Ressia

“That’s it?” She questioned Mast. The elf had given a shitty report of his single-day hunt into the Savalirwoods!

“I got a good amount out of him,” Mast explained. He felt like he did a great job of obtaining tactical information on the shape-changing entity.

“We have tactical information on him from our scrying efforts during your trip and the battles in the volcano. What I needed to know is what that thing is!” Ressia screamed. She had seen the things it had turned into and she was horrified. It wasn't a fey but some aberration from beyond the material plane. How could she be the only one to have realized that? Was she the only person with damn eyes?

Some unknown shape-changing horror just shows up in the archives and gives out information that could solve a magic disaster that displaced her entire people and culture. Information it just happened to acquire on a trip to Eiselcross. Then it walked into her front door to just give it to her for nearly nothing? Ressia’s skepticism was at an all-time peak. She needs to inform the Diarchy of this entity and these fool's failure to identify it.

…………..

“You’re leaving already? Aww,” Reani bemoaned.

“I got a lot of stuff I want to do and it will take me out of town. I will return eventually, Reani,” I told her. It hurt leaving so soon, but Vasselheim and the gods were calling.

“Well it sucks, but I’m happy to have met you. You fight very well, even if the tentacles, eyes, and all those mouths are a little creepy. Come back soon,” she said, giving me a big hug.

Taking to the skies of the Flotket Alps, I tried to enjoy the cold air. Vasselheim may be the next destination of my story, but how eventful the journey will be is entirely dependent on how I get there. I already had a stop in mind that I wanted to take care of before I got too busy.

My maximum travel speed with flight was still thirty miles per hour. If I flew south to Nicodranus and asked Yussa Errenis for teleportation to the city, I could probably arrive within three or four days. It would also be nice to see the elven archmage again. The knowledge and advice he could provide would be appreciated.

There is a second idea I received from Lightning in the Soul Dream. He proposed flying to Zephrah and meeting the Ashari. We questioned further he confessed he just wanted to see Keyleth vicariously through me. Now despite his deception, it wasn’t that bad an idea.

Keyleth of the Air Ashari was one of the members of Vox Machina, a group of heroes that stopped Vecna. Vox Machina has been retired for nearly twenty years now but each member is a level twenty adventurer. Keyleth herself is an archdruid that will live for thousands of years. She has the ability to open portals through large plants and has been to Vasselheim many times. I might be able to request her help.

I flew for twenty or so hours before landing in the snowy fields west of the Erdeloch. This was the northwestern section of the Dwendalian Empire, about thirty or more miles from Rexxentrum. The capital wasn't my destination though.

About ten miles south of me was the historic town of Yrrosa. Built as a way station between Icehaven and Rexxentrum, this humble little town boasts a number of inns for all manner of travelers as they make their way around the empire. It is unfortunate though that this town hides a dark past.

Eighty years ago a smuggling gang was banished from Icehaven and settled here in Yrrosa. They soon saw weakness in the Empire's oversight of their criminal activity and gathered others to their organization. These criminals began to call themselves the Myriad. Now a transcontinental criminal organization, they are looking to come back and take over Yrrosa.

“It's okay Edsom, you will take care of them soon enough,” I spoke out loud to myself.

The burden of knowledge and power was a heavy weight on my shoulders. I knew of a hundred evils I had the power to stop but only had the time to do it one at a time. This was why Rubert said I needed followers so that I could inform people of the problem and send them out to handle it. He is right of course, as he usually is. I love that little chicken.

………….

“So the time has come,” the thin Red Dragon said.

“It has,” I said.

“What does this connection do exactly?” Blazeflight asked.

“I will give myself a form of truesight that lets me see the true form of the people that live here. We have learned that people don't have a body here. It is simply your soul being given a physical form similar to either what you looked like in death or one that represents how you see yourself. It is hard to change your appearance but it is possible,” I explained.

Most of this knowledge was gained from Hardock and his experiments with trying to look like the dwarf he was before he was cursed. It took some time but he learned how to do it easily. This meant I now had a dwarf form that looked exactly like him, but I didn't use it.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Others tried to do something similar but the most anyone could manage was looking younger than they were before dying.

“I could look like I once did? Before the Fire Giants?” He asked. This was a big deal for him because they did a lot of damage to his body. Gaining his old form or at least a better one would go a long way to help with that trauma.

“You could with time, but it will take effort. Once I have made the connection, I will be able to create replications of your body and your abilities.” I had demonstrated that a lot during our fight.

“You will become me. My pride would not normally allow such an insult. No one is allowed to pretend to have my brilliance or my strength, but I can not stop you. So I must make a demand from you when using my power. Kill all slavers. Respond ruthlessly to all insults. If you must fight, then you will win.”

All Dragons were born with an instinctual pride. Created by the twin gods Bahumat and Tiamats, they instilled a great deal of power into their children. They wouldn't allow them to be weak in any way so they made sure every dragon would stand up and fight for themselves. This means they will all have an insufferable need to prove themselves. Insulting a Dragon’s pride will almost always lead to a deadly fight.

“I can do that.”

With that promise made I created my Truesight and connected to his soul. It was a huge fiery sphere that dripped small bubbles of lava. It was hot, angry, and uninviting like it was trying to fight everything and everyone. Touching it hurt, but the connection was made nonetheless.

“That feels strange. Like a door that sits just outside of my view, but I can't see it or open it. Have you made this connection with the rest of the Fire Giants?” Blazeflight wondered.

“I have, but they did not get the choice you did. Sometimes I get to learn about the sins of those who come here. When I do I make sure to punish them for what they did. They are now living in a prison of my creation that they will spend a long time in,” I explained.

“Good. Leave me be. I must meditate on the information you have given me,” Blazeflight said and curled into a resting position. Kinda like a cat.

I left the Dragon to his rest and walked to the Memory Halls. Clarion and Rubert had turned the warehouse into a proper building that could be admired for miles around. Both of them were inside a large chamber on the building's top floor sorting through memories and editing them for everyone's personal use.

“Master. It is good to see you. How may the Hall of Memories help you?” Clarion said from atop a perch. The cat had designed it to be like a throne from which he could observe everyone and judge them silently.

“It's time I do something about the Cerberus Assembly,” I said. Both of them knew where I was sleeping right now. It shouldn't be hard to guess what I was referring to.

“You going into to Shattengrod, boss?” Rubert asked.

“That's right. I am going to steal the Luxon Beacon before the Empire can. This way the Cerberus Assembly won't have one once the war is over,” I explained.

“Excellent Master. They don't even know how dead they already are. Hahaha,” the cat laughed maniacally.

……………

The thing you might miss most when adventuring is a nice bed. A good bed makes it really easy to come out of deep sleep but not wake fully. You can feel yourself waking up but don't have to commit just yet. That's why I love a good bed.

Thunk. Crash.

My eyes shoot open as I see several people in my room. Each of them is wearing brown leather armor under black cloaks. Their mouths are covered. One of them has a knife to my throat. He makes a shushing gesture with his free hand.

“Don’t make a sound. You are being robbed,” the masked man said.

One of the thieves was shoving my stuff into a sack. He just put the red-shaded Changeling's Arsenal in it. I still needed to have it identified again to learn its new effects.

“Play this smartly capiche. We don't need to be spilling anyone's blood. The owners take good care of this place after all,” he threatened.

This was astonishing. I was being robbed. It was hard to believe that after all this time, now was when someone robbed me. They are going to have so many broken bones, haha.

………….

“Help! Monster!” One of the poor thieves screamed.

Smack

“My fucking arm. Aaagh, you broke my arm,” a second bastard screamed.

Beating up some would-be robbers is surprisingly relaxing. I won't kill them but a few broken bones will help build character.

“Make better choices guys. If I didn't have a certain spiritual condition, I might have decided to kill you,” I told them and then left the building.

Yrrosa had a problem with the Myriad returning. I could do something about it but not right now. So before the guards could stop me I left town and flew south to the ruins.

Shattengrod is an old buried city from the Age of Arcanum. Located underneath a bit of bones, the city is entirely underground and teeming with undead. The guides only spoke of shades but I am sure that I will find all manner of undead there.

This will be an excellent place to train on some of the abilities I didn't normally use, so I am forbidding myself from creating tentacles, alligator parts, and hydra heads. Also, I will be trying to use the Aeorion hunters’ abilities as much as I can. The absorber had a mind blast attack I and the nullifier has several other abilities besides the antimagic field. I haven't used these abilities so I need to practice.

The pit that led into the ruined city was guarded by a platoon of soldiers. Mercenaries that were hired by either the Cobalt Soul or the Cerberus Assembly rested outside of the perimeter. They would descend into the ruins and hunt for lost treasures and powerful magic items. I wasn’t going to wait so I changed into a bat and flew past all the security into the depths below.