We felt the light turn dimmer as the last dregs of the fallen gods presence began to follow its perished master. The teeth of time so long denied began its restless work anew. Even the seal the other god had placed began to weaken, robbed of its main purpose and power source the aimless magic began to disintegrate.
Father had suggested to immediately leave this place but I was able to convince him to stay for now, as hostile the pagoda had been, now its decaying defenses worked in our favor. A small fire was roasting a few strips of meat as we sat around its warmth. Once we would have been executed for preparing our meal on this “holy” floor, now the merry flames cast eerie shadows across the pillars of the spacious room.
“Are you feeling okay?”, a deep exhaustion spread across fathers face as the same question kept repeating itself multiple times per hour. “For the last time, yes I feel good. But if you keep asking I may spit fire out of frustration.”
I earned myself a death glare from mother as my mouth threw “that could happen” into the room before my brain could stop it. If sinking in the floor was possible I would have entirely submerged in the marble floor. “So why do we have to stay in this derelict place? What benefit does it have to stay inside this ruin?” I knew a path of escape when I saw it, with more than obvious relief I jumped at the question. “The seal did not only cut off the god from any energy but also prevented
With their attention fully focused on myself I kept going.”The original creator of this series of enchantments had one goal, to overthrow the gods themselves. As you have seen a god is in fact a type of life form, while some can reach levels of power that may be called omnipotence the average god is but a very high form of energy being. This type of forbidden magic was developed to rival the gods own work of creation, thus the gods forbid it, fearing for their position they tried to eradicate the knowledge wherever it appeared.” Fascination was written across all faces as my words clashed with eons of belief and cultural history. “Your claims sound fantastic, but how can you know all this?” The interruption by father was expected and did not interrupt me in the slightest.
“I was certain that you would need some kind of proof. Gale if you would do us the honor to invite us inside?”
Confusion was plastered across my parents faces, only Ere knew what was coming.
While she had been unable to fully develop her mind-space yet, she had visited Gale in her marble palace on quite a few occasions.
“You will feel a faint tug against your being, do not resist, open yourself to the invitation.” Seconds later the outside world blurred and we found ourselves sitting in the comfy pile of cushions that Gale so liked in her palace. Mother and father were close to panic as all the tension was ripped apart “PILLOW FIGHT!” the words had barely left Ere's mouth as a pillow the size of a horse slammed into my face.
Nearly half an hour later we were all panting and out of breath, the imaginary pillows had held up better than their real counterparts and only very few feathers could be seen drifting in the air.
“You owe us an explanation, what is this place?” The simple question brought us back to a more serious atmosphere. “To keep things simple, this is a mind-palace, the physical manifestation of Gale's soul if you will. It is located in a space called the mind-space, which is, while most often found in mages a form of mediation.”
“Do we also have this mind things?” Fathers innocent question made me smirk. “Yes, while users of Qi have a harder time to reach the necessary state of mind in comparison to Mana users, all of us do. Take Ere for example, she has been training to open her mind-space for roughly two weeks, while still imperfect she is very close.” “What benefit does this even have? Sounds like quite a bit of work for something that while comfortable does not seem to be very useful.”
“Not quite right mother, the mind-space allows far greater control over the self, training certain patterns and movements holds great benefit here. To top it off there is an entire branch of magic that revolves around the mind-palace, commonly called mind-magic.” The mention of new magic instantly served its purpose as mothers eyes began sparkling like a five-year-old that had just been told he could eat the ENTIRE bowl of candy.
“There is also another benefit, this space is under complete control of its owner, while changing parts requires a great deal of concentration and a fully formed mind-palace, you can adjust the very laws of the world. If a third person agrees he could allow two others fight to the death without each suffering any consequences. Thus it was often used by high ranking martial cultivators to engage in training matches.” Now also fathers eyes were sparkling, which was intensified by the obviously dragonic eyes he now possessed.
“There are however a few limitations, you are under no circumstance allowed to damage the mind-palace or the owner of the space. Any damage has dire consequences and may even kill them. Thus such matches most often are only possible in very close relationships.” “The main reason I have opted to use this space is its privacy. No matter who he cannot eavesdrop in here without completely subduing Gale, which we would have instantly noticed. I have a few things to tell you that cannot leave this circle under any circumstances.” Instantly the temperature seemed to drop multiple degrees as any last bit of attention focused on me.
“To get you the full picture I need to start in the beginning. While it may hurt you, father you have expressed your concern to not be allowed to enter the ancestral plains after your death. To put it bluntly there is no afterlife.”
His eyes went noticeably wider as I took the very core of his belief under fire but he did not interrupt me and after a short silence I went on.
“After your form perishes your essence,soul gets recycled. There is a space I came to call
“This system sounds perfect, however I have found a major exception to its working.
Myself, no matter how many times I am killed and reborn
A few tears began welling up inside my eyes unbidden. Before I could collect myself Ere hugged me.”Don't cry” she whispered in a tone of voice that simply did not fit her massive figure. Her hug managed to calm my rising uneasiness.
“The form you take in mind-space is a visual representation of how you perceive yourself.
As you see I have held so many forms my consciousness barely grants me a from that resembles a humanoid.”
After a few seconds I managed to collect myself again, “Concerning your request I can fulfill it but only as long as the seal on this building holds. Without its interference we would instantly arouse the attention of multiple higher beings tasked with overseeing creation. I estimate the seal to last another six days to a degree that I am sure we will not attract unwanted visitors.”
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
It took mother only a few moments and a deep look at my father to steady herself.
“If I can stay together with my love I will walk through the depth of hell if I have to.
Even if I now know that hell does not exist.”
“Oh hell does exist, it is a separate reality that connects most planes of existence.” The annoyed gaze I received made me curse my own inability to keep my mouth in check.
“Don't worry dear, no matter how much family you have had, in this life I am your mother and I love you as unconditional as only a mother can! But if you dare to keep something like this from me again, I promise you the biggest ass whopping you can imagine!” The smile she gave me while telling this made me turn pale, quite an achievement as an ink bleeding shade if you ask me.
Shortly after we returned to reality, the fire had already burned down and some strips of flesh looked a bit too similar to coal for my appetite but my hunger made me still wolf down my portion.
Mother and father had taken a seat a bit on the side of the room, I only managed to catch a few scraps of their conversation but father obviously tried to prevent her to go through with her decision. In the end he could only admit defeat.
“Kai I am ready, let us get this over with.”
My mother was sitting on the bed father had crafted back in the frost. We had removed the robust thing from my hoard stomach to allow a more comfortable treatment.
“As you know there is no going back from this, I will do the same to you I have done to father if all goes well you should be able to bear offspring again. But beware they will share your changed bloodline, they will not be regular wolf-man but an entire new race. If we leave this building
“Stop talking and do it before I change my mind!” I had been a doctor or nurse to know the saying “never operate on your family” but I submitted to her growl.
This time I had the benefit of no immediate danger of death, first I began by carefully opening non-lethal flesh wounds across her body. My claw encountered nearly no resistance as I proceeded with my bloody work. The knowledge about our body helped me greatly, barely any blood came from the wounds as I managed to avoid any bigger blood vessels.
This time I also created a far less dangerous wound on myself, the bloody orb that began to congeal in front of me looked far more peaceful without the chaos of a battlefield around it.
“I am ready.” was all I needed to hear as the blood began to invade the gashes in her body.
Taking my time I slowly began infusing her with my essence, her body only resisted but a moment until it practically began dragging the blood inside.
I did manage to reduce the pain as much as I could, still she passed out near the end of the procedure. I was badly drained as well but kept enough to stay awake, the remaining family had opted to cuddle into a pile of fur close to the bed. Her breath was steady and her strong heartbeat told of her will to live.
So I kept watch as her form began to shift towards her new features. This time I could watch the entire process as her horns grew in. I was fascinated, unlike fathers that resembled a ram her pearly white horns grew straight backwards with a faint twist to themselves. Her eyes were the first to change, the slitted pupils so obviously dragonic took a deep golden radiance. The last change I could observe was the lengthening and thickening of her tail. Internal changes would need more intense study later.
After a good meditation to replenish my spent resources I formed a living wall around my sleeping family, shielding them from the outside I joined them in their sleep.
I must have been in more need of sleep than I anticipated as I was the last to awaken.
The scene I bore witness to made me smile, mother was trying to walk with father supporting her unsteady steps. The changed center of gravity obviously had impacted her more than she would like to admit. Father reminded me of a very nervous parent that awaited his first child treating mother as if she was made of glass.
Lifting my head and stretching like a cat managed to dispel the last dregs of sleep from my body. “Good morning. Is everything alright? I did not see any form of complication last night how do you feel mother?”
“The new tail has done a number on my balance and I feel like I could jump straight to the ceiling so full of energy are my limbs. I guess I have to join your father in some physical exercises to regain any form of more precise control.”
A tugging sensation on my tail alerted me of Ere who stood behind me. “How can I help my cute sister today?” I enjoyed to see her blush through her fur as she nearly managed to have smoke rise out of her ears. It took her a few tries that ended in incoherent gibberish before Gale stepped behind her, placing her paws on Ere's shoulders her gaze turned serious.
“What my overly shy sister is trying to say, is that we both would like to also receive the treatment. And before any of you try to discourage us, we have already made up our mind.
Ideally we would have liked a bit more time for the decision but with the seal weakening this will probably be our only opportunity. We are a family and we will share the burden as a whole!”
The firm decision radiated from her as she anchored herself in front of me. I had seen that expression before, “ask your mother” was the only thing I could say to avoid responsibility.
Gale did not even look in mothers direction as she continued to fix me with her unwavering gaze. “I can repeat the treatment but only as long as mother and father agree.” “For such an old being you sometimes can be the biggest dunce around. It is my decision, as long as you have recovered enough we can start immediately! There is no need for further discussion, my decision has been made!”
My pleading gaze towards my parents yielded no results and I could only give up.
”Do what you want, I can only do one at a time decide between you two who wants to go first.
Once you are ready call me towards the bed I will prepare myself until then.” I had barely finished my words as I heard the bed creak. Gale had somehow managed to remove her clothes in the short moment and now brightly smiled at me. Shaking my head I redirected my entire attention to my patient all other thoughts were banished as I readied the runes.
The next two days I treated Gale first and then Ere. Both experienced slightly different results. Gale grew two horns on each side of her head that like mothers pointed backwards.
Ere however resembled father more as her horns curved forward.
With no complication whatsoever, the remaining days as the seal grew weaker were full of laughter as all tried to get a grip on their vastly increased physical attributes. Which in turn ended with playful chases through the altar room.
I however was concerned how
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more of an information dump and preparation for the next part of the journey
still enjoy
MfG : Dr_Dac