Our trio walked downstairs, the stairwell creaking under our boots.
My mana finally started to flow through me properly, so I mentally summoned up my Stats, quickly going over them.
Name:
Dante Alan Skyisle / Vladislav Alexandrovich Kerenski
Age:
13
Species & Subtype:
Human / Astral Phantom
Affinity:
Soul hunter [+ Soul Devourer skill]
Spark of the Morningstar [+ 3 skill channels] [+ Soul-Song skill]
Dryad [+Chrysalis skill]
Blessing of Emperor Celesar [+ 2 skill channels]
Life-Forger [increased success in creation of new life & modification of existing biology]
Level:
17
Experience:
18'312/16'200
Health:
17/17
Stamina:
17/17
Mana:
17/17
Mana regen:
17 m/hr
Strength:
16
Agility:
16
Dexterity:
16
Vitality:
18 [+3]
Charisma:
12
Magic:
65 [+3]
Foresight:
15
Intelligence:
481 [+89]
Wisdom:
15
Soul:
[100] Dante
[+77] Slava
[-54] Battie & Leemy
[+88] Klint & Keps
[-12] Soul Decay
[-32] Legonnie, Lymphagons
[-3] Mesmy
[-20] Equality's Vow
[-7] Ogonek
[-3] Ghost Ant
[+2] Kopernii Castiglia
[-1] Diary
[-32] Kliss
[-27] Wooden armacus
Available: 96
Skills:
1
[Soul-Song LV 0] [ON]
[Raising Spell efficiency by 0.1%]
[Providing detailed Soul-Stats]
[Translating the Soul-Song's Language]
Known Song-Spells:
[Tamus-Anima] [Sectus-Anima] [Conjugo-Anima] [Identify]
2
#1 [Infoscope LV 20]
3
#2 [Infoscope LV 20]
4
#3 [Infoscope LV 20]
5 #1 [Info-Tether LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 1
6 #2 [Info-Tether LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 2
7 #3 [Info-Tether LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 3
8 #1 [Modify LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 1
9 #2 [Modify LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 2
10 #3 [Modify LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 3
11 #1 [Sectus-Tether LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 1 12 #2 [Sectus-Tether LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 2 13 #3 [Sectus-Tether LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 3 14 [Chrysalis LV 15] [OFF] 15 #4 [Info-Tether LV 20] - connected to Legonnie
16 #4 [Sectus-Tether LV 20] - connected to Astral Ant
17
[Mana>Electricity Converter LV 20]
18 [Vow-Breaker LV 20]
19 [Charisma-Resonance LV 20] 20 [NeuroVista LV 20] [ON] 21 #4 [Infoscope LV 20] 22 #4 [Info-Tether LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 4 23 #4 [Modify LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 4 24 #4 [Sectus-Tether LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 4 25 [Lucid Dreamer LV 20] 26 [Cellular Converter LV 20]
27 [-=Soul Devourer=-] Phylactery - Battie
[Ward Barrier] [Level Concealment] [LV 14]
[Crystal Battery]
[14 soul shards from Dante]
[20/20 mana] Phylactery - Leemy [Chrysalis] [LV 27] [Mystic-Willow-Oak]
[40 soul shards from Dante]
[40 soul shards from Delta]
[27/27 mana]
Phylactery - Legonnie [Lymphagon] [LV 20]
[20 soul shard from Dante]
Phylacteries - 12 Lymphagons [LV 1]
[12 soul shard from Dante] Phylactery - Ogonek [Fire-Bee] [LV 14]
[7 soul shard from Dante]
[7 soul shard from Delta]
Phylactery - Mesmy [Mesmerbane Fox cub] [LV 3]
[3 soul shard from Dante] Phylactery - Kliss Eliza Cessna [LV 19]
[32 soul shard from Klint] Astral Ant [LV 3] [3 soul shard from Dante] [-2.5 soul damage]
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Phylactery - Diary [LV 1]
[1 soul shard from Klint] Phylactery - Wooden Armacus [LV 27]
[27 soul shards from Dante] Phylactery - Equality's Vow [LV 20] [20 soul shards from Dante]
Affliction:
[Soul decay: -9]
Not bad. Creating Kliss had given me quite a bit of experience, enough to level up. I turned the stats off, leaving the level up for later.
"So," Kliss said, looking down at me as I sat onto a root-bench framed by lilac trees created by Leemy and grown by Cassandra.
"So?"
"Explain," she stared at me.
“Explain what?” I asked.
“Why make me into… this?” She asked, waving at her crystal hair.
“I’ve made a promise of sorts to myself when I was reborn in Skyisle,” I shrugged. “I designed living weapons called viruses in the USSR… weapons that killed people. Here, as Dante, my goal is to save people with my skills.”
“I didn’t ask to be made into a half-dragon thing,” Kliss crossed her arms.
“Doctors… errr, healers don’t ask whether the patients in their charge wish to be saved, especially not ones that passed out from being cut in half,” I shot back. “I did what I thought was right. Don’t give me your attitude.”
“I’m shorter,” Kliss huffed. “By Equality, I look younger too!”
“I rearranged your body since most of your cells were already dead, fried by dragonfire or cut away, crushed by the fallen magisteel beam,” I said. “Consider yourself… reborn.”
“Yeah, I suppose I am. The Soul-Song labelled me a… Chimera,” Kliss commented with a deep exhale. “What does it even mean?”
“A chimera is a new type of a being,” I shrugged. “A mix of human and dragon. The System… hrm, Soul-Song labelled you as such. I simply did the necessary work required to save you.”
Kliss nodded.
“So, why’d you return to Skyisle?” I asked, switching topics.
“Cessna… wasn’t the same,” Kliss shrugged. “Thought that things would be more interesting… here.”
“And are they?” I inquired.
“So far… they’re far more interesting than I anticipated. I really didn’t expect to die or be turned into a Gods’ damned half-dragon, half-teenage-girl!”
Delta snickered from my side.
“I solved three problems with one spell,” I shrugged. “Brought you back to life, got rid of two bothersome Vows of Equality and got rid of Aradria.”
“He’s expecting lots of praises,” Delta whispered conspiratorially to Kliss.
I sent her a stern look. Delta stuck her tongue out at me as a response.
“I’ve been thinking about everything you’ve told me, Slava,” Kliss said sitting down on the bench next to me.
I nodded.
“Can you clarify some things for me?” She added.
“Sure,” I said.
“Start at the beginning,” Kliss said. “Remind me, how did you end up in Skyisle?”
“Destiny was a girl who was supposed to be born to the Alan family thirteen years ago. From what I understand… After I died on Earth, either a god that called itself Omniscience or perhaps Goddess Ishira or Giovashi led me with a blue magical thread from the Astral Ocean into Destiny's unborn body in an attempt to turn her into a monster,” I said. “Giovashi wanted a pet ghoul to terrorise the locals with, it’s how she gets more followers and farms Vows - by making monsters target Skyisle.”
“I see,” Kliss demurred as she rubbed her chin. “So your appearance on Novazem was the end result of divine machinations.”
“I talked to a god... or maybe a magical construct,” I nodded. “He said that I will be his experiment on Novazem.”
“What did the God you see look like?” She asked.
“A man dressed in… a suit of armor intended for flying through the void of space. Although, I’m pretty sure that this was simply Giovashi using some kind of an Astral-lure to get me to come to Novazem, to screw up Delta’s soul.”
“A suit to fly through… the void?” Kliss mulled.
“The Soviet people accomplished a lot of things,” I nodded. “Our greatest hero was Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. We were the first nation to send a man past the atmosphere of our planet into the airless, infinite abyss above us. Remember? I spoke about this when I made your Overseer’s Vow bind itself.”
“You sent a hero to the stars... without magic... right?” She asked.
“Without magic,” I nodded. “In a tube forged from metal propelled skyward via a controlled continuous explosion of extremely combustible fluid.”
“Incroyable,” Kliss murmured. “According to ancient archives at Cessna Arcanarium, a thousand years before the Age of Darkness... we too sent magitek engines towards the skies, trying to figure out what mysteries lie in the ruins of Inaria.”
“There’s ruins there?” I blinked, thinking of the gargantuan planet seen in the sky at night above Novazem.
“It’s nothing but ruins up there,” Kliss nodded. “A whole, endless world, made from ruins covered in glaciers. The ancient scholars speculated that Inaria is an infinite city destroyed by some catastrophic event, a magogenic fault spanning an entire planet where space and time are twisted and broken.”
“That sounds… concerning,” I muttered.
Kliss shrugged as a reply.
"Why did you save me?" She asked as if my first answer was insufficient.
I looked at her and smiled. "Because I wanted to give you a chance," I said. "A chance to be something more than a slave to a Vow. A chance to be something more than a tool or a servant of the Empire of Equality. I gave you a completely new life. You can be whatever you wish now."
"Really?" She asked with a smirk. "You won't force me to lug rocks?"
"Really," I nodded. "If you don't want to stay with us in Skyisle, you're free to go. You gave me and my sister a chance, a year to build up, to grow, to get strong enough, to make tools that make tools."
"I saw," the ex-Overseer’s expression suddenly darkened. "You put an Almn-Inian obelisk in the centre of town and gave armacus-like wooden weapons to a bunch of kids. Are you seriously considering bringing back Necromage dominion or something?"
"I am not," I shook my head. "I'm using the tools they left lying around, sure, but I have no intention to feed human souls to their arcane artifacts or whatever.”
“Then, what are you doing here exactly?” She asked.
“I’m uplifting Skyisle,” I said. “In every possible way.”
“Do you think you can oppose the might of the entire Empire?” She asked, fretting slightly. “They will destroy you, send an entire fleet of warships if they find out about this obelisk and the other things… you’re giving children weapons of war meant to be in the hands of Imperial Overseers, Slava!”
“Let them come,” I shrug. “We will repel them. Are you with us? Will you aid us? Will you stand up with us against the might of the Vow-bound Empire?”
“I…” Kliss opened her mouth and froze.
Delta arched an eyebrow.
“I am with you,” Kliss said after a pause. “I came here to do as much as I could. I do want to help the two of you... to build a world without Vows.”
“Thank you,” I said and hugged Kliss.
Once more, I found it impossible to release her. After a minute of an unnaturally warm embrace I forced my body to let go of Kliss, but my hand crept up to hers and entwined itself with her fingers.
Delta squinted at me.
“She’s warm,” I explained.
“She’s warm?” My twin demanded.
“I’m… cold,” I confessed.
“You’re cold?” Both Kliss and Delta looked at me.
“My hands are cold pretty much forever now,” I nodded. “It’s like I’m turning into… a vampire.”
“What’s a vampire?” Kliss asked.
“You constantly shame me for being an Astral Phantom and yet you’re turning into one,” Delta tutted at me. “Hang on, stop distracting me, Slava! What does the icy draw of the Astral Ocean have to do with…”
“Just grab her hand,” I stated.
“Fine, maybe I will!” Delta grabbed onto the ex-Overseer’s left hand.
“What… the shit,” she blinked. “You’re... warm!”
Kliss stared at both of us like we were insane. Then, she blushed when Delta practically smooshed herself into Kliss’s chest.
“What is happening?” She asked me.
“She’s nuzzling you,” I said. “Just accept it.”
“Why?” Kliss asked.
“You’re… warm,” Delta said. “Unlike this idiot. Hugging him is… like hugging an icebox. We’re both iceboxes. Being a ghost inhabiting a human body has that unfortunate side effect.”
“You’re losing your humanity,” Kliss said with a look of disapproval. “You’re carving up your souls just like the Alanian Necromagi!”
“Hell, she’s warmer than the Alanian battery!” Delta murmured. “Why haven’t I realized this earlier? I could have had this pure bliss for two weeks! I only grabbed her with the ant-fingers! Argh!”
“Why am I warmer than an Alanian battery?” Kliss looked at me.
“The dragonheart core in your chest is basically an exceptionally dense magical crystalline battery,” I explained. “Plus, your entire body is now more crystal than flesh. You're a furnace of magic."
“Am I going to be able to breathe dragonfire?” Kliss blinked.
I opened my mouth and lifted a finger, scanning Kliss with my Infoscopes.
“Maybe?” I replied with a shrug.
“So you have no idea,” Kliss commented. “You’ve made me into… this thing and you have no idea.”
“I have some ideas,” I said. “As far as I can see you haven’t invested points into anything.”
“Because I’m concerned that if I do I’m going to spontaneously combust!” Kliss replied.
“Who told you that?” I sputtered.
Kliss eyed Delta.
“Delta!” I demanded. “Did you tell Kliss that she’s going to spontaneously combust?”
“Maybe?” Delta huffed, having attached herself to Kliss like a cute, white-haired leech. “I dunno. I forgot if I did. Sorry. We’re best friends now, battery-bestie. You’re not gonna catch on fire or whatever… you can be whatever you want to, as long as you let me hug you forever.”
Kliss gave me an exasperated look.
I shrugged.
“If you invest points into magic, your core’s radiance should theoretically get stronger and then you can project your magic at us, keep us from feeling like we’re constantly freezing," I said. “I don’t foresee problems with you levelling up, Kliss.”
Georgi came out of his woodworking workshop and spotted us sitting in the garden.
“And who might this little, sparkly lady be?” He asked me.
I had already stupidly revealed to mom that Kliss was in fact Kliss, but it seemed unwise to spread that information to more people.
The ex-Overseer needed a new name, an entirely new identity.
“That’s… Elizabeth,” I said, using Kliss’ middle name.
“A pleasure,” dad nodded at us. “Desty, you’re gonna squeeze the life outta her there.”
“Lizzy’s my new best friend,” Delta said. “I’ll squeeze her as much as I want to.”
Kliss opened her mouth to protest.
“I bought you so many dresses,” Delta whisper-hissed. “I hand-fed you soup for two weeks. Don’t even think about letting go!”
I started to laugh.
Georgi shook his head, smiled at us and went into the house.
“Elizabeth?” Kliss turned to me.
“We’ll introduce you as Elisabeth Johannes Kepler from Oz,” I told her. “It’ll be easier to bring you up as Archmage Delta’s apprentice from distant lands to the locals to explain your odd look."
“What’s Oz?” Kliss arched an eyebrow. "Why Johannes Kepler?"
"Oz is a city from a story from Earth," I explained. "Johannes Kepler was a famous astronomer, a researcher from Earth who discovered the three laws of planetary motion and..."
“You’ll be my most precious apprentice,” Delta butted in before I could start explaining Kepler's mathematical theories.
Kliss looked at me for support.
“Delta will be playing the role of Great-Aunt Delta Alana Skyisle, an Archmage from Oz who came to save Skyisle,” I said. “We have to introduce her to the village council soon. We’re undermining the power of Giovashi, taking Skyisle from her.”
“That… sounds dangerous,” Kliss said.
“We’ll manage,” I said. “Things are already in motion with the sales of the armaci tools.”
“Yeah, but can you stand up to level 200 Charisma words from Giovashi?” Kliss asked.
“Maybe,” I shrugged. “I’m working on it.”
“Ants are immune to human-Charisma orders,” Delta smirked.
“Hang on,” Kliss stared at me, orange-green eyes wide in realization. “You’re the reason why Aradria came to Skyisle this spring! It all makes sense now! Giovashi must have noticed that you were messing with her followers!"
“Yeah,” I sighed. “Giovashi’s priestesses from the Fox pub most likely reported that our wands and Mystic trees were fixing up the town, changing things, screwing up her bullshit doomsday prophecy. I suspect that Giovashi summoned Aradria to burn down our dad’s wand workshop and Leemy.”
“Leemy?” Kliss asked.
“Leemy is our Dryad friend,” Delta grinned. “We’ll introduce her to you! I… errr Novitiate Kopusha planted her a thousand years ago in Skyisle!”
“You have… a dryad?” Kliss sputtered.
“We have a lot of nice things,” I nodded. “And we have you now - a girl with a dragonheart.”
“A girl with a dragonheart,” Kliss mulled, finally smiling at us. “I do like the sound of that.”