Eli POV
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'Damn, it was all going so well until the end' I thought to myself as I worked my way back to Bunich in the mid-morning sun.
The day after...that, was a day spent taking out the weaker outer ring of bandit camps and getting intel. I kidnapped a guard of one of the smaller number of drug convoys that pass through with their goods in the early morning. Our conversation gave me enough info to find several of their camps that I didn't already know about as well as their general operations. The drug of choice, skavy, needed to be produced from a special mushroom that only grew in the eastern region near the swamps and withered so fast after harvest that transporting it was nearly impossible.
Maw's gang was pretty new to the drug game but he invested heavily into new labs as well as taking over older abandoned ones that the other gangs couldn't hold onto due to orc raids that had since been pushed back. The guard didn't know much about the mages, just that they came around and sort-of joined all the gangs when the southern gangs started losing.
As I threw him over the cliff, I reflected on the details of these mages. They seemed to be some kind of mercenary outfit but with a rather uniform sense of dress and were highly skilled from what I could tell. Mages were highly regarded in this world, so what were they doing in the weeds here?
They were probably people that had a falling out with various mage organizations and were now trying to get a hand in the drug industry. It was another pain in the ass but not insurmountable. But more importantly, I needed information about how these gangs worked and who could work with nobles and authorize my kidnapping, information low-level grunts couldn't provide.
The rest of the day was spent clearing out the remote outer camps. They were ill-fed and ill-equipped so they posed no challenges for me.
The only one that gave me a little trouble was the one with pottery kilns, as it was the only one far enough away from the trees to prevent me from easily sneaking up to them. Attacking that one required some stealth and using the air spells to choke them from afar. It would only take one of them escaping to possibly warn the others but I couldn't hunt down these ones on the outer ring once I started attacking the bandits closer to the town lest I get cornered in the terrain by mages who know this place far better than me.
I had prepared several contingencies in case one of them slipped past and warned the others but there were only a few camps, the largest of which had 17 people. Since no forces started patroling the roads or bands of mages came to investigate I knew I had succeeded in keeping my appearance hidden, allowing me to commit to the maximum amount of damage that I could inflict.
I spent a good while making enchanted rocks in a large tree as I overlooked the road leading to the fortress. Their enchantments would send out blades of stone that barely lasted longer than they flew. This was a test run for an attack pattern that would lead to the orcs getting blamed. Sure I could use a few arrows and darts but I couldn't make those in the needed quantity or summon the wood as I could stone. These would make something more similar to knife and ax wounds that were typical of the orcs arsenal.
Another benefit was the magical constructs degrading the inorganic material actually worked in my favor, leaving behind nothing but bits of nondescript stone. The next day was spent zipping over the camps in the barely lit morning and dropping 4 or 5 stones at a time leaving a wave of carnage through the gangs' camps behind me as I moved through the treetops to my next target.
It was all going well until the final ambush, which would be close enough to the main base to really rattle their nerves. That the victims were going to be those grey leather armored mages was a considerable bonus to the fear factor. Down on their luck mercenaries or not, they had made their decision. As had the nobles who dragged me into this conflict, as had the gang who targeted me.
I was a good several yards on the left side of the road hiding in a bush. One of the enemies took my bullet with no fuss. The other two only just barely reacted but far too slowly, one got cut in half with a stone blade summoned from the craft while the other got shredded by a stone block sending out a storm of razor-sharp stone half circles.
The problem child of the bunch turned out to be two women on horseback. The blond and the brunette had been discussing something when their horse got spooked. The dumb beast jerked upwards taking the whirlwind of stone blades from the stone craft I threw from their right instead of its masters. Still, I suppose it went above and beyond the call of duty for its owners, which was commendable. Of course, when the two swiftly moved to go after the source of the attack instead of stupidly trying to run, I did not greatly appreciate the steeds' noble and unintentional sacrifice.
The brown-haired girl promptly sent out a wave of fire which forced me out of my position in a bush.
To their credit, they wasted little time being stunned or confused at my appearance and knew that now was the time to fight or flee. They chose to flee and after a few minutes of jumping and maneuvering, as they tried to get out of my reach, I took a dagger to the arm. After trading a few blows and realizing that they didn't have a prayer of outrunning me, the brown-haired girl charged me.
When her blond companion used air magic to jump over me and throw her daggers, I got the opportunity to end the fight, which I promptly did.
'Great, too bad your plans that involve saving people never work' A nasty voice sounded in my head.
I had tried very hard not to think about what had happened during my expeditions out in the woods. But any time it got quiet or my mind wasn't rushing to the next objective my conscience would inflict excruciating pain. The attack on the road with the orc gang had been more understandable, but with the incident involving the witches, that too now ate at me with its suggested pattern of failure.
'It wasn't my FAULT! I only had one or two minutes max when I came upon that gang and the orcs. Besides, Bartholomew was right. I at least managed to save one person.' I reasoned to myself, as I stopped on a larger tree.
'Those girls aren't going to grow up. They will never fall in love, start a family or go out with their friends talking about the good old days because YOU didn't ask some basic fucking question when you came here' was the only response my conscience gave.
I leaned back against the tree for a long moment as tears came up into my eyes. But I had a mission to do and promptly took off from the tree, the pain in my heart being about the only thing I could feel in the cool air.
Coming back to Bunich, I made my way back around the backside of the town. Going through the treetops overlooking the palisade, I came onto the church rooftop shaded by the trees. Using earth magic I came into the building through one of the upper story windows. The room was bare of any furnishments and with the cobwebs on the various boxes, I was probably inside an older storage room. I moved swiftly across the dark wooden boards up to the door to my left.
After quickly listening for any movement through the crack in the door, I slinked out. The place was practically abandoned but it still took me a while between maintaining the sound deadening spell and crouching through the hallways and roof beams to find my target.
In a basement on the right side of the building was a large iron door surrounded by pretty solid stonework. Using earth magic, I quickly tunneled to the right and came into the room as I filled in the hole once I got into the room. I also made sure to leave a line of stone to guide me back towards the hall once it was time to leave.
The dark room was soon lit up with a flame in my palm. I still wasn't sure about how the fire magic worked as far as burning oxygen went but there was a large enough space under the door frame that I wasn't worried about running out of air. While the sides were bare with nothing but the grey stonework, the middle of the room held a line of bookshelves back to back. I walked up to it and started perusing its contents. Taking special care to remember where I took the books from, I picked up a red book and went over its contents.
This one was from Daimond if his name scrawled on the first page was anything to go by. It seemed to mostly be about momentum and the formulas for physical energy. All quite fascinating to see on such old paper but that was something I was already familiar with.
Perusing through the other volumes I found more inventions but they all suffered from the same problems the friar mentioned:
A mechanized jackhammer that wouldn't be as effective as slapping a stone enchantment on a leather sleeve around a regular hammer.
The mechanical water pump had a number of moving parts that would require a lot of replacements, which is a problem you wouldn't have with a rope that had enchantments pulling up the water through its fields of manipulation.
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A sad thought struck me. It was these things that were the foundation of a technical society. The massive supply chains and professions involved in operating and improving them were the seeds that allowed my people to create things that far surpassed the abilities of magic.
I reflected on that briefly.
I could make several crafts that would far and away increase the bounties of a farm's crops but the restriction of available mana would forever limit the increase to the fields yields. But hydroponics had no such limits. More nuclear, solar, or bio-reactor plants could always be built to increase the scale but magical systems had no such scalable abilities. It was getting over that hump into the higher tier industries where Adia had fallen short.
The bitter thought nipped at me as I reflected on how much better things would have gone if I had just put forth little to no effort in the trials. All the things I could be building right now and the only thing I've done since getting here is kill bandits.
I suppose it's not a total loss.
After putting the book back, I dug through the wall again while making sure to replace every bit of stone as I followed the trail in the earth I had left behind. Coming into the hallway, I went back up to the main floor. It was still pretty empty, so after maneuvering around a few of the priests, I used magic to slip two gold coins into the collection box as I sat above it in the darkness of the rafters.
It was the only way I would let myself get away with inflicting more expenses on these poor people.
Going back into the room from whence I came and back into the treetops, I made my way towards the academy town. Despite my great hunger and need to shower, I pushed on knowing I could get all I needed once I got there. It was around mid-afternoon when I got back. Coming into the abandoned troll nest, I undressed and pushed the boulder blocking the entrance a little bit using magic. I made my way through the tunnel until I got back into my workshop and hung up my suit on the stand to my right.
I got a quick shower using magic in the grotto section of my basement. Afterward, I replaced my leather armor and cloth undershirt with a white shirt and brown pants. I headed into town carrying a deflated air about me with a lot of the passerby going out of their way to avoid me, more so than usual. The street food stall by the docks I ate at served a delicious looking whole fish served in a bowl with spicy peppers and a rich cream sauce washed down with a fruity ale.
But it might as well have been cold porridge for all I the taste I could register.
Going back to my house while looking blankly over the It would take a while to get all of the timing down, but if I could make enchantments that had some time delay mechanism that would allow me to set up traps above their camp and 'launch' attacks while in class. I went over several ways to do that as I went home but all the late nights and long trips of the past few days had taken their toll on me so I just lay in my hammock opposite the main door resting and futilely trying to think of my past family as the late afternoon slipped away.
Then the door opened and I saw Salamede coming through the doorway with the bright oranges across the sky glowing from her back. She had a bucket and several rags in her hands. I felt an odd sense of foreboding as I looked at her but couldn't quite put my finger on what was causing it.
"Oh, you're home. I thought you would be coming back late so I wanted to-" She stopped as she looked back over towards me. I guess the shower didn't help cover up the rough few days I had.
"What happened?" She asked gently, her soft, feminine voice showing concern through the connection.
"Nothing," I said bitterly as I looked back towards the smooth grey stones of the ceiling.
She clearly didn't buy my assertion as the sound of her approaching was heard on my left side.
"Eli, what happened?" She asked. I turned towards her. She had a green dress on with the rags and the bucket on the floor by the hammock. Her white spherical eyes, though lacking irises, still showed some concern with the look on her humanoid face with fur. She was biting her lower lip in worry.
I sat up in the hammock.
"It's no...I...I-"
I just stared at her for a bit before it all came out.
"I am growing tired of these people," My voice laden with weariness but I pushed through. "I see children stricken with hunger, the bodies of beggars deformed with disease in the markets, and I know in my mind it is my duty, by the word of God and by my own moral imperative, to help them. But damn if the people in charge aren't making it hard to do so. Another growing part of it is the loneliness.
I've spent a long time in workshops and tinkering with various tools but even the most independent soul needs companionship after weeks, someone to provide a sense of belonging and to be a member of your tribe. With the trial, the scions now avoid me and none of the crafters or casters ever cared for me. Things would have gone far better for me if I had just done nothing for the trials.
But now if I want to bring science to the world I have to prove that I'm not a pedophile and I've got to scrounge up some scrap of paper or confession to clear my name."
"Have you considered going somewhere else?" She asked hesitantly like she didn't want to know the answer.
"Yeah, but the problem with that is the stench on me will follow wherever I go. I can't hide my identity" I pointed towards my silver hair and purple eyes "in any city. Who knows, if the guards sent to bring me back to the academy don't catch up with me the nobles might. Besides I'm already established among the peasantry here, so I can still buy land and build the... um, they're called factories. Special buildings made to huge quantities of items very cheaply."
Salamede nodded her head in what seemed like a mix of comprehension and relief.
"and... you know I thought myself so much better than other people, so much more righteous and good. But maybe I'm the asshole and I just don't get it. "
"Why would you even say that?" Salamede asked as she sat down to my left.
I looked her in the eyes then told her about the gang and orc attack on the road, and then the incident with the witches. She put a hand to her mouth near the end as her eyes glistened.
"Oh, those poor girls." She said as she shed a single tear for them.
"I tried several times. Several times to save people, to make a better world with my actions outside of the workshop, but several young girls, who had so much life ahead of them are dead because I didn't ask the right questions." I said bitterly.
Salamede squeezed my hand as I continued.
"But you know what I have done right? Kill bandits. I can kill bandits. All of those plans have gone exceedingly well. It's just actually saving their victims or other innocents where I can't seem to get it right. I'm just not used to having to act on the spot. Back home I would typically have 2 or 3 contingencies in place before having to even consider what to do, not to mention years of crafts at my disposal to accomplish what I wanted. " I finished.
"But the friar was right, you did manage to save one life. Which is even more impressive considering you're a mage. Most mages wouldn't go out of their way to help peasants, something those people we saved from the troll will well attest." She said sincerely.
"Is that enough? That I'm a mage so not letting a bunch of kids die makes me worthy of commendation. What-" It hit me then what I had sensed earlier. Salamede had a human-shaped skull with a soft downy fur. But her goat features were still quite prominent as were her pure white eyes. There had been only one thing in this world that was similar and it had been just different enough that I didn't put the two together immediately: The demon.
"Salamede... that demon. It had some features that were... similar to a Kelton. Is there a connection there?" I asked hesitantly.
Her eyes drooped with her ears and she bit her lip as she clearly struggled for a response.
A chill went up my spine.
Dear God, did it happen again?
Did the female Keltons have magic powers? Like the kind Lilly used on me?
I quickly went over all of our interactions, from picking her up in the street to the rescue in the basement to our troll adventure up until now. I couldn't remember anything that stood out but that didn't mean that the Kelton's abilities were limited by having to look us in the eye like the dryads.
"I... think I need to be alone," I said quickly.
Salmede pulled back like I had physically hit her. She looked at me hurt for a moment before picking the bucket and rags that sloshed some water along her green dress. She half ran out of the door, pausing only briefly once she reached the doorway looking out over the grass and the red sky of the fading sun. But the moment passed and she ran back towards her home.
Getting up off the hammock and over to the stand that held my items to the right, I put on my armor as my mind raced with different tracks of thought. Why would a part-demon woman help me out? Why are half-demon people allowed in the town?
Hold on, one step at a time.
I rushed back towards the academy dorms and from there went to the classrooms myself. Luckily it was late enough that the guards didn't see me blend into the small crowd approaching for late-night study sessions. When we finally got towards the classrooms, some people noticed me and gave me the typical scowls and mean spirited glares, but I ignored them and pushed past into the white circular dual-building. I half-ran towards the third floor dedicated to works on the world's various species and their known abilities and attributes. The biggest distinction was the human-breeding capable species on the left side of the floor and those who couldn't reproduce with humans on the right. I guessed correctly and found the Kelton on the left side.
It took me well into the night of reading book after book about the Keltons to find my answer. There were several inquiries into their origins. The most popular theory was a freak accident of a human morphing into a demon and the parasite dying halfway, possibly something to do with the administration of holy water.
The most important part was that Keltons only seemed to have odd spikes of blood lust. Three different books testified that Keltons had no other innate magical abilities any different than humans. The only difference seemed to be that if they became scions they manifested a personal weapon rather than a companion.
I took a deep breath and looked out over the mess of books.
Yeah, I mean this all would make sense. If the Keltons had some malicious abilities and given how xenophobic low tech societies-
'Don't fucking start with that. The first time I heard about the Keltons origins my first impulse was to not even let them in the town. I'm in no position to start on this high minded crusade about enlightening the unwashed masses' I scolded myself.
After putting all of the books back, I headed back towards Salamedes' home.
The faint glow of a candle in the window told me she was still up. After knocking on the door, I waited for a few moments before the door slightly opened. Salamede looked at me through the crack with a bitter look on her face.
"Are you sure it's safe being so close to me?" She asked in a spiteful tone.
"Salamede, come on. That's not fair. I understand why you're upset but that was quite a lot to drop on someone out of nowhere." I said in a conciliatory manner. She closed her eyes briefly before letting out a long breath and after a moment she opened the door, revealing the rest of the green dress that she hadn't changed out of. I followed her as she went inside and sat on the red couch to the right.
We sat in silence for a few moments before continuing our conversation in the candlelight glow from the table in front of us.
"So what did you find out about us?" She asked. Salamede was leaning back into the couch as she stared at the ceiling with her arms across her stomach. I just sat upright looking at her.
"Part demon with odd spikes of blood lust. Aside from getting weapons as scions, you're pretty much humans." I replied.
"Yeah. It's so irritating, just having a conversation or shaking a hand, and out of nowhere is a sudden urge to attack and kill. Some of us struggle with it more than others, but I've never given in to the impulse." She said. I took the opportunity to lighten the mood.
"I'm surprised such a species would vomit at the sight of a trolls head caving in." I teased.
She swatted my arm.
"Ass" Salamede chuckled "The occasional bout of blood lust doesn't mean we're fine with guts and gore. Though, given my troll reaction, did you really think I was a threat to you?"
"I'm not a god among men. The right arrow from a peasant could kill me. Besides, I wasn't really worried about a frontal attack. My first concern was mind manipulation." I responded. She raised an eyebrow at me.
"When I first came here, I ran into a druid. She lead me away from a Front patrol after using some form of mind magic on me. I didn't even know that I was under her spell and I'm pretty sure it had residual effects for days afterward. My main worry was that I got tricked again." I said as indifferently as I could but she must have seen how the deception still stung.
"Eli" She said as she hugged me with her handlebar ivory horns going over my head. She wrapped her arms around my neck as her considerable chest pressed against mine. I had a faint tugging in my memory like I've done this before but all it produced this time was an intoxicating mix of lust, contentment, and safety. A feeling so primal, right from my ancestors' days in caves enveloped me, letting me truly relax for the first time in ages.
Sadly, the moment passed. Eventually, she let go of me and looked me in the eyes.
"I've thought more about your offer to help in the missions. I think it'll be best if I come with you. Another pair of eyes out there would be invaluable, yes?" She finally said.
"Indeed. You'll mostly stay in the back and shoot at people though." I said with a smile.
"Why? Don't trust me with my flame thrower?" She asked in a decidedly neutral tone.
"I do, it's just that making them think there is only one vine monster will give us a tremendous advantage in surprise and flexibility," I responded. I would probably have to give her my gun at first and set up another generator, but this time an unenchanted vine suit would be fine for a while since she could just piggyback on me to travel.
I got up and shook her hand. She waved goodbye to me as I took off down the stone bricks of the street. Coming back into my home I rested in the hammock, this time my sleep came as a gentle drift as a sense of warmth and comfort helped push me into sleep.