And she will be waking up right about ... now.

As much as I wanted to keep my eyes closed so that I didn't have to deal with Merlin being insufferably correct, I did not quite have that amount of churl in me. He had just stopped me from ripping myself apart through reckless pig-headedness. Again. He was owed a win.

Oh, thank the gods, you're awake. It's fucking Merlin! Merlin is right here. You need to get up and run!

I don't know if you've ever experienced having competing intrusive voices in your head - if so, welcome to our support group! Please collect your SSRIs at the door. I recommend the Paroxetine - but it's not ideal to experience arguing disembodied voices as you wake up with a concussion.

How are you feeling, my dear?

It's Merlin! Didn't you fucking hear me! What are you waiting for? Leg it!

"I'm struggling a bit, to tell the truth, Big M. Drynywyn, can you take a breath and stop screaming? My head feels like it's about to break in half as it is. All this noise is a lot to process."

Ah, so it is Drynwyn. I thought I could taste the residue of that degenerate sword somewhere. It was in the hoard, I presume? A significant find! Well done. I imagine Rhyddrech was somewhat surprised to finally come up against something that hitting with a sword or impaling it… in another fashion couldn't solve?

Keep his name out of your mouth, you fucking lunatic. I saw what you did to those people at the river Glein. They were retreating, and you -

I think that's quite enough from it for now.

And there was silence. And She saw that it was good.

"How did you do that? If I'd known it had an off-switch, things might have been an awful lot smoother." I felt a brief, entirely slutty, pang thinking of the beautiful, now headless, woodcutter. But then, without the sword's particular brand of unhinged aggression, I probably would not have made it out of the hoard at all. "Well, maybe not, actually."

Not so much an 'off-switch; more a temporary mute button. I can let you hear it again if you want? There was a brief pause. Although, we might be better letting it burn off a bit of steam first. It has quite the mouth on it and seems to be fairly unhappy with you. I remember a time when enchanted swords were more respectful. Speaking of which ...

I imagined the Pinteresque pause was left there for my grovelled apology. Ah, poor Merlin. You know me so little.

I lay in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the peace and quiet.

Do you have anything you want to say to me, my dear?

"Sure. I'm glad you've seen the error of your ways, are ready to apologise and have chosen to come back. So, what did you learn from your time-out?"

My time-out?!?

"Yes. We go on the naughty step when we forget to use our kind words, don't we, mate? Classic behaviour management technique."

You banished me to the place that exists between realities! It was certainly not the naughty step. Do you have any idea how dangerous that could have been?

"Not really. The whole acting-without-any-real-knowledge-about-consequences thing is kind of my vibe right now. So, did you properly think about what you did? Are you going to do better moving forward?"

This conversation is not proceeding in the direction I was anticipating.

"You've missed this, haven't you?"

Like you would not believe.

*

So, it turns out the whole 'absorbing mana stones' thing is something for MUCH later in my cultivation journey. With my literally hours of cultivation experience, I shouldn't even have been able to make a connection with them, much less start to pull in their Qi.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

What can I say? I've always been an earlier bloomer.

This was a touch disappointing. However, the massive pile of precious rocks I now held in my soul space would not be going to waste.

Firstly, as Beocca was adept at quickly knocking out rings, bracelets, earrings and necklaces, I was soon positively jingling with mana stone drip. Under Merlin’s careful guidance, I adjusted the flow of my Qi so that it cycled through all the new jewellery, and these backup batteries started filling up in no time.

There's something to be said for subtlety and moderation in all things, my dear. Even at the height of my power, I might only wear one mana stone ring. Do you think you need to be this ostentatious?

I fanned my face in the manner of a Southern belle. "Why, Mr Merlin. A lady never goes anywhere without her pretty things."

Sǣþrȳð couldn't decide if she was horrified or, I thought, a touch jealous. "You do realise you will be attacked as soon as anyone sees you? People lose their minds when they encounter mana stones."

Initially, I had asked Beocca if he would fashion me a gauntlet so that I could have the stones inset into the knuckles. Merlin vetoed that with a haste I felt was unseemly.

But, quite aside from the battery power of my new shinies, Merlin was clear that just holding these things in such a high number in my inventory would have significant benefits.

We're going to need every advantage we can get moving forward. I don't mind sharing that you are exceeding my expectations for someone with such a poor grounding in the art.

"You can stop with the flattery, mate. This Ron ain’t sleeping with you."

Quite. But with the progress you have made thus far -

"Did I tell you I created a new battle technique? All on my own?

You have mentioned that, yes. Once or twice. As I was saying -

"Had you created two brand new techniques when you'd only been cultivating a few days? I can't remember what you said before."

Yes. You are quite the powerhouse. All hail, Morgan, our new lady and master. May her rule be benevolent and the fact she has no idea what she is doing not result in either her untimely demise or the implosion of the universe.

"It sounds like someone might have picked up a portion of sass in the world between realities."

Indeed. As I was saying, the passive improvements these stones will make to your senses and the quality of your cycling will be immeasurable. I do not mind sharing that, with enough work, I would expect you to reach the Arcane Fusion Tier –

“Harry.”

There was a pause and I SWEAR I felt something within him die.

“Yes. Harry. With the passive power of these stones that tier may well be reasonably achievable in our time frame. I cannot tell you how important that would be in being able to draw on enough power to maintain the timeline.

It didn’t go unnoticed that every time the Big M wanted to get me back on track, Zizzie’s name appeared in his mouth. I wasn’t wild about that. "Guys, look, I've got it. Stones be good. I'll wear all this stuff now to fill it up and then stick it in storage. The earrings Beocca made are subtle enough to have in all the time, and the rest I'll just equip when I need it. Or when any of them needs filling up. That sound okay?"

That ... that actually sounds sensible. Are you sure you are feeling quite yourself?

*

Despite Sǣþrȳð's protestations that the stones were gifts, I'd forced on her several bags of my looted gold. The village was a shithole even before I blew a giant crater in the ground. Following the death of most of their men with the fyrd, there would need to be some changes if the people left here were going to flourish. Mana stones were all well and good, but proper housing and a regular supply of food were what was going to be needed moving forward.

Ignoring Merlin's palpable frustration, I'd offered to hang around, help them with the clear-up, and start the rebuild. But, much to my chagrin, I'd pretty much been shooed out of town. Apparently, cultivators who are audibly conversing with Merlin, in possession of genocidal swords, and who have single-handedly wiped out Saxon war bands are not the ideal house guests.

Before we left, Merlin showed me how to set the village as one of my fast travel destinations on the appropriate page of my artist's studio, and I promised to pop in now and again to make sure things were going okay.

Sǣþrȳð and Beocca had exchanged a look at that. "Sure. We'll warn the Knockers. No rush, though, right? You must have important things to be doing."

I'd heard warmer 'see you again soons' in my time, but I'd take it.

With a muted Drynwyn strapped to my back - hmmm, he still seems quite angry. Maybe another day or two for him to simmer down? - my mana stone earrings rapidly filling with Qi and with Merlin critiquing everything from my stride length, to my breathing rate, to the way I scanned the landscape, I made my merry way inland.

We'd been travelling for a few hours (or eighteen ways-in-which-I-was-not-being-a-cultivator-properly, which seemed to be an equally regular way to mark the time in Merlin's world) when the steady deluge of criticism - valuable advice, my dear - suddenly stopped.

"You okay, mate? You've not bitched about the way I'm swinging my arms for a good few minutes."

Something terrible has happened.

I opened my mouth to quip, but the tone of his voice shook me. "How do you mean?"

I'm not sure. But, even in my current reduced state, I can feel significant uses of Qi nearby. It's how I was able to find you after my ... no, I will not be calling it a 'time-out'.

"You mean there's a cultivator nearby?"

No. I mean, there are many cultivators nearby, and they've just completed a massive casting. Even now, I am still feeling the aftershock."

"I'm getting a real 'millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced' vibe here, Obi-Wan."

That Merlin did not immediately answer was not reassuring. "Okay, Big M, I hear you. Big Qi boom nearby. Which way should we be heading - towards it or in the other direction?"

As much as I am loathe to put you, untested, in proximity to so much power, I need to understand what has occurred happened. We must reach Isca Dumnoniorum as soon as possible.