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She was running through the forest, ignoring the whipping of the branches and the rain. It was a dangerous place where little girls were eaten, or worse, by big bad wolves and evil people. Brindabella didn’t care. Death was preferable to her fate.
She liked to be a child. Hanging around the good nuns at the monastery, learning to read and write, listening to all those amazing stories they told… But marrying? At ten? Why couldn’t her parents leave her alone to become a nun? Alliances? Titles? Being a princess? Those meant nothing to her.
A gust of imaginary wind and a bright light hit her face, and she woke up from her nightmare. The street lights had dimmed under the storm. The snowflakes' flurry battled against the lampposts as the weather turned colder. Prague was beautiful, though. The whistling of the air currents against the window, the houses, the hills, the river…
Brindabella knew she wasn’t going to live to the morning. The corruption had spread to all of her physical body and ninety-nine percent of his Mana Body. She had let Vincent’s father-in-law set the doctor's appointment only to have them all out of her way… to be left alone and see the beauty forbidden to her for centuries.
And even if the doctor would heal her, what good would that make? The corruption had overcome the pod’s regeneration, and her body had aged. She was a crone now, not a twelve-year-old child anymore. When she raised it to meet Vincent’s on the other side of the glass, her hand looked so frail and thin…
At first, she planned to go quietly into nothingness, admiring the view. Still, the fierceness of the snowstorm outside made her reconsider. With a bit of luck, she could open the pod and the window and feel reality one last time…
She studied the window’s lock for a few minutes, rehearsing the movement in her head. Then, she ordered her pod to open. There was a hiss and a plume of white smoke, and the lid disappeared into the main structure. She fell forward, but her hand was prepared, stretched forward.
Her right foot stepped on the floor, aching from even that small gesture, but the left remained trapped inside the pod. Nevertheless, the distance was small. Catching the handle, she pushed it with desperation. The windows opened outward. Her hand had to let go of the handle, taking support on the sill.
As the snowflakes hit her face, her heart brimmed with joy. Brindabella screamed, a scream of happiness and goodbye, of regret but also fulfillment. Her body was burning in agony, but the cold from outside brought relief. With a jolt, her left foot freed, and she fell forward, catching herself on the frame. It was glorious… She inhaled the frigid air and then some more.
Why am I not dead?
At least a minute had passed, and now the cold felt uncomfortable. Shivering, Brindabella closed the window and instinctively took refuge inside the pod again. It kept the lid open but instantly turned the heat on… and she was… healing? Strength was returning to her limbs, and pain was going away.
For the first time in a century, she turned on her notifications. Her mind was so used to knowing what was going on without the blue text that she had dismissed them completely at some point. And even now, filtered by the order of importance, the notifications displayed what was important.
You have arrived in a Neutral Mana World.
You have been exposed to Neutral Mana by opening your pod and momentarily lost your magic powers.
A Living Curse feeding on your magic has been detected in you. The curse was destroyed once exposed to Neutral Mana. You are now cured.
Brindabella screamed again, then cried. Together with her tears, the text rolled on.
Your Physical and Mana Bodies were almost depleted. Neutral Mana has filled in the vacuum left by the Living Curse. Your Mana Body is now made of 80% Neutral Mana and 20% percent Active Mana.
Correction: Two Mana Bodies were detected: one made of Neutral Mana and the second of Awakened Mana. Previous values reflect percentages. Mana Bodies are refilling.
Your current stats have a linear scale value.
Name: Brindabella Silverbrook / Age: ???
Species: Evolved Human
Level: 100
Class: Runechild / Tier: Archetype
Body: 10 / Mind: 40 / Spirit: 100
SPs: 1100 / CPs: 1400 / MPs: 10.000 *
HPs 1100 / 1100
* Due to being the equivalent of a Mythical tier or higher, reaching Spirit cap value without buffs or enchantments puts your Mana resource at cap value x level.
“There’s nobody in the staircase,” a voice said from afar.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“Should be a drunk or a homeless,” somebody else said.
“My God! It’s the child!” a woman yelled, erupting into the room and turning the lights on. It was Irene. “Karl, come back inside.”
“Where the fuck is Ludwing? He was supposed to keep an eye on her,” a man said. Karl.
“You know how he is,” the first voice. “Chasing skirts or flying in the storm…”
The last voice was Vincent’s mother. Jana and Martin appeared next to the opened pod, checking Brindabella’s forehead and pulse and awkwardly trying to open her eyes wider to look at her pupils, evidently without any idea what they were doing.
“I’m fine…” Brindabella croaked.
“You’re all but fine,” Jana hissed back. “We move her to Vincent’s bed. On three, two, one… now.”
“What’s going on?” Ludwing appeared in the door frame. “Oh, my God! What’s that?”
“It’s the child trapped in the pod,” Jana said.
“That’s no child,” Elina frowned. “Look at her size.”
“I aged… the pod malfunctioned,” Brindabella said in a coarse voice.
“First, we cut that hair, then she’ll shower,” Elina decided.
They put the Archetype sit on the bed’s edge, then started to raise her chin, lower her head, or ask her to stay still while they poked those weird small scissors in her mane. Brindabella wondered why they bothered since she was an ugly old crone anyway.
Half an hour later, Elina brought a mirror. “You like the haircut?” she asked. “It’s called a bob.”
Brindabella’s eyes and mouth went round, like a fish out of water, struggling to breathe. Staring back at her from the mirror was not a crone but a teenage girl with porcelain skin, full red lips, and gray-green eyes.
Correction:
Name: Brindabella Silverbrook / Age: 16-18 ??? Calibration is still in progress.
Class: Runechild RUNEMAIDEN Tier: Archetype
She fainted.
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“She remembers very little of her time in the pod except for the last few days,” Peter told Vincent. “It felt like a dream… that’s what she says. Karl’s doctor says she’s healthy and gave her some vitamin supplements.”
“It’s better she stays with us for now,” Vincent’s sister said.
In the other room, Brindabella was trying Bella’s old clothes, cussing when they didn’t fit. They couldn’t see her, but the swears were quite clear.
“It might be a self-defense reflex, her mind trying to cope with what she did,” Irene said.
“She’s from the middle ages or something. They cussed a lot,” Bella said.
“I have to have a longer talk with her, but I don’t think she’ll have problems,” Peter said. “She sounds like a typical teenager… Anything I should know?”
Irene scratched her chin. “Started a cult, centuries ago, making some Mongol tribes cut their private parts to remain chaste and pure… probably her childish subconsciousness—”
“If you’re dumb enough to cut your winnie because someone tells you, you deserve your fate,” Vincent said. “She’s a good girl… Helped me save Irene and the System… Bella, can you do magic?” he yelled.
“Not without touching the pod!” the Archetype yelled back.
“We have to research that pod,” Bee said, intervening for the first time. “Did they malfunction?”
“The Archetypes I trapped in the Vault said something about being used improperly,” Vincent said. “And that reminds me… I have another one in my storage, The Raven’s one… Oh, gosh! Actually, two, with the one from Montenegro.”
“Well, if you transfer it to me, I spoke with a fellow scientist in Vienna, and we can analyze it in their lab.”
“I don’t know if it’ll fit in your ring. They’re bigger than a bathtub. I’ll take one to that lab later if you want.”
“OK, that’ll work too…”
“Say, Peter,” Vincent pulled his future brother-in-law aside. “I don’t know if you noticed, but a… couple of people here could use some therapy. Not me, of course; I’m as sane as one could be… considering the circumstances,” he rushed to say, noticing Peter’s scrutinizing stare. “But the rest…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it discreetly,” Peter said. “They won’t even know I work on them.”
“It might include the AIs…”
“Oh… that would be interesting…” Peter’s eyes sparkled.
“Yeah… But in due time… Now, I have a lot of things on my mind… May I go on the balcony to call Stellarterra?”
“Be my guest,” Peter gestured.
“Show me how to open the doors. I couldn’t figure it out.”
“Oh, that… moment. It slides, there’s a lever you pull, then... like this. We bought the best apartment your money could buy… sorry for the pun.”
“That’s exactly what I wanted, man. For Bella and you to have a nest of your own.”
Going on the terrace only in a shirt made Vincent shiver. He invoked Shadow Armor over his body because it also maintained a layer of warmth over the skin. Concentrating on the ring, he tried to connect to Dragon.
“Dragon, do you hear me?”
“The fuck is that?” he heard his friend’s voice. “Show yourself!”
“It’s me, Vincent! I’m speaking in the ring.’
“The fuck?”
“The ring. C’mon, man, get a grip. Don’t you remember—”
“It’s the inter-dimensional communication,” Titan’s voice said.
“Ah…. The ring! Why didn’t you say so in the first place? Axe Raven, this is Dragon. Report. Over.”
“Cut the shit! Speak normally. How’s the situation there?”
“Axe Dragon, this is Dragon. The—”
The link cut, only to come back a second later. “This is Titan. Dragon is indisposed, he has a concussion. Hit his head on the windshield. I took the ring from him. What’s your status?’
“I’m in a normal world, doing normal things… almost normal things… What’s your status?”
“Shoot that sniper already!” the voice yelled. “We’re in combat. There was an ambush. The Celts tried a Napoleon on us.”
“A what?”
“Dividing their forces to beat us separately with local superiority. They had some stealth devices.”
“Are you OK? I could jump to give you a hand.”
“We’re good now, it’s almost over. We called in a strike. Err… Scoundrell is missing in combat.”
“Shit!” Vincent squeezed his fist, thrusting his fingernails in his palm. It was hard to lose people, especially having so few of them. However, he had to find more information. “News from Bulgaria?”
“Sorry, nothing… but if they sent messages through birds, they did it to Krivoburg. I know that Thug’s girlfriend is covering our southern flanks now.”
“Thug’s girlfriend?”
“Yeah, the Goth chick. They’ve been dating for a few months now.”
“Is Thug anywhere near you?” Vincent hissed.
“Not really, he’s in the front Hummer, why?”
“I want you to give him a hard kick in the butt, the first thing when you see him. He’s my best friend, and I don’t know anything about his love life?”
“I’ll try, but he’s likely to see it coming. He’s very fast now. That Queen fight brought him to level eighty.”
“I’ll call in twenty-four hours. There were developments here, too, and we’re… err… short on money. It will take at least a week to get some.”
“Good, the last sniper is down. I have to go, man. I’m in command.”
“Take care.”
Grinding his teeth, Vincent turned and tried to re-enter the room, only to bump into the window, which had closed automatically. Cursing, he knocked on the glass, rubbing his forehead, waiting for Peter to answer. When his fingers ceased obstructing his eyes, he gasped. Brindabella had returned dressed in a summer dress, white with pink flowers, and shee looked astonishing.
“Wow, you’re so pretty!” he said, attracting some ugly stares from Irene and Lila. “Hey, it’s just a compliment. I’m thinking nothing of what you think I’m thinking,” he protested. “She reminds me of my sister at her age... kind of,” he pursed his lips. His sister was olive-skinned, dark-haired, and had a shapely figure side, while Brindabella was lithe and blonde.
“You think you can get her a ring to do magic?” Bee asked. “I could learn a lot from her.”
“What about we go to my father’s workshop and cut a few more rings?” Vincent asked. “But before that, I need to make a jump to the barracks to check what the guys who remained here are doing. See you in half an hour.”