Novels2Search

Omnes mundo imperare volunt

„Hulk Smash“ – I smash another brick, which Dejan has been throwing me specimens of, into smithereens between my fists. Dejan and I are conducting scientific experiments on preternatural abilities. I have found that going all out on this ability and maxing out my size which puts me at three and a half meters will almost empty out my mana pool. But an intermediate form putting me at two and a half meters is pretty strong and tough enough. Unfortunately I only turn hairy, develop brutish proportions and a nice tan. I would have liked to turn green.

Ulrike enters, jams her left hand into her distinctly tilted hip and assumes a decidedly unhappy posture. I am beginning to fear that this woman is a Luddite.

U: What are you doing in a disused hall storing construction stuff?

P: Science

D: Science

He is even lifting his tape measure and recording sheets of my size and how far the debris has been flying correlated to mana expenditure and pointing at his safety goggles.

U: Do I go into a cave, beat my chest and say „Ugg“ ?

P: Of course not. It would have to be „Ugga“ in your case. Cave grammar. Everybody knows that.

She just turns around and leaves. Dejan looks somewhat stricken. Understandable. Learning that your girlfriend has trouble with the simplest forms of grammaical gender in stone-age grammar can be hard.

We have also been investigating the behavior of ancilliary equipment. Conjured equipment adapts automagically. Dismissing and reconjuring my gun so that it would fit my larger hands had been a waste of mana. A rod I am carrying can enlarge with me if I conciously include it in the effect and spend mana. But it works only on personal items and weapons. I tried enlarging a spoon from the kitchen with me. It does not work. My safety razor refuses to enlarge. A straight razor Dejan has borrowed does.

I am really lookin forward to writing scientific papers on this once the crisis will have been finished. This is my chance to make it into Nature.

--

Korvettenkapitän Ohnesorg is making the military version of a zoom call to his boss, Fregattenkapitän Kahlmann.

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O: The new quintessence based weapons work beautifully. When did you say are we getting more?

K: I didn’t say. If I knew I wouldn’t be allowed to tell you.

O: Unfortunate.

K: We have to fight this war with the equipment we are getting. We cannot even blame the politicians for underpreparation. This was unforseeable.

O: Though we are supposed to keep them secret from the Network, which means …

K: Nothing. If you have to speculate on this, keep those speculations to yourself. I get that you want to know. Being in the field and being insecure about your supply of weapons sucks. But speculation on this matter is not helpful.

O: Yes, sir.

K: No need to go all formal. By the way, your suggestion to get some of those superheros on your convoys has not worked out.

O: They actually tried.

K: Apparently. And got a reply that they would insist on a camera team showing all the world that men and women from the people can rise to extraordinary heights in defense of the world.

O: Damn.

K: Yes. We will steal the slogan, though, and send in a camera team of our own, to have stuff to show once secrecy is longer needed.

O: You want to shove that one onto me?

K: Now is the time to go „Yes, sir“ on me.

O: Yes, sir.

K: How did the detection device test out?

O: Beautifully, but it is wasted on us. We are so slow and stable that you can run a ritual on deck.

K: That was always expected. But it had to be kept safe. I am releasing it to the land forces.

O: Then how am I supposed to hide our weapons from the Network’s ritualists?

K: You are not. All other government wizards are reassigned to the riverine operations of the Navy.

--

A man is standing on a thin branch high up on a tree. Nobody below bronze rank would have been able to register his presence. Even a bronze ranker would be unable to describe him afterwards. He is looking at a large cupola made out of concrete in the medium distance.

A bronze rank four-winged avian monster is running up the branch. His aura lashes out, freezing it into place, while the tree sprouts whip-like shoots, whose thorns tear it apart.

„Sorry, little one. You were too early.“. He applies glue to the bottom of a device that looks like it is made from shiny red plastic, attaches it to the branch and wraps a camouflage cloth around the whole assembly.

--

We have been told that we are to secure a convoy heading south tomorrow morning. Well, I’ll have to demonstrate my new form to them, lest someone shoot me, should I need to use it in combat.