Samantha said. She was still controlling my body, holding me stock still, completely motionless except for a very steady breathing, hidden inside a tree not far from the two warships.

If we start by sneaking our soul on board, then that limits us to Soul Explosion. Does this mean you aren’t planning to run rampant again?

Samantha said.

Alright. How do we get on board?

Samantha said.

Fine. Once again, it seemed as though Samantha was intentionally forming plans that I would be unable to do. Or, more likely, I would just be completely incapable of completing this mission without her. I had no idea how to form the shape of my soul in such a way. Of course, Samantha had also never taken the time to teach me because Samantha had never taken the time to teach me—perhaps so she could take over in this very moment.

I immediately knew who Samantha was talking about. There was only one war hammer that I had seen this whole time, so it was very distinctive. The hammer was about as big as the Fey’s back, and it was slotted into place vertically over the Fey’s back, just narrowly avoiding the Fey’s wings.

Our target Fey was slightly larger than the average Fey, perhaps 4’6, and he didn’t seem to belong to any of the task forces that were currently building the walls on the periphery of the newly created base, and he didn’t seem to be participating in the creation of the Teleportation Circle. He chatted with the overseers of each of the various projects, walking in circles around the warship.

A few minutes later, Samantha pounced when the Fey with the war hammer neared the tree that we were hiding in. Suddenly, my awareness lurched, and I found myself behind the larger Fey, my soul condensed tightly to hide inside the Fey’s hammer.

The hammer was a C-rank weapon, which meant it was positively glowing with mana already. Presumably, this factored in to Samantha’s decision to hide inside it. Out of curiosity, as the Fey walked past our tree, I focused in on the tree, to see if I could find any weaknesses in our hiding spot.

I almost thought I was looking at the wrong tree. I could see a vibrant tree, full of green, plant-attributed mana.

But as I looked deeper, I could see slight inconsistencies. Normally, the mana inside a tree or plant was mostly static, whereas ambient mana would move around like a gas. Near the base of the trunk, on the inside, the plant-attributed mana moved around more freely.

This was the mana that we had spread around and inside our body with the Plant-attuned Mana Shard. Since I wasn’t there to control it, it was now moving around like ambient, plant-attuned mana trapped inside a tree.

Looking at the “ambient” mana inside the tree, I could see that it took the shape of a large ball—my body that had collapsed from a crouch into a ball. Hidden inside that ball, there was also mana of different sorts—unattuned mana, and soul-attuned mana, in particular.

Looking at the tree, I could now appreciate why Samantha never gave me enough room to stand upright. My body would have slumped more if I were standing, and it would have perhaps drawn more attention, to see a vertical, human-sized bunch of Ambient Mana at eye level.

Instead, my body was able to completely collapse and relax all muscles in an awkward fetal position. It looked less eye-catching, and it left less volume disturbed overall.

I had been so distracted studying my own hiding place that I suddenly realized my Fey carrier was about to enter the warship.

The warship had a large, open hatch and ramp leading down to the ground, but the warship’s Mana Shield was still active, blocking all passage through the hatch.

“Captain Gusa,” the two sentries standing on the inside of the at the warship door said as Mr. Warhammer approached. They entered a few commands into the panel next to them, and our carrier—Captain Gusa—nodded to the sentries and continued his walk through the interior of the warship.

The Fey warship was much better lit, compared to the Metan warship that I had snuck inside in the past. At least, that was what I assumed, judging from the density of the glow stones on the walls. I actually couldn’t tell, of course, because I didn’t actually have eyes.

Captain Gusa continued walking uninterrupted through the various narrow hallways of the warship, directly towards the bridge.

The bridge was defended and sealed by a second C-rank Mana Shield, independent from the hull’s Mana Shield.

The bridge doors were two thick, metal doors that reminded me of elevator doors. Captain Gusa pressed an Identification crystal to the panel by the wall, and announced himself. “Captain Gusa. Passcode Ultraviolet194b.”

The door slid open, and I finally, truly, felt like I was in a science fiction movie.

A woman with a powerful aura sat in a massive swivel chair in the very center of the bridge, with a control panel in front of her that was densely populated by switches, knobs, sliders, and the like.

Projected on the walls around the bridge, I could see video feeds of everything happening inside and outside the warship.

In front of the woman in the swivel chair was a massive display of the surroundings of the warship based off of Mana Sensing. I could see the static green trees, the dense bundles of mana that were the Fey, and the continually growing walls of Earth-attuned mana that were being built around the two warships.

The attunements of the mana inside the Fey soldiers were interesting to study. The Fey with Earth-attuned mana were primarily on the outskirts, forming the defensive line around the warship. But it wasn’t uncommon for Fey to have two or three attunements, meaning their bodies were composed of a swirling watercolor of blended mana.

Standing next to the display of mana was a Fey sorcerer, who was chanting softly, letting his voice fade into the background. Presumably, this intricate method of tracking all the mana in the area was the product of the sorcerer’s chant.

“Everything is proceeding on schedule, General,” Captain Gusa said, bowing to the woman in the swivel chair. “The Teleportation Circle will be ready within the hour.”

The general rose from her swivel chair, facing Captain Gusa, flapping her wings slightly so that she was floating a head higher than the other Fey in the room.

I figured it was a respect, or seniority, thing, that all the other Fey in the room had their feet on the ground.

General Viya Asar had long fingernails, and short hair that was less than an inch long. She had a sharp, pointed chin, and an angular face with several wrinkles on it, but it was difficult to guess how old she might be.

“Nothing has gone wrong, yet?” She asked, absentmindedly.

Captain Gusa seemed uncertain about if he was supposed to respond.

“They know we’re coming,” General Viya Asar said. “They must know that we are here. Now would be the best moment to attack.”

“Perhaps they know this is a trap,” One of the other Fey in the room said. This Fey had not turned around when Captain Gusa entered the bridge. Her eyes were glued to the video feeds on the bridge’s walls.

“Or maybe they’ve just given up,” another Fey said. He was slouched in his own chair in the corner of the room, juggling a set of tiny throwing knives with one hand absentmindedly.

“The humans would not give up so easily,” General Viya Asar said. “They will strike, in under an hour. We will expand—“

General Viya Asar cut herself off, suddenly speaking with a newfound urgency. “They are already inside the warship, and they will try to breach the bridge. Mui, add another Crystal to the Bridge Shield—”

I don’t know what kind of distraction Samantha had been able to pull off, but that was clearly her signal.

Our soul flew out of Captain Gusa’s war hammer, directly into General Viya Asar’s face, and exploded.

Once to break the Personal Shield that was glowing around her. Twice, and a third time, and a fourth time, then a fifth time, each Soul Explosion causing compounded pain despite the fact that Samantha, as the controller, was taking the brunt of it.

Agony. It was like a splitting headache, but painful enough to blur my vision and force me out of consciousness.

Eventually, I noticed the world had shifted, and I was back in my own body at the Infinite Tower lobby.