Some notes/reminders:
-One day = 24 hours with hours being the same unit of measurement and 360.33 days a year… leap days are between years and is called the ‘day of the gods’
-I am not done developing the magic system yet (yes, I know how long it is taking) and the first third of this chapter will be dedicated to more lore
-If you notice any discontinuity please message me immediately, I have this week off to tinker (IE: mana channels or mana pathways)
-Chapters will start varying in length soon and I hope to increase the average from the 5k words or so it is now to 7500 or so, but it will depend on my schedule.
Remember I will be doing a poll for an extra chapter or side story at 250 followers so please follow if you have not done so – Thank you!
One last note for you before we get to the story itself: I actually started the whole ‘each chapter starts with a curse’ in chapter 3 as a joke, but I think it actually does say something about DeMorte’s character, meaning it will still until… Chapter 40/41
Late Wood Phase Cycle 3083 A.F.
Chapter 19: Distant Rumbling
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.
We lay naked on a nice sized bolder, while trying to concentrate through the ever building energy pulsing through our body. The cool, but not cold, air making a noticeable contrast to the warm of the sunlight that shown into the small clearing. It had also heated up the bolder we were laying on to make our nakedness less distracting.
Bella had almost given up trying to help me in this matter, but the buzzing energy felt incredible and she instinctively tried to keep it going. It was pressing us both as we metaphorically pushed against our outer limits, edging closer and closer to our first breakthrough.
Personally, I had not expected this to be so much different as a woman so I was having a hard time concentrating. As a man in my previous life, approaching and achieving breakthrough had felt like a very comfortable ball of warmth and energy radiating out though my body from a single point. It would grow more powerful as you came closer to the breakthrough point though, until it felt like you were holding a firestorm, sealed inside a ball. A storm whose winds were pleasure and whose fire seemed to be power that burned its way inside your very soul.
As a woman it seemed to be spread out into every fiber and nerve of my body. Instead of a storm that I held, it now felt like I was in the middle of a vortex of power while every part of my being was infused with a buzzing and very enjoyable energy. It was like the energy was flooding my entire existence in an all-encompassing desire for more: more energy, more mana, and more life.
Although, I had to admit that I did not truly know if this was a gender difference or another difference of this world compared to my previous. All I knew was that the wondrous feeling of approaching breakthrough was as addictive and terrifying as ever. This was especially true as the actual breakthrough would be on another oval all together.
There were hundreds of stories of mages that tried to keep a hold on the pleasures of mana expansion and found themselves hopelessly addicted. The sensations felt too good already and I had no interest of spending the rest of my existence addicted to the act of cultivating more mana, so I was egger to achieve breakthrough already.
In fact, I had spent the last 2 days away from everyone to try and do just that, but today, as I felt myself closing to within half a day of breakthrough, I heard an ever so familiar voice calling out.
“Bella!” Carlatus! The voice was distant enough to be of some comfort, but close enough to be heard, even though the forest.
We both abandoned, as much as we lost control over, our cultivation and dove towards our clothes. There was a very real danger of various types of fluid discharge, even orgasm, during breakthrough, so clothes were not recommended.
Fortunately enough, Carlatus could not see us and was still wandering around shouting our name, by the time we were fully dressed. He had managed to wonder in the right direction, but was still fairly far away from the clearing. I grabbed a nearby ball of grey-white bone material that I had separated before we had started cultivating.
Bella and I separated our active minds so that I could rework our bone armor while she started walking towards Carlatus’ voice. We had recently discovered that we could separate or recombine our consciousnesses at will. This meant that, while separate, I could cultivate and let Bella walk around like normal (like I had previously,) or we could work together to make the process much easier than normal.
That discover in particular had been made during the last water phase, when Bella finally became able to manipulate mana enough that I could teach her how to cultivate. It was also the fact factor I needed to justify my leaving the Entrial area. Using cultivated energy for mana expansion had made it harder to guess when Bella’s ability would fully develop, but she had still learned to manipulate before our body’s 13th year had passed so I was satisfied.
When someone used energy cultivation for mana expansion it was typically a straightforward process, but that was assuming that they had already grown into their mana. Trying to teach someone who had not done so was forbidden in my previous life. Not that it stopped nobles with magically weak children from trying to push for it.
The simple explanation was that the one being taught could fall too deeply into meditation while their powers were still developing and accidentally fuse with the energy around them instead of absorbing it – killing them. A more complex explanation would involve the immature mana paths interacting with a young person’s undisciplined mind, but the danger only decrease as one grew older, it did not disappear.
Out of a few thousand youths, maybe 5 or so would have the natural ability that would allow them to cultivate before they fully came into their mana. Of course, the only way I knew that was because there was enough of a reward for people to still try it. If someone expanded their mana pool while their mana channels were still developing they could achieve multiple circle expansions before they even had to work through a breakthrough point. The less power you naturally had, the more could be gained before your mana channels finished adapting, letting a single circle mage jump up perhaps a fourth or fifth circle before his additional breakthroughs.
When if someone was naturally more mature or somehow already knew how to cultivate (like me) could ignore a large majority the risk involved. Bella had been a natural 10 circle mage, but I had expanded that ability almost 2 circles, meaning that she was now an 11 circle mage almost ready for her first breakthrough to 12.
Although it made her even more powerful than I was used to, which meant that both Bella and I had to learn and practice with larger spells. It was especially annoying as magical fights rarely lasted long. In that sense, the Nalks had put me at a major disadvantage, I was familiar with using mana sparingly, when the most optimal solution was to sometimes just push forward with pure magical strength.
In my previous life, I had only used spells as distractions or spells like ‘snip’ to sneak through wards not designed to catch them. Death spells, while available and easy enough to use would use more mana than I ever felt comfortable with in the past. That was one of the reasons I ended up killing the stoning fool Regus with multiple ‘snip’ spells instead of one clean death spell.
As I finished recreating my bone armor and retrieving a pair of hidden iron daggers, we marched out to meet Carlatus. I tried to use the time to concentrate on why he would be out here. I had told Loco and Luna where I was going, but I also asked them not to bother me with anything less than an imminent death, meaning they either did not take me seriously or…
I found myself caught on which option to hope for. Interrupting someone approaching breakthrough was like dumping cold water on a couple about to finish. Not only rude, but typically resulting in a fury that extended from the frustration of being interrupted.
“Carlatus!” I stormed through the forest and Bella deliberately let him hear our full weight as we approached. Over the last few years our bones, muscles, and tendons had grown much denser. We still looked normal, or even lithe, in our mender’s uniform, but underneath we were noticeably more muscular and heavily set than other girls Bella’s age.
In fact, one of the few people with a similar body build was with Carlatus. “Janeen.” I greeted her as she and my brother came into view, not quite capable of keeping the edge out of my voice. I actually liked Janeed a fair bit, she was practically built, with nicely developed hips, and a quick wit that left me missing both my manhood and the fact that our families did not get along well.
That said, we were still frustrated at being interrupted and before either of them could speak we snapped. “What in bloody damnation are you 2 doing here? Did someone die?” Calling them stoning fools would just confuse them, so I also slid in one of my newer oaths.
Carlatus looked stunned at his dear sister’s language, but Janeen just smirked. “Fortunately no, but I would have thought that you were done by now as the sounds I hear earlier suggested that we should wait – which we did.” She raised an eyebrow “Unless you want me to keep Carlatus company while you finish up?”
It took me only a moment to figure out what she meant, but Bella had to look into my head to understand. I sighed and took a deep breath to calm down while Bella mentally blushed and tried to dig through more of my memories. Lately we had set up mental walls for a sense of privacy, but I had rarely enforced my side of it.
As far as Janeen’s comment went, I had only set up a few wards and Janeen knew this are better than the army scouts and surveyors in the area as her clan hunted various animals in the area for their fur. If she wanted to stalk me for a few days, wards or no wards, it would not be likely that I would know unless she wanted me to. “Breakthrough can take days, there is no point in delaying a few moments.” I explained simply.
Janeen’s expression turned thoughtful as she digested that bit of news. Breakthroughs were not generally talked about, but some did know what they were. Janeen seemed to have an idea, but Carlatus, seeing that I had calmed down, quickly reasserted his presence. “What is a breakthrough?”
I resisted the temptation to sigh again and walked towards him, not bothering with the theatrical stomping this time. “A breakthrough is what mages call adding a new circle to their mana capacity. It is supposed to feel like breaking through a wall when you finally expand your abilities.”
Carlatus, seeing that he was apparently forgiven, charged me and tackled my stomach in a big hug, I did not even need to exhale, but I did so anyway and messed with his hair. “That does hurt you know, you little galfop” I joked.
Janeen smiled sincerely at my nickname for Carlatus, “Appropriately named, Bella, small, friendly, and annoyingly energetic does describe him fairly well.”
“Hey!” Carlatus objected.
I rolled my eyes and brought the situation back on topic. “So why are you here anyway? If no one died – and I am currently assuming that no one is about to die – why did you come up to talk?” I gestured around “It is not as if I am close to the villages.”
Indeed, right now I was to the west Entrials and its surroundings, far enough away from others to ensure my own privacy and just close enough to be able to rush back home if someone fell ill enough to warrant my attention.
Janeen’s expression seemed to vanish beneath a stone like façade. “The tester this time is from the royal magicians’ corps and she heard about you and insisted on my going out to find you.”
“I told her about how talented you are!” Carlatus…
I looked from Janeen to Carlatus and back, silently asking the question. “He wanted to tag along.” Janeen stated flatly.
We rolled my eyes and Carlatus’ hair found itself messed with again “Silly galfop.”
Carlatus objected again, but I ignored him and deliberately sent my mana though him. Another bonus of finally developing Bella’s mana pathways was that her ‘talent’ had finally stopped going to work on its own and I could now control it. Carlatus was healthy and I could tell that he had been following the eating advice I gave him. I also noticed a distinct decrease in his lice count, which told me he had been bathing more often too.
The more balanced diet would actually make him a few extra inches taller than others, but for now the benefits merely included him more energy and healthier constitution. Bella and I followed a somewhat similar diet, but we gained a large amount of our daily vitamins and minerals with the ‘mana roots’ spell. Bella was already much taller than most girls her age were expected to be, but that was offset by the fact that I was deliberately manipulating her growth.
Neither of us wanted to go through a ‘gangly’ phase, but girls tended to grow more quickly than guys did. Even though I wanted to the slow rate that Bella was growing, I ended up speeding it up more than anything. The average height of people in this world seemed to be between 170 and 175 cm, with women being slightly shorter, but Bella and I were already towering over others at 165 and were likely to grow even taller into the future.
Smiling, I told Carlatus that he had done a good job staying healthy like I told him to and then turned my attention back to Janeen again. “What do I need to know?
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In the past few years, the villages around Entrials had gained two very odd names. There was Ring to the northwest and Géfyra to the northeast. Neither of these villages had felt the need to officially name their small communities before the mithril mine and subsequent army unit setting up camp in a newly cleared area between them.
Since the initial scouts and surveyors had been shown around by Janeen, just over 100 people had moved in and made a fort of the area. It was a small presence from a military standpoint and it only held two mages in normal conditions. In total, I had quickly decided that I could kill the whole ‘fort’ by myself in either life.
That said, the military presence had brought important benefits to the surrounding area, starting with in increased local population. Both the villages experienced small population booms as the already large population of children gained a few more infants and many more ‘business’ minded people.
I heard some of the village elders complain about it, but they tended to attribute the newborns to the increased number of ‘business women.’ Luna and I had quietly joked that those particular individuals seemed to be the only ones who did not get pregnant. Not that the ‘boom’ was more than a few dozen people per village anyway, but it did chaff some of the traditionalist.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Personally, I knew that Loco’s business had been definitely gotten more business as I had already been called on multiple time to help make more potions on a moment’s notice. As the best local mender – curtesy of my healing talent – I was also called into the fort fairly often to take care of injuries. They had their own mender, but he did not have magic, so I ended up lecturing him based on what I had ‘discovered with my talent’ as far as good health habits went.
All in all, being summoned to the fort by a member of the royal magician corps was not intimidating to me, but did give me a grim sense of what this tester thought of me.
As Janeen had explained to me on the way back, the woman had been put in charge of this area’s testing for mages had been doing her duty fairly normally, despite her ridiculous over qualifications for such a basic task. After meeting with Nathan she had firmly requested that I be brought to her for testing and then worked her way through the town’s population, looking for mages while she waited on me. When Nathan found out that I had secluded myself he was hesitant to interrupt me and apparently told the tester the reason why.
From what I could tell, Janeen was busy arguing with Florence at the time and, apparently tired from her argument with Florence, made the mistake of asserting that I would not be found quickly without a professional scout. She was thus drafted into recovering me and brining me to the fort.
With that in mind, I made sure to send Carlatus home before going to the fort with Janeen.
There were several different ways that a hostile tester could make my life annoying. One of the less annoying possibilities involved the fact that the tester was in charge of declaring which mages needed mandatory education to help control their powers. Of course if someone in the royal magicians’ corps made that statement, it would be almost beyond contestation.
The fort itself was small and basic inside. A barracks, supply building, mess hall, training area, and administration building divided it up unevenly and left me wondering why they bothered with such a small garrison. Barely 100 fighting men would not even stop a small cavalry detachment and everyone knew how worthless cavalry were in a fight!
They also had a major deficiency when it came to their water supply. Officially they could draw water from the near-by river, but the fear runes meant that anyone who tried found themselves regretting it. I even had to treat one of the few men who actually drank some as he was acting poisoned. Fortunately for them, the truth about boiling water was unknown, making mead, ale, and (really bad) wine basic provisions.
That may have also been the one health tip that I was keeping away from the camp mender at the moment, as I understood how some people might get aggravated at that particular discovery.
Janeen identified the tester for me as ‘Lady Rapier.’ She was easy enough to find once we entered, ignoring the symbol of a staff on a royal purple background that adorned her sleave, she was the only woman in the fort beside Janeen and myself. She was also had a notably muscular build even through her clothing, I could tell that her arms and upper body had been developed through swordsmanship. She was also giving instruction to both someone she was sparring with and the soldiers – who had gathered around the training area to watch.
As Rapier was in the middle of her instructive duel I decided to be patient and observe her for a little while. Or at least, that was my original intention, but there was a very familiar and very annoying individual that distracted me. “Dras,” I muttered. Despite his lack of direct advances in recent years, John had still sent Dras to brag about his accomplishments and skills. I was sure that Dras was just using it as an excuse to keep an eye on me too.
Janeen spoke quietly beside me. “Just what did you do to make him watch you so closely?”
No one with any sense accused Janeen of being a fool. “I showed off a little and he is still trying to decide if I am a genius or a demon in disguise.” If you ever wanted to trip up someone clever, convincing them you too are clever and then telling the truth is always fun.
Janeen immediately glanced over at me and I can tell her mind was racing to try and figure out exactly what I meant. After a moment her eyes widened. “No.”
“Maybe.” I replied and stepped forward as the tester noticed us and finished her lecture quickly.
She made her way through the crowd of men as if unafraid of being touched, which was odd to me, but she knew who the mages in this area were, so maybe she just felt that secure. She certainly did not have any wards up that would make it uncomfortable for people to get near her.
Rapier also held her magic in so well I wanted to applaud, for bandits with magic is was absolutely necessary to hide their magical presence, but most nobles and their guard preferred to leak their power in order to show off. That either meant she was expected to be able to hide in the field or the royal magicians’ corps included spy training… Or both.
“This is Bella?” The sharpness of her voice did not surprise me, it actually fit my mental expectations perfectly, but the fact that she ignored me to address Janeen was slightly offensive.
“Yes, I am.” I stated flatly, “If you are Rapier, maybe you can address why you called me back when I was going to return soon enough?”
The women in question gave me a look of obvious distain and tone of her voice only reinforced it. “Who gave you leave to speak?”
“Who told you I needed permission?” I replied calmly. Something was wrong here. Maybe it was the Nalks, maybe Nathan said something to someone at the capital when he was elevated and got involved in the politics, or maybe… maybe it was an act.
The woman seemed to swell, as if she was about explode, before I continued. “You can feel free to stop acting any time you want by the way.”
Rapier froze, before letting out a whisper sharp enough to cut iron “What did you say?”
“If this is your natural personality, than you are a piss stain on the honor of the royal house.” Everyone seemed to stop breathing when I said that. “The royal magicians’ corps, which I have heard you are a part of, would represent our kingdom both on the field of battle and off. The idea that one of its members could have so little self-control as to be this arrogant and angry at someone who had yet to see 13 cycles is insane.” I deliberately used that particular word knowing its impact.
Soul Mages were insane and every other insane person suffered from the association. Asking if someone had gone insane was literally one of the worst insults possible.
I continued, “If you somehow managed to stay in such a group with a personality like that
Here I embellished a little and added some purely nonsensical lies to build her back up. “I have faith in our sovereign and his forces. I have faith in you Lady Rapier and I refuse to believe that you are really such a horrible person to have so much distain for someone you have never met before.”
I paused here and, after pretending to remember the crowd of people staring at us, bowed my head in false embarrassment while making myself blush a little. It was easy enough after years of practicing control of my body. “Plus everyone looked really surprised when you started talking to me like that, so I thought it might be part of the test.” I spoke that last part increasingly quietly and reflected that my acting skills had expanded quite nicely.
…Though I did almost take it too far as I wanted to add it ‘and you did not try to interrupt me when I started my little monolog,’ but the key to making people like you was a weakness. No one questioned a man who had no vices except a small weakness for dice, but a seemingly perfect man always made others look twice. I tried to apply the same concept here.
A logical young woman who could manipulate the crowd and situation was creepy, at least to me, but a naïve little girl who did not believe that she could be wrapped up in politics? Someone who was just observant enough to recognize when something was wrong? She might be interesting or odd, but not suspicious… or at least that I was the look I was going for.
Rapier sighted and relaxed herself before speaking slowly. “7 out of 10 for your logic, but I really was angry at your lie about achieving breakthrough already. That takes nearly 2 years after you come into your mana, not including the time it takes to learn to meditate.”
Do they call it meditation instead of cultivation here? I silently wondered if I needed to thank ‘nalk armor’ for making sure I had been correct, but as Rapier could be faking her current forgiveness I decided to test her a little. “Your ability to comprehend something does not change what it is.”
She grunted. If she was faking, she was now too in control to let me know it. “It is about time to start your testing, if you are ready?”
I nodded and followed her back into the clearing where she had been sparring with Dras. I had checked and the ‘testing’ procedure and made sure that Bella would be able to handle it so that we would still look like a novice mage. A novice who had received some help, but a novice none the less.
“For starters, we will be testing how many circles of mana you have, try filling the circles I draw with as much mana as possible.” Rapier cast an impressive earth movement spell and created a dozen perfect circles radiating out from the center of the training ground.
I stepped back to allow Bella total control and let the test begin.
* * *
The forgotten continent: Just outside a certain harbor
The water was silence for the longest time. There were noises, but no drums. It was peaceful to Jagged.
Then, as his men pulled themselves along the bottom and approached their target, he heard it. Thunder, loud enough to be heard by his men, even underwater. The drums of the gods were beating!
It was a great blessing for moral, as every one of his troop, besides himself, would love the idea of thunder to bless their drumless mission. For himself, Jagged Claw would suffer the drums as he always had, but they might hold the blessing of rain, which would truly make the difference.
After years of spoiling raids and planning, it had been his Claws that would tear open the enemy’s throat at this harbor. With the water breathing spell to ware off soon, Jagged was all the more eager to arrive at the shore already.
Their pure iron covering was taxing to pull through the water, but it was the only way to guarantee surprise and allow them to enter the heavily defended port unnoticed. To attempt any other method would multiply the potential loss of life far too much to allow him to fail.
He had set out with 250 Claw warriors and could only pray to the gods that they had not gone in the wrong direction. The spells protecting them from the pressure of the depths would start wear off just before the breathing spell did, meaning they had low expectations for survivor’s who did not make it to the port. If they felt the pressure start to get to them, the Claws were to shed their iron and make for the surface before they drowned, but many of them would prefer drowning to putting the other Claws in danger.
The idea was to sneak into the harbor, using their iron coverings to negate any magical wards, and steal both the ships and the workers who had built them. They were being held as slaves (of all things!) inside the harbor to manage the building, and eventually the piloting of the ships to break the stalemate of recent years.
What the Soul Mages did not know was that his people had been ground down by the decades of war against an enemy that used their dead comrades against them. In fact, if it were not for the fractious nature of the Soul Mages themselves, all the clans would have long since perished. This continent belonged to the dead and only escape would leave them with their lives. Until then, they had to survive as best they could.
Jagged finally saw what he thought was the entrance to the harbor. Its name was once well known, but Jagged had long since learned that only two locations mattered, the land of the undead and the land of the living. Names meant nothing when death was everywhere.
Jagged forced himself against the drag of the water to take the lead of the men around him. He pushed through, relying in part on the strength runes branded into his flesh so keep him going.
It seemed to take so long to find the first few anchors of the already completed ships that Jagged wondered if even his mighty strength would soon fail him. Still, the Steel Claws had nothing left if not their strength of body, so he pushed on.
Eventually, as he swore he could feel his protection spell fade, he finally found the spot. It had been marked by some brave man or women with iron spikes for his Claws to find purchase on. Turning to make sure that the others had followed him, Jagged saw a half-dozen of his men trailing close-by with dozens of shadows hinting at the rest of his men.
It was too dark for even his potion enhanced vision to try to see them all, but he would have to have faith that they were all within sight of each other.
Turning back, Jagged slowly climbed the iron spikes up to the edge of the pier that it no doubt led to. His enchantments had been the first to be made, so his would be the first to wear off, making him very aware of how much time he had to get the rest of his men up here safely.
Barely able to see the surface, Jagged was not surprised to find himself in the middle of a driving rain storm. It would help hide him for now, but he found himself wondering if he had not been to fanciful in his planning.
As he fought to the full weight of his iron, Jagged made sure no one was waiting for him before slowly pulling himself up. He was dead tired, but the dead knew no rest in this land and neither did he.
Looking around in the rain, Jagged decided to chance the fact that the rain would make wards nearly impossible to rely on and took a pair of potions out and mixed them. He then quickly dropped the bottle into the raging sea behind him, the blackness swallowing the small red glow it had started to give off.
His men would know to come up without their armor now and Jagged shed his own armor as best he could before moving on. They had an important mission and tiredness was no excuse to push it off any longer.