Born Anew Chapter 4 (Original chapter Chapter 92)
…well, that should be obvious.
I sighed loudly and stepped forwards, drawing the attention of both gangs.
"Well isn't this an interesting sight?" I drawled.
"A Shadow Elf!" one of Bakuda's goons, a goblin, hissed. "They're rare, boss!"
"Who the fuck're you?!" Bakuda demanded of me.
"Ah, so quickly forgotten." I sighed dramatically, ignoring Karen's insistent tugging of my hair. "You haven't changed…Bomber of Cornell University."
That made both Bakuda and Regent stiffen as I said a name that an inhabitant of this world shouldn't know…unless they were a Reincarnator or Transmigrator.
"So you know the explode-happy bitch. Big whoop." The former Master-class Cape said tensely. "As much as I hate to echo her question, I will: who the fuck are you?"
"Considering I saved your ass from being chargrilled by a rage dragon with my swarm, I'm a bit hurt that you forgot me….Alec." I said back with a smile.
This made him actually physically stagger. "Dork? Weaver, is that you?!"
"I always preferred 'Skitter the Warlord', personally." I answered as I swiped one hand vertically, black shadows erupting across my body, fading away to reveal my combat equipment. Physically pulling my staff out of my Item Box, I nodded at him. "Glad to see you again, Regent. Should we take care of Bakuda like we did last time?"
Regent reared his head back and laughed. Honest and true laughter, not the snarky shit that he'd used back on Earth Bet. "Fuck yes. Let's give this bitch what she deserves."
"Karen, hide." I whispered to the fairy.
"Gods in Asgard, you are insane!" she whispered to me angrily before fluttering away.
Now that she was clear, I could focus on the fight ahead. Bakuda's troops were mostly goblins, with a scattering of orcs and a handful of humans. If Bakuda was anything like she had been back in Brockton Bay though, she would heavily discourage any sort of independent thought or actions amongst her men. That meant that cutting off the head of the snake would demoralize and weaken her men.
First things first though…time to try out something I had read.
"[Triplet Extend Magic: Shadow Strangle]!" I shouted, raising one hand in front of me. A shadowy magic circle appeared in front of it as the spell activated. Bakuda found herself choking badly as three cords of shadow erupted from her shadow and started to throttle her.
This was the aspect of magic that ALL Magic Casters in Yggdrasil had access to, metamagic enhancement. It wasn't limited by the tier of spell that you used, only the amount of MP that you had. By using the [Triple] addition, I essentially created two extra [Shadow Strangle] Spells and, by using the [Extend] addition, I raised the length of time the three spells would be active for by a minute. It cost 25 MP per addition, sometimes more depending on the tier of spell you wanted to cast the additions with, but it was worth it.
Fun fact: Unless you were capable of thinking your spells clearly, you couldn't use the [Silent] metamagic addition. Meaning that I had essentially silenced Bakuda and robbed her of her spellcasting for one minute and thirty seconds, inflicting 45+ Shadow Damage per ten seconds. Choke on that, bomber bitch.
"[Widen Extend Boosted Magic: Distorted Puppet Dance]!" Regent, being a sneaky bastard, wasn't wasting any time in taking advantage of Bakuda's weakness. The [Widen] addition increased a spells area of effect, while [Boost] upped a spells tier and power. Combined with the [Extend] addition and the name of the spell, I had a feeling that this was going to get tough for Bakuda's troops.
As I had half-expected, almost every single one of Bakuda's men started jerkily attacking one another. Those few who were unaffected were stormed by the controlled. It was odd though. Karen had said that Regent used some form of psionic magic, but this was less dominating their minds and more hijacking their bodies, a lot like his original Parahuman power had been.
This was odd. Assuming that Bakuda had the Mage equivalent to her old Parahuman power, that made both of them that had such a thing. I had a power that was, as much as it pained me to admit it, more like Shadow Stalker or Grue's powers. Was it because of the fact that I was Transmigrated or that I was Transmigrated by Yliaster? Food for thought later.
Regent's people either hung back and blasted their enemies with magic, mostly lightning or fire, or they snuck around and attacked from behind or the sides. Mages and Rogues, the kind of fighters that I'd expect Regent to recruit in this kind of world. I was surprised that there wasn't at least one warrior to act as a meatshield; Regent was not stupid by any means and preferred to keep his distance from his enemies unless he knew he could handle them up-close and personal. Having something like a warrior in armour to act as a defense would be his best play…unless he had a warrior class that left him to do that himself.
"Get that bitch!" Bakuda roared once the spell binding her neck ended. "[Maximise Magic: Explosive Orb]!"
Ripping one silver orb from her bandolier, she threw it at a group of Regent's men and the damn thing blew up like a grenade! It wasn't; I could see as it blew up (Elven eyesight for the win) that it was an orb filled with some sort of liquid. A catalyst like my staff? She wasn't an explosion mage then; she was an alchemist.
I had my own problems, as Bakuda's men had also been released from Regent's spell too. While most were held up by their opposing numbers, a couple were free to engage me. A goblin and a human. One with a staff and one with a wand.
Holding my staff horizontally, I grinned. "[Twin Maximise Magic: Shadow Bolt]!"
With a roar, a bolt of shadows erupted from each end of my staff and sped towards the approaching enemies, engulfing them in their darkness. The [Twin] addition created two of the same spell, essentially a lesser version of [Triple], while the [Maximise] addition increased any destructive properties that a spell possessed, essentially giving it a flat addition to the damage it dealt. It was also the most common metamagic addition used in all of Yggdrasil.
As the two reeled from my spell, I cast another one. "[Summoning: Steed of Shadows]!"
As the shadow steed took shape between my legs, I smirked again beneath my face mask. Time to see how this idea worked.
With a fierce neigh, the [Steed of Shadows] hurled itself forwards, speeding towards the slowed-down thugs. I smashed the end of the staff down onto the head of the human, which may or may not have killed him. At any rate, he was down, and I was flying over Bakuda just as the [Steed] faded away, letting me dropkick her in the face.
"GAH!" the former Tinker yowled in pain as I leapt from her face, sending her sprawling on her back, and used the extra height to sail over a few more of her fighting men to land lightly. The standard Elf reflexes and agility was so damn useful.
"YOU!" one human yelled as he charged at me, wielding his staff as a club. I dodged the swing and drew my dagger, landing a cut on his inner wrist where his artery was. Blood flew and he yelled in panic. Daggers were weak weapons and rarely caused any serious damage. Mine was a bit different, as it was a {Scaling} weapon and could develop new skills and abilities as I grew in power, just like my staff.
As my dagger had the lowest level cap, I was unsurprised that, during my week long fight against zombies and other undead, my dagger been the first to evolve and that it had evolved twice. Its basic physical damage had gone up, as had its magic damage. That was the first evolution. The second had been a +20% Critical chance with all [Slash] type damage I dealt with it.
In case you missed the results, it works really well.
"Shit! She has to be Level 7 or 8 altogether!" one cursed as he backed off. "Boss, we can't win like this!"
"Gaaaaahhhhh!" Bakuda roared in frustration, but then calmed down, much to my mild surprise. "Fine. Withdraw!"
"You think I'll let you?" Regent growled, stepping forward, a scepter, not unlike the one he'd used back on Earth Bet, in one hand.
"[Widen Magic: Lesser Paralytic Mist Bomb]!" Bakuda shouted as an answer, throwing another orb, which blew up and spread a mist around. Those who were enveloped in it found it difficult to move their bodies. I used [Steed of Shadows] again to avoid the mist, but doing so moved me away from Bakuda and her gang. By the time the mist dissipated, the woman and her gang were gone.
"Well shit." Regent sighed before turning to look at me. "Never thought I'd see you again, dork."
"Considering Behemoth killed you, the same goes for me." I answered as I sheathed my dagger. "A gang leader, Regent? You really don't change."
"And you keep throwing yourself in to help people with no good reason still." My former teammate retorted with a snort. "Listen, the guards'll be here in a minute, so we'd better scram. Where are you staying so we can sit down and talk?"
"The Drunken Goose." I rolled me eyes as I reverted back to my civ clothes. "Yes, the name's stupid."
"Suits you." The former Master teased me. "Right, I'll be seeing you tomorrow."
With that, Regent and his Regency (what a ham) left at a run. I quietly slipped away and was joined by Karen, who was a bit angry at me (read: furious).
"Just what were you thinking?!" she scolded me. "Involving yourself in a gang fight like that! Why?"
"Regent saved my life, and the life of another one of his friends, at great cost." I answered quietly. "I owe him for that."
It was true after all. Not many people would run around catcalling at Behemoth, knowing it would get the oversized Endbringer to squash him or blast him. If Regent hadn't done that, Lisa and I would have died, no questions asked. So I did owe him.
"Well that's odd." The fairy blinked. "Did you know he was here?"
"No, we haven't spoken in a few years." I shook my head as we arrived at the Magic Shop. "It was nice to see him though. Anyway, let's see what I can get here…"
Unlike in an RPG, what few of them my original had played on Earth Bet, a mage shop did not stock magical weapons or staves. It was all scrolls. Reams and reams of scrolls. Fortunately, there was a system in place. Scrolls with red ribbons securing them shut were [Tutelary] scrolls, intended to be used to teach someone a spell before crumbling away. Scrolls with green ribbons were literal spell scrolls, each holding the magic and formula to cast a single spell once before crumbling away. Then there were the blue-ribbon scrolls. These were blank, ready to have a spell embedded into them, to be taught or cast. A regular Magic Caster could do either, but not often.
The Job Class that truly excelled at the production of scrolls, according to Karen, was the [Enchanter], a support Job Class that, in addition to specializing in spells to enhance the attacks and stats of allies and weaken those of enemies, was also skilled in living up to the class name, enchanting weapons, armour and other items with magic, all with the basic [Enchant] spell, that grew in power as the [Enchanter] Job Class did.
I had no plans to become an [Enchanter], but I had to admit, it seemed to be a fascinating job.
"You were wrong, you know." I mentioned to Karen as I browsed. "The leader of the Bombers? She's an [Alchemist], not an [Explosion Mage]."
"I've never seen her before today." The fairy pouted. "All I had to go one was rumours and hearsay. The fact that she specializes in making things blow up is about right though."
"Wonder how she does it; the orbs she used as catalysts for her spells were unmarked." I mused.
"She must be using [Prima Materia] as the catalyst." Karen replied as she fluttered around. "It's a basic alchemic fluid that all combat-oriented [Alchemists] use. By inserting her MP into them as she throws them, she actualizes her magic."
"Isn't Prima Materia the same substance called Yliaster?" I raised an eyebrow, keeping my voice low.
"It is, but ever since the goddess Yliaster's position of Lady of the Shadows was usurped by Lord Myriad, the first name is more popular." Karen said, equally as quietly. "Lord Myriad isn't a cruel God, but he is ruthless in stamping out any trace of his predecessor."
"How'd that even happen?" I asked as I mentally debated the merits of two similar spells.
"Lord Myriad was a demigod who found a [Crystal of Apotheosis] in the depths of a labyrinth in Jötunheimr." The fairy informed me. "Lady Yliaster, while not unpopular, kept the Plane of Shadows fairly neutral in the struggles of the Dark and Light. This made her somewhat mistrusted by both sides and someone from one of the two sides guided Lord Myriad to this crystal and influenced him to use it to all but usurp her position. I think the hope was to have the Shadows finally commit to a position aside from refusing to aid either side. Thus far, Lord Myriad hasn't done anything but move to secure his position and weaken that of Lady Yliaster's. All of her temples and most of her shrines have been torn down. That she hasn't vanished yet is a mystery."
I made an agreeing noise and continued shopping. So, there was some kind of war between the 'good' gods and the 'bad' gods and Yliaster had refused to become involved? And because of that, she had been backstabbed by someone in the hopes of adding the Shadow deity to their ranks. I didn't know which part of that I liked less. Aside from his penchant for trying to kill Yliaster by wiping out her base of worship, Myriad didn't seem too bad.
Gods, as I had been informed by pop-ups, relied on their worshipers for power and existence. Myriad must have worked relatively quickly to displace Yliaster before the initial power of his godhead was exhausted As you would expect, a lot of worshipers had jumped ship to Myriad, but some had refused and were either imprisoned or in flight. I would bet a lot that they were gathering at the hidden temple to Yliaster. If only I knew where that was!
When we left the shop, I had purchased four scrolls in total. Two were spell scrolls that held the [Purification] spell. This Fifth Tier Spell would not only cleanse me of any poisons, venoms or drugs in my system, but give me low level resistances to them for the following six hours.
The other two were [Tutelary] scrolls that held new Shadow magic Spells. One was the Tier Two spell [Burning Shadows] and the Tier Three spell [Mass Shadow Binding]. These were to cover for my main weak points at the moment.
[Burning Shadows] only worked on those who possessed the [Shadow Aura] skill. Normally, that was a pretty safe skill for others, as all it did was give me a boost to my Shadow Spells and other Shadow-oriented Skills when it was active, which I hadn't done so far. [Burning Shadows] turned that passive aura effect into a defensive aura that burned anyone other than me that it touched like virulent acid, and also acted like a small amount of armour. This gave me a verifiable defence spell.
[Mass Shadow Binding] was exactly what it sounded like, a spell that reached out and bound the shadow, and thus the body, of any enemy within a certain distance of me. This was a Crowd Control spell, designed to keep a large group of enemies away from me for a while. Unlike [Shadow Strangle], it didn't cause any damage, but it was cheap (for a Third Tier Spell) and lasted a fair amount of time, leaving me plenty of opportunity to blast the enemies into submission with my other spells.
"It's a shame that there weren't other Shadow Spells." I sighed. The selection had been limited to those two and one other, the First Tier [Shadow Rope] spell. That was more along the lines of a Rogue's spell though, so I left it for the moment. If this place had no other shops that stocked Shadow Spells though, I'd take it.
"I'll have a look around for you." Karen offered. "No charge if I find nothing, but a silver if I find a place that have spells other than the ones you already know."
"Sure." I nodded. I'd spent thirty silver today on spells, and I still had plenty left, so it was a reasonable fee. "For now, I'm looking to replace the belt I wear in combat. It's not magical at all and is pretty basic."
"Why wear it then?" Karen asked in confusion.
"I used what I had at hand. Better something than nothing." I shrugged.
"Point. You're really quite pragmatic about combat, aren't you?"
"I try. Now…lead on." I said.
The Next Day
Drunken Goose Inn
I eyed the belt I had gotten. For whatever reason, Shadow-affinity spells and items were really rare on this floor. I could guess it was because most of the enemies were Undead and thus immune to the cold that the higher-tier shadow spells had as a bonus effect.
Still, that meant that what Shadow-related items that there were here were relatively cheap, even if they were few in number. This new belt of mine was a good example.
[Belt of Transient Twilight] (Mid Class)
A belt made by a mage in his twilight years, it possesses an affinity for that particular time of day, boosting the wearer's ability to use magic by quite a large amount for a Middle Class item. In exchange, however, it possesses no power whatsoever at any time other than twilight.
- Twilight Aura: At twilight, during both morning and evening, the wearer gains +50 to any magical attack and +20 to the wearers Magical Defence. At all other times, it counts as an ordinary leather belt of no particular worth.
It was really, really, really pinpointed in its effects. It was entirely powerless unless it was twilight, but when it was twilight, my power was boosted by quite a bit.
Stowing the belt back in my Item Box, I took a sip of my cup of what was the local equivalent to coffee. It tasted like roasted hazelnuts and was in dire need of some milk, but if I drunk it gradually, I wouldn't get any nasty aftertaste on my tongue.
"Well, I have to go." My conversation partner said as he stood up. The guy was an Undead and a [Skeleton Mage], so I had been wary at first, but he had been nice enough to walk me though the basics of using metamagic and other things in the last three days, so I was quite grateful.
"Thanks for your help." I said with a nod. "Safe travels."
"And the same to you, miss." The undead nodded. "I have to return to my guild now. We've only just gotten everything set up and some of them are overexcited about everything."
"I know the kind you mean." I laughed. "Well I owe you one for your help. If you ever need a [Shadow Mage's] help, just give me a call."
"I'll do that." the grinning skull nodded. "And if you need my help, look for our guild…Ains Ooal Gown."
With that, Momonga the Skeletal Mage left the Drunken Goose with a polite wave of a bony hand. Why he had been staying here for three days was beyond me; by his own admission, Undead didn't need to sleep or eat. Well whatever. He helped me out while he was here on business, so it doesn't matter.
A few minutes later, Regent, dressed in the same outfit he had been wearing yesterday, swaggered in. Yes, he actually swaggered.
"Dork." He said as he sat down in Momonga's vacated seat.
"Alec." I said with a cocked eyebrow. "You have to come in your battle rattle? You look as if you're ready to kick ass and take names."
"A gang leader has to look the part." Regent shrugged. "At all times. Not much different than in Brockton Bay. What's the old place looking like now?"
"Dead. Like most of Earth Bet." I said bleakly. "Turns out Scion's actual name was Zion and he was the source of Parahuman powers. All of humanity was some kind of fucked up experiment for him. Jack Slash said something to him and he went apeshit. He tore up most of Earth Bet and a lot of other alternate Earths before I finally put the bastard down."
"You? You killed Scion?!" Alec looked shocked, even under a mask. I guess I was too used to reading him while wearing one.
"I got Panacea to Final Trigger me." I smiled tightly. "She put me beyond a Second Trigger and fully released the limits on my power, letting me control every parahuman within my not inconsiderable range. I used them all to kill him, and then ran to an alternate Earth that had no human life so I couldn't use my powers anymore. My mind was being devoured by my powers. The next thing I know, I'm being shot in the back of the head and then talking to Yliaster."
"If it wasn't for the fact that no Parahuman powers exist in this place, I'd've tried to kill you for telling me all that." Alec said with a hint of fear in his voice. I couldn't blame him; he had Triggered as a result of his father and siblings using their Master powers on him, so he had a reasonable fear of being Mastered himself. And my former powers had been scary enough that I tried not to think about them myself.
"Wait…" Alec said slowly. "You said Yliaster…as in the former Goddess of Shadows?"
"She's also the Dimensional Supervisor for the Milky Way." I chimed in all-too cheerfully. "She cloned me from the original Taylor Hebert and transmigrated me here after regenerating the arm I lost…or that the original lost…against Scion. She forgot to mention that she had been usurped, or that her only remaining temple was sodding well sealed away from teleports! I was almost sent to damn Helheim!"
"Dork, your luck is both amazingly good and amazingly bad as always." Alec shook his head in mild amazement. "Clone or not, you're still you. So, what're you doing in this merry pit of lawlessness?"
"I need to go to Svartálfaheimr. That means I need either someone with a World Pass or an Apple of Idun in order to acquire one." I said bluntly. "This is the only city in the whole realm, so where better to get one?"
"You need to have a Total Level of 15 at least to go to the Temple of Týr." Alec said with a tilt to his head. "What level are you now?"
"Almost Level 8." I answered.
"Damn." Alec whistled. "I'm only Level 10. It's a demerit to those who have been Reincarnated as opposed to Transmigrated that the first year that we're reborn, we have a -35% Debuff to gaining all EXP. I've been here for six months, and spent most of them in a jail cell. Fucking Bakuda blew up several important places and framed me for it, the bitch."
"You seem more…stable than before." I noted.
"Side effect of being reincarnated; all our mental issues are either erased or greatly reduced." I could tell he was smug about this. "Fucking Dad and Cherie can kiss my ass."
"Last I knew about it, Aisha was looking after your siblings. Called themselves the Heartbroken." I offered. How I knew that was beyond me, but I guess Yliaster figured out I would meet Regent somehow and gifted me the knowledge.
"Fuck. That's a good name for 'em. Good on Imp." Regent nodded.
"Is Bakuda the only one from Earth Bet here apart from us?" I asked in concern. If she wasn't I'd have to take precautions.
"The only one other than us in Niflheim. To the best of my knowledge." The former Master corrected me. "For all I know, other dead guys and gals from Earth Bet are in the other eight realms, or even this one. I'd be careful, dork. If some of them know you from when you went all 'ultimate puppet master' on them, they could try to gank you."
"I'll use a false name from here on out." I agreed. "Rose…that was my mother's middle name. I'll use that. Shadow Elves have odd naming conventions, apparently, so it shouldn't raise any suspicions."
"It works." Regent nodded. "Why is it you're the only one out of us three that have dissimilar powers? My [Puppet Mage] powers are similar to my original power set, and Baku-bitch's [Alchemist] job is the same. You not only aren't human, but your powers are more like Grue's powers."
"Yliaster is the Goddess of Shadow Elves, apparently." I shrugged. "She said she couldn't guarantee what my race was, but I'd bet she influenced it strongly to be a Shadow Elf. As for the [Shadow Mage] part, I was given a bunch of choices and I chose this one. Better this than one like Psycho Stalker. For whatever reason, insect magic either doesn't exist or I just wasn't given the option."
"Would anyone like to be like that bitch?" Regent scorned. "And [Arthromancers] do exist here; I've seen a few of them in the city."
Tapping his finger on one arm of the chair, he sighed. "OK. There are a couple of things I've found out about World Passes for when I get one for myself. First, all of them take you to Midgard first unless you start from there. Midgard's kinda like the switching station for the Realms. Second, they can only be used once every thirty days or so. Meaning, you're pretty much stuck in Midgard until the pass' cooldown period ends."
"That last one sucks." I frowned.
"Yeah. Best thing is though; each World Pass can be used for up to six people at a time." The smugness rolled off of Regent like a visible aura. "Get two people with two different World Passes and you can have one take you to Midgard and the other one can take you to Svartálfaheimr."
"Can I just say how much I love loopholes?" I grinned.
"Yup. Problem is, Apples of Idun are pretty hard to get at all here in Niflheim, as I'm sure you know." The gang leader stated. "I have one for myself, and no offence, but I'm not giving it to you. Fortunately, I do know someone offering an Apple of Idun, a genuine one, as a quest reward. Want me to hook you up?"
I gave him a flat look. "Was there even a need to ask? What's the quest?"
"Assassination." Regent said seriously. "You have to kill Bakuda. She's seriously fucked up the dynamics in Hvergelmir; you aren't supposed to get people outside of the gangs involved in the fighting, kinda like in the Unwritten Rules back home, but man oh man, is she paying attention to that? Hell no. She set off a bomb in a marketplace that killed over a hundred noncoms. As in people who don't have a Combat Job Class. She's this close to having a member of the Council of Twelve pay her a visit, but the gang leaders are being given a chance to deal with her the traditional way."
"Assassination is the traditional way?" I asked in confusion.
"The system is simple in Hvergelmir; the 'Outer' gangs are in the hundreds, none with members above Level 40." Regent explained. "The 'Inner' gangs are, at most, Level 80. The strongest twelve are the 'Top' gangs and their Guild leaders are the Council of Twelve. There is a strict set of rules for the gangs, including the 'no killing noncoms' rule. The only reason the Realm Lord hasn't gotten involved personally is because there's no actual proof that Bakuda was the one behind it; no evidence, no sightings of her…nothing. Everyone KNOWS it was her due to the method, but the Realm Lord doesn't interfere unless it's undeniable that someone has broken his rules."
"I'd say it's undeniable anyway…but go on."
"The speaker of the Council of Twelve, Lord Megalo the Deathscythe, has offered this quest to kill Bakuda. He's only offered it to those under Level 40, as most of the Inner Gangs don't want to leave Niflheim, whereas the Outer Gangs either want to be in with the Inner Gangs or they want to leave this cold shithole." My ex-teammate explained. "This has only ever been done before as a last effort to resolve everything before one of the Twelve step in to crush whatever idiot has stirred things up. I'd give it two more weeks before that happens. Get rid of Bakuda before that happens and you'll have yourself an Apple of Idun. I ain't too fussed about where I do after this so long as I leave the cold. I'll come with you at least as far as Midgard when we get everything resolved. How does that sound?"
"Sounds like a plan." I grinned at Regent. "Now, let's talk about dealing with a bomb bitch again…"
This actually quite fun to write. I just wish it wasn't so hot! As I type this, the temperature is 20 Degrees Celsius. Now, while that may not be hot by some standards, for where I live, it is far hotter than average. Urgh, I hate this kind of weather.
On a different subject, please check out my Yuuki Yūna is a Hero one-shot and review it! It's been up for days without a single review!