Our home has been reduced to a battle fortification, everyone walking the halls is a soldier, traps set out seemingly randomly on every floor, where anyone could trip over them. They’re deactivated for now, but there are more than a few burn marks and craters around the room to suggest that they’ve seen some use.

Either some unfortunate soldier has tripped over one of our mines, or the battle here has pushed us harder than I thought.

As we drip ourselves dry, Shen shaking her new serpentine body like a dog coming out of the rain, Rare shows up to lead us around the facility. Lakesh is already moving out to deal with another problem, enemy movement in the tunnels surrounding us. Nothing I can help with yet, not as a leader or a mage.

Rare looks between us before leading us out of the room.

“How bad has it been?” I ask Rare, picking her up off the ground to carry her in my arms. I feel like a proper evil villain again, as I pet at her warm scales.

“Messy.” She replies, heaving a heavy sigh, resigning herself to my friendly affections.

“No one has died yet, but it’s just a matter of time.” Rare points our way with her snout while enjoying a moments rest, it’s clear that the unending battle has sapped away her energy.

I should be strong enough to blend down his hordes, to make every beast in this cavern nothing but ash coating the earth, and sea foam on the lake. Nothing should be permitted to trespass against me and mine.

I take a slow, calming breath while pulling the little dragon tighter in my arms.

“I’ll end this war soon.” I promise, her claws sink comfortingly on my arm as she nods quietly.

“We’ll end this war.” Eshya says with a smile. “I won’t let that bug get the best of me again.”

“I’ll get stronger too.” Vii chirps up.

“Together.” Shen hisses with her host body, following after us.

“Are we keeping that body?” I ask her, staring at the snake. “Is the snake still alive in there?”

“Alive! Together!” Shen shouts cheerfully, but I’m sure I can see a flash of terror pass through the beasts eyes. It’s quickly gone, replaced with our friends unmitigated positivity and good cheer.

“Well… that’s good, I suppose.” I say. “Oh, look a pile of corpses.”

Unlike on the forest floor the bodies here are nearly all gremlins. Some are stabbed, some slashed, some clubbed and splattered, some are missing arms or legs, some don’t even have their heads.

If I don’t look right at it; they almost look human.

“Not the most disgusting corpse pile I’ve dived into.” I say, walking up and pulling the mana from the nearest bodies on the side of the large pile.

“I’m not sure what it says about you that you routinely dive into corpse piles.” Rare grumbles, slipping away and standing on the far side of the room away from the bodies.

“I like a girl who doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty.” Eshya says, slapping my butt.

“There’s dirty hands and there’s this.” Vii says. “Not that I’m saying it’s bad. It’s about mana and recycling, and we should reuse all the mana we can especially now, but… I mean to say, I’m not a fan of diving into corpse piles.”

“I’m glad.” I say, smiling at her. “That leaves more for me.”

She laughs nervously, her eyes still returning to the bodies as she tries to forget that they’re corpses.

A few soldiers come by to drop off expended mana batteries, the ones used with the guns, and the ones I used to recharge my own mana during the city assault.

They salute me when they see me, both the lizard vampires and the beasts we broke from their collars. While the vampires seem more relaxed than they were when they first arrived, the beasts broken from their collars stand tall with pride as they salute, more resolute than just days ago. The changes seem better for both groups, but I’m sure there are others who aren’t as well changed by the conflict.

“Thank you.” I say receiving the next batch of batteries. Before I charge them, there is a modification that I intend to make to my body.

I need to be more powerful, and while my modifications thus far have been useful, they haven’t made my attacks any more effective. My next choice should change that.

I investigated as many of my organs as I could while looking for something to improve my casting abilities, and while I could find a few things that could potentially improve my magic, such as using my body fat to store mana, or turning my bones into annihilation magic foci, for example, there was one change that stood out from the others.

My heart.

When a shard passes through my heart, I can feel the changes that I could force onto it. I can subtly change its shape while strengthening the muscle, I can add magical elements to improve its function as a pump, and I can even make it more resistant to harm, but I’m not after any of that.

Like with my bones, I can turn it into a focus for annihilation magic, but this one feels more powerful.

It feels right.

“The only changes I can make to my body, are changes I’d want, right?” I ask as a core shard floats close to my heart. I shift the flows of my mana to guide it closer to target, a trick I’ve been working on that I haven’t fully mastered.

“That’s right.” Eshya says.

“I’ve never heard of it going wrong unless you spend too much mana tyring to change things and you get mana shock.” Vii says. “Or if you use it wrong, like getting a focus and intentionally casting a spell on yourself.”

Does it matter? If I can better slaughter my enemies, than any change is good. Bladed arms, to better dice them. Magical eyes to destroy any who I gaze upon. Fangs, long and sharp…

I take a calming breath, pushing away the thoughts but embracing the conclusion. This risk is worthwhile, and even if it goes wrong, I don’t think there are any rules stopping me from undoing the change.

No direct rules, at least, it would waste a heck of a lot of mana, and the Unified States gets rather stuffy about that sort of thing. Sort of like taking an armful of complementary sauces, and a fistful of straws from a fast-food restaurant. It’s technically allowed, but they’ll hate you for it.

When the core shard slides into my heart, I press the change into effect, letting the liquid mana flow into my heart.

The physical form and shape of my flesh doesn’t change, but something beyond the physical is coloured by the shifting currents of mana. The mana takes on the flavour of annihilation as it seeds itself into the flesh, changing the very nature of what I am.

Slowly my heart corrupts with the power of annihilation as I sit upon a throne of corpses in my dark war-torn lair.

My heart pounds in violent palpitations as the final flows of mana sink into it.

Even without casting anything, I can feel some effects from the evolution. Every heartbeat flushes through me a sweet but unsatisfying sensation, like tasting a single drop of your favourite sugary drink, being left wanting more.

Absorbing this new impression, I rise from my throne of corpses, taking in the room which feels subtly different.

This is my home?

These pitiful gremlins are my enemies?

Unacceptable.

My head and heart burn as I take in the situation from this refreshed perspective. For some reason I feel as if I should be more powerful than this, as if I’m a goddess who’s been dragged into human flesh, left with a tiny fraction of my power as I struggle against unworthy mortals.

I clutch my head and suppress the thoughts, trying to analyse them from a calmer place.

My first worry is that my mind has somehow been corrupted, but I quickly put that worry down. While this feeling is more powerful now, it’s not anything new.

I know that I’m more powerful than I am today.

I know that I can’t die.

My ego has been reinforced. So what I feel right now is nothing more than the same frustration that was bothering me before but taken up a few notches.

“Eshya, Vii.” I say, waving them closer.

“What is it?” Eshya asks, looking me over with amusement, as Vii follows nervously after.

“You’re mine.” I say firmly, taking their shoulders. Saying it soothes the frustration writhing in my chest. “I let myself be yours, and you are mine.”

My empire is not an empire, my power is barely worthy of note, and my people don’t yet have any unifying culture. Nothing is right. Nothing but my lovers.

My harem as Vii likes to say.

They don’t need to be anything more than they are to be everything I want of them. Everything else in this universe needs to change, myself included, but so long as they are with me, then I expect nothing more from them.

“Of course.” Eshya says with a nod. “Flesh and soul and all that sickly sweet stuff.”

“I’m yours.” Vii says nervously, blushing bright as she glares down at her feet. She touches at the red journal still tied to her leg. “I’m still getting used to the violence, and the fighting, but I’m not leaving. I want to see this through to the end.”

“Thank you.” I say, stretching my neck. This inflated ego might become a problem, but the longer it settles the more me it feels.

I lean in and hug my lovers the frustration inside me quieting, the satisfaction overwhelming the hunger for something more, desire for change satisfied as I clutch onto the few things that need not be changed.

I breathe deep, the air tasting like them.

After taking a few more moments to recover, letting my violent frustrations fully quiet, I separate and get back to work on the corpses.

“Emotion plays a factor in natural talents, don’t they?” I ask Vii.

“They can.” She replies with a sharp nod. “Talents can be a bit strange, magic too, but not as much as with talents. Some days my wind magic is more powerful than others, depending on my mood and what I’m thinking.”

“So that explains why this alteration was so meaningful.” I say, swallowing hard as I suppress the desire to test out the changes. “I altered my heart, and now I have a big head. I somewhat jest about being an empress, but now I feel like I’m a goddess with my powers stolen from me.

“I feel… wronged.” I say. “Like someone has broken into my house, stolen my dog, and taken a shit in the kitchen sink. This conflict with Loekan was never okay, but now… now it’s something deeper, more offensive.”

“You changed your heart and it made you more angry?” Eshya asks with an arched brow and an amused smile.

“Not exactly angry, but close enough.” I reply.

“That makes your magic more powerful?” She asks.

“Yes.” I answer. “I think it’s going to make my violent thoughts rather worse in exchange, though.”

“I’ll keep you in check.” Eshya says confidently, taking my hand. “I’d offer to take the edge off of your stress in private, but I think we have a better stress relief available at the moment. There are plenty of things that need killing out there.”

“After I’m done with the batteries.” I say, forcing myself to be responsible. I’m more than a wild beast following its instincts.

It’s a frustrating task, melting down the mana in every corpse to shove it into the dark crystals, and even as I push myself to see it done, I’m left rocking back and forth like a five-year-old who’s snorted a few too many lines of sugar.

The moment I’m finished, I rush out the door towards Lakesh, hoping he can point me towards a horde that needs killing. I stumble into Red outside the room, and she pulls me up short.

“How did it go?” I burst out, barely keeping my energy in check.

“We couldn’t catch them.” Red says with a frustrated sigh. “We did wound them badly, and it should take them some time to recover. The operation was a success, but not as much as it could have been.”

I nod happily. It’s about what I expected after seeing the insects cut their way out of the whale.

“Don’t they have a healer?” I ask, wondering why they wouldn’t be right back into the fight.

“They do, but losing limbs can cause you to lose some of your mana. Enough damage can be fatal, even without it killing your physical form.”

“Ah, so they’re down on mana and don’t have mana potions?” I ask.

“Close enough.” Red sighs. “That’s what we’re expecting, but we need to consider the possibility that we’re wrong.”

“Of course.” I say. “What now?”

“Now we flaunt our victory and see if we can’t taunt them into attacking us recklessly. We could see some of them dead if they overstretch.” She smiles keenly. “I was hoping to see some of those elites dead, so I’m not yet satisfied.”

“Sounds like fun. That means I get to kill things, right? I need to take my newly adapted heart for a spin anyway, and I’d love a chance to let loose.”

“Then you’re up for a little demolition and harassment?” Red asks.

“That city is going to be ours one day, you know?” I ask, still quivering in delight at the thought of blasting Loekan’s city.

“Right now it’s still enemy territory.” She says. “You didn’t seem that bothered when you toppled that tower on Paskel.”

“Well, I’m sure there are a few budding city planners who need some experience anyway. Let’s give them something to work on.” I say, letting her convince me. “So, what am I destroying?”

“Loekan’s personal home.” Tkarn says, joining us.

“Oh, that sounds fun. The plan?”

“We’ll fly you up high and bring you back here as soon as you’re done. There’s a good chance he’s going to retaliate and we want to be ready to make the most of it.”

“If someone did that to me, I sure wouldn’t just sit there sobbing about it.” I say. “We’re doing this right now?”

“We need to send a message, no better time than now.”

“I’d like to watch.” Eshya says, “Any room for one more?”

“Two more?” Vii chirps in.

“So long as you’re willing to accept the risk, and protect Kyra.” Red says, looking between us. Rare has followed and seems to be willing to join us too, but Shen has ventured off somewhere, hopefully cheering up the soldiers a little.

“Bessy is waiting for us.” Red says, leading us up through the busy tunnels. The familiar halls are made alien, filled with soldiers and traps, marred by small craters and large gashes. This isn’t how it’s meant to be. This was supposed to be our home, our sanctuary away from all the things that want us dead.

Now it’s been defiled.

“I think you’re ready. You should try to make contact with the rebels.” Red says, after a moments silence between us. We talked about Rudolf’s request through messages earlier.

“Why is that?” I ask. “We’re busy enough here.”

“They could be useful, and their presence here is weak enough that they shouldn’t cause us any bother if they’re not.” She replies. “You can get a taste of the politics that the rebels love, without being vulnerable to them.

“More than that, I’d like a chance to get a few messages through. Between the collar and the replacement for Chip, I haven’t had the chance to call back home.”

“People waiting for you?”

“Only my soldiers and superiors, most of them probably think I’m dead.” She says.

“If it’s not family, who do you want to contact?” I ask lightly.

“I’d like to connect you to a few people, higher ups in the faction I fought for.” She says. “If we can make contact, they’ll try to supply you resources to help you build your empire. Skilled managers, experts on cultural blending, law and order. All the things you’re going to need when this grows beyond the scale of a tribe.”

“Is that what we are right now? A tribe?”

“Militarily? Yes. Economically? Yes. Politically? Yes.” She lists them off on her fingers, ready to keep going before I interrupt her.

“I get the picture.” I reply with a long sigh. “I’ll try to sort something out. I’d also like to pull a few experts from my own world. I’m fairly sure it would be easy to hire them, everyone wants the chance to learn magic, and I can rely on my older brother to screen them for spies and whatnot. I just need a way to get back to Earth for a few days.”

“A means of teleportation.” Red says with a nod as we rise up to the surface of the forest.

“You haven’t stolen a ship while I was away, have you?” I ask, looking up at Bessy in her ship shaped armour, she must’ve put it on when she returned. A shadow briefly flickers on the topside of the vessel but it’s gone by second glance, probably just one of her tentacles.

I shake my head and refocus.

“Not yet.” Red replies. “I’d like the chance to make up for my failure in hijacking the ship you were on.”

“No causing trouble on the surface.” Arduelle messages me. Leaving me to sigh in frustration.

“Maybe the local rebels will let us borrow their ship?” I say with a laugh as a tentacle lifts me and Eshya aboard Bessy.

“I’m sure they’d be willing if you could offer them a good deal.” Red replies seriously. I guess maybe it’s not all that ridiculous an idea after all.

Bessy quickly weaves us between the trees and out over the lake, where I get a clear sight of the city. The war is still raging through the forest, but the few beasts stupid enough to bother us are easily dispatched.

The gremlin city seems frustratingly calm in comparison. It’s time to correct that.

“Which building?” I ask.

“That one.” Red says, pointing to the tallest tower in the city. The top of it is built into the stone at the top of the cavern.

“It’s a shame we have to go so far to deal with these pests.” I mutter, sneering at the distant gremlins as I feel conflicted. I want to see the enemy city collapse, but at the same time, it is my city.

The gremlins inhabit it, they defile it. They stain it in their shit, and fill it with their stench.

They kill my people, try to kill me.

They hurt my lovers.

That such creatures have the gall to even exist is unbelievable. I’ll have to correct that.

My mana quickly gathers into my heart, swirling rapidly into a dense vortex as the vast nothingness beyond creation feeds mana into the spell. More than just from my talent alone, this magic feels at home in my darkened heart.

The spell is a little more heavy on the annihilation, as the flames are a little more difficult to bring to life in my new heart.

The magic grows stronger as I imagine Loekan sitting in his tower watching us.

I refuse to let that pest live in my home even a second longer.

He’ll be quartered, and each quarter will be reduced to ash. He’ll be unmade.

My talent flares bright as the last of my mana accepts its purpose reality itself affirming my will, feeding mana from nothingness into this spell. Obsessed with seeing Loekan dead, it’s surprisingly easy to tame the vortex, even as it grows larger than ever before taking on the qualities of crystalised mana as it separates from me, drifting out from my flesh towards the distant tower.

I droop, drained of every last drop of my mana as the terrible spell flows out towards the distant city.

Red watches closely, ordering Bessy to start our retreat. We don’t want to be sitting up here as easy targets any longer than we have to be.

My spell lands as we retreat towards the forest, and as I watch, the base of the tower crumbles, fire bursting out as chunks of stone rain over the city. The tower falls almost vertically over it’s own shadow as the entire cavern trembles from the roaring collapse.

“I think it hit.” I say, pushing back the dizziness of mana shock.

Wooden trees burst out from the base of the tower as it’s halfway through its collapse, the trees weave through and around the towers body, catching it before it fully crumbles.

The tower still stands.

“Is that… a broken egg?” Vii asks, looking over to the back of the ship where an egg has been broken over the wood. It seems the most random thing, especially considering the massive magic on display, but…

“Bessy move now!” Red shouts. “Everyone below decks now!”

A swarm of raging red birds fly out from the forest, their sharp beaks aimed right for us.

My mana isn’t going to be converted in time.

“We’re pushing through them and getting back to base!” Red shouts just as a message comes in from Lakesh.

“There’s an assault on our base. We’re being flooded, and a whole nest’s worth of deep crawlers are flooding into the base. We’re holding for now, but we need support.” His message reads.

My heart burns with rage and indignation, but without mana I have no means of expressing it except through the violence of words.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Skills & Stats

~Mana Form:

Current mana density: 0 units

~Mana distribution:

Category Current Max. Defence 0% 98% Offense 0% 84% Mana Sense 20% 100% Recovery 0% 65% Gluttony 0% 61% Misc. 0% 81% Efficiency 20% 100%

~Favourited Skills:

-Tag and Film

-Mana surge movement

-Annihilation defence

-Annihilation flame burst