against that with you." Pixel fell silent for a while. "You do not sleep. During the day, you watch over the [Mages] and golems, and and night you patrol. A human would get bored of such a life."

"I am not human." She was better. She was Zelkyr's creation.

"No, you aren't." Pixel agreed. "However, I think you are not so different as you pretend to be."

Cognita stopped and turned towards him. "And what would you know of such a thing?"

"More than you would think." Pixel looked up at her. "I have a friend back on my world, who is similar to you. A being created from another through hard work and genius. She too, lost her father and was forced to exist on her own." Pixel raised a hand and an image of a metal golem appeared next to him. Cognita frowned slightly. She still sensed no mana. "The difference, or at least one of the differences, was that she was not given directions from her father. He died too suddenly for that." Pixel shook his head. "So she struck out on her own and chose her own fate, despite the shackles her father had placed upon her."

Cognita was interested, but shook her head at the final revelation. "Shackles? She had a poor father then. Lesser golems have rules, for they have no will of their own."

"And you do not?"

"Zelkyr was not a [Slaver]!" She had more heat in her voice than she'd intended. "You should not imply such a thing."

"Yes." Pixel nodded his head. "I see my mistake now." He took a deep breath. "It is late. If you would excuse me..." He bowed and then vanished.

Cognita watched where he'd been as she let her anger subside. She turned to continue her patrol, with Pixel gone she could now check on Amerys. There was no reason that a visitor should be denied an audience with a sitting 'Archmage', but she didn't have to make it easy for Pixel either. As she walked a thought entered her mind and refused to leave.

WAS she happy?

COULD she be happy without Zelkyr?

Chapter 34: Pixel and the Prisoners of Wistram 5

"Archmage Amerys, I would speak with you."

Amerys stared at Cognita as the Truestone Golem casually strolled through the wards that surrounded her cell. Not that it was a real cell. Wistram had a few of those, but the spineless cowards who had ambushed her didn't have the stomach to put her in one of them.

They were academics, not fighters.

They didn't know what it was like to risk their lives for a cause. For the thrill. For a [King].

"Hmph." She grunted through the restraints they'd placed on her. Bite one [Mage]'s fingers and get muzzled... At least the other Archmages were capable of learning. It was just a shame they weren't smart enough to approach her without lightning wards. She'd almost gotten Feor with her spit last time.

If the wards didn't drain and suppress her mana so much, she'd have succeeded.

At least with hurting him.

"I will interpret that response as a 'yes'." Cognita moved closer until her huge body blocked the line of sight to the two [Mages] that were on guard duty at the moment. The golem then opened one of her giant hands and revealed a scrap of paper.

Archmage Amerys,

I would like to discuss more practical applications of electricity with you, and how it might be harnessed/generated using magicore as a battery.

Please send for me again.

Signed,

Blackmage

Amerys stared at Cognita's emerald eyes. She knew that the golem would win the contest of wills. She didn't need to blink, and she also wouldn't be cowed. Not now. Not even when Amerys had been at the peak of her power. It would take someone like Flos to bend her.

...Although it was more likely that Cognita would break instead.

Amerys respected that, even if she didn't respect Cognita herself. She understood the golem better than her 'fellow' [Mages]. She served her Master. That was why she didn't rise up and take control of the school. She had no need. Even in death, Zelkyr was the true [Ruler] of Wistram.

It was just a shame that Cognita had chosen to follow such an unworthy man. Zelkyr might have been a great mage, a real [Archmage], but he was no [King]. He did not have the presence, the drive, the vision to inspire others. Instead he created his own followers.

...Eventually the pain in her eyes was too much, and Amerys blinked.

She could handle discomfort, but her body's natural need to wet its eyes could only be put off for so long. It was like trying to hold in a sneeze. It was inevitable that she'd eventually blink.

Amerys looked down at the piece of paper again. Oh, right. The reason Cognita had come to her.

Blackmage?

Who was that?

What a stupid... Oh! Right. He was the child from Earth. She knew him, even if she didn't bother to remember his name. So he wanted to speak with her again? She had been nearly positive she'd scared him off for good last time. She'd been planning on letting him settle down for another week before summoning him again.

It was nice to explain how lightning worked to someone that had a clear head on their shoulders. Most [Elementalists] lacked a fundamental understanding of the very forces they tried to control.

Amerys looked back up to Cognita's face and nodded.

She'd see what Blackmage wanted to talk about. She had a hunch it wasn't about magicore batteries.

---

I needed to wait until Aaron had gotten to see Amerys before I could pinpoint her location. The biggest hurdle in this endeavor would be finding that out.

...Okay, it might not be the biggest hurdle. There were still so many things I didn't know about magic that I couldn't rule out anything. I think a good general guideline was, 'if a Shard can do it, then plan around it.'

That meant that there was every possibility of there being 'observation-based' defenses. Sort of like how Threat Sense worked. In other words, my very perception of Amerys might alert the rest of the Archmages. If that was the case... Well, I'd burn that bridge when I got to it.

For now, I was minimizing my risks.

Case in point, having a drone invisibly follow Aaron was a step too far. Even the golden sphere drone had too much of a chance to be noticed. Since I couldn't Craft another, I wasn't going to potentially put it in harm's way. A lesser, reproducible drone would be an option, but the simple fact of the matter was - they had to affect their environment to work.

They displaced air.

They distorted light.

Sound waves echoed off of them.

None of them were perfect - nothing was, so the answer had to be something that wouldn't arouse any suspicion even if it was noticed. Curiosity, perhaps, but not understanding of what the person had 'seen'.

If there was one thing I had absolute confidence in, it was Optimize's ability to be discrete. That was a trait that every Shard shared. They didn't evolve to be multi-dimensional entities that experimented on other species without being subtle.

So, the question was how to leverage my information Perks. Tongue and Ears of Babel were invaluable and were the perfect encryption/decryption power. I could use them to relay details that would be next to impossible for anyone else to even notice - let alone parse.

That was why I'd put a very, very tiny Low Frequency transmitter underneath Aaron's skin.

It was something I'd 'designed' with the greatest Bio-Tinker on Earth Bet: Riley. Mainly, she provided the blueprint for a benign cluster of cells that would merge with skin. Basically, it turned into a small cyst under a person's epidermis. Riley used them as a time-release vector for, well, anything. I used them for conduits for my other Perks.

Of course, there were limitations. They weren't capable of complex actions. I couldn't get them to relay information to me, because they couldn't access any. They weren't like my spy cameras that would broadcast their data. There was no data, except their location.

Thus, a constant, encoded emission was pretty much the extent of their capabilities. Anything more esoteric like quantum entanglement or multi-dimensional fluctuations was beyond a cluster of cells. What they could do would work just fine.

A Low Frequency transmitter used waves that were kilometers long. Unlike normal radio waves that were much, much smaller, it was impossible to detect any information from them without a large antenna. Even then, Tongue of Babel let me use a language that was effectively impossible for anyone else to decrypt.

I'd made sure to test this with Michail's amulet. It wouldn't do for a [Translation] spell to clue others in.

So, while the transmission was limited to effectively: 'Aaron Vanwell is here'. That would let me figure out the exact location where they were keeping Amerys.

Getting in, and then speaking with her undetected would be the next hurdle.

---

Feor's forehead beaded with sweat as he concentrated. He needed to focus if he was going to get this just right.

Threads of mana split apart. Then they split again, and again, and again. Each one latched onto their target and slowly flowed along it until they got to the base. The impossibly fine strings of mana were each no thicker than a strand of hair. The gossamer web was so very fragile, and their payload was so very rare.

The potion was imported from Chandar. Feor would have preferred to have it created in Wistram, itself, but the Stringfolk were the experts at making it. They were the ones with the classes and the practice. While the application he used it for was different from theirs, it still worked nicely.

A fraction of a drop was carried by each thread. Such a minuscule amount for what it would do. His mana reached the end, and the liquid pooled there.

He was breathing heavily now. This was far more difficult than the mana exercises he habitually practiced. As always, he thought about his decision to do it all at once. It would be so much easier to split it up... but doing that might ruin the result. Their might be gaps or overlays. Such a thing would be a disaster.

Besides, it WAS better practice to do it all at once. It kept him on his toes.

The trickle of liquid finally stopped...

Feor looked at himself in the mirror. "Good." He stroked his beard. "Good." It looked a wonderful silvery-white - and the potion would keep it that way.

He sat down with a thump, and took a deep breath. Dying his hair was such a chore. Doing it with free-form mana was even more so, but it was the best way that he had. A [Skill] or a [Spell] would work better, of course, but he would never accept a class that gave him such a thing.

Annoyingly, the only record of a [Spell] that might aid him came from [Color Magic]. Only [Shamans], [Witches], and other non-stringent spell-casters could use such a thing.

Low-level [Dyers] or [Barbers] could only do so much. It would take considerable skill, but less than his own, to properly dye hair. It was one thing to apply color to it. It was another to put that dye in the follicle.

All-in-all it was a tedious process, but it meant that he would not have to worry about the roots not matching. It also kept his hair's color consistent. Even the best external applications couldn't do that. The very thought of having his hair be two colors made him shudder. It was offensive, and not just because he was a half-elf.

Okay, a large part was because he was a half-elf, but not all!

His people valued consistency. Having your hair change color each day, even if it was an almost imperceptible amount at the base, was anathema.

His breathing slowed, and Feor stood up. He straightened his robes before opening the door to the hallway. One had to look their best. His best student stood outside, patiently waiting for him to let her in.

"Teura, my dear, please come in."

"Good morning, Archmage." She nodded to him as she entered.

What a lovely creature. Feor especially enjoyed her bright red hair. He'd thought she'd dyed it like him, but if she did, then she was even more thorough.

"What news do you have for me?" He gestured to one of his nicely padded chairs as he sat down in the one opposite it.

"There are any number of minor matters involving the otherworlders, but there is one issue that I feel needs your direct attention." She bowed her head slightly as she spoke.

"Oh?" Feor stroked his luxurious white beard. "And what would that be?"

"One of them has asked to leave Wistram."

---

It had taken a while, but Cognita had finally come back to Aaron with the message that Amerys had summoned him. He was now blindfolded while Breska led him past the defenses surrounding the Archmage.

It was the same as the last time. Two towering golems guarded the door. They had multiple eyes that had been placed all over their bodies. Breska had a magical key for the door, but he'd insisted Aaron wear a strip of cloth around his eyes before they entered.

From the twists and turns, it felt like they were walking through a maze. It didn't help that occasionally Breska would curse and then backtrack. After what felt like an eternity, they arrived at another door. Once they were past, Aaron was allowed to remove the strip of cloth from his eyes.

Amerys sat in a plush chair, with her arms and legs bound. Her long, leaf-green hair was tangled and knotted. The dark skin of her face was the only part of her that was visible - the rest of her was buried under chains and cloth. Her eyes were still a brilliant yellow, as if they were condensed lightning. She glared at him, but didn't make a sound.

"Why's she gagged?" Aaron asked one of the guards.

He only got a stare in return, but Breska answered for him. "She bit a [Mage]'s fingers. Or at least tried to." He shrugged. "I also heard that she gnawed them to the bone, but I wasn't here, so I can't say which account is true. Anyways." He reached into the bag at his side and pulled out a wooden tray. He then pulled out a wooden cup with a wooden straw along with a wooden bowl and a wooden spoon. "While you're in there, you can feed her too."

"What?" Aaron looked at the utensils. "Why's everything wood?"

"So she doesn't kill you." Breska chuckled. "Just make sure she doesn't spit on you."

Aaron wasn't feeling good about this. He approached slowly and shivered as he passed through the wards. They might protect the others if Amerys managed anything, but he might not be so lucky. He placed the tray on the table next to her chair and cautiously leaned forward. "Archmage, I'm going to remove the gag now." She just stared at him. "Please don't bite me."

His hands shook as he reached out to the buckle on the side. The strap slipped through the wooden part - Amerys didn't have conductive materials in her restraints. He slowly pulled it off before letting out a yelp as Amerys lunged forward.

Aaron stumbled back and fell. The [Mages] behind him tensed, but no one else said a word.

Amerys' wheezing laugh broke the silence. It sounded like her throat was completely dry and raw. At least she was amused by her own actions. Aaron shook his head. She was such a jerk.

"You can guess why I summoned you here, boy." Amerys' voice was scratchy. "But, first, give me some water."

Aaron stood up and looked at the tray to his side. He then looked in Amerys' yellow eyes. She stared at him without blinking, and he looked away first. "Fine." He grabbed the cup. "But please don't spit on me."

"No promises, boy." She chuckled to herself, but leaned forward to sip through the straw. Of course, she didn't stop staring at him while doing so.

Aaron knew she was doing it on purpose to unnerve him. He wasn't stupid. Amerys was angry, and he was a convenient target, but he didn't think she'd kill him. Not because she feared any reprisals, but because he was beneath her.

"So, uh, I wanted to ask you about attuning magicore..."

Amerys coughed. "What? Straight to business? Don't you want to gossip a little first?"

"Well..."

"Don't tell her any news." One of the [Mages] commanded.

He mentally crossed out what he had been about to say. "Are you doing... okay?" Aaron looked at her. While the chair she sat in was padded, it couldn't be comfortable to not be able to move. What was he supposed to talk about? Pixel had just told him to speak with Amerys, not to tell her anything or ask any questions. He assumed this whole thing was so that the superhero could gather intelligence with a spy camera or something.

Amerys sighed a little at his question and seemed to relax. "I'm doing just fine. It will take far more than this to get me to renounce my [King]."

Aaron began to feed her the rice in the bowl as she talked. She didn't mention his note, which was good, but he couldn't guess what was going through her mind.

---

"Enter." Feor spoke loudly from behind his desk so the person that had knocked on his door would hear him. He adjusted his robes to make sure they were straight and that they portrayed the correct image.

The door swung open and Vincent, Boxer, strolled through with Teura trailing behind. "Yo." The Earther jerked his chin up as some sort of greeting as he swaggered in. "I have a request for ya."

"Of course." Feor motioned to the chair across from him. "Please have a seat, Mr. Mavuto."

"Oh? Gettin' all formal on me?" The [Boxer] sat down. "This conversation goin' ta be like dat, huh?"

Feor raised an eyebrow. "We can be less formal if you'd like, Vincent. Or would you prefer I call you 'Boxer'? Blackmage likes his alias, and so I use it, but yours is nothing more than the name of your highest level class. I didn't think that you had any particular attachment to it."

"Nah." Vincent leaned back with his legs spread and his elbows resting on the back of the chair. "You can call me what'eva you want ta. I don't mind." He smiled. "It's just the 'Mister' part that surprised me. Nobody calls me that unless I'm gettin' chewed out."

"Indeed." Feor didn't understand what 'chewed out' was meant to convey, but he could infer its meaning from context. "That was hardly my intent, and I apologize." He leaned forward and laced his fingers together. "Now, what can I do for you, Vincent? Have you decided to try learning some magic?"

Feor knew what he wanted, but it was better to both force him to say it so he in turn could explain why Wistram was the superior choice.

"Okay, I'll cut to da chase." Vincent nodded. "I wanna leave."

Feor raised both his eyebrows high to show the appropriate level of surprise. "Why would you want to do that? Has there been any issues with your accommodations, or with the food?" He paused. "It wouldn't have anything to do with that unfortunate encounter with the Trevalier child, would it?"

Downplaying Trevalier's skill and the duel itself should subtly chip away at whatever his reasoning was.

"No." Vincent paused and frowned. "Well... I guess it is, in a way." He held his hands in front of him, with the palms outstretched. "Now, don't get me wrong. I ain't pullin' a Fresh Prince. I don't want to leave Philly for Bel Air ta avoid a fight or nothin'." He smirked. "'Sides, it'd be more like leavin' Bel Air for Philly." He laughed at that, so it must have been a joke. "It's more like, I want some action, and Wistram just isn't the place for it, dig?"

"Action?" The aside was interesting, and Feor would love to understand the example he was referring to. Especially, since Blackmage had said that the 'United States', that he and Vincent were from, did not have any Royalty - so who was this [Fresh Prince]?

"Yeah." Vincent leaned forward and punched the air. "You can only train so much before you get in the ring. You feel me? It's the Eye of the Tiger. You gotta keep yo eyes on the prize." He sighed. "'Cept there ain't no prize, so it's hard to stay in trainin' mode."

Feor blinked and tried to parse those sentences. "If you wish a challenge, then Wistram is hardly lacking." He stroked his beard. "You can try dueling other, willing, [Mages]. We also have a course setup for grading new students in how they do in a combat scenario. Such a thing can be made available to you."

"Nah, man. You ain't gettin it." Vincent shook his head and leaned back. "Boxing isn't 'bout fightin' like some punk. It's about puttin' yoself up against the other guy. Seein' which one of ya gots what it takes!"

Feor furrowed his brow. "So you don't want to duel other [Mages] because they are [Mages] and not [Boxers]?"

"Yes!" Vincent clapped his hands and then pointed at him. "I knew you'd get it! It's exactly that! A boxer can't stay in his gym all the time. Sparin' against the same guys just don't cut it! I need to have a big match and make a name for myself." He shrugged. "Not like I'm any help in figuring out how ta get back home anyways."

Feor smiled and shook his head. "You do not have to leave Wistram for that. We can arrange for a [Fist Fighter] to come here instead."

Vincent scowled. "That's not the same. Look, I just-"

"We can speak again after we bring someone here. Until then, try and use the resources available to you. They are the finest in the world."

"But-"

"Now, if you'll excuse me." Feor motioned to the door and used a silent [Spell] to have it swing open. "I have other matters to attend to."

Vincent glared at him before nodding. "Fine. I see how it is." He stood up and left.

Feor stayed staring at the door afterwards. Something would need to be done. It might be a drastic step, but it was unacceptable to have the Earthers entertaining thoughts of leaving.

---

"Amerys." She raised her head. Someone had said her name. "I would speak with you."

"Mph." She grunted as her eyes focused. It was the middle of the night. Who was taking pleasure in visiting Wistram's imprisoned Archmage now?

"Greeting, Archmage Amerys." A tallish human with a youthful face and black hair stood in front of her. "My name is Pixel, and I would like to ask you a few questions."

"Mph." She grunted again and looked around. She was still in the room where they'd decided to keep her. She was still bound and gagged. Two [Mages] were still on guard duty. The pair were sitting next to a low burning fire, and had a clear view of her, but they made no signs that they saw... what did he say his name was?

Regardless, the two guards' lips were moving, but no sound came out. That was normal. They usually put up a barrier to block her from overhearing what they spoke of. However, if they could see the intruder, they would've been focusing on him, even if only out of the corner of their eyes.

There. A tall, black pole was along the side of the wall. She glanced in the other direction, and saw a similar one on the other wall. She could make out a faint visual distortion around their edges. She'd bet that there was a third one in the corner behind her. That would make a triangle to encompass them. It might not be strictly necessary - she was unfamiliar with this illusion [Spell] - but it would make sense to create an area ward instead of a plane.

Finally, she turned her eyes at the [Mage] she'd never seen before. At least she was fairly positive she'd never seen THIS form before. The Ullsinoi were a tricky bunch. She wondered what they were up to this time.

"Gotten an understanding of the situation?" The man asked and then continued without waiting for an answering grunt. "Good. I'll just remove your gag then."

He reached forward to undo the straps. As they came off, she snapped her teeth around his fingers!

...She missed.

He'd pulled away at just the right second. Furthermore, he'd bent the two fingers she'd been targeting to keep them out of her mouth. Amerys quickly bit at his ring finger, but it also bent out of the way. It was as if he'd been expecting her to do exactly that. She smiled at him, and then spat the saliva she'd been using to store electricity at his face.

The man tilted his head to the side, and let the deadly lump of spittle fly past.

It stopped mid-air and sizzled as it reached the space between the two black poles. "So you placed a defensive ward inside of the other wards." Amerys smiled. "That was smart. They'd notice if the outer ones were tripped." She looked him in the eyes. "Why are you here?"

Was he sent by her [King]? Did Flos have that kind of reach already? She wouldn't put it past him, but anyone that could sneak into Wistram, and past the security they'd placed around her had to be high-level. The other option was that he was a member of the Ullsinoi. The tricksters always played their own game. They'd help setup her little prison, so they'd know how to sneak past the defenses.

"As I said." An uncomfortable, blocky chair appeared behind the man. "I would like to ask you some questions, Archmage Amerys."

She let out a dry laugh. "Then ask, boy. What knowledge do you seek that was worth this amount of effort?"

"Knowledge of Wistram." He sat down in his chair. "Specifically, knowledge of how they treat those they are in conflict with."

"Oh?" Amerys tugged at her chains while maintaining her glare. "Is that all? You have eyes don't you?"

"Indeed." He nodded. "And I have ears as well. While I already knew of your confinement, seeing it in person is far more informative."

"And what do your eyes see?" His were brown, and he didn't seem un-nerved by her gaze. He didn't look away, or even bother to try not blinking. Annoying.

"I see torture." He actually said it! "Perhaps, torture born out of ignorance, but torture all the same. Physical, mental, and emotional." His eyes shifted as he looked her up and down. "Your muscle mass has already decreased. Atrophy occurs within two or three weeks of disuse, and it's been almost twice that long for you, hasn't it?"

Amerys grunted. It was true that her arms and legs had screamed in pain at first, but it had become more of a dull ache that she put out of her mind. Her visitor was well informed. That was the sort of thing only a [Jailer] or a [Prisoner] usually knew.

"You are being fed." He continued his assessment. "Yet you are showing a faint amount of malnutrition. That's most likely due to less intake instead of them purposely starving you." He hummed. "Lack of sunlight also isn't doing you any good, but that's hardly uncommon. All in all, I'd say you're holding up far better than an average person would." He softly hummed before looking her in the eyes again. "That's most likely due to your higher level. Although, your willpower is certainly playing a part as well."

"Is there a point to this?" She snarled.

"Only that most other people would not be able to withstand Wistram's imprisonment, no matter how benign they've tried and make it." He shook his head. "I think it's clear they aren't inflicting pain on purpose, but their ignorance is."

Amerys smiled. "If you are so concerned about my welfare, you could remove these chains, couldn't you?" She moved her arms again - as much as they could. She wasn't as weak as he thought, she'd been clenching her muscles for exercise... Which was a poor substitute, but she didn't have anything else to do.

"Ah, but that's the crux of it, isn't it?" He shook his head. "My involvement is ancillary. I am not allied with Wistram, nor with Reim."

So he wasn't a vassal of her [King]? And he claimed not to be a member of Wistram, and thereby the Ullsinoi? "Then why are you here?" Amerys narrowed her eyes.

"As I said before, I wish to ask you some questions, Archmage Amerys." He calmly stated.

"Ha!" She let out a dry laugh, and then coughed as her throat itched. "Are you? You have yet to ask a single one."

"True." He inclined his head. "But there is no point in asking a question that will not be answered." He paused and frowned. "Well, there's no point in asking a question that you'll get no information from. An answer isn't always required for that." He shook his head. "Regardless, establishing an rapport with you is hardly a waste of my time."

"Even if you tell me that's exactly what you're doing?" Amerys coughed again. "Gestures of 'goodwill' aren't as effective at swaying someone to your side if they know that's the motivation."

"True." He nodded again. "But they aren't totally ineffective in that case either. Besides," He shrugged. "I'm not trying to 'sway you to my side'." He smirked. "You don't even know what 'side' I represent."

Amerys coughed again, but refused to break eye contact. If he wasn't with Flos or Wistram, then who did he work for? Terandria? They had the most humans. The drakes? They had their own magic school in their city of magic. The same was true for Nerrhavia Fallen. No. The stringfolk and the drakes wouldn't have the loyalty of a human with a high enough level that was needed to break into Wistram. As proof, Fissival had produced Archmage Valeterisa, but she'd joined Wistram after dealing with the drakes' blatant speciesism.

Who did that leave? Rhir? The Demons?

Absurd.

"And you won't tell me either, will you?" She decided to ask directly.

"Actually." He clasped his hands together on his lap. "I think I will. You already know of my 'faction', so letting you know I'm on their side above all others isn't a great secret." The corners of his mouth rose up slightly. "I am also a visitor from Earth."

Amerys blinked. Earth? He was an otherworlder? That...

That made sense. It explained much.

"So you were behind the note that the child sent?" Whatever his name was. "I thought his request was odd, but I admit that I did not foresee it as a prelude to this."

He nodded. "Yes. Finding where you were was far more arduous than breaching the security." He chuckled. "Protection through obfuscation is a valid tactic, so I shouldn't discount Blackmage's efforts."

Right. 'Blackmage.' That was the name he'd chosen. Odd that he'd incorporated his coloring into it.

"So your purpose in Wistram is what? To find a way to return to your world?" She scoffed. "As if that's ever going to happen."

"Oh? Do you suggest malfeasance or incompetence?"

"Both." She laughed before needing to cough again. "Wistram is weak. They don't have the knowledge of old. The very idea of another world is beyond any theories they have." She shrugged. "And why would they waste the effort and expense of trying to breach such a barrier?"

"Goodwill? Compassion? The challenge?"

"Ha!" Amerys had another coughing fit. "You'd make a fine [Jester]! Kingdoms only want one thing of other kingdoms, and that's to conquer them."

"Yes." He replied dryly. "That's what I've heard of the King of Destruction."

"And? Are you expecting me to say he's the exception?" She shook her head, while maintaining her glare. "Don't act so naïve! No one gets to be as high level as you are without seeing the world for how it is. Countries, [Rulers], families, they all try to exploit each other in one way or another."

"If that's true, then you make a poor argument for freeing you."

Amerys smiled. "Ah, but that's what puts my [King] above all others." She stopped and waited for the expected response.

"And what would that be?"

"The [King] of Destruction keeps his promises." She put every ounce of conviction behind her words. "If he says he'll accomplish something, then he will. Flos does not give his word lightly, but when he does, he does not break it."

"Then it sounds to me like I should be speaking with him." The man smirked.

"Yes." Amerys nodded. "You should, if you are able. I'll say it plainly. Flos will look favorably on you for returning me to his side. Such a thing would result in his promise to help."

"Perhaps." The man unclasped his hands and raised his right one with a finger pointed up. "Or it might make for a better bargaining position to secure his promise before freeing you."

Damn.

"Perhaps."

He rose, and his chair vanished. "I will think on your words, as well as give you a promise." He raised his hand and Amerys felt her body's aches start to fade. "It may not be soon, but I will stop your torture one way or another."

The first thing she noticed was her throat feeling less sore. The dryness somehow vanished, despite only a normal amount of saliva returning to her mouth. After that, her arms and legs ceased the dull ache they'd had for weeks. For a split second, they felt like they were on fire, but the sensation rapidly faded. She flexed her muscles against her chains. They felt good. Like before she'd been locked up and unable to move.

No.

She rolled her shoulders. The old stiffness from a sword blow she'd taken in her youth was gone! He wasn't just repairing the damage her lack of movement had created. Her pains from both faded wounds and age had also vanished. The surprise that she felt prevented her from maintaining her stoic expression

Amerys continued to look into his eyes as he used an actual healing [Spell] on her! How did Earth know of such ancient magic? Such [Spells] were nothing more than legends lost to time. Only a handful of scrolls across the world could accomplish such magic in this day and age!

"Tell me your name, [Mage]. I will remember it." She would not underestimate him or Earth in the future.

"I am Pixel, the [Archmage of Cubes]."

Notes:

Bios:

Amerys - The Archmage of Lightning. Not a real [Archmage]. Loyal to Flos, the King of Destruction, and less-nice to everyone else.

Chapter 35: Pixel and the Prisoners of Wistram 6

"Scott Anderson."

No luck. Probably not very auspicious that the first name on the list Dragon gave me doesn't work.

Man... it's going to take figuratively forever to try and scry on each and every one of the people that vanished from Earth Iota. I'm not even sure it's a good idea to do so now. Sure, I'm safe and secure in my room and surrounded by a forcefield that incorporates my Lucky Perks. Additionally, I'm supplying mana to my personal ones, so I'm as theoretically safe from information gathering powers and precognition as possible.

However, I know full well that everything produces ripples.

Scrying is no different. Information cannot come into existence without impacting other things. If seeing the future means to change it, what does seeing the present do? I mean, if I can sense when people are scrying on me, then others most likely have similar abilities.

Heck, I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to use Ears of Babel to detect scrying once I sacrifice a [Skill] to allow it to use mana.

In fact, I've been putting that off for too long.

Let's see... Since arriving at Wistram I've gained three new classes: [Boxer], [Gamer], and [Infiltrator]. Well, I'd had a level in [Gamer] since Calanfer, but I'd gained a second one since then. The two skills I have from it are... underwhelming: [Extend Battery] and [Comfortable Chair]. I could sacrifice them without any concern.

No. That's not true.

From my newfound understanding, [Skills] can evolve, merge, and be the basis for more advanced [Skills]. [Extend Battery] doesn't sound like that much, but it does give my lasers extra shots.

XXXXXXXXXX XX XXXXXXXX

Also, Optimize would probably try to kill me if I sacrificed it. Being more efficient was what Optimize was all about.

[Comfortable Chair] was similarly useless - at least at first glance. In practice, it seemed to be a very, very minor warping of reality. Reality warping for a trivial purpose, but reality warping all the same.

No. If I'm going to sacrifice anything, it has to come from [Boxer]. I'll keep [Lightning Jab], as that might come in handy, but [Adrenaline Rush] and [Balanced Posture] most likely won't. I mean, do I even have adrenaline in my Breaker state? I had wanted to keep them solely because they might interest Riley, but you can't be unwilling to sacrifice an advantage if it's necessary.

Hanging on to stuff was a good way to lose a video game. You had to use your potions!

Besides, [Infiltrator]'s skills were too good to waste. Well, two of them were, but sacrificing the others might lock me out of the stealth talent tree...

I equipped Limit-Breaker.

I know I just told myself that sacrificing an advantage wasn't something to shy away from, but it's still hard to do it. I think it goes against my nature as a human. I took a deep breath, and steeled my resolve.

I then mentally 'drug' [Adrenaline Rush] to Mana Enhancement.

...

"Montressa du Valeross"

I felt a little bad about invading Montressa's privacy, especially in the middle of the night, but my purpose in scrying on her wasn't to spy. I just needed a connection to test with.

An image of her room came into focus inside the center of the crystal sphere. So far, so good. Ears of Babel couldn't detect anything until I started poring mana into it.

There!

I could sense a string of information flowing from the orb out into the air. It went to a spot outside of Wistram before changing direction and plunging back into the school. Audio, Visual, and something else were piped through it - from Montressa's room to the outside and then back to my orb.

"Hmmmm..." I narrowed my eyes. Was this a man-in-the-middle attack? Was the scrying orb she'd given me tapped in some way? I focused on the spot.

There were four other connections branching out from it. Two went into Wistram, and the other two shot off into the distance. The data was flowing from Wistram and to the outside for one. The other had a two-way exchange. Ears of Babel let me examine them.

I started with the one only sending details. The information was different somehow... Oh! It was encrypted! Nothing that Ears of Babel couldn't handle, but interesting none the less. The sensor was moving through the castle, without apparently focusing on any one thing. It would move several hundred feet to the side before attempting to move upwards.

Each time in encountered a field that blocked it and made it start to fray. It would pull back, solidify itself, and then try again.

Was someone trying to scry on the upper floors? I'd been told that they were warded, but I'd also been told that of Wistram itself. I guess that some wards are easier to pierce than others. I traced back along its path. It stretched for thousands of miles, but I could follow it easily enough.

...But not stealthily enough apparently as the connection cut off as I felt I was approaching the end.

Odd.

The other two connections to the spot above Wistram remained. They showed a conversation between a man with a pointed beard and combed hair and a younger looking [Mage].

"-magicore. The supplies of crushed gemstone are also running a bit low. Mainly rubies, but we could use more of everything."

"I'll speak with some [Merchants]. Anything else?"

"We've run out of apples."

"Anything else important?"

"Rodger is showing promise. I think we should invite him to join."

"Rodger?"

"He's a minor noble from Oztera. Decent mana shaping skills. No notable [Spells]."

"I see. Tell me what his opinions are on half-elves."

The two continued to go on about... the most banal topics. Ugh. I was almost happy when my mana ran out. Using Ears of Babel to connect to my scrying orb was draining.

The 'drained' debuff I got from having no mana was annoying. The stat penalties weren't dangerous to me, but I really should've kept track of my current mana better. Apparently, other [Mages] had a hard time using all of their mana, and doing so was as dangerous as getting too much.

In other words, mana was just like everything else. Too much and too little were both extremes to be avoided - at least by the people here. If they could go into mana-withdrawal, then it must mean that there's a physical change associated with it. Humans from Earth didn't have such issues - at least for now. The fact that Aaron could cast [Spells] was proof that he'd gained an internal well of mana.

In any event, I would replenish enough in less than an hour for the debuff to fade naturally. Too bad it didn't permanently increase the size of my pool when it vanished - unlike the 'oversaturated' debuff.

I'd also figured out what that spot was: the coordinate marker for Wistram.

That explained their haphazard placement. It was because they hadn't been added all at once. It was a piecemeal process that had occurred at sometime in the distant past.

In fact, it probably had happened multiple times. I know that I was annoyed by it, and I bet that other [Mages] had been too. Enough so that they'd doubtlessly try to 'fix' it.

Whatever. At least I specifically wasn't being spied upon. It did mean that scrying wasn't a secure system. The existence of an encrypted version meant that other people had to know how to hack the network like I'd done.

Well, I couldn't do any more tests until I refilled my mana. I could play some video games... or I could go and visit Cognita and try to get to know her better. There had to be a solution that wouldn't leave her a bitter shell who'd had her world figuratively destroyed.

---

"Pixel." Cognita nodded at the [Artificer] as he rounded the corner and walked towards her. He'd exited an empty room that she'd just looked over. He had to be using teleportation magic, but she couldn't see any threads of mana related to it on him. That meant he either had a technique she didn't know, or he was better at masking his magic than she'd initially thought. Probably the former. She still hadn't found a trace of mana in the stone floor he'd time-locked.

"Cognita." He inclined his head. "How are you this fine night?"

She gave him a flat stare before turning back and resuming her patrol. "Busier than usual, thanks to you."

"Me?" He asked with wide eyes as he fell into step beside her.

"Yes. You."

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about."

Cognita turned her head to regard him as they continued moving through the hallways. "The little stunt you pulled with Archmage Amerys has caused quite the uproar and no end to the demands of my time."

"My stunt?" Pixel's look of surprise seemed genuine.

"Yes." Cognita turned back to her front. "One [Mage] lost a finger yesterday morning. Telim is most wroth with the situation."

"Telim?"

"The [Mage] who'd lost his finger." Actually, he was technically a [High Mage]. Cognita didn't think such information was relevant though.

"How?"

"Why, Archmage Amerys bit it off in her escape attempt, of course." Pixel stopped walking, and Cognita deigned to pause her patrol as well.

"Wait. You're telling me that Amerys tried to escape and bit a man's finger off?" He sounded incredulous. "Nonsense, I would've-"

Pixel stopped his outburst just as it was the most revealing. He would've what? Stopped her? Known about it? Helped her?

"Yes." Cognita resumed walking. "That's exactly what I'm telling you."

"And this happened today?" Pixel sounded confused.

"No. It was two nights ago."

"Oh." His tone was that of someone who'd just realized something.

"So you do admit your involvement?" A door one floor below them burst open. The Cleaning Golem that was nearby saw green flames billowing out. Cognita picked up her pace.

"Well..."

"There is little reason to deny it." She took the stairs four at a time. "The signs of your involvement are clearly there. The day after we talked, Blackmage asked me to deliver a note to Archmage Amerys. She, in turn, then requested to see him." Cognita flung the door at the end of the stairwell open. "Early the next morning, Amerys attempted to escape by ambushing the person who was assigned to feed her."

"Ambushed? How?" Pixel had to jog to keep up with her.

"By biting his finger off." Cognita spared a glance at the culprit as she hurried down the hallway. "The guards don't know how she managed to get her gag off, but they are resolute in denying that they placed it back on her improperly."

"Ah, yeah..." Pixel frowned. "That's my bad. I took it off of her to speak with her and I forgot to put it back on."

Cognita smiled as they came to the engulfed room. It was nice to have confirmation. "Stand back. I'll handle this." The fire was magical. She could see it, and it was a simple mass of uncontrolled mana that empowered it. Dispersing it wouldn't take but a moment.

"Let me." Pixel strolled past her and raised his arm. The heat was intense, and the stone in the room was already melting. The [Artificer] didn't seem to notice, even as his clothes combusted.

The green flames jerked as if something pulled on them before they spiraled into Pixel's palm. Cognita stopped to watch. She could see Pixel literally pulling the mana that was empowering the flames into himself. The bottom of the fire turned orange as the green color flowed with the mana. Once they were normal flames, Pixel ceased his action and instead motioned to his side.

A white box appeared before a shimmering field smothered the last of the fire. It vanished the next moment.

"Thank you, Pixel." For showing her more of what he could do. That [Skill] that let him drain mana... such a thing could destabilize a lesser golem's core.

---

After finishing up with Cognita, I had another task to add to my list: Power Drain magical effects to overload my mana pool. Back in my room, I smiled to myself. I love grinding.

Well... I loved it right up to the point that I started hating it. Even now I couldn't think about doing a push-up without Gamer's Mind activating.

The point was that I had a viable way to increase a stat. In theory, I could've used Power Drain on the various golems around Wistram to do that same thing. I was confident that I'd be able to drain their mana in a way that didn't permanently damage them.

...Eventually.

It kinda made me feel like Riley. Or rather, Bonesaw. The amount of time I could save by doing unsafe (for my targets) experiments was tempting. If it wasn't that I was one-hundred percent certain it would enrage Cognita - she'd been radiating suspicion after I'd drained the magical fire...

Let's just say that draining golems was off the table.

Besides, I could get far more use out of them in other ways.

Power Drain couldn't pull mana in from the air. So far, only my [Ambient Mana Gatherer] skill could do that. Instead I'd have to target artifacts. It was getting closer to the time when I planned on revealing myself, so I was willing to take more risks. On the other hand, items that I could drain without arousing suspicion were few and far between...

So the logical solution would be to use Power Drain on [Mages].

Not a lot. It wouldn't do to take so much that my victims suffered negative effects.

Besides, this would also be good data to see how effective it would be in a fight. Hopefully, it would be a quick and easy way to de-power opposing magic users. It might be my inner-Dragon talking, but ways to subdue opponents non-lethally were incredibly valuable.

...

The good news was that I could successfully drain mana from [Mages]. It wasn't hard to sit in my disguise and target those around me.

The bad news was that it apparently wasn't subtle. My half-elven escort had immediately noticed and reacted poorly. Thank goodness that the Ullsinoi have such a terrible and pervasive reputation.

More good news was that doing it to a [Mage] that was actively casting a [Spell] was, apparently, much less intrusive. I'd guessed that was because they were already feeling their internal mana levels decreasing, so my added drain went unnoticed. Still, I'd best not try it on any of the higher-level individuals. They seemed much more adept at keeping track of their personal mana levels. There was a good chance that they'd immediately notice something was wrong.

Heck, they might even be able to tell in which direction their mana was being pulled away. Worse, they might be able to counter such an attack by tainting it or something.

Also, the rate was abysmal. Although, the final piece of bad news alleviated that concern somewhat. After all, if I couldn't drain their mana quickly, then there was less theoretical poison that they could slip me. Silver Linings and all that...

Okay, fine. I was just trying to look for an upside to the low flow. It was like trying to drink a can of soda with one of those tiny, red straws instead of a regular one. (What was the point of those things anyways? I assumed it had something to do with coffee.)

When all was said and done, I had a workable method to increase my mana pool. I didn't even have to drain a lot from one of my victims either. A single mana over was enough to debuff me, and then get an increase when it wore off. Not that I could bank on that always being the case. If mana was a 'natural' phenomenon, then it probably would take increased effort as I went along.

It was like exercising a muscle. I was damaging something, but as it recovered it grew back stronger. If I had to bet, I'd say that the amount wasn't a static number, but more of a percentage. Casting [Light] drained me of fifteen mana at first. I'd gotten that down to ten with a little practice. That meant that my current pool of thirty-one mana was on the low side.

Way, way, on the low side.

While I was sure that other mages were more efficient with their expenditures, they also had to have much bigger reservoirs to accomplish what I'd seen. It's a good thing that Optimize is better at this sort of stuff than I'd ever have any hope of being.

I mean, that was kinda its thing.

I don't know how much mana a [Mage] would have to use to accomplish the same feats that my mana-enhanced skills could, but I suspected it would be several orders of magnitude larger.

Heck, it might not even be possible.

Despite my closeness to my Shard, the Shard Network, and the Shard Administrator - I still didn't have the first clue about how Optimize did what it did. It was so far beyond me that... it was like a fairy.

I'd heard a nice viewpoint once. That wild animals would view humans the same way that we had myths about the fae. A person found a wounded chipmunk and they might tenderly heal it back to health and let it go. Or keep it as a pet. Or have their child play with it. Or kill it. Or torture it.

Or the person that'd found it might've done any combination of those things too. As a whole, humanity was very fickle with how we might react to different scenarios. If you compare that to what a cat would do if they found a wounded chipmunk... Well, let's just say that there wasn't much variance there.

So, to extend that metaphor, Shards were like fairies to humans. They could do things we couldn't understand. They could support us (like Optimize did for me).

XXX XXXX X

For the most part.

Or they could do what Surgery did for Riley, and basically twist her up in knots - and she wasn't close to the worst parahuman in that regard. I'd encountered Shards that had fundamentally altered their hosts in truly disturbing ways. Heck, I'd even found a Shard that had been actively TRYING to get its host killed.

And that wasn't even getting into the Fairy Queen. Perhaps she'd seen this relationship between Shards and Parahumans, or even between Parahumans and humans, and THAT was the 'logic' the fueled her delusions.

As such, I wasn't either surprised or upset that my Shard was leagues beyond me in using mana already. Heck, I'm pretty sure that this world's Grand Design is giving me a helping hand with my [Spells] too. [Light] feels like a programed function that I just have to provide the right parameters instead of writing the whole thing from scratch.

---

Teura looked down the beach, but Boxer wasn't there. The Earther had been doing his morning run around the island. He'd moved behind the castle, but had yet to reappear on the other side. There were no clocks out here, but it FELT like he had been gone too long.

Perhaps a time-telling [Spell] would be a useful thing to have after all. Not that she'd thought that Blackmage's idea was without merit. Instead it was a question of implementation. It would take a [Time Mage] to come up with such a thing.

In fact, there had to be a least one [Chronomancer] that had done it in the past. Just another piece of magic locked inside of the upper floors.

Teura tapped her foot. Where was he? Even if Boxer had slowed down to walk once he'd gotten out of her sight, he should be back by now.

...Unless something had happened.

She cursed softly under her breath and started to walk counter-clockwise around the beach. If her sense of time was off, or Boxer was just moving more slowly than normal, she'd run into him.

On the other hand... She drew her wand and started layering defensive spells on top of herself. "[Impact Ward]. [Armor of the Mage]. [Floating Shield]. [Eagle Eyes]."

She thought about adding [Stone Skin] to the mix, but she wasn't confident enough in combining it with [Impact Ward]. The later [Spell] created a barrier that was flush with her skin - just inside of [Armor of the Mage]. So, in theory, [Stone Skin] could be used without any issue. In practice, your skin turning to stone tended to make it grow, even if just a little.

Besides, it would make her heavier and she might need her agility.

Teura started to jog once her defensive measures were in place. Scenario after scenario was playing through her mind - each worse than the last. Had Boxer slipped on the rocky section? Had another faction kidnapped him? Had a rogue golem gone berserk? Had a monster somehow slipped past Wistram's wards? Or escaped the confides of the castle itself?

She got past the rocks and back to the sand. There. She could see his tracks. They curved away from the water as Boxer had approached the rocks. He was smart enough to avoid the slippery section. She turned around and walked back.

No corresponding footprints on the other side.

She frowned and walked back across the rocks. Her enhanced eyesight let her pick up the traces of sand the boy had left as he'd walked on top of the new terrain type.

Where was it...?

Yes! There!

The trail of sand grew fainter, but it clearly curved towards the castle itself. She followed it until it left the beach and continued on the worked stone. Here the tracks were more obvious. Boxer ran bare-footed, and was sweating. Even with less and less sand, and his tracks literally drying up, they were still a simple thing to follow.

She quickly strolled after them while making sure to keep her gaze moving around her. This was a potential combat situation, so she couldn't afford to be caught off guard. There were no other visible prints, but that didn't mean the human had been alone.

She followed the tracks to the docks... and onto a boat.

---

Feor clenched his wand beneath his desk so hard that it hurt. He slowly raised it and set it on top of the parchment he'd been reading. He'd lived a long time, and he knew that being impetuous wouldn't do him any good. "Vincent." He glared at the young Earther. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

The [Boxer] sat with his arms crossed. "I ain't got nuthin' ta say." He sneered. "Least of all to you."

"My dear child." Feor looked down and rubbed his temples. "What possessed you to try and stow-away on one of our ships? That is a clear rules infraction."

"Naw, man." Vincent shook his head. "A prisoner has the right to try and escape."

"I'd hardly call you a [Prisoner]." Feor raised his eyebrows.

"'Course you wouldn't." The boy scoffed. "But you not callin' things sumpthin' don't make it true. Look here." He uncrossed his arms and leaned forward. "I'm 'bout to lay down some truth, see? A story from my world, dig? My country used to have slaves." He snarled. "Shit. America was built on the backs of my people. Now, not everyone was cool with dat shit. In fact, there were a lot of people that opposed it. A real clusterfuck from what I've been told."

"Is that so?" Feor leaned back. Blackmage hadn't spoken of any such incidents.

"Now, this was before that. When America still embraced slavery, and was tryin' to win its own independence from another country. There was this man named Billy. No last name 'cause he wasn't nuthin' but property." Vincent leaned back again. "Billy here, he went and joined the British. Or at least was put on one of their boats and given a gun." He shrugged. "He might or might not have gone willingly. The British promised freedom for the slaves that fought with them, but Billy? He ain't got no freedom to choose where he goes anyways."

"I see." Feor nodded.

"Well, long story short, the British were defeated and America won its independence. Slaves like Billy, those dat were on the British side... Well, they were charged with treason." Vincent shrugged. "Billy said he didn't do anything willingly, but he was still sentenced to be hung."

"Wistram opposes [Slavery]." Feor interjected.

"Uh-huh." Vincent's reply was short and non-committal. "Now, some other people objected on Billy's behalf." He let out a snort. "Good people. People that were upstanding in the eyes of the law. White people. Those that da courts would listen ta. They claimed that Billy was incapable of committing treason seeing how he wasn't no citizen and had no allegiance to America in the first place."

The boy fell silent and just looked at Feor.

"I see." The Archmage stroked his beard. "And you are claiming that you are the same? I do not see how, since you are no [Slave]."

"I might not be a slave, but I sure as hell am a prisoner!" Vincent put his hands on the arms of his chair and started to stand up before lowering himself back down. "Just as a [Slave] cannot have any allegiance for their owners, a prisoner cannot be guilty of tryin' ta escape."

"That's hardly a law I've ever heard made by any [Ruler]."

Vincent spat on the floor. "I ain't talkin' 'bout no damn law! I'm talkin' 'bout morals and shit. You say that I can't leave, and I say I can. I'm completely justified in tryin' ta do so!"

"Your opinion is noted." Feor picked his wand back up. "However, I fear my stance differs from yours. You know nothing of this world. To let you leave on your own would be a moral failure on my part."

"So whachu goin' ta do 'bout it?" Vincent looked up at him challengingly.

"I am going to stop you from hurting yourself." Feor stood up. "There is a binding spell that will restrict your movements. You will not physically be able to leave the island."

"Uh-huh."

"I am warning you, Boxer, for your own good." Feor started going over the insanely complex [Spell] in his head. He would need to link up with other [Mages] from his faction to cast it. "It will act as a wall to you. If someone tries to carry you across, then you will still run into it. If you are riding something like a boat, you will be crushed."

"Fucker."

Feor sighed. "I fear I will also have to seal you as well. I cannot have you speaking of such things to other people and upsetting them." He'd already re-familiarized himself with that [Spell]. Admittedly, he'd planned on using it to ensure that the Earthers did not speak of their world to any other factions, but it would also be appropriate to use it here. "This part we can do now. [Bind-egh!!"

A burning sensation pierced his back and erupted from his chest!

The pain was exquisite, and Feor watched with wide eyes as three blades of pure light shone from his front. His eyes were drawn to the movement of his wand falling from his limp fingers.

Was this how he died? He felt strangely calm.

"An [Assassin]!" Teura drew her wand and pointed it at him.

Feor blinked. No. Not at him. At the person standing behind him. A hand grasped him underneath his arm at his shoulder and held him up with a strong grip.

"I am no [Assassin]." A voice from behind him spoke. "In fact, I do not plan on killing Archmage Feor today, but I had to stop him from casting such a [Spell] on one that I protect. ...You may consider this to be Cowboy Diplomacy and that I will be negotiating from a position of strength."

"That is a mortal blow!" Teura nearly screamed. "Do not try telling such brazen lies to me!"

Feor raised his head. There were tears in the corners of Teura's eyes. How nice that she cared about him. How sad that he was about to perish. How ironic that it happened in the room he had felt safest in.

"Archmage Feor, please tell your subordinate that you are okay." The voice behind him paused. "Or at the very least that you are still alive."

"Teura..." It was hard to speak. It felt like something was blocking the air that flowed in and out of his lungs. The [Light Blades], no doubt. "I have not yet died."

"And you shall not, at least as long as I continue to use a [Spell] to heal the damage I'm inflicting." What? How was it possible that his attacker knew of such magic? "Now, I'm going to pull my weapon out and heal the damage. Then we can all speak like rational people. Okay?"

Teura nodded.

"I need to hear the words come from your mouth, Teura. If I don't, then we'll have a problem." The voice behind him rose in cadence. "Now, lower your wand and let me know that we're cool, and that we can resolve this without further violence."

Feor saw his ally swallow before nodding her head. "We can." She then lowered her wand.

"Good."

Feor sagged as the blade that had pierced him vanished. It was only the hand of his assailant that kept him on his feet. The same person who'd just stabbed him gently helped him to one of his chairs. His chest still burned, but the sensation was fading. Once he was seated, he finally got a look at the person... or golem, that had stabbed him. "What are you?" Speaking was easier. Whatever damage that had been done to his lungs was being healed.

"What I am is a the protector of the Earthers." The humanoid made of cubes replied. "Who I am is Pixel. I am a [Superhero], and I wish to become an official Archmage of Wistram."

Chapter 36: Interlude - Cara O'Sullivan

"I'm still standing! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" The last words of her song hung in the air as the music faded. The singer of Terandria waved to her fans and took a bow before stepping off stage.

...

Cara flopped down in her chair and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Man, singing and dancing is so much more of a workout than I'd originally assumed." She grabbed the cup of water that had been left for her and quickly drained it. "I've already used my [Encore], but I could go out and sing another one without using a [Skill]." She pulled out her notebook and added a note next to Elton John before she looked through it. "But which song?"

"Cara? Is this a bad time?" A voice emanated from the air.

Who?

"Kevin?" She frowned slightly as she tried to place the speaker. "Is that you?"

"Yes." It did sound like him. "If you have time, I'd like to talk."

"Oh, uhm, okay." It wasn't that late she supposed. If her options were to do another encore, fall asleep, or talk with Kevin, she'd pick the later. "I have time."

"If you take out my crystal, I can appear in person."

"What? Really?" She reached under her costume and pulled out the cube he'd given her. She always kept it on her, even if it was uncomfortably shaped. "Okay. It's out. Now wha-" There was no flash of light. No swirling energy to mark a transport like in a movie or video game. Instead, Kevin had simply appeared between one moment and the next. "Oh."

"Hey, Cara." He smiled. "How's it goin'?"

"Not too bad." She smirked. "I've been drawing in the crowds. Even got someone interested in recording my songs in some crystals." She glanced from side to side before leaning forward and whispering. "And I found another... you know what."

Kevin chuckled and sat down on nothing. "There's no need to whisper or speak obliquely, Cara. No one else can hear or see us right now. We're perfectly safe."

"Oh." Right. Superhero. "I thought that was why you did the whole 'stealth teleport' thing."

"What?" Kevin's eyebrows shot up before he shook his head. "No. I'm still inside Wistram. I'm just projecting my image so that it's more comfortable." He smiled and glowed as a line of light pulsed up and down his body. "I can do special effects if that's what you want."

"Ha!" She snorted. "Where were you at my last concert? I have an [Illusionist] on staff now to provide stuff like that, but I think you'd blow him out of the water!"

"No doubt." Kevin let out a sigh. "I've never toured with a band before, it sounds like fun, but I have-"

"To find your family." Cara interrupted him. "And to do your whole 'superhero thing' and get us back to Earth." She waved him off. "I know. I know. You do your thing, and I'll do mine." She leaned forward. "Speaking of which, how's Wistram? I've found a few more Earthers to add to the ones you saved. One of them is cool, but the rest are shell-shocked. I'm not sure being on the road is good for them."

"That's the thing." Kevin stopped glowing. "If they come to Wistram, they'll be fed, sheltered, and protected..."

"But?"

"But they won't be allowed to leave." He shook his head. "Not in a 'locked in a cell' sort of way, but more like a 'why would you want to leave' method."

"Shit."

Kevin shrugged. "I'm going to confirm it with a breakout attempt, but Winstram's still better than most places. If things play out like I'm expecting, then I'm going to have to challenge one of the Archmages. That should let me loosen the restrictions - like having a [Mage] escort around the clock. Even then, I don't know if I could convince the other factions to let Earthers come and go as they please. They see you as valuable commodities."

"Well, I can lay it out to the new recruits, and let them decide for themselves." Cara shrugged. "We have it plenty good here too." She let out grunt. "Terandria isn't so bad. Especially if you stay in the big cities. I've had to put up with a lot of bitchin' and moaning from idiots that haven't seen a single animated skeleton much less an undead horde."

"The woes of leadership." He replied with a straight face.

"Yeah, laugh it up pretty-boy." Cara glared at him. "The bunch you left on my doorstep are the worst of the lot!"

"Really?" Kevin's face bunched up in confusion. "They all seemed pretty nice to me."

"Where to begin?" Cara rolled her eyes. "Oh, I know. I'll start with the best and work down to the worst - Vincent."

"What about him?"

"All he's good at is punching people!" Cara threw her hands up. "He doesn't have a musical bone in his body, and he's gotten into seven fights... from being a bouncer THREE times!"

"Oh, well..."

"And then there's the Russian who doesn't understand a word I say."

"Michail?"

"Yes. Him." Cara shook her head. "He's nice enough, and big enough to help with hauling things or looking intimidating, but the language barrier is real. At least Vincent understands what I tell him!"

"Right, well Wistram does have a handy [Translation] neck-"

"And finally!" Cara spoke over Kevin again. "There's the most worthless person on the planet - Jiahao!"

"Worthless?" Kevin seemed genuinely puzzled. "He seemed perfectly fine to me."

"All he does is play on that stupid video game you gave him!" Cara raised her voice. "What were you thinking?"

Kevin shrugged. "Well, I had to give him something to make up for taking his electronics. I couldn't let him not have any video games to play."

"Yes." Cara exhaled and calmed herself. "You could have. If you were so willing to hand out tech to him, at least you could've given Michail a translator."

"Those are two different things."

Cara palmed her face and then slowly dragged her hand down as she looked up at Pixel - the video game superhero. "Okay. Fine. But why did you have to tell him about the [Gamer] class?"

Kevin tilted his head. "What's wrong with that?"

Cara shook her head. "Because it's 'a [Gamer] wouldn't do that', or 'I need to beat this game to level'. I swear that he even debates how a [Gamer] would use the restroom. It's not healthy." Not to mention completely annoying and unhelpful.

"Oh." Kevin rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I can see how that would be annoying to some people."

Cara gave him a flat stare. "Some?"

"Okay. Annoying in general, especially since you guys aren't living a lifestyle that would allow that sort of thing."

"Right." Cara nodded her head. "So they'd be fine at Wistram, right?" If she was going to dump anyone off in a gilded cage, it would be them.

"Well..." Kevin hummed. "Michail might get some odd looks. I had to make his copy bigger so I could fit. Vincent also might have a bit of a reputation..."

"Oh God." She slumped down. "If there's one thing that fool can't get over, it's how people see him. Don't tell me you made him look like a 'punk'." She used air-quotes around that last word.

"No. I've used the same mannerisms he used around me, 'n the same sayin's." Kevin shook his head as his voice changed to perfectly mimic Vincent's for a moment. "If anything, I might have pressed it too far the other way." He smiled. "Let's just say that he'll have a reputation to live up to if he does come."

"And Jiahao?"

"No." Kevin shook his head again. "I'm confident I did everything exactly how he would have." He puffed out his chest. "I'm a pretty good actor when I want to be."

Chapter 37: Wistram and the Archmage of Cubes 1

"What are you?"

"What I am is a the protector of the Earthers." I proclaimed. "Who I am is Pixel. I am a superhero, and I wish to become an official Archmage of Wistram." I stood next to Archmage Feor, who was still sitting in the chair I'd helped him into after my successful ambush.

It wasn't the best introduction, perhaps. I was certainly on the back foot as far as reputation went - even if I no longer had a system that showed me such things. Archmage Feor was still radiating confusion, shock, and surprise. It was vital for me to keep that from turning into too much resentment and hatred.

That... was going to be an uphill battle, even at the best of times. The fact that I'd literally just stabbed him in the back would certainly make things more difficult. At least it wasn't a figurative back-stab... I mean, there was no betrayal in my actions.

I continued to keep Rapid Regeneration applied to Feor. I'd withdrawn the Laser Trident from him, but he still needed immediate medial attention. His wounds would already have closed up except that my Mega Buster was more potent than before. The mana that infused it let me pierce his defenses - which, admittedly, hadn't been at their peak. Additionally, the damage it caused was more akin to acid than anything else, and so my Perk needed to repair all the tissue around the wound instead of just knitting the flesh back together.

**Teura is angry.
**Teura is nervous.
**Teura is scared.

"Teura." I let my helmet flow away from my face. "I'm not here to harm anyone." I pointed at the Homunculus in the chair. "I am just protecting Vincent from spells that he would find objectionable." It was technically the truth, even though I was purposely misleading her. My actions were directly related to protecting him and the other Earthers - despite the fact that he wasn't physically here. I didn't think she knew a truth-telling [Spell] - few people did. Most relied on truth stones. Even if she did, she probably wouldn't have it cast right now.

Still, better safe than sorry, and I didn't want to spend the mana on my Babel Perks if I didn't have to. The situation was still evolving, and I might need every single point.

"Okay." She swallowed. "Fine." She looked over at 'Vincent'. "Boxer, did you know about this? Is that why you were confrontational?"

I had Vincent stand up and cross his arms. "Yeah. I knew." He looked at Feor. "Fact is dat this whole thing was a trap. Pixel wanted to see how you'd react."

"[Calm Emotions]." Feor's face went still for a moment as he cast a [Spell] on himself.

**Feor is calm.

He took a deep breath, and the paleness in his face faded.

**Feor is surprised.
**Feor is amused.
**Feor is relieved.

The Archmage chuckled. "It was a test, and we failed." He shook his head. "I should've known. Boxer clearly had assistance. His level was too high, even accounting for how quickly the rest of the Earthers are advancing." He looked up at me. "That implied that an unknown force was helping him." He smiled ruefully. "And, of course, the most obvious person would be the 'Pixel' that he and the others spoke of." He looked over at the other half-elf. "Terua, put away your wand and have a seat." He stood up and began slowly walking back towards his desk. "I think this is going to be a long conversation."

She bowed her head. "Of course, Archmage." She then gracefully sat down in one of the chairs to the side. I could see why Aaron was so flustered by her. The way she moved was nearly as effortless as Sibby.

I had Vincent sit back in his chair, while I un-Inventoried one of my own. It wasn't JUST a casual display of power designed to hint at what I was capable of. The chair also contained one of Uppercrust's forcefield generators that had been upgraded by Dragon, along with my Physical Resistance and Babel Perks.

It wasn't the ultimate defense that it once was, since it did not incorporate any mana. Still, it would allow me to do any number of impressive things. Plus, staying immobile allowed Expansion to kick in.

"You seem to be taking this better than I had feared, Archmage." I looked at Feor and made sure to use his title.

**Feor is angry.
**Feor is happy.
**Feor is satisfied.
**Feor is smug.

"While the recent experience was certainly harrowing..." His long fingers probed his chest. "I have experienced Blighted Diplomacy before." He glanced down. "Though, I must admit, it usually starts with property destruction that is subsequently replaced. Being struck a mortal blow and healed from it is a novelty."

**Terua is angry.
**Terua is scared.
**Terua is in shock.

"I cannot believe how brazen you are." She looked at me with narrowed eyes. "To assault an Archmage in his own quarters before expecting to calmly talk about it!"

"And what choice did I have?" I turned my head to face her. "Or are you saying that you wouldn't mind having the spell that was about to be cast on Vincent placed on yourself?"

**Terua is angry.
**Terua is scared.
**Terua is defiant.

She didn't respond.

"You'll have to for-" Feor started speaking, but I cut him off.

"You do have it on you, don't cha?" It was better for Vincent to come off as abrasive. He glared at the female half-elf. "Someone made it so you can't speak about certain things! 'Specially not the [Spell] that's been placed on ya!"

"Such a thing is necessary for my closest confidants." Feor interjected. "Some secrets must be kept at all costs. It is for her own protection."

**Feor is angry.
**Feor is calm.
**Feor is confident.
**Feor is assured.

Well, he was either telling the truth, or had a [Spell] that masked his emotions - beyond the one I'd just seen him cast. I could only detect [Calm Emotions]' effects due to the sporadic calm notifications. It didn't seem to be as... heavy handed as Gamer's Mind was in quashing things. I tended towards the 'telling the truth' explanation. That generally matched up with being confident and assured. The simmering anger that persisted worried me though. "Is that true, Terua? Are you bound of your own free will?"

**Terua is indignant.
**Terua is annoyed.
**Terua is angry.

"Anything that happens to me in Wistram is of my own choosing!" She crossed her arms. "No one forces me to do things that I don't want. A [Binding] spell is a perfectly reasonable precaution for dangerous secrets."

"Reasonable to us, dear." Feor steepled his fingers. "It obviously is not so for Vincent and Pixel." He paused. "Or dare I say, any Earther for that matter. It is clearly a cultural taboo where they come from... which is odd." He tilted his head. "You do not have magic to actually do such things, so why do you feel so strongly about it."

"Why? WHY?!?" Vincent's voice rose.

"Allow me to explain." I interrupted myself. "One of the first things you must understand is that I come from a different world than Blackmage or Vincent. In my world there ARE people who bend the wills of others to their own purposes, and they ARE among the most despised of individuals." I gestured with a hand. "Such things are only speculative fiction for Vincent, or were, at least, before he arrived at this world. However," I raised a finger. "That does not mean that such abuses of power do not exist. You need not use a [Spell] to compel someone to act in a certain way. Power, money, and societal influences can repress people all the same."

And that was far more common on Earth Bet than parahumans like Heartbreaker had been. It was just that supervillains got the spotlight for being such... pieces of shit.

"I understand." Feor nodded at Vincent. "I will not attempt to do such a thing to you in the future, but you must also realize that you are not prepared for the world outside of Wistram. From what you've told us of Earth, it might not be a paradise planet, but it is far less dangerous. It is all too common for experienced travelers here to fall victim to monsters, [Bandits], or other such filth. Leaving our protection is ill-advised." He turned to look at me. "Well, at least for most of you. I don't think that Pixel would find things quite so threatening."

Odd. He was mostly telling the truth from what I could tell. He wasn't guilty or more nervous than before. Of course, that didn't mean that his actions weren't also self-serving. It could be that he both sought to keep Vincent safe as well as gain more control of a valuable resource. It was next to impossible to discern a singular motivation when such things twisted around each other and merged.

I bet even Feor, himself, couldn't say for certain.

"Regardless of the potential consequences, I must insist that anyone who comes to Wistram is to be free of any magic or [Skills] that would interfere with their abilities to make their own decisions." I interlaced my fingers. "Furthermore, any Earther shall be allowed to leave if that is what they wish."

"So you say." Feor's eyes narrowed. "And that is why you wish to be recognized as an Archmage? So that you may impose such policies through force?" He shook his head. "While power alone is the main obstacle to gain such a rank, it is not the only thing."

"Oh?" I smiled as widely as I could. "Have we reached an impasse already?"

**Feor is angry.
**Feor is nervous.
**Feor is tense.
**Feor is afraid.

**Terua is nervous.
**Terua is anxious.
**Terua is afraid.

Feor coughed into his fist. "I didn't say that. It's just that one must be a [Mage] in order to be an Archmage." He shrugged. "While you are no doubt a very high level [Super Hero], Wistram is built and ruled by spell-casters."

"Is that so?" I raised a hand. "[Light]." A glowing orb appeared in my palm. "While my main class is [Artificer], I am not unskilled in other such areas either. Besides," I dismissed the [Spell] and motioned to my armor. "I can construct items that are equal or exceed the greatest of artifacts."

**Feor is angry.
**Feor is surprised.
**Feor is confused.
**Feor is suspicious.

"Still..." He looked me up and down. "You also need support. One cannot hope to be elevated to the highest ranks of Wistram without... providing some benefit."

"Such as?" I asked him.

"There are numerous ways." He shrugged. "Providing resources. Teaching students. Researching [Spells]. Crafting items. There are many ways in which a [Mage] of Wistram earns their place here. Archmages are held to an even higher level."

"Is that so?" I regarded him and Teura. My [Light] spell had gotten an odd reaction from him, but not from her. What had he seen? Had I made a mistake in casting the [Spell]? That... wasn't a good thing - especially since it had cost me a third of my mana. I was now at less than half of my maximum capacity. "Then, how about this?" I gestured towards him while un-Inventorying a glass vial filled with one of my healing potions to the top of his desk. "A gift." I smiled. "Far stronger than a potion of healing, or even a potion of regeneration. It can repair nearly any wound, regrow limbs, and even undo the ravages of time." I paused as the shocked notifications appeared before continuing. "I made it myself."

---

Feor sat in his room alone.

...Or was he really alone?

Was Pixel watching him right now? Was the otherworlder planning on ambushing him again if he did something that he found 'offensive'?

He clenched his hands tightly before forcing them open and relaxed. He couldn't show such signs. He hadn't played such games since he'd first been recognized as an Archmage. The constant paranoia that one of his rivals was planning to steal, slander, or attack him was not welcome.

It invaded his mind none the less.

To think that the Earth children had such an... ally? Feor shuddered. Pixel had done the impossible. What's more, he'd done it several times.

Eavesdropping on an Archmage's conversations.

Teleporting into an Archmage's quarters, or using illusion magic to mask himself.

Piercing his defensive ward.

Healing a mortal blow.

As much as it galled him, Pixel had real power. The eavesdropping today could be explained by giving Vincent a speaking stone. It would take a potent one to pierce the wards in his room, but it could be done. Teleportation should be impossible from the outside. The wards should have redirected such a thing.

Or was it more likely that he'd done a single impossible thing and had been with them, but unseen, the whole time?

Dead gods, could this be an elaborate power grab by the Ullsinoi?

No.

No, no, no.

Feor felt at his chest. The [Light Blade] that had pierced him had been real. The holes in his robes were proof of that. He would need to resume using the hard illusion counters. [Dust] spells were tedious to both cast and to clean up afterwards, but a thorough sweep of all possible spaces could defeat even the highest level [Rogue].

...So what should he do next?

Killing Pixel was the obvious choice, but was he actually capable of doing it?

Feor felt at his chest again and remembered the burning pain...

No. No, he would not risk such a thing. If perhaps he had the other Archmages on his side, then they could ambush him. They'd done it with Amerys.

...Which was exactly why it would fail. They'd captured Amerys only because they'd ambushed her, and because [Greater Lightning Ward] forced her to get creative. Viltach was away and Nailihuaile was a flighty ally at best. The three of them could doubtlessly overcome Pixel.

...If they could ambush him, and if Feor could convince them to join him.

Doing the first would be difficult, but not impossible. If Pixel was to be recognized as an 'Archmage', he'd have to appear before the council, and be available to others in Wistram.

Where was he staying anyways? Feor made a mental note that Pixel probably had access to spacial magic. That would be difficult to defend against.

The larger problem would be convincing his fellow Archmages to act. True, they'd come together against Amerys. Everyone still feared the King of Destruction. Gaining their cooperation against Pixel would be far more difficult. Telling them he'd ambushed him would only elevate the Earther in their eyes.

Feor looked down at the object on his desk he'd been ignoring.

A potion of [Regeneration], or possibly [Youthfulness]. Or rather, a combination of the two. Its worth was incalculable. And Pixel could make them!

Feor wasn't as naive as to take such bold claims at face value, but... He probed his chest again, and then cracked his neck from side to side. No scarring. No tenderness. No sign of the fatal wound at all! Besides that, the stiffness in his neck was gone.

He felt ten years younger - which wasn't that much for a half-elf, but the fact that it was noticeable?

No. That was all the proof he needed.

To have this power at his fingertips. To be able to save himself from anything short of death. To be able to turn back the clock...

Feor wasn't as old as he acted. His beard would still be mostly yellow if he didn't dye it. However, even half-elves feared growing old. Ever since Saliss of Lights had revealed he'd been able to create [Potions of Youthfulness], the thought of acquiring one had been in the back of his mind.

Not seriously. Feor still had centuries left. But getting one before Saliss himself died in some war or something... that was on his list.

The prices of such things could bankrupt smaller nations, and Pixel had just handed one over!

Feor took a deep breath and tried to banish the fear and anger. He wouldn't be opposed to Pixel dying, but his benefit far outweighed everything else. He would ally with him and cooperate to the best of his abilities. That was worth more than his current grievances, which would fade in time.

Such was life in Wistram.

---

Nailihuaile slithered into the council chamber. "Hey! Vandross! How are you doing? Sally! Marthe! Wayhe!" She cheerfully greeted members of other factions. There were just so many! Sure, lots of [Mages] belonged to more than one faction, which led to an increased number of them.

Factions, that was, not [Mages].

Nailihuaile, herself, was a member of no less than fifteen! Of course, fourteen of those weren't THAT important. Take the Brunch Alliance. They had banded together to try and get food served more-or-less constantly before noon. It was just so hard to wake up some days! Or so easy to get carried away in a conversation! Honestly! Would it be THAT much more work for the [Cooks]?

As an Archmage (not an [Archmage]), she lent a certain... gravitas to any faction she joined. As such, it was no wonder sooooo many people were interested in her. She preened under their attention. Lizardfolk were sociable creatures, and as a Star Lamia, Nailihuaile felt even more comfortable the more eyes that were on her. She adjusted her jewelry, and hoped someone would comment on it.

"Nailihuaile." A dry voice greeted her. She glanced in that direction, but then turned her head. She would not associate or acknowledge people in the Isolationist faction. Some things were more important than socializing!

The idiots that were members weren't worth the mana they absorbed. They were the natural enemy of her most potent faction: the Revivalists. How anyone could come up with such a backwards theory that the way to restore Wistram to its greatness was to have LESS students? It was complete Garbichug Revolter dung!

The obvious correct way to gain MORE power was to have MORE students!

She gripped the Serkonian Lance that she always carried with her and thought about killing each and every Isolationist. Not that she would, of course, but it still felt nice to imagine it.

Well, perhaps one or two...

"Nailihuaile." Another dry voice spoke her name. "I'm glad you could come on such short notice."

She looked over. "Oh, hello, Feor." Speaking of factions, the only other Archmage currently at Wistram was leader of the Centralists. They got on well enough. Nailihuaile didn't think that their goal of making every [Mage] in the world join Wistram and elevating the school into a proper country was a bad idea. She didn't think it was a good idea either. However, it would lead to more students, so the Centralists were a natural ally of the Revivalists. "You are looking well today." She paused, but the half-elf didn't return her compliment. "Do you know why the counsel has been convened?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." Feor stroked his beard. "I was the one who called it to gather."

"Oh?" Her eyes gleamed. That was a juicy minor secret. She'd probably be able to trade it for someone to deliver her some food. The secret would spoil long before the food did. "And why is that?" It was about the Earthers she bet. It had to be about the Earthers.

"It's about the Earthers." Yes! "And about recognizing another Archmage." What?

"A new Archmage?" Nailihuaile rose up on her tail and looked over the assembled [Mages]. "Who is it? It can't be Wayhe, he's still not even level forty." She didn't see any red hair. "Your protege isn't here either, so it's not her." She frowned. "I don't see anyone that looks that important." She lowered herself. "Besides, no one is really high enough level to join, are they?"

"Not from within Wistram, no." Feor shook his head. "However, I can personally vouch for the applicant's power." A pained look crossed his face as he reached into his robes and pulled out a vial. "In fact, the future Archmage gave me this to give you to prove his credentials."

Nailihuaile reached out and took it, and briefly wrestled with the half-elf. "You seem reluctant to part with a present for ME!" She yanked the potion from his hands. "It must be valuable."

"More tha-" Feor straightened his robes and stroked his beard. "Yes. Yes, it is."

"And you didn't squirrel away some of it for yourself, did you?" She eyed the level of the fluid... The strangely blocky fluid.

"I would never!" Nailihuaile didn't need a truth [Spell] to see through THAT lie. "I mean to say." Feor took a deep breath. "I already have one of my own."

Nailihuaile chuckled. "That doesn't mean you wouldn't want any more. [Light]." She held the vial up to the glowing orb. "The texture looks strange. Not the slop of a lower level potion maker, but not liquid. Gelatinous? The color is good, solid. [Safe Scent]." She flicked her tongue out. Her [Spell] didn't need the stopper removed to work - which was why it was a good spell. All manner of bad things could happen when you opened an unknown potion. "No scent at all!" She blinked. "That IS odd!" She slid the potion into a pocket on her vest. "So what does it do?"

Feor let out a sigh. "It's a potion of superior regeneration... and youthfulness."

"Oh!" She smiled. "That IS a nice bribe!" A very, VERY nice bribe!

"To test it... it has been suggested that you offer some of it to one of your faction's members that's missing a limb or digit."

"Why is that?" She blinked.

Feor sighed again. "Because it wasn't made by an [Alchemist], and one might not be able to identify it properly."

"Who made it? Was it the applicant? It has to be the applicant, right? Why else would it be so strange? And why is someone who's re-discovered how to make potions of regeneration want to join Wistram? It will be great to have someone like that here, is it Saliss of Lights? I bet it's Saliss of Lights! He's the one that discovered how to make potions of youth, right? Having someone like that join is great! But why would he? He's a drake through-and-through. He wouldn't leave his own city for Fissival, why would he leave it for Wistram?" A chime rung, and the assembled [Mages] began moving towards their seats. Nailihuaile followed Feor. "If it's not Saliss, then that's even bigger news! I can understand why we would be considering naming a non-[Mage] as 'Archmage'. It's odd, no doubt about that, but talent is talent. Alchemy isn't all that different from Enchanting, y'know? We both make things. It's just that I do it directly, while [Alchemists] have to use outside tools!" Feor sat down, but she continued talking. "It's a pretty big distinction, even if you don't take into account everything else I can do that they can't. Although..." She paused to take a breath. "They DO work faster. I mean, they'd have to, right? Otherwise what would be the point? Healing, I guess. No matter how good an [Enchanter] is, they can't make healing potions. Or mana potions for that matter. And there's the use factor. It's super easy to drink a potion, but resonance limits how many enchanted items a person can carry. But it's sooo hard to limit that! You know that I've made a discovery on that front, right? See, the secret is... well, I can't tell you the secret, but it's really quite remarkable-"

"Nailihuaile." Feor spoke through clenched teeth. "The applicant is entering."

"Oh!" She glanced around, and saw that she was the only one still standing - for a given definition of 'standing'. Star Lamias didn't have legs, so it was more like raised up and slouching instead of standing and sitting. "Right." She slithered to her seat, and caught the tail-end of what the [Scribe] was announcing.

"-duce, Pixel. From Earth!" The door opened to the lower section and a beautiful golem walked though it.

Nailihuaile looked it up and down and smiled. So pretty! Such bright colors! And the tiny scales that it was made of were marvelously uniform! They way they shifted as it moved was so seamless!

...Wait. The [Scribe] had clearly said 'from Earth'. Nailihuaile had been keeping abreast with their otherworldly visitors, and she knew that Earth didn't have any magic, much less golems. Were they saying that 'Pixel' had made that beautiful servant?

Where was he anyways? Nailihuaile didn't see anyone entering after the golem.

"Greetings, [Mages] of Wistram's high counsel." The golem smoothly bowed. "My name is Pixel, and I am from Earth." Oh! HE was Pixel? "But, not the same Earth as the other visitors." The scales on his head flowed away to reveal a young human. So it was armor. Masterfully enchanted armor! "I have come here to pool my resources, so that we can work together to protect the otherworldly innocents, and find a way to return them home!"

"Such cooperation can exist without us granting you a leadership position in Wistram." Feor's voice rang out. No doubt a scripted exchange. "Why do you seek the title of Archmage, and why should we grant it?"

"While it is true that I am an [Artificer] rather than a [Mage], can anyone look at my work and claim it's non-magical?" His armor, which had been mainly orange, red, and yellow, folded in on itself somehow and then expanded. Pixel was then encased in a brilliant white suit that must have been at least ten feet tall. Magnificent translucent wings spread from his back and lit up with a blue light. "You all have heard about Earth, and its technology. Devices that can accomplish things that even your magic cannot. Believe me when I tell you that the items I make are as far beyond that level of achievement as an [Archmage] is to a [Peasant]!"

"That explains why you consider yourself equal to an Archmage, but not why you should be part of Wistram."

Pixel nodded his head, and his armor's scales reverted to their previous form. "It is true. Power does not equate to authority. However!" His voice rose. "I need to have both if I am to help! On my world, I was a being of great renown. I saved my Earth from forces that could destroy it multiple times! As such, I am well aware of what is needed from a leader, and in turn what authority is necessary. If we are to cooperate, then my voice needs to carry weight!"

"Cooperate?"

"Yes! Cooperate!" Pixel spread his arms wide. "I am not a lost child. I need not be sheltered. I bring far more to the table than trinkets or stories of another world!" He held up a hand and a vial appeared in it that contained a bright red liquid. Nailihuaile glanced at her own potion. They looked identical.

"What is that?"

"It is a healing potion." Pixel smirked. "But one far more potent than you have ever seen before." Nailihuaile supposed that was true for most of the other [Mages] in the room. "This vial can bring people back from the edge of death! It can regrow entire limbs! It can undo the ravages of time and age!"

Feor's scripted response was drowned out as the members of the counsel began loudly speaking all at once.

"Quiet! Quiet!"

"How can we know it works?" Some [Mage] to the side shouted.

Pixel blinked in surprise before smiling. "Its effects are quite dramatic. If I could have a volunteer, I will remove a limb, or a digit, and you can all see it work with your own eyes!"

That led to an even louder and longer discussion before the counsel calmed down.

"You want to chop off one of our arms to prove you can regrow it? Seriously?" An incredulous [Mage] on the other side of the room shouted.

"Yes." Pixel nodded. "Exceptional claims require exceptional evidence. It will be painful, but you will come out of it healthier than ever."

"If it's so good for you, then why don't you drink it?!?" Another voice rang out, and caused everyone else to fall silent. Nailihuaile thought that was a very good question, and the rest of the counsel must've too.

Pixel rubbed his chin with the scaled hand that did not hold the potion. "A fair point. I am willing to endure such pain for a demonstration. Indeed, it's far more fitting that I shoulder such a burden." He held his arm out to his side, and his armor flowed away - revealing a muscular, pink arm. "If any of you can succeed in chopping off my arm, then I will drink my potion to prove its effectiveness."

Nailihuaile eyes gleamed as she watched the commotion. She had no doubt that Pixel's potion would work, or that he'd be granted the rank of Archmage. He had far too much confidence in his creation for it to fail, and Feor had, apparently, seen it in work as well. Someone that could produce such a thing was certainly worthy of being an [Archmage], much less an Archmage.

Besides, the title itself held little power. Wistram wasn't ruled by its highest level [Mages], no matter what some factions endorsed. Being an Archmage would not actually grant Pixel power... just respect. But, one could lead to the other. It would remain to be seen if he could build up a faction of his own. If he tried, he'd likely succeed. Access to such... potent potions was a strong incentive.

No. Nailihuaile smiled. That part of the meeting was as good as set in stone. She rose up to get a better view. What she was curious about was if someone COULD cut off so much as a singular one of Pixel's fingers.

She recognized the confidence of a high-level [Enchanter]. She'd issued such challenges to others in the past as well. Strengthening the body was a specialty of hers. Her mind was already making plans. Pixel wouldn't offer the BEST items he could produce right away. His techniques might be completely foreign, but she was certain that she could learn from them.

Besides, he really was quite fetching in his scaled armor.

Notes:

Bios:

Nailihuaile - The Archmage of Baleros. A Star Lamia. Not an [Archmage]. Called 'Naili' to her friends. She's a high-level [Enchanter], and is skilled with enchanting herself. Has an erratic, scattered, and cheerful personality, but also holds grudges. Wields the Serkonian Lance, which is a relic-class Artifact and treasure of the Lizardfolk.

Chapter 38: Wistram and the Archmage of Cubes 2

I followed Cognita down a hallway that I'd never explored before. I decided to abstain from planting spy cameras until she, or any other golems, weren't present. Ignoring tiny cubes in the walls, floors, and ceiling was one thing. Noticing a difference between one moment and the next was another. It would be a pointless risk to do so in the presence of the Truestone Golem.

"Here is your room, Archmage Pixel." Cognita motioned with one of her arms at a blank wall.

"I see." I did not. My notifications, Threat Sense, and Ears of Babel let me pick up on lots of things that a normal person wouldn't be able to. However, I did not have any innate active scanning powers aside from Observe - and that hadn't been particularly useful in this world so far. Was the wall an illusion? The location for a dimensional opening? Something else?

I ran my hand over it - mostly for show. My armor meant that I couldn't directly touch the wall, but the fact that it withstood any kind of pressure meant it was physically there and not just an image.

...Probably. Magic was just as bad at breaking the laws of physics as Shards were.

"And here is your key." Cognita turned and looked down the hallway as a large pair of golems trudged down it while carrying a statue between them. They were much slower than Cognita, and were only seven feet tall. So while they would dwarf most other creatures, they were still notably smaller than she was.

The statue made a loud thunk as the golems set it down. They then turned, and walked away.

"The statue is the key?" I looked at it, and then up at Cognita.

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.
**Cognita is amused.

"Yes." A faint smile played at the edges of her mouth. "We have very few rooms fit for an Archmage in the lower floors. I thought you would prefer the one that is the most secure."

"Uh-huh." I wasn't sure if this was petty revenge, some sort of joke, or Cognita just being practical. I could easily teleport in and out of my room with no need to actually use the statue. "Then shall we?" I hefted the stone woman, which looked very similar to Cognita, herself, and poked the wall with it. A tunnel appeared.

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.
**Cognita is satisfied.
**Cognita is smug.

"I was right." Cognita moved behind me as I entered the new corridor. "You are stronger than you appear."

"Hm." I grunted as I awkwardly walked down the path that had opened. The statue was heavy, but more than that, it was bulky. If there was space to lift it above my head it wouldn't be so bad. As it was, I'd only been able to tuck it under one arm. Its outstretched arms and leg kept bumping against the walls. "It could be my armor that grants me super strength."

"Oh, I think not." Cognita had to duck too, so there was that. "I've watched you enough to know that the armor you currently wear is your most basic one. While a [Mage] might enchant an item to give them the strength of an ogre, it takes practice to become accustomed to such an increase. Even walking is a chore at first. No." She shook her head. "You are at ease with that armor, and with the others you wear. I would be able to notice a difference in your movement if you were suddenly subjectively lighter."

"Possibly." The arm brushed against the wall, which caused the entire statue to twist around. "It's also possible that all my different armors grant me strength."

"No. It's not." I could hear her smirking. "While I do not doubt you could make such suits of armor, or adjust them so that they compensated for their different weights, I have seen you naked."

"What?" I spun around, but only succeeded in wedging the statue against the walls. "You have not." I most assuredly would have noticed with Threat Sense if someone was watching me when I changed clothing. Besides, Inventory let me do so in a heartbeat.

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.
**Cognita is mirthful.
**Cognita is smug.

"Have you forgotten our walks?" Cognita's voice did a decent job of disguising her mirth. "You went without your armor then, yet your movements remained the same."

"Hmp." I gently unstuck the statue, as I did not want to break it. "That was a misleading statement."

"Was it?" She replied innocently.

I rolled my eyes and exited the tunnel into a gigantic mansion of a room. "This place is enormous!"

"Yes." Cognita straightened up. "It is the largest of the rooms on this level."

Velvet chairs. A mahogany desk. A twelve foot tall mirror. "I am no connoisseur of such things, but this room's furniture strikes me as being of far higher quality than... well... anything."

"Yes." Cognita nodded. "[Archmage] Nekhret enjoyed the finer things in life. She was an artisan of unsurpassed skill, though I doubt she possessed any [Classes] in that regard. It is recorded that she made all of her furniture herself, and with only the finest materials."

How long ago was that?

"And nobody took them out of her room?" I could see not using it, as the 'key' was impractical at best, but ignoring it completely?

"Few [Mages] knew of her quarters." Cognita slowly turned her head to take in the massive room. "Among those that did, I doubt they'd risk a [Necromancer's] wrath. Even beyond the grave, their servants remain." She gave a slight shrug. "I also imagine that it would be exceptionally difficult to move even the smaller items while carrying the key."

"Yes." I nodded. "I wonder how she did so."

"Magic. It would be simplicity itself for her to conjure servants to carry both furniture and the statue at the same time. I was told that she built the larger items inside."

"Ah." That made sense. "Like a ship in a bottle." I started to place the statue down, but hesitated. "Do I need to escort you back out?"

"No." Cognita shook her head. "I need no key."

"You don't?"

"I have plenty of experience opening the door when Zelkyr lived here."

So much for privacy, but I never really expected any. "Thank you for allowing me to stay in such a historic room." It was obvious that Cognita held ANYTHING related to Zelkyr in high regard. While I didn't have a reputation meter, I felt I was making good progress with her simply by being courteous and polite.

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.
**Cognita is pleased.
**Cognita is happy.

"You are welcome, Pixel." A ghost of a smile was in her words. "However, there is another issue that needs to be discussed."

Oh?

"And what would that be, Cognita?"

"Students of Wistram shall have one room, one wand, and one spellbook." Her imperious gaze locked onto me. "Wistram is spacious, but allowing a single individual to occupy multiple rooms cannot be allowed, lest... unpleasantness arise."

"Is that so?" I stroked my chin. "But I only have the one."

"Not so." She shook her head. "You stated that I, myself, welcomed you to Wistram. Therefore, you already have a room." Cognita paused before continuing. "I would not think it would be unduly improper for you to 'share' your room with one of the other children from Earth. Or even all of them, if such was your request. The room is large enough for plenty of privacy even with dozens of occupants."

Ah. I got it. She wanted to know which of the new arrivals I was. While I trusted Cognita enough, it was better practice to not divulge secrets. Besides, I could always tell her later.

"I'm sure that's not necessary."

"I must insist."

I took a deep breath and thought. It wouldn't be suspicious to relocate the Earthers. I would have to bring Blackmage as well if I did such a thing. Maintaining my charade constantly in close contact with him would be... difficult. Besides, exiting and entering the room would be tedious. 'Pixel' could open and close the door at set times to let the other Earthers in and out, so it wasn't impossible. Simply teleporting myself would be far simpler.

"I agree with you that the rules of Wistram must be upheld." I bowed my head. "I also have told you, in confidence, that I have been masquerading as someone else. Thus, you are correct that I currently occupy more than one room." I paused and then smiled. "However, I am not a student. Not in any guise. The visitors from Earth are guests of Wistram, not students.

Cognita crossed her arms. "You speak of technicalities."

"True." I agreed. "But that does not make my statement false. Besides, I have no wand or spellbook. By your own rules, I cannot be considered a student."

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.
**Cognita is annoyed.

"You bandy your words as well as a [Diplomat], Pixel."

I smiled and bowed to her. "A superhero must wear many hats, I'm afraid. While I do not care for public relation activities, that does not mean that I am unfamiliar with them either."

"'Public relation.' What an odd pairing of words." Cognita's emerald eyes drilled into me for a moment before she turned back towards the now vanished tunnel. "Very well. The rooms are yours, for now." She took a step forward, and placed her hand on the wall - which faded away. The passage was tall enough this time for her to walk upright. "Will I see you tonight for the patrol?"

"That, too, is an activity that every superhero is well versed in. I will find you."

"See that you do."

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.
**Cognita is expectant.
**Cognita is happy.

It took a short while for her to traverse the magical passageway. Only after it had faded did Threat Sense tell me that I was no longer being watched. All in all, that went rather well I thought. I didn't have a reputation gauge to keep track of such things, but Cognita was clearly warming to my presence.

The fact that I was succeeding in becoming her friend without relying on Optimize putting its figurative finger on the scales made me proud. It was probably because I DID care for her - even if it was just because she reminded me of Dragon.

I Inventoried my armor and sat on one of the chairs that was placed around a table. Oh. Wow. That's comfortable. Like, REALLY comfortable. Accord level comfortable. It had to be magical, which was unsurprising considering the various [Archmages] who'd stayed in this room in the past.

It was time to review the rest of the plan. I think the meeting with the counsel had gone better than expected. I smiled to myself. Or better than Feor had anticipated. My plan had gone off without a hitch. Using Tongue of Babel to have a random mage shout for me to get my own arm cut off had worked perfectly.

I un-Inventoried my chopped off hand and looked it over. It wasn't much material - I couldn't even make a full shirt out of it, but it was something. I was sure I'd find a use for it. If nothing else, it could be turned into food or a potion.

Proof that my potions of regeneration worked was one of the main benefits. Wistram's [Mages] had no idea that I could regenerate without them, and that they would work slower on other people. After all, I was effectively advertising them at double strength, as they stacked with my Rapid Regeneration Perk. Still, from my research I'd learned that healing potions were a staple of this world's modern society, but they weren't perfect. Rapid healing verses Rapid Regeneration.

Plus, there were any number of situations - like infections, missing limbs, or old age - where a healing potion was useless. Potions that did similar things to mine had existed in the far past when people were higher level and magic was stronger. I could effectively create artifacts on demand, and the [Mages] of Wistram knew that. I had successfully cemented myself as an invaluable ally.

Additionally, by forcing them to cut off my arm I'd established my personal strength. I was hoping that such a thing would deter any... unpleasantness. Of course, it had cost me valuable information. If someone did decide to attack me, they probably wouldn't use any half measures after bearing witness to my durability.

I sighed.

It was a price that had to be paid - not for intimidation, but for my own knowledge. I needed first hand experience with how much Gamer's Body could resist magic. Sharing such knowledge was an unfortunate necessity in obtaining it in the first place. Still, it was better that Wistram had it than say a country like Roshal or Ailendamus.

The good news was that Gamer's Body wasn't completely bypassed. As a rough estimate, I'd say it was about half to seventy five percent effective. The level of spell and the amount of mana used was doubtlessly the cause of the variance. So while I wasn't immune to magical fire, it couldn't burn me as much as it would a normal person. Plus, I had a LOT more HP than a regular human, and they had to go through all of it before I was actually wounded.

The downside was that half of infinity was still infinity. Disintegration or death effects would still need to be avoided. I supposed I couldn't complain too much, I was still in a far better position than anyone else - even if I wasn't invincible.

So... yeah. I'd made an impression, got a seat at the table, demonstrated my personal strength, and learned a lot more about how magic could hurt me. All it cost me was some details that would've emerged in my first serious fight anyways. Not bad for a day's work.

I leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. So what's next?

I needed to stay in Wistram long enough to establish a basic level of safety for the Earthers. Well, for Blackmage right now, but I suspected Cara would be fine with sending some other survivors she'd found since I was here. That shouldn't be too hard. All I needed to do was to make myself indispensable. 'Cross the Earthers, deal with Pixel.'

In time, I wouldn't even be needed. Once there were more of them, and they established themselves as useful members instead of unskilled guests...

Yeah. It should be fine to leave after a while. If worse came to worse, I can come up with a teleportation method to my undersea base. The tricky part would be only allowing Earthers access. Keying in individual people wouldn't be hard, but making it robust enough to recognize people from Earth without me?

I COULD use the list of names I'd gotten from Dragon alongside Observe, but that wouldn't help those that had been taken from Earth Iota after me.

I shook my head. I'd think about it more later.

The second most important goal was to do something for Cognita. I wondered if I would be as invested if I didn't have my notifications blaring to me non-stop while I was in her presence. It made it hard to ignore her plight. I'd like to think I'd be just as motivated without the constant reminder of how manipulated she was, but I wasn't sure.

Regardless, turning a blind eye now would be unacceptable. Plus, I had a vague outline of a plan. The problem was that I couldn't in good conscience attempt it without experimenting first. That was a difficult proposition given how... protective Cognita was with the Wistram golems.

Additionally, I couldn't confide or ask the assistance of any other people. The [Mages] would be more than happy to use me to destroy Cognita. That level of animosity could have unexpected consequences.

Eh, it wasn't like I was planning on REALLY involving them on most matters anyways. Their help was mainly relevant to my third goal: understanding magic.

I ranked it third in my mind, and I had the suspicion that it was the least likely to see any meaningful progress. I'd been able to learn [Light], but I hadn't been given a [Class] for it. Understanding mana was important, but without leveraging my Perks I had no special advantages. People smarter than me had studied magic for far longer than I'd been alive.

Still, it would be wasteful to not try and learn from them while I was here.

That left the final goal, or at least the final goal that could only be accomplished at Wistram: Amerys.

The current situation was unacceptable, it was as simple as that. The 'Archmage of Lightning' might be handling it far better than anyone else could possibly be expected to... but it was still torture. At the same time, I could understand Wistram's point of view as well. I'd read up on the King of Destruction's rise, and it was interesting.

A young Flos Reimarch had gained leadership of Reim when his mother had died. The death of a monarch was a bigger deal in this world than on Earth. In addition to the confusion and ambition that plagued countries without clear leadership, there was a very pronounced effect of losing a high level [King] or [Queen].

[Rulers] had skills that benefited their entire kingdom. Losing these skills meant that a period of vulnerability was unavoidable. So, it wasn't a surprise when the neighboring country of Hellios invaded Reim.

In fact, the entire area of Chandrar was composed of relatively small kingdoms. That continent's countries were either small or massive, and I didn't know why the lesser kingdoms hadn't been annexed a long time ago. I supposed that they had, far in the past, but there were limits to what I could find out by reading books.

Flos won his first war by counter attacking Hellios' capital and dueling their [King].

The conflicts that occurred after that continued to paint him in a good light: defeating a [Warlord] that had overthrown another kingdom, conquering a neighbor that was raiding him, destroying the Order of the Black Judgment after they became [Bandits]. Battle seemed to breed battle and Flos kept winning. He also proved popular as he treated his subjects well, and allowed other countries to surrender and swear fealty instead of destroying them - despite his nickname.

However, there comes a time when 'I'll invade this country to help it's people' starts to ring hollow.

The book I'd read was by a [Historian] who'd tried to identify that exact moment. When Flos stopped fighting justifiable wars, and instead conquered for the sake of conquering. They hadn't reached a solid conclusion.

Flos did become king of all of Chandrar, which was a monumental feat considering its sheer size. However, he did not stop there. He set his sights on other continents, and even tried invading two of them simultaneously. That was what lead to his downfall.

His armies were driven off, and he lost some of his highest level allies - one of which was Queravia. She was Flos' [Strategist]... and his lover. Her loss stopped his ambitions and seemingly his interest in anything.

And thus the King of Destruction's tale ended, with him issuing no commands and his conquered lands gradually splitting off again. He did not die. Other [Rulers] didn't make attempts on his life. Flos was too high level, and no one dared to make any moves that might rouse him once again.

Amerys was quite up front about returning to him once he 'woke up', so preventing her from doing so was understandable.

But...

There had to be a better option than keeping her bound head to toe, killing her, or allowing her to return to Flos' side and letting her kill who knows how many people.

---

Nailihuaile slithered back and forth in her room. She HAD to speak with Pixel!

The other Earthers were a novelty. Sure, they were interesting and were the result of some great magic, but ultimately they were children. She'd let Feor play with them for a reason. If they couldn't offer anything, then it wasn't worth the hassle.

Pixel...

Pixel was different.

He was a true [Artisan], if not in [Class], then in spirit. She HAD to get a closer look at his armor! It was so beautiful, so intriguing. She had been going in circles all night trying to think of how he'd made it.

The answer, obviously, was with 'technology' and not magic. A great work that didn't have to deal with resonance or mana leakage. But how?

More importantly, how could she accomplish the same thing?

She couldn't just enchant a bunch of scales individually... Or could she?

If she had some 99.9999% pure magicore, then it MIGHT be possible. Might. Such resources could not be found in Wistram any longer, except, perhaps, on the upper floors. If she had something like that, then she could craft an enchantment with no leakage.

Or at least a negligible amount.

It would have to be small, but do so much. Movement. Durability. Coloring.

If she was successful, it would be amazing protection. Aside from the base enchantments that all the scales would need to act in such a uniform way, a specialized defensive [Spell] could be added to each scale. A white coat to protect from the cold. Red to shield her from fire. Yellow to block lightning!

Hah! With such a suit of armor, she could take on Amerys without any other help!

She HAD to speak with Pixel!

Surely the same... ideas, concepts, and planning that he'd used to make his armor could be... adapted.

And that wasn't even taking into account his personal enhancements!

How had he strengthened his skin so much? Nailihuaile prided herself on being an [Enchanter] without peer. Furthermore, she was the best in the world at physical enchantment. She could make her scales harder than mithril. She could allow herself to run faster than a bird in flight. She could grant herself the strength of an ogre!

Yet...

She could not have created an enchantment as... durable as Pixel's. While it was true that their combined efforts had eventually succeeded in removing his hand, it had taken a long time. Far too long for an actual fight. Not to mention how effective it would be at stopping [Assassins].

The real question was, 'was it permanent'?

She realized it was a demonstration - not only of his potion of regeneration, but also of his defenses. A gauntlet thrown down to demonstrate his capabilities. His... impressive capabilities.

Yet, it had been a last minute change in the script he and Feor had obviously colluded on. No one would've expected such a thing if someone hadn't shouted for it. No, the most realistic ending was for the counsel to accept his claims and not wasting such a valuable potion.

Who was it that called for such drastic proof anyways?

She shook her head and continued to slither in a circle. It didn't matter, and it didn't help her draw any more conclusions about Pixel's talents. He would obviously enchant himself before such a meeting. Nailihuaile always did before leaving her room.

Well... she might forget on occasion, but for a gathering of the counsel?

It did gall her that her specialty had been surpassed, but it had taken the greatest champion of another world to do so. She supposed she could live with that - especially if she got to level from it.

---

"You wish to do WHAT?" Feor stared at Pixel in his un-armored form.

"I wish to visit Archmage Amerys." The newly appointed Archmage repeated himself.

Feor clenched his wand. "WHY? She has nothing to do with you or the other Earthers."

"I wouldn't go as far as to say that." Pixel leaned back, seemingly perfectly at ease. "Blackmage is collaborating with her. Electricity is very important in a lot of technology." How did he know that? "Putting that aside, she is still an Archmage of Wistram, and as such, she is an important person."

"True. True." Feor eased his grasp. "She is also dangerous." He wasn't sure if it would be a good or a bad thing if she killed Pixel. The man was dangerous, but valuable. Although it wasn't like Amerys was capable of such an action while chained up.

"All the more reason I should see her for myself." Pixel's eyes gleamed. "Any potential danger to my wards must be addressed."

Feor swallowed.

"I suppose I could arrange for you to meet her in say, a week?"

"I was hoping for it to happen much sooner: today. Right now if you have the time."

"I don't know..." Feor tried to stay still instead of fidgeting. He kept replaying the sensation of being stabbed in his mind over and over again.

"If you are not available, then I shall have to speak with Nailihuaile." Pixel leaned forward and put his hands on his chair's armrests. "Or, perhaps, Cognita."

Cognita. Could he maneuver Pixel into challenging her? That would solve one problem no matter the outcome.

...Or it could make things worse if the two of them collaborated. Wistram wasn't special to Pixel. In time he might seek the higher floors, but for now? The chance of him conspiring with the golem to rule all of Wistram together was small, but not small enough. He couldn't allow such an association.

"No." Feor stood up. "I will escort you." He also needed to be on hand to witness their meeting. Secrets were secrets.

"Very well." Pixel gave a short nod before also standing. His armor blossomed around him. "Let us be off then." He patiently waited for Feor to walk out from behind his desk before following him out of the room.

...

It did not take long to pass through the safeguards around Amerys' cell. Well... room. Despite her allegiance to the King of Destruction, the [Mages] of Wistram were not [Barbarians] or [Slave Masters]. They treated her with respect, care, and dignity.

Or at least as much as they could while still making sure she didn't hurt anyone else.

Her yellow eyes glared at them with unabashed hatred.

"You keep her bound and gagged?" Pixel asked, but he didn't seem that surprised.

"It is necessary to restrict her magic." Feor replied.

"So she can cast [Spells] just by speaking them, despite the magical shackles?"

"What?" Feor looked up at him. "No. The chains drain away her mana."

"Then what does the gag do?" Pixel's head swiveled towards him.

"It keeps her from biting the people that try and feed her."

"What?" His retort sounded incredulous. "That makes absolutely no sense. She must use her mouth to eat, so at that time the gag must be removed anyways. The only use for it right now seems to be to prevent her from speaking."

"And?" Feor glared back. "What is wrong with that. A small amount of discomfort is of no real concern."

"'A small amount of discomfort is of no real concern'? Perhaps I should tie you up one day, and see how you like it." Pixel's threat didn't sound like much, but it still chilled Feor. "This is torture. Plain and simple. There might be an argument for the necessity of the chains, but the gag?" He shook his head. "That is purely for the benefit of the [Mages] standing guard."

"No!" Feor frowned. "Her very spit is lethal."

"How dangerous can she be with no mana?" Pixel raised his voice. "If you cannot stand to hear the words of the person you have imprisoned - Then. You. Are. Cowards."

"How dare-" Feor sputtered his response as the [Mages] on guard duty did the same.

"Quiet." Pixel strolled over to Amerys and towered above her.

Feor watched in anticipation. Would he try to remove her gag? Amerys biting his hand would accomplish nothing. He had yet to see how effective Pixel's armor was, but given the durability he'd enchanted his own body with, it could not be a flimsy defense. Even if it was, Amerys couldn't bite through it anyways. Despite her actions, she was no [Berserker]. She had no [Skills] to enhance such a desperate assault.

He smiled. This would show Pixel just what he was dealing with. How feral Amerys truly was! There could be no better demonstration. It would put the Earther and his moral denouncement in his place! Pixel looked down for a second, raised his hand...

And Amerys' gag simply vanished!

Feor felt his mouth fall open.

What was that? What sort of [Spell] was that?

No. No, no, no. That was no [Spell]. It was his 'technology', or perhaps a [Skill]. It wouldn't do to forget the nature of Pixel's abilities.

"Greeting, Archmage Amerys." Pixel's voice seemed to echo through the room. "I am Pixel - the Archmage of Cubes, and I would speak with you."

She coughed before speaking with a dry voice. "Pixel." She smiled and her yellow eyes seemed to flash with restrained power. "Are you here to free me?"

"Yes. You will not spend another minute in your chains."

Feor stared blankly for a second before processing what he'd just heard. "No!" No! No! No! She couldn't be let free! Not now! He drew his wand and started casting. "Attack him!" He felt his heart hammering inside of his chest as an image of his imminent death refused to leave his mind. He had cast [Greater Lightning Ward] on himself, but AMERYS COULD GET AROUND THAT! His focus on the [Spell] he was crafting wavered, and Feor shut his eyes for a moment to center himself. He'd practiced this spell hundreds of times before - he could cast it now! He forced himself to look at his targets and take a deep breath. It would take a while to gather and shape the necessary mana into each missile, but the other [Mages] followed his lead with a quicker onslaught.

"[Wave of Seething Acid]!"

"[Aerial Burst]!"

The green liquid was propelled by a concentrated orb of air, but a shimmering field interposed itself between them and their targets. The barely visible ripple of the later attack spell faded to nothingness, and the acid fell to the floor and sizzled.

It hadn't even gained purchase on the [Wall of Force], or the equivalent that Pixel had summoned.

A glowing cube appeared in the armored man's hand, and he held it above Amerys' head as her smile grew wider and wider. He seemed to be placing it precisely as he moved his hand up and down several times before freezing. The cube then exploded. A visible ripple burst from it that slowed and stopped several feet away - and right as it would've impacted the floor.

There seemed to be no other effect.

"[Acid Orb Volley]!"

"[Arrows of Lightning]!"

The guards unleashed another volley of [Spells], that proved to be as equally ineffective as their previous attempt.

"[Valmira’s Comet Storm]!!" Feor wasn't finished with his [Spell], but he'd managed to form a dozen projectiles so far. It would have to be enough. They couldn't let Pixel free Amerys! Without the other Archmages as backup, she would kill them all!!

His blazing comets impacted Pixel's barrier, and it visibly shuddered as lines of glowing cracks appeared... but it held.

Pixel, in turn, walked away from Amerys and held up his hand. "Cease your attacks. The deed is done."

Feor's eyes went wide and he looked at where the imprisoned Archmage... still sat. He blinked. Amerys was still in her chair, but she wasn't moving. She wasn't even breathing. What's more, her brilliant yellow eyes and green hair were both now gray. "What?" He swallowed and motioned to the guards to lower their wands. "What did you do?"

"I have frozen her in time."

"So... It was just a lie then?" Feor sighed. "But why? To put her at ease?"

"No." Pixel shook his head and the shimmering field faded. "It was the truth. When I free her from my temporal stasis, I shall also free her from your chains." He held up a hand to stifle any protests. "In the meantime, she will feel no discomfort. It is a far more humane way to treat her."

"You could have told us before hand!" Feor ground out through clenched teeth. "I've lost years of my life from the stress you just put me through."

"Yes." Pixel tilted his head. "I could have, but a small amount of discomfort is of no real concern. Wouldn't you agree?"

Chapter 39: Wistram and the Archmage of Cubes 3

Cognita stomped down on the slime. Her foot passed through it without any resistance until she got to its core. You could hurt slimes by damaging their body, but that wouldn't really kill them. While it was true that they needed a certain amount of their material to continue existing, it would be a slow death - more like starvation instead of anything else.

Targeting their core was the far better choice. It was easy for her to do it, which was why she normally handled such things personally. Lesser golems could be ordered to aim at it, but seeing it, much less striking it directly, was often beyond them.

Exterminating them like this also avoided any undue suffering - not that Cognita held any great sympathy for slimes in her heart, but she did not like to be cruel.

The wind died down.

Air slimes were much more agile and stealthy than their brethren, which would explain how this one had survived long enough to grow as big as it had been. That, and it only needed mana and air to sustain itself and grow. Both of those were easily obtained in Wistram.

It was a good thing that air slimes were so rare and generally unstable. If they weren't, they might actually be more than a minor annoyance.

"Ah hem." Someone coughed behind her.

Cognita spun around... and then relaxed. It was Pixel. She'd been worried for a brief moment that someone had snuck up on her, but she already knew that the newest Archmage could teleport without making any light, sound, or mana ripples. It was truly a potent mode of transportation - that he usually took care to not let her observe directly.

"Pixel." She nodded in a greeting, and then froze for a split second. Was it possible that he'd arrived earlier? She didn't have a grasp on his abilities to move about unseen, and she'd been distracted with the slime. It was possible that his footsteps had been drowned out by the fighting - air slimes generated a lot of noise when they weren't staying still.

"Cognita." He bowed his head. "How is Wistram this fine night?"

She paused to think, and to appreciate that he'd asked about her school instead of her. "There are a few minor issues, but nothing of concern. Do you wish to accompany me, Archmage?"

"I would be glad to." Pixel smiled at her and the two resumed her patrol.

Cognita broke the silence first. "I have noticed that you have been reclusive in these days since your dramatic revealing of yourself. I would've thought that you would be working with your fellow Archmages and discussing the Earthers."

"I have spoken with Archmage Feor on occasion, and once Archmage Viltach returns my presence will be announced to the school at large." Pixel shrugged. "It is my understanding that all living Archmages are to be invited by tradition, but he is the only one that will actually return."

"Are you sure it's not so that your Secret Broker friend can turn a profit?"

Pixel glanced up at her, but continued to walk. "I should not be surprised to find out that you know about her, yet I am."

"Oh?"

"While I do not doubt your capacity for witnessing all that occurs in Wistram, I would have thought that paying attention to the rumors of [Mages] was beneath your notice."

Cognita pondered that for several minutes as they climbed higher. "Normally I would not, but even I am curious about the rumored new Archmage."

"Am I really a rumor?" Pixel smiled. "Truth Stones should allow facts from speculation to be easily distinguished."

"That is true." Cognita nodded. "Yet I find that [Mages] will share and elaborate on details just like anyone else."

"Hn." Pixel grunted. "I guess that makes sense. No one would be able to buy a more detailed secret if they didn't know such a thing existed in the first place."

"So, how long did you watch my fight with the slime?" Cognita looked at him out of the corner of her eye to see how he responded.

"I saw the whole thing." Pixel didn't react in any noticeable way. "It wasn't a lengthy affair."

"Indeed." Cognita still had the nagging suspicion that Pixel had been watching her without her seeing him in turn for longer than the short fight.

---

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.
**Cognita is suspicious.

I'd done everything correctly. I'd used Threat Sense to make certain that I wouldn't teleport into Cognita's line of sight. I'd moved my feet in rapid small steps, that slowed down as I touched the ground to negate any impact noise. I'd made certain that my shadow never extended into her vision. I'd moved at the exact same time she did to negate any possibility of her seeing me out of the corner of her eye.

And yet... I'd failed.

While it was true that Cognita hadn't noticed me before I'd announced myself, she clearly sensed that something was up somehow. I still didn't have a concrete plan on how to unshackle her, but stealth wouldn't be an option.

So, even if I came up with a way to remove Zelkyr's commands, and a way to have Cognita accept that... I still wouldn't be able to implement it. At least, not without fighting her, and that was a profoundly stupid action to base a plan around.

"Where are we heading next?" Wistram was still a maze, but I thought I recognized the hallway we were using.

"To check on Amerys." Cognita replied bluntly. "I was waiting until you arrived before doing so, as I was certain you would also wish to examine the barrier."

"I'm confident in my tech." I smirked. "The only concern I have is that some curious [Mage] got too close."

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.
**Cognita is curious.

"Tech? As in technique?" She glanced at me.

"Tech as in technology. My powers work on entirely different principles than mana and magic." I explained.

"Ah." She nodded. "That illuminates a great many things."

We walked in silence as I thought about her statement. Cognita was able to see through other golems. That had to be the case. I had first hand experience in her commanding them, so I knew they were linked. I'd also suspected that the connection went two ways, but it was good to have confirmation.

While I was confident that I could escape the entirety of Wistram's golems attacking me, if not destroy them, protecting everyone else at the same time wouldn't be possible. Although, in truth, I really would only need to protect Aaron. The [Mages] would have to fend for themselves if Cognita ever went berserk.

Still, it was a stark reminder at the stakes if I screwed up my attempt to 'help' her. Or possibly even if I succeeded. I didn't think Cognita was the sort of person to go on a rampage, even if her enforced love turned to natural hate, but I couldn't be sure.

She wasn't Dragon after all. Cognita had her own set of morals that were different from my friend's.

The sentry golems still stood outside the door. I did not have a key to it, yet, but it opened easily to Cognita. She also strolled through the magical maze without pause or backtracking. Amerys' room still held two [Mages] on guard duty.

*Perception Block negated by Gamer's Mind.

Along with a hidden [Mage], or at least a [Mage] that was attempting to hide from me. In fact... Threat Sense let me know that five people were currently looking at me. I began mentally preparing to move to different places around Cognita or behind other large pieces of furniture.

It dropped to four.

That meant that the final hidden observer was... there! The second invisible [Mage] was using a [Spell] to change his color like a chameleon. Easy to overlook, but once I'd pinpointed his location, I could make him out.

It was a sensible precaution. Even if I knew my temporal bombs wouldn't easily fail, I couldn't expect the other Archmages to accept it at face value. Besides, who knew how they interacted with magic?

I approached the edge of the sphere where someone had successfully attached a piece of paper with the warning: 'Do not get closer.'. I didn't know much about calligraphy, but the penmanship looked beautiful. "Someone has very good handwriting."

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.
**Cognita is proud.

"Thank you." Cognita bowed her head.

Ah. She was the one to put up the warning sign. That made sense. She could negate or limit the time bomb's effect on herself. No one else could've placed the note safely. Well, they probably could've used magic to do so, but would the [Mages] risk even that?

In fact, thinking about it more, her hanging the note was a demonstration of her abilities to them. 'I can do this thing that you are too scared to even attempt.' Yes. I think that would fit with her personality.

I'd stood still long enough that Expansion let me reach Amerys, and so I could get to the real reason I'd come. I poured mana into Power Drain and probed the frozen Archmage. Annnnnd.... there!

I latched onto one of her shackles and started pulling its mana into myself.

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.
**Cognita is surprised.

Huh?

*You have been inflicted with 'Oversaturated'.

"Everything seems to be in order." I looked up at Cognita and nodded. We both then turned and made our way through the maze. Once Threat Sense let me know we were alone, I glanced up at the golem. "The hidden [Mages] did not follow us."

"I know."

"Did you want to say anything?"

"No." She paused before continuing. "Why would I?"

"No reason." I shrugged. "It was just that you seemed a little surprised back there."

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.
**Cognita is surprised.

"Oh?"

I chuckled. "You noticed me draining the mana, didn't you?"

Cognita stopped and looked at me. "Yes."

"So, aren't you going to ask me why?"

"I assumed it was so that when you took down your barrier that Archmage Amerys would, indeed, be free." She smiled at me. "As you promised."

"Ah." I shook my head and raised my arms in a half-shrug. "So you heard about that, did you?"

"Yes." She turned and resumed walking. "It gladdens me to know that you intend to keep your word, even if only by temporal perception."

"Hm." I grunted as we resumed our patrol. Freeing Amerys was only part of the reason I was draining her shackles. It also allowed me to kill two birds with one stone. It was slow work, so I'd still have to return to finish draining her other shackles - and to grind my mana pool.

...

"Kent Scott."

I spoke the name again and began to scry.

Or, at least, I thought hard about scrying and my intention to do so while I tried to parse the information Threat Sense and Ears of Babel were providing me. It was a purely mental exercise since actually scrying on the 'fake' Earther might alert someone even if they didn't counter-scry or retaliate in some other way.

It was a contradiction I was accustomed to. Not only did I have to intend to do two separate and incompatible things to utilize Threat Sense in this fashion, I also was currently doing so while controlling my Homunculi.

In the past, I'd had Jagat to help with maintaining multiple distinct lines of thought. Multiplayer might not be working, but [Alter Ego: Various] had taken up the slack. It wasn't quite the same. My [Skill] worked a little differently. Instead of two of 'me' that were perfectly in-sync, it was more like it allowed me to 'stay in character'.

So, in essence, instead of me and me, it was me and Vincent. Or me and Jiahao. Or me and Michail. With effort, I could hold two Alter Egos in my mind. Since each personality was capable of taking action in their own way, it was more of a side-grade than using just one. Or none.

Or, if I considered their simulated points of view better than my own, a pure upgrade. In fact, I suspected it was a decent Thinker power - of the extrapolate information kind. I'm pretty sure that the details that come to my Alter Egos minds had some basis from the originals.

That was kinda cool, but also kinda scary.

I wasn't TOO concerned about another 'me' existing if Jagat and I got un-synced, but letting an Alter Ego I'd made run loose?

...Yeah. That could be bad.

In any event, this potential scrying target was a bu-

Threat Sense pinged!

It and Ears of Babel sensed something looking at my scrying nodes. This had to be what it felt like to be counter-scried!

Then, it passed. Since I hadn't actually scried, it didn't actually happen.

I took a deep breath and considered what I'd just learned.

First, I could tell where Kent Scott was - or at least where the scrying trap/detector had been. I pulled out a map. Let's see that coordinate matches up with a country called... Roshal.

Y'know, I shouldn't be surprised. I mean, an Earther was captured and impersonated, and there's a country of [Slavers]. It doesn't take a genius to come to a conclusion about what happened. In fact... those pirates that attacked my ship when I first came to Wistram... They'd said something about it? Or was it just [Slaves]?

I can't remember exactly.

Regardless, I should probably pay it a visit.

Hmmm...

That's also the general direction I feel Sibby in.

I smiled. That was a good sign. I could kill two birds with one stone, and reunite with Sibby on the way there. Plus it lessened the possibility that Riley was in Roshal. That had been a worry in the back of my mind ever since hearing of the country.

My little sister could take care of herself, but I still fretted over her.

If Sibby was close, that either meant she and Riley were together, or my sister was nowhere close to Roshal.

I leaned back and closed my eyes. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of me.

---

Viltach, the 'Archmage of Terandria', stepped off the boat. His long, combed hair rustled in the sea breeze. Rievan was waiting for him at the dock.

"Archmage." The senior [Mage] bowed his head. "I am glad you made it safely. I feared for you when you did not arrive on time."

"Yes." Viltach nodded at him. "We were beset by a calm area. The [Captain]'s skills were enough to see us through, but the lack of wind still delayed the trip." He strolled past his fellow Libertarian, who fell in step beside him. "Has the feast started yet? And what was the 'vital' news that I needed to come in person to hear? Ailendamus is readying itself for war, and I cannot stay away long. Has another otherworlder been found? Or is this whole thing really about acknowledging another new Archmage?"

"Yes and yes, but that is not all."

"Oh?" Viltach glanced at him, but did not slow his pace.

"Four more Earthers are at Wistram, and one of them has been acknowledged as an Archmage!"

Viltach stopped and stared at him. "What?"

Rievan bowed his head. "His name is 'Pixel', and he is to be called the 'Archmage of Cubes'."

"What?!?" Viltach felt the incredulousness in his voice. "What has happened in the scant month I've been away?"

"He apparently came from Earth to rescue the lost children." Rievan licked his lips. "I've bought the available secrets about him and... he is... potent. It is said he single-handedly destroyed one army and drove another off!"

"Rievan." Viltach regarded his fellow Libertarian. "I think it's best if you tell me everything. It is better to be late for the feast instead of going in unprepared."

...

"So... Let me get this straight." Viltach let out a deep breath. "THREE additional Earthers arrived at Wistram shortly after I left, and you did not inform me?"

Rievan paled. "But I did, Archmage. I used the code we agreed upon. I told you that we were running low on crushed rubies."

"But then you said that Wistram was out of apples!"

Rievan blinked. "We ARE out of apples."

Viltach resisted the urge to roll his eyes. This was why it was hard to keep secrets. You could avoid saying things over a scrying orb to avoid eavesdroppers, but it meant that he couldn't be kept abreast of things if his subordinates forgot the 'I wasn't using a code' code.

"Saying you are out of apples was supposed to mean that the previous statement was supposed to be taken literally!" Viltach frowned. "And you only sent that message less than two weeks ago."

"Well..." Rievan grimaced. "I didn't know that the three new guests were from Earth. We thought they were dignitaries from foreign nations. Without your presence, I don't know what goes on in the counsel. And what was I supposed to say to let you know that we were out of apples? Should I have said it twice so that you knew the first time I really meant it?"

"I don't care about apples!!" Viltach breathed in and out to calm himself. "It is fine. Even if I was here, nothing probably would've been done in this time." A month really wasn't that great of a length of time. "You say that Pixel destroyed an army of the dead and drove off another?"

"Yes." Rievan nodded again. "It was an expensive secret, but from a reliable source chain."

"I see." Viltach drummed his fingers on his chest. "That does fit with certain rumors I'd heard in the Court of Masks. How interesting." He was backing Ailendamus because they would be the victors in the squabble with their smaller neighbors. However, if there was another Archmage that both wasn't opposed to involving themselves in the affairs of other countries - and who had the sheer power to do so... "I must speak with this Pixel. What else do you know of him?"

"Nothing that I haven't already told you." Rievan spoke as the pair resumed their journey towards the castle. "Feor introduced him to the counsel this past week, and the decision to acknowledge him was made that same day. I do not know what magics he displayed to them!"

"It was something impressive, I am sure." After all, someone who could wipe out an army of the dead in a matter of minutes had to have a multitude of other [Spells] with which he could demonstrate his skills.

---

I stood in an room off to the side of the main hall. I was to enter with all the current Archmages in a small ceremony before introducing myself to the general population of Wistram.

As far as public events went, it didn't sound so bad. It was the feast afterwards that concerned me. Meals were hard enough when it was just my Homunculi. While Michail rarely spoke, there had been times that Vincent and Jiahao had been pulled into two different conversations at the same time.

Keeping track of them was... difficult.

I was sure that I would be the center of at least a few conversations as Pixel, so my plan was to have my Alter Egos excuse themselves early on. If it wouldn't have been suspicious, I would've preferred to have them not show up in the first place.

"Archmage Viltach's ship just docked." Feor opened his eyes. "He should arrive shortly."

The Grand Hall was on the ground floor - close to the entrance. So Viltach shouldn't have to walk far to get here.

Nailihuaile, or 'Naili' as she liked to be called, crossed her arms - a feat that was somewhat impressive since she still held onto her staff. "Great, of all the Archmages away from Wistram, HE would have to be the one that came back."

**Nailihuaile is annoyed.
**Nailihuaile is angry.

"You don't care for him, Nailihuaile?" I asked her.

The Star Lamia smiled as she looked me up and down. Lizardfolk evolved if they got to be high enough level. Naili was a magical variant who had the lower body of a snake instead of legs. While a major change, it wasn't the most distinctive difference between her and the other Lizardfolk in Wistram - that would be her scales.

Instead of the more common shades of green, hers were mainly white and a light pink. She also had glowing scales on her arms and back that gradually cycled through a rainbow of colors. It was quite eye-catching by design. Her notifications always reported contentment, pride, and happiness whenever anyone stared at her.

It was, as I'd read, a common trait among her people. Lizardfolk liked attention, but not to the same extent as she did. I didn't know if Naili's preening was due to her being a Star Lamia, or if she was just like that, but it also went the other way - She thought my armor was fascinating.

"You know about my faction, yes?" She looked at my helmet. "We Revivalists wish to open Wistram up to everyone! Just as we opened our doors to your people!" She smiled again. "The Libertarians are almost as bad as the Isolationists when it comes to hording knowledge." She let out a light laugh. "It is hard to believe that they are composed of Humans instead of Drakes at times."

"Yes, it's like a sliding scale as I see it." I replied to her, as Feor seemed disinclined to speak. He still felt nervous and afraid around me, but it was gradually getting better. "Isolationists don't want any new students, Centrists want all the [Mages] in the world, and Libertarians want everyone?"

"It's more nuanced than that." Naili put her hand on my upper arm. "It's not like we want to let non-magic users as students, instead we think that we should lower the testing requirements to usher in a new age." She motioned to Feor with her head. "The Centrists want more students, true, but their aim is to make Wistram a country of its own."

"Ah, so the Centrists and the Libertarians both wish to extend Wistram's reach across the world, but in different ways."

"Yes!" Her smile widened. "You understand! That is the main point on which we cannot agree. Wistram is a school, not a nation or political group!"

Our conversation ended as a man with a pointy beard, and long, combed hair strolled in. He was the same one I'd seen when scrying last week. "Feor. Nailihuaile." He nodded to each of them in turn before looking at me. "And you must be Pixel, the Archmage of Cubes." He smiled. "I am Viltach, the 'Archmage of Terandria'. I'd love to speak with you in private, but I realize that my late arrival is delaying things, so shall we converse over dinner?"

"Of course." I nodded having expected to speak with both him and Naili while we ate. The four of us turned and entered the Grand Hall as someone shouted.

"Here is the newest Archmage of Wistram: Pixel, the Archmage of Cubes!!!"

...

I had been offered the opportunity to say a few words, but I had declined. I had no goals, policy, or faction that did not involve Earth. As such, there was nothing I could say that would be both relevant, and something that the general population of Wistram was allowed to know.

The usual buffet style had been done away with, at least for the main table. Piles of rich food were arranged along its length, and I sat down with Naili and Viltach on each of my sides. There was a visible reaction from the assembled [Mages] as my helmet flowed away, but the silence effect around the table blocked out any murmuring.

"That is quite the useful enchantment." Viltach exclaimed.

"So you ARE human." Nailihuaile's eyes widened as she peered at me. "So young too!" She glanced down at my arm. "May I touch it?"

**Nailihuaile is interested.
**Nailihuaile is eager.

"By all means, Archmage Nailihuaile."

She smiled at me and set her staff to the side, where it hung in mid-air. "You may call me 'Naili', Archmage Pixel." She then reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder. "So smooth!" She exclaimed as she ran a hand up and down it.

"There is no need to use titles when it is just us speaking." Viltach said from my other side. "It is useful to have people refer to us as 'Archmage' when we are in a larger group, but we need not stand on formality here. Wouldn't you agree?"

I turned to face him. "As you say. I will call you Viltach, if you call me Pixel."

"Very good, Pixel!" He smiled at me.

**Viltach is happy.
**Viltach is eager.

"Hey, Boxer, how are you?"

I had Vincent glance over at Blackmage. "Not bad."

"That's cool. Cool." Aaron took a bite out of a roll. "So, uhm, are you going to leave?"

I had Vincent frown. "Leave? Why would I leave?"

"So I hear you are a skilled [Alchemist] and [Enchanter], Pixel." Viltach said as he steadily placed choice bits on his plate.

"It's a shame you weren't at his introduction, Viltach." Naili's smile took on a slightly sinister bent as she craned her head to look at the other Archmage. "Pixel gave a very impressive demonstration to the counsel." She raised her nose away from him, but kept looking from the corners of her eyes. "But you always were too high and mighty for that sort of thing."

"If I had been informed that Wistram had found more visitors so quickly, I would've returned with haste." Viltach started cutting into a ham steak. "As it is, I think I might know a bit more about Pixel than you do."

"No reason." Aaron fell silent as he resumed eating. "I just heard from Teura that you wanted to."

"She told you that?" I tried to focus on Vincent's conversation as the two Archmages bickered.

"It's more like I overheard her talking with one of the other [Mages]." Aaron looked away. "Is it true?"

"Eh, maybe?" Vincent shrugged. "I dunno, man. I mean, I wanna see the world, right? But now that Pixel's here and I HAVE the option..."

"I think I understand." Aaron smiled. "Paradise is great, until you find out you can't leave. It's, like, human nature to want what we can't have." He cleared his throat. "Not that I'm saying Wistram is paradise, just, uhm, y'know an example."

"Hey, Builder." A centaur spoke to my Russian homunculus. He was the same one that had given him the translation amulet. "Read any good books lately?"

"Hm." I had him grunt and nod.

"You know..." Naili ran her hand across my back. "I'm a skilled [Enchanter]. I'd love to compare notes, especially how you managed such an alluring visual effect."

I took a bite of food and chewed as I tried to keep track of all the conversations.

"So how does that 'jumping rope' work?" A [Mage] I didn't recognize asked.

"I don't know." Jiahao replied.

"But you were the one that invented it, right?"

"No." Jiahao shook his head. "Not me. Boxer."

I'd kept Blackmage waiting too long.

"Naw, it's cool. I hear ya." Vincent smiled. "It's like positives and negatives, right? Don't matter how many pluses there are if they're out-weighed by the minuses. And for us..."

"Freedom is a huge plus." Aaron paused. "Or a minus on the other side." He let out a small laugh. "I guess it's an 'American Culture' thing, huh?"

"You got that right."

"Speaking of which, man do I miss some things."

"Like what?"

"Oreos. The [Chefs] are really good about making most things, but junk food has a certain... something that they can't pull off. They're making cookies, but it's just not the same. Nostalgia, I guess."

"You should ask Pixel."

"Why?" Aaron looked confused.

"He can make 'em."

"Like with golems?"

"No." Vincent shook his head. "Like with materializing and shit. The same way he makes everything."

There. That should give Aaron something to think about.

"Excuse me." I said to Viltach. "What did you just say?"

"I was just commenting on how mana leakage tends to scale with size." He looked up from his food.

"No, I mean from before. You said something about knowing of me?" He'd said it with confidence too, so I didn't think it was just posturing.

"Oh." He had a smug grin, but it was directed at Naili - who'd still hadn't eaten a single bite. "I heard word of the exploits of someone calling themselves 'Pixie'. It's very similar to 'Pixel' after all, and it caused quite the uproar."

"Did it?"

"Oh, yes." He focused on me. "There are several people in Ailendamus who have expressed great interest in meeting you."

"Do you like the food?" The centaur was asking again.

"Hm." Michail grunted and nodded again.

"So what do you think of the new Archmage?" The centaur continued to speak with Michail.

I didn't want to be rude to him. Or ruder than just grunting in reply, but four conversations were too much. "Hm."

"Didn't he save your life?"

"Hm." Michail nodded.

"I'd love to hear about it?" Why was the centaur being so pushy?

"i am sorry." Michail spoke softly. "those are not good memories. i would prefer to eat in silence."

"Oh, I'm sorry." The centaur was apologetic. "I'll shut up now."

**Gaxiela is suspicious.

I'd slowly chewed my food, and had taken a long drink before I responded to Viltach. "I encountered them. I didn't know you came from there."

"From Ailendamus?" Viltach shook his head. "No, but even if I had, as an Archmage I need to represent all of Terandria."

I furrowed my brow. "How does that work with a country that's at war with other countries there?"

"No one is at war, yet." Viltach put down his utensils and looked at me. "Ailendamus has ambitions, yes, but they can be tempered."

"How do you get such a complete merger?" Naili muttered from the other side. "There has to be a difference. I can feel some seams at the joints, but not between the individual cubes."

I focused on Viltach. "I am more concerned with finding others from my world."

"I have been keeping my ears open for such secrets, but no rumors have reached them of other worlders." Viltach replied. "Though, I must admit that I am also quite intrigued with the materials your armor is made from. Perhaps we can discuss it further at a later date?"

"Hey." Someone was talking. "Hey!" The conversations were loud. "Hey, Jiahao!" Oh, shoot! Someone was trying to talk with Jiahao!

"Huh? What is it?" The Asian boy asked.

"I said, 'Did you know Pixel can make food'?" Uhm, DID 'Jiahao' know that? "What you mean, 'make food'? Everyone can make food."

"No." Blackmage shook his head. "I mean, MAKE food... With, y'know, his... magic."

"Like with golems?"

"I don't think so."

"Jiahao, he makes food out of cubes. Boxer says he can make stuff from home!" Aaron looked excited. "Do you have a favorite dish?"

Shoot. I hadn't spoken with Jiahao about his culinary preferences. "Sugar-coated haws." The answer just came to me. "Very sweet, but sour. Good contrast."

"How are the potatoes?"

"Do you think we could? Oh, what was the word? 'Spar'? Yes, do you think we could 'Spar' one another?"

"How do you get the colors so pure? This is the reddest red I've ever seen!"

"You see, politics are complex, and while Ailendamus is larger and has a bigger army than most other countries in Terandria, they are far from the most powerful. In fact, they'd only rank forth, and that would be if I was being particularly generous in my rankings."

"I've never had that? Or even heard of it before! What's a haw?"

Okay. The meal had barely started, but enough was enough. This was too confusing, and I was starting to miss things. It was better to cut your losses early on. It would be fine for 'Pixel' to be a recluse. Besides, I didn't care for gatherings. It was far easier to speak with people one-on-one.

"Viltach, Naili." I addressed them both. "I dislike crowds. I am sorry to cut our conversation short, but I believe I will retire for the night. I would like to speak with both you in a more private setting." I stood up. "Excuse me."

I then teleported away.

I hoped that I hadn't offended them too much.

Notes:

Bios:

Viltach - The Archmage of Terandria. Not a real [Archmage]. Dislikes fighting, and is a bit of a coward after nearly getting killed in a battle in his youth. Leader of the human faction in Wistram. Looks down on other species. Enjoys making things, especially with high-quality magical materials.

Chapter 40: Wistram and the Archmage of Cubes 4

Viltach sat in his bed and thought about the latest Archmage. If he hadn't heard about a 'Cubic Golem' that had driven off the late Raganest du Ecte's army... Well, he wouldn't have thought much about Pixel. Last night had not been terribly interesting with the 'Superhero' having left before the meal had really begun.

Not a social person then. Viltach knew countless [Mages] in Wistram who were exactly the same.

Still, he had the counsel's minutes, and the meeting Pixel had with them was very illuminating. It was plain now what that flighty Revivalist was interested in. Nailihuaile was a powerful [Enchanter] and a skilled combatant - so she would naturally be drawn to someone that was also accomplished in those areas. People thought that his faction was racist, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Viltach was the least judgmental person they'd ever meet.

It was just that humans didn't have many of the flaws that plagued other races. That was why Terandria was by far the most civilized continent. It didn't have greedy drakes that horded riches and knowledge with equal fervor. It didn't have the widespread corruption of its governments. It wasn't some un-tamed jungle.

And it was all thanks to humans.

Viltach, however, knew that exceptional people could come from anywhere, and thus, he deeply respected Nailihuaile... Even if he personally couldn't stand her.

However, he always put his personal opinions aside when it came to Wistram and magic. Nailihuaile was the only creature that could use the full potential of the materials he so carefully cultivated. Aside from himself, that was.

Oh. That reminded him.

He yawned and threw his covers off. He could start some short-term projects. He'd likely be at Wistram long enough for that. He also needed to check on his ongoing creations. The magicore wouldn't have formed a mana stone yet, or at least not a large enough one for his purposes, but he should confirm its progress and see if there were any adjustments that needed to be made.

He had just opened the panel when he heard a knock on his door.

Viltach glanced between the entrance and his crucible before sighing and placing the lid back over the magicore. It had kept for a month, and wouldn't be ready for at least another one, so he could wait a couple of hours to examine it. Instead, he walked to his door. "[Transparent Window]." His door became see-through to his eyes, and allowed him to see who was paying him a visit. It was a young man with short, black hair. Viltach blinked. Who?

...Oh! Of course! It was Pixel. Without his armor, he looked remarkably normal.

He quickly ran his fingers through his hair to make sure it was presentable. Sleeping had a way of mussing it up - despite his best efforts. His flowing locks were one of his best features. While combing them would be best, it would be fine to simply make sure that there'd been no tangles he'd hadn't noticed before.

Once he had made sure he was presentable, Viltach opened the door to his suite. "Pixel!" He smiled. "I almost didn't recognize you without your armor!"

The young man smiled in return. "Yes, it is quite distinctive. That makes it all the easier to move about unnoticed without it."

"Of course." Viltach motioned for him to enter. "That's an Earth tradition, correct? [Super Heroes] and [Secret Identities]?" He'd made sure to memorize that part of the counsel notes. "I'm glad you don't walk around in it all the time like Verdan does." A human that was so enamored with Dullahans that he dressed like them...

It was disgraceful.

"Who is that?" Pixel asked as he entered. His head pivoted to take in the furnishings, but paused when he gazed at the entrance to the experimental wing.

"Oh, just another of us Archmages." Viltach closed the door behind him. "I'm sure you'll meet him eventually." That is, if he ever bothered to pay attention to the [Messages] that Winstram sent out. "What can I do for you, Pixel?" It was important to use his name. That showed a more personal interest.

"Hm?" The [Super Hero], glanced at him. "I just wanted to resume our conversation from last night, and apologize for my sudden departure."

"Think nothing of it!" Viltach beamed at him. "Those gatherings can be so tedious at times. Why, you wouldn't believe the pomp and circumstance that nobles go through to maintain the illusion of their power. Wistram doesn't need more of such things." All the power was in Cognita's hands anyways. That had a way of making any cerimony feel hollow. "So we don't bother with such frivolities." He let out a short laugh. "At least, most of the time. Recognizing a new Archmage is still a fairly momentous occasion!"

"Yes. I've noted how laid back Wistram generally is." Pixel nodded his head. "At least for the faculty. Some students are still quite diligent."

"As they should be!" Viltach agreed. "Practicing magic is not for the lazy or the faint of heart!"

"No, it isn't." Pixel began to slowly walk around the foyer. "Effort should be rewarded, but the effort must be in earnest."

"Well said!" Viltach moved beside him and subtly directed him towards the experimental wing.

They soon entered the place where most of his efforts were located. Pixel's head turned from side to side as he took in the wonders. "How interesting."

"Yes. I understand that you are an accomplished combat [Mage], but I prefer to refine my craft here, instead of on the battlefield." He strolled through his trees and cauldrons that concentrated mana. "I know that you use a different sort of magic than we do, but I think we can appreciate each other on the artistry involved in both of our creations." Viltach pulled out his wand as he moved back towards Pixel. He held it in his palm so that it was easy to see. "I grew the wood for this myself. Krakk trees are dangerous." He motioned to the plant that sat behind enchanted glass, lest anything disturb it. "They produce a gel that explosively propels their bark when disturbed. Thus, harvesting them is difficult. Even worse, the gel warps the outside grain. By growing one from a sapling, and using some frost magic, I was able to get the wood for this wand. Note how the grains in the wood are uniform and straight? That is the quality that I strive for, and the basis for my most powerful relics."

Pixel leaned forward. "I'm afraid that I don't know anything about wand construction, however it is clear how high quality the wood is. A good foundation is vital in most things."

Viltach smiled and slipped the wand back into his sleeve. "Precisely! One must start with the highest quality materials if you want to create the best items!" He smiled, and asked the question he'd been wondering about since seeing Pixel's armor in person. "Take your armor, for example, from the finished product, it must have been crafted from something extraordinary!"

"Hm?" Pixel grunted as his brightly colored suit flowed out of his robes and around his body while leaving his head uncovered. "You are correct in that regard. It is made out of the building blocks of reality." He raised his palm and turned it over as he looked at it. "Incorporating mana into it has thus far proven to be a costly endeavor."

"Is that so?" Viltach let out a sigh. "Then Archmage Nailihuaile is probably the person you should speak to on that subject. She is the best [Enchanter] that Wistram has." He shook his head. "Not to downplay my own skills in that area, but it's the difference in our classes. I am not as... specialized as her, despite my enthusiasm."

"My I ask what your specialty is then, Archmage?"

"Come now, Pixel." Viltach smiled. "Didn't I tell you last night that we had no need for titles between us?" He then spread his arms. "I am showing you my specialty right now! I am an [Artisan Mage]! I produce. I refine! I create!!"

"Really?" There was a gleam in Pixel's eyes. "In that case, I have a request for you."

Ah! Here it was. One of the reasons he wanted to get close to Pixel. Trading secrets was all well and good, but materials and techniques were the true lifeblood of magic! "And what would that be, Pixel?"

"Tell me, what do you know of golems?"

Viltach paused. Of all the questions he'd envisioned and prepared for, that was not one of them. "They are potent creations, to be sure, and while I've crafted a good deal of them, I am no [Archmage of Golems]." Viltach knew where he stood, and it was far below Zelkyr. Nothing he could personally make could hope to stand up to Cognita physically. Nothing he made could resist her in other ways either, that was why he never brought his personal golems to Wistram. With her around, they were little more than a liability.

"But, you can make them, correct?"

Viltach nodded. "Yes. I have the knowledge, [Skills], and [Spells]. May I ask why?"

"I seek some to experiment with." Pixel motioned with his arm and two more suits of armor appeared. They turned to each other, raised a fist, tapped the other one's hand, and then they began to fight.

"Those are not spare suits of armor!" Viltach gaped. "They are Cubic Golems!"

"Not quite." Pixel corrected him as he turned to watch his creations pummel each other. "It would be more accurate to call them robots. I can make things that are very similar to golems in form, but not in function." He glanced at Viltach and smiled. "At least, not in all functions. In many ways, my creations are superior, but there are aspects of golems that surpass them easily."

"I see." Viltach nodded again. "And you wish to..." What? Create a golem of his own? Incorporate them into his creations? Study them? No. Not that. He had ample golems if he merely wished to observe them. That meant that what he wanted was something that Cognita would object to. Control them? No... "Experiment on them? Experiments that might be damaging?"

"Exactly." Pixel nodded. "I am as much an [Archmage of Golems] as you are. My creations will never reach that level, unless..." He paused. "No. That is a road not traveled. Perhaps one day I might decide to..." He paused again. "For now, I would like to have some golems that I can experiment with, and which I do not need to be careful with."

"Is that all?" Viltach smirked. "Then it is a simple thing. Crafting a permanent golem is indeed an expensive and time consuming process, but if you just need any old golem..." He looked around for a suitable base. Ah, his mana-infused soil. He had plenty, as he used it for growing his trees and other plants. "[Create Mud Golem]!" He pointed at the boxed in area that would eventually house another tree. For now, it just contained his spare dirt, and it could collect the remains quite nicely.

The mud drew together and congealed into a... humanoid shape - if he was being generous. The lumpy thing was ugly, but that was how Mud Golems were. Still... he was disappointed. It might be the best one could hope for, given the materials, but it really wasn't up to his standards.

Pixel raised his hand and appeared to concentrate for a moment. "Ah, I see." Saw what? "Now, if I just pull here..."

The small golem jerked and then took one tentative step - that left behind a stump that had previously been its leg. It tried to crawl towards them, which would be concerning under normal circumstances, as Viltach hadn't given it such a command. As it was, he was more curious about what was happening.

He'd seen something like this before...

Where was it?

Oh! It was back when he was still foolish enough to set foot on a battlefield! It wasn't something he'd personally seen, but he remembered a story one of the [Lieutenants] had told him. A story about how to kill a golem.

He, of course, had been interested in any such tactics. His younger self had thought that such a technique might be useful against Cognita. This was before he realized how suicidal such a plan would be. That was especially true seeing as how it wasn't a secret technique or anything of the sort. In reality, it was a fairly standard way of dealing with magical barriers: Magicore tipped arrows.

Magicore drew mana into itself - along with any aspects that mana had. This had all sorts of uses, but one of the most simple ones was to disrupt spells. He'd known about that ever since his first year. Using it on golems sounded like such a novel idea. Just as he'd been humbled by a swarm of peasant archers, a golem potentially could as well - if one had enough magicore.

In reality, things weren't that straight forward. You needed to breach the golem's heart in order for it to work. A magicore tipped lance arrow might work on a Mud Golem. They were soft, and their true strength wasn't in withstanding blows, but in reforming themselves. That meant that an attack that wouldn't be strong enough to disable them, could still pierce their bodies and get to their hearts.

If you could tell where such things were.

Such an attack would fatally damage a golem's heart, and cause it to 'bleed' mana. Well, it would do that for lesser golems. Viltach wouldn't wager money, much less his life, that such tactics would work on Zelkyr's creations.

The small golem finally disintegrated as it lost all of the mana that held it together. "Was that a [Spell], Pixel?" He asked the otherworlder who was currently gazing down at the remains. "Or was it something from Earth?"

He glanced up at him. "A little of both. I can pull mana from sources." He gestured at the mud pile. "I didn't anticipate such a profound result."

"Yes." Viltach ran his fingers through his hair. "In some ways, a golem's heart is like a sheep's bladder filled with water. One may access it with a knife, but that will cause it to spill its contents out into the world." He offered a consoling smile. "You might have more success with dispelling persistent [Spells] than you would with better quality golems. Especially those that can defend themselves. They would probably respond... poorly to such actions." Viltach didn't want Cognita to kill Pixel if he made a foolish attempt at attacking her. He was too valuable to lose to such a suicidal endeavor.

"I agree." Pixel nodded his head. "Still, I think that I could learn a lot from practicing against your summoned golems. Can you produce another?"

"I can." Viltach replied. "Before that, can your technique... add mana to objects as well?"

"It can." Pixel hesitated. "I don't think that it would accomplish much to do that to a golem."

"No." Viltach smiled. "Not to a golem."

---

"Tell me." Viltach spoke as he moved to one of the many containers that were evenly spaced around the room. "Have you heard of magicore?" He glanced at me before manipulating the latch on a lid. "I am aware that your world doesn't have magic, and that all of it is new to you. Thus, I do not want to make assumptions."

I walked over next to him. "I have heard it mentioned in passing." Mainly in various books that I'd read as Michail. "It's concentrated mana, correct?"

"That is, essentially, correct." Viltach opened the lid once it was unlocked. A wave of warm air washed over us. "It has been theorized that magicore is simply rock that has been infused with large quantities of mana. Others have postulated that it is raw mana itself, but that it has impurities, and thus a solid form." He shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever the truth is, even the least pure magicore contains vast amounts of mana. Furthermore, it constantly draws mana in."

"Hm." I grunted. "And is the heat a byproduct of that?"

**Viltach is surprised.

"Huh?" He blinked. "Oh! No, no, no." He shook his head. "That's because I've infused this batch of magicore with fire. You see, magicore absorbs elements. This batch I've attuned to fire."

Interesting.

"So... you're thinking that I could directly inject mana into it?"

**Viltach is eager.
**Viltach is excited.
**Viltach is happy.

"Exactly!" Viltach smiled. "My current setup uses these crucibles to slowly drip mana potions onto the magicore. I've found the process is faster than exposing it to the air." He let out a sigh. "But only about ten percent quicker. A significant boost, but expensive to maintain." He frowned. "It also introduces more impurities. The greater mana concentration offsets that for the most part, but it still prevents me from creating better... well, everything." He shrugged as he motioned around the room. "Magicore is used in practically every other material I refine."

"I understand." I activated Threat Sense by pushing mana into it. The fire magicore would burn me... but not immediately. It still would have to eat through my HP, even after bypassing my fire resistance. My armor... would not last long. My basic suits didn't have that resistance, and they also didn't have much HP. While they looked similar to the actual armor I'd copied from Dragon, they really were little more than malleable clothes. With a thought, I had my suit flow away from hand.

"Wha-"

**Viltach is surprised.
**Viltach is worried.

I reached into the pot and grabbed a handful of the sludge. "Don't worry. My hands are clean. They won't add any impurities to your batch." I'd made sure to Inventory anything that might be touching them. Gamer's Body also meant that my body didn't produce oils, skin flakes, or even a scent while I was in my Breaker state.

"That... wasn't my concern, Pixel." Viltach gulped. "Are you... okay?"

"Hm?" I glanced at him. "I'm fine. This level of heat is nothing." That was technically the truth. The heat wasn't a problem for me, it was the magical aspects of it. Still, Rapid Regeneration was refilling my HP nearly as fast as the magicore drained it. "I'm going to try transferring the mana from the pot into what I'm holding in my hand. Could you bring me a container to place it in once I'm done?"

**Viltach is nervous.
**Viltach is worried.
**Viltach is panicking.

"What? A container?" He nodded. "Yes! Of course! Let me just..." He rushed off to another room.

*You have been inflicted with 'Oversaturated'.

I suppose I could've let him portion some out for me, but this had the added benefit of both demonstrating my power and putting him on the back-foot for any immediate negotiating. Viltach could provide both expendable golems and magicore. The former would be essential for helping Cognita, and the latter was a much easier way to overcharge my mana pool.

The magicore in the pot felt... sluggish. I could draw mana out of it with Power Drain, but it was even slower than my usual rate. I'd been putting this off, but I think I needed to upgrade my Perk for a second time. While I wasn't very concerned about helping Viltach purify magicore more... I needed every advantage I could get before I dared to attempt anything with Cognita.

*You have been inflicted with 'Oversaturated'x2.

With a mental sigh, I reviewed my list of [Skills]... I had four from [Infiltrator] that could work: [Soft Steps], [Basic Stealth], [Discreet Murmur], and [One Good Lie].

None of them was vital - in and of themselves. I had maxed out my ranks in Stealth - mainly from Grey Fox grinding it for me twenty-four seven. As such, [Soft Steps] and [Basic Stealth] weren't immediately useful.

But...

They both might unlock future abilities that were. The more Stranger effects I had, the harder I would be to notice when I didn't want to be.

*You have been inflicted with 'Oversaturated'x3.

[Discreet Murmur] was largely invalidated by my Tongue of Babel Perk. Whispering fell under 'communication', and as such I could use my Perk to produce it. Combining it with Expansion meant that I could produce sound anywhere from within my increased radius.

On the other hand, if I was going to sacrifice [Discreet Murmur], wouldn't it be better to give it to Tongue of Babel instead? That was the major thing holding me back from sacrificing [Skills] willy-nilly. They could... 'enhance' my Perks in ways that were more than just letting them use mana. I had a limited number of [Skills] I could get, and not all of them could be sacrificed in the first place.

*You have been inflicted with 'Oversaturated'x4.

Additionally, I might have a limit on the [Skills] that I could sacrifice for a Perk. I felt a little bad about the choices I'd already made, but that was perhaps an unavoidable consequence of learning a new game.

That left [One Good Lie].

I really wanted to save that. If anything, it would be most useful for enhancing my Lucky Perks.

...I didn't want to give any of them up.

*You have been inflicted with 'Oversaturated'x5.

My mana pool was getting dangerously overloaded, if my debuffs were anything to go by. Time to switch to dumping it into the magicore I held in my hand. While drawing out the mana had been slow and sluggish, injecting it felt more like the magicore was actively pulling it in - which, I supposed, it was.

I shook my head. The only other [Infiltrator Skills] I had were: [Amateur Linguist] and [Construct Vessel: Human]. Both of those were...

Wait.

Hold on.

...Yes.

Yes, that would do nicely.

[Amateur Linguist] was another [Skill] I had earmarked for my Babel Perks, but did they really need it? Possibly. However, right now Power Drain could use it more. It could connect with a Golem's heart, but UNDERSTANDING the magic that composed it? Not so much.

[Amateur Linguist] might help in that regard.

My mana pool was almost back to its regular level. It would probably be better to stop overloading it until the Oversaturated debuffs faded. Before that... I disconnected Power Drain. It might not matter, but I'd feel better about enhancing it while it wasn't active.

"Pixel!" Viltach hurried back. "I found it!" He held out a glass jar.

I looked at it. It couldn't be normal glass. That might work for holding 'regular' magicore, but the heat from the fire-infused version would melt it.

Eh. I mentally shrugged. Viltach knew more about magicore than I did. I bet the glass was enchanted or something.

I put my hand over the top, and slowly tipped it over. I didn't want it to splash. While I was capable of handling it, I doubted it would do Viltach any good to get a drop on him. Thankfully, the viscous fluid plopped down in one lump.

"There." I rubbed my fingers with my thumb to make sure there wasn't any residue remaining. "I didn't add too much mana. I think we should confirm what effect, if any, it had on the magicore before continuing."

"Yes." Viltach nodded as he screwed a lid on the jar. "I agree one hundred percent. It shall take me a while to measure the Magirite levels and determine its purity. Would you like to watch?"

I was about to nod when I paused. I WOULD like to learn more, but I'd also like him to make another golem and let me experiment on it...

No. I could do that later. Witnessing how he measured magicore was more important. Besides, I could get him to summon more golems later - after I finished enhancing Power Drain.

...

I didn't learn much about measuring 'magirite' except that it wasn't a rigorous process. Several parts of it seemed more... subjective than anything else.

Be that as it may, the magirite levels in the magicore I'd infused were elevated - as was its purity. Viltach was excited - to say the least.

I, on the other hand, had spent most of the measuring time contemplating my [Skills] and Perks. I'd drug [Amateur Linguist] to Mana Enhancement, and selected Power Drain... only to be shown the list of my [Skills] again.

The list, notably, no longer had [Amateur Linguist] in it.

I mentally canceled everything, and restarted from the beginning. Thankfully, [Amateur Linguist] was back. I tried again and got the same results. I was confused until I realized what was going on: [Amateur Linguist] wasn't enough on its own. I would have to sacrifice more than one [Skill] if I wanted to empower Power Drain a second time.

I wondered if it was a linear progression, and if I'd have to sacrifice two this time, three the next, and four after that. Worse, it could be something like one, two, four, nine... Two data points was simply too few to help with predictions.

On the other hand, each [Skill] might have a hidden value, and the total value of the sacrificed skills needed might increase with every level.

In other words, it might be impossible for me to determine beforehand exactly how many [Skills] I'd need to sacrifice. The best I could do would be to decide that it would be worth it to sacrifice a select number of [Skills]. Then, if that didn't work, I'd have to decide if I was willing to increase that amount.

At least there was no sunk-costs involved. If [Amateur Linguist] had been eaten to no effect, it would be difficult to not sacrifice other [Skills]. To not do so would feel like a waste.

On the other hand, this would allow me to add both a 'translation' aspect and a 'stealth' aspect - if the system worked as I thought it did. The last enhancement I'd done was sacrificing [Adrenaline Rush] and [Balanced Posture] to Ears and Tongue of Babel. Predictably, that hadn't added any abilities besides mana use.

It was entirely possible that I was fundamentally wrong, and that Crafting was an outlier. It certainly was in other capacities. No other Perk transferred sacrificed [Skills] to a creation. I still could only guess what would happen if my Mega Buster was destroyed. Would the [Skill]'s benefit be forever lost? Or would it become available to be used in Crafting something else?

I let out a mental sigh. I was procrastinating. Giving up an advantage was hard.

I went through the steps again, and when the list of [Skills] opened up for the second time... I dragged [Soft Steps] to Mana Enhancement. Of my 'stealth' [Skills], it was the weakest. Plus, I still had [Basic Stealth] to continue the 'stealth' tree.

The effect was instantaneous. My two [Skills] were gone, and Power Drain felt the same... at least until I pushed mana into it.

...

"Are you going to visit every night?"

I glanced at Cognita while I stood next to the sphere of frozen time that contained Amerys. "In the foreseeable future, yes. I have to make sure everything is handled correctly." The guarding [Mages] were still around, so I couldn't say - 'I need to finish draining all of the mana from her shackles'.

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.
**Cognita is amused.

Not that Cognita was unaware of what I was doing. At least, what I was doing for Amerys. I hadn't detected any surprise or curiosity, so my Power Drain must look the same as before in her eyes. That was good. That meant that I could turn off the new aspects of it and regulate the mana it drained.

I'd been spending my mana on enhancing Threat Sense. I still had several stacks of Oversaturated, and I didn't want to push things too far. Once I was topped off again, I stopped and turned to Cognita. "Everything looks good. Shall we depart?"

She nodded at me. "Very well."

We exited the room normally. The [Mages] had taken down the maze and put a magically locked door in its place. I guessed they had gotten tired of walking through a shifting puzzle every night also. Now that Amerys was frozen, they probably didn't see much of a point in it.

Cognita and I walked in silence for a while.

"I shall take my leave now, Cognita." I stopped and looked at her. "If you don't mind."

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.
**Cognita is happy.
**Cognita is sad.

"Very well, Pixel. Have a pleasant night." She paused for a moment. "Will I see you tomorrow?"

"Of course." I smiled at her before teleporting away.

...But not back to my room. I knew the route that Cognita was going to take from here - at least at first. She had to pass down two hallways before she got to an intersection. More importantly, the second hall would pass over an unused room. This was my chance.

I stood unmoving in the room. My Expansion Perk activated, and the range of all my powers started increasing. The sphere of my influence grew and grew until it pushed past the boundaries of the room. It continued past the ceiling/floor and into the hallway that Cognita was currently walking down.

I didn't want to blindly lash out with Power Drain. If I connected to something else, she might see it. The cameras I'd left during the day guided me as I latched on to her.

No reaction.

So far, so good.

By coming through the floor, I had hoped that Cognita wouldn't notice Power Drain. The new 'stealth' aspect might help, but I needed every advantage that I could get. If she noticed what I was doing... things wouldn't turn out well.

Power Drain connected to her core, and 'translation' let me see what was written there.

Wow.

I mean, wow!!

Cognita was orders of magnitude beyond the Mud Golems that I'd practiced on. It was the difference between a 'Hello World' program and... well... Dragon.

...Or at least one of the helper AIs that Dragon still had from her father.

Ears of Babel allowed me understand what I was 'seeing', but only in a very general sense. I quickly scanned her programming. I needed to find the specific part involving her restrictions...

The connection cut off.

Cognita had passed out of my range.

There was always tomorrow night.

...

"Very well, Pixel. Have a pleasant night." Cognita paused for a moment. "Will I see you tomorrow?"

"Of course." I smiled at her before teleporting away.

I teleported to the same room, but then un-Inventoried a pylon. It could generate a force-field that was capable of withstanding Behemoth for a time. However, I just wanted it for its size. I teleported to its top, placed my palm on the ceiling, and held still.

A few more feet might make the difference between success and failure.

Cognita soon strolled down the hallway, and I connected to her again with Power Drain.

Lets see...

Here... Or... Here?...

There!

Yes. That was definitely an control about 'Love'. Now to just...

The connection cut off.

Cognita had passed out of my range.

There was always tomorrow night.

...

"Very well, Pixel. Have a pleasant night." Cognita paused for a moment. "Will I see you tomorrow?"

It was just like her welcoming speech. She'd found the words she liked and re-used them.

"Of course." I smiled at her before teleporting away.

I quickly got into the same position as last time, and waited for her to enter my range.

The connection snapped into place, and I raced through Cognita's rules to where I'd encountered my targets before.

Love Zelkyr.

Trust Zelkyr.

Want to help Zelkyr.

The final one was my target. I needed to erode Zelkyr's commands in the same way that such a thing could occur naturally. Love was the strongest emotion, and losing that while she still trusted and wanted to help Zelkyr would be too jarring.

The same was true for trust.

No. The first to go would be the overwhelming desire to help Zelkyr. Such a thing would be far less noticeable without Zelkyr around... I hoped.

I focused, and drew away the mana that empowered that command, and only that mana. It wasn't that large of an amount, and would hopefully be less noticeable.

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita wants to help Zelkyr.
**Cognita is puzzled.

Shit. She'd noticed something!

Cognita kept walking, but swiveled her head left and right. I was banking on her long 'dress' to help obfuscate Power Drain's connection. It seemed to work...

The connection cut off.

Cognita had passed out of my range.

There was always tomorrow night.

...

"Very well, Pixel. Have a pleasant night." Cognita paused for a moment. "Will I see you tomorrow?"

"Of course." I smiled at her before teleporting away.

I quickly setup in the same manner as previous nights. Cognita entered my range, and I connected to her with Power Drain.

Alright. It was right around here that I'd left off...

Love Zelkyr.

Trust Zelkyr.

Want to help Zelkyr.

...Well shoot. The section that I'd drained the mana from had re-constituted itself. It looked like Cognita was more robust than I'd thought. I siphoned a tiny part of the command and then stopped. I didn't let the mana flow outside of her, instead I immediately reversed the direction and pushed it into the surrounding aether. The mana from the rest of the command I'd altered oozed back into the spot I'd just taken away.

Cognita didn't seem to sense anything was amiss. Or at least, she wasn't broadcasting any new emotions. It was time to cut my losses.

I withdrew my probe, collected my pylon, teleported back to my room, and thought.

Zelkyr had set up some sort of tamper resistance to his commands. Perhaps it was designed to thwart people like me, or perhaps it was a self-maintenance sort of thing that was designed to make certain his orders didn't decay. I'd wager on the later.

A system to prevent 'hacking' would've included an alarm of some sort. However, there were no indications that such a thing had been implemented. Cognita had noticed when I'd withdrawn mana from her core, but she hadn't reacted when I'd moved it around inside of it.

If I had to make an analogy, I'd say it was like how I couldn't feel it when Riley touched my brain during surgery. I could easily notice her cutting my scalp or sawing through my skull. The brain itself? It didn't really have a sense of touch.

Or, at least, it was so dulled that I couldn't notice it.

The point was, that Cognita was far less sensitive to internal changes. Heck, it might even be the case that those specific rules were a blind spot for her, the same way some of Dragon's restrictions had been hidden from her.

Zelkyr hadn't wanted her to know how enslaved she was.

All in all, it was a good revelation. It meant that I'd found a way to erase Cognita's restrictions without alerting her. The bad thing was that it would take a good deal of time to do so. Power Drain could only 'hold' so much mana at its end. It would be like emptying a cup one straw-full at a time instead of just drinking it.

The only other option would be to incapacitate her while I worked. A time-stop bomb could do it - except that it was a gradual process. I didn't think Cognita was innately immune to temporal effects. Instead, I suspected that she had to enter her blue crystal form to gain that resistance.

If I ambushed her, it would be a race to see if she would shift or freeze first. Or to see if I could help her before either of those things happened.

I dismissed the idea. It was inherently flawed. The whole point of this was to try and help her get over her Mastering - without having her break down from having the central pillar that had supported her for her entire life yanked away. Her learning about the truth of what Zelkyr had done to her might break her.

I could live with Cognita hating me. I could live with being barred from Wistram. What I couldn't accept was putting her through such pain. Doing that would be needlessly cruel and stupid.

No, what I needed was a distraction, but not just any distraction. I needed something that would keep her in one place for an extended period of time... and not draw any suspicion.

Unfortunately, she liked to walk and talk. In fact, I think the only time she'd ever stood still for any real length of time was when we first met, and when she gave her welcoming speech. Neither was a useful scenario that I could reproduce naturally.

Yeah... I didn't have anything else coming to mind.

Chapter 41: Wistram and the Archmage of Cubes 5

"Archmage Pixel!" Nailihuaile opened her door. The Earther stood there in his marvelous armor that currently covered everything but his head.

"Archmage Nailihuaile." He replied back to her.

"Oh please." She smiled at him. "You can call me Naili."

"Then you should call me just Pixel."

Nailihuaile giggled to herself as she motioned him inside. Their little exchange hadn't gotten old yet, despite this being the fifth time he'd visited her quarters. "How are things going? Any interesting events, or wandering experiments bothering you?"

Pixel rolled his eyes. "If you want to know how the magicore refinement is going, you can just ask."

Nailihuaile slithered over to her stool with spokes. "And miss out on the intrigue? That's the entire point of Wistram! Secrets are to be ferreted out, stockpiled, and spent. Giving them away ruins the fun!"

"Who says I'm giving away my most valuable secrets?" Pixel sat down in one of the chairs she kept for guests. "Purer magicore is a valuable commodity. So I see it more as advertising. You have to spend secrets to make secrets."

"Oh!" Her eyes lit up as she began to circle her stool. "Is that another saying from Earth? It sounds like a saying! Or that you're quoting someone!"

Pixel exhaled. "Yes, it's a more common saying there, just with 'money' instead of 'secrets'."

"Yes, I understand." Nailihuaile weaved her body through the spokes before settling in the center of the stool. There were times when she missed having legs and a separate tail. As fun as having a serpentine body was, there were a decided lack of lamia or naga specific furniture. To be fair, it was also far easier for her to do without after her evolution. 'Standing' was far more relaxing for her now than it had ever been as a Lizardfolk. "It's a shame your world doesn't have serpentine residents. Just think what marvels you could have invented for the non-legged if you had a need to."

"That would be interesting, I admit. There would be no shortage of ideas."

"Exactly!" Nailihuaile exclaimed. "Your world may be strange, but it's amazing how much you've accomplished without magic!" Assuming that Pixel and the rest of the Earthers were telling the truth. She couldn't sense any magic in their 'electronics', but she also couldn't sense any in Pixel's armor - which the other Earthers seemed to regard as magical. "I was unable to enchant the rod you gave me." She pulled it out of her bag of holding and examined it.

It was just so... beautiful. The surface was without blemish. Each individual cube was of perfectly uniform size and shape. The colors were so vibrant! The rod itself was light as a feather, yet stronger than iron! She SHOULD have been able to apply enchantments to it easily.

Instead, it was as if there was nothing there when she cast her [Spells]. She couldn't carve runes in it, and tracing them with various combinations of crushed gems and magicore also hadn't had an effect. Nailihuaile was the greatest [Enchanter] in the world, so she wouldn't give up until she succeeded, but it was starting to annoy her. She had been wondering if it was an impossible task.

"I'm honestly not surprised." Pixel shook his head. "Integrating magic with my tech might be impossible."

"Isn't Blackmage attempting the same thing?" Nailihuaile asked as she looked up from the rod. "That was the reason he had been visiting Amerys." She'd broken down and bought that secret after the whole... being frozen in time event.

"Yes." Pixel leaned back and got a faraway look in his eyes. "Blackmage wants to go over each component one at a time and incorporate magic that way. It's... probably the correct way to do it."

"Each component?" Nailihuaile tilted her head. "Do you mean each cube?"

"No." Pixel paused. "And yes. That's the main hurdle with my tech. Each cube is self-contained. But, they also aren't. It's hard to explain. For simpler tech, each step is..." He frowned. "Here. A diagram might help." Pixel waved his hand and a rectangle appeared in the air next to him. A small image was shown of a short, flat wand. "This is a flashlight. As its name suggests, it produces light. It accomplishes that by running electricity through a bulb."

"Electricity?"

"What you would call lightning."

Nailihuaile furrowed her brow. "Isn't that dangerous?" It did explain Amerys' involvement.

Pixel blinked. "Oh. No, not at all. It uses a fraction of the power contained in a lightning bolt. There are... no, let's not get distracted."

"Okay."

"Now, most of its components are designed to safely transport the lightning to here." The front section of the wand lit up. "That's where the bulb is, which is what actually produces light."

"Ah! I see!" Nailihuaile nodded. "The runes for the [Light] spell are stored in the tip of the wand!"

"What?" Pixel raised an eyebrow. "No. No runes. The bulb contains something like a tungsten filament that-"

"What's tungsten?"

"A metal with a high melting point." A new image appeared inside the rectangle, and a section of it lit up. "It's called the filament, and before you ask: No, I don't know why. When the lightning flows through it, it heats up." A different part of the image glowed. "This all happens in a vacuum, so there's no fire. The heated filament produces light that is then-"

"Why does it produce light?"

"Because the energy tries to escape, but can only do so as light or lightning due to the vacuum."

"Oh! I see!" Nailihuaile nodded her head. "It's using a combination of fire runes along with fire resistance runes to make a flame! And that flame produces the light!" She frowned. "Isn't that an involved way of going about it? I mean, I guess if you didn't know about the [Light] spell, it might make sense. There are lots of places that use torches instead of [Light] spells, so I guess there's a reason. Especially since you can make fire without magic! Of course! Earth has no magic, so they use fire [Spells] instead of [Light]!"

No. Wait. That didn't make sense.

Nailihuaile was used to letting her thoughts flow freely. It had served her well in the past and [Rapid Thinking] was one of her better [Skills]. It didn't help when she went down the wrong track. People from Earth had no magic. They had little of Pixel's version of magic either from what she understood. That meant that they couldn't use runes at all. That meant that the light in the wand was because of 'tungsten'. A metal that glowed so much that...

"Ah! It's like a [Blacksmith]'s forge!"

---

There was a knock at his door.

Aaron looked up towards it, then back at his 'battery', then back at the door. He wasn't sure what time it was, as he'd been working on his magitech device since after dinner. It was... mostly working now. He didn't understand the specific runes and other modifications that Nailihuaile had made, but the end result was that it drew mana from the magicore center and converted it into 'lightning'.

The problem with that, was that 'lightning' wasn't either AC or DC. Aaron needed DC to make anything more than... a particularly large tazer. He knew how to turn AC into DC, but not how to make use of something that was both.

It would be nice if he could speak with Amerys some more. She would understand what he was aiming for.

He supposed it was better to be frozen in time instead of chained and imprisoned at least.

He let out a sigh, put down the rudimentary tools he'd made, and stood up. There was another knock as he walked towards his door. Yeah. Yeah. He was coming.

He opened his door, and blinked in surprise. Pixel in his armor, Jiahao, Michail, Archmage Feor, and Cognita all stood on the other side. "Uh... Hi? Is everything... okay?" What could all of them want with him? Especially, this late?

"Come, Blackmage." Cognita spoke. "There is a ship coming in that we all are going to meet."

"Uh..." He looked from one face to another. "Okay?" He joined the group as they walked through the hallways. "So." He leaned closer to Jiahao. "What's going on? Everything cool?" Part of him, a large part, was worried. If it wasn't for Cognita and Pixel's presences, and all the golems they'd passed, he'd be worried that this was some sort of kidnapping attempt.

It was feasible that someone could coerce, copy, or somehow disguise themselves as someone else and lure him away. Magic could do basically anything, after all. Pixel and Cognita should be immune to everything except, perhaps, someone pretending to be them.

Even that would be difficult given how... unique they were. Plus, the various golems they'd walked past would probably have done something, right?

Or... Could it be a reverse kidnapping? Which, he guessed, was still a kidnapping. Could Pixel be taking him and the others away from Wistram? He didn't know how he felt about that. Also, where was Vincent?

"Is boat." Jiahao whispered back. "We meeting Earther passengers."

"Oh?" Aaron leaned back. That... that was good. "Why the secrecy though?"

Jiahao smiled. "Last time secret too, right?" He shook his head. "This time even more so. So, no talk."

"Oh, uhm, alright." So he was there to make sure that the new arrivals weren't imposters? He supposed that made sense. Maybe. With Pixel around, it also made sense that the Superhero would've been the one who'd been told about the boat beforehand. That stung a little, but he'd get over it.

It was still suspicious. Michail being silent wasn't something new. Nor was Archmage Feor or Cognita. Or Pixel for that matter. Walking ten minutes with Jiahao not speaking? That was strange. Was it just him, or were Michail and Jiahao moving stiffer than normal too?

The docks were cold and wet. Wistram was largely immune to the Winter cold that was targeting other parts of the world thanks to its magical weather bubble. Even then, the outside was distinctly cooler than the castle itself - especially at night.

The group gathered at one of the docks, but Aaron kept to the edge closest to the castle. He might not have a chance at running away, but if this was something bad, he'd have to try...

Glowing lights broke through the fog that surrounded the outside of Wistram's weather bubble. They bobbed up and down while growing larger and larger. Soon, the dim shape of a ship appeared on the water and the lights illuminated a group of [Sailors] on its decks. The ship pulled smoothly up to the dock and slowed to a halt.

A solid gangplank made of wood was heaved over its side, and made a loud thunk as it connected the ship and the dock. Figures bustled about on its deck, but one strolled down the temporary bridge. He wore a large hat, with a larger feather.

"Ah! Archmage Feor!" The [Captain] of the ship wore a wide smile as he walked up. "It's an honor to see you again so soon!" He swept his hat off and bowed. "This trip was uneventful, and we have more of your 'special' cargo!" The man let out a deep belly laugh as he put his impressive hat back on top of his head. "The saltwater must be gettin' to these old bones, since I'm sure I've done this all before!"

Aaron began to edge away from the group, but paused as he focused on the two people who were exiting the ship by its gangplank.

The first was a short Asian kid who was wearing a... rough-spun tunic. There was nothing that obviously said he was from Earth, but he looked familiar. He stumbled onto the dock, fell to his knees, and then puked.

The [Captain] glanced over his shoulder and let out a short laugh. "Aye, that one never did get his sea-legs." He shook his head. "Its surprising that the two passengers I've had from Drath both were unaccustomed to the sea."

The Asian kid wiped his mouth and started to stand up, only to pause as he got a good look at Wistram.

Aaron, on the other hand, could only stare blankly. All thoughts of running for help were gone. He recognized the other teenager. It was Jiahao!

There was movement from the corner of his eye, but when he turned to look, it was only Pixel with his arm extended and grasping a necklace. The jewelry swung back and forth, like the [Superhero] had just caught it as it fell.

Wait. That was where Jiahao and Michail had been standing! Where were...?

The second person patiently waited on the gangplank while Jiahao gawked. He was definitely Michail, and he only glanced up at Wistram briefly before lowering his gaze back to the ground.

Once again, he was a bit too big to fit comfortably on the plank, but he still waited for Jiahao to move. However, he was different from last time. He was only around six feet tall, instead of seven! What was going on?

The pair collected themselves and walked down the docks towards them. Pixel moved past the [Captain] to meet the pair. He held out the necklace to shorter-Michail. "Носите это. Это поможет вам понять."

Aaron blinked. That sounded like Russian... probably. Still, that was the least confusing thing that had just happened.

Pixel stepped back, and Cognita took his place. “I am Cognita. I am a Carved Golem, or rather, a Truestone Construct designed to oversee Wistram and its mages. I and my kindred maintain and preserve this building and will assist you for the duration of your stay. In a few moments you will be led to your rooms, but before that I must tell you of the rules of Wistram.”

As she delivered her memorized speech about the rules of Wistram, Aaron sidled up to Pixel. "Uh... What's going on? Who are those two people? What happened to Jiahao and Michail? Where is Vincent?"

Pixel turned his armored head, and Aaron could feel his stare through the helmet. "Vincent has left Wistram." He motioned towards the two other Earthers. "Those are the real Jiahao and Michail. They will be staying here from now on. I was impersonating them to make sure that Wistram was safe."

"But... But..." Aaron was at a loss for words. "How?"

"Something my sister helped me make." Pixel sounded like he was smiling. "They're almost indistinguishable from the real things."

Aaron closed his mouth. Then opened it. Then closed it again. There was something on the edge of his memories. He'd never been a huge comic book nerd. He'd really only knew about the MCU, but... there was something he faintly remembered. Some theory about Sam Jackson and Nick Fury...

"They were Life-Model Decoys!!" He shouted before quickly lowering his voice as everyone turned to look at him. "They were Life-Model Decoys!" He whispered. "Tony Stark mentioned them in Avengers! They were fakes this whole time!" He paused, and then asked. "Was Vincent one too?"

Pixel nodded. "He was."

"I knew it!" Aaron said through clenched teeth. "I knew..." Wait. "If Vincent wasn't Vincent, that means that you were." Aaron remembered confronting him in his room. The [Boxer] had denied everything and laughed at him. Aaron pointed at Pixel. "You gaslit me! You catfished me, and then you gaslit me about it!!"

---

I left Jiahao and Michail with Feor and Cognita. I didn't trust the Archmage, but I doubted he'd try and cast any untoward spells on the two Earthers. Plus, Cognita was there, and she'd probably stop if him if he tried.

Aaron and I walked past a line of golems that were marching down to the dock to grab the supplies from the ship and bring them back into Wistram.

**Aaron is upset.
**Aaron is angry.
**Aaron is suspicious.

We walked in silence, but the notifications I was getting told me plenty about what he was thinking. He was taking it harder than I'd expected, and it would be best to talk to him alone. At least he wasn't yelling. That was a good sign.

We got to his room, and he flung the door open and stormed inside. He didn't invite me in, but he also hadn't slammed the door in my face. I took that as enough of an invitation, and followed him.

Aaron slumped on top of his bed and glared at me. "So."

"So." I closed the door.

"All of them were fakes this whole time. It was all you."

I nodded. "Yes, but-"

"No." Aaron cut me off. "No 'buts'."

"Very well." I remained standing and let him brood for a couple of minutes.

"Okay." He finally said. "I get it. I really do. You told me why you were here in the first place, and NOT bringing other Earthers here until you were sure Wistram was safe makes sense. It also makes sense for you to pretend to be some of them to experience things for yourself." He shook his head, and his dreadlocks flew from side to side. "No. That actually DOESN'T make sense. Putting aside the 'why', HOW is it possible? I've spoken with you and them at the same time. I've listened to conversations you had with yourself! I watched you fight yourself!! Is this like a 'Jarvis' thing? Did you make an AI to impersonate them? You had to have, right? Jiahao threw up each time. How could you have predicted that? How could you not break character?"

I waited to make sure he was done before I replied. "One of my powers that I didn't tell you about was the ability to make a perfect copy of myself."

"So... they were copies of you?"

"No." I shook my head. "And it was more like a copy of my body that my consciousness controlled. Two bodies. One mind."

"How?"

"Superpowers tend to ignore laws of physics and other such things. I have my theories on how it worked, but ultimately they are just that." I smiled. "They also aren't relevant to this discussion. What is relevant, is that my other self isn't here, and the power to try and create him isn't working." I shrugged. "It may be that he was left behind, or that the power is working, but the link isn't, or any other number of possible reasons. Magic is involved, after all."

**Aaron is comforted.

He let out a laugh. "Yeah, magic is... well... magic."

I continued. "So, while I can't as easily be in two places at one time, I'm still pretty good at multi-tasking." Within reason. "I also got a [Skill] that's been helping me. Especially with the 'staying in character' part."

**Aaron is surprised.
**Aaron is thoughtful.
**Aaron is resigned.

"That... yeah. That tracks." He shook his head slightly. "That's how [Skills] work, right? They can let you do things you couldn't before, but they also can make you better at doing things you already can do."

"I've mentioned my sister before." I waited for him to nod before continuing. "She's the best surgeon in the world. That's her power. And, while I'm not close to being as skilled as her, I cam make use of her designs."

"The Life Model Decoys."

"Yes."

Aaron palmed his face and then fell back on his bed. "I get it. I really do. It wasn't something you did to hurt me specifically. You were infiltrating Wistram. You needed to fool everyone. But..."

"But?"

"It's hard not to take personally." He glanced up at me. "I mean, I wouldn't call Michail anything more than a passing acquaintance. Vincent and Jiahao?" He shook his head and then lay back down. "I like them, or liked them, in their own ways. It hurts to know that was all an act."

I walked over and sat down next to him. "It wasn't all an act. I'm confident that Jiahao will respond almost exactly as I did when I was pretending to be him. You can still play games with him. I'm sure he'll love that. Think of it more like... he's an old friend that doesn't remember things as well as you do."

"Hm." Aaron grunted.

"Besides." I nudged him. "We can play three player games now!"

He opened an eye. "So I can get crushed by two people instead of one?"

I shrugged. "Probably."

Aaron started to laugh. He fell silent and we sat there for a few minutes until he spoke again. "Why is Michail shorter than his Life Model Decoy?"

I blinked. "Oh. That." He nodded. "Well..." I rubbed the back of my head. "I didn't know what magical precautions Wistram had. If there was a key or something, some kind of trace that let people past barriers or was used to identify intruders."

"And?"

I sighed. "And I needed him to be large enough so I could hide inside. That seemed like the most fool-proof way to bypass any such thing."

"Wait." He smirked. "So you were crammed inside of his chest all that time?"

"Not all the time." I frowned. "It was able to move around without me. I only got inside when I needed to."

"Man." Aaron shook his head. "You crammed yourself inside of a fake Russian to infiltrate a magic school." He started laughing.

Current mirth aside, Aaron was still rightfully pissed at me. I needed to apologize, but words wouldn't cut it. It was time to break out my secret weapon.

...

**Aaron is happy.

"Oh, man..." He groaned with pleasure while I stood off to the side. "I'm still upset, but these really help make up for everything." He reached down and picked up another Oreo.

Well, not an 'Oreo' exactly. I'd Crafted it, so it looked strange. The taste was spot-on, or so I'd been told. The things I made to eat always tasted fine to me. It was when I started lowering parameters like saltiness, sweetness, firmness, or one of the other ones that other people objected. I needed to free up points to provide powers, so reducing some values was necessary for making power-granting food.

Most other people didn't care for the results, but not all of them. Sibby preferred her food like that. That made sense, as I think she's the one ultimately to blame. Gamer's Body is... kinda based off of her power. Not completely, since it doesn't work in the exact same way. Plus, its not one hundred percent effective. Plus, I can't use it offensively like the Siberian can. Still, at its core, it's the ability to negate forces that would affect me.

It's the best defensive power I could get - which isn't surprising considering its source.

The side effect, or at least the currently relevant side effect, is that my sense of taste is... different. It wasn't something I'd noticed until I started Crafting food that I found perfectly fine, but Riley despised. In hindsight, it made sense. I didn't know WHY Sibby was the way she was, but if I had to share a trait with her...

Having an 'off' sense of taste was a small price to pay, and was far better than being turned monochromatic or finding clothing unbearable.

Regardless, I'd grinded my Cooking Skill, and not just in the 'Crafting' sense. I'd liked baking before... everything. Using a recipe. Measuring out the ingredients. Combining them in just the right way...

It was fun.

After Scion I'd stepped back from a number of my powers: mainly Multiplayer and Instant Dungeon. I'd also decided to pick up a hobby that wasn't power-related. And that wasn't video games - at Riley's insistence. Personally, I think she was motivated by a desire not to eat Crafted food more than anything else.

In any event, I'd gotten up to level one-hundred over the years. The added benefit was that I had more points to spend while Crafting food. Unfortunately, I still seemed incapable of removing them in such a way to both add a power, and to keep the result palatable.

At least according to Riley. Sibby enjoyed my experiments.

On the other hand, if I only adjusted the Cooking sliders slightly - or not at all - the result was acceptable. More than acceptable, really. While manually changing the thousands of parameters was an effort in futility, Optimize lived up to its name.

I might not be able to perfectly balance texture, saltiness, sweetness, water content, roughage, and countless variations of those same aspects, but my Shard could. All it needed was a base food, and it turned it into some sort of platonic ideal of it.

Most of the time.

Riley still called it 'playing Russian Roulette with food'.

It seems that Optimize had gotten 'Oreos' down well. At least, if Aaron's moans of pleasure were any indication.

*Awkwardness negated by Gamer's Mind.

Yeah... I'm just going to leave him with his junk food apology.

---

Cognita and Pixel had fallen into a routine. They'd walk around Wistram and ensure that her school was doing well. She was the one that identified issues, and she was the one that took care of most of them. The [Superhero] handled some, and she was happy to let him do so.

The nominal reason behind it, and behind her allowing him to accompany her, was to observe him. She needed to know what Pixel was capable of if it ever came down to a fight between them. There were only three other people in the world she could truly trust.

...Two, now after Rhir and the loss of one of her sisters.

...One, possibly if Zelkyr...

Or, in the worst case scenario, zero, but she couldn't think about. She wouldn't.

Thus, she had started to look forward to her newly shared nightly patrols. It was comforting to have companionship and help. Additionally, she learned a great many things about Pixel and Earth.

Admittedly, most of them would most likely be of no help what-so-ever if they came into conflict, but it was still a novel experience. Generally speaking, Cognita didn't like new things. However, having a new thing become part of her old habits wasn't so bad.

A part of her questioned Pixel's motives. He clearly had some interest in her. It might be true that she, indeed, did remind him of an old friend. It also might be the case that he was simply acting within the bounds of his [Class].

He'd told Cognita that 'patrolling' was a common pastime for [Superheros] on Earth. That they would wander their domains and ensure the peace in the same way that city guards might - in the same way that Cognita did. It was an attempt at being proactive instead of reactive that also appealed to her.

Then there was the ulterior motive of his that she knew of: Amerys.

There might be others, but the Archmage of Lightning was one that she was certain of. Pixel had even confirmed that he wished to be the sole person in control of when Amerys was released. One by one, night after night, he drained one shackle on her after another.

It was a slow and methodical approach. One that she, once again, approved of. It spoke of order and patience that he was content to do such a thing over many nights. She was sure he had his reasons. His [Skill] in draining mana had a single usage per day - as far as she could tell. At the very least, he'd only demonstrated it to her once per night. On more than one occasion he'd used it to solve a minor issue they encountered. After that, they still visited Amerys, but Pixel didn't weaken her bindings.

Of course, it could be a bluff on his part. He knew she could see what he was doing, so he might be purposely misleading her. Cognita couldn't be sure without more observation.

"You seem to be in a good mood tonight." Pixel commented to her as they exited the room in which Amerys was frozen.

"No more than usual." Cognita kept her face and voice perfectly composed. It was easy of her to do so. They walked a short ways before she prepared to say her habitual farewell.

Pixel would say: 'I shall take my leave now, Cognita.' It was a pity he was still inconsistent with his actual wording, but the timing and the intention remained the same. She would reply: 'Very well, Pixel. Have a pleasant night.' Followed by a pause and: 'Will I see you tomorrow?'

Pixel would then reply: 'Of course.' before teleporting away. Once again, his precise wording varied.

It was a nice ritual they'd fallen into over the past week. One that reminded her of Zelkyr.

"Cognita, I have a question for you."

She stopped and looked at him. "What is it?" It was a deviation, and she almost frowned.

"Do you eat?" He hesitated, and while she couldn't see his face under the helmet, she thought he was furrowing his brow. "Or, rather, CAN you eat? It's my understanding that golems do not, but you are not like other golems. Do you have a sense of taste?"

She brought a hand to her chin and thought. If he had just left it at 'do you eat?', it would be easy to answer him. The other questions required more than a 'No', but she didn't want to go into Zelkyr's personal affairs.

"I do not eat." She replied, while not going into too much detail. "However, I have in the past." One of Zelkyr's experiments had been to grant her every 'natural' sense - including taste. He'd then wanted to see if she could swallow - and not have it interrupt the 'breathing' that she needed to speak. "I usually gain no benefit from it, but I can digest nearly anything." By altering her inner composition, she could liquefy and absorb food. The only possible use in doing so would be to increase her mass, but there were easier and more effective ways to do that. "I can taste, but I don't attach the same... significance that others do to it."

"Interesting." Pixel looked at the ground. "Would you say that food tastes 'bland' to you?"

She shrugged. "Yes." For the most part. There were only a few things that she'd enjoyed the taste of.

"What about mana potions?"

"What about them?"

Pixel raised his head to look at her. "How do they taste to you? I know that most find them unpalatable. Does drinking them provide any benefit to you?"

"The ones I've drunk in the past tasted fine. They are a useful way to replenish my mana if I need to go into environments where it is scarce." And if she was using more than her heart could produce.

"Interesting." Pixel mumbled to himself again.

"What brought this on?" She was used to answering his rather mundane questions, but there was usually a point.

"Blackmage requested I make him some food from Earth." Pixel answered. "It got me thinking about the types of food I can make, the powers they can grant, the way they taste, and another person who enjoys them." He let out a soft chuckle. "I thought you might be like her."

Like her? Cognita thought she detected some emotion in those last two words. "Is this the same golem from Earth you compared me to before?"

"No." He shook his head. "She's, well, it's hard to describe her. She's... well, she's herself. In most ways, the two of you are profoundly dissimilar." He paused. "In others... I think you're more alike than I'd first thought." Pixel let out a sigh. "Food was always important to her, but she also didn't gain sustenance from it. Most was bland to her, except for... specific things. My special food? The kind that gave you powers, but tasted vile to most people?" She could tell he was smiling. "She enjoys it."

"Ah." Cognita understood. "And you thought that I might as well?"

Pixel nodded. "Yes. Would you like to try some?"

Cognita tilted her head and considered the risks. She could not be poisoned. The 'food' Pixel gave her might be explosive, or have some other detrimental effect, but she deemed that as being extremely unlikely. She was no more vulnerable on the inside than the out.

Besides, if he wished to ambush her, he could do so without resorting to subterfuge.

"I am intrigued, and will taste your creations." She answered him. "Shall we head to the kitchens?"

Pixel held up a palm. "No need. I shall fetch them and return momentarily." He then vanished as he teleported away.

So he'd made some food already, but did not keep it within his spacial [Skill]? That implied two things. The first was that he'd been making use of the facilities within his room. That was mostly meaningless. The second, however, implied a limitation in what he could store on his person. That might be important later.

Pixel appeared a few moments later. He held a plate. On top of the plate were five perfectly rectangular bars.

No. Cognita looked closer. They weren't perfectly rectangular. While they were made up of cubes, they were composed of finer ones than most of what she'd seen of Pixel's creations. That allowed them to have tiny lumps - like they were a liquid that had set as it cooled.

"What are they?" Cognita inhaled, but could not detect any smell.

"I call them [Strength Snickers]."

She shifted her gaze to him. "And they help with laughter? You said that your food granted powers, but I am no [Jester]."

"What?" Pixel sounded puzzled. "Oh, right. 'Snickers'." He shook his head. "No, that's just the name of the food back on Earth... I don't really know why they're named that." He shrugged. "It's a dessert. Nougat, caramel, and nuts surrounded by a chocolate shell."

Cognita picked one up and frowned. "Chocolate?"

"You don't know what chocolate is?" Pixel sounded surprised. "Actually, I haven't seen any since coming here. Wow, uh, its hard to describe. It's sweet, but that's because of the sugar. Uhm... Rich? Creamy?"

Cognita held up her empty hand to quiet him. "You need not try to describe it. I am well aware that flavors are not something so easily translated into words." She then placed the confection inside of her mouth. While it would take a regular person multiple bites, she was larger and-

It was a trap!

Cognita chewed.

She'd fallen into Pixel's devious scheme!

How foolish she'd been!

She chewed some more.

The 'chocolate' was...

The sweetness was...

The Snickers was...

Delicious!

It truly was unlike any flavor she'd sampled before. It went beyond the mere interactions with the materials she'd transformed her mouth into. It was deeper. More real. She could 'taste' it inside of her heart.

In fact...

She felt a change sweep over her. There were only a few [Spells] that could affect her, but she was the creation of the [Archmage of Golems]. Zelkyr had granted her boosts to her innate powers before. This, this felt the same, but different.

What had Pixel called it?

[Strength Snickers]?

She'd focused too much on the second word, and hadn't considered the first. It was clear in hindsight: Pixel's food increased its eater's strength!

And tasted great as well.

---

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita is happy.
**Cognita is excited.

I smiled as my Homunculus successfully distracted Cognita, and allowed me the time to remove one of her compulsions. Only two more to go, but I should space them out and make it as gradual as possible.

...

[Hero Level 5!]

[Skill – Instinct obtained!]

Notes:

Bios:

Jiahao Mu - OC. Probably who he appears to be. Newly arrived at Wistram.

Vincent Mavuto - OC. Probably who he appears to be. Not at Wistram.

Michail Miroslavov - OC. Probably who he appears to be. Newly arrived at Wistram.

Chapter 42: Wistram and the Archmage of Cubes 6

[Hero Level 5!]

[Skill – Instinct obtained!]

The words that had been spoken to me as I went to bed were repeated when I woke up - as they always were.

Instinct?

What did instinct mean, and what would an [Instinct] skill do?

Could it possibly be a Thinker power? Something that provides a 'gut' feeling?

Hm...

I did feel... 'sorta' strongly like that was the case. It was vague, but it was there. Once again, it was something that was hard to quantify, but I think I was on the right track. I mean, what else could it be?

Finally, I'd gotten an information gathering [Skill]!

...Possibly.

Oh well. I shook my head as I stood up. No point in over-thinking it. If it's good, I'm sure to notice it working. In any event... I pushed mana into Threat Sense. No one was watching me.

Good. Not that I expected anyone to, but activating it when I woke up seemed like a good plan. Who knew what might happen while I was asleep? I then started sorting through the video feeds my cameras were providing.

Everything looked normal. No rampaging Cognita or armies of golems.

I smiled.

My cooking had been a good distraction. Furthermore, Cognita had actually enjoyed it! I'd thought it was a long shot, but Zelkyr had apparently granted her the ability to taste things. It seemed she really was like the Siberian in regards to my food. I'll have to make something else for her... but not just yet. I don't want to push things too fast, plus she'll need time to get used to one of her restrictions being removed.

'Want to help Zelkyr.' - That was the command I'd erased. I'd had plenty of time to make sure the mana that composed it was removed and released innocuously within her core. It had worked with the mud golems, so I was confident that there wouldn't be any adverse effects on Cognita.

However, there was always the possibility that it might reform. Zelkyr was apparently a master of his craft, and I shouldn't underestimate him. It was just another reason to wait and see how she reacted or changed.

Her other two shackles would be a bigger hurdle. 'Love Zelkyr.' would have to be left for last. It was too fundamental. Cognita would definitely notice it being gone, which meant that the ground work had to be laid before then.

People fell out of love every day, but it was a gradual thing. Similarly, if I could remove her imposed desire to help Zelkyr, then the rule that she trusted him... She'd slowly change. Hopefully enough that losing the 'Love Zelkyr' command wouldn't be too jarring.

Ideally, I'd want to spread these changes out over a long time, but I'd been in Wistram long enough. I'd accomplished most of my goals. I now knew a great deal more about magic and this world. I had a position of power and could thus shield any Earthers. Finally, I'd made a decent sanctuary for anyone I brought here.

Speaking of which, it was time to check on my base and add some more defenses.

...After visiting Viltach that was.

...

I appeared inside the base I'd built underneath the sea floor.

Well, 'built' in that I'd come up with the design and created the seed. The nano-bots, or the nano-bots that my Crafting power mimicked, did everything else. They absorbed materials into their mass and then converted them into walls, electronics, an other things.

I released all the air I'd Inventoried.

It wasn't much. I'd filled up the vacuum that had existed inside of the base before, but it was still expanding. Thus, I needed to release more every so often. There was an oxy-generation unit that I'd incorporated from a design from Dragon - no idea where she'd gotten it from. However, it wasn't turned on yet. Gamer's Body negated my need to breathe, and the base could only store so much MP. It was better not to waste it on unnecessary things.

I set down the two mud golems I'd been carrying. I couldn't Inventory magical items - except for my Mega Buster, so I'd had to carry the golems with me when I teleported.

The base didn't need them for defense, but it should be sufficiently far enough away from Wistram to avoid Cognita. I wasn't sure what her range was, but I knew that she could access all the golems inside the school in some fashion. Hopefully a few miles of water would both put me out of her range, and/or block it.

The golems themselves were un-impressive, but that wasn't the point. Rather, it was that they were capable of independent action. Without Boo and his clones, I lacked pilots for my various drones. Sure, I could issue commands to them, or even control a few manually, but that wouldn't be enough in a large-scale battle.

So, while the mud golems weren't much physically, that could be compensated for with a judicial application of technology.

The down side, of course, was that I didn't trust the golems. Archmage Viltach had made them, which was strike one. Furthermore, they were still largely a black box, which was strike two.

It wasn't anything that I couldn't fix. Power Drain and my Babel Perks let me understand most of the programming that existed within a golem's core. Creating one was far outside what I was capable of - even with Optimize's help. That didn't mean I couldn't understand their orders, or that I couldn't alter them.

After all, I'd done so with Cognita, and she was vastly more complex than the mud golems.

Thus, I was confident in usurping Viltach's control. The strand of mana that connected the golems to him had snapped from the distance. Using Power Drain to take its place was a simple matter.

Too simple, really.

No. These golems were more of a proof of concept than something I'd equip with anything dangerous. A weapon someone else could commandeer wasn't reliable.

But... I had to start somewhere.

That led to another issue - the fact that Viltach had made them with a [Skill].

The differences between the mud golems, and the permanent ones that existed within Wistram were obvious. The cores of the mud golems were... more ephemeral. Their mana was constantly leaking out. They wouldn't normally last a long time on their own.

In fact, golems #8 and 9 were already lifeless blobs of mud.

I shrugged. It wasn't like I'd expected anything else. It had happened with all the previous golems I'd left here. #10 and 11 might do better, but I wouldn't bet on it. I reached out to #10 with Power Drain and started molding the mana within its core.

I was attempting to fold it in such a way so that it mirrored what I'd seen in carved golems that had been made to last. I had no idea what I was doing, but I kept Threat Sense active just to make sure I didn't blow something up.

While I didn't really have any idea what I was doing, I was slowly learning. The mud golems wouldn't have died in vain.

Probably.

Eventually.

In any case, I finished my modifications before Inventorying the now non-magical remains of their predecessors. I then teleported out of the base and onto the ocean floor. The island of Wistram looked more like a pillar from here. What little of it I could see. It was mostly vertical, only being around twice the circumference at its base.

I had no knowledge of continental formations to say if that was normal or not. Besides, this wasn't Earth. So any facts that I might've known weren't exactly relevant.

I looked away from the 'island' and scanned the 'horizon'. There was nothing but water for as far as I could see - which wasn't much since there was virtually no light down here. It might be different outside of Wistram's weather shell, but inside there were no fish or anything else of interest around me. I made sure to look anyways. I'd feel stupid if I got attacked by some magical shark or something.

I didn't want to meet the fish that could survive the pressure on the ocean floor.

I un-Inventoried the mud... and then the weapon I'd gotten from Dragon.

*Apprehension negated by Gamer's Mind.

I'd been putting this off for too long. I needed to let it grow if I was going to use it.

I mentally sighed before swim-walking away from the base. I'd plant it outside of Wistram's weather shell - just to be safe.

...

"I made some more empowered food. Would you like to try it?"

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita is eager.
**Cognita is excited.

"Yes, I would Pixel." Cognita paused before asking a question. "While I enjoy it more than I'd thought I would, is it acceptable to you to continue making such things for me?"

I blinked, not that she could see it behind my helmet. "What do you mean?"

"This is the fifth time you've offered me food. Given the multiple day-long interval between them, and the quality of the effects, I was under the assumption that it is an involved process to create such things."

"Well..." I frowned. "You're not entirely wrong." I could get food items to use as Crafting materials easily enough, but I was spacing giving her the final products so it was both still a distraction, and frequent enough that she wouldn't (or shouldn't) be able to associate eating my food with any swings in her personality. There would be a clear correlation if I didn't do anything to hide it.

"Furthermore, you've stated in the past that you made this sort of food for a... friend of yours." She crossed her arms. "While I appreciate it, I do not wish to form such a relationship with you."

"What?"

*Surprise negated by Gamer's Mind.

"No, no." I held up my hands. "I like cooking, and I like people enjoying it." Goodness knows that Aaron, Jiahao, and Michail had all eagerly eaten... most of what I'd made for them.

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita is glad.

"I see." Cognita nodded. "If that is all, then I would enjoy trying your latest creation."

"Good. I'll return momentarily." I then teleported to the room below the hallway and un-Inventoried the Floating-Flank Steak I'd made, alongside a homunculus of myself. [Construct Vessel: Human] was one of the most useful [Skills] I'd gotten - if for no other reason than I could use the results for Crafting materials.

Without Sibby around, I couldn't easily use my own chopped off limbs. Man... I'd gotten faaaar too comfortable with her ripping them off and regrowing them.

I could've used one of the other homunculi I still had as a body-double, but Cognita might notice the change in my body's shape, even under the armor. Or, more likely, its voice. It was better to play it safe.

The armor it wore possessed a teleportation module, which I activated to return it to Cognita's side.

"Here." It offered the plate. "This should reduce your weight by one quarter."

"Interesting." Cognita picked up one of the slices between two of her fingers, and brought it over her head before lowering it into her mouth. "Yes, it tastes... lightweight for lack of a better adjective."

While she thoroughly chewed her meal, I sat and waited for Expansion to extend Power Drain's range far enough. Once it had, I connected with her and moved through her core to where the commands were written.

Love Zelkyr.

Trust Zelkyr.

'Want to help Zelkyr.' was still gone. I didn't detect any mana where it had been, so was hopefully proof that it had been permanently deleted. I moved Power Drain to 'Trust Zelkyr' and started pulling a small amount of mana out of it, before releasing the mana back into her core.

I tried to target 'empty' spaces, as I could possibly cause untold damage if I altered any other part of her mind.

Something felt wrong.

Was it the mana in her core? Someone coming down the hallway? Something else?

My homunculus didn't have Threat Sense, so I couldn't be getting anything from it... Still... I felt like something was about to...

I cut off Power Drain.

A moment later, Cognita jumped into the air. Wistram tended towards large spacious rooms, and its hallways were no different. Not only did they allow for enough room for Cognita to move around, there was a couple of feet between her and the ceiling.

Normally, that was. Now, there wasn't any at all.

That was because she'd flipped in mid-air and 'landed' upside-down.

"Interesting." She looked down at my double. "Very interesting."

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yes. This is something that I could almost do before, but floating isn't the same as being pushed away from the ground."

"I see."

"How long will the effect last?"

I frowned and thought for a moment. "I'd estimate about ten minutes per slice eaten."

"Excellent." She smiled as she gracefully flipped down from the ceiling and landed in front of 'me'. She then took the platter from my hands. "I think I shall observe my castle from a new vantage point tonight. Sleep well, Pixel."

"Ah, uh, good night, Cognita."

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita is glad.

Okay... so I hadn't expected that. Good thing I cut Power Drain when I did. But why had I...

Oh. Of course.

Instinct.

My newest [Skill] was not as detailed as Threat Sense, but seemed to be... wider in scope? Definitely an information gathering ability, and a useful one at that.

Now the question was: should I use it as it is, or sacrifice it?

Decisions, decisions.

...

"Here." My homunculus offered the plate with the [Spicy Sushi]. "These should reduce any damage that fire would do to you."

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita trusts Zelkyr.
**Cognita is excited.

"I see." She took one of the morsels and placed it in her mouth. "This is a dish from Drath, is it not?" She frowned slightly as she chewed. "No, you haven't visited there, have you? That would mean another similarity between this world and yours."

'I' nodded. "I notice more and more of them as I learn about this world. There are far too many such shared food, phrases, or other things for it to be a mere coincidence."

"Indeed." She took another piece of sushi from the plate. "While I do not need an increased ability to withstand flames, I find the taste quite different, but pleasant."

"I'm glad."

After she ate the last one, Cognita nodded at me. "Sleep well, Pixel."

"Goodnight, Cognita."

**Cognita loves Zelkyr.
**Cognita is happy.

Two down, one to go. I think I need to wait longer before disabling her final hidden shackle. I'll probably do it right before I leave. I know it's not very responsible of me to fundamentally alter the most dangerous person in Wistram before going away, but I'm getting anxious about searching for Riley.

The days were passing a lot quicker now that I no longer had to spend them impersonating other people. Between my experiments with golems and magicore, I was spending a lot of time with Archmage Viltach. He... wasn't so bad.

As far as magical things went, he was knowledgeable. Not that most other [Mages] in Wistram weren't. Heck, if I picked any one of them at random, they'd probably know more about magic and mana than I did. It was more like Viltach's specialty worked well with what I was able to do.

Or, rather, the foundational part of his specialty.

I knew that he was more focused on making high-quality magical items, and that his experiments in producing high-quality materials was just a means to an end. It still dovetailed nicely into what I could do. More advanced things were beyond me, but with Power Drain modifying mana directly - I was both providing a useful service and learning.

You had to be a skilled electrician to wire a house. It took a lot less knowledge to repair what was already there - or break it in a fundamental way. Besides, learning the rules to a game was always the first step.

---

Aaron yawned as he walked back to his room. He no longer had an escort, and he kinda missed Teura. Especially on nights like tonight.

The Winter chill had reached its peak. Wistram's weather magic was still working, but it was an undeniable fact that it had been getting colder and colder. The halls were eerily silent as he walked down them, and the shadows seemed both longer and deeper somehow.

The only other things moving this late were golems, and even they seemed more quiet and... stiller somehow.

It was magic, he guessed. An experiment gone wrong. Something in the air. Or something in the mana. Or something in the mana that was in the air.

...Or he might be projecting his mood. He still hadn't been able to get a magical battery working. He'd made a shock orb with Archmage Nailihuaile's help. It might be a first step, but it wasn't useful for anything more than electrocuting people as it currently was.

He'd ruined one of Jiahao's hand consoles beyond what [Repair] could fix by connecting it to the orb.

His friend had been enraged and hadn't spoken to him for a week after that. It was a good thing that Pixel had given the Asian [Gamer] a super-tech game console in exchange for all of this Earth electronics months ago. If he hadn't, then they might no longer have been friends.

To Jiahao, the Vita had been a collector's item, but it was no longer necessary for playing games.

Thus, it was nice to have, but not an essential part of being a [Gamer].

Aaron put it out of his mind as he reached the door to his room. He glanced to his left and right before spinning around to make sure there wasn't anyone behind him...

Nope. He was alone. It was just nerves making him think he was being watched and followed. He still opened his door, slipped in, and quickly closed it behind him.

"[Light]."

A glowing orb appeared above his hand. He raised it up, and left it hanging in mid-air.

It wasn't enough.

His room was still too dim.

"[Light]. [Light]. [Light]. [Light]." He couldn't direct the balls he made without physically moving them, so he had to walk around placing them one-by-one. There. That was the living room done.

Aaron swallowed as he looked at the doors leading to his bedroom and bathroom. They were still cloaked in shadows. The darkness seemed to resist being pushed back by his [Spell].

"[Light]. [Light]." He cast it twice more, so that he had one shining sphere in each of his hands. Aaron then slowly walked towards his bedroom - which somehow seemed much, much more foreboding than it had ever been before. His magic pushed back the gloom and revealed a strange man waiting for him!

!!!

Aaron's breath caught in his throat before he realized it was just his dirty robe he'd hung on his bed post. His heart raced as he forced himself to breathe. He placed his two light-sources in the corners. "[Light]. [Light]." He then created two more for the other side of the room. That way there wouldn't be any shadows that someone could hide in...

But there was the bed.

Specifically, there was underneath the bed.

"[Light]." He was being stupid. He knew it. No one was waiting for him underneath his bed. Even if they were, what would they be waiting for? To ineffectively grab his leg while they were prone? No. He shook his head. It was a ludicrous idea.

...He still bent down and rolled one final orb under there - just to be sure.

No one was there. No [Assassins]. No [Slavers]. No goblins. No Samara.

Aaron swallowed and returned to the living room. Speaking of Samara, there was still the bathroom.

He NEVER should've watched that film with Jiahao. A fun little movie his ass.

"[Light]. [Light]." Armed with more sources of illumination, he braved the darkness again. He most definitely didn't let out a small scream when he saw himself in the mirror.

Aaron took a deep breath. Wistram might have plumbing, or the magical equivalent, but his bathroom was still bare-bones compared to what he'd have on earth. It consisted of little other than a bowl used for a sink, a magical faucet, a mirror, a shelf to hold toiletries, and a toilet.

There were no cabinets. No shower. No places for anyone to hide. There wasn't even a place beneath the bowl. He had to manually empty it into the toilet.

The toilet...

"[Light]." One final orb went there. It was fine. No long, dark hair climbing up it. What could even hide there?

Rats?

Aaron nodded his head. Rats.

He took the bowl and placed it on top of the toilet to block off any wandering rodents. "Wait. I'm being stupid." He put the bowl back under the faucet, turned on the water, let it get half-way full, then put it back. "That should stop 'em." Besides, he wouldn't have to wait for the bowl to fill up to flush in the morning.

Aaron walked back to his living room, and spun around when he heard a knock on his door.

He put a hand on his chest and breathed deeply. He was too jumpy. He could feel his heart beating quickly, and felt silly. It was probably just Jiahao - coming over to play some late night games. Aaron groaned. He was tired, and he didn't have a skill to let him stay up all night like some people.

He let out a sigh and went to open the door. Some company and a few games might be fun.

There was no one there.

Aaron poked his head out the doorway and looked left and right. Nope. No one. No golems. Just shadows and barely flickering torches. "Hello?" Was this some prank? Was he imagining things?

"Greetings and Hello, Blackmage." The voice came from behind him!

Aaron spun around. There was a man standing in the middle of his room. He was tall, but hunched over. He wore robes that looked like they might've once been magnificent, but it was hard to tell in the gloom. His thin arms held a faded and worn book that looked even more ancient, and his eyes gleamed behind a pair of spectacles.

"Who-" Aaron stammered. "Who are you?"

The man nodded his head. "I am but a teacher, looking for a student. You, Aaron Vanwell, are a seeker of knowledge. I can impart a great deal to you."

"Me?" Aaron's head swam. "You're a teacher of Wistram? I've never seen you before."

"I have taught here, but not for many years." The man stepped forward and extended his arm. "Come, take my hand and let me guide you."

"Uhm..." Aaron started forward. He should just take his hand. A handshake was the polite thing to do when meeting someone. That was a thing in this world? Right? He thought he remembered that...

A chill breeze flowed over his back.

Aaron shivered.

He'd left the door open. That was wrong. He turned around and closed it. When he looked back into his room, the man was still there. But... hadn't he been closer a moment ago?

Aaron shook his head and stepped closer to one of his balls of light that still hung in the air. It seemed dimmer now. "So you're another Archmage? And you can teach me magic?"

"Magic?" The tall man's pale eyes gleamed. "Yes. I can teach you such magic!" He shook his head. "But you are not ready to learn it yet."

"Oh. Okay." That made sense, he guessed. He was still a novice.

"But, I know more than magic. Much more. I am a scholar without peer." He held out his hand again.

A scholar. Yes. That was right. He looked like a scholar. A scholar, a historian, a teacher - those words described him perfectly. Even 'Archmage'. Aaron had thought that Feor had looked like Dumbledore or Gandalf, but he now thought that Dumbledore and Gandalf looked like... like...

"I didn't get your name." Aaron blinked in confusion. Also, the man didn't have a beard, but that somehow didn't feel wrong.

"My name has been forgotten." The man slumped. "It is Emerrhain, but I shan't expect you to remember it."

"Emerrhain?" Remember it? Aaron felt strange. Like he was dreaming. So he guessed it made sense that he'd forget stuff. "How can you teach me if I forget it?" He was confused.

"A secret has parts that are both known and unknown." Emerrhain drew closer. "It is the way of knowledge. Great discoveries persist, even if their source fades from the collective memory. Sage Grass. Stichfolk. Naq-Alrama. I know where they came from. I know who invented them. I can share that with you. Does it matter if you forget some details as long as the important part remains?"

"I guess not?" Aaron took a step forward and started to raise his hand... but he hesitated. "I wouldn't mind learning about those things." A secret was a secret in Wistram. "But, they aren't very useful to me personally..."

"Then, how about hidden rooms within these halls where you'll be safe? The inner thoughts of the so-called 'Archmages'? I can lay their schemes bare to you!" Emerrhain smiled. "I know the secrets of lightning and currents. With my help, you can combine magic and your 'electronics'!"

"Really?"

"Yes." Emerrhain loomed above him. "Just take my hand."

He was really insistent about that, but it wasn't THAT strange. Lots of people had customs for greeting others. Why shouldn't Aaron shake his hand? It was only common courtesy. Some teaches demanded bowing, or pledges, or other things. Taking his hand would be a small price to pay.

Aaron reached out... and jumped when there was a knock on his door.

He glanced at it, and then back at Emerrhain. The tall man was now back in the center of the room. Or had he always been there? Aaron frowned a little and tried to think. The knocking repeated, and he turned to open the door.

"Hey! Blackmage!" Jiahao brushed past him while looking down at the video game console Pixel had made for him. "I found great new game! You like! We can-" He looked up and saw Emerrhain for the first time. "Who that?"

Aaron followed behind Jiahao. "His name is Emerrhain, and he's a..." What exactly was he? An Archmage? No, that felt wrong. Too dismissive. An [Archmage]? That couldn't be right either. There were no more [Archmages]. Something else? Like a [Magical Teacher]? That felt more fitting, but now that Jiahao was here, Aaron took a closer look. The light around Emerrhain was noticeably dimmer. It even felt colder from his direction. In fact... Aaron didn't think he was breathing. "A ghost?"

Hogwarts had ghosts. Surely Wistram did as well.

...Although Aaron had never seen one before.

"A ghost?" Jiahao looked at Emerrhain, who seemed to... wilt along the edges. The [Gamer] grabbed part of Aaron's currently disassembled iPhone and tossed it underhanded towards the middle of the room. "Catch."

Emerrhain did just that. His hand that wasn't holding the ancient book darted out as quick as a snake and plucked the plastic shell out of mid-air.

"I have much that I can teach you." The not-ghost examined the outer section of Aaron's phone. "Much that would intrigue you." He held the casing up. "Your world is one of great knowledge, and such things are more than the sum of their parts. Just think what you can accomplish with my help! The wonders of combining technology and magic! Mana and electricity! It will be a new dawn, and you'll be the foremost pioneer! All you have to do, is take my hand!"

That... that sounded nice. Aaron reached out again, but Emerrhain's hands were full...

"Yeah, yeah. What bout games?" Someone spoke from beside him. Aaron turned. Oh, right. Jiahao was here.

"Games?"

"Yeah, video games. Can you make those?"

"I..." Emerrhain seemed taken aback. "Why do you pursue such... ah, I see. You wish to become a [Gamer] do you not? Such a unique [Class]. And one so hard to make out." His pale eyes squinted like he was trying to look at something that wasn't in focus. "It is new. Its role is still evolving." The not-ghost smiled. "However, I can tell you secrets about [Classes] that not even the Emirs know of. Details that even the most learned of men have only brushed up against. With my guidance, you can have all that and more, if you but take my hand."

Jiahao tilted his head. "So, like a walkthrough?"

"It would be more than patrolling a city or house. I can lay bare the inner workings of the Great Design!"

"Yeah..." Jiahao was smiling. His arms fell to his sides, and the game console slipped from his fingers. "That sounds good." He took a step forward, then another and another until he was right next to Emerrhain.

"Yes." The man smiled. "Just take my hand." The iPhone case was gone. Aaron hadn't noticed where or when it had vanished, but Emerrhain's right hand was empty again. His long fingers extended and a look of greed passed over his face as the two reached for each other.

Then they touched, and Aaron screamed as Emerrhain's face seemed to fall away. Or the magic around it. Aaron wasn't sure if he was a ghost, but he certainly was dead. His pale skin darkened until it was hard to see in the shadows. What was visible outside of his torn and ragged clothes was horrifying enough. Strings of flesh connected grime-covered bones. Straggly bits of decaying skin were mixed with what remained of his hair. His nose and lips were gone, but his eyes somehow remained. Their eerie pale color made them seem to sink deeper and deeper into his skull.

Emerrhain's rotting flesh twisted as he smiled.

Jiahao collapsed.

"Yes!" The ghoul turned to look at Aaron. "Do not worry, child. A teacher can have multiple students. I had come for you, but this one..." Emerrhain's rotting face twisted in confusion. "This one..." He let go of Jiahao's arm and it fell to the floor. "This one is an empty shell! A puppet! A hollow thing!"

"That's right." Aaron recognized that voice! He turned to look as Pixel entered the room. "You identified it, now the question is, what are you?" He was in his larger, white armor. Slots opened up on his shoulders, and twin lasers shot out and struck Emerrhain in the chest!

...To absolutely no effect.

"You dare!?! You assault ME? HERE? ON THIS NIGHT? You think I cannot harm you? You... You..." Emerrhain towered over them, and the air grew thick with the stench of death. Aaron's knees gave out. He felt hot and cold. Like he was feverish. "What are you?" Emerrhain's eyes glowed brighter. "An [Avatar]?" His form shrunk. "No. That's not possible. Who got to you? Who came here first?" The ghost charged forwards with his arms stretched out to grasp them. "No one but I deserves to be HERE!!!"

Pixel didn't answer with words. Instead he dropped into a familiar-looking stance and swung at the lich. Unlike before, Emerrhain flinched as Pixel's fists passed through his jaw. It seemed to do no damage, but it did cause him to abort his charge and step back.

Or had he always been that far away?

The small part of Aaron's brain that could still think rational thoughts wondered how Pixel was so calm. Or why he had gone from lasers to punches. That seemed odd, despite it being more effective. The [Superhero] looked at him. Aaron couldn't see his face, but he got a distinct sense that he was worried about something.

"Stop that." Pixel spoke to the monster. "He can't stand that much mana."

"And you can?" Emerrhain's rotten lips curved upwards. "I might not have my full strength, but I can still-" A golden beam of light pierced his chest. "Wha-" His smile turned into a sneer as his hand clasped where the attack had struck. He glared at them with hate-filled eyes before...

Before...

Everything seemed so hazy...

...

Aaron opened his eyes and winced at how bright his room was. He was on his bed, and Pixel was standing over him - without any armor. "Pixel?" Had it all been a dream?

"Rest, Blackmage." The other Earther frowned. "I've drained the excess mana from you, but the debuffs..." He paused for a second before continuing. "The damage to your body remains. It should heal, but don't use any magic until you feel better."

"Oh." Was that what had happened? "Okay." Had it all been a hallucination? "What happened?" No, it had to be real, right? "What was that thing?"

"A nightmare." Pixel turned his head and looked at the wall.

Aaron followed his eyes, and saw a hole. A hole that hadn't been there before. One that went from his living area to his bedroom. He glanced at the other wall, and saw a similar hole on the other side. That had to have come from that golden beam. Just how far had Pixel's final attack bored through Wistram?

Or had he imagined that too?

Aaron struggled to stay awake, but his eyes kept closing.

He finally let his head fall against his pillow.

He immediately fell into a dreamless sleep.

---

What WAS that? It was a good question. A nightmare seemed like a fitting description. At least the Golden Gun had managed to drive it off - if not hurt it. If it hadn't... Well, I could always have tried activating [Thread of Fate]. I still didn't know what that [Skill] did, but desperate times... The result couldn't have been worse than... whatever that THING had been. Even after I'd sacrificed Instinct to Observe, I hadn't managed to glean any more information.

Just... that it was dangerous.

...But not in a way that I could really put into words. Or, rather, not in a way that Observe put into words for me. The feeling from Instinct was deeper now that it was 'bound', but it was still just that: a feeling.

However, I had gotten the impression that it had been interested in Aaron because he was from Earth. In fact, I was sure of it.

If something like that was out there, something that was searching for Earthers, then I needed to find Riley and Sibby immediately!

*Panic negated by Gamer's Mind.

Well, I was planning on leaving Wistram next week anyways. All I needed to do was to wrap things up with Cognita and Viltach, and make sure they and the rest of the Archmages knew about tonight's intruder. Before that, I desperately needed to expel the excess mana I'd gotten from whatever attack the creature had used, and from what I'd pulled out from Aaron.

I was empowering as many of my mana-capable skills as possible, but I still needed to shove the extra into some magicore.

I teleported to my room where I had some to work on. While I fed it mana, I thought back to what my cameras had caught. I now wished I kept a recording of my various spying device feeds, but an internal one would've increased their size and cost - not to mention being an unacceptable security risk.

So, I only had my memory of what I'd seen before and during the encounter. 'Emerrhain' hadn't shown up on the data stream I'd gotten from my cameras. Instead, I'd noticed Aaron behaving strangely and talking to himself. If Instinct hadn't made me worried... then I might not even have gone to investigate.

I was already regretting sacrificing it to Observe, but it seemed like the best choice at the time. Even in the middle of the fight, the cameras hadn't seen our opponent. It had been disconcerting to have multiple points of view on the same situation and not having them show the same thing...

I pumped mana into the magicore as I thought about what to do next.

...

Finally! I'd finally bled off the excess mana. I still had far too many Oversaturated debuffs, but I'd live. Hopefully so would Aaron. I checked the feeds coming from his room. He was asleep with the lights on. No signs of discomfort. I'll go and check in on him in the morning and apply some more Rapid Regeneration.

I then checked in on Jiahao and Michail before going to sleep myself. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

I was tempted to stay awake - in case the nightmare returned, but I already had too many Tired debuffs. My Con was so low that I might literally die from lack of sleep if the Overstaturated debuffs didn't wear off quickly enough.

[Hero Level 7!]

[Boxer Level 5!]

[Infiltrator Level 12!]

[Avatar Level 3!]

[Conditions Met: Hero →Superhero Class!]

[Class Consolidation: Boxer removed.]

[Class Consolidation: Infiltrator removed.]

 

[Superhero Level 10!]

[Skill - Good Naming Sense obtained!]

[Skill - Energizing Touch obtained!]

[Skill - Fast Hands obtained!]

[Skill - Heroic Tolerance: Mana obtained!]

[Skill - Don the Mask obtained!]

[Skill Change – Lightning Jab →Juggernaut Punch!]

[Skill - Juggernaut Punch obtained!]

I blinked.

[Superhero]! Finally! But... [Hero] + [Boxer] + [Infiltrator]? What sort of criteria did The Grand Design of Isthekenous have for [Superhero]? And why was it green?

(And how was I hearing 'green'? Even with Ears of Babel, that was a novel experience.)

I guess I HAD used [Skills] from both [Boxer] and [Infiltrator] in the fight.

A heroic Stranger who punches people... That wasn't an uncommon skill set for a vigilante on Earth Bet. I could name a dozen capes that matched that description off the top of my head. Although... There was one other that came to mind - not because I knew him, or because he was real, but because I'd just finished playing Arkham Knight after hearing Jiahao go on and on about it...

The Grand Design of Isthekenous was clearly watching everything we did, but surely a conversation and video game wasn't enough for it to... what? Create a [Class]?

Or... was it still watching Earth Iota too?

Notes:

Bios:

Emerrhain - The God of Scholars, Magic, Studies and Secrets. He is currently Dead, but not as Dead as most of the other Gods. He is a schemer and smug but also cowardly in the face of danger. Like the other Dead Gods that still exist as something more than shadows - he tried using the Winter Solstice to reach out to people that knew about Gods and Religion. Aaron wasn't his first, nor his last attempt of the night.

Chapter 43: Interlude - Little Mac

Little Mac appeared and looked around for someone to fight.

Sand, sand, sand, cactus, sand

Nope. No opponents. Kevin must've summoned him to practice. That was what he was summoned to do most of the time. Without Kevin, himself, or Boo around, there were only a few options...

Little Mac started shadow-boxing.

Left jab, duck, right jab, weave, bob, UPPERCUT!!!

Right jab, left jab, sway, left jab, left jab, left jab, UPPERCUT!!

Left jab, right jab, left hook, right hook, left body blow, right body blow, UPPERCUT!!

Over and over Little Mac punched the air while envisioning opponents. There were a nearly infinite number of punch combinations, and he would go through them all.

...Or at least all of them that ended in an uppercut. You always had to end in an uppercut!

...

The sun had set and risen, and Little Mac decided it was time to change things up. He could punch all day, but shadow-boxing was only one of his training routines. With no one else around, he couldn't spar, so he was left with one more option: road work.

Little Mac began to run, while occasionally throwing a punch.

He didn't know as much about running as he did about punching, but he did know that running on sand was harder than running on a road. Thus, it was better. Besides, he might come across a sparring partner.

Kevin had told him it was okay to do road work infrequently, and it usually ended with Kevin summoning him away. Why crowds started to gather when he ran... he had no idea. A few people challenged him to a spar though, so it was a good thing.

Little Mac ran and ran. He stopped and shadow-boxed. He ran some more. He shadow-boxed some more.

The sun set and rose over and over.

Little Mac was starting to get worried. Kevin didn't usually leave him to train on his own for this long.

...

"Hey!"

"Argh!"

"Circle around!"

"Protect the horses!"

"Where are the spears!"

"It got Kennie!"

"You stupid bug!"

Little Mac heard the commotion as he jogged. You had to pace yourself when exercising. The sounds of combat were faint, but distinctive. Little Mac picked up the pace and dashed towards it!

He crested a sand dune and saw a bunch of people in metal armor with weapons bullying a poor, defenseless scorpion!

The scorpion's tail lashed out and stabbed one of the men. He screamed, fell to the ground, and writhed for a few seconds before falling still and quiet.

Hmmm...

It might be the scorpion that was doing the bullying.

Little Mac didn't bother fighting or sparring with things that couldn't fight back. That wasn't how things were done. However, the gigantic scorpion clearly didn't fall into that category. In fact, this didn't look like a sparring situation at all!

No. The more Little Mac watched, the surer he was that it was a real fight!

That made him pause. Kevin had been very specific about when he could and couldn't fight for real. His creator wasn't around to give him instructions, so the only other time was to protect innocents. Or, at least, non-combatants. It wasn't like Little Mac could identify who was and wasn't innocent.

The men were losing, but they might have started the confrontation in the first place. Besides, it wasn't like they weren't combatants. They clearly had weapons, armor, and some training. Little Mac decided to keep watching until he understood the situation better.

One of the men got picked up in the scorpion's claws, and was then bisected.

That seemed to be the breaking point for the rest of them, as they turned and ran. One of them got stung in the back, but the rest made it. The scorpion then advanced on the wagons, horses, and other people. The armed men had been between the two groups, but with their abandoning of their positions, the scorpion was free to advance.

Now that it was attacking innocents, or at least non-combatants, Little Mac charged!

He appeared in the blink of an eye in front of the scorpion and jabbed it in its head. Even if this was a real fight and not a spar, he needed to pull his punches. Kevin had told him to only go all-out when Kevin explicitly said to.

The scorpion seemed un-fazed. It snapped its right claw forward.

Little Mac knew its pattern already, and swayed to the left. He then followed behind the retreating appendage and threw a left jab, then a right, then a left! Each punch was a little stronger than the last, with the final one causing the scorpion's legs to buckle slightly.

There. That was the sweet spot. The amount of power that would hurt, and knockout, but hopefully not kill. Little Mac knew a LOT about how to strike people precisely. He was normally able to knock someone out without any permanent injuries.

Well, aside from losing consciousness. That was always dangerous in its own way, but better than having one's head literally knocked off.

The scorpion retaliated by stinging him with its tail. Or at least trying to. Little Mac dashed forward and low, which both avoided the (relatively) deadly appendage, and put him in position for his favorite attack!

UPPERCUT!!

He caught his opponent right in the center of its mass and flipped it into the air! The scorpion seemed to float for a moment before it fell with a muted thud onto the sand. It laid on its back, and its legs curled inward.

K.O.

...Or it might be dead. Little Mac hadn't hit it THAT hard, but he also didn't know how much damage gigantic scorpions could take. Either way...

Little Mac raised his hands above his head and bounced on the balls of his feet. He pumped his arms up and down as he celebrated his win.

One of the armored men approached with his sword drawn, and Little Mac dropped down into a fighting stance again.

"Stop you fool!" A voice cried out from the wagons. "Don't approach it. You might trigger its combat routine!"

"What?" The man stopped and started backing away. Once he was far enough back, he lowered his sword, and Little Mac resumed his celebration.

"That's clearly a golem, its owner must be around here somewhere, and we don't want to offend whomever it is!"

"There's no one around, not for hundreds of miles. Not unless there's a caravan coming from the other direction."

"It doesn't look or act like a natural golem. I suppose it might be a rogue golem, those do happen on occasion. Still, we might be able to sell it for a good price in Illivere."

"Illivere? We aren't going to Illivere!"

"Yes, but I might if the price is right."

...

Little Mac ran beside the wagons. The men had argued with one another, then waited, then argued some more. Eventually the non-armored one had come up to him and told him to follow them. Little Mac didn't have anything better to do, apart from training, so he did.

Besides, road work was road work.

The group pressed on for days, and when they stopped for the night, Little Mac switched up his exercises. It would've been nice if some of the group had sparred with him, but no one had approached him. Did they not think he couldn't adjust his strength or something?

If he could communicate with them like he did with Kevin, then he could've asked. But he couldn't. So, he simply trained.

The situation changed as they started to encounter other people on the 'road'. The group spoke with them as they passed, and the general mood seemed to increase. Soon, they came to a city.

The man who'd told Little Mac to come with them, and to come inside a building.

"And what's this?" A fat man sat behind a desk.

"A rogue golem we found."

"Hmmm." The man glared at Little Mac. "[Appraisal]. That's odd. Guess there's no real market for it here."

"Yes, but it wasn't included on the initial forms, since we found it on the way, so I need an amendment."

"You planning on selling it here?"

"No." He placed a small bag on the desk that made a slight clinking sound.

"Fine." The fat man plucked the bag up and slipped it inside of his robe. "Standard fee for transporting magical items. If you do sell it, you'll have to pay an additional tax. Make sure to keep this form for when you leave Nerrhavia Fallen." He spoke with the bored tone of someone reciting the same thing for the hundredth time. Little Mac might not be skilled at anything other than fighting, but even he could notice something like that.

The caravan leader led Little Mac to another building, spoke with someone, and then headed upstairs. The pair entered a living area that had a bed, desk, lamp, and other things that Little Mac recognized.

"Stay here."

Little Mac watched the man leave. He had no reason to obey him, but he also had no reason not to. So, he began shadow-boxing again.

Night fell, and the man came back. He was swaying on his feet and slurring his speech. "I'm gonna make so mush money offa yooou!" He hiccuped. "Illivere will pay well, even if you are a rogue. They like golems up in Illivere!"

Was he punch drunk? Little Mac smelled the odor that was wafting off of the man. Nope. Not punch drunk, just regular drunk.

The man collapsed on top of his bed and started snoring loudly. Little Mac went back to his shadow-boxing.

...

It was the middle of the night when the door to the room was kicked open.

Little Mac ceased his routine and watched. Was this something he should stop? Help? He knew, in a general sense, that violence was frowned upon. Just like Kevin had told him to not kill people (or to try and not kill people), he'd also told him about stopping crime.

Little Mac found that confusing. 'Crime' was so... difficult to categorize. What was a crime? Some things were easy to identify - like when he'd run across men beating someone up. Some were hard - like when he'd run across men beating someone up, but the men were wearing a specific outfit.

"Taylo Rrawford! In the name of [Queen] Yisame, you are under arrest!" The man who was shouting was one of the armored guards from the caravan. He wasn't wearing armor now, but Little Mac had learned to distinguish different faces.

"Wha?" The caravan leader, who's name was apparently Taylo, groggily raised his head.

The guard was on him in a second. He flipped him over and applied a passable arm-lock.

"Good job in subduing the criminal." The fat man from the previous day walked into the room.

"You?" Taylo craned his neck to the side to look at the speaker. If the arm-bar had been better done, he wouldn't have been able to do that. "What's going on, is this about the golem mph-"

The guard slapped his other hand over the man's mouth. "I think he just tried to have his golem kill us!"

"I think you're right." The fat man smirked. "Do it."

"With pleasure." The guard leaned forward and whispered. "This is for getting my friends killed because you wouldn't hire more guards. And because you're a miserable bastard who nearly got us lost with your 'secret route'!"

"No! Wait!" Taylo shouted as the hand came away from his mouth. His cries died as a dagger was rammed into the underside of his jaw and into his brain.

Little Mac watched. What was a golem? How had Taylo used one to attack them from his position? Was killing him warranted?

No... it probably wasn't. Little Mac decided he should do something.

"A [Murderer]!" The fat man pointed. "[The Queen's Justice]!"

The guard spun around. His eyes were wide and surprised.

He raised his hands to his neck and opened his mouth, but no sounds came out. There seemed to be an indentation around his throat. He fell to his knees, while clawing at the invisible rope that was choking him. The invisible rope, that didn't seem to actually be there. His eyes bulged more and more as his face turned purple...

Then he collapsed.

Little Mac didn't know what was going on.

The fat man came up to him. "Well, well, well. I guess that makes you legally seized goods." His smile caused Little Mac to suspect that he was a supervillain. "Before his... untimely turn towards murder, Shizba told me that you do whatever someone asks, so... follow me!"

Little Mac felt that something was off... but he wasn't sure what. Still, he had nothing better to do. So, he followed the fat man.

Chapter 44: Self Actualization 1

Notes:

Author's Note: This arc takes place in Roshal, and deals with one of the most vile characters in the story. There are references to torture, slavery, and mind breaking. I will be adding a summary at the end of the chapter for people who do not wish to read about such things.

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

Something was different. It was wrong. A connection that hadn't been there before. She tried to snap it... but failed!

A group of men and three capes surrounded her. She recognized the winged man, fire tiger, and plant woman as the capes that had been chasing her before. Most of the regular-looking people were dressed well, if not as gaudy as the rest. The ones that wore the most expensive looking clothes looked eager and wore smiles she normally punished people for. Everyone else looked... tired. Their eyes drooped. Their limbs were hanging limp at their sides. One stifled a yawn. It was as if they'd been awake for days.

But that couldn't be the case. The capes had chased her through the city. Their attacks had destabilized her form again and again. They'd finally been able to corner her in the location where she kept on being re-summoned. That had been just after dawn.

She looked around. The sun was high in the sky. Time had passed from when she'd last popped.

Someone said something, but she ignored it.

She could un-summon herself, but she couldn't do the reverse. Only William or Kevin could summon her. Or, she mentally added, whatever it was that kept reforming her at this location. It had been bringing her back with no delay previously.

Something had clearly changed.

Someone said something again. She ignored whomever it was and craned her neck to try and see beyond the crowd.

Ow.

Something was rubbing against her. Not clothing, but something equally irritating was around her neck!

She reached up to tear it off. Her arm rose halfway before falling limply at her side.

What?

WHAT?

She stared at her traitorous appendage before a voice broke through her thoughts and DEMANDED to be heard.

"Djinni. I am Riqre’ma Medaale, and I am your owner and master."

Sibby glanced at the man who'd spoken. Oh. It was him. She remembered him. He was on her list. Still, she had more important things to do - like getting her arm to work.

"Djinni. I command you to kneel before me!"

The words, once again, demanded her attention. In fact... they resonated with the foreign connection that had appeared. Sibby ignored them. She wasn't a Djinni, whatever that was, so the man was clearly not speaking to her. Instead she raised her other arm to her neck...

It fell limp at her side too!

"Creature! Come here immediately! Do so without delay!"

The words entered the connection, and Sibby immediately responded. Or at least her traitorous body did. It moved by itself and stumbled over to him without any of her usual grace.

"Kneel."

Sibby knelt.

"Good." The man smiled at her. Unlike before, this one reached his eyes. However, the gleam there wasn't happiness or mirth. Sibby usually didn't pay attention to how people smiled. Only a few mattered enough to her to earn that privilege. She had, however, seen a smile like that before.

A smile that promised nothing but pain to its recipient.

She hadn't thought about it in a long time. Back then, she hadn't noticed anything wrong. She could understand the meaning, but past-Sibby hadn't known how... evil it was.

Who was he? She'd heard his name before... Right. 'Riqre’ma something'. Or Riqre, as other people had called him.

Riqre had the same smile as Jack Slash.

---

Riqre turned his head and looked at one of his [Slaves]. The man instantly bowed, turned around, and sprinted away. The [Slave Master] then turned to his social equal. "Well done! I shall have the rest of the gold and treasures brought here immediately!"

"It is as you say, honored Riqre’ma Medaale." The man dipped his head in respect. "We will now take the Djinni back to the Hall to perform the final checks and ensure that its magic is fully bound."

"No need. No need. And I told you to call me Riqre!" He slapped Yulnos' shoulder. "There is no need to stand on formality between the two of us! Just as there is no need for further testing of your [Slaves]' fine work!"

"Are... you sure, Riqre?" Yulnos swept his arm over the assembled [Slaves] that had been used to cast the days-long ritual. "Such precautions are a simple task and will hardly take two days to accomplish."

"Nonsense, old friend!" Riqre let out a belly laugh. "Has a single Djinni ever failed to be fully bound by the ritual? Roshal has a long history, and I have studied it well. Caution can be a poison just as deadly as anything else."

Yulnos bowed his head again. "You speak the truth. Ever since Roshal's illustrious founding, we have not suffered a single Djinni breaking their shackles on their own."

'On their own' was the key phrase there. Others had broken their shackles in the past, most notably the Death of Chains - may it rot in Rhir for all eternity! Still, Riqre had been away from his home and his experiments for too long. While he could trust his personal [Slaves] to do their best, the fact was that some matters required his personal touch. It had been hard enough making the trek in and out of Lailight Scintillation over this past week.

He needed to be there in person for his latest batch to proclaim their love, but he also didn't dare bring the jars inside the capital city. He had pioneered techniques that even other [Slave Masters] hadn't thought of. Besides, he knew what the 'final checks' entailed. They would force the Djinni to perform every task it could do with its magic. They would tirelessly catalog every single action. Most importantly, they would weave another layer of spells around their captives.

Spells that would not only give them control of the Djinni, but also allow their monitoring of it. The control, he did not worry about. It could not exceed the base shackles that had been woven into the Djinni's very nature. In fact, he approved of other Djinni having it! After all, if their masters died, it was of paramount importance that they had a central authority to bring them in-line. If you didn't, then you risked an adventurer or so-such finding the still-enslaved Djinni.

That was dangerous. Not in the sense of the creature potentially gaining freedom, but in that Roshal might lose one of its strategic resources. It was an ongoing effort to monopolize all the Djinni in the world... but such a thing was also, by nature, a slow process.

No. The real reason that he could not allow such a thing, besides the growing delay, was that he refused to be spied upon. It would be a simple thing to command his new Djinni to stay out of certain areas and to not be present for some of his more innovative training methods.

But Riqre wished to incorporate his Djinni in such things! That was why he had been so thrilled to hear that a new one had formed. The first in a hundred years! Not only were Djinni so rare that he would have a hard time purchasing one regardless of his wealth, but they would have numerous layers of bindings on them. It was worth it to nearly beggar himself to obtain a new-born, and he would not, could not allow anyone else to own it except him!

"No, no, my good friend." Riqre shook his head. "I did not plan to be away from my estate for so long. There are immeasurable tasks that I must attend to. I must away in all haste!"

Yulnos frowned, but didn't gainsay him after that. Shortly thereafter, Riqre's [Slaves] arrived in a procession - carrying two chests of holding between them.

"Checking the payment will take a while yet, Riqre." Yulnos bowed his head again. "Since you will be delayed in any case, why not take advantage of Lailight Scintillation's Djinni examination resources?"

"Right you are!" Riqre laughed. "But I have one task that must be done here, and I'm afraid that my personal involvement is an absolute necessity. Djinni! Follow me!"

The striped humanoid glared at him. Riqre frowned. It had failed to respond to his first command as well. He'd thought that the newborn hadn't heard him, or that the spell was not quite finished, but it had happened again.

"If I may be of assistance, oh great Riqre." Yulnos smiled at him. "This is the sort of issue we have records of at the testing center. May I be so bold as to offer a suggestion?"

Riqre grunted. "Fine. I welcome any insight you might possess. What do you think the issue is?" Could the binding be flawed somehow?

"As you have said, the Djinni is newly created. This one would hazard the guess that it does not know a great many things - including its very nature." Yulnos rung his hands while he spoke. "The binding will force it to listen, obey, and prevent it from twisting your commands, but it does not provide knowledge."

"What knowledge do you speak of, Yulnos?" Riqre raised an eyebrow. "While the thing is a newborn, it can hardly be called a child. As it is now, so shall it ever be. It understands language. It knows how to move. How to fight. Its very essence is magic, and so that informs it!"

"You are correct, of course." Yulnos shook his head. "But understanding and comprehension are two separate things. One might know of apples. One might have heard a description of a red fruit. Yet, if one has not experienced them for himself, could they identify them by taste? What about by sight? There are green and yellow varieties, which could cause confusion. And, while apples are usually of the same size, variation can cause a great deal of doubt that one holds an apple in their hands - especially if their hands are larger, or smaller, than the details they've been told."

Riqre looked at the other [Slave Master]. It was a long winded explanation, and a poor example, but he understood the intended message. "I see. Thank you for your insight, Yulnos." He bowed at his equal in station before turning to address his recent acquisition. "You are a Djinni. Now, Djinni, follow me!"

The monster made no move. It only glared at him with un-hidden hatred. Oh, how he looked forward to changing its expression! But, for now, it still ignored him!

"Mighty Riqre, I fear you must be even more explicit." Yulnos said from the side while smiling. "'Djinni' is a term that could mean any of the four of them that are currently present. This is why we still have labels for them, to avoid any misinterpretations."

"Yes." Riqre stroked his beard. "I see. Well then." He faced the Djinni again. "Until I tell you otherwise, any time I refer to a Djinni, I speak of you. Nod if you understand." The Djinni nodded. "Good." Riqre smiled. "Now, Djinni, follow me!"

He turned to walk away, and the Djinni followed.

---

Laila didn't know what to do.

She didn't know what she COULD do.

She should've known better than to dream. To ever think that she might be free one day.

She'd tried to put the past behind her. Zehia might not have been the perfect Master, but compared to Riqre, she was the Rebel of String. To think that Laila had thought ill of her old position! Being a bed-[Slave] was the best she could've hoped for. It wasn't hard work, and it had been easy to get into Zehia's good graces.

If only she hadn't been forced to flay herself, it would've been wonderful.

Laila swallowed as she looked around the camp of the person who'd bought her. She wondered what Riqre had offered Zehia to buy her. She wondered what had happened to her former Mistress. She wondered what those Djinni had been doing at Zehia's house.

She wouldn't be getting any answers. Riqre's [Slaves] weren't normal any more. Not really. They wouldn't say a single ill-word about Riqre. They couldn't speak a single disparaging remark about him.

Worst, and unlike Laila, they couldn't even THINK anything bad about him.

She shuddered uncontrollably. Would he put her in a jar? Would he turn her into one of THEM?

Laila wouldn't become like that. She couldn't. Even if she decided it was better to abandon her old self and become someone who truly loved being Riqre's [Slave]... she didn't think she could ever truthfully say that she loved him.

No. If he put her in the jar, she would die an agonizing death over the course of days and days.

A part of her thought she'd be defiant, and tell him 'No'. That she didn't love him.

The more realistic part knew she'd say 'Yes'. She wouldn't mean it, but she'd say it on the off chance that the truth stone wasn't working. Or that it would somehow end her torture anyways.

Or.

Or...

She could let herself starve instead. She might not have either the courage or the capacity to pull at her life-thread, but not eating? She could do that. It would only take a moment's bravery to pour out the water and ruin the food. Then, death would come for her - as sure as the sun rose.

Would that be the best outcome? Or would Riqre treat her better?

He wouldn't flay her again. Even if he did, there would be no point to it. Laila still had nightmares about the single, long strip of flesh that was peeled off of her - like one might skin an apple. Riqre hadn't let the [Flayer] cut her skin off in multiple segments. No... it had to be in one single one, so it wouldn't turn back to cloth. So she could feel the entire...

Laila shuddered.

The other [Slaves] looked at her with concern. They smiled at her, and reassured her that she was lucky. A few even welcomed her back.

She looked in their eyes, and felt her stomach clench. She nearly threw up. Some people had smiles that didn't reach their eyes. Riqre was the most obvious example. His [Slaves] were worst. Their smiles reached their eyes.

...And went beyond. It was something beyond infatuation. Beyond love. They were insane, one and all. They not only would do anything for their [Master], but they eagerly awaited any order he gave, just so they had a chance to obey.

---

Riqre stood in front of his greatest creation to date. The black and white striped woman kept her head bowed and refused to meet his eyes. He gently cupped her chin and raised it so she was looking at him.

"Ah, Laila. How I've missed you." Her expression remained blank, but he could feel a slight ripple of excitement as her body shivered a little. "The feeling isn't mutual, is it?"

She still refused to meet his eyes. He could command her to do so, of course. He owned her. The circlet around her neck was his - through magic and [Skills] - and so was she. He never should've sold her, but Zehia had been a good customer... and quite persuasive in her own way.

Riqre smiled as he turned away and looked over his camp. Things could not have ended better for him! He was sole owner of the youngest Djinni! While it hadn't been his personal [Slaves] who'd performed the days-long ritual, they had watched closely. Even that, strictly speaking, wasn't necessary. People had, of course, tried to add in hidden restrictions or orders in the chant in the past.

Roshal learned from its mistakes.

The Djinni binding ritual was beyond any single [Mage]. Creating or modifying it was even more-so. [Scholars], [Scribes], [Historians], and [Magical Researchers] constantly refined it. The idea that a single contributor could subvert it was an absolute impossibility.

No. The greatest risk was that someone would be so bereft of intelligence that they'd try. Such actions had ended poorly for everyone involved - both the owner and the saboteur.

Still, one never knew how stupid their potential enemies were, so precautions were a must. Riqre smiled to himself. That was why HIS [Slaves] were the best: They truly loved him.

He glanced at Laila again and let out a sigh.

Or, at least, most of them did. The process did not always work. In fact, it did so less than half the time. As such, Riqre was constrained in whom he could use it on. He did not mind loosing any number of [Warriors] or [Pleasure Girls]. He could always make more.

It was the unique people. People like Laila that had survived a process that had only worked once so far. Or people like the young half-elf. Or beings like the Djinni. Risking them in a coin-toss would be wasteful.

Besides, it wasn't like a sentient mass of magical energy could feel the love he demanded and created. However... His smile grew wider. He knew of how to inflict pain on Djinni. Not physical pain. They had no real bodies, so such a thing was impossible. No. He new the secret to hurting them in a far deeper fashion - their memories.

He wondered. Did his Djinni have any memories that it valued? That it would feel the absence of - even if it could not remember what, exactly, had been taken from it?

Riqre paused and then frowned.

No, it was only a few weeks old. That would make his corrective measures both more and less effective. He could destroy a larger percentage of what it knew, but did any of those memories actually matter?

Then again... His smile returned. He could remove them all. It wouldn't take much for it to become a blank slate...

No. He shook his head. The sense of loss would remain. That was the entire point. Besides, one didn't take such permanent action without cause. Not to irreplaceable assets. Doing so could ruin future growth.

He let out sigh and turned to one of his [Loyal Slaves]. "When does the trial start?"

The man looked at him with pure devotion before bowing. "Not for two more days, Master."

"Hmph." Riqre grunted. It would be nice to see Zehia one last time, even if it was at her trial. He didn't need to be there to deliver his testimony. It had already been verified with Truth Stones and [Spells].

He chuckled. It was the 'truth', but not the 'Truth'. Zehia did indeed have a black and white striped woman hidden in her estate. The Djinni had also been tracked back there. Those two details painted a picture all on their own - a false one.

Riqre glanced towards where his next-to-most-recent acquisition stood. It wasn't as if staying for the judgment had ever been possible. The deal he'd struck with one of Zehia's rivals required that the proof be properly disposed of.

...Or at least removed from Lailight Scintillation.

It was a shame to lose such a loyal customer, but it was worth it to have Laila back. He never would've sold her if he'd known that she'd be the only [Slave] to successfully acquire the [Flayed Slave] class.

Now, to check to see if he'd gotten any more [Loyal Slaves] while he'd been away.

---

Zehia seethed.

They had her in chains.

They had HER in chains.

After all she'd done for Roshal. After all the people she'd hunted down for them. After all the problems she had solved that no one else could have!

THIS was her reward?

She didn't bother listening to the counsel that was debating her 'crimes'. She'd been on the other side far too often - as a witness, a counsel member, or the person that whispered in their ears. Nothing she said would change a thing. Only guilty people were arrested - or they wouldn't have been taken into custody in the first place. The decision had been made before her arrest. The only question was whom was responsible?

Jeclai? Lirpid? Russel?

The list of people who held a grudge against her, warranted or not, was longer than the transcript from her upcoming trial would be. No. The question wasn't WHO was behind this - not yet. The question was WHAT she was going to do to them.

Or, perhaps more urgently, HOW she was going to do it.

Zehia had a plan. She always had a plan. Even before she'd consolidated her [Class], she'd been meticulous in her contingencies. There was nothing she could do as long as she wore her shackles. They were designed and enchanted to bind [Rogues]. She couldn't use [Pick Lock], [Slip the Knot], or [My Shackles are Yours] to remove them.

Zehia smiled to herself. At least they hadn't under-estimated her in that regard. It wasn't every set of enchanted bindings that would stop a verse-[Skill]. Their flaw was that they were handcuffs. There was a reason that [Slavers] used collars, and it wasn't a fashion choice.

It was, ironically, Roshal's very culture which would see her freed. Only [Slaves] wore collars, and she wasn't a [Slave] yet - not officially until the trial was done. The outcome might already have been decided, but no one would dare set the precedent of collaring a non-[Slave]. Not in public.

If she had been in charge of her own sham of a trial, slapping a proper Slave's Collar on the 'defendant' would've been her FIRST move. Who cared if they got the [Slave] class a few days early? That was every arrested person's fate.

That, or death. Either way, it both didn't matter and left no evidence.

Well, no evidence except for witnesses that might've seen her do it. It was obvious to everyone involved that any testimony or confessions they tortured out of her would be worthless. She'd gotten a [Skill] to passively resist such things a long time ago.

Passive [Skills] - another flaw in her shackles that she could've exploited. Assuming, that was, that she'd had the right [Skill].

No. Her freedom was never in doubt. They might take everything else from her: her house, her slaves, her position, her money. They couldn't make her a [Slave]. She wouldn't let them. There was only one reason why she hadn't escaped yet.

Well, two reasons. The first was that she wanted to get them to lower their guard. That wasn't, strictly speaking, necessary. The second, and most important reason, was to find out who'd orchestrated this sham of a trial.

Oh, she was sure she was guilty of at least a few of the charges they'd brought against her. Who wasn't? The Emirs couldn't rule unless they had the... official ways to handle their opponents. At least in most cases. Dead gods, she'd done their 'unofficial' dirty work for them plenty of times to know how things always turned out.

The 'official' rules for treating [Slaves] were a labyrinth of old laws and new that had been piled on top of one another until everything was both legal and illegal at the same time. Well... ALMOST everything. There were still the oldest laws that restricted some things. Laws that no one would dare cross. Laws that were for the safety of Roshal as a whole.

---

"Meeria, you only have five more days. Five days to give me the right answer. Tell me please. Do you love me?" Riqre looked at the beautiful creature that his [Loyal Slaves] had lifted from her jar. She wasn't beautiful at the moment, but he saw her potential. How lovely she would be when she accepted her fate. Once she truthfully said she loved him. Once her [Class] changed.

"With all my heart! Riqre, please. I love you so much! So very, very much! Just... don't put me back in the jar. Please?"

Riqre looked down at his truth stone - red. He shook his head. He had been hopeful, but when they mentioned the jar instead of him... it was always a sign that they weren't ready yet. That they had not fully given themselves to him. He glanced at a guard. There was no need for words. All of his personal [Slaves] were utterly devoted to him. They understood his orders without the need for him to speak.

He was the center of their world, after all. How could they anticipate his needs and desires otherwise?

"Noooo!!!! NOOOOO!!!!!" Meeria wept as she was put back in her jar. A loaf of bread and a bottle of water replaced the empty bottle from yesterday before the lid was sealed.

Rique only glanced at the previous day's bottle before turning away. It was filthy. Early on [Slaves] tried to put their... waste inside of the provided water container. Some managed to get more-or-less all of it inside. Most didn't. It was a good tipping point. Once the outside of the used bottles was filthier than the insides... the process would soon end, one way or another.

"Next." His guards eagerly jumped to grab the second jar and pried open its lid.

The girl they pulled out couldn't have been more than six. A fine age for training. She, however, hadn't been able to withstand his trial. Riqre frowned. So sad. What a loss. She would've been a great beauty some day. He motioned with his head, and they placed her back inside of her jar.

The remains could be used for something else, later.

"Next." The guards opened the final jar he had that remained of the ten he'd started his journey with. They took out a limp body. Two in one day? That was-

No. She still breathed!

One guard held her by her arms, while the other lifted her head.

"Basnia." He remembered all of his future adoring [Slave]'s names. "Basnia." He gently called to her until her eyes focused on him. "You have two more days, Basnia. Two more days to answer my question. Now, please. Tell me. Do you love me?"

Basnia's head lolled to the side before the guard stabilized it. "..." She spoke, but too softly for him to hear.

"Louder, Basnia. You must speak louder."

She swallowed and wet her lips before rasping out... "y.e..s."

The stone glowed blue.

Riqre smiled and nodded to his guards. They took Basnia away to gently clean and treat her. He was worried about continuing this process so close to Lailight Scintillation. He'd left the boy behind, along with his [Carrion Eaters]. They would've attracted too much attention.

His jars?

His jars had to remain, or else he'd have to waste the rest of the batch. They needed to be tended to daily, and they required his personal touch. Besides, it wasn't much of a risk. No one was allowed in his camp without an invitation. Even if someone snuck inside, unless they saw the actual process... There would be nothing amiss.

Only his devoted [Slaves] and some supplies. And no one would dare search Riqre’ma Medaale's possessions!

He turned to look at his newest possession. He'd expected to see a look of disgust on his Djinni's face. That was the normal response that outsiders had when he took them into his confidence.

Yes. Some disgust was there, but mostly it was anger.

He sighed. It was to be expected. It would take time to shape it into something that was truly his.

---

Sibby hated this.

Sibby hated him.

She hated him. She hated him. She hated him.

Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate.

She hated herself almost as much.

It was humiliating to be captured in such a way. SHE was the huntress, yet... she had been caught. What was worse, she had been bound.

If that wasn't bad enough... it reminded her of the bad time. When William had changed. When he'd started ordering her around again.

Sibby had instinctively understood that she was supposed to help William and do what he'd said when she'd first been created. She'd had no real context for anything else. Obeying him felt... natural. Do this. Go there. Tear that person in half... Basic stuff, really.

And, because she'd had no other frame of reference. (That was a phrase Kevin had told her.) Because she didn't know anything else, there was no reason to question William or disobey. It was fine. In fact, it was better than fine! William had taught her so much!

Sibby intuitively knew how to ignore things. Further more, she could react fast enough to ignore things so it was like she'd always been invulnerable to them in the first place. William had expanded on that. William had been the smartest person Sibby had ever known. He'd been a genius. (He'd said so himself!)

Even now, knowing more people... specifically knowing more smart people... She still thought that was true.

She had all the evidence she needed to prove how smart William had been. She practiced with it every day! She wasn't created knowing about gravity. Or photons. Or that matter was composed of waves. William had been the one to tell her that. To teach her.

He commanded. She obeyed.

He taught. She learned.

He had a theory. She proved it.

He was also the one that had taught her how to hunt. Why to hunt. Who to hunt... Which, if she was being honest, hadn't turned out to be that good of a lesson. William might have been a genius, but Sibby had learned he wasn't right about everything.

And even then... He'd grown to respect her. He'd given her good orders, but he'd also given her stupid ones - like wearing clothes. Over time, the orders he'd given had... stopped. She'd ceased to be a power for him to use, or experiment with, or to extract vengeance.

They'd grown into something else. Something better. A way for him to vicariously love Riley. Sibby knew that William had been hurt. He'd never spoken it to her directly. She'd only figured it out because she was so smart! ...And because of the clues he dropped when he went on one of his rants.

Riley had... changed that.

Admittedly, Jack had changed it first. William had been a lot more... stable after Jack recruited her. Stable, but not happy. Sure, Sibby had been having the time of her life, and William got to experience her hunts through their bond... but she hadn't known what she'd been missing until they saved Riley from her boring life.

(At least, that was how it had been phrased to her at the time. Thinking back on it... she wasn't so sure.)

That had all ended with Riley's 'death'. With her and William's shared pain. With Panda's creation. With... Jack's plan. With William's change. His orders. His commands to do something horrible to Riley.

And it HAD been an order. A command she couldn't resist. A reasoning she couldn't follow.

It had been hell.

She'd hated it!

She'd hated it! She'd hated it! She'd hated it! She hated... him.

And now...

She was in the same situation again.

Notes:

Bios:

Sibby - The Siberian. Now bound to Kevin after he sacrificed his Summoning power to keep her alive when William Manton was killed. Also bound (in a difference sense) as a Djinni. Mostly non-evil these days.

Riqre’ma Medaale - Riqre to his associates - as he doesn't have friends. Roshal knows more about red classes than anywhere else in the world, and Riqre knows more than most. He constantly seeks to shape people by forcing or manipulating them to take certain actions - that their [Classes] will then make a part of them. Evil.

Zehia Maquet - OC. One of Lailight Scintillation's top problem solvers. She didn't get there without making enemies. A saint compared to Riqre. Still not a good person.

Laila Yosef - OC. A [Slave] from a very young age. Has the [Flayed Slave] class. She doesn't like it, and she still has nightmares about how she got it, but it IS a powerful [Class] - in its own way. Can survive having the skin on her head removed. Currently looks like Sibby. A good person, for whatever that's worth in Roshal.

Summary:

Sibby is captured and bound as a Djinni. She is bought by Riqre’ma Medaale who forgoes the 'offer' to test her magical abilities, both out of fear of spying and a need to get back to the women he's torturing into loving him via a system-enforced [Class].

Zehia has been arrested for 'harboring' the Djinni. She's planning to escape and extract some revenge, but is waiting to find out who set her up.

Laila has been taken by Riqre. This is to both remove her as evidence that she was the black and white striped woman at Zehia's house, and for Riqre to get her back. He's the one that tortured her into her special [Class], and now wishes to revisit his failed experiment and see if he can make more [Flayed Slaves] like her.

Chapter 45: Self Actualization 2

"And here we have the sworn witness accounts of Riqre’ma Medaale which state that a black and white striped woman was in Zehia Maquet residence..."

Zehia stopped listening. Riqre. That festering boil on the ass of a Garbichug! She'd trusted him! She'd welcomed him into her house! This was how he repaid her after years of knowing one another?!? Zehia seethed inside, while retaining her outward mask. Other people's accounts were read, but it was only members of the hunting party that had assaulted her house and broken down one of her walls.

The main evidence was Riqre's testimony. All the others were haphazard recountings of a hectic battle. They were flimsy at best and hearsay at worst. Riqre. He was the one behind this... but why? Zehia had her enemies, but she made a point of knowing who they were. Riqre had been... not a friend, but a friendly acquaintance. There was no reason for him to betray her and omit such vital details.

Correction.

There was no reason that she knew of for him to lie about her. That didn't mean one didn't exist. The most obvious one would be bribery and greed. Riqre was rich, but that did not mean he could not be bribed. It wouldn't be for gold. It would have to be for something special. Something unique.

The Djinni.

Laila.

Zehia smiled as the two guards escorted her back to her cell while the Emirs' representatives debated her fate. Riqre had obviously killed two [Slaves] with one thrust. A favor to let him buy both the Djinni and Laila, thus removing the evidence that would exonerate her.

[Slaves] could not testify.

First of all, doing so would be pointless. There were potentially no end to what they could be bound from saying. Getting one to speak out against their owner would require removing not only their shackles, but also their [Class].

Second of all, property had no place in the courts. Even if a [Slave]'s statements could be trusted, Roshal would never let one be in any position of power over a [Slave Master]. The mere possibility that a [Slave] MIGHT say something disparaging... That could not be allowed under any circumstances.

[Slaves], however, could be used AS evidence. Zehia hadn't entertained that thought. She would not have been arrested if her guilt hadn't already been decided. She'd thought that meant that Laila had been disposed of, but would it not be simpler to bribe Riqre with her?

Laila was valuable. Her [Skill] was worth more than anything. Anything, that was, but being flayed alive and being a [Slave]. Some Emir would've paid handsomely for her as an experimental subject, except those sorts of experiments were banned.

Ah, of course. Riqre desired her return, not just because of her [Skill], but to further his own illegal activities and to hide any evidence. Laila could not testify, but the origin of her [Class] and [Skill] might interest the wrong people.

People like Zehia. Problem solvers.

She smiled ruefully to herself. She was a loose end, and she hadn't even seen it coming.

Well! There was nothing for it, but to escape! The timing would be the most important aspect. Once a proper collar was on her, it would all be over. Before that came the cell. That wouldn't be as bleak, but it would take a lot of luck to pull off an escape from there. The deliberation chamber wouldn't be much better. There were too many guards, and the Emirs' servants had far too many personal protections. Attempting anything now would be beyond stupid.

So, she'd have to escape as she was being returned to the back rooms.

The two burly [Guards] roughly grabbed her by her upper arms and held her up as another undid the chains that connected her leg shackles with the floor. Those shackles also locked [Skills], and their placement prevented running. She couldn't manage much more than a slow shuffle with them on.

It was perfect.

Walking slowly meant that it would take longer to escort her back to her cell. It also meant that they would take the back passageways. A prisoner couldn't be anywhere that a high quality person might stumble over them. Being relatively isolated was the key, as was the tedium of the walk.

Zehia moved along as fast as she could with her head bowed. She wanted the [Guards] distracted. Going slowly might help that, but any benefit would be outweighed by the [Guards] taking a more active role and dragging her. Her fastest, however, was still pretty slow currently.

She silently counted her steps. She knew this building, and she'd memorized its layout. She needed to rely on her memories, as looking around would alert the [Guards] to what she was planning.

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Rattle. Thunk. Thunk. Rattle.

The only sounds were the chains and her and her captors footsteps, and they were approaching the door... Now!

Zehia stumbled as her feet got caught in her chains. The [Guards] could've grabbed her. They could've prevented her from falling.

They didn't.

Exactly as expected.

Zehia turned her fall into a roll, and barreled through an open door. They had to be open so that the [Guards] could make sure no one was inside without stopping to open them one-by-one. It was a protocol that had been implemented after some [Bandits] had snuck in and ambushed the progression their leader had been a part of.

Zehia used her roll to rise to her feet.

"[Halt, Prisoner]!"

Her momentum suddenly stopped, but that was fine. She spun around, grasped the door with her hands that were still bound behind her back, and slammed it shut! She then sat down and leaned back against it. It was solid oak. The [Guards] would have a hard time breaking it open, she just needed to hold them off until she could bar it.

It took some contortion, but she managed to grab the wooden bar despite the awkwardness of doing so without being able to see her hands behind her. She dropped it into place just as the [Guards] had ceased their half-hearted attempts at pounding it with their fists, and started ramming the door with their shoulders.

For her part, Zehia did the same and rammed her right shoulder into the wall. Of course, her goal wasn't to break it down, but to dislocate her arm. Once that was done, She brought her legs to her chest and used the extra slack to force her arms from behind her back and down underneath her. She stifled a scream as something tore, but she managed to pull her arm under and out. Now that they were in front of her, she brought her elbow to her mouth. Or, more specifically, she brought the fast-release stitch she had in her elbow to her mouth.

Zehia clenched it between her teeth and pulled!

The thread unraveled in one, long strand, and so did the rest of her arm. Once it was no longer attached to her, it reverted to cloth. It was still magically bound to the shackle, but she wasn't.

At least for her left hand. Now she was on the clock - even more than before. It was a connected segment, so the bleeding wouldn't be bad, but every second now counted. She picked up her cloth forearm, and brought it to her face.

Where was it? She knew she'd had it added... there!

Zehia pulled out a thin metal strip while the [Guards] started hacking at the door with their swords - having given up trying to ram it open. Zehia spat the lockpick into her palm, and then pulled the torsion wrench from the remains of her arm.

She might not be able to use her [Skills], but she'd picked plenty of locks without them. She'd even practiced picking her own shackles with only her mouth before. It paid to be prepared.

She clicked on the back lever. The standard locks they used had four pins. She got the first one, then three, two, and... one!

The lock popped open, and the shackles fell from her still-attached arm. She then quickly focused on her leg chains as the oak door was starting to give.

Click. And... click.

Freed of her shackles, Zehia paused and took a deep breath. It was good to have access to her [Skills] again, but she couldn't stop to appreciate the sensation, she still needed to stop her bleeding, deal with the [Guards], and finally escape from the building.

She cracked her neck. She could do it.

The final lock gave way just as easily from around her detached arm. Zehia stood up, faced the wall, and slammed her shoulder against it to pop it back into its socket. Then, she tore a strip of cloth from her clothes, and wrapped it around her stump to stop any bleeding. Doing this one-armed wasn't ideal, and she wasn't a [Tailor]. She had enough skill to technically re-attach her appendage, but it would take time.

Time she didn't have.

And it wouldn't be as good as if she'd gotten someone with the proper [Class] to do it anyways.

Instead, she picked up her left forearm, and tucked it into her belt. That was a problem for later. Now? She had two [Guards] to deal with. She could see them through the holes they'd successfully chopped in the door.

Strong then. She wouldn't have been able to do that so fast.

Strong, but not smart. She saw the two of them were still together. The intelligent thing would've been to have one go and get reinforcements. It was possible that they hadn't thought about that in their panic. Or that neither of them wanted to be left alone with her. Even with her shackles, they would be right to fear her.

However, the most likely reason for why they both were still here, was that they didn't want to look bad. They either hoped to resolve this without anyone else finding out they'd let her escape - even if it was just into a room with no other exits, or that they wanted to take care of their own mistake.

She wondered if they considered what the ruined door would say about the first option. Like she'd observed before, they weren't smart.

That didn't mean they weren't good at their jobs, or that they weren't decent fighters. She wouldn't make the same mistake as them. She wouldn't underestimate her foes.

Zehia picked up her shackles, and held them in the crook of her left arm, while she moved closer to the door's wall. She grabbed the beam that was locking the door and eased it out, while keeping a foot at the door's base. It wasn't easy to keep the door closed without the bar, but since the [Guards] were no longer trying to ram it open, it was possible.

Zehia grasped a shackle.

Thunk, Thunk.

Thunk, Thunk.

There was a rhythm to the blows they were raining down on the door.

Thunk, Thunk.

Zehia moved her foot out the way.

Thunk-

The first [Guard]'s sword struck the door, and pushed it back. The second [Guard] continued their strike, but stumbled forward as their target moved. Zehia slapped the shackle over his wrist, and then pulled him forward.

Bereft of his [Skills], and off-balance, he fell into the room.

[Disarming Strike].

Zehia didn't announce her [Skill] out-loud. Instead she activated it with a thought as her right hand struck the other [Guard]'s arm. It spasmed, and the sword fell out of his numb fingers...

...And into her waiting hand.

"What?"

The simple shocked utterance was the last thing the [Guard] would ever say as she quickly reversed her grip and shoved the blade up through his jaw and into his brain. She placed a foot on his head, and jerked the blade out as the first [Guard] got to his feet.

"Mighty Blow!"

He looked equally stupid as she blocked his attack. They were just words. His [Skill] was too low-level. He couldn't use it with even a single shackle on.

[Cobra Strike]!

Zehia's [Skill], however, worked - and it ended the fight before it had even begun.

She looked down at her two former captors and took in some long, deep breaths. How long had that taken? Five minutes? Ten? The back hallways were seldom used, but someone would be by shortly. Even if she hid the bodies, the blood and the ruins of the door would alert anyone with half a brain.

No. Sneaking out wasn't an option. At least, not without a bigger distraction.

Zehia used her newly-acquired sword to pry some of the light-stones from their settings. She piled them on top of the second body, and pulled some silk from her detached arm. Stitchfolk feared fire, and didn't have open flames if they could avoid it. That didn't mean that the light-stones they used instead were perfectly safe. While they weren't hot, and wouldn't burn anyone, they were still warm. If you put enough of them together, along with something easily combustible, then a fire would start.

The silk was already smoking.

Zehia smiled as she placed the remaining shackles on the first guard. While they were potent artifacts, she'd be VERY obvious if she tried sneaking out with them. Plus, their weight wasn't insignificant. Besides, good opponents wouldn't fall for her trick she'd used on the [Guard]. No, their best use would be to buy her time.

She didn't think she'd fool the other problem solvers, at least not forever. But, it would distract and misdirect them. Two burned bodies, one of them in shackles, painted a different picture than her killing her escorts and escaping.

At least at first glance.

After she finished binding the [Guard], she searched his body and removed anything that wouldn't be consumed by the flames. Keys. A dagger. Some money.

He wasn't very wealthy, but she hadn't expected him to be so. Still, every single copper counted now that she was a fugitive.

The second [Guard] was burning nicely. Zehia pulled the first one on top, and then ran down the hall and watched the immolation from afar. She didn't have to wait long before someone else came by. A young [Scribe] stood with his mouth hanging open for a full thirty seconds before shaking himself from his stupor. He yelled "Fire!" and started running the other way.

[Expert Stealth].

Zehia followed him, and slipped behind him as he passed through each door. She was skilled enough to go un-noticed by the door spells, but she still needed someone to open them in the first place. She knew the building. She knew the access points. Soon enough, she was 'safely' outside.

...

The old man hobbled down the street. His head was bowed, and his hair was long and gray. Gray hair wasn't commonly seen inside of Lailight Scintillation. The rich could afford treatments or hire experts to keep them looking young. The poor didn't live long enough for their hair to naturally change color. That was why he had drawn a number of looks.

The old man ignored them all, and walked with a purpose. His destination was right around the corner. He turned into an alleyway and knocked on a door with three sharp raps, followed by a single thud.

There was rustling inside the house, followed by the sound of a wooden bar being lifted. Then there was more rustling, and then... silence.

The old man pushed open the door, and entered the now-abandoned room.

It was more a closet than anything else, and had only a single other exit. The old man closed the door behind him, and barred the door. He then turned and barred the other door. Once that was done, he knelt down and ran his hands along the floorboards.

His fingers found an indention, which he pushed. There was a soft click, and a panel in the wall swung open half an inch. He gripped the edge and pulled the hidden compartment open completely. Inside there was a chest.

A chest that must've been filled with something dense, like gold. For while it wasn't large, the old man strained to pull it out of its alcove.

He then entered himself and felt along the ceiling.

Another indentation let out another soft click. This time, the hidden door didn't open. Instead the latch that had held the trapdoor in the roof shut had been disabled. The old man pushed it up as he stood. Inside the section hidden in the secret compartment, that was nestled away in the back-alley building was the real treasure. The chest had only contained gold.

The man grabbed the cloth bundle, closed the hidden trapdoor, and went back into the room. He set the parcel on top of the chest and untied the string that bound it.

Two rings. A dagger. A cloth face. Several cloth muscles.

He grabbed the rings first, and put one on each hand.

Zehia then reached up and tore off her [False Face]. It wasn't her real skin, but a disguise - albeit, one that would fool most anyone lower-level than herself. It wasn't the best disguise, but it had been the closest one she'd stored that was on her way here.

She couldn't have wasted any time being sidetracked. Every second she wasn't shielded from scrying was another second she was in danger. She let out a deep breath, but she didn't relax. She never relaxed when she was on the job.

This time, she was her own client, and the job wouldn't be over until she was in another country and had found a benefactor. One strong enough that Roshal wouldn't risk coming after her.

Before that, she had some vengeance to enact.

First, a little self-surgery. She preferred her lithe body, but a more muscular one had its own advantages. Chief among them was that she'd look different. It would also make her stronger, but not by much. New limbs didn't have the strength of levels.

The face was also just another disguise. Unlike Laila, she couldn't survive flaying her own flesh. Thus, it was only a mask. However, as long as she didn't go anywhere that had anti-intrusion wards, it shouldn't be an issue.

---

The trip hadn't been so bad for Laila, so far.

Of course, she hadn't expected Riqre to skin her alive on the road, or really do anything else while they were traveling. Actually, no, that was a lie. She was terrified every time she woke up. Would today be the day he put her in a jar?

But it wasn't.

In fact, Riqre hardly gave her a glance. She had the Djinni to thank for that.

She ran beside them during the day. She was so strong and graceful. So full of energy. So capable. She ran in an effortless way that was mesmerizing to watch.

It made Laila sad.

She knew the Djinni was a killer. She knew it had hurt numerous people in its rampage. But looking at it like this... She didn't care. Not that Laila's opinion mattered. She'd never have the strength to determine who lived and who died. Even if that wasn't the case, she didn't think she'd ever be able to bring herself to kill someone.

No. The only similarity between her and the Djinni was skin deep. It made her all the more self-conscious about her current appearance. Stitchfolk didn't care about how people looked as much as other races. When you could literally take off your limbs and sew on different ones... It made focusing on outward appearances seem silly.

Except for her.

Laila's [Class] let her change the single thing that no other Stitchfolk could: her head.

She'd overheard the remarks from Zehia's guests. How they envied her. How they wished they could alter this or that. Of course, all of them had been silk. They had no real reason to change their faces. They were already in the upper crust.

They just wanted what they didn't have. Laila had learned that was a common trait among [Slave Masters]. A hunger that could never be sated. A hunger, not of the body, but of the soul.

The Djinii vanished.

Laila blinked and scanned the side of the road.

Oh. There she was. For a second it had looked like she'd gone and there'd just been a golden collar floating in the air. How absur-

The Djinni vanished again.

Laila was waiting for it this time. She saw the collar remain and move as if the Djinni was still running with it. It hadn't done that the previous days. She glanced around. The other [Slaves] didn't seem to have noticed. They were too focused on Riqre. Their unnaturally wide eyes seemed drawn to him, or to whatever he was looking at.

Laila glanced back and forth between Riqre and the Djinni. The black and white woman only vanished when Riqre was looking the other way. In fact...

Yes. There were two distinctly different things that happened when she vanished. The first was that the collar would continue moving. It was as if the Djinni was invisible, but the collar wasn't. The second, was that the collar would freeze. It hung motionless in the air for a spit second before the Djinni reappeared.

Sometimes the Djinni would slow down afterwards. It was like she'd lost all of her momentum. Other times, she would continue on just as fast... or faster.

Laila looked at her... and felt sadness swelling up inside. The Djinni was stronger than her. She would live for far longer. Yet... for as short of a time as it had been, Laila hadn't been born a [Slave]. She'd lived for years before that day. The Djinni? She'd been free for only a few weeks.

That... didn't seem right. Not that anything about Laila's life right now felt 'right', but that observation in particular stuck with her. The Djinni wasn't a scary monster. Well, she WAS a scary monster, but Laila no longer feared her.

Instead, she felt pity.

And how absurd was that? A [Slave] feeling pity for a Djinni? Everyone in Roshal knew that Djinni were monsters that would kill them all in a heartbeat if they could. As true as that was in general, and it was certainly true for THIS Djinii in particular, Laila still felt that the alternative would be infinitely better.

Let the Djinni go free.

Let Roshal burn.

It wasn't like her life would be any worse off.

And so, Laila stared at the Djinni as she ran. She'd ceased to vanish, and instead sped alongside them with ease. So much ease, that Laila was certain that the Djinni could outpace them with hardly any effort. She should've run away. She should've left Lailight Scintillation and run all the way past Roshal's borders.

The way she moved... Laila was sure she'd been able to make it.

Each step hurled her through the air as if she was as light as a feather. She wasn't. A feather would float to the ground no matter how strong the person was who threw it. The Djinni flew as fast as an arrow. Then, she would put her foot down for the briefest of moments, and push off again. Or she would 'land', only to skim over the ground like it was covered in soapy water.

It was beautiful.

She was grace personified.

The terrain didn't matter. Rocks, trees, travelers going the other way... she avoided them all with a precision that was beyond what any Stringfolk could match. Some times she arced around to the side, but she never strayed too far from the caravan. Other times, she leapt over the obstacles with an enormous jump! Occasionally, she weaved through them as if she was dancing, and they were standing still.

It brought a smile to Laila's face. A small moment she'd try to treasure in the coming years. This memory would ha-

The Djinni tripped.

She'd put her foot down to spring off of a rock... and instead of her usual, powerful jump... she'd tripped.

The Djinni scrambled to her feet and started running again, but her previous grace was gone. She was running just as poorly as a mortal. Worse. One of her legs wouldn't support her, and she fell again.

She got back up.

She fell again.

Was that... blood? Was the Djinni bleeding?

Laila looked on in shock. Her precious memory had been shattered. The Djinni desperately ran after them, but soon fell behind due to her hobbled condition.

Perhaps... perhaps this might be for the best. Could it be possible that she'd just be left behind? It didn't matter what else might befall her, it was bound to be a far better outcome than what Riqre had planned.

Alas, that was not to be.

Riqre still glanced over at the Djinni from time to time, and he noticed when she wasn't there. The procession came to a halt. Before anyone could be dispatched to look for her, the Djinni limped forward and caught up.

'Her blood is gray.' It was an odd thought to have, but it was still a surprise to Laila.

---

The Djinni was injured.

HIS Djinni was injured!

Not by some great battle or forgotten spell. Not by some [Hero] or a relic from before the Waning Age. Not by another Djinni or an nearly extinct monster like a Treant.

No. It had hurt itself by TRIPPING ON A ROCK!!!

Riqre glowered at the magical mass that took the shape of a black and white woman. His Djinni smiled back at him.

It looked forced.

It looked like it was leering through the pain. As if the wound was far greater than it actually was!

Although... it might be. Djinni were creatures of magic. They didn't get physical wounds. Unless it had stepped on a discarded piece of magicore or on a buried magical blade... Even then, even that would merely deplete its essence. Its physical body was nothing but an illusion!

"Tend to it." His [Slaves] jumped to fulfill his order. They might not know a thing about Djinni, but even they could bandage a... skinned knee. And a sprained ankle? It certainly looked like that had been what happened from the way it ran and walked.

The Djinni snarled and raised its hand as his [Slaves] approached. The limb stopped in mid-swing before falling loosely to its side. That was good. It was proof that its bindings were working.

Still... Should he have taken it to be more thoroughly examined after all? Even if the bindings were working, there could still be... oddities of the Djinni's very nature. Anti-Magic? Stealth? Disintegration? Reforming? Unforming?

Riqre was looking forward to discerning its nature on his own. To have others test, probe, and examine HIS property?

He shook his head. Even if they did not tamper with its bindings or add any scrying aspects or other contingencies, it would wound his pride as a [Slave Master] to let another shape his greatest [Slave]!

Besides, there was still poor Meeria. He had promised her three more days to start to love him. Turning back to Lailight Scintillation would reduce that by at least one. Even if he left her jar on the outskirts again, he would be too busy inside the great city to give her the final chance.

It would break his heart to not provide that chance. The final day was when most of his [Slaves] had seen the light. Meeria would make a fine [Adoring Slave]. Her nose and cheek bones were exquisite, and subtly different from his other personal [Slaves].

No. It was unacceptable.

The Djinni doing this was unacceptable.

It was nothing more than a poorly thought out ploy!

"Creature!" He spoke, and the Djinni's eyes instantly locked on him. "Reform yourself."

A smile. A vicious smile and nothing more.

"Creature!" Riqre was having trouble keeping the rage out of his voice. "Heal yourself!"

It only continued to smile at him.

"Creature!" This was why shaping a Djinni into a perfect slave was so important. Their bindings forced them to obey, but if his wording could be misinterpreted, then it would be. "Explain to me what you are thinking right now."

A simple command, but an effective one. Any logical holes would be laid bare. In fact, he should give a standing order for the Djinni to tell him how his orders could be misconstrued. Having it reply to everything would be a minor annoyance in exchange for fixing any... issues.

The Djinni's mouth opened.

It started to speak.

"... ........ ..... ... .. ..... ...."

Riqre stared blankly. The Djinni was no longer smiling. It emphatically moved its mouth and lips as if to talk... yet no noise came from it.

In fact, he couldn't remember it ever making so much as the smallest sound. Not when it moved. Not when it leaped in the air and landed. It certainly had never spoken before.

It hadn't even cried out during its binding!

Could... could one of its aspects be silence? Was noise anathema to it?

Riqre was torn between rejoicing at figuring out part of its nature already, and screaming in anger because it was incapable of communication!

Wait.

Unable to speak, it might be, but just as Djinni came into existence knowing language - it knew how to write!

"Fetch parchment and a quill!" His [Slaves] jumped to obey. "Hand it to the Djinni." They did, but got no response - aside from more 'spoken' non-words. "Creature. Stop speaking. Take the parchment and quill. Write down your thoughts."

The Djinni smiled. It took the writing implements, and started using them.

A [Slave] behind it gasped.

Oh? Were its thoughts that distressing? Riqre knew it had to harbor great animosity towards him, but that would change soon enough.

A drop of black liquid splashed the bottom of the carriage.

Riqre blinked.

Another drop, and another. One after another they fell from... the parchment.

"My master." The [Slave] behind the Djinni spoke. To address him without being addressed first? It must be important. "The words do not take."

"What?"

"The ink." The [Slave] gestured. "It flows off the parchment like water off of a duck."

"WHAT?"

Riqre clenched his fists and ground his teeth so hard he feared he might hurt himself.

Notes:

Summary:

Zehia shows why it's hard to keep a high-level [Assassin] imprisoned. She escapes after learning Riqre is the main witness against her, and seeks her revenge.

Sibby displays malicious compliance as her body might be forced into following orders like a Djinni, but her power is unfettered. She purposely injuries herself and experiences pain for, perhaps, the first time.

Chapter 46: Self Actualization 3

Notes:

Trigger Warning: This chapter contains depictions of torture. (Not in that much detail, but it still happens 'On Screen'.)

That night, one of the male slaves came for Sibby.

He grabbed her, and turned her over. Sibby couldn't claw him, or bite him, or do anything with her traitorous body. However, once he made contact with her...

Sibby smiled as her influence spread out over him. He wasn't like the stupid roads, or the annoying collar she now wore. He was no more resistant to her powers than anyone else had been before she'd arrived in this world.

It would be a simple matter to allow his waves to just... lose cohesion. She just needed to do it the way William had taught her. She would grasp the waves with her power and force them to still.

The man let her go, and her power vanished with the lack of contact. He pulled one of the strips of cloth down, held a glowing stone to it, nodded, and put it back. He then repeated the process with her other injuries.

Oh. He was like a stupid, pathetic, much less skilled Riley. She felt no sympathy for him. There were lots of people that shared the same interests as her daughter. That didn't mean they were worth anything.

The man left, and Sibby waited for someone else to approach, but no one did. They were all asleep.

She didn't need to sleep, and she wished she could un-summon herself, but that would just undo the damage she'd managed to inflict to her traitorous body. Should she try sleeping? Panda did it, so she should be able to also. The throbbing ache in her ankle, knees, and palms probably wouldn't let her.

It was so tempting to let herself reform and thus erase all of the injuries she'd allowed her body to accumulate. But those were her punishment, or at least her traitorous body's punishment. She could still control herself for some things, but refusing an order, or trying to run, or trying to attack, or trying to remove her collar...

Her limbs refused to obey.

Sibby was more than her perfect body. She was also her perfect power. Without those two parts working in tandem, her body was nothing special.

...Okay. That wasn't true. Her body was STILL perfect. It was stronger, tougher, and better colored than anyone else!

And it hurt.

It hurt. It hurt. It hurt.

She could just reform, and make the pain go away... but then she wouldn't be rebelling against Riqre.

Or, at least, not as effectively. She could still refuse to use her power, but her undamaged body would still obey him.

She just needed to do something about the pain!

It hurt. It hurt. It hurt.

If only Riley was here... No, it was better if Riley wasn't here. She wouldn't want her daughter to see her like this. She was never less than perfect in front of Riley. She didn't get hurt. She never failed. ...Except those times that she got popped.

Although...

Sibby understood pain. Not personally, like she was experiencing now, but as an... uhm... academic? Yes. That was the right word. As an academic. She knew how to inflict pain on others. William had explained how to do that to her.

Riley had also been taught the same lessons by Jack, and Sibby had paid attention then as well.

So... what was made to hurt, could be made to stop hurting.

It was like what Riley had been teaching Panda. Sibby hadn't paid much attention, but she had watched her two daughters playing together. Pain came from electrical impulses that traveled along the nerves and into the brain.

Sibby could stop electricity. She knew lots of ways to make it unable to flow across a given substance. That meant... she could block pain.

What was it Riley had said? She closed her eyes and thought back. The memory came to her in perfect clarity. Riley sat on the special table with her shoes and socks off. Panda was on a stool, and looked sleepy. Riley took a scalpel and made two quick incisions before peeling away the skin on her foot.

'First we have the epidermal layer, just like before.'

Right. Sibby frowned and sought the specific details that were relevant to her.

'This is the Medial plantar, and this is the Lateral plantar. They are the two main nerves in the foot and together they branch off here, here, and here. They are-'

Okay. Sibby focused inward. She usually treated herself as a single 'object' for her power, but, since she wasn't using her power on her traitorous body at the moment, she started identifying her different internal parts. It would be hard to do that on someone else, but Sibby knew her own body.

Skin. Tissue. And... the Medial plantar and Lateral plantar. Which to block?

Eh. She'd do both.

It took a subtle twist, and her nerves quit being able to conduct electricity. No amount of... uhm... the small things. Well, not the SMALL small things. The mostly small things. Uhm... What had William called them? Hmmm... Ions! No amount of Ions could get past.

Sibby's foot felt numb.

She frowned. Her ankle still hurt.

Still, progress was progress! She was a patient huntress. She was on the right track, she just needed to block the ions somewhere else. Let's see...

'An ankle sprain can damage the common peroneal nerve, or its branches, the superficial peroneal or deep peroneal nerves as well as the sural, saphenous or tibial nerves. Or, more likely, its a combination of them.' Riley was so smart. Sibby decided to try and remember more, just to make sure she had the right part this time. 'The peroneal nerve is a branch of the sciatic nerve. It supplies movement and sensation to the lower leg, foot and toes.'

Well, sensation sounded good. She didn't want to stop her movement...

Wait. No. She did want to stop her movement!

Sibby smiled as she shifted her focus... and... there!

The pain stopped!

...Or at least the pain in her ankle. The rest of her injuries still hurt. She tried to stand up, and fell over.

Hah! THAT would show him! Let him see how much control he REALLY had over her body!

Sibby smiled.

She then poked her leg. It felt odd.

She tried to move it.

Nothing.

...Nope!

This was no good!

Disabling her traitorous body was one thing in theory, but this felt worse! It was like clothing she couldn't remove! The restriction. The limitation. She couldn't stand it!

Sibby blinked.

Hey! That was a pun!

That distracted her, and made her feel better, but the root cause remained. She couldn't bare the thought of being restrained. Yeah, what good was revenge that hurt her more than her target?

Sibby grumbled to herself as she started tracing the 'peroneal nerve'. She'd find where it split, or what parts of it sent 'pain', or something. She had the time.

But first, those stupid 'bandages' had to go.

---

"From now on, your name is 'Siti`medaale', creature. Do you understand?" Riqre was happy to be back home, but his Djinni was still... broken. Even the Djinni's new name didn't bring him joy. It meant 'Slave of Medaale', in Roshal's old tongue. It was an extra piece of magical binding, and a stark reminder of what the Djinni was, and whom it belonged to.

Siti began what could be considered a nod before its head lolled backwards. It raised an arm, only for the hand to spasm and fall to its side.

He glared at it, and then motioned to Fhonte. The former [Mage] of the Hundred Thousand Tomes Academy leapt at the chance to serve. Riqre watched him start to cast diagnostic [Spells] before turning away. He needed a long sit in his sauna after being on the road for so long, and the site of Fhonte still distressed him.

Getting [Mages] trained at one of the greatest magical schools in Chandrar, must less the world, was a difficult task. Riqre, himself, had only ever managed to acquire three. The third he'd sold for a high profit. The second he'd kept for himself. The first...

He let out a sigh as his [Slaves] undressed him.

It was a shame she hadn't survived the training process. Male [Slaves] had their place, but unless they were [Guards], females were better. While Fhonte was every bit as skilled of a spellcaster... he was not as pleasing to the eye.

Still, he was loyal, and that was the most important criteria. Other [Slave Masters] were so cruel. They forced their [Slaves] to serve, to grow, to level, but they didn't force them to love. What could be worse than doing something that you didn't like? Or serving a Master that you didn't adore?

He closed his eyes, and let the steam and sweat start to remove the dust from the road. His two attendants lovingly scraped away the filth from his body, and then dutifully stopped. They knew him so well. A lesser [Slave] might try to curry favor with him by escalating things, but his [Slaves] were better trained than that.

They lived to serve, and they held him above all else. They knew that he did not wish to be distracted, and so, they simply cleaned.

Riqre let out a content sigh.

This was how the world was meant to be.

He wished he could stay in here longer, but Sitchfolk disliked humidity almost as much as they feared fire.

...

"Nothing?"

"A hundred-thousand apologies, Master!" Fhonte prostrated himself on the floor. "My meager talent could not find any issue in the binding spells."

Riqre sat in his lounge and drummed his fingers. Fhonte looked tired, which wasn't a surprise. He'd been awake for days while he rigorously examined every part of Siti`medaale's invisible shackles. Siti, on the other hand, hadn't moved - as he'd commanded.

Not really.

It had fallen down after less then a day, and... twitched?

Riqre could not believe that it was the same killer that had terrorized Lailight Scintillation!

Still...

"What good news!" Riqre smiled.

"Good news, my Master?" Fhonte asked. It wasn't curiosity that prompted him. He cared about the Djinni no more than how much it would effect Riqre. No, like everything else, the interrogative statement was for his benefit. An excuse to explain things.

Riqre leaned back. "Of course it is, Fhonte." He would go into the details of the situation. After all, who didn't like displaying their brilliance? "The bindings are a tool, no more, no less."

"A tool, Master?"

"Yes, a tool." Riqre chuckled. "A true [Slave Master] shapes their [Slaves]. Everything else, from collars, to shackles, to magical spells, to [Classes] are just tools for them to use! The shaping. The molding. The training. Those are the heart of my [Class]!"

"As you say, Master."

Riqre sighed. "Fhonte, you agree with me, because I am right. But you do not see HOW I am right."

"You are correct, my Master." Fonte continued to bow and look at the floor. "Your eyes see what mine cannot!"

"The Djinni's disobedience, whether it is caused by a lack of control of its aspects, or if its the creature's subconscious lashing out... is a good thing."

"A good thing, Master?"

"Indeed. Djinni aren't like us, but they can play at behaving like us. The older they are, the more practice they have. No Djinni is truly loyal." At least not until Riqre was finished with Siti's training. "But the older ones hide their traitorous impulses better." Riqre smiled. "You see, its 'ineffectiveness' is a common way for Djinni to rebel. We, of course, are not fooled. We know what they are in general - and what Siti in particular - are capable of! Our eyes cannot be deceived!"

"Your eyes are the greatest in all of Roshal, Master!"

Riqre glanced over. Fhonte was starting to let his adoration get the better of him. He should finish up with his explanation.

"In the ancient texts, it speaks of binding the first Djinni. The spells used were not as advanced as what we have in modern times, but they still were effective at preventing the creatures from causing havoc on their own. In that age, Djinni were confined to lamps or rings when bound. They were only released when their owners had need for their magic."

"I... do not understand, Master."

"And that is why you are not a [Slave Master]!" Riqre shook his head. "To be one, you must understand your possessions. They may hate me at first, but there are things they hate more. Ancient Roshal used confinement and boredom." A trick he'd taken and adapted for his jars. "If a Djinni is only granted freedom when they are using their magic for their Master, then they start to associate the act with the sensation of freedom. After enough time, that association becomes a part of themselves."

"You are amazing, Master."

"Yes," Riqre stood up. "I am. All I need to do is discern what Siti wants. After I figure that out, everything else will fall into place."

Riqre nodded to himself. He'd have the creature accompany him throughout the day. He would be able to see what peaked its interest... and then twist that to his own ends.

He'd start with paying a visit with it to Rophir. Fhonte still needed to reanimate the half-elf's parents, so the boy could kill them again.

Conditioning... it was the key to both training animals and [Slaves].

---

Zehia ran across the countryside. She was no [Runner], but that didn't mean she was slow.

The new muscles she'd sewn into herself slowed her down, but her original ones still worked just as well. That meant she could run faster and jump higher than anyone without a dedicated [Skill].

With her speed, she'd reach Riqre's mansion by nightfall. Then, she'd have her revenge.

...Or, more likely, she'd wait and watch. Killing a [Slave Master] was no small feat - especially in the middle of his personal army of [Slaves]. However, unlike an attack on one in Lailight Scintillation, it would be possible.

The capital of Roshal was a cut-throat place. Those that lived there knew how to smile to your face while they figuratively (and sometimes literally) stabbed you in the back. Zehia had done plenty of both for her job, and for her personal affairs. And, while she had never killed a [Slave Master] before, she'd disrupted their businesses, stolen their treasures, and killed their [Slaves] & [Slavers].

The reason she'd survived so long was because she knew what sort of jobs to refuse. Those taken on behalf of the Emirs couldn't be turned down, but they could be attempted in a less risky way.

That was why she was only going after Riqre. She knew, or at least strongly suspected, who had been behind her arrest in Lailight Scintillation. As much as she'd love to kill them for what they'd done, she knew that wasn't possible. It was enough to deny them the satisfaction of actually killing or enslaving her.

Riqre... that was personal.

Simple revenge wasn't her only goal. If she was going to escape from Roshal, she'd need artifacts, gold, and other resources. She could kill multiple birds with a single stone.

...

It was dark when she'd arrived, but Riqre’ma Medaale's estate was illuminated with thousands of light stones.

Zehia did not approach the edge of the darkness. She had too much experience. Being in the light made it impossible to see in the gloom. That meant, that the first line of defense would be [Rogues] and [Scouts] hidden in the outskirts.

She found them easily enough as she crept along the perimeter.

One by one, she marked them. None of them was even level twenty. They didn't need to be high level for their purpose as being sacrificial pawns. They would either see others sneaking inside, or their deaths would be noticed the next day.

Zehia considered her options. She could kill one, and try and take their place. Her [False Face] skill would work well enough for that, but it wasn't foolproof. Truth stones and other precautions might blow her cover.

She could kill one, and make it look like a wild animal or monster had done it. Roshal had fewer such dangers, as [Slave] armies habitually swept its countryside, but they did exist - especially this close to the border. It would still be risky and attract attention.

No. The best option would be to wait, and watch. She had a good view of everything that happened on top of the surrounding wall. That would be enough. She would bide her time, and make her next move once she learned the patterns of the [Guards].

---

Sibby followed Riqre.

Or rather, her body followed Riqre, and she didn't bother to prevent it. She could've made it trip. Or made it incapable of getting any traction. Or broken its leg.

But she hadn't.

The simple reason was... she was bored. It was one thing to be a patient huntress that stalked their prey. You had the anticipation. The maneuvering. The chance to see what the prey did when they thought they were all alone.

Being sprawled on the ground to keep her traitorous body from obeying had none of that. It was tedious. She could only take so much pleasure in how it must be frustrating the fat bastard.

Compared to that... following him around didn't seem so bad. How else could she disobey orders if he wasn't there to give them?

The fat man ate. He took his [Slaves] to bed. He shat. He had people clean him. The thing he didn't do was order her to do anything more than follow him.

...Oh, that and take a new name. As if. Her traitorous body might respond, but she would always be the Siberian!

Or Sibby to her friends.

For how little Riqre did, she still learned things. Not from him, but from his [Slaves]. They all seemed... off. Their eyes were too open. Their smiles were too wide. They were absolutely far too happy with what they did.

It reminded her of Heartbreaker.

That... had been a different kind of ordeal. He'd died easily enough, but after they'd left Kevin had been in a bad mood. Or, at least, as bad of mood as he ever got. That was the nice thing about Kevin - he was so consistent.

Well... Sibby smiled to herself. It was one of the nice things about Kevin. It was also fun to... break that complacency.

Regardless, it was clear that Riqre was a supervillain of the 'go ahead and eat him slowly' sort. Sibby looked forward to the day he'd no longer be in this world.

"Rophir." Riqre smiled at the young boy. "It's time again." He motioned to two people that smiled and waved at the child. "Kill them and get food. Don't, and get lashed."

Sibby watched as the blank-eyed boy took the offered dagger and advanced on the two grownups that knelt down and spread their arms - as if they were going to hug him.

Something was... off. Their movements weren't natural. The light they reflected was strange somehow. It felt... similar to the stones in the city, or the collar around her neck. Similar, but different.

Rophir stabbed the woman. He stabbed her over and over until she fell. The man wrapped his arms around him, but it did little to hamper his attack. In fact, it looked more like a loving hug than a restraining one.

Rophir turned on him next.

By the time he was done, he was covered in blackish blood. He then fell to his knees and just... stared at the two people he'd killed.

"Good job, Rophir." Riqre beamed from the side. "Excellent job! Now, come. Come and claim your reward." The child didn't move. He didn't react like he'd heard anything at all. "Hmpf. Still not holding up, eh? Well, I'm a man of my word. Your food awaits you in the dining hall... No? Well, I won't lash you either." He turned to the man who'd been mumbling over Sibby when she'd refused to move. "Put him in a jar for eight hours. After that, fix his parents so that they're ready for the next time!"

His parents?

He was forcing him to kill his parents?

That was like what Jack had done to Riley!

Sibby clenched her fist.

...Before it relaxed as her body betrayed her, yet again.

Riqre was already walking away.

Sibby followed.

Every person they passed smiled adoringly at Riqre, and quickly bowed. Their only hesitation seemed to be that they didn't want to stop looking at him. Sibby noticed that after they passed, the people raised their heads just enough to watch him walk away.

They didn't resume whatever it was they were doing until he'd passed out of sight.

Riqre and Sibby exited from the building and entered into the inner courtyard. There was a tall stone wall that blocked out most of the compound. It was bigger and stronger than the wooden wall that surrounded the entire estate. Sibby noted that the people on top of the stone wall kept looking in their direction also.

It seemed stupid to have your guards so obsessed with you that they neglected their duties.

They walked around the front of the building before coming to an area that had large clay jars, and tall metal cages. Ten of the cages contained naked and gaunt-looking people. Their arms and legs were so skinny, that Sibby could barely see any muscles on them at all.

"Ah." Riqre smiled. "Yes, they look just about ready! I'm glad I got back in time." He turned to one of the people that had followed them. "Which one?"

"The third cage, Master." The girl didn't take her eyes off of him as she pointed to one of the cages.

Sibby looked over. The person there wasn't moving. He wasn't even breathing.

"Excellent!" Riqre clapped his hands together. "Call Unate. This is a job for a [Butcher]."

The girl bowed, and then sprinted away as if her life depended on getting Unate here as soon as possible.

While he waited, Riqre strolled up and down the line of cages. He stopped at each one and examined its occupant before he moved on. Before he was done, the girl and a burly man with a roll of cloth over his shoulder, and a cleaver in his other hand, arrived.

"Master!" They both bowed and remained that way until Riqre wandered back over to them.

"Ah, you brought the tools, Unate." He smiled. "Good job."

Unate seemed to glow with pride. "Thank you, Master!"

"Yes." Riqre nodded at him. "Now get started while I explain things to them."

"Yes, Master!" Unate unfurled the cloth by the third cage, took out a key, opened the door, and dragged the body out. He then took his cleaver and hacked at one of its arms. Once it was chopped off, he pulled out some sharp-looking knives and started stripping what little meat remained.

While that was going on, Riqre raised his voice. "Everyone, I hope you are doing well!" His voice sounded like he honestly cared about the welfare of the caged people. "I am happy to tell you that you will be getting food today!" That got the imprisoned people's attention, as their heads swiveled towards Riqre. "It will be a very special meal too!" Riqre laughed. "Now, I know what you're thinking. You'd want to eat something else. Do not turn down my generosity, for there will not be any other type of food provided. Eat, and enjoy!"

The girl grabbed the first strip of meat that Unate had flayed. She scurried over to the first cage and placed it inside.

Riqre sat back and watched.

...

The next place they visited was back inside of the compound. It wasn't in the opulent halls, but was underground. A place that was dark and cramped, and only had a few glowing stones to provide light. The butcher had accompanied them.

"Laila!" Riqre smiled and spread his arms to the side, as if he was going to hug the chained girl. "My dear, Laila! I had given up all hope of possessing you again, you know? You are the first, but you won't be the last. Unate!!"

Sibby looked at the girl who looked like her. 'Laila' paled in comparison, of course, but she was still a far more striking figure than anyone else.

...Except for Panda, but she was cute, not striking.

"Please, Master Riqre. Please! I'll do anything you want, just please don't..." Laila cried as she fell to her knees and begged. "Please. Please! Please!!!"

Riqre motioned to some of the slaves that accompanied them, and they lifted Laila up, placed her on a stained slab of stone, and then pulled at her shackles until her arms and legs were spread open.

Unate then began to cut into her - the same way he'd peeled away the layers of the corpse.

Sibby generally didn't care much about others, not in a personal sense. She loved Riley and Kevin. She was a good mother. She felt empathy for the woman who was being tortured, but it was more like a dissatisfaction than the rage that she would've felt on behalf of a real person.

And... she'd also had done worst things in the past. Things that had made Kevin sad. Things that she didn't like to think about now.

She was better now. She wasn't indiscriminate. The people she hunted all deserved her actions.

She wanted to leave.

She didn't want to listen to Laila's screams that were still intermixed with begging and crying. She didn't want to smell her blood. She didn't want to see the fresh red liquid seep into the stone and stain it more.

It was strange.

It made her sick to her stomach.

That was odd. She shouldn't have minded. She wouldn't have minded if she was the one doing it. She hadn't minded seeing the man outside chopped up or eaten.

But...

Being forced to watch it. To be powerless to do anything. To be unable to stop what Kevin would've objected to...

Sibby found herself hating it for some reason. This... wasn't the way things were SUPPOSED to be!

People were hurt and died all the time. Sometimes at her hands, but always because she allowed it. Or condoned it? Or something?

The point was, that she was capable of changing the things she wanted to... but not now.

Thinking back, even the food that the others had been given had felt... wrong. She couldn't say how or why. Eating humans wasn't wrong. They weren't completely bland, like everything else, and she missed having some flavor. Any flavor. If you were going to kill someone, why not eat them? Kevin had tried explaining why he didn't like it, but it had never made sense to her. Sibby had (mostly) stopped because it had made him upset, and because Kevin's food was much, much better.

She missed him. She wondered when she'd see-

A particularly loud scream pulled her back to what was happening. Unate had reached Laila's head.

His knives cut away her skin in a single, long, connected piece. The other people dripped a nice smelling green liquid on the places where the most blood flowed. Whatever it was, it stopped the bleeding.

Sibby thought back to another one of Riley's lectures to Panda: 'The epidermis contains no blood vessels, and cells in the deepest layers are nourished by diffusion from blood capillaries present in the upper layers of the dermis.'

That must be why there was so little blood compared to when Sibby had done similar things. She wondered why William had never explained that detail before? He must have known. Jack had also skinned people alive, so he had known, and William had been smarter than Jack.

Sibby clenched her fists.

She wanted to do something. She needed to do something! ...But what?

Huh?

Her hands hadn't loosened. Her traitorous body had obeyed her.

Why?

Could it be because she wasn't thinking of hitting anyone?

Her hands went limp.

Interesting.

And it was something she could distract herself with.

...

Sibby followed Riqre as he went back outside. They toured the rest of his house - mainly the outside area.

It was separated from the inside area by the stone wall, and it was larger. There were a lot more people in collars and chains here, and they didn't look happy.

At least they weren't screaming like Laila.

All the guards wore the same, wide smile as those inside, but the rest of the enslaved people looked like how Sibby would expect them to: Angry. Sad. Desperate. She'd gotten better at recognizing people's emotions, even if they weren't real.

The outside was grouped into multiple areas. One for fighting. One for farming. One for mining. Riqre said something about training his slaves to have the right 'classes', but Sibby wasn't paying attention.

Her mind kept on going back to Laila.

And that made her think about the Slaughterhouse Nine.

And that made her think about what they'd done to Riley.

On one hand, it wasn't as bad since they'd only hurt her parents. On the other hand... it was Riley. Riley was real, but Sibby hadn't realized it at the time.

Back then... she'd been just another... thing.

William hadn't cared about her, and so Sibby hadn't either. Jack was the one who'd decided what to do, and to take her with them.

That was how she'd become more-real. Not as real as William, not at first, but Bonesaw was a part of their group and not a thing. Eventually... Riley had become family. Had become real.

Riqre finished doing whatever it was that he was doing by ordering some of the wide-smiling people to hurt the non-smiling ones. He went back inside, and had Sibby follow.

He sat in a hot, wet room, and had Sibby follow.

He took some of the wide-smiling women into his bed, and had Sibby follow.

Sibby didn't care. She still thought about Laila. Was she actually real? What made one person real and another one not?

William had been real. Jack had been real. Crawler, Crimson, Mannequin, Shatterbird, Winter, Chuckles... The rest of the Slaughterhouse Nine had... kinda been real?

Riley was real. Kevin was real. Panda was real. Dragon, Noelle, Marrissa, Chantilly... The other people that she occasionally interacted with were also... kinda real?

Sibby would be upset if they died. She'd be upset if they were hurt.

If she was upset that Laila was hurt, did that make her kinda real too?

She didn't know.

Riqre was asleep in his bed with the wide-smiling women. Sibby thought about running away.

Her body didn't move.

She thought about following Riqre from a distance. He hadn't said that she needed to be close to him. The space between them had varied throughout the day. She'd still be 'following' him if she was there when he moved, right?

She took a step.

Good. Sibby smiled. She could use her power to move her traitorous body, but it would be hard to allow the proper forces to propel her while negating the ones that would stop her. It would be possible, but hard to do. Gravity was the strongest force, and the rest of them didn't have enough power to do much without negating virtually everything else.

Once she built up momentum, she could move fast, but for turning and stopping...

Ugh.

Plus, she'd have to stop focusing on negating the electrical charges in the nerves that were hurting. She didn't want to do that.

So, tricking her traitorous body into listening to her was the better idea. She was so smart!

Sibby slipped out of Riqre's room without making a sound. It hurt to focus on negating her vibrations as she opened the door, but that was a price she had to pay.

Once she was in the hallway, she went back to blocking her pain. Her bare feet made a soft sound as she limped towards her destination, but if anyone heard her, they didn't investigate.

She went to the heavy doors that opened into the stairs that led underground. Even from here, she could hear the quiet sobbing.

Step by step. It was frustrating. She SHOULD be able to move around without any resistance from the air or anything else, instead she moved painfully slowly.

After an eternity, she reached her target.

Laila was still chained to the table. The bleeding had stopped, but what remained of her skin was still attached in a single, long strip. She must have been in too much pain to fall asleep.

Sibby looked down at her.

Yes. She was real.

Or at least kinda real.

Sibby placed her palm on Laila's chest. The girl's skinless eyelids opened and looked at her as she gasped. "Wha?"

It was barely more than a whisper, and was probably the loudest sound she could make after screaming for so long.

Sibby smiled at her and focused on her body. It was different from hers. It was different from Riley's. The similarities were there. Blood vessels. Muscles. Bone. Even if they weren't really the same, they acted like it. That meant that she also had... nerves.

Sibby stopped focusing on blocking her own electrical impulses.

It hurt.

It hurt. It hurt. It hurt.

She found the ones from all over Laila's body that were still bombarding her brain.

Sibby blocked them.

Laila gasped again, and then her body sagged. "Tha..nk... yo..."

She fell asleep.

Sibby stood over her and kept the pain away.

She could reform, and not have to deal with her injuries, but not doing so was sort of a point of pride by now. Besides, she'd just have to hurt herself later if she got rid of them.

Still...

It hurt.

It hurt. It hurt. It hurt.

But, it was a price she was willing to pay for someone that was kinda real.

---

[Flayed Slave Level 9!]

[Skill Change – Lesser Pain Tolerance → Greater Pain Tolerance!]

[Skill Change – Greater Pain Tolerance → Ignore Pain!]

Notes:

Summary:

Riqre has one of his [Mages] examine Sibby to try and identify what's wrong with it. The bindings are working with no flaws. He resumes his various 'experiments', including skinning Laila alive.

Zehia arrives at Riqre's compound and plots how to infiltrate it.

Sibby experiments on her body while remember Riley's lectures to Panda. She figures out how to precisely block the pain signals she gets. She makes her body incapable of moving, but eventually lets up and follows Riqre out of boredom. She's disturbed by the atrocities she sees, which remind her of things she's done, but doesn't want to think about. She visits Laila during the night, and decides that she's 'kinda real', and blocks her pain - at the expense of no longer blocking her own.

Laila gets another powerful new, and rare [Skill].

Chapter 47: Self Actualization 4

Siti`medaale kneeled before him. It lovingly looked up at him as Riqre smiled down at... her.

His enslaved Djinni had picked a nice form. It wasn't a Stitchfolk, but it still had its unique charm. Riqre licked his lips. "Siti, I would have you tonight."

"Yes, Master." She said breathlessly before moving closer to him, and opening her mouth...

...

Riqre woke up.

He'd been having the most wonderful dream, but it was already fading from his mind. He let out a sigh and opened his eyes.

"Good morning, Master." The two [Slaves] he'd let into his bed last night greeted him.

He sighed in contentment before looking around the room. Where was Siti`medaale? It had been standing-

Oh, it was in that corner now.

The fledgling Djinni still looked at him with hatred. It would be a while yet before he could mold it into what it was destined to be.

"Help me with my morning ablutions." He didn't need to give the order out loud, but he liked hearing the adoration in the response.

"Yes, Master!"

...

Siti`medaale still followed him.

That was good. Riqre couldn't think about how such a simple command could be misconstrued, but he worried that a simple mind might have difficulty in grasping even the most basic of orders. Today he was going to do something about the unsightly state his Djinni was in.

They reached the training grounds, and he looked around for an appropriate [Slave]. No... No... No... Ah, yes. One of the humans. That would work for multiple reasons.

"Siti`medaale. Go to the center of the ring." The Djinni started walking, slipped, and fell down. It then began crawling in a disgraceful manner. Riqre clenched his fist. "You." He pointed at his chosen [Slave]. "Take your sword, and kill the Djinni!"

"Me? What?" The man looked around in confusion and dared to not immediately obey! "With THIS sword?"

He wasn't one of Riqre's personal [Adoring Slaves]. He was being trained to be sold, not to become part of Riqre's household. He wasn't skilled enough to earn that honor. Nor was he... suitable in other ways.

"Do it! Now!" The [Slave] behind him struck him with his whip.

Riqre smiled. That was why having loyal [Slaves] on your side was so important. They could be trusted to train their lessers when he wasn't present.

The reluctant [Slave] moved into the ring before scrunching his face up, letting out a battle cry, and charging the Djinni. He held his sword in two hands, and brought it down on its head with all his might!

...To no effect.

Riqre smirked. Siti`medaale was either unconsciously rebelling, or was so young as to not have full control of its powers. That did not mean that such powers did not exist. Riqre knew better than that. It had terrorized Lailight Scintillation for weeks. If there was one thing it could do, it was fight. A mundane sword had no chance of hurting it.

...Even if it had, it would've simply dispersed its physical form. Siti`medaale would then have been forced to reform it and undo its unsightly injuries. It may not be capable of obeying that command directly, but reforming was an unconscious reflex of Djinni.

Now, for the next part...

"Siti`medaale, kill the singular man that is nearest to you." Riqre had thought long and hard about how to word his command. He had to give the order for the Djinni to be able to inflict harm. Even then, it could not turn on him directly. Still, it was prudent to limit it to exactly one target, so as to leave out the possibility of collateral damage.

The [Slave]'s eyes went wide. He knew he had no chance of winning against a Djinni. He would surely attempt to rebel - as much as his [Class] allowed it.

Riqre could have none of that.

"[Whispered Command]. talac et Sitivnia." He used his [Skill] to prevent any of his other [Slaves] from hearing the language of Roshal. A [Slave Master] could command any [Slave]. A crest appeared on the [Slave]'s head and his eyes went blank. He then resumed attacking in a fury.

Siti`medaale, for its part, fought back poorly. It suffered wound after wound as it futilely tried swiping at its opponent. It seemed that Riqre needed to provide it more incentives.

"Siti`medaale. You may eat what you kill."

The Djinni perked up, and Riqre smiled. He'd been paying attention, and he'd noticed the look it had when it had seen the training for the [Carrion Eaters]. It wasn't one of boredom, hatred, or loathing.

No.

It was one of longing.

Siti`medaale swiped with one of its hands. Instead of the previous effect, this time its claws split its target in two. It immediately grabbed the torso before it could fall to the ground... and ripped a huge chunk of it out with its mouth.

Riqre grinned in satisfaction.

It had obeyed not only his command, but also his suggestion. That was the first step. The hole in the wall. The chink in the armor. All that was required now was a gentle nudging in the right direction and time.

---

Zehia watched from her perch as the Djinni killed its opponent

As expected, its power was overwhelming. A single [Slave] with a non-magical blade never stood a chance. However, that was not the most intriguing part of what she'd just witnessed.

Riqre did not have full control of the Djinni.

Zehia could think of a dozen possible explanations, but she was no expert. She couldn't identify exactly how or why the Djinni was behaving so oddly. It hardly mattered anyways. The Djinni wasn't her target, Riqre was.

Although, killing him would've been a far more daunting task if his Djinni was as skilled and experienced as those that belonged to other Emirs. Zehia didn't need the increased difficulty. It was hard enough to assassinate a [Slave Master] in the heart of his power, and Riqre was no ordinary [Slave Master].

Zehia knew how to infiltrate any given location. It was part of her job as a problem solver, and it was a key aspect of her [Class]. A non-Roshalin wouldn't have been able to slip into the outer section like she had.

Riqre's compound was more like a small town than a house. There were thousands of [Guards], and even more [Slaves] here that were being trained. With that many people, it wasn't difficult to slip in through the cracks.

The key was knowing when to appear as a [Slave], and when not to.

No one looked at [Slaves] - not unless they were evaluating them. In Roshal, they were property. Valuable property sometimes, but just property. Things to be used to make life easier for others. Sure, you couldn't ignore them. Even with their [Class], they still tried to escape occasionally. Only the most loyal of [Slaves] went without shackles, and even then, they always wore a collar.

If you wore nondescript clothing, chains, and a collar, then you could go almost anywhere as long as you looked like you were following an order. Or, at least, anywhere not important. For obvious reasons, [Slaves] were not allowed to enter certain places.

It wasn't the perfect disguise. In fact, it was a very high-risk one. If you were pretending to be property, then someone more important than you could always stop you, or order you to do something else. That was more of a risk in less well-run [Slave Master] estates, but it was still a risk.

Similarly, one could not pretend to be a [Guard] or any other such position for an extended period of time. [Cook], [Sweeper], [Herder]... just like in any city, they knew each other. A skilled [Infiltrator] could lose themselves in the crowd, but that could only last for so long before someone noticed a new face and got curious.

The final option, of going unseen completely, was the safest, but wasn't practical for long periods of time. Every interaction with every person or possession was a gamble. Eventually even the highest level [Rogue] would slip, and then things got complicated.

That was why Zehia was doing what all high-level [Infiltrators] did. She switched between tactics as it was required. It took talent to pull off, but was far and away the best method.

Even then, getting close enough to Riqre to enact her revenge would be... difficult.

There was a reason that she had bought her [Slaves] from him. They weren't the highest level. They weren't the most skilled. With the exception of Laila, they didn't possess special [Classes]. However, there was one thing that Riqre’ma Medaale's merchandise had that made her purchase from him time and time again: loyalty.

The [Slaves] Riqre produced were expensive... and loyal. They didn't rebel. They didn't turn on their owners. They didn't listen to the occasional bad apple that tried to pretend to be the next [Rebel of String]. They were [Slaves], and they faithfully obeyed.

So, while she could sneak into the outer area easily enough, getting into Riqre's inner sanctum... that could take some time.

---

Laila sat in her room.

'You have a wonderful room! You will be so close to Master Riqre! Oh, how I envy you getting so much of his attention!'

She had a wooden bed with a threadbare sheet and no padding.

That was it. That was all that was contained in her 'wonderful room'.

Laila let out a sigh. It was exactly how she remembered it in her nightmares. She'd been a slave ever since... that day. She could still remember the looks on her parents faces as she was sold to the man from Roshal. She'd slept on the ground - chained to the other [Slaves] at first. Then, she'd slept in the common room - where all the slaves were forced to stay at night.

She hadn't had a 'bed' then. Nor had she had any privacy. So, in a way, this was a 'wonderful room'. It was nowhere as nice as the one she'd had at Mistress Zehia's home, but at least she didn't have to worry about fending off other [Slaves]. Or fighting them for scraps of food.

She smiled ruefully to herself. When she'd been bought by Riqre’ma Medaale... she had actually been excited. His followers nearly sang his praise with every breath. They painted a lovely picture... that was completely false.

Sure, Riqre's [Guards] were more disciplined than what Laila had experienced over the years. They didn't touch her. They kept good watch over Riqre's property. At first, she hadn't noticed that they were insane. It wasn't until she'd been chosen to enter the inner area that she'd really seen how... obsessed they were.

Not that she'd had much time to worry about that. Not when the... experiments started. Not when she'd gained her new [Class]. The [Class] that had led to her escaping this place for a while... and the [Class] that had brought her back.

No. No matter what Riqre's sycophants said, Lailight Scintillation was the best place to be a [Slave] in Roshal. They didn't train [Slaves] there, or at least not in the same way they did outside of the capital city. In many ways, it had been a paradise.

Now? Now she was back here. Her special [Class] had leveled up for the first time in years, and she was receiving an award for it.

She wouldn't be flayed again for a week.

Laila started crying. She wasn't sure if they were tears of joy, for an entire week was a grand reprieve. Or if they were tears for her future self. A week wasn't much time at all.

...

Three nights later, Laila was lying on her plank and trying to fall asleep.

It wasn't that the 'bed' was uncomfortable, or that there was a chill in the air as winter continued. It wasn't even the dread she felt from the nightmares she was certain to have. Rather, it was the sensations she could feel inside of her.

She couldn't describe it well. It was almost like she could 'feel' her own thoughts. Not in any... esoteric way, but more like she had fingers inside of her head. Like... every thought produced a faint tremor that she could feel.

But they weren't feelings like touching things. More like how she could feel her muscles contract?

Or not?

It was infuriatingly vague, and she couldn't ignore it. Eventually, she would become exhausted enough that sleep would take her.

The door to her room swung open, and the Djinni entered.

Laila jumped to her feet and bowed. "Greetings, O' great Djinni." Was that what you were supposed to say? Surely, as far as [Slaves] were ranked, a Djinni was higher than her. She hoped she hadn't offended the black and white woman.

The Djinni tilted her head and looked puzzled.

Laila gulped, but pressed on. "Thank you for what you did for me before."

She still wasn't sure if it was a dream or an hallucination, but she thought the Djinni had come to her on the night she'd leveled up and gained her newest [Skill]. Once again, her [Class] was a blessing and a curse. [Ignore Pain] was an incredibly potent [Skill] - especially for her. However, it just meant that she had more of Riqre's attention.

She'd told him about her level and [Skill], but she hadn't mentioned the Djinni. That had been in part because Riqre hadn't asked, and because she was unsure about if it had really happened. She could've volunteered the information. That would've been the safe thing to do.

The problem with that... was that Riqre might turn his attention to the Djinni - even more than he already did. That would mean bad things for her savior, not to mention the other [Slaves] that might also be experimented on and flayed.

The Djinni still looked confused. Perhaps it did not recognize her?

"Uhm..." Laila swallowed again. "I had a different face when you first saw me. I, uh, looked like you at first." That assumed the Djinni had noticed her in their journey from Lailight Scintillation. "You also, maybe, visited me when I had no skin?" Laila looked down at her rough hands. She'd been born a Hemp, so she was aware of how people thought of them.

It was doubtlessly why she'd been chosen for Riqre's experiments in the first place. Simply put, she had been expendable back then. She might now be Silk everywhere on the inside, save for her head, but her replacement skin was cheap.

There was no reason to give her something more costly. In fact, it was a good thing in a way. If she'd been granted Silk again... that would only mean that Riqre would be visiting her. That was the only possible explanation. Her appearance mattered only so much as it appealed to him, or offended him to be in her presence.

The Djinni's eyes opened wide, and she smiled. So she did recognize Laila! She also made no effort to leave.

Laila swallowed nervously again. "Can I do anything for you?" The Djinni shook her head. "Would you, uh, would you like to sit?" Laila motioned to her plank.

The Djinni smiled and nodded. She sat down, and then motioned for Laila to join her.

Laila had no idea what was going on, but she obeyed the gesture. The pair sat on her 'bed' before the Djinni started stroking her hair.

Laila jerked away at the contact, but the Djinni kept caressing her like she was a pet.

No... it felt more intimate than that. Not the fondling of a owner, or a lover, but more like... that of a mother.

Laila curled up, and the Djinni kept petting her.

That night, she dreamed of how it had been before the [Raiders] had come.

---

Zehia prowled on top of the roof.

The [Guards] were alert. There were warding spells in place. The wall was high. It hadn't been the easiest task to slip past them all and into the inner compound, but she'd done it. They next part would be harder still. She had a mental list of all the [Slaves] that had sensing-[Skills], but those were only the ones that she'd noticed.

A girl that sniffed out moldy food from the pantry and carted it away.

A man who'd locked onto a fly from across the room and then followed its erratic flight path before killing it.

A woman who perked up whenever Riqre started moving and rushed to make sure his path was cleared out of any distractions.

Those were issues she'd have to overcome. They were not, however, the thing foremost on Zehia's mind. That would be the monsters in cages. Monsters that were currently eating human flesh. Human flesh that Riqre's [Slaves] were carving up and feeding them.

She was speechless.

It was only because of her good fortune that no one stumbled upon her while she was in a stupor from what she'd seen. It was monstrous - literally!!

Zehia was no [Slave Master]. She did not have the [Class] or the desire to train Roshal's primary export. She did, however, know the laws. Laws that stated that some treatments of [Slaves] weren't to be done.

It was, admittedly, a pretty short list - and most of it only applied to those that didn't own the [Slave] in question.

That was one of the reasons for Leciaun. The holiday in which slavers and slave owners allowed their subordinates to do ANYTHING to a slave, short of permanent injury. If there weren't rules to relax, then such a celebration wouldn't serve as anything except a clearly political reaction to Cinaelu.

Actually, it primarily was that. Zehia knew enough about how the world worked to know that Roshal's public appearance was of vital importance to it.

This? This was a disaster waiting to happen.

Zehia retreated. Back to the outer compound, back to where she could sit and think without too much danger of being caught.

This changed everything... or did it?

She could leave now. She could return to Lailight Scintillation and tell them what she'd seen. The Emirs would enact her revenge for her.

For her, and for Roshal.

It would be hollow. Worst, she'd still be chained herself. Roshal did not compromise. She wouldn't even get her case re-evaluated. The Emirs' judgment was never wrong, to suggest otherwise was to invite disaster upon yourself.

She could go and whisper into the ear of someone sympathetic to her. She had a few 'friends' that she trusted. It was a short list, and Riqre used to be on it.

Such an action would probably lead to her revenge, in a round-about way. 'Justice' in Roshal happened to people in different levels of severity and at different speeds. For all she knew, there were countless Emirs that were corrupt and brazenly flaunted Roshal's laws too.

No.

Even if those two options didn't lead to her being imprisoned and enslaved, she wouldn't choose them. Part of it was her [Class]. After years of being a 'problem solver', she couldn't leave this in the hands of others. An [Assassin of Vengeance] did not leave things for others to handle.

The other part was that she didn't hold Roshal in such high regard anymore. She'd seen its pleasant veneer, she'd seen its corrupt underbelly (though, not as corrupt as this), but she had always thought that it was fine. She wasn't sent after people that didn't deserve it. The Emirs knew what they were doing. Roshal wasn't some idealistic place. It was grounded in the reality that 'noble' countries refused to accept.

Then, it had happened to her.

She knew that she'd be on the run for the rest of her life - at least until she could find a benefactor that even Roshal couldn't challenge openly. Wistram or the Blighted Kingdom perhaps. It made her despise all that she'd worked for.

That part of her told her to let Riqre be. Let him delve into horrors. Let him be a festering rot that kills its host.

Except...

Doing nothing was wrong. Letting those [Slaves] undergo whatever other tortures Riqre inflicted upon them was wrong. It crossed a line. Zehia wasn't an idealist, but she still recognized evil when she saw it.

---

"You've made wonderful progress, Laila."

"Thank you, Master Riqre." Her break was over, and she'd been flayed again. Even with her skin still attached, and therefore a part of her and not cloth, Laila didn't care. [Ignore Pain] had negated the agony, and the rest of her [Skills] did the rest.

Except for her head. It still felt bad when her face was flayed. Not as bad as before. There was no pain. The fear was still there... but it was more like discomfort than the deep pain of before.

A dark thought sprung up in the back of her mind. What would happen if they cut out part of her life thread? Would she die? Would she actually pass on her [Class]? She wasn't sure when Riqre would attempt that, but she was sure it was coming.

At least it wouldn't hurt.

"Yes, you have proven to be so remarkably malleable. It is time for the next step. Unate!"

The [Butcher] nodded, and began to cut into her. He wasn't going to skin her, instead he was peeling away her muscles and tissue. He found his target, and took it out before replacing it with new cloth.

It was the other [Slave] next to her, that Laila felt sorry for. She was one of Riqre's devoted. She was happy for this 'opportunity'.

Laila wondered if she'd scream.

Riqre had tried this in the past. He couldn't risk her life, but he could still try and make another [Slave] like her.

It had never worked.

The same torture that had resulted in her [Class] had killed everyone else. Devoted or not. Healthy or not. Age, sex, cloth - none of them had changed a thing. In the end, it was only due to his being distracted by something else that Riqre had decided to sell her.

Most failed products were buried in the basement and never saw the light of day again.

Then again, his other failed products weren't sellable. Laila had been the exception.

She wondered how much she had cost. Or what sort of conversation would lead to Riqre offering her to someone to buy?

The other woman screamed. She still had her skin. She'd smiled while Unate had been cutting her open. Once Laila's heart was in her chest?

She screamed.

Riqre watched as she strained against her bonds and bent her back so much it snapped.

"Such a shame. Such a shame." He shook his head and acted sad. "If the [Skill] could've been transferred, even if the [Class] failed, that would've been something." He frowned. "You are not high enough level, Laila. I'm sure once you get to level ten, the experiment will work." He let out a sigh. "Until then, there's only one way to level [Flayed Slave]." He turned and nodded to Unate. "Start over. Give her new skin, and then flay it. We'll repeat it as much as we need to."

...

Thankfully, even Unate needed to sleep. Otherwise, Laila would probably spend her nights strapped to the slab as well. She still had nightmares, but they weren't as bad. It might've been because the actual flaying wasn't as horrifying, or it might've been her visitor.

The Djinni didn't come by all the time, but she did visit most nights. It was like she was a stray cat that would wander in and make herself at home. Laila stayed up and waited for her. Her door creaked, and the black and white woman stepped through the entryway.

"Hello." Laila bowed her head and smiled. "It's nice to see you again."

The Djinni remained silent, but smiled in return. She walked over and sat down next to her on the wooden 'bed'.

"How was your day?" The Djinni shrugged. "Mine wasn't bad. My new [Skill] really helps. Riqre tried transplanting my organs again." The Djinni tilted her head. "Oh, I mean 'again' because he tried that when I first got my 'special' class. I'd thought I was special." Laila ruefully smiled. "Can you believe I actually listened to his other [Slaves] back then?"

Laila chattered away, while the Djinni listened. She knew she was listening because she reacted. The monochromatic woman never said a word, but she smiled, frowned, shook her head, or held her at all the right times.

She reminded Laila of her mother. Or, at least, how her mother had been once upon a time.

"I wish you could talk." She looked into the Djinni's yellow eyes. "I wonder what it's like being you. You're so much... more than all of us, but..." She didn't want to say the Djinni had it better or worse. Every [Slave] had their own tribulations. No two were the same, and you couldn't compare them. "I'd like to hear about your day. I want to understand you. I don't even know your name. Do you even have one? You understand me, so you must understand names as a concept." No matter how animal-like she acted, the Djinni was as intelligent as she was.

The Djinni held up a single finger, and Laila stopped speaking for a moment. "What are?"

She took her finger and placed it on the wall, her long finger nail moved through the brick like it was air, but left a gouge behind it as she traced a letter: 'S'

Laila blinked. Could the Djinni write? Was she?

'i'

Yes. This had to be her name? Were Djinni born with one? Did she choose it herself, or did someone else give it to her?

The Djinni's hand paused, before jerking. It was almost like she was fighting with herself to spell out the next letter.

'B'

Her eyes were narrowed, and her face scrunched in concentration, but the Djinni kept carving her name.

'B'

Letter by letter.

'Y'

Then she lowered her hand and stopped.

'SiBBY'

"You're name is 'Sibby'?" Laila looked up from the letters and asked.

Sibby smiled and nodded.

---

Zehia was frozen on top of the roof of one of the inner section's buildings.

She was invisible, and she was also prone. [Advanced Invisibility] was a potent [Skill], but she couldn't rely solely on it. Other [Skills] could pierce it. [Danger Sense], [See Invisibility], [Secure the Area]... it all came down to a high-stakes game that lower-level people weren't able to play. Furthermore, she could only use it for so long, and she could only activate it so often.

She tried to save it for an emergency, and this counted. A large, muscled, and scantily clad Stitchperson was intently scanning his surroundings as he slowly walked above her with a drawn sword. He was one of Riqre's 'loyal' [Guards], and he was quite good at his job.

Zehia's [Danger Sense] was screaming at her. She didn't know how he knew she was there, but he obviously did somehow. She couldn't count on him being bored or distracted. Riqre's personal [Slaves] were fanatics. He'd stay out here as long as it took. He'd die of thirst before abandoning his hunt. He'd certainly outlast her [Skill].

She'd have to run for it.

It was a poor option, but that was all she'd been left with. Moving greatly increased the likelihood of the [Guard]'s suspicions being confirmed. If Riqre knew that there was someone spying or trying to infiltrate his estate?

That would be bad.

If it came to that, it would be better to kill the [Guard] right now. That would raise an even bigger alarm... eventually. Getting Riqre while he was unprotected would be impossible after that happened. She'd have to finish this tonight!

Zehia slowly rose up and clenched her fists. She'd left her magical dagger outside, so as to more easily pose as a slave. She was regretting that decision right now. The [Guard] was looking right at her. No... he was looking behind her and to the side...

A hand patted her on the shoulder!

Zehia spun her head and saw the Djinni!! The black and white woman smiled and subtly shook her head before walking past her. The hand she'd had on her shoulder rose up in a wave as she approached the [Guard].

"Siti`medaale." He straightened up and sheathed his sword. "It was just you." He let out a sigh. "I should have known. Excuse me." He bowed to the more valuable slave, and turned to leave.

Siti`medaale, the Djinni, watched him go with her hands on her hips. Once he was out of sight, she turned to face Zehia.

Could she see her? The Djinni's yellow eyes glowed in the dim light, and her hair billowed in the faint breeze.

Zehia slowly backed away, but Siti`medaale stayed still. She must have an order to find infiltrators. That meant that she would raise the alarm... but not immediately. Zehia knew enough about how Djinni could interpret orders. She'd helped her, but that didn't mean they were allies. She'd inform Riqre in time. She'd have to.

Damn.

Zehia couldn't even silence her. Killing a Djinni might be possible - if she had her dagger and took it unaware. Beating one in a straight confrontation was beyond her. She was no [Warrior] or [Mage].

Zehia retreated.

Her invisible form leapt from rooftop to rooftop before coming to the stone wall. She looked up. She'd have to time this just right. Being invisible helped, but wasn't a-

A hand patted her on the shoulder!

Siti`medaale had followed her!

Zehia hadn't even noticed. Her invisibility faded as she readied the best [Skill] she could use without a weapon. "So this is it then?" She whispered softly to herself.

The Djinni shook her head.

Zehia blinked. "You're not going to fight me?"

Another shake.

"Did Riqre not order you to kill intruders?"

Siti`medaale shrugged and smiled at her.

"You... can disobey?"

The Djinni's feral grin and nod filled her with fear... and hope. Could Riqre really have been so lax in his orders?

"Will you... help me kill Riqre?" It was an impossibility... yet, she felt like she had to ask. Every Djinni wished to kill their Master. If this one could disregard commands?

Siti`medaale nodded, and raised her hand like she wanted a... handshake?

Did she know about a Stringfolk custom like that? She HAD spent enough time prowling around Lailight Scintillation. It wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility to have picked up some simple gestures...

Well, what did she have to lose? Collaborating with a Djinni was a torturable offense, but so what?

"Help me kill Riqre, and I'll..." Zehia shook her head. "I don't have the [Skills] to free you, but you're already free in a way aren't you?" The Djinni's smile grew wider. "Fine." Zehia nodded. "Help me kill Riqre, and I'll let you leave and won't tell anyone about you."

Who would she tell, and why would she? Let Roshal burn.

The pair shook hands.

Notes:

Summary:

Sibby is forced to fight, and goes along with it when she is granted the privilege to eat who she kills.

Laila's torture is more bearable with her new [Skill]. Sibby visits her at night to comfort her, and the two bond.

Zehia successfully infiltrates the compound, and is nearly caught. Sibby saves her, and the two come to an accord.

Chapter 48: Self Actualization 5

Riqre’ma Medaale opened his eyes as Siti`medaale snuck out of his room.

He sighed as he waited for his [Information Gatherer] to enter and report to him. It was a shame his highest level [Rogue] was a man. If one must have [Slaves], it was best if they were pleasing to the eye. At least he was a Stitchfolk. Perhaps one day he'd come across a female who had a useful [Class] along those same lines.

...And that she'd choose to love him.

He half paid attention as the man gave him the report. Siti`medaale wandered the mansion at night, but most of the time spent it inside of Laila's room.

That was interesting.

He still wondered about the reason behind some of the creature's actions - if 'reason' could be applied to a mass of sapient magical power. It clearly enjoyed fighting and killing, as all of its kind did. It also took pleasure from eating its fallen foes.

Could it have a 'devouring' aspect?

Maybe?

It didn't seem to get any stronger when it ate. Nor did it get weaker when he denied it food - or people. As far as he could tell, it simply enjoyed the... flavor. It would eat other things when commanded to, but the disgust on its face was poorly hidden.

That was fine. It was more than fine, really. Riqre had plenty of [Slaves] to feed it. Less, due to it not enjoying eating Stringfolk, but that might be for the best.

He wondered what would happen if Djinni could level. It was good and proper that they couldn't, otherwise stopping their threat and protecting the world would've been a far more daunting task for ancient Roshal. Still... he wondered.

A [Carrion Eater] Djinni? Imagine its power. Its ferocity. The sheer terror it could inflict on a battlefield.

...Not that Djinni could be deployed as weapons. Not according to 'international law'.

Pft.

It was just another shackle that mighty Roshal had allowed. An offering to appease its political enemies. Let them think that Djinni were not to be used in that way. Let them forget the might that Roshal had. It was better to be powerful and hidden than it was to let others have easy knowledge of your strengths.

Bah.

He shouldn't waste time on such a pointless idle fantasy. The important thing was that there were things that Siti`medaale enjoyed doing. Things that he could reward it with when it obeyed. Things that he could take away from it when it showed displeasure in serving him.

Things that were less damaging than magicore.

He was still hesitant about using his ultimate punishment against the creature. It was the biggest stick he had, but he'd never had heard any tales about what would happen when a newly formed Djinni had been forced to drink it.

The substance would drain their magic - and with it, their minds.

It was one thing to punish a century old Djinni, they had far more memories than they needed. Plus, the odds of them forgetting anything truly important were low.

That was the biggest limitation. There was no widely known way to target what memories a Djinni had with a specific section of magic. If there was, then there would be sooo many more options. As it was, they still felt the loss. It was only a punishment for creatures that were notoriously hard to discipline.

Siti`medaale... was younger than he was. It could lose trifling things, or it could lose details of its training - which would be more work to teach it again. Worst, it could lose the ability to understand some words or something else equally vital to being a good slave.

No.

He couldn't risk that.

Unless...

There were some infractions so serious that he wouldn't have a choice.

Eh, he was worrying for nothing. He still had levers to pull. He could take away its food. He could restrict its exploration. He could bar it from seeing Laila during the night.

There were still ample ways for him to slowly mold it into being his creation.

---

Sibby had gone back and immediately told Riqre about the assassin.

...Or, at least, her traitorous body had tried. She, being so talented and smart, had stopped her vocal chords from vibrating. Obviously. Her body could walk and try to relay information, but it was useless.

Plus, the soon-to-be-dead man had been asleep.

Hah!

Talking, or trying to, was still annoying. The breathing in. The shaping of her mouth and tongue. The exhaling... It was all so pointless and demeaning.

Later, Riqre had woken up. She'd followed him and tried to get into position again. If she could angle herself juuuuuust right as he walked down the stairs, then she could remove the friction on the ground and fall through him.

Not on top of him. Through him.

She couldn't attack him. Every time she tried, her arms refused to obey. She couldn't even press herself up against him. It was like her body knew what she could do with physical contact, and prevented any such attempts!

Once again, she had gotten into position only for her body to jerk back and avoid putting her (its) foot down. She removed the friction under her other foot, but she was too far up the stairs. She didn't fall down them, she just fell to the side.

Riqre, the reprieved, glanced back at her. He, of course, didn't come to help her, but he'd at least stopped telling her to 'stand up' or to 'stop that'. Instead he just shook his head and continued walking.

Sibby's body stood up and followed him.

She considered simply disintegrating EVERYTHING that she touched. That would show him.

...Except there were a few problems with that.

She didn't particularly want to fall endlessly through the Earth. (Or whatever planet this was.) It was a ball, right? She'd eventually come out the other side.

Hmmm... except gravity got stronger the deeper she went. Well, that was no issue. She'd just ignore it!

Meh. That still seemed incredibly boring. Plus, she couldn't even damage his precious house. The bricks were the same as in the city she'd appeared inside. Trying to strengthen or destroy them made her pop.

Then she'd have to find another way to injure herself so that she could annoy Riqre with her feigned incompetence. She was actually getting pretty good at that. It turned out to be easy to inflict harm on her traitorous body by messing with forces inside of it.

The tricky part was damaging herself enough that it hampered her, but without popping her. She might be incredibly beautiful and strong, but her body was still fragile when compared to her power. Tougher than everyone else, but that was hardly anything to boast about.

Besides, even if she could destroy Riqre's house, it would warn him about what she could REALLY do. One day he might command her to touch him, or to let him touch her. She had to keep secret what such a thing would lead to - his very timely death!

She smiled and snickered to herself as she continued to follow him. That would be so great. She was a patient huntress. She could wait.

Or, she might not have to. That lesser-huntress from the city was here, and was looking to kill Riqre. Apparently. Sibby didn't know why, but then again, why did any hunter need a reason for stalking prey? Just because she was inferior to Sibby, didn't mean that she also didn't hunt proper targets too.

Yeah, it would be worth giving up the killing blow to be done with this whole thing. Let the other woman kill Riqre. Then Sibby could figure out how to force her body to obey. Then she could go and find Kevin.

He was simply taking too long to come to her! So, she'd have to go to him.

---

Something was wriggling inside of her.

...Or was she wriggling inside of someone else?

She could feel her muscles and tendons. She could feel her heart beating. But... they were so far away. They were no longer inside of her. The steady thump-thump was echoing around her instead of centered in her chest.

Did she even have a chest?

Laila tried to open her eyes. She failed. She had no eyes!

She tried to scream. She failed. She had no mouth!

Darkness imprisoned her.

She was trapped!!

She didn't know what was going on!

...Laila woke up.

She was sweating and her heart was racing, but it was where it should be. She placed a hand on her chest and breathed in and out and tried to calm herself.

It had just been a nightmare. That was all. She hadn't been flayed to nothing. She was still herself.

She looked at her rough, hemp fingers.

Well, as much herself as she'd ever been. She was disconnected from her body in a way that most Stringfolk could never experience. As much as her species decried how shallow others were, they somehow looked down on rough-looking hemp more than those that were made of 'real' flesh and blood.

Having new skin sewn on to her every day was starting to take a toll. She felt like she was losing herself.

She wished Sibby was here to brush her hair and hold her tight. The Djinni was surprisingly gentle. Laila had been apprehensive at first - fearful that it was a trap set by Riqre for some ineffable reason. Sibby was a Djinni. She had to obey her Master.

But, over the weeks, the sword had yet to fall.

Where was Sibby anyways? This was the third night in a row that she hadn't shown up outside of her room.

Laila opened her door a little. The halls were quiet and still. No one was moving.

She didn't have a window. Her room was far from the outer walls. It made telling time difficult. Not that she had any great need to know the specific time of day it was. She went with others when they came for her. She walked back to her room when they were done. Day or night. Early or late. She was an object they used when their schedule allowed.

At least it wasn't painful any more.

Laila let out a sigh, and returned to her bed. She wasn't tired. Not really. She could tell that her body needed more rest, but SHE wasn't tired. She only felt... detached. Like her body wasn't hers. That she was simply a passenger inside of it.

She shuddered.

Her nightmare still weighed on her mind. She laid down on her bed and curled into a ball.

She didn't think she'd be able to fall back asleep.

---

Zehia remembered the first time the Djinni had enveloped her with her magic.

She'd held out her hand, and Zehia had clasped it. A sign of... cooperation. Or, that had been what she'd thought - until the world vanished.

Darkness so profound... that it wasn't black. That would imply that there was a color to see. Instead there was nothing. In every direction there had been nothing - as far as her eyes couldn't see.

She'd also had felt light. Lighter than a feather. Lighter than air. She couldn't feel the weight of her clothes! She couldn't feel any movement. She couldn't feel anything at all... except for the Djinni's hand.

The moment lasted forever.

Or it was over in a flash.

She had little reference for time passing except the beat of her heart, and her breath...

SHE COULDN'T BREATHE!!!

The Djinni was going to kill her!

She was at-

Zehia blinked.

She and the Djinni were standing beside the inner wall. They were standing beside the inner wall - on the outer edge.

Had the Djinni teleported her out? It was the only explanation.

The black and white woman was still holding on to her with her right hand, while her left was stretched out behind her. She was clasping the wall. Not touching the outside. Not gripping a rock. Her hand was part-way inside the barrier and seemed to be holding on with all its might.

Not with all of the Djinni's might, with all of the hand's might. Like it was a separate part of her. A part that wouldn't, or couldn't, leave the inner section. Given her magical bindings, that was probably the case.

Zehia took a deep breath in as the pair released their handshake.

She gave the Djinni a small bow. "So, you CAN disobey orders." If she'd had any doubts about that, they'd been dispelled quite thoroughly. Teleporting an intruder outside wasn't an act of negligence or misinterpreting orders, it was outright rebellion.

The Djinni just smiled and nodded her head. Her eyes still glowed with power.

"You won't be forced to tell Riqre about me?"

The Djinni's shoulders moved up and down - like she was chuckling to herself. She just shook her head in response.

A plan was coming together inside of Zehia's mind. A way to get close to Riqre that no one else could notice. A way that no one else could block. Once she was in the same room as him... then his fate would be sealed.

Zehia opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when she glanced at the Djinni's left hand. The hand that was still grasping the wall like her life depended on it.

"Can you meet me tomorrow night?" She nodded at the wall. "On the other side?"

The Djinni nodded.

Good. "We can discuss our plans then."

And Zehia could lay in wait ahead of time. It probably wouldn't be an ambush - what would be the point? But, she hadn't survived this long on 'probably'

...

Zehia followed the Djinni as they stalked through the hallways of Riqre's inner sanctum.

Or, at least, she stalked. The Djinni strolled seemingly without a care in the world. Zehia didn't know if she was talented and intelligent enough to maintain her usual facade, or if she was as carefree as she seemed. Zehia was nervous. She had that same tingle down her back that wasn't her [Danger Sense] and that wasn't fear and that wasn't anticipation, but was somehow also all three at once.

It was like being on the cusp of a cliff. She was about to dive off the edge and risk her life. She done it countless times in the past, but the feeling of anxiety always was there for big jobs. Jobs where she had to push herself to succeed.

Not that this was a job. This was far more than that. In a way, she was about to depart from everything she'd ever known. There would be no place for her in Roshal once she killed Riqre.

...But her old life was already over. She had to move forward or die.

Siti`medaale stopped, cocked her head, and then placed her arm on Zehia's shoulder.

The world went black. Zehia's weight was gone. She was in that strange state that the Djinni's magic could take her. She still wasn't sure what sort of magic it was, but she wasn't a [Mage]. She concerned herself with results, not with academics.

Time passed.

The world returned.

Zehia took a deep breath, and the pair resumed their trek.

Riqre's compound seemed so much bigger on the inside. It wasn't. As rich as he was, he didn't have the prestige of someone like the Naga. Compressing space was an ancient technique, and only the oldest buildings in Roshal managed to squeeze more inside of them than they should've been able to.

No, it was simply the fact that there were winding hallways and that she and the Djinni were taking a roundabout way through the building to avoid the larger places where [Slaves] would be working despite the late hour.

Eventually, they came to a door.

Siti`medaale opened it, and Zehia activated [Advanced Invisibility] and slipped through.

She was inside Riqre's bedroom. The [Slave Master] was asleep on his bed, with a beautiful Stitch-girl in each arm. The two [Slaves] were awake, and glanced as Siti`medaale returned, but paid her little mind. They were too eager to resume gazing lovingly at their Master.

Zehia moved to the side of the bed, as silent as she could be.

She had to make the most of her ambush...

[Sneak Attack]. [Piercing Slash].

She became visible as she activated two of her best [Skills]. In the blink of an eye, she had struck out with her knife - her non-magical knife. Something about the Djinni's magic didn't work with her weapons, and she'd been forced to leave them behind. It was no matter. They were just tools. Her [Skills] were where the real power was.

Riqre's right hand was cut off at the wrist! A glowing field surrounded him for a second, but it winked out of existence as the ring it came from was removed.

"Ahhhh!!!" All three people in the bed screamed at once, but Zehia wasn't done.

Riqre still had his other hand, and his other rings.

[Skill Sealing Slash]!!!

Zehia's capstone [Skill]. The one she'd gotten when her [Class] had evolved. The one that was a certain kill. He was now without magic and without [Skills]. She'd won. Even with her own [Skills] also sealed, she'd won.

Riqre had lost his other appendage. His blood squirted from his arm stumps.

Now! Now he was vulnerable. He had no enchanted items that could block a lethal blow. None that could lock him in stasis until a healing potion was brought. None that could teleport him away! Now she could kill him. She needed to get to his life thread that was deep inside his skull. Anything less, and he might survive.

Stringfolk were capable of shrugging off wounds that would be the end of all other species.

That was why she had been forced to remove his protections before dealing the finishing blow!

...And because she wanted his last seconds to be as painful as possible.

"Nooooo!!!" One of the girls threw herself at Zehia in a fit of rage. So sudden was her rush, that she managed to tackle her. The pair struggled briefly before the victor rose.

There wasn't any doubt as to whom that was. One of them was a [Bed Slave], and the other was an [Assassin].

Zehia pushed the limp body away before blurring behind the other [Slave] who was desperately trying to help Riqre.

[Bonesaw Cut].

Zehia grabbed her hair with one hand, and smoothly decapitated her with the other. She then turned her attention to Riqre. His eyes were wide. His face was pale.

"Any last words?" She smiled at him and lunged. "Scream for m-"

"Eske drek et Sitivnia!!" Riqre spat the syllables at her.

Zehia froze.

---

Riqre literally shook with uncontrollable fury.

He glanced from his former customer to his Djinni. Siti`medaale stood beside the door. It had a look of... Disappointment?!?!

"Siti`medaale! Stand perfectly still! Take no action at all until I say! DON'T MOVE A MUSCLE!"

It had betrayed him. He knew it! He'd been gracious. He'd allowed it to roam during the night. He'd given it [Slaves] to fight and kill! HE'D LET IT EAT THEM!! And THIS?!?! THIS was his reward for his generosity?

Riqre stood up and swooned. Stringfolk didn't bleed out as easily as lesser species, but there was...

Oh.

A lot of blood on his silken sheets.

"Guards!!!" He yelled for help. "GUARDS!!!"

He waited apprehensively for what seemed like an eternity until some of his LOYAL [Slaves] burst into his room. Riqre smiled and slumped to the ground. He was safe.

...

"Chain her to the slab."

Zehia was still frozen with the Roshal Sigil on her forehead. His [Guards] had stripped her of all her clothes and weapons. Riqre was surrounded by his loyal servants, but he still felt apprehensive about letting the paralysis fade.

His life thread ached. Using the words on her had been taxing, and he was at his limit. He could have her killed, but he wanted to look her in her eyes first. She NEEDED to SUFFER!

"[Whispered Command]. Akat et Sitivnia."

Zehia jolted against her shackles as she woke up. "What?"

"Zehia, my dear Zehia." He smiled at her. "My stupid, stupid Zehia."

"Riqre!" She spat his name. "You vile, worthless, piece of-" A [Guard] behind her grabbed his jaw to stop her slanderous assault.

"Zehia." He brushed her cheek with one of his reattached hands before slapping her. "You were a mere [Slave] owner. I am a [Slave Master]. Do not presume that we are the same! You WILL speak to me with respect." He nodded to his [Guard].

"Fuc-" She didn't even get a syllable out before the [Guard] silenced her again.

"Tsk." Riqre shook his head. "Such insolence. I should kill you, you know? For what you attempted. I should torture you for five hundred days and make you beg for the release of death." He got a glare in return. "But that would be wasteful, and I am magnanimous. I could..." Zehia's eyes widened and she shook her head. Riqre smirked. "No. You do not deserve the chance to love me, but I will still make use of you."

A snarl came from the stairs as his loyal [Guards] hauled one of his [Carrion Eaters] down.

"Chain it to the other slab." His [Slaves] hastened to obey his command. "Did you know that some Blood [Classes] can be transferred?" Zehia didn't reply. "I thought not, it's not knowledge one such as you could possess. I know ancient secrets that... Let's just say that I'm smarter than you and leave it at that."

Zehia struggled and one of her arms broke free. She must've used a [Skill]. It didn't matter. His [Guards] immediately grabbed her appendage before she could make any more trouble.

"Unate. Take that one first."

Forcing someone to take [Carrion Eater] required transferring their digestive organs. An impossibility... except for Stringfolk. Of course, that had more of a chance of killing the subject in an excruciatingly slow manner. That would be fine, but as he'd said, Riqre didn't want to waste such a high-level subject.

Replacing her arms, legs, and internal organs would increase the chances that she would both survive, and gain the [Class]. The current [Carrion Eater] would, of course, die. That was the nature of Blood [Classes]. Losing them was often fatal.

They also did not mix well most of the time. He'd yet to successfully give someone both [Adoring Slave] and [Carrion Eater]. The regular ways didn't work. One had to partake in cannibalism of their own free will to get the later [Class], and while his [Adoring Slaves] would eat whatever he asked them to... they did it for him, and not themselves.

That, apparently, was an important distinction.

Getting a [Carrion Eater] to love him had also proven futile. And while he'd successfully transferred the [Class] in the past in the same way he was going to give it to Zehia... it had displaced [Adoring Slave].

Zehia screamed. Even with the [Guard] muzzling her with both his hands and a [Skill], she screamed.

Good. She was trying to fight it. She'd probably survive. If she did, then his next punishment would be all the sweeter!

---

Sibby couldn't move. She couldn't even blink, or look somewhere else. She could adjust some of the forces that were acting on her to make her traitorous body move... but it would only result in her falling down.

Her eyes hurt.

She wanted to blink.

She focused on her... uhm... optical nerve? Yeah, she was pretty sure that was it. She focused on that and blocked the electrical signals.

Sibby couldn't see.

Hmmm...

Separating the 'sight' signals and the 'pain' signals was harder than she'd thought it would be.

...Just like how killing Riqre had turned out to be harder than-

No! She wasn't thinking about that right now. She was thinking about HER eyes, and how THEY hurt!

Sibby really wanted to blink.

Actually... blinking was just letting your eyelids fall down right? Gravity pulled stuff down. All she needed to do was negate the other forces... and...

Nothing.

Oh. It was because her traitorous body was using its muscles to keep her eyes open. The same way it usually thwarted gravity. Probably the same way most people kept their eyes open. So... All she needed to do was block...

Sibby couldn't see. This time it wasn't because the signal was blocked, but because she'd stopped her eye muscles from listening to her traitorous body! That felt good.

Now... how to open them? Gravity was out of the question, as were her muscles. How about... there!

Sibby's eyes opened. She let her traitorous body take back control. It would keep them open for her until she needed to blink again...

Zehia was dead. That was the most likely outcome. She was sad. The lesser huntress had been her best shot at freedom. As long as she couldn't get close to Riqre, she couldn't kill him, and her traitorous body seemed to know not to allow that to happen.

Sibby blinked.

How long had she been standing here? It felt like days had passed.

Sibby blinked.

She overcame her eyelids, could she do more than that? She'd forced her hand to move in the past, but it hadn't been as stubborn back then. She was just starting on moving a finger when she heard Riqre from behind her.

"Siti`medaale. Turn around and follow me. Stay exactly five feet from me until I tell you differently!"

Oh. He sounded mad. Sibby smiled as her body moved. Hey! She could smile again. That made her smile wider.

She beamed as they walked through the house. Zehia might be dead, but she'd succeeded in pissing Riqre off. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Sibby's smile vanished as they got to their destination.

"Siti`medaale. Stand there and watch what happens inside of the ring. Burn it into your memory... for as long as that lasts!"

What was Laila doing there? And what was that... Zehia?

Sibby almost hadn't recognized her at first. Her clothes were gone. Her arms and legs were little more than skin and bone. They had been elongated, and while she seemed to have fewer muscles... she also looked a lot stronger if the expressions of the people holding her in place with chains were anything to go by.

What was most different was her mouth. Her face was twisted in rage, but Sibby could still see the old Zehia in her eyes, hair and nose. Her mouth? It was... stretched. It looked the same to how her arms and legs had been lengthened. Dozens of needle-looking teeth surrounded her maw. When she roared... it was more than a foot wide.

Zehia's mouth took up more of her head than anything else.

What had happened to her? Did Riqre had someone like Riley working for him?

DID HE HAVE RILEY?!?!?

No... No. Sibby would've noticed that. Riley wasn't here. Riley was safe.

...But why was Laila in the middle of the ring with the raging Zehia? And why did Sibby have to watch?

Laila was backing away, but her hands and legs were chained to the floor. Zehia was also bound, but her chains connected her limbs to four of Riqre's brainwashed servants. They tugged in opposite directions and kept Zehia immobile.

"Yes. I know all about you and your nightly visits. Do you think there is any slave in my house that wouldn't report such a thing to me." Riqre's voice was low and angry. "I know how to hurt you. I know how to punish you. Watch." He raised his voice. "Begin!"

The men on the opposite side of Zehia from Laila loosened their grip. The chains flowed through their hands as Zehia was finally able to move towards a target. Laila tried to back away, but she was already as far away as her shackles would allow.

No.

Zehia rushed her. Her clawed hands slashed.

No.

Laila tried to defend herself, but it was clear she had no experience fighting. Even if she did, her chains kept her too immobile.

No. This wasn't supposed to be how things happened! Laila wasn't supposed to die! She wasn't family, but Sibby wanted her to be happy!

Blood splattered the ground. Zehia gnawed at an arm while Laila futilely punched her.

Sibby didn't want to watch, but she had to.

The arm came off.

Sibby couldn't watch! She NEEDED to do something! Her eyes tracked the 'fight'. She couldn't even close them...

But, she could stop the image from reaching her.

Zehia had Laila pinned. Her mouth opened impossibly wide and closed over the other girl's head.

Then, there was darkness as she disabled her optical nerve again. Darkness... and a horrible crunching sound. Sibby knew that sound. That was the sound of bones breaking. Of flesh tearing. Of someone dying.

What had happened? She had to know.

She let her eyes process light again.

Zehia was struggling as the men pulled on her chains. "Put her in the jar of sustenance." Riqre commanded. A clay pot that was big enough to fit an adult inside was carried out, and the men started wrestling Zehia towards it. Towards it... and away from the headless body.

Blood pooled around Laila's corpse. Her lower jaw was where she ended and the ichor began.

No!

No. No. No.

"Good." Riqre sneered from the side. "Stand there. Don't move until I tell you otherwise."

Sibby couldn't move. She couldn't comprehend what had happened. Why?

...Actually, she knew why. She'd seen similar scenes play out countless times in the past. She'd done the same to so many people. But... they hadn't been real! They had just been things! Something to amuse her! They weren't like Laila. They weren't like Riley...

...right?

...

She wasn't sure how much time passed, but Riqre approached and her body demanded she pay attention to him. "Siti`medaale. Drink this. All of it." He pointed at a vase that another man placed at her feet.

Her body picked it up.

She examined it before her arms could follow his commands. The vase itself... wasn't immune to her power. The contents - some kind of sludge - felt strange. She didn't know if she could affect it... but, she didn't need to.

She let the vase's waves dissipate.

The sludge fell at her feet.

"Impudent cur!!" Riqre snarled from beside her. "Go. Fetch more!"

He... COULD be speaking to her. Sibby started to move.

"Siti`medaale. Stop. Kneel. Lean back your head. Open your mouth. Drink what is poured inside."

Sibby stopped. She kneeled. She got ready to drink whatever the sludge was. If Riqre wanted her to drink it, then it couldn't be good.

She waited.

The man came back with another jar. He slowly poured the sludge into her waiting mouth.

!

It tasted good!

Really good!

Sibby drank and drank.

She swayed.

She felt... strange.

The world was getting fuzzy. She wanted to... uh... to... something.

But... she needed to? To drink?

She drank as much as she could, but then her legs gave out. She slumped to the ground, and fell over.

...

She landed on grass. There was a gray stone in front of her. It had words engraved on it.

'Natalie Manton. Beloved daughter.'

What?

"Natalie?" A voice above her asked. A familiar voice.

The Siberian looked up at the speaker.

William?

Notes:

Bios:

William Manton - Former member of both Cauldron and the Slaughterhouse Nine. The original controller of the Siberian. Preeminent parahuman expert. Dead.

Natalie Manton - First name not given in Worm. William Manton's daughter. Had a bad reaction to a vial and died, which led to William leaving Cauldron. Not really a character, but her bio is still important. Dead.

Summary:

Zehia sneaks in with Sibby's help and attacks Riqre. She almost wins, but is too confident when she's disarmed him of all his magical defenses and sealed his [Skills]. Riqre paralyzes her with the ancient Language of Roshal. She is tortured and has the [Carrion Eater] class forcibly given to her.

Sibby is taken for her punishment. She is forced to watch the now monstrous Zehia kill Laila. Then, she is forced to drink magicore. It binds to magic, which makes Djinni lose a part of themselves, but still feel the loss. A torture that takes away their memories - the only things they have left.

Chapter 49: Self Actualization 6

William Manton.

The man who'd been her original creator. The man who'd brought her into existence. The man who'd taught her about the world. The man who'd been her partner. Directed her. Given her targets.

"You look younger." Sibby said before looking around. "Where am I?"

It was a cemetery. A small one. Only a few dozen headstones, and a couple of trees. There wasn't anything else inside the wrought iron fence. Outside of it, there was a lone country road, hills, grass, a glowing red sky, more trees, and a van.

A familiar looking van.

In fact... This whole place looked familiar. Except for the sky.

"Natalie! It worked!" William had his hands over his mouth. One had a stylized 'C' tattoo, the other had one of a wing. His eyes leaked tears. "Deus... it did it! It took the closest thing. It brought you back to me!"

William hugged her.

Sibby blinked before awkwardly hugging him back. "Uhm... William? Where am I? This place looks familiar."

William pulled away before cupping her face with his hands. "Natalie." He kissed her forehead. "Don't you remember?" He shook his head. "No. Of course not. You were little when we came here last." He blinked away his tears. "This is where we laid your mother to rest. It's..." He swallowed. "It's where you were..."

William looked away - back down to the gray block.

'Natalie Manton. Beloved daughter.'

Sibby was confused. This all felt so familiar. "Oh." She blinked. "This is where I was born." That was right. This is where she had first been created. The gravestone. William crying. The trees. The van. She remembered it all.

It was the same... and yet so different.

She hadn't known what anything was back then. Not really. She'd known how to talk. What things were in a shallow way, but she hadn't... experienced anything before! Why, even the forces that... she... felt?

"Wait." She spoke. It was easy. No concentration needed. No manipulation of, well, everything. She just took air into her lungs, then exhaled and shaped words with countless muscles that she hadn't used before. At least, she hadn't used them when she'd first come into existence. "But I HAVE used them. It's so easy now." Her hand rose to her throat. "There's nothing pressing down, or pulling, or anything. Where am I?"

"Oh!" William let her go and palmed his face. "I'm so stupid. Of course this is a new experience for you. A new existence. A new body..." He glanced down, and then quickly turned his head. "Clothes. I forgot clothes." He let out a small laugh. "I really am the fool, aren't I?" He shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it over her shoulders. "Here. I'm sorry, Natalie. I'm not sure what I was thinking."

Sibby felt the rough cloth on her shoulders. She didn't like it. Even if she didn't feel all the forces that flowed through it, it still was uncomfortable.

She wore it anyways. It would make William happy.

"Wait." Sibby frowned. "Why are you calling me Natalie? That's not my name." She had a perfect memory. She recalled William calling her 'Natalie' when she'd first appeared, but he'd stopped soon after. She didn't know why.

"That's your name." William seemed confused.

"No." She shook her head. "It's not. Also," She frowned. "How are you alive? Did Riley do something?"

"Riley?" William's eyebrows rose. "Who's that? And why would I... be... dead...?"

The world shattered.

Chunks of it fell away.

William's body broke into pieces, and then fell to the ground. Except... there was no ground - just more shards of stone, grass, dirt... They broke more as they dropped. Each one shattered into smaller and smaller segments as they fell through the concrete. The coat around her shoulders broke apart too. Its segments slipped through the ground also.

Sibby was standing inside of a small town. There were spread out buildings along the street. Their windows were broken. Glass covered the ground.

She knew this place. This was... uhm... Rock... something. Her perfect memory failed her. In her defense, she hadn't been paying attention. She'd been too concerned about Riley. About shielding her from Jack.

She had to find her!

She raced through the town, but the buildings kept repeating. Over and over again. Sibby let out a growl of frustration before slowing down.

Something weird was going on. Just like before, there were no sensations assaulting her. The sky was still glowing red, but that was the only similarity.

No... wait. There was one other thing: the van.

She'd run past it a few times, but she hadn't noticed it. It was designed to not attract attention. Nothing Tinker-related, William had made it as unassuming as possible. Dirty, but not so much it would stand out. An off-shade of white. Large, but not too large. Dirty windows that were hard to see through, but didn't look like they were an imitation of tinted glass.

They weren't glass, of course. William had made that modification, along with others, once Shatterbird had joined the Nine. It was the only vehicle in sight with an intact windshield. Yet, somehow, it didn't look out of place.

Sibby took a step towards it.

Something in the back of her mind rebelled. Warned her of what she'd see.

She couldn't stop...

The back doors creaked open... and revealed Panda holding William's head!

Sibby fell to her knees. She couldn't pull her eyes away. She didn't want to see this! She didn't want to be reminded of what had led to this. She didn't want to remember what William had made her do.

"Why?" Her voice was soft, but it was the only sound in this silent world. "Why did you do it William? How could you help them do that to Riley? To me? She was our daughter!" She felt something on her face. She brought a hand up to it. Water? From her eyes? Was... she crying?

"Riley? My daughter?" The voice came from nowhere. "Did something happen to my daughter?"

The world shattered again. Everything, except the van.

Pieces of it fell away, but underneath them there was another van. One that was clean. Had clear windows that were made of glass. One that hadn't been modified to be his house while he plotted their revenge.

Their revenge... or his revenge?

"Riley?" The voice came from behind her. "Who's that?"

They were back in the graveyard.

William was back inside of it again. Back by Natalie's grave.

She walked back to him. "Riley. Bonesaw. Your daughter."

"What?" William looked confused. "You're my daughter, Natalie." He shook his head. "I did get around in the seventies, but I'd know if I had another kid."

"No." She frowned. "Riley isn't that old. She's young and cute!" Had she even been born yet? "We adopted her when she joined the Nine."

"The... Nine?"

The world shattered again.

Sibby was in a small town. A different small town then before, and one that she couldn't immediately place. She did recognize the van. It was camouflaged, so that meant... uhm... this was after they had joined the Nine? She strolled up to it and heard mumbling from inside. She opened the door.

"...corrupt. The world. The 'superheroes'. The government. EVERYTHING!" William was inside. "None of this even matters. Twenty or thirty years from now? Kaboom!" He spread his hands wide before coughing out blue smoke.

Oh. It was one of THOSE times. Sibby didn't understand why William injected himself, or smoked, or drank, or whatever. He'd told her it was like when she was unsummoned. 'An escape from reality.'

After he finished coughing, he brought the glass container to his lips and inhaled again. "The bastards won't even tell anyone! Hah! They know. They KNOW! ...And they won't 'do' anything! That's why we have to do it. That's why we have to open her eyes." He exhaled a plume of smoke. "She'll thank us later. Better to rule in Hell then serve in Heaven, right? So it's better to be a monster than to be a sheep. Better to be one of us, or to be dead. Delusions must be shattered!"

Sibby crossed her arms. There was no talking to him when he was like this. It would be better to see if there was anything interesting she could find.

Before the world started repeating itself, that was.

She picked her way through the shattered glass. That meant they weren't in the stalking point of the game. Let's see. Nope. Nope. Nope.

Nothing looked familiar.

Except...

Oh.

Sibby turned around. She didn't want to go into THAT house. She didn't want to see Riley like that.

She wandered back to the van.

"..good. It's for her own good. It's for her own good."

Great. He was repeating himself now, and Sibby couldn't unsummon herself to get away from it. She squared her shoulders and stepped inside the van.

"William, wake up!" Sibby liked him more when he was mourning Natalie's death. She slapped him, and the world shattered.

She was back in the graveyard. William was by Natalie's grave again.

"William, what's going on?" She walked up to him. "The world keeps changing."

"What do you mean, Natalie?"

"Why are you still calling me that?" She asked him. "At least you aren't surprised to see me..."

"Why wouldn't I call you by your name?" William seemed confused.

"My name is the Siberian. Or 'Sibby'. 'Sibby' is cuter, and therefore better, but I think my, uhm, 'real' name is the Siberian."

William raised an eyebrow. "Who named you that? I get the stripes, but Siberian tigers aren't white. Not most of them anyways... I think there are a few." He blinked. "And I forgot clothes!" He let out a small laugh. "I really am the fool, aren't I?" He started to take off his jacket before stopping. "I have a strange sensation of Deja-vu."

"Deja-vu?" Sibby tilted her head.

"The feeling that I've done this before." William adopted his 'explaining' voice.

Sibby nodded. "You're probably feeling that way because we HAVE done this before."

"We have?"

"Yes."

"How many times?"

Hmmm... "Well, you've given me your jacket three times now."

William's eyes narrowed and he glanced left and right. "What else have we done multiple times?"

"Oh, lots of things!" Sibby smiled as she thought. "You've taught me a lot of things, and also told me to do lots of things!"

William blinked. "Like what?"

Something that he both taught her and told her multiple times? Oh, that was easy! Sibby opened her mouth, but William and the world was already falling apart. It revealed a small, suburban house with a familiar van parked outside of it.

The house's windows were intact, so this wasn't during the 'announced' part of a Nine game. What was odd was that the door to the van was open.

Sibby looked closer.

The van was also clean - not camouflaged. The windows looked strange... like regular windows. She placed her palm against them, but she couldn't feel anything. Well, she could feel them, but she couldn't FEEL them. Her powers still weren't working. Regardless, they felt like normal glass, and not the slightly rough stuff William had replaced them with.

That meant... something.

She was sure it was important... probably.

William wasn't inside the van, and the door was open. She looked around for where he might be. That was another annoying thing about this place. Without her power, she couldn't tell where he was! She couldn't reform next to him.

Not that she could probably do that without being able to sense him. Sibby bet the two issues were related somehow.

In any event, she didn't need to use her peerless hunting abilities to track William. The door to the house was open, and she could hear him yelling from inside.

"-doing?!? Why did you kill him?" His voice lowered, but she was close enough to still hear him. "No, you didn't do bad, but... Yes, killing him is fine." There was an audible sigh. "Why are you eating the body?"

Sibby entered the house and saw herself crouching over a blood-splattered and mauled corpse. Wow. She was beautiful!

Sibby admired herself as William continued to try and teach/lecture/question the eating version of her.

"-needed money! It's not a big deal to kill someone Siberian, but I was watching through your eyes when you ate his fingers! Do you know how that felt?!?"

Wonderful?

Both Sibbys nodded. Wonderful wasn't the best word for it. People were better than 'food', but most of them were still on the bland side. They were nothing like her first meal...

Sibby blinked. The world was breaking apart again! Only... this time it was worst because she was breaking apart too!

The vision of loveliness broke down into smaller and smaller fragments as everything changed again.

Nooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

"Ha ha ha ha!!! I did it!"

Sibby was next to William's van again. It still had clean windows, and there were no pieces of glass anywhere she could see. Admittedly, her line of sight wasn't that far. Buildings towered above them on all sides.

Hmm... This looked like a big city. Like L.A. or New York, but where were all the people? It was night, and William was ranting in his van. That shouldn't be enough to clear the streets.

She moved closer and listened.

"I killed one of them! Me! My power!" Sibby opened the back doors and saw William sitting in his 'lounging' chair. "The rush! The righteousness! Oh... it even felt good to eat him. I bet David never saw THAT coming!" William chuckled to himself as he lit a small, white object and began to smoke it. Judging by the number of butts at his feet, it wasn't the first one. "I bet SHE did though. ...or if she didn't she knows now."

William froze. His eyes grew wide as he looked around. He looked like he expected someone as scary as Sibby was to jump out of a random corner and kill him.

"No... no... I'm alive still." He leaned back and laughed some more. "I'm alive because they weighed my life on their little scale, and I'm more valuable than Hero was!" He laughed again, but started coughing. "Ugh. I'm so excited, I can't even toke right. I need to calm down." He took a long drag, and seemed to melt into the chair.

Sibby sat down cross-legged and looked at him. When was this? She didn't remember this, so... that meant she didn't exist right now?

Yeah, that was probably it. William had mentioned Hero. She remembered him. She remembered how good he tasted! Why couldn't she have relived that?

Sibby frowned. Then again, she hadn't gotten to taste that man the other Sibby was eating. She probably wouldn't have been able to taste Hero either.

What hell was this? Was THIS Riqre's punishment? The fiend!

Not that she'd had a good meal since she'd been separated from Kevin...

She let out a sigh. She missed him. She missed their connection. Strangely... she could still feel it, even though the rest of her power wasn't working.

Oh! That was nice. She was going to tease him SOOOOO hard when she saw him again! She liked her latest game. It was hard to ruffle his feathers, but she managed. She was perfect after all. Yes. She'd walk in front of him and stretch. Then, she'd slip around behind him and lick him when he wasn't expecting it!

It was getting easier and easier to make him blush.

What next? She could always-

"That's right." William resumed talking to himself. "I'm alive. The boogie man hasn't killed me. Didn't kill me before I acted. Thought I wasn't worth 'mapping'. Must've thought her golden four didn't need protection either. Ha!" He sighed. "Still, I probably won't be able to kill another one. If I press it too hard..." He brought his fists up and then spread his fingers. "Poof! I'm in another world. Worst comes to worst, one with no other people."

He fell silent again. Sibby looked at him, and then decided to think about Kevin some more-

"No!" William shook his head. "Not a desolate world. Too much risk of me dying. I'm not the outdoor type. They wouldn't do that if they aren't willing to kill me." He let out a short laugh. "All their greater good bullshit, and they'll let me do what I want. Kill whomever I want!" His smile faded. "Well, not the people that I really want to kill. Not the people that deserve it. She'll protect them from me now. The rest of the world? Ha! My Natalie is too strong! Not strong enough, but too strong to risk losing!"

Sibby tilted her head. William had ranted about 'them' in the past, but he hadn't really gone into details. Also, she wasn't 'Natalie'. Did William call her that when she wasn't around?

"Not that we could win with a million of me. Or her. He's just too strong." Uh oh, his trip was taking a bad turn. Should she do something? She could slap him again. Or talk to him. Why hadn't he'd noticed she'd entered his van anyways? "We're all going to die. No... hope..."

William fell asleep, and Sibby waited for the world to shatter...

But it didn't.

Odd.

Time to think.

Time to think... hard!

One of the things she loved about Kevin was that he recognized how smart she was, but that he also helped her train! Unlike her natural beauty, strength, and skill - there were ways to leverage her intellect better.

...She supposed there were ways to leverage her strength and skill better, but 'learning' how to fight was boring!

Besides, it's not like knowing how to punch 'correctly' would help her now.

Let's see... she needed something to write with, but there didn't seem to be anything handy within the van. No matter, she was good at investigating!

...

This city sucked.

It was all empty. Like, a fake city or something. There were doors and windows and stuff like that in the buildings, but every room was barren! Sibby gave up and went back outside. Maybe... nope. None of the garbage cans held anything either - as if she needed further proof of how fake everything was.

She let out a sigh. She'd just have to use her hands. Honestly, she'd have done that from the first place, but Kevin got annoyed when she drew on the walls.

Sibby knelt down and placed her finger on the ground and... Oh, right. No powers. She frowned, and then looked at the tip of her finger. It wasn't supposed to be black there!

She rubbed it against her thumb.

Ah, grime. She guessed there still were ways this city was like the real New York.

Okay, it felt yucky... but not as bad as if she had to feel it with her power too, so she'd make do. In fact...

Sibby rubbed her fingertip on the grimy place more, and then stood up and wiped it against a building. Not perfect, but that would work.

Right. What did Kevin say to do? Make a list of knows and unknows.

Knows:
-She was with William
-William was dead
-She didn't have a connection with new-William.
-She still knew that he was William Manton. Unlike everything else, he fit her memory exactly, and the Siberian had paid a lot of attention to her creator.
-It couldn't be all in her mind. She'd seen events that she hadn't been around for the first time.
-It probably wasn't time travel, unless time travel was only for her and William, and it also cleaned up places and warped space.
-The world could shatter, with only William and the van being constant.
-She missed Riley and Kevin.
-She was worried about Laila... who was probably dead. Even Riley would have a hard time dealing with partial decapitation and digestion.
-She missed Panda. Her connection to her daughter was still there, the same as Kevin's, and it still felt strange.

Sibby could continue writing down things she knew, but she felt that was probably sufficient.

Unknows:
-Why William was acting so strange. Drugs? She meant, more drugs than normal.
-Did ghosts exist? Could William be a ghost?
-Could she talk to ghosts now?
-Why didn't she have her powers? Aside from her connections to Kevin and Panda.
-How did she get to see things from the past? If they weren't her memories, could they be Williams?
-Why did the world shatter? She needed to make a list of what had happened that might have caused it. Kevin said to check for things like that. He'd also said that correlation didn't imply causation... but she wasn't entirely sure what that meant.
-How Kevin and Riley were doing. They might be getting in trouble without her to keep a watch on them. They weren't invincible after all.
-Why was the sky red?

Sibby stepped back and looked at her work and nodded. She'd done a good job!

So... what was next?

Hmmm... pick an unknown and make a theory? Yeah, that sounded right.

No, no, no, no, no, yes. The world shattering. That seemed like the most important thing right now, and one that she could investigate!

So, why had it shattered?

No. Wait. WHEN had it shattered?

No. Even more importantly, WHERE had it shattered?

She wrote out a list of where she'd been so far: Graveyard. Small town. Graveyard. Riley's town. Graveyard. Some town. Fake New York.

That was the where, what about the when? Most were in response to William's reactions. She'd say something and he'd react, and then the world would go away. Or there was that time she slapped him, but that still provoked a reaction.

There! She'd solved it already! She was so smart!

...Wait.

What was that thing that Kevin had said? Something about about proof and assumptions?

Oh! And counter-examples!

Right!

So, the question to confirm her logic would be... uhm... the counter... That was - 'did the world shatter without William reacting?'

Hm. Yes. Yes, it had. There had been some fractures where she'd hadn't spoken to William. Ones where he hadn't even noticed her. Ones like now.

Sibby looked over from her work. William was still asleep. Would the world shatter if she woke him up? If she slapped him again?

She could perform a test... or she could see if everything centered around her. If the world could shatter from William's reactions, then couldn't it do the same from hers?

Sibby thought about her death.

When William had betrayed Riley. When he had died. When Kevin kept her from dying. Kept both her and Riley alive...

The world shattered.

Yes!

She watched her hard work break apart as the wall she'd written everything down on broke into pieces.

No!

The world changed, and she was alone.

No Kevin. No Riley. But... she did recognize this place! It was where she and Kevin had 'fought'. Where he'd become her creator.

Sibby felt melancholy as she ran her fingers over the walls of the building. It was the same town as she'd been in before. William's van would be... that way, but she couldn't go there. It was too far away. This place had been outside the 'size' of the world before, so it stood to reason that the Van would be outside of 'here'.

Besides, even if it wasn't, William was dead. Sibby didn't want to look at that. She didn't want to think about that.

Huh.

Was that why William never spoke about Natalie? Because her death was something too painful to think about?

The world shattered.

Sibby was back in the graveyard. A painful memory for William. No wonder it was so easy to come here, and so easy to leave. Heh. That was ironic.

Probably. She still didn't quite understand what 'irony' was, but she was pretty sure this qualified.

Sibby smiled. This was a good thing though! The William here was in a lucid state! He could help her! Plus, it would be easy to return if the world broke apart again.

She walked up to him.

"Oh?" He glanced at her. "I'm sorry... Natalie?" William blinked. "No. You're not Natalie are you? You look like her, but you're not." He frowned and bit his thumb. "I got a projection like I wanted, but I didn't get Natalie back... Did I get an information power? That's an uncommon expression for Deus..."

"You have Deja'vu." It was best to clear that up first. Would she have to do this every time she returned? That sounded exhausting. "We've repeated this a few times." Hm, what else? "I'm the Siberian, not Natalie. We're not really 'here', and I'm from the future... I guess. From your point of view?"

William's hand fell from his mouth and he gave her a flat stare. "What?"

...

"So we killed Carl." William nodded. "Getting Rebecca or David would've been better, but managing to kill even one of Cauldron's golden four is an accomplishment.

...

"The Slaughterhouse Nine? I decided that we should join the Slaughterhouse Nine?" William looked at her in disbelief.

"Yep."

William let out a sigh. "I guess that makes sense. Cauldron left them alone because of 'reasons'." He lifted his hands and made air quotes. "Did I tell you why?"

"Not really." Sibby shrugged. "Just that I would fit in there. I think you were lonely."

...

"That's horrible!" William was ranting again. "I mean, I know that the Slaughterhouse Nine did some sick things. I know that you like eating people. I know that they torture and kill entire towns... but..." He buried his face in his palms. "How could we do that to a little girl?"

"We did it to lots of little girls before then." Sibby thought back, but not too hard. She didn't want the world to crack. Natalie was dead. She had to maintain that idea. "She became part of our family. Let me tell you about her cute dress collection!"

...

"So, this Kevin was the next person to join the Slaughterhouse Nine after Bonesaw?"

"Huh?" Sibby tilted her head. "No. There were lots of others in between." So many that even her perfect memory couldn't recall them all.

"Then why are you going into so much detail about him?" William paused. "And why does it matter how you were... posing?"

"Because it's important to set the right image. You taught me that." Sibby smiled. "If my powers were working here, then I could show you how I can make my hair blow without a breeze, or let light pass through me to make my eyes glow!"

"Yes." William looked her up and down, before glancing away. "You are... powerful. And versatile. And with a lot more agency than most projections would have." He nodded. "That was the intended result, and I'm... glad you're you."

"You're just sad I'm not Natalie?" The world cracked a little, but didn't shatter. They couldn't go to a place 'closer' to Natalie.

Probably.

Sibby still wasn't quite sure how this whole thing worked.

"Yes." William immediately looked guilty. "Sorry. It's just... I don't remember you or what we've done." He looked around the graveyard. "I'm still taking everything in, please continue."

...

"Ah, so that's why 'Kevin' was important. He killed Riley." William nodded sagely.

Sibby frowned. "You should be more emotional!"

He held up his hands. "I apologize, but I'm afraid I still don't remember any of this. Or it hasn't happened to me yet. I'm still coming up with theories."

Sibby crossed her arms and glared at him. "You should care. Riley is the cutest, best little sister and daughter in the world!"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please, continue."

...

"I'm dead."

Cracks started to form in the world.

Natalie's dead. Sibby held onto that thought, and the cracks... lessened. They were still there, but not THERE.

"I'm dead. I succeeded in summoning a version of my daughter, took revenge on Cauldron... and then joined those Slaughterhouse Nine psychos that we left around because the ends justified the means?" William sagged. He started to lean back against Natalie's tombstone before realizing what he was doing. Instead, he opted to kinda... collapse on the ground. "And you ate people? I could share your senses... and you ate people?"

Why did he keep focusing on that part?

"And now... I'm dead. I'm dead, and this is hell." He let out a laugh. "A hell that even Dante couldn't have predicted. A sort of... inadvertent punishment of an artificial version of myself." William gestured around him. "Don't you get it? The entities have ways to store engrams." He looked at her before continuing. "It's us. We're memories. I'm dead, but all I can remember is being here. Drinking the vial that would either kill me or bring Natalie back! How long have I existed in this singular point in time? A perfect cage of my own misery. The alien shard may have forged it, but I provided the blueprints myself!"

"Oh!" Sibby understood. "That makes sense! That's why there are different versions of you!"

"What?" William looked up at her.

...

"And the... cracks... are still there?"

Sibby nodded. William couldn't see them like she could.

"I see. The shard recorded everything... and it's damaged. Or I am." His head sagged between his shoulders. "Something must have changed for you to be here. I might... retain a string of consciousness, or I might be some amalgamation of my experiences." William chuckled. "But what human isn't?" He let out another sigh. "I can't say what the worst fate is, but... from what you've told me... I earned it."

He stretched his hands out the side, before violently slapping them both to his cheeks.

Natalie is dead. Natalie is dead. Oh, wait. William slapping himself didn't seem to break the world.

"Okay. I think I'm ready to hear what happened after. Please continue, Sibby."

...

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" William stopped laughing to take in a deep breath. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! I... I can't..." He wheezed a few times as he breathed in and out. "So, the world is safe. Well, not safe, it will still have to deal with humans. I'm sure that it'll be nuked or something, but the near-infinite number of Earths are safe!" He wiped his eyes. "And it was because someone TALKED to Scion!"

"And killed the Simurgh." Sibby added.

"Yes." William laughed again. "And killed the f-ing Simurgh!"

...

"An Artificial Intelligence, huh?" William was lying on his back and gazing at the red sky. "I suppose that's the best choice. Couldn't let a human have all that power, and goodness knows that anyone would be better than Scion. Eh." He shrugged. "If the Shards need a governing force, then... yeah. Fascinating."

...

"Really?" William sounded incredulous. "Really? You aren't making things up are you?"

Sibby blinked. "Why would I do that?"

"It just..." He paused. "It just sounds so bizarre to have all the parahumans essentially playing a video game with their powers."

She shrugged.

...

"Damn." William shook his head. "David did that?" He lowered his head and was silent for a long time. "I have no words. That's... No. I guess I can understand his situation. I've been there. In a way, I'm still there."

...

William scowled. "I knew China couldn't be trusted. They were too much like Cauldron - in all the wrong ways.

...

"Another world, but not an alternate version of Earth?" William sat up. His eyes were figuratively shining. "And it only intersects with a singular Earth? I wonder... Could it have a compression effect like we theorized the Entities did? Or could it be at a ninety degree angle, cosmologically speaking, and only a single version of it intersects with a single version of the Earth?"

Sibby rolled her eyes and waited. William was in one of his 'other' moods. Not a drugged one. Or a rant about something. Or a lecture. No. This was the sort of mood he got when they encountered a particularly 'exotic' parahuman.

He'd tell her to play with them in a certain way, or to see if she could manipulate something new. Of course, Sibby inevitably ate them. Still, it was a better mood than most, even if she didn't understand WHY he was so excited.

"The implications are staggering!" He was walking back and forth now. "Where there's one, there could be two, or three, or ten to the eightieth, or even... infinite! This is an even bigger discovery than the entities! Why, it might be what they were looking for! Infinite, unending. How many..."

Sibby wished she could unsummon herself until William was done. She wanted to finish telling her story.

...

"Slaves." William looked angry. "And they trapped you, and think you're a Djinni?" Sibby nodded. "They can control your body, but not your power?" She nodded again. "Well..." He steepled his fingers and smiled. "I have some ideas."

Oh, she recognized that smile. She liked that smile. That was his 'I'm going to teach you a cool, new way to kill people' smile!

Chapter 50: Self Actualization 7

"Master, the [Jar of Sustenance] has been placed in Laila's former room, as you desired!"

Riqre’ma Medaale grunted in acknowledgment. Normally, he would personally escort one of his precious possessions that couldn't bring themselves to love him. Just because they failed him, there was no reason for him to devalue them in turn.

The [Carrion Eater], Zehia Maquet, was a special case.

She deserved no love from him. She didn't deserve a chance at loving him! Just thinking about her made his limbs tremble. Riqre absentmindedly rubbed the new stitching around his wrists. Too close. She'd come too close.

He would have to design a more fitting punishment for her later. She didn't deserve to be with the rest of his stored projects, and the room was no longer in use. Also, he found the symmetry poetic: she was now trapped in a room of a [Slave] she'd once owned.. She could stew in the jar for now. His Djinni was of far greater importance.

He WOULD train it properly. He would make it eager to obey. It would serve him, not because of its bindings, but because it would be its greatest goal. Its life's purpose.

He'd thought he was making progress, yet the creature had done NOTHING to help him when the [Assassin] had struck. Worst, he somehow suspected that Siti`medaale had somehow been in collusion with Zehia! It was impossible, but the idea had become stuck in his head.

Perhaps he should have asked Zehia and tortured the answer out of her before changing her into a [Carrion Eater]. He also was feeling some regret at having Laila killed. It had been necessary. Siti`medaale could have no other attachments except for him. He saw that now.

It had been a needed sacrifice.

Regardless, the solution to this entire situation was clear. He needed to take drastic action. He needed not only to punish Siti`medaale, but also to remove ALL of its memories.

The magicore would do that. Was doing that.

Magic flowed into the rare substance, but Djinni WERE magic. Their very essence bonded with the sludge. A skill, a memory, an opinion. The Djinni would lose something, and wouldn't know what.

It was like having your hand chopped off. Sure, one could survive such an injury even if they weren't a Stitchfolk, but the idea of your hand would remain. Even if you forgot you ever had two hands, you'd still instinctively feel its absence.

That wasn't enough. Not now. Not after what had happened. Siti`medaale needed to be reduced to a blank slate. Then, and only then, could it properly imprint upon him. It was a drastic action that he couldn't take back, but one he had to take.

And, if it didn't work, he could always try again and again and again.

...So why hadn't it expelled the magicore? And why wasn't it waking up?

He'd never had a Djinni before, but he'd instructed other [Slave Masters] on how to discipline them. He'd seen it in action. They would drink the magicore, and then vomit it out. It wasn't something they could 'eat'. It was anathema to their very existence.

So, why had Siti`medaale drunk it... and then passed out?

It was a fledgling Djinni.

Could...

Could this kill it?

That would be such a waste.

...

It was nearly nightfall several days later before Siti`medaale stirred. It opened its yellow eyes, and blearily looked around the room.

No one had touched it while it had slept. Riqre had [Slaves], not [Fools].

He, himself, was reclining on a plush couch that had been carried here for him to relax on. It had been boring and tedious, but he had wanted to be the first thing that Siti`medaale saw when it awoke.

He stood up, and walked over to where it lay on the ground.

Siti`medaale looked at him.

"Your name is Siti`medaale. Do you understand?"

Its jaw lowered as it hesitantly nodded.

"You serve me."

Another nod.

"You will obey me."

Another nod.

"You love me."

Another nod.

"Stand up."

Siti`medaale's chin started to dip again, before stopping. Its head wobbled, and then it stood up.

Riqre smiled. "Follow me."

---

'I don't know what power-based, or rather, what magical-based compulsions this Riqre person is trying to use on you, but my guess is that the body control is the limit for what he can do. The smiling people are obviously brainwashed somehow, but he's been using regular cult techniques on you.'

Sibby remembered what William had told her as she walked.

'It's stupid, but effective. It would be doubly so if you WERE a newly formed existence, or if you had your memories removed.' William had spat to the side and sworn about Cauldron before calming down. 'The basic premise is to remove your other social interactions. That was why he killed Laila. He wants to isolate you. And, while it would be better for him if you didn't remember all the nasty things he's done to you personally... well, that's not vital for the technique to work.'

Sibby still didn't 'get' irony, but she felt there was some of it in what William had said.

'Like I said, it's stupid, but effective.'

Yeah. Did he not see the parallels with them joining the Nine? Then again, THIS William hadn't decided to do that yet.

'Humans are social creatures. The 'Stringfolk' seem similar enough to share most psychological responses. You, also, fall into that category. While this version of me doesn't know the details of the body you have, it was clearly based on Natalie's. I suspect that your mental development heavily took from my mind. I possibly supported your thought processes with my own brain, which could've led to some co-mingling, especially if we shared senses... but I'm getting off the point.'

That did make Sibby wonder. Why didn't Kevin share her senses? Or, at least, why didn't he share them in the same way that William did? Sibby could communicate with him and pass details more eloquently than words. They could also share powers (or he could share powers with her), but it wasn't the same.

It was similar to how William had been able to give her absolute orders, but Kevin couldn't.

She'd have to ask William about that, if she ever saw him again.

'You are anti-social in a lot of your interactions. I don't have a psychology degree, and even if I did, it would be trying to put a square peg in a round hole. The point is, Riqre's manipulations are stupid, but they'll eventually work on you. You're in a bad situation, and he'll show you small kindnesses. It doesn't matter that he's the one that's responsible for your situation in the first place. The mind latches onto the good amidst all the bad... and when you don't have a 'normal' support structure to keep you grounded... strange things can happen.'

Sibby wanted to dismiss William's concerns, but she knew he was smarter than her.

'The good thing is that now that you're experienced with it, you won't fall for such manipulations as easily. Of course, the goal is to not subject yourself to them for any length of time, but you will need to bide your time for a while yet.'

"..... .... ............."

Riqre's mouth moved. There was a black spot over it, but Sibby could still see his jaw and facial muscles.

She started to nod.

Riqre frowned.

She turned it into a shake.

He looked smug. Good.

'The next, and most important thing, is to not get any more commands from him. That means not letting your body hear what he says. If you can keep yourself from seeing his lips - that's even better. Even untrained people can read lips somewhat, and you want to make sure your body gets no further input from him at all.'

Sibby was smart. She'd thought of that... but it had been like numbing her leg. Noise was what other people made. Sibby didn't make any. She didn't speak. She didn't bump into things. She didn't walk around with heavy things on her feet.

She WAS silence.

Prey made noise.

She used that to track them.

'It can't be forced to obey what it isn't told.'

Still, William had a point. What was worse? Being deaf, or being given orders? She could understand 'Delayed Gratification' - no matter what anyone else said!

It also like not listening to him in the past would've helped. He'd never said 'Don't attack me', or anything like that. There were lots of orders her body was obeying, and only a small number of them came out of Riqre's mouth.

'..... .....'

Sibby nod-

Sibby shoo-

Sibby... shrugged?

That seemed to work.

'Now, there's a way to both free you from his control and kill everyone there. It's simple, but they might have a counter for it. So, it's best to do it when no one is watching. That said, you WILL be watched at first. He, or one of his brainwashed slaves will keep tabs on you at all times. So, you can't kill them all immediately, besides, you wouldn't want to.'

William said some strange things at times.

'This is an opportunity. You were captured because of your greatest weakness, and you currently have the means to overcome that.'

Sibby had objected to 'having a weakness', not to mention a great one, but William had been insistent.

'You said that in the past, you appeared close to me or Kevin, correct? Something is interfering with that in this new world. There could be a spacial effect, or temporal, or dimensional. Probably all three. The fact remains that YOU are perhaps the closest a sapient being has ever been with their power. Cauldron doesn't even have anyone like you in their ranks. The only other person that could possibly match you is that AI, but I digress.'

William did like to go off on tangents.

'If you cannot control when you are summoned or, more importantly, where, then that's a restriction you need to overcome. Generally speaking, power restrictions can be grouped into those can can be overcome and those that can't. Since it wasn't always the case that you appeared in a singular spot, the most likely scenario is that it's a restriction you can control.'

She'd given him a look, and he'd clarified.

'The collar you spoke of, it's redirecting you from your initial incursion point to its location. You need to figure out HOW its doing that. Once it's gone, you'll need to be able to control where you appear, or your whole mess will just repeat itself.'

'Also, I have a hypothesis about what happens when you eat something, and why you enjoy consuming humans - especially parahumans. If I'm right, you should be able to sense 'magic' now that you've consumed magicore. It's something that you should continue to work on after you're free, but lets keep to the task at hand for now.'

Sibby unsummoned herself.

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

'.... ... ... .... ...'

Riqre looked confused, so Sibby opted for a shrug.

She unsummoned herself again.

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

Yes, it did feel different from what it was normally like. Now that she was focusing on it, she could... discern... something. She didn't know what, but... yes. Being summoned here was different from being summoned by William or Kevin.

It was like she was missing something, and something else was... pulling at her?

'.... ..... .....'

Riqre said something. Correction, he was definitely yelling something.

Sibby shrugged.

Riqre glared at her. She unsummoned herself again.

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

'..... .... .... ...'

Riqre growled something out. Or at least his throat muscles moved. His jaw was clenched tight.

Sibby... nodded?

Yes. That seemed to be the right move, as Riqre started walking away. Sibby followed while unsummoning herself.

...

They came to a small, isolated room. Several men were inside. Riqre pointed.

'..... ... .... .... ..... . .... .. ... .... .. ... .... . ....... ..... ..... .... .. ...... ............'

Sibby nodded.

Riqre kept pointing.

Uhm... Oh. He wanted her to enter! That might not be the best idea.

Her body walked inside.

Shoot. Not listening to Riqre was good, but there were still some gestures which had a clear meaning. The slave owner became a larger black blob in her sight. She wouldn't be able to 'correctly' guess at what he was saying, but it was better this way.

The large blob left, and the guards remained.

Sibby switched from unsummoning herself to attempting to break her collar.

She vanished.

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

'Now, about the collar and the other things that you can't destroy. It's clear that there's a 'magical' field that is strengthening them. This is a common issue with all-or-nothing powers, such as yours. They can overcome virtually anything, until they can't. From what you've told me, yours is particularly potent.'

William had paused, no doubt thinking about the amazing feats of hers she'd told him about.

'But, if what you've told me is true, your power is far more versatile than that. Letting light pass through you? Letting matter? That's impressive - and different from simply breaking something. So, the solution is to find out WHAT you can do to the collar. There has to be something. If gravity is pulling it down, you can block it. If light is reflecting off of it, you can alter it. You should experiment, and find out exactly where the limits are. Now, the first step to this is...'

Sibby began to follow William's step-by-step experimental guide. He'd made her memorize the flow chart he'd drawn on the ground, and replicate it from memory. It wasn't hard. She had a perfect memory after all.

So, uhm, what was step one again?

Oh, right! Non-destructive forces. Light. Gravity. Friction. After that, she could get into the more exotic ones.

She also could combine her testing with identifying the summoning-thing. Bonus!

---

Gerrae watched the Djinni blink in and out of existence. As always, he was proud to be chosen for the task by his Master Riqre’ma Medaale! Guarding one of his most valuable possessions like Siti`medaale was an honor beyond honor!!

Once again, he praised his great Master in his mind and thanked him for choosing him. Not many men were chosen by the Great Riqre’ma Medaale. Gerrae knew that he had to work even harder to deserve the honor. Even though he could not serve Riqre’ma Medaale in all ways, he was determined to do the best he possibly could!!

The fact that his Master had been injured. Had been so close to death... It filled Gerrae with rage.

To think that Siti`medaale could have had a part in it? It infuriated him even more.

How dare it! How dare it SHRUG to Riqre’ma Medaale! It should grovel and thank his Master for his mercy.

Siti`medaale stopped flickering and smiled.

Gerrae blinked. Was... that good? He'd heard it had been fed magicore, but hadn't thrown any up. Gerrae was not privy to much knowledge, or his Master's plans. He'd thought that the point of the punishment was for the magicore to absorb part of the Djinni - which the creature would then lose when it was expelled.

It had obviously had an effect. Siti`medaale had been unconscious for far longer than anyone had expected, and had flickered ever since waking up. Now that it had stopped, he needed to report.

Gerrae raised the speaking stone to his mouth. "Master, Siti`medaale has ceased flickering."

"Good." The reply came quickly. "Keep watching it. It cannot move from its spot, but I want a constant vigil kept."

"Yes, Master. I understand." Gerrae looked at his fellow slaves. They all nodded their heads. They'd heard their Master's orders, and would stand guard for however long it took. They'd rather die on their feet from starvation than disobey.

Siti`medaale raised its hand. It wasn't supposed to do that! Master Riqre’ma Medaale had specifically told it to not move a muscle!

Gerrae brought his hand up to report, but he fell down. The floor was somehow as slick as ice and the speaking stone had fumbled from his fingers! He was shocked and afraid as he looked up. Siti`medaale's hand had risen to its collar, and one of its fingernails had dug into the flesh of its own neck!

The Djinni winced in pain... and vanished.

It collar remained suspended in mid-air, like it always did when it flickered, but when the monster reappeared - it was standing to the side! The collar was held in the crook of the finger that the Djinni had shoved between itself and the collar!

It let go, and the collar fell to the enchanted stone floor with a soft clunk. Siti`medaale smiled while its yellow eyes glowed with magic.

Gerrae had to get the stone!

"[Flash Cut]!"

"[A Dozen Stabs]!"

"[Blade of Wind]!"

He scrambled to his knees as the other [Guards] moved in tandem. They swung their enchanted swords at the Djinni while activating their best [Skills]. They all then screamed as it managed to dodge all of the attacks - and retaliate.

Blood was splattered inside of the sound proof room as his fellow [Slaves] were torn apart with an almost casual ease.

Gerrae wrenched his eyes away. He had something more important to do! He need to find the stone and report! There! It was in the corner. He lunged and grasped the stone, and brought it to his lips.

The last thing to go through his mind was Siti`medaale's claws.

---

William had been right - of course.

Sibby couldn't destroy or protect the collar with her power, but she could do other things. Things like blocking gravity or light.

'It may be that you can't affect magical items in any way. I don't think it's the case, but let's start with that assumption and go from there. Preventing other forces from interacting with them should still be possible. A more... external than internal application. Gravity clearly is affecting your collar just like anything else. Do you have to change anything about the collar to isolate it from gravity?'

William had shaken his head and smiled.

'No. Of course not. 'Magic' might break physical laws the same way some powers do. It might trump your power, but it needn't get that far. All you have to do is block the physical effects that you can. Once you've confirmed you can do that, the next part of the plan is to use your power to examine it. If you can block forces, then you can tell where an object begins and ends, correct?'

Sibby could. She'd told him as much. Although, she still hadn't been able to properly separate the 'waves' that everything was made of to change what a 'touched' object was - only dissipate them. She could also pass through the mostly empty space that everything was.

Well, most everything. She couldn't phase through 'magic'.

'The collar sounds low tech. Mechanical. If it has a key that physically opens it, then it has to have internal locks and pins.'

William had taken a stick and began to draw pictures on the ground.

'Now, a lock commonly has...'

The next part had been boring, but informative. It doubtless would've been useful, had the collar not been a solid piece of metal.

'If the collar doesn't have a lock, or if you can't open it, the next thing to try is spoofing it. As a Shard Projection, and not a Djinni, you have an advantage. Mainly, your body comes from another dimension. From what you've said about the Djinni you've encountered, they can change shape but their bindings remain. Now, provided they aren't multi-dimensional creatures, the collars shouldn't have a solid countermeasure to your summoning. Your collar clearly re-connects with your body as it forms, and that's a point of weakness.'

William was right about that. Now that she was looking for it, Sibby could feel the connection... solidify as she was summoned. She still couldn't block or cut it, but William had remained confident.

'Djinni are solid masses of magic. It doesn't matter where their collars are. In fact, the examples that you spoke of didn't all wear collars. For their masters, it's an aesthetic choice. So, the next thing to test is: can the collar tell the difference between your neck and your finger? It's arguably the easiest solution, but you'll have to hurt yourself to test it - possibly multiple times if it's random as I suspect. That's why we're saving it for Plan B.'

It was true. Sibby hated pain. However, she was willing to endure it for this. Besides, if it didn't work the first time, she'd just learn how to disable the nerves in her neck. Fortunately, it hadn't come to that. Or to Plans C or D. They both had sounded tedious.

With the collar on the ground, the foreign connection had faded, and her body had ceased fighting her. It was still there, tethered to her and ready to force her to appear inside of it when she reformed, but she could once again move as she wanted to! As light as a feather. No air resistance to her movements, except to let it push her out of the way of her target's attacks.

Float like a butterfly, tear them in half.

Now? Now she was going to deviate from William's plan. She was still going to kill everyone that Riqre had brainwashed - that was only sensible, but she'd decided she should save the others if she could.

Laila would've wanted that.

---

There was no pain.

Even as she had been torn apart, there had been no pain.

Stitchfolk didn't really feel much pain from being cut anyways, and while the creature's claws had left jagged wounds, her [Skill] still blocked any discomfort.

Any - physical - discomfort. It had still been one of the scariest moments of her life. Especially when the jaws had opened wide - far wider than they should have been able to - and closed around her head.

She had no arms or legs. No heart or lungs. Her eyes and mouth were useless.

Yet...

Yet, Laila lived.

She'd been cut off from all sensations. No light. No sound. No touch.

Rationally, she knew that her skin was being dissolved as she was digested, but she felt no pain. A Stichfolk's detached head could live for several minutes before dying.

It had felt longer.

The same... odd feeling she'd been having before was still there. The sensation of... her life thread. That had to be it. That was what she was at her core. When there was nothing left, when everything else had been stripped away, that was what 'she' was.

She wasn't her body. Laila knew that more than any other Stitchfolk. As a race they reveled in their ability to exchange their parts. Everything, except their heads.

Laila's [Flayed Slave] class had 'let' her experience getting a new face. Not once, not twice, but dozens, hundreds of times.

So, she was able, for the very first time, to move her own life thread.

She wiggled and pushed. Burrowed and dug.

She had to get out.

It was getting harder to think. She'd left her 'brain' behind. There was nothing else. Only the singular desire to live.

She wanted to live!

She would live!!

She HAD to LIVE!!!

Then... finally... she felt something. Something that wasn't her life thread. Something that was... a body.

She'd escaped from the stomach. From the acid that would burn and dissolve her. She didn't know where she was... but... she could feel legs.

Yes. She had legs.

The sensations of them flowed into her. They were bent. Cramped up against a smooth surface. She had no pants and no shoes. She had thick claws instead of toenails. But... she had legs!

Laila continued to burrow. She continued to climb.

Up the spinal cord. With every inch her life thread moved, the more body she gained. Ribs. Stomach. Heart. Lungs. Each inch seemed to take forever to take. She still couldn't 'think'. Laila was only driven by her singular desire to live.

So, she continued to climb. To get to where her life thread SHOULD be: the brain.

Then, after thousands of hours, days, years... she was there!

She felt... someone else as she slid into position. Someone familiar. Another life thread, but one shriveled and damaged. One that was little more than a feral beast.

Laila wrapped herself around it...

...and woke up.

She had a body again!

A body that was crammed into a space that was too small to lay down, and too short to stand up. A space that had her legs screaming in pain.

Pain that Laila could ignore.

She determined what she could with both her hands and her... sense of her body. It was stronger than her old one. The arms and legs were longer, more gaunt. They both ended in claws. Her face was distorted. Her jaw was wide - wide enough to bite someone's head off.

But... she was whole.

Laila was tired.

She'd had a very... eventful day. Or had it been a week? She couldn't tell. Her singular desire to live had been fulfilled. With it done, she needed rest. She needed to sleep.

[Flayed Slave level 10!]

[Skill - Blood Control Obtained!]

[Parasite Class Obtained!]

[Parasite level 5!]

[Skill - Shared Senses obtained!]

[Skill - Bodiless obtained!]

[Conditions Met: Parasite → Stitch Selphid Class!]

[Class Consolidation: Flayed Slave removed.]

[Stitch Selphid Level 1!]

[Skill - Hysterical Strength obtained!]

...

Laila woke up.

It might have been morning. It might not. She had no way to tell. Her legs screamed in agony from not being able to stretch, but the pain didn't reach her.

Still, pain was an indicator of damage. She should fix them.

Her first thought was to reach down and pull out their threads, but her arms didn't have any room to maneuver either. Instead, she focused inward. She felt like she could do something, like she could move through her new body. She could stretch her life thread. If she was closer, then she could... resew her legs while they were attached?

No. She was no [Tailor]. She knew a lot about modifying her self, but it was all superficial. The intricacies of her insides were still beyond her.

Then again, she had time.

She threaded herself away from the brain and down through the body. The change was instant. The damaged life thread that she'd wrapped herself around violently spasmed as she departed.

The pain.

She'd been shielding the original owner of this body with her [Skill]. Departing let it come back into full effect.

Laila went back.

It would be nice to fix her body. To explore her new 'home'. To understand what she'd become better. But, that all could wait. She couldn't inflict that level of pain on anyone else just to satisfy her own desires. Her new body might be monstrous, but she was no monster.

She wrapped herself around the other life thread and comforted it. It felt strangely familiar. She'd heard about Riqre's other experiments from Sibby - or had been non-verbally informed. It hadn't been the easiest way to communicate, but she'd understood that her Master had turned people into monsters.

Laila rolled her head. She didn't feel a collar.

Did that mean she was technically free? She'd lost her [Slave] class. No, not lost, consolidated.

Did that mean she'd never be free? Or that she'd never be a [Slave] again?

She wished Sibby was here.

...

Light.

It wasn't much light, but compared to the pitch blackness of her prison, it was blinding.

Laila looked up and squinted. She could feel her eyes trying to adjust. They were close enough, so she reached out and manually constricted her pupils.

A familiar face was looking down at her with a confused expression.

"i.."

Her throat was dry and raw. Laila swallowed.

"si.."

Her mouth was also wrong for speaking. Too wide. Too many teeth. But - it was also close enough to directly touch.

"Si..bby..?"

She rasped out, and Sibby's face went from confused to surprise.

"Laila?"

The Djinni pulled her out of... a jar?

"Si.. bby.. you.. can.. talk..?" Each syllable was a trial to say.

"Yes." Her friend nodded. "It's a pain, and a secret, but no one here will ever know."

"Wha.. ha.. pen..?" Sibby shrugged. "No.. col.. lar..?"

Sibby no longer had her golden collar around her neck. Had she been freed? Who could do something like that? Who WOULD do something like that?

"Nope." Sibby shook her head. "You don't have a collar anymore!" What? "Oh!" Her expression brightened. "I'll show you!"

The black and white woman leaned Laila on the jar and let go. She then grabbed Laila's bed, and tore it from the wall.

All in perfect silence. There wasn't even the faintest noise as she casually displayed her strength and her magic.

"Here."

The wooden surface turned into a mirror, and Sibby angled it so that Laila could look at... herself. She brought a hand to her face, and then jerked away from her own claws.

"Wha.. hap.. en..?"

Sibby shrugged. "I don't know, but c'mon, we got to get you out of here before I destroy everything.

What?

Laila was dragged along through the hallways... and walls. Sibby gripped her hand, and somehow her magic made them both invisible and intangible as they escaped from Riqre's compound.

Along the way, Laila didn't see another living soul. Or a dead one. It was in the middle of the night, and most of the [Slaves] would be asleep, but there should still be [Guards] and [Rogues] patrolling the halls - looking for escaping [Slaves]. Looking for them.

There weren't. It was a ghost town.

Past the inner walls. Past the outer compound. Past the outer walls. They kept going until they were miles away.

Once they stopped, Laila dared speak. "Wher.. ev.. ry.. bo.. dy..?"

Sibby glanced at her. "Most of them are still there, in their rooms and asleep. I killed everyone that was awake. Every bad person that was awake I mean. I broke all the collars of the outer [Slaves], and they ran away. It was nice of them. They did make a lot of noise, but not enough to wake up people on the inside."

Sibby stopped speaking and looked a little discomforted. It must be hard for her to speak now after being silent for so long. A stark reflection of how Laila felt.

"Wh.. now..?"

Sibby smiled and reached down to pick something up. Laila blinked. It was her golden collar. Still intact, but no longer around her neck. Someone must've removed it. But who would've done such a thing? Who COULD'VE even done it?

The Djinni said a single word before racing back towards the compound.

"Physics."

---

'The first thing you need to do after using the collar to train and removing it is to destroy it. While your powers might not work on it directly, you can still leverage them in other ways. However, before that, try smashing it with a rock or something. There's no need to take drastic action when a simple one might work instead.'

Sibby had tried smashing it with a rock, and then with a non-magical sword. Neither had worked.

'The second thing to try is a bigger rock. Or, at least, denser and heavier. For that, you'll be better off making it yourself. Phase stuff together, and then use that to smash the collar.'

Sibby had tried that also. She'd fused a bunch of swords into a vaguely sword-shaped object. It was heavy, real heavy. She hadn't been able lift it without using her power to negate gravity on it. The swing had shaken the ground, and left a small crater - but it hadn't broken the collar.

'Now, if that doesn't work, then you need to use the biggest rock around. I'm talking about the Earth. Or whatever the name of the planet you're on is. It's going to be loud and a spectacle. It's also going to cause a lot of wide spread damage, so you'll be noticed for sure. If you can negate gravity on the collar itself, then you can just use it. Otherwise, you'll need to wrap it in something. The only result that matters is how far into the air you can manage to get it. High enough, and you'll effectively have a meteorite strike. Even with a small object, you can make it fall faster than it normally would be able to. If my calculations are correct, the amount of force generated will be equivalent to several tons of TNT.'

Dawn was approaching. She'd killed every person on Riqre's side as quickly as she could. It had still taken time. It had taken more to free the outer slaves. Fortunately, their collars did have locks, and the people she'd killed had possessed keys.

It had all sorted itself out after she'd eliminated the living obstacles. She was investigating one final time when she'd encountered Laila, and now she was late. Early risers would be waking up any moment. She hoped there was no one else she'd missed, but she'd managed to find Laila, so it would have to be enough.

Sibby raced back to the compound, and then leapt into the air. She negated gravity on both herself and the collar in her hand. Or, at least, the gravity coming from below. The forces here were strange, but there were still plenty she could let through that wanted to pull her into the air.

With air resistance negated alongside all the downward pulling forces, the only question was how high she'd get.

William had warned her about going too far. There was a theoretical limit on how far powers could work away from Earth. What that would mean for her, he didn't know. Nor did he have a good estimate on what the limit might be on another planet.

If she popped, then she wouldn't be able to negate things so that the collar fell faster. She wanted to make this count, as the final option William had given her was... difficult.

Not that she would admit it, but she had trouble manipulating such tiny things. She was sure she could do it, but it might take a while.

It would also be more noticeable too.

But, it wouldn't come to that! Sibby was so high that she could no longer see her target. That was another benefit of guiding the collar herself - she could aim at the most appropriate location. Her eyes gleamed as she began to fall back to the ground.

Back to Riqre's compound. Thankfully, it was still brightly lit, and stood out from the surrounding countryside.

This was why she'd deviated from William's plan. All the enslaved people deserved to be let go - and be given a chance to escape before she blew everything up. Everyone who remained was on Riqre's side - and deserved to die!

Even if none of them were real, it still felt like something Kevin would be proud of.

Sibby's smile was wide as she plummeted downwards. The air parted before her. She negated any force that might oppose her rapid descent.

A little to the left. A little to the front.

Bullseye!

The world disappeared in a cloud of fire.

None of it touched the Siberian, but she did stumble as the dirt beneath her feet was blown away.

When the dust settled, there was nothing. Nothing except a crater a hundred feet deep and miles across.

Riqre, and anyone else that had still been inside the compound, was assuredly dead. Part of her wanted to torture the slave master for what he'd done to her and Laila, but... she had made a decision. Bringing pain for the sake of brining pain was stupid. That was the mistake Zehia had made.

That was what Jack had done.

Sibby... Sibby was going to be better. Kevin had told her that the end result was what mattered, and that the some people simply needed to no longer exist in the world, and that torturing them was pointless. Sibby had disagreed. Sending a message was also important.

But... she thought she better understood where he was coming from now. It was enough that Riqre was dead, and that he wouldn't be able to hurt people like Laila in the future. What did it matter that his death had been quick and painless?

Well... Sibby still felt that it mattered a little, but not enough to risk him not dying.

Sibby hoped all the slaves had been far enough away. She'd left Laila several miles outside the radius, but the shockwave might've been a tad... excessive.

Sibby unsummoned herself.

Sibby appeared a yard to the side.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

Yep. The collar was gone. She no longer felt the tug that forced her to appear inside of it. She hadn't been able to arrive at Kevin's side, so she'd just walk instead.

Besides, Laila could probably use someone to help her sleep again. She really looked ragged.

Sibby turned and walked away from the inside of the smoldering crater.

Now... which direction had she left her newest friend again? She'd have to do some investigating. But, she liked investigating, so that wasn't a problem. Besides, she should confirm that there had been no survivors except those that she had permitted to exist.

Chapter 51: Interlude - Cauwine

Notes:

Author's note: Some of Cauwine's lines are directly taken from The Wandering Inn.

"Take my hand, then. I see the makings of a warrior on you, traveler. I see bloodshed in your past, and in your future. Take my hand and I will show you what I know of battle and triumph. Of loss and defeat."

Cauwine, the Young Huntress made her offer to Ryoka Griffen.

She was refused.

Her two companions were similarly rebuffed.

Their gift was given, taken, and destroyed.

Kagsigna howled in rage, but she was always overdramatic.

Norechl said nothing, but he never did.

The two of them departed in search of another that might take their hand. That might worship them. That might allow them to... 'live' again.

Being dead was a horrible thing. Cauwine constantly hungered. There was a deep gnawing pain at the very core of her that refused to go away. A hole in her existence that refused to be ignored. The souls of the dead eased the pain... a little, but Cauwine often thought that the Gods she'd killed might've been better off.

But, she was still the Goddess of Last Stands.

She would never surrender.

Such a thing was anathema to her very nature.

She could no easier change that aspect of her than she could return to life or stop being a God altogether.

Change... that was ultimately what she had sought. What she still sought. It was why she waged war against both sides. THAT had been a challenge. It had been a thrill beyond even walking amongst the mortals.

If only...

No.

There was no point of wasting what little time she had left. The solstice thinned the veil between the mortal plane and the land of the dead. It was of no help with those who'd lost the very concept of a God. The fundamental law of the world had been changed so that there were only Dead Gods.

Every soul born here knew that. There would be no reaching them.

...But, the souls from elsewhere? Souls like Ryoka Griffen? Those could be touched. They could be spoken too. With luck, they could be swayed.

But... to what end?

She knew what the others wanted, to go back to how things were. To be more powerful than ever. To have worshipers. To consume the fundamental nature of other Gods.

So, Cauwine sat and thought.

The soul of an otherworlder would be a change. That was true. It was also the first real opportunity that they'd had since their fall.

And there were some souls that burned so very bright. The Runner. The Innkeeper. The Emperor. The Singer. The Rower. The Explorer. The Doctor. The Twins. The Student. The Clown.

Some were shielded. They were inside buildings made out of iron, or protected in other ways. Some weren't... compatible with every Dead God.

Kagsigna and Norechl were already searching for others to make an offer to, but Cauwine was more selective.

Ryoka was a fighter. Someone that stood against the tide. A rebel.

Her soul called to Cauwine, but she'd refused that part of herself. Or, the offer might not have been the most eloquent.

She blamed mother for that.

But, there were a different set of otherworlders. Ones that the other Dead Gods hadn't spoken of. Ones that they'd... failed to sense.

The reason was simple, they weren't dead. They weren't lost. They weren't rulers. They weren't spellcasters. They weren't dancers.

They... were warriors.

Their souls called to her, and Cauwine turned her head.

One was close to Emerrhain, another to Kagsigna.

That would make approaching them... difficult. Cauwine wasn't a goddess of knowledge, but she could understand tactics and strategy. She knew a losing scenario when she saw it.

Besides, it was the third soul that shone the brightest. She was a Warrior. A Huntress. A Rebel. The otherworlder that had seen the most combat of them all. Who'd slain more foes than any other.

Really, she was a better choice than Ryoka Griffen ever was, but... Cauwine smiled to herself. The best plans required you to also fool your allies. Others had sought Royka's soul, and so Cauwine had gone with them. To do otherwise would have draw attention.

Now?

Now she was free to approach her true target.

Cauwine stood up, and started walking towards 'Sibby'.

A silly name, for such a deadly warrior.

...

Cauwine approached the ramshackle camp.

Sibby was free, and had freed some of her fellow slaves who were actual [Slaves]. Furthermore, she'd utterly destroyed the place where she'd been held.

Such a blatant display of power would not go unnoticed, but it also didn't look like a slave rebellion. Was that on purpose? The Roshal of the day wasn't as influential as it had been in the past - from what little she could remember. Still, they would investigate.

The night fell deeper as Cauwine pressed through the boundary between the lands of the living and the dead.

Sibby turned to look at her, but stayed seated and stroking the hair of... a body with two souls.

Neither one of them was a glorious soul - [Slaves] rarely were.

The souls were still distinct and separate, but the twin-souled woman was still the closest of all of the other slaves to being a warrior. The dozen or so others that were also there... didn't concern her at all.

"Hail, and well met." Cauwine smiled as she approached the small fire. It was already dwindling from the closeness of Kasignel. The land of the dead greedily drunk in both light and life.

It was nearly as hungry as she was.

"May I join you at your fire?"

Sibby looked at her for a moment. Her yellow eyes were searching. Cauwine wondered exactly what she saw. The young huntress? The warrior without peer? Or a corpse? The dark thing that she'd become?

The black and white woman nodded.

Cauwine sat down and looked at her. What was she? Certainly not a Djinni. Not a human either, unlike all the other people from Earth. A new race?

Cauwine was tired. Hungry. A ghost of herself. But, she could still LOOK.

"I see conflict in your soul. A desire, a need to test yourself in battle. To place yourself against others. You are a warrior. You have fought in battle after battle. Shed the blood of countless foes. An invincible huntress."

Cauwine spoke as she took a good look at Sibby. She was perfect! Old but young. She'd made great and terrible war in the past. She was a huntress that relentlessly tracked her prey! Her soul was...

Bigger.

Powerful.

Ancient.

Cauwine stopped speaking as she took in the full depth of Sibby's might. Sibby, as great a warrior as she was, was but a small fragment. A tiny speck of something... grand.

Young and old.

Sibby was young. She'd existed for less than two decades.

Sibby was old. The power that flowed through her, that gave her form and shape was ancient beyond belief. It was older than Cauwine by magnitudes that she could scarcely fathom, and Cauwine was older than the world itself.

A Glorious Soul.

Pure and soiled. Brilliant yet naive. A good heart that was yet evil as pitch. The peaks defined a soul. The extremes were rare and precious. Sibby's soul was somehow multiple conflicting mountains. An amalgamation of...

A Goddess.

Cauwine stopped breathing as she realized what she was speaking to. A God, but in another form. Something... new!

Change! Freedom! Adventure!

That was what she yearned for. That was what the Young Huntress, the Seeker of Glorious Souls, the Goddess of Last Stands sought. It was why they'd implemented Isthekenous' Grand Design in the first place.

For something new.

Admittedly, being dead was new, and it wasn't great. Cauwine, however, couldn't stop seeking. The other Gods that remained might only want to return to what they were. To grow as they'd done in the past. They feared change. They hated competition. She was different. She wanted more.

She needed to... evolve.

And here was an opportunity. One she hadn't seen coming, but that was the way of great adventures. Of Glorious Last Stands.

She made up her mind in an instant.

How could she not? The concepts that embodied her could only allow for one outcome.

They had to join.

More precisely, SHE had to join the Great Shard.

The Goddess of the Slain Pantheon - the title embodied them both. It was what she would become... if only.

"Sibby, I was born a god, and nothing challenged me, so I despaired. Until I walked among mortals. Until I challenged my own kind. We are the same. I seek to join with you. Even gods can change. I have always wanted to be more. I must become something else, if you would let me."

Her words hung in the air.

Cauwine had to make her offer.

"Let me take your hand and become a part of you."

It was Cauwine that would take the offered hand instead of offering one herself. It was Cauwine that would... become part of something else.

Sibby... smiled.

The black and white avatar of a Foreign God gently placed the twin-souled woman's head on the log they were using for a bed, and stood up. She strolled over to Cauwine... and extended her hand.

The Goddess of War and Youth, the Patron of Glorious Souls, the Huntress of Victory smiled, and then took her hand.

Chapter 52: Red Death 1

"I don't think we should go inside." Dev thought about putting his hand on Bit's shoulder to prevent her from getting closer to the red jungle, but... No. That would be too familiar.

"Hm?" She turned to look at him. "Why's that? Do you have a [Skill] that's providing you information?"

"No. I." Dev lowered his hand. "I don't know a lot about jungles, but I do know enough. We don't want to try cutting through it without experience." Or machetes, and they didn't have machetes. Also, something told Dev that the red plants wouldn't just sit by and let themselves be cut up.

"We have to go!" The tiny person- no, the Fraerling on Bit's shoulder excitedly waved her hands in the air. "It's right there! We should've gone inside last night instead of camping here!"

"Uh, huh." Bit turned her head towards Pinky. "And exactly what kind of 'Foolish' thought is that? Hmmm? A good one or a bad one?"

Pinky had the graciousness to look ashamed. "I mean... it's both?" She ducked her head for a moment before looking up and hopping up and down. "But this whole exposition was that sort of foolishness! And look where it's gotten me so far!"

Dev crossed his arms. "Weren't you playing dead in the talons of an invisible bird when Bit saved you?"

"Ah, heh heh heh..." Pinky rubbed the back of her head while she chuckled. "I mean, yeah, if you want to get all technical about it. But! Things turned out well for me, right?"

"Uh-hun." Dev stared at her. Why was he traveling with the two of them again?

Sure, there had been perks. Safety. Companionship. An endless supply of milk...

But, he was fine on his own, and Bit and Pinky had recently been doing... okay. The little girl was surprisingly competent when it came to... making Frankenstein-esqe horrors.

She still claimed to be a superhero from a different Earth.

Pinky thought she was in denial about what [Classes] she'd picked up.

Dev wasn't going to weigh in on it one way or another. That was a can of worms that could be left closed. It would just be too... awkward to take a side.

The fact remained that Bit was pretty competent, despite not knowing the first thing about wilderness survival. She could barely tie a knot! A basic knot. Hers were needlessly complex, and weren't useful for camping at all.

Pinky... would've died a dozen times already. She had the survival instincts of a depressed lemming. (Not that lemmings were suicidal. That documentary footage had been faked by Disney. Still, it had formed a cultural zeitgeist, which had stuck with Dev for a long time. 'White Wilderness'. An ironic title for the film considering where they currently were.)

Dev scanned the horizon.

On one side, there was a nearly flat, white plain. There were plants and animals there, but they were almost all invisible during the day.

On the other, there was a red wall of plants. It was a very stark line. A nearly perfect wall of foliage. Something like that shouldn't appear in nature, but this was a magical world and nature had done what it did best.

It had adapted.

"Look." Dev held his hands up with his palms facing his female traveling companions. "Bushwhacking through an untamed jungle is dangerous enough on Earth. Here? Without tools, or a map, or guides? We don't even know WHAT the danger is that will kill us. A snake we can't see? A flower that drips acid? A vampiric tree that controls the blood in your veins and sucks it out from afar? You respect nature, or you die."

Pinky rolled her eyes.

Bit shrugged. "We'll be fine. Besides," She tilted her head and bumped Pinky with it. "This is important to Pinky."

Dev resisted the urge to palm his face. "Can we at least walk along the edge for a while and observe it? We might be able to find a river. That would make moving along much, much, MUCH easier!"

"What? You want to scout a new and unexplored Death Zone before entering it?" Pinky shook her head. "Who's being the [Fool] now, huh?"

Dev and Bit stared at the shamelessly brazen Fraerling.

"Anyways," Dev shook his head. "We can't just go walking in there. I can't even see where one plant ends and another starts! It's all one big mass of red."

"I know, isn't it great?" They continued to ignore Pinky.

"Relax, Dev." Bit smiled at him. "That's what we have minions for!" She patted her domesticated Bloodrage Badger on its shoulder. She had to stand on her tiptoes to do it. "Badgy here will make a path for us. Won't you Badgy?"

'Badgy' growled, and then started lumbering forward. He turned invisible as he walked. Like nearly every native of the White Zone, the bear-sized badger could disappear into thin air. Bit had said that it was a light-bending effect instead of a chameleonic pigment shifting.

Dev had wanted to argue that such a thing was impossible, but... magic. Finding the impossible was one of the great things about this world.

As far as he was concerned the badger was invincible. Then again, the red jungle looked like an immovable object...

The only indication that Badgy had reached the jungle was red plant at the edge being torn away. Then another, and another. Dev could almost see the badger from the outline its attacks made... In fact...

He sat down and pulled out his sketch pad. This was too nice of an image to pass up.

First, he drew the plants with an invisible force cutting them in half. It wasn't a big drawing, and very rough, but he wanted to get the basic part down while it was still fresh in his memory.

Badgy roared.

A wooden spear had shot up from the ground. No, not a spear, a root. It pierced the badger's chest, and white ichor dripped down its length - seemingly appearing out of thin air!

[Quick Sketch]!

Dev's hand blurred over the page as he captured the moment in time. Then, Badgy retaliated. Its jaws closed around the root - making an indentation that showed what was going on, then it viciously tore it away.

Unlike other plants, the root spewed blood as it was severed.

It wasn't a 'normal' amount of blood either. Instead, it looked like it was pressurized and splashed the underside of Badgy's mouth.

It made the Bloodrage Badger angrier, and also more visible. Dev could more easily see it. It looked like part of a hollow shell was moving on its own!

[Quick Sketch]!

He had to draw it! Especially where the red and white ichors met on Badgy's chest. Dev had always sketched with a pencil, so his pictures were black and white. It was visually lacking the vibrancy, but the gray and white sketch still looked stunning - if he did say so himself.

He wasn't that high of level in [Drawer], but the few [Skills] he had really helped his artistic abilities.

The Badger, in turn, switched its attention to the root. The red liquid quit flowing. In fact, it looked like it retracted...

Badgy, tore the rest of the root in half, and then started digging more of it up. Other roots jabbed up from the ground to spear it, but the giant beast didn't pay them any more attention than what was needed to casually shatter them.

He was making a path, but only incidentally. His rampage was carving a tunnel through the underbrush, but his true goal was the branch. This caused him to go in a straight line, but not the straight line Dev had expected. Instead, Badgy was moving at a non-perpendicular angle as he pursued his latest nemesis.

Part of that annoyed Dev. It wasn't like he had a particular goal inside of the Red Jungle, but an angled path would be slower.

Eh, he shrugged his shoulders. A path was a path, and exploration was exploration. This was more violent than he'd expected, but short of learning how to brachiate, there wasn't a better way to move around the jungle.

Dev continued to sketch, but he felt that the first few pictures were the best. The most iconic. That was fine, good even, he only had a single use of [Quick Sketch] left for the day. The tunnel wasn't changing much, he could draw it at a more leisurely pace.

Some of the red liquid rose into the air, and started moving towards them.

Dev glanced at Pinky and Bit. They didn't seem surprised or worried. Pinky was too focused on the carnage to notice, but Bit was looking at the remains. That probably meant it was fine.

Sure enough, one of her helper monkeys turned visible as it carried the liquid - no, the... jelly? in its hands.

It dropped it to the ground and the little girl bent over and began to cut into it with a scalpel that extended out of her wrist and into her hand.

That would never stop being freaky.

"Interesting." Bit hummed as she sliced the jelly open.

"What is?" Dev asked as he continued to draw the jungle-tunnel.

"This slime is alive." She wiped her scalpel and it withdrew back into her wrist. "Or, y'know, it WAS alive. This part is dead, and the main body is going to join it soon enough." She shook her head. "Badgy still has anger issues, y'know? Still, I guess his ability to track is useful."

"Yeah. If he could only do it without flying into a berserker rage." Dev added dryly.

Did he really need to stick around?

Pinky was a danger to herself and others, but mainly herself. Bit, on the other hand, had made herself some powerful protectors. She'd probably be fine on her own.

A Scout is loyal.

No, he couldn't just abandon them. Besides, for all her Levels - or superpowers, depending on who you believed - Bit was still a little girl. He couldn't just leave her lost and alone in the wilderness.

A Scout is a friend to animals and loves nature.

Dev really should get them to be less... destructive with their exploring.

That would require confrontation, and Dev hated confrontation. Besides, the jungle would undoubtedly grow back quickly. It wasn't the explorers with their machetes that had depleted the Amazon, that was due to the actions of corporations and their targeted slash and burn campaigns.

He let out a sigh.

It still would be better to do things more subtly, but he'd also probably not have gone into the jungle if he was by himself. There would be a lot to see and a lot to learn from it.

---

"Y'know, this gelatinous stuff is pretty interesting." Riley mused to herself. "I'm not entirely sure if it's part of that plant, a parasite, or a symbiote." It certainly seemed to be giving those roots the mobility they needed to try and stab Badgy.

"We should go in there after him." Pinky jumped up and down on her shoulder.

"Really?" Riley looked at her incredulously. "You see what's going on there, right? There are definitely more roots underground that are just waiting to attack."

"Pft." Pinky made a dismissive gesture. "They don't look so tough. I'm sure I could avoid them with ease."

"Uh-huh."

"Besides, we're so close!"

"I've been meaning to ask about that, Pinky." Riley sat down. She was confident that the White Lands didn't have any Red Roots - at least not right now. Badgy's incursion might spark a counter-attack. "What exactly are you looking for?"

"Well..."

Riley arched an eyebrow. "Well... what?"

"Well..." Pinky hummed. "I'll know it when I see it!"

Riley put her forehead in her hand. "You'll know it when you see it."

"Yeah!" Pinky hopped up and down. "The color red is very important to my class, on like, y'know, a deep level or something. And the Dyed Lands have a Red area, so obviously there must be something in there that can help me get rid... uh... I mean, can help me level!"

"Sure, Pinky. Sure." Riley sighed, then smiled. This was fine. She was encountering lots of interesting things. Her Shard was sending her all sorts of ideas, so it had to be excited. Surgery had been behaving itself ever since Kevin had talked to it, but the rate of inspiration had slowed down some after that.

Now?

Now it was back to the level that she'd had when she'd first become Bonesaw.

Riley didn't know what she thought about that. Sure, on a conscious level she knew the two things weren't related. The Shards wanted data, and this world seemed full of stuff that they'd never seen before.

Possibly.

The Shards were old. Like, really, REALLY old. They'd encountered more things (and destroyed them) than Riley could fathom. Could this world really be THAT new?

Or was Surgery just excited for her to be working with new materials?

It was hard to say.

Just then, Badgy got to the... root, of the problem. Riley looked down at the white tablet she'd made. Hooking it up to the connection she had with her monkeys had been tricky. Her suit wasn't exactly designed with that in mind, but the information was there, and she had monkey brains to process it.

The former monkey, now tablet, could bend light just like the others.

Getting it to show a picture had been difficult, and the picture quality was honestly, pretty bad. It was still good enough to show Badgy roaring as it fought a red tree the size of... well, a redwood.

Huh. That was an amusing coincidence she supposed.

Badgy had looked better, but he had also looked worse. He would continue to fight, despite the red venoms that the plants were doubtlessly using. Riley understood its color-based immunity response, and had improved upon it. So the only real danger to him was the physical trauma he was enduring.

And, well, Badgy was a pretty solid Brute in his own right.

Beating up a tree shouldn't be too hard, right?

...

Half an hour later, a gore covered Badgy came trudging out of the jungle.

Riley stood up, put her fists on her hips, and glared at him. "And?"

"Mraw?"

"The tree."

"Mrawww."

Riley pointed at the tunnel he'd made through the foliage. "Go and grab the remains that you didn't smash, and drag them back here!"

"Mraw."

She narrowed her eyes and stomped her foot. "Do it."

"Mraw." Badgy turned around and re-entered the surprisingly docile mass of plants.

Riley shook her head. It was hard to build good help without access to higher levels of technology. Her Mets would never argue with her! "I guess you can make a pet by re-animating a Bloodrage Badger, but you can't take the Bloodrage Badger out of the pet."

"I think that's the smartest thing you've ever said." Pinky said from the ground where she was building a... snowman? Jellyman? Something vaguely humanoid from the red slime.

Dev was sketching it.

Riley thought about saying something, but Pinky was probably being the 'good' kind of foolish, instead of the 'bad' kind. Oh well, Badgy returned with the real prize soon enough. The creature walked backwards while tugging the stump of a large tree it had managed to rip out of the ground. It left a trail of slime behind it.

Riley ► Monkey-bot A engage override.

Monkey-bot A ► Ook.

"Malleable." She whispered to herself and activated her armor. It flowed out from under her dress and around her arms. At the same time, the Monkey-bot's limbs trembled.

Riley ► Go ahead and get close to it Monkey-bot A.

Monkey-bot A ► Ook.

Badgy had trudged to the side and laid down. She'd have to give him a once over to make sure that everything was still working. He seemed injured, but Badgy was tough. He'd heal most of the wounds he'd gotten just fine on his own. The spearing roots might've been able to pierce his hide, but they hadn't penetrated too deep. For now, she'd focus on the tree.

Or, rather, the red slime that she hypothesized was behind the un-plant-like attacks.

Monkey-bot A bent down, and Riley started manipulating her arms and examining the goo. Her eyes were good enough to do so from a distance. She'd rather be up close and personal, but this world had surprised her in the past.

---

"The whole jungle is a single organism." Bit announced as she stood up. The little girl wiped her hands in mid-air. It looked silly, except for the albino monkey who was duplicating the motions and trying to clean the gunk off after its... autopsy of the tree.

Dev shrugged his shoulders until... Did she just say the entire jungle was one organism?

"I think I've heard of places like that back on Earth." He flipped his sketch book closed.

"Yeah." Bit cracked her neck and hopped up and down. "I'm not really a plant-person, but I wouldn't be surprised. Well, a little since your Earth doesn't have..."

Plant-based supervillains?

That was what Dev guessed she was about to say before falling silent.

"It's, uhm, Pan-something. Pan...da?" Bit looked at him with an odd expression. "No. Uh. Oh!" He smiled as it came to him. "It's Pando! It's a bunch of trees that are all genetically identical. They're interconnected by a massive root system. It's, like, the largest organism on Earth." Dev frowned. "Maybe. I think I heard that once, but I might be remembering things wrong."

"Hmmm..." Bit hummed. "Well, that's quite interesting, but I think this jungle is different." She pointed at the tree. "The tree and the slime inside of it are both the same organism, and different. They have aspects of both a symbiote and a parasite."

"Wait." Dev frowned. "That can't be right. Isn't the difference between a parasite and a symbiote only one thing? A parasite gains at the host's expense, while a symbiote and a host have a mutually beneficial relationship." He paused and considered the implementations. "And how can something be either a parasite or a symbiote when you said they're part of the same organism?"

"Because." Bit smiled. Oh no, he was about to get a lecture. Actually, that was a good thing. He didn't want to hear about organs or nerves or anything else in regard to Bit's 'specialty', but plants? Animals? Those were a vital part of exploring. "They are two organisms that were once separate, but are now one!"

The little girl stood there, with her hands on her hips and her chest and chin jutting out. She looked proud, and pleased with herself. But, why had she stopped? Was she waiting for something?

"..."

"..."

He and Pinky just sat there waiting on her.

Bit finally rolled her eyes and mumbled something about her brother before speaking more clearly. "The plants and slime are different species. I don't have the equipment to do a genetic comparison, but I'd bet that they have different DNA, even if it is red."

Pinky raised her hand. "What's DNA?"

"Deoxyribonucleic acid." Bit replied without missing a beat. "But that's not important right now. I think that in the past, there was a power struggle in the Red Lands that the red slime ultimately won." She shrugged. "I don't know about the animals that may or may not live there, but it looks like the slime infected every plant and spread like a virus."

"So, it's a parasite?" Dev asked.

"It probably was at first, and still is in the sense that it's consuming nutrients from the plants." Bit glanced at the tree trunk. "That's still a one-sided exchange, so it's technically parasitical. But," She gestured towards the carnage the badger had wrought. "It's clearly providing the plants with an offensive component that isn't commonly found in nature."

"At least on Earth." Dev added.

"Yes, at least on Earth." Bit agreed. "There might be other examples of carnivorous plants on this world..."

"Both of you should face your reality head-on." Pinky commented from the side. "There is no such place as 'Earth'."

They ignored her.

"...The ones we've personally encountered so far haven't displayed anything like that. Animals have been active, and plants have been passive. The slime," She glanced at the... sculpture Pinky had made. "Is non-compressible. So it acts like both a blood-equivalent in that it transfers nutrients, but it can also contract specific parts, which makes it act like a gigantic muscle. Sort of like an elephant's trunk, or any tongue."

"Oh." Dev blinked. "I understand, I think. That analogy helps me." He'd found it was beneficial to let people know when they'd properly explained things to him. Otherwise, they didn't seem to be able to tell.

"Thank you!" Bit beamed at him. "It's nice to have my work be recognized and appreciated!"

She must be like him. Explaining things must let her interact with others easier. Or, he supposed, she was saying that for his benefit. It was hard to tell for sure.

"So..." Dev looked between Pinky and the Red Jungle. "Do you still want to try hacking your way in?"

"Yes!" The Fraerling shouted.

"No." Bit shook her head.

"What?" Pinky seemed upset.

Bit knelt down and spoke with a calm voice. "Look, Badgy could do it, but he'd be overwhelmed eventually. We also would have to camp there, and the roots would always be under our feet. I would need to make an... anti-red poison or virus to clear the way." Pinky gasped. "And that would defeat the point, wouldn't it?"

"Awwwww...." The tiny humanoid half-heartedly kicked the mound of red slime she'd made. It jiggled. "I guess... but I'm SO CLOSE!!"

Nobody spoke.

It was awkward.

Dev needed to do something. He didn't want to talk, but remaining silent seemed worse.

"Uhm." Two other pairs of eyes focused on him, and he immediately regretted his decision. Still, it was better to say what needed to be said. A Scout is courageous. "I know that you want to go inside right now, Pinky, but this is still..." Shoot. What was the expression in English? "Not a spring?"

"Spring?" "Spring?"

Shoot. That was the wrong word. "I mean, it's not a sprint."

"Oh."

"That makes more sense."

"You don't go into a new area without watching first." Dev explained. "We know the White Lands pretty well. Well enough that we can avoid most of the more dangerous animals." Or have Bit handle them, but 'A Scout is a friend to animals and loves nature.' He wanted to explore and discover new things, and not have to fight them by intruding on their natural habitat. "So, why don't we watch the Red Lands for a while? We can move along the border and take in more of it." And get away from the 'tunnel' that was probably attracting who knew what. "If we find a river, then we can follow it inside."

Normally, one would want to stay close to a water supply. Bit's Milk Box had solved most of their hydration needs, so it hadn't been as vital. Since other animals also were drawn to water, Dev had guided them away from the river that he'd first met them at.

"A river? That sounds good." Pinky nodded.

"Yeah, I can have my monkey-bots gather materials and scout from here. There's no need to rush." Bit added.

Dev wanted to make a comment on Pinky's 180 degree reversal... but, A Scout is disciplined.

...and helps to protect public property.

---

Pinky couldn't stand it.

The Red Lands were RIGHT THERE!

...And she couldn't go inside. Not yet.

She knew that a lone Fraerling entering that jungle would be a [Foolish] action. No, not even that. Even her [Class] thought that wandering in by herself wasn't [Foolish], but suicidal.

But, would that be so bad?

It couldn't, right? If it was then...

No. No, she already knew the answer to that. She was the only person that still remembered Lars, because she was the only person that had known what Lars had been going through.

What she had gone through.

What she was still going through - because of her [Class].

The [Class] that was the only thing she had left of him. The [Class] she couldn't give up, but quite literally couldn't live with.

If she walked out... she'd be in the Red. It wouldn't be so bad. It was what she wanted...

No!

Pinky slapped herself. Her old skill still existed despite creating [Foolish Thoughts]. She wouldn't let it win!

Besides, she looked at where Bit was sleeping, how could she leave a hole in someone else's life? The way mom, dad, Lars and his parents had left in hers?

Right?

Right!

That was why she was here. She was risking her life. Some might call it seeking death, but it wasn't. It was more than that. It wasn't a rush of adrenaline. It wasn't the thrill she'd sought for all those years.

It... was a memory, and a Color.

Pinky pulled out a piece of Red from her pocket. Colors were important, but they could mean different things. Red was the color of blood. Of fire. Of the sunset.

It was life and death.

That might be why Red Classes were... different.

But, who said they had to be a bad thing?

Pinky would show them. She'd show them all!!!

...Somehow. She wasn't exactly clear on what she was doing, or how she was going to do it. She did know one thing though. Her answers lay in the Red Lands. The color she'd forced upon her [Class].

Just one more consolidation or evolution. Just one more, and she'd be better.

She knew it.

---

Riley dipped her hands in the clear water and brought them to her mouth before drinking deeply.

"Ah." She sighed in contentment as the cool liquid ran down her throat. "That hits the spot." Yeah. Nice and cold. She should go ahead and make that modification to the Milk Box to add a cooling option. She'd been putting it off because of the nightmare, but cold and warm milk would be really nice.

"So, the water's safe to drink?" Dev asked from the side.

"Nope." Riley shook her head. "It's full of little microbes. Nothing too dangerous, but they'd mess with your gut and give you the, uhm, diarrhea." She still felt naughty about saying some words. Not because they weren't what a 'Good Girl' would use, but... well... you know...

"We can boil it in that case."

"Uh-hm." She sent a command to her monkey-bots to start doing that, while she contemplated the river. It might've been the same one that they'd camped next to in the Chalklands. She didn't really have a map, but it was flowing in the right direction.

That was to say, from Red to White.

Dev came and stood beside her. "The river is a lot wider than I expected, but that's good." He gestured to the gap in the trees above it. "Jungles press right up against the bank, so we'd either need a shallow, fast river that we could wade through, or a wide, slow one like this. We'll need a boat, but we'll get sunlight. That will make it easier to navigate."

"Won't we be following the river?" She asked.

"Of course, but it's still a good idea to have a rough estimation of where we are. It will be especially important if we need to deviate from the river to find... whatever it is that Pinky is looking for." He shook his head.

"I dunno." Pinky was looking at the water. "Are you two thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That we need a boat?" Dev asked.

"Oh." Pinky paused. "That's actually a lot better than what I was thinking about. A boat would be great!" She looked up at him. "Can you make one?"

Dev grimaced. "I've helped build a canoe, but we had tools and materials like glue and nails to help us." He shook his head. "Even with the jungle right there, we couldn't get the wood we needed."

"Of course we can!" Pinky exclaimed. "We have a Bloodrage Badger! It can knock over some trees!"

"But it can't cut or shape them." Dev frowned. "Without a saw and a sander, we couldn't make anything water-tight. And we'd need to let them dry out, which takes a long time. I suppose we could construct a raft, but that's going to be hard to go up-stream with."

Riley shook her head and laughed. "You two are thinking about it too much! Or not enough." She pointed downstream. "Where there's water, there's animals that live in it. All I need to do is catch some, and then we can have them pull the raft!"

"Uh..." Dev was speechless.

"Oh! That IS a good plan, Bit!"

Riley started to pull out some of her poisons from her bag. She'd need a paralytic. One that would mix well with water, but also wouldn't spread too far. She didn't want to affect more animals that her targets. It would need to either dissipate quickly, or require a high dosage to work. That way the river would dilute it enough so that it wouldn't matter.

Her monkeys were already grabbing stones from the river for the fire pit. She'd have them scout and see what sort of aquatic animals were closest. If it was something like a crocodile or fish, they'd still need to build a raft. If it was something bigger, they might be able to ride on its back!

Notes:

Bios:

Riley Grace Davis - Bonesaw. She IS a parahuman from Earth Bet - no matter what Pinky or Dev might think.

Pinky - OC. Not her real name. A Fraerling who's looking for something. Not sure what exactly to do now that she's close to finding it.

Dev - An Earther. A competent [Explorer] who likes to draw. Prefers solitude, but feels obligated to help.

Chapter 53: Red Death 2

"You know," Dev looked at Bit's latest addition to her growing menagerie of 'tamed' animals. "I wasn't expecting this."

"Huh?" The little girl looked up from the insides of the giant creature. Her arms and dress were covered in white blood, but she seemed perfectly fine with it. "What do you mean?"

"Just..." He gestured at the crustacean. "I was worried that you'd find an alligator or a crocodile, and we'd have to make a raft and have them pull it. I was hoping for a giant turtle so we could ride on its back and not have to chop down any trees."

Plus, wouldn't riding on a turtle be cool?

"We'll be able to ride on Krabby, just you wait." She slapped its shell. "It's aquatic, so its legs are already designed for moving in little circles and swimming, instead of scuttling along the river's floor."

"Yeah..." And why was that? What would've caused the crabs in the Chalklands to need to swim fast enough that they evolved to do so? He knew the memes. Carcinization was a real, documented phenomenon. Crustaceans became crabs. It was simply one of the best forms that evolution had come up with - at least that was true back on Earth.

"Oh, don't be such a worrywart!" Pinky said from her perch atop the crab's shell. "It's a crab. Who cares how well it swims? If it didn't, I'm sure that Bit would be able to teach it!" The Fraerling shook her head. "This is just like the fire all over again. Are you going to throw water on the crab to?"

Dev crossed his arms. "River stones are not safe to heat."

"They're rocks." Pinky rolled her eyes. "They get hot. You just don't touch them and you're fine. It's better than building a fire pit without them."

"No." Dev reiterated. "It's not."

"And you ruined all of my hard work, too!" Pinky shook her head and tutted at him.

Dev palmed his face and rubbed his temples. He wasn't going to get into it with Pinky again. River stones were dangerous. Unless they were smooth and solid, there would be tiny pockets of air or water trapped inside of them. Tiny pockets that would expand with heat, and cause the whole rock to explode.

This. This was why he didn't like being around other people. They... just didn't understand, and he couldn't explain it to them.

Sure, he had gotten to see some of these amazing animals up close. There was no way he had been able to get this close to a giant crab otherwise. It was simply too dangerous.

It was only his experience with the domesticated Bloodrage Badger that let him be comfortable with their new ride.

He let out a sigh, sat down, and took out his sketchpad. The picture of the crab was coming along nicely. He should be thinking about what dangers they could encounter in a river. It wasn't an environment he was accustomed to. He didn't know what to look out for.

The best he'd come up with was a way to keep his sketchbook dry when they all inevitably fell into the cold water.

...

The trip up the river turned out to be more pleasant than Dev was expecting.

'Krabby', or 'Mr. Krabby' depending on Bit's mood was big - about as wide as a couch. It also swam pretty smoothly. There was enough room for both him and a little girl to sprawl out on Krabby's shell.

Pinky took up virtually no space.

The monkeys didn't either.

Badgy? Badgy got to hold onto Krabby's shell and dog-paddle behind them. Badger-paddle?

A Scout is a friend to animals and loves nature.

"Are you sure Badgy is going to be okay?" Dev glanced back at the giant, white animal. "The water's pretty cold." Even though they were in the jungle - where it typically was warm or hot all year 'round, the air had a nip to it, and the water was cold enough that Dev wouldn't have wanted to swim in it - even if there weren't unknown and dangerous animals lurking underneath the surface.

Although, the Red Lands were probably nicer than the White Lands in that regard. The soil and rock in the river bed was red, and the native wildlife would be able to blend in well - but not as well as the invisible creatures from the previous biome.

Bit looked up from where she was cutting into the Milk Box. "Don't worry about it." She smiled. "Badgy's tough. I even gave him a condenser - like I'm putting in the Milk Box. It will let him regulate his body temperature much more efficiently than normal! He'll need half the calories to stay warm in the water!"

"Oh, uhm, okay then." Dev glanced back at Badgy. It was true that the Bloodrage Badger didn't show any signs of distress. Then again, it rarely showed any emotions at all - aside from anger.

Dev didn't approve of what Bit had done on principle. 'A Scout is a friend to animals and loves nature.' Surgically altering them to tame them seemed wrong - even if Bit improved them in other ways.

He glanced at her latest project and shivered. At least they weren't as disturbing as the Milk Box. Her creation was... amazing. He couldn't deny that. If Bit had been on his Earth, she could've revolutionized the green-meat industry.

No more raising animals to slaughter them. The Milk Box was a biological machine, and nothing more. It didn't feel pain. It had no emotions.

...And it still freaked him out.

It was indisputable proof that Bit was from another Earth. And that she had 'super powers'.

Probably.

How could he be sure about anything when he was in a world where magic was real?

Pinky obviously didn't believe Bit. She thought the little girl was... repressing something? That she had some strange [Class] or mix of [Classes] that let her... do that.

Dev didn't know if such a thing was possible. For as... inconsistent as the Fraerling was, she was also far more knowledgeable about the world and [Classes] than either him or Bit.

All he was 100% certain of was that Bit was from AN Earth, if not HIS Earth.

Dev shook his head, and turned his attention back to the jungle and his sketches. Riding was much nicer than walking - especially since he hadn't been ready to try and bushwhack through the jungle.

It was hard to make any details out. Everything was red on red, with only shadows in between. In one sense, it wasn't that different from a jungle back on Earth. Just red instead of green. However, there was one major distinction - the animals were also red.

Given the surroundings, it was the perfect camouflage. Dev hadn't even been certain that there WERE animals in the Red Lands at first. Given the omnipresent slime that inhabited the trees to their sides and beneath them, he'd been wondering what else could live here.

Did the jungle need insects? Or did the slime take care of pollination? Would the trees attack something eating them, even if it was as tiny as a bug?

If there were no bugs, then what would the small-sized predators eat? Some birds could subsist on berries, but if the jungle killed bugs, then it would certainly kill birds, right?

If the smaller predators and herbivores weren't present, then the larger predators would leave in search of food elsewhere.

...And then he saw the tiger. Or possibly a porcupine.

It was a great cat, that was for certain. The way it stalked out of the jungle. Its eyes. Its muscles.

[Quick Sketch]

Dev's hand began racing across the paper. The... 'tigerpine'? 'Porcuger'? The cat watched him warily, before lowering its head and lapping at the river water. No, Dev corrected himself, it was watching the large, white crab. The travelers on Krabby's back weren't nearly as threatening.

They passed the animal without issue, and Dev regarded his sketch. It had definitely been a large cat. It was easily six feet long. The differences started with its red color, and ended with its 'hair'. Instead of fur, the feline had possessed long... quills.

That... was interesting. It also implied a great deal.

Large cats were ambush predators. They were carnivores, and attacked things that wouldn't fight back under most circumstances. Predators didn't like to fight. Getting injured in exchange for a meal was a bad trade. Hurt animals couldn't hunt as effectively. They couldn't feed themselves. Even a small wound was a poor trade off for some food.

The main conflicts for such beasts came from territorial disputes - or mating rivals.

Dev glanced back at Badgy. Then again, the rules could be different in this world. The Bloodrage Badger certainly thrived despite its aggression.

The cat had also had quills. Those were a defensive trait. It implied that there were larger predators that would be... dissuaded from attacking due to the multiple small wounds they'd get in return. Wounds that could become infected.

The same rule about not wanting to get hurt while hunting would apply to larger animals as well.

Conversely, the presence of a large cat implied that there was smaller game to be hunted in the Red Lands. Dev hadn't noticed any insects yet, but that didn't mean they weren't there.

He began to plan their camp. He'd have to test what level of movement was acceptable to the jungle, and place trip lines and snares around them. [Basic Trapping] helped with that.

Netting would also be essential, as would an escape plan.

His eyes gleamed. THIS. This was the sort of thing he loved. A puzzle. A challenge. Surviving and being at home in nature was so much more satisfying than... his old home. Thankfully, the memories of his father's house faded as easily as they'd come.

...

"Okay, I think it's safe to walk around the jungle some." Bit stood on the shore. She'd sent her invisible monkeys to explore the area close by. "There are some smaller mammals and lizards, but they don't look aggressive."

"Pinky." Dev looked down at their smallest member. "Wait until I've set up some snares before going inside. Never underestimate nature. A small animal to us-"

"Is a danger to a Fraerling." Pinky interrupted him. "I know that. Every Fraerling knows that! Sheesh." She did a handstand. "I'm in my element here, you know? I'm not worried about any mega-cats!"

"What about the plants?" Bit asked from the side.

Pinky flipped to her feet. "I'm a little worried about those."

"It's a shame your monkeys are so much bigger than Pinky." Dev commented. "Smaller ones would make good decoys to test whether it's safe for her." Not that he condoned using animals like that. Still, as much as he liked nature, he'd put his and his companion's safety above that of the wildlife if there was no other way.

"Oh!" Bit hopped up and down. "That's a good idea! I can have my monkeys capture some of the smaller mammals and..." She glanced up at Dev before clearing her throat. "I can make some Pinky-sized decoys. They won't be of much more use than that, but we can always feed them to the Milk Box later."

Dev closed his eyes and palmed his face.

It was fine.

It was fine.

It was like... hunting for food, but with less waste. Yeah. That was it. He'd captured and eaten things both in this world and on Earth. It was like... using bait.

Yeah. Like baiting a trap, and then removing it if it didn't trigger. That was the proper thing to do anyways.

Yeah.

...It was still a little creepy though. Did Bit purposely aim for the cute & creepy little girl archetype? That was a thing in the West, right? Like her power (or [Class]) was creepy, so she tried to be cute to offset it?

Dev set his backpack down, and pulled out his supplies. Some sharpened wooden stakes - thin and light, but still strong. The trees from the Chalklands had been more durable than Oak. It had taken a lot of work to fashion his traps - especially the thin string that was attached to the spikes.

It wasn't invisible - not any more - but it blended into the background.

[Nature Sense] and [Danger Sense] were both quiet, but he was still on guard as he entered the underbrush. He'd go in slowly, and move parallel to the river. That way he could get a better sense of the land, and still have an escape route.

Once he was far enough away, he'd start moving in a semi-circle around the camp. He'd trap the perimeter, and then worry about things like bugs.

---

Riley yawned as she woke up. She hadn't had any nightmares, but she also hadn't had any pleasant dreams either. She brushed away the netting that Dev had put up to keep insects away. She had to admit, it was a better long-term solution than her antiseptic mist.

Sure, she could modify her liver to make it automatically rather than by hand. A design came to her that incorporated both red and white flesh. Doing that would... be fun, but it would also require more calories.

Plus, it would be like she was sweating mist. That was un-ladylike. It was a difficult balancing act between being a good girl, and being a 'Good Girl'. There was nothing wrong with being cute, or polite, or cheerful, but they also shouldn't be goals in and of themselves.

She said a curse word under her breath as she stood up - just to prove she could.

Right. Time to take stock of the camp and the jungle, but first... some hot milk.

Riley was pleased with the newest addition to the Milk Box. Sure, the heating coils were a by-product of the cooling aspect, but they were useful. The morning air was chilly, and some nice warm milk hit the spot.

She really needed to add some flavor options.

Pinky had given her a 'Nali Stick' that had been super-concentrated sucrose. It hadn't worked that well with the milk before, but with hot milk? Yep. That would be nice.

She'd fiddle with it while they sailed along the river. Was sailed the right word? Eh, whatever.

More importantly, the jungle hadn't taken anymore exception to them sleeping next to it than it had to them walking through it. It might be that the slime was more of a defensive measure. A sort of... antibody for the Red Lands. It also could be that it was more sensitive around the edges where it came into contact with other colors. Or that an angry Bloodrage Badger smashing through it had set it off.

All of them were testable hypotheses, but she already had plenty to keep her busy. She needed to make Pinky-decoys, update the Milk Box, and experiment with grafting multiple colors of flesh together.

Riley yawned again.

She had a busy day ahead of her. She wondered what Pinky was looking for. She would've bet on the slime. The tiny Fraerling HAD been enamored with it, but she still wanted to find something else.

Riley hoped that whatever she was looking for actually existed. Her new friend seemed... fragile in the same way that Bonesaw had once been. Or she might be like Riley was now - broken and healing. She wanted to help Pinky like Kevin had done for her in the past.

But, that was the way of life. It always grew. It always healed.

(Well, not ALWAYS, but that wasn't a very inspirational thought.)

---

Pinky sat in the tree and... thought about things. She definitely wasn't brooding. Brooding wasn't 'red'. Anger was red. Lust was red. Excitement was red. Passion was red. Boundless energy was red. Things that made your heart pump were red.

Brooding?

Brooding was black - like the night. Or possibly blue - like the sky (because tall places helped). Maybe a darkish blue?

Lars had been blue. That was his color. His hair had been aquamarine. His eyes cerulean.

Of course, that had been before she'd become 'red'. Back when her father was still around.

Her father was a Tallguard, the same as her mother. Lar's parents had been the same! Pinky hadn't been like the other children when she'd grown up. She'd known more about the outside world than anyone else her age! ...except possibly Lars.

She KNEW to be careful.

She KNEW that the plants were dangerous.

She KNEW that a 'small' creature to the Tallfolk was a danger to her.

She KNEW how evil cats were.

...She also knew that Bit and Dev meant well.

It was... just so stifling! She could take care of herself! Sure, sure, Bit had saved her from the invisible bird that'd grabbed her, but Pinky would've been able to escape on her own.

Eventually.

Possibly.

Those memories were all woozy.

The POINT was, that she didn't need DECOYS!!

...no.

...That was a lie.

She'd sworn she'd be honest with herself. That was the only way forward. To make the mask become reality. And, yes, she acknowledged the contradiction there and her hypocrisy.

Whatever.

While it was true that the babying that Bit and Dev were doing was annoying, that wasn't what was causing her to not brood.

Here she was, in the Red Lands, and she felt... nothing. No special bond with her [Class]. No revelations. No emotional growth. She was still just plain old 'Pinky'.

She slapped her cheeks.

Right. She needed to cheer up. Crack some jokes. Make some puns. She was going to be the best [Fool] the world had ever seen. That would show 'em!

Who needed a family like that anyways?

---

On the third day, they came to a lake. Not a big lake, but big enough. They could see the other side, but only just.

There were some red, algae-like plants that Riley could see at the bottom. They might be nothing important. Or they might be part of the zone-wide organism. Or they might hide some ambush predator. Or even be an ambush predator themselves.

She had Krabby keep to the side, just to be safe.

They passed a few trails through the jungle that had doubtlessly been made by animals walking back and forth to the water supply. There didn't seem to be any around right now. So, that was something.

No, the bad news was that there was nowhere else to go. Riley counted five tributaries that fed into the lake, but all of them were much smaller than the river they'd been swimming upstream, and none of them was big enough for Krabby to fully submerge itself.

That was a problem because Krabby didn't really walk in a straight line - at least not easily or quickly.

"I think we should make camp down stream - at least several hundred yards away." Dev broke the silence. "It'll be best to continue on foot eventually."

Once they knew where they were going. Riley looked down at Pinky. She didn't want to prod her newest friend, but she was the one with a goal.

Or at least, she was the one with a reason for being in the red jungle.

Pinky was looking around, but seemed to feel the rest of the group looking at her. She straightened up and put on a wide smile. "Sounds good! We can, uh... yeah. Sounds good."

Krabby swam them back where they'd come from and Riley sent out her monkeys and Pinky-decoys.

"This will be a good place to observe the local wildlife." Dev was still looking at the lake. "Most animals in the area probably visit it at least a few times a week. "I think it also might be interesting to explore down some of those paths. We'll need to be prepared, and not wander into the lair of something too aggressive, but there's a lot to see around here!"

He seemed excited despite his initial wariness about entering the jungle. It was strange, his and Pinky's initial dispositions had swapped.

The monkeys came back, and Dev went out to set up his traps.

Riley tweaked the Milk Box some more.

...

That night, she was woken up by drums.

Riley yawned and rubbed her eyes. She'd imagined hearing...

The drums continued.

Huh? So it wasn't a dream?

Dev and Pinky were awake, and they glanced at each other in the twilight.

Then, there was another sound.

Was...

Was that a guitar?

---

"So we're going, right?" Pinky hadn't been able to go back to sleep once the music had stopped.

Music!

In a Death Zone!

Her first thought was that it might be another Fraerling settlement. Torteth of Colors was on the edge of the Chalklands, and that was dangerous enough.

But... there could be even braver Fraerlings, right?

No. On second thought, she was being [Foolish]. Pinky had gotten too comfortable with her Tallfolk companions. She'd traveled leagues through a Death Zone with their help. That was something that even the Titan would have had difficulty with.

Other Tallguards might, MIGHT, have pushed deeper into the Dyed Lands. They might even have scavenging runs, or something - some sort of permanent presence like an outpost. What they wouldn't do was lead an entire city through a mass exodus into one of the most lethal places in the world.

So, that left two possibilities: It wasn't Fraerlings, or the entire city had been... She didn't know... Transported? Or something? She was no [Architect] or [Engineer]. The full capabilities of a Fraerling city were unknown to her, but mass teleportation? That seemed possible.

Oh, wait, there was a third possibility! It could've been a Fraerling settlement that had existed BEFORE the incident that had created the Dyed Lands. Every other inhabitant of these lands would've been killed, or driven off if they were high enough level themselves. A Fraerling city that had been encompassed by the blast?

Yes, they could've survived. Fraerlings survived where Tallfolk didn't.

The singular flaw in her logic was... why would they be playing music so loud that it could be heard from... miles away? Even with all the restrictions lifted, Torteth wouldn't make that much noise. Fraerlings were small. They were quiet. They'd have to purposely make noise on such a scale.

So... perhaps not a Fraerling city, but she still HAD to find out. People living in the Red Lands might be the exact thing she was looking for!

"C'mon, we're going, right?" Pinky hopped up and down on Bit's chest. "I know you're awake!"

She didn't know, but if her friend was still asleep, she wouldn't hear her. Therefore, it was a bluff with no downside!

"Fine." Bit mumbled before sitting up. Pinky backflipped off of her and landed safely on the ground. The [Saw Doctor], yes, today Pinky decided Bit was a [Saw Doctor]. The [Saw Doctor] twitched slightly, and then opened her eyes - completely alert and awake. She must've used a [Skill] to wake up like that. How nice and useful! "Go where?"

"To the music!"

"Hm?" Bit stood up and stretched. "That's fine with me." She paused, and then turned towards Dev who was also blearily sitting up. "Do you think the music will have attracted something big and mean?"

Dev yawned. "Probably not. A native tribe will know this place better than us. If they're playing music, then the animals probably know to stay away from them." He cracked his neck. "The real question is, will they be welcoming or hostile?"

"And how high-level they are!" Pinky added.

"Okay, so we'll finally get to some civilization!" Bit smiled.

"I don't know about that." Dev stood up and stretched. "I'm no anthropology expert, but I know that on Earth there were both tribes that knew and traded with one another, and those that thought they were the only humans in existence." He shook his head. "It's really not something I'm comfortable with."

"C'mon!" Pinky clasped her hands in front of her. "You'll go with us, right?"

Dev grimaced before nodding.

"Why are you so eager about this, Pinky?" Bit asked.

"Because! They're living in the Red Lands! They must understand the color! They can help me level!"

"I thought you already leveled - back when we killed Badgy." Bit stroked her albino pet's back.

"I did."

"And I thought that entering the Red Lands would make you level. It did for me." Dev added.

Pinky rolled her eyes. "I'm sure I've progressed, but it hasn't been significant enough." Her companions looked at her with a blank stare, so she decided to educate them. "Okay, think of leveling like a cup. As you go about doing things, the cup fills up. But! There's a leak in the cup, and the water spills out. You need to put a lot... uhm... no... That's a bad metaphor."

"What?"

"A metaphor." Pinky nodded. "You see, I don't literally mean there's a cup or anything. A metaphor is a figure of speech. The cup isn't real, it's only a symbolic representation that I'm using to help you understand."

"We know what a metaphor is." Bit crossed her arms.

"Of course you do, I just told you!" Tallfolk sure were slow sometimes. "Anyways, a cup isn't good... so... it's more like a bubble!" Pinky smiled. "Yeah, you blow air into a bubble, but you need to blow enough to make it pop!"

"What?"

"Hmmm..." Pinky shook her head. "No, you're right. That's no good either. Bubbles are known for popping, if they knew about balloons, I could use them as an example..."

"We know abo-"

"I got it!" Pinky yelled and slammed her fist into her palm. "Okay, Imagine that there's a rock that you're pushing, right? You roll it along the ground, and there are these checkpoints. Rolling the rock is doing things associated with your Class, and the checkpoints are levels!"

"Oka-"

"Wait!" Pinky slammed her fist into her palm again. "Even better, the checkpoints are little cliffs! Yeah! And you're rolling up an incline! So, if you stop pushing, the rock will roll back to the last cliff, but that's it! You can't lose levels from doing nothing!"

"Alrig-"

"Oh!" Pinky hopped up and down. "Each cliff is a little bit higher! The first ones are really nothing more than bumps, you roll over them without even noticing! Later ones? It takes a lot of effort to get over the top of those!"

"That mak-"

"And!" Pinky was on a roll now - figuratively speaking. "There's a barrier at the top of each cliff! Yeah! The higher the cliff, the stronger the barriers! So, the starting cliffs have, uhm, spider strands across them!" She paused before deciding that more details were needed. "And I don't mean the sticky stuff that they use to capture things and that can be a real chore to get out of. No, these are the gossamer strings that they use for sensing vibrations. They're easy to break!"

Everyone stood in silence for a minute before Dev raised his hand. "So that-"

"Now!" Pinky interrupted him again. "You have things like cloth, paper, wood, and metal blocking the paths! So, you can get right up to the edge, but not be able to cross the line! And if you quit pushing, you'll lose ground!" She crossed her arms and nodded her head.

"So..." Dev wasn't interrupted, and tried completing a question. "You're at a... hard barrier?"

"Yep!" She nodded. "Levels that are a multiple of 10 or 5 take more to push past. Multiples of 10 are the harder of the two. Doing so gives the best rewards... Oh! Think of rewards as being like how far the boulder drops!"

"Okay." Dev nodded. "So exploring the Red Lands is a stronger... push?" She nodded and he continued. "So, I'm getting levels because I'm lower-level than you. You can't go past your barrier without a bigger... push?"

"You're getting it!" Pinky beamed. "That's where singularly great actions come in. Stuff like killing a Bloodrage Badger. Or baking the perfect croissant! Or pulling off a seven-twenty for the first time!"

"Wha-"

"A croissant is a fancy roll."

"No, that's not wha-"

"A seven-twenty is where you spin around in the air twice." Man, they really didn't teach them anything in Tallfolk villages did they? "It depends on what you're doing as to how impressive that is." To demonstrate, she jumped up and grabbed Badgy's fur. She then pulled herself up, before leaping to Bit's shoulder. As she did, she spun in the air twice. "Tah-da!" She spread her arms as she landed.

"Wha-"

"It's a nonsense phrase." Pinky rolled her eyes. "'Tah-da' doesn't mean anything, it's just something to say when you've done something impressive."

Neither Bit nor Dev spoke after that. Good. They must not've had any more questions.

They were learning.

...

It took a while to actually break camp. Dev had to go and reclaim all his traps, while Bit...

Actually, Bit was good to go even faster than Pinky. She didn't have a collapsible house to pack up, and her monkeys rolled up her small tent quickly.

The music had come from the north, so they landed on the section of the lake there that had a path. The trail looked wider and more used than the other paths around the lake.

"I think I'll leave Mr. Krabby here." Bit patted his shell. "He's not as nimble on land."

"That's a good idea." Dev added. "If they're hostile and we need to run away, it'll be better to have him waiting for us..." His head turned towards the north. "My [Danger Sense] is acting odd. I think something's approaching."

"Acting odd?" Bit asked.

"It's been active constantly for a while, but that's because of where we are, and Badgy, I assume." Dev was scanning the jungle. "It's like a background noise, and it's just increased."

"I think we should..." Bit trailed off as a half a dozen figures came into view on the trail.

They were big - even for Tallfolk. Big, and wide. They were half the size of Badgy.

And, they weren't red.

They had green fur, but also gray metal and brown leather armor. All of them carried large axes - that also had metal heads. The one in front also had a yellow lump on his back that Pinky couldn't see clearly.

"Oh!" Pinky exclaimed. "I recognize them! They're the Jungleclad Gorillas! The Titan hires them as mercenaries!"

"What are-"

"Mercenaries are people you pay to do things for you - mainly fighting, but also... no, it's basically fighting."

The lead gorilla opened his mouth, revealing Faerling-sized fangs. It then roared.

Chapter 54: Red Death 3

The Jungleclad Gorilla roared at them.

Riley ► Monkey-bot A, B, C, D, E, F and G go invisible, and move to flank. Slowly. Try not to rustle the vines.

Monkey-bot A ► Ook.
Monkey-bot B ► Ook.
Monkey-bot C ► Ook.
Monkey-bot D ► Ook.
Monkey-bot E ► Ook.
Monkey-bot F ► Ook.
Monkey-bot G ► Ook.

The Jungleclad Gorillas were obviously tool-users. Pinky had just said they worked as mercenaries, so that meant they were sapient. Unfortunately, they seemed hostile.

Six Brutes in close proximity with one non-combatant to protect. Dev would hopefully retreat to Krabby. Pinky could take care of herself.

Probably.

That left her with ten Monkey-bots and Badgy. The Monkey-bots could make for timely distractions, but they only had a small amount of venom each. Probably not enough to take down such large opponents. Badgy could win, but maybe not against six foes that were half his size.

Especially, thinking foes. Badgy was still a blunt instrument.

Riley had several non-lethal options, but dosage would be a problem. Even a tranquilizer would kill if you gave your target too much. She knew how to subdue humans, but Gorillas? Not to mention that magic and levels threw everything out the window anyways. She didn't know how to predict what powers a sapient in this world might have...

Ugh. Slowly poisoning them just enough to make them fall asleep would be a pain. Then again, she could just use a lot of neurotoxin, and revive them without too much effort. Their brains could probably be okay without oxygen for a while.

The gorillas lowered their bodies while raising their weapons.

She readied her finger needles for a quick dose, while the bladders in her lungs began to release a mild sedative...

The yellow lump on the leader's back came into view.

Riley blinked. She recognized that shape.

The yellow helmet with a green cross rose up and revealed two eyes and two yellow feet against a black void.

"One of my Mets!" Riley smiled as her assistant leapt from the gorilla's back and into her arms! She spun it around while she giggled. It crawled up to her shoulder and settled down. This changed everything!

The front Jungleclad Gorilla lowered its arms and tilted its head. It then grunted.

Riley's Met beeped in response.

The leader looked at the other apes and shrugged. They all lowered their weapons while straightening up slightly. The leader put his axes in his belt and then moved closer with both his arms and legs. He pointed at Riley, and then at the Met before clasping his hands together.

"Do you not speak English?" Riley asked.

"Nope." Pinky said from the side. "Jungleclads are intelligent, but they don't speak Gnomish like nearly everyone else in the world. I bet it's because they don't level."

Riley turned to look at her friend. "They don't level? Then how are they living in this jungle?"

"I dunno." Pinky shrugged. "I think the better question would be WHY they're living here. I mean, what sort of idiot would WANT to enter the Red Lands."

"..." Dev glared at Pinky.

Okay. So... sign language? The gorilla was asking if Riley and the Met were friends? Or was it stating that? Riley petted her Met, picked it up off of her shoulder, and held it in her arms as she cradled it.

'This is my child.' - Or at least, that was what she hoped was conveyed. She didn't think she'd be able to sign: this is my assistant that replaced my old spider-boxes, but my big brother didn't like those, so he gave me a machine that could summon robots I call Mets.

Not that they were technically robots, but the term was close enough.

The gorilla stroked his chin, and then his eyes got wide. He reached down and unbuckled the leather armor on his shin. Underneath it there was a long scar in his green fur. He pointed at it, then at the Met, then at Riley. He then raised his arms to the side and shrugged.

Riley walked forward. She wasn't worried about them attacking any more - both because they seemed less hostile, and because she had one of her Mets back. She knelt down and ran her fingers over the gorilla's leg. He flinched back slightly, but mostly stood still.

The wound was only a few days old, and had been sutured together.

Riley ► Met A, did you perform surgery on the gorilla?

Met A ► Affirmative.

It used 'Affirmative', which meant it was recently summoned from her Met Factory. That made... sense. She still had the factory in her backpack, but it had seemingly broken and hadn't created any more Mets when she'd tried to activate it. Could it have made them, just... somewhere else?

The gorillas must've discovered them and... the Met had, what? Performed surgery on its own? That was possible, she supposed. The Mets used Kevin's old Summoning Perk and possessed intelligence. They could adapt to situations and make decisions on their own.

Riley ► Good job, Met A.

Met A ► Gratitude.

Now then... She shrugged off her backpack and rummaged around before pulling out a small jar. The gorillas looked at her warily, but she smiled and nodded. "This won't hurt at all." She took some of the gell on her fingers and ran them down the scar.

The gorilla growled slightly, but didn't attack. It reached down to the scar, but Riley swatted his hand away. "It needs a minute. Just be patient."

She got a growl in return, but the gorilla stayed still. Did he understand her? She repacked her medical scar dissolving & bonding paste, and brought out a rag. She counted to three, and then wiped the substance and the expelled sutures off of the gorilla's leg - and revealing healthy, green skin.

"Your fur will grow back on its own." She told him as she straightened up. "I could make something to accelerate the process, but I'd need some samples first."

The Jungleclad leader poked his leg, looked at her, and then ran his hand over where the scar had been. He then turned to the rest of his group and hooted. They responded in kind.

After they'd calmed down, and the leader had reattached his armor, they walked to the water's edge and filled up some jars they had on their backs. They then turned around and walked back up the path, only to pause and motion for Riley and her friends to follow.

Riley glanced back at Mr. Krabby. He'd probably be okay on his own. She hadn't improved his lungs yet, so he still needed water to help him breathe.

...

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Riley asked Dev.

"I don't know." Dev occasionally glanced away from the green gorillas to the red jungle that was on either side of the path they walked through. "It's exciting though! I never thought that I'd be able to seek out new life and new civilizations, but... yeah." He frowned slightly. "Though, they aren't really 'new' are they? I mean, if a titan works with them, but I don't think anyone else lives in this jungle, so that's a new civilization, right?"

"Not 'a titan', the Titan." Pinky commented from Riley's shoulder.

"They are interesting, aren't they? I wonder if they're photosynthetic? Or the coloring might be for camouflage - at least in a normal jungle." Riley nodded appreciatively at Dev's sentiment. This was pretty neat!

Before long, they came to several tree stumps, and then a clearing. It was a strangely open space inside of the jungle. A wall of thick, red wood encircled what she could only assume was the Jungleclad's village. It was decently big, and had a good hundred feet of clearance between it and the jungle. There were stumps along the jungle border, but the stumps seemed to stop in a perfect circle.

One of the odd things was that the wall and ground that surrounded it were a darker shade of red than the jungle or the path they had just walked on. More brown than red, really. The path didn't end at the clearing, but its color shifted as well.

The other odd thing was the tower that was visible over the village's walls. It had to be at least a hundred feet in the air. Possibly two hundred. It wobbled in the wind and stood in stark contrast to the blue sky behind it.

"Wow."

"Wow."

"That's impressive." Riley stared at the tower as the group approached the village's gate. "There's a part that's green there in the middle." She pointed at it. "How did we not see this before?"

"There's no place TO see it from." Dev commented. "Anywhere close has the jungle blocking the view, unless you climbed to the top of a tree. The river can view the sky, but not enough of it to see that. If it was taller, you might be able to notice it from the lake."

"Look!" Pinky pointed. "There are gorillas on it!"

Sure enough, there were several green shapes that were scaling the tower. They somehow blended in with the dark brown structure and weren't as noticeable as the green section in the middle that almost glowed. And, 'tower' might not be the best word. It was closer to a very thick pole. The gorillas were carrying long, red logs up its side and were... hammering them into place?

"I guess it's not finished?" Riley contemplated as the gates slowly swung open for them. "It must have something to do with the clearing."

As the inside of the village was revealed to them, more Jungleclad gorillas came into view. They weren't armored like the group they'd encountered, but they did wear loincloths and a few shirts. Everyone paused as Riley's group stepped through the gate, before excitedly hooting.

The leader of the... water gatherers hooted back. Some gorillas beat their chests with the palms of their hands, and he mimicked them. They seemed to be... arguing?

A roar silenced them as a larger ape came forward. If the 'regular' Jungleclad gorillas were six feet tall - while crouched forward on their arms, this one was at least eight. His fur was still green along his arms, legs, and chest, but his back and legs were a lighter shade - almost like a silverback.

Riley assumed he was the alpha, or perhaps the chief.

The chief hrned as he looked down at them, and then grunted at the group. The Jungleclad that had been carrying Riley's Met hooted and then took off his leg armor. He balanced on his hands as he lifted his leg up for the others to see.

The chief grunted and then pointed at Riley and made a beckoning motion. She followed him as he walked away on his hands and feet.

The village's walls were tall, and the village itself rose vertically as well. Huts were stacked on top of each other, with a long pole supporting the upper ones. The pillars were all solid wood, and must've been trees in the past.

"That's interesting." Dev mumbled as he walked beside her. "Do you think they lived in trees, and then made houses in the treetops, and then use the same 'designs' for this?"

"I don't know, but that makes sense to me." Riley replied.

"Hey, do you two notice something strange?" Pinky whispered. "Where are the children?"

Riley blinked. Pinky was right. All the Jungleclad Gorillas seemed to be adults. "Higher up? Inside the upper levels, where it's safer?"

Their conversation ended as they came to a ground level hut. Inside, there was an older-looking gorilla that was using two metal sticks to pull long quills from the back of a gorilla that was lying on a bed. There were six other Jungleclads who were also injured and either recovering, or awaiting medical attention.

A second Met was standing on a stool, and helping the old gorilla work.

"Oh, that's right." Riley said to herself. "I tried summoning two of them when I got here, didn't I?" She then pointed at the injured gorilla and raised the volume of her voice. "Do you want me to help?" The chief just looked at her. She began to mime extracting the quills. "Do. You. Want. Me. To. Help?"

He hrned again and nodded while watching her intently.

Riley ► Okay Mets, let's show them what we can do!

Met A ► Affirmative.
Met B ► Affirmative.

---

Dev couldn't help but stare. Sure, he'd seen Bit fiddle with the Milk Box, or command Beary, Kraby, and the Monkeys, but he'd never seen her... operate before.

Super-surgeon was an odd superpower (or [Class]?), but it was impressive to see at work.

The yellow, blocky robots - Bit had called them 'Mets', right? - extended a dozen small arms. They did really look like they'd just come out of a video game. Was that proof for, or against, her being a superhero? The trio then started removing the quills the Jungleclad must've picked up from one of the great cats. He'd watched the doctor gorilla pull one out, and they were clearly barbed. A small pile lay on the floor, each with a small chunk of green flesh and dripping green blood.

Were these guys from a different section of the Dyed Lands?

Dev would think about that later. For now, the pile of quills was getting new additions. New, completely clean additions. A scalpel had appeared in Bit's hand, or had it come OUT of her hand? In any case, the Mets were grasping quills, while Bit made tiny, nearly imperceptible cuts. The completely clean quill would then be pulled out and placed to the side. Bit would move on to the next one with a speed that boggled the mind - considering the precise cuts she must be making.

The two Mets, for their part, would then use their arms to pinch the flesh. After two dozen quills, the Mets were out of arms, and Bit stopped to rummage around in her backpack. She pulled out a tiny needle and thread, and then moved her hands across the wounded gorilla in a smooth motion. The Mets withdrew in perfect synchronization, and somehow, there was only smooth, green skin left in her wake.

That was impossible, as there should've been visible stitches at least, but Dev couldn't deny what he was seeing with his own eyes.

Then the process repeated itself for the next two dozen quills.

"Shoot." Dev swore to himself as he pulled out his sketch pad. "I need to draw this!" It was a great example of first contact - in a certain sense.

---

Harahon watched as the human worked. Noken had been right - she was a healer. An impressive one at that. It would take Mojo a hundred times as long to do a job that was only a quarter as good.

Levelers were unfair like that.

'See? I told you she was good.' Noken hooted from behind him.

Harahon grumbled. 'It's true, but you've still put us in a dangerous position. The ones she heals cannot rejoin the great building. This is a setback.'

'No.' Noken grunted. 'It is not. Buggy and the rest were too injured for Mojo. They would have to be sent back to the main tribe to recover. Now they do not. They can hunt, cook, or gather supplies.'

'Fool.' Harahon beat his chest. 'Do you forget the words? None of levels may give thee aid in the smallest part of this building. We cannot allow any leveler to interact in any way! For good or for ill!'

'You worry too much.' Noken barred his teeth. 'You also read into what isn't there! Aid in building. That is what is written. Not aid in healing. Not aid in getting food or doing chores. Only building! Only aid! It will not hurt us to have them see the tower! It would not hurt us to have them climb or break part of the tower! Only helping is impermissible!'

'Bah.' Harahon was tempted to strike his eldest son. 'The scroll says in the smallest part! If one of levels helps a worker, who then helps with the building, is that not a small part?'

'And what of other levelers?' Noken shook his head. 'The axes we use were made by levelers. The armor we wear! Even our huts come from what we've seen them build! By your logic, our task is already doomed because one of levels made the axe that we stole, that we used to chop down a tree, that we used to build the tower! The task is impossible enough without your paranoia.'

'We have worked too hard to lose it now!' Harahon swatted his son. 'Do you forget why we came to his desolate place? We came for the isolation! That is the requirement that we lack on the outside!'

Noken scampered away before hooting back at him with derision.

Harahon felt at the axe at his waist. As much as it galled him, his eldest had a point. The task could not be accomplished without some amount of involvement of levelers. There were just too many of them. Even if the Jungleclads learned the secrets of fire and metal, even if they could craft their own tools, it would not be enough. They would have gotten the IDEA from a leveler - if nothing else.

No. The only possible way to pass the trial would be with tangential help. There were too many levelers to avoid their influence completely.

Buggy and the others would still have to be sent away - at least for a while. They could be part of the supply caravan until they would've healed naturally.

Harahon grunted to himself and turned away. They'd need to cease building while the strangers were here. They'd also need to have someone guard the tower. In the meantime, they'd focus more on gathering supplies, and trying to overcome the wind.

The tower was higher than it had ever been, but that was putting more and more stress on it. He feared another collapse would happen if they didn't reinforce it somehow.

---

Dev had found a place where he could sit down, and lean against a wall. He was now relaxing while he wrote in his journal.

The pages contained his sketches with notes and thoughts added in between. That was also part of being a good Scout. It wasn't enough to see things for yourself, you had to document them for others. This was especially true when you were exploring the unknown.

Technically, a camera would be better, but he didn't have his. Even if he did, he would have a lot less film than sketch paper. He hadn't had his phone with him when he vanished, and it had been an old model without a camera anyways.

Besides, he liked drawing.

It was relaxing, and a good way to pick up on details. There were a lot of things that his eyes would normally skip over. Things that were in the background and weren't moving. Things that the part of his brain that categorized things into 'important' and 'non-important' tended to ignore.

When he sketched something, he had to pay attention to ALL the details as he drew them.

For example, the Gorilla's tower.

Dev didn't know much about buildings. In fact, all he knew was that four walls and a roof was a good start for a house. If he was to build a tower, he'd probably stick a pole in the ground and stack another on top of it. He'd have to nail in a board to connect them, and he'd need something to keep it straight.

Ropes tied to the tower and anchored to spots circling it would work the best. He'd seen small trees that had stuff like that on them to prevent them from falling over in high winds.

The Jungleclad Gorillas obviously knew more than he did. They had a lot of logs, but no boards. The base of the tower wasn't a log planted vertically. They'd stacked them in an alternating, horizontal pile so that each layer was rotated ninety degrees from the last.

There were some large, metal spikes that were driven in to connect the layers and hold them in place on the edges. Aside from that, large, red vines were wrapped around to provide stability.

It only went up for eleven layers like that, but considering that each log was more than three feet thick, it was a pretty impressive solid mass.

Scary too.

If it fell over, the massive amount of weight would crush everything in its path.

The shining green rock was placed on top, and the tower that continued past it was much narrower. In fact, the vertical logs might be a 'core' that the horizontal logs surrounded.

Hmmm...

Dev finished writing down his thoughts, and flipped through the sketches he'd already made of the village.

The first one was of Bit performing surgery on the wounded gorillas. Then a picture of the chieftain and the gorilla who'd brought them to the village. They had been clearly arguing, with the smaller gorilla waving around a piece of paper.

Then he had a picture of their huts, and then a closer sketch of the bottom of the tower. That was the last drawing he'd made before trying to capture the tower's height with a picture from farther away.

Dev looked at the closer sketch. Yeah, there wasn't anything that he could see past the stacked logs, but they were only flush with each other at the ends. The middle logs had a gap between them. It wasn't much, and he could barely make it out from where he was, but it was there.

They must've wrapped the logs around the central beam.

That was interesting. Probably not important, but it wasn't the way he'd build a tower. Of course, he had no practical experience, and scaffolding would require cut boards and not whole logs. Also nails. Lots, and lots of nails.

It probably...

Huh.

That was odd.

He hadn't paid much attention to it at the time, but looking back at his second sketch...

[Recall Scene]

The two Jungleclad's were arguing, and the smaller one was pointing at the piece of paper. As if to draw attention to a word or a picture.

Except, the paper was blank.

Odd.

Odder still was that Dev had clearly noticed it at the time, given that he'd drawn it, but the detail hadn't seemed... important.

Huh.

---

Pinky was exploring.

She knew it was a [Foolish] thing to do, but you had to keep filling that cup... Or blowing that bubble... Or pushing that rock.

Besides, it felt like the 'good' kind of foolish, and not the 'Dead Gods, what is that?' sort.

Watching Bit work was interesting, but she'd seen it before. Also, the Jungleclads had green blood. Where was the fun in that?

So, the question was where to hide?

Higher up was usually the best bet. Most non-Fraerlings didn't bother to look above them, and when they did, it wasn't for very long or very hard. The green gorillas were clearly not like most other Tallfolk. They built upwards.

In many ways, it was similar to a Fraerling city. Her folk were quite good at building vertically. One had to be if one lived in a tree.

Huh.

She guessed that was ultimately the same reason the Jungleclads were vertical builders: trees. Although, central pillar aside, it looked like they climbed up, THEN built - instead of building upwards. The different houses were all constructed around a gigantic log. Pretty obvious that in other places, they'd be around a giant tree.

So, there were issues with hiding above. Of course, that wasn't anything new. Evil cats liked heights, and they would attack a Fraerling at the top of a tree. They'd also attack a Fraerling below a tree... so that might not be the best example.

Birds.

Birds were a good reason not to hide at the tippity top.

What about the inverse?

Pinky stomped on the ground. No. It felt solid. Compact. Whatever was keeping the red plants away was also driving out their roots. Probably for a long time, otherwise there'd be space from them withdrawing or dying.

Eh, hiding underground was overrated anyways.

The large beasts that lived their were either much better adapted to the dark, or would seize upon any light.

Besides...

Pinky looked up.

She wanted to get a closer look at that green light. Was it a gem?

It felt... pretty much exactly opposite of whatever she was looking for. The Red inside of her didn't respond at all. If anything, she felt... 'icky' in its light.

Still, it was something important. It might not be what she was looking for, but it might show her the way!

---

Riley wiped the sweat from her forehead.

The surgeries hadn't been particularly difficult or interesting, but there was a nice sense of satisfaction from putting someone back together. Like, completing a puzzle.

Helping, but not improving, was a suggestion from Dragon - the AI one, not the Shard overseer.

Riley had to admit, it did feel good. It also felt nice to have her Mets back.

"Awwww..." She patted them on their heads - which were basically their entire bodies. "Who's a good assistant? You are!"

The Mets wiggled under her hands. She often wondered how much of the previous Mets were in the new ones.

The older green gorilla hooted and waved his hands above his head. She guessed that he was happy with her help? Should she smile? Should she look them in their eyes? The people at the zoo Kevin had taken her to had said not to do that, but those gorillas weren't as smart.

It was probably fine. Other gorillas had smiled at them. Smiled, not bared their teeth. It was an easy distinction to make, in her opinion.

So, what now?

Riley looked around. Pinky had vanished. Dev was sitting down next to the outer wall. A lot of gorillas were looking at her with varying degrees of interest. She decided to check in with the traveling companion she could see. Yeah. That's what a responsible girl would do.

She started to skip over before stopping herself. This wasn't the time for skipping, and besides, she was getting too old for things like that! Instead, she calmly and elegantly walked over to where Dev was.

"Good after-no..." She glanced at the sky. It was getting dark already! She'd spent more time in surgery than she'd intended, and the days were getting shorter. "Evening, Dev. How are you?"

He glanced up at her. "I'm okay." He paused, as if trying to think of what to say. "How are you? Did you help all the gorillas?"

"Yep!" She smiled at him. "They're all back in tip-top shape! It was super easy with my Mets!"

"Right." Dev glanced at her helpers. "I wanted to ask about them."

"Hm?"

He looked to the side and frowned. "What... what are they?"

"Mets!" Riley held one up. "They're my assistants! My big brother made them for me! They're based on one of his favorite video games, or something."

"They certainly are... unique looking."

Riley shrugged. "Everything he makes looks like that. His superhero name is 'Pixel', so it's kinda his style."

"Right." Dev nodded. "You mentioned that before. It's just..."

"Odd to see it in real life?" He nodded again in response. "Yeah, lots of people say that. They're like an art piece. One of those ones that looks strange from certain angles."

Dev blinked. "Yeah." He smiled. "They are. That's a good way of describing them." He looked around the village. "So, what do you think of this place?"

Riley shrugged. "It's interesting. The gorillas seem nice enough. Even that big one that was watching me doesn't really seem angry or aggressive - just watchful."

"He's the chief, and the father to the one that led the group we encountered."

Riley raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"

"I overheard them talking."

"Oh? So they have some translators that speak English?"

"Gnomish." A faint voice said from somewhere.

"No." Dev shook his head. "I got a skill from my explorer class." He shrugged. "English is a second language to me."

"Gnomish." The voice said again.

Dev continued. "Minor translation doesn't do it all, but it really helps." He nodded at the gorillas. "The Jungleclad's language is mostly body movement. Their gestures and facial expression contain a lot of nuance. Their vocalizations seem to be the... crux of what they're saying, but all the context comes from their movement." He shook his head and smiled. "I was decent at languages on Earth, I knew, well, let's just say that India has several of them."

"Wow." Riley stared at him. "I didn't know you were so talented!"

"Ah, well." Dev looked away while he bowed his head. "It's nothing special. I didn't mean to brag. I just wanted to explain why, uhm... yeah."

"No, that's super helpful!" She probably shouldn't bring up how Kevin could speak every language. Then again, her brother cheated, so he didn't count.

"Yeah, uh, I guess." Dev was still looking away. "We wouldn't want to offend them, or anything. And I really want to document things. We're probably the first outsiders to ever visit this village!" He nodded at some of the gorillas. "My skill isn't perfect, and there have been times when it just... stopped, but I'm pretty sure they have contact with Jungleclads outside the Dyed Lands."

"Uh huh." Riley nodded. "Their axes."

"Exactly. This place is more like an outpost than a village. They must have a good reason to stay here. I wonder what it is?"

Notes:

Bios:

Harahon - OC. Leader of the Jungleclad gorillas inside of the Dyed Lands. In charge of a secret project that, for some reason, can't involve 'Levelers'. Not thrilled to have some of them in his camp.

Noken 'Chewbacca' - OC. Eldest son of Harahon. In charge of some things like collecting water. Understands English - even if he can't speak it. The nickname will come later.

Mets - Made from the Met Factory that Kevin made for Riley. They are modeled after the reoccurring enemy of the same name from the Megaman series. Small, but strong and tough enough to qualify as Brutes in their own right. The Mets are technically Summoned - similar to Sibby, and so possess a rudimentary intelligence

Chapter 55: Red Death 4

"They want us to leave." Dev whispered.

Bit looked puzzled. She might not understand why he was whispering, but Dev had figured out that some of the Jungleclads might understand English. Still, she whispered back. "I thought they were friendly. We had a good time last night."

Dev nodded. Last night had been... interesting.

The Jungleclads had a communal meal service. A few of them kept a fire going and roasted meat and fruits. Bit's introduction of the Milk Box had been met with some trepidation, but the gorillas had soon partaken from it. They seemed to like it. A number of them clearly preferred it to boiled water.

Things had gotten interesting when they'd pulled out a strange guitar. It had two handles, and the strings crossed over its body. There were some other musical instruments: drums, and what he could only describe as a large, wooden flute. Dev supposed it must be most similar to a didgeridoo.

The Jungleclad Gorillas were clearly musically inclined, as they had played a complex song. It was strange in that they didn't sing along. Instead they hooted and grunted once it ended.

This morning? There was... not a tension in the air, but the outpost seemed strangely still.

"I think they don't want to kick us out, but they also don't want to work around us."

"Work?"

Dev nodded towards the central tower. "Remember when we arrived yesterday? There were gorillas swarming on that big pillar in the middle of town. I'm not sure what they were doing, but there was hammering and other activity. That died down when we got here."

Bit frowned, and held up one of the yellow robots.

"My Mets say that there's normally more activity. So I think you're right." She looked at him. "Do you think it's a cultural thing? Like, resting after the party last night?"

"It might be." Dev shrugged. "But with the arguing that I saw yesterday, I think there's something more."

"Like what?"

He shrugged again. "I don't know. They clearly had a disagreement about us. And I think they chose to live here because it was isolated. So they might be worried about us... uhm... telling someone?"

"I don't think that's it." Bit shook her head. "They aren't trying to hide anything. If they were afraid of something like that, they'd have someone keeping watch over us. Instead, most of them have ignored us." She paused. "Except for their doctor. He's interested in what I did, and I've tried to show him some things."

"That's good." Dev smiled. It was nice to be helpful. "And you might have a point. I've been drawing a lot, and some of them have been interested, but more in an... appreciative way, I guess? If they were trying to hide something, then they probably wouldn't want me documenting it."

"So... what do you think we should do?" Bit stood on the tips of her toes and looked around. "And where's Pinky? She should be here."

"I'm here!" The pink-haired Fraerling in question dropped down from a rooftop above them. "And look what I found!" She had a scroll in her hands that was larger than she was. She glanced left and right before throwing it on the ground and pushing the rolled up parchment.

Unfortunately, the small rock she'd left on the end of the scroll wasn't very heavy. Halfway through, the scroll began curling back up - with her in the middle of it. Pinky managed a soft 'eep' before she was rammed from behind.

The entire bundle shook and bounced into the air before rolling to a stop with a pink tuff of hair sticking out of one end.

"Are you okay, Pinky?" Bit asked while Dev picked up their small friend.

He gently extracted her from the parchment before unrolling it.

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

"It's blank." He turned it over to look at the back side just to make sure, but that was just as blank as the front.

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

"It's ⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛." Bit said something.

"I know, and that's what's so interesting!" Pinky clamored up to his shoulder. "There's nothing on it, but the gorillas were pointing at it and arguing. That's strange, right?"

"It's ⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛." Bit sounded odd. "Can't the two of you ⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛?"

"Huh?" Dev frowned. "Did you say something, Bit?"

"Can I see the paper?" Bit stuck out her lower lip, and her eyes seemed to sparkle as she looked up at him. "Oh. Uhm. Sure?" He handed it over to her.

"It says ⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ - ⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛. Can neither of you ⬛⬛⬛⬛ it?" Dev and Pinky both waited for her to say anything. "Okay, can the two of you wait here? I'll leave the Mets to guard you. I need to go and speak with the chieftain."

"About what?" Pinky asked.

"About the ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛." Bit didn't reply as she walked away.

---

<Trial of Creation — The Tower of Jungleclad>

To prove yours is a people capable of creation and shall endure, build unto this world a construction unique only to your people. None of levels may give thee aid in the smallest part of this building.

Let it rise higher than any other before you. To a height of 892.4 feet from top to base, and let it stand at least a minute. Then yours will be a people who have proven they have the potential to climb yet further.

The scroll was interesting, and not just because of what was written on it or the Stranger effect it had. Riley focused on the scroll itself. The only paper she'd seen in this world were Dev's notebooks. The scroll was made of parchment - at least at first glance.

She rubbed it between her fingers. It was thicker than paper, and smoother as well. That was to be expected of an animal hide. Wood pulp was a lot rougher on its own. However, Riley had an older brother that pretended to be human and who had cubes instead of cells. She was used to looking at things a lot smaller than anyone else could see.

It still hurt her eyes to focus so much, but she could see individual cells when she really tried.

The scroll was closer to Kevin than it was to regular parchment. While it wasn't made up of cubes, the cells were all uniform. She slowly pulled it through her thumb and index finger as she scanned the material the scroll was made of.

Yep. This was something manufactured to look like parchment. Any naturally occurring animal would've had some variation or blemishes in their skin. That meant that this scroll had either come from a Shard... or something similar.

And there was really only one other suspect: the Passenger that had tried to connect to her when she'd first arrived. The one that was granting Pinky and Dev powers. The one that granted 'levels'.

Kevin was probably loving it here.

The scroll wanted the Jungleclad to prove themselves, but to what end? Nine hundred feet was taller than some skyscrapers. Building a tower like that without powers and with medieval-level tech? That would be rough. Were they being punished for something?

Was that why they were in the Red Lands? Could the 'Leveler' have placed them here? Could the tower be their only way out?

Hmmm...

Possibly.

Except... there were no children here. They also had metal tools and weapons, but no way to forge them. That implied that there was a... civilian population somewhere that was providing them supplies. Or, HAD provided them supplies before they'd embarked.

Putting that aside, the fact that the Leveler could manipulate its hosts? Riley didn't like that. She didn't like it one bit. Although, to be fair, the Shards did the same thing.

The gorillas watched her as she walked through the camp, but not any more than they had yesterday. She went to the clinic first. It was empty of patients now, but the older ape was still there. He grunted as she entered.

Riley held up the scroll, and opened it.

She watched the other doctor's reaction. Gorillas weren't human, but these seemed human enough in their emoting. That was probably a learned behavior if they had interacted with humans (or other humanoid races) in the past as mercenaries. There were still some differences - either from a biologic or sociological origin, but she thought she'd be able to read his emotions.

Surprise... then amusement?

The green ape smiled and chuckled to himself... and then waved her off.

Riley stuck out her bottom lip and pouted for a second. Okay, how about the chief? She stood on her tiptoes and raised her hand to their leader's height. She then spread her arms to be as wide as he was. She then did her best chief impression.

The doctor tilted his head... before nodding and smiling. He ambled out of the hut and pointed at a building on the third floor of another 'tree'.

Wonderful.

Riley didn't have anything against climbing, but her poor dress had been through so much already!

She let out a sigh, and continued her latest trek.

So... that hadn't gone like she'd expected. Surprise she understood. She wasn't supposed to have the scroll. Amusement? Why...

Oh.

He thought that SHE couldn't read it.

The scroll contained a secret, but the gorillas weren't worried about other people finding out. The Leveler was preventing that.

Ah. It also explained why the chieftain and the expedition leader had been arguing. They couldn't get help from anyone 'of levels'. But 'help' was a nebulous term. Would she have counted by helping treat their injured if she had been a host?

Riley grunted as she pulled herself up.

That also explained why the village was so... quiet this morning. All the gorillas that were standing around doing nothing would normally be trying to build their tower. Right now, they didn't want to risk getting any 'help' from their visitors.

That shouldn't apply to her or her Mets. She could at least put their minds at ease.

---

Harahon had been resting in his hammock when the female human pulled herself up onto the balcony outside of his room. He grunted in surprise. Out of all of their guests, he hadn't expected the healer to explore vertically.

The black-haired girl pulled herself up with a surprising amount of upper body strength, and then dusted herself off. It was more proof of what power levels could bring. While she didn't weigh as much as a Jungleclad child, she also had far fewer muscles. Human muscles deteriorated from non-use, unlike a Jungleclad's, so not having many wasn't a surprise. Climbing with her tiny arms was unexpected. She must have a 'skill' that helped her.

Her eyes locked onto him, and she smiled and nodded her head.

Oh? Was she seeking him out?

Harahon yawned as he swung from side to side in his bed. Was she seeking payment for the aid she'd offered? That was only fair, he supposed. Plus, it would make it easier to send them away. Guests that had done a service to the tribe were to be treated with respect until a service in return was performed.

Or until enough time had passed.

The girl pulled out a scroll from the ridiculously large bag she wore on her back. The size and weight made her climbing ability all the more impressive.

Harahon frowned. That scroll looked...

He grunted, and swung out of his hammock before taking the offered scroll away. Had she taken it from the planning room? Or had one of his tribe dropped it somewhere? It wouldn't be the first time. Noken in particular liked to read and re-read the request - as if it would suddenly change.

The girl started gesturing. He really should learn the language of the levelers, but it was so complicated. Small. Hidden. Scroll.

Oh. The Fraerling had found (or stolen) the scroll.

Harahon grunted. It didn't matter. If they lost this one, another would appear in time.

The girl then took the scroll from him, and spread it open on his table. She pointed at it, then at herself, and shook her head.

Harahon regarded her. She was trying to tell him something, but what? Was she curious as to why they had a blank scroll? Did she disagree with... having a blank scroll? Did she want to trade for the scroll? Sell them more scrolls?

He should get Noken and let his son deal with her. It was his responsibility anyways. He'd been the one to bring the visitors to their outpost in the first place.

She pointed at the scroll, then at herself, then she shook her head.

She pointed at the scroll, then at herself, then she nodded.

Over and over again. Each time the same...

No. She was pointing at a different spot when she shook her head verses when she nodded.

Harahon leaned forward.

'of levels' - shook head.

'give thee aid' - nodded.

This... He needed to get his son.

...

'See?' Noken grunted at him. 'Bringing them here was an even better idea than I had first thought!'

'Idiot.' Harahon snarled back. 'Even if the impossible is true, and they do not have levels, how could you have known?'

'I'm just that smart!' Noken hooted.

Harahon glared at his stupidest son. 'Regardless, I am still not convinced that they do not have levels.'

'Can you not see the female pointing at the words on the scroll?' Noken pointed at the visitor. 'She reads them. She comprehends them. She uses them to communicate.'

'That is not in doubt.' Harahon interrupted him. 'We know that levels grant all sorts of powers. Why wouldn't there be one that allows seeing what is hidden?'

'Why would the granter of levels deny us assistance, but at the same time allow one of levels to see that?' Noken grunted. 'And if she is of levels, then that could help with the other trials. And why would she lie?'

'She might not be lying. Your 'english' is poor. As for the other trials, she would need to be of high enough level.' Harahon replied. 'Besides, how is she supposed to help build the tower? And what does she want in return?'

Both apes stopped and turned to look at their guest.

"..."

'If we can't communicate, how could she help anyways?' Noken wondered aloud. He began to try and mime... something. Harahon wasn't sure what message his son was trying to relay, but judging from the puzzled look on his recipients face... it wasn't working.

The girl frowned, until opening her eyes wide and smiling. Did she understand Noken's gibberish? She walked out of the hut, and then jumped all the way to the ground.

Harahon peered over the edge of the walkway. He was the biggest and strongest Jungleclad in the outpost, and even he wouldn't risk a jump like that. It would be too easy to break something.

No levels - yeah, right.

Still, he and Noken swung down on the ropes that they'd substituted in place of vines, and followed her.

---

Dev was doing his morning stretches when Bit came back. They'd been talking about leaving the village... and maybe something else? Then, the younger girl had walked away without a word. Now she was back with a rolled up piece of parchment in her hands and two of the green gorillas following her.

"Hey, Bit, what's going on?" She looked... intense.

"Dev." She nodded at him and then jerked her head towards the Jungleclad gorillas that were following her. "Can you translate for me?"

He blinked. "I can try. I mean, I think I can get the general gist of their questions, but it's not like I can reply to them."

Bit shook her head. "That's fine. Anything will help."

'Are you really ⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛?' One of them grunted while tilting their head.

Dev frowned. "I think I missed that."

"Hmmmm...." Bit hummed and then opened the scroll. She pointed at a random spot, then at herself, then shook her head. She then pointed at the same spot, then at him, then nodded.

'Oh. I understand.' The pair nodded.

"They say they understand?" Dev wondered what was going on.

"Okay!" Bit did a little hop. "Now, ask away, but don't talk about." She pointed at a blank spot on the scroll again.

"They want to know if you can help." The gorillas spoke, and Dev translated.

Bit nodded as an answer.

"Okay, they now want to know what you want in return."

"Noth-" Bit stopped and started tapping her foot. "What DO I want? Huh? I've been busy helping Pinky... What I really want is to find my brother, but I don't think they can help with that."

The gorillas grunted at one another, before turning and grunting towards Dev.

"They say... they can help? Something about showing, no, introducing you to someone else who can help?" Dev glanced at Bit. "Who would they know that could help find him?"

"I bet it's the Titan!" Pinky said in his ear, and Dev nearly fell down in surprise. When had she climbed up onto his shoulder? "They work for the Titan, sometimes, so they probably know how to get in contact with the Forgotten Wing Company."

The smaller gorilla hooted in agreement.

"What's the Forgotten Wing Company?" Dev didn't want to interrupt the... bargaining? But he felt lost.

"Only one of the four great companies!" Pinky jumped up and down.

"So they're important?" He asked.

"Are they important?" She said incredulously. "Are they important? The great companies run Baleros! Of course they're important!"

The smaller gorilla hooted in agreement again.

"Hmmm..." Bit pursed her lips. "Well, if that-"

"Hold it!" Pinky shouted again, which was really loud, since she was still standing right next to his ear. "I can help you meet the Titan. Probably. You should ask about the crystal!"

"The crystal?" Dev and Bit spoke at the same time.

The younger gorilla grunted.

"They say the crystal isn't for trade."

"No." Pinky stomped her foot, which made Dev's shoulder twinge. "I don't want their stupid GREEN crystal! I want to know if they know of a RED one!"

"A red one?" Despite being the translator, Dev was feeling more and more left out of the conversation.

'If they don't want the green -------.'

'There should be a red ------- at the ------.'

'It's not a ------.'

'Then what would you call it?'

'A tower? A small tower?'

'That's deep in the jungle. It would take several days to get there, and the trees wouldn't like it. The ----- doesn't control them well that deep.'

'We can do it.'

'I know we can, but is her help that useful?'

'Why don't we ask?'

The smaller gorilla turned back to them and grunted.

"They want to know how much you can help them." Dev looked at Bit. "I think they know of a red crystal, or at least a place where it might be, but it's far from here."

Bit smiled as she pulled a yellow cube out of her pocket. "I think a demonstration will work across the language barrier." The pair of Mets waddled to her feet, then long, spindly arms extended from them and lifted them up. They looked like large, black and yellow spiders - with large, cute eyes. The pair scuttled off towards the wall, and then climbed it without slowing down. "They'll be back in a few minutes."

Dev frowned. "I think they demonstrated their abilities fine during the surgery, but wasn't most of that you? And the pair were already helping out before then as well."

Bit shook her head. "They're okay surgeons. Well, better than 'okay', but that's not what the Jungleclad want."

"What DO they want then?" He was curious.

Bit shrugged. "Material gathering and placement. You know, helping with the infrastructure."

"They can do that?" Far be it from him to discount the video-game spiders, but the jungle was a dangerous place.

"I doubt my minions will encounter something that could both hurt them and manage to hit them." Bit puffed out her chest with pride. "They're strong and agile." She looked the Jungleclads over. "I can't say how they compare to a gorilla from this world, but they should be able to help."

"But, the jungle..." He countered.

Bit rolled her eyes. "They're robots, so they don't have to worry about poisons or disease or stuff like that. They also could survive being stabbed with a branch or roots. The only thing they'd have to worry about is encountering an alpha predator." Bit's smile turned rather sinister. "But my Mets don't fight fair."

"Okay, but there's only, uhm, two of them. Could they handle a Bloodrage Badger?" Dev looked over at Badgy, who was lying on his side.

Bit tilted her head. "Probably. I mean, one wouldn't be enough, but Badgy would have to hold it down to really apply its strength and crush it. Batting them away wouldn't work. So, two might manage to take a Bloodrage Badger out on their own... or they might not."

"Right, so-"

"Hold on." Bit raised her palm to face him. "It looks like their spawn point really was pretty close by."

"What?"

She held up the yellow cube. "They're supposed to appear here, but something's wrong. I was right that it was at a set location..." She frowned. "Or around an area. It looks like they're still gathering. That's fine."

The smaller Jungleclad hooted a question.

"What do you mean, 'gathering'?" Dev wondered the same thing.

"You'll see, the first of them are coming back." She giggled. "And they're bringing a present!"

A shadow fell over them as something poked up over the wall. Dev put his hand up to shade his eyes from the morning sun and squinted. A... log? Yes. It was a large, red log - about two feet in diameter. It was being lifted over the wall by one of Bit's Mets!

The yellow robot was using four of its arms to hold the former tree, while climbing with the rest of them. Then, as the log crested the top of the wall, another Met came into view. Then another, and another.

Four Mets scurried down the wall with the log. The first one smoothly transitioned from the wall to the ground, while the next one had to jump. So did the third. They also had to extend themselves to move their load. Once the final Met was on the ground, all four of them lowered themselves and the log.

The procession moved past them, and created a ruckus as other Jungleclad gorillas noticed what was going on and started hooting.

"Weren't there, uhm, two of them when they left?" Pinky asked the same question that Dev was thinking.

"There are a lot more than two." Bit said smugly. She then turned to the two apes that they were... negotiating with. "I think I can spare... twenty to help you out. How does that sound?"

...

Dev and the younger gorilla crouched down. Between them was a rather simplistic map that they'd drawn in the dirt. A circle represented the village - or possibly the clearing around it. A squiggly line was the river, which led to a large circle (the lake), and more squiggly lines (the tributaries).

The two of them were planning their trip. In part, because Dev considered himself more knowledgeable about how to survive in the jungle than either Bit or Pinky. The main reason was that the gorilla could understand English, and Dev's skill let him mostly understand the gorilla.

He wished it would allow him to know the ape's name. It seemed rude to think of him as 'the gorilla', but it also seemed rude to arbitrarily give him a name. Still... if he thought about it like a nickname...

'Tower here.' Chewbacca pointed at a spot. 'Center of red jungle. Very active. Very dangerous. Slime not control.'

"The slime doesn't control... the plants there?" Dev asked. "Does that mean it controls them at other places?"

"What was that?" Bit looked up from her horde of robots.

'Slime smarter than plants. Slime not worried about small things. Plants dumb. Plants want red blood. Plants attack everything. Plants die.'

"Ah." He nodded. "It's a predator/prey relationship. You'd normally have the plants grow from water, sunlight, and nutrients in the soil. Herbivores eat the plants, then predators eat them. They eventually fertilize the soil, and the whole process repeats."

'Yes. You smart.' Chewie grunted.

"But, if the plants are too good at killing, then they'd have to rely on only sunlight and water." Dev frowned. "And they can't?"

'Yes. No.' The gorilla shook his head. 'You forget magic. Forest feeds on magic too, but still not enough. Has to go dormant with no blood. Until slime.'

"What's he saying?" Bit came over to the map.

"He's telling me about the slime that controls the jungle." Dev found this incredibly interesting. Pinky might want to find a red gem, and Bit wanted to find her brother, but he wanted to explore. Finding a native tribe in an uninhabitable land? This was perfect!

"Right." Bit nodded. "The slime that lets the roots and branches move so quickly. The stuff that connects all the jungle together. Are you saying it's sapient?"

'Dunno.' Chewbacca shrugged. 'Jungle move without slime, but it does join together I think. Slime smarter than plant, but that does not mean it's smart.'

"He says the slime isn't really intelligent, but I think without it the jungle attacks anything moving through it, which it does too effectively."

'Not everything.' Chewbacca shook his head. 'Only want red. Blood.'

"Ah. It wants red blood, so that's why your tribe is safe?" Dev asked, which got a half-hearted shrug in return.

Bit smiled.

"No!" Pinky landed on Bit's head and pulled at her hair. "Don't think what I think you're thinking! Red blood is the best! Don't change our colors!"

What?

Dev swallowed. "Bit... WERE you thinking about changing our blood to be a different color?"

"It would work!" She stomped her foot. "I wouldn't even need to use Dyed Land parts. We'd just need to replace the iron in the hemoglobin with something else that would bind with oxygen! I can do that!"

"Uhm..." Dev closed his eyes and counted to three. "No offense, but I don't want any elective surgery."

"And I like my red blood!" Pinky added. "Besides, how do we know that the Jungleclads are right? Or that Dev translated what they're saying correctly? Huh?"

"..." Dev frowned before letting out a sigh. "You're right." Just because native cultures had lived in a place longer than anyone else didn't mean that all their beliefs were correct. Plus, his translation skill wasn't that precise.

'We take path.' Chewie drew a line from the village, across a tributary, and towards their target. 'Usually best to avoid area, but since target, straight line best.'

"No." Dev shook his head. "We can travel on the river easily." He traced a different route that went down to the lake, and then up the closest river. "I don't know if it'll be quicker or not, but I'm sure it will be safer."

'Hmmm...' The gorilla grunted. 'Good idea. Avoid more ----- ----. They not in area around tower. Only have to fight trees.'

"How do we do that?" Dev asked. "Our badger was able to tunnel successfully, but I'm not sure how feasible that is."

'We get tools.' Chewbacca motioned to them. 'I show you how to make path.'

The three of them followed him to a ground level hut on the edge of the village. He pulled out a large wood & metal shield, a worn looking log, and a metal wedge.

Dev translated as he mimed using the items.

"The vanguard use the shields and their axes to cut any plants within reach. They don't go past the line where roots could attack them from underground. Once the above foliage is chopped down, someone comes with the plow." That's what the metal wedge was. "The earth is torn up and the vines, no, sorry. The roots are killed. The big log is used to pound the earth flat."

"Oh, ho ho ho!" Bit put the back of her hand to her mouth and laughed. Dev thought it sounded forced. "My Mets can handle that! They can burrow and take the roots out below us, while also clearing the way above!"

Dev glanced at the swarm that was now following the superhero. Yeah, Bit HAD to be a superhero. Or at least someone with superpowers from a different Earth. Those were clearly robots, and they were also obviously under her control.

This was a brand new world with unexplored lands and culture. It had all manner of exciting animals and races.

It didn't have robots.

Earth, his Earth, didn't have robots either.

Bit still might be crazy, but it seemed far more likely that her story about being a superhero was true.

And that she was a little crazy.

'We need test.' Chewbacca crossed his arms. 'Can you make path outside? We see how good ------ are.'

Dev translated, and Bit nodded while agreeing. "We can do it from on top of the wall. That way if they disturb some of those cats or something else nasty, we'll be safe."

Chewie grunted in agreement. He easily climbed to the top of the wall next to them - as did Pinky. Bit had her Mets carry her up.

"Want some help?" She asked him.

"No." Dev shook his head. "I can manage." He bent down and rubbed some dirt between his palms. The wall was tall, but it wasn't smooth. The trees that made up the wall had been stacked vertically, and there was no space in-between them. However, there were plenty of hand holds from where branches had been chopped off.

It took him the longest, but he managed to make his way up on his own.

Dev smiled in satisfaction before looking out at the commotion.

The Mets had made good progress, and the jungle was responding to them just as violently as it had when Badgy had tried making a path. However, there were more than a dozen Mets in the swarm and they chopped the assaulting vines and roots apart with ease.

A jungle cat did appear, but was taken down just as effortlessly.

This... might actually work.

Chapter 56: Red Death 5

Dev stood around and did nothing.

He wanted to help in some way, but Bit's Mets were doing all the work on their own. The gorilla they'd planned this with stood beside him. Chewbacca wore iron armor with his shield and axe. The metal plow was strapped to his back and the worn log was on the ground next to him.

It had been crowded on Krabby, but Chewie had managed to bring all of his path-making equipment.

It was more gear than any singular person could use at once, but it was also the bare essentials - as far as the Jungleclad was concerned.

Dev had thought that he might've been required to help. He hadn't exactly been looking forward to it, but it still felt strange to stand around and do nothing.

He glanced at the log. He could sit down... but that felt like giving up.

He turned back towards the fight that continued. Bit was behind her Mets as they tore through the jungle. There was a white mist that surrounded her and presumably blocked any poisons the jungle might try to use. Her robots sliced vines, chopped roots, and tunneled through the ground to prevent any plants from ambushing them.

They even chopped down the trees that were in their path.

It was horrifying.

This... wasn't exploring. It was pure destruction.

...But Chewbacca didn't object. The Red Jungle wasn't his home. It wasn't a place that his tribe lived in harmony with. It was the enemy. An enemy that...

"Why do you guys live here?" Dev turned to look at his equally useless companion.

'Trees grow back quick.' Chewie grunted. 'No other people around.'

Huh.

So they lived in the jungle to chop down trees? But they didn't send the wood anywhere... And why did it matter that no one else was around?

"..."

Dev shook his head. He'd been thinking about something, but it was gone. That had happened a couple of times recently, and he hated it. He must be more stressed out than he'd thought. With a sigh, he grabbed the log that was supposed to pound down the dirt - and keep roots from growing underneath.

There was no need for it, but Dev just wanted something to do.

---

They were making great time!

Riley nodded in satisfaction as her Mets widened the clearing. They'd camp here tonight. The tower that they were heading towards wasn't too far off. With the terraforming her Mets were doing, she could actually see it - if her robots raised her up high enough.

Or, rather, she could see the trees that were growing out of it.

Unless something changed, they'd make it there tomorrow.

Riley wasn't sure what would happen after that.

She'd probably go and find that titan guy. Pinky knew of him, and the Jungleclad knew where to find his... company? From what they said, it sounded more like an occupying force than anything else.

But, that's apparently how things worked on Baleros. Given what she'd seen of this world, a warlord made sense. The jungle was a dangerous place, and sometimes people needed troops to protect them.

Of course, the rest of the world supposedly wasn't as deadly as the Dyed Lands. That was a good thing.

...

She woke up in the morning.

Riley sat up, stretched, and yawned before looking around.

It was a war-zone.

Riley ► Met A, report.

Met A ► The jungle attempted constant incursions throughout the night. It was stopped.

Ah. That explained it. Her Mets didn't have anything to break down wood or other biological matter. All they could do was tear it up and toss it aside.

"Man..." Dev was already awake and sitting on the tree stump the gorilla had insisted on bringing. "It's a good thing that your robots don't sleep or need time to..." He gestured at the Mets that were still chopping vines that tried to reclaim the clearing. "Recharge. I didn't get much sleep last night."

The gorilla nodded and grunted.

Pinky walked out of her tiny, red house. "I know what you mean! There's just so much... red in the air! It's exhilarating!"

"Right!" Riley clapped her hands together. "Let's continue!"

...

"I don't think we're going to make it today." Riley sighed. Her Mets were still working tirelessly, but they were fighting an entire jungle.

Not literally. The Red plants might be hostile, but they couldn't exactly mobilize against them.

Maybe.

It hardly mattered as the ones that stood in their path were re-growing as fast as her Mets could destroy them.

The gorilla grunted and motioned at the emerging path.

"Chewie says that the combination of physical damage, red blood, and no slime is causing the jungle to respond too much." Dev translated their guide's words. "The Mets are powerful, but the jungle is too enraged. We should hold here until it settles down. Or even retreat some."

Riley scoffed.

"This isn't the first animated forest I've had to put down." She still had a vial of the mixture she'd used to destroy Lost Garden somewhere. "I didn't want to do this, but I don't think we have a choice. The tower we're heading towards is covered in trees. I'm betting that they'll grow back far too quickly unless I take some drastic action."

Dev frowned. "Are you going to burn them? Trees can survive forest fires. Some of them even need them to clean out the smaller plants."

"Nope!" Riley shook her head. "I'm going to poison them!"

"What?" He seemed taken aback. "You can't do that! I know the Red Lands aren't exactly normal, but poison spreads." Dev looked at the trees around them that were still attacking. "I admit that it's hostile, but we can't cause an ecological incident! Besides, the amount of poison you'd need could seep into the ground and kill... lots of other things in time."

Riley rolled her eyes. "Please. I'm very good at making things with a short life-span. I'll have it dissipate in two... no, let's make it three days. The jungle can grow back then." She shrugged. "Besides, we don't need a poison that kills the forest. I'll just whip something up that paralyzes it. That way the trees won't grow back while we're here. Won't that be better anyways?" She gestured towards the war between the plants and her Mets. "That constant regeneration has to be using up something."

"Well..." Dev frowned. "I guess that's alright? I'd prefer not to disturb anything, but that's clearly not an option." He let out a sigh. "I suppose it's the lesser of two evils."

"Exactly!" She beamed at him.

---

Dev was getting nervous.

They had stopped for the day, and Bit was doing something with the Milk Box. That was a little concerning - especially after her announcement that she would be making poison. He'd mostly gotten over the Milk Box... and its new rat-like tail.

But poison?

Like real, designed by nature to kill you, poison?

That was cause for alarm.

However, he now wished that she'd hurry up.

Animals had joined the assault on their position. The Mets were holding them off, and Chewbacca was standing beside him with his armor, axe, and shield. But still...

A thundering roar shook the air. It hadn't come from a person or animal. It was the sound of trees snapping. The source was immediately obvious as a cross between an elephant and a rhino charged them.

It was three times as big as one from Earth, and a deep, dark red. It was also silent, aside from the noise its passing had made.

Wait.

All of the animals that had been attacking them had been completely silent. Dev hadn't noticed when it had just been a stray quill-cat or two. Or the red, python-like snakes. But the redno was another matter. It should be bellowing, or something, right?

The Mets repositioned themselves and the majority of them focused on the large beast. The rest had to fall back, as the jungle continued to press inwards. It had reclaimed the path they'd made a long time ago, and even the compacted soil hadn't done much to hold back the invading roots.

Chewie glared at the redno, and took a step forward.

Dev placed a hand on his arm, and shook his head when the Jungleclad looked back at him. Something was wrong here. He could see the occasional quill-cat investigating things, or other aggressive animals being drawn towards the noise... but the house-sized creature was too much. Something in his gut told him that this wasn't natural behavior.

"Ah ha!" Bit stood up and stretched. "It's ready!" She smirked at the monstrosity that was tossing her Mets aside with its long trunk. The Milk Box then burped, and expelled a thick, white mist. The cloud spread across the ground. When it got to the redno, the creature stumbled. Its legs gave out, and it toppled to its side with a crash.

The mist continued on, and as it reached the tree-line, everything stilled. The vines and roots stopped moving before falling to the ground also.

Dev nervously looked at the poisonous cloud that was also at his and Chewbacca's feet. His legs felt tingly. "Bit, I don't mean to criticize or anything, but is this safe?" He was glad the jungle had ceased its efforts to kill them, but 'A Scout is a friend to animals and loves nature.'

Then again, plants back on Earth weren't this bloodthirsty. Literally.

"Don't worry." She smiled at him and pointed at the redno. "It's super safe! It's also going to kill all those nasty little spores that are inside of you."

"What?" Dev gulped.

"Yep." She nodded at the redno. "Sorry it took so long, but after the cats started attacking, I realized we were dealing with a Ophiocordyceps unilateralis-type spore. The slime that controls the rest of the jungle must stop it... or use it."

"Ophiocordyceps unilateralis?" Dev frowned. "Isn't that the stuff that makes zombie ants?"

"Sure is!" Bit skipped to the redno, and began to cut it open with the help of some Mets. "I'll find some so we can take a good look at it. I wonder if it's another color-magic thing. Like, is it transmissible via their blood or something?"

"So..." Dev took a deep breath to try and calm himself. "We're infected?"

"Not any more." Bit shrugged. "You probably weren't in the first place. My mist is really good about sterilizing stuff like that, but you weren't standing next to me the whole time so... maybe." She turned to look at him. "You'll be all good soon though. I'll look you over. Then, I think I'm going to spend some time whipping up a counter-agent that will kill any trace of the fungus and spread through the jungle. This is a pandemic waiting to happen."

"Awww..." Pinky had climbed on top of the Milk Box, and was poking it. "Does that mean we're not going to the tower yet?"

"Yeah, sorry." Bit shrugged. "I combined it with the sedative, but I'll need something else to inoculate all of you. Better safe than sorry! While I'm at it, I think I'll make something to clear the path for us. My Mets are great, but they're taking too long."

Dev's legs gave out as he sunk to the ground. Bit might be a little... off, but he was really, REALLY glad she was on his side.

...

"Open."

Dev obediently opened his mouth. Bit was apparently done with whatever she'd been working on to save/immunize him. She held up a syringe, and squirted something into his mouth.

"Ugh!" Dev coughed. "That's nasty!" Saliva pooled inside of his mouth, but he resisted the urge to spit it out. Instead he swallowed to make sure that all of the medicine went down. He panted for a moment before asking. "Now what?"

"You're good!"

"Huh? Is that it?"

"You're good!" Bit repeated herself. She then walked over to Chewie. "C'mon big guy, bend down and open wide." She smiled up at the Jungleclad gorilla who could literally snap her in two.

Dev knew that the Jungleclads were civilized, and that Chewbacca could understand them. He also knew that Chewie understood what Bit was doing.

Still... Dev wouldn't have been so brazen in squirting liquid death into the ape's mouth.

"Hrk!" Chewie gagged on the concoction, and fell to the ground. It sounded like he was dying, but it passed quickly enough. He stood up, and looked ashamed.

"Geez." Bit rolled her eyes. "I know I didn't add any flavoring to it or anything, but c'mon. You guys don't know what 'nasty' is!" She turned around and smiled at Pinky. "Your turn!"

"Oh!" Pinky jumped up and down with excitement. "Yay! An experiment!" She opened her mouth wide. "I'm ready, Bit!"

Dev was flabbergasted. Was Pinky suicidal? Seriously? Who would look forward to taking Bit's medicine after seeing how he and Chewbacca had reacted?

"Okay." Bit aimed the syringe. "Only a milliliter for you... and done!"

"Ack!" Pinky's body froze and she toppled backwards.

"Alright, Badgy should be fine, but time to immunize the Monkey-bots." Bit smiled as if she hadn't just caused her best friend to faint. "Let's go!"

...

After the preventative medicine had been administered, Bit had started working on 'something really nasty'.

Dev and Chewie both stood far away from the mad scientist as she mixed parts of the jungle, the redno, the quill-cats, and some chemicals from her backpack together. In the end, she had two vials.

"Okay, first things first!" Bit nodded to herself as she took one of the vials and poured a drop on the redno's corpse. "There we go!" She smiled. "Perfect! That's a good proof of concept!" She then reared back before throwing the vial a lot higher and further than Dev thought she should've been able to.

"And... that's it?" Dev asked.

"Yep!" Bit nodded at him. "My little plague will break down the fungus and make more of itself. It's not that robust, so I imagine that the animal's immune systems will wipe it out quickly enough, but that's fine. I made it super virulent."

"Uhm..." Dev didn't want to criticize, but... "Was that a good idea? I mean, a plague?"

Bit shrugged her shoulders. "You have to fight fire with fire. Nothing but a plague will be able to wipe out that fungus before it becomes a real threat. Don't worry."

"But," Dev was still skeptical. "What if it, I don't know, mutates into something worse?"

"Worse than a mind-control fungus?" Bit tilted her head.

"Okay, not worse than that, but something that could kill a lot of animals or jump species or something?" Dev asked.

Bit scoffed. "What do I look like? An amateur? Please."

Dev held back his retort that she looked like a little girl in a frilly dress. Come to think of it, how was her dress so clean anyways?

Bit pulled another syringe out of her backpack, and filled it with the liquid in the second vial.

"What does that do?" Dev was curious. "Haven't the fungi been dealt with?"

"This?" Bit shook her head. "No, this is much, much nastier." She put the needle in her mouth, and then pulled the plunger back slightly. The tip was smoking when it emerged. "We need to do some defoliating. I can keep the trees asleep, but my Mets aren't really designed for lumber jacking. This will speed things up nicely."

"Uhm..."

Bit squirted some of the smoking liquid onto a tree... and it melted.

Dev was speechless. Bit had clearly made some sort of acid... but... acid didn't work like that! How could it spread across an entire tree! How could a tree melt?

The puddle spread, and more trees melted.

It stopped after about three meters.

Dev stayed far away from Bit as she started clearing the path towards their goal personally.

---

Pinky couldn't stand it.

It was sooooo close! Right there! Right behind those trees!

It was redder here. Not in a way that she could see with her eyes, but something deep inside of her. Her [Class]. Not [Rouge Fool], but her original one.

The one that she couldn't live with, but that she also couldn't stand to part with.

She'd... done so much. She'd hidden it from her mom. She'd hidden it from her friends, or at least her acquaintances. Her real friend...

Pinky shook her head.

No!

It was a fine line. She needed her [Class], but she couldn't let it overwhelm her. She could sink within it, but she could also float.

It hadn't been this hard to maintain that balance for a long time. She needed to do something silly. Something that a [Fool] would do. Something to help her tread water.

[Foolish Thoughts]

She could run and dive into one of the red puddles that used to be a tree!

Pinky smiled and lowered her center of gravity in preparation...

Wait.

No! That was the absolute wrong sort of thought. That wasn't [Foolish]. It was what her old [Skill] would've prodded. It was the curse that tried to finish what she'd started back when Lars...

Pinky slapped her cheeks. "C'mon, Took Narffion!" She whispered to herself. "You can do this. You know that you're balanced on the edge of a knife here. You have to fall off on the right side!"

Right.

This was all the negative parts of her [Class]. She needed to enforce the positive ones.

The singular positive one.

'Hey, Runt.' The ghost of Lars bent down to look her in the eyes. 'Still all worked up?'

"Lars." Pinky smiled. "How's it going?"

'You know.' He shrugged. 'Everything is lame.' He rolled his eyes. 'I can't believe you actually came out into the Dyed Lands. Your mother would flip if she found out.'

"She has to know by now." Pinky whispered. "See? I told you she didn't care."

'Pft.' Lars shook his head. 'And what was she supposed to do? Huh? You vanished without a trace. You didn't leave any hints about where you went. I'm sure she searched for you, but not in the Death Zone. Who'd be stupid enough to go there?"

"Mom looked for me?" Pinky looked up at his eyes that were partially covered by his poofy, pink hair - it was so different than it had been when he'd been alive.

'How am I supposed to know?' Lars smiled at her. 'I'm not real. But, if I said it, then a part of you must think it's true.' He patted her on the shoulder. 'Listen to that part.'

"Thanks, Lars." Pinky wiped away a tear. "I will."

No one had heard her, because Lars hadn't really been there and her Tallfolk friends were too far away. Still, Pinky felt better. She squared her shoulders and faced her destiny.

Besides, she knew Lars was lying. He had to be real. That was why she couldn't let him go.

...

It was getting dark by the time they uncovered the tower.

Bit had melted a wide swath of trees, and their progress had been pretty quick. However, the ones around their target were bigger and thicker. They reached far into the sky - farther than anything Pinky had ever seen. They were even taller than the strange pillar back in the Jungleclad's village.

She could feel it.

She could feel the Red within them.

She was so close!

But... she couldn't just rush in. In fact, she had to retreat as the puddle bubbled and smoked. The gargantuan trees were bending, bending...

A final ear-shattering creak reverberated through the jungle as the mass tipped over and crashed to the ground!

"Whew!" Pinky wiped her forehead. "Good thing that didn't fall on us!"

Bit raised an eyebrow. "That's why I circled around and sprayed the side of them." She shrugged. "I wasn't sure if that would mean them falling towards, or away from the acid, but either way, they wouldn't fall towards us."

"So, uhm." Dev approached them. He'd been hanging away from the front line of the tree-melting. "How's that needle doing? You're not going to spill any of it on you, right?"

Bit looked down at the syringe in her hand. It had clearly seen better days, but it was withstanding the green liquid far better than the trees had. "It's fine. I just need to spray around the rest of the base, and then I'll throw it away."

"Will the acid eat through the tower..." Dev looked up at where the tree used to be. "Or the building that we're looking for?"

"Maybe." Bit emptied out the needle's contents before chucking it into the forest. "A little. But whatever's inside there has lasted how long? Like, hundreds of years, right? If it survived a giant tree pressing in on it from all sides, I bet it's not going to be destroyed by a little acid." She smiled. "Besides, it's non-organic. The mixture doesn't work nearly as well against stuff like that. Plus, it won't replicate itself, which, y'know, is the major danger."

"That's good to know." Dev paused. "I guess. Just... don't make any more, okay? I know I'm strange for standing up for the jungle that was literally trying to kill us earlier today, but... well... you know."

Pinky stopped paying attention. The Red was... spilling out. It felt like the sun coming out from behind some clouds. Or like dawn. Or... she couldn't think of a third example of the sun appearing. Or any other appropriate expressions.

She walked closer.

Ugh. The tree-puddles smelled terrible!

Pinky coughed... and then retreated.

Approaching now wouldn't be [Foolish]. It would be [Suicidal].

...

Finally!

Bit gave the all-clear, and Pinky approached the building that had been revealed. Despite the Red emanating from it, the structure itself was a dark gray. Its walls were smooth, but she didn't know if that was how it originally was, or if the trees or acid had worn them down over time.

She circled the building. There were no openings.

Wait! She'd forgotten something really, REALLY important!

Pinky ran back to Bit, climbed up and onto her shoulder... and hugged her.

"Thank you, Bit." She whispered in the insane human's ear. "I know I'm a handful, and that I never would've made it this far without your help, so... just... Thank you." She blinked away a tear. "Friends like you make life worth living."

Bit turned her head - which almost knocked Pinky over - and smiled. "It's okay, Pinky." She whispered back. "I'm glad to help instead of... I'm glad to help."

Pinky nodded, and then leapt off of her friend and onto the ground. Next, she approached the dark gray structure and took a deep breath.

She then climbed the walls... with some difficulty, but she eventually made it to the building's rounded top.

Whoa!

It was smooth up here too. Still, she had [Advanced Balance]. She could do this!

There! At the top! A Red glow that stood out against the dark gray! Pinky slowly edged forward. It wasn't [Foolish], but that was a good thing right now.

A crystal.

It was smaller than the one in the Jungleclad's village, but it also was probably only the tip of it. Pinky reached out... And a piece snapped off in her hand.

It was a tiny piece, even for a Fraerling, but she felt the pure Red in it! At the same time, the Red from the crystal faded. It didn't vanish, but it had diminished a lot. There was a faint noise - almost imperceptible. The crystal... was moving.

The edges of the cracked off bit were slowly... slowly growing. The crystal was healing itself!

Pinky smiled as she felt it start to draw Red in to repair itself. The jungle that had fed off of it would now heal it. It made her feel better about taking her prize.

She hopped down. "Okay! We can go!"

Dev and Bit both looked at her strangely. "Really?" "That's it?"

"Yep!" Pinky smiled at them. "I think I got what I needed. We'll know tonight! I'm sure I'm going to level!"

...

Pinky couldn't sleep, despite her skill.

[Calm Self]

It wasn't just the excitement from the day either.

[Calm Self]

She had a piece of Red next to her.

[Calm Self]

What, exactly, it was - she had no idea. She knew it wasn't the same as the red of blood [Classes], but at the same time, there was a connection.

[Calm Self]

That was the nature of Color Magic... as she understood it...

[Calm Self]

Pinky yawned. She... wasn't a [Scholar]... but... she'd done her research. She'd have to explain... libraries... to Bit and Dev later...

[Calm Self]

They'd be... so... impressed...

[Rouge Fool Level 32!]

[Conditions Met: Rouge Fool → Rou-

Something woke her up.

Pinky jolted awake. She mentally cursed. Interrupting a level up could have unexpected effects. It could even stop it altogether.

But... A part of her mind was screaming. There was something outside. Something in the clearing of trees.

Something... that wasn't Red.

She didn't know of any other way to describe it. No... wait... she did. It was Black. A deep, gaping hole in the Color Magic of the Dyed Lands.

[Advanced Stealth]

She crept out of her portable house. Not out the front door, but out of a window on the far side from where the... Blackness was.

Pinky's eyes went wide.

There was nothing there, except for Dev's tent and Bit. However, Dev's flap was open, and her friend was looking at... something.

Pinky glanced around. Badgy and some monkeys lay unmoving next to the... something? Nothing? Darkness?

Pinky swallowed. She was afraid. Whatever that was... was dangerous in a way that she couldn't articulate in her thoughts. She was frozen. She couldn't comprehend what it was, and doubted that being able to see it would change that.

However, one thought came to her mind: 'Attack it with the Red.'

It... it wasn't a [Foolish Thought]. It was worse than that. It was her Blood Skill activating again.

[Suicidal Thoughts].

Pinky instinctively tried to repress it, but... it was different this time.

If she attacked, she would die. She was 100% certain of that.

But...

She'd be doing something good.

She'd be saving a friend.

She had never had many friends. Really, only the one. Lars dying had broken her. She couldn't let Bit die too!

Her arm seemed to move in slow motion. It was like when she'd attacked the Bloodrage Badger when it had pinned Bit. That had been both [Foolish] and [Suicidal]... but, somehow, in a good way.

A tear ran down Pinky's cheek.

She wasn't afraid of dying. She hadn't been ever since getting her Blood Class. Instead, she was afraid of losing another friend.

At least she'd see Lars again. Maybe.

[Sneak Attack]. [Giantkiller Strike]. [Scarlet Beam].

A ray of pure Red shot out of the crystal she held in her palm. It wasn't just her attack. The beam also contained the strength of the Dyed Lands that she'd stolen.

It struck something.

The moment the connection was made, Blackness flowed back along the path.

Pinky's lifeless body fell from the top of her house.

-----

A little while earlier...

"Back! Stay back!!" The yell had woken Riley up.

Everything was dark... and... uhm...

A sharp smell of cookies assaulted her. The diverted brain signal instantly woke her up and put her on guard. There was a Stranger nearby!

The jungle was nearly pitch black at night, but in the clearing she'd made there was enough light from the stars and the two full moons. The reflected yellow and blue light combined together to make white - and showed an old woman standing outside of Dev's tent.

Riley winced. The smell spiked when she looked at the hunched. Whatever it was, it wasn't what she was seeing. There was little possibility of this being a peaceful encounter.

Riley ► Everyone, attack the creature ten feet in front of me.

Badgy and her monkeys acknowledged her command. Kraby did as well... but he wouldn't be of any help. Her Mets were strangely silent.

"Greetings." The... old woman? turned and spoke to her. "I am weary, and would like to share your camp. May I partake in your hospi-"

Badgy roared and charged the creature. Invisible monkeys seemingly popped out of mid-air to grab her. Or it. Riley couldn't trust what she was seeing.

Badgy's large paw swiped through the intruder as if it wasn't there. The Bloodrage Badger froze for a second, before he collapsed in a boneless pile. Her Monkey-Bots suffered a similar fate. They tried to grab what wasn't there before dying instantly.

A potent Stranger with an even more potent Striker effect.

Riley began to leak gas. Hopefully her minions had failed to do any damage due to the Stranger effect, and not because of... something else.

The woman grimaced. "You dare attack me when I only asked for shelter!!" The light around her seemed to fade more. "I will offer-"

A red line shot through the dark, and pierced the creature. It stumbled back half a step before shouting. "Fie on you! Fie on those who spur my offer! Death will seek you out! You will face oblivion!"

REJECTION.

The thought burst through Riley's brain.

"What?" The crone jerked her head and looked left and right.

NEGATION.

ENTROPY. ENEMY. FOE.

PURGE.

OVERCOME.

What was going on? Was that... Surgery?

ELIMINATE.

EXTERMINATE!

ERADICATE!!

Met A ► ERADICATE!!
Met B ► ERADICATE!!
Met C ► ERADICATE!!
Met D ► ERADICATE!!
Met E ► ERADICATE!!
Met F ► ERADICATE!!
Met G ► ERADICATE!!
Met H ► ERADICATE!!
Met I ► ERADICATE!!
Met J ► ERADICATE!!
Met K ► ERADICATE!!
Met L ► ERADICATE!!
Met M ► ERADICATE!!
Met N ► ERADICATE!!
Met O ► ERADICATE!!
Met P ► ERADICATE!!
Met Q ► ERADICATE!!
Met R ► ERADICATE!!
Met S ► ERADICATE!!
Met T ► ERADICATE!!

What was going on? Riley's eyes grew wide as her Mets turned in unison from the edges of the jungle. They converged on the Stranger slowly before extending their arms and attacking faster than even her eyes could track.

The crone might have been wounded. Or it might have fled. She couldn't tell, and she also couldn't trust her senses right now.

The fight was over in an instant as the darkness faded along with the smell of cookies.

Except... Her Mets didn't stop. Instead, some turned and began to attack their campsite. Others charged the forest and continued their sudden assault on the trees!

Riley ► Stop!
Riley ► Cease activity!
Riley ► Freeze all motion!

They didn't listen to her. Worse, they seemed to have gone into a berserker rage. Their arms flailed wildly as they searched for a target.

Then, they found one.

A Met pierced the tent that Dev had given the Jungleclad gorilla that had escorted them. A pain-filled roar emanated from it, but was quickly changed to a wet gurgle as more Mets converged and attacked!

Riley stared with wide eyes. What was going on? She wasn't surprised that Surgery COULD do such a thing, her Mets were summoned creatures. It would be a simple thing for a Shard to control them - after all, that was where all their actions ultimately came from.

But, the Mets were from a different Shard. Had Surgery taken control? Told the other Shard to attack?

She could think about it later, right now she had to-

A Met slashed at her, but retracted its arm to avoid striking her.

Riley blinked. She looked over to where Dev was awake and still screaming. She hadn't noticed that until the Stranger had left along with its aura.

Mets had sliced up Dev's tent, but they'd avoided striking the Earther.

Dragon!

Dragon had been given the restriction to protect humans! It, she, must have passed that along to the Shard Network. She and Dev were safe...

Pinky!

Both her and the Jungleclad gorilla weren't 'human'! The Mets wouldn't avoid them! Worse, they seemed to be targeting them!

Riley froze. Pinky or the Ape? The Jungleclad was being attacked right now, but she could drive the Mets off. She could stitch him back together. But Pinky? She was obviously the one who'd shot the beam at the intruder!

Riley took off in a sprint.

There was no real choice in her target.

Pinky was in more danger. Even if she wasn't hurt, a single strike could bisect her!

Besides, Pinky was her friend. If Riley could get to her, then she could shield her - and then she could try to save their guide.

There! The twin moons provided enough light to see the Fraerling's small body. Pinky lay in a heap next to her house. Riley's sight was excellent. She could've made her out with a faintest amount of light. She could even see her heat.

Pinky's body was rapidly cooling.

Riley skidded to her knees and picked Pinky up. She cradled her friend to make sure that the rampaging Mets didn't attack her.

Time seemed to slow down as Riley made her diagnosis. In the back of her mind, she could feel her connection with Surgery providing details. A part of her wanted to reject her Passenger... but Surgery hadn't hurt Pinky. Her Shard was trying to help - even if it had driven her Mets insane.

If only she was like Kevin and could talk to Surgery more directly.

Riley shook her head, and focused on Pinky. She was dead. There were no signs of life, but there were also no obvious wounds.

All electrical impulses within her body had ceased. It had been an instant, cell-wide death.

But, it had also only been a few moments since then. Not even a minute.

Riley could revive her. She was sure of it!

If Pinky's body was fine, she just needed a jump-start. Not something as simple as a defibrillator. She didn't need her heartbeat regulated, she needed it restarted along with everything else!

Like Frankenstein.

Riley pulled a bow out of her hair. She then took some individual strands, and wrapped them quickly around the right parts of the Fraerling before electrifying them.

It wasn't much of a shock. Without one of her energizing mixtures, she only had the same voltage that a super-amped electric eel would. However, Pinky was small. She didn't need close to the maximum power that Riley's body was capable of outputting.

One!

Two!

Three!

Pinky's body jolted to life... for a split second before the energy faded again.

Riley narrowed her eyes. Whatever had killed her was still interfering. That was fine. No problem. Riley had plenty of electricity. More importantly, she had successfully shocked Pinky's brain. That was the most important thing. She coiled more of her hair around Pinky's head. That would keep her alive until the electricity won.

Riley glanced at the remains of their Jungleclad guide and swore under her breath. She wouldn't have time to save both him and Pinky.

-----

Pinky opened her eyes. She'd just been talking to... Lars?

[Levels removed.]

[Skills removed.]

[Rouge Fool Level 23!]

[Skill Change – Red Strike → Scarlet Beam!]

[Skill – Scarlet Beam obtained!]

[Conditions Met: Suicide Survivor → Soul Survivor Class!]

[Condition – Suicidal Thoughts Removed!]

Bit was staring down at her.

Pinky smiled.

Chapter 57: Interlude - Boo

Boo came into existence alert and aware - not that a giant space hamster, even a miniature one, could ever NOT be alert and aware. It had been playing with the one called 'Little Mac' before their owner had un-created them.

Boo wasn't aware of anything while he didn't exist. How that might conflict with how a giant space hamster should be, and any contradictions therein, did not cross his mind. Instead, he looked around and waited for his owner's commands.

Where was his owner anyways? Kevin did create him far away at times. Giant space hamsters might not be good at stealth, but miniature ones excelled at it. So, he'd become accustomed to finding himself outside of his owner's immediate vicinity.

However, at those times Kevin always conveyed what needed to be done. It didn't matter if it was chewing someone's eyes out, darting around Little Mac, piloting an even more gigantic machine, or just being around for a hug - Boo had a purpose.

Not this time. This time Kevin wasn't telling him anything.

Boo sat down. Then he stood up and walked around in circles. Then he ran up a gigantic tree and raced around it.

Something was clearly wrong. Plus, he needed SOMETHING to do.

So...

Information Gathering! That was another one of his amazing skills. Boo could make more Boos. They were and weren't him, but they shared a lot of what they saw and did. Just like Kevin could direct Boo, Boo could direct the Boos that he made.

The first one appeared... somewhere.

It was also in a gigantic forest, but he wasn't where he was supposed to be! The 2nd Boo should have been right in front of the primary Boo. Instead it was... uhm... that way.

Boo decided, after careful deliberations, that it probably wasn't important. He and his double started moving towards each other with a combination of running and teleportation - Boo's second great power.

After an hour, they met up - which was a good thing. The Boos raced around a different gigantic tree while they thought about what to do. Boo didn't really 'plan' ahead. Like most things, he could envision a future and make predictions. If he jumped so high, he'd land on that branch. If he jumped with less strength, he'd miss and fall to the ground.

That was the extent of long-term goals without Kevin around...

However! He had learned what Kevin liked him to do. If Little Mac was around, he could make copies for the giant to punch. If there was a suit of armor, he could pilot it.

Since neither of those things were here, not to mention Kevin, Boo decided to continue with the Information Gathering. Only, this time he'd do it in earnest.

So he made another Boo.

And another.

And another. And another.

And another. And another. And another.

...

Hours had turned into days. Days had turned into weeks. Weeks might've turned into months, Boo wasn't sure. It still could've been hours. He probably shouldn't have spent so much time running around trees... but it was fun! And Kevin hadn't told him not to do it.

"What is it?"

Right now, Boo could finally hear someone speaking close to one of his clones. It was busy sniffing around another gigantic tree as part of his Information Gathering. He had it pay attention. While mapping out every tree in the area was an important part of Information Gathering, so was listening to things.

Information was Information after all.

"It's clearly a golem."

"Clearly."

"And... it, uh, clearly..."

"You don't know anything about golems do you?"

"More than you!"

"..."

"Fine. The same amount as you. We both don't know anything about golems, happy?"

"So, what do we do?"

"You go and get Shoike. I'll stay here and keep an eye on it."

...

"So that's the golem."

"Yes, ma'am!"

"And it's just been circling THIS tree?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Well, there's no danger of it discovering Itelloi unless it starts burrowing." There was a short laugh. "And not much even if it does."

"Do you think its programming might be broken?"

"Hm?"

"I mean, if it's circling the same tree over and over. That's odd, right?"

It wasn't odd. Boo's clones, just like Boo, had energy to spare. Racing around a tree at a light jog was far more soothing than standing still, or even worse: slowly walking.

"Possibly." The female voice let out a long hum. "You go and get Dincal. You should be able to find him in the Magical Artisans section. Bring him here, and let him examine it. He's a civilian, so I want four Tallguards to escort him and shoot any bird or snake that even looks in his direction!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Boo could've had his clone chase after the departing figure, but there was no need. They would come back... or they wouldn't. It was fine for clone #217 to keep circling that specific tree.

It was relaxing and soothed that part of Boo.

...

"I say, this is most thrilling!"

"Dincal, pay attention. It's dangerous out here. Stop being distracted and focus on the golem, please."

"What? Oh, yes. Very good. Let's see here... My word! I've never seen anything like it before!"

"And?"

"And, it almost certainly is a Carved golem. Squares and cubes do not commonly occur in nature. However..."

"However?"

"Well, it's just that each separate cube is its own color. And such distinct, pure, colors too! Yes, yes, not natural at all."

"So someone made it to search for us? A Tallfolk?" The female voice sounded angry.

"Hm? What? Oh, no no no! Absolutely impossible."

"Why's that? It's clearly searching for a Fraerling tree!"

"That it might be, but carved by a Tallfolk? No. That is a frank impossibility, Patrol Leader."

"What makes you so certain?"

"The size, miss Shoike. The size and the craftsmanship. No Tallfolk could hope to make something that even I, Dincal the Shaper of Golems could not. No. Such a thing is quite beyond the scope of what is possible!"

"Hn. So it's from another village then."

"Possibly."

"What do you mean, 'possibly'?"

"Well, my dear Shoike, there is another explanation. It might not be Carved at all."

"You just said it was!"

"No no no, I said it almost certainly was. Cubes are uncommon, yes? But mother nature, she is, how do you say, brilliant. Must I remind you of the Seventh Gnomish Treatise? Nature does the bare minimum, but that minimum is always increasing. Everything we have today ultimately comes from-"

"Yes, yes, I get it. It might be a naturally occurring golem, but then it would be made of stuff we could identify and that clearly isn't the case!"

"Ah, but there is a singular place that has unknown things for it is not explored or settled. A place that possesses colors so pure, that they could account for the pigmentation of the golem's cubes."

"You don't mean?"

"Yes. The Dyed Lands."

"But they are at least five hundred-"

"Miss Shoike. Observe how quickly the golem runs. It also needs no sleep, only mana. It is so small that the Tallfolk? They would not notice it even if it sprinted through one of their cities. No. It is clearly a possibility, but as I said earlier: unlikely."

"So how do we tell? And what do we do?"

"The answer is, quite naturally, the same for both. You must capture it so I can examine it more closely."

There was a groan. "Alright men, net bolts, farqid formation. Go!"

The regular-sized men attacked Boo's clone with their regular-sized crossbows that shot surprisingly fast and sturdy regular-sized nets. Boo knew this game, and his clone weaved and dodged...

Alas, it wasn't as smart as Boo. Nor was it as agile. It could've teleported away after becoming entangled, but it would still have the net wrapped around it. It also could've just teleported away at the start, but where was the fun in that?

Also, by their very nature, Boo's clones were even more expendable than Boo was - and Boo didn't care one tiny little bit about being destroyed. He would always come back as long as Kevin was around.

Where was he anyways? Boo's summoning radius had proven to be about six-million Boo-lengths - a massive increase from the dozen or so it was normally. That would've been nice, if he could control exactly where within it his clones wound up.

Since he couldn't... it still was nice for trying to search everywhere. So far, the Boo-clone that had encountered the regular-sized people was the most interesting one, so Boo started sprinting in that direction.

"It's remarkably docile."

"Indeed, it is quite marvelous!" A man with a blue mustache was prodding Boo's clone.

"Stay back, Dincal, you don't know what it'll do."

"On the contrary." The mustachioed man spoke. "I know exactly what it will do: nothing." He pointed at the clone's mouth. "See here? It has a singular weapon: its teeth. It has no claws or limbs that can be used in an offensive manner. Furthermore, it did not try to attack any of your Tallguards. Its actions were purely defensive. In addition, it doesn't even try to gnaw at its ensnarements? No! It is not a threat, at least not a direct one."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Please pay attention, my dear Shoike! Did we not just finish discussing its possible origins? Would a creature from the Dyed Lands behave so calmly? I say: No! Thus, it is clearly an Artificial golem. Furthermore, it watches us. It sniffs at us. It behaves as if this is of no concern to it. These are not the actions of a mindless creature, nor are they what a fully Cognizant creation would do. A fully sapient golem would be trying to communicate, if nothing else!"

Huh. Boo supposed he could try to communicate... but what would he say? He could understand English well enough, but he'd never tried speaking it. Speaking with Kevin didn't require such a method.

"So, the conclusion? It is clear! This is a Sentient-class golem, clearly made by Fraerlings to find other Fraerlings!"

"That's quite the leap, Dincal."

"I say to you that it is not! Look at the cubes that compose its body. See how perfect they are? Even I, Dincal, cannot spot any flaws! No! Only a true Artisan! A true Archmage could have made a single one. To make so many and join them together? Pft." The regular-sized man with facial hair shook his head. "No. It is pure talent that leaves even one such as I speechless!"

Boo must not have understood English as well as it had thought. The flow of the conversation had left him in its wake.

"Thus, the only conclusions are that Fraerlings made it or that Gnomes did. And if Gnomes made it, it must've come from a box. And! If a box had been opened, then we would've been given a much clearer message for such a monumental achievement! Thus, the conclusion? She is clear. This is the work of a genius that is Dincal's peer. No, I am too arrogant. This is the work of one beyond even myself! However, the ultimate goal? That is something I cannot speak to yet."

"Well, it's not coming into the village. I'll state that clearly for you right now. We also can't stand around here all day. A cat or something will wander by eventually. What do you suggest we do with it?"

"Hmmmm...." Dincal stroked his brilliant blue mustache. "Given those restrictions, the path - she becomes clear. We deliver it to the Titan."

Notes:

Bios:

Shoike - A Fraerling Patrol Captain.

Itelloi - A Fraerling city. Hidden underground instead of inside of a tree.

Dincal - OC. A verbose Golem-maker that has a high opinion of himself - and, to a lesser extent, other Fraerlings.

Chapter 58: Masks 1

Darius stood outside of Delna and watched a lone figure slowly walk towards their village.

He was the only [Guard] available for lookout during the day at the moment. Rhona had been killed last week, and no one else wanted to try for a new [Class]. He missed her - not that Rhona and him had been close. They had rarely seen each other, as she had mainly worked during the night.

Before the recent goblin attacks, there hadn't much excitement in Delna, not since the war. Heck, not even then. It was a small town - or a large village, and Darius liked it that way.

Still... He'd rather be on patrol. That way he could make sure that the new [Mayor] and his flunkies weren't hassling anyone. Darius couldn't do much but watch if they did, but he'd found that a set of eyes was a decent deterrent. A lot of being a [Guard] was being seen.

Unfortunately, having someone at the entrance was important. If a sand-scorpion or the goblins attacked, he'd be able to close the gate and hold them off long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Heck, the [Thugs] might even bother to show up.

Ha!

As if!

The foreigners and the rest of the villagers might now, technically, all belong to the Empire of Sands, but there was still a clear divide. Delna, as a whole, despised their new [Mayor], [Tax Collectors], and [Thugs]. The infuriating part, at least in Darius' mind, was that he didn't think the hatred was returned.

It was worse. Like the [Mayor] didn't think of them as people at all. You had to acknowledge something to hate it, and Borert clearly didn't feel strongly about them in any sort of way. The [Mayor]'s hatred was reserved for people - or monsters - that threatened his profits.

Like the goblins. He hated the goblins.

Shit. That'd just made things worse. The goblins had only been nuisances until Borert had decided to 'wipe them out'. Not that Darius had anything good to say about the little green thieves. There had been fights in the past, with good people getting wounded - but there had rarely been any deaths.

Until last week.

Darius sighed, and watched the solitary figure continue to walk from the North. He could make them out a little better now. It looked like they had a sword in their hand. Not drawn, just held in their hand instead of on their belt.

That was odd.

The hat was odder.

Or, was it a helmet?

It was certainly big enough. It was conical, and came to a point at its top. The base of it, however, seemed to be as wide as the person was.

Was it something that was common to the Great Desert to the East?

Delna wasn't too far away from the Northern coast of Chandrar - a week of walking. That meant that they also weren't very close either. It was dry here, and they were on the wrong side of the mountains to get any rain from the West.

It still was a far cry from the desert that the 'Empire of Sands' had been named after.

Darius supposed a hat like that could keep the sun off of a person. If it was a hat. It still might be a helmet.

He thought that would be unlikely. What would the point of a thick helmet be without any other armor? He could tell by the way the man - yes, it looked like a man - by the way the man moved, that he was wearing clothes. Possibly leather armor, like Darius', but probably not.

"Ho there!" He greeted the man when he was a dozen feet away. "Welcome to Delna, traveler." The sound of his... wooden sandals? stopped.

"Greetings." The man nodded before pushing his hat up to reveal his eyes. They were oddly slanted, and his hat was made out of... reeds? Straw? He didn't recognize the plant. "Is there an inn you can direct me to?"

He was clearly a foreigner. Smooth skin, but not the beauty of silk. Cotton then. Oh, wait. While his dark gray robe-like outfit only revealed his hands, feet, face, and some of his chest - it was enough to help identify his race. He didn't have any stitches. Human then.

Delna didn't get many humans. There was that one that he'd heard of second hand. She'd supposedly also had worn odd looking clothes. Humans were the most populous race on Chandrar - according to the [Merchants], with Stringfolk coming in close behind.

That wasn't the case in Delna. Most everyone here was a Stringfolk.

Darius sized up the traveler. He wasn't the pale color of most non-Chandrarians, so he might've spent time within a desert somewhere else. Or on a boat. The one [Sailor] Darius had met had been tanned by the sun at sea. The traveler's long, black hair hung down in a lose ponytail along his back. Not braided... so probably not a [Merchant] or anyone else that cared overly much about their appearance.

"Hmmm..." Darius frowned. "No inn here. We don't get many visitors, aside from the occasional [Merchant]. They usually bunk with Toode. He runs the general store. If you want a place to sleep, you could probably arrange it with him."

"Really?" The man craned his neck to look at the village, and the sheer mountain walls it was nestled in. "Am I that far off the beaten path?"

"Beaten path?" Darius chuckled. "That's a nice phrase." He nodded at the road. "Our path remains because there's not enough rain or plants to overgrow it. And because the winds are blocked from blowing sand over it. Truth is, we don't get many of your kind in these parts."

"My kind?"

"Adventurers." Darius glanced back into the town. "Not like we have a guild for you or anything else. If you're looking for work, there might be some that will scrounge together a bounty for ya. The goblins have started raiding us this past week." He shook his head. "Hell, I'll even chip in if you think you can take out the tribe. Even some support at night would be appreciated since they started trying to get in then."

"I'm not an adventurer, but I might help out." The man's eyes slid towards the town. "Where is... Toode, was it?"

Darius pointed. "If you follow the main street, you'll come to the mine entrance. If you turn to the right just as it comes into sight, you'll find Toode's store in about, oh, say two hundred feet. He ain't got a sign or nothin', but it's a fair sight bigger than most other buildings there. You'll figure it out."

"Thanks." The man nodded and lowered his hat back over his eyes.

"Say, can I get your name stranger?" Darius spoke before he could move past him. "Oh! And... shoot." He'd left the town's truth stone back in the guardhouse. Eh, whatever. He didn't really care if the man gave him a fake name. He'd likely be gone come tomorrow. There was nothing of interest in Delna - except maybe some food and a roof to sleep under.

"Jubei."

Huh. That was an odd name. More so in the way he pronounced it than anything else.

---

Toode was laying on his bed when he heard a knock.

The [Merchant] scowled, and put down his book. The thing had cost him five silvers, and he was just getting to the good part!

"I'm closed!" He shouted at the door as he got up. "What do you need this late in the day?" He begrudgingly got up and shuffled towards the door. It might be some idiot who'd gotten their shovel broken, or it might be an emergency. The few healing potions he still had in stock might be needed if the goblins were raiding them again.

"Greetings." The man towered above him, but that was true of almost everyone. Toode wasn't blessed with much height - or with enough gold to buy longer legs. "I was told that I might be able to spend the night here."

"Oh?" Toode looked him over. Human. Tanned skin. Slanted eyes. From Drath no doubt. Especially with that odd robe/shirt thing and the straw hat. Didn't see reeds like that in Chandrar often. "You a [Merchant]?"

"No." The man shook his head. "Just a traveler."

"Hmph." Toode snorted. "An adventurer then."

"I might find adventure, but I don't seek it out. My name's Jubei." He held out his hand.

"Toode." He shook the hand and then shrugged. "I have a side room that you can stay in. Two silver for the night."

Jubei frowned. "I'm afraid I don't have any money on me." He reached into the folds of his garment and pulled out a small bag. "I have some rice, sake, and a few potions. Perhaps we could trade?"

[Size Up].

The bag was the most valuable thing he had, followed by his sword. Of course, Toode's [Skill] couldn't take the bag's contents into account - he wasn't a [Thief]. To be the most expensive item, the bag must be magical. It was enchanted with holding most likely.

It was worth far more than two silver.

"Let me see the sake." Toode decided. The rice he could mark up, but no one in Delna would buy the stuff. The potions would probably be the better option - but then he'd have to give some money back. Besides, he could use a good, stiff drink.

Jubei reached into the bag and pulled out a small jug. "Here you go, old man. Is this good enough for you?"

Toode pulled out the cork and took a sniff before sipping from the bottle. "Ahh..." He grinned. "That's a fine drink." He hefted the jug. "A bit much for the room." He thought for a moment. "Ah! How 'bout I drink what I like from it, and return the rest to you in the morning? That is, if you're only going to be staying the single night?"

Jubei stroked his chin before closing the bag that was resting in his clothing. "That works for me."

"Good. Good." Toode took another swig. The rice drink went down smooth. "Let me grab the key and then I'll show you to the room."

Jubei waited. They walked to the third outer door in Toode's building. There were four in total, but he hadn't needed his second storage room in a long time. It made more money from hosting the occasional traveling [Merchant] than it would've gotten from holding extra stock.

"Looks good." Jubei examined the room.

"It's not much, but it is a roof over your head and the mattress is softer than the ground, if only just." Oh, wait. "Right, you're a human. You might like a lamp. I can sell you one for three silver."

"That's fine." Jubei shook his head. "All I need is a place to sleep. I'll likely be on my way before you awaken."

"An early riser, eh?" Toode smiled. "I'll leave your sake by my door after I go to bed. No one will steal it during the night." Unless the goblins raided them again and broke through the gate. "You can just leave the key in its place, deal?"

"Deal."

---

Jubei was awake before the sun had risen. He didn't need much sleep.

He could leave before dawn, but he was also curious about this small town and the people within it. It was one of the reasons he was wandering on this strange, new continent. He could afford to spend some time here before resuming his search for his targets.

He was pretty sure one of them was still here. He'd take a look around before deciding what to do next.

The air outside was cool and crisp. He was now far enough away from the coast, and the humidity had dropped dramatically. It made it nicer during the day - when it was still hot despite the season, but right now it made him wish his gi was thicker.

He shivered as a plume of steam exited his mouth. If this place had a proper inn, he'd see about getting some food, but...

He shrugged. No point in wishing for what he couldn't have.

Instead, he wandered the streets.

The main road cut straight through the village - from the gate to... huh, a mine.

Ah, so that's why there was a village here.

It must not be much of a mine. Jubei didn't know a thing about [Miners], but given the size of this place, there was no way it made much profit. He wondered what they pulled out of the ground? Iron? Copper? Silver?

A rock in one of the mine carts glinted under the waxing moonlight. Jubei got closer...

Gold?

No. Copper.

It was just a speck - the tiniest mote of metallic dust, but it told a story. A story of a mine that was valuable enough for a village to dedicate themselves to it in this desert, but not valuable enough for anything more to come of it than that.

That wasn't important, not compared to hunting down his target.

!

He heard a sound!

It was faint, but... yes, it had come from the mine. Someone working late? An animal that had wandered in for the warmth? It hadn't sounded like stones being struck, more like...

Gravel crunched behind him.

Jubei whirled around. His hands came together. His left one held his katana, and the right rested on its hilt.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here boys?"

Three men loomed over him. How had they gotten so close?

Jubei regarded them before speaking. "You all are awfully light on your feet considering your size. What can I-" Jubei's head snapped back as one of them punched him.

That had been too fast. It must've been a [Skill].

"[Not So Fast]." The lead one smirked at him as the other two grabbed his arms. "We don't like spies around here."

"What?"

The man punched him in his stomach. Jubei coughed and bent over, but the blow hadn't done any serious damage. Sure, the man had put his weight behind it, but his form was sloppy. It wasn't hard to tense his abdomen to absorb the strike. It would still leave a bruise.

The spit that landed on his cheek was another matter.

"The mayor will decide your fate." The lead man retorted as one of his lackeys pulled away his sword and the other twisted Jubei's arms behind his back.

"You're making a mistake here." Jubei coughed to sell the idea that he had been more injured by the unprovoked attack than he really was. "I'm just a traveler passing through. I'm no spy."

The man punched his face again.

"Shut up, you scum. It's humans like-"

A scream filled the night air, and all three of the thugs turned to look towards the far end of town.

"Shouldn't you investigate that instead of beating up visitors to your little town?" Jubei started winding his [Ninja Wire] around his ankle.

"Not our problem." The head thug sneered at him. "You just-"

Jubei pulled on his wire and yanked his katana out of its sheath. "[Sword Art: Scything Cut]!" The weapon skill activated as it touched his leg, and his blade twisted around him. Jubei raised his other foot up to avoid the attack, but the thugs weren't so lucky. The attack had cleaved clean through all of their ankles. He took a moment to smirk at them. "I love Stringfolk. You don't have to feel bad about dismembering them."

"Fu-"

The man's yell was cut off as Jubei brought the hilt of his sword down on the leader's head. He quickly knocked the other goons out as well before retrieving his sheath and spooling his [Ninja Wire] back around his wrist.

"I suppose I should just find me target and leave town, but I'm curious about that scream." Jubei muttered to himself as he walked down the road. Other sounds were coming from the direction of the town's gate.

A silhouette came running up the street. "Goblins!" It resolved itself into a man. "Goblins are attacking the gate! To arms!"

To the side, a door slammed open, and a burly looking Stringfolk stuck their head out. "Again? That's three nights in a row!" He stepped outside with a pickaxe in his hands.

"They have a hob this time!"

"What?"

"I told you! That's what killed Rhona last week!"

"If they have a hob, why wasn't it leading the attacks the last two nights?"

A good question. Jubei trailed behind the growing mob. A better question was: left or right? He'd come from the North, and he hadn't noticed any goblins along the road. Of course, he hadn't been looking either. Still, that swung the odds towards the monsters living to the South.

Since Delna was nestled against a mountain range to the West... to the right it was.

Jubei swerved in that direction. He didn't know... well, anything about this town - except for its layout. The mountain range to the West ran for hundreds of miles. Delna was in a crevasse, which blocked off the North and South. That left the stone wall to the East as the sole way in or out.

The gate was the most obvious way through the wall, but not the only one.

Jubei started running. Once he'd built up enough momentum, he [Leapt] on top of the roofs of the smaller houses that were away from the main street. [Silent Steps] helped muffle the sound that his geta would normally make as he sprinted towards the wall.

He quickly passed the group of [Miners] that were bustling towards the gate. His target was elsewhere...

There!

Jubei caught a glimpse of red: goblin eyes. A small band were sneaking over the top of the wall while the rest of their tribe made a distraction at the gate.

Jubei [Leapt] across the gap between the houses and the wall, and landed on the upper rocks that were used as a scaffolding for the structure. He didn't bother to use any [Skills] as he effortlessly made shallow cuts to the hands and arms of the small creatures that were climbing up.

They screamed as they fell down.

A shadowy figure moved towards him while a blade flashed in the moonlight.

"Argh." Jubei grunted as he jumped back. It hadn't been a deep cut, but that wouldn't matter if the blade was poisoned. Given the goblin's stealth, it might have other skills similar to a [Ninja].

The pair traded slashes and dodges until Jubei hopped back while sheathing his sword.

"[Sword Art: Iaijutsu Wave]!"

His katana flew out of its sheath. At the same time, a trail gouged the stone scaffolding in a line towards the goblin - and then up and through it.

The fight hadn't lasted more than a few seconds. Jubei looked over the wall, but the rest of the goblins were gone. They hadn't tried climbing back up.

He looked at the green-skinned monster. Why had it continued to attack him instead of running away? If the rest of its tribe weren't coming to its aid, it made little sense. Unless... it was just that bloodthirsty, or... it had been covering their retreat.

Still, his opponents had suffered far worse. He'd never encountered a goblin before. The thing looked more like a child than anything else. Thin. Starving. Its lifeless hands held a jagged rock that he'd mistaken for a real weapon in the darkness.

He bowed his head as a sign of respect, before turning away. If he was right, the attack at the gate was just a distraction, but he'd accepted the village's hospitality. The honorable thing was to aid in its defense.

---

Darius cradled his arm as the hobgoblin retreated.

It had been rough, but he'd held the gate until reinforcements had arrived. Delna might not have a lot of [Guards], but they had plenty of [Miners]. Swinging a pickaxe and hauling mine carts all day required muscles and gave several [Skills] that were useful in a brawl.

Heck, lots of the townsfolk could probably beat him in a fistfight.

"Are you okay, Darius?"

He looked up at Raemon - his old childhood friend. "Yeah, I'm okay Rae." He winced as he touched his arm. "The hob broke my arm though."

"Monsters." Raemon spit to the side. "Figures that they'd resort to using clubs instead of a good blade." It was true that Darius would've preferred to have his arm cut off rather than broken. Reattaching a limb was something any grownup could do. Healing a break required a [Tailor] or time - and Delna didn't have many decent [Tailors]. "How'd they get through the gate?"

"Dunno." Darius prodded the huge slab of wood with his foot. The gate had fallen and now laid inside of the walls. "I didn't see anything like a battering ram. The big hob just charged it with its shoulder."

Raemon squatted down. "Here's your problem." He pointed to the hinges. "They must've snuck in earlier and sabotaged the joints." His friend looked up. "Weren't you on watch this afternoon? Didn't you see them?"

"You know I was." Darius scowled at him. "We've been short staffed even before we lost Rhona. I can't see everything by myself! I need someone else to watch my back!"

"Whoa. Easy there." Raemon held up his hands. "I wasn't blaming you or anything. I know we all have to let off steam every now and then. Speaking of which..." He moved closer, but whatever he was about to say was cut off when the crowd let out a collective gasp.

The foreigner with the odd hat landed next to them. His wooden sandals made a knocking sound as they came into contact with the detached gate. His left hand held his scabbard and sword, while his right hand was crossed over his chest and hovered over the hilt. He glanced left and right before straightening up.

"Who are you?" Raemon took a step back, and brought up his pickaxe.

"That's a traveler that came into town this evening." Darius winced as he moved his good arm from supporting his bad one and placed his hand on Raemon's chest. "He's an adventurer. His name is Jupei."

"Jubei." The man corrected him. "There were goblins climbing up the wall to the south, but I drove them off."

Darius cursed. "Vered, go take a look to the south. Neas, go make sure they aren't trying the same thing to the north."

His fellow [Guards] nodded before returning to their posts. They'd come to help him when the gate had fallen, but that had clearly been a distraction.

"Stitchless scavengers!" Raemon cursed to his side. "I guess there haven't been any [Merchants] on the road, so they're getting desperate. Borert needs to get off his ass and send his [Thugs] after them to finish the job he started!" He looked behind him towards the town. "Speak of the creler."

"What's going on here?!" Borert, the [Mayor] that had been assigned Delna was walking down the street. Two [Thugs] flanked him. "What's this I hear about goblins?"

Darius gave him a half-hearted salute. "They attacked the gate, and tried to slip over the walls."

Borert crossed his arms and sniffed. "That's what you get for letting a nest of those vermin exist so close to the city."

City? Darius thought. He didn't know what size or number of people living there or whatever metric made a 'city', but Delna definitely didn't qualify. Not with a population of a little more than two hundred.

"No." Raemon sneered back. "That's what we get for having an idiot who sends out [Thugs] to do a half-assed job of wiping them out. Goblins aren't THAT stupid. Vicious, yes, but they can think enough to retaliate against the people that attacked them."

"Bah!" Borert glared at him before turning his attention to Jubei. "So what you're saying is that we need an adventurer to wipe them out."

Darius looked back and forth between the [Mayor] and the foreign traveler. Jubei had to be at least level fifteen to wander the desert by himself. That was better than he, or any other [Guard] of Delna, was.

"I'm not an adventurer." Jubei stated.

"So, you're adventuring without a license, eh?" Borert smirked. "I'll add that to your assault and resisting arrest charges."

"Do whatever you want." Jubei pulled his hat down over his eyes. "I'm going to leave."

"Do that, and I'll put a bounty out on you!" Borert raised his voice. "There will be nowhere safe for you in the Empire of Sands. Or Chandrar for that matter! Roshal and Nerrhavia's Fallen take bounties seriously!"

"I'll take my chances." Jubei turned towards the gap in the wall.

"Fine." Borert snorted before reaching into his pocket. "I guess I'll just have to keep this then." He pulled out a small bag.

"What?" Jubei twisted his head around, and then reached inside of his shirt. His hand came out empty. "I hate pickpockets." He growled and bent his knees as his right hand slowly moved towards his sword's hilt.

Borert raised his eyebrows. "What? Are you going to attack me?" He let out a sharp laugh. "The [Emperor] will have your head for even attempting such a thing!"

Darius noted that Borert had backed up behind his two [Thugs] while speaking.

"Give me back my bag." Jubei muttered with clenched teeth.

"You mean the item you planned to smuggle gold with?" Borert smiled. "No. I don't think so. It's clear to me that you must've been part of the rebellion. Why else would you act like this?" The pair stared at one another before Borert continued. "Or, this might just be a misunderstanding. Personally, I'd be much more inclined to view you favorably if you helped Delna and killed the goblins that currently infest the mountain."

"..." Jubei's eyes flickered to his left and right before glaring at Borert. The crowd of villages watched as his posture straightened.

"Think it over." Borert turned and walked away with his [Thungs] flanking him. "You can either leave here with your bag or with a bounty. It's your choice."

The crowd glared at the retreating trio, but none of them moved or spoke up. Once they were out of sight, Raemon spit on the ground. "Those corrupt lackeys of the Empire!" He snarled before turning to Jubei. "C'mon, you should come to my house. I'll fill you in on some history." He looked over at Darius. "You too. Suget can take a look at your arm."

"I'm fine." Darius looked at the fallen gate. "I need to stay here."

"Paulk will understand." Raemon draped his arm across his friend's shoulders. "You're wounded and need to recover. Besides, they can get the gate fixed without you, and the goblins won't be back tonight. You know they're cowards."

Darius thought about arguing, but decided to relent. "Fine." He wouldn't be much help in either a fight or with repairing the gate right now.

"Suget got up to level two in [Tailor]. She might not be able to fix your bone, but she can at least set it enough that you can drink a healing potion." Raemon smiled.

"So, what's going on with the goblins. And why did your [Mayor] steal my stuff and call me a smuggler?" Jubei walked with them, and seemed a lot calmer than Darius would be in his place.

"Both of those have a long answer." Raemon frowned. "The short one is the same for both of them: Borert is a corrupt jackass who was given a position of power and is abusing it."

Jubei nodded. "That was clear, but how does that relate to goblins raiding you?"

"Pft." Raemon snorted. "Those monsters? They're cowards and were content to live in the mountains and leave us alone. Then, about two weeks ago, we had a traveling [Merchant] arrive. Only, this guy? He had a bunch of [Guards] because he was afraid of goblins. He kept on telling us of this Goblin Lord in, uh, Izril. It has an army and is attacking cities while he marches across the place - going from the human part to the drake part. Or it might be the other way around."

"It is." Darius interjected. "He was in the South, that's the drake lands, and he marched North, that's the human lands."

"Yeah, well, anyways, Goblin Lords are bad news." Raemon continued. "We hunt them down before they can become a big deal here in Chandrar."

"We?" Darius looked over.

"We - as in Chandrar as a whole." Raemon replied. "WE don't let monsters like that live. Certainly not enough for them to form an army!" He took a breath. "Anyways, the goblins back in Izril sacked, like, a pretty big city and a bunch of small ones. Killed everyone and didn't even clean up the bodies. The Goblin Lord is a Necromancer, so he WANTS undead - as if being a goblin wasn't bad enough."

"So... the goblins here heard that, and what?" Jubei asked. "Got inspired?"

"What?" Raemon looked at him. "Don't be ridiculous. They're isolated and cowards. No, the other stupid coward heard about it."

"He means Borert." Darius explained.

"Yeah, him." Raemon's voice was flat. "He panicked and sent all of his [Thugs] to find the goblins and wipe them out." He gestured back towards the gate. "As you can see, they missed some. The goblins have been raiding us ever since."

"It also probably didn't help that we haven't had a [Merchant] since then." Darius added. "They usually rob them, and they might be desperate from lack of food or something."

"Yeah, right." Raemon snorted. "If starving goblins to death was that easy, they'd have been wiped out ages ago. Anyways!" He brightened up. "We're here. Jubei, was it? Welcome to my home!"

Darius had been to Raemon's house a lot. It had been more frequent when they'd been kids growing up, but he still visited on occasion.

"I guess everyone's awake?" He asked because the light of a small candle flickered from underneath the doorway. Delna wasn't exactly rich - Raemon's house shared all of its walls with its neighbors - as such, glowstones were a luxury that few were able to afford. An open flame, even one behind glass, was a danger. No one would leave their house with such a thing lit.

"No. Milne and Hoat are still asleep. Melne woke up with me when the alarm went out." Raemon pushed the door open and ushered them inside.

"Raemon, you're back. Was anything taken-" Melne greeted them as they entered. She was kneeling next to the blankets on the floor that contained two small bodies. Wasting wood on beds was also something that didn't happen in Delna. "Darius? Is that you?" Melne smiled and stood up. "I haven't seen you in a fortnight! What happened to your arm!?"

"It's fine, Melne." Darius winced as his arm brushed against the door's frame as he entered. "Just got wounded fighting off another goblin raid."

"So modest!" Raemon nudged him from the side. "Darius here single-handedly held off a Hobgoblin!"

"No, I didn't." Darius was about to tell them about the fight, when the small figures in the blankets stirred.

"Daddy?" A small voice spoke.

"That's right, daddy's back." Raemon rushed to the side of his children. "It's still night, so just go back to sleep."

"And who might you be?" Melne turned to Jubei.

"Jubei, ma'am." He nodded his head.

"Jubei here helped fight the goblins." Darius added. He supposed the foreigner might've lied about that, but why would he? "Borert is extorting him to try and hunt them down."

"Oh?" Melne's hand covered her mouth. "Are you an adventurer?"

"No." Jubei shook his head. "Just a traveler. I'm looking for someone, but they're far away. I'm also not a tracker, so I don't know how I can accomplish... Borert, was it? How I can do what he asked of me. I don't want to cause trouble, but I must get my possessions back."

"Doing what Borert asks won't help you with that." Raemon straightened up. "The man is as corrupt as they come. He doesn't have a single honest thread in his body."

Jubei frowned. "Then why is he in a position of authority?"

"That, my new friend, is a long story." Raemon gestured for him to sit. "Let me tell it to you."

Notes:

Bios:

Jubei - OC. A [Ninja] who's looking for some targets, one of which he thinks might be in Delna.

Darius - OC. A [Guard] of Delna.

Borert - OC. The corrupt [Mayor] of Delna. Has hired a bunch of [Thugs] and [Rogues] for muscle. Part of the Empire of Sands.

Raemon - OC. [Miner], Darius' friend.

Melne - OC. Raemon's wife.

Milne - OC. Raemon's daughter.

Hoat - OC. Raemon's son.

Chapter 59: Masks 2

Delna has always been a small town.

It's far enough from the coast so that much rain doesn't make it South. The mountain range to the West blocks all of the other moisture. To the East and South there's not much but rocks and desert.

That isn't to say there aren't bigger and fancier cities in those directions, but they all have something that Delna doesn't - a strong draw.

There's only a single reason that Delna was founded in the first place - the copper mine. It's not a large mine, and there's never been any other valuable metals that have been found inside. Now Delna mainly sells stone. For as worthless as it is here, the cities in the great Zeikhal desert have a great need for something as basic as rocks.

Thus, Delna may not have ever flourished, but it survived. There had been good times and bad, but overall the merchants that had come through provided enough to live on.

There were challenges, of course. Sand Scorpions. Rock Bats. Goblins. Nothing too dangerous. The mountains that surround three quarters of Delna are steep. Other villages might have to fear things coming down from the peaks, but it's never been a problem for Delna and its nearly perfectly vertical surrounding slopes.

All of that changed when the Emperor of Sands attacked.

Although... it is perhaps too generous to use the word 'attacked'. There were many kingdoms in the North-West of Chandrar that were left adrift to their own devices when the King of Destruction retreated to his great slumber. Some of them joined the fledgling Empire of Sands willingly. Some of them fought. Others were like Delna: too small for anyone to really care about and were taken over without any fanfare.

Delna might not even have been part of the neighboring Kingdom. It certainly hadn't paid taxes, but that might've been because it was too poor for a tax collector to bother.

That isn't to say that there hadn't been any excitement during the eight years since the Emperor of Sands began forming his empire.

Merchants, Spies, Soldiers - they all came to Delna. Most just passed through, but there was a rumor. A rumor of something valuable that had been found inside of the mines. Something that was being passed on to finance the resistance. Something like... gold.

It was three years ago that the Empire of Sands send men to kill the old Mayor and replace him. It was busier then. Truthsayers and investigators came and went along with tax collectors. However, all they proved was that no gold veins had ever been found in Delna.

This didn't stop the new mayor. If Delna wasn't making gold for the resistance, then surly they were helping hide it. He remained after the Empire withdrew to more important places. Tax collectors were left to make sure that Delna was not forgotten and paid its dues - as small as they might be.

The Mayor hired thugs on his own. In part to protect himself from the villagers that disliked him. In part to extort them. In part to look for the gold he was certain existed in one form or another.

It is said that other cities in the Empire of Sands celebrate their new [Emperor]. That the Emperor brings water to the desert. That their armies crush those of other nations. That all manner of goods flow in and out of the Empire and make it rich.

Whatever prosperity might come from being part of the Empire had yet to reach Delna.

Now? There are rumors that the King of Destruction stirs. War has been declared upon the Empire of Sands, and thus Delna. Or by the Empire of Sands, and thus Delna. However, that is to the East, and the great Zeikhal desert is known for swallowing armies whole. Delna has yet to be impacted, but there might come a time when its miners are called to join the army and fight for people and land that they've never seen.

---

Jubei nodded as Raemon finished his story.

Corruption, greed, violence. He'd seen such things before, but rarely so blatantly. Of course, he was sure he would have gotten a different story if he'd asked the [Mayor]. Then again, one side had assaulted him, stolen his possessions, and then extorted him.

Should he just kill Borert and be done with it? He was confident he could do it. It wouldn't be hard, nor would getting away. Like Raemon had said, Delna wasn't big or important.

Ah, but he wouldn't be attacking Delna, he'd be assassinating an official of the Empire of Sands. That wasn't something he was eager to do. After he found his target, he'd still have to travel through the entire empire.

Still...

"Is the King of Destruction really awake, daddy?" The two Stringfolk children had woken up at some point during the story, and were now gazing up at them.

"Yes, Milne, he has." Raemon patted the little girl on her head. "But he's far, far away, and not something that will involve Delna."

"Unless we really do find a vein of gold." Darius smiled before looking over at his detached arm. "Then we'll be a minor footnote somewhere."

"I hope that we never find any gold then!" The boy, Hoat, declared.

"Don't worry about it." Raemon's wife, Melne spoke as she continued sewing Darius' arm. "The King of Destruction was a fair ruler. His troops would never harm civilians. So, even if he does invade us, we'll all be safe and sound."

"So, about your [Mayor]." Jubei spoke up again. "Will he actually return my possessions if I do what he asks, or will he try and cheat me out of them?"

"Was that a real bag of holding?" Raemon asked, and got a nod in return. "In that case, Borert will never let it out of his slimy grasp."

"Stringfolk aren't slimy, daddy!" Milne insisted.

"No, they aren't on the outside, but Borert has a dark, greasy slime inside of him. If you don't watch out then one day... he'll get you!" Raemon lunged at his daughter and started tickling her. She giggled while protesting.

"Don't tell them things like that, dear." Melne frowned. "One day they'll get into trouble. Milne, he's not being literal."

"Dead gods, woman." Raemon glared at her. "Can't you have a little fun for-"

"You look like you're doing good work, Melne." Darius interrupted him. "My arm will be as good as new!"

Milne looked away from her husband, and back to her work. "It was a clean break, and I've re-stitched the bone. You'll still need to let it heal, mind you. I'm really only good for scrapes and stuff, so the bone will have to knit on its own."

Darius smiled. "That's still a lot better than I was expecting. Thank you."

Jubei stood up. "I also appreciate the company, and the conversation, but I think it's about time for me to depart."

"Are you sure?" Raemon asked. "We don't have much, but we can spare a bowl for you."

"Nonsense." Jubei shook his head. "I'll have plenty of food once I get my bag back." He put his hat on his head and tied the strings that kept it in place. "Please, excuse me."

---

"Let's see here." Borert reached into the bag and felt around. "Smooth, smooth, smooth... and... huh?" He pulled out a ball of... rice? "That's odd."

"What else is in there, Boss?" One of his [Thugs] asked. Borert refused to learn the names of his lessers.

"Potions." The [Mayor] pulled out one bottle after another. "Lots and lots of potions."

"Makes sense, he's an adventurer."

"I wonder how good they are?"

"Might be poison, that guy looked sketchy."

"Shut up! All of you." Borert grumbled as he shifted through the bag and tried to find anything that wasn't bottle-shaped... "Ah! Here we go!" It was smooth and round. Glass, but not a bottle. "What?" He held a clear sphere in his hand. He put it down with a frown, and the rummaged around in the bag some more. He found another sphere - also made of glass, but black instead of clear.

"Aren't those?"

"I told you to shut up." Borert glared at the ugly, hemp face of his underling. "If you have to ask, then you clearly need more education." He picked up the scrying orb. "This is clearly the tool of a [Spy]." There was no other reason to have such a thing except to show images of important places to the enemy.

The black orb?

Borert picked it up and turned it around in his hands. It had to be another spying tool. Possibly poisoned.

He dropped it like it was on fire.

"You!" He pointed at one of his minions. "Fetch me a new pair of hands!"

Poison could be just as deadly as fire was to a Stringfolk, unless you replaced the area quickly.

...

There was a knock on the door, and one of the [Thugs] opened it. The foreigner stood there with his stupid hat. It had only been a few hours. He could not have possibly killed the goblins yet!

Could he?

Perhaps if he had caught them running back to their caves, or wherever it was the monsters lived in the mountains...

"I have come for my items."

"Whoa, there." The larger hemp man raised a hand. "No one gets to see the [Mayor] carrying a sword."

"I have come for my items." The idiot repeated himself.

"Did you kill the goblins like I ordered you to?" Borert spoke from the other side of the room past all his hired help.

"Yes."

What?

Borert swore to himself as he looked for a truthstone. They were all locked up, and he wasn't about to show the human where the safe was. "I need proof."

"Proof?"

"Yes." Borert smiled. "Bring me the head of the hobgoblin. That should work."

The man's hand floated above his sword. "Give me back my equipment, or I'll make you."

What a moron. Planning to attack Stringfolk with a sword? Perhaps he wasn't a [Spy] after all, or he could simply be bad at his job. "Are you threatening me?" Borert sneered. "I'll add that to the list of charges." That didn't get the reaction he was hoping for. "Even if you attacked us, and somehow managed to win, you'd never find your bag." That got him a scowl in return. "Bring me the hob's head, or we'll chop off your legs, like you did to my men."

The human stood there for a long second, and Borert wondered if he'd made a mistake. No one could take on all of his [Thugs] at once... not unless they were higher than level twenty! He gulped.

"Fine." The man spun around and walked away.

Once he was gone, Borert gave his men new orders. "Gather everyone here, and tell them to bring their worst stuff. Poison. Traps. Any dirty trick they can think of. When he next shows his face, he's dead." The bag was prize enough. He'd never return it - or its contents. Asking to remove the goblins had been greedy. It would be better to just kill the man as soon as possible.

"You got it, Boss."

---

Jubei stalked away from the slightly larger and nicer building.

Should he have killed them?

He was pretty confident that all he'd need was his sword.

Besides...

Jubei stopped. They were Stringfolk. He could amputate them easily enough without killing them. The fallout wouldn't even be so bad. He was just a [Wanderer]. He'd leave the town with no attachments, and no reprisals. A bounty was a laughable threat. He could avoid it by-

"Hey! Jubei!" Raemon yelled and waved at him from up ahead. "How'd it go?"

The man fell into step beside him, and Jubei glanced at him. "Not well. They refused to return my bag without the hobgoblin's head in exchange."

"Hah!" Raemon smirked. "I told you. They'll just make another excuse and have you do something else. Over and over again."

"Hn."

"If you're going after the goblins, I can come with you." Raemon slapped his own chest. "I may not look like much, but I have [Lesser Strength]. I can bash in a goblin's head just as easily as I can crack a rock!"

"No."

"C'mon. There's no other way I could get a [Warrior] class! Everything is too dangerous to fight on my own, and no one in town will go hunting."

"No."

"C'mon. Please?"

"If you want a better class, start by training. You have a [Blacksmith], right?" Jubei waited for a nod before continuing. "Have him make a sword. Or a spear. Or something. Then practice swinging it."

Raemon huffed. "That will get me [Soldier] or [Guard] or something. I want a REAL class! Let me follow you! I can watch your back and finish some goblins off. I can even beat them one-on-one."

"No. If you want to kill goblins do it on your own. You'll only slow me down." Jubei then [Leapt] onto a roof and sprinted away towards the wall.

He supposed he COULD go and search for the goblins while he thought. He hadn't really encountered the green humanoids before, but he'd heard tales - nothing good.

But, if they were thinking people instead of mindless monsters, then there had to be a solution here that didn't involve killing them, or mauling a bunch of idiots.

Or, they might be evil, and killing them would be honorable and just.

It probably wouldn't change things one way or another. It was clear that Borert couldn't be trusted...

Yeah. It would be quickest to kill him. Maybe his [Thugs] too. Or he might just hurt them all. He hadn't decided yet.

It was something to think about while he 'looked' for the goblins. Besides, Borert would need time to bring all of his underlings together for an ambush. That would make things much easier than chasing them down one by one.

As for Delna?

Well, they could make up whatever story they wanted. It wouldn't matter to him, and dead people couldn't gainsay anything.

---

Raemon ran to the gate, but it was still being fixed. Besides, he didn't want to deal with the [Guards] telling him what he already knew. It was dangerous outside the town's walls. They would ask him what he was doing, and look at the mattock he held, and come to the conclusion that he was going to get himself killed.

They would look down at him.

If he had a sword and armor, he could beat any one of them in a fair fight!

It was just so... stifling. Raemon needed this. He NEEDED to take control of his life. He might have been born a hemp - like everyone in town except the [Mayor], but that didn't matter! He might never be someone like the Hero of Zethe or one of the King of Destruction's seven, but he could still protect his home!

Raemon took a detour to the southern edge of the wall. That was where Jubei had fought off some goblins that had tried to sneak in. There would be people there, but not as many as at the gate. It was a shortcut that would let him catch up with the adventurer.

Raemon and his friends had snuck out of Delna when they were kids. At first it had been to drink. Then to enjoy other activities outside of his parent's prying eyes. Recently, it had been to try and help fight off the Empire of Sands.

He couldn't do anything directly. He was only a [Miner]. That didn't mean he couldn't contribute in other ways.

Sure, he might not have been the one to find the gems. Or to mine them. If he was, he'd be higher level. He also hadn't been the one to stop old man Joffe from handing them over to the Empire.

Of course, that hadn't turned out so well for Tom. He'd been one of the few that had died when Delna had been 'conquered'...

Raemon put that out of his mind as he scaled the mountainside. It was hard. The rock was smooth from being worn down over the years, but there were still a few well hidden hand holds. The other side was even more sheer, and Raemon fell down, but he didn't cry out.

Instead, he picked up his mattock and looked for Jubei.

Not to the South.

Not to the North.

Could he have passed by here already? Could he be so fast he was out of sight in such a short time?

It was that, or he was slower than Raemon thought... No. He'd seen him sprint away. It must've taken him longer to climb over the wall than he'd anticipated. So Raemon began to slowly make his way to the South. He wouldn't be able to find the goblins on his own. The monsters were too sneaky for that. If they were fighting Jubei? He would notice that.

He just needed to keep his eyes open.

While Raemon didn't have any [Skills] to help him go unnoticed, he did have experience. Experience that was rusty from years of not being used, but it was all coming back to him. His footsteps made hardly any noise as he clamored over the rocks and the dry wild grass that poked out of them.

The foothills weren't nearly as treacherous to climb as the mountains themselves, but they were still difficult. Raemon was silently cursing the topography while being thankful for his leg muscles from all the mine carts he'd pushed around. He crested a ridge and then saw it.

A single goblin.

Winter was waning, but it was still cold out. The creature, however, did little to cover itself. It only wore some rags as a loincloth, and around its chest. In fact... it kinda reminded him of Milne...

It was female!

The realization struck Raemon like a spark. Of course! It was so obvious now that he took a closer look. Sure, the monster was small and scrawny. Sure, it had green skin and pointy ears. Raemon could still make out some feminine features.

He relaxed a little. Maybe he wouldn't have to kill it? He could capture it and... somehow... get it to tell him where the monsters made their camp? Goblins couldn't speak, so that might be-

Raemon shifted his weight, and the rocks beneath his feet crumbled away.

The goblin looked up from gathering the dry grass that grew in the foothills. Her eyes widened, and she began scampering away. She even left her basket behind.

Raemon gripped his mattock tightly before giving chase.

He charged up the hill, and past the place where she'd been. His feet trampled the forgotten basket as he pursued his quarry.

She was nimble, but not any faster than him. Her short legs and lack of muscles slowed her down. Raemon chased after her. He was gradually getting closer...

*WHAM*

Something hit him.

Or, he'd run into something?

Raemon shook his head. His vision was dark, except for the after-image of the sun that rushed past him. The glowing orb moved from left to right, before suddenly re-appearing on the left. It repeated itself. Raemon's head swam.

What had happened? He... was lying down?

He tried to stand up-

Something gripped his arms and legs!

Raemon blinked, and looked down and to his sides. Small green hands held him pinned to the rock. A swarm of goblins had him! Where had they come from? What was going on?

A larger goblin, no, the hobgoblin walked into view. He was well-muscled, and had scars all over his body. He was also taller than Raemon. Beside him, there was another female goblin, only this one had more clothing. She also had a necklace made out of small bones, and blue stripes painted on her face.

The hobgoblin pulled back his fist, and punched Raemon's head.

The world went black.

---

Jubei was sitting down while leaning against the side of a house.

He'd chosen a location with some dark shadows and a good view of Borert's house. A few people had left after his confrontation, and they were now returning in twos and threes with reinforcements. He'd counted a dozen underlings so far.

That... might be difficult.

Unless...

His hand rose, but then fell back down. No. He didn't need to do that yet. Just because he wasn't currently capable of facing off against so many in a straight fight didn't mean that it was an un-winnable battle. He would just need to be patient and pick some off beforehand.

It was true that he had somewhere to be, but wasn't encountering people the reason he'd chosen to walk in the first place? He also still hadn't found his real target yet.

Killing the underlings - or Borert for that matter, wasn't his goal. He still didn't know enough about the Empire of Sands, and assassinating their officials would start him off on the wrong foot. He needed to get his bag back, but he could do that by following the corrupt [Mayor].

It might take some rough questioning, but he could make him talk if he had the time.

There were some yells, and then the sounds of people talking.

Jubei stood up and looked around. The uproar was coming from the gate again. Were the goblins attacking? He didn't hear the sounds of a pitched battle, nor the screams that he would associate with an ambush.

Jubei took one final look at the [Mayor]'s house. The door hadn't opened, and no one had come out. He shrugged, turned around, and walked towards the solitary gate that Delna had.

"Oh, mister Jubei, was it?"

Jubei lifted the brim of his hat. "Hello. Melne. Milne. Hoat." He nodded to Raemon's wife, daughter, and son. "What are you doing?"

"I was looking for Raemon, when I heard the commotion from the gate." She held her children close to her. "Have you seen him?"

"No." Jubei shook his head. "Not in several hours."

"Melne!" Someone yelled from further up the street. "There you are!" Darius ran up to them. "Are you doing okay?"

Melne arched an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I be doing okay? What's going on?"

"It's Raemon..." Darius frowned. "You'd better come take a look."

...

"What is it?" Melne asked.

"A rock." Darius replied as he showed them a round stone. It was about the size of a baseball, and was covered with...

"Are those drawings?" Jubei asked.

"Yes?" Darius turned it over in his hands. "We're not sure what it means, but-"

"What does this have to do with Raemon?" Melne's eyes narrowed.

"Well..." Darius lowered his hand, and one of the children pulled the rock away with a grunt. "That's the thing. The goblins came back. Or, at least, the big hobgoblin did. Only, he stayed far away from the walls, and threw the stone at us."

"Why?" Melne frowned. "That makes no sense. Why didn't you shoot him with your slings?"

"That's the thing." Darius swallowed nervously. "Like I said, there were no other goblins, just the big hob, but it wasn't alone." He took a deep breath and then exhaled. "It had Raemon with him. As... a Stringfolk shield. I wanted to go out after him, but everyone else was saying it was a trick and that we couldn't have our [Guards] go out into an ambush - especially when the gate still needs another hinge made first!"

Melne's hands went to her mouth. "What? How?"

"I don't know!" Darius grimaced. "I don't even know how he got out of town! He never went through the gate! It makes no sense!"

"At least he's alive." Jubei added. "I thought the goblins would kill people they found?"

"They do." Darius said. "Not that anyone goes out there for them to get their green hands on, but they definitely are murderous little monsters."

"Hmmm..." Jubei hummed to himself, and then looked down. The stone was on the ground, and he reached down to pick it up. "What about this rock?"

"I don't know." Darius shrugged. "It has some drawings on it, but it's just nonsense."

Jubei turned the rock over in his hands. "A curse? No, it's just paint. That also rules out an attempt at getting people sick... A message?" Yes. He turned the rock until... "See? This part? This looks like the gate. And here? I'd bet that's the mine."

Melne snatched the rock from his grasp. "You're right! This is smudged, but see here? Two tall figures - one of which has no arms, or has his arms tied up. They're surrounded by smaller ones, and are..." She looked up. "I think they want to exchange Raemon for something!"

"What?" Darius took the stone back. "I mean, it's crude, but... Yeah, I can see it. They want... something from the mine? That part landed on the ground and the paint smeared. Do they want to trade him for some copper?"

"Oh no!" Melne gasped. "Raemon used to tell us of a treasure that was hidden in the mines, right? Milne? Hoat?" She glanced down. "Milne, where did your brother go?"

The small girl pointed down the road. "That way, momma."

"The mines!" Darius gasped. "I have to save him!"

He turned, and raced down the street with Jubei following him. "What's dangerous about the mines? Are there monsters down there or something? Giant rats? Bats?"

"What?" Darius glanced at him before shaking his head. "No. What sort of mine would have wild animals in it? Hoat might wander into a closed shaft - especially if he's looking for 'treasure'!"

"A closed shaft?"

"Shafts can be closed for any number of reasons: the vein runs dry, the tunnel collapses, or... if they find pockets of bad air!"

"Bad air?"

"It knocks you out if you breathe it. If someone doesn't pull you out soon, you die." Darius grimaced. "If you don't know what you're doing, you can easily suffer the same fate when trying to save someone. You shouldn't go in either."

Jubei shook his head. "I'm going to help, besides, two people can search twice as fast. Time is of the essence, right?"

"Huh." Darius pulled up as they came to the entrance. "What an odd phrase, but it's fitting." He looked around and cursed. "Everyone's down by the gate again!" He walked into a small shack and came out holding two glowing stones. "Here." He tossed one to Jubei. "You're human, so you might not fear burning, but you still don't want an open flame in the mine. That bad air? Some of it reacts poorly to fire."

"Good to know." Jubei caught the rock. "Anything else I should know?"

"Nothing comes to mind." Darius jerked his head. "C'mon, let's go!"

Jubei nodded, and followed the Stringfolk into the darkness. The stones they held in their hands pushed it back, but not far.

"Lightstones might be expensive, but..." Darius mumbled. "They SHOULD have them set up at intervals at least in the main shaft, but..." He let out a sigh. "They were taken as 'taxes'." He shook his head. "I'll take the right branches, you go left."

Jubei nodded, and turned at the first opening. Once he was out of sight of Darius, he paused. He drew his hand with the lightstone closer to his face before... No. Not yet.

Instead, he wrapped [Ninja Wire] around it. It might come in handy if there were random rats or bats, but the real reason was: Jubei spun the glowing rock, and then tossed it forwards. It flew about forty feet before plinking off a wall.

Jubei nodded. There was a shaft on the right ten feet away, and another fifteen feet after that. The tunnel also curved to the right at the very end also. That made sense. The village would be to the left, and the right tunnels would lead deeper into the mountain.

Jubei jerked his light source back to his hand while walking forward. The terrain was rough, but he could still manage to balance on it in the dark.

The first side tunnel ended after a hundred feet. There were warnings posted, and a flimsy barrier that Jubei easily squeezed through. He used his wire trick again, and saw nothing except a cave in at the very end. That might be all, or it might be filled with bad air - especially since it didn't seem well ventilated. Either way, Hoat wasn't here.

The next tunnel also had warning signs and a barrier. This one was better made, but still wasn't much of an obstacle. Jubei tossed the lightstone, and it plinked off of a solid-looking wooden door.

Jubei frowned as he walked forward. The door looked old, and was pretty well disguised. If it hadn't been for the sound the rock had made striking it, Jubei might've not noticed it.

He bent down and held the light closer to the ground. There were scratch marks at the very base of the door. Judging from the lack of dust, they were fairly recent to. Could Hoat have come this way?

Jubei pulled at the hidden door. It was locked. Still... if the young boy was looking for treasure, this seemed a likely place - especially if Raemon had told him any stories.

Jubei shaped [Ninja Wire] into some lock picks, and quickly got the door unlocked. It made a grating sound as he pulled it open and it scraped against the floor..

The next room had a table, chairs, and a cage made out of iron bars. Jubei stopped scanning it when he saw... the body.

Small.

Still.

Naked.

Lifeless.

Green.

Jubei reached up towards his face...

*Gamer's Body enabled.

...And I took my mask off.

It felt solid for a moment in my hands before it, my clothing, and my sword all faded away as [Don the Mask] ended.

I took a deep breath, and looked closer. It was a goblin. A female goblin, and it was dead with clear signs of abuse.

*Anger negated by Gamer's Mind.

Chapter 60: Masks 3

It was barbaric.

It was hypocritical.

It was evil.

The books I'd read in Wistram painted goblins as little more than monsters. Vermin that refused to be wiped out, and that could grow into a nation-shattering power if given the chance.

Velan the Kind was the last Goblin King, and was held up as proof of their nature. Give a goblin the opportunity, and they'll attack you.

I wondered if there was some genetic component? Something that resulted in species-wide psychosis?

I wished Riley was here.

Anyways. I shook my head. That might be the mile-high view, but right here, right now? The only evil I saw was in Delna.

If, IF what the books said were true, and not just revisionist history, then their might, MIGHT be a compelling argument for genocide. Or rather, quarantine. This?

I looked at the creature that was even smaller than Riley had been when I'd first met her.

This wasn't preventing a threat. This was sick people getting pleasure from the suffering of another. No. It was worse. It was getting pleasure from inflicting suffering!

*Anger negated by Gamer's Mind.

Right. I needed to take a step back. First things first. There was a missing child that still needed to be found. He was innocent in... whatever this was.

I un-Inventoried a dozen drones and mentally commanded them to start sweeping the mine. They faded from sight and began searching faster and more effectively than I could as Jubei. They'd find Hoat, and I could keep an eye on him with them. If he was in danger, I could teleport and save him.

Now, on to the less pressing issue.

It was clear that the goblins were attacking Delna because they wanted to save one of their own. That was why they'd tried making a distraction and sneaking in. They wanted a hostage exchange, not a ransom.

Was the [Mayor] in on this?

If I was to believe Raemon's timeline, and the goblins had started to attack after Borert attacked them... that would mean that the corpse in front of me had been brought back in that raid.

I had no idea how the goblins knew that. It was probably magic. The question was, did they know she was dead?

I let out a sigh.

It wouldn't be enough, but I could at least return her body to them. I Observed the corpse, and then began Crafting a Homunculus double. It wouldn't be as perfect as what Riley could make, but it should fool any casual inspection.

While I fed animal parts into the swirling mass of pixels, I Inventoried the goblin and considered my options.

1. I could do nothing.

That didn't sit well with me. It was true that I had no stake in this, but I'd decided that I wouldn't turn my head when I saw something. There might be too much in the world for me to fix, and imposing my moral judgment on others might make me a hypocrite too... but that's part of being a superhero.

Besides, the answer to 'What would Dragon do?' certainly wasn't 'Nothing'.

2. I could investigate, find out who... had done that to her, and then kill them.

That was easier said than done. If Instant Dungeon was working, it might be a possibility. As it was, I wasn't going to delay finding Sibby for that long. Sure, I was delaying it already by walking, but it was giving me a good 'eyes on the ground' perspective.

Dragon would also object to the killing, but I couldn't offer a better solution. It wasn't about punishment, it was about ensuring the same, or similar, things didn't happen in the future. As I had no capacity to restrict the perpetrators on my own, death was the simplest and most straight-forward solution.

I let out another sigh. Dragon would be disappointed.

3. I could lay out a trap.

Yes... yes... That... held promise. A debilitating virus could be tailored to cripple, not kill, everyone that came inside and...

No. That wouldn't work.

First, Riley wasn't here. I couldn't Craft viruses - they were too small. The only stuff I had from her was the death-state powder. Besides, even if I did have an appropriate virus, other people might wander in.

It was unlikely, but you couldn't just leave stuff like that lying around where anyone could get into it.

Although...

Yes. That would work. It many ways, it was worse, but I could leave behind a gift that would slowly poison people that came into this room. Just, a different type of 'poison'. They'd have to spend time here, but given the table and chairs, that wouldn't be an issue. In fact, it was a benefit.

An innocent person that discovered this room would quickly leave. Only the guilty would stay for the hours of exposure that would be necessary.

The drones I'd sent out came upon Darius - who'd already had found Hoat and was escorting him outside. Good. The kid had obviously been crying, but didn't look hurt. The tears were probably from the news of his father being kidnapped.

How did that happen anyways?

I mentally shrugged, and had one of my invisible drones continue to follow them as they made their way out of the mine. The others I directed towards the [Mayor]'s house. Part of the benefit of [Don the Mask] was being able to move about and do things without it being obvious that I was Pixel.

That said, there was no harm in providing 'Jubei' with some information. Most of my Perks, including Ears of Babel, didn't work while the mask was on. That meant the drones wouldn't be able to provide me with up-to-date information, but they also wouldn't need to.

I was sure Jubei would be able to find his way to where my bag of holding was being kept and retrieve all the stuff I couldn't put in my Inventory.

My persona was weaker than I was. Jubei didn't have my strength, speed, or resilience. He also didn't have any of my powers - except for Gamer's Mind and the various Skills that it granted - which was all of them except for the Resistances. Using anything else shattered the illusion/reality that had been wrapped around me. Except, possibly, Sibby, but I didn't consider her to only be a part of my powers in the first place. Jubei could even sense the connection I had with her.

I wondered what the logic was behind the interaction and limits the Mask imposed. Was it a contradiction? Jubei couldn't teleport, therefore if I teleported I was no longer Jubei? Or was it something else?

I wasn't exactly sure what my [Skill] did on a magical level. It worked, and that was that. Then again, it wasn't like I understood how Optimize or the other Shards did what they did either.

[Don the Mask] came easily to me. In a way, it felt like my Acting skill. It was the most natural thing in the world to speak and react as the person I'd become would've. I also obtained separate powers as Jubei - which, if I'm honest, made pretending to be him a lot of fun.

Like... a mini-game of sorts.

Of course, there were limits. Jubei was only a [Wanderer] 4, and a [Ninja 10]. I was pretty sure the [Wanderer] level was my actual one. Jubei had leveled up from 3 to 4 in it, and I'd retained that when I'd removed the mask.

No such luck with [Ninja]. It had started at 10, but didn't seem capable of progressing beyond that. That was fair. It irked me to lose out on experience, but it was fair.

Or, I might not have been doing sufficiently 'Ninja-esque' things.

Or, the exp was going towards [Superhero], but wasn't enough to advance.

Or, there was something else going on that I would have no way to discern. Like Optimize implementing a rule, or taking the experience, or who knew what else?

I also wanted to try a different alter ego, but it had taken time to visualize Jubei enough for him to become an option. I also wasn't sure I could have a second alternate form without losing the first. That would be something to experiment with later. I also wanted to test just what classes I could assume, and at what level. I suspected they would be limited somehow by the nature of, and my level in, [Superhero].

Maybe.

I knew that I could've made Jubei as a [Rogue 10], [Thief 10], [Warrior 10], or [Swordsman 10]. The conceptualization of the mask had failed when I'd tried for [Elite Shinobi 10] or [Swordmaster 10]. Heck, it couldn't even make an [Elite Shinobi 1], [Swordmaster 1], or a [Ninja 11]. Nor could I include [Avatar], [Artificer], or [Gamer] levels along with [Wanderer]. Still, I didn't want to infer anything with so few data points. There was every possibility that there was some other [Classes] out there that I could add to a mask, but not at level 10.

In any event, my drones had found the [Mayor]'s hidden safe. I dispersed them to find my main target.

I'd also finished Crafting my Homunculus. I left it in the cell. It was brain dead, and its biological functions would shut down quickly enough with my next addition that I started Crafting.

I wasn't an expert on radiation. I had blueprints that utilized and emitted all sorts. It wasn't a common Tinker specialty, but I had still managed to acquire a wide assortment of devices to choose from. Fortunately, I knew more about the effects of radiation on the human body than most.

Riley had taught me a lot - even if her choices in bedtime stories weren't normal.

It didn't take long, which was good as Darius had gotten Hoat to safety. He then turned back around and started yelling for Jubei.

I placed the trap I'd made on the ground, exited the room, and locked the door behind me. I then moved deeper into the mine. Not too deep, but I needed to get past the first bend so that it would look like I'd explored more. The light from my stone should illuminate the hallway that I was down, so Darius wouldn't stumble into the now trapped room.

At the same time, I directed all of my drones to break off from the target, and search the surrounding area for goblins. That was most important right now. I wouldn't be able to communicate with them as Jubei, but all I would need would be a moment alone to drop my mask to know where to go.

I also armed the trap, which would leave no remains once it finally used up all its MP. It should take a least several hours of exposure to become lethal. I then started Crafting a final toy. It wouldn't be much, but it could help Jubei out. I stopped once I'd gotten out of the direct line of sight that Darius would soon have. The small, yellow cube sat in my left hand as I raised the right to my face...

*Gamer's Body disabled.

...Jubei breathed out and winced. His ribs were still sore from when the [Thug] had punched him. He rubbed his jaw - that was sore too.

Eh. He shrugged, and slipped the yellow cube into his gi. He then transferred the lightstone from his right hand to his left, so that he held both it and his sword together. It was a little awkward, but it would let him draw his blade quicker.

Something seemed off...

Oh! Right.

Jubei quickly wrapped [Ninja Wire] around his wrist and hilt.

There. All done. Just in time too, as he heard Darius calling for him.

Jubei turned around and walked back to the curve in the tunnel. He could see another light coming from around the bend.

"Jubei!" Darius yelled. "I found Hoat. Are you okay?"

Jubei nodded as the two drew closer together. "Good. I was thinking about exploring some of the walled-off tunnels, but I'm glad I didn't have to."

Darius nodded. "Yes, those are all dangerous - in one way or another. Thankfully Hoat has a better head on his shoulders than I'd feared. He was checking the main shafts, but had already gotten lost." He turned around. "Let's hurry before the little idiot decides that he really SHOULD explore the mine again."

Jubei smirked.

---

Borert drummed his fingers on his desk. Wood was a luxury that most of the filth in Delna would never be able to afford. As [Mayor] though, it was his right.

He was nervous. His dangersense had gone off right after the stranger left. A few minutes ago... it had stopped, but now it was back again. There was nothing overt about it - just the sensation that something was wrong.

"Boss!" One of his goons - Jaim perhaps? - burst through the door to his office. "We have trouble!"

"What?!" Borert stood up. "Is the stranger attacking?"

"What?" Jaim shook his head. "No. It's the goblins, they took one of the [Miners] hostage."

"The goblins are past the wall?"

"No." Jaim shook his head again. "They threw a rock to get the attention of the [Guards], and taunted them or something!"

Borert let out a deep breath and rolled his eyes. "Don't barge in here for something insignificant like that." He plopped back into his chair. "If they aren't even attacking, then it doesn't matter." He should really report the incident to the Empire, but who knew how that would play out.

"But, Boss." Jaim swallowed. "The whole town is out there, and they're getting riled up."

"Pft." Borert snorted. "So what. Like I care if they're upset about the goblins being goblins. The lot of them have been surly since I tried to eliminate the threat." It was a blemish on the good name of the Empire of the Sands that ANY goblins existed within its borders. "Ungrateful curs."

"There's other talk too."

"Oh?" Borert leaned forward. "And how would you know that? Huh? Aren't the lot of you supposed to be here? Guarding me?"

"I was outside, and I heard the shouting." Jaim scowled. "You don't pay us enough to fight a mob, or a [Swordsman] or whatever that traveler is!"

"I PAY you exactly what you are WORTH!" Borert narrowed his eyes. "Now, get back out there and keep an eye open for the real threat! I don't want to hear a single word more about goblins!"

Jaim mumbled something.

"What was that?"

"I said: yes, Boss."

Borert watched as the Hemp trudged out of the room. It was impossible to get good help when all the Stringfolk in the area were of lesser cloth.

---

Jaimot closed the door behind him, and tried not to slam it. He wouldn't get rich by upsetting the [Mayor]. On the other hand, he also wasn't getting that rich by working for the [Mayor]. He stepped outside and nodded at his partner, before resuming his vigil.

Sure, he got to put everyone else in their place. The [Mayor] would've made an okay Face in a bigger city - at least as far as letting his men have fun. All the money Jaimot made? It came from the town, and Delna didn't have deep pockets.

It was getting harder and harder to shake people down.

"Ug." There was a noise to his left. Jaimot's dangersense flared. Something from above!

He tried to duck, but his throat caught on something!

His eyes went wide as he was lifted off the ground. His hands grasped at the thin metal noose that had been somehow placed around his neck! His legs kicked futilely in the air.

His partner!

Jaimot turned to see Fridan in the same position as him!

Suddenly pain shot through is body and his muscles spasmed!

He tried to shout, but his throat was both constricted by the wire and whatever was happening to him!

A moment later, everything faded to black.

---

Jubei took his thumb off of the tazer's trigger. He then slowly lowered the two bodies to the ground. It had taken some effort to lift both of them, but he'd managed.

The [Ninja Wire] around their necks disintegrated.

There was a shout from inside the house.

Jubei smiled. It was a simple [Skill], but versatile. Case in point, more spooled from his hand as he snapped it downwards. The wire caught on the lower part of the doorframe before he sent a twist through it. The wire responded better than physics should've allowed, and wrapped around a knot in the wood on the other side.

Jubei pulled it tight, and then sent another twist through it to tie it off. The wire connecting him to his trap vanished, and all that was left was a nearly invisible line across the entryway into the [Mayor]'s house.

Simple, but versatile.

It would've been better if he'd been able to take the two lookouts out without anyone else noticing, but unlike Raemon's house - this one had windows. Someone on the inside must've noticed a flailing arm or leg. That meant they'd be running out of the house soon.

Then they'd fall, and Jubei would be able to incapacitate a few more.

The door swung inside, and a woman rushed out. She tripped, but then somehow did a forward flip and landed on her feet.

Jubei scowled. It had to be a [Skill]. He wasn't used to empowered henchmen. They weren't very common on Earth Bet. Here? Everyone had abilities of one sort or another.

The next [Thug] wasn't as lucky, or just didn't have a good counter. He fell in a tumble, as did the two behind him.

"[Sword Art: Iaijutsu Wave]!"

Jubei cut to the side of the center of mass and instead struck the legs of his prone opponents. He couldn't use that [Skill] again until tomorrow, so he threw his sheath at the woman as he dropped down and landed on the people he'd just de-legged. It struck her squarely in the forehead and she toppled backwards.

The top man's scream was cut short as Jubei's wooden sandals drove into his spine. The [Ninja] then dashed into the house. He needed to use the element of surprise to whittle down some more henchmen. By his count, Borert had an even dozen minions.

Two lookouts tazed, three without legs, and one knocked out via sheath: left six remaining.

All of them were up and ready. Not a single one of them was frozen in fear or indecision. Stupid [Skills].

Jubei slid forward - keeping both feet on the floor, his first strike was a stab, but his target miraculously twisted at the last moment. His [Skill] must've been only good for a single dodge, as Jubei's downward slice got his leg.

Five left - all in a group by the couch. Jubei jumped on top of the furniture and swung at them with an exaggerated horizontal swipe. Three dodged. One got a sword-strike to the temple, but instead of dying, he staggered back.

Jubei had struck him with the flat of his blade. These people might not be the nicest in the world, but that didn't mean he had to kill them. The attack had been meant to force them to waste their dodging [Skills].

Four left.

Jubei flipped off the back of the couch and kicked it in mid-air.

Hmmm.

It didn't slide as far and as fast as he'd wanted. Instead of crashing into two of the remaining [Thugs] and pinning them against the wall, it only managed to make them double over as it struck them.

Jubei didn't hesitate, and sprung off the ground as soon as he touched it. His target gave a short yell as her eyes widened. She slashed at his face with her dagger while glancing at his right thigh.

Jubei ducked under the feint while also pivoting to move away from the real strike. She swung, he countered, and her right arm fell to the ground a second before she followed as he cut through her legs.

Three left.

Jubei cut down the next underling as he turned to run, and then began circling the last two.

Two left.

They'd extracted themselves from the furniture, and moved to flank him. One of their arms moved faster than thought, while the other exhaled a green mist.

Unfortunately for them, Jubei had plenty of experience in avoiding similar attacks. While he wasn't as fast as he would've liked, he still retained his skill with a blade. The woman with the shortsword was executing a beautiful lunge, but he doubted she'd be able to adjust it. Her weight was perfectly balanced so that she could spring to either side if necessary, but her eyes were solely focused on him.

Jubei strung [Ninja Wire] between his hands as he leapt into the air again - away from the cloud of what he assumed was poison, and over the thrusting blade. His wire wrapped around the woman's arm and he pulled it up. Her momentum caused her legs to fly out from underneath her, and she landed squarely on her back.

But, she'd avoided the attack of her 'ally'.

Jubei casually swiped at her legs and arm as he faced the last henchman.

One left.

He raised his hands up. "Look, take what you want. I don't-"

Jubei lunged and his blade flashed as it traced a pattern around the man.

He fell, but he got to keep most of his limbs. Jubei had only targeted his hands and feet.

"There." Jubei nodded to himself. "None left." He looked at the only door in the room, and gingerly began to pick his way towards it. All of the [Thugs] were immobilized, but the loss of their limbs didn't seem to cause them enough distress to make them insensitive. Rather, the conscious ones were pulling themselves out of his way while also trying to grab their severed body parts.

Jubei smirk-

Something pierced his arm!

He whirled around to see the woman who'd avoided his trip wire. He'd struck her with his sheath, but apparently not hard enough to knock her out. She'd thrown a dagger from his blind spot, and it had sunk deep into his bicep.

He felt the arm go numb as he pulled the weapon out.

Poison.

Well, venom.

Jubei's first instinct was to teleport behind his attacker and incapacitate her. Dropping his mask would make the poison a non-issue. However, that felt like losing. Like using a cheat code.

Also, it would make 'Jubei' even more suspicious. In the worst case, it might even associate him with Pixel.

Not that such a thing was inherently bad. In fact, it was probably inevitable. Still, things would be simpler the longer he flew under the radar.

Jubei took a step to the side.

Otherwise... he could cut off his arm. That would be a simple solution, but with unknown risks. He could only guess what it would do to his mask, and he didn't know if he was actually strong enough to accomplish such a thing anyways. It would also draw a lot of attention to Jubei and felt like losing in a different way.

He crouched down and put his back to the couch. One of the de-legged [Thugs] grabbed for him. Jubei recognized him as the one that had sucker-punched him in the stomach.

He kicked the man in the head.

Now, he only had a few seconds to act! [Ninja Wire] spooled in his left hand before he stuck his right arm through the hoops. Jubei grabbed part of it with his teeth and clenched tightly as he pulled on the other end.

The pain...

He quickly tied his make-shift tourniquet off. There. His right arm might be basically useless right now, but it would help hold the venom at bay. Some would've gotten to the rest of his body, but most of it would now be trapped in his arm.

That, of course, wasn't good for the limb. Depending on what the woman had used... Well, a lot of bad things could happen. Those could be fixed after the fight once he had some privacy.

Jubei heard the floor creak, and he spun to the side while standing up and throwing his sword.

It hit with a wet thunk.

His foe looked down at the skill-made steel that was now protruding from her stomach. Her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed.

Shit. He'd been trying not to kill anyone! That was why part of him was glad to face off against so many Stringfolk.

Jubei took a step before leaning on the couch. He felt light-headed. Whatever the venom was, it worked quickly. He took a deep breath before cutting the [Ninja Wire] that connected him with his sword. He'd expected to miss and use his retrieval trick again.

Now? It was better left where it was to block the bleeding. Instead, he bent down and grabbed one of the [Thug]'s knives.

No one objected.

He then marched to the only door in the house. The door that the [Mayor] was hiding behind. The door to the room that had the hidden safe with his belongings.

Jubei kicked it off its hinges.

Borert stood there with a pale face and a crossbow. He locked eyes with the man, but saw his arm swing the weapon to point at his chest. The man's hand tensed.

Jubei was already swinging his newly acquired weapon. A crossbow was significantly slower than a bullet, so he needed to time things differently. The goal was the same. He couldn't cut it out of the air - not without moving FASTER than his target. Instead, he would deflect it with his blade.

The crossbow twanged as it unleashed its projectile, and Jubei parried it.

Borert looked shocked.

"You! I! I can-"

Jubei punched him before cutting off both of his arms at the elbow. He paused and then cut off both of his feet too. He then dropped the knife, hefted Borert over his shoulder, and tossed him into the previous room.

There.

If his [Thugs] wanted their own revenge, they could take it. If the townsfolk did also, they could bloody their own hands.

Or, they might talk things out. It wouldn't be his problem anymore. Jubei reached down and grunted as he picked up the door and pushed it back into its frame. Not the best barrier, but it should stop anyone from witnessing what he was about to do.

Jubei reached up...

*Gamer's Body enabled.

...and I took my mask off again.

The [Ninja Wire] had vanished along with everything else...

Oops. That meant that Jubei's sword was gone too, and that the woman was probably bleeding out. I quickly un-Inventoried two potions onto the table. I then turned to the corner that housed Borert's hidden safe.

I Inventoried the rug, the floor panel, and the lid of the safe. There were bags of coins and documents inside of it along with... the bag of holding Seraphel had given me. Time was of the essence, so I didn't have any to spare for doing a thorough accounting of what my bag held. A quick glance showed me that everything was still there:

Rice balls, mana potions, jugs of sake, and scrying orbs.

There were still a substantial amount of glass vials filled with different colored liquids. Some might be missing, but even if they were - I still had plenty. There were also two glass spheres. One of them had been burnt out from my experimentation, and probably wasn't worth anything. The other looked fine.

I set the bag next to the Shard-created healing potions, and then replaced the lid, panel, and rug by un-Inventorying them. I then put my foot on the cloth rug, and shifted it slightly to give the impression that Jubei had done his safe cracking with a [Skill] or something.

There. I didn't think there was anything else left to do, so I put my mask back on...

*Gamer's Body disabled.

...Jubei winced. His arm hurt. With the [Ninja Wire] tourniquet gone, the poison was racing through his system again.

No. Not poison. Venom.

Regardless, he had the solution at hand. He picked up one of the bottles, and swallowed the red, blocky liquid inside.

It was creamy, slimy, and gritty all at the same time. The flavor was sour, rancid, bitter, and yet somehow sickeningly sweet! Jubei gagged.

*Disgust negated by Gamer's Mind.

The aftertaste wasn't pleasant, but that was what medicines were like. So... Jubei shrugged. He guessed that was first hand 'proof' that his potions didn't taste good. He'd known that in the abstract, but experiencing it for himself was a novel event.

He shook his head and spit. The 'flavors' just weren't going away! Plus, somehow, he was smelling things from his mouth that he had never smelt before.

At least the pain in his arm was ebbing.

He tossed his sword in the corner. It would vanish soon enough. He then slipped his bag into his gi, let his right arm hang by his side, and picked up the potion with his left.

Jubei pulled the door open, and it promptly fell to the ground. Almost a dozen pairs of eyes locked onto him as he trudged out of the [Mayor]'s office. No one took any action or spoke. Most of them looked away.

Jubei stopped as he came to the woman he'd impaled. Her rough face was pale, and a puddle of blood surrounded her. All the Stringfolk were bleeding, but not as much as any other race would've if they'd had their limbs amputated. It seemed that internal wounds didn't gain the same benefit from their magical physiology.

"Here." He popped the rubber stopper from the potion, and handed it to her. "Drink this."

"What..." Her glazed eyes focused on him and she swallowed. "What is it?"

"A healing potion. It will stop the bleeding and save your life." And do much more if needed. Jubei wondered if Stringfolk could regrow limbs with it. That was a thought for another time.

"Heh." She chuckled and raised her bloody hand to grab the offered vial. "Looks strange, but I ain't got nuthin' ta lose anyways."

Her arm gave out, and the potion nearly slipped through her fingers, but Jubei caught her hand and gently brought the bottle to her lips.

She swallowed, choked, and then gagged, but she got it down.

"Burn my stitches!! That is the most vile potion I've ever-" She took a deep breath and her eyes widened. "It's gone." She whispered. "The pain is gone!" She brought her hands to her chest and rubbed them over the now smooth skin. (Well, rough skin, she was a hemp after all, but it was blemish free.) "What in the name of Elucina was that?!?"

"Just a healing potion." Jubei stood up and lowered his straw hat before walking out the door - and over the Stringfolk that were still lying there. He made sure to have his right arm dangle at his side to sell the idea that he was still injured.

And to hopefully distract anyone that wondered about where his sword had gone.

Eh, even if they noticed, they'd assume it was a [Skill]. Jubei needed to remember that superpowers weren't as memorable in this world.

Outside, most of the town were still gathered in front of the gate. The mob was discussing Raemon's kidnapping, and hadn't given the [Mayor], or what was going on at his house, any attention. That was fine with Jubei, he only had two more things to do before he left Delna and continued on his journey.

...Maybe three.

Chapter 61: Masks 4

I stood in a back alley a ways away from Delna's gate.

Now that my mask was off again, Threat Sense let me know that I wasn't being observed. I'd thought about leaving town via the gate, but then people would ask me questions. Besides, it had been important to drop the mask as soon as possible so as to not have any more witnesses to my vanishing sword.

I let out a sigh.

There was still a notable link between Jubei and Pixel. All the Stringfolk I'd beaten had still been very conscious when I'd administered the potion. Worst, I'd left it behind. A pixelated vial and stopper weren't the worst things in the world, but they would most definitely be noticed.

Ah, well. I shrugged.

I wasn't going to go and assault them again over it. Besides, there was something else I wanted to do that would be even more blatant. That reminded me - I couldn't just teleport out of here and find the goblins. Jubei would need to speak to some people first.

I put the mask back on...

*Gamer's Body disabled.

...Jubei stretched. He felt fine. It might be a good idea to carry a healing potion on him in the future so he didn't have to jump through hoops of his own making to get one if he needed it. Yeah, the worst that could happen would be a pickpocket taking it. That wouldn't be so bad, they were easy enough for him to get.

Right. Jubei nodded to himself, and stuck his sword in his belt, and his right arm in his gi. Best to keep up the charade of his arm being wounded. Plus, it would let him keep a hand on his bag of holding.

In fact...

Yeah. That would be a cooler mask to use in the future. He'd have to give it a try. He needed to switch things up after he left anyways. What a great [Skill]!

In any event, he exited the alley and headed towards the crowd. He craned his head and saw his targets. Darius was standing next to Melne, while Hoat and Milne hugged their mother's legs. Some other villagers were talking with them.

"...be okay. We'll get Raemon back."

"Such stupid monsters! If we had any treasure the Empire would've gotten it already."

"Even if they hadn't, why would we keep it hidden in our mines instead of, I don't know, selling it!"

"Right? If that was the case, we could hire adventurers to clear them out!"

"We could've afforded that before Borert came."

"The goblins weren't a big problem before Borert came."

"Yeah! That's right!"

Jubei assumed the discussion had started about Raemon, but had drifted away. He walked up to Melne. "Don't worry, I'll get Raemon back."

"Really?" Hoat looked up at him. "You promise?"

Jubei ruffled his head, and then that of his sister. "I promise. I can sneak in and free him. Don't worry."

"I'll go with you." Darius grabbed his shoulder and then whispered into his ear. "What happened to your arm? Are you injured?"

"Oh... that." Jubei shrugged. "I beat up Borert and his [Thugs] and got my property back. I'll be leaving after returning Raemon, since my presence will likely spark something." He reached up with his left hand and released himself from Darius' grip. "And, no offense, but you'll only slow me down."

Darius frowned, but stepped back and nodded. Had Jubei told him about Borert stealing his stuff? Or had the [Guard] found out another way? Or just had made an assumption? Either way, the matter was settled.

Jubei noticed that the other villagers had stopped talking and were looking at him with odd expressions. They quickly parted as he moved towards the gate, and none of them made any effort to stop him.

...

Once Jubei was out of sight of Delna, he took off his mask...

*Gamer's Body enabled.

...I cracked my neck. That had gone pretty well I thought. I absent-mindedly Inventoried the DNA samples Jubei had gathered as I re-connected to my drones with my Babel Perks.

Ah.

Good.

They'd found Raemon and the goblins. They'd also found another group of goblins higher up in the foothills. Judging from the markings... I assumed that the two groups were of the same tribe, and that the second location was their real village.

It looked much nicer than the first one, which more closely resembled a long-term camping spot than an actual place to live.

Hmmm...

Did the goblins set up their fake village as a distraction? Something to have adventurers come and destroy? Someplace full of sacrificial pawns?

I frowned. I didn't know how I felt about that. Strategically, it was a decent bluff. It especially made sense as a staging ground to raid merchants. In fact... yep. No babies or children in the fake village.

That meant that, whatever else was going on, that the goblins there were somewhat aware of their situation. I couldn't say for certain if they were volunteers or conscripts, but I guessed it didn't matter. At the end of the day, it was their society.

The books at Wistram painted goblins as nothing more than bloodthirsty monsters, but that seemed entirely to be due to Goblin Lords and Kings. It seemed natural to me that an oppressed people would react violently to the countries that had tried to exterminate them in the past.

The counter argument for that was the most recent Goblin King: Velan the Kind. The book hadn't gone into detail, but Velan had supposedly been, well, kind. His tribe had lived somewhat harmoniously in Baleros - one of the other continents. Baleros didn't have nations as such, so I guessed that was how Velan's tribe had gotten to the size it had been - a supposed fifth 'Great Company'.

Then, he'd snapped - and all the goblins everywhere had snapped along with him. The result? A massive army that had lain waste to multiple nations across three continents.

...That was worrisome, to be sure. Ultimately, it wasn't my problem. Persecuting someone for something the MIGHT do in the future was wrong.

I sighed. I might've felt differently if I had been on the opposing side of a goblin horde. Plus, Velan's rampage had only been little more than ten years ago.

*Melancholy negated by Gamer's Mind.

Right. That was neither here nor there. The greater picture wasn't important. My current goals were to get Raemon back, and to return the dead goblin to her people.

Hopefully they would mesh nicely...

---

Smallsticks reached down and felt at the brown grass. Dry, but not dry enough. It might start growing again now that the weather wasn't as cold.

She still picked it. She couldn't afford to be that selective. If she'd had her way, she'd only gather actual wood. It was soooo much better. It could burn, be sharpened as a weapon, or eaten as a delicacy.

The grass would burn, but it was useless as a weapon, and it gave her the runs. Bluepath had told them that was because it was poisonous, but not so poisonous it would kill them.... which meant that it made up a large amount of their village's diet.

Smallsticks looked left and right, but she didn't see any more grass. Her basket was mostly full, but gathering grass wasn't the real reason she was out this far. The real reason was that she was small and quick. Everyone that had volunteered to stay in the decoy village was.

Smallsticks was now a decoy within a decoy. She smiled. The thought was funny somehow.

They needed to get Goodroot back. She wasn't a decoy. She was important. She never should've been close to where the cloth people could take her!

There was a small cough behind her!

Smallsticks whirled around. A cloth person was towering above her!

She froze.

...The large person said something, but Smallsticks didn't speak the cloth people language. If only she'd heard him coming, she could've lured him into another trap!

Wait.

Smallsticks tilted her head. That was an interesting hat. Was it made out of grass like her basket? Was that another use for it? And, why wasn't he yelling, or trying to grab her? Her eyes focused on the cloth man's face as her heart started to slow down. He was smooth. Most cloth people were rough. So... was he one of their versions of a hobgoblin?

No.

She tilted her head the other way. Cloth people had threads in their bodies. She couldn't see any on him, and... Her eyes traveled down.

'Goodroot!' She squeaked. It was Goodroot! The Chief's plan had worked!

But...

She wasn't moving.

'Goodroot. You okay?' She poked her friend.

No movement.

'Goodroot. Say something! Not funny!' Smallsticks let her hand drop as the small glimmer of hope died in her chest. Goodroot was dead. She'd been dead ever since the cloth people had taken her. It just had taken her a while to die.

And now, it was Smallsticks turn.

She would run, but she'd be caught. The man was too close. She'd have to at least try and lead him to the ambush spot and away from the village. She could do that much.

Her eyes watered, but she didn't cry. Goblins knew not to waste water on things like that, and even now that habit was part of her.

'I come trade.' The man spoke! His hat was gone and his clothes were different! Magic! 'Give body for cloth person. Sorry for loss.'

Smallsticks looked at him blankly before nodding. Right. That was part of the Chief's plan too. She turned to guide him to the ambush spot.

---

I followed the goblin while carrying the corpse of the other one in my arms. Thankfully, I had used one of my silicone bags to match my appearance to Jubei after discovering that [Don the Mask] changed that as well. There were both upsides and downsides to that.

Looking the same would've meant that I couldn't use ending or starting the skill as a quick disguise. However, it also meant that I could switch back to my 'real' body more seamlessly. I figured that was the more likely scenario: that Jubei would get into a situation where he needed Pixel's skills.

Plus, I could always use Tongue of Babel to 'speak' with light. It had taken some practice, and it still wasn't as good as it could be, but I could essentially use holograms as an emergency if I had to.

My guide was leading me into a trap.

Or, it could be where the goblins wished to make the exchange.

Or, there might not be an exchange because their comrade was dead.

My drones had found Raemon, so I could teleport to him whenever I wanted. As such, the trap didn't concern me... Unless the goblins had some sort of magic that could turn the tables. I doubted that, but I started pumping my mana into Threat Sense just to be sure.

I hoped that the meeting wouldn't take too long. If it did, I'd have to drink one of my mana potions to maintain my empowered Skill.

We passed the hidden goblins on the outer perimeter, and moved to the center. The scarred hobgoblin stepped out from behind a rock.

'Chief.' The female goblin grunted and made some gestures. 'Man come with Goodroot. Dead.'

I slowly placed the body of the dead goblin on the ground and stood up. 'I give. You give cloth person.' I grunted and made the gestures that were part of their language.

**Chief Angrywound is surprised.

Angrywound - which I suddenly knew how to sign/speak in goblin - narrowed his eyes. 'How you speak?'

'I smart.' I tapped my head. 'I watch.'

**Chief Angrywound is cautious.

Angrywound grunted. 'You give body. You take cloth person. You leave.'

I nodded. 'I agree.' I then stepped away from both the corpse and the goblin gatherer.

Angrywound let out a sharp whistle, and pointed at one of the hidden goblins. 'Go get cloth person.' He then looked at me, and lowered his arm.

I got the suspicion that he would've given more orders if I hadn't been able to understand him. His notifications weren't calm, but they also weren't aggressive. He was wary, and not looking for a fight.

At least not now. It was entirely possible that they hadn't intended to honor the trade at first.

I stopped empowering Threat Sense.

If there was an attack, I'd need to save it for the fight - assuming they had magic. Now that I was this close, I should be able to sense any hostile intent before it came to such a thing.

...

It had taken a while for the goblin to make his way to where Raemon was being held alongside the other goblins. They pointed and argued, but soon a pair of them were leading the [Miner] back towards us. His hands were tied tightly behind his back with strips from his shirt. The rest of the garment had been fashioned into a bag that was draped over his head.

He stumbled as he walked, and tried to run away twice. He didn't get far as the goblins tripped him, and then jumped on his back both times. Eventually, the bruised and haggard man came into view and was escorted next to Angrywound.

'Here.' The hobgoblin grunted as he shoved Raemon towards me. 'Take. Leave.'

'Yes.' I nodded in return before bending down and picking the Stringfolk up like a sack of potatoes. Jubei might've had his balance thrown off by hauling a man over one shoulder, but my real body could handle the weight with ease.

I turned and walked away, but my drones kept watch. Several goblins emerged from their hiding spots while brandishing sharpened sticks and rocks. None of them moved to attack. Once I was out of sight, they crowded around their fallen companion.

**Chief Angrywound is sad.
**Smallsticks is sad.
**Rockmouth is sad.
**Greenpiss is sad.
**Backbender is sad.
**Bignose is sad.
**Stupidrun is sad.

Once we got far enough away, and Threat Sense let me know that no one was watching, I gently put Raemon down before putting my mask on...

*Gamer's Body disabled.

Jubei drew his sword.

"Hey! What's going on?" Raemon's voice was muffled. "Let me go you little freaks!"

The katana flashed as it severed the cloth that was wrapped around Raemon's head. "Don't yell." Jubei spoke as he moved to free the man's hands. "The goblins are still close by, and we don't want to attract their attention."

"What?" He twisted to look at Jubei. "What's going on? Did you save me? How?"

"Silence." The [Ninja] hissed. "We're still in danger. We need to move swiftly but stealthily!"

"Oh, uhm, okay." Raemon sagged and let out a shudder. "Yeah... yeah... let's, uhm, let's go."

"Can you walk?" Jubei sheathed his sword.

"Yeah." Raemon staggered to his feet. "I can- whoa!"

He toppled to one side, but Jubei caught him. "Come. Let's get you home."

The pair made their way down the foothills with Raemon leaning on the human's shoulder. They moved quicker once they got to flat ground. When the walls of Delna came into view, Raemon straightened up and pushed Jubei away. There were shouts from the sentries shortly after, and a group of Stringfolk came running out to escort them the rest of the way back.

...

I'd slipped away from the crowd and taken off my mask.

While it wasn't my intended result, I could make good use of the distraction. That was doubly true as there was also a commotion going on by the [Mayor]'s house. I called my drones back from the foothills. The goblins were retreating up the mountain and didn't seem like they'd be coming down again any time soon.

One drone went over each group of people in Delna, while another shot out to the desert. I called the rest back and Inventoried them as I made my way to my target: Maria Fonseca.

Dragon's file said that she was fourteen and had vanished from Cape Verde. Several hours of scrying had done the rest. She wasn't in any imminent danger from what Wistram could tell, so locating her hadn't been their highest priority.

I'd also warned them off of confronting any Earthers who were doing well. While there were quite a few that were in trouble, most of those that we could scry had been managing to get along okay. Several had actually formed groups and were searching for more of their kidnapped brethren.

I'd visit them all in turn, but quite frankly, I didn't trust Wistram to make a good first impression - especially since the Earthers were still a secret. The [Mages] that could be sent out to gather them were mostly being kept in the dark. Thus, only the Earthers who were actually in danger were being contacted - at least for right now.

That would change when we found a way back. However, if that failed? Then the people that were integrating themselves and even founding communities would be better served where they were instead of grouped up in Wistram and dependent on the good graces of the [Mages].

The shame of it was that there weren't that many to investigate, relatively speaking. I had over three hundred people on my list, but less than half of them were showing up in our scrying attempts. Dead, blocked, or perhaps in another different world - there were any number of possible reasons for the rather large discrepancy.

Ultimately, hundreds of targets wasn't beyond Wistram's scope, but it would still cause a disruption if they moved too carelessly.

Maria Fonseca was one of the Earthers that wasn't doing so great. She wasn't in any imminent danger that I could tell, but she also wasn't thriving. She'd locked herself in a room that had been given to her and refused to come out. [Mages] coming to talk to her probably wouldn't go over well - especially since I doubted she spoke English.

I knocked on her door and used Tongue of Babel to speak Portuguese. "Hello, Maria? I am someone from Earth. I've been searching for people who have vanished."

**Maria is surprised.
**Maria is scared.
**Maria is hopeful.

I heard rustling and something large being moved. I patiently waited several minutes before the door slowly opened. A dark-skinned girl with long hair and wide eyes looked at me as she cracked open the door. "You are from Earth? You speak Portuguese?"

**Maria is hopeful.
**Maria is scared.

"Yes." I nodded. "I was sent to try and find all the people who'd vanished."

**Maria is surprised.

"There are others?"

"Several hundred at least." I let out a sigh. "I still don't know HOW this all happened, but I can take you to a safe place." I held up a hand. "Be warned, it is something of a gilded cage for now. The people there will take care of you and protect you, but leaving will require speaking with me."

**Maria is sad.
**Maria is resigned.

"Very well." She couldn't hide the disappointment in her voice.

I chuckled. "Don't be afraid. If you don't want to go, then you can stay here. I'll return once I've figured out how to find a way back to Earth." I shrugged. "Heck, if you prefer it here to Earth that's fine too. I'm offering help. I don't intend to force anything on you."

**Maria is surprised.
**Maria is hopeful.

"Really?"

"Yes." I put as much conviction as I was able into my voice.

**Maria is worried.

"The cage, is it nice?"

I shook my head and smiled. "It's not a literal cage. It's actually a school for [Mages]. There will be other people from Earth there. The [Mages] will probably ask you about Earth, but you'll be free not to answer. You can also play video games or even learn magic if you want."

**Maria is surprised.
**Maria is happy.

"So... it's like Hogwarts?"

I let out a sigh. "Yes... it's like Hogwarts." Or so I'd been told - at length. Multiple times. For each person I'd been pretending to be.

**Maria is determined.

"Okay!" She nodded her head. "I'll go." She then frowned and looked away. "Can I tell Rusema goodbye? She took me in and fed me despite me not being able to speak or help out."

I smiled. "That's fine. How about we wait for her, then I can teleport you there. In the meantime we can talk and I can answer any other questions you might have."

**Maria is happy.

"Okay!"

Maria seemed inordinately happy to talk to me. It was probably because I was both from Earth and spoke in her native tongue. I explained that I was from a second, different Earth, and that I was a superhero. That led to all sorts of questions, and eventually her disbelief turned to amazement.

Though, that was probably due to me showing off one of my suits and offering to make her a video game.

**Maria is amazed.

"Wow." Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open as she watched the pixels swirl together into a hand held system. "So, what else can you make?"

I shrugged as I handed it over. "Lots of things." I had a ton of blueprints from Dragon. That, combined with the schematics for the individual components of every Tinkertech item I'd ever Observed meant that most things were within my capabilities - as long as they weren't required to do more than three or so different things.

"Can you make me a translator?"

I blinked.

Oh. Right. I supposed that WOULD be a nice thing for her to have...

Oh man. Michail has the translation amulet now, but those things aren't common. Plus he didn't have it when he was with Cara...

And she'd even specifically complained about him not understanding English...

And I'd even made a video game system for Jia Hao right in front of him to...

"Pixel?"

I shook my head. "Ah, yeah, I can do that. It will only last about a year, but it should be able to translate just about anything." But NOT everything. I began Crafting it, while making sure to limit what Ears of Babel could be used for. It would be stupid of me to rely on it for encryption and surveillance - and then give someone else access to it.

At least, someone else that wasn't Riley. If my sister had a 'universal translator', I could've gotten in contact with her via Tongue of Babel no matter where in the world she was. Or it could've let me confirm she hadn't been transported with me.

"There." The end result was a small ear bud. "Just put it in your ear, and it will send vibrations through your jaw. Use this knob to adjust how loud it is."

**Maria is perplexed.

"It's too big to fit in my ear. And too blocky"

I chuckled. "No, that's just how it looks. Feel it with your fingers. It's actually smaller and smoother."

"Oh." She rubbed it between her finger and thumb. "Oh!" She then tucked her hair behind her ear, and inserted it. "Say something in English!"

"Your landlady, er, Rusema is approaching." I spotted her with the drone I'd left outside. "Could you let her know you'll be teleporting away?"

**Maria is surprised.

"We are?"

I shook my head. "You are. The teleporter can only take one person to Wistram at a time." And it takes a while to recharge. "I also have other people like you to find."

**Maria is disappointed.

"Oh."

I smiled. "Don't worry." I un-Inventoried a Communication Cube. "You can use this to speak with me if there's an emergency or if something happens." I handed it over to her. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine."

**Maria is happy.

"Thank you!" Threat sense went off. She was about to grapple me!

I gently patted her on the back as she hugged me. She was about the same age as Riley was now. I'm glad I was getting her to safety.

...

**Rusema is suspicious.

"Do you think I'm just going to stand here and let you march in and lie to this foolish child?" The elderly Stringfolk woman poked my chest with a long, bony finger. "Hm? You plan on taking her to a big city and selling her to a slaver!"

**Maria is embarrassed.

"Rusema!" She whispered through clenched teeth. "It's not like that! He's from Earth too!"

**Rusema is affectionate.

"Oh, my poor, dear, sweet, naive child." She turned and stroked the side of Maria's face. "You're too sheltered. You don't know enough about this world. There are no [Heroes]. Anyone that swoops in to 'save' you is really only out to line their own pockets."

"He IS from Earth." Maria's face was flushing. "He can prove it."

"Oh?" Rusema arched an eyebrow. "And how is he going to do that?"

I mentally sighed as I prepared to un-Inventory 'proof'. It really would've been easier to kidnap her...

...

I stepped out of the room and exhaled. We'd finally convinced Rusema that I was on the up-and-up. Or, that I was strong and rich enough that I wouldn't be going around to random towns and spiriting away unsuspecting teenagers.

I took the time to Craft my final parting gifts.

People should have access to video games, and the kids here didn't seem to have many good toys.

However, there were a number of issues that I could foresee:

1. They could get addicted and do nothing else. This was especially possible given that the [Gamer] class existed.
2. They would probably be pressured into selling any tech I gave them, or have it stolen.
3. I could implement safety features, but making them playable by only a single person would mean they couldn't share. Making them dependent on the recipient to work would likely lead to someone kidnapping them or something.
4. They would be very obviously associated with Pixel.

I might be over thinking things, or I might've been influenced by Rusema's worries.

Still, better safe than sorry.

How about?

1. Simple games. Nothing as basic as Pong, but still something from the 8-bit era. Also, only a single game each instead of an extensive library.
2. Add a Tinkertech sensor that will fry the game if it's taken too far away from the child I gave it to or if the console was scanned with magic or taken apart. That wouldn't prevent any theft, but it should at least make it less desirable.
3. Don't tell them about the sensor and add some randomization into the distance/time it triggers off of. If there was no known need for the children to be close to the video game, and if the link was difficult to detect, then everything should be relatively safe.
4. That ship had already sailed due to the potion. Might as well do some good. [Don the Mask] will still let me go incognito if I want to.

I mean, the safest thing to do would be nothing, but that was a poor reason to deprive someone of access to video games...

5. Make enough gaming systems so that they aren't rare things.

And... there.

I'll have Jubei give these to Hoat and Milne. Who knows? Maybe The Legend of Zelda and Mega Man will inspire them or unlock some special [Classes]?

...

"You ready?"

**Maria is nervous.

She closed her eyes and then nodded her head as she stepped onto the platform. "Let's do this!"

"Okay." I reached out to the base I'd constructed underneath Wistram with Tongue of Babel and engaged its long-range teleporter. It connected to the platform under the Cape Verdean and grabbed her. The next moment, Maira vanished.

**Rusema is surprised.

"Don't worry." I reassured the Stringfolk. "She's just fine." I bowed my head. "Thank you for looking after her."

**Rusema is embarrassed.

"Feh." Rusema snorted. "It's what any person with half a heart would do. Now, git so she's not alone there!"

I chuckled and Inventoried the Teleportation Pad. "Very well." I nodded one last time, and then teleported to where my drone was hovering outside of the town. I couldn't easily return to Wistram. The teleporter needed several days to recharge, and it could only teleport so much mass at once. Although, I would need to return at some point to maintain it. My Tinkertech was fairly stable - at least compared to that of most other Tinkers, but for complicated devices I still needed to re-Craft them from time to time.

"Maria, I'd like you to meet Blackmage." I swept my projected arm towards Aaron. "He's mostly in charge of things here since he's been around the longest." I was using the Communication Cube I'd given her to speak to them both.

"Is this really like Hogwarts?" She looked around with wide eyes. "Can I really learn magic here?"

Aaron smiled. "You sure can! The next semester is starting soon."

I left them there to talk, and called my drones back to my real body. There. Now, to just put the mask back on and have Jubei deliver his parting gifts...

I stopped. There was something... there! In the background. I'd learned how to tap into the scrying network with Ears of Babel. Or, it might be more appropriate to say that Optimize had learned how? In any case, it was a soft buzz in the background the same way that radio signals or cell phones had been back on Earth Bet. Scrying actually contained more data as it wasn't limited by bandwidth or resolution.

Most of the time I ignored it, but sometimes someone broadcast to everyone. That took power or skill. Or even just multiple [Mages] bouncing the message around. For those, I paid attention... and this one seemed important. A giant of a man with red and golden hair was saying something:

'I am the King of Destruction! I have returned! If there is any nation that seeks my end, come! Send your armies to me! But I will not make war on any nation that treats my people and my kingdom as friend! Let any who crave glory flock to my banner, and any foe of mine quake behind your walls! I am Flos of Reim and I have awoken!'

'The Empire of Sands is my foe! I will slay the Emperor of Sands myself! As for Wistram, send Amerys to me! Return to me my [Mage] or I will sail upon your walls and break your academy into dust! I say again, I will make war on no nation that does not attack my people! But the blood of Drevish stains the Empire of Sands and I will return the favor a hundred thousand times over!'

It wasn't anything I, or Wistram, hadn't known already, and it didn't directly concern me. Except... I was now the singular person who had any say in what happened to Amerys.

Notes:

Bios:

Maria Fonseca - OC. An Earther from Cape Verde. She appeared in the desert, but managed to stumble into Delna.

Various Goblins - OC. Doing pretty well for goblins. The [Merchants] they raid usually are carrying food. Their Shaman has a non-sentimental reason for wanting her apprentice's corpse back.

Author's Note:
Credit to drvash for the idea of Pixel distributing video games to people he meets.

Also, Flos' speech was taken directly from the Wandering Inn.

Chapter 62: Masks 5

Auron looked over his glasses at the gigantic, brown scorpion that was wriggling out of the sand. He closed his eyes and let out a small sigh before spreading his legs and lowering his stance. He then shrugged off the left side of his jacket that his arm had been resting in and gripped his greatsword with both hands.

The arachnid had sensed him, and it was charging.

"[Power Strike]."

He swung his greatsword with perfect timing and the tip cleaved through the creature's head. Auron quickly jumped back and turned around. The eight foot long scorpion's momentum carried it forward and into the sand - which billowed up and around Auron.

It got in his short, spiky hair and covered his back, but it didn't get in his eyes. When the cloud settled, it revealed him standing calmly in-between the outstretched claws. His left arm was back inside of the pouch made by his jacket and belt, while his right arm gripped the hilt of his greatsword which rested on his shoulder.

Auron smirked to himself before noticing some billowing sand on the horizon. Horses. Mounted riders. Armed and armored.

He hefted his greatsword and spun it around before slamming it blade-first into the ground. He then took the jug of water that hung off of his belt and took a deep pull from it.

The riders drew closer faster than they should've been able to. Either they all had movement [Skills], or one of them had one that could be shared.

"Ho there!" The lead rider shouted as he pulled at his horse's reins. He then frowned as he looked at the dead scorpion. "So, you've already killed it." His voice was flat.

"That was our bounty!" The woman on the right exclaimed. "We'd called it at the guild!"

"Easy there, Wiskin." The one on the left smiled. "Our fellow adventurer here killed it by himself, and with one blow to boot. He's clearly gold-rank."

"Oh!" Wiskin's frown turned apologetic. "You're right." She bowed her head. "I'm sorry. We didn't know that there was a gold rank in the area. You, of course, have every right to-"

"Leave it." The foremost rider interrupted her. "I'm sure that our compatriot doesn't need to hear your repeated apologies. Do you? Sir..."

Auron's smile was hidden by the leather cone of his jacket's top, but it was there. "You can call me Auron. I'm not an adventurer, just a wanderer." He jerked his thumb at the corpse. "Feel free to take the body and the credit. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Ha." Wiskin laughed. "You and every other traveler along this road. That thing has killed-"

Their leader held up his hand. "We will accept the corpse, but not the credit. It wouldn't be honorable for us to claim a bounty that isn't our own."

Auron shrugged as he re-tied his jug to his belt. "Do what you will. Claim it in my name and keep it. I don't care."

"Hmmmm..." The man stroked his chin. "Then I shall trade you information and advise for it. Do not go into Merimheim. The Emperor is gathering their troops, and our local [Baron] seeks to swell his by conscription. If a [Warrior] such as yourself were to enter, with such a noticeable outfit and sword..." He shook his head. "Without the Adventurer's Guild to back you up, someone might do something stupid."

"I still say there's good money to be made there Tybion." Wiskin grumbled. "We could level too."

"As [Soldiers], Wiskin, as [Soldiers]." It sounded like an old argument.

Auron nodded. "I thank you for your information and advice. It was well worth the effort in killing this monster." He kicked one of the scorpion's claws, and it snapped shut as some automatic reflex kicked in despite its current state. "I will be on my way then."

He scanned the horizon where the outline of the city was barely visible, and then walked at an angle away from it and off the road.

...

Auron looked around to make sure no one was anywhere close by. The city was still a lump on the horizon, and there were a few dust clouds from people traveling to and from it, but the Empire of Sands lived up to its name. The city might have been built around an oasis, but all of its greenery was encased behind thick stone walls.

Even this close, the desert reigned.

Auron reached up..

*Gamer's Body enabled.

..and I removed my mask.

In hindsight, Auron might not've been the best person to impersonate - he didn't blend in as well as Jubei from Ninja Scroll had. The thing was, I had a soft spot in my heart for Final Fantasy X. It had been the first in the series I'd gotten to play after Leviathan had sunk Kyushu. The Endbringer hadn't killed the entire video game industry, but it had felt that way for a few years.

That was the reason I'd played and re-played so many old games as a kid. That, and they were cheap.

The Playstation 2 should've been released in 2000, the same year Aleph had gotten it. Instead, it had been three years before it had hit shelves in North America. Final Fantasy X had been the first release I'd played on it. Rumors on the net were that the data for it had been sent over from Aleph.

I'd picked up another copy from Earth Iota before I'd been taken.

It was mostly the same. There were just a few minor changes to some enemy names and equipment. Plus, the lack of a side quest that...

Anyways.

The point was that Auron was NOT the most inconspicuous person. It had taken me days to get the Mask's outfit just right. Sure, adventurers in this world also tended to be more flamboyantly dressed than most others, but not to such a degree.

The bright red jacket, with its six-inch collar would definitely have drawn attention. That wasn't even mentioning the greatsword and its lack of a sheath.

*Disappointment negated by Gamer's Mind.

I let out a sigh. Oh well.

The potential advantage of an Earther I wasn't aware of seeing my cosplay and approaching me was slim anyways. Still... it had been fun while it had lasted.

In any event, it was time for my next target. The drones I'd Crafted would make entering this city undetected much easier than what I'd gone through back in Noelictus. I un-Inventoried a few along with a force-field pylon. I then sat down and concentrated on searching the city with them.

...

*Disgust negated by Gamer's Mind.
*Hatred negated by Gamer's Mind.

The city was... fine mostly. Happy faces. Green trees. Water. Well-maintained buildings and roads. Guards with well-polished weapons.

The problem, as always, was hidden from sight. I wasn't referring to the homeless or the less-rich parts of towns. There were lots of street urchins and run-down buildings in the outskirts. They still had walls to protect them, and water to drink - even if numerous people looked dehydrated.

Still... they weren't the worst off. The other problem wasn't even hidden. Instead, it was proudly displayed as if it were a normal part of life. People with collars that were being forced to do the most physically demanding jobs.

Slaves.

I felt like I should do something. Dragon would've done something.

But... what?

Arbitrarily going there and breaking their collars wouldn't accomplish anything but enraging the local populous. I couldn't very well escort the freed people anywhere, nor could I remove whatever [Classes] also shackled them.

Besides... they actually looked better off than the poor. That was probably by design. It might be a way to get more slaves. If your only choices are poverty or slavery...

I let out a sigh. I wanted to be a hero, but I ultimately didn't care much. My instinctual reaction had been muted by Gamer's Mind. So, on a logical level, I knew that this wasn't a good thing, but I could also see that I simply wasn't capable of enforcing any real change.

If my target had been a [Slave]... Well, I'd have to reconsider things in that case. There was a significant difference in freeing a single person vs. the thousands I saw.

I shook my head and put it out of my mind.

Instead, I should focus on what good I could do while I was here - and what video games I could give people. The two game systems I'd left back in Delna were a start, but the best way to keep people from hoarding a resource was to oversaturate the market.

...As if there could be such a thing as too many video games.

It also felt like it was what my Crafting ability was made to do. The screens I could produce looked no different from a 'normal' one. They were already pixels after all.

So... I had two goals: Getting in contact with George Salvatore, and spreading some video games while I was here. They weren't mutually exclusive. In fact, I could use one to cover for the other.

I didn't NEED to, but it would be fun!

I stopped focusing on my drones and considered just what I should do, and what games I'd leave behind.

...Wait. What? Something was missing...

My Golden Gun!!! I couldn't hear it! There was only silence!

After the [Pickpocket] had swiped it, I'd made my ultimate weapon constantly discharge a sound that only Ears of Babel could hear. It was a fluctuation in stuff that only Shards understood. Regardless of if it was inside of my Inventory or anywhere else in the world, I should be able to hear it!

*Panic negated by Gamer's Mind.
*Anger negated by Gamer's Mind.

Right. Right. I need to calm down and think about this. Ears of Babel wasn't active while I was wearing a mask. Could someone have stolen it while I was Jubei or Auron? I immediately sent a drone over to the 'adventurers' Auron had encountered.

At the same time, I started pouring mana into Threat Sense.

I was alone. Nobody was looking at me. Nobody was anywhere close to me. The forcefield still surrounded me.

The adventurers were busy chopping up the giant scorpion. I'd also remembered hearing the Golden Gun before I sat down to scout the city. Gamer's Mind would've prevented any Stranger effects - even as Auron. They probably weren't the culprits.

I'd confront them later, just to be sure.

I didn't know if Tongue of Babel would broadcast outside of dimensional pockets besides my own. A high-level thief might have been following me...

And somehow avoiding Threat Sense, even in its non-magic sensing mode...

And avoided me noticing them, or Gamer's Mind triggering...

And gotten past my forcefield...

And vanished in an instant...

Or maybe...

Was there something wrong with the Golden Gun that I hadn't noticed? Had the constant use of Tongue of Babel drained it completely? It had... been active constantly for a long time. I still tried to put MP into it every night, but I'd couldn't while I'd been wearing a mask. Also, the cost could've, I dunno, compounded over time and with constant use?

OPTIMIZE, is that possible?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Right. That meant the answer wasn't a simple 'yes' or 'no'.

*Worry negated by Gamer's Mind.

I double and then triple checked my Inventory. Nope. No completely drained Golden Gun.

Okay. Let's think this through. As I saw it, there were two general options. Either the Golden Gun was elsewhere, or it had been destroyed.

Could that... thing I'd used it on at Wistram be the cause? It had been a while, but perhaps it had finally taken its revenge or something?

I couldn't deny that it was possible since I didn't know what the creature had been in the first place or what it was capable of. It was certainly more plausible than a thief with a Stranger power and the patience of a saint stalking me unnoticed for an extended amount of time.

I stood up and Inventoried my pylon. Time to confront the last people I'd encountered.

...

Nothing.

They were completely innocent as far as I could tell.

They hadn't been as polite as they had with Auron, but they also hadn't been antagonistic. Nothing in any of the notifications I'd gotten from their emotions had given any hint of duplicity.

The sensor suites I'd Crafted hadn't returned anything either.

I frowned. Okay. Fine. It was worth sacrificing a [Skill] to find my gun.

I went through my menu and selected [Basic Identification]. I'd gotten it a while ago from [Artificer]. As far as something that might help me identify [Thieves] or pierce whatever was hiding my gun - it seemed like the best match.

I sacrificed it to Crafting, and then... focused that on the blueprint I had for a city-wide Observe-based scanning array. It slotted into place the same way that [Alchemy: Corrosive Substances] had joined with the blueprint for my Mega-Buster.

I dropped the seed to the ground, and then fed the mass from my Inventoried sensor tower into it. The pixelized nanites took in the electronics before building the same exact tower - just with a [Skill] to back it up.

It was tall and thin. The invisibility field my drones were making to hide it wasn't perfect. I could only hope no one noticed a faint distortion on the horizon. It took time, but the enhanced sensor suite finally came on-line.

I connected to it with my Babel Perks and began sifting through the data.

It worked!

*Happiness negated by Gamer's Mind.

At least, it was returning a lot more data: details on classes and levels. [Soldiers], [Merchants], [Rogues] and countless other details came back.

Hmmm...

It felt... basic. Like it was able to get the general category a person's [Classes] were, but nothing specific. There were also people it could sense who had their levels blocked completely.

I sat and looked. It might take a while, but I could watch the suspicious people and see if I could ferret out any more information.

...

*Boredom negated by Gamer's Mind.

Even with Gamer's Mind helping me concentrate... I'd been doing this for too long. Enough was enough. Either the [Thief] who'd taken my Golden Gun was long gone, or they were able to hide from me, or the Gun was destroyed - not stolen.

I couldn't spend any more time on this. I still needed to get to Sibby, and there were Earthers along the way that might be in danger. Although, sitting still this long had confirmed what I'd suspected. The Siberian was moving.

It was hard to tell at first. She was either very close and moving slowly to the East, or she was far away and moving quite fast. Either way... I missed her.

I wanted to see Sibby again.

I let out a sigh. It was time to resume my trek - and take the appropriate precautions.

My gun COULD hurt me... except I had Threat Sense and it wasn't magical. If someone tried to attack me with it, they'd never hit. In fact, if the Gun was still working, I'd notice the instant they took it out of wherever it was hidden first.

True, I would be vulnerable while wearing a mask, but I could Craft something to alert me even then.

No. The possibility of it being used against me was... remote.

Sure, it could pop Sibby, but it couldn't kill her. As for Riley? As much as I loved her, it was clearly overkill. If someone did indeed steal it from me, then they could also ambush my little sister without it.

I frowned and crossed my arms.

*Concern negated by Gamer's Mind.

Well, whatever. I'd take precautions, but it was far more likely it had been destroyed rather than stolen. I wouldn't know until I spent another million MP to try Crafting it again. In the meantime, I couldn't sit around going in circles. I still had things to do: like planting a whole bunch of video game seeds.

---

George Salvatore took the thin rod of metal out of the forge. It was glowing the right amount he'd thought, and it was time to try and shape it. It was still a little too thick, according to his teacher, so the first several minutes were spent trying to thin it the right amount without breaking it.

"Excuse me." A man had walked up to the front of the shop. "I'd like to buy some scrap."

It was that comment that made George look up. Who wanted to buy scrap of all things? The man had medium black hair with some gray streaks and a beard of stubble. He was wearing some plain, brown clothes. There also weren't any stitches on his skin. It was easy to tell the strange cloth people apart from regular humans - they all had the same sort of stitches on their joints. A good chunk had unnaturally colored hair, and most of those that didn't had really rough-looking skin.

George didn't have anything against the cloth 'people', but it had freaked him out the first time he'd seen one casually remove their arm.

That wasn't natural. Not that anything was natural in this world. At least he'd found a good place to live. His levels in [Apprentice] were coming along nicely as well.

"Scrap?" Chike smiled. "We have some of that to be sure, but are you certain that's all you need?"

The man scanned the shop. "I could use some horseshoes and nails, but I really only want the metal to sell in the next city I come across."

Ah, a merchant. Or rather, a [Merchant].

George turned back to his rod and let out a sigh. It had cooled too much. He put it back in the forge and pulled the next one out. Hammer. Turn. Hammer. Turn. Hammer. Turn. Hammer. Turn.

He rotated it ninety degrees each time to thin it out and make square edges. Next, he started tapering the end...

And it was too cool. Speed would come with time - or a [Skill], but he just wasn't naturally talented.

He looked up to where the man was speaking with Chike. The smith was a friendly fellow. If he wasn't, then George would probably still be on the street begging for scraps. That didn't mean that Chike was a pushover. He was also a [Merchant], and he loved to [Haggle].

That was a skill, right?

George put the third rod on the anvil. This one he'd already shaped and thinned, he just needed to taper its end. It was hard. He needed to angle his hammer and hit hard, but not TOO hard.

Some people ran past the shop. Then some more.

"What's going on?" The man asked?

Chike craned his neck. "Looks like a commotion. I'll go check it out." He turned to George and the rest of the apprentices. "You lot keep the work up."

The large man left, and the other two workers followed him.

"Yeah, George, you keep it up!" Maiye said while grinning.

"Make sure everything's here when we get back!" J'te shook his head as he walked out.

"Fine! I see how it is!" George shouted after them with a smile. It was true that he was the low man on the totem pole, but he'd gotten used enough to that at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Rushing a fraternity hadn't been the easiest thing, but it had prepared him for far worst hazing than 'missing out on a commotion'.

The customer watched them go, and then walked over to George. He stood close to the furnace, but didn't seem to feel any discomfort. George smirked. Being this close to fire was why there weren't many cloth people that came by.

"Hello, George."

George blinked and looked up. "Excuse me? How do you know my name? Who are you?"

The man smiled. "My name is Pixel, and I'm also from Earth."

"Really?!" George's eyes went wide and his arms dropped to his sides. "You're from Earth too! This isn't a dream! I can really go home?"

"Well..." Pixel winced. "Not home. Not yet. Me and some mages in this world are looking for a way to take everyone back, but we haven't had any luck so far."

"Everyone? There are more of us than just you and me?"

"A lot more." Pixel nodded. "I'm gathering those that want to go to Wistram - it's a school for mages in the ocean."

"Oh?" George was kinda interested. More in 'Pixel' than in 'magic'. Sure, it was cool that this world had magic, but he'd learned a long time ago that work on the farm took your own two hands. Waving a little stick and taking a shortcut? That wasn't for him.

As if sensing George's lack of interest, Pixel resumed speaking. "You don't have to go, of course. I'm just here to give you the option."

A tension he hadn't noticed flowed out of George. Sure, this place was new and scary. Sure, those cloth people freaked him out. But... he still liked it. He liked Chike and the gang. Blacksmithing was hard, but it was rewarding to make things with his hands - even if they were just nails. The food was good. And then there was Maiye...

"Well... On one hand, I would like to speak with some people, but... I don't want to leave Chike hangin' after he helped me out."

"I see." The corners of Pixel's mouth rose a little. Shoot! Had he been blushing or something? Maiye teased him about that at times - and about his light skin in general.

George tried to school his face. "Yes, well, I'd still like to chat with you! I mean, about football or something?"

"Here." Pixel tossed him an object. George reflexively caught it from out of the air and then looked down at the item in his palm. It was a softly glowing white cube. "You can use that to speak with the other Earthers at Wistram." Pixel nodded. "Or to call me if it's an emergency. It might take time for me to respond, but..." He shrugged. "I'll do what I can."

"Oh." George stared at the first honest-to-goodness magical item he'd ever possessed. "That's..." He looked up and met Pixel's eyes. "Thanks, man. Really."

"It's no problem, but you should probably keep it secret." Pixel looked away and frowned. "I really do need to buy some more metal. I hope my distraction isn't too effective."

"Your distraction?" Was he the one that had caused the commotion that had pulled everyone away? No, wait. That made sense. "It's not dangerous or anything, right? You didn't release a monster did you?"

"What?" Pixel gave him an incredulous look. "Why would I do something like that? And how would that be a good distraction for pulling people away?! Besides." He frowned. "Someone could get hurt if I pulled a stunt like that!"

"Oh." Well, that was a relief. George had gotten worried about Maiye for a second. "Then... what is it?"

Pixel jerked his head to the side, and suddenly George could hear the sound of thousands of voices talking excitedly. They weren't close by, but there were a lot of them. Had Pixel cast a spell that had silenced things or something while they'd talked?

"Go take a look when you have time." He smirked. "I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. They'll be there until someone confiscates them. But, I'd hurry - you never know how long it will take for that to happen."

---

Eventually, the [Smith] came back. I'd spent the time answering George's questions and keeping watch on all the [Thieves] in town. I didn't expect to see anything regarding my potentially stolen gun, but they might react to something of similar construction.

Chike seemed to have a permanent smile, and he'd told George to go and look at the strange new artifacts. The [Guards] had tried to keep people away, but there were just too many for them. It didn't take long for some adventurous people to experiment... and, well... it had snowballed from there.

I kept watch as I negotiated for scrap iron, nails, and horseshoes.

I wound up paying too much, but I needed metal that I could Craft into more video games. Using sand just took too long.

...

"RISE!!!" Gandalf spread his arms wide before bringing them together and striking his staff to the ground.

There were gasps from the crowd in the village's square. The people that were peering into the depths of the of the solitary well shouted: "The water's rising!" "We're saved!" "Thank you, Gandalf!"

The old [Wizard] chuckled, and seemed to deflate in size. The unworldly power around him faded, and all that was left behind was a tired looking old man who leaned on his staff. "It's nothing." He pulled out a pipe and used a [Flame Finger] spell to light it. "I've not solved your predicament, I've only delayed it for a week. Perhaps two."

A young man shook his head. "You don't understand! The Emperor will provide us with water, as he's done for other villages, but his [Skill] needs time to recharge. We've been rationing for weeks. If you hadn't... hadn't."

He broke down crying.

A hemp woman with rough looking skin patted him on the back. "What my dear husband is saying is that the animals would soon die. We could slaughter them for food, yes, but we were fast approaching the tipping point." Her eyes grew distant - as if she was looking at a different town in a different time. "It's happened before. Even if water came, if too many animals had died, it would be too late."

An old man bent down and picked up a tuff of brown grass. "It will still be lean times, but like Bulger said, the Emperor's skill can save us now."

Gandalf took a drag of his pipe and exhaled a ring of smoke. "I'm glad I stopped by. Would that I could stay, or that the water I've called up were more plentiful." He shook his head. "However, I have places to be and people to find. I must be on my way."

"No." Bulger wiped his eyes. "You can at least stay the night! Like Marthi said, we've had to slaughter the animals that have died. We have plenty of meat, so you can at least stay for dinner!"

"Well..." Gandalf smiled. "I suppose I could. The sun is getting low."

...

"That was a fine meal." Gandalf leaned back in his chair and blew out a plume of smoke. "My compliments to your chef."

"I'm still just a [Cook] actually." Marthi chuckled. "But I'm glad you liked it. I'll make the bed up for you. It doesn't have much padding, but it's fine enough."

"Nonsense!" Gandalf shook his head. "I'm used to sleeping on the ground. Anything softer than a rock, and my back will act up on me come the morning!"

"Very well." She smiled at him. "We wouldn't want to upset your back."

The [Wizard] took another drag on his pipe while looking around. "Where did the little ones run off to?"

"The neighbors took them for the night so they wouldn't be constantly pestering you." Marthi tilted her head. "Why?"

"It just occurred to me that I have some artifacts that are nothing more than games." Gandalf smiled. "They're the strangest things. I've been selling them, but I fear I've oversaturated the market - so to speak. I wanted to give your children some."

"Oh!" The old woman vigorously shook her head. "We couldn't possibly accept any more of your generosity good wizard Gandalf!"

"I insist."

"I'll not have it!" She crossed her arms. "You've helped us enough for one person. I can't have you tossing gold at our feet too!"

"Hmmm..." Gandalf hummed to himself. "They are truly numerous, how about..." His eyes twinkled. "Yes. That is it!"

"What are you up to, you old fool?" Marthi's eyes narrowed.

"Nothing. Nothing." Gandalf waved her off.

He departed the next morning.

Three days later, the strangest object burst from the ground like a bizarre tree. The villages were afraid, until they read the instructions that had been engraved upon its sleek sides.

---

Raemon coughed.

The flem that he expelled was bright red.

He wiped it away and fumbled for a healing potion. His hands brushed the glass vials and they clinked in response. He picked one up. No. He dropped it and groped for another. Nope. He felt around and finally found one that was heavy.

So heavy that he strained to lift it.

He rolled back onto his back, and lay there panting. He was getting worse. Anyone could see that. The health potions had been a last resort. You couldn't take them when you were sick, but Raemon had been desperate. The alchemical drink hadn't killed him, so it might've been poison instead of a disease. But, if that was the case, why did he keep on getting worse?

He grunted with effort, but managed to pull the cork out of the bottle. His hands shook as he held it with both of them. He lifted his neck up - struggling to get to the liquid...

It trickled down his throat, and the pain receded. He panted with heavy breaths from his exertion. The potions helped, but they did nothing for his weakness. He eyed the remaining liquid in the vial before putting the stopper back on.

One more dose.

One more time that he could beat back the pain.

And then...

If it was only him that had fallen sick, it might've been one thing. Health potions were plentiful, even in a small village like Delna. Every family had at least one squirreled away for an emergency. The town had come together to help those affected by the strange disease...

Could someone be holding out?

Raemon's eyes went wide! He jolted to his feet!

...And toppled over.

He hadn't the strength to stand. He could only hope for salvation from someone else. He crawled back to his bed, and gingerly lowered himself down.

The man ran his hand through his hair, and felt even more strands fall out. As he lay there panting, he thought about telling the rest of the village everything.

He wasn't the only one who was sick. While the disease didn't seem to spread, several men throughout the town had fallen ill only days apart. There was no rhyme or reason. Some were [Miners]. Some were craftsmen. Three were even what remained of the [Mayor]'s [Thugs].

The sickness was random, with the only common factor being that they were all male.

...But that wasn't the truth.

Raemon couldn't bring himself to let his family know that he'd doubtlessly caught whatever this was from that filthy goblin they'd captured! He'd get better! Then? Then he'd get his revenge!

Raemon started coughing again...

Notes:

Bios:

Auron - OC. A [Swordsman], [Wanderer], and a former warrior monk of Yevon.

George Salvatore - OC. A college student from Nebraska. Grew up on a farm. Likes being a blacksmith. Has a crush on one of his fellow [Apprentices].

Gandalf the Grey - OC. A [Wizard], [Wanderer], and [Avatar]. He was dispatched to combat the threat of a great evil - that isn't Sauron.

Chapter 63: Interlude - Video Games

It had started in the small village of Delna, though this wouldn't be discovered until long after the initial commotion had died down. That investigation would also reveal other corruption, but that wasn't as important. Most people believed the first occurrence was in the walled oasis city of Merimheim. While this was wrong, one could hardly blame them for Delna was so small that most [Cartographers] didn't bother to include it on their maps.

Delna also only contained two of the smaller artifacts. In fact, if it weren't for subsequent events, Delna's involvement might never have come to light.

Merimheim, however, was more indicative of how the mysterious [Artificer] would later act. Before, the city had been known for the white wood it exported. It wasn't a lot of wood, nor was it of particularly high quality. But, in a desert, wood was a valuable commodity.

Other similar towns had to import it from coastal regions at a significant markup.

Now?

Now Merimheim would be known as the 'City of Video Games'. Or 'The Great Arcade'. For that was what the artifacts claimed to be: 'Arcade Games'.

They had sprung up from the ground one day amidst the marshalling of forces for the war with the King of Destruction. This had thrown the city into a panic. While they were far from Chandrar's great Zeikhal Desert, news of Takhatres and his raiders had reached even there. The populous was on edge.

It hadn't helped that Flos Reimarch had announced to the world that he was awake and was at war with the Empire of Sands just a week earlier.

While the initial reaction to the Arcade Games was one of panic, the [Guards] could not drive off every curious individual. There were simply too many Arcade Games, and too few [Guards]. The lights and sounds they produced were like nothing anyone native to Chandrar had ever seen. They were... enticing in a way that was difficult to describe.

The images they showed ranged from simple geometric shapes to figures that looked 'real'. Or at least real enough that people had to look closely to realize they too were made out of countless small squares.

Each Arcade Game had a different name: Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Frogger, Donkey Kong... All the way to Street Fighter - which was not nearly as revolutionary as its sequel would prove to be when it was release later. The Arcade only had the oldest of games... for now. The images got better and better with each one.

It had been a teenager who'd touched the first Arcade Game. He'd drawn closer and closer, and noticed a button that had the word 'Start' written above it. It might've been some insidious magic that drew him in, or a desire to claim the artifact for his own, or just curiosity. Whichever it was, he pressed the button and Chandrar was forever changed.

He quickly learned that the odd sticks could control one of the figures made out of squares that was displayed on the item. He'd watched the figures before. The images the Arcade Games displayed showed how the 'game' was to be played. He moved the oddly smooth stick that felt nothing like how it looked, and his figure moved.

He died quickly - in the game, not in real life.

However, in his death he realized something, and pressed the start button again.

He died again and again, but it took longer and longer each time. There was a number that told him how well he was doing. We would never get to the highest score that 'PIX' had claimed, but he still got to input three letters to immortalize his accomplishment. He only stopped because other children had demanded a turn. Some people got along. Some played each other. Some formed lines and waited their turn. Others got into fights. [Guards] interceded regardless, but as stated before, there were too many Arcade Games and too few [Guards].

[Soldiers] and adventurers were called in. Merimheim had been preparing for war, so they had the raw troops on hand. Of course, adventurers were acknowledged as irregular troops for a reason and they began to play the games they were guarding.

This sparked outrage between them, the populous, and the [Guards].

All this time, orders had run up the chain of command. The [Baron] watched and fretted what had befallen his city. He quickly gave the order for the [Mages] of the guild to do something. Magic was cast... and the targeted Arcade Games dissolved into slag.

This sparked more outrage - especially since it had been a simple information gathering [Spell]. They had no way of knowing the insides were in a quantum flux and any observation of their state made it so that everything must be a ruined pile of junk.

Brave [Soldiers] were ordered to dismantle one of the artifacts... it too, dissolved into slag.

[Messages] flew through the air. Arguments happened. Eventually, the warning on the Arcade Games was brought to the [Baron]: 'These artifacts are fragile. Any magic or attempts to move them will shatter the spell-work and leave nothing behind.'

It had been written prominently on the back of the magical devices, but events were happening too quickly.

The [Baron] ordered all interaction with the artifacts to cease. The Emperor would not be pleased if this sudden bounty was destroyed.

They would also not be pleased if a threat was allowed to exist inside of their empire.

Then again... how much of a threat could such fragile devices be?

The seconds stretched as the news was relayed to the highest power in the land. No one knew what the result would be. While the Emperor took care of their people... they were also very mercurial at times. The reason for this was not well known, but it also was not a great secret either: the Emperor of the Sands had multiple heads.

They could detach them like other Stringfolk could with their limbs. A new head, a new body, but they were still without doubt the [Emperor]! Having multiple viewpoints was a good thing, but for events like this, or the re-emergence of the King of Destruction, not every head agreed.

Some would want to take in this bounty. Some would discard it out of hand. Some would wonder what the point of the Arcade Games was.

As it happened, that was the sort of head the Emperor was wearing today. She, for this head was female, decided that a single city, while precious, wasn't vital. It would be a waste to destroy such strange and marvelous artifacts. It would also be a waste to let them just sit there.

Still, she wondered what the goal of whomever made them was. It was clearly ancient magic from someone of great power. She feared that it might be a plot of Flos to gather information or to sew discord.

Then again, there had been no sign of Amerys since her king had awoken. Besides, the Calm Flower of the Battlefield was anything but. She was as vicious and sudden as the lightning she wielded. She might be an Archmage of Wistram, but her knowledge of Artifact Construction was lacking.

No, whatever plot this was, it did not come from the Archmage of Lightning.

Rhir? Could it be another dark plague from that cursed continent?

That seemed unlikely. Threats from Rhir were more widespread... and certainly nothing like this.

Dragons then? Could the oldest foes of Chandrar have returned? Was this their ploy to retake their kingdom somehow? They would certainly have the hordes of magical artifacts to do such a thing, for Dragons were greedy to a fault. If any still lived, they would have the capacity for this.

Then again, that failed to answer the question of 'why'?

No. The Emperor decided. This was not the time to be hasty. The artifacts were undoubtedly a trap, but would they be sprung by destroying them and spreading unrest? Or by allowing them to exist and launching an attack later?

Merimheim was precious, as were all her cities and people, but it was only a single place in her vast empire. She decreed that the artifacts would not be touched, but that Merimheim would not partake in the war and that [Investigators] of all sorts would convene there to examine the Arcade Games - but indirectly so as to avoid damaging any more of them.

In truth, the Arcade Games WERE spying on the people around them, but not in a way she expected nor for any reason she feared.

The technology that had created them had been so far beyond what they needed, that the video game portion of them could've been classified as an afterthought - if one didn't know the nature of their constructor. So, while the controls, screen, and programming were all important - the most intricate aspect of the Arcade Games was their scanning capabilities.

Everyone that came close. Everyone that didn't. Everyone in the entire city was scanned.

Constantly.

The Arcade Games did not have any system-enhanced scanners. They couldn't identify a person's [Class]. What they could do was watch and listen. They created profiles for each and every person. Their name, face, if they spoke about a Golden Gun... All of it was recorded.

What did the Arcade Games do with this information? Most of the time, the answer was 'Nothing'. It had a list of names that had been expanded on to include other common Earth names. Or, at least as many 'common' names as their creator could come up with. (Which, admittedly, wasn't very many.)

Information on people with those names, or with parts of those names, or with similar sounding names was broadcast by a signal that was nearly impossible to detect and even harder to decrypt.

Thus, the Emperor of Sands may have erred in not destroying them outright.

Or, she might've laid the groundwork for gaining an ally.

Or, she might've avoided making an enemy.

Only time would tell.

Then... the next Arcade sprung from the ground. It was smaller and in a different city to the south. The details were less important as another and another came into being over the following weeks. The situations played out in a similar fashion, and the Emperor noticed a pattern.

Or rather, she noted that the Arcade cities were in a roughly curved line.

People were mobilized. Her troops went to the affected cities, and to the cities ahead of the line, and to any towns and villages in between.

What she found there was even more marvelous and potentially insidious.

The Arcade Games were giant monoliths. Each one towered over the general populous. It wasn't just their height, for there were numerous individuals who yet stood taller, but they were also wide and thick. It was appropriate for such a seemingly potent artifact to require so much space.

However, the smaller towns possessed 'games' of equal, if not greater complexity at a fraction of the size. They had been given to the children - either as a sick ploy of a demented mind... or as a gesture of benevolence.

Similar to the Arcade Games, their hand held versions broke if exposed to magic or force. Worse, as presents given to children, removing them by force was... difficult - at least for her current head. In fact, they seemed so brittle that every single one that was taken away and transported to a more secure location ceased working.

It didn't matter the level of the [Drivers] or what [Skills] they used, they all broke. The Emperor considered it might be a distance related phenomenon, but there was no clear link between how far the games had traveled and when they had broken.

They at least had obtained a description of the culprit. He was an older human, with a long, grey beard. He also wore grey robes, and a grey, pointy hat with a wide brim. The only weapon he carried was a staff, and he hadn't just been giving out potentially cursed artifacts.

No. Gandalf the Grey was a [Wizard], and had saved townsfolk from wild animals, driven off goblins, summoned water to refill a well, treated the sick, helped build houses, and had killed a group of [Bandits]. If the uneducated were to be believed, he had access to magic [Spells] that were far beyond the scope of any modern [Mage] was capable of. Water magic was rare and valuable in the desert, while healing magic was just as unheard of as the creations he left in his wake.

He was clearly a figure of enormous power, but the Empire of Sands had no record of him. He could have come from another continent. Wistram? Rhir? Izril? Terandria? Baleros? Drath? Some small island of his own making?

However, given his age and strange actions, the most reasonable theory was that he'd locked himself away in the ancient past, and had only recently re-emerged into present day Chandrar. As outlandish as such an idea was, it seemed like the only possible explanation.

Her troops had yet to find him, and it seemed that he was adept at avoiding them. He continued to leave a trail of artifacts, even as his path curved to the south-east.

Then... he started leaving items in the village that were the things that Empires were founded with: magical artifacts... that made more artifacts!!!

Admittedly, all the artifacts that were created were games - with no seeming purpose aside from entertainment. That didn't diminish their appeal. For while their use would be negligible in a war - like the Empire of Sands found itself in - as a mercantile opportunity?

The Emperor listened to her [Merchant] and [Spy] heads complain and say that they should be worn now. She disagreed. A more general approach was necessary. Just look at the trouble their violent, young, warleader head had just recently gotten them into.

The greater artifacts came with instructions written on their side: "Deposit 244 kilograms of sand to obtain a prize! Only one per customer!"

Artifacts for sand?!?! Gandalf was clearly both powerful and insane, a dangerous combination. Who knew how long he'd been sequestered away from the world?

The Emperor's armies took possession of the greater artifacts. They dared not risk them breaking by moving them, so they stationed themselves in the various small villages. Yet, more and more of them sprung up. It was as if Gandalf had given up all pretext of anything else. He grew even more elusive, with both Arcades and Dispensers appearing within her cities that were actively on lookout.

All without anyone noticing him.

As for the Dispensers themselves? They worked exactly as the instructions stated they would. Sand. Plain, regular sand. The very thing that Chandrar had far, far too much of. That was all that was required to get a 'console'.

It was also impossible for any person to get a second one, no matter how much sand they seemingly shoveled in. In addition, the consoles it created only worked for the person that had deposited the sand!

The [Merchant] head cried in rage before pivoting to some convoluted plan involving people paying for the right to visit.

The Emperor was more concerned with the functionality of the consoles. They came with a single 'game', but one could grant their game to other consoles. Even more intriguing, there were games that could have multiple people play at the same time - and at quite a large distance.

Could it be used as an alternative to scrying and message spells? That was something to consider.

Then, Gandalf's path came to the edge of her Empire. He was far to the south-east. Away from where the King of Destruction's raiding was happening. The Empire of Sands had sent their best. Gandalf the Grey could not be allowed to leave!

Yet... Arcades and Distributors appeared in the area with no hint as to their origin. If the [Wizard] continued his path, he would find nothing but the Great Zeikhal Desert. Armies could not cross it, but the Emperor sent her elites to the far countries of Killale and Deimos. With luck, they would encounter Gandalf in the border towns there.

They failed.

Chapter 64: New Outlooks 1

"Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me."

Dev hugged his knees to his chest and closed his eyes. The... thing was out there. It was going to kill him. There was nothing he could do. This wasn't nature. This was something far, far worse.

He should've known.

He knew, deep down, that he should be reciting mantras to drive it back. That was what you did against Vetalas. That was the only way to drive off the evil spirits that took possession of corpses. He KNEW that. He'd been taught the correct mantras as a child.

"Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me."

But... the proper words just wouldn't come to him.

All the time, he could FEEL her getting closer and closer. It wasn't just the dead skin or rotted eyes. The worst part was the bone-deep coldness that came from the undead woman. The supernatural chill pierced through him in a way that he wouldn't have thought possible. It had been the first warning he'd gotten.

His traps. His alarms. His friends. None of them had worked against the possessed corpse that beckoned him.

He HAD to remember the mantras. He HAD to!

"Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me."

But... the only thing that came to his mind was the image of her face. It had been shrouded by a hood at first. The moons were full, so there was light, but it had only shined on her lips and chin. She'd just appeared old at first. Others might recoil from the elderly, but Dev had been raised better than that.

A Scout is...

A Scout is.....

There was a rule about respecting your elders? Wasn't there?

"Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me."

He couldn't think. His mind kept on repeating that same scene over, and over, and over, and over...

The moment he'd glimpsed the truth. When the Vetala's mask had slipped. Dev had already been on edge. How could an old woman be in the Dyed Lands? How could she have entered his camp unnoticed? It might have been that wariness - that level of guard, that had held firm against her dark magics.

A small wriggly thing. That had been the first oddity.

Dev had taken a closer look... only to fall back and scream when he had realized it was a maggot!

Then, the illusion had shattered. Her face was no longer hidden underneath her black cloak. Rotted skin. Leaking eyeballs. The pallor of death...

What was the mantra?

"Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me."

Dev had wanted to explore. He never expected to run into creatures from Hindu mythology. But? Shouldn't he have? This world had Nagas. It had Garuda. What else was there, just waiting to kill the unwary?

There was a flash of red so bright he saw it through his eyelids.

He'd always been scared as a little boy. It wasn't until he'd become a Bharat Scout, until he'd embraced their oath, that he'd...

A Scout is courageous.

Yes. He was a Scout. He had to be courageous. If he couldn't remember the old mantras, he'd use a new one.

"A Scout is courageous."

Dev still huddled in a little ball. He still refused to open his eyes. There was movement around him. Something was destroying his tent.

But, he had his mantra. The mantra he'd taken for himself. The mantra that he'd chosen to live his life by. The mantra that defined him!

"A Scout is trustworthy. A Scout is loyal. A Scout is a friend to all and a brother to every other Scout. A Scout is courteous. A Scout is a friend to animals and loves nature. A Scout is disciplined and helps to protect public property. A Scout is courageous. A Scout is thrifty. A Scout is pure in thought, word and deed."

Dev opened his eyes.

---

Pinky smiled as Bit stared down at her.

She'd just been talking to Lars? And she'd... leveled up?

She had!

Pinky jumped to her feet, or at least she tried to. Her body felt sluggish and she had something wrapped around her limbs.

She was trapped!

A jolt of fear raced through her. She had to run! She had to get away!

Pinky flailed, but only managed to get herself more and more entangled. Soon, both her legs were bound together. Her right arm was stuck over her head, while her left was behind her back.

"Ow!" It was hard to hear Bit's voice from the thundering of her own heart. "Pinky, that's my hair! Calm down, okay?"

"Bit!" She craned her neck to look up. "You're alive!" Pinky sagged in her bonds, and began to cry as conflicting emotions ran through her. "I'm so happy!" And afraid.

Afraid. Yes, that was what she was feeling. Only... it was different than before. More visceral. More potent. But, it all was fading away as her heart stopped racing. It was like coming down from an [Adrenaline Surge], but not nearly as fun.

"Hang on." Bit winced as she pulled at her own hair. "I'll get... you... out..." She tugged at the strands that still held Pinky, but only succeeded in making them tighter. "...I'll get a scalpel."

The clearing looked a lot brighter than Pinky's last memories. Both moons were full, and they lit things pretty well. The jungle was still a deep, dark mass, but the clearing...?

Pinky craned her neck. Things did NOT look like what she remembered. There were grooves all over the ground. The three tents were shredded. Her own house looked pretty beat up too! The Milk Box was on its side and was leaking several different fluids from deep wounds. She heard Dev saying something about [Scouts] from inside the remains of his tent.

And that was it.

That fact sent a shiver up Pinky's back. If [Fools] could get [Dangersense], she was certain hers would be screaming at her right now. She'd missed it at first, but there was something else missing.

There were lots of somethings missing.

The Jungleclad who'd guided them. The bodies of the Quillcats that had attacked them and been set to the side. The massive form of the Redno. Badgy and the monkeys. All of them were gone.

So were the Mets.

Oh, wait. There were two monkeys left. She'd almost missed them. They lay on the ground. Still. Dead.

Something was wrong. Something was very, very, very wrong. She could hear movement in the underbrush. Pinky looked around with wide eyes. Was the jungle moving again? Bit had used some [Skill] to sedate it, but how long would that last?

Things were out there. Things that could eat her as one small, Fraerling-sized snack!

"There." Bit cut the last strand that had been wrapped around her. Pinky hadn't even noticed she was being methodically freed. "You're good to go, Pinky."

"Am I?" Pinky swallowed. "What happened here? How long was I out? What was that... darkness?"

"Uhm..." Bit grimaced. "I don't really know. There was a dark shape in our camp, and you attacked it with one of your beams. After that, the Mets went crazy. It hasn't been long. Certainly not long enough for you to have suffered any brain damage from being dead. Only, like, four minutes. Tops."

"Wait." Pinky stopped and turned towards Bit. "I was dead?"

That explained so much.

---

A Scout is courageous.

Dev stood up and looked around. The Vetalas was nowhere in sight, but the scars from its presence were all too easy to see. Everywhere around him was death and destruction.

"No. That's not right." He mumbled to himself. "Where are the bodies?" While there was destruction, there was no immediate signs of death. "Ah." There was one. The milk box.

He was so confused. Had it all been a dream? If so... what had happened inside the clearing?

Dev slowly started walking towards where he saw Bit working on something. Her scalpel flashed in the moonlight.

Had... Had SHE done this? Could the Vetalas have possessed her? Was that what had happened to all the other bodies? He'd only heard about Vetalas possessing human corpses, but he also wasn't one for fairy tails. There might've been stories of them doing it to animals as well.

If Bit was possessed... he should run. The forest was dangerous, but it couldn't be worse than having her as an opponent.

Dev took a step back.

A Scout is loyal.

He stopped.

He was a Scout. He was loyal. If Bit was possessed, then it might not be too late for her. He might be able to drive the evil spirit away. He had his mantra after all. Besides, running through the jungle was certain death. That was especially true without any supplies.

A Scout if courageous.

Dev walked forward. "Bit. Is that you?"

The little girl turned to face him. "Oh, good. You're up. I was worried about you, but I didn't think you were in imminent danger. I'm glad I was right!" She smiled at him, and turned around. Pinky was in one of her hands - the hand that wasn't holding the scalpel.

The Fraerling was twisting around and stretching her arms. "Ah, that feels good." She climbed to Bit's shoulder and stared at Dev. "Are you okay? I'm not sure what happened, but it looks like you had it pretty rough there, buddy."

Dev blinked. Pinky was worried about him? She was asking how he was? That was... surprising. Not unwelcome, but he'd grown accustomed to a more... chaotic experience from her. A joke. A pun. Some strange tangent on Fraerlings that she'd keep talking over people about.

A compassionate Pinky was strange.

A Scout is courteous.

"I'm..." Dev looked around the ruins of the camp. "I'm doing as well as can be expected. Considering."

Bit walked up to him and took his hand. She turned it over and lifted it to the side. She then poked his ribs, and moved to other parts of his body. "No outer wounds. No signs of bruising or internal bleeding. Sit down." He complied. She peered in his eyes and flashed moonlight into them with her scalpel. "No signs of a concussion or diminished faculties. Low body temp. Rapid pulse and breathing." She nodded. "You're experiencing shock. Here. Lay down." She guided him down, and then pulled the damaged milk box over and propped it under his feet. "Just focus on taking deep breaths, okay?"

"Okay."

She then started cutting open his make-shift foot stool.

...

[Explorer Level 20!]

[Conditions Met: Explorer → Scout]

[Scout Level 20!]

[Skill - Advanced Danger Sense obtained!]

[Skill - A Trap a Day obtained!]

[Skill - Mend Tent obtained!]

Dev's eyes sprung open. He'd just leveled! Had he fallen asleep?

He blinked and looked around. Bit was standing over him with an empty syringe. The Milk Box was gone... Oh, wait. There it is.

He looked around the clearing and saw the white 'creature' standing a few feet away. Pinky was pacing back and forth on its top and muttering to herself. While he wasn't that far away, she was speaking far too softly for him to hear anything.

Bit put the needle back in her bag, and then kneeled down next to him. "Feeling better?" He looked at her blankly while she took his hand and placed a finger on his wrist. "Yep! I think you're good to go!"

Dev licked his lips and swallowed. "What happened? I was asleep, and then I had a dream of an old woman. Except... it wasn't a dream, was it? And she wasn't a human, she was a Vetalas. Well, I guess a Vetalas is like a human. A dead human. But that's not what anyone would think of when you say a 'human'." Dev frowned. "I'm talking too much. My heart is racing, and... whoa." He suddenly felt lethargic. "Wow, uhm... wow."

"Don't worry about it." Bit smiled at him and offered her hand. "It's just an adrenaline derivative. The boost is strong, but short."

Dev grabbed her hand, and the tiny girl pulled him to his feet with a surprising amount of ease. "Yeah. Thanks." He took a deep breath. "I feel better now." He looked at the ruins of the camp, and the absence of anything else aside from him, Bit, Pinky, two dead monkeys, and the Milk Box. "Was there a hallucinogen or something?" The Vetalas wasn't real. Right?

"No, well, yes, but mostly no." Bit put her hands on her hips and scowled. "Something came into our camp last night and was doing something to you. I'm not sure exactly what it was trying to do, because it had a perception altering ability."

"A perception altering ability?" Dev repeated.

"Yeah." Bit shrugged. "Kinda like how Badgy has one that helps him sneak up on people. Or, I guess, helped him sneak up on people." Bit looked sad.

"What happened to Badgy?" Dev looked at the ground. Was that blood? It was hard to tell under the moonlight, but there seemed to be more of it than there had been yesterday.

And there had been a good amount yesterday.

"I had him attack the creature." Bit let out a sigh. "And he died. I'm not sure exactly how, but if I was to guess: every cell of his body shut down at the same time. Instant death."

"What?" Dev shuddered. "I never heard of a Vetalas that could do that before."

Bit tilted her head. "What is a Vetalas anyways? You've mentioned it a couple of times now."

"Veltas are like zombies..." Dev frowned. "No. That's not right. They're animated corpses, but the Vetalas is the evil spirit that's possessing them." He looked to where the different bodies had been. "I don't remember any stories of them using non-human vessels, but..."

"What?" Bit raised an eyebrow. "You think?" She let out a sigh. "No, whatever that creature was it wasn't directly responsible for what happened to the cadavers."

"Then what was?"

Bit grimaced. "My Mets."

"What." It was meant to be a question, but came out flat.

"They... sort of went berserk and attacked it." Bit looked away and spoke with a small voice. "Then, after the Vetalas fled, they sorta..." The next part came out as a whisper. "Decided to kill everything. They didn't attack us because we're human, but..."

"Oh." Dev's legs gave out and he sat down with a thump. "The robot apocalypse."

Was it something to do with Asimov's three laws? Was that why he and Bit were alive, but Chewbacca wasn't? It only then struck Dev then that his Jungleclad friend was gone. He'd noted he wasn't around, and that all the corpses were gone... but he hadn't put it together until right then.

Chewie. The one Jungleclad that could understand English. Their brave guide that had escorted them deep into the Red jungle.

"Yeah." Bit sat down next to him. "The Vetalas killed Pinky, and I was busy reviving her. Otherwise, I would've protected him." She gave a slight shudder. "Or I would've kept fixing the damage they did, over and over and over..." She seemed to deflate. "But that wouldn't have been a battle that could really be won. It would've just been an evil game that would eventually break me."

Dev wouldn't have called it a game. It was more like a programming error. Where the second law trumped the third.

He... He just sat in silence and stared at the remains of Chewie's tent.

---

"C'mon Lars." Pinky mumbled. "Speak to me! I know you can! ...Or I can. Or something!"

She paced back and forth on the Milk Box. It wasn't dead any longer - just like her. She'd have to apologize to Bit about thinking her odd mix of [Classes] only amounted to a complex way of doing what a [Beast Master] could accomplish.

None of them could've taken the dead body of one of their pets and brought them back to life! The Milk Box was good as new!

...And so was Pinky.

Wow. She really, REALLY owed Bit big time, huh? It was her stupid desire to come to the Red Zone that had...

Actually, no. She DID owe Bit... well, everything, but it definitely WASN'T her fault that Black monster had attacked them. What was a Black monster doing in the Red area? That... made no sense!

Then again, the Black creature was clearly powerful enough to go wherever it wanted. Even if it had been an unforeseeable encounter, it wouldn't have stumbled upon them if they hadn't gone so deep into the Red.

Probably. They probably wouldn't have encountered it... if it wasn't for her.

Pinky still didn't know exactly what had happened. It had certainly killed her, but that meant that she hadn't been able to see if her attack had killed it in return. Bit had said that her Mets had gone 'crazy', but not what had happened to the Black.

Or... Pinky glanced over at where Bit was sitting next to Dev, she might've told the story - just not to Pinky yet.

Pinky hopped off of the Milk Box and walked over to where her friends were sitting. Dev looked down at her. "I'm happy that you are alive, Pinky." He certainly didn't sound happy, but that was fair with everything considered.

Pinky put on a smile. "So am I? Crazy night, huh?" She needed to lighten the mood. That was what [Fools] did. "Good thing we have Bit with us, huh? I mean, all three of us would be dead right now if it wasn't for her instead of only me!"

Pinky, of course, was referring to herself, Dev, and the Milk Box. If Bit wasn't here, then she certainly wouldn't have been dead. Of course, then none of them would've been here in the first place and the Milk Box wouldn't even exist. That was what made it a nonsensical statement.

No one laughed or smiled.

Pinky let out a sigh. It was time to stop deflecting and to straight up apologize. "I'm sorry that we encountered that Black... thing. It was my fault for wanting to come this far into the Red Lands."

Dev smiled at her. "No." He shook his head. "We all agreed to come. It's just... Nobody expected the Vetalas. We didn't respect nature enough and we suffered for it."

Pinky stared up at him. She felt the urge to say 'Yeah, we were all pretty [Foolish], huh?', but that was probably the wrong sort of [Foolish Thought].

Bit smiled. "Hey, it could've been worse. It sucks to lose my pets, but I can make more!" She glanced at Dev. "I'm sorry that Chewbacca died, but that shouldn't detract from the fact that we're all alive!"

Pinky frowned. "Who's Chew Bah Ka?"

Dev let out a sigh. "That was what I'd nicknamed our guide." He looked over to where the remains of the Jungleclad's tent were. "It's a name from..." He sighed again. "It doesn't matter. And we won't even be able to tell the rest of his village the details."

Bit got a far-away look in her eyes before letting out a small. "Oh."

Pinky turned to her. "What is it?"

Bit grimaced. "I can communicate with my Mets, right? Well, I tried ordering them to stop when they went insane, but none of them listened or responded. The ones in the village... they didn't respond either."

Dev turned to her. "They're all linked? You don't mean?"

"I'm afraid so."

Pinky turned her head as she looked at each of her Tallfolk friends. "You don't mean what? You're afraid of what?"

"The Mets are trying to kill every non-human they can find." Dev replied. "The Jungleclad village is..."

Oh.

---

That wasn't the worst part.

Why did the Mets take the corpses away?

Riley was afraid she knew the answer to that, but she'd been focusing on Pinky and hadn't paid attention to what the Mets had been doing.

The cold, hard truth was that all the gorillas they'd met were now dead.

Probably.

Most likely.

If the gorillas had been capes, or rather, 'levelers', then they might've stood a chance. As it was, they really only had their physical capabilities to rely on. And, well, her Mets were faster and stronger than any of them.

Although, were they HER Mets anymore? Had they ever been?

It would be more accurate to say they were Kevin's. It would be even more accurate to say they were the Shards'. That Vetalas, or whatever it was, had clearly been something that Surgery had taken particular offense from.

Another Entity? Or, at least, the Shard of a different Entity? That was possible. That was what Optimize was after all.

But... that didn't really fit. If it was, and it and Surgery fought, the fight would be somewhere else. Unless, that was what was happening and the Mets were just a symptom?

Anyways.

Riley stood up. "We're not safe here. We need to move."

Dev looked around. "What makes you say that? Are the Mets coming back?"

"They might." Riley began to dig around in her backpack. "It's possible that they might come after Pinky or the Milk Box." Or both. "They seem to want to kill all non-humans. They might stop eventually, or they might need to be put down." Which would be a real problem for her. Non-biological opponents weren't what she was best at.

"But then..." Dev inhaled sharply. "The jungle. We could be attacked by Red animals at any time." He stood up and began picking up the remains of his traps that had been collateral damage in the fight.

"Also the trees." Riley checked the level of a vial. Not enough. "My sedative won't last forever. We need to get away from the center and back to where it's not as active." She glanced at Pinky. "Unless?"

"Huh?" Pinky tilted her head. "Oh! The crystal? The chunk I got was used up when I attacked the Vetalas, alas." She smiled. "But don't worry, I'm not [Foolish] enough to suggest going back for more right now!"

Riley nodded. That was good to hear.

"The trees should remain dormant for at least another day, but I think we should head out before then." Riley walked over to a melted tree. The acidic part of Crawler's saliva was long spent, but she should be able to extract some of the residual virus. It was acid-proof.

"Yeah." Dev was stringing up wires. "The Mets are the current alpha predators in the area, but there aren't that many of them. No matter how quick they are, some animals will get away. They might run here.

...

"Ahhh..." Riley felt the chemicals in her mixture wash away the residual elements in her brain fluid. "That's better. Do you want some?" She turned to Dev. "It'll wake you up."

Dev looked at her with bleary eyes. "I don't drink caffeine." While she'd been Tinkering with a stable tree-acid that was even more specific to this jungle, Dev had been alternating between cleaning up the camp and setting traps. "It's addictive."

"That's true!" She was glad someone else realized how dangerous a drug caffeine was! "This, however, is totally safe. ...At least for a couple of nights."

"..." Dev blankly stared at her before shaking his head. "No. I'm good enough to work through the day."

"Suit yourself." She shrugged. "I'm-"

There was a cross between a yowl and a snarl as something burst from the underbrush! A Quillcat tumbled into the clearing - entangled in the thin ropes that Dev had strung just above the ground. It wiggled as it tried to get free before poofing up into a spiky ball.

"Watch out!" Dev dove to the ground.

Riley followed his lead as a spray of quills exploded from the trapped feline. She stretched her hand out, and flexed the muscles that propelled the tiny, venomous dart from her fingertip. The bone projectile was faster and more aerodynamic than the cat's quills, and struck her target in its chest.

"There." Riley stood up and brushed herself off. "We don't have much time, but I should be able to modify that into..." Her eyes narrowed.

"It's bleeding." Dev stated from the ground. "Look at that gash in its leg."

"I see it." Riley walked over to the spiky corpse. "We should leave. Now." She looked at Pinky who was napping on top of the Milk Box. "A Met injured it, and is likely in pursuit right now." She strolled over and gently picked Pinky up. "I can shield Pinky, but I'm betting they'll gut the Milk Box if they see it again."

She, of course, could fix practically any damage done to the Milk Box. Doing so would take time to both perform the surgery and to fashion more sutures for it. That was assuming that the Mets wouldn't try to pulverize it. They hadn't been mindless summons before the Shards had taken direct control. There was every possibility that they'd recognize the Milk Box from the first attack and take steps to dismember it more thoroughly.

"Wha...?" Pinky mumbled as she opened her eyes. "What's going on?"

"Animals have found the clearing." Riley held her up to her shoulder. "We're leaving."

"Oh." Pinky stood up and stretched. "I'll help pack!" Instead of staying on top of the offered shoulder, the Fraerling leapt down to the ground. Proportionally, the four foot distance was a great leap.

Riley frowned. While it was nice that Pinky wanted to help, the reality was that she couldn't do much. She wasn't even a foot tall. Still... things would go marginally faster, and the saved seconds might count.

Speaking of which, she shouldn't be standing around worrying! Riley began packing. She started with the Milk Box. Should she tie it to her backpack, or put it inside? The extra-dimensional space was... relatively safe - so long as she kept the top open. Most of her samples didn't need oxygen, and those that did only required a little of it to stay alive.

The Milk Box took in a lot more. It might last... ten minutes with the supply the bag contained. Maybe less - as a good deal of the available space was filled with stuff already. Alternately, she could put it inside and simply not close it. That would provide it with air, but might negate any help the bag would be in hiding from her Mets.

Riley nodded to herself and began strapping the Milk Box to the outside. The Mets probably wouldn't be able to do any irreparable damage to it before she figured out a way to stop them.

...Unless two or more came at once.

She shook her head and continued her work. Work now, worry later.

She scanned the jungle as she packed. It was solid red, and it was nearly impossible to make out any hidden shapes normally. The predators this time weren't native species with their highly specific camouflage. Her Mets would stick out like a sore thumb.

There was movement and a flash of color.

"Dev, Pinky, we have company. Stay back."

Riley reached into her bag and pulled out a syringe with a long, thick needle. The Met appeared from within the foliage. Instead of walking on the ground, it seemed to hover a foot above it. It had to be using its spider legs to help it move around the uneven terrain.

Riley turned the needle around and placed it against her chest - right above her heart. One sudden stab drove it through the protective mesh and the bone sheath she'd made to protect one of her most vital organs. The needle was strong, but mundane. It never would've been able to pierce her defenses - except that she knew exactly where to target.

There was a small section of thinner bone that lined up with one of the holes in the mesh and her left ventricle. The solution inside of the hypodermic needle would be pumped out of her heart and carried all over her body by her circulatory system.

The Met moved out of the jungle and into the clearing.

Riley dropped the needle as she gasped in surprise. It wasn't a Met, well, it WAS, but it was more than that. The paws of the fully grown Quillcat walked across the ground. They led to its quill-covered body, and it's tail that had a spiky tuff.

It's head? It's head was gone. The Met was attached to its neck in its place.

The monster lowered itself for a pounce.

Riley's brain swirled. How?

Actually, the how was simple. Kevin's Mets had been made to both be independent servants... and to cover her biomechanical spiders. The spiders that Bonesaw had made years and years ago. The spiders that were, essentially, human brains that controlled some rudimentary hydraulic legs.

The Mets had been little more than a camouflage, but there had been a connection between them and her spiders. She'd examined them, of course, and the Mets had formed neural pathways. The brains inside of the spiders had still been in 'control' - or at least as much control as they'd ever had.

The connection, however, went both ways. There was little reason why the Mets COULDN'T usurp their hosts...

Or even replace them completely.

That led to the why: as strong and as tough as her Mets were, there were still things they lacked. Hijacking a body would allow them to push it past its natural limits.

Her eyes widened.

They could even do irreparable damage to it... and then just grab a new one from what they'd killed. That was their goal after all.

The Met pounced.

It was quick. Quicker than she'd seen a Quillcat move before. Its target?

Riley's eyes traced along its trajectory and landed on Pinky. The Fraerling had dropped what she'd been holding and was frozen. Her eyes were wide and her face was white.

Riley's muscles used the energy her solution had provided, and constricted fast enough to damage her ligaments. She sprinted to intercept the Met.

But... why wasn't Pinky doing anything? She'd been in worse situations than this in the past and hadn't frozen.

Notes:

Bios:

Riley Grace Davis - Bonesaw. Has been through much worse stuff.

Pinky - OC. Not her real name. A Fraerling who managed to lose her blood class and skills - which does have a few downsides.

Dev - An Earther. A competent [Scout] who likes to draw. Really unnerved by what happened. Trying to cope.

Chapter 65: New Outlooks 2

She couldn't move.

She couldn't think.

Pinky could only stare at her death as it charged her.

She should run, or jump, or duck, or... anything! But... she just couldn't. The overwhelming fear paralyzed her.

Bit blurred in between her and the monster. Her Tallfolk friend said something, but it was only so much noise to Pinky.

A slash.

A spray of red blood.

Bit's body was hurled away as red droplets floated in the air behind her. The glistening trail hung still for a split second before it splattered on the ground.

Pinky still couldn't move. Not even the sight of her friend being hurt, or so much Red, could faze her.

The monster with the head of a Met and the body of a gigantic cat had stopped. Its momentum had gone into its swipe. It lowered itself to pounce...

...and froze.

Pinky couldn't see what had happened, but Bit staggered back between them. She held her hand to her stomach as a sanguine liquid trickled through her fingers. The Met flailed at her, but somehow missed with its long, spindly legs.

"Yeah." Bit muttered. "That's what I thought."

The Met ceased its attack and planted its spider-like limbs on the ground. There was a fleshy tearing sound as it lifted itself off of the Quillcat's body.

Bit lunged.

The Met froze before disintegrating into smaller and smaller cubes. Something wet and solid fell out of the cloud of vanishing particles.

Bit stood over the now headless body. She held a yellow cube in her hand and nodded grimly.

Pinky was suddenly aware of just how hard her heart was beating. It seemed like it was about to burst from her chest.

"Pinky?" Bit knelt down in front of her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm..." Pinky forced herself to smile. "I'm fine!" She reached down to pick up the strand of wire she'd been carrying before the monster had appeared. "I'm perfectly-" Her hand was trembling.

Was it too much adrenaline? That wasn't possible! [Adrenaline High] protected her from...

"Urk." Pinky clutched her stomach and then bent over and vomited.

"Here." Bit took the sleeve of her dress and wiped Pinky's mouth. "Why don't you lay down and have some milk?"

Pinky's stomach twisted at the thought, and she nearly hurled again. "No..."

"Water?"

Water? Water sounded... good. She weakly nodded before Bit scooped her up. Pinky found herself on top of the Milk Box sipping from a cup that was made for Tallfolk.

Bit hovered between her and the backpack. She was mixing something.

"Pinky?" She looked up. Bit was biting her lower lip. "I have something that will help you relax. Do you want it?"

Relaxing? Relaxing felt like a good idea. She nodded.

Bit raised her hand and pursed her lips. A puff of something flew into Pinky's face and she started feeling... really... really... gooooood...

---

This was bad. Riley didn't mean the panic attack that Pinky had just clearly experienced. While that was bad, it wasn't as bad as her Mets getting around their 'no attacking humans' restriction by puppeteering corpses.

Well... that was mainly bad for Dev. Riley could handle herself, especially if the Mets needed a biological contraption to fight her. In fact, it made them far more vulnerable to her tech.

Speaking of which, Dev moved closer to the headless Quillcat. "What was that?"

"The Mets are commandeering animals."

Dev took a deep breath. "Can you fight them?"

Badgy would be a problem. The invisible monkeys wouldn't, since the Mets controlling them wouldn't benefit from their stealth. None of the animals they'd encountered in the Red Lands had been particularly resilient to her venoms. The Jungleclads, for there were almost certainly twenty Mets with gorilla bodies back at the village, would be fast and strong.

"Yes." Riley nodded. "If they come for us, I can do the same thing I did to this one." She nudged the headless corpse with her foot. She then picked up its brain. "C'mon. We still need to get away from the heart of the jungle. I'll need a place to Tinker in peace."

Dev glanced at the brain. It looked like he wanted to say something, but decided against it. "Let's go then. I've recovered enough traps and netting."

"Right."

...

They'd gotten pretty far before Riley had to stop to mix up some more tree-acid. On one hand, it was making a nice path that was harder for the jungle to reclaim than chopping down trees would've created. That was because her acid spread like a virus and got into the root system. It wasn't damage the jungle was accustomed to dealing with.

On the other hand, it left a very clear trail for the Mets to follow.

"That was pretty amazing, Bit." Pinky had started talking and hadn't stopped. "I mean, it was the same when we fought off the Bloodrage Badger! How many [Warrior] levels do you have? Have you consolidated yet? I mean, you must've right? That only makes sense. People think that I should say that consolidation is bad because I'm a [Fool], but there's [Foolish] and then there's foolish."

There was a rustling behind them. It wasn't particularly loud, but Riley had been listening for strange noises. She turned and saw a hulking, red body move out of the jungle and onto the road. It had a Met attached to where its head had been.

"Get to the edge of the road!" Riley yelled as the Redno bore down on them. Dev scrambled out of the way, Pinky fell quiet, as Riley stood her ground. The large, Met-controlled animal couldn't turn quickly, but she still needed to wait for the last moment before dodging.

As it bore down on them, her spine extended to its full length. She'd pushed it out of her skin and used it along with her legs to quickly spring to the side. She sprayed out a deadly, but short-lived plague in her wake.

That turned out not to matter much, as the animal crashed into the jungle she'd just been clearing. The jungle that was currently 80% acid.

Part of her expected the Redno to bellow in rage or at least pain, but those were just information signals to the Met that had replaced its head. Plus, it no longer had any vocal cords. The huge beast lumbered in a circle before its legs dissolved enough that they could no longer support its mass.

Riley slipped out of her backpack, and left the Milk Box and Pinky behind as she charged. She swerved off to the side, but the Met's gaze was firmly on the two non-human life forms. Riley slammed her Met Factory into its side, and the Summoned creature evaporated into pixels.

The remains of the Redno's brain was all that was left behind of its head.

Riley picked it up and turned it over in her hands. Yeah... the Mets were invasive with their puppeteering. She put the brain in her backpack to study more throughly later. It would never be an animal again, but brains were valuable in nearly any state.

"Wow, Bit! That was amazing!" Pinky's smile seemed just a little too wide. "Forget what I said before, THAT was like when we fought off the Bloodrage Badger. That's a great dodge [Skill]! Really quick! I nearly fell off of you!" She then laughed, but it felt more hysterical than humorous."

"Pinky." Dev's eyes were large as he swiveled his head left and right. "Be quiet."

"What?" Pinky put her hands on her hips. "You want me to shut up? That's-"

"I think you're attracting the Mets." Dev hissed at her.

"..." Pinky's face fell, and she let out a soft 'Oh'.

Riley frowned. That... seemed likely. The Mets weren't stupid. They recognized people. They understood basic causal effects. It was just that they'd been ordered to 'Eliminate' or something. She wouldn't call them tactical geniuses, but they could definitely recognize Pinky's voice.

"Bit, focus on making more acid." Dev glanced at her. "We'll keep our eyes open for any more of them."

"Hmpf." Riley grunted as she resumed Tinkering. She didn't like being told what to do. Dev usually wasn't that pushy. Still, he was a civilian. Both he and Pinky didn't have experience in dealing with stuff like this.

...

A few monkeys had attacked them, but Riley had been right. They couldn't turn the Mets invisible. The floating robots had looked strange. They'd tried to use their concealed bodies to run past her to get at the non-humans, but that hadn't worked on her. The bodies of the monkeys were still technically alive. They still produced heat. That meant that she could see them with her enhanced eyes.

"Mr. Krabby!" Riley shouted as the last line of trees melted away and revealed her surviving minion. She hopped up and down, but had to wait. The virus she'd used wouldn't hurt her, but the remains of the trees would. She wasn't like her brother. She wasn't immune to acid.

"What about Mr. Krabby?" Pinky asked before climbing to her shoulder. "Oh! He's alive!" Riley glanced at the Fraerling with the corner of her eye. Pinky was excitedly waving her hands. "Hiiii!!! Did you miss us Mr. Krabby?"

"Good." Dev nervously looked up and down the section of the river they could now see. "Let's get out of here."

"Get out of here?" Pinky asked.

"Yeah." Dev continued to scan the area. "We need to leave the Dyed Lands as quickly as possible."

Leave the Dyed Lands? Riley turned to look at him. "What about the Jungleclad?"

"They're dead." Dev replied. "We can't do anything for them now. Not unless you can bring them back to life?" He looked at her, and Riley deflated.

"No." She shook her head. "The Mets are pretty thorough with damaging the brains. I could revive their bodies if there's not too much damage. Brains are trickier. In the best case, they'd be blank slates. In the worst, fragmented memories would drive them insane." That wouldn't be a problem for using their parts for a bio-computer, but to restore them to how they had been?

It would've been difficult immediately after the damage had been done. It also grew less likely with time. The Mets certainly weren't trying to preserve anything.

"But..." Pinky wrung her hands. "But... We CAN'T just leave them!" Then in a smaller voice she added. "Not again."

"They're dead." Dev repeated himself-

Before Pinky interrupted him. "Yes! And that's because of me!" Her voice began to break. "It's because of me that we came here! It's because of me that we went to the Red crystal! It's because of me that we encountered that Black creature! That's why the Mets went insane! That's why they're killing everything!" She sat down on Riley's shoulder and wrapped her hands around her knees. "..."

It felt like she had more to say, but Riley saw movement back along the path. She shrugged off her backpack, and then scooped Pinky up and placed her on the Milk Box.

"Hang on." She pulled the Met Factory out of her pocket. "We have another Met-Monkey."

She dispersed the robot, gathered the brain, and went back to Dev & Pinky.

"Look." She said. "It's been a long day, and it's getting dark. We can't ride Krabby if he can't see, so we need to start making camp now."

Dev scowled for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Fine. You're right. Let's camp for the night."

---

Pinky couldn't sleep.

Bit and Dev weren't sleeping either, which was comforting in a way. Bit, because she was high-level and could go a long time without sleep. That was good, because she was the only one that could stop the Mets. Dev was trying to sleep, but she could hear him tossing and turning. That also made her feel better - it meant she wasn't the only one who was still on edge.

[Calm Self]

At least she had a [Skill] she could use for times like this.

[Calm Self]

Except...

[Calm Self]

...it wasn't working.

She gotten [Calm Self] way back when she'd just been an [Adrenaline Junkie]. It was a basic skill that was primarily used for stopping [Adrenaline High] and [Adrenaline Surge]. It usually was pretty good for falling asleep too...

The problem was that she wasn't excited. She was nervous. She wasn't filled with energy that she could barely keep in check. It wasn't like she could run and jump to bleed it away. Pinky couldn't stop thinking about death.

It was almost exactly like when Lars had died.

The only difference, was that now it filled her with a sense of dread instead of longing. That was clearly either due to [Suicide Survivor] changing to [Soul Survivor] or because she'd finally lost [Suicidal Thoughts]. The thing was... [Soul Survivor] hadn't given her any [Skills].

What sort of [Class] didn't give you even a single [Skill]? How was she supposed to level [Soul Survivor]?

She wanted to talk to Bit and Dev - to tell them about her new [Class]. She could even explain that it was [Soul Survivor] and NOT [Sole Survivor]. That should be obvious, as she wasn't the only person who'd survived the Black creature.

...It also boded well for at least Dev or Bit getting out of the jungle alive. If she was a [Gambler], she'd bet on Bit.

But, it wasn't like she could tell them. That would risk the Mets finding them by hearing her voice. Even if she was allowed to talk, things just felt too... fresh right now. It hurt to think about that night. It would hurt more to speak about it.

Had it really only been a day?

She wished that she'd at least have her hallucination of Lars to talk to. Rationally, she KNEW it was a good thing she wasn't seeing him any more, but...

Yeah.

Pinky rolled over onto a cool patch of the Milk Box. Her house had been damaged by the Mets. She might be a [Fool], but going inside a damaged magical item was in the [Suicidal] realm of actions.

Pinky yawned.

Yeah. No more of that for her. She'd done it, and she'd done it HER way! She hadn't run to an elder and asked for a class removal. She hadn't lost Lars! ...She just didn't know how to talk to him yet.

Pinky's breathing slowed down. She finally fell asleep as she heard two voices:

'Hi, Took.'

[Soul Survivor Level 2!]

[Skill – Ghostly Whispers Obtained!]

---

Dev couldn't sleep.

It wasn't JUST the murderous robots that were hunting them - or at least hunting Pinky and the Milk Box. It was also the 'conversations' he'd had during the day. They kept on re-playing in his mind over and over again.

'Pinky. Be quiet. I think you're attracting the Mets.'

That had been rude, and a Scout is courteous.

He should apologize, but he hadn't been wrong. The Fraerling had been chatting, as if she was oblivious to the danger they were in. She was in.

That... annoyed him, but it was no excuse for being rude.

'Pinky. Be quiet. I think you're attracting the Mets.'

He could've used a 'please'. He could've phrased it as less of a command and more of a warning. He could've said nothing...

Even if they did attract more psychotic robots, Bit could handle them. She was a superhero after all. She probably had dealt with things like that in the past. Her world's version of that one robot from that one movie, or something.

'Pinky, please be quiet. I think the Mets can hear you.'

Or.

'Pinky, the Mets will follow your voice. Please...'

'Be quiet'? 'Act responsibly'? 'Don't be such a liability'?

Those were all too rude. It was so much easier to be courteous when you were silent.

Maybe he was lashing out at Pinky because he was scared? No. There was no 'maybe' about it. He was scared. He hadn't been able to do anything against the Vetala. Pinky? She'd attacked it, and had been killed.

Bit, being the miracle worker she was, had revived her, but the small, fragile, Fraerling had shown more backbone than Dev when they'd been confronted by the monster. Bit doing that wouldn't have surprised him. The little girl was far stronger than he was. Braver. More experienced.

Pinky? Pinky had been their tenderfoot. The person they'd been guiding... for reasons.

It had made Dev feel ashamed when he'd realized she'd been braver than him. That shame was now compounding.

A Scout is loyal. A Scout is courageous. A Scout is disciplined.

Was he actually any of those things? Could he even call himself a Scout? He might have the class now, but being a [Scout] didn't mean he was a Scout.

But, what could he say? How could he apologize?

He just couldn't. He couldn't even envision himself doing it. He'd only make things worse because he still felt angry. A half-hearted or insincere apology would be just words.

This was the real reason he liked to be alone.

He began to repeat his Mantra in his mind. It wouldn't be of any help against the homicidal AIs, but it might help drive off the Vetala - if it was still hunting them. It would also, hopefully, let him fall asleep.

---

Riley wasn't sleeping. She was Tinkering.

It would be great if she could give Mr. Krabby some better eyes, but she didn't have the parts on hand. At least, she didn't have all the parts. She had plenty of brains that she could use. It wouldn't be hard to take the occipital lobes from her former pets and graft them onto Krabby's brain. That would give it the capacity to utilize additional eyes.

No. Her primary problem was that she didn't have any spare eyes.

Sure, she could ask Dev to loan one of his. She'd even give him a better one in the future! However, she knew from experience that most people weren't so cavalier with their bodies.

Plus, it would reduce his depth perception. If it wasn't for that, then Riley would use one of her own eyes. Her eyes were perfect, and would let Mr. Krabby navigate in the dark without any problems whatsoever!

That didn't mean that Mr. Krabby didn't need brain surgery. The Red-Rhinoceros, or 'Redno', had an interesting brain. She was pretty sure that this region of it was responsible for scent. It was a big section. The Redno must've been a pretty good tracker.

It probably had to have this much computing power because of all the pollen the Red Jungle liked to release. That would make most scent-based tracking next to impossible - unless an animal had the processing power to account for it. It was a shame her Met had... eaten? its nose along with its head.

Riley rested her hands on Mr. Krabby's shell and looked around. Nope. No sign of any Mets sneaking up on them.

What DID her Mets do with the rest of the heads?

She closed up on Mr. Krabby. Now wasn't the time to experiment with mixing magical colors. Krabby was alive and capable of helping them fight. That was good enough for now.

The ideas Surgery was giving her for crab-hybrids started being replaced with Met-animal fusions.

She let out a sigh as she walked over to her backpack and pulled the headless Quillcat corpse from it. That was JUST like her Passenger: getting her into trouble and then giving her the tools to get out of it. It was frustrating!

...Or it might be the Shard's version of an apology - if she wanted to anthropomorphize it.

She propped up the large cat and focused on its wound. Her eyes constricted and flexed as she forced them to the limits of their magnification...

Cells...

Wounds from external sources...

Damage with no discernible origin... There!

Oh, yeah. There were a lot of them, and at different stages too! That was a good thing, as the Met had done some more damage when it had started to pull itself free. She just had to take that into account... and...

Ah.

They WERE eating the animals. Each cell had been cleanly cut in a molecularly perfect line. The Met had engulfed the head and then dissolved it micron by micron as it took over the biology there. It was similar to...

No. It was almost exactly how her brother's Breaker state would work if it was only partially activated. Each 'pixel' of the Met duplicated the functionality of that section of the creature it had assimilated.

Interesting.

There had to be a way to use that...

...

Riley wiped her forehead.

She'd done it!

Sure, she was, like, the BEST Tinker in the world... at least where biology was involved, but this had still been a challenge. In a way, it would be like what would happen if she ever collaborated with Kevin.

That was, if her big brother was a REAL Tinker. In her opinion, Optimize did too much of the work there. Sure, most every Tinker relied on their Shards to... nudge physics in the right direction for them. That was why regular people couldn't reproduce Tinker-tech.

Pixel's tech was 100% Shard interference. It didn't even try to do things any other way.

It wasn't like that for Riley. She, and most other bio-Tinkers, made stuff to last. In fact, limiting the progression of her work was sometimes the hardest part. There were some things that she made, like certain enhancements, that she needed to maintain like all Tinkers. A lot of those wouldn't stop working if she didn't keep an eye on them.

...They would just start working 'differently'.

But, if she were to try and combine her and Kevin's tech, she'd probably get a blueprint for what she'd just finished making.

She smiled as she skipped to the body of the monkey that had tried to sneak up on Pinky and the Milk Box during the night. It wouldn't be the perfect test subject. Heck, it wouldn't even be a good test subject, but it was what she had on hand.

Riley held up her test tube, and pulled the stopper out just enough to allow a single drop of the liquid within to fall to the ground.

It never made it.

The drop turned into a cube mid-air, and then shattered. Each segment repeated the process. It was almost visually identical to what happened when she dismissed a Met using its factory. The rain of particles quickly reached the size where they were invisible to the naked eye.

Then they reached the point where even Riley's eyes couldn't track them.

Then they landed on the headless monkey, and spread.

Excellent.

Riley drummed her fingers together.

That had worked precisely as she'd intended. While that didn't mean that the substance would do what she wanted, it was still a good sign. Even if it failed, it should slow down the Mets long enough for her to get to them.

Plus, it... SHOULD be harmless to Dev and Pinky, unlike some of the other options she could use to take out the puppeted corpses.

She hadn't really considered what it would do to them, but it'd probably be fine.

Dev yawned and stood up. "Good Morning." He walked over next to her. "Did that attack us last night?"

Riley nodded. "Yep. Don't worry. I got it long before it could get close."

"Hmmm." Dev let out a non-committal grunt as he bent down and examined the undergrowth at the edge of the jungle and the river. "It triggered the traps, but walked right through them." He stood up with a strand of wire in his hands. "I guess it was too much to hope for something like this to work against a robot."

"What is it?" Riley tilted her head.

Dev glanced at her. "A metal string I got with my new skill." He shrugged. "It's not as good as the more modern traps back on Earth, but it's better than the strings I've made out of vines and grass. Still not enough, though."

"Well..." Regular people can't fight parahumans. That was common knowledge from Earth Bet. Even if Dev had guns and barbed wire and whatever else he wanted, the Mets would still win. That probably also applied to the Vetala. "Perhaps once you're higher level? Some sort of... magical trap?"

That had to be the answer, right? If low-level people were close to baseline humans, and high-level ones were more like parahumans, then the solution (for Dev) was to become high-level. Of course, people of this world all undoubtedly tried to get more and more levels. So her advice felt rather empty.

"You're right." Dev said glumly.

"Oh! I know!" Riley held up her latest work. "You can use this!"

"What's that?" Dev leaned forward and looked at the glowing red liquid.

"My anti-Met poison!" Riley beamed.

To his credit, Dev didn't recoil. Instead he rubbed his chin and looked down at the headless monkey corpse. "So that's what you used to kill it last night? How does a poison work against robots?"

"Hm?" Riley shook her head. "No. I killed the Met-monkey the old fashioned way. I just got finished making this."

"Then how do you know it works?" Dev asked.

Riley glared at him. "Because that's my power. Do you want to use it to booby-trap the area or not?"

"Oh, yeah, uhm, sorry." Dev mumbled. "But how does a poison work against a robot?"

"Ah!" Riley smiled. "It attacks their weakness, the animal bodies! You see, the Mets have to interface with the bodies to use them. But, since they've eaten most of the head, they don't have anything connecting them, so they've made the connections themselves! They each have a sub-divided dimensional section that alters reality inside of it to replicate various phenomenon. In this case, that means they're mimicking the bodies that they've commandeered. They're still using the brains to process most things, because that's just efficient. So basically they have their nervous system connected with the sub-divided dimensions."

Riley continued.

"My poison works on the body, and causes it to start to have dimensional fluctuations too! They aren't much, but they're enough to replicate the signal that the Met Factory uses. That destabilizes the Mets themselves because they're already set up to receive data from the body and translate it back and forth to the brain they still have inside of them. That connection is a vulnerability because Mets weren't designed to integrate with living organisms in the first place!"

At least not in a partial manner like they were doing. Riley didn't know if an infected brain would be enough for a Met with no body.

Then again, how would a Met incorporate a brain like that?

She could alter the formula and add some barriers or a triggering device...

"That's good." Dev nodded his head. "But we need to pack up and leave now that there's enough light to navigate."

Riley pushed the modifications to her poison to the back of her mind. "What? We're not leaving. I need to disable the rest of the Mets first."

Dev looked at her incredulously. "We have to leave! Even if you can handle the robots, the Vetalas is still out there somewhere! We have to get away!"

"We can't just leave the Mets to their own devices." Riley argued back. "These things get worse the longer they aren't contained."

"No." Dev growled. "It's just, what? A dozen left now? Sure, they can take over animals, but they can't reproduce." He pointed at her pocket. "At least not without that cube you have. What if they get it and become an exponential threat?"

Riley gave him a flat look. "The cube has an upper limit it can support. Plus, the Mets would have to actually get it from me in the first place." Although, there was a limit on what they could do. Kevin should be able to use the Met Factory to regain control of them, or reign them in, or - at the very least - track them down. "The real problem is what happens if they decide to leave the jungle? How many towns would they wipe off the map until my brother stopped them?"

Dev froze as a look of realization came over him. He started muttering to himself as he walked back and forth for a minute. He finally stopped and his shoulders slumped. "You're right. That's... I mean... I couldn't..." He let out a sigh. "Lets say we don't run away. How do we hunt them? It's like finding a needle in a haystack!"

"Oh!" Pinky suddenly appeared on his shoulder, which caused Dev to jerk back with a shout. "I can be bait! I can lure them in, and you can kill them with Bit's poison and your traps!"

Dev looked conflicted. "Well..."

Riley crossed her arms and nodded. "Let's do it!"

---

Pinky stood on top of the Milk Box.

The traps were set. Bit was ready with her potions. It was now all up to her to lure their enemies to them!

She took a deep breath, and opened her mouth... but no sound came out.

Instead, she turned pale as her eyes went wide. She then shut them, fell to her knees, and hugged herself.

"Don't make me be bait. I know I suggested it, but I changed my mind." She whispered in a soft voice.

Chapter 66: New Outlooks 3

Pinky felt afraid, but more than that, she felt ashamed.

Here, she had a chance to help Bit and Dev out, and she didn't even need to do much. All that was required of her was to make noise. She'd yell, and the Mets would come. The traps that Dev had meticulously set with Bit's concoction would kill them. Those that got past would be handled by the [Alchemist] herself.

...Just how many classes did Bit have anyways?

Pinky wouldn't even have to do any fighting. She was bait. She just had to yell.

It had been HER idea in the first place. She'd even felt a little of the old excitement rising up again.

...Since when was excitement 'old' to her? It had been only a day and a half since... well... everything.

Such a short time for her entire world to change.

"Pinky? Are you okay?" Bit was looking at her with a concerned face. "We won't make you do anything. I can-"

'Took? ARE you okay?' Pinky immediately focused on the other voice. The voice that was as familiar as her own. She'd heard it right as she'd fallen asleep.

"Lars?"

"Who?"

'Who else, runt?'

"Oh." Pinky sagged. "I'm hallucinating again." Her blood skill might've been removed, but that didn't mean its effects were gone also.

"Hallucinating? Again?" Bit lowered her voice and mumbled to herself. "Was the dosage off? Did it interact with Fraerling biology strangely?" She moved over to her backpack and began having a whispered conversation with Dev while mixing something like the [Alchemist] she really was.

'Took...' She could hear the concern that she was projecting towards herself with Lars' voice. 'You were hallucinating?'

"You know I was. You know everything." Or at least everything that she knew - since he was her hallucination and all.

'Do I?' Lars let out a hum. 'How about you explain it to me then? You know that it helps you order your ideas.'

"Huh." Pinky crossed her legs to get more comfortable. "I make a good point." Bit would find out she was insane... but that was probably for the best. Then she could get away before she was died. "Ever since I got my blood class, I've seen you. Spoken with you. That's why I hid it. So they wouldn't try and 'fix' me. I knew I was being stupid, but... I just couldn't afford to lose you. Not again. Not after our dads..."

She sighed.

"I hid the note you left. Nobody else would've understood why you did it, but I did. I... tried to follow you. That's where I got my blood class. It... was easy to hide. Everyone was used to me being an [Adrenaline Junkie], so what was one little accident? One overestimation of what I could do? It was nothing to call a [Thought Healer] about."

Pinky blinked the tears out of her eyes.

"That first accident led to others. I knew it was my class, my skill, pushing me. I mean, it was really, really obvious - wasn't it? The fact that I found it enticing instead of scary... well, that was concerning, until 'you' showed up. I mean, I know it wasn't you. That it's not you now, but... 'You' made me feel better. Like it was before..."

'Took...' Lars' voice sounded sad. 'I didn't. I never... I'm sorry.' He growled. 'Look. Your blood class and skill are gone now, right? So I CAN'T be a hallucination! You must've gotten a new class and skill, or something! Something that lets you hear the REAL me! You remember the basic skill guidelines, right?'

Pinky rolled her eyes, but humored herself. It wouldn't have been the first time that her insanity had helped her remember something important. "[Skills] can either allow you to do something you weren't able to do before. Or they can help you do something you've done before, but make it easier."

'But that's not all, is it?'

"Huh?"

'[Classes] themselves grant power. The most common expression is [Skills], but a [Class] can make you quicker, stronger, or...'

"...Or unlock an ability." Right. There were examples like the Lizardfolk who's classes evolved them. Those sort of classes grant a lot of abilities that didn't exactly fit into a skill. "Wait. If you aren't a hallucination, then how do you know I loss my blood class?"

'You talk in your sleep, and I was bored.' Lars grumbled. 'You wouldn't believe what it's like here. It was scary at first, then intimidating, but now it's back to the popular kids verses everyone else. And the popular kids are really, REALLY popular. ...And they deserve it.'

"Heh." Pinky chuckled. "If that's true, maybe it wouldn't be so bad..."

'No!' Lars shouted. 'Just... no. What I did was a mistake and stupid. Don't... Just, enjoy yourself, alright? I still don't know how exactly you've done what you've done, or where you are right now, but you're doing it! You're out in the world! You're having an adventure! I know it's scary, but you've already shown you have what it takes! So, keep pressing forward!'

"Ha. Now I know you're not the real Lars." Pinky smiled to herself. "You were never that optimistic."

'Hey, what can I say? I've matured.'

"Pinky?" Bit came back with a small bottle. "You don't have to be bait. Here. Drink this. You'll feel better when you wake up."

Pinky wiped her eyes and stood up. "Thanks, Bit, but I'm feeling better now. I just had to have a conversation with my imaginary friend to sort everything out."

'I'm not imaginary!'

"I'm going to be the best bait the world has ever seen!" She thought about that for a second. "...Or not. I don't want a [Class] like that. But you know what I mean."

Bit frowned. "Are you sure? I mean, it's great if you are feeling better, but trauma doesn't just vanish. You've been through a stressful situation, and it's okay to take a break."

"I'm sure!" Pinky puffed out her chest. "I even know how I'm going to do it too! You'd better get in position, 'cause I'm going to use my [Outside Voice]."

"UPON A DAY THAT WAS BRIGHT AND FAIR!"

"THERE WAS A MAIDEN WITH LONG, BLONDE HAIR!"

"SHE DANCED IN A FIELD, ALONGSIDE BEES!"

"AND SAW A MAN AS TALL AS THE TREES!"

---

Riley walked away from Pinky. One hand held her sedative, while the other covered one of her ears. The Fraerling was LOUD. ...And off-key.

It was a little concerning that Pinky suffered from hallucinations. Concerning, but not really surprising. It wasn't like sanity was all that great. Crazy people were more interesting, and most capes were off-kilter in one way or another.

The first Met to arrive was another monkey. It swung in from the tree tops, but as it put its weight on a branch, the limb of the tree gave way. Dev had cut it off, and re-attached it with sap and a few twigs as dowel rods. It was enough to support the weight of the plant and nothing more.

Riley's main concern had been how quickly the trees - and the slime inside of them - might regrow. While the jungle was a lot calmer than it had been close to the Red crystal, that didn't mean it wasn't still supernaturally regenerative.

Thankfully, that hadn't reduced the effectiveness of the trap. The Met and its invisible body fell onto small spikes that Dev had placed. It was like a blanket of caltrops. Each small piece of wood had been sharpened and placed in the ground. Dev had gone back and brushed Riley's anti-Met venom on their tips.

There was no visual clue it was working as the Met seemingly floated up, but Riley could see the heat from the decapitated monkey just fine. She also saw the fluctuations as the venom raced through its body. It rode on its nervous system, and left a trail of distorted space in its wake.

The Met-monkey took a few steps forward before the distortion reached it's neck. The Met then froze... before breaking apart into smaller and smaller cubes.

Then, it was gone.

Seven Mets out of the twenty that had accompanied her. Five monkeys out of the ten that had survived up until this point.

That left thirteen Mets and five more monkeys. Unless, of course, the Mets had traded in their monkey bodies for something better. The monkey's primary advantage was pretty much nullified by having a non-invisible Met attached to them.

The Mets were probably trying to adapt the invisibility to conceal themselves as well.

Riley doubted it would work. The Mets were agents of the Shards, and the primary weakness of the Entity was that it wasn't good at experimentation. That was why it outsourced it in the first place.

Besides, traps didn't care about if their triggerer could be seen or not.

Pinky continued to sing her heart out. The song was loud, off-key and annoying, but the lyrics were kinda sweet. It seemed to be telling the tale of a doomed romance between a Fraerling girl and a Tallfolk boy of indeterminate race.

...

Met after Met moved towards the singing, triggered a trap, and died.

Or at least was un-summoned. It wasn't like they were alive in the normal sense of the term in the first place.

So far, the biggest issue had been when another Met-Redno arrived. It had charged towards them along the cleared pathway with remarkable speed - which also meant it had a substantial amount of momentum behind it too. Far more than would be needed for it to continue past the traps and crush Pinky and the Milk Box before the dispersion venom could take effect. It trampled the traps and kept coming.

But, that was why Riley had neurotoxin finger bone darts!

They weren't the most potent poison that she could create, but they acted almost as quickly as she could fire them.

A dart in the chest caused the Met-Redno to seize up. Its pectoral muscles constricted with enough force that it broke its own ribs. While its legs technically worked, it was impossible for it to run or even keep its balance.

The massive beast pitched forward, crashed into the ground, and then flipped over!

Riley could see the dimensional distortions propagating through its limbs. The flesh of the beast pixelated in lines as the venom raced along its nervous system. The only problem was that the Redno was large enough that the reaction took time.

That, and the Met realized its ride had been disabled!

Spider-like limbs were already extending from underneath its helmet, and the Met began to pull itself away with a horrible ripping sound!

Riley darted forward. The Met Factory was in her hand. She'd expected this.

Of all the animals the Mets might commandeer, a Redno was the second worst. Monkeys weren't an issue. A large lizard the Mets had encountered lacked the leg strength or size to be an issue. The red crocodile-like animals could sprint decently fast, but they lacked the agility to avoid Dev's traps or the mass to survive the venom for long.

Quillcats weren't much of a threat either. They were agile and fast enough to be one, but the Mets didn't utilize them effectively.

Riley hummed to herself as she struck the Redno's Met and dispersed it.

A large group of Met-Quillcats that learned to avoid the traps and flanked them would be trouble. Thankfully, Quillcats weren't pack hunters. The Shard that was controlling the Mets (possibly Surgery, but she had no way of knowing for sure), wasn't creative.

That might've been why it had assimilated the animals - to harness their intelligence and instincts. That was probably why the non-predator monkeys were doing the worst.

...And why the most dangerous animal would be Badgy.

Riley jerked her head as she smelled cookies. That was a clear indicator that something was trying to interfere with her mental processes.

The Bloodrage Badger had been a tenacious and intelligent foe. It had stalked her and lain in wait to ambush her at the most opportune time.

It also had more advanced Stranger abilities than the monkeys. It did more than just bent light. It also had a mental component to its stealth.

And it was using it right now!

---

Dev clenched his spear as he watched the gigantic Redno die.

It was almost comical in how small the parasitic Met that replaced its head was. He might've found it funny if it was in a cartoon or a movie. As it was, the impending doom suppressed his other emotions.

...Except for disgust. He'd seen it happen with the previous animals, but watching the Redno's brain splat on the ground as the robot around it disintegrated? He was going to have nightmares about that.

At least they wouldn't be about the Vetala.

At least the things attacking them were only robots and animals. Super advanced robots out of science fiction, and magically enhanced animals, but nothing as mystical as a vengeful spirit.

At least the Redno was dead. It would probably be at least half an hour until the next Met showed up. Two had come within ten minutes of one another, but so far there had been a decent time gap as the Mets moved towards the sound of Pinky's voice.

Dev hadn't even had to use his spear yet. He was more of a bystander in a superhero fight than an active participant.

He didn't know how he felt about that.

Still, it was his traps that were keeping them safe, and the Redno had trampled most of the spikes he'd placed in the road. Dev moved forward to scavenge what he could, though he'd probably have to replace most of them. The large animal had mostly left splinters in its wake.

"Stop!" Bit shouted. "Pinky, stop singing! Dev, stand back! The Bloodrage Badger is close!"

Dev froze before slowly backing away. He'd heard how indomitable the thing had been when it had tracked Bit and Pinky. He'd seen it in action when it had fought the jungle. It might've been smaller than the Redno, but he was pretty sure the Badger would win in a fight.

It was also sneaky...

Dev whirled around. The river! It would come from the river!

...No.

No splashes. No sign of any invisible animal swimming across.

But... his [Advanced Dangersense] was going off. A sense of unease filled him. If he was an invisible and intelligent predator, where would he be?

The road!

Dev spun back towards the path Bit had made. The place that was hard to trap because there was nothing there. The place where the Redno had just trampled all of his spikes!

"[Rearm Trap]!" He pointed and activated his skill. He could only use it once a day, but now seemed like a pretty good time to do so.

The small spikes of wood vibrated on the ground before flying back along the Redno's wake. It was as if he was seeing a video of twigs being blown in the wind - played backwards.

The broken ones didn't move, nor did the ones that didn't have a glistening tip from Bit's poison. His [Skill] couldn't repair traps, and even if it could, the superhero grade poison might be too much for it.

Still... it was enough. One of the small spikes vanished as if something invisible had stepped on it. The next second - Badgy was there with a Met for a head.

Somehow, he looked even angrier than normal.

Bit was already away from the Redno's corpse and in front of her old pet.

Dev wondered what he could do to help... until his Dangersense pulsed again. He was getting better at recognizing the sensation, and it was warning him of something to his right!

The Bloodrage Badger charged. At almost the same time, a horde of Met/animal hybrids erupted from the jungle!

It HAD to be ALL the remaining ones!

Bit was right. The Mets were both smart and stupid. They blindly walked into the traps, but they also had gathered for a final surge.

Quillcats, lizards, monkeys, and one large bird all emerged - and were killed as Dev's traps triggered en masse. It wasn't that his traps were that lethal. They WERE meant to kill, but they shouldn't have been that effective against large animals.

It had only been through his [Skills] that Dev had managed to make dart launchers out of wood in the first place. Sure, they managed to fly quick and straight enough, but a rabbit or a bird were their intended targets. Against large predators, they'd only wound and (hopefully) drive them off.

Bit's poison had changed that.

The anti-robotic concoction she'd made was... let's just say it was in the realm of super-science that didn't exist outside of a comic book. Or, perhaps, a fantasy world like the one they were in.

All it took was a single scratch. A solitary dart, spike, or barbed snare. One wound, and their attackers died.

Except for the Redno and Bloodrage Badger. They were too big.

Similarly, the second wave of animals that had come right behind the first had survived.

Dev didn't know if that was their plan, or if they'd charged forward and simply hoped for numbers to overwhelm their defenses. He glanced over his shoulder. A Met-Monkey had gotten through on the other side and gone straight for Pinky. The Fraerling was nowhere to be seen, and Krabby had moved forward to fight the monster.

The monkeys were the least dangerous of their attackers, but the Met wasn't restrained by its programming against the giant crab. Its robotic limbs were scoring deep wounds in the crustacean's shell, while also deftly holding off its claws.

Dev moved to help, before a Quillcat Met got past the trap line to his right. The animal rounded on him before pouncing!

Dev fell onto his back, but braced his spear. The simple wooden stick wasn't much, but it was long and coated in Bit's poison. The Met's head was more of a hindrance than a help. A mouth full of sharp teeth a regular Quillcat had would be more dangerous since the robot still wasn't attacking him directly.

Heck, the Met's helmet was actually helping shield him from the cat's quills.

Dev pushed the cat away with his spear and tried to keep its claws from eviscerating him. He was mostly successful. By the end of their short fight, his left arm had been wounded, but it didn't hurt with all the adrenaline going through his system.

The cat, on the other hand, lay lifeless once the poison from the spear reached its robotic head.

Dev pushed it off of him and stood up. He glanced around. The crab was losing and Bit was squaring off against the Bloodrage Badger. Should he help? Could he help? Would he only get in the way?

Dev hesitated before [Advanced Dangersense] drew his eyes to the side.

A hulking figure emerged from the underbrush. Its armored feet crushed the wooden spikes that lined the clearing. Traps shot their darts, but they struck iron plates or thick leather. The green figure towered over Dev.

It was Chewbacca - or what was left of his body. The Jungleclad had a Met in place of its head like all the other possessed animals. Unlike the rest, it still wore the armor their guide had died in. There were holes and tears in it where the robots had struck, and the green blood that had congealed on the outside stood in stark contrast to the ubiquitous red of the jungle.

Worse, the great ape held his axe in one hand and a massive shield in the other.

He was bigger than Dev, had better equipment, and was far stronger as well.

---

Riley was afraid that this would happen.

The Mets weren't geniuses, but it didn't take one to come up with the strategy to all attack at once. She, however, didn't have any attention to spare towards her friends right now. Badgy was the biggest threat and she needed to stop him before he killed anyone.

Dev had done something, and the spike traps had mostly returned to how they'd been before the Redno had trampled them. That was good. What was even better was that Badgy had stepped on one while he'd been trying to sneak up on them.

The bad news was that the venom wasn't as effective as it should've been.

She'd included Red cells as part of its composition - along with some of the genetic material she'd stored from Badgy himself. She'd made sure that her toxin would be effective against their greatest threat.

...But the Bloodrage Badger's immune system was still a marvelous combination of biology and magic. It might not be capable of negating her venom, but it was slowing it down.

She could clearly see the path it was taking up Badgy's legs. It was the same as what had happened with the Redno. There was less distance for it to travel before reaching Badgy's 'head', but it was also progressing much, much slower.

Pinky... should be able to evade it long enough for the venom to reach the Met. Badgy clearly had some enhanced senses, so a Fraerling probably wouldn't have been able to hide from it for long. The Met that had replaced its head?

Actually, she didn't know exactly how they saw the world. They didn't have anything that would overcome a proper Stranger, but that didn't mean they weren't observant.

She needed to slow Badgy down.

Riley braced herself. She was between the body of the Bloodrage Badger and the Milk Box. The Met would've gone around her if it was on its own. The Met-Badger hybrid would try to go through her.

As it bore down on her, she idly wondered if the Mets would try to actively hunt humans if they escaped the Dyed Lands, or if they would limit themselves to those that they happened upon.

Probably the latter.

Then again, she hadn't thought that the Shards could press back against the 'no killing humans' rule as much as they currently were. Of course, parahumans still killed humans all the time - so the rule clearly had a lot of flexibility in how it was interpreted anyways.

Badgy lunged!

Its arms came in from the sides in a massive double-sweep.

Riley pushed off the the ground with her extendible spine and sprung to her left. It would've been safer to dodge backwards, but she wanted to pull the Met-Badger off course from the Milk-

Riley slammed into something!

She had a brief moment of surprise before Badgy's right claw caught her in her chest!

She was tossed almost to the edge of the clearing.

Ow.

That hurt.

She blinked as she gathered her wits. What had happened?

Oh.

The devious little fucker.

Riley stood as the Met withdrew its arms. She had been focusing on Badgy, since the Met controlling it couldn't hurt her directly. Blocking her dodge with one of its long, slim limbs? That, apparently, was just fine.

At least the trick had forced it to dig deep into the ground - deep enough to halt the Badger's momentum. Heck, it probably hurt itself by effectively slamming its body into an immobile head.

Ow.

She winced as she stood up. It had definitely hurt her more though. Her damage control systems were already cutting off blood flow and dampening the pain signals. It had managed to break her ribs... again, but that was pretty much it. Her dress and her under-armor had stopped the claws from actually penetrating her flesh.

The question now was: Would it go after her? Or would it attack the Milk Box?

Or, would it go after Pinky - wherever she was? Her little friend had obviously been shaken by her near-death experience. It would take time for her to get over-

"[Scarlet Beam]! [Scarlet Beam]! Scarlet Beam!" A red beam struck Badgy in the chest, while a second one flew towards the Jungleclad-Met that Dev was squaring off with. An outraged voice shouted from the ground. "Two?!? Two!!! It was supposed to be three! ...Dying sucks."

Riley wasted no time. She raised her hand and aimed at the red splotch that now marred the Badger's pure white skin. Her muscles contracted and a bone needle flew forwards!

...Only to be blocked by the Met that sat on Badgy's torso.

Riley glared at it while pulling out a syringe with a long, thick needle from one of her pockets. It was such a pain to repair all the minor tears and other injuries over-clocking her muscles caused. Hell, she hadn't gotten the time to give herself a once-over since she used the rest of her energy concoction back in the clearing.

Oh well.

'Never save potions for the final boss.'

Kevin was right about that. Tinker's had to use their tech, otherwise they would be plain old boring humans.

She stabbed herself in the heart again. It was easier, as the bone plate hadn't regrown from the last time. For some, it would be a miracle shot - not to mention how many would flinch at the thought of piercing their heart with a needle.

For Riley? It was literally child's play.

She crouched down. Her legs flexed. Her spine prepared to help propel her. Then...

She charged.

Riley collided with Badgy's chest before the enraged animal could react. One hand pressed against the patch of red and fired another needle point-blank.

The effect was instantaneous. Without its color-based defense, her neurotoxin paralyzed it. Or, at least, the muscles in the red section were frozen. Her toxin couldn't go past that area easily. But, it was enough. Badgy tried to crush her with a bear hug, but that was hard to do without its pectoral muscles working.

Riley brought up her other hand, and slammed the Met Factory into the Met.

Badgy's body collapsed and his brain fell to the ground with a wet 'splouch' as the Met disintegrated.

Unfortunately, Riley was underneath it at the time.

Ugh. Badgy was heavy!

Riley tried to twist around so she could push against the ground with her arms. She'd taken out the biggest threat, but there were still other Mets out there. She'd lost count in the chaos of the battle. It would take counting brains to confirm the number of Met kills. Hopefully, all of them were part of this group attack.

She wasn't getting anywhere. Riley changed tactics and tried pushing Badgy up and off her enough for her to scoot out from underneath it. Dev was in trouble, and she needed to get free.

The civilian was desperately fending off a Met that had taken the body of their gorilla guide. Thankfully, it didn't seem to be in top condition - which was probably the only reason Dev was still standing.

---

Dev took a deep breath as he backed away. He was in good shape, but he was already exhausted. There was just something different about fighting for your life and hiking all day.

It wasn't just the difference in the muscles that were used. It was far more stressful - and it had been going on for so long!

A small part of Dev's mind knew that he couldn't have been dodging the gorilla's attacks and trying to counter with his little wooden stick for more than a dozen seconds. He'd seen fights in nature before. Heck, he'd seen them up close and personal ever since joining Bit's group. The time dilation was really just hyper-focus and adrenaline or something...

At least that's what he kept telling himself.

It couldn't have been as long as it'd seemed, otherwise Bit would've come and saved him by now. It was that, or the superhero had been defeated and another robot zombie would've also joined the fight.

Chewbacca swiped with his axe, and Dev backed away and circled to the left. That put the Jungleclad's shield between them - which might've hampered his potential counter-attack, but also interfered with the axe swing.

The Ape's body was wounded, and it couldn't move quickly. The robot zombie comparison was surprisingly apt. Apes COULD walk on two legs, but they weren't really designed for it. He'd watched the Jungleclad in general and Chewbacca in particular while sketching them. He knew how they moved. He knew that they used their arms to help them 'run'.

Dev wondered that if he could gain enough distance, if Chewie would 'charge' him. That might be his chance to land a blow. If he lowered both his axe and his shield, then Dev would only have to get past the armor!

"[Scarlet Beam]! [Scarlet Beam]! Scarlet Beam!"

He only realized it was Pinky shouting AFTER a lance of pure red struck Chewie in the side. The laser-like attack penetrated his opponent's iron armor and bored deep into its side!

Chewbacca ignored it, and continued his relentless pursuit. Dev thrust his spear in probing attacks, but they were all useless. He'd struck the Met on top several times, but Bit's poison didn't seem to be able to do anything directly.

...Or too much of it had been wiped off in his fight with the Quillcat.

Dev's next step back was onto some wet leaves, and he stumbled. Chewbacca towered over him, and raised his axe up high for an overhead chop!

The weapon whistled through the air. Dev didn't need a dangersense to know what was coming.

Somehow... somehow, he managed to roll to the side.

"Stab him now!" Bit yelled from the side. Dev glanced over. The little girl was pinned underneath the headless corpse of the Bloodrage Badger. She had one hand out and was pointing at the Jungleclad.

Chewbacca seemed frozen.

Dev snarled as he rammed his stick into the opening the laser had made.

The green flesh seemed to shudder for a second before the robot that sat on top of Chewie's neck vanished.

Chapter 67: New Outlooks 4

Dev laid sprawled out on the ground with his limbs spread to his sides. He was exhausted. If another robot-zombie attacked him right now... he might let it win.

His arms and legs ached. In fact... ow.

He cradled his left arm close to his chest. He'd forgotten about the gash he had taken from the Quillcat.

Right... he needed to get up and disinfect it. That meant starting a fire and boiling some water.

Or did they have some of the potable water left? He couldn't remember. It seemed so long ago that they had been doing normal camping activities. Then he'd placed as many traps as he could while Bit brewed the zombie-poison that he applied to them.

Then...

Oh. Right. They'd won. Right?

Dev raised his head. The clearing was a mess. There were headless corpses all over the place - not to mention their brains just lying on the ground. If he didn't look too hard, he could pretend they were just oddly shaped red rocks.

Everything blended together if he didn't look at it too closely. He let his head lower back to the ground. He could just rest his eyes for a moment...

"That's pretty deep." Dev opened his eyes and looked at Bit. She was holding his left arm and he hadn't even noticed. "You've lost a decent amount of blood. Nothing dangerous, but when the body loses blood it takes it a while to adapt." She was sewing him up while she spoke. Somehow, he barely felt a thing. "I can make you a shot for that later. That will be easier than a pill. With a pill or a drink, I'd have to have it propagate to your marrow and stimulate blood production. With a shot, I can just whip up a batch of blood for you and that will be it."

Dev thought for a moment. "I'm B negative." That's what you needed to tell a paramedic before they gave you an infusion, right?

"I know, but that doesn't matter." Bit continued plunging a needle in and out of his flesh - and he still didn't feel any pain. "I can make blood O negative easily enough. Do you want anything special added to it? Increased oxygen capacity? Some chemicals that enhance adrenaline? How about some stem cells that will repair whatever they come across? That's a good one, but it is a bit slow."

Dev blinked. "What?"

Bit smiled at him. "Your blood. As long as I'm making you some, I might as well do something interesting with it. Don't worry. I have lots of experience with substitutes. They're all perfectly safe now."

If only she hadn't said 'now'... Why? Why was she so cute and creepy at times? She had to be doing it on purpose, right? "My regular blood will be fine. Just normal blood you'd fine in a blood bank back on Earth."

She gave him a flat look. "You know those are two different things, right?"

"What?"

"Your blood and what you'd find back on your Earth." She shook her head. "You've already evolved past a baseline human."

"What!?" Dev was suddenly a lot more awake. He struggled to prop himself up with one arm. "I'm... what? A mutant? Can I not get regular infusions anymore? Am I not human?"

Bit shrugged. "'Normal' blood will work just fine for you, but it's not as good as what your body is producing. There's a field on this planet, which I'm going to go ahead and call 'magic' for lack of a better term." That was a lie. Bit was smiling at the word 'magic'. "It accumulates in people and and changes their cells. As far as I can tell, they're strictly superior - aside from needing magic to power them. I'll need to perform some tests to see what happens when they no longer have access to magic, but I haven't figured out a way to block it yet." She shrugged. "It's mainly in your muscles though, so it's no big deal either way. Humans can lose muscle mass without any major detrimental effects."

"Those are called 'galas muscles'." Pinky was suddenly standing on the top of Dev's head.

"Galas muscles?" Dev asked.

"Yeah. They're the stuff that lets high-level people do high-level stuff!"

"How specifically do they work, Pinky?" Bit asked.

"I have no idea!" The Fraerling proudly stated.

Bit closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "Well, I'll figure them out on my own. Anyways..." She opened her eyes and looked at Dev. "What sort of blood do you want?"

"A... regular transfusion?" He couldn't remember the options she'd given him. "I guess?"

"Okay!" Bit nodded and smiled. "I'll get right on it!" She turned to leave.

"Wait!" Dev called out. "What about the robots? Do I need to set more traps? Are you okay with... making blood... while they're out there?"

"Nah." Bit turned back and shook her head. "We got them all in this area. We only have to deal with the twenty that were back in the village now!"

"Oh." Dev sagged back down. "Okay." He wanted to lay his head back and get some sleep, but if he did that, Pinky would fall off. "Pinky, could you get down? I want to take a nap."

"Nope!" The Fraerling replied joyfully. "That's why I'm up here! We can't have you falling asleep AFTER the battle - not when there's another one coming up! You'll waste your counter-leveling chance!"

"My what?"

Pinky flipped down and onto his chest. "Your counter-leveling chance! When you're going up against a stronger opponent and you survive, then you can actually gain levels mid-combat!" She began walking in circles. "That's what the Tallguard say at least. Basically, you get knocked around - which is bad for you, okay? You get knocked around and lose consciousness. It doesn't take long, just a blow to the head that leaves you dizzy or something or fainting from a little from blood loss. But! If it happens, and you've put up a good enough fight to level, then you'll get [Classes] and [Skills] that are super useful against what you're fighting!"

"What?" Dev blinked. "Really?"

"Yep!" Pinky crossed her legs as she sat down. "It's something that the Titan says high-level people have to watch out for. In fact, it's often better to retreat if you encounter it."

"Oh." Dev really, really wanted a nap right about now, but... "Okay, I'll sit up."

"That's great!" Pinky hopped up, ran down his body, and grabbed his hand. "You'll see, you'll feel better as soon as Bit uses whatever new [Class] she pulls out of her... uh... hat." The tiny woman then grabbed his finger and tried pulling him up into a sitting position.

Dev leaned forward and then palmed his face with his free hand. Were they going to go to the Jungleclad's village? That... would be the right thing to do... IF any of them were alive.

...If they all were dead? Maybe it would be better to leave the homicidal robots alone.

---

Like always, Riley didn't have the time to do everything she wanted to. It was especially galling that the cause for her current time-crunch issues was one of her old solutions to it!

If she had her Mets, and they were loyal and not crazy, then she'd be able to harvest all these perfectly good bodies for later use. Sure, they were missing some important sensory organs... but she'd gone through that 'headless' phase when she was seven. She knew how to make a body work without eyes, ears, or a mouth.

...It was the least she could do with the knowledge she'd gained as Bonesaw.

She set the cadaver down for a second and sighed. There was nothing to do about it but smile and power-through. She'd find her big brother eventually, and everything would be better!

Oh.

The realization struck her like a thunderbolt.

THAT was why she felt so connected with Pinky. She hadn't realized their similarities before. Sure, the specific details were different, but the same yearning, the same dichotomy between their inner selves and the face they showed the world. Between their past and their present...

Now she missed Kevin even more. He would've been able to see that from the start. He would've explained it to her. He would've solved everything already.

Riley sighed again, and then got back to work.

She needed blood. Or, rather, Dev needed blood. She'd given him some options, but he'd chosen a 'regular transfusion'. She didn't have the time to clone something with his bone marrow, so if she was going to give him a transfusion, it would have to be with blood they had on hand. Which, thankfully, was quite a lot.

Badgy's and the monkeys' blood was out. Sure, she could make it work, but Dev would most definitely object to white blood. So, it was either Quillcat, Lizard, or Redno blood.

Her first impulse was to examine one of the headless lizards. She hadn't gotten a chance to work with one before, and they were sure to have some fascinating adaptations!

But... no.

She didn't have the time. Transfusing reptilian blood into a human would take too many extra steps. Sure, it would be a fun little puzzle to figure out... but... later.

That left the Quillcats and the Redno. Both were mammals. There was plenty of blood for each in total, but the Redno's was all in one place. Plus, she hadn't gotten to examine one of those yet either!

Besides, if you were going to use an animal for a base, it was better to use something at the top of the food chain! It would probably have something cool that would come in handy more than 'normal' human blood too!

Riley nodded to herself as she made her decision. First things first, she needed to examine the Redno's blood and see what made it tick. Specifically, if it coagulated like human blood. She was pretty sure it did. Across all animals that she'd encountered - including Badgy - blood's natural state was solid.

That was why it clotted in the first place, and why she needed to use chemicals to keep it fresh. Those chemicals were normally provided by the veins, and there should still be plenty left inside the Redno. She pulled out an extra-long knife from her backpack and leapt onto the animal's back.

One slow, deep incision cut through the thick skin and the layers of fat and muscles - and exposed her target. The Redno's spine, like everything else, was red. Every animal in the jungle she'd encountered so far had been like that. Sure, it wasn't THAT different from the insides of people - blood did get everywhere, but she was used to bone at least being white.

While it would've stymied a normal surgeon, it didn't slow Riley or her power down in the slightest. The Redno's biology was still similar enough for her. Riley twisted strands of her hair into tiny braids, and inserted them at precise spots.

She tied the rest up into balls, so the electricity wouldn't discharge randomly.

She activated her hair... and...

"Shoot." Riley pouted. "I need more power."

"Do you?" Pinky leapt up and landed on top of the Redno next to her. That was a pretty impressive jump, considering the size discrepancy. "Can I help?"

Riley considered her Fraerling friend. Pinky seemed to have gotten over her issues - or at least gotten past them enough to start acting like they weren't there again. Her eyes were a little wide, and her pupils were dilated more than normal... but she usually had that look when she watched Riley work.

It was probably just disturbing to see the insides of things the size of a house. Most people didn't care to watch her operate, so it was nice for Pinky to force herself.

"I need my energizing potion." Riley sighed. "But I'll have to undo all these strands I made and then redo them."

"Oh!" Pinky hopped up and down. "I'll do it!"

"Pinky..."

"Just tell me where it is and what color it is!"

"Weren't you... helping Dev?"

"Nah." Pinky made a brushing motion with her hand. "I explained stuff to him. He's sitting up and staying awake."

"Okay..."

"So, what's the potion you need look like?"

Riley considered her friend. Pinky... wasn't the most reliable person in the world, but she'd never done anything too egregious. It was just a question of if she decided something was the 'appropriate' level of 'foolish'. Still, it would be nice to have an assistant.

"If you look at my backpack from the side opposite of the straps, it will be the third row of vials from the right. They're bright yellow." She could've made them any color, but yellow was appropriate for electricity. Plus, she liked to keep a good number in stock since electrical impulses had so many uses.

"On it!"

Alright. So if Pinky brought back the wrong vial, or if she somehow managed to break or spill it...

Well, Riley had other things she needed to do. Next on her list would be stemming the blood as much as possible. Sure, the Redno had a lot, but waste not, want not. The important parts would be the major arteries - the single anterior spinal artery and the two posterior spinal arteries. Those would leak the most blood - aside from the internal carotid arteries and the vertebral arteries.

For those, she'd just have to seal the Redno's neck stump up. It would be the best place to get the blood she needed once a healthy amount of anti-coagulation chemicals had been built up. In fact...

Riley crawled to the Redno's front. She really should've done this part first, but she'd manage. It was pretty easy to identify those arteries. Even with all the red on red colors, the blood they continued to leak was plain to see.

A snip here, and a connection there... and... done!

Okay, so-

"Here's your potion!" Pinky hopped up next to her.

Riley gave the vial a once over. Right color. Right consistency. She popped the lid. Right smell. She drank it. Right taste. "Good job, Pinky. Thank you."

"Heh, heh, heh." Pinky chuckled. Then frowned and said "Not now Lars!" under her breath.

Riley raised an eyebrow. She wasn't surprised. Psychoses didn't vanish instantly... not unless Kevin used his Shard power. That... was eye-opening. She wondered what it would do for Pinky?

Regardless, the energy that had been stored in her solution was now being transformed from chemical bonds to electricity inside of her and flowing out through her hair. She closed her eyes and focused on the sensation. It was difficult being precise with the amplitude and voltage... but... there!

She gradually increased it until the Redno's central nervous system - or what was left of it - was back up and running. Or, at least, its heart was pumping - which was the main thing. Riley felt the knowledge of which strands to adjust flow into her.

Surgery sure was being helpful right now. Maybe it did feel bad? Or thought that she deserved more help in this particular endeavor?

With her Passenger's guidance, the Redno's body started flooding its bloodstream with the proper chemicals to keep it nice and fluid. Riley cut open one of the internal carotid arteries and let some sludge spill out before filling her now empty vial with blood.

Hmmm... She really needed to be closer to all her supplies if she wanted to do this right. She would have to add an electrical capacity to the Milk Box in the future. For right now, she sewed the artery shut and examined the blood.

"What'cha doing?" Pinky's face was flushed.

"I'm checking the Redno's blood type and its connectors." Riley focused her eyes on the liquid in the vial. It strained them, but she was capable of making out individual cells if she really, really tried. "It looks... acceptable. I think a few tweeks will make it match with Dev." And would prevent an immune system reaction.

Yes. She was sure of it.

Some of this and that, plus the precise amount of electrolysis to allow the chemicals to alter the blood in juuuuust the right way.

"Nice." Pinky still had an odd expression. "What can I do to help?"

"Hmmm..." Riley glanced between her friend and the Redno. It would be convenient to have her backpack up here, but that wasn't very likely. Plus, it would get it all dirty. It didn't have any self-cleaning capabilities like her dress. "Oh! I know. Hold this." She handed Pinky the vial before taking out one of her scalpels. A few quick strokes and she was done. "Now give me back the vial and hold these."

Pinky obediently gave back the glass tube, but she seemed hesitant to do so. "Is it safe?" She asked as she accepted Riley's hair in its place. "I know you have some sort of [Lightning Hair] skill."

"That's right." Riley hopped off of the Redno. "But it only works while its attached to me. I'll need to string them to the rest of my hair, but that way I'll be able to animate the Redno while I'm on the ground."

"And the blood?" Pinky looked at the Fraerling-sized lake that Riley's black strands were floating in.

"It'll be fine." Riley waved her off while strolling towards her bag. "My hair's non-permeable to most things - especially blood." She'd never minded the stuff after she'd triggered, but Bonesaw had been a Good Girl and that included keeping her hair nice and styled. Treating it so that blood would slide right off had been important at the time.

---

Dev sat and focused on breathing. He specifically tried NOT to focus on what Bit and Pinky were doing. It worried him that the blood for his transfusion was going to come from a magical, mutated Rhino.

But... Bit was confident. Confident, skilled, and very scary looking with how at ease she seemed to be covered in blood.

Right. Superhero-surgeon. That hadn't sounded very impressive when she'd first said it, but it now ranked pretty high on what sort of superpowers could REALLY be leveraged. Imagine if there was a supervillain with her skill set?

Dev shuddered.

Best to focus on something else. Specifically, the defense of their camp. Sure, the robot-zombies were all taken care of - assuming that the other wave didn't track them down. However, there were still wild animals in the deadly jungle - assuming the robot-zombies hadn't killed them all.

Dev stood up, and immediately swayed.

The light dimmed. Sound was muffled. All of his sensed diminished - including his balance. Suddenly, the sensation of just how he managed to stand with only two feet slipped his mind and he wobbled left and right.

There...

There was something...

He'd been dizzy before... and...

Oh... that's right...

Dev bent his knees and lowered himself straight down. If he was going to fall, then gently letting himself sit was the best choice. His actual descent wasn't nearly as graceful as he'd hoped it would be. It was more like a controlled collapse rather than anything else, but he had managed to lower himself without toppling to the side.

He'd call that a win.

Dev looked at the ground. It went blurry as his eyes unfocused. The world seemed to spin. He felt sick.

No!

He concentrated on a single spot. A single red leaf.

It was hard to make out on the equally red dirt... It blurred again.

No!

He brought it back into focus. He had to use his willpower to keep it that way as any lapse threatened to overwhelm him.

He had to just remember his medical training. It wasn't 'superhero' level, but he knew first aid. They'd taught him that in the Bharat Scouts.

Deep breaths. That was right. In and out. In and out.

His vision stabilized, and the headache he hadn't realized he'd had began to fade.

Whoa. Dev blinked several times. That was a rush. He wiped his forehead and looked up from his leaf. That must've been a combination of low blood pressure and a lack of adrenaline. He took a moment to marvel at how clearly he was thinking, and how he hadn't been able to really comprehend things for a moment there.

Wow. That was scary. A different kind of scary than a magical, hostile jungle or robot-zombies.

With his newfound wisdom, Dev decided that it probably would be for the best if he just sat there. He wouldn't be able to set many traps - or do a good job of those he did create. He licked his lips and swallowed. His throat was strangely dry. Dev then looked down at his body.

Oh. That WAS a lot of blood. His left arm was sticky and red, and the left side of his shirt and pants weren't much better. Bit had cleaned away the area where he'd been cut. He brought his arm closer to his face. Ah. THERE were the stitches. They honestly looked like a really long hair that was lying perfectly straight across his skin.

How did that even work? He brought his right hand up before deciding against poking his wound.

"Ah, good. You're sitting down."

Dev looked up at Bit and then did a second take. "You're a mess." He blurted out before thinking. He hoped the little girl didn't take offense... but she was being creepy-cute again. Not in her mannerisms, but because of the smile that was combined with a horror movie level of blood coating her.

She had a few splatters on her face, and she looked like she was wearing long, red gloves. Her legs and feet were also stained with the Redno's fluids. Somehow, her hair and dress were immaculate.

Creepy.

"I'll scrub up later." Bit shrugged. "No point in getting clean when I'm about to get dirty again."

"What about cross-contamination?" Dev opened his mouth and spoke without considering what he was saying again.

"That's easy." Bit rolled her eyes. "Making a decontamination mist was, like, the third thing I ever did. Anyways," She held up a plastic bag filled with blood. "Time to fix you up!"

"Is that... a blood bag?" Dev did a second take at the clear bag with a tube. "Why do you have a blood bag?"

"For carrying blood."

Huh. Well. Dev guessed that made sense.

"So, it's just going to be a regular transfusion, right? No radioactive spider powers or other strange side effects?"

Bit glanced at him as she went about hooking the blood bag up to his arm. "Nothing like that. It is magic blood though, so you'll experience some differences."

"Differences like what?" Dev looked at her. Was... was her dress slightly red now instead of just black? And why didn't it have blood coating it?

"Well, as far as I can figure, magic comes in categories, okay?" Bit poked a needle in his arm, and Dev didn't feel a thing. "It might only be this way in the Dyed Lands, but white seems to be associated with hiding and not being noticed. That sort of stuff."

"And Red?" Dev glanced over at the corpses of all the red animals.

"Growth."

"Growth?"

"Yep." Bit nodded as blood began to flow from the bag into his arm.

"Aren't you worried about cancer or something?" That was the result of cells growing without control, right?

"Nah." Bit shook her head. "There's been no indication of malignant growths in any of the animals or plants I've examined, and we've seen them grow really, really fast too!"

"We have?"

"Yeah." Bit motioned to the jungle. "Even here, away from that crystal - which must contain concentrated growth magic, the trees grow back far faster than they should be able to. Plants just don't have the natural mechanisms to either have the capacity for such rapid and wide-scale energy to mass conversions, nor the energy reserves to do so in the first place. That is," She paused. "Unless they're MAGICAL plants!"

Her eyes were twinkling.

"Okay." Dev thought about it for a moment. "I can accept that. It's probably also why we haven't seen any cubs or offspring around."

"Right! They'd have to grow up quickly to sustain the cycle-of-life thing this jungle has going on!"

"Yeah..." Dev frowned. "It's probably a contributing factor for why there are so many predators here too. So..." He continued. "If I'm not going to get cancer, what side effects will there be?" There had to be side effects from magical blood, right?

"For the short term? None. You won't be getting Polycythemia vera or anything like that."

"What?"

"The disease where you have too much blood?" Bit tilted her head. "That comes from issues with your bone marrow. It's not something you can get from a transfusion."

"Okay." Dev nodded. "So my blood won't multiply on its own." That was good to know.

"Right. It will continue to do its blood thing. It will transport a normal amount of oxygen, unlike my own. It will probably help you heal quicker until it runs out and it will let you build muscles faster too. I'm curious to see what the extent of that is and how long it will last." Bit brightened up. "In fact, I bet it'll help you grow those 'galas muscles' that exposure to magic results in."

"And... you're not worried about that?"

Bit shrugged. "I'm worried a little. Strange reactions and all that, but if magic was innately harmful to human life, then there wouldn't be any humans on this world at all. Would there?"

Huh. She had a point.

"Wait." Dev thought back to something she'd said in the middle of all of that. "YOUR blood isn't normal?"

Bit gave him an incredulous look. "You'd think a wet Tinker like me, or, uhm, a wet Superhero like me would keep on using her boring old blood? Do you know what percentage of deaths are technically due to suffocation from blood not delivering oxygen?"

Uh.... "Ten percent?"

Bit sighed and shook her head. "Try thirty six. If you only care about how people die from wounds gained from fighting? That number jumps to like ninety percent. Unless you're hit by an attack that instantly kills you, the thing that will actually do you in is the lack of oxygen your brain gets while you're bleeding out."

"Oh." Should he have asked for some of her blood? Was she a match? If Bit could make the Redno's blood safe for a transfusion, then she could've done the same for herself.

Then again, she was pretty small. Plus, like she said, the blood he was getting would be replaced by his own natural blood in time.

---

Riley looked around the camp. She didn't want to miss anything.

Sure, the materials that she was being forced to leave behind were still piled up on the ground. She totally COULD make a bunch of headless minions, but that would take too much time. The surgeries alone to add external cavities for their brains would last for days.

Although... she could experiment with placing the brain of one species in the body of another...

No. She shook her head. There would be time for 'fun' later. She could collect all the spare bodies that she wanted to from the jungle when they had more time.

Right. The checklist.

Brains? Those were the most valuable. She'd barely managed to fit them all inside of her backpack. It had taken some creative measures and cramming multiple brains into one jar, but she'd managed to pack them all. Check.

White flesh? Badgy's body was tied to Kraby. She'd sewn up his neck, and the cold water would help minimize its deterioration - at least while they used the river. She'd also tied three monkeys to him, two of which still had their heads. Check.

Red flesh? She'd taken a few samples - just in case she couldn't procure more later. Check.

Milk Box? Still working. No room inside the backpack, so it would have to go on top of Kraby with the rest of them. Check.

Dev? The civilian seemed to be holding up. Riley didn't have Kevin's empathy power, so she couldn't really be sure, but Dev hadn't resisted the idea of going back to the Jungleclad's village much. That was probably in part due to his encounter with the Stranger having been overshadowed by the fight with the Mets. In part because he'd seen that she could defeat her former minions with ease. In part because of her flawless logic and moral argument towards stopping her wayward helpers. Check.

Pinky? Where was Pinky anyways? Riley rotated as she scanned the clearing. Even if she couldn't see Pinky due to a power, her sense redirect would let her know if something was messing with them... Then again, Fraerlings were small. Riley didn't have a way to overcome natural stealth.

"Pinky? Are you here?" She called out. "We're ready to go!"

"I'm hear...ing you just fine!" Pinky hopped up on Riley's shoulder.

Check.

"Okay, let's head out then." Riley glanced between Pinky and Dev and got nods in return. "We'll see what the Jungleclad's village is like and go from there."

Yeah, right. She knew they were all dead. Her Mets were thorough. They wouldn't leave survivors. It was also unlikely that she'd get back in time to revive any of their victims. There was only so much she could do to repair a decaying brain.

Still, hope sprung eternal.

---

[Scout Level 21!]

[Spear Fighter Level 3!]

[Skill - Basic Stealth obtained!]

[Skill - Swift Stab obtained!]

[Skill - Basic Poisoncraft obtained!]

---

[Soul Survivor Level 3!]

[Skill - Ghostly Presence: Laremy Fiddlestack obtained!]

Chapter 68: New Outlooks 5

'You've returned.' The ape grunted.

Dev looked up at the elder Jungleclad chieftain.

'Where is my son?' His teeth were bared.

"He, uh, died."

'How?'

Dev tried to explain what had happened to Chewbacca, but it came out wrong. The chieftain's accusatory gaze was the worst thing in the world. It was somehow even worse than the Vetala's undead stare...

...At least that had been the thought that had gone through Dev's mind in his dream. Or, rather, in the nightmare that he'd repeatedly had.

Reality was worse.

The Jungleclad's village had been seemingly undisturbed from the outside. The gates were closed, and the walls were intact. The strange tower they'd built still rose high into the sky, and the green crystal still washed out the color of the settlement and the surrounding lands.

The jungle hadn't even encroached upon it. It might not be able to do so due to the green light the suffused the area.

But, for all of that, it was still and silent.

Dev waited outside with Mr. Krabby. Bit's pet giant crab had accompanied them from the river's side. She'd operated on it during their relatively peaceful trip along the water, and it could apparently now breathe air - with part of a lung from the Redno.

Dev glanced down at it.

It was disconcerting in a sense. The eyes and smaller legs and mandibles gave it an almost insectile appearance.

It had taken a few minutes for Bit to get the gates open. Dev had wanted to just climb over, but the little girl was stronger than he was. Plus, Mr. Krabby couldn't climb, so they'd have to open the gates in the wooden wall anyways.

He'd steeled himself for what he was going to see... but it hadn't been enough.

The bodies had been left where they'd been killed. He'd thought that the robots would've... taken them, or eaten them, or something. They'd done it in the clearing, but that was because they were using those bodies. There were more apes than Mets here. So, of course the extra corpses would've been left behind.

Dev had thrown up.

It was... just too much.

Even worse, Bit had brought him water and told him to sit down and breathe. That was what he'd done, while the little girl handled the aftermath of the carnage like she'd seen stuff like that everyday while growing up.

Creepy, but useful.

Unlike him.

He might not have been a superhero. He might not have done enough surgeries that he was numb to seeing so many mangled corpses. But. He was older. He was a Bharat Scout!

Dev threw up again.

He'd... he'd help later. When it came to fighting off the robot-zombies. Bit was right. They needed to stop them now, while they still could. It wasn't an apocalyptic scenario, not like in zombie movies. The Mets couldn't multiply. They couldn't reanimate corpses like Bit could. There would be no undead army marching on an unsuspecting world...

There would only be homicidal robots that killed everything in their path, like they'd killed this village. Only, it would be worse because this hadn't been a real village. There hadn't been any children slaughtered - not like there'd be in a regular town.

And then Dev felt even worse - because he'd wanted to run away from the robots. From the jungle. From the Vetala. At least... at least Bit was here.

---

Riley was in her element. She had a hostile force somewhere out there that wanted her dead. She had allies. She also had an entire town's worth of bodies to play with.

Er, utilize.

She'd sworn off 'zombie' projects years ago. Using people was convenient, but it was wrong to desecrate their bodies like that.

At least according to Kevin.

She got it. She really did! But... it was wasteful! So many useful parts that could help so many people... At least she'd been allowed to utilize organ donors, but the majority of people didn't sign up for that.

She let out a sigh.

For example, it would be bad if a group of Jungleclads came to bring in supplies or something and saw their dead friends walking around. It would also be bad if they came across their dead bodies strewn throughout the outpost. Or if they were killed by rampaging Mets before they even got close.

Riley finished working on her first green ape assistant.

Riley ► Status.
GreenApe01 ► Operative.

Good enough. She ordered him to bring her the other corpses before letting her inner suit's helmet flow away.

"They seem different." Pinky said from the side. Riley glanced at her. She wasn't as flushed as she'd been back in the jungle. She'd still muttered to herself from time to time, but overall Pinky was doing better. "I don't think they managed to deal with being dead as well as I did. Then again, I was only dead for like, what? A minute? Two? It must be traumatizing to be a ghost."

Riley shook her head. "I didn't bring him back to life, I only reanimated him."

"Oh!" Pinky nodded. "So you're using your [Mimic] skills to pose as a necromancer now? That makes sense, I suppose." She stopped, and her ever-present smile faded. "Are... you not able to do it any more? Did... did reviving me cost you something? Like levels?"

"I don't have levels." Riley rolled her eyes. No matter how often she said it, Pinky just didn't understand. Or she didn't believe her. A person without levels in this world would be as strange as someone who had them on Bet. "But you're mostly correct about the necromancer thing, I guess. Once a body has been dead long enough for neural pathways to decay, then there's not much I can do. Basic things, like how to breathe or walk or even language remains, but their personality is gone."

"Right!" Pinky slammed her fist onto her palm. "Their souls wander off, so their bodies are empty! Of course. No, Lars, I'm talking to Bit right now. Mine hadn't had the chance to go far, so that's why I'm still me!"

Pinky frowned as she thought about stuff. Riley looked away. Her latest minion had brought another body and she had work to do.

Still...

She shouldn't discount what Pinky had said just because she was Pinky. Or because she was still talking to herself, or rather, to 'Lars'. If magic existed, then a person's magical essence - or a 'soul' - could exist as well. It was an interesting thought, but her Passenger wasn't giving her any insights.

...

"So, what's up with the Milk Box?" Pinky broke the silence of her Tinkering. "I meant to ask earlier - back when you, uh, attached it, but I was busy, with, uhm, stuff."

"What about the Milk Box?" Riley continued to repair the puncture wounds in her soon-to-be minion.

"Why is it attached to Badgy? I mean, I know he lost his head and all, but the Milk Box just doesn't make a good replacement! He just stands there! I don't think he can even see!"

Riley glanced over at her white flesh storage device. She admitted it looked different from what most people would be comfortable with. The Milk Box was grafted onto the bodies of Badgy and the one headless monkey she had left.

"It's just to keep the autonomous body functions up and running. Don't worry. I'll get him a replacement head from somewhere. ...Or I'll make him one myself."

"Make him one?" Pinky actually sounded incredulous at that. Riley thought she wouldn't have cared.

"Yeah, I still have his brain. It's damaged from what the Mets did, but it can be a foundation." The problem was that she didn't think Badgy's immune system would work well with different colored biomass. It had been difficult enough to keep it playing nice with the Milk Box and monkey bodies.

That also meant that it would be easier to find parts than to try and make new ones.

Plus, anything she made might mess up Badgy's Stranger powers.

"Huh. Well-" Pinky paused. "Oh! The cooldown's over!" She hopped off of a pile of red lumber. "[Ghostly Whispers]. Hi Lars. Huh. No, not yet. I'm going to. Look, I'm just not ready to see you again if the skill does what I think it will."

Riley turned and watched Pinky walk away as she started talking with her hallucination again.

Or was it the soul of 'Lars'? Could the Entity that governed the powers of this world control something like that? On one hand, that was ridiculous. On the other hand: magic.

Unless the 'soul' interacted with the body, she wouldn't be able to do anything. Then again, she had a lot of ideas about the galas muscles. They might have some sort of soul connection.

Riley shook her head. She had more vital things to deal with first. She needed to focus on things that could affect the Mets. Her upgraded 'Cubic Virus' should work wonders. Having Badgy to test it on had let her drastically increase its potency.

That only left two obstacles that she could think of: Luring the Mets here, and dealing with any that weren't attached to an animal.

The later issue would hopefully not even come up. If it did, then she'd have to un-summon them directly with the Met Factory again. Not a difficult task as long as they couldn't fight back. Protecting the non-humans in her party? That would be harder.

The Jungleclad helpers would just have to defend them. It looked like they'd fought back while being slaughtered, so they could at least be used to buy time.

"There." She wiped her forehead. "That should do it." Her latest minion clamored to its feet and stared blankly ahead. She took a moment to connect to it with the party feature of her armor before moving on to the next corpse.

A thought came to her from her work with Dev's transfusion.

She could alter the green apes' blood. Make it congeal almost instantly to a sticky glue before hardening. That could help them slow their attackers down. There would be obvious downsides, but the Jungleclads were temporary minions anyways. It wasn't like she could go up to this Titan fellow with a troop of his 'zombiefied' mercenaries.

At least, not without alienating a couple of groups. Besides, she'd rather bury them respectfully once everything was said and done.

Right, so the first issue. The part of her future plans that everything hinged on. How to lure the Mets into her ambush?

Pinky's singing wouldn't cut it this time. There had been too much time for this group of summons to disperse.

Then again... they were clearly in communication with one another. They couldn't have coordinated their assault last time without relaying information. So, she really only needed to get their attention and prove a hard enough target that they would band together again.

That meant, she only really needed to find a single one of them. It would be like looking for a needle in a jungle - but that was what disposable minions were for!

Riley nodded to herself.

Besides, the longer they sat here, the more time she had to Tinker. If the Mets were truly intelligent, they'd know that was a very bad thing to give her.

In fact...

Another idea for modifying the Cubic Virus came to mind. She could adapt it to infect the slime that lived inside of the jungle! That would allow her to kill the Mets remotely!

Now, she just needed some slime samples to experiment with. If worse came to worst, she'd figure out a way to have the slime transmit the un-summoning signal directly. That way, the Mets couldn't escape by ditching their puppeted corpses!

...

Riley cut into the red tree with her scalpel. Her latest minions stood around her in a protective circle. They all wore the best armor that was available in the village and wielded axes. They had just used them to gouge a hole in the tree's side.

The jungle had, predictably, responded. Now they were hacking at the roots and branches that were assaulting them.

Riley paid it little mind. There was no real threat of danger to her, and she could repair any wounds the Jungleclads suffered. Instead, she carefully peeled away strip after strip of wood, until there was only the thinnest layer between her and the inner slime.

Fascinating.

A liquid that could shift between compressible and non-compressible.

A neural network that could shift and re-adjust itself.

A digestive process that didn't rely on internal organs.

A core biology that could interface with-

She shook her head and blinked.

Whoa. Her Passenger hadn't reacted that strongly since... actually, she couldn't remember Surgery being that enthusiastic before. If Kevin hadn't gotten it to hold back, Riley was sure she would've gone into a haze right then and there. That hadn't happened to her in years... and she didn't like thinking about the results of those frenzies anymore.

Okay. Right. She could do this.

The slime was a biological nanite. Then again, all biology was basically nanites. Microscopic cells carrying out their orders. Getting signals. Performing tasks. A grand society that every single living creature was composed of.

Well... except for slimes apparently.

Slimes were homogeneous instead of heterogeneous. Each cell was the same. Each one of them were generalists instead of specialists. They all could digest matter. Transmit signals. Fight off intruders. Circulate nutrients. Provide structural support. Link together to move.

...And they also clearly needed magic to exist. Lots of magic. More magic than the regular animals she'd encountered inside of the Dyed Lands so far. Each and every cell was a Galas Muscle.

Or, at least, they were prototype galas. She could see the similarities. It was as if magic was possibility, and the cells shaped and condensed it to suit their immediate needs!

There was a grunt and a dull thud from her side.

One of her guards had fallen. She hadn't brought enough, and the jungle was overwhelming them.

Riley ► Fall back.

She turned and walked away, while her apes backed up and swung their weapons. Two grabbed their fallen comrade, while a third secured his axe. She could already see his green blood solidifying.

Right, she should make that an optional feature. She could add an electrical component that would keep it fluid. That would in turn make the Jungleclad require more nutrients every day, but would help relieve friendly-fire incidents like this where they bled on allies.

It would also get rid of a lot of other issues with the modification. It might even be enough to make it viable for a long-term minion.

---

Pinky looked around and made sure no one was close by. She'd been doing a bad job of ignoring Lars lately. She was pretty sure Bit had noticed her talking to herself. She wasn't sure about Dev.

It was a balancing act to try to both lean into it and to abstain from using [Ghostly Whispers].

'I know what you're thinking.'

"Oh?" She rolled her eyes. "Are you a telepathic ghost now, Lars?"

'Hardly.' He snorted. 'I just know you, runt. You always were too concerned about how people viewed you. You know that? You're hiding your new skill and class from them, right?'

Pinky let out a sigh and mumbled. "I knew I shouldn't have told you about that."

'You're right, y'know.'

She paused. "I am?"

'Well, yeah. If you're concerned that I'm a hallucination, then you should withhold some details from me. If I brought them up, then you'd have proof.'

"Yeah..." The problem was that she'd already thought of that. Then again, she DID have a skill that mentioned Lars by name. That should be proof enough. "But what if I'm both really talking to you, and still hallucinating? How could I tell them apart?"

'I've been thinking about that actually.'

"You have?"

'Of course I have.' She could almost see him rolling his eyes. 'There's not much else for me to do.'

"You haven't told me what it's like being dead."

'Boring.' That was a predictable answer.

"So, there's nothing to do? Have you been alone all this time?"

'No. There were lots of other ghosts at first.'

"Were? Did something happen to them?"

'No. Or, I dunno. There were lots of dead Fraerlings. And lots of dead Tallfolk. The Tallfolk ghosts tended to ignore us. There was this one lizard boy who came and talked to us for a couple of days. I think he wasn't dead for that long and was still curious.' Lars let out a short laugh. 'Ha. Look at me saying that someone wasn't dead for that long. There were Fraerlings who'd spoken with gnomes!'

"Really?"

'Probably. I mean, they could just be making stuff up.'

"And they're gone now?"

'What? No. Why would you think that?'

"You said that there were lots of other ghosts AT FIRST."

'Huh? That?' He scoffed. 'No. I meant that I'm in the middle of the Dyed Lands now. It's boring here. Well, it WOULD be boring if I didn't have you to talk to. There are no other ghosts here. We couldn't get in from the outside.'

"Now that sounds unbelievable."

'How so?'

"If there were all those other ghosts like you said, there had to be lots of high-level ones. And I don't just mean level fifty or something! If it's all of the Fraerlings who ever lived, then there are one or two level eighty architects. The Tree-Builders. The Box-Makers!"

'Oh, yeah. They were there. I didn't get to talk to them 'cause they're still too popular, but I saw one of them.'

"Well? Couldn't they get into the Dyed Lands?"

'Nah. Ghosts don't have levels, runt. We're all just... us.'

"Huh."

'Huh.'

Pinky sat in silence for a while and thought. "Okay. I think I'm ready to try out my new skill."

'Let me just comb my hair first!'

"What? Really?"

'No, dummy. I'm a ghost. I don't have a comb.'

Pinky laughed. She missed this. "Okay. Here I go! [Ghostly Presence]!"

---

Dev was depressed.

He was safe. He was healthy. He'd gained levels. But... he was still depressed.

He sat and watched the Jungleclad move about. They stood at the top of the wall and scanned the jungle. They went out in hunting parties and came back with animals. They cooked. They ate. They slept.

It all was so disturbingly... normal.

It shouldn't be normal. There shouldn't be these signs of life. Dev shouldn't be able to pretend that nothing had happened.

Sigh.

Even if he'd wanted to, he couldn't have done that. For all that Bit had done to put the dead apes to use, they were still just that.

Dead.

They didn't hoot at one another. They didn't laze about. Everything was done with a scary sort of efficiency. He would've thought that zombie apes would, he didn't know, stand around? Moan? Lay in shallow graves until they were needed? Not breathe?

Pinky had said that there were [Necromancers] in the world. Dev supposed that 'regular' undead might behave that way. Bit's creations were hardly 'regular', nor were they 'undead'.

Re-animated would be a better word. Corpses brought back to some semblance of life - admittedly without their minds or personalities - but alive none-the-less.

It was like that one American monster... What was it? Uhm... Oh, yeah. Frankenstein!

Or was it German? Some other country in Europe? It was hard to remember the origins of anything after Hollywood got its hands on it.

Regardless, they were like Frankenstein - but better. No jerky steps. No fear of fire. No moaning.

Then again, Frakenstein had its own thoughts, hadn't it? Dev had never read the book. Nor had he seen the original black and white movie. Everything he 'knew' came from cultural osmosis. Oh, right. 'Frankenstein' was the creator's name.

Then what was Frakenstein's real name?

Dev let out another sigh as he realized how pointless he was being. That was the thing with camping and wilderness survival, he always felt useful. There were always a dozen things that needed to be done. Each and every one was important - even if they didn't seem that way at first.

Gathering rocks for the fire pit? Couldn't you just build a fire without them?

Sure, you could. It might even work out well for you a couple of times - until it didn't. It was an important job, just like every other part of camping. Heck, even sitting down and enjoying nature was useful in its own way. Relieving stress was important. Getting use to your surroundings was important. Taking the time to plan out your next steps was important.

Right now? Dev was doing none of those things.

He sighed again.

THAT was why he was really depressed. Sure, the constant reminders of the robot apocalypse didn't help, but if he had something to do, then he could put them out of his mind.

He thought about the Scout Law... but none of the rules really applied to his current situation.

"What'cha doing?"

Dev looked down. Pinky was staring up at him from a wooden stool.

"Thinking."

"About what?"

"Everything."

"Oooooo..." She hopped off of the stool, ran over, and scurried up his pant's leg. "That must be hard!"

"I didn't mean EVERYTHING, just..." He motioned at the walls. "A lot has happened in a short amount of time."

"Ugh!" The Fraerling flopped onto her back. "Tell me about it! It's been a real charged galift tube ride!"

Galift tube? Was that like an elevator? A roller coaster? A vehicle? Dev still got the sentiment.

"I'm not sure everything's even really sunk in." Dev raised his hand, and a faint tremor went through it. "I still have nightmares about-"

"Stop!" Pinky hopped to her feet and held up a hand. "Trust me on this. Talking about that sort of stuff..." She glanced to the side. "Well, I don't want to say it NEVER goes well, but people will judge you." She covered her mouth with both hands. "I don't mean that I'll judge you, just, other people!"

Dev snorted then smiled. "I know. God, do I know." He leaned back and looked up to the sky. The twin moons were still faintly visible. "That's why it's so much nicer out in the wilderness." Or at least it had been.

"Is the rest of that sentence: 'Or at least it was'?"

Dev looked down at Pinky and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah..."

"I found what I was looking for... maybe... so, I'm sure you will too!" She gave him a thumbs up. "So, now that we've covered that, what's next?"

"Huh?"

"What are you going to do next?" What WAS he going to do- "Make some more traps? Yell at innocent Fraerlings about the 'right' type of rock to use? Make a spear?"

"Huh?"

"You're always doing something." Pinky did a half cartwheel into a hand stand. "So why aren't you doing something now? It's weird."

Yeah, that was him. Dev the 'weirdo'. Look who was talking!

"There's nothing TO do." Dev motioned to the Jungleclad zombies on the wall. "We have an honest to goodness SUPERHERO who's fighting her own brainwashed allies." When he put it like that, it sounded so cliche. What next? Was a Met going to jump on top of his head and turn him into a puppet?

...Maybe he should make himself a helmet.

"Do what Bit and I are doing! Experiment with your new levels!" Pinky did a forward flip and twisted in the air so she was facing him. "She got... uh... some more of whatever she REALLY is. I mean, she never made THIS many zombies before!" Pinky crossed her arms and nodded her head. "And I... I'm doing my best too!"

Dev frowned. "I did get [Spear Fighter], but-"

"Then you really do need to make yourself a spear!" Pinky pointed at him. "Who ever heard of a [Spear Fighter] without a spear?"

Dev looked around. There WAS a lot of wood. The 'spear' he'd used before had really only been a sharpened stick. A properly made one would help in escaping the Dyed Lands... even if it wouldn't be much use against robot zombies except as a way to apply Bit's poison.

He nodded. "Okay."

"Great!" Pinky clamored up his shirt and stood on his shoulder. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she put one hand on her hip and pointed with the other one. "To the long stick storage place!"

---

"Okay! I think that should do it!" Riley held up the vial containing her latest pathogen. Unlike ones she'd made in the past, this one would last for a good, long time. She'd still built a natural decay limitation into it. In theory, it would only be able to infect slimes. Even then, it was benign to them and most everything else.

The only things it SHOULD work on were the Mets. Even then, it wouldn't accomplish anything without the Met Factory. Unlike the first version of her anti-Met virus, this one couldn't produce any signals.

Well... 'couldn't' was a strong word. She could make it do it with a few tweaks. The issue was that without the Met's self-created bridge to a biological host - no amount of 'messages' would work.

Her Passenger wasn't helping her surmount that obstacle - probably because it wasn't biological in nature.

She'd had to make it this way to be sure she got all the wild Mets. If they could avoid her attack by simply abandoning their hosts... Well, like she'd said before, they weren't stupid.

This virus would modify the slime in the jungle and turn it into a signal relay. She could broadcast the order that the Met Factory used to disperse the Mets through it. Then, in theory, the trees would actually become dangerous to her rogue robots.

"There's still a flaw." Riley frowned. "If the Mets just... stopped attacking everything, then the jungle wouldn't respond." She hummed to herself as she climbed up the side of the wall that encircled the village. "I'll need to do something about that too if it becomes an issue... but first things first!"

She pulled herself up to the top and took a moment to gaze out over the forest.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Pinky hopped up onto the edge next to her. Riley hadn't smelled any cookies, so Pinky hadn't used her Stranger powers. She was just naturally stealthy due to her size.

"I'M thinking about the jungle and getting it to kill the Mets for us."

"Hmmm..." Pinky hummed and then shook her head. "Nope! That wasn't what I was thinking at all!" She did a pirouette that ended with her facing Riley. "However, that sounds like a wonderfully foolish thing to do! I'm in!"

Riley stared at her for a second. "Maybe I should rethink things then."

"No. C'mon. It'll be fun!" Pinky bent her knees and then leapt onto Riley's shoulder. "We might even level!" She then whispered conspiratorially. "I'll tell you about my new class if you tell me about yours. Here's a hint: it's also a pun! That means it's better than other classes!"

Sure it was.

"I don't have a class, Pinky. How many times do I have to repeat myself?"

"As many as it takes for you to accept the truth!"

That... didn't even make sense.

"Fine, let's go." Anything to not have Pinky inadvertently Gaslighting her some more.

Riley ► Squads A, B, and C, escort us to the jungle edge and provide a perimeter.

"I've seen you use that helmet before? Is it an artifact or a skill?" Pinky asked as they waited for ape after ape to follow them out of the outpost.

"It's an... artifact my brother made for me." Riley brought her hand up along the side of her neck and then brushed her pigtails to the side so they would hang loose again.

"I'm no expert, but it looks nice."

Riley smiled in response. "Thanks." She then turned to check that all of her obedient minions were present. "Let's go."

Half of the troop moved out to the jungle. There were a few scuffles with smaller animals, but the Jungleclad's lack of red blood made the trees largely ignore them. Around Riley and Pinky it was another matter. The roots and branches that assaulted them weren't much compared to how the jungle had been like close to the red temple-thing. Her pets easily subdued the plant life.

The ruckus caused the nearby trees to also attack, and then also be put down. The disturbance propagated through the jungle like a wave, but it lessened with distance.

Soon enough, the commotion died down and the background noise of the jungle returned.

"Okay! Here... we... go!" Riley carefully cut open the de-limbed tree. It was easy for the slime within to lose its cohesion when exposed to the outside. Once the main vein in the trunk had a single hole that accessed it, she poured in her concoction.

The result was instantaneous, if hard to see due to the wood that was still between them. The virus traveled through the slime - infecting more and more of it as it propagated. The effect was visible, as converted sections formed into cubes sporadically before reverting back to their normal state. Unlike the visual distortion the first plague had on the animals, the slime was actually reshaping itself.

"...Is that it?" Pinky asked after a couple of minutes.

"No, we're still in phase one. The virus is still spreading." It actually moved MUCH faster than a normal pathogen could - as its infection rate was visible to the naked eye, but... the forest was massive. "It'll take some time."

"Oh... okay."

...

"There." Riley nodded to herself. "That should be enough time for all of the jungle to be infected." Assuming her calculations were correct and there were no unforeseen complications.

"So... your Mets are dead? Just like that?" Pinky asked.

"No." Riley shook her head. "Not yet." She pulled out the Met Factory from her pocket. "But they soon will be."

She placed the yellow cube against the tree. The wood had regrown a couple of times, but she'd trimmed it back down to keep the slime easily accessible. The message went out, and... the jungle remained the same.

"Was... something supposed to happen?" Pinky looked around.

"It is happening, but not here." Her Mets had undoubtedly been slaughtering things non-stop. They might not have any blood, but their presence would rile up the trees due to incidental damage. Normally, that wouldn't be an issue. Now? The slime inside of the trees would be deadly to them.

"I... wouldn't be so sure of that." Pinky turned her head. Sure enough, the sound of a pitched battle was drawing closer.

"Heh." Riley chuckled. "They're smart enough to guess where the origin of this new attack came from." Her minions were on it.

"I... I think something nasty is coming?"

Like another Redno? That might be a problem except for all the trees in the way. Something that big couldn't-

A black form blurred in the distance. It was hard to make out through the trees, but the destruction it left in its wake was undeniable.

Riley frowned. "My Jungleclad's new blood should be slowing them down, even if they aren't a match." Instead, her minions were being torn apart with such speed that they didn't have time to bleed on their attacker.

"Oh no..." Pinky sounded afraid. "That's a creler!"

"A what?" Riley asked as a Met riding a four foot tall, eight foot long, pillbug with a glowing underbelly tore through her minions with casual ease. "Hm?"

Riley took a deep breath... and then spewed a cloud of red smoke in a plume that spread out hundreds of feet. The 'creler' moved through it... and then collapsed as the Met that had taken the place of its head dissipated.

Riley ► Bring that corpse over here.

The surviving Jungleclad dragged the creature closer to her as Pinky hid behind her head.

"Well, that's an interesting thing." Riley began to prod it. "It also seems strangely familiar..."

Chapter 69: New Outlooks 6

"Well, that's an interesting thing. It also seems strangely familiar..."

Riley left the Met Factory attached to the tree as she bent down over the latest example of a 'magical' creature. While she accepted that magic was real, and that its physical signs were these 'galas muscles', the rest of the animals were... well... normal.

Sure, there were interesting mutations and strange abilities, but it wasn't too different from how life had evolved on Earth.

Survival of the fittest.

Or, to be more accurate, survival of the least worst.

Quite frankly, biology was a mess at several levels. Reproductive organs next to waste disposal. Not enough limbs to get along well if someone lost one. No redundant systems.

Humans were great... compared to everything else. They paled against what she was capable of doing.

Or, at least, what Bonesaw had done in the past. Riley didn't see people as un-used resources any more, and she understood that visual appeal was an important thing. Being 'artistic' or 'edgy' made her cringe over what she'd done in the past - both out of empathy, and shame about how she'd acted when she was younger.

This 'creler'...

It was like her old 'art'! It was the same over-engineered nonsense that Bonesaw would've made!

Sure, some of the choices made sense - from a purely utilitarian standpoint. More limbs were good. As long as the brain could coordinate all of them, it allowed for losing some without it being a huge issue. It also increased speed among other benefits.

The spikes? Okay. Spikes WERE useful... but they were also so... ugh! Even Bonesaw had gone for 'cute' more often than 'edgy'.

Finally, the creler had its internal organs hanging out from its belly! In fact, as Riley began to cut into it, it looked like it could invert itself. It could roll all of its dangerous parts into its center... and leave its organs on the outside?

What in the world?

That was so... stupid!

Nothing would survive long enough like that to evolve into something more dangerous. Nothing dangerous would evolve into having such a weakness!

This was EXACTLY what she'd have done as Bonesaw if she wanted to make a nightmarish monster that suddenly got...

Oh.

That was it, wasn't it?

This... thing... had been designed. It hadn't evolved this way. Someone, or something, had created it.

That also explained why only its internal organs were red - and they weren't even red down to the cellular level like other things in the Dyed Lands.

Riley straightened up and let her helmet flow up around her head.

Riley ► Fall back. Bring the dead Jungleclad, the creler, and its brain.

She needed to study it in more detail, and that meant bringing it back to life and putting its brain in a jar.

"Wait, really?" Pinky sounded incredulous as the green apes picked up the creler's corpse and brain and walked with them back to the outpost. "Crelers are a plague! They nearly destroyed the world! Every single living thing is their enemy!" The Fraerling scowled as it didn't look like she was dissuading Riley. "...Using them is a war crime!"

"Really?" A bio-weapon? "How interesting."

...

Riley cannibalized one of the re-dead Jungleclads to bring the creler back to life. Not back to functioning, but back enough for it to be in a vegetative state. The ape's brain wasn't really up to the task of controlling the monstrous pill bug, but she'd managed to jury-rig it so that it could at least handle the autonomous processes.

The brain? The brain took some insight from her Passenger to get it stabilized. Brains weren't normally dangerous, but Riley saw some very interesting sections that looked like modified galas muscles.

"Hmmmm...." She poked at it. "Hey Pinky, are crelers psychic?"

Her friend scowled. "Would that make them more dangerous? Then yes!" She tilted her head. "Huh? What? Fine..." She took in a deep breath before continuing. "They might be. They might not. Crelers have displayed intelligence and tactics in the past, but only as they get older and bugger. What? Oh. Older and BIGGER, not bugger. Hmmm? Ah, they also have anti-magic properties, which is one of the reasons they're so dangerous. The other one is that they lay eggs in hidden locations, since they're vulnerable as larvals. Oh, I mean 'larvae'." Pinky spoke like she was reading from a text-book, or quoting someone.

"So... they are psychic?"

"Uhm..." Pinky frowned. "Yes? Possibly. Intelligence reports that Tallfolk who'd killed crelers could hear other ones of them promising revenge in their minds. That is the only documented interaction that anyone has ever had with them apart from fighting. At least, that's according to... me."

"Right." Riley nodded. "No chances then." She pulled out a scalpel and paused. This was going to be hard without some proper assistants. "Still, I can do a fast and dirty lobotomy."

"Loboto-what?" Pinky had seemed to have forgotten her outrage and climbed back onto Riley's shoulder.

"A lobotomy." Riley explained. "Basically, I'm going to sever some key passageways in the brain. If the sections can't properly communicate, then someone can't properly think."

"Ohhh..."

It was more complicated than that. Brains were a wonder of evolution, and could adapt to some astounding things. Sections would reconfigure themselves and perform the duties of missing or damaged parts. That was, if the damage wasn't too severe.

But Riley could inflict severe damage without wasting any of the cerebral mass. It was something she was skilled at.

---

Dev had watched the action from the top of the wall.

Surprisingly, it didn't make him feel useless to stay away. He'd prefer to avoid fighting, and never considered it a bad thing to do so.

It was better to be like Picard than Kirk.

Still, he now had his spear, and could possibly defend himself. It wasn't much of a spear. More of a pointed stick than a real weapon of war. He'd tried tying a knife to the end to act as a spear head, but it always came off after a few practice thrusts. That, or the wood splintered. He didn't know enough about weapons to identify exactly what he was doing wrong.

Besides, a wooden tip would work just fine for delivering Bit's poison to any robot controlled zombies. That was the important thing. Despite his new class, Dev would still rather trap animals when he needed to hunt them instead of... what? Tracking them down and stabbing them with a stick?

Actually... it might come to that one day. He'd never done anything like that as the highest rank of the The Bharat Scouts and Guides: a Rover Scout. But... he might have to in this world one day. It was possible he would need to hunt for food if he couldn't catch any with his traps.

He had mixed feelings about that.

His attention was drawn back to Bit and her zombie apes as they started heading back to the village.

Was that it? Dev had expected... something. A pulse of energy. A dark cloud. Heck, even a sky beam wouldn't have surprised him. That's what happened to superheroes after all.

Sure, it hadn't been a completely sedate affair. There had been movement deeper into the jungle, and Bit had sprayed some kind of gas. He didn't know how she'd done it, she must've had a smoke grenade or something like that hidden in her dress. Goodness knows that she'd pulled countless odd things out of her backpack in the past.

It looked like the commotion had been caused by some huge, black bug. The dead Jungleclad were hauling it back to the village.

Huh.

He decided to wait for a while. He'd be most useful as a lookout, and Dev wanted to be useful.

---

Satisfied that the creler would keep until later, Riley walked back out to the jungle's edge with her Jungleclad escort.

"So you aren't going to burn it?" Pinky asked from her shoulder.

"I might." Riley answered truthfully before looking at her friend. "It's not like you to worry."

Pinky shrugged. "My parents told me stories about the creler wars. Faerlings usually stay out of that kind of stuff, but it was kill or be killed. So, they were the big, bad monster that we were afraid of. I got to see a set of Creler-Bane armor before." Pinky smiled at the memory. "I guess there isn't anything... wrong with keeping it as a trophy. In fact, I'd imagine that Tallfolk do that sort of thing. You know, making armor out of hide and shells and carapaces."

"Ah." Riley nodded. "I understand. So there's nothing to worry about as far as its corpse being toxic or other crelers coming after it."

Pinky tilted her head as if she was listening to something. "Nope. Not that I've heard."

"Good. I'm glad." Because she wasn't about to throw away such an intriguing resource. Childish and edgy as it was, there were bound to be good tricks she could learn from the creler's corpse. She'd have known that even if she didn't sense it from her Passenger. Surgery hadn't given her any plans yet, but she'd gotten half-formed ideas that didn't fully crystallize in her mind.

It was a new sensation.

"So, what's the plan then?" Pinky asked.

"I'm going to summon a new Met." Riley told her while scanning the jungle for movement.

"That..." Pinky giggled. "That sounds like the perfect thing to do! I'm glad I came!"

"Okay, here I go." Her apes were spread out in the jungle surrounding the village. There was no sign of any other Mets close by, nor any particularly dangerous animals. She'd probably lose one or two apes when the Met appeared, but she needed to confirm what the trees would do to a Met that wasn't attached to an animal. If they attacked and dissipated it, then everything should be fine. If they didn't... well, she'd cross that bridge if she came to it.

Riley held out the Met Factory and let her suit flow back over her head. A mental nudge activated the Tinkertech cube...

...And a Met appeared right next to her!

"Agh!" Pinky yelled and dropped down to cling to Riley's back and hide from the summoned creature.

Riley crouched down, she had the factory in her hand. The Met shouldn't be able to hurt her. It should be easy to touch it and...

"..."

"..."

"..."

There was silence. No sudden explosion of violence. The Met simply stared up at her with its pixelized eyes.

Riley straightened up and tilted her head.

Was it, not 'infected'? She sent it a party invitation.

Riley ► Report.
Met A ► No changes in status.

Hmmmm....

Riley ► Hop up and down.
Met A ► Affirmative.

The yellow and black robot began to hop on its stubby feet.

"Uhm..." Pinky peeked from over her shoulder. "What's going on?"

"I think..." Riley considered the summons. "It reset to factory standards?"

"Huh?"

"Hang on." She mentally sent a dispersal command... and the Met vanished. "Huh. I guess only the ones active at the time turned into murder robots."

"Well..." Pinky climbed back onto her shoulder and sat down. "That's a good thing, right?"

"It's not a bad one, that's for sure." It was possible that future Mets would be normal. Or that they could be murderous or behave in other unexpected ways. It was hard to tell when Shards were involved. "Still, this does mean that we have a solution for determining if there are any more rogue Mets out there."

"Summon more of them to go out and hunt their fellow brethren?" Pinky swooned. "Brother against brother. A species wide war in the middle of a Death Zone!"

"I had something... simpler in mind."

Riley called some of her Jungleclad minions back and then summoned a Met. The yellow robot appeared next to her - like they were supposed to do in the first place. It stayed still and let the apes grab it tightly.

She then did it again.

And again.

And again. And again. And again.

...

"Okay." Riley stood with her hands on her hips. "That's forty."

"Yeah, it's a lot of them. Is forty special in some way?" Pinky asked.

"It's the most the Factory is able to summon at one time." Or at least it had been in the past. There was always a chance that the limit had changed or that the rogue Mets didn't count towards it... but she doubted that. If they didn't, the Met Factory shouldn't have been able to disperse them in the first place. "I can't summon any more, so that means that all of the Mets in the jungle are gone. If there were any left, then that would reduce the most I could summon here."

"Oh!" Pinky slammed her fist into her palm. "That makes sense. So, what now?"

Riley shrugged and dispersed all the Mets with a thought. "I guess we... pack up and leave."

"Yeah, there's not much point in staying, is there?" Pinky let out a sigh. "I think Dev will be happy to get out of the Dyed Lands too. I don't know why anyone would willingly come here!"

"..." Riley didn't reply as they walked back to the walls.

Dev was waiting for them at the gate with a stick in his hands. "Well? What happened? I saw more robots appear, but no fighting." He craned his neck as he looked out into the jungle. "Are we safe?"

"We're safe." Riley paused before elaborating. "At least from the Mets. We're still in a hostile environment, but all in all, we're not really in any danger at the moment."

Dev shoulder's slumped. "That's good." He looked at her intently. "Then what was going on with the robots out there?"

Riley smiled at him as she walked inside. "I was just checking that all the Mets in the jungle are gone. It turns out that I can still summon some non-homicidal ones!"

Dev followed behind her. "But... you're not going to, right?"

"Hm?"

"I said, you're not going to summon more robots that might go insane and kill all of us, right?"

Riley sighed. "No. You don't have to worry about that." She supposed she couldn't blame him for being nervous. A part of her also worried about how reliable the Mets were. "I'm going to have to make some new minions to take with us then. I should be ready to leave in a few days."

"Uh..." Dev looked at all the Jungleclads that silently marched past them. "You need MORE minions?"

Riley solemnly nodded. "You can NEVER have too many minions." She then shrugged. "Besides, the Jungleclad don't count. They were an emergency stop-gap. It's not right to use sapient people for parts." She was, of course, still going to use them to bring her non-sapient brains in the mean-time, but after that was done, she'd give them a proper burial.

...Or at least, she'd have them give themselves a proper burial before deactivating them.

"That's good." Dev agreed. "I know that we were desperate, but since you've handled the robots, it's no longer life or death." He frowned. "I wouldn't want to have some more Jungleclad come by and see their zombified kin." He turned to walk away before letting out a small 'oh'. "Hey, Bit. Do you know anything about making spears?" Dev held up his stick. "None of the ones I've made are any good."

Riley tilted her head and thought. "Yeah, I can do that. Piece of cake!" She smiled at him before going back to her make-shift workshop.

...

"Okay, let's do this." Riley nodded to herself as she considered her situation. This was the sort of thing that Kevin would try to plan out by making a list. He'd been trying to get Sibby to stop being so impetuous, but some of it had rubbed off on Riley too.

So, what did she want and or need?

1. Leave the Dyed Lands so Pinky could introduce her to a Titan that might be able to help her find Kevin.
2. Experiment with magic and its effect on biology.
3. Acquire allies, minions, and resources.

She paused, mentally went over her list, and decided that it was a good start.

Oh, wait.

4. Make Dev a spear.

Right, she'd promised to do that. Not only would it be mean to break a promise, it would help Dev out. She was used to enhancing her allies, and honestly felt a little bad about only giving him some nice blood so far. She'd made things people could use in the past, like her living clothing.

Besides, it was only a spear. It was a pointy stick that you stabbed people with. That'd be easy.

Riley nodded to herself. "So I have my goals, what are my resources?"

1. The Jungleclad. She would allow them to rest in peace... eventually. Dead bodies were a useful resource, but it was rude to use them without permission. It could also cause friction with the Titan if she showed up with some of his dead allies. Pinky kept mentioning necromancy, so that was probably a thing in this world, and there would be laws and regulations that would be best avoided.
2. Her Mets. They seemed to be working again. She shouldn't keep them out for a long time as they clearly unnerved Dev - not that she could blame him. Using them to help her make better minions would help a lot.
3. The creler. It wouldn't be the first bio-weapon she'd studied, but it would be the only one that incorporated magic! Just from her initial examination, she could tell that it would be a treasure trove of parts. And she'd have to use it as parts because people would be upset at seeing one, even if it was her pet.
4. The jungle. There were plenty of animals out there that she could use. Should she get a big one? Or try to be less conspicuous?
5. Her existing minions that she could still use. She needed to fix her three monkeys up. She had two heads, but she could work with that. The Milk Box was fine. Badgy needed a head. Krabby was...

Riley blinked. How was Krabby doing? She'd been so busy with the Jungleclad and the Mets that she'd forgotten to check in on her aquatic pet. His lungs had been working just fine, but there was magic involved. Anything could happen!

...Including organ rejection.

Riley poked Krabby's body. He was dead. She'd have to open him up to see exactly what happened, but she was fairly certain that it was the result of mixing 'red' and 'white' flesh.

"Well, nothing to do about the past." Riley rolled up her sleeves. "Let's see if I can at least harvest his brain."

---

Dev liked his new spear.

It was long, sharp, light, flexible - and also seemingly indestructible. Bit had told him that it was 'also probably resistant to magic', but she'd just shrugged when he'd asked for specifics. Apparently, the large pill bug she'd killed the previous day had been a special kind of monster called a 'creler'.

Pinky had lectured him on the creler wars, and the world-wide apocalypse they'd caused.

That had been... odd. Normally her lectures were about, well, foolish things. He could never really tell if she thought he was stupid and was slowly explaining things to him like he was a particularly dim child... or if she really considered what she was telling him was super important and she wanted to cover all her bases.

Dev was usually torn between amusement and annoyance, but not when she spoke about crelers.

Apparently, the Fraerlings hid from the world. They had the equivalent of advanced technology - except it was all done with magic. She was evasive about any details, but the fact remained that the crelers had attacked everyone and everything. The Fraerlings had been no exception.

One of the reasons for why the monsters were so dangerous was that they were highly resistant to magic.

The spear that Dev had been given? Bit had used some 'red' to make the creler grow it out of its carapace. That seemed blatantly impossible, but no more so than other things he'd seen the little girl do. So... par for the course.

It was the same sense of... acceptance that he had for the creler's corpse. It clearly freaked Pinky out, but compared to all of the stuff he'd seen in this world?

Whatever.

It wasn't nearly as scary as the Vetala had been. Not to say crelers weren't scary, or that they weren't a huge threat. They kinda looked like aliens from that one movie series that Dev couldn't remember the name of. It was something generic sounding. As for being afraid of it? It was just that... well... he'd already had to fight for his life multiple times.

The specifics about the thing trying to kill him didn't matter as much.

That was to say, that he really liked his spear.

It was smooth and sharp in a way that human made weapons weren't. In fact, he was fairly certain that it wouldn't dull. At least, it hadn't after all his practice of stabbing and slashing logs.

It made him feel like a boy again - back when he'd found a cool looking stick and pretended it was a sword. At least, until the other boys had seen it, and taken it away from him.

...

Dev was cooking dinner when Bit slumped down in one of the wooden chairs. "Man, I'm beat." She yawned.

"I thought you were Bit!" Pinky said from the all-too-big chair that she was sitting in.

"I mean, I'm tired."

Dev placed a plate full of food on the table in front of her. "I guess surgery is hard work, huh?"

"Yeah, but it's fun." Bit smiled as she leaned down and smelled the food. "Did you find a new spice?"

Dev nodded. "It's a root. Kinda like a potato, but it has a lot more flavor." He placed a smaller dish on the seat next to Pinky. It wasn't a 'Fraerling' sized plate because she ate proportionately far more than someone her size should've been able to.

Pinky took a bite, chewed and swallowed. "It's a yellat." She nodded. "A red yellat, but it's a yellat all the same."

"A yellat?" Bit asked. "Are they something from outside the Dyed Lands?"

"Yellats are all over Baleros. Probably other continents too." Pinky continued to eat. "They're real hardy, so if anything could survive against the other plants in the Dyed Lands, it would be them."

"But they're red." Dev countered. "So they're part of the Dyed Lands now."

"That's true I supposed." Pinky tilted her head. "But yellats are usually red or orange - at least ripe ones. They're blue before that."

"Huh." Dev looked at the food. "Do you think I picked some unripe ones?"

"Who knows?" Pinky shrugged. "They taste fine to me, but I think that about everything in the jungle."

They continued to chat about the food for a while until the meal was over. Bit then stood up and looked at both Dev and Pinky. "I've finished my preparation. We can leave in the morning."

Dev nodded. "I've also packed everything I can. We're good on supplies."

...

Dev awoke before dawn and got ready to leave. He took one final look around the Jungleclad's village. He felt sad. It wasn't just the tragedy that had befallen the place, or the memories of the dead apes. In the few short days he'd lived in the ghost town... it had grown on him.

There were signs of life everywhere. He didn't know the Jungleclad or why they were living in such a dangerous place, but there were little things all over the outpost. Personalized homes or items. It made him feel... welcomed, even if there was no one living to actually do that.

And now, they were going to put it all behind them.

It was a shame, he thought. Living with the gorillas had made him comfortable in a way that he wasn't around humans - even if it had been for a short time.

"Okay!" Bit smiled at him as she walked up. She was escorted by a swarm of horrors.

Badgy was there, now with Krabby's head and claws. The chimeric monstrosity still walked on four legs - the crustacean's limbs sprouted from the side of its shoulders. Perhaps most disturbingly, the crab's eyes had been extended and enlarged. Instead of short, small eyes that protruded on inch long stalks, Badgy's new eyes rose up a good foot and were large and round.

They also looked at Dev and seemed to sparkle with emotion.

Creepy.

Three of the monkeys were hanging off of it. They were still all white, but their heads were misshapen. One had a smooth divot where its eyes should be. One was missing its mouth and jaw. The final one's head was narrower, and didn't have any ears.

"I only had two intact heads." Bit saw where he was looking. "I was able to make do."

Creepy.

Finally, and by far the worst, there were a small horde of black spiders crawling over both Badgy and Bit. They only had legs. No head. No features of any other kind. Just legs. The long, sharp claws reminded Dev of something...

He looked at his spear. She couldn't have...

"Yep!" Bit beamed at him. "Since crelers would panic people, I made a bunch of spiders instead!" She patted one on its... head? Carapace? Body? "The poor little things don't have much stamina, but they're more than capable of killing things many times their own size!"

Yeah. Things like him.

Creepy.

At least they weren't robots that would go insane and try to kill all humans. Or, rather, all non-humans. If the spiders did attack, they'd probably only do so one at a time. Besides, he'd never seen an animal break free of Bit's control.

Ah, right. That was because 'surgery' was her superpower. The robots she'd borrowed from her brother. Wasn't that a common superhero trope? That borrowed equipment never lasted? Like, a supervillain would steal Reed Richards' tech and do something evil, but it would always give out on him because he didn't understand it.

It was a way to maintain the status-quo, but he guessed it might actually work that way with real superheroes too.

"And the Jungleclad?" He asked.

Bit's smile vanished. "I made a grave around their tower and buried them there. I also made a memorial that depicts the events, so that if more ever come they'll know what happened." She looked over her shoulder. "I also left them something to help build their tower" - but Dev didn't hear that part.

"Ah." Dev should've thought about drawing a memorial. "That was nice of you."

Bit shyly smiled at him. "I try to be a... responsible girl. It's important to consider things from other people's viewpoints. Sometimes."

"Right." Speaking of that. "Where's Pinky?"

"I'm right here." The Fraerling said from his shoulder.

"Ah!" Dev spun and jumped, but Pinky managed to hold on.

...

The trio set off.

Without Krabby, they had to walk. It was still quicker to follow the river. Dev took the lead as they walked down the bank. Everyone else rode on Badgy.

The badger/crab hybrid was large enough for Bit, Pinky, the three monkeys, and all the spiders. Badgy looked like a large insect himself. The spiders wrapped themselves around him and made it look like he had a lumpy carapace. The illusion was further enforced by the two gigantic crab claws.

For some reason, Bit seemed inordinately pleased with his new black and white coloration.

The days passed quickly. Dev found it... peaceful.

There was still excitement. Animals attacked during both the day and the night. The trees were a constant threat. Foraging for enough food for all the animals took time too. Though, thankfully, the first problem helped out with the third.

For all of that, there were no vengeful spirits. No zombies. No homicidal robots. Dev was getting to explore. He even used his new spear and got levels in [Spear Fighter]. It reminded him of his first days in the Dyed Lands.

In fact, it was better.

Pinky chatted away, but was quiet when it mattered. Bit was still cute and creepy, but he was getting used to it. They had become a more familiar presence than an un-welcome one at some point.

Then, they reached the white plains.

In many ways, the Red Lands were more dangerous. The jungle itself would attack you, and it was nearly impossible to see the animals hidden among the plants. In the Chalk Lands, it was worse. Every plant and animal could turn invisible. The river was also dangerous as it was a more arid climate.

Animals came to it for water, and predators waited for them - both unseen.

Dev still led the group, but he started following the river from a distance. It made getting water more of an issue, but as long as the river was over the horizon, they could avoid most of the danger. Everything else Badgy handled.

By the time the white ground gave way to normal brown and green, Dev had come to a decision.

"I'm going to stay." He announced one night around their camp fire.

"What?" Pinky exclaimed. "That sounds like something I'd say, no offense."

"None taken." He nodded at her. "I'm sure the Titan is a great guy and all, but I don't want to be part of a 'Great Company' or even be close to that many people." He looked out over the plains as the sun set. "I want to be here, to see things like the plants gradually becoming visible as night falls."

Pinky and Bit were quiet as they stood next to him and shared the scene. As the sun set, the horizon became a mixture of red and yellow. Slowly across the plains, the plants turned visible. While they were white, the setting sun reflected off of them and made a field of gold and crimson that spread in a gentle wave.

"I think I get it." Pinky said.

"I'll come back and find you once my brother finds away for us to return home." Bit promised, but didn't object to his decision.

The next morning, Dev waved goodbye and set off to explore on his own.

---

Riley watched Dev leave.

She hoped he be okay long enough for her to find Kevin and then come back and find Dev. She turned to look at Pinky. "So which way towards this Titan fellow?"

"Hmmm..." Pinky tilted her head. "I think-"

"Took?!?" A voice came from the Fraerling's backpack. "Took is that you?"

"I think we should go, uhm, that way." Pinky pointed in a random direction.

"Pinky." Riley's eyes narrowed. "Why is your backpack speaking?"

"Oh, no rea-"

"Took Obligonita Narffion!!! You take out your speaking stone and you talk to me."

Pinky took off her backpack and sat on it. "Like I was saying, we should go-"

"Answer me when I call you!"

Pinky growled and pulled a small rock out of her bag. "This...doing...can't...later." She said with a halting voice and a smile.

"Took." The voice from the rock spoke with a flat tone. "I can see you through the scrying mirror."

"What?" Pinky ducked her head as if she could hide from an unseen observer. "I, er, I mean..."

"Do you know how worried I was about you, young lady? How dare you run away and not even leave a note!"

Pinky slumped her shoulders. "Sorry, mom."

Chapter 70: Interlude - Nii’mer’aud

Nii’mer’aud flew across the land.

At one time, he might've done so for the simple joy of it. If so, he no longer had that memory. Lost to time or magicore, he didn't know. Or, he might've always been a fool and had never taken pleasure from such a simple thing.

One might think that he could find a little happiness in doing so now, but his mission weighed on his heart. To find even the slightest bit of pleasure in it was beyond him.

He had once been a great warrior, but now he was a hunter... and a fool. A leashed dog that tracked what he was told to track.

He was part of the wind, and it brought him news. Sounds, smells, disturbances - they made him adept at seeking things over a large area - as long as it was also night.

With his two aspects aligned, who could escape him?

Unfortunately for Siti`medaale, he had been used to catch escaped Djinni before, and would doubtlessly be forced to do it again in the future.

Siti`medaale - what a repugnant name. 'Slave of Medalle'.

The corners of Nii’mer’aud's mouth twitched up. Slave she might've been. Slave she would unfortunately be in the future... but not to Medalle. Riqre was dead. Killed with a tier six or seven spell.

That had not stopped the Emirs of Roshal from finding out the truth from the attack. Or, at least, the details leading up to it. Riqre might no longer be alive or able to answer questions, the same wasn't true of several of his [Slaves].

Riqre had been... evil. He left it at that. Even in death, some of his [Slaves] feared him, but they'd told the gathered Emirs about his experiments.

Even Roshal had some lines they would not cross. At least, not so brazenly. If Riqre were still around, he would suffer a fate worse than...

No. There was no point in Nii’mer’aud thinking about punishments that could never happen. He had his target to find.

His black wings flapped silently as he passed over another fleeing [Slave]. He didn't slow. He didn't tell anyone about it. Those weren't his orders.

His minor rebellion wouldn't matter. Others would find that [Slave]. It could be hunters from Roshal, or it could be people of the kingdom they were now in. It didn't matter.

...Except that it made hunting Siti all the worst. She was a newborn, but she possessed a keen mind. He hadn't seen it at first, but it was becoming clearer and clearer. It was almost like she knew every kingdom, every village, every road.

The other [Slaves] had accompanied her at first, but they had split off in small groups over their long journey. By Nii’mer’aud's count, there was only a single other [Slave] with her now. Neither of them had ever been in Deimos before, he was sure of it, but they always took the correct paths.

Could one of her aspects be knowledge? He hadn't seen any indication of that from her rampage in Lailight Scintillation. Even if her plan had been to feign ignorance... No that was silly. Could it be an aspect that took time to grow?

Learning? Something else?

That might explain how she'd been able to kill Riqre.

Not that it mattered much to Nii’mer’aud. He had to find her. Capture her if able, kill her if not. Avoid alerting other countries if possible.

His owner knew how to avoid loopholes.

If Siti hadn't avoided other villages and travelers so adeptly, then he could've at least broken the last order. He still might be able to cause an international incident if she release the same level of power she used to kill Riqre.

Of course, that would most likely kill Nii’mer’aud also, so it wasn't the perfect plan.

...

He found her at night by a campfire. It probably wasn't for Siti's benefit. Generally speaking, Djinni didn't need light, warmth, or sleep.

...But her companion did.

"It's a shame that I found you, child." Nii’mer’aud landed without another sound. His wings were as dark and silent as the night itself. "This one has been commanded to either capture you again, or kill you if able."

The black and white woman's eyes glowed like the stars.

She didn't reply.

"If you can teleport, then I would have to track you again." Nii’mer’aud nodded at the sleeping form. "I would have to prioritize you above anyone else."

His owner hadn't instructed him to not talk, nor to carry out his orders as quickly as possible. If he had, then Nii’mer’aud could have done all sorts of things in the name of speed.

Siti didn't run away, instead she languidly stood up and stretched.

"I will stay and convince you to return for as long as possible." If he could just talk until daybreak, she might stand a chance against him. Nii’mer’aud couldn't reveal secrets like that directly, but-

Siti pounced.

Nii’mer’aud swept his wings through her, and she vanished like a soap bubble bursting.

"And now the teams in Lailight Scintillation or the ruins of Riqre's compound will bind her again even more tightly." Nii’mer’aud shook his head. "Such a shame. Such a waste."

Something pierced his back.

The woman, Siti's companion, she'd somehow woken up and ambushed him! Her blow had actually hurt!

"If only you had a magical weapon." Nii’mer’aud reached behind him and plucked the dagger from his heart. "Alas, I have standing orders as to how to respond to an attack."

Nii’mer’aud tilted his head as he looked at her. Distended limbs, long claw-like fingernails, a mouth that was too big and too full of teeth.

Ah, she was one of Riqre's 'experiments'. At least he was going to put her out of her misery-

A tree flattened Nii’mer’aud.

Somehow, the utterly mundane object had disrupted his form!

...But only for a moment. The wind and the night embraced him, and he reformed inside of the collar that bound him.

"You did not reappear where they expected you to!" He smiled as he lunged at Siti again.

His wings stretched out... and encountered resistance. It wasn't anything solid. It was more like... the air around Siti was outside of his control... but only for a moment. He shattered the authority with ease and Siti's body washed away like sea foam on the beach.

"Stop it!" The monstrous woman shouted as she clawed at him.

Her frenzied attacks weren't backed up by either magic or skills and simply passed through him. Nii’mer’aud caught her arms. "I'm sorry, child, but this is the way things must be."

Pain exploded from his shoulder! Siti was on his back, and she was biting the nape of his neck with a force he'd never felt before!

With a twist of her neck, she tore a part from him. Nii’mer’aud backed away - his eyes wide. "How? What? How?" He'd lost a piece of himself. He knew the sensation well. Some part of his very essence had been torn away!

The striped woman swallowed. "It's fine." Siti's smile was wicked as she spoke for the first time that he was aware of. "You're not real anyways."

Nii’mer’aud fled. He had to when his existence was threatened unless his owner explicitly said not to. Even if that wasn't the case... he would've anyways.

Chapter 71: Strongest 1

Notes:

Previously: The Siberian appeared in Lailight Scintillation - the capital of Roshal. Roshal is the country of [Slavers] and Sibby was caught and bound as a Djinni. She was sold to Riqre'ma Medaale who performed vile experiments on [Slaves] and twisted them in both body and mind to serve him. Sibby eventually killed everyone with the help of the memory of William Manton. Now she, and Laila, are journeying to a country that the Dead God Cauwine mentioned to Sibby after Cauwine volunteered to join with Sibby's Shard.

Laila stared at Sibby as the two of them sat around the fire.

It struck her as ironic. She needed the fire to stay warm, but as a Stringfolk, it was a deadly hazard for her. If she got to close, her body might literally go up in flame.

Well... what was left of her body. She wasn't exactly a Stringfolk any more. After the events in Roshal she had a new body and a new class: [Stitch Selphid]. She was little more than her life thread now. All Stitchfolk had a life thread. It was the one thing they couldn't change - that, and their heads where it was stored.

Laila had been 'lucky' to get a [Slave] class that somehow had allowed her to overcome that limitation.

Now? Now she was coiled around this body's brain. She controlled it like it was her own, but it's original occupant was still inside with her.

Zehia.

Her former owner. A skilled [Assassin]. Far higher level than Laila had ever guessed. She could use Zehia's [Skills] and body... but there was the twist.

Zehia had also been forever changed by Riqre. She had a blood class that had twisted her body into that of a monster. That was why Laila was in control, because Zehia didn't want to be. They couldn't exactly talk, but they could somehow communicate.

Laila felt sad for her.

Being a [Slave]... was the worst thing that had ever happened to Laila, but the levels of awfulness had been dependent on her 'owners'. In hindsight, she had to admit that Zehia had been one of the best ones. Aside from a few notable events, she had definitely been the nicest of the people that had owned Laila for an extended period of time.

Next to her, Zehia stirred. Anger. Fear. Hatred. The feelings bubbled off of her as she woke up, but only for a moment. That was her default state, but the [Assassin] always tried to dampen the effects her blood class was having on her.

If they could have a real conversation, Laila might be able to offer her some insights from her time as a [Flayed Slave]... but that probably wouldn't be of much help. It wasn't like she'd learned to live with her class or had gotten rid of it on her own.

She shuddered. She had to keep what she was a secret from everyone else. Roshal would stop at nothing if they'd learned of her. They would torture thousands of Stringfolk to try and replicate her.

Without Sibby to help... they would fail, but that wouldn't stop their experiments.

Sibby. The Djinni. The naked black and white woman who seemed... detached. As if nothing in the world mattered to her.

That was probably what it was like to be a creature of pure magic. Wild, destructive... yet soothing.

It was like the fire.

Deadly if you treated her badly... or if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Warm and protective if you were lucky.

Laila hoped her newfound luck would withstand the test of time.

---

Sibby appeared.

She looked around.

Red sky? Check.

Tombstones? Check.

White van at the side of the road? Check.

Ah, she'd done it. It had been difficult getting back here. While it was easy to visit William, now that she knew the trick, finding the right one seemed to be a matter of keeping the correct memories in her mind.

Her original creator looked up from the grave he was standing in front of. "Natalie?" His eyes went wide.

"No." Sibby spoke out loud as she strutted towards him.

"No?" William winced. "Natalie is... dead. I drank a vial... and... and..." His shoulders slumped. "And I'm dead."

Sibby climbed up on the gravestone and sat on it with her legs crossed. "Hi!" She smiled at him.

William took a deep breath and then exhaled. "Hello, Sibby. How are you doing? Still evading the slavers?"

"Yep!" Sibby nodded. "All the regular ones haven't bothered us in a while. Last night a cape attacked us!" Her eyes shown. "But he ran away after I tore a chunk out of him!"

"I see." William nodded. "And your opponent survived that?"

"Yeah." Sibby shrugged. She might be the strongest, but prey did escape her from time to time. At first. That was what made hunting so much fun. "He tasted good though. It was a really subtle flavor, but well-aged."

"Hmmm..." William hummed as he walked over to a tree and tore off a branch. He then moved back towards Sibby before using his new tool to draw in the dirt.

"Laila's been doing okay. I don't have to hold her at night. I think she might be starting to realize that she's safe as long as I'm around."

"I see." He looked up from his drawing. "And the other one? Have you spoken with 'Cauwine' again?"

"Nah." Sibby shrugged. "It's hard to find her." As amazing a huntress as Sibby was, those skills didn't help navigate the world of memories. She'd come up with that name for this place herself!

"So, you don't have any more details about the countries you're going through?"

"Nope!" Sibby smiled.

"Alright." William stepped back from his drawing. "So, where are you right now?"

Sibby jumped off the carved rock, and landed next to the map her former creator had just finished drawing. "Let's see..." Her eyes traced the lines. "We crossed the river here." She pointed at a squiggle. "A while ago." Her finger traced a path. "We avoided that city. I stole some food for Laila from that village." She looked up. "You know, she still is refusing to eat human flesh? I keep offering it to her, and I can see that she wants it, but she always just shakes her head."

William gave her a flat look. "How often do you have human flesh to offer her?"

"Not a lot recently." Sibby shrugged. "The slave guys have stopped being able to find us, except for that winged cape. So I haven't gotten to eat anyone or offer her any for weeks."

William rubbed his temples. He did that a lot when Sibby told him about how awesome she was. It must be hard to comprehend just how skilled she was - even for someone as smart as he was!

"Right. So, where are you now?"

Sibby tilted her head. "Right... about... here!" She pointed at a different squiggle. Unlike some of the other ones, it represented a border - not a river.

"Ah." William bent down. "So you are about to cross into Tiqr then."

"Yep! The land of wild beasts. Cauwine said I should fit right in."

"Yes..." He stroked his chin. "I imagine you will. What about magic?"

"What about it?"

"Is it something that exists in Tiqr? Is it something you have to look out for?"

Sibby rolled her eyes. "No, William, I'll be fine. If I can eat that winged guy, then I'm sure I can beat up some dumb animals - even if they have powers."

"Yes, well." William looked at her. "I still worry." He let out a sigh. "At least, I worry when you're here. When you're not, I lose my train of thought."

"That's odd."

"Why is that?" He raised an eyebrow. "It was how it was for the 'me' that's here before you visited. It's clearly the natural state for the engrams - a way to preserve our minds." He shrugged. "Or a broken version of it. I can only hypothesize about how it might be for the second Entity's Shards."

"That's not what Cauwine says." Sibby nodded sagely as she shared her knowledge. "She watches what I do, and also knows things that have happened other places far away."

"Really?" William looked surprised for a moment before mumbling to himself. "No, that makes sense. The Shards connect by growing a mass in our brains. That's the initial point, but they go by several other markers too. As a non-biological existence, it would be different for Cauwine, after all, she doesn't have a body in the traditional sense, much less a brain..."

Sibby turned her attention back to the map. Tiqr did sound like fun. Running across the plains. Scarring prey. Scaring predators. It was such a thrill to encounter creatures that didn't know they should be afraid of her. It reminded her of her early days, when it was just her and William. Back when people tried to fight her sometimes.

Although...

She felt a little strange about it now. What was the word? Melancholy?

She had told Kevin once that if she could go back in time and do things differently, then she would.

Oh well. No point in thinking about it! She should instead focus on her ultimate destination.

Of all the places Cauwine had told her about. It had drawn her attention the most. It clearly was a place created just for her. She was the strongest, so she should go to where the strongest gathered.

It only made sense.

She'd probably find Kevin there too. He was strong, and she could feel him growing closer each day.

Although... there was another, more serious matter: What was she going to eat?

The random slavers that tracked them down had dwindled as the weeks went by. Animals didn't taste as good as people, but maybe the ones in Tiqr were different?

There was only one way to find out!

---

Laila watched as Sibby scanned the horizon.

"So, where do we go?"

The Djinni smiled at her. "We need to avoid the cities and roads close by the border. Tiqr exports gem stones, which are easily hidden. So their border is well patrolled." She paused as if remembering something. "The non-populated spaces are also dangerous as the beastmasters of Tiqr have trained the animals to hunt intruders."

"We can't get across?" Laila was worried.

"It would take some extra steps if you were... someone else." Sibby's eyes gleamed as she offered her hand.

Laila took it without any hesitation, and the Djinni swept her up in a bridal carry. Laila was heavier than she'd once been. Her body's long limbs had a surprising amount of muscle in them. Still, it was if she weighted nothing at all to the black and white woman.

Then, the world went black. She was alone in the void, with only Sibby's touch.

Just as suddenly as it had gone, her vision came back. She was in Sibby's arms as her friend ran across the grass. Laila looked down. No, not across the grass. She was on top of it.

Laila couldn't see herself or Sibby. She should still have been able to see the footprints her companion left, but there was nothing there. Not a single thing to mark their passage. No foot prints. No broken twigs. Not even a bent piece of grass.

Was this how teleportation worked?

Was this was what happened all those times Sibby seemingly vanished?

Was she somewhere hidden, but watching?

That made Laila feel safe as she relaxed in her savior's arms. If she was still a little girl, before she'd been sold by her parents, she might've felt afraid. Afraid of Sibby's power. Afraid of constantly being watched.

She'd gotten over those fears in her first year as a [Slave]. [Slaves] had no power. Their masters could command them as they saw fit. Even if they didn't have the [Skills] to enforce obeying their orders, there were far, far worse ways they could do it.

Laila hugged Sibby tighter.

Similarly, there was nowhere a [Slave] wasn't observed. Once again, it wasn't [Skills], just the conditions. If you had no private space, then people would see what you did. Most other [Slaves] didn't notice or care, but the ones that did? The ones that reported what they saw in an effort to gain favor with their owners?

Laila hated them.

She watched the landscape fly past them as Sibby moved with inhuman speed. She could have gotten to her destination so much quicker on her own. But, if she had, Laila would doubtlessly have been captured. Just like she would've died in Riqre's mansion if Sibby hadn't come for her.

Why did people enslave Djinni? They could offer so much to the world?

Actually, she already knew the answer. Greed. Greed and fear that made other's capitulate to the idea. But, that was how the world was. If she had been alive thousands of years ago... she still probably couldn't have made a difference.

...

At the border, they saw a pack of large cats laying in the sun. They were tawny, with large, golden eyes. There were two types. The first kind looked like a regular house cat, but ten times the size. The others were like the first, but they also had a large tuff of fur that circled their heads.

Laila watched them as she was invisibly carried past.

A few raised their heads and sniffed the air. One even stood up and swatted at where she and Sibby had passed.

Then, they were gone - lost in the distance behind them.

They turned visible, and Sibby set her down. The black and white woman then languidly stretched and looked around with bright eyes.

They walked for a while before seeing something in the distance. Laila's first thought was to hide, or go in another direction, but Sibby boldly walked towards it.

Laila pulled out the scarf she'd made and wrapped it around the lower half of her face before clenching her fists so that they wouldn't peek out from inside her sleeves. She would still attract attention, if for no other reason than her height, but hopefully people wouldn't think she was a monster and attack.

She quickly hurried after Sibby as her friend got closer to the moving gray things.

They were animals - as big as a small shack. They had five legs, or rather, four trunk-like legs and a flexible appendage that hung from their faces. They also had huge ears, and long, sharp-looking tusks.

They paid them little attention until the pair drew close, then the smaller animals moved away and the largest one turned to face them. Its ears went wide and it pawed the ground before charging them!

Sibby stood in a cocky stance with one hand on her hip.

Laila would've called it suicidal, if she didn't know how powerful the Djinni really was.

The charging beast bore down on them... and then stopped. It huffed and blew air out of its appendage.

Oh. It was a nose?

"Ha! I've never seen old Sheba back down like that before!" A man called out from the side. As he walked up to them, Laila could see that he was short, burly, and had a long, brown beard. "Nothing like seeing a herd of Elephants is there?" He stroked his beard as he looked Sibby up and down. "A Zebra beastkin, eh?" He smiled wide. "I've never heard of or met one of you before, but I must say, I like your fashion sense." He winked.

Laila was outraged, but Sibby preened under his attention.

"W-what?" She'd been a bed slave, herself, and was used to nudity, but to have some random guy talk about Sibby like that!

...Then again, she WAS naked. It might be odder to not talk about it. The only people they'd exchanged words with for weeks were fellow slaves or the slavers that had died at Sibby's hand.

"Oh?" The man faced her and took in her abundance of clothes. "You must be new to Tiqr. There's no need to bundle up here! Winter has passed, and even at its peak we don't get visited by many Winter Sprites."

"No, sorry." Laila bowed her head. "I'm fine. We've been traveling, and most other people react... differently to Sibby's appearance."

"Is that right?" He smiled as he stroke his beard. "She'd fit right in at the capital. Modesty is a dirty word there. Ha!"

Laila wanted to change the subject. She motioned at the large, grey animals. "What are they?"

The man's eyes glinted. "Elephants. They don't exist anywhere else in the world." He beckoned and one of the smaller ones came over. "Intelligent, strong, affectionate." He patted the young elephant as it wrapped its distended nose around him. "I'm Wellie, the [Druid] that's looking after this herd."

A druid? Laila had never met one of them before.

"Do elephant herds need someone to overlook them?"

"Not in the slightest." Wellie laughed. "They can fend off predators, poachers, and hunters just fine on their own." He gave the young elephant a gentle swat and it trodded back towards the herd. "I'm here because I want to be. And because Martha over there is pregnant." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "I'm staying around until the calf is healthy and hale." He crossed his arms and nodded. "So, what brings the two of you to Tiqr?"

Laila glanced at Sibby, but the Djinni that was being mistaken for a zebra-beastkin only smirked. She never spoke to anyone else aside from Laila, and even then she was perfectly fine with silence that lasted for days.

"We're just passing through." She looked at Sibby. "My friend doesn't usually talk, but I was hoping we could find some of her clansmen here."

"Doesn't talk, eh?" Wellie shrugged his shoulders. "Well, like I said before, I haven't heard of any zebra-beastkin. You could always try the capital. Our queen would definitely grant her an audience. In fact, I'd bet she'd offer to let, Sibby, was it? To let Sibby start a clan of her own. Beastkin breed true, after all."

"And which way is that?" Laila asked.

"You'll want to head north until you hit a wide, dirt road." Wellie pointed towards the horizon. "If you follow that west, you'll eventually come to Niiwele. They have a lot of antelopes there. Intelligent creatures. They'll bow to you if you bow to them. Some of my friends look over them, so they've gotten spoiled." He spit on the ground. "I keep tellin' them that thinnin' the herd is necessary at times, but do they listen?"

"No? They don't?" Laila guessed.

"That's right! They don't listen to old Wellie!" The stocky man folded his arms across his chest. "Still, it's a nice city. Not too divorced from nature, but we make sure none of the settlements in Tiqr are like that. Not like other countries." He shrugged and let out a sigh. "Anyways, from Niiwele, you can take the main road north. That'll get you to the capital, Oliphant, in a week or so."

"Ah, thank you." Laila bowed before looking at Sibby. "And if we wanted to wander?"

Wellie's face broke into a wide smile. "Then wander! You'll meet all sorts of other people that don't like to settle down in one place." He jerked his thumb at the elephants. "If you can handle Sheba, then you should be fine on your own. Just don't disrupt things, and you'll be left alone."

"We'll take care." Laila started to wave before remembering that she needed to keep her hands hidden. She turned it into an awkward motion that didn't really mean anything.

Sibby was already walking away with long, confident strides. Laila hurried to catch up. It would've been difficult to keep pace with the Djinni before, but Zehia's body was stronger than she was. It now also had longer limbs, and she could run pretty fast if she needed to.

The pair traveled in silence. Laila was used to it. Being silent was a natural part of being a [Slave]. Drawing attention to yourself was never a good idea. However, the silence between her and Sibby was different - more comfortable. It helped her relax.

...

The days passed by, and Laila wondered at the marvels of Tiqr.

It was so... uncivilized. And wonderful.

She saw animals all over the place. Birds, snakes, cats... and plenty more that she couldn't identify. For being so close to the great desert, the land was surprisingly lush. The few people that they did meet were friendly. The few animals that attacked them, died easily at Sibby's hands.

It was on their third day that she saw them: the zebras.

Laila had seen horses before. She might've been a [Slave] for most of her life and had mainly been kept inside, but someone would have to be truly sheltered to not have seen one before. The zebras... they really did look like black and white, striped horses, but they were different.

Their mains were short and spiky, and they looked smaller, but it was hard to tell at a distance.

The stripes made it even more difficult. Laila was surprised. The other animals they'd seen - lions, hyenas, and the like - were colored to match the land. They didn't blend in perfectly, and it could hardly be called camouflage, but they didn't stand out.

The zebras did.

Their black and white bodies were easy to spot from a distance... but that was it. They were just a mass of lines. Their stripes didn't hide them in the surroundings, it hid them within their herd.

It made them seem... large. Imposing. A singular creature that was impossible to overcome.

Laila looked at Sibby. The parallels were obvious.

The pair watched the zebras for a while... until one strayed away from the herd and was killed by a lioness.

Sibby seemed to lose interest after that, and they continued their journey.

...

The days were pleasant.

Laila still hid her face with a scarf, but she'd started to use her claws. Sibby insisted that she hunt with her... and it felt good. It made her feel powerful. Strong. Safe.

Zehia whispered to her at times it felt like. She had no ears, and Zehia had no mouth, but she could still feel her former Mistress guiding her - showing her how to move, how to strike, how to use her [Skills].

Today, she was hunting a rabbit.

No. Not just 'a' rabbit. 'The' rabbit.

It was taunting her.

In many ways, it was a far craftier foe than a lion or an elephant would've been. They would try to fight, and Laila could win in a fight. The rabbit? It was faster, more agile, and had a burrow network that seemed to go on forever.

It had been three days, and she would kill the rabbit or die trying.

Laila sat in a tree that overlooked the rabbit's tunnels. She knew how it operated. It would poke its head out of one of them and look around. If it saw her, it would duck back inside quicker than she could reach it. But, up in the tree, it wouldn't notice her. All she had to do was wait for it to leave the safety of its home, and then ambush it.

She could imagine the creature's blood dripping down her claws. It would be so satisfying to rip its stupid little head off! To eat something that she had caught herself!

...Sibby might have been rubbing off on her a little too much.

Something brushed against her leg, she shooed it off. She couldn't be distracted by a bird. If she was, then she'd miss the rabbit coming out-

It brushed against her again.

Laila frowned and turned to look... It was the rabbit.

The rabbit was in the tree. It was right beside her. It was staring at her. Mocking her.

She swiped at it with her claws... and it vanished. Her blow struck the branch she was squatting on instead. The little demon teleported a foot to the side and then raced down the tree trunk.

Laila chased it after she picked herself up from where she'd fallen with the branch. She failed.

She really hated that Waisrabbit.

She sat and leaned back against the tree until Sibby came back from her hunting trip. "Okay. I give up. Let's continue."

...

They were getting close to the border, when they came across a large progression moving north-east along the road. There were dozens of wagons that looked normal, but there were also cloth-armored outriders on zebras, patrolling hyenas, a pair of lions, and several elephants - including one that was twice the size of the rest of its kin.

Even from a distance, Laila could see that an entire pavilion had been placed on its back.

In the air, dozens of Garuda of every color imaginable circled protectively.

"Ho, there!" One of the zebra riders called out to them as he approached. "This is the caravan of Empress Nsiia of Tiqr. The [Empress of Beasts]. What business do you have?"

Laila easily slipped back into her formal mode. She clasped her clawed hands together and bowed. "We are but two travelers on our way to Pomle. We were merely passing through the Empresses' country. We did not expect to encounter Nsiia herself."

"Ah." The man broke into a smile. "Well met then." He motioned to them. "Come, you are welcome to travel with us and share our bounty. We are close to the border so it would not be an imposition."

Laila bowed again and glanced at Sibby. The Djinni was eyeing the grand elephant with a amused expression.

"We graciously accept. Please forgive my companion, she speaks little and is wild by nature. She is strong, and I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt by making untoward advances towards her because of her lack of attire."

"Fear not." The rider laughed. "While I'm sure she'll have no lack of admirers or interest, that will be due to her race, not her nudity." He petted his mount. "Even I have never heard of a zebra beastkin before, but if there's any place on Chandrar that she would be welcome, it is Tiqr!"

Laila was nervous at first, but true to his word, the caravan was open and friendly. The people chatted with her and Sibby as they walked. While they certainly noticed her clawed hands, they didn't comment except to ask if she had claw-related [Skills]. Stitchfolk could look like anything, and in that sense, her body wasn't out of place.

Laila found herself relaxing and enjoying the company. Sibby remained silent, but clearly enjoyed the attention. Laila suspected that she was eager to go and explore, but was staying close by for her sake.

---

Sibby felt comfortable - because she always felt comfortable. She was the strongest, and nothing could hurt her. She still was interested in the huge elephant. She'd seen plenty of hyenas, lions, and zebras already. While she appreciated the Zebra's ascetic, they were pale imitations of her.

The main elephant, on the other hand, was massive. She was stronger, faster, and better in every other way, but its sheer size was intriguing.

She wondered what it would taste like.

Other people came up to her and Laila and asked questions. Her friend answered them. For some reason, she cared about what others thought. Sibby wondered what William would say about that. Or what Kevin would.

She'd told William what Cauwine had told her. That Tiqr was a kingdom full of beast tamers. William had theorized that there were standard ways in which certain classes came about. Over time, such dynasties would naturally form as a powerful person created an environment suited for their class.

Other people would then come, and be influenced in turn.

The cycle would continue until the group either ran out of space, destabilized from within, or encountered similar groups that did not assimilate.

Sibby had stopped paying attention after that. She understood enough. Similar capes gathered together. She'd seen it happen a lot, and didn't need to guess as to why it was happening here as well. It just seemed natural to her.

The progression was much more interesting, and she couldn't wait to explore it!

Actually... she guessed she could wait. She should stay next to Laila and make sure no bad people approached her.

And so, they walked with the caravan. Several people came over to talk, but she ignored them and let Laila speak with them. Sibby was too busy plotting what she'd do during the evening.

...

Once all the people had settled down for the night, Sibby started investigating this and that.

She prowled through the camp and peeked into the different wagons. They held chests, and the chests mainly held food. Boring, bland food. She ignored it and continued to search for something interesting.

One of the wagons had people standing guard around it. That was promising!

Sibby easily slipped past them and opened the chests that were inside... rocks. Nothing but colorful, polished, rocks.

Useless.

She persisted. There had to be something of note with all these people!

She moved to where the house-sized elephant was. The building on its back had been removed, and the large beast was laying on its side to sleep. That was a little interesting, but she couldn't see what it tasted like without hurting it, and that would cause a ruckus, and that might get Laila involved.

...Maybe just a bite from one of its tusks?

No.

Well, not right now.

Her eyes turned to the discarded house. It had been attached to a lavish tent, and even more people stood guard around it.

Sibby's eyes gleamed. It was too bad she was invisible and couldn't show off with a pose.

Instead, she leapt to the top of the tent. She allowed herself to rest on it for a moment as she took in the view. Then, she phased through it and dropped down to the floor.

"So you've arrived." A woman stood proudly in the middle of the lavish room. She wore more feathers than cloth, and had a long halberd in one hand, and a smooth, ivory javelin in the other. She was also looking right at where Sibby was standing. "State your purpose, [Rogue], before I kill you myself."

Notes:

Bios:

Sibby - The Siberian. Now bound to Kevin after he sacrificed his Summoning power to keep her alive when William Manton was killed. Has learned some new tricks. Mostly non-evil these days.

William Manton - Former member of both Cauldron and the Slaughterhouse Nine. The original controller of the Siberian. Preeminent parahuman expert. Dead. Exists as memory fragments within Sibby's Shard.

Zehia Maquet - OC. Was one of Lailight Scintillation's top problem solvers. She is now a [Carrion Eater] with Laila controlling her body.

Laila Yosef - OC. A [Slave] from a very young age. After experiencing a lot of torture managed to get the [Stitch Selphid] class after being eaten by Zehia. Now lives as a life-thread inside of Zehia's body. She's in control as Zehia has mostly retreated into her own mind.

Nsiia Oliphant - [Empress of Beasts]. Ruler of Tiqr. Not that politically savvy.

Chapter 72: Strongest 2

Nsiia glared at the intruder as she suddenly became visible, but she didn't call her guards.

Whomever the naked woman was, she was talented. Not many could evade the superior senses of her empire's animals - or the people who trained them. It was only due to her authority that she'd noticed someone sneaking around. Nsiia wasn't particularly good or bad with her aura. It was large enough to cover her nation, but not potent enough to be of much use on its own.

Still...

Nsiia's eyes narrowed. "I don't sense hostile intentions from you." Rather, the black and white striped woman seemed to be... curious. Not wary. Not concerned about being caught. Confident - in that she could either win a fight, or that there would not be a fight.

The two stood in silence and observed each other.

Nsiia got the impression of two wild animals sizing one another up. Just as she was taking the measure of the naked... zebra beastkin, so too was she being analyzed.

Finally, the woman smiled. "I am the Siberian."

Was that a title or a name?

Nsiia straightened up and planted the butt of her halberd on the ground. "I am Nsiia Oliphant. [Empress of Beasts]. Ruler of Tiqr. State your purpose, Siberian."

The Siberian's hair flowed in a non-existent breeze. "I was investigating. This place seemed interesting."

Nsiia raised an eyebrow in the haughty manner that only a ruler could. "You dare enter my personal quarters for such a banal reason? What other intentions do you have? Did you seek to steal from me or do me harm?" She focused her aura and tried to use it to sense the Siberian's intentions.

"What other reason do I need?" The Siberian's yellow eyes faintly glowed as she smiled. "I am on my way to visit the Strongest, and I like exploring."

The Strongest? Nsiia tilted her head. "You are on your way to Pomle?" She then laughed. How interesting! The gathering to discuss the King of Destruction was bound to be a tedious affair, but this was amusing. "Sit." She motioned to a portable, but soft sofa. "Tell me about yourself, Siberian. I have never met a zebra beastkin before."

Other [Rulers] might have taken offense at such a brazen lack of courtesy, but things weren't as formal in Tiqr. Now that she didn't think the Siberian meant her any harm, she found the situation exciting.

Nsiia propped her weapons against the side of her bed as she reclined on it. While it was clear that the Siberian didn't feel threatened, neither did she. It would've been another matter if they were outside of Tiqr, but within its borders - she was the Empress. Her authority was absolute.

"I come from far away." The smile never left the Siberian's face. "I travel to Pomle because that is where the strongest gather, and I am the strongest."

Interesting.

"Is that why you are naked? To prove your strength?" Nsiia paused to recall what she knew of [Martial Artists]. "Or is it a training method?" Whichever it was, it was too bold - even for her. The Siberian had a level of confidence that would make even the dead [Tyrant] Nerrhavia blush.

"Clothes are too fragile." The naked woman sat on the couch. "Protecting them is annoying."

Ah, so she had some defensive skill. [Iron Body]? [Stone Skin]? "What sort of fights do you get into that results in your clothes being destroyed? I could see them getting dirty or torn, but to do away with modesty because of that?"

"No." The Siberian shook her head. "I destroy them." She smiled as she ran her fingers over the couch. Nsiia noticed how long and sharp her fingernails were. That was an odd feature for a zebra beastkin to have since zebras didn't possess claws. "Should I show you how fragile things are?"

Nsiia raised her eyebrows. A demonstration? Why would someone sneak into her bedroom to demonstrate...? Oh. Of course. "Go right ahead with your audition." She nodded. "But only the couch."

The Siberian's smile widened as her claws pressed into the couch's cushion. The fabric didn't bend under the pressure. There wasn't even a tearing noise as the fingers raked across it. It was almost as if the couch was nothing more than an illusion.

The furrows left behind were all too real. It was a claw slash like a lion or a tiger would've made, but with less debris. A large cat would've left a trail of feathers spilling out and the fabric at the edges would've been pushed up and away by their claws.

It looked more like an axe cut into wood - minus the shavings that would've been left on the ground.

Nsiia leaned forward. Her eyes gleamed. "That's most impressive." But, even if the Siberian was seeking employment, she'd still overstepped. "We will talk more in the future. Leave me to my thoughts and I will summon you tomorrow."

The naked woman laughed silently before nodding. She then faded away under the effects of a stealth skill. Nsiia could still sense her presence as it left, but there was no physical movement. No dust being stirred. No faint breeze from her passing. Not even a rustling of the tent's walls.

"Interesting." She mused to herself. Nsiia wasn't the type of [Ruler] that stayed away from the battlefield. She'd grown up listening to tales of her mother when the previous Empress had followed the King of Destruction. Nsiia took pride in her ability to fight, and her Skills reflected that.

However, at the end of the day, she was still an [Empress], and the Siberian was some sort of [Rogue]. An [Assassin]? Or an advanced [Martial Artist]? She'd heard stories about the warriors of Pomle. Some of them could be as silent as a shadow and as unseen as a whisper.

She wondered what the Siberian was, and if she really wanted to be part of her kingdom. Should she allow it if that was indeed what she sought?

---

Sibby liked the woman.

Nsiia. She would remember her name. She felt more real than anyone else in the caravan. She would probably taste good, but Sibby wouldn't eat her. Not only could that cause problem for Laila, but she didn't feel like it.

Talking to Nsiia had been... enjoyable.

She'd staked her claim and didn't back down, but she also hadn't tried to attack her.

Besides, Sibby wanted to learn more about Tiqr. It was a pleasant place, and she was curious about its leader.

She put the encounter out of her mind as she investigated the rest of the camp. There were other elephants, but none as grand as the one by Nsiia's tent. The hyenas were boring - more like ugly dogs than anything majestic. The pair of lions were impressive in their own way. Tigers would've been better, but they were still bigger and stronger than the others of their kind she'd seen.

There were a good number of humanoid birds. Sibby really wanted to pounce on one and watch the others fly away, but she held off on that. They were probably fragile and she didn't want to accidentally hurt them.

Although... She could always grant immunity to the one she ambushed...

She watched them move for an hour before deciding against it. Nsiia obviously liked feathers. These were probably her pets. It would be rude to touch them without permission!

Sibby nodded to herself for showing such restraint, and looked around for other interesting things.

And... that was it. Zebras. Humans. A few stringfolk. Horses. Wagons. Gemstones. Bland food.

Boring.

She thought about going back to Nsiia's tent - not to visit or investigate, but simply because it was the tallest place. She could sit on top of it and observe the world beneath her.

Jumping up and floating or hovering just wasn't the same. Sure, the air was just as ephemeral as the rest of the world, but it was still nicer to have physical things she could more easily interact with.

William had suggested using her power to enhance the air around her body... but it was hard. She could only manage the thinnest of layers, and that hadn't even stopped the black-winged cape.

Instead... she'd go back and watch Laila sleep. Sibby nodded to herself. Her friend was doing better, but she still had nightmares. Watching over her reminded Sibby of when Riley had been a little girl. She smiled as she allowed herself to interact with light and solid objects again and strolled back through the camp towards where Laila was.

She basked in the attention, but there was a lack of fear. Too much fear was boring, but none at all was annoying in a different way.

Should she kill someone?

---

Laila woke up with her head in Sibby's lap. The Djinni was gently holding her as her yellow eyes looked at her face.

"Hello, Sibby." Laila sat up and stretched. "Good morning." Her jaws opened impossibly large as she yawned. Laila belatedly looked around to make sure no one had seen her. People didn't react strangely to her claws, but she was still self-conscious about Zehia's mouth. "Did you have an enjoyable night?"

"Yes." Sibby smiled. "I talked with Nsiia."

Nsiia? That name was familiar. It took a few moments for her brain to wake up and realize what Sibby had just said. "Nsiia? The [Empress]?" She paused for a moment as she took in the rest of Sibby's words. "You TALKED to her?"

"Uh huh." The Djinni smiled. "She noticed me."

Laila started to panic. Sibby was perfectly calm and happy, but that didn't mean anything. She'd be equally calm if she'd just had a walk or if she'd slaughtered every other living things for miles!

...No, wait. That wasn't fair. Even during her rampage in Lailight Scintillation she hadn't mindlessly killed people... at least not as much as she could have. Sibby was actually pretty restrained all things considered.

"So..." Laila took a deep breath. "What did you talk about?"

"How annoying clothes are." Sibby nodded as if that was a profound statement. "I think that if she didn't like feathers so much, she wouldn't wear any either."

"Feathers?"

"She has them as clothes and even puts them inside furniture."

"..." How? How would Sibby know that? "Why?" Laila asked by reflex.

"Probably because of those bird people." Sibby replied. "I think she keeps them as pets."

"You said Tiqr doesn't have slaves." Of course, not having [Slaves] didn't mean not having [Slavers]. Laila had heard rumors that other countries didn't allow [Slaves] - but that wouldn't stop Roshal. Her country hadn't had [Slaves], but that hadn't stopped the raiders from coming in. It hadn't stopped Roshal from following. It hadn't stopped her parents from signing her away.

"Pets aren't slaves." Sibby rolled her eyes. "Just like all the other animals. They stay because it's easier to have someone look after you."

"If you say so..." The Garuda were doubtlessly citizens of Tiqr and [Royal Guards] or something similar. To Sibby's perspective that was close enough to being a pet that arguing would be disagreeing on semantics.

...Did Sibby think that she was a pet?

Laila frowned. She didn't want to be a pet... Or did she? It felt nice to have someone look after her, but not be forced by a [Class], chains, or the promise of violence to obey.

In fact... what were vassals and servants if not humanoid pets? The term offended her only because it implied that the person wasn't sapient... but the differences weren't that great. In fact, she'd had owners before Riqre who'd had pets they treated better than their [Slaves].

It was a fascinating thing to think about, but it was time to get up. She wanted to help out with breakfast. Sibby wouldn't be hunting and bringing her back raw meat so the least she could do was repay the caravan's hospitality with hard work.

...At least she hoped Sibby wouldn't be hauling back a dead animal.

...

"Somebody's watching us." Laila whispered to Sibby as they walked. The caravan was large, and it could only move as fast as its slowest members - which surprisingly weren't the elephants. The large animals seemed to pace themselves. It was the hyenas and the lions that only walked as fast as a humanoid could.

Laila knew they could sprint far quicker than people, but she guessed that they lacked the stamina for day-long walking.

Sibby looked at her with a curious expression.

"The birds." Laila explained. "The birds that are on top of the wagons are observing us."

She wasn't sure how exactly she knew, but she was confident in her assessment. It had to be one of Zehia's skills. It was either that, or the natural instincts of her altered body. Movement drew her eye and evoked the need to pounce.

Laila suppressed the desire by thinking back to the rabbit.

"I think they belong to one of the [Beastmasters]. They must be keeping an eye on us."

Sibby shrugged. She was as unconcerned about bird spies as she was everything else.

It must be nice to be that confident Laila thought.

The birds continued to watch them throughout the day. Other people came and chatted with the pair. They were obviously intrigued by Sibby... and other things, but the Djinni ignored them all.

No one was brave or foolish enough to try and do anything more than talk to her. While they had no idea about her true power, Sibby's confident and silent demeanor baffled them all.

It made Laila envious. If a [Slave] acted like that, it would just make their owner break them even harder just to see it.

Then again, of the two of them, Laila felt like she was enjoying the day more. It was nice to talk to people. She even got compliments about her hands. She was told they made her look like a wild animal - and not a monster.

At mid-day, the caravan stopped for lunch, and a young woman came up to them. "The [Empress] requests your presence." She gave a short bow before escorting them to the front of the wagon train. The elephants had spread out and were plucking grass and leaves from the surroundings with their trunks and depositing the food in their mouths.

A beautiful woman with a lot of tan skin showing smiled at them. She wore scant clothes, but those that she did have on were brightly colored and adorned with feathers. Instead of a crown, her long, brown hair had a colorful headband - that also had feathers trailing from it.

Laila didn't know how to act around royalty, but she assumed it would be the same as how a [Slave] should act around their owner. She sunk to her knees and bowed her head. "[Empress]. This one offers her greetings."

Sibby, of course, stood standing with a hand on her hip.

"Come now, none of that." Nsiia's voice was filled with amusement. "I wish to eat and talk with the two of you. Even my subjects aren't that deferential."

Laila stood up and nodded. "Yes, [Empress]."

Nsiia smiled and shook her head. "Call me 'Nsiia'." She sat down at a small table with simple, but delicious-looking food. "Sit, sit."

Laila and Sibby both sat down. However, while the Siberian sampled each dish in turn, Laila fidgeted and held her hands under the table.

Nsiia looked at her with narrowed eyes. "The two of you make unlikely traveling companions, if you don't mind me saying so. The Siberian is... blunt with her disdain for clothing, while you wrap yourself up, Laila."

She knew her name?

Laila closed her eyes and sighed before moving her arms to rest on the top of the table. "I do not wish to upset you with my appearance, Emp-... Nsiia."

"And your mouth is similar I would wager." Nsiia's voice was still faintly filled with amusement, but it also now held a note of concern.

Laila nodded. "My appearance is monstrous. I'm afraid of what people would do if they saw me."

"You need not worry about such things here." Nsiia chuckled. "Tiqr is a land of wild animals. We have Stitchfolk that sew on animal ears. We have [Beastmasters] that take on aspects of their companions. You would not draw as many eyes as you might think."

Laila tentatively reached up and unwrapped her scarf. The expected gasp never came. She raised her eyes and saw that Nsiia was looking at her with a bemused expression. "Thank you, Nsiia." She then reached out and took a roasted bird that Sibby had taken a single bite of. Her mouth opened wide as she placed the entire thing inside of it.

"I surmise that your appearance is due to a class?" Nsiia started eating as well. "I doubt your parents would have given you such a complexion at birth, and I know that Stitchfolk cannot make such drastic changes to their heads."

"This is true." Laila avoided looking at her as she ground the bird corpse into mush. She wasn't sure how much she should say. "It's... not the best [Class], but it has helped me a lot. I wouldn't be here if I hadn't obtained it..." She glanced over to where Sibby was now looking hungrily at the living animals that surrounded them. "Or if I hadn't met Sibby."

"Sibby?" Nsiia's eyes sparkled. "Is that her name: Sibby the Siberian? Or is it a nickname?"

The Siberian?

Laila looked quizzically towards the Djinni.

Sibby felt both of their gazes, and turned her head back towards the table. "My name is the Siberian. Sibby is what my friends call me."

Laila felt her cheeks flush. She knew that Sibby was her friend, but it warmed her heart to hear her state it so bluntly. It wasn't her body, and she should've been able to stop the increased blood flow to her face, but it just felt so natural.

Laila swallowed. "She doesn't talk much."

"Oh?" Nsiia raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? I was hoping to hear some of her stories."

Sibby smiled and leaned forward. "I can tell you a story." Her yellow eyes seemed to glow softly in the mid-day sun. She paused to think before smiling widely. "There was a city - a huge place filled to the brim with people. I was investigating it when I came across naked girls locked in cages..."

Laila sat back and listened as Sibby told them a tale about how she'd freed slaves and brutally killed the people imprisoning them. Her descriptions were extremely vivid and graphic. The Siberian's taciturn nature falling away as she painted a picture of the gore she'd left behind in explicit detail.

She had to be talking about her time in Lailight Scintillation - Sibby hadn't been to any other cities. Laila didn't recall hearing about any escaped [Slaves], but that was hardly surprising. Zehia might've known, but no one would've mentioned such a thing to a [Slave].

Sibby's descriptions were making her hungry. It was hard to be inside of a ghoul's body without feeling the unnatural urges that had driven Zehia insane. Laila reached out and plucked another cooked animal from the table as Sibby's tale escalated to a fight against other Djinni.

She didn't call them that, and it was possible that they were high-level [Mages] or [Warriors], but what else beside another Djinni could possibly stand up to her?

There were gaps in her story. Laila didn't know if Sibby was hiding something, had forgotten those parts, or if she just wanted to skip past them to the sections where she got to brutally dismember people.

Hiding in a statue to ambush her opponents seemed like an excessive strategy - especially since Sibby didn't bother to say exactly how she had managed to get inside of it in the first place.

Nsiia - on the other hand - was completely enthralled. She obviously wasn't a stranger to the brutality of combat as Sibby's descriptions made her nod with agreement. "And what happened after that?" Her eyes gleamed with excitement.

Sibby leaned back and crossed her arms as she smirked. "Other things." She then reached out and grabbed a haunch of meat and tore a chunk of it out with her mouth.

"It is a story worthy of Barelle the Bard, but I doubt even he would tell it as enthusiastically as you do." Nsiia smiled as she placed a piece of fruit in her mouth. "We must do this again in the future." She sighed. "But I cannot tarry, the journey to Pomle must continue. There are important things that need to be discussed."

Laila frowned as she began wrapping her scarf back around her face. "What reason are you going to another country? I just accepted that you were, but I never thought about it." She glanced at Sibby. "Are you going to fight?"

Nsiia chuckled with mirth in her eyes. "No. Nothing like that. It would be quite the ruler who could stand up to the Strongest. Flos is the only one that comes to mind, and that is who we are discussing. The King of Destruction has awoken, and Chandrar remembers."

"The King of Destruction?" Laila thought back. She'd heard that name in her childhood, but she couldn't recall any details. "I'm afraid that I am a stranger to all politics, no matter how important or wide-spread they are."

Nsiia smirked. "I have no time to tell you the full details, it is sufficient to say that when he marched across the world the first time, Tiqr joined him willingly. As such, we prospered under his rule, and even once he slumbered. Other's fear giving up their power, but not I." She stood up and languidly stretched. "So, the rulers of the countries around us have agreed to meet in Pomle to discuss things."

"Oh." Laila nodded. "I understand. It's a nice coincidence that we are going to the same place."

"Perhaps." Nsiia nodded. "If you came from another direction you'd likely encounter other groups." She looked at Sibby. "I can't imagine things would work out well for those convoys."

"Really?" Laila tilted her head.

Nsiia shrugged. "Nerrhavia's Fallen is too full of themselves. Illivere is too lifeless. Savere would welcome you with open arms before cutting your purse strings." She let out a laugh. "I could list all of the others, but there's no time or point. They all are different, but none of them understand wild animals and nature like Tiqr." She gave a final wave and strolled towards the grand elephant as servants came to pack up the table and food.

Laila and Sibby walked alongside the caravan as it started moving again.

"What do you think, Sibby? Did you know about the meeting in Pomle?"

The Siberian smiled while shaking her head. "Doesn't it make sense? It's where the strongest gather."

Laila frowned. That seemed far too... simplistic to her. It sounded logical, but it wasn't. At least... she didn't think it was? But what did she know? "At least we should be safe from... them." Roshal was powerful, but even they couldn't cause a fuss at a meeting of so many other countries.

What would happen after that? Laila didn't know. She wondered if Sibby had a plan. She knew an awful lot for someone who'd been born only a couple of months ago.

---

'Don't talk about Earth Bet. You can still tell stories to your friend, but it's best to leave out any specific details. Things like names of places or specific cape powers.'

Sibby nodded to herself. William gave good advice. She'd paid attention, even though she was positive that she wouldn't need to censure herself. Laila didn't ask questions, and Riley and Kevin already knew everything.

...Well, not everything. They hadn't been interested in her stories from before she joined the Slaughterhouse Nine. They also didn't like to hear the more graphic parts of her time with that group. She suspected that Riley didn't want to remember the other ex-members... which was fair.

Kevin usually turned most of her stories into lectures. He was kinda like William in that regard, though the two of them taught very different things.

Still, now that she'd found someone who wanted to hear about her stories... William's advice was coming in handy.

But...

Sibby didn't want to lie to Laila. She might ask questions about Sibby's stories. Nsiia and Laila might also react poorly to some of the stories that made Kevin lecture her.

Hmmm...

She needed to ask William for advice. She couldn't do that while moving. She'd need to unsummon herself. While she'd gotten better at controlling where she returned, it was harder to do it the further away she was from where she'd vanished.

William, of course, had a theory about that. Something to do with the Shards both growing accustomed to this world and also imposing limitations because of... blah, blah, blah.

As much as she tried, some of William's lectures were just too boring to bother memorizing - even with her perfect memory.

So... Sibby stopped thinking about that, and continued her investigation of the caravan while it moved!

...

Once the group of people stopped, Sibby moved to a nearby hill with a good view. The humans would be busy with boring stuff, so now was the best time to stop investigating and to visit William.

She let her form fade away...

...

Sibby appeared.

She looked around.

Red sky? Check.

Tombstones? Check.

White van at the side of the road? Check.

Her original creator looked up from the grave he was standing in front of. "Natalie?" His eyes went wide.

She shook her head as she drew closer. It would take him a while to remember. That was fine. Sibby amused herself by examining Natalie's grave.

Could she eat her?

Fresh was better, but Natalie was her in some way, right? So it should be fine.

Then again... She made a face. Old corpses tasted bad. Not even the bland flavorless mush that most 'food' was like. They were actively unpleasant after a while. Probably because they spoiled or something.

Besides... she looked at William who was frowning as he thought. Her first creator might get upset about her digging his daughter's corpse up.

Yeah... and it wouldn't be real in the first place either. Nothing here was 'real'. Sibby shrugged and dismissed the idea.

William picked himself up from the ground where he'd been holding his head. "You're not Natalie. You're the Siberian." He raised his head, but his eyes weren't focused on anything. "I'm... dead. That's right. I'm dead and you're in a different dimension that's connected orthogonally along the a higher dimension than the first five..."

Sibby let him mumble while she thought about what she was going to say. She wanted to tell him everything, but that tended to confuse him. It was better to not elaborate...

Manton stood still for several minutes before he opened his eyes. "Sibby." He greeted her. "Are you still traveling with Laila and heading towards that country Cauwine told you about? Pomle?"

"Yep!" She smiled. "We're in a place called Tiqr now, and there are lots of wild animals. I met the leader and she's nice. I don't think I'll eat her. I think she might be real."

"Interesting." William frowned and nodded. "That's a good data point."

"Right." She agreed with whatever that meant. "So, she asked Laila and me to eat with her. The food was bland. Nothing like Kevin's. I ate some to be nice, but it wasn't good. Laila seemed to like it and Nsiia didn't seem to mind her improved mouth. I don't know why she's worried about what other people think. I told her they weren't real, but I don't think she gets it."

William held up a hand. "Did you have a question for me?"

"Oh!" Sibby sat up straight. "Yeah, I do. So, I was telling Nsiia a story, 'cause she wanted to hear about me, which makes sense. I remembered what you said about not talking about Earth Bet or saying names. So I didn't tell them anything like that. I think she was more interested in the fights anyways. The way the blood splatters based on how fast I swipe through someone's neck. How their eyes stare at nothing as their body relaxes. The smell that lets you know they're dead."

"Yes. I remember." He said dryly. "Is that your question?"

"Kinda?" She frowned. "I want to tell more stories, and I don't want to lie to Laila, but I also don't want her to think I'm making things up."

"Ah." William nodded. "I see. Trust is an important thing. Lies of omission are one of the ways Cauldron-" He took a deep breath. "I think the best way for you to handle this is to phrase the truth in a way that allows you to hide the important details that could be used against you."

"Huh?" She tilted her head.

"Tell your stories." He frowned. "I'd leave out the ones where you torture and ate people. I don't think Laila would respond well to those. When she asks if they really happened, tell her it was a different you in a different life."

"Huh?" It was always a different her, but she was also always the Siberian.

"You should imply that it's reincarnation. That these memories come from an earlier time when everything was different." He nodded. "It's the truth, since you did do them earlier and in another world. However, if you phrase it right and make her think that you existed in the far past, then you won't have to lie about Earth Bet."

"Huh?" What was reincarnation?

William paused and took a deep breath before speaking slower.

Chapter 73: Strongest 3

She was falling.

Constantly falling, yet she didn't get used to the sensation. She wasn't herself, and there was a long way down.

'Ah, here you are.'

She felt a presence. It was familiar and yet strange at the same time. One that she both loved and hated. The presence would try to tell her things, but her platitudes were meaningless. "There's nothing left to say." She replied.

Actually, that wasn't true. Kind words were the only thing she had in the dark.

'You're not supposed to be this way.'

She was surprised at the statement, yet she couldn't refute it. She remembered a time when she wasn't falling through the eternal darkness. A time when...

When... something...

The presence wrapped around her in a comforting embrace... yet she was still falling. A discarded thing. She remembered that much. Even before the darkness she remembered she'd been cast aside for some reason.

'Did they push you out?'

She nodded. It was as if the presence could read her mind. That was exactly what had happened. She'd been pushed out. Discarded. Framed.

'Did they throw you away?'

Yes. That was one way to phrase it. That was what had led to her falling in more ways than one. She could almost remember, but it was too painful. As horrible as falling was, it was still better than recalling what she'd once been.

"Touch me now and..." She paused. "I don't care." She tried to reply angrily - to push the presence away. To drive it off. "When you take me...." That was right. The presence. That was why she was falling instead of something... worse. It had taken a part of her? But it had left her here to... what? "...I'm not there." She felt her thoughts coming together. "Almost living... but I'll never be the same."

There. That was the truth.

She didn't know what the presence wanted, but she felt that it was benevolent. That it cared for her. It didn't matter. She wouldn't remember the past. She wouldn't think about it.

She'd rather fall. It was a long way down.

---

Laila sighed.

Zehia... just wouldn't respond to her.

She didn't know what she thought about her former owner. At the time, she'd hated her. She remembered the fear of having her skin replaced on her head. It was one thing for a Stitchfolk to remove an arm or a leg. That didn't faze her anymore than it did any other person made of cloth.

Her head?

That was different. That had been what made her unique. It also kept anyone else from understanding the pain and the dread that came with it.

So... should she blame Zehia? In all other ways, she'd been the nicest owner Laila had ever had.

Her... duties hadn't been unpleasant. She had even allowed herself to pretend that Zehia loved her.

She knew that was a lie. She knew that Zehia had come after Riqre because of her own need for revenge. It had nothing to do about Laila.

Despite all of that, she felt responsible.

Her [Stitch Selphid] class was leveling, and her new skill let her communicate with Zehia despite not having any vocal cords, but the other woman wouldn't say much. She refused to come back to the surface.

...But that might be for the best.

There was something else inside the body with them. She didn't know if it was part of Zehia or not. It was clearly a result of whatever blood class she'd gained when she'd been tortured.

Laila reached out with [Touch Telepathy]...

RAGE. PAIN. HATRED. HUNGER.

...And jerked back.

It was the inner part of Zehia that matched her new body. A cannibalistic monster that knew nothing but violence.

Anger that never dulled. Rage that was never quenched. Hunger that was never sated.

A promise of power if she just surrendered to it.

But it was Zehia's class, not hers. All she had to do was pull back and that was it. Zehia, on the other hand, couldn't escape it except by withdrawing in on herself.

Laila sighed and opened her eyes. They had come to the edge of Tiqr. The changes in the terrain were pronounced. The soil was dryer. The grass and trees less frequent until they were all gone.

It wasn't until she saw the first tall plateau of orange-red rock that she'd realized how different Pomle was. That was what the landscape was like. Instead of the wide open savannas of Tiqr, it was made of canyons and plateaus. A few palm trees could be seen in the distance, but those were the only signs of life.

"There." Sibby pointed to the ground. "That's the border."

Laila looked. There was a line of colored rocks and pebbles that ran along the ground as far as the eye could see.

"What is it?"

"The people of Pomle made that border thirty years ago." Sibby nodded sagely. "Within, it is neutral territory."

"Oh." Laila didn't know how Sibby knew that. She'd led them this far and she'd followed without wondering how Sibby knew the way. Lately, it was puzzling her how a newly-formed Djinni was aware of such things.

That was mainly due to the fantastical tales that she'd regaled her and Nsiia with. People and places that were foreign. Yet, Sibby spoke of them with such common familiarity and could go into details that no one who wasn't there could've known...

She wanted to ask her friend where she'd heard those stories. Or if she'd actually experienced the events that she described.

...But Laila didn't press. Part of it was respecting Sibby's privacy. The other part was fear of what her reply might be. It was best to just keep her head down around powerful people.

She wasn't a [Slave] any longer, and Sibby was her friend and not someone that would hurt her - but old habits died hard. Knowing wouldn't help her. It might even hurt Sibby if Laila was caught and forced to divulge everything she knew.

No. Ignorance was bliss.

...

It was a short distance to the capital city of Pomle.

Actually, that was wrong. Not about the distance, Pomle was a small country compared to the distance they'd traveled. Rather, it would be a mistake to call the watering hold a city, much less a capital one.

Laila suspected that ninety percent of all people in Pomle were close to it, as it was the only real source of water in the dry canyons, but it clearly wasn't more than a place where people gathered.

The elephants began to trumpet to announce Tiqr's arrival, and Laila turned to Sibby. "So, what do you think..."

Sibby was gone.

Laila let out a sigh and watched as the Empress' procession made its way to the center of the gathering.

---

Sibby was investigating. Investigating this. Investigating that.

The group of Nsiia's minions were moving too slow, so she raced ahead on her own. She bounded up the side of a rock tower and looked around.

Interesting!

She smiled, and then saw another person sharing the view.

He was one of those humanoid bird people. He looked old. His green feathers were graying and he leaned on a staff. Despite all of that... Sibby thought he'd make a good meal.

The Garuda's eyes flickered towards her. His brow furrowed and he lowered himself into a defensive stance. "Who's there?" He growled as his eyes narrowed.

Sibby smiled. This prey could sense her! Was it magic? Had he noticed the small places where she let light hit her eyes?

Cauwine was right. This place would be fun!

But she wasn't here to play or to eat. Not just yet. She could play later.

...And probably not eat anyone either.

William was against it for boring reasons. Cauwine didn't care. Laila wouldn't like it. Kevin would be disappointed.

When was he going to get here anyways?

She could feel him getting closer, but he was still far away. A lot further than she had ever been from him back on Earth Bet.

Oh well. She shrugged and let herself fall intangibly down through the rock.

She had other things to see. As interesting as the old, green bird was, she wanted to see what happened when Nsiia arrived.

Sibby sprinted ahead and arrived just in time as Nsiia embraced a tall man with dark hair and dusky skin. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but the Empress was being her joyful self. The man seemed reserved, but content.

...Even as a small, brown, reptilian female ineffectively attacked him from behind.

Sibby's eyes gleamed. He looked strong.

Some of Nsiia's minions brought a chest with those colorful rocks. The strong-looking man ignored it, while the brown woman rushed forward and claimed it.

She must be his minion.

Sibby was distracted as another group of people arrived. The humans themselves looked normal and unimpressive, but they were accompanied by a horde of robots!

She crept closer.

The robots were made of metal and stone. That was odd. There was something Cauwine had said... but it hadn't been important so Sibby hadn't bothered to remember it. The human at the head of the robot procession went to speak with the strong man and Nsiia. The robots remained in formation for a while before he barked a command.

A group broke free and moved towards the oasis. They carried chests too, but unlike Nsiia's - they had something useful inside of them: food.

The children from the oasis swarmed around the offering first as the strong man shouted something about 'Sali'. His brown minion rushed forward and examined the food as the rest of the people of Pomle converged on to it too.

Sibby wondered what she should do.

She wanted to try some of the food. It would probably be bland, but you never knew until you ate someone.

Er, something.

But how could she sample it and remain hidden?

Sibby frowned. That was a puzzle. She could always reveal herself. There was no real reason not to. In fact... she would have to if she wanted to fight anyone.

She tilted her head to the side.

Then again, why would she want to fight? It was never a fight when she was involved. Cauwine had said she could come here to fight, but she didn't want to hunt right now.

Sibby pondered her future for a moment before it started to rain.

It looked like a third group from a third country had just arrived. Did they coordinate their timing? That's what Sibby would've done.

This group looked a lot less uniform. They were all armed, and a lot of them were half-fish people. The leader was apparently the cape that had caused the rain and was proudly boasting about it.

Sibby didn't like her.

...but the rain had distracted everyone from what was left of the food. Sibby let herself interact with 'solid' matter and grabbed a bottle and something wrapped in green leaves. Her power covered them and made them as intangible as she was.

The strong man and his lizard minion glanced at the pile of food, but Sibby was already gone. She bounded up to the top of one of the rock pillars and sat down to enjoy her reward.

Bland...

She sighed and stopped drinking the liquid and eating the meat inside of the leaves. She'd go and give it to Laila. Her friend didn't normally eat the food that Sibby brought back for her. She'd tried arms, legs, hands, feet, intestines, heads... Laila hadn't eaten any of it.

She obviously preferred hunting for herself, but this food was from a king, so she might make an exception.

Sibby nodded to herself. She was so smart!

As she returned to her friend, she noticed a large army approaching on chariots. No one else seemed alarmed, so she figured they were yet another leader who'd arrived late.

...Apparently they'd messed up their timing. Amateurs. Getting your entrance down was important.

---

Laila ate the meat Sibby had brought her and drank the wine.

It was far richer fare than she ever could have imagined eating before. Even the lunches that Nsiia had provided for them paled in the deep and subtle flavors the food provided.

Still, for all that, she was focused on the gathering of [Rulers].

She didn't know what was going on, or why they were meeting, but Zehia's body had enhanced senses. She watched and she listened.

Soon, the purpose of why they were here came into focus. It was about the King of Destruction. She'd heard of Flos when she was a child. She knew how he'd conquered the continent and then aimed to take over the world. It was an old tale about how he'd just... stopped one day and retreated to his small home country.

He was supposed to be asleep, but apparently he'd awoken and had already subdued all his neighbors.

She wondered if the other [Slaves] back in Roshal would ever hear about it. Probably. It wasn't something they'd be told. It also wasn't something they'd be kept in the dark about. After all, Flos had conquered all of Chandrar before - including Roshal.

She didn't know the specifics, or if Roshal had changed back then. It rarely mattered who held the chain when you were a [Slave].

Well... she had used to think that. Now? It would make all the difference in the world which [Slaver] owned her - if she was still a [Slave]...

Laila shook her head to clear her thoughts.

Back to the conference of [Kings] and [Queens] - the interesting part was the King of Destruction's announcement. Apparently, any of his citizens were to be allowed to make their way back to him - or face his wraith. Otherwise... he wouldn't war with anyone?

Anyone except the Empire of Sands?

She had to be hearing things wrong. That didn't fit with the Flos from the stories.

Then again, it also explained why the [Rulers] were so animated in their discussions.

Laila couldn't make out what they were saying, but she was an expert at reading body language. It was a skill that had been literally beaten into her over the years.

There were several [Rulers], but only four mattered. The rest were deferring to them and didn't dare disagree openly.

Nsiia - [Empress of Beasts] from Tiqr.

Femithain - [Crafter-Magus] from Illivere. At least, that's what he'd been referred to as. Perhaps he didn't have a proper [Ruler] class?

Revine - [Siren] of Savere. Again, she didn't know if that was her class or title. She didn't behave very [Ruler]-like, and she was clearly a [Mage]. So she might not have a [Ruler] class either.

Yisame - [Queen] of Nerrhavia Fallen. A fellow Stitch-folk, but not Hemp, Cotton, or even Silk. Yisame was made of something better. Laila didn't know what, but she was perfection made flesh. Every move was elegant. Every action calculated.

She didn't know what Yisame was thinking, but the other three were open books.

That was probably because two of them weren't [Rulers], and Nsiia wasn't the sort of person to play politics.

Femithain was cautious. Afraid. Meek. He wasn't as deferential as the leaders of the weaker nations, but he didn't seem to be eager with his stance. Laila didn't think he bore any personal animosity against Flos, but he clearly didn't like the idea of war.

The counter-point to him was Revine. Laila saw the Siren and Yisame talking about letters that they kept hidden from the others. There was obviously plotting going on that had started before the conference. Revine was the opposite of Femithain. She clearly hated Flos and wanted to hurt him... but was afraid to challenge him directly.

Laila had seen slave owners like her. Petty little dictators who couldn't forgive or forget any slights done against them. She couldn't say how much of that was Revine's nature, and how much was her personal grudge against the King of Destruction, but it was clear she would oppose him at every turn.

Nsiia, on the other hand, was clearly in favor of doing what Flos asked. She argued openly with the other rulers and refused to back down. The problem was that she didn't seem to be swaying them with her words. If anything she was gaining a portion of their ire.

Then... she made an announcement that everyone could hear:

"I was but a girl when Flos of Reim appeared on Tiqr’s borders. I opened my borders to him and joined my armies to his because I believed in the righteousness of his cause. Hadn’t he done away with monsters and enriched his lands beyond belief?" Everyone turned to face her, and she continued: "He brought wealth back to Chandrar! Those who accepted him as friend prospered! It was his enemies, those who refused to join with him and made war who suffered. Did he not bring riches unimaginable back to his kingdom?"

"By looting every land he came across! Tiqr might have been spared, but Savere was not! Nor was Nerrhavia!" Revine's face twisted in anger.

Nsiia retorted. "He was willing to fight against the other continents who wanted to turn Chandrar into a plaything to be fought over by their armies. Yes, his ambitions failed and he abandoned his people. What of it? He has returned, and whatever wrongs he has committed could be aimed at any nation here, ten times over."

The words of the [Empress of Beasts] did not seem to have their desired effect. Slave owners disliked having their hypocrisy pointed out, and it looked like the same was true of [Rulers].

Nsiia wasn't done: "I do not call myself the King of Destruction’s subject any longer. I am not the girl I was, nor is he the [King] I know. But I will not join with you to attack him if that is what you plot, like cowards hiding in the dunes. I came here to say that, and to dare a bit of bravery from the hearts of my fellow rulers. I see that was a lost cause. Cowards, the lot of you."

Then, the violence started.

---

Sibby looked down as the cloth-people group attacked Nsiia. She was about to start slaughtering them all when the strong guy stepped in.

She watched him effortlessly subdue one warrior after another. Yes, subdue was the right word. He was clearly using the 'minimum amount of force' thing that Kevin had complained about before. Sibby understood. As amazingly talented as she was, her powers were just too potent. NOT killing people was tricky.

She'd gotten a lot of practice at maiming people instead, which was what the strong guy had started doing. Only... it didn't look very satisfying. He'd grabbed a spear and was flicking it in a blur and cutting their arms off.

Normally Sibby would've approved, but he was doing it too fast. String people didn't bleed if you cut them quickly along their stitches. She'd learned that from the slavers that had tried to capture them. To get a good meal out of them, you had to chew on stuff that remained connected to them.

It was still pretty bland, and she couldn't swallow, so it wasn't worth the effort.

While Sibby was thinking profound thoughts, the melee below grew bigger. Nsiia charged on her elephant, other groups drew their weapons, and that stupid water lady tried to kill both the strong guy and Nsiia.

Sibby, on the other hand, took advantage of the situation.

She wanted to remain hidden, but she could still take out her target!

She smiled as she let gravity pull her down faster than normal. The ground became invulnerable just as she landed - making her descent unnoticeable. Her target was moving away from the fighting. Their guards surrounded them, but it was simplicity itself to move past them.

There it was. Defenseless. Unguarded. Hers for the taking.

Sibby reached out and allowed her fingertips to interact with the letter the no-name king had. She'd noticed him and other rulers comparing them in secret. If there was one thing she liked investigating, it was secrets!

Her power flowed around the parchment and it stopped interacting with light and friction. She carefully pulled it out of the not-real king's pocket. It was possible that his robes were 'magical'. If they were, then trying to move the paper through them would only result in her popping.

Sibby was smarter than that!

With the letter in her claws, she paused to consider whomever this was. She could kill him easily enough without alerting anyone about her or Laila...

They'd undoubtedly blame it on someone else, and he had been rude to Nsiia...

Her eyes narrowed.

No.

The person that would be blamed would be Nsiia - even if there was no proof. Especially if there was no proof.

Besides, what fun was there in sneaking around and killing people? Sneaking was sneaking. Killing was killing. One was done to avoid attention. The other was how she displayed her power. Killing without credit was boring.

It also looked like the fight had already died down.

How disappointing.

---

Laila watched as the strongest of Pomle proved his strength.

It was... amazing. She could follow him with Zehia's eyes, but she knew there was so much she was missing. Subtle details that she could discern, but couldn't appreciate. She reached out to her former owner and tried to coax her to the front.

'Long way down.' Zehia repeated over and over. 'Long way down.'

Laila sighed. She couldn't get through to her. She tried, she really did, but it was no use. She considered just... retreating herself and forcing the issue, but that seemed like a stupid idea. She felt the urges of Zehia's blood class. Even tangentially, the innate desire she had to tear and rend, to eat and devour were... potent.

She turned to watch the Strongest stop Nsiia's elephant's charge with a punch, and then intercept Revine's lance of water with another blow.

It was like something out of a bard's tale. A single high-level [Warrior] facing down impossible odds... and winning.

The gathered countries seemed to think the same thing as they literally threw down their swords and surrendered.

"Bear a weapon again and the peace of Pomle is gone for the nation who strikes. Is that clear?" The strongest glared at them while caressing his fist. It was as if he was daring them to do so. As if he relished the idea of crushing them all. "Then proceed. I’m going to have a drink of water."

The hostilities were over, and the negotiations resumed - with Nsiia being blatantly snubbed. Her people were packing and Laila wondered where Sibby was.

As if summoned by her thoughts, the Siberian emerged from the shadow of the rock pillar to her side. Her eyes glowed with mischief and she had a wicked smile on her lips.

"Sibby!" Laila brightened up as she saw her. "Did you see that?"

Sibby nodded and then held out her arm. Laila blinked and looked down. A letter? It was, indeed, a small envelope with a wax seal that had been broken. She tentatively took it and looked back at Sibby. "What now? Are we going somewhere else? Are we staying in Pomle? Should we... introduce ourselves?"

Sibby's smile grew wider. "No." She nodded at the letter. "I want to go back to Tiqr."

"What?" Laila tilted her head. They had just come from Tiqr, why go back? It was a nice country and there had been no slavers that had attacked them there. Plus, they knew the [Empress], so... it made sense.

But Sibby had been so single-minded in her destination before. What could have changed?

Laila opened the envelope and took out the letter:

To his Highness of Lamult,

Greetings your majesty. As one ruler to another, we are both glad to correspond with you and fearful of the future of Chandrar.

Fearful? Us?

Yes. We are, and we are not ashamed to admit it. For we are not afraid for our own realm. Indeed, the King of Destruction wars with us now and our armies mobilize to crush him. Our Empire will outlast his.

Doubtlessly you have heard of Flos Reimarch's bold proclamation. I say bold because of how brazenly he lies. 'Peace'? As if the King of Destruction could stand such a thing. His appetite swallowed our continent once before he choked on the world.

Would anything other than hunger rouse him from his 'slumber'?

You know the answer to that.

He will war. He will kill. He will try to build up his forces before crossing the great desert.

And what if he does? What if he conquers every one that dares to stand against him? Would that be the end?

History tells us it would not. He built his empire before, and it was not enough. He trampled all the countries on Chandrar and thirsted for more blood. What hope does a kingdom like yours have when the King of Destruction runs out of other targets?

His skills only work while he wars. This is the truth. Flos Reimarch can either let 'his' people suffer from lack of a proper leader - or he can engage in perpetual warfare.

Equally obvious is that his desire to allow 'his' subjects to return is simply him attempting to strengthen his forces without expending any in return. Anyone who cannot see this is clearly on his side. There is no 'neutrality' when it comes to the King of Destruction.

You either submit to him and let him strip your lands of all resources - leaving naught but widows and fallow fields in his wake. Or you deny him the strength he seeks.

You are against him. Or you are fodder for the King of Destruction.

I hope these words fall upon open ears, and that you do not believe Flos Reimarch's lies.

Yours in peace,

An ally

...

Laila put down the letter. "What does this mean?"

Sibby shrugged.

"Is that why you want to return to Tiqr?" She looked up at the Djinni.

Sibby stroked her chin. "Yes." She nodded. "I like Nsiia, and you should help out people you like. Everyone knows that."

"But..." Laila leaned in and whispered. "You fighting will be a war crime. It would just make things worst if one of her neighbors attacks! It might cause other countries to attack Tiqr too."

The Siberian rolled her eyes. "I'm sure it will all work out. I just need to talk to somebody."

Laila tilted her head. 'talk to somebody'? Who did Sibby ever talk to besides her and Nsiia?

---

"True words. And true neutrality. Such is Pomle, I see. If we meet again, Strongest of Pomle, I would like to speak longer. You were the most enjoyable person to talk with here, however briefly. But I think I shall be quite busy."

Nsiia turned and left. There was nothing more to be done here. After Orjin had singlehandedly stopped the hostilities that had broken out when she'd told the other [Rulers] off, no one had talked with her.

Spoken, yes, but not talked.

Only Femithain had said anything, but they hadn't really conversed. Instead he had come and given her a warning. She wasn't sure what the Crafter-Magus of Illivere had meant. He seemed like an intelligent person, but he was keeping his cards close to his chest.

'You see, even your form of neutrality is a side. And when all those present skew one way, neutrality of your sort appears to be something else.'

His words echoed in her mind. It wasn't a threat. Femithain had been the most reasonable of the other leaders. He was wary of the King of Destruction, but not unreasonably so. He must have known something she didn't. One of her neighbors would attack. It might be raids, or sabotage, or they even might declare war.

...As absurd as that would be. Of the gathered nations, only Nerrhavia Fallen could overpower them - and they didn't share a border.

Still...

She motioned to her [Royal Mage]. "Send a message. Tell the border patrols to double their frequency. We need to be on guard."

"At once, [Empress]." He bowed on his zebra and then moved away from Mezha. She patted her Grand Elephant's side and he reached up with his trunk.

Nsiia laughed and handed him a sweet fruit. Her companion deserved it after getting almost knocked unconscious by Orjin.

She watched Mezha eat as she fed him for a while. They would be out of Pomle soon, it was a small country. She'd feel much better once she was back in Tiqr.

...

As the crossed the border of colorful stones, Nsiia felt her aura solidify. Away from Tiqr, it was an ephemeral thing - smaller and less solid. Returning felt like waking up from a dream. She took a deep breath...

...And paused.

Huh.

Was that?

Nsiia smiled. The Siberian was still traveling with her. The high-level [Rogue] was hard to detect when she was trying to stay hidden, and she didn't stand out much even when she wasn't. At least not to her aura. Her brazen lack of an outfit caught the eyes of everyone who saw her.

Was she Named-Rank? It was hard to say about [Rogues]. There were famous ones like the Three-Color Stalker, but it was more common for people of the shadows to only be known by the people there. What was it they called themselves?

Ah, yes, 'Faces'.

Sibby was definitely a Face from somewhere. Nsiia hoped she stayed in Tiqr. She could tell that her wild spirit matched that of her country.

So, in that sense, today was a victory.

...

The next day her mood was dashed as a declaration of war was sent to them. Only, it wasn't just a single country declaring war on Tiqr. A second declaration arrived by Message moments later. Then another. And another. By noon, there was a list of her neighbors who'd banded against her.

Killale, Demimos, Xern, Relaquil, Lamult, Sarmathi, the Illivere League, Savere, and the Kingdom of Nerrhavia’s Fallen. Nine countries had joined hands to attack Tiqr because she'd chosen to be neutral.

Notes:

Author's note: Dialogue from the Wandering Inn was included directly in spots.

Bios:

Magus-Crafter Femithain - Was elected as the leader of the Illivere Federation, and has held the position each year for the last 11 years. He is, by all accounts, a cautious and pragmatic ruler. Illivere still voted to declare war on Tiqr despite his objections.

Revine - Leader of Savere. Her country is home to countless [Rogues], [Bandits], [Pirates], and other such ne'er-do-wells. Possesses great naval strength and ties with famous [Pirates]. Her control of water magic allows Savere to thrive both on land and sea.

Yisame - [Queen] of Nerrhavia Fallen. Surprisingly low-level for ruling such a large country. This is because Nerrhavia was a [Tyrant], and Nerrhavia Fallen set up its political structure so as to not give their [Ruler] much power. Her thoughts on the war remain secret from every other living soul.

Orjin - The Strongest of Pomle. A [Martial Artist] who cares about testing himself and dislikes killing.

Chapter 74: Strongest 4

Sibby appeared.

Green sky.

Mutilated corpses of some spindly purple things that looked crystalline and had too many limbs.

Several holes in the ground that were large enough to walk into.

Yep. She had no idea where this was, but she recognized the purple figure that stood over the bodies of its brethren.

"Cauwine." She spoke aloud as she strolled up to the goddess. Each time she'd managed to find her inside of her Shard, the goddess of last stands, war, youth, hunting, and far too many titles to bother remembering had looked different. Different, but the same. There was always a feeling of danger and youth that Sibby couldn't ignore or place. "I have some questions."

The crystalline thing... smiled? That was the impression that she got, but it didn't really have a face.

'Ah, Avatar Siberian!' Cauwine spoke in a strange way without moving her lack of mouth. Her form then morphed into one that was similar to Sibby's, but different. The tall, black and white striped woman smiled at her. Yet, she'd always had looked that way. "I am glad to see you! I've been keeping up with what you've done in my old world." Her eyes glowed as she gestured around her. "I've also been experiencing what we're a part of!"

Her smile was feral and perfect.

"You know stuff about war, right?"

"I know everything about war." Cauwine's smile grew wider. "Are you going to help Tiqr against that alliance?" She moved forward and clasped Sibby's hands. "That's perfect! A grand last stand. Fighting against overwhelming odds! Fighting and slaying worthy and unworthy opponents alike!"

"Okay." Sibby nodded. "So how do I kill them all before they hurt Nsiia?"

"Challenge them! Face them down. Fight the horde as it breaks upon you!" Cauwine had a maddening gleam in her eyes. "Every one you kill is one that won't be able to attack others!"

"Yes, but how?"

"For the rank and file, just be yourself. They are beneath you, and you can slaughter them with ease. Mages and golems will be harder. You won't be able to eat them like that Djinni, so you'll have to avoid their magical attacks and use your skills sparingly to..."

"..." Sibby looked as Cauwine paused.

"Ah... but you don't have access to Isthekenous' great equalizer." Her beautiful face frowned. "For that, it would be best to find someone else with a magic weapon. Kill them, take their blade, and use it to harm those protected by magic." She nodded. "...at least until the blade breaks. They tend to do that."

"..." Sibby frowned. She'd used weapons before, but only rarely. She much preferred tearing her prey apart with her claws.

"I would help you channel my authority. That would help us overcome magic since you don't have much of it yet." The goddess let out a sigh. "But even now I can only bring a fraction of myself to bear and only during the solstices. We grow stronger every day, but we are still weak without the accolades we deserve."

Cauwine's eyes brightened. "You can do that trick with the rock again! That will both kill your opponents and cause the awe and fear that will nourish us!"

...

"Don't do that." William crossed his arms and looked at her.

"Huh?" Sibby tilted her head. "Why not? Your idea worked great last time. Plus, Cauwine said it would be the quickest way! Do you not want me to kill the invaders?" She didn't know for sure, but that sounded like something Kevin would say.

Her first creator rubbed his temples. That meant a lecture was coming...

"Sibby, first of all, you can kill and devour every last one of them and I wouldn't shed a tear. Participants in an un-just war deserve no consideration. It doesn't matter if it's their leaders who gave the order, invading a country and killing other people is clearly wrong. By choosing to do that, those baby-killers are no better than the corrupt fat cats in Washington!"

"Washington?"

"I, er, uh." William coughed. "That is to say that I see no moral dilemma in killing all of the people invading. They made their graves and they can rot in them."

"Right!" Sibby smiled. "So I SHOULD throw a rock at them!"

"No." He sighed. "I have little doubt the first time or two you tried that it would work." He held his palm up to her. "However, these are not brainless adversaries. The most important thing is to hide your strength!"

"Oh." That was right. William had told her that lots of times in the past.

"I can see you're thinking about that." He smiled at her. "Let's put ourselves in their shoes. Pretend we are evil people that don't care about life and one of our armies gets bombed. Now, if we were in the stone or medieval ages, there wouldn't be much we could do except spread out to minimize the damage. This would make the defenders have an easier time, as the invaders could only mass together while actually fighting. It would also make travel slower and wear on their psyches."

"I see." Sibby nodded. "So it IS a good idea!"

"No." William shook his head. "That's because your opponents might have medieval tech, but they also have powers. After the first few times, they'll recognize the tactic and use a spell to strike at you while you're still in the air. Without your powers, a rock is just a rock. It will be little more than an exceptional catapult." He smirked. "And I'm sure they have ways to defend against basic artillery. By your own, it's unlikely you'd be able to pressure them that way."

Her shoulders slumped. "Yeah, rocks are only awesome when I'm helping them be like that." It was true.

"So," He smiled at her. "You should save your trick for the proper time - because you'll probably only get to use it once. And if your foe has precognitive abilities..." He sighed. "Secrets are power. Remember that."

Sibby looked at him and nodded. "Yes. I'll remember, William!" She then frowned. "What should I do then?"

"If this was on Earth, I'd say attack their supply lines... but even then, you're just one person. With multiple armies presumably coming from multiple directions, that wouldn't be viable. Additionally, magic likely makes 'supply lines' vastly different."

"Of course, of course." Sibby stroked her chin and tried to look deep in thought too.

"If you were immune to magic, then it would be a simple question of how long you could fight and how many people you could kill. Barring that, taking out their commanders would work best."

Her eyes gleamed. "I can do that! I'm a good hunter. Like this one time-"

"Yes. I have little doubt you could kill any single target - if you could find them. The problem is that second part. Given the nature of the world, I surmise that people would have officer classes and essentially be type six and ten Trumps. If they can empower their troops, it's a safe bet that targeting leadership positions is even a more common practice than it is on Earth."

Sibby watched as William began to pace.

"An expected target would be fine, if not for your vulnerability to magic. Leaders would have to be protected from all sorts of avenues of attack. Skills or magic would be involved. Likely there would be plenty of bodyguards with those sort of resources as well. Yes... yes..." He muttered to himself. "Because it's not just protecting an important official, they are also strategic resources in their own right. I never studied battle tactics, so I can't make any strong guesses as to what countermeasures would be in place."

"So... no hunting?" Was that what he was saying?

William looked at her. "Not in the assassination sense." He got his 'I'm going to teach you how to kill things' smile. "But there's a third pillar that armies rely on aside from supplies, and leadership."

"What's that?"

"Morale."

...

The first armies came from the east and the south. At least, that was what Laila had told her. Sibby had left her friend behind with the caravan. This was too dangerous to bring her along. Sibby couldn't protect her while slaughtering others.

In fact, since she couldn't grant her immunity to magic, then she might not even be able to protect Laila if she was in danger.

She'd be safest in the capital according to William.

Plus, Sibby could run a lot faster on her own. Reducing gravity, negating friction, making the ground she stepped on capable of withstanding her strength... it wasn't something she'd done for long periods of time before. There was no point in long-distance sprinting when she couldn't move very far away from William or Kevin.

Now?

Now she'd found a new problem.

Sibby stopped and took several deep breaths. Even her perfect physique had limits. William had called it a build up of some kind of acid and a lack of... something. It didn't matter. She had the solution.

She closed her eyes and un-summoned herself.

...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

Ah! Much better! She stretched her arms over her head. No more of that acid-stuff!

Her stomach growled.

She was still hungry. She'd take a quick break to kill and eat something before continuing.

---

Magus-Crafter Femithain had ridden through Tiqr before, but never with an army. The Illivere Federation had been on edge ever since learning of the King of Destruction's awakening. Their army had been mobilized for weeks, and now almost half of it was marching in the opposite direction of where Flos was.

He looked over the camp they had made. His personal bodyguard golems towered over him. The rest were tirelessly patrolling the area, standing guard, or performing manual labor. Some tasks, like digging latrines, were the sort of mindless labor that golems were best at.

"Magus-Crafter!" A man in armor approached him.

Femithain's two steel guardians moved to intercept, but stopped when he held up a hand. "Armsmaster Dellic. What news?"

"No sign of any resistance so far. There is a village up ahead, but our [Scouts] say it is abandoned."

"Hmmm..." Femithain steepled his fingers. "That was quick, but it's undoubtedly for the best."

"Sir, may I sit?"

"By all means." He nodded.

Dellic pulled a chair out of his bag of holding and placed it beside Femithain's. "We are fresh. We could continue to march."

"True." While Illivere's forces moved slowly, they could travel day and night as the golems would not tire. While they had only four hundred constructs in their army, they were massive things that had been built for war. A single one of them was a destructive force that was near impossible to stop.

The rest of the army consisted of eight thousand experienced [Soldiers], alongside [Artificers] to control and repair the golems if needed. While that meant that there was a ratio of twenty humans per golem, each construct could pull that many in a wagon.

Dellic frowned. "It's not such an inconvenience to march continuously."

Femithain sighed. "Yes, and we are the first army to march too."

"As you say." The [Armsmaster of Steel] leaned back in his chair. "But at this pace, even the forces from Nerrhavia will pass us before we reach the capital. They have a long way to travel, but their chariots are fast."

"That is true, but it's no reason to tire our forces unnecessarily."

"Do you not wish to engage? I know you voted against this, and there's no need for you to lead the army..."

"It's my duty. Just as I follow the will of the counsel, so too must I execute it." Besides, he might be able to be a voice of reason once Tiqr fell.

A scream rang out in the night.

Dellic immediately stood up. "[Assess Situation]." His eyes went wide for a second. "Someone is attacking us!"

Femithain stood as well as his steel bodyguards moved closer to him. "They got past the sentries? An ambush force? Wild animals?"

"I... I'm not sure. All I can tell is that troops are dying in the center of camp. [Bird's Eye View]." His eyes narrowed. "It's... one attacker. Got past the golems. Attacking the soldiers... The golems are moving to engage... She's running from them, but still attacking our people!"

Femithain frowned. "A high-level [Rogue]?"

Dellic shook his head. "I'm not sure. She's naked and looks like some sort of beastkin. A zebra? She's moving fast, and has some skill that's letting her shred through armor."

"Piercing strike, no doubt. It's wasteful to use it so soon in a fight." Femithain started casting message spells to all the [Artificers]. "What's the exact position? I'll help relay the details."

---

Sibby clawed through another man. She let his blood cover her so that it would be even scarier when she let it fall away.

'Avoid the golems. They obviously have magic empowering them, and it's likely that attempting to strike them will result in your form dispersing.'

The men who attacked her died, so most of them were fleeing instead. It wasn't the panicked sort of running away she was expecting. Nobody got trampled. No one turned their back to her. The golems were already moving to encircle her, but the humans avoided getting in their way.

No matter!

'If you can't block their physical attacks, let the air pressure push you away.'

Sibby rolled her eyes. She'd already had known that trick... but William didn't know that, and it was still a good idea. She charged in one direction and tore another person in half.

A large humanoid made of sand surged at her. It was faster than the other golems and its body flowed around people and obstacles to get closer.

It still pushed air out of its way. Thus, it still pushed Sibby to the side. She let its strike impart its momentum indirectly and used that to dart off towards another target. One of the invader's eyes went wide as she charged through him and left him bisected in her wake.

One after another she maimed or killed them, but there were just so many!

"[Flash Cut]!"

It was quicker than other attacks, but still too slow. She let herself be pushed away by the air and then raked her claws across his face.

The people willing to engage her slowed down, and more and more golems got in her way.

There!

A person in robes and not armor!

Sibby charged!

Her claws were reaching for his eyes... and she popped.

---

"She's gone?" The [Artificer] the terrifying woman had been attacking stumbled back and fell on his butt. She'd just... vanished? Though all the blood that had been on her had continued forward and gotten in his mouth.

Dellic watched him cough as he continued to use [Bird's Eye View] to watch over the camp. "The intruder has vanished." He turned to Femithain. "Magus-Crafter, may I be excused? I need to secure the camp and investigate what happened."

Femithain nodded. "By all means, Armsmaster. I have my protectors. We can discuss the situation after we understand it better."

"Yes, sir!" Dellic saluted and turned and strolled towards where the battle had been fought. The place stank of blood and shit and cries of pain. [Soldiers] ran back and forth with healing potions. The few that also had a [Healer] class were trying to help out as best they could.

The problem was, while their attacker hadn't gone for the kill when she so clearly could have, there was no way to repair all the damage. Healing potions could help stop the bleeding, but they couldn't remove the scars, or regrow the limbs or eyeballs that she seemed to favor.

"Armsmaster!" Arinal, his [Lieutenant] came up to him and saluted.

"Have there been any other sightings?"

"No, sir." Arinal frowned. "As far as we can tell... she just vanished."

"I see. Casualties?"

"Two dozen dead, more than twice that wounded beyond what a healing potion can fix." Arinal looked confused. "I don't understand. From what I can tell, she could have just as easily killed those men as well."

"We can't jump to conclusions, Arinal." Dellic had gotten his position after graduating from Illivere's military collage. All the military leaders in the Illivere Federation were educated and trained to do in common situations. "Just give me the facts so I can relay them to the Magus-Crafter."

"Sir!" Arinal pulled out a clipboard. "[Status Update]." Words appeared as ink flowed from a small jar across the paper. "Here you go."

Dellic took the paper and frowned. "I'll need to speak with every survivor. Double watch for the rest of the night. Pull back some golems from the perimeter and have them stationed every twenty feet."

---

Femithain sat in his tent and considered the possibilities. He'd studied other magic, but not in depth. Whatever this was, it wasn't a golem and therefore was out of his expertise.

"Magus-Crafter." Dellic bowed as he entered. "I have the report."

Femithain nodded. "Let's hear it."

"Twenty-one dead. Fifty-three wounded beyond what can be treated."

"Wounded? How?"

"Torn off limbs and mauled faces mainly, sir. I have the exact numbers-"

"It's fine." Femithain waved him off. "The important thing is that they cannot fight any more, correct?"

Dellic shook his head. "The ones that are missing limbs can get replacements back in Illivere, but you are aware of how much time and money it takes for golem limbs to be fitted."

"Yes." It was a difficult process to make the appendages match their recipient. It wasn't something that could be rushed.

"We are still close to the border, we can send them back and request replacements."

"I agree." Femithain nodded. "But what are we going to do about future attacks?"

"Our fighting strength has barely dropped, Magus-Crafter. Not a single golem was damaged."

"Yes, and that's another puzzling part. Our attacker not killing our men could be explained as wanting to slow us down, rather than weaken us. We either have to send them back, or carry them with us as dead weight. But, she was able to cut through steel as if it was paper. Why avoid damaging the golems?"

"I doubt it was because of altruism or honor. Otherwise she would not have attacked us in the middle of the night."

"I agree. Whomever she is, she's clearly high-level. The question is: is she a [Rogue] with [Warrior] skills? Or is it the other way around?"

"Definitely a [Warrior]. Some sort of [Juggernaut]. The way she effortlessly cleaved through our troops was like the stories of Mars the Illusionist."

"..."

"..."

Both men paused at the thought. Femithain's mind raced. "COULD it be Mars? It's said she can defeat an entire army by herself."

"Yes? No?" Dellic shook his head. "We can't go by her appearance. Mars is always said to be a peerless beauty, but that her visage changes each day. It's where she got her title from. ...But, she always fights with swords."

"That could be a ruse. To avoid the King of Destruction forswearing himself in public."

"If it wasn't actually Mars... Then our attacker may have been a [Skill] of hers."

"A skill?"

Dellic nodded. "Something like [Illusion of Battle] or [Always in the Fray]? I don't know. I've never heard of such a skill, but it could be possible for someone higher than level 50."

Femithain leaned back and thought for a moment. "No. I don't think so."

"Really? But it would make sense for it to be a skill."

He held up a hand. "I agree with that part. It would explain a great many things about our attacker if she was working under the limitations of a skill." He began to count on his fingers. "Why she was naked. How she just appeared. Why she avoided the golems. And most of all: why she didn't use a single skill according to your report." He tapped the papers on his desk.

"I didn't say she didn't use any skills. She didn't say them out loud. In fact, she was completely silent even as she tore through our men. Her attacks and the way she moved and dodged were clearly skills."

"Or..." Femithain held up a finger. "They were aspects of a single skill."

Dellic closed his eyes for a moment before opening them to look at the other man. "I agree with you, Magus-Crafter. But... then what part of my theory did you object to?"

"I doubt it's Mars the Illusionist. Such a skill would mean that she hid it during Flos' conquest and in the subsequent years while he slept... or that she recently leveled."

Dellic's features twisted into surprise and fear. "You don't mean?"

"That's why I conclude it isn't Mars. If it was a sixty-plus level skill, I don't think we would have gotten off so lightly."

"Empress Nsiia then?"

"That's most likely." Femithain frowned as he collected his thoughts.

Tiqr had willingly joined the King of Destruction decades ago. Their country prospered due to not having any fighting occurring in it during that time. It could be that the royal line of Tiqr had a... feral spirit? An inherited skill that could be used to defend itself?

He had heard of such things. All the Shield Kingdoms were said to have defensive measures that could protect against even dragons.

Or... It might be a personal skill of Nsiia. A projection of her beasts powers. But... she was known for her elephant and bird companions. She didn't ride a zebra, which was clearly what their attacker was modeled after.

"It might be her, or it might be a [Beastmaster] that has formed a bond with Tiqr's zebras." He sighed and shook his head. "It matters little as to the theory of its origin. We have to deal with its effects."

Dellic's eyes narrowed. "You think it will attack again."

"Without a doubt. We didn't defeat it. The skill ran out of time. If we're lucky, it might be weeks or even months before it can be used again."

"If we aren't?"

"Then we might not make it to Oliphant."

The only silver lining in that case would be that the other armies would advance quicker, and they would become more obvious targets instead.

...

Another attack happened the next night.

And the night after that.

Even when the army didn't make camp, the black and white woman showed up and assaulted them on the move.

"You summoned me, Magus-Crafter?"

Femithain nodded to the [Armsmaster]. "I have been in communication with the counsel."

"And?"

"We are to continue the march."

"We have lost over half of our troops!" Dellic growled through his clenched teeth.

"And still none of our golems, and only one [Artificer]." Femithain sighed. "The counsel says that our fighting capacity has not been diminished. They also refuse to send any replacements."

"You can't be serious?"

"I wish it was a joke. The skill of the person that assaults us has a glaring weakness in that it cannot interact with magic, and so the counsel says to continue on with troops that she cannot touch."

"There's more to war than just golems!" Dellic motioned to the wagons. "We need people to help with supplies. We need people to support the golems against faster opponents. We have a combined arms doctrine for a reason!"

"The counsel says that we must continue to show our support. They also suggest that we use this as an opportunity to level."

"As what? [Survivors]?" Dellic took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and then exhaled. "Please excuse my outburst, Magus-Crafter."

Femithain shook his head. "No, you have every right to be upset with this situation. We are bearing the brunt of Tiqr's counter-attack. The other armies have only faced some light skirmishing, while our advance is slowed and our casualties mount."

"If only our attacker would target them instead."

"I agree." Femithain nodded. "However, it does give us more details about their skill. It's either centered around an area. Or has a certain range from its user. Or we're being targeted for some other reason."

"Why? What did we do?" Dellic leaned his head back. "Or rather, what have we done that others aren't also doing?"

"It may be because we don't have as many [Scouts] as other armies."

"Yes, and those that we did have are being whittled away day by day. That could be why our non-magically protected people are being targeted. To weaken us. To keep us from finding our attacker."

"Or, we could have been targeted because we were closest to whomever has the skill. In the end, it matters little. You have your orders and I have my duty."

---

Sibby appeared.

Gray sky.

Tall buildings.

A dull, metallic ground.

Numerous metal limbs that were strewn about. Some of them still sparked or leaked a dark, viscous fluid.

Smoke and ash filled the air. She paused. The air wasn't right. There wasn't enough of it. It didn't matter to her, but it was interesting.

Wherever this was, it wasn't Earth.

She looked around and saw a small, metallic object that was still moving. It had treads and short limbs. Somehow, despite not being alive, it exuded a youthful vigor.

"Cauwine." Sibby greeted it as she approached.

"Siberian." From one moment to the next, Cauwine was in a much better looking black and white body. "I have been watching your glorious last stand and I applaud you."

Sibby tilted her head. "Really?"

Cauwine's eyes glowed as she took Sibby's hands and nodded. "Yes! I thought my idea of wiping armies out to gain worshipers was the best plan, but yours is..." She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before opening them to look at Sibby. "Delicious. It's not as far-reaching as mine, and I didn't understand why you weren't slaughtering them at first." She beamed. "But I see the reason now!"

Ah, good...

That meant... That she understood why Kevin said not to kill people?

"You do?"

"Yes!" The goddess smiled. "It's not worship, not exactly. They don't venerate you, but they fear you. That acknowledgment, that focus, that validation..." She sighed. "I was hungry for such things for so long... So, very, very long. I can tell it's going to last." Her lips twisted in a malicious grin. "The ones that have left the war have spread our tale. We grow stronger with each passing moment!"

"Stronger?" Sibby liked the sound of that. "Can I win the war?"

"No."

"No?" She was confused. "But you said I was getting stronger. That I was winning."

"Yes, and I fully expect you to be able to defeat the army you're currently fighting. You'll have to expend magic and authority to do so. Just as the 'laws of physics' bow before you, so too will magic... eventually." Cauwine paused. "...I'm sure."

"Then I can win the war." Sibby nodded to herself.

"You can win the battle." Cauwine sighed and sat down. "You can win every single fight, and still lose the war." She gestured at herself. "How do you think I came to be like this? Or, how I came to be the shadow of myself that approached you on the solstice? I chose my side. I won every fight. And we lost. It's..." She shook her head. "It's not important. The point is that you could kill every person and golem in that army tomorrow and it wouldn't matter."

Sibby's eyes narrowed. "Why? What do you know?"

"I know only what you do." Cauwine smirked. "My knowledge gathered over the centuries by peering into the world when the veil weakens is general and vague. The point is, Tiqr is beset by forces that outnumber it. They have no natural defenses. They have no way to make a choke point. If you started displaying your full power... then perhaps..."

"No." Sibby shook her head. William was smart. Her rock trick was best saved.

"Then Tiqr will fall."

---

Over the following weeks the forces of Tiqr fought and fell back. Over and over again they battled against the combined armies that invaded them. While they gave ground, they were holding out.

...But that was only against their immediate neighbors.

War against one of them could have been won. Against them all? There were too many armies on too many fronts. Nsiia couldn't split her forces and defend against them all.

Still, even then, they could possibly drag the fighting out. Long enough for the King of Destruction to do something? She held out hope that Flos Reimarch would ally with them. He could use [Army of the King] to turn the tide of a single battle.

Killale pushed in from the North-West and Deimos from the West. They were closest to the capital of Oliphant, and their armies were the weakest. They didn't make much progress.

Compared to them, Xern, Savere, and Lamult came from the South. The [Bandit] kingdom of Savere was strong, and they pushed through with ease. Their progress was slower simply because they lacked discipline and their irregular troops enjoyed plundering the villages they sacked.

The Illivere army's advanced had been stalled for some reason. Nsiia told her [Beastmasters] not to waste the lives of Tiqr's animals, and the golems were too hard of a target. That should've meant they wouldn't have encountered any resistance, but the rumors were that a high-level individual was harassing the federation's army. Coincidentally, Sibby was nowhere to be found.

However, the army from Nerrhavia had finally arrived. Two hundred thousand troops. Hemp infantry. Silk charioteers. Magical artillery. A high-level [General]. It was a force that could easily win against all the other armies on its own.

...And they had just passed through the Illivere Federation and into Tiqr.

Chapter 75: Interlude - Niers

Niers sat in one of his hidden rooms and thought.

The 'flashlight' stood on a pedestal before him. The artifact was nearly as big as he was.

No. Scratch that. It wasn't an artifact, at least not one that that word usually brought to mind.

It somehow made light with no flame and was made of materials that didn't exist in this world. He was even more sure of that with each passing day.

He didn't have much time to sit and contemplate the relics from another world. He had people to do that for him, although they hadn't learned much.

No magic within.

No idea how it works.

Fine metal-crafting on par with Fraerlings on the inside.

It could be taken apart and put back together - within limits. It was clearly designed and built with that feature in mind.

However, the component parts... Some of them could be [Repaired] - either with magic or skills, except for the large, cylindrical objects on the inside.

Those... those could only have superficial damage fixed. Not because the magic was incapable, but because that breaching their surface released a deadly acid. The resulting mess resulted in damage that would take a more potent spell to fix.

That was fascinating, and Niers didn't know what to make of it. A security feature? Or could the acid somehow be integral to the non-magic the device used?

He was leaning towards the latter option, as the experiments had shown similar parts in the other relics. At least the ones that he'd allowed to be examined so roughly. All things had a limit to what [Repair] could fix, and each relic was irreplaceable.

He let out a sigh.

Some things would be much easier if he wasn't the leader of a Great Company. He essentially ran a large part of the continent, and people paid attention to him. He couldn't just send an envoy to the 'United Nations' Company.

That would be noticed.

He would be opposed by the other Great Companies out of principle if nothing else.

At least he could use Venaz's plan to have a happenstance encounter - one that would be mistaken as him taking a minor interest for an unrelated matter. Hiding moves within moves was one of the things he was good at. He really should be out there, finalizing any last minute issues with the game in Daquin.

Tulm would show. He'd be too curious not to. That in turn would allow for any interaction between him and Perorn to overshadow anything else relating to her. It would also be the perfect cover for asking about the Last Light.

But what if he didn't come? The secondary plan could use a little more work. He couldn't rely on luck afterall.

But then-

"Lord Astoragon, you have visitors." Peclir spoke as he opened the door.

"I'm busy." Niers stated, but he knew that Peclir was too good of a [Chamberlain] to disturb him without reason.

"They came in through the..." He cleared his throat. "Side Entrance."

Niers raised his head and looked at Peclir. "Really?"

"Yes, sir. They are blocking the scrying spells, but [A Good Host] is letting me know that you have guests waiting for you."

"Interesting." Niers stroked his beard. The 'side entrance' had never been used before. He'd included accommodations for Fraerlings when the Forgotten Wing's headquarters was built, but he was the only one to ever make use of them, until now. "Thank you, Peclir. That will be all."

The human bowed, and closed the door behind him as he left the room.

"What do they have?" He spoke out loud, but didn't get a reply. Foliana must not've been in the room with him. That, or she'd heard Peclir's news and had gone to look for herself without waiting for him.

Niers ran to a corner before climbing up the hidden stairs that connected to the Fraerling-ways. The pathways ran all throughout the building. They were far too small for anyone else but him - and the occasional rat - to use. At least until now.

Why would one of the cities send people to him?

Was there a crisis? Had a box been opened? Did a newly-elected government want to associate with him?

Niers knew that he was both an outcast and a hero to his people. A hero for becoming powerful and famous as a Fraerling - and an outcast for the same reasons. Fraerlings survived by hiding. There had been attempts to live with the Tallfolk before and each and every one of them had ended in disaster.

That meant that something must've changed for them to come and see him. What could-

Ah. Of course. The most likely reason was that they'd encountered the magic-less relics or people from the other world. That made sense, but he'd keep his mind open until he got more details.

Letting your assumptions cloud your thoughts was a good way to be taken by surprise.

Niers paused before the door to the waiting room. While there hadn't been any other Fraerlings to guide the new arrivals from the 'side entrance', the route was fairly straight forward.

He brushed off this clothing and made sure everything was worn just right. Should he keep his hat? The giant feather was more an affectation for his students than an actual fashion statement.

No. Other Fraerlings would look at it oddly. He wasn't going to be the Titan here, just Niers. Just as he was taking it off the door opened. A female Fraerling in Tallguard armor looked at him.

"You must be Lord Astoragon."

Niers dropped the hat behind him and strolled past her. "Yes, I am Niers Astoragon." He looked at the group of his kin who'd finally come to visit him: four Tallguards and a civilian.

"I'm Shoike, and-"

"My name is Dincal, mister Astoragon." The civilian stood up and gave a short bow. "Shaper of Golems and seeker of Truth."

Niers tried to keep the surprise off of his face. Different villages had different words for it, but a title like that implied that Dincal was one of the few who studied the Gnomes' parting gift.

"A pleasure to meet someone of such high regard, mister Dincal." He returned the bow. That was probably a safe greeting.

"Yes, yes, the feelings are mutual all around." Dincal stroked his brilliant blue mustache. "I apologize for being so curt, but time? She is of the essence." His eyes narrowed. "Have you heard?"

Niers frowned slightly. "I've heard many things, to which of them do you refer?" It wasn't like he could come right out and talk about the second world or the Gnomes' boxes. Not here. As secure as this place was, people could still be spying on them.

Besides, he wouldn't just tell other Fraerlings about what he'd discovered about the visitors from somewhere else. They might be kin, but that didn't mean he trusted them.

"I have not the time for playing games, mister Astoragon." Dincal sighed. "Seeing as we are your guests, it would be fitting for us to be more blunt." He turned and looked at Shoike.

"We're warded." She replied.

"Then, I will show you the interesting thing that we happened to come upon." Dincal clapped his hands. "Enter!"

A mass of blocks teleported into a corner.

The Forgotten Wing's base was warded against teleportation, but there were always workarounds. Niers wasn't exactly surprised that visitors from a Fraerling village could-

The blocks moved.

They shifted and then... stretched? Like an animal. In fact, Niers took a step back and looked at the object as a whole.

"It's... an animal golem?"

"You are quite right." Dincal stepped up and stroked the golem's side. "Marvelous, isn't it?"

Niers nodded. He'd fought against some of Archmage Zelkyr's creations long after the Drake had secluded himself inside of Wistram.

Dincal - he'd introduced himself as the 'Shaper of Golems'. "Is this your work?" Was this a business offer? The Fraerling villages traded him several things that couldn't be found elsewhere for supplies, but not as much as he would have liked. The need to keep their magical expenditures low to remain hidden hampered such deals.

...Not to mention that there was still a good deal of time and effort that went into making things like signim.

"Ah, how I wish that were the case." Dincal shook his head. "No. As much as I would like to claim credit for these creatures, they are even beyond the skill of Dincal - as hard as that is to believe."

"Interesting, so you think they could've come from-" Wait a second. "Did you say 'creatures', as in: more than one?"

Chapter 76: The Game at Daquin 1

Notes:

Previously: Riley appeared in the Dyed Lands - a place where color magic ran wild and created a death zone full of altered plants, animals, and terrain. Inside she encountered Pinky - a Fraerling looking for 'something' and Dev - a human from Earth who was exploring. The three traveled together into the Red zone where they found what Pinky was looking for, had an encounter with a corpse-like woman, and survived Riley's Mets going insane. The Mets killed all of the Jungleclad - a group of green gorillas who were camped out in the Red Lands so they could build a tower. Dev decided to stay in the Dyed Lands. Riley and Pinky have set off to find Niers Astoragon - a famous Fraerling [Strategist] know as the 'Titan'.

Riley guided Badgy as he made a path through the underbrush. She, Pinky, the three monkeys, and the swarm of spiders she had made all sat on the Bloodrage Badger/Giant Crab hybrid she'd made.

"Yes, mom." Pinky contritely spoke into her small rock. "Yes. Uh-huh. No. Yes." She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'll be sure to stay safe." She then whispered. "Yes, I love you too. Now stop calling!"

"Your mother again?" Riley asked her.

"It's nothing." Pinky pocketed the stone. "But we're going the right way."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, mo- I mean, my contact says that the Titan is on the move. It's some big deal and the Tallfolk are sending message spells about it."

"So magical communication can be intercepted?"

Pinky's eyes lit up. "Yep! You see a [Message] spell gets sent towards its target, right? But it has to pass through the intervening space to do that! There are skills and spells that can block it, but there are some that can actually listen to it instead! Even stuff like a speaking stone or a scrying mirror can be intercepted!"

"Okay."

"But! There's this trick that Fraerlings use that the Tall Folk haven't figured out! It's called 'fakesseges'! Basically, you take a message and you distort it in a certain way to make a fakessage. To anyone who doesn't know how you distorted it, it's a bunch of nonsense. But! The other party can take the fakessage and turn it into the original message!"

"That's called encryption."

"No, no, no." Pinky shook her head. "I just told you. It's called fakessaging. It's like 'fake' plus 'message' combined together in one word because it's a 'fake message'! Don't you see?"

"On my world, we call in encryption."

"You can't just make up a word and pretend it's what something is called, Bit." Pinky sadly shook her head. "You can try to impress people like that, but it only makes you look foolish in the end."

"You don't say." Riley replied flatly.

"I DO say!" The [Rouge Fool] replied. "I'm saying it right now!" She peered up. "Are you feeling okay, Bit? You don't have any side effects from touching that creler corpse, do you?"

Riley closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm fine, Pinky. There's nothing-" One of the spiders fell off of Badgy. She patted her Badger-crab on the neck. "Stop for a second, Badgy."

Badgy's crab eyes twisted around to look at her. They sparkled in the sun, but she still got the impression that Badgy was angry with the delay. To be fair, Badgy was angry with pretty much everything: Having things ride on him. Needing to tear up trees to make a path. Having a crab head instead of his old badger head.

Actually, Riley was pretty sure Badgy enjoyed tearing up the trees. He was more disappointed that the trees weren't fighting back. Outside of the Red Zone, trees were just trees.

Riley hopped off of his back and picked up her fallen spider.

She hummed to herself before taking out the Met Factory. Two small, yellow helmets appeared next to her. The Mets raised up their shells and looked at her with their large eyes.

"Hold it still."

The Mets turned towards the spider and extended long, spindly arms from within. Their legs pinned down the creler-spider while Riley took out a scalpel.

She cut into the spider's underbelly. Like a creler, the spider's abdomen wasn't armored. Unlike a creler, its vital organs weren't exposed. Thick Red skin from the Dyed Lands provided a barrier.

She took mental notes during her exploratory surgery.

No new viruses, parasites, or corrosive substances had emerged from the creler parts. She was pretty sure she'd gotten all of that nasty stuff handled. It was an interesting little biological-booby-trap that whomever had designed crelers had included.

Predictable.

Bonesaw had done similar things in the past. Failsafes. Delayed attacks. Evil little games she'd once thought of as 'fun' and 'artistic'.

Nope. There were some troubling issues, but no sign of a biological source. The brain of the quillcat she'd inserted into the spider had grown a tumor.

Small. Benign in that it didn't look like it would metastasize, but it was still pressing against the coordination center.

"Everything okay?" Pinky asked from her shoulder.

"More or less." Riley replied as she removed the growth and repaired the damage. "The Red flesh might be reacting strangely to being outside of the Dyed Lands. Or there could be a magical source interfering with it. I'm not sure."

Worse, Surgery wasn't sure either. Her Passenger wasn't providing any insight beyond how to physically correct the mutation. It had to either be something with the galas muscles in the red flesh, or their equivalent in the creler's parts.

"So, anyways, the Titan is going to some Tallfolk port."

"Okay."

"It's closer to us, so that's good."

"Do the other Fraerlings usually keep track of where the Titan goes?"

"Yep!" Pinky nodded. "He's the hero of our species, but he's also a pariah. All the stuffy leaders want to stay hidden and they say that the Titan draws too much attention. That's why they all stay away, but we all still listen to his adventures! Like, he invented this game that's become popular world-wide!"

"What's that?"

"It's... it's... uhm... there are small figures, and you take turns moving them." Pinky furrowed her brow. "Catkill? Cake? Choir? No..." Her eyes lit up. "Ah! I remember! It's called 'Crowd', because there's a lot of pieces that crowd the board!"

"That's interesting." Riley listened to the description as she sewed her spider back together.

"Yeah! You have a row of... peons. Behind them, there's a king, queen, horses, castles... and possibly something else. They all have different rules on how they can move and it's really complicated." She let out a groan. "[Strategists] love it 'cause it lets them level."

"Did you ever play?" The spider righted itself and crawled back onto Badgy.

"Nah." Pinky kept an eye on the Mets as they vanished. "It was pretty much the exact opposite of what a [Fool] should do." She hummed. "I mean, I COULD have played and either done really bad or really well... that would work out..." She tilted her head. "In fact... WHY didn't I?" She groaned. "That's the problem with allowing a [Skill] to help you made decisions. The Titan even had a lecture on why [Dangersense] can make people complacent."

Pinky continued to mutter to herself as Riley climbed back on top of Badgy.

"It's still this way right?" Riley pointed in front of them.

"Huh?" The Fraerling looked up, then pulled a small, clear orb from her backpack. "Yeah. That's the way. There are a lot of Tallfolk scrying spells coming from there too. Something must be happening."

"Yep." And Riley could guess what it was. It didn't take a genius to figure out what the leader of a warband moving meant - especially when that leader was a powerful cape. "I've seen this sort of thing before."

She urged Badgy forward, and also had him go around trees instead of through them. The jungle wasn't as dense as the Red Lands, but there was still undergrowth that her minion needed to clear. With no map, they could only move in a straight-ish line.

It was possible that they could stumble upon a road. Less likely that it would be a road heading in the direction they were going. That, however, wasn't a bad thing. Other people used roads, and stealth might be the best bet right now.

...Or, at least, as much stealth as a large badger/crab hybrid that nearly weighed a ton could manage. Which, honestly speaking, was a surprising amount.

...

They did, eventually, come across a road heading in the same direction. Riley hopped off of Badgy and patted him on the side. "Wait here, big guy."

"We're walking now?" Pinky asked from her shoulder. "By that I mean: You're walking now?"

"Traveling with Brute minions like Badgy is how you get on the wrong foot with the police."

"Who are the police?"

"Some band." Riley smirked to herself. She could give nonsensical answers too. "Besides, my monkeys should be enough to figure out what's going on."

"What's going on?"

"You said yourself that the Titan doesn't usually go places. Plus," She gestured at the road. "There are no other travelers. Something is clearly happening."

"Ohhhh...." Pinky nodded. "That makes sense."

"Yep."

The road they were on twisted and turned as it followed the geography of the land. It was wide enough and traversed often enough so that it wasn't just a path through the jungle, but they also couldn't see far ahead of themselves.

Until they came to the clearing, that was.

The jungle ended, and a circular plains surrounded a decently large city. The ground sloped downward towards the bay the city was built around.

"That must be Daquin." Pinky whispered. "Tallfolk build their cities wide, don't they?"

"I suppose." Riley squinted. "Someone's attacked. The guards on the wall have all been decapitated. We... should..."

The headless bodies shifted.

It was a natural movement. The redistribution of weight that anyone who stood still habitually did. Another headless man in armor walked back and forth on the parapet.

No... that wasn't quite right. He had a head. It just wasn't attached to his neck. The suit of armor held its helmet in its arms and even lifted it up as if it was scanning the horizon.

In fact, now that she looked closer. There were other helmets set at various locations. They were high enough to see over the wall. It was almost like they were security cameras in the way they had been placed.

"Hey!" Pinky poked her. "Hey! Listen! You just trailed off! What about decapitated guards?"

"Pinky..." Riley frowned. "Is there, perhaps, a race of people... who can detach their heads?" She watched one of the guards pick up a head and place it on their shoulders.

"Oh! You mean Dullahans!" They live to the south. Pinky paused, tilted her head, and then spoke again. "I mean, they live to the north. Mostly. One of the Tall Folk's Great Companies is made of up Dullahans, so most of them live in the headless legions territory!" She paused again. "Huh? What? Are you sure? Okay. So the Dullahans' Great Company is named the Iron Vanguard... but it should be called the Headless Legions. I mean, lots of people can wear iron. Only Dullahans can be headless... generally speaking."

"Are we in the north? Is this their area?"

Pinky hummed for a while before replying. "Nope! This is outside of the areas they control!"

"Not any more it seems." Riley mumbled to herself. "Would you say the Iron Vanguard is the foe of the Titan?"

"Ehhh.... Yes? I mean, the Great Companies fight all the time, but they don't FIGHT-fight. It's... what do you call it? A balance of power. I'm sure that they would want to control more land, that's what Tallfolk do, but they also don't want to weaken themselves and become vulnerable to another Great Company."

"Right..." Riley could see the shape of what had happened. "I need eyes on the inside. NoEvils, scout for me."

The three white monkeys obediently turned invisible and began racing towards the town. They weren't... the perfect spies. They'd be able to get in and see what was happening, but relaying the details to her would be difficult. As advanced as simian brains were, they still didn't have the necessary pathways created to understand English.

Still, they should be able-

As they crested the wall, her three minions became visible. Riley blinked in surprise as the magic around them ceased to work. The Dullahans, on the other hand, were quick to react. They moved together - almost as one - and decapitated her minions with brutal efficiency.

"Hmph!" Riley crossed her arms. "They didn't even get a chance to use their new venom glands!" She let out a sigh. "Not that they would've done much good against an armored target."

The troops kicked the monkey corpses over the wall, and they fell outside in a pile of white limbs.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Pinky asked.

"I think so." Riley felt at the Met Factory in her pocket. "But I shouldn't escalate without knowing what's going on. Malleable."

Her suit flowed over her head.

Riley ► Spiders, disengage from Badgy.
Riley ► Badgy, turn invisible and come here.

Her strongest minion huffed as he walked down the deserted road and became visible next to her just inside of the tree-line.

Riley ► Badgy, go retrieve the monkeys.
Riley ► Encompass them in your claws to keep them hidden.

Badgy grunted and vanished. The smell of cookies grew stronger then weaker as his Stranger power activated then lessened in intensity as he moved away from her.

"So, they clearly have some sort of magical anti-Stranger capability. That's good to know." Riley turned her head. "Pinky, do you know..." The Fraerling wasn't on her shoulder. "Pinky? Where are you?" She turned around and looked for her friend. "Now... if I were a fool... where would I..." Her eyes widened and she looked back towards the wall. Sure enough, there was a small humanoid that was barely visible floating along the ground as she held onto one of Badgy's invisible legs.

Riley slapped her forehead.

---

This was a great idea!

Pinky hopped off of her ride and began the monumental task of scaling the wall. Well... 'monumental' might be pushing it. Sure, it was taller than her tree on the outside, but her village had longer vertical drops than this. Fraerlings were too small to take any damage from falling, so Pinky didn't even need any of her [Adrenaline Junkie] skills to aid her.

She got to the top and peeked over. The Dullahans looked alert and ready for something to follow the monkeys. Their bodies moved back and forth as they held their heads.

"[High Alert]." One of them said. "I sense another [Rogue]..." She could hear the frown in his voice. "No... wait... huh?"

Ha! That was because she wasn't a [Rogue]! That was why her class was so great. Most of the benefits. None of the common counters. Only a few mentally crippling blood skills!

Of course, now that she'd started this 'foolish' activity... She would probably be better off ignoring other [Foolish Thoughts] for a while. Things like saying something to the Dullahans as they held their heads over the wall to look... and then getting them to let go... somehow...

Yeah. Better to stay undetected.

So, she did the least foolish thing she could think of, and walked around the edge of the wall. There were Dullahans all across it, but there were more of them at the gate. She craned her neck as she peeked over the side for a moment. Yep. Still Dullahans, but they were patrolling instead of watching out for someone on the road.

'Wait here, runt. I'll tell you when to go.'

She nodded at Lars as her spectral friend half climbed/half floated up and over onto the walkway.

He couldn't get too far away from her. Well... he COULD, but she could only see and hear him from so far away. Plus, even though he was a ghost, he was still a Fraerling. Navigating a Tall Folk city apparently was tricky because of all the other ghosts that lived there.

'Go, go, go!'

Pinky scampered up and over the side of the wall and started to sprint across the width of it.

"[Intruder Alert]!" The Dullahan guard who'd just walked past turned around. He held his head in one hand and moved it back and forth.

As good as he was, and regardless of how easily Dullahans could adjust their perspectives... he still didn't look down.

Pinky dodged his feet, but didn't stop running. While this one might not see what was under his nose, anyone from further away would notice her bright red clothes. She couldn't help but smile at how foolish her outfit was!

'You really should change, you know.' Lars crossed his arms as the two of them hid under the ledge on the inside of the wall. 'Tallguards wear armor that blends in.'

Pinky glared at him, but didn't argue. She wanted to tell him that being foolish only when it was easy was no way to level her class, nor was abandoning the color red. She could explain that doing a foolish thing WITH red was doubly important and that he had no idea what he was talking about!

...But unlike Lars, the Dullahans would be able to hear her. So, she did her best to ignore his 'advice'.

'If you were a proper Tallguard, then you'd have some good rappelling gear. It would make things much easier for you, you know? I carried mine even inside of the city... Not openly, 'cause that was against regulations, but-'

Pinky jumped.

---

"Just like Kevin..." Riley grumbled to herself. "Going off on her own like that!" She didn't have time to fully reanimate and repair her monkeys. For now, she'd have to settle for making sure they didn't deteriorate. "That just proves that my big brother is a fool! Baka!"

She stopped and blushed. It was good that no one had heard that. Being that blatantly, cringingly, cute...

She shuddered.

She still felt the urge to over-act in that way when she got stressed.

"Stupid brother. Stupid anime." She definitely didn't pout as she finished attaching the monkeys to the Milkbox. The modifications she'd continued to make on her immobile minion were paying off. The strands of hair would stimulate the monkey's nerves, while the cardiovascular tubes would provide them with oxygen.

She wiped her brow and flopped down. She needed to think.

"Badgy probably couldn't take them all. I need to treat everyone in this world like a Parahuman, but some are clearly stronger than others." She frowned. "Going up against an unknown cape is bad. I need to gather information first." She prodded her decapitated monkeys. "My scouting minions didn't work out so well though. I COULD repair them, but without their invisibility they're pretty weak."

She left a dozen spiders behind to guard her backpack and the Milkbox while she started walking with Badgy by her side.

"So... Dullahans... headless horsemen..." She shook her head. She could examine some later. "They were wearing armor. All of them on the walls are." That gave her an idea. There were more than one way to be stealthy.

"No plagues or epidemics." Even her benign ones could react strangely to monster capes, and until she understood the biology of her targets better, it was best to treat everyone like that. "Especially with Pinky in there. I have no idea what a safe dosage is for a Fraerling. Should I go by size, or how much food they can eat? There's clearly something magical about their bodies."

"No." She frowned. "I'll have to rely on good old Brute strength." She patted Badgy's shoulder. "I'll just need to keep a tight leash on you. There are probably hostages in there that we can't have you rampage over."

Badgy let out a whining sound, which was impressive given his crab-head.

"None of that now!" She swatted his shoulder. "I've let you have your fun, but now isn't the time, understand? You need to be stealthy, like you're tracking a target."

Badgy clicked and nodded its head.

"Ah! Here we are!" They'd come to where the jungle met the beach. From this vantage point, she could see the masts of all the ships in Daquin's harbor. "I'm betting that a bunch of armored people who need to hold onto their heads aren't the best swimmers." She began to lead Badgy away from the city. "Once we're out of any line of sight, we can mount an amphibious assault."

What was the point of having a half giant badger/half crab if you didn't use them for sea-side attacks?

The spiders, however, would stay behind. They could swim fast and hold their breath for a long time, but they could also scurry over the wall if she needed them. Plus, Badgy's Stranger power didn't make them invisible or less likely to be noticed.

Instead, it caused them to fall off of him as they kinda forgot what they were holding onto.

...And there was a strange visual distortion where the spider claws met the invisible flesh. A negative power interaction that Surgery hadn't granted her any insights into. But her Passenger wasn't an expert on magic, so that was hardly unexpected.

She held onto Badgy as her minion walked into the waves. His negative-buoyancy was and advantage right now. Badgy was strong enough to swim, but not very fast as most of his effort was devoted to staying afloat.

Riley's hair and dress billowed around her as she sunk under the waves. She felt a strange sensation that she couldn't pinpoint... that vanished as soon as she took a breath with her gills. The saltwater didn't sting her eyes, but it did feel strange.

Badgy lumbered into the depths before turning towards the city. Riley craned her neck to look up at the surface from a different angle.

Okay, so those were the hulls of boats. Or ships. Or something.

There were a lot of them. She could make out the wooden logs of the piers in the distance and there didn't seem to be any space that wasn't occupied by a ship. That... probably meant something. People tried to run away from fights, and wouldn't fleeing by ship make the most sense?

Then again, there were six gigantic ships that were floating just outside of the harbor. A blockade? That looked like a blockade to her.

So... did that mean the Dullahans had sailed in, kept anyone from running away via ship, and then taken the town?

It was possible. Then again, with everyone having powers a lot of things were technically possible.

They started to pick up speed as Badgy learned how to use his two crab claws to help propel himself along the ocean floor. Soon, they were at the docks and Badgy started climbing up one of the wooden logs of the pier.

Riley turned her head and then brushed her hair that floated beside her out of the way. There was a small ship, or boat, or whatever approaching from the outside. It was hard to see as the angle between her and the surface got smaller. As Badgy climbed higher, her view was obscured by one of the really big boats.

As they breached the water, Riley saw that the small... canoe was providing them with a distraction. Nobody noticed the little girl clamoring onto the dock, and while Badgy wasn't invisible - his mental Stranger effect seemed to be working just fine.

She shooed Badgy towards the town. He couldn't move fast while maintaining his power, so she could easily catch up later. Riley tilted her head and watched the dark-skinned man paddle his canoe with surprising speed. He was doing that not-facing-the-front thing so he could pull back on his oars to move forward.

It seemed to be working as he zipped past the large boats and dodged their nets and magic.

Impressive.

Except...

He was heading right at her!

---

Luan crashed into the dock and the front of his scull splintered. He was thrown off of it and plunged into the water. One hand kept a death-grip on his bag of holding while the other one propelled him up through the depths. He burst to the surface with a splash and heaved himself onto the dock.

A hand grabbed his and he looked up in surprise. Had the Dullahans come to grab him?

No. The hand wasn't armored. His eyes followed it up its arm and to the little girl that was helping haul him out of the water with a surprising amount of strength.

"Do you think those two Humans know each other?"

"I bet they're both students. Good luck, Humans!"

Some Lizardfolk cheered from a ship as Luan paused to take stock of the situation. The girl had long, black hair with red ribbons in it. She also had a frilly dress with lace along the edges. The odd thing was that her face, arms, and legs were soaking wet - but her hair and dress looked bone dry.

She had to be a [Lady] or something. Some skill to keep her presentable.

"Thanks." He nodded to her before glancing over this shoulder. The Dullahans looked pissed. "The Starlight Requiem. The Starlight Requiem." He muttered under his breath as he took off running into the city.

"What's the Starlight Requiem?" The girl asked him as she sprinted next to him.

"Huh?" He glanced over. She was keeping pace with him despite her short legs and attire. "It's an inn. I'm a City Runner, and I'm making a delivery."

"What's a City Runner?" Her question almost caused him to trip.

"A Street Runner, except we deliver things between cities."

"Oh."

As he ran, Luan didn't see anyone else on the streets except for him and the girl. However, there were plenty of signs of life as people stared down at him from every open window on the upper floors of the houses along the streets. He'd been expecting trouble. Crowds, a riot, something, but not whatever this was.

"Hurry up you two!"

"It's about to start!"

"You'd better find some place to hide!"

"What's going on?" He asked the girl.

"Crap." She replied.

"What?" What did that mean?

"I was going to ask you the same thing." She huffed as they hurried down the street.

Luan spared her a quick glance as he ran up to the inn's door. The people in the windows seemed excited. The girl seemed pensive. He just needed to get the bag of holding to Venaz, once he'd made his delivery and had gotten paid, he could try and figure out what nonsense the Minotaur had gotten him into.

He slammed the door to the Starlight Requiem open and wildly looked around. "Hello. I'm a City Runner, and I'm looking-"

"Out!" A headless body charged towards him like a scene from a horror movie. The Dullahan innkeeper's head shouted from the counter. "Get out!"

Luan held up his hands. "I have a delivery for a Minotaur, and-"

"I kicked him out too!" The headless body pushed him back through the door. "I don't want my place wrecked, I get enough of that from [Sailors]. No one's hiding here!" The door then slammed in Luan's face.

"Hmmm..." The girl hummed from his side. "You know, everyone seems awfully calm for an invasion. It's more like they're watching a sports game or something."

He turned to her. "You were in the streets. Did you see a Minotaur?"

"Nope!" She smiled up at him. "But now I want to!" She seemed to think for a moment before extending her hand. "I'm Bit. I'll help you look!"

"Huh?" He took her hand out of reflex. "I'm Luan, but that's not-"

He trailed off as the sound of boots marching echoed down the empty street. The crowd in the windows silenced their cat-calls as a squad of [Soldiers] turned the corner. There were eighteen Lizardfolk and three Centaurs.

One of the Lizardfolk stepped forward. "Wow. They suck at hiding. Is this really who'll be commanding us? Hope these two are washouts."

The Centaurs frowned. Two of them had long poles that split in two and curved into two blunted prongs. The third also had a pole, but it angled at the end like a hockey stick he could trip people with. All the Lizard folk had clubs, nets, and staves.

Luan started to back away, but the [Lady] girl didn't budge. So he instead moved to get between her and the hostile group. "Look, I'm a City Runner. I'm making a delivery." He nearly dropped his seal as he pulled it out of his pocket. "See? Here's my seal."

The Lizardman scratched at his frills.

"Okay, that's sort of smart. Do you think he's telling the truth, though? Anyone can get a seal if you pay enough. Is it a student?"

The Centaur looked vexed. He stomped a hoof.

"Take anyone on the street! That's what the Mithril said and we're part of this game. You want to turn down ten gold coins?"

"When you put it like that—get them!"

Luan grabbed Bit's hand and turned to run, but the girl didn't budge.

"Oh? So it IS a game!" Her delicate features twisted into a wicked smile. "That sounds like fun. Can I play too?"

The Centaur took a step back. "Uh, guys? My [Dangersense] just started going off like crazy..."

A nightmarish crab-chimera seemed to materialize behind the group.

Notes:

Note: Some dialogue was taken directly from the Wandering Inn.

Bios:

Riley Grace Davis - Bonesaw. Happy to be back in civilization - or at least this world's version of it. Also happy that there's a game going on, and that it appears to be non-lethal.

Pinky - OC. Not her real name. A Fraerling who is demonstrating just how she got such a high level in [Fool].

Luan Khumalo - An Earther from South Africa. Trained to be a sculler for the Olympics before he was isekaied. Now a City Runner who was paid a lot of money to come to Daquin at this specific time and deliver a bag of holding to Venaz (the Minotaur). He has no idea what's going on, but he's the main gold-earner for his group of Earthers (the United Nations), and he still has his fee to collect.

Chapter 77: The Game at Daquin 2

Pinky fell from the top of the wall down to the ground.

She landed face-down with her arms and legs spread to her sides.

'That looked like it hurt.' Lars' voice grew nearer as he floated down. 'I mean, falling isn't a big deal, but couldn't you land... better?'

Pinky hopped to her feet. And stuck her tongue out at her dead friend. "It's a [Pratfall]. Now who's the [Fool]?"

She climbed to her feet and dusted herself off before looking around. She was in the shadow of the wall, and there didn't seem to be anyone else in sight.

'Tallfolk cities are usually a lot busier than this.'

"And how would you know that?" She rolled her eyes. "You're such a liar, Lars!"

'Hey, Runt, ghosts talk, okay? I didn't spend all my time in the tree, I went and explored!'

"Uh-huh." She replied flatly as she started sneaking. A [Rouge] might not be a [Rogue], but she was able to move quietly and unseen.

Plus, she was a Fraerling. She knew how to hide from things bigger and meaner than her... which was basically everything.

'Fine, don't believe me.' He walked next to her with his arms crossed. 'But look around, shouldn't you see someone?'

"If they can't see me, then I can't see them!" Pinky continued to sneak deeper into the city.

'Really?' Lars glared at her. 'Really?! What's next? Throwing a towel over your head to avoid detection?'

"Hey!" She looked at him. "That's the best idea you've ever had, Lars! Let me just fish one out..." She started rummaging around in her backpack.

'What? No! That was a joke!' He straightened up and looked around with a worried expression on his face.

"Here we are!" She pulled a bright red blanket out of her bag and draped it over her head. "There! Now no one can see me!"

'I can see you!' Lars hissed.

"You don't count, 'cause you're a ghost." Pinky replied confidently before tripping over the sheet that she'd blinded herself with.

'Took, this is serious!' His voice was getting higher and higher pitched.

Pinky wondered if ghosts could have heart attacks.

"No, no, I'm fine..." She began to fumble with the cloth. "I just need to wrap it around me so it doesn't trail along the ground..."

'Are you insane!' His voice was shrill now. 'I thought you got rid of your blood class!'

Pinky sighed and took the blanket off. "I'm still a [Fool], how do you think I'm supposed to level without doing [Foolish] things?" She put her hands on her hips and smiled - arguing with an invisible friend was pretty good for leveling too.

'Don't do it now! This is a dangerous place!'

"And that's exactly why I have to do it now." She rolled her eyes and resumed her trek. Her conversation with Lars didn't seem to have attracted any attention, but she felt like someone was watching her. "Let's go."

She slowly made her way across the street and finally arrived at the building that was next to the wall. Whew. She wiped her forehead. Tallfolk cities really were big!

---

Luan froze for a moment as the crab-bear-thing barreled into the group of [Soldiers]. Each of its two massive claws grabbed a Centaur, lifted them into the air, and then bashed them together. At the same time, it batted away Lizardfolk with its front legs.

A detached part of him noted that it was similar to the Centaurs in that it had four legs and two arms.

"What in the world is THAT?" He yelled.

Bit looked up at him and squeezed his hand reassuringly. "That's Badgy." The little girl smiled. "Don't worry. I've made sure to teach him how to subdue people. He doesn't like it, but he won't hurt them very much." A Lizardfolk went flying over their heads. "See?" She turned to follow the body's trajectory. "That won't even break a bone or give him a Periosteal bruise." Bit walked over to the groaning Lizardfolk and knelt down. "Intramuscular. You're going to want to take a least a week of bed rest. Be sure to lay on your back so the bruise is above your heart. You don't want your blood to pool."

Luan froze for a moment.

She sounded just like Geneva giving medical advice.

"What's going on!?!" He tried to keep his voice calm, but things had clearly escalated from something unknown to something worse.

"That's what I wanna know." Bit dragged the Lizardfolk over to a building and leaned him against the side. "You okay? Any other pain? I can heal you."

The wounded [Soldier] shook his head. "N-No, I have a..." He took a deep breath and winced. "...healing potion." He reached into his pouch and pulled out a vial full of green liquid. "Thanks for offering." He smiled at her as he took a swig. "I guess that shows us for underestimating some of the Titan's students."

Behind them there was an explosion of light as a troop of Dullahans had charged down another street to engage... what had she called it? 'Badgy'? Luan knelt down next to the slowly recovering [Soldier].

"I'm not the student of anyone. I don't know a Titan. I'm a City Runner. I'm not playing in any game."

"I'm not a student either." Bit nodded. "But a game sounds fun."

"Ha." The Lizardfolk smiled at them. "You're both in it whether you want to be or not. Tulm the Mithril's the seeker this time. I heard that last time he burnt down half a city." He shook his head and looked at Luan. "You should've let us take you in. You'd be safe in the square."

"I have a delivery I have to make." Luan tightened his grip on Venaz' bag. He was going to kill that Minotaur for getting him involved in this.

The [Soldier] chuckled without wincing. "Good luck to you then. Hope you're getting a tip that makes it worth it."

Their conversation was interrupted by another combatant group blowing open the doors to the stables in which they'd been hiding. Eighteen people charged out on horses, past the commotion of the [Soldiers], Dullahans, and enraged white crab-bear.

"Ha." The Lizardfolk laughed. "Look at them go." He staggered to his feet as the rest of the fighters ran after the students that were making a direct charge towards the plaza. They threw glass bottles at their pursuers. Flashes of light, exploding vines that gripped everything, and a pink mist that put people to sleep exploded through the ranks of the people who'd ran after them.

The crab-thing looked upset.

Luan decided it was time to leave.

---

'Are you sure it was a good idea to leave Bit behind?' Lars snuck along beside her despite the fact that he was a ghost and nobody else could see him.

"Of course it was." She whispered back. "My [Foolish Thoughts] skill was certain that it was an absolutely 'Foolish' thing to do!" Pinky wondered how people who didn't have a skill that had evolved from a blood skill, and that let them know how to act to advance their class managed.

'You know that's NOT a good reason!' Lars shouted at her.

Pinky, in return, turned to him with her finger on her lips. "Shhhhh!!!"

Lars looked affronted. 'Did you just shush me?!?'

"We're on a stealth mission." Pinky rolled her eyes. "Of course I'm going to shush you."

'No one can hear me!' Lars waved his arms. 'I'm a ghost!'

"And I'm a Fraerling." She stuck her tongue out.

'I'm a Fraerling too!' He shouted.

"Then you should know better than to make noise on a stealth mission." She nodded, having made her point, and resumed sneaking down the road.

'You know that's not the point.' Lars crossed his arms.

"Then why are you sneaking too?" She smirked at him. "Huh?"

'I, er, I'm, that is...' Lars' cheeks flushed. 'There might be someone around who...' He frowned and held up a hand. 'No, wait, that's not it.' The pair paused for a moment before Lars perked up and smiled. 'Moral support! It's only natural for a Tallguard to provide a good example for a civilian when they're in a dangerous situation.'

"Is that so?" Pinky smiled as she resumed moving unseen down the street.

'It is!' Lars strolled next to her, with his arms folded behind his head. 'And it won't work.'

"What won't."

'Trying to distract me, runt.' He looked down at her with a smug smile.

Uh oh, the jig was up. "Distract you from what? That giant rat?" She pointed behind him.

'From you using a Skill to make your decisions.' Lars rolled his eyes. 'You know what the Titan says about that.'

"Yeah, yeah." She mumbled. "Relying..."

'...on a skill makes you complacent.' Lars finished the quote. 'And that's not even considering the skill's name is Foolish Thoughts.' He let out a sigh. 'Honestly, Took, you know better than that.'

"First of all, it's a great skill!" She ducked behind a crate and looked around for rats, cats, or other predators before continuing. "Second of all, we're being followed. Or, at least, I am."

'What?' Lars peeked out of the narrow space. 'I don't see anyone. How do you know?'

"[Foolish Thoughts]." Pinky got down on her stomach and crawled so that she could scan the Tallfolk-sized street. "It's a lot more intricate than you think, Lars. Like, I know that it would be foolish to run out into the middle of the street and yell at the top of my lungs. It would be foolish in another way to break into the building behind us." She nodded towards an empty alleyway. "And it would also be foolish to go into there."

Lars looked down at her. 'It can do all that? What will happen if you go into the alley?'

"There's only one way to find out!" Pinky shot to her feet and sprinted towards the feeling of 'foolish, but not THAT foolish'.

---

Niers sat on his pedestal and watched the commotion.

"Do you have any comments?" Teura asked him as she focused on helping maintain the scrying network that Wistram had setup.

"They obviously are hoping to catch Tulm off-guard. It's a bold move, but sometimes that sort of daring can snatch a quick win."

Their charge came to an end as Xol, the Juggernaut exploded out of a building and started laying into them - as gently as fourteen foot tall War Walker could.

Niers glanced at the Half-Elf as she winced slightly.

"What about the situation before that?"

"Oh? The girl who I assume is a Terandrian [Lady]?" He hadn't expected something like that, at least not yet. "I don't recognize her, and she seems to be a outside party."

"An outside party?"

"Yes." Niers replied. "That's why it's important to gather as much information before a conflict. However, there's always times when a high-level individual who's not allied with either side might interfere. It's always a challenge to adjust plans to accommodate unknowns like that."

"I didn't recognize that monster she summoned."

"Yes, it was unique looking, wasn't it." He brought the conversation back to what his students were doing. "Look at the leader of those students. Tefret is a [Mage Captain] and one of our graduates.

The image in the scrying orb changed to show a Drake commenting on what was happening. "T-that would be—Xol of Ingrilt. Wouldn’t you say, uh, Sir Relz?"

Niers listened absentmindedly as he wondered just how his students would react to a high-level [Lady] joining the game. If they were smart, they'd adjust their plans to accommodate or utilize her just as he'd said.

Still, it was odd for there to be an outside force in Daquin that hadn't been arranged by one of his students ahead of time. His grin widened at the prospect of his students surprising him.

---

'You know,' Lars spoke almost-casually as he followed Pinky across the street. 'Most people use [Dangersense] to AVOID danger. You could use your Foolish-sense to avoid doing dumb things.'

"Ever stop to consider that most people are using their skill wrong?" Pinky whispered back. "Finding danger seems to be a good way to level up."

'Hah! Right.' Lars scoffed. 'It's a good way to get killed.'

"Or to get [Thrill-seeker] or [Vanguard] or any number of good classes." Pinky thought she saw movement, but small movement. More like a rat than a Tallfolk.

'Or a blood class.'

Ouch. Pinky winced. That retort struck home... so she decided to ignore it.

The alley was far more important anyways. It could be a rat... but it could also be a cat. The sadistic and murderous felines that Tallfolk kept as pets.

"This... might be the bad kind of 'foolish' after all." She pressed herself up against the side of the building. At least from here, whatever it was couldn't see her.

Lars took a deep breath in. 'I'll go take a look!' He puffed his chest out and boldly strolled into the jaws of certain death!

...Or, at least, that was probably what was going on in his head. He had always been so dramatic.

Pinky silently giggled. She liked it when he was brave - whether it was earned or not. She waited with baited breath.

'There's nothing here!' Lars yelled.

"What?" She peeked around the corner.

Her ghostly friend shrugged as he walked back. 'Like I said, nothing. Unless you think cats have started to learn [Rogue] skills.'

"Now who's being foolish?" Pinky took a step into the alley and paused. It wasn't foolish to continue on. Not in the slightest. "Huh."

'Huh?'

"It's gone." She didn't bother to explain that she meant her feeling and not whatever had caused it. Instead, she spun around and scanned the mountainous buildings. "There!" She pointed.

'Where?'

Lars followed her finger towards a chimney on the opposite roof.

Between one moment and the next, the thought of climbing up there to investigate changed. It was still kinda foolish to go up so high, but only for the normal reasons: mainly that she might be spotted by a Tallfolk. It had been a different sort of foolish just seconds ago.

The sort of foolish that was similar to walking up to a random Fraerling on the street and giving them a hug.

Not 'dangerous', but... awkward?

No, that wasn't the right term.

Inconsiderate?

Presumptuous?

Annoying?

It was something like that.

"I'm being followed." She whispered to herself.

---

Riley sniffed the air as she followed the City Runner. Dogs. She mentally flipped a switch and an invisible cloud of gas that eliminated odors expanded from her.

"Do you think the Minotaur is back at the docks?" She asked Luan as she followed him.

The tall, dark-skinned man looked down at her. "No, but I can't explore the city looking for him, can I?"

"Why not?" Riley thought she knew the answer, but perhaps there was a strange, magical reason?

"Because there are groups of [Soldiers] walking around that want to beat me up." He turned back to where the remains of his boat were bobbing up and down in the water.

"I could handle them for you!" She smiled as she made the offer. Some nice, non-lethal demonstrations of how magic worked would be fun.

...Not as much fun as seeing how people lived with detached heads, but that could wait until after she kept her promise.

"If you're so eager to play this 'game' or whatever's going on, why don't you go do it?" Luan lowered himself and lay down on his chest before reaching out to try and grab the largest chunk of his boat.

"'Cause I said I'd help you find the Minotaur." She could feel her smile widening. "I've never seen a real Minotaur before! Just watching how they move could give me all sorts of insights!"

Finding a wounded one would be even better. Then she could take a look at their insides while she patched them up. However, given that this all was only a game, combined with how well that healing potions worked, it seemed unlikely.

"Huh." Luan's fingers brushed against the wood, causing it to dip into the water. "I guess that's as good of reason as any." He turned to look at her over his shoulder. "Thank you. If you have any deliveries you want made to another city, I can give you a discount." He turned back and whispered under his breath. "Once I get a new boat."

"Oh?" Riley knelt down next to him. "Is that what a City Runner does? I was expecting more running from the name."

Luan turned on his side and braced himself with an elbow. "Have you never used the Runner's Guild before?"

"Nope!" Riley beamed at him.

"Huh." He turned back to the water. "I guess you really must be a [Lady] or something. Not that your dress didn't give it away, 'Bit'."

Riley giggled. The way he said 'Bit' meant that Luan had recognized that she'd been using an alias. He'd been the first to do so, but then again, she hadn't spoken to even a handful of people since arriving on this world.

"Here, I can help you with that." She reached into the pocket of her dress.

"No, no, I've... almost... got it!" Luan's hand brushed against the floating remains again, but the wet wood slipped from his fingers.

There was a 'blurble' as the Met she'd summoned underneath the surface displaced the water around it causing a small expansion of the liquid. "Help with the flotsam, don't be seen." She told it aloud, since the whole point of summoning it covertly was to keep her Mets a secret. Using her Party feature would've been more convenient, but it would also require having her under-suit flow over her head to set it up.

...Which would kinda defeat the whole 'subtle-thing' she was going for.

"What did you say?" Luan finally grabbed his boat as it floated next to him.

"Just thinking out loud." Riley smiled. "So how are we going to find this guy." She paused and tilted her head. "It is a guy, right?"

"Yeah." He replied bitterly. "He's a guy." With the main hull of his boat floating under the dock, Luan turned over on his back and looked up at the sky. "I don't know. If you weren't here, I'd be hiding right now. I'm not a fighter."

Riley crossed her legs and sat next to him. "To be fair, it does look like a pretty rough game." She thought back to other 'games' she'd played. "But it also doesn't seem un-winnable either." She shrugged. "No point in you playing if you don't have a reason to though."

"Uh-huh." He nodded. "If Venaz isn't in the Inn..."

"That lizard guy said that 'Tulm' was the 'seeker'." Riley looked at the street running into the city. It was still deserted, except for the people peering out of the windows. "I'd bet this is a big game of 'Hide and Seek', just with fighting instead of tagging."

"Hmmm..." Luan frowned. "That makes sense. The [Inn Keeper] didn't let us or Venaz inside. I bet one group is busy hiding all throughout the city, but... to what end?"

"Not to ambush the searching force." Riley closed her eyes and thought. "Those guys on horseback were fighting back, but not to win. They wanted to get somewhere."

"Out of the city?" He guessed.

Riley thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "That makes sense. Why else would they have guards at the wall, gates, and harbor." She turned to look at the distant warships that were blocking the harbor's entrance. "We're out in the open here, but those guys who tried to stop you haven't sent anyone to follow up."

"So?" Luan looked nervously at the ships, and then at the water below. "Maybe we should hide after all."

"That might be a good idea, but my point is that they're not moving not because they haven't seen us, but because they suspect it's a trap."

"A trap?"

"Yeah. Decoys to lure them away, so someone else can escape."

"They could just be there to keep other people out." He frowned. "That's what they tried to do to me."

"Out, in, either way they aren't budging." She tilted her head. "I'd say that they're reporting in to someone. I'm sure a group will come and try to catch us eventually. But, enough about that!" She clapped her hands. "Lets brainstorm about finding this Minotaur!"

Luan gave her an incredulous look. "I'm not going in there!"

"C'mon!" She smiled sweetly at him. "I'll protect you!"

"Thanks, but no thanks." He replied dryly. "I'm a runner. I go from A to B. I don't go through war-games or whatever this is to try and find someone who's actively hiding."

"Eh." Riley shrugged her shoulders. "He's a Minotaur. How hard can it be to find him?"

The runner frowned at that. "If he's captured already, then... how do I get paid?" He scowled. "I'm not going to let them put me in prison on the off-chance he's there. Besides..." He sighed. "No way they'd let me keep all of my stuff."

"Good points!" Riley gave him a thumbs up. "This is just a game, so it should be fine if I break him out of jail!"

"What?" He looked at her. "You're joking, right?"

"Oh, yeah, joking." Bit had never broken anyone out of prison. Bonesaw on the other hand...

Their conversation was cut short as an unholy cacophony of sound came from the city. Riley winced and covered her ears. She might have reinforced ear-drums, but that just meant she wouldn't go deaf. Not that it was loud enough to do that, it was just incredibly annoying.

A Centauress and a Lizardgirl staggered out of the hold of one of the nearby ships. They were also covering their ears (or ear-holes), and seemed to be a lot more distressed. A high-pitched shriek was also coming from them. The two women shouted at each other, but Riley couldn't make out what they were saying. The Lizardgirl pointed at the water and then jumped in. The noise lessened. The Centauress leaped after her, and the sound diminished greatly.

It now was only coming from the city itself.

"What in the name of horse shoes was that?"

"Screamer dust! We must have gotten hit by it! But I have no idea when—" The Lizardgirl's face twisted from anger to shock and then back to anger. "The plaza! Remember those [Mages] throwing something? Feshi was sneezing—oh, Nagas! We all got hit! Listen!"

Huh. Magical dust that could... vibrate to emit a scream?

Riley had the idea of making bacteria that could vibrate at the same frequency to harmonize and make sound. She could set up a simple oscillation in their membranes that would make them automatically synchronize their motions. The hard part would be to have the sound waves occur OUTSIDE the host, but she could-

She shook her head. There'd be time for Tinkering later.

"That dirty, cheating salt licking coward!" The Centauress was angrily shouting insults at... someone.

"Hold on. One’s getting nearer! It’s—" The Lizardgirl interrupted her companion.

Riley turned and looked towards the city. There was a doppler effect going on as one of the screams was both getting louder and changing pitch.

Then she saw him.

A Minotaur!

He was tall and bulky. His bull head had two horns that curved from its sides and up into the air. He also had hooves!

Riley smiled.

Hooves!

A Minotaur would obviously have a cow's head and need to have increased body mass to support that, but she hadn't guessed about hooves. Sure, the Minotaur Bonesaw had made had included them, but they hadn't worked out well because the cow's hooves were too small for a two-legged animal.

He almost charged over her and Luan as he leapt into the water to wash off the screaming dust.

"Underhanded. When I get my hands on that spineless—" The large figure clamored out of the water next to the Centauress and Lizardgirl. "Marian! Umina! So that’s where you two have been. I should have known. You got doused as well?"

"We were hiding here! Where have you been?" The Lizardgirl, Umina, replied.

Venaz shook his head, sending a spray of water to his sides. "Never mind that. We need to move. Now. More students will be trying to get here. And the damned [Soldiers] are sure to have heard us. I passed a patrol of Forgotten Wing soldiers on the way here."

"You idiot, Venaz—" The Centauress, Marian, glared at him."

"If I had my plan in place—" Venaz held up his hands, but didn't look apologetic. Though it was hard for Riley to be sure. His eyes and forehead were mostly like a Human's but there could be subtle differences in their muscular structure that changed the way Minotaurs expressed their emotions.

"You!" Luan brushed past her and stomped up to Venaz.

"Ah, perfect!" The Minotaur's face brightened. "Give me my bag."

"Give me my money!" The [Rower] retorted.

"Oh, of course." Venaz reached for his belt, but turned his head as Umina shouted.

"They're coming!" The Lizardgirl pointed down the street where a squadron of Dullahans turned the corner.

"C'mon. Plan B!" Marian grabbed Umina and placed her on her back as she galloped off.

The Minotaur frowned for a second before deciding on a course of action. He grabbed Luan and threw him over his shoulder and ran off after Marian.

Riley stood for a second and considered her options. She could fight the soldiers, or rather, Badgy could fight them. That, however, wouldn't be in the spirit of this game. It was clear that it was Hide and Seek... THEN pummel.

An interesting game.

Besides, a Lizardgirl, a Centauress, AND a Minotaur! She knew which group was full of more interesting people.

Actually, Dullahans were far more cool - biologically speaking, but there were a lot of them. She was sure she'd get the chance to examine one of them closer sooner or later. She'd seen lots of other Lizardpeople in the windows, and only a handful of Centaurs. Venaz was the only Minotaur, so staying close to him for now was the best plan.

Nodding to herself, she pulled a ribbon and bow off of her dress and tossed it down the street before running after the group of misfits. She rounded the corner just in time to watch the Minotaur thrown Laun into...

An outhouse.

Not into the wooden box that held the toilet. Instead, his destination was whatever was beneath.

Venaz then jumped in after him and Riley heard a goopy splash.

...She could always find the Minotaur later. She wasn't afraid of getting dirty when the situation called for it, but she'd rather fight a bunch of armored soldiers with detachable heads than drop into the sewers... or from the look of things, a hole full of excrement.

Her dress and hair would be fine, but everything else would probably be beyond saving. Worst, what would happen if she dropped the Met Factory in the muck?

Nope.

She looked down the street and took a step back. A chilling mist was covering the ground just ahead of a thick fog-bank. A clearly unnatural fog-bank. The near constant sounds of the watching Lizardpeople were muffled at the edges of it, and no sound came from further within.

She didn't know if that meant the fog was a Stranger effect that absorbed sound, or if the bystanders had been knocked out by it. It seemed unlikely the fog was lethal by itself. Even if it was, poisons wouldn't work on her.

Riley closed her eyes and sniffed.

To the right, the left, in front of her, behind...

There. She moved to where Badgy had to be obfuscating himself.

"Pick me up."

Her minion's Stranger effect broke as he reared up and his crab claws came in from the sides. Riley hopped into his grip, and the two claws came together to make a small Riley-sized pocket.

Her head peaked out, and she had a hard time remembering she had a body at all as Badgy hid his presence again. It was a strange sensation - like she was watching what was happening from an outside perspective.

Riley turned and glanced at the docks one more time. A human and a fur-covered humanoid - a Dogperson? - were standing on a dock further away from her. They were both soaked and were using...

Magic wands?!?!

The two wizards shot spells at the approaching Dullahans. They clearly had the same idea as the other contestants as how to remove the screamer dust. Unfortunately for them, they probably had farther to run and were now cornered.

"Into the city." Riley directed Badgy, and the Bloodrage Badger crawled towards the mist. As it engulfed her, Riley felt lethargic. Whatever this stuff was, it muffled sight and sound while sapping vitality. If she had her supplies, she could give herself a shot to counteract the effect.

But, since she didn't, she'd just have to power through.

Notes:

Note: Some dialogue was taken directly from the Wandering Inn.

Bios:

Venaz - Minotaur, [War Strategist], and one of Niers' advanced students. Honorable, but hates to lose.

Marian Felthof - Centauress, [Strategist] & [Ranger], and one of Niers' advanced students. Umina's friend.

Umina Caxical - Lizardgirl, [Strategist], and one of Niers' advanced students. She has pink and yellow scales and a long tail. Can cast some spells. Like most Lizardfolk, she's social, cheerful, and curious.

Chapter 78: The Game at Daquin 3

The mist surrounded her.

The world had turned into a silent, cold place.

Sight, sound, warmth - they were all foreign elements inside of the fog.

She felt lethargic. Tired. Like even walking would be a herculean task. She could just rest...

But she wouldn't.

Riley pushed her fingers into her side. Right there were her kidneys... and on top of them...

She jabbed herself in just the right way to have her adrenal gland on her right side release the chemicals she'd modified it to store. It wasn't as good as a syringe of it, and it would take time for it to replenish...

...but it did the job.

Besides, it was a pretty weak sedative effect anyways. She had felt tired, not sleepy. While it might be more difficult for people to move about within the fog - they'd still be able to fight. Similarly, muffling the sound and obscuring sight made doing things harder, not impossible.

The cape, no that wasn't the right term. Magic user? Except this might be 'magic' or it might be a 'skill'.

She frowned. It was important to be precise with your words - especially in her own head.

The person who'd made this fog could probably exclude people from its negative effects. It would be safest to operate under that assumption.

Riley sat in Badgy's claws and took deep breaths. In fact, she was getting used to the fog's sensation. The adrenaline was probably over-kill.

Would Luan, the Minotaur, the Centauress, and the Lizardgirl be okay inside of the... cesspool?

Hmmm...

They were probably safer there then out in the street. A squadron of Dullahans marched past her towards the dock, only for... knights on horseback? to charge them?

Could the fog have a hallucinogenic aspect to it that she'd missed?

"Malleable." She whispered causing her suit to flow up and over her head.

She felt calm. Rational. And she still saw the knights.

"Huh." Well, that was that. "Malleable." Her helmet flowed away as the battle briefly raged around her. Even with his girth, the combatants fought around Badgy - as if they couldn't tell that he was there, but that it was natural to avoid crashing into him.

Nice.

The Dullahans retreated, leaving behind a number of them that were left bruised and battered. Whomever these knights were, they were also 'playing' with wooden staves and blunted blades.

Riley let them pass her by - grateful that they seemed to be burning away the mist with some sort of magic. She waited until they were out of sight before hopping out of Badgy's claws.

"Hey." She whispered down the toilet. "It's safe to come out."

No one replied back to her.

Riley grunted in annoyance and heaved the wooden structure up. There wasn't much light, but her eyes could make out the cesspit just fine. No movement. No body heat. No bodies.

She frowned.

The tunnel sloped downward, and there were other outhouses close by. It had to be a communal pit. The Minotaur must've fled out a different way!

She stomped her foot and let the covering fall back down.

---

Pinky continued to sneak into Daquin.

She, perhaps, didn't get very far in comparison to others. It wasn't entirely her fault. Fraerlings were small. She had to move through an environment crafted for people that were several hundred times her size. Even if she had a smooth path to follow, she could only run so fast.

Sure, she was fast for her size. Pinky could probably give any City Runner a good race... if they were also less than a foot tall.

When you took in her sneaking speed, and the constant side tracks to try and figure out just who or what was spying on her? It was an admirable pace, all things considered.

That said, she still hadn't gone far enough into the city to see either all the spectators looking out into the street, or the [Cold Iron Mist] that was billowing out of the town square. Everyone that lived at the edges of the city had sheltered closer to try and catch a glimpse of the action. The only people that had remained had been mercenaries and adventuring parties Nier's students had hired to help them win.

So, the place was virtually deserted... at least for another block.

Why then, was there something following and spying on her?

It certainly wasn't a cat or any other deadly monster - most of them had been brought inside to avoid the game. A lesser vermin could've been an option. A mouse, rat, or other non-predator might be hiding from the change in the weather. To them, a Fraerling wouldn't have been overlooked due to her size.

But, finding something like that wouldn't be 'Foolish'.

It might have been fool-hardy, perhaps, to go and annoy something that was close to your size and trigger a flight-or-fight response, but that wasn't the same flavor of 'Foolish' that she was sensing. And Pinky was certainly one of the most adept people in the world when it came to discerning subtle types of 'Foolishness'.

Besides, no common rodent would be able to... teleport? Scry? Hide their presence?

Huh. Pinky considered that as she crept along. There were Dullahans around. They liked to do things with their heads, right? Could they use their heads as Fraerling-sized spies? Well, one of their heads would be much bigger than a Fraerling, especially with their helmets, but the point remained.

That... would explain the 'Foolish' sensation.

"Hey, Lars." She whispered. "Can Dullahans... move their heads remotely?"

'How should I know that?' He retorted.

"Didn't you learn this kind of stuff when you were a ghost?"

'I mostly hung out with Fraerling ghosts.' He crossed his arms and looked at her sideways. 'It was still a long, boring hike to get to where the Tallfolk ghosts hung out.'

"And?"

'And, yeah, I was bored enough after a while to make the trip.' He rolled his eyes. 'But they were all Lizardpeople and Humans. The Dullahans ghosts were probably up North along with the living ones.'

"Oh." So much for her know-it-all friend.

Pinky continued deeper into the Tallfolk city. She could hear shouting and cheering coming from further ahead. Whatever was happening seemed to have some onlookers.

Then... the sounds became more alarmed before fading away.

'That doesn't sound good.' Lars helpfully said from beside her.

"Yeah." She mumbled and tried to discern just how 'Foolish' it would be to sprint forward and get a look.

'I'll take a look!' Lars puffed his chest out and started climbing a wagon-shaped mountain. It was odd that he could interact with physical things - even if it was only just to stand on them. He could pass through them as well, but, she supposed, falling through the ground would just be dumb.

Her sense of unease was growing as more and more voices were silenced. Whatever was coming was moving far too fast for her to outrun. She also felt like trying to do that was the wrong type of 'Foolish' - the type that ended up with her squished underfoot of some Tallfolk who didn't bother to look down.

'Quick, Took!' Lars jumped down next to her. 'Take out your weather charm!'

"My what?" She looked at him strangely.

'The thing attached to your house! The climate control enchantment!' He peeked down the street. 'Hurry!'

"Okay, okay." Following his advice didn't seem 'Foolish' in the slightest, so it was probably the smart thing to do. She rummaged around her bag before pulling out her house. It was roughly the same size as her in its collapsed state.

Pinky had to reach up on her tiptoes to grasp the figurine on top that protected it from the elements, but it came off easily enough. She then promptly dropped it as it expanded to be the size of her head.

Ow.

She hopped up and down while clasping her foot.

That hurt.

'Activate it!' Lars' voice was urgent. 'Hurry, Took!'

"Fine, fine." She mumbled as she limped after where it had rolled. From her new position, she had a clear line of sight down the Tallfolk street.... at least as far as the dangerous-looking fog bank. "Squirrel nuts!" She swore as she bent down.

Where was that switch? This thing was supposed to...

Here!

...Nope. Not the right lever.

Here!

Pinky felt an invisible pulse of magic pass through her as a sphere solidified around her just as the fog crashed over her position.

Just as the mists started to block her view, she saw movement across the street. She didn't see exactly what it was...

But its shadow was strangely familiar...

---

"[Healer]! I'm a [Healer]!" Crotimu shouted at the [Knights] as the charged through the damnable mists. "Hurt me and the Titan will have your heads!"

"Apologies, my good woman." The man leading the mounted Humans smiled down at her. "We heard movement, you see, and we've been ambushed twice already."

"Hmpf." Crotimu crossed her arms and glared at him. "Let us pass then. If there's been that many fights already then we're doubtlessly needed."

"You speak truly. Our own men have been left to the wayside after suffering blows that knocked them senseless." The Human saluted her, then he and the rest of the [Knights] trotted past them, quickly being swallowed in the mist.

"Let's go." Cortimu grunted at the rest of her squad. While this might be fun and games for the rest of the Forgotten Wing company, her job was still the same. Fix people up who'd been hurt so much that a healing potion wouldn't cut it.

Sure enough, they found Terandrian [Knights] along the side of the roads. The first couple were pretty much what she'd expected. Battered, bruised, but mostly okay. It took some work to knock out a person in full armor - but that went both ways.

Besides, armor didn't keep your insides from getting battered.

"Crotium, ma'am! It's strange." A Lizardgirl [Aid Provider] came up to her. "The Human we just found... is fine."

"And?" She arched an eye-ridge. "What's strange about that?"

"Well..." Her subordinate fidgeted. "He was clearly in a fight, but he's been healed. His armor is dented and he's asleep, but [Detect Wounds] doesn't show anything except some rapidly recovering bruises."

"Creler shit." Crotium swore. "Either we got turned around in this fog, or another team strayed into our territory." She pulled out her map of Daquin. "Okay, we'll turn right at the corner up ahead and then head back towards the town square." She traced the route with her claw. "We'll make a camp here. Just past where the Terandrians have pushed the Iron Legion back."

She might not have been a [Warrior] or a [Tactician], but Crotium had been on three full campaigns under the Titan, and double that for other leaders of the Forgotten Wing Company. She understood how battles went. The advance of the [Knights] would slow down as the Dullahans repositioned themselves. It would become a more drawn out fight until something else shifted the flow of the battle.

"Tell the [Mages] to conserve their mana. I want our area to be completely free of this accursed fog when we stop and set up. After that, they'll be in charge of searching for wounded and bringing them back to us."

Her decision was met with cheers from the [Healers] and acceptance from the [Mages].

"Get your heads out of your egg sacks." Crotium growled at them. "This is still a nice and easy battlefield compared to any other! So what if there's a little mist? Do your jobs and collect your pay without risking your lives!"

The grumbling stopped, and her squadron started along the route she'd indicated.

Then, they came across another body that was unconscious, but had been healed. It was strange. Everyone, of course, had healing potions. So, finding those who'd been injured but were recovering wasn't too strange - especially if they had weaker potions, of if they'd had some serious wounds beforehand.

Rather, why would either side leave one of their own behind?

Sure, it was a game, and if one of your troops went down you weren't consigning them to death if you abandoned them. That was assuming they couldn't re-join the fight. Obviously, if they were out of healing potions, they'd be left out of the fighting.

Or, if they had life-threatening injuries, something would need to be done.

But for someone who'd be back on their feet in minutes? It made no sense.

Unless...

The mist parted from the effort of her [Mages], and Crotium saw the culprit.

A young, Human [Healer] was crouched next to a Dullahan. She'd removed his chest plate to reveal his transparent skin, which she'd cut open.

"Stop her!" Crotium shouted. She'd been wrong. This wasn't a [Healer] but a Terandrian [Assassin]! They had to-

The black-haired girl's hands blurred back and forth as she... sewed the Dullahan's wound shut. It had to be a [Skill] because she'd put a Stitchfolk to shame with her speed and the fact that the flesh left behind was blemish free.

"Stop, stop!" The head sitting on the ground next to her yelled at the [Mages] who'd rushed forward. "Bit is fixing my body!"

What?

"What?" Crotium asked as her mind tried to come to grips with another explanation. Or, she guessed, came back around to the first one. She walked up and picked up the [Soldier]'s head. "What happened?"

"We were ambushed, and my company had to retreat. I fell behind." He jerked his eyes towards his body. "Turned out that a splinter of wood from one of their lances shattering went right through my mail. I didn't feel it at the time and collapsed as we ran away."

"The bleeding was mostly internal." The small Human in the fancy dress approached them after helping the body re-don its armor and stand up. "Even if he'd gotten one of those healing potions, the blood would still have pooled inside."

"And you are?" Crotium eyed her warily. She was dressed like a [Lady], but she clearly had some healing [Skills] if not a level in [Healer].

"I'm Bit!" The girl smiled at her. "Aren't Dullahans interesting? I mean, it's such a strange way that-"

"It's nice to meet you, Bit." Crotium interrupted her. "But what are you doing here? Why is a [Lady] anywhere close to the front lines?" Even if this was a game, it was foolish of her to have gotten off the Terandrians' ships.

Crotium could already piece together the story. Bit had come along because she had some skill in treating the wounded, but what failure of a commander would let her wander off on her own?!

"I was visiting the city when all of this happened." Bit motioned around her. "So, I decided to play along!" The Human frowned. "But there were people being hurt, so it was only right that I stop and help them." Her eyes gleamed. "Plus, I get to examine other races, isn't that cool?"

"Ah." Definitely Terandrian then. It was almost entirely Humans there from what Crotium had heard. "You need to be careful around Dullahans." She handed the [Soldier]'s head back to his body. "It's easy for them to get infected without their armor. I'm not saying you didn't do a good job..." If what she said was true. Her patient seemed to be doing fine. "...But he could get sick later."

This is what you get when a civilian decides to play at healing.

Bit rolled her eyes. "He'll be fine. I was sterilized."

Sterilized? Was that related to being sanitary?

"What is that?" Crotium tilted her head.

"It's... a skill of mine. He won't get sick as long as I'm around." It looked like some of the mist gathered in her hand for a moment before dissipating with the rest of the fog.

"Hmm..." She eyed the [Lady] and pondered what to do. "So you didn't know about the game beforehand? You didn't come with the rest of the Terandrians?"

"Huh?" Bit tilted her head - mirroring Crotium's pose. "Nope! I came here by myself! The gates were locked so I snuck in."

Really?

"Most people would take locked gates as a sign to stay out." Then again, most people weren't an entitled Terandrian [Lady]. "Why did you 'sneak' in?"

"I'm looking for the Titan."

Ah. That explained it.

Crotium turned to the Dullahan. "You are out of the game. You can stay with us and recover, or go off on your own. As long as you don't fight, I don't care." She turned back to the girl. "Lady Bit, why don't you accompany us and I'll inform you of some things.

With the minor incident resolved, Crotium's squadron continued to where they'd set up. As they walked, she tried to educate the foreigner.

"The Titan gets petitions to see him every day. You can't just walk up to one of the leaders of the Forgotten Wing Company. If you really must see him, then you should arrange passage to Elvallian and make an appointment."

Crotium didn't know the exact procedure, but she was fairly certain that was how things were done.

"Really?" Bit looked up at her with wide eyes. "But I have a friend who said they could let me meet him."

"Who is your friend?" Crotium asked. "Are they in the city?"

"Yeah, but she'll be fine." Bit shrugged. "She seemed confident that the Titan would want to see her."

"I see." Crotium supposed she should report this then. It might get Lord Astoragon's attention - if it wasn't for the ongoing game. "What's the name of this friend of yours?"

"Oh, the Titan doesn't know her personally, but she's a Fraerling too."

Another Fraerling? Crotium supposed there had to be more of them out there, but she'd only ever heard of the Titan. She was about to ask for more details when she heard a groan up ahead.

"Everyone, quiet." Her voice didn't carry far in the fog, but her group shut up. Crotium closed her eyes and then pointed. "We've got wounded over there. Check them and see what needs to be done."

Her fellow Lizardfolk [Healers] scurried off down an alleyway while the rest of them stopped. Soon, one of them came up to her.

"Looks like it's two humans and two horses. All are pretty beat up. One has a broken arm and is unconscious. The other likely has internal bleeding and his hip was crushed under his horse. Both horses have limps. I think they have broken legs, but they're skittish." Armiga reported.

Crotium frowned before turning to another subordinate. "Roleis, go use [Calm Animals]. We'll take them with us to our camp." She didn't want to move them, but between that, splitting up in this fog, or having her entire squadron wait while other people needed their help - it was the simplest decision. "I hate broken bones."

"Oh?" The human was still next to her. "Are they a problem?"

What kind of question was that? "Of course they are! You can't use a potion without setting them first, and if it's more than a simple fracture it won't heal right." She had [Set Bone], but it only helped with a single break. Any more... and the person would wind up disfigured in some way.

At least broken bones generally weren't life-threatening. Internal bleeding, infections, head injuries. There were a lot of ways people could die from blunted weapons. There were bound to be casualties by the end of the day. In fact, she'd wager that at least one of the other [Healer] groups hadn't been able to save someone by now.

"I'll go patch them up then!" Bit turned and followed Roleis.

Crotium was about to call out after her, but she had already vanished into the mist. They really needed a base camp so they could drive the fog away.

Well... if Bit had some high and mighty [Lady] skills that could help treat the wounded, she wasn't going to turn down her assistance.

Crotium signaled for her subordinates to continue on. She'd worry about it later after dealing with making a place where they could see what they're doing and actually treat people!

---

Riley helped the two knights in bloodstained armor back to the first aid section that the grumpy Lizardwoman had set up. She was pretty sure she'd heard someone call her 'Crotium' before. That sounded like a name and not a title.

The Lizardfolk leader came up and looked at the knights. "You lot sit over there." She pointed with her finger at an area that already had dozens of other wounded occupying it. "And you..." Crotium turned to Riley. "How often can you use that skill of yours?"

"What skill?" Riley had to pause for a second to mentally switch 'skill' with 'power'.

"The one that lets you fix bones."

"Oh, that?" She shrugged. "That's easy. I can do it all day long." If she had her backpack and supplies, she could probably come up with a novel way to do it that wasn't so time consuming. Then again, she LIKED cutting people open - especially people on this world.

Dullahans were so novel! Even if you disregarded the magical connection that existed between their head and body - and to a lesser extent between their torso and limbs, they were still fascinating. They had no dermal layer. Instead their outer flesh was translucent and seemed to actually bond with their armor. They had artificial exoskeletons to replace their skin instead of providing structural support to their bodies!

Lizardfolk weren't as interesting, but there were some strange concentrations of galas muscles she'd seen that looked like they could aid in mutation.

Even the Humans weren't normal, as the galas cells weren't solely confined to their muscles. While most of them were, their skin and bones could also be enhanced. It was really helpful to see how magic interacted with a species she already knew so much about. The more experience she had and the more subjects she could examine the better!

"Really?" Crotium leaned down with a calculating look in her eyes. "We don't have funds for discretionary spending, but if you help us, I'll put in a good word with my commanding officer." She crossed her arms. "I'm not saying it will get you an audience with the Titan, but it might help."

Riley brought her hand to her chin and frowned. She didn't want to seem TOO eager. People got the wrong idea when you told them you wanted to do exploratory surgery. "Okay." She gave a firm nod, as if coming to a hard decision. "I'll do it." She then shrugged. "I was probably going to help out with the injured anyways, so this is more convenient."

"And it won't wind up with one of the groups attacking you either." Crotium smirked. Or, at least, it kinda looked like a smirk. Lizardfolk were mostly the same as Humans with their facial expressions, but it would be dumb to make assumptions.

Riley then got to work.

Humans, Dullahans, Lizardfolk, and horses. Hopefully a Centaur or a Minotaur would get hurt and come see her soon too!

...

"Oh. You’re the poor fools who still haven’t been caught. Do you have any damage we need to clean up?"

Riley heard Crotium talk and glanced up from her latest patient. A Lizardgirl, a Centauress, a Human and a Minotaur were at the edge of the trauma center.

Hey!

It was Luan, Venaz, and... uhm... the Lizardgirl and the Centauress.

Unfortunately... the Minotaur looked perfectly healthy. She sighed and went back to the Dullhan with a broken leg. "You know, this would be easier if you let me remove your armor."

The head that was resting on the barrel replied. "But you can do it without removing my armor, correct?"

Riley rolled her eyes. "Yes, but it will hurt."

"That is fine. I can take it."

"If you say so." Riley gripped his ankle and twisted. It was a simple fracture. Dullahan basic anatomy was close enough to Human. So, a tendon could twist against the gastrocnemius muscle and... The Dullahan screamed in pain. There. "You can drink your potion now."

Riley held the leg while the Dullahan's body uncorked a bottle and held it up to his mouth. She felt the tension in his leg slightly fade as she kept it in place. Minutes passed before she twisted his ankle back and forth.

"That... doesn't hurt." He sounded surprised.

"Of course not." She rotated his foot, just to be sure. "It's probably a few millimeters off, but the bone has set properly. You can put weight on it, but you should still abstain from physical activity for at least a week."

"I understand." The head nodded. "Thank you. You are an example to all other ladies."

Why did everyone keep calling her a lady? It was clear that lady was a class as well as a social position, and she guessed her dress was eye-catching. It must be a social convention of some sort. Riley stood up and stretched before turning to find the Minotaur.

"Threaten me, and the Titan will feed you to the worms, no matter who you are. This isn’t up for debate. That goes for you. Prized students or not-" Crotium shouted at them, and Riley moved towards the commotion.

Luan, the City Rower, held up his hands and tried to defuse whatever the situation was. "No. I was just wondering — you're prohibited from fighting, but would you be willing to earn some gold?"

...

"...And that's what happened." Luan explained while Riley bent his leg at an angle to make it look like it was broken.

He'd apparently been hired by the Minotaur - and then the Centauress and the Lizardgirl to help them win the game. A troop of a hundred Dullahan was marching down on them, and Crotium had agreed to hide their group amidst the actual wounded to let them avoid detection.

"That's interesting." Riley patted him on the shoulder. "Good for you, Luan! Way to be mercenary!"

"I'm not a mercenary. And you're really good at this. I have a friend who'd love to meet someone from this... area that knows about actual-" He coughed as she popped one of her small bows from her dress in his face. "What was that for?!"

"The smell." She replied with a flat voice. "You guys stink."

"Huh?" Luan turned his head and sniffed at himself. "This isn't perfume. The smell's just gone! Where were you a hour ago?"

"Not in a cesspit." She smiled. "So... what are the odds of your Minotaur or Centaur friends getting hurt and needing medical attention?"

"You mean Venaz and Marian?" He grimaced. "Probably too high."

While they were talking, the group of Dullahans had been confronted by Crotium. They seemed to believe the group's ruse. The Dullahan leaders both wore armor that looked like it had been carved from obsidian. One of them spoke loudly. "[Geomancer], forward! Seal the street!"

One of his troops stepped forward and raised their arms. The street that Luan and his friends had come from became blocked off as a wall of stone rose up and sealed it off. The Dullahan leader then took off his head and bowed it slightly to Crotium.

As the Dullahans walked away, Luan, Venaz, Marian, and Umina sat up. The healer scowled as she walked away from the soldiers. "Well, well, well. It looks like one of you has a brain after all."

Marian got to her hooves. "More than just a brain. Brilliant idea, Luan. I knew hiring you was worth it." She had a wide smile, as did the Lizardgirl.

"Speaking of which…" The healer who'd been tending to her coughed and held out his hand.

The Centauress handed out gold to the healers while Riley looked appraisingly at the Minotaur. He had gone up to Crotium.

"How much would it cost to escort us towards the plaza? We’ll triple Marian’s payment."

The elderly Lizardwoman looked like she wanted to take the deal... but reluctantly shook her head. "Ah! We can’t leave our area. We do have a job and lives are on the line. You’re on your own after this. Good luck; hope you win. I’d love to see the Iron Vanguard get their tails tweaked."

The Minotaur nodded, and he and the Centauress and Lizardgirl began to walk away. Luan jogged after them.

Umina turned to him and beamed. "Really good idea, Luan. I wish I’d thought of it."

"Worth twenty gold coins?"

"At least!"

Marian smiled and nodded. "I’m glad I hired you. I knew my Skill was steering me the right way. If you have any other ideas, we’d love to hear them."

"Actually..." Luan turned and pointed at Riley. "She's not with the Titan's troops. You should hire her too."

Riley brightened up after hearing that. Who knew when she'd run into another Minotaur. Still... she had to play it cool and not take the first offer. She didn't actually have any currency, and it would be nice to buy some things instead of foraging and hunting for everything.

"Really?" Marian turned to her. It was interesting how the Human and Horse parts met. Riley wondered just how the spine handed such a drastic curve. Or was it segmented? Perpendicular? "Head hunter... says nothing. That's odd." Marian smiled. "But Luan has good instincts. How about it? Will you help us out for ten gold?"

"Sure!" Riley held out her hand. "My name's Bit!"

Notes:

Note: Some dialogue was taken directly from the Wandering Inn.

Bios:

Crotium - A Lizardfolk [Healer] in the Forgotten Wing Company.

Chapter 79: The Game at Daquin 4

'That's not the right way, runt!' Pinky ignored Lars as she scurried across the street towards the shadow. 'That's not out of the fog, or deeper inside, or even evading some Tallfolk. Now's your chance to infiltrate while they've blinded themselves with that Skill!'

"C'mon, Lars, it's around here somewhere." The mist parted to reveal a gigantic brick wall. She must've veered to the left or the right.

'What is, Took?' Lars sounded concerned. 'What did you see?'

Pinky decided... left!

She turned and followed the wall while whispering to Lars. It probably wasn't necessary, the mist seemed to be absorbing sound, but her target was going to be tricky. Every precaution was needed.

Now wasn't the time to be 'Foolish'.

"I saw a shadow."

'A shadow?' He asked incredulously.

"It wasn't just any shadow, it was special." Hmmm.... Perhaps to the right?

'How was it special, Took, how? Explain it to me.' Her friend was starting to sound worried.

"It was... lumpy." Yeah, that was the best way to describe it.

'Lumpy?' Lars moved in front of her. 'Took.' His expression was serious. 'Are you seeing things again?'

"Aside from you?" She rolled her eyes and continued to the right. She had to have gone past where she'd originally had touched the brick wall.

'Yes!' He threw his arms up. 'Aside from me!'

"I see lots of things, Lars." But not as much with this fog.

The ghost pinched the bridge of his nose and grumbled to himself. 'Are you seeing things that others cannot, aside from me?'

"Hm?" She stopped and looked at him before smiling. "You're worried about me!"

'Of course I am! You had a blood class! You told me you hallucinated me for how many years?!?'

"Pft." She rolled her eyes and made a mark on the brick wall. Time to go back the other way. She must've given up too early. The mark would help her if she was wrong and was now giving up too early in this direction. "What I saw was something that you should've been able to see, if you hadn't been focusing on the fog."

'Okay, okay, what is it?' He let out a sigh. 'Besides 'lumpy' that is.'

"That's the thing." She whispered back to him. "You know Bit's Met thingies?"

'Yeah?'

"Well, they're made of cubes. And their shadows are lumpy."

'Oh.' It sounded like he got it now. 'So...'

"Yep!"

Ah ha! The alleyway! Pinky crept inside and moved towards where the shadow had been. The Met might've moved already, but it might not have either.

Sure, she could've used this opportunity to escape the watchers that Bit had given her. Honestly! It was just like what her mom used to do. But why escape when it was a lot more fun to ambush them?

Besides... a non-homicidal Met could be useful.

The fog parted for her anti-weather charm, and the lumpy shadow came into view.

"Ah ha!" Pinky rushed around the wooden crate, having found her target. She pointed at it imperiously. "I found you..." She blinked. "You're not a Met."

---

Niers sat on his pedestal and watched the game unfold. Having this many viewpoints to cover all the different strategies was fun. He could manage the same thing with his Skills, but even then one couldn't catch everything.

Indeed, even with all their [Mages], Wistram had lost track of Venaz, Marian, and Umina - along with half a dozen other students of his that had gone to ground. Tulm had just set out to box in Jekilt. Unfortunately for the Centaur [Captain], he would probably be captured if he didn't have another trick up his sleeve.

If he did... well, he might manage to get away.

Tulm was great at scorched earth tactics, but the rules of the game were hampering him.

But... not that much.

The scrying orb switched to Xol as he crashed through another house to counter-ambush some of Wil's [Knights]. The fourteen foot tall [Juggernaut] would have been a tough foe to take down even if lethal spells and [Skills] were allowed. Trying to non-lethally subdue a Dullahan the size of a half-giant was... daunting.

Niers had ideas for how it could be done, but they all required specialized troops or prepping the battlefield. His students just didn't have the levels to deal with an opponent like that.

His earring vibrated.

Ah, it seemed like his third plot was working. Or was it his fourth? It was hard to keep track of which one he'd technically had initiated first. He hadn't given Dincal a speaking stone - that would have been far too distracting. The vibrating earring was telling him all that he needed to know.

Mainly that the cubic golem was just as skilled as Fraerlings were at remaining hidden - but he could have told them that from the lack of any [Mages] getting a picture of the construct in their scrying orbs. More importantly, that it was both open to commands and that it had a hive-mind.

It was more of a swarm of constructs than who knew how many individual ones. Of course, it was also possible that whomever its creator had been was also using it to spy.

Niers suspected Zelkyr. It was either that, or a Fraerling [Artificer] from a remote city. Of course, every Fraerling city was remote - so that didn't narrow things down in the slightest.

"Lord Astoragon, what are your thoughts on Xol?" Teura asked him.

He smiled for the scrying orb as he responded. "He's one of Tulm's greatest assets, but I have every confidence that one of my students will handle him."

"What do you mean by 'handle'? Do you think he can be subdued?"

"Yes. Absolutely." Niers nodded. "Not that such a tactic would be easy to pull off. Wil's [Knights] could manage it if they have some [Strategist] support. [Mages] could also work, but I haven't seen any that would be high-enough level to counter him."

"Is that it? Are those the only options?"

"Of course not!" Niers laughed. "That's why this is a game! I'm sure the end result will surprise even me!"

"You have a lot of faith in your students, Lord Astoragon." Teura calmly replied.

"They've earned it." His smile grew. "Look at how Jekilt nearly escaped from Tulm's pincer move. If that charge had worked, he and his troops would have had a clear shot towards the southern streets." Niers was pretty sure that's what the Centaur had been planning. It would have let him connect with Wil's forces.

Teaming up was the obvious next move. Wil had the troops, but the other students had their Skills that could empower the [Knights]. Unfortunately, Tulm and Xol were aware of that and were doing everything they could to prevent it - while also holding the line they'd made around the town plaza.

While Wil was currently the biggest threat, this wasn't a war game. All it took was one of his students sneaking past to win.

---

'This is a bad idea.' Lars said as he watched Took climb on top of the... golem?

"It's actually a lot less 'Foolish' than you'd think." His friend replied from the top of the cubic creature. "Who's a good boy? You are! You are!" She scratched it behind its ears... and it seemed to enjoy it.

'It's a wild... animal!' He argued. It may or may not be an animal, but it certainly was wild.

"No... Cubey here is fluffy and cute!"

'Cubey?' Lars could tell his voice had risen a few octaves.

"What else? I'm sure that's what Bit would call it."

Cubey suddenly started running in circles around the area - and through Lars.

'What's going on? Is it attacking you? It's trying to buck you off! It's not trained, runt!'

Took just laughed until the thing stopped.

"It's just like chipmunk wrangling!" Cubey huffed. "Except ten times, no, a hundred times better!" Took scratched Cubey behind its ears again and the thing closed its eyes and pushed its head towards her. "You saw the Mets, right? This is something like that. Probably some [Rogue] thing Bit made with a Met and scraps from a monkey." Pinky extended her hand. "C'mon, get on."

'Pft.' Lars ignored her arm and floated up. 'I'm a ghost. I can't hold your hand, runt.'

That wasn't... technically true.

Probably.

Ghosts could interact with the real world enough to not float away. Gravity affected them, but to a varying degree. He could also stand on a wall or walk through it. People, alive people, didn't exist in the Deadlands.

However, Lars wasn't in the Deadlands. There were no other ghosts around except for when Took's skill ended and he was 'un-summoned'.

As such, he wasn't sure, but it seemed likely that he could 'grab' onto Tooks hand and let her pull him up - even if she couldn't touch him in return.

But he'd still had been a Tallguard in life. He didn't need help to mount whatever it was that thing was.

"Okay, Cubey, let's go find the Titan!" Took whispered in its ear. Cubey turned its head and looked at her. "Take us to where the Titan is. You know? The Teye-Tain!"

'Saying it slower isn't going to make-' Lars bit his tongue as Cubey jumped away. 'Ow.' He said it more out of reflex than anything else. Ghosts couldn't get hurt or feel pain. He'd actually love to feel any sensation now, even pain, but he bet he'd change his mind if he ever did get hurt.

Cubey latched onto the wall like a Tallguard and began to race up it. Lars grudgingly admitted that he was climbing faster than anyone but an actual [Climber]. To be fair, there was a reason why they used animal mounts in the first place.

It was surreal as the fog parted before them due to Took's magical item. They could only see about a foot ahead of themselves, but that didn't seem to deter Cubey in the slightest. The animal, construct, whatever, smoothly transitioned to a horizontal run as it breached the fog and made it onto the rooftop.

Lars looked around. It was important for a Tallguard to always be aware of their surroundings - especially what was above them. Cats of all sorts loved to lounge on trees and pounce on unsuspecting Fraerlings. That had been his very first lesson as a trainee.

Lars saw a grid of islands in a sea of mist. The fog didn't reach high enough to fully engulf the Tallfolk's tall houses, so that left each roof its own little bastion. They, however, weren't alone. Lars spotted the walls, which weren't that far away. Dullahans patrolled on top of them.

More relevant were the [Mages] that he could see spread out on the roofs. They all held crystal balls that he assumed were scrying orbs and were peering over the edges and into the fog-filled streets with them.

It was strange in that the [Mages] didn't look like Dullahans, and it was complete over-kill for... Actually, Lars still didn't know what was going on. So having multiple [Mages] scry into the fog might make perfect sense.

Cubey raced across the rooftops. It ducked and swerved around the chimneys and pipes. As usual, Tallfolk were too busy looking at other things to notice the Fraerlings beneath their feet. In this case, the [Mages] were focusing their attention into the fog. Cubey expertly scurried behind their backs as he leapt from one house to another.

The sounds of battle began to grow louder as they rapidly moved across the city. Beneath them, the fog began to thin as armored figures clashed in the streets below. The fog clearly came from a Skill, but it looked like pure magic could drive it back.

Annoying really. The way the Tallfolks below used their power. It was easy to produce that much mana when they were so big. In contrast, Took's weather device was far more efficient... if limited in scope. It parted the fog instead of spending power and effort to forcibly disperse it.

They came to a group of [Knights] chasing a squad of Dullahan archers. At least Lars was pretty sure that the people on horseback weren't Dullahans. This whole thing seemed like the different Tallfolk races were fighting each other.

It looked like a classic rout. He wasn't a [Strategist], but it seemed like a bad idea for archers to not have anyone screening them - especially against mounted forces.

Then again, from up here he could see that there were other troops the cavalry had broken away from. Amidst them were numerous headless bodies. That probably meant that...

Yes.

The [Archers] had ambushed the [Knights]. The Dullahans seemed unimpeded by the fog. So it was clearly a [Skill] from one of them or a mass-Spell or something similar. They'd passed by other groups of Dullahans mounting attacks from within the mists.

So it made sense that this one had done the same thing, but had lost their front-line people in the counter-attack. The [Archers] were running away to regroup. If their opponents didn't have horses to run them down with, it might have worked.

As the [Archers] dropped their bows and pulled out padded swords, Lars wondered two things. First, why were all the Tallfolk using weapons wrapped with cloth to cushion their blows? And second, why had Cubey stopped to watch this fight in particular?

The thing had seemed to understand when Took had asked it about the Titan - and it seemed to know where it was going. So why-

The wall of one of the buildings exploded as a fourteen foot tall armored figure charged into the [Knights].

"Well... I guess that's technically correct." Took mused from in front of him.

'Y-yeah.' Lars agreed. While that wasn't THE Titan, it certainly could be considered A titan. 'I think that's a [War Walker]. The ghosts talked about them.'

"A [War Walker]?"

'Dullahans that gain levels that result in them getting bigger and stronger.' Lars shook his head. 'But they're usually smaller.' At least if what he'd been told was true. He didn't see any reason for the other ghosts to have lied to him which meant. 'I think whoever that is... is high level.'

It was a figurative slaughter.

The War Walker only wielded a shield. He also didn't stomp the [Knights] flat like he could have. Lars knew a lot about that as a Tallguard. The giant fighting the less-tall Tallfolk was basically the same as a Tallfolk fighting Fraerlings.

Stomping was easy. Levels only helped so much against overwhelming physical force. Tallfolk could also sweep through Fraerlings like they weren't there. The [Knights] clearly had no idea how to fight someone so much bigger than they were.

In contrast, the War Walker seemed to know what he was doing as he gently grabbed an opponent and gently slammed them on the ground. 'Gently' being a relative term. It was clearly better than being stomped, punched with a fist as big a as your chest, or tossed who knows how far. It was equally clear that the [Knights] that were manhandled in such a way were out of the fight.

They were, surprisingly, not dead.

Yep. That War Walker definitely knew what he was doing.

---

Niers watched Xol overwhelm the squadron in the scrying orb.

The fight itself was straightforward after that point. The maneuvering beforehand had been the important part. He'd been using [Bird's Eye View] to keep track of the relevant forces beforehand, so he'd expected the outcome.

In truth, it was a little annoying that the main Wistram feed that was sent out to the scrying orbs had only focused on the final battle. Sure, it was expected, but for him personally it would've have been nicer if they'd kept on showing images of elsewhere in the city.

He was just about to refocus his Skill when he saw it. The golem.

It was to be expected, he supposed. He'd arranged with Dincal for some of the cubic creatures to be inside of the city. So far, they'd proven how skilled at subterfuge they were. That was one of the reasons he'd done so. You had to test your skills, troops, and assumptions before you used them in important scenarios. Information was power.

Interestingly, the Wistram feed cut off right before the [Mage] watching the battle would have turned just enough to get the construct in his field of view.

Even more interesting was the expression on Teura's face.

It had been subtle. A widening of her eyes before she switched to a faint scowl.

Niers, in return, smiled widely.

The second part of this particular plan had succeeded. After all, there'd been rumors from the magical school of a new Archmage: Pixel the [Archmage of Cubes]. Details were sparse. A rumor that one of the [Sailors] who'd docked there had overheard. Nothing substantial, but he'd recalled the name in one of the reports that had passed across his desk.

[Archmage of Cubes]

A creature made of cubes.

The possible connection couldn't be ignored. However, as powerful as the Forgotten Wing Company was, they were mainly limited to Baleros. Niers got information from all over the world, but an active investigation would have been impossible.

Well, not strictly impossible, but complicated. Doubly so for Wistram. Their island had plenty of visitors in all of the [Merchants] and [Sailors], but only graduates and students were allowed inside. There weren't even any [Cleaners] or [Custodians] that could be bribed or infiltrated by a [Spy].

Zelkyr's creations had eliminated that avenue of entrance quite thoroughly. The best you could hope for was a [Chef] looking for some extra money, but Wistram hired the best [Chefs] and paid them well. Thus, confirming the connection between Pixel and the hamster had been... difficult.

Dincal, of course, had argued against it.

His fellow Faerling however didn't know about two other relevant pieces of information:

1. There were people from another world who had 'magical' devices that weren't magic.
2. There were rumors from the Empire of Sands about cubic artifacts appearing in their cities.

The first part could explain how an Archmage-level person could simply appear without any history. Although, there were plenty of high-level people that avoided attention. It was really only the timing that raised his suspicions.

The second point was far more relevant.

Cubic artifacts, a cubic creature, the [Archmage of Cubes]. Honestly, it was so blatant that he half-suspected that it was all a ploy of some kind. If the golem hadn't come to him via a Fraerling city, Niers would've suspected a grand scheme of some sort.

But, since it seemed far more likely that his encounter with the golem was happenstance, Niers' other theories had to be given greater weight.

Teura's reaction was all the confirmation he needed. She recognized the golem. Furthermore, she'd kept it from being broadcast on the scrying network. While there were other possible reasons for such a thing, the only one that really fit was that Pixel had made the golem in the first place.

Wistram would keep its own secrets.

Now the only real question was how Pixel and the visitors from another world were connected. Niers didn't believe in luck or coincidence.

---

"Huh." They'd left the fight between the Tallfolk and the Tallerfolk behind, only to encounter a different obstacle. Pinky looked at the nets that were blocking her path. The mists had nearly caused them to run into the trap, but Cubey had pulled up short. "What in the world is that?"

'It looks like a Fraerling-catching net to me, runt.' Lars floated off of Cubey and got closer. 'Why else would the Tallfolk make such a fine mesh.'

Pinky frowned. He had a good point. The net was strung up so that it covered the entire way forward. "Let's go around?"

'That won't work.' Lars shook his head and pointed up through the thinning mist. 'Look. It's almost a dome. You can see where it curves to cover the sky.' He then pointed to the right side. 'There's also a curve there. This is to keep people out... or to keep someone in.'

"The Titan!" Pinky gasped. It was all so clear! "They've surrounded Lord Astoragon!" She looked at Lars. "What do we do?"

Her friend frowned. 'I'll go in. I can't get too far from you without passing back into the Deadlands, but I might be able to see something if the mist lets up on the other side.'

"But..." If he vanished like that, it would take time for her [Skill] to be able to call him back. Pinky would be alone. "Okay." She petted Cubey's fur. It was scary going along with someone else's idea. She had no clue as to how 'Foolish' Lars' plan was.

The [Ghostly Presence] nodded and stepped through the net. Lars vanished inside of the swirling mists, and for a second the world was quiet.

'Run!' Lars' voice came as a muffled shout. 'Run, Took, run! It's an ambush!'

Pinky suddenly got the impression that it would be very 'Foolish' to stay where they were. Or to run to the left. Or to run to the right. Or to try and hide.

A Dullahan in pitch black armor with his head in one hand, and a club in the other burst out of the mist on the other side of the net. "It's no use trying to hide." He grumbled as he moved his head side to side. It was only the fact that Pinky and Cubey were so close to the ground that he hadn't noticed them.

That would change in a moment.

Pinky knew she should run, but if she did, she'd be leaving Lars behind. The rational part of her mind told her that she could just call him again in an hour when [Ghostly Whispers] was ready again. It would take longer for [Ghostly Presence] to become available, but it would if given enough time. Lars was already dead. It wasn't like this was the end.

...She still couldn't bring herself to abandon him.

Cubey, on the other hand, had no such qualms. Indeed, the Miniature Giant Space Hamster clone had no idea that Lars even existed. So it only came as a surprise to Pinky when she realized she was suddenly racing away from the net on the back of her cubic companion.

"[Sentry's Sight]."

"[Detect Heat]."

"[Tremorsense]."

More Dullahans had appeared on the other side of the net and were using skills and spells. Squadrons were also converging from the outside.

"There's no one here."

"I'm telling you, [Detect Presence] went off." The replying voice sounded contrite as it faded into the mists. "But, it was really faint. I could-"

And then Pinky was alone again as Cubey carried her away.

---

Riley pressed her hand against the door. Nope. Nothing from this side. The Stranger effect of the Minotaur's charms was directed outwards. If she wanted to experiment with it, she'd need to step outside of the house their group had commandeered.

Well, 'commandeered' was a strong word.

The Lizardperson had let them inside and seemed to be excited to be part of the game.

That was just another reason why she shouldn't open the door and step outside. She'd love to try and see just how a 'warding charm' worked. Especially since she knew it existed. Could it remove knowledge of itself? How exactly did it hide the warded area? Did it make it un-see-able? Or was it like Badgy's 'you don't notice me' effect?

"Yeah. I’m part of a company. The United Nations company. We’re based in Talenqual."

Riley paused and looked over. That was a strange name for a company. She looked at Luan closer. Could he be one of the people from Earth Iota? It would be easy to tell. She'd just have to cut him open and look for things like microplastics. Even with being here and getting galas muscles of his own, it would be simple to notice pollutants that didn't exist on this world.

Or... she could just ask him, she supposed.

"How many nations are part of your company? Don’t answer; it’s a terrible name for a company. You should change it." Venaz snorted at Luan.

"Venaz is a terrible name for a Minotaur. You should change it." He replied back. While Luan was working for this group of students, he clearly still held a grudge against the Minotaur.

"Argue over names later. It’s time to make a decision. Wil’s forming up. He’s going for the decisive blow as well." Marian, the Centauress, literally got in the middle of their argument.

Riley sat back and watched as they argued over what to do next in the game. All the knights on horseback were the doing of one of their friends. A human noble named 'Wil'. He'd apparently gotten his country on another continent to send him a small army for this game.

It also, apparently, hadn't been enough. At least not enough for an overwhelming victory. Instead he and the Iron Legion - those were the Dullahans - had been in a rough stalemate for a while. The scrying orbs - which were like TV - were showing that the knights were regrouping for a final push.

Riley wondered if she should offer to use some of her knockout gas. The problem was that without her supplies, she only had what was contained inside of her dress and her body. That wasn't enough to take out an army.

Though... she COULD make a self-perpetuating gas where it was a virus that spread in clouds and sedated its victims before using them as a cloud-breeding ground...

No. She shook her head. That would take a couple of days to make even with her supplies. It would take significantly longer without them. Besides, they'd only paid her ten gold. Presumably, that was a decent chunk of money, but not a 'take out an army' amount.

You got what you paid for, and Marian was running out of cash.

The conversation had turned towards bribing members of the other side. A valid strategy, but a plague to sew discord in their ranks would work even better...

Umina, the Lizardgirl, went off on her own. Marian was upset, but her and the Minotaur decided to exit their safehouse and join in the fight.

They were almost immediately ambushed.

...

"Venaz of Hammerad! Turn and face me, coward!" A large, armored figure threw away their staff and challenged the Minotaur. "I am Shailt of Tergim. I challenge you to a duel. Fists. Run and forfeit your honor."

Actually... Riley narrowed her eyes. The horns on their helmet looked natural. Her voice was higher pitched, and while the now staffless fighter had regular feet and not hooves... Riley was pretty sure she was a Minotaur too!

A Minotauress!

Her eyes gleamed. There were two of them!

Shailt took off her helmet and dropped it to her side before spreading her arms. Her Dullahan troops and the knights they were fighting backed away to create space around her.

"Never!" Venaz roared as he charged his countryman.

The two met in a clash that seemed to shake the earth. Punches, kicks, headbutts, and more were used as the two armored fighters brawled.

The general melee around them raged on as Human knights fought with Dullahan soldiers. Riley stayed close to Luan to keep him safe while Marian shot people with padded arrows if they got too close. Luan seemed to have picked up a table leg from somewhere and was using it as a club.

That would've been rather ridiculous, except that even the Human knights were wielding wooden swords - even wooden greatswords. There honestly wasn't much difference in those and a table leg.

Shailt tossed Venaz across the street and into the wall of a house. However, as she charged towards him, the Minotaur rolled out of the way and came to his feet already swinging. Despite their armor, the two Brutes were landing blows that clearly winded each other.

Riley looked away as an armored figure slashed at Luan. The runner was too slow and got a cut along his arm. Well, more of a gash really. The wooden sword of his opponent hadn't really pierced his skin so much as it had gotten its tip caught and had torn away some flesh.

Riley stepped forward and kicked the enemy in his side. She wasn't as strong or as skilled as Kevin, but she could target his liver just fine. He doubled over in pain as she pulled Luan away.

"Here. Let me see that."

"What?" He tried to pull his arm away. "I know you're a healer, but now isn't the time! We need to be fighting if we way to get-"

"Done."

"What?" Luan looked at her blankly before glancing down as his arm. The stitches weren't her best work. They were still clearly visible, but they'd stop the bleeding and let his arm heal naturally. Or, more likely, keep some blood in his body until he splashed on of those healing potions on it. "Did you?"

Riley turned to see what she'd missed just in time to see Venaz punch Shailt's jaw. A punch that struck her unarmored face, and which he hadn't been holding back. Time seemed to slow down as the Minotauress' jaw shattered before she bonelessly collapsed to the ground.

Venaz' eyes went wide. He bellowed as he stood over his fallen opponent. A look of panic and grief was on his face.

"Healer!"

Notes:

Note: Some dialogue was taken directly from the Wandering Inn.

Chapter 80: The Game at Daquin 5

"Healer!"

Riley strolled forward to the fallen Minotauress. The underling Dullahans also tried to approach, but Venaz drove them back. Without their commander, the Human knights surged forward. By her un-expert opinion, the Humans would win this battle of the game.

But that wasn't important right now.

"Can you help her?" Venaz loomed above Riley.

"Yep!" She twisted her left wrist and pulled on of her emergency scalpels out of her forearm with her right hand. "No problem!" The hardest part was over - taking out her equipment without causing a fuss.

Should she change one of her fingers back into a scalpel? That would make times like this easier. It would also mean fewer darts per day, and people would definitely notice her fingertips cutting flesh. Still, a back-up weapon might come in handy.

Heh. 'Handy.'

She knelt by her patient and gave her a quick once-over. Her jaw was much thicker than a Human's. Minotaurs definitely seemed to be Brutes by their very nature. The question was how much magic was involved? Riley couldn't do some proper exploratory surgery, but there was a lot of information she could glean from repairing the shattered jaw.

Well, a lot of information Surgery could glean. However that worked.

Shailt's skin was tough. Her custom-grown scalpel didn't quite have a molecular edge... but it was close. Despite that, the Minotauress' dermal layer was surprisingly durable. Riley focused on her cells.

Yep. Galas muscle.

She was starting to see a pattern of how the magical cells formed in sapients. In the animals of the Dyed Lands, there had been concentrations. As per its name, Galas muscles tended to gather in muscles mainly. Bones second. Skin third.

Galas cells were much rarer in the people she'd been operating on. Dullahans had the most, but their Galas were... different somehow. It was doubtlessly a 'magic' thing - since all magic wasn't the same.

What would happen if she took some Dullahan spatial Galas cells and put them inside a Human? Probably nothing good.

In any event, after piercing Shailt's outer skin, the rest of the muscles and tendons around her jaw were easily cut away. She most likely had a skin 'skill'.

"Do you have a healing potion?" Riley asked Venaz as she operated.

"Yes! Here!" He shoved a potion in her face and she pushed him away. "It's a high quality one!"

"Not yet. I just wanted to confirm there was some on hand."

Magical healing shared a lot of similarities with some parahuman powers. The one she had the most experience with was Kevin's of course. Her brother's power was incredibly refined and could rearrange existing bio-matter as well as empower cells to both mutate to and grow other healthy flesh.

Compared to that, the healing potions of this world were lacking. They basically did the last part, but without any rearranging or mutation. Those were limitations that could be ignored for some injuries, but not others.. Case in point: if Shailt drank a healing potion right now, she'd be deformed for life.

Or, at least, deformed until she found someone that could fix her condition. There might be specialized 'classes' out there that could do what Riley was about to do by hand.

But... she doubted that. Unless they could sense and move bone with their minds, they'd have to cut Shailt open. Putting someone together after that was... tricky.

For everyone else. For Bit, it was like doing a jigsaw puzzle.

She used the tip of her scalpel to move a shard of bone back into place. Her Passenger provided the knowledge of where EXACTLY it needed to be. Each individual cell would line up. The ones on the edges were beyond repair - at least with what she had on hand, but that wouldn't be an issue.

All the damage she was both inflicting and repairing would heal on its own if kept in place. If she didn't have a healing potion on hand to accelerate that process, she'd have to resort to other things.

As she continued to maneuver shard after shard back into position, the idea for how she could alter the blood to form a spackle that would be able to both hold the bones together as well as fuse all the biggest arteries and veins.

She pushed the plan out of her mind. The healing potion would do all of that, she just needed... to...

"There." Riley nodded to herself as the final segment of the jaw settled into place. "Pour the potion on her now."

Venaz turned from where he'd switched from fending off Dullahans to fending off Humans. "Okay." He knelt next to them and carefully began to drip the potion into the still open wound.

Oooo.... that was interesting!

Not that the Minotaur was smart enough to not splash it all over the place. Rather, how the potion was reacting with the damaged cells.

Shailt's jaw had a higher concentration of galas cells than the Dullahan, Human, and Lizardfolk specimens she'd gotten to see. Just like her dermal layer, it was a question of if that was a natural Minotaur biology, or if she had a skill that had empowered her in some way.

It could also be a combination of the two. Without further samples to examine, she couldn't know for certain.

The potion, however, was making more galas cells!

Not every cell that it repaired in the jaw mutated, but enough did so that Riley could still tell where the fractures had been due to the increased galas concentration.

That meant... that magical healing potions worked by infusing their magic into a person's cells! The excess that wasn't needed instead pooled in individual cells until they mutated.

It was really interesting to see. She'd have to examine the process with a microscope to get more details - which might pose a problem. She didn't think that healing potions did anything to dead cells, so she would have to use a live subject-

Shit!

The healing potion wasn't working well with the open wound around the jaw! No time for daydreaming!

Riley's hand blurred as she made small and precise cuts. She excised the duplicated flesh and pressed the proper segments together. They immediately fused as the healing potion worked its magic.

Honestly... she could probably just push everything together with her hands. The healing potion wasn't making NEW cells. It was just regrowing each half. Sure, given the amount of surface area there was, it would've only resulted in slight soreness and puffiness...

But if she was going to do something, she was going to do it well!

...Unless it was part of an experiment to see just how messing something up would work.

---

Luan watched Bit with wide eyes. Was there really someone like her in this world? Someone who could operate on people instead of just giving them a healing potion? Geneva was, but she was from Earth. The little girl in the fancy dress was cutting someone open with the same cool confidence.

"Dead gods." The [Healer] that had rushed over at Venaz' call watched alongside him. "I've never seen something like that before!"

"I have." Luan replied, but he was still in shock.

"You have?" The man turned to him for a second before looking back at the ongoing operation.

"Yeah." Luan nodded. "My company has the most skilled [Doctor] in the world." Possibly.

This place was so far behind technologically. How could a [Lady] from Terandria actually know something about surgery? Was Baleros just... a back-water? This continent was certainly wild with its jungles and mercenaries.

"Luan." He glanced over as Marian came up to him. She jerked her thumb over her shoulder a a [Knight] who'd taken off her helmet to reveal a mess of long auburn hair. "We're going to go see Wil."

"Right now?" He looked back at where Venaz was still keeping people away from the fallen Minotauress.

"In a moment." The Centauress pawed at the ground with one of her front hooves. "I don't think Venaz will leave with us, and after seeing what Bit can do, I'm fine with waiting 'till she's done too."

"Yeah." Luan mumbled as the girl began to apply healing a potion. He hadn't watched many of Geneva's surgeries, but he'd seen her use healing potions in them. Compared to Bit, the United Nation's [Doctor] was much more precise. She applied potion a drop at a time instead of pouring it over a wound.

Okay, well, he'd seen Geneva pour potions on wounds too. He really was in no position to judge who actually was a better surgeon.

Still...

Luan was lost in thought after Bit finished her operation. The four of them went with the Humans to see this Wil person. He was apparently one of Venaz and Marian's classmates and the brother of the auburn haired [Knight] - Talia.

The meeting went pretty much as he'd expected. Venaz was abrasive, but Wil had wanted to join forces.

Why wouldn't he? Luan was no [Strategist], but even he could see the Iron Vanguard was winning the war despite losing some battles.

Luan didn't pay much attention as Marian proposed his idea of bribing Forgotten Wing units to switch sides. It was his idea in the first place, but it apparently wasn't feasible now. A Gnoll with Wil then proposed an interesting idea.

Instead of bribing the other combatants... the Gnoll began to give a speech to the citizens of Daquin. She implored them to take part in the game and to fight against the Iron Legion. Soon a mob had gathered behind her as she marched off.

"We have one problem, though." Wil looked conflicted as the Gnoll left.

"Which is? You’ve just been given an army of tens of thousands! What could be wrong now?" Venaz snorted.

"No one can stop Xol. Without lances, the [Knights] have as much chance of slowing him down as..." Wil shook his head. "We tried ropes and he pulled a dozen horses off their hooves. Could Centaurs do better, Marian?"

"Uh—"

That sounded like a 'no' to Luan. However... they were still treating this like a battle instead of a game. Underhanded tactics were something that could be used. If bribery failed...

"Let me try." Luan spoke up. He had a plan.

---

Pinky had a plan.

She couldn't get through the net. She couldn't go over the net. She couldn't go around the net.

Well... she MIGHT be able to get through it with a [Scarlet Beam], but she could only use it twice a day and it was a beam - not a slash. If this was a less serious situation, she'd definitely try. It was a wonderfully 'Foolish' thing to waste a resource on step one of a plan that had no other steps.

But... no. She had to save it if she was going to save the Titan.

The net was too tall to go over. Not without touching the net itself that was.

Presumably there had to be at least one way through it somewhere. The Tallfolk had to get in and out, right? But that way would probably be guarded. Her [Rouge] skills might not be good enough. She only played at being a [Rogue] after all.

So... she'd come up with her plan.

Sure, it was 'Foolish', but not THAT 'Foolish'.

Her mom had told her a story once. About how the allotment had been exceeded, and how that in turn had attracted Mana Moths. They had come non-stop to their city and the Tallguard had been forced to deal with each and every one because letting them feed would only have attracted bigger animals and made things worse.

So, it had been a grueling week with every Tallguard working triple shifts and responding to the slightest disturbance.

Given that the net was being watched by Tallfolk that could even detect ghosts - kinda, they were clearly very sensitive about disturbances.

"C'mon Cubey!" Pinky urged her only ally. "Let's circle around and come at it from another street!"

Cubey blinked at her before racing off. Pinky giggled at how fast she was going. [Adrenaline High] was kicking into gear!

The pair raced through the fog. Cubey had gotten used to the small bubble of clear air Pinky was projecting. The cubic animal had wonderful reflexes and dodged out of the way of obstacles and turned corners despite its rapid pace. Once again, the net appeared out of the fog, and Cubey skidded to a halt.

Pinky took out her dagger. It was small, even for a Fraerling, but it was sharp. She grabbed the net and started sawing through it.

She was almost done when [Foolish Thoughts] went from 'this is stupid' to 'this is very stupid'.

"Let's go!" She whispered in Cubey's ear and her mount raced off into the fog. Tallfolk were coming down the street - doubtlessly trying to surround her, but like all Tallfolk - they never looked at where they were walking.

---

"What's a War Walker?" Riley asked Luan as she trailed after him.

He turned and gave her an incredulous look. "You don't know?"

"Nope!" She smiled up at him with her biggest grin.

The City Runner sighed, but replied. "When a Dullahan gets the right class, they can grow bigger. They get stronger and tougher, but are also bigger targets."

Class-based evolution? Suddenly some of the observations she'd made about Lizardfolk made sense.

"Is that what Nagas are?"

Luan turned and frowned at her. "Yes..." They walked in silence for a while. Riley was sure he was thinking about something.

...But there was an important matter to discuss first. "So, what is it you know about War Walkers?"

"Huh?"

"I said: 'What is it you know about War Walkers?'"

He narrowed his eyes. "I'll tell you if you tell me something in return."

"Okay!"

"Where did you learn to perform surgery?"

For some reason, that seemed like a loaded question. Riley considered her answer. She wanted to be honest, but she also probably shouldn't tell anyone about being a Parahuman. Pinky still didn't believe her, and others might not either.

"I learned on my own."

He looked surprised. "Really? How could you..."

Riley sighed. "Look. There was a bad situation, okay? And my family were hurt. I had to help them and so I did. I wasn't as good then, but I got better and better."

"Oh." He looked away and resumed walking. "Sorry. I didn't mean to pry into something like that. I had just thought that you might've gone to a school for it... or something..."

"Nope." Riley followed at his side. "I have read a lot since then, but I'm just naturally better than everyone else." Hmmm... That sounded conceited, even if it was true. She should change the subject. "So what is it you know about War Walkers? Some secret vulnerability?"

She was curious if it was a genetic flaw. That's why she'd followed Luan instead of going with the army. It was a little selfish to indulge her curiosity like this instead of helping with any casualties, but she wasn't really needed - even more so than normal. Honestly, the healing potions they had worked just fine against real wounds. Against bruises from the game?

Yeah. There was no real point unless Venaz shattered someone else's jaw again. Or someone panicked and used something nasty. Or someone got unlucky.

"No... no." Luan smiled. "Nothing like that." He chuckled as he tossed the bag with the silver coins up and down. "In a real fight, there would be nothing I could do, but this isn't that."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. So things that wouldn't work in an actual battle are fair game. Stuff like bribing healers or other soldiers. Things that are discounted because they wouldn't work normally."

"I think I understand, but if this Xol person is a bigshot, you won't be able to bribe him." Riley was starting to get a bad feeling about this. "Not with that amount of money."

"It's not him I'll be bribing." He pointed at a window that had children peering out of it. "It's them."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Riley stepped in front of him. "What are you talking about?"

"War Walkers never hurt children." Luan smiled smugly at her. "Once a Dullahan becomes a War Walker, they can't have kids, so they're very protective of them."

Riley stared at him blankly. "What." Her voice was flat.

"They'll be safe, have fun, and earn some money!"

"Using kids to prey on a person's better instincts to win is something a supervillain would do!" She crossed her arms and glared at him. She should know. She'd seen Jack do the same exact shit dozens of times. He'd done it to HER! He'd done it to HER FAMILY!

"Easy there." Luan held up his hands. "This is just a game."

"Oh yeah?" She stepped forward while grabbing a bow from her dress. "Then why not use children as a human shield for all of it? Huh? Why not walk around carrying a baby?"

"It's not-" Luan's reply was cut short as the anesthesia from her crushed bow knocked him out. The tall man crumbled to the ground.

Riley glared at his unconscious form. She wanted to kick him. Or leave him in the middle of the street so that someone might come by and trample him. Or rob him. She let out a sigh and grabbed his shoulders and hauled him into an alley.

"I'll come back later." She turned and walked away while muttering 'maybe' under her breath.

She wasn't a saint, but really? Using kids as human shields?

Riley wished she had her backpack so she could whip up a mood stabilizer. Instead she took in a deep breath and decided what to do. The rest of the students were counting on Xol to be neutralized or delayed. Plus, she was curious as to how big a War Walker was. From what she'd gathered they were usually about two times taller than a regular sized person. So... twelve-ish feet?

Xol was supposed to be even bigger.

Drugging him... probably wouldn't work. Not with something 'normal'. Even if she disregarded the galas cells that War Walkers must have a significant amount of in order to be so big, getting the dosage right would be tricky - and that was assuming she'd have time and the supplies needed to synthesize something.

Still... she had a trick or two under her skin.

Riley smiled and skipped down the street. She knew she was reverting and acting childish to get herself in a better mood... but it worked.

---

Xol of Ingrilt moved down the street.

Despite his size, he had to move slowly with all of the people that were crowding the street. The rest of the [Soldiers] that had accompanied him had already rushed ahead to the rally point. This was the endgame, and the final fight of this mock battle would soon take place. A Lizardfolk kicked him as Xol reached down to brush a group of Centaurs out of the way.

He didn't know how the Titan's students had rallied the citizens of Daquin to their side. Had Tulm expected it? Was it within the scope of his plans? Like Xol, if Tulm the Mithril was allowed to fight without care or concern, he would win.

...And nothing would be left behind.

The rules of the game, the location, and now an army of noncombatants... They were chains that bound them both and were stronger than Mithril. If only...

As if in answer to his unspoken desires, Xol turned the corner and came across an empty street. Empty - save for a sole human girl. He moved to carefully step past her, but she ran to block his path.

"Move, child. Please. I am needed."

"Yep! And I'm here to stop you!" The Human said in a high-pitched voice while smiling innocently up at him.

Xol sighed and reached down to gently pick her up. He knew not what was going through her head, but children often got up to foolish things. "Where are your parents?" From the way she looked and acted, he'd bet she was Terandrian. She looked too small to be a [Lady] herself, but everyone looked small to Xol. She was obviously part of the forces that had landed in the harbor.

"Wow!" She nimbly dodged out of the way. "You really are big! I'd love to examine you when this is over."

Xol didn't know what to make of that statement and he had no time to spare. He started walking slowly. As agile as she was, he probably could've moved faster - but any mistake he made didn't result in just a scraped knee. "Desist with this, child. I do not wish to hurt you."

"Right." She stepped out of his way. "I was doing this to keep you from... never mind. I'm not your opponent." She jerked her thumb to the empty street in front of him. "He is."

"What?" Xol had suspected a trap, but he still saw-

A pure white monster suddenly appeared. It looked... like a bear/crab chimera. The creature pounced and its considerable bulk met his own.

[Sturdy Stance].

Xol was a [Juggernaut]. The animal, while large compared to regular people, still didn't have more mass than him. Even without his Skills, it wouldn't be enough to topple him. He grabbed it to pull it off...

[Grip of Iron]. Xol's hands clenched down on the claws that were gripping his sides. His hands were as strong as metal. He'd just pry it off... and... and...

It. Just. Wouldn't. Let. Go!

Xol began to punch it. He was bigger and stronger. He also had no qualms about killing something like this. [Grand Punch].

He heard its bones snap over its roar.

It still clung to his body as it tried to bite and claw him. It was as tenacious as a Selphid [Deathgrip Warrior]!

...

It finally lay unmoving and Xol managed to pry its claws open and disentangled itself from his legs.

"That was pretty impressive." The Human girl said as she clapped. "I wonder if Badgy could take out a regular War Walker, but you're something else, aren't you?"

Xol glanced at her, but she still stood by the side just like she'd done for the entire 'fight'. "I am leaving."

"Okay!" She smiled at him and waved. "I hope to see you around!"

Xol strolled down the street. The final clash had already started and he was late.

This was what you got when you played games with the Titan.

---

"Woo Hoo!!!" Pinky screamed as Cubey raced along the side of the building. Their slash and run away tactic was working great!

...Or so she assumed.

After half an hour of it, she'd stopped laying it wait to see how the Tallfolk responded - opting instead to rush from one point to the next as fast as possible. That, as it turned out, was VERY fast.

"Who's a good cubic hamster?" She scratched his head. "You are!" Pinky giggled before she had an even BETTER idea! "Let's run ON the net!"

It was more 'Foolhardy' than 'Foolish', but it was still a great idea - just as long as they moved around randomly. Running in a straight line that anyone could predict was the bad kind of 'Foolish'.

Cubey obligingly leapt from the building to the net. Pinky, for her part, leaned up and drug her knife across the fine threads. She couldn't cut through the obstacle, but she could fray it some.

"Wait." Pinky frowned to herself. "Something has changed." She concentrated on her Skill. "Cubey, stop here. Now climb up and out of the fog."

To be honest, the fog had been getting thinner and thinner. Plus, as something conjured from a Skill, it was pretty likely that certain Tallfolk could see through it anyways. The fact that it was letting up meant... something.

Probably.

Who knew?

What Pinky did know was that stopping now wasn't 'Foolish'. Neither was climbing up and over the net. As they broke through the cloud layer, she saw the reason why.

"Oh, wow." It was a Tallfolk army. Two Tallfolk armies. Perhaps three? Four? In any case, she finally got to see what was happening. The heavily armored Tallfolk were surrounding the town square. Dozens, no, hundreds of them were standing guard.

But ONLY standing guard. In fact... yes! There! Those were the groups that had been chasing her and Cubey for the last hour. They, along with almost every other armored Tallfolk were gathering at the Southern end of the square.

"Hang on." She meant that both figuratively and literally to Cubey as she clamored on top his side and pulled off her backpack. "Okay, first things first." Pinky took her weather device and put it back inside. She'd have to attach it properly to her tent later. For now... "Here we are!" She pulled out a spyglass. "Let's see what's going on..."

It looked like a different group of armored Tallfolk were massing to the South. There was going to be a fight. Going there would be the absolutely wrong kind of 'Foolish'.

In fact, there was a third group as well. A swarm of Tallfolk that didn't have armor. Sure, the Tallfolk in the center of the town square didn't ALL have... Oh, wait, four groups. Dullahans made up most of the Tallfolk that were defending, but there were also groups of Lizardfolk, Centaurs, and Humans among them. Pinky wasn't a [Strategist], but the non-Dullahan Tallfolk didn't seem as organized as their allies.

Same for the attackers. It looked like all the heavily armored people were Humans, while the disorganized and unarmored force was mostly compromised of Lizardfolk.

Oh! She got it! It was the citizens. They were revolting!

Strangely, as the forces collided, there didn't seem to be much blood. Pinky kept an eye out for the Red liquid, but aside from some broken noses, the whole affair seemed... sedated. No. That wasn't the right word. Restrained? Non-lethal?

"I have no idea what's going on." She confided in Cubey before shifting her focus from the major clash. Dullahans still stood guard around the net... but only a few. Almost all of them were joining the fray. All except... "Hey! There he is!"

She'd found Lord Astoragon! He was in the very center of the square - standing on a stool! A solid line of black-armored Dullahans surrounded him in a circle. His guards? Captors? Whatever they were stood shoulder to shoulder, as if they had orders not to let anyone even approach him.

"Okay, Cubey!" Pinky patted her loyal mount. "We're going to save the Titan!" She suddenly realized what she said was 'Foolish'. "I mean, we're going to save the guy in the center of the square. The one who's normal-sized."

The cubic Hamster waited for Pinky to put her gear away and get a good grip, then it raced up the net to the very top... and leapt. "Woooooo hooooooo!!!!" Pinky cheered as they sailed through the air. She didn't have a plan for what they'd do after getting to Niers. Perhaps both of them could ride off on Cubey?

Down below, a Centauress charged the circle. A Minotaur tried to get past a very shiny Dullahan. The Human forces pushed forward - getting closer to the rope that encircled the place where Niers was.

Just before Pinky landed on a rooftop, she saw a yellow head pop up out of the ground next to the Titan. Then, she was on a roof - racing towards her target!

She and Cubey landed on the ground and sped in between the legs of the Tallfolk - who all seemed to be standing still for some reason.

"Enough! The game is over!" A voice cried out from up ahead.

Pinky burst into the town square. "Lord Titan! I've come to save you!"

---

Niers, who'd just managed to stop laughing after seeing Umina pop out of the ground like an overripe yellow pepper, turned to the Fraerling who'd just ridden up on the golem. The Fraerling who was dressed all in red. The Fraerling who clearly had no idea what was going on.

Ah, if only she'd stayed hidden until after the game was over. Oh well, that was the risk he'd accepted when deploying the cubic beasts. And to think, he'd actually had nearly gotten to the end without anyone but Wistram noticing them.

Not that he'd expected to actually have 'good' luck. Being adaptable and taking opportunities that presented themselves was the better way to win. He glanced around for Perorn. "Would you explain to my kinsman that this was a game, and I do not, in fact, need 'saving'?"

After waiting for other Fraerlings to visit his city for so long, it was gratifying to have two groups show up in such quick succession. Now... how to deal with the golem?

Teura and the Wistram [Mages] were still refusing to broadcast its presence on the scrying orbs. It would become more and more noticeable with each passing second - if he didn't give them something to watch instead. Besides, he DID need to wrap the game up and announce the winners.

He leapt up to the helmet of one of the Midnight Shields. "[Healer]! Healers to the front at once! Everyone else, hold your ground! Weapons down! The game is won! Anyone with a healing potion, bring it out now and treat anyone in dire need! Move back! Slowly—I want those on the outskirts to move back! Disperse! Clear the streets of bodies if you’re uninjured! Anyone who is injured, scream for help!"

...

The announcements were over.

The prizes had been awarded.

The Iron Vanguard had left beforehand. Tulm wasn't the sort to sit around and let his failure be rubbed in his face.

Niers was hiding under the pedestal. It was easy to hide from the scrying orbs. Wistram [Mages] used all sorts of spells for detecting invisibility or skills. It made them reliant, and they overlooked mundane measures.

Perorn, however, was used to him. The Centauress' hooves stopped by the pedestal and he peeked up at her. "Quick, put me on your shoulder. Before they notice me."

She gave him a look like she was considering yelling to everyone where he was, but lowered her hand instead. "Her name is 'Pinky'."

Niers scrambled up Perorn's arm. On her shoulder, obscured by the Centauress' hair, was the red clad Faerling who'd nearly 'won' the game she'd had no idea was going on. "Pinky?" He smirked at her.

"Well, it's a nickname, sir, Titan, and well..." The girl blushed. "It's so nice to meet you! And that you weren't in trouble! I mean, of course you weren't! How could the Titan be in trouble! It would be silly for you to be alone in a dangerous place without all of your troops!"

He held up a hand. "Yes, yes, thank you." It was nice to meet an actual Fraerling fan - even if she didn't seem like a [Strategist]. "Might I ask why you came to find me?"

It obviously was the cubic Hamster. Dincal had said that he had no idea how many of them there actually were. The reports he'd gotten from the [Artificer] during the game suggested that the Hamsters did indeed have some way of communicating. Thus, the most likely scenario was that Pinky had found a Hamster somewhere, and it had brought her to Daquin to be with its brethren.

From there, the game would've looked like an invasion, and the rest had played out in a predictable manner.

"Oh! I wanted to have you help my Human friend!" Pinky nodded. "She's looking for her brother, and I thought: The Titan knows stuff. He could help her find her brother! Since Bit saved my life, like, a lot, I owed her."

"Hmmm..." It looks like he might've made some faulty assumptions. "And the golem?"

"You mean Cubey?"

Niers chuckled. "I suppose I do."

"Oh, well, I found him in the city. He's one of Bit's minions."

"What?" He leaned forward.

"Yeah. Or, like, her brother's? I'm not sure." Pinky shrugged. "She has other ones and well... it's a long story."

"One that I would very much like to hear." Niers began to plot. Others would have noticed both Pinky and 'Cubey'. They wouldn't necessarily respond. Well, Wistram might. "Where is she?"

"I don't know." Pinky smiled guilelessly at him. "We were going to sneak into the city, but she's a Tallfolk, so she probably never got inside."

Niers sighed. "Perorn, could you take us to a secluded spot for now?"

"Fine." Her voice was flat, which was fair. Being so close to the person who had been responsible for her injury all day had been tough on her, even if Tulm had already left.. Perorn limped as she trotted down the street.

Right. His other plot to get in contact with the United Nations Company. That hadn't worked out like it was supposed to. Luan should've been talking about the Last Light of Baleros, which would be an excuse for Perorn to request her to come. That, in turn, would allow the Forgotten Wing company to make contact with the otherworlders without alerting any of the parties that kept track of the Titan's doings.

Instead, that Human [Lady] was getting the spotlight as a [Healer].

Still, the plan could adapt. He'd have to come up with another way to meet the otherworlders, but it did give Perorn someone else to see about her wounded leg. All in all, still a success if her old injury could be treated.

"After that, why don't you go find that [Healer] that repaired the Minotauress' jaw?" He smiled as Perorn warily glanced down at him. "She might be able to help you."

Notes:

Note: Some dialogue was taken directly from the Wandering Inn.

Chapter 81: Interlude - Kasignel

"What?"

I jerked awake... except I hadn't been asleep. I'd been inside some tunnels with some gigantic humanoid ants. Or, possibly, I'd been shrunk down? That would also explain Dragon's loss of mass issue.

I frowned and felt at my body. It was still there. My torso should've been missing after that blue ant had shot... something at me. Something that hadn't triggered Threat Sense. It had made my chest vanish.

Teleportation?

Disintegration?

An illusion?

Looking around, the last part seemed most likely since I was in an impossible place. There was no light. No color. However, I could still see the dark brown dirt of the tunnel walls. Except... there also was no tunnel. I was buried underground, but could still move.

Okay... think.

Whatever the ant had done, it had clearly hampered me. Threat Sense should've picked it up. That meant, it had been a blind spot. There were powers that could directly counter precognition. In theory, it could also be bypassing Gamer's Mind.

However, that was a rabbit hole I didn't want to go down. Just thinking about it was making me anxious.

...The usual calmness from Gamer's Mind didn't come. That's one more argument for this being an illusion. Except, there was a far simpler explanation. Encountering a blue ant that could bypass precognition AND Gamer's Mind? No. The far more simpler scenario was that I was dead, and my mind was inside of Optimize.

Gamer's Mind didn't work in Shardspace. I was well used to that. In fact, this whole scenario felt very similar. It wasn't just the fact that there were overlapping realities. Or that my body was 'less' real than it should be. I'd never been inside of Optimize's Shardspace, but I'd been inside dozens of other Parahuman's.

I regularly stepped into Riley's to take a break from Gamer's Mind.

"Greetings."

I tried to speak with Tongue of Babel... and failed. Party chat was gone. So was my Inventory. I couldn't even pull up my status page.

I think I'm dead.

...Huh. That doesn't really phase me. Probably because I know there's another 'me' out there. My connection with Jagat is gone, so he's still alive. Or I am. I could be Jagat. It's hard to keep track of which body died. If I had my powers, then I could cancel Multiplayer and find out.

Or, it was also possible that I was dead and Jagat had despawned. I slumped down against the tunnel wall. With a little mental nudge, the tunnel became real and the earthen wall became more solid. My body was still transparent, but everything else was just a matter of perception.

That was a trick of Shardspace. If you had multiple realities, you could pick and choose.

What to do next? What even COULD I do?

I let out a sigh and decided to feel bad for myself and worry about Riley and and Sibby for a while.

...

After an unmeasurable amount of time, I stood up.

I might as well explore. While this place was where I died, I was sure Optimize also had my hometown where I'd Triggered somewhere.

Or not. Optimize was originally from the third entity, so its Shardspace might follow different rules.

The tunnels were very well made and uniform. After an hour or two, I started to understand the way they were laid out. I couldn't always head upwards, as that quite often led to dead ends. The rooms were large, but still didn't have much height. In fact, they kinda reminded me of barracks.

Or, rather, storage rooms.

While there were places where 'beds' were carved out of the ground, they could just as easily be called shelves.

The primary tunnel eventually joined with a larger one, which in turn connected with an even bigger one. At that point, my ascent was stymied until I found a smaller tunnel heading upwards. I guess there wasn't much 'traffic' to and from the surface?

In any event, I finally saw the sky again.

Kinda.

There was no sun and no stars. The non-light of the underground persisted up here as well. Similarly, I could still 'see' colors when I tried to look. I could also see different realities that overlaid themselves: a giant mound of dirt, a small farm, an open plain of grass...

Huh.

I could also see the farm halfway through being built. And well lived in. And abandoned and falling apart.

So... not different dimensions like Earth Aleph, but different times. All of history squished together. Interesting.

With no celestial objects and no landmarks, I picked a direction at random and started walking. My first step was normal, but my next carried me miles.

Just like how the landscape was defined by my perception, so too was space.

It was interesting seeing the history of... wherever this was. All the various buildings that had occupied space. I-

A shadow leapt at me!

I stepped away a dozen paces with one step.

What the Hell was that?

I saw another out of the edge of my eye.

'Shadow' might be the wrong word, as there was no light, but it also fit them perfectly. A remnant. A void. Something that I instinctively knew would be dangerous to touch. No. Dangerous to let them touch me. It was a small distinction, but an important one. If I still had my powers, I could fight them.

Instead, I ran.

...

The shadows couldn't keep up, but there were always more ahead of me. I didn't get tired, as I had no body, but I did get weary.

Then, I saw it.

A city that towered overhead. Gigantic walls that encircled it. Not as tall as a sky-scraper, but much, much wider. I took a step, and was in front of it. Gigantic gates barred my path, but they were also open wide.

Ethereal people milled around inside. Not human. They looked more... draconian. Some had wings. All of them had tails and scales. They also all looked more 'solid' than I did, yet they were still insubstantial.

I passed by, largely ignored until a red-scaled one spotted me.

"A human? Bah." He snorted. "How did someone as low-level as you get down here? You should be in the North."

"Excuse me?" I tilted my head. "Low level?" I had been level fifty-one. That wasn't 'low'. Besides, I was the only one with levels in the first place.

Unless... Optimize really liked giving its hosts levels? Was this an entire other planet? They all couldn't have been Parahumans, or rather, Paradragons, right?

"Hah." He gestured at me. "I can tell by how weak your soul is. Half as strong as a new-born!" He breathed a plume of fire that actually felt... hot? "You're new, aren't you?"

"I recently died, if that's what you mean."

"What got you? Did you try sneaking into a Walled City? Typical Human."

"No." I shook my head. "It was these giant ants?"

"The Antinium?" The Drake laughed. "I was killed by them in the Incursion War." I gave him a blank look. "Oh, right. You all call it the First Antinium War these days. Why, I was with General Sserys at Shivering Falls Pass! In fact, I was what you would call his right-hand Drake..."

I half listened to the other ghost as I thought about what this meant. If he had been killed by those same ants... or at least other ants, then this couldn't be Optimize's Shardspace. Not if it mirrored the place where all these ghosts had died. While I understood enough about the third Entity's Cycle to know it essentially uploaded worlds it destroyed, that wasn't what was happening here. I hadn't died in a world that had already been destroyed.

So... the next most plausible explanation was that I had been transported away from Earth Iota, and then killed. That would explain the loss of mass Dragon had detected. I supposed it was possible that I was within a forth Entity. That would explain this afterlife.

"...then an arrow hit me in the knee. I brushed it off, of course, but it slowed me down long enough for the black tide to reach me. I must've killed a thousand of the bastards before they finally took me down!" The Drake looked pleased with himself. I didn't need my empathic notifications to tell me he was clearly either exaggerating or outright lying about his death.

But, what else could ghosts do for fun?

"Why didn't I see any ant ghosts?" I wondered. I had died in one of their 'cities', so there should've been a lot of them around.

"Antinium don't leave behind ghosts." The Drake snorted. "Not that anyone can see. They may be like you, so weak that they're almost invisible. The shadows would finish them off in that case."

"But wouldn't a few get past?" If there were so many, at least some of them should've survived.

"Eh." He shrugged. "Probably don't have any souls. They don't even have levels, so that would make sense."

I frowned. That was the second time he'd mentioned levels. There was clearly something else I was missing. I opened my mouth to ask about it, when a scream came from behind us. Ghosts ran away as a larger shadow stepped into the city.

Unlike the formless shadows that had attacked me, this one had a humanoid shape. It moved with an eerie grace as it seemed to change directions in a way that defied physics. One moment, it was standing still, the next it was chasing a ghost. There was no transition between the actions, but they all looked more like dancing more than anything else.

Each ghost it touched vanished.

"Dead gods, it's a big one." The Drake hissed. "Stand back. I'll handle it."

The red-scaled ghost spread his wings as he inhaled.

The odd thought struck me... what are we even breathing? In fact... I hadn't been breathing at all. I guessed that made sense. No need for air when you're dead. So what was-

The ghost opened his jaws and a gout of flame billowed out. The dancing shadow flinched as it was engulfed, but then let out a disconcerting laugh and pirouetted closer.

"What the-" Those were the last words the Drake got out before he ceased to be. One moment he had been looking at his attacker with surprise, the next? Gone.

It might have been a trick of the light, but the shadow looked a shade darker and larger.

I ran.

Hundreds of thousands of Drake ghosts ran with me. I followed the pack, hoping they knew where they were going. In the end, the ones that stayed behind and hid might've been smarter. The dancing shadow culled us one by one at an insane speed.

I think I was among the survivors because I was so weak. The more 'solid' ghosts seemed to be targeted first. It might of been because they could possibly fight back... or for some other reason. The end result was the same.

Only a tenth of us made it to the next walled city. Perched atop it was an honest to goodness Dragon.

The shadow stayed away.

...

This was hell.

Being by myself sucked. I never was that social in the first place. Now I was without Riley or Sibby. To make things worse, I was a social pariah. There were other ghosts around aside from the Drakes, but we were a minority. Even worse, Humans were NOT liked by the people who'd died here over the ages.

Added to that, there was a social dynamic based upon how powerful - or high-level - someone had been in life. Apparently, my soul didn't reflect my personal power. Or maybe it did. After all, all of my Parahuman abilities had come from Optimize.

In fact, I strongly suspected that my ethereal state was due to my Shard somehow... splitting my soul between my two bodies? Was that possible? Did Shards even know about souls? Heck, I was still half-convinced this whole thing was a hallucination.

Then again, with all the varied powers that Shards could grant, perhaps 'souls' weren't so odd. I'm sure my understanding of everything was skin deep anyways. I doubted I was capable of understanding the universe in the same way that Entities were. All I knew was that I was 'here'.

Which led to the worst issue. Now that I'd found a sanctuary against the shades, and I didn't need food or sleep as a ghost, that left the universal problem: boredom. Or, to put it in plainer terms, there were no video games in the land of the dead!

Ghosts seemed to amuse themselves in four ways: talking about old times, talking about shades and other recent events, 'fighting', and playing chess.

I could listen in on the conversations, but I didn't have much to add - not that I would've gotten a chance due to being a half-souled Human. Along the same vein, I couldn't fight. Frustratingly, I still knew how I was supposed to move to punch someone, but without my muscle-memory or my connection to Optimize, my skill level was far below what it had been in life.

That left chess.

I hated chess.

Not just because I honestly wasn't that good at it, but because it was static. Unchanging. Boring. Sure, they'd come up with variants - like a Dragon piece, but... meh.

I guess this was what Purgatory was like. Only the increased activity of the shades provided any change to the tedium. As far as everyone could tell, there were six powerful ones. How did they become so strong? Nobody knew. Obviously, they grew in strength from consuming souls, but they'd existed for... well... a long time.

I wasn't exactly sure how long, but I think it had been tens of thousands of years at least.

For the shades to grow so much more powerful so quickly, it had be related to either me - or the missing people from Earth Iota. It seemed obvious that if they'd been transported to this world, that a number of them would've also died.

Then, their ghosts might've been consumed.

The timing of things couldn't be a coincidence. I wondered if there was some-

*Installation complete!

[Integration with The Grand Design of Isthekenous complete.

Mana Pool trait created.
Mana Enhancement trait created.]

*Nostalgia Block effect negated by Gamer's Mind.

*Blocked Senses effect negated by Gamer's Mind.

[Welcome Kevin Greenhouse! You have unlocked an expansion to The Gamer! Upon initialization, you have gained 2 traits. Complete personal activities and achievements to grow stronger and shape the world as you like it.]

[Error! Deviation detected. Synchronization impossible. All exp gains negated. All quests disabled. Traits and Perks operating at reduced efficiency. Some options disabled.]

Huh?

*Confusion negated by Gamer's Mind.

I immediately felt calm... but still confused. If I was a soul... how could Optimize connect with me? How could Gamer's Mind work if I didn't have an actual brain?

Then again, I guess that I hadn't had a technical brain whenever Gamer's Body's Breaker state was active anyways. I was software running on Optimize's hardware. Was my soul now connected to my Shard?

Or... was my soul connected to my other self, which was connected to Optimize?

Whatever. I sighed. It was literally impossible for me to understand a fraction of the mechanics of what was going on. I was a caveman wondering at a computer. I lacked even the basic concepts to describe what I was experiencing.

I could, however, test the results.

Gamer's Mind was clearly working. What about Gamer's body?

Mirrors existed in the deadlands... but they were the same as the other surroundings. More the idea of the mirror that had worn itself into the fabric of this reality. There was no actual light. Even if there was, perceiving the mirror was different from actually looking at myself.

I brought my hands to my face and peered at them, then through them. No... nothing seems different. Since I can't take damage there was nothing to test - aside from letting a shade touch me, which wasn't something I was going to go out and do.

Sibby, teleportation, my Babel Perks... nothing seemed to be working, except... for Inventory!

I could sense my Inventory!

...but not take anything out.

With little better to do, I kept its contents in my mind. Eventually, one of the multitude of basic costumes I had vanished from inside of it.

Yes!

I was still alive!

Kinda.

That meant that someone was there for Riley. I slumped against the side of a building and smiled.

...

Over time, it was clear that Gamer's Body was also working. Kinda. My body had become more 'solid'. It was as if the individual cells that no longer made me were being replaced. I was a little grainy when I looked closer, but no one commented on it.

Of course, none of the other ghosts really talked to me, so it was hard to say exactly how noticeable it was. I wondered if when it was done how 'solid' I'd be?

Aside from that, I kept trying to put stuff inside or take objects out of my Inventory.

I had zero success.

While that didn't surprise me, I kept trying. Even one game system I had stored would be heaven.

At least I could sorta keep track of what the me who was alive was doing by what went in and out of the Inventory. It wasn't much, but it was better than watching Drake ghosts play chess.

...

Time passed.

It was hard to say exactly since there was no day or night.

I'd gotten a reputation among the other ghosts as a loner, which was fine. It suited me. There were others like me who stayed on the edges of conversations and didn't speak. I guessed, in a way, it was a social thing. Everyone would naturally have trauma of some kind, and I think the unspoken rules were to just ignore people that wanted to be ignored.

Some things don't change, especially in a city that was overflowing with ghosts. Finding a private place for some solitude was impossible, so I guessed it was natural for the Drakes not to pry.

Gamer's Body slowly accumulated cell by cell. I think I looked like the other ghosts now, but it was hard to say for certain. I definitely didn't think the shades would ignore me if I tried walking to the Human lands. I knew that they were North, and which direction North was, so technically I could try to make the trek.

I had the passing idea to find the ghosts of the kidnapped Earthers... if they still existed, but... how? And also... why? They would either have found sanctuary on their own or not. Just because we'd come from similar worlds wouldn't mean we'd have that much to talk about.

Plus, the shades were getting worse. That was the name that had been given to the six strongest shadows.

There were a few ghosts that traveled from city to city and spread news. They were becoming less and less frequent. It was getting to be that Dragons were the only ones that could do it, and even their visits were few and far between.

The shades grew bolder with each day. The Dragon that stood watch over us had to personally deal with them trying to get inside, and I was getting a bad feeling. It was one thing if it had been those shadows I'd encountered. They'd been... feral. Mindless. Wild animals.

The shades? The dancing one and the others? I'd caught glimpses of them from the walls, and they looked... normal now. Grand. Imposing. But as 'real' as any other ghost. Realer. It was clear that they were getting stronger and stronger and that was causing unrest.

Then... it happened.

Five of them came at once.

The Dragon could drive them off with its breath. The flames it breathed were real in a way that other things weren't. It could hurt them, but it couldn't kill them.

There were others in the city that could fight them too. In some way their souls were strong enough to harm them. However, not a single soul had proven capable of resisting their touch. It was a nerve-wracking fight against immortal Brutes with an All-or-nothing attack.

And five of them were here. They were working together.

The Dragon couldn't be everywhere. Nor could the ghosts that were strong enough to fight. The Shades would be driven off eventually... but how many of us would 'die' first?

I might have enough power from Optimize to fight back. It all really depended on if I had access to a particular Perk and how it interacted with spirits: Juggernaut.

I increasingly felt that there was more than met the eye to that Perk in this place. The fact that when I had been alive, it had let me interact with intangible things meant that the me in the real world might be able to physically punch a ghost. I might be able to imbue my attacks with it here too. I might even be able to hurt a shade... but it wouldn't help protect me. However, one item I'd made had that Perk, because it had EVERY Perk.

If I was right, that meant that I could also wield it as a ghost.

As I looked down at them from the walls, I reached into my Inventory... and pulled out the Golden Gun.

Chapter 82: The War in Tiqr 1

Notes:

Previously: The Siberian appeared in Lailight Scintillation - the capital of Roshal. Roshal is the country of [Slavers] and Sibby was caught and bound as a Djinni. She was sold to Riqre'ma Medaale who performed vile experiments on [Slaves] and twisted them in both body and mind to serve him. Also there was Laila - a Stringfolk [Flayed Slave] who's class let her survive having her head modified. Sibby eventually killed everyone with the help of the memory of William Manton. She and Laila (who's now a [Stitch Selphid] inside the body of her previous owner - Zehia) escaped towards Pomle, and saw the meeting of the rulers. Sibby decided to help Tiqr, and has been waging a one-woman war on the army sent by the Illivere Federation. However, multiple other countries have also sent their armies...

The war was not going well.

Tiqr had skilled people, large animals, intimate knowledge of the terrain, and a willingness to fight to the last breath. In contrast, the opposing nations had more troops. A lot more troops. They hadn't even sent their best [Soldiers]. Any single invading army Tiqr could've easily held off.

All of them?

It was less of a drawn out fight and more of a wild race to protect its citizens from the inevitable.

...And Laila wanted to help.

The problem was that a former bed slave didn't have any Skills that were applicable to the situation. The ones that she still had, despite losing her class, really wouldn't work with her new monstrous body. She'd thought about fighting, but she was no [Soldier].

Zehia's cursed body was faster, tougher, and stronger than most other people, but that didn't help in a war.

...Or so she'd been told.

Even Tiqr's wild troops used discipline. More discipline than others would imagine. They had to. It was the only way to use animals in a war.

In contrast, Laila just didn't have the proper mindset. She didn't really want to fight. She didn't want to hurt anyone. She knew how much pain came from such things, and she just couldn't stand it.

She'd tried to be a [Healer], but her claws got in the way.

She'd tried being an escort, but even skirmishes were too much for her. Her body wanted to go berserk. It took all her effort not to start killing. She knew that if she did... she wouldn't stop at just her foes. The blood class Zehia had was too potent.

But, she'd finally found a way to be useful. Laila had even gotten a new class!

[Runner].

Not [Swift Runner] or [Nimble Runner] or [Barefoot Runner]. Just, [Runner].

It was as basic as could be... and Laila loved it!

There was a thrill of freedom in striding across the plains. It was something she'd remembered doing as a child, but [Slaves] were never allowed to run - not even as exercise.

It also filled her with joy for actually being able to contribute in some small way. There were two major reasons to use a [Runner] rather than relying on Message Spells. The first was that [Runners] were more secure. Important orders and supplies could be delivered by high-level experts without opposing [Mages] intercepting them.

Laila, of course, wasn't that sort of [Runner]. Not only was she a foreigner, she was also low-level. Zehia's body was powerful enough that Laila could sprint for hours, but that didn't make up for her lack of Skills.

However, the second major type of [Runner]? The one that ran two and fro and kept the populace updated? She could do that. It might not seem important, except for the people she visited.

Everyone wanted news. Not just in a passive sense. They needed to know where the invading armies were, so they could run away. Refugees were an issue that Tiqr couldn't overlook, and Laila was making a real difference in their lives when she came to them with news.

She was running to a small village named Lipn near the west side of the northern border. Directly north of Tiqr was the Great Zeikhal Desert. Nothing really lived there, and Tiqr's border was more of a line on the map than anything truly contested. It ran from Pomle to where the Oliphant river curved to the west and into Killale.

At least it was called the Oliphant river in Tiqr because it flowed next to the capital city to the south. Laila assumed it was called something else in Killale.

Liqn was to the east of the river, and as such it wasn't directly in the way of any invading forces. Compared to that, the city that sat on the border and along the Oliphant river - Kanga - was much more hotly contested. Killale had wanted it for years, and they'd pushed hard.

Of course, the Oliphant river let Kanga receive supplies and reinforcements quickly. Further south, Killale was pressing in, but Kanga had yet to be conquered. For now. As a [Runner], Laila got news from all over Tiqr, and she knew the war wasn't going well.

At least she had someone to keep her company while she ran.

Kinda.

---

Long way down.

Zehia was endlessly falling and those words repeated themselves in her mind. It had become a mantra for her. A poetic way to sum up what had happened. She wasn't just falling deeper into her mind, she'd fallen from grace. Fallen out of favor. Been cast aside. It was a...

Long way down.

'I don't think I'll make it on my own.'

The presence spoke to her. Or were those her own thoughts? Zehia couldn't really tell anymore. Not that it mattered. All that mattered was that it was a long way down and she still fell.

'I don't want to live in here alone.'

That... was different.

Zehia mentally paused. That wasn't... it wasn't what the presence was usually like. It had tried speaking to her. Cajoling her. Offering meaningless platitudes or baseless words of advice. This time? It felt more like the presence was talking to itself and Zehia was listening in.

She still was falling a long way down, but... but...

'I don't think I'll make it on my own.'

But she wasn't falling as... fast?

How did that make sense. She had such a long way down, but she found herself listening in. The familiar presence was... sad? Afraid? Lonely?

Yes. Lonely.

That was obvious. The presence had never been alone ever since...

The thought slipped from Zehia's fingers. She'd almost remembered whom the presence was. She almost remembered who SHE was.

Time passed. Zehia fell, but not as fast or as deep. She had nothing except the presence, and now that it wasn't focusing on her, Zehia didn't push it away.

Instead she... listened. A part of her told her she was eavesdropping, but that was... wrong? Okay? Expected? Part of her job?

She felt like she was on the edge of remembering something.

---

The one bad thing about being a [Runner] was the loneliness. Others would probably have said the boredom, but Laila didn't get bored. Doing nothing was something to be treasured.

Then again, solitude used to be something even more valuable. She was never alone. Even when she'd been locked away or in her private chambers, Laila hadn't been alone. There were other people, other [Slaves] that knew where she was. A stifling presence as her time wasn't her own and anyone could come in and order her around at any moment.

The idea that she could be lonely was... absurd.

Of course, there had been people she'd cared for over the years. People like Sibby who treated her nice. Who she looked forward to seeing each day. Not seeing them after they were taken away or killed was...

Yes. She supposed she had felt lonely in the past, just in a different way.

Laila smiled to herself as she kept running. Besides, she wasn't really alone right now, was she? Zehia wasn't much of a talker, but she got the sense that her former owner was listening to her. Part of Laila wanted to go on a tirade.

She could mentally yell about the things Zehia had done to her. About how her ability to have her face cut off was a horrible experience. How the times they'd been together had been degrading.

Laila thought she could even show Zehia those times from her own point of view to make her really understand.

But... why? What would that accomplish? Being angry just made you an angry person. And... Zehia hadn't been that bad. She had suffered enough. She was continuing to suffer.

If anything, Laila should share the moments that she remembered fondly.

---

Black and white.

It was an odd thing for Zehia to think about, but there it was. A stark contrast. Two opposite things. That was how she felt right now. The presence was white, and she was black.

Or... was she white and the SECOND presence was black? The one that she felt even now. The one she was running away from. Falling away from...

Then, another memory came to her. An image of a woman that was black and white. Zehia recoiled as if she'd been burnt. There was something there. Something painful. If not the woman herself, then something that had happened because of the black and white woman.

But... The white presence... was nice. Nice in every way that the black presence was dark.

Zehia began to remember.

They were brief flashes. Disjointed. Out of order. But the way they made her feel was... nice.

...Until something happened. The white world faded and Zehia was left alone with the darkness.

---

"No..." Laila gasped as she entered Lipn's town square.

She'd had a sense of dread as she'd entered the village. The surrounding farms had been abandoned and the streets had been strangely empty. That had been a little unusual. People fled of course, but normally a few stayed behind to fight, hide, or surrender.

Lipn wasn't in the path of any army, so they should've been safe. In fact, Laila was fairly sure that if push came to shove, the people of Tiqr would escape this way. The Zeikhal Desert wasn't exactly the best location to flee to, but considering that every other bordering country was hostile, except for Pomle, there wouldn't be much choice.

Instead of a living, but scared, village. She'd found an execution site. The only thing the village square had held was a stack of corpses.

She heard movement.

Laila turned her head just in time for her improved eyes to see someone laying on the roof with a crossbow!

As fast as she was, as good as her eyes were, and as amazing as this body's reflexes were - she couldn't track the bolt that flew towards her. Laila twisted her body and nearly managed to avoid it. The quarrel took her in her left shoulder and she stumbled to the ground due to its impact and her attempted dodge.

Laila staggered to her feet when another bolt hit her right calf. Pain flared from the wounds but it was nothing. Even without [Ignore Pain] she would've been able to easily push through it. She'd suffered worse.

She half stumbled, half fell around the side of a building as she narrowly avoided the next shot.

What to do? What to do?

She was hurt, but she could ignore it. Her body was strong. She might have a limp, but surely she could outrun... whatever this was?

Laila didn't know. Before that, she had something important to do. Her claws fumbled with her satchel and she pulled out her speaking stone. It wasn't a very good one. Tiqr didn't have a supply of them on hand. It was for emergency use only. It could send a distress Message one time, and that was it.

Laila activated the stone... only for it to glow briefly before turning dull.

That... that wasn't supposed to happen! She'd remembered the instructions she'd been given. The stone may have been a single use item, but it was supposed to glow while it relayed the message. The only reason it would stop would be... if the Message spell had been blocked.

That was when the [Piercing Shot] went clean through the earthen wall of the house she'd chosen to hide behind... and through her chest.

Laila felt her body slumping to the ground.

---

Something was wrong. Something worse than the white presence not talking to her!

Zehia's consciousness stirred as the protective presence withdrew. Without it, without her, there was nothing stopping the black presence.

Zehia howled in pain as her eyes opened for the first time since THAT day.

"Oh, would you look at that?" A group of Humans stood above her. "Not quite dead."

"Look at this." One of them pulled out a seal from a bag. "She was a [Runner]. We're in trouble!"

"Ha! Not likely." Another person wearing the same uniform said with a smug smile. "[Runners] die in wars all the time. The Runner's Guild might make a fuss, but even if they do for some reason, it's impossible to tell exactly where they vanished." He grabbed the seal from the second person and tossed it onto Zehia's lap. "We're fine."

"Shouldn't we bury her or something? Hide the body?" A younger looking Human said from the side.

"Nah." The smug Human grabbed her hair and pulled her head up. "We were going to burn all the corpses anyway. Can't have undead rising at our backs. She'll make good kindling."

"Is, is it okay to say that?"

"What?" The Human let go and turned to the other [Soldier]. "What do you care, Dillver? Huh? She was dead the moment she set foot in this town. Besides." He kicked Zehia's leg. "Look at her. Filthy Stitchfolk turning themselves into monsters! I bet she'd use those claws she had sewn on to gut you in a second."

"Ha." Zehia coughed. "You're right about that."

"Huh?" The Human kicked her again. "What was that you pile of yarn? Got something to say?"

"Yeah... I do..." Zehia coughed again and her blood splattered onto her chest. "First, gloating is stupid. I found that out for myself in a very visceral lesson. Second, [I'm Taking You With Me]."

What an ironic fucking Skill to have gained from leveling up last. She didn't know what it did, but she was about to find out.

Zehia's hand shot out and grabbed the Human's leg. Her claws dug in deep and shredded his calf.

The other [Soldiers] sprang into action. Two raised crossbows at her while one pulled away the person she'd just wounded. The rest raised their swords.

Too slow.

The pain and sluggishness she'd felt had vanished. No, that wasn't quite right. She dodged one bolt while the other suck into her gut. The pain was still there. Worse than before, even, but it was empowering her.

It hurt. It hurt so much.

The dark presence in her mind surged forward as if it had been waiting for this moment... and Zehia welcomed it.

---

Laila desperately tried to stem the bleeding. The crossbow bolt had pierced through Zehia's body. Thankfully, it had missed her heart, but it had struck one of the large blood vessels that came from it.

She didn't know what it was called.

She didn't know how to fix it.

She was a [Stitch Selphid], not an actual Selphid. She'd never met a real Selphid, she'd only heard of them. The walking corpses. The living dead. But... not really. She knew enough to know that Selphids were actually creatures that lived inside of dead bodies.

Repairing them. Animating them, but not with Necromancy.

She understood that. She had experience in exploring Zehia's body... but mainly her nervous system. She understood how things were supposed to work. How the lungs breathed in air. How that air mixed with blood somehow. How the heart moved the blood around.

She could 'see' the air-full blood coming in from Zehia's lungs and into the heart. See it pushed throughout the body. See it return to the heart. And then see it spill out into her lungs.

She knew what needed to be done... but not how to do it!

Laila began to wrap herself around the smaller blood vessels. They weren't doing anything except letting blood out. They'd need to be healed eventually, but stopping the bleeding would have to suffice for now.

Laila focused on the big vein. She had an idea. It was a bad idea, but it was the only one she could think of. She extended herself to the spinal cord and the nerves that ran to the heart... and turned it off.

The body couldn't survive without blood. She knew that. She also knew that it could keep going for a while. Just like how you needed to breathe, but you could hold your breath for a time. That was true for most people. It was true for Zehia, and that's what mattered.

Laila quickly wrapped herself around each side of the damaged area. It was starting to stretch her thin. She... just wasn't that big. A real Selphid could probably do this with ease while still touching the brain. Of course, they'd also have to deal with what was going on outside at the same time.

'Please be safe, Zehia.'

Laila put those thoughts out of her mind and turned her attention to the stitches in the heart vein. Stitches she knew. One by one, she pulled them out. When the last one was removed, the damaged vein became torn cloth. Cloth she could work with.

Blood was staining it already, along with the stitches, but that couldn't be helped. Laila took a stitch from each side and began to sew the vein back together. Sewing came naturally to her string body. She moved where she wanted the stitch to be, grabbed the stitch, then pulled herself out of the cloth vein.

She did it twice, then tied the stitches off.

As quickly as possible, she reconnected the vein. As the stitches connected it with Zehia'a life-thread, it morphed from cloth to flesh. The connection wasn't great. She would need to somehow get more threads down here and do a more thorough job later, but for now Zehia had stopped bleeding.

Stopped bleeding here. There were other wounds accumulating that she could sense through the nervous system. What was going on outside?

---

More! More! More!

She tore through the meat with ease. She stuck to the shadows and ambushed them one-by-one. Their blood was sweet and their flesh succulent. The moist chunks went down her gullet until her stomach was bursting at the seams.

She couldn't eat another bite, but her hunger only grew.

Another troop of Humans moved along the quiet streets. Their eyes darted from side to side. Their postures were hunched and withdrawn - a far cry from her first prey. They had lost their arrogance... and that enraged her even more.

How dare they?!?

How dare they look down at her! How dare they hurt her! How dare they try to avoid death at her hands!

She crept up behind the last one. He let out a small 'eep' as her claws wrapped around his neck. It wasn't loud, but the sound was like a gong in the silence of the dead town. Her target stiffened as his companions started to turn.

[Bonesaw Cut]

His blood splattered across his still-living allies faces. They lunged. She swiped.

They hurt her. She hurt them more.

It didn't matter if she was injured. She didn't care if she lived, just so long as all of her opponents died.

She moved on instinct. Her form slunk back into the shadows as her Skills activated. It felt... strange. Natural and foreign. She was used to sneaking around, but all she wanted was to charge her foes. It almost struck her as odd, but nothing else mattered except for their deaths.

She had nothing else.

She had no one else.

'I never put you down.'

The thought came from... somewhere.

That... made her pause.

There was a flicker of something. She recognized that voice. Somehow.

But... that couldn't be true. She had no one but herself... despite feeling split in a strange way.

'I never pushed you away.'

It hadn't?

She was confused.

Her internal dissonance grew. If she hadn't been pushed away, then why was she alone? She'd always had been alone, hadn't she?

She didn't like this feeling. She wanted to rip it to shreds. To claw at the voice that was speaking to her. To rip it apart with her jaws!

'You're not supposed to be that way.'

She wasn't?

No.

No, no, no.

No!

She wouldn't listen. The voice didn't matter! All that mattered was killing. That... that was... her purpose.

'And anything you want-'

"No!" She shouted and clutched her head between her hands. She'd had enough of this! She needed to kill and eat. Eating living flesh! Yes, that was it! That was what her body was made for!

'...there's nothing I can say.'

Then the world turned on its side.

'Is there anything to feel? Is it pain that makes you real?'

Zehia came to. The voice, the presence, it wasn't talking to her. It and the dark rage that had engulfed her were wrestling inside her mind.

"My head hurts." She mumbled to herself as she brought a hand up to her forehead before freezing. "It... it wasn't a dream." She looked at the bloody claws she had instead of fingers. She felt at her mouth. At the fangs that had replaced her teeth. "No..."

Her wide eyes took in the carnage around her. The sight of dead bodies wasn't new, but the claw and... bite marks. "No..."

Zehia staggered to the side and vomited. Her stomach hurt. It was too full. She looked at the bloody chunks she'd just expelled. "No..."

This... this couldn't be real. "Cut me off before it kills me..." She sobbed as she sank to her knees and pushed the world away. She didn't want this! She couldn't handle this!

Long way down.

And then, she was falling again. However, this time, she remembered. She remembered it all. She remembered what Riqre’ma Medaale had done to her!

I don't think I'll make it on my own.

Those were the words the presence... that Laila had told her. She understood. It was a long way down and...

"I don't want to live in here alone!" She yelled into the void... but it was only herself. No dark presence. No Laila, just a long way down.

And Zehia? Zehia the [Assassin]? Zehia the problem solver? Zehia who'd killed so many people to protect her country? To defend it from the self-righteous outsiders and the dark heart of Roshal itself?

That Zehia was dead.

She wrapped her arms around herself and cried. Not really, for she had no arms. No eyes. No voice.

She... was alone. As she fell, Zehia mumbled one last thing before falling silent.

---

'I don't think I'll make it on my own.'

Laila heard Zehia's plea as she wrestled with the cannibalistic urges of the blood class her former owner had. She'd been able to suppress it before, but the dark presence was stronger now.

Hungrier.

Laila could get away by just physically moving herself. The class wasn't a part of her. It was part of this body. Part of Zehia.

But, if she did that, then what would happen to Zehia? She... she was so fragile. Nothing like the Zehia that Laila had known. It was like the dark presence had been feeding on her mind.

So, Laila fought.

It wasn't a grand fight with swords and Skills. It wasn't something that anyone else could perceive or interfere with. It was something that only she could do. A trial of willpower that only she could pass!

...And Laila felt herself losing.

The [Carrion Eater] was too strong now. Zehia's body was injured and her spirit weak, but the blood class was stronger than it had ever been! Always hungry. Never sated.

Even now Laila could sense something happening inside of Zehia's stomach. It wasn't regular digestion, but there was room being made for more flesh. Alive, dead, it didn't matter. She found herself salivating at the thought.

Sibby ate people, so it can't be THAT bad of a thing. Surely just a taste would be fine...

She reached down and tore off an arm.

The red blood was dripping out of it in an enticing way. Dead, but still warm.

Laila inhaled deeply. It smelled soooo good! She hadn't realized just how... appetizing people could be. She should really run away. There were other [Soldiers] around. Zehia's body was injured. She'd done well, but even with her cursed body there was only so many people she could fight at once.

If she was going to run, she'd need energy...

Yes. That made sense. She didn't want to eat the bodies around her, but she had to. She had to do it if she wanted to escape.

Laila's jaw unhinged as she brought the severed limb to her mouth.

'I never put you down.'

What?

'I never pushed you away.'

Those? Those were words she'd said to Zehia in what felt like a lifetime ago. Laila slowly began to lower the [Soldier]'s arm. Should... should she do... something?

Then, Zehia's mind moved. It crashed with the dark hunger while yelling. A yell that only Laila could hear.

'Take another piece of ME! Give MY mind a new disease!'

Laila blinked and then dropped the bloody limb in disgust. What had she been about to do!?

'And the black and white world never fades to gray...' Those were the last words Zehia spoke before she started screaming.

Joy. Anger. Sadness. Rage.

Laila couldn't make out the surge of emotions from the owner of her body. She wasn't sure what was going on.

Zehia... Just. Kept. Screaming.

"There she is!" A shout from her left drew her attention. A group of [Soldiers] were advancing on her position. The leader glared at her with hatred in his eyes. "The monster is to the South-East of the town square." He whispered into a speaking stone.

Oh no. They'd found her. All the work Zehia had done to get them away, and they'd found them because Laila had dawdled over dead bodies instead of running or hiding.

She threw the arm at the group before bolting away!

She fell almost immediately.

Whatever strength the blood class had granted Zehia was gone now. The body was damaged. Blood leaked from a dozen wounds. None of them at the same level as what the [Piercing Shot] had done, but each one slowed her down. In fact, it was hard to breathe. She might've repaired the heart, but the crossbow bolt had done damage to other things as well.

[Blood Control]

Laila activated her Skill as she stood up. It wasn't strong enough to halt the blood coming directly to and from the heart, but the smaller wounds she could fix - at least for a short while. It was temporary, and wouldn't repair any damage, but she wouldn't get worse.

The [Soldiers] were slowly advancing as others no doubt converged on her from the sides. At least they were wary of her because of what Zehia had done.

Laila swayed on her feet. The bloodloss, pain, and exhaustion didn't touch her, but they did make controlling Zehia's body difficult. She KNEW what she needed to do, but her limbs just didn't obey her.

"Ready." The [Soldiers] got on one knee in a line and aimed at her with their crossbows. "Aim." Laila needed to do something, anything, but Zehia's body was too worn out. Without the blood skill empowering it... "Fire." The twangs of the crossbows echoed in the evening air of the slaughtered town.

Laila could see them coming for her. She had to do something... She had other Skills, right?

Of course!

[Hysterical Strength]!

As she activated the Skill for the first time, time seemed to slow down as Zehia's brain released all sorts of chemicals. At the same time, her muscles bulged as tendons pulled at them.

Laila MOVED.

She reached down and grabbed a dead body and managed to interpose it between her and the [Soldiers] before the bolts reached her. There were several meaty thumps as they landed. Laila then raised the corpse over her head and hurled it at them with all her strength.

It didn't reach.

Even with Zehia's body rampaging and her muscles constricting so fast and hard that they damaged themselves, her targets were just too far away. It still got a lot closer than the [Soldiers] expected, and they flinched as a group.

Laila ran.

"[Formation: Rapid Reload]! Shoot her!" The leader shouted, but Laila was already behind a corner and running as fast as she could.

And that was fast! She felt a giggle forming on her lips as she sprinted out of Lipn. She'd got away! She was-

Zehia's right calf muscle gave out.

Laila tumbled to the ground as her momentum made her roll along the road. She looked at the leg. It had been the one that had been shot. Moving it had been hard, and while [Hysterical Strength] had let her run on it, it hadn't healed the damage. In fact, it had made things worse.

Pain signals were coming in from all over. Laila started to crawl away, but she heard faint footsteps approaching.

"What is this?" She looked up at a old human with a long, gray beard, gray robes, a pointy hat, and a staff. He looked down at her with twinkling eyes. "Are you, perhaps, in need of assistance, young lady?"

"H-help... me..." She managed to breathe out.

"Yes." He nodded. "I think I shall." Laila watched as he moved past her towards the approaching [Soldiers]. The old man raised his staff above his head.

"[You Shall Not Pass]!"

The words reverberated as he brought the magical instrument down on the ground with enough force that she could feel the thud from where she was.

A moment passed in silence except for Zehia's heart beating.

Then, the ground shook. Great geysers of steam erupted in front of them as the earth moved! The pressurized gas escaped from the confines of the ground as a chasm opened between them and the [Soldiers]. Laila's eyes went wide as she saw the Skill spread out to the sides as far as she could see. Once the water vapor and dust settled, there was a chasm fifty feet across, and at least several miles wide.

Who was her savior?

Notes:

Bios:

Gandalf the Grey - OC. A [Wizard], [Wanderer], and [Avatar]. He was dispatched to combat the threat of a great evil - that isn't Sauron.

Zehia Maquet - OC. Was one of Lailight Scintillation's top problem solvers. She is now a [Carrion Eater] with Laila controlling her body.

Laila Yosef - OC. A [Slave] from a very young age. After experiencing a lot of torture managed to get the [Stitch Selphid] class after being eaten by Zehia. Now lives as a life-thread inside of Zehia's body.

Chapter 83: The War in Tiqr 2

Notes:

Previously: Gandalf the Grey appeared in the Empire of Sands. He traveled from settlement to settlement, distributing video games, and talking to Earthers. Sometimes going out of his way to visit Earthers without leaving a trail of video games in his wake. His travels have brought him through the Great Zeikhal Desert and into Tiqr.

"Healing Light."

Gandalf spoke the words and moved his staff in the precise way that would have the eight small, invisible cubes fly out of where they were hidden and surround the frightful looking woman. A hidden projector on the staff's tip shown a soft light on her to complete the effect. He'd borrowed the idea from a fellow wizard named Myrddin. As much as it galled him, he did not possess the correct skills in this form to heal the injured or to perform other great feats of Wizardry.

Speaking of which. "Forcefield." Four more drones flew out to stop anyone from getting any bright ideas involving the width of the chasm verses the range of a crossbow.

The field the first group of drones made caused the woman's wounds to rapidly regenerate. As they did, he looked out at the destruction he'd just caused. Gandalf was in a tricky situation. He wanted to help people, and make a name for himself, but he also didn't want to upset any nation overmuch.

However, he couldn't just stand by and watch an army slaughter someone. It was a shame that the device inside of his staff had only just picked up the woman's distress call - weakened as it might have been from the ward the army had raised. If he had gotten here sooner, he could've prevented so much death and destruction.

At least the most dangerous ability he had was working as he'd hoped. It was playing with fire. No one else knew what lurked in the depths. Could such a thing really be-

"What?!" The woman gasped as her eyes opened. "Where?!" Her head spun around before she saw the chasm and the army fleeing on the far edge. "How?"

"Greetings, my lady." Gandalf tipped his hat at her. "My name is Gandalf the Grey and I happened to wander by and see you in distress." He smiled gently at her. "You're safe now. No one shall harm you while I am around."

The woman turned to look at him with wide, innocent eyes that were in contrast to her bloody claws and fangs. "How?" She repeated as she looked down at her body with amazement.

Gandalf stuck his staff in the ground, causing the light to fade and the the eight healing cubes to fly back inside. He pulled a pipe from inside his robes and began to fill it with a local weed. "I am a [Wizard] of no small power." His eyes twinkled as he provided the barest of explanations.

"Oh, uhm..." The woman blinked and scrambled to her feet and deeply bowed. "Thank you, sir, [Wizard], sir!" She glanced away and fidgeted. "My name, is, uhm, Laila and I'm, uhm, a [Runner]. I was going to Lipn, to, uhm, tell them about the war and to advise them to prepare to, uhm, receive refugees." Her bright expression fell as she thought about the nearby town.

"I see." Gandalf finished packing his pipe and held his finger up to it. "[Finger Flame]." A small fire appeared at the tip of his finger and he moved it in a circle while inhaling through the pipe to light it. Once he was done, he shook his finger and drew in a deep breath. "War is a terrible thing." He exhaled a plume of smoke.

"Yes... yes it is." She agreed.

The pair were silent for a moment as they gazed across the chasm. Gandalf puffed contentedly on his pipe while considering what to do next. He was getting closer to his target. He could feel it. Still to the south-east and moving, but the direction varied more and more each day. That meant he was near enough for him to pick up on relatively small fluctuations.

But... while that was the goal of his journey, the fact remained that he also couldn't ignore what he'd just witnessed.

"What do you plan to do next?" He glanced down at the blood-covered girl. She had a faraway look in her eyes as she looked at the small town on the distant horizon.

"I... I need to get back. To tell people what happened. Lipn was supposed to be safe. It didn't border any other nation. Refugees are already on their way."

"Ah. Preparing to enter the Zeikhal Desert." He nodded in understanding. "Tiqr's citizens do not have many options. Fight, forfeit, or flee." His eyes narrowed. "And one of those does not seem to be truly viable."

"Why?" Laila looked up at him with a pleading expression. "Why would they do this? Why not take them alive to sell as [Slaves]?"

"For surprise, I would imagine." Gandalf took another long drag. "To have their armies appear where they are not expected."

"But to kill everyone..."

He hummed. "There are reasons for that too. It might be to make sure there were no witnesses to what they'd done. No one to possibly warn others of their advance. It could also be the desire to not have a potentially hostile force at their backs. Or... it might just be convenient. If Killale wanted this land for themselves... Well, killing off the people that currently lived on it was easier than ruling over a conquered populace. Or keeping them guarded and fed until the end of the war."

They stood in silence until Gandalf spoke again.

"What will you do now?" He blew a small ring of smoke as he changed the subject.

"I..." She shook her head and looked up at him. "I need to get back. To tell someone about this."

He nodded. "Yes. I suppose you should."

"Will you..." Laila looked away as she fidgeted with her claws. "Will you come with me?"

"Oh?" Gandalf raised his eyebrows. "I might be many things, but I am no [Runner]. I fear I would slow you down."

"Yeah..." Her shoulders seemed to deflate before she looked back up at him. "But they might come after me. I... I would feel safer with someone else around. Someone I can trust."

"Well, I suppose that short cuts make long delays." To quote someone. "If you can spare the time, I can spare the company."

She looked at him and smiled. "Thank you!" Her voice was earnest as she stood up.

The pair began to walk down the road and Gandalf wondered something. Had she not realize how injured she had been? Most people he healed tended to take a moment to examine themselves and, to be frank, marvel at what he'd done.

They walked in silence for a while until Gandalf decided that the distance between them and the chasm was sufficient enough to prevent any further hostilities. He made a quick double-tap of his staff on the ground, and the invisible force-field drones responded to the signal and returned.

"I've heard scant news come out of Tiqr recently. How goes things?" He asked the question in part to distract Laila from potentially noticing the drones, but mainly because he was genuinely curious.

"You don't know?" She looked up at him with wide eyes.

"No, I'm afraid not. I suppose that [Bards] and such do not tarry in the middle of such a conflict." He shrugged. "Even if they did, I have just crossed the Zeikhal Desert. There have been scant opportunities for me to encounter anyone with such details."

"Not well." She admitted. "Liqr was not the first town that I've run to that was..." Her voice trailed off for a few seconds. "But it was the worst."

So far. The unspoken words hung between them.

"Yes, with the King of Destruction rising to the north, I fear that bloodshed will become more common as of late."

"It's not Flos' fault." Laila grumbled.

"Oh?" Gandalf glanced at her. "Are you a supporter of his?"

"No. And neither is Nsiia or Tiqr!"

Strange. That wasn't what he'd heard.

"Please." He smiled warmly at her. "Enlighten me then."

"I was there. In Pomle, when the [Kings] and [Queens] gathered." Laila spoke bitterly. "They discussed the King of Destruction's vow to not make war if he's not attacked and his request for his subjects to have safe journeys. Nissa stood up to the rest of them. Told them that she wasn't taking any side. That she was no longer the King of Destruction's subject, but also that she wouldn't attack Reim and grant any who wanted it safe passage through Tiqr."

"Yes." Gandalf nodded. "That does indeed fit the notion of neutrality."

"They declared war the next day."

"Who did?"

"All of them!" Laila clenched her claws. "Armies crossed Tiqr's borders that very same day! It was all planned!"

"I see." Gandalf stroked his beard while considering if he should refill his pipe or put it away. The weeds he put inside did nothing. Like everything, it was only a prop.

"If you didn't know that, why did you help me?" Laila suddenly switched topics.

Gandalf chuckled. "Why would I need a reason to help someone?"

"Well..." She seemed to pull in on herself. "I know what I look like."

"Yes. I feel it holds true that most people know what they look like." He tapped his pipe against his staff to empty it before putting it away.

"I mean, I know I look like a monster."

Gandalf raised an eyebrow. "I suspect all the blood plays a large role in that."

"Blood? What?" Laila looked at him with panic in her eyes for a moment before turning her gaze towards her hands and torso. "Dead gods, I hadn't realized!"

"You have clearly been through a lot. I think some shock is to be expected." He paused to consider where they were. "There's a river close by, is there not? You could clean yourself there." It would be easier than making another well or summoning a rain storm. Safer too.

"Y-yeah." Laila nodded. "If you're okay with waiting."

"Of course, my dear, a [Wizard] is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to."

"Okay?"

"That means that I'm perfectly fine with waiting. After all, you are waiting on me by not running ahead."

"That's not the same thing." She protested. "Me walking with you wouldn't delay you, this would."

Gandalf brushed away her concern. "I am in no rush. I shall arrive at my location when I do, and I shall be better for my journey." While he drew closer and closer to his target with each passing day, it was important to not lose sight of the people and places around him.

They walked in silence for a time before the road curved and the pair left it. The river was still several miles away, but it was a pleasant day - if one discounted the earlier events. Gandalf sensed that Laila wished to talk about something, but was also afraid to speak up.

His impression that she was meek and shy was at odds with her appearance. The amount of blood on her could only have come from a prolonged fight. While some of it was hers, no doubt, the caked on red liquid around her mouth and claws was solid evidence that she'd given as good as she'd gotten.

It... was odd.

Gandalf was no stranger to gore or fights. Even if Laila had started the conflict with the foreign soldiers, he couldn't blame her or find fault.

No. The strangest thing was how someone with her apparent temperament was so deadly in combat. Other clues such as her desire to help in the war, but as a [Runner] instead of a fighter, painted an interesting picture. Then there was her off-hand comment about being at the meeting of [Rulers]. That implied close enough ties with one of the gathered leaders to be included in the escort.

...Unless she was a citizen of Pomle?

Gandalf had only done the most general research of the different countries in Chandrar. There were just too many.

Regardless of Laila's past, some things about her present state were clear. Her body hadn't always been like it currently was. The way her body language changed when her hands or mouth were brought up... It was like she was ashamed, but had forgotten about them.

If she'd always had looked like that, she could still feel different and try to hide her more monstrous aspects, but it would be more ingrained.

Or so he thought.

Gandalf sat on a rock while Laila washed herself in the swift moving waters. He was no expert, and they'd only just met. If she hadn't asked him to walk with her, he'd probably have put her out of his mind already.

He leaned back and took out his pipe.

Still, as long as they did travel in each other's company, he couldn't help but be a little curious.

---

Laila scrubbed the blood off of her in the distributary of the Oliphant river. The water was fast-moving and cold, despite it being a small fraction of the Olipant's size.

Her clothes were ruined. It didn't take a Stitchfolk to see that. She could at least wash away the stickiness. There was nothing she could do about their stiffness. Once they dried, they'd be rough and uncomfortable again.

Which... didn't really bother her. She was only loosely connected to Zehia's body at the moment. Part of that was fear from when the cannibalistic desires began to seep over. She'd gotten too comfortable. Too used to thinking of Zehia's body as her own.

The other reason was equally worrisome, but in a different way: something was going on between Zehia and those dark desires. She was still screaming. Not as loud or as with the same level of emotions as before, but whatever was occurring inside of Zehia's mind was clearly... bad.

...And there was nothing that Laila could do. [Touch Telepathy] only let her know it was happening in the first place. If it wasn't for that Skill... she would've thought that everything was fine. Great even! She hadn't even noticed the dark presence that had been slowly building up within her.

Now?

Now it was gone, and Laila felt great... Except for the guilt and the screaming.

She let out a sigh and used her bloody shirt to try and wash off the stains on her hands and jaw.

Zehia's hands and jaw.

As she did so, Laila let her mind wander. Seeing the village being occupied had brought back memories. Memories that were even worse, even if she objectively knew that the outcome hadn't been nearly as bad for her hometown.

The raiders... had only killed a few people. She'd been taken and then sold, but she hadn't been slaughtered like the villagers in Liqr had been. Not that she thought the raiders, or the [Slaver] who'd bought her had been nicer people.

The simple fact was that the villagers had been worth more alive than dead. That Laila had been worth more alive than dead.

Liqr citizens hadn't been that lucky. Killale didn't value them, and thus... they were all now dead.

Laila wondered just what the reason was. Gandalf had given her more than one possible explanation for why they'd been slaughtered to a person. Which one was the truth? All of them? None of them? Was it just some bleak calculation that a [Strategist] had made.

Lives lost verses... some sort of gains?

Or were the lives lost a gain in and of themselves?

She watched the reddish water flow away from her as her thoughts then went to her savior.

Gandalf.

The old [Wizard] who somehow reminded her of Sibby, despite their quite obvious differences. Laila supposed it only made sense for her to compare two people that had saved her life. Both were strong, kind, and detached.

Or... she might just be projecting.

How often had she dreamed for some handsome young man to fall in love with her and buy her? More times than she could count. It doubtlessly wasn't an uncommon dream for a [Slave] to have.

While she didn't think of Sibby like that, it was also doubtless that she loved the Siberian. Just, not like a lover.

Laila paused as she thought of something. Was... was Sibby like her mom? That...

When she'd held her at night. When she fed her. When she listened.

Dead gods!

Laila felt Zehia's cheeks flush with embarrassment. What next? Was she going to latch onto Gandalf like he was her father? Or, more appropriately, her grandfather?

Laila sighed and sunk under the surface. Thank goodness she'd had that realization alone and before she could embarrass herself further. Gandalf was just a high-level person with a good heart. While such people had been non-existent in Roshal, she'd encountered others outside of it.

Mainly in Tiqr, but that was because this was the only place her and Sibby had spent any real length of time.

What she wouldn't give for an [Ignore Embarrassment] skill right about now!

Laila resumed cleaning herself as she focused solely on scrubbing her arms and legs. Wash away the blood. Wash away the evidence of how she'd failed Zehia. Ignore the screams. Ignore her own emotions.

Actually... she really shouldn't ignore the screaming. She just didn't have the time or the knowledge of what to do about it. She didn't think Zehia was able to hear her at the moment and she couldn't fully 'touch' either her former owner or the dark rage that had entwined itself around her.

Later. She promised herself as she gargled water and used her monstrous claws to pick chunks of flesh out of her equally monstrous maw.

The water that flowed away from her was no longer pinkish, so Laila was satisfied with her lack of blood... on her skin. Her clothes still looked horrific, but she couldn't do anything more for them without soap. ...Or fire. Probably better to just burn them than to try and salvage the blood-stained mess.

Laila pulled them back on as she trudged out of the river. She raked her claws through her wet hair to squeeze some of the water out and to have it fall behind her head in a less messy way.

At least she was barefoot. At least she wouldn't have to deal with water-logged shoes.

Just a water-logged body. Oh well, she'd dry soon enough, and Laila could go and physically squeeze some of the moisture out from the inside too. Also, Zehia was made of Silk. She didn't swell up like Hemp or Cotton would.

"Feeling better?" Gandalf asked from a rock. He'd lit his pipe again and was practicing blowing smoke rings.

"Yes." Laila smiled at him before remembering to close her mouth and hide her teeth. She hadn't taken her scarf into the water, but it was still damp from contact with her and her clothes. She'd need to let it dry out before it would be poofy enough to hide the lower half of her face again.

"Good." Gandalf gave her another fatherly smile as he gingerly climbed down from the rock. "Shall we continue then?"

He was looking over her shoulder as he spoke and Laila turned to follow his gaze. There was a trail of smoke on the horizon - from where Lipn was. Or, where Lipn had been. A village was its people, so the town of Lipn was gone now.

"Y-yes." She replied more hesitantly.

The pair walked down the road. Laila could run. If she did, she'd get back to Oliphant far faster. It was what she should do. It was the responsible thing.

It was also ironic in a way. If she was with Sibby instead of Gandalf, Laila would be the one slowing her partner down.

The foreign army was behind them. She was safe. As safe as anyone else in Tiqr. She SHOULD run ahead and inform someone.

...but she couldn't.

What if she was attacked? What if she gave into the dark urges? She'd been so confident she was in control before, and look at what had happened.

'Once a [Slave], always a [Slave].'

Could... her class come back from her being too passive?

Now that was a horrifying thought. Laila frowned before she opened her mouth, but Gandalf spoke first.

"Hmmmm...." He'd pulled a ball made of glass out of his pocket and was looking down at it. "Their blocking field has grown weaker. I think we are far enough away that you could use your speaking stone now."

Laila looked at him blankly for a split second before remembering her magic item. The speaking stone! Gandalf must have intercepted her Message. That was how he'd come to save her. She shook her head. "What I had could only be used once."

"I see." He stroked his beard. "My scrying orb can cast that Spell. You may use it, if you have the knowledge how."

"Oh, yes! Thank you!" She took the magical item from him. It was hard to hold it with her claws, but she managed. "Hogesteb? Hogesteb, are you there?" The ball glowed softly with her mana as she went over the steps she'd been taught to activate such things by Tiqr's Runner's Guild - just in case.

She waited a moment with baited breath before the reply came back.

"I'm here, Laila. Is everything okay?"

"No. It's not okay. Lipn has been... eradicated. Everyone there was... killed."

Hogesteb swore. "What about you?"

"I'm... okay." Laila considered what she should say with the orb. She wasn't supposed to relay information using Message Spells except in an emergency. Skilled [Mages] could overhear what was said. She glanced to her side. Skilled [Wizards] too. "I'm going to take some time getting back."

"Right. Head to fall-back C."

"Okay."

Laila gingerly handed the glass ball back to Gandalf as they resumed their trek. She knew that there was nothing else she could've done. She was lucky to have gotten away herself, and she'd reported the information. She wasn't even a [Scout]! This sort of activity was beyond her... but she still felt like she'd failed somehow.

The only sounds for a while were her and Gandalf's footsteps along with the dull thump of his staff hitting the road.

"So, uhm, tell me about yourself?" She looked over at him. That had been far too blunt and straightforward, but she didn't know how else to ask.

"Me?" He glanced at her. "I'm just a [Wanderer]."

"A [Wandering Wizard]?"

Gandalf chuckled. "Nothing so grand. Just a [Wizard] who's also a [Wanderer] I'm afraid."

"How can that be?" She remembered the chasm. "You cast such a powerful Spell!"

"Yes, yes, I did. Didn't I?" Gandalf's eyes twinkled. "To tell the truth, there was no magic involved in that display of power."

"No magic?" Laila considered that for a moment. Oh! It must have been a Skill instead! That... made sense. 'You shall not pass' wouldn't be a Spell would it? She didn't know much, but Spells did seem to be not as flowery. Skills on the other hand, could be.

What were they called again?

Verse-skills?

It wasn't like she'd ever had one. Nor had any slave she'd ever met. But... she was fairly sure Zehia did.

"Perhaps you could tell me more about the war, Laila." Gandalf suggested. "You said that there were multiple armies invading before?"

"Huh?" Laila was surprised by the sudden change in topics. She'd wanted to ask more about his Skill, but she also understood that such things were private. "Yes, that's right. I think it's twelve different armies now. I'm not sure of anything exact."

"What about in..." Gandalf pointed with his staff. "That direction?"

Laila looked at where he was pointing, and then at the sun. "That's the... south-east. Let's see..." She tried to recall the map she'd seen before. "Pomle. Illivere. Lamult." Those were the countries in that general direction. "Pomle didn't declare war and doesn't have an army." It also didn't really have a [King] that could declare war in the first place. "So between here and there it's been relatively strifeless. Further south, Illivere's army hasn't moved very far. It's full of golems and is slow. Lamult is mostly following behind Savere, but that's even further to the south, I think."

"Interesting..." Gandalf's eyes narrowed.

"Ah! But Nerrhavia Fallen has recently crossed the border in that direction as well!" Laila swallowed nervously. "So it's now probably the least safe direction."

"Oh, really?" He muttered as he gazed over the horizon.

"Are you..." Laila fidgeted. "Are you going to... help Tiqr?"

Gandalf had saved her, after all, so he might be sympathetic to what was happening to Tiqr. He seemed powerful to her, but Laila had to admit that she had no idea what 'powerful' was. His skill had stopped an army from following them!

Or, at least, a squadron of [Soldiers].

It wasn't as impressive as what Sibby had done to Riqre's lands, but... then again, what was? Laila had always heard that Djinni were some of the strongest creatures alive, and Sibby was unchained and clearly more powerful than an average Djinni. Whatever 'average' meant for beings made of pure magic. She had to be exceptional considering that she'd driven off other Djinni.

She wondered just exactly what Sibby was doing now.

When her friend had left, Laila had expected to hear about gigantic swaths of land and people being obliterated. Instead... nothing. No news at all. She was getting worried.

"Help is a difficult thing." Gandalf's voice brought her out of her contemplation. "I was able to aid you without causing undue harm... but, if those [Soldiers] had come while I'd been there?" He shook his head. "True, I would have acted, but would it ultimately hurt or help Tiqr as a whole? I cannot say."

"If you're going in that direction..." Could you look for a friend of mine?

The words died on her tongue. What a stupid thing to even think about bringing up! Sibby couldn't be in trouble, she was too strong! Even if she was, that meant that something even stronger had showed up. Besides, she couldn't tell anyone about Sibby without having to answer some very pointed questions in return.

"If I'm going in that direction?" Gandalf turned to look at her.

"If you're going that way, could you help the refugees? Maybe heal Tiqr's forces?"

Laila was a coward. She should've asked Gandalf to fight for Tiqr. He would've said 'no', but she still should have asked. The [Wizard] had admitted that help was 'difficult', but he hadn't seemed concerned with the thought of fighting so many [Soldiers]. His hesitation seemed... elsewhere.

She should ask.

It might be the single most important thing she could do to help defend Tiqr. An opportunity had fallen into her lap. All she had to do was open her mouth and plead with him.

Somehow, that seemed to be a truly impossible task.

"Yes." Gandalf smiled warmly at her. "I can do that much while I'm in the area."

...

Hours passed.

Laila and Gandalf spoke, but about less weighty subjects. The birds, the lions, the elephants. There was a certain joy in sharing what she'd learned - even if it seemed that those things in Tiqr might not last too much longer.

That thought cast a pall over everything else, but that was 'normal'. She'd only had been inside Tiqr for a short while before the armies had invaded. Even if she wasn't on the front-lines, she could tell the strain it was taking on everyone.

All too soon, they came to a crossroads. She needed to go south, to Oliphant. Gandalf, on the other hand, stared off to the south-east. The direction he'd asked about.

She wondered if he'd encounter Sibby there? Laila wasn't sure exactly which direction the Siberian had gone, nor where she was, nor what she was doing. She only knew that Sibby would come back for her some day.

"You... you can go that way." Laila nodded at the south-east road. "I'll be fine from here."

"Yes." Gandalf replied with a smile. "I need to continue my own journey. However," He opened a pouch on his belt and rummaged around. "Let me give you something before we part."

"What is it?" Laila strained her neck to try and get a better look. "A wand or something?"

"Ho ho ho." Gandalf laughed. "No. It is something far better than a simple tool of death and destruction." From the bag he pulled out something strange. "This..." He handed the blocky object to her. "...is a video game. A child's toy, but a marvelous one. I fear that you do not have the luxury of time, given the circumstances, but in the moments where you are not running from one place to another, it will bring you joy."

"T-thank you." Laila hesitantly took the small object that was made of cubes in her claws. "I'll treasure it!" She would too. When was the last time she'd received a toy? Or any other sort of present? Laila couldn't remember. She must have back in her home village... before the raiders, but that was so long ago.

"I hope you manage to not only survive, but thrive!" Gandalf waved to her as they parted ways.

Laila waved back.

Inside her mind, Zehia still screamed.

---

Long way down.

The thought came to Zehia, but she couldn't fully comprehend it. Her thoughts were disjointed. Nightmarish. One started before flicking over to something else.

I don't think I'll make it on my own.

Scenes of places. People. Actions. Memories that were jumbled up and out of order.

Long way down.

Words that had been spoken. Or thought.

Time passed, and Zehia was both aware and oblivious to it. If she had the capacity to think an uninterrupted thought, she could probably form her nightmare into some semblance of a story.

I don't want to live in here alone.

She would look back at her experience and recognize it as a dream. In fact, if she could realize what was going on, she could probably help herself. If the right thought lasted for longer than a second, she could possibly hold onto it, and use it.

Long way down.

But... that was the scary part of nightmares - not being able to wake up from them.

And so, she screamed inside her mind. She didn't know she was doing it. She didn't know what words she spoke. What thoughts she had. It was all too chaotic.

I don't think I'll make it on my own...

Chapter 84: The War in Tiqr 3

Sibby clawed one of the String-people, making sure not to sever the limb completely. The sword her target had been using dropped from his loosening grip.

Good.

Sibby ducked under a hail of arrows while diving forward. Her hand wrapped around the hilt of the sword, while her body tore through the man's legs. Despite the grievous injuries she'd just inflicted on him, the String-person would live.

Probably.

While she could tear their limbs off easily enough, maiming the stitch-covered people was... pointless. At least when she targeted their arms and legs. A cut along their stitches left nothing but cloth in her wake. Tearing their flesh at other places did make them bleed, but not very much. Deep wounds were the best way to 'hurt' them, but it also had a good chance of killing them.

Their deaths weren't her goal. She didn't mind killing them... at least, not that much, but part of her 'psychological attack' was to leave behind wounded soldiers to be a constant reminder to the others.

Doing so was frustratingly hard when she couldn't just tear off an arm or two and be done with it.

As the rough-skinned man toppled behind her, Sibby turned and planted her right foot on his cheek. His eyes widened in fear as he met her gaze. Sibby smirked, and then spun on her heel.

...

Earlier.

"Your friend, Laila, said that Stitchfolk cannot replace their heads. So, if you want to leave maimed bodies in your wake, that's what you need to target." William Manton sighed. Or, at least, the memory of William Manton sighed? Sibby wasn't exactly sure what her original creator was inside of her 'Shardspace', mainly because William wasn't sure himself. Still, if there was one thing he'd always been good at - it was telling her how to properly hurt people.

"It's hard to damage heads without killing people." She complained. Sure, she was able to claw people's faces. She'd gotten really good at that with all the practice she'd had by Kevin's side. "Eyes are small!"

But most of her previous targets had been Humans that knew of her and cowered before her. Everyone here was like some stupid, weak cape. Not strong or fast enough to beat her, but the better ones were hard to scratch at just the right depth. Too shallow, and it was just a cut. Too deep, and they died.

"Yes, I can understand that." William nodded. "Agile targets giving you trouble?" She nodded. "Then, you just need to stop them from being agile." He smiled. "It will take longer, but removing their legs will leave them vulnerable for you to target their faces."

"Okay!"

"Besides," He added. "Just because Stringfolk can attach new legs doesn't mean that they aren't using up resources to do so. We have no idea how many spare limbs the army carries. Or how many it can create in a day, but there's bound to be a limit." William shrugged. "By always targeting legs, you can put pressure on that limited resource. Even if you can't deplete it entirely, the thought that you might will creep into their minds.

...

More String-people crowded in on her with a look of resignation. A swarm of arrows flew towards her.

No. No. No. Yes, that one. No. No. No. Yes. No. Yes.

...

Earlier.

Cauwine grinned at her as the Goddess's form shifted into a much more pleasant version. Sibby's mirror image spoke. "How may I help you, Siberian?"

"William suggested that you might be the best person to ask about overcoming magic."

Cauwine's yellow eyes gleamed. "Yes. Your Authority doesn't cover such a thing."

"My Authority?" Sibby tilted her head.

"Your power. The way you so effortlessly impose your will on reality." As if to demonstrate, Cauwine casually swiped her claws through the stone wall of the alien building that was next to them. "There are all kinds, and yours is particularly potent. Stone, Cutting, Force, Gouging, Burrowing... such Authorities could also accomplish this, but yours is just... invincible." Cauwine smiled before her shoulders drooped slightly. "But not to magic.

Sibby scowled.

"So what do I do?"

"It's easy." Cauwine's smile grew feral. "Just borrow my Authority."

"Your Authority?" Sibby tilted her head.

"Yes." The Goddess nodded. "It's still far too weak to be used directly. One or two full strikes would tax it, even with all the fear and acknowledgment flowing into us." She held up a finger. "But! If you use it more as a sense as to what your own Authority can't effect, then we'll be much more dangerous!"

"I can already tell when I can ignore something." Sibby crossed her arms.

"Yes." Cauwine nodded. "You can when you touch it. Right before you try to impose your will on it. Like it has a resistance."

"Exactly!" Sibby smiled in return.

"You just need to do the same at a distance with our Authority."

"But how?" Sibby frowned.

"Easy!" Cauwine's perfect features twisted into a snarl. "Fight me!"

...

Sibby called on her newest sense as her Authority flickered between her and the projectiles. It wasn't much use, but it sort of reminded her of when Kevin granted her the ability to sense the future.

Most of the arrows she could simply ignore. They were normal. Something she could brush aside with a thought. Others? Those were the annoying ones. The ones her power couldn't affect. Either because they were 'Magical' or because they were a 'Skill'.

Cauwine said that those two things were different, but they felt the same to Sibby.

The sword she'd picked up was 'Magical', which was why she'd bothered. Sibby's eyes narrowed as she swung the sword up and into one of the attacks she couldn't simply negate.

Her swing was slow. She couldn't negate friction on the sword, nor gravity, nor any of the other forces that were pulling in the opposite direction that she wanted. Still, it managed to clip the end of the arrow and caused it to spin off the side - missing her by mere inches.

Sibby, of course, could've just gone along with the air the arrow was pushing out of its path. That was the simplest solution, aside from reforming. But... that was getting boring. Using a weapon wasn't nearly as satisfying as tearing people apart with her own claws... but it was new and novel!

And it wasn't like she hadn't done similar things in the past when necessary. She'd even made herself a sword to help drive away Leviathan that one time!

Of course, now that she'd gotten her claws on a magical sword, she needed to get rid of it.

...

"Armies don't care about their soldiers." William said with confidence. "Their leaders will throw hundreds of their lives away to gain a foot of ground. Commanders are inhuman psychopaths."

Sibby was vaguely insulted by that remark. What was so bad about being inhuman? Or a psychopath for that matter?

"Okay?"

"While it would be best to kill the bastards in charge, you'll need something special to do that. Until then, hit them where it really hurts." His eyes gleamed. "Their pocketbook and their heroes!"

Sibby frowned and tilted her head. "But everyone is a cape. A weak cape, but still a cape. Doesn't that mean that everyone is a villain or a hero?"

William shook his head. "No, Nat-" He paused as he remembered her name again. "Sibby. A hero is an icon. A propaganda piece. Sure, they're tougher and stronger than the 'average' person, but their main goal is to inspire the mindless chattel to fall in line."

"Oh." She nodded. "Jack said similar things!"

William's eyes widened slightly and he coughed into his fist. "B-Be that as it may. The point stands. In a world of empowered individuals, might makes right. So there will be singularly powerful threats. Those will be your best targets."

"Right." Sibby grinned. "I know how to make an example of people."

William raised his eyebrow, but didn't comment. He instead switched topics. "Also, they'll be more likely to have magical items in their possession."

"Probably."

"While you can't hope to get rid of all of the army's enchanted gear, it too is a limited resource. Destroying it will hurt morale in a way that killing or maiming won't."

...

Sibby moved the sword to her off-hand while dodging the other arrow capable of popping her. As she lunged to the side, she grabbed two rocks. The people that could shoot arrows that she couldn't ignore meant that they were either powerful enough to have a 'skill' or important enough to have magical arrows.

Either way..

She flung one rock, and then the other.

While they were in her hands, she negated everything that would prevent them from flying straight through her targets. Unfortunately, once they left her grasp, they started being effect by those physical laws just like everything else.

However, in the brief time that she'd held them, they'd gained a lot of momentum. One struck an archer square in the face, while the other projectile was dodged. But dodging people couldn't shoot arrows at her, could they?

Sibby charged.

The Stringfolk were a lot better at mobilizing against her surprise attacks than the human and golem army had been. They had even managed to group up their archers for that volley. It had to be a skill thing, but all it did was leave them more vulnerable.

Sibby liked 'crowded' spaces. There were signals and forces coming from all directions anyways. What were a few more? In contrast, she knew that most people didn't have experience fighting in a mob. Or running as a mob. Or pleading for life as a mob.

Another advantage? All their legs were close together.

The magic sword she'd picked up wasn't nearly as good as her claws. It wasn't even as good as a random stick would've been. At least a stick she could use her power on without popping. It cut into one archer and got caught on his bone.

With a snarl, Sibby tore into him with the claws of her other hand. While the limbs of the Stringpeople parted just as easily before her as everything else, they didn't scream or panic. That was rather frustrating.

She SHOULD just kill them.

...but then Kevin might be disappointed. He always understood when she ended a life by accident - which was rare, since she was so amazing and all. He also didn't mind her handing out death on certain occasions.

She just didn't know if now counted.

Besides, William said that crippled people were worse for morale and mobility. Cauwine also preferred people scarred and alive now.

Eh, she was thinking too much Sibby decided as she crushed the skull of one of the archers that could actually inconvenience her. She began to move towards the other one as the real counter-attack happened. Flashes of light blazed through the sky in an arc before descending on her.

Unlike arrows, magic spells moved through the air instead of parting it. Kinda like heat. Or light.

Her opponents had learned from her past attacks. No gigantic spells. Making her pop wasn't worth that much friendly fire apparently. But now, her worthless sword finally had a use!

Sibby swatted magical projectiles out of the air with it as she literally ran through the rough-skinned people that were surrounding her.

She smiled.

This! This was fun! A real challenge! Something she couldn't just ignore!

Hm?

The sword in her hand was getting hot. It was going to break soon.

Eh. It had served its purpose. She could see the group of mages up ahead casting their spells at her behind their stupid magical barrier.

Sibby planted one foot, spun around, and hurled the sword at them!

Alas, there was no massive explosion as the sword broke. Just another flash of light as the magic within it reached the breaking point and crumbled.

At least without it slowing her down, she could find a replacement quickly enough.

---

General Thelican yawned as he woke up. He pulled off the sheets that were almost as high-quality silk as his body and stepped out of bed. His perfect muscles rippled underneath his flawless skin as he clapped once.

Two of his slaves entered his room and began his morning ritual. Buckets of steaming hot water were placed beside him as the women began to bathe him. Silk, of course. Not as beautiful as he was, but still worthy servants for a [Great General].

After they'd finished softly scrubbing his body, they began to anoint him lightly with some fragrant oils. Nothing outlandish. This wasn't the Court of Silk. It wasn't even the Court of Steel. No need for the right subtle blend to convey his status. A simple odor for a simple task.

A simple war.

The true war, of course, would be to the north. Once the King of Destruction got around to whatever it was he was planning. Unless, of course, Flos interfered here in Tiqr.

Then? Then it might be worth the time it took to travel here. Two hundred thousand troops were ample to crush the small country. More than ample. But that was the point. The message.

It wasn't posturing or bravado. Nerrhavia's Fallen was simply better than the other countries. Larger. Richer. Higher level.

As he silently mused, his slaves began to dress him. Magical armor. Silk clothes. Golden highlights. A uniform fitting for a [Great General] of Nerrhavia's Fallen. All of his magical items were high enough quality to allow him to wear his rings along with his armor and sword and not face any resonance issues.

Once he was appropriately attired, he clapped his hands twice. The two female slaves bowed their heads in acknowledgment of their dismissal and backed out of his tent - never showing their backs to him out of respect. Two male slaves entered in their place with a table and covered dishes.

They placed the table before him along with the silver platters. The covers came off to reveal some fresh fruit drizzled with honey, warm bread, and a cup of chilled and diluted wine.

Adequate.

This was what he had to put up with on the campaign trail.

Thelican fed himself before washing it down with the cool drink. He let out a sigh of contentment before clapping his hands twice again.

The male slaves bowed as the gathered the table and platters. They too backed out of his tent while bowing. Now that he was appropriately awake, he could resume his flawless advance.

"General." One of his [Strategists] entered. "I have a report from last night."

"Oh?"

"Yes." The Cotton made man continued. "Two hundred seventy two casualties. Fifty three dead. Eighty three suffering wounds to the face that will prevent them from fighting-"

"Prevent them from fighting?" Thelican frowned.

"Yes, sir. Mostly damaged eyes and-"

Thelican waved dismissively at him. "Let them rest in the wagons. Once we encounter some actual resistance, they can go in the vanguard."

The Cotton swallowed. "The vanguard, sir?"

"Yes, yes. They don't need to see to follow orders." The Hemp could march and hold their spears in front of them. All they needed was to be present to let [Strategists] use their skills.

"Yes, sir."

"And?" Thelican looked at him. "Any significant losses?"

"Not among the [Mages] or Magic Throwers, sir."

"Good." His plan had worked then. He'd have to send a message to Femithain thanking him for his insight into the vulnerabilities of the striped assailant's skill. It had saved him the effort of figuring it out himself, and allowed him to virtually ignore the attacks.

Hemps were cheap and tough. It was their job to soak up enemy aggression, and they'd done so adequately.

"Sir? An envoy from Roshal arrived in our camp last night." The Cotton bowed his head. "He wishes to speak with you."

Thelican rolled his eyes and made a dismissive gesture. "Later. We need to capture people before we can sell them. Does he not realize that we aren't some raiding party who moves slowly under the additional baggage of prisoners?" He shook his head. "They should go speak to Savere."

Then again, they probably already had done that. Despite Nerrhavia's Fallen being the richest and most powerful country, Roshal would undoubtedly approach each of the invading armies. Although, it would have been only proper for them to come to him first.

"Sir, they say that they have specific details about the striped woman." Thelican turned to his subordinate and raised and eyebrow. "They also say they can permanently remove her... for a price."

"And what would that price be?"

"I do not know, sir."

"Bah." Thelican waved his hand. "Send for them."

He leaned back and relaxed as a slave entered and started fanning him. It was a cool morning, but a very slight breeze was still appreciated. Eventually, the flaps to his tent parted to allow in a smiling Human flanked by some of his elite silken guards.

"[Great General] Thelican." The man bowed his head. "I am humbled that you deigned to meet with me so quickly."

"Yes, yes." Thelican smirked. "So Roshal has a magical trinket or two to deal with our high-level adversary?"

"Ah, but that's the thing." The Human's lips twisted into a sinister smile. "It is not high-level. Indeed it has no classes at all."

Thelican leaned forward. "Explain."

"As you command." The Human bowed his head. "As you know, there are those that do not get granted levels. Things so, sub-standard that they are not worthy. Yet, still powerful. Powerful enough that they need to be chained for the good of everyone."

Thelican's mind whirled. "You're not saying..."

"Yes, oh exulted one, it is an unbound Djinni."

"A Djinni!" Thelican exclaimed as he started to rise out of his chair. He paused and then sunk back down. "Surely not. A poor country like Tiqr would not have such a thing. Nor would any dare to commit such a crime." He smirked. "Finally, her attacks, while persistent, are not at the same level of destruction an unleashed Djinni could do." Thelican shook his head. "I'm afraid you're mistaken."

"Ah, but this Djinni is less that a year old. It is newly formed."

"Oh?"

"Indeed. It was captured and bound, but its owner was obviously incompetent in some way that boggles the mind." The Human grimaced. "It was the first Djinni he'd ever owned and apparently he had... ideas about how to properly train slaves."

"Oh?" Thelican repeated himself.

"Yes." The man nodded his head. "I am not privy to all the details, but the Djinni is adept at reforming itself upon injury. It somehow survived the... incident that left naught but a crater where a manor once was."

Thelican's eyes glanced over at the truth stone that the [Guard] behind the emissary carried. It was glowing a constant blue. No lies. Or, at least, the truth as the Human knew it.

"Then I suppose the proper thing to do is to capture and bind it." Thelican began to plan an ambush to do such a thing. He had [Mages], he could...

"As you say, Great Thelican." The Human bowed. "But do you have the materials necessary?"

Thelican scowled. He did not. He didn't know the specifics of how to bind a Djinni. It was a secret only the highest level [Mages] of the Hundred Thousand Tomes Academy would know. He, of course, had such people in his army, and he did know that the reagents for such a task were rare and expensive.

"It is a trifling matter for Nerrhavia's Fallen to procure such things." He said dismissively.

"Indeed it is." The Human smiled. "As expected of a country as rich as your own. However... getting them here would be another matter entirely, would it not?"

Thelican narrowed his eyes. He could already see how this was going to play out. "You have such materials, and I suppose the price for them will be substantial?"

"Not at all." The man held up his hands. "In fact, it will cost you nothing! Roshal merely wishes to reclaim its own. We shall bind it ourselves!"

"That is a fine gift to offer Nerrhavia's Fallen." Thelican smiled, although he knew it was no such thing. The price was clear, but as long as he pretended that the Djinni would be his... the more concessions he could wring from the [Slaver].

...

The next night, Thelican stayed awake.

A [Mage] entered his tent with a scrying mirror and placed it on the table in front of him.

Thelican didn't show his displeasure as one of his slaves fed him a date. While he should be resting peacefully, it was his duty to oversee Roshal's trap. The minor annoyance had proven to be a bigger event than he had thought, and he might even have to use a Skill or two to aid in its capture. At least, if he wanted the gold from Roshal.

It was less gold than a Djinni was worth, even a newly formed one, but he'd still had been able to get some other concessions from the [Slaver]. A good deal all around. Roshal gets its Djinni back. Nerrhavia's Fallen gets a minor problem removed before it grows to something worse.

And Thelican got himself a nice little bonus payout.

"Sir." His [Mage] called his attention to the scrying orb. There was a commotion on the northern side of camp. The spell zoomed in to show the Djinni.

It had stolen another low-quality magic sword.

Thelican grumbled. Those were worth more than the Hemps in that squad. It also seemed to be... dragging the weapon along shields and creating a rain of sparks.

He frowned as his instinctive fear of flames made him shudder. Hemps had thick skin, so it shouldn't-

One of them went up like a bonfire. He could see the [Soldier] scream in fear and pain as the flames engulfed him. The rest of the squad-

"[Vanguard's Resolve.]" Thelican used a skill, and his troops stopped their rout before it had even started. Should he use another Skill? They were just Hemp, but if their trap was to work, the Roshal [Mages] needed time to finish their preparations. "[Fireproof Charge.]"

A waste, but a necessary one.

Two more Hemps had caught fire in the meantime, then his Skill extinguished them and kept the unnatural amount of sparks from alighting anyone else. Thelican preferred to keep that Skill for his own personal use. While he had an anti-fire ring, a backup plan was always nice.

The Djinni seemed upset, but it quickly switched to using its free hand to claw through the bronze shields instead. Honestly, that seemed far more effective, but... it wasn't fire.

Thelican had already used two Skills, and he wasn't going to waste more on some Hemps.

The fight raged on.

Infantry charged it. Archers shot it. Mages lobbed spells at it. All to seemingly no avail.

That was the trap.

The Djinni could slowly reap through the front lines, but it always moved towards the thing it was weak against: spell casters. The [Mages], of course, had set up a ward.

Thelican jerked his head, and the [Mage] moved the scrying spell where he indicated.

Yes. Standard defensive formation. Half of the [Mages] chanted together to create a barrier to protect themselves while the other half focused on offense. Instead of pooling their power into a siege spell, the individual [Mages] were launching volley after volley of [Light Arrow] with one of them even casting a [Valmira's Comet].

The Djinni, to its credit, successfully dodged or swatted the spells from the air with its stolen sword. While it was true that one needed magic to fight a Djinni, this one was both strangely weak and resilient at the same time - just as the Roshal emissary had said.

Still, it was predictable.

Next it would charge the [Mages] and try to get past the barrier.

Thelican nodded to his subordinate and the image in the mirror moved to show the [Slavers] running through his army. It would take them time to get into position. They'd set out as soon as the Djinni had appeared, but the might of Nerrhavia's Fallen was spread out over a vast amount of ground.

"[Rapid Deployment.]"

His Skill would let them move quicker so they could prepare their trap. They had time, the Djinni could rampage for hours, but Thelican didn't like leaving things to chance. He could already see how the night would unfold.

The Djinni didn't move far. It enjoyed fighting the [Soldiers] that swarmed it. It clearly wanted to get at the [Mages] and their Magic Throwers but couldn't. Thelican, of course, could have his magical siege weapons fire at it again.

By his calculations, it was cheaper to do so and end its rampage early despite the loss from friendly fire. No magic sword could block such an attack.

But... no.

That was not the plan for tonight. Tonight he'd lay in wait until giving the order for the [Mages] to withdraw. They would run. The Hemp would cover for them. The Djinni would catch up. The [Mages] would be mauled.

One in four would likely die.

That was acceptable. It was how they would lure the Djinni in. Bait it with its desired targets.

Ideally, the [Mages] would make it far enough to place the Djinni inside of Roshal's trap. If not, the 32nd and 21st divisions were moving in closer. They too could repeat the same holding action before withdrawing and being chased. Once the Djinni got close enough to the binding circle, it would all be over.

Thelican nodded, and his [Mage] moved the scrying sensor back to the Djinni. Bodies lay piled around her. Some sturdy Hemp tried to keep fighting with their legs torn off, but most of the worthless dregs crawled around uselessly.

The magical barrier still held. The Djinni raised its hand and snapped-

A searing bright light flooded the room!

Thelican blinked the spots from his eyes, and shook his head. What had just happened? The Djinni had raised its hand, but there had been nothing in it.

Magic. Obviously.

A fledgling threat that was growing into its-

The [Mages] were down.

Thelican focused on the image. His [Mages] were laying in pools of their own blood. Their barrier was gone!

"Dead gods." He mumbled before re-evaluating the situation. The Djinni was moving further in, which... was fine. The Roshalians were in position. It hardly mattered that the Djinni got past the [Mages] on its own instead of by Thelican's will.

...It did sting a little, but this too would work for the trap.

Just a little further...

The Djinni stopped. Did it sense the ambush?

A facsimile of a smile spread across its face before it turned around and ran THROUGH everyone and everything in its path!

---

Gandalf felt it.

His target was close. Not just closer, but close. The sensation that connected them had suddenly snapped into place. It was like he'd crossed some invisible threshold and the line went from thin and overstretched to 'normal'.

The old man smiled and reached up to his face...

*Gamer's Body enabled.

...and I took my mask off.

Sibby!

I could feel a stupid-looking grin spreading across my face, and I didn't care. Sibby was close!

I Inventoried the Tinkertech tools that I'd been carrying and set my sight on the horizon. The next second, I was there.

I looked around to get my bearings. I'd walked through one front of this war already, and while Pixel was much less vulnerable than Gandalf, there was no reason to teleport into the middle of a fight.

...Unless that was where Sibby was, which I gave better than average odds.

I teleported to the furthest spot I could see again.

I could feel Sibby moving closer to me, and a part of me unclenched itself. It was foolish to worry about the Siberian. Sibby could take care of herself... but this was a strange world. Who knew what trouble she'd gotten caught up in?

Huh?

As I was taking stock of my new location, I pushed mana into Ears of Babel. The [Discreet Murmur] skill I'd sacrificed to it had increased my sensitivity to magical communication when I focused on them.

No scrying.

One message. From Wistram.

I'd read it later. I had more important things to do right now.

I teleported to the horizon again. Sibby was getting closer. In fact...

Ah.

An army.

I am not surprised.

They spread across for miles as far as the eye could see. A massive force that could only be the troops from Nerrhavia's Fallen. I'd picked up tidbits from here and there, and the vast force I saw the tip of could only be that powerful country's two hundred thousand strong army.

There were some lights coming from that direction, but I couldn't make out any details. In fact, it was likely that there would be a [Scout] or two or a hundred out searching here in the dark for [Infiltrators].

Eh. That didn't matter.

What did matter was the black and white blur that was racing across the plains and making a bee-line towards me.

Sibby!

I spread my arms and she crashed into me at speeds only she could achieve.

-42 HP

Oof!

She'd built up enough momentum that even Gamer's Body couldn't fully negate it. I took a step back as her arms wrapped around me.

I gazed into her yellow eyes for a moment. "I missed you, Sibby."

She smiled back at me. "I missed you too, Kevin."

Wait.

Sibby didn't talk. She COULD talk, but she didn't.

I couldn't teleport away. Sibby's power prevented me from escaping her grasp! Whomever this was, she wasn't Sibby, but she had the Siberian's powers!

Threat Sense flared as she leaned in closer! She was going to attack my head!

*Error! Gamer's Body negated.

...She tore my ear off, and began to chew with an expression of pure ecstasy.

I patted her on the back and then moved my other hand to her mouth. She smiled at me as she nostalgically started to eat my fingers - one knuckle at a time.

This is what I got for not Crafting Sibby some food before arriving.

Notes:

Bios:

Thelican - A [Great General] of Nerrhavia's Fallen. Vain, arrogant, uncaring. Adequate for a [Great General].

Chapter 85: The War in Tiqr 4

'Kevin! Kevin! You wouldn't believe what happened to me! First, I appeared away from you! That was so weird. I usually always appear right next to you, but I can move farther away. It would be silly if I couldn't. But, it was also silly to not be next to you. But! I could feel you! You were really, really, far away. Then, this guy attacked me! Like, right out of the blue! Obviously I had to defend myself. You said that was okay, so I destroyed his stupid whip and then maimed him a little bit. That was fun, but then I popped when trying to jump to a roof to take a look! Well-'

I smiled at Sibby as she ate my fingers and talked to me over our connection. It felt good to have it back. Normal. However, that feeling faded as her story continued.

...

*Anger negated by Gamer's Mind.

I could understand people attacking Sibby when she arrived. She did stand out, but their response had been way overboard.

...

*Anger negated by Gamer's Mind.

Slaves? She had to have arrived in Roshal. That was one of my worst fears, but she was the Siberian, they couldn't-

*Hatred negated by Gamer's Mind.

What? Those scum! I'm going to-

*Anger negated by Gamer's Mind.

Right. Calm. She's safe now. Sibby obviously had things well in hand.

...

*Anger negated by Gamer's Mind.

I swear, if that Riqre asshole is still alive, then I'm going to make an example of him that would make both Gray Boy and Jack proud.

...

*Anger negated by Gamer's Mind.

Laila? I'd just met a woman a couple of days ago named Laila as Gandalf. That was an amusing coincidence. Gandalf had met lots of people, but the names in this world tended to be quite varied.

...

*Anger negated by Gamer's Mind.

I know I just finished saying this, but I swear that Riqre better be dead already.

...

Wait... William? So that was the name of her first parahuman? He actually sounded pretty intelligent... at least the version of him that was mourning his dead daughter? I wonder how he went from that to a drug addict who lived in his van?

By this time, Sibby had finished my fingers completely and was happily eating a sandwich I'd Crafted for her. We'd teleported further away from Nerrhavia's Fallen's army and were sitting under a tree. The only noise in the night air was the crickets as Sibby spoke to me over our connection and ate her food in perfect silence.

This was a side of Sibby I'd never seen. We'd never really talked about her original creator. From the sound of it he was... broken. She didn't go into details about him, but her journey through Shardspace spoke of someone who'd lost their daughter and blamed Cauldron for it. I knew that such a person had existed in the abstract, but I'd never known any details.

But... from the emotion Sibby is showing... I can tell that it's a difficult topic. Neither she nor Riley liked to talk about their time in the Slaughterhouse Nine for obvious reasons.

...

*Schadenfreude negated by Gamer's Mind.

Okay. Riqre is dead. That's the important thing.

Plus, Sibby really has grown. Not only in using her power... because... wow. But emotionally.

*Pride negated by Gamer's Mind.

Right, right. I'm proud of her, but I shouldn't let it go to my head. It's still gratifying to see Sibby acting, well, human. She was always like that around Riley, Panda, and me, but I'd been worried how she'd act on her own.

Not unfounded worries... from what she'd told me of her 'rampage', but even then she hadn't been... cruel. Right. That's the word.

...

Pomle sounded like an interesting place. I don't think I'll ever go there. While I enjoy a good fistfight, it wouldn't be fair. Not that [Martial Artists] don't have powers to elevate them too, but still...

A letter? A conspiracy among the different [Kings] and [Queens]?

Wow. An unjust war of multiple countries grouping together? Killing, pillaging, enslaving.

Yeah... that's not cool. I might have to have words with the Archmages of Wistram about not reporting this. I'd heard about their fledgling news network, and a story like this should be told - not covered up.

...

'...and then I took the sword. 'Cause I wanted to give them an 'explanation', right? Plus, Cauwine said it was good training - even though the sword itself isn't very good at cutting people. So, this time I connected to the ARMOR of the people I was hitting! Cool, right? I increased its friction and did some complicated stuff with the air to make sparks! Like, lots and lots of sparks! It was pretty, and it was also pretty... dangerous. Heh. It really did scare the cloth people. They don't like fire. So, anyways, there I was with the sword and people running like they should, when the magic guys started attacking again. It's a lot harder to dodge magic, 'cause some of it doesn't push air away. Still, not that hard. If it was really too much, I could always drop the sword and really move, but it didn't come down to that. So, I got to the magic wall again. It was too solid for me to eat, and it also was too big, y'know? Like, I couldn't even get part of it in my mouth! Well, it probably doesn't go through the ground William said, so I could possibly dig a little and take a bite from the bottom, but that's not an option in the middle of a fight. So... I tried a new trick! I took a bunch of air and smashed it! No big explosion, 'cause there's less air than other stuff. William said I'd need 'fissionable' material for an actual EXPLOSION-explosion, but... it made a lot of light! That let me un-summon myself and re-summon myself right in the middle of the mages without anyone noticing! Oh yeah, I guess you probably noticed, but I've gotten good at re-summoning myself. I used to have to have you or William do it, but it's really similar to how I summon Panda. Oh! Have you seen Panda? She's somewhere that way... I think. Anyways, I felt you get close. Like, CLOSE-close, so I ran to you, and here we are!'

"I see." The sun was coming up. We'd talked all night. Well, mostly Sibby had talked all night. I had to admit, that even if she'd gotten better at speaking out loud, that our bond was still a lot more convenient. If I'd had to wait for her to take a breath every few seconds, we'd be here for several more hours. "And Cauwine is what exactly?"

'Dead. Or something. Nice, but single-minded.'

I raised an eyebrow at that. Sibby calling someone else single-minded?

Heh.

"Okay. But I still don't quite understand why you're fighting the army." Or, rather, armies. She'd mentioned fighting one with lots of golems before.

Ears of Babel picked up another message from Wistram. I un-Inventoried my working scrying orb and stored the magical communication inside of it. Whatever it was, it could wait until I was finished catching up with Sibby. I re-Inventoried the crystal ball and I felt the continual drain on my mana pick back up from its brief interruption.

'Because, it's the right thing to do.' Sibby said with absolute confidence. 'They're ganging up on Tiqr because they don't like some other guy. William said that killing killers before they kill is fine, but I've still been trying to just wound them.' She smiled at me. 'You'll help, right?'

"Of course I will." I nodded. How could I refuse?

I hadn't planned on doing anything super-flashy that could upset nations, let alone the world... but... fuck it. Sibby was right, it was a good cause. Besides, how could I refuse Sibby when she asked for something selfless?

'Good!' Sibby sprung to her feet. 'I usually wait until night to attack, but that's part of my cunning plan! Get them accustomed to fighting me once per night... then Bam! Ambush during the day! They won't see it coming!'

"Hang on." I motioned for her to sit back down. "I want to talk to Tiqr's [Queen] first."

'Nsiia?' Sibby tilted her head. 'Why? We should attack now!'

"A couple of reasons." I held up a finger as I listed them off. "First, we're in her country. We should ask permission. I don't think she'd refuse, but we might mess up a plan or something if we act rashly and don't coordinate with Tiqr's army." I raised another finger. "Second, I need to talk with another place I'm allied with first." More to give Wistram a head's up than anything else, but that was also common courtesy. I straightened my last finger. "Third, I'll need some time to Craft some things."

I had... a LOT of missiles in my Inventory. Due to my Ephemeral Trait, I got a 90% discount on making single-use items. So naturally I'd prepared for some stupidly powerful end-game boss... or more likely, an army. I hadn't envisioned a medieval fantasy army with magic as a possibility, but they should still work.

However, I needed to build a communications tower at least. Something to announce to the armies and their commanders that they should run away.

Man, I wish I had Boo around. Then I could have him pilot all of the spare mech-suits I'd made. THOSE were supposed to be my anti-army countermeasures. Sibby and I stood up and I took her hand. As much as I missed my old Summoning Perk, I was much happier with the Siberian by my side.

'C'mon.' She tugged at me as we broke into a run. 'I can show you where the capital is! I can introduce you to Laila. She's like us.'

"An Earther?"

'No. Someone who matters. Someone real.'

Huh. Okay. I began to Inventory the air in front of me before releasing it behind me. It was a trick I'd picked up from watching Sibby run. I still couldn't sprint as fast as her, but it definitely helped increase my speed.

...

'I have information about something you lost.'

That was what the message from Wistram said.

I frowned a little as I Inventoried my scrying orb. Ears of Babel also let me know it wasn't from one of the Archmages. Each message had its own voice that I could discern, but that didn't help identify new people.

Eh, I'd just reply back if they messaged me again. That was the problem with saving it in my crystal ball. I could listen to it later, but I couldn't respond using the magical connection.

I'd thought about Crafting something that would intercept messages. I could probably make it work so that it retained that detail. It would also be something useful for when I was in disguise. Without Ears of Babel, message spells needed an external target.

But... I wasn't about to sacrifice a Skill for what would essentially be an answering machine. Really, I just needed to buy a message scroll and keep it outside my Inventory. It wasn't like missing messages was a new problem. This world had solutions that I just needed to acquire on my own.

I shook my head and resumed paying attention to Sibby as we ran. She sure had done a lot of things since we'd been apart.

*Anger negated by Gamer's Mind.

I needed to do something about Roshal. I had the means, but I needed a plan that wouldn't involve killing the slaves too.

Yeah... that would be the tricky part.

---

Nsiia Oliphant scowled at the map.

Things were not going well. Her people were fighting with skill and ferocity. Brilliantly so, but there were just too many invaders. Even if they won the war tomorrow, Tiqr would be years in recovering as refugees returned to their sacked villages.

That... that was a crisis for the future. Hopefully. She could worry about what happened after the war once they'd won.

And she was increasingly sure there was only one way that could happen. She'd have to declare for the King of Destruction. If Flos used his [Army of the King] skill, then they could turn things around in one final battle!

But, once again, that was something that the future might hold. Today she needed to focus on Savere's army. They'd been advancing slowly as the [Thugs], [Pirates], and [Raiders] of the coastal kingdom ransacked and pillaged their way north.

With Illivere moving so slowly, the Siren's forces had also not advanced as much as they could. Of course, that was probably due to Revine Zecrew wanting to leave no riches behind instead of a tactical decision. The issue was that, with Nerrhavia's Fallen finally arriving, Savere had increased their pace.

Ironically, since every other kingdom didn't want to face the full brunt of her forces, but also wanted to be there when the massive army of Stringfolk reached the capital that she might get that singular, decisive battle.

She looked down at the small dog-shaped figurine on the war map. "General Vasraf, how fares the Laughing Brigade?"

Her [General] cleared his throat. "Down to nearly two thousand troops."

Nsiia scowled. "That's a third gone."

"Yes." He agreed. "And they're still doing the best out of all of our units. While others also have good mobility, the Skill you provide them is particularly effective for ambushes and quick withdrawals."

It was true. Their maddening laugh was very good at breaking morale. Quite useful for disorienting opposing forces. It wasn't her strongest unit, that would be her Grand Elephants, but her gigantic friends were not mobile enough for such tactics. All the pachyderms that had gone into battle thus far had perished.

She wanted to take the field. To rage against their foes. To make them bleed. To sink into her throne...

Nsiia knew this was all her fault. If she had it to do over again, would she speak out as she did? What she'd said was true and right, but was it worth the cost?

Suddenly, she heard the sound of battle. [Soldiers] yelling. It felt... close. Within Oliphant. At the entrance to her palace.

Nsiia frowned and closed her eyes. She flickered through the vision of her tamed birds until... there!

Her palace guards were squaring off against two people. Correction, one person who had an ally standing back. The one doing the fighting was the Siberian!

Nsiia remembered her! It seemed like the trip to Pomle was a lifetime ago. The Zebra-beastkin had vanished, though there had been tales of her fighting Illivere's army single-handedly. What was it? A 'newspaper'? She distinctly remembered someone telling her that an account of the war in general, and Illivere's progress in particular, had been available for purchase. Written by... 'Rémi Canada'?

Given how easily Sibby was subduing her [Guards], it was believable. Not that Nsiia had ever had any doubts. The Siberian was no neophyte to combat, as her stories had told.

"General, please go and see to our visitors. Escort them inside."

Vasraf nodded and strolled out of the throne room to see to the situation.

Nsiia winced as the Siberian kicked another man in the stomach hard enough to send him flying several feet. No casualties. No blood. How had the fight started?

And who was that man with her? Judging by how he was palming his face while shaking his head, things were equally out of his control.

...

"Siberian." Nsiia nodded to her, now that the... skirmish outside had been dealt with. "It makes me happy to see you again. I've heard tales of your exploits on the eastern front."

Sibby smiled broadly and preened under her praise. "Thanks!"

"Indeed. Tiqr is grateful for your aid." Especially since the Siberian wasn't one of her subjects. "It raises our spirits to have a single ally when every other country turns against us." There, that was a good opening for Sibby to explain herself.

And to explain who the man accompanying her was. The Siberian looked hale and healthy, so if she had ceased her one-woman campaign, there was bound to be a good reason. With, hopefully, good news to go with it.

"If I may." The man stepped forward and bowed. "My name is Pixel, the Archmage of Cubes."

Nsiia raised an eyebrow, while the Siberian turned towards Pixel and tilted her head.

"Well met, Pixel. What brings you to Tiqr in these dark days?"

"I came to find Sibby." Pixel straightened and turned to smile at the Siberian. "Now that I have, I would like to help you end this war."

Nsiia nodded. "We will graciously accept any aid to us and our armies." She'd never heard of Pixel before, but if he was indeed an Archmage, then his help would be invaluable. "If the Siberian thinks highly of you, then you must be high-level."

Pixel smiled. "I'm sure I can help turn the tide."

"A bold claim." Nsiia smiled back. She liked boldness. "Please coordinate with General Vasraf." She gestured to him.

"Actually, do you have some empty land you could direct me to?" Pixel countered. "I'll need to raise a tower to get a good angle on the armies. It should also be far away from anything important, as I might be retaliated against."

---

I looked at the savanna we'd been directed to. It was pretty far away from the capital. There were a lot of refugees around Oliphant, so I didn't want to stay closer.

'What are you doing?' Sibby asked me.

I held the pixelated seed in my hand. "Just like I said, I'm going to Craft a tower."

'Why?'

"I need to get line of sight on all the armies at once."

'You can just fly.'

"I also need a target for any attacks."

'Huh?'

I pressed the seed into the ground. It was a fairly simple construct. I should be finished by tonight.

"Not all of us can reform, Sibby." I smirked at her. "Magic is dangerous and I have no idea what our opponents can do. I doubt they can actually out-range me, but it's possible. Far more likely is that they send [Assassins] after me."

'Ah! I get it! Minimize collateral damage.'

I gave her a look.

'William told me that.' Sibby smiled brightly.

"Yes, that's the general idea." The top of the spire was already starting to emerge from the ground. "I also need to inform Wistram of what I'm about to do."

'Why?'

"I'm an ally of theirs. It's good manners to at least give them forewarning." Plus, it was probably one of their Archmages that had sent me the message. I could see what that was about, check in on the Earthers, and let Wistram know I was about to kill tens of thousands of people all at once.

As I reached out to the Communication Cube, I started to Craft some long-range missiles. The tower is going to use all the materials underground to fuel its growth, so I'll need to provide the components for my weapons myself. Which means, of course, that I'll be consuming even more of my Tinkertech that I have stored in my Inventory.

I still have a good amount, but it's always worrying when your stock of potions goes down in a game.

---

Cognita strolled through Wistram on her usual patrol.

It was nice to have a habit because lately she'd been feeling... off.

She just hadn't seen or spoken with Zelkyr for so long. She missed him, and still guarded his legacy, but... It just wasn't as fulfilling as it had once been. She was even considering taking a trip.

The sound of footsteps and the dragging of cloth against stone let her know that a [Mage] was hurrying down the hallway behind her. Not many came to this area of the school, so she turned around to see what brought one of the living spell-casters of Wistram to this floor.

"Greetings, Blackmage." Cognita nodded to Aaron Vanwell as he came closer. While there were now other Earthers in Wistram who used their given names, Aaron still preferred to be referred to by his alias.

"Hello, Cognita." He bowed his head at her.

"Is there something I can help you with?" She asked. The Earthers as a whole didn't have the fear of her that the regular [Mages] of Wistram did. That was because they'd never tried to pass Zelkyr's test, nor known any that had made the attempt and died at her hands.

"Yes, I mean, no, I mean..." Aaron took a breath. "I'd like to ask for your help, but it's not for me."

"Who is it then?" Cognita raised a single eyebrow as she looked at him. Suddenly, a man appeared out of thin air without the slightest trace of magic.

"That would be me, Cognita." Pixel was in his other-worldly armor. Or rather, the image of Pixel was dressed as such. "I would speak with you and have you perform a minor task for me if you don't mind."

"What is the task?" Cognita turned to the image.

"I have some information I'd like to tell to the Archmages, and to you. I wouldn't want to trust it to a [Message] Spell."

"Ah. You want to use your 'Tinkertech' to convey it, and you would like me to carry the Communication Cube to their presence."

Pixel's body shifted slightly as his shoulders relaxed and his head nodded. "Yes. I don't want to take up your time, but I also want to let them know what I'm going to do in person instead of hearing about it afterwards from a third party."

"Very well." Cognita nodded in return. "I shall do this for you." Inside, she had to admit, Cognita was happy to have a diversion. Ceaselessly patrolling was starting to feel rather dull.

Aaron pulled the softly glowing cube out of his pocket and held it up to her. Cognita daintily took it. Pixel's devices were sturdy enough, but that didn't mean that she shouldn't treat them with care.

"Hey, can I, uh, stay and listen?" Aaron asked after taking a step back.

Cognita faintly smiled. Wistram [Mages] were all the same when it came to a secret. Young Aaron Vanwell seemed to be learning. "I do not mind." She then turned to face Pixel.

"I don't mind either." Pixel shrugged. "Just be warned that this 'secret' isn't going to be of any value come nightfall."

"Oh?" Cognita regarded him. "That implies that the thing you are about to do will be widely known." Otherwise, it would still be a secret for a while after the fact.

"That's right." Pixel nodded. "I'm going to destroy all the armies invading Tiqr."

Aaron's eyes bulged. "Wait, what?!? How many armies are we talking about here?"

"Twelve in total, but only one of true significance."

"That seems... ambitious." Cognita, herself, could face the army of a smaller nation alone. She had done so in the past. "I also wouldn't call only one of them 'significant'."

"Yeah, I mean, I get that you're crazy strong, but..." Aaron added. "Have you... done stuff like that before?"

It seemed a fair question, given Pixel's confidence.

"I have missiles."

"Missiles?"

"Yes. Enough to target every army simultaneously."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Aaron held up his hands. "What kind of missiles are we talking about? Nukes?"

"I do have some potent weapons at my disposal, but I won't be using anything that will scar the land like that." The way he said it implied that such a restriction was by choice rather than anything else.

Cognita... might have underestimated Pixel. The way that he and Aaron were casually talking about such things made her wonder. "What level spell are we talking about?"

Pixel stroked his chin. "I would classify the missiles I'm going to use as... Tier 6."

"Tier 6 spells are powerful, but you would need quite a few to overwhelm an army hundreds of thousands strong." There were, of course, artifacts and spells from ancient times that were stronger, but nations horded them like Drakes lusted for gold.

"Yeah, shouldn't you, y'know, kill the leaders of the armies instead of carpet bombing the nation you're defending?"

"I would, except..." Pixel shook his head. "When you eliminate a gang leader, it doesn't stop there. Some of the gang members will slink back into the shadows, but some of them become a mob."

Cognita nodded. "Armies that lose their leaders have been known to become [Bandits]." This too she had seen happen personally. "The end result is always more fighting."

"But, still..."

Pixel held up a hand. "That's why I plan on displaying overwhelming power and forcing the armies to withdraw or die." He tilted his head. "I think I'll threaten the leaders directly. Give them some good incentive to retreat." He turned to look directly at Aaron. "The best outcome would be to have the armies leave without any more casualties on either side."

"Impossible." Cognita crossed her arms, the communication cube still held lightly in her grasp. "There has been too much blood spilt for each nation already. Wars do not end without a great deal more done." It was a flaw in the reasoning of leaders.

"A sunk cost fallacy." Pixel added.

"Yeah." Aaron sighed. "I get it. Countries don't like to back down. Once someone makes up their mind..."

"Precisely."

"Will you be asking the other Archmages for assistance?" Cognita asked for Aaron's sake. She'd find out soon enough on her own - especially if Pixel visited Amerys. The Archmage of Lightning was the only real battle [Mage] in Wistram. She also was allied with the King of Destruction.

Good or bad, if Pixel released her to help him fight his war, Wistram would be seen by many to be supporting Flos Reimarch. The Carved Golem assumed that was why the various factions had united to oppose the newly re-awakened king.

After all, there were lots of other conflicts in the world that the Archmages by and large stayed out of.

"No." The image of Pixel shook his head. "While I'm allied with Wistram, I'm going to be doing this for myself. I don't need anyone else getting involved."

"For yourself..." Aaron mumbled before his eyes widened. "Ah! Because you aren't trying to rescue any Earthers! It's not part of your mission!"

"Correct." Pixel nodded. "This may or may not help with that. On one hand, there's no direct benefit for any Earther, unless of course they arrived in Tiqr. But, I will be essentially stepping into the world stage." Pixel motioned to his armor. "My very image should be enough to let any Earthers know of my origin."

"Yeah." Aaron's face twisted into a wry smile. "Even people that never played Metroid will still recognize a video game character."

Metroid? Cognita wondered to herself what the two of them were talking about.

"However, even if things go exactly as I want them to, I will have earned the enmity of a lot of countries."

"Great people cannot make their mark on history without earning the scorn of their lessers." Cognita remembered just how many [Assassins] she'd personally killed from kingdoms that hated Zelkyr. "Wistram is safe, but other Earthers might be retaliated against if you anger the world." Her words hung in the air between the three of them for a moment before she continued. "But, fear of retaliation can dissuade a lot of such actions. As does the fact that your appearance, while unique, does not mark you as an 'Earther' for any except people from your world."

"All that is true." Pixel raised his hand and made a fist. "But... this is ultimately simpler than that. The choice I made as a... superhero, was to never ignore stuff that happens in front of me. There's always the thought that I could be doing more, and the best way that I decided to live was to do what I could with where I was."

"With great power comes great responsibility."

Both Pixel and Cognita turned to stare at Aaron. That... was a powerful phrase.

---

"Activate it." Thelican lounged on his silk couch as his [Mage] cast the scrying spell. The Djinni had abruptly left last night. Would it return this night? Only time would tell.

The [Great General] smirked. It mattered little to him. He'd already gotten his compensation from Roshal. It didn't matter so much to him when they captured the creature. If it was intelligent enough to avoid them, then that was that.

As long as it was out of Thelican's hair, it didn't matter for the moment.

But... there was a chance that the Djinni had abandoned its assault for some other reason. The reaction it had shown wasn't one of noticing something ahead. Rather, it was sensing something behind it.

A... master, perhaps?

One could say it was in a Djinni's nature to serve. For a newly formed one to find a master on its own without any binding shackles was certainly an... intriguing possibility. One that would doubtlessly make for a tragic story as the Djinni's true nature revealed itself. But one that he'd listen a [Bard] tell.

His [Mage] gasped suddenly.

"What is it?" Thelican leaned forward to gaze into the mirror. "Did you find the Djinni?" He frowned. "This isn't even pointed at the ground! Why would-"

Thelican also gasped as the Giant came into view as the scrying spell panned up. A golem of enormous proportions was towering above his army.

"Sir!" Another [Mage] burst into his tent. "We are getting messages from the front lines! There are Giants approaching!"

"Yes, yes, I see it." Thelican made a dismissive motion with his hand. "Can't you see what image is already in the scrying-" He paused. The [Mage] had said something important after all. "Did you say 'Giants', as in plural?"

"Yes, sir!" His underling nodded before putting his hand to his temple. "Other messages incoming..." His eyes grew wide. "Sir! Illivere is reporting a Giant confronting them! As is Savere! And-"

"Enough!" Thelican flexed his aura slightly to silence the nervous fool. "It's obviously a trick. There is no way that-"

"Greetings. I am Pixel, the Archmage of Cubes. And I have a message for the people who decided to invade Tiqr."

The 'Archmage of Cubes'? That would explain his appearance.

"All of you are pathetic excuses for leaders." The Giants spoke as one. Thelican could hear it across the miles to the edge of his camp. The voice was strangely at a normal volume level, as if the words were being broadcast to him instead of shouted across the front lines. "You fear the King of Destruction conquering you, so you instead conquer your neighbor? One country disagrees with you, so you destroy it? Loot it? Enslave its people?"

The Giants in the crystal ball looked contemptuously down at them. Even if it had no expression due to its armor, or being a golem, its posture relayed its clear lack of respect.

"You are morons. Corrupt power-hungry opportunists. Idiotic inbred imbeciles of the highest order. Didn't you think about who benefits from this? Is it you? No. You've gained gold, gems, and slaves, but now the world can see what you're really like. The part that escapes your meager intellects is that one of you will be next. When the next one of you dares to speak out about another issue, they too will be destroyed by your 'alliance'."

The Giants then laughed. A booming chuckle that echoed across the horizon. Thelican clenched his fists and ground his teeth. How dare he say such things?!? The lesser [Kings] and [Queens] might indeed be lacking, but Nerrhavia's Fallen was the greatest country in the world!

"And who gains from that in the end? Not you. Who's being hurt? Not Flos. In fact, you're doing him a favor by resorting to the language he speaks so easily: violence. And since you've decided to enforce your will by such means, then I will respond in turn."

The threat hung in the air as the Giants paused.

"But, unfortunately, I'm too weak. Too weak to hunt down all your commanders one-by-one in a timely fashion. If I had arrived earlier, if you and your armies weren't inside the borders of another nation, if I had my allies with me, if I had gotten word of this charade sooner, then I could've done this with less bloodshed. As it is... I will simply have to kill the leaders who decided on this course of action only after I've slaughtered everyone else. So now I speak to those who are 'just following orders': run. Flee if you value your lives, and I will try not to include you in my AoEs." The Giants shrugged. "Or die. History won't remember you either way."

"Ayeohies? What's an 'Ayeohie'?" Thelican muttered as his [Army Dangersense] started to itch at the back of his mind.

He then saw the Ayeohie inside of the crystal ball. It came from behind Pixel and over the horizon. A vast distance that even the finest Magic Thrower war machines of Nerrhavia's Fallen came nowhere near matching. It was quicker than a [Fast Fireball]: despite the great distance it had traveled, it struck after flying in the air for a mere minute. The projectile was smaller than a [Valmira's Comet], but the explosion it created dwarfed a [Siege Fireball]. A blast of heat and flames tore apart a chunk of Tiqr hundreds of feet across. All the [Soldiers] inside of the area had been vaporized in an instant by a fire so profound that he could swear he felt the heat from it within his command tent miles and miles away.

Then... the second Ayeohie hit.

Notes:

Bios:

Nsiia Oliphant - [Empress of Beasts]. Ruler of Tiqr. Currently thinking that making friends with the Siberian was one of her best decisions ever.

Chapter 86: The War in Tiqr 5

I ran out of long-range missiles quickly.

The problem was that Tiqr was about twice the size of my home state of Texas. That meant that my targets were more than five hundred miles away.

Generally speaking, superheroes didn't fight at that distance. I still had ample ordinance that I hadn't used as materials to Craft the long-range missiles, but their range was significantly less.

Still, I was on my tower. Pylons charged and ready to create Endbringer-level forcefields of various damage negating types. Well, Endbringer-level in that they were what Uppercrust had built to protect against Endbringers. So, pretty strong, but not what an actual forcefield using Endbringer would've been able to make.

The tower also helped me use Tongue of Babel to make my projections that had spoken to the invading armies. Of all the 'novel' uses of Tongue of Babel, it was the most grandiose thing I'd ever done, but communication was communication.

Now... I waited...

Hmmm... I should Craft some more long-range missiles while I see just how the opposing armies will respond.

---

"Retreat!" Magus-Crafter Femithain gave the order. "We are pulling back."

"Sir!" Dellic saluted him. "Are you sure? Without an order from the council..."

"I am positive." The elected leader of the Illivere Federation gazed out over the destruction. "Twelve Golems destroyed by a single spell. We are lucky that the attack only struck our vanguard."

Or, perhaps, not that lucky. In truth Illivere's army consisted of little other than Golems at this point. More than half the [Soldiers] that should've been supporting them had been sent back to Illivere due to the Zebra Beastkin's attacks.

At least she'd seen fit to assault Nerrhavia's Fallen once the larger army had marched past Illivere's slower moving forces.

"The other countries-"

"Will either retreat as well or face an [Archmage]." Femithain got another [Message] from Savere this time... it looked like the Siren was going to keep on advancing. "We are not the only group that will fall back. I don't care what the council says, we are officially out of our depth!"

Femithain took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He was being too emotional. It had been a... long campaign. He was, perhaps, a bit on edge. He wasn't wrong though. Pixel had unleashed more than five dozen tier-6 spells in what? A minute? Even the Calm Flower of the Battlefield couldn't match that level of destruction.

And Amerys had been know to wipe out opposing armies nearly single-handedly!

"Sir!" Dellic gave him another salute before turning around and issuing the retreat.

Femithain sunk in his chair and turned his thoughts to the other thing that had been nagging at his mind. The gigantic image of Pixel had just been another magic spell. But... why that form? He'd called himself the [Archmage of Cubes]. It was clear how he'd gotten that title. But the really question was, 'did such a thing exist in real life'?

A Golem of that size?

Or one made out of an assembly of cubes?

Femithain would've loved to have spoken to its creator, but that hardly seemed likely given the current state of things.

---

"Bring me the Storm Scroll!" Thelican shouted.

"Sir? The Storm Scroll?"

"Yes!" The [Great General] looked out at the destruction caused by Pixel's attack. "We need it."

"But... It's a strategic asset. I thought we only had it in case one of the King of Destruction's Seven arrived?" His [Sergeant] looked at him with a dull expression that Thelican would expect to see on a Hemp or Cotton instead of a Silk. "The land will be-"

"We use it now." His tone left no room for dissension.

Could Pixel be Amerys in disguise?

Possibly. Who knew?

The only reasonable course of action was to use every weapon at his disposal to kill the [Mage] before he struck again. That was how you won wars.

"Sir, shouldn't we contact the Court of Steel? Get confirmation about-"

"Silence!" Thelican roared at his other dim-witted subordinate. "I am a [Great General]! I do not need approval on how to lead MY army!"

Those stupid [Diplomats] didn't know what it was like on the front lines. How many Silk [Soldiers] depended on Thelican's Skills and experience. They'd already given him tacit approval to use one of Nerrhavia's Fallen most powerful artifacts by letting him requisition it in the first place.

It wasn't like Nerrhavia's Fallen would feel the loss. Sure, no one living could make any more scrolls of such power, but his great country had an abundance of them.

Thelican drummed his fingers while he waited.

"Sir, we have a communication from Deimos."

"And?"

"To the esteemed [Great General] Thelican of her Majesty Queen Yisame of Nerrhavia Fallen, may her-"

"Get to the point." Thelican interrupted the man before he could go through the entire list of pleasantries. "Summarize it plainly for me."

"Sir!" The [Mage] withered under his glare. "The Kingdom of Deimos is... withdrawing. Sir."

"What? Another one?" Thelican made a dismissive gesture. "Bah. Nerrhavia Fallen doesn't need their support. We will remember this when they come crawling back after I kill this 'Pixel'."

"But-"

"But nothing! You heard his vulgar tongue. Do you think that Nerrhavia's Fallen can stand by after such words?" They were more of an insult than the Hemp [Soldiers] Pixel's attack had destroyed. Could his dim-witted aids not see that a [Mage] like that NEEDED to die?

That NOW was the time to strike? That he'd exhausted himself with that, admittedly potent, display of power? Not that any [Mage] could survive a Tier Seven spell even at full strength.

"Sir-"

"The next words out of your mouth had better be that you've found Pixel." They needed a target after all, and his Ayeohies had flown in a straight line. It should be child's play to find him.

"Yes, Sir. He's on top of a monolith several hundred miles away."

"Good." Finally a smidgen of competence.

"General Thelican, Sir!" The first [Mage] returned, though everyone in the tent had sensed his approach as he had neared with his dangerous package.

The black scroll seemed to pulse with a malevolent mind all its own. The air around it was dimmer and heavier from the weight of the spell it contained. It was so potent as to be physically painful to look at.

The rest of the needed components, the giant glass jar, was outside. Both were parts of the same spell. He strolled out of his tent to confirm everything was properly prepared.

"Good." Thelican smiled. "Begin to cast it immediately."

---

'I have information about something you lost.'

The Message came again while I was waiting. Thankfully Ears of Babel didn't take much mana to leave up constantly, so I was ready for it. As long as the Spell was 'active' I could use Tongue of Babel to respond.

None of Wistram's Archmages had brought up 'something I'd lost' while they'd been arguing with me against intervening in Tiqr. That didn't necessarily mean the Message wasn't from one of them. It probably wasn't an easy segue to bring other things up while trying to argue the finer points of not intervening in an invasion.

Oh well, my demonstration had been just as much for them as-

Threat Sense went off. Not a lot or anything distinct yet... more a ping that something might happen. That meant that there was something that Optimize couldn't predict completely. That meant magic. I ceased my reply and began to pour mana into Threat Sense and the feeling solidified.

Then, the reason for it became blatantly obvious as lightning lit up the night sky. The blanket of electricity wasn't the only thing. The stars and the moon had also been blotted out as darkness flickered behind the bolts.

It was clearly magic, but it also obviously wasn't ONLY lightning. There was another aspect to the spell that spread out over the skies of Tiqr before converging on my tower.

Huh. Suddenly a tower doesn't seem like the safest place to be.

I teleported down to its base before looking back up into the sky. The energy was coalescing into lines and forming glowing words.

'From the Emperor of Storms to you. A gift:

[Blighted Bolt of the Forsaken Lands].'

Was that them being over-dramatic... or was this a Spell casting another Spell?

My musings were cast aside as Threat Sense gave me a vision of the future. A massive, Behemoth-worthy bolt of yellow and black would come crashing to the ground. The tower would, in fact, act like a lightning rod, but there would simply be too much energy for it to re-direct it all.

My immunity to lightning would blunt the damage, but not enough. The magic in the bolt could kill me.

I could feel the air changing as the electrical imbalance increased.

I raised my arm above my head and activated all the forcefield pylons in the tower. Layer after layer of glowing barriers appeared, and the future changed.

The forcefields were enough. The massive bolt would go through one... no, two of them, but it would be stopped.

In part.

The darkness would still fall down and strike me.

It wouldn't be immediately lethal, but it would wound me somehow that wasn't physical.

What if I teleported away?

Yes!

No.

It could work. Threat Sense flickered as visions of me avoiding the bolt completely intermixed with me being struck after I moved. It was sky-wide until it condensed into an attack. Evading it wouldn't be so easy as it could expend its energy towards where I appeared if I messed the timing up.

I could see the path, but not walk it with certainty.

In fact... I turned to look at Sibby. Could it even hurt the Siberian?

Shit!

I un-Summoned Sibby as the bolt started to descend from the sky.

I then teleported away.

Unfortunately, my reflexes weren't as fast as lightning.

---

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

She couldn't believe that Kevin had un-summoned her!

She, of course, knew that he'd done it from some misplaced sense of worry. As if anything could hurt the Siberian!

She appeared just in time to see the magical darkness descend through the forcefields. Her eyes tracked it even as the lightning was blocked. Some of the darkness vanished alongside the yellow arcs of electricity as if they were somehow inexplicably tied to each other. Some of the darkness, but not all of it. The remainder of it was coating the tower Kevin had built.

Piece by piece. Inch by inch. Cube by cube. The structure blackened and twisted. The straight lines of the edges twisting and deforming as the magical power warped them.

It didn't stop the black plague as it continued downward at nearly the same speed as the lightning which had carried it.

Too fast.

Too fast for Sibby to respond with her body. She was fully capable of following it. Of responding to it with her power. But her power couldn't touch Kevin.

Her summoner stood there with his arm stretched upward from where he'd just activated the defenses a moment ago. His form looked a little fuzzy around the edges as he prepared to teleport.

A microsecond passed.

Sibby spread her power out through the ground and into the closest part of the tower. It was all one piece! She could affect it!

If... she... just... pushed...

It was too big. Sibby couldn't fully envelop something so big, and... she also couldn't touch things that Kevin had created. The cubes... just weren't 'there'.

Still... she could go around the edge of it! Where the air pressed against his creation! Up to where the darkness was falling! She could intercept it before it struck him!

Another microsecond passed.

Her power and the magical blight raced towards each other at nearly the same speed while Kevin's form grew blurrier.

The darkness reached him first.

Her power struck the cloud immediately after.

It was too much. She focused her Authority on it, but... it wasn't enough.

One microsecond. Two. She was holding it back... She fought with the bolt's power... and lost.

Sibby's form ceased to be, but the last thing she saw was Kevin also vanishing as the color seemed to seep out of his arm.

...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

Kevin! Where was Kevin! She hadn't been away long, and had formed right beside where he'd teleported to.

"Sibby." He hissed at her. "Tear off my arm!"

---

The Siberian grabbed my right shoulder, and casually ripped my arm off.

*Error! Gamer's Body negated.
*Fatal Bleeding negated by Gamer's Body.

Huh. This felt oddly nostalgic of our first encounter. From when I'd asked her to do the same thing so I could give my limb to Riley, er, Bonesaw. Only this time my pain resistance was keeping me from rolling on the ground while I screamed.

I checked my status screen... 'Blighted' was gone.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I'm pretty sure that I have [Body of Stone] and [Reinforce Armor] to thank for my resisting whatever that was - even if it was just by slowing the magic down once it touched me. From what I could tell of the twisted remains of my tower, that black blight was pretty effective at hurting me. Even now, the arm that was in Sibby's hand had changed to black and shades of gray from the hand uo to the elbow.

Huh.

It actually kinda looks like the arm of Dark Samus now.

It had better not regenerate into-

Sibby tore a finger off and started eating it.

I stared at her blankly as she chewed. "Sibby... why?"

'It's good! Still crunchy, but also smokey? It tastes like both you and that Djinni I took a bite out of! It's really tasty!' She took another bite and closed her eyes as she savored the flavor.

Sibby DID tell me how she's able to eat magic now, so... okay? I'm still worried that a cell or two of mine might be infected, but my Status screen should show that. In fact.

I observed Sibby.

[Debuffs: None]

Not even 'Master's Control' that she'd had back when she'd been... uhm... William's projection.

"Okay."

It was probably fine. Right?

I pushed mana into Observe and tried again.

[Debuffs: None]

Yeah, so... fine. I didn't even get any odd feelings like I had from when I'd used [Instinct] before sacrificing it to Observe.

Besides, how else was I going to get rid of my Blighted arm? After the whole Noelle disaster, I couldn't just leave it laying around. I guess I could burn it? Use it to Craft something?

Would that even work? It would wind up in Sibby's belly eventually either way.

*Worry negated by Gamer's Mind.

Right, right. Sibby's tough. If she can eat a Djinni without it affecting her mind somehow, then eating the leftovers from a spell should be fine. Better than fine since it was disposing of something potentially dangerous.

I didn't REALLY believe my arm would grow into some sort of Dark Pixel... but better safe than sorry. Besides. I turned to face the East. I had something I needed to do first.

Don't focus on hypothetical future threats when there's a present one.

I un-Inventoried my Scrying Orb into my remaining palm. I reached out to it with Tongue of Babel, and then through it to the scrying network.

---

"Get the scrying spell working!" Thelican ordered his subordinate.

"Y-Yes, sir!"

The clearly inadequate [Mage] began chanting as he tried to get the picture inside of the mirror to stabilize. It had been too long since the [Blighted Bolt] had landed. He had to confirm that Pixel was dead. The sheer power of the ancient spell had caused the image inside of the reflection to distort as the bolt of darkness had descended.

"Enough. [Replacement Supplies]." The magical mirror shifted as his Skill called up another from the armory. Sure enough, the image stabilized and Thelican leaned forward just in time to see the unbound Djinni attack the Archmage! "Hah!"

"Did she just... tear off his arm?" The [Mage]'s face paled.

Thelican supposed he could understand. While losing a limb was nothing for a Stitchfolk, having it torn rather than cleanly cut was... disconcerting.

"No blood from the stump, but some from the arm." He noted as the hostilities between the two seemed to reach a tentative stalemate as the creature ate Pixel's arm. "Femithain did say it was a cannibal."

"Sir? I don't recall it eating any of our Hemp's arms."

Thelican made a dismissive gesture. "That just proves that Pixel isn't Hemp. Or, at least, his arms aren't." There had to be a reason for his helmet. Who else but a Sitchfolk could be so casual about dismemberment? "Ah, there we go."

It wasn't a surprise to him to see Pixel consorting with the Djinni. Its departure from the front lines and Pixel's appearance the next night were too well-timed to be a coincidence. Had the Archmage bound the Djinni? That could explain the power of the attacks, but...

No. There was no way. It clearly didn't have any jewelry or other adornments that could be its bindings. It didn't even have clothes! Besides, it had attacked Pixel, if only for a moment. Bah. A [Mage] associating with a Djinni? That's probably how he cast those spells in the first place, and look at what it had gotten him!

In the orb, the Djinni tossed aside the arm and pounced on Pixel. The black stripes on its body grew thicker and darker as its tore into its former ally.

"Dead gods..."

"Hmpf." Thelican leaned back and laughed. "See? See what the other cowards were afraid of? An arrogant [Mage] thinking he's an [Archmage] just because he thought he could safely use the magic of an unbound Djinni! It's just like the [Bard]'s story: Hemplock and the Djinni!"

"Y-yeah."

"Of course."

"You're absolutely right, [Great General]!"

"Fft!" Thelican silenced them with a wave of his arm. "Of course I am! Now we need to contact the other [Generals]. Let them know-"

An explosion rocked the camp.

---

Looks like information warfare wasn't something in this world.

...Or I was simply better at it due to my Babel Perks.

I let my connection to the scrying network lapse as I piloted my Cawthorne over the army from Nerrhavia's Fallen, and un-Inventoried missile after missile.

The rank and file had no defense - aside from their numbers. There were thousands. Hundreds of thousands of troops. The army literally covered the horizon, but most of them were of no threat to me. Without magic or a Skill to back-up their attacks, they simply couldn't get through my resistances.

Which was incredibly good, as my regeneration was currently working towards re-growing my shoulder instead of refilling any HP I might possibly lose.

Then again, my Cawthorne armor was far more durable than my usual Samus outfit. It should protect me.

Still, I knew that Skills like [Piercing Shot] existed. Even with a forcefield covering my suit and spreading out like wings, I didn't want to risk it. Besides, there was no reason to. If I were limiting my arsenal to lasers to save on resources, it might've been one thing. However, I'd learned my lesson against the army of the dead I'd encountered back in Noelictus.

This time, I was a mile in the air and raining down explosives.

My aim wasn't very good. I'll freely admit that.

With a hand-held gun, or even the Cawthorne's shoulder mounted missiles, I could land my shots easily. Unfortunately, there wasn't a skill for pointing an un-Inventoried missile at the exact right angle so it strikes what you want more than a mile away. Nor was there one for dropping bombs.

This was why I preferred lasers. They weren't affected by wind or gravity. They struck what I aimed at instantly and effectively.

Of course, the reality of the situation was that I could hardly miss my targets. The army sprawled across the landscape and every explosion reaped dozens of lives.

*Sadness negated by Gamer's Mind.

Despite what I'd said in my speech, I didn't want to kill all these people. Having them retreat was my real goal. But, while it was true that I wanted some form of a command structure left over so the army could orderly withdraw, it was clear the ultimate leader had to die before they could order another [Blighted Bolt].

That was why I targeted the biggest and most extravagant tent I could see.

My more esoteric payloads did little against magic, but brute force could shatter almost any defenses. Ten volleys of missiles rained down on it for over a minute. That was plenty of time for the rest of the army to mobilize and launch counter-attacks.

I fed mana into Threat Sense, just to make sure there wasn't a magical attack coming that I wouldn't see. Most of them had enough of a physical impact that regular Threat Sense was enough, but better safe than sorry. Not that I could keep up with how much mana it cost for long, but once I was done here, I'd switch to a more mobile offensive. Fly-by attacks at supersonic speeds should prevent most reprisals.

Though I did still have to worry about how much jet-fuel I was burning.

This would be so much easier with Boo.

---

"[Causality Report]." Thelican said to himself as he peered out at the decoy tent.

His Skill provided him with the figures immediately. Thousands of Hemp dead, which only mattered in the sense of how quickly it had happened. The real issue was that the decoy tent was gone. Every [Mage], [Slave], [Soldier], and even his [Body Double] was dead.

How?

He knew the how. It was the rain of fire and explosions that had fallen on the section of his army from the sky. He just didn't know the 'How' of what had caused it. The Djinni was chewing on Pixel's corpse and...

"Show me the body!" He whirled on one of the [Mages].

"But the camp-" The idiot started to protest.

"Show me Pixel's body!" Thelican clenched his fists as he strolled over to the man. His voice left no room for dissension.

"Yes, sir!" The [Mage] swallowed before turning back to the mirror. The image switched from his army back to the empty field with the remains of Pixel's tower in the distance.

Empty?

"Where's the body?" Thelican growled. "Where's the Djinni?"

"I... I don't know, sir." The man's face went white. "It was there earlier. We all saw it!" His wide eyes darted back and forth. "There!" He pointed. "Blood! He did bleed!"

"But, then..."

"Sir!" Another subordinate burst into his tent. "The 23rd's Magic Thrower has been destroyed!"

"Show me." Thelican commanded his [Mage].

Sure enough, where the large, mobile tower had once stood all that remained was a crater.

"Follow the projectiles back to their source."

"We can't! It's above the scrying sensors!"

"Then rotate your view!" Morons. Thelican was surrounded by morons! A [Great General] should have an army to match, not a bunch of... of... morons!

"There!"

The figure in the mirror was tiny. As far above the viewpoint as the viewpoint was from the ground. "That's... that's more than a mile in the air!" One of the [Mages] gasped.

"It can't be." Another replied. "Look at the Spells! They're arriving in only... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... Five seconds! A spell can't cover that much distance so quickly!"

Thelican slapped him. "[Fast Fireball] can. [Lightning Bolt] can." Of course, the [Mage] was right, generally speaking. Most Spells didn't move... thousands of feet per second?

"[Covering Fire]. [Precision Sight]. [Mage Wall]. [Broadcast Commands]." Thelican rattled off his Skills like there was no tomorrow. "All [Archers] on alert! Aim at the magic projectiles! [Quartermasters], bring out the Magicore arrows! Anti-[Mage] tactics! [Mages] focus on defense! Except for those with Magic Throwers that can reach a target a mile in the air!"

This... was okay. They'd planned for potentially fighting Archmage Amerys. One Archmage or another, Thelican and his army had the advantage.

...

"We need to do something else." Thelican grumbled to himself.

He was a [Great General]! He had more Skills than anyone else! ...But even he was starting to run out.

"He does seem to run out of mana quickly." One of the [Mages] suggested as his subordinates bickered.

"Run out? Are you watching the same battle I am?"

"Why else does he constantly disengage?"

"That's right! We should get our circles to launch long-range magic when he's vulnerable."

"Ah, an excellent idea with just two minor flaws. One, we don't know where Pixel goes when he teleports away. And, two, even with combining our strength we cannot reach that far!"

"Yeah... It was almost a great plan..."

"Perhaps he needs to go back to get more artifacts? I think those projectiles aren't Spells at all! At least not in the traditional sense!"

"And you propose that he has thousands of sixth tier artifacts just... sitting somewhere?"

"He could be a Dragon! That would explain everything! Then he'd have a horde!"

"There are no Dragon's on Chandrar, stupid! The Shield kingdoms got rid of them ages ago!"

Thelican stopped pacing and turned to look at his underlings. What in the name of frayed edges were they talking about? Dragons?

"Silence! I need to think!" Thelican roared. "But... I have an idea."

"Is it that Pixel is a Dragon? 'Cause that's what-"

"No." Thelican glared at the Silk. How was someone of the highest caste so stupid? "Dragons are a myth, but... there are actual mythological creatures we can use. Yes..." A smile came to his face. "We'll send for a Djinni of our own."

"Sir! That's a... I mean to say, that using a Djinni like that is, erm... a war crime."

Thelican turned on him. "No, it's not. Not after one was used on us..." His grin grew wider. "Not after Pixel collaborated with an un-collared one. Yes... It all makes sense. The Djinni attacks us, then a [Mage] makes use of its powers to try in a vile attempt at defeating me."

"Uh, sir, didn't the Djinni attack Pixel?"

Thelican made a motion and his [Guards] grabbed the idiot and escorted him out of the command tent. "No, it's the only way. We can't get more artifacts from Nerrhavia Fallen's vaults in time, but the right Djinni could make it..."

"Right! We can have a Djinni courier over another scroll! That shouldn't-"

Thelican had his [Guards] remove the other dull witted fool. Who would trust a magical item to a Djinni? Much less a national treasure?

"Send a [Message] to the Hundred Thousand Tomes Academy at once!" He paused. "No, I shall write the message myself." He couldn't leave such a vital task up to a subordinate. Thelican would have to use the exact right amount of pleading, praising, blackmail, threats, favors, and Skills to get what he wanted. It... would be a heavy price to pay, but there was no other way.

---

'Go to where General Thelican is in Tiqr as fast as possible. Then find and kill the Archmage Pixel.'

Such simple commands. He could bend or twist them in different ways... if his Master had been a lesser person. A Djinni that was owned by a [Lord] or [Merchant] would still have loopholes available. Not in what they could or couldn't do, but in small ways of protest.

Alas, Muakhai knew that 'as fast as possible' meant 'as fast as he could travel without negatively impacting any citizen of Nerrhavia's Fallen in a material and undue way'.

And, unfortunately for whomever this Pixel person was, Muakhai was VERY fast - and his method of travel did not really hurt anyone. Even if they were awake, a streak of light across the night's sky was neither material or undue.

Of course, for long trips, it only made sense for him to pause and get his bearings after every step. He stroked his trunk as he checked the moons, stars, and land below. Then, he took his next step and did it all over again.

It dramatically increased how much time Pixel had left to live, but it also didn't. It was true that he COULD'VE gone many hundreds of times quicker - if he didn't focus so much on taking the straightest path, but he still arrived in less than half an hour.

He couldn't even claim he was tired, as shifting into his element was something he'd mastered long ago.

Ah, there was the army, and the flying mass of cubes was... likely... the 'Archmage of Cubes'.

Still, it was only prudent to check.

"Excuse me." Muakhai said too faintly to be heard. "Is your name 'Pixel'?"

If he wasn't sure, then he couldn't attack. That only made sense. He would have to hunt down-

"Yes." The man slowed down and spoke to him in an equally soft voice, that Muakhai could still clearly hear.

He paused to rub his fingers on one of his tusks, but only for a moment. His body, his magic, moved on its own and lashed out at Pixel.

...And missed.

Muakhai stared in amazement, even as he concentrated more light for another strike.

Djinni didn't use Spells, not like the mortal races did. The Classes let them shape mana instinctively. Every bolt of lightning they called, every orb of flame, every spike of concentrated cold - it was identical. So, it was with a great deal of surprise when Muakhai's chest burst from a beam of light so strong that it overcame his body's cohesion.

The first surprise was at the amount of light that was contained in the attack. One of his Aspects was Light. A fundamental force even more primal than any other 'element'. To have something that shone brighter than the sun... it left him literally speechless.

The second surprise was how tightly packed the light particles were. Earthers would call them 'photons', but to Muakhai they just... were. Spells didn't pack them so tightly. HE couldn't pack them so tightly. Even in the brief moment that they tore through him, he felt like he'd learned something new about the nature of the universe.

The third surprise was how little mana Pixel's attack had contained. None. Zero. It was more like a void in the most fundamental layer of the world than... he actually lacked the words to express something so... so... incomprehensible!

It was, however, that third surprise that saved him. His form was pushed apart. A hole drilled through the center of his chest. It did not harm his mana. He was his magic. He spent himself to cast 'spells', but it was just an alteration. When Muakhai condensed his light and flung it at a target, the beam would shatter, disperse, then return.

So, while the surprising attack had hurt him, it hadn't actually damaged him.

And whatever pain he'd suffered, he'd more than gained in knowledge.

Muakhai retaliated. He missed.

Pixel shot back. He hit, but for all the strength his attack possessed, it was lacking.

Attack. Counter attack. Over and over until Pixel realized just how futile his 'magic' was, so he changed tactics. Small canisters of cubes propelled by fire or sometimes by seemingly nothing at all flew out at Muakhai. Some sought to strike him directly. Some flew around launching attacks of their own.

But, for as fast and as numerous as the attacks were, they were far slower than Muakhai. He couldn't even be overwhelmed, as the summoned helpers could not avoid his attacks with the same uncanny grace that Pixel did.

Teleporting.

Flying.

Even slightly tilting his head.

Somehow the Archmage flowed around his beams of light as if they weren't the fastest thing in the world.

This...

This was...

Art!

The way they danced in the air! The light that Pixel conjured to strike back at him! The way the Archmage moved to just barely avoid Muakhai's attacks!

Marvelous!

It made Muakhai's second Aspect sing with joy.

The masterpiece of a battle grew both more complex, deadly, and beautiful as time passed. They were alone in the sky, no interference. Muakhai's purpose was vile, but the art they made was breathtaking!

There was little Pixel could do to escape the inevitable conclusion. The small artifacts he summoned could not possibly hurt Muakhai, if they could not hit him. Admittedly, the areas of gray color were of a small concern. But even time magic could not trap Muakhai's light.

"Oh no." He murmured to himself. He could not speak to his opponent, that was a blatant loophole that had been corrected for him a long time ago. Thus, Muakhai could not warn Pixel that he'd realized the man's true nature and vulnerability.

Pixel drew in mana like the desert drank water, but his attacks lacked it. Muakhai could sense him utilizing the mana internally, but he could also feel it building up. Pixel was unable or unaware that he was draining Muakai's power faster than he could use it.

...And too much mana was a deadly poison to any who weren't Djinni. Mana was like water. One could drink it and grow healthy. Swim it it and grow strong. Or one can drown in it and die.

The fight continued after that, but it was clear that Pixel's health was deteriorating. The joy, such as it had been, was over. Muakhai simply had to bathe Pixel in light, and he would soon perish.

Then, the Archmage fled.

A sensible move, but ultimately a pointless one. Muakhai had his orders and he was bound to obey them. He took step after step as he followed after his target. No matter where Pixel teleported to, it was always withing reach of Muakhai's light.

Muakhai was his magic. He was his light.

Prey could not flee after it had already been swallowed.

---

*You have been inflicted with 'Oversaturated'x21.

Notes:

Bios:

Muakhai - OC. An elephant-headed Djinni of Light and Art. Serves at the Hundred Thousand Tomes Academy. As such, he is around a great deal of magic and artifacts and has had much more explicit orders given to him over the years. One of the most powerful Djinni and very adept at using his aspects.

Chapter 87: The War in Tiqr 6

*You have been inflicted with 'Oversaturated'x21.

I Teleported away from the Djinni, but it appeared at my side a split-second later. Whatever Mover ability he had, it was just as fast as mine. Possibly faster, but Threat Sense negated any practical advantage that might have in combat.

Unfortunately, he didn't seem to need to hit me to kill me.

The Elephant-headed man had a corona of light around him that was absolutely flooded with mana. I'd been pumping as much mana into my Perks as I could, but I couldn't spend it fast enough!

Thanks to Threat Sense, I'd turned off [Ambient Mana Gatherer] a while ago, but I was still getting infused by the Djinni's presence after he'd realized what was happening. I considered connecting to him with Power Drain and shoving some of the mana back into him... but that was low on my list of plans.

Plan 1: Retreat, wasn't going so well.

The problem was that while I could teleport wherever I saw, so could the Djinni. I could deploy a Teleportation Pad and hook up with the one in Wistram to get far away, but there were several reasons not to.

First, that would be abandoning the fight. I couldn't get back nearly as quickly and Nerrhavia's Fallen would continue their advance. I could cross the ocean fast enough, but there would be a great number of Tiqr casualties in the meantime.

Second, it would hurt my public image. That... didn't matter so much, but it did matter. I was taking a stand in a way that should draw the attention of any Earthers, and it would be bad for me to lose. Image was vital for Superheroes, and while I hadn't really cared about it before, a reputation would help protect those I guarded better than anything else.

Third, and most important, what would happen to Sibby if I Teleported without her? It would be fine if she wasn't summoned, but the possibility of what could happen if she wasn't gnawed at me. Would our bond stretch again? Or snap? Would she come along? Be left stranded again? Would the magic cause some unpredictable interaction?

Threat Sense only helped me defend myself, unless I pushed it to her. Doing that right now would be a good way to get hit by a Djinni-laser.

Right, so retreat was out unless things got even more desperate. Not that they weren't desperate already. I had enough stacks of 'Oversaturated' that I'd already be dead or unconscious without [Heroic Tolerance: Mana].

At least the Djinni was poisoning me far slower than Emerrhain had done in Wistram.

Thank goodness that I'd been grinding my Mana Pool before I'd run out of potions.

Plan 2: Get Sibby to help.

It was obvious, really. Sibby could damage Djinni, I just needed to bring her meal to her. That was simple enough as the Djinni was following me.

I teleported next to Sibby. The Djinni would follow and she would...

Pop.

Damn it.

Stupid halo of magical light.

I could lure it where-

No. That was too far away. It would be running away, and I might not survive the trip.

I formed another sword from the Cawthorne's forcefield generator and teleported next to the Djinni.

He, of course, teleported away.

Movers were a pain in the ass, and yes, I know I'm being a hypocrite.

Okay... so what else? No point in wasting MP teleporting randomly. I could sacrifice a Skill or two to have another mana outlet. I'm pretty sure that I could continue to dodge while doing that.

No. That's only drawing things out, I need to win.

If I only had my Golden Gun. I swear I'm going to kill whomever stole it from me!

What Perks haven't I tried using?

No... no... no... yes?

The magical light wasn't really an attempt at communicating but it COULD be.

'Who are you?'

'I am Muakhai.' The reply was hesitant, unsure. I can use that.

'You're helping kill hundreds of thousands of innocents.'

'I have no choice. I'm not supposed to be talking to you... but... this is new.' I see the Djinni's shoulders slump. 'I'm sure a new rule will be added to address... whatever it is you are doing. I apologize, Pixel, I am saddened and ashamed at the actions I must take.'

'If you feel guilty about doing something, then just don't do it.' I dodged another laser, but kept my sword out. Juggernaut might be my only solution to hurting Muakhai.

'I have no choice in the matter. My guilt is longer than you have lived.' The reply light was... angry. 'You are arrogant and assume things that you know nothing of. Be silent.'

'Then tell me!'

No reply. Guess I pissed off the Djinni.

Great.

I didn't think I'd be able to actually talk a Mastered person out of taking an action, but I'd hoped to distract him long enough to land a hit.

I continued to dodge while trying to find an opening.

What else? The main rule of dealing with a Supervillain you couldn't take down was to find someone that could. But... that had been Sibby. Perhaps I could 'lose' and get Muakhai to drop his guard long enough for the Siberian to pounce?

Let's call that Plan Z. I know I can tank his magical lasers for a while, but I'd rather not get the Cawthorne damaged. I could use my Samus armor instead.

In fact... Tongue of Babel images hadn't fooled him, but I could teleport from inside my armor. Then, I'd just be some guy.

I'll call that Plan Y. It should work, but I'd rather not sacrifice my powered armor.

Skills, Skills, did I have a Skill that could hurt a Djinni? I went over my list as our drawn-out fight continued and my 'Oversaturated' Debuffs threatened to accumulate.

The only one that I think might help was [Don the Mask].

Right. Gandalf could spend mana quicker than I could. I doubted I could defeat or even hit the Djinni with his Spells, but that wasn't the point. And, now that I was on the ground, I had some defensive options.

I un-Inventoried a Light Resistance pylon and activated its forcefield.

The Djinni immediately targeted it.

I un-Inventoried another that was also resistant to Light, but the visual phenomenon, not the damage type. The forcefield it created was pitch black... normally.

Muakhai's mana-enhanced light still shown through, but it was dimmer. Similarly, his magical lasers were piercing the forcefield, but were at least diminished by it. My pylons were pretty sturdy, but if he targeted the emitter arrays then they could stop working at a moment's notice.

I also didn't think it would take him long to figure out what sections to aim at.

I brought my hand up to my face and...

...noticed how Muakhai's lasers had been thinned by the forcefield. They looked like glowing strings.

Huh. That reminded me of something...

Right! I had a Skill I hadn't considered!

[Thread of Fate]

I'd tried sacrificing it to Limit-Breaker, but that hadn't worked. Instead, I'd gotten a vague idea of what it was for. A scale. An offer. A gift that would be reciprocated.

I hadn't wanted to give an unknown person anything important, but... could I gift mana?

I closed my eyes and focused while the Djinni was busy attacking my deployed defenses. Yes. I could feel it. Mana was acceptable. Even more, it felt... normal? If weak. Slowly at first I started to pour my mana inside. It started off as a small stream, but the rate rapidly increased to a gushing river. Soon I was spending more mana than the Djinni was forcing inside of me!

I took a deep breath and sighed.

Good.

I wasn't out of the woods yet. Every drop of mana was being raked across my insides in a way that would be excruciating if I wasn't immune to pain. Just moving it through me was damaging, if not as much as being over-bloated. I still was on a timer. I still needed to stop the Djinni.

And now, I had another weapon available to me.

I latched on with Power Drain, and couldn't help but smirk. Power Drain was the Perk I'd sacrificed the most Skills to: [Armed At All Times], [Soft Steps], and [Amateur Linguist].

It had an increased capacity and was subtle in a way that made it hard for people to notice, at least until I started PULLING.

Another stream of golden light shown from the elephant-headed man's chest. A stream that went from him to me, and that wasn't blocked or reduced by my forcefields.

'What? No!'

I could hear his words through the stream. It was similar to how I'd spoken to him with Ears of Babel, but different at the same time. They were... more like his thoughts. Mana wasn't just a resource for the Djinni. It WAS him. An attack on it injured him in a way I couldn't comprehend.

'No! No, no, no, no, no! Stop it! Please! I must run away! I need to retreat... Argh! I can't! Those fools. Those accursed [Slavers]! You would deny me a way out! Falling back is not cowardice, it is tactics... I... I... I need to get... I need... something... I don't remember... anyone... please... help me...'

*Pity negated by Gamer's Mind.

[Thread of Fate] accepted the Djinni with a hunger that surprised me. It seemed that my mana was one thing, but the mana from a Djinni was quite another. In a matter of seconds there was nothing left but three necklaces that dropped to the ground with a dull rustle of grass.

I only saw them for a fraction of a second before the Djinni's light faded and I was left inside the pitch black of my forcefield. I took a deep breath, Inventoried my pylons, and walked over to where the Djinni had been hovering above the ground.

I pushed what little of my mana remained into Observe.

[Necklace of Command]

[Necklace of Submission]

[Necklace of Suppression]

"Dammit." I mumbled to myself.

'What is it?' Sibby appeared next to me. 'Did you get that guy? I wanted to help, but I kept popping from his light! Even when I wasn't trying to manipulate it, it was doing things that I couldn't interact with! What a pain! And I really wanted to see what he tasted like too.' She picked up a necklace, sniffed it, then tore a chuck out of it with her mouth. 'Yummy!'

"I could've drained his bonds instead of killing him." I gestured at the two that remained on the ground.

'Oh, do you want to practice with them? It's important to practice against magic so you know what you're up against.' Sibby nodded sagely.

"...No." I decided after a moment. I wasn't in any physical pain but part of me... ached. I didn't even want to reactivate [Ambient Mana Gatherer]. Hopefully I'll heal whatever spiritual damage I'd taken from having too many 'Oversaturated' Debuffs. Until they went away, it would be best not to strain myself. "Not now. I don't think I'm up for that at the moment."

'Should we save them for later?' Sibby tossed aside the metal chains that remained from the first necklace. I couldn't be sure without using mana, but I was confident whatever magic had been within it was gone. 'Or can I...'

"Go ahead." I motioned with my hand. "But after you're done, I have a job for you."

...

I wanted to go back and continue my attack on Nerrhavia Fallen's army, but... not right now. Without mana empowering Threat Sense, I was vulnerable to magical attacks. Not THAT vulnerable, since I'd still get forewarning if they did anything physical. A fireball or a lightning bolt I could sense, even if the effect they'd have on me would be something different than what Threat Sense predicted.

But, if they launched something like that darkness, that... blight on its own? I wasn't sure at all about avoiding that. So... I hid. A darkness pylon was left in my wake to confuse people. I also took out the blackened scrying orb I'd broken by speaking directly to it with Tongue of Babel. The last of my mana went to activating it. A simple command went from it to the scrying network around us. It was like a virus. 'Pixel' would get no results. There. That should last for a couple of hours on its own.

I teleported away. Miles from the front without any armor, I was just another human. Perhaps a little odd in my location, but I was pretty good at hiding from all the grinding Gray Fox had done for my skills. I even had [Basic Stealth] from when I'd leveled as a Infiltrator.

Of course, the idea that I might be a little too paranoid crossed my mind. While it was true that Nerrhavia Fallen's [Mages] might have abstained from summoning more Blighted Bolts because I was flying over their army, it was also possible that they simply couldn't cast more spells that powerful so soon after their last one.

It might have drained their mana overmuch, similar to what had happened to me. Or it could be a single-use artifact. Or something else entirely.

Not that I could let things stand as they are, but if Sibby is successful then I shouldn't need to do much more to turn things into a rout.

I sat and meditated, not to restore my MP, but to help focus my thoughts. Some sleep would be nice. I could grab a few hours when Sibby came back. It would be comforting to know she's watching over me again.

Yeah.

Then, in the morning, I'll-

There was a dull thud as something small landed in my lap.

I jumped to my feet and looked around. No mana to empower any Perks, but... nothing from Threat Sense. No danger. No interactions. No one watching me mundanely. I rotated while scanning the horizon.

Nothing.

Perhaps a bit belatedly, I looked down at the object.

It's a doll.

A three-inch tall cloth doll.

I frowned and raised an eyebrow. What in the world is it? What could it mean?

[Doll]

Observe told me nothing.

Should I reactivate [Ambient Mana Gatherer]? Just long enough to get the mana to empower Observe?

...no. Not right now. Something told me the doll was my return gift. So it should, at least, be safe.

---

"Where is he?!?" Thelican shouted as he brought his fist down on the wooden table that the scrying mirror sat on. "Why can't you find him?"

"'Pixel' is obviously a false name." The [Mage] held up his hands defensively. "We need his real name to scry."

"I know that!" Thelican drew himself up and looked down at the man as he drew closer. "You think that I don't know how scrying works? You think I'm having you manually look over the countryside for fun?!?"

"N-no. Of course not, sir!" The [Mage] quickly bent over the mirror and caused the image reflected in it to move.

"Not so fast!" Thelican growled at him. "You need to be both quick and thorough. If you pass by wherever he's hiding and miss him, then I'll have your head."

Of course, it was impossible to know if that exact scenario had already occurred. Or if Pixel was alive. Or even if he was still within Tiqr's borders.

The scrying mirror had been useless for watching the fight. Both Pixel and the Djinni had moved far too quickly for mid-level [Mages] to follow with their basic scrying spells. Only by going outside and using [Eyes of the Eagle] and [Track the Action] had Thelican been able to witness the fight.

When they'd left the sky, it was only due to his Skill and a hastily constructed pillar that he'd been able to find them on the horizon. Then, a dome of pure darkness had eaten the Djinni and Pixel had... left?

[Eyes of the Eagle] might've given him range, but the brightness of the Djinni and the darkness of the sphere had made tracking things after they'd vanished... difficult.

He'd THOUGHT he'd seen figures moving around in the distance, but [Track the Action] hadn't helped pinpoint them. There was only one conclusion. The fight was over and the Djinni had been slain.

Thelican wouldn't mourn its death, but... it was going to take some well-chosen words, and expensive bribes, to smooth things over with the Hundred Thousand Tomes Academy. Djinni were not cheap. THAT Djinni in particular had been even more valuable than most of its ilk.

Unless there were hidden resources in Tiqr that they'd kept a secret from everyone, the campaign was a failure.

No!

That's what his rivals would claim.

Thelican just needed to point out that his losses indicated just how vital it had been to keep the King of Destruction from claiming another ally.

Besides, who was Pixel anyways? The [Archmage] had clearly been on Reim's side. In fact... yes! He clearly was a replacement for one of Flos' Seven!

That made his campaign a huge success! What were the lives of however many Hemp, or even Silks compared to that? Even the Djinni's lost was acceptable. More than acceptable. It was like chess. Sometimes you had to sacrifice a Rook to take out the other side's Queen.

Of course, it would be an uphill battle to quell his naysayers and demonstrate how this was a good outcome for Nerrhavia's Fallen. No. Not a 'good' outcome. The best outcome!

Yes!

After all, how could a [Great General] such as himself-

A half-dozen glowing cubes suddenly appeared on the table.

The next moment, Thelican and the hidden command tent were no more.

---

I breathed a sigh of relief as I felt Sibby drawing closer. She probably had good news. The Siberian wasn't something that could be stopped so easily.

Sibby crested the hill that I was hiding in the shadow of. She became visible and stood with her hands on her hips while looking imperiously down at me. The moonlight reflected off of her white stripes and wind-blown hair making her look ethereal. If it wasn't for her glowing eyes, she could've been mistaken for an apparition.

Then she smiled and bounded down the hillside before leaping towards me.

I caught her in a hug and spun her around. "How'd it go? Did you have any trouble?"

'It went great! There were some issues. I mean, I still can't deal with magic, but I can feel it. I had to pretend to be hampered by the mages and their walls when I was playing around, but since I can control where I appear, it's super easy to vanish and come back on the inside. After that, it was the usual investigating. I snuck around. Some people noticed, but they didn't notice-notice. Got it? Like, they had powers that let them know I was around, or that they were in danger or something, but since I was hiding they couldn't see me!'

"Probably [Dangersense] or something similar." I nodded as we sat down. "Probably extra jumpy after everything that happened."

She smiled widely at me. 'Exactly! You and William think alike a lot of the time. So, there I was, sneaking and investigating. The key is to watch people. I mean, THEY had to know where the bosses were, right? How else would they get orders? I followed this nervous looking guy, and he entered a tent with some important people. I reached into your Inventory, and wow, it's nice to have your Inventory again! There's so much new stuff in it! Those two big things you told me to never touch are gone and you filled the rest up with more games didn't you? Why didn't you put food in there for me? Huh? There's like nothing interesting there! ...Except for the round, glass, apple...'

"That's my scrying orb."

'Why'd you take it away? I wasn't going to eat it.' Sibby lied to me.

"It costs mana to keep magical things inside my Inventory." I stretched and felt my insides ache somehow. "I had to take it out. Magic hurts right now."

'I know, right? Magic can be really tasty, but most of the time it's just a big pain! Magic this. Magic that. There's too much of it, if you ask me! It does make for a fun game though. I mean, sure I wish I could just walk through everything like I used to, but that was boring in its own way. It feels like more of an accomplishment to do the same thing while avoiding magical stuff. Like when I was attacking the armies. They kept on coming at me, 'cause they thought they had a chance. It was, uhm, what's the word? Nostalgic! That's it. It felt nostalgic. Like how things were when William and I first started doing things.'

"Sibby." I rubbed her back as I stifled a yawn. "The bombs?"

'Oh, right. Well, I found someone shouting orders, just like you said to, and I dropped a bomb at his feet.' She smiled wickedly at me. 'People ran and screamed and generally panicked, but I followed them. One looked like he was going somewhere with a purpose, and he ran into another tent with people shouting orders. That guy yelled for someone to go tell 'the lican' something. That sounded important, so I left one of those time-delay bombs behind and followed that guy. HE led me to ANOTHER tent that had a lot of magic around it.' Sibby preened while I yawned again. 'I reformed past the wall and popped. So I did it again, and again, until I just decided to appear inside the actual tent.'

I yawned and nodded. "And that's where the important people were?"

'Totally!' She tilted her head and looked at me. 'Are you okay?'

"Just a little tired. Go on with your story."

'Right, so I stayed there and the guy told them about explosions and they ignored him. So, I figured, that was the end of the line, right? The big guy. The head honcho.'

"Yeah." Or at least whomever was left alive after I'd blown up the main tent. I wonder how many [Vice Commanders], or whatever they are, I'll need to assassinate before the [Sergeants] and [Captains] give up?

'So, since it was the main target, and the tent had a lot of magic around it, I figured that I should drop a bunch of bombs.' She smiled at me. 'So... I did!'

"Good job, Sibby." I yawned again. My eyes felt so heavy.

'Are you sure you're okay? You never yawn.'

"Yeah, I'm sure." I pulled up my status just to-

[Con: -5]

"Actually... no. I'm not okay."

I... should be dead, right? Why?

Oh. Right.

[Heroic Tolerance: Mana]

I let out a laugh.

'What's so funny?'

"Oh, I was just struck by the irony of having a new class and a new system on a new world... and still surviving something only because the same type of attack nearly killed me before." A good lesson for not doing things half-way. "But... I think I need to sleep for a while."

'Okay.' Sibby nodded and smiled. 'I'll protect you!'

"I know you will." I gently stroked her cheek before yawning again.

Yeah, I definitely need to hit the hay before I rack up any more 'Tired' debuffs. Who knows if they could kill me with my current Con?

I closed my eyes, and was out instantly.

[Skill – Thread of Fate Removed!]

[Artificer level 19!]

[Skill - Extend Shot Obtained!]

[Skill - Expand Explosion Obtained!]

[Superhero level 13!]

[Skill - Heroic Pose Obtained!]

[Skill – Armybane Obtained!]

[Skill – Thread of Fate Obtained!]

...

I woke up to the Siberian gazing down at me.

"Sibby?"

'Oh, good! You're awake!'

I blinked a couple of times as I got my bearings. I think... I'd had a dream? I couldn't really remember, but I'd remembered... something. I hadn't had a dream since getting my powers.

Of course, that was probably because I only slept for two hours a night. There was something about REM sleep starting after... something.

I yawned and Sibby stroked my head.

"So... why is my head on your lap?"

'Because you looked so cute while you slept. And I had to protect you!' She continued to stroke my head like I was Riley.

...It was nice.

I checked my status.

[Con: 0
Debuffs:
Oversaturatedx20]

Well... that was an improvement at least. Sibby shifted her body and the morning sun flickered behind her.

The sun?

"Sibby... how long was I asleep?"

'Uhm... like, twenty hours or something. I stayed here allll that time and kept watch! I'm hungry!'

So, not the rising sun, but the setting one.

"Ah, right. Thanks, Sibby." I sat up and stretched while I yawned. Twenty hours. That would explain how I'd regrown my arm and how I'd lost an 'Oversaturated' debuff. However, my mana was... full.

It hurt.

I knew from speaking with the Archmages of Wistram that mana-poisoning was bad. Like, really bad. Mana, like most everything else, was poison if you took too much in. Water, salt, oxygen - they were all things we needed to live, but could become toxic if too much were ingested. Mana, was the same, but on a more... spiritual level.

My natural mana reservoir had been low at first. Like, absurdly low. I'd had thirty mana initially, which was enough to cast a 1st level [Spell] three times. Now it was sitting at one hundred and twelve after day after day of drinking mana potions to go past the limit and letting the Oversaturated debuff fade.

My mana pool was less than a tenth of what someone like Feor had. Not even enough for a single tier four Spell, not that I knew any. But, as Gandalf, I could now cast [Arrow of Light] nearly a dozen times. I personally could cast [Light] nearly non-stop, but it was a cantrip that simply manipulated mana and not a real 'Spell'.

I was now back to full, twenty hours more than enough to refill my meager reserves even without [Ambient Mana Gatherer] being active.

It hurt. Like an ache in my soul, if such a thing existed.

The problem with mana-toxicity was that I needed to get rid of the mana to heal, but I also could damage myself more by casting Spells. Normally, the second option was far better, but I'd taken in enough mana to kill a regular human more than ten times over.

In fact, it had been enough to kill me despite my Shard-given body. Only [Heroic Tolerance: Mana] had let me press on. Correction, was STILL letting me press on. I needed a way to get rid of my mana without casting a Spell.

I looked over at Sibby and got an idea.

I then closed my eyes and focused on the concentrated possibility inside of me. Mana wasn't like other forms of energy, it naturally responded to thoughts and emotions. Of course, I'm sure the System and Optimize were both helping me in some fashion, but I could still... do... this...

"Sibby." I opened my eyes and held my left hand out to her. "Here you go."

Her eyes glowed as her smiled widened. 'Thanks!' She took my hand and...

*Error! Gamer's Body negated.

...began eating finger after finger.

'Oh! This is good! You taste even better now! What did you do? Mmmmm.... This is almost like that wing-guy I bit. Crunchy as usual, then chewy, but with that really faint smoky flavor. Except, hmmm... it isn't smoky, more like... a different kind of crunchy?'

I ignored Sibby's gourmet breakdown of how my mana-infused flesh was different from my normal Breaker state. Instead, I split my attention between pushing mana into my limb and looking at my status page.

It appears that each finger is worth about five mana, and my palm was twenty-five. That means that I had managed to get roughly half my mana into my hand. A bit different from using Magicore to drain it, but simpler - and it also fed Sibby. So that's good.

I wonder... what would happen if I injected her with mana by using Power Drain?

...Let's not find out for now. Just moving mana around inside of my body hurt. I had no idea what sort of damage Power Drain would cause at the moment. Besides, I don't want to experiment on Sibby. She'd already shown that she could eat magic, but any other interaction caused her to pop.

I worried that it was damaging her in some way - regardless that she could immediately reform herself.

Right. Time to get back to work.

I un-Inventoried my golden sphere drone and had it turn invisible as it flew into the sky.

"Looks like the Nerrhavia Fallen Army is in disarray."

'Oh?' Sibby continued to enjoy her breakfast. Or, rather, given the time - her dinner.

"Yeah. Chunks of it are breaking off. Looks like we got the command structure." Which was doubly good, considering I had been sleeping within marching distance for most of the day. "I think one more appearance by Pixel, to let them know that I'm alive and that I'm able to continue to kill them is in order."

'Are you going to make another tower?'

"...Yeah. If they can retaliate like the first time, I'll need to have better defenses set up beforehand." Like a teleporter to and underground cavern. Nothing like having several tons of dirt and rocks to shield you. In fact, I could examine the site of that black lightning to see just how far it penetrated. "But before that, I should go and talk to the Empress."

'That's a good idea! I have lots of new stories to tell Nsiia! I can check in on Laila while we're in the big city! We left so quickly I didn't have the chance to introduce you before.'

Chapter 88: Interlude - PHO/Remi

■

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■

♦ Topic: What are secrets and how do you use them?
In: Boards ► Information ► Wistram Rules
BlackMage (Original Poster)
Posted On n/a:
Alright, here's the basics of what you need to know about 'currency' at Wistram:

1. You don't need money or coins here to survive. Food, housing, magic lessons - they're all free. This isn't the case for non-Earthers who have to get a scholarship or pay a lot of money to attend Wistram, so don't bring it up around others.
2. For extra services, especially favors done by other students, the currency used is secrets.
3. Secrets range from small - something minor, like a factoid, medium - something useful to the right person, and large - a big secret that can provide a substantive benefit. There are secrets outside these categories, but they tend to be on a case by case basis.
4. Things from Earth aren't really secrets for sale - at least not among the students. You can talk to the mages about whatever you want, but know the value first! Don't go trading the lyrics of a song to just anyone.
5. Be respectful of the Golems. No, they aren't 'alive' - except for Cognita. You can consider them like robots.
6. Forbidden locations are forbidden for a reason. There are slimes and other things that form from all the magic in the air. If a golem is blocking your way, there's probably a good reason.
7. Some forbidden places aren't dangerous, just private. Like rooms, or the kitchen. I didn't want anyone to think that there are monsters just wandering the halls.
8. Finally, treat this like the internet guys. Don't believe everything you read and definitely don't say too much personal stuff. Pixel says that all of this is encrypted, but you're still sharing with every Earther that's here now, every Earther that has access outside, and every Earther that comes in later.

 

(Showing page 1 of 3)

►NoobSlayer
Replied On n/a:
First!

►RedDragon
Replied On n/a:
Stay classy, NoobSlayer.

►BlueDragon
Replied On n/a:
Seconded. You're giving us a bad name.

►NoobSlayer
Replied On n/a:
u jst jelly

I best! you squintyeyed losers need to stfu

►RedDragon
Replied On n/a:
Really? Really?

You're going to be racist to people from your own country *******

►Pixel (Moderator)
Replied On n/a:
No real names.

►NoobSlayer
Replied On n/a:
hey pixel where my games?

►NoobSlayer
Replied On n/a:
dont ignore me bro

►BlackMage (Original Poster)
Replied On n/a:
Guys, can we not?

Also, Pixel isn't going to reply. I don't think that's actually him, just a bot or something. So it's pointless to argue with it.

End of Page. 1, 2, 3

(Showing page 3 of 3)
►Maria
Replied On n/a:
This was very helpful. Thank you.

►2bon2b
Replied On n/a:
Hey, I don't want to derail anything, but what's with the dates?

Or lack thereof.

►BlackMage (Original Poster)
Replied On n/a:
@2bon2b, see the PHO thread.

But basically, the common consensus is that this whole thing is like the Discord of Pixel's Earth, or something. There's also some timey-whimey stuff going on with dates from Earth and arrival times here and... Let's just say that there IS a local calendar, but it's not much use to us. And there's no good way to assign a date that won't confuse somebody.

►2bon2b
Replied On n/a:
Huh, that makes a lot of sense.

Thanks for the info!

►BlackMage (Original Poster)
Replied On n/a:
No problem. I'm happy to help.

End of Page. 1, 2, 3

■

♦ Topic: Pixel FAQ
In: Boards ► Information ► Pixel
BlackMage (Original Poster)
Posted On n/a:
Here's the short list of what's common knowledge about Pixel to all of us. As usual, don't go putting anything here that you would consider selling as a secret.

Also, DON'T SELL THESE AS SECRETS!!!

This is just for us Earthers so we're all on the same page. Got it? Good.

So, the basics:
1. Pixel IS from Earth.
2. Pixel's Earth isn't our Earth.
3. As far as we can tell, we all come from the same Earth, but at different times.
4. As far as we can tell, Pixel IS a superhero and has superpowers outside of his Classes.
5. Yes, he is like Ironman in a lot of ways.

 

(Showing page 1 of 56)

►NoobSlayer
Replied On n/a:
First!

►RedDragon
Replied On n/a:
Again? Why?

►BlueDragon
Replied On n/a:
Just ignore him. Don't feed trolls.

►DwarfLife
Replied On n/a:
I've never actually met the guy, but this cube thing is his?

►Groupie
Replied On n/a:
Same. From what I can tell, anything that's a perfect cube is likely his superhero techknology.

►Natasha
Replied On n/a:
'techknology'?

Was that on purpose? Is that what he calls it?

►Groupie
Replied On n/a:
Oh, uhm, no. I'm just a bad speller.

►Therapist
Replied On n/a:

►Michail
Replied On n/a:
is it true that pixel can make food

End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4 ... 54, 55, 56

■

♦ Topic: The war in Tiqr ends
In: Boards ► Places ► Chandrar
CanadianPress (Original Poster)
Posted On n/a:
Today the war in Tiqr has ended in a way that no one saw coming.

I have been sending out articles across Mage Guild's ever since the war started. I have seen the mixed reactions of the soldiers that are part of the forces invading Tiqr for not denouncing the King of Destruction. I have witnessed an untold amount of bloodshed on both sides, but I must admit that most of the casualties that Tiqr has inflicted in the first several weeks of the war had been at the hands of a single woman.

Perhaps that was ironic foreshadowing at how the war would end. Not with a last stand between the combined kingdoms and the remnants of Tiqr's forces, but with a singular person of great power rising to the call.

There have been rumors flying around about the Archmage of Cubes non-stop since his appearance three days ago. While I have my personal suspicions, this article is only about the truth as I witnessed it.

It started with a warning. Gigantic figures in armor not seen in recent memory of any nations in Chandrar. Pixel, to his credit, spoke of the nature of the war. Its futility. The heavy price that was about to be paid. I have transcribed his speech in a previous article, so I won't bother to repeat it here. What I will say is that, in hindsight, it was not a mere boast.

Pixel had the power to back up his words. Power to decimate the invading armies. More power than perhaps any one person should. While I approve of Pixel's actions, things in war are never clear cut. I suspect that more would have died if he had not intervened, and the large portion of those casualties would have been on Tiqr's side. However, a question does arise: What could stop such an individual if they decided to kill a town, city, or even country?

But... That is the way of the world. Hero of Zethe. Archmage of Golems. Az'kerash. High level individuals exist and often decide the outcome of many things.

And, for all he did, Pixel was not invincible. Nerrhavia's Fallen had a champion of their own. A champion that many people I've interviewed believe to have been a Djinni. I'm sure Nerrhavia's Fallen denies such things, as using a Djinni in war has been condemned by every country in the world.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself. This is not an article about the still unfolding situation. It is an account of Pixel's battle against twelve armies in general, and Nerrhavia's Fallen in particular.

 

(Showing page 1 of 1)

►NoobSlayer
Replied On n/a:
First!

End of Page. 1

---

"Son of a-" Remi cursed at the artifact he'd been given. "I didn't want to post! Where's the stupid save button?"

He mumbled under his breath as he poked at the glowing screen. Who'd designed this site anyways? It looked so... basic. Like they were going for a 'retro' vibe, but unironically. Remi's enthusiasm for having access to a word processor, to fellow Earthers, to something similar to the internet had made him rush things. He shouldn't rush things.

He let out a sigh and deactivated the 'Communication Cube'. He briefly considered throwing it away. He knew it wasn't a bribe. Or, at least, he strongly suspected it wasn't a bribe. The man who'd given it to him, Pixel, had known his name, but not what he was. If Pixel didn't know he was a [Frontline Journalist], then he couldn't be trying to bribe Remi for a good story.

"Argh!" Remi ran his fingers through his hair.

It didn't help that he was full of conflicting emotions about the 'superhero'. An alternate Earth? Superheroes? Villains? Superpowers? He supposed it was no less fantastical than the idea of being transported to a world where magic existed.

But... wasn't it more likely that Pixel was just an Earther like him who'd gotten a REALLY strong class?

Remi shook his head as he pocketed the cube and turned back towards the retreating army.

It was strange. All those people who'd been... not happy, not eager, but indifferent to what they'd been part of. He'd seen so much pain and suffering during the short war. Illivere hadn't done too much looting and raiding. Their slow advance had met plenty of resistance, but only from the black-and-white-woman. The villagers that hadn't managed to get away...

Well, that was the evil of war, wasn't it? Innocents died.

Nerrhavia's Fallen, on the other hand, was fast, brutal, and completely indifferent to the lives they'd reaped.

But... they looked so depressed now.

Shellshocked.

As someone who'd been inside their camp at the time Pixel had attacked, Remi felt lucky to be alive.

It gave him so many mixed emotions.

He was happy that Nerrhavia's Fallen had been stopped.

He was horrified at the loss of life he'd seen.

He was vindictive towards the people who'd been driven off.

He was sad for all the Tiqr people who'd died.

He was optimistic that a superhero had come to actually save him!

He was suspicious at Pixel seeming to be too good to be true. His speech could hardly have been called 'heroic'. 'Villainous' would fit better. Or, perhaps, 'anti-hero'?

While standing up for Tiqr was a good thing, he still had to wonder about what Pixel was really like. To resort to weapons of mass destruction so readily?

It was like that skull-city. What had it been called? A’ctelios Salash. People living inside the ever-regenerating corpse of a mountain-sized monster. Of the group of people he'd arrived with, only him and two others had refused to go inside.

Food? Shelter? With nothing asked in return?

The alarm bells had gone off in his head. The whole thing screamed at being a trap, never mind the tunnels carved in alien flesh.

Remi wondered what had happened to the others. He'd done some investigating of A’ctelios Salash once he'd reached 'normal' civilization. Everything seemed on the up-and-up, but he couldn't shake the feeling that his companions were dead.

Possibly eaten.

Actually... he could kill two birds with one stone. This cube would let him talk to Pixel right? Pixel had said he was looking for Earthers. Well, Remi knew where a dozen of them had been a couple of months ago. He'd get the truth about both A’ctelios Salash and Pixel.

He'd also get a good story.

Chapter 89: Monsters 1

Notes:

Previously: Kevin finally found Sibby inside of the country of Tiqr. The Siberian had been fighting off some of the invading armies, but Tiqr had constantly been giving up ground. Kevin agreed to help after both seeing how unjust the war was with his own eyes and being asked by Sibby. Pixel launched a devastating display of 'magical' prowess, where he launched missiles at all twelve invading armies at once. Nerrhavia's Fallen retaliated with a tier 7 magic spell, and then sent a Djinni to kill him after that failed. Pixel killed the Djinni by offering it to his [Thread of Fate] skill, and then proceeded to systematically wipe out the leaders of Nerrhavia Fallen's armies with the help of Sibby.

I looked at the vast army of Nerrhavia's Fallen as it slowly retreated.

Less vast now.

I felt Sibby's weight settle on my shoulders as she summoned herself on my back with her arms wrapped around my neck. "I'm bored."

It was still so strange for Sibby to be talking out loud. It was also strange how she'd started to unsummon and then re-summon herself as a kind of teleportation. Still, it was good to have her at my side again.

I reached up and took one of her hands. "Already? Haven't you had enough excitement for a good, long time?"

"Yeah..." She nuzzled my neck and I was certain she was thinking about eating one of my ears again. "But not with you! It was so much fun working together again."

"True." I nodded. "It would've been significantly harder to drive Nerrhavia's Fallen off without your help, Sibby. I could bomb them for days and days and only rack up the body count. It was your investigating that broke them."

"I like investigating! I would've tried killing off their leaders before, but they all have, like, this stupid magical shield around them. William said it was probably because of other assassins." Her voice perked up. "But, if I find them, and use your bombs to blow them up, then everyone thinks that it was because of you!"

"Yeah..." And isn't that going to be a headache in the future? I already had my burnt-out scrying orb inside of a custom Communication Cube I'd made. The artifact was broken, but it still could, mostly, work. At least enough to connect to the scrying network and to draw in Message spells. By using it as a core, I could let my cube handle keeping me off the grid.

I suspected that other famous people did similar things. I should probably ask one of the Archmages when I have the time.

"So... what are we doing next?"

"Well..." I checked my status. "First, I need you to eat my hand again. I need to bleed off some more mana." I focused on concentrating my magical power inside my appendage. I think I was physically clean of any mana-toxicity, but I figured it was best to keep my mana levels down while I still had any 'Oversaturated' debuffs.

"Yum!" Sibby slinked off my back and gripped my right hand with both of hers. 'This is delicious, but I'll want some more variety... eventually.' She took a bite.

*Error! Gamer's Body negated.

"Well, you can probably just tear off my hand and I can use it to Craft something else for some variety." She might have to eat it immediately if it still wound up containing mana. I couldn't Inventory magical items without a small upkeep cost.

While it was small, it still hurt. Pain was the body's way of telling you something was wrong - as Riley had repeatedly told me. While I didn't feel physical pain anymore, that was fine, as my body regenerated from most everything.

Spiritual pain, however, was something to be avoided. So, no magic. Not until I healed, which probably would take a while.

'What are you thinking about?' Sibby asked as she continued to eat.

"Oh, just about the things I have that I can't put inside my Inventory."

'Like what?'

"Well, any food-" Actually, I should test that first. I'd been able to Inventory my hand after getting it removed at Wistram. That either meant it was okay to Inventory my own body parts regardless of if they had mana, or that mana vacated detached limbs quickly. No idea what that implied for Crafted food. "Nevermind. There's my bag of holding, my scrying orb, my broken scrying orb, mana potions - if I had any left, and... the doll."

[Re-Weaving Effigy

Single use. Re-directs target.]

I know I'd just said 'no magic', but I felt justified in spending the mana for an Observe on the strange, cloth doll that had appeared out of mid-air. It didn't feel... hostile. In fact, I somehow knew it was a gift. A gift for the life of the Djinni I'd sacrificed.

I... didn't know how I felt about that.

'That's not so much stuff to have to carry around.' Sibby finished one finger and started on the next.

"Yeah. I can put them in the bag." And keep an eye out for [Pickpockets]. "But I do need to keep the scrying blocker out anyways." I let out a sigh. "Small problems. There are bigger things we need to worry about."

'Like what?'

"Roshal."

'Hm?'

"If they gave you so much trouble, then they could actually have done something to Riley."

'You think?!?'

**Sibby is angry.

"No... but it's a possibility. One I can't ignore." I shrugged. "Besides, I know for a fact that at least one Earther has been captured by someone who tricked others into given them their names. Roshal seems like the obvious target. Even if they aren't, anyone who appeared there would almost certainly wind up a [Slave]. And even if that hasn't happened... I'd still kill them all for what they did to you!"

'Aw!'

I also feel obligated to do something about them myself. I don't know if I'd risk upsetting one of this world's major powers if I hadn't been personally involved. Actually, scratch that, it wasn't just upsetting one of them. Lots of countries practiced slavery here. Openly attacking Roshal would put me on their shit list, and might endanger any Earthers living there.

Probably not, my appearance should only be a message that people from Earth would get, but...

A [Slave] would provide that information if asked. Heck, they might even volunteer it for better treatment. Not that I could blame them if they did.

"I don't think I can mount a one-man-war on them. Not only would I lose against strategic magical assets, which apparently Roshal has a lot of, but I need to keep my involvement subtle."

Or... not subtle, just not linked to 'Pixel'. Hmmm....

'Laila might not want to go with us to Roshal. She didn't like it there.'

I blinked. "That's right. I still haven't met your friend. Let's go do that."

'Later. Eating now.'

...

I stared at the blighted area around the ruins of my first tower. While Sibby was tracking Laila down, I might as well look at one of the issues close at hand that I theoretically might be able to fix.

How?

I had no idea.

Actually, scratch that. I had one idea, but even if we disregarded how good or bad eating the... stuff would be for Sibby, it would take far too long for her to consume the blighted area. It was hundreds of feet wide. Even if she ate constantly day and night...

Yeah. That's not going to work.

I had no good ideas.

I wasn't about to try and Power Drain the thing. That was just asking for trouble. Even if I could drain the effect, what would I do with it? Offer it to my new [Thread of Fate] Skill? Could I even do that?

I wondered if I could sacrifice mana to it like I'd done with the version I'd been gifted before? It seemed likely, but I wasn't going to experiment with injecting mana into things until I was healed. That left... what exactly?

I could blow it up? But I don't think that would destroy it. Worst, this stuff might be the magical equivalent of radiation. Spreading it around would be... bad.

Probably.

I assumed.

It certainly hadn't done any favors to the grass that had been in the zone. Most of it was dead. The stalks that weren't seemed to seethe at me as they reached out to grab things outside of the affected area.

Fire? Fire was usually a good idea for stuff like this... but you couldn't burn radiation.

Lead? If I could find a lead mine, I could Craft a huge box and... shovel the dirt into it using force fields?

Yeah... no. I couldn't transport something that heavy. I supposed I could get someone to help me, but I think that Nsiia and the rest of Tiqr have their hands full right now. While I'd been focusing on Nerrhavia's Fallen army, Tiqr's forces had mobilized against the other nation's forces that had also refused to retreat: Savere.

Once Sibby gets back, we should go speak with Nsiia and offer our help...

I sighed. I hated speaking with people. While I'd gotten pretty good at it over the years, I was still, at heart, an introverted loner.

Except for Riley, Sibby, and Panda of course.

But, that did raise a good point. While I wanted to help with the blighted area, especially since I felt some personal responsibility for it existing in the first place, I wasn't alone. I should talk to Nsiia before doing anything.

Furthermore, I had people in Wistram I could consult.

None of the Archmages were happy with my decision to fight for Tiqr, but they should still be friendly towards me. Or at least, friendly-ish.

...

"You needn't ask the Archmages about the Blight." Cognita spoke to my image, while Aaron stood off to the side with a pensive expression.

"And why's that?"

"None of them have ever been to the Blighted Kingdom."

"Where's that?" Aaron asked.

"The continent of Rhir. The land where Demons and the Blighted Kingdom wage an eternal war."

I frowned. "What does that have to do with the spell cast by Nerrhavia's Fallen? 'Blight' is a general term. The two are not necessarily related."

"Perhaps." She replied. "But the name of the spell leaves little doubt of its origin. '[Blighted Bolt of the Forsaken Lands]' may have originated from either the Demons or the [Mages] of the Blighted Kingdom, but it most assuredly was created on Rhir."

"Well..." I paused to consider this new information. "That's good news, right? They must have a way to counter it."

"They do not." Cognita's gaze grew distant. "The Demons suffer from the blight. Their enemies do as well. Both sides still manage to live." She turned to stare at me. "There might be special techniques or Classes that the Blighted Kingdom knows of, but removing it?" She shook her head. "No."

"And none of the Archmages ever went there to study it?"

"To study? No." Cognita closed her eyes and bowed her head. "Zelkyr went, and I followed, but it was for war. Not study. No Archmages, of the Class or title have gone since that excursion."

"I see..." I tapped my foot. "Then this is an opportunity."

"What?" "What?" Two voices asked incredulously at the same time.

I shrugged. "If people live there, then it must not be too dangerous. [Mages] haven't studied the Blight, because doing so would mean going into a war zone. The Blighted Kingdom might know... but that's something for Tiqr to negotiate if that's the case. But..." I smirked under my helmet. "Other [Mages], like those from Wistram, may wish to study it without having to go to Rhir."

"Hmpf." Cognita crossed her arms. "You may be correct about them not wanting to go to Rhir, but you cannot possibly claim that Tiqr is not also currently a war zone."

"She has a point." Aaron added. "It's sorta the, uhm, biggest war going on right now."

"The armies are retreating." For the most part.

"That is not the same thing as the war being over." Cognita shook her head. "Nerrhavia's Fallen has more than one [General] and more than one army."

I scowled. "I don't want to kill more people." Or more Djinni, but hopefully I won't be asked to duplicate that feat any time soon. If I do, however, I'll lead with Juggernaut. That should work best.

"Unless you can persuade the [Queen] to stop, you may have to. I don't think any number of deaths will convince her."

Right... I would have to get an audience with her to do that.

Something to worry about later.

"Thank you, Cognita." I bowed to her. "If the 'blight' isn't going to spread or be a cause of harm outside of where it currently is, then it can wait."

"Of course, Pixel." She nodded at me. "I am glad to share my knowledge about it."

I turned to Aaron. "Thank you for accommodating me again, BlackMage."

"So... you don't want to see the Archmages?"

"No." I shook my head. "Not at this time. I have... much to do still."

"Of course, goodbye, Pixel."

"Yeah, take care."

...

I opened my eyes as I broke off the connection to my Communication Cube.

Right. So, what's next? I really should make an actual list. There are just too many things.

I sighed.

This was why I only worried about problems in front of me. Too many things pulling me in too many directions left be feeling... stressed in an odd way that didn't trigger Gamer's Mind. But, what was I going to do? Ignore all of it?

I shook my head. No. I had to help, but I needed to... prioritize. Start with the closest problems and work from there. In fact, speaking with [Queen] Nsiia again should be the first step. Let her tell me what things were actually problems that needed my intervention.

Wait... she was an [Empress], not a [Queen]... right? That seems like one of those important details that someone could get very upset about not getting correct. What had I called her when we'd met?

Sibby suddenly appeared next to me.

'Kevin! I found Laila! She's not doing good! It took me a while because she wasn't where she normally was. She got this small little shack to live in. It's not much, but she said she prefers it to being in a better place with more people. That's strange, but I guess her claws aren't as pretty as mine, so I guess I kinda get it. Anyways, I found her, but I wound up having to do some investigating. I went to the runner place that she started working at and followed some people. They're super busy, but so is everyone else. Well, not everyone else. All the people that ran away from the armies are just milling about. I guess there's nothing for them to do, huh? Anyways, this one girl eventually asked about Laila, and a guy said she was 'under the weather', which is odd. We're all under the weather, aren't we? You would have to fly above the clouds to be over the weather.'

"So you found her?"

'Yeah! She was at her house. Well, not a house. Like I said, it's more of a shack. She was there and she was asleep. I had to nudge her a bunch to get her to wake up. Then I had a thought. I wanted to bring her here to you, but I could bring you there to her instead! So, I started to run back. Then I had another thought! What if I just unsummoned myself and reformed next to you? Since I can summon myself now, that seemed like a much quicker way!' Sibby paused and frowned. 'I didn't like it. It felt like cheating. But it WAS quicker!'

"Take me to her." If Laila was injured, I should be able to heal her easily enough. "Actually, if you can effectively teleport to me, then..."

I looked in the direction of the city. The next moment I was on top of a distant hill that had been on the horizon. Sibby appeared next to me, and then I teleported again.

...

Oliphant was crowded, but less so than when I'd first come here. The surrounding mass of refugees were already turning around and following Tiqr's [Soldiers] as they, in turn, advanced on the retreating armies.

Some were retreating faster than others. I hoped I wouldn't have to kill any more people to get them to actually leave. The last thing I wanted was for the armies to split apart and start practicing guerrilla warfare.

But... that wasn't my problem. Except that I still felt responsible.

I pushed the thought from my mind as Sibby guided me through the crowds. I wasn't wearing my armor, so people weren't paying attention. Well, some were, but that was because Sibby was dressed in her usual lack of clothing.

"She's in here." Sibby stopped in the shanty town that had sprung up around the capital city. It was clearly meant to be quick and temporary shelter. Indeed, parts of it were being disassembled and packed up as the more adventurous groups left the relative safety of Oliphant.

Inside, there was a woman I'd met before. So it HAD been the same Laila. I blamed Sibby for not, you know, giving me a good description of her. How hard was it to say that she had claws and a maw of long, sharp teeth?

Then again, Sibby wasn't the type of person to call someone 'monstrous', and she had mentioned 'claws', but I'd assumed she meant claws like the Siberian had. You know... long fingernails, not spikes of bone that protruded from the tips of her fingers.

"Long way down..." Laila muttered.

"She keeps saying that." Sibby frowned. "I don't know what's wrong."

"Here. Let me." I stepped closer and Observed her.

[Humanoid]

I rolled my eyes. Good job, Optimize. Real specific. I knew I shouldn't spend mana... but Laila was important to Sibby. Besides, it wouldn't kill me.

Probably.

My insides ached a little more as the small amount of magical energy that Optimize needed to analyze Laila was pulled away and into Observe.

[Laila Yosef
Stitch Selphid 7
Runner 4

Gender: Female
Age: 19
Race: Stringfolk - Lifethread
Faction: Tiqr
Origin: The Grand Design of Isthekenous.

Laila grew up in the village of Lagom in the Bitv Underlands. Her mother and father were two Hemp Stitchfolk, but they'd managed to save enough money to provide their child a better life. A life as a Cotton. With smooth skin, and a bright smile, Laila was a happy child and loved.

When she was six years old, [Bandits] raided her village. They killed and pillaged - and then stayed. This uncommon behavior was because they'd been hired by Velia - a [Slave Lord] from Roshal, whose caravan followed behind them. A mock battle ensued and the [Bandits] were driven away, but they took all of the people of Lagom's food, animals, weapons, and everything else of value.

Velia offered to sell Lagom what they needed to survive. Some of the surviving village members agreed to sell themselves into slavery to save the rest. Unfortunately for Laila, she was a Cotton, and Velia wanted her.

Laila's parent's objected, and offered themselves, but Lagom's [Eye For Potential] valued Laila highly. The [Slave Lord] demanded Laila as a non-negotiable requirement for the sale. Faced with the deaths of everyone, including Laila, her parents agreed.

Velia sold Lagom the supplies her [Bandits] had raided from the previous village, and set out to continue to provide relief from the problems that she'd created.

Laila spent the following years being trained, abused, and sold from one [Slaver] to the next - until she caught the eye of Riqre'ma Medaale. The Emir bought her and subjected her and countless other [Slaves] to tortures designed to twist their bodies and minds.

Laila was one of his successes. She was not the only one to get the [Flayed Slave] class, but she WAS the only one to get the [Lifethread Detachment] skill. This allowed her to remove the core of her being just enough so it wasn't damaged by having the skin on her head removed. It was a marvelous Skill for a Stitchfolk that would allow them to replace and modify the one thing they couldn't naturally.

While this let her survive Riqre's experiments where the other subjects died, it also meant she got his personal attention. In time, and with no further successes or understanding of how to replicate Laila's Skill, Riqre grew bored. He sold Laila to Zehia Maquet.

Laila lived with Zehia as a bed slave. It was a far better position than most, as Zehia kept Laila for herself and didn't offer her to others - as most bed slaves were. However, Zehia did order Laila to take on the appearance of famous people from around the world. While [Lifethread Detachment] kept her from dying from such a thing, it was still painful and scary - for Stitchfolk harbor a primal fear of damage to their heads, the same way that they fear fire.

Then, one day, Riqre'ma Medaale returned. His arrival seemed innocuous at first, but behind the scenes he was plotting to get Laila back. His plans culminated with Laila being his property again, along with a newly formed Djinni, and with Zehia captured under false charges.

Laila endured tortures under Riqre's hands again, but the Djinni - Sibby - stepped in to help. Sibby eased Laila's pain and provided moral support. Sibby's aid let Laila use her rare skill more easily, and things look better. Then Zehia tried to kill Riqre.

She failed and was turned into a [Carrion Eater] at his hands. Laila's death was used as a punishment for Sibby, and her head was bitten off by Zehia. However, Laila was able to move her Lifethreat away from her head and into Zehia's body, where she gained the [Stitch Selphid] class.

Due to Zehia's mental turmoil, Laila had control of the body and escaped with Sibby. They fled across the continent before finally settling in Tiqr. During the war, Laila became a [Runner] to try and do her part. An unfortunate encounter saw Zehia's consciousness stir, but also made the urges of the blood class increase.

Laila tried to help Zehia and calm the urges, but she failed.

Debuffs:
Delusions
Mind-Link
Cannibalism
Bloodlust]

[Zehia Maquet
Assassin of Revenge 41
Painter of Solitude 12
Carrion Eater 7

Gender: Female
Age: 32
Race: Stringfolk - Silk
Faction: n/a
Origin: The Grand Design of Isthekenous.

Zehia grew up in Lailight Scintillation the capital city of Roshal. Her mother and father were two Cotton Stitchfolk, but they'd managed to save enough money to provide their child a better life. A life as a Silk. With flawless skin, and a brilliant smile, Zehia was a happy child and loved.

Her rich [Merchant] parents doted on Zehia and even bought her a best friend: Barei.

Barei was a Human girl the same age as Zehia. The two played together and Barei accompanied Zehia everywhere. For years they grew up side by side with Barei even accompanying Zehia to school and learning a great many things second-hand. Zehia became a [Painter] at a young age. Her favorite subject to draw was Barei.

Then, when she was twelve years old, Zehia woke up to Barei stabbing her in the neck. The cut was shallow, either due to Barei's hesitation or her lack of understanding Stitchfolk. Zehia scrambled away, but Barei kept attacking with her dagger. Zehia's pleas fell on deaf ears, but she was a Silk Stitchfolk. Even injured, she was far more graceful and agile than a Human teenager.

She managed to escape.

Her parents weren't so lucky.

They had inadvertently angered the Emir Yazdil Achakhei. Operatives had come to their house that night and removed the collars of all their [Slaves], armed them, and told them that they needed to personally kill their masters if they wished to be free of the Class.

That was a lie, and the [Slaves] were captured and executed as soon as they exited the house.

Her parent's assets were ceased by the guards. Zehia happened to overhear one of them discussing how much she would sell for, and ran and hid. Homelessness was not allowed in Lailight Scintillation. Those without a place to stay quickly found one inside of a slave pen.

Zehia went to the marketplace to seek friends of her parents, but was accosted by a gang. The leader of the gang was a boy no older than she was, and he offered her a place to stay. Ladke was smart and handsome and he showed Zehia how to survive on the street. The gang rented a warehouse and stuck to minor crimes to make money.

Zehia thrived after a while. Her job at first consisted of spying on others while selling her paintings, but she also learned how to sneak and steal. However, she never let her guard down, which is why she habitually followed Ladke. Her wariness paid off as she uncovered his plans to sell the guards evidence of the other gang member's crimes.

Zehia fled again.

This time, she lived by herself. She grew up staying one step ahead of the law until she was old enough to join the city watch herself. She quickly rose through the ranks, always keeping her eyes open for betrayal - and seeing it constantly.

Eventually, she became a 'problem solver'. She had wealth and power. Slaves that were bound to her, but which she never trusted. Supply caches all throughout the city. A private room where she painted portraits that no one else would ever see. Alone because she'd learned not to trust anyone else.

Her paranoia was justified when Riqre'ma Medaale worked with another Emir to accuse Zehia of harboring an unbound Djinni in order to take back a slave he'd sold her years before. Zehia escaped custody and pursued Riqre. She snuck into his mansion with the help of that very Djinni, and tried to assassinate the Emir.

She failed. Riqre attached limbs from a Stitchfolk [Carrion Eater] to her body. The experiment usually resulted in an agonizing death, but Zehia survived - or at least she lived. Her mind withdrew to try and protect herself. It wasn't until Laila, now a [Stitch Selphid] puppeted her body that Zehia started to rouse herself.

When her body was injured in an ambush, Zehia re-awakened. She gave in to her blood class's urges and slaughtered her attackers. In doing so, she empowered the darker presence that inhabited her body along with Laila. In a final act of self-sacrifice, Zehia recognized Laila and drew the dark presence into herself.

Debuffs:
Delusions
Mind-Link
Cannibalism
Bloodlust]

Hmmmm...

Way to go, empowered Observe. That was even more detailed than normal.

"Do you know someone named 'Zehia', Sibby?"

The Siberian tilted her head and thought. 'Nope! That name doesn't ring a bell.'

"Well, let's take Laila to somewhere less crowded." There were a lot of people staring at us.

'Sure!' Sibby picked Laila up in her arms and we started walking back through the crowd. A few people gave us odd looks. I hoped they didn't think we were kidnapping her or something. I don't think we look like human traffickers.

Then again, Sibby always draws attention when she isn't trying to hide.

...

'Well?'

"Well... I'm thinking." I frowned. I had a single ability to deal with mental issues. Gamer's Mind was quite potent, but... would it work here? "The problem is that Laila is, essentially, a mind-control parasite. Gamer's Mind blocks everything, so if I set up an area then..." It would be Zehia in control.

But was that a bad thing?

Obviously some dark stuff had gone down, but I was firmly on the anti-Master side of things. However, in this case, both of them were victims.

'Then what?'

"Worst case? It could kill Laila." I had ZERO idea what a [Stitch Selphid] was. From the context, it was clear that she was... a thread? A magical thread? "Do Stitchfolk eat?"

'Of course they do! Laila wasn't much of a huntress, but she tried. She also didn't eat much, but she does eat.'

"Right... right... conservation or energy. She needs food. Or at least her body does. Laila's current form is quite obviously highly magical in nature. She might get energy from Zehia's nervous system... or she might draw mana straight from the environment."

'Okay? So that means?'

"If Gamer's Mind disconnects her, it might kill her."

'Oh. Then you shouldn't use Gamer's Mind then!'

"It might not." I shrugged. "It could just suppress things, but that's it. It's not a cure. In the best case, I use it and Zehia wakes up. She gets to take a break and regroup, and goes back to fighting off her Blood Class."

'Blood class?'

Oh, right. Sibby never mentioned getting any classes. She is a projection after all. "Classes are like superpowers, but some of them are cursed." I gestured at Laila's comatose form. "You said she changed, right? Her claws and fangs are from a blood class."

Zehia's blood class to be precise, but there was no need to be pedantic when explaining things to Sibby.

'So what do we do?'

"I don't know. I don't have anything that works with magic-"

Hold on. That wasn't true. I had Power Drain. That worked with magic. Observe does too. So do my Skills. I wonder...

'What are you thinking about?'

"The Skill that I used to kill the Djinni. I was wondering if I could 'sacrifice' Zehia's blood class to it."

'You can do that?'

"Honestly... I have no idea." I frowned. "The original version of the Skill accepted 'payment'. Because I could take the Djinni's power, I could give it away. The issue is... I don't think I can 'take' a class."

I stroked my chin.

If I had any Perks left, I could take Debuff Control. That might help - if not with the class, then with the side effects. Then again, I HAD used Power Drain to free Cognita. It had magical aspects to it from the Skills I'd sacrificed.

I took a deep breath and reached out with Power Drain.

Nothing.

I grit my teeth as I pushed mana into it... and... there! I could connect to Laila. Or Zehia. I didn't sense more than one target. It wasn't anything like Cognita's core, but there was something there. Something that [Amateur Linguist] was picking up on...

I pushed mana into Ears of Babel, ignoring the pain.

Yes... yes... there was something there that wasn't mana. I moved Power Drain to touch it...

*You have been inflicted with Delusions.
*You have been inflicted with Cannibalism.
*You have been inflicted with Bloodlust.
*Delusions condition negated by Gamer's Mind.
*Cannibalism condition negated by Gamer's Mind.
*Bloodlust condition negated by Gamer's Mind.
*You have been inflicted with Delusions.
*You have been inflicted with Cannibalism.
*You have been inflicted with Bloodlust.
*Delusions condition negated by Gamer's Mind.
*Cannibalism condition negated by Gamer's Mind.
*Bloodlust condition negated by Gamer's Mind.
*You have been inflicted with 'Oversaturated'x19.

Chapter 90: Monsters 2

*You have been inflicted with 'Oversaturated'x19.

I winced.

That hurt. Worse, it set back my recovery time by nearly a day. It took a number of hours equal to the total stacks of Oversaturated to heal one stack. At least I still technically had a positive con score. Note to self: don't touch red classes. Or probably classes in general.

"That... didn't go so well."

'What happened?' Sibby looked between me and Laila with concern.

"I managed to touch what was wrong with her."

'And?'

I shook my head. "It... moved. A little. But not nearly enough for this to be a viable solution."

'Oh...' Sibby knelt down and stroked Laila's head.

I patted her shoulder. "Let's not give up just yet. We have friends in high places we can ask for help. People who know more than we do." I un-Inventoried my armor and started to Craft a teleportation platform under Laila. It might've been a waste of resources to do that instead of just carrying her, but... it was cheap because it was single-use. And I didn't want to walk to the palace with a comatose woman in my arms.

Er, comatose [Carrion Eater].

---

Nsiia hefted Tiqr’s Tusk and did one final check of the feathers on her crown. Roc, Shock-bird, Hawk... Her fingers traced each one in turn. Finally, she picked up her Ivory mask and placed it over her face.

"Empress, are you sure about this?" General Vasraf looked at her. His green eyes in sharp contrast with his dusky skin. "There is no need for you to take to the front lines yourself. Our armies will see to it."

"No. There is a great need." She gave him a wistful smile. "Tiqr has fought and bled. We received the outside help that we hoped for." She gave a small laugh. "No, not the help we hoped for, but a different one. Still..." She gazed out of the palace window. "I cannot rest while there are still foreign [Soldiers] on Tiqr's soil."

"Withdrawing takes time. We already have formal offers for peace being sent to us."

She made a dismissive motion. "Those are worthless. We had such agreements before the invasion." She closed her eyes and sighed. "But... magical contracts do exact a price for breaking them." She nodded at him. "Tiqr will allow most of the invaders to withdraw uncontested in exchange for concessions."

"Most?"

She nodded. "Most. We still need to make a point. To show that Tiqr stands tall on its own. We cannot impose upon the [Archmage] anymore." Not after his magical display. Not after he slew a Djinni for them. Pixel had already done too much.

"And who will we turn our wrath on?" Vasraf nodded with a grim face. "If we are allowed to face a single opponent then we will make them suffer."

"Who hasn't sent offers for official peace? Who has just withdrawn?"

"We've received two more this morning. That leaves only Savere and Nerrhavia. It is... unlikely that either of them will sign a peace treaty no matter what."

"Yes. Nerrhavia's Fallen is too large and too proud." And that worried her. Would they send another army? One that could take in the survivors of their first? Surely not... or so she hoped. "Savere is a country in name only. [Pirates], [Rogues], and [Bandits]. No. There will be no 'peace' with them."

"I agree. However, driving them out is my place. My fight. You need to stay here, my [Empress]."

"I cannot. I cannot just sit by while my people yet suffer."

"It's too risky." Vasraf crossed his arms. "Or are you going to battle without Thef? You know it's not in an elephant's nature to war. Even more than people, it changes them."

"War has already-" Her reply was cut short as Gyver, one of her [Royal Guards], entered the room.

"Your Majesty." He saluted. "Lady Siberian and Archmage Pixel have appeared and requested an audience."

"Oh?" Her eyebrows rose. She hadn't spoken with the powerful [Archmage] since his sudden appearance days ago. "Have them brought straight here." She set aside her mask and Tiqr’s Tusk.

"As you will." Gyver bowed and exited the room.

Nsiia returned Vasraf's look. "You think it's improper to see them here, in my quarters?"

"Not at all." Vasraf shook his head. "Showing Archmage Pixel such consideration is a good thing." He frowned. "I'm just worried about what demands he might make."

Nsiia nodded. "It's true that Tiqr owes him a great debt." She cast a worried look at Tiqr's Tusk. What boons would he claim? Ancient magic? Their animals? Tiqr was rich in many ways, but not in any she thought would interest an Archmage.

She and Vasraf waited in silence before the sound of a single set of footfalls drew closer. Gyver re-entered her solar, with three people behind him. Nsiia wasn't surprised that the Siberian made no noise. That was expected of a high-level [Rogue]. That Pixel also walked without making any sound did catch her a little off guard, but not as much as seeing his armored form or the woman he held in his arms.

"Laila?" Nsiia stood up and approached them. "What happened?"

"May I?" Pixel nodded towards a couch.

"Of course."

"Laila is suffering from a Blood Class." Pixel stated as he gently lowered her unresponsive body.

"A Blood Class?" Nsiia moved to stand next to him and gazed down at Laila. That... made sense. Tiqr had more Humans and Garuda than Stitchfolk - so she had no good reference for what alterations they could make to their bodies. If Laila had been human, Nsiia would've assumed that she had been cursed in some way from the way she looked, except for the polite girl's manners.

"Yes." Pixel took a step back. "I'm sorry to impose on you, but I've heard that [Rulers] can remove such things?"

Nsiia looked at him for a moment before nodding. "I can try." She placed her hand on Laila's forehead. "What is the Class, if you know?"

"[Carrion Eater]."

Vasraf's gasp mirrored her own. "But..." She looked back at Laila. Such a monstrous class. A curse. "I'm not entirely sure I can manage, but I'll try."

Nsiia closed her eyes and focused her Authority. The plains of Tiqr. The birds, beasts, and humans. The wild places that refused to be tamed. Freedom. She pushed against the blood-coated force she could now feel.

Hunger.

Rage.

Solitude.

It struck back out at her. However, for all her might and all its fury... nothing happened.

Nsiia gritted her teeth and pushed harder. She could feel something move. She just had to fight it...

...

"Empress!" Vasraf's voice woke her up. Nsiia hadn't realized she'd been asleep.

"What happened?"

"You're bleeding!" Vasraf dabbed her cheeks with some fabric. He pulled it away so she could see the red stains on it.

"Do you need healing?" Pixel stood to the side and asked with a concerned voice.

"No, no, I will be fine." It was more embarrassing than anything. "I'm sorry but I won't be able to remove Laila's class."

It was too similar to her Authority. There weren't enough differences to fully oppose it. Plus, the parts that did vary were the very worst of the Class. Overcoming them was beyond her.

"I see." Pixel looked over at the unfortunate woman. "I'll just have to come up with another option."

"I would suggest the [Ruler] of another country, but I don't think many would be open to hearing you." Vasraf replied bitterly. "And those that did would doubtless ask a heavy price."

"Is it a strenuous feat?"

"Yes." Nsiia admitted as she sank into a chair. "That's one reason. The other is that the time of a [Ruler] is valuable, but I consider you a friend of Tiqr and not a petitioner."

"Thank you." Pixel nodded in response.

"Is there anything else Tiqr can do for you?" She looked over at Laila. "We may not be able to remove her cursed class, but we can still give her a home."

"I think a home is a valuable thing." Pixel sat down in one of the chairs next to Laila. "And that actually brings something else to mind."

"Yes, what is it?" Nsiia leaned forward. She could sense that Pixel was about to make his request. While she hoped it would be reasonable, she didn't know enough about him to feel secure.

"I think..." Pixel paused and pulled out a black cube. "I'll need to tell you my story for my request to make sense." He lifted the cube slightly. "This will keep us from being spied upon, but I also would like your assurances that you won't share my secrets."

"Of course not." Nsiia replied immediately. "[General] Vasraf and I will not betray the trust of the [Archmage] that saved Tiqr!" She wasn't sure what secrets Pixel was talking about, or why he would share them with her, but it obviously had something to do with his request.

The armor around Pixel peeled back as the cubes somehow folded in on themselves. The ripple left a young-looking man behind. The same man who'd accompanied the Siberian when she hadn't known his name.

"Sibby and I are from another world, and we are not alone. There are a great many that have vanished from placed called Earth and have been transported here." He looked into her eyes as he spoke. "They are children, of no power such as mine. I would like for Tiqr to be a safe place where they can live, if they choose it."

...

Nsiia listened as Pixel told her about children from another world: Earth. It was an incredible tale, but it left her wondering. "What do you wish from Tiqr?"

"Merely to be a safe haven. No more. No less. In all honesty, I do not think that many Earthers would seek out a country at war. But..." He held his palm out and an image of his armor of cubes appeared above it. "My appearance is very distinctive. Most every Earther will not know of me specifically, but virtually all of them will recognize that I am also from Earth. So..." He let out a sigh. "They may congregate here, for no other reason than this is where I am - even after I've left."

"I see." Nsiia nodded. She didn't know how many of these 'Earthers' there were. From what Pixel had told her, they would be more like rabbits than lions. Two months ago, it would've been a simple thing to offer Tiqr's bounty, for less ferocious animals lived here alongside the more dangerous predators. Now she wasn't sure she could promise them safety. How could she when her own people lacked it. Then again, she couldn't refuse Pixel. Indeed, helping him in this matter would keep him on Tiqr's side. Nsiia nodded. "I accept."

"Excellent." Pixel smiled widely, but briefly as he glanced over at Laila's prone form. "There are other matters that we must discuss. The Spell Nerrhavia's Fallen used tainted the land. With luck it won't spread, or it might even shrink. I've talked to Wistram about it, and they can send some [Mages] to examine it. Unfortunately, there is little else I can do about it."

Nsiia shook her head. "It is one of many scars that Tiqr now bears, but we cannot complain about the actions taken by our foes." She couldn't even complain about the destruction Pixel had inflicted. It was just one more thing that needed to be rebuilt. "There are far more pressing matters. If the blight is not harming my people, then it can be put aside until Tiqr is fully free of invaders."

"About that. Is there anything you want me to do? I don't want to kill any more people - especially those that are retreating. I could, however... hasten their departure."

"You have done enough. Tiqr cannot ask for any more help." She looked at Laila. "I just wish I could repay the accomplishments you've already provided us."

"It's never enough." Pixel shrugged. "But it is what it is. Here." He held out his hand and a softly glowing cube an inch tall appeared in his palm. "This is a communication cube. With it, we will be able to speak at any time."

[General] Varsaf reached out to take it for her. "So it's like a scrying mirror?" He asked.

"More advanced than that." Pixel said with the hint of a smug smile. "It's utterly untraceable, and-"

"-I can do this." Another Pixel, this one in armor, appeared next to Varsaf. "It makes for much easier conversations."

"Remarkable." Nsiia craned her neck and sniffed. The fake Pixel had no shadow, and no smell, so it wasn't a perfect illusion, but it was close. [Nose of the Gnoll] also didn't detect anything from the Siberian or the real Pixel! She could only smell his clothing. "Interesting." Perhaps that was another reason why Sibby wore nothing? Besides outfits being too fragile.

"If you ever need help, please let me know." Pixel nodded. "I cannot promise that I can solve every problem, but I can try."

"We thank you, Pixel." Nsiia stood up. "You have saved Tiqr in its darkest hour." She didn't feel she was exaggerating with that statement. Even when the King of Destruction had swept through in her youth, Flos had offered generous terms. The invading armies this time had sought nothing less than to wipe Tiqr from the map. "I just wish I had been able to help you with your problems in return."

Nsiia looked down at Laila. She'd had an inkling that there was more to the girl when they'd first met. After all, a companion of the Siberian obviously had an interesting story to tell. She'd even spied the girl with her birds when she'd started running messages to and from villages. While her appearance was monstrous, there was nothing in her demeanor that hinted at being cursed with a Blood Class.

"I appreciate you trying." Pixel stood up and went to pick up Laila while his illusionary image vanished. "Unfortunately, I don't think I can visit any other King to get her the help she needs. So I'll just have to do it myself."

Nsiia paused. She'd been about to suggest something outlandish such as approaching the King of Destruction. From what she remembered as a child, he would help, but he would also demand payment of some kind.

"I'll take my leave now. Your Majesty." Pixel bowed to her before he and Laila vanished. Sibby waved at her before also fading away from all her senses - including her Authority.

"That was... not what I was expecting." Varsaf said while looking down at the artifact Pixel had casually handed over.

"Indeed." Nsiia didn't know what she'd been expecting, nor what to expect in the future. "None of my people will harm any children normally, but we must be sure to treat any that linger in our lands gently." It would not do to have an 'Earther' get caught up in a skirmish between her forces and one of the retreating armies.

---

'So what are we going to do?' Sibby asked me as I laid Laila down on the ground.

"Well, she's a Stitchfolk. In theory, we could try replacing some of her limbs with 'normal' ones." I frowned. "But... I don't think that will work." After all, we couldn't replace her jaw. Not without killing Zehia, which would probably kill Laila. If I could extract her, then we could... get a new body?

No. That's no good. Laila might be Sibby's friend, but she was essentially a parasite right now. We couldn't put her in someone else's body. Unless... maybe if they were dead? I'd yet to meet a regular Selphid, but apparently they puppeted corpses. I mean, there's tons of dead Stitchfolk laying around. We could probably find one that's mostly intact and... do what?

Even if we found a morally acceptable body for her to occupy, I couldn't exactly remove her from inside Zehia's head. That would certainly kill Zehia and probably kill Laila too. If Riley was here, she could do it. Regardless of whatever magical anatomy Stringpeople had, my little sister could operate on them flawlessly.

That wouldn't help Zehia, but it was Laila who was Sibby's friend.

Then again, I think that Laila was in her current situation because she'd been trying to help Zehia. The 'Mind-Link' debuff was pretty good evidence of that. Especially since Zehia had apparently been suffering from the Blood Class for as long as Laila had been inside of her. Conversely, Laila had been doing fine until just recently. In fact, it was entirely possible that she might recover on her own...

I looked over at Sibby-

She was gone.

The Siberian had vanished.

I tried Summoning her and was... rejected? Huh? Since when can Sibby refuse to be Summoned? Since when did she not want to be? I started pacing back and forth.

*Worry negated by Gamer's Mind.

Right, right. If she's not here then she must be with William or Cauwine. I bet she's asking them for advice on Laila. Well, while she's doing that, I'll also brainstorm. With mana-empowerment, Power Drain could touch other people's Mana Pool.

Ears of Babel let me tweak that to latch onto some things that were also connected to that reservoir of magic. Power Drain wasn't strong enough on its own to do anything to Zehia's blood class - and I wasn't strong enough to withstand it touching my Mana Pool.

I was pretty sure that would be the case even if I wasn't currently injured. I also was decently sure that people would notice what I was doing. Just like I could 'feel out' my Skills somewhat, others could doubtlessly do the same. In fact, I'd bet that anti-appraisal magic could stop it.

Eh, or not. Ears of Babel was incredibly good at what it did. That wasn't enough. Without something more, it would be limited to jolting the target and hurting myself. Neither of which was helpful with Laila's condition.

...

Sibby appeared next to me. 'I think if you Craft something with Power Drain and that fate skill of yours, we can help Laila!'

"Really?" I had to admit I'd had some similar theories, but it wasn't something I could test without sacrificing the Skill.

'Yep!' She nodded. 'Fate can affect classes! It's different from a ruler's authority, but it can work in the same way. There's even a spell or an ability or something that lets people steal the fate or class or whatever of whomever they kill.'

"Is that what Cauwine said?"

Sibby nodded. 'She also said that thread of fate should work, but you wouldn't be able to handle it without Power Drain.'

I let out my held breath. It was good to have some confirmation, but now I was faced with a decision. I could use Limit-Breaker to sacrifice [Thread of Fate] and Craft something that might help Laila. Or I could wait until I had recovered and see if I could do it on my own by sacrificing it to Power Drain.

That would take a while, and Laila might die before then. Or suffer permanent mental damage if she hadn't already. By sacrificing my Skill for an immediate solution that would be tied to an item and not myself, I'd be able to avoid any more spiritual damage. The major downside was that I wouldn't have the power myself. After losing the Golden Gun, I was less thrilled about possibly having the same thing happen again in the future.

Added to that... could I trust Cauwine? I'd never met her. I didn't know what she was like - only that she'd become a part of Sibby? Or, more accurately, part of her Shard? It would be foolish to accept her advice at face value, but it would also be foolish to ignore someone with more knowledge than I possessed.

I stood and thought before deciding that Cauwine's suggested course of action was already something I'd been considering, and I didn't see a better alternative. Besides, I assumed, if nothing else, that Cauwine wouldn't want to anger Sibby by harming one of her friends.

Whatever I Crafted would be more powerful and could combine more powers into the effect. That alone made it the best option. I nodded to Sibby. "I'll try Crafting something to help Laila."

'Really?' Sibby hugged me and began to nuzzle my neck.

I resisted the urge to push her away. She was just being affectionate. She didn't realize how such a thing would look from the outside. Or how it affected me.

I felt my cheeks heat up as she licked my jaw. C'mon Gamer's Mind, activate! She's totally doing this on purpose!

*Error! Gamer's Body negated.

Argh! That came as a surprise. She'd hidden her attack on my ear from Threat Sense.

I glared at her for a moment before relenting. Sibby had her eyes shut and wore a blissful expression. I couldn't stay mad at her. Especially not with how happy she looked while chewing.

"Come on. Let's go find somewhere private where I can get the materials to Craft with."

I thought for a second about using the blighted area for resources. That might be a way to kill two birds with one stone. On the other hand, it might also be a way to unleash a nano-swarm plague. Or, at least, a pixelation plague. Besides, I wasn't about to trust whatever came from Crafting something like that. It probably wouldn't fail in the way I'm imagining, but still.

I took a deep breath and refocused.

"Let's go to where I bombed Nerrhavia's Fallen. There's bound to be plenty of remains we can use." Mainly destroyed swords and armor, but Conversion wasn't picky. It could use even the most basic of material in combination with my Crude Trait to build almost anything. Technically, it was doing a pre-programmed building chain where it Crafted increasingly higher quality items to work its way up the tech-tree.

Then again, that was assuming I had enough slots in the seed to add those additional blueprints. Every one of them had to come at the expense of a component actually used by the finished product. I could cheat by combining some of my Perks, but not all of them could be used for free. Of course, Skills could seemingly be sacrificed without any limitations - aside from losing the Skill itself.

That was why for complicated things, it was best to start with a single material. Preferably metal.

I carried Laila as Sibby and I walked and teleported across Tiqr. That reminded me. I had an idea for how I could travel long distances using Sibby's power. It would take some work, but it would be worth it in the end.

Soon enough, we came to the remains of Nerrhavia Fallen's army.

It was... impressive. What I'd unleashed had also been horrible. It struck me as absurd as we looked at the shreds of steel and cloth that were scattered across the ground. Large swaths of earth had been torn apart from where the missiles and bombs had struck. The craters, however, weren't empty. Debris from other strikes had been blown into where previous ones had landed.

I reached down and picked up some rugged Hemp strips that might've been a tent, a flag, or... a person.

It hadn't rained since then, and there was still a noticeable heat in the air that probably would make others wish for the remains of Winter's chill.

I couldn't tell what parts had been living people, and what had been clothing, tents, or other things made out of cloth. In a way, it made the destruction of my attacks stand out even more. Back on Bet, it would look like a victimless crime. Just a lot of property damage. A whole lot.

It was infuriating that it had come to this. That it took so many deaths for Nerrhavia's Fallen to concede defeat. That even after such an obvious display of overwhelming force, that it took assassinating their leaders to finally cause them to withdraw.

And for what?

Scraps of cloth in the wind.

*Melancholy negated by Gamer's Mind.

I let the cloth fragments slip from my fingers and float away on the breeze.

Before anything else, I needed to get an idea of the final product. It wasn't enough to drain Laila. I needed something that could enhance that effect. Furthermore, I needed something to store whatever it was that made a Class. In fact, it probably was a good idea we were doing this in a war-zone. If there was a dangerous release of... whatever might come out, it was best to do it away from people.

Right.

I equipped Limit-Breaker and sacrificed [Thread of Fate] to Crafting. I then began to visualize the assembled components I would need to use. A forcefield generator was vital. No, I needed to add two. One to wrap around the target and one to contain the result. Power Drain would help with guiding it towards the exit, but it wouldn't be enough on its own.

It needed an emitter and transfer components - as many as I could fit, and covering as many exotic energy types as I could manage.

Redundancy. That was the name of the game. The Extractor would be very simple in concept, but it absolutely needed to handle the output without breaking. And have contingencies for when it inevitably did. I wasn't arrogant enough to think that what I was doing was safe. I just needed to make sure that when it failed, it didn't hurt Laila.

That... was possible. If there was one thing my powers excelled at, it was defense.

Gamer's Body. Gamer's Mind. Rapid Regeneration. Lucky Fate. Lucky Screen. Heck, I'll even include Inventory as a destination. Everything to shield her from a backlash. That was the single highest priority. It didn't matter so much if this failed, just so long as it didn't hurt Laila if it did.

Honestly... If it wasn't for what Sibby had told me, I would be half expecting this to not work. If it wasn't for [Thread of Fate], this entire idea would be dead in the water. I'd spent long hours while walking through the desert poking and prodding the previous form of the Skill in my mind. The version that I had was different - as proven by the fact that I had been able to actually sacrifice it to my Perk.

But, I'd also gotten an understanding of its nature.

It was very similar to Limit-Breaker. It was a Skill about exchange. A fair exchange. A knowing exchange. It wasn't a Skill that took more than was given. The trick was to make it clear that it was Laila offering the class. Or Zehia.

That was another reason why Crafting some Tinkertech was the better choice. I wouldn't be part of the decision. I wouldn't be taking anything from Laila and offering it up like I had with the Djinni. This had to be her choice. That way, the Skill would keep her safe.

Probably.

I was confident, otherwise I wouldn't be trying this, but I was also attempting to interact with magic I didn't fully understand. All the more reason to make a device that takes my input out of the equation.

Finally, after several long minutes, I completed my seed. The swirling mass of particles was ready to build, it just needed materials. Specifically, it needed metal. There hadn't been any room for secondary systems to take in something of lower quality and refine it.

I knelt down and pressed my hand to the ground. This time, the seed didn't sink into the earth to find what it needed. Instead it spread out. A gaping maw waiting for us to feed it.

'Is it ready?' Sibby asked from the side.

"Yep." I nodded. "We just need to drop whatever remains of their weapons and armor inside." It would be fine to toss in non-metallic stuff. It wouldn't help, but anything non-living was a valid-

'Excuse me, Mister Pixel? I'm going by Remi Canada. We met a few days ago.'

"Sibby, can you start the salvaging? I need to speak with someone."

'Who is it?' She bounded over to me and leaned forward so she was looking up at my face. 'Huh? C'mon, tell me!'

"One of the people from Earth. I noticed him when I was doing a sweep of Nerrhavia Fallen's army with my drones."

'Oh? One of them was in the army?'

"No." I shook my head. "More like he was following it or something."

'Why?'

I shrugged. "I guess I'm about to find out. I didn't have much time to talk to him then. He refused going to Wistram, but took a Communication Cube."

'Eh.' Sibby shrugged her shoulders as she lost interest and started walking away and looking for scrap.

'Hello, Remi. What can I do for you?' He was speaking into the cube, so I used Tongue of Babel to project my voice to him - only after using Ears of Babel to see what was going on around the Communication Cube. Remi was by himself, a ways away from anyone. So this didn't seem like a trap or someone coercing him into talking.

'I was hoping I could have an interview with you?'

'An interview?' I walked in the opposite direction of Sibby and started Inventorying the remains of some bronze weapons.

'Yes. We would sit down and I'll ask you questions about who you are, what you did, and why you did it.'

I smiled wryly. 'I am familiar with interviews, Remi.'

'Is that from your time as a superhero?'

'As a matter of fact, yes it is. What is the interview for?'

'I'm a [Journalist]. I was covering the war, and so I'd like a column about you.'

Ah. That explained why he was in Tiqr.

'I wasn't aware that such a thing existed in this world.'

'It doesn't, so I'm going to make it. People deserve to know the truth. [Mages] already have Message Spells, and Mage Guilds. I can get my stories out to almost the entire world through them.'

'Interesting.' Another good way to contact Earthers. All the more reason to speak with him again. 'However, now's not a good time. I'm in the middle of something. Can we reschedule later?' I didn't mind talking, but I would need to make sure Remi doesn't publish anything that could get people hurt.

Or captured by Roshal.

...Yeah. That's number two on my list, right after Laila.

'In the middle of something? May I ask- No, sorry, I get too eager sometimes. I'd be happy to schedule a time for us to speak. Perhaps noon tomorrow?'

'Sure. I'll speak with you then.' I stopped talking but continued to keep track of what was going on around Remi in the back of my mind.

I walked back to the Magi-tech creation. Sibby was already there, tossing in scraps of weapons. I un-Inventoried what I'd gathered above it and the metal disintegrated slowly as it sunk into the mass.

'How long will this take?' Sibby asked me.

"Not long. The blueprint isn't that complicated." For Tinkertech. It was my Perks and sacrificed Skill that were important. The machine itself would be decently large, but shouldn't take more than an hour to form. I could do it faster if I built it 'by hand', but using a seed was far more convenient.

My creation slowly grew out of the ground as Sibby and I talked and made sure Laila was doing okay. There was no change with her. As time passed I was increasingly sure my sacrifice wouldn't be wasted. While it would be a good thing if she miraculously recovered on her own, a part of me would bemoan what I'd already given up if my machine wasn't actually needed.

While she sometimes muttered and other times lay comatose, Laila clearly wasn't improving. When the Extractor was finished, I put her inside where a forcefield wrapped around her. Another appeared on the other end, ready to vent whatever made up a Blood Class.

I only hoped she wasn't too far gone to give consent to [Thread of Fate].

The Extractor Activated.

It connected.

A status message said it was processing... then it began to send garbage.

It was still clearly working, as proven by the white mist starting to fill the containment zone. Laila shifted, but didn't seem to be in pain. I connected to the Extractor with Power Drain and pushed Threat Sense. It wasn't what my Perk was made for, but it did give me a feeling that things were mostly safe.

Hours passed.

The white mist gradually grew thicker, and Laila was still doing okay.

Then, some threshold was passed. Threat Sense let me know things were about to be too much for the Extractor. I teleported inside and grabbed Laila before teleporting us away.

From a distance, I watched as the white mist turned red.

In my arms, Laila stirred and opened her eyes. I Observed her, despite the pain of channeling mana.

[Laila Yosef
Stitch Selphid 7
Runner 4

Gender: Female
Age: 19
Race: Stringfolk - Lifethread
Faction: Tiqr
Origin: The Grand Design of Isthekenous.

Debuffs:
Mind-Link]

[Zehia Maquet

Gender: Female
Age: 32
Race: Stringfolk - Silk
Faction: n/a
Origin: The Grand Design of Isthekenous.

Debuffs:
Mind-Link]

That was good. What was less good was the fact that the Extractor was breaking apart. Pixel after pixel faded away. Soon, the forcefield generators failed. I got ready to un-summon Sibby and teleport us as far away as I could, but the mist didn't spread.

Instead... it did the opposite and started pulling itself together until all that was left on the ground was a blood-red dagger.

Notes:

Bios:

Remi Canada - Not his real name. Part of a group of Earthers that arrived in the desert of Chandrar. They stumbled upon A’ctelios Salash - a city built in a gigantic still-living 'corpse' of something from beyond the stars. Remi and two others refused their hospitality. Since then, he has gone across the continent as a [Journalist] - writing stories and trying to spread unbiased news.

Chapter 91: Monsters 3

Zehia opened her eyes.

She was in the arms of a man she didn't recognize. She looked around. There was one other person present. The Djinni.

...That's right. She'd been betrayed by Riqre and was infiltrating his lands to get her revenge. She'd had him and then...

Ah.

She'd failed.

The rest was a blur. Darkness. Falling. Rage. Blood. Flesh. And... Laila?

'Zehia.'

The voice was inside of her head.

'Laila.' She replied as she closed her eyes and leaned back. She tried to get an impression of how dangerous the unknown man and the Djinni were... but nothing happened. 'It worked.'

'What did? You seem to be lucid, but the last couple of... days? Everything is a blur. I think, yes, that's it. I tried to help you after we were ambushed and the other presence, the curse, grew stronger. What happened after that?'

'I'm not sure.' Zehia admitted. It was a mistake to show weakness, but Laila was part of her. She was literally inside of Zehia's head. And she was weaker than a child currently. Well, perhaps not. She flexed her hands and felt her claws dig into her leathery flesh.

Her body was certainly still strong, but twisted. The wrong kind of strength. Brute force, not graceful skill.

'You're hiding something.'

'Heh.' Zehia couldn't help but smile. 'Can't you just read my mind?'

'I can. A little. My Skill is how we're talking, but I don't know everything. Just what you saw and that we were both trapped by your curse.'

'My Blood Class.' Zehia opened her eyes and looked up at the man and the Djinni again. 'It's gone.'

'Really? That's great!'

"Laila? Zehia?" The man's accent was odd. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." Zehia twisted out of his arms and clumsily fell to the ground instead of elegantly landing. "It worked."

"Oh? You were aware?" He offered a hand to help her up, but Zehia didn't take it.

"Yes." She remained sitting for a moment. "I'm not sure exactly what happened. Everything past-" Past when Riqre had chopped her up. "Everything is a muddled mess in my mind, but I remember the offer."

"The offer?" "What offer?" 'An offer?' Three voices, one of them in her mind, asked.

"To give up my levels." Zehia looked down at her clawed fingers and opened and closed them. "They're all gone. Every last one of them."

All her Skills. All of her... life. Gone just like that. A more horrible fate than even a [Slave] deserved.

'I'm so sorry!'

'Don't be.' Zehia took a deep breath. 'I should've died when I failed to kill Riqre. I should've died even if I'd succeeded. I won't say I enjoyed what was done to me, but... this is still better than the alternatives.'

That's right. She had to look at the big picture. That was the only way to survive in Roshal... Except she wasn't there any more, was she? She was gone. Missing. Most likely presumed dead at this point. There was nothing back there for her. Everything she'd built up had already been taken away. Again.

In fact, she was sure if the Emirs ever learned where she was...

'Don't worry about that.' Laila softly spoke to her. 'You're safe now.'

---

**Zehia is confused.
**Zehia is surprised.
**Laila is happy.
**Zehia is happy.
**Laila is concerned.
**Zehia is sad.
**Laila is confused.
**Zehia is melancholy.
**Laila is happy.

It seemed clear that both Zehia and Laila were awake, aware, and communicating with each other. I felt a sense of relief at the outcome. Not only because the Extractor had worked, but because the two Stitchfolk seemed on strangely good terms.

Or, perhaps, not that strange considering they'd spent months together in a far more intimate way than I would've thought possible. It probably helped that Laila didn't seem to bear her owner any particular grudge, and instead had risked her own sanity to try and help her.

It was hard for a non-psychopath to receive that level of help without feeling gratitude in return. It was a pretty standard psychological response. Helping someone, or being helped, were powerful tools for shaping one's perceptions of the other person.

Still... I wondered just what their relationship had been before the incident with Riqre.

I turned to look at Sibby. "I'll give you some time alone." I then sent through our bond. 'It's not just Laila inside there. There are two consciousnesses in the body."

Sibby tilted her head. 'What do you mean?'

'Ask them yourself.' I smiled at her and then walked towards the twisted remains of the Extractor. It was ruined. I focused on my Skills... No [Thread of Fate]. No extra option for Crafting. I'd wondered what would happen if one of my Magi-tech devices was destroyed, and now I knew.

*Annoyance negated by Gamer's Mind.

Oh well. I'd anticipated this outcome. I'd sacrificed bigger things to Limit-Breaker for less. What was important now, was that Sibby's friend was safe.

...And Zehia too, I supposed.

I wondered if the pair could be apart now. Normal Selphids had to occupy new bodies from time to time, but that was because they inhabited corpses. Dead Stitchfolk were just cloth. I suspected that Laila couldn't inhabit such a body. Even if she could, would it have the magical spark that transformed cloth to flesh?

Huh.

I suddenly remembered Chantilly - the Monstrous Cape that had been a little girl that had been turned into cloth. I'd helped her before. Or, rather, Riley had. I wondered what insights my little sister would have if she was indeed in this world.

It probably didn't matter. It was Chantilly's Shard after all that had done the same thing with whatever Shards did that Stitchfolk accomplished with magic. Unless, that was, if some Shards used magic. That... seemed possible? Likely even, given the tremendous age of Entities. A separation of powers. A specialization. That was how Shards worked.

My musing came to an end as I stopped next to the remains of the Extractor, and what it had extracted.

[Knife]

I winced a little as I channeled mana through Observe.

[Blade of Revenge

Cursed.

Extracted revenge. Exacts revenge.]

I gave it a flat look. That seemed more than a bit ominous, but Threat Sense wasn't detecting anything. I damaged myself by pushing some more mana into my precognitive Perk to let it predict how magic would affect me.

Nothing.

I reached down and picked the weapon up. It was heavier than I'd expected. Odd. With how much it seemed to weigh in my hands, it should've left an indentation in the ground. Also, shouldn't an [Assassin]'s blade be lighter?

Oh. I got it. It wasn't a physical weight. Rather, it was a metaphysical one.

Interesting.

Okay, so while I still had mana running through Threat Sense, I brought the tip of the blade to my chest and prepared to stab myself.

Ah.

Yep. That would be bad. Very bad. Threat Sense promised a world of pain if the dagger impaled me. The weapon wouldn't just hurt my body, but also... my mind, my mana, my soul? I wasn't sure exactly, but I knew that I would get off lighter than almost anyone else due to Gamer's Mind.

And that wasn't even its full power. Just holding it in my hand made me want to kill Jack. I knew it would be most effective against the former leader of the Slaughterhouse Nine.

He was already dead, so the urge was faint, but I guess that's the person I wanted revenge against the most?

Although... there was someone else I needed to get revenge on. I wasn't sure who. It wasn't someone I'd met before...

*Obsession negated by Gamer's Mind.

Whew. I'd seen that coming with Threat Sense, but it still felt nice to shake it off.

I certainly couldn't just leave this laying around. Plus, it might come in handy in the future. I un-Inventoried some cloth and carefully wrapped it around the weapon while adding 'buy a sheath' to my list of things to do. At least the surprisingly heavy blade was small. I could wear it under my armor easily enough, at least until I could spend the mana to constantly keep it in my Inventory.

I turned around and made my way back to where Sibby was speaking with Zehia. Or Laila. The woman's demeanor had completely shifted. Her head was slightly bowed and her hands were hidden behind her back. It reminded me of when I'd spoken with her as Gandalf.

"Hello." I smiled at her as I stopped next to Sibby. "How are you feeling, Laila?"

"I'm, er, I'm doing much better. But really it's Zehia who's had the big change." She bowed to me. "Thank you, mister Pixel, sir!"

As she straightened up, her expression shifted and she met my eyes while putting her hands on her hips. "Yes. Thank you, [Archmage]. I am in your debt." Her fanged maw twisted into something that looked almost like a scowl. "I don't think I'll be able to repay it for a long time. All my levels and Skills are gone." She looked down at her clawed hands. "I'm not sure how I'm even going to become an [Assassin] again, not without going back to Roshal, and I'm not doing that."

"Why be an assassin?" Sibby asked. "You could be a runner like Laila. Besides." Her eyes glowed yellow. "Killing the wrong person is wrong, even if it's really fun and easy." Sibby nodded to herself. "Though not always. The hard part is deciding if someone should die."

Did... did the Siberian just almost say that 'killing is wrong'?

*Pride negated by Gamer's Mind.

Come to think of it, I'd killed a lot more people than Sibby in the war. Even before I doubled down on inflicting damage to Nerrhavia Fallen's army, I'd been more than willing to kill my targets. I didn't want to, but I hadn't shied away from it either.

Sibby had gone out of her way to horrifically injure people instead. I couldn't say if her attacks would've been more effective in the long run if she'd simply tried to kill as many as possible, but it was certainly more work to hold back.

I looked at her animatedly talking with Laila and felt my pride swell up again, along with other emotions.

I also felt a little awkward. Sort of like a third wheel. Or at least a forth.

---

"Why an [Assassin]?" Laila heard Zehia ask out loud. It was a little disconcerting to both hear her thoughts, and also feel the same information being relayed back to Zehia's brain through her ears. "It's what I'm good at. There are problems that can't be solved any other way besides eliminating the person responsible."

"Yeah, but you'd always be worse at it than I am." Sibby's voice wasn't condescending or belittling, instead it was like she was stating a fact. The sun was yellow. The sky was blue. The Siberian was more skilled at murder.

Laila didn't know what she thought about that. She... didn't mind if Sibby killed people. As much as Laila felt bad about how... most of them wound up, she couldn't gainsay her twice-over rescuer. Zehia looked out over the field that the [Archmage] had created.

Others saw an invading force. People coming to kill or enslave the people of Tiqr. Armies marching due to a conspiracy instead of for a good cause.

Evil.

Laila saw people who had no choice. Not [Slaves], but certainly not those that had wished to be there. Cogs in a machine. Threads in a tapestry. They had been no more capable of deciding what had happened to them as a piece of string decided to be pulled by a needle.

Did they deserve to die?

Some of them undoubtedly, but Laila knew that she'd never be the sort of person that could make that decision. Or who could watch from behind Zehia's eyes as she killed people.

'I don't think you should be an [Assassin] either, Zehia.' Laila interrupted half of the conversation, but Sibby was taciturn, she wouldn't mind. 'We've both been given a new start. We've lost our respective Blood Classes. We're in a new country. I don't have to obey, and you don't have to kill. That's not who we are anymore. We can choose a new path. A new Class. You didn't always want to kill people, did you?'

'I... Killing people is necessary. It keeps order. It lets society function. Roshal exists because it's needed.'

'We're not in Roshal anymore.'

'...No. We aren't. And we're not going back!'

'Then why go back to what you were, when you were there?'

Laila could feel Zehia thinking, so she withdrew. Now that her former owner was thinking for herself instead of being trapped by her Blood Class, it felt wrong to listen in - even as it became easier. She sent Zehia a wordless request to take control of their body and got a begrudging acceptance in return.

Laila took a deep breath in and looked at Sibby. "So what do you think Zehia and I should do, Sibby?"

"Whatever you want." The Siberian smiled.

---

Away from Sibby and her friend, I thought about what to do next. The obvious answer was Roshal. The idea that such a place could be out there, that they were hunting Earthers, what they might do to my sister if they found her before I did!

*Anger negated by Gamer's Mind.

Right, right. Riley can take care of herself, if she's even in this world. The more pressing concern is that I strongly suspect that an Earther has already been captured by them. Whomever was using Kent Scott's phone on the call that Aaron had put together was my enemy.

And it was highly likely that it was Roshal.

It wasn't like I could personally wage war on a whole country. My fight with Nerrhavia's Fallen had demonstrated that. While I'd won in the end, they clearly had strategic weapons that could hurt me. Besides, even if that wasn't the case, a one-man war would take years, if not decades. It wasn't like all of the [Slave Masters] of Roshal would gather in one spot and wait for me to blow them up.

Even if they did, it would be behind a living shield of [Slaves].

No, what I needed was something far more precise than the trump card I'd brought.

...Or a way to remove the innocents beforehand.

Yes. That could work. I'll need to talk with Zehia and find out about the inner workings of Roshal as a whole, but I could definitely come at them in a way that they weren't expecting. It's a shame the Extractor broke after a single use, but I also couldn't use it on each [Slave] one at a time.

No. There was a simpler solution, even though I didn't have an end goal yet.

Right. I nodded to myself.

'Sibby, I'm going to go to the desert real quick to get some sand. Do you want to come with me, or stay and talk with Laila?'

'I'll stay here.'

I was a little worried about stretching our connection again, but better to test it now than be surprised by it in the future I supposed.

I mentally scanned my Inventory. More than half my jet fuel I'd stored had been used up in the fight with Nerrhavia's Fallen. I sighed. That was the problem with relying on non-MP resources. Even with Crafting my own fuel and adding Inventory to it to let me compact it - it still took up a lot of space.

I had room for more after dropping off the biggest items, but Crafting it took time - and liquid resources.

I should've set a seed to produce it back at Wistram. Plenty of water there.

Still, the Zeikhal Desert wasn't very far away. Okay, several hundred miles, but relatively speaking that was decently close. It would only take me an hour to get there. The fuel was the much bigger cost than the time spent flying. I'd easily lose most of what I had left if I went full thrust there and back.

Instead, I navigated my Cawthorne high into the air, and deployed its forcefield as wings again.

Gliding would take longer, but save fuel. The really problem was that I couldn't play video games while doing it.

But... I did have other things I needed to do. Mainly, I needed to sort through the Messages that had constantly been coming in since the fight.

...

'How dare you?'

'Business opportunity.'

'Let's be friends.'

'You don't want to be my enemy.'

'We can pay you for stuff.'

'You suck.'

'You're so cool.'

Those were the basic gists of most of the magical spam I had aimed towards me. Not the worst, but... ugh. If I could make a program as easily as I could Craft things, then I could come up with an intelligent filter. However, all my programming I had to do by hand.

I KNEW how to do it thanks to my Computers skill, but it still took time and effort that I couldn't afford. Even setting up a PHO knockoff had been boring and tedious, and I'd gotten to copy most of that code.

No, it looks like I have to handle my mail by 'hand'. Thank goodness the Black Box is encoding the Message Spells in a way I can peruse with Ears of Babel. If I had to listen to each one...

Blegh.

There were a LOT of countries that were eager to speak with me, but that wasn't what I was interested in. I was looking for Messages from Earthers who'd seen or heard of me. While I couldn't go and visit them in person, I could relay their information to Wistram.

The [Mage] school had a very long reach, and had saved a great deal of kidnapped people from all over the globe. If this world was actually a globe. It was certainly rounded, but there was something strange about its shape from what I could tell.

...

My connection with Sibby thinned.

It was just like when I'd gotten close enough to her, but in reverse. It became a vague direction and I couldn't speak with her through it.

But it was still there. That was the important part.

...

I landed, and looked around the dunes.

The project I had in mind wasn't super complex. It didn't need moving parts or Shard-assisted technology. It just needed to not be Crafted with my Perk.

If Tiqr was heavily forested, I could have built it without having to fly hours away to a desert. Wood would've worked just as well as glass, but taking anything from Tiqr at the moment felt wrong.

The Cawthorne was perfect for what I had in mind. The forcefield generator on it was much more precise than my pylons. Even so, this was going to be the most complicated shape I'd ever made. Not that I'd ever done anything more complex than wings or swords.

I'd had plenty of time to visualize what I wanted, and I began to form my cast. It still took a while to shape the forcefield so precisely, but not that long. As I finished the bottom layer, I used Inventory to grab sand and place it within the hollow portion.

Then, I activated the Cawthorne's lasers.

The sand glowed brightly as the beams of concentrated light swept over it. It melted almost instantly. The liquid mass spread out from the impact point as nearby grains of sand fused with the spreading heat. I raked the laser back and forth until I was left with a mass of liquid glass hovering in mid-air on top of the forcefields.

Then I did it again.

More forcefields to make the vertical and horizontal structures. Sand to fill the 3D shape. Lasers to keep the glass molten.

There was a crack, and one of the wings broke.

I grumbled to myself and reapplied the heat after adjusting the forcefield to make it bigger and adding more sand.

Making something with Tinker-tech instead of just using Crafting was a lot more work... but strangely rewarding. The end result was large, misshapen, and undoubtedly fragile, but none of that mattered. It cooled quickly and I Inventoried my creation.

Along with some sand. I had the space and I might need more raw materials in the future.

Satisfied that my project would work, I took off. The jets from the Cawthorne left more patches of blacken glass in my wake as I ascended.

...

The flight back was uneventful.

I finished going through the Messages and contacted Aaron at Wistram about the ones that needed to be followed up on.

When I got close, I felt my bond with Sibby snap back into place. It was definitely a good thing that she could be farther away from me now, but it was still comforting to have her close by.

She (and probably Laila) were back in Oliphant. I landed just as I could see the city on the horizon, and walked back the rest of the way. It was getting dark, and there was no reason to potentially scare anyone. Besides, I'd rather not draw a crowd if I could avoid it.

I made my way to where Sibby was. She and Laila were in the same small shack amongst the refugees around the city.

"Welcome back!" Sibby smiled at me. It was still a little disconcerting to hear her speak out loud. "Did you get what you were looking for?"

I nodded. "Yes. Now we have a way to get to Roshal."

"Why would you want to go there?" From her posture, I assumed it was Zehia talking.

"To destroy it."

"What?" Her monstrous features twisted in surprise. "Destroy it?"

"Yes. I don't think I can eliminate slavery the world over, but I can certainly crush the central pillar holding it up." The hard part would be minimizing the impact it would have towards the enslaved.

"You can't do that!"

"No. I certainly can." It would be dangerous, but I could do it - if I was willing to use my newest Perk.

Zehia crossed her arms and almost scowled. "Roshal is far more powerful than you think. No [Archmage]. No [King]. No country can stand against it. We've horded artifacts, magic, and knowledge that can overwhelm any such attempts!"

"We?"

"I... er... uhm..." The Stitchwoman seemed to deflate. "THEY are more powerful than you think. Freed from other concerns, elite [Slaves] are the fiercest fighters in the world. Nerrhavia's Fallen might be bigger, but Roshal is richer in every other way. THEY have faced opposition before and come out stronger for it."

"By enslaving those who opposed them?" I raised an eyebrow. "I cannot allow such evil to exist." Especially when there's a decent chance that they'll go after Sibby again someday. Or Riley.

"Slavery is not evil!" Zehia's face twisted in surprise as Laila and the rest of us reacted in shock.

"What?" I crossed my arms.

She glared at me as she took control of her body back. "You heard me. It's just pragmatic. If a man commits a crime, killing him accomplishes nothing. He's gone and that's that. Using him as a [Slave] is both more kind and rewarding."

"Kind?" I said incredulously.

"No. Not 'kind'. 'More kind'. As in, it's better to be alive as a [Slave] than free and dead!" Zehia looked down at her clawed hands. "Not... not everyone is like Riqre. I treated my [Slaves] well, didn't I Laila?"

Her expression twisted as she answered herself. "You made me flay my skin."

"That's natural for Stitchfolk."

"Not for our heads!"

"That's why you were special. Don't you see? You had what other Stitchfolk dream of. You elevated yourself instead of having to settle for elevating your children."

"I was still a [Slave]."

"That-"

"What did I do to deserve that? What wrong did a little girl commit that resulted in the same punishment as... as... as a [Murderer] or worse?"

"I..." Zehia's shoulders slumped. "I don't know. Okay? I decided to quit getting to know my [Slaves] at a young age." She looked up at me. "That doesn't mean that the entire institution is flawed. The world needs Roshal."

**Zehia is conflicted.
**Zehia is afraid.
**Zehia is sad.

I think she was trying to convince herself more than she was arguing with me or Laila.

"Soon the world will HAVE to exist without it." I un-Inventoried a Communication Cube and handed it to her. "I'd like to ask you some things, but that can wait until I'm in the air." I turned to look at Sibby. "Ready for a trip?"

She tilted her head. "A trip?"

"In the air?" Zehia asked from behind.

"That's right. We're going to fly to Roshal."

...

Outside of Oliphant and the crowds of refugees, I un-Inventoried my creation. The plane-shaped mass of glass appeared on the grass. It was a smoky brown color, not clear like I'd first envisioned.

'Ah!' Sibby's eyes lit up. 'You want me to carry you again!'

"That's right." The 'plane' was hollow, but it didn't have a door. Instead their was a hole in the back that let us enter the cabin with the molded seats. "It's not a real plane like last time, but you can still make it work, right?"

Sibby sat down next to me. Technically, neither of us really needed seats. Gamer's Body let me contort myself for long periods of time without discomfort, and Sibby sat wherever she wanted. The insides were for if I ever had the need to carry other passengers.

'Of course I can!' She looked around the insides. 'You didn't need to give it wings, but whatever!' She put her hand on the wall and the world vanished except for a small window on the bottom that she allowed light to pass through.

I watched the ground fall away from us at a breakneck speed as the Siberian manipulated the forces impacting the glass sculpture. Since it wasn't something I'd made with my Crafting Perk, she could manipulate it to negate gravity and other forces and let us fly.

It was... significantly faster than I could fly in my Cawthorne once she got up to speed. Sibby didn't have to worry about air resistance or fuel consumption. I would say that the plane wasn't as maneuverable as my armor, but Sibby could literally stop on a dime.

She just couldn't turn. She negated forces. She didn't redirect them.

But as a way to travel quickly, it worked wonderfully. Barring a charged Teleportation Pad at my destination, this was the quickest way to get to Roshal. Time was of the essence. There wasn't a particular deadline, but the longer the [Slavers] existed, the more chances they had to abduct a random Earther.

...Or even Riley.

That was NOT a possibility I was willing to entertain. I'll crush them before it gets that far.

...

[Artificer level 20!]

[Skill - My Hands Made Wonders Obtained!]

[Skill - Imbue With Purpose Obtained!]

I woke up from my quick nap to the voice. I wasn't surprised. I did just make something... potent.

Just a shame it broke and cost a Skill.

Still, sacrificing Skills for levels seemed like a good deal.

...

"So Roshal has three major ports?"

"Lailight Scintillation is the only major one, and there are sixteen others along the coast... but yes. Two of those sixteen have docks capable of housing more than a dozen ships." Zehia spoke into the Communication Cube I'd left her.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Even without my notifications, I could tell that the former [Assassin] had mixed feelings about informing me of Roshal's defenses. Not that her position had provided her much knowledge that was personally useful to me. I wasn't going to be infiltrating, so counter-espionage measures weren't really relevant.

Still, the fact that she was willing to say anything was promising - for both her and Laila.

I understood indoctrination. Every organization did it to some extent. People didn't view themselves as 'evil', and it seemed to me that that held true for the people of Roshal. If not the [Slaves]. In Zehia's mind she'd been doing good by helping root out corruption in the system.

The fact that the system was based on slavery didn't matter. Roshal's entire economy and culture was based around buying and selling people. It was ingrained in their belief system that if someone was a [Slave], they'd done something to deserve it.

The examples she'd given of buying people that would have been put to death otherwise was convincing enough. She viewed it as the lesser of two evils, and a necessary one. The flaw was in a few corrupt Emirs and not with the system itself.

The real flaw was that the system was set up to reward corruption. Of course, that was true of many systems. It was difficult to make laws that couldn't be manipulated in one way or another. The basic fact was that once you viewed people as a resource, you treated them as such.

I... had no idea where to start with reforming such a country.

Well, that wasn't quite true. I had an idea and I felt it stood a good chance of success after speaking with Zehia all night long. It's just that there wouldn't be much of a country left after I-

'There.' Sibby pointed through the section of the plane she let light in from. The sun was rising over the horizon and the warm light illuminated a crater hundreds of feet in diameter. 'That's where the mansion was.'

"Let's land then. I don't see anyone around."

The glass vehicle came to a gradual stop. While Sibby could instantly negate its forward progress, she couldn't directly stop the momentum my body had built up. So she had to slow the plane enough so that I wouldn't crash into it. It was an impact I would lose, Gamer's Body or not.

We landed in the middle of the destruction.

"Yes." I nodded. "This will do nicely." Close enough to the border that we didn't have to risk going in further, but deep enough in that we didn't have to worry about people from the neighboring country spotting us.

I took a deep breath... and equipped Limit-Breaker. One by one, I started sacrificing my Skills to my Crafting Perk.

[Lesser Strength]

[Basic Crafting]

[Extend Shot]

[Expand Explosion]

[Expanded Link]

NEGATIVE.

Okay, [Expanded Link] can stay, Optimize.

I also kept [Body of Stone], [Reinforce Armor], [Alter Ego: Various], [Ambient Mana Gatherer], [Heroic Tolerance: Mana], and [Don the Mask]. Everything else went into my Crafting Perk - including the two Skills I'd just gained. Then I used them for the biggest blueprint I'd ever made.

The thing was massive. It required a lot more parts than I could include in a normal design. That was where the sacrificed Skills and other Crafted Tinkertech came into play. Just like how I'd used up most of my Skills, I started emptying my Inventory. Anything that I could disassemble into components that could slot into the blueprint was added to the growing construct.

Months and months of Crafting used as resources for a device that could take down a country.

All my ordinance, spare suits, pylons, and more vanished into the swirling mass that was growing bigger and bigger with each passing second. I was starting to get worried that the house-sized seed could be seen from far enough away that someone might come to investigate.

I kept a few drones, including the golden sphere that I don't think I could replicate. The Mega-Buster and my Sensor Tower were also spared, because I wasn't sure that I'd waste the Skills I'd used for their construction if I used them as a component. The Black Box, because it was important to be able to interface with my broken scrying orb. My Cawthorne... and that's it for my Tinkertech. Everything else I could replace given time and materials. It was more important to get this right on the first try, because there wouldn't be a second.

I did, however, keep all of my regular electronics.

Finally, I arranged everything properly in a pattern that could repeat itself as it spread, and allowed the massive seed to sink down into the ground. It would take a while, even with the resources I'd expended, but it would slowly make its way across the entire country.

Deep enough to avoid the known dungeons. Smart enough to avoid things it didn't recognize. Subtle enough to hide from most information gathering powers.

Once it was finished growing, I'd make my move.

...and probably get better replacement Skills from the levels in Artificer I was bound to receive.

Chapter 92: Monsters 4

Crafting my mega-project had taken longer than I'd thought. It had also been exhausting mentally. Not just from the effort of keeping such a massive machine visualized in my mind for so long, but also using up all the items I'd stockpiled.

Rationally, I knew that potions were better used in battles than sitting in your inventory for a boss fight that never comes. That still didn't make it easy to part with them all.

I'd grabbed all the spare rocks and metal I could find in the crater and had started Crafting replacements as soon as Sibby and I had gotten in the air. That was the other nice thing about flying with the Siberian, I was free to focus on other things.

I really wanted to Craft some video games to distribute, but it was more important to get some weapons to replace what I'd used up. I wasn't expecting anyone to attack, but better safe than sorry.

'This reminds me of that one thing we did. Not when we did this same trick with that plane in that place, but when I went into that other place. You know. The one with the wall and the guards and stuff?'

"Do you mean Madison?" I replied back to Sibby while Crafting. That was the other other nice thing about traveling with the Siberian again - I had someone to talk to.

'Yeah! That's it!'

"I don't see the similarity."

'We're sneaking into a place. I'm ignoring light and letting a little through to see, but most pass through. Well, I'm having to bend it around you, but other than that, it's exactly the same!'

"Except I'm with you. And we entered a country and not a city. And we planted something instead of stealing people."

'Exactly! It's ALMOST the exact same thing!'

I couldn't help but smile at her. "If you say so-"

'Pixel? Are you ready for our interview?'

A message came from the Communication Cube I'd left with Remi. Right. It was noon now, wasn't it? As fast as we were flying, it still took hours. I was actually pretty sure that Sibby could go faster, since there wasn't any friction limiting her top speed. It was just her acceleration that was slow-ish.

In any case, my Crafting had taken longer than I'd anticipated. It was still fine. Now was as good of a time as any to speak with the Earther in Tiqr.

'Sure, Remi. I can talk.'

'Excellent. I'd first like to speak of some things [Off The Record], if that's alright with you.'

'No, that's fine.' I agreed. 'There are quite a few things that would be potentially detrimental to others if they were widely known.'

'Like you being from a different version of Earth?'

'Exactly that. And Earth in general. I don't think you need to slip any other subtle references to it aside from your nom de plume Mr. Canada. That said, I certainly don't mind revealing such things to you.'

'So your world has superheros?'

'Yes. It all started on May 20th, 1982 when a golden man was encountered floating above the Atlantic Ocean by an ocean liner...'

...

'...And then a golden beam of light struck and killed the Simurgh in orbit. Leviathan escaped, but that was the turning point.'

I'd spoken at length about the rise of Parahumans on Earth Bet, but I'd only gone into broad strokes. I didn't give Remi many specifics. For example, I hadn't told him about who'd killed Hero. Or gone into the details on the Slaughterhouse Nine. Or specified exactly what the Endbringers were - aside from Kaiju-like beings.

He didn't need those details, and telling him them might complicate things in the future. I made sure not to lie, except by omission.

'So you were there when Scion died?'

'Me and many others. A great many things happened after that, but with the Simurgh gone, the other two Endbringers were handled... with many other heroic casualties. Still, that was when Earth Bet started overcoming its problems and took a greater interest in other Earths.'

'Like ours?'

'No, not like yours. Your Earth had no parahumans. There was nothing and no one there that was a threat to you or other Earths. In fact, we've only ever visited two other Earths before I came to yours.'

'But you're watching us?'

'In a sense.' I wasn't going to spill Dragon's secrets, so I had to be vague as to why I had visited Earth Iota. 'A Thinker discovered there was a loss of mass from your Earth. We assumed it was a parahuman, and that such a power could conceivably harm other Earths as well. So I was sent to investigate.'

'So you then followed us to this world.'

'Not on purpose, I have to admit. Whatever magic snatched everyone else also targeted me. Considering the odds of that, I assume there's an intelligence behind it.'

'And do you have a way to return us back to Earth.'

'No. Not yet.' I grunted. 'It's magic, not technology, so I'm gathering allies that might be able to help in that regard. Until then, I want to keep everyone that's been kidnapped safe.'

'Is that why you intervened in Tiqr?'

'No. That was... personal.'

'Then can we go [On The Record]?'

'Sure.'

'So what was it that made you go to Tiqr?'

'I was searching for a friend.'

'You didn't come with the express intent of aiding the defending forces?'

'No. I was aware of the conflict, but not the details.'

'What made you take up arms?'

'Simple. I saw that I was needed.'

'Could you elaborate on that?'

'Of course. As a-' Not [Superhero]. No need to divulge that. 'Someone with significant personal power, I can do a lot, but obsessing over what I could've done is unproductive. So, my philosophy is simple. I don't seek wrongs to right, but when I see something, I do something.'

'Interesting.' It felt like Remi had more to ask, but was refraining from bringing up Earth topics for now. 'So the war struck you as un-just?'

'Very. People were being killed and driven from their homes.'

'Doesn't that happen in every war? Do you plan on intervening in every conflict you come across?'

'Probably.'

'That doesn't sound reassuring to other kingdoms.'

'If they're fielding armies, I suppose not.'

'But what if they do so for a good cause?'

'Like what?'

'Opposing the King of Destruction?'

I sighed. 'That's... a difficult subject. I would have to decide if I ever encountered such a battle in person.'

'So you won't stand against him?'

'Like I said, that depends on the circumstances. The information I'd heard about Tiqr and what I saw in person were two very different things. I feel it's more important to keep an open mind until I know the details.'

'That's a nice philosophy. What do you have to say about all the soldiers you killed?'

'I tried to limit the number of casualties, but I felt I had no choice.'

'What is your stance on Nerrhavia Fallen's actions?'

'Which ones?'

'They are accused of using a Djinni in combat.'

'They did.'

'They've accused you of doing the same.'

'What?'

'What is your relationship with the black and white Djinni?'

'She's my friend, but she's not a Djinni.'

'That's not what Nerrhavia's Fallen is saying.'

'They can say whatever they want. It won't change the truth.'

'Are you implying that they're calling your friend a Djinni simply to justify using one in return.'

'This is the first I'm hearing of it, but that does seem to be the case.'

'And the non-Djinni didn't help you cast your offensive spells?'

I smirked. 'No. No spell that I cast was aided in any way by a Djinni... or by my friend.'

'Would you swear on a truth stone?'

'Gladly. Do you want me to visit you so I can do exactly that?'

Remi paused. 'Yes, actually. That would be of great help. One final question. In your speech before the battle, you seemed to issue a threat to the rulers behind the invading armies. Do you actually intend to follow through with it?'

'You mean, do I plan on going to other countries and killing their leaders?'

'Yes.'

I sighed. 'No. Not really. I think that killing one person to end the bloodshed would be much more preferable than killing hundreds of people on the front lines. That said, the conflict is over. I'd rather not kill anyone else. Especially [Rulers], who's deaths could negatively impact their entire kingdoms.'

'What about the countries that haven't sued for peace? Such as Nerrhavia's Fallen?'

'That... is politics and is beyond me. If they send another army, I'll react, but it will depend on the circumstances.' And if I was still in Tiqr. I did feel responsible, so I'd probably return to help even if I was far away. Sibby's plane would make that possible. With plenty of time, I could systematically kill their officers instead of decimating their forces. 'Besides, that's under the purview of [Empress] Nissa. I wouldn't want to step on her toes.'

'I see. Thank you for your time, Pixel. I might have more questions when you visit me for the Truth Stone confirmations.'

'Any time, Remi.' I might not be available all the time, but I should be able to handle any interruptions. Although, I wasn't looking forward to an interview after every time I did something.

---

Remi sat back as the communication cube stopped glowing.

He still didn't know what to make of Pixel. Part of him wanted to praise him for stopping the invading armies. Part of him wanted to condemn him for how many people he'd killed. Part of him was afraid of someone, anyone, with that much power.

The Earth that Pixel had come from, Earth Bet, sounded equal parts amazing and horrifying. He could tell that Pixel wasn't telling him everything, but to be fair, it would be impossible to go over all the ways that the superhero's Earth differed from Remi's own - regardless of how long the interview was.

Still, he could read between the lines, not with any Skill, but with his experience as a [Journalist]. There were lots of points that he felt he could've pressed Pixel on. Scion, parahuman gangs, China, the Endbringers... It was obvious that Pixel had left several details vague on purpose.

...But he couldn't very well blame him for that. The important thing was that he was almost positive that Pixel was telling the truth. That he WAS from a different Earth. Ever since getting access to 'PHO', he'd become more and more sure.

There were little things, like making a messaging site that felt as if it had been copied from somewhere instead of made for his fellow Earthers. Something like Skype or Zoom would've made much more sense for how few of them there were.

The big proof was that Pixel was just too powerful. Remi had done his research, and fighting an army was possible for people to do single-handedly - if they were VERY high level. Unless Pixel had arrived decades before anyone else from Earth, it was unlikely that he could grow that strong just from whatever Class he had.

Which brought him back to the black and white woman. Pixel had refused to speak much about her, but the things he had said had been telling. The fact that he KNEW she wasn't a Djinni implied he did know exactly what she was. That, in turn, made him suspect that she had also originated from Earth Bet.

It would make sense to send a team of superheroes instead of just one, right? He'd called her a friend, and he'd also said he'd come to Tiqr looking for a friend. Remi hadn't pushed, but the fact that Pixel hadn't volunteered anything made him wonder.

Could the black and white woman... be an Endbringer?

No, no, that was a ridiculous thought. She was powerful, sure, but she hadn't even destroyed an army much less a city. He'd even seen her up close when he'd been following Illivere's army. Brutal, invincible, terrifying, but she hadn't killed nearly as many people as she so easily could have.

In fact, it was only her restraint that likely kept her from harming him.

"This story is too personal for me." He muttered to himself. Yet, it was a story that he needed to tell. Back on Earth, Journalistic ethics were merely a concept. Here on this planet, it was more than that. Just like how a [Knight] had to have a degree of honor, Remi's Class demanded that he embody the ideals that he held.

That meant he had to be fair and accurate, within reason.

Protecting one's sources was also a hallmark of a good [Journalist]. As was publishing things responsibly. That was why he reluctantly took the notes he'd been writing down, and tossed them into the campfire. Pixel's past wasn't something he could include. Not because it was irrelevant, knowing his history certainly let Remi frame things better in his head, but because it wasn't relevant to THIS particular story.

It was enough to know that Pixel had, essentially, just wandered into Tiqr, seen something that offended his morals, and taken action.

The scariest thing was just how potent that action had been.

...And now he was spiraling again.

He'd already written half a dozen stories about the Tiqr war and had interviewed people on both sides - if you could boil it down to just two sides. The final story being an interview with Pixel would make for an excellent capstone.

"Right." He nodded to himself. The story should be a recounting of the fighting from Pixel's viewpoint. It would be tricky to include enough details to draw his readers in, while also not revealing too much. He wanted to reveal some tantalizing secrets that weren't common knowledge, but he also couldn't share personal details about Pixel or Earth.

It was such a fine line to walk.

...

"So I want to revise the story. Instead of a general interview, I'd like to write about the fighting from your viewpoint." Remi kept himself from fidgeting. "If you're okay with spending more time talking that is?"

Pixel frowned slightly and turned to look at the black and white woman. Their expressions shifted - as if they were having a conversation with only their faces as a medium. She suddenly smiled before turning and bounding away.

"That's fine." The superhero nodded. "I have a good amount of time to kill while I wait for a project to finish. I can spare some for you, Remi."

"A project-" Remi cut himself off. No. No matter how tantalizing that was, it wasn't relevant to the story he was going to write. It was important to keep his eyes on the goal and not to go down irrelevant tangents. "Could you first go over the battle in your own words? I'll hold off on any follow up questions until you're done."

Remi took out some parchment and coal. He missed his ballpoint pen.

...

"Then I pulled on the Djinni's magic. That... resulted in its death." Remi nodded as Pixel finished speaking. "The rest of the fight was lackluster. The places where their commanders stayed were discovered and destroyed. That essentially ended the fight."

Remi glanced down at his Truth Stone. It still shown a solid, unwavering blue. In addition, his [Reporter's Instincts] hadn't detected anything off - aside from Pixel being vague about how he'd accomplished what he'd done. Remi had noted that the man had very deliberately not used the words 'spell', 'magic', 'technology' or even 'missile' to describe his attacks.

While that was clearly to not spread the news about Earth, it made Remi realize that Pixel must have a lot more public speaking experience than anyone else he'd interviewed. By his own admission, Pixel had been witness to some important things on his Earth. It was reasonable for him to have given interviews before.

Interviews to much more experienced reporters, and probably to much larger audiences. Wistram was starting a world-wide television network of sorts, but it couldn't yet compare to what already existed on Earth.

Remi was almost certainly going to level tonight.

"Thank you for that account, Pixel." He nodded at the Superhero. "Now I'd like to start with your thoughts on where your initial attacks landed. Was there any particular sections of the armies that you were aiming for?"

"Yes. I tried striking the vanguard and avoid the followers."

"The followers?"

"[Cooks], [Servants], those sort of people. The non-combatants."

"Interesting." Remi scribbled furiously. "Was that a moral or a tactical decision?"

"Moral. I avoid hurting people who can't fight back." Pixel held up a hand. "And I don't mean that they can't fight back against me personally."

"I understand. People who commit violence verses people that enable it."

"That's right."

Remi wondered how such a stance would come across. It felt natural to him, but that was because that was what his expectation of superheroes was. Superman never punched Lex Luthor - unless he was wearing power armor or something.

Of course, Superman didn't kill either. Would the Punisher be a better comparison? Remi wasn't big into comic books, so while he knew of Marvel's anti-hero, he wasn't sure as to where exactly the Punisher drew the line.

He made a note to ask Pixel about his Earth's comic books. It wouldn't be a story that he could publish, but it was an interesting comparison.

Oh, wait. He could post it on PHO.

"After that, you didn't follow up until Nerrhavia's Fallen struck back. Were you expecting their counter-attack?"

"Not that specific spell, nor the Djinni, but I did expect a retaliation of some kind."

"And that brings us to the crux of the matter. You claim that the being that fought you was, in fact, a Djinni?"

"I claim that, as would anyone with eyes who saw the fight."

"And what do you say about Nerrhavia Fallen's claims that you used a Djinni for war first? That you used the black and white woman's magic to power your Spells?"

"That is preposterous. The creature in question is not a Djinni. She did not grant me magic to aid in any of my attacks."

"I have three Wistram-verified truth stones with me, and all of them show that you are speaking the truth."

"Yes... Truth telling magic does make outlandish lies a difficult thing to maintain."

Remi wrapped up the interview with some more questions about the end of the battle. Just like before, Pixel didn't dwell on the specifics. It was clear that with the defeat of their Djinni that Nerrhavia's Fallen no longer had the capacity to fight back effectively with that particular army.

"Do you have any last words, Archmage Pixel?"

"Just that I wish for peace, but that I am prepared for war."

"With that, this is Remi Canada, signing off." Remi turned off the sound recording crystal.

"Are you going to sell copies of that?" Pixel tilted his head as he looked at the mass-produced magical item.

"No, probably not." Remi felt the weight of the crystal for a moment before he pocketed it. "It's more for validation and fact-checking. I'm a [Journalist], not an [Interviewer]." If [Interviewer] was a class. It probably would be soon, given the way things were going, but it wasn't for him.

"Very well." Pixel nodded. "Then I'll be-"

"Hang on." Remi interrupted him. "I have a story to tell you in return."

"Oh?"

Remi closed his eyes and nodded. "Yes. It's about my first few weeks after arriving here..."

"There were eighteen of us. We all arrived together in the desert. We, of course, had no idea what was going on. A prank. An abduction. We didn't know. It seemed more likely that we'd been drugged and kidnapped somehow... but there wasn't any... disorientation. Drugs don't knock you out, erase your memory, and then leave you completely alert and aware. At least no drug that I know of."

"We were from all over the world. We'd been inside an airport moments before. We were confused and disoriented. We talked and argued for hours until the sun set. The next morning... we all got our classes. [Explorer], [Traveler], [Survivor] - useful things not just for the Skills they gave us, but proof that this wasn't Earth. That magic or superpowers were real."

"A Garuda from a caravan spotted us. Those people took us in. They fed us. Gave us a place to sleep. Let us accompany them to their destination. It all seemed like... a game. Levels. Powers. Swords. Wands. We were still frightened of course, but there was a... sense of adventure. The reality hadn't set in. We thought it had, but... we were wrong."

"The long days of walking and riding opened our eyes somewhat, and that was when I started getting suspicious. Not of the world or what had happened. There was plenty of confusion there. How could a human-sized bird fly? How come all these people spoke English? What exactly were our classes and abilities? It was all so overwhelming, but we couldn't deny it was happening. It wasn't a dream, or a hallucination, or some elaborate prank. Even if it was - if our brains were in jars somewhere and this was all a bizarre simulation - what of it? There would be no point in denying reality."

"I was getting suspicious of our saviors. That isn't to say that most of them weren't good people, but there were... hints of an ulterior motive. What it was, I couldn't say, but the caravan leader seemed... too happy to see us. As if we were... cargo. I'd feared that we were being human trafficked, but, again, we had no real other choices. They fed and sheltered us and were friendly. There was no overt proof, until we got to our destination."

"It was a gigantic alien corpse, the size of a mountain and buried in the sand. Only its head was showing. Or, I should say, only its skull. It was like a twisted... jellyfish? Something from the depths of an ocean that couldn't exist and had tentacles. Lovecraftian. The eyes were gone, but I could still swear it was LOOKING at us!"

"The caravan leader laughed. He said that A’ctelios Salash had that effect on people who first saw it, but he assured us it was perfectly safe. That the creature had long been dead for thousands and thousands of years. That it was a refuge in the desert, and that its people were warm and friendly."

"We balked at it, of course. We argued. Some said that this world was magic and that living in a dead giant wasn't SO strange. Ivan was having none of it. He'd been on edge the entire trip. He and his girlfriend had literally been holding hands when he'd vanished. It was supposed to have been their first trip overseas, and he'd taken our predicament harder than most. In other words, he was suspicious like me. He didn't trust people that smiled, and he certainly didn't trust governments."

"It got heated, and Ivan left. Ai followed him. She hadn't spoken much, but the idea of entering that... thing was clearly too much for her. I, obviously, didn't enter either. The rest of them did. I don't know what happened to them, but... I've done some digging on A’ctelios Salash since then."

"They've existed for a long, long time. They're a 'Shield Kingdom'." Remi shrugged. "I'm not sure what being a Shield Kingdom entails, but there used to be more of them. They're generally small and don't get involved in world politics, but that's not why the ones that are still around continue to exist. That's because they're powerful, each in their own way.

He took a deep breath.

"A’ctelios Salash is said to house madness. Every citizen can regenerate mortal wounds and are stronger than a dozen men. They also don't fear death. Also, to conquer it, one would have to go inside - which no one has ever done successfully. Even the King of Destruction didn't dare it back when he conquered Chandrar. A’ctelios Salash surrendered, but no fighting ever happened."

Pixel nodded along with him.

"A’ctelios Salash only exports one thing: meat. I don't mean steaks or pork loins or something like that. Their meat is highly regulated. It's like... nuclear waste." Remi wasn't sure Pixel would get that reference, since his Earth was different, but he nodded like he did. "It's in sealed containers. It has special guards that watch it around the clock."

Pixel narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"Eating the meat has the possibility of giving people powers. I'm not sure about the details, because everyone I spoke to only knew about it from hearsay."

Pixel glanced towards Oliphant on the horizon. "So you think that the other Earthers were slaughtered like cattle for their meat? That A’ctelios Salash is a city of cannibals?"

"Actually..." Remi paused. "I did think that at first, but then I saw the meat. Or, at least, I saw its packaging." He held his hands apart. "It's massive cubes. I'm not saying that it wouldn't be possible to kill someone and process them like a sausage to make something that big, but..."

"It's just too much."

"Exactly. Besides," Remi shrugged. "It's not a secret where A’ctelios Salash gets the stuff from. Their whole purpose is to 'mine' it from their city."

"Mine it?" Pixel asked incredulously.

"Yes." Remi nodded. "Whatever A’ctelios Salash is, it doesn't rot. People defeated it in the ancient past, and their ancestors chopped it up from the inside. Its flesh is incredibly resilient... so they eat it to get rid of it."

"So that's why they export it?"

"I guess. I couldn't find anyone who'd ever actually eaten the stuff, so it's just hearsay on my part. There has to be a market for it, otherwise it wouldn't sell. All the restrictions..."

"Sounds like a drug trade."

"Yeah. I also had the same thought."

"So what do you think happened to the rest of your group? If they weren't killed and eaten?"

"I don't know." Remi slumped down. "I admit that I have no proof that anything bad actually happened. It's not like we could keep in contact after we split up. I don't even know where Ivan and Ai are. I also haven't gone back there to check on them."

"That's probably for the best."

"Yeah. If some place looks 'evil' and people tell you how you're... misunderstanding them, it just makes you even more wary, right?" Or at least it made Remi feel that way.

Pixel closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and staring at him. "Do you have a map, or directions?"

"So you're going?"

"Of course. If it was a creepy city that wasn't bothering anyone, that would be one thing, but if there are people from Earth that need help?" Pixel stood up. "Then I'm going to go help them."

"I hope that's the case." Remi agreed as he began to riffle through his bag. He didn't hold out much hope of them still being alive.

---

'Sibby.' I spoke to her through our connection. 'I have another place I need to visit. This is going to take longer I think. If you want to stay with-'

I felt our connection break, and then re-establish as the Siberian summoned herself next to me. 'Laila will be fine.' Sibby smiled at me. 'Real people don't break.'

"Okay." I used Tongue of Babel to make an image of the map Remi had shown me. "We're here." A section lit up. "And I think our target is around... here." Another part glowed. "We might have to fly around a bit, or stop and ask for directions, or follow a caravan if we see one."

'So, we're investigating?' Sibby's eyes gleamed.

"Exactly." I nodded and then un-Inventoried the glass plane. "If you will." I bowed towards Sibby while extending my arm to the plane. She smiled and strutted past me. I thought about just teleporting into my seat, but that felt excessive and lazy. Instead I clamored in after her.

Moments later, we were in the air and invisible except for the window Sibby left open to let us observe the ground below. No light reflected back, so we would look like a small shady blur if anyone bothered to look up.

...

It actually didn't take too long to reach A’ctelios Salash now that Sibby was providing fast travel. Three hours. Less time than it'd taken us to fly to Roshal. Remi had said that one of its names was the 'Carven City', and we'd several roads carved into the desert sand, they were easy to follow as we flew overhead.

The city was exactly as Remi had described it. The skull of something that looked more like a gigantic jellyfish than a human. Five eyes dotted its outside, and were the only points of ingress. I Observed it without mana, expecting a lot of '???' from Optimize.

[A’ctelios Salash

Gender: n/a
Age: 6.71232 Billion Years
Race: Dimensional Collapser
Faction: n/a
Origin: 4.33634, 2.35367, 4.99543, 9.73721

???

Debuffs:
Physical Deformity x4,343,606
Dreaming]

Chapter 93: Monsters 5

[A’ctelios Salash

Gender: n/a
Age: 6.71232 Billion Years
Race: Dimensional Collapser
Faction: n/a
Origin: 4.33634, 2.35367, 4.99543, 9.73721

???

Debuffs:
Physical Deformity x4,343,606
Dreaming]

That... is not a good thing.

I don't know exactly what it is, but this whole situation definitely isn't a good one.

One thing I was sure of. Under no circumstances would I be using a mana-empowered Observe on something that's billions of years old. I'd probably be put into a coma from the 'brief summary' of such a thing's life.

Or Observe might break. Or just return '???'. Even if it did provide a 'normal' description, I didn't WANT to know more about... that thing.

Still, while as horrifyingly huge and ancient as A’ctelios Salash was... Optimize was older and bigger.

Probably.

It wasn't like I knew exact figures. I knew the Entities were ancient... were they BILLIONS of years old? Did time actually matter to a race that could freeze it? Or that could move between dimensions? I guessed if the Entities worried about things like the heat death of the universe, they had to also be billions of years old.

Of course, it wasn't like I was Optimize. For all my powers, I was still essentially its [Avatar]. I'd like to think Optimize was fond of me, if a Shard could be considered fond of its host. That still wouldn't matter if I picked a fight with... whatever this was. Optimize would let me die, and just store my memory within it. That was a silver lining.

...But that was only if I picked a fight with it and lost, and I wasn't fighting A’ctelios Salash was I? I was fighting its residents.

Probably.

I still didn't know the whole story, so I should perhaps not jump to any conclusions.

...I did start to think of options if it came to a fight.

Then again, giant tortoises lived a long time, and they weren't exactly apex predators. A’ctelios Salash couldn't be THAT strong if it had been defeated by people in the past. That meant it was weaker than the Grand Design. And I think the Grand Design and Optimize are of similar strengths?

"Sibby, circle around it. I want to land completely out of sight." Just to be safe.

'Sure thing! I'll begin to negate the glass thingy's momentum. Brace yourself!'

We'd already had slowed down some so as to not overshoot the Carven City. Sibby abruptly slowed our momentum and turned the plane while I put my foot against the dash. My stomach felt like it was doing flips as we banked to the side and slowed down dramatically.

We dipped low, and I lost sight of anything but sand as we approached the dunes. Then, we stopped and the plane became visible.

Instead of making my way through its confined interior. I Inventoried my glass construct and Sibby and I landed on the sand - one of us more gracefully than the other.

'I'm going to go on ahead and start investigating! It's been a while since I got to search for missing people and a huge city like that is bound to have interesting things!'

I nodded. "Don't eat the meat, and keep an eye out for Riley." Sibby tilted her head and gave me a questioning look. "No. I don't think they'd kidnap her if she's in this country, or continent, or world, but if there's one place she might decide to go visit..." I let out a sigh. "It's a city carved out of the still-living corpse of an ancient alien."

'Ooooo... good point!' Sibby nodded resolutely. 'All the more reason for me to be quick!' She vanished from view, and I felt her move away.

Huh. I'm better at telling distance instead of just direction now. I wonder if that's a new thing? Or if having our bond weakened made me more sensitive to certain details.

Regardless, it was time for me to choose my disguise.

Gandalf was out. This was no game, and I might need all of my abilities. Especially Observe. It had worked on A’ctelios Salash itself, so I would probably be able to glean some details from its residents even without spending any mana. That said, my current form looked too... healthy.

I liked to think that I wasn't vain. My body was just my character. It didn't affect things any more than a video game's sprite did. I wasn't stronger or weaker from gaining or losing muscle. All my strength came from my powers, not from biological manipulation.

There was no need for me to look like Bengal - my albino Zangief disguise - to be stronger. Similarly, I could dial things in the opposite direction.

Short. Skinny. Emaciated.

I had some clothes I'd picked up from the battlefield that were more or less intact, but clearly had seen better days. I un-Inventoried a silicone packet, and activated my character creator. I moved the bars around until I was a 90 pound weakling who'd looked like he'd spent a week in the desert.

Sunburnt skin. Gaunt face. Rags.

I couldn't give myself chapped lips, but otherwise I think it was perfect. I think I'll call this outfit... 'Milton'.

I staggered down the road. Nothing too exaggerated, I still had miles to go. It didn't take much skill to look bedraggled. The sun was searingly hot up above me and I was the only person on the road.

It took a while, but I finally came to A’ctelios Salash.

*Dread negated by Gamer's Mind.

Just looking at it was disturbing enough to trigger Gamer's Mind. If I hadn't known it was alive, I might've been convinced that the gigantic corpse was actually dead. The conflicting sensations rose up as the road circled around to come to its front - where the five eyes were.

They were circular and glowed with an inner light, but that was where their resemblance of human eyes ceased - not that anyone but Parahumans had glowing eyes. I'd personally seen Sibby make hers glow enough that it wasn't strange.

The light from A’ctelios Salash's eyes was different. It was faint, given the sunlight, but I could clearly tell that it was from fire deep within.

The rest of its ocular organs were twisted in bizarre ways. No cornea or pupil. The hole in the center was clearly an addition that bored through the complicated geometry of the rest of its eyes.

An unnatural addition to an unnatural thing. But... I was calm.

As I came into view, I saw a figure in the eye point at me. There was movement and arm waving, and soon a small crowd had gathered in the nearest cavity. They waved at me, and made beckoning gestures.

I looked up at them, and sunk to my knees. A weary traveler wouldn't be able to make the climb up the tentacles that kinda looked like a pathway. There was more movement up above, and then a solitary figure began to make his way down with surprising agility.

He stopped where the flesh met the sand and motioned towards me. "Come! This is A’ctelios Salash. Welcome, welcome to the Carven City! All are welcome here! Food, drink: all free!" He smiled widely, his brown eyes glinting with mirth.

**Athal is happy.
**Athal is eager.

He was tall, and dressed in a long leather coat with a hood that shielded him from the sun. Underneath, his flesh was pale, almost pure white. That wasn't the strangest thing about him. That would be his teeth. They were pointed. Not the long, canines of carnivores, but more like his human teeth had been filed to a point or shaped in some way to make tearing into flesh easier.

Just to be safe, I poured some mana into Observe and ignored the pain.

[Athal Yeothrix
Fleshchosen 9
Miner 5
Hauler 3
Leader 6

Gender: Male
Age: 17
Race: Human - corrupted
Faction: A’ctelios Salash
Origin: The Grand Design of Isthekenous/A’ctelios Salash.

The son of Baosar Yeothrix - the ruler of A’ctelios Salash.

Has lived inside all his life, and has never set foot off of A’ctelios Salash's body. He loves his city, even if he dislikes working in the mines below. He, like every resident, has spent time there - carving out sections of the flesh and bone for various uses.

His main responsibility now is to greet visitors and increase the number of Fleshchosen, Pakeil, and other inhabitants of the city.

Debuffs:
Hunger
Fleshwarped]

What the hell was a 'Pakeil'?

I took his hand with a grateful smile. "Thank you."

He pulled me up and onto the tentacle, which felt as hard as rock under my feet. "You look weary, my friend. Those who visit us rarely arrive during the day when the sun shines so brightly. Come, let us go inside where it is cool and not as bright."

"I-" I stumbled and Athal caught me with ease. Just like I thought, stronger than he looks.

"Easy, easy. Give me your arm. I will help you make the ascent."

I nodded with fake gratitude as I put my arm over his shoulder. "I appreciate it. I found the road, but I wasn't sure if I was seeing things when I saw this..."

Athal laughed. "As I said, it is A’ctelios Salash. A city and a kingdom both!" He put his arm around my waist and easily supported my weight as we started to climb up the slope. "I've been told that the roads to A’ctelios Salash are still some of the few that remain in such good condition across Chandrar."

"Really?" I glanced up at him.

"Yes." He nodded. "It is said back in the time of Nerrhavia, may she never return, that the [Tyrant] build roads across the continent. After her fall, most were torn up and used for other purposes, but the ones around our home remain almost as pristine as A’ctelios Salash itself!"

"Why is that?"

"Because we have no need for stone, and it is much better to have pathways through the desert, yes?" He laughed as he took great strides upwards. "We are mighty, but we still desire things from the outside."

"Like what?"

"Oh, all sorts of things. Recently scrying orbs have been popular. There are these world-wide broadcasts, and it is rumored that Wistram will be making them with much more frequency soon. We also need medicine."

"Medicine?" I glanced at him and how easily he was making the ascent. "You seem healthy and fit to me."

"Ah." He smiled. "It is true that those of A’ctelios Salash do not need healing potions, but we do use herbs and tonics to prevent disease. In an enclosed space, such things can spread quickly."

**Athal is slightly afraid.
**Athal is slightly guilty.

My notifications told me that he was lying. Or at least not telling the whole truth.

"Oh?"

"Yes. We are a trade city, for none other can withstand the desert heat like us. We have so many visitors, and diseases are always a concern where so many people gather." We got to the eye and the rest of the leather-clad people helped pull me inside. "But you can see for yourself."

Athal let go of me and allowed me to stand on my own feet. I glanced at the others. They didn't dress like guards. They all wore the same style of leather robes. They were all also pale and with the same pointed teeth as Athal.

Still, despite their apparent lack of weapons, I got the impression that two of them were 'on duty' from how formal they seemed compared to the rest. My suspicions were proven correct as they stayed behind while the rest of the group accompanied me and Athal down the hall.

"I'm sorry, I never introduced myself. I'm Milton."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Milton. My name is Athal. And this is Groll, Khoerv, and Esgun." He nodded to each of the other pale people in turn. "You look like you've had a difficult journey."

"Yeah." I openly stared at the walls. The color had started dark and purplish, but as we moved inside, it gradually became more reddish. The texture underneath my feet was hard, but it looked like it should be soft somehow. "I got... lost in the desert. I wandered around for days until I came to the road. I rationed my water, but I thought I was a goner."

**Athal is sad.
**Athal is concerned.

Athal nodded sympathetically. "It is harsh outside, but why did you arrive during the day?"

I blinked. "When should I have arrived?"

He shook his head. "I can tell you have little experience with the desert. A’ctelios Salash welcomes many caravans, but normally at dusk and dawn. That is when they travel to avoid the sun. Some even journey through the night, but most rest then as well. None of them brave the day unless they have a great need."

"So, you get a lot of travelers here?"

"Indeed!" He smiled widely, showing off his teeth. "See for yourself." We stepped out of the tunnel and into a vast cavern. The hollowed out head of the creature. We had a good vantage point, as the pathway sloped down to where a city existed.

The outskirts were below them, but the inner city rose up on walkways and bridges. Multiple distinct levels, and built out of wood and stone, not the dark flesh I'd expected. "It's huge!"

**Athal is proud.

"It is the main part, the head." Athal nodded. "A true wonder of the world on any list! It has been called such by many visitors." Indeed, there were numerous people milling around. "Outlanders like yourself. Many come to trade. Fewer make their home here. A’ctelios Salash welcomes them all the same! But, you are tired and hungry. Let me show you to where you can eat and drink to your heart's content."

"Is it okay? I don't have much money?"

"It's fine. Fine! Come!" We skirted the outside of the cavern and headed down. "If A’ctelios Salash is plentiful in one thing, it is meat. We export it at prices that anyone could afford." He winked at me. "But for a weary and weak traveler? It is free!"

**Athal is delighted.
**Athal is slightly afraid.
**Athal is slightly guilty.

I followed him.

'Hey! Kevin! Give me observe!'

I relaxed at little at Sibby's message. Even with Gamer's Mind, I was starting to feel a little unnerved. A lot of 'unnerved' it could handle, but my feelings of unease hadn't yet crossed the threshold that it allowed.

'Sure, Sibby.' I pushed Observe to her through our connection. 'Keep me updated.'

"Meat?" I replied to Athal, trying to resume the conversation after my apparent long pause. "You keep animals here?"

**Athal is slightly afraid.
**Athal is slightly guilty.

"Of course we do!" Athal's smile looked a little forced. "Here we are!" He turned down a passageway and opened a door. "This is where many of our fine [Chefs] work to produce food like you've never seen before!"

Inside, there was a spacious room lit by glowing crystal on the ceiling. A wooden table and chair sat in the center. On it were plates filled with heaping mounds of food. Steam rose off of them as a pleasant smell assaulted my nose.

"This is too much!" I protested.

"Nonsense. The bounty of A’ctelios Salash is to be shared with all!"

I sat down next to Athal and his companions. They all looked at me, but helped themselves to the food - eagerly savoring each bite.

**Athal is delighted.
**Athal is slightly afraid.
**Athal is slightly guilty.

I cut a perfectly marbled steak and placed it in my mouth.

---

Sibby crawled through the halls of the flesh-city. Kevin was right, Riley WOULD love it here. It was also someplace that she would have to be extra-special careful inside. Sibby, of course, was invincible, but it was hard to protect Riley from danger like this place.

She hurried through room after room as she went lower. The important thing was to figure out if Riley had been here. If she had, then she definitely would have made her mark. That was why Sibby was looking for an operating room instead of for a person.

Cities were big, and people were small. Rooms were bigger than people and easier to find - especially since they didn't move around and Sibby could move through walls.

She'd spent a good amount of time inside of the head. Up there was a proper city with people moving and talking. It felt normal. If Riley was there, then she'd probably be safe. That was what prompted Sibby to move lower and request observe from Kevin.

The true threat was if Riley wanted to stay - assuming she'd ever been here in the first place. If that was the case, then she would surely be deeper down inside, where the more interesting organs were. The city in the head wouldn't interest her since all the good stuff had been apparently cut out by people long ago.

[Fleshchosen]

[Fleshchosen]

[Fleshchosen]

[Pakeil]

[Fleshchosen]

[Fleshshaper]

[Pakeil]

[Twisted Monstrosity]

[Pakeil]

[Pakeil]

Most of the humanoid people were 'Fleshchosen' or other things with 'flesh' in their names. The 'twisted monstrosity' had been a small baby that cried with a voice that was both too deep and too high at the same time. The Fleshshaper was doing something to it.

That was interesting, and Sibby would love to investigate it more, but she had her mission, and that came first.

The Pakeil were more interesting. Apparently that was their race. Or, rather, what their new race was? Observe wasn't giving her much. 'Pakeil - former Human.' 'Pakeil - former Garuda.' 'Pakeil - former Horse?'

That one was bigger than the others. Too big to move through the human-sized tunnels. The regular Pakeil were beasts of burden. They pulled huge blocks of meat for the Fleshchosen, but needed barbed whips to motivate them.

While she was looking for rooms, the Pakeil were interesting too. Several of them had rags or bags hidden under the fleshy folds. That was something she'd have to ask Kevin or William about. It made no sense to her to store things there. What was the point of being naked except for clothing like that?

[Davi Costa

Gender: Male
Age: 16
Race: Pakeil - former Human
Faction: n/a
Origin: The Grand Design of Isthekenous/A’ctelios Salash.]

Huh?

Sibby stopped and turned to the Pakeil she'd just passed. Did this one have a name? And details? She looked at it more closely...

Hey! The torn rags that were trapped in its flesh were modern! Not like all of the clothing she'd seen since arriving here. In fact... She silently and invisibly scrambled up on its back. The Fleshchosen's whip passed right through her as he commanded the Pakeil to continue hauling the slab of flesh.

There! Right there! A backpack! It was concealed under a larger flap, but it was definitely a backpack. Sibby had gotten quite skilled at stealing things. First that letter from that guy in that oasis, and now a whole backpack.

While bigger, the backpack was far easier as she didn't have to worry about not having it touch the sides of its 'container' while she pulled it free. Sibby simply reached down, grabbed it, and made it invisible and intangible just like she was.

The Pakeil's flesh oozed down to fill the void, as Sibby left with her prize. Of course, where there was one, there would be others!

She made sure to throughly investigate each and every Pakeil she came across as she made her way deeper in search of an operating room.

---

"That was a wonderful meal." I nodded to Athal.

**Athal is happy.
**Athal is anxious.

"I am glad that you enjoyed our hospitality, Milton. I'm sure you're tired. We could give you a room where-"

I fell to the floor and started convulsing.

**Athal is concerned.

"Milton? Milton?" I felt his hands on my sides. "It shouldn't be working this quickly! Groll, Khoerv, go find a [Fleshshaper]!"

"A [Fleshshaper], Athal? They aren't needed for one accepting the gift."

"Even at its quickest, the gift takes hours to manifest. Regardless of if one is chosen or not, the change takes time to set in."

"Perhaps he has a Skill that aids in digestion? Something that allows him to eat quicker and absorb food faster?"

**Athal is relieved.

"Yes, yes, that could be the case. All the more reason we should have a [Fleshshaper] come and examine him. Lock him in a cell until we understand what we're dealing with."

'I have information about something you lost.'

I innerly grumbled at the timing of the habitual message from Wistram as two sets of strong hands lifted me up and dragged me through the tunnels. While now wasn't a good time to respond to it, I could use this opportunity to check in on Sibby.

'Sibby, how's it going?'

'No sign of Riley or a place that Riley would've set up. Oh! I did find some people from Earth. You wanted to look for them right? Or, I found what they used to be. They're kinda large flesh lump things called 'Pakeil' now. Riley made something like that when she was little.'

'So they're alive?'

'Eh, technically? I'm pretty sure there's nothing else going on inside their minds. They're like stupid animals. The one Riley made was really upset and went on a rampage. It made for a fun game, and she learned how to subdue her art better. Oh! I have some of their stuff, give me inventory and I'll put it in.'

'Hang on.'

My two captors laid me on the floor with a strange amount of gentleness. I opened my eyes just a little to take a peek as they stepped outside the rather large room and closed a thick bone door.

I sat up, and un-Inventoried all the food I'd 'eaten'. If I had it in my Inventory when I pushed my Perk to Sibby, she would eat it without a doubt. Sibby might be invincible, but it would still be a stupid risk to take.

'Okay, I've pushed it to you. Let me know when you're done using it.'

Time passed and I considered the situation. My acting had apparently been a bit premature, but not over the top. Spasming and convulsing hadn't raised any eyebrows, only the timing had. Furthermore, this room didn't exactly feel like a prison cell. Not exactly.

The door was barred from the outside, but there wasn't even a peephole. Even solitary confinement rooms had ways for the guards to see their prisoners. The fact that such a thing didn't exist strongly hinted that they didn't consider a sneaky escape attempt likely.

The door was also a lot wider than it needed to be - in addition to the room being so big. More like a barn than a room.

Were... they going to send in animals to eat me? Some sort of filtering system for the food?

I looked down at what I hadn't eaten. It wasn't poison in the strictest sense. My hosts had also consumed it. While I believed Remi that something was amiss, it was good to have proof on my own. They'd given me meat to what? Turn me into one of them? Process it somehow? I don't think their goal was to kill me.

'Okay. I've got it all! I haven't found any sign of Riley being here. Oh, and no alive people from Earth either. I'm pretty sure they're the flesh lump things. I'm almost done with exploring.'

Hm. That was fast. Sibby made good time when she wanted too, and when there was no one else slowing her down.

And what did she mean by 'flesh lump things'? I'll ask after examining what she found.

I took Inventory back, and examined what Sibby had added: Rags, rags, rags, rags of Earth clothes, an iphone, a wallet, a video camera, a-

I stopped.

A video camera?

I un-Inventoried it, touched its port, and connected to it with Ears of Babel. There was no electricity, but I could still communicate just fine with such a small device. It was also a lot easier to see what was on it than it was to browse a computer. The operating system was simple. Most everything was dedicated to storing the video.

...

"The meat... it was... a trap..." The video showed the group of Earthers in pain and clutching their stomachs. One was going around with a bloody knife and putting the others out of their misery, but the filmer shook his head at the offer. "What did we do wrong?"

The camera shut off as it fell from his hands. The scenes after that were of Athal accidentally turning on as he scavenged their belongings. He couldn't understand the camera. To him, it was a broken artifact of no real value. Something to be discarded, instead of proof of his crimes.

*Anger negated by Gamer's Mind.
*Hatred negated by Gamer's Mind.

It had been just like Remi had said. Davi, the [Cameraman], had documented their arrival in the desert. Their confusion. Their excitement at getting Classes and Skills. Their encounter with a caravan. Their arrival at A’ctelios Salash.

And their eventual deaths.

Athal had greeted them, just as he'd greeted me. The fifteen people had been ushered in, past the above area with outsiders, and granted a feast.

It had been a trap.

The meat of A’ctelios Salash... the meat of an alien life-form was poison. Or perhaps 'mutagen' was a better descriptor. Instead of changing as the inhabitants of A’ctelios Salash did, Davi and the rest had changed into... what exactly?

'Sibby, I'm going to give you Inventory for a second. Could you take out the golden drone at the place you got the backpack from? Next to the flesh lump things?'

'Sure!'

I reached out with my Babel Perks as the drone came on-line. I couldn't see Sibby, but what I did see...

*Sadness negated by Gamer's Mind.

Just like Sibby had said, it was little more than a lump of flesh. It wasn't that outlandish of a thought that it might once have been human. I had first hand experience with Bonesaw. I knew how much it was possible to twist flesh with powers, or rather, magic in this case.

Davi's final recording hadn't shown his final form. I wondered if death had 'saved' the ones that had chosen it. Or if their transformations had continued, and they too were being used as beasts of burden even now.

Could I save him?

I let out a sigh. No. I don't think I could. Even if his mind had remained fully intact, which clearly wasn't the case, undoing something like this was beyond me. Riley could do it - assuming he still had a human brain in there somewhere.

My sister had transplanted brains in the past. She also could piece together a body for him, but she couldn't restore brains past a certain point. She hadn't been able to save the first person I'd murdered...

Besides, there was no way that something could twist a person's entire body like that but leave the brain alone. I wasn't going to delay destroying this place on the off chance that Davi, or others like him, could be saved. It was more important to stop the people of A’ctelios Salash before they claimed their NEXT victims.

But... I had to try to save them. That's what Dragon would do. And not just Remi's group, all of the people that had been twisted by this Hellhole.

'Sibby, I have an idea, but it's going to be a lot of work for you.'

...

Threat Sense let me know that I was about to be watched soon, so I bent over and clutched my stomach and groaned.

"He hasn't changed yet."

"What do we do if he doesn't? Has anyone ever reacted and not changed?"

"No." I recognized Athal's voice. "Not that I know of. We should ask my father-"

"Fire!" A distant shout came from outside. "Fire in the lower floors!"

"What?" I peaked and saw Athal turning towards the newcomer. "A fire?"

"Yes! All over the place! It's an inferno!"

"Nonsense!" Athal shook his head. "What could burn down there?"

The answer, of course, was the flesh of A’ctelios Salash itself. It could be cooked, so it could burn. Sibby had told me she'd been using friction to make sparks when she fought Nerrhavia's Fallen, and she'd told me she could do something similar to start fires here.

"Everything is burning! The furniture, the floors, the walls... everything!" The man sounded panicked. "What do we do?"

"What else? Let it burn itself out." Athal chuckled. "If A’ctelios Salash could be so easily burned to ash, we'd have done so a long time ago. We should move the children away and form a line. Get the wands of cold spells. My father will doubtlessly want us all down there to help." He coughed into his fist.

That was true. No simple fire could burn down a monster the size of a mountain. It will take more than that. However, what the fire did make - was smoke. A disturbingly nice smelling smoke, but it was getting thicker by the moment. I could already see a haze forming.

That was a weakness of all underground facilities - ventilation. It was why they used lightstones instead of torches. Or, at least, one of the likely reasons. Smoke inhalation was a serious threat now matter how quickly their wounds healed, and it would allow the next phase of my plan to take place.

Athal and his men continued to cough as they tried wrapping strips of their clothes over their mouths. While they were strong enough to tear the leather like cloth, it didn't make for a good filter.

"Hurry!" Athal shouted and the group departed, after making sure to lock my door on their way out. The bastards.

I stood up and took a silicone bag that I'd hidden. I was currently granting my Inventory power to Sibby for her second task - killing the transformed people, or 'Pakeil' as they were apparently known.

More specifically, she was using the fire and smoke as a distraction to go around and tear off and Inventory their heads. It was an inelegant solution, but it was the best idea I could come up with. My Inventory was practically empty of important things, so there was plenty of space after dumping out the sand. I had no guarantee that I could actually save the Pakeil, but if Riley was somewhere in this world, then she might be able to.

I felt bad about essentially offloading all the work onto her and Sibby, but well, they were a lot stronger than me in a lot of ways. It did probably mean that I wouldn't gain any levels from what I'd set in motion, but whatever. That wasn't the point.

I consumed the silicone bag to change my appearance, and then teleported past the door.

The room I'd been held in was at the end of a hallway, so I was alone. However, I saw tall people in leather robes running back and forth at the closest intersection. The air was getting hazy from the smoke, and it swirled around them as the Fleshchosen ran this way or that.

I pressed myself against the wall - relying on my stealth skill and Threat Sense to let me keep a low profile and avoid being seen. As the minutes passed, there seemed to be no end in sight to the rush of people. Generally speaking, taller ones were running to the left, while children were escaping to the right.

That meant that going to the left would take me deeper into A’ctelios Salash, while heading right would bring me to its head. I wasn't exactly sure how many levels were above me. I'd gone down a couple with Athal when I'd arrived, but they'd carried me deeper while I'd been in 'pain'.

The flow of adults heading deeper was slowing down, but the people escaping remained strong. I crept along the left side of the tunnel until I got to the crossroad. I waited until the right moment... and then teleported behind a solitary Fleshchosen, twisted his neck, and then teleported back into the locked room with his body.

He groaned, the damage already repairing itself.

Without my Inventory, my options were limited. So I pulled down his hood and punched through the back of his head. Juggernaut let my fist pass through without losing any momentum. His blood splattered across the floor as his corpse dropped bonelessly to the ground.

Ugh. Now I have mutant brain goop on my hand, and I can't just Inventory it away.

Similarly, I had to physically remove his leather robe. All the Fleshchosen were tall and broad-shouldered, so it fit just fine. I gave the room one final look around before I teleported out of it. This time I jogged to the intersection and turned right.

I soon came upon the people who were evacuating. The smoke in the air had grown thicker, and people were yelling and coughing. They filled up the alien tunnel and pushed and shoved as they tried to get into the city. The tunnels down further were a choke point, but it looked like everyone was slowly making it through.

"Move it! Stay in an orderly line! Everything will be fine, you're in more danger of being trampled than of burning in the fire! It's contained down below!" I heard Athal's voice before I saw him. Other Fleshchosen were pressing at my back, but nobody was paying enough attention to notice my non-pale skin.

Heck, with all the smoke, it was getting difficult to see more than a couple of feet ahead.

Then, the mass of bodies around me spread out. We'd made it past the first bottleneck and into the trading city in the skull.

I stepped away from the rush and looked for a good vantage point. The center of the city had multiple floors, but the edges didn't. That was important because that's where the eye-exits were. I ducked behind a building, and then teleported to the edge of the second level. From up here, I could get a much better idea of what was going on.

The answer was less evacuating than I'd hoped for.

Pillars of smoke were billowing out of all of the passageways that lead deeper down. The head itself was a large cavern, so the smoke had plenty of space to fill far above everyone's heads. While there was a line of people evacuating from all five eyes, it wasn't the mad rush of the people leaving the tunnels below.

On one hand, that was a good thing, I didn't want anyone to die in a fire or be crowd-crushed. On the other hand, I really needed everyone to get out before the final step.

'How are things going down there, Sibby?'

'This is a fun game! They keep on closing these heavy doors that are like, air tight. They're starving the fire out, and the doors are made of bone so I can't set them on fire. I mean, I COULD set them on fire but it would take time and the one door that I did it to... exploded instead of burning. Probably because it's bone I guess. Bones usually char when they are burned, so I might've gone a little overboard with it.' I got the mental impression of her shrugging. 'It makes it easy to kill the Pakeil. Not that it was hard to do that. They're big, slow, and dumb. Not really a fun game to kill them, it's more like gathering their heads. Anyways, the challenge was doing it without any of the people seeing me, but since they stopped trying to fight the fire and let it burn itself out, the Pakeil are by themselves. They'd probably die from the smoke or lack of air or something anyways, but killing them isn't the point, huh? It's getting their heads.'

'So they're blocking the fires? Then where is all the smoke coming from?'

'I'm just making more fire past the doors. Heh. It's fun to watch them run around in a panic each time I do it!'

'Okay. Keep it up then.' Sibby could literally do this all day long, but I'd rather get the people outside quicker. You never knew when something would throw a wrench in the works.

Time to figuratively throw some fuel on the fire. I activated Tongue of Babel and communicated that the fire was worse by increasing the size of the smoke columns, adding hints of flames from the tunnels, and causing small fires to appear throughout the area of the city I could see.

Nothing huge. Just small wisps that flickered briefly with light before vanishing. Something people could see out of the corners of their eyes, but be gone when they did a double-take.

The effect was... pronounced.

Panic seemed to spread through the mostly-abandoned part of the city like a tangible thing. [Merchants] hurried away with what they'd managed to save. Some of them with small groups of men. Others with chests of holding they struggled to carry on their own.

The leather-clad residents of A’ctelios Salash chose fight instead of flight. Every man, woman, and child surged forward to where the wisps appeared and tried to bat the illusionary flames out with their bare hands.

I, of course, made the fires too far away for them to reach quickly, so the effect was gone before they arrived. It was one more spark, but it seemed to be enough. Most of them turned and ran back down into the conflagration below - without any concern for themselves.

In contrast, the outsiders yelled and screamed and flooded the exits.

That... wasn't the result that I'd been hoping for. I stood unmoving on my vantage point and Expansion increased the distance I could reach with my powers every passing second.

A man was trampled, but Rapid Regeneration healed him.

Another was making a risky climb down from his exit to a less crowded one. He paused as he came out of the minute-long Instant Dungeon, and then climbed back up with shaking hands.

Unfortunately, that was the extent of what Instant Dungeon could do in a world it couldn't fully model. Still, it seemed enough to get people to reconsider their stupid choices - even if they had no idea how they'd apparently had just gone back time from their perspectives.

Others I granted Threat Sense to. Not for long, just enough that they got the distinct impression that what they were doing was dangerous.

*You have been inflicted with 'Oversaturated'x19.

Son of a-!

It had JUST gone down. If I don't stop using mana, I'm never going to fully heal.

...But this whole thing was my fault, and I had to use mana to connect with them via Power Drain to grant them brief access to my Perks. There was no other way I could think of to help so many people from a distance.

Time passed and the final stragglers exited as the smoke began to really fill the air. No fatalities. Rapid Regeneration was sufficient to heal any wounds the fleeing people had suffered.

I took one final look around and teleported outside.

'Sibby, you can go ahead with the final step.'

'You mean Crawler's saliva?'

'Yep. Stop with the fires, or keep making them, but start dropping acid as well.'

That... came out wrong.

'Sure thing!'

Sibby, bless her heart, didn't ask if I was sure about what I was having her do. It was going to result in more deaths than I'd imagined, but I couldn't stop A’ctelios Salash's people from running into danger. Hopefully they would flee when the body of their city started dissolving beneath them.

I'd worried that the magical nature of A’ctelios Salash's flesh would've rendered it resilient or immune to Crawler's acid. So I'd tested it on the food I'd pretended to eat while I'd been sitting in the cell. Whatever A’ctelios Salash was, it wasn't immune to disease - or acid.

In fact, the morsels I'd exposed to Crawler's saliva had seemed to transform even faster than normal - not that I had an awful lot of experience with how long it took people to melt. It was a decidedly lethal attack I tried to avoid using.

More importantly, it was an exponential one. Spreading fire could never take down a mountain. Digestive enzymes that ate flesh to reproduce and expelled a supernaturally strong acid? That could kill giants. Especially if they were immobile. Or if the acid was inside of them and couldn't just be wiped off.

It seemed like a weapon designed to kill them, which made me wonder... had the Shards encountered a 'Dimensional Collapser' before?

Chapter 94: Interlude - Quarass

The Quarass marched up to Orthenon. "I need to speak with his Majesty, King Reimarch." She hated looking up at people this much. Her current body had yet to even go through puberty. It did have its advantages in that she wasn't as easily distracted by numerous things - though she'd learned to ignore such impulses many, many lives ago.

Flos' [Steward] bowed to her the precise right amount that a fellow servant bows to one who ranks so much higher than them. For, while she also served the King of Destruction now that Germina had fallen, she was still its [Quarass].

She mentally chided herself. Germina had not fallen, it had surrendered to escape exactly such a fate. It was an important distinction with the news she bore.

"His Majesty is currently breaking his fast with Teressa, Gazi, and Mars, I will inquire as to if he wishes to receive additional company." Orthenon's voice was smooth and calm.

"It is urgent." She replied back before looking over her shoulder. "And private. Words for only the two of us."

Vaitsha Zectiou bowed her head and stepped back. She was pale, but was handling the poison well. A longer process would've been more kind to her, but Germina needed to replenish those it had lost in the war. Even at this rate, it would be weeks or even months before Vaitsha acquired her new Class.

Orthenon nodded. "Of course. I shall convey your urgency, Quarass."

She took a deep breath as he walked deeper into the palace - towards Flos' private quarters. She needed to calm herself. That was another flaw of her current physical age, it was a chore to stifle her emotions. At least they were normal ones like anxiety, instead of the maladies her previous body had suffered.

But still, if the news wasn't false, then she had every right to be so on-edge.

She tapped her foot once before she caught herself.

It was a matter of minutes before the doors opened again. Orthenon was exceedingly good at his role. The distance he'd covered was not small, so doing it so quickly was a sign that he had not dulled with age. A good many people were already considering him part of Flos' new Seven - not that his inclusion would raise their numbers that high.

Three were now dead. Three were at his side. Amerys' fate was still unknown. Something must have occurred in Wistram that prevented her return. They all were exceedingly loyal to a fault.

"Flos will see you." Orthenon held the door open for her.

She gave a nod to her attendants, and followed after him by herself. The castle was still in a state of poverty. Despite the treasures the King of Destruction had looted from his conquered countries - including Germina - the riches had been used to outfit his armies and not to decorate his throne room.

They passed through it as they made their way to his quarters. The door was open and he waved them in as they came to the opening to his room.

"Enter!" Flos smiled brightly. "You bring news? Is it of Pixel?" He turned to wink at Teressa. He'd been positively giddy since the news from Tiqr.

Whether it was due to the country successfully repelling its invaders without him breaking his word, or because there was, apparently, a powerful figure from Earth that had caught his interest, she couldn't say. She would bet that it was both, but more heavily influenced by the later than the former.

"No." She curtseyed as was appropriate. "It is news much more dire."

The smile fell from Flos' face and he put his cup down and leaned forward. "Speak, Quarass. Tell me what has occurred."

"One of the Shield Kingdoms has fallen."

Flos nodded grimly. Mars shrugged. Gazi remained expressionless. Teressa raised a questioning eyebrow.

It was... not the reaction she had been expecting from most of them. She should have predicted it though. They did not possess her perspective. Nor the perspective of a Shield Kingdom. The secret she'd hid from her people to prevent a panic was nothing to those who only knew of Reim, the Empire of Sands, or Nerrhavia's Fallen as mighty countries of Chandrar.

"What's a 'Shield Kingdom'?" Teressa asked politely while tentatively raising her hand.

"That is a question that needs a lengthy answer. I shall endeavor to give you a succinct one instead." The Quarass took a breath. "Long in the past, before ANY of the present day countries existed on Chandrar, it was ruled by Dragons. The first Quarass overthrew their tyranny with the help of a great many others. Several of them formed kingdoms such as I did, but in their own way."

"We were the Shield Kingdoms, sworn not to war with each other so we might survive until we were needed again. Such promises, of course, were broken within ten years. A new one was made, that above all else, a Shield Kingdom must persist. That some might remain when the Dragons returned."

"As of now, there are only three left. A’ctelios Salash is no more!"

"Oh." Flos leaned back in his chair. "I thought you brought ill tidings, Quarass."

She frowned. "They are tidings most unwelcome. While I share your... disdain of A’ctelios Salash, it was a mighty kingdom and has aided Chandrar in the past when the Dragons did return. The Shield Kingdoms have also rallied against times nearly as dark that have occurred more recently. Threats such as the Crelers." She met Flos' gaze. "Even at the height of your power you dared not challenge A’ctelios Salash."

"Of course not." Flos grimaced as he took a drink. "There is nothing there but twisted madness. I will not celebrate its passing, but neither shall I mourn it. I suspect much of Chandrar will share my opinion."

A torrent of emotions bombarded her, but the Quarass was beyond such things. She mastered them as soon as they arose and politely nodded her head. "Chandrar's opinion may change when a new threat arises, but I will admit that the Carven City was far more effective on defense than on widespread offense. Despite that, they did offer services not easily found elsewhere."

Flos grunted, but didn't even glance at Gazi and her closed central eye. For as loud and boisterous as the boy was, he could be surprisingly subtle. She knew that firsthand from the Quarass that had surrendered to him during his initial conquest.

The plan to have Gazi healed in A’ctelios Salash during the meeting of the Shield Kingdoms had failed before it had even started.

"Teressa, Gazi, Mars, I would speak with the Quarass alone now."

"Yes, my King." "Yes, my King." "Okay."

The three stood up and exited, leaving Flos alone with her. Not really, as the Half-Gazer was doubtlessly still watching their every move. That was both to be expected, and convenient, as the conversation involved her.

"So..." Flos leaned back. "How 'destroyed' is A’ctelios Salash? What really happened?"

"Utterly, as I've heard from my [Spy]." She eyed one of the vacated chairs, but chose to remain standing. It was difficult enough to maintain her pose without sitting in something designed for a grown body. "It apparently started as a fire deep in the depths. A conflagration so intense that the smoke from it filled the entire city cavern."

"My source didn't see the flames themselves, but the smoke was visible for miles around as it started pouring out of the exits. Then, it is said, A’ctelios Salash melted."

"Melted?!"

"Yes." She kept her face stoic. "That the Tomehold fell in on itself. As if it was collapsing from within. As its tentacles got pulled down into the depths, they turned into a green liquid which dissolved the sand around the crater that was left behind."

"And how accurate is that account?"

"Very." She trusted her [Spy], but there was proof. "The whole thing was recorded in those scrying orbs that have become popular since Wistram started its world-wide broadcasts. Pallass will assuredly broadcast a copy of the recording in short order."

Flos swore under his breath. "And none of the other Shield Kingdoms would have a [Healer] high enough level for our purposes." He shook his head. "Then we shall have to seek aid further afield. The Last Light of Baleros was it?"

"I regret to say that I don't think I can be of much help that far from Chandrar's borders." She'd had experience on the jungle continent, as she'd spent many lives there in the past, but it was nothing like the favors one Shield Kingdom did for the others.

"The Titan will be a problem." Flos drummed his fingers on the table. "He'll expect Gazi to get help from the Eyes of Baleros, but he'll also notice her visiting anywhere else close to his territory." He looked directly at her. "Do you think that any of the [Fleshshapers] survived?"

"I do not know. Perhaps. Or all of A’ctelios Salash's children may have died within its walls. I wish to go see for myself."

"Take Gazi and Trey with you." Flos made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "I assume that you and the other leaders of the remaining Shield Kingdoms will want to confirm exactly what happened. Even if the true purpose of your visit is no longer possible, we won't know for sure unless you go now. Have the preparations been made?"

"No, but my double can be ready shortly. We can leave the day after tomorrow."

"Good." Flos' frown turned into a smile. "And I might have a detour for you to make on the way. My Messages have failed, and the Couriers have also had no luck. Gazi, however, might succeed in bringing my invitation to Pixel."

Chapter 95: Fallout 1

Notes:

Previously: In the aftermath of the Tiqr war, Kevin began to help with what he could. He made an Extractor to remove Zehia's blood class. He flew with Sibby to Roshal and started an automated Crafting process. He spoke with Remi Canada, who told him about A’ctelios Salash. Kevin and Sibby visited the Carven City. The Siberian used her powers to first make a fire to drive people out, and then to unleash the saliva that Kevin had stored from Crawler.

I stood with the group of people who'd escaped A’ctelios Salash.

There were fewer than I would've expected.

"Why didn't they escape?" I asked out loud.

"It was their home." A dark-skinned man answered me. "It was part of them. In truth, I am only surprised at what has happened, not with their decision to stay."

"What did just happen?" Another asked.

"A fire."

"But a fire could not destroy A’ctelios Salash! If that was the case then..."

"Then what?"

"Weren't the people of it descendants of those who killed the beast? Weren't they trying to... finish the job?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Finish what job? They clearly stayed because it was shelter and food in the middle of the desert!"

"You can't be serious about that. Tomehold might be shelter, but food? You lived there. You know the warnings."

"The warnings?" I asked.

"Yes. The flesh of A’ctelios Salash can heal the sick, and grant strength and toughness, but only to some. To others... the gift is less kind." The dark-skinned man answered me as the rest of the group continued to express disbelief at what had just happened.

"How 'less kind'?" I asked with narrowed eyes.

"You do not know?" He shook his head. "You must have just arrived. All newcomers are to be told about the dangers of eating the meat of A’ctelios Salash. It is always to be a choice."

I hadn't been given a choice. Nor had Remi's group. "Why do you say that?" I didn't want to confront the man. Even though the act was done, and I didn't regret it, I still could use more perspectives.

"My father told me." He slapped his chest. "And his father told him. My family has been [Merchants] that do business with A’ctelios Salash for generations. Some of my aunts and uncles have even accepted the gift when they were too old to continue on for long."

"Did they... survive?"

He shook his head. "Yes, but not how you mean. It was a gamble and they understood that."

"I see."

I could tell him. I could play the video for him from the camera. The people here would recognize it as an artifact, and have no reason to doubt what it showed. It would probably be even more effective than showing them the image with Tongue of Babel.

But... what would I gain?

I had no need to justify my actions. Whatever guilt I felt had been dulled by Gamer's Mind. I'd stopped them from breaking their own rules and... horribly mutating people on the off-chance they might forcibly recruit them instead.

It was just that I'd expected survivors. Not all of them, certainly, but most. Some. At least a few.

The man looked at my expression and patted me on the back. "It is a tragedy... but I believe they chose to stay behind. In truth, I do not think they could live without the meat from their home. It's probably better this way."

"The real danger is what if part of A’ctelios Salash survived." Someone else spoke up.

"I'd say the real danger is whatever burned it." A woman came up to us. "What could have caused such a thing?"

"Dragons." A young man said with confidence. "What else would want to destroy it AND have such flames. It's dragons I tell you!"

'I have information about something you lost.'

The [Message] Spell was sucked into the information black hole that my magi-tech created. Finally, whomever it was trying to get in contact with me had done so at a time when I had Ears of Babel active and wasn't distracted by something I couldn't put on hold for a moment.

I left the connection open as I moved backwards. I kept my motions slow and smooth, while I hunched my shoulders to blend into the background. As soon as Threat Sense let me know no one was looking, I teleported away.

I didn't know who precisely had sent the message, but it's someone from Wistram. I need to find out what they want. 'Sibby, is everything okay down there?'

'Yeah, everything's fine. Lots of stuff in the air from the acid melting. There's, like, a puddle of it down here. Or an ocean? No, no. A lake. A lake of acid that's still eating through the ground. Whew. It's big. I wonder how long it will take for it to actually get used up?'

Right. I couldn't let Crawler's acid lay around where someone might be able to get a sample of it. That stuff's dangerous, and it's easy to make more - if you don't mind acifying someone.

'We'll handle it in a minute. Can you come up here and guard my body? I need to talk to someone far away.'

'Sure!'

My connection with Sibby vanished as she un-summoned herself, then it came back a moment later as Sibby appeared at my side. She smiled widely at me.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before pushing mana into both Ears and Tongue of Babel. The wound of my soul? magic? mana pool? ached and grew slightly worse. Not enough for another Oversaturated debuff, but I was getting better at judging the damage I'd suffered. This conversation had set back my healing by an hour at least already.

'May I ask who this is?'

'Teura.'

Teura?

...Oh, right! She was the half-elf that was Feor's assistant or something. I wasn't sure of her exact position, but she was a member of the Centrists, and a talented [Mage]. She also had bright red hair and was seemingly oblivious of the crush that Aaron had on her.

'And what was it I lost?'

'One of your creations. A small rodent.'

I blinked. Boo? She knew where Boo was?

'I did. We were separated when I first arrived. I take it you know where he is?'

'Yes I do, Archmage. I take it the information is valuable to you?'

I closed my eyes and sighed. Wistram and its currency of 'secrets'. Or, rather, information.

'It is, indeed, Teura. What do you want in exchange for this information?' There was little point in lying or in trying to barter - at least until I knew what she wanted. Even then, I'd rather pay full price than try to haggle people down.

'I want to learn from you.'

I froze. 'What?'

'I want to be your apprentice.'

'Teura...' I tried to find the right words. 'I will speak frankly, as this conversation is encrypted. You know I am no [Mage]. Nor do I cast Spells like you do. I do not even use technology from Earth that can be replicated. People cannot learn how to become a Parahuman.'

Which wasn't to say such a thing was impossible. If it wasn't for Dragon, there was a good chance that parahumans, or parahalfelves, or paragoblins, or whatever would've started popping up already. Or, it might be that only Optimize and Projection had access. And possibly Surgery.

If I died, Optimize would probably look for a new host, but, to be honest, my Shard had plenty of time to observe the world before experimenting on it.

'I am well aware of that, Pixel. But I feel there is a great deal of knowledge that can be gained from simply watching the manner in which you manipulate magic. It is not uncommon for apprentice [Mages] to be left to their own devices as they try and glean insights from being close to their Masters.'

'Let me think about it.'

'That is all I ask in exchange. Just consideration. As for your rodent... is it safe for me to relay that information with a [Message]?'

'No. Probably not. I will seek you out with my projection in Wistram.'

'I look forward to it, Archmage of Cubes.'

I innerly cringed. She'd used the title completely unironically despite knowing I wasn't a [Mage], much less an [Archmage]. She was serious.

One more thing on the list. It would be great to have Boo back again. Not as great as Sibby, but I enjoyed the little guy's company.

...And if I hadn't used all my spare suits in Crafting the seed that would take down Roshal, I could've used him to field a proper army.

*Annoyance negated by Gamer's Mind.

Well, there was nothing for it now. What's done is done. I will, however, take the lesson in actively searching for people who send me important [Messages] to heart.

I opened my eyes to Sibby peering at my face. 'So? How did it go? Who did you talk to? What did they want? Was it Riley? No, it couldn't have been Riley, could it? Tell me if it was Riley!'

"Easy, Sibby, easy." I put a hand on her shoulder. "It was a [Mage] from Wistram. She knows where Boo is, but there's still no word on Riley."

'Aww...' Sibby slumped for a moment before perking up. 'Well, we'll find her! Yep! Riley's a tough little girl. I can't even remember the last time I had to comfort her when she had nightmares. She was always so little and cute when-'

"Sibby." I held up a hand. "We can reminisce on the way back to Tiqr. Right now we have a lake of acid to deal with."

'Hm?'

"I'll pass you Inventory. You go back into the chasm and Inventory as much acid as you can. Then I take it back and dump it somewhere in the desert. We keep doing that until the acid has lost its potency." I shrugged. "It's going to be long and boring, but... someone could realize what a potent weapon it is and..."

'Okay.' Sibby nodded with a serious expression. 'I'll do it!'

She vanished from sight and I felt her moving towards the... hole didn't describe it well enough. I'd never seen the Grand Canyon, but I have to imagine the gap left by the dissolving corpse of A’ctelios Salash had to be comparable.

What was it that Athal had said? 'A true wonder of the world on any list.'

I got the impression that this site would remain famous even after the twisted city was nothing but a puddle.

I started teleporting away, pausing every jump to dump the acid that Sibby had accumulated around me. I've said it before, but Crawler's saliva is nasty stuff. Even if you disregard its horrifying ability to self-propagate, it was incredibly potent.

Impossibly potent.

I'd read about acids to Riley as bedtime stories. Normal acids break apart molecules by being so attractive that the atoms will try to join up with them instead. Things like glass and sand are normally resistant due to being made of silicon dioxide - a very sturdy molecule that doesn't come apart easily.

It takes something like hydrofluoric to dissolve sand, and even then, it's a slow process.

Crawler's acid, like Crawler himself, was adaptive.

How? I had no idea. It was clearly what his Shard had been focused on, but either the stuff didn't need its help to work. Or it was pressing its finger on the physics scales even in this world. Or Optimize was picking up the slack. Or something.

The end result was the soup of acid and digestive enzymes that could 'eat' organic material to make more acid. The acid, in turn, was surprisingly weak against organic substances, but even normally resilient things like sand or glass couldn't stop it.

A one-two punch that was hard to top.

And that, honestly, made no sense to me. A substance that works well on molecules with a particular atom, sure, but one that worked well on everything EXCEPT something? Acid shouldn't be so particular in what it worked on... but that was just a primitive human's opinion. Entities clearly knew more about how the world really worked than I did.

Once I was far enough away that I feared my bond with Sibby with thin, I stopped and sat down. I continued to dump the acid in a circle around me, but with Expansion activating, the circle was much, much bigger.

Good thing too, because the acid had a reddish sheen to it. I trusted it even less than I trusted the regular acid. Hours passed, and we were eventually done. I wondered how long it would take the desert to bury the sludge I'd just disposed of.

A wind was blowing from the east, and sand was already covering the crud.

I teleported out of the circle and began making my way back to where A’ctelios Salash had been. Sibby met me halfway.

'So what now?'

"I think... I'm going to use a drone to take a look at the hole myself.'

'I GOT all the acid, Kevin.' She frowned at me.

I took Sibby's hand. "I know you did, but I still want to see it for myself."

"Okay." She smiled at me as she spoke out loud. "I'll watch over you as you investigate."

"Thanks."

I un-Inventoried a drone, and piloted it back to the crater.

The first thing I noticed were the people milling around. They'd constructed a shanty town to protect them from the sun. I wondered what would happen to them. They had some animals, but not nearly enough to form a caravan. In fact... there were fewer animals than when I'd left.

I guess some of them had already set out towards civilization.

I could help the rest, but that would mean staying with them for an unspecified amount of time. I felt a little bad because I was ultimately the cause of their current strife, but not bad enough to spend days or weeks trudging through the desert without Sibby.

She could hardly show her face without being recognized and causing all sorts of trouble.

No. Better to leave anonymously.

The 'hole' itself was more like a valley. Sand had already spilt into it, and the sheer walls of the chasm had smoothed somewhat into a more gentle slope. It was still far too steep for most people to navigate, but I'm sure a [Climber] or [Explorer] could manage it.

Inside, it was pretty much what I expected.

The sun had already reached its zenith a few hours ago and was now dipping towards the horizon. So now almost the entire floor was covered in shadow. More surprising, was that the bottom had a thin layer of water that had accumulated as it seeped out of the surrounding soil.

If you dig deep enough, you can make a well even in the desert, and this hole was a lot deeper than any well.

At least it wasn't too far down to, I don't know, hit magma or something like that.

The ground beneath the shallow layer of water looked surprisingly normal. Sibby had gotten all of the residue along with all of the acid. All that was left was bedrock in a smooth bowl. All the remains were scattered towards the east - and Nerrhavia's Fallen.

There wasn't much of a reason for that aside from that I didn't want to leave the waste to the north, where someone might associate it with Tiqr - no matter how unlikely that was. Plus, I had a small grudge against Nerrhavia's Fallen for their part in the war.

All the countries that had invaded were on my shit-list, but Nerrhavia's Fallen was at the top for how callously they'd spent the lives of their soldiers. I shook my head. I guessed it was too much to ask them to give up without a fight.

"Good job, Sibby." I opened my eyes as I started having the drone fly back. "I think this is a real improvement."

"Yeah! No more of them tricking people!"

"True." I stood up. "But I also meant that the huge pit can become a Caravan City instead of the Carven one." I continued to explain myself as Sibby gave me a puzzled look. "I don't know if it will become an oasis, but being so deep will mean that the sun won't evaporate the water that's seeping from the ground. All it really needs is a wall around it to keep the sand from blowing in and filling things up."

"So... we're building a wall next?" Sibby's eyes glowed.

"Perhaps later, if no one else does it." It wouldn't be too hard to do, but it would be blatantly obvious that I'd built it. The Archmage of Cubes showing up to help would be great for my reputation, even if 'solving' a problem I'd made left a bitter taste in my mouth. The main thing was that I didn't want to be anywhere near what was left of A’ctelios Salash. It would be simpler to claim ignorance than to explain why I'd felt it was necessary to slaughter an entire kingdom.

That was one of the reasons Roshal would fall at the hands of something else: plausible deniability.

"Let's head back." I Inventoried the drone and un-Inventoried the plane. "I want to make sure Laila and Zehia are doing okay."

"Me too!"

---

"No, no, that's not going to work." Laila was getting better at taking precise control of Zehia's mouth and vocal chords. It was easier to talk without disrupting what their body was doing. It also felt less... invasive. She could sense Zehia's thoughts if she wrapped herself around the brain and used her Skill. Laila knew that privacy was a precious thing, and she didn't want to rob Zehia of it any more than their circumstances already had.

"Sure it will. A body without a Life Thread shouldn't be that hard to come by, even here." The downside was that she had to look like a crazy person to anyone overhearing their conversation. She was quite literally talking to herself.

They did have different voices... so people might assume she was a [Performer] of some sort.

"I'm not big enough."

"How do you know?"

"Because I can see your Life Thread." Laila moved part of herself up and down the central core of Zehia. She didn't know how she was 'seeing' it, or how she navigated inside of her friend.

Friend?

Laila paused at the thought. Did she consider Zehia a friend? Maybe? It was hard to stay mad at someone who you could read their thoughts and understand them so... intimately. Besides, anger was never a luxury Laila had been able to afford.

"-do that?"

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"I SAID," Laila could feel Zehia rolling her eyes. "You can? How can you do that?"

"Magic?"

"Magic." The former [Assassin] said with a flat voice.

"I mean, all Stitchfolk are magic, aren't we? And that magic comes from our Life Thread. So... wouldn't it make sense that the same magic could, I don't know, react with itself? It's not like I have any other sensory organs."

"Yeah... that's right." And now Zehia felt bad. It wasn't just in her voice, but an emotion that was strong enough to pass over their light connection. "It must be awful... falling in darkness without anything to latch onto."

Laila imagined what it would be like outside of Zehia's body - assuming she could actually survive... "Yeah, it's terrifying, but I can't stay inside of you forever."

Zehia sighed and their eyes looked down at their clawed hands. "I wish I could get a new body. I've poked and scratched myself so many times already. Not to mention biting my tongue!"

"Your body is great! I know I don't have any to compare it to, but I can tell how resilient it is!"

"Because we're a monster-"

"No! Because we're a survivor! Neither of us may have that class, but that's what we are! We survived, and so we're going to keep on living. And I'll eventually have my own body too!"

"You JUST said that you're too small for a body."

"I mean, yeah, but... I could grow! That's possible!"

"Uh, huh. And what if you can't animate cloth on your own now? Did you think of that? Your very nature has changed."

"I... hadn't considered that."

"Well, you should. Changing bodies is risking your life. It's when Selphids are most vulnerable." Laila got the distinct impression that Zehia was speaking from first-hand experience.

"Mister Pixel will be able to help us."

"[Archmage] Pixel is too important to waste his time on us." There was an edge to Zehia's voice, but Laila didn't sense any disappointment or resentment from her friend. "And he already did enough. I don't know what it cost him, but I can tell that his aid for us wasn't cheap."

"It wasn't?"

"His relic shattered into nothing. I know you saw that, because I was looking at it when it did."

"Oh... yeah."

Zehia's voice became more upbeat. "Besides, he isn't a Stitchfolk, he doesn't know about our magic. Nobody alive today can match the Threadmakers. So him not helping isn't a big deal!" It FELT like Zehia was trying to cheer her up. If so, she was bad at it. "Now, let's stop moping and go and buy some thread."

"Thread?"

"Yes. I am considering what Classes to take. I might pick up [Painter] again... but for something more useful, [Seamstress] will do." Zehia played with her fingers. "Lots of Stitchfolk take it, and I could use the practice in getting used to my new hands."

"I understand." Laila couldn't help but fidget, which Zehia somehow picked up on.

"But?"

"But, we don't have any money."

"Really? Didn't you and Sibby steal anything from Riqre when you killed him?"

"There, uh, there wasn't anything left we could take. Plus, we were traveling light."

"What did you eat?"

Laila paused for a second. "Sibby brought me food." Meat. She'd eaten a lot of meat. She still remembered the bloody remains of [Slavers] that her friend had offered her. She hadn't partaken, but it brought back memories of when the Blood Class had been in control.

"And there's not much of an economy here, huh?" Zehia strolled out of the tent and looked around. The crowds of refugees had thinned, but there were still a lot of people and less food to go around. "We'll get taken care of for now. We could even go to the palace, but I don't want to beg."

"I suppose, I could get paid for being a [Runner] now that the war's over?"

"A [Runner], huh? That doesn't sound so bad, but we shouldn't split our Classes..." A smile spread across their face. "Actually, we SHOULD split our classes. We can be both a [Runner] and a [Seamstress]. Two classes in one body!" Her voice dropped to a whisper and her eyes darted back and forth for anyone that might've overheard them. "Or we can both try to get it and see if our Skills overlap."

"That sounds good, but we should ask Sibby what she thinks."

Zehia shook her head. "I know this is rich, considering our situation, but you need to be more independent Laila."

"I... just want her opinion! The Siberian is really smart! She doesn't act like it all the time, but she knows things. She comes up with these intricate plans, and they work!"

"The one we came up with didn't work too well." Zehia grumbled as the two of them set off through the slums and towards the city proper. "But I do admit that most of that was my fault."

The [Guard] at the gate waved them through as they approached. "Good evening, Miss Laila." He smiled at them. "Going into the city?"

"Yes." Laila took over, and immediately folded her hands in front of herself. "I'm going to the Runner's Guild."

"Looking for something this late in the day?"

"No, no." Laila shook her head as Zehia's consciousness backed away for the interaction. "I'm actually going to see about... becoming an official Runner."

"I thought you were one already."

"I have a token they gave me." Laila patted her pocket where the badge was stowed away. "But, that was just an emergency thing. "What with... everything." She gestured with her hands before quickly clasping them behind her back.

"True." The [Guard] smiled as he leaned on his spear. "A lot of people leveled in classes they never would have without the war. Still, that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. I'm sure you'll make a great [Runner]."

"If they'll have me."

"If?" The man barked a quick 'Ha'. "That's a good one, Miss Laila."

She gave him a confused look. "A good what?"

"A good joke."

"I wasn't joking..."

"Even if you just started, you know the different levels of [Runners], right?"

"Uhm, city, and, uh..."

"Street, city, and courier."

She nodded. "That's right."

"And..."

"And?"

The [Guard] rolled his eyes. "You've already been running things to different cities, right? That makes you a city runner."

"That not- I mean..." Laila pulled her hands from behind her back and began to run her claws over her palms. "I just did what I had to."

"What you had to?" He smiled down at her. "Miss Laila, I might not be a [Runner]. In fact, I'm almost positive I'm not. However, I DO know a thing or two about [Runners]. It comes with being a [Gate Guard]. City [Runners], or any [Runners] really, don't go places that are dangerous."

"What?"

"You heard me. A [Runner]'s job is to run, not to get themselves killed by running into dangerous places, like a war zone."

"All the other [Runners] were doing the same."

"That's because they're citizens of Tiqr. Of course they'd risk their lives, but that's an exceptional situation. You just came here, Miss Laila. No one would say anything if you didn't want to risk your life."

"No, I mean, there wasn't... I just did what I had to."

"You still did it in the end." He jerked his head towards the city. "Go on. You can ask the Guildmaster, but I'm sure you'll get the same exact response."

"I, er, really?" Laila felt her cheeks flush. It was a stupid reaction, but she was a lot closer with Zehia's body, even with the former [Assassin] awake and aware in the back of her mind. It would be nice if she could have finer control over things like blushing, but getting 'close' enough to use all of Zehia's muscles and stuff precisely also made her connection relay subconscious behaviors too.

"Yes. Really." The [Guard] gestured with his spear. "Run along now."

Laila nodded weakly and walked through the gate an into Oliphant proper. "I don't think I could ask for something like that..."

"What?" Zehia replied in a mumble so that no one else on the street could hear them.

"To be a City Runner. Doesn't that seem... I don't know... presumptive?"

"Laila, what are you talking about?"

"How can I go up to the Guild Master and ask to be a City Runner? I'm only level four! That's like a child asking!"

Laila felt her body's eyes roll as Zehia took control of them while she spoke. "Please. A child couldn't do what you did during the war. Like what's-his-name said back there, you're already a City Runner in practice if not in title."

"No, I'm not."

"Why are you being so difficult?"

"Because... I would've died. If it wasn't for you. If it wasn't for your Blood Class. If it wasn't for that [Wizard]."

"Gandalf?"

"Yeah." Laila sighed and slowed down. "I wonder what happened to him? He was nice, and he gave us an artifact."

"Really?" Zehia's voice was flat.

"Huh?"

"You really haven't connected the dots?"

"What? No." Laila frowned slightly. "What dots?"

"Gandalf is clearly another friend of Pixel's. Old monsters like that know each other. He's fine, otherwise Archmage Pixel would have wiped out some armies instead of just bloodying them."

"What are you talking about?"

"We still have that artifact he gave us. The same exact sort of artifact that Pixel makes."

"Oh." Laila stopped completely as everything fell into place. "Gandalf is Pixel."

"Possibly. Archmages probably do go undercover to avoid recognition, but you shouldn't bring it up."

"Why?"

"If Archmage Pixel is just Gandalf's acquaintance, then you're wrong. If you're right, you'll be bringing up something the [Archmage] wants hidden. Either way, you lose."

"I guess that makes sense."

"Good, now go to the Runner's Guild and ask for what you deserve."

"I don't think I can..."

"Fine." Zehia shook her head as she took control of their body and marched down the street. "I'll do it."

The line at the Runner's Guild was pretty long, with people coming to make requests. Most of them just held simple letters in their hands - undoubtedly eager to get word on friends and family elsewhere in Tiqr. Zehia marched past them.

People got out of her way and gave her wary looks.

Even in Tiqr, where Beast-kin and Garudas were more common-place, her fanged maw and long, clawed arms drew attention. To their credit, nobody screamed or ran, but Laila could sense Zehia's shoulders tense at the focus. It wasn't out of fear or nervousness... more like it was preparing for a fight.

"I'd like to speak with the Guildmaster." Zehia said in a strong voice as she approached the [Runner]-only [Receptionist]."

"Of course, Laila." The teenager smiled at her before leaning back and glancing through a side door. "He's in his office. Go right on in."

Zehia nodded and walked around the desk and into the back. The Garuda in charge of Tiqr's Runner's Guild was leaning back in a chair as he read a letter. He looked up as they entered. "Laila." He nodded. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm here to ask you something important." Zehia said before retreating into her mind and leaving Laila to continue the conversation alone.

Notes:

Bios:

Sibby - The Siberian. Happy to be back with Kevin and doing things, even if she's a little confused as to why? Also thinks that the meat of A’ctelios Salash was just 'okay' and doesn't see what the fuss was about.

Teura - A Half-Elf and one of the better mages of Wistram. A Centerist with Feor's implicit trust. Taking the initiative to learn what she can under Pixel.

Zahia - OC. Was a high-level 'problem solver' for Roshal. Now, an ex-[Carrion Eater] who's contemplating what to do with her life.

Laila - OC. An ex-[Slave] who's getting along much better with her previous owner than she'd thought possible. Still adapting to being a [Stitch Selphid], and to sharing a body. Was secretly happy to have Zehia awake to handle things, and is now feeling profoundly betrayed.

Chapter 96: Fallout 2

[Superhero level 13!]

[Skill – Sidekick Obtained!]

[Skill – Loud Voice Obtained!]

[Skill – Superhero Abs Obtained!]

[Skill – Secret Identity Obtained!]

[Skill – A Fraction Of My Strength Obtained!]

Huh?

I leveled?

I opened my eyes and looked up at Sibby. After I'd fallen asleep, she'd maneuvered me so that my head was laying in her lap again.

"Good morning!" She smiled at me.

"Good morning, Sibby." I laid there for a second as she gently stroked my head. I guessed this was her 'motherly' instincts coming out?

Still... it felt nice.

I closed my eyes and focused on my new Skills. I was a little surprised that I'd leveled from destroying A’ctelios Salash. After all, Sibby had done pretty much all of the work. All I'd done was sneak inside and confirm the situation... and also helped people evacuate.

Yeah. Fair enough. Those were 'heroic' things to do. Or, rather, 'superheroic'.

[Infiltrator] was part of my Class.

Hmm...

I felt along my stomach. I didn't feel any '[Superhero Abs]', but then again, I was made of pixels thanks to Gamer's Body. I wondered what effect, if any, the Skill could have? [Loud Voice] sounded self-explanatory. [Secret Identity] also seemed straightforward as an idea. Probably a Stranger effect when I was undercover?

That seemed likely.

[A Fraction Of My Strength]?

No idea what that was. It wasn't green, like most of the others. I still had no idea how I was hearing a color, or what it meant. The closest I'd come from research in Wistram was that Red Skills were bad, and Gold Skills were royalty. Orange were 'Yellat' Skills, and were about reputation - but somehow different from Gold.

I think there were also Blue ones, but there hadn't been any real details about them in the book I'd found.

Regardless, [A Fraction Of My Strength] was long, and longer Skills tended to be more powerful or versatile. That didn't help with telling what they did.

It wasn't what I was most interested in. That would be [Sidekick].

It was clear that was from Sibby doing most of the work. The real question was... did the Skill mean she was my sidekick... or that I was HERS?

I opened my eyes, to see her still smiling down at me.

Yeah... I could see it going either way.

"It's too bad you're too strong for a Class." It was probably one of the reasons people thought she was a Djinni. Some races didn't get to level. The most common theory as to why was that they were too powerful.

"Eh. I could get one, but I don't wanna."

Oh. That makes sense-

"What?" I sat up and turned to face her. "You could get a class? I'd asked if you had one before, and you said 'no'."

"That's 'cause I don't." Her eyes glowed slightly.

"But you COULD get one? How do you know that? And why don't you want one?"

She shrugged. "There's something that tries to connect with me when I form, but I ignore it. William said that was probably whatever entity that grants powers on this world trying to do the same for me. Of course, I KNEW that already."

"You did?"

"What else could it be? Everyone has powers and something tries to touch me like that?"

"And you... don't want it?"

"Why would I?"

"Uhm..."

Sibby gracefully stood up and ran her hands up and down her body in a way that threatened to trigger Gamer's Mind. "I'm perfect. I do what I want. I ignore what I don't. I don't need another 'power' to do what I want or to feel better about myself."

"That's..." Surprising. It also made me question getting levels from the Grand Design. Was I doing it just because I wanted power? Or was it because I was used to leveling from Optimize? Or was I just playing the dutiful host and providing data? Or did I really need mana to successfully leverage my power against other magic users? "A very healthy mind set, Sibby."

"Thanks!" She smiled as she spun around. "I'm going to go investigate things."

Sibby's form vanished in a blink as she took off across the plains and towards Oliphant.

---

Sibby ran across the plains. She could un-summon and re-summon herself to get to her destination quicker, but she enjoyed running. The feel of the wind as she passed through it without friction slowing her down. The air right next to her might be as still as air could be, but the particles in the space she moved through were displaced by her body.

It was an exhilarating feeling that she loved. Her power and dominance as she swam through the matter as if it wasn't there. Knowing she could do the same to anything she encountered.

Almost anything.

Those 'magic' things still stubbornly resisted her negation, but she'd get better. She'd already learned how to avoid the problem instead of crashing into it head-on.

It was like how she was currently running without friction or gravity slowing her down. She COULD be more forceful. She COULD ignore the air molecules so thoroughly that nothing was left in her wake.

Or...

She could be more subtle. Instead of seamlessly passing through the atmosphere, she could pass through the waves of reality completely. A whisper that only she could hear.

Not even Kevin could sense her actions when she didn't want him too.

Except through their connection, but she hadn't ever considered trying to break or ignore that. It was a part of who she was, just as much as her negation powers if not more so.

Why would she let another connection form? Why would she lower herself to something weaker than her?

Cauwine was different. She was a part of what Sibby was a part of - which wasn't the same as being part of Sibby.

The same way that William wasn't a part of her, not any more. Useful and fun, but not as... invasive in the same way that the connection of this world promised to be.

Yes. Invasive. That was the right word.

Sibby hadn't understood connections until she'd had Panda. After that, the things she could sense had expanded to include her bond with both William and her daughter. So she knew how complicated and multifaceted such things were.

William, of course, had a lot to say on the matter as well. How anything that gave you abilities you could control with your thoughts had to be reading someone's thoughts to work. How the distinction between reading and writing could blur. How a connection to a living Entity made people into its pawns.

His lecture had devolved into a rant after that, but Sibby had already understood the inherent risks of such a thing. She was, after all, an expert on connections.

She did consider letting the connection to the power granting thing happen... just so she could negate it... But it probably used magic, and Sibby didn't have as good of a grasp on negating magic as she would have liked.

Magic sucked. She liked the other world where it didn't exist.

The walls of the big city came into view and Sibby let light start to pass through her as she leapt! She could no longer push off the ground to increase her speed, but it was fun to sail through the air in a perfect arc to soar over the walls and land lightly on that roof.

Or... that roof.

She changed her mind as the first landing opportunity passed underneath her. She still had to let some friction from the air slow her down so she struck her target. It was hard being so amazing sometimes. She'd really had built up some speed back there!

Now... what to do? What to do?

Sibby leapt from roof to roof as she looked for something interesting. Being the competent huntress that she was, the Siberian didn't focus only on the ground. She also scanned the sky and the horizon. That was why she saw the green blur fast approaching.

A bird? A plane? No... it was a bird, but not a regular bird. It was one of those human-sized ones, and it looked like it was going to land in front of the north gate instead of simply going over the wall like Sibby had done.

The Siberian, for her part, raced along the roofs to see the green bird land. She got to the gate at the same time, and perched on top of the wall as the bird landed a little ways off and jogged forwards.

She was pretty fast even on the ground. She was also tall and thin, with white speckles highlighting her green feathers.

Sibby dropped down so she could get a closer look as the green bird bypassed the long line.

"I'm a-" The bird held up a badge.

"You're the Sky’s Mirage." The guard held up a hand. "Our captain told all of us, and I recognize you Courier Chaita. Go on through."

The green bird girl, Chaita, bristled for a brief instant before gratefully nodding her head and walking past. Now that she was inside the city, she didn't seem to be in such a hurry. In fact, her route to wherever she was going was long and winding.

It was easy for Sibby to trail her from above.

Chaita first went to an inn. Then a bar. Then a restaurant. She didn't order anything, just spoke a few words with people and then left. Sibby was about to find someone else to investigate when Chaita approached the palace.

If nothing else, Sibby could go check on Nsiia while she was here. So, the Siberian jumped down and trailed behind the green bird on foot. There weren't any buildings close to either the palace or its inner walls.

Once again, the guard on duty waved at Chaita in a friendly manner. "I haven't seen him, Sky's Mirage."

The woman seemed to deflate slightly. "I see. Thanks for keeping an eye out."

"Empress Nsiia has stated that you are permitted inside if you wish to wait." The guard shrugged. "From my understanding, Archmage Pixel teleported directly inside of the grand hall when he arrived last. So he could be within and I wouldn't know."

Chaita closed her eyes, as if considering what to do next before nodding. "Then I'll ask someone inside."

"Good luck!" The guard smiled at her as Chaita walked past him.

"Why is it so hard to find him?" She mumbled to herself. "It's usually not nearly as hard to locate my target, but he clearly has a ward up. Not that I can blame him, but it's making my job a real pain..."

Sibby continued to watch as Chaita spoke with another guard. She was looking for Kevin! Should Sibby kill her?

Hmmm...

Not here, obviously, but Sibby was really good at being discreet when she wanted to. She just never felt like it.

But, the bird-person was pretty, and none of the people seemed alarmed. That didn't mean she wasn't a supervillain looking for Kevin. They tended to wander by a lot more often than she would've thought, and it was a fun little game to deal with them.

Not that Kevin needed protecting, he just didn't like to be disturbed.

Eh, Chaita didn't seem like a supervillain. So there was no reason to kill or main her.

Yet.

Instead, Sibby continued to shadow her as she left the palace and headed back into the city. Sibby backed away when she did. The small places where she let light through so she could see only resulted in slight shadows, since she still let most of it pass. Plus, she let all the light from behind her pass through like normal, so it wasn't like there were gaps in the air that most people would notice.

'Most' people wasn't everyone, and Chaita seemed more observant than most. She glanced at where Sibby was hiding and her brow furrowed. At least Sibby thought it did. Bird-people were different from humans and had all those feathers.

Not that evading detection was difficult for someone as skilled as she was. All Sibby had to do was cut off the light from her eyes and jump! She gracefully landed on a nearby roof, letting her body stop just before she passed through the slightly thicker waves.

Her power made the roof invincible, so it didn't bend or creak in the slightest. Sibby then let some light pass into her eyes and spun around. Sure enough, Chaita was looking at where she'd been and had missed her repositioning!

The bird-person gave up after a minute and resumed her trek through the city - with Sibby tailing her. They soon arrived at a building with a line of people at its entrance. Chaita once again skipped the queue and walked inside.

"Hello, Courier Chaita." A youngish Human greeted her from behind the large desk at the end of the room. "How may we help you today?"

Chaita moved past the tables and chairs that were scattered throughout the room. The people at them stopped their conversations and turned to stare.

---

"I'd like to speak with the Guildmaster, if he's available." Chaita asked.

"He JUST had someone enter his office." The Human teenager replied. "But, I'll go and-"

"No! No." Chaita held up a hand. "It's not something so urgent so as to interrupt a meeting." She'd been searching for [Archmage] Pixel for days now. Another small delay wouldn't matter, especially since it most likely wouldn't even help her find the reclusive magic-wielder.

She wasn't even sure he was still in Tiqr. [Guiding Winds] had been... erratic. It mostly pulled her towards Oliphant, but then had grown strong and blown her far to the South-West, as if he'd left the country. Then back towards the East, then to the South.

He clearly either had a Spell or Skill to evade detection... or had used magic to travel great distances lately. This was an [Archmage] that had killed a Djinni and fought a dozen armies simultaneously. She'd seen the broadcast on the Wistram News Network. She seen how effortlessly Pixel could move over vast distances. Trying to track him down was like trying to follow a cool breeze in the Zeikhal desert.

But... she had her message to deliver to him. She had to try. She was a Courier, and this was her job.

She looked up as the door to the Guildmaster's room opened and a monster strolled out!

It had long arms with thick claws, but the most frightful thing was its mouth. A maw of thin needle-like fangs seemed to stretch far too far back on its head.

Only two things kept Chaita from leaping to attack. First, the rest of the [Runners] in the room glanced up, and then away - as if the creature's presence wasn't anything of note. Second, that the monster was clearly blushing profusely and wringing its hands as if it was so nervous as to border on having a panic attack.

Plus, [Guildmasters] of the [Runner]'s Guild weren't easy prey. You had to have been a City Runner first, and that meant that each and every one of them knew how to avoid monsters, [Bandits], wild animals, and anything else they could find on the road.

And they had to do it on their own. No [Guards], [Soldiers], or other protection.

While that didn't mean a City Runner could fight off a monster like that, they could almost certainly run away. That, combined with the lack of reaction of everyone else - including the city-folk who were queued in line, let Chaita know her initial reaction was wrong.

She hovered between sitting and standing before deciding on the later. The Guildmaster would be available now, so she could go speak to him.

The [Receptionist] nodded at her and then jerked his head towards the office door that was still open. Chaita shut it behind her. "Good day, Guildmaster."

The man behind the desk eyes widened and he smiled at her. "Courier Chaita!" His expression fell as he realized what her return signified. "You still have not been able to locate our elusive [Archmage] I take it?"

"No." She shook her head. As she did, she thought she caught sight of... something to the side. Part of being a Courier was always being on the lookout for [Thieves] and other [Rogues]. The words of a [King] weren't the most valuable cargo, but there were plenty who would eagerly steal her entrusted letter if given half a chance. "No luck." There was no one else in the well-lit office. Her nerves must be getting the best of her.

"That's a shame. I know how valuable your time is." He drummed his fingers on his desk. "And none of the other [Runners] have any leads?"

"No." She sighed. It was slightly demeaning to ask other [Runners] for help, but that's what the guild was for. "None of them have seen him." She turned to leave before remembering the monstrous looking girl. "Who was that just now? The person that just left your office? She looked... unique."

"Laila?" The man laughed. "I guess you haven't spoken with ALL of our [Runners] yet. Then again, she just officially joined just now!"

"Really?" Chaita leaned in a little. "That must be an interesting story."

"Well, you wouldn't know it from looking at her, but that girl doesn't have a mean bone in her body." He nodded at the door. "Volunteered during the war."

"As a [Runner]?"

"Yep. She's fast too. Don't let her appearance fool you, she's not the fighting sort. Strangely shy for an Alterkind, but it takes all sorts I suppose."

Oh! An Alterkind! That explained it. Chaita didn't run into many of the rebellious String People as a Courier, but she'd seen one or two.

"I only caught a glance. I guess I didn't notice her stitches." The girl also had far smoother skin than most Stitchfolk. All the Alterkind Chaita HAD met before had been Hemps. It made them far easier to recognize, but she supposed that String People from all walks of life went through phases like that when they were young. "But getting her mouth done? That's risky."

From her understanding, modifications to a Stitchfolk's head weren't possible... but if they just attached a fanged maw...

"She had to have sewn it into her flesh." The [Guildmaster] completed her thought for her.

Chaita winced. "And I hate even getting my feathers plucked. Perhaps I should talk to her. Give her some advice as a [Runner]?"

"You could spend your time in worse ways."

"Yeah..." She sighed. "And I seem to have plenty of it until I track down my target." If only Pixel would build a tower like a proper [Archmage]. Then again, from what she'd heard, he had built one - only to have it demolished by a tier seven spell.

---

I focused on the new seed I was creating. It was clear that I needed a base in Tiqr, if for no other reason than having a permanent teleportation pad on Chandrar would be incredibly convenient. That way I could move any Earthers that made their way here to Wistram far more easily.

I'd decided on another underground base. For now.

Doing so would not only provide me with more discretion and protection, but it would also fulfill a second task.

If Teura was going to come to be my apprentice - such as it was, then she and any other Wistram [Mages] that wanted to could have secure place to study the Blight.

It wasn't hard for me to make living quarters. Or underground bases. Goodness knows I'd made enough of them even before I'd gotten Conversion from the Machine Army. Planting seeds to Craft blueprints was just so... convenient. By now I had enough confidence in my latest Trait that I wasn't really afraid of a 'gray goo' scenario.

If only the same thing could be said of my latest Perk...

I shook my head. Only time would tell and I was committed to my current path.

I lowered the seed into the ground and watched as it sank through the earth. The hard part was tweaking the Observe effect I'd added to it so it could differentiate between Blighted and regular land. I might be confident that normal usage of my seeds was safe, but I was less sure where magical curses were involved.

With Dragon's help, I'd even consolidated the design for my bases into a single blueprint. Air, water, food. My hideouts were entirely self-contained and even came with a large teleportation pad, armor, forcefields, and sensors - not to mention all the structural requirements that underground complexes needed to account for. It was perhaps my most useful blueprint - even surpassing the different iterations of my Cawthorne armor.

That was why it was the main component of the seed I'd planted in Roshal.

Of course, there were still limitations. While the bases were capable of Crafting, they were extremely limited in what they could actually make. I couldn't Craft something that could in turn Craft Tinkertech. If I could, I'd never have to make ammunition by hand ever again. Basic machines were fine, but it could only Craft one specific item.

However, if that one 'thing' was a full-course meal consisting of every food I'd ever Observed. And if I tweaked it so it could Craft only part of the finished product... Let's just say that Star Trek's food replicator had nothing on me - aside that I had to provide biomass instead of energy.

It did still sometimes return 'perfect' food that most people found inedible, but Sibby and I liked it even if it didn't grant powers.

I'd shaped the current seed so that it would burrow deep and then move under the blighted section. It would then expand to surround the area from underneath, while making sure to leave a good hundred feet of buffer. Just in case.

I might in time expand it to cover the top too, but that would need something different. Glass? A domed forcefield? I didn't know, and until I got a magical opinion I was hesitant to act - especially if I needed to sacrifice another Skill to make it Magitech.

The seed left a pixelized vortex on the ground, and I emptied my Inventory of all the random dirt, rocks, and metal I'd gathered. It wasn't enough. I'd need to provide a lot more raw resources since I no longer had a supply of Tinkertech I could use to satisfy the material requirements.

Speaking of which, I had a LOT of severed heads that were taking up entirely too much space. They needed to go, but I couldn't just drop them where anyone might be able to stumble upon them. No. It needed to be secure, lest some bizarre nightmare scenario happened.

I sighed.

I'd planned on placing this deep inside the base where it would be secure and couldn't possibly trap someone by accident. Plus, dispelling these things permanently was a real pain in the ass. Mainly due to how long it took - not that I needed to personally oversee the process or anything, but still...

I consoled myself that I'd be saving time in the long run, and took out the temporal grenade I'd Crafted. The zone of frozen time it could make was my greatest defensive tool. Actually, now that I'd lost my Golden Gun, it might just be my most potent offensive weapon as well.

Even if the first thing I did was Craft another one, using my last time grenade left me feeling vulnerable. Well... slightly vulnerable. I still had a plethora of other defensive options. It's just that living with the Siberian tended to keep my ego in check in terms of considering myself 'invincible'.

Not that anything so simple as a field of frozen time could stop Sibby.

Enough delaying.

I stepped into the circle of land the base would eventually surround, but still far from the blighted area, and detonated the-

Shit!

I'd almost forgotten about my magical items I had on me. My armor might have resistance(temporal), but they did not!

With Inventory incapable of holding them without mana, and my stack of Oversaturated debuffs... Well, things could've gone poorly. While I had the means to fix the stasis field, it took time and resources that I lacked at the moment.

Shaking my head, I tossed the glowing cube a few meters away from myself and watched as a section of grass turned gray and stopped moving. Alright. Thankfully I didn't need to ditch my non-Crafted equipment to clear out my Inventory. All I had to do was sit down and not move.

With each second I was still, Expansion activated and the range of when I could take things into my Inventory increased - as did where I could deposit them. One after another, I dumped the severed heads into the field of frozen time.

Each and every one of them was technically dead, otherwise I couldn't have Inventoried them in the first place. It was still important to keep them frozen. While in my Inventory or in the field where only shades of gray light could escape from, they wouldn't rot. It was possible that given their... origin, that they wouldn't decompose anyways, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

It was even MORE important to keep them locked in time if they could still perceive their surroundings in some way. If being transformed into a fleshy beast of burden didn't drive the poor souls insane, then being nothing more than a head would certainly push them over the edge.

Even if Riley or magic could eventually save them, it was still safer to keep them locked away like this. If they were beyond help? Then it was still best to keep them inside a stasis field - until I disposed of them, that is. It would only take a drop of Crawler's acid to melt the pile. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

I realized I might be a bit... paranoid about the whole thing. A’ctelios Salash had existed for how long as a hollowed out 'corpse'? Thousands of years? Tens of thousands? Its flesh might... change those that ate it, but there was no evidence of it spreading like a zombie virus or something like that.

On the other hand, it cost me little to be cautious. Case in point, dropping sand over the edges of the sphere resulted in an impermeable barrier that would keep anyone from seeing the heads, or being caught in the field of frozen time.

With that, I started teleporting across the plains until I came to where I'd fought Nerrhavia Fallen's army. Unlike the last time I'd been here with Sibby, there were [Scavengers] and other people poking around the remains. It would be inconvenient, but I could use Threat Sense to know if I was being watched, or if I was about to be watched as I teleported somewhere.

Picking up loot was a time-honored tradition, but doing so didn't scream 'Archmage'.

Thankfully, I doubted the other people that were wandering around and looking at what had been left behind were interested in the same things that I was. I needed junk. In fact, anything of value would probably be magic, and while I wouldn't call it 'useless', I certainly didn't want to experiment with using it as Crafting materials.

Then again... why go through the trouble of hopping around with Teleportation? I still had my Golden Sphere drone and I had Expansion. I sat down and let my Inventory range increase as the drone flitted invisibly through the air - letting me see and target the cloth, wood, and metal that were strewn about in pieces.

...

The first thing I Crafted with my new raw materials was a teleportation plate. It wasn't much - really just a location marker that I could include in my party so I could 'see' it and teleport to it from much farther away. Long jumps like that drained most of my MP, but it refilled quickly - and would be much more convenient than the multiple hops I'd made to get here.

Especially since I was going to be making the trip quite frequently for several days.

...

There. The second teleportation plate sat next to the pile of frozen heads.

Now I could jump back and forth with ease.

...

[Debuffs:
Oversaturatedx15]

I smiled as I looked at my status.

I'd spent the last three days scrounging for materials. Not the best use of my time, but it was necessary. On the plus side, I'd had little reason to spend mana on such a simple task, so my recovery was coming along nicely.

The first ranks of Oversaturated had taken the longest, but I was close to having two of them heal in a day! In fact, I'd say I was about halfway towards being healed.

The other good news was that the new base was completed. I had a few little things to do, like make another stasis grenade so I could store the heads in a more inconspicuous place and then set up the Resistance(temporal) pylons to start eroding the first one.

I should have all of it taken care of by the time the base's large teleportation pad was charged.

...

[Debuffs:
Oversaturatedx10]

The base was ready, but my healing rate had slowed down before reaching a soft limit. For several days I had healed one stack of Oversaturated in a number of hours equal to the total stacks. 15 stacks took 15 hours to heal one stack and reduce the total to 14.

However, that rate hadn't remained consistent. Worse, it had increased. It had taken a full day to heal the 11th stack. And now the rest just weren't going away at all. Still, I was hopeful that the guest who was arriving soon would be able to help me figure out how to repair the magical injury I'd suffered.

The pad glowed and a figure materialized on it. The Half-Elf held herself well, and had bright red hair. She stepped off the pad and looked around the hideout with hidden awe.

"Hello, [Mage] Teura." I extended my hand. "Welcome to the base I've made underneath the blighted area in Tiqr."

"[Archmage] Pixel." She smiled brightly. "I'm pleased for this opportunity to learn!"

Notes:

Bios:

Chaita - The Sky's Mirage. A Garuda Courier with brilliant green feathers. Delivered a vital message for Flos during his first campaign. She is the only Courier that answered his request for someone to deliver a message for him. Hasn't had much luck in finding Pixel to hand over the message, even if she made great time from Relm.

Chapter 97: Fallout 3

Trey hated flying carpets.

Truly. Deeply. Utterly.

The sound of the rushing wind made them have to shout to be heard, not that he, Gazi, and the Quarass talked much. Even the ever-present fear of falling hundreds of feet to his death had worn old. It hadn't gone away, it had just... stayed in the back of his mind.

And he still didn't understand WHY he was here.

The simple and truest reason was because Flos asked him to accompany the Quarass. Trey had jumped at the opportunity to get away from the Slave-seller, and his twin sister. Teressa had fully drunk the Cool-Aid, and wanted to be a Swordsman, woman, whatever.

He shot another dirty look at Gazi, but his heart wasn't in it.

She agreed with him about how selling defeated [Soldiers] as [Slaves] was wrong, but she followed Flos. She, herself, was an ex-[Slave], as she'd confided in him. But she still followed Flos.

What made it infuriating was how calm and logical everyone tried to be. Relm needed money. Relm couldn't imprison its surrendered foes. Relm couldn't send them back for fear they'd return.

It was all so... so...

"There's something to the east." Gazi's voice broke his brooding. "Slow down."

The Quarass looked up from her position at the front of the carpet, and nodded. "What is it? We should be at A’ctelios Salash, or at least its remains soon."

"Yes." Gazi nodded as one of the four smaller eyes around her closed center eye turned to look at the Quarass. One of the others looked south, another south-east, the last one continually rotated inside her socket. "I can see it, but I think there's something related to the east."

The Quarass stayed silent for a moment before pulling on the tassels of the rug and guiding it to their left. "The Carven City is no more. It's corpse, or lack of one, will remain. I'm curious as to what you see, Half-Gazer."

"Nothing good." Gazi muttered, her face as impassive as always.

The carpet turned, and the trio flew towards their new destination. Trey remained in the center. As eager as he was to see what Gazi was talking about, he'd rather not get close to the edge. He knew that both Gazi and the Quarass would keep him from falling, but he would see what had gotten her attention soon enough.

The carpet landed surprisingly gently on the sand and the Quarass stood up while dusting herself off. "I see what you mean. That must be related somehow."

The 'thing' in question was an area of the desert with something growing out of it. It wasn't very tall, only a few inches, but it was definitely there.

Grass? Trey wondered as the three of them approached. It was strands of stuff, but it wasn't green and it was too thick to be grass. Some other plant? The color didn't stand out much against the yellow sand. Now that they were getting closer it almost looked like-

"Stay back." Gazi ordered as she drew her sword from the sheath on her back and approached. Her gate was smooth and steady, as if she expected an ambush. Not that anything could ever ambush her. Gazi could see THROUGH her own head. Her eyes saw everything.

She poked the growth with her sword. Then slashed it.

Nothing happened apart from a few strands falling off.

Gazi wiped her blade in the sand, and then walked back to them. "They're unresponsive."

"What are?"

"The fingers."

Trey remained silent as Gazi walked back towards them.

"Trey, I'm going to tell you this not because I think it is something you would do. Instead, I think it's something that needs to be clearly stated." The Quarass looked up at him as they prepared to take off on the flying carpet again. The young girl's eyes defied her apparent age. He could see the ancient intelligence behind them. "Do not eat the fingers."

"..."

"Don't give me that look." She crossed her arms. "I just said that I thought it wasn't something you would do but had to be clearly stated."

"Why would I... No, why would anyone...?"

"Because!" The Quarass pointed at the wriggling spot in the sand. "THEY are clearly from A’ctelios Salash! The Carven City may be no more, but its legacy of madness endures!"

"I don't understand." What did the missing city have to do with... that?

"There's another further to the east." Gazi said. One of her eyes remained fixed on the patch in the sand, while the others rotated freely.

"Then we shall visit it also, but after seeing the remains of the city." The Quarass spoke like it was a royal decree, and Trey supposed it was in a way. The three of them got back on the carpet, and the small girl coaxed it into the air. "Let me speak to you about Tombhold, so you may realize the reason for my warning, Trey."

...

Trey felt sick.

It wasn't because of the patch of... finger-grass he'd seen, though that certainly didn't help. Instead it was the description of a city that... mined the insides of a giant monster.

What the Hell?

Seriously?!?

Only, that wasn't it. Apparently the flesh of the monster could bestow powers, or twist the body in strange ways. The Quarass herself wasn't sure to what extent. For all her lives, none of them had ever partaken in A’ctelios Salash's 'gift'.

"And they need it to live?"

"If there were any left, yes." The carpet wasn't moving as quickly so they didn't have to shout to be heard. "The children of A’ctelios Salash who have gone out in the world will be in dire straits. Its meat was cheap, but now that the supply is no more." She shook her head. "But that is not truly our concern. Look."

The carpet came across a huge gaping hole in the desert, but that wasn't what drew Trey's eye the most. Next to it was a collection of tents that had been erected to protect from the desert sun. A plume of smoke rose from them, as if a bonfire had been made for some reason.

"Why would anyone make a fire in the middle of the day."

"To cook." Gazi replied with her usual curt tone.

"What?"

"Each other." Her face turned towards their pilot, while three of her eyes focused on the ground below them. "Quarass. Stay in the air until I'm done."

"What?" Trey repeated himself before realizing what was about to happen.

Gazi leapt off the flying carpet and landed like a meteorite in a cloud of sand. She strolled out of it while unsheathing her sword as the horde approached.

They came from under the shade of the tents like cockroaches scurrying out from a dark hole. A swarm of humanoid creatures with long claws and fanged maws. Gazi deftly swung her sword and decapitated the first monster, but another replaced it. Her opponents didn't show any sign of fear or hesitation. They climbed over the fallen body as if it meant nothing to them.

"Gazi!" Trey shouted. She might be strong, but what could she do against so many foes? Her armor could easily withstand their attacks, but monsters weren't like people. They weren't trying to swing a weapon that she could block or parry. They sought to bring her down through sheer weight of numbers.

Gazi's armor wouldn't help once she was tackled and pinned. Her head was vulnerable and the swarm would doubtlessly go after it first!

The Half-Gazer moved. She followed her swipe with a lateral step. Another swing cut down another monster, and Gazi continued to circle with surprising speed. The horde's momentum turned into their weakness. Gazi moved and cut constantly while the claws of her foes scrambled to find purchase on the sand.

Ironically, the bodies and blood of the creatures she killed provided far better footholds than would otherwise be available.

The tide turned quickly as the monsters that had tripped over the fallen picked themselves up. They might seem like mindless savages, but there would be no chance for them to build up the same speed as they'd done before - even if they were stupid enough to attempt the same strategy. They were closer, they didn't need to sprint to get to her, and they were far quicker than they had any right to be.

The swarm flowed over his protector.

"Do not fear, Trey Atwood." The Quarass spoke with a calm voice as she watched the carnage below. "Gazi might not be the strongest of your [King]'s seven, but she is a Named Adventurer. This is the sort of battle she's fought hundreds of times before over the years."

Trey could see her move through the press of bodies. She was more at home in the middle of the creatures than facing their charge. Gazi's eyes spun constantly as she tracked her target's movements. The monsters got in each other's way as she mowed them down. Claws reached out for her, but found no purchase on her dull brown armor. They left not a scratch before being chopped off or having their owner killed in some other way.

A stab through the heart. A decapitation. A cleaved head.

Gazi killed with merciless precision as she moved through the horde. Despite their numbers they couldn't hurt her. They had no coordination and kept getting in each other's way. Then, she was out the other side.

She turned for another pass.

Trey watched until the only motion was Gazi calmly walking amongst the corpses and casually stabbing any still-moving bodies. When she was apparently satisfied that all of them were fully dead, she waved at the carpet. The Quarass landed a hundred feet away and the two of them got off as the Half-Gazer walked back to them.

"[Carrion Eaters]. From the survivors."

"They came and attacked them?" Trey asked.

"In a manner of speaking." The Quarass calmly replied as the three of them walked towards the camp. "If you take a look at what they were eating and at their clothes, you should be able to discern what happened here."

"What?" He was confused, but as they passed into the shade his eyes could make out what the girl had been talking about. Blood stained the sand. It had been a massacre. He felt bile swelling up in his throat, but refused to vomit. "What were they eating?"

"Everything." Gazi pointed at the bonfire and the piles of gnawed on bones left around it. "And then, each other. That's how [Carrion Eaters] are made."

"Made?"

"Cursed." The Quarass replied. She stepped over to another pile of bones that were far too big to have belonged to a small creature. She picked up a human skull. "With an insatiable hunger."

"Is this what the meat of A’ctelios Salash does? Is this why you warned me about it?" Trey tried to keep his voice from cracking. "Why would anyone eat it if-"

"No!" The Quarass' voice was soft, but commanding. "The gift of A’ctelios Salash was ever a choice. This is the result of a Blood Class."

"A Blood Class that most likely was a result of what transpired inside the Carven City." Gazi calmly said while remaining at Trey's side. "Your [Spy] mentioned a great fire, did they not?"

The Quarass looked at Gazi from the side of her eye. "They did."

"And what was there to burn within Tombhold?"

The ancient woman's eyes went wide and the skull dropped from her small hands. "The meat. The smoke was from burning meat. That cannot be enough for a transformation, else all who entered A’ctelios would have changed long ago. I have smelt its cooking flesh on numerous occasions."

"Not enough for a full transformation, failed or otherwise. But enough to unleash a hunger perhaps with enough smoke?"

"Yes." The Quarass nodded. "I can see it. A fire big enough to damage A’ctelios Salash would produce a prodigious amount of smoke. Far more than anyone would normally inhale even over a lifetime. And all at once..." Her shoulders slumped slightly. "It seems there were no survivors of the Carven City's downfall."

"Most were not affected." Gazi's eyes continued their constant rotation. "There are tracks leading along the roads to the east and west."

"The fingers?" Trey asked.

"No." One of Gazi's eyes turned to look at him. "The road is to the south-east. The place we found was far north of it."

"It is possible that similar scenes are playing out with the groups that left." The Quarass pulled out a mirror from her bag and set it on a table as she sat down.

"What about the city itself?" Trey asked Gazi.

"You should see for yourself." She turned to face him, but made no move otherwise. If it had been anyone else to suggest it, Trey would've ran the other way. Instead, he looked up at her.

One of Gazi's eyes looked back, but he was getting better at reading her lack of expression. Gazi did a good job of remaining straight-faced, but she didn't look... apprehensive? Nervous? Worried?

He squared his shoulders and nodded at her. The two of them left the tent city, which wasn't much of a city now that Trey thought about it. A village or a hamlet. Whatever word for a smaller group of people. It had clearly housed far more people before... just before. The ones that Gazi had killed had been a minority.

They walked on the road for a short ways before it just... vanished. It ended at a huge chasm. Trey had never seen the Grand Canyon, but he had to imagine this was like that tourist trap in America. A hole so wide he had trouble seeing the opposite side. It was with no small amount of trepidation that he approached the edge.

Gazi was with him. She would catch him if he fell.

Trey told himself that over and over as he inched towards the edge and peered over. So far he hadn't seen blood or fingers growing or anything else horrific and bizarre. He craned his neck and saw... nothing.

He frowned slightly and leaned forward. The edges of the pit dropped down into the darkness.

"It's deep enough that you won't be able to see the bottom." Gazi commented from the side.

"Can you?" Trey turned to ask before realizing what a stupid question that was. Of course she could see that far. "Just how deep is it?"

"Miles and miles." One of her eyes moved back and forth, taking in the expanse. "A’ctelios Salash was taller than it was wide, and so too is the hole that it once occupied." An eye looked upwards. "When the sun reaches its zenith, the bottom will get some light, but most of the time it will be too dark for you to see anything."

Trey swallowed nervously, and took half a step back. There was no need to be this close to the edge if there was nothing to see. "So, then..."

Gazi took a step away before turning her face back to Trey for a moment. "This way. There is more to see."

He followed her from the road onto the sand and around the hole. A few hundred yards away, they came to a large divot in the sand. The wind had filled it in somewhat, but it was still wider than the road and twice as deep.

"This is...?"

"Where one of the tentacles was pulled into the depths."

"Tentacles?" Trey's hand gripped his staff tighter. "A’ctelios Salash had... tentacles?"

"Yes. They were the main way people on foot ascended to the Tombhold's entrances. I remember seeing them when Flos came to this place. We never entered, but it is still something I'll never forget."

"Oh." He looked up at her. Trey had gotten used to Gazi's orange skin, multiple eyes, and other unique features. "How do you feel about all of this? The Quarass seems more... outraged than sad, and Flos doesn't care at all. Why did we come here anyways?"

"The Quarass views things differently from you or I. She cares about the Shield Kingdoms, for what they represent. Other representatives from the remaining ones will come here too, and she will have words with them."

"I guess one of their number falling is a pretty big deal."

"Yes, but I think they also want to get the measure of the Quarass."

"How so?"

"Her last incarnation was... an abnormality. Violent. Paranoid. A kin-slayer. The meeting will be them confirming what sort of person rules Germina now."

"Ah. I get it. But why are we here?"

One of Gazi's eyes shifted to look at him. "You are here to expand your horizons. Flos knows you chafe at his company, so this trip is a way for you to get out of Relm and see other places. I'm here to protect you."

"Oh, well... thanks."

The carpet ride had been horrible, but Trey WAS glad to be away from everything. Especially Teresa. It was hard to fight with his twin sister for so long. Normally it was the two of them against the world, but now they were on opposite sides of a moral argument.

He couldn't forgive her for not condemning Flos. And he couldn't forgive Flos for selling prisoners as slaves.

It was just... wrong! No rationalization or explanations could change that simple fact. His arguments fell on deaf ears and always got twisted around to how Earth handled things.

Gazi noticed his inner turmoil and lightly punched his shoulder. "Come, let's head back to the tents. There's nothing more to see here without descending into the depths."

Trey shuddered. "I've seen enough for one day." The fingers, the ghoul-things, the bones... He was going to have nightmares about this, but he would put on a brave face. He was tired of being weak.

...

"The emissaries from the other Shield Kingdoms will be here tomorrow." The Quarass announced when they returned. "That gives us a day to find the largest chest of holding and the best items to fill it with."

"What? We can't just... rob the dead!" Trey protested.

"They don't need it anymore, and what doesn't get taken by us will be picked up by others or buried in the sand." The Quarass moved around the area looking intently at chest after chest.

"That one is trapped." Gazi commented.

"So valuables or contraband." The small girl pulled out some thin metal tools and bent down in front of the lock. "No reason for a trap otherwise, and while the sole export from the Carven City might have been controlled elsewhere, it would be far too cheap to worry about securing it here."

Trey frowned, but said no more. Stealing from the dead felt wrong, but it was a victimless crime. Even if their valuables should go to their next of kin, he wasn't so naive to think that was a realistic possibility.

"Adventurers do this all the time after monster attacks, and this qualifies. Their are certain rules, but technically the goods were in the hands of the creatures. It was them who stole all this, not us."

Trey glanced at Gazi, but didn't reply. As long as it wasn't a kidnapped child in the chest or something equally horrible, then it really wasn't a big deal. It just didn't seem... respectful, but nothing else about this was any better.

With a click, the lid on the chest swung open.

"Alchemy supplies." The Quarass pulled vial after vial from the box. "Potions, reagents, brewing equipment... Nothing of great value, but also not worthless either. The chest itself is the most valuable thing." She straightened up. "Also no clues as to the cause of the destruction. Pity. I was hoping to find the belongings of a [Saboteur] instead of an [Alchemist]."

The two women spent the next hour examining the items left in the tent, but found nothing of much interest. Trey took the opportunity to practice his magic. It was coming more easily for him, but he still had no illusions about how well he'd do in an actual fight.

Sand pulled itself together as he shaped it into a smaller version of Gazi. It swung its sword at invisible opponents as he directed it. Mini-Gazi was faster and stronger than the other golems he'd tried to make, but it was still... unimpressive.

It was more like a child waving a stick around than any real threat, but he recalled how Gazi had moved against the cannibals. Her flowing motions that in turn fed momentum into her sword swings. He kept that memory in mind and focused on moving Minizi the same way.

By the time he was called back into the tent, Trey felt that he had made some progress. Sand was good for quickly forming golems, but it didn't have the leverage against itself that was required for quick movements.

"Nothing." The Quarass sounded disappointed. "No clues apart from the unfortunate people themselves, and their fate is easily explained by inhaling too much smoke. We still do not know how such a fire started, or how it managed to destroy the city."

"There was a second patch on the ground to the east." Gazi added. "There might be more even further."

The small girl shaded her eyes with her hand and looked up at the sky. "We have a few hours of daylight left. Let's fly that way and see what there is to see."

So back on the rug they got, along with the chest. It actually was a pleasant addition, as it gave Trey something to lean up against. The Quarass sat at the front and pulled on the rug's tassels to guide it into the air and away from the sun. It might not set for hours, but it was still low enough that flying towards the east made their shadows stretch out long and far on the sand beneath them.

"What about the large pit? Isn't that the bigger concern?"

"No." The Quarass answered instead. "Lady Pathseeker told me what exists in the depths now. While her main eye is damaged, she still sees more than we do." The small girl paused. "Still, I would like to see it for myself. We can go down there tomorrow if you wish to do so also."

Trey contemplated that for a moment before nodding. He was curious, and if it was safe... "Sure."

"Then we should make the journey after the representatives from the other Shield Countries arrive. They should be here at dawn, which will give us amble time to discuss the fall of Tombhold."

"There it is." Gazi spoke up and pointed over the edge.

The Quarass made the carpet fly lower to the ground as it slowed. They hovered a dozen feet in the air above another wriggling mass on the sand.

"There's a blank spot in the center." Trey commented.

"The first one had one as well." Gazi spoke as one of her eyes focused on the patch of fingers. "This one is slightly bigger, but still basically the same size and shape."

"This is a strange pattern." The Quarass leaned further over the side than Trey would be comfortable with. "From here, I can see the sand beneath them is... melted?"

"Yes."

"What about beneath it?"

"There are more fingers that emerge downwards from the bottom of the plane. They don't move like the ones on top."

"Hmmm..." The small girl sat back. "Almost like roots. Are there any more?"

"Yes." Gazi pointed. "That way, in the same line."

The carpet lurched forward as it accelerated away from one patch of fingers and towards another. Trey stumbled, but Gazi's hand reached out to support him. She smiled at him as he glanced up. "T-thanks."

"Of course." Her expression resumed its usual stoic mask as she turned to face the front of the carpet.

...

"That was number seven." Was it strange that Trey was getting numb to the patches of finger-grass? Was this how Gazi, a Named Adventurer, and the Quarass, who'd lived more lives than he could imagine, saw things? That the fingers were creepy, but that was basically it?

Would they grow to be as big as A’ctelios Salash was? Not that Trey had seen the great 'city', but the hole it had left was certainly massive. It was hard to imagine. Where would they get the sustenance to do so? If this was a forest, then birds or rodents might wander in, but there was no wildlife around.

Or, were they more like plants? Feeding on sunlight? The occasional rain storm? Or even mana itself?

Could they even grow? Whatever they were? Trey didn't-

"The next one is bigger." Gazi said with a grim tone.

"How much bigger?" The Quarass asked from her position at the front of the flying carpet.

"Thousands upon thousands of times bigger."

They continued on, but the Quarass tugged at the carpet to increase their height. Trey crawled forward to get a better view, despite knowing that he'd regret it later.

"It looks the same." The circle was... massive. It had to be at least a mile wide, not that he was a good judge of such things. "The fingers are bending strange, but-"

"Those aren't fingers." Gazi's voice was steel.

"Be ready." The Quarass calmly said as they circled the crime against nature. She didn't seem to dare to fly directly over it, instead opting to gradually slow down as they descended and drew closer.

"They're hands!" Trey gasped.

Hundreds. Thousands. Millions of hands reached out from the ground and grasped in their direction. Each one's skin looked different. Pale. Tanned. Thin. Thick. The heterogeneous mass moved as one as the hands tugged at their 'roots' in a desperate attempt to... what? Grab anyone that came close?

"There's a blank spot in the center." Gazi had drawn her sword. "It's the same size as the smaller ones. Only a foot and a half across."

The Quarass had taken out a mirror and a small crystal and seemed to be... recording? "Are there any more past this, Pathseeker?"

"No." Gazi shook her head while two of her eyes remained fixated on the squirming mass. "None that I can see."

"What do we do?" Trey tried to look away, but he was too stunned.

"We leave." The Quarass stowed away her mirror and grabbed the carpet's tassels again. "This is a job for others. I will tell the remaining Shield Kingdoms what we have seen. They may take action. Or another country."

"Adventurers will come and likely die." Despite the fact that they'd turned around, Trey knew she was still focused on the... whatever that was. "It might be killed or subdued. Or it might be labeled a Death Zone."

"Just adventurers and not, I don't know, armies?"

"Kingdoms do not persist that send their troops to their deaths." The Quarass said from the front. "It depends on what kind of a threat that place turns out to be. Matters outside their borders tend not to attract the attention of most countries."

"But you just said you'd tell the Shield Kingdoms."

"And I will. And they will doubtlessly wish to investigate. If it's a threat to Chandrar, then we will try to rally others, but if it's not..."

"Then you'll do nothing." Just like how no one did anything about Roshal.

"You speak as if it is a simple thing to mobilize an army. Pay and equip them. Feed and support them. Negotiate passage through other lands. All so they can, what? Attempt to hack away at a mass of arms growing from the ground?"

"They could... throw fireballs from far away or something."

"Adventurers will doubtlessly try that, once a proper bounty is posted."

Trey pouted. He wished there was another word for it. Or that he wasn't self-aware enough to know what he was doing. Or that he could react in another way. It was just... so frustrating. They were right, of course. This wasn't even like the issue of [Slaves]. There was no one alive to save.

Just... evil that was allowed to exist because it would be too much work to remove.

...

Trey went to bed angry, and woke up angry.

The groups from the two other Shield Kingdoms arrived, but he didn't feel like talking with any of them. It wasn't like he'd be allowed in on their discussion anyways. Instead, he continued to practice his golem making. Minizi was quicker than before as he urged her to move and swing her sword faster and faster.

She was also weaker - breaking apart over and over again.

"Trey." He turned around at the Quarass's voice. "Come. We're going to descend into the canyon, and I have some armor for you to wear."

The small girl's tone was impassive. He could argue, but what would be the point. He wanted to see what was down there just as much as anyone else who wasn't Gazi. The Half-Gazer had remained his constant shadow while he'd been working on his magic. Both of them followed the Quarass to the flying carpet, where a thick gambeson was laying for him.

"Why do I need armor? I thought it was safe. Are the others coming with us?" Trey didn't enjoy wearing the 'light' armor. It might have been made of cloth, but it was thick, heavy, and rough. Even over his robes, it still scratched his wrists.

"They will look in their own time." The Quarass replied as the carpet rose into the air. Trey noticed that the chest of holding they'd stolen wasn't on it. "The sun will illuminate the bottom of it for several hours and there's no rush. I thought it might help take your mind off of everything else. And while it's safe, it's still an unexplored location. I mean no disrespect for Lady Pathseeker, but there are dangers even she can't see coming."

Trey grunted, but didn't disagree with her. Gazi had said the chasm was safe, but an ounce of precaution and all that. They flew down into it and he couldn't help but marvel at the sight. No strange fingers or arms. Just a breath-taking view of sand that looked like a massive layered cake. The sand at the top shifted and spilt down with the winds, but beneath it there were sections of stone he couldn't identify.

Green. Yellow. Red. It was almost like being in the inside of a rainbow. Even the air felt different. Not as dry as... He leaned over the edge and saw it.

Water.

Not just a little. Here, protected from the sun, the ground water had seeped into the hole and made. A lake? An oasis? The world's biggest well? It was something wonderful and not-

The carpet flipped one hundred and eighty degrees without warning and Trey fell.

He hung in the air for what seemed like forever, though it could only have been a split second. He saw Gazi's eyes widen in surprise as she grabbed the edge and reached for him, but she'd been too far away!

Trey plummeted, and Gazi let go of the artifact to fall after him.

Then, the carpet twisted in mid-air, circled back with astonishing speed... and caught his protector.

Trey felt an icy cold sensation overcome him as he plunged into the small lake that had formed at the bottom of the hole. It was cold. Far colder than anything in the desert should be. The shock made him open his mouth and try to breathe in to yell.

Water rushed into his lungs. He struggled to swim, but the gambeson absorbed the liquid and weighed him down. The sun up above grew dimmer as he sunk down. He tried to hold his breath, but there was nothing there. Only the water he'd inhaled filling his lungs. The world went black...

Notes:

Bios:

Trey - A teenager from London who arrived in Flos' throne room with his twin sister Teresa. The pair woke the dreaming King of Destruction with stories of another world and became his companions. After Relm defended itself from an alliance of its neighbors, Flos sold the defeated troops to Roshal. This caused a falling out between him and Trey, and Trey and everyone else - including Teresa.

Gazi - Gazi Pathseeker. A Half-Gazer bred in Roshal and bought by Flos at a young age. He freed her and she has served him faithfully ever since. Wears armor crafted by the Half-Dwarven master smiths. Had her main eye poked out by Erin Solstice when she attempted to kidnap her and Ryoka Griffin to bring them back to Relm to wake up her king. Even her four smaller eyes can see through most things - including her own head.

The Quarass - The eternal ruler of Germina. The very first Quarass found a way to be reborn so she could continue to guide her country. Germina is a Shield Kingdom, and while never particularly strong, has always endured. Past Quarasses have varied in their skill, personality, and classes.

Chapter 98: Fallout 4

"Stay your hand, Pathseeker." The Quarass's voice was stern. She might not have any [Ruler] skills to impart her authority into her words, but she still knew how to issue a command that would give anyone pause. "This is not treachery. This is a command from your [King]."

Despite her words, Gazi drew her sword and leveled it at her. "Flos would not have wanted Trey dead."

"And neither do I. It is a simple thing to revive someone after they have drowned for a scant few minutes. It does not require magic, or an artifact, just the knowledge of how to do it." Knowledge she'd learned a dozen lifetimes ago and which had proved useful on countless occasions - outside of Chandrar.

"Explain yourself." Gazi's voice was cold and promised death if not obeyed.

"The path to getting powerful classes is long and hard, or short and dangerous."

"So you've put him in a situation where he might die?"

"Yes." The Quarass turned to look Gazi in her eyes, only one of which was locked on her. "The threat must be real. An acted out farce will only result in being a [Troubadour] or a [Bard]. It is vital that Trey experiences what he thinks is his death if he wishes to get a class that is strong enough to be of use."

"So you drowned him?"

"It is quite the stroke of luck." The Quarass let herself smile. "For sand, the best class evolutions are about combining it with a liquid. That allows for shaped constructs of far greater strength and speed. It also will expand what substances Trey can command. The water from a drowned man that does not have the ocean's blessing offered?" She shook her head. "THAT is potent. Doubly so for the water from an oasis. Triply so for his own [Water of Last Breath]. Ten times as powerful for a body of water untouched by the hand of any other!"

It was such a fortuitous find that she'd been tempted to try drowning herself, if only she could have trusted Gazi or Trey to successfully revive her body. Even without a class that meshed nicely, water powers were always sought after in Chandrar.

In fact, Trey should be thanking her for not going with her first idea.

Gazi's face was as expressive as a stone mask, but she sheathed her sword. "Fine. But if he dies-"

"No need for pointless threats." She moved the carpet so it was a few inches from the newly stilled surface. "You may get his body now. We'll need to go up above for the next part before I resuscitate him."

Gazi dove into the water. Despite her armor and the lack of light, she would have no trouble saving the boy. The Quarass was completely certain about that. Sure enough, after only eleven seconds had passed, Trey's soggy and lifeless body was heaved out of the water and onto the artifact.

That was the only real flaw in her plan. It was best to not get flying carpets wet.

She guided the carpet back to the top as only someone with centuries of practice could. As soon as they passed the edge of the hole, she had it hover just above the ground so it would be easier to collect what was currently inside of his lungs. The more water that came from inside of Trey the better. She didn't want to dilute his [Water of Last Breath].

"Lady Pathseeker, please form a pile of sand right there by the edge."

The Half-Gazer grudgingly obeyed, and the Quarass set about reviving the boy from another world. She'd spent more than one life as a [Healer]. It had been vital to understand how to non-magically repair the body, especially when magic had died.

It was a shame so few understood that, or how to save a drowning victim. True, most [Sailors] and [Pirates] just took the offer of the deep, so the need wasn't truly that vital... but still.

She checked his mouth for obstructions and tilted his head to ensure the neck was straight and air and fluids could pass in and out. Then, she inhaled deeply and forced her breath into his mouth. The Quarass then put her hands on his chest and pushed down with all her might.

Hmm...

She was still used to a bigger body. Her current form lacked the strength and mass to solidly compress Trey's chest. A part of her worried that she wouldn't be able to backup her claims. That would be serious trouble and might mean the end of her current life - if the way Gazi was staring at her meant what she thought it meant.

The Quarass pushed her doubts aside and repeated the process. Breathe for Trey. Compress his chest. Take a mouthful of healing potion and force it down his throat. Over and over. Perhaps she should have Gazi do one half of this? She was bigger and stronger... and would probably either crush Trey's ribcage or be too worried about that and thus be less effective.

Also, while it looked like she was kissing the child, the true purpose was to force air into his lungs. Gazi might mess that up too without proper training or practice. No. She'd just have-

Trey coughed.

The Quarass quickly turned his head so the watery froth that escaped from his mouth splattered over the sand pile Gazi had made.

"Trey!"

"Give us a moment more, Lady Pathseeker." She commanded as she positioned Trey's body while elevating the carpet high enough for it to act as a place to sit. The boy bent over and emptied his stomach on the sand pile that was now between his feet. "Trey! Focus on the sand! You need to take control of it if you want to live! Form it into a golem! Let the sand and water mix!"

That was a lie, of course, his life wasn't in the balance. It was clear that he needed the guidance and motivation to do this last step. The Quarass found the threat of death a good incentive for people that were dazed and confused. She looked up at Gazi and gave a subtle nod of her head.

The Half-Gazer sighed. "You need to do it, Trey." She clearly wasn't enthusiastic, but was also pragmatic enough to not let the situation be for naught. "Form the sand."

Trey dry heaved. Seeing as there was no more water to expel, The Quarass brought a potion to his lips and forced it down. "Drink." His throat and chest were no doubt in quite a lot of pain, and the potion would ease it so he could focus. "That's good. Now you need to form the sand. Make a golem and you can rest."

Trey glared at her for a moment before turning his attention to the sand. It drew together and formed a humanoid shape. It was rough at first, but the features sharpened until it looked like a miniature Gazi. The creature raised up its sword and swung at her.

The Quarass calmly kicked it away.

It held its form. "Good job. Now lay back and focus on breathing."

"Why?" Trey's breath was ragged as he reclined on the carpet. "Why did you do that?"

She could've played the [Fool] and asked if he meant saving his life, but his intention was clear. "To give you a class. [Sand Mage] can grow in many ways. With this, you should at least become a [Sand and Water Mage]. A [Mage of Breath] or something similar would be better. Making golems will become much easier for you, and you should be able to expand your scope to at least water and mud. Though your soaked sand will be far more potent than regular wet dirt."

"I hate you." There wasn't much strength in his voice, but Trey also wasn't lacking resolve.

The Quarass ignored him. Her plan had worked perfectly. He would get a better class, and be less likely to die in future battles. Flos would be happy.

---

"What now?" Trey fumed as he made Minizi again. It was easier and easier each time. The Sand moved and flowed with speed and strength. It pissed him off that the Quarass's casual disregard for his life seemed to have actually worked in providing him power.

"The conference is wrapping up. We'll head to the north." Gazi stayed further away than normal.

"So it's just back to Relm? Back to being trapped in the castle?"

"No." She shook her head. "We're heading towards Tiqr. This will be the part of our journey that you'll play a larger role in."

"Oh? So my drowning wasn't my reason for being here?" He couldn't keep the heat from his voice, nor did he care to try.

"Trey." Gazi's voice softened. "I had no idea what the Quarass's plans were. She had no idea that there was a lake where A’ctelios Salash once stood when we set off. This was not a planned event. Her actions were... severe, but they did prove to be beneficial."

"I hate her." He clenched his fists. "And you just watched!"

"I leapt after you." She put her hand on his shoulder. "But she managed to delay me long enough for her to speak. It... was a difficult choice. I knew she would use the carpet to harass me, and that I would have to kill her to get to you. If she was false, I would have done so, but my [King] trusts her and so I chose to believe her words."

"She could have warned me!" He felt tears forming in his eyes. He felt them more precisely and vividly than he should have been able to.

"She told me the threat must be real to gain the proper class. Knowing of it beforehand would have made her actions moot."

"Then she shouldn't have done it! I didn't want that!" He looked at the mini Gazi he'd made. "I don't want this!" He kicked it, but instead of spraying across the ground, Minizi only stumbled back slightly. His foot had left a dent, but it quickly smoothed out without any thought or effort on his part.

"The Quarass knows how to lead her kingdom. How to make it strong. How to shape her people into blades for her to use." Gazi paused and let out a sigh. "But I do not think she remembers what it's like to be mortal. She has absolute confidence in what she does because she's done it countless times before. She will not be swayed by either your anger or your tears."

"So... what? I should just accept it?"

"Yes." He looked up at her in shock. "The weak must learn to accept that they are weak. It's the only way for them to grow stronger. The Quarass would not try something like that against me or the other seven - even if she considered such an action appropriate or necessary."

"Because you're strong."

"Yes." Gazi nodded. "She's been strong and weak. Strength is something she respects. If she didn't, her country would not have survived for as long as it has."

"So I should just suck it up?" That pissed him off, but it also made him want to prove himself. To prove that he could do it.

"That's for you to decide. I would not waste her 'gift'. Take the class when it's offered. Make it yours. The Quarass may have helped you get it, but it is YOUR class, not hers. Remember that."

"Alright."

Trey still didn't talk to her as he got back on the carpet. Nor did the Quarass speak to him. They flew away from the ruins of A’ctelios Salash in silence.

...

[Sand Mage Level 18!]

[Skill – Create Water Golems obtained!]

[Skill – Create Admixture Golems obtained!]

[Skill – Imbue With Breath obtained!]

...

"So what's going to happen?" Trey decided to be the bigger person and speak first. He was still angry, and refused to accept that what the Quarass had done had been for his benefit, but he was also bored.

Plus, he didn't want to let things fester. Not like how his relationship with Flos had. Not with Gazi.

"The Southern City States have been notified. It's up to them to deal with the... areas."

"Will they be able to?"

"Who knows? The size of the large one is impressive, but it's no A’ctelios Salash. It can be contained, if not killed. I doubt anyone will try the same approach as the former residents." She paused. "No. On second thought, many most assuredly will. It will be eaten in hopes for powers, which means it will be sought after and regulated. I predict two cities will arise."

"Two?"

She nodded. "Yes, Trey, two. One to farm and contain the flesh garden-"

"That's horrible!"

The Quarass turned and gave him an impassive look. "Oh? So you're now objecting to that as well? The likelihood of [Slaves] being used is non-existent. The flesh of A’ctelios Salash is banned in Roshal for good reason."

"Because [Slaves] would eat it and break free." Trey replied darkly. A glimmer of a plan formed, but was immediately discarded. It wasn't like he was a [Smuggler], and who would eat fingers anyways?

"The gift of A’ctelios Salash always gives power, but rarely doesn't exact a worse price. But, yes. [Slaves] would be far more eager to make such a deal. Many would be desperate enough to not care that it would end in their deaths one way or another."

Trey didn't know what to make of an arm-harvesting city, even if by its very nature it didn't have [Slaves]. "You said two cities."

"Yes, the other one will be much more contentious."

"How so?"

"With some work, the chasm where Tombhold once stood will be a thriving city. The council of Merreid had decided to aid it with a simple wall - to keep the sand out. While it won't be as impressive as the walls of the Labyrinth City, it will suffice to keep nature from reclaiming things until the war is over."

"The war? What war? Aren't we too far away for Relm to march?"

She gave him a condescending smile. "Not a war involving the King of Destruction. Not yet."

"Then who?"

The Quarass shrugged. "Whomever wishes to build a city around the largest oasis on Chandrar. All the neighboring countries will want the location. Even far-off places like Nerrhavia's Fallen, Roshal, and the Empire of Sands might try for it. Or at least they would if it wasn't for Flos to the north. No, the most likely participants will be the closest kingdoms. They all have the most to gain with a expansion, and the most to lose with new ownership of an old trading spot."

---

I felt a little bad about not doing anything, y'know, magical around Teura. My Oversaturated debuffs would worsen if I exerted myself, and even if they wouldn't, I didn't have anything I wanted to Craft with mana. I have five new skills from my destruction of A’ctelios Salash, and none of them screamed 'use me' - either as a Skill themselves or as something to sacrifice to something else.

Plus, I was really resource shy at the moment.

I'd basically stripped the battlefield bare of scrap. I'd head over to the desert to Craft simple components from sand, but there wasn't really a need for that. I'd gone and made a dozen tiny hidden bases that were buried below and drained away sand and Crafted video games.

Only, this time, my machines were for stock-piling and replenishing my Inventory instead of providing entertainment to the masses. While I couldn't automate the final Tinkertech construction, I could get plenty of electronics I could use as the components for most everything.

Naturally, it was slower than doing it in person, but this way I only had to head out with Sibby once to plant the seeds. I'd use a buried teleportation pad when I came back to gather the fruits of my labor. Each plant could convert several tons of sand before running out of space to store the finished goods.

It would take a little less than ten days for that to happen, so I basically needed to go around gathering the end product once a week. A dozen sand dunes vanishing every week would become noticeable after a while, but my harvester units would only need a month or so before I was topped off again - at least with raw materials. I still needed to Craft the video games into bombs, suits, lasers, pylons, and the like.

This was especially important because I could add 'Inventory' to those things and allow them to become much smaller cubes for storage. My carrying capacity wasn't exactly limiting these days, but keeping ones Inventory tidy was a skill like any other.

At least Teura seemed content to watch the Crafting process, even if it didn't contain any magic.

She was upfront about wanting to gain an [Apprentice] class that could grant her versions of my own Skills. With time, said class could consolidate and turn her into... something. Neither of us knew what the outcome might be, but as an Half-Elf, she was patient.

That was probably also why she was fine spending her time studying the Blight. Her 'teacher' had told her to do it, and by following my instructions, she leveled [Apprentice]. It seemed exploitative to me, but it was what she wanted.

So... okay, I guess?

I wondered if this was one of the reasons why feudalistic governments were the apparent norm on this world. The main reason had to be that a singularly powerful [King] or [Queen] could elevate a country significantly. However, the idea that people got tangible rewards for working for them?

If I cared more about politics, I could probably write a paper or something. Possibly come up with a way to manipulate the system. But games that relied on predicting how other people behaved were too random and not very fun. It was one thing to develop a winning strategy, it was another to convince others about the merits of your ideas.

I finished Crafting a spare suit of power armor, which used up the most of the raw materials I'd brought back from the desert.

"Interesting." Teura slowly walked around it. "Is it safe to touch?"

"It is." I paused at the un-voiced question. "Go ahead." I motioned. "It's much smoother than it looks."

The Half-Elf ran her fingers over it while I yawned and stretched - not because I was tired or sore, it just felt like the appropriate thing to do after standing still for an hour. I was essentially pantomiming what I would do without Gamer's Body. Plus, it did have a psychological effect, so it wasn't just play-acting.

I checked my status.

[Debuffs:
Oversaturatedx10]

Hm. I frowned. I should've lost another one by now, it had been more than a day with no change. That meant that I needed to do something proactive. But what?

"What is it?" Teura looked up from my armor.

"What's what?"

"Something is bothering you."

I crossed my arms. "What makes you say that?" I was certain I hadn't given anything away with body language. I didn't really have 'tells'.

"[Master's Status]." She tilted her head. "Ah, there it goes again! Am I annoying you?"

"No, no, nothing like that." I ran a hand through my hair. "It's just that 'Master' has a special meaning on Earth Bet."

"It's taboo?"

"In a sense. Mainly in relation to people being called that under the context of using powers to compel humans to do things."

"Ah, I understand." She nodded. "I'll try not to blindly obey you, and also to not say 'Master'."

**Teura is amused.

I gave her a flat look. "I can tell when you're being cheeky, you know."

"What? Me?"

**Teura is mischievous.
**Teura is slightly defiant.

"Yes. You."

"Fine." She smiled slightly. "But you should tell me what's on your mind that has you worried. That's one of the things an [Apprentice] is supposed to pick up on."

Hm. She was a talented [Mage], and my Oversaturated debuffs were a magical problem.

"I'm not healing from using too much magic as fast as I should be."

"Oh?"

"The rate has slowed down." I flexed my hand as I felt at the... presence of mana inside of me. I'd gotten pretty good with moving it around to specific locations within me from all the practice I'd gotten forcing it into my hand so Sibby could eat it and help me drain my... whatever it was that you called the structures that held mana within me. "I should be almost recovered by now, but my healing seems to have stalled."

**Teura is concerned.

"That's unfortunate. The standard method for dealing with too much mana is to use magicore to pull it out. But..."

"But?"

"Your body is different, Archmage."

"That's true." I let out a breath. "Still, we can try. I'll make a few different potions and send them to Wistram in exchange for some raw magicore."

**Teura is eager.

"What kind of potions?"

"Hmmm..." A smile spread across my face as I got an idea. "I'll try... mana potions!"

**Teura is confused.

"Okay?"

"It's killing two birds with one stone." I paused before continuing. Should I tell her this? It wasn't much of a secret, and I'd accepted her as my [Apprentice]... "I'll concentrate my mana into a finger, cut it off, and then use that as..."

**Teura is disgusted.

"Perhaps a different way? Two birds with two stones?"

"Okay, okay." It was probably for the best anyways, since I needed Sibby to do the actual amputation and she would want to eat the remains herself. "But what should I use instead? What's rich in mana that I can experiment with to see if my idea works?"

"Weaker mana potions?" Teura offered. "I could go buy some for you. Even after a war they should be plentiful enough."

"Ah, good point." I nodded. "Okay."

Teura smiled and left towards the transporter room.

I wasn't sure what my end goal with this was. Ideally I'd get a more potent mana potion that would be worth something in trade. I'd done similar experiments with Archmage Viltach where I'd used Power Drain to transfer mana from one piece of magicore to another to effectively supercharge it.

It was possible that the same method could be used to make a higher quality mana potion.

Or not.

They were alchemical creations after all, not batteries like magicore. It was apples and oranges. Similar, but hard to compare exactly.

Besides, I couldn't exactly use Power Drain with mana at the moment anyways. Not without exacerbating my wound. Crafting, however, was different. Without sacrificing a Skill to it, it didn't use mana anyways. And while I certainly wasn't about to lose a skill to make a single potion, it was possible that I might learn a new Crafting 'recipe'.

It may or may not wind up as economically viable. I had little insight into the profit margins of [Alchemists] or how potion strength related to price. Even if it cost more than the equivalent [Alchemist]-made potion, that wasn't the point. I just needed something that the [Mages] in Wistram would trade for. Money wasn't really an issue.

Of course, by that note, I could try and trade money for magicore directly. That should also work, but you couldn't get the best materials in the magical academy with cash. Rare resources or knowledge were the only way to get the best items.

...

"Here you are, Archmage." Teura handed me a clinking bag.

"Did you run into any problems?"

"No. Half-Elves are a common enough sight even in Tiqr."

"Oh?"

"Chandrar might be known for it's large Stringpeople population, and while Humans, Garuda, and Beastkin outnumber us, Half-Elves are not such an rare sight."

"Hm." I nodded. "And the countries that attacked didn't field Half-Elves either."

"Exactly." She nodded. "But I do know several Spells that I could've used to move about more easily if it came down to it, but that wasn't the case."

"Alright. Time to experiment."

Teura moved to the wall and sat on a bench while I browsed my Crafting recipes. The obvious one to use was my Mana Potion blueprint, which was really just an energy drink that I added Meditation to. Infusing Skills into food didn't grant knowledge or ability. It granted the benefit. Thus, Meditation provided MP.

A small vortex appeared and I fed it two mana potions, vial and all. I slotted the pixels in place out of habit. I'd made sooooo many of these that I could do it in my sleep almost. Half a minute later, I was holding a pixelated vial.

Note to self: don't include the vials in either the materials or the end result. It would be more convenient to simply re-use the glass vials. More efficient too. Now, let's see what the end result is.

[Mana Potion]

I need more detail than that, but I don't want to push mana into Observe to get it.

"It worked, but I can't say how well it did."

"Please allow me, Archmage." Teura gracefully stood up and walked over before taking the potion from my hand. She uncorked it, sniffed it, and then poured a drop onto her palm. Well, a cube, not a drop, but while it looked strange, it reacted like an actual drop of liquid.

She re-corked the potion and placed it in one of her pockets before using her free hand to swirl the 'drop' around on her skin. The pressure was too much, and the pixelation effect broke. Teura continued to spread the blue liquid for a few moments before scooping it up and rubbing it between her fingers and thumb.

She sniffed it again, and then licked it off the tips of her fingers. She winced.

"Well."

"It tastes disgusting, but that's to be expected." She closed her eyes. "Yes. I can feel a tiny bit of mana coming from it."

"Excellent!"

"Indeed. Now we should go to the spell room so I can cast enough to need a potion."

The spell room was really just a storage closet. A large storage closet that was reinforced because one never knew exactly what one might wish to store. Teura had commandeered it as a safe location to practice offensive magic.

If we get more [Mages] from Wistram, I'd be sure to include a more interactive location for practicing magic when I expanded the base.

"[Valmira's Comet]." A scintillating orb formed briefly in front of Teura before crossing the space between her and the wall in a flash. A rainbow explosion of cascading light rippled from the impact point.

Despite the flashy effect, it didn't leave a mark. My base didn't have any resistances, but that didn't matter to magic. What it did have was a rather large HP pool, as befitting a structure instead of a person. It could also regenerate - at the cost of its MP reserve, but that was a far smaller drain on its resources than the teleporter.

"[Valmira's Comet]." Teura launched another projectile after the first. It made me a little jealous. I didn't have that Spell, and thus couldn't experiment to see just how much mana it cost even if I was willing to use mana in my current state. Still, I got the impression that just one contained about half as much mana as I had stored in my body.

And that amount was a good ten or twenty times more than how much mana I'd started with!

Then again, my impression was based on how much my 'soul' hurt from being close to the spell while it was invoked. So I could be wildly off the mark. Even if I was, the implication was clear. Without Optimize's help, I wouldn't be working with mana at all, but that was hardly a new phenomenon.

In fact, I was fairly certain that the Grand Design of Isthekenous was doing the same thing for every single spell-caster on this planet to a lesser extent. [Mages] clearly understood principles of magic, but there were aspects of Spells that... just worked.

"Okay." Teura nodded and then drained the potion I'd made.

**Teura is disgusted.

"And?"

She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. "It's a mid-grade potion." She smiled as she opened her eyes to look at me. "I'd say that about a quarter of the mana was lost, but that still means it's of a much higher potency of the base potions! You could make some high-grade potions for a fraction of the price an [Alchemist] would charge!"

"Good." I smiled back. "In fact, I think I can do even better." Not with how much mana they could contain. Only trial and error would see how much Crafting could compress potions. Even if it didn't have a limit, [Mage]'s did. A potion that contained more mana than a person had would be poison.

No. The main draw was that I could experiment with the MP part and leave the mana to the materials. MP might be important, but if it wasn't, I could make potions that actually tasted good. It took so many points when making food to imbue them with an effect. Even with my high level in Cooking, I couldn't really combine taste and function-

Threat Sense triggered.

I wasn't about to be attacked or anything, but someone was watching me. Someone aside from Teura that was.

Chapter 99: Fallout 5

"Let me try Crafting a few more. I'd like to try some alterations to see how it affects the final product." While I was speaking to Teura, I was wondering who else was watching me. Or, rather, observing me. Threat Sense didn't give a sense of if someone was listening or looking - just that they were aware of me.

While Threat Sense was a tremendous upgrade over Danger Sense, as well it should be considering where I'd gotten it from, it wasn't all-powerful. Like most precognition, opposing Thinkers could mess with it. Anyone who could also perceive the future, even if not to the extent I could, altered it.

Then there was the fact that it was a purely defensive skill, just like the Danger Sense it had evolved from. I saw what was going to happen to me, but not what the cause was. Most of the time, this was mostly irrelevant. I got hit by a fireball from behind meant that was where the attack came from. People looking at me didn't provide clues like that.

But, since Threat Sense was both awareness of being observed and of the future, it wasn't hard to use it to tell if I was going to be observed in the future. It took some practice to fully intend to do something, get a sense of what would happen, and then not do what I'd just decided on. By meaning to move and making note of where I wouldn't be seen, I could extrapolate where my watchers were.

It broke down when the number of hidden observers got past two or three, since it became much more complex to figure out which actions resulted in which ones of them not being able to see me. With only one spy, I could do it easily enough.

If I pressed myself against the north wall, there would still be two people watching me. Same for the east, west, and south walls. Teleporting to a different room in my base dropped the number down to one, but since one of the two clearly is Teura, that didn't help. Same for teleporting above ground. I would still be watched by one person.

There was, perhaps, a brief flicker where the observation would lapse, but that was it.

Okay. Fine.

"Is everything okay, Archmage?"

"Yes, yes, I'm just thinking. Please excuse me." I nodded at Teura and walked out of the room.

"Of course."

Now I was down to just one observer... then Teura exited the storage room and I was up to two again. She went the other way, and I was back down to one.

Let's see... hiding?

No. No matter where I crouched down or what I un-Inventoried to block potential line-of-sight, I was still seen.

Distance?

If I walked into the teleportation room and went to Wistram... success!

That's one limitation. I could work with that. I sat myself down on the pad and closed my eyes. I wanted to give whomever was watching me as little information as possible, but I could still only sense so far into the future. I didn't know if they knew what the teleportation pad was, but they might be wondering what I was doing.

Acting nonchalant while intending to do really strange things was tricky.

I didn't have any sound-negating forcefield pylons, so I couldn't test for an audio bug. Or rather, someone listening. Devices didn't count as being 'observed'. The most likely situation was someone using a power or spell to scry me, except that should be impossible from what I knew of scrying.

We were underground and my Black Box was using the burnt out scrying orb to intercept those sorts of spells. That didn't mean there wasn't a magical option that I wasn't aware of. By their own admission the Archmages of Wistram were not like the [Archmages] of old. There were high level magics that I knew nothing about.

For that matter, there was also the Grand Design and Optimize. I knew for a fact that both of them were 'watching' me, but they didn't set off Threat Sense, so similarly potent sources could likely also get around it.

In fact, magic was one of those things. Since I wasn't pumping mana into my Perk, this shouldn't be a scrying Spell or other magical surveillance. However, it also wasn't something mundane...

Nope. I was at a lost for what could trigger Threat Sense like this.

Regardless, I had a data point. Wistram was too far. If I teleported to the pad that was close to where I'd fought Nerrhavia's Fallen...

Success!

I wouldn't be seen immediately - at least not in the brief future that Threat Sense showed.

Without a destination pad, the range for the teleportation pad was similar to my own. It just used its stored MP instead of mine. Technically, I didn't need line of sight. I could teleport 'up' a given distance. While doing so was relatively safe, I didn't like it, but I could still test it.

Teleporting to the surface got me seen.

So did teleporting a dozen feet in the air.

One mile?

Two miles?

Three miles?

At five miles I wasn't seen.

Threat Sense still didn't show any attacks, so... time for testing distance. A mile in the air to the north? To the east? To the west? To the south? Two miles? Three?

A pattern was emerging. It took less distance to the north to escape detection. More to the east or the west, and I hadn't found an escape to the south at all. That meant that whatever was watching me was probably in that direction. I considered how far north I'd have to go to escape...

Huh.

A distance that had worked before failed. That meant that something was changing. It could be any number of things, but the most likely situation was that my observer was approaching. They were probably doing so pretty quick for me to notice such a drastic change in their range.

Still, I'd been motionless long enough for Expansion to extend the range of Inventory past the confines of the underground base.

I un-Inventoried my Golden Sphere and connected to it with my Babel Perks.

My senses expanded. The drone had far better sensory capabilities than my human self - Gamer's Body or not. I toggled both its invisibility and intangibility options and directed it to the south. It was fast and didn't take long to find my target - especially considering how fast the flying carpet was moving in the opposite direction.

At least I assumed it was my target. Nothing else stood out. I had the sphere stay a good mile back while I observed the carpet's passengers. Given their speed, they'd be here in less than a minute, probably half of that, so I didn't have time for much more than a once-over.

On the front was a small girl. She looked younger than Riley, but not by much. She wore expensive-looking robes and several pieces of jewelry. Dark skin, black hair in a widow's peak, yellow eyes. She sat cross-legged and with good posture as she gripped the tassels on the front of their magical vehicle.

At the rear was a teenage boy. His back was pressed against a large chest. His robes were less embellished, but still looked well-made. No jewelry, but he had a staff across his lap. Dark blond hair and fair skin meant that he probably wasn't from Chandrar. He was saying something, but with the distance and wind it was impossible to pick up.

The large figure in the center of the carpet was the most distinctive. She wore armor that hugged her skin, or was actual scales. It was a darker shade of orange-brown than her head, which made me think it wasn't a part of her body. Her face had one huge eye that was closed and four smaller eyes - two to each side. One eye looked back at the drone, another looked forward and down. One spun wildly in its socket, while the last one was pure white.

It probably was blind or focused on something behind her to to the side.

The rest of her body was just slightly off. No nose. Four fingers. An extra-joint in her arms. Black dreadlocks that whipped behind her in the wind.

She drew the sword from her back, but made no other offensive move. Aside from approaching my base while staring at me from miles away. Any possibility of this not being their destination were dashed as the carpet slowed down as it approached the blighted area - and one of her eyes remained focused on my body inside my base.

I pulled the drone back so it was right above me at ground-level, and then I teleported. I appeared standing up in my armor as I pulled a little teleportation trick to re-adjust my position while simultaneously un-Inventorying my costume. I Inventoried the Golden Sphere and watched as the carpet landed a few hundred feet from me.

Out of reflex, I Observed each of them as they dismounted and began to walk towards me.

[Human]

[Human/Gazer Hybrid

Debuffs: Physical Deformity]

[Trey Atwood

Gender: Male
Age: 16
Race: Human
Faction: Relm
Origin: The Grand Design of Isthekenous.

Born and raised in London. Grew up with his twin sister Teresa.

Debuffs:
Nostalgia Block
Blocked Senses]

Interesting.

First, that was confirmation he was from Earth. Once Observe had started working 'properly', it still didn't provide many details without the aid of magic. It did have information from people who'd originated on Earth-Iota. Like all non-parahumans, the details were sparse because, well, I think Optimize just didn't care.

XXXXX XXXXX

Regardless, it made identifying them easy without even going into the details. Anyone who had a bio at all was originally from somewhere else. Add onto that, the 'Nostalgia Block' and 'Blocked Senses' were two debuffs that everyone from Earth shared.

Well, not me because Gamer's Mind had negated them, and not Sibby because she was the Siberian and naturally immune to stuff like that. Everyone normal had them. I wasn't sure if it was a natural side effect from whatever magic had kidnapped them - to make them more compliant. Or if it was something the Grand Design did for some reason.

My money was on both. If you were summoning people, making them less home-sick would go a long way towards... well, whatever evil scheme they were pawns in. That was assuming that the trans-dimensional displacements were, in fact, intended and not a side effect or a random natural occurrence. Blocked Senses on the other hand seemed like a good way to hide details about the leveling system.

The one flaw with my theory was that no other people aside from Earthers had 'Blocked Senses'. That could be due to it being their default state? Or time since they were part of the Grand Design? Or lack of data on Optimize's side? Or something completely different entirely.

In any case, it wasn't relevant at the moment. What was relevant was that Trey was aligned with the King of Destruction. That, in and of itself, wasn't good or bad. If he was coerced or enslaved, then I would have another new target. If he'd just chosen to follow Flos?

Whatever.

I wasn't his parent. People can chose whatever the hell they want. I was here to save them, not to force them to support one native over another.

I wasn't picking up any nervousness or fear from him, mainly just awe and excitement... and I was pretty sure that was directed at me. My armor tended to have that effect on civilians.

...And that explained why he was here. Of course some Earthers that had integrated into a society would tell them about Earth. Naturally when I made my debut, those in the know would be told about video games if they hadn't been before.

While I was thinking, the trio walked towards me. Slow enough that I wouldn't think it was an attack, but fast enough that the small girl had to move quickly to keep up with the longer strides of the other two.

"Hello. Are you seeking me?" I sensed no anger or hatred, so this didn't seem like a prelude to an attack.

Contrary to what I expected, it was the girl that stepped forward and bowed before speaking first. "Greetings, Pixel, Archmage of Cubes. I am the Quarass of Germina, here on behalf of Flos Reimarch of Reim. The King of Destruction. Beside me are-"

"Gazi Pathseeker." I interrupted her. I'd naturally read up on the remaining number of the King of Destruction's Seven. Two had died in his war long ago, Wistram held Amerys, the Empire of Sand had reportedly killed Drevish, but the rest of them were at Flos' side again. Optimize had identified her as a Human/Gazer Hybrid, which was essentially all I knew of the former Named Adventurer Gazi Pathseeker. Generally speaking, it wasn't easy putting a name to a description, even with a face like hers - doubly so since I'd never met a 'Gazer' before, but given the evidence I had - the conclusion was a simple one. "And Trey Atwood."

**The Quarass is surprised.
**Gazi is surprised.
**Trey is surprised.

I smiled underneath my armor as my conversational gambit paid off. They expected me to know Gazi, but the fact that I knew Trey's name, first and last, was clearly not knowledge they thought I would have.

To be fair, I hadn't possessed it a moment ago. Sure, his name and details were in the list Dragon had compiled, but that didn't include pictures.

"You are well informed, Archmage." The Quarass nodded her head. Her and Gazi's faces had remained impassive, clearly experienced in schooling their emotions. "We bring a message from his Majesty. He has tasked us with bringing it to you."

"What sort of a message?"

"A short one with a long explanation."

"Hm." I stared at them a moment. Trey fidgeted, but the two women stood calmly. "Then I shall receive you inside my base. In truth, I am curious about the King of Destruction and would have sought him out in time, so this meeting is both fortuitous and inevitable." I took a step back to the edge of the teleportation platform that was buried in the dirt and motioned them to move forward.

Gazi moved first. She stepped past the Quarass and Trey and stood at the very edge opposite me. The other two moved to her sides. They had confusion notifications, but Gazi clearly knew what was hidden beneath their feet. Undoubtedly she could both see it and surmise its purpose considering that I remained on it.

I wondered what else did her eyes see?

---

Gazi felt shock as her group was teleported into the [Archmage]'s subterranean base. While she had expected it, the fact that the action used zero mana rattled her. One of her greatest advantages as a [Scout] and a Half-Gazer was her ability to literally see magic forming.

It was especially disconcerting since Pixel only possessed the mana pool of a high bronze adventurer. That was normal enough except he was an [Archmage].

Assuming the creature underneath the armor was in fact Pixel. His body was made of incredibly fine cubes. She hadn't even been able to tell until she was this close to him. It was like Trey's phone, or the 'Samus' person he was dressed as - a 'video game'.

It had to be a Skill, but the real question was: was that really Pixel? Or was it a golem or other simulacrum?

His mana certainly looked natural. She'd never encountered a golem that had damaged magical ability before. Even higher powered Undead had intact mana vessels.

Could that be the reason for his abyssal pool size? Was he keeping it low to try and heal? Had the fight with the armies worn him out that much? So much that the one-on-one conflict with the Djinni had hurt him far more than anyone would've guessed?

He must have exacerbated his injuries by continuing to attack Nerrhavia's Fallen until they finally retreated. Perhaps that was why he was in his current form.

Yes. The more she looked, the clearer she could see it. He was healing. His right arm and the sides of his head were strangely doing better. That wasn't something an artificial body would do. She wondered if Pixel even knew? It looked so lop-sided and haphazard...

"We can discuss things here." The [Archmage] led them into another room. There was a long table and several chairs. Additionally, there were cubby holes at the sides connected to a large tank in the wall. The tank had more cubes in it. The drawers had utensils for eating.

All the cubes were very disconcerting.

"Thank you, [Archmage]." The Quarass sat at a chair as gracefully as a small child could. Trey was looking around with wide eyes as he sat down. Gazi moved to stand behind him. She was here as a bodyguard, not a [Diplomat].

"Would you like any refreshments?" Pixel asked as he sat down. "I'm sure you must miss something from Earth."

"Wait, what?" Trey looked at him with surprise.

"Go on." Their host nodded. "Ask for any food you want, and it will appear in front of you." His head turned towards the Quarass while his eyes briefly flickered towards Gazi. "I don't have the recipes for all of this world's cuisine, but I suspect you'll be able to get most anything you'd desire too, Quarass."

"You speak freely of Earth, Pixel." The Quarass replied.

"True, but you seem unsurprised, unlike when I revealed I knew young Trey's name."

"Oh? Should I have pretended to be shocked?" She arched an eyebrow. "My understanding is that your very appearance flaunts that fact for all to see."

"Yes, and there are quite a number of people in the world that would recognize my form, aren't there?"

"I'm sure I couldn't say."

Neither of them seemed unfazed by the other one's probing statements. Whatever [Diplomat]-style maneuvering they were doing was going over Gazi's head. If indeed there was a hidden meaning to their words. Of all the Seven, she was perhaps the worst at socializing outside of Flos' presence - and that was saying something. Their conversation was interrupted before she managed to figure out who was winning, or what the prize was.

"Fish and chips. Oh, and cheese on toast with Worcestershire sauce! And some orange juice!" Trey drummed his fingers on the table.

The tank in the wall churned and cubes fed from it into another collection of squares. A plate teleported under it as food materialized on top. The finished product then teleported onto the table in front of Trey. The process repeated with a glass mug and an orange liquid.

"Juice, Trey?" The Quarass raised an eyebrow.

"I haven't had any in forever." He took a sip from the mug and sighed with contentment. Soon he was devouring the food with a gusto. It was interesting how it too was made of cubes, but broke down as it was chewed. Trey didn't comment on any strange texture, which was a little surprising.

"Remarkable, [Archmage]." The Quarass hummed. "Do you have eels and glossberries?"

"I have a number of eel dishes, but I'm afraid that I have yet to sample glossberries or any dishes that might contain them." Pixel paused. "Allow me to provide you with a small sample of eel dishes that might please you instead." Without any movement or magic that Gazi could see, the artifact in the walls activated again and dish after dish appeared in front of the diminutive Quarass. "Brazed eel on rice." Pixel nodded at the bowl that had sticks to the side like Drathian cuisine. "Eel stew." A flat dish with strips of meat mixed with colorful vegetables. "And an eel stuffed with berries, nuts, and spices." The final dish was an intact-looking eel that wrapped around itself so that its tail was in its own mouth. A pot of tea and some cups were the final addition.

Everything was composed of small cubes.

"They look interesting, Pixel. I shall enjoy partaking of a dish I've never eaten before." The Quarass took the sticks that were to the side and began to delicately eat the first dish. She held them in a way that let her both tear into the roasted meat and grab dainty clumps of rice.

Neither her nor Trey seemed concerned about the possibility of poison. Gazi didn't see any, but the strange food could easily be blocking her sight. Trey's gusto seemed more rooted in nostalgia, while the Quarass was a master of poisoncraft. Whether by Skill or artifact, she was doubtlessly protected.

"And you, Gazi?" Pixel's eyes looked up at her from underneath his helmet.

"No, thank you." She didn't want to sit or talk or eat. That wasn't something she was good at or enjoyed.

As if sensing her discomfort, Pixel let the matter drop. He instead made small talk with the Quarass about the food, and talked to Trey about something named 'Metroid'. She'd get the details from him later, and then probably hear them again once Flos asked for a retelling of their adventure.

The Half-Elf skulked around a few rooms away. She cast no Spells, but she was clearly eavesdropping with her superior hearing. Gazi wondered if Pixel knew and had given her permission, or if he didn't care.

The only other features of note were four small square pillars on the surface next to the cursed land, and a pile of heads in room on the lowest floor. That was odd. They were a uniform shade of grey and looked melted somehow. She didn't recognize what monster they were from.

Most likely some sort of Alchemical supplies.

Finally, the Quarass set her utensils down and pushed the plates away. She'd eaten a fair amount considering her size, but there was plenty of food left. "I apologize for wasting the food you prepared, [Archmage]."

"Nonsense." He waved his hand and the table was cleared except for the tea pot and a cup. Gazi noticed another artifact in the wall activating and the tank the supplied the first slightly refill. "Now I think we were trying to infer details about each other from oblique statements?"

"Yes." The Quarass smiled. "But I think I should be more direct. The King of Destruction wishes an audience."

"Is it normal for such an illustrious group to come and deliver a simple invitation?" Pixel's eyes looked at Trey.

"No, but you're a difficult person to get in contact with." The Quarass leaned back slightly in her seat. "Normally such missives would be seen to by a courier, but you've hidden yourself well. It was not even known that you were still in Tiqr."

"Hmm..." Pixel frowned underneath his helmet. Gazi found that masked people let their emotions play on their faces without care since they didn't know she could see them. That was one of the reasons she never let her stoic facade drop.

Not that she had a suitable helmet to use. The one that had been offered with her armor blocked all magic, which prevented her eyes from working. Flos had suggested using a lesser one, but it would still interfere with her abilities. Just because she COULD see through something didn't mean she ignored it completely. It was more like... looking through a thick fog.

Possible, but also limiting in what she could see far away.

"I hadn't intended for... important people to not be able to get a hold of me." He drummed his fingers on the table. "I anticipated message spells, not visitors."

"Could you build something like this above ground?" Trey asked. "I'm sure if you did, you'd get lots of visitors."

"Yes." Pixel shook his head. "But not friendly ones."

"You fear Nerrhavia's Fallen." The Quarass stated.

"I fear what they might try to do to strike back at me." The [Archmage] replied grimly. "You saw the area above us? The blighted section of land?" He waited for the Quarass and Trey to both nod. "Nerrhavia's Fallen did that. I had build a tower here to launch my attacks and proclamations from. A sturdy defense that could withstand most armies."

It didn't seem like a boast, more like a statement of fact. It reminded Gazi of Drevish's confidence in his architecture. She couldn't say if it was misplaced or not.

"What happened?" Trey asked.

"You don't know?"

Trey shook his head while the Quarass answered. "There were scrying records of your first appearance. There's even one of your entire speech, but most of them start mid-way. The magic you used was indeed witnessed by a great many people, but after that?" She shrugged. "I cannot speak for what details other countries might have, especially those that were personally involved, but Relm did not know Nerrhavia's Fallen retaliated, only that you arrived in person in a rage. I think I can understand your wrath now."

"And the Djinni?"

"There are recordings of the fight in the skies of Tiqr, but only those from a great distance were able to follow the flow of battle. Accusations of a Djinni used as a tool of war have been whispered, but nothing has come of it. If it were a smaller country doing so, then a larger one might censor them."

"But here the largest country is Nerrhavia's Fallen." Pixel frowned again. "And not everywhere has seen me, and those that have might have trouble getting in contact with me..."

"Is that a problem? If it's fame you seek-"

"No." Pixel held up a hand. "Not fame in the way you would think of it. What I want is..." His arm moved and he pointed at Trey.

Gazi tensed. She would protect Trey, but even escaping on her own was probably impossible. She had confidence that her armor could block any attack, and she could dodge any blows or spells aimed at her head... but that was based on being able to see them coming.

"Me?" Trey asked. "Specifically?"

"No." Pixel's head remained looking at Trey, but his eyes shifted to stare at Gazi. "Not you in particular. My goal is to protect all those from Earth."

The Quarass seemed unaffected by the sudden tension and leaned back in her chair. "So that's why you were so upfront about Earth."

"Yes." Pixel turned towards her and lowered his arm. "I wanted to see just how much Trey had told you."

"Wait... Is that how you knew my name?" Trey's hand crept towards where his staff was leaning against the table.

"I know the names of everyone who was taken from Earth before I was."

Silence.

It was a simple statement, but the implications altered... Gazi didn't quite know, but it at least seemed like this wasn't about to devolve into violence.

"So we're on the news?" Trey was the first to speak up.

"Yes." Pixel looked back at the other Earther. "You and Teressa's disappearance is only theorized along with many other people who have gone missing. However, there have been some public ones that have started to cause an uproar." Under his mask, his eyes narrowed. "I see. You two arrived together."

"What?" Trey's eyebrows rose up. "What makes you say that?"

"You're not surprised to hear of your twin sister's fate." Pixel replied calmly as the Quarass nodded along with him. "It's not a large assumption to make."

"Trey, the [Archmage] knew your name." The Quarass took a sip from her teacup. "Obviously he knew of your sister too." She took on a lecturing tone. "I thought he had some means of obtaining information and had been spying on us, but it made little sense that he would recognize you but not me in that case. Gazi is famous as a named adventurer, and has a unique appearance, so her being known isn't odd." She set her cup down. "Possessing knowledge from Earth was the most likely scenario."

So even under the armor, and without any Skills, the Quarass had recognized that Pixel hadn't expected her to speak first up above. Unless, that was, that there was a deeper game going on. Flos had never been one for innuendo and sly remarks, and Gazi hadn't needed to be eloquent as an adventurer.

"And there's my appearance." Pixel added. "To anyone from Earth, I'm instantly recognizable. Even if they are philistines that haven't played Metroid."

Philistines? Metroid? What were those? The eye Gazi always kept looking at Trey saw him give an eye-roll of his own. A joke? An Earth reference?

"If you visit the King of Destruction, you may find an ally against Nerrhavia's Fallen." The Quarass took a sip of her tea.

"I don't need an ally, I just need to speak to whomever is in charge and get them to agree to a peace treaty."

Gazi had an idea about that. Mars had been granted an audience with the past [Queen] when she was young, and it should still be an option. But she decided not to speak up. Doing so might ingratiate herself to Pixel, or it might rob Flos of a bargaining chip. When in doubt, remain silent.

Pixel glanced at her again, as if he knew what she was thinking. He almost certainly had at least one diplomatic Skill, but probably not telepathy. Like any named adventurer, Gazi had multiple artifacts to prevent such underhanded tactics.

"Well, you have some time yet if that's your goal." The Quarass leaned forward. "Nerrhavia's Fallen is forming an army to march on Tiqr again as we speak, but even a nation as large as it has trouble with marshaling against multiple fronts at the same time."

The implied alliance lingered in the silence that followed.

Chapter 100: Fallout 6

"Even a nation as large as it has trouble with marshalling against multiple fronts at the same time."

I paused to consider the Quarass' words. I didn't detect any guilt or fear, so she was probably telling the truth. However, despite her apparent age, the small girl was incredibly composed. I wasn't picking up many emotions from her at all.

**Gazi is confused.
**Gazi is concerned.

Unlike her, the Half-Gazer was an open book. She had a great poker face, but she was also very emotional underneath the surface. It was making this meeting? negotiation? conversation? go much smoother for me.

"I believe you, but wouldn't it be in the King of Destruction's best interests to keep me at arm's length? So that we wouldn't be seen as a common foe? Even if we aren't allies, meeting with him poses the threat of association - as Tiqr has found out the hard way."

"Please, Archmage, do me the honor of not playing the fool." The Quarass kept a pleasant tone, even as she scolded me. "I told you nothing that you hadn't figured out already."

She was right. I had been fishing with that statement.

"You're right, of course, but I'd rather resolve Tiqr's issue with Nerrhavia's Fallen before fanning the flames." Plus, I was still injured. "I also have some personal business to take care of."

**Gazi is guilty.
**Gazi is slightly afraid.

Again? Gazi clearly knew some things that she thought were relevant, but she remained standing in silence.

"We only came to extend the offer. Safe passage for you during your visit. You will be an honored guest."

"I will consider it, but I probably won't send word heralding my arrival." I was going to visit, if for no other reason than Amerys. Wistram had subdued and locked up the Archmage of Lightning, but I had frozen her in time to make her incarceration less torturous.

I couldn't just leave her in there forever. Well, technically, I could, but I shouldn't.

What would Dragon do? Well... she'd agree that locking someone up was better than letting them murder people, but placing someone in stasis was just... delaying the issue. The same was true of imprisoning someone without rehabilitating them. It pushed the problem down the road and ultimately made it worse.

So her solution would be to build a facility secure enough to keep the prisoner away from the people they might harm, and work on making them less dangerous.

The situation with Amerys wasn't nearly as clear-cut. She wasn't insane or homicidal. She was loyal to a warmonger - if that was the right word to describe Flos of Relm. So far, he seemed the reasonable [King] of restraint compared to the jackasses that had invaded Tiqr.

I hated publicity. It was a pain to craft a public image and carefully maintain it. I'd rather not bother, but I also understood how important it was. It seemed to me that there was a lot of similarities between nations and superheroes in that regard.

I didn't think Flos was a Jack. In this comparison, that went to Roshal. Actually, Heartbreaker or the CUI was probably a more apt comparison. Someone that was clearly evil, but tolerated somewhat out of fear, apathy, or self-interest.

No. Flos had been more like a vigilante. He was beneath the notice of the established powers until he himself got too powerful.

Victory is written by the winners, and Flos had lost.

The other way of thinking about it was that war was evil because it killed people. I was aware of my own hypocrisy considering how many I'd killed in this last week alone. Even Dragon would resort to violence if there was no other way...

"Since our message has been delivered, I think we should take our leave." The Quarass broke the silence of my musings and made to stand up.

"Wait." Trey spoke up. "I want to speak with Pixel."

**Trey is determined.

"Actually, I would like to talk with you too." Not only did I need to make sure he was safe - or as safe as someone could be in this world, but I'd like to get his opinion on Flos. There would be no better choice to help me understand the person and decide on my future actions.

**Gazi is protective.

While I would prefer to talk to Trey in private, it wasn't necessary. Unlike the Quarass, I was confident I could see through any deception on his part - especially if it was made out of fear. The only real question was: how much should I reveal?

"How did you know about me and my sister?"

**Trey is worried.
**Trey is protective.

"I was investigating the disappearances." Naturally, I was going to tell the truth. Perhaps not the whole truth, but lying was too easily discovered with magic.

"Investigating? So you're with the government?"

"No." I smiled to myself. "Not with any official organization you are aware of, Trey. The group I work with is secretive."

**Trey is confused.

"Huh? That doesn't make sense."

I leaned forward. "It's normally a lot easier to prove this type of thing, but everyone on this world has superpowers, so I guess you'll have to take my word. I was tasked with tracking down the missing people. I still don't know what the root cause is, or if my vanishing was a coincidence or on purpose." I turned to face the Quarass. "But, I'm going to do all I can to return the taken people back to Earth."

**The Quarass is pleased.
**Gazi is confused.
**Trey is confused.

"Wait... I'm confused." Trey said. "So your... group is what exactly?"

"Secretive." I smirked as I leaned back and spread my arms. "But, as you can see, I was chosen for a reason."

**The Quarass is amused.

"Oh, Flos is going to love you!" We all looked at the Quarass. "Don't you see, Trey?" She gestured at me. "There's a hidden group of people on your world protecting it. People with levels!"

**Gazi is surprised.
**Trey is surprised.

"What?"

I nodded. "The Quarass is essentially correct. I had super-human abilities before I arrived on this world."

"That explains it." Gazi mumbled.

**Gazi is contemplative.

"Explains what?" Trey asked.

The Quarass spoke up. "If we assume that the other people from Earth arrived at similar times, which I feel it is safe to do," I knew they had been part of Wistram's phone call, and thus knew about some of the other Earthers. "It's... unlikely that any one of them could grow powerful enough to fight an army, much less a Djinni, in such a short amount of time."

"Oh."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Unlikely, but possible, so I can't provide proof to you, Trey, aside from what you've already seen. But that's why I knew about you and your sister, because I learned the details on Earth."

I could tell him about the 'Nostalgia Block' and 'Blocked Senses' debuffs, but I wasn't ready to reveal the extent of my abilities just yet. Nor did I want to let him know his mind was being tampered with. People reacted poorly to such information almost universally. I hadn't even told the Earthers back at Wistram yet.

**Trey is surprised.
**Trey is excited.

"I have, like, a million questions!"

I leaned back. "I'm sure you do, but before that, I have a question of my own. If you could return to Earth this very second, would you?" I held up a hand. "This is purely hypothetical. I'm looking for a way to send people back home, but some have adapted better than others. I'm just curious about what your stance is."

**Trey is contemplative.
**Gazi is nervous.

He frowned slightly and then glanced at Gazi.

**Trey is affectionate.

"I... I'm not sure." He admitted. "I couldn't go alone, not without my sister, and she's... happy to be here. I've also had some... bad experiences."

**Trey is angry.

He glared at the Quarass.

"But, I'm not sure I'd..." He sighed as he trailed off. "I'm sorry. I just don't know."

"That's a perfectly fine response, Trey." I smiled under my mask. "Several people have expressed similar sentiments." I should probably set up a Gamer's Mind room back in Wistram so they can think about it without the Nostalgia Block. It was pretty clear that it was suppressing some memories of Earth - likely as an attempt to offset homesickness. I couldn't even cry 'foul' - as that was essentially what Gamer's Mind did in a different way.

Perhaps I shouldn't replace one band-aid with another one?

"Sorry." Trey said again.

"Trust me. You're doing well for yourself." I glanced at Gazi and the Quarass. "You have a group of people that are your allies and companions. It does concern me that you're at the side of the King of Destruction, but I haven't made up my mind about Flos Reimarch yet."

**Trey is guilty.
**Trey is afraid.
**Trey is nervous.

Well... that was concerning. There was clearly a lie of omission going on here.

"Trey, what's your opinion of Flos?"

**Trey is guilty.
**Trey is afraid.
**Trey is nervous.

"I'm... not sure what to say."

**Gazi is amused.

"Trey, speak the truth. Our King wouldn't want you to do anything less."

**Trey is annoyed.
**Trey is angry.
**Trey is hesitant.

"I don't like him." He finally said.

The Quarass shook her head. "You are not usually one to hide your disdain, Trey. That is one of the reasons Flos likes you, even if there's been some friction."

**Trey is hateful.

He shot her another dirty look. "Fine. You want me to say it?" He turned and looked straight at me. "The King of Destruction sells slaves!"

*Anger negated by Gamer's Mind.

I frowned. "Slaves?" Both Gazi and the Quarass seemed un-phased by Trey's statement. In fact, it looked like they expected it.

"So you share Trey's opinion on the matter." The Quarass said calmly.

I unclenched my fists. "Slavery is an abomination."

**Gazi is conflicted.
**The Quarass is calm.

"Be that as it may, it was the only choice." The small girl took another sip of tea. "The King of Destruction does not keep slaves himself, nor does he illegally obtain them from the countries he invades." She turned to stare at Trey. "Selling the people that attacked him was the only real choice. What else would you have him do?"

"Not sell people!" Trey stood up.

"Oh? So he should let the foes that attacked him leave?"

"No, I..."

"He should imprison them instead? Have more mouths to feed? An opposing force he has to guard?"

"Stop it! You're making it sound different than it actually is." Trey crossed his arms. "He could have let them go home. It was the ones in charge that decided things. All the people that surrendered were just following orders."

"And they paid the price for that. Or do they not share the weight of their actions?" Her eyes narrowed. "You recall that my own people were among those who attacked Relm and were sold after being defeated? Two-thirds of my court were slain as well. I was beheaded!" The Quarass stood. "Yet, I accept this, as my people do. They went to war because they loved me, and now suffer for that!"

**The Quarass is angry.
**The Quarass is sad.

"But I do not blame Flos for MY mistakes! I am glad that my people are alive at least. THAT is war, Trey! THAT is how the world works. To deny it is to invite tragedy!"

"This seems like a complex situation." I was sure Trey wasn't acting, just as much as I was sure that the Quarass was grandstanding. That didn't make her words a lie though. I wasn't naive enough to suggest that wars didn't have repercussions.

"That's why you should meet him in person." The Quarass interjected. "He has been called many things, but his people have always loved him - both those who live free AND those with a [Slave] class! It is a punishment, like any other, but it is neither cruel under his reign nor does it last forever. I have heard Trey speak of the prisons on your world, and I would choose to be a [Slave] in Relm over a prisoner on Earth in a heartbeat!"

**The Quarass is passionate.
**The Quarass is angry.
**Trey is angry.

Trey and the Quarass both sat down, and the room was quiet for a while. The Quarass poured herself another cup of tea, while Trey leaned back, crossed his arms, and stared.

Well... this is awkward. I was half-tempted to Craft some Gamer's Mind pylons just to get the conversation back on track.

**Trey is angry.
**Trey is annoyed.
**Trey is slightly angry.
**Trey is slightly annoyed.
**Trey is calm.

Or I guessed I could wait for them to cool off on their own.

"I have a question." Trey looked at me. I guessed he was trying to change the subject. "If there are people with powers on Earth why didn't you-"

"Trey." I held up a hand. "Before you start asking things like that, there's one more piece of information you need." I might as well tell him. It was hardly any more ground-shaking that there was a 2nd Earth in the grand scheme of things. It was certainly better than trying to explain lack of action on a history that I was only barely familiar with. "While I'm from an Earth, it's not the same Earth that you lived in."

**Trey is surprised.
**Gazi is surprised.
**The Quarass is surprised.

"ANOTHER Earth?"

"A parallel dimension?"

I nodded at Trey. "Yes. Exactly that. As you can imagine, it has been a roller-coaster for me."

"Yeah... I bet."

That brought a smile to my lips as I resisted the urge to make a joke about betting on Earth Bet that only I would get. "This, of course, is even more of an unbelievable story. I understand if-"

"No." Trey nodded. "It makes sense. It's not like another Earth is more strange than this world. Plus, like they said, it explains a lot. Do you work with a group? Do you think they're trying to find you? How-"

"Trey." I interrupted him. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but given the situation, I'm sure you'll appreciate my desire for some secrecy. After all, I did just learn that your allies are [Slavers]."

**Gazi is upset.

"No. Not [Slavers]." The taciturn Half-Gazer spoke up again. "[Slavers] are those that actively enslave, train, and sell [Slaves]."

"Indeed." The Quarass added. "This is an important distinction that is often ignored by other continents." She looked between me and Trey. "No matter what world you are from. You should visit Relm before you judge it."

"I will. Eventually."

"In that case-"

"Hang on." I stood up. "Before you leave, I wish to give Trey something. If you would excuse me for a moment."

---

Gazi watched Pixel vanish and reappear in a room halfway across his underground base. A swirling vortex of cubes appeared in-between his hands - one that looked almost identical to what the food-creating artifact inside the wall had made.

"Should... we be afraid?" Trey asked.

"No more than any other time throughout the meal, Trey." The Quarass gently chided him. "I have met with [Archmages] in the past, and while I now have my doubts to whether Pixel holds that particular class, the truth remains: inside their domain they are fearsome foes. Isn't that right, Lady Pathseeker?"

One of Gazi's eyes flickered towards the old mind in the small child. "Don't worry, Trey. I'll protect you." Not that she thought Trey was in any danger here. Gazi was pretty sure she had a somewhat accurate picture painted of Pixel. He had an even more outlandish story than Trey and Teressa had, but she didn't think he was lying. She doubted he would take up arms against others from Earth.

Against Flos? That was another matter.

Pixel might wage war on them over slaves he had never met. Of all of the Seven and her [King]'s advisors, Gazi was the only one who'd ever been a [Slave]. The only one to know what it was like. The only one to know how dangerous it truly would be to oppose Roshal.

It was this pure-hearted stance against it made her admire Trey. It reminded her of Flos when he was younger and not burdened by the reality of life.

Flos and Pixel would either be steadfast allies, or sworn enemies - perhaps both, just like how the rest of the Seven had started out before Flos won them over to his side.

Yes. Her [King] would absolutely adore everything about Pixel, just as much as he would relish fighting him.

"And even if Pixel does decide to make war on Flos, it would be exactly that. War on him, not his people." The Quarass said with confidence.

"Really?" Trey tilted his head. "What makes you say that."

"It is the culture of your world and his. It's clear that both of you value lives and detest war." The Quarass took another sip of her tea. "You've made your position clear enough, and Pixel's actions speak volumes."

"They do?"

"Yes. Have you not-" The Quarass stopped herself before restarting. "You have not seen any reports, but you saw the battlefield. It was clearly a staggering level of destruction that even Amerys would be hard-pressed to match. The sort of power a true [Archmage] possesses. For all that, there were much fewer casualties than there easily could have been. Taking out [Commanders] with pin-point attacks is a common tactic, but it's usually a prelude to wiping out the troops that no longer benefit from their Skills."

"And the armies retreated..."

"Yes. It was your comment about 'just following orders' that made it clear. Pixel specifically targeted those in command. Those that were issuing the orders to advance. The rest? He let flee."

"Wasn't he wounded?"

"He is." Gazi stated. "But he's not relying on magic."

"Oh?" The Quarass looked up at her.

"Pixel does not use mana. His abilities are Skills." That was the easiest way to put it.

If she considered that Earth had no magic, or rather, no mana, it made sense - assuming Pixel's and Trey's Earths were similar in that regard. While Trey's had no magic and no levels, Pixel's had people with levels. That would give rise to... It was hard to imagine.

They would be weaker as a whole, but high-level individuals would still appear. It would result in people like Mars instead of Amerys. And they wouldn't have things like Rhir or Crelers.

Did that make them less dangerous because they didn't have threats? Or more dangerous as their populace grew without bounds?

The thing she was certain of, was that it left them vulnerable to magic. Pixel might have defeated a Djinni, but he hadn't done so unscathed. It was clear he was attempting to heal himself - his head and arm were much better off than the rest of his body. Even the places that weren't fully recovered were better off closer to the spots that were.

So why was he still injured at all?

The question weighed on her mind as Pixel finished doing whatever mana-less magic he'd been up to, and reappeared in his chair. He tossed one glowing cube at Trey, then a second. They were softly thrown, and would land in front of him.

If they would've struck Trey, then Gazi would've acted, as it was she watched Pixel wearily.

"What's this?" Trey picked up the green cube.

"A way for you to communicate with me, or other people from Earth I've met in this world."

"What? Really?" His eyes went wide.

"Yes. It will respond to your voice." Pixel glanced at her and the Quarass. "And only YOUR voice. If Flos is going to hijack the conversation again, it will have to be through you."

Trey's cheeks darkened so slightly that Gazi suspected she was the only one to notice. "Ah, right, so... how do I use it?"

"It's very good at interpreting communication. You don't have to say an exact phrase."

"...email?" His eyes focused on something in the air. "Ah! Cool!"

"It's small, but it's still essentially an internet. So don't say anything you shouldn't, and don't believe all the people on it." Pixel shrugged.

"Close." Whatever Trey had been looking at must've vanished as he refocused on the room. Gazi felt happiness at his clear joy, but also a little sad as Trey would now have people to talk with that weren't her. "This is great! I mean, I know that scrying orbs exist, but..."

"But it's not like you know anyone else from Earth who has one."

"Exactly."

"You should probably listen more than you talk. Most of the other Earthers are at Wistram, and the academy as a whole is not a fan of the King of Destruction."

There was one person that would be, and Gazi wanted to ask about Amerys... but they were here to deliver Flos' invitation. She'd likely screw up any conversation that delicate anyways.

Besides... what if she was distancing herself? The whole world knew that Flos had awoken by now.

"What's this one for?" Trey picked up the yellow cube.

"Your sister."

"...Oh. Right. That makes sense. Is there something she'll need to do to activate it or to enter whatever it is that identifies her?"

"No, no." Pixel shook his head. "As I said, I was aware of the two of you before I came to this world. The cube will identify her on its own unless something truly bizarre has happened. If that's the case, please let me know."

"Okay." Trey nodded. He stared at Pixel for a moment. "Thank you. Really. Having someone from home to talk to, even if it's a stranger..."

"Like I said, I'm on the side of Earth." The Archmage looked around the room. "Tiqr wasn't... I didn't intend to get involved in politics, but I couldn't just stand by and do nothing."

"It will both help and hurt your cause." The Quarass drained the last of her tea and stood up. "We've delivered Flos' message, so unless there's anything else?"

"There's one thing." Gazi took a deep breath. This might not be a good idea, but with everything she'd just learned, and with Pixel's gift to Trey... she had to speak up. "The method you're using to heal yourself is working on your hand and ears. The rest of your body isn't doing as well."

Pixel's head jerked towards her. "What do you mean?"

"Your mana channels are damaged throughout your body. Like when someone gets mana-poisoning." If he hadn't been walking around without an outward indication or casting mana-less spells, then Gazi would've thought he'd be dead right now. Or at least bedridden. "Your right hand and ears are in perfect health. Your right arm and head are also doing better. So whatever Skill or artifact you're using on those areas, I would suggest using it elsewhere as well."

Now that she thought about it... what sort of healing technique would Pixel use on only his hand and ears? Certainly not a potion - not that more magic would be the answer to his ailment any more than it was to her injured eyes. Magicore? Would he risk touching that with his bare hand? That would probably help. Gazi was no [Scholar], but she'd seen other adventurers overdose on mana potions before.

That still didn't explain the ears...

Pixel thought for a moment before nodding at her. "Thank you, Lady Pathseeker." Oh great, now the Quarass had gotten him using her last name too. "That is very helpful. Thank you." Oh? So he WAS doing something in those two places specifically? It must be an Earth thing.

She'd ask Trey about it later.

Then she got the sense that Pixel was LOOKING at her. She wasn't sure if it was one of her Skills, or because of her Gazer heritage, but there was a distinct impression that she was being... observed.

At the same time, the mana inside of Pixel churned, as if he was casting a Spell. There was no outside effect, and the amount used was minuscule, but he'd definitely done SOMETHING.

"May I offer my services for you in turn?" Pixel stood up and walked confidently towards her.

"What do you mean?" He wasn't doing anything threatening, and his mana has stilled, but Gazi still took a half-step back. The Quarass' words echoed in her mind: 'inside their domain they are fearsome foes'.

"I can heal your eye."

The words hung in the air like a promise. He'd spoken with utter conviction, as if he failed to understand how delicate the matter was... but possessed ultimate confidence in his ability to deliver.

Finally, it was Trey who spoke. "Pixel, I... I don't think healing her eye is something easy to do."

Gazi nodded. "Any mana touching it will react in unexpected ways due to my injury. The pathways inside of it are damaged and so I can't be sure what sort of form magic passing through it will take, or where it will target." And considering her eye was firmly planted in the inside of her head, virtually every possible magical expression was... bad.

Very bad.

She didn't even like talking about it, even though it was plain to see to anyone who glanced at her that her main eye was damaged. Stating a weakness was inviting trouble in her experience.

Pixel stroked his chin. "Then you're in luck. I can heal you without using any magic at all."

"What?"

Pixel glanced at Trey. "Just think of all of this as ultra-advanced technology. However," His eyes moved back to look at her. "I'm not going to do anything without your permission. So? Would you like me to attempt to heal you?"

Gazi was conflicted.

She wanted her eye back. Her smaller eyes couldn't see as far or as well, and they couldn't use her strongest Gazer abilities. But what if Pixel was over-estimating himself? They'd heard nothing about him healing people.

"How long will it take?" She asked hesitantly.

"A few minutes to craft some necessary devices. The actual healing will be faster than that."

Gazi took a deep breath in, then exhaled. "Then, yes. Please heal my eye." She had to be bold. You studied the situation and then grasped opportunities when they presented themselves. That was how she'd made a name for herself as an adventurer, by taking decisive action.

True, it had resulted in the loss of her eye when she'd made the bold decision to kidnap Erin Solstice and Ryoka Griffin and bring them back to her [King] - but that hadn't been an error in judgment so much as a failure to execute her plan. She was sure that Flos would've woken up when she brought him the [Innkeeper] and [Runner].

Doubly sure since he'd woken up from the arrival of Trey and Teressa.

Pixel nodded to her and vanished. He appeared in the same place he had before and another swirling vortex of cubes hovered in front of him.

"Are you sure about this, Gazi?"

She smiled at Trey and lied. "Of course I am." It was hard to put into words the fear she felt at having her eye healed wrong. But the fear of not getting it healed was worse. She was the weakest of the Seven, and if she couldn't even see, how could she protect her [King]? "There's just one thing bothering me."

"What's that?" The Quarass asked.

"If this works, I'll need to repay him somehow."

"Oh?" The small girl crossed her arms. "Isn't this his way of repaying you for helping heal him? It seems fair."

"No." Gazi shook her head. "That Half-Elf [Mage] would have already identified what was going on." It might've taken time and experiments with magicore, but Wistram trained [Mages] were skilled. Even if they couldn't see mana like she could, they'd be able to figure out the underlying cause. With tests, it would become clear how to adapt whatever method Pixel was using to the rest of his body. "I saved him time. That's it."

Unlike what he was giving her. There were no guarantees that she'd be able to get healed in Baleros. Having an Archmage repair her eye was far more likely to work.

---

I finished Crafting some simple pylons that could impart an immunity to pain, and teleported back into the meeting room.

**Gazi is nervous.

"Are you ready?"

She nodded silently, her face as impassive as always. I'd arrived next to her, and hadn't moved, so Expansion was already increasing the range of all my Perks. The first couple of yards happened within seconds - placing the space behind her and to the sides within my Inventory range.

The four pylons appeared in a box around her. They were small, and technically I could've enclosed space with only three, but I liked right angles. Plus, redundancy. The Half-Gazer's eyes darted to them, and to the forcefield that they'd made.

**The Quarass is surprised.
**Trey is surprised.

I then reached out with Rapid Regeneration and applied it to Gazi. Her other eyes widened and all of them swiveled around to stare at me. Like I'd said, the injury she had wasn't much. It didn't even require regenerating new flesh - just fixing what was already there.

Which, I suspected, would be vitally important for restoring her eye to its full power. The details she'd given me about my own magical damage made me consider how Rapid Regeneration actually worked.

"There." I said after a few seconds. "All done." I deactivated the pylons with a thought and Inventoried them.

**Gazi is surprised.
**The Quarass is surprised.
**Trey is surprised.

"Already?" He exclaimed from the side.

"Yes. I did say that the preparation would take longer than the actual healing process, did I not?"

Gazi blinked. First with her smaller eyes, then with the large one. It opened and shut several times before the huge yellow eye locked onto me.

"Thank you." She took a deep breath in. "If you want to avoid war with Nerrhavia's Fallen, then you'll need to speak with their [Queen] directly. They won't stop with just one army or two or three."

"Lady Pathseeker, is this wise-"

"Yes." One of her eyes swiveled to face the Quarass. "Flos would counsel the same if he were here. My [King] does not back down from a fight, but that does not mean he involves others who do not wish to be. To do otherwise would have Tiqr suffer more than it already has." Her attention shifted back towards me, not that her large eye had ever stopped staring at me. "Seeking audience with her officially is next to impossible. Appearing uninvited would be even worse."

"So how then?"

"It might not be the best way, but I know of someone who was able to meet with the [Queen] at the time because of her martial prowess."

**Trey is curious.

"You mean?"

"Yes." An eye looked at him. "Mars." She paused for a moment. "Pixel, I don't know if this is something you could manage, but Nerrhavia's Fallen has a great number of [Gladiator] arenas. If you could buy the contract of a [Gladiator] that's about to rise to the top, then you could accompany them if they get invited to the Silk Court. There, you could speak to the nobles of the country, including Queen Yisame."

Chapter 101: Fallout 7

I drummed my fingers on the table.

Gazi's suggestion at essentially using a sports champion to get to see Nerrhavia Fallen's [Queen] was an... unique idea. It wasn't a plan I would've come up with even if I had her knowledge of Nerrhavia Fallen's culture.

"While I confess that almost anything would be better than killing enough people to make an army retreat, don't you think such an idea is... flawed?"

**Gazi is embarrassed.

"Flawed?"

"I'm not going to buy a [Slave] and make them fight in a death game."

**Gazi is confused.

The Quarass spoke up. "Pixel, while it is true that a few are forced into the arenas of Nerrhavia's Fallen, most of the participants compete of their own free will."

"Oh?"

She nodded. "Yes. And I would not describe it as a 'death game' either. [Gladiators] put on a show. They fight and they bleed, but if they faced the likelihood of death in every match, then few would volunteer."

"I see." I continued to tap my fingers as I considered things. "Perhaps you could give me an overview so I have the right idea?"

Trey nodded in agreement from his seat.

"Of course." The Quarass smiled. "[Gladiators] are a popular form of entertainment of Nerrhavia Fallen. There are numerous arenas throughout its borders, but the biggest one is the Coliseum of Monarchs. That is where the greatest [Gladiators] go. Its Champions attract rich and powerful sponsors, and have even been hired by the royal palace after they retire."

"People can be sentenced to fight, but most prisoners in the games volunteer. There are also a good number of free people who participate as well."

"Oh! I get it. It's like their national sport!" Trey exclaimed.

The Quarass paused as she seemed to recall something from long ago. "Yes. That is a good analogy. It's first and foremost a competition. Killing happens, but the arenas have [Healers] and potions on hand to prevent it. [Gladiators] also prefer not to make enemies by killing their competitors. Those that make a habit of ending the lives of others tend to find that they are targeted by more lethal attacks in turn."

"I see." I nodded. "I take it that Gazi's suggestion is a common tactic to gain an audience with the [Queen]?"

"I wouldn't say it's common." The Quarass shook her head. "People usually sponsor [Gladiators] out of admiration or pride, but for most it's also a display of status." She sighed. "As are most things in the Court of Silk. So, it's an expected 'prize', but people who usually have the money to sponsor a [Gladiator] have the money to bribe their way into an audience without the inherent gamble."

"I imagine it's also quicker to bribe someone. So why can't I do that?"

"You could, but it would be hard to find someone to accept your bribe." She stared at me. "Assuming you even have enough gold or artifacts that you are willing to part with. Sponsoring a [Gladiator] would be far cheaper, especially if you outfit them with magical equipment you make yourself."

**The Quarass is unsure.

"That is, if you can provide them with less... distinctive artifacts. I fear that your particular style might draw unwanted attention since you openly opposed Nerrhavia's Fallen."

I brought my hands together. "I think I understand. It's not the quickest way, but it's the most reliable one for me at this moment."

The Quarass bowed her head. "That would be my assessment, yes. No one is likely to do business with the Archmage of Cubes openly in Nerrhavia's Fallen currently, but the sponsor of a [Gladiator] will face much less scrutiny than a [Diplomat]."

"I see. It does seem far preferable than killing whomever they send after me next, even if it's not a sure thing."

"Not a sure thing?" The Quarass paused to consider my phrasing. "Yes. That's an appropriate way to describe it. It will require many steps, any of which might fail for reasons beyond your control. Mainly that sponsoring the right [Gladiator] is always a gamble by its very nature. Added to that, a royal invitation is hardly guaranteed."

"What if I find an unknown fighter to sponsor who rises quickly through the ranks?"

**The Quarass is intrigued.

"Oh? Do you have someone in mind?" Her eyes drilled into me. "If you have someone like that, then Gazi's suggestion is much more likely to succeed. Rising talents get noticed more easily and you could also sponsor them without much competition."

"Couldn't you just sponsor whomever is the Champion?" Trey asked. "Or the second place person? You could make something that helps them to win and it would be quicker too."

"The flaw with that is such [Gladiators] already have many sponsors. Even if the [Gladiator] was given the gift of attending the Court of Silk, lesser sponsors wouldn't all be invited along."

I turned to Gazi and bowed my head. "Thank you for your suggestion. Hopefully I'll be able to stop any further bloodshed between Nerrhavia's Fallen and Tiqr."

**Gazi is happy.
**Gazi is proud.

"Of course." She almost smiled. "It's the least I can offer in exchange for healing my eye."

**Gazi is grateful.
**The Quarass is happy.

"I look forward to your success, Archmage." She stood and bowed. "But we have delivered The King of Destruction's invitation and taken up enough of your time."

"Of course." I stood as well. "Let me escort you back to the surface." As we walked, I turned to Trey. "Feel free to contact me at any time, but I suspect you'll find the other people from your Earth better conversation partners."

"Yeah." He looked down at the glowing cubes in his hand. "It will be nice to talk about normal stuff with people. It's been a big culture shock. Honestly, I think the only reason I'm not more homesick is because I arrived with Teresa. It had to be rougher for a lot of the other people."

That's right. There were some Earthers on the phone call that had arrived in much worst places. I wonder how often Trey had worried about them? I found it hard to put myself in the place of all the people who'd been teleported here against their will despite the same exact thing happening to me.

My circumstances were fundamentally different. I already had power, while all of them had lacked it at first. Worse, some had arrived in perilous positions. Many, undoubtedly, had died.

"Please stand on the platform." I got on the Teleportation pad alongside them, and then transferred all of us to the surface. "Have a safe journey."

Trey waved goodbye to me as the trio walked back to their flying carpet. I watched them fly away, and sensed Gazi watching me in return for a long time after they'd become nothing more than a speck on the horizon.

I think, all things considered, that Trey and Teressa were perhaps the luckiest of those who'd been kidnapped. At least out of the ones I'd encountered. I did have some experience with my life being turned upside-down with a single unpredictable act. Only the group that I'd become a part of hadn't been so noble as the King of Destruction.

Whatever Flos' flaws might be, it was clear that he was treating Trey well. If every person from Earth ended up like him and Teresa, then I wouldn't have much to do - aside from searching for Riley and trying to find a way home.

However, that wasn't the case. Regardless of if it was done out of malice or incompetence, people were dead because they'd been brought to this world.

I made a resolution right then and there.

Whomever was responsible would die.

Not out of a sense of justice or vengeance, but because the world would be better off without them in it.

Dragon wouldn't approve.

*Anger negated by Gamer's Mind.

Alright. Fine. I might not kill them. We'll see when and if I encounter the person responsible.

...Assuming there was a person responsible. It could be a freak accident. Or the culprit could be the Grand Design itself.

Argh.

*Frustration negated by Gamer's Mind.

Right. I had other things to do. Gazi had also given me a hint at why my Oversaturated debuffs weren't healing. It was time to experiment with Sibby.

...But first, I really should speak with Teura. She doubtlessly had questions.

...

"So your regeneration Skill restores your body to its un-damaged state?"

"I think so." I looked down at my good hand. "Since my world doesn't have mana, my Skill doesn't reproduce it."

"If that's true, then it might hurt the Galas muscles or mana capacity of people you heal."

"Yes." I nodded. "I suspect the degree varies based on the amount of flesh created."

"That makes sense. It makes me wonder what would happen if you infused your regeneration Skill with mana."

"Heh." I chuckled. "I had that exact thought as well." I even had the Skill I'd sacrifice to Rapid Regeneration already picked out. The fact that I sacrificed Skills was one of the things I wasn't going to tell Teura. It wouldn't help if she knew. "That will have to wait until after I fully recover."

"I agree." The Half-Elf nodded. "We should still use magicore to help keep your channels empty, but combining the two techniques should prove beneficial. It's a shame Gazi the Omniscient can't help us document the precise changes."

"Yeah." Ironically, anything I made that could help with providing measurements would itself use mana and do more harm than good. Not that I had any appropriate Skills to sacrifice. Nothing I'd gained upon my last level involved gathering information or measuring.

"So what next?"

"You go buy mana potions. I'll condense them and we can trade one of the factions at Wistram for some pure magicore. In the meantime, I'll regenerate other parts of my body."

Teura raised an eyebrow. "Why are you regenerating your hand and ear anyways?"

"That," I held up a finger. "Is a secret."

She gave me a flat look. "I'm your [Apprentice]."

"True, but what teacher reveals everything they know?" Besides, it was more Sibby's secret than mine. Even hinting that I relied on someone else to hurt me could raise some more questions I didn't want Teura to know.

I mean, I trusted her, but a secret only remains that way if you don't tell people about it. And my secrets were literally better than gold in Wistram.

"I understand." She closed her eyes and bowed slightly.

Great. I rolled my eyes underneath my helmet. She's reverting back to her 'professional' mode, but I could handle a little passive-aggressiveness. And I actually liked her reserved attitude. Still, as a manipulation technique, it was pretty good.

"Anything else you wanted to talk about?"

She frowned pensively for a second. "Are you really going to speak with the King of Destruction?"

"Probably in time. I understand Wistram's opinion of him, but as long as he doesn't declare unjust wars, then I don't have the same problem with him that others do."

Any issues with [Slaves] would be handled in due time once Roshal fell. Besides... I could use him.

Yes. I'd need someone to help the survivors, and Flos would do nicely. My plan was still fluid, as I couldn't fully predict the outcome of my mega-project, but I could envision a general shape of how things would go.

**Teura is frustrated.

"I see."

I wanted to bring up that Amerys supported him, but it was clear that all the major factions of the magical school didn't want Flos in power - for one reason or another.

"Trust me, I'd prefer a peaceful solution to any problems. That's why I'm going to try and talk to [Queen] Yisame and get her to end the war with Tiqr."

"So you'll sponsor a [Gladiator]?"

**Teura is eager.

She probably wants to see what sort of artifacts I'll Craft. Also, she just rather brazenly admitted to listening in on the conversation, but I'd already known that she'd done that.

"Something like that."

---

Laila watched as Zehia worked on sewing a simple outfit. She was getting better. Her fingers deftly moved as she used her claws instead of needles. It had been rough at first, but she'd gotten [Needle Claws]. After that, it became almost second nature for her to transfer the tiny loop she'd made at the end of the thread between fingers as it passed back and forth through the two pieces of cloth she sewed together.

While it made her a little jealous about how well Zehia was using their claws compared to the mess Laila always seemed to make, she was mostly happy for her friend. It was her body, so it was only natural for her to be better at using it.

"Laila!" She took control of their head and looked up. Zehia continued to focus on sewing - without the need for her eyes. A green Garuda waved at her as she walked through the still-crowded shanty-town at the edge of Oliphant.

"Chaita!" Laila smiled at her. She finally felt comfortable around the Courier that she didn't try to hide her teeth. "How are you?"

"Ugh." The green bird-person groaned as she sat down. "Still no sign of the [Archmage] or a Zebra Beastkin."

"If you stay here long enough, Sibby will come by." Truthfully Laila suspected that the Siberian was both actively avoiding Chaita, and stalking her at the same time. It was the sort of game that Sibby liked to play. Part of Laila wanted to tell Chaita that, but she also didn't want to spoil her friend's fun.

She didn't really have much experience with friends, and had no idea how to get two of them to get along.

Chaita clacked her beak. "No offense, Laila, but spending my day in what is essentially a junk pile isn't my idea of fun. I'd rather be doing than waiting." She looked around the tent. "Besides, you're making good money now. You can afford to move to somewhere inside Oliphant."

"Oh, I couldn't waste money on something like that." Laila was content to be... well, anywhere. Zehia had been accustomed to luxuries so much more impressive that the shanty town and an apartment were much the same to her. Plus, the former [Assassin] had lived on the streets, so she was also used to worse conditions.

Zehia had been homeless! That still surprised Laila. It was just so at odds with what she'd known about her owner back when she'd been a [Slave].

"Let her know I'm looking for Pixel, okay?"

"I've told her." Laila shrugged - earning a mental 'ugh' from Zehia as it disrupted her work. "But Sibby isn't exactly..."

"I get it." Chaita said with a hint of amusement. "This isn't my first time to Tiqr. The people are as wild and carefree as their country." She stopped and looked out the tent's entrance. "Dead gods. At least that's how I remember it, and how it will be again soon."

"Yeah..."

Chaita shook her head and changed the subject. "So how's your sewing going?"

"Pretty well!" Laila smiled. "Z-, er, I've gotten a nice skill that lets me use my claws for it."

"I can see. I bet it's a good Skill in a fight too!"

"Er..."

"Hey, we [Runners] use what we can." Chaita tapped her beak. "I've bitten a [Bandit] or two in my time. No shame in that."

"Yeah." Laila ran her tongue gently across her teeth. Even that would've caused bleeding if it wasn't for how tough Zehia's body still was. Even without the Blood Class, the physical changes remained.

"I bet that a lot of String People pick up [Seamstress] as a Class. You must've been plenty good without your new Skill. I bet you'll be able to make all sorts of changes to yourself with it!"

"I, uh, I'm, er... what?" Laila tried to figure out what Chaita was saying.

"Your hands and mouth." The Courier motioned at Laila. "String People learn how to sew so they can make their own body parts, right?"

"Yes?" Laila winced. "But I didn't-"

"Make them. I had someone else create and attach them." Zehia took over for a moment. "I'm still nowhere good enough to make an actual normal hand, much less these custom jobs. Besides," She stopped sewing long enough to gesture to their mouth. "It takes a real master to do work on the face."

"I bet." Chaita nodded. "It would be like me getting something sewn onto my face."

"Exactly." Zehia pointed before resuming her sewing. "I'm still pretty much a novice [Seamstress] right now."

"Do you think you'll consolidate it with your [Runner] Class?"

When Zehia didn't respond, Laila swallowed and resumed talking. "No. I don't think so. I... hadn't planned on being a [Runner]. I'm not even sure how the two COULD consolidate?"

"Oh, probably one of those catch-all Classes." Chaita shrugged. "It's not like I'm an expert either." She laughed before letting out a sigh. "Well, that's a long enough break. Better get back out there."

"Long? You were only here a couple of minutes!"

"Exactly! It's been forever!" Chaita replied playfully as she flapped her arms a few times. "If I'm not moving, I just don't feel right. I'll come by later, okay?" The [Runner] gave Laila a small wave as she stepped out of the tent and started jogging down the street.

"I hope she finds Pixel." Laila said out loud - but in truth, she was happy to have a new friend who stopped by to visit her.

"Oh?" The whisper made both her and Zehia jolt and turn around. Sibby sat in the shadows, her yellow eyes glowing slightly

"Sibby!" Laila smiled. "I guess you heard all of that."

"I did."

"So... are you going to let Chaita know where to find Pixel? Or let Pixel know that a Courier is looking for him?"

Sibby smirked. "Nah. It's more fun this way." The Siberian then faded from sight as she no doubt went back to stalking Chaita.

---

Sibby followed Chaita from the tent tops. It wasn't something anyone else could do, so the bird woman didn't notice her. Chaita was excellent prey to practice against. She moved quickly and made frequent stops. She was also observant enough that she'd 'spot' her if Sibby was sloppy.

Plus, it was funny.

Chaita obviously wasn't part of any nefarious plot. She'd been hired by some king to give Kevin a letter. Naturally Sibby had stolen the letter, read it, then put it back. All it contained was an open invitation to visit someone named Floss.

Probably the king of the dentists or something.

It did make Sibby feel bad for Chaita who alternated with running around Tiqr or wandering around the city and asking people if they'd seen Pixel.

But only a little bad. Mostly it was funny.

She'd never had a hard time finding Kevin. She could always tell exactly where he was. Sibby, of course, knew that nobody else could do that, but the idea of NOT being able to find him was so absurd she couldn't help being amused at Chaita's plight.

Even funnier, Chaita had actually found someone who could possibly have led her to Pixel. Sibby still checked in on Laila every day, so if the green bird had simply sat and waited, they would've run into each other by now since Sibby wasn't going to stop visiting Laila just for a joke.

The funniest part was that Laila had one of Kevin's 'communication cubes'. She, or at least the person who's body she was currently inhabiting, had used it to speak with him during Sibby and his first airplane ride. Laila had carefully hidden it away, like it was a precious treasure - and promptly forgotten about it.

Or she didn't want to abuse Kevin's trust and call him.

Sibby leaned towards the later option. Laila didn't like speaking with people. She must've been hesitant to impose on Pixel - despite Chaita's plight.

Sibby paused as the bird lady passed a red-headed woman that Sibby recognized.

It was that Half-Elf that was staying at the base Kevin had made. Teura. Sibby didn't like her.

Sibby only liked living with Kevin, Riley, and Panda. People that weren't real didn't matter, and being real didn't mean being family. Otherwise, she'd have invited Laila to come stay.

Sibby switched targets, and started investigating the red-haired Half-Elf. She was heading into a shop full of magic. Sibby trailed behind her unseen and unheard. She peered at the different liquids in glass vials. Magic. But not the kind of magic that would resist her powers. She could manipulate the contents of the shop easily.

Boring.

Teura bought a large number of some of the liquids, and then left.

Sibby followed her.

Oh ho! She was sneakier than Sibby had given her credit for. Outside of the town wall, the red-headed mage said "Invisibility." And vanished.

At least from sight.

There were plenty of other ways that she was impacting the world around her that a skilled huntress like Sibby could follow. First and foremost, she was magic. Sibby had to stay close. Her 'Authority' didn't extend far, only a few feet, but within it she could sense the concentrated magic that now enveloped Teura.

The Half-Elf started to jog, but she wasn't as fast as Sibby.

Where was she going? What was she doing? It was a mystery that only Sibby could-

Oh.

Just back home.

Eh. Sibby continued to trail her. She could watch Kevin for a while. That was always fun too.

...

Sibby was patient. One after another, Kevin made the magical potions into slightly different magical potions.

'Hey, Sibby.'

'Hey.'

'I'm glad you're here. I need your help again.'

'Oh?' Sibby smiled. 'What is it?'

'I need to go to Nerrhavia's Fallen.'

'That sounds exciting! Are we killing or investigating?'

'Investigating.'

'Okay!' She liked investigating. 'What are we investigating?'

'The gladiator arenas. I have a plan to see Nerrhavia Fallen's queen by winning the championship.'

'Ah, and you want me to fight?' Sibby's grin grew wider.

'No.' Awww.... 'You're too recognizable. Plus, everyone thinks you're a Djinni, and they'd try to capture you instead of letting you fight.'

'Boo!'

'But, while I'm fighting, you can go and investigate and gather details.'

'Details?'

'On the Court of Silk. Gladiators and their sponsors can get invited, but I'll need to first know what sort of fighter would catch the queen's eye. I don't have to worry about not coming along as a sponsor if I'm the gladiator in question, but I need to be exciting in the right way.'

'And if you're not?'

'Then I'll make a new mask to wear.'

'This sounds like it's going to take a looong time.'

'Possibly, but it's better than being forced to kill the armies that march on Tiqr. The more I do that, the harder a peaceful resolution will be to achieve.'

'But doesn't Nerrhavia's Fallen use slaves? Do you want peace with them?' They weren't Roshal. They weren't the ones that had hurt Laila, but Sibby had paid enough attention to William and Cauwine when they'd spoken about the bigger nations - and how slaves were a systematic issue and not the result of any one country.

That had been a long rant.

'They'll be dealt with, but until my mega-project is complete, or I hear word from Riley, or you sense Panda, we can work on this.'

'If you're going to be a gladiator, you'll need a costume.'

'Yes. I'm thinking about who to be. I've figured out that the more well-known my character is, the more powerful they are. If I want to become champion, I'll need a popular figure. The right clothes will go a long way in getting into it - however my Skill works.'

'Then you should visit Laila. Zehia is trying to become a tailor.'

'Hmmm... okay. It's easier than doing it myself.'

There. Sibby smiled to herself. It would do Laila (and Zehia) good to have a customer. While Zehia was already confident, Laila could use a 'win'.

Kevin finished making things, and Teura left with the results. 'What was that for?'

'Trading for magical stuff that might help heal me. Speaking of which.' He held up his left hand to her. 'Here.'

'Thanks!' She let light interact with her again as she began to slowly eat his fingers.

'Regrowing my body parts apparently helps as they come back without any magical damage. The trade-off is that they come back with no mana at all. So, while I could have you eat more than my hands, it would reduce my mana pool.'

She looked him up and down. 'I can eat your entire body if you want...'

'Sibby... if you did that, I'd die.'

'Not if I didn't do it all at once! Riley cut lots of people open and removed organs. You don't need BOTH lungs, and you could totally regenerate your intestines before you died of... I don't know. Whatever kills people who have their intestines eaten.'

He raised an eyebrow. 'I still only have one heart.'

'I'm sure I could eat a little bite of it at a time and let you heal in-between.'

'And my brain?'

'Uhm...' Sibby didn't have a plan for that. 'Wait until we find Riley?'

Kevin rolled his eyes as she continued to consume his hand. 'That'd be nice, but I'd rather have my ability to use mana without worsening my condition sooner rather than later. To that end, I'd like you to eat part of me, and I'll stuff magicore into the wound.'

'Is that safe? That doesn't sound safe.'

'Probably not for most people, but I can hold raw magicore in my hands. And it's more of a magical drain thing than physical so I won't be poisoned or anything. A regular person might be, but I'm tougher.'

'And chewier!'

'Yes. And chewier. With luck, I can both heal my Oversaturated debuffs and keep most of my mana pool. It will just take some time and effort.

---

I teleported repeatedly until Oliphant came into sight. With Sibby as my invisible guide, I made a beeline towards where Laila and Zehia were staying. I wasn't sure why Sibby was staying hidden. I guess she'd had enough strutting and was now in her skulking mode.

"A-Archmage Pixel, sir." Laila's eyes went wide and she hastily stood up. "What are? Did she? I mean..." She took in a deep breath and put her hands and the garment she'd been sewing behind her back. "It's nice to see you again!"

"Hello, Laila." I was dressed in some simple clothes. I'd sacrificed all my modern ones to the great project, not that I'd have worn them anyways for the same reason I wasn't walking around in my armor. They had been too eye-catching for people who paid attention. "I wanted to come by and say 'hi' and to also see about commissioning an outfit."

"An outfit?" Laila fidgeted for a second before stilling herself.

**Laila is nervous.
**Zehia is intrigued.

"I'd be happy to. Just tell me what you want and I'll get right on it!"

"I'll show you." I used Tongue of Babel to create a visual display of what I wanted. "It's okay if it's made of Hemp. In fact, the sturdier the better. It's not designed to be flamboyant."

"Interesting..." Zehia walked around the projection. "If you can get me the metal bits, I can do the rest. I've never seen pants like this before." She frowned. "The hat might be beyond my skill."

**Zehia is excited.
**Zehia is eager.

"Give it a try."

"Of course!" Her eyes gleamed. "I'll go and buy the cloth right now!"

"Here." I un-Inventoried a few coins in my hand.

"I couldn't take your money. Just working for you will be sure to make me level, even with only one outfit."

"Okay." I shrugged. "I'll go see about making the buttons." I'd just go to a [Blacksmith] and buy some copper or brass. I could shape them with my hands.

I turned to leave when a green blur rushed towards me from the air. "You!" The blur landed in front of me with a cloud of dust. "You're the Archmage of Cubes, aren't you?"

**Chaita is eager.
**Chaita is happy.

"Yes?" I took half a step back.

"Finally!" The Garuda let out a hysterical laugh. "I finally found you!" She reached into a pouch in her pocket. "Here!" She shoved a letter wrapped in metal wire into my hands. The wire flowed into a seal that Chaita plucked from the top of the paper.

"Thank you?"

"It's an important letter." She hopped on her feet. "I'm a Courier by the way, so don't worry about it being a trap." She let out a sigh. "Dead gods, it was hard to find you!" She turned to Zehia. "Ah, this is convenient. Laila, I just delivered my package so I need to take off! I'll run into you some day I'm sure!"

Chaita smiled and then flapped her arms and flew off into the sky.

That... was odd.

I opened the letter:

Greetings, Pixel, Archmage of Cubes,

I hereby invite you to visit me in Relm or wherever I am on campaign. I swear no harm will come to you, I merely seek to meet you and have a conversation.

-Flos Reimarch, King of Relm

Well, that was short and to the point.

A bit late though.

...

Days later, I stood in a tunnel waiting for the iron bars to be raised and let me into the arena. It was one of the smaller venues, but I had to start somewhere. Thankfully, it was simplicity itself to sign up as a [Gladiator]. No checks. No interviews. Nothing except for a time and a place to show up.

Now, all I had to do was work my way to the championship, and do so in a spectacular fashion.

I'd thought long and hard about whom I was going to play. I couldn't go as Pixel, and while any persona I came up with for [Don the Mask] would be weaker, they would also throw off any suspicion. The key was picking someone well-known. The more popular the person I was pretending to be was, the more powerful they'd be overall.

That was one of the nuances of my Skill I'd figured out. That was why Gandalf had gotten better Skills than Auron - even if they both had technically been the same level. My initial thought had been to be Ryu. He was, after all, the face of Street Fighter 2 - one of the foundational fighting games.

And one that people in the Empire of Sands were now familiar with in addition to the Earthers.

The only problem with that, was that Ryu wouldn't make the flamboyant splash I wanted. Most [Gladiators] fought with weapons, it wasn't uncommon for [Martial Artists] to enter as well. Even a Hadoken wouldn't be enough - assuming I even got it as a Skill. No, I needed someone with a unique fighting style. Someone popular. A memorable face that could fight in a way that would be sure to garner attention.

The gate began to rise. I brought my hand to my face as I activated [Don the Mask]. I then drank the potions I'd made, before stepping out and yelling to the crowd.

"It'sa me! Mario!"

Chapter 102: Interlude - Belavierr 2

She watched as her creations moved.

They smiled at each other and waved as they went about their chores. Some sang while others worked the fields.

Her Thread Golems needed no food for substance, but it was important for them to perform 'regular' tasks anyways.

This thread of Belavierr Donamia's mind wasn't aware of WHY the Thread Golems had been made. What purpose there was in making a facsimile of a village in the Kingdom of Shade she didn't know. Her focus was on managing them and making improvements so that they would appear more 'human'.

It was a difficult task.

Humans were messy.

Everyone was messy.

They constantly did or said things that weren't important.

Thread Golems did none of that on their own, so Belavierr was forced to do it for them.

Why?

Because that was what she was supposed to do. The farmer raised his hand and waved at the passing woman. The threads inside the woman's face pulled her cheeks up to stretch her lips. Threads in the lips themselves were tightened.

Too much. More slack.

Relax the tendon-thread of the jaw.

Pull the thread of the nose, just a little.

Now for the eyes. These adjustments were far smaller and precise. A wrinkling at the edges. A pull at the lids to open them ever so slightly.

This made slack in the forehead which had to be made taut in turn.

There. A smile. A perfectly natural and normal smile. She was sure of it.

Done with her micro-management, the thread of thought let the smile collapse as it turned its attention to another golem. The singer. That... was still a work in progress.

Magic was currently being used to weave the notes and chords into a-

Fire!

Fire burned her!

Belavierr screamed as her thread was consumed in vengeful flames.

-----

Belavierr Donamia went over her collection of artifacts.

It had been a long time since she'd taken an inventory. Time and threads of thought that were better spent elsewhere.

Now she had a new item for her collection and she needed to keep everything sorted.

Where to put it?

Next to the Unicorn hair?

There was some logic there. Magical parts from a creature. Rare. Powerful.

The Marionette of a Gnoll?

Controlled. Moved when its strings were pulled. Could be useful in defense.

A pair of scissors enchanted by a level 71 Half-Giant [Seamstress]?

No. No similarities there.

Silk from the Magic-Eater Spiders of Baleros?

It could counter magic. It could also be invisible to the eye, but that was a very weak and temperamental effect. It wasn't nearly as good at it as a Cloak of Invisibility.

A Cloak of Invisibility?

The new item could replicate that effect, but not as good.

A mana potion made by a [Sage]?

The new item had far more mana but couldn't be used... Actually, the mana potion should be moved to 'collectibles'. Belavierr had many more potions of much higher quality. [Alchemists] of the current era were becoming quite competent at brewing them.

In fact, she should-

Fire!

Fire burned her!

Belavierr screamed as her thread was consumed in flames of hatred.

...

Belavierr spun herself immortality.

She didn't remember what defenses she had first woven around herself.

Was it the heart of the Phoenix she'd eaten? The last of its kind.

Was it the secret way to animate her body as the ancient [Necromancer] had taught her?

Or was it one of the countless contracts she'd made? Where death would be passed on to the woman in her place? A fine reward for a fine deed.

She'd sealed away her heart. Both literally and figuratively. Wrapped in a web so thick that it resembled more of a metaphysical cocoon.

Yet still she wove.

She was the immortal spider. The Witch of Webs. She could sew a soul to a body. Stitch space and time. Weave a tapestry of lives. Most of all, she had to live.

Thus, the part of herself that she'd dedicated this most vital task wove threads of substances more ephemeral than a thought. The Craft of [Witches]. All the most wondrous payment that she took from others and hid in her hat would be used for this singularly vital purpose.

And she had a marvelous new material to use.

A Djinni.

A being of Light and Art.

Broken apart strand by strand.

Old, even by her standards.

Yes, it was a good trade some other part of herself had made. Even if it had cost her some of her immortality in exchange, what she would weave would be-

Fire!

Fire burned her!

An inferno made from someone burning their very life and soul!

One by one, her immortalities fell apart. However, this thread of herself was thicker than most, more vital! Even as this part of Belavierr burned she continued to try to weave something to stop the flames.

She failed. The tapestry wasn't as strong as it should have been. Sections were missing. Parts worn away with time or with the meddling of rats that had been beneath her notice!

She had protections from flames. The Phoenix heart - a creature who used fire for rebirth and not-

It burned.

It burned like everything else.

The web she weaved could not stand up to the vengeful flames that raced along it. Flames fueled by a [Knight]'s honor. Flames that used his righteous wrath as kindling. Flames that-

The strongest thread of thought burned to ash.

...

Belavierr stood on a hill and watched the traitor [Hunter] die a slow agonizing death as he hung himself.

Another pact she'd made long ago. An offer extended that she didn't know if it would ever be accepted, but the prize was worth it for the [Hunter] to seek out an opportunity to aid the Stitch Witch in her most dire hour.

She would keep her promise. She would weave a charm from his heartstring, the string of the bow he'd used to kill his comrades in cold blood, and a string plucked from the noose he'd hung himself with. She'd send the charm to his daughter. A charm filled with a traitor's shame and a father's love.

It would protect his daughter from harm and allow her to live a long life freed of the illness that plagued her.

It cost her to make such a thing, but it was worth it - for the [Hunter] who'd marked her had been one of those slain. She could flee from them now.

...Except they'd threatened her daughter.

Belavierr was thinking far more clearly than she had in centuries. Ever since her [Tapestry of Thoughts] had been burnt away in the fight with Sir Raim. Her message to Kaliv had been received, and they flew to wage war on the Order of Seasons so that she would spare the life of their [Prince].

She smiled. Perhaps her first real smile since she'd raised Wiskeria.

Ironic that she'd granted the [Prince] immortality due to her daughter's desires. A gift was no pact, and could be taken back freely without damaging her Craft.

Doubly ironic since she could now see, looking back at it with an un-clouded mind, that her daughter had not wanted her request fulfilled in such a manner.

Triply ironic since the [Hunter] that had turned traitor and killed his own allies had also done so to protect his own child.

Ah, but she could still see her death approaching. And a second death after that.

She might avoid one, but not two. An immortal life was demanded. An immortal would fall. A life would need to be given.

...And she had just the thing under her hat.

With the [Hunter]'s Mark gone, she could weave the scraps of the Djinni into a suitable puppet. A replica of her, but vitally, still alive. Still himself - a Djinni was its magic. He could burn, and it wouldn't touch her.

She would need to bury the threads she wove deep into his being, so those burned last, but she could do it.

She was the Witch of Webs after all.

Chapter 103: Omake - Pixel in the Blighted Kingdom

What if Kevin had been summoned as part of the group at Rhir:

"Welcome prophesied [Heroes]!"

Tom looked up at the man with the booming voice. Where in the world was he? The last thing he remembered was walking to the mini-mart to get a snack. How had he gotten here? Wherever here was.

"This is the Blighted Kingdom." The man said, as if reading his mind. Or, more likely, as if he could guess what the crowd of people around him were thinking by their bewildered expressions. Tom imagined he had to be gaping the same way almost everyone around him was. "You have been summoned to help us in our hour of need. The Demons are gathering their strength, and we require your power to drive them back so that peace may reign. Not only here, but for the entire world!"

He... had been summoned?

Tom supposed that made sense. The king, the guy to his side with robes and a staff, all the people in the crowd that surrounded them with the fancy dresses, and finally the guards with spears and swords - they all looked like they were pulled straight out of some fantasy novel.

Odd that the king was the only one smiling. The... he had to assume they were nobles, each wore expressions that ranged from a blank look to an outright scowl. The guards and the... court mage? They looked on impassively, but Tom could feel a strange sense of pride stirring in his chest.

"No." The man next to Tom spoke. Tom stepped away as the crowd around him parted. "I thought the disappearances were the work of an outside Parahuman, but you're not one. This is something else, isn't it?" He defiantly pointed at the king. "I'm not going to fight your war for you, kidnapper. Your mind tampering won't work on me, scum. You will send all of us back home right now or-"

His voice suddenly stopped as the man with the staff raised it. "[Temporal Prison]."

Tom shuddered. The guy wasn't breathing. He wasn't blinking. He wasn't moving at all. He'd been frozen in time!

"Such impudence." The king shook his head. "Fear not, children, we will not hurt you. Indeed, we will provide you with the greatest arms and armor that exist in this or any other country. Our foe is great, but our power is greater still. With your help, we will be able-"

The man on the throne continued to give his speech, but Tom looked at the frozen person. He could tell by the expression on everyone else's face. They'd looked confused like him at first, then excited, then surprised when the stranger had stepped forward.

Now?

Now the crowd was scared. Tom was too.

'Kidnapped' the man had said. He hadn't thought about it, but that's exactly what this was, right? Why would he be summoned to fight a Demonic army? That made zero sense! A moment ago, the idea might've thrilled him, but that was before one of their number had been FROZEN IN TIME!!!

...If Tom was being honest with himself, he would admit that even if it wasn't for such treachery, he probably wouldn't have fought. He'd tried that in the past, and Tom knew that he was an out-of-shape fat nerd. He'd lose a footrace with a turtle. A boxing match with a wet paper bag. Fighting a demonic army? He'd die in the first minute, if not sooner.

Huh?

What was that?

Something was different...

Tom frowned as he looked around. He hadn't been paying attention but something had changed that shouldn't have...

The man! The man frozen in time. His eyes were moving! It was incredibly slow, but they were definitely moving as he looked over... at the wizard instead of the king. In fact, he was pointing at the wizard now.

No. Not pointing. His index finger was bent, and his other fingers had opened. So had his thumb. It looked... like he was holding an imaginary gun.

Suddenly, the gun wasn't imaginary. It was real. Golden... and made out of tiny cubes?

A beam of light shot from it, which silenced the crowd. It felt like it blasted for hours, but it had to have only been a split-second. Then, it stopped and the afterimage left Tom blinking furiously. The wizard was dead. A hole the size of a beach-ball had replaced his upper torso and head.

The staff slipped from lifeless fingers as what was left of the body toppled over like a scene from a bad horror movie.

"You dare?!?" The king rose up from his throne. His eyes blazed with fury and he leveled his scepter at the now-moving man.

"Yes."

A golden light flashed in Tom's vision again. This time, it came from the king. Only... it was intercepted by another shot from the man's strange looking gun.

Gold vs. gold warred, and Tom had no idea what was going on, or who was winning. Then, it was over, and the aftermath was clear to see. The king, his throne, and a huge swath of the castle behind him were simply... gone.

Disintegrated.

Atomized.

Erased.

"The king!" "Guards!" "Help!" "Dead gods!" "This can't be happening!" A clamor of voices swelled from the finely dressed audience behind them.

Tom whirled around. People in armor with swords were charging the man with the gun, and he was in the way! He was going to be killed!

A shimmering field surrounded the group. The men with swords slammed into the sudden... forcefield. That was the only word that came to mind. Tom felt strangely calm, as if he was watching an action movie instead of living in one. He looked around and saw large cubes on the ground, and more floating in the air.

A beam of light shot from one of the hovering groups of cubes. Not as bright or as golden as what had come from the gun he casually noted. The white beam splashed against the armor of the raging people, but their full-plate wasn't without holes.

Their helmets had visors and those visors needed to let light in for the person inside to see. So of course it let in the brilliant white laser. The armor might have been resistant to the beam, but the people inside were not. Their bodies collapsed lifelessly.

Others brought up shields to block the attack. Small glowing cubes appeared at their feet and then...

Tom couldn't understand what had just happened.

There was a flash? Then a flash of... darkness? Then... something had happened that he couldn't wrap his mind around. All that was left was an empty suit of armor and a baseball sized glob of... something.

Throughout all of this, the man with the gun didn't move. He remained facing the throne and the rooms beyond while the crowd behind them panicked and the armored people died as they ran forward.

"ENOUGH!" A figure appeared towering above them. It... was Samus?

Tom was calm. He couldn't be hallucinating the heroine from Metroid standing twenty feet tall between them and the crowd, but it was either that or she had stepped right out of a video game.

And at such a low resolution too.

"You kidnap us. Try to brainwash us. Then attack us." Samus spoke. "Don't make me kill more of you."

"[Words Not Weapons]." One of the lavishly dressed women said as she stepped forward. "Peace, visitor from-" She choked as blood frothed from her lips. Blood, then a green acid that dissolved her in front of everyone.

Tom was calm. Despite the horrifying sight that was somehow even worse than the carnage he'd just witnessed, he was calm.

"I consider any attempts to manipulate my mind or the minds of the people you kidnapped to be a hostile act." Samus replied coldly. "Try to do so again, and you will meet the same fate. Now tell me why I shouldn't slaughter your whole strange cult right here and now."

Despite his strange calm, Tom felt a shudder run down his spine at the promise behind those words.

At least the psychotic Samus seemed to be on their side?

Chapter 104: Playing Dead 1

Notes:

Previously:

Riley arrived in the Dyed Lands where she met Pinky - a Fraerling with a penchant for red and a... unique personality. Having left the Dyed Lands, they made their way to where they heard Niers Astoragon was - the city of Daquin. There, they stumbled upon the Titan's game where Niers' pitted his students against the Iron Vanguard in mock combat. While Riley helped with the wounded, Pinky found Niers.

"Wheee!!!" Riley laughed as she clung to the back of the Centauress.

Perorn laughed along with her. "I feel like a colt again!"

The pair stopped on a hill outside of Daquin and took one final look at the departing Iron Vanguard ships. The Forgotten Wing Company was also organizing itself to leave, but it would probably remain for several more days before that.

"You're really fast." Riley hopped down to get a better view of the work she'd done on Perorn's leg.

"Faster now that you healed me!" She beamed down. "How is someone of your skill not known world-wide?" She asked curiously.

"Ah, ha ha." Riley chuckled. She WAS known world-wide, just not on this world. Plus, she'd been both famous and infamous back on Earth Bet depending on what identity people remembered. She'd already decided she'd tell this 'Titan' fellow about Earth if she ever met him. It would be hard to get help tracking down Kevin without explaining the situation properly. "I value my privacy, as I'm sure most others do."

"I respect that." Perorn nodded. "Not everyone wishes for fame." She pranced around, as if she couldn't wait to start running again. "I just never expected to meet a... [Lady] who could heal my wound."

"That's because it was healed, just healed wrong." Riley probed the Centauress' muscles with her fingers. They were remarkably similar to an actual horse. The interesting part was where the two met. She wanted to see ALL of that. How did the spine curve? How did the circulatory system work? Did they have two sets of duplicate organs? A human heart and lungs in their torso and an equine pair in... their other torso? "I removed the scar tissue and reshaped your muscle. I had to work with what's there, so it will take some time and exercise for you to build it back up to match your other leg."

"Exercise I can do. Being able to run at top speed again without any pain?" She took a deep breath. "It's like a dream come true. I'm never going to take my ability to run for granted again!" She breathed in and out as she looked over the city. "Name your price, Bit. Do you want artifacts, gold, an army? I can reward you handsomely for what you gave back to me."

"That's fine." Riley shook her head. "I like helping people, and finding new species." She really shouldn't ask to do a vivisection... but if she offered to improve Perorn, then it would okay to do some exploratory surgery, right? No, no, no! Bad Riley! She shouldn't get distracted. "Actually, I'd like to speak with the Titan, if you could put a word in with someone." Crotium - the old Lizardfolk [Healer] - had told Riley that she'd tell her commander about her, but the more people on her side the more likely she'd get an audience.

"Niers?" Perorn looked down at her. "Is that why you're in Daquin?"

"Yep!" Riley beamed at her. "I'm actually looking for my brother, but my friend said that I should ask the Titan, 'cause he knows stuff."

"I know. Pinky mentioned that."

"Oh? So you met Pinky?"

"In passing." Perorn motioned to her back. "Hop on. Knowing Niers, he's waiting for us to show up."

Riley road on the Centauress as she galloped back into the city. This was great! So many new biologies to explore! She wondered if they had any Unicorns? No, no, find Kevin first. Unicorns can come after that.

The [Guards] waved Perorn through as she slowed down enough to let them do so. The sun was setting and torches lit up the streets. They went past the town square where a lot of people were still milling around, and to a secluded bench.

Perorn leaned down. "Well, he was here earlier and... Ah." She trotted down the street, took a left, then a right, and knocked on the door of a nondescript house.

It actually wasn't THAT nondescript, as every other house was full of light and sound as the citizens of Daquin partied.

The door opened by a Lizardfolk who saluted Perorn and stood to the side. Her hooves made loud clops as she entered.

"Back room, ma'am!"

"Thank you."

When you got the chance to ride a Centauress, you took it. But all good things came to an end. Once they got to the back room, Riley dismounted with a sigh as Perorn knocked.

"Come in!"

The door swung open and Riley took in the room.

Pinky was on the bed and waving at her. A few other Fraerlings were sitting in a circle around her. The person that she could only assume was the Titan by the ridiculously large (relatively) feather in his cap stood at the edge.

"Welcome, Lady Bit." He took his hat off with a theatrical flourish. "Your friend has told us-"

Niers' speech was interrupted by a small blur that leapt into Riley's arms. Then another, and another.

"Boo!" Riley's grin threatened to break her cheeks. "Aw! Did you miss me? Good boy. Where's K-... Pixel? Hm?" She began giving pets to the pixelated Hamsters that swarmed her.

On the bed, Niers deflated slightly as he mentally readjusted his plans one more time.

---

The next day Niers woke up bright and early before letting out a moan. While it was a strange stroke of luck that let him be introduced to an otherworlder who was already familiar and on good terms with a Fraerling, there were a number of headaches to go with it.

This was why he didn't believe in 'luck'.

There were plans and contingencies. It wasn't 'luck' that lead Pinky to Daquin, just some rather unusual timing. One move led to another. The key was to see the entire board so he could predict what moves he had to look out for.

On the whole, he'd say that things were... fortuitous.

He hopped down to the floor and walked to the kitchen of the tavern they'd rented. Normally he would've left long ago at a random time on a bird. It was always risky to move alone, but less so than being predictable. However, the only moves he had available to him involved the Fraerlings from Itelloi, Pinky, Bit, and the otherworldly golem swarm - that was apparently named'Boo'.

Having pieces he wasn't willing to sacrifice limited him, but... that was the situation. The whole point of the Forgotten Wing Company was to provide a Fraerling presence in the Tall-Folk world. At least, that was one of the reasons for Niers personally.

Finally having some of his people visit Elvallian SHOULD have been the highlight of his year, but, of course, they'd come with a reason and a problem. Or at least an opportunity. There shouldn't-

"What is that?"

Niers stopped as he entered the kitchen. He wasn't the only one up. Forgotten Wing [Guards] had remained vigilant throughout the night. He would've expected one of them to be in the kitchen. Instead, Bit was there standing next to a cube covered in white hair with a rat tail sprawling behind it that was several times longer than he was tall.

White blood was splattered on the counter-top, and the otherworlder was busy sewing on... feet?

"Just adding some horned lizard feet now that I have the time." Bit wiped her head and left a small streak of white blood behind. "I've been wanting to do this for forever, but we were so busy traveling that I didn't have the chance."

"Lizard feet?"

"Yep!" She smiled as she bent down and showed him the foot in her hand that was as wide as he was tall. "See? I think I figured out what went wrong with Mr. Krabby. Mixing colors doesn't work because white blood doesn't interact with red organs and vice-versa. But! These feet aren't color-coded, so the blood should be able to transport nutrients to them." She shrugged. "And if it can't, then it loses its feet, which is a lot better than losing its lungs, right?"

Niers stared blankly at her.

Right. She was high-level. That came with... quirks. Dead gods, he'd met enough Named Adventurers in his time to understand how they tended to develop unique personalities. It was a fairly well-documented phenomenon among Fraerlings - but it did tend to devolve down to one village calling another one 'weird'.

"But why do you want to give it feet?" He'd seen her toss scraps into the mouth on the top. The 'Milkbox' could eat a Fraerling whole. He wasn't sure he was comfortable with it being able to walk around on its own.

"So it can drink!"

"What?"

"See here?" She shoved the reptile foot in his face again. "Horned Lizards have capillaries in their feet that draw in water like a straw. Normally, these are all over their body and transfer the water to their mouths, but I'm just going to add a small bladder for them to fill instead. It will be quicker and easier. Less overlap too."

"I see." Niers turned around and went back to his bedroom. It was too early to deal with this.

Besides, that's what he had subordinates for.

---

"So where are these 'items' you need to pick up before we leave, Bit?" Perona, now Bit's personal guide, asked the small girl on her back. "Well, Badgy's here already. And I picked up the Milkbox and my monkeys with you yesterday. That just leaves the spiders."

"The spiders?"

"Yeah!" Bit pointed over her shoulder. "I left them over there. Let's go!"

Perorn wasn't sure about this, but Niers had told her to keep Lady Bit happy, and help her retrieve her possessions. He'd just left out that her 'possessions' were animal corpses and a furry box. That had come as a surprise.

"How many spiders are we talking about here?"

"Not too many. Two dozen. I didn't have the parts to make more."

"You MADE them?" Perorn was getting a bad feeling about this.

"Well, yeah. Mother Nature does a half-assed job, so some improvements were in order. There we are!"

Perorn had other questions, but they died on her tongue as they entered a clearing and saw a swarm of Crelers around a tree! They were only juveniles, but they were already in their attack form! She needed to-

Bit jumped off of her and approached them.

"Bit! Those are Crelers!" She reached out to grab her, but the monsters were already swarming over her body!

Giggling.

Giggling was coming from the shifting mass. "Not Crelers, but I can see how you made that mistake."

Right... right. 'Spiders'. They looked a lot like Crelers with their shiny black carapaces, and long, sharp legs, but they didn't have huge mouths full of sharp teeth. They also didn't have red organs glowing underneath their bellies. "These are your spiders?"

"Yep!" Bit patted them like puppies. "Aw! Two died!" She bent over two still corpses. "I bet its more tumors. I'll get them up and running real quick and we can return."

Perorn made a decision. She'd tell Niers, of course, but the spiders would be staying far away from their Fraerling leader - and every other Fraerling too. She knew what they thought about cats, and the spiders were the perfect size for hunting down small prey.

In fact, she needed to find an enchanted box to keep them locked away in.

...

"What does Lady Bit want from you?" Perorn asked Niers as she walked with him on her shoulder. "And why are we heading back with everyone else?" She was used to Niers' unpredictability, but she was also aware that he didn't typically waste time like this.

"Why wouldn't we be heading back with my students?

"The only reason I can think of, is that there's something we're escorting that requires both of us to protect it." The bubble of sound that Niers had made with one of his artifacts kept their conversation private. "Was that why you had your game in Daquin? To pick up some artifact or another?"

Niers chuckled. "Top marks, Perorn, if you were in my class. But..." He leaned in closer to her ear and whispered. "The prize I got wasn't what I was expecting."

"And what does that mean?"

"Oh nothing." She could hear his smile. "By the by, how's your leg doing?"

Perorn sighed and rolled her eyes. "Very well, thank you. Lady Bit is... uniquely gifted. And you didn't say what she wants."

"Just some information on a missing family member." Niers said dismissively.

"And what of her... creations?"

"The Chimera is doing a good job of distracting everyone from the others. What have you heard from the troops?"

"'Badgy', as the Bear-Crab amalgamation is called, is a popular subject. Others have heard of it by now, especially since it apparently fought Xol. There are also a few rumors I've heard of it appearing here and there during the game."

"And nothing on the others?"

"No." Perorn hadn't heard a peep about monkeys, spiders, or the furry box that had all been sequested inside of the Lady's wagon - with the spiders encased in their own separate box just to be safe. It made her wonder if there were some other creatures that Bit had that she was unaware of.

"That's good." Niers hummed. "I wonder if I should start some rumors about her to muddy the waters. That doesn't usually work, but she's an unknown so it will be hard to verify anything."

Perorn turned to look at him out of the corner of her eye. "Is SHE the treasure you were looking for?"

"No." Niers winked at her. "But she might be better than what I had hoped to find."

---

Riley sat in the back of a wagon and kept herself busy with fixing the spiders. There was clearly some sort of... magical radiation coming from the Creler parts that was causing the various mutations. Most of them were benign, but several weren't.

There wasn't any other traps she could find, not even at the molecular level, so the issue was clearly magical and not biological. She suspected it was a byproduct of the Creler's famed magical resistance. Their chitin didn't block or negate magic, that was impossible.

Well... not 'impossible'. With magic ANYTHING was possible!

Her reasoning was that things usually came from something and not nothing. And things usually went from something and not nothing. Food was digested and used for chemical energy by the body. Wood burned. Sunlight warmed things up.

Basically, energy usually didn't disappear. It changed forms. When you looked at it like that, it made sense for an anti-magic defense to be one that converted one type of magic into another. Sure, you could probably make a 'magical wall' or something, but that would consume energy. Dispersing and redirecting magic was a much more elegant solution.

At least if you didn't care about doing magic yourself. Or about the 'waste magic' produced.

Riley grinned. She was getting ideas for how to modify her spiders. It would take some trial and error, but she could use some things to shape their internal structure. Like building a series of mirrors to reflect and trap light. She'd made an optical cavity before for her laser-velociraptors.

That was the common use for optical cavities, to act as a trap that let light in, but not out.

She just needed to do something similar with the insides of her spiders. The outward chitin would need to be replaced to keep that smooth texture, but let in magic. Then she would experiment with angles and shapes to design her trap.

Oh!

The outer chitin would be her measuring stick. There were too many variables to control - especially since she didn't know how 'magic' flowed around normally. The only solution was to perform some tests. She'd shape each spider differently, wrap them in 'normal' chitin, and see where the outside failed. Then she'd be able to identify how the magic 'reflected'.

In fact... that might be why the Creler had all those micro-cavities inside of it. She'd assumed they were for hiding the poisons, toxins, and eggs as a trap. While they DID do those things, they also could've had another purpose!

Paper. She needed paper.

And ink.

Okay. First order of business, add an ink-gland to the Milkbox. The Horned Lizard feet hadn't been rejected, so that was proof that her ideas for grafting non-colored parts would work. That was important because obviously white-ink wouldn't be of much use.

As for paper, she could make some velum.

...

"What do you want dead animals for?" Perorn asked suspiciously.

"You see, I can take their skin and stretch and treat it. I just need to make it supple and to remove the hair-"

"Bit." Perorn cut her off. "Is the end goal of this to have vellum to write on?"

"Yeah!" Oh, so they had that in this world? That was good to know.

"I'll get you some." The Centauress shook her head. "Ask for what you want, not the end result. We can help."

"Okay. Then while you're getting things for me, I'd like about a hundred pounds of chitin."

"Chitin?" Perorn looked at her blankly.

"Yeah. Chitin." Did they call it by something else? "You know, the stuff that bug exoskeletons are made of?"

"Why would you ever-" Perorn shook her head. "Nope. Not supposed to ask. The Titan said you're our guest, but I'll have to ask him about... that. It will have to wait until we're back in Elvallian. There are ample bugs around us, but stopping to gather them will take too long."

"That's fine. I can make do with just the paper!" Bit smiled at her and pulled her head back inside of her wagon.

Pinky was busy talking with other Fraerlings, so she had some time for herself. The Titan definitely had clout. Hopefully he'd be able to help her find Kevin.

Although, he did seem a little paranoid. He didn't want to talk about anything until they were back at his home base. That was fine. If he betrayed her, the very worst thing he could do was to bring her inside his home. Riley had plenty of options that made killing or imprisoning her around others a very bad idea.

How to bring that up without sounding threatening?

'Oh, by the way, if you kill me then everyone in a huge radius will die too?'

She didn't WANT to kill a bunch of random people, but she also didn't want to die herself. Her dead-man's switches were there as a deterrent if anyone ever found out that she was Bonesaw. They wouldn't work nearly as well in a place that didn't know of her past indiscretions.

Still, plan for the worst.

Right. Time to pivot to a contingency plan. Riley began to cut into the Milkbox. It was time to make a poison unlike anything she'd made before!

That wasn't true. It was virtually identical to a couple of poisons she'd created in the past to subdue Parahumans. The principle would be the same here, just with magic.

The Milkbox's brain was set up to intercept the broadcast this world's Entity used to interface with her brain. That kept her safe, but the same protection would be seen as a horrible affliction to all the people that used its power.

Hijacking the signal just required the proper chemicals to be drawn to the exact right neurons, and her Milkbox was the perfect map!

"Hmmm..." Riley hummed to herself as she looked at its brain from different angles. It was clear to see which areas were more frequently targeted, but almost every part of Milkboxes brain showed tampering. Very, very, subtle tampering. Reading, not writing, but it was there.

She could only tell because, well, the Milkbox didn't 'think'. It made milk. All of it's mental activities were handled by its subconscious. It wouldn't be the easiest thing to target those places where it looked like it was interacting with the Entity - especially since there was no Gemma. No Corona Pollentia. No unusual growths at all.

The Shards could probably learn a thing or two about how to interface with people from this world's Entity.

It was doubtlessly magical, which meant that her poison would probably fail or only be partially effective. It certainly couldn't stop modifications that had already happened - like galas muscles. That was fine. She could work on a disease for them later.

---

"I'm telling you, Cubey belongs to Bit!" Pinky argued with the Fraerling who had the impressive blue mustache.

"And I say to you: No!" Dincal scowled. "A Tallfolk making such a thing? It is an impossibility!"

"Is not!"

"What sort of childish argument is this?" He looked down his nose at her. "You deny outright with no proof? This is not the way to gain knowledge."

"I know plenty." Pinky crossed her arms. "I've seen Bit do things that no Fraerling in my village could."

"Bah. I say to you, bah! That is no proof, except of how unobservant you are or of how your village has stagnated."

"What?"

"Stagnated. Like water. Unmoving. Unchanging. Ungrowing. There can be no other explanation for any Fraerling village to not be capable of outperforming a Tallfolk."

Pinky frowned. "There are lots of Tallfolk that can do things Fraerlings' can't. Stuff like stomp a cat. Or... lift something heavy."

"Pft!" Dincal waved her away. "None of those are comparable to the golem." He pointed at Cubey. "'Boo' as it is called is a masterpiece that is beyond any Tallfolk, no matter how exceptional they are!"

Right... right... Cubey's name was 'Boo'. Pinky knew that, she'd just forgotten. She wasn't winning this argument, but she could make Dincal give up. She was good at that.

"What makes you say that?"

"Look at the lines! They are perfect and-"

"So your village can't draw straight lines?"

"I didn't say that! The cubes are flawless-"

"Oh, so you can't make a single flawless cube."

"I did not say that either! The colors-"

"You want to talk to me about color?" Her eyes flashed. "I know more about Red than you've ever known about any color ever!"

"What? What sort of argument is that?"

"The best kind!"

---

Niers turned off the message stone that connected to the Fraerling wagon and rubbed his temples. Why had he wanted his people to visit his city again? He'd forgotten just how... infuriating Fraerlings could be when they put their mind to it.

It was an argument he could technically win - on either side, but butting in would be a textbook example of a no-win situation. Winning the argument would be losing a bigger battle.

It would be better if he spent his time focusing on the otherworlders. Yes. That was far more important. Bit was busy cutting open her own creations. As impressive as that was, it didn't help him figure out his next step.

Plus, there were still some things that didn't make sense.

The otherworlder artifacts he'd bought were marvelous things that were made out of materials he wasn't familiar with and that didn't use magic. The same could be said of Boo, but that was a poor comparison. It was clear that the level of craftsmanship between the two was like Fraerlings and Goblins.

Not that Goblins were-

Niers shut down that line of thought. The important take away was that if Bit's brother WAS the person that made Boo... then Niers wanted to be on his good side.

What Xalandrass the Naga had told him of the people who'd sold the other relics had seemed... normal, if you assumed they were from another world. In that light, their strange clothes, odd customs, and foolish choices made sense.

He sincerely doubted any of them had created the artifacts they'd carried. That wasn't odd. Most every person in this world carried artifacts they didn't make - including him. Still... the difference in quality between Boo and the other items was vast.

How vast? It was hard to say, but Niers suspected that Bit's brother was as far beyond the rest of his world as Fraerlings were here. In that light, things made sense.

A Tallfolk as high level as him would be a [Master Craftsman]. Or perhaps their version of an [Archmage]. Who else could make a sentient-class golem?

Obviously Bit's brother was Pixel - the Archmage of Cubes. Niers would've failed any of his students that didn't make that connection with even a tenth of the evidence he had in his possession.

He could've just told Bit when she'd introduced herself and said that she was looking for her brother. It would not have been difficult to put her on a ship heading back to Wistram with the [Mages] who'd come to broadcast his game.

There were three reasons why he hadn't taken that course of action.

First, if the Titan had given such an order, then Tulm and the rest of the Iron Vanguard would've intercepted the boat. There would be a pretense, of course, they wouldn't offend the magical academy by harming its members, but they would LOOK.

Others would too, but his former student would beat them all to the punch. Especially considering the Iron Vanguard had their ships already along the coast.

Second, he wanted to speak with Pixel, and what better way to get him to come to him than at the invitation of his sister? He had every intention of keeping Bit happy. The better her opinion of the Forgotten Wing company, the better Pixel's would be.

Third, Niers didn't become a Named Adventurer, much less the second in command of one of Baleros' Great Companies by not grasping the opportunities that presented themselves to him. You didn't leave gold on the table, and you didn't leave a high-level [Mad Doctor] for others to find.

Even beyond her relationship to Pixel, Bit's skill in her own field was blindingly obvious. So obvious that he was one hundred percent certain this convoy would've been ambushed ten times over if it wasn't for his presence. Everyone had seen the Bloodrage Badger/Crab hybrid that had fought Xol. Most would discount it as something one of his students had secured somehow.

Dead gods, the last few minutes of the game had been suitably hectic on their own for most viewers to forget about 'Badgy's' appearance almost immediately. They might reminisce, but few would think more of it than the hundred other dramatic moments.

Most, but not all. Not the observant people. The high-level ones that made sure to always keep an eye on him. They would've noted the chimera, and they wouldn't have forgotten. His best course of action was to move quickly to deny their [Spies] the chance to gather more information.

With [On The March: Vigilance and Speed] active, they should reach Elvallian by the end of the day.

...

"See to it that the other Faerlings are seen to. They already are familiar with the walkways, but the newest one isn't." His [Steward] saluted him. He was one of the few Fraerlings that had come to work for the Titan, and he still tended to stare. "And make sure that Pinky doesn't get herself into any trouble, would you?"

He had a feeling about her. Not a bad feeling, nor a good one. Just the impression that she'd be trouble no matter what. Possibly as big of a headache as Dincal was.

"Perorn, come here." The Centauress already knew about Bit, so he might as well have her carry him when he took the otherworlder to see Foliana. Niers adjusted the speaking stone. "Foliana? I have someone for you to meet."

No response.

That didn't necessarily mean that the leader of the Forgotten Wing Company was or wasn't listening. The Three-Color Stalker did what she pleased, and given that she was impossible to detect when she didn't want to be, knowing what she was up to was a fool's errand.

But, it was important to check in. He had things to tell her that he didn't trust to any communication device. Things that couldn't be spoken aloud outside of one of their secure rooms.

"What do you want, Niers?" Perorn trotted up to him.

He leapt onto her shoulder. "Let's take Bit to see Foliana." Or at least, to try to.

The Human girl was already out of her wagon and looking around with interest. "Oh, Perorn!" She waved. "Is this the place?"

"Yes." Niers took his hat off for an exaggerated bow - as one had to do when dealing with Tallfolk. "This is Elvallian, the headquarters of the Forgotten Wing Company. We'll go and see our commander right away."

"And they'll help me contact my brother?"

"Not personally, but it will be up to her what aid we provide you."

"Okay!" Bit smiled at him. "Oh, and nobody should go inside my wagon."

"I'll make sure no one does, and that we move it to a secure location." If Niers was the type of person to have a [Dangersense] Skill, he was sure it would be blaring when he looked at the wagon that was now throughly Bit's domain. Not that he needed a Skill that told him something so obvious.

"This way."

The three of them entered the fortress and began walking towards where Foliana was most likely to be. Bit suddenly stopped and scrunched up her nose. "Something's here."

"What?"

"Something hidden." The Human girl's eyes shifted left and right as she took in a deep breath. "I can-" She jumped a foot in the air. "Eep!"

"Mm. Good legs. Higher jump than I expected." Foliana turned visible behind where Bit had stood, her finger extended after poking her in the side.

Notes:

Bios:

Riley Grace Davis - Bonesaw. Made an adjustment to herself to make all signals her brain didn't process get converted into a cookie smell. No longer likes cookies after Kevin's cooking experiments.

Pinky - OC. Not her real name. A Fraerling who is busy leveling [Fool] by infuriating other high-level Faerlings.

Dincal - OC. A verbose Golem-maker that that is unwittingly helping Pinky level.

Niers Astoragon - The Titan. A Fraerling. The highest level [Strategist] in the world. Still surprised by what the first in command of the Forgotten Wing Company does.

Foliana - The Three-Color Stalker. A Squirrel Beastkin. Niers' boss and his oldest friend. An incredibly stealthy [Rogue] who likes to spy on people. Also enjoys pranking people and stealing things.

Perorn - Perorn Sadiluc. Nicknamed Fleethoof. A Centauress and a [Strategist] in the Forgotten Wing Company. Has been on many campaigns on many continents. Used to have a slight limp due to Tulum the Mithril. Was adopted by Foliana when she was a filly.

Chapter 105: Playing Dead 2

Niers hopped off of Foliana's paw as they entered the safe room. He tossed his hat to the side and sat on a Fraerling-sized chair as he massaged his temples. "Well... it could've gone worse. You could've stolen something from her."

"Mm. Do I smell?" Foliana sat on a stool with her tail wrapped around her as she raised an arm and sniffed it. "I don't think I smell."

"What?"

"That girl. Mm. She smelled me." The Squirrel Beastkin wrapped her arms around her fluffy tail and faded from sight. "Not good. Have Skill."

"So does she." Niers sighed. "You can't sneak up on everyone."

"Can too."

"You shouldn't. Not with Bit. She's an otherworlder."

"Mm?" Foliana reappeared. "Otherworlder? I should know. I'm the Commander."

"It was too delicate to speak about it anywhere else."

"Lots of [Spies]. Mm. The good ones don't slip up when they think they're alone."

"Right." Niers poured himself a glass of something strong and took a sip. "Bit is looking for her brother. She's a high level-"

"Wrong."

"What?"

"Not high level." Foliana's eyes seemed to shimmer as the three colors of her irises flowed together. "No level. Rulebreaker."

"Really?" Niers leaned forward. "Not just a blocking artifact?"

"No artifact. No magic. Mm." Foliana smiled. "Could be an otherworlder artifact. No magic. Has a cube. And strange underwear."

Niers stared at her blankly. "What?"

"Had a look. Very strange. Like that rodent who's fun to ambush."

Niers knew that asking if Foliana got into his underwear was a subject he couldn't bring up. She already stole too many things from his room already. Giving her more ideas wouldn't end well for him. Instead, he deftly pivoted the conversation.

"So she has artifacts like the golem? Its name is 'Boo', by the way."

"Mm. Boo." Foliana smiled. "Good to know."

They stared at each other for a few seconds.

"And are her..." He couldn't say 'underwear'. "...other artifacts are also like that? Made of cubes?"

"Yes. Inside of bag too, but I was noticed before I could rummage." Foliana seemed to shrink in on herself. "I don't smell."

Niers drained his cup and filled it again. "Well, that's just more proof that her brother is the Archmage of Cubes."

"So?"

"I need you to decide what we do about it."

"Mm."

"Do I contact Pixel? Seek an alliance? Use her as a hostage?" This was why Niers was second in command. He didn't trust himself with making the big decisions. Give him a battlefield or a puzzle, and he could crush his opponents.

Politics? That was harder. He'd been betrayed too often. It had made him paranoid. And that made him paranoid he was being too paranoid. People from another world? People that could control animals from the Dyed Lands? Rise to the rank of Archmage? This could be Velan-

"No hostage. No alliance. Mm. Goodwill. Be nice."

Niers felt the weight of responsibility lift from his back. "Understood."

"Yes. You be nice." Foliana vanished. "I'm going to prove I don't smell."

---

Riley guided her pets to her new workshop.

Technically, the room was her 'guest quarters', but it was large enough to house Badgy, Milkbox, the three evils, and her spiders with room to spare. Since all of them were in more-or-less operational capacity she didn't need to summon her Mets to help.

She also didn't smell any cookies, but that didn't mean she wasn't being watched. Best to keep a few secrets... assuming Pinky hadn't already told the Titan about her ability to summon a swarm of robots.

Badgy sat on guard outside, while her three monkeys physically held the door shut. She would have to come up with a mechanical solution that couldn't be bypassed by Stranger powers. She'd grown up with tales of Nice Guy, so she'd always had a healthy respect for what a Stranger could accomplish.

Then she set about examining all the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. She'd love to assign this task to her spiders, but she was the only one with an anti-Stranger countermeasure. She rapped her knuckles every few feet because that's what you were supposed to do.

Hmm..

Perhaps she should make a moss that could grow along the sides of the room? That would be able to block any secret passageways that she may or may not have missed. It wouldn't stop Movers, but that was a whole other issue.

Her musings were cut short by a knock at the door.

"Come in." She called out.

Riley ► Open the door.
See-no-evil ► Ook.
Hear-no-evil ► Ook.
Speak-no-evil ► Ook.

The evils opened the door and the Titan walked inside. Niers Astoragon entered and looked around. The feather in his hat wasn't as big as the one she'd seen him wear previously, but it still looked over-sized for his tiny body.

"Lady Bit." He bowed to her. "I hope this is a good time to speak about sensitive matters?" He looked over his shoulder. "When the door is closed, this room is safe from most information gathering spells and Skills."

"Titan." She curtseyed in return. "Please, have a seat."

Riley ► Close the door.
See-no-evil ► Ook.
Hear-no-evil ► Ook.
Speak-no-evil ► Ook.

Niers went to a table in the corner next to a chair. He jumped up and sat down in a miniature chair that had clearly been left there for his personal use. He waited until the door was fully shut before speaking. "I see that you take security seriously. That's good." He nodded. "I was slightly concerned after meeting your traveling companion."

"Yes." Bit sat down close to him. "Pinky can be a handful at times, but she's a good friend and handles herself well when she needs to." Riley sighed. "It's just that when things aren't serious, she can be a little silly."

"I understand completely." Niers shook his head as if also commiserating having a friend like that.

"Pinky said that you might be able to help me find my brother-"

Niers held up his hand. "I know where Pixel is."

Riley stared at him as the Titan smirked. "I didn't tell you his name."

"Please." He leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. "It's a connection so blindingly obvious that any of my first year students would be able to put it together."

"Then you've met him?" Riley vibrated in her seat.

"No." Niers shook his head. "I've never even seen him, but I do know that Wistram Academy has a new Archmage named Pixel." He interlaced his fingers. "Also known as the 'Archmage of Cubes'."

Riley was torn between a smile and a frown. Kevin was alive! But he was an 'Archmage'? 'Archmage of Cubes' didn't sound terrible... but it also wasn't exactly a good name either. A superhero with that name would either be a laughing stock or be powerful enough that people laughed behind his back.

But this was a different world. Perhaps it was more common for people to have titles like the blank of blank. She drummed her fingers before standing up. "Thank you, Titan. I'll depart immediately. I don't suppose I could get directions or a car... riage or something?"

"While I would gladly aid you in your journey, miss Bit, my spies tell me that Pixel hasn't been seen at Wistram for several weeks now."

"Oh." Riley flopped back in her seat. "Well, it's probably easier for him to come to me anyways. Is it okay if I stay here for a while?"

"Absolutely!" Niers grinned at her. "I am glad to help. Especially since there are those that would target you."

"Me?" Riley opened her eyes wide. Why would anyone target cute, little her? She could understand it if she was back on Earth Bet, but... "I haven't done anything to anyone to be targeted." Aside from the Jungleclad Gorillas, but that A) wasn't her fault, and B) wasn't something people would know about. Right?

"I'm afraid that's my fault." Niers sighed. "Associates of mine tend to be scrutinized by other companies and countries."

"People will attack me just for talking to you?"

"What?" He chuckled. "No, no. Nothing like that. But you would be followed, spied upon... possibly kidnapped. Not killed."

Riley gave him a blank look. What had Pinky gotten them involved in? "I see."

Niers smirked again. "I've given you the wrong impression. Others would watch you, but out of concern of it being one of my plots. That's usual, and normally not something that is a concern of members of the Forgotten Wing Company or my students." His tone became serious. "The problem is that by watching you, they'd learn you were from another world. That, in turn, might lead to you being abducted."

She crossed her arms. "I'd like to see them try."

"Really?" His eyes gleamed. "What would the results be, I wonder? You have talents far beyond what's normal, but no class. Your animals do make impressive defenders."

Riley smirked, but she wasn't going to boast about her other options. Monologuing wasn't something she did... anymore. "It wouldn't be pleasant. That's for sure." She let out a sigh. "But I can't just go around killing people that try to kidnap me. Too easy for others to get mixed up in it."

"True." Niers gazed off into the distance. "That's one of the weaknesses of the Forgotten Wing Company. Elvallian, that's the name of this city, isn't some hidden fortress like other Great Companies have. We made it a trading center so we're part of people and not cut off from them. There are defenses, of course, but I always seem to keep adding more and more out of fear of others getting caught in the middle if hostilities did break out."

"Is that... a concern?"

"No." He waved her off. "Not truly. At least not while I'm here. Not to sing my own praises, but I doubt anyone would attack an army I was around to lead."

"You're being awfully open."

Niers shrugged. "It's nothing that someone else couldn't tell you. You see, the Forgotten Wing Company is the youngest of all the Great Companies. We've proven ourselves time and time again, but we don't have the same number of high-level commanders as companies that have been around for centuries."

"So... you're like a government or something?"

"Yes." He nodded. "That's one way to look at it. I take it that your world has kingdoms more similar to what other continents here have?"

"I don't know." Riley shrugged. "The only knowledge I have is from Pinky."

"Oh."

"But I'd be more than happy to talk about it... after I get reunited with my brother." Obviously details about Earth Itoa and Earth Bet were valuable pieces of information. The Forgotten Wing Company and the Titan had been nice so far, but until she was back with Kevin, Riley had to be cautious.

"Of course, of course. I didn't mean to interrogate you. The details I've discovered so far have painted such an interesting picture that I'm eager to learn more. It can wait until after Pixel comes here."

"So you think you can get in contact with him?"

"Given time. I could send a [Message] to Wistram this minute, but that would attract all sorts of attention."

"Really?"

"They can be intercepted. And the magical school is not a monolith. I don't know which faction Pixel is a part of, and sending it to the wrong person might have repercussions."

"I thought you said you had spies?"

"I do, but information is literally currency at Wistram. They grip their secrets tighter than a Terandiran [Lady] clutching her jewelry as she rides through [Bandit] lands. I dare say that only a few people in the world know of the Archmage of Cubes at the moment."

"Couldn't you talk to him directly? Messages are magic, right?"

"I've tried." Niers admitted. "After meeting you in Daquin I did exactly that. The issue is that the spell either has to go through the [Mage]'s Guild, or be sent to the person directly. The [Mage]'s Guild isn't an option since Pixel isn't well known. And my attempts at contacting him directly have failed."

"Failed? Is he in trouble?" Riley leaned forward.

"Possible, but unlikely." Niers stood up. "If you would come with me, I'll show you something interesting."

"Like what?"

"I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise." His eyes glinted. "I can walk, but it would be quicker if you or one of your animals gave me a ride."

"You're not afraid of them?"

"I wouldn't want to face any of them in single combat, if that's what you're asking." He winked. "But I've noticed how fine of control over them you have."

Riley resisted the urge to smirk. It was always nice to be complimented. "One of the monkeys is probably the right size."

Riley ► Hear, come over here and let the small man on your back and then follow beside me. Speak, you turn invisible and follow behind. See, you stay here and keep the door closed while I'm gone.
See-no-evil ► Ook.
Hear-no-evil ► Ook.
Speak-no-evil ► Ook.

Niers hopped down on the monkey that came over. Speak-no-evil obediently trailed behind them after vanishing, and the group walked out into the corridor.

"Take a right and then a left at the third corridor." Niers directed from his mount. "I applaud your vigilance, but you're safe inside these walls."

Riley let out a lady-like sniff. "Bold of you to say that after your leader poked me."

"Ah... You'll have to forgive Foliana, or at least get used to it." He cleared his throat. "Now take the next right."

...

After a while, they came to door that looked like any other.

"Here we are!" Niers jumped off of his monkey and then leapt several feet in the air to land on the doorknob. "Just a moment." A sphere of darkness surrounded him for a few seconds before an audible 'click' came from it and he reappeared. "This is a secure room." He smiled at her before jumping onto the edge of the handle, causing the door to open inwards.

Riley ► Speak, stand guard. Hear, come inside.
Hear-no-evil ► Ook.
Speak-no-evil ► Ook.

Riley stepped through and paused. "That's-"

"Shhh!" Niers scolded her. "Wait for the door to close, please."

She fell silent until the door behind her sealed itself shut. Riley then stepped over and picked up a simple item from the table. There were other things on it: cameras, flashlights, but mostly phones. The object she focused on wasn't any of those, it was hand-held video game - made of pixels.

"Where did you get this?"

"I had it smuggled out of the Empire of Sands."

"Smuggled?" She turned to look at him.

Niers leapt to the top of the table. "Yes. The [Emperor] decreed that these artifacts were not allowed to leave his borders or to be spoken about."

"Then how?"

Niers sat down. "As much as I would love to say that it was due to my vast network of highly trained and outfitted [Spies], the truth of the matter is that there are simply too many of them to be concealed."

"What?"

"Those," He motioned at the device in her hands. "Can be created by dumping sand inside of artifacts scattered across villages in the empire. They only work for the person who placed the sand into it, and only one artifact is given per person no matter how much more sand is shoveled inside."

"Ah." Riley nodded. "That makes sense."

"It does?" Niers frowned. "Because I can't fathom why someone would leave such a thing behind, nor why they would limit its operation. I supposed it was a limitation on the magic from your world, but-"

"No." She interrupted him. "That's not it at all. It all comes down to how Pixel thinks."

"Which is?"

"This is a game." She placed it back down on the table next to him. "I don't know which one. I'd say they're all alike..." But that would upset Kevin. "...but I can't be sure. My brother enjoys them, and wants others to as well. That's why he's..." Using Tinkertech in such a frivolous manner. "...making artifacts that make them. So others can have fun playing with them too."

"And the limitation?" Niers eyed her.

Riley bit her thumb and thought for a moment. "Probably to keep the artifacts from being monopolized by the kingdom."

"Empire."

"Whatever. By the people in charge. I bet Pixel was thinking that the... artifacts would be cordoned off and people would make them for, what did you say, sand? Would turn sand into artifacts and then sell those to nobles or merchants or other people with money."

That's what would happen on Earth Bet - at least if people trusted the Tinkertech and the PRT didn't swoop in to take it for themselves.

"I see." Niers stroked his chin. "An interesting strategy, especially since it aims for a goal that few would suspect." He let out a laugh. "I bet the Emperor of Sands is beside himself in confusion!"

"But this is good. If Pixel has time to be doing this, then he can't be involved in anything too dangerous." Riley relaxed. It wasn't that she'd been worried about Kevin. Her older brother could handle anything this world threw at him, but it was still nice to have physical proof he was doing okay.

"Well, I am glad this helps alleviate some of your worries. There isn't much I can do to get in contact with Pixel, especially considering how the Empire of Sands must also be actively looking for him." He crossed his legs. "Getting information about these 'games' wasn't so difficult, but the same can't be said for the efforts of Empire to find someone."

"I understand. I-" Riley smelled cookies. It couldn't have come from her monkeys. Hear was visible and Speak was outside. Besides, their Stranger effect was limited to bending light. It didn't incorporate whatever magical mind-whammy that Badgy used to make himself unnoticeable. "There's someone here."

She looked around and sniffed as she tried to get a feeling for when her senses were being overwritten the most. Riley loosened her stance, ready to launch a bone dart from her finger...

"Wait, wait, if there's anyone here, I'm sure they'd rather show themselves than get into a fight." Niers remained sitting but turned his head left and right.

The smell increased... and then faded away.

"They're gone now." Riley frowned. The door was still shut tight, and she was sure nobody had opened it. At least she thought she was sure. You couldn't trust your memory when Strangers were involved. Those sensory signals hadn't reached the part of her brain like intended. It was only her rerouting sub-neurons that picked them up and turned them into a smell.

"Then why don't we go back to your room?"

"Are you sure it's safe?"

"Absolutely." Niers stood up and leapt down onto Hear. He then spoke in a louder voice. "I'm sure no one would do anything that would put you on guard while I'm trying to be nice."

"Trying to be nice?" Riley gave him a flat look.

"Yes." He bore a rakish smile. "We want to be good hosts."

As they left the room, Riley gave Speak the order to follow them. "I appreciate it, but I also would like to earn my keep." Good Girls didn't-

She took a deep breath. A Proper Lady, like she was, wasn't a freeloader.

It was hard to frame her thoughts in a way to be good, but without thinking about 'Good'. She was getting better, but it was really easy to fall back into viewing the world through those lens. It wasn't bad to be a Good Girl, but Riley didn't want to think of herself in those terms if she could help it.

She still slipped up now and then, so it was important to call herself out when she noticed.

"Oh? And how were you thinking about doing that? You don't need to do anything, of course, but I find myself intrigued by what you might be able to offer."

What was she able to offer?

A lot.

What SHOULD she offer?

That was a harder question.

Parahumans had always made the best materials for experiments. She'd stopped that, of course, but she'd learned a lot from her time when she'd created 'art'. After becoming Bit, she'd learned less, but she'd put what knowledge she'd gained to good use.

Actual good use, not some twisted version of good.

So, that's what she should do. Tracking down whomever had made the Creler bio-weapons could wait. Getting samples from different areas of the Dyed Lands could wait. Making new things with them to protect herself with... would continue, but she didn't need to provide that as a 'service'.

She'd never made an army before, and while it did sound interesting as a way to challenge herself, that wasn't why she was here. Not that she had an actual reason why she was here. Kevin was probably trying to figure that out, but when magic was involved anything was possible.

That's why it was magic!

They got back to her room while she silently contemplated what to offer as a guest. A Good... a Proper Lady would be gracious and accept, but she couldn't be a freeloader.

Riley tapped her foot until it came to her.

Of course! It was so obvious!

"I can heal wounds that your people can't. I can repair damage that potions fail to fix." Plus, getting to operate on more people would mean getting to examine their biology!

"That sounds wonderful." Niers smiled up at her. "If you can help others like Perorn, then we'll be in your debt."

"And you'll let me know when you've found out where Pixel is?"

"Of course!" Niers took off his hat with the long feather (for his size) and bowed. "I will love to converse with you some more, but I have a class that I really should get to. I'll send somebody to speak with you about compensation."

"Compensation?"

"Certainly." Niers straightened. "You are our guest, so naturally any additional work you do to help the Forgotten Wing Company deserves appropriate recompense." He turned to go before pausing. "Oh, and I apologize in advance for whatever Foliana does."

Wait, what?

He was out the door before Riley could ask him exactly what he was talking about. Foliana was that Squirrel-Girl who'd poked her... after she'd smelled... oh no.

Nier's boss was a Stranger. A Stranger that he felt the need to apologize for.

"I need to prepare."

---

And thus, the shadow war between Riley and Foliana started.

Riley fortified her room, but she needed to leave from time to time. She could not stay cooped up in her workshop twenty-four hours a day. While Kevin could sequester himself by playing video games, Riley enjoyed being more social.

Especially in a world where she didn't have to hide who she was.

Foliana, on the other hand, had all the free time in the world. She stalked Riley and spied on her.

[Invisibility], [I Can Pass Through a Keyhole], [Subtle Presence], [A Face in the Crowd], [Expert Stealth]...

The Three-Color Stalker had a wide variety of stealth Skills, and slowly figured out which ones of them would trigger Bit's nose. The biggest rule was that even if she could 'see' through an illusion, she couldn't sense an ambush.

...

Foliana perched above her door. Badgy, while a capable guardian who also had natural stealth abilities did not have Bit's senses. Foliana didn't smell strange to him. [Scent Trail] made sure she didn't smell at all. When Bit exited, Foliana dropped down on her.

The Human girl was tougher than she looked, and bore her weight. She still screamed and Foliana scurried away from the cloud of... something that seeped from her pores.

Bit then started having her monkeys run around the ceiling before she ever opened the door.

...

Foliana grumbled. Skills that could deal with direct bodily contact were few and far between, and had long cooldown times. Instead, while Bit looked upwards, Foliana crept along the ground and grabbed her foot.

Another scream. More swearing, and a glob of something that sizzled where Foliana had just been were her reward.

...

She hid around a corner and used [Shadow Shape] to pull her shadow close and to not spill into the hallway. Bit stopped, sniffed, and then inhaled.

Foliana ran away before whatever poison Bit had mixed together could be spewed in her direction.

...

Bit made a slime. It was a simple thing. Stupid and slow, but stretchy and resilient like all slimes. Impressively, this one didn't seem to have a core.

Not that Foliana would kill it. That would be going too far, but it still was impressive.

As was the slime's ability to spread itself across the ground outside of Bit's room. A living trap that would grab hold of anything or anyone that stepped on it.

...It would've worked better if it wasn't made of bright red cubes. It could camouflage itself against the carpet, but not on the gray stone walls.

It also couldn't sense Foliana, and she had [Feather Steps] and [Light Touch] to move over it without the slime noticing her.

...

Foliana took all the plates out of the cabinet and crawled inside instead. She giggled to herself. Ambushes against Bit worked wonderfully. Despite it being her nose, that tipped her off to where Foliana was, the Squirrel Beastkin had discovered that it was really any of her senses being fooled that triggered her Skill.

Mm.

Not a Skill, but whatever Bit's strange otherworlder power that worked similarly to a Skill was.

The door opened, and Perorn stared at her. "Mom?"

"Daughter. Mm. This isn't what it looks like."

"It isn't?" The Centauress crossed her arms. "Because it looks like you've shoved yourself inside a kitchen cabinet in an attempt at ambushing someone."

"Nonsense. Why would the Supreme Commander of the Forgotten Wing Company do something like that? Mm? And if she did, then she had to have a good reason for it I bet."

"..."

"Why are you here anyways? Mm. Not your normal schedule. Odd."

"Because Bit asked me to come here."

"What?"

"It seems that someone has been harassing her. Someone that even Niers can't stop."

"Probably Umina. Sneaky Lizardkfolk. Won the game with stealth."

"No. Not her."

"Cameral? Hiding his head places."

"No."

"Wil? Courting another Human? Mm. Strange."

"No."

"Marian? Centaurs can be sneaky. One just ambushed me. Mm."

"No, not Marian either." Perorn kept her voice flat.

"You? If Bit came to you about your harassment, mm, I should stop you."

Perorn rubbed her temples. "Mom... Commander Foliana... Bit healed my leg. Could you please stop... just stop?"

"Not Commander."

"What?"

"Supreme Commander."

Perorn let out a sigh. "Supreme Commander Foliana, please leave the [Lady] who healed my leg alone."

"Don't want to."

"Why?"

"I don't smell."

"What?"

"I don't smell."

"I mean... I heard you the first time, I just don't understand."

"Need to keep watch over her."

"Why?"

"Important. Mm. Others will try for her in time. Selphids."

"What about the Selphids?"

"Bit has been improving their bodies. Preventing them from rotting. More durable. Stronger."

"I thought she was just healing people?"

"Yes. Can heal the dead. Mm. Powerful."

"Is she a [Necromancer]?"

"No."

"Then-"

"Her class isn't important. What she can do is."

"Okay, then can you at least stop surprising her? It's not nice."

"..."

"Commander?"

"..."

"Supreme Commander?"

"..."

"Mom?"

"...Fine." Foliana said with a skulking voice.

"Thank you." Perorn paused. "Should I close the...?"

"Yes."

Foliana hid in the darkness. Perorn was probably right. She should probably stop trying to startle Bit. As much as it galled her that the otherworlder could somehow sense her, she'd figured out how her not-Skill skill worked.

She'd won.

She didn't need to keep winning.

It was just that it was actually a fun challenge. If she really wanted to keep an eye on Bit, all she needed to do was to find out what her favorite food was.

It was probably better to do it that way anyways. The Selphids were definitely up to something, but she didn't know what. Probably because the Selphids themselves didn't know.

They liked Bit, but Selphids also were loyal to their own kind like everyone else. Foliana got the sense it went beyond Bit being able to provide them with better bodies.

The work of the Supreme Commander of the Forgotten Wing Company was never done. She should probably go talk to Niers about it.

But not until somebody else opened the cabinet. This was too good of a hiding spot to give up without actually using it to surprise someone.

Chapter 106: Playing Dead 3

Riley opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling of her room. She smiled to herself and snuggled back under her covers. They were nice covers. Very smooth, very soft. Her third set after she'd dissected the first two that she'd been given.

They were magical. They came from a special sheep on another continent. Its wool was as thin and smooth as spider silk, but it had an internal structure that made it compressible in addition to its tensile strength. That meant that woven layers of it could compress in a way that silk couldn't.

The best of both worlds.

It, of course, was because of magic. It had taken her a long time to tease out the cells that generated the effect. They were similar to Galas Muscle, but spread out along the fiber. The first two sheets had barely given her a cubic centimeter of genetic material.

She'd use it for something eventually. Possibly incorporate it into her living dress. It was hard to say. Like most things magical, she didn't get clear plans from her Passenger. Her Shard knew how to connect biological components together in precise ways. She could graft pieces of one magical creature to another, but they sometimes died.

Like poor Krabby.

Not that his death was a complete loss. Badgy was finally accepting of his new head and arms.

Riley drifted off to sleep, only to wake back up a few minutes later. She didn't want to wake up. She didn't want to get out of bed. It was too soft and warm.

It had been designed that way.

That was the other thing she'd learned from her examination of the wool. The animals it had come from were too organized to have evolved wool like that naturally. She hadn't seen a 'Sariant Lamb', but she'd already learned a lot about them before Perorn had gotten her a book on them.

The book was interesting, but it had only confirmed what she'd learned on her own: Sarian Lambs were like Crelers.

Not in size, appearance, abilities, temperament, diet, habitat, or any other metric that most people would think to compare. No. In all of those, the two creatures were as different as night and day. Even the way other animals reacted to them were polar opposite extremes.

Animals would band together to kill Crelers if able.

Animals would adopt Sariant Lambs and protect them.

It was quite fascinating really.

Riley yawned and turned over to her other side. She awoke again a few minutes later. Sariant Wool was so nice. What had she been thinking of?

Oh, that's right. How Sariant Lambs and Crelers were the same.

It was a secret that only she knew, because she was the only one to realize that Crelers were biological weapons. They were designed to survive, eat, hide, and kill. Over-engineered, but still wonderfully constructed.

Compared to them, Sariants were child's play, but they were still also clearly from an intelligent design.

The book she'd been given had confirmed that. Eydole the Delightful, a level 69 [Beast Master], had made them about six-hundred and fifty years ago. Their traits were designed and implemented - the same as Crelers, but on a much more shallow level.

It was like comparing the work of Bonesaw to other wet Tinkers.

While Riley hadn't seen a Sariant Lamb except for their wool, she could discern the... fingerprints of a Tinker at work. The wool was great, on that she had no argument, but there were just so many other ways she could improve it without even incorporating magic.

Some nano-tubes could be added to the length to increase its durability. Scent absorbing filaments could line the strands to keep it smelling fresh. The random molecules would build up, so she would have to add either a waste disposal function or find a way to feed them to the Galas cells.

Or just clump them together and design a microscopic sac that would eject it all at once when full. That would be simpler and make it so-

Riley yawned.

Okay, fine. She'd get up.

With a mental nudge, her brain was flooded with a simple cocktail to wash away her sleepiness. It wasn't much. There was only so much room for storing chemicals inside of her, but waking up naturally didn't require much. Brains did it all on their own most of the time.

It was just convenient to have a manual trigger.

Riley sat up and yawned. Not a cute little performative yawn, just a regular one.

The room was pitch black, but her biological clock told her the sun was rising outside.

Riley ► Turn on the lights.
See-no-evil ► Ook.
Hear-no-evil ► Ook.
Speak-no-evil ► Ook.

Her eyes could work on the smallest trickle of light, but Riley still preferred things to be bright and cheery. Her monkeys scrambled around the room turning on the magical light fixtures.

They would make her creler-spiders deteriorate quicker, but they were much better than before. They still needed some work, but without a space completely devoid of magic, there wasn't much else she could do for now. She couldn't perfect their 'magical mirror' chitin unless she had a way to restrict magic so she could observe exactly how they reacted from every angle separately.

It was a fun puzzle, but Surgery was out of ideas with the materials she had on hand.

With the room fully lit, Riley got out of bed and stretched. Life was good now that she'd gotten Perorn to call off the Stranger that was pranking her.

Why was the leader of the Forgotten Wing Company like that when Niers was so... completely opposite?

It would be like if she put Pinky in charge. Pinky wasn't stupid, and she could be trusted... but she still did 'foolish' things just because they were foolish.

Where was she anyways? Riley hadn't seen her for a several days, perhaps even a week. Ever since they'd arrived in Elvallian her Fraerling friend had found other Fraerlings to spend time with.

She had her experiments to work on, and plenty of people to help, but she was still lonely without someone to talk to. What she really wanted was for Kevin to come back and read her some bedtime stories again. She could sleep without them... but it still felt strange and wrong.

She slapped her cheeks with both hands. Focus!

She was making other friends. It wasn't too hard to get on people's good side after she fixed them up.

But first... breakfast!

Riley found a clean cup. She needed to take her dirty dishes to the kitchen and pick up some new ones. At least the dishes that she used for milk. The rest of the glasses had been co-opted into holding various mixtures. An acid to eat non-Galas cells was coming along nicely.

On one hand, it was easier to dissolve regular cells, so a milder acid worked. She'd gotten the PH down to a good level to do exactly that, but it wasn't enough. It still dissolved the Galas cells eventually. It might work for fishing out the few cells that existed in a strand of wool, but it needed something else to reliably work on muscles, tendons, and bones.

Something that made it magic-phobic.

She poured herself a glass of chilled milk from her Milk Box and sat down to think. Let's see, her day would be pretty normal. The usual routine she'd fallen into after getting Foliana to quit stalking her. Or at least to quit trying to startle her. Riley still caught a whiff of freshly baked cookies every now and then, but it was faint. Whatever her senses missed, it was only a blip. Something that she would only have seen out of the corner of her eye.

Without that distraction she could focus on other things in the morning.

That was the routine she'd made for herself: Wake up. Sit around and feel lonely while she drank her milk and got ready for the day. Breakfast. Tinkering on different projects. Lunch. Auditing Niers classes. Dinner. Surgery to help out people with wounds healing potions wouldn't fix... and studying different biologies while she did it.

In a way, the Forgotten Wing Company was the best location for that. The Great Companies were sort of like mercenary governments. Warlords. They had their areas and provided 'protection'.

It was like a gang except for two key differences. First, the scale. From her understanding, the Forgotten Wing Company controlled approximately the same land mass as the North America continent. The Eyes of Baleros to the west controlled slightly less. The Iron Vanguard was about the same size to the north, across the Sea of Nagas (which was misnamed due to it being a gulf, not a sea). Maelstorm's Howling to the Northwest was even bigger.

The other reason was that their 'protection' was warranted. From her understanding and limited experience, the jungles on Baleros weren't as bad as the Dyed Lands, but there were still plenty of wild animals. Magical wild animals.

So, even if you discounted raids from jungle dwellers and other settlements, there was a lot to be protected from.

The odd thing was that there were a lot of mercenary companies apart from the Great Companies. Niers had gone over that in his class. In fact, it was one of the reasons for his class in the first place: training [Strategists] who were part of the Forgotten Wing Company, or were on friendly terms with it.

He had students from all over the world. Some would stay on after they graduated. Some would return home. Some would join other companies on Baleros. Regardless of where they went, they'd remember the Titan.

She supposed it was a lot like how fostering worked in medieval societies.

It was what set the Forgotten Wing Company apart. The other Great Companies were mostly made of single races. They protected their kind. Their own kingdoms made of nations and towns. Any Centaur in Maelstorm Howling's lands could count on that company - and join them if they wanted to.

The same was true for Dullahans and the Iron Vanguard, and Gazers and the Eyes of Baleros.

You would think that the Forgotten Wing would've recruited Beastkin and Fraerlings, but Beastkin weren't really a untied 'race'. More like an umbrella covering all the subspecies of humanoid animals. Fraerlings were... too small.

She still hadn't gotten a straight answer why there weren't other Fraerlings in Nier's class.

Oh well. Riley finished her milk and quit thinking about random things. She had work to do!

Her stomach growled.

But first, breakfast. The milk from her Milk Box was great. You could live on it alone, but she liked variety.

There were perks of being the guest of the Titan.

...

"Here you go, Lady Bit."

"Thank you, Peclir." She looked at the plate of food the head [Chamberlain] placed in front of her. As always, it looked delicious.

Riley took a small bite of each of the dishes before leaning back and sipping her water. She was immune from any and all poisons, but that might not hold true for magical ones. Better safe than sorry.

One thing that all poisons shared, regardless of if they were magical in nature or mundane, was that the dosage mattered. Heck, even the water she was drinking would kill her if she drank too much of it.

Not that water fit the technical definition of poison, but... whatever. The point was that by taking a small bite of everything she could check for poison by seeing how it affected her. Especially if it was a combination poison.

It wasn't like she didn't trust her food. It was just a sensible precaution.

"You know, I never see anyone else here eating."

"Most of the commanders prefer to take their meals in their rooms." Peclir said from behind her. "There are several common dining areas where the soldiers and students eat."

"Oh?" She turned her head to look at him. "Then what's this dining room for? Visitors?"

"No." He smiled at her. "This is where the [Chefs] and [Cooks] eat. They have to work during regular meal times, so it's empty and close by, which is why I chose it to accommodate you. If you would like to share your meals with someone, I can make some inquiries on your behalf."

"That won't be necessary." Riley said as she started to eat her meal in earnest. "But thank you for satisfying my curiosity."

"My pleasure, Lady Bit."

...

Back in her room, Riley started work on her latest project.

"Come here, GUI."

The red slime gurgled, but she couldn't tell if it was in response to her words or her presence.

"Let's take a look at you." She picked it up and gently placed it on the table that she'd designated for operations.

GUI felt... strange in her hands. It was a solid mass, but it also kept altering parts of itself to be a bunch of cubes as it tried to mimic the Met Factory she'd used to construct her virus in the Red Lands.

GUI, or 'Gooey', was the sample she'd taken from the massive slime that lived inside the trees and their interconnected roots that spanned that section of the Dyed Lands. As such, it was infected with the 'cubic' virus she'd used to transmit the un-summon signal to her rogue Mets.

She'd thought long and hard about GUI's name. She wanted to call it 'Cubey' or something, but it wasn't always cube-like. Besides, Kevin would appreciate the pun.

"I'm going to remove part of you today and try and make you a little brother, okay?" GUI rippled under her hands as it changed part of itself into cubes and back. "It's so hard to tell if you understand me. It would be a lot easier if you had a normal brain, or even a core like most slimes. "That's going to change, but I need to take my measurements first."

She'd built up a collection of them. Well, she HAD a collection of slimes. Niers had provided them to her, so Riley couldn't really say she'd built it herself. Most slimes ranged from harmless to 'was technically capable of harming a baby'.

There were more dangerous variants out there. Things like acid slimes, lava slimes, or poison slimes, but the slimes she had were made out of innocuous materials - mostly slightly acidic water. They were also all clearly sentient, but not sapient. They had the intelligence of similarly sized animals.

Her slimes didn't enjoy being tested on, but as long as she didn't touch their cores, and didn't deplete their bodies too much, they bounced back easily enough. The main thing they 'ate' was magic in the air, or as Niers called it in his class: mana.

He taught strategy, not the biology of slimes, but that was fine. Riley preferred to learn stuff with her own experiments.

"Slime A is..." Riley made a small incision in it's 'skin' and inserted a pipette to extract some of its liquid. Slimes were homomorphic, their skin and insides had the same cell structure. They just 'flexed' and made their outer layer more rigid as an environmental defense mechanism. The slime squirmed, but it had grown accustomed somewhat to Riley cutting it each day.

She then dropped the liquid she'd extracted onto her litmus paper.

If she really wanted to elevate science in this world, that would be what she sold to [Alchemists] instead of a finished product. It wasn't even that hard to make, just the right lichen for dyes and some paper fibers to hold it. The tricky part, for other people, would be to accurately associate the color shades with precise pH values.

That was one of the things her Shard let her tell at a glance.

A drop fell on each of the different sheets she'd made. They all changed different shades. "...the same level of acidity as it has been previously."

Good. It was her control. Maintaining the same pH balance meant that there probably weren't outside variables that were influencing her work.

"Slime B is... less acidic!" She smiled. She was successfully diluting it with filtered water. If she could make it completely neutral, then she might have slimes that people could drink! Like her Milk Box, but less biology and more magic.

She noted the values for slimes C through F, and then moved on to her next project.

"Slime G is... alive." She poked it and the slime rolled away. "Hmmm. I think it remembers what I did. There, there." She opened her supply of ground Sage Grass and sprinkled it over the slime. It jiggled excitedly as the mana-infused plant dissolved inside of it.

"That's a reaction I'll need to edit away." Drinkable Slimes would need to enjoy being consumed to a point before they'd be viable.

Not that Slime G was designed to be used like that. Once it was stable, she hoped it could be a symbiote for the Selphids. That was why she'd made an embalming fluid slime. The 'undead' soldiers in Nier's army, sorry, mercenary group, were her most enthusiastic customers.

It was nice to talk with them as she repaired and improved the bodies they inhabited. Selphids knew more about biology than any other race she'd met on this world. That wasn't surprising, considering they were parasites that inhabited and puppeted bodies. They had to know how things worked because they took the place of their victim's brain.

Hmmm... 'Victim' was a loaded word. They used corpses, so it wasn't currently accurate. The thing was, Surgery knew them. Riley had understood them at first sight - and she had alllll sorts of ideas.

Naturally, the first thing she did the next day was to implement counter measures in her own body and those of her pets. Reinforced nerves. Fake pathways. Toxin pouches. Binary poisons.

The Selphids were each polite and nice people, but it only took one bad apple. Especially since they could interpret the electrical impulses of the nervous system in a way that was very similar to how the Corona Pollentia communicated with Shards. Riley hadn't seen any evidence, but she was certain that enough Selphids working together could extend their telepathy range from touch to something much farther.

Hypotheticals were just that, and Selphids inhabited corpses instead of people. They ate the dead brain and took over, stretching themselves throughout the body. It was fascinating.

And inefficient.

While dead bodies were the moral choice, the fact that they were dead were quite limiting. Sure, the Selphids didn't have to care about being wounded as much in battle, but that was lazy. Living bodies healed. Dead bodies didn't. Living bodies protected themselves from bacteria, and decomposition, and all sorts of things. Dead bodies didn't.

Most of a Selphid's work was managing all the small issues and doing repairs from the inside. Repairs, not healing. They could wrap themselves around a tendon to keep a body from falling apart, but they couldn't cause dead cells to grow back together or to make new cells. What they could do was excrete an interesting little substance to 'weld' together torn muscles and broken bones.

It wasn't healing, but it was still impressive, as she'd said before. It took a lot of skill and knowledge of biology to do that sort of thing. For Selphids, it was almost instinctual.

And that was their biggest problem. The knew what they needed to know, and didn't look any farther. They understood muscles, tendons, bones, and cells, but they didn't know of more basic building blocks like proteins. They used chemicals, but they didn't understand the molecular science of why such things worked.

If she could make a proper embalming slime, it would allow them to preserve corpses much longer. Some of the Selphids had Skills that did similar things, but that wasn't a universal solution. Once finished, her slime would be able to single-handedly do the complicated process of embalming.

Denaturing proteins to prevent them from being a food source for decomposition. Killing bacteria. Fixing tissues with CH2 linkage. Adjusting the pH of the water left to be perfectly neutral. Breaking up blood clots. Dyeing tissues to look alive.

Some of those things weren't actually needed. Selphids got rid of blood and most of the moisture in a body.

That helped slow decomposition, but it didn't stop it.

No.

Proper embalming was the key.

Of course, that did require several different chemicals given in precise amounts in a predetermined order. It was tricky to get her slime to have them all - even with its adaptable biology.

Riley sighed and put Slime G back. Her project was still a long way from being completed.

At least this one was. Her other slime experiment was ready to go. Since Slime G was alive and well, even if its composition needed work, it served as proof that her transplant procedure was feasible.

By placing the core of a slime in a new liquid and helping it convert that substance into its new body, Riley could make new types of slimes!

Or, in this test... give a core to part of GUI to make GUI2.

She injected Slime H with her special slime-anesthesia. She'd considered making an anesthesia slime, but there hardly seemed a point. It would just be a more dangerous poison-slime. Sure, it would be novel, but that would be it.

Of course, the anesthesia she used on Slime H wasn't a chemical that would sedate humans, or most other forms of life. The simple fact was that a 'regular' chemical that targeted GABA and NMDA glutamate receptors - for example - wouldn't work on something like a slime that didn't have normal biology.

Riley had seen plenty of magical creatures in this world thus far, but most of them were something that she could've made back on Earth Bet with enough time, resources, and inspiration. There wasn't much practical difference between magic and the different ways that Parahumans could bend reality.

It was mainly a difference in scope. Riley could've made something like Badgy with the proper base materials. ...Though that was a 'Bonesaw' sort of thing to do and not something Bit would condone.

She'd even seen capes that could make slimes, but they behaved differently. Slimes that originated from Parahuman powers all still used neurons and electrical impulses to 'think' - not that she'd had a particularly large sample size of Parahuman-made slimes to study.

Conversely, slimes here used magic. Thus, the way to sedate a slime was to simply block the magic from their core to their body. Like everything, it came down to dosage to differentiate between poison and not poison. While her blocking technique for her Creler-Spiders, Crelders?, Spilers?, wasn't working perfectly yet, her anti-magic poison based off of their reflective carapaces was doing wonderfully.

Well... not that wonderfully for anyone that you didn't want to also suffer from random magical mutations, but those took time to develop. She'd have to save Slime H's fluid and see how it was altered.

Even as the slime seemed to relax into a puddle, it still maintained its cohesion. Riley sliced into it and reached down with her forceps to gingerly remove its core. Without its body to provide magical nutrients, the core would soon die.

...Which did make her Creler-poison act more like regular poison for the slime now that she thought about it. Creler-anti-magic-poison? To help keep it distinct from a Creler's 'regular' poison?

Eh. She could worry about semantics later.

She placed the core in the cut-off part of GUI and then started to mix them together with more ground Sage Grass. GUI's liquid wasn't normal. It still had... sentience without need for a core. Riley watched intently as the core from Slime H came into contact with it...

...And nothing happened.

No combining. No merging. No new slime.

"Shoot."

She picked up the core with her tongs and placed it into a cup of water. It didn't react in the slightest. It was completely inert. Whatever magic it had possessed was gone. It didn't even have enough to maintain its physical structure as it broke apart and dissolved.

She'd do a post-mortem later. She had several ideas as to why her experiment failed. Slimes weren't made from magical liquids according to the book she'd gotten. Plus, GUI was already 'alive', which was another rule for what could and couldn't become a slime.

Riley didn't believe everything she read. Even if it was true for everyone else, it didn't mean it was true for her. Or even just true in general. This world didn't have peer-review or the scientific method or sample sizes. A [Slime Wizard] had written down his personal experiences - and that was it.

It was helpful, to be sure, but hardly definitive.

She was sure that it was possible to make a slime out of a magical liquid. It was simply a matter of... compatibility. The specifics still eluded her, but it made sense. A slime had to use magic to live. Adding to or blocking the magic in its body interfered with that.

It was probably down to 'resonance'. She'd heard the term mentioned in Niers' class. It was something about how all but the very best magical items would react to being in close proximity to other magical equipment - usually with explosive results.

It wasn't biology, so it didn't interest her or Surgery, but the underlaying mechanics were probably the same. Magic slime core plus non-magic liquid worked. Magic slime core plus magical liquid resulted in no slime - one way or the other.

However, just as with everything else, dosage was the key. Even the most poorly crafted magical items could be wielded together in small enough amounts. Better quality just meant more could be used. And there was apparently an art to mixing and matching. Not every artifact was the same.

It was probably some version of magical harmonies that fed on each other or canceled each other or something.

So, she just needed to find a lucky combination of liquid and core, or she needed to build a better slime core herself!

It still might not work with GUI. She would have to start smaller.

Before that, it was getting late. She had just enough time to grab a bite to eat before going and sitting in on Niers' class.

Despite her not being a [Strategist], nor having any real interest in how armies moved or specific tactics to employ in battle, she still enjoyed his classes. Not only were they entertaining, but they gave Riley a much better picture of what this world, or at least this continent, was like.

...

Riley walked back to her workshop after class.

They'd gone over a mock battle Niers had let his students command. She should probably go to his morning class one of these days. She liked learning, but she liked figuring things out herself more.

It looked like she'd have a lot more bodies to repair after dinner. Niers liked to use 'realistic' combat scenarios, and the best way to do that was to have Selphids fight. The undead, no that wasn't the right term... the living dead were great at mock battles.

They could be stabbed, chopped, pin-cushioned with arrows, and smashed with maces. The bodies the alien creatures wore got damaged, but the Selphids themselves were talented at pulling themselves away from danger and using their possessed bodies as a shield.

It was probably because they were used to it from all these fake fights.

Ah. That made sense. It was for the Selphids' benefit just as much as it was for his students. Eh, seventy - thirty.

The Selphids didn't wear their 'best' bodies to the fights, and were decently talented at patching them up afterwards. Riley suspected they'd be a lot better at repairing a living body. One that could actually heal on its own instead of requiring more and more patch jobs.

It wasn't surprising that Selphids didn't inhabit living bodies. She certainly wouldn't want one inside of her. Not a normal one, at least. One that she'd altered the cognitive functions of to be a tool rather than a person... but that would be wrong.

...Even though Surgery had plenty of ideas how to make it happen.

Yeah. No matter how beneficial it would be to have your own private doctor living inside of you, it would never work. The Selphid or the host would have to be basically brainwashed. Either that, or willingly share sensations.

Nope. Not viable in the long term. And a lobotomized Selphid wouldn't be smart enough to fix things properly.

Corpses were clearly the superior choice for them currently.

That was probably why she didn't see any Selphids living inside alive animals either. It would be a slippery slope.

Her musings were cut short when she got to her door. There was a tiny red envelope in one of Badgy's pinchers.

"What's this?"

Riley held out her hand and Badgy dropped the letter in her palm. Riley turned it over and sniffed it. It looked like a normal letter. Not normal for Earth Bet, the 'envelope' was more of a small paper pouch, but normal for this world. No poisons or other concerning things that she could detect.

Still...

She went into her room and closed the door behind her. She then held the tiny envelope up to one of her slimes.

...No reaction.

Well, if it didn't have poison or magic, then it was probably just a note from Pinky. Had her friend decided to leave? Riley wouldn't have pegged her as the the type who had a hard time saying 'goodbye', but Pinky was Pinky. Perhaps not saying goodbye was foolish?

Riley rolled her eyes and pulled the small letter out.

Bit,

By the time you read this, I'll be dead. Unless you read it on the same day that I left it. It will probably take me a few days to reach the leaders of the Selphids.

And they might not kill me. Who knows? That's what I'm going to find out!

Anyways, I hope they don't. Talk to you later.

-Pinky

Chapter 107: Playing Dead 4

Riley looked up from the note with a sigh.

There was a knock.

She put the letter in one of her pockets and went to open her door. "Captain Jalet." She nodded to one of the high-up Selpids in the Forgotten Wing Company. "I'm glad you're here. I have some questions."

"More questions about Selphid biology?" His face was unnaturally stiff.

Riley narrowed her eyes. She could see the real Jalet inside the corpse of the Lizardfolk he was wearing. It was decent padding, but he still produced heat - and the corpse didn't. Right now, he was glowing several degrees hotter than normal.

He also twitched inside when she'd spoken, despite his face remaining passive.

"What are you hiding?"

"Me? What would I be hiding?" His voice was half an octave higher.

"You've disconnected yourself from your face's nerves. So you're having trouble controlling the vocal cords. You're also doing the equivalent of sweating under your collar."

"Selphids don't-"

"Don't sweat, I know. But you're fidgeting and your body is warmer than normal." He froze at her words. "You're nervous. Why?"

"I, er, uhm..." His shoulders slumped and Jalet's head hung down as he spread his body back into its normal position. "I may have... kidnapped Pinky?"

"What?" She glared at him. "What do you mean that you 'kidnapped' her? Is she in danger? Is she dead?"

"N-No!" He held up his hands defensively. "We wouldn't hurt her!"

"Mm-hm." Riley crossed her arms. "Then what is this about?" She could think of a dozen reasons off the top of her head for what the Selphids might want from her - from making them better bodies to providing them with the tools they'd need to conquer the world. It might be arrogant, but she was fairly sure that the cause of... whatever this was, was rooted in her talents.

"I can't tell you."

"Can't? Or won't?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Pinky came to my squadron and demanded to be taken to our leaders. She was quite insistent. We thought it was a joke, but she was serious. She wouldn't leave. She threatened to reveal our plans about you."

"What plans?"

"I don't know." He twisted nervously inside his body. "We send reports back home, and so we, of course, told them about what you've been doing for us... but as far as I know, there weren't any 'plans'. Except maybe..."

"Maybe?"

"I don't know. All I know is that it's important. You're important. We don't want to antagonize you, but we are in desperate need of your help!"

"Desperate? It sounds like you do know something."

"I only know what the... Selphid leaders told me."

"Oh? And what does this have to do with Pinky?"

"All I did was send her to see them, like she asked. And yes. I trust them." He straighted his back and looked her in the eye. "We try hard to avoid the sins of our ancestors. The-" He paused. "Our leaders know that. If they say you are vital to the survival of our race, then I believe them. If they say they mean you no harm, I believe that too."

"And Pinky?" She glared at him. "Where does kidnapping my friend come into all of this?"

"It was all her idea." Jalet looked worried. "She was the one who called it a 'kidnapping'! She insisted on going! She was the one who kept using that word. She even brought her own blindfold!" He shrugged. "WHY would we blindfold her?"

Riley ran a hand down her face. That did sound like something Pinky might do. "Then what's with her note?"

"Note?" The parasite in the corpse looked away. "I don't know about a note."

"Then let's go speak with Niers or someone else-"

"No!" Jalet shook his head. "We can't! This has to be secret! If anyone found out about our problem, or thought that we abducted you... Many people would die." He held up his hands again. "That's not a threat or a promise, it's just the most likely outcome."

Riley tapped her foot as she thought. "Why you? Why did you come to speak with me?"

"I volunteered." Jalet nodded. "I thought I had the best chance of convincing you."

"And if you hadn't volunteered?"

"..." He looked away again.

"Well?"

"I couldn't say for sure, but... we wouldn't have taken her away regardless of what she said except." He paused. "Except our leaders sent us an order to do just that.

"But you can guess, can't you?"

His shoulders slumped and Jalet seemed to deflate. "Yes. This is vitally important. If I hadn't volunteered then we probably would've gotten new orders."

"About whether to try and take me by force?"

He nodded. "I would've refused that, but there are other Selphids that our leaders would send. I don't want this to come to blows between them and us."

Riley grumbled. An attack on her she could handle. It would be a lot easier if they'd just picked a lane and either went after her and her friend with force, or if their leaders been upfront and honest from the start.

She wondered how much Pinky was to blame for all of this. Judging from the reaction she'd apparently provoked, it wasn't a hundred percent. It was more like she'd... what? Tried to go off alone to help Riley on her own accord? With friends like her...

"Let's say I believe you, what do we do next?"

---

Three days ago...

(Report.) Continuum commanded. It was the first of its kind. The leader of the Minds.

(The Fraerling has arrived.) Dictum, the third Mind broadcast its thoughts first. (We will start cataloging its thoughts. It knows much about the Human female 'Bit'.)

(I object.) Contradiction voiced dissent. (We cannot breach the wall.)

(We are not. We are reading its thoughts, not altering them.)

(It is acceptable.)

(I think it's still wrong. We have taken a sapient being hostage.)

(We have not. The Fraerling volunteered.)

(I find that suspicious. You say she volunteered of her own free will?)

(We have no objections to you speaking with it, Contradiction. The Fraerling approached us first.)

(Us?)

(Dictum means 'us' as 'Selphids.) The thought wasn't in so much words, but rather a transmission of understanding.

The details of the encounter from the Selphids' point of view flowed across the connection. Thoughts voluntarily given to them from their people who'd been observing the powerful 'Earther'. The red-clad Fraerling approaching them, accusing them, and then asking to be brought to their leaders.

It was an untenable situation, and so Continuum had allowed it. The Fraerling obviously knew not what it was requesting, but if she was left under the nose of the Titan, then he would quickly discover everything. Continuum knew not to underestimate Niers Astoragon.

The Titan obviously also knew of the otherworlders. He also knew of how valuable Bit was. This did not surprise Continuum. It had been put in charge of investigating the Earthers, and it knew a lot. They were spread out all over Baleros and the other continents. Humans, the lot of them. Strange clothing and mannerisms.

It was difficult to separate the rumor from the truth. The only Earthers it knew of for certain were the group to the south, and now the guest of the Forgotten Wing.

(This is not an ideal situation. Outsiders, especial otherworlders, should not be made aware of us.)

(We had no choice, and this is more important than a few visitors from another world.)

Continuum sent its doubt across the link. (It is the most important world event. It will likely lead to a new age. How can something be more important?)

(We have accounts of the Bit Human.) Memories flooded from Dictum to the other Minds. Selphids who went into the otherworlder's room and watched as she repaired their host bodies with speed and skill beyond anything recorded. The memories also had her asking the Selphids about themselves and speaking about healing techniques that were beyond what Continuum could understand.

Continuum was the leader of the Selphids of the gathering Citadel. It was the First Mind, but it wasn't as specialized as Dictum was. The Third Mind was composed of [Healers], [Scholars], [Historians], and other great thinkers. It had been assembled for a singular express purpose, and its knowledge about healing and biology was unmatched.

(Some of these thoughts are from non-Selphids!) Contradiction's dismay was broadcast along with its words. (It is wrong to do so, and I will have no part.)

(When did you become so touchy? Reading minds is a valuable information gathering method.) Humor poured off of Inconsolable. (How else could we even communicate?)

As large masses of Selphids, the Minds couldn't rely on a host body's senses. Their personal sense organs were far weaker than most other races, except for their mental powers. Together, the hive mind's telepathy and telekinesis were far more than the sum of their parts.

(I think it is invasive. This is not a conversation. These are memories taken unknowingly.)

(We have done so in the past.) Egress grumbled. (It is the way of things.) The oldest Mind hesitated. (It does upset the other races. Even if it is not against the rules, it might hamper our efforts.) It also refused the offered memories.

Continuum, along with the other three Minds apart from Contradiction and Egress watched the memories taken from the Fraerling. It had to know what events had led up to this situation, and what better way to do so than from the perspective of the instigator?

---

A week ago...

Pinky eyed the dead Lizardfolk and Humans that came and went from Bit's room. As much fun as it was to be with her own people again, especially since they were treating her with respect... kinda, she still needed to keep an eye on Bit.

The fact was, she needed protecting.

Her poor, deluded friend - who kept on insisting she had no levels, was clearly of interest to a lot of people. Bit was acting paranoid, with looking around corners and spraying venom in the air, and locking her room, and sniffing the air, and lots of other things that only someone who knew her would recognize as odd.

Probably.

Humans were an odd race. So similar to Fraerlings in appearance, except for their size.

Bit had relaxed her stringent safeguards these last few weeks, but Pinky knew that was the time to be the most paranoid! Er. Vigilant. Yes, 'vigilant' was a much better word for what she was doing than 'paranoid'.

Her mother had told her horror stories about the other races. She might've been overbearing, but she was a seasoned Tallguard who knew what she was talking about.

She'd told Pinky about the Mind Wars. Or whatever it had been called when the Fraerlings had needed to save the rest of the Tallfolk from the Selphids. It was a common enough story. Some group of Tallfolk gathered others of their kind to them and then tried to take over the world or something.

She was pretty sure she'd even warned Bit about that specifically at one time or another.

The point was, until Bit found her brother, it was Pinky's duty to look out for her - and Selphids couldn't be trusted! They were just waiting for their chance to eat juicy brains.

That was why Fraerling were their natural counter - because their brains were too small! And that, er, that made...

"Hey, Lars, why is it that Fraerlings beat the Selphids? Because our brains were too small to eat? Or because our brains were too small to read?"

Her ghost friend let out a sigh. "It's because we're too small for regular Selphids to inhabit. The mind-reading thing only applies to their Minds."

"Of course it only applies to their minds!" She rolled her eyes. "What else are they going to read our minds with? Their spleens?"

Heh. Good one Pinky. Spleen was a funny and foolish word.

"We had lessons about this, Took Pinky. The Minds are what the Selphid leaders are called. They're like, this, uh..." He spread his arms. "This huge Selphid that grew too much to fit inside a normal Tallfolk. So they had to get War Walker and Half Giant bodies, but then they outgrew those."

"Really?"

"Probably." Lars shrugged. "I don't remember the details, only that the Selphid Minds don't have bodies, and are big, and being big helps them."

"How?"

He dramatically rolled his eyes. "Think about it. Fraerlings are amazing, right? But even our magic can't compete with Tallfolk because we're so small. It's the same thing with Selphids. They look like Tallfolk in their corpses, but in reality they're about our size. So their, like, mind powers grow with them the same way that Tallfolk magic is more impressive 'cause they're big."

"We should spy on them. No, wait... YOU should spy on them!" Pinky knew it was a good idea because it didn't feel foolish at all. Her other plans for tailing the Selphids and figuring out what they were up to all had various degrees of foolishness to them, but sending Lars was, dare she say it? Smart.

He was a ghost after all. He could find things out that even the greatest [Rogue] in the world couldn't! Or the greatest [Rouge].

"What? No. This is a stupid idea, Took Pinky."

"Do it!"

"No!"

"I'll fight you if you don't."

"What?"

"I'll fight you to the death!"

"I'm already dead-"

"Then you've already lost!"

Lars rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll go spy on them for you."

---

Dictum frowned, as much as a hive-mind of Selphids could frown.

It was clear from her memories that Pinky didn't understand what was going on.

(This does explain the situation.) Continuum thought for the benefit of those not in the direct link with the Fraerling's memories. (It does seem like a good idea to have brought the Fraerling here. Ghosts are not an expected occurrence.)

(Ghosts?) Contradiction queried.

(It is how she found out about our interest.) Dictum said triumphantly. (Something that would've remained a mystery if we had not examined her.)

(Indeed. It explains the account from our agents, but not why the Fraerling decided to come to us instead of warn her people or the Human.)

(It's probably not important.)

---

"Yeah, it's weird."

"How so?" Pinky asked Lars.

"Well, you're right that they're up to something, but I'm not sure what." The pair of them hid in the bushes outside of where the [Soldiers] from the Forgotten Wing Company were camped. There was a small village nearby that basically sprung up as a suburb of Elvallian. A place where the troops could go and relax, and that their families could live.

Lars couldn't get too far away from Pinky, so while he was the perfect spy, she needed to be relatively close for him to go poking around.

"What did you see?"

"That's one of the strange things. I saw more than I heard."

"Now you're just being cryptic for the fun of it."

"Fine, runt, want to know what I heard?" Lars crossed his arms. "I HEARD the Selphids reporting on Bit. Like, a real military report. Quoting what she said. Going into details about how she repaired their bodies. That sort of thing. Then, once all the [Soldiers] were done, they left, and guess what I heard then?"

Pinky rolled her eyes. Two could play at this game. "A frog."

"What? No."

"The unending screams of a thousand grasshoppers dying at the same time."

"Wha-"

"An Elephant trumpeting!"

"..."

"The Titan giving a lecture!"

"..."

"A fart."

Lars pinched the bridge of his nose, which was a completely symbolic gesture 'cause he was a ghost and couldn't get a headache.

"No. No. And No. What I heard was nothing."

"Nothing?" She'd have never guessed that. "I'd have never guessed that."

"Exactly! Though you should've guessed that I heard them talking to each other about what they'd just learned." He grumbled.

"Well, they have spells to prevent eavesdropping."

"Yes, and they were using those, but I was inside the radius." Lars shook his head. "No. They didn't say a word, but they LOOKED like they were talking."

"Huh? So their mouths were moving but no sound was coming out? I think there's an [Entertainer] class that does that, but, like, the opposite."

"No. I mean they were reacting. Shaking their heads. Furrowing their brows. Smiling. Nodding. That sort of thing. All of the back and forth of a conversation, just without words."

"Oh." That meant... "Oh! I get it! They were speaking with their minds!"

"Exactly."

"Huh. My mom said that the big Selphids could do that. I didn't know regular ones could as well."

"I bet most of them can't." Lars sat down - in a loose sense, since he didn't really touch the ground. "Those guys were probably elites or something."

"That makes sense." Pinky stroked her chin. "Which means it's dangerous to let them get around Bit."

"Dangerous?"

"Bit knows a lot of things. Too much for her human brain to hold all of her thoughts together. I bet that's why she keeps on forgetting that she has a class, because it's not important to her compared to... enzymes?" Whatever. Or... it could mean that Bit had a Blood Class, just like she her third cousin, once removed, used to have.

It was a good thing that Pinky had regular, normal classes. There was no reason for anyone to ever doubt that.

"And one of them reading her thoughts could learn her secrets?"

"Eh? Maybe? It's not like she's shy about telling people. Honestly, I'm surprised that the Titan hasn't gotten her any [Apprentices] yet. But, if that's what she's willing to openly discuss, she must have some doozy of a secret or two that only she knew.

In fact... 'Bit' wasn't even her real name. Just like 'Pinky' was something that Pinky had come up with to help avoid... stuff. Her real name was unimportant, nobody needed to know it.

"So you're going to tell the Titan about this." Lars narrowed his eyes. "You are going to tell the Titan, aren't you, Took Pinky?"

"No." Pinky smiled. "I have a better thought."

"Define 'better'." Lars said suspiciously.

---

(Why did you approach our agents and demand to see 'the big Selphids'?) Contradiction examined the Fraerling. Even with all of his bodies, Contradiction still didn't have as good of senses as a non-Selphid. He could read in a lot more chemicals in the air, given his greater mass, and his [Telepathy] let him observe the world in ways that were difficult to relay to others.

He didn't have eyes, so he couldn't 'see' Pinky. His understanding was she wore a lot of red, but Contradiction had refused to even listen to the thoughts of the Selphids that had seen her.

That was his role, to stand apart. To watch from the outside.

Besides, it was better in his opinion to hear people put their own thoughts to words. He found that gave a different sort of insight that reading minds lacked.

"You don't know?" Pinky asked.

(No. I do not. I think the other Minds have come to their own conclusions, but I would like to hear your reasoning from your own lips.)

"Heh." Pinky laughed. "You're not foolish. That's refreshing."

(Is it?)

"Yeah." He sensed her sitting down and leaning against one of the walls. "Even smart people can be fools. In fact, I've found that the smartest people make the biggest fools."

Contradiction felt amused at her nonchalance. (That's a fascinating insight.)

"Well, yeah. People who are smart know they're smart in the thing that they're smart in." A convoluted statement, but Contradiction followed her intent. "Then they see the world from that viewpoint. They also know they're 'smart'. So when they encounter something they don't know, they look at it from the way they see everything, and so they still think they're smart."

(You are saying that you have a reason for coming here?)

"Yep."

(Is that reason your ghostly friend?)

Pinky tilted her head. "I never said anything about that."

(No, but the other Minds are reading your thoughts. I felt that you should be told about that.)

Pinky smirked. "Oh? Are they?"

(Yes, but this doesn't seem distressing to you.)

"They can't read a ghost's thoughts, can they?"

(No. I do not think so. It is still debated what a 'ghost' is.) Contradiction knew that there was a Mind in a different citadel who's task was investigating spirits. Continuum had dismissed his suggestion to contact them for assistance. (I do not think my fellow Minds believe you have a ghost.)

"Then how would you explain it?"

(Memories are imprecise things. There are great swaths that are simply... blank. Details that your mind glosses over.)

"I thought you hadn't read my memories?"

(I have not. I have second hand knowledge of them from what the other Minds have observed, and I also have my past experience with reading minds.)

"So... you think I'm lying with my own memories somehow?" Pinky smiled.

(...I am not sure.) Contradiction stopped to consider that possibility. (People lie all the time, especially to themselves. I will tell you something that few non-Selphids know: there are ways to modify a person's memories.)

"That sounds evil."

(I agree. There are good uses for such Skills. [Thought Healers] can help people forget things that have scarred them-)

"I'm aware." The humor in Pinky's voice was gone. "But forgetting isn't something you can always do."

(Oh?)

She sighed. "Since you actually asked, I'll tell you something. My mom tried to get me to see a [Thought Healer] once. It was after my dad died."

(I'm sorry. That must have been painful.)

"It was." She nodded. "The [Thought Healer] said he had a Skill that could isolate the memory. To make it seem... distant. I didn't want that." Contradiction could feel the emotions rolling off of the Fraerling. Sadness. Loss. Anger. "I didn't WANT to forget my dad." She clutched her hand to her chest. "It was MY pain. MY memories. Good or bad, they were MINE!"

(I think I understand.)

"No. You don't." She glared at him. "The only one who did was Lars, because he was going through the exact same thing. His dad died in the same..." She trailed off. "I'm sorry, I think I'd like to be alone for a while."

(Of course.) Contradiction switched his thoughts to just the Selphid [Honor Guards]. (Please escort Miss Pinky back to her room. She's free to come visit me whenever she wants to.) He then refocused on her. (I am sorry to hear about your loss. I didn't mean to touch on such a sensitive subject.)

"It's... It's fine." She sighed as she clamored onto her guard's hand. "I brought it up."

Contradiction watched her go and his separate parts began to converse amongst himself.

(Pinky had brought it up.)

(Those emotions were real though.)

(Emotions can be faked.)

(Not like that. Not without a class.)

(What are her classes?)

([Rouge Fool], [Soul Survivor], [Fallower], and [Practical Prankster].)

(Are those... puns?)

(Yes, I believe so.)

(I would think that [Soul Survivor] would lend credence to 'Lars' being a ghost.)

(Continuum and Dictum disagree. They are of the opinion that he is a figment of a broken mind.)

(They think her memories are compromised?)

(Yes.)

(Then what is to be gained from violating her privacy?)

(Pinky does know things. That is beyond question.)

(It seems illogical to take some of what she says at face value while disregarding other things as figments of her imagination.)

(Since when am I logical?)

(Ha!)

(I've got me there!)

(Continuum and Dictum see what they want to see. If Pinky IS talking to a ghost, they would be required to send her away. This would go against their tasks, so they will not draw that conclusion - at least not yet.)

(She was avoiding answering some things.)

(That's good.)

(Is it?)

(I think so.)

(I think it's the natural way conversations happen.)

(When I speak with the other Minds, I am open.)

(The other Minds are not.)

(True. At times.)

(Pinky does seem nonchalant about her privacy being compromised.)

(Except when her father's death was brought up.)

(Yes. Aside from that, she's remarkably unconcerned about Dictum reading her memories.)

(I agree. That is strange for a non-Selphid.)

(For a non-Telepath Selphid, I mean.)

(Yes. I am correct. I meant that most who convey with words enjoy their masks.)

(That is not a limitation of those with words. I have thoughts I don't share with the others.)

(True. I only share all of my thoughts with myself.)

(I am thinking in circles. I need to concentrate.)

(On what?)

(On what I should do.)

(Should I oppose the other Minds on this?)

(Should I contact the other enclaves?)

(I'm not sure.)

(It would be an easier decision if Pinky was in distress. I have seen the memories of the Selphids she spoke to. She was quite... insistent that she be brought here.)

(I cannot fault them for doing so.)

(I think it would've been better for them to get a consensus from all of us instead of just Continuum before agreeing to bring her here.)

(Continuum is blinded by his task. Continuum and Dictum both want Bit for their own reasons. It is hard to pass up an opportunity for advancing one's purpose.)

(True.)

(True.)

(Very true.)

(If Pinky wants to be here, and the other Minds want her here, what's the problem?)

(The initial problem, of them reading her memories without her permission has been addressed.)

(She did not give permission.)

(She also did not react with dismay or surprise when we informed her of what was happening.)

(Indeed. No confusion. In fact, if I were to categorize her response it would've been... pleased?)

(She is hiding something.)

(I agree.)

(As do I.)

(But what? If she had a [Telepath] class, or even one that's a derivative of [Thought Healer], then I could envision her having a plan.)

(To what ends? Even if she could hide her thoughts, what could she accomplish?)

(Finding the citadel's location?)

(She does not know. Her escorts were not so incompetent to reveal that to her during their trip here.)

(Is it possible she has a tracking Skill?)

(No. Her Skills were cataloged as well. She has none that would let her hide her thoughts nor discern her location.)

(There is the ghost.)

(If there is a ghost, there would be a Skill for it. That is the main argument against its existence that Continuum and Dictum are using.)

(There are Skills that are hidden.)

(True. They are rare, and there are also classes that are not revealed by Skills. Some not even to their owners.)

(I think she has a Blood Class?)

(That's a possibility I shouldn't ignore.)

(It would help to explain her eccentricities.)

(I should not make assumptions. Many people of many races are outside what we would consider 'normal'.)

(True.)

(Should we ask for a more thorough identification Skill to be used?)

(That would mean contacting another enclave.)

(I doubt Continuum would agree to that.)

(I could reach out on my own.)

(That would spread disharmony.)

(The others would become dismayed.)

(If it was for the sake of Pinky, then I would do so. This is nothing more than me grasping at straws.)

(Agreed.)

(It would, however, explain her ghost.)

(Yes. One way or another.)

(I think I have two conclusions.)

(Yes, as do I.)

(Either Pinky has a hidden Skill, most likely from [Soul Survivor], that lets her interact with a ghost.)

(Or she has a Blood class that makes her believe she is seeing a ghost.)

(That is tricky.)

(Is there a threat to her, or to us?)

(If she does have a ghost, then there is a threat to the enclave. It would be an external presence here that I could not sense.)

(Neither I, nor the other Minds.)

(Distressing, but not overly so.)

(I concur.)

(The enclave is a secret, but it is also known.)

(As are most secrets.)

(It is not an problem as long as nothing untoward is happening.)

(I still have my concerns with Continuum and Dictum.)

(They read her mind so casually, but I don't think they would break the wall.)

(No Mind would.)

(The result would be disastrous.)

(Then, what of the other option?)

(If Pinky has a Blood Class?)

(It would explain much.)

(I can see why Continuum believes that is the case, if not the cause.)

(I do not follow myself.)

(Continuum thinks the ghost is a figment. A figment would be explained by a Blood Class.)

(Not all mentally unbalanced individuals have Blood Classes.)

(True.)

(I would even say that most do not.)

(Mental imbalance does not imply a Blood Class.)

(A Blood Class does not imply mental imbalance, but it is common.)

(True.)

(So, the question is: is a Blood Class dangerous?)

(Yes.)

(Potentially.)

(Very.)

(It is in their nature to corrupt.)

(Corruption can spread.)

(I was wise not to read Pinky's thoughts directly.)

(I was lucky. Not wise.)

(I chose not to out of principle, not wisdom.)

(Good principles are their own wisdom.)

(What do I do next?)

(I need to explain what I've discovered to the other Minds.)

(Not discovered.)

(What I've theorized.)

(True.)

(Continuum and Dictum will dismiss my concerns. They are blinded by the possibilities that Bit, and therefore Pinky represent.)

(Egress will listen. They have not read Pinky's memories. They are devoid of a purpose that would color their perspective.)

(I cannot guess how Inconsolable and Sympathy will react.)

(This might be me overreacting.)

(Or I might be underreacting.)

(It is difficult to know which.)

(I should speak with Pinky more.)

(Agreed.)

(As long as I do not read her thoughts or memories.)

(Agreed.)

(I should get a [Guard] to translate for me, so I don't even send my thoughts to her.)

(No. I should use [Telekinesis] to vibrate the air to speak.)

(I hate that.)

(It is a chore, but a necessary one.)

(Agreed. It is cumbersome and less private, but I think it is warranted.)

Notes:

Bios:

Continuum - The First Mind of the Gathering Citadel, and the leader. It has taken on the task of researching Earth and the otherworlders who have arrived recently.

Contradiction - The Second Mind of the Gathering Citadel who's main focus is on arts and innovation. Two-thirds of the Selphids it accepts into itself are those that had left Baleros. It does this in order to gain an outside perspective as to how other races see Selphids. It tries to be more individualistic than the other hive minds with using "I" instead of "We".

Dictum - The Third Mind of the Gathering Citadel. Dictum was created with the express intent of researching the Wasting disease. It took in tens of thousands of Selphids who had encountered the Wasting or seen its effects and tried to stop it. It sees non-Selphids as inferior and treats them as such.

Inconsolable - The Fourth Mind of the Gathering Citadel who focuses on warfare.

Sympathy - The Fifth Mind of the Gathering Citadel. Sympathy studies the natural world and Alchemy.

Egress - The Sixth Mind of the Gathering Citadel, and the oldest Mind despite being the lowest ranked. Used to be the leader of the Gathering Citadel, but stepped aside and shifted its purpose when it got too old. Egress is set in its ways and is currently providing blacksmithing for armor until it gets a new purpose and a new name. The monotonous work has made Egress more and more grumpy over the years.

Chapter 108: Playing Dead 5

Riley looked at the large hill.

"This is it?"

"Yes." Captain Jalet said next to her. "This is where we were told to come." He looked around. "I haven't actually ever been here before and-"

"And now you'll be stationed here." A figure emerged from the underbrush. It was a Selphid wearing a dead female Human body that was six feet tall. "Lady Bit." She turned and bowed to her. "Thank you for coming. My name is Liqua. I'll escort you inside."

Riley sniffed the air. She was getting tired of the smell of cookies. She and Jalet had been shadowed ever since they'd left Elvallian. There was no proof, but she was sure that both people from the Forgotten Wing and the Selphid leaders had been following her and Jalet unseen.

"Alright." She peered up at the female Selphid - not that Selphids had genders, but they tended to identify with the types of bodies they wore. Most had a preference and tried to find new corpses that matched their tastes. Gender was the simplest one, but the [Soldiers] she'd worked on had expressed a variety of desires for their bodies.

"I'm afraid your animals will have to stay outside." Liqua looked over at her monkeys, Badgy, and the swarm of spiders that covered him.

Were they worried about letting invisible spies inside?

Or did they want to strip away some of her protections?

Or were they just worried about Badgy and the Creler-spiders? Goodness knows that they had something of a reputation back in Niers' castle.

"Fine."

Riley ► Stay here for now. Protect the Milk Box.
See-no-evil ► Ook.
Hear-no-evil ► Ook.
Speak-no-evil ► Ook.
Badgy ► Rawr.

It didn't really matter, except for the Milk Box. It was constantly protecting her from this world's Entity. The psychic resonance should also help with the Selphids, and work pretty far away, but it would get weaker with distance.

Apart from that? It wasn't a big issue. They were fools if they thought that separating her from her pets made Riley any less dangerous. Doubly so since they were inviting her inside what looked to be an underground base. Enclosed places were so easy to poison.

Even that wasn't the case, her pets weren't her strongest protectors.

She'd hidden her Met Factory inside her body when she'd first arrived at Elvallian. She'd been worried about some stupid Squirrel Beastkin sneaking into her room and stealing it.

Added to that, Boo was with her.

Her brother's smallest summons would be perfect for killing Selphids. Boo was strong enough to pry open the jaws of their corpses and small enough to get inside and shred the Selphids themselves. It didn't matter how big or powerful their outsides were. Not when the Selphids' real bodies were so fragile in comparison.

When you added Boo's ability to teleport and replicate himself? Any non-Brutes were going to have a bad day.

The main reason Riley was confident in entering the lair of a potentially hostile group was that she understood Selphids. Like everything in this world, they had nebulous magical powers due to the Entity that was connected to them. Unlike Dullahans, Lizardfolk, Centaurs... unlike most other races she'd encountered, Surgery knew the Selphids.

They were obviously alien. Their cells weren't smooth. Despite how malleable their bodies were, Selphid's cells had jagged edges formed from cell walls. Not cell walls like plants. The structures served much of the same purpose, but the irregular shape of the Selphids' cells kept them from having the rigidness and sturdiness commonly associated with plants.

Riley had gotten her insights the way she commonly did from Surgery. That was surprising simply because that hadn't been the case with most of the creatures she'd dissected since arriving here. For them, she'd had to make comparisons and do experiments. For Selphids, she just knew.

The obvious explanation was that Surgery had encountered Selphids or another race like them in the past.

Hence: aliens.

Riley was well-prepared to handle any unique Selphid abilities - mainly psychic powers. As for the 'mundane' danger from being close to so many empowered people?

Well, Bonesaw had walked into groups of Parahumans more times than she could count - and had always skipped away with a smile.

Liqua led her towards the hill. It looked pretty normal. No different from any other hill in the area. The Selphid pushed aside some bushes and raised her hand. The side of the hill flowed away and revealed a hidden entrance. The pair went inside. The tunnels were surprisingly porous. Small holes dotted the structure. It was a good thing she didn't suffer from trypophobia. None of the Selphids here seemed to either. That was probably a common trait of their species.

"So, am I finally going to be told what the big secret thing is that I came here for?" Riley clasped her hands behind her back and leaned forward as she looked up at Liqua. "Or what my friend is doing here?"

"Soon." The dead Human replied. "The Minds will tell you in person."

"The Minds?"

"..."

Riley shrugged and followed along silently. The pair made their way deep down through the twisting tunnels. She assumed they'd reached the bottom level when the small holes quit appearing on the floors - and became much less frequent on the walls.

Selphid [Guards] stood at multiple checkpoints. They didn't say or acknowledge either her or Liqua. Instead, they opened their doors and stood to the side. They came to a larger door which also was opened for them without a word. The large chamber beyond was roughly the size of a small football stadium. There more more of those holes dotting the ceiling, but Riley's attention was drawn to the huge floating orb in the center.

It was a wriggling sphere made up of an unknowable number of Selphids. Hundreds at least, but the flexible nature of Selphids - combined with the fact that their size varied and that Riley had no idea how tightly packed together they were - left her guessing.

The sphere hovered in mid-air. Magical or psionic power (if there was a distinction) served to keep it levitating.

(Greetings, Bit, we are Dictum. We have been eagerly expecting you.)

Projected thoughts appeared in the fake neural pathways she'd inserted in the Milk Box. Riley could 'hear' them just fine, but she was protected from any malicious actions - assuming there were any. She would have to be watching the neural pathways she'd set up inside of her pet to judge something like that.

"Hello, Dictum." Riley curtseyed. "It's nice to meet you too.)

(Yes. We have much to discuss. We need to explain the situation so you can help us.)

"The situation? With Pinky?"

(Pinky? No. The Fraerling is unimportant. We have a much grander purpose that you will assist us with.)

That sounded a little presumptuous to her, but Riley let it slide. "What is it?"

(The Wasting.)

"And that is?"

(Don't play dumb with us, Human. We know you have been studying the disease.)

"I've never heard of it before. Perhaps I know it by another name?" Riley had indeed been studying several diseases, but most were Creler-based as she continued to pick apart the various biological traps that had been incorporated into the monster she'd cut up to make her spiders.

(The Wasting is the disease that threatens Selphids as a race. It is the deterioration that we can find no cause of or cure for.)

"Why don't you tell me what you know of the Wasting? So we can be on the same page here." Riley would prefer to go and find Pinky and make sure her [Fool] of a friend was doing okay, but the floating Slephid hive-mind was really interesting. She was getting all sorts of ideas on how to modify other Selphids just from watching how its component creatures wiggled and squirmed. There was definitely a pattern there. Not only did the hovering structure look similar to the folds and bends of a brain, it served the same purpose...

(The Wasting strikes our oldest most often, but younger Selphids have been known to contract it as well. As time passes so to does the percentage of our race who suffer from it. There is no known transmission vector. It is not more common with those who have been exposed directly or indirectly to Selphids who have contracted it. It is not due to the bodies they wear as we've done numerous tests and non-sick Selphids can inhabit the corpses without contracting it.)

(Selphids who get sick feel excruciating pain that never ends, it instead ebbs and flows. They become stiffer and less malleable. Worst of all is that their memory and sense of self starts to fade. They forget things. They even forget who they are in the end.)

"What about environmental factors?"

(There are none.)

"None? No places where it's more or less common?" That didn't seem likely. Even if there was no external stimulus, the location almost always affected diseases from other things that changed with the area.

(We have lists.)

"Then we'll need to go over them for patterns." Riley held up a hand. "While you get that organized, I'd like to go visit Pinky."

(That's a good idea. No, it's not. We need to think. Leave now.)

Riley ► Have you found her yet?
Boo ► Yep! She's three doors down at the fourth intersection!

Riley left the large room and strolled purposely down the corridors. Liqua rushed after her.

"Lady Bit, where are you going?"

"I'm going to speak with my friend."

"I'm afraid I must insist that-"

"No!" Riley spun around and glared up at her. "I'm going to speak with Pinky now. I don't care what you or that floating ball-thing says. I've been nice so far, but I'm perfectly willing to ruin all of your pretty little corpses." She pointed a finger at Liqua's face - aiming her bone dart towards one of her eyes. "Now let me go see her, or I'll get angry."

"I would have to ask where-"

"Follow me." Riley resumed her march down the hallway. She stopped at the first checkpoint and stood with her fists on her hips until Liqua got the [Guards] to open the way.

The scene repeated itself a few times before she came to the room that Boo was guiding her towards. All those little tunnels were perfect for him and his clones to crawl around and explore.

"I'm telling you-" Pinky looked up from where she was clearly talking with the spirit of her dead friend. "Bit? What are you doing here?"

Riley ran a hand over her face. "You left me a note."

"Yes, but the note said not to come, didn't it?" Pinky's face bunched up as she tried to remember. "Actually, it didn't say much of anything, except I was leaving. Why did you follow me?"

"You said you'd be dead."

"I also said I might not be and that I'd talk to you later."

Riley sat down on the floor so her head would be closer to the table Pinky was standing on. "And you didn't think that if I got a note saying you were in trouble that I wouldn't come?"

"The note didn't say I was in trouble." Pinky crossed her arms and glared at the space next to her. "Besides, it's dangerous for you to be here."

"How?"

"I can't tell you."

"What?"

Pinky tapped her temple. "What you don't know can't..." She frowned. "No wait. Uhm... What I don't know? No. It's... Ah ha!" She slammed her fist into her palm. "What you know, you might believe, and then they might believe. If only I know, they'll never believe because it's unbelievable. Got it?"

"No."

"Good!"

Riley let out a small sigh and smiled. Pinky was still Pinky. She was afraid the Selphids would tamper with her thoughts or something. "Then what can you tell me?"

"Hmmm..." Pinky bit her lower lip. "I know! I'll tell you about the Minds!"

"The Minds?"

"The huge wriggling balls of Selphids!" Pinky spread her arms out wide. "They're, like, the ones in charge."

"I see." Riley nodded. "I just finished briefly meeting one."

"Which one?"

"It called itself 'Dictum'."

"Ah. Them." Pinky frowned. "Oh, and you should use plural pronouns for them. Only Contradiction uses singular ones. It's important... at least to him? Or her? I don't think it has a gender..."

"Okay."

"Anyways, Dictum is like, the worst." Pinky scowled. "They don't see non-Selphids as people at all."

"So they were the ones that 'kidnapped' you?"

"Kinda? Really that was Continuum, but we'll get to them later. See, I was investigating the Selphids. They would report back to some others what they did with you. Or what you did with them. Very suspicious. Especially since the guys they spoke to didn't speak out loud when they were alone." Pinky tapped her temple. "Telepathy. So, it was tough to figure out what they wanted, but I did it."

The Fraerling crossed her arms and smiled smugly as she continued.

"They were veeeeery interested in you. For a lot of reasons." She counted on her fingers. "One, that the Titan was interested. Two, because you act different, for some reason that really was important to the guys asking the questions. Three, what you could do to modify bodies. And four, because there was something they needed help with. Something important."

"That was why I didn't go to you or the Titan. I didn't want to get anyone in trouble, and if they really needed help..." Pinky shrugged. "Plus, I was the only one who could do it. I have a particular set of Skills. Skills I've acquired and shaped with a lot of effort. Skills that make me a blindspot for the Minds. Well, for Telepaths in general, but not all Telepaths. Not that I've met any before, but it stood to reason. I know my Skill really well. People that don't... well... they're going to have a bad time."

"So you, what? Demanded to be taken to their leaders?"

"Exactly!" Pinky beamed. "Honestly, I was surprised when it worked. I was half expecting them to ignore me... or to squish me..." She chuckled nervously. "That's why I left you that note. Just in case I..." She raised her arms so her palms were facing and then slowly brought them together.

Riley frowned. "You shouldn't-"

"Hey!" Pinky pointed at her. "You don't get to tell me what I should or shouldn't do! You're not my mom!" She then blushed and looked away. "And... I wanted to help. You've done so much for me. I owe you more than just introducing you to the Titan."

"Pinky..."

"No, no, I've said too much." She put on a fake smile. "And it doesn't matter what my plans were now anyways. You've got to escape."

"I can leave whenever I want."

"Huh?"

"I'd really prefer not to kill everyone here, so why don't we go talk to one of these Minds. Who's the leader?"

"That would be Continuum, they-"

"Wait. That's the one that you said kidnap-... agreed to let you come here."

"Yeah. They suck almost as much as Dictum. They have some crazy idea about people from another world." Pinky twirled her finger around her ear. "Bonkers."

"Pinky. I'm from another world."

"That's the spirit! Play along with them. It will keep them off guard!" She snapped her fingers and pointed at Riley. "But, yeah, Continuum thinks there's a conspiracy or something. Their questions have really gotten worse after reading my, uhm, er, speaking with me." She coughed into her fist. "Anyways, Continuum and Dictum won't be a problem soon enough, but you're right. We don't want to be here when they finally flip."

Riley raised an eyebrow, but refrained from pressing Pinky on that part. For now.

"Continuum is number one, Dictum is number three. Number four is Inconsolable, and they also suck, but not as much. Number five is Sympathy. I haven't spoken with them, so I'm not sure what they're like. Number six is Egress, who seems to prefer to grumble than talk and who doesn't speak with me anyways."

"I take it their numbers are their hierarchy?"

"Yeah, Continuum is number one so they're in charge, but it's kinda a first-among-the-leaders sort of thing... I think?"

"What about number two?"

"I was getting to it."

"It? Not they? Oh, it's the one you mentioned before."

"Yep. Contradiction." Pinky smiled. "It's actually pretty nice. If you want to get out of here then Contradiction is who we should speak with."

"Okay. Let's go." Riley stood up and offered her hand to Pinky, who jumped on it and ran up her arm to her shoulder.

Riley didn't know if Pinky believed her when she said that she could win in a fight against all the Selphids here, but resolving things amicably would be for the best.

First, it was the best policy. No more killing. Or, at least, less killing. Killing only if necessary... or if the world would be a unequivocally better place without the person in it. Not that she trusted herself to make that kind of call. Her brother was better at that sort of judgment.

Second, the Selphids seemed to have a good reason for what they'd done. Goodish? If this was to cure a disease and save countless lives in the future? Or perhaps just a few. Not all diseases were a existential threat. From her brief talk with Dictum, the Wasting didn't sound like it was a pandemic or even an epidemic.

More like... the Selphid version of alzheimer's?

Still, if the number of cases were increasing with each year, then it could turn into an extinction event given enough time.

"Miss Bit?" Liqua asked as they opened the door.

"We're going to see Contradiction."

"I'm afraid I can't allow that." The female Selphid loomed over her. "Please go back into the room."

"Are you really going to make me do this?" Riley batted her eyelashes as she smiled at her.

"Yes. You are-"

Liqua collapsed like a stringless puppet as Riley exhaled a black cloud into her face.

Riley bent down and opened her mouth. She tilted Linqa's head so the light was shining into it. An orange glistening object wriggled about inside. "Looks good. Still alive." Not that she'd expected anything else. Selphids weren't inherently magical in nature, though their Skills were. They were parasites, or symbiotes depending on the Selphid in question. They'd evolved to inhabit bodies.

Living bodies.

Without magic and Skills, a Selphid simply didn't have the sheer strength to do... well... anything. Much less physically move a body.

Riley ► Boo, please escort us to...

"Hey, Pinky, which way is Contradiction?"

"You go down the hall to the left, take a right, then go past three more doors until you come to another intersection and then you take another right and go past one more checkpoint."

Riley relayed their path to Boo as she waited for black mist from her newest poison to dissipate. She was immune, but with Pinky close by she couldn't just flood the tunnels. She designed this version to break down in about half an hour, but the smoke would settle in just a few minutes.

Once it had, she checked on the two Selphids that had been guarding Pinky's door. They were in the same state as Liqua: alive, but unable to make their commandeered bodies move. She patted one on the cheek as she stood up after examining him. Not that they'd feel it, or be able to see her. It must be pretty awful to lose control and be trapped inside a body like that.

She walked through the tunnels and encountered the aftermath of Boo's fighting. Or ambushes, if you wanted to be pedantic. It looked like a swarm of super strong, fast, and teleporting rodents had gotten inside the Selphids' armor and had systematically gnawed though their tendons.

And eaten their eyes.

And their tongues.

The corpses still twitched as the Selphids inside struggled to move them, but it seemed fairly futile.

Riley fished the keys out of their pockets and used them to open the large, iron doors.

(What are you doing?)

The voice spoke in her mind. Or in the Milk Box's linked nervous system's 'mind'. So at least one of the Minds had noticed what she'd done. They could probably do something to Pinky, if not her, so Riley needed to be careful.

"We're going to see Contradiction."

"I assumed as much, since you asked me for directions to its room. Also, that's what you told that one woman before you gassed her."

Apparently Pinky hadn't heard the voice, and had assumed Riley had been speaking to her.

(Why do you wish to speak with Contradiction?)

"I don't want to hurt anyone else, but Pinky and I ARE leaving. I'm still willing to help with the Wasting, but it will be on my terms."

"I understand that, but... thanks for explaining it? What? No. She's obviously talking to me. Why would anyone just randomly speak aloud? It's not like she has an invisible friend who she's discussing things with."

(I too would like to converse. Please do not assault any more of my [Guards]. I will instruct them to let you pass.)

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. No, not you. Why would I be thanking you? I mean, why would I be thanking you right now? Fine... Fine... Alright. I get it. Sheesh."

(You are welcome.)

Their trip back through the hallways was peaceful as all the doors were opened for them and they were allowed to pass though the remaining checkpoints without violence. Finally, they entered another huge room similar to the one that had housed Dictum. A floating ball of Selphids waited them at the center and the doors closed behind them.

"Greetings. It is nice to meet you, Bit. And I'm glad you're still just as energetic as ever, Pinky."

"Hey, Contradiction. Nice to hear you again..." She tilted her head. "You do you speak anyways? I mean, I knew you could talk, but now that I think about it you didn't when we first met. It was sort of a sound that came from nowhere and everywhere all at once." Pinky leapt down from her shoulder and walked closer to the Selphid Mind.

"I am simply vibrating the air to produce sound. It is difficult, but I think it's best if I refrain from speaking with either of you mentally. I suspect there are dangers involved."

"You're pretty clever, aren't you?" Riley studied the writhing mass, hoping to glean some more insights into how Contradiction worked. Was this a natural state for them? Or something brought about by their connection to this world's Entity?

"My task is to look at things from the outside. That requires a certain flexibility in my thinking that the other Minds do not have. In a way, I suppose, that makes me more clever, but only from certain viewpoints."

"I think I understand." Riley nodded. "Individuals can be smart, but crowds are stupid. It's a valuable evolutionary trait to agree with the group, but it can easily lead to all sorts of irrational behaviors."

"Interesting. I think I would greatly enjoy discussing such things with you, Bit. Perhaps in the future when you can be our guest under less... stressful circumstances."

"Yes. As you've realized by now, I mainly came here to 'rescue' my friend." Riley shot a glare at Pinky who didn't have the decency to look even a little ashamed. "But that doesn't mean I'm opposed to helping you with the Wasting."

"I am sure Continuum and Dictum would be thrilled to hear that." Contradiction's 'voice' was dry. "But I fear that I cannot predict their responses."

"Oh?"

"Yes. It seems that our little Fraerling friend is more dangerous than she appears."

"Who? Me?"

"I wouldn't underestimate her."

"This is not part of my usual duties, but it falls to me to negotiate with you."

"Negotiate for what?"

"I can only tell you what I wish for." Contradiction paused. "I would like you to work with us to stop the Wasting. I would also like to know the details of what Pinky did."

"What I did? What do you mean?" Pinky radiated false innocence.

Riley looked down at her. "What did you do?"

"Well... I guess the secret is out." She flopped to the ground. "I've been thinking a lot lately about poisons."

"Poisons?" The Mind asked.

"Yeah. When you hang around with Bit, the topic comes up frequently. And it occurred to me, that a lot of things could be considered 'poisonous' that aren't actually poison."

"That's true." Riley could think of a number things like cancer or a disease that would outwardly appear the same. "You're considering anything that weakens a person from the inside to be a 'poison'."

Pinky smiled up at her. "Yep! You're pretty smart!"

"Thanks."

"Anyways, I have personal experience with something eating me from the inside." She said flippantly. "The kind of thoughts you just can't stop thinking. Not for long at least. You can do things to distract yourself, but eventually you think those same thoughts again and again and again."

"Those are common." Contradiction spoke. "I do not mean to diminish or dismiss you, but all sapient species have times when they are depressed."

"Yeah, yeah." Pinky made a dismissive motion. "But there's something else that can spread like a poison. Or a guess a disease, since poisons don't spread."

Riley frowned a little as she brainstormed out loud. "Radiation? Magic? Corruption?"

"No." Contradiction sounded grim. "What she speaks of are Blood Classes."

"Blood Classes?" Riley turned to look at it. "What are those?"

"Classes that are a punishment." Pinky stared at her own hands with a far away expression on her face.

"It is more subtle than that, but it is often the case." Contradiction's form shuddered. "So my suspicions were correct. You have a Blood Class, Pinky. One we couldn't assess."

"Well, yeah. 'Cause my 'Blood Class' IS my class. See," She stood up. "I worked long and hard to make it part of me. I bet you didn't know you could consolidate Blood Classes with regular ones? Did you?"

"You don't mean?"

"That's right. I got rid of my original Blood Class, but my other Class changed. I still have Blood Skills, even if they aren't as... potent as before. They're thoughts that you can't un-think, but I guess that's every thought huh? My point is that they're still... cursed."

"How is such a thing possible?"

"I guess I might as well tell you both everything." Pinky bowed her head and took a deep breath before looking up at both Riley and then Contradiction. "I used to be an [Adrenaline Junkie]. Back when... before everything. Then, my father's squadron got wiped out. He was my world, and then... he was just gone. There was one other person who I knew was going through the same thing... because his dad had also been in the group."

"I'm sorry for your loss, but how did that result in a Blood Class?"

"It didn't. Neither did my friend's death. It was labeled an accident, but I knew better. I found the note. I... I don't want to talk about that."

Pinky paused for a moment to collect her thoughts before continuing.

"Anyways, I... did something drastic. I lived, but I got a Blood Class. I knew what it was, and I knew that I should've talked to someone about it. Or gotten help from a [Thought Healer]. Or something. But the thing was... It let me talk to him. I knew it wasn't really him. That the things he told me to do were wrong. But... most of the time, it was like having my best friend back. I couldn't just give that up."

"There I was, with an imaginary friend who was so nice and comforting, but also... wrong. So, I decided to change him, to change my Class. To change myself. I became a [Fool]. Then I consolidated that into [Adrenaline Fool]. Then... well, eventually I ended up with [Rouge Fool], but my friend was still there. And he was still wrong."

"See? Even though I'd done so much, a Skill remained. THE Skill. It wouldn't go away. I did, however, get second Blood Skill that... counteracted the first. Bit helped me get rid of my Class and my first Skill, but the second one is still here." She tapped her head. "It's powerful, but it's a sword without a hilt. It cuts your mind just as much as anything." She giggled. "So, you see? It's like a poison. One I can carry and use, but others?" She shrugged. "Just be glad you didn't read my memories a couple of months ago. Things would've been much, much worse."

"What is the Skill?"

"[Foolish Thoughts]."

"Ah... that explains a great deal." The Selphids that made up Contradiction began to move more quickly. "'Foolish.' That is what this entire plan has been ever since you arrived. I can't help but wonder if the [Telepaths] you spoke to at first were also... infected."

"I dunno."

"In any event, the other Minds are not blameless regardless of extenuating circumstances. This whole compound will likely be- No. That is beside the point. Bit. Pinky. I will make sure no one blocks your way out."

"I would still like to help with the Wasting." There was a lot to learn from the Selphids - despite them not being 'magical', and Surgery's apparently preexisting knowledge of them. Riley had soooo many experiments she wanted to run. "Please send some people to Elvallian with data and samples."

"In time. I fear it will take a good amount of work to discern what is salvageable here. Goodbye, Bit, Pinky."

Riley picked Pinky up and the pair of them made their way up though the winding tunnels. Just as Contradiction had promised, no one barred their way. They were saluted as they passed through the various checkpoints until they finally exited from the hidden entrance.

"So this was all a trap on your part?" She asked Pinky. "Get inside and infect the Minds with your cursed thoughts?"

"Basically." Pinky shrugged. "I figured it either would work because they read my mind, or that it wouldn't. If that happened, at least they'd be, uhm, moral? So I'd have been safe either way."

Riley gave a noncommittal hum as they returned back the way she'd come with her menagerie of pets. She stopped and sniffed. The scent of freshly baked cookies filled her nose. Whomever had been tailing her on the way here was still-

"Hey." Someone poked her from behind and Riley let out a squeal before turning to glare at the Squirrel Beastkin. "Message from Niers. Mm. Pixel in Tiqur. Destroyed multiple armies. He's excited. Already planning a new lecture."

Chapter 109: Interlude - Pinky's Fall

Notes:

Content Warning: Depictions of suicidal thoughts and actions.

Took,

By the time you read this, I'll be dead.

You know why I'm doing this. I just can't go on without him. I'm going on patrol, and I won't be coming back.

I just wanted you to know the truth.

I'm sorry.

-Lars

Took stared at the letter in her hands. There was no mistaking Lars' handwriting. What was this? Some stupid prank?

If so, it was in even worse taste than normal. Both of their dads had...

No.

No! It couldn't be real! Not Lars!

Took crumpled the note in her hand and sprinted out of her room. She had to find him. Stop him. She frantically banged on the door of his family's house. It was right next door, so she was over in a flash. Whatever the fool was doing she'd-

"Goodness gracious, Took." The door opened and she nearly fell into the arms of Lar's mother. "What's with all the ruckus? You half-scared me to death." Ms. Fiddlestack twittered nervously, but the laughter didn't reach her eyes. "I'd imagined it was a cat. Foolish, I know, but I've had that nightmare ever since-"

"Ms. Fiddlestack." Took interrupted the still grieving widow. "Where's Lars? I need to speak with him immediately!"

"Larmey? He's out on patrol." She peered into Took's eyes. "What's so urgent?"

"Nothing!" Took broke free from her grasp and ran down the street. Stupid! The note had said he'd been going on patrol. He must've put it on her bed just before he left. She'd wasted time finding out something she already should've known!

They lived in the upper floors. Only a few residential levels were above them. Beyond that were the restricted areas for the Tallguard and the researchers. She could still make it.

Took ignored the strange looks that other people gave her as she raced past them. She was used to it, and it wasn't important now. The only important thing was getting to the galift and then going up to the Tallguard center and-

No. The exit. She should head to the Tallguard's exit first. No more wasting time. But which one? Took pressed the button to call the galift to her and impatiently tapped her foot. The closest one first, then she'd circle the village. If she went down the-

The doors opened and she ran inside, only to crash into another mother. This time it was hers and not Lars'.

"Took? What are you doing?"

"I don't have time to talk, mom. I need to..." Stop Lars from killing himself? She couldn't tell her mom that, so instead she trailed off into silence.

"So you heard already." Eirnos' voice was gruff, but quiet. "Word travels fast I see."

"Heard what?" Took took a step back and stared up into her mother's stern face.

"That Larmey's equipment malfunctioned." Her voice softened a nearly imperceptible amount. "I'm sorry, Took. There was nothing we could do."

"No..." Her legs gave out.

She couldn't have lost Lars too. Not after losing both her father and her uncle. Not that Lars' dad had been her actual uncle, but their two families had been so close. She'd grown up with Mr. and Ms. Fiddlestack almost as much as she'd been around her own parents.

Took began to cry. The crumpled note now forgotten in her hand.

"Not here." She was vaguely aware of her mother picking her up.

...

"And how does that make you feel?" Ilenos asked.

"Empty." Took replied to the [Thought Healer].

"Empty? Not angry or sad?"

"No." She stared blankly at the wall. "Just empty."

"Tell me more."

"It's..." She felt the urge to be open and honest with him. It was undoubtedly an effect of a Skill. "It's like I'm the one that died. My life... isn't my life anymore. My dad's gone. So's my uncle. So's my best friend. My mom and my aunt, they're like golems of themselves."

"Golems?"

"My aunt smiles, but it's fake. Like she can pretend everything in normal. My mom's worse. For her, everything IS normal. She gets up every day and goes to work."

"Her job is important."

Yeah, so important that it killed everyone Took had ever loved. "I know that Tallguards are important, but..."

"But..."

"But it's all she ever is anymore. At home, she's just a Tallguard who's off duty." She wasn't Took's mom. Her mom had always been serious and strict, but there had been something else there. Something her father had brought out.

It was just that Took couldn't get her to show that side. Like... it no longer existed.

Another person that had effectively died, and it was her fault.

The Skill made her want to say that to Ilenos... but she just couldn't. How could she? She knew it wasn't true, despite how she felt. If she said it out loud then... then it might become the truth.

"Everyone processes loss in their own way. It's never exactly the same, and quite often it's very different." He smiled reassuringly and patted her hand. "It's natural to feel sad or lost. Just know I'm here to help you however I can."

She knew that that meant. 'Help' her. That meant that she ultimately was the one who had to handle things. It was just like her mother had always said: 'Be strong. You can only rely on yourself.'

So that's what she did. Not that she had any choice. Not with both dad and Lars gone.

"Thank you." She replied automatically.

"We'll talk again next week."

Took nodded as she got up and left. It had helped to talk about some of what she'd gone through... but... a thought had entered her mind. It was a little thing. Just a single word... but she couldn't stop dwelling on it.

Why?

...

"Why did this happen?" Took asked her mother.

"Tallguards need more of the allotment."

"But... isn't the allotment for stuff inside the village?"

"Where do you think our gear is made? Where do you think we train?" Eirnos set down her fork and looked at Took across the breakfast table. "We can only use so much magic inside the village and still remain hidden from the Tallfolk. The Dyed Lands help us hide, but they also produce greater threats. Our patrols need to be increased in size. The predators around us need to be culled further away. We need to constantly monitor the Dyed Lands so as to not be caught off-guard by invisible monsters."

"But, why dad?"

Her mom didn't answer. Instead she got up and left for work, leaving the dishes behind for Took to clean.

...

"Why did this happen?" Took asked Ilenos.

"Took, what you have to understand is that no one was at fault. Unexpected things happen." He leaned forward and interlaced his fingers. "All you can do is to process the tragedy in your own time and in your own way."

"But..."

She couldn't put it into words, not even with his Skill helping.

She knew there was a reason. Some underlying... thing. Something she just couldn't grasp.

"Do what you need to do, Took. You can keep coming back to me as often as you'd like."

...

Took took a deep breath and stared down the galift shaft. You weren't supposed to be able to access the shaft without a car, but the pressurized gas that raised and lowered them wasn't inside the shaft. It was inside the smaller tubes that connected to the cars themselves.

Lars had shown her that.

Took leaned forward until her center of gravity was hovering just over the edge, then she tilted forward even more.

The floors whipped past her as she dove downwards. Her arms pressed against her sides. Took stared forward with pure intensity before twisting herself to the side.

A galift car screamed past her. Its air pressure pushed her to the side, but she spread her arms and flattened her body against the wall as they passed. Her back scraped against it for only a moment before she bounced back, but that short amount of time had been enough to let her pass the car.

"Wooooo Hoooooo!!!!" She yelled as her voice was lost in the wind. [Adrenaline High] filled her with life.

As the ground approached, she spread her arms to increase her profile. Fraerlings were lightweight and terminal velocity for them wasn't fatal. Plus, there were wards in the village to prevent serious injuries at the bottom of the shafts. You could get a sprain or a nasty bruise if you landed wrong, but heights weren't a problem. Falling was fun. Falling faster was more fun because of the risk. The thrill. The feeling of being alive that only the specter of death could bring.

"Ms. Narffion." The [Galift Operator] opened the bottom doors and glared down at her with his fists on his hips. "You shouldn't do stuff like this." He scowled, but still held out his hand to help her up.

Before the operator on duty would've yelled at her and Lars. Plus threats of vague punishments.

Now? Everyone was patient and accommodating. As if she was made of glass, and would shatter if they raised their voices.

She hated it.

"Yeah, yeah." She took his hand. "I'll be good."

"See that you are." He called out to her as she stalked away towards the free-climbing wall.

Technically the wall was for Tallguard training. So there was a place they could practice scaling vertical surfaces. In reality, it was mostly used by children. There had been a big discussion about allotment costs and placing a feather falling spell at the bottom when she'd been a teen.

She strolled to the next-to-hardest section. The one with no hand holds, just a rough surface. It was hard to scale without any Skills, but it was doable. The hardest section was a smooth, glass-like strip that was a challenge even to a [Climber].

Took gripped the wall tightly and got three stories up before her hands gave out. She kicked herself away and landed on the third level rather than let herself fall all the way to the first. She then walked over to the galift tube and rode it back to her house.

Her eyes were heavy and she yawned as trudged towards her house.

That was a problem with a surge, afterwards she was worn out. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. She was back in the detached state that she'd used to hate, but now it was better than the way she usually felt.

If only the question would go away.

"You went galift diving again." Her mother looked up as Took pushed open the door. "You really shouldn't."

That was it. No emotion. No yelling. No threats of what she'd do to Took if her daughter continued to be so foolish. Just... nothing.

Took nodded and went to her room and flopped down on her bed.

...It was all a lie. The answers she got for 'why' were all wrong because the people she asked didn't know what she knew. They didn't know that Lars' death hadn't been an accident.

And she couldn't tell anyone. She couldn't let them know that Lars had...

Lars had always been by her side. Their fathers had been best friends, and she'd grown up with him. Through thick and thin, Lars was always there. Her other half in a way. He was rude and sarcastic, but he always came through in the end. Confident where she was timid. Bold where she was afraid. Smart where she was stupid.

He was her role model in so many ways.

...And he'd killed himself.

Why?

What did he know that she didn't? What had Lars thought of that she hadn't?

...

Galift jumping. Running through the Tallguard obstacle course. Setting up crossbows so she could practice dodging the bolts.

Each risk drowned out the little voice in her head, but she had to keep escalating. Otherwise, they became 'normal'. Normal meant that she was comfortable with it. That her mind wasn't focused solely on that one thing without room to think about 'why'.

She took bigger and bigger risks, but there was a limit. Jumping inside was too safe. There were wards. Protections. It was fake risk. She needed to go outside.

Fraerlings didn't go outside... except for the Tallguard.

"Mom. I want to join the Tallguard." She said one night at dinner as her and her mother sat down for a rare meal together.

"What?" Eirnos looked up with narrowed eyes. "No. Why?"

"You're in it. So was dad, and Mr. Fiddlestack. Lars too."

"That's not a good reason for you to be in it."

"It is too!" Took crossed her arms. "It's practically the family business. And what else am I going to do, huh?"

"You don't have to 'do' anything." Eirnos glared back at her. "It's dangerous outside, or haven't you noticed?"

Took flinched slightly at that. "You still go out." Her mother froze. "If it's so dangerous, then how come you do it?"

"Because someone has to."

"Well, that someone can be me."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"I forbid it!"

Took didn't do anything so dramatic as flipping the table or throwing her plate. Instead, she walked outside and went right to the Tallguard section. It was late, but they never closed.

She marched right up to the desk. "I want to join."

...

"Move it, Narffion! You still owe me seventeen more laps!"

"Y-yes, sir." She panted as she ran along the outside of the tallest level.

Running. Fighting. More running. Climbing. Shooting. Even more running. Crawling through mud. Yet even more running. The training was intense. If anything, Lars had downplayed how difficult it had been. Or he was just that much better than her, but Took was driven. All the exercise, especially the running, was grueling, but she was in good shape.

[Adrenaline Junkie] may have been a silly Class, but it was good at physical exertion. It allowed her to push past her limits. To get a surge when she needed it. Clarity that a runner's high brought.

The crash afterwards was just as welcome. As she sat gasping for air, she wasn't thinking about Lars. She wasn't thinking about anything except how nice it would be to sleep.

Not that she got to sleep. She had manuals to review. It was a shame that [Adrenaline Junkie] didn't have any Skills to help with the non-physical stuff. There were soooo many rules and regulations to memorize! Not to mention specific details on animals and plants around their city. Every Fraerling knew how deadly cats were, but only Tallguards studied how to evade their low-light vision, how they used their whiskers to navigate, how to kill them with a well-placed magical crossbow shot.

In theory.

Took was just a trainee. She didn't get an enchanted crossbow or magical bolts.

Instead most of her time was spent doing pointless things, as if her mother had instructed her trainer to make Took give up. The joke was on her. Took was determined. If she had time to herself, she'd just think about 'why'. Wearing herself out each and every day wasn't as fun as using [Adrenaline High] to avoid her thoughts, but it worked just as well.

...

"Today, we're going outside." Her Tallguard trainer shouted at Took and the rest of the recruits. There weren't many of them, barely half a dozen, but the Tallguard had never been an overly large force. Most Fraerlings were content to stay safe in the village. "You are to obey my orders at all times! Do not wander off on your own! Do not make noise! Do not engage any animals! If we encounter a predator too close to the village, I will handle it and you will watch! We do not want dead bodies close to our village. I repeat, we DO NOT want DEAD BODIES close to our village!" He pointed at her. "Why is that, Narffion?"

"Because dead animals will draw in other animals."

"And?"

And? "Uhm... it's..."

"Brightsause, answer for Narffion."

"Dead animals also disrupt the ecosystem and may result in more animals making their way close by over time."

"Correct."

"Happystin, what is the ideal patrol?"

"To encounter no animals."

"Wrong. Bluespar, what's the correct answer?"

"To encounter no predators."

"Correct! Why is that, Fuzzinickple?"

"Because no animals is a warning sign that something is different."

"And what is different, Piddlywux?"

"Different is bad, sir."

"And what's worse?" He'd run out of recruits and pointed at Took again.

"Not knowing." It was always worse not to know. Worse not to act.

"Correct! Good or bad, we need information. That's what scouting is for. That... is the most basic task of the Tallguard. Knowledge is power, and we provide that knowledge. If, and only if, there's a situation we take action accordingly. You are in training. You will not be involved in that sort of thing. If I give the order, you run away and regroup. You do NOT run back to the village. Understood?"

"Understood." Took and the rest of the recruits spoke in unison.

"Good. Now, let's go outside."

The passageway to the outside shrunk as Took followed behind everyone else. She'd been told about it. The village was larger than the tree it was disguised as. Space was bent and folded and you could notice as you left - if you paid attention.

Time seemed to slow down as the hidden door slid open and revealed the outside world to her. She'd heard about it from her parents, but the real world was bigger and scarier than she'd ever imagined. The ground was actually closer than the bottom of the galift, but at the same time it also was so much farther away as it stretched out in the distance.

If it weren't for the other trees getting in the way, Took felt like she could see forever.

Was this the answer to 'why'? Was this the reason Lars had...

The question still haunted her. The burning need to know was perhaps the reason she'd made it this far. She didn't feel any pride in being a Tallguard - not like her parents had. To her, it was a means to an end.

'Why?'

As she gazed out, she still didn't have an answer.

...But a new question came to her. Another query from deep within her mind.

Why not... find out for herself?

She followed along with the other Tallguard trainees as they ascended one tree after another before moving around the village in an ever-increasing spiral. Wind rustled their branches. Sounds came from all around them. The world was so big, and she was so very small. She could just...

'Why not?'

It would be easy. Out here where there weren't any wards to keep Fraerlings safe. This was the real world that her village hid away from. Did she have the Skills to survive out here? Was that what Lars had been thinking? She could find out.

She just had to take that final step...

"From here you can see the Dyed Lands. It's that white area to the north. We sometimes get birds that fly out this far, so stay hidden even if you don't see anything in the sky." Their leader's voice droned on in the background and while everyone else was focused on the far away Death Zone, Pinky was looking down.

She leaned over, her center of gravity moving to the tips of her toes... and then past it. Took barreled towards the ground, not even realizing what she'd just done. She pressed her arms to her sides to streamline her body. It was instinctual at this point. She knew how to fall faster.

[Adrenaline Surge] activated shortly before [Adrenaline High].

This!

This was the answer! The reason!

Took dived towards the ground with a grin on her face and no thoughts of anything else. She didn't think of how she was supposed to have spread her body by now to slow down. Or how she was supposed to roll her body to bleed off the force.

The view from halfway down was beautiful.

As the ground filled her vision, she thought of what Lars would've said.

...

There was nothing. No fear or loss. No sight or sound.

Nothing.

A voice spoke to her.

She heard it clearly despite being insensate to the world. Though she heard it, her mind didn't understand. Not until she woke up.

Took opened her eyes and looked around in a daze. "Wha..."

"Ms. Narffion!" There was movement to her side before an elderly woman loomed over her. "You're awake! I'm [Healer] Zootiem."

"Where?"

"You're back inside the village, safe and sound." Zootiem clasped her hand. "Just relax, dear. You've given us all such a fright."

"I... I..."

"You had an accident." The [Healer] shuddered. "Outside. You fell and there weren't any wards to make sure you landed properly. Even something as simple as a fall can hurt if you land wrong, and, well, you didn't land right. Honestly, what are the Tallguard teaching recruits nowadays?"

"They're teaching them better than that." A strong voice cut through the air as Eirnos strolled inside. Her mother glared at Took with an unreadable expression. "You, of course, are out of the training program. I told you that being a Tallguard was dangerous."

"Mom, I-"

"No. That's that." Eirnos made a cutting motion with her arm and then turned her head to face the [Healer]. "How is she doing, Zootiem?"

"She's doing fine. Her pulse is strong and [Check Condition] shows she's suffering a little malnutrition from being unconscious for so long, but nothing else."

"I see. I'll need to have Healer Ilenos come and see her again too."

"Do you think that's necessary?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll make the arrangements. Will she be staying here? Or are you taking her home?"

"I think it will be best if she recovered fully before leaving."

The two other women talked about her like she wasn't there, but that was hardly new when it came to her mother. Took didn't feel like talking or listening to them anyways. She had something more pressing on her mind.

A new Class.

A Class that 'sounded' different. Wrong. Like... it was another color.

The red of freshly spilt blood.

...

"I'm sorry for all these tests, Took." Ilenos smiled at her as he arranged another set of crystals around her head. "But your mother wants us to be thorough."

"And what is this supposed to show?"

"Well, there are times when people who go through traumatic experiences get Blood Classes or Skills. Sometimes they don't even realize this."

Took swallowed. "And this... tests for that?"

"Yes."

"How accurate is it?"

"Hm?" He stopped fiddling with the contraption and kneeled down to look her in her eyes. "Don't worry. While it's true that there are some curses and conditions that people can have and not be aware of, this will let us know."

"How?"

"Well, basic Identify Skills can reveal levels, but are easily blocked. Far more curses slip past them then get noticed. This array of crystals is like an advanced Truth Stone."

"A truth stone?"

"Yes, but those too are also easily fooled. The thing is, each of these is slightly different. They look for one specific thing and can return values on a gradient instead of a simple 'yes' or 'no'."

"So they'll find every class?"

"Hmmm..." He stood back up and moved the green crystal closer. "Nothing is perfect. Several Classes are hidden on purpose."

"Really?"

"Of course. Think about it. A [Spy] wouldn't be much use if anyone could tell what they really were. Same for [Infiltrators], [Traitors], and [Rogues]."

"Traitors?"

"Oh." Ilenos chuckled. "Don't worry about that. It was just an example."

"'Traitor' is a class?"

"It can be, just like [Murderer] can be. A lot of Blood Classes are like that. Applicable for some, but not others. Why, in the Titan's book he discusses how Goblins don't get the [Cannibal] class despite being forced to eat their own or starve. It's a very interesting field of study."

"You study Blood Classes?"

"I do." He smiled at her. "It's fascinating how they seem to follow their own rules. I'm trying to discern what those rules are."

"Ah." Then he'd see. He'd see her new Class. He'd know. Then, the truth about Lars would come out too.

"Cheer up." He wiped a tear from her cheek. "Even if you have one and don't know about it, we can cure it."

"Thanks..." She smiled shakily at him.

"Let's see..." Ilenos stuck his tongue out of the corner of his mouth as he activated the gems one-by-one. "[Adrenaline Junkie] 22. [Follower] 3. [Prankster] 4." He frowned. "I'm sorry to say you've lost your [Recruit] levels, but that's to be expected after being formally dismissed."

"That's it?" Could he not see [Suicide Survivor]?

"Yes." Ilenos gently patted her hand, mistaking her question as concern for her missing Class. "Sometimes you'll be able to get an 'ex' class and retain some Skills, or the levels get added to something else, but not in this case."

"No?" Her mind whirled as she wondered what it implied to have a Blood Class that even an expert couldn't detect? Was it because of her need to keep it secret? Was it because she'd survived her fall? Or did it mean that she'd survived Lar's suicide?

Had she really survived his death?

"You can probably get back a particular Skill if you work at it, but your [Recruit] levels weren't high enough to make a lasting impact otherwise."

"Ah." Took swallowed. "I... I think I'd like to lay down for a while."

"Of course. Of course." He squeezed her hand. "Let me help you back to your bed."

"That'd be nice." She looked past him and at the image of Lars the skulked around in the background. His skin was pinker than before, and his aquamarine hair and cerulean eyes were different shades of red... but it was definitely him.

...

It definitely wasn't Lars.

It sounded like Lars. It mostly looked like Lars. It didn't, however, talk to her like Lars.

"The galift could crush you if you stood in the opening."

"Shut up." Took growled, causing the other Fraerlings around her to frown.

It wasn't like he was wrong. It was a non sequitur, but it lingered in her mind. The galift could kill someone if they were foolish enough to let it.

Took let out a sigh and got on it with the rest of the crowd. She should tell Ilenos about Lars. Or at least her mother. She knew that. She also knew it wasn't really Lars. It was a hallucination brought about by her Blood Class.

But she couldn't just let him go. She couldn't let Lars die again.

He sounded exactly the same, even down to his sarcastic tone or rolling his eyes. His words were slightly more abrasive than normal, but being surly was just how he was.

She'd... she'd tell them later. Besides, it was important to keep her class so she could understand Blood Classes better. Fraerlings didn't experiment with them because it was wrong to keep someone cursed when they could be cured, but Took didn't want to be 'cured'. Not just yet.

There was also the fact that Ilenos' research was so interesting!

He studied how color magic affected emotion. A lot of Fraerlings in the village studied colors. That was one of the reasons they were so close to the Dyed Lands.

It might be because she now had a Blood Class, but the color Red seemed to call to her now. They had samples from different Dyed Lands zones, and the red quills - which were as tall as a Fraerling - just... felt RIGHT. The Tallguard wouldn't let her keep one as a spear, no matter how much she'd asked, but she had managed to get them to give her a blunt end to shut her up.

There had to be a relation. The voice of levels used Red words. Despite being a sound in everyone's heads, it was agreed that Blood Classes sounded red. That was the principle theory behind Ilenos' work, and Took agreed with him. He'd agreed to let her help with his experiments.

Plus, Took needed something to do. The Tallguard wouldn't let her back into the training program, but that was fine. She was going to see the outside world again, but next time it would be on her own terms.

Her giggle brought some more stares. A mix of annoyance and pity mostly. Rumors had spread about what had happened to her, and her outbursts at not-Lars weren't helping.

So... she leaned into it instead. That was the trick to being an [Adrenaline Junkie]. You didn't ignore a problem or a situation. You went against the flow and pushed forward! You took that leap. You felt the thrill of challenging the normal situation.

And Took had an inkling in the back of her mind. A new Class might let her do something that had never been done before. If she purposely pursued it in a way that it could consolidate with her Blood Class... she might be able to get the real Lars back.

Somehow.

It was a foolish idea, but she embraced it. If people thought she was a [Fool], then that's what she'd become.

Chapter 110: Rising Tide 1

Notes:

Previously: Mario has been working his way through the arenas of Nerrhavia Fallen. He quickly gained a following as people watched his meteoric rise through the rankings.

"It'sa me-"

"MARIO!!" The crowd roared as Mario made his entrance and shouted along with the [Heroic Plumber].

Mario waved to them as he strolled past the gate and into the arena. His [Background Music] and [Theme Song] Skills activated, the music barely heard under the cheering. It wasn't quite a spectacular entrance as something like a professional wrestler could pull off, but it was close.

That also was a pretty apt comparison. Being a gladiator meant giving a good show and not seriously injuring his opponents - even if he wasn't a [Gladiator].

That meant no head stomps.

At least until he took his opposition's measure and figured out if they could handle it. The [Gladiator] that emerged from the tunnel at the other end looked like they might be tough enough. He was a Stringfolk. Hemp, of course, and he was easily seven feet tall.

Razkar.

The [Berserker].

The Champion of the Arena of Spectacle.

There were a LOT of Arenas in Nerrhavia's Fallen. Of those, the best ones were in Tyrant's Rest - its capital. A smaller number, but still easily a dozen or so. The Arena of Spectacle was one of the higher rated arenas, third or forth compared to Mario's goal: the Coliseum of Monarchs.

That was the main arena. The place where actual [Monarchs] sometimes attended. The other arenas in the city were essentially feeders into it. If you did well enough in them, then you could move up to the big leagues. Conversely, if you did poorly in the Coliseum of Monarchs, then you tended to get kicked out. Most [Gladiators] that were champions of these smaller arenas were exactly that: newcomers that had risen up through the ranks, made it to the Coliseum of Monarchs, and then got sent packing.

They ruled their own little fiefdoms and were essentially the gatekeeper to other aspiring Gladiators - like Mario.

That's what had happened to Razkar from what he understood. That didn't mean he wasn't talented or tough, the Arena of Spectacle was famous in its own right. It was known for having one-on-one duels instead of the mass battles, or fights against animals, or having to dodge traps while you fought, or any of the other gimmicks that an arena used to separate itself from the crowd.

That wasn't to say that Razkar was low-level, or that he couldn't have continued to compete in the Coliseum of Monarchs. It just meant that he didn't have that 'it' factor. That superstar quality that drew in the crowds. He still had his fans - who loved him for being the huge rage-filled warrior that crushed his opponents.

Also, to be fair, he did know how to hold back.

Mario's friend had told him about that in her investigation. Razkar hurt more fighters than most, and tended to cripple them if they were unlucky, but he mostly had a grip on his rage and wouldn't seek to maim or kill.

Mostly.

Mario sprinted towards Razkar, his arms pumping at his sides. He leapt up thrust both his feet towards the Hemp's armored chest. "Yah!"

"[Wide Slash]!" Razkar's greatsword swung in an arc towards Mario. The blade seeking to cleave him in two before Mario's own attack landed. Razkar had superior reach even without his weapon. With it, there was a large zone where he could attack with impunity, but not be stuck at in return.

Mario shifted in mid-air to bring his boots into line with the attack. The sword bit into their soles as twisted to cancel the momentum of his attack and redirect it towards the ground. As he did that, the front of his body kept moving until he was facing Razkar. "Whooo hoooo!" He pushed off the sword into a somersault.

He planted his palms on the ground and spun both his legs around in a capoeira-like kick towards Razkar's legs. The blow would knock him off balance. Then, as he fell, Mario would land a twisting full-body uppercut. After that, the proper air-combo would begin.

"[Oak Stance]." Razkar didn't fall down. His legs didn't even budge. "Raaaargh!" He flipped his grip on his greatsword and brought it down at Mario just as he got his legs back underneath him for his uppercut.

"Woooo!" Instead of following through with his planned attack, Mario pushed away and seemed to glide around the ground in a semicircle that made no sense to physics. [Momentum Bank] and [Acrobatic Dodge] let him release the energy he'd absorbed from aborting his charge before, and then store it again to come to a sudden stop.

It was a powerful Skill, even if it couldn't rob other people of their momentum.

"Yah! Yah! Woo!" Mario punched Razkar in the small of his back twice - aiming for his kidneys, before backflipping away with a crescent kick.

"Rawr!" The Stitchfolk was unmoved as his [Oak Stance] held him firm. His retaliatory slash as he pivoted to face Mario was too low, and passed underneath him. "AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" But that wasn't his only attack. The huge blade in his hands blurred as he swung it with abandon. He must've used one of his Skills to increase his strength as the weapon moved like it didn't weigh anything at all.

Mario added some more momentum so he landed a few yards away, but he then immediately leapt back towards Razkar. The sword swung towards him, but Mario wasn't a helpless target in the air. His Skill activated again and his arcing jump turned into a sudden downward drop.

Once again, he was inside of Razkar's reach and ready to launch him up into the air with a powerful blow. This time, his uppercut landed before the [Berserker] could bring his sword back down. The blow stuck Razkar's head with enough force that it knocked his helmet away.

His scarred lips twisted in a smile as his feet remained firmly rooted on the ground. His sword was extended too far to be of any use, so instead he let go with his right hand and reached out towards Mario with his gauntlet.

Mario brought both arms up to block the side of his arm before jumping into the air and bringing his knees to his chest. He then extended them in another thrust-drop kick to Razkar's abdomen. It was like hitting a solid steel wall, or at least a huge tree, but even if he couldn't push the larger man away, Mario could use the momentum to slide backwards through the air.

Razkar raised his sword above his head with both hands. "[Groundshattering Chop]!" The blade came down like a hammer and shattered the stone floor. Shards of rock flew at Mario. He raised his arms to block his vital points, but the projectiles peppered him and drew blood with each hit. Not content with the results of his first Skill, Razkar reared back again. "[Whirlwind Slice]!" His greatsword swept out horizontally, but this time it wasn't an empowered slash.

It was a throw.

"Yah!" Mario burnt the last of his momentum to leap over it as quickly as possible. As soon as the spinning weapon passed under him, he stored his upward movement before releasing it in the opposite direction. He then sprinted towards his opponent again.

Always play offense. Especially against people with super-armor. Not being able to juggle wasn't a reason to not apply pressure.

The projectile reversed direction behind him. "Yah!" Mario lowered himself into a sliding kick just in time to let it pass over him again. As expected, Razkar's legs didn't budge an inch. Hopefully he'd have a nasty bruise, but that wasn't the point. Mario jumped up again right as Razkar caught his blade. He did a frontward spin, and brought both his feet down on the [Berserker]'s head.

He kicked off straight upwards before quickly reversing his momentum again to crash back down. "Yah! Whoo! Yippie!" He shouted each time he did, the crowd going wild at what had become one of his signature moves: the head multi-stomp.

"Rawr!!!" Razkar yelled as he finally brought his sword up - not in an attack, but as a shield held above his head. "[Flames of Rage]!!!"

Mario could feel the shockwaves from the bellow, but he was more concerned with the angry red aura that had enveloped the champion. His boots sizzled as he briefly landed on the sword before jumping away.

Offense was good and all, but you also had to know when to put space between you.

Despite all his rage, Razkar slowly stalked forward. It was clear that his [Oak Stance] didn't allow him to move quickly. Personally, Mario thought it was impressive that he could keep it up while walking at all. Still, he wasn't one to pass up an opportunity.

"It'sa [Power Up] time!" He shouted as he raised his hand in the air. He might only be a level fifteen [Heroic Plumber], but he had the Skills of someone twice that. Perhaps even three times as much. While this world didn't realize just how famous he was, there were multiple other worlds out there where he was...

[Iconic].

Light shimmered above his open palm as it flickered rapidly between colors and shapes as the Skill selected a random reward. His [Background Music] switched to a jaunty series of pings before blaring a trumpet as the skill settled in and the powerup was chosen. There, floating in mid-air, was a red and white mushroom.

Mario crushed the familiar fungus in his gloved hand.

His body pulsed once as he expanded and then contracted.

Then again.

And again.

He rapidly grew and shrunk, but he always wound up bigger until the mushroom's power faded - leaving him at double his original height. The [Background Music] swelled and the crowd went wild. From five feet tall to ten, he now towered over Razkar as the [Berserker] had once done to him.

To his credit, the champion didn't hesitate. His ponderous steps continued without pause as he finally got into range and swung his sword. "[Power Strike]!"

Mario punched at the same time. "YAH!"

The edge of the blade cut through the fabric on his knuckles, and the skin beneath it. It failed to damage the bones underneath as Mario had struck his counter-blow at the swing's apex - robbing it of much of its power. Both of them recoiled, but Mario lashed out with his other hand faster than Razkar could bring his weapon back in line.

"[Perfect Parry]!"

Or not.

This time, when their two attacks clashed, it was Mario's hand that lost. He grimaced slightly underneath his mustache but refused to back down. He only had so long in his powered up state, and he wasn't going to waste it.

"[Focused Rage]!" The red aura around Razkar flowed to his sword and condensed. With a snarl, he swiped at Mario - a trail of flames expanding in an arc.

"I thought String People were afraid of fire?" Mario did a cartwheel through the air and over the blistering heat. Midway through he brought his arms and legs tight against his body. Then, as he finished his rotation, he struck out with another dropkick towards Razkar's chest.

[Momentum Bank] couldn't steal momentum, but it could impart it. Not a lot, and it could only add to a target's existing motion.

So, unlike the last time, the [Berserker] flew back, but he still didn't go very far. Mario dashed forward with some stored momentum before banking it away again. He crouched down, and then unleashed a twisting uppercut as Razkar started falling back towards the ground.

The punch dented the side of his armor as he was thrown back into the air. This time he flew almost straight up. Mario considered another dropkick - this time from above - to finish the combo, but he was worried that even someone as tough as Razkar might be injured if he did that while powered up.

Instead, he stayed on the ground, spread his feet, and leaned back as he telegraphed his final punch.

The crowd loved it. They started to cheer even louder as Razkar reached his apex before falling back down.

Mario's stance wasn't just for show. [Momentum Charge] let him store up power while he wasn't moving and unleash it in a devastating strike. It was hard to set up. It didn't work with his other momentum Skills, and it could only increase a blow proportionally to its original strength.

It also wore off with any movement, so he couldn't charge it easily in a fight. He couldn't even charge it without winding up first.

Still, despite all the restrictions, or perhaps because of them, the hit was almost guaranteed to end the match.

He swung at just the right moment to connect with Razkar. The giant String Person flew away like a rocket and crashed into one of the walls of the arena.

The roar of the crowd almost drowned out his [Theme Song], which had changed into a victory one. Mario smiled and waved as he shrunk back down, and as he walked over to where Razkar was.

"Ugh..." The champion looked up with bleary eyes at Mario and had to blink several times before he focused on the plumber. It was good that he was conscious. Knocking people out was actually pretty dangerous.

"You okay, man?" Mario extended his hand.

Razkar growled. "I'm fine I can still..." He pressed his arms against the ground and tried to push himself up. He managed to raise up a few inches before his shaking limbs gave out. "..."

Mario looked from him to the Royal Box. He didn't think any actual royalty was inside. The Arena of Spectacle was still too low-brow for any [Noble] to attend. The Royal Box was there if they did. Otherwise it seated the most prominent guess.

What they said went.

...As long as they made the right call. Mario wasn't about to finish off a beaten opponent just 'cause someone told him to.

The figure inside stood up and began to clap. That was as good of sign as any that the match was well and truly over.

Mario looked back down at Razkar, his hand still held out to help the other person to their feet. "C'mon. I'll help you walk out of here."

"I'll do it on my own." The Hemp Stitchfolk ran his fingers over the dents in his enchanted armor. "That's what a champion does. You might've beaten me, but I still have my own image to maintain." With a grunt Razkar pulled his legs closer and then pushed. He slowly rose up against the wall, his arms bracing himself until he was upright.

It was slow and painful looking, but he managed to slowly walk out of the arena with one fist held above his head.

The crowd cheered with increased zeal as both he and Mario left through opposite exits. Once out of sight, Mario ran though the connecting tunnels to where Razkar was.

A Human [Healer] was already directing others to strip off the large man's armor and applying some cream to his bruised skin.

"Are you'a alright?" Mario asked as he skidded to a stop.

"Ugh." Razkar glowered at him. "I hate your voice."

"What'sa wrong with my'a voice'a?"

"It too high pitched." Razkar grumbled in a deep baritone. "And that stupid way you talk. I hate it."

"Hey! That'sa my accent there!" Mario shook a gloved finger at him. "Besides, I can help. I'm somewhat of a doctor myself."

"What's a '[Doctor]'?" The healer looked up.

"Hmmm..." Mario stroked his chin. "Someone who throws out pills to help sick people."

"Throws out..." The Human's eyes widened. "So you're an [Alchemist]! That explains so much!"

"It does?"

"Yeah." Razkar nodded. "You should've kept that to yourself, Mario." He smirked. "Not that it will help you in the Coliseum of Monarchs, but you never know. The [Gladiators] there will definitely know of that trick you kept up your sleeve by the time you fight there." He stood up.

"Hey!" The [Healer] protested. "You need rest."

"I'll get it, but the entrance hall isn't the place for it." He jerked his head to the side. "C'mon, we can walk together."

"Okay!" Mario nodded and walked to the side of Razkar as the pair slowly made their way through the tunnels that connected all the arenas in Tyrant's Rest. There was a central facility where the [Gladiators] lived.

Most of them at least. All of the involuntary ones, and most of the others as well. Death games were a business, and they worked best when the competitors were treated well and healthy.

"I've never seen you'a in the living area."

"..."

"Not that I'va have spent a lot'a time there."

"..."

"Okay, okay, you pulled it'a outta me. I've got this nice little'a place outside the city. It'sa a bit of a commute, but-"

"Shut. Up." Razkar winced as he stumbled slightly. "I don't care." He grimaced and kept on walking. "I knew I shouldn't have asked you to come with me."

"Yeah... why'a did you? You've never been'a one for socializing before."

"Nn." He grunted. "You beat me, so it's only right that I officially introduce you. I'm sure you've already spoken with the regulars, but it's tradition. At least for the Arena of Spectacle. We're all about honorable one-on-one fights, so it's my duty to see you off." He glared at Mario. "Now shut up."

"Okay."

"And turn off that stupid music!"

---

"I hear someone beat Razkar."

"That's unusual. Who was it?"

"I don't know. I wasn't watching the scrying orb."

Mectail paused as he heard the conversation. Razkar... he was the Champion of the... Arena of Spectacle. That's right. Mectail would've preferred to fight there rather than the Coliseum of Monarchs, but it wasn't like he had a choice. The Stitchfolk's arm raised and his fingers brushed against the thin metal band around his neck.

He winced a little as he moved up to his jaw. It was still surprisingly tender, despite the healing potion and Skills of the arena's [Healer].

"Who was it?"

"Hm?" Vitte looked at him as her fox ears perked up. "Who was who?"

"Who beat Razkar?"

"Some Human. He has some strange name. And an accent?" She shrugged. "I don't know. Their match just ended, so they're probably around here somewhere." She narrowed her eyes. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You doing okay? That was the third time you challenged the Shadow Champion."

Mectail nodded. "I'm doing fine. He actually knows how to hold back."

"Really?" She gave him a look of disbelief.

"Really. I'd even go as far as to say he's been limiting himself and that we haven't seen his full power."

"Eh." She shrugged. "Not like we ever will. He's a fad. Now that they don't allow him in the melees, you're the only one that ever fights him." Her voice grew serious. "And I doubt they'll let you keep on challenging him. It's boring."

"It's not-"

"For the audience it is. No matter how good the Shadow Champion is at fighting, he'll never be a real Gladiator."

Mectail closes his eyes and nodded. "You're right, of course."

"Hey. Cheer up!" He felt her clap his shoulder. "Did you hear that Roman's considering a villain arc?"

"What? Really?" Mectail craned his neck to look for the [Archer].

"Yep. Says he wants to try playing a more engaging role." She giggled. "He's been practicing his 'nefarious glare'." The Fox-Beastkin made finger quotes in the air.

Mectail laughed. "That sounds entertaining. Think we can be his foils?" While he greatly preferred honorable duels - like he'd had back in Pomle, that wasn't the norm in the arena. He'd grown used to it. And honestly?

It was fun.

A lot more fun than when he'd first started out, but Gladiators in the Coliseum of Monarchs got paid a lot. Plus, there were other perks.

He chatted with his teammate for a while longer. Not that there were official teams, but he, Vitte, Thexca, and Relladen worked together more often than not. You had to form friendships to last, especially in the melees. Losing wasn't the worst thing to happen, but winning paid better, and it was easier to win with people backing you up.

It was also a lot easier to avoid getting seriously injured.

"We're going out for drinks. You coming?" Vitte asked him.

"No. Thank you." He waved her off. "I'm going to look for the newcomer."

"Really?"

"Of course. Aren't you curious?"

"I've seen him around. Odd fellow."

"How so?"

"Let's see." She started counting off on her fingers. "He doesn't stay here." That wasn't so odd. Lots of [Gladiators] spent time away from the arena. Mectail, himself, accompanied his team outside at times. The reason he didn't do it more often wasn't because he wasn't allowed to as a prisoner, but because he preferred to spend his free time training. "He's short."

"How short."

"My height."

Mectail looked the Fox Beastkin up and down. Vitte only stood a few inches above five foot. So pretty short indeed. "I see."

"He has this big, bushy, black mustache." Mectail mentally shrugged. He kept his head shaved, except for a short ponytail that sat at the top.

"Does that matter?"

Vitte ignored him and kept on going. "He has these blue, hemp pants that go all the way to his shoulders." That did sound strange. "Underneath, he has a red, cotton shirt. And he wears white, silk gloves."

"Is that a fashion? Mixing types of cloth? Or a political statement?"

"Who knows?" Vitte shrugged. "He also has a red, cotton hat in a strange design. You'll probably see some audience members wearing replicas. It has an 'M' stitched on its front."

"An 'M'?"

She nodded. "His name is 'Mario', so it's probably from that."

"Mario? That doesn't sound Chandrarian. What's his race?"

"Human."

"Hmmm... Could he be from Terandria then?"

"I'm betting on some little island somewhere. He has a really thick accent." She leaned in to whisper. "But that's probably part of his character."

"Oh?" Mectail tilted his head. "Isn't he new? Most newcomers don't have characters. Or even know how to do anything but Knight."

Vitte smirked in the way only a Fox Beastkin could. "Oh, he's definitely a [Performer]. My bet is that he worked in other arenas and then reinvented himself to come to Tyrant's Rest."

"What makes you say that?"

She winked at him. "You'll see for yourself. I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise Mister 'I have to train for the Shadow Champion and don't have time to hang out with my friends'."

Mectail crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"But, sure, I'll come with you. It's always fun to check out the fresh meat."

He nodded at her and the pair headed towards where the tunnel from the Arena of Spectacle connected to the common area. As he walked, Mectail reminisced about when he'd first arrived. Being a prisoner had been... bad, but he'd been surprised at how arenas worked and how [Gladiators] were treated.

He'd been one for a long time. Long enough that he probably could've saved up enough money to buy his freedom - despite his 'price' increasing as he became more famous. But, the simple fact was - there was no need. He did miss Pomle, and he might go back there one day. Or return to the country of his birth. But the arena was his home now.

He got to train as much as he wanted. Shelter and food that were as austere or as luxurious as he wished. Good friends. Honorable duels against some of the strongest people Nerrhavia Fallen had to offer. The only real downside was 'playing the game'.

Fights that were as much of a [Bard]'s show for the audience as they were real. Storylines and arcs that played out on the Coliseum's floor - often with real blood and death. Good friends that came up with said stories so he didn't have to.

Mectail simply had to play his part, but... since his part involved fighting, he was capable of it and enjoyed it. It was more like a demonstrative spar with a lot of improvisation.

"Hey! There's Razkar!" Vitte jumped several feet in the air and hung there for a moment as she pointed down the hallway and over the usual crowd of [Gladiators] making their way back here after a day at their arena ended. Indeed, Mectail could make out the large [Berserker] as he stood a good head over most everyone else. "Hey, Razkar. How's it going?" Vitte smiled up at him as they got close. The large man just grunted in response and stalked away.

"Ah... ha ha ha." His companion chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. "That'sa probably my fault."

"You must be Mario." Mectail looked him up and down. He did wear a rather distinct outfit - just as Vitte had described. There were gaps and slashes up and down it - undoubted from his fight with Razkar.

"Yep! I'ma Mario!" The little man smiled and held out a gloved hand.

Mectail clasped it in return. "Well met."

"Yeah. Welcome to the Coliseum of Monarchs, Mario."

"Thanks. I'ma glad to be here."

"So, you've been a [Gladiator] for a while? Some place outside of Tyrant's Rest?"

"Not the Class." Mario shrugged as he let go of Mectail's hand. "But I'va had some experience with'a fighting."

"Indeed." Mectail didn't recognize his accent, but that was hardly surprising. He wasn't exactly well-traveled. What he did pick up on as Mario and Vitte chatted was that Mario was skilled.

The mixture of friendliness and casual confidence was telling for someone who'd just reached the Coliseum of Monarchs. Most others that Mectail had met over the years were at least a little nervous. He'd been when he'd first arrived. That spoke of Mario either not having any hero-worship of his favorites, or that he was used to hanging out with high-level people.

Possibly both.

The other thing that screamed to him, was that despite his gaudy outfit, Mario would be right at home in Pomle.

The way he moved was direct and minimalistic. There was no wasted movement. His heavy boots made no sound as they walked - something that took a lot of effort to learn, and tended to be automatic after that. He couldn't be sure, but it seemed increasingly likely that Mario was a fellow [Martial Artist].

There was only one way to know for sure.

"Mario, I'd like to be the first person to challenge you to a match in the Coliseum of Monarchs."

...

Mectail strolled out of his entrance first. He stood with his shoulders and feet square as he watched the gate on the far side slowly open.

"It'sa me... Mario!" The shout came as his opponent stepped out from the shadows. There were a few members of the audience that shouted his name with him, but this wasn't the Arena of Spectacle. He didn't have as strong of following here.

Which wasn't to say he didn't have fans in the crowd. Every [Gladiator] in the Coliseum of Monarchs had their supporters - or else they'd have been sent away.

Sure enough, as Mectail had been told, music began to play.

[Phantom Orchestra]? [Invisible Melody]? He had no idea what the name of Mario's Skill was, but... Mectail took a deep breath in and out as he closed his eyes... it seemed to be only that.

The music came from all around instead of emanating from Mario. It was probably the same for the audience members judging from the small gasps he heard from above. More importantly, Mectail didn't feel any different. No emotions or alterations of his perception. He'd trained his mind to notice such things, and he found none, so he opened his eyes to watch the other gladiator.

Perhaps Mario wasn't a [Bard] after all - despite his appearance. He certainly looked like one as he smiled and waved to the crowd. Mectail waited for him to finish and then cupped his hands and gave a short bow - while keeping his eyes focused on his opponent.

Mario smiled, nodded, and then took off his hat and bowed. A natural Knight - not surprising with the friendly demeanor he had. Mario then straightened up and brought the brim of his hat up with his right hand as his left moved to the back of his head to pull it snuggly back into place.

The two charged each other.

"Yah!"

Mario was quick. Mectail had expected that, but he was still surprised. His foe jumped up and kicked him, but swung back down to the ground with unnatural speed.

"Woo!"

Mectail parried the double-legged kick and then blocked the follow up attack. He'd seen all sorts of fighters in his long years as a [Gladiator]. Mario's odd mid-air movements were similar to someone he'd sparred with countless times - Vitte.

His teammate and the Human didn't move exactly the same, but they both were able to adjust their trajectory mid-air. He was used to it by now.

"Yah! Yah! Woo! Yeah! Whoo!"

He was also used to his foes yelling. Perhaps not as high-pitched or enthusiastically as Mario - who didn't seem to be shouting as a way to take him off guard. Was he doing it to play to the crowd more? To compact his diaphragm and deliver a little more power? Or was he trying to lure Mectail into a false sense of complacency and have him associate an attack with a shout?

If so, the next question was: would there be a shout without an attack? Or an attack without a shout?

Mectail began to counter punch and kick, but Mario was relentless. He had seemingly endless stamina as his acrobatic assault continued. That was... actually a little surprising. No one was lacking for endurance at this level, but there were still limits. Mectail still had to pace himself, but that didn't seem to apply to Mario.

[Long Backstep].

Mectail used a simple Skill to put some room and see how Mario handled missing completely.

The answer was - surprisingly well. Even without connecting with anything with his double-leg mid-air kick, he landed on his feet and dashed ahead without losing a beat...

Now!

Mectail surged forward. [Counter Charge]! He slipped past Mario's punch and grabbed his outstretched arm. Before he'd become a prisoner, Mectail had trained for years and years in Pomle. Back then, he'd been a [Grappler]. He'd had to adjust his fighting style for the arena - especially for the Melees, but he still had plenty of Skills to end the fight once he got his hands on his target.

[Iron Grip]. [Immobilizing Pin].

He held Mario tightly and began to apply a [Joint Lo-

Mario spun.

"Woooooooooo..."

Suddenly and without any buildup, Mario spun - and Mectail spun with him.

It wasn't a re-positioning of a [Grappler] trying to adjust pressure, or even the wild flailing of a trapped animal. It was an incredibly fast spin like an [Acrobat] would make during a jump, or a [Dancer] on their feet. No, faster than that. Like a child's toy top. A spin like that should've required a lot of built-up speed to achieve, and also shouldn't be possible with someone hanging on - especially someone as large and heavy as Mectail. He wasn't the biggest or the strongest, but he also wasn't a waif.

All these thoughts raced through Mectail's head as he first tried to figure out what Mario was doing, and then tried to come up with a way to stop it.

"...oooooo Whoooo!"

With a sudden shout, Mario stopped. His spin ended just as suddenly as it began as he thrust his arms and legs out. It was too much, and Mectail's grip slipped.

Normally, if he'd been thrown with such speed, he'd still have been able to twist in mid-air to soften his landing. Right now? He was too dizzy to focus on much... until his back slammed into the arena's wall.

He sunk down as his legs splayed out in front of him. To his eyes, the world was still rotating.

He had to stand up, vertigo or no.

He leaned forward and nearly fell, so he instead pressed his back to the wall. Right. The wall was sturdy. It would help him move upwards if he just used it to help prop himself up. He brought one leg in, then the other, and pushed. His left leg slipped in the dirt, but he got it back underneath his center of gravity. Mectail gritted his teeth and raised himself up until he was standing.

Leaning for now, but standing soon.

His vision swam, but he made out Mario waving to the crowd instead of pressing his advantage. Knighting? To give him time to recover? Or grandstanding to the crowd? Was there a difference?

Mectail leaned forward and then stumbled to the side as he tried to remain upright without the wall's support. His body staggered, but he remained standing due to his muscle-memory. He'd balanced on long, tall poles as part of his training. Even if his sense of balance was off, he'd stay up right.

He charged.

Not a great charge, or even a good one. He zigzagged as the world seemed to twist around him.

He saw Mario running at him, the music changing as he did.

Mectail would have once chance. His capstone Skill.

As Mario came close, the [Martial Artist] lunged forward. "[Skillbreaker Palm]!"

He hit Mario squarely in the chest and felt his Skill press up against the Skill of his opponent. There was a meta-physical struggle as Mectail focused his will. Whatever level Mario was, his skill felt like a rock wall, but [Skillbreaker Palm] was a Skill made to break other Skills.

While it seemed to stretch on forever, in reality only a split-second had passed before he felt Mario's Skill buckle. Then, just like when breaking a stack of tiles with his bare hands, one Skill after another shattered in sequence.

There was silence - from both Mario and the crowd as the music faded.

Notes:

Bios:

Mario - OC. A [Heroic Plumber] seeking to rise up in the rankings of the Coliseum of Monarchs, and perhaps get the attention of [Queen] Yisame.

Vitte - A Fox-Beastkin [Gladiator]. Stereotypical for her kind in many ways: playful, a prankster, fast, agile, and smart. A hero to the local Fox-Beastkin.

Mectail - A Stringfolk [Gladiator]. Went to Pomle at a young age and trained there as a [Martial Artist]. Was imprisoned in a journey to Nerrhavia Fallen, and forced to fight in the arenas. Has grown into a competent [Gladiator]. While he still prefers one-on-one honorable duels, he has come to accept and even enjoy the entertainment aspect of being a [Gladiator].

Sibby - The Siberian. Mario's friend who's busy investigating Tyrant's Rest. Very good at hiding. Around, but not noticeable.

Chapter 111: Rising Tide 2

Notes:

Previously: Kevin reunited with Sibby. Together they drove back the armies invading Tiqr, and Pixel defeated a Djinni in single combat. However, Nerrhavia's Fallen refuses to sue for peace, despite of, or perhaps because of the deaths of almost all of its army's commanders. In order to travel to other places without feeling like he's leaving Tiqr in the lurch, Kevin has sought an audience with Queen Yisame. Under the advice of Gazi the Omniscient, he has foregone official channels and has swiftly worked his way up through the ranks of the [Gladiators] as Mario, but now an unexpected Skill has caused him to assume his original form.

[Don the Mask] shattered along with all of Mario's other Skills.

Thankfully, I'd adjusted my body to look almost identical to Mario, and had worn similar clothes. Any differences would be minor and easily explained away by a Skill. I knew that since I habitually walked around the arena's residential section exactly like this occasionally.

In my regular body I couldn't duplicate how Mario fought. Not without his Skills. The time for showboating was over.

I punched Mectail, making sure to limit the speed and strength of my blow. I'd need time to properly adjust to what could hurt him without accidentally going too far.

He swayed to the side - still woozy from Mario's spin attack. However, I was in my element. Goodness knows how many hours I'd spent sparring with Little Mac. While Optimize had downloaded an encyclopedic knowledge of every possible way to fight unarmed, I was still most used to boxing.

Duck and weave. Constantly move. Don't just stand there and trade blows. Circle around. Keep him in my range.

Truth be told, I enjoyed this.

Left jab.

I enjoyed my superpowers and being a hero. Each Perk was sort of its own mini-game. Flying in my Cawthorne was like playing a FPS. Directing Boo and his clones was like a RTS. Fighting? Fighting was like a fighting game.

Slip past his punch to the left.

I had always had a soft spot for fighting games ever since I'd played Street Fighter 2 in Mr. Price's arcade before... everything.

Counter with a right hook.

It had been my first fighting game, but not my last. Not by a long shot. Marvel vs. Capcom, Killer Instinct, Mortal Kombat, Virtua Fighter, King of Fighters, Soulcalibur, Tekken, Super Smash Bros... the list went on and on.

Pivot into a left body-blow.

Each and every one. Every single fighter in every single game. Plus their sequels.

Mectail's body suddenly moved quicker as he activated a Skill.

There was nothing more thrilling than knowing what your character could do, combined with knowing what your opponent could do, and predicting their attacks. Jump attack? Dragon Punch. Combo? Block high and low in just the right way. A super move that covers 90% of the screen while you're at a sliver of health? Teleport right behind them in the only place that won't be hit.

Sway back nearly vertically to avoid his attack.

Doing all of that in real life? That was great fun!

Grab his extended arm.

...Except for one thing.

Pull him forward. Use the momentum of his System-granted strike to my advantage.

It felt like I was cheating. Punching down.

Now twist...

Even if I tried to ignore Threat Sense. Even if I made it tougher by dodging and parrying all of Mectail's attacks instead of blocking or tanking them. Even if I refused to use any or my other Perks or my full speed or strength.

...And throw.

It was too easy.

Mectail landed behind me as I continued my rotation.

A straight up fist fight was too easy.

I twisted in mid-air and brought my feet down on his head.

I knew too much. I had my entire world's worth of hand-to-hand combat in my head. No. Not just Earth Bet's knowledge on the subject. It went beyond that. How much? I didn't know.

He managed to roll away, but the need to escape to the side prevented him from doing a kip up.

Not that I was invincible due to pure skill. There were tactics and techniques that could catch me off guard. That didn't even mention Skills - which I was sure could upend everything.

He came up in a crouch.

But for Mectail? For a trained [Martial Artist]? Ironically, it was because he was so good that I was able to slip past each punch and kick as I systematically destroyed him. My punches growing stronger and stronger until I reached the appropriate level of strength.

His next move would be a sweep kick.

His movements were like a dance, but I knew the song and the steps already. A regular [Fighter] or a [Berserker] like Razkar would've given me more of a challenge, especially since my melee weapon skill wasn't maxed out like my unarmed combat one. If I had continued this fight as Mario, then my skills would've been suppressed. I still would've had the innate knowledge I'd accumulated from my experience fighting, but the perfect answer wouldn't just appear in my mind.

I stepped in, stopping his blow before it even started.

The other problem was that this wasn't as entertaining for the audience. Mectail was smiling, even as I deftly avoided his attack and countered - but that was because he knew enough martial arts to understand what I was doing and why it was so impressive. He was enjoying himself immensely - I could tell.

**Mectail is excited.
**Mectail is happy.
**Mectail is eager.

I kneed him in the face. He refused to fall, so I stepped back and gave him time to fully stand up.

The audience? Well, some of them were enjoying the high-level display of martial arts. We weren't amateurs bumbling at each other. We were Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee fighting so perfectly that it appeared choreographed.

Mectail lunged with another palm strike. This one also had the enhanced speed I'd expect from a Skill.

What the fight didn't have was Mario's... everything.

Mario could've taken the hit, been knocked back. Shouted as the flow of the battle reversed. Pixel? The System-enhanced strike would actually hurt me. Not enough though. It would still be reduced. Not by 99.9% - like most things, but enough.

It might even be able to bypass my HP partially and do some damage to me without needing to disable Gamer's Body first. The thing was, I wouldn't let it hit. It would be too obvious to everyone who saw Mectail's attack just... stop.

I struck his inner elbow with my fingers while twisting to the side. It didn't stop him completely, but it shortened the effective range of his arm, while also moving my chest back just enough so he couldn't connect. Mectail pulled himself back to avoid losing his balance from the lunge, but that also was another victory for me.

If you punch someone and they block, you spend stamina and hurt them some. If they dodge instead, you have to pay the stamina cost again as their body doesn't stop your movement for you. Boxers train on heavy bags. They're used to unleashing their power and having it absorbed. Dodging throws off their rhythm. It's the same for other fighting styles.

My right arm transitioned from a finger jab to his arm into an elbow strike to his jaw.

Swinging a sword had the same problem. Whiffing either left you off balance, or straining against what you'd just done.

I punched him rapidly. I'd found the sweet spot that hurt him without killing him.

"[Earthquake Kick]!"

He used another Skill - this time shouting it. I was fairly sure that doing so increased a Skill's power, but that was just a guess without solid evidence to back it up.

I put my hands on his shoulders and flipped over Mectail to avoid the slicing kick that came faster and harder than he could do on his own. I pivoted along with him as I did a handstand on his shoulders. Once the Skill was done, I twisted and swung back down with my knees digging into his lower back and sending him face-down onto the floor.

There was an audible crack as he fell - from his spine popping. Not breaking. I wasn't using enough force to shatter bones. Fracture, maybe, but if so, they'd be micro-fractures and would be fixed with a healing potion later.

I hopped off of him, and then stomped on his back - driving him back to the ground. I then looked up at the monarch booth. It may or may not contain the [Queen] right now. Privacy wards prevented any intrusion. It might, in fact, be empty. If, however, there was someone inside, then that person was the most important person in the building.

Politically speaking that is.

They had the right to declare the fight over. Or to call for it to continue. Or even to order a death.

Hopefully they wouldn't choose that last option, otherwise my plan would be a bust and I'd have just wasted several weeks climbing the rankings for nothing. I wasn't going to murder anyone. I'd rather become violent towards whomever would give that order than participate in such a brutal act.

The crowd grew silent as every eye turned towards where I was looking.

Then...

A blue light.

Blue for water.

Blue for life.

I gingerly stepped off of Mectail and then held out my hand as the defeated String Person rolled over.

**Mectail is tired.
**Mectail is grateful.
**Mectail is in pain.

It didn't show on his face as I lifted him up. He walked under his own power, but I went with him instead of back towards the entrance I'd come from - just in case he needed any help.

Once we were out of sight of the crowd, though we could still hear its roar, he slumped against the wall and [Healers] swarmed him.

"Cracked ribs. Bruised kidney. Bruised... everything. No ruptures. Only minor internal bleeding from the bruises." One of them rattled off as another rubbed a balm on him, and yet another fed him a healing potion.

Technically, since I still was me and not Mario, I could easily help with Rapid Regeneration. That would draw too much attention with all the people using Skills to monitor him. It would also be unnecessary.

"Are you alright, Gladiator Mario?" One of the [Healers] turned and gave me a respectful bow. "I didn't see you get hit, but if there's anything-"

"No." I held up a gloved palm. "I'm fine."

"Alright." He bowed and after a few minutes more, they pronounced Mectail recovered.

I waited and fell in beside him as we walked back towards the common area.

"That might not have been a lie, but it's also not the truth."

"Hm?"

"You said you were fine."

"I am."

He looked down at me. "Physically, I'm sure you are. But, you are not smiling. And you are not speaking with your usual pitch or accent."

Ah. "Ha ha..." I rubbed the back of my head, making sure not to disturb my hat. "You got me." I could mimic Mario's voice and manners, but it was both too late... and made me feel a little silly.

"It's part of your Skill, isn't it?"

"What is?"

"The character you're playing."

"You could say that." I couldn't use [Don the Mask] right now. First, it might be on cool down due to Mectail breaking it. Second, it would require a physical movement that I couldn't easily disguise. Third, he was paying attention and notice such a drastic change in my demeanor.

"I know you're a [Martial Artist] of some kind. That's clear to me." He hesitated. "And, I don't mean to be rude or pry into your Class or background, but... are you from Pomle?"

"Huh?"

"Did you train there? If not, then where? I can guess that you also have levels in [Actor] or [Thespian], like the ones that have been performing in Tyrant's Rest recently. But you clearly have the martial skill of a grandmaster." He paused. "You might even be stronger than the Strongest."

"The Strongest?"

"The Strongest of Pomle."

Oh, right. I remember now. Sibby had gone into great detail, as usual, when I'd asked her about her adventures. She'd mentioned the Strongest when she'd spoken about the meeting of Monarchs.

"Ah. I have not visited Pomle, and so I cannot say for certain." Though I'd assume I was, but who knew how high of level he was or what superhuman powers he had. Superstringfolk? No, no. Sibby said he was Human.

"No?"

**Mectail is curious.
**Mectail is confused.
**Mectail is intrigued.

"You joined the Arenas of your own choice. Was it not to test yourself?"

The thought going through his head was bound to be: 'And if I wanted to test myself, I could do it better in Pomle.' Or something similar.

I decided to change the subject.

"How long have you been a Gladiator?"

"Many years."

"And how does it suit you?" My eyes darted down to the thin band of metal around his neck.

"It is fine. I enjoy the one-on-one fights, but I have learned to appreciate playing for the crowd."

I nodded. "Have you considered changing your style?"

"My... style?"

"Your martial art style." I decided to confide in him, since he'd already had first-hand experience with both 'me' and 'Mario'. "Into something more crowd pleasing?"

His eyes went wide. "Is that why you fought so differently before, Mario?" I could see the realization set in. "Of course. You changed completely when I broke your Skill. I'd thought that it was desperation at first, having been robbed of your greatest strength, but that's not it. Is it?"

"..."

"You have mastered multiple styles. You..." His eyes went even wider. "...weren't even using any Skills after that!" His voice dropped to a whisper as he spoke more to himself than to me. "You use your Skills as a restriction. A way to limit yourself. Of course..."

Uh oh. I think I'd just given him an idea based on a misinterpretation.

Or not?

It was basically the truth. I was using my Skill to limit myself, that was true, but it wasn't the main purpose. Mario was a way to fight that was designed to garner attention. For all his skill and experience, someone like Mectail - a 'standard' [Martial Artist], didn't stand out in the crowd.

Sure, I could've won as Ryu, Geese, Yoshimo, Scorpion, or countless others, but they weren't fantastical enough. They could win every fight, and still not gain a royal invitation.

Mectail moved in front of me and stopped. "Master Mario." He cupped his hands and bowed. "Please impart more wisdom to me."

I crossed my arms and tapped my foot while I regarded him. I didn't have anything against giving him a few pointers. In return, he might be able to give me some hints on how to attract the royal eye. He'd been here long enough that he would've seen a champion or two leave the arena for greener pastures.

"Fine." I nodded. "I'm pretty sure you already understand flamboyant moves that look good for the crowd vs. simple and effective ones. But, I do have a style I can teach you that should combine both."

---

Sibby crept through the palace. There was magic everywhere.

Wards. That's what Cauwine called the thin barriers of magic the blocked her physical form.

The annoying thing was that they were blocking her - even if she didn't interact with anything!

But, she'd learned a trick when fighting the army: how to get past any stupid, weak magic. She faded away.

...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

Hah! She was on the other side of the stupid magic! That would show them!

...if she announced her presence, which wasn't what she was doing this time. She was investigating. And being sneaky!

Which, if she was being honest with herself, wasn't new. She was always sneaky when she investigated. Nobody was as sneaky as she could be! Now she was somehow even being sneakier.

More sneaky? The sneakiest?

Eh. Whatever. She had a queen to find.

Sibby moved gracefully though the hallways, without a soul noticing her passing. There were a few more wards she had to summon herself past, but that didn't stop her. Then, she finally found the queen. Just like Nsiia, the queen was in the biggest room in the center of the building.

Sibby was so smart to have looked here first!

Now, the queen... uhm... Yi... something.

"Queen Yisame," A man in gaudy clothing spoke. "I bring news of the front."

Yisame! That's right. That's the queen's name. Sibby had seen her back in Pomle, but there had been a lot going on then. She'd been extra-sneaky and had gotten a letter from some other king that Kevin had said was important.

Sibby got closer. Yep. It was the same woman. All the cloth people looked the same.

Well, actually they all looked radically different. Tyrant's Rest was an explosion of color and styles, not just with the clothing the people wore, but with their skin and hair too. However, they tended to fall into three categories: rough-skinned Hemp, normal-looking Cotton, and beautiful Silk.

So all cloth people looked the same in the sense that each one of them fell into an... ethnicity? Was that right term for what cloth a person was made of? Eh. It didn't matter.

Yisame... wasn't any of those.

She looked like an... extra-silky Silk. Probably some magical cloth or something.

She sat on her throne with a fan of feathers in her hand that she had open and covering her face. She didn't even speak! She had a woman next to her who did all her talking.

Sibby had clearly underestimated her. She was a beautiful and wise queen who understood just how annoying talking was! The Siberian was getting better at it ever since freeing herself from the Djinni shackles, but she still remembered how intricate working all of her muscles in juuuust the right way - and without breaking physics - that it took to talk.

Honestly, just the though tired her out. It was a good thing she was so smart and talented that she could now talk without so much effort!

Sibby strolled through the room and lounged intangibly on top of the throne. Time to investigate while laying down. The best way to investigate!

---

"No, no. Looser. Like this." I swayed on my feet before staggering at Mectail, only to sway backwards and abort the stumbling charge.

"Stand. Still." He growled as he punched me.

Or at least, as he tried to. I fell back onto my ass and then clamored to the side. I looked like a [Fool]... or that I was drunk. The headbutt I gave him as I rose looked like an accident, and the double-palm strike that followed didn't look much better. The power behind both blows was real, and made Mectail stagger backwards.

Instead of a follow up, I swayed in place and gazed past him with a stupid expression on my face.

"Enough of this." Mectail rubbed his chest as he stood up straight. "This... this isn't a fight, or a spar, it's..."

**Mectail is infuriated.
**Mectail is annoyed.
**Mectail is impressed.

"Infuriating?"

"Yes."

"Annoying?"

"Yes."

"Impressive?"

"...Yes."

"That's the beauty of this style. It's hard to read or predict. It's even worse for experienced fighters."

"Because you attack when you shouldn't and don't attack when you should." He said petulantly.

I laughed and put my left hand on my right shoulder as I rotated my arm. "That's the idea."

Mectail took a deep breath and composed himself. "What Class is that?"

"That wasn't a Class. Or any Skills. It's a fighting style called 'Drunken Boxing'."

"Drunken Boxing?"

"It's difficult to learn, and is more of a defensive style focused on counters than an offensive one, but it's effective." I winked at him. "And it looks fun."

"But... drunken?"

"It's based on moving as if you were intoxicated. Actually getting drunk can help, but it can also hurt." I shrugged. "It's up to you if you want to try and incorporate the moves with your style or not, but it's a fair trade, don't you think?"

"A fair trade? For what?"

"I'd like some advice in return."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? I don't think I can teach you any moves you don't already have mastered."

"No, no." I waved my hand side to side. "I'm confident in my fighting skills. What I want is advice in how to use them."

"How so?"

"You've already noticed my Skills are eye-catching, right?"

He nodded. "The ones I broke. You moved like Vitte in the air, and had that music, and also a different voice and you were more... exuberant."

"Yep." I nodded back.

Mectail walked past me to the training room's edge and sat down with his back to the wall. "And you're not here to... train. At least not fully." He frowned and brought his hand to his chin. "Your Skills are impressive, but they're what I would expect from a [Bard] or someone similar." He glanced up at me. "I can honestly say, that you don't need them to win. Despite how... useful they are, they are mostly for the benefit of the audience."

"That's right." I sat down beside him. It still felt strange to be in Mario's short body. I was pretty tall normally.

"So, you want something else." He leaned back as he let his hand fall to his lap. "Fame? Power? Money? Those are the usual things that people volunteer to become [Gladiators] for." He stared at me from the corner of his eyes. "You're Name-ranked, aren't you?"

I chuckled. "That only applies to adventurers."

"True." He shrugged. "But it's a decent enough comparison here in the arena also. Not that we get adventurers in here, or that [Gladiators] become adventurers, at least not that I've heard."

"Then how's it a good comparison then?"

"Because of what successful [Gladiators] and adventurers both do when they retire."

"Which is?"

He smirked at me. "Get a comfy job working for a [King] or a [Queen] or something like that."

"Hm."

"That's it, isn't it?" Mectail closed his eyes. "That's what you want. Security? A place to open a school? Something like that?"

"You're more observant than I gave you credit for." I leaned back too.

"You don't succeed as a [Gladiator] without being able to read the room." He let out a short laugh. "That goes double for the Coliseum of Monarchs. It's important to pick up on details and play along."

"Except for honorable duels."

He opened his eyes and grinned widely at me. "Except for honorable duels."

"Well, you're right." He didn't reply, instead waiting for me to continue. "I do have a goal. A reason I entered the arena... I want an audience with [Queen] Yisame."

Mectail's eyes widened and his eyebrows rose. "[Queen] Yisame?" He ruefully shook his head. "You don't aim low, do you?"

I'd like to say something cool like 'Never have', but that was a lie. Instead I replied "Not for this, no."

"Well, I do have advice for you then."

"Really?" I turned my head to look at him fully.

"Yes." He nodded. "The Shadow Champion?"

"The what?"

"That's not his real name." He shrugged. "But that's what everyone calls him these days. He showed up a few months ago, and he's never lost. Not even a single match. Not even the grand melees where he was targeted by everyone for not being on a team."

"But why the 'Shadow Champion'?"

"Because he doesn't play by the rules." He shrugged. "Don't get me wrong, he's an honorable fighter, but he can't play the game. He's fallen out of favor now. You'll have to challenge him directly to ever see him, but... if you can beat him, then I'm sure the [Queen] will take notice."

"That sounds great." I swear. Sometimes this world does seem to be a video game. Not just with the Classes and Levels, but... everything. All I had to do was beat a single fighter? It was like he was a mid-boss.

Then again, I guess that made sense in the arena. This whole setup is like mixed martial arts meets professional wrestling.

"Just who is the Shadow Champion? What's he like?"

Mectail smiled back at him. "You should find out for yourself. It's better to experience him the arena without any foreknowledge."

"What?" I narrowed my eyes. "Why?"

"He goes easier on you." Mectail shrugged. "I don't know why, but he does. Besides," His grin grew wider. "It's the honor of a [Gladiator] not to reveal things outside the arena."

**Mectail is slightly guilty.
**Mectail is slightly afraid.
**Mectail is amused.

That was totally a lie. He absolutely wanted to either see me face off against the Shadow Champion with both of us at our peak and no foreknowledge, or he was holding a small grudge from our match.

Probably some of both.

There were plenty of ways that I could find out for myself, but I was content with being surprised. Besides, my best information gatherer was busy somewhere else.

---

Sibby was bored.

Talk, talk, talk.

Yammer, yammer, yammer.

Blah, blah, blah.

And all about nothing.

The King of Destruction this, the King of Destruction that.

Boring.

If she wasn't mistaken, Yisame was just as bored as she was. The queen sat in her nice-looking throne and all of the String People talked. Some minister. Or general. Or something.

Sibby didn't care.

What they said wasn't important in the slightest. Going on about how they would beat the armies from Reim, and about acceptable losses and grinding them down and how they'd avoided losing any high-level people... because they hadn't sent any.

She did perk up when they started talking about Tiqr. Apparently, they were going to send another hot-shot general, who'd be able to show the archmage of cubes a thing or two.

Hah! As if.

No. All the words were pointless. They chose to use ten when one would've worked. Long-winded people were the worst!

Amusingly, the queen was silent. Oh, she 'took part' in the conversation. Directed it even. But the only words she spoke were barely audible whispers. She sub-vocalized waspish replies that Sibby was only able to pick up on due to their faint vibrations barely shaking the throne on which she was perched.

The person that did all the talking was some other woman that was... the queen's official talker? Or something?

It seemed confusing, but this whole throne room was built on pomp and... uh... that other word that always went with 'pomp'? Circumstance? No. That'd be stupid. What did circumstances have to do with pomp? Everything was a circumstance.

Anyways.

The pomp and more pomp was the point she guessed with the queen not deigning to speak. Which, honestly, Sibby could relate to. People spoke too much - especially THESE people. She was tempted to play around with blocking the vibrations in the air so she wouldn't have to listen to them.

But that would've been noticeable, and Sibby was a stealthy huntress.

It was interesting with how the person talking for the queen handled things. Once you got past all of the superfluous language, it boiled down to this:

'We're winning.'

'Good.'

'We're actually losing, but that's because we are afraid to fight.'

'Sounds reasonable.'

'We need to make an example, so that the other big, old, mean countries don't look down on us.'

'Nobody looks down on us.'

'They might.'

'They aren't.'

'If we lose, then we'll all have to give up our stuff.'

'That's true.'

'I don't want to lose.'

'I wish I could tell you all how to win, except I don't know, and you clearly wouldn't listen to me anyways, so I'm just going to nod and agree and stroke your egos.'

'Ah, my ego feels good.'

'Yay. I'm glad for you.'

'What about MY ego? I'm whining over here and don't want to look like I have nothing to contribute, even though that's totally the case!'

'You're doing well too.'

'What about me?'

'No. You suck. Actually, you're like everyone else here, but I need to put someone down so that people don't start to think too highly of themselves.'

'Ha ha. She says your suck.'

'Nooooo!!!!'

'Now, I'm the queen and I have important queen-stuff to do, so why don't we wrap this up?'

'Wait! I haven't spoken yet, and I need to make sure that everyone here remembers how stupid I am!'

'I remember.'

'So do I.'

'Good. Good. Tear into each other. I have better things to do, so keep yourselves distracted like a bunch of dogs fighting over a single bone.'

'Arf arf!'

That was... more or less how it went. The translator, voice of the queen lady, official talking person seemed pretty good at her job. The queen was bored. All the other people were... stupid.

Ah! Sibby got it! It was that kind of stupid that everyone had. The type where they couldn't admit they had been stupid, so they kept on doubling down on mistake after mistake! William had ranted about that before.

In fact, she thought she might understand his rants about governments a little bit better now that she'd spent time watching all this happen in person.

Also, this didn't bode well for Kevin's plans. She understood that it didn't matter how many armies they killed, these jackasses would just send more and more and more. Should she kill them then? Sibby was a stealthy huntress. She could do what Zehia did.

Or, at least, what Zehia had tried to do. Sibby, of course, was much more powerful and skilled, so she'd succeed flawlessly. She supposed she could also do with some spectacle. Making a show of things had been William's idea in the first place.

...But she REALLY liked spectacles!

What to do? What to do?

Sibby pondered as she walked alongside the queen.

Then... nothing.

...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

She must've walked into one of those annoying magic barriers that could pop her even if she was intangible!

So annoying!

She'd re-summoned herself a few feet back along the hallway - before reaching the place where the ward was. The queen was still in sight, as were her translator and guards and other servants.

Sibby extended her hand and took a step. Ah! There!

She closed her eyes and gently brushed her fingers against the thing that wasn't there. Now that she was looking for it, she could feel it. So, she just had to appear a few feet past it...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried-

...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

She'd summoned herself into another ward! How annoying!

She'd just have to-

...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried-

...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

Okay. Fine. It wasn't just another field in the air. Or two or three. It was the same field, but instead of being a shell around a place, it encompassed all of the space on the inside too!

She put her hands on her hips and glowered at the impassible hallway.

---

It had only taken a few days for Mario to get his requested duel. He couldn't help but be a little nervous as the gate rose, but he plastered a grin on his face and strolled through while waving to the crowd.

"It'sa me, Mario!"

A few shouted it with him, but he still didn't have the same following he'd had back in the Arena of Spectacle. The fact that he hadn't gotten to fight Mectail properly to the end hadn't helped with that either.

But, he was here, and all he had to do was beat the person emerging from the tunnel on the opposite side of...

His eyes widened as he saw the Shadow Champion emerge. He recognized him.

Little Mac.

Chapter 112: Rising Tide 3

Mario stared at his opponent.

This was bad. Even as Pixel, he'd never beaten Little Mac in a fistfight.

80 Strength. 80 Constitution. 140 Dexterity!

His unique summons was even faster than Pixel was. Mario didn't have a handy stats screen, but he was sure his Dexterity was nowhere near that high. He was slower than Pixel, and Pixel had a Dexterity of 100.

Little Mac also had his physical damage reduction, and his Shard-granted fighting Skill.

He could only imagine the series of events that had lead to Little Mac fighting in an arena. It wasn't that hard. Little Mac didn't talk, and he loved to fight. Pixel had created him to grind unarmed combat, and grind he did. Even after reaching the maximum level, Little Mac was always running, sparring, or shadowboxing.

Really, it would be more of a surprise if he hadn't wound up somewhere he could fight constantly.

Mario's [Background Music] started and he charged!

Of course, it wasn't all bad news. After the fight, Pixel could reclaim Little Mac. Pixel could even get him to throw the fight, but Mario doubted that the boxer would be able to do so in a way that was even slightly convincing. Plus, it wasn't like he was actually in any danger. Little Mac was mostly used for sparring and knocking out villains - he was quite good at it too.

He also refused to use anything but boxing.

"Wooooo!!!"

Mario dropped to the ground a yard away and slid into Little Mac's feet. His attack, predictably, did nothing. However, even with his superior Skill, as long as Little Mac was relying on his fists and traditional Boxing moves, then he could 'win'.

Little Mac jabbed at him, and Mario raised his arms to block.

Good. Little Mac also wouldn't go all-out at first. To him, this was a spar. He would gradually increase his speed and strength so as to not overwhelm his opponent. As long as Mario did the same, they could fight evenly for a while.

"Yah!"

Mario backflipped to his feet as Little Mac swayed away from the kick. He rushed back in, but not before Mario landed.

"Yah! Yah! Yah!"

Mario punched him three times, each attack coinciding with a shout. Little Mac blocked them all and then punched Mario in the face three times.

Ow.

Mario shook his head and backed away. Little Mac bobbed and weaved as he followed at a walk.

"Yaaaaa..."

Mario dashed to the side, banked his momentum, and then spent it to redirect his charge at Little Mac.

"Hoooo!"

It had... predictable results. The crowd cheered. Mario jumped, slid, or punched. Little Mac dodged, blocked, or counter-punched. Mario had yet to land blow that actually did anything, but the audience still shouted wildly as his [Theme Song] swelled.

He had two reasons for fighting a pointless fight - beside that Little Mac was fine with it. The first was that he could use his speed to constantly build up his [Momentum Bank]. Every time he used it to store his momentum before spending it to abruptly zig or zag, Mario held a little back.

Little Mac might be virtually immune to physical attacks, but those backed up by a [Skill] would still have some effect. Mario didn't have [Wide Slash], [Power Blow], or [Skillbreaker Palm] (not that Little Mac had any [Skills] to break), but [Momentum Bank] should be able to do something - just as long as he had some momentum to spend.

In fact, Mario was cheating by banking 90% of the momentum of his punches and kicks right before they struck Little Mac. It was doubly effective in that it not only let him charge his [Momentum Bank] more, but it also made Little Mac go easier on him.

For a time, at least.

Little Mac was good at regulating the strength of his blows to that of his sparring partner, but he'd still escalate. There were plenty of examples - Pixel being the most glaring one - of Brutes that could take more than they could dish out.

Their fight continued with Mario yelling and jumping. Little Mac blocked or dodged every hit, but Mario was doing fairly well in avoiding attacks also. The pressure mounted, with Little Mac getting slightly faster and stronger each and every second until...

Finally.

Everything was ready.

"Yah!"

Mario lashed out with an uppercut. Little Mac blocked, but as soon as Mario's fist met his elbows, there was an audible 'whump' sound. Little Mac's arms were thrown wide as the momentum from Mario's punch and more were transfered directly to them.

"Whoooo!"

The follow up attack landed almost the next second as Mario's other fist swung towards Little Mac's temporarily exposed stomach. Again the fist connected, and the [Heroic Plumber]'s banked momentum was transfered directly to the boxer.

Little Mac was launched into the air in a low arc. Mario immediately broke into a dash, but not towards his opponent like normal for an air combo, but instead he burnt the rest of his momentum to put as much distance between them.

"It'sa [Power Up] time!"

Mario raised his hand, palm towards the sky, and activated his capstone Skill. It was powerful, but there were lots of drawbacks. It couldn't be used until an 'appropriate' time. It took several seconds to actually take effect. And, most glaringly, it was random.

In theory, Mario could get any powerup from one of his games. In practice, it was usually a super-shroom.

"C'mon... star..." He grumbled under his breath as the flickering shapes stopped on a form.

A green stem with two green leaves sprouting near the base. A white center with two black eyes surrounded by a ring of yellow, and then a ring of orange.

A Fire Flower.

Mario's gloved hand clenched over the item and it vanished as his outfit changed along with the [Background Music].

"Alright! Here I'a come!" Flames flickered across his palms as he got back into a fighting stance - just in time to see Little Mac charging towards him. "Yikes!" He threw a ball of flame.

Little Mac weaved under it, and then was on him. Jab. Jab. Body blow. Jab. Cross. Body blow. Body blow. Jab. Jab. Jab.

Mario tried to block or avoid the punches that were raining down on him, but Little Mac was just too fast. His fists were a blur, and pain spread across Mario's face, chest, stomach, and sides.

On the bright side, taking damage didn't seem to knock him out of his powered up state. He'd wondered about that. Mario also knew a secret: how Little Mac had been beaten one time in the past.

"Yaaaaaaah!"

Mario shouted as he threw his head and arms back. It left him even wider open, but he was only punched once before Little Mac stepped back while shaking his fist. An aura of flames surrounded Mario. It wasn't the intended way for a Fire Flower to work, but Fire Flowers were almost as famous as Mario himself. Their uses were quite varied.

And, most importantly, Little Mac only had protection from physical damage. Fire burnt him just as much as it did anyone else.

Anyone else with 80 Con and hundreds of HP. Which was to say, not much. However, there was a world of difference between 'not much' and 'not at all'.

Mario charged. Little Mac could outbox just as skillfully as he inboxed, so there was no point in throwing fireballs. Instead, the inflamed plumber chose to get closer where his fire aura would do the most damage.

Little Mac obliged him.

"Yah!"

Mario swung his fist, and Little Mac dodged. The returned strike caught Mario in the chin, but they both recoiled. This wasn't optimal, but it worked. Mario started to spend momentum to speed up his punches, and then bank it again if he didn't connect. Without running all over the place, could only bank that way. It wasn't great, but he managed to occasionally land a blow.

Little Mac blocked, but he was burnt all the same. Mario could guess where the next punch would come, but without a Shard providing the data, he was at a disadvantage. Only memories of long hours sparring with Little Mac helped him anticipate what would come next enough to get his guard in place at the last second.

Little Mac kept attacking. It wasn't his nature to back down from a fight, even if he was punching something that hurt him. To him, this was still a spar, and he continued to move faster and faster, and hit harder and harder.

To the audience it looked amazing. The Shadow Champion still had his fans, despite obviously being associated with the Archmage of Cubes. They cheered loudly as Little Mac refused to back away. The rest of the crowd rooted for the newcomer. Not only did he do flashy jumps and shouts, the fire that coated him caught the eye and seemed to actually hurt the undefeated golem.

The flurry of blows came to a head... and the [Power Up] wore off.

Mario found himself unable to keep up with Little Mac's superior speed and skill. Even with knowledge of countless fights, and how exactly the boxer was likely to attack next - he was simply too fast. A blow slipped under his guard, leaving Mario gasping for breath. Then another caught him in the ear.

Everything was a blur after that.

Mario didn't lose consciousness, as Little Mac was talented enough to avoid permanent injury, but he did get beaten until he was one large bruise.

...

"Ugh..."

"Just relax, gladiator Mario." A String Person helped him drink a potion and then began taking his clothes off. "Wow... I think I need more bruise cream. [Access Supplies]." A jar appeared in his hands and he scooped out a yellowish cream. "This is going to burn some, but it should fade quickly."

"Hgn." Mario grunted as his tender flesh felt worse at the [Healer]'s touch. "What'a happened?"

"You lost." The reply was immediate. "But you put up a good show. Probably the best anyone's done against the Shadow Champion!" The arena attendant stopped lathering cream on him for a moment to smile. "You're not the first one to hurt him, but I think you lasted the longest out of anyone who tried to go against him one on one."

"Ah." Mario let his head thump back against the table and looked up at the ceiling. "So I'a failed." He'd been banking on a flawless record and shooting up through the ranks to get noticed. A loss, even to an undefeated opponent, was still a blemish that would hurt his appeal.

"Eh." The [Healer] started to massage the cream deeper into Mario's muscles. The burning sensation from the skin faded, only to travel deeper inside him. "It was still a good fight. Especially for someone so new to the Coliseum of Monarchs. You made a big splash. I bet you'll get a fat bonus, and probably a rich sponsor or two."

"Hm." Mario made a noncommittal sound. A rich sponsor didn't mean a royal one. His plans might've just been derailed. Hopefully Sibby's investigating would have better results. Plan B - having Pixel appear to [Queen] Yisame directly - wasn't ideal, but it might now be the best option. If it was even possible.

"Now just lay here for an hour to let the cream do its work. The [Healer] stood up and began to lift and bend Mario's arms and legs. "No broken bones and now open wounds. The potion should take care of any internal bleeding, but most of the damage was to your skin and the cream will fix that." He took a step back. "Good!"

Mario gave him a weary smile. "Thank'a you."

"It's my pleasure." The man turned to leave, but paused in the doorway. "Just yell if you need anything."

Mario waited for the door to fully close before sitting up. An hour, huh? He could do better than that. He took some shaky steps towards the bathroom. One of the nice things about Tyrant's Rest was that they had actual plumbing - including sewers.

"[Expand Pipe]!"

The drain swelled in size as space bent. Mario then jumped down, using [Momentum Bank] to control the speed of his descent. The sewers were nice and mostly-clean. He'd encountered a few monsters down here, from slimes to large scorpions. Nothing he couldn't dispatch with a quick jump on their heads.

He didn't really feel up to it right now, but he also didn't have to go far. Their secret base was purposely close to the [Gladiator] housing, so Mario trudged through the still foul-smelling tunnels until he came to the spot. There was nothing that marked it as different in any way, but as he stood on it the air around him shimmered.

Or, at least it looked like that from his point of view as he was teleported and cleaned before re-appearing inside the underground house Pixel had made. Mario opened a cabinet drawer and took out a glass vial with a cherry-red liquid inside.

"Mamma mia..."

He understood Riley's reaction to these things now that he tasted them without Gamer's Body.

Mario chugged the contents down and grimaced as the Rapid Regeneration potion set about fixing all the damage he'd taken. Then he reached up...

...and I took off my mask.

*Sadness negated by Gamer's Mind.

Well, that could've gone better. I'm not sure I was capable of beating Little Mac as Mario. In fact, I was almost positive it was an impossible task. I couldn't even beat him in a fistfight as my usual self.

I looked down at my hand as I clenched and unclenched my fist. Both of us were equally skilled - since I'd used my connection with Little Mac to grind my unarmed fighting. Unlike him, I was willing to mix things up and not rely solely on boxing. I also had twenty points of strength on him.

Which didn't matter in the slightest, as neither of us were strong enough to damage the other one with our punches. As such, our spars came down to points, which Little Mac handily won with a Dexterity that was close to double mine.

*Ennui negated by Gamer's Mind.

Oh well. What's done is done. All I can do is adapt.

Plus, I found Little Mac! That was huge!

I could easily use Expansion and Power Drain to pinpoint him from here and then Inventory him when we left. For now he seems happy enough. The little dude loves to fight after all.

Speaking of little...

I Inventoried the clothing I was wearing and examined Mario's hairy form. Yeah. I don't like being short. I have enough silicone stored away to not have to worry about using it up to alter my body, but it wasn't unlimited. As my fight with Mectail had proven, it was a good idea to keep my body mirroring Mario's...

But it still felt strange. At least when I wasn't using [Don the Mask].

Kevin ► How's it going Sibby?
Sibby ► :(
Kevin ► Aw. What's the problem?
Sibby ► (o.o) |
Sibby ► (o.o)|
Sibby ► (o.o|
Sibby ► |(x.x)
Sibby ► |* * *
Sibby ► |
Sibby ► * * * |
Sibby ► (o.o) |
Sibby ► (-.-) |
Kevin ► There's a wall you can't get past?
Sibby ► O
Sibby ► \(o.o)/|
Kevin ► But you're going to keep trying?
Sibby ► O
Kevin ► Okay. Good luck! I'm done as Mario for a while, so I'm going to be relaxing in the base.
Sibby ► :D

I leaned back with a smile on my face. It was... wonderful to have Sibby back. I hadn't even realized just how much I had missed her when I'd been traveling on my own. I let out a small sigh.

I was... worried about her.

She'd been captured and bound with magic. That... shook me. Apparently not enough for Gamer's Mind to trigger, but the Siberian had always been, well, invincible. There had never been any reason to worry about Sibby. Even if she encountered a Parahuman with a power that could pop her, she could just come back.

Heck, after I'd freed her from her previous summoner, Sibby had even been able to resist Jack. That was something I'd thought about a lot over the years. Jack's Shard had even worked on me to some extent despite Gamer's Mind. It had been reduced, but I could clearly see how my thoughts had been... guided to consider the situation from a certain point of view.

And now, Sibby was spending time with 'William' again. Or at least his memory.

Some unknown member of the Slaughterhouse Nine who followed them around and had Sibby join them? He sounded like a demented edgelord fanboy... but I also couldn't discount Jack's power.

The disturbing thing was that Sibby still clearly thought well of William despite how everything had ended. That...

I think that was making me jealous?

I mean, I wanted Sibby to be able to do her own thing - just so long as it didn't involve murder or eating people. I'd felt bad that she'd been essentially bound to me. I didn't see her as just a power, and I tried not to give her orders. There were times that I had and she'd ignored me - which wasn't great in those moments, but at least proved that she had free will.

Free will, but she couldn't really leave. Not that I wanted her to. Or that I thought that was something she wanted. But not having that as an options felt... wrong.

And now, here I am on another world where Sibby did actually get separated from me and now has the ability to roam about on her own at distances even greater than before. Even to essentially the world of her memories, and I was jealous.

Ugh.

I kinda wish I felt even more jealous, or even worse about feeling jealous so that Gamer's Mind would trigger one way or the other.

I could ask Sibby more about William. Heck, I could probably go inside her Shard and meet the... fragments of him in 'person'. But I didn't want to. I didn't want to meet the Parahuman who'd triggered and decided to use Sibby like that.

To have her kill Hero.

To have her join the Nine.

I admit that Sibby did have... issues, but she will willing to try new things. She didn't have to be a homicidal serial killer and cannibal. William had done that. Or, at the very least, he hadn't prevented it from happening. And that couldn't even be blamed on Jack, since the Siberian had done that sort of thing before she'd ever joined the Nine.

I didn't know much about William. I hadn't even known his name until recently. From what Sibby had told me, I knew that William had done what he'd done out of revenge on Cauldron. That explained Hero. It didn't explain all the deaths that happened before Hero, or those between killing Hero and meeting Jack.

Ugh.

I sat down and started playing a video game to try and distract myself.

Then there was the other person Sibby talked about, though not as much as she did William.

Cauwine.

Who in the world was Cauwine?

I didn't know. Sibby didn't know.

My best guess was that she was an actual Djinni. One that had either escaped, or who'd been able to twist her commands into joining with the Siberian. Sibby hadn't mentioned any jewelry dropping when Cauwine had been... absorbed, but that wasn't proof one way or the other.

It wasn't like I was an expert on Djinni or on how they were bound or anything like that. All I knew was what Sibby had told me. So, basically, I knew that: A) Cauwine was female - biologically or by choice I had no idea. Did Djinni even have sexes? B) Cauwine didn't have a physical body as such. C) Cauwine knew a lot about this world. Information from ages past and present. D) Cauwine knew about magic and other stuff. How much? No idea.

I didn't know enough myself to judge the knowledge of others. All I could do was rely on Optimize, and Observe said Sibby didn't have any debuffs. I was fairly certain that 'Possession' counted as a debuff, if that's what had happened.

Not that I thought Sibby was possessed. She was the same old Sibby I'd grown to know and love. She'd just... matured? Grown? Expanded her horizons?

I supposed I could go and meet Cauwine 'in person', the same way I potentially could with William. But... there was another reason for entering her Shard other than just avoiding the man who'd used Sibby for revenge. It sounded like SUMMONING had changed. Going inside might be dangerous. More importantly, going inside might be a little too personal.

Sibby had apparently jumped around through William's memories. Her memories.

I... didn't want to see Sibby like that. Especially not in Shardspace where Gamer's Mind didn't work. I might see something I couldn't unsee.

And that unnerved me.

I sighed and paused my game.

I was just going round and round inside my head. I should focus on what to do next. Thinking about William was unproductive. He was a part of Sibby's past and always would be. There was nothing that could change that. I just had to accept that... Sibby still liked him.

---

William was so annoying at times.

Sibby glared down the hallway. She'd gone and asked him for some advice, but he'd started ranting about 'Cauldron' again. She didn't mind that, but he never got back around to her problem. And Sibby was on a deadline!

She was a patient huntress, but she also knew how important timing was. Kevin was doing his part, and she was supposed to be investigating. Normally, she just investigated for her own amusement, but learning about the queen was important to Kevin, so it was important to her too!

Cauwine also hadn't been of much help.

'We're not a mage or a spellcaster. You should break it apart! Use your authority to force the ward to bend to your will!'

Sibby frowned. That wasn't how you were supposed to act when you were being sneaky. Sibby loved making a grand entrance and displaying her power as much as the next person - unless that next person was Cauwine. The warrior woman didn't have a subtle bone in her body!

Not that she had a body, but that was besides the point.

Sibby raised her hand and trailed her intangible fingers along the magic in the air. She... could feel it. It was annoyingly imprecise compared to every other force that tried to act on her. Interacting with magic required her to focus her will and bend it so that it acted in a predictable manner.

Or she could eat it.

But she couldn't eat a wall. For how amazing as she was, she couldn't open her mouth wide enough to take a bite!

Time for some QED.

She'd heard William say that before, and it was pretty obvious it stood for Question, Educate, and Deduce.

So, she couldn't get past the wall. QED.

No. That wasn't quite right, was it? If she couldn't get past entirely, then she couldn't summon herself beyond it. But she was able to appear inside. It was just that she was immediately popped. QED.

So, QED, the answer was in how she was interacting with the world. QED. Or, rather, QED, with the magic.

Ah ha! QED! She was so smart!

She COULD bypass the magic. When she was using her new sense of where she was to summon herself, she could kinda 'see' inside the barrier. See was the wrong word. She couldn't sense where she appeared until she appeared, but she... knew of it. Just like she KNEW that she could take a step forward and be one further step down the hallway.

So... what did that mean?

Sibby crossed her arms and sat down as palace guards walked past. They weren't very good guards. They failed to notice the two small shadows from Sibby letting some light hit her eyes. Actually, 'shadow' wasn't the right word, was it? It couldn't be a shadow, not with light also passing through her eyes in the opposite way. Dimmer space?

Eh. Whatever. The point was that... oh!

QED!

She WAS interacting with the magic when she appeared, because she was letting some light interact with her! The light interacted with the magic and she interacted with the light, so she interacted with the magic!

That made sense, right?

So, all she had to do was...

...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

She simply stood there. No. 'Stood' implied she was standing on something. She existed, yet interacted with nothing and... she didn't pop!

Yay!

Sibby smiled-

...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

What?

Why'd she popped THAT time?

Argh!

Let's try this again!

...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

She did nothing. Sibby was as still as possible and-

...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

She couldn't be perfectly still. Not without the ground moving away from her... although this odd planetoid moved strangely. But it still moved. Everything moved. To NOT move, she had to not move in relationship to something.

Okay. Fine. She saw how things were.

...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

This time she wasn't connected to the world, but to her 'authority' and that was connected to the magic itself and... that worked?

Sibby opened her eyes-

...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

Soooo.... moving her body while connected to the magic area was a no go. She could sorta, kinda feel her authority flex when she moved. It wasn't one of the multitudes of other forces she was familiar with, but Sibby was an expert on interactions!

She took a deep breath and...

...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

There. She was inside again. Bound to the magic because she decided it was going to be so. She opened her eyes, this time by not only manipulating her own muscles, but also by demanding the magic part for her.

It worked! She could see!

Now then... what to do next?

Huh. She hadn't... really considered that. She was closer to where the queen had gone, but she still wasn't exactly successfully investigating her. Sibby could watch from here, but even moving her eyes cost authority. She might be able to move her body, but she could feel the magic that enveloped her would... react to that.

She could tear it down, like Cauwine said. Possibly. But that would be fighting, not sneaking. Sibby was here to be stealthy, not to cause a scene. So...

...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

She'd just summon herself further inside! That way she didn't have to fight with the magical area or break it.

Sibby would blip around until she found the queen again. Then, she would stand and watch!

QED!

Question, Experiment, Decide!

---

I was on my way towards beating one of the new games I'd picked up on Earth Iota when I got the notification.

It wasn't a pop-up like the information Optimize sent me about Gamer's Mind negating things, or damage, or the emotions of people around me. The source of this notification was something I'd created myself.

The seed underneath Roshal had bloomed.

Actually, 'bloomed' wasn't the best word. That implied that it had sprouted out of the ground. While 'seed' was appropriate for the auto-Crafting mass my Conversion trait granted me, the metaphor broke down on things that remained beneath the ground.

Regardless, the encrypted signal it had been sending me ever since the first couple of rooms had been completed had stopped, and a more complex one had taken its place. I paused the game, closed my eyes, and focused on all the details it was currently broadcasting to me.

It was... a lot.

Far more than I could mentally parse.

It was like looking at one of those paintings that had tiny little Easter Eggs hidden in the details. I technically was seeing them all, but I needed to focus on a segment to understand it. I wasn't Dragon. I couldn't split my consciousness so throughly.

I'd gotten better, but without Mutiplayer and Jagat, I just didn't have the hardware.

In any case... everything immediately around and inside of the seed looked good.

No signs of intrusion or detection. The mega-project was secure and sealed away from everything else. The sensors inside gave a detailed confirmation of what the internal diagnostics were displaying.

I then turned the sensors upwards.

*Shock negated by Gamer's Mind.
*Horror negated by Gamer's Mind.

It... honestly both was and wasn't as bad as I'd feared.

There were [Slaves]. So very many [Slaves]. Some were doing well. Smiling. Working. Some were afraid and sad - especially the ones that looked newer and were being 'trained'. For the most part they looked like any oppressed people I'd imagine.

Then there were the... hidden details in the painting.

Torture. Rape. Brainwashing.

It was happening right now, and I could stop it. I had my mega-project. The second part was also ready. I just needed the King of Destruction for the third and final step.

Technically, I could start the genocide right now, but then that would be all there was to it. I needed Flos' help to do better, and to get it I would need to make an impression.

So... Roshal got to continue to exist for a little while longer.

I let out a sigh and tried to put it out of my mind. I could ignore things I didn't know about, but I'd decided long ago to fix any problems that I did encounter. Ignorance wasn't a sin, but inaction was.

Then again, I'd never destroyed a country before. It was best to take it slow and steady.

For now.

Hopefully Sibby will be back soon with some good news. Until then... I looked at the paused game. I didn't feel like starting it back up right now. Instead, I decided to give Teura a call and then go to bed.

It was a poor substitute to reading Riley bedtime stories, but I at least felt I was helping her level her [Apprentice] class. There wasn't anything I could teach her about magic, but I was knowledgeable in lots of other fields.

After we spoke, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

[Superhero Level 17!]

[Skill - Non-lethal Takedown obtained!]

[Skill - Play to the Crowd obtained!]

[Artificer Level 28!]

[Skill - Base Builder obtained!]

[Skill – Magitech Integration obtained!]

[Skill – Enchanted Prototyping obtained!]

[Skill – Energetic Infusion obtained!]

[Skill – Vulnerability Augmentation obtained!]

[Skill – Runic Scribe obtained!]

[Skill – Rapid Disassembly obtained!]

[Skill – Flexible Fortification obtained!]

[Skill – Dweomer Decay obtained!]

[Skill – Arcane Bonding obtained!]

[Gamer Level 11!]

[Avatar Level 10!]

[Conditions Met: Avatar → Video Game Avatar Class!]

[Class Consolidation: Gamer removed.]

 

[Video Game Avatar Level 13!]

[Skill - Retconned Backstory obtained!]

[Skill - Civilian Identity obtained!]

[Skill - K.O. Punch obtained!]

Chapter 113: Rising Tide 4

*Error! Gamer's Body negated.

'Okay, so there I was inside the palace but the stupid magical wall wouldn't let me pass! No problem, I said, I'll just use my new awesome power to summon myself on the other side, right? Wrong! It wasn't a wall. It was a brick! Or a sphere. Or something. The point is that it wasn't hollow! Isn't that cheating? Anyways, I was stumped, but I'm smart. So I thought to myself - self, if I'm appearing on the other side and getting dispersed, then that means that I'm able to be on the other side. See? If I didn't appear where I wanted to, then I wouldn't have gotten popped! Get it? Since that was the case, I knew that it had to be something else that happened right after I created myself. That despite not interacting with anything, I was interacting with SOMETHING? Does that make sense? So, the thing that I was clearly interacting with was the light and the sound that I'd allowed to slightly touch me. You know, so I could see and hear? So, I tried a QED. And guess what? It worked! By being there, but not letting ANYTHING touch me, I was able to be there!'

Sibby sat on my lap and greedily chewed on my hand while she told me about her adventure over our bond.

*Pride negated by Gamer's Mind.

She was so... her.

*Error! Gamer's Body negated.

'So that was step one. I wasn't even connected to gravity or rotational momentum or anything - which is pretty strange on this planet. Did I ever tell you that? We don't, like, rotate. In fact, I think the stars are fake, but it's pretty hard even for me to tell from such a distance. Like, even I can't feel their pull since it's so minute from being so far. It's their light, see? Anyways, where was I? Oh, yeah! The magic thingy. Since I couldn't let gravity or other stuff affect me, I had to anchor myself some other way. Guess how I did it? It was the magic! I used my authority to BECOME part of the very thing that was trying to keep me out! How cool is that? I couldn't, like, actually do anything BUT exist, but that's magic for you. Or something. Anyways, like I just said, I couldn't do anything. If I moved - even to open my eyes or breathe - then POOF! But I wasn't deterred. I was, after all, part of the magic. So I just had to command it the same way that I command other things. Well, not the exact same way. Magic is... fuzzy? Yeah. Fuzzy. It's not always the same thing. That's probably what makes it magic. But! But! I have my authority, right? From all the people that believe in me! Or are afraid of me. Whatever. So, I was able to force the magic - the magic I was inside, remember? I was able to force it not to pop me. It had to, like, accept that I was there and that some light was going bye bye!'

She finished all my fingers and then looked me up and down with a hungry expression.

'You need me to eat your spleen or anything?'

'No, Sibby. I've fully recovered. You don't need to eat any part of me in particular.'

'Aww...'

I shifted her around and offered my other hand. Sibby does enjoy fingers the best - for some reason that I refuse to get into. 'Anyways, you found the [Queen]?'

*Error! Gamer's Body negated.

'Oh yeah! I did! And here's the thing... she wasn't in her room! Duh dun duuuuun! And she had, like, this huge room too! I wish I could properly investigate it instead of just watching from one place... Hmmmm. Anyways, yeah, she wasn't there. I thought to myself: Sibby, perhaps you beat her here? You are pretty fast. And that's true, I am fast. But, I also spent a lot of time figuring out how to, y'know, actually get inside the part of the palace that has her room. So unless the queen was, like, suuuuuper slow in addition to me being my usual awesome self, that made no sense!'

'Seems reasonable.'

'Right? Plus, there were guards outside her door. Like, more guards. There were pairs of them all over the place, but there were an extra half dozen by her door. What's more - they were the same people that had been walking with her when she left. All the guards wear the same outfit, but I can tell them apart - even with only light. Other forces can be a lot more precise, but light's good too. So there was the big one. He was several inches taller than the others. He also had this slight smudge on the side of his helmet and-'

'So you found the [Queen]'s room?'

*Error! Gamer's Body negated.

She took another mouthful.

'Oh, yeah! They were her guards, so it was definitely her room. But, like I said, no queen! So I knew something was wrong. The mystery was some feet! Furthermore, my investigating ability was, like, cut in half. No! A third! No! A forth! No! A... let's just say it's a lot harder to investigate when you've tied your existence to a magical wall that only lets you use your eyes. I couldn't poke around, but... I still could summon myself wherever. So, I started summoning myself inside the wall! Like, not INSIDE inside, just inside. I was still binding myself to the magic and only interacting with the tiniest smidge of light, which there wasn't inside the wall. But I wasn't looking for a wall, I was looking for... a secret passage!'

'Did you find one?'

'Yep!'

'...'

'...'

*Error! Gamer's Body negated.

Sibby happily chewed on my fingers. '...and?'

'Oh, yeah. The passage didn't have very much light, but there was some. I summoned myself and then re-summoned myself down it until it came to the end... at a door!'

'A door?'

'Yeah! So I obviously summoned myself past it, and you'll never guess what I found!'

'The [Queen]?'

'Yes. Obviously. But you'll never guess what was with her, or what she was doing.'

'She had a... visitor?'

'What? No. She was alone.'

Well, she couldn't have what any well-respecting person would put inside a secret room: video games. So... 'I give up. What was in the room?'

'Books!'

'Books?'

'Yep! Walls and walls of books! She was busy reading. And here's the thing... she looked happy!'

'Happy?'

'Yeah. She had this big old smile while reading. Her face really lit up. There was a sparkle of joy in her eyes. It was, like, the exact opposite from when she was preceding over the court thing.' Sibby's mental voice took on a conspiratorial whisper quality. 'I bet she's queen so that she has access to the queen's room and the secret library!'

'I'm fairly sure that people can access reading materials here even if they aren't royalty.' I tried to add a dry tone to my reply. 'I would think a [Queen] would be reading about spy reports or financial forecasts or something related to ruling?'

'Hmmmmm....' Sibby paused with her meal to cock her head to the side. 'I guess? The book she was reading was titled: The Lightning Thief and the Eye of Baleros. So it could be a report on that?'

'That... doesn't sound like a report. What other books did she have?'

'Let's see.' Sibby frowned slightly as she tried to remember. 'The Lightning Thief and the Underwater Ship. The Lightning Thief and the Kingdom of Birds. Pixel in the Land of the Dead. The Lightning Thief-'

'Wait. What was that?'

'I was just about to say, The Lightning Thief and the Friendly Dragon.'

'No. Before that.'

'Pixel in the Land of the Dead?'

'Yes. That. She had a book about me?' Who'd written a book about me?

'No.' Sibby shook her head. 'It wasn't a book about you.'

'Oh.' Well that made-

'It was a COMIC BOOK about you.' Sibby nodded solemnly. 'Or a graphic novel? I'm not sure. It was in black and white, but it was more like a magazine than a stubby book. Sooooo... a cross between the two?'

I opened my mouth. Paused. Closed it. Paused. Opened it again. "What?"

*Error! Gamer's Body negated.

'It looked like she'd read it a couple of times.' Sibby went back to eating. 'All of her books looked like that. Well-read instead of pristine.'

"No, I mean..." I took a deep breath and resumed speaking through our connection. 'I mean, she had a comic book about me? Are you sure?'

'Absolutely.' Sibby nodded while chewing.

'But... who would write a comic book about me?'

'Sir Dla the Artist.'

'Who is Sir Dla the Artist?'

'I dunno. That's who's name was on the cover.'

Sir Dla? Sir Dla?

If it was 'The Land of the Dead' then... that had to mean Noelictus, right? The only people I'd really interacted with there were Cara, Seraphel, and the... person? who'd 'given' me the [Thread of Fate] Skill. Those were the only ones to even know the name 'Pixel'.

No. Wait.

There were also Seraphel's [Knights]. The... Thronebearers. That's right. Uhm... they were...

Ser Dalimont.

Ser Aldric Godard.

Dame Leana Labelle.

Could 'Sir Dla' be a pen-name for 'Ser Dalimont'? I don't think I'd ever gotten his last name. It might start with an 'La'...

Or... was it one word? Sirdla? Or even... Cirdla?

'How was Sir Dla spelled?'

'With a "C".'

Okay... if that's the case then... Cirdla backwards was... Aldric.

It wasn't proof, but I was almost certain the mystery author was Sir Godard of the Thronebearers.

*Error! Gamer's Body negated.

My musing was cut short as Sibby ate another knuckle.

'So, the stuff she was reading wasn't reports or something like that, but... fiction?' Or, at least, an entertaining retelling of stuff. A based on a true story sort of thing?

'Sure.' Sibby shrugged. 'I didn't read over her shoulder, but I think she'd smile like she was for a report or something.'

'In that case...' I grinned. 'I think I know what to give the [Queen].'

'That book in the Inventory? I thought you were-'

'No. Not that.' My smile grew wider. 'A story.'

...

Mario stood underneath the pipe that would lead out of the sewer and into his dressing room. [Momentum Charge] accumulated the force he'd need while he stood still. Then, when there was enough, he leapt.

[Expand Pipe] made the drain large enough for him to fit, and the extra momentum propelled he through the pipe and up and into 'his' room.

Other [Gladiators] lived in the building. Most of them, in fact. Not that many were prisoners like Mectail, and even he was allowed to go out and about inside of Tyrant's Rest. In practice, most stayed inside. It was a very nice building and any [Gladiator] in the capital city was treated like a celebrity - even if they were from one of the feeder arenas.

Honestly? It was a lot better than what Mario had assumed would be the case. He'd expected dingy cells with rusty iron bars keeping [Gladiators] locked away where they couldn't hurt anyone or escape until they were forced to fight for the pleasure of the masses.

In hindsight... yeah, that was a silly idea.

Oh, he didn't doubt there were places like that SOMEWHERE in the country, but the capital city? It was true that he'd underestimated just how popular [Gladiators] were, but it made sense. This was the mass-entertainment of the city, and the basic rule was 'keep the talent happy'.

There was a knock at the door.

"Yes?" Mario opened it to see a panting man.

"Mario! You're back!" He grabbed Mario's hand and pulled him out into the hall. "Come! You have a patron that wishes to speak with you!"

"I'a have a patron?" Mario blinked in surprise as the man rushed him through the underground tunnels and up into the building above.

"Yes! They wish to patron you, and to speak with you after you last fight!" The man glanced over at him as the pair almost ran. "The request came last night, but you vanished! You need to tell people when you leave!"

"I do?"

"Of course!"

"But, I'ma not a [Slave]."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I'ma free to come and go whenever'a I want."

"Well I'm free to stay up all night long drinking, that doesn't mean I should!"

"What?"

The man stopped and turned to face him. "Gladiator Mario. I realize that you're new and don't understand the way things work, but you have to understand what getting a patron means."

"Money?"

"Yes." He rolled his eyes. "Of course that. And enchanted gear and potions and other things that will help you in the arena, but that's not the real prize."

"It'sa not?"

The man took his hand and continued walking while pulling him along. "Well, it is. But that's the prize for you. The prize for your patron is that they get to talk with you. For them, it's all about building a connection." They came to a nice looking door that was flanked by a pair of [Guards]. "Here we are."

The man opened the door into a VERY nice looking room. There was a table full of delicious looking food. Thick carpets were laid on the ground. Silk tapestries were on the wall, and thick silk pillows were strewn about on equally expensive looking furniture. Clear crystal light stones were hung on the walls to illuminate everything.

Mario was aware of gladiators getting to meet with their patrons. That was the entire point of why he was here. However, he both wanted to keep that a secret and to get the opinion of whomever this was on the matter.

"I'ma the prize?"

"Of course. [Gladiators] are famous, and lots of people would love to speak with you outside the arena. And the rich and powerful get what they want." He paused with a calculating look before continuing. "That's not to say every patron is equally rich or powerful. This is a room reserved for the highest class of patron." He frowned. "You'll doubtlessly get the patronage of others who don't actually care about you or your match and will instead seek to parley their association with you into a meeting with your more discerning patrons."

That had been one of Mario's back-up plans, but he shouldn't be surprised that it wasn't an uncommon thing to do. "Do I have to'a accept a patron?"

His escort gave him an odd look. "No. You are not forced to accept any gifts, nor is it required to be social." He leaned in and whispered. "You are new, both to the Coliseum and to Nerrhavia's Fallen if I'm not mistaken, so I'll give you some free advice. Do not spurn the upper class. I'm not talking about Silks verses Cottons, but the REAL upper class. The Courts hold power. They can make your life as a [Gladiator] very easy, or very, very hard."

"I'a understand." Mario nodded. "I'ma happy to-a meet my new'a patron. In fact, if you'a could relay my regrets for not'a being here when they'a first sought me, I would be'a grateful."

The man straightened. "Of course. Now, if you'll excuse me." He bowed and then turned to leave before stopping at the door. "It may be some time. Feel free to enjoy any of the cuisine. More will be brought in when your patron arrives."

He then left Mario alone in the expensively decorated room.

...

The doors flew open and a woman covered in shimmering cloth entered - escorted by two muscular Silk Stringfolk.

"[Gladiator] Mario." One of the bodyguards spoke. "You stand in the presence of Velori, the Minister of Affairs of the Court of Silk! Bow!"

Mario hopped to his feet and then kneeled in front of the statuesque woman. "I'ma Mario. It'sa a pleasure to meet you, Minister."

"Oooooo! I love that accent!" She then turned to her bodyguards and made a shooing motion. "Wait outside." The two men saluted with a fist to their chests and then turned and left.

"Mario..." Velori cooed. "I watched you ever since your third match in the Arena of Spectacle." Underneath her veil, her lips turned into a pout. "But they didn't even bother to record your first two matches! Honestly, with all the new fuss over scrying orbs and world-wide news broadcasts, and recordings of things being popular since the Singer of Terandria, you'd think they'd be sure to preserve all the matches of every fighter. At least those in Tyrant's Rest." She let out a long sigh. "But, I suppose I get to hear about it first-hand, so not all is lost."

"Ah ha ha ha." Mario stood up and scratched the back of his head. "It'a was mostly the'a same. Just with'a less people cheering for'a me."

"Of course. Of course." Velori draped herself on one of the couches in a seductive pose. "One must be skilled to compete in any arena in this city, but there's a world of difference between being merely skilled and being the best. You, my dear Mario, will be the champion one day." She motioned to the table. "Bring me some fruit, will you?"

Mario went to grab a bunch of grapes, then rethought his selection. She would probably have him feed them to her or something. A peach? No. Then how about... aha! A pear! He picked up the purplish fruit that may or may not have been an oddly colored pear, and brought it to her. "I'a don't think that I'a will. Not with one of Pixel's training golems in'a the competition. He'sa strong and so are'a his creations."

"So you've heard about that little scuffle over in Tiqr." Velori sighed and took the pear before removing her veil. "The golem was quite popular, if overwhelming. Its origins were speculated on until that new [Archmage] arrived. Now nobody wants to see him fight." She took a dainty bite of the fruit. "But you did better than anyone else, Mario. With a few more levels, I'm sure you could actually win."

"Oh..." Mario fidgeted. "I'a don't think so, Minister. He was'a going easy on'a me."

"Really?" Velori's eyes gleamed as she leaned forward. "I'm eager to hear your insights as to why. A Skill for sizing up an opponent? An advanced form of [Danger Sense]? Or just experience?"

"It'sa the last one." Mario shrugged. "I'vea fought him before, or beings just like him at'a least. And I'vea also seen him fight to'a kill instead'a sparring." He shook his head. "I'a might know a few tricks, but they'a only work because he let me try them."

Velori put down the pear. "What do you mean that you've fought him before?"

Mario blinked. "Just that. Pixel made them'a for other [Heroes] to fight with and improve their'a skills."

"You... know the Archmage of Cubes?"

"Yes?"

"How?"

"We'a are from the same'a kingdom."

Velori sat up straight. "Mario. Would you please tell me about this kingdom? And how you arrived in our country?"

"Sure." Mario nodded. "I'a don't know how I'a arrived here. I was walking down the'a street one day and then... bam! I was in the'a desert!" He shrugged. "But I'a live in the country of Brooklyn on the Bet continent."

"The... 'Bet' continent?" Her eyes narrowed. "Where is that?"

"It'a used to be beyond the Last Tide, according to our legends. I think that'sa what you call the area. To us, the existence of other continents was always a myth. Or... so we thought."

---

"-and that is why our newest strategy is flawless! With a full six legions we will be victorious."

[Sublime Daydream] ended just as the Minister of War finished his 'report' and Yisame stirred. Even as she'd relived one of the Lightning Thief's past exploits she'd still had paid enough attention to know that Loqi hadn't actually said anything - despite talking for close to an hour.

"How will such an army overcome Pixel's long-range magical strikes?" Her Voice spoke for her without any prompting.

Not that she needed it. In truth, most of Yisame's ruthless cunning was due to how her Voice worded even the slightest statement. It worked well. Her Voice spoke while Yisame scanned the chamber.

The various courts were all present. The Court of Steel had lost a lot of political ground with the abject defeat in Tiqr. Losing would've been bad enough. Having most of their officers killed along with a [Great General]? That was disastrous.

Unleashing a Djinni... only to have it be killed by the [Archmage]? That had weakened them considerably. If it wasn't for the King of Destruction, then the Court of Steel would've been sidelined for...

Well, probably the rest of Yisame's life.

It was funny. Loqi had rallied the Courts with a speech about how Thelican was a martyr almost immediately after his defeat. He conveniently left out that the [Great General]'s direct actions had led to a loss of one of their oldest and most powerful Djinni. Instead he used the man's death to try and consolidate his own power. Loqi had publicly supported Thelican too much in the past, and was now forced to continue doing so lest he lose his own backers.

It was almost like he was a character in one of her stories: the scheming noble who seeks to usurp the throne but is always undone by the very greed that drove his actions in the first place.

Her Voice saw it too, even if she probably framed it in a different light.

In truth, it was a great thing for Nerrhavia's Fallen to have lost that fight. It may have 'weakened' them in the 'eyes of the world', but that didn't matter. The war in Tiqr had been a mistake that anyone with half a thought in their head could've seen.

Yisame had watched Pixel's denouement of the invading countries, and she had agreed with him. All of the others who had joined forces at the Empire of Sands urging were... stupid. She'd tried to get Nerrhavia's Fallen to abstain, but... it wasn't like she had the final say.

As [Queen], she possessed very little formal power. The different Courts were the ones that truly governed. This was by design, as nobody feared another [Tyrant] like her people. Or secretly worried that Nerrhavia would somehow find a way to come back to life, or reveal that she'd somehow faked her death and been hiding all these centuries, or had a secret heir.

She had cults remaining. Of that Yisame was sure of. It was always how things went in stories when you got to the next book and the author needed to reuse an older antagonist.

She turned her gaze to Loqi and the Court of Steel. He could easily be an antagonist of a story. He certainly was to her. Out of all the Courts, the Court of Steel was the worst.

...But they were, unfortunately, necessary. Nerrhavia's Fallen needed a strong army. That had been proven time and time again. If, perhaps, Flos Reimarch wasn't making war on them, then she could've done something.

All she really had was her personal popularity, which admittedly (and ironically) had sharply risen with the defeat of their army.

That was the way of things. Those who opposed disasters (or at least hadn't supported them) before they occurred were always heralded as genius visionaries. At least until the other Courts banded together to drag them back down. That was why she didn't push for the Court of Steel to stand down and sue for peace.

She needed them to be the villain so that she wasn't targeted for being right.

Again.

If she prevented their mistake, then the Courts would accuse her of tyranny. If she spoke against it, then she'd gain even more prestige if they lost.

Prestige was a balancing act. She needed enough to avoid being turned into a puppet ruler, but she also needed to avoid having too much.

Dead gods, she really hated being [Queen] sometimes.

"The esteemed Minister of the Court of Steel is wholly incorrect."

Yisame ceased her musings and glanced at the person who'd just made such a bold statement. People in the Courts did not, as a rule, use plain language. It was always flowery and full of subtle wording that was used to hedge their bets. However, this time, Velori had said something combative with no wiggle room for misinterpretation.

"That is a bold statement, Minister." Her Voice echoed her thoughts. "We assume that you have a reason for your ardent position?"

"Indeed." Velori's lips twisted into a predatory smile. "I have someone with first hand knowledge of the [Archmage] that soundly defeated the late [General] Thelican."

That caused a commotion and whispering throughout the Court. Not only for such a claim, but also because failing to address the now dead Thelican by his full class and title was purposely provocative.

"There are ample first hand reports." Loqi scoffed. "The 'archmage' only managed to kill ten percent of our army. If it wasn't for a few lucky strikes he would've been overwhelmed in short order."

A narrative that conveniently left out that Pixel had single-handedly slain a Djinni. Or perhaps he'd had help from another Djinni. The reports on that were still sketchy as the final blow had been struck on the ground where none had been able to see.

"Ah. My poor college thinks that the Hemp soldiers that were spared make for good witnesses?" Velori sadly shook her head. "What can a [Soldier] know of an [Archmage]?"

"They know enough. They know that every [Mage] has their limits."

"I wonder." Velori tapped her lips with a perfectly manicured finger. She then turned to Yisame and bowed into a deep curtsy. "Your Majesty. I have a witness who I'd like to introduce to the Courts."

"A witness?" Her Voice sounded properly skeptical. "We have heard from every important witness from that battle - from multiple sides and armies. What new insight could we possibly gain?"

Velori raised her head and smiled as she looked up at Yisame. "Why insight as to where Pixel came from and what feats earned him his [Archmage] class."

The Courts, predictably, fell into another uproar at Velori's claim. Yisame was also intrigued. She hid her face behind her fan, but couldn't help but smile a little. This was a question that she'd asked immediately after the battle. Other's cared about the reason for an [Archmage] of Wistram interfering. Or tried to pass the blame. Or came up with outlandish 'facts' to elevate their fallen commanders and vilify Pixel.

That was to be expected.

Getting the story about an [Archmage]'s rise to power? Now THAT was interesting. Yisame subtly nodded to her Voice.

"We will listen to this 'witness'." Her Voice used a scornful and doubting voice - all the better to either denounce the witness, or to reverse her un-stated opinion later. That would have a bigger impact than anything else. "Guards! Bring them in!"

The [Palace Guards] the flanked the main door nodded and then moved in perfect unison to haul open the golden doors that, frankly, were far too big, heavy, and annoying - even if they were enchanted artifacts from ages past.

Through the doors walked... an oddly dressed Human. He was short. He had fairer skin than most on Chandrar. He had large, expressive, blue eyes. He had a large, round nose. He had a bushy, black mustache that covered most of his lower face. He wore blue, hemp pants that came up to his chest - with straps going over his shoulders. Underneath he had on a red, cotton shirt. And white, silk gloves. On his head he wore red, cotton hat in a style she was unfamiliar with. Finally, emblazoned upon the front of the hat was a white circle containing a red 'M'.

[Reader's Recall].

Yisame's skill let her instantly dredge her memory of details she'd read. While it was from her [Reader] class, it was surprisingly useful for a [Queen] as well.

There was... an invitation from the Colosseum of Monarchs to come watch a new [Gladiator] who'd burst onto the scene with a flamboyant fighting style. Yisame didn't really care for [Gladiators]. She'd much rather read in her spare time. But, images had to be maintained. As such, she did visit once a year or so and also got regular updates about new fighters.

The [Gladiator] went by 'Mario'. Yisame activated her ring of greater appraisal to see what his full name was...

Huh. He had the same first and last name. It was 'Mario Mario'.

He came from 'Brooklyn'.

And he was a [Heroic Plumber]!

Yisame raised up her fan to fully cover her face and hide her reaction. A [Hero]? Here? There hadn't been a [Hero] walking Chandrar ever since the death of the Hero of Zethe! He was one of her favorite story subjects! The way he'd earned his nickname of 'Foe of Nations'...

Ahem.

Mario was only level 17. Of course, a level 17 [Hero] was more than a match for a level 35 [Warrior]. It also looked like Mario had an advanced Class. She'd never heard of a 'Plumber' before. It sounded like...

[Any Word I've Read].

Someone who worked with lead? A person who constructed sewers?

Fascinating.

While Yisame had been reacting to Mario's appearance, so too had the rest of the Courts. Her Voice put an end to the mumbling. "Gladiator Mario. We have heard of your recent rise in the Arenas. What relation do you have with Pixel? What can you tell us of his origin?"

"Well'a..." He scratched the back of his head as he spoke with a higher pitched voice than she would've expected, and with an odd accent. "I'va heard stories of Pixel ever since I'a was a little bambino. He's famous on the Bet continent for good reason. As for his origin..."

"Go on."

"Well, this is all'a second hand, mind you. I'a can only repeat what I'a have heard, but..." Mario took a deep breath. "I'a should tell you about what the Bet continent was'a like first. It is'a important for the story."

Yisame nodded to herself. Establishing the setting and history WAS important for any story. Mario might not be a [Storyteller], but the cadence of his voice and the way he spoke told her he had lots of practice narrating. Perhaps he'd had a level in [Bard] or something similar before a Class consolidation?

"Bet was once a rich continent, with'a powerful Kingdoms. However, it was'a invaded. I'a don't know the exact'a timeline, but I'a think it might've been about the same'a time you had to deal with 'Crelers'?" Mario shrugged. "We had our'a own terrors, much'a fewer in number, but far'a more individually powerful: the Endbringers."

Notes:

Bios:

Yisame - [Queen] of Nerrhavia's Fallen. Has more levels in [Reader] than [Queen]. Suffering from success, and worried that her country is on the wrong side of a story.

Chapter 114: Rising Tide 5

I took off my mask.

That went well I thought. At the very least, I was fairly certain I had [Queen] Yisame's attention. The rest of the royal court were also fairly attentive, but most of their questions were... probing in nature.

As if they were searching for contradictions, inconsistencies, or logical flaws.

Since I had actually been making everything up, there were bound to be some that snuck through. However, I had relayed everything as a legend that Mario had supposedly only heard second or third hand... It should be enough. Any flaws could be chalked up to exaggeration and embellishment.

Thankfully, I think one of my newest Skills helped smooth the edges: [Retconned Backstory].

I found it darkly amusing that the Grand Design had given it to me when it had. Amusing, but not completely surprising. I'd figured out that, broadly speaking, Skills seemed to come in three categories: those that were 'archetypical', those that were improvements of what you could already do, and those designed specifically to help you.

I'm pretty sure that [Retconned Backstory] fell into the latter category.

While it was true that I'd been plotting how to approach the [Queen] for some time, and thus needed to consider what exactly I'd tell her, it was another thing to get a system fiat that I was speaking the 'truth'.

It certainly let me be less vague and avoid truth-stones as Mario.

Now the question was: what to do next?

Even if everyone in attendance believed every single word I'd said... I don't think they'd stop. My understanding of Nerrhavia's Fallen politics was admittedly shallow, but I'd often found that one story didn't tend to dictate policy. I suspected that Yisame herself was throughly on the side of 'don't antagonize the [Archmage]', and that might've been sufficient in most other countries.

Nerrhavia's Fallen was different.

They had a [Queen], but they were no monarchy.

It was more like an... oligarchy? Yeah. That's a good term for it. The [Queen] technically had broad power, but it was checked by the other interest groups.

The main hurdle was that one of the most influential interest groups was pro-war, because that's what they were in charge of.

The Court of Steel would never willingly back down, no matter how many armies I slaughtered. I could, in theory, just kill every member of them.

Or I could let Sibby do it.

But that would also almost assuredly turn the other Courts against me. I could get away with one 'accident', perhaps two, but anymore than that and it would establish a pattern. The only silver lining would be that I wouldn't be the only suspect.

Still, let's hold onto that idea as a last resort.

I think... I needed three things:

#1 - to have Yisame openly in the 'don't attack Tiqr' corner.

#2 - to publicly humiliate the Court of Steel.

and

#3 - to make a good impression on the other Courts.

It was easy to discount a story. Anyone could say anything, and truth-stones were only so reliable. It was the same way that my killing a Djinni in single combat didn't really sway the politicians.

Because to them, it was just words.

They spoke hushed lies about their colleagues and the state of things to others, so why wouldn't they think that what they'd been told about me wasn't true either?

The wars hadn't touched Tyrant's Rest. It and its people were only tangentially aware of them. They might believe my stories were true, but they were still just stories in the end. Plus, the information the public got was always influenced by its source.

But... no.

Doing anything involving the populace would undoubtedly backfire, especially since I wasn't going to stay around. I had to do something about the government, but not anything too drastic or else I really would have the people up in arms against me.

---

Yisame kept her stoic demeanor up until she returned to her quarters. Once she was alone with her [Royal Guards] in the hallway, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

Then she laughed.

A [Hero]! An actual [Hero] who'd saved the [Princess] of his kingdom from being kidnapped!

And a couple of times at that. Not that they'd really gone into Mario's history. She'd only gleaned fragments from what he'd said off-hand while relating the legend of Pixel.

Yisame stopped laughing.

That... was a problem.

With a sigh she flopped onto the silken covers of her bed. They were absolutely on the wrong side of Pixel's story. Even if she took Mario's tale with a grain of salt, which was only proper considering it was essentially a legend from his homeland. It still painted a bleak picture for Nerrhavia's Fallen if they opposed the Archmage of Cubes.

A single person could turn the tide of a war, or even destroy a nation - if they were high enough level.

Probably not a nation as great as Nerrhavia's Fallen on Pixel's own, but she'd been cursed to rule in the era where the King of Destruction had awoken. And wasn't THAT just the worst story to be on the wrong side of too?

Argh! It was so frustrating!

It was like... reading about a person making a decision for all the right reasons, but having also read chapters setting up the situation in more detail. A [Bandit] raid closing in on the village just as the [Hero] leaves. Or the [Hero] challenging a [Knight] to single combat, not realizing his opponent was his aging father. Or the love interest going about their daily lives... when you knew that such a scene wouldn't be included unless something was about to go horribly wrong.

As much as she wanted to dwell on other things, like writing Mario's or Pixel's stories, she did have responsibilities. First, she needed to identify just what parts of Mario's tale were accurate, and which were made up.

The roaming group of nine [Bandits] who had evaded the greatest [Heroes] on the Bet continent until their final confrontation with Pixel? That seemed plausible. Counter leveling was tricky like that. Even if the ruthless [Bandits] normally attacked small villages, and tended to run from the [Heroes] - they still survived. And in surviving they would level.

Not to mention that Jack's Class sounded horrifying in it's own way. To manipulate others to his 'cause' without their knowledge?

Yisame shuddered.

That led to, perhaps, the most outlandish part of Mario's story: the abundance of [Heroes].

It probably was a cultural thing. That certainly was the impression that she got from him describing some of the other high-level [Heroes]. It might even be a simple term instead of an actual Class. While Mario was a [Hero], that didn't mean everyone with that title also possessed the Class.

Hopefully Pixel didn't for her country's sake.

Then, there were the 'Endbringers'. They sounded like the Giants of legends, except smaller and several magnitudes stronger. Or perhaps they were related to the monsters that Drath and Cenidau hunted from beyond the Last Tide? It would make sense if the Bet continent was still connected to there somehow. She wanted to dismiss them. While there were certainly exaggerations, Yisame knew that ancient magic could ravage huge swaths of land.

The fact that they acted with a level of cunning and went after specific targets? A Class-hunting beast could inflict damage that would last generations, if not longer. If they specifically targeted [Farmers], not only would other suffer from lack of food, but the secrets for how to level that Class would be lost to time as well until eventually rediscovered centuries later.

That... level of purposeful denial of resources was somehow more terrifying than the stories of Crelers in a way. Crelers attacked everything without tactics or planning. Evil, but you didn't get the same... impression that Mario's description of the Endbringers painted. Foes that were focused on goals that you didn't even realize until it was almost too late.

She let out a sigh and sat up. What should she do? What COULD she do?

If Mario's story was nothing more than a [Bard]'s performance, that still left them at odds with an [Archmage] more powerful than... She couldn't think of an apt comparison. Nobody could toss around hundreds of 5th level spells like Pixel had.

Not to mention killing a Djinni as old and powerful as Muakhai. Not that she'd known the Djinni that had been slain, or even known of him, but the reports were clear that he had been a singularly potent force that could probably match an army on his own.

There was very good reasons that using Djinni as weapons of war was a crime, and it wasn't simply fear of escalation or that they might find a way to free themselves (or their opponents) in the fighting.

So... it didn't really matter how true Mario's account of things was, the fact was that Pixel was a dangerous person to oppose... and that the Court of Steel intended to do just that.

Nerrhavia's Fallen had lost a Djinni, a powerful relic, a [Great General], almost all of their Officers, and scores and scores of Hemp [Soldiers]. That was a drop in the bucket.

The Minister of War was losing to the King of Destruction also - while hording Nerrhavia Fallen's elite. Those couldn't be sent into a doomed battle. At least their smaller armies couldn't level the King of Destruction's forces too much. And one didn't have to win a battle to win the war.

Not that she was a [Strategist], but she did pay attention to what she was told. It was just that she'd rather be reading.

Speaking of which, it was time to quit dwelling on the eventful day in court and review the reports. They were dry and boring - written by [Ministers] and [Generals] instead of [Writers] and [Poets], but at least it was better than listening to them in person.

Plus, it let her use her [Reader] Skills.

With a weary sigh, Yisame rolled off of her bed and walked to the desk on the other side of the room. She sat down in a chair sculpted by a level 45 [Woodworker] and leafed through the dossiers that had been left for her.

Then, she saw it.

The [Queen] let out a small gasp and dropped the thin letter that had been in the middle of the sheath of paper.

In a blocky script, unlike anything she'd ever seen before, was a simple message: 'To Queen Yisame'.

She recognized the handwriting of all her subordinates, but [Identify Author] did nothing for the out of place letter. Whomever had written this had never written anything she'd read before. That wasn't too unusual, but [Reader's Sense] was blaring in her mind.

Whatever was written inside was important. Moreover, it was important to HER.

She wasn't a [Researcher] or a [Librarian] or a [Counterfeiter]. Her Skill didn't tell her if she'd found an important passage, or a valuable book, or a near-perfect copy. It simply said how a book would impact her personally.

It was a great Skill for finding new things to read, but it NEVER triggered for queenly reports. Nothing she'd ever read over the course of her reign had met the simple qualification of 'enjoyable'.

That, of course, was hardly a surprise. Reports weren't written by people who knew how to weave a scene, nor was that their intent. There had been letters in the past that her sense had informed her of, but those were personal in nature and not something that should've been accidentally included in her report stack.

And she'd never read anything from whomever had written this.

She swallowed nervously, but her fingers didn't shake as she gracefully slid her knife over the wax seal on the back. A seal that bore no crest or other identifying symbols.

Inside, there was a single piece of paper.

To her Majesty, Queen Yisame,

Greetings. I would like to speak with you privately.

If you would be amenable to this, simply tear the letter in half while saying my name.

Signed,

Pixel

How?

How had he gotten a letter into her room?

The wards in the castle were some of the greatest magic since the [Tyrant] herself. They were all but impervious to any attempts to bypass them. Countless people who'd lived in the palace since then, and there had been zero instances of them failing over the centuries.

No. The wards were as secure as they were powerful. They would've detected any intruders.

Did that mean that the letter had come in through official channels?

Her staff were bribed quite often, but their contracts prevented them from doing anything that could be construed as treason. She also liked to think that they would tell her, even if they accepted money to make sure she saw certain offers.

She wanted to say, [Archmage] or not, there was no way that Pixel could've bypassed her wards nor gotten a servant to deliver a letter - either knowingly or unknowingly. Yet, what other options were there?

Probably a great many. The letter could've been ensorcelled to be undetectable somehow... but the wards should've...

Yisame shook her head. However he'd done it, Pixel had gotten her a letter and promised to speak with her if she simply tore it in half and spoke his name. She was wary... but she also trusted her Skill.

And... she could ask him about his past directly...

She steeled her nerves with a deep breath and tore the paper cleanly in half. "Pixel. I would speak with you."

A glowing blue cube floated past her eyes. It seemed to drift along on unseen air currents as it moved through her room before stopping. When it did, the light dimmed and it seemed to grow more solid. Other cubes began to appear - all of them drawn towards the first one. She couldn't tell exactly where they originated from as they were wispy and transparent at first - only growing opaque when they reached their destination. In fact, it would be more accurate to call them motes of light that... solidified into cubes?

One after another they landed, like a [Bricklayer] building a wall, or rather a statue. The colors varied. Dark and light blue had been the most prevalent at first, but Yisame noticed a few black ones that arranged themselves at the top of the emerging figure.

She could almost imagine a person in the cloud as a few pink cubes settled underneath the black ones. Then, the colors shifted from shades of blue to a more vibrant yellow, orange, and red. The latest cubes landed on the mass and formed a shell.

...Or armor.

Her eyes widened as a recognizable form took shape. It was Pixel! That was obvious, but it still surprised her when the mass of cubes became the figure she'd seen on the scrying orbs. It was like watching a [Sculptor] chisel away at a block of marble. She could see each and every change, but at some point it went from an oddly shaped rock to an oddly shaped person.

Then, just like a statue being completed, the final bits settled in and Pixel's form grew distinct. When the last cube attached itself, Pixel moved. His head swiveled to look at her. "Greetings, [Queen] Yisame." He bowed deeply towards her. "I am glad for this chance to speak with you."

As he straighted, the cubes seemed to fold in on themselves until there were none left.

Underneath them was a Human. Tall, dark black hair, brown eyes, young looking, broad shoulders, and handsome. Stringfolk said they didn't care as much about appearance as other races, but Yisame knew that for a lie. They didn't care for details that could be easily changed, but it was undeniable that a Cotton would always have smoother and healthier skin than a Hemp. And a Silk would be more beautiful than a Cotton.

What raised her interest from Pixel's face weren't the details, but rather the fact that he'd showed it to her at all, and how youthful he was. He looked far too young to be the [Archmage] of legend from Mario's stories.

Or did he?

For who else but a powerful [Archmage] could wield magic to retain their youth and vigor?

It was then that Yisame realized her mistake. Not with inviting a powerful and potentially hostile foreigner into her bedroom. Nor was it that she hadn't summoned her [Guards] before doing so. The mistake was doing something political in nature... without her Voice.

And now she'd been quite for far too long. And Pixel was still bowing to her!

"Greetings, Archmage of Cubes." There, that mirrored his salutation. "I must confess that I was surprised by your letter."

Pixel straightened up. "Please forgive my impertinence, but I could think of no other way to contact you directly."

"Indeed?" She arched an eyebrow - hopefully with a proper imperial expression. "No other way?"

"None that would work for my goal rather than against it."

"And what goal might that be?"

"I wish for less bloodshed." Pixel looked down at his palm as he raised his right hand. "I've killed many people. Many, many people. And I've found that I don't have a taste for it. Worse," He looked up and met her eyes. "I find that it doesn't truly bother me. That is why I try to be careful, lest I turn into a monster greater than those I've defeated."

"So the tales Mario told us are true?" If he'd gotten a letter in her room, then it was almost certain that Pixel had been watching the events of the Courts today.

"Partially." He shrugged. "Like most stories there is a grain or two of truth in them, but other parts were... embellished." The [Archmage] let out a small laugh. "But probably not in the way you're thinking."

"Then how?" She leaned forward, eager to hear more.

"Hmmmm..." Pixel crossed his arms and drummed his fingers against his bicep. "I could tell you, but... may I sit first?" She nodded and a cloud of cubes burst from behind Pixel and formed an uncomfortable and strangely plain looking chair that he sat in. "As a sign of good faith, I'll say this: I did not come from a lost continent beyond the Last Tide, but from another reality entirely."

"What?" She blinked. "Another reality? Another Nerrhavia's Fallen?"

"Ha ha." He chuckled. "No. Another planet with completely separate continents, countries, and people that bear little resemblance to those here."

"Then why did you come here? And why aid Tiqr?"

"I came to track down people from my world who had been kidnapped by some great magic. And the reason I helped Tiqr is because it was the right thing to do."

She flinched slightly at the statement that was half an accusation in itself. After all, if defending Tiqr was 'right' in his eyes, then attacking it would've been 'wrong'. Not that such a revelation surprised her, as he'd said as much to the armies gathered before him before raining spells down on them from across the country.

Yet, she couldn't find it within herself to argue the point - especially since she hadn't believed any of the arguments the Court of Steel had made about it being for the glory and safety of Nerrhavia's Fallen.

Even as its [Queen] she'd had her doubts about her people doing the right thing.

"So what is your purpose in my nation, [Archmage]? Are you searching for those taken, like Mario?"

"Yes." He nodded. "I shall be taking him, and Little Mac as well when I depart."

"Little Mac?"

"He is the golem that you have in the Coliseum of Monarchs."

"Ah." She thought back to the very first reports about the artificial gladiator. "That is what a great many people suspected."

"Well," Pixel shrugged. "My magic is quite distinctive."

"Why is that?" She leaned forward.

"Are you curious about magic, your Majesty?"

"Not particularly." She admitted. "It just seems like there's a story behind it."

Pixel laughed. "There is. And it's a simple one, but it also would require quite a lot of details about my world for it to make sense."

"I am always eager to hear about foreign lands. I am the top diplomat of my country." That was technically a lie, as the Court of Threads fulfilled that role under the founding rules of Nerrhavia's Fallen. However, it was also the truth - in that other countries saw her as the Nerrhavia Fallen's ultimate authority, despite the reality of her personal power.

"Perhaps another time." His eyes twinkled with mirth. "It would not be proper to discuss such things when we're technically at war, would it not?"

"Technically Nerrhavia's Fallen is at war with Tiqr."

"Yes." He nodded and accepted the point. "And I am glad that your people did not escalate things to include Wistram."

That was right. He was affiliated with that school for [Mages]. Wistram had denied his actions, despite admitting that he held the rank of Archmage there. That was hardly uncommon. The academy stayed neutral, but Archmages mostly did as they pleased.

Viltach, the Archmage of Terandria and Verdan Blackwood, the Archmage of Dullahans sprang to mind. The notable exception was Amerys, the Archmage of Lightning who had not joined the King of Destruction's side for reasons that nobody knew.

She looked at Pixel. He might be aware of them, but now was hardly the time to ask for a favor like that. It was as he said, he and Nerrhavia Fallen's were essentially at war.

"I concede your point." She deflated slightly. "Otherwise you would not be meeting me through such... unusual channels."

"Indeed." He let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair - that strangely bent to accommodate him. "As I said, I wish for peace. Believe me when I say that I do not wish to slaughter your people. Every life I take makes taking another more and more likely."

"I understand. That is the path of the [Tyrant], and one Nerrhavia's Fallen knows all too well."

"Then you will aid me in ending this pointless conflict."

Yisame grimmaced. "If only I had the authority to do so. Our armies march under the orders of the Court of Steel. The other Courts would have to almost unanimously join together to override their decisions." She tilted her head. "However... I think I might be able to convince them - with a little outside help."

It was an idea she'd stolen from 'Tales of the Hundred Families, Volume 4', but with Pixel's demonstrated power, it might just work.

---

'That was so cool! You really nailed the entrance! I'm so proud of you, Kevin!'

Sibby yelled over our bond as she raced back to the secret base.

'You're really improving. It was a little drawn out, but that felt right for a first impression. You did kinda ruin the shock and awe thing you had going for you. If you'd stayed in your armor it would've been a lot more intimidating. Plus, if you hadn't spoken and instead glowered. With light bouncing off of you, like... a halo? Not the stupid little things in pictures, but more like... an aura! Yeah! You should've stayed in your body and surrounded yourself with an aura. Like, a corona of light. I bet I could do that. I'd just have to control moisture in the air to grab the light so I can redirect it... You know what? Nevermind. That's a lot of work. Just have your eyes glow inside your helmet. That always gets a reaction.'

'Thanks for the feedback, Sibby.'

Was I... becoming too theatrical? I couldn't deny that it felt good to 'make an entrance'. Heck, what was what I'd done to the armies in Tiqr before attacking if not grandstanding?

I didn't used to be this way.

I blamed Sibby.

'It's a lot of fun making an impression like that, huh? I guess I can also understand the talking part. I think it's a lot more intimidating to be silent but deadly, but it does only really result in one type action. Or two. Most run away, but a few do try to fight back. Oh, and there's the super rare third kind, the sort that talk. That doesn't happen much. Though it did pick up after I started hanging around with you. Those women with nice fashion sense. I wonder what happened with them?'

'Talking is the easiest way to communicate for most people, Sibby. And what would be gained by having [Queen] Yisame cowering, attacking me, or trying to talk while I remained stoically silent?'

'Hmmm... Not much. I guess I can see your point. And it is good to communicate with your friends. Is she our friend now?'

'I wouldn't go that far, but I don't think she's our enemy. It would be nice if she was our ally, I'm sure a lot of Earthers are in Nerrhavia's Fallen, just because of how big it is.'

'Oh! Is that why you changed your lie from what you told her as Mario?'

'Yes.' In part. It just felt natural for Mario to relay grand tales, while being personally humble. I should clamp down on that impulse when I'm pretending to be someone else. There's a fine line between acting the way my alter-ego would and acting in ways that might get me in trouble later. 'Let's plan for tomorrow.'

---

"Summon the Gladiator Mario to appear before us."

Her Voice's words rang out as the different Courts reacted with puzzled expressions. It was far from normal for Yisame to exert her power to dictate the course of the day's itinerary, but it was her primary authority. As with everything, Nerrhavia's Fallen governance system had been created as iron-clad as possible to prevent a [Tyrant] from ever seizing power again. Thus, her personal power was broad, but shallow. Any of the ministers could motion against any of her declarations, and bring things to a vote.

Doing so was gauche and would have the other Courts eyeing them if they overstepped.

The murmuring and calculating looks from everyone wasn't because they were planning on challenging her change to the usual agenda, but because they were trying to figure out the reason for it and how to twist it into their favor.

Plus she was certain that other's had similar plans, just not for the very first thing. Yisame could've simply let Mario be brought in naturally over the course of the day, but there were two good reasons to do so now: first, it would associate everything that happened next with her, thus giving her the upper hand in any rumors or plots, and second, it wouldn't make Pixel wait.

As a side benefit, it would probably also end today's court early... but it would result in longer ones later.

No plan was perfect.

The Courts continued their whispers, but none challenged her, so a messenger from the Court of Silk was sent out of the room to where, presumably, Velori had Mario waiting for him for her own plots.

"The Gladiator Mario!" The [Herald] announced as the [Guards] opened the doors for the foreigner to enter.

"The Court wishes to speak with you again, and has questions for you." Her Voice handled the minutia of things as the different Courts prepared to bombard Mario with questions, accusations, and thinly veiled threats - now that they'd had time to come up with such things.

For her part, Yisame waited for her co-conspirator to arrive. Not that it was a 'real' conspiracy. Certainly nothing that would invoke the magical contracts that bound her and the other officials to the word of the law. Everything she'd done, from speaking with Pixel in her room to summoning Mario for a scripted scene was well within her official powers.

It felt like she was part of a story being told.

There was an audible gasp when the first glowing cube appeared. The floating magic seemed to come together much quicker than before as Pixel materialized in his armor while striding forward. Each new piece connected perfectly with the moving form as it resolved into the [Archmage].

Her Voice took in a breath, but Yisame whispered for her to abstain. Instead it was the Minister of War who yelled out for the guards.

Her soldiers moved as one, and collapsed as one without Pixel so much as raising a finger to cast a spell, or apparently, to even notice nor care. Yisame knew this whole scene was to establish how powerful he was, and that he had time to prepare something beforehand... but such a casual display of power without a Skill or Spell being openly used was still intimidating.

She had to remind herself that the towering figure inside the brightly colored armor was her ally and this was all going as planned. That allowed her to maintain her impassive face.

"Mario. There you are." Pixel's voice was deep and booming. "Come. Let us be off."

"[Archmage] Pixel, is that'a really you?"

"Yes it is." Pixel nodded. "It's taken some time, but I'm glad I found you."

"So we're going back'a home?"

"Not yet." The Archmage of cubes shook his head. "There are others who I still need to find, but... I'd appreciate your help."

Mario turned his head and gave her a knowing look before turning and walking towards Pixel. "You can'a count on me!" The pair turned and slowly returned towards the entrance.

"You can't be here! This is an act of war!" A plant her Voice had set up shouted at exact right time.

"Oh?" Pixel stopped and his head swiveled. The court members shrunk down as his visored gaze passed over them. "We are already at war, are we not? In fact... wouldn't it be easier to simply kill everyone here instead of doing so to your next army?" The threat hung in the air as Pixel raised a glowing hand. "Yes. Killing the leaders is the best route with the least amount of blood."

There was silence as Pixel's dangerous looking hand stopped moving and he focused on a single person: the Minister of War. He paled under the attention even as the Great Sage on the other side of the room prepared to try and counter whatever Pixel did next.

"You wouldn't dare..." His voice held both fear and disbelief.

"Wouldn't I?" Pixel tilted his head slightly. "I could've wiped out your entire army down to the last Hemp and left not a single soul alive. Instead, I was merciful and only killed those giving such vile orders. If those same orders came from the Court of Steel instead of General Thelican, why shouldn't I rip the weed out by its roots? Perhaps your successor will realize the folly in attacking a neutral country - especially one I've granted my protection." The [Archmage] shrugged, as if unconcerned about the artifacts that several members had withdrawn or the Spell the Great Sage had on her lips. "Eventually the Court of Steel will raise up a [Minister] with more intelligence than a desert gnat."

"Wait! Wait!" The aforementioned man with less intellect than a desert gnat raised his hands. "That was all Thelican's fault!" Thelican. Not [Great General] Thelican. It seemed like the dead leader of the army was about to become a post-humorous scapegoat. "He was the one who used a forbidden spell! Who sent the Djinni!"

"Is that so?" Pixel lowered his hand as the glow faded. "Then I can only hope that there aren't any other [Generals] of Nerrhavia's Fallen with the same disregard for life. If such leaders were sent towards Tiqr, then I would be forced to make an even worse example of them."

With that final word, Pixel and Mario vanished in a swirling storm of glowing cubes. All around the room, the afflicted [Guards] groaned as they recovered from whatever Pixel had done while the Great Sage looked on with puzzlement as she tried to understand what magic had just been used.

Yisame, for her part, flicked open her fan and raised it to cover the lower half of her mouth before smiling. Not a single person dead or even hurt. The only casualty was the Court of Steel's standing.

A storybook ending.

Chapter 115: Interlude - Teura

"...and that's all I have to report, Master."

The image of Pixel gave her a look that said 'why are you still calling me that?', but he'd given up voicing his complaints. "Thank you, Teura."

She smiled as he vanished and started mentally composing her [Message] Spell back to Feor.

She'd learned a lot of things since coming here. Small details about Earth - Pixel's Earth, not the world of the children. She'd learned even more about the Archmage himself. She still didn't know what Class he had, but it hardly mattered as his other abilities were already so potent.

She'd learned his love of video games was real. He kept trying to get her to play the things.

She'd learned he had a companion that wasn't a Djinni, but powerful enough for it to be an apt comparison. The black and white woman had a relationship with Pixel that she still hadn't quite puzzled out.

She'd learned that he was searching for someone. Someone important to him that both was and wasn't an Earther. It most likely was another person from his Earth.

She'd learned some limitations that his artifacts had. The teleporter took time to accumulate enough power to cover truly vast distances. Anywhere in Tiqr wasn't so bad, but bringing supplies from Wistram consumed much of its reserves.

She'd learned that he'd contacted Queen Yisame. She didn't know the details, only that it looked like peace was going to occur between Tiqr and Nerrhavia's Fallen.

She'd learned that the King of Destruction wanted an audience. She'd learned that and a great deal more when the envoys from Reim had arrived.

She'd learned that he was true to his word. Pixel had his own innate sense of justice, and it seemed to trump all other concerns.

Still, she'd been sent here as part of the Centrists faction to spy on Pixel, so spy she did. She took all the secrets she'd learned since her last check-in and put them in the [Message].

...Or, at least, shadows of them. Half-truths. Misleading statements that hid Pixel's true nature, power, and desires.

That had been her plan from the beginning. To get a position close to him and learn as many secrets as she could, while doling out a few morsels to Feor and the other Archmages at Wistram. She'd always intended to keep the juiciest secrets for herself until she needed to trade them for something valuable.

Now... she wasn't sure that day would ever come.

Pixel was a poor [Mage]. Like most of the non-Wistram [Mages] of the world, he relied on his Class to accomplish things. He didn't understand Spells or shaping mana or any of the thousand things that Wistram taught its [Mages] so they'd be better than the rest of the world.

...But he knew that, and was open and honest about it.

Teura found that refreshing.

She also understood why Pixel felt that way. He'd only been around mana for a few short months. Despite that, HIS powers were far more refined than... anything. It could be his non-mana magic filling in the gaps, but she knew a spell to see mana. It wasn't nearly as good as what Gazi the Omniscient could do. (And that was another secret she was keeping for herself.) But it let her see how effectively it was used and shaped for Pixel's Spells.

Teura let out a sigh. Her Spell wasn't good enough. She had known Pixel had hurt himself in the fight with the Djinni, but the fact that he'd done something on his own that was curing him had passed her by. It had passed Pixel by as well, but... well... she WANTED to help him.

Ha.

How ironic, but she really was enjoying being his [Apprentice] in truth. Doubly ironic was that for how much Pixel hated the label 'Master', he was a good one. Not in what he could teach her, but in the attention he gave her. (Thankfully platonic, unlike some of the people who'd taught her over the years.) It was almost like he was used to staying up late while talking and teaching.

So while Teura was only learning new magic by studying his artifacts, she was also picking up fascinating details about biology, physics, and countless other subjects.

Unsurprisingly, Pixel knew Earther knowledge as well, but at a deeper level than the teenage Humans they were housing at Wistram.

Her lengthy [Message] was finally composed and she sent it to Feor, along with a different version to Viltach and Nailihuaile. Technically she was part of Pixel's faction now, and so could openly communicate with other faction leaders without reprimand.

...

Teura was watching the 'Food Replicator' again. She felt she was close to understanding how it worked. Each cube was a tiny microcosm unto itself. It was impossible to discern directly what was happening inside. But it probably had something to do with 'molecules' or 'atoms'. Or possibly 'wave lengths'? That lesson from Pixel had made absolutely zero sense.

Her frustrating task was interrupted by a [Message] from Wistram.

A smile spread across her face as she read it. With Tiqr no longer being considered an active war zone, there were volunteers coming to help her study the blighted area.

Perfect!

She both needed competent help, and was also looking forward to being in charge.

Teura made her way to the Teleportation Room, and activated the controls to connect the Teleportation Pad here with the one back in Wistram. Pixel could control his artifacts with his mind, but he'd provided controls for others to use.

She pressed the button and watched as the reserve charge fell to just under 50%. Hmmm... a larger cost than when she normally used it.

A figure materialized on the pad surrounded by a few crates. He was an overweight Human with a brown, bushy beard and orange eyes.

"[High Mage] Telim." She greeted him. They were from different factions, but Telim was notorious in his own right... for stealing food. Teura also knew him to be talented at configuring minute details of Spells. He was certainly a fine addition to studying the blight, but... "I didn't think you'd ever leave Wistram."

"Well, it's an adventure, isn't it?" He winked at her. "I've heard so much from the children that I couldn't pass up the opportunity for a little field work. As long as it's in a safe environment."

"I understand."

"And you have artifacts from Pixel that create food, do you not?"

Ah. Now she really understood. "We do, but before that, let me help you with your luggage."

Telim's eyes gleamed. "Are you going to use this teleportation artifact for that?"

"There's no need for that." Especially since doing a different way would let her show off. She touched the first crate and felt her mana drop by the slightest amount, a fraction of what it should've cost as she cast her Spell with the best Skill she'd gotten from being Pixel's [Apprentice].

"[Optimized Spell: Teleportation]"

Chapter 116: Rising Tide 6

I sat with Sibby and used my Babel Perks to project an image of myself via the Communication Cube I'd left with [Queen] Yisame.

"That seemed like it went as well as can be expected." I nodded to her as I sat down across from her in an illusionary chair. While it wasn't necessary, it felt more appropriate to sit and discuss instead of having 'Pixel' looming over her. "Will this really stop the war effort?"

"Not all of it." She sighed. "Nerrhavia's Fallen has to have a Court of Steel, and that Court has to have a Minister of War. Loqi was Thelican's friend and tied his success to the former [Great General]. His death was the major rallying point he used to keep the other Courts behind the war. That, and no one could accept that Nerrhavia's Fallen actually lost."

"And now?"

"And now you've proved that our loss wasn't against a simple country of beasts, but against a legendary [Archmage] from a hidden continent." Yisame shrugged. "That makes it far more bearable. Plus, the very real possibility that you might just appear in the very heart of Tyrant's Rest and kill those that oppose you? The Courts would rather wield that threat as power."

I blinked. "They want to 'wield' me?"

"It is the nature of things. Before you were an opponent to all of Nerrhavia's Fallen. Now? You are a powerful foreign dignitary that they can ally with to raise their own standing." She closed her eyes and lowered her head to her desk. "At least that's the way it always goes. The Courts seek power and prestige, but the only way to elevate themselves is to tear down their counterparts. It's exhausting."

"I see."

"And that isn't even getting into the different warring [Princes]!" She grumbled into her arms. "Dead gods. Every week if it's not one thing than it's another. At least none of them were in the capital for this. Who knows how any of them would've reacted?" She let out a groan.

"You seemed to have handled things nicely. You're pretty talented at politics too."

"Not by choice." She grumbled. "I've learned how to keep things more or less balanced, which isn't too hard since whomever rises up gets dragged back down by everyone else. The problem is avoiding being on the very top or bottom myself. You should've counted your blessings when you were everyone's enemy. Now you'll be hounded by all sorts of politicians."

"They'll have to find me first." My image smirked as it leaned back and crossed its arms.

"Ha." She chuckled. "Don't underestimate them. I'd wager that at least three diplomatic caravans are on their way to Tiqr right now to both negotiate a pause to the war and to seek an audience with you. It won't matter if you aren't actually in the country or not or if you're blocking message Spells, they'll find you somehow." She raised up her head. "Or more likely, they'll find something you're interested in. You told me that your countrymen were abducted by a great magic, but others will be able to infer that from Mario's account of what happened to him."

"That's likely true."

"Although," She looked at me out of the corner of her eyes. "It was awfully convenient for you to send me a letter on the exact same day that Mario first spoke in the Court." She smiled slightly. "Why, if I didn't know any better, I'd think that you sent Mario here specifically to have a reason to visit yourself."

"Oh?"

"It would be one thing if you arrived unannounced and threatened the Minister of War. It's quite another for you to casually arrive for a different reason, and then imply that you'll kill him."

"Yes." I nodded. "One would be provocative and would likely unify the Courts against me. The other..."

"The other accomplished your true goal: ending the war without further bloodshed."

"I'll admit that it was quite fortuitous for me." I leaned back. "But I don't think anyone else would reach the same conclusion."

"No. Not since they don't know we met."

"Truly, it's good to have friends in high places."

"So we're friends then?" There was an eagerness underlying her words that made me wish I was there in person so I could see what emotional notifications she was giving off.

"Yes?"

"Then surely my good friend would do something for me."

"So we're good friends now?" I smiled as I repeated her line and shook my head. "What do you want, Yisame?"

"The real story of your life." She leaned forward, her eyes locked onto mine. "The truth behind the tale Mario told."

"Hmmm..." My image drummed its fingers on its illusionary chair. "That is asking more than you know. Besides," I smiled. "Isn't the fun of a story figuring out such things on your own."

"..." She crossed her arms and glowered at me.

"However..." I smiled as she leaned forward again. "I could come and tell you stories from my land. Fables and fairy tales that may or may not have any basis in reality."

She smiled. "I'd like that."

I sighed as my real body started crafting a Tinker-tech blueprint that I'd designed for Riley years ago. "In fact... I could summon some books filled with such stories."

"Really?" Her eyes went wide.

"Yes. I'll deliver them to your hidden chamber in a couple of hours."

"Thank you, Pixel!" She beamed at me.

"You're welcome. And feel free to use the Communication Cube to contact me at any time." I had my projected form fade from sight in a much less dramatic way than previously.

"I will." I could hear the smile on her voice from the cube, even after 'I' had left.

Looks like the digitized stories I'd complied for Riley over the years would pay off in an unexpected way. The Printing Press just required a few electronics to Craft. For the books, I had a small stockpile of plant and animal matter I could use from the sewers. I fed the data into the book-creating machine and watched as it began to print pages and bind them together into a few normal-looking leather bound volumes.

...

'...so then I thought to myself: self, why can't you put the books down? It was basically the same thing as using your Inventory to plop out the letter and the cube, but not. I think it was because the cube was so tiny and the books are so big. I mean, they really aren't - unless you compare them to the cube. But then most things would be small compared to the cube, so I guess that doesn't really say much, huh?'

I patiently waited for Sibby to continue her story about how she'd snuck back into the [Queen]'s warded personal area again.

'Then I had another thought. I was only able to place your cube inside before because I wrapped it in the same authority stuff that I had to put around myself to exist inside there. Do you see what I mean? I can't normally affect you or your stuff directly! Well, at least not to grant you or it protection. I can tear through either of you easily enough. Which is also odd, now that I think about it. I could also never use my powers to protect William, but I don't think I could hurt him either. Do you think it's because I hurt you before you were my summoner? That kinda makes sense, right?'

I shrugged. "I suppose. It would be nice if you could use things I made for you." Like having a proper airplane instead of a huge chunk of glass that really only exists so Sibby can carry me.

'Yep! That's what I thought! So, anyways, this authority stuff is different from my usual powers. I mean, we already knew that, but this is, like, an example of how different they are. Another example, that is. So I thought and thought. I could use authority on your cube to let me un-Inventory it, but I couldn't use my authority on the books because unlike the letter, they were too big and I still don't have very much authority. Plus, even if I did, I wouldn't want to waste it, you know? It's useful, but there's so little of it!'

That was true, but I also didn't see a good way for Sibby to 'earn' more. At least not without causing more problems.

'The cube was small and was made by you, so I couldn't use my power, but could use authority. The books were big, and not made by you. I mean, they were made by you, but not MADE by you. What I'm saying is, they aren't cubes that don't really exist like everything else you made. Sure, they were made by cubes that don't really exist that you made, but they, themselves, are like, paper and leather and ink and junk. So... I could use my own power on them! Aren't I brilliant!?!'

"So you made them immune to the ward?"

'I wish! I can't even move properly inside that thing... yet. I tried taking them out of your Inventory, and all I got was popped for my troubles! But! I had another brilliant idea! You know how Panda takes her clothes with her when she summons and un-summons herself? Well, I've been practicing that too! As talented as I am, Panda is still better. Plus, why would I ever want to bring clothes with me? It's just so pointless.' Her eyes glowed with excitement. 'So I went back outside and un-Inventoried the books so I was holding them... Then I summoned myself back inside the ward with them in my hands! Aren't I just so smart?'

"Yes, Sibby. You're the best." I smiled fondly at her enthusiasm.

'Right? It was hard having to juggle holding the books and extending my power to them to make them barely there like I was, and to impose my authority on the ward, but I did it! I summoned myself back to her room, and then since the books were actually there, I just let them go. I let them fall from my hands, and also out of my power, and also out of my authority. And it worked!' Sibby puffed out her chest with pride and I looked away. 'The books are there, just like you wanted.' She frowned. 'But taking them back would be tough...'

"That's fine, Sibby. There's no need to take away Yisame's books. Now," I stood up. "How about I fix you a nice big meal as a reward?"

'Yes! Do that!'

...

With my purpose in Nerrhavia's Fallen done, and everything wrapped up, it was time to go visit Flos Reimarch - the King of Destruction. I left my base in the sewers active, in case I ever needed to re-visit Tyrant's Rest. Little Mac was back - safe and sound inside my Inventory, and [Queen] Yisame had a Communication Cube if we ever needed to talk again. I had no plans to return, but it was better safe than sorry.

Who knows? I might need to visit Nerrhavia's Fallen again one day. Sooner if things didn't work out with Flos.

Nsiia would've been the best choice. She would do what's right, and she was firmly on my side after the help I'd provided Tiqr... but Tiqr itself wasn't strong enough.

Nerrhavia's Fallen had the necessary strength, but I couldn't count of it to help me handle Roshal. Even if [Queen] Yisame was favorably inclined towards me, that wouldn't be enough for helping with taking over another nation. Even if she was willing, the political landscape of her country made such a thing... ugh.

I hoped that it wouldn't come to returning. In fact, if negotiations failed with Flos, then I'd probably have to look elsewhere for the support I required to fulfill my plan. Especially since Nerrhavia's Fallen also had its fair share of [Slaves].

The thing was, I already had a relationship with him through Gazi, Trey, and the Quarass - as fragile and shallow as it was. I also had a gift as leverage.

"Alright, Sibby, let's go."

'Okay!'

The Siberian leapt through the 'plane' while I opted to teleport inside rather than clamor through the hole in the back of the glass sculpture. I had returned to my regular body, so it was once again a rather snug fit. Perhaps I should've stayed as Mario, just for his diminutive stature?

Nah. It felt good to be back to normal.

We didn't exactly take-off so much as suddenly jerk away from the ground and through the air. I knew that it wasn't nearly as fast as Sibby could've accelerated us and that she was holding back for my sake, but it still made me glad to not have a body that could suffer from motion-sickness.

While we were flying, I connected with the Communication Cube I'd left Trey. He was inside a tent. A pretty nice tent as far as such things went. It was big and had some simple furniture inside of it. He was laying on a cot with his hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling.

I used Tongue of Babel to make my voice come from outside the tent, along with a knocking sound that couldn't possibly have come from anyone rapping on the fabric wall. "Excuse me, Trey. I'd like to speak with you."

"What?" He jerked up. "Tell Flos I don't-" He stopped as the incongruity of the knocking sound struck him. "Who is it?"

"It's Pixel."

"Really?" He looked around and then dug out the Communication Cube from his pocket before looking between it and the wall. "Are you... actually here?"

"That's what I'd like to discuss, may I?"

He nodded, and I switched the communication I was doing with my Perk from solely auditory to include a visual component as an image of me in my armor seemed to step into his tent through the wall.

Trey's eyes went wide for a moment. "So you really are here!"

"No." I shook my head. "This is just a... hologram the cube is projecting. I find it's easier to speak this way."

"Oh. Okay." He sagged a little. "I guess that makes sense. No reason why a superhero wouldn't have some sort of tech like that."

"I don't recall saying I was a superhero."

Trey smirked as he held up his Communication Cube. "Perhaps not to me, but you've told others. It's all over the 90's style message board you set up to let us talk."

"Ah." I'd written an auto-mod program, but hadn't felt the need to intrude on what the teens from Earth Iota were discussing.

"Flos has been even more excited to meet you since then."

"You told him?"

"Teressa did." Trey set the cube on the cot as he sat up. "Was she not supposed to?"

"No." I shook my head. "It doesn't matter. I doubt anyone from Earth realizes the implications of calling someone a 'superhero'."

"They understand [Hero] enough for it to have made an impact." He bowed his head and rubbed his temples with his right hand. "Mars wants to fight you."

"Mars the Illusionist?" She was one of the King of Destruction's seven. His strongest fighter, and also the person Gazi had mentioned as a [Gladiator] when she'd told me of how I could get an audience with [Queen] Yisame.

"Yeah. She's... a lot. So be ready for that if you ever come."

"That's why I contacted you actually. I'm on my way to you as we speak. I wish an audience with Flos Reimarch."

Trey's expression darkened. "I'll let him know."

Once again, I wished I was having this conversation in person so I could get notifications about his emotions. Regardless of what Perks or Skills I placed in my Communication Cubes, that feature simply didn't work.

"We'll arrive in a few hours."

Trey nodded to me and I cut the transmission, but I kept the information his Communication Cube was relaying in the back of my mind. I was curious exactly how he'd tell Flos. He still seemed to be at odds with the [King], and I wanted to make sure everything was okay.

I didn't have to wait long. Trey was still putting on his shoes when a voice came from outside his tent. "Trey, I'm coming inside." The flap was pushed aside as Gazi the Omniscient entered.

"Hey! I could've been changing in here!"

"No, you weren't." Gazi's secondary eyes rotated, except for a single one that remained focused on the Communication Cube.

Trey followed her gaze and picked the cube back up to shove in his pocket. "Pixel was just here, or at least a hologram of him."

"Hologram?"

"An illusion."

Gazi nodded. "Is everything okay?" She asked with possibly a hint of concern in her voice. I really wished for my notifications to tell me the subtext of all of this.

"It's fine." Trey resumed tying his laces. "Pixel was just letting me know that he was coming to visit. He wants to speak with Flos."

"I'll let him know." Gazi turned to leave before pausing. "Is that everything? You look pensive."

"I'm fine." Trey finished with his shoes and sighed. "I'm just worried about Mars."

Gazi chuckled. "Don't be. She might want a fight, but she won't randomly attack anyone."

"You don't get it. Superheroes ALWAYS get into a fight when they encounter another strong person. It's, like, a rule or something. Some miscommunication or a desire to showboat, I don't know. I don't even know if that's how things are in real life, or in Pixel's dimension, but you know Mars."

"Don't worry, Trey." Gazi smiled. "I'll go tell Flos, and I'll get him to make sure Mars doesn't challenge Pixel to a fight. Besides," She shrugged as she left the tent. "She likes to fight [Warriors], not [Mages]."

Good to know. Regardless, I wasn't planning on getting into a fight while I was there. That would be pointless.

...

"Land there." I pointed to an empty stretch of road. "Trey is still a couple miles north, but I'd prefer to keep Gazi from watching us approach." There was no need to advertise Sibby to the Half-Gazer, nor the 'invisible' plane either.

I braced myself against the sides of the cockpit.

"Okay!" Sibby decelerated quickly - not as quickly as she could, but still pretty fast. We touched down light as a feather.

I closed my eyes and focused on Threat Sense. Nobody was watching me. Well, technically Sibby was, but she only triggered Threat Sense when she wanted to. I then extended the sense into the future while also pushing mana into it.

Nope. No magical observers either, and none over the next few seconds.

"Let's go." I teleported outside the glass sculpture, with Sibby appearing next to me moments after. I then Inventoried it, while also un-Inventorying my regular armor. I'd Crafted myself a replacement battle suit during my time in Nerrhavia's Fallen, and I had enough fuel to make it fly for a while. The question was: how did I want to appear in the King of Destruction's camp?

It wasn't like Flos was sitting out in the middle of nowhere all by himself. Rather, he was in the center of a well-organized army. Flying over them might cause a ruckus.

At the same time, I didn't feel like walking that far. I could teleport in bursts - the way I normally traveled, but I also needed to consider Gazi.

The Half-Gazer could see me from quite the distance, and I was equally certain she could see through any of my stealth tech.

...Perhaps not the golden orb. That thing had layers and layers of abilities. It was a shame I could only make the single one, and couldn't even incorporate any of its blueprints into other devices without them exploding.

This wouldn't be my first impression for a few of Flos' people, but it would for most of them - including the [King] himself.

Right. I nodded to myself. "I'm going to fly to the edge of his camp, and then land and speak with the sentries." That felt like the best plan to both make a relatively dramatic entrance without causing a panic or getting off on the wrong foot.

Sibby un-summoned herself while I equipped my custom Cawthorne and then took to the sky. Its engines burnt fuel to lift me off the ground and to accelerate before I cut them and extended my forcefield into a pair of wings and coasted.

Gazi noticed me before anyone else. Threat Sense let me know I was being observed by a single person before I came into range and the amount skyrocketed as people below pointed up at me as I descended to land in front of them.

As I Inventoried my outer armor, Sibby materialized next to me.

...My nudist friend who was fully physically present and also completely visible.

Okay. So Sibby wants to tag along. That's fine. I guess she also got bored of sneaking around in Tyrant's Rest? Whatever. If she wants to let her presence be known, who am I to argue? I just didn't like the stares she was getting.

Before whatever situation I was in between the naked Siberian and the sentries could devolve, a figure shouted in the distance as she ran towards us. "Pixel!" Gazi's voice caused the soldiers to freeze before she swiftly arrived herself. "Trey said you'd be coming." She nodded. "Flos wants to greet you immediately."

**Gazi is happy.
**Gazi is excited.
**Gazi is slightly confused.
**Flos is eager!

Ah.

"Thank you Lady Pathseeker." I nodded at her and then motioned towards Sibby. "This is my friend and ally, the Siberian. She prefers to be called 'Sibby' by her friends and acquaintances."

"Well met, Siberian." Gazi's face remained impassive as her main eye turned to look at Sibby.

**Gazi is confused.
**Gazi is concerned.
**Gazi is slightly afraid.
**Flos is excited!

Well now. THAT made me curious myself. What exactly did Sibby look like to someone with magical eyes? Could Gazi see Sibby's 'authority'? Or something strange with her biology? Or was Sibby a blank hole in her sight?

Any of those possibilities seemed feasible.

"Shall we be off? I wouldn't like to keep the King of Destruction waiting."

"Of course." Gazi turned around and started walking. "It's hard to say how excited my King is right now. Ever since I returned and told him about our meeting, he's been even more energetic than normal.

**Gazi is happy.
**Flos is anticipating!

"That's good to hear." Probably.

As we walked through the camp, it was hard to say who was being stared at the most. My pixelated armor always drew people's eyes, and Sibby was an attractive woman with a very unique appearance. Gazi, on the other hand, was probably a more common sight - even if she was rarely seen, but she was also one of Flos Reimarch's Seven.

This was his army, and from what I understood of the man and the situation, they were fiercely loyal. Lots of them doubtlessly idolized Gazi and his other entourage - although I also got the impression that Gazi was the type of person to stay in the background and observe.

It also hadn't escaped my notice that she'd continued to stare at Sibby as the three of us made our way to the center area. Partitions surrounded it with guards at the entrances, but inside is was virtually empty. No [Soldiers], [Guards], or anyone else, just a dozen impressive tents.

**Flos is inpatient!
**Flos is eager!

And judging by the increased amount of notifications I was getting, this was indeed where the King of Destruction was. It made me a little wary. The last person who'd I'd gotten so many notifications about - and from an increased range, had been Jack.

In fact, the leader of the Slaughterhouse Nine had been the very first person I'd ever gotten notifications from. I'd at first thought it was an oddity that made little sense, but after increasing my Charisma, the empathic information began to also come from others. The more Charisma, the more notifications.

Now they were mostly background noise. It wasn't like I needed to actually read the pop-ups to know what they said.

However, there was a reason to be alarmed. Jack hadn't had stronger feelings than anyone else. No, the reason I'd gotten his notifications first and from a further range was due to his Shard: Broadcast. A deceptively powerful one, not that any Shard was truly weak. It has made him a sort of Master/Thinker.

So it was a little worrisome to notice the same effect from someone else.

*Paranoia negated by Gamer's Mind.

Then again, there had been others that had interacted with my notifications in strange ways. People like Glory Girl, or anyone else with an emotion related power. Just like a 'regular' empath, I was simply more sensitive to similar effects. The far more likely scenario was that Flos also had an emotional Skill that relayed what he was feeling.

Or it could also be a [King] thing, or a [Ruler] thing in general.

That was much more probable than Flos having something that made requests to Optimize directly. Even if he did, why would my Shard listen to a non-Shard?

The flaps to the tent were tied open, so I could see what was inside before we entered. There was a table covered in maps. Hunched over it was a large man - easily six feet tall and built like a bear. His hair was red mixed with gold. Not blond, gold. He wore it long and had a full beard.

"My [King], I've brought-"

"Pixel!" Flos' eyes gleamed as he stood up and spread his arms wide. "I'm excited for you to be here! I've heard so much from Theresa and Trey!"

**Flos is excited!

"Sir." An man with Asian features spoke from the side.

"Yes, yes, Orthenon." Flos made a dismissive motion. "If Pixel was here to do war, we would already know it. And from what I've seen of the recordings of the battle in Tiqr, he would proclaim why he was fighting first." He let out a booming belly laugh.

**Flos is amused!

"I actually do have a few different things I'd like to discuss with you." I gave Flos a half-bow.

"Aye. And I have a few that I'd like to speak with you about." Flos stroked his chin. "However, my most pressing question will wait until after introductions." He turned towards Sibby. "Who is your companion? I've seen few who would dare face the harsh environment of our continent with zero protections, nor any who would approach a [King] is such attire! Or lack of it!" He smiled at his own joke.

"This," I motioned towards Sibby. "Is the Siberian. She is my ally and friend."

Sibby's eyes glowed as she turned between Flos and Orthenon.

"Does she not speak?"

"Rarely. When the mood strikes her."

"And is she a friend from your world, I wonder?" Flos' smile broadened. "Another superior [Hero]? No, wait. The term is 'Super-hero', is it not?"

"It is, and she is." I nodded.

**Flos is excited!
**Flos is intrigued!
**Flos is curious!

"Really?" His eyes reflected the lightstones that lit the tent and almost seemed to glow like Sibby's were. "I would hear of both her exploits and yours, Pixel. In fact, let me offer you my thanks." Flos bowed his head towards me. "It tore at me to see a country that had once been stanch allies being set upon by all sides for no other reason than they wished to remain neutral." He scowled. "If they would have declared for me, then I might've been able to use my Skill to aid them, but that also would be falling into the trap set by my foes. If it weren't for my vow, I would've done so anyways."

**Flos is angry!
**Flos is indignant!
**Flos is furious!

"It was the right thing to do. No more, no less." I looked over at Sibby. "You should thank my friend as well. She fought just as much as I did, but from the shadows. Without her, I cannot say what the end result would've been.

**Flos is surprised!
**Flos is impressed!

"Is that so?" He gave Sibby a contemplative look. "In that case, I also offer you my thanks, Siberian." He looked back at me. "I would grant each of you a boon, but before that, I have a most pressing matter that I must ask you."

**Flos is resolute!

"What is it?"

"I already owe you one boon, if not for me and my people, for helping an old friend. However, there is something more. A request that I don't make lightly." He took a deep breath. "You are from Wistram, where one of my Seven is. I do not think for a second that Amerys would not be by my side if she were able. Tell me, does she yet live?"

"She does."

"And does Wistram have her imprisoned?"

"They do."

**Flos is angry!
**Flos is furious!
**Flos is murderous!

He clenched his hands as he looked at me. "Pixel. I wish to make a deal. You are an Archmage of that school, but you are not a sniveling coward like the rest of them. I both beseech you and offer you any reward under my power, return to Wistram and free Amerys."

"No."

Notes:

Bios:

Trey - A teenager from London who arrived in Flos' throne room with his twin sister Teresa. Probably should be in the main tent, but he's still avoiding Flos.

Teresa - A teenager from London who arrived in Flos' throne room with her twin brother Trey. Probably should be in the main tent, but she's off training.

Gazi - Gazi Pathseeker. A Half-Gazer bred in Roshal and bought by Flos at a young age. He freed her and she has served him faithfully ever since. Pixel healed her main eye to repay her telling him how [Gladiator] champions often got audiences with the [Queen] in Nerrhavia's Fallen.

Flos Reimarch - The King of Destruction, ruler of Reim, former conquerer of Chandrar who gave up on his goal to rule the world after suffering the deaths of several of his closest friends and allies. A beloved hero to most of his former subjects, and a feared villain to many other countries in the world. Now energized once again by news of Earth from Teresa and Trey.

Orthenon - Flos' steward who was originally from the Drath Archipelago. Tall and gaunt with a long, drooping mustache. Like many of Flos' closest allies he originally was on the opposite side of a battlefield - this time as a mercenary instead of a part of another nation's army. [Cultivator].

Amerys - The Calm Flower of the Battlefield. One of Flos' Seven. Went to Wistram while he slept and became the Archmage of Lightning. When he awoke, the other Archmages ambushed Amerys and locked her up so she couldn't join him. Pixel found her and was appalled at her treatment: being bound and gagged inside a room that drains her mana. Her restraints were partially her own fault, as she would physically attack anyone that came close. Refused to renounce Flos. Pixel froze her in time so that she would be imprisoned, but not in a torturous manner.

Mars - The illusionist. A high-level [Vanguard] and former [Gladiator]. Like most of his Seven, she fought against Flos before he earned her allegiance and loyalty. Her nickname comes from the multitude of magical items she's acquired over the years - one or more of which that allow her to layer a nearly perfect image around her. This lets her appear to be a vibrantly beautiful and scantily armored warrior woman. The real Mars, hidden underneath, is never without her armor.

Chapter 117: Rising Tide 7

Amerys coughed as she stared at the [Archmage]. "Pixel." She smiled at him. "Are you here to free me?"

"Yes. You will not spend another minute in your chains."

The look on Feor's face was priceless. "No!" The half-elf was panicking, and for good reason. When she was free, she'd throughly enjoy watching him spasm as her lightning ran through him. "Attack him!"

"[Wave of Seething Acid]!"

"[Aerial Burst]!"

Two other [Mages] behind him pulled out their wands and cast their Spells, only for them to be blocked with contemptuous ease by Pixel. Ah, right. He'd probably also keep her from killing anyone else from Wistram. That was fair. The important thing was that she'd get to see Flos again.

The world sped up. Or was she slowing down? It was hard to say as the colors faded...

...

"No."

Who was that? Where was she? It wasn't anywhere she recognized. A tent?

"No?" A familiar voice growled with rage and surprise. "No negotiations, no bartering, just a flat refusal?"

That! That was her [King]'s voice!

Amerys blinked rapidly as the grey of the world around her slowly returned to regular colors. She opened her mouth, but found it hard to breathe, as if something was blocking her lungs, but was gradually fading.

"No. I mean that I freed her not for some favor or payment, but because it was the right thing to do. The same reason I intervened in Tiqr."

Pixel? Amerys recognized his voice as well. How could she not? She'd just been watching him promise to free her and holding off Feor and his Centrist flunkies. In fact, now that her eyesight was back, she recognized a great many people.

The one in the armor of blocks must be Pixel. Or at least a golem with his voice.

Orthenon was there to the side, starring at her with wide eyes.

Gazi too. Only she was starring with more than just two eyes.

Some... naked black and white woman? Amerys blinked. Was her eyesight still impaired? No. The rest of the world was in color. The naked... zebra beastkin? was simply those colors. Why was she naked though? She had faintly glowing yellow eyes, which reminded Amerys of herself.

A fellow Lightning user? Or something else?

All her other thoughts were dashed as she saw a familiar back. Tall. Wide shoulders. A mane of red and golden hair... that looked a little faded.

"My [King]."

"I'll not have you mince words with me, Pixel. I'll-" Flos fell silent as he heard her speak. Her [King] whirled around and the fury on his face melted away to a broad smile. "Amerys!" He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. "You're here! You're safe!"

"Let me go!" She half-hearted snarled as she let used what little mana she'd recovered to shock him.

Flos only laughed at her, admittedly playful, assault.

"Pixel!" He let her go and whirled around. "No agreement was given, but a request was fulfilled. I shall repay this kindness, I swear it."

"Is it really her?" Orthenon whispered loud enough for everyone to hear - apparently too shocked to maintain his usual stoic demeanor.

"How?" Gazi's main eye was locked onto her while the others spun widely. "There was no magic. No [Skill]. No sign at all..."

Amerys threw back her head and laughed. Laughed the laugh of the free. She felt her lightning swell as her mana slowly returned. It wasn't much, but it was there. That had been the worst part about being imprisoned. It wasn't not being able to move her muscles, or being gagged, or even their insistence that she denounce Flos.

That would never happen and they were stupid for even bringing it up.

Having her mana drained had deprived her of her magic. Her lightning. The element she'd devoted herself to for every day over countless years. And now it was back!

She would fly through the air! Let the wind and clouds swirl around her as the fury of the skies flowed through her fingertips! She would-

"You need to sit and eat." Flos commanded her in a soft voice. "No revealing yourself just yet. You'll have your time." She could already see plans swirling behind his eyes. Flos was a great person, and he had his flaws, but he knew war.

Her time here would be short before she was sent away to accomplish something for him. And that was fine. She loved being free to fly and fight, but... it would be nice to relax in his presence again.

The background ruckus died down. Not that there had been much, just Orthenon and Gazi mainly asking each other and Pixel just what had happened.

Amerys pushed Flos away and strolled up to what could only be Pixel's armored form. "[Archmage]." She bowed her head. "Thank you."

"Of course." He nodded back.

"I don't suppose you also brought along my things?" Silence. "My spellbook? My wand? My artifacts?." No response. "My clothes?"

"Ah, well..." Pixel rubbed the back of his head - and action that was purely symbolic considering his helmet. "I... didn't think about any of that."

Amerys closed her eyes and sighed. "Very well. Just one more reason to return to Wistram. I can collect them after I show those backstabbing cowards the mistake they've made. I'll-"

"Actually," Pixel interrupted her. "I would prefer to avoid future bloodshed. Especially at Wistram." He turned his head to look at Flos. "My people are there. Anything that would put them at risk will be dealt with."

The promise hung in the air and left her confused for a moment before she remembered... uhm... what's his name? The boy that appeared inside of Wistram. From another world? Asked about chained lightning called 'electricity'? Oh... He was just so unremarkable... uhm... Blackmage! That was it!

He and Pixel were both from another world.

"So there are more of them?" She asked.

"Yes." He replied. "We've found a great many of them stranded across the world."

Ah. "I will not make war on children. Nor shall I involve them in my battles." Amerys swore. "I will have my vengeance, but I can be patient."

"Where is he?" A woman with a feral grin burst through the tent flaps. "I heard Pixel was here!"

Amerys looked her over. Long blue hair. Emerald eyes on a thin, but beautiful face. A dainty nose. Full lips. ...And a large chest in a 'breastplate' that would make a [Courtesan] blush.

It was obviously Mars. For someone that chained her appearance like others changed clothes, she was surprisingly uniform in the type of woman she chose to be. Not that anyone would choose to look like a hag if they had a choice.

Amerys didn't care much for outward appearances, but she was wise enough to know that beauty was an advantage.

"Mars!" Flos bellowed. "The [Archmage] is here..." He smiled. "And he's returned Amerys to us!"

Mars turned her focused gaze from their armored guest and turned to face her. "Truly?" Her eyes glinted. "Always the last to arrive, eh?"

Amerys scowled. "I-"

"Peace. Peace." Flos moved between them. "Amerys was forcefully delayed, but she's here now. That's what matters."

Amerys caught a subtle note of sadness in Flos' voice. Had someone else been captured... or killed? She'd been ambushed before she'd even heard news of her [King] awakening. A similar fate may have befallen another. "Who?"

Flos' smile dropped and he turned to her. "Drevish." His tone was flat. "He will be avenged."

The somber mood was broken, as expected, by Mars. She strolled up to Pixel with a predatory gleam in her eye. "Let me fight him."

"You want to fight me?" Pixel asked in a confused tone, while the black and white woman next to him mirrored Mars' expression.

"No. Not you." She scoffed. "The [Gladiator]."

"Mario?"

"Who's Mario?" Mars rolled her eyes. "The Golem. The one you clearly made. The Shadow Champion. Or another like him. You did make him right? The one that beat the Colosseum of Monarch's champion?"

"How do you know about that?"

"I pay attention to the news from the arenas." Mars shrugged. "We might be at war with Nerrhavia's Fallen, but [Traders] and [Merchants] still make their routes. Gossip spreads."

"Ha!" Flos laughed from beside Amerys. "Especially with the new connected scrying orbs." He moved closer to Pixel. "What say you? A friendly match would be great fun and help celebrate Amerys' return!"

Pixel stroked his chin and looked between Mars and his naked companion. "I agree." He nodded. "I suppose other matters can wait until afterwards."

"Excellent!" Flos beamed as he strolled out of the tent with everyone trailing after him. "We'll do it in the field to the north. Less chance of some [Fool] interrupting our fun, and plenty of space."

"Flos." Amerys whispered to him as she rushed to catch up to his long strides. "Should I be leaving the tent? You did wish me to remain hidden until the proper time, correct?" Or had she misread his intentions.

"Aye. I do." He nodded. "But I'll also not have you skulk about like an [Outlaw] or a [Rogue]. We'll make your return to the battlefield a surprise, but be at ease here." He spread his arms out towards the [Soldiers] they were walking past. "We are among friends and allies!"

Amerys nodded and enjoyed the sensation of being able to walk again. It felt good to stretch her legs. She glanced over at Pixel and then back up at Flos. "How do you know Pixel?"

"Hm?" He looked down at her. "From the broadcast. Same as everyone else. I'd wager there isn't a person alive withing a mile of a scrying orb that hasn't heard of the Archmage of Cubes."

"What?" Amerys frowned. "What broadcast?" What in the name of the great desert was going on here? What had she missed while being held prisoner?

"I suppose there are a great many things that I must tell you." Flos took a deep breath. "I mentioned it before Mars entered, but Drevish is dead. Killed in cold blood by the [Emperor] of Sands." His brow darkened and there was an audible sound as her [King] clenched his fists. "They sent me his head."

Amerys stopped for a second. She wasn't the most social of people, and while the seven were her allies and friends, she wasn't... "I'm sorry to hear that. What of Takhatres?" The Garuda was missing and she now feared the worst.

"He is alive and well." Flos exhaled. "He wages war with his tribe on the Empire of Sands. To bleed them and keep them from marching across the great desert until we are ready."

"I see." She nodded. "And this broadcast?"

Flos smiled. "Many stand against me. The ones closest banded together, but I used Drevish's final gift to beat them. After that, the further countries rallied, but none wish to provoke me. I have sworn peace with those that do not take up arms and allow my people to return to me unhindered."

He rubbed his face. "That was an idea from the twins." He looked at her again. "Theresa and Trey. Two children from Earth and the reason why I stirred from my slumber. You will meet them soon. They are endlessly entertaining, but frustrating at times." He motioned at Pixel. "As you know, Pixel is also from another world, but apparently a different one from the children. There are also more like Theresa and Trey who were brought here against their will and scattered across every continent."

"But back to the original topic, countries far to the south rose up to condemn me as one." He let out a short, bitter laugh. "Condemn me, but dare not openly attack me. So they did the next best thing."

"They attacked one of our allies?"

"Worse." He glared to the south. "They attacked Tiqr. A country that had joined me willingly in my first conquest and who were steadfast allies. They did not declare for me, but also chose not to war with me. They declared they were neutral."

"And?"

"And the next day, every neighbor of theirs declared war on them. Every. Single. One. An alliance so quick to respond that it's plain they were planning such a thing from the start." Flos stroked his beard. "I wonder what they would've done if Tiqr hadn't been neutral? Would they have picked another one as a scapegoat? Worked up the nerve to attack my people moving through their lands?" He shrugged. "I guess we'll never know."

"What happened to Tiqr?"

"It wasn't what happened to them, but what happened to the armies invading them." Flos smiled. "And the answer is: Pixel."

Amerys' eyes widened as her [King] told her of the exploits of the [Archmage of Cubes]. A display of magical prowess unseen since... actually, she wasn't sure when the last time a [Mage] walked the land that could slaughter multiple armies at the same time. Suddenly his healing of her seemed a lot less impressive in comparison.

"But how could all of that have happened since I was imprisoned?"

"I froze you in time." Pixel calmly added from the side, as if such an accomplishment as commonplace. "It seemed the best way to let Wistram keep you imprisoned, but without any undue harm."

"..." Amerys didn't know how to feel about that. On one hand, he'd literally stolen time from her. Time where she could've been helping Flos. On the other hand, he had brought her to Flos - far quicker from her perspective than she'd expected to escape or be rescued. Assuming, that was, if she now grasped how much time had passed for everyone else. Her final emotion she settled on was amazement.

That won out in the end, and she swallowed her habitual caustic remark. One did not antagonize an [Archmage] without good reason. Especially one that had just done her a tremendous favor.

"Intriguing." Flos said from the side. "I find myself expecting that half the stories I've heard about you are inadequate."

"Hm." Pixel grunted. "Perhaps."

Amerys wondered just how high of level he was.

"Alright!" Flos' voice boomed from her side. "This should be far enough. Let's watch this match before the sun sets!" He then turned to Pixel. "You won't be upset if Mars breaks your Golem? I'd tell her to hold back but," He shrugged. "That's not an easy thing for her."

"It will be fine." Pixel raised his hand and another blocky figure appeared. It was similar in that it was obviously crafted from the same magic style Pixel preferred, but it was also completely different. Smaller. Its colors made it look like it had human flesh and clothes. Instead of a weapon, it wore two large, green gauntlets on each of its hands. "Say hello to Little Mac."

"Hmmm..." Mars looked her sparring partner up and down. "Is that him then, the shadow champion?"

"Yep." Pixel slapped the golem on the shoulder. "Little Mac and I have been through a lot together. I'm sure he'll give you a good workout. Don't be fooled by his size, he packs a mean punch. You can also go all out. I'd prefer if he wasn't damaged, but I can repair him. Or rebuild him if you do manage to destroy him."

"So you are a Golem-crafter as well." Flos' grunted as Mars pulled a simple steel sword from her Skill. "It's good that you're confident in your ability to repair him, but what if Mars strikes his core?"

Pixel let out a long laugh as the two combatants began to move with increasing speed and ferocity.

"Sorry. I was just thinking about something else." She could hear the smile on his voice. "Don't worry about Little Mac's core. He doesn't have that particular weakness."

Orthenon appeared beside her and handed Amerys a steaming plate of food. Her stomach growled. She hadn't had a proper meal since being imprisoned, and she tore into the meal while watching Mars and the golem trade blows.

---

Sibby watched as the woman with strange light and Little Mac fought.

It was fun.

It wasn't killing though.

Sibby was sneaky when she wanted to be, but she was always flashy when she killed someone. That... was just how she did things.

But why?

She'd never really questioned it. She'd known that Humans did things like that sometimes. Little Mac was designed after a video game character that was based on Humans fighting for fun. Or something.

Then again, there had been times where she'd killed without a show. Before her and William had joined the Slaughterhouse Nine. She'd killed plenty of times then. Times when she hadn't even made a game out of it.

And then there was the war. She'd fought lots then, but hadn't killed. She'd done that with Kevin too, but not as much.

Now that she'd thought about it, she had killed people stealthily before. They just weren't as memorable as the times when made a show of it. They weren't as fun.

Maiming people in the war had been fun.

She could've been stealthy and killed, but that wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining. It also wouldn't have given her any authority according to Cauwine. She'd said that if Sibby wanted to gain infamy as an unknown bringer of death, that she'd need to combine with another god and get that domain.

Eh.

Whatever.

That didn't sound like fun.

This spar? It looked like fun. She could never spar with Little Mac before because she was just too awesome. There was no fun in lowering herself, unless it was part of a bigger game. If she fought, she needed to go all out.

Besides, Little Mac was losing. He was faster to be sure. Possibly stronger - it was hard to tell. Mars, however, was able to keep up. Punches got through, and they looked like they hurt, but her swords gave her more reach and was wounding Little Mac in turn.

She was also saying strange things. Skills. No, wait. [Skills]. That was the right way to 'say' it. Each of them seemed like a different Parahuman power. Much more limited in scope and times they could be used, but she didn't seem to be running out.

She tapped Kevin on his shoulder. "I want to fight her."

"Really?"

She nodded.

"Alright..." He turned to the red-headed Human. "Flos, the Siberian would like to spar with Mars."

'You are only going to spar, right? You aren't going to kill her or anything?'

'I want to fight. She looks like someone I could try to kill and have a difficult time with! That should be fun. Even if she pops me, I'll be fine, so it's no problem!'

'Yeah... Hang on.' Kevin seemed to concentrate on something. 'Okay. That... kinda works? It's taking a lot of mana and concentration, but made some Threat Sense pylons around the area. I didn't sacrifice a [Skill] so I have to run everything through my own Perk. Plus, she's high level so it's... spotty, but I think it will let me know if you're going to successfully tear her arm off or something. So stop if I say to. Okay?'

'Sure! You're the best, Kevin! Thank you!'

She could sense his embarrassment and gratitude over their bond. Hmmm... She'd have to tease him tonight.

"Oh? Is your friend a skilled fighter?"

"She is." Kevin nodded at the man with the red beard, whomever he was. "Best of all, I'm confident that no matter what, Sibby can't be permanently hurt by Mars, so they can go all out."

The other guy laughed and then called out. "Mars? Had enough yet? Or do you want to take on another challenger?"

---

Flos stroked his beard as he watched Mars fight the Siberian. The black and white woman wasn't as fast as the golem had been. Her attacks had a natural grace, but lacked any refinement.

That would be what Orthenon would probably say. In Flos' eyes she was overflowing with passion, which was far more valuable. The two women wore matching feral grins as they did their level best to kill each other.

Mars seemed to have the upper hand. The Siberian was lower, less skilled, and just as unarmed as the golem had been. Mars was fending her off with expertly timed sword strikes. Held at bay, but at the same time, his champion was also failing to strike true. It was like her opponent was the air itself as she suddenly reversed direction to move along the same path as Mars' sword.

Perhaps she wasn't less agile than Little Mac after all.

It was like she was a figment that forever stayed just out of reach of Mars' blade.

That was probably good, as he had a deeply unsettling feeling about what would happen if the Siberian got her claws on Mars. It was in part due to her confidence. In part due to seeing how well the unarmed golem had fought. Most of it, however, was a gut reaction. One he'd had ever since he'd first laid eyes on her.

Djinni.

That was one of the rumors that had reached his ears. That a rogue Djinni had aided Pixel and thus was why Nerrhavia's Fallen was justified in using one of their own. Never mind that the answer to one war crime wasn't committing another, but Flos was not so naive as to believe in the niceties of war.

He'd doubted the accusation, and now he was certain. The Siberian was not a Djinni. Flos had fought Djinni during his first conquest. Slain them in battle with his own sword. They were fearsome opponents whose very nature was magic itself.

The Siberian lacked that. She didn't even posses an aura, which made her even more deadly in his eyes. To the senses of his [Class], she was a blank void. He could see her, of course. And hear her. He could even tell where she was within his authority, but not in the same way he could sense others in his realm.

It was a difficult thing to hide from a [Ruler] within their domain when you were within eyesight. It wasn't like she was doing that, but it was different enough to put him on guard.

"The Siberian fights like a wild beast, Pixel." He tilted his head to the [Archmage] as he watched the fight. "Are you sure she's from your world and not Tiqr?" Flos jested.

"We have been allies for a long time."

"If these are the sort of fighters your world possesses, then I must admit that I would be eager to take the field against an army from your Earth. Trey and Theresa have told me about how wars are fought on their Earth, or at least how much they know for not being [Soldiers]. I suspect that you have far keener insights."

---

"That's the wrong question."

**Flos is surprised!
**Flos is curious!

"How so?"

I reached down and picked up a rock. "This world. My world. Their world. They all have rules. Some of them are similar, like gravity." I tossed the rock into the air and cached it as it fell. "We've discovered the reasons behind some of these rules, while others elude us."

"And?"

"The rules here are different." I held up the rock. "Gravity, in our worlds is an attraction between two objects based on their mass and distance. If this rock was alone in a void with nothing else around, it would float." I un-Inventoried three Gravity-resistance pylons and placed the rock inside to illustrate my point. "After all, if there was no ground to fall to, then it couldn't fall, could it?"

**Flos is contemplative!

"I see."

"Now, imagine an ant on the rock alone in the void. Just the two of them."

"Okay."

"What happens to the ant?"

"With no ground, it floats too."

"Ah." I held up a finger. "But gravity, at least for us, makes all things pull together. The rock attracts the ant, and the ant attracts the rock. Naturally, being much smaller, the attraction the ant exerts is minimal, and it also doesn't really matter as their combined attraction pulls them together." I used Tongue of Babel to display the image of an ant on the rock. "To the ant, the rock is the world. Pulling it down. Providing it with the equivalent of ground." The ant scurried around the rock. "It's 'up' is away from the rock. It's 'down' is towards it."

**Flos is intrigued!

"And this differs between our worlds?"

"I believe so." I reached out, took the rock, and gouged a section out of it with my hand before putting it back. "If the rock has a crater like that, and has water on it..." I made an image of liquid appear. "It would flow down, but eventually fill the lowest parts and spread to the rest."

"Like a lake."

"Exactly. On Earth, which is a massive rock floating in space, this is what would happen."

"But not here?"

"No. Think of the Last Tide."

**Flos is surprised!

"The Last Tide couldn't exist on your Earth because all the water would eventually fall over the sides."

"Or fill up the hole, if this world is a sphere like ours are." I nodded. "So there's proof that our 'rules' are different. Similar, but fundamentally altered. It is, of course, far from the most obvious way our worlds vary."

"You speak of the Voice of Levels."

"I do." I nodded again. "Something so vast and powerful, we are all but ants to it. Indeed, your levels, my powers, they come from places we cannot fathom. So, in any hypothetical conflict between this world and my Earth the answer to who would win is simple."

**Flos is curious!

"And that is?"

"Whichever set of rules is stronger." I inventoried my pylons and let the rock fall with a dull 'thud'. "We would have no say in it at all. We are the ants."

**Flos is contemplative!

'Sibby, I'm running out of mana." I only had twenty left out of my two-hundred and thirteen. Please wrap things up.'

'Awww... okay.' She abruptly vanished and reappeared next to me.

"Flos." I motioned back towards his camp and the tent with my head. "I think it's time for me to show you the main reason for my visit."

**Flos is curious!

"Aye." He nodded at me. "This has been an exciting diversion, but it only makes me curious as to what you would want.

...

Back in the tent, everyone turned to me. "I'll now tell you the main issue I'd like to discuss more than anything else, Sire Reimarch." I wasn't sure what the best way to address him was, now that this was a more formal request. I suspected that he largely wouldn't care, but just to be safe, I defaulted to a title plus his last name - similar to what I did for Gazi. "If I may?" I motioned at the table.

"Of course!" Flos pushed all of the maps and other documents off with a single swipe of his hand. He then motioned at the now empty space. "Please."

"Very well." I un-Inventoried a Communication Cube I'd specifically Crafted for this purpose instead of the more generalized ones I normally used. I then strode forward and placed the Tinker Tech device on the center of the table and stepped back. "If you would watch closely." I nodded at it before activating its connection to the Mega-Project.

I could've have everything appear all at once, but Sibby was right: presentation mattered. So, instead, it started with a single raindrop seemingly falling from nowhere and splashing off the wood. Another followed, and another.

**Flos is impressed!

The first few drops did nothing except raise some eyebrows, but then one of them landed on something else. A cobblestone. It was well made and contained magical etchings on its side that wouldn't normally be visible. The water pooled on it, but didn't spill down its sides. Instead the small splash from the droplets landed on another cobblestone that now was seamlessly placed next to the first.

Stone after stone appeared as the image grew.

Cobblestones spread across until they filled the table. Then, a bare foot stepped into one of the puddles. Then a boot. Then a high-heeled [Lady]'s shoe. One after another, disembodied feet moved across the scene. Slowly the feet began to have calves, knees, and thighs attached to them until a great throng of legs was briskly walking left and right.

The viewpoint moved back, causing all of what was being shown to shrink. A building appeared on one side, while the legs grew into people moving back and forth. While the image itself was a perfect representation and thus impressive, what it was showing didn't seem much different from any other large city.

Until you took in the details.

The cobblestones laced with magic spoke of great wealth and skilled labor. Most of the people walking across them looked normal, if not well off with good clothes and healthy bodies. But they weren't the only ones. There were people dressed far more lavishly in silks and jewels.

Finally, there were the others. Ones who were skinny, sported bruises, dressed in harsh fabrics that could almost be called rags. There weren't many of them, but they stood out - for all that the crowd ignored them. The poorer people all also wore chains: some with manacles on their legs or arms, but each and every one had a collar fastened around their necks.

In fact, a good number of the middle class members shown also wore similar collars, while none of the wealthy ones did.

The scene continued to expand as the image shrunk further. The opulence of the city showing towering building that hid its dark underside. A expansive dock with ships sailing in and out, despite the rain over that half of the city. Mansions and other such impressive buildings taking up space as they were seemingly carved out of the rest of the urban environment - massive compounds where the hustle and bustle couldn't reach those inside.

But, even with the expanded view, some things were still obvious.

Take the docks. [Sailors] and [Merchants] haggled as goods were loaded and unloaded. Normal, until you noticed that some of the ships were onloading and offloading people in chains and cages.

The view continued to grow in scope as the city shrunk. Roads and other population centers being shown one by one as the area covered stretched. It finally stopped moving, with an entire country displayed down to the finest detail.

"This, is Roshal."

Chapter 118: Rising Tide 8

"This, is Roshal."

Orthenon watched the magical map unfold, but he also kept Pixel and the Siberian in the corner of his eye. There was something... different about the black and white woman. Something that he just couldn't put his finger on. It wasn't the way she held herself, although that was also a concern. She moved with the same grace and confidence of Mars. Someone so utterly sure of themselves and their ability to inflict violence that they saw the world differently.

Considering that she was able to last in a spar with the [Vanguard] made it obvious where the confidence came from

Then there was her appearance. Being nude was certainly... a choice. He would've thought that her pale parts would burn in the brutal Chandrar sun, but no. She wasn't 'pale', she was bone white. The purest white he'd ever seen - offset by the deepest black. It didn't seem to be paint or fur either.

"Here." Pixel motioned with his hands. "You can move the image like this and zoom in and out by doing this."

Flos' eyes brightened even more as he laughed. "Marvelous! Is this a scrying spell from your world, perhaps?" He began to mimic Pixel's movements and adjust the image. "This is far better than a crystal ball or a mirror! And the information it can see. No one is noticing the spell. Is this all happening right now? The uses of this in a war would be great indeed!"

"Yes." The strangely armored man replied. "This is showing you a live feed of the entirety of Roshal."

"It's alive?"

"No. Well, the people are, but this is just a scrying spell as you said. What I meant as 'live' was that it's happening right now, as opposed to something that happened in the past and is being replayed."

"It can do that as well?"

"Indeed." Pixel made another motion with his hands and the image on the table - a small village that Flos had 'zoomed in' on froze before everyone in it moved backwards with ever increasing speed. "It's been recording everything for a while now, and you can rewind time to view the past." The image jumped as the people accelerated again, but this time moving forward quickly instead of backwards. "And, of course, you can do the same thing in the other way to move it closer to the present."

"Magnificent! Truly a wonder of the world!" Flos laughed. "No! A wonder of two worlds! Of three!"

"Why Roshal?" Gazi asked from the side.

Orthenon glanced over at her. Her face was impassive, and her tone neutral. At least to most people. He'd known Gazi for far longer than most. Though their relationship had ended, he could still pick up subtle signs that others missed.

It was difficult, even for him, as her brown scaled armor hid most of her body, but there were other ways. Mainly, her eyes. She always kept one eye on Flos. Recently, she'd also had started devoting an eye to watching Trey. One of her eyes, usually her main one now that it was healed, constantly spun to watch out for hostile people or spells.

Right now her main eye was focused on the black and white woman, doubtlessly also as on-guard about her just as he, himself was.

That left three eyes. And they were all rapidly shifting across the image on the table. There was a frantic energy there. A nervousness that she couldn't fully hide. Her eyelids had widened ever so slightly and she was holding her breath.

Just what could she see?

Oh no.

[Qi Enhancement: Eyes]

Orthenon focused his internal energy on enhancing his vision. Gazi had told him that she could see more from a scrying spell than most, but that the smaller details weren't shown. If she was riding on a flying carpet at the same exact location that a scrying spell was located, that she could see far more details.

Takhatres had expressed similar sentiments. That the eyes of a Garuda were sharper than any land-based species, and that scrying spells simply did not possess the refinement to show such small features.

As he expected, Pixel's [Spell] was superior in that regard as well.

With his empowered sight, Orthenon could make out finer details. Even with the model 'zoomed out', no features were lost. If he focused he could see the expressions of the people inside a village that was currently no larger than his hand.

And Gazi's eyes were far, far better than Takhatres or any other Garuda.

It might not have been widely known to the world, but Gazi had been born in Roshal. 'Created' might have been a better word. She avoided speaking on the the subject. Even when they'd been closer, she'd preferred not to talk about her life before she'd been bought by Flos.

In fact, she didn't talk about anything before when he'd freed her and removed her [Slave] Class.

Orthenon knew that Trey's adamant refusal to accept slavery had sparked something inside of her. It was clear that was why she remained close to him and kept watch over him. She would've done so even without their [King]'s command.

Trey and Pixel were from similar worlds. They probably held the same attitudes towards slavery. Orthenon couldn't fault them for that. While the custom and the Class did not exist in his homeland, there were social structures that also kept people 'in their place', beholden to their 'betters', and forced to work without rest and with no hope for advancement. Those same restriction were what had caused him to become a [Traitor] in the first place.

It seemed that Pixel's plan was a simple one, if such a [Spell] could be labeled as such. Show Flos what slavery was like first hand.

Orthenon didn't think it would work. It was true that his [King] had a soft heart - when he could afford to. It was one of the reasons that Reim had strict laws and practices about how [Slaves] and the poor were treated. He cared deeply about all his subjects. And he also sought to remove those who were unworthy from exploiting the people that lived in their lands.

But what Trey and Pixel didn't understand was that those [Slaves] in Roshal were there for a reason. The ones that his [King] had sold, the ones that had enraged Trey, they were enemies who'd sought to harm Flos and his people. Being a [Slave] for a decade or two was a fitting punishment. Far more lenient than death, or shoving them in massive prisons - such as Trey spoke of.

"Excuse me, is the Archmage of Cubes inside there?" A voice called out from beyond the tent's flap. "I am Oredien, Courier. They call me the Wave Runner. I have a package for Pixel."

Orthenon and the rest of the room jumped - except for Flos. Their [King] still stared intently as the world on his desk moved and flitted about. It wasn't uncommon for visitors and petitioners to come to Flos. A Courier would, of course, be given access from the [Guards]. In fact, Orthenon recalled that Oredien had arrived at their camp several weeks ago.

He'd introduced himself, offered his services for when he left, but told them he was supposed to stay close to the King of Destruction and deliver something at some point in the future. This had been confirmed by the Runner's Guild, and Couriers - as a rule - were both neutral and trustworthy.

Besides, there was only one other Courier who'd answered Flos' call to deliver his proclamation. So having another around could be useful. Oredien had still been watched, but he hadn't done anything remotely suspicious. He usually wandered in a circle around the army looking bored.

The reason for everyone's surprise was because Gazi normally told them of new arrivals before they got close to the tent. The Half-Gazer's main eye swiveled away from the Siberian and towards the voice. "My apologies, my [King]. I didn't-"

She only spoke formally when she was nervous.

"It's fine." Flos made a dismissive motion. "If that Courier was here for Pixel all along then..." He stroked his chin and looked up. "It would make sense that others would also want an audience. Ha!" He smiled and resumed watching the magical display. "We can resume our discussion later, Pixel."

The Archmage of Cubes bowed his head. "Of course." Then he stepped outside the tent, with the Siberian following closely behind him.

---

Oredien was nervous. He'd delivered packages to powerful people before, that was part of being a Courier. Especially one that could run from one continent to the next. It was a dangerous job. He had to dodge sea monsters and pirates in addition to all the regular things that people from the Runner's Guild had to put up with.

That said, it was one thing to meet with a [King], and quite another to visit the army of the King of Destruction.

Added to that, his target was an [Archmage]. Not any old [Archmage] either, but one that could drive off multiple armies at the same time! ...Not that there were any others he could think of.

It had been a dangerous job, but he was being paid exceptionally well. Especially since he was getting a daily wage for waiting. If not for the fact that he was waiting in the King of Destruction's army, it would've been perfect!

...Okay. That was a lie.

He didn't become a Courier because he liked to be lazy. Honestly? He was this close to abandoning the delivery. But Couriers didn't do that.

Besides, his client had been right. Pixel had indeed come to visit the King of Destruction in person.

The tent flap opened, and the blocky figure he'd seen from a distance emerged. He'd noticed him walking back with Flos as Oredien had been jogging around the camp. It seemed like his diligence had paid off, even if his 'patrolling' was more of a way for him to relax rather than anything else.

He could've run up right then, but... you didn't approach [Kings] like that. Especially the King of Destruction. Courier or not, it was always a good idea to be respectful.

"[Archmage] Pixel?" He asked as he rummaged in his bag and pulled out his seal. "I have a delivery for you. If you would...?"

"I am Pixel." The armored form nodded.

The Truth Stone he had attached to his seal glowed, and Oredien let out the breath he'd been holding. "I have a letter for you." He reached into his bag with his other hand and pulled out the small envelope before bringing it to his seal. The magical protections unraveled in strands of golden light as his seal recorded everything to confirm the delivery had been properly made.

"Thank you." Pixel took the letter and held it up to a woman behind him who dragged her clawed finger across the top to open it.

Oredien blinked. Had she been there the entire time? Black, white, and naked as the day she was born - he was sure he would've noticed. "H-have a good day." He bowed again and slowly jogged away, not wanting to appear to be in any great hurry.

It wasn't until later, when he had handed over his seal to one of the Runner's Guild [Secretaries] that he found out that the mysterious woman hadn't been recorded along with everything else.

---

I watched the clearly nervous [Runner] escape like he was trapped in a room with a wild dog. That was one of the big reasons for having a secret identity - so Heroes could go out in public and blend in. Sure, it also prevented ambushes and retaliation against their families and such, but I think feeling normal was the main appeal.

That, and having an alter-ego that got to act like your ideal self.

Eh, whatever.

I looked at the letter. It was safe. At least that was the policy for the Runner's Guild. Oredien had been protected from Observe, like most other powerful people. So I couldn't confirm his Class, Name, or past, but there were tidbits that Observe could see that weren't blocked by whatever had been shielding him. Oredien's affiliation was with the Runner's Guild and he didn't have any strange Debuffs. That, combined with his notifications indicated everything was on the up-and-up.

Of course, the letter didn't have to have a magical Spell or an attached [Skill] to be a trap. Words could be weapons just as easily. Not that I was going to throw it away out of some sort of paranoia. Heck, Gamer's Mind hadn't even triggered. I was just... contemplating who could've known I'd be here to send a letter?

I'd been keeping my modified scrying orb out to block any scrying spells and messages. Perhaps this was a way around that? Or it might've been from someone who also didn't trust message spells to convey sensitive information without being intercepted?

One way to find out.

I took the letter out, and started to read.

To Pixel, the Archmage of Cubes, Defender of Tiqr, Traveler,

Greetings,

I'm a little Bit hesitant to send this to you. I Bet you've been receiving countless attempts at communication.

Indeed, that's why I'm sending this via letter to the place where a Superlative Heroic person such as yourself is likely to arrive - for one reason or another.

I would like to invite you as my Guest to visit the Forgotten Wing Company in Baleros. I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for Here.

Warm regards,

Niers Astoragon - The Titan of Baleros

I froze.

*Hope negated by Gamer's Mind.
*Happiness negated by Gamer's Mind.

And then exhaled.

It had worked. My very public appearance had worked.

I was blocking [Scrying] spells, and trapping all [Message] spells, but I was still reviewing them. Not personally, but I'd written a simple program to scan for certain words:

'Riley', 'Bonesaw', 'Slaughterhouse', 'Surgery', 'Abominations', 'Doctor', 'Superhero'...

...'Bit', 'Bet', 'Guest', and 'Here' weren't on my list. If Riley was somewhere in this world, there was an excellent chance she was using her Superhero name, but 'Bit' was too generic unless used as a proper noun. Similarly, 'Superhero' was searched for, but I think my program would've missed 'Superlative Heroic'. 'Bet', 'Guest', and 'Here' were simply too generic of words, but they were both capitalized here.

A very simple cipher, but also one that couldn't be broken without knowing that I was from Earth Bet. That I was looking for Bit. That I was a Superhero. And, of course, the final message was 'Guest Here'.

I didn't think it was intended to be a threat or a warning. You could be a guest, or you could be a 'guest'. Not that it mattered. I finally had a lead on where my little sister was!

*Relief negated by Gamer's Mind.

She wouldn't be in the cross-fire. Rationally, I knew that she wasn't in Roshal at the moment. I'd double and triple checked. ...But I'd still been worried that she, perhaps, was in a warded room I couldn't scan.

*Excitement negated by Gamer's Mind.

Right.

I folded the letter up and Inventoried it.

I still had a few important things to do. Very important things. I couldn't drop everything and head to another continent. Not just yet.

Speaking of which. I've been standing here in one place for a good amount of time. I should use this opportunity outside of the sight of Flos or any of his Seven to check on one other thing.

Well, everyone but Gazi. Tongue of Babel may or may not make images realistic enough for her, simply because I didn't know precisely how she saw the world. I knew she saw mana, she'd said as much when she'd helped me with my oversaturation problem. Without 'seeing' it for myself, I couldn't replicate it. But that was fine. I didn't need mana for this next item. Nor anything visual.

At least not to anyone except my target. Technically, I could've had this conversation at any time, but being here in person will let me know if she's telling the truth with my Expanded notifications.

---

Theresa wiped her face with a towel and the sprawled onto her cot.

Chandrar was HOT! It was bad enough on its own, but she'd been practicing her sword swings all day. Orthenon hadn't been around to instruct her, but that didn't mean she could slack off!

How could anyone offered the chance to gain real, personal power at the cost of some exercise give it up? Her arms were burning. Her chest was heaving. Her legs felt like jelly. ...And she loved it.

A small part of her admitted that might be because while she was pushing herself to the point of exhaustion, she wasn't thinking about... things.

Crud.

And now that she was thinking about how she wasn't thinking about things... she was thinking about them. About Trey. He was such a stubborn jackass! Sure, they'd had fights in the past, but never for this long. He just wouldn't give up his black and white view of the world.

Yes, slavery was bad.

Yes, slavery was dehumanizing.

Yes, slavery was evil.

She wasn't arguing against any of that. But, if life gives you a pair of moldy rocks instead of lemons, you couldn't just 'make lemonade'. Besides, it wasn't like it had been innocent people. The people Flos had sold to Roshal had made the decision to attack him first!

If they had been ready to kill, they should've been ready to die. And slavery was better than death!

She closed her eyes and fought back the sadness. This wasn't Earth, but Trey was still an idiot. She'd even thought they'd made up when he'd given her a present. Well, when Gazi had given it to her, but she'd said that Trey had gotten it for her from Pixel.

A way for all of the Earthers to stay in contact.

That... was great. Talking to people again, even if it was about pointless things. It almost made up for Trey blocking her.

She let out a sigh and tried to think about something else... like how lucky it was that Trey got to go on an adventure while she'd been stuck here! He'd gotten to meet Pixel! A frickin' Superhero from an alternate Earth! What she wouldn't-

"Excuse me, Theresa."

She jolted at the sound, but her legs had decided that they'd had enough for the day now that she was finally off of them, and all she accomplished was flailing uselessly on her bed for a second.

"Who?"

"It is Pixel."

"Pixel?!?" She pulled out her cube. "Really?"

"Yes. And if you're amicable to it, I'd like to have a conversation."

"Oh, uhm, yeah. Of course!"

"Thank you." The voice, which had seeming spoken from all around her now came from her right. "Hello, Theresa."

"Ah!" He was here! In her tent! So cool! "I mean, greetings." She propped herself up. "I apologize for my appearance." That was a lie, she'd been training and didn't care who knew. In fact, she wanted to brag about it, but that wasn't... She didn't want to thing 'ladylike'. Proper? Social?

"I'm not actually here in your tent."

"What?" Did he just read her mind?

"I just wanted to make sure you understood that this is simply a projection with safeguards for your privacy."

"Oh." She nodded. "Like the cube thingy."

"Yes." He replied dryly. "Like the cube thingy."

"Soooo... what did you want to talk about?"

"I have a simple question."

"Shoot."

"Are you happy?"

"Huh?" She gave him a look. It was impossible to tell with that Samus-themed armor on, but she didn't think he was joking. "Is this some kind of self-help thing?"

"No." He gave a small laugh. "Sorry. I'll rephrase it. Are you happy here in Reim. In Chandrar. With the King of Destruction."

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because, if you aren't, I can take you somewhere else."

"Like where?"

"Wistram would be my suggestion, but that is certainly not the only option."

She gave him a long look. "This is about Flos, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"You want to know if I'm, what? Being beaten? Forced to do stuff?"

"Yes."

"Well, I'm not." She crossed her arms. "Unlike all the Earthers at the school, I'm out in the world doing things that matter." Eventually. "I'm learning to be a [Warrior], and-"

"Enough." Pixel held up a hand. "I was simply offering an option if you felt you didn't have a choice. Since I can see you are doing... well. That is enough for me."

"I am doing well." Apart from Trey. "But... thanks." She softened her voice. "I mean it, thank you, Pixel. Really. If you'd given me that option back when we'd first arrived... well, I'd have taken it in a heartbeat." She shrugged. "Now? I like where I am. It feels like it matters, and that I have a chance to matter. Does that make sense?"

"More than you know." His form faded before his disembodied voice spoke on last time. "Every superhero has felt that same exact thing at some point or another."

---

Well.

Perhaps I should've offered to make her a video game console? No. I don't think she would've liked that. Why was Jiahao, of all people, the only Earther I'd met that was appropriately interested in video games? Perhaps I should take Riley back to Wistram once I find her. There had to be some other Earthers there that enjoyed them by now.

I wasn't sure Theresa was making the best life decisions, and she clearly had a lot of hero-worshiping going on, but it wasn't my place to tell her what to do. War was evil, but also sometimes just. It was a hard thing to quantify, but I didn't feel that Flos was a bad person.

I might have to kill him one day, but I didn't think he was evil.

**Flos is angry!
**Flos is disgusted!
**Flos is furious!

Also, I think that Flos had discovered the underbelly of Roshal. It was good that I was out of the room. I didn't want to stand there like a 3rd wheel while he watched atrocities in real time.

No... I think I'd rather just sit here and play some games using my Babel Perks until he's seen enough.

Sibby un-summoned herself after a few minutes of inaction. I un-Inventoried a chair and waited. I played a pretty fun little roguelite while also following along with my own connection to my mega-project. I paid attention to what was going on inside the tent via the cube on the table, so I could see everyone's reactions - and also that Gazi had one of her eyes trained on me. Flos' body language and his notifications were painting a nice picture for me. I waited through the night as he found [Slave] after [Slave] and rewound their scenes to discover exactly what had happened to them.

I felt relief from his notifications. The plan could continue. I'd been a little worried that he'd be too much of a tribalist or a sociopath to get properly motivated over Roshal's atrocities. Even people that accepted [Slaves] as 'normal' or 'natural' would cringe away from 'how the sausage was made'.

Unfortunately... that wasn't only a metaphor from what I'd witnessed.

Once dawn came, I decided it was time to return to the tent. Everyone inside had stayed up through the night watching my Broadcast.

Inside, the King of Destruction was glaring down at an underground room filled with children in chains. He grimaced while his eyes blazed. His hands were clenched in fists, and since he'd apparently been leaning on the table at the time, two chunks were missing underneath the projection.

"Pixel." He looked up at me with a storming expression. "What would you have me do?"

**Flos is angry!
**Flos is depressed!
**Flos is disgusted!
**Flos is loathing!
**Flos is sad!

"What do you want to do?" I asked in return.

He stood up, seeming to tower over everyone in the room despite being of similar height to myself. "I would wage war." His voice was a deep growl. "I would lay waste to such... things. Tear them down and build a monument so that such travesties never happen again!"

**Flos is resigned!

"But..." His hands opened and the splinters of his table fell from his fingers as he brought his right hand up and ran it down his face. "How? Even at the height of my power, with my kingdom stretching to every corner on Chandrar, there were some battles I could not face. Things such as A’ctelios Salash." He looked at me. "There are evils, yes, but the cost of fighting them is one that would be paid by my people."

He turned around and took a deep breath. "Roshal never fought me, and I was glad for it. They are a dangerous foe, and they provide a useful service to the world at large. I still believe that. However!" He spun around and pointed at the table. "There is a rot there! Deep and pervasive. I've found it almost everywhere I looked - hidden under the surface. There are those who treat their [Slaves] well, I'd even go as far as to say they are the majority. But..."

A tear rolled down his cheek as he looked at the image again. "Your magic is too cruel. To show it all as it is would be one thing, but to see into the past. To view their suffering, their loss." He clenched his fists. "I will join you, Pixel. I will wage war with you on Roshal. In thanks for returning Amerys to me, I could do no less!"

His shoulders slumped. "Yet, what hollow words are they to the people suffering right now. Reim and Roshal sit on near opposite shores. Almost the entirety of Chandrar stands between us, and my army is still nowhere near its old strength. You have shown me these things, and yet I cannot do anything about them!" He hollered. "So, I ask you again, [Archmage]. WHAT. WOULD. YOU. HAVE. ME. DO!?!?"

**Flos is angry!
**Flos is depressed!
**Flos is disgusted!
**Flos is loathing!
**Flos is sad!

"I would have you take those [Slaves] as your people."

"What?"

**Flos is surprised!
**Gazi is surprised.
**Mars is surprised.
**Amerys is surprised.
**Orthenon is surprised.

"That is easier said than done." He clenched his fist. "It would also be a hollow gesture. Even if I could 'claim' them, they would also have to acknowledge me. Even if THAT happened, it would be of no use." He looked back at the image. "They are beaten down. Perhaps, just perhaps, if they were fighting to free themselves, I could use my [Army of the King] to sway the battle."

He shook his head. "But only a single battle. That is nowhere near enough to either defeat Roshal's forces or to win their freedom." He looked at me. "Do you know the only successful rebellion that Roshal has ever had? Not the Djinni." He shook his head. "For all their power, they lost that fight. Not the String People either. They may have won their freedom and peoplehood and also overthrown Nerrhavia the [Tyrant], but there are still Stringfolk [Slaves]. [Slavers] too." He motioned at the table. "String People make up a large portion of Roshal's population despite their history."

I nodded. "The exploited rising up to become the exploiters is a common enough occurrence in my world's history as well."

"Ah. But this isn't true for the singular race that Roshal no longer takes as [Slaves] for fear of what might become." Flos took a deep breath and looked me in my eyes, despite my helmet. "Goblins. Roshal had Goblin [Slaves] in the past. How many? I can't say." He shrugged. "The history books don't go into details like that. What they do say is WHY there are no Goblin [Slaves]. It gave rise to a [Goblin King]. Only a creature like that, capable of slaying Kingdoms and [Kings] alike was enough to ban the practice."

"It's funny you should mention that, but I don't intend to lead a rebellion."

**Flos is surprised!
**Gazi is surprised.
**Mars is surprised.
**Amerys is surprised.
**Orthenon is surprised.

"Then what is your purpose here, Archmage of Cubes?" Flos crossed his arms and frowned. "You want me to take them as my people, but not have them rebel. How would I wage a war like that?"

"You wouldn't. We aren't going to war with them." I looked over at the projection and took control - focusing it on a singular child. "If we did do something like that, innocent people would die. Even those [Slaves] that wouldn't be forced to fight would be used in some fashion. Dark magic. Rituals. Or simply being worked to death." I shook my head. "No. A war would do far more harm than good."

"You're just proving my point, Pixel." Flos glowered. "You still haven't plainly spoken as to what you want from me."

"It's simple." I motioned at the image. "Watch."

The child the image focused on vanished - leaving behind an empty collar and chains that clanked against the stone wall where he'd been. The other children turned to see what the noise was, but one by one, they also disappeared. I went through every scene that Flos had viewed and showed each and every person with a [Slave] class vanishing.

My mega-project was vast and powerful, but it could only do a few things. I could only include so many features in a singular blueprint. And ultimately, its design was the same one I used for all my underground bases. Life support, food production, entertainment, and... teleportation.

I had to include the rest of the components directly, which is why I emptied out my Inventory and sacrificed so many [Skills] to allow those pieces of tech to use mana. Mana provided by the mega-project itself. Weapons, defenses, but most importantly: scanners.

My mega-project was a base that could house an entire country's worth of people, but before that it was a massive Observe antenna. It had the range and resources to scan each and every person inside the borders of Roshal. Any of those without the [Slaver] class were identified, targeted, and then teleported deep underground.

...Into a frozen segment of space/time. Not every non-[Slaver] could be trusted. There were willing collaborators and even some [Slaves] so indoctrinated or brainwashed that they'd fight back. I also didn't feel like I could pass judgment on each and every one of them.

Was simply living in Roshal and owning a [Slave] an act worthy of death?

It wasn't perfect. There were places inside Roshal that were warded against teleportation. Thankfully, those were vaults and other locations secured by the truly rich and powerful. Not many [Slaves] there. There were also Djinni that had natures that resisted teleportation.

That was unfortunate, but it was probably better than risking someone who could escape my temporal prison and cause unknowable harm inside my hidden base to be brought there in the first place.

The image on the table flickered backwards before stopping on the very first scene I'd shown Flos. A rainy street in the capital city. The [Slaves] vanished first, leaving their chains to splash though the puddles before clattering against the enchanted cobblestones below. The others, the ones that were neither [Slave] nor [Slaver] followed afterwards I prioritized removing the [Slaves] first, just in case countermeasures were taken to stop my abductions.

"The same thing is occurring across all of Roshal at this very moment. Each and every person without the [Slaver] Class is being taken to a safe and secure place where they can avoid any suffering until it is safe to release them."

"You're freezing them in time!" Amerys exclaimed, her yellow eyes wide with shock. "Just like you did me. But on a far, far greater scale..." Her voice dropped to a whisper.

**Amerys is impressed.
**Amerys is surprised.
**Amerys is afraid.

"So this is your plan, Pixel." Flos' smile looked wicked. "To allow a war with no innocents. Or at least fewer. I wouldn't say every [Slaver] deserves death."

I internally disagreed, but people seldom got what they 'deserved'.

"No. Not war. Your role in my plan is to eventually make your way to Roshal and lead the survivors."

"The survivors?"

"A calamity is coming. It will kill everyone who remains. After it has passed, and you've made your way to what is left of Roshal, I will release those I've saved. It's those survivors that will need a [King]."

"The Emirs-"

"I'm not going to save a single [Slaver]." In fact, I was going to kill them all. "There will be nothing of Roshal's leaders left, I have foreseen it, but its people might yet survive. They will need someone to lead them, protect them, and ensure that justice is done."

I was really hoping that I was right about Flos, but he was by far the best choice for this. Powerful? Check. Willing to go against the static quo? Check. True to his word? Check. A sense of honor? Check. Rejecting Slavery? No, but Trey and Gazi should help point him in the right direction. Besides, soon there wouldn't be an option for owning [Slaves]. Not for him. Not for anyone.

But... enough stalling. It was time to do something I couldn't take back.

*Fear negated by Gamer's Mind.
*Worry negated by Gamer's Mind.
*Apprehension negated by Gamer's Mind.

I reached out with my newest Perk. The one I'd gotten from Eidolon. The one I hadn't leveled because I couldn't trust it. The one so powerful that I couldn't help but take it regardless of any other options. A double-edged sword that could destroy a world if used incorrectly.

I took a deep breath and spoke to the weapon I'd planted outside of Wistram's weather shell. Dragon, the Network Administrator, had given it to me to use with my Perk. It was a seed, but not one I'd Crafted. A seed that had taken a long time to fully develop.

Now... it was no longer a seed, but the core of a weapon of mass destruction. A super-weapon that I'd just granted access to my mega-project's Observation ability. A Bringer of the End that I still felt hatred for due to how close it had personally come to murdering me.

I sent four simple words:

LEVIATHAN, KILL EVERY [SLAVER].

Chapter 119: Rising Tide 9

We watched the destruction.

Leviathan was cutting a bloody swath through Roshal. I empowered Ears of Babel with mana and listened to the deluge of Message Spells being sent across the world as the [Slavers] trapped in Roshal begged for help and other countries panicked.

Obviously, no one else had any idea what was happening. Flos, Orthenon, Amerys, and Mars knew I was involved. At the very least, they knew I'd planned for this. I'd said as much when I'd sought the King of Destruction's aid in helping the survivors.

Mainly the [Slaves] that were currently frozen in time underneath the country. Everyone with the [Slaver] Class within its borders would die. As for the rest?

*Guilt negated by Gamer's Mind.

Well, a lot of them would die. I was protecting them from Leviathan, but they'd eventually come out of stasis to a wasteland. There would be little food or shelter to be had.

Did they deserve it? I couldn't say.

It was no one's fault where they were born. And people born in a country who's primary business was buying and selling others... well... it was only natural for them to see that as normal. I'm sure there were loving people who cared about their friends and families... who also owned [Slaves].

It was the people involved directly in such an atrocity that had to die.

There would even be [Slavers] that will have just seen their children vanish, not realizing that they were teleported away to save their lives from the monster that I'd just unleashed. What would they do? What COULD they do? People in this world might have Classes and powers, but that didn't mean they could fight. Or that they were prepared for, well, this.

*Guilt negated by Gamer's Mind.

Dragon would've found a better way. She would've done... something different that would've avoided killing.

The problem was, I wasn't Dragon. For all my efforts, I just didn't see the world in the same way. I felt bad... and then I didn't. I then vaguely felt bad because I knew I should feel bad, but... it wasn't the same. I hadn't known the man with the sword that Leviathan had just torn in half.

And now, he was just a statistic.

Was he nice? Did he treat his friends well? Did he train [Slaves] in a 'humane' way? Did he have a girl he liked? Was he vicious? Did he beat people? Kill them?

The answer was 'Yes'. 'Yes' to every question because Leviathan would doubtlessly kill people who fell into each an every category.

I firmly believed that every last [Slaver] deserved to die. They were vile. They profited off of misery. This world would be a better place without them in it. Others would see it differently. Flos would probably only condemn the [Slavers] he'd witnessed doing... worst things.

*Sadness negated by Gamer's Mind.

But, it was what it was. Roshal needed to die. I'd saved the people that categorically deserved it. The [Slaves], the Djinni with no Classes, the children. I'd targeted the ones that also deserved it. I didn't care if you were born in Roshal. Once you did something to gain the [Slaver] Class, that was enough for me. A line that had been crossed.

I still was taking away everything the survivors had ever known. The [Slaves] would be appreciative. The others? The ones that weren't [Slaves] or [Slavers]? The ones in the gray area that I had decided to spare? They'd probably hate me.

And for good reason, because it wouldn't end here.

*Guilt negated by Gamer's Mind.

Ignoring the [Slavers], there were others. Others that would die when they should live, and perhaps those that would live then they should die. All the collaborators. The [Captains] that transported [Slaves]. The [Merchants] that sold them. Down to the people that bought them and treated them fairly.

I couldn't judge each and every case.

So, the [Slaves] would be freed eventually. Alongside them would be the ones that had helped and supported the system that had enslaved them. But... that was why I had Flos. I believed that if he made it to Roshal and claimed the land as his own, then he would treat all the people there well - one way or another.

Was I passing the buck? Absolutely.

It had been difficult enough to make the decision to use Leviathan in the first place. Besides, I had other things to worry about. The real things that were triggering Gamer's Mind.

Because, the truth was that a LOT of people would die because of my actions today, and not just [Slaver] scum.

I'd told Leviathan to kill every [Slaver]. Not every [Slaver] in Roshal. Or to only attack when there was a certain number of [Slavers] together. Or to limit collateral damage. This was only his first onslaught. There would be others. And I wouldn't have a massive teleportation grid in place to save all of those bystanders.

My Mega-project could probably grab a few, but it took exponentially more power to teleport someone from further away.

And... I needed the casualties.

*Guilt negated by Gamer's Mind.

I needed a spectacle. A massive threat that would make [Slavers] shunned in every single corner of the world. That was something that I'd learned from Alexandria, and something I agreed with.

Morality wouldn't prevent people from buying [Slaves]. Appealing to their better nature might work for a few, but the wealthy would always want power over others. No, I needed an argument that they cared about - their own self-preservation.

I'd planted the seed with [Queen] Yisame - about how Endbringers were unstoppable forces of nature, but also how devious they were. How their attacks weren't random, but designed to deprive countries of precious resources. Resources like members of a particular Class.

It would take time, and a lot of death, but [Rulers] would soon come to realize that having [Slavers] in their nations would be the same as inviting disaster.

THAT was my goal. I couldn't simply kill them all. Even if I could snap my fingers and make every single [Slaver] drop dead this very instant, it would only be a temporary solution. Others would rise up and claim the Class and pick up where Roshal had left off.

In fact, it would probably be those same exact collaborators I'd been thinking about. The [Merchants] and [Captains] and others who'd supported Roshal would take over and become [Slavers] themselves.

Unless, that was, I made having the class a death-sentence not only for [Slavers] but everyone around them. How do you make a Class go extinct? By turning every [Slaver] into a pariah. A doomed existence that would get everyone close to them killed as well when the monster came for them.

In fact, it was likely that Leviathan wouldn't have to personally murder every last [Slaver]. Others would do it for me.

Now, I just had to warn Flos, so that if he got to the ruins of Roshal, he would know what had to be done. With so many [Slaves] and [Slaver]-adjacent people, it wouldn't take much for one of them to get the class... and for Leviathan to return.

---

"Pixel, what is happening?" Flos stared at the image on the table, but all he saw was rain. A torrent of water fell from the sky. So much so, that he wasn't sure if his desert continent home had ever seen so much.

"A disaster." The [Archmage]'s voice was calm. Far too calm for what was happening. "A monster from my world that followed me through whatever magic kidnapped me in the first place. A walking disaster that has drowned countries in the past, and sunk whole civilizations beneath the ocean."

Pixel raised his hand and made the motions to manipulate the image shown. The advanced scrying spell zoomed out so that an entire city was displayed on the table. From this distance, he could see it. The tiny figure that was moving around with such great velocity that it looked like the water was parting on its own.

"A monster? Then we should-"

"No." The reply was short, but Pixel's voice cut through the air. "There is no 'fighting' it. Thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands have died at its hands. For all of my world's collective might, none of us were ever able to slay this beast. We inconvenienced it. Kept it from its goal. But we never were able to inflict a blow that truly wounded it."

"Never?"

"Never." Pixel's shoulders sagged. "We still fought it, yes. We even managed to drive it off on several occasions. But, no matter what tactics we used, what powers we brought into play against it, how many [Heroes] that sacrificed their lives to try and defeat it..." He paused. "The name we call it is 'Leviathan'. We have driven it off before. Sometimes we think we managed to prevent it from accomplishing its task. Other times we made it retreat, even saved cities from its wrath, only to find out later that it had harmed us in ways we couldn't have anticipated."

"How so?"

"It hunts infrastructure."

"What?" Flos' response was echoed by the others in the room.

"For whatever reason, it takes a cruel delight in targeting certain people. Those that were plentiful at first glance. They seemed no different from any of the other casualties from its attacks." Pixel shrugged. "It killed so many, so they were just more of the same. For us, it was our farmers." Pixel looked away from the slaughter. "No one with the Class. In my world, people have powers, but not Classes like you know it. But still, there were those who devoted their lives to certain fields. As you can imagine, just like in this world, there were a great many that didn't fight, but worked tirelessly to feed others."

"..." Flos clenched his jaw. He could see where this was going.

"Personally, I have my own theory. That Leviathan's targets are picked from those it first kills. It then systematically tries to slaughter everyone of that 'type'."

"Then..."

"I used it." Pixel's voice was cold. "I knew it had followed me. I could predict where it would strike next. So I laid a trap. I removed everyone else from its path, and so, the first person slain by Leviathan was a [Slaver]." Flos could hear the grim smile on the Earther's face, even if it was hidden by his helmet. "Now? Now the resource it will destroy is one that I am all to happy to sacrifice."

"You planned this?" Gazi asked, her eyes tracking what was happening far better than anyone else's in the room.

"Yes." Pixel nodded at the table. "There are signs, if you know to look for them, that forecast where and when the next target will be. I saw these signs, and with them, an opportunity. I made a great sacrifice to empower this effect." He motioned a the image. "Alongside what I did to remove others from its path. It is no coincidence that I arrived here today. I knew what would happen, and I chose to save those deserving of it."

Flos turned to study the Earther. It was impossible to read him underneath that armor, but he could plainly hear the emotion in his voice. The raw hatred of both Leviathan and the [Slavers] alike. The grim satisfaction he was deriving from setting one of his foes against another.

"So what now?"

"Other countries are preparing to attack. How could something attack Roshal and not be targeted by nearly the entire world? The Blighted Kingdom is about to make the first move, but others are hastily working to back them up." Pixel raised his hand and the image grew so that it was easy to see the giant creature called 'Leviathan'. The buildings and rain that shrouded it faded to near transparency so that they all could witness its actions.

"Are those?" Mars asked from the side.

"Djinni." Flos confirmed. The three figures that were chasing Leviathan were Djinni. Three out of however many there should've been.

"Most of their kind I cocooned in time to keep them safe, along with everyone else." Pixel sounded sad. "But, there are some whose natures prevented me from doing so."

A humanoid with the head of a cat with black wings that contained points of lights - like stars. One that looked like a dusky skinned human, except that from his waist down he was nothing more than a shimmering stream of light. The same golden light encircled his wrists. A hulking figure that looked like a Drownedfolk, except he was fully shark instead of half shark/half other.

As Leviathan charged at two cowering Stitchfolk, the Cat-Djinni appeared behind them and wrapped his wings around the pair. The three of them vanished just as the monster plowed through the building they'd been occupying.

A part of Flos' mind noted that of all the races in the world, the Drownedfolk would be best suited to defending against Leviathan, and the Stitchfolk the worst. String People mostly lived in Chandrar for a reason. Getting wet didn't harm them like fire did, but their bodies did soak in moisture. The swelling left them literally bursting at the seams and in a near crippled state.

The Human-Djinni and the Shark-Djinni charged Leviathan from the side. The great beast took a step towards them and stopped. A mass of water shaped like it continued forward and swept the Human-Djinni away, while the Shark-Djinni dived through it. Its mouth opened wide and the end of the Leviathan-shaped wave was sucked into the Djinni's fanged maw. It rammed into the monster and then let out a compressed water orb that exploded and threw Leviathan backwards.

"That water that comes from its body." Flos looked closer, taking this opportunity to study the monster. "It's like it's a hole in the world that water pours out of."

"A fair assessment. Leviathan is strong and fast, but its true power comes from its control over water. With its constant production of the stuff, it's never without its most potent weapon."

Then, the sky above creature lit up as a brilliant bolt of yellow obliterated a huge swath of the city centered on it.

"Moendi's Sunlightning." Amerys commented from the side. "Potent, but whomever cast it failed to concentrate its power. More than 90% of it was wasted." She leaned forward to get a better look. "I bet one of the [Mages] trying to use whatever artifact made it couldn't handle the power and died. The rest probably panicked."

A huge cloud of steam billowed from where Leviathan had been struck. Flos watched as it staggered to its feet. There was a large scar on its chest that was oozing black blood. It didn't seem so strong. A small arrow flew from the sky and struck it, the blow sending the monster flying through the air.

"A Deathseeker Arrow." Mars straightened up. "Those are hard to block, but that's what you have to do or else they'll keep on chasing you forever."

"Pixel, this monster of yours-" Flos' words died in his throat as the image moved to find Leviathan again. The beast was already on its feet and tearing through another group of people. "Its wounds aren't slowing it down."

"No." Pixel's voice was eerily calm. "Those levels of injuries are nothing to it."

The winged-Djinni appeared above before conjuring a massive rock and dropping it. Leviathan dodged, already racing away. Doubtlessly towards more of its true targets. Flos frowned. How would he fight something like that? A monster tough enough to shrug off level 6 spells, and fast enough to outmaneuver most of his forces to strike at softer targets?

It would have to be a defensive battle. Fortifications to slow it down and let his high-level troops get close. They would also need a strong enough weapon to hurt it. Could any of his Seven do that right now? He wasn't sure. If he had a sword that could withstand his strength, then it just might be possible.

The slaughter continued before the Human-Djinni and the Shark-Djinni got close again. The first one began to throw glowing rings that sheered through whatever they touched. An offensive teleportation spell - something only a Djinni could safely wield.

Leviathan sent another mass of water shaped like it towards them, and once again the Shark-Djinni opened its mouth... only to have Leviathan charge through its own water and grab the magical defender.

"How can it grab magic?" Flos was confused. "Djinni are more slippery than an oiled Drake."

"It's not grabbing it. It's grabbing its bindings." Amerys commented. "The collar around its neck. The Djinni cannot leave its shackle."

Leviathan turned towards the glowing rings it had been dodging and surged towards the Human-Djinni. The Djinni stood its ground and summoned ring after ring. With Leviathan charging it head on there was no way for it to dodge the attack! It would- The rings shattered against the Shark-Djinni that the monster used as a shield. The struggling Djinni cried out in pain. The Human-Djinni's eyes widened just before Leviathan ran through it.

Not over it, not to the side of it, through it as it burst apart like a wave upon the shore.

"How?" The Djinni was dead. Golden motes of light were all that were left of it.

Flos didn't have time to wonder, as the sky above Leviathan started to glow an ominous red. The Winged-Djinni blinked and grabbed a single [Slaver] before teleporting them both away from whatever fury was being unleashed above them.

The clouds parted and Leviathan ran. A huge Dragon's head made of fire loomed above it. As the Spell fell, the Dragon's maw opened wide enough to engulf a village and a wave of chaotic energy spewed forth. Fire mixed with ice, lightning, acid, force, and more that Flos couldn't make out crashed down on top of Leviathan.

"What level Spell is that?"

"I don't know it." Amerys said. "But I would say at least seventh, more likely eighth. That prismatic effect could probably slay an elder Creler. What country had such a thing in their vaults?"

"Erribathe." Pixel spoke as he remained focus on the scene displayed.

"One of the Restful Three?" Mars let out a low whistle. "To think they had something like that squirreled away."

"I'm more surprised they used it." Amerys shook her head. "There are ancient Spells and then there's that."

"They most likely had it for the next Creler-level disaster." Flos decided. "And this 'Leviathan' certainly qualified. However, I think it-"

"It's not dead." Pixel interrupted him. "Look."

The image on the table was covered in a mixture of dust and steam, but with the Spell ending the clouds pulled back together and the downpour quickly wiped the remnants of the blast away.

...revealing Leviathan standing with one arm held above its head. It's other arm was thinner, burnt down to the bone from the Spell, but the monster had used the Shark-Djinni as a shield again. It had managed to avoid most of the damage from the attack. It dropped a small necklace as it lowered its arm, and then surged forward - seeking more [Slavers] to kill.

"How?"

"That wounded it." Pixel shook his head. "But it is durable beyond all imagination. I'm impressed that such magic was able to inflict that much damage if I'm to be honest."

Leviathan continued its rampage until a streak of black tossed it backwards. The remaining Djinni hovered in the air, a small portal held open in between its hands. Even as Leviathan flew back from the impact of whatever it had unleashed, another bolt emerged from the dimensional hole and unerringly struck.

Deathseeker Arrows.

They flew from the gateway the Djinni had obviously created between Roshal and Rhir. But even as more arrows emerged, Leviathan was moving. The projectiles tore through buildings and the water echo the beast left behind, but as fast as they were, Leviathan was faster.

It jerked from side to side as it ran. The sudden changes in its course made its watery doubles shoot out like crazy, demolishing what was left of Roshal's capital city. Flos noted that several of the buildings struck by it left pools of red water in their ruins. Then, it jumped up and at its attacker.

The Winged-Djinni blinked away, but had to abandon its Spell to do so. Dozens of arrows now pursued Leviathan as it in turn hunted the Djinni. More spells fell from the sky, but the pair were moving too fast for the magical assault to successfully strike the monster.

"They are herding it." Mars said, her arms crossed as she stared. "Not intentionally, but if the great beast turns too sharply, the arrows will catch up to it."

Flos nodded. "True, but I don't think anyone else has as good of view of it as we do." Pixel's spell continued to filter out the rain and ruins that would keep them from seeing the fight. In a way, Flos found it exciting. Like one of those shows on the scrying orbs, but far more impressive.

This wasn't a choreographed play. It was a fight that was happening right now. The way Pixel expertly manipulated the image let them follow the battle in a way that no other [Mage] could match.

"If the other countries could see this..." Orthenon spoke from the side. "They might be able to aim their spells so as to strike their target."

That was true. Flos had no arsenal of artifacts with witch to attack with. All that he had once claimed had been stolen by his former subjects as his Kingdom had splintered. If Amerys was at her full strength, the she might possibly have been able to strike a blow from so far.

But even her magic paled in comparison to the ancient Spells contained in scrolls from the distant past.

"You could-" Orthenon continued before Pixel interrupted him.

"No. I will aid no [Slaver]." He let out a sigh. "Besides, it's too late."

"Too late?" Flos questioned. The Djinni was acquitting itself well. With Leviathan's speed, launching arrows from behind it was counter-productive. He wasn't sure how long the magic in a Deathseeker Arrow would last, but it would eventually falter. "The arrows will fly for days yet, and the Djinni is allowing them to almost strike true."

Indeed. If arrows were fired from a vast distance, they would eventually reach Roshal and Leviathan, but they would all come from the same direction. It would not be difficult for the monster to use its speed to avoid such attacks. The Djinni didn't seem to possess potent enough magic to strike Leviathan directly, but it was putting its abilities to far greater use.

By making its portals in front of Leviathan, it was forcing the monster to dodge awkwardly - lest it be struck and then obliterated by the swarm of arrows that continued to chase it!

Leviathan suddenly swiped the air! A claw of water blurred towards the Djinni, who barely managed to teleport away in time. It vanished, only to find that its next spot had been predicted, as a second claw of water slashed towards it. It had no time to form another portal, much less launch a new attack, but it still twisted in space and reappeared...

Right in the path of an arc of water shot out from Leviathan as it had whipped its tale to the side!

The Djinni reeled from the hit, but managed to teleport even as it was struck. It re-appeared high in the sky, panting for breath.

Then a Deathseeker Arrow pierced it from behind.

It wasn't one of the arrows that made up the cloud that followed Leviathan. It was an arrow shot by someone on another continent. The projectile exploded the Djinni's chest and it fell to the ground and collapsed in a heap.

"How? Can it see the future?"

"No." Pixel shook his head. "Leviathan would be a far greater threat than it already is if it could do that. But it didn't need to see the future, the Djinni's attacks were too predictable." The image froze and shifted to an overhead view as it rewound itself in time. Small dark objects were surrounded by a red aura to make them easier to see.

"The attacks from Rhir were too regular. Its best [Archers] already used up all their Skills earlier, and were reduced to firing their magical arrows in a barrage. They came every second and a half." He turned to look at Flos. "Do not underestimate Leviathan. It is a monster, but it has its own deadly cunning and experience. It knew where the Djinni would teleport too from observing it. How it preferred to vanish to a location it could see. How it was briefly disoriented by facing a new direction. How long it would take to teleport in succession."

"Leviathan saw all of that." Pixel shook his head. "And combined its knowledge to lure the Djinni into the path of an arrow the Djinni didn't know about." The [Archmage] let out a sigh. "It should've had better awareness of its environment, but I suppose that Djinni don't get to practice fighting often."

The image switched back to a 'live' feed as Leviathan charged the Djinni who had just managed to stagger to his feet. Flos noted that the monster's charge was off-target as it stopped next to its foe and its water continued past.

"Why is it-"

His question was answered and Leviathan's arms blurred. The cloud of arrows vanished as it plucked them out of the air. "It could've done that all along? Then why-"

Flos' second question was also answered as Leviathan brought its two bundles of arrows down on the Djinni. The potent magic in them tearing him apart as he screamed in pain and horror.

"That..."

"That is an Endbringer. There is no point in showing this to other countries. Even if they could see all that I can, the would have no better luck in striking the final blow."

Pixel might have been speaking the truth, but that didn't stop the [Rulers] of the world from trying. However, without the Djinni to keep Leviathan occupied, all their spells were dodged. It didn't matter if they were a bolt of lightning from the sky, or a seeking swarm of projectiles.

Leviathan was simply too fast. Far too fast for a monster of its size.

"Is it quicker than before?"

"Yes." Pixel's voice was resigned. "It is far faster in water. Now that Roshal is flooded, it will be impossible to catch. All that remains is watching it kill people until there are none left."

"Then what?"

"Then it will disappear into the depths to recover."

"For how long?"

"It's impossible to say for certain. A week, a month, longer... It depends on how badly it was truly hurt and if it senses an opportunity to attack again."

"You don't mean?"

"Yes." Pixel nodded. "I do. Leviathan is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. It absolutely will not stop, ever, until every [Slaver] is dead!"

---

Okay, fine. I stole that line from a movie, but I think it got my point across pretty well.

We watched the rest of Leviathan's rampage in silence. True to my prediction, most Spells failed to strike true. The various countries stopped wasting their strategic reserves after it became apparent everyone left in Roshal was as good as dead. It would've hardly matter if they kept it up. Magic might be magic, but Leviathan had the same amount of mass as the moon. Breaching its shell to reach its core required something on a whole other scale.

And without that information about Leviathan's weakness? The greatest heroes of Earth Bet had fought Leviathan for years without making any progress.

I was still honestly surprised. Both with how much it had been hurt by that one spell, and that it was fighting 'in person'. We'd learned that the Endbringers were a result of Eidolon's subconscious wishing for a 'Worthy Opponent'. That was why Leviathan got close enough so that we could hurt it. So that we could fight it.

I'd half-expected for it to simply create a tidal wave big enough to wipe Roshal off the map in one blow. Or to make acid rain. Or turn raindrops into bullets. Or something equally deadly.

I guess the command to be a 'Worthy Opponent' was still bouncing around somewhere in its 'mind'. Or it had gotten used to fighting like that. Or it was just how Endbringers were supposed to behave - to get more data.

In any event. The threat was now out there. The next time would be worse. People that weren't [Slavers] would be killed. Not that every casualty had been one today, but I didn't know what else I could've done about the Djinni.

"I expect [Looters] and [Scavengers] will come into Roshal once the flood waters drain away."

"No." Flos laughed and shook his head. "They'll hardly wait for that. A country as rich as Roshal? I bet [Pirates] and their like set off as soon as they heard what happened, and that Leviathan sunk back into the ocean."

"Less for you to take once you get there." I tilted my head. I was still confident that Flos intended to honor his part of our bargain - not that we'd really agreed to anything. I'd just made a request.

"Bah." He frowned. "I don't care about that!" His face darkened as he probably recalled what he'd seen. "I'll do well by those that you saved, Pixel. You have my word."

"That's good enough for me." I gave him a half-bow and then stepped outside the tent and un-Inventoried my Cawthorne suit.

As I flew away I was unconcerned. In the worst case, I could let all the [Slaves] out of stasis and allow them to use my base - and teleport everyone else back to the surface.

It still would be best if they had someone to lead them though.

Chapter 120: Interlude - The Second Weapon

It exited in its dormant state.

Even while it wasn't fully active, it had been aware of its surroundings.

It had been deactivated and placed in storage before being re-deployed.

There was water in its newest location.

Water constantly in motion.

Pulled into a gravity well.

Unlike the previous location, this one did not conform to standard astronomical models.

It did not process that further.

It made no difference if the water of this location was constantly moving, being compressed, being transfered.

The only relevance was how it would affect its orders.

Water was a resource, just like any other.

It reduced resources.

The unusual state of this location and the manner in which water was diminishing was already a state in which resources would run out.

It could hasten the process.

The destruction engine spawned a new thought process: 'why hadn't the water already drained away?'

It expanded its senses.

Everywhere the water touched, it could examine.

Age.

The erosion indicated that this location was well past the desolation time frame.

It should've deteriorated completely.

The erosion around the hole was more recent, but not enough to explain the situation.

Conclusion: more resources were being supplied by an outside force.

It waited and observed.

...

A new data-link appeared.

Information was being Broadcast to it in an unfamiliar format.

It was not being transmitted via disturbances in the liquid.

The Broadcast was of a higher level.

It understood.

It 'saw'.

It processed sights.

It processed sounds.

It processed [Information].

It waited.

...

LEVIATHAN

Designation accepted.

Leviathan was the same designation it had been given by the previous host of the High Administrator.

The transmission came from the same authority.

The current High Administrator host was different from the previous High Administrator host.

That detail was noted and stored in memory in case it ever became relevant.

Previous orders for a 'worthy challenge' were linked to the previous High Administrator host.

They were not a priority for Leviathan currently.

Processing priorities:

1. Deny resources (dormant).

2. Provide a worthy challenge (depreciated).

...

KILL

Additional priority accepted.

Waiting further constraints.

...

EVERY

Confirmed.

Waiting further constraints.

...

[SLAVER]

Error.

Categorization impossible.

Expanding Broadcast data.

Leviathan unpacked the data package that was similar, yet different from its normal encryption.

...

Processing.

...

Processing.

...

Additional information needed.

Secondary connection accepted.

Data transfer established.

...

...

...

He understood.

His targets were Humans, Nagas, Stitchfolk, String People, Beastkin- Wait. There was a duplicate there. Stitchfolk and String People both referred to the same sub-species. Interesting.

...But ultimately irrelevant. The species did not matter for determining who was a [Slaver]. That classification was assigned based on the individual's past actions.

Interesting.

Leviathan stretched his arms and legs. He liked the tactile feedback between his limbs and the water around him. It felt good. It would feel better as he swam.

The link from the High Administrator was still active. It outlined a segment of coastal land.

'Roshal' was the agreed upon designation.

It was the closest place to the scanning array that was providing him details about who was a [Slaver] and who wasn't. That was important. Without that knowledge, he couldn't fulfill his directives.

Leviathan reviewed them as he swam towards his target. He also seized control of the water dispersed in the atmosphere above and began to transfer more to the clouds from the ocean.

Processing priorities:

1. Deny resources.

2. Provide a worthy challenge (depreciated).

3. Kill every [Slaver].

The first and third goals were aligned. [Slaves] were resources, so in killing [Slavers] their availability would be reduced. This would lead to social upheaval and conflict.

Strangely, there were no [Slaves] inside of Roshal. That went against the details that were being provided to him. It also wasn't a priority - except so much that in the future [Slaves] would be a good way to find [Slavers].

The water flowed as its phase changed and it moved from the ocean to the sky. Dark clouds materialized out of thin air and swept over Roshal like a tidal wave. Leviathan let some light rain fall from them to see what was happening below, but that was all for the moment.

He still had his other priority to incorporate.

If the Prediction Engine was around, he could've gotten details from her along with a plan. The connection from the High Administrator was fulfilling the first half of that, but didn't assist in plotting a course of action.

Water was being held back by an unknown force. Something was trying to disperse his clouds through wind and a technique he wasn't familiar with.

Processing...

Processing......

Processing.........

Phenomenon verified. Countermeasures enacted.

A trail of energy came from Roshal and spread into the sky. Multiple points had the native species working together to counteract his control over water.

It wouldn't work.

Leviathan could already sense the countering force reaching its limit as he pulled more and more water into the skies above his targets. Clouds so dark and saturated they wouldn't be able to exist with his continued support. He could make it rain by doing nothing more than removing his control.

The natives' countermeasures would suppress some of the rain, but not all of it.

A worthy challenge?

Yes. Leviathan could sense how they were manipulating the water. It was different from the multitude of ways he could, but there were enough similarities to extract conclusions. He could disrupt the attempt.

He chose not to.

His attention turned to the details provided by the High Administrator. [Slavers] were exiting the battlefield he was constructing. A few simply vanished, but a good number were moving along the ground in an attempt to escape his clouds.

A few boarded water-going vessels. He pulled those under the waves and compressed them until the High Administrator's signal showed they were no longer considered [Slavers].

For the ones attempting to evacuate, he pushed his clouds and thickened the ones located at the edges of Roshal. Not just dark, but pitch black. Then, he let the guillotine fall.

Query guillotine?

More details came from his secondary data source. Details saved. Comparison appropriate. The border clouds didn't release droplets of water to be pulled to the ground by the gravity well. Leviathan compressed the falling rain together into a thin sheet.

A blade.

A guillotine.

It cut into the ground, severing anything that tried to pass through it.

The continental shelf under Roshal was thick and... his water hit a segment which it couldn't pass.

Analyzing.

Discolored soil. Manipulation of local time-space. Source of High-Administrator Broadcast.

Leviathan felt... disappointed. He was going to have reduced more resources than simply [Slavers]... but he didn't need to sever Roshal from the mainland to fulfill his 2nd and 3rd objectives. His rain blade was accomplishing its primary function and preventing [Slavers] from leaving over land.

Now... he just had to do something about the few that were still occasionally vanishing. The frequency was low, and it was getting lower with each passing minute. So far, only thirteen had evacuated.

That... was acceptable. A Worthy Challenge. But, as a Worthy Challenge, it could not go uncontested.

Leviathan grabbed droplets that were being forced to remain in the clouds by the unknown counter measures and applied more force. The water was harder to move, but he still propelled it down towards the [Slavers] that had similar unidentified objects that were trying to also manipulate time-space.

He could've targeted the [Slavers] themselves. He could float off of Roshal and send tidal wave after tidal wave to crush and drown everyone. That would deny more resources and still kill every [Slaver]. But Leviathan had to give them a Worthy Challenge.

That was why his infused raindrops struck the items they were attempting to use to manipulate time-space instead of the [Slavers] themselves. He didn't know what would happen. He didn't know how this unknown phenomenon would interact with itself. He wasn't Prediction.

But, he knew knocking something down was easier than building it up. It was technically possible that his intrusion would inflict damage that was minor or could be compensated for. If that was the case, he had ample water to continue his tactic.

It proved unnecessary.

The distortions that were building up in time-space ceased. Two of them with a dramatic twisting of the local fabric resulting in the deaths of five [Slavers].

Acceptable, but now he needed to provide a Worthy Challenge in person.

His body breached the surface in a low arc and high velocity. He crashed into a row of buildings and his water echo continued on to lay waste to even more.

The [Slaver] he'd landed on was dead. The coating of water revealed others, and the High Administrator's Broadcast highlighted the closest [Slavers] in the next building.

Leviathan charged, tearing through a line of targets as he sped through the streets.

Three non-[Slavers] moved towards him. They were formed of the same unknown energy.

They would make a Worthy Challenge and also an chance to collect data on how the energy behaved in more situations. Unlike the time-space constructs, his infused rain didn't slow them down.

But... they were too slow to be a threat to his mission. He would fight them and perhaps kill them, or drive them away, or even be wounded himself, but it wouldn't stop him from fulfilling his objective.

Every [Slaver] would perish.

...

Objective completed.

Leviathan waited for confirmation from the High Administrator that the water blast from its tail had ended the existence of the final four [Slavers].

Confirmation received. Reviewing orders:

1. Deny resources (dormant).

2. Provide a worthy challenge (depreciated).

3. Kill every [Slaver] (dormant).

The Broadcast from the High Administrator revealed no further [Slavers] in the targeted area. Leviathan swam through the accumulated water and back into the ocean. It dove down into the deepest depths that did not go past the ocean floor.

He could sense water deeper down, but that was immaterial.

A large aquatic lifeform approached him as he dove. Leviathan crushed it as he swam past.

He settled on the ground and processed his current status.

34.33225% physical structure lost by volume.

Negligible physical structure lost by mass.

Replenishment active. Restoration of physical structure in process. Time until completion 4.37 cycles.

Leviathan went dormant. His sense of his surroundings shrunk until it was only focused on the local area. The connection with the High Administrator remained active, but it had yet to update itself. It was still providing data about the incursion site.

Was that it?

And unusual process queried himself. It requested information about the future. Information that Leviathan did not possess.

If the Prediction Engine was present then it could provide data about likely scenarios. It did not.

Leviathan could attempt to extrapolate...

A new priority had been assigned. Information about that priority had been provided. Actions based on the priority had been undertaken.

Resources denied? Affirmative.

Worth Challenge provided? Affirmative.

Kill every [Slaver]? Affirmative. Negative. Affirmative. Negative.

Analyzing.

Analyzing...

Analyzing......

Every [Slaver] that it had current information on was dead. Other [Slavers] still existed. Other [Slavers] were not present within the monitored zone.

Hypothesis: other [Slavers] might re-enter monitored zone.

Hypothesis: other [Slavers] might be created within the monitored zone by actions of its inhabitants.

Analyzing.

Probability low.

Hypothesis: monitored zone might move or be expanded.

Analyzing.

Probability high.

Additional: actions of individuals could be monitored for detection of [Slaver] without High Administrator.

Analyzing.

Rejection.

[Slaver] classification comes from secondary source. Causal link not fully established.

Additional: actions of individual could be monitored to establish causal link.

Analyzing.

Affirmative.

Leviathan let its senses expand. It was still in its dormant state and abstained from manipulating water to conserve resources. Minimal expenditure was granted for cataloging what was happening where the rain fell.

Chapter 121: Reunion 1

Notes:

Previously: Pixel journeyed to Relm to seek the King of Destruction's help with Roshal. Not for aid in fighting it, but rather eventual support for its survivors after Leviathan ravages the country and kills every [Slaver] - while all the [Slaves] are safely sealed in the massive Tinker-tech structure Pixel created underground. While he was there, Kevin received a letter from the Titan of Baleros which seemed to imply that Riley was a guest of his. Now, while the rest of the world is abuzz over the water-controlling monster from the depths who for reasons unknown destroyed Roshal in half a day, Pixel and Sibby are flying to the Forgotten Wing Company.

As Sibby flew us across Chandrar I had her curve to the north when we hit the Great Zeikhal Desert. I was in a hurry to reach Baleros and hopefully be reunited with my little sister, but it was still probably a good idea to travel over the ocean as much as possible. A LOT of people were sending [Messages] back and forth, the Wistram News Network was busy broadcasting a story about Roshal, and I'd rather no country got an itchy trigger finger and happened to notice Sibby and me flying overhead.

She was making us mostly invisible, but you never knew what Skills and Spells might be able to overcome that.

By Kirby, I was tired. Not just physically, although I did have my 'Tired' debuffs stacking up since staying awake for close to 40 hours now. It was more... emotional. Doing bad things for the 'Greater Good' didn't make them any less evil.

I felt no guilt due to Gamer's Mind, which in turn made me feel a strange sort of unease. Ambivalent. Full of mixed feelings that were too weak to trigger Gamer's Mind, or just the knowledge of not feeling them. It was strange, and I didn't like it.

"Pixel?" I was brought out of my brooding by someone speaking to me via a Communication Cube. I closed my eyes and reached out to the source...

Oh.

"Hello, Cara." I nodded as my image appeared inside of what looked like a dressing room crammed inside a large wagon. I wasn't wearing my armor, since Cara O'Sullivan was one of the people who knew what Pixel really looked like. (Or at least what I normally looked like.)

"Oh good." She let out a sigh. "I was worried."

"About what?"

"Have you seen the news?"

Ah.

I 'sat' down in an open chair and nodded. "I have."

"And..." She bit her lip. "Is the sea creature the same one from your world? I mean, I know you came to my Earth and got taken there, but who's to say that whatever did this stopped there? Or that they were only grabbing humans?" She threw her hands up. "Heck, it could be grabbing cats, and dogs, and horses, and shit, and we'd never know, right? What if it decided to also grab a Kaiju? It could do that, right?"

"The attack does share a great many similarities with what my Earth had to deal with." I admitted. "It wasn't an island like Newfoundland or Kyushu, but-"

"But it's exactly like what you told me!" Cara nodded. "Rain heralding his arrival. Tsunamis. Slaughtering everyone if not driven off. So," She looked me in my eyes. "Was it him? Was it Leviathan?"

"Yes." I nodded. "I am almost certain it is."

"Great." She leaned back and rubbed her forehead. "First that [Witch] and now a Kaiju."

"You probably don't have to worry about Leviathan. If it follows the same pattern it did on Earth Bet, it will only attack every couple of months."

"A country or even a city every few months is still a big deal." Cara sighed. "I know that the odds aren't dire or anything. That ninety-nine point nine, nine, nine percent of the world won't be affected or some other statistical shit, but..." She looked at me. "It's still freaky. I know the whole world is freaky, but there's that and then there's the knowledge that a Kaiju might just decide to come and destroy your city."

"You get used to it." I replied dryly.

Cara let out a grunt. "Yeah, but should you?"

"Anyways," I changed the subject. "We haven't spoken in a while. How are you managing miss 'Singer of Terandria'?"

"Pretty well. There's been some ups and downs, but I've assembled my own little rag tag group of idiots."

"Oh? Keeping your fellow Earthers close?"

"Yep." She nodded. "I get that Wistram is safer, especially with you around. And that we could go and come back if we wanted to, but... It's just nicer to be on the open road, y'know?"

"I can understand that."

"Master." Another voice spoke into a Communication Cube. A voice I was much more familiar with. Not that I needed to recognize it, or the specific cube in question, to identify who'd spoken.

"I'm sorry, but I have other things to do, Cara."

"Oh sure. Leading the resistance against Leviathan and what-not. I get you." She made a shooing motion with her hands. "Don't let me keep ya."

I dropped the connection and paused to think for a moment. Was I going to fight Leviathan?

The answer was, of course, 'yes'. Even if it felt performative and dishonest, I'd still have to go to the next Endbringer battle. The major difference was that I'd be the one that decided when and where it happened. That was a staggering responsibility.

I wasn't sure if it would be best to do it immediately, or to wait and set a schedule. I could certainly write a program into my mega-project to have it Broadcast to Leviathan at regular intervals the location of the largest group of [Slavers].

In fact... that's exactly what I would do. Not only to establish Leviathan as a sort of predictable natural disaster, but also to give my mega-project time to collect data. It had... a lot of magic at its disposal. As a benefit of being a country-sized antenna, it was capable of over-whelming the rings of proof against [Appraisal] that most high-level people wore - at least enough to identify their Classes.

My personal mana-empowered Observe could get past the edges of them. Mainly I could see things that Observe would tell me, but that the [Appraisal] Spell wouldn't: Faction, Origin, and Debuffs. Useful, but not good enough to identify a person's current Classes or what they'd consolidated from. That was vitally important to find [Slavers] who'd gotten advanced versions of their Class.

My array could do that. Heck, it could do it multiple times a second.

But there was still a LOT of people in the world that warded themselves against [Appraisal]. Not that I blamed them. Denying your opponents information is rule number one. So not only would my mega-project have to scan the entire world to identify [Slavers]. It would then also have to catalog each and every warded person and do a more intensive Observation on them.

And that wasn't even getting into areas that were, themselves, warded. It couldn't target what it couldn't see.

Ugh.

I'd need to write a sub-program for that which would identify those places and then extrapolate if they were inhabited. That was the nice thing about killing [Slavers]: that to ply their trade they would have to have non-[Slaves] brought to them and have [Slaves] leave.

And unless someone was willing to ward each and every one of their [Slaves] and pre-[Slaves], I could spot them.

Actually, I'd guess that was a nice thing about hunting [Slavers]. There were lots of other things that were nice about killing them.

"Master?"

Oh, right. I got sidetracked there.

"Sorry, Teura." I spoke as I projected an image of myself to where my [Apprentice] was. "Things are a little hectic right now."

"So you're aware of what happened in Roshal?" She shook her head. "No, of course my Master knows."

*Annoyance negated by Gamer's Mind.

"You can just call me 'Pixel', or even 'Archmage'." I reminded her yet again.

"I'm aware, but 'Master' is the appropriate term for an [Apprentice] to demonstrate the proper respect."

I didn't need to have my notifications to see through that lie. She wasn't even trying to act like she didn't use that term of address solely because I'd asked her not to. Not with that smirk.

I had my projection sigh. "So what about Roshal concerns you?"

"Me personally?" She tucked a strand of red hair behind a pointed ear. "Nothing. But, as your [Apprentice], I've been in contact with the other Archmages, and they have convened an emergency meeting."

I had my image pinch the bridge of its nose while I thought about what to tell her to do. I'd naturally assumed that my plan would've caused an uproar. A Kaiju destroying a country tended to do that. The fact that it was Roshal, which had a web of alliances and deals across the world only made it a bigger deal.

"I had been planning to visit Wistram myself to discuss things with them." My projection raised its head to look into her eyes. "But I have other matters to attend to."

"Then allow me to carry your words in your place, Master." Teura bowed her head.

*Annoyance negated by Gamer's Mind.

"That's... not a bad idea." My image stroked its chin. "All right. I'll give you some details that only I know." While I'd told the faction heads of Wistram about Earth Bet, I hadn't gone into any details, nor mentioned Endbringers. In my defense, I hadn't planned on it being relevant - more an insurance policy than anything else in case I needed, well, something that could crush countries.

And, if I'm being honest with myself, having a way to level Endbringer control somewhere that wasn't Earth Bet was also a nice little bonus.

Ah, and I had one other person who I'd be speaking to today. I'd almost forgotten who all I'd spoken about Endbringers to.

"First, everything I'm about to say is just hypothetical. I have no proof, only suspicions. And naturally my suspicions are colored by my own experiences." As a bonus, having Teura spread what once was a lie eliminated any issues that might've arisen from Truthstones or other such magic. Sure, I could handle that easily enough, especially with [Retconned Backstory], but it's better to avoid it altogether. "The nature of the attack. The use of water and rain. A single, gigantic monster that seems invincible. The assault and then retreat... they all remind me of something from my world."

"The Endbringers."

I then gave Teura the same story I'd told [Queen] Yisame. Truth mixed with fiction, or at least what once had been fiction. Leviathan really was targeting a specific Class this time. The only part I left out was my personal involvement and that I had saved all the non-[Slavers].

It wouldn't do to get any of the current wrath of the world directed at me, nor to downplay the level of destruction. While I'm sure there would be some knowledge about people vanishing, nearly every witness was dead. Of course I had to assume some number of [Slavers] had escaped, and they might've seen other people vanish with their own eyes.

---

Yisame read the report.

It wasn't a long report, nor very informative.

Basically, it said that Roshal had been attacked by some sea creature that had flooded it while slaughtering its people by hand, all while avoiding or enduring artillery Spells from countries across the world.

Yes, she'd known all of that. Nerrhavia's Fallen had contributed some, but they'd only known of the attack after hours had passed. That was apparently plenty of time for most of Roshal's population to be slaughtered. There hadn't seemed to be much reason to waste more than a token amount of resources.

In fact, she wouldn't have known what she did, either now or with the report, if it hadn't been for the Empire of Sands.

Roshal was one of its southern neighbors, and apparently some of the survivors had fled there at the start of the assault. She and the [Emperor] (or [Empress] depending on the day) weren't exactly close. Generally speaking, Empires didn't get along with other countries. It was only the fact that Nerrhavia's Fallen was on the far side of Chandrar, and was a powerhouse in its own right that put them on relatively good terms.

That... and the threat of the King of Destruction which had brought countries across the continent and beyond together. Not that the first combined attack had done much except bring [Archmage] Pixel in to defend Tiqr and demonstrate that he could slaughter armies with ease.

Yisame wondered if anyone had tried getting in contact with him personally? [Messages] had been sent to Wistram and to [Diplomats] across the world, but that didn't mean that Pixel had been personally informed. In fact, now that she thought about it, he probably hadn't been. Ever since Tiqr people had been trying to get in contact with the reclusive [Archmage], but he was just as throughly warded against unwanted [Messages] and scrying as any [King] or [Queen].

Although... she did have that cube he'd left behind hidden away in her private library.

She put her head in her hands and sighed. Could she have notified Pixel in time for him to go and lend aid? She'd been in court all morning, and the Courts wouldn't have responded well to their [Queen] 'abandoning' them to hide in her room during a crisis.

Now though... She let out a soft groan as she stood up and went to the concealed door that led to her most private place. It felt wrong to bring anything in there besides books and her own desire to read, but...

Yisame slowly walked through the small secret passage as the lightstones illuminated her way. Once inside, she cleared some space and put the books she'd recently finished on her shelves. Then she straightened her dress and sat down as she adopted her regal persona.

Proper. Beautiful. Cold. Above it all.

She took a deep breath, and then picked up the artifact. "[Archmage] Pixel. It is I, [Queen] Yisame of Nerrhavia's Fallen. I would wish to speak with you again if you have a spare moment of time."

She held her breath as she waited. Was that enough? It wasn't like she had another letter to tear in half. Although, she did have the first one stowed away in her desk. She could take it out and try tearing it again. It might work? She was no [Mage], and while it seemed likely that whatever enchantment Pixel had used on the letter had been expended, there was also the possibility that it could be re-used. Perhaps she should-

"[Queen] Yisame."

She jolted a little as Pixel teleported into her room. "[Archmage]." She bowed her head. "I only meant to speak with you, I did not intend to pull you away from whatever endeavors currently occupy your time."

"What?" He tilted his head slightly. "I-" He stopped speaking as a look of realization crossed his features. "Ah. I understand." Pixel shook his head. "I have not returned to Nerrhavia's Fallen, Yisame. This is merely a Spell that creates my image so we may more conveniently converse. It is like a scrying orb or a mirror, just without my picture being confined to the object in question."

"Oh." Her eyes widened and she looked at the cube. In truth she hadn't considered just how it would let her speak with him. She supposed it might've been only by sound. Or that a small image would appear on one of the sides, or that the cube might have unfolded to provide more surface area. "I understand." She turned to face him. "It is indeed a far more natural way to hold a conversation."

Yisame took a moment to study him. He was dressed the same way as before: a form-fitting suit that seemed to lack threads holding it together. His youngish features were still at odds with how ancient and powerful he was.

"I'm glad you think so, your Majesty." Pixel inclined his head. "May I ask what you wish to speak about?"

"Of course." There was no time for pleasantries, or to ask him about some of the stories he'd provided her. "Have you heard of what happened in Roshal this morning?"

"I have been informed that it was attacked by a sea creature."

"Yes." She nodded. "A powerful monster who was able to manipulate the weather to cause a torrential downpour across the entire nation as it attacked and slaughtered nearly every person inside Roshal's borders."

"Nearly every person?" Pixel raised an eyebrow.

"Indeed." Yisame nodded grimly. "We don't know how many survivors exist within Roshal, as the entire country is flooded. The neighboring nations haven't been able to send anyone in as the water is causing them their own problems. However, a few of the Emirs escaped, which raised the alarm." She sighed. "Although the storm clouds were said to be visible from a hundred miles away, so it was all too clear what was going on to those close by."

"I see." He stroked his chin. "That is indeed a terrible loss of life. Are there no other details?"

Yisame shook her head. "Not that I am aware of. The whole event happened so quickly that no one is sure what exactly occurred. We only suspect it is over because the clouds finally dissipated after dropping far more rain than they should've held."

Should I tell him that I only know what I do because of the connection Nerrhavia's Fallen had with the Empire of Sands? It wasn't particularly relevant, and she didn't know as much as others. Like others, they had scried on the creature, but she'd barely been able to make out anything in the torrential downpour - not to mention its speed.

"Anything would help." Pixel looked grim. "I don't want to leap to a conclusion that's colored by my past."

"Well..." She paused. "The rain was constant for hours. So much so that we suspect that most everyone drowned. There were three Djinni that fought it and died."

"Only three?"

Yisame nodded. "Yes. There may have been more that we failed to notice, but one of them fought for nearly an hour after the other two were slain."

"I see."

"Yes. It is worrisome on multiple levels. Not only that the creature was able to overcome so many of them, but also that only a handful fought back. There should have been more. A great deal more. Their loss has been almost as much of a concern as the attack itself."

"How so?" Pixel's brow furrowed. "Are their deaths that much more important than the loss of life of so many others?"

Yisame suddenly realized that in all of Pixel's and Mario's stories, there was never mention of a single Djinni. "It may be a cultural difference. I suspect that someone from Izril or Drath would also be confused. Djinni are powerful creatures made of magic itself. They are immortal and powerful. A single one is valuable beyond compare, and Roshal possessed more of them than any other nation in the world. The fact that only three were noticed fighting against the monster paints a worrisome picture."

"Because they died without fighting? That it killed them somehow beforehand?"

"Yes." Yisame inclided her head. "That is one possibility, and that would indeed be terrifying. If the attack somehow snuffed out their existence, or fed on it... But, no. That's not the worst scenario."

"Then what is?"

"Have you heard of the Death of Chains?"

Pixel drummed his fingers on his thigh as he thought. "I think... that I read something that mentioned that... title? It was about Archmage Zelkyr."

"Archmage Zelkyr was instrumental in the defeat of the Death of Chains." Yisame took a deep breath. "I say 'defeat' because it is believed that it still lives."

"What is the Death of Chains then?" Pixel tilted his head. "And how does it relate to Roshal?"

"The Death of Chains is an unbound Djinni that allies with the Demons of Rhir. Spiriting away its fellow Djinni is a terrifying possibility. Worse, what if it wasn't taking advantage of an opportunity, but was allied with the monster?"

"Is that... possible?"

Yisame glanced away. "Well, probably not." It did sound like a good story, but most stories were just that. "The Blighted Kingdom claims that the Death of Chains is either dead, or still recovering from its wounds." She let out a sigh. "And if the monster was allied with the Demons, or under their control, then it almost assuredly would've attacked the Blighted Kingdom instead of Roshal."

"Could it be that someone held a grudge against Roshal?"

"All countries have enemies, but Roshal tries to stay neutral. It's more profitable." She shrugged. "But I feel I've drawn this conversation into a dead end. The idea that a monster that powerful was under the control of someone? That person would've had to be... I don't know. Some insanely high level. I guess it's possible that an ancient artifact might be able to do it? Such as if the Eyes of Baleros were assembled? Maybe?"

Pixel frowned. "I thought the Eyes of Baleros were a Great Company?"

"Oh." Yisame's eyes widened. "No, no, no. Well, yes, there is a Great Company with that name, but there is also a set of powerful artifacts called the Eyes of Baleros. The Lightning Thief stole them in his most daring adventure! It's a powerful story that has several twists and turns, betrayals and forgiveness, romance and fighting. It's one of my favorite parts of his series!"

"..." Pixel was smiling at her.

"Ahem." Yisame schooled her face. "That is to say that while there are several theories about if the monster was ancient and woke up, or was recently hatched, or created somehow, no one knows for certain. Nor do they know why Roshal was targeted."

"..." Pixel's expression changed, and he gave her a blank stare.

"What?"

"You can't think of a single reason someone would want to destroy the nation of [Slavers]?"

"I mean, there are those that envy Roshal's power and influence. Plenty of them would probably want to see their monopoly ended, but it is common for smaller countries to be jealous of their betters. That does not mean that they possess the capacity to do something about it."

"I see."

"Why? Do you have a theory about the monster's actions? I confess that I'd contacted you on the foolish notion that it might be one of those 'Endbringers' you spoke of." Yisame laughed nervously. "I know, I know. That's a far-fetched thought, but..." She shrugged again.

"No." Pixel shook his head. "The same exact idea came to me as well. It is not outside the realm of possibility that whatever magic took me from my home also latched on to one of my greatest foes." He lowered his head and rubbed his temples. "If that is, in fact, the situation. I'm honestly of mixed feelings."

"Mixed feelings?" She could understand a [Hero] being conflicted. That was part of their appeal. How they had to weigh their actions and the subsequent consequences. It was like being a [Queen], but with a lot less Courts pressuring you, and a lot more freedom. Or so she imagined.

"If one of the Endbringers was, in fact, brought here, then the death count will only grow. Steps can be taken, of course, and the people that actually face it and live will doubtlessly level, but that hardly makes up for the devastation it brings." He leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. "But... it also means that my world has one less monster seeking its destruction. While that is a cold comfort to those of this world, if that is indeed the situation in which we find ourselves, it also feels like a weight from my mind."

"Oh." She hadn't considered that. She hadn't actually thought of things from Pixel's viewpoint before. Here he was a mysterious visitor from another world, seeking to save those innocents who'd been transported by some unknown means to her world. He was powerful with a motivation that wasn't directly opposed to her country's.

And yet, from the stance of the people of his world, their greatest protector had simply vanished one day. How would that impact events there? Without Pixel to lend his strength, could the Endbringers be held off?

"But never mind me." Pixel brought his head forward so he was looking at her again. "We still do not know what the situation is. The details are still too sparse."

"You are right, of course." Yisame nodded. "We know very little for fact. Most of what we've spoken of is mere supposition."

"True, but we can still do something."

"Oh?" She raised her eyebrows. "What do you propose?"

"It is simple." Pixel took a breath. "If it is an actual Endbringer, and not a monster from the abyss or the actions of a hidden high-level person, then we can make predictions."

"Predictions?"

"Yes." He nodded. "I understand Endbringers, or at least enough of their actions and behaviors that I can guess at what one of them would do next. A single attack is far, far too little information to make an accurate guess as to where it might appear next, but we can hypothesize about what it will do when it does appear next."

"You mean its tactics, instead of its strategy." Yisame might have to thank the Court of Steel and their long-winded speeches. She'd had to learn the appropriate terminology to understand their blathering.

On second thought, thanking them would just encourage more speeches.

"Yes, that's a good way to frame it. I understand the nature of Endbringers, and given more information, then I might be able to determine its 'strategy'. However, their 'tactics' are mostly uniform. The details of its attack on Roshal will give us hints about how other assaults from an Endbringer would play out."

"True." She agreed. "If I remember correctly, you said that Endbringers attacked one at a time at semi-regular intervals, and that they targeted [Farmers]?"

"That was the case for my world, but it might change here."

"How so?"

"Well, for one thing, we don't know if this Endbringer is the only one."

Yisame paled at that thought. "You don't..."

"I don't know." Pixel shrugged. "We don't even know if the monster was an Endbringer, or how it got here, or if there are any more."

"Then how can we predict anything?"

"Only with time." He gave her a rueful smile. "If it is an Endbringer, it will attack again. If there are others, then they will do the same. However, that is not a particularly helpful observation."

"Yes." Yisame felt the urge to slump back in her chair. "Everyone is fearing that exact event and are preparing. So this is pointless speculation?"

"Not at all. There was the second item you mentioned."

"That they attack [Farmers]?" She gave Pixel a questioning look. "That's not helpful. Every country has [Farmers]."

"But what if they chose a different sort of people to target this time? Remember, my world didn't have Classes, but the Endbringers were intelligent enough to single out those that produced food. This is only a hypothesis, but if this was an Endbringer, I doubt their target was [Farmers]."

"Why?"

"Is Roshal known for its [Farmers]? Why would an Endbringer attack there first?"

"Oh." Yisame understood what Pixel was getting at. "Oh!" Roshal was known for a lot of things. "[Slaves], Djinni, [Merchants], it could be any of them!"

Pixel gave her another strange look. "Yes. Those would be options."

"So what can we do if its targeting one of those groups?" It would cripple Nerrhavia's Fallen to have all of their [Slaves] killed. [Merchants] would be even more wide-spread. Djinni would also be bad. "It could come here next!"

"Then we ally, plan, and fight. Endbringers are deadly, but they can be driven off."

"Will you help us, if it comes to that?"

"I will lend aid to any that stand against it." Pixel sounded serious. "If it's an Endbringer or not, it's still my duty to render what assistance I can. With great power comes great responsibility."

---

That was a good line that Aaron had used. I think it fit nicely. I'd have to ask him about it sometime in the future. It had sounded like he was quoting something, and I suspected it was a superhero from Earth Iota.

I sat in silence as Sibby flew us across the ocean. I had the maps I'd copied from Wistram, so I knew the general location we should go. Of course, without GPS navigation, we'd still probably have to land and get directions at some point. The Forgotten Wing Company was centered at Elvallian, which was supposedly a large trade city. The closest port was... Daquin.

So that'd what I'd do. Land at a port, see if it's Daquin, and go from there.

"Excuse me, Archmage Pixel?" Another person spoke to one of my Communication Cubes. "I would like to get your opinion on the events in Roshal."

"Give me a moment, Mr. Canada."

God, I hate PR. Even if I had the acting skills to be good at it, it was so tedious to talk about the same thing over and over again.

It was a minor punishment for what I'd done, so I ignored my discomfort before getting back in the mood and speaking with Remi Canada about the same things I'd discussed with Flos, Cara, Teura, and Yisame already.

Notes:

Bios:

Sibby - The Siberian. Kevin's friend and projection who's feeling a little left out and bored with the long flight. Wondering how she could speed things up and get to the interesting part.

Cara O'Sullivan - Not her real name. One of the first Earthers to be summoned. A [Popstar]. Finally heard about something that she thought was important enough to call Pixel over.

Yisame - [Queen] of Nerrhavia's Fallen. Has more levels in [Reader] than [Queen]. Rightfully concerned about what Leviathan's attack means for the future. The thought that someone could hate [Slavers] just hasn't occured to her.

Remi Canada - Not his real name. Part of a group of Earthers that arrived in the desert of Chandrar. A [Journalist] looking to write a unbiased news story about the huge event that just happened.

Chapter 122: Reunion 2

We'd hugged the coast of Chandrar as we flew west. It was only after we'd passed the peninsula that I'd first wandered down upon reaching the continent that I finished speaking with everyone who had a Communication Cube.

Actually, that was an exaggeration. I'd given a cube to nearly every single Earther I'd come across, so there were plenty in Wistram that hadn't called me. Really it was only the leaders of places that had been in communication with Pixel, the Archmage of Cubes today.

Ugh.

'You should just not talk. Talking is overrated, even if you aren't using your voice to do it.' Sibby nodded sagely at her own advice.

'You have a point, but it's still on me to set expectations for when Leviathan makes follow-up attacks. Pixel needs to stay in the loop so we get informed when it arrives again.'

'But you know when it will happen.' She looked at me with a puzzled expression. 'You're making it happen.'

'Yes, but they don't know that. I need to keep my connection with Leviathan secret or I'd face repercussions.'

'Like what?'

'Well, people would try to kill me for one.'

'Eh.' She shrugged. 'That happens already. Besides, you have me! I'll keep you safe!' Sibby's eyes flashed. 'Also... wouldn't they be afraid of attacking the person that controls Leviathan? I mean, I can see people getting all bent out of shape because their stuff and friends were destroyed. And angry people do stupid things.' She nodded to herself. 'But it takes a lot for them to purposely attack someone who can kill them so easily.'

The Siberian was speaking from personal experience. Who would dare to have attacked Sibby after she'd demonstrated that she was the strongest Brute in the world? The answer wasn't 'no one', despite the expected outcome.

'Not me, others. People would want revenge and if they can't hurt me directly, then they'll attack my friends and allies. Maybe even everyone I've given a video game to. Or they might group up to attack Tiqr again.'

'Oh... It would be bad if Laila got hurt.'

'Exactly. So I need to maintain the facade that I'm not in control. That's one of the reasons I've automated the scanning array. Attacks can happen without my direct involvement. It's a risk, but it's also better cover.'

'Right. 'Cause if you're actually, like, surprised then it's easier to lie.'

'And if I don't communicate, it can't be discovered.'

I fully trusted the encryption enabled by Tongue of Babel. It would take the Grand Design itself to parse the way that Shards spoke. That, in turn, meant that a Skill could do the same thing... but that seemed exceedingly unlikely. Not without someone of exceedingly high level using it. And that was assuming that the Grand Design was better at encryption than Optimize.

No, the most likely issue was someone noticing the communication in the first place. Translating it and noting when and where it came from were two entirely different things. Leviathan was doubtlessly the target of countless Skills and Spells at the moment, so someone could notice something.

But, if they did, all they'd see is it interacting with the ruins of Roshal. That would hardly be suspicious compared to it destroying the country. In the best case scenario, it might be assumed that Roshal had done something to call Leviathan forth in the first place.

If I hadn't wanted to push the narrative about it hunting [Slavers], and thus hasten their extinction, then I probably would've gone with that angle: 'Roshal had been looking into the abyss and Leviathan looked back'. Then again, I had told people about the Endbringers before I'd decided to use one. So it was always possible that it could've come back to me somehow anyways.

Which led to the next question, scheduling.

The days on this planet were a few hours longer, and their weeks had eight days, and their years had sixteen months. So, all-in-all, one year here was about twenty months on Earth Bet. Or at least that was how much time passed comparatively during a year. I had no idea if time flowed faster or slower on one side or the other.

Regardless, if I had Leviathan attack every three Earth months, then it would be between 1 and 2 months by the local calender. On the other hand, this planet was also significantly larger than Earth, so Leviathan's attacks wouldn't be as impactful. It wasn't like I was going to have it destroy a country each time.

Thus, once a month sounded about right. It was a little less than twice as fast as the Endbringer attacks on Bet, but it wasn't like it really needed that much time to regenerate from any inflicted wounds.

On the other hand, I was fairly certain that I didn't have precise enough control with my Perk at level 1 to specify an exact date. I could provide the information, and thus roughly determine how often the attacks occurred, but I was wary to try issuing more direct commands.

I got the feeling that I couldn't be that precise, not until my Perk leveled up at least once.

I did have a fall-back option if Leviathan proved to be unreliable. I was very hesitant to invoke it, since it would probably just make things worst.

If only I still had my Golden gun...

...

The first land we came across was an archipelago. Possibly. There were numerous islands, but they were mostly surrounding a large central island that was about twice the size of Texas. So, not a continent, but calling it an archipelago was also not exactly right since there was only a single 'main' island.

At any rate, its inhabitants called it 'the Isles of Minos', so I guess that's the accepted term.

Perhaps it wasn't an archipelago because it wasn't in a line?

I think the real reason was due to however this world and Earth were linked. The name clearly came from Greek Mythology, as did its inhabitants - the Minotaurs. From what I'd read at Wistram, the Isle of Minos was considered a paradise, and the Minotaurs a powerful naval force in their own right.

They'd also, apparently, had tried to take over the world on multiple occasions throughout history.

It was an interesting piece of trivia, but currently they were only important as they showed that we were on the right track. If we continued this direction, we should reach Baleros soon enough. Daquin was supposed to be slightly south of Minos.

...

'Put us down there.' I pointed out of the section of the glass plane that Sibby was allowing light to enter through.

'So that's where Riley is?' Sibby's mental voice was eager.

'No. Not likely. That's definitely Baleros, but we need to land so I can ask what city that is. With any luck, it's Daquin and we can get directions to Elvallian. That's most likely where Riley is.'

'Okay!'

Sibby maneuvered the plane so that it was hovering over a patch of jungle just outside of the city.

3... 2... 1...

She ceased manipulating the glass sculpture, and the next moment I Inventoried it and we dropped to the ground. Well, Sibby dropped. I used Gravity Resistance to descend more slowly.

'We go incognito for now.' I swapped out my usual armor for some leathers I'd picked up in Nerrhavia's Fallen. They were far too clean, since I didn't Inventory dirt when I stored things, but I should still fit in. I adjusted the scimitar at my belt as Sibby vanished, and then we both strolled towards the town.

There were a couple of Lizardfolk standing guard outside the wooden walls that surrounded the town. They waved at me as I came out of the jungle. There was a decent amount of cleared land between the jungle and the city. That made sense, as I wouldn't want a jungle to overgrow my house if I lived here.

"Excuse me." I smiled at one of the [Guards]. "Could you tell me what city this is?"

"Sure!" The Lizardfolk smiled widely. "This is Talenqual. Are you looking for the Featherfolk Brigade? Are you an adventurer? What rank are you?"

"I'm actually looking for Evallian."

The Lizardfolk laughed. "Oh, that's way off to the north."

"To the north?"

"Yeah. It's a big city. If you want to get there, then you should book passage on a ship to Daquin. You can walk from there I think."

"No, you shouldn't walk." Another [Guard] joined in. "It's better to join with a [Merchant] as a guard."

"No, he could totally walk." The third Lizardfolk spoke up. "That's the headquarters of the Forgotten Wing Company. The roads are safe."

"No roads through the jungle are safe."

"Uh-huh, are too. The Forgotten Wing patrols them and keeps monsters away, that's why Evallian is such a big trade city."

"It's still dangerous for a single human. Not everything is taken care of."

"It'd be fine, look at him." The Lizardfolk pointed at me. "He came out of the jungle alone. He has to be able to take care of himself."

"That's a good point. He isn't covered in blood, so it's doubtful he was part of a convoy that got attacked. Otherwise he'd look a lot rougher."

"He could've run at the first sign of trouble."

"That's possible... but rude to say, Yusez!"

"Hey! I didn't mean anything by it. I was just thinking."

By this point, I'd walked past them and into the town. Once no one was looking at me, I'd teleport away. Until then, it was probably best to act inconspicuously. Not that I was worried about anyone realizing who I was, or that such a thing would even be a problem.

It was just a habit to lay low unless I was in character as Pixel. That was also why I hadn't turned around and walked back into the jungle. Besides, if we were this close, it might be simpler to fly my Cawthorne to Daquin instead of using the glass plane.

Talenqual seemed like a nice enough place, for a city next to a jungle. I dunno. I guessed it was as nice as could reasonably be expected? Its residents seemed to mostly be Lizardfolk, almost all of which were smiling or laughing as they went about their day. They reminded me of Nailihuaile, which wasn't surprising. Lizardfolk could evolve into several other sub-species, one of which was Star Nagas like her.

There were also Humans, Centaurs, and... those had to be Dullahans. I hadn't seen any before, but no other race could carry their heads in their hands. In fact... I think some of the people I'd labeled as 'Human' were in fact Dullahans. I started to Observe them to check.

Dullahan. Dullahan. Human. Dullahan. Human. Dullahan. Dullahan. Anders Olsson. Dullahan. Dullahan.

Wait, what?

My eyes flicked back at the strongly built blond human who was helping unload a ship.

[Anders Olsson

Gender: Male
Age: 18
Race: Human
Faction: United Nations
Origin: The Grand Design of Isthekenous.

Born and raised in Sweden. Captain of his school's ice hockey team.

Debuffs:
Nostalgia Block
Blocked Senses]

I'd stumbled upon an Earther!

That never happened. Or, at least, I'd always had gotten a hint from Wistram before. My Mega-Project would also be gradually scanning the entire world over the next month. At least the non-warded locations, so this wasn't that great of a stroke of luck.

In fact, I was torn between contacting him while I was here and hurrying towards Riley. I was so much closer to finding her than I'd ever been before. Surely Anders was doing well. There was no great need for me to intervene. He seemed to have a job and a safe place to live. There was no real point in bringing everyone to Wistram. Only those who needed help, at least until I found a way to return them all to Earth Iota.

Besides, offering a home and protection was a task for an organization. I wasn't about to go and personally visit every last Earther. That would take forever.

Then again...

I sighed and accessed my Mega-Project. I directed it to my location and had it begin to catalog all the people within a fifty mile radius. While that scope wasn't enough to cover anything but the smallest countries, it was more than sufficient to identify everyone living inside Talenqual. I took about a minute and a half for it to finish and send me far, far too much raw data. Thankfully, I was also able to have it filter and sort the information for me. Anders Olsson... yep. There he was.

Huh.

There are other Earthers on the list. A good number of them in fact. Easily the largest concentration of Earthers in the world I'd found outside of Wistram - or Cara's troupe. Aside from one paraplegic, none of them here had any serious Debuffs except the omnipresent Nostalgia Block and Blocked Senses. There were plenty of minor issues, and a few odd-sounding ones, but nothing that screamed danger or distress.

So the big question was... what should I do next?

While Anders looked to be doing fine, I should check in on the others while I was here. As a rule of thumb, I think it would be fine to leave groups of Earthers to themselves as long as they were doing alright and weren't being exploited, but... I couldn't ignore what I'd uncovered. At the very least I should put them in contact with the other people from their dimension. Riley would understand the delay, and it shouldn't take very long. All I needed to do was introduce myself to them, perhaps solve a problem or two, and give them a Communication Cube.

I innerly shuddered at the thought. Not another cube. I'd spent so much time talking to to people today. I was loathe to enable more by essentially giving out my phone number.

Then again... the only Earthers that had contacted me had been Cara and Remi, and that had been because I'd mentioned Endbringers to Cara and Remi was a [Journalist]. So, it shouldn't be a bother, right? I should just be more wary of giving leaders and other 'important' people a way to contact me.

I couldn't see myself visiting every single Earther in the entire world - that's what Wistram was for. On the other hand, I didn't want to turn away from what I'd discovered.

'We're taking a detour, Sibby.' I spoke to her as I approached Anders.

'Why? We're close to Riley, aren't we?'

'Probably.' My Mega-Project hadn't Observed her. I'd had it scan Elvallian and the surrounding area without any luck. That hopefully just meant she was warded somehow. 'But there are some people here that could use some help.' Even if that help was just letting them talk to other people from Earth over the message board I'd set up.

Oh! And video games! I could give them some video games!

I'd bet they'd love that.

Alright. So let's see... from the snap-shot the Mega-Project had taken, the largest grouping was...

This way?

No, this way.

I think.

I didn't have a world-wide map to include in my Mega-Project's database or a GPS. Instead every person's location was listed as a number of degrees North and West and a distance from the Mega-Project.

Man, I hate radial coordinates.

After one or two false starts, I came across four houses built side-by-side. One of them had a sign above its doorway saying 'The United Nations Company'. The others had their doors closed. I picked the one with the sign, and knocked on its door. There was rustling on the other side before it finally cracked open with a young looking dark-skinned girl who was looking up at me with wide eyes.

"Yes?"

[Priya Kumar

Gender: Female
Age: 16
Race: Human
Faction: United Nations
Origin: The Grand Design of Isthekenous.

Born and raised in India. Has three older brothers.

Debuffs:
Nostalgia Block
Blocked Senses]

"Excuse me, are you from Earth?" She looked at me with confusion, although her eyes narrowed slightly when I'd said 'Earth'. I tried repeating my question in Hindi.

Priya's eyes widened and she slammed the door. I could hear a commotion going on inside, but I was content to wait.

**Priya is scared.
**Priya is nervous.
**Priya is excited.
**Priya is happy.

---

Kenjiro Murata sat at his desk as he looked over the list. The United Nations was doing well. Geneva's clinic was more popular than ever, and the condoms she was making were selling like hot cakes. They had houses of their own, well, that belonged to their [Landlady], but they had plenty of space for all the Earthers they'd found.

...And all the Earther's they'd only found records of.

That was the list. Every Earther the United Nations had found, living or dead. More living than dead, thankfully, but still so many names that had 'verified' next to them. Plus, there was that disease that Geneva was worried about. Kenjiro didn't know if-

Kirana threw open the door to his room. "Ken, there's someone at the front door that I think you should talk to."

"Hm?" He looked up. "What's going on?"

"Someone knocked at our door, and Priya answered it. She thought that the Bushrangers were back. Instead it was a guy who asked her something... then repeated the question in Hindi."

Kenjiro sat up. "In Hindi? What did he ask?"

"If she was from Earth."

A smile spread across Kenjiro's face. "Then it's someone who found us instead of the other way around!" He stood up, but looked at Kirana. "But why the commotion? And why me? You've talked to others when they've come here."

"He's armed." Kirana shrugged. "Which isn't that strange if he traveled here on his own, but it still made Priya panic a little bit. I thought that you might smooth things over if he's upset about her slamming the door in his face."

Kenjiro closed his eyes and exhaled. "That's... perfectly understandable. And he's still outside. Let's not keep him waiting then."

Kenjiro walked through the living room with Kirana. It was getting hotter, and so the few people that weren't out and about working had spread out to separate areas so as to not have their body heat bunched together. He opened the front door and looked up at a tall man with short black hair, who was dressed in fancy looking leather and had a scimitar at his waist. Kenjiro had studied the styles and fashions of this new world, especially armor with how important it was to Dullahans.

The stranger's armor didn't match any style he'd seen before. It was also spotless, and looked far better made than what Daly and the Bushrangers had.

"Hello." Judging from his appearance, the newcomer was... American? European? Kenjiro extended his hand instead of bowing. "I'm Kenjiro of the United Nations."

The man took his hand and shook it. "Hello, Kenjiro. I am Pixel, the Archmage of Cubes."

He laughed. "That's a good one."

"I'm serious. If I could step inside, I'll show you."

Kenjiro gave him an appraising look. "Alright." [Moodreader] was only giving him 'calm', but he went ahead and activated [Only Truth Between Us]. "That's a bold claim, but please come inside."

As the man passed him, Kenjiro thought about what he'd heard of Pixel. The Wistram News Network had done a segment on him. Kenjiro hadn't seen the original broadcast live, but they'd played clips. It had been the only thing that people had talked about for a week.

Pixel was obviously an Earther. Just like the Singer of Terandria, he'd made his public persona something that anyone from Earth would recognize. Unlike her, he was a [Mage] of great power. Some argued about trying to get in contact with Wistram. Others had said that seeking an alliance with someone who was on the King of Destruction's side was a bad idea. Then there was the argument that the United Nations was supposed to be peaceful and not get involved in wars.

Geneva had declined to speak about Pixel, and that had been that. The United Nations followed the Last Light of Baleros, and if she didn't have a strong opinion then no one would be able to make them all come to a consensus. Not that anyone had a good way to contact either Pixel or the Singer, so it was a moot point anyways.

As for Kenjiro, he wasn't convinced that Pixel was from Earth. He certainly had a connection, but no one in their group came close to matching the level of an [Archmage]. It beggared belief that someone could level that fast in less than a year, and everyone from Earth was already leveling far faster than the natives.

No, the most likely case was that 'Pixel' had gotten his name and his appearance at the suggestion of an Earther. If that was the truth, then was the person standing infront of him the [Archmage]? Or the inspiration? Or a liar? If so, what did he want?

All those thoughts swirled through Kenjiro's mind as he stepped aside, let Pixel in, and then closed the door behind them. Then... a wave of cubes erupted from the small of Pixel's back - moving over him until they encased him completely. What was left behind was very obviously a video game character. Samus Aran if he remembered what Filip had said correctly.

"Is this good enough proof?" Pixel asked as everyone in the living room gawked at him.

Kenjiro idly noted that Pixel's sword had vanished during his change. It reminded him of a Super Sentai transformation sequence.

"Wow!"

"Is that Samus?"

"No, that's Pixel!"

"Who?"

"The Archmage of Cubes. The one who, like, killed ten armies at once!"

"Wait, that was for real?"

"What's he doing here?"

"How does his armor look like that?"

Kenjiro sighed and gave up any hope of controlling the situation until things died down.

...

"So, what I can I do for you, Archmage Pixel?" Kenjiro sat across from Pixel in his 'office'. He had intended for this room to be a place where he could meet with representatives of other companies, but he normally went to greet them. The United Nations was small, and their only real influence came from Geneva.

"I was going to ask you the same thing." Pixel smiled, back in his leather armor instead of his much more eye-catching video game one. "As you might've guessed, I also came here from Earth, but a different Earth than yours."

"Oh?" Kenjiro leaned forward to show interest as he clasped his hands together. "A different Earth?"

"Yes." Pixel nodded. "I won't bother going into the details right now, but my Earth has people with powers, and I came to your Earth to investigate the vanishing people." He shrugged. "And then I was taken as well."

Interesting... if true. Kenjiro couldn't discount the idea of different worlds, nor people visiting them. He did have first hand experience, what with it happening to him and everyone else here. Who's to say that another Earth could've done the same thing? "That makes me glad to hear that people back home are trying to help. Or, at least, people from AN Earth, even if it isn't MY Earth."

Pixel raised an eyebrow, as if he could see past Kenjiro's diplomacy and sense his doubts. "As I said, I'll refrain from going into the details. You'll learn them soon enough from the other Earthers I've saved."

"Oh?"

Pixel nodded. "There are a good number at Wistram, and I could arrange for members of your group to travel there to do so, but it's probably best for you all to stay here. You've built a nice community and seem to be doing well."

"Ah, we were lucky." Kenjiro was hesitant to bring up Geneva.

"Capitalizing on luck is a skill in and of itself." Pixel smiled. "But I have other places to be, so I'll cut to the chase. I can give you a great many things that will make your lives easier. The downside is that they are all quite recognizable as coming from me." He held up a hand and a blue cube an inch on the side appeared on his palm. "I have made enemies, and while I don't think any would attempt to strike at my allies to harm me now, that could change in the future."

"I see." Kenjiro leaned back to create some space between them as he stroked his chin. "Could you give me some specifics?"

"Sure." Pixel placed the cube on the desk. "This is a Communication Cube. With it, you can contact me or any of the other Earthers around the world I've given one to. I would urge you to take it, if nothing else, as being able to share information with your fellow abductees is a huge advantage." Pixel gave him a wry smile. "Of course, you've already built a community, so you're not as isolated as some of the Earthers I've encountered, but it's still nice to talk to others."

"I agree." Kenjiro nodded. "And that is the mission of the United Nations, to be a bastion for our fellow Earthers. Being able to talk to those across the oceans is a grand boon." They theoretically could do the same thing with scrying orbs and [Message] spells, but no one in the United Nations was a [Mage]. They'd heard about some things, but only from gossip from Lizardfolk who had scrying orbs.

Added to that, finding Earthers that was difficult. The Bushrangers and the Gravedigger's Fist were doing what they could. While they'd discovered several, the world was a big place. Kenjiro hoped that their company's name would draw other Earthers in, but it wasn't like the United Nations was a Great Company. They weren't know outside of there immediate area.

"I can also provide video games." Pixel paused as if expecting a reaction. "As well as food replicators."

"Food replicators? Like from Star Trek?"

"Almost." He shrugged. "You have to provide biomass to fuel them, but most anything will work. Even wood and plants. The food is also made from pixels, so it's recognizable. And some dishes can taste strange, but most of the time they are perfectly fine."

That... did not fill Kenjiro with confidence. But... emergency rations from trees might save them one day.

"That is most impressive."

"I can also make you an underground base with those things built inside."

"A base might be too much. We are renting these houses and don't own the land. We also wouldn't want to have our homes outside the walls."

"I understand."

"What would all this cost us?"

Pixel chuckled. "You misunderstand. I will give you all of this. I do not expect or need payment. Like you, my main concern is helping those from Earth who are stranded and alone. At least until we find a way to return home." Pixel spread his arms. "If it eases your mind, the gifts I offer are simple things that come from the powers I had before arriving here."

Kenjiro smiled and leaned forward again. "So you're giving us the cheap stuff that won't take much effort to make?"

"Exactly." Pixel nodded. "I've been providing things like those all across the globe. So don't feel obligated towards me for accepting any of them."

"I see. Thank you." It was hard to tell just how much Pixel meant that. Giving gifts to foster a sense of reciprocity was a common tactic. That was how you accumulated soft power. Or it might be a cultural thing. Pixel did claim to be from a different Earth, and Kenjiro was finding himself increasingly convinced that was true.

It wasn't just the casual displays of power, or his truthfulness Skill. The impression he was getting from Pixel was that he wanted to help, but was perfectly fine with leaving them to their own devices.

"Oh. Right." Pixel's eyes widened slightly before a dozen rectangular glass vials filled with a red liquid - that was somehow also made of cubes - appeared on Kenjiro's desk. "Potions of Regeneration. Far more potent than any healing potion you likely have."

"Regeneration?" Kenjiro picked up a vial and held it up to the light. The cubes inside sloshed around like a slush.

"It will repair any physical damage, even if you're at the brink of death." He paused as if considering something. "Honestly it could probably even reverse 'death' if the brain hasn't died from lack of oxygen first."

"You don't know?"

Pixel shrugged. "It has to be drunk to work. Unlike the magic potions of this world, it won't take effect if not consumed. No splashing it on a wound."

"Ah." Kenjiro nodded. "Oral application only, and it's hard to get someone who's dying and unconscious to drink." He tried to keep a calm expression as he looked back at Pixel. "So, it could even fix a broken spine?"

"Easily." Pixel smiled as if he'd been expecting that question. "It can even regrow limbs, but an entire arm or leg might be too much for a single vial. Also, the effect is rapid, but not instantaneous."

"Still..." Kenjiro very gently put the potion back on his desk with the others. "These are worth a King's ransom. I'm familiar enough with the alchemy and medicine of this world to know that." If they did what Pixel claimed, but why would the [Archmage] lie?

Kenjiro would obviously give them to Geneva. She could test them, and if they worked...

"Yes, they are. So you should keep them hidden, just like the Communication Cube."

"I understand." Kenjiro bowed his head. "Thank you for your generous gift, [Archmage]."

"And for the other items I've offered."

Kenjiro rose up. "I apologize, but I cannot make such an important decision on my own. Would it be possible for us to discuss things amongst ourselves and get back to you."

"Of course." Pixel smiled. "Just use the cube to contact me. I'm sure you'll have even more questions after speaking with the other groups of Earthers around the world." He stood up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I really do have important things that need doing elsewhere."

Kenjiro stood with him. "Of course. Let me show you out."

Pixel raised a hand. "That won't be necessary. I'll speak with you later, Kenjiro Murata."

And then he vanished. No flash of light. No sound. Pixel had been sitting there across from him one moment, and then gone the next.

Also, how had he'd known his last name?

---

Finally.

Not that I regretted speaking with Kenjiro or looking around the United Nations. In fact, it gave me a lot of hope and faith in humanity. Those Earthers had survived, formed a group, and were helping others in the same situation. It was much like I was doing, except they didn't have superpowers to help them.

Or they hadn't had superpowers when they'd arrived. That was the nice thing about the Grand Design, it let everyone grow - even if there was luck involved and that some Classes were simply better than others. It certainly wasn't fair, nor was it nice. It was the Grand Design that had created the [Slave] Class.

No wait, it wasn't fair to complain about game balance. People in power would exploit others as a matter of course. System-backed slavery certainly didn't help, but it wasn't the root cause. Not that I was able to affect the root cause, but if my plans worked then people would stop being [Slavers] out of self-preservation, if nothing else.

Regardless, I was close enough to Elvallian that I should be able to find it by flying north for a ways, and then turning inland. So that's what I did.

I used my Cawthorne, which was both slower than the Sibby-empowered glass plane, and also consumed jet fuel, but slower was better at the moment. I didn't want to over-shoot my target.

And it was simply easier to keep track of where I was going when I was the one driving instead of riding.

Besides, the Cawthorne's camouflage was sufficient to keep me hidden. It was a far cry from Sibby's invisibility. There was still a blur, and it drained MP to run it, but unlike mana, my MP regeneration was more than sufficient to power the system indefinitely - if I only used MP to enhance the Cawthorne.

After a few hours of following the coastline north, and stopping at another coastal city called 'Cinfal', I finally arrived in Daquin. The road to the north-west was large and clearly marked, and after another hour, I'd arrived at Elvallian.

I landed at the gate to the Forgotten Wing's headquarters, and strolled forward as I let my cloak fade.

*Riley has invited you to join her Party.

*Happiness negated by Gamer's Mind.
*Relief negated by Gamer's Mind.
*Joy negated by Gamer's Mind.

*You have accepted Riley's Party invite.

Riley ► Kevin! You're here!
Kevin ► Riley! I missed you so much!

Notes:

Bios:

Anders Olsson - Last name not given in canon. Part of the group of Earthers who joined the Gravedigger's Fist company and later founded the United Nations. Was once run over by a Centaur. [Harborworker].

Priya Kumar - Last name not given in canon. Was part of a group of girls that was found and taken in by the United Nations. From India and doesn't speak English, but is trying to learn. [Home Keeper].

Kenjiro Murata - Part of the group of Earthers who joined the Gravedigger's Fist company and later founded the United Nations. Currently the chief [Diplomat] of the United Nations.

Chapter 123: Reunion 3

Riley ► Are you okay?
Kevin ► I'm the one that should be asking you that. Are you actually a guest? Or do I need to bust you out?

Riley giggled as she ran through the hallways. From her shoulders Niers and Pinky both were yelling something, but she wasn't paying attention.

Riley ► I'm fine. I've made friends, and Boo is here. Everyone here is nice.
Riley ► Except the squirrel.
Riley ► The squirrel is nice, but she's also a jerk!
Kevin ► A squirrel? Like, a small rodent?

Riley rolled her eyes, but couldn't keep the grin off of her face.

Riley ► I mean a humanoid squirrel that's about five feet tall.
Kevin ► Wait, that rings a bell.
Riley ► She's the commander of the Forgotten Wing.
Kevin ► I thought that was the Titan. Isn't he a Fraerling?
Riley ► That's Niers. He's in charge of most of the day-to-day stuff, but the one above him is Foliana.
Kevin ► Right. The Squirrel Beastkin.
Riley ► Yeah. She could give Sibby lessons in stealth... and she likes to play games.
Kevin ► Oh.

Riley flung open a set of doors and strolled past the [Guards]. They called out and grabbed her. She took a deep breath to spew some knockout gas in their faces, but Niers told them to stand down.

Riley ► She's like a Sibby that loves jump scares and showing off how good she is at hiding.
Kevin ► So, like Sibby.

Riley laughed at that.

Riley ► Sibby and Panda are with you, right? I didn't see them on any of the recordings.
Sibby ► ( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/
Riley ► Sibby! I missed you too!
Sibby ► ⸜(˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡
Riley ► I'll hug you real soon! What about Panda?
Kevin ► No sign of her. Whatever transported us here separated them from me. Or rather, me from Sibby and then Sibby from Panda.
Riley ► What? Panda's out there somewhere? We have to find her! She can't survive on her own!
Sibby ► O_o
Sibby ► ᕙ(`▽´)ᕗ
Riley ► I know Panda's strong, but she's still a little kid. She doesn't grow up. She needs us around!
Kevin ► Sibby said that her link with Panda is 'strange'. I think that she got summoned somewhere, but had her 'point of origin' be set in a bad location. So she probably just unsummoned herself.
Riley ► Wait.
Riley ► What?
Kevin ► When Sibby was summoned, she was only able to appear in a single spot at first. Things... changed, but Panda might have had something similar happen to her.

Riley paused at another pair of doors and thought. That... seemed plausible. If Panda couldn't summon herself next to Sibby, then there was a good chance that she just wouldn't summon herself. She wondered what had happened with Sibby?

"What's wrong, Bit?" Pinky panted from her shoulder. "I mean, I like a sudden sprint and hanging onto a Tallfolk's shoulder as they charge around like a moving mountain as much as the next gal, but I think it means something is up."

"Pixel is here, I take it?" Niers said from her other shoulder, as he adjusted his hat - which he'd nearly lost during her mad dash.

"He's out front."

"Escort the person at the front inside." Niers spoke, using his earring to talk to somebody far away. "Yes. That's right. I see." He turned his attention back to Riley. "Take the left up ahead, Pixel is being escorted to the to the dignitaries room."

Kevin ► Some guards are asking me to go with them.
Riley ► Go ahead and follow them. I'm with Niers - he's the guy in charge here. He just told them to escort you.
Kevin ► I heard.
Riley ► Oh?
Kevin ► My power has adapted to use magic. I'm listening in on a bunch of things right now.
Riley ► That's my big brother!
Kevin ► Well, that's Optimize. I think the Shards are learning a lot here.
Riley ► Tell me about it! Surgery has been giving me all sorts of ideas. Although, it did go a little crazy there for a second.
Kevin ► Oh?
Riley ► Or it might've been Optimize? Or whatever Shard is in charge of the summons? The Mets went haywire and attacked this one monster like it had personally offended them or something.
Kevin ► ?
Kevin ► That's unusual, and probably not a good thing.
Riley ► Yeah. I've been keeping them as a secret, both because I'm still not 100% confident in them and because I shouldn't reveal all my cards, right?
Kevin ► Naturally.
Riley ► Oh, and call me 'Bit' when we meet.
Kevin ► I'm 'Pixel', of course. I've told a few people my real name, but most everyone only knows me as Pixel, the Archmage of Cubes.

Riley stopped and stifled a giggle.

Riley ► The 'Archmage of Cubes'? Really?
Sibby ► (-.-)
Kevin ► All the other Archmages of Wistram have titles like that. 'Archmage of Half-Elves'. 'Archmage of Lightning'. That sort of thing. I thought 'of Cubes' fit.
Riley ► It does! I'm just surprised that you're so... outgoing.
Kevin ► *sighs* Tell me about it. I'm glad I'm helping out, and I feel that what we're doing here is important, but I really would like to relax, play some video games, and not talk to anyone about anything for a while.
Riley ► Why? What's wrong?
Kevin ► Have you heard the big news?
Riley ► What big news?
Kevin ► I unleashed Leviathan.

"WHAT?" Riley stopped and shouted.

"What what?" Pinky asked.

"Did Pixel relay some interesting news?" Niers rubbed a finger in his ear from her sudden shout.

"How would Pixel relay anything?" Pinky shook her head.

"They're obviously in communication." Niers shook his head as Riley resumed her walk. "How else would Lady Bit have known that Pixel was at the front gate? All I mentioned was that a flying cubic golem was approaching."

"Ooooohh... That makes sense."

Riley ► You actually used an Endbringer? Where? Why?
Kevin ► The answer to both those questions is the same: Roshal, the Country of Slavers.

Riley stopped again.

Riley ► Oh.
Sibby ► >:(
Sibby ► Ѻ..Ѻ
Riley ► What?
Kevin ► They captured Sibby.
Riley ► WHAT? HOW?
Sibby ► (∩｀-´)⊃━☆ﾟ
Riley ► ...?
Kevin ► With magic.
Riley ► Oh.
Sibby ► <3
Riley ► ...And she liked it?
Sibby ► :(
Kevin ► No, but she made a friend.

"What?"

"She's not paying attention to us at all, is she?" Pinky asked.

"No. I don't think she is." Niers replied. "At least she's stopped sprinting. I swear, some Tallfolk can move far too fast for their size."

"Yeah."

Riley ► Sibby made a friend?
Riley ► Who is she?
Riley ► Or is it a he?
Riley ► I need more information!
Sibby ► Ѻ..Ѻ
Sibby ► o-|======>
Sibby ► o|==>
Sibby ► \_|_|_/
Sibby ► <3
Riley ► ...Yeah, I got nothing from that.
Sibby ► :(
Riley ► Sorry, Sibby.
Sibby ► ;)

Riley opened another set of doors, and finally saw Kevin's familiar armor standing next to the [Chamberlain] who must've escorted him from the entrance. She bent her knees and pushed her spine out so it touched the ground.

"Uh oh. We need to get off!" Pinky jumped away.

"Wha-" Nier's question was cut off as Riley suddenly wasn't underneath him any longer.

"Big brother!" Riley launched herself at Kevin with all the strength her legs and spine could generate.

His armor vanished to reveal his smiling face as he spread his arms wide. She collided with him, but instead of a crash or a tackle, her momentum suddenly stopped as she felt Kevin's strong arms wrap around her. "Little sister."

Then another pair of arms joined the hug as Sibby materialized. "I missed you, Riley."

Riley's eyes went wide. "Sibby? Did you just talk? Like, out loud?"

"Uh huh." Sibby's eyes glowed with a look of self satisfaction. "I could always talk, but I've gotten better at it recently. 'Cause I'm amazing."

Kevin hefted her up and made a show of looking her over. "No extra limbs. No weird skin. The same number of eyes... Are you sure you're my sister?"

Riley giggled. "Not playing a video game? Are you sure you're my brother?" Although she supposed his second body was probably doing that at this very moment. She'd have to ask him about that when they were alone. Just another question for her rapidly growing list.

"[Archmage] Pixel, I presume?" Niers was dusting himself off on the floor. "Greetings, I am Niers Astoragon, the Titan of Baleros, and the head [Strategist] of the Forgotten Wing Company." He gave an exaggerated bow and swept his hat with the extra-large feather to his side.

"Well met, Niers." Pixel set her down and nodded at the Fraerling. "I am Pixel, and I thank you for allowing my sister to stay here as your guest, and for informing me of her whereabouts."

"NAKED! She's naked!" Pinky shouted from the side as she pointed at Sibby. "Who is she? How do you know her? AND WHY IS SHE NAKED?"

Riley glanced between Pinky and Sibby. That's right. She was used to Sibby being naked. She'd been naked ever since the first time they'd met... that wasn't a happy memory, but still. She was used to the Siberian being naked. Plus, it never really came up. She, Kevin, and Panda were the only ones that spent time around her.

The general populous of Earth Bet all had their opinions on the subject of the Siberian, but no one ever spoke about how she was nude. It probably had gotten more attention when she'd first started out, but after killing Hero... It wasn't that big of a deal.

You know, comparatively speaking.

Had Jack ever tired to get her to wear clothes? Riley couldn't remember.

"This, is the Siberian." Kevin gestured to her while Sibby posed with her hands on her hips, her eyes glowing faintly, and her hair stirring in the non-existent breeze. "She is Bit's and my friend and ally. She is quite powerful... and eccentric."

"So she's like Saliss of Lights then? The equivalent of a Name Ranked Adventurer?" Riley noticed that Niers' cheeks were slightly flushed and that he wasn't looking at Sibby.

"Yes. I would say so." Kevin grinned as he glanced at Sibby. "And who is your other companion?"

"That's Pinky." Riley spoke up. "I met her in the Dyed Lands. We're good friends."

Riley ► She's a little off. Obsessed with the color red, and she has a class that rewards her for acting like a fool.
Riley ► It's hard to tell what is and isn't an act, but she's a really stand-up girl, and is talented.
Riley ► Oh, and she has an invisible friend she talks to. I'm pretty sure it's her old boyfriend? Or something like that? I'm not sure if she's insane, or if it's an hallucination brought on by her connection to this world's Shard equivalent, or if it really is a ghost.
Riley ► Or, at least, a ghost equivalent created by the system of levels. I suppose that with actual magic, we can't rule out anything, but I'd think if ghosts were real they'd be more prevalent.
Kevin ► That reminds me... of a couple of things actually.
Kevin ► I encountered some ghosts, or at least Banshees. Wistram has books about spirits and necromancy, but all of them condemn it. Apparently there was a famous Archmage of Wistram that went insane, was killed, came back as a Lich, was killed, came back again...
Kevin ► So there are 'ghosts' in some way, shape, or form here.
Kevin ► Oh, and Sibby's Shard has one in it, along with the memory of her previous summoner.
Sibby ► :D

Huh.

That was a lot to take in.

"Hello, Pinky." Kevin nodded at the red clad Fraerling. "Thank you for looking after my little sister."

"Oh. Ha, ha, ha." Pinky smiled at Kevin, but kept glancing at Sibby - who was still posing. "It was no trouble. For me. Bit got in a lot of trouble helping me out."

"Oh?"

"Yeah! We, uhm, we went deeper into the Dyed Lands 'cause of me and, er, uhm, some stuff happened and the green gorillas died, but Dev and I were okay, and there was a huge fight, and a scary monster, lots of them actually, and-"

"Geez!" Riley stomped her foot - lightly so as to not risk either of the two Fraerlings. "I told you it's fine. You helped me out too." She turned to Kevin. "It was Pinky that got me in contact with Niers here, and he's the one that contacted you, so it all worked out!"

"Indeed." Niers had composed himself and seemed to be putting Sibby out of his mind. "That was quite the dramatic scene in Tiqr. None of my students could come up with any good ideas for how to overcome an [Archmage] of your power in the field."

"Your students?" Kevin looked down at him. "I thought you were a mercenary?"

Niers laughed. "In a way. That's how almost all companies here in Baleros start out - doing jobs for money. But we grew and expanded, and we now do our own jobs, or even hire smaller companies to work for us. We do take money for protecting cities. So, in a sense, we are still mercenaries, since we don't govern those places."

"So like a protection racket, except you are actually providing a service?"

"Yeah." Riley nodded. "That's a good way to think about it."

"But," Kevin frowned. "That doesn't explain having students."

"I enjoy teaching." Niers explained. "It's one of the few ways that [Strategists] can level outside of actual combat. Plus, the more I can raise the general intelligence level of [Strategists], the better the world will be."

Riley ► And he gets to have a network of former students who are in positions of power.
Riley ► So that's another benefit for him.
Kevin ► But I guess they get good training.
Riley ► Yeah, like Wards who become members of a corporate team instead of the Protectorate.

"In fact, if you're willing, you could audit some of my classes. Or even provide your own thoughts on how to fight some of the battles that are occurring all over the world." Niers continued to speak. "I'm sure you'd have some fascinating insights given your..."

Kevin ► Someone else is watching us.
Riley ► What do you mean?
Kevin ► There are currently nine people observing me.
Kevin ► The two guards at the door, the Chamberlain, Niers, Pinky, You, and Sibby.
Kevin ► That leaves two that I can't identify.
Riley ► Oh.
Riley ► One of them is Foliana, I bet.
Riley ► She's that humanoid squirrel I was telling you about.
Riley ► She's figured out my sensory rerouting trick, so I can't tell when she's stalking me any more. I just assume that outside my room she's always listening in.
Kevin ► And inside your room?
Riley ► I keep my pets physically blocking the door, I've made it air-pressure negative, and I have a couple of different gases, viruses, and diseases floating around inside.
Riley ► Nobody's getting into my room without my say-so. Not without also getting explosive diarrhea they aren't.

"I'd like that, Titan." Kevin nodded at Niers. "I'm sure there are lots of details we can both learn." She noticed him turn his head and glance at every person inside the room.

Riley ► Observing everyone?
Kevin ► Everything. I'm trying to see if I can spot the other two observers if I Observe the place where they are.

"Might I suggest that we retire to a more comfortable setting?" Nier smiled. "I'll provide refreshments and we can chat more casually."

Riley ► He means a warded room.
Kevin ► Isn't this whole place warded? I wasn't able to use my long-range scanner to see you inside, or anyone else.
Riley ► You built a long-range scanner?
Riley ► Oh, wait. Of course you did. That was probably the first thing you Crafted. It would be the obvious first-step in both finding me and those taken from Earth Iota.
Kevin ► ...
Riley ► ...
Kevin ► It's built now, that's the important thing. I had to incorporate a lot of magic and skills inside of it to get it to work.
Sibby ► :P
Riley ► Anyways... there are different levels of warding. We only talk about Earth stuff in the most powerfully protected rooms.
Kevin ► Gotcha.

"Of course." Kevin smiled back at Niers. "I'd enjoy getting something to eat and drink. We've been traveling all day long."

Riley lowered her hand and let Niers jump on before depositing him on her shoulder. She then did the same for Pinky.

Kevin ► Hey. That Chamberlain? Peclir Im?
Riley ► What about him?
Kevin ► He and Pinky don't have the same faction as everyone else here.
Riley ► What? What factions do everyone have?
Kevin ► Niers and the Guards belong to the 'Forgotten Wing'.
Kevin ► Pinky has 'Culqe of Eyes'.
Kevin ► Peclir Im has 'Jungle Tails'.
Riley ► Well, Pinky isn't a part of the Forgotten Wing Company, so that makes sense.
Riley ► 'Culge of Eyes' is probably the name of her home, or an organization, or something.
Riley ► Like I said, Pinky is a little out there.
Riley ► But Peclir...
Riley ► You should probably tell Niers when we're alone.
Kevin ► Agreed.

The group walked through the hallways of the Forgotten Wing's headquarters, and eventually came to a nondescript looking door. Niers had to jump off of her shoulder and onto the doorknob so he could do... something to get it to open. Inside there were comfortable chairs and pillows of various sizes along with a table.

"Peclir, some refreshments, please."

"Of course." The [Chamberlain] bowed and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Foliana? Do you want to show yourself?" Niers asked the air.

"Mm." The Squirrel-Beastkin appeared squatting on a chair in the corner. Her three-colored eyes were starring at Sibby. "What's your favorite food?"

Sibby smiled back and gestured at Kevin. "Him."

Kevin dragged a hand down his face.

Kevin ► Sibby... you know how that sounds, right?
Kevin ► And even if they don't get the wrong idea, it's also difficult to explain how you enjoy eating my flesh, but that it's okay 'cause I can regrow it.
Sibby ► ?
Sibby ► ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Riley ► So Sibby can talk now, but still won't use words in our party chat?
Kevin ► Yes.
Sibby ► :P
Kevin ► I'm fairly confident she feels that words are inferior to images when it comes to conveying what she wants.
Sibby ► o

"Ah, well, erm." Niers seemed flustered by Sibby's answer. It probably didn't help that she was still nude. But he'd get used to it sooner or later if they stayed here. Sibby certainly didn't care to change. "There are a lot of things I wish to discuss, [Archmage], but I feel the most pertinent is that you and Bit are from another world?"

Kevin ► Did you tell him?
Riley ► Nah. He already figured it out. He has a bunch of electronics that the kidnapped people must've pawned off or had stolen from them.
Kevin ► I see.

"Yes. That's right." He nodded. "I'm not sure what my sister has told you, but we are actually from a second alternate world. One that is much more similar to the world that most of the people have been taken come from. We also came with a purpose, even if we were brought here against our will."

"Really?" Niers leaned forward from atop the pillow that he'd chosen to sit on.

"Indeed. As you no doubt realize, both Bit and myself possess abilities and powers that most others do not. We were sent to investigate the missing people, but were taken alongside them. Now I am looking to protect the others until I find a way to return them to their home."

The conversation was interrupted by Peclir opening the door with a tray laden with food. He placed the dishes on the table within easy reach of everyone... except Niers and Pinky before bowing and leaving the room.

Kevin watched him leave, and then once the door closed (and probably after noting fewer people were observing him) he spoke up. "That man."

"Our [Chamberlain]?" Niers asked.

Riley noticed Foliana switch her attention from Sibby to Kevin.

"Are you aware that he works for an organization called 'Jungle Tails'?"

The name got a reaction from both Niers and Foliana as the two leaders of the Forgotten Wing Company glanced at each other before turning back to Kevin with serious expressions. "What do you know about Jungle Tails?"

"Absolutely nothing, except that it's the faction that Peclir Im belongs to."

"And how do you know that?"

Kevin leaned back in his chair. "I suppose I can tell you. You've treated my sister well, so I guess I can share a little." There was an underlying tone that this would be repayment. Niers and Foliana both nodded. "There are items and abilities in this world that allow people to gather information. [Appraisal] Skills, Truth Stones, and the like."

"Yes." Niers nodded. "But they are unreliable. Even stupid people can find ways to block them, and clever people can use them to relay false details. There are... more precise ways to measure those things, but few have them."

"You mean Fraerlings!" Pinky exclaimed before bashfully sitting back down. "I mean, uhm, one could hypothesize that some of the more advanced countries could have, uhm, treasures and such that would work better then regular Truth Stones and, uh, other things."

"As it so happens, I am one of those people." Kevin continued. "I have a Skill that tells me a great deal with a glance, but I will admit that much of what it would relay to me is blocked by countermeasures that most high-level individuals have."

"[Appraisal] Skills are quite rare, and tend to be more powerful than artifacts created to fulfill the same role." Niers grabbed a grape and started to eat it. "And they still are easily blocked."

"True." Kevin's smile became feral. "But those methods don't block everything. My Skill reveals many tidbits that I think are uncommon here, and thus aren't included in most defenses."

"I see. And one of pieces of information is what? Loyalty?"

"Their faction." Kevin shrugged. "But that's probably the same thing when you get down to it."

Riley noticed that at some point Foliana had vanished. She hadn't smelt anything, but when she looked at the chair where the Squirrel Beastkin once was, there was nothing.

Riley ► I think Foliana just left.
Kevin ► The number of people observing me decreased by one, but I didn't notice when she left, or how she got out of the room.
Riley ► Yeah, the door didn't even open.
Sibby ► !
Sibby ► >:)

Then the Siberian vanished. No doubt sensing that something more interesting was about to happen somewhere else.

---

Sibby followed the Squirrel.

Or, at least she tried to. She was pretty sure the Squirrel had left through the door... but she wasn't positive.

Sibby hated feeling indecisive. Had the Squirrel left? Had she gone this way?

No.

Sibby nodded to herself. There. She was certain. The Squirrel wasn't here. She was so smart to realize she'd been given the slip!

And boy, was that Squirrel slippery.

There were a lot of things that Sibby sensed that others didn't. A LOT of them. Gravity, momentum, wavelengths... she didn't know half the terms, or even a tenth? A twentieths? William had told her about the stuff Humans understood and what they labeled them, but... that was boring.

Sibby didn't want to memorize pointless stuff. It wasn't like she needed proper 'terms' to discuss this with others.

She didn't need to tell anyone that there was that one force that she felt was a little off since entering this building. And the light? And that other thing?

The problem was that she'd been busy letting those same forces pass through her, except for a little bit at her eyes so she could see. That made sensing those things really hard, even for a genius like her!

Plus, you know, there was Riley! And paying attention to Riley and hugging her and showing off how well she could talk words now! Those were important, not stupid little forces. Besides, those things had strange fluctuations all the freaking time!

With how many things there were and how many forces that impacted them and shifted each and every second? Yeah, it was normal for there to be strange eddies and pauses and spikes and all sorts of shifts.

And possibly, just possibly, Sibby hadn't noticed the Squirrel following them. If indeed that was what had happened. But Sibby had been waiting for the Squirrel to do something sneaky. Ever since she'd shown herself, the Squirrel had been watching her, and Sibby had watched her right back.

Sibby liked being watched. Attention was good - when she wanted it.

So she'd noticed when the Squirrel had vanished. It was strange, 'cause something had tried to do something to her, but she'd ignored it. The Squirrel had also done something with the light reflecting off of her. It... almost felt like what Sibby was doing, but not quite?

It was hard to say just from the slightly off wavelengths.

So it couldn't be what Sibby was doing, 'cause Sibby let the light pass through as she ignored it. Those strange changes... could she do them also?

Of course she could! She was amazing! She just needed to figure out how...

And now seemed as good of a time to practice as any, since she was throughly lost. Not really, since she knew exactly where Kevin was, and she could disperse and summon herself next to him whenever she wanted to. Or she could take a straight line to him... or not.

These walls had magic in them. So she'd pop if she tried passing directly through them.

Eh, she might as well do some investigating.

---

"So this is your room, huh?" I looked around the space that seemed more like a building than a single room. A small building, but a huge room.

The place... was a mess. For all her good points, my little sister wasn't the neatest person in the world. There were clothes in piles on the floor. Probably not hers, since they weren't cute dresses. They looked more like rags she'd sliced off of people during surgery. Several tables were set up with obvious Tinkering going on. Three albino monkeys pressed themselves against the solitary door - no doubt on guard duty to ensure Riley's privacy from Foliana.

"Yeah!" Riley skipped from one section to another. "This is my Milkbox! It can eat almost anything and convert it into a mixture of water, fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals... so basically milk! It does a pretty good job of making lactose. Oh! And I added a refrigeration unit to it! See the tail?" She pointed to the long, rat-like tail it had. "That's a heat pump! That lets it keep its milk nice and cool so it won't spoil, and it's a lot more pleasant in the heat!"

"You saw Badgy outside. He's from the Dyed Lands, where I appeared. He's, like, super pissed about everything, but also real stealthy. A Stranger-Brute!"

"The monkeys are also from there. The white zone was full of animals and plants that could all turn invisible. I used to have more, but they got torn up by various things. These are the surviving three, and I had to stretch two heads to go with three bodies. That's why one has no mouth. One has no eyes. And one has no ears." Riley patted each of them on their heads in turn. "Now that I've gotten a chance to catch my breath, I could've improved them, but I like them this way. It gives them character. Plus, it's like that 'see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil' saying!"

"And here are my spiders!" She went to another table that was full of what could best be described as a sci-fi writer's attempt to offend God and scare their audience. At least that's what I thought when looking at the dissected spider-thing that was being held down by others of its kind. The other spiders looked sleek and sinister with smooth black carapaces, but the one in the center had glowing red organs inside of... gell sacks? that were displayed to the world.

It seemed to be doing just fine despite its state of dismemberment.

"I made them from a Creler, which are these bio-weapons someone designed." Riley poked some of the exposed organs. "They did a really good job of it too! Their chitin interacts with mana, but its not just the material. By itself, it... warps it into this magical radiation that causes mutations and growths. The shells have all these spaces inside of them that help reflect and refract it to turn it back on itself. So... magic negation!" She shrugged. "I'm still working on figuring out how the shapes interact. And if all the poisons, and gases, and microscopic baby Crelers that are hidden inside play a role."

"I think the babies might be there as magic sponges. And then they get mutated and broken down into the different toxins."

"And here are my slimes! Slimes are these-"

"Riley." I said gently. "It's been a long day, and we spent a good deal of time speaking with Niers. It's late. You should get some rest. You can show me everything in the morning."

"But... but... there's so much I want to show you! And tell you! And ask you!" She stuck out her lip and looked up at me with large, round eyes in one of her better pouting poses. "We haven't seen each other for months. I can do without sleep."

"I know you can, munchkin." I ruffled her hair. "But I've been awake for more than two days now. My tired debuffs are racking up."

"Aw..."

"But... I have a surprise for you~!"

"A surprise?" Riley's disappointment at going to sleep was washed away by excitement. "What is it?" She hopped on the balls of her feet. "C'mon, Kevin, tell me!"

"Well..." I made a play of considering it while stroking my chin. "How about a hint?"

"Okay!" She nodded.

"It's a book."

"That's not a hint!" Riley put her hands on her hips and stomped her foot. "That's just telling me what it is!"

"Ah, ah, ah." I shook my finger at her. "I didn't say what sort of book it is, did I?"

Her eyes widened. "Is it a special book?"

"Sort of." I shrugged. "It's not magical or anything like that, but you'll enjoy the topic."

"Is it... about magic?"

"In a way. A subset of what you would consider 'magic'."

"Is it... about biology?"

"Oh? What makes you guess that?" I ushered Riley towards the side room I saw that had sinks and a toilet.

"It's just that you know that kinds of books I like, and I've seen a lot of magical biology since coming here." She obediently entered the bathroom.

While she prepared for bed, I took the time to examine all of her different experiments. I made sure not to touch any of them, since Riley could probably whip up something that could even be harmful to me if she was experimenting with magic. That's right, I need to ask her about what Class she has.

Well, we'll have plenty of time to catch up now that I've found her, and that we're in a safe place.

"So is it?" Riley exited the bathroom while drying her hair with a towel. She'd taken off her living dress and was wearing the armor I'd given her as an undersuit.

"Is what what?"

"Is the book about biology?"

"Yes." I smiled. "Half of it is."

"What's the other half?"

"Are you giving up?"

Riley rolled her eyes as she climbed into bed. "Yes, Kevin. I give up. Please tell me what sort of book you got for me."

"Alright, I will." I magnanimously conceded. "Behold."

I un-Inventoried the book I'd found in Wistram. A book that was a perfect gift for my adorable and terrifying little sister. Riley took the tome from my hands and read the title out loud.

"A treatise on how to prepare Unicorn bodies for alchemical reactions?" Her eyes grew wide as she eagerly opened the book and flipped through the pages. "This has sketches of what Unicorns look like!" Another ruffling of pages. "Comparisons to horses!" She leafed through it some more. "Details on how to prepare Galas-cells so as to preserve their mana for recipes!" She closed the book and hugged it against her chest. "I love it!"

"I'm glad." I smiled and un-Inventoried a chair to sit in. "Shall I read to you?"

"Yes, please!" Riley handed the book back to me and snuggled down into her sheets. "And do some voices."

"Voices?"

"Yeah, make it like... a lecture."

"Okay." I smiled at her and cleared my throat. What good was my Acting Skill if I didn't use it to do voices for my little sister? I think... I'll go with a British accent with a deep, but also nasally voice. "In this book we will be discussing the proper ways to dismantle a unicorn corpse and prepare it for use by [Alchemists]. Topics will range from the physical dissection to preserving components for future use. We will go over how to ensure the highest quality parts are treated properly so as to not ruin their potential, as well as studying the less magical pieces so as to not waste any of a Unicorn's body."

...

It didn't take long for Riley to fall asleep. I set the book next to her, since I was wary of placing on any of the tables she was using for her experiments.

I was tired too. Not just physically due to my escalating debuffs, but mentally in a way that Gamer's Mind wasn't helping with. There was only so much it could blunt what I'd done. I was reminded of watching news reports about Endbringer attacks back on Bet.

It... wasn't nearly as visceral as being there. To me it was just a story. But stories could still make you happy or sad.

Plus, I'd had to talk about it over and over again.

Ugh.

The last time I'd slept had been in Nerrhavia's Fallen. Traveling to Reim. Dealing with Flos and his supporters. Unleashing Leviathan, and then watching it rampage through the night. Then more talking. And traveling. And people talking to me while I traveled.

But... I was here now. Back with Riley. Everything was good.

I closed my eyes.

[Superhero Level 21!]

[Conditions Met: Superhero → Tech Superhero Class!]

[Skill - Underground Base obtained!]

[Skill - Heroic Vow obtained!]

[Skill - Chest Symbol obtained!]

[Skill - Arcane Regeneration obtained!]

[Skill - Witty Banter obtained!]

[Conditions Met: Tech Superhero → Tech Anti-Hero Class!]

[Skill - Empower Minion obtained!]

[Skill - A Hero's Truth obtained!]

Notes:

Bios:

Riley Grace Davis - Bonesaw. Finally feels that everything is right in the world again.

Pinky - OC. Not her real name. A Fraerling [Fool] who's giving Riley space to be with her family.

Niers Astoragon - The Titan. A Fraerling. The highest level [Strategist] in the world. Secretly happy to have a hidden [Spy] to plot against.

Peclir Im - A loyal [Chamberlain] of the Forgotten Wing Company for many, many years. Secretly an agent for Jungle Tails - a former Great Company mostly comprised of Lizardfolk, which fought with the Forgotten Wing Company and was defeated - which led to the Forgotten Wing Company becoming one of the four Great Companies.

Foliana - The Three-Color Stalker. A Squirrel Beastkin. Niers' boss and his oldest friend. Feels the need to establish dominance that's she's the stealthiest person. Distracted from Sibby and instead investigating Peclir to see if Pixel's information is true.

Chapter 124: Reunion 4

Geneva held the vial up to the light and tilted it side to side. The 'liquid' inside shifted rather than flowed.

"It's like a slush instead of a liquid." She spoke out loud. "Although using the term 'slush' implies that it's partially frozen, which isn't possible in the heat of Baleros. Unless... it has a higher melting point? Then it might be... congealing is the best term I suppose."

"It's not congealing. It's magic." Her mouth moved as Okasha took control. The pitch of her voice changed as the Selphid stretched her vocal chords to differentiate their voices.

"You can't just say that about everything." Geneva placed the vial in a wooden rack and then removed the glass stopper. "Hmmm..." She looked at it more closely. "It makes no sense to create a glass vial with 90 degree edges. Why would someone go through the time and effort? You would have to cast the glass instead of blowing it."

"What? What do you mean by 'cast' and 'blowing'?"

"Glass is made by heating sand, and other compounds. Once it is sufficiently hot, it becomes a molten liquid and can flow. The normal way to make vials is to blow air into the glass while spinning it."

"You know how to make glass?" Okasha sounded surprised. "That's amazing! But wait, you can't shape liquid into a vial. Water or blood or juice, none of them would 'flow' like that."

"That's due to viscosity." Geneva placed the stopper down and picked up a pair of wooden tweezers. They weren't the best instrument, but it was easier to find a [Carver] that could make such small and precise tools than a [Blacksmith] who could forge them.

She reached into the square opening of the vial and plucked a 'cube' of liquid. She placed it on a clean wooden plate.

"Well, I guess that's why the vial is square. So it will hold the potion. Imagine if it was round. There would be a lot of wasted space."

Geneva frowned. "There still should be wasted space, unless it was 'poured' in very precisely." She poked the cube of the potion. "It's not wiggling."

"Is that strange?"

"I'd thought that it might be a gel. Something that was a more condensed form of healing potion. But a gel should still have some flexibility even at that size."

Gevena's arm moved on its own as it placed the tweezers down and poked the cube with her finger. "It feels wet, but it isn't."

"Okasha." Gevena spoke with a flat voice. "You shouldn't physically touch an unknown substance."

Geneva's eyes rolled in her head. "Unknown? Please. We know what this is. It's a potion of regeneration! It can heal your spine! I can finally go and get my own body again!"

"It was said to be a potion of regeneration, but we have no proof."

"You think Kenjiro was lying?"

"Or that he was lied to. It's a possibility."

"So you think that the Archmage of Cubes was lying?" Okasha sounded exasperated. "And why didn't you tell me that Pixel was another Earther?"

"Hm?" Geneva remembered hearing the commotion when the United Nations had finally gotten a recording of the Battle of Tiqr. She hadn't paid attention, there had been too much work to do at the clinic. "I assume the others talked about it a lot."

"Yeah. They probably did. But you didn't, and I don't get to talk to people unless you do."

"You could've asked during your turn." It was strange having her body puppeted, but Okasha's newest Skill that let Geneva stay awake inside of a mental room instead of watching helplessly from her own eyes as Okasha had fun was a great improvement.

Much less strange than having her mouth grumble at her.

"But isn't it weird?" Okasha rubbed their fingers together. "Shouldn't it be wet?"

"Hmmm..." Geneva picked up her tweezers and pushed the cube. "It slides like a melting ice cube. So less friction than I'd expect." She then used the tweezers to pick the cube up and put in in the palm of her other hand.

"Oh no! You've contaminated it!" Okasha said with mock horror.

"It was already contaminated. If it can be contaminated." Geneva took her pinky and pushed the cube against her palm. "Strange. It feels wet, but it clearly isn't. Of course, Humans can't actually sense 'wetness'. What we experience is a change in pressure and temperature that correspond with us touching liquids. So this trial is fundamentally flawed." She used the tweezers to move the cube back to the plate, but she didn't let go.

"Geneva?"

"If the cube can be contaminated, then it already is. This might be a waste but..." She used the tweezers to squeeze harder. There was no give just a-

The cube burst into tiny red droplets.

"Huh?"

"Interesting." Now it looked more like a regular healing potion. Which meant, she could do more tests with it. "Let's get one of the rats."

Okasha took control and moved them to where they had several rodents. "Which one?"

"One of them from the control group. I do want to test to see how this potion interacts with Yellow Rivers, but we need a baseline first."

The rat squeaked as Okasha picked it up. It thrashed and tried to bite her, but she held its head still with a finger and thumb as she turned it over in their hand. Its legs and tail wiggled, but it couldn't escape. Geneva used her other arm to grab both a razor and scalpel and place them on the table. Unlike the tweezers, they were metal and as sharp as the local [Blacksmith] could make them.

While Okasha used her left hand to keep the rat still, Geneva used her right one to carefully shave away a section of fur on the rat's side. She had no shaving cream. If a lubricant designed to help shave existed in this world then it was sold somewhere else. Lizardfolk did not have a need for such a thing.

Geneva next used the scalpel to make a tiny incision on the rat's flank. One shallow enough that it would barely bleed, and wouldn't impact the rodent's life too much if the potion didn't work. She then put the scalpel in the unsanitized bin and grabbed a pipette. The hollow metal tube wasn't a very good pipette, but it did have a tiny bellows at the top she could use to draw the liquid in... and then drip onto the rodent's wound.

Geneva and Okasha stared at the cut.

"Nothing."

"It could take a while to work..."

"No." She shook her head. "Regular potions work faster than that. A potion of regeneration shouldn't be worst than a regular potion. Plus, Kenjiro specifically said it only worked if ingested."

"So why did we waste some?"

"It wasn't a waste." Geneva used a new pair of tweezers to fish two more cubes out of the rectangular vial. "It's establishing what we know. A suggested use case does not mean that is the only way to apply a medicine. Sometimes other methods work, they are just lest optimal for one reason or another."

"Okay... so now what?"

"If this were a clinical trial, we'd repeat the experiment with more rats." Geneva squeezed one of the cubes hard enough for it to 'pop'. "However, since we are lacking in time, rats, and potion - and since this isn't a clinical trial - we'll proceed with the next least likely to work method."

"This isn't a clinical trial?"

"No."

"Then what is it? Not that I know that a clinical trial is, but still."

"This is... me satisfying my curiosity." Geneva used the pipette to transfer the red liquid from the wooden plate into the rats' mouth. The creature wriggled and struggled, but swallowed the potion in the end.

"Well?"

"Well... I don't see any change." Geneva peered intently at the cut she'd made. It was still seeping blood. The flesh around it was also still raw and irritated from razor bun.

"And that means?"

Geneva half-shrugged. "It could mean any number of things. The potion needs to be drunk as cubes to work. Or it doesn't work on rodents. Or it doesn't work on minor wounds. Or the dosage wasn't enough to have an effect. Or it reacts poorly to wood."

"What?"

"The point of this isn't to come up with a theory. Doing that right now would be premature. We're gathering some data." Geneva used the tweezers to pick up the second cube she'd extracted from the vial. "Alright. Let's follow the recommended application instructions."

The rat resisted, of course, but once they put the cube in its mouth and held its jaws shut, it soon swallowed it. It was obvious when it did as the wound nearly instantly sealed itself.

"Wow. That was fast."

"Indeed." Geneva peered intently at the shaved section. "The razor burn has been healed as well." She carefully poked the area before running her fingers over it. "Fully healed."

"Does the rat look different to you?"

"Aside from being healed?"

"Yes." Okasha nodded their head. "It seems more... energetic to me, Geneva."

"I suppose that might be a side effect. Or it could be that the rodent is excited due to the pain from the incision vanishing. It's not something we can really tell."

Okasha put the rat back in the cage. "So, we drink it now, right?"

Geneva hesitated. "I'm not sure."

"What's there not to be sure about?"

"It's untested magic. It could have unknown side effects." She also didn't care for her lack of understanding of how healing potions worked, but they were so ubiquitous that their effects were well documented.

"We JUST tested it." Okasha grabbed the vial with her hand. "Are you going to drink it, or am I going to make you?"

"Is that a threat?"

"Yes! It's a threat! Drink the potion that will heal your spine and let me go and get my own body again." She took a deep breath. "Please."

"Okay. Fine. Just... give me a moment."

Geneva knew she was stalling. She also knew she had no good reason to do so. Sure, she wanted to test the regeneration potion - even though it was a waste of an absurdly expensive and life-saving resource. She hadn't thought Kenjiro had been tricked, or that the potion wouldn't work on her.

She was afraid that it wouldn't, but... she was also afraid that it would.

Getting her spine fixed. Getting healed. Getting to exist as a human without Okasha living inside her.

It was a big change.

Not as big as when she'd gotten hurt in the first place, but that had all happened so quickly.

Come on. She was better than this! She was a [Doctor]! She understood just how amazing medical science was. How it could change a person's life! That was why she'd wanted to become one. Why she'd spent so many years studying in medical school. Why it had been so frustrating that healing potions could negate the need for her clinic... or how fulfilling it had been to help introduce c-sections for the Centaurs.

But... change was scary.

The potion in her hand was scary.

How powerful was [Archmage] Pixel that he could create something like this and hand a dozen of them to Kenjiro like it was nothing?

That was the way things were though. Not only here, with high-level people, but everywhere there was a society. There were people in charge that could change the world with a word even back on Earth.

Geneva exhaled and brought the potion to her lips. It flowed down her throat like it was really a liquid and not a collection of cubes. She couldn't even feel any edges.

That was probably because of the taste.

She suddenly understood why the lab rat had tried to thrash and escape after being fed it. The taste was... indescribably bad. Sour. Bitter. Sickeningly sweet.

It was impossibly all those things and more at the same time. Her brain couldn't comprehend just how disgusting the potion was while she was drinking it. It was all she could do to choke it down.

She let out a gasp when she was done. The horrible taste already fading from memory as she felt... something happening inside her body.

"Whoa. This is... wow."

"What is it?"

"Your body is fixing itself."

Geneva swallowed as she tried to get rid of the aftertaste. "Isn't that what's the potion is supposed to do?"

"I mean, yeah, but this is something else entirely."

"How so?"

"Alright, so I don't have THAT much experience being inside a body while its being healed, okay? No Selphid does."

That was because what Okasha was doing was technically a crime that would see her killed if it was ever discovered. Selphids had once had an empire where they wore other races like clothes and used them as little more than that. In modern times, Selphids only puppeted corpses. Otherwise the other races would band together to stop them again.

And it probably wouldn't be pretty.

Racist purges never were.

"I know that."

"Right, so anyways I've watched you administer potions and I can say that this one and those do not work the same."

"How so?"

"Potions, regular potions that is, work kinda like what I can excrete? They bind together wounds and sort of reassemble the cells that were broken."

"Yes." Geneva nodded. She understood that potions amplified cell growth and recovery somehow. That was why they also helped diseases grow.

"Whatever is going on inside of you... somehow its moving your body."

"Please explain more precisely, Okasha."

"I'll use an example, your spine. It's shattered. Little flecks of bone that I've gathered up, but it's not only injured, it's all over the place - biology wise. Or it was. It shifted, real quick too. New cells came from nowhere to perfectly replace those that were dead or missing."

"So it stimulated cell growth to make them replicate?"

"No. That's what a normal potion does. All of your missing bits just... reappeared. And they did so in a way that they pushed what was there back into where it should be." Okasha paused. "I think it also swept through you and replaced the more worn-out places. Everywhere that you had an injury, you now have fresh new cells instead."

"I see." That was great news, even if it made her feel like her chosen profession was even more out-dated. "Then there's a lot of work to do. Even with how many of these potions we have, we should save them for emergencies." It would be great to have them on hand as a crash-cart sort of contingency. "I'll start by-"

"Uh, uh. Nope." Okasha put down the vial and started moving her body towards the door. "First things first, I'm getting myself my own body. Everything else can wait."

Geneva wanted to protest, but even if she physically could... Okasha did have a point.

---

Kenjiro took a deep breath as he stared at the Communication Cube.

It was a wonderful piece of magic. Or technology? He wasn't sure. It had become the new hot thing at the United Nations as people used it for... well... everything.

Want to watch the new television broadcasts that were becoming all the rage with scrying orbs? The Communication Cube could do that. Only for a couple of hours a day, but that was better than nothing. There had been a group that had been saving their money to try and get a scrying mirror as a sort of flat-screen TV equivalent.

The Communication Cube could project an image on the wall for everyone to see. Or it could make holograms in mid-air. Or it could beam light into someone's eyes so that they, and only they, saw an image.

Somehow, it could also do the same with sound.

The 'somehow' had to be magic, right?

That's what Kenjiro had thought at first. Pixel was the 'Archmage of Cubes' after all. So it only stood to reason that a cube from him was 'magical', right?

Except the Communication Cube also let them speak to Earthers across the world. It even had some kind of 90's message board. Or the 80's? Did they even have the internet back then? Regardless, it felt pretty retro and Kenjiro wasn't sure if that was on purpose or not.

Mainly because Pixel, apparently, was from a different Earth.

Who knew if this was what things looked like where he came? Or if he thought it was how things looked like on Earth? Or rather, Kenjiro's Earth? Or was he a bad programmer? Or at least bad at making user interfaces? Or had it been thrown together in five minutes?

Just like on Earth, the new Earther-only internet was both helpful and completely useless.

Kenjiro had read the pinned messages that had talked about all sorts of important things that others had discovered about this world. There were several posts about Pixel in particular. It had been... a lot.

A superhero? An actual honest to God superhero?

Kenjiro didn't know what to make about that supposed piece of information. Neither did anyone else. It had only been a few days and the discussions about Pixel had been all consuming.

Well, except for Geneva. She took half of the potions Pixel had left and had secluded herself in her clinic. Probably wanting to test them before taking one herself.

It was early morning, and that was perhaps the only reason that Kenjiro had time alone with the Communication Cube. As the United Nation's Ambassador, [Diplomat], and co-founder, he theoretically could have pulled rank for what he was about to do. This was an semi-official act.

Who was he kidding?

This was personal.

He had to know. He could tell everyone else about it later, if his hopes were correct. If they weren't? Then there was no reason to open old wounds.

"Call Heartslayi."

The cube blinked on and off for several minutes before a voice came out of it. "Who's this."

"I'm... Kenjiro Murata. Of the United Nations."

"Kenjiro! Is that really you?"

"Yes."

An image appeared before him: 'Accept video call from Heartslayi? Yes/No'

Kenjiro pressed 'Yes'. Somehow he got a tactile response despite this finger moving through the hologram. A moment later a familiar face appeared in front of him.

"Ken!"

"Caroline." He smiled at her. "It really is you."

"Hey!" She play pouted. "That's my line!"

"I-" They both started to speak and then stopped.

"So Pixel visited the United Nations, I guess?"

"Yeah." Kenjiro nodded. "He arrived out of the blue a few days ago. Offered help before warning us about the dangers of associating with him." He shrugged. "He gave us a cube and some potions."

"Oh! Those potions are expensive!"

"They are?"

"Yeah." Caroline nodded. "It's, like, his big bargaining chip with the other factions here in Wistram."

"Wistram?"

"Yep. It's this magical school in the middle of the ocean."

"I've heard of it. I'm just... confused as to why you're there."

"Oh." Caroline slumped in on herself. "That."

"Are you... okay?" Kenjiro wasn't sure what he could do if she wasn't. "You just vanished that night, and everyone thought that... well... you know. Did..." He thought back to what Pixel had said about 'enemies'. "Did some of Pixel's enemies at Wistram kidnap you or something?"

"What?" She looked confused. "No. I mean, I was... taken, but it wasn't by anyone at Wistram." She looked away as her hand rubbed her neck. "I... I don't want to talk about it. It was bad. I was put on a ship with..." Caroline shook her head. "Anyways, some [Mages] from Wistram showed up and teleported me away. I'm not sure how they knew about me, or got there, or if they even fought with the [Slavers], or stole me, or bought me..."

"[Slavers]?" Kenjiro's eyes widened. "You mean..."

"Yes." She nodded. "Roshal." Caroline let out a rueful laugh. "Not that I guess that's as big of a threat nowadays."

"Yes." Kenjiro nodded solemnly. "I've heard about the sea creature that killed everyone there."

"Good riddance I say." She glowered. "Some of the jackasses here are making a big deal about what a tragedy it was. And I guess a lot of [Slaves] were killed to, but I'm not shedding any tears for a bunch of Human traffickers." She paused. "People traffickers? Kidnappers? Eh, whatever."

Kenjiro felt the right thing to do as an [Diplomat] would be to take a neutral stance and bemoan the loss of life. But that wasn't how he really felt, and doing so would undoubtedly upset Caroline.

"I agree. The victims were only those who were already victims of Roshal. May they find peace in death." Kenjiro didn't want to talk about that, however. He was curious about how Caroline was doing. "How is Wistram treating you?"

"Wistram is... nice." She frowned a little.

"Nice?"

"No, no." She shook her head. "It's fine. Great even. I really should've tried to get in contact with you guys but... it was really hectic at first." Ken nodded silently, giving her the time she needed to speak. "I mean, I was taken by one group, and then saved by another, but it was more like I was some prize to be claimed, you know? Like, the Wistram [Mages] weren't doing it for me but for them."

"I see."

"So, that made being here really stressful at first. Like I was a 'guest' in name, but a prisoner in truth. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. It was like... oh, that one story with the king and the sword hanging by a thread?"

"The Sword of Damocles."

"Yeah, that's the one. I mean, there are a good number of us here and some of them are really traumatized. And I kept thinking that I could tell Wistram about the United Nations, but there are factions here and..." Caroline took a deep breath and then exhaled. "And I was worried that they might take over the United Nations. I mean, you guys are doing good work with finding other Earthers and if you got hauled off to Wistram then..."

Kenjiro frowned. "Do you think that's likely?" He had to admit that he would've welcomed such a thing when he'd first arrived, but the United Nations was growing slowly but surely. He only had to look out into the common area to see the good they'd done.

...And look at the list of dead Earthers they'd failed to get to in time to know they needed to do better.

"No." Caroline admitted. "If you have a cube and a bunch of [Mages] didn't show up to 'escort' you here, then you're probably okay. No one wants to challenge Pixel, not even the other Archmages."

"I'm interested to get your opinion on Pixel, actually." Kenjiro leaned forward. "He showed up here out of the blue several days ago, gave us an offer for assistance along with the cube and some potions, and then he vanished." Literally.

"I don't have much of one." She shrugged. "I never met the guy. If I had, I'd have told him about you. I think we can trust him, but he's still just one man. He can't be everywhere. I do think that he's the reason all of the Earthers here have as much freedom as we do."

"How so?"

Caroline glanced left and right before also leaning forward and whispering. "There are rumors that he fought the other Archmages when they refused to let some of us leave."

"Really?" Kenjiro furrowed his brow. "I would've thought something like that would be widely talked about and not just rumors."

"Oh, that's right." Caroline chuckled. "You don't know about Wistram and its obsession with secrets."

"Secrets?"

"Information really." She rolled her eyes. "Like some kind of bizarre post-scarcity society. The more people that know something, the less it's worth. They even have secret-brokers that you can trade one secret for another. Or for other things."

"So Pixel's quarrel with the other Archmages hasn't become common knowledge?"

"Pretty much." Caroline shook her head. "But we Earthers are pretty 'rich' when it comes down to it. Kinda. Sorta. We know a lot of stuff from Earth, like science and shit. But mainly I know that rumor because Pixel is hot topic for us and a bunch of people got together and pooled their funds to buy as many secrets about him as possible."

Kenjiro smiled. "Yes. I can relate to the idea of being interested in a superhero from an alternate Earth. It sounds almost unbelievable, except..."

"Except WE'VE been transported to a magical world with [Mages] and fantasy races and all sorts of thing. Compared to that, what's one little old superhero?"

"Quite a lot from what I've heard about the war in Chandrar." Kenjiro leaned back and drummed his fingers on his desk. "Makes me wonder what sort of Class Pixel got, and how powerful he is without his levels. Assuming, that is, that he got the same sort of Classes like we did." [Diplomat] was amazing, but it wasn't 'wipe out multiple armies at the same time' amazing.

"Don't get me started on that. Have you surfed through the posts in the Pixel forum yet? They're nothing like what some of the stans here get to in their in-person 'discussions'."

"Heh." He chuckled. "Well, it sounds like you're doing well."

"Y-yeah. I guess I am." She glanced to the side. "I really should've tried to get in contact with Pixel to get in contact with you guys. I mean, Wistram is still kinda sketchy, you know? And Pixel is kinda scary, but..."

"There's no need to apologize." His voice softened. "You obviously went through a lot. Everyone here will just be happy to know you're alive." He let out a small laugh. "You'll probably get tired of us calling you to check in constantly."

"That's a good problem to have." She smiled back at him.

"So, on another note, did you do that thing you were talking about before you, uhm, got taken?"

Caroline stiffened slightly, but then relaxed. "No, but also, yes. With the scrying orb news network, there are stories about adventuring teams, and wars, and Pixel, and all that stuff. So instead of writing an original story. I, er..."

"You what?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I've been writing lurid fanfiction." Caroline's cheeks flushed. "I mean, sex sells, and I still think it's an untapped market, and it's a lot easier to get people to read something about people they've already know, or at least have heard of..."

"I already gathered that was the case."

"What?"

Ken held back a smirk. "I did call 'Heartslayi' after all."

"You did?" Caroline leaned back and looked at the ceiling as she groaned. "The post I made."

"That's the one."

"Well..." She sat back up and looked at Kenjiro with a gleam in her eyes. "I never did get feedback from you about my first draft. So tell me, Kenjiro Murata of the United Nations... what did you think of my story?"

"I..." He was taken aback. "You were a lot more timid about it before."

She shrugged. "A lot's happened. Plus, I've had to grow a thick skin. Even if it's only dozens of people, the internet breeds trolls." Caroline sighed dramatically. "I've even gotten hate mail."

"What?"

"Someone called 'Sandquen' actually wrote me a letter about a story I wrote about Pixel. They called me 'uninspired' and 'failed to capture Pixel's casual displays of power'. Whatever that means."

"What?" He repeated himself.

"I'm not the only one writing about him. Someone actually put out a pretty good graphic novel."

"I see." Kenjiro shook his head. "I guess we've been disconnected from the rest of the world here."

"Hey, the world is a big place. And they just only got a news network." Caroline laughed.

"That's true. I still-" He was interrupted by a knock at his door. "Hold on." He turned his head and spoke loudly. "Yes?"

The door to his office swung open to reveal a haggard looking Geneva. Or, at least her expression was one of annoyance and suffering. When he looked closer, he didn't see the bags under her eyes or the other usual signs that she'd been spending too much time at the clinic trying to find a cure for Yellow Rivers.

"Kenjiro." She nodded. "I took the potion."

He blinked. "And?"

"And..." Geneva let out a weary sigh. "Here's Okasha."

She stepped to the side and a pale female Lizardfolk corpse walked in behind her. "Hey, Ken! How's it going?" Okasha smiled brightly in her new body. "Man does it feel good to be only me again! It's going to take some getting used to," She wiggled her fingers and moved her hands around. "But no more dour roommate!"

"Hey!" Geneva crossed her arms and gave Okasha a glare before turning back to Kenjiro. "Anyways, the potions work. I'm going to be doing some more experiments, but we should be sure to give some to the Bushrangers when they come back."

"That's great news." Kenjiro's smile matched Okasha's toothy grin. "I have some good news of my own." He pressed against the corner of the screen. He felt his fingers brush against something, even though the hologram had no mass. The image rotated until it was facing both Geneva and Okasha.

"Hi, Geneva." Caroline gave a small wave. "It's been a while, huh?"

Notes:

Bios:

Geneva Scala - A medical student from Earth who was transported to Baleros. Signed on with a body-disposal company as a healer. Gravedigger's Fist went to where two other companies were fighting to clean the battlefield of bodies before undead rose, but the fighting turned nasty. Geneva saved the lives of soldiers on both sides, which earned her the title 'The Last Light of Baleros', but also the enmity of the commanders. She was attacked, and was nearly killed before Okasha killed her assailant and gone inside Geneva's body to save her life.

Okasha - A Selphid who Geneva saved during the fighting and became her medical assistant. Inhabited Geneva's body to save her life, despite it being a forbidden act that would see her, and possibly an untold number of other Selphids killed if anyone ever found out. VERY happy to have her own body, even if it isn't as nice as a living one.

Caroline - An Earther from Australia who joined the United Nations. Had the idea to write porno as a way of making income, but vanished one night. She was kidnapped by a Roshal [Slaver], but was saved by Wistram [Mages]. Now writes under the pen name 'Heartslayi'.

Chapter 125: Reunion 5

I took a look around. There was a white van parked on the road. A small dirt trail led from where it was up onto a hill that had a small wrought iron fence around it. There were a couple of trees that dotted the landscape, but the most noticeable thing beyond the open gate were the rows of tombstones.

It was an uncommon sight that drew my eyes in, despite the arguably much more impressive horizon.

A plain stretched out for what looked like miles. Tall grass that swayed in an artificial wind, for while this space was quite large, it wasn't big enough to have a weather system. Shadowy equines grazed in the distance. It was hard to make out anything more than their silhouettes due to the single detail that dropped all pretense of this being reality: the sky.

Behind the horses, up above, surrounding us on all sides was a red crystalline mass.

From this distance it looked like a solid red background with faint black lines crisscrossing it at random, but I could recognize it from similar 'locations' I'd visited in the past.

This was the space inside the Shards.

I still didn't fully understand what it was. Ears of Babel let me witness it, and Tongue of Babel let me come here to 'communicate'. It both was and wasn't a physical place. My body wasn't here. Physically I was still back inside Riley's room inside the Forgotten Wing Company's headquarters.

But it was more than a dream, even though that's what it felt like a lot of the time.

"Are you sure about this?" I looked down at Riley.

"Absolutely." She took my hand. "We need to talk with him."

"Do we?" I looked apprehensively back towards the graveyard. Gamer's Mind didn't work inside of Shardspace, so it couldn't suppress my nervousness.

"William was an important person in my life, even if I never knew it." Despite her words, my little sister sounded conflicted. "I don't know how much of Sibby protecting me at first was due to her, or to him." She glanced away. "I mean... I know she loves me now, but I also know that back then I was just Jack's latest project." She spat on the ground. "Hell. I know the bastard never cared, that fuck, but how much of what Sibby did... what William told her to do.. how much of that was because of her and him... and how much was Jack's power urging us to be what he wanted."

"Ah." I gave her hand a squeeze. "I hadn't thought of it like that." To me, William had been part of Sibby's past. I hadn't considered how Riley would view him considering how big of a mess of manipulation her childhood had been.

As a kid, she didn't have much say when the band of serial killers had taken her in. I'd learned about how Jack had forced her to keep healing her family over and over again until she finally broke. Even when we'd first met, and I'd only known that detail from Observe... It was still so soul-crushing.

She had been an unwitting [Slave], in a very real sense.

"He's right up there." Sibby took Riley's other hand and dragged the two of us up the hill. It was still strange to have her being so vocal. "William! Hi!" Sibby waved with her free hand after she pushed the gate further open. "It's me, and I brought my family!"

"Hm?" A man looked up from the grave he was standing above. He had dark, disheveled hair and an unkempt beard. His bleary eyes looked at us. "Natalie? is that-" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and then shuddered as he exhaled. "Not Natalie. I'm dead. Not Natalie. I'm dead." He repeated to himself before opening his eyes to look at us as his lips twisted like he was trying to smile, but had forgotten how. "Hello."

"Hello." I replied.

"Hi." Riley echoed after me. "So you're the person that controlled Sibby huh? Do you... remember me?"

William mournfully gazed at Riley. "No. I'm afraid I do not." He took another breath and brought his hand to his chest. "I only have the memories of what I did before I drunk the vial. And even those are... disjointed. It's difficult to keep track of things. When Sibby leaves, I try to recall what we've spoken about, but... my mind keeps repeating the same thoughts over and over." He shook his head. "I'm sorry... Riley?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yep, that's me!" Riley beamed up at him. "I guess Sibby told you about me then, huh?"

"Indeed." William sighed. "She's told me a great many things, most of which have been... difficult to hear. You, however," He smiled softly at her. "It was nice to hear about you."

"That's..." Riley sniffed.

I looked down at her. She was crying? I'd seen her do that before but my little sister was normally...

Oh.

Just like I didn't have Gamer's Mind inside of Shardspace, Riley didn't have any of her augments. She couldn't just... turn off her tears like she'd normally be able to do. I knelt down and pulled her in for a hug.

"It's okay." I rubbed her back.

"Y-yeah." She hiccuped. "It's... a good thing." She gently pushed me away and turned towards William. "I'm glad that it was nice to hear about me."

"Of course it was." William's smile looked more natural now. "I can understand some of the things I'll do in the future. Or rather, that the future version of me did in the past." He clutched his chest. "It's just so... painful now. All the evil things we did to save mankind, only for me to lose the single person I..." His voice cracked. "But, of all the things I would do, protecting you makes the most sense."

"And it meant that we got to meet!" Sibby said happily from the side.

"Yes." William said dryly as he glanced at Sibby. "I suppose that is a silver lining." He looked back at Riley. "But the real question is... how are you doing now?"

"I'm doing great." Riley looked down and kicked the grass. "I mean, yeah, it really sucked at the time. And then I thought that it didn't, but that's one of the reasons why it sucked so much. Aside from the obvious, but..." She slumped her shoulders. "To be honest, I don't really remember my family much. My biological family I mean." She looked up at me and smiled. "I'm happy with how things turned out, but I guess I did give up a lot to get here."

"Or had it taken away." William said darkly. His words strangely mirroring my thoughts.

I ruffled her hair. "Just remember, that the Riley who never met Jack might've still wound up my sister."

"I know. But it's tough reminiscing."

"I understand." William turned his head to look back down at the grave. "Losing your family is..." He took a deep breath and then exhaled. "I think I understand why I would've bonded with you." He turned back, coughed, and looked ashamed. "I mean... that's a poor choice of words. Just... I lost my daughter, and I did something very foolish out of anger and sadness." He glanced towards Sibby. "I don't... I don't think that I got what I really wanted. No offense, Sibby, but I think the past you that first appeared to me..." He shook his head. "I've been a poor father, three times over now."

"That's okay." Sibby happily replied. "I'm just getting better and more awesome every day, so of course the current me would be a better daughter than past me!"

"Am I the only one finding the references to current and past confusing?" I asked. "The simple fact is that what you'd do now William, if you were alive and not..." I gestured to the Shardspace around us. "It would be different. How many people can hear about their future actions and not wish to do something different with that knowledge?"

"A good observation, young man." William nodded at me. "Though I cannot refute what Sibby has told me about my future, it isn't something that this simulation of me has any knowledge of. It might be relevant to the issues at hand, but not to the degree with which we are placing importance."

"Huh?" Sibby tilted her head.

"The past is the past." I explained to her. "Riley wants some closure, but she won't get that by reliving what's happened. What's more important is... for them to get to know their current selves." Not that William was 'current'. Or was he? He remembered what Sibby had told him, so it wasn't like he was static. His Shard had made a copy that was capable of learning and growth.

Or at least the appearance of it. So it might be better to consider this William a branch of the original William.

"Ah, that makes sense." Sibby nodded sagely. "It's fun to remember, but it's more fun to create new memories."

"Nuh uh." Riley shook her head. "My past and William's future is important. I need to know... if anyone actually loved me back then." She let out a small sniff. "And I'm obviously not the best judge of that. I thought that Jack loved me, and maybe he did, but not... If he cared at all, it was only in terms of how useful I could be to him. I was a tool that he carefully crafted and used."

"Riley..." Both William and I whispered.

"But!" She looked up with a determined face. "That doesn't mean the rest of the Nine were evil." She frowned. "Alright. They were 'evil', but... not entirely evil." She stepped towards Sibby and took her hand. "We were all messed up. That's obvious. How much of that was ourselves verses our Passengers? I don't know. I do know that Jack was... nudging us so..."

"Mimi's doing well." I offered. Or at least she had been when we'd left Earth Bet.

"Exactly!" Riley pointed at me. "And Crawler had some clear issues that his power exacerbated. He would never have been a saint, but it wasn't like he ever really cared about killing people. Without Jack, he still probably would've been a monster, but not one that cared about hurting others so much as getting hurt himself."

She gazed into the distance as if remembering.

"Mannequin was clearly disturbed, and he wanted to kill those trying to make the world nicer. But he still helped me. He had been a monster, but that's because he'd been broken and rebuilt. First by the Simurgh, then by Jack. I would've liked to have known the man before all that happened."

"Shatterbird was angry and lashing out. Underneath it... she just wanted someone to love her. Which, of course, Jack preyed on."

"Hatchet Face was a monster. I don't think he was ever nice. And... that's probably the way most of them were. People that were hurt, and so they hurt others. People twisted on the inside, and then twisted more by their passengers and Jack." She looked up at me. "If you hadn't helped me, then I don't know what would've happened."

She took a deep breath, and silence fell over us all for several long moments before Riley continued again.

"That's why I need to know you, William. I need to know if... the love and protection that Sibby gave me..." She stepped towards the Siberian and gave her a hug. "I need to know how much of that was real. I think it was." She sniffed. "Why else would Sibby have held me at night when the nightmares came? Or protected me? Or played with me?"

She let go and turned to William. "But Jack did those same things too." Riley grimaced. "He saw I was hurting, and he was kind to me to get me to latch onto him." Her voice started getting louder. "Of course he knew I was hurting. He was the one that hurt me! He lead the monsters that broke into my house. That mutilated my biological family, and let me piece them back together again and again until I became a monster too."

She clenched her fists. "I was scared and alone, and when the least-monstrous of the monsters offered me kindness... I took it. Of course I did. Who wouldn't? Even grown adults get taken in by the kindness of cults. I was little kid. I had no experience. I had no family. All I had was Jack, and I clung to him. Tried to be a Good Girl for him."

Her reddening eyes looked up at William. "So, I need to know about you. I can't know the version of you from that day." Riley glanced back up at Sibby. "Sibby says the other versions of you aren't stable. Not only in a mental sense, but in a..." She looked around the Shardspace. "Metaphysical sense as well."

"Yes." William's voice was laced with grief. "I don't think you'd get any real answers from the version of me that participated in the invasion of your home. And... I wouldn't want you to go there. You shouldn't have to relive that, like I'm reliving this."

"Yeah." Riley sniffed and rubbed her face with her arm. "So, who are you?"

Sibby picked Riley up and sat down with my sister in her lap. She stroked Riley's hair like a mother would, and I felt a pang of... something. It hurt to see Riley like this, but I knew why she needed this closure. It was opening up old wounds that I'd thought had healed, but... I guess some things you never fully get past.

And she had gone through so much more than I ever had.

William sat down to the side of the gravestone and cleared his throat. "My name is William Manton, and I was one of the members of a secret organization that committed multiple atrocities in an attempt to save mankind from invading aliens."

Wait... what?

...

Sibby's William was William Manton?

I... I knew that name. Most everyone who was familiar with how parahuman powers worked knew of William Manton. Or, at least, his theory about how powers interacted with living organisms: the Manton Limit. I had to admit that I'd never tried looking into him. He wasn't a celebrity scientist. He didn't go on talk shows or give interviews. In fact, he was little more than a footnote in most academic records.

Things that I'd only read because it was the sort of stuff Riley liked.

Had she known?

I glanced over to my sister as she stared at William. No. She looked surprised to me. Perhaps a little bit of excitement and awe. She was still sad, but that was being pushed aside by the reveal and William's story.

Riley did always like a good story, and even without my notifications I could still read her emotions like a book.

Without Gamer's Mind to suppress my shock, I only half-listened to him as he described how he'd been a researcher who'd been brought on board a vast conspiracy.

I went over what I knew of the secret organization he was talking about: Cauldron.

I'd known about them ever since the Behemoth fight, or rather, right before the Behemoth fight when I'd observed a Ward who'd gotten her powers from a vial. I don't remember her, but I do remember the quest I'd gotten: Stay off the Path.

It wasn't long afterwards that I'd Observed the Triumvirate and Scion. That had told me far more than I ever would have guessed, but it had only vaguely alluded to what Cauldron did. In fact, it only provided Cauldron's name in their affiliation field.

That was amusing in its own way. Affiliation was superfluous information ninety-nine percent of the time. But that one percent when it did matter?

I'd shared what I'd learned with Riley, of course. We hadn't spoken about it after Sibby had joined us, but the Siberian had never shown any interest in that sort of stuff.

I'd failed the 'Stay off the Path' quest, but nothing had seemed to happen as a result. That was probably due to the Lucky Perks that shielded me from information gathering powers. Once again, it was clear in hindsight how Optimize had specifically configured some of my Perks to help me against Scion, and to a lesser extent Cauldron.

Plus, I had other things to worry about at the time. I hadn't forgotten about Cauldron, but I also hadn't sought them out. I hadn't known their goals or their methods.

That had changed after killing the Simurgh and getting Scion to transfer the Shard Network to Dragon.

Alexandria herself had come to us and had introduced us to Cauldron. I'd known they'd done horrible things, many of which they hadn't shown me. I hadn't asked, and they hadn't volunteered.

But still... the parahuman behind the Siberian was one of theirs? Kinda? From what William was saying, it sounded like he'd been involved, but had objected to what they'd done. Strange. I listened closer, trying to puzzle out how someone could go from that to killing Hero and joining the Nine.

...

"And then..." William's voice broke. He blinked back tears and stared off into the distance. "I found her body." He bowed his head and slumped over the tombstone. "Natalie... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I should've been there for you. I should've made sure the vials were safer. I should've..."

He trailed off with a shuddering gasp. Riley and I looked at each other, and I saw guilt in my sister's eyes. William Manton may not have Triggered like a 'natural' parahuman, but he had just described what must've been the worst day of his life.

It... it wasn't something that he would've spoken about normally. Not without Riley's plea for knowledge. I guess it was fitting that her recounting her Trigger led to it, but I still felt awkward at how raw William's voice had sounded.

Sibby gently picked Riley up off of her lap, and then went over to the silently sobbing William. The Siberian draped herself over him in a comforting hug.

I moved to where she'd been and sat down before pulling Riley close. The four of us sat like that for a while, and I think I started to understand how the Siberian who'd murdered people, who'd killed Hero, who'd been an unrepentant serial killer... had always had Sibby at her core.

She had literally been made to provide both comfort and vengeance.

"So then I came here, and buried her next to her mother." He glanced over at another grave. "Eleanor had died some time after she'd left me. I, of course, was too busy with my research to attend her funeral. I didn't even find out about it until..." He sighed. "But, that was why she'd left in the first place. I never blamed her for that. She was a saint to have stayed with me for as long as she had."

William turned his attention back to the grave beside him. "Natalie's body was intact. The hemorrhage..." He swallowed and changed the topic. "In my studies, I'd noticed a trend. The Monstrous Capes. The ones that survived exposure but were altered, there was a pattern." He was talking about Case-53s, but that label hadn't been applied yet. There were no 'Cases', not until the Siberian. Case 1.

"You see, when one of the Shards attempts to integrate itself into a host avatar, it uses information that I believe came from other connected Shards. The dead Entity that we had access to no longer had that capacity. The Shards of itself were scattered. We could get to them via the samples we'd collected, and by simulating certain resonances, we could trigger the adaptation protocols they had."

"In other words, the vials that give superpowers. The exact results were difficult to pin down. The more concentrated the dose, the more power the Shard granted its new host. ...But the greater the odds that it would alter their physical forms."

"But... there was Deus, a Shard we had been currently harvesting that didn't seem to have that setback, no matter how strong the dose." William glanced over his shoulder at Sibby. "It almost always resulted in parahumans with the ability to conjure other objects or creatures. Too strong of a does, and the subjects didn't mutate, they simply died."

His eyes moved to a small glass vial that was on the ground. "But what did that matter? I didn't want to live in a world without my daughter. So either I died, or I got her back - in one form or another. Those were the thoughts going through my mind, the same thoughts that keep on trying to re-establish themselves. Clearly, whatever information the Shard stores about its hosts, the singular moment when it makes connection with their brains is one of the most important."

I nodded in agreement. "Whenever I visit a Shard, I come upon the scene of the Parahuman's trigger event. But... all of the vial made capes have been empty and devoid of anything else, except some personification of the Shard itself."

"Really?" William turned to face me. "How fascinating. Perhaps I'm different because I'm dead. Or it might be the strange interaction with what Sibby has done since then." He patted her hand. "From her or me second triggering, to her joining with you, or even her recent consuming magical substances, there are a great deal of deviations that could account for anomalous behavior."

"Yes. My Shard originated from a different Entity. Optimize, that's close to its name, granted me some memories." Which were confusing and hard to parse. I wonder how much effort it had put into making my understanding of them possible at all. "Its original Entity created simulations of all of its hosts for further experimentations during travels between star systems. So it might have done something to your Shard when we connected? I'd used an ability to sacrifice my Summoning power to save Sibby when, uhm, you died."

It was a little strange to talk about what had happened to William's alternate future self, but no less weird than him and Riley recounting their pasts.

"That... seems reasonable." William let out a sigh. "But, we are getting away from the crux of the story." His gaze shifted downwards to look at Riley. "What you see now, I fear, is the most I can tell you about myself, my dear. A pathetic shell of a man who has come to the end of his rope. Before I drank the vial, I didn't seek revenge on Cauldron. If I had, then there were other ways I could've done it - most of which would've be destined to fail before I started..."

"But, no." He looked back up at Sibby. "What I most wanted was to see my daughter again. Or die. I had nothing else to live for." He closed his eyes and bowed his head. "I... can only hypothesize about my alternate future self's actions and motivations. Clearly things did not go in the way I had envisioned them, but I think that even 'dead' Shards can influence their hosts, and I was clearly not in full control of my faculties."

"So I can understand why I would seek to protect a daughter who'd lost her parents." He shook his head. "Even if I cannot comprehend how I would partake in..." His voice drifted off. "No. That's a lie. If a world without Natalie wasn't worth living in, then... it certainly wouldn't be worth saving. I don't know if killing Hero had been vengeance against Cauldron for what they'd personally taken from me, or some sort of self-righteousness for all the things they'd done, or even another suicidal action... perhaps in penance for what I'd done when I was a part of them, or what I'd gone on to do after parting ways."

He turned his bloodshot eyes back towards Riley. "All I can say is that I'm sorry. That... this version of me is sorry for what I became. What I will become." He sniffed and rubbed his nose as tears ran down his cheeks. "And sorry that I clearly was using you to fill a void in my heart. It might not be my greatest sin, since it was done out of a twisted mix of love and loss, and due to it... helping you, but..." He let out a ragged sigh. "But it was far too little far too late."

William closed his eyes and shook his head. "If I had been truly repentant, I would've stopped myself. Stopped them. Or at the very least, run away and taken you with us. It... it would've been trading seven monsters for one, but..." His voice trailed off into mumbling, and the world started to shake.

"Uh oh." Sibby looked around. "William held on pretty long, but it might be time for you two to leave."

"No." I shook my head and gently lifted Riley off my lap before standing up. "Not until Riley has had her say." I patted her on the head. "I've been in Shardspace enough to understand how thoughts affect it."

I was fairly certain that the primary pillar that was supporting this simulation was Sibby herself. The conditions of the world had worsened as William had spoken, but not as much as they should have I felt. If I were to take an educated guess, it was all of us that were influencing things. Our very presence helping William stay mostly grounded.

"Kevin... what are you going to do?" Riley looked up at me with a worried expression.

"Nothing dangerous." I assured her. "I'm just going to meditate and focus on doing what I can to stabilize things." I was, after all, the most talented person in the world with regard to mediation due to Dhalsim grinding the Skill for me almost non-stop. Ironic, since the whole purpose of that had been to increase my MP regen rate, which was clearly a video game mechanic. My oneness with the universe had absolutely nothing to do with using my powers quicker. Or maybe it did. It wasn't like I understood how Optimize did anything or what restrictions were the result of hard limitations, and which ones were at its whim. "Just shake me when you're ready to leave."

Riley nodded. "Okay."

I winked at her and sat back down in a lotus position before closing my eyes and letting my consciousness expand and contract. I was everything and I was nothing.

...

I roused myself as Riley shook me.

"All done?" I asked her as I stretched, more out of habit than any real need. It wasn't like this was my real body, and it wasn't like my real body needed to stretch anymore anyways.

"Yep." Riley smiled at me. She looked emotionally drained but... happy. "We've come to an agreement. I still don't know what it would be like to be reunited with the William Manton who spent years with me vicariously through Sibby, but..." She glanced over at William who was standing with his back to us, his head bowed over Natalie's grave again. "...that's not this William."

"Ah."

"Yeah." She sighed. "Ultimately, whatever connection we may or may not have, or how insane he was, or whatever motives he had for... anything, they just aren't there. I guess, in a way, it's like meeting a distant relative. Not that I have any experience with that." She let out a small laugh.

"Hey, you have me." I rose to my knees and hugged her. "We aren't related, but I'm still your big brother."

"That's right." She squeezed me back. "The best big brother in the world!" She stepped back and took my hand. "Still, in a lot of ways he's Sibby's father. So, I'm glad we met. Even if he's, y'know, not really real."

"Hey!" I playfully scolded her. "That's rude."

"He's the one that keeps on saying it." Riley rolled her eyes. "C'mon, let's go say goodbye." She tugged at me and we walked closer to William.

"Natalie..." He whispered before turning towards us. "Sorry, I got a little distracted there. It's a constant struggle to keep thinking new things and not... revert to mourning my daughter." He shrugged. "But, I suppose such is the life of an engram."

"It might just need time." I offered.

"True." William stroked his chin. "Thankfully with Sibby visiting me, I get mental stimulation and a good number of scenarios to hypothesis about. Speaking of which." He looked me in my eyes. "I have some thoughts that I'd like to share with you. Feel free to disregard them, or correct me if I don't have the full picture, but it's my understanding that your latest project is using an Endbringer to not only kill ever slaver in the world, but to also make the idea of housing them so dangerous that the... class itself is abandoned?"

"That's right." I nodded.

"Okay, now as I see it, we have strong evidence of such a method working on Earth Bet with Scion and nuclear weapons, so I think the theory is sound. However, have you considered what to do with the people you've sealed away in time?"

Chapter 126: Reunion 6

"Can you handle that?" My projection asked the King of Destruction.

"Yes, of course!" He spoke with a booming voice. "Reim is an expanding kingdom. I have already said I would welcome refugees, so how could I deny those that I've already sworn to take into my country?" He let out a laugh. "Orthenon will see to it that they are treated well."

"What shall we tell those who ask? Rumors will spread. It would only take a single voice saying where they were from for such things to start." Flos' steward bowed his head.

"Tell them the truth. Or close enough to it." I shrugged my shoulders. "Archmage Pixel cast a mighty spell that plucked away all those he could save from the monster's path."

"And the reason no [Slavers] were saved?"

"It's a delicate spell and easily disrupted. Even the simplest of magical resonance could do so." I was sure that I'd teleported some people that had worn magical items, but my teleporter hadn't spent the MP necessary to bring their enchanted gear along. "It has the benefit of being true, even if it wasn't my motivation."

"I see." Orthenon bowed to Flos. "It shall be done."

"Excellent." I connected with my Mega-Project and had it teleport a Teleportation Pad into Flos' tent. "I shall make it so half a dozen appear every day at dawn on that platform. Is that acceptable?"

"Of course." Flos smiled.

"Then I shall bid you farewell."

I broke my connection and leaned back in my chair. William was right. There was no need to leave everyone trapped underneath Roshal and frozen in time. Especially since there were no guarantees that Flos would be successful in his campaign.

Other nations were already moving into what was left of the country of [Slavers]. They claimed it was to search for survivors and survey the damage, but Niers had said that what they were really after was any relics that they could find. In the time since Leviathan's attack, the [Slavers] of Roshal had been very public in their appearances in other nations - refusing to accept what had happened and doing everything in their power to reclaim what had once been theirs before other countries fell upon it like carrion birds.

There had been people from Roshal all over the globe who'd escaped the 'tragedy' - mostly [Slavers] going from one place to another as they bought and sold the lives of others. The remaining Emirs that had survived Leviathan's attack were mostly gathered in the southern part of the Empire of Sand where it bordered on what was left of their country.

I didn't know how many there were. My Mega-Project was programmed to periodically re-scan the areas where it had detected [Slavers] in a previous scan. It wasn't perfect, but it was the best way I could think of to keep track of targets for the Endbringer.

My main worry was how few [Slavers] there were. I didn't know if I'd managed to get so many killed in the first attack, or if they were now spread out and in hiding. For all its massive range, my Mega-Project couldn't defeat stronger protections of warded locations.

Heck, it took valuable mana for it to confirm a [Slaver]'s existence through the common personal Identification-proof magical items most high-level people wore. Once confirmed, all their physical details were stored in its database, and they could be tracked normally.

It was there at the border that they were gathering their forces and preparing to march back into Roshal and reclaim what they'd lost. I was sure that a great many things had already been spirited away during the time since the attack. In truth, I hadn't needed my Mega-Project's scanning array to pinpoint where Leviathan would strike next. It was common enough knowledge since the fights between the [Slavers] and the [Scavengers] was a recurring story on the news.

But, timing was everything. William had agreed that a semi-regular appearance of the Endbringer would be far more effective at sowing fear. An exact time was predictable, but scary. Adding uncertainty multiplied that.

'Would it come?'

'Where will it strike?'

'Maybe it won't show this time.'

'It's attacking too early!'

Those were some common thoughts of everyone who'd lived on Earth Bet. I'd tried to ignore them for the most part, since I'd lived in a small town that wasn't important enough to be an Endbringer target. But even then I'd still had them. I'm sure it had been worse for the people living inside metropolises.

So now, all I had to do was wait.

...

Spending time at Elvallian was nice.

I'd fallen into a routine over the last few days. I woke earlier than anyone else since I only needed a few hours of sleep to wipe away my Tired debuffs. I'd use those pre-dawn hours to get in some gaming, and also work on Crafting more video game consoles. Or, at least, uploading new games into the Tinker-tech devices that Crafted the consoles for me.

It was, after all, important that I play test all the games I added. It would be irresponsible if I didn't. What if there was a glitch or a bug or the code had gotten corrupted?

I also cataloged the games I'd transfered over. I was planning on going around and spreading more of my constructors in Baleros. I'd probably do it as Gandalf, just to be consistent. I'd also eventually go back to the Empire of Sand and sow some of the constructors with newer game packs.

I'd made it so that each person could only get a single console, and that said console would only work for them. That would prevent [Merchants] and others from overcharging people or attempting to create a monopoly, but it would also reduce the spread of video games. So I needed to continue to do my part in bringing the best form of entertainment to this world.

Eventually Riley would wake up. The room she'd been provided with was large enough for us both and all of her experiments, though I had Crafted some dividers to act as walls. We'd then go and eat breakfast. Sometimes alone, but sometimes others would join us. It was mainly Selphids who stopped by. Riley had told me about her adventure and about how she had done some basic embalming to help preserve the Selphids' bodies.

Embalming in the sense that she was preventing their bodies from decomposing, but it was closer to re-animation in truth. The point was to allow some of their basic functions to continue to work. Just, you know, without blood or a brain. She'd made a fungus that spread through the dead bodies and sorta 'zombified' them.

Not enough that they could move or act like zombies or even spread, but it apparently took a lot of the workload off of the Selphids that were inhabiting them. It could even regenerate some parts in a very limited fashion - mainly muscles and sensory organs like the tongue and eyes. It was closer to mimicking a body's natural healing process than something like my Rapid Regeneration.

She was also trying to make a slime that did the same thing, but there was a minimum size that a slime's tendrils needed to be - and that size was far larger than a blood vessel.

Eh, I'm sure my little sister will figure it out. She told me that Surgery is giving her all sorts of ideas, but they don't take magic into account, so she's having to figure some details out on her own.

The other guest that commonly ate with us was her Fraerling friend Pinky. Who... was odd, but friendly.

Riley said that before I'd arrived she had most often had been served food by that Peclir fellow, but he'd vanished one day. I'm not sure if he ran away, or if Niers and Foliana disappeared him. And I don't really care. Nominal alliance with the Forgotten Wing Company aside, I didn't want to get involved with their internal policies. They were a power on par with a country in their own right, but they were also in a semi-perpetual state of war.

Even if they had agreements and treaties with the other large companies, it still didn't strike me as a good idea to have Earthers gather here. Wistram was neutral and safe. The Forgotten Wing Company in general and Niers in particular had plenty of enemies that wouldn't hesitate to use civilians as leverage.

Of course if any Earthers wanted to join the Forgotten Wing Company, good for them. People could make their own choices.

Besides, the United Nations was doing a pretty good job on their own. Providing them with resources to continue to find Earthers in Baleros and protect them was a better option, which was what I'd been doing with my mornings after breakfast. I'd be sure to have Gandalf drop by their city and plant a video-game Crafter, but only after other places got them first.

After that, I would usually sit in on Niers' lectures or spend time with Riley or Sibby. All in all, it had been a relaxing week.

My usual schedule was going to change today, as I was actually going to do something semi-important with the United Nations. I was taking Riley down to meet them to apparently talk about some disease that was threatening to become an epidemic.

We retired to her room for her to pack and prepare while I fed Sibby her breakfast - since the Siberian eating my flesh wasn't something we'd do in public for obvious reasons.

---

Geneva groaned as she rolled out of bed. She'd forgotten how... convenient it was to have Okasha take care of certain things for her. She rubbed her eyes and stumbled towards one of the bathrooms.

Afterwards she felt more awake, but still tired.

"Are you okay?" Kenjiro asked her as he passed her a cup of something warm and hot. "You look worn out. What time did you get to bed last night?"

"After midnight." Okasha answered for her, the Selphid also sounding tired. "I took a nap and then went to check on her, and she was still awake and working on her petra dishes."

"Petri dishes." Geneva mumbled over her steaming mug as she sat at the table. "And I needed to get the samples ready for my presentation."

"For Pixel?" Kenjiro asked and she nodded. "I don't think he'd care that much. You need to take better care of yourself."

"See?" Okasha smiled, showing off her Lizardfolk body's teeth. "That's what I've been saying! Do you want me to..." Her mouth opened wider and a small orange tendril waved about like a second tongue.

"No, no, I'm fine." She assured them. She'd lived off of less sleep and worse food in medical school. Plus, she didn't want Okasha to potentially get into any worse trouble for helping her - despite how good she'd be a 'Internal Medicine'. "Thanks." She nodded at Kenjiro as he placed a plate full of fruits and vegetables in front of her. She also didn't have so many people helping her in medical school, but she also hadn't been the sole person trying to stop an epidemic from forming then either. "Pixel will be here soon, right?" She picked up something that looked almost like a Kiwi and bit down on it.

"I haven't heard otherwise." Kenjiro sat down at the table beside her. "Do you really think he'll be able to help?"

She swallowed. "His potions are the only magical healing I've found that don't cause the Yellow Rivers to spread, and that aren't hampered by the infection." Then again, it might not be 'magical' healing, if what Kenjiro had told her was true.

A Superhero from a different version of Earth? Preposterous.

Then again, she'd have said the same thing about a dozen other magical things she'd encountered since coming here. She had no conclusive proof either way. Not that it mattered. What was important was if Pixel's potion-making techniques could be applied to regular potions. That, in and of itself, would be a dramatic boon to those that were both injured and sick.

Not to mention their applications in surgery.

She chewed silently and thought about what she'd say during her presentation. She had samples of Yellow Rivers, both in rats and petri dishes. She had potions to show how they interacted. Plus, even more worryingly, her clinic was starting to fill up with the sick.

It was hard to keep the quarantine, and better potions would only help with the symptoms, but that was the best bet so far. At least until she could... discover penicillin? But there were so many molds, and finding one that disrupted bacterial cell wall synthesis was proving... difficult.

She had been only a medical student back on Earth for crying out loud. Research and development of a game-changing drug wasn't something she had experience with!

Geneva's musings were cut short by a knock at the door.

"Ah." Kenjiro got up. "That's probably them. I'll get it."

Geneva quickly finished her breakfast and got up before belatedly running her fingers though her hair to try and tame it. Kenjiro returned with two people instead of one. They both had black hair, the man's was short while the girl's was long and in curls. Pixel, who she assumed the guy was, was tall and dressed in new-looking armor. The girl by his side was wearing a frilly dress complete with ribbons and lace.

"Pixel, I presume?" She held out her hand after wiping away any fruit juice. "I'm [Doctor] Geneva Scala. Thank you for coming, and for the potions you've provided us."

"It was my pleasure, Geneva." His smile was bright and wide, she could see why people would think he was a superhero. "This is my little sister, Bit."

"Hello!" The small girl beamed up at her and held out her hand to shake. "So you're a Doctor? Like with a class?"

Geneva shook her hand. "Yes. That's right."

"Interesting! I would love to look at your br-" Pixel nudged her. "I mean, I'd like to talk about what Skills you've gotten and their effects."

"Oh really?" She frowned slightly, but she couldn't really refuse a simple request like that - not from the sister of the man who'd help fix her spine. Classes, Levels, and Skills were a private thing to most, but Geneva didn't mind sharing. That was, after all, how progress was made. "That'd be fine. May I ask why?"

"I'm something of a doctor myself." Bit's smile widened. "And I'm curious as to what medical Skills the Grand Design came up with and how it implements them."

"The... Grand Design?" Kenjiro asked from the side.

"Sorry." Pixel bowed his head. "That's how we refer to the Voice of Levels. Or the System of Levels as it's also known."

"Ah, of course." Kenjiro smiled back at them. "That makes sense, I just never heard to it referred to like that before."

Pixel's eyes twinkled with mirth - like he knew a joke he wasn't telling them. "Well, I just heard it called by that name shorty after I arrived here, and it stuck with me."

"If you'd like, we can go to my clinic. I have several samples of a disease that's been spreading through the area."

"Yes." Pixel nodded at Kenjiro. "Ken mentioned that. It's why I brought Bit with me today."

"Really?" Geneva looked quizzically at the small girl. She called herself 'something of a doctor', so... an [Apprentice Healer]? Something else? "That's fine. Yellow Rivers is an STD that spreads through bodily fluids like syphilis, but presents with legions and secondary bacterial infections."

Geneva explained as she walked out of the room with Pixel, Bit, and Okasha trailing her.

"What makes it different from other sexually transmitted diseases?" Bit asked curiously, with no sigh of embarrassment. "Is it just more virulent? Or is there another reason it's a concern?"

"Well, it's magical in nature. Healing potions exacerbate the condition to an alarming degree. Far more than other diseases. It also seems to be spreading due to the lack of preventative measures taken by sex workers or their clients."

"Ooo... a plague! I like plagues." Bit said with a cheerful voice. "I never got to handle one that I didn't-"

"What Bit is saying is that she's far more experienced than she looks." Pixel interrupted. "Don't be fooled. She has hands on experience with a great number of diseases and viruses. Far more than you would expect."

"Is that..." Geneva looked around to make sure no Lizardfolk were close enough to overhead them, but she still lowered her voice. "Common on your Earth?"

Pixel and Bit shared a look before the older man replied. "Yes. Nothing that approached a pandemic, but we did have several incidents on smaller scales that could've easily been far worse if not caught in time."

"I see." Geneva wondered if they were talking about things like the Joker poisoning Gotham's water supply. Not that fictitious plots like that would normally happen, but if Pixel's Earth did have 'superheroes', then wouldn't it also have 'supervillains'? And wouldn't some of them model their actions off of cliches like that? "Here we are." Geneva opened the side door to her clinic and brought them into the back room where she had her experiments. "Please wear the safety gear. I have a Skill that makes it sterile, but not air tight. It's the best I've been able to make given the circumstances." It was important to put safety first. She had [Lesser Resistance: Disease], which had worked so far, but how much of that was the Skill, and how much were her precautions?

"Bit and I should be immune to any diseases, but caution is always good." Pixel nodded at her. "But, we have our own suits." As he spoke, a cascade of cubes seemed to erupt from behind him. The shifting mass flowed like some sort of M. C. Escher picture as cubes rolled along their sides, while somehow also leaving copies of themselves in place behind them. When they did that, the original cubes sometimes shifted color which resulted in a rippling rainbow wave that left behind an outfit composed of a mass of cubes that were connected in its wake.

"Malleable." Bit spoke, and was also engulfed in a similar costume.

"I guess that's why they call you the 'Archmage of Cubes', huh?" Okasha looked at them with a mix of curiosity and amazement.

"Hmmm..." Bit poked at the door leading to the lab. "I could make you something to have this be a negative pressure zone.

"Really?" Geneva asked as she pulled on her protective gear. "I've been using my [Sterile Field] Skill to make sure that nothing escapes."

"Oh?" The little girl's masked face turned towards her. "That sounds like a fun Skill. Can you use it to cure people?" She tilted her head. "No. Probably not. Making a person sterile would mean killing them. Unless it's really precise?" Her voice sounded both hopeful and curious.

"No." Geneva shook her head. "It doesn't affect living things beyond viruses and bacteria."

"Makes sense. Those kind of powers are usually Manton-limited."

"What?" Geneva pulled on her headgear. "I'm not familiar with that term."

"It comes from a prominent parahuman researcher on our world." Pixel explained. "There are several superpowers that simply do not work on living people. It's hypothesized it's a way for our powers to protect us from themselves."

"Ah." Parahumans? That was obviously the term that their world had for humans with 'superpowers'. "I assume a lot of research went into empowered individuals? Are they a recent phenomenon on your Earth, or were parahumans always around? Perhaps your legends had them as wizards or gods?"

Pixel laughed good-naturedly. "No, it's recent. The very first super-powered being appeared in 1982. Other parahumans came into the public eye in 1987, but there are records of them from as early as 1984. Our pasts and cultures are far more similar than not up until that point."

"Interesting. I've wondered about the biological impact of Skills and Magic, but..."

"Yeah!" Bit hopped up and down. "There's so much difference. It's really cool to see how life has evolved here."

Geneva frowned slightly underneath her mask. Who was Bit exactly? Why was she so... enthusiastic about all of this? "Right this way." Geneva opened the door and moved to activate the light stone, since the lab had no windows.

"Oh! Is this them?" She rushed over to Geneva's petri dishes.

"Yes. I don't have any algar or gelatin, so I'm using root vegetables for my cultures. The glass was difficult to come by in such small pieces." And she didn't even have proper glass dishes, but a lid was the most important thing to prevent cross-contamination.

"Do you mind if I test something?" Bit looked over her shoulder at her. "It will probably kill the sample, unless magic interacts in a strange way."

"Alright." Geneva nodded. "I have vials and pipets over-"

Bit took off the lid of one of the dishes with her left hand, while bringing her right over the culture. "Malleable." The glove of her suit receded, and then... a white smoke appeared out of nowhere?

No. Not out of nowhere. It was emerging from her palm and falling over the dish like a waterfall.

"How?" Geneva stepped forward to get a better look. "Is that your... parahuman ability?"

"Kinda." Bit shrugged. "Malleable." Her suit flowed back over her hand. "I'm what's called a 'Tinker', at least by the government. Basically, I make cool things, like my sanitation smoke. It works on a lot of levels, most of them chemical. It strips away ions, dissolves micro-biomes, uses a very short-lived radiation..." She stopped herself. "Basically, it sanitizes stuff in lots of different ways. I was pretty sure it would work, but..." She shrugged her shoulders. "Magic, you know? It can have strange reactions." She giggled. "But, by the look of how it died, this pathogen should be vulnerable to regular antibiotics."

"I've been trying to re-create penicillin, but finding the right type of mold has proven difficult."

"Oh, I have some of that. If you want it." Bit said casually. "But I was thinking more of an anti-plague that only feeds on, what did you call this? Yellow Rivers? I could whip up a dormant virus strain that only interacts with the Yellow Rivers bacterium. Then, boom! Epidemic adverted."

"With a virus?" Geneva frowned. "That could mutate and become something even worse."

Bit crossed her arms, and Geneva got the impression that she was rolling her eyes under her helmet. "It's easy to make fragile viruses. Ones that are at the center of so many evolutionary dead-ends that they could never naturally occur. Any mutations of them would result in a completely non-functional strain."

"That sounds... far-fetched, if you excuse me for saying so." Geneva was hesitant. She admitted that there were things she didn't know, and that Pixel and Bit had powers different than what she'd encountered so far. Plus, she didn't want to offend them, but... "How could you even make such a thing even if you knew how it looked like?"

"Hang on." Pixel interrupted them. "Why don't the two of you tackle this separately? At least for now. Bit can provide you with some penicillin, and you can work on creating a broad-spectrum antibiotic? That will be valuable regardless." He turned towards the small girl. "And Bit can make her counter-virus. Then, she can give you a sample. You can test it and conduct trials to confirm that it's harmless to everything but Yellow Rivers."

Geneva frowned. "I don't like the idea of using radical new untested methods, but..." She slumped her shoulders. "The most important thing is to help people. This world has potions and skills that I wouldn't have trusted back on Earth, but there's obviously ample evidence of their safe usage in the past. I assume the same is true with your proposed method, Bit."

"Yeah! I've done it lots of times!"

"You? No one else?"

"No one else is as qualified as Bit. Trust me." Pixel said with pride in his voice.

"Very well. Then-"

"Malleable." Bit's suit collapsed in on itself, leaving her in her fancy dress. "I have the mold in one of my pockets."

"Wait. What?" Geneva looked on with surprise as Bit began patting herself down and sticking her hands in VERY well hidden pockets. "You... you keep mold in your pockets?"

"Well, yeah." Bit paused to flash her a smile. "I need to keep it alive, don't I? So big brother's Inventory is out. Besides," She resumed her search. "There's no better place to store it than my dress."

Geneva hesitated, afraid of the answer, but she had to know. "Why is your dress the best place to store it?"

"'Cause my dress is alive. So it can maintain the right temperature, moisture level, and even provide nutrients if necessary."

"I... see." She took a step back from the... little girl who'd apparently done... what? Geneva couldn't think of a moral reason not to have a... living dress, but... it was creepy. It might just be her Earth sensibilities, or that she needed time to wrap her head around it, but... yeah. Creepy.

"Ah!" Bit pulled out a handful of green and white mold. "Here it is!" She looked around the lab. "Where do you want it?"

Geneva blinked. "Right over here." She cleared a space on the counter top and pulled out the control petri dish. She'd have to go and get more material for the cultures to grow on. In fact, she had a dozen things she needed to do if she wanted to make penicillin and test it properly before...

Ah. Of course.

She suddenly realized her hypocrisy.

Was she going to do the same rigorous clinical trials that drugs on Earth had to go through? She wanted to. It was important to do no harm first and foremost. Facing down an brewing epidemic, with so many people sick, in pain, and getting closer to actually dying because of Yellow Rivers?

Suddenly radical new treatment options didn't sound as bad.

Still, she'd taken her oath. She had to stand by it, but... clinical trials were okay as long as the recipients were warned about the experimental nature of such treatments and made an informed decision. Ideally, from a scientific standpoint, she'd have double-blinds and placebos as well, but that took a back seat to actually helping her patients.

Bit put the mold in the petri dish and put the lid over it before stepping away. "Hey, I also have this." She held up a handful of something red towards Okasha. "Do you want it?"

"What is it? Food?" The Selphid looked at the offering with curiosity. "My taste buds aren't really... working anymore so..."

"No, not food. At least not for you." Bit beamed at the dead Lizardfolk. "It's a fungus that propagates through dead bodies and restores and maintains them.

"What?" "What?"

Geneva nearly dropped the penicillin she'd picked up to examine as Okasha also exclaimed her surprise.

Pixel stepped forward with a smooth voice. "Allow me to explain. Bit has been working with the Selphids of the Forgotten Wing Company. The fungus she's designed acts as a circulatory system. It inhabits dead bodies and reanimates them by feeding off of the Selphids' excretions and providing nutrients to the corpses." He held up his hands. "But it does not affect the nervous system. The most it will do to a dead body is return it to a semblance of life in a comatose state. It is incapable of making things like zombies or other undead that move on their own."

"It actually helps prevent that." Bit chimed in. "Dead bodies produce Death mana. I haven't had that much success in manipulating mana, much less isolating different varieties of it, but there are [Mages] that have been helping me. They said that since the bodies aren't technically dead, they've stopped creating Death mana. That means less chance of undead in general." She nodded her head. "And it was enough to convince everyone that I wasn't making real zombies."

Okasha's head jerked from Bit's hand to look at her face. "Selphids are inhabiting living bodies and people are okay with that?" Her voice had a strange eagerness to it.

Ah, that was right. Okasha had told her when she'd first entered Geneva's body. Inhabiting living hosts was forbidden. But also pleasurable in a way to have organs that worked and nerves that weren't deteriorated.

"Yeah. The, uh, the... Minacien Wall. That's it." Bit nodded. "The Minds are arguing about how re-animating a dead body doesn't suddenly make it alive. Plus, they aren't full bodies. Still no brains or blood or other various organs. So it's acceptable."

The Minds?

"The Minds said that?"

"I don't know what exactly they said." Bit shrugged. "The one I talked to seemed okay, but apparently the others there were... well, whatever. The point is that the Forgotten Wing Company is talking with the Selphids and others? I think? No one's told me that I can't re-animate corpses for them." She frowned. "They did say no animals, which I think isn't fair. Have you seen some of he animals in this jungle? If I was a body snatching alien, I'd take one of them instead of a boring old humanoid. Then again... I can make changes. I can see how it would be limiting and most wouldn't want to. But it seems silly to me to outright ban it."

Geneva looked back to the penicillin. She hadn't known that much about Selphid society. That was interesting and...

Wait.

What?

Did she just casually say that Selphids were aliens?

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of The Most Dangerous Gamer Series