Chapter 244: Attrition_Millennial Mage

Chapter 244: Attrition

 T leaned back in her bath, luxuriating in the near-boiling heat.

 Shed enjoyed one feast, and a team of chefs was methodically working towards the creation of a second, using her sanctums ingredients.

 Gotta refill those reserves.

 Shed stripped off her iron paint and had been reinscribed before the bath as well. Losing her arms had lost the majority of her rings, and she couldnt let that stand, after all.

 Be as prepared to fight as possible.

 She stayed in the bath, despite being clean already, and her body didnt really need to be rxed by outside heat, but it just felt so good.

 Glorious. This is simply glorious.

 -Ahh, yes. What wonders can be achieved via tyrannical rule.-

 When one is on the side of the tyrant, things do seem a lot rosier, dont they? T sighed. Now, dont ruin my bath. I fought reality itself, today, then sparred with a crazy elf that somehow made the previous fight seem easy.

 -I dont think that a drake made up of fragments of reality is actually reality.-

 If I break off a bit of rock and throw it at a pig, has the pig been hit by a rock, or not?

 -Fair enough.- After a moment, t sent the impression of a wide grin. -Tormenting pigs, eh? Is Terry rubbing off on you?-

 T ignored the alternate interface, letting her mind wander once more.

 She maintained her mirrored perspective, along with those for t, and at this point, it was a subconscious action that took almost no effort.

 With her mirrored sight, and the little bit of mage-sight that had be naturally a part of that vision, T asionally saw subtle warping in the tub around herself.

 There was apparently arge vat of hot water, somewhere, and Kit was exchanging the cooler water in her tub with the hot water in that other source.

 I do want my bath to stay hot. The things that Kit was aplishing were truly spectacr. Kit? Do you want to chat sometime? I feel like you disy some intelligence.

 The room around her did not respond.

 Well, let me know if you change your mind.

 Terry lifted his head from where hey on the bed and trilled questioningly.

 Just trying to talk to our benevolent world-maker.

 He trilled again in a series of descending notes before curling back up and closing his eyes once more.

 Love you too, buddy.

 That got his attention. He looked her way once again and tilted his head.

 Its an expression. I like having you around. I definitely didnt like our time apart.

 He slowly bobbed his head before letting loose a soft, mournful cry. Without further sounds, he settled back down.

 T had kept her eyes closed, relying on the bloodstars orbiting above the tub to see her friend.

 As such, she saw the door to her bedroom open slightly before closing.

 That wasnt hard, they were well-hung and opened with the lightest touch, if they werent locked.

 She hadnt bothered to lock them.

 In any case, she easily saw the intruder.

 It was a ck cat with purple eyes.

 T sat up, turning to face the cat.

 The feline hesitated, mid-step, when T moved.

 Hey there, kitty.

 The cat purred slightly.

 Are you hungry?

 A riaow came in response.

 T smiled and willed for a bit of bacon to appear before the cat. She thought that she might have heard a startled exmation from the kitchens next door, but T was probably imagining it.

 The cat scarfed down the bacon, then came a bit closer, seeming quite hesitant.

 Everything that T could see indicated that it was just a normal cat.

 With very pretty eyes.

 -They are quite unusual, arent they?-

 Her bath forgotten for the most part, T carefully got out and dried off, allowing her clothing to re-grow over herself as she bent down, holding out her hand.

 Another piece of bacon came into her hand, as she held it out.

 The cat came forward and ate it from her fingers without issue.

 T tentatively reached out and began to pet the kitty.

 Soft kitty, warm kitty. She smiled. Little ball of fur.

 The cat began to purr.

 Youre not some eldritch abomination are you? A void creature in disguise? She kept the same tone to her words as with the first cooing.

 If this is a manifestation of Kit, I wish my book to appear beside me. She wished that very hard. Her book didnt appear. So, you arent Kit, are you. Or Kit can selectively ignore my wishes, which would be terrifying.

 -Or it cant process if logic?-

 Well, that would be less terrifying, then. If logic is really simple, after all. Anything that cant understand it isnt very intelligent.

 -Yeah, and wed rather fight a tide of beasts than a few hyper intelligent creatures.-

 But when have we ever had the choice?

 Terry flickered into being beside T and the cat stiffened.

 The terror bird tilted his head to the side, examining the other predator.

 The cat arched its back, hunching its head low.

 When neither animal made another move, T sighed. Terry, be nice to the kitty. It was clever enough to make its way in here. Lets let it stay.

 Terry flickered to the cats other side, but from the felines perspective, the bird simply vanished.

 The cat seemed to hesitate, straightening a bit and looking around T.

 Terry patted the cat on the head with one taloned foot.

 The cat sprang away with a startled cry and hiss.

 That wasnt very nice, Terry.

 The terror bird was looking after the cat as it sprinted from the room, pushing out through her double-hung doors. He looked contemtive.

 What? Were you testing it?

 He looked her way and squawked nomittally.

 Sometimes you''re impossible, Terry.

 He chuffed in obvious amusement before flickering back to her bed and curling up to resume his nap.

 T stood, feeling quite a bit sad that the cat had left so soon. Im going to get more food. Enjoy the nap!

 Terry lifted one talon and waggled it back and forth absently as T let her door close behind herself.

 It was a quick stroll from her bedroom to her dining room, where the House of Blood chefs were ready for her.

 Another glorious meal really showed the depth of diversity her sanctum had to offer.

 Each dish was a harmony of vors and magics, each perfectly attuned to her, helping deepen her connection to her own power with every bite.

 Oh, my rust I might need to take these cooks with me.

 -What if they dont want to go?-

 T hesitated. Does it make me a bad person if I considered kidnapping, however briefly?

 -Hey! You can joke about it now. That means you''re getting over the trauma. Right?-

 Yes joking.

 The food was so delicious.

 The cooks finally left after her third distinct feast, promising to return to prepare breakfast for sunup.

 It was an odd thing, actually. The entire House of Blood within Croi operated on world-fragment-time. Most holds that T had encountered simply mirrored the time of the outside world, but obviously the House of Bloods hold, this world fragment, didnt.

 Thus, it would be a solid few hours before she could have breakfast.

 With the chefs gone and Thron retired to his room for the night, T was alone as she looked out on the nightscape of her sanctum.

 False stars showed overhead, though there was no moon.

 Her enhanced sight could see well enough by starlight, and she was once again struck by the beauty of her home.

 As it turned out, Kit matched the time of the House of Bloods hold, rather than that of Croi, outside.

 So, it monitors where it is directly. Good to know, I suppose.

 She somehow knew that she could force a change, make it any time of day that she wished, but she didnt want to.

 It was better to honor the natural cycles, to live life in tune with the wider world.

 Or at least the local fragment of it.

 She readte into the night, slept as much as she needed, and still had time to stretch, exercise, bathe, and reapply her iron-paint before breakfast.

 I do love my enhanced self.

 -Were pretty great, yeah.-

 Humble as the day is long.

 Her breakfast was as glorious as her dinners had been. She poured out praise on the chefs even as she ate every bit of food they could throw together for her.

 Her reserves had taken quite a fewrge hits the day before, and it was going to take a mountain of food to replenish them.

 Thankfully, for their newest Eskau, the House of Blood was ready and willing to provide.

 Meain had apparently taken a great interest in T, for one reason or another.

 T was pretty sure it was abination of her history with Be-thric, the fact that T was the first human Eskau of any house, and that she was someone new, who was ostensibly on an equal footing with the elf.

 Regardless of the actual reason, Meain had decided that she wanted to help T train.

 The next days wereinstructive.

 The elf, being the uncontested leader of the House of Blood''s Eskau in this city, had wielded that authority to get T plenty of sparring partners of various levels.

 Apparently, Pir Corinis had a rtively new Eskau who was powerful but still inexperienced.

 There had been adisagreement between the elf and the previous Eskau roughly a hundred years ago, but that is all the information that T was able to glean from mild inquiry.

 Apparently, it was still a sore subject for most everyone involved, and she was advised not to ask further.

 Needless to say, the newer Eskau did not join in the sparring.

 Every single Eskau was better than T in martialbat.

 She could still beat most of them, due to her endurance, strength, weight, and ability to heal, but it was a war of attrition.

 Meain likened it to a tree winning because it blunted the ax.

 T did not like being the tree.

 Aside from Meain, T sparred against two other Eskau more than any others.

 Reidh was an Eskau in a city on the southern shores of the continent. He was a dragonling with burnt-orange scales and pleasant, almost human-seeming brown eyes. Fighting him was a strange sort of nightmare.

 Reidh wore no armor, but every one of his scales was inscribed in interlinking spell-forms that T learned made them sturdier than anything shed ever tried to break. She had to learn that the long way around because with thebination of the new mediumdragonling scalesand a new materialsome sort of metallic blue substanceshe had no basis for her mage-sight to try to guess at what they did.

 Add to that the facts that his concept seemed to be rted to friction and he was devilishly clever at its utilization, and T ended up with rathereducational fights.

 Every time their weapons met, T had to harden her will and control or shed find Flow would suddenly twist in her grip or slip from her hand.

 Strikes she deflected into the ground would suddenly make her footing unsure, robbing her blocks or strikes of much of their power.

 He was obviously more skilled than she in martialbat, but he was a cautious fellow by nature, usually standing his ground and allowing her to attack.

 T whipped past Reidh again and again, trying to rely on her footing when near the dragonling as little as possible.

 Flow was in the form of a ive, and she struck with the haft more than she ever had before as that didnt depend on proper alignment, and she simply couldnt trust that shed be able to maintain that needed alignment.

 Reidhs grin grew with each exchange, his protian weapon taking the simple form of an erged draconic hand most of the time.

 Good, good! You are adapting to my idiosyncrasies. He chuckled, both his words and hisugh sounding clean and clear, likely the result of having to perfect pronunciation with a less than ideal mouth for thenguage. But dont get toocent.

 That was his only warning.

 T slid past him, closer than usual, Flow thrusting forward in the form of a sword. Her aura was hardened against long-range intrusion, and she was focused on the strike. Hes mine, now.

 The blood-hand of the protian weapon caught her de and seemed to break apart like a popped water-skin. The blood flowed down Flows length, locking it in ce and forming around her hand.

 There was no chance for escape.

 Reidh was already pulling back towards himself, moving her bodily. He easily turned Flows de to the side just enough for it to skitter off his reinforced scaled side.

 His other hand came to rest with his natural ws pierced through her elk-leathers and into her abdomen, drawing blood without fully breaching her abdominal cavity.

 He was careful not to strike her too deeply, his precision utterly obvious, and the result was clear. He had a clean path up to her heart, and she couldnt have stopped him.

 The power looping through the inscriptions in his ws clearly enhanced their cutting ability along with their durability.

 T sighed, shutting out the pain and ufortable sense of vulnerability garnered by the wounds. Victory to you, again.

 Reidh shrugged lightly. We do not spar to find the victor, young Tali.

 She grinned in return, forcing a jovial tone to her voice. Oh? So, I can state that I have won, because I am learning more?

 The dragonlingughed with genuine mirth. You may say whatever you wish, but Id advise against ims that many would misunderstand.

 She found herself nodding. As you say.

 Again?

 T nodded. Again.

 The third that she fought most often through those days of training was an incredibly diminutive figure, one of the few beast-folk that T had seen within Croi.

 De-arg seemed to be rted to some animal that shed never seen before withrge, round ears, a fluffy tail, and standing barely taller than her mid-thigh.

 He kept his protian weapon in an odd form much of the time. It was a long staff, nearly twice his own height, capped by a C shape that was affixed to the end of the stave about a third of the way around the curve.

 De-arg used the weapon to trap, deflect, and redirect Ts limbs and weapons, while he mainly attacked using his small hands and feet.

 Each blow seemed to radiate through her like every ounce of power behind the strike transmitted perfectly through everything it encountered.

 The little creature was so light that he shouldnt have been able to do anything to her, but he constantly stole her bnce and redirected her own actions to devastating effect.

 Even when she did hit him, it was akin to striking a bit of dandelion fluff and didnt seem to harm him in the least.

 The result was that she felt like she was fighting with herself more often than the fluffy fellow. It was excellent for the refinement of her techniques because every weakness in her stances and bnce was highlighted and exploited more thoroughly than ever before.

 So, she fought, watched, learned, and adapted. Her movements were refined, her reactions quickened, and finally, on the third day, they bore fruit.

 T froze, her chest inches off the ground, bnced on one leg while the other was out behind her in counterbnce to her thrust.

 Flow, in the form of a ive, was embedded through the meat of Meains upper arm.

 Blood was already flowing from the wound and down the shaft. The elfs weapon, in the form of a swordbreaker was pressed against that same shaft, having deflected the blow as it came in.

 The elf gave a painedugh, even as T pulled free her weapon and stood.

 Fantastic! Well done, Tali.

 I was aiming for your heart.

 As you should have, but you had more stabilization behind such an unconventional thrust than I imagined. I failed to fully deflect the attack.

 T felt herself smile at thepliment and the aplishment. I finally hit her!

 -Hey! Good job. Shed still have killed you, but nice job drawing some blood.-

 Oh, Im aware.

 The woman had never even used her magical abilities against T. Though, T had seen them used in demonstrations against other Eskau.

 It was rude to delve into someone elses concepts, and Thron had only told her, because he was to serve her, and she needed to know because of that.

 Even so, the results spoke for themselves.

 From what T saw and felt, it seemed that Meain wielded a concept simr to feinting.

 Meaning, she was capable of instantaneously convincing even experienced warriors that she was about to do something that she never actually did.

 T would have thought it was some sort of mind-magic, but the powering from the woman never seemed to directly act on her opponents.

 When used sparingly, it caused those same opponents to make what seemed to be masterful reactions to attacks that never came.

 And when Meain used whatever the magic was freely, it meant that her opponent was fighting their own innate reactions and experience more than they were fighting her.

 That was, in the end, why Meain had refused to use the ability on T, after all. I want you to develop deeper, quicker, and more intuitive fighting, not force doubt upon you for the same.

 In any case, Meain was grinning practically ear to ear. That was impressive. Whats more impressive was that it was deliberate. Looking back, I can see how you maneuvered me, and allowed me to deflect your previous strikes a bit more easily.

 T chuckled. Yeah, I thought that using the blocks to help build my own momentum would aid the strike as well.

 That it did. The final thrust was fast and more stable, whileing from an unexpected angle. Truly, well done. I only wish that your She stopped for a moment, her gaze moving to somewhere behind T. Well, speaking of which, Be!

 T saw Be-thricing out of the nearby building through her mirrored perspective. So, she turned to see him with her own eyes, studying the mixed emotions that were ying across his face.

 Meain frowned as the Pir joined them. Are you alright? Did the other Pirs need a break?

 He shook his head. No, no. Nothing so mundane. The conference is over. We came to an agreement.

 Oh? Meain looked back and forth between T and the Pir. So? You dont look happy. Did they deny you?

 A thrill of fear ran through T. What? NoThats the n? t? t!

 -Calm, T. Listen to the answer. We dont know, yet.-

 But, how can we?

 Blessedly, Be-thric was shaking his head. We unanimously agreed that the attempt is in the best interest of the House. I would not let them deny me in that, and in the end, I swayed every Pir to my way of thinking.

 T swallowed, feeling a wave of relief. Well, that is good.

 She smiled towards the elf, hoping to get some positive response, but Meain didnt return it. She was still focused on Be-thric.

 The older Eskaus frown was deepening. Then, whats wrong? Why do you look like someone took away your dog?

 Be-thric grimaced. You always were too good at reading me. There was a condition set upon the venture. I mustplete it alone.

 As she processed his words, T felt like her entire body began to freefall, even as the weight of worlds crushed her chest, and a dull, ringing reverberation filled her head, fuzzing her thoughts.

 She barely managed to whisper a single word. What?

MillionNovel

Chapter 244: Attrition