I should have noticed the shift in Elendria’s posture as she left the area of the desert, but I was too busy thinking things over. I was going to spend a portion of the night coming the system for important adaptations. I threw together a quick shelter, though I did make it fairly secure. I wasn’t about to dismiss the archmage’s words that the royal family kept the best assassins as guards. As I put the finishing touches on the walls, making sure that there was proper ventilation, Elendria started chopping things up for dinner.

“Hey.” She asked after I finished. “That poison you used was heavier than air. Is that common?”

I thought about it for a second as I started searing a tenderloin. “I don’t know about common, but there are plenty of gases that are poisonous that are like that, so I guess it isn’t rare. Why?”

“Well, I was just wondering if a group of ancient assassins with a penchant for scrying on their enemies as they battle would use a similar poison as their target slept. And if you took precautions.”

Eyes wide, I went and elevated our beds a bit and added some low level ventilation. She made a great point after all. “Ok, all done.” I said, flipping the meat again. It was searing nicely, but the bit of honey in the marinade would easily burn if I wasn’t careful.

“By Shalora, it feels so good to be out of the range of that city. Do you ever feel strange while we are fighting? Hear whispers that aren’t there? Or something like a pressure on your will?”

“Hmm?” I asked, turning to look at her for a second before frowning, “No. Not really. Then again, I tend to get tunnel vision on how to eliminate the enemy as quickly as I can.” I said, absentmindedly rubbing my chest. “I don’t want another fight like against that pugili- OH DAMNIT ALL TO HELL!” I swore, quickly pulling the pan from the fire.

“What is it?” She rocketed up from her position on the bed, conjuring an ice blade in her hand.

“Son of a. Never mind, I just got distracted by your question and burned dinner.” I said, shaking my head as I resisted the urge to throw the pan across the room.

“Oh, so it’s my fault?” She asked, dismissing her blade.

“Did I say that?” I snarked. “No, I didn’t. I said your question distracted me. My fault for not paying attention.”

“Uh huh. Except if I hadn’t asked the question.” She started, only to get interrupted.

“That doesn’t make it your fault. Here, I saved you the majority of the unburnt pieces.” I said, sliding her plate towards her. “Just let it drop, it’s fine.” I said in an exasperated tone, just before she could speak. She raised an eyebrow, then slowly took a bite before digging in to her dinner. I didn’t blame her, as the last few days we had gone without lunches and had been launching spells all day. It wasn’t physical work like construction all day, but it did build one hell of an appetite.

“I’ll take first watch.” I said, waving her to sleep.

“You sure?” She asked, and I stopped the urge to snark at her when I noticed the concern in her voice.

“What’s got you worried?” I asked, and I felt terrible as her posture immediately relaxed, I could almost see the tension flow out of her.

“It has to be the city. We spent too long within its range, and I think it’s affecting us. You are a lot quicker to anger than usual. Your sarcastic comments are a lot more biting, and you just don’t care. I mentioned hearing voices in combat earlier, and you didn’t even respond to it. That hurts, especially since I know this isn’t the man I fell in love with. Something’s changing you, changing us, and you don’t even realize it.”

“Voices?” I asked, confused. Had she mentioned something like that.

“YES!” She cried. “When I fight. Whispers that you can barely hear. Urges to just give up and let that last attack through. That life isn’t worth living, that I won’t ever find happiness, that I should just give up and accept the inevitable.”

Shocked, I walked over and sat on her bed. “Damn. No, I haven’t felt any of that, and I don’t recall you asking about any of this.” I said, wracking my brain for any hints of what she was talking about. AS I thought about it, there were a few times where I did let my temper get away from me. “Looking back, I do see it. I suppose a late apology is a bit weak, but it’s all I have. I didn’t realize what was going on, but it seems so obvious now.”

“It’s ok.” She said, rubbing my back. “It did hurt, but seeing you fight back like this is helping with that. We’ve been here for almost two weeks. Let’s go ahead and quickly finish this quest. Hopefully that will break whatever is affecting us, as I bet it is the curse.”

“Sounds like a plan.” I said, giving her a small smile. “Let’s try this again. You get some sleep, and I’ll take first watch.” I said, giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

“Thanks Sean.” She said, settling in.

“No, thank you.” I said, rubbing her leg before getting up so I wouldn’t disturb her. Sitting across the hideout from her, I checked as far as I could but couldn’t detect any magic approaching. Not finding anything, I sighed as I gave my mental list a shakeup. I was originally wanting to ask about adaptations, but now I was more concerned with curses.

“System, is there an adaptation that would allow me to resist or overcome a curse as powerful as what is affecting the area of the lost city?”

Curse resistance X

Requirements not met. Requires Curse resistance I through IX first. Curse resistance X will overcome any non-divine curse, has a 50% chance of reducing a divine curse one level, and a 10% chance to overcome a divine curse

Divine Alignment

Light and Dark Pantheons have a 25% chance of resisting their opposing curse, 15% chance of resisting divine curses of other (Gray) pantheons. Gray pantheons have a 40% chance of resisting Light and Dark curses, but have a smaller pool of curses to choose from.

You do not meet the criteria to choose a divine alignment at this time.

“Divine alignment?” I mused, looking things over. I suppose that would be one of the last bits of the road to divinity, finally choosing a pantheon to join. “Any way I can get the requirements for choosing a divine alignment?” I asked, hoping.

Restricted.

“Damn. Worth a shot. Thanks anyway system, I do appreciate that you have been so helpful recently. You wouldn’t happen to know how many adaptations I am limited to, would you?”

Partially restricted.

There is a limit, the amount is restricted. Divine assistance required to circumvent restrictions.

“Pray for guidance? The motto of all help lines ever, eh?” I gave a quiet chuckle, and swore I heard the ghost of a snort. Well, that helped but I wasn’t about to bother the gods of this world. They probably didn’t need the distraction. “Alright, let’s try this then. Is there an adaptation that would allow me to obtain more adaptations?”

Chimeric body I

The chimera was a fusion of multiple different animals, all working together toward the same goal. Each level of Chimeric body allows for 2x the adaptations of the previous level.

Cost per upgrade: 5 adaptations

Maximum Chimeric body level: 6

“Well, ain’t that interesting?” I mused, looking it over. If I paid 30 adaptations, I could reach 64 times my current limit, whatever that was. I guess I had some math to do, as well as a bit of saving. With 82 levels before reaching the level cap, I could reach 148 more adaptations. The really important question was going to be how many I normally had. Damn, I hated trying to make plans without vital information. One thing for sure is that my next five adaptations were going to chimeric body, just to make sure that I didn’t exceed the maximum and screw myself over.

The rest of my watch was spent keeping an eye out, but I didn’t bother the system anymore. I could have gone through and done planning, but honestly I was more than likely to forget anything past step 2 of any plan I came up with.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Do you feel it?” Elendria asked as soon as we entered the desert. I admit, if I hadn’t been paying attention then I wouldn’t have felt it. Damn, but that curse was subtle.

“Yeah. It starts off slow, and builds.” I nodded. It started out as a slight chill, slowly moving through your body and dropping it a few degrees. But that’s where the insidiousness really came in. It stopped there. And just sat, letting you marinade in the curse. “And then it just stops, and lets you stew in it.”

“Oh thank Shalora you feel it too.” She said, wiping a bit of tears from her eyes. I tried to comfort her, but it was an awkward thing to do while flying.

“Do you want to take a rest day?” I asked. “We do have three to go before we have to worry about resurrections.”

She wiped her eyes and shook her head. “No. No, I want to get this nightmare over with.”

“Nightmare?” I asked, concerned.

“Yeah.” She said. “These used to be my people. And they were cursed by the gods. I can only imagine this happening again to my people, only under the rule of my brothers. What if we don’t make it in time, and the gods curse my people again?”

“Don’t worry Elendria.” I said, trying to reassure her. “They won’t do something drastic like that without reason. And I’m almost positive I would get some sort of warning or sense of urgency.”

“I know. I just can’t help it.” She sobbed. “I worry.”

“It’s ok, there’s nothing wrong with worrying.” I said, giving her a smile.

It took a few minutes, but she eventually recovered. “Alright, I think I’m ok.” She said, again wiping her eyes. “Thanks Sean. What do you say we go and free my people?”

“Sure thing.” I said, but couldn’t help but add, “Though the classic line is ‘Let my people go.’”

“Classic line?” She asked.

“Eh, remember those plays that were on memory crystals? It’s a line from one of those.” I explained, getting a nod from her. We didn’t bother with stealth or cunning plans, this time we headed straight toward the ziggurat. As we landed, I noticed two pillars set opposite a path of stairs leading up the pyramid. Each one had the relief of one of the stylized sun amulets we had taken from the high priest and the archmage. I nodded to Elendria, and we put both amulets in at the same time and stepped back.

The amulets glowed for a moment, before being forced out as the shield collapsed. “Climb. Stop at the level that can best solve your dispute, knowing that at the peak shines the light of those from the sun. Be warned though. Should you bring your issue too high, the light of the sun shall burn you for wasting its valuable time.” The voice spoke calmly, but the threat was definitely there. Looking up the stairs, there were signposts at every level. I’m sure they did it purposefully, but at the very top of the stairs you could see the entirety of the crystal that was now a phylactery.

“Wait a moment, let me try something.” I said, grabbing Elendria’s arm as she took a step forward. As she stepped backward, I set up my railgun spell, inspecting it for what went wrong last time. “Are you kidding me? A fraction of a millimeter?” I grumbled, noticing that the magnetic fields didn’t quite end at a perpendicular. The left side was just a bit too long, which gave the bullet a draw to the right. I fixed the issue, then took aim and let it fly. There was a whumph of displaced air, and then impact.

*KRAPOW*

There was some sort of shield over the phylactery, sparking with energy as it fought with the round I had fired before the bullet was destroyed in a small explosion. We both shielded our eyes and winced in pain as wails came from the area of the city we weren’t as thorough in clearing.

“I saw some threads snap.” Elendria said as soon as it was quiet. “I think some things were sacrificed to protect the phylactery.” Before I could answer, we saw movement from the ziggurat. Armored forms quickly formed up on the stairs and started marching forward. They had dual blades, one a kukri style and one epee style, and were covered in plate mail.

“Ceramics? Oh fuck me running.” I growled as the first shrugged off a bullet to the chest with a crack to the plate and a slight flinch.

“Ceramics?” Elendria asked, looking around. “By the way, we have at least five assassins trying to surround us.”

“Keep an eye on them then, I’ll do what I can. And on my world, ceramic plate is one of the best counters to high speed impacts like a bullet.” I said, launching a bit of lightning. It struck the center of a plate, and left a bit of a scorch mark. I frowned, but I did notice the two shadows moving down the street in defiance of the light.

“One left, one right.” Elendria warned.

“I’ll deal with them, you get your frozen hellscape ready.” I said, getting a bit nervous now that the soldiers were at the base of the ziggurat. Hoping to buy a few seconds, I blasted a deluge of mud towards the soldiers. Just as it ended, the two shadows emerged to skewer me. “Freeze.” I mumbled, opening portals to the abyssal ice plain where we had fought the converter abomination. They weren’t prepared for the blast of freezing air nor the strength of the winds, and their flash frozen bodies shattered as they were sent sprawling down the streets.

“Frozen hellscape.” Elendria snarled, stepping around me and blasting the soldiers. They were slogging through the mud, but it did slow them a bit. Unfortunately, they also had a bit of magic.

“Searing inferno.” The lead two soldiers said in unison, sending forth a blast of heat that clashed with Elendria’s spell, covering the entire area in fog.

“To the sky!” Elendria said in panic, though she was shaking her head at me and crouched down. I sent a packet of mana above our heads, waiting a fraction of a second before turning it into a massive gravity well. The fog was immediately sucked in, and I could see at least two forms above us caught in the gravity.

“Ice rampart.” Elendria said, summoning a bit of an ice wall to delay the soldiers.

“Plasma blast.” I said, incinerating the assassins before stumbling forward under the power of another blow. I turned to see the last assassin looking at me oddly before it smiled.

“Impressive armor. Very impressive.” He said, lunging forward and unleashing a dizzying storm of slices with his twin daggers, each glowing with a sickly green light. “How many slashes? How many slashes to get to the center of the mage?” He chuckled with obvious insanity. It was hard to tell, but each slash seemed to come just a little bit faster than the one previous, and I couldn’t get any distance to stem the tide. I needed to get away, but he wasn’t about to let me.

“Elendria, help!” I called out, watching nervously as my mana dropped. Starting out using a spell that cost a third of my mana wasn’t doing me any favors.

“Blizzard!” Elendria sent a spell our way, and I watched in horrid fascination as the assassin turned into a whirling dervish of blades. Not only was he still striking me, but he was parrying and cutting apart the small blades of ice hidden within Elendria’s spell as well!

“Yes! Yes! Struggle more!” He cried, speeding up even more.

“Sean!” I heard Elendria cry before the sound of ice breaking likely made her focus on the soldiers attacking us. I was desperately trying to find a way to kill this undead, as he seemed to be a cross between a physical body and an incorporeal. I tried a small gravity field, but he kept slashing at me with those blades of his.

Blades! That was it! I fake stumbled backwards, hoping he would take the bait in his excited state. As I fell, I made an incredibly powerful magnetic field just above my navel. Sure enough, he tried to ride me to the ground, his blades poised to pierce my heart from two different directions. Pity for him that his blades caught that magnetic field, and were nearly ripped from his hands.

“What is this?” He had the time to cry before I unleashed my counter. Shoving a hand inside his body and ignoring the extreme cold I felt, I let loose with a burst of solar energy right where his heart should be. His incorporeal body blew apart, leaving a few bandages drifting on the breeze and his daggers clattering to the ground. Rather than celebrate, I saw Elendria being pushed back as she executed a retreating defense, four blades of conjured ice holding three soldiers at bay. They had managed to split us, and a small group was headed my way as well. Once they saw the assassin’s demise, they charged. Seeing several kukri’s pointed at your head with epee’s held back, just waiting to enter lunging range and skewer you is great motivation for getting to your feet. It was even better in my case, as I simply used my wings to throw myself backward, dragging my heels on the ground and allowing me to recover.

“I’m fine Elendria, no need to take any chances!” I bellowed, to keep her from doing anything rash.

“Graaaa!” The soldiers countered, bellowing incoherently. I let them get close before sending a horizontal void blade at waist height. It was a hard enough spell to see and dodge at the best of times, even more so when you have already committed to a lunge that should kill or maim your opponent. I stood there panting as their bisected bodies kept squirming on the ground, intent on reaching and killing me.

“Blasted undead.” I muttered, taking to the air to keep out of their range and launching myself toward the small group that Elendria was now simply keeping at bay. It must have been a compromise from when they were living, but the backs of their armor had no ceramic plate, it was more like a gambeson that hadn’t aged well. Tattered beyond the point of protection, I started picking off undead with a bullet to the spine. I managed to get three before the group split, four turning toward me and three keeping pressure on Elendria.

“Gaaaah!” I growled in frustration as one of the ones facing me deliberately took a bullet for one of the ones attacking Elendria. Down to a thousand mana, I debated what to do. Void attacks would work, but it would put Elendria at risk. They seemed competent with those swords, so hand to hand was out. Time to pull a rug out from under their feet. Or something like that. Using a bit of earth magic, I created a pitfall right beneath them.

“Sean!” Elendria shouted as I stumbled a bit.

“It’s ok, just mana depletion.” I said, pointing to the pit. “You mind finishing them off?”

“With pleasure.” She answered, creating a massive block of ice that she dropped down just in time to intercept a body being thrown upward. The immediate battle ended with a crash and an explosion of dust from the hole. “Now, are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.” I said, turning around. “There are six soldiers over here though. I cut them in half, but they are still alive. Would you be so kind as to finish them off?”

“Can’t.” She said as we moved closer to the bodies. They had turned and were making their way toward us, but still hadn’t figured out an efficient way to move. “I’m low on mana too.”

“Alright.” I said. “It’ll take a bit, but I’ll kill them as my mana recovers.” A few minutes later, and I dispatched the last of them with a blast of plasma. It cost a bit more mana, but I was starting to worry about my continued reliance on void spells. The system did admit that there were things lurking in there.

“Lunch before we take on the top?” Elendria asked.

“Yeah. That should be good.” I said, conjuring a quick and dirty table of stone with a pair of bench seats. “We’ll want to be at the top of our game for this.”