“Always the gentleman. How is your trial going, Iwa? Found a Sunless wife? They do look a lot like shades.”
“Funny you should mention that,” he answered in a suave tone. He adjusted his hair, which had changed style since the last time Sofia had seen him. “Perhaps I did,” he hinted.
“Did you, now?” Sofia asked again, shocked that this was his answer to her joke. She knew that Ihuarah was not the kind to jest.
“I am unallowed to say more, I’m afraid. A lot of information in this place is not shareable, however, I have good hope that a third member might accompany our expedition to Sorrow’s palace.”
“Sorrow’s Palace? This is what you were searching for in the jungle? Also Cinthia wants to join in on the fun, do you remember her from the sect?”
“But of course. She is particularly well suited for the expedition, I believe that should be enough people, though I would not object if Zerei, Alith or your sister were to come along.”
Sofia thought about it for a second. “It is possible Alith may come, Zerei and Saria should be busy, I think”
“Fair enough. Truth be told, this expedition may end in failure for a great many reasons, there is no point in having too many heads. But I digress, let this old fool see how he may help you with your trial, Lady Sofia.”
“I appreciate any information you can give me. Did you find the Alpha?”
“Excuse me, the Alpha?” Ihuarah answered, sounding genuinely confused.
“Oh… Is your additional task not the same? Look, this is what I have.”
[Additional rewards task : α ]
“That… I am afraid my information will be worthless to you. It is indeed different, here is mine.”
[Additional rewards task : Cleanse the mirage city]
Sofia smirked as she read Ihuarah’s task. “The admins really planned this trial well, didn’t they? There must be three or four tasks alternating to make sure that different batches of trial takers don’t interfere or help each other.”
“An elegant design. I am well on my way to finding this mirage city, well hidden that it is. From the clues I have gathered, it only appears briefly at dusk on the junctions of the planet’s artificial mana leylines. With a bit of luck, one might just stumble upon it,” Ihuarah explained. “As for your task, I have not the faintest idea, my apologies.”
“Not to worry, I have a solid lead, what I am searching for is the ‘hidden planet’ Cerberus Alpha. It should be somewhere nearby, in space.”
“Is that so? This does ring –” Ihuarah abruptly stopped midway through his sentence.
“Are you alright? Did you just get censored?”
Ihuarah quickly came back to his senses, he cleared his throat and explained, “Apologies, my mind went blank for an instant. This is a forbidden topic, it appears.”
“No matter. I’ll find it in time, I already have a good idea of what to search for after just being here a few days, so I’m not worried,” Sofia said. She wanted to follow up with a question about the location of dungeons, but it was her turn to blank out and feel her thoughts drift away before she could open her mouth.
“Are your hearts progressing well?” Ihuarah asked, walking around in the shuttle.
Sofia immediately felt that she was not allowed to say anything about her heart’s rank and imprints, so all she could muster was a simple “Yes.”
“More restrictions…” Ihuarah commented, pensive. “We are only allowed to share the wager effects, I believe. Oh! And speaking of sharing, this humble servant now has a personal tier two scribe and access to a complete status window, courtesy of Sir Kyle.”
“Really?! I need to see that!”
“It is my pleasure. You may notice issues with the skills, pay it no mind, it is simply the system trying to integrate my old magic. May I have a look at your heart’s wager? I am quite curious about your choice of essence, for Pareth’s as well.”
“Of course, here.”
The two traded system windows.
[Nascent mana heart of Sorrow]:
Status redacted.
Wager bonus (Light hearted) : In battle, for each 1 imprint power held within your mana heart: Gain 1% agility and 1% speed.
Wager penalty (Stress eating) : You must always absorb every imprint of every creature you kill, even if they are shards for already completed skills. You must kill every creature which damages you. Failure to comply inflicts a cumulative 25% current maximum health penalty for the rest of the trial (Minimum Health = 1).
‘Name : Ihuarah
Age : 6463
Class : [Grand animist] ♢
Level : 249 ♢
Health : 24 900 / 24 900
Stamina : No.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
Mana : 124 500 / 124 500
Main Specialization (Systemless): [Hexer]
Active Skills (12 / 8)
[Create Spirit body]
[Animism]
[Spirit-tearing claw]
[Animal Spirit armor]
[The Five Cataclysms]
[Teleportation]
[Shields of the weave]
[Elemental bolstering]
[Flesh and soul reconstruction]
[Pestilence cloud]
[Withering blast]
[Curse weaving]
Racial Skills (3)
[Shadow transfer]
[Advanced physical damage resistance]
[Shadow blades]
Passive Skills (12 / 8)
[Hand of Sorrow]
[Ruler’s charisma]
[Battlefield management]
[Unbreakable focus]
[Proud warriors fight again]
[Withering touch]
[Possessed body]
[Spell misdirection]
[Spell redirection]
[Weakening aura]
[Curse protection]
[Mana Siphon]
Classless Skills (7 / 5)
[Alchemy]
[Natural Knowledge]
[Commander’s Aura]
[Friend of the winds]
[Immobile fighter]
[Fast reading]
[Sorrow’s rites]
[Blessing of radiance]
“There is a tremendous lot to say…” Sofia started after reading Ihuarah’s status.
“As would be expected, I would appreciate it if we could save this discussion for later, however. We will have plenty of time to discuss my abilities in detail during our next trip,” Ihuarah answered.
“Right… We should each focus on our own trial right now. Still, what do you say we take an hour or two to catch up? I have some really nice food… Wait, can you even eat?”
“Let us not do it inside of this space vessel, then. And yes, I can eat. It serves little to no purpose, but I can.”
Sofia nodded as she walked out of the shuttle with Ihuarah.
“What is your body even made of now? You had time to figure that out?”
“Certainly,” he confirmed, “Much like other shades, my physical body is composed primarily of charcoal dust, the same thing your rot leaves behind. As you can see, there is a component of it which is mana-fuelled black light, and that is everything.”
“So for eating… How?” Sofia asked.
“Magic. I can see, hear, breathe, talk, feel , taste, smell, and it is all simulated perception through innate magic functions ingrained into my soul. A lot of the mana which would go into empowering one’s body, on me, is used simply to perform these basic human functions. It comes with a shade’s body, however, so things about even out.”
“The only thing you’re missing is a heartbeat?”
“Precisely so, that and the ability to procreate,” he added. “Should we go outside? I would greatly appreciate some red meat and a vegetable stew, if you can provide that.”
Sofia nodded, “Yeah we can, the area should be clear, I have not seen any big Sunless cocoons nearby while I was around last night.”
“Marvelous.”
“Wait, about… Do you not have your manhood?” Sofia asked.
“Ever so blunt, Lady Sofia. No, it is there, under these layers of fake clothing which are also part of my body. The tool is not lacking, the fluids are.”
“I see… Does that bother you? Wait… Did you have kids before?”
“It was an unexpected loss, but not one I would lose hair thinking about. And no, I never had the time or opportunity to foster an offspring, regrettably. Do you want kids, my lady?”
“Well, I cannot say that I want to right now or in the near future… But I would like to keep the option open, if it’s not already too late.”
On the tower floor outside of the shuttle, Ihuarah gave a side look to the decomposing bear-like creature he had fought there but did not comment on it, their conversation had led them to the long spiral staircase, and Ihuarah jumped off from it, landing silently at the base of the tower below. Sofia followed suit, deploying her wings at the last second to cushion the fall. Ihuarah just continued the conversation as he walked to leave the tower.
“There are many other options, to be honest. One can always adopt an orphan, have a soul offspring with one of the rare spiritually-reproducing races, or even create a new soul from scratch, as a necromancer would.”
A new soul… Like Pareth or Richard’s generals.
“Spiritually-reproducing races?” Sofia repeated.
“Yes, most notable would be the Fey, Nymphs, and Dragons,” Ihuarah explained as he left the tower through the concealed passage in the wall, shielding his ‘eyes’ from the morning sun with a raised hand.
“Dragons?!”
“Indeed. You were friendly with Zephir and Erredis; have you not seen the size of them?”
“I… I did, yeah, but?”
“That is it. How do you figure sexual intercourse works at this scale? The answer is that it does not.”
But they can take human form if they want, though…
“I am not sure if I want to ask about why you know this… That being said, I wish you were around more often, Iwa, you’re like an infinite well of knowledge. Even if some of it is… Disturbing.”
Ihuarah laughed heartily as he stared at the rising sun.
“You flatter me, Lady Sofia. I am but an old man you brought back from the tomb.”
----------------------------------------