Chapter 46 The Pressures of Life

Satisfied that things were progressing on Earth and that there were safe places for everyone to train and develop, I spent most of my time back in Far Reach practicing with my powers in an attempt to gain XP bonuses from rare creations. Three whole days and not one of my amazing ideas was particularly novel, netting me a grand total of around 50,000 XP points.

That’s not to say that it was a waste of time, as I managed to improve a range of skills I already had. Neuma Forge had reached Level 6.

< Congratulations >

Neuma Forge Skill has leveled.

Your ability to manipulate ambient Neuma into physical objects has increased:

Level 1: Stone

Affinity 80% of Base Level

Excellent

Level 2: Metal

Affinity 52% of Base level

Good

Level 3: Soil

Affinity 50% of Base level

Good

Level 4: Water

Affinity 30% of Base level

Average

Level 5: Wood

Affinity 20% of Base level

Below Average

Level 6: Natural Fibers

Base level

Poor Affinity

The increases had come from both developing new materials to create and my work in producing each material, which meant Stone was miles ahead. I’d made solid advancements with Soil with much smaller growth in Metal. But after my attempt to create a cotton t-shirt, which resulted in a cotton square of shitty quality, I could find no other creations which weren’t a variation on the others.

Still, I’d gained another level to 686 and invested the ten points into Agility again.

Doing so prompted me to practice my Alo-im moves again. I nailed them this time, without any balance issues at all. Not from a measly ten points into Agility, though they helped, but rather an increased understanding of my body, or lack thereof.

The simple fact was that I was a Neuma construct. Everything in the universe was. But I had the ability to mold and manipulate that Neuma however I saw fit, and my biggest hurdle was breaking out of my own head, casting aside what I’d been and accepting fully what I now was.

When I felt Devotion make contact in my mind, I happily put aside the exercises in anticipation for good news. Hopefully, the other members, or at the very least her, were ready to loan me some Ethereal Neuma.

“Hey, D! How’s it going?”

“Clive, we have a problem.”

Not what I was hoping to hear, but she wasn’t full of abject fear, so I was hoping it wasn’t too bad. “Go on.”

“It’s Light. She’s attacked Life. Across all three planets, too.”

“When did she start? Did Life contact you?”

“No. I sensed Light’s army pulling away from Malatia and then amassing near our southern border. I asked my people on Talitus and Galess. For some reason, she’s making a concerted effort to go after her everywhere. Clive, if we don’t help Life, she’s going to be cast out of all three planets. Her people dead or at Light’s whims.”

“Yeah, it’s not going to happen,” I replied, my whole body tensing up as I grew angrier by the minute. “Just when I think Light can’t get any more of a shitbag, she goes and does this. She needs putting in her place once and for all.”

“But you can’t, Clive,” Devotion replied promptly.

That’s right, Clive, you can’t, Aly said, jumping in. I believe you can deal with Light peacefully. Don’t react in anger.

“You seriously expect me not to do anything?” I said to both of them at once.

Oh, I fully expect you to do something. I know you consider Life a friend. Protect her, give her the means to protect herself. Do what you have already done across your territories, Aly replied.

Devotion, unable to hear Aly, spoke at the same time. “We just can’t afford to lose you, Clive. Don’t do anything…”

“Were you about to say stupid, Devotion?”

“More or less,” she replied. “I was hoping you might be able to help her with shields.”

I swallowed my anger. “I’ll take Mal, and we’ll go and help out with shields.”

Then I teleported to my old friend… and found myself in a pub on Earth, but definitely not in either of my Spheres. There were a bunch of eyes on us, all in shock. It seemed like Mal had a crowd already watching him.

“Where the fuck are we?”

“Er, Flannigan’s… in Ireland.”

I shook my head. “Whatever, I need your help, mate. Light’s attacking Life over all three planets. I want to help her, but she’s moving fast, and I don’t think I’ll manage to get around all three by myself.”

He looked as if he was considering his options, under the gazes of his audience.

I pointed at his pint. “Is that Guinness? Like proper Irish Guinness?”

He eyed me dubiously, but I didn’t wait for an answer and grabbed his pint, draining it in one glorious steady swig.

I wiped off the frothy stache it left, made a complementary and well-deserved “Ahhhhh,” then opened a portal into our Pacific Sphere. “You coming?”

“Of course I’m coming,” he grumbled, then turned to the watchers. “I’ll catch you guys later.”

From our Pacific Sphere, I was able to portal directly to the only place in Life’s kingdom I knew: where Sania had been killed by Light. Once there, I could use Spirit Sight to get to the city of Mereval. I did it all in quick succession, so Mal barely had a chance to get another word out as he chased after me across two planets.

We came out above the city, and Mal sighed as we saw Light’s full army bombarding the city. The shield was flickering, and a quick survey of its structure told me it had ten minutes left at worst and half an hour at best. Then Mereval would fall.

“Shall we go down then?” Mal asked. “Seeing as though you’ve dragged me out of the pub like an angry wife.”

“I’m only angry I didn’t get an invite,” I said with a smile, actually feeling relieved that we’d managed to get here in time. “And because we aren’t allies, I can’t just get straight in. I’m studying the weaves first, before drawing attention to us. I’m not as familiar with Life’s shields as I am with most others.”

“Makes sense,” he replied. “Can you get in easily enough?”

“Sure. It’s just Light Neuma with a little Water and Nature holding it all together,” I said, creating a hole for us to fly through as I did so. “Should be easy to adapt as well. “I’ll do something extra for this one, but I imagine increasing the Water aspect will help in others to remove the energy of the attacks. Then Reflection and Gravity based alterations for me. Decay probably for you.”

“Agreed,” Mal said, eyeing the pattern himself. “Don’t think Fire will work at all, though.”

I shook my head. “No. Not with how the Water functions. Best to use combinations after that.”

As we spoke, we flew lower toward the towering temple that was covered in a range of climbing plants that provided an array of different colors and textures. I decided it was my favorite tower so far and couldn’t believe I’d never seen it before. Life’s tower in Talitus had been very plain, with an inoffensive but uninspiring light-based design. This was magnificent.

What wasn’t magnificent was the palpable sense of horror and desperation below as people screamed out in fear, trying to move deeper into the city, but they had nowhere to go. The soldiers pushed though in the opposite direction, knowing they were soon to be slaughtered as they gave the people they were sworn to defend a few more seconds of life. At least that’s what they thought was happening.

Mal and I had different plans.

We were soon spotted, and a group of powerful Paladins, three of whom were Chosen, came hurtling towards us, hate-filled expressions visible through open-faced helmets.

The distance between us disappeared swiftly, and I had to raise a shield when they opened fire. They only stopped when it was obvious we had no intention of returning fire and hovered there looking at them expectantly. The highest level Chosen of the three had a surprising Identifier:

Wulf Heinfell: Level 389, Chosen of Life. Protector of the South. King of Cethain. Nephilim (Human III)

He finally spoke. “How did you enter the shield?”

The firing from the others came to a stop at his words.

“I opened it, King Wulf. My name is Clive, and I’m hoping to solidify a friendship with your goddess so that we can protect the city.”

He gaped. “Lord Clive! I am so sorry for attacking you. Your Identifier… it is hidden.”

“Yeah. Been like that for a while now. Not sure why. But yeah, Devotion should be attempting to contact your goddess to have a word on my behalf, but if you could contact her, that’d be fantastic and maybe we can make sure Mereval never falls.”

The others had backed off, white faced now that they knew who I was. Not the effect I wanted to have, but better than being fired at.

The king pulled out a bronze talisman of a tree and closed his eyes. Then he frowned. “It’s Life’s belief that you’re using this opportunity to forge an alliance with us and forcing us to join your path of destruction and tyranny. Though my goddess likes you a great deal, she does not wish to be at the whim of your tantrums.”

“Tantrums? Cheeky bitch,” Mal hissed under his breath.

Wulf ignored him, but undoubtedly heard his words.

“Tell her I don’t want a bloody alliance. I just need to be accepted as a friend so that I can fix her shields. I’m doing it for free, and my friend Mal is here to help too. We’re willing to go around all of your towns and make them safe. Then I’m gonna have a word with Light to tell her to back off. We can offer defensive troops, but none of them can be used for any offensive actions against her. And I’m not asking for a single thing. You don’t owe us anything, and we’ll leave immediately if that’s what you want.”

Wulf closed his eyes again. A short while later, they sprung back open. His relief was clear. “We will accept your offer of aid. We will treat you as friends. My goddess is pleased to hear that you do not intend to be aggressive towards our enemy, and that you ask for nothing in return.”

“Fantastic.” As those words left my lips, I felt the change in my relationship status with Life move from Neutral to Friendly. I’d never felt that before, and it was something I wanted to look into in the future.

From there, I altered the shield with Void Neuma entwined around the Water threads to absorb all that was thrown its way. I also added a lot more power to the shield until it was at full health again.

Then I nodded to Wulf and the others. “All done. You are completely safe within this shield.”

“Thank you, Clive. Your assistance is appreciated,” Wulf said, holding back the wave of relief he was feeling. “You too, Mal. Your assistance is appreciated.”