174, 1/2

Sitting under one of a hundred small, scattered Privacys on Yggdrasil’s branches, Erick fell into Yggdrasil’s consciousness like a man falling into a waking dream. It took a moment to come to terms with the unreality of viewing the world through his largest summon’s ‘eyes’, but Erick waded through fiery water and liquid stone and airy waves, and found the threads that connected Yggdrasil to himself.

Both threads led off in two different directions. One toward the beach with the cavern that led toward the embassy, while the other led off into the riverways that fed the waterfalls on the other side of Yggdrasil’s cavern. Beyond that, the journey was much more ethereal; messier than when Erick was in the Core. When he was in the Core, the path had been clean, but here, the path was strewn with everything and nothing all at once.

According to what he was seeing, Erick was somewhere deep under the Surface, under the ocean that separated Nelboor, Quintlan, and Nergal. Both paths toward the other Yggdrasils almost crossed the edge of the Core, but instead they bent around that space like curving lightbeams. Yggdrasil and Erick were, perhaps, extremely far away from home. The connection didn’t seem weak at all, though, so that was good. No unexpected barriers down in this ephemeral liquid land.

He went to the body of Yggdrasil that he thought was close to Poi and sent out an inquiry.

He waited.

‘Sir?’ came Poi’s groggy voice. And then Poi realized what was happening and shouted, ‘Erick! You’re alive!’

Erick felt a flush of warmth rush through his entire body, and then tears flowed, filled with all his rage and hate and subtle joy of being safe, for now. While he bawled like a baby, it didn’t affect his ability to send, and so he sent, ‘It’s good to hear your voice, Poi. Is everyone doing okay?’

‘Yes. Everyone is fine.’ Poi let some of his own warmth flow through their connection as he happily sent, ‘I am glad to inform you that, due to the spellwork you allowed me to share with Kiri, that she has been able to take over much of the defense of the city, almost entirely on her own. 12 hour [True Sunlight Rifts] that empower everyone on every battlefield with pure light, while the same spell is shifted toward damage and positioned out across the—’ Poi paused, then said, ‘[Luminous Beam] has shifted the entire battlefield, too. We’re winning easily… Uh. I shouldn’t tell you. Not when you’re still on the Worldly Path.’

‘That’s fine, Poi.’ Erick chuckled a bit, then sent, ‘I’m glad to know that everyone is doing well. What time is it, there?’

After a moment, Poi sent, ‘Looks like nearly noon. Most of Spur is on night shifts, now. Jane is up, though. Want me to connect you?’

‘In a moment. I need to talk… I need to know about a few people, and you probably know of them.’ Erick sent, ‘Have you ever heard of High Inquisitor Kromolok or Sitnakov Stratagold? I also need information on Tasar the Summoner; more than we already had. Tasar is to be my keeper till the end of this Worldly Path, so I want to know who I’ve saddled myself with.’

Dread filled the connection. Poi lightly sent, ‘I know of them, yes. I…’ He decided something, his voice turning serious, ‘Tasar the Summoner is the least dangerous of the three, but it would be folly to call any of those people ‘harmless’. She is aligned with the Headmaster and Stratagold, but leans toward the Headmaster. Of Kromolok or Sitnakov, I have no idea which is more dangerous. High Inquisitor… High Inquisitor Kromolok is a man you do not cross lightly, though he is always fair in his dealings until the safety of the world is threatened. Uh. Sitnakov is a world famous hero but everyone thinks he’s in retirement? He’s not? Uh.’ Poi sent, ‘I need a full rundown of what happened— URK!’

The line went dead.

Erick did not panic, for he was already keeping himself as calm as he could. He simply cast [Telepathy] again, trying to reestablish their connection.

The connection returned.

Erick blinked hard as he breathed out, ragged and worn, but very thankful that Poi was still alive. ‘You okay?’

Quietly, Poi sent, ‘I tried to send in a request for information, covering my options, and got— They denied me and warned me against interfering. Kromolok, himself, denied me. I think… I think you’re going to be okay, but they’re starting an official inquiry about you… According to everything I knew before you went down there such an inquiry would have returned a result of ‘do not interfere’. Did something happen to change that? I mean. It must have?’

‘I’ve never heard you so nervous before.’ Erick asked, ‘Should I be worried?’

‘About me? No. I’m fine. Jane is fine and Spur is fine. Everyone here is good.’ Poi sent, ‘You should focus on yourself to get through this inquiry as fast and as securely as possible.’

‘… Okay. Then, about that. I’m a Wizard, apparently. Paradox.’

A pause.

Poi sent, ‘It finally happened, huh.’

‘Rozeta helped me and installed a plug that she could pull if I look to go bad. It’s complicated. Does this mean that they’re going to kill me, Poi?’

‘Not necessarily.’ Resigned to giving out secrets, Poi sent, ‘We send Wizards into hiding sometimes, wiping out their Wizardry and setting them up with new, happy lives here or there. You won’t choose that path though, so you’re going to have to be careful. I don’t know much about how Wizardry works, but as long as you don’t form a core then you should be okay. Nothing will change—’ Poi cut himself off. ‘You didn’t.’

‘I both did, and did not. I went with Paradox Wizardry, with Rozeta’s help. She wants to control my Worldly Path but Melemizargo isn’t handing it over and no one wants him involved in helping me to make [Gate], so I need to find another Wizard to end the Path and actually make the [Gate Creator Summon], or whatever it is. Such a spell requires Wizardry, though, and since I’m already a Wizard… The option was obvious.’

After a moment, Poi sent, ‘Are you planning on being open with this?’

Erick instantly sent, ‘Gods no! Hiding for all time. Though I did make [Renew], and apparently that was an act of Wizardry. I have a year of hiding, but likely less than that if we’re being honest.’

‘Hold up.’ Poi said, ‘Okay. Okay. Okay… Hold on.’

Erick waited.

Poi sent, ‘Okay. I’m ready to continue. First, I want you to know that I am very thankful that you trust me enough to have this conversation. This right here is very dangerous information. Perhaps more than you’ve ever touched upon before. I’m still here and with you, but many people of Spur will not want to associate with Wizards… Or… Okay. I have a large idea about how many other people will react when they find out you’re a Wizard, but no one really knows how a mind breaks when faced with new threats; anyone telling you otherwise is a liar or controlling how those minds break. I know for sure how I’m reacting, though, and it’s to say that I’m going to stay by your side through whatever comes.’

Erick felt another warmth in his chest. He had been deeply worried about a thousand small things, and one of those worries had been about the people around him abandoning him. After all, Wizards were thought to have destroyed the Old Cosmology. A powerful enough Wizard could easily break a single planet like Veird. Apparently, Melemizargo could end Veird at any time. But Wizards could also create.

Wizards were hunted down by everyone in power, either to end an existential threat, or because Wizards were able to twist both subjective Reality and objective reality as they saw fit. While most of the populace would want to kill a known Wizard, dragons wanted to capture and torture and mutate Wizards in order to rid themselves of their Cursed Blood.

From what Erick had found out while walking this Worldly Path he had expected Poi and everyone else to stab him in the back the second he revealed himself as a Wizard.

He had been prepared to leave Spur behind, to forget everyone that he had ever known and cared about, except for Jane, of course. He was pretty sure he knew how Jane would react to this news, but he had needed to keep her ignorant of this part of his life, to keep her safe. Once his Wizardly status was outed to the world, he would likely need to abandon Spur for their own safety…

But he was glad to see that Poi would remain at his side.

With uncommon relief on his mind, Erick sent, ‘I’d say you don’t know how much your trust means to me, Poi, but you’re one of the only ones who truly would know how much this means. Thank you.’

A trill of quiet happiness filled their connection, and then Poi said, ‘I’m glad you’re okay, Erick.’ He added, ‘But with all that said, we move on to this: What the FUCK were you thinking?’

Laughing, Erick sent, ‘Want me to start at the top?’

A sigh. ‘Yes. From when we last spoke. You were setting up Yggdrasil in the Outer Core?’

Erick mentally nodded, then began, ‘So…’

They spoke for an hour. Talk of Wizards ended up being a small fraction of that time, with the conversation quickly moving on to the public stories of Kromolok, Sitnakov, and Tasar. Poi explained that he had a bit of trouble pulling apart what he knew from public knowledge, to what he knew from Mind Mage matters, so he erred on the side of caution and kept his words about them all rather short, to ensure that he wouldn’t break Mind Mage protocols.

At the end, Poi summed his caution up, sending, ‘They’re three of the most dangerous people on the planet, but you’re right up there with them. The only differences are that you’re an unknown and mortal— No. You’re immortal now. Uh. Well. You’re not going to tell them that, are you? Kromolok would know because he— Ah. I didn’t say that last part.’

Erick smiled. ‘No. Not planning on telling anyone I’m immortal now.’

‘Good. Well… With some fantastic amounts of luck, you might actually get to experience that immortality, but most immortals don’t make it far past middle-adulthood due to monsters and intrigue— Anyway.’ Poi sent, ‘You’re an unknown and, for all intents and purposes, mortal, so they won’t respect you at all. Try not to take it personally. I would like to save all further international incidents for after your Worldly Path, when you’re back home and I can be present for all brewing calamities. Maybe we can get in front of this Wizard thing so that when [Renew] comes out it’s not as bad as it could be.’

Erick laughed a little. ‘It’s good to talk to you, Poi. I’m probably going to need those Mind Mage therapists when I get back home.’

‘Yes, you will.’ Poi sent, ‘Want to talk to Jane?’

‘Absolutely. And thank you, Poi. I wasn’t sure… Thank you.’

Poi just mentally nodded.

And then Jane’s voice burst through Erick’s head, ‘DAD! WHY DIDN’T YOU CALL ME FIRST?’

Erick laughed, sending, ‘Because I’m still in a very dangerous situation and I needed help and guidance from Poi. I hear you’re in a dangerous situation, too.’

‘… No you didn’t hear anything like that. Not from me.’ Jane went silent for a moment, then she said, ‘I’m not supposed to talk about what’s been going on here, but I think I can say… Yeah. We’re doing fine. It is what it is, and we’re fine. How about you? How’s the Underworld been treating you?’

‘It’s a shitshow.’ Erick sat back in his chair, happily saying, ‘So let me tell you all about it, starting with this: If you don’t have a Domain, don’t come to the deep Underworld, because every high level monster has a Domain. Every single one, and most of them are strong.’

‘Huh.’ Jane said, ‘I guess that tracks with what I’ve been able to find, which has been almost nothing. Unless you got a Domain, you just die down there, eh?’

‘Yeah.’ Erick said, ‘On the way back from the Core I even came across a Variant Deathsoul Shroom and my ‘escorts’ —all very high powered people— tried to go around it, but I blasted the shroom away with [Luminous Beam]. There’s been a few monsters like that. Probably shouldn’t try to get one of those variant monstrous forms until you have a Domain, too. Maybe not even then. I don’t know how monster Domains work, but if the Queen Blood Weaver was tough, then these are likely worse.’

‘Bah.’ Jane mentally frowned. ‘Heard and Understood, commander.’

Erick smiled. Then he said, ‘But other than that…’

He spoke. Jane listened. Then Jane talked and Erick listened. They went back and forth on some of the monsters he had seen, while she tried to understand whatever abilities they might have had, before Erick obliterated them. And then they moved on to the Core, and the wrought. Jane’s anger mirrored Erick’s own, and he felt a few tears roll down his face as he listened to her tirade. It was nice. And then she calmed a fraction and had some words to say about what the wrought were doing and trying to do to him. Eventually, she agreed with his choice to forgo total violence. She also agreed that she didn’t like any of the Underworld wrought she had ever met.

‘We’ve got some adamantium wrought up here working with Anhelia to take back Ar’Kendrithyst, and they’ve been rather haughty about it all. They won’t talk to anyone who isn’t a wrought.’

‘Their line is probably more that they won’t talk to any non-immortal.’ Erick sent, ‘And speaking of such, I realized that you should be immortal with your monsters and learning how to properly work [Polymorph].’

‘… Well.’ Jane seemed to breathe deep, then she said, ‘I’m not there yet, but I realized the implications of a skilled [Polymorph] a while ago. You wanna talk about it?’

Erick smiled. Jane was keeping secrets from him, too, wasn’t she? That was fine.

‘I do want to talk about it.’ Erick decided to tell Jane a small lie that was effectively the truth, but in another form, ‘I’ve decided to try to learn how to [Polymorph] my way to immortality. That, or else make an [Immortality] spell based on DNA repair and [Cleanse]ing magic and such. I think I got enough time to make a ‘[Full Restore]’ spell as long as I don’t have a sudden bout of assassin-itis or wrought-induced trauma.’

Jane laughed, then said, ‘If anyone can figure it out, I’m sure you can.’

‘I’m sure you’ll figure it out, too.’ Erick said, ‘I love you, Jane.’

‘I love you, dad.’ Jane said, ‘Get some rest. Eat some good food that isn’t a thousand years old.’

‘Maybe I will. There’s restaurants all over the tunnels outside the embassy.’ Erick added, ‘And hey! Maybe I’ll meet more wrought that aren’t assholes. I have high hopes for Tasar, and minimal hopes for Kromolok, but Sitnakov seems like a lost cause.’

‘The name Sitnakov still seems familiar to me… I’ll have to check out the Adventurer’s Guild’s archives. I’ll get back to you about that next time you give me a ring.’

‘Thanks. Send my love to everyone else. I’ll be home soon enough. I’ll try for a week.’

‘Maybe longer than that.’ Jane sent, ‘Not before you get [Gate], right?’

‘… Right.’ Erick added, ‘Yeah. I suppose so. That means I’m likely headed toward Oceanside next.’

With a sarcastic bent, Jane teased, ‘Finally getting into the Quiet War!’

‘Maybe I’ll end it! Now there’s a laugh.’

‘Heh.’ Jane mentally nodded, then said, ‘I love you, dad.’

‘I love you, too, Jane.’

A moment of silence. And then…

The connection frayed, and broke.

Erick sat back in his conjured recliner, on the upper reaches of Yggdrasil, staring at the barely-moving fiery green canopy overhead, and the lightning-like branches that held those leaves above. Beyond the roof of Yggdrasil the world was bright with near-true sunlight, given off by ten thousand crystals jutting from the ceiling near 20 kilometers above. Some of those crystals were the size of skyscrapers, but they looked more like LEDs on the ceiling from this distance.

In the far distance, at the edge of the cavern nearly 15 kilometers away, a facsimile of three Niagara Falls, side by side, fell into the waters of this lake, providing a wonderful sound of distant, rushing water. A slight breeze came from that direction, barely rustling Yggdrasil’s leaves, as the wind continued on toward the tunnel leading toward the embassy, passing through there and a hundred smaller air holes in the cavern. This place was well ventilated, for sure. The lake waters were well piped as well, draining through holes in the bottom of the lake, near even more skyscraper-sized illuminated crystals that jutted up from the waters, providing glows everywhere, and especially in the depths, chasing away all shadows.

Yggdrasil was doing a great job of chasing away the shadows, too, with all of his myriad glows.

The area felt safe.

Erick felt able to relax, if only a little.

Talking to Poi had helped. Talking to Jane had cemented his mental state. He was ready to proceed with life. But to make sure he was stable he had at least one more task. He switched over to his Other Self, and ate his own mana with [Renew]. He felt a lot better about everything after that. He was still at base Stats in his Other Form, but he was up in levels by a lot; mostly due to cycling. [Renew] had yet to reach level 10 because Erick still only had 200 maximum Mana, and leveling spells was slow when you couldn’t dump effectively endless resources at them. It hadn’t changed at all even with the few levels it had gained, though.

He could have put some points toward Clarity and Meditation and Resource multipliers, like Concentration and Discipline, but…

… He could probably go hunting for monster meat and eat it to gain some Strength; fortify his physical Stats a bit while he was still able to do that. Save some points in the future…

Eh.

Too much effort for too little gain. At least right now, anyway. He didn’t want to do much of anything with his Other Self at the moment except to ensure it didn’t drag him down with unexpected rage. Once he was in a better place he could actually start leveling that side of him. And besides that, what if he unknowingly and accidentally crossed some threshold and he was kicked off the Script? No; there would be no fortification of his Other Self at all, for now.

Erick switched over to his Normal Self and decided it was time to sleep. Food, exploration, meeting new people, all that would all come later, after he had some time to actually rest.

He conjured a bed and all the appropriate bedding and then he dismissed his armor and stripped to his underwear. A [Cleanse] washed away all recent signs of stress and fatigue and then Erick climbed into bed. A recast of his [Personal Ward] made him feel a fraction safer, but…

He asked, “Yggdrasil? Are you okay? Do you like this new cavern?”

“I good. I like cavern. Little fish all places.”

With a tired smile, Erick said, “Good.” And then he patted Ophiel and tucked himself in.

He was as safe as could be, for now.

Ophiel and Yggdrasil kept thousands of eyes on him and their surroundings, popping [Scry] eyes like clearing raindrops from the air. They only got the close ones, though. The cavern was 30 kilometers wide and 20 tall, with Yggdrasil in the exact center of it all, and only 3 kilometers across. There was a lot of space out there for a long range [Scry], so the only thing protecting Erick from those were the decoy [Sealed Privacy Ward]s scattered all over Yggdrasil like Christmas ornaments. Erick’s largest summon took up less than one percent of the available space down here…

Ah. Yeah; Yggdrasil didn’t take up a whole lot of space, but he was bigger than the last time Erick had seen him. Perhaps he was bigger back in the Core, too, but Erick hadn’t noticed the change until now. Yggdrasil was growing up.

They always grow up faster than you’re ready for.

At that pleasant, sorrowful thought, Erick closed his eyes and tried to sleep. Oblivion claimed him faster than he thought it would.

– – – –

Erick woke with a start—

He began applying his defenses as soon as he could, his mind already reaching out for Yggdrasil and Ophiel, who were both all around. A terrified second passed as Erick discovered that nothing was wrong.

… And then he groaned into his palms while Ophiel chirped, welcoming Erick back to the world of the awake as Erick had a broken, heavy moment with himself, trying to put himself back into the ‘now’.

Yggdrasil said, “Good morning, Father.”

Ophiel gently rammed right into Erick’s chest like an excited cat, and Erick was forced to move his hands away from his own face to cuddle the little guy. It was difficult at first, but being a parent was about showing your children that you were capable and strong, especially in those early years. As he had once done while he was with Jane, he now did with Ophiel and Yggdrasil; he pretended to be okay, and eventually, that would be the truth. ‘Eventually’ only took three seconds, this time, as he looked down at the ball of feathers and eyes cuddling his chest, and out at Yggdrasil, all around.

Erick smiled. “Good morning,” he told the ball of feathers. He looked up, saying, “Good morning, Yggdrasil. Did anything happen while I was asleep?”

“Nothing happen. You not sleep long.”

“How long was I out?”

“… Not know.” Yggdrasil’s bark briefly dimmed—

Erick instantly said, “That’s okay, Yggdrasil. I was just curious, anyway.”

Yggdrasil’s bark returned to its normal glow.

Erick breathed out for a moment, just sitting there on his conjured bed, looking at the world all around. He decided he needed more sleep, but before he did that he recast his spellwork and switched over to his Other Self, to eat a delicious meal of his own mana and cycle his core for a little while. When he was done with that, he changed back to his Normal Self, went to the bathroom in a conjured toilet that led nowhere, [Cleanse]d the mess, and then he reconjured his bed.

Slipping back under the covers, he told Yggdrasil, “One more sleep, then I can start doing other things. Wake me if anything happens, okay?”

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“Okay!”

Erick closed his eyes—

And his stomach gurgled something fierce. Still, he refused to wake up right now unless he had to, and he didn’t have to. Eyes closed, he turned—

The bed popped out from under him, sending him falling half a meter to Yggdrasil’s bark and smacking his head on the glowing surface. Apparently he had fucked up with the conjuring. With his face planted on Yggdrasil’s surface, Erick breathed out, and in, and then he just got up. He was awake now. Might as well get something to eat, too.

A protean cannot live on mana alone, apparently.

“You awake?” Yggdrasil asked.

“I guess so,” Erick said.

Standing on the edge of Yggdrasil’s branches, Erick looked down at the clear waters far below. Yggdrasil’s subway-sized roots curved out from his trunk like a basket of snakes unleashed, to dive in and out of the lake bottom, sometimes arcing above the surface like a certain white dragon goddess with her clouds. Erick stared at the calm lake for a little while, feeling the wind and smelling next to nothing. This place was clean and healthy.

Erick asked, “How’s the water, Yggdrasil?”

“It is water.”

“… Do you like being planted in water?”

Yggdrasil paused. “I grow in stone. Water above stone.”

“I mean: Would you like me to plant you in stone, without so much water?”

“No. I like fishes.” Yggdrasil asked, “Do fishes in stone?”

“Do fishes exist in the stones of mountains?” Erick asked. Then he answered, “Not really. There are some flying fishes in the Crystal Forest that live in sand and air, though. A whole flock of them lured a wyrm at me one time.”

Yggdrasil thought for a little while, then said, “Water fishes better. Flying not good. Get in leaves. Roots fine. Leaves not fine.”

Erick smiled. “Is there enough light in this place for you? I can hang more lights around here, if you want.”

Yggdrasil thought for a long moment, his bark flickering with brightness as his canopy and rainbow crown glittered and dimmed. He settled down. “I got light.”