Transcendence?

by Andur

  “A fifteen. There is nothing decisive she could do with that.” Aneth shrugs his shoulders. Wynne and Charon nod with bored expressions.

  “But there is!” I grin and place my ticket of free talking on the table. Everyone is looking at me with strange expression.

  “~How fortunate that all my important heroes are in one place! So I can freely talk about everything I know.~”

  77 - Revealed.

  Norfolk, Sarn

  Celestial

  “This is the newest rifle for my army.” Ascathon hands a short rifle to one of Jazira's soldiers. We are currently at the shooting range in front of his mansion. He built it solely to test his new designs.

  We took Jazira and her entourage out here to demonstrate what our military is capable of.

  There are Tjena, Sagittarius and two of Jazira's officers with us. The two soldiers from her staff voiced the wish to inspect our army's weaponry.

  “The rifle is a short design with only half a metre in length. It has a range of about one thousand metres and a magazine of sixty bullets. I am using the railgun principle because it has proven itself.” He raises his own rifle to his shoulder and fires a bullet into a target dummy.

  *Pft!*

  The nature of the weapon eliminates the typical noise of guns and results in a rather unspectacular sound. “The recoil is quite strong, so it isn't recommendable to fire fully automatic. Single shots or short bursts are preferable.” He explains and turns towards the soldier.

  The soldier nods and continues to study the weapon. Then he fires two shots of his own. He misses once and hits the second time, then he lowers the gun. “I can see the value of this artefact. If every regular soldier is equipped with one, the army's fighting power increases more than tenfold. The spell isn't flashy at all, but with this device it works without incantation. It can't break a proper shielding spell, but it doesn't have to. The more powerful mages can concentrate on destroying the enemy's shields. Once that's done, it's just a massacre from then on.”

  Jazira nods and turns to me. “Don't you think that it's bad to boost this world's technology so far forward?”

  I shrug my shoulders. “To be honest, I don't know. But Sarn is the best example that it works. The people here lived with magic all their lives. Science and technology are just another form of magic to them. And the public has a good opinion of the house Asceron. To them it's simply a time of wonder. The biggest support comes from the people who can't use magic properly. The new artefacts enable them to use magic like fully trained mages. And their number is far bigger than the nobles'. It's always good to know the majority of the population behind you.”

  Ascathon nods enthusiastically. “I am currently working on some artefacts which automatically cast high grade healing magic. Once those are available to everyone, I am sure that our popularity will rise even more.”

  I purse my lips and look at my husband. He is a deceitful snake. I’ve been pestering him about those artefacts for weeks. He would have been done already if he wouldn't put so much effort into researching his mana crystals.

  Jazira attempts to say something, but suddenly a blinding white light appears above us. I shield my eyes against the light and look up.

  The figure of a child is hovering above us.

  “Behold mortals and watch me descend in awe! I am lowering myself to ...”

  *Pft!*

  A hole appears in the child's forehead and a red cloud of blood spreads behind her.

  “... let you ...”

  *Pft!*

  “... experience ...”

  *Pft!*

  “... my godly ...”

  *Pft!*

  “... self.”

  *Pft!**Pft!**Pft!**Pft!**Pft!**Pft!**Pft!* *click!**click!**click!**click!*

  *Plomb*

  The child's body turned into a bloody mess and she dropped out of the sky like a rock. Now she is lying in front of our group and a puddle of blood starts to spread around her.

  All eyes wander towards Ascathon and then to the red glowing barrel of his rifle. He looks around and then at his rifle. “Okay, I admit. There is still a little issue with continuous fire and overheating.”

  “You killed the goddess!” Sagittarius gasps.

  Ascathon shrugs his shoulders. “This is closed airspace. She could have knocked at the door. I won't allow a maniac to fly above my property and spew nonsense.”

  Tjena shakes her hand at us. “You can't just shoot a child! HIIIIIIIIII!” She screams as something grabs her ankle. It was the child's hand.

  Everyone’s attention turns back to the bloody mess on the ground. A marvellous scene is unfolding there. The blood is crawling back into the child and the bullets are pushed out of her body.

  “Peace! I promise to take this seriously from now on!” The child calls out to prevent further attacks.

  Ascathon grabs for another magazine from his leather belt, but I snatch the rifle from his hands.

  “Hey! She is one of them! I recognize her! They destroyed my ship!” He points at the goddess on the ground.

  “Let her holiness speak. From what I heard you already built plenty of other ships. She may be able to clarify a few things.” Jazira steps between Ascathon and the child.

  The child gets on her knees and introduces herself. “I am Lidith. The goddess of peace. Nice to meet you.” While she was speaking, the last bullet popped out of her and the wound healed. Even her dress starts to assemble itself back together. It looked like Ascathon's regeneration spell. Just faster and more sophisticated.

  “To be honest, I didn't expect to be shot, so I didn't bother with a barrier spell. This hurt my pride as a goddess.” She starts to retch and spews another bullet onto the ground.

  “You are the one who is responsible for the volcano!” I point an accusing finger at the child in front of us.

  “No. No. That was Aneth! I was responsible for the lightning bolt! I helped you! I am one of the good guys!” She explains hastily while waving her hands.

  “Then you'll have a long story for us, I assume?” Jazira crosses her arms in front of her chest and grins at the child.

  The child nods and gets to her feet. “Could we talk inside? There is much to tell and it will take some time. On top I need to set up a good barrier, in order to prevent them from listening in on us.”

  Nobody objects and a few minutes later we are sitting with everyone in our living room. From then on Lidith gives us a lengthy explanation on the current state of the world and the relationships between the gods.

  She ends with an explanation on why they started to play their stupid game and how it works. Apparently she is only allowed to visit us once. Then she has to get back to the game to make sure that the others don't start cheating.

  Ascathon started to scribble some notes at some point and stopped to listen.

  “And that gets me to the reason why I am here. I wanted to warn you guys of a full scale attack by Mislow and the Nation of Mist. Both nations are preparing huge fleets against you. The Nation of Mist has four hundred ships at sea and the Kingdom of Mislow has three hundred air ships floating above their capital. They will move together as soon as they are ready. They are bringing everything they have.” Lidith ends her warning with a final line. “The Inquisition is moving too. They plan to infiltrate Sarn on the ground and cause chaos while you battle the fleets.”

  I puff my cheeks. This is quite a handful to take everything in at once. “I am not even sure if we can trust you. If your story is true, then you are to blame too. Playing a game for several thousand years. Do you think that you are above other people! You guys are just idiots with too much power!”

  Lidith looks down. “It is as you said and I am trying to stop this. But I can't go alone against three gods. And I always tell myself that it's better than having the four of us fight it out.”

  “Then just fight it out yourself and leave us out of it!” Tjena interjects.

  “Bad idea. The last time we almost destroyed
the world. Gods have almost limitless access to mana. We lay waste to entire continents before we even start to damage each other.” Lidith shakes her head.

  “But Ascathon wounded you with a few bullets!” Sagittarius looks confused.

  “I am suppressing my powers. If I power up my battle aura to the maximum, everyone in this city would drop to the ground foaming at their mouths.” Lidith waves her hand. “Oh, and before you ask. I changed my outer appearance with transformation magic.”

  “I see...” Ascathon is mumbling in his corner. Then he disappears from one second to the next. Everyone is gaping at the empty spot where he was a second ago.

  Then the space in front of Lidith distorts and he reappears in front of her again. “Those pathways are very convenient! What else can you do with them?”

  Lidith is just gaping at the black dressed figure in front of her. Ascathon is looming over her with demanding eyes.

  “I was seeing these strange strings for quite a while now, but I didn't realize what they were. Who would have thought that they are the web of reality itself. No wonder that gods have access to huge amounts of mana. Although it seems that handling so much mana is quite difficult. I'll need some training to become a god.” He stops and grins at Lidith. “And I think I found the perfect advisor.”

  Huh!? Ascathon? A god!? I jump up and grab his arm. “One moment! You can't become a god!”

  He furrows his eyebrows. “Why not?”

  Lidith finally closes her gaping mouth and scratches her cheek. “Ascathon and Jazira seem to be on the brink of transcending to godhood.”

  “Eh? Me too?” Jazira looks surprised.

  “Of course! Where do you think all your mana comes from. Ascathon sees the pathways and you managed to partly access your mana pool. It would be right to call you two demigods right now. Unfortunately I can't train you. I can only give you the advise to train the thing you are good at to utmost perfection.” Lidith smiles at us. “Maybe we can beat the three fools into submission if we work together and you two become full gods!”

  “How would doing something with utmost perfection help to become a god?” Jazira wonders.

  “Just think of it as meditation training to find yourself. We don't really understand why we are gods ourselves.” Lidith grimaces. “Try to hide your training. I'll do my best to give you as much time as possible. If the others find out, they'll get rid of you.”

  She jumps up and bows to us. “My time is up. Proceed with care, I'll be watching.” The space around her distorts and she is gone.

  Ascathon continues to scribble on his sheet of paper while I cling onto him. What happens if he becomes a god? My brain feels mushy and then I storm out of the room and towards the training hall.

  “I won't be left behind.”

  78 - Milk shakes.

  Norfolk, Sarn

  Sera

  We children are having a small party in the garden. Liandra, Violetta, Arran, Fergus and me are present. There is nothing to celebrate, but we still decided to take our time to do something as a family.

  I want to get closer to Liandra and Violetta. They are family after all, but I only see them for dinner. The rest of their time is reserved for training and learning

  “Did you feel that? Why is the house shaking?” Arran sits down and touches the ground. He recently learned to walk.

  “Yes, I felt it too. And these earth tremors are becoming stronger in regular intervals. I hope there won't be something like an earthquake? Or is one of the mountains a volcano?” Fergus looks at the mountain peaks around the city.

  I wave my hand calm him down. “There is no problem. That's just mom. She is training to become stronger. She wants to become a god or something like that.”

  “Yeah. Although I don't understand why my sister wants to get even stronger. It's already fearsome enough that she is able to create these tremors with her strength alone.” Liandra sips on her tea.

  “I think it's her inferiority complex towards my brother.” Violetta tilts her head and looks towards the training hall.

  “Inferiority complex?” My head turns towards Violetta.

  “Yes. Didn't you realize? She has been trying to prove that she isn't just baggage for Ascathon ever since he saved us from the slavers. The upcoming battle is only a secondary reason. All the other adults are busy with preparations and coordinating the army. But she only thinks about getting stronger because Ascathon found a way for instant teleportation.” Violetta sighs and stuffs another cookie into her mouth. “That's called inferiority complex.”

  I nod. “You could be right. But it isn't bad if she gets more power. The enemy is quite strong. It will be hard, even with the help of Phenex. They have more ships than us, that's why my parents want to intercept them at sea. They'll have to delay them until the fleet from Phenex arrives. Phenex has to sail around the continent, so two to three months of travel time have to be assumed.”

  “You are very well informed of our parents' plan.” Arran looks at me and smiles. “Here, have another milk shake. This time I iced it.”

  My expression lights up and I grab the glass. “You are so nice, always thinking of me.” I start to slurp on the drink. “And for your information. I am just so well informed because I have to keep an eye on them. Just in case that they have a fight with each other.”

  “You are really concerned about my brother and his wife.” Violetta smiles and pats my head.

  “Of course. I don't want them to have a relapse into old times. I have them under surveillance twenty four, seven.” I concentrate on my milk shake and ignore the attention on me.

  “That sounds quite excessive.” Fergus finally comments the situation.

  “Not at all. I swore to myself that I would have a nice family life. That means that they aren't allowed to fight.” My milk shake reaches the end and it's replaced by another one instantly. “Thanks Arran.”

  He smiles and nods while concentrating on the three other glasses he is currently levitating in the air. He is spinning them like a juggler to mix the contents. Arran took the role of our bartender and he is quite good at his job. His training with telekinesis was fruitful and he is using it like another set of hands.

  “I wish we could help them somehow.” Liandra sighs and looks towards the training hall which is attached to the mansion.

  I shrug. “It's smartest to keep away from fights while our bodies are so small and weak.”

  “Liandra and I aren't that small!” Violetta puffs her cheeks.

  “Your are still not adults yet. Wait five years, then you can think about helping them. If you would have concentrated on learning some administrative abilities, you could go and help them right now.” I point out the weak point in their training schedule.

  “Ugh. We aren't like you. You could help them by taking care of the country's affairs.” Liandra complains.

  “I would if I could. Tell me, who would follow my orders? I am in the body of a little child.” I empty my drink and it is promptly replaced. “Thanks, Arran.”

  “You are certainly right, it was unfair of me.” Liandra looks at the horizon and then her attention turns towards the glass in my hands. “And you should stop feeding her so many milk shakes Arran! She will get fat!”

  I stop slurping on my milk shake. “Indeed. I didn't realize it, but isn't this my eighth?”

  “Tch!” Arran puts on a smile and hands me another one. “That's the last. You can't let it turn bad. And milk is good for your body's development.”

  “Are you my mother?” I furrow my eyebrows and look at him.

  “I am your husband. It is my duty to see to the perfect development of your body.” Arran has a desperate expression.

  “Is there something wrong with my body?” I look down on myself. Strange. I thought I would develop nicely. And I am always doing workouts and train.

  Arran looks at Liandra. “It's just that the family line seems to be affected by too much training.”

  Liandra looks down at her
self. “What do you want to imply?”

  “You are flat as a board. Even Violetta is bigger than you despite being younger. I want to prevent that happening to my wife. So let her drink her milk shakes.”

  *SMACK!*

  Liandra deals immediate punishment to Arran by hitting him with the back of her hand. Our perverted bartender goes down and moves no more. I purse my lips. “Now he has shown his true colours.”

  Then Liandra grabs my milk shake and empties it in one go. Her expression is furious. I willingly give up my other milkshake and shove it towards Liandra. She empties the second one too and slams the glass onto the table. “Next!”

  “I have no more!” Then I look down at Arran on the ground.

  “You stopped our supply.” Fergus points at Arran with a complicated expression on his face.

  “Then I'll take over!” Liandra starts mixing milk shakes with her hands and telekinesis at the same time.

  Violetta bends over and whispers. “The inferiority complex is rooted deeply in the family. Probably some kind of inheritance problem. You should try to question your own actions every now and then.”

  I pull a face and show my tongue to her. “Won't happen to me!”

  79 - Preparations.

  Norfolk, Sarn

  Ascathon

  And one. Two. Three!

  I dice the training dummy with my new weapon and grin as it comes apart. The wooden doll is no problem for my new sword.

  “What are you doing in the training hall? It's rare to see you here.” I hear Celestial's voice from behind me and turn around.

  “Ah, I just wanted to test my new sword.” I grin at her.

  “You and a weapon? What happened to the mighty wizard? And what are you intending to do with that monster of a sword! It's much too big for you!” She points at my newest creation.

  “It's a two handed straight longsword. I took the finest steel for the core and the cutting edge is made from fused mana crystals. The cross guard is also coated with mana crystals and there runs a smaller crystal core through the entire weapon. For the moment I can't make the crystals big enough to make an entire staff. So I chose the only other weapon I am proficient with. The last time we fought the elders I got into trouble because I ran out of mana. This weapon isn't just another mana storage for me, but it can also generate mana by absorbing it from my enemies. And it can take care of the small fry.” I slice another piece from the dummy. “And it is sharp as hell!”