Of Ice, Death & Monsters

Chapter 103 : For We Forge A Path

21 Days Ago.

I looked straight up. In front of me was a large, nearly humanoid, blue and white mechanized frame that looked almost like a golem. Because that’s what it was: a Golem.

“Oooo, it’s nice to see another one of your people’s… Golems correct? The ones that you could get into?”

“Yes, pilotable golems. Mortalis Ex Machina. A man in the machine. However, they were only pilotable for the Watchtower agents.” I sighed for a bit. I could have attuned myself to these before, but I didn’t. Now I pay that price. None of the people, or even Rook, could have used them either, and the only person I know that could…

That Charlie girl came into my mind. She was one of the best pilots I knew. It was lucky that she didn’t get her hands on this, especially when we all fought in the Nawia. She would have been a major problem before I awakened my abilities.

“They shall be useful for their equipment, however.” I already tried to convert the larger materials, such as large-scale missile launchers and anti-aircraft platforms. However, it seems that anything too large I couldn’t convert properly. 

I did, however, take the missiles themselves and some of the guns just enough that they could be worked on. Those parts could function by themselves.

What I neede,d though, were the Drawings that Epithet attached to the golems. The most useful one would be the Drawings of Stasis. It was a projector that caused anything around it to have its energy dispersed, locking them in place. 

A defensive tool that could also be useful for helping pick objects up if needed. However, this could also work on any of their own weapons, too, causing them to be ineffective. Proper timing must be observed for this to function as well as I need.

I went ahead to the abdomen of the golem, carefully tracing my fingers upon the second protection they had: The Drawings of Negentropy. A spell made to disperse sudden changes in a system. I had a spell like that, too; I used it against that whore, but she managed to burn it away.

However, for almost everything else, it would be useful to help disperse the change and transfer the energy.

The downsides would be that once more, it would also affect me if I were to use it on myself. My own energy could be dispersed if I were not too careful.

Now, for the weapon systems. The many, many weapon systems that I saw made Masha’s eyes literally glitter gold.

“Ahhh! It’s wonderful! Look at all these glorious noise makers!”

I giggled softly. “Noisemakers?”

“Yes, for me, they simply make noise and wonderful sounds. Sometimes my elves use them against the monsters here, but only for sport!”

She poked at a Heat Thrower. “A firespitter!”

“Well, actually, it uses the same idea as the grenades. It forces and funnels heat from the surrounding area into a concentrated cone. However, when that is unreliable, it also shoots out a flammable and sticky substance before lighting it on fire.”

“Yup~ I’m very familiar with the design. It reminded me of one of my tricks. Instead of burning you alive, my flames simply made sure you endured agonizing pain until your senses were fried out and you couldn't feel anything.”

She then sat on the Displacer Arm. “Oh~ the telekinetic arm, correct?”

“I would guess that would be the closest possible interpretation of the mechanism. In reality, what it does is retrace the path of the projectiles it fired. In essence, returning them to you is much like a boomerang. That’s when the Stasis would activate, trapping them in the air before we funneled energy from the other systems into it.”

I made a finger gun and gestured. “A fun way to make use of them as much as possible. Although with how much they disrupt the world, we should be careful, otherwise the world would fight back.”

Masha traced her fingers across the head of the golem. “Ah~ is that why you’re testing them all here? Because if it’s a localized problem, it wouldn’t be your fault.”

A small grin grew on my face as I nodded, “Ephitet makes sure to minimize as much damage as possible to their equipment and citizens. But we always need a place to test, and sometimes our own facilities wouldn’t be able to cut it, especially if something went wrong.”

Masha hopped off the golem. “Is that why your people sent… What was it called again? Ah, a Nuclear Bomb to us?”

My eyes widened as I rushed to Masha. “The Project Aevum bomb is still here?”

“Why of course! You sent it right over the border, and so I pocketed it right before it exploded~”

I stared at her in awe. Of course, I knew that weapons like that were nothing compared to the Fated Magick that beings like her would possess, but still, it was wondrous to hear someone be that casual about it.

“Where is it now?”

She poked my nose. “That’s a secret for me and my followers~ but it’s safe, and what it does now is far worse thanks to my blessings on it. Now, if it explodes, it would cause every single soul in its vicinity to combust as it would excite their very being. They would be ripped apart from their emotions, memories, and history, all splitting apart. Ahahah, it’s so much more fun now!”

Well, it’s good to hear it was contained, but now it has been given a much darker purpose, a much more powerful one, too. I should ask for its power later.

”Did you modify any of the weapons here then?”

She poked at the golem and the weapon casings around. “Every single one. I made sure that the exotic ones could function as much as possible here.

That’s good to know, so at least this was all worth it. Then, another thought came into my head. “Did you do so to the golems, too? I could have them be in their automated mode so that they could be useful guardians and extra eyes.”

“I’m a step ahead of you~” Masha literally took a step ahead of me. “I changed around the Contracts and bounds that the golems had, so instead of whatever this Watchtower people, it now responds to my own~ So any of my followers can utilize them, which now includes those two boys!”

Oh, right, Derek and Topher existed. I’m not surprised they sold themselves out for their lust. But that was foreseeable; at least they made themselves useful. I wouldn’t have ever taken that deal.

“Wonderful. Then it’s time for me to prepare.” 

The rest of the time spent was collecting weapons, ammunition, and as many other utilities as possible. Healing Potions, Salves, Food, Water. Anything that was valuable I had to use, will use, or possibly use. Anything and everything that I could carry, I would.

One must always be prepared. I wasn’t simply going into a fight; I was going into a war. And those with enough resources and enough manpower win the war.

After that, well, I had to clean myself up. I didn’t need to; the Caretaker’s blessing ensured that I wouldn’t be able to get as dirty as usual. However, I rather enjoyed the soothing nature of a bath. Luckily, the Fae did too, and Masha even bathed with me.

Dressing up, I wore the bodysuit from earlier. Luckily, there was a hole in the back for my tail to slip out into. It was made for other Destined Ones, but these ones worked as well. 

I always wondered how exactly they got it so flexible, but the higher-ups never exactly wanted to give out the reason. Even if we were all bound by Contract, there were still some tales they wanted to keep shut.

I stared at the mirror, flexing my body to check if it fitted properly as another memory surfaced in my head.

Whistle

“Can you wear that more, please?” Adrian’s voice spoke out behind as he hugged me. 

“I can’t, it’s company property. Only for missions and testing.”

He leaned in close to my ear. “We can test it now~”

I turned around and yet… He wasn’t there. I could almost feel the tears running down my face as I slapped my cheeks, taking a deep breath as I focused on something else. That was my predicament with the suit. On paper, it was very defensive, great utility…

The downside was that much like most things, it went both ways. Magick I would use would be dampened as well, it was why the golem was a great tool to use in conjunction. I was protected from exterior and interior attacks, and if anything went wrong, well, I wouldn’t shatter and explode from all the Magick being used.

When I looked down at the bodysuit, I noticed that it seemed to shimmer now. I saw that there were little fairies roaming around in it, almost like bugs that crawled up and down. It was a little relaxing watching them, almost like staring at a terrarium.

They must have been the suit’s translated defenses in this world. Spirits who help push aside other Spirits. What an interesting version indeed…

I stared at myself for a good long moment. I felt like an action star. The main character of a movie that was about to brave the new world. Only a few days ago, I was another Mage for Epithet; now I was something more…

Destiny had such strange plans for me. I never had thoughts of being a leader, to be a savior, or to be anything more than another witch who was trying to find out the secrets of the world. 

I would ensure that when I returned to Epithet, I would test out the Magick I was given to bear witness as to what it would translate to.

“It looks like I’m testing it out for you, my love…” I rubbed my ring, smiling softly. “Just not in the way you would have wanted.”

I dressed myself up with a cloak and shawl to cover up, something that made me look classy and not like a dominatrix. Although I’m sure Masha would have enjoyed it more.

When I got up onto the higher docks, I was greeted with more karaoke singing and what appeared to be a buffet hot pot with all of the leftover food, plus what seemed to be Fae acting as cooks and bakers to make more.

I found both Derek and Topher sitting right beside Masha, their ears became knife-like and their frames elongated as their hair had turned from a bright red to a more mature, auburn.

They were also wearing bodysuits, as well, with what I noticed were the two golems parked right beside the entrance to the inner rooms of the ship.

“I do enjoy a party or two, but the time of action has come. We must leave and make haste to Mokosh.”

Masha waved her hand, and the music went quiet, yet the others were still singing. She stood up and grinned as she patted the twins’ heads. “Well then. I bid you good luck and fair tidings. May you free this world from the cold and evil hand that had gripped it for far too long.”

She gave me a little wink and laughed before ushering the twins ahead to my side. “Keep her safe and sound for me~ if you all complete your goals, then another reward awaits for you both.”

Derek gave her a wink and a cheeky grin. “Keep that bed waiting for us then.”

Topher bowed down like he was a butler. “Of course, my queen, we hope to see you again soon.”

Masha snapped her fingers and suddenly another elf materialized behind me. She was wearing quite plain clothes, but had a white mask on her face that constantly shifted whenever I stared at her.

“Dela shall accompany you all now… And so ta ta.”

And without further ado, we once more disappeared from the world of the living.