A Jaded Life

Rai and I spent the night and most of the next morning watching the mouth of the valley harbouring the dryads, taking note of their movements and trying to figure out how their magic-defenses worked. The mundane defenses at the easily traversed regions were tight to the point that I did not see even the slightest chance to circumvent them without a lot of luck, something I was not willing to risk.

On the other hand, the magic-defenses were a lot less sophisticated, at least the outer layer. I had no way of knowing if there was more behind them, out of my sight. The only thing I was able to find with Lenore’s sight was a layer of magic, woven into the foliage roughly a meter above ground, allowing for small game pass below it. I was rather curious how it was maintained, their old wards had been woven into their huge crystal-focus and were supplied by their constant use of blood-magic but I hoped they did not try the same thing again, not after I had seen what could crawl out of the Nether. But even if they were, there was no way that they could have accumulated the same amount of misama as they had previously. At any rate, if I could figure out a way to follow the warding-network, I would probably get to their leader and maybe we could cut off the head of this particular snake.

During the night, Rai softly spoke up. “Morgana, what are your plans? You know, after this?” His voice sounded pensive, as if he was lost in thought.

“That depends, Rai.” I whispered back, “We might stay for a bit in Adernas, do a few quests, things like that, before we move on. I want to see what this world has to offer and I cannot do that in the frozen forests of the north. Don’t get me wrong, your homeland is beautiful, in it’s own way, but I want to see what is hiding behind the horizon, what is hidden behind the next hill and the next bend in the road.” There was a smile on my face, as I realised that it was true. I had intended to use a half-truth, to conceal the fact that I wanted to free an ancient entity imprisoned by the gods, but the half-truth I was telling was a lot more than half true. Even without the quest, I would not be contend to stay in this area, I truly wanted to see this world, wanted to understand it.

There was a lot in this world that I had come to appreciate, even when comparing it with the modern world I was used to. On more than one occasion had I wished that this world was truly real, even while wondering if it really mattered. What was real anyway? Some people proposed the idea that the ‘real’ world was just a simulation, run by a higher consciousness. So, why not enjoy this world, which was just that?

Obviously, the biggest thing in this world was Sigmir. But not the only thing. Magic had intrigued me, had captivated my interest in a way no subject ever had. Those were the biggest, but not the only things that I loved in Mundus.

In my mind, I planned different ways to approach, different avenues of attack but, due to limited information, it came down to the simple concept of circumventing the wards, probably by simply crawling under them, and going down the slope. Part of me wanted to try scouting it beforehand, but I was a little unsure of my own skill, so bringing the complete group, under the cover of my concealment-spells, had the best chance of success. In addition, it was a necessity anyway, there was almost no chance that I would be able to deal with the nymphs here on my own. Not unless I got seriously lucky, like I had in their original base in Tegi, it was not something I could count on. So, bringing as much power as possible would be the best way.

On our way back to Sigmir and Adra I realised a small problem. Lenore had asked them to leave our previous camp, looking for a spot that the patrols would not find. But now I had no idea where they went.

After a moment, I realised that there was something I could do. I had used magic to locate Jongarn, using old hairs of him as a link. There was no doubt in my mind that I could do the same with Sigmir, even without a link to focus on. I had felt her soul, merged my own into hers and experienced the entirety that was Her. Closing my eyes, I focused onto her, the feeling that was her and my own feelings for her, while drawing on my magic. For a split-second, I felt a resonance, felt her react to me, felt her surprise. I was unable to transmit anything but a feeling of longing calm but I knew what direction to take.

Skill increased

You increased your skill: Darkness Magic [41/100]

With that direction, Rai and I made our way up the hillside, looking for them. They were quite surprised when we managed walk straight up to their hideout, it was a good one. The two of them had found a huge evergreen tree and made themself a hiding spot below the lowest branches, perfectly hidden from side, without any overt magic usage.

Adra was a little miffed that we had spotted her so easily, while Sigmir closed her eyes for a moment, before speaking. “I asked Ylva to come back. She has waited close to the cave we had made our camp in. A wolf in the forest is a lot less suspicious, compared to multiple humanoids.”

“How did you find us? You can’t have followed our tracks, if you did, Ylva would be with you. And I made sure that they were concealed.” Adra blurted out. Clearly, she had a tough time with the fact that her concealment had no effect.

“Don’t worry, I doubt that just anyone could have found you here. But, in a way, you have a part of me here, why wouldn’t I find my other half?” I asked, smiling at Sigmir.

It took a moment but both of them understood, Adra looked flabbergasted and Sigmir looked pleased.

“So it was you. I thought I felt something, but I wasn’t sure if I was imagining things, because I wanted to have you with me so bad.” Sigmir’s smile turned truly dazzling, showing that she was seeing this connection as something truly special.

“But… Wha… How?!” Adra was looking for words and after a few moments, she found them. “You found her without a focus? I thought connections like that were only a myth.”

Now, I was intrigued, “What do you mean?” Was my connection with Sigmir that unusual?

“There are legends of lovers, united by destiny, who are able to feel each other's soul. I always thought those were romantic myths, without any basis in reality. If you truly used nothing but yourself as a focus… I don’t know what it means. Do you think you could find me like that?” Adra seemed unsure. I didn’t even need to think about it. There was no way I could do that, no way, no how, so I simply shook my head. Adra seemed unsurprised, she had to have expected just that reaction.

In a way, the knowledge that I could find Sigmir was soothing a particular worry within me. If I was able to do so now, I might be able to do so after the beta ended and the world changed. I would have to hold onto that feeling, the feeling of hope, and simply gain enough power to make the world submit to my will. But that was for later, much later. For now, we had an assault to plan.

I told the other two about our observations and my personal ideas how to circumvent them. They agreed with me that a direct attack was impossible, even if most of their combatants were outside, even their civilians would likely overwhelm us with sheer numbers. And that was with the ludicrous assumption that we would be able to take out the combatants they had undoubtedly left behind.

No, if we wanted to win this, there were only two ways. Either sneak in and keep things quiet or go with the biggest bang I could think of, trying to kill off as many enemies as I could, before they could react. The magic I had used against the devourer was incredibly powerful and I had no doubt that I could spread it out more, let frozen death rain over a larger area. But I was also aware that I needed a lot of time to get it to that point and everyone with even the slightest bit of perception would feel me doing it. No, for this, we needed subtlety, a shiv, not a sledgehammer.

My mind went back to the attack I had used against the Snowbolds so long ago. It would not work, not in the same way, but maybe there was something useable in the idea.

An idea was starting to germinate in my mind. It would be a challenge, but an interesting one.

I explained my plan to the others, before heading to sleep. It would be an exciting night.