Power comes at a price, but not everyone is prepared to pay it
Have you ever wanted superpowers? Or for a chance to escape your reality? Maybe both. But let me tell you now, sometimes power comes at a price. For some the price is too great but to others they would give anything for the ability to become virtually anything. Until… until they realize too late that it wasn’t worth it and have to live with it. This is one of those tales.
I had just gotten home from school and I was absolutely fucking tired, going into my room I throw my backpack onto my bed and turned on my computer to hop onto Discord to chat with my friends. But when I got on I noticed some stranger had pmed me. Asking me if I had the chance to leave my world behind would I? After a minute of thought I responded, ‘Hell yeah.’
‘Alright if you say so,’ He said before sending me a link to some website called the Power Lottery; opening it up I’m presented with some sort of tier list the weakest being tier one and the strongest in regards to abilities being tier 5 but the one with the most potential was Tier Ex as it would allow me to keep most Omni-powers so for fun I chose it. Clicking on the roll power button three times after the third click the computer screen turned snow white and then shut off.
“Stupid piece of shit.” I muttered trying to turn it back on to no avail, sighing I got out my homework and started doing it while listening to some music.
Later that night
I had just finished my homework while waiting for my PC to turn back on. I fruitlessly tried to turn it back on again. Sighing, I thought to myself that maybe after I take a shower it will have turned on, but when I opened the door instead of the living room I was met with a dark room with some sort of surgical table in the middle of it. Slamming my door shut I went and got my Machete, that I would normally use to cut mesquite bushes, and brought it out with me. Though as soon as I stepped out of my room I felt a sharp pain in my neck, turning my head I saw a man in a lab coat with an empty syringe. “Curious,” He said whilst tilting his head “That should’ve knocked you out immediately well no matter it’s kicking in”
My machete fell to the floor with a clatter as I started to feel weak, I tried to run but my legs failed me. With a smile the man walked up to me and said, “Don’t worry everything will be explained when you wake up, sweet dreams.” That was the last thing I heard before blacking out.
I open my eyes expecting the usual sight of my bedroom ceiling, but instead I find myself looking at a clear blue sky. I laid there for what seemed to be eternity until eventually the memories of what happened flooded back, but for some reason I didn’t panic. Instead I was calm, too calm but I would ponder that later. Getting up I see I’m in a rocky area, next I looked over myself, I have my steel toed boots on, with my old jeans, a black short sleeve shirt, and my Bleach hoodie. It comforted me seeing my usual outfit but it also brought confusion as I wasn’t wearing any of this before I was knocked out. But I did find something in my pocket, a letter that might help me understand the situation I’m in. I started to read it. “Greeting Mr. Morningstar, I would like to congratulate you upon your successful displacement into the land of Equus, now I’m sure you're very confused so let me get to the point. You participated in an omniversal experiment known as the power lottery challenge. You chose the experimental tier, which has a fatality rate of 70%, as most people are unable to handle the power of it, should they get an omnipower or something of the like but I digress, the powers you rolled are as follows 1. Eldritch being manipulation: this ability allows you to easily form contracts with eldritch beings along with using their powers and knowledge, side effects such as insanity will still affect you, this even extends to slaying them and so on, 2. Intelligence Infinitum: this skill gives you the potential to develop an IQ of infinity though as I said it’s only the potential to so you must train it by learning things, 3. Transcendent science: this ability allows you to make technologies that would allow you to do the impossible, though you will need to increase your intelligence in order for you to use it to its fullest potential. Because you have these powers here’s a word of advice DON’T interfere with our operations as it can and will lead to your death” –The Scientist
This letter answered plenty of my questions but also raised just as many if not more. Such as, “why was I chosen?” And “where the hell am I?” but all these questions wouldn’t help me in the short term. Looking up at the sun I determined that it was about midday and from the colors of the forest below it was sometime in late spring/early summer. Going back to the area I woke up I searched for anything that I may have missed, A backpack or maybe some food. I didn’t but I did find something even more valuable, my machete, my chances of survival increased drastically, attaching it to my belt I started making my way down the Cliff side which in itself was a feat from how steep it was.
After getting down from the cliff I was completely exhausted from the climb down but I needed to find shelter so I forged on into the nearby woods. It was only a couple of hours of walking before I found a suitable place to set up camp, an old tower not unlike the ones depicted in old fairy tales and D&D campaigns. What confused me was why I didn’t see this place from the cliff. Shrugging it off as me simply missing it I knocked on the door and waited, only for no one to answer so I knocked on the door again and again and again, to no avail. So I attempted to open the door and to my surprise it was unlocked but once I did, I could understand why no one answered the door seeing as there was a skeleton pinned to the wall with a rotting spear. This brought up the question of what the dominant species of this planet was as the equine in question did have a cloak and wizards hat on, but that was a question for later as I started climbing up the spiral stairs passing a couple floors one of which looked suspiciously like a ritualistic sacrifice room, but what I found on the top floor was something even better a workshop, possibly for magic as there were cauldrons and beakers everywhere as well as a dusty workbench with tools. Picking one of them up I could tell it was untouched by time perhaps because of the strange symbols engraved into the head and handle. Deciding to study them later I went ahead and put it down and started to explore more of the tower.
The tower was quite impressive so far I have discovered a personal study with plenty of books, what seemed to be an overgrown garden, An exquisite bedroom albeit slightly dusty, and as I suspected a ritual chamber it goes even farther down but I don’t trust the lower floors at least not until I can protect myself. Going back up to the study I take down one of the books and unsurprisingly I can’t read it but flipping through the pages I do come upon something that I can somewhat understand, a pictogram of a magic circle by the looks of it, though I don’t know what it does I do recognize one of the symbols though
It was I sign for eldritch magic, I had recognized it because I had been enamored by the otherworldly for a while, though what the magic did I did not know but I might be able to figure it out after some studying but I was tired from today so I went ahead and headed off to bed because after all there was always tomorrow right?
After a full night’s sleep I get up and start heading down the stairs but something catches my eye on the nearby night stand, a glass of clear water with a note and a pill next to it picking up the note I start to read it, “Dear Mr. Morningstar I would like to apologize on the behalf of one of my assistants as they neglected to add the knowledge needed for this experiment to actually yield results in the short term, this being your ability to read the native language of the country you reside in, the pill found upon the nightstand will when taken implant the necessary knowledge needed to read. This is likely the last time you will be helped in any regard.” – The Scientist.
Once I finished reading the letter I picked up the pill and looked it over. It just looked like an ordinary pill, nothing special but considering where I am I went ahead and took the pill with the water. After a couple of minutes I felt a searing pain in my head but as suddenly as it came it disappeared. Going downstairs to The Study I opened the book I had tried to read yesterday and to my surprise I can actually read it. So I started to read it, discovering that this book was on how to summon spirits and other creatures to make contracts with them, but what truly caught my attention was a passage about halfway through, “…summoning is commonly mistaken as the summoner forcing a creature to appear and while this may be true for lesser beings, those at and above the Sigma class (see pg. 25 for familiar power levels and ways to identify them) are sent a request this request acts as both an invitation to appear and a resume providing the castor’s current and potential power both physically (such as physical prowess and mental capacity) to metaphysically (such as the castors magical prowess and soul strength). This resume allows the being to decide if they wish to appear or not though the caster is usually rejected outright, in rare cases Arch Fey and divine spirits have formed contracts with mortals, the most notable being Starswirl The Bearded who formed a contract with the Arch Fey…”
This is actually good I thought to myself because while I may not have great physical prowess or even magical as of yet the potential for my IQ is incalculable this should land me a decent familiar. Looking through the book I found the needed requirements for the summoning, salt, 8 g. of iron filings(or silver depending on the nature of the familiar you wish), 3 g. of ground mandrake, 1 lb. of Spanish moss finely chopped, chalk, a sample of the castors blood, and lastly the feather of a phoenix. This is going to be difficult, I thought to myself. But this did not deter me as any respectable mage had a storage room for such materials and the only place I that it could be was on one of the lower floors as I haven’t looked there yet because I was too afraid to go down there without protection, but if I could get even a small bit of the required materials needed then It would be worth it.
Cautiously going down the steps I kept a vigilante eye whilst traversing deeper into the bowels of the tower every slight sound making me jump, soon though I came upon the first door and when I opened it I was pleasantly surprised as I had found a storage room, and it was filled to the brim with… unmarked boxes *sigh* This will take forever. I should also find some books that will help me categorize the ingredients.
An ungodly amount of time later
“I swear I’m going to kill the previous owner if I ever find them and if they’re dead I’ll resurrect them and kill them again!” I yelled at no one in particular. I had categorized all if not most of the components in that storeroom/pantry, because apparently it had magically preserved fruits and vegetables which had been a blessing, but I had succeeded in my quest for finding the components for a familiar. I only had one chance though as I could find only one feather. It will be enough but it may not work as I don’t know if I have magic but it was worth a shot, carefully drawing the magic circle with the chalk, I used the iron filings and the ground mandrake to carefully draw out a couple summoning runes around the edges of the circle, then I created a barrier of salt mixed with the Spanish moss, after that I cut my thumb and using the blood the was dripping from it I painted the final rune needed, once this had been completed placed the phoenix feather atop the bloody sigil and started to read the incantations. As I read them the magic circle started to glow a crimson red with a black energy arcing around the feather and the various runes drawn out using the other components, slowly the black energy became more and more violent whilst this was happening the runes started to be absorbed into the feather quickly followed by the black energy causing the feather to turn pure white then black before bursting apart. This drew a strange symbol on the ground within the salt line and from this symbol a portal opened into nothingness, then something crawled out of it something so massive that only a small portion of it fit through then to my amazement it warped and twisted until the upper half of a body could fit through. I could feel my mind slowly start to shatter just by gazing upon it.
It seemed to stare at me for a few moments before a guttural scream escaped from its body, I felt my mind splinter but the more it did the more I could understand this beings speech though I wouldn’t call it speech as I could barely understand it, that as well as it using some sort of telepathy these combined made me feel as though my mind was being but through an industrial grinder and yet I could feel something keeping a small amount of my mind together enough for me to think at the very least and so I started to convey my request to the being and waited. After what felt like ages it nodded and in a clearer “voice” it requested I pay a suitable price whilst reaching out to me, and felt something tug me forward over the salt line I tried to resist but only partially succeeded as my arm had gone over the protective line. The being immediately grabbed my arm and tore it off, screaming in pain I watched the being as it devoured my arm, satisfied it took off one of the tentacles on its face and forced it where my arm had been previously, this only caused me more agony as I felt something within me change the last thing I saw was it sinking back into the abyss with what I swear was a smile.
It has been a year since that cursed day, in which I accidentally summoned that horrid being though I did benefit from it as it had unlocked my innate mana as well as eldritch magic that had been gifted to me by that being. I had started practicing magic with the help of Magnus and Arbiter, my other personalities, as they would correct my spell casting if needed. I had also started looking into ways to build some basic weaponry and after a while I found a book on Necromancy behind a sealed door I had broken through with eldritch magic, using it in conjunction with a book on Golemancy I made some golems that would get me the needed materials for my crafting. Hopefully I’ll be able to make something for myself soon
10 years later
It’s been roughly a decade sense I came to this planet and I’ve gained some useful info, First off the dominant species of this planet are ponies ruled by an apocalypse class being as well as a myriad of other mystical beings such as griffons and dragons, secondly the inhabitants are somewhere in between the industrial and medieval stages of their civilization, third I was able to start creating basic autonomous machines and with a bit more research I was able to transfer Arbiter into it whilst Magnus wanted to stay as my Tulpa whom would assist me with my magic, and Finally I have a staple production of materials for everything I need from minerals to plants all this is all done with enhanced golems and robots. I have also started the production of firearms and tactical gear hopefully they will not be needed.
20 years later
First some potentially bad news, Arbiter my trusted companion has felt a powerful magical signature emanating from this planets moon after some further research it was found that there was a legend of an apocalypse level creature hell-bent on bringing about eternal night, this seems strangely familiar like I’ve seen this from somewhere before… moving past that we were only able to detect this from the satellites that we launched approximately 5 years ago, We have also expanded our production line moving towards Ion and Nano technology similar to a game from back on earth known as Subnauseous or something of the sort, once a suitable amount has been produced I will be modifying my body with them, as well as some cognitive enhancers and mechadrites. I will also be collecting to DNA of a pony preferably a unicorn so that I may blend in if needed, Finally I have started to look into making some contracts with daemons to further increase my power though I will have to go directly to Tartarus to do this as I don’t want to risk bringing it back into this world.
25 years later
Preparations are almost complete. My body is being built as I write this down, the design of my body will be similar to the Architects in the previous game I mentioned as well as Tech-priest. I will be keeping my body in stasis should I ever need it again. I will observe the catastrophe class entities as I have no doubt that the pony ruler will attempt to take care of it should she fail. I will likely need to step in, if this comes to pass I will capture and study the creature as its origin is likely from the void.
“Sir you know the apocalypse level threat will be descending in approximately 3.8 hours correct?” My assistant said, slightly annoyed.
“Yes, yes I know Arbiter but I need to finish the final details on my ultramarine armor or else I shall be considered a heretic!” I yelled back slightly angry
“*sigh* Very well sir, I shall alert you when we have an hour left before its arrival.” Arbiter said before leaving.
I had been working on this armor for years and I needed it to be perfect in every regard, I had already made the bolter and chainsword, and all the augmentations in a new body. But the armor was by far the hardest to complete as it required many different components that took a good bit of time to perfect and it would finally be done in 2 hours and 30 minutes. So it is reasonably understandable as to why I was angry about the interruptions but enough idle thought back to work.
2 hours and 31 minutes later
“Sir we have approximately 1 hour and 17 minutes before the event starts.” Arbiter notified me of this over the intercom.
Getting up I look over my handiwork making sure it was perfect, satisfied I go ahead and send it to storage where it will be kept until needed. Going to the nearby bathroom I cleaned myself before heading up to the workshop where Arbiter was waiting for me.
“Ok you remember the plan right?” Arbiter asked me.
“Nope.” I told him with an innocent smile.
*sigh* “Do you want me to explain to you the plan that you made several weeks ago?” He said exasperated.
I shrug, “Sure.”
“Very well, I will be going to observe the landing and subsequent fight between the apocalypse level threats, while i’m doing this you are going to go to the mountain city and find the powerful magical signatures I felt within the city, should they be of any use to our cause you will cleanse them of any tracking spells/substances and take them to storage sight A where they will be left for 1 week should no one find them they will be taken back here and safely stored for research, I on the other hand will be observing and analyzing the apocalypse level threat, should it get out of hand I will contact you and you will drop everything and come and neutralize it permanently and we shall instead transport its remains to the lab where you shall study it, but should the threat be neutralized by an outside force we will not interfere instead you will focus on the magical signatures and I will keep you updated on their proximity to you. Do you understand?”
“Mayhaps,” I told him.
“Do you want me to explain it again?”
“Yes.”
*sigh*
10 minutes later
“Are you in position Arbiter?” I asked over my comms.
“Yes sir.” He replied
In order to save time we had teleported via magic, I went to the mountain city while he went to the old castle ruins though from now on we would only be relying on pure tech to minimize the chances of them tracking us.
“Is everything decent on your end?” I asked.
“Affirmative you are clear to go sir.” He replied
Nodding I hang up and start making my way through the castle, for this specific plan I had transferred my consciousness into a small robotic body with Cham tech, as it would allow me to blend in better with my surroundings especially in dark areas, it was also equipped with enough tranquilizers to but an elephant to sleep, and a set of Nanosteel senbons, a type of Japanese throwing needle,the nanosteel was a material which incorporates Nano-bots that inject a powerful paralysis toxin to whomever the weapon stabs it can also be modified to create armor, this specific toxin causes the creatures muscles to seize so they don’t fall down they simply stand in place unmoving and it lasts about 3 hours so I should have plenty of time for this specific job. Following the powerful signature as I slowly go through the halls I notice that the castle was adorned with whites and golds so many that you would probably be blinded during the daytime hours though as I moved It was like I crossed into a new world as the halls went from whites and golds to deep blues and blacks it was in all honesty quite beautiful though I noticed that it had been hastily done as I could see small shimmers of gold here and there, I had to dodge a few roaming guards but nothing to serious, but that did bring up the question of why aren’t there more guards? Like come on I wanted a challenge! But I digress, I eventually come upon a large metal vault with intricate runes inscribed upon it though unfortunately it wasn’t unguarded but it did only have two guards so that was fortunate.
Aiming carefully I hit both guards in the arm and before they can even react they’re paralyzed and then they fall down rigid as a board, carefully I prop them up as best as I can to make it look natural but anyone who gets close enough will notice that something is wrong. Then I take out the senbon in each of their arms and patch it up so their blood doesn’t pool on the floor. Looking over the vault door I find many protective runes etched into it I needed to break into it without alerting the apocalypse level threat, taking out an etching blade I etch a Dagaz rune into the door willing it to break through the protective enchantments, The new rune shines with a pale light subsequently followed by an audible crack as a spider web of fractures run through the runic circles deactivating them. With infinite care I etched another Dagaz rune this time with the command of simply opening the door, and this time with a click the door opened wide. Cautiously I go through the door in the chamber, once I’m in I put down a portable warp gate and cleanse the items with an eldritch spell nullifying any tracking mechanisms without damaging the items, I then start bagging everything in the vault and toss it through the gate to site A, this takes about 10 minutes as there is quite a bit of stuff in here. After accomplishing this I pick the gate back up and cleanse the area of the magic I used so there was only the most minimal amount of this diseased magic.
Getting out of the castle I contacted Arbiter, “Is everything alright on your end?”
“Yes sir everything is going smoothly on my end.” He said after picking up.
“Good, I just finished up over here, so I’ll be warping to base to transfer then I'll warp to you.”
“Very well sir.” After Hanging up I warp back to the base and transfer into a combat ready body it was very similar to the architect Allen from that game but his hands had claws and an energy shield, using eldritch magic I was also able to reinforce my joints and armor plating. For weaponry I had chainswords for close range and for mid to long range I had an ion hand cannon.
With all of this I go ahead a warp to Arbiter, after warping I find that he was hiding behind a pillar. Turning to him I ask, “Is there anything I’ve missed?”
“Not much, When I got here the white one was waiting for the other one and when it finally appeared they stared at each other for a good while, then the two apocalypse level threats started talking, then yelling, and then started trading blows but after about a minute the dark one had the obvious advantage while the other had given up for some reason. Then after a bit of boasting the dark one teleported the other one somewhere below us,” He explained.
“Well where’s the one that won?” I inquired.
“I can sense its magic signature in a nearby town” he replied
“Then let’s go kill it.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because there is obviously a reason after all why not just go to the capital and declare that you are the new ruler there?”
“Because there is another threat to its rule, right?”
“Alright we’ll wait.”
“Affirmative.”
30 minutes later
It’s been half an hour since Arbiter convinced me to not go hunt that thing down, Using this spare time I had started making some blueprints for new augmentations for my robotic and organic bodies, because as of right now I may be able to defeat one apocalypse level threat but only with heavy damage to myself, and this was a heavily optimistic assessment as I owned multiple bodies, even my eldritch magic could possibly be useless because the more powerful spell matrix’s fueled by it came at a price and my own natural magic was powerful but I needed to practice with it more, as I feared I might do irreversible damage to my soul.
All of this was going through my head when Arbiter interrupted my thoughts, “Sir there is a rank 3 catastrophe class being and 5 mortals with slightly above average magic approaching.”
“Do you detect any hostility from them?” I asked.
“No.”
“Then leave them be.”
“Is that wise sir?”
“Maybe not but both of us on our own can easily neutralize a rank 3 catastrophe but I concede, let’s put up a cam spell to mitigate their chances of finding us.”
“They will detect the magic sir, especially the rank 3.” Arbiter said warning me
“Hmm, then we will rely upon our Cham tech.” I replied.
“Sir, that body doesn’t have Cham tech.”
“Shit, guess I’ll try and hide behind the pillar.”
Moving farther into the shadows I attempted to hide myself, watching them I saw the blue and yellow take the rocks on the altar off and put them in front of the rank 3 catastrophe. They started talking about something called The Elements of Harmony and whatnot eventually they left leaving the rank 3 alone, it then proceeded to lower its head causing a spark of pure energy, Switching my eyesight to sense magic I saw thin threads go to the five outside and another thread go to the rank 3.
Over the comms I started speaking to Arbiter. “Did you sense that?”
“Indeed I did, sir.”
“Those rocks must be some sort of inactive artifact, in fact now that I look at them closely they seem to hold a large amount of dormant holy magic or something of the like.”
“Do you want to obtain them for research sir?”
“Yes, but they have already attuned to those six so they’re useless to us as of right now.”
As we were communicating a deep blue mist started sweeping up the artifacts in some type of teleportation spell but before it could complete the rank 3 jumped into it. Tracking their mana I had Arbiter go observe as I was unable to fly in this form without being seen. I watched the other five start running towards the tower and about 5 minutes later I felt a large magical surge. Arbiter came back saying that the situation was taken care of as the artifacts had awakened, but he did get a sample of a remnant from the released entity. With this event over I open a small warp gate back to the base and we head through.
It had been two weeks since I had stolen the magical artifacts from the mountain city and they were quite impressive, one of them was a book of necromancy with spells even I am a bit hesitant to use, another was a navy blue scythe with silver veins embedded into it, and finally there was another spell book this one on something called psionic magic. Along with a bunch of gold and other materials, maybe they were emergency funds? I also started scanning the new books which took about several seconds each, and catalogued the new info they gave me. All of it was quite useful but dangerous if misused. Going down to the bottom of the tower I entered my lab, this was where I built everything from the augments that made up my organic body to the coffee machine in the lounge. Of course I could automate all of the processes but where’s the fun in that?
Going off to my cryo-room I start looking through the bodies until coming up on the one I wanted, a body designed for foul magic as I had let the eldritch magic that courses through my veins to run wild in this body, if you can even call it that as it was a shapeless pulsing lump of flesh, with countless eyes and mouths, tentacles, and the occasional foot, selecting it I went over to the transfer chamber and hooked myself up and let the magic happen. You see, about ten years ago I found a way to transfer my consciousness into another body and it was quite simple as our memories are electric currents within our neurons so what if I copied these neural pathways into other bodies? What if I transferred my soul into another body, using this idea I created a simple robotic body with a built in neural augment and started the process of copying my memories into it, but when I turned it on there was no response, so I started experimenting with my mind nit very smart in hindsight but I did succeed in a sense I eventually found that even though my memories could be copied the soul was the problem so through trial and error I found a way to transfer my soul to another body.
Dragging myself out of the chamber in the new body I willed it to take shape, bones snapped into place, my skin and muscles tore and reknit themselves, and organs shifted into their designated areas. With that out of the way I teleported to the second layer of the lab where I kept my most dangerous and horrendous creations, looking through the various vats of liquids I found what I was looking for and smiled, you see I had been having difficulty with one of my experiments, as it wouldn’t respond to outside stimuli and with my new necromantic I knew this was because it lacked a soul and soon I would be able to create a soul for them, but I needed to develop the other three types first and find a suitable place to put the hives. Moving on I came to another vat, this one with a red and black substance, I had attempted to recreate the Blacklight virus from the game Prototype as well as the cure for it that resided in the other vat, and while the pseudo-Blacklight was highly volatile the Whitelight was inert. Going further into the complex I stepped into my forge/fabrication room where I had attempted to recreate magical weapons such as sacred treasures and cardinal weapons but I lacked the means to do so as I didn’t have a large knowledge base pertaining to magic only technology. Though now that I think about it I could infiltrate that mountain city again and read all of their books on magic and with a little bit of psionic magic I could copy the knowledge of the two apocalypse beings if given the opportunity.
One thing was for sure though, I have the necessary knowledge to manipulate someone’s mind from simple hypnosis to straight up crushing their ego. I pondered this for a bit and came to the conclusion that I needed a new body outfitted to wield this magic to the fullest that being a Protoss. Going back to the cryo-room I change back into my architect body and start to design the body, slowly I started designing the body basing it upon the dark templars next I started designing the weaponry and hit a roadblock because I didn’t know how to make their weapons, after a bit of thinking I brought up an old schematic for a HF blade and started from there, slowly I developed a blade that uses my psonics to vibrate at a high frequencies this will cause the blade to heat up due to friction with the air, mimicking the way the blades cut through flesh and because of the magic flowing through it, it will glow the color of my magic, which was a navy blue. Going to the armor I chose to change it slightly as instead of it being only golden it would also incorporate silver in various patterns. Heating up the plasma forge I start getting to work.
3 weeks later
“Sir, you need to come out of there!” Arbiter yelled through the door.
“No,” I yelled back
“I will force you to come out!”
“I’ll deactivate you!”
*sigh* “Ben please, you need to rest plus didn’t you mention some field research that you wanted to do?”
Opening the door I sigh, “Yeah?”
“Then you do that I’ll make sure nothing touches your things.”
With a nod I went to the cryo-room and changed into the only pony body I had, the DNA I got was from that unicorn corpse I had found when I first found this place. After transferring into it there was a bright flash followed by a slight tingling on my flanks. Looking at them to see what happened I found that there was some sort of tattoo on it depicting an upside down pentagram surrounded by a gear. I will have to study the phenomenon later, looking at my body in the mirror I smile just a little bit seeing my form, as I had taken a few creative liberties with it for starters I gave myself misty gray eyes with a hint of silver, the coat was a sky blue and my mane was a storm cloud gray with a piece of stark white hair zigzagging through it, my horn was about 8 inches long and my frame was tall but not lanky. Walking out of the cryo-room I start heading to the small town that is near that forest. This should be fun.
Teleporting to that old castle I spread out my mana searching for the six that bonded with those artifacts, surprisingly they were extremely close by. Smiling to myself I start making my way through the forest to the nearby town. Though as I was going through the forest I heard a high pitched screech, raising an eyebrow I started heading over there at a medium pace. When I got there though I was slightly amazed, there were 3 children. The orange one was unconscious with a mangled leg, possibly in shock, the yellow and white ones were fending off a pack of canis-woodus commonly known as the Timber wolf by this world's inhabitants. Though as I watched I came to the conclusion that the other two would likely die without outside help, I considered helping them weighing the pros and cons and eventually came to the conclusion that if I helped them I would be seen in a positive light by the nearby inhabitants. With this decided I cast the spell Fireball and watched it hit the largest of the timber wolves, likely the alpha, I crushed another with telekinesis, then used the remains to smack the others away. Eventually they wised up and ran away. Surveying the damage of the three fillies, I believe that is the term, I home in on the one with the mangled legs. As she also had lacerations of varying severity along her barrel, ignoring what the other two were saying. I checked her pulse, to my surprise I felt it sluggishly going through her veins. Casting a healing spell I closed the most severe of them and replaced the blood she lost. Looking at the other two I ask them a couple of questions since their friend is no longer.
“Are the both of you ok?” I start.
They looked at themselves for a second before responding, “Yep.”
“Good, now why the hell are you in a forest with no weaponry and no escape plans?”
“We were just tryin ta get our cutiemarks mista.”
‘This one is unusually strong willed even after she stared right into the jaws of death.’ I thought to myself.
“Is Scootaloo gonna be alright?” She said with tears in her eyes.
“No she will likely be handicapped for the rest of her life, but she will live.” I told her with a neutral face.
I looked as she dissolved into tears as the other one attempted to comfort her.
“Come let us leave this place,” I said, “I’ll carry your friend just follow me.”
They looked at me for a small bit before nodding, picking up the one they called Scootaloo. I draped her over my back and started heading in the direction of the nearby town, and judging from the hoof falls behind me the other two decided to do the same.
“So umm what's your name mister?” The white filly asked.
“Misty sky.” I replied “What are your names?”
“My name is Sweetiebelle, she's Applebloom, she said pointing to the yellow filly, and Scootaloo is the one you're carrying.”
“I see.”
“Thank you for saving us Mr. Sky.”
“It was not a problem.”
“Still thank you.”
A small smile adorned my face as I moved through the forest, looking over to Applebloom I can tell that she's deep in thought, possibly thinking about the consequences of their actions. This was a good sign because now maybe she’ll think before entering this place again. Slowly the forest gave way to a small town, luckily I saw a guard patrol come into view beckoning them over; they sprint towards us and start asking me the obvious questions.
“What's going on here?” Asked one of them with a certain calmness.
“I found these three surrounded by timber wolves while exploring the forest, the one on my back was already in critical condition when I found them and after chasing off the timber wolves I stabilized her but I’m not a doctor so I was heading for the hospital so she can get real treatment, and while we’re at it I want you to notify their guardians of what has happened.” I stated firmly
They looked at each other for a moment before nodding, “Very well sir I will lead you to the hospital, while my colleague here will find these fillies guardians.”
“Alright,” I said before turning to the fillies, “You two, go with the guard.”
“But-” They started before I cut them off.
“No.” I told them firmly, “Your families are likely hysterical right now so you need to show them you’re ok.”
“Alright, mister Sky.” they said before going with the other guard.
“Right this way sir.” Said the guard acting as my guide.
Quickly moving through the streets we enter the small hospital, if you can even call it that, and call over a nurse. Seeing the filly on my back the nurse takes her off of my back and takes her to what I would assume is the emergency room. With that out of the way I started heading out only to be blocked by the guard that led me here.
“Is there a problem officer? I ask cautiously.
“No, I just need an official statement from you about the accident that caused this.” He told me quickly.
“How long will this take?”
“Not long.”
“Very well then.”
I let him lead me back through town to a stone building, likely the barracks, where I was brought into an office. Sitting down at the desk he brings out a sheet of paper and started questioning me.
“Ok then Mr?”
“Sky”
“Mr. Sky, can you tell me what happened in the Everfree forest?”
‘I’ll need to twist the story a bit so I don’t come off as suspicious’ I thought before answering,”I had been doing some field research in the Everfree when I heard a scream in the distance, rushing over I found those three fillies cornered by a pack of timber wolves. Jumping into the fray I fended off the timber wolves, and used a healing spell to stop the bleeding of the filly I took to the hospital.”
Nodding, he looked over his paper before saying, “Alright then, thank you for your time Mr. Sky, if we have any more questions we’ll contact you via letter.”
“Very well then, I’ll be taking my leave now.” I said while getting up from my seat. Exiting the barracks I took a stroll through the town, surveying it/studying it in case I needed to strategically destroy it/capture it. Though before I could finish my survey I heard some voices calling out my name from behind me.
“Excuse me Mr. Sky?” Turning around I found a pair of guards behind me.
“Yes?”
“Your presence has been requested in the hospital.”
“By who?” I asked.
“Ms. Sparkle the element bearer of magic.” They stated.
Thinking for a second I eventually nod. After this they lead me back to the hospital to what I can only assume is Scootaloo's room. Walking in I quickly survey the room, There was an orange mare with a stetson hugging a sobbing Applebloom likely a relative, a bubblegum pink mare with a flat mane crying, a White unicorn hugging Sweetie Belle (again likely a relative), a lavender unicorn writing something down, a yellow pegasus talking to Scootaloo along with two lima bean colored ponies, and finally a cyan pegasus muttering to herself in the corner. Though as soon as I stepped through the door everyone turned their eyes to me, raising an eyebrow I asked them a simple question.
“Why did you request that I come here?” As soon as those words left my lips I was bombarded with questions and thank you’s and a bunch of other BS.
“STOP!” I yelled, pushing them back with a weak pulse of magic. They looked at me like a hurt puppy, but I didn’t care I was here for research and nothing more.
“Where is Ms. Sparkle?” I asked, looking around the room.
“Just Twilight please.” The now named Twilight said with a quaver to her voice. Looking over to her I see that she was the lavender unicorn.
“What did you want me for?” I asked with a neutral expression.
“We wanted to know what happened to Scootaloo in the Everfree.”
“If you wish to know, just ask the barracks as I’ve already given them a report.” I replied before attempting to leave. Suddenly that cyan pegasus was in my face.
“Why won’t you just tell us, huh? Are you hiding something?” She questioned me.
“Rainbow calm down!” Twilight yelled.
“It is alright Twilight.” I said whilst staring Rainbow in the eyes. “If you must know, I am currently conducting research and would prefer to get back to my work as I don’t wish to spend any more time here than I need to.”
“What kind of research/” inquired Twilight excitedly.
“The Thaumaturgic effects on the Everfree due to the close proximity of the six artifact wielders, along with the basic thaumaturgic signatures of the nearby flora and fauna of the nearby forest.”
“Artifacts?”
“The little gems you used to defeat the catastrophe level threat. What was it called again? Nightmare moon?”
“Oh! You mean the elements of harmony right?” said the pink one suddenly appearing in my face.
“If that is what you call them then yes.” I started before walking towards the lime-ish colored mares handing (hoofing?) them a card. “From what I’ve observed you are both relatives of Scootaloo correct?”
“Yes.” they replied
“Splendid, You see I can create prosthetics of varying uses, if you wish for me to build one to replace her leg I will be in town for the next couple of days though after that I doubt we will be seeing each other again.”
They both looked at each other before asking, “How much?”
“Depends upon the material and the desired functions, but we can barter.” I said with a smile that was a little bit too big.
They discussed it for a bit, then turned back to me and asked. “We’re going to have to contact her parents for the final decision and that may take a couple of days. Is that ok?”
“I suppose.” I replied, heading out of the room and out of the hospital and making my way to an inn as I needed an easy way for those two to contact me about the final decision. Quickly purchasing a room and entering it I searched the room for any surveillance devices, finding none. I create a small temporary warp gate and warp in an anti-teleportation device, a set of nano-armor and weapons modified for my pony form should my magic be neutralized, some additional nano-particles, two army boxes and an automatic runic array carver. Powering the carver with my magic I etched anti-scrying runes all over the room as well as some eldritch implosion sigils should someone break into this room. Using some more nano-particles I also reinforce the room then place the army boxes on the bed, and with a bit more of my eldritch magic I activate the various runes on the army boxes so that they can activate themselves if need be. Looking at my handwork I smile, “Perfection.” I whisper to myself. Sitting down at the desk in my room I started preparing for a session of brainstorming ideas, after all it’s a crime to waste such a beautiful night by sleeping it away.
Getting up from my chair I check the time on the nearby clock, “8:30? Already? *sigh* It always surprises me when the sun comes up and yet I always know when it comes over the horizon.”
Looking back at my sketch’s I smile contently as I had made a new breakthrough using principles from my psionic magic, that being a psionic energy reactor which would theoretically be 100x more efficient than the ion crystal reaction that my machines ran off of, and it was completely renewable to boot! Sending it back to the base for Arbiter to safe keep it. I quickly headed downstairs and ordered some oatmeal and orange juice to keep this pathetic meatsack of a body operational. While eating some mare from another table came up to me and attempted to flirt, but after releasing a small bit of killing intent she scampered off, after that I was left alone for the rest of my tasteless meal. Leaving the inn I continue mapping out the town in my head eventually making my way back to the forest they call the Everfree. Walking in I started heading for the old castle as it was the epicenter of the blast. Taking out my pocket scanner I boot it up and start scanning the area for any abnormalities in the immediate area's magic. After a few seconds it compiled its report. Next I took it deeper into the forest and I mean deeper as I didn't know how far the magic from the artifacts had penetrated into the forest, as I continued into the forest I was attacked by multiple creatures but they eventually stopped, fortunately my body had only a couple of lacerations that I quickly healed. I did eventually find an ominous cave that was covered with multiple drawings and wards of various unknown languages, using my scanner I found that it was radiating the magics that surrounds this forest, but instead of going into it like some cliche manhwa protagonist I marked it on my map, turned around, and left.
As I headed out of the forest I checked both of the magic readings on my scanner and came to a conclusion I hadn't thought of. The harmony magic as the ponies magic appeared to be a highly invasive magic spreading everywhere and uprooting the natural magic of the world, quickly scanning myself I found that this pony body had somewhat of a symbiotic relationship with this magic, as it allowed them to manipulate the world around them to a much finer degree, but the deeper I looked into the report the more worrying it became as when I looked at the genetic analysis report I found that the genetics of this body had been stagnated, this meant that this pony body could not naturally adapt to its environment forcing them to use more harmony magic to stabilize their living habitat causing more stagnation to this world.
‘This is bad, very very bad,’ I thought to myself as I made my way back through the forest, ‘If this isn't reversed in a century or so this world may very well die, but how do I reverse this?’ I continued to ponder this question throughout my journey out of the forest and into the town. Finally I had an idea.
‘If I destroy/neutralize large sources of harmony it should at the very least slow down the destruction of this world, but how do I find them?’ This was the problem but a solution quickly came to mind, ‘I just need to build a large sensor for concentrations of harmony.’
Going back to my room I lock the door with high level sealing runes and place down a warp gate back to the tower. Going through it I’m greeted with the metallic smell of plasteel and various other smells associated with a workshop. I quickly went to the cryo-room and switched into my research and development body, a large fully mechanical body made of mechasteel (a high grade self repairing alloy) nanites with several dozen high end enchantments mixed into the material during processing, going back to my workshop I collect the necessary parts for the blueprint I have in mind and assemble a prototype. Unfortunately when I turned it on it proceeded to explode destroying a good portion of my body.
“Energy overload.” I muttered to myself bitterly, ordering new parts from the quantum network. I started rebuilding the machine with a better capacitor, thankfully when I turned it on it didn't explode, instead it simply shut down after about 5 seconds.
“Information overload? OK let's do this then.” Bringing in a quantum computer I connect the sensor to it and flip them on. After a couple of minutes I look through the reports and am blown away.
“How? How are there hundreds of concentrated harmony? Unless… this stuff was spread on purpose.” I briefly pondered this before nodding, “This is sadly the most likely conclusion and it was likely made and spread by a pony at that, after all how come ponies are almost completely compatible while the other races aren’t?” Right at that moment my mental alarms started going off, meaning that someone was trying to break through my sealing runes. Changing back into my pony body, I jumped back through the warp gate and closed it behind me, and quickly hid anything suspicious before I opened the door. Staring back at me was a familiar Lavender unicorn and her little friends.
“What were you doing?” I asked Twilight with slight annoyance.
“Me and my friends wanted to talk to you about these “prosthetics” that you said you would give to Scootaloo.”
“And that gives you the right to try and break into my room?”
“Well we-”
“Let me ask again.” I said in an icy voice, “Does that give you the right to break into my room?”
“No.” She replied meekly.
“That's what I thought,” I stated before closing the door and re-locking it. But before I could move away from the door someone started knocking on it again. Going back to the door I swung it open and found myself face to face with Twilight's angry friends and a bubbly pink pony.
“What?” I asked indifferently.
“WHY DID YOU YELL AT TWILIGHT!” Rainbow dash yelled into my face.
“For the record I didn't yell at her I told her off, speaking of which where did she run off to?”
Applejack stepped in, “Well after you were done tellin ‘er off she went all teary eyed and ran off.”
“I see,” I stated before attempting to close the door, only for it to be stopped by a light blue aura.
‘Note to self-put selective magic runes on the door.’
“Darling, you must apologize to her,” Rarity stated.
“No,” I said flatly.
“Wh-why not?” Fluttershy asked quietly.
“Because she attempted to break into my current living space and if I recall that is a crime, should she have succeeded she would have been lucky if I had only pressed charges for breaking and entering.”
“Lucky?” they collectively asked
I nodded, “Very, Now then I have no intention of apologizing to her as she was in the wrong, should she wish to apologize to me I will consider accepting it, and let me make this clear before there are any more chances of these incidents. I. AM. NOT. YOUR. FRIEND.” I stated slowly, “I am here for business and business only, if you want to make small talk with me I might tolerate it but anything beyond that I will not tolerate, understood?”
“Yes,” They said in unison.
“Good now, leave me alone.” I said while closing the door, after locking it for the third time I put a selective magic rune matrix on the door and went back to my workshop to continue my work. Back in my research and development body I started trudging through the mountains of data, picking out targets and isolating city centers without large harmony concentrations such as small towns and junctions, while also isolating large concentrations of harmony such as large cities, but I noticed that three of these sources were moving and after cross referencing it with a map I came to the conclusion that these are the so called princesses. Marking them as targets I look at the other two sources, one was in the town of ponyville so it was likely the elements and another was deep within the Everfree next to the old castle.
‘That's what's probably restraining the forest's magic.’ I thought to myself whilst marking it as the first target. Though I didn’t stop going through the data and marking the other concentrations based on severity. I eventually finished looking through the data and zeroed it in on the three moving sources. After doing this I had a sudden thought, wasn't there a being that could absorb harmony? Pulling up the archives I search for cases of magic stealing entities, and thankfully find what I'm looking for.
‘Tirek ey?’ Looking through his info, he can apparently absorb harmony and make it his own/or consume it. Due to this he was defeated and imprisoned by the princesses in Tartarus, the land of demons. Sadly there was sparse information on Tartarus itself but its location was easy to discover after cross referencing a geological map with the legends surrounding it. Surprisingly it was relatively close by, only about 400 miles thankfully. Going back into my pony body I walk back into my room and close the gate behind me. Thankfully no one else had attempted to break in, and after rechecking all the runes on the door and reinforcing a couple I laid down on the bed and peacefully went to sleep for once.
Waking up I get out of bed and started washing this pitiful meat sack of a body, thankfully when I designed this body I made sure it doesn’t experience any mental or physical tiredness due to some specific modifications to the hypothalamus, unfortunately, this body has an extremely difficult time when experiencing arousal as a side effect. After going through my “normal” morning routine for the upkeep of this body. I made my way downstairs and ordered some whisky on the rocks. I got a strange look but they obliged. Whilst sipping on the nectar of the gods another patron comes through the door, nothing strange, but what does catch my eyes is when they start communicating to the keep with a series of gestures and hushed words.
‘Intriguing, is there perhaps an underground society here in this town or perhaps this country?’ Whilst thinking about this they completed their exchange and the other left. Finishing my whisky I give the glass back to the keep and purchase the entire bottle to drink while I wander around town.
A couple of hours later
I had been wandering around the town for a little while now, thankfully no one had bothered me. Maybe those six spread around how I made Ms. Sparkle cry or maybe I just gave off an unfriendly atmosphere in general. Anyways it didn’t bother me in the slightest, I was used to being somewhat isolated anyhow so I went to the library (or treebary I don't know) and used one of their tables to start drawing out blueprints for various pieces of machinery from toys and household appliances to armor and extinction-level weapons. I eventually heard someone coming down the stairs when a thought struck me. Didn’t the locals say Ms. Sparkle lived here with her assistant? I slowly heard the steps behind me stop, turning around I found myself face to face with a baby dragon?
“Hey there,” I said with a smile.
“What are you doing here?” He asked me with a slight glare.
“Oh is this not a public library like everyone else said? I questioned.
He rolled his eyes and muttered something before continuing on his way into what I believe is the kitchen.
Turning back around I continue drawing out the schematic for a Franxx that does not need a female interface. Not too long after the little drake had finished whatever he was doing in the kitchen I heard someone else coming down the stairs, before slowly coming to a stop behind me and then eventually moving on into the kitchen. Where the following conversation ensued.
“Spike!” She whispered with a slight quiver in her tone.
“Twilight we live in a public library now, not a private one like back in Canterlot,” Spike whispered back.
“But-” She started.
“Look Twilight,” Spike cut in, “ If it's such a big deal go ask him to leave or something.”
*sigh*
Twilight walked in and stared at me for a while, I eventually grew tired of this and just confronted her. Whipping around I confronted her, “Are you just going to stand there gawking at me, or are you going to ask me to leave as Spike said?”
Her voice hitched “Yo-you heard that?”
I nodded slightly before motioning for her to sit down next to me.
She looked a bit miffed but sat down.
It was awkward, as soon as she sat down she stared at an empty spot on the table and didn't say anything, so I initiated the “apology.”
“Do you understand what you did wrong?” I asked
“Yes,” she squeaked out.
“And what did you do wrong?”
“I-I tried entering your room without permission and got upset when you yelled at me for almost committing a crime,” she whispered.
“Good, at least you understand where you went wrong,” I said with a slight smile, “But I will not accept an apology as words mean little if they aren't backed by actions, next time do better and use that brain of yours alright?”
“Thank you!” She yelled, giving me a quick hug.
My face scrunched up slightly from the hug but I let her hug me for a small while before pushing her away.
“Please never do that again,” I said with some annoyance creeping into my voice.
She smiled sheepishly, “Sorry.”
I muttered a few chosen words before going back to my blueprints. Unfortunately, Twilight trotted right over and started assaulting me with questions.
“What are those?’ She asked.
“Blueprints,” I promptly stated.
“Of what?”
“Stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?”
“Complicated.”
This went back and forth for a while before she finally gave up and stomped upstairs.
“What was that about?” The small drake asked.
“She got frustrated that I wasn't answering her questions how she wanted me to answer them.”
“Oh.”
I started packing up my stuff and putting it in my subspace. Spike raised an eyebrow.
“You've got a subspace?” He asked surprised.
“Yeah.”
“Impressive.”
“How so?” I asked.
“Only exceptional unicorns can cast and maintain that spell, or at least that's what twilight tells me.”
“Ok.” I replied indifferently, “Bye.”
“See ya.”
Making my way through town I'm greeted by a few of the townsfolk to which I greet them back after all there's no need to be rude. I asked a few of them where I could find Mrs. Holiday and Mrs. Lofty, and after a small while, I arrived at their quaint little home and knocked on the door.
Opening the door Mrs. Holiday exclaimed, “Ah hello Mr. Skies, what are you doing here?”
“I've come to see if you have received confirmation from Scootaloo's parents.”
“We sent the letter not too long ago, so I doubt they've got it yet.”
“Ah, I see no problem.”
“Would you like to come in for tea?” She asked, gesturing for me to come in.
“Unfortunately I had planned to continue with the experiments I brought with me today, perhaps at another time?”
“Oh that's alright, we can have to at another time.” She replied, shrugging it off.
“Thank you for understanding,” I said before making my way back to the inn.
Going back to my base I continue working on project OVERLORD, by using necromancy, a dash of some psionic magic, and a hint of eldritch I succeeded in making a spell that would truly awaken my subjects.
“Ma-Master?” The small browns goblin asked as its eyes opened.
An evil smile adorned my face, things were gonna get busy very busy.
I woke up in my bed at the tower, and started my morning routine, after that I made my way downstairs.
“Morning Arbiter.” I said to a passing drone as I heard a small ping notifying me of Arbiter connecting to my mind.
“What's got you in such a good mood today?” He questioned.
“Project Overlord is a success,” I state Cheerfully.
“Truly?” He asked with excitement.
“Yep, Now I only need to create the other variants.”
“But don't you have a previous accommodation to take care of?” He asked.
“Hmmm” I paused in thought for a second weighing my options, “Very well then I suppose that the correct action to take is to see if they have received permission for that filly to receive surgery.”
Opening up a warp gate I hop back into the room I had been staying at for the last couple of days. Closing it behind me I quickly check the time.
‘Three pm, I should have enough time to check and see if they got that letter back’ I thought as I opened the door…
Only to find Miss Sparkle arguing with the barkeep right in front of the door.
“Look Ms. Sparkle we can’t just just break into the room Mr. Sky rented,” The frustrated barkeep told her.
“But the Princess-” Ms. Sparkle started.
“I would if I could but there are laws and I would rather not break the law, unless of course this fine stallion has committed some sort of crime.” The barkeep cut in.
They finally noticed me standing there looking at them with an incredulous look on my face.
“Ah Mr. Sky,” the Barkeep greeted me with an apologetic smile, “I'm sorry did our argument wake you up?”
“Wake me up?” I questioned, “Isn't it three in the afternoon?”
“It is. However you didn't come down to get breakfast and no one saw you leave the tavern so…”
“Ah, I apologize for that, I was wrapped up in my work until recently.”
He nodded, “no need to apologize however, it appears that Twilight here needed to speak with you about something.”
I turned to Ms. Sparkle. “Is there something you required from me?”
“She had beads of sweat dripping down her face, her eyes were looking anyway except at me. “Well ummm…”
“Don't tell me that you have a crush on me,” I say cutting in.
“What?” She Squeaked.
“Well isn't that the usual cliche in these situations?” I said impassively.
“NO!” She yelped out before quickly recovering, “I just came by to tell you that the Princess wants to talk to you.
From the outside they both only saw my eyes widen slightly to the news however, I was having a slight panic attack on the inside. After all, I was gonna be meeting a being that had the potential to destroy me, but I quickly rationalized that she would have no reason to harm me. Though just to be sure I quickly threw a temporary spell on her that linked my lifeforce to her so that I had a hostage if necessary.
Quickly collecting the rest of my wits I finish the conversation. Ms. Sparkle told me to go to the library in 4 hours so I'll assume that I have about three and a half hours. Locking the door I reinforce every runic configuration in the room before opening a gate to the base.
“Three more hours I mutter to myself whilst going through the various levels of the tower. Down to the very room where it all truly started. The summoning room. I quickly gathered everything I needed for another summoning except this time I was going to inject dark mana into the runic circle in the hopes of summoning a being that could grant me the power to conceal my powers and obscure my presence. Drawing the circle with chalk and the symbols with iron filings I infuse them with eldritch magic this briefly caused my body to twist and malform but i continued without a care, with the feather on hand i started the ritual. The feather turned black and was ingulfed in the eldritch magic, the iron filings glowed with an ebony sheen as they to were swept up into the vortex the feather had created, the only thing left untouched was the salt. The portal glowed with a sickly purple glow as a large snake slithered out of the portal.
“And who summons me?” It asked with a slick voice
“Benjamin Morningstar,” I declared.
“And what do you desire?” It questioned.
“I way to hide my magic from the likes of those who worship they light,” I answered truthfully.
“Then you are in luck for I am Botis, Master of lies,” The Snake declared boldly.
“And what do you want in return for it?”
He chuckled, “A favor shall be enough, however should you fail to fulfill the favor your soul is forfeit.”
“Fair enough,” I replied with a shrug.
I felt my soul being etched with the power of Botis, it felt slimy regardless of this I persevered, The power was subtle as knowledge of various nefarious spells were etched into my mind. I also felt a powerful mind controlling spell being applied, Magnus took care of it easily and silently, and with that the snake gave me one final look and left.
I smiled ever so slightly at my new powers, various experiments flowed through my mind but I put them aside for now.
