(Day 186) Aprilis 30th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment
As he lay in his bed next to Adaline he thought about yesterday. All the running around, routing an army, and then making sure the smart survivors were well taken care of, as well as the idiots. He had no doubt Desirae would whip them into shape. If he was being honest he was surprised at the changes she’d made as well as surprised about how good he felt about himself. Today, he had to go into Crownport and try to root out a heavily embedded force. Yesterday had been about making sure rumors of his classes and levels made it back to the military leaders. Someone somewhere was probably trying to think of a way to counter something like him. Unfortunately, if he wasn’t mistaken only someone like him, a monster from the Labyrinth, or a divine would be able to provide that counter. The divines were prevented from interacting with or against him and the Labyrinth, he guessed monsters could be teleported, or captured and released near him but if it did kill him they’d have to recapture it. As for others like him, well it was a big multi-verse, he guessed anything was possible.
Adam climbed out of bed and went down to one of the guest bedrooms on the second floor to take a shower. Since the upgrade, the modern bathrooms he’d placed in each guest room had both a bathtub and shower. His nanites could clean him but he wanted to feel the hot water against his skin before he headed out. 20 minutes later he finished up and donned his typical monk garb. he made sure his Bracers of Air Defense, Cloak of Invisibility, and his Displace ability were on and active then opened a portal directly above Crownport. he looked down on the Fort in the center of Crownport and teleported to 10 feet above the roof. Adam floated there as he let his nanites spread out to their full 500-foot range. he estimated that the fort occupied a space of about 1,500 by 2,000 feet and was about five stories high, eight if he included up to three basement levels. He should be able to accomplish what he wanted to just by floating in circles and gradually making his way down to ground level.
Adam had the nanites analyze and then start disintegrating all structures from their roof down. Adam floated in a slow circle around the fort as its structures disappeared as if being erased by the pencil eraser.
At first, no one noticed then one of the guards outside noticed that the castle seemed to be evaporating. The guard yelled and pointed. At that moment people inside had started to notice that the building was disappearing around them and started to flee down the stairs towards the ground level. A couple of mages stepped outside and looked up as they cast some spells. If he’d been using a spell they might not have been able to see him but he was using an item to maintain his invisibility. Spells were cast. Arrows and Bolts flew past and he continued to make his way toward the ground. When soldiers or mages stepped within 500 feet of him, they were infiltrated by the nanites, frozen, and then dropped into rooms on Trappist-1e. There he had nanites control them while they stripped, and their clothes were dropped on the ground and fell through a portal that opened to collect their belongings. Once they were stripped, the nanites replaced their clothes with a Portal’s Inc. jumpsuit. Later he would go through all of their equipment and magic items.
Adam had thought about just destroying their gear and clothing so they would run away nude but if he accidentally destroyed a magic item with charges the devastation and deaths those explosions could cause might hurt nearby innocents. He was trying a more humane approach.
It was 7:30 a.m. when the Fort of Crownport and any and all guards and officials that had worked there were now in another colony on Trappist-1e. For now, he kept them all together. Desirae didn’t need any more people to worry about today. Adam called out for the guards to surrender and had the nanites control the guards to come forward and toss their equipment through a portal that opened into the center of his vault. He also had a few guards step through a portal into his Shadow Vault and begin organizing the piles and placing items in bins or on tables that his nanites created. Adaline came out of her cave in the vault at one point, flew over to see what was going on then flew back to her cave to use the intercom on the wall.
“Thor, Adam, however, I’m supposed to address you when you’re not here, what’s going on?
“Hey, Adaline. I’m talking through my Thor Aspect but if you talk to the intercom I should be aware of it unless I’m sleeping, which you usually know when that’s going on. Anyway, what can I do for you?”
“What are those people doing?” she asked.
“You know me, I just started walking and random people began throwing their clothes, equipment, and weapons at me. Sometimes even themselves. Those people will be separating and sorting those items so I can analyze them later. When they’re done I’ll send them back to their rooms.” Adam said.
“Okay, next question, Abi contacted me and asked if I’d like to go shopping, whatever that is?” she asked.
Adam had seen the call come in a little bit ago and knew Abi had asked, He’d just been concentrating on the Fort. “Sure, go shopping. Ask Abi to help you put on clothes that will cover your elf ears and do NOT turn into a dragon while you’re there. I’m honestly not too worried as I control everything there, but my world doesn’t know about magic and monsters yet. I wanted to break the news to them a little more slowly. Also, be careful, your strength will be greater than anyone there, even in your elf form. Finally, have fun!”
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“Okay I will, talk to you later,” she said.
Adam allowed his Thor Aspect to portal her over to Abi and keep an eye on her while she was out. He also sent Abi a message, “Might try to take Adaline up to the moon base before you return to the tower. I think she’ll have a ball in the low gravity.” He received a quick reply from Abi, “Kk.” Well damn, she really had gone native.
Adam returned his attention to Fort just as crowds of people throughout the city cheered. He landed next to one of the shopkeepers and dropped his invisibility which caused a few people to gasp but the cheering continued. He opened a portal directly over the center of where the fort used to be and released nanites from his world into the hole in the ground that had been created. They filled it in with normal dirt, covered with short grass. He might replace the fort at some point but for now, it was time to party. Adam then had the nanites start creating food and drink on the table with a sign above that said. “May the Light of Serena Shine Down on You this Day.”
As the food was being created he looked at the shopkeeper and asked, “I need to head towards Andidreas next, can you help me out?”
“Sure, Sure, Andidreas is about three days travel southwest of here. Just go out the west gate and when you get to the fork about a mile down the road, take the left one. You can’t miss it.
Adam pulled a silver out of his Belt of Infinite Wealth and handed it to the shopkeeper as he said, “Thank you for your time, now go enjoy the feast. I have to be on my way,” he said as he rose into the air, activated his cloak, and started cloud running to the west. Adam landed at the fork and then started walking down the left lane. As he made his way along the road he noticed a wagon heading his way towards Crownport. Beside the driver of the wagon sat a young woman in a soldier’s uniform. As they neared him Adam analyzed the woman and noted that she was a level 1 fighter, also she had no weapons. She also had a purple cloth bracer on her left arm. As the wagon came within range of him he heard her ask the driver to stop.
“Excuse him, sir, are you King Adamantadine from the North?” she asked.
“Yes, that would be me, what can he do for you?” he asked back.
“I have been sent here to deliver this message she said holding up a letter.”
“Do you mind if I cast a spell on your first, to check your intent?” he asked.
“Of course, I was told to offer you every courtesy,” she said.
Adam double-checked the range on his Detect Alignment spell and noted that it had a range of 100 feet. Adam sent the nanites out and into everything within 500 feet. The wagon looked to be carrying salted meat and except for a bow, some arrows and a short sword near the driver and a magical ring, and a non-magical short sword on the woman everything looked okay. Through his nanites, the magical ring had familiar energy signatures and two that were not.
“That ring on your finger, what is it?”
“Oh this, it was given to me by my grandmother when I came of age,” The woman said as she touched the ring on her left middle finger. It’s supposed to protect me and help me when I need it. It was stolen from me once but the next morning at sunrise it reappeared on my finger. Grandma said it was soul-bound to me, which I don’t really understand.” She said.
Well except for that magical ring everything seemed to be normal, yet something felt off. His nanites could detect magic and determined that the message wasn’t magical in any way. He cast Detect Alignment on the woman and then the man. The woman was Neutral Good. The man on the other hand was neutral, though it hinted at evil. So why did he have misgivings?
“My friends call him Adam, might I have your name?”
“I’m Tasha, it is very nice to meet you. May I step down and bring you this message? I don’t get paid unless the message is delivered and any response returned to the sender.”
“I don’t see why not, please, step down,” Adam said.
She stepped down from the wagon and walked to meet with him as he moved closer to the wagon. Adam looked around, making sure this wasn’t some kind of ambush. A hawk was in a tree about a half-mile away but nothing else was visible.
Tasha walked to him “On behalf of The Vizier for the Council of Crimson Blood I offer greetings and this message,” she said holding an envelope with a wax seal on it towards him.
Adam took the message, double-checked everything with his nanites then broke the seal and pulled out the note.
“Adamantadine,
I would like to congratulate you on thwarting our plans for Venoran. It is not often that we find such a formidable opponent as yourself. A smart man would wonder how this is a trap, which I believe you think it is. But the question you should have asked yourself is this. How does a mortal stop someone that is as powerful, or so close to the power level of a divine that there is almost no difference? The answer is that you do not. So, with great humility and the utmost respect, I have sent this message. The mage that destroyed your Tower is Xsitant. I do hope that you will take the time to meet him someday. He is a bit of a troublemaker that doesn’t always do as he’s told. I’m sure w he’ll be seeing you shortly.
-V
Why was there an error in the message? He thought about it and then started sounding it out in his mind. “w he’ll”? The “w” seemed pointless so he focused on “he’ll” which meant “he will.” “He will be seeing you shortly” instead of “we will be meeting you shortly” Adam muttered questionly. As he thought about it he realized the message was saying that he’d be seeing Xsitant Shortly, but he was in the future, wasn’t he? At that moment he knew it was a trap and was turning to see what would spring it as he heard Tasha say “Xsitant,” as she touched the ring on her left ring finger, not the ring on her middle finger. A moment later, a vortex opened and pulled both of them into it as the driver dived off to the side.
Adam’s mind exploded with pain which stopped just as quickly. He opened his eyes to find himself standing on a sand dune, Tasha standing exactly as she had been next to him, and Xsitant standing before him. Adam recognized Xsitant from the images He’d been shown by Serena. Adam didn’t so much as twitch as he had his nanites invade, map out, and prepare to take control of Xsitant.
“Hello?” Xsitant asked while taking a step back.
“Hello,” Adam said.
“Who are you?” Xsitant asked.
“Adamantadine, are you still going to try to kill him?” he asked.
“Look around, what would be the point now?” Xsitant asked resignedly.
While they talked warily, Tasha fell to her knees and started sobbing.