Rod is staring at the coffin I have conjured to depose the remains in. The rest of his team, as it turns out that he outranks them for some reason, is arrayed behind him. Frankly a watertight bag would have served better. But we have children here and in addition I am not going to harm somebody’s feelings in such a way, if I can help it.
RG: By your description that were Pixlax. Out here they are rare. Another precursor sign.
P: Precursor sign?
RG: Of the monster surge. I forgot your origin.
P: I am sorry, but there was very little left. What was left I gathered and added the badge you mentioned.
RP: Thank you. I just galls to know that he died and we cannot do anything to avenge him. We don’t even know where they went.
P: Southeast. Behind that small hill they stopped bothering to hide their traces.
I feel a multitude of auras boring down on me.
RG: That is unexpected news. Did you follow the trail?
P: No. I am sorry, but if a whole group of properly trained fighters is defeated, I am not going there.
RG: Absolutely. However, even our enemies will not always be perfectly prepared. Did anybody see you?
P: I don’t think so.
RG: Could you take me there?
P: Now?
RG: Yes.
We reappear on the battle field. He draws breath audibly.
We agree on me coming back every second day to pick up messages.
----------------------------------------
Karolína’s eyebrows are on a trajectory towards the sky. That is not desirable in a member of a medical profession giving me a physical. She is very dilligently listening to the workings of my inner organs.
She is getting a portable monitor for an ECG out of her bag. She is also listening on my belly. That allows me to observe that even her eyelashes share the colour of her hair. I will not ask the obvious question.
KN: I may have a reason to sign your death certificate.
P: What?
KN: Zero on the ECG. No heart beat. No sound from your gut. And you had something like a heart beat when I did a physical on you in our home.
P: So I am dead.
KN: Technically undead. Do you have any unusual cravings in the beverage department?
I snort. Were I not the subject of the joke, I’d laugh out loud.
KN: You do have a blood pressure.
P: How high?
KN: 100
P: I am going to reach a ripe old age.
KN: No, you don’t understand. You have one blood pressure. It is constant. So you are not soundproof and a perfect electrical isolator. You have no beating heart. In fact, without an X-ray I can’t be sure that you have a heart at all.
P: Even insects have hearts.
KN: Yes. Though I admit I have never treated an invertebrate.
P: So what does that tell you with respect to testing medication?
KN: I strongly recommend against it. I have no way of telling how your cells are working metabolically.
P: Do I have cells?
KN: Yes, though you have cells where you should not have them. Your red blood cells look like amoebas.
P: That is interesting.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
KN: That means that an antibiotic could be poisonous to you, though your cells have nuclei.
P: So what do we do?
KN: We wait for results from the actual usage on people and you stay with potions and magic.
P: Very well, I will ask a few people for afternoon tea, then.
I get a long searching look.
Strike!
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Derrick Stelline is unhappily looking at a pyre.
DS: These are four people. How many more on the verge of death?
ES: Five.
GB: There is more. The guards had to beat a few people this morning. Apparently also the mother of one of those burning here.
DS: You know that there is no choice.
GB: I know that. The guards do not.
DS: I see. We will have to watch them extra closely.
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Rod Geller is following the trail at a lateral displacement, switching sides at irregular intervals. The track is going away from the lake. That worries him. Bandits need water. Even if they were all essence users, they would not live on spirit coins. His maps show no sources of water anyway near here.
Around midnight he hits the old, mostly disused road connecting the lake to Hornis, where the track is again obscured. His shoulders slump. They just did not hide their track because it would tell him nothing.
Rod looks up. No, even if it does not directly lead him to their lair, he is willing to bet that they use that road. He is preparing a shelter with a good view of the road.
----------------------------------------
Liana Stelline feels annoyed at the desk, as she is told that she has been assigned a priority contract. She likes to pick her contracts. „The deputy director would like to have a word with you about your mission.“, Bert tells her.
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I spend the evening with meditation.
Gun: [Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 2 (81%) [Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 2 (68%) [This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration
Iron 3 (6%)
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration
Iron 1 (61%)
[Hyperkinetic Cannon] Gun Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (72%) Vast: [Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 2 (18%) [Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 2 (88%) [Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (25%) [Arsenal of the Mad Scientist] Magotech Special Ability Iron 2 (53%) [Eldritch Eyes] Water Special Ability & Attack Iron 1 (47%) Dimension: [Teleport] Special Ability Bronze 0 (0%) [Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability
Iron 3 (41%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 2 (0%) [Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 2 (97%) [Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 2 (0%) Battlefield: [Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 3 (54%) [Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration
Iron 2 (83%)
[Pipes of War] Unity Special Ability Iron 1 (75%) [Cornucopia] Feast Special Ability Iron 1 (27%) [Feast of Decontamination] Light Special Ability Iron 1 (7%)