Complete - Somewhere in Adecus

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Dempsey had been studying for two days now, and it was time to take a break. She'd set off alone in Adecus with her usual adventuring gear, and a small stack of books. She'd decided a few days ago to pick up an introductory level book on Alchemy a few days ago, and after several hours of reading, she realized that she was hooked. The subject in and of itself was fascinating to her, and the practical applications of such knowledge spoke for itself. That is how she found herself in this particular location. She'd spent most of the morning tracking down plant after plant, and flipping through the pages of her books and cross referencing until she had positively identified it. Alchemy had a bad reputation as being peasant magic, or the last resort for would-be sorcerers with no innate talent for spell craft, but she found the art to be utterly fascinating, using such simple means to unlock the natural and magical properties of otherwise completely mundane reagents. Sure, there were the more advanced procedures that required a small fortune of exotic goods and shelves of unique and expensive equipment, but for the basics all one needed was a good eye and a few simple hand tools.

It was mid day, and the grassy clearing she found in was buzzing with winged insects and the air was thick with humidity. This was the ideal conditions for many of the most sought after plants and herbs in Adecus to grow however, so she bore the discomfort and trudged on. She enjoyed the silence and solitude more than she thought, and the idea of leaving the city to set up some sort of homestead in the forest crossed her mind more than once. One place in particular that captivated her was a small cliff with a strong running stream that spilled off the edge and into a deep and clear pool about ten meters below. She could visualize where she would build a small cozy cabin, plant an herb garden, and maybe even grow a small crop somewhere. She was lost in her daydream for a few moments before a painful sting on the back of her neck brought her back to reality. She slapped angrily and shouted "Fuckin bugs!"

@Merkaba

 

Such a very lush forest. So full of life. So full of mana that did not belong to the darkness.

The air was still. A strong chill could be noticed if you were venturing too near where the dark witch stood. Standing straight with her arms outstretched to her sides. Her silver hair lightly shifting in the gentle breeze. Animals and insects alike had fled from her presence. Her wing like streamers rose up behind her creating the image of a devil in these woods. Merkaba's eyes were closed and her mouth moving seemingly silently. Upon further inspection one would hear her softly chanting to herself. Merkaba's legs tightened together as her dress began to billow about. The leaves of the trees began to shake as a purple aura emerged from the dark spell caster. This feeling of darkness rising up from within her very soul! Elizabeth loved this feeling! It was so unlike her bodies reaction in the prime dimension. Here, it was like pure euphoria. Mana was so strong here, so much easier to feel in this world!

Her silver hair rose up as she began to feel her power shift into her fingertips, her toes, the tip of her nose. Beneath her feet the grass became discolored... paling more and more until they were simply brown and dead strands. The circle began to expand outward, engulfing more and more area. The flowers wilted and turned black, the tree barks rotted, the very air filled with malefic intent. Dead leaves blew around her as she continued, faster now, more in control. Even the sky where the circle rose up from her back was changed into a black mass. Like the blackest of storm clouds had covered just the sky you could see through the ever growing ring extending from Merkaba. Taking a breath at the end of her chant, Merkaba raised her hands to the sky and crossed them . Instantly the ring burst across the area. Turning everything dark and decayed. Merkaba lowered her arms and opened her red eyes. Her body continued to glow now that it had a perfect environment to channel dark mana.

Her Black Field spell was a success once again. It was getting much easier to do as well. This spell that weakened all other magics and strengthened those of the dark variety was perfect for her needs in the future. She simply had to hasten the casting more and ensure to remain within the field or be sure it would expand over the entire foreseeable battle area. Well, that was enough of that. There were many other spells to continue with. Gesturing towards herself with a gentle come here motion. The field receded back to her feet and then vanished. As if it had never existed. The woods around her once again blossomed with flowers and the leaves had somehow returned to the non dead trees. She then considered which of several spells to do next. After a good magic workout, it would be time to leave this place.

Merkaba hair flipped her silver locks as she prepared to continue.

@Dempsey Fabijain

 

Dempsey was wiping crushed bug from her hand and exercising her prolific library of curses when she spotted a wide swath of dead plants and horribly scarred trees. She was understandably alarmed by this, and as she looked around, she spotted several more. Equally curious and alert to potential danger now, she readied her katar and began to creep through the undergrowth, following the path of decay to what she hoped would be it's eventual source. the sounds of the forest were thick, and did well to mask her presence, but also served to obscure her hearing. She reached the last of the scorched circles and realized she'd tracked int he wrong direction.

She doubled back, now moving at a brisk pace through the undergrowth. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew that whatever was happening, it was at least worth checking out. Maybe some kind of monster was on the lose, or a plague had broken out. Any way she looked at it, she needed a break from staring at plants. She passed a withered moleroot flower and winced. She'd been looking for more samples of that particular plant all morning, along with whatever else she was doing at the time.

In the distance she noticed a silhouette, busy casting some sort of spell. Of course it was a magic user. Hey Look at me, I know a bunch of spells, so let's go out into the woods and wreck shit, because that's what we do when we're bored. Dempsey wasn't overly concerned with the destruction, because she figured it would grow back eventually. She'd even heard rumors of creatures such as Dryads and Treants who apparently made their presence known to those who were too callous in their disregard for the forest, and she would be thrilled if these creatures remained in the realm of rumor and conjecture for the time being.

For now, she was presented with a distraction from mounting boredom, and that's all that mattered. She crept up silently, hoping to identify the stranger before she was seen...

And of course it was @Merkaba. She'd seen the woman in passing a few times, and perhaps even grouped with her from time to time, but she can't remember having ever interacting with her directly. She had a flair for being overly dramatic, even in the most ordinary situations, and she was just plain creepy. Regardless she stood, and introduced herself. Maybe this was an opportunity she needed to establish some form of relationship with the odd woman, or at least kill some time.

"Hey there. what ya got going on here? Making sure these trees don't get too uppity?"

@Merkaba

 

Elizabeth began to mentally go through her spell list. Each one was still being adjusted for maximum effectiveness. The concept of mastery points that was a feature of the technology connecting the two worlds was annoying her. She felt it was actively keeping her from reaching the power she knew she could. Turning this world into some stupid grinding game. It would only be a matter of time before she decided to see if hacking the technology was possible. Unfortunately, Elizabeth was a scientist and a witch not a hacker. The abilities may seem to intersect but the differences are enough to make it difficult. She would just have to deal with this annoyance for the time being, like everything else she deals with.

Moving onto another spell now... this time she would attempt the dark wisp magic that she used when traveling with the idiot name girl, Alphabet Chocolate. The spell was useful for both defense and offense but it used to be very difficult to keep it going and the dark energy spheres were far too small. This time, she would make them as large as a crystal ball each, and attempt to hold them in their cycling motion around her for a up to a fifteen minutes. Following it up by firing them at each tree lined up before her. If Merkaba's magic was strong enough it should be more than possible by now.

Focusing her mana and beginning her chant... wait.

"Hey there. what ya got going on here? Making sure these trees don't get too uppity?"

Merkaba closed her eyes for a split second. She was so full of magic right now that she may accidentally cast something. Especially with her mastery stat or whatever being below a acceptable level for her. Opening them again and turning, sending her red gaze at a Felis cat woman creature. The voice was familiar but Elizabeth did not care to remember it. The visage of the cat woman was much more familiar however. Dempsey. Merkaba had run into her a few times. Quests only of course. The witch had no desire to spend a lot of time around this person. She came off a little hickish honestly. However, the one saving grace about her was that she was actually rather strong. Again good for someone who doesn't use there mind but rather fisticuffs in battle. Still power was power in this world or any other.

"I am practicing."

Merkaba did not care nor thought the Felis player would understand much. So she had no need to go into too much detail.

"Magic is not something, one should do in public. It... can be hazardous at times."

At first Merkaba almost seemed to turn away from Dempsey. Hoping to return to her spells. Then she stopped and felt her energy drop. Wonderful She was losing her focus with this woman around. Actually, maybe there was something else to discuss. Why not?

"Why are you out here? Frolicking in the flowers, cat? This dimension is beautiful isn't it... for us all to have come here in these forms?"

Merkaba said wondering how the fighter would respond to the way she phrased her words.

@Dempsey Fabijain

 

Dempsey took a moment to peer around the area, surveying the damage done with an appreciative whistle before returning her attention to Merkaba to reply.

"Alchemy. I don't have time with all my other training to take on magic, so I figured I'd pick up Alchemy as a hobby. I won't be destroying any forests any time soon, but I figured it would help me be more versatile. Hey, you're into all that magic stuff, right? I know anything on the subject? maybe a good place to get books or supplies?"

Dempsey shifted slightly and her tail swayed back and forth passively. as she pondered for a moment on the womans statement.

"Well.. this uh. 'dimension' as you put it is just great. There's always something to do or explore, and i quite like how I look. I don't get to see a lot of the outdoors where I'm from, so that's really nice too. Funny thing to ask out of the blue though..."

She trailed off thoughtfully. Merkaba wasn't being too strange for once, and she was one of the most powerful players in the game so far. The opportunity to make a connection with a potential peer and ally was not lost on her as she worded her next question carefully.

"So listen. I've seen you around, and I think we could work well together. I can't do much on my own, but with the right support I'm a lot more powerful. Maybe we could do some quests together sometime? I doubt we're ever going to be best of friends, but we have the common interest of growing stronger, and our strengths and weakness compliment each others well... You're kind of cute too. Add me and think about it sometime, hmm?"

with that she conjured the palm menu with a familiar gesture and sent Merkaba a friends request.

"I live in Stokbon, and I mostly train here and in Brisshal, but I don't mind going out of my way if it's for a good reason.. Like I said, think about it."

@Merkaba

 

Merkaba had to hide a sneer when the Felis talked about learning alchemy. A ability that took countless hours of scouring for ingredients and a complex knowledge of a vast array of material. It could be a powerful ability, but it was not for Merkaba. Her desires were not to mix and create, but rather to ruin and destroy for her dark gods. The was then asked where to find books and such. Did Merkaba look like a librarian? Hmph, perhaps. Not too many intelligent looking people around. Truly she had not seen any books about alchemy yet. Again, it was not what Merkaba seeked. The dark witch decided to throw the silly girl a bone anyway. Perhaps she would blow herself up. That would be amusing.

"Stokbon has a library that is quite large. I have use it for some of my research. What you want to read may be there. Otherwise I'm afraid you have to dig around. Not difficult for you though."

Dempsey's response to Merkaba's comment about dimensions and their avatars was not amazing but better than Elizabeth had thought it would be. So the woman enjoyed it here? That was good, a desire to become one with this dimension would make the great migration much easier. Of course, that was only something that her followers were worthy of. This one would have to be converted in the future. There was always time for that later. Especially if they continued to bump into each other in this world.

"Indeed. The power of you and I is greater in this world. This dimension is closer to the dark gods. You will understand someday. As long as you have not been destroyed in the wake of the coming reformation."

Merkaba would end her doom sheer propaganda and listen to the Dempsey give her a... friend request. Really? This was a first. Why would she join up with this fool? Well the cat was physically powerful and Merkaba while a capable enough fighter to some degree, was much more of a magic adept. Elizabeth preferred not to get too dirty reaping her foes. For a while, the witch would just stand there as if unsure what to do. The wind blew hard for moment, perfectly on cue to the lack of activity. Squinting her red eyes at Dempsey and moving her hand upward in a delicate pale fist she would break into a sharp looking smirk.

"You would ally yourself with someone like me? Hmhmhm... amusing. Very well, I may be able to use you as well. If you want to get stronger in this world. I certainly am a worthwhile ally. I only hope would not slow me down. I have poor experiences with allies...."

Her hand opened and the friend menu appeared within it. Normally she would not use such things and just remember the Felis' name. This was a easier method to stay in touch though. Who knows when Merkaba could use a good sacrifice or work horse? Closing the menu she lowered her arm and stared into Dempsey's eyes before looking away and waving dismissively at her.

"Most people are fools and incompetent. I would not be surprised if you were as well. Perhaps I could make use of you eventually. If I feel like there is a need, I will assist you as well. On my terms. Well... I would like to finish what I had started here if you don't mind?"

@Dempsey Fabijain

 

Dempsey knew when to not push her luck and simply walked away with hands raised. she spoke once more as she went on her way though.

"Hey, no problem. Take care now! Kill something nice for me!"

Dempsey struck an adorable pose and blew Merkaba a kiss. She wasn't terribly interested in the odd woman as a prospective partner, but she figured it would annoy her. Either way, she bounded away at surprising speed, having accomplished her objective. the chance meeting was a pleasant surprise, but Merkaba would make for a powerful ally, and as the saying went, keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

She would eventually return to her studies, but she wanted to take the long way around, making sure she wasn't followed just in case, and then put a good bit of distance between herself and Merkaba. While the exchange went well, she didn't entirely trust the human yet, and wasn't going to hand her a dagger and turn around for her any time soon. This would be a long and slow feeling out process to say the least.

 

The punching alchemist to be left after making a fool of herself with a some goofy pose like a asshat. Elizabeth could not help but wonder how ridiculous some of these, no, most of theses people were. The avatar creator that gave you the body you used in this world was not at all restricted in age, gender or sex. So it was even more ridiculous if any of these idiots were pretending to be something or someone else. It was like changing into your next body in reincarnation somewhat. Transferring into a new dimension. That would be acceptable as the soul can take many forms. However to still have your original mind and act like a little kid or a old man or some such nonsense is for games. It only proved how little people believed this was actually another world and not just some VR toy. Elizabeth wondered if her talk with the Pulse journalist would lead to anything. These fools really did need to wake up.

Once again alone and relieved for it. Merkaba returned to her magic practice. In this world she was simply she. The full incarnation of Elizabeth's true nature and desire.

(COMPLETE)