Essence gathered inside the chamber where Jerome sat, chanting a spell under his breath. His mind reeled as he observed in awe at how powerful a spell the Dragon’s Wrath was. The gathering essence began to condense right behind Jerome, he raised a finger and touched his forehead right between his brows. A tiny rune with a golden glow appeared beneath his skin at the same spot and the condensing essence behind him began to take shape.
Jerome got up from the ground and stretched his limbs. He had been sitting on the cold hard floor more frequently than expected. He would need to get a pillow to buttress his butt for comfort.
“I’m ready Achilles,” he said.
“I’ll bring your succubus to you after you engage her captor. There’s something in her spatial ring—well Csala’s spatial ring—which would be of great importance for you.”
Jerome got interested in that. He stood straight and Achilles activated the portal array beneath his feet. He disappeared in a flash and reappeared on the outside of Sanctum, very high up in the sky. The wind buffeted him strongly and he planted his feet on the ground to keep from being thrown off the mountain from high up in the sky.
Jerome would have portaled himself here with his own power, but the distance was too great and would require much more essence than he was able to control.
The spell had been completed by now and a huge armored statue stood behind Jerome. Its white-blue crystalline form betrayed the fact that it was made out of condensed pure essence. Jerome looked back to admire his work and asked.
How much time do we have, Achilles? The strong winds were too much for normal speech. Even he wouldn’t hear his own voice so he decided to speak on the inside. Something he should be doing more of.
“Seven minutes and five seconds, Xerae.”
Jerome set his gaze forward in the direction of the old crone's treehouse. It was miles away and was impossible to see from his position.
Vision, he said in his mind. And the rune on his forehead glowed in his eyes, changing form as if swimming through a sea of black. His sight became sharper and he zoomed in on the treehouse.
Take aim, he said next. And the avatar of the Dragon’s Wrath went down on one knee and raised its hands as more world essence poured into its hand to form a long gun that looked a little too futuristic. The armored warrior took aim and cycled.
Jerome's mind nearly went blank with shock as he felt that. The warrior reeled in world essence in seconds, nearly stifling his own core just by cycling. The action turned their immediate surroundings into a retreat for meditation.
“The Dragon’s Wrath is a chain of spells and techniques, Xerae," Achilles said. "Once one part of the spell is completed, it starts a chain reaction that leads to this advanced creation.
“You should test the different parts of the spell from time to time. It will help your fire-essence techniques, but…”
Jerome examined the warrior behind him and saw tendrils of red-orange essence forming in the warrior’s center where a human’s core would be. The tendrils of essence were fire essence and he could feel how powerful each strand was.
But? he asked almost absently.
“But we’ll have to find you a suitable cycling technique,” Achilles concluded.
There was a spike of concentrated psychic energy in the air and Jerome sucked in a breath. The older succubus homed in on him like a hawk.
“As I said, Xerae. You would have to compress it so you don’t end up destroying your succubus as well. This foe is just that strong.”
Your explanation of the degree to which the spell would be powerful was underwhelming, Jerome snapped.
“Will put that into consideration for, later. This foe though, can bat this spell away as if batting a fly.”
Jerome stopped to consider what Achilles just said. Csala’s captor must be very powerful to get such a high estimation of strength from Achilles. He cranked up the spell a few notches, compressing the warrior’s core forming in its lower belly region and its technique some more.
When the spell was fully ready again, Jerome felt as though a shot could potentially blow up one of Terra Praeta’s two moons. Space warped around the armored warrior and he had to move a good distance away, making sure that the target was still locked. The gun in the warrior's hands was now glowing with a golden glow and pulsing like a heartbeat.
Jerome took a long deep breath and exhaled, “Fire!”
Enough energy to destroy half the moon gathered at the muzzle of the gun and blasted out covering miles in a split second.
That was incredible! Jerome thought with a smile on his face. This was one weapon that could give him an edge in Vorthe. Though, I can’t help but wish I could do that myself.
“Soon, Xerae. This is one of the reasons why the Fae had both warriors and mages. Warriors were physically faster and stronger than mages. But mages had access to more essence in the world. They lived longer and could attack a target from a great distance away…or destroy a whole nation. There were those who were outliers though…hybrids.”
Jerome nodded his head as he listened to Achilles. The Fae was a really scary race.
Take aim, he commanded again, and the armored warrior started cycling again.
~~~
Csala’s mind was a mess as the gears in her head turned and turned, searching for a way out of her predicament. Nothing she tried was going to work and she knew it. But she was not one to give up hope. So she just kept trying and searching for new ways to escape. She dreaded whatever skill the old crone was about to use on her to take out her soul and take her body, as though it was a dress she could just wear.
The old crone placed her hands on Csala’s head ready to begin transplanting her soul but she quickly shot backward in a flash!
“What in the name of Odin's beard…?!”
Potent energy blasted the treehouse away and almost split the old succubus in two. With a backhanded slap, she redirected the energy as though it was a material thing. Blinding light assaulted their senses and the ground shook sending powerful shockwaves all around. The tree toppled over, throwing its occupants into the air.
Csala looked around her and all she saw was ruins for miles. Her eardrums had been destroyed as a result of the shockwave and she was partially blinded from the light just now. The ground was still trembling and debris was shooting every which way. The destruction from that shot was a calamity to the land mass. She tried moving her body midair but she was still locked to the chair, paralyzed. Csala cursed Muna in her heart, hoping the older succubus doesn’t die a quick death.
Another lance of golden energy tore through the air blasting falling debris apart, toward the old crone. She was very prepared for this one as she knew that whoever was targeting her would have prepared to miss. Muna used her powerful psychic energy to redirect the second shot, however, it took a lot out of her. Whoever the shooter was they had apparently also learned from the first shot. The second shot was a thousand times heavier than the first.
She breathed hard as she hovered midair, her psychic powers keeping her afloat. Muna looked around to see if she could find Csala but the younger succubus had disappeared. She cursed in ancient fairie, a string of soft-sounding consonant sounds that were like music, but also disturbing to the ears.
A tiny dot of golden light could be seen coming from the distance and Muna prepared herself. Half a breath later, it was only a few feet away from the hovering old succubus. Muna took to the skies weaving through the air to try and evade the powerful energy blast which had followed her upward in pursuit, her dirty mop of salt and pepper hair flailing around her head.
She felt another powerful wave of energy rushing towards her and saw a bright golden light on the periphery of her vision. Muna pushed herself hard. She tried to evade, but the third shot reached her all too soon. She had to sacrifice her arms to push away the energy balls, and they blasted away her lower arms.
Muna held in her scream, shaking like a leaf in winter. She had to release her psychic hold on many of the beings she had imprisoned to suppress the essence eating through her veins else she joins her ancestors sooner rather than later.
~~~
Jerome caught Csala the moment she appeared in front of him, chair and all. With a thought, Achilles portaled them to the laboratory.
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“Quick, Xerae. The older succubus has done something to her.”
“What?” Jerome asked.
“My scan shows that her internal organs are shutting down.”
“The other succubus must have been very powerful then.”
“If they’re old enough and strong enough, yes,”
Jerome quickly broke the chair Csala was stuck in and laid her on the Lightspire island table. Golden lines of light lit up and wandered the surface of her body for a few breaths like a scan before a cocoon of light wrapped around her and began pulsing lightly.
“She’s stable now, Xerae.”
“That’s a lot of work for someone who wants to turn me into a veggie. Didn’t sign up for this,” Jerome muttered in complaint. I thought the lightspire table could only be used for measurement and learning to design stuff. He didn’t want Csala to know he was talking to someone if she was still conscious so he discussed inwardly with Achilles.
“I can interact with it as I see fit, Xerae. Also, this table was designed by me so there are a few adjustments that I’ve made.”
Jerome nodded at that. Did we get the ring?
A ring materialized in front of him, hovering in the air. Jerome snatched it out of the air and scanned it with his perception. Most of the ring’s content was female stuff. What attracted him was the huge black cube rotating in a clockwise direction as it hovered above everything else inside the ring. Jerome knew at once that this was what Achilles wanted him to get from the ring.
“It’s searching for North,” Achilles said.
Jerome smiled. Like a compass? Is that what it does?
Achilles snorted. “It would be a waste of resources to build something like this just so it could find North don’t you think, Xerae?”
Jerome shrugged and lit up the portal array before he disappeared in a flash. He appeared in another chamber deeper under the ground and took out the box. As soon as it appeared, it righted itself and hovered midair, not spinning anymore. The box was a bit eerie to look at as it just stood there in midair. The surface of the cube was matte black and Jerome felt like the cube could absorb all light around it. It reminded him of the boxes that appeared in midair during Mehn Argh’ur when he first took the first step to become a sacred artist.
Those boxes didn’t give him the feeling this one was giving him though.
“So?” Jerome asked. “What does it do?”
“Place your hand on it, Xerae.”
Jerome placed his hand on it and its surface rippled slightly. Then his mind expanded and the whole of the mountain came into view—from different angles—like he was having an out-of-body experience. Every detail of every stone slab and chamber, every mote of dust in the air, the pure essence in the air, and the earth essence in the rock were all visible to him. He felt like he could literally ‘see’ the very atoms that made up everything his gaze landed upon…like no secret could be hidden from him. He felt faint after a few seconds and removed his hand from the cube before he passed out.
“What the hell?” Jerome asked as he breathed heavily. That took a lot out of him.
“That’s one of the pods I use to as surveillance throughout Terra Praeta,” Achilles said.
“What the hell was it doing with a succubus?”
“She was able to discover my presence once, many years ago,” Achilles said, and as he spoke, the memory of Muna, the old crone, opening a void crack in the world poured into Jerome’s mind.
Heartbeat increasing rapidly, Jerome’s mind reeled. He was now discovering how powerful the succubus he held off with his Dragon Wrath’s spell was. If she ever decided to come after him… Jerome broke into a cold sweat at the thought.
“Can succubus wield essence, Achilles?” Jerome asked.
Achilles was quiet for a while like he didn’t want to answer, or maybe he didn’t know the answer. Jerome’s gut however told him he definitely knew the answer.
“I believe you already know the answer to that, Xerae. But I fear what you might do to the little succubus in your anger when you receive confirmation of your suspicions. Or when you find out more about them.
“Remember though, mother nature brought her here for a reason. Even I couldn’t stop it.”
“So they can’t,” Jerome said, choosing to ignore the part about Csala being some sort of piece of a puzzle in the grand plan of the world. He choose to tackle the problems he had in front of him now.
“I’m not going to hurt her. I also want to know why she didn’t have sex with me when she could have,” Jerome said. That last part didn’t sound right to him.
“You are angry at her, Xerae.”
“I am. And I’m finding it hard to reconcile what I know of succubi from my previous life with what I see now.”
There was a little bit of uncomfortable silence after that. Jerome waited. He wouldn’t be the one to break this silence. And he wouldn’t budge until his questions were answered.
“Knowing that Xerae…could change you.”
“What don’t I know about them, Achilles?”
“Very well,” Achilles said and Jerome felt the AI reach for his mind. A memory poured slowly into his mind and Jerome closed his eyes to concentrate on it.
~~~
“Nature isn’t fair, is it?” Achilles said as Jerome opened his eyes.
“No…no, it’s not,” Jerome answered, “For every advantage it gives, it takes away some freedom from you. There is a sort of wisdom in that.”
He had just watched the conversation between Csala and the old crone, and many delicious secrets were revealed from it. Now he understood why Csala was embarrassed when she had to drag him with her body on display through tunnels. She had never truly known a man, even though she had brought many men pleasure—the thought of that didn’t sit well with the image of the succubus in his mind.
“This revelation is both a relief and a discomfort. Well, how can this pod of yours be of great importance to me?” Jerome asked, changing the subject to something more comfortable.
“You should bond with it. It would help your perception in ways no sacred artist could ever dream of.”
“Isn’t it like a part of your system?”
“It is. But the moment she captured it, I released another one into the void.”
“Huh. So you’ve got backups. How did she even do that?... And how can you do that…Put things and take things out of thin air?”
“The principles around that skill are very similar to what was used to create your spatial ring—although those who create spatial rings in your world don’t have the full knowledge of it. They just use scripts and arrays they found here and in void worlds they raid on your planet.”
“But she’s not even a sacred artist…she can’t wield essence,” Jerome said, flustered and a bit frustrated.
“She doesn’t need essence, Xerae. Anyone with a powerful enough psychic energy can rip open space to hide something or cross great distances. With such powerful psychic energy, space becomes as one of the elements; feelable, touchable, accessible…”
“Access,” Jerome muttered. This was the second time the word was shoved into his face, reminding him of the one thing he didn’t have in his world because he was the Dark One. Jerome massaged his temples to ease his nerves as he thought about the magnitude of what he’d just heard.
He chuckled feeling a little dejected and angry at himself, “And I’m here playing timekeeper. I wanted to design a piece of technology that could help me calculate speed, and then perhaps patterns, and then maybe predict the future.
“But guess what? Apparently, people can just make holes in the world and get to me if they want to.”
Jerome sighed and raked his hand into his hair, “Can the Sovereign of Vorthe do this?—that’s a stupid question—of course, he can. Who else can do it?”
“I have stretched my senses beyond the veil of this world, Xerae. I’ve counted eight such people in your world—including Vorthe’s Sovereign.” Achilles’ voice sounded gentle, empathic as if he was trying to give Jerome a pat on the back.
“Eight? I’m guessing they’re all transcendents,” Jerome said. The doom and gloom in his eyes and voice faded rapidly.
“Yes, they are, Xerae. Only transcendents can achieve such a feat in your world because sacred artists are like Warriors of the fae. If there ever was a mage, they’d be able to rip open the fabric of space and go wherever they pleased, except specific action is taken to lock down space in an area where portaling isn’t wanted.
“But hey, there’s one such mage here with me right now,” Achilles said, his voice sounding jovial.
Jerome chuckled as he sat down on the ground to think.
“Thanks, Achilles,” he said with a smile.
He absently pierced the tip of his index finger and touched the drop of blood that welled up to the surface of his skin to the floating cube. The cube seemed to sublimate a second later and dark black gas filled the air which was then sucked into his body the next moment. Jerome sat there as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
“Interesting,” Achilles said as if he had found a new form of entertainment.
“What?” Jerome asked.
“I must say, Xerae. You’re as much a mystery to me as the succubus passed out in the lab.”
“How so?” Jerome asked.
“The cube was not supposed to be absorbed into you—nothing should be, because artifacts don’t work like that. It was supposed to shrink and fit in the palm of your hand as any normal artifact would. Which means you’re the mystery.”
“Huh,” Jerome humphed with a smile. For some reason, Achilles couldn’t read his thoughts right now. He could tell. He knew it like a profound truth that didn’t need to be reasoned.
Achilles didn’t know about the mind-calming stone.
Jerome held his hand out and Suzie bled out of it before transforming into a glistening, red spear.
“Okay, how are you doing that?” Achilles asked, sounding flustered.
“You sound very human right about now, Achilles,” Jerome said with a smile on his face. “Unsure of yourself.”
The AI hated being compared to humans. It was demeaning to him. He was created by the great and ancient fae of times past after all.
“Hmph! I’ll have you know, Xerae, that I can figure out whatever it is and even help you increase its performance by over a thousand percent!”
“Well, good luck to you then, cos I am an enigma. Can you read my mind right now?” Jerome asked.
“Wha-what…what do you mean? Of course, I can.”
“You can’t, can you?” Jerome chided but was also a little fascinated.
He had been training his mind ever since he siphoned psychic energy from Csala. Since then he had sensed more of the mind-calming stone. It was like a living being living inside him—he had a feeling it was feminine in nature, but that didn’t matter. Jerome had felt its…her presence bloom in his mind when he thought about her.
It was as if, she didn’t want Achilles to know about her, protecting herself. Whatever it was, Jerome was glad to have a respite from the AI peeping in on his thoughts—Achilles could still check his vitals and tell if he was horny though; there was nothing he could do about that.
“At least your thoughts are geared towards helping me. That’s nice to know,” Jerome said.
“It’s my purpose to serve, Xerae,” Achilles said, his voice filled with integrity.
“I don’t want a servant, Achilles, I want a friend who can have my back…even when—no, especially when things go bad. And I’m about to annoy a lot of powerful people, Achilles. Are you with me?”
“Till death, Xerae,”
Jerome breathed out a sigh of relief. “So, this pod. What’s it called?”
“It’s just one small portion of an advanced surveillance system I call, Hezvar.”
“Vision,” Jerome said with a nod, “It’s a fitting name. Can I rip open holes in the world, though?”
“Not yet but soon. Your succubus is waking up, Xerae.”