Chapter 257

Learning Secrets

Fae magic is probably one of the most interesting concepts of magic. Of all the magics in this world, the one that has the most options for deceit would have to be Fae magic.

Once you understand Fae magic and its seeming hallucinatory effects, the more you realize that Fae could conquer the world, albeit one person at a time.

I’ve also learned that for charlatans, and street performers, the use of Fae magic, that is using ephemeral magic in a controlled way is truly addictive. Perhaps that is why I am so intrigued by this seemingly weaker form of magic. For everything done with ephemeral energy is based on your will to confuse the opposing mind.

The best part of all, is that there is a trick to it.

With mana you need to exert your dominance, to extend force of will to get desired effects to happen. When you use ephemeral energy, less is more, something that took me one of my three subjects to learn.

Through trial and error I learned about the ultimate of Fae arts, Glamour.

Glamour: One of the most basic uses of ephemeral energy. With this, the creator of said Glamour can instill a thought or suggestion that the wielder of the ephemeral energy is, does, or knows something that they do not.

Note: Ephemeral energy must be in solid form and in contact with the body of the targeted individual.

With my first subject I did a two pronged attack.

I used Telepathy to read the mind of the subject, all while using Glamour to try to get the subject to open up to me.

Needless to say, my first attempt didn’t go well.

The subject kept resisting, even when thinking they were in a dream like state, their mind failed to relax enough to let out secrets.

Just by forcing my mind into their thoughts I learned enough. I learned that the first subject not only knew about the mining operations but been part of the infiltration teams of earlier operations. In fact, that is what his role was, he would be an initial infiltrator for the Legrand Empire, sneak into a future targeted country, and provide critical details.

I saw how he did this with my former Maltese Empire years ago.

This of course is where I broke character, from an operation that happened so long ago, I searched his memories for any traces of Hector and Golum, wanting desperately to find their final resting spot so that I might be able to use my Ancient Psychometry on the spot where they died, knowing that the trait allowed me to see, view, and interact with spirits of the past. If that was the case, and I actually got to see Hector and Golum, I knew I could Resurrect them and given them both a second chance at life.

Of course, such pressure for such a minute detail quickly broke the Glamour. My spell that had been seemingly impenetrable up until that point had shattered like glass.

Almost instantly I knew why the spell, the mental illusion broke, because the mind of my target found things that were not congruent with their thoughts. They truly didn’t care about the health and well-being of the people whose lives they ruined by war. All they cared about was that once the war was over, their life would be set and they would be treated with a position of power.

I learned a lot from that.

First, I knew that ephemeral magic was probably the most powerful, so long as I kept the lie believable. The fact that I could have kept their mind imprisoned in that glass coffin was undeniable, I could all but feel that being the truth.

That was why, I was so shocked to see the mental prison break.

At the time that the mental restraints of Glamour broke off, I could have reapplied the power. I could have just given the subject a larger dose, but ultimately I decided against such an act.

I had enough to convict the spy for their actions.

The moment I was ready, was the moment that the binding contract between myself and this spy came to life.

Personal Medical Royal Bloodline Awakening Release form.

This is intended to be a binding contract between Dr. Cassiopeia Spiritlight and Aryington…

Then just like the first time, the requests of the spy came to light within my mind.

Primary focus of the Royal Bloodline should include (Insert magical Intent, or speak out wants): __Invincibility__. Magical thumb print here Aryington.

Secondary focus of the Royal Bloodline should try to include (Insert magical Intent, or speak out wants): __Invincibility___. Magical thumb print here Aryington.

Tertiary focus of the Royal Bloodline should attempt to include the following if at all feasible. (Insert magical Intent, or speak out wants): _Invincibility__. Magical thumb print here Aryington.

That section came instantly with my own binding response.

Thrice heard and thrice confirmed: __Cass__

Upon seeing my glowing magical seal on the parchment, I felt the contents on the Merits side of the document fade away, leaving behind just one singular grayed out response.

Invincibility: The Ability to shrug off and eventually recover from any form of damage.

Note: This Merit also includes the sub-merits, Limitless Regeneration, Undying, Immortal, and Indestructible.

Cost: 259 Merit Points, not enough.

From there, a readout of the different sub-merits were possible, but I understood what was there. The warning was as clear as day. Watch out, if you make this happen as is, you will have an unconquerable enemy for life.

An enemy that would flaunt their newfound powers with the Legrand Empire to get even more perks and rewards for their misdeeds.

Fortunately, there was hope.

Aryington’s currently available Merit Points: 10.

With the binding contract the way it was, I could not choose another Merit for Aryington, until I had done enough to earn him the Invincibility merit.

With that in mind, I went about getting flaws that I knew would lessen the problems created by such a person. We had 249 points of Flaws to get, and Flaws were arguably the worst, disproportionately so.

Flaws Taken:

Mana Poisoning (10 Pt Flaw): Your body sustains damage when you are exposed to mana energy. For the ten-point flaw, mana energy is lethal to you.

Effect: One point of damage received when mana of any kind makes contact with your skin. Effect quadrupled if mana is inhaled or able to get past the outer layer of the skin.

Stolen novel; please report.

Qi Poisoning (10 Pt Flaw): Your body sustains damage when you are exposed to Qi energy. For the ten-point flaw, Qi energy is lethal to you. Ephemeral Poisoning (10 Pt Flaw): Your body sustains damage when you are exposed to ephemeral energy. For the ten-point flaw, ephemeral energy is lethal to you.

Those were the three big ones. These flaws meant that just wielding any form of energy would be deadly to the wielder. Ironically enough, some of the best counter flaws were the one- and two-point flaws as well, that when mixed with the damage inflicting ones made it so the consequences of losing health were higher than ever.

Resetting Levels (1 Pt Flaw): Level resets to zero upon reaching zero hit points.

This was great as it meant that once the target’s level was reset to zero, they lost all progress they had made previously.

With that combo, I went about trying to find even more poisoning flaws.

Air Poisoning (10 Pt Flaw): Your body is likely a marine animal, where years of evolution have caused your lungs to take damage from breathing air. For the Ten-point flaw breathing air is lethal to you.

It was at this point that I was met with a system message.

Warning: Flaws and effects of Flaws will always supersede Merits.

The warning was clear, that despite the fact that all of these Flaws were ultimately being used to get Invincibility, these flaws would always provide constant damage to the target.

Realizing that my thoughts on Flaws always rising to the surface was correct, I continued to mix and match bad options.

Attributeless Leveling (6 Pt Flaw): You do not gain any Attributes from your bloodline while leveling.

With that flaw, I ensured there was no mad power-leveling going on by the monster who would use their going to zero hit points as a reward. Then following up on that thought even further, I got more related flaws.

Classless (25 Pt Flaw): You can never gain or wield another Class.

That one doesn’t seem like much, until you realize that with Classless and Attributeless Leveling the spy will be stuck at their current rate of progress.

From there, I was at 88 of the necessary 259 points, including their base ten they got for leveling.

After reaching that point, I began being less calculating with my retribution, and began feeling actually sorry for the person. Well never ending nightmare of a creature.

And they were a nightmare once they were done.

Their appendages had to be changed to slimy and sticky horror tentacles that took damage from air, dirt, and water. Double damage from salt water.

The worst part of everything, I had to take the flaws for this person.

Honestly, I felt sick to my stomach doing what had to be done. All the while the system was there with our binding contract and all but forcing me to prescribe the different flaws.

I tried to resist, at which point it was clear that I could take on some of the noted flaws myself. Flaws like Tentacle Jaw, or Poison Breath. Though unlike what you might think, Poison Breath was actually deadly to the owner of the highest version of the flaw.

By the time I got to flaws like Attributes Reset to Base After Death, and Skills Reset to 1 Upon Death, I was mostly immune to the horrors that I was inflicting on this person.

Granted they were evil, but did they deserve this type of eternal torment?

I doubted it, though this was a good lesson for me to start doubting myself as well. I did not want to be this vindictive monster that would turn enemies into constantly tormented monsters.

That was why, when I was done, I tried to give a way out of this misery.

“GAHH!” The now baby Cthulhu spy creature cried out in pain as their body began to morph and grow into the shape of a large scaled creature that looked like it belonged to the deeps of the world’s largest ocean.

Seeing the creature, I immediately began using a healthy dose of ephemeral energy and replicated my own version of the Time Stasis spell.

Lesser Time Stasis: A minor variant of the standard Time Stasis ability of the Fae. With this, a person, place, or thing can be momentarily frozen in a moment of time. This can be used to stave off death, to seal wounds before they cause a person to bleed to death, or prevent the melting or breaking of a particularly fragile person, place, or thing.

The spell was sloppy, I could tell where the flaws were almost immediately. But the moment I cast this spell, I did receive a new skill.

Unlike the tormentor, or torturer skills that I thought I deserved, instead I actually got a skill that was meaningful.

New Skill Gained: Ephemeral Mimicry has reached level 1. Ephemeral Mimicry is a Personality X2, Sociability X2, Attractiveness, Perception, Intelligence, and Willpower based skill.

Yep, an amazing skill, one that focused on Social Attributes. A skill I would normally be ecstatic for, but the cost was a bit too high.

I felt I lost an important part of myself by fulfilling this binding contract. This was almost like the time I changed a dragon guardian into a Pomeranian, though this was far worse. With the Pomeranian incident, it was a one-time thing and then it was over.

With this instance, I had to continually torture and manipulate this body to be weaker.

In a horror filled flash, I could see myself in ten or twenty years, taking delight at tricking humans into one sided contracts.

For a moment, I felt what it would be like to be the evil Fae of lore, the ones that smiled with sharp predatory teeth, waiting for someone down on their luck to come and strike a deal. One where I would invariably win.

No, after this, I was done with contracts.

I still had two more contracts to fulfill, and while I was fairly certain that no one deserved the perpetual pain and suffering, I decided to give the converted spy a way out.

In fact, focusing on the three Legrand spies, I gave them all the same way out.

Focusing on them, I made sure to give them a clear guiding way of hope.

New Quest Given: Redemption of The Soul: A quest provided by Dr. Cassiopeia Spiritlight that offers you the way to redeem your soul. Cut ties with all earthly wants and attachments, by finishing your goals and forgive yourself to move on peacefully to the next life. Current status: Goals Accomplished (0 / 4,827), Self-Forgiveness (0 / 1). Rewards: Experience, variable.

I’m not certain that I like the idea of my name constantly being there as a reminder of how they got in this mess, but that is my burden to bear at this moment in time.

With the first Chthulu monster bloodline awakened, I pause as I momentarily begin a plan on what to do next.

I can’t do this, not again. Especially not if this person is not complicit with the war crimes that were going on around them. While the last spy was guilty of knowledge and of trying to undermine our territory for the sake of giving the Legrand Empire an easy access to our city, I don’t know if his actions warranted such an overwhelming reaction.

That said, I must at least open up these other shells and perform mentally see what they know, and most importantly what they were going to help do against my empire. Yes, as the spymaster here, I still take it as my role and responsibility to ensure the safety of everyone that is within my sphere of control. As such, at the very least I need to open these shells up and probe their minds for details.

Exhale.

I take a breath to calm myself. Then I make the mental note that if these next two are not that bad, then I will just reseal the two with Time Stasis magic, even the lesser variant, and then Teleport them back to the Legrand Empire before their Stasis timer runs out.

That way, hopefully when they awaken they will be outside my range, and far enough away that I will not be forced to make such drastic changes to the remaining two spies.

With just a momentary pause, I focus my will on my lump of ephemeral energy, then looking at the clear circuits and patterns of Glormhilda’s Time Stasis spell, I apply the Dispel, or the mental key to her design and see Charlaine’s second co-conspirator just sleeping comfortably.

Seeing them in such a state, I realize that this is yet another chance to practice my use of Glamour.

Grabbing another wad of ephemeral energy, I condense the sand like substance into a tight ball. Then place that ball directly on the forehead of the second spy.

With this Glamour attempt, I intend to go easier. I’m out for information, which means I need to be subtle. I can’t just ask for the information, I need to get my target to tell me everything.

This is why, I do this in a dream.

A dream like state seems to be the easiest of states to work with. In a dream, the mind inherently tries to assign logic to different thoughts and images. In a dream, a blurry face can talk to you, and your mind instantly replaces that blurry image with the idea of it being your mother, your father, someone whom you care most deeply about.

Me, I take on the form and mental suggestion of a favorite loved one.

Instantly, the scenery around us changes. And for once I can see vibrant colors of the world. We are in some lush iconic site. At least that is what it seems to be, as we are clearly at an old café table. One with a view of a great river with giant artistic buildings appearing around us. Off in the distance a giant flag of the Legrand Empire flew brilliantly in the air. Gold with black trimming, I had seen the image before. Well I had seen the non-colorful version of the flag countless times. But suddenly being able to see the flag how others saw it, I could almost understand the infatuation. It was beautiful, in its own macabre way.

It is clear from the scenery that this is either a place where the subject saw me, or intends to take me. But still looking at me, there is a look of sadness that fills his face.

“What? What happened?” The spy asks.

“What do you mean darling?” I reply, hoping that my intent of a loved one is believable within the subject’s mind. As our hands touch, I apply a bit more ephemeral energy. Not an excessive amount, but just enough to help cause the momentary spike in their heart rate to calm down.

This is apparently a big moment, or maybe it was a big moment.

“Oh, that’s odd?” The spy says, as he reaches up towards his head just above his eye.

As he does, slight tremors appear in the world around me, he is about to break the scene. His mind for whatever reason refuses to accept this current scenario.

“What is?” I ask, trying to match his level of concern.

“I just didn’t think I would survive.” The spy said, as he once again reached up to touch his head. This time, I grab his hand for a split second just before he does and with that touch I provide a bit more ephemeral energy and the slight suggestion that he has a wound.

Then as he reaches up, he feels for the gauze bandage that is on his head. Oddly enough, feeling the bandage he calms down. It’s subtle, but the world relaxes. The minor tremors that I learned to focus on with my first patient even out, and we are back to square one.

“Are you ready to talk about it?” I ask, again leaving it all open ended. Let the subject dictate where and how this conversation goes.

Feeling his head, the spy just touches his head.

“I guess the invasion went well then?” The spy asks.

As he does, I feel a slight desperate need for it to be true in his mind. Now that he is thinking about it, I can feel his surface thoughts thanks to my Telepathic link to his mind.

Now that we are here, I can see that there was a planned mass invasion. One that was supposed to happen immediately.

“You tell me, you are here, safe and sound.” I say, again trying to get more of a response.

“So we did it? We won?” He asks, suddenly excited.

“Of course, you don’t remember what happened?” I ask, concern etched in my voice.

At that, the spy looks momentarily confused, as he clearly doesn’t remember what happened.

“No, last I remember was two days before the invasion. I was sneaking into a class when…” The spy began, but the information had already been given.

In a moment, I realized when the Legrand Empire was about to begin. They were going to strike on the day of the wedding. A wedding that would forever join the Deolar Empire and the Midnight Hunters together.

While I was pondering this, the spy apparently kept talking.

“I take it this means we got them?” The spy asked, conviction in his voice.

“Got whom?” I asked, my mind trying to catch up to everything that was going on.

“The Valkyrie and the Doctor? They are both dead right?” The spy asked, excitement filling his voice. “I mean, they have to be, for we won and I am still alive.”

“How did that happen?” I ask, again trying to both keep in character and trying to see where this was going.

From reading the spy’s mind, I could tell that he had a plan. One that he thought could work. But if the Legrand Empire did have such a plan, then what exactly was it.

By now the spy was giddy with excitement as he looked around to see if anyone else was paying attention. Of course, being a dream that was influenced by both the spy and myself others were where he looked, but no one seemed remotely interested in the conversation going on with the bandaged man and his apparent lover at a scenic café.

“I didn’t think would work, but clearly it did.” The spy states, excitement filling his voice.

“What?” I ask.

“The secret unit, they managed to kill the monsters.” The spy stated.

Then reading his mind, I realized that the plan they had, as crazy as it was. The Legrand Empire’s master plan to kill Mallory and myself might actually work.