Hastum

35. To kill or not to kill, that is the question

“I can’t just kill someone,” whispered Ophelia, her eyes glued to the table in front of her.

I tilted my head a bit. “Sure you can. If the opponent’s size is the issue, then don’t worry, you won’t be made to fight the sacrifice. They will be bound for you. Just a simple slash across the carotid arte—”

“That’s not the point!” she shouted, her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. “It’s not that I can’t, it’s that I—I… I don’t want to. I won’t do s...

34. All power comes at a price

I told Astrid we would meet in the morning. As for Q’Shar, he went to get some shut-eye since it was almost sunrise, while I knew I couldn’t just sleep with a riddle like that hanging over me.

For now, I wanted to get the full story of her dream and everything that led her here, from the woman herself. And while I was at it, break the news to her.

I took two mugs and some ale from the chief and went toward the barn where the people were being held for the night. I showed the g...

33. Kill the heretic

The newcomers were locked up in a barn as the elders and all the people in the village with any say gathered for a meeting.

Around fifteen minutes earlier, the oracle, accompanied by the warriors, had gone to talk to the students and get the gist of the story. And it was fascinating. A call from another god through the power of their own messenger, and a tenth chosen who wasn’t related to their village or deity.

Now, everyone was gathered in a big round house, apparently used as...

32. Oracle

My duel with Astrid marked the end of the fighting portion of the celebration.

I went back to the table, still breathing heavily from the fight, moving my body robotically as I felt the side effects of using astral projection. I really needed to correct my technique. The sensation of my body not fitting my soul was not a pleasant one. But I still had a contented grin on my face. I had outmaneuvered her without any artifacts or eldritch magic.

Now that was a proper fight. I had fun...

31. Dreams of the ancient forest

It was a strange feeling, anxiety. The kind that just bordered on fear but is not entirely there. A feeling born of an obvious truth hanging in the air, a truth that everyone was all too well aware of, but no one wanted to speak out loud. As if saying it would make it a reality. But everyone knew.

They were lost. Ophelia knew that. Everyone did. They had been walking for a couple of hours now. They should be approaching the other end of the forest, but the trees seemed to be getting tal...

30. Counterspell

The area between the long feasting tables was now cleared, prepared for duels. In the middle of the cleared space stood a man. He was about my height and had a physique typical of someone who works out a lot but doesn’t stick to his diet, with muscle covered with a bit of fat.

In his hands was a two-handed sword. He radiated second circle mana. The sword also radiated some magic, so I assume it had a spell or an enchantment on it. Might serve as an arcane focus as well.

“Do yo...

29. Astrid

The sight was an interesting one, to say the least. Everything together—the wild dancing, the ritual choreographed movements, and the pounding beat of the drums—gave the scene a wild, primal, almost heretical feeling. The sound of roaring fire and throat singing accompanying the instruments only added to the atmosphere.

“I will introduce you to the council, come,” said our guide.

We followed obediently as we arrived in front of the massive table in the middle, where a few ...

28. Meet the pagans

The negotiations with the Norwegian sect took only three weeks. Apparently, the lynx was good at what he did, as we got permission to witness the ritual and promise of the ent creation technique.

We used this time to get some fake documents for the human sacrifice so that we could smuggle him to Norway. The entire operation cost quite a bit, but I hoped it would be worth the struggle.

So, after a busy month of juggling crime, uni life, and slowly building up my third circle, it wa...

Interlude 3 - A trip to Norway

On one side, it was beautiful. The mountains, the forests, and the bright sun shining in the sky. It all painted a picture of an almost perfect morning. A morning so beautiful it nearly made her forget about the sucking sensation in the pit of her stomach.

Yes, on one side, it was great. But on the other side…

“Ayyy my fucking head, do we have to go on the hike?”

“I will hike my boot up your ass, did you have to mix yesterday? It’s your fucking fault.”

On t...

27. Q'Shar's story

I looked at the cat smoking the pipe and realized how much I didn’t know about him. He worked primarily with my father for years, only working directly with me ever since I took over the family as its last member. I always considered him a friend by proxy, but never actually talked with him about his history. He knew me through my father, and I knew him as a family friend. That’s all.

But now sitting here together, drinking and talking, the curiosity about him took root and grew alo...

26. Uncertain future

We both took another swig of the liquor, followed by an ice cube and a strong inhale. I could feel my muscles relax.

“Ok, why would you assume something like that?” He asked, his face a mix of worry and seriousness.

I described the entire incident in Brazil, step by step, including every detail I could remember. And once my story was over, we both sat in silence for a while. I could see that storm of thoughts was brewing inside his mind, as I waited for it to calm down enough ...

25. Red head

I sat absentmindedly in the storage room. The journals were back in the coffer, locked away for now. I was lost deep in thought.

The Miracle Bringers, a name that was almost forbidden to speak in the world of magic. A name that brought hatred and dread, even many generations after their last sighting after the war. But most of all, a group of people that was supposed to be extinct. After the shit they pulled, they were hunted to extinction, or were supposed to be.

I would need to ...

24. The meaning of miracles

The plane landed in the USA without much trouble. With a bit of creative bargaining on my side (threats of violence), I managed to convince one of the trafficking pilots to take us to the States. All three of us made our way from the airport, guided through the maintenance corridors by the paid-off guard.

We took a taxi to my apartment. I went up, assuring Miss Helen that none of my new friends were Steve, nor did they know where her cat was. And after a quick conversation, we went into...

Interlude 2 - Ophelia

** College in Washington **

Ophelia sat down in her seat in the college auditorium. Today's lecture was pharmacology, a fairly complicated subject even for someone smart enough for a full scholarship, which meant she had to put her full attention into the class.

However, even before the lecture started, she was already falling asleep. Her focus flickering on and off like a malfunctioning old TV, waiting for someone to hit it on the top to get a few more s...

23. Time to cause some panic

Right, I was here to do a job. Almost forgot. So, after celebrating the solution to the mystery, I went to the ‘punishment room’ and picked up some handcuffs in case the guy woke up. I then walked back to the jail part of the basement.

Finally, without bullets flying around, I could get a better look at the scene. The room was in the shape of a long rectangle, stretching to the left from the armored doors.

In front of me were remnants of a table that used to have three guys si...

22. No better sacrifice than a fire giant

I ducked back immediately after noticing the guards in the next room. In the moment I managed to look inside, I saw rows of cells with women inside them and around eight more guards in the middle of the cell room, crowding over one woman lying on the floor.

From a quick glance, it didn't seem like all of them had weapons on hand, at least not in this moment. This was the time for fast decisions. Any notion of sneakiness was dropped from my mind. I had a couple of seconds while they were...

21. Like a wolf between lambs

I looked at the moon slowly climbing the night sky. It was the beginning of the week, so hopefully the whole palace would be empty this late.

A perfect time for an ambush.

But I needed confirmation of the deal soon. I could just take the girl and wait for the agreement afterward, but I did not know what kind of man the CEO was. If he learned that she had changed hands, he might try to delay or take her by force from the new party involved, especially since I needed to return to th...

20. Information extraction

I looked around the bar. Eight bodies lay there in different states of dismemberment.

The fight hadn’t been much. Since they were sure of their victory, they let me prepare, overcharge, and fire off the first spell that took out the guys with the guns. The rest was just formality.

But not all went according to plan.

I looked at the body of Sarah, now with a few extra openings in the chest area.

I wanted to get some info from her once it was done, but things did not g...

19. Why can't anything be simple

With my soul soothed a bit and mana replenished by a large mana crystal I carried with me, I was ready to get to the meeting.

As I walked slowly through the tourist-oriented streets with their many shops and clubs, they gave way to the city's more mundane, lived-in areas. Simple houses and streets with music replaced by the everyday noise of the city. Until finally, I could tell I was getting closer and closer to the ‘bad part’.

The amount of filth lying around increased along...

18. Calm after the battle

I approached the mana. It was slowly dissipating but was still present, floating over the smoldering corpse. I had to clear and adjust it before absorbing anything, as I was not interested in having a magical backlash from some corrupted mana, especially since I would be using it to lay foundations for my third circle.

I stretched my hand and put it into the energy before me. It was erratic and aggressive, and I could still feel a bloodlust radiating off it. I went through a procedure s...

17. To burn the soul

To construct a spell this complicated, I needed time. But it looked like time would be given to me. As I was about to use Panther's Agility, the violent ball of fur crashed into the beast’s supporting arm. He could not knock it out from underneath the demon. But it was enough to stagger it.

I quickly cast a first circle mind spell, Silent Message, delivering a couple of words to the minds of all targets in the limited range.

Buy me as much time as y...