Chapter 140: Interview with a dead god

 

“Ok. Let’s,” Viv said with a yawn.

 

She placed two fingers against the bedframe and pressed. Sure enough, the wood groaned under the pressure and when she removed them, an imprint was left behind. That meant this body, her new body, was definitely strong despite being… Not quite done. At the same time she already felt tired. It was a weird combination.

 

“Oh. So it goes both ways.”

“Wait…” Viv said. “You mean Irao?”

 

 

“I actually know very few languages.”

 

“Wait. Does that mean I potentially bind any others that come after me to my decision?”

 

“Does anyone actually do it?”

 

“It’s been super useful until now so yes, please.”

 

“And errrr… since we’re on the topic. Could you…?”

 

“It was an accident! I apologized! Please, the Academy’s repairmen already give me a discount for being a frequent customer!”

 

Viv immediately blocked the influx of information assaulting her mind. She could handle it, of course, it was just annoying. She wanted to check things out one by one.

 

There was nothing too extreme here, which was weird in itself. The new line that spoke of an elemental core probably had a lot of subtext to unpack but she assumed Abenezigel would help her with that. As expected, the rest of her body was still ‘mortal’. Maybe that was why she felt so damn tired. A brief inspection of her arms revealed no black veins, however. On a hunch, she brought up her health status.

Ok, that, yes that explained a lot. She had been warned. It would take a long time for her to return to full strength and also full height dammit, and not that she was really vain, but also full cup size. And full foot size. She had painstakingly gathered a collection of master-crafted shoes, boots, and slippers that fitted her just right and now they were all too large! Unfair!

 

Viv growled under her breath for one second. She deserved that much.

 

Moving on.

 

There were only four levels to that on which definitely meant that she was expected to accomplish incredible feats in order to progress. Something to consider later.

 

 

Wow that was… massive. So that’s why she felt so damn strong. A power of that tier matched that of a powerful warrior. She could beat people at arm wrestling now! Nothing could stop her!

 

So that was why those trainees could keep slugging at each other without falling to pieces. Also, skills that rely on power? She didn’t have any that she could think of. Wait, she didn’t have any such skills. Or did she? She called the active skill menu.

 

There was, in fact, an active skill menu.

 

Inspection was here. She had always kind of wondered why it didn’t show before.

 

That was… actually that made a lot of sense. Many paths relied on active skills, though casters did not.

 

She just hadn’t…

 

She’d been on Nyil for two years.

 

“Am I stupid?”

 

“Don’t you have better things to do? Actually, don’t answer that.”

 

Viv wanted to return to her stats but the ‘Aspect of the Guardian’ thing got her attention. It was new for sure. She focused on it.

 

At the thought of anchoring, her half wings stretched out from the dark patch on her shoulder blades as naturally as if they were arms. Viv was not used to it. She really wasn’t. At the same time, the limbs were definitely hers in her mind. They felt natural, just… new. Anchoring would require her to plant them somewhere. She just wasn’t exactly clear on the details. The only thing she could instinctively understand was that anchoring related to the drawing of spell arrays. A shortcut, perhaps?

 

As for the skill, it was just perfect for her plan to cover the heavies under her command. She would have to wait to test it in the field of course. And according to the text, it was merely the first. When she felt confident enough to deploy her magic, she would try that in priority. With excitement, Viv returned to her stats.

 

The monstrous progress of her power stat meant that she would have to watch out for a while, get accustomed to the change. Even squeezing someone a bit hard might hurt them. It also illustrated an interesting aspect of Nyil: one could not be good at everything. She might have a high power but without the skills behind it, without effort, it was technically wasted on her. She had never planned on punching people so she couldn’t do that well, even with a magical body. She bet that even with her training in the army, any decent brawler with lower stats could put her down. The reminder of her own limits sobered her a little but only a little.

 

There was no need for punching when one could disintegrate.

 

That was weird because she didn’t feel too different. Perhaps her exhaustion had something to do with it.

 

That was… once again helpful but not dramatically so. Anything that made her harder to hit or kill was helpful, it was just that she didn’t depend on her body to protect her. Magic was her main tool. Still cool though.

 

Not a great change here but that was fine. It didn’t seem to help her with the sleepiness she could feel creeping upon her.

 

She looked at her new physical stats and flexed a hand. It did feel stronger. More real. More reactive as well. Maybe she was looking at it the wrong way. She didn’t need swords or staves or the like but there was one weakness that plagued mages everywhere: mobility.

 

Maybe she didn’t need to waste time learning how to fight with a new body. Maybe she only needed to learn how to move, and since her wings could be used as anchors, relocate anywhere to send torrents of spells from a new location. Her tools like the floating sigils would definitely help as well.

 

She would have to train and experiment. Later.

 

Quickly, she checked her mind stats, finding them all increased by 2.

 

That would be very, very useful. At this level, every increment made a difference, especially for the most complex spells.

 

Viv felt pretty excited. Maybe she could improve her mobility on the battlefield using her stats? Pull a fast one on other casters? There were plenty of opportunities for shenanigans.

 

She checked her skills, or passive skills she guessed, finding them unchanged except for one.

 

Aha! Having stupid void eyes and skeletal wings, ok almost wings of pure black mana coming out of one’s back certainly indicated that someone was having a moment. Or something. There was a small asterisk, however. A nudge in her mind. She focused on it.

 

Viv opened and closed her mouth like a beached fish, beyond outrage. This was so unfair!

 

Whatever! The preliminary inspection of the changes was done for now. The rest she could discuss with Abe before testing which would itself come after a good nap. With a huff, she went to open the door to the main room.

 

Predictably, the torn handle remained in her hand.

 

“Of fucking course.”

 

The door opened anyway, revealing a sort of lobby lit by a skylight, the sun visible through dyed glass. The mix of old stones and relatively new furniture gave her the strange impression that she was squatting in an ancient ruin. Solfis and Abe sat in comfortable couches but there was one last person present, his wavy hair mussed by intense winds.

 

“Sidjin!” Viv squeaked.

 

“Viv!”

 

The fallen price rushed forward. The obvious relief he felt warmed Viv’s heart a little. She distinctively saw the moment he blinked, taking in her new size. He still picked her up in a hug. It felt weird to be carried so easily but not entirely too unpleasant. She could tell her sharper, gaunt face bothered him a little just as she could tell the moment his mind switched gear. and a sardonic smile bloomed on his handsome face.

 

“So… where’s the rest of you?”

 

“Fuck off! I will grow back and then you’ll all see who gets the last laugh!”

 

“Oh my, is it a side effect if you seem a bit…”

 

“Don’t say it.”

 

“Short-tempered?”

 

“I will kill you.”

 

“Alright alright but don’t worry if you’re vertically challenged. Not only am I told that it’s temporary, I would also be the worst of rakes if I were to disregard you over a disability.”

 

“I AM NOT DISABLED!”

 

“We’ll go back to that if you need to grab something on the upper shelf.”

 

“Sidjin,” she drawled, “you know I can use telekinesis right?”

 

“Ah, true.”

 

“If I need something out of reach, I’ll sock puppet your corpse to go and grab it.”

 

“Ah yes. I’m sure we can keep exchanging barbs but just like you, I will be brief. Abenezigel informs me that you will be asleep within the next two hours.”

 

“Oh yes.”

 

“Indeed,” the lich added. “It would be best if we could go over the consequences of your change in detail. I assume you already took in the alterations via your interface?”

 

“Yes.”

 

The lich nodded, the move strangely mechanical.

 

“On top of changes to your stats and possibly skills, there are physical changes we need to delve into.”

 

“I noticed a few significant changes, yes.”

 

“She made a shortlist,” Sidjin unhelpfully added.

 

Viv groaned.

 

“I have no glands left and yet still experience disappointment,” Abenezigel grumbled. “Please stop interrupting me. The first change is your eyes. Have you tried… actively perceiving mana?”

 

“Not yet,” Viv replied.

 

“Please do so now.”

 

Viv focused, then sighed in appreciation.

 

Mana mastery meant that she could permanently see the halo of colors around living and inanimate objects. This proved essential when fighting other mages or understanding spells because she could anticipate what would come from the change in density, and the sigils she could identify at a glance. It remained a taxing activity, however, or at least it had until now. Rather than a blur of color around her normal sight, mana now appeared much better defined in self-contained shapes around the entities it was attached to. Sidjin was his usual red, brown, and colorless self. Solfis was made of thin, geometric lines around a core that shone like a sun while Abenezigel offered an interesting sight. He possessed a black core like every other undead, though his appeared to be ‘homemade’ rather than taken like hers. Colors came from his scepter but not in the same way Sonagi’s artifact emitted color. That one had been a modular storage system. Abenezigel’s scepter converted black mana into mana of the desired color at a rather wasteful ratio. Still, it was amazing he could do it at all.

 

“Hey, you can use any color?”

 

“Only those I understood while I was alive. I know what you are trying to ask, Viviane the outlander. I am sorry. My understanding comes from, and was built on, the knowledge I had while alive. I do not believe you are able to learn any other color. More importantly, how is the sight?”

 

“Incredibly detailed. I could just use it at full power non stop without issue, I think. Very useful.”

 

“It should also scare those who behold them, though be wary. Ignorant folks might take you for a monster.”

 

//Those who attempt to cull her will receive their just reward.

//Although it might make the purchase of goods and services challenging.

 

“Precisely. You will find your visual acuity improved, including in more adversarial conditions as well.”

 

“Such as?”

 

Abenezigel waved his hand, invoking a cloud with blue mana. Viv could see rather clearly though the ensuing fog. He followed with a layer of black mana he placed on the windows, plunging the room into darkness. At least, Viv was pretty sure it was darkness. She could see just fine.

 

“Ok that’s pretty nice. Anything else?”

 

“Yes. The second thing I want to talk about is your body.”

 

He stood, approaching Viv. Sidjin leaned against one of the couches as if unsure if he should stay. Or perhaps he was just worried. Viv looked at her arms again, her annoyance at how thin they were still present in her mind.

 

“Many of your bodily functions are now powered by mana which leads me to the most important point, the one I absolutely intended to mention. In fact, I have come to the realization that I should have told you in your bedroom.”

 

“Get on with it,” Viv said, annoyed by the delay.

 

“Many of your vital functions now rely on mana as your physical body is no longer quite physical. This means that when you used to run out of mana, you fainted.”

 

“Yes, I know,” Viv said, remembering the deadland fort sieges during which she collapsed several times.

 

“If you run out of mana now, your brain will immediately cease to function and you will die.”

 

“Errrr.”

 

“I do not wish to alarm you. It is excessively difficult to make an elemental archmage run out of mana. Nevertheless, keep that possibility in mind. Fortunately, the other aspects of an elemental body are much more beneficial. You can last longer without food and breath, though not forever. I am pleased to report that you may also survive mortal wounds as if your endurance was several tiers higher, whether the cause be massive trauma, poison, or even curses!”

 

The lich seemed giddy, something that immediately set off Viv’s survival instinct. It was the skull, really.

 

“Not that I would wish it on you, of course,” the lich quickly amended.

 

“Alright, good to know. Moving on?”

 

“Unless you are killed, you are now functionally immortal.”

 

“Ah yeah. Not bad.”

 

Viv considered millennia of research for eternal youth, trillions spent over the ages on alchemy, genetics, medicine, magic, and AI for the sake of obtaining what she had just been so casually handed. Abenezigel patiently waited until she was done digesting that particular piece of information.