***The World***

***Seria***

“They killed all of my supporters in that town, and then they went and had a freaking orgy in the ruins! How can you say that’s not evil!?” Myrm snarls at me and I shrink back to avoid the spittle which involuntarily flies out of her mouth. At least I hope that it was involuntarily.

Whew, she is pissed today.

“Well, you funded that town’s resistance group and it was located within Luxley’s territory. It’s only natural for any government to strike down a rebellion. I admit that having an orgy among the remains of your fallen enemies is morally misguided, but it’s not what I would call evil. I've seen many cultures who eat their enemies. Having a little survival sex after a mortal encounter seems comparably mild.” I finish laying out my point of view and materialize a tissue to clean my face. “Myrm, are you sure that this assignment doesn’t get to you? Each time we talk you are a little more agitated. I am worried about you.”

“I am only doing my job,” she replies defensively and reaches for her amulet, rubbing it between her thumb and index finger.

Eyeing her trinket, I press my lips together as a suspicion slowly worms itself into my thoughts. Myrm was always a very wilful individual, but her fixation on Ascathon as her adversary struck me as odd. The same thing goes for her blind-sighted purpose of following the Council’s creed. They never did anything that would warrant her loyalty. Add to that the fact that Myrm is ignoring all the hints which Nazareth, Marigold and I are giving her. She was always a little thick-headed in regards to taking advice, but what strikes me as odd is her violence towards Ascathon. From everything I know about their encounters, her recent attempt at assassinating him in front of Tjenemit was over the top. She clearly lost her self-control on that day.

Could it be that the amulet’s subtle magic is affecting her?

But why should she be affected, while everyone else seems to be fine?

I cast a look around her office, then I get up and turn my chair around, searching for additional spellwork. Under Myrm’s suspicious gaze, I crawl beneath her office table in order to inspect her chair, any surface that's not obvious and could be bespelled with magical circles.

She gets up, stepping away from me. “What’s that supposed to be?” she asks warily.

“Nothing. Just checking something,” I reply, knowing that I am making a fool out of myself. “Say, Myrm, are you still training your external magic as I told you to do?”

“Hah!” She crosses her arms defensively in front of her chest and shrugs. “Not very often. You know well enough that I damaged my ability to project in return for mastering my internal magic. So I have mostly given up on casting external spells. Why do you ask?”

Nodding, I get out from beneath the table without having found anything.

The difference between internal and external magic is what you can do with it. Most people with a magical gift are using both variants on an instinctual level. Internal magic is all about controlling the magical energy flow within your body. Some martial artists call it Ki, and Myrm is a master in that field.

Then there is external magic, the ability to project and control energy outside your body. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what’s necessary to limit the amulet’s effects on its holder. Reaching out, I cast a simple light-spell, pouring a stupid amount of energy into it for the sole purpose of charging the environment with energy.

Myrm pulls a face and shields her eyes. “What are you doing?”

“Just testing something. Myrm, I want you to take up your training again. Visit me as often as you can.” That should at least stop her from getting any worse. If I am correct, then the amulet already affected her. Her practise of internal magic doesn’t require her to charge her environment with energy, therefore not affecting the enchantment on the amulet as severely as it happened with Ascathon’s or mine.

If I am right, then it would be an extremely bad idea to share any information about the Council’s machinations with her. Her behaviour already indicates that she sees the Council as something that’s superior to us. I really hope that I am wrong.

Myrm doesn’t answer. Instead, she displays a myriad of emotions on her face. “But I have so much work to do with my religion. And I really suck at external magic. It just doesn’t make any sense for me to learn it. Why should I waste time and effort on something that I’ll never be able to use properly.”

She stabs her hand towards her office window, which uses coloured glass to display a beautiful religious scene which I am unfamiliar with. “Open the window and look out there. Every little acolyte in that courtyard has more magical skill than I do in his little finger, despite the fact that they are all mortals.”

I roll my eyes. “They have nowhere near enough talent to come even close to you. So what if they have no problem with casting a light spell? You are millennia ahead of them when it comes to internal magic. And you have millennia ahead of yourself to master your external magic as well. Didn’t you complain to me about being unable to heal that girl who Ascathon took away with him?”

Her expression darkens. “I still can’t believe that she will be fine with him. I can’t even imagine what horrors she must be suffering under his yoke.”

Not exactly fine, that may be leaning a little too far out of the window. Though, from the last time I spoke to Willow, the girl seems be blossoming. Maybe I should check up on them. Neither of her two caretakers are true parenting material in their current state. “She will survive and be stronger for it, but you are trying to change the subject. Don’t you want to save girls like her in the future? The very least you could do is to master a basic healing spell. With the amount of power you have at your disposal, a basic spell from you would be on par with a priest’s greater healing abilities.”

She struggles a bit with the decision, but in the end she finally brings herself to promise me at least that much. “Fine. I’ll see to it that I learn at least one or two minor healing spells.”

I nod. “Good. Then let’s waste no time and start immediately. From now on, we are going to meet up every day!”

Myrm’s expression turns from resigned to horrified.

I stay for a while longer with Myrm, ensuring that her office is saturated with magical energies. If she herself can't damage the artefact around her neck, then I have to ensure that the enchantment deteriorates as it happened with Ascathon and myself.

After an hour of forcing her to train her magic, I take my leave, promising to myself that I would visit her again tomorrow morning.

Having Myrm's mind influenced puts an entirely different perspective on the situation. If my theory is correct, then this might actually be a worst case scenario and I have no idea what to do. I know next to nothing about mind magic except for the basics and how to defend myself.

There is only one person who might be able to do something.

Taking a pathway out of Myrm's office, I teleport directly into the idiot's lair, appearing in the hallway of his underground base. Noises and idiotic giggling from the living room immediately draw my attention.

“Oh, yeah... that's exactly the spot. Girl, you are fantastic. If it weren't for that damn time dilatation, I would have visited you and the others on a regular basis.”

Clenching my jaw, I grind my teeth together with enough force to create an audible sound. Expecting to barge in on a scene which I really don't want to witness, I enter the living room.

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Luckily, it's much less annoying than I thought it would be.

Ascathon is lying on the plush carpet in the middle of the room, while a half-naked succubus with green hair is sitting on his back, massaging his shoulders. What she is wearing counts barely as a swim-suit; the red and frilly bra and panties are on the borderline to lingerie. He is wearing pants, so that's not the worst I could have walked in on.

“Ahem!” I clear my throat, hoping to gain their attention.

“Isabel? Why are you stopping?” Ascathon looks up, but because of his positioning, he can't see me.

The succubus looks up and spots me, annoyance written all over her face. Her tail stands up straight and her eyes widen in shock when I reply by releasing a little of my aura.

“We need to talk, Ascathon,” I announce my presence.

He jumps up, throwing off the girl who squeaks in dismay. She rolls off the floor and immediately seeks a position next to the couch which puts Ascathon between herself and me.

Smart woman.

“What the actual fuck!? How by the howling Chaos did you get in here!? This is supposed to be a safe place.” Ascathon raises both hands and releases his own aura.

“Don’t worry. I am not here to start something.” I wave my hands, palms out, to show that I intend no harm. “If it weren’t an emergency I wouldn’t be here. But you only visit Studio 7 when you want something and it’s likely that weeks would have passed before you showed yourself. I need advice now.”

His eyes narrow. “Who told you about this place?”

I purse my lips, not sure if I should rat out Willow. The woman is likable enough in my opinion, and aside from a certain other personality, she is the only person I know of who actually decided to stick with Ascathon for several centuries. Without her looking after him, he would be a neglected bum who is barely able to socialize with anyone. Not that he is able to socialize with people in his current state. All I want to say is that it would be worse without her influence.

“I am not sure if-”

He rudely interrupts me, “Not necessary! I can imagine who. After all, there is only one other person who was living here in the recent centuries. That drastically limits the pool of suspects. I just didn’t expect her to be that foolish.”

“Willow isn’t foolish,” I reply. “She is just much better at judging people! Better than you! I am not your enemy, and Willow is smart for searching out other gods who may help her in case she manages to ascend on her own. The more of us who know about her, the less chance there is for her to vanish like the others. Can I ask my question now? You will have one good with me if you give me your input.”

He furrows his forehead, not quite sure what to think of the situation.

“Is she an enemy? If not, then throw her out and let’s continue from where we left off,” the succubus suggests from next to the couch.

“Shut up, pleasure doll, the adults are talking,” I reprimand her, ignoring the offended gasp.

“Miaow!”

The noise draws my attention, and I look down, noticing Ascathon’s little white kitten pawing at my foot. “Hello, kitty! Long time no see!” I bend down and pick up the little purring familiar. “Who is a good pet?”

“Arrgh!” Ascathon forms his fingers into claws, clearly showing his agitation. “Betrayal! Mur, I hope you know what you are doing! Turning your back on your master like that!”

The kitten isn’t impressed and continues to purr in my palm. It even closes its eyes, totally relaxed. I furrow my own forehead. “I hope you notice that you are regularly changing your familiar’s name?”

“Ascathon? I really think you should throw her out. You promised me to pay me some attention,” the succubus rejoins the conversation.

Ascathon rolls his eyes and massages his temples. “Isabel! You aren’t helping! Here.” He takes off an amulet from around his neck. Not the one which we got from Tjenemit, but a different kind. Holding it in his palm, he quickly draws some magical symbols above the amulet, changing its settings. Turning, he puts it around the succubus’s neck.

“What-” Isabel asks, but her words are cut off when the artefact activates. “Oh...” Her tail twitches. “Oooh… mmmh…” Her eyes roll upwards in their sockets and she starts twitching and moaning. Touching her own chest, she is about to please herself when her legs buckle and she topples backwards onto the sofa. After a few more seconds of silent ecstasy, twitching and impotently bucking her hips, she passes out with a gasp of pleasure. As if a hunger was finally satiated after centuries of starvation.

“What… the… heck… was… that?” I ask and look at Ascathon, feeling a cold shiver run down my spine.

“Succubus physiology 101. They evolved in a highly dangerous environment. For survival, their metabolism and their magical abilities are in overdrive mode, practically burning up their body. To combat that, they developed the ability to feed on the life force of other beings, but normally it’s never enough for them. Their ‘special skills’ are meant to keep their prey alive and ignorant of its fate while they feed. The amulet normally supplies me with life force by converting my own mana into energy, healing what the succubus takes for me. I switched off the limiter and set it to draw energy from the environment. I hope you noticed that it got several degrees colder.”

“So… she is in a food coma?” I ask, intrigued.

“Essentially, yes, so what do you want.” He plants his hands on his hips, annoyed. “Why are you interrupting? Because of you, I did something stupid. I am sure that she will want her own amulet now and tell all her friends. Then they will have no more reason to spend time with me.” He stabs his thumb at his own chest, putting on a mirthful expression. “And put on something normal if you don't intend on hitting on me.”

I look down at myself, feeling that there is nothing wrong with the light yellow summer-dress flowing along my curves.

So I return my attention to him. “Oh, I am so sorry, but we have a real problem,” I chide. “I have very strong reason to believe that Myrm is affected by the amulet!” Then I continue to lay out the reasons for my suspicions and how Myrm’s behaviour became ever more unreasonable since she was invited to our testing group.

Ascathon listens to everything, massaging his chin with a furrowed forehead. When I finish he remains silent for a whole minute, looking at the floor.

Finally, he returns his attention to me, giving me his verdict. “I am sorry, but there is no solution for your problem, at least none that you would accept. If it’s true that Myrm is such a unique creature, a master of internal mana manipulation, then it’s possible that Myrm at least partly fell victim to the amulet’s influence. We could only be sure if we get to examine the amulet. It’s unlikely that Myrm will allow it if the amulet is indeed functioning.”

“Which solutions are there?” I ask, not wanting to give up on Myrm.

He shrugs. “The first thing to do you found out for yourself. Make sure that it doesn’t get any worse by disabling the amulet. Simply expose it to highly magical environments. Maybe go on a field trip and accidentally throw Myrm into a mana storm?” He cackles. “That would do the trick. But it has been months since the experiment started. Whatever effects took hold up until now are likely to be permanent. Even if Myrm reincarnates.”

I nod. “Good. I can accomplish that. What else can I do?”

“That’s the part you won’t like. I could pick Myrm’s mind apart, tear the soul to shreds and rearrange the pieces to our liking, conveniently abandoning the parts that make Myrm feel loyalty towards the Council. I am sorry, but there is a reason why this type of mind magic is banned.”

I blanch. “So there is no solution apart from extreme intervention?”

He shakes his head. “Nope!”

***The World***

***Ascathon***

I slowly drift in the water of my little illusionary beach scene, studying Ashley’s reports as they hover in front of my face. The woman is a gift from heaven and a tactical genius. Her maps and predictions are so detailed that I am tempted to leave the entirety of this empire-building process in her capable hands.

But as it always is with the world, there will be problems for which she will need my help. Myrm won’t stand aside and do nothing while Luxley and his descendants take over the world.

Ashley predicts that it will take a hundred years to take over the central continent’s southern regions. I concur with her on that point.

The regions which we’ve set our eyes on will be militarily defeated and conquered much sooner, but Ashley is a smart one. She doesn’t count those regions as an actual part of Luxley’s empire until their populations have accepted our rule entirely. Rooting out all the resistance and making the public see things from our point of view will take one or two generations at the least.

We can’t waltz into a small kingdom with a few dozen large cities, bring down the current rulers and expect that everyone will immediately switch to our side. Taking care of the unrest which will be the direct result of such an action also isn’t a problem. The world as a whole is already a highly militaristic medieval society and it isn’t uncommon for young men to take up arms and fight in some small border conflict, or to join a mercenary guild, ending up fighting for some city-state three borders away from their home.

This means that we don’t lack troops, but it also means that it will be hard to make people see things my way. I want to return society to what it once was. A scientific culture which uses its knowledge to better the lives of the people.

That can’t happen without us forcing the population to change their habits. The children have to stop working in the fields and most of the men have to stay at home to build up our industrial revolution. We will still need mercenaries to beat down any form of uprising, but as the resistance wanes, we will be able to free up more men for actual work.

Less and less soldiers will be needed so that we can shift our attention from the occupation of territory to establishing an actual border with our religious counterpart.

I have no doubt that there will be conflicts with Myrm’s faction. Battles will be fought and land will be lost and won over the years, but ultimately the split of the continent into two factions will remain.

Many medieval empires make the mistake of growing larger than they are able to handle. They ride on the wave of their conquests, financing war after war with the loot of defeated enemies. Their success makes them blind to what lies behind them and before they realize it, their empire crumbles from within because they are unable to control all the land they grabbed without thinking.

For that very reason, we have to limit ourselves and establish order within our domain before we can proceed. Unless Myrm is an utter fool, the same will apply to the domain of light.

Closing my eyes, I decide to take a small nap while I think things over.