Tsaimath

DLM, Bk 5, Ch 32

“You would think that an offer to save the life of a loved one would be received with more enthusiasm.” I muttered, somewhat annoyed at the time Anath and I had been forced to wait to meet Mr. Acharya, Nisha’s father. After landing at a private airport near Delhi, we met up with Devatma, a local Powered and representative of the Guild, just as planned. After securing the Plane in a rented hangar and setting up some automated security, a limousine had taken us into the city, and towards ...

Chapter 511

“Well, birdy, I’ve got to hand it to you, I did not see that one coming.” Maggy told me, a grin on her face. I had been rather surprised when she had asked for a virtual meeting, happily accepting the invite into my capsule-space, where I received her sitting on my throne, using a modified version of my current Avatar. While the white, almost diaphanous clothes I was wearing in Mundus worked well, especially with my black hair, they didn’t quite send the right impression for an audien...

DLM, Bk 5, Ch, 31

“Remember, you not only represent yourself on your trip, but you are also moving as my apprentice and, in some ways, heir.” Technica reminded me, as Nisha, Sophia and I were climbing into the plane, after Technica and I had checked one last time that I had everything I might need to treat Nisha’s mother. When we had come down into Technica’s lair, after giving Tanisha and Karen a short explanation and wishing them a nice vacation, Technica had been waiting for us, giving me some last-...

Chapter 510

“So, how does this work?” I asked in the morning, curious what Olivia had in mind. The night had proven uneventful, though it was interesting to observe that the cooperation we had with the Oakenrocks was well and truly broken. They had set their own camp, roughly in the same area with enough distance to make their intent obvious. While the loss of the connection hardly bothered me, I was somewhat annoyed at failing, especially the way I had failed.

“It doesn’t, at least not tod...

DLM, Bk 5, Ch 30

A weird, chirping noise roused me from unconsciousness, a sleep deep enough that even the parts connected to Galatea and her systems had been inactive. For a few moments, I barely even knew my own name, let alone where I was, but the familiar scent of Sophia that tickled my nose helped to bring my mind up to speed. However, that scent did not explain the weird noise, nor did it explain why there was another arm in my field of view, slender, with dusky skin and, for some reason, secured around...

Chapter 509

As Sigmir and I quickly walked down the highway, we could hear angry voices behind us. Looking over my shoulder, just to make sure Hafta wasn’t doing anything stupid like trying to shoot us, allowed me to see Gwan and Jendar blocking Hafta, while Phraan looked on, an amused smile on their face, almost as if they were enjoying a show. Gren, who had been in the lead, was walking past us, going back, while Olivia simply waited for Sigmir and me to catch up.

“What a pleasant relationshi...

DLM, Bk 5, Ch 29

There was a palpable sense of relief in the air, as the last exam of the year was written, the last project turned in and the last presentation held. Accord Island, previously filled with anxiety, stress and tears, let out a collective breath, people indulging in an afternoon of relaxation for one last hurrah, before it would be summer break.

As night slowly fell, the atmosphere changed from a relaxed one, into an air of debauchery one could only find in a place where almost everyone wa...

Chapter 508

The look on Hafta’s face made me realise something I had missed before, likely due to her height. It was difficult to see someone almost double your own height as a child, even if they were of another race. But the open, unguarded look of surprise, swiftly morphing into anger, was something I would not expect on the face of an adult, even if they had heard something they really didn’t want to. Or maybe something they didn’t want to be true, as may be the case here.

“Mhm, I see.�...

DLM, Bk 5, Ch 28

If nothing else, the calligraphy in the tome Fey had given me was beautiful, the thickness of the lines variable in a way that made me think it was written by hand, using a feather, or maybe a nice calligraphy-pen. It was an almost dead art and looking at the letters, I was somewhat sad to know that.

But while the letters were beautiful, just the first few lines of the text promised a headache, as I could easily understand the individual words but once they teamed up to form a sentence,...

Chapter 507

“Phraan, can we talk for a bit?” I asked, as we were walking down the ancient, imperial road. Reaching it had proved simple, without anything that would seriously impede our travels. Compared to the White Mountains themselves, the foothills seemed to contain only minor monsters, nothing strong enough to threaten either of our groups individually and certainly not both groups together. Thus, the local critters didn’t even try, as attacking a group of powerful and well-armed beings was an...

DLM, BK 5, Ch 27

A part of me wanted to just scream, looking at the feed from the sensors I had deployed in an attempt to gather data on ‘magic’. My eyes could see the not-light, my mind could process the visual information to some degree but the sensors, supposedly able to gather a wider spectrum of radiation remained absolutely blank. And while my eyes were only able to perceive visual light at the distance I was at, I got the impression that there was some infra-red radiation given off as well, but the...

Chapter 506

Travelling through the forests towards Narristo was surprisingly comfortable in its own way. The Manticores seemed to have given up on us, at least there hadn’t been any sign of them in the last two days and Jendar proved to be an interesting conversationalist, his own knowledge and experience with magic quite the contrast to mine, allowing both of us to gain valuable insights during our talks. That was furthered by the shared experimentation and the more we worked together, the more I seem...

DLM, Bk 5, Ch 26

“What’s going on now?” Nisha asked, her voice sounding slightly panicked. At the same time, Fey was walking to one of the walls, towards what I knew to be a hidden door, one seamlessly blending into the wall, invisible to the naked eye. Without some way to remotely access the controls, something I doubted Technica had shared, Fey would simply walk into the wall, something that would have amused me somewhat. Not that Technica would let that happen, my sensors picked up the low-powered si...

Chapter 505

Coming home from another session with Mrs. Wu, I booted up the screen on my wall, hopping into the forums to gather a little more information. Or maybe just look at the gossip people had been spreading, either about me or about anything that was actually interesting to know.

As I had expected when seeing the latest video, things had turned into a mess, though the scope of it surprised even me. Once the video was out there, showing me turning into the black-winged harpy-like monster, any...

DLM, Bk. 5, Ch 25

If I did not know Technica as well as I did, I would be intimidated by her whole demeanor and presence. A short glance at Nisha showed that she was intimidated, to the point that she subconsciously moved behind me, as if to hide.

“Metis, please step aside for a moment.” Fey asked me, her voice controlled but polite. Not quite sure just how serious the two of them were, I could easily see Technica playing a prank on either me or one of my friends, I stepped aside with a nod. Fey rais...

DLM, Bk. 5- Ch. 24

Finals were curiously stressful, even though I effectively was able to cheat as much as I wanted, thanks to Galatea. There was very little meaning to any test about recalling knowledge, not when I had direct access to the almost aggregate of human knowledge and while tests focused on understanding had some meaning, their contents were trimmed for mundane humans, not someone like me.

Even thinking that felt a little arrogant, but ever since I had been forced to incorporate the nanite-clu...

Chapter 504

“So, we are in agreement to work together until we reach Narristo?” Phraan asked, their eyes flickering between Adra and myself. Adra and Olivia had negotiated with them while they had been cooking and continued to do so during lunch, though I had only paid very cursory attention, most of my attention focused inward, considering the things Jendar had shared with me.

“Yes, we agree to that. We shall do no harm to you, or yours, during our travels and consider you allies and compani...

DLM, Bk5 - Ch 23

“You know, at times, you make it really easy to hate you.” Nisha said, her voice filled with both scorn and amusement at the same time. For the last three hours, we had been studying for finals, going over the various examples used during lectures, making sure that we understood the way our lecturer wanted them to be solved and which methods were acceptable. It was a curious mix of the practical, use what works, and the procedural, use what the current, professional standard requires, eve...

Chapter 503

Having lunch with a group of relatively powerful adventurers was a curious affair. For all the time I had spent on Mundus, there had been few situations in which I had been able to observe Adventurers in their natural habitat, other than the few I had been travelling with. While I had been watching videos on the forum, I had never bothered to look for any that showed ordinary situations, focusing on the interesting, awesome feats that others had never seen before.

And so, when Jendar ex...

Chapter 502

After a few moments of hesitation, I decided that finding out more about our environment would be important and that the people in front of us most likely knew their way around. As long as I didn’t have to actually talk and negotiate with them on friendly terms, I was willing to at least demonstrate that I wasn’t outright hostile to them. I would remain near the trees, where slipping back between their shadows would be easy, but I wouldn’t keep completely hidden.

Giving a nod to S...

DLM, Bk 5- Ch. 22

“So, when did you know that you were…” Tanisha paused for a moment, looking between Sophia and me, “you know?” she finished, looking a little embarrassed. It had taken quite a bit of patient coercing from Sophia, with a little support from me, to get her calmed to the point that she was willing and able to talk. And her first question was one that I should have seen coming.

Exchanging a look, and nod, with Sophia, I decided to give an explanation, without going into too much o...

Chapter 501

As the massive sword struck down, gouging the boar’s side and almost driving it to its knees, the world seemed to vibrate with power for a brief moment and I was certain I could taste the sharp scent of ozone in the air. Reflexively, my tongue flickered out, taking in the air and parsing the Astral Power around us, savouring the curious taste, metallic, yet sharp and tingling. Before I could consider the elements used, and the magic in general, the boar managed to push through the pain from...

DLM, Bk5 - Ch 21

The morning brought with it a most peculiar form of amusement, namely sitting on my bed, legs spread, with Sophia sitting between them, leaning back against my chest as we were watching Tanisha in her sleep. While we could have simply started our day as we normally would, Sophia suggested that talking with her right after she finally woke up might be the best way to get through to her. Something about her feeling open, maybe slightly vulnerable, and during a time in which we had the best chan...

Chapter 500

“I think we are quite a bit further south than originally planned.” Olivia remarked, as we travelled along the valley we had been moving in. We had travelled for another day, after fighting the Manticores and by now, the sparse vegetation of the high mountains had been replaced by ancient forests, filled with all sorts of animals and sounds. The dense canopy made it a little difficult to maintain direction, though her spells and Adra’s abilities circumvented that problem. What brought a...

DLM, Bk 5, Ch. 20

• AN: Trying to get two chapters a week, maybe even three, and finish Book5 this year.

My initial reaction to getting puked on might be seen as unkind, as I reflexively pushed Tanisha away from me, regardless of her drunken, stumbling state, using all the strength my body, enhanced by the nanites incorporated into it, had. That did not save me from the noxious mass spewing from Tanisha’s mouth, my torso and thighs were completely covered in it, but it might have red...

Chapter 499

Sigmir moving around below me was what woke me up, with the sun high in the sky. We both needed a few moments to get to grips with the reality around us and I could easily see that Sigmir hadn’t completely recovered from using the Avatar-state.

“Are you alright?” I asked, speaking softly just in case her hearing was still over-sensitive after melding her body with Ylva’s. She didn’t immediately answer me verbally, but the way her arms tightened around me were almost as good an...

DLM, Bk. 5 - Ch 19

It felt a little weird, to hear people around me talk about Metis and pass judgement on actions taken while wearing the mask. Before, my notoriety had been relatively contained, while there were articles written about me, the interest in them was relatively low, mostly limited to those from the New Brunsburg area, if that. The efforts of the Greene’s managed to promote those same articles to the frontpages from time to time, but even then, they only lasted as long as nothing more interestin...

Chapter 498

This was bad. There were no other words for it. Certainly, the video Pantheon Entertainment had released looked awesome, the music as the unlikely pack of Sigmir, Ylva, Lenore and I were swatting the Manticores from the sky sent shivers down my spine but why did they have to make it so incredibly obvious that the avian creature and I were one and the same? Unless Maggie and her Crusade of Light had turned in their brains when getting their capsule, there was no way they wouldn’t realise tha...

Interlude: Spread your Wings!

Not everyone needs to walk the Road to Purgatory.

Some can just spread their wings, and soar through the skies.

Under a beautiful, cloudless blue sky, a group of Manticores is flying, their wings beating the air in a slow, steady pace as they circle above their prey. Their cries cut through the air from time to time, calling their brethren to hunt.

Far beneath them, their prey is desperately trying to escape, five humanoid figures running downhill, towards ...

Chapter 497

As night was falling, Lenore and I separated, just as Sigmir and Ylva did. A part of me wanted to simply close my eyes, tune out the world, but there were things I had to deal with. While my memories of the time spent in Avatar-mode were blurry and fragmented as always, I was quite certain that Lenore and I had flown into the sky, which meant the thicket of brambles we had taken refuge in was gone. Destroyed by Lenore and me, if the blurry fragments didn’t lie to me, though there were very ...