*You have been inflicted with 'Oversaturated'x21.

I Teleported away from the Djinni, but it appeared at my side a split-second later. Whatever Mover ability he had, it was just as fast as mine. Possibly faster, but Threat Sense negated any practical advantage that might have in combat.

Unfortunately, he didn't seem to need to hit me to kill me.

The Elephant-headed man had a corona of light around him that was absolutely flooded with mana. I'd been pumping as much mana into my Perks as I could, but I couldn't spend it fast enough!

Thanks to Threat Sense, I'd turned off [Ambient Mana Gatherer] a while ago, but I was still getting infused by the Djinni's presence after he'd realized what was happening. I considered connecting to him with Power Drain and shoving some of the mana back into him... but that was low on my list of plans.

Plan 1: Retreat, wasn't going so well.

The problem was that while I could teleport wherever I saw, so could the Djinni. I could deploy a Teleportation Pad and hook up with the one in Wistram to get far away, but there were several reasons not to.

First, that would be abandoning the fight. I couldn't get back nearly as quickly and Nerrhavia's Fallen would continue their advance. I could cross the ocean fast enough, but there would be a great number of Tiqr casualties in the meantime.

Second, it would hurt my public image. That... didn't matter so much, but it did matter. I was taking a stand in a way that should draw the attention of any Earthers, and it would be bad for me to lose. Image was vital for Superheroes, and while I hadn't really cared about it before, a reputation would help protect those I guarded better than anything else.

Third, and most important, what would happen to Sibby if I Teleported without her? It would be fine if she wasn't summoned, but the possibility of what could happen if she wasn't gnawed at me. Would our bond stretch again? Or snap? Would she come along? Be left stranded again? Would the magic cause some unpredictable interaction?

Threat Sense only helped me defend myself, unless I pushed it to her. Doing that right now would be a good way to get hit by a Djinni-laser.

Right, so retreat was out unless things got even more desperate. Not that they weren't desperate already. I had enough stacks of 'Oversaturated' that I'd already be dead or unconscious without [Heroic Tolerance: Mana].

At least the Djinni was poisoning me far slower than Emerrhain had done in Wistram.

Thank goodness that I'd been grinding my Mana Pool before I'd run out of potions.

Plan 2: Get Sibby to help.

It was obvious, really. Sibby could damage Djinni, I just needed to bring her meal to her. That was simple enough as the Djinni was following me.

I teleported next to Sibby. The Djinni would follow and she would...

Pop.

Damn it.

Stupid halo of magical light.

I could lure it where-

No. That was too far away. It would be running away, and I might not survive the trip.

I formed another sword from the Cawthorne's forcefield generator and teleported next to the Djinni.

He, of course, teleported away.

Movers were a pain in the ass, and yes, I know I'm being a hypocrite.

Okay... so what else? No point in wasting MP teleporting randomly. I could sacrifice a Skill or two to have another mana outlet. I'm pretty sure that I could continue to dodge while doing that.

No. That's only drawing things out, I need to win.

If I only had my Golden Gun. I swear I'm going to kill whomever stole it from me!

What Perks haven't I tried using?

No... no... no... yes?

The magical light wasn't really an attempt at communicating but it COULD be.

'Who are you?'

'I am Muakhai.' The reply was hesitant, unsure. I can use that.

'You're helping kill hundreds of thousands of innocents.'

'I have no choice. I'm not supposed to be talking to you... but... this is new.' I see the Djinni's shoulders slump. 'I'm sure a new rule will be added to address... whatever it is you are doing. I apologize, Pixel, I am saddened and ashamed at the actions I must take.'

'If you feel guilty about doing something, then just don't do it.' I dodged another laser, but kept my sword out. Juggernaut might be my only solution to hurting Muakhai.

'I have no choice in the matter. My guilt is longer than you have lived.' The reply light was... angry. 'You are arrogant and assume things that you know nothing of. Be silent.'

'Then tell me!'

No reply. Guess I pissed off the Djinni.

Great.

I didn't think I'd be able to actually talk a Mastered person out of taking an action, but I'd hoped to distract him long enough to land a hit.

I continued to dodge while trying to find an opening.

What else? The main rule of dealing with a Supervillain you couldn't take down was to find someone that could. But... that had been Sibby. Perhaps I could 'lose' and get Muakhai to drop his guard long enough for the Siberian to pounce?

Let's call that Plan Z. I know I can tank his magical lasers for a while, but I'd rather not get the Cawthorne damaged. I could use my Samus armor instead.

In fact... Tongue of Babel images hadn't fooled him, but I could teleport from inside my armor. Then, I'd just be some guy.

I'll call that Plan Y. It should work, but I'd rather not sacrifice my powered armor.

Skills, Skills, did I have a Skill that could hurt a Djinni? I went over my list as our drawn-out fight continued and my 'Oversaturated' Debuffs threatened to accumulate.

The only one that I think might help was [Don the Mask].

Right. Gandalf could spend mana quicker than I could. I doubted I could defeat or even hit the Djinni with his Spells, but that wasn't the point. And, now that I was on the ground, I had some defensive options.

I un-Inventoried a Light Resistance pylon and activated its forcefield.

The Djinni immediately targeted it.

I un-Inventoried another that was also resistant to Light, but the visual phenomenon, not the damage type. The forcefield it created was pitch black... normally.

Muakhai's mana-enhanced light still shown through, but it was dimmer. Similarly, his magical lasers were piercing the forcefield, but were at least diminished by it. My pylons were pretty sturdy, but if he targeted the emitter arrays then they could stop working at a moment's notice.

I also didn't think it would take him long to figure out what sections to aim at.

I brought my hand up to my face and...

...noticed how Muakhai's lasers had been thinned by the forcefield. They looked like glowing strings.

Huh. That reminded me of something...

Right! I had a Skill I hadn't considered!

[Thread of Fate]

I'd tried sacrificing it to Limit-Breaker, but that hadn't worked. Instead, I'd gotten a vague idea of what it was for. A scale. An offer. A gift that would be reciprocated.

I hadn't wanted to give an unknown person anything important, but... could I gift mana?

I closed my eyes and focused while the Djinni was busy attacking my deployed defenses. Yes. I could feel it. Mana was acceptable. Even more, it felt... normal? If weak. Slowly at first I started to pour my mana inside. It started off as a small stream, but the rate rapidly increased to a gushing river. Soon I was spending more mana than the Djinni was forcing inside of me!

I took a deep breath and sighed.

Good.

I wasn't out of the woods yet. Every drop of mana was being raked across my insides in a way that would be excruciating if I wasn't immune to pain. Just moving it through me was damaging, if not as much as being over-bloated. I still was on a timer. I still needed to stop the Djinni.

And now, I had another weapon available to me.

I latched on with Power Drain, and couldn't help but smirk. Power Drain was the Perk I'd sacrificed the most Skills to: [Armed At All Times], [Soft Steps], and [Amateur Linguist].

It had an increased capacity and was subtle in a way that made it hard for people to notice, at least until I started PULLING.

Another stream of golden light shown from the elephant-headed man's chest. A stream that went from him to me, and that wasn't blocked or reduced by my forcefields.

'What? No!'

I could hear his words through the stream. It was similar to how I'd spoken to him with Ears of Babel, but different at the same time. They were... more like his thoughts. Mana wasn't just a resource for the Djinni. It WAS him. An attack on it injured him in a way I couldn't comprehend.

'No! No, no, no, no, no! Stop it! Please! I must run away! I need to retreat... Argh! I can't! Those fools. Those accursed [Slavers]! You would deny me a way out! Falling back is not cowardice, it is tactics... I... I... I need to get... I need... something... I don't remember... anyone... please... help me...'

*Pity negated by Gamer's Mind.

[Thread of Fate] accepted the Djinni with a hunger that surprised me. It seemed that my mana was one thing, but the mana from a Djinni was quite another. In a matter of seconds there was nothing left but three necklaces that dropped to the ground with a dull rustle of grass.

I only saw them for a fraction of a second before the Djinni's light faded and I was left inside the pitch black of my forcefield. I took a deep breath, Inventoried my pylons, and walked over to where the Djinni had been hovering above the ground.

I pushed what little of my mana remained into Observe.

[Necklace of Command]

[Necklace of Submission]

[Necklace of Suppression]

"Dammit." I mumbled to myself.

'What is it?' Sibby appeared next to me. 'Did you get that guy? I wanted to help, but I kept popping from his light! Even when I wasn't trying to manipulate it, it was doing things that I couldn't interact with! What a pain! And I really wanted to see what he tasted like too.' She picked up a necklace, sniffed it, then tore a chuck out of it with her mouth. 'Yummy!'

"I could've drained his bonds instead of killing him." I gestured at the two that remained on the ground.

'Oh, do you want to practice with them? It's important to practice against magic so you know what you're up against.' Sibby nodded sagely.

"...No." I decided after a moment. I wasn't in any physical pain but part of me... ached. I didn't even want to reactivate [Ambient Mana Gatherer]. Hopefully I'll heal whatever spiritual damage I'd taken from having too many 'Oversaturated' Debuffs. Until they went away, it would be best not to strain myself. "Not now. I don't think I'm up for that at the moment."

'Should we save them for later?' Sibby tossed aside the metal chains that remained from the first necklace. I couldn't be sure without using mana, but I was confident whatever magic had been within it was gone. 'Or can I...'

"Go ahead." I motioned with my hand. "But after you're done, I have a job for you."

...

I wanted to go back and continue my attack on Nerrhavia Fallen's army, but... not right now. Without mana empowering Threat Sense, I was vulnerable to magical attacks. Not THAT vulnerable, since I'd still get forewarning if they did anything physical. A fireball or a lightning bolt I could sense, even if the effect they'd have on me would be something different than what Threat Sense predicted.

But, if they launched something like that darkness, that... blight on its own? I wasn't sure at all about avoiding that. So... I hid. A darkness pylon was left in my wake to confuse people. I also took out the blackened scrying orb I'd broken by speaking directly to it with Tongue of Babel. The last of my mana went to activating it. A simple command went from it to the scrying network around us. It was like a virus. 'Pixel' would get no results. There. That should last for a couple of hours on its own.

I teleported away. Miles from the front without any armor, I was just another human. Perhaps a little odd in my location, but I was pretty good at hiding from all the grinding Gray Fox had done for my skills. I even had [Basic Stealth] from when I'd leveled as a Infiltrator.

Of course, the idea that I might be a little too paranoid crossed my mind. While it was true that Nerrhavia Fallen's [Mages] might have abstained from summoning more Blighted Bolts because I was flying over their army, it was also possible that they simply couldn't cast more spells that powerful so soon after their last one.

It might have drained their mana overmuch, similar to what had happened to me. Or it could be a single-use artifact. Or something else entirely.

Not that I could let things stand as they are, but if Sibby is successful then I shouldn't need to do much more to turn things into a rout.

I sat and meditated, not to restore my MP, but to help focus my thoughts. Some sleep would be nice. I could grab a few hours when Sibby came back. It would be comforting to know she's watching over me again.

Yeah.

Then, in the morning, I'll-

There was a dull thud as something small landed in my lap.

I jumped to my feet and looked around. No mana to empower any Perks, but... nothing from Threat Sense. No danger. No interactions. No one watching me mundanely. I rotated while scanning the horizon.

Nothing.

Perhaps a bit belatedly, I looked down at the object.

It's a doll.

A three-inch tall cloth doll.

I frowned and raised an eyebrow. What in the world is it? What could it mean?

[Doll]

Observe told me nothing.

Should I reactivate [Ambient Mana Gatherer]? Just long enough to get the mana to empower Observe?

...no. Not right now. Something told me the doll was my return gift. So it should, at least, be safe.


"Where is he?!" Thelican shouted as he brought his fist down on the wooden table that the scrying mirror sat on. "Why can't you find him?"

"'Pixel' is obviously a false name." The [Mage] held up his hands defensively. "We need his real name to scry."

"I know that!" Thelican drew himself up and looked down at the man as he drew closer. "You think that I don't know how scrying works? You think I'm having you manually look over the countryside for fun?!"

"N-no. Of course not, sir!" The [Mage] quickly bent over the mirror and caused the image reflected in it to move.

"Not so fast!" Thelican growled at him. "You need to be both quick and thorough. If you pass by wherever he's hiding and miss him, then I'll have your head."

Of course, it was impossible to know if that exact scenario had already occurred. Or if Pixel was alive. Or even if he was still within Tiqr's borders.

The scrying mirror had been useless for watching the fight. Both Pixel and the Djinni had moved far too quickly for mid-level [Mages] to follow with their basic scrying spells. Only by going outside and using [Eyes of the Eagle] and [Track the Action] had Thelican been able to witness the fight.

When they'd left the sky, it was only due to his Skill and a hastily constructed pillar that he'd been able to find them on the horizon. Then, a dome of pure darkness had eaten the Djinni and Pixel had... left?

[Eyes of the Eagle] might've given him range, but the brightness of the Djinni and the darkness of the sphere had made tracking things after they'd vanished... difficult.

He'd THOUGHT he'd seen figures moving around in the distance, but [Track the Action] hadn't helped pinpoint them. There was only one conclusion. The fight was over and the Djinni had been slain.

Thelican wouldn't mourn its death, but... it was going to take some well-chosen words, and expensive bribes, to smooth things over with the Hundred Thousand Tomes Academy. Djinni were not cheap. THAT Djinni in particular had been even more valuable than most of its ilk.

Unless there were hidden resources in Tiqr that they'd kept a secret from everyone, the campaign was a failure.

No!

That's what his rivals would claim.

Thelican just needed to point out that his losses indicated just how vital it had been to keep the King of Destruction from claiming another ally.

Besides, who was Pixel anyways? The [Archmage] had clearly been on Reim's side. In fact... yes! He clearly was a replacement for one of Flos' Seven!

That made his campaign a huge success! What were the lives of however many Hemp, or even Silks compared to that? Even the Djinni's lost was acceptable. More than acceptable. It was like chess. Sometimes you had to sacrifice a Rook to take out the other side's Queen.

Of course, it would be an uphill battle to quell his naysayers and demonstrate how this was a good outcome for Nerrhavia's Fallen. No. Not a 'good' outcome. The best outcome!

Yes!

After all, how could a [Great General] such as himself-

A half-dozen glowing cubes suddenly appeared on the table.

The next moment, Thelican and the hidden command tent were no more.


I breathed a sigh of relief as I felt Sibby drawing closer. She probably had good news. The Siberian wasn't something that could be stopped so easily.

Sibby crested the hill that I was hiding in the shadow of. She became visible and stood with her hands on her hips while looking imperiously down at me. The moonlight reflected off of her white stripes and wind-blown hair making her look ethereal. If it wasn't for her glowing eyes, she could've been mistaken for an apparition.

Then she smiled and bounded down the hillside before leaping towards me.

I caught her in a hug and spun her around. "How'd it go? Did you have any trouble?"

'It went great! There were some issues. I mean, I still can't deal with magic, but I can feel it. I had to pretend to be hampered by the mages and their walls when I was playing around, but since I can control where I appear, it's super easy to vanish and come back on the inside. After that, it was the usual investigating. I snuck around. Some people noticed, but they didn't notice-notice. Got it? Like, they had powers that let them know I was around, or that they were in danger or something, but since I was hiding they couldn't see me!'

"Probably [Dangersense] or something similar." I nodded as we sat down. "Probably extra jumpy after everything that happened."

She smiled widely at me. 'Exactly! You and William think alike a lot of the time. So, there I was, sneaking and investigating. The key is to watch people. I mean, THEY had to know where the bosses were, right? How else would they get orders? I followed this nervous looking guy, and he entered a tent with some important people. I reached into your Inventory, and wow, it's nice to have your Inventory again! There's so much new stuff in it! Those two big things you told me to never touch are gone and you filled the rest up with more games didn't you? Why didn't you put food in there for me? Huh? There's like nothing interesting there! ...Except for the round, glass, apple...'

"That's my scrying orb."

'Why'd you take it away? I wasn't going to eat it.' Sibby lied to me.

"It costs mana to keep magical things inside my Inventory." I stretched and felt my insides ache somehow. "I had to take it out. Magic hurts right now."

'I know, right? Magic can be really tasty, but most of the time it's just a big pain! Magic this. Magic that. There's too much of it, if you ask me! It does make for a fun game though. I mean, sure I wish I could just walk through everything like I used to, but that was boring in its own way. It feels like more of an accomplishment to do the same thing while avoiding magical stuff. Like when I was attacking the armies. They kept on coming at me, 'cause they thought they had a chance. It was, uhm, what's the word? Nostalgic! That's it. It felt nostalgic. Like how things were when William and I first started doing things.'

"Sibby." I rubbed her back as I stifled a yawn. "The bombs?"

'Oh, right. Well, I found someone shouting orders, just like you said to, and I dropped a bomb at his feet.' She smiled wickedly at me. 'People ran and screamed and generally panicked, but I followed them. One looked like he was going somewhere with a purpose, and he ran into another tent with people shouting orders. That guy yelled for someone to go tell 'the lican' something. That sounded important, so I left one of those time-delay bombs behind and followed that guy. HE led me to ANOTHER tent that had a lot of magic around it.' Sibby preened while I yawned again. 'I reformed past the wall and popped. So I did it again, and again, until I just decided to appear inside the actual tent.'

I yawned and nodded. "And that's where the important people were?"

'Totally!' She tilted her head and looked at me. 'Are you okay?'

"Just a little tired. Go on with your story."

'Right, so I stayed there and the guy told them about explosions and they ignored him. So, I figured, that was the end of the line, right? The big guy. The head honcho.'

"Yeah." Or at least whomever was left alive after I'd blown up the main tent. I wonder how many [Vice Commanders], or whatever they are, I'll need to assassinate before the [Sergeants] and [Captains] give up?

'So, since it was the main target, and the tent had a lot of magic around it, I figured that I should drop a bunch of bombs.' She smiled at me. 'So... I did!'

"Good job, Sibby." I yawned again. My eyes felt so heavy.

'Are you sure you're okay? You never yawn.'

"Yeah, I'm sure." I pulled up my status just to-

[Con: -5]

"Actually... no. I'm not okay."

I... should be dead, right? Why?

Oh. Right.

[Heroic Tolerance: Mana]

I let out a laugh.

'What's so funny?'

"Oh, I was just struck by the irony of having a new class and a new system on a new world... and still surviving something only because the same type of attack nearly killed me before." A good lesson for not doing things half-way. "But... I think I need to sleep for a while."

'Okay.' Sibby nodded and smiled. 'I'll protect you!'

"I know you will." I gently stroked her cheek before yawning again.

Yeah, I definitely need to hit the hay before I rack up any more 'Tired' debuffs. Who knows if they could kill me with my current Con?

I closed my eyes, and was out instantly.

[Skill – Thread of Fate Removed!]

[Artificer level 19!]

[Skill - Extend Shot Obtained!]

[Skill - Expand Explosion Obtained!]

[Superhero level 13!]

[Skill - Heroic Pose Obtained!]

[Skill – Armybane Obtained!]

[Skill – Thread of Fate Obtained!]

...

I woke up to the Siberian gazing down at me.

"Sibby?"

'Oh, good! You're awake!'

I blinked a couple of times as I got my bearings. I think... I'd had a dream? I couldn't really remember, but I'd remembered... something. I hadn't had a dream since getting my powers.

Of course, that was probably because I only slept for two hours a night. There was something about REM sleep starting after... something.

I yawned and Sibby stroked my head.

"So... why is my head on your lap?"

'Because you looked so cute while you slept. And I had to protect you!' She continued to stroke my head like I was Riley.

...It was nice.

I checked my status.

[Con: 0
Debuffs:
Oversaturatedx20]

Well... that was an improvement at least. Sibby shifted her body and the morning sun flickered behind her.

The sun?

"Sibby... how long was I asleep?"

'Uhm... like, twenty hours or something. I stayed here allll that time and kept watch! I'm hungry!'

So, not the rising sun, but the setting one.

"Ah, right. Thanks, Sibby." I sat up and stretched while I yawned. Twenty hours. That would explain how I'd regrown my arm and how I'd lost an 'Oversaturated' debuff. However, my mana was... full.

It hurt.

I knew from speaking with the Archmages of Wistram that mana-poisoning was bad. Like, really bad. Mana, like most everything else, was poison if you took too much in. Water, salt, oxygen - they were all things we needed to live, but could become toxic if too much were ingested. Mana, was the same, but on a more... spiritual level.

My natural mana reservoir had been low at first. Like, absurdly low. I'd had thirty mana initially, which was enough to cast a 1st level [Spell] three times. Now it was sitting at one hundred and twelve after day after day of drinking mana potions to go past the limit and letting the Oversaturated debuff fade.

My mana pool was less than a tenth of what someone like Feor had. Not even enough for a single tier four Spell, not that I knew any. But, as Gandalf, I could now cast [Arrow of Light] nearly a dozen times. I personally could cast [Light] nearly non-stop, but it was a cantrip that simply manipulated mana and not a real 'Spell'.

I was now back to full, twenty hours more than enough to refill my meager reserves even without [Ambient Mana Gatherer] being active.

It hurt. Like an ache in my soul, if such a thing existed.

The problem with mana-toxicity was that I needed to get rid of the mana to heal, but I also could damage myself more by casting Spells. Normally, the second option was far better, but I'd taken in enough mana to kill a regular human more than ten times over.

In fact, it had been enough to kill me despite my Shard-given body. Only [Heroic Tolerance: Mana] had let me press on. Correction, was STILL letting me press on. I needed a way to get rid of my mana without casting a Spell.

I looked over at Sibby and got an idea.

I then closed my eyes and focused on the concentrated possibility inside of me. Mana wasn't like other forms of energy, it naturally responded to thoughts and emotions. Of course, I'm sure the System and Optimize were both helping me in some fashion, but I could still... do... this...

"Sibby." I opened my eyes and held my left hand out to her. "Here you go."

Her eyes glowed as her smiled widened. 'Thanks!' She took my hand and...

*Error! Gamer's Body negated.

...began eating finger after finger.

'Oh! This is good! You taste even better now! What did you do? Mmmmm... This is almost like that wing-guy I bit. Crunchy as usual, then chewy, but with that really faint smoky flavor. Except, hmmm... it isn't smoky, more like... a different kind of crunchy?'

I ignored Sibby's gourmet breakdown of how my mana-infused flesh was different from my normal Breaker state. Instead, I split my attention between pushing mana into my limb and looking at my status page.

It appears that each finger is worth about five mana, and my palm was twenty-five. That means that I had managed to get roughly half my mana into my hand. A bit different from using Magicore to drain it, but simpler - and it also fed Sibby. So that's good.

I wonder... what would happen if I injected her with mana by using Power Drain?

...Let's not find out for now. Just moving mana around inside of my body hurt. I had no idea what sort of damage Power Drain would cause at the moment. Besides, I don't want to experiment on Sibby. She'd already shown that she could eat magic, but any other interaction caused her to pop.

I worried that it was damaging her in some way - regardless that she could immediately reform herself.

Right. Time to get back to work.

I un-Inventoried my golden sphere drone and had it turn invisible as it flew into the sky.

"Looks like the Nerrhavia Fallen Army is in disarray."

'Oh?' Sibby continued to enjoy her breakfast. Or, rather, given the time - her dinner.

"Yeah. Chunks of it are breaking off. Looks like we got the command structure." Which was doubly good, considering I had been sleeping within marching distance for most of the day. "I think one more appearance by Pixel, to let them know that I'm alive and that I'm able to continue to kill them is in order."

'Are you going to make another tower?'

"...Yeah. If they can retaliate like the first time, I'll need to have better defenses set up beforehand." Like a teleporter to and underground cavern. Nothing like having several tons of dirt and rocks to shield you. In fact, I could examine the site of that black lightning to see just how far it penetrated. "But before that, I should go and talk to the Empress."

'That's a good idea! I have lots of new stories to tell Nsiia! I can check in on Laila while we're in the big city! We left so quickly I didn't have the chance to introduce you before.'