Essence gathered inside the chamber where Jerome sat, chanting a complicated spell under his breath. His mind reeled as he observed in awe at how powerful a spell the Dragon’s Wrath was. The gathering essence began to condense right behind Jerome, he raised a finger and touched his forehead right between his brows. A tiny rune with a golden glow appeared beneath his skin at the same spot and the condensing essence behind him began to take shape. 

Jerome got up from the ground and stretched his limbs. He had been sitting on the cold hard floor more frequently than expected. He would need to get a pillow to support his butt for comfort.

“I’m ready Achilles,” he said.

“I’ll bring your succubus to you after you engage her captor. There’s something in her storage ring — well Csala’s storage ring — which would be of great importance to you.”

Jerome got interested in that. He stood straight and Achilles activated the portal formation beneath his feet. He disappeared in a flash and reappeared on the outside of Sanctum, at a very high altitude. The wind buffeted him strongly and he planted his feet on the ground to keep from being thrown off the mountain from high up in the sky.

Jerome looked around to get his bearings. He was standing on an outcropping, which he felt was rather convenient. But his spirit soared in elation. This was the first time he’d been outside Sanctum in months. 

Is it months already?

“Yes, Xerae. It’s been at least two months since you came here. That would be four months by your standard of time though.”

That was quick. He was so busy learning that he wasn’t aware time was flying by at such speeds. Jerome would have portaled himself here with his own power, but the distance was too great and would require much more essence than he was able to control.

The spell had been completed by now and a huge armored statue — golem — stood behind Jerome. Its white-blue crystalline form betrayed the fact that it was made out of condensed pure essence. Jerome looked back to admire his work and asked.

Surprisingly, the golem was human-shaped. The spell should’ve been called The Human’s Wrath, Achilles.

“A dragon’s form is next to impossible for you right now, Xerae.”

Jerome, humphed in displeasure. “How’s that my fault?” he muttered and turned around to locate his target.

How much time do we have, Achilles? The strong winds were too much for normal speech. Even he wouldn’t hear his own voice so he decided to speak on the inside. Something he should be doing more of.

“Seven minutes and five seconds, Xerae.”

I like the gun, though. It looks futuristic. The golem was armed with a long gun that looked like something out of a sci-fi movie — sleek and aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

“I got the idea from you, Xerae. The weapons of your previous world are…quite good.”

“Quite good? That’s all you can say about them?”

“Hm-mm. I’d like to study them some more to create my own versions of them.”

Jerome snorted. Some other time, Achilles. He set his gaze forward in the direction of the old crone’s treehouse. It was miles away and was impossible to see from his position.

Vision, he said in his mind. And runes glowed in his eyes, morphing into different forms as if swimming through a sea of black. His sight became sharper and he zoomed in on the treehouse.

Take aim, he said next. And the avatar of the Dragon’s Wrath went down on one knee and raised its hands as more ambient essence poured into its hand to form a long gun that looked a little too futuristic. The armored warrior took aim and cycled.

Jerome’s mind nearly went blank with shock as he felt that. The warrior reeled in ambient essence in seconds, nearly stifling his own core just by cycling. The action turned their immediate surroundings into a retreat for meditation. 

“The Dragon’s Wrath is a chain of spells and techniques, Xerae,” Achilles said. “Once one part of the spell is completed, it starts a chain reaction that leads to this advanced creation. You should test the different parts of the spell from time to time. It will help your fire-essence techniques, but…”

Jerome examined the warrior behind him and saw tendrils of red-orange essence forming in the warrior’s center where a human’s core would be. The tendrils of essence were fire essence and he could feel how powerful each strand was.

But? he asked almost absently.

“But we’ll have to find you a suitable cycling technique,” Achilles said. “...soon.”

There was a spike of concentrated psychic energy in the air and Jerome sucked in a breath. The older succubus homed in on him like a hawk. From such a distance, it should have been impossible!

“As I said, Xerae. You would have to compress it so you don’t end up destroying your succubus as well. This foe is just that strong.”

Your explanation of the degree to which the spell would be powerful was underwhelming! Jerome snapped.

“Will put that into consideration for later. This foe, though, can bat this spell away as if batting a fly.”

Jerome stopped to consider what Achilles just said. Csala’s captor must be very powerful to get such a high estimation of strength from Achilles. He cranked up the spell a few notches, compressing the warrior’s core forming in its lower belly region, and its technique some more.

When the spell was fully ready again, Jerome felt as though a shot could potentially blow up one of Terra Praeta’s two moons. Space warped around the armored avatar and he had to move a good distance away, making sure that the target was still locked. The gun in the avatar’s hands was now glowing with a golden glow and pulsing like a heartbeat.

Jerome took a long deep breath and roared, “Fire!”

Enough energy to destroy half the moon gathered at the muzzle of the gun and blasted out covering miles in a split second.

That was incredible! Jerome thought with a smile on his face. This was one weapon that could give him an edge in Vorthe. Though, I can’t help but wish I could do that myself.

“Soon, Xerae. This is one of the reasons why the Fae had warriors and mages. Warriors were physically faster and stronger than mages. But mages had access to more essence in the world. They lived longer and could attack a target from a great distance…or destroy a whole nation. There were those who were outliers though…hybrids.”

Jerome nodded his head as he listened to Achilles. The Fae was a really scary race. 

Take aim, he commanded again, and the armored warrior started cycling again.

 

~~~

 

Csala

Her mind was a mess as she turned her predicament in her head, searching for a way out. Nothing she tried was going to work and she knew it. But she was not one to give up hope. So she just kept trying and searching for new ways to escape, pushing her meager psychic energy to the limits. She dreaded whatever skill the old crone was about to use on her to take out her soul and take her body, as though it was a dress she could just wear.

The old crone placed her hands on Csala’s head ready to begin transplanting her soul but she quickly shot backward in a flash!

“What in the name of Odin’s beard…?!”

Potent energy blasted the treehouse away and almost split the old succubus in two. With a backhanded slap, she redirected the energy as though it was a material thing. Blinding light assaulted Csala’s senses and the ground shook, sending powerful shockwaves all around. The tree toppled over, throwing them into the air. 

Csala looked around her and all she saw was ruins for miles. Her eardrums had been destroyed due to the shockwave and she was blinded from the intense light just now. The ground was still trembling and debris was shooting every which way. The destruction from that shot was a calamity to the land mass, she knew. She tried moving her body midair but she was still locked to the chair, paralyzed. Csala cursed Muna in her heart, hoping the older succubus didn't die a quick death.

As her eyes cleared, she sensed another lance of golden energy tear through the air, blasting falling debris apart, toward her. But Muna was very prepared for this one as she knew that whoever was targeting her would have prepared to miss. Muna used her powerful psychic energy to redirect the second shot, however, it took a lot out of her. Whoever the shooter was, they had apparently also learned from the first shot. The second shot was a thousand times more powerful than the first — and Csala felt a familiar aura to it… before she blacked out.

 

~~~

 

Muna

She looked around to see if she could find Csala among the falling debris, but the younger succubus had disappeared. She cursed in ancient faerie, a string of soft-sounding consonant sounds that were like music, but also disturbing to the ears.

She could see a tiny dot of golden light coming from the distance and she prepared herself. Half a breath later, it was only a few feet away from her — an even more powerful blast! Muna took to the skies weaving through the air to try and evade the powerful energy blast which had followed her upward in pursuit, her dirty mop of salt and pepper hair flailing around her head.

She felt another powerful wave of energy rushing towards her and saw a bright golden light on the periphery of her vision. Muna pushed herself hard. She tried to evade, but the third shot reached her all too soon. She had to sacrifice her arms to push away the energy balls, and they blasted away her lower arms.

Muna held in her scream, shaking like a leaf in winter. She had to release her psychic hold on many of the beings she had imprisoned to suppress the essence eating through her veins; else she joined her ancestors sooner rather than later.

 

~~~

 

Jerome caught Csala the moment she appeared in front of him, chair and all. With a thought, Achilles portaled them to the laboratory. 

“Quick, Xerae. The older succubus has done something to her.”

“What?” Jerome asked.

“My scan shows that her internal organs are shutting down.”

“The other succubus must have been very powerful then,” Jerome said.

“If they’re old enough and strong enough, yes. But this one has dabbled in things that’ll make you have nightmares.”

Jerome didn’t even want to know. He quickly broke the chair Csala was stuck in and laid her on the Lightspire island table. Golden lines of light lit up and wandered the surface of her body for a few breaths like a scan before a cocoon of light wrapped around her and began pulsing lightly.

“She’s stable now, Xerae.”

“That’s a lot of work for someone who wants to turn me into a veggie. Didn’t sign up for this,” he muttered in complaint. I thought the lightspire table could only be used for measurement and learning to design stuff. He didn’t want Csala to know he was talking to someone if she was still conscious so he discussed inwardly with Achilles.

“I can interact with it as I see fit, Xerae. Also, this table was designed by me so there are a few adjustments that I’ve made.”

Jerome nodded at that. Did we get the ring?

A ring materialized in front of him, hovering in the air. Jerome snatched it out of the air and scanned it with his perception. Most of the ring’s content was female stuff. What attracted him was the huge black cube rotating in a clockwise direction as it hovered above everything else inside the ring. Jerome knew at once that this was what Achilles wanted him to get from the ring.

“It’s searching for the North,” Achilles said.

Jerome smiled. Like a compass? Is that what it does?

Achilles snorted. “It would be a waste of resources to build something like this just so it could find the North don’t you think, Xerae?”

Jerome shrugged and lit up the portal array before he disappeared in a flash. He appeared in another chamber deeper under the ground and took out the box. As soon as it appeared, it righted itself and hovered midair, not spinning anymore. The box was a bit eerie to look at as it just stood there in midair. The surface of the cube was matte black and Jerome felt like the cube could absorb all light around it. It reminded him of the boxes that appeared in midair during Mehn Agrh’ur when he took the first step to becoming a sacred artist.

Those boxes didn’t give him the feeling this one was giving him though.

“So?” Jerome asked. “What does it do?”

“Place your hand on it, Xerae.”

Jerome placed his hand on it and its surface rippled slightly. Then his mind expanded and the whole of the mountain came into view — from different angles — like he was having an out-of-body experience. Every detail of every stone slab and chamber, every mote of dust in the air, the pure essence in the air, and the earth essence in the rock were all visible to him. He felt like he could literally ‘see’ the very atoms that made up everything his gaze landed upon…like no secret could be hidden from him. He felt faint after a few seconds and removed his hand from the cube before he passed out.

“What the hell?” Jerome asked as he breathed heavily. That took a lot out of him.

“That’s one of the pods I used as surveillance throughout Terra Praeta,” Achilles said.

“What the hell was it doing with a succubus?”

“She was able to discover my presence once, many years ago,” Achilles said, and as he spoke, the memory of the old crone, opening a void crack in the world, poured into Jerome’s mind.

Heartbeat increasing rapidly, Jerome’s mind reeled. He was now discovering how powerful the succubus he held off with his Dragon Wrath’s spell was. If she ever decided to come after him… Jerome broke into a cold sweat at the thought.

“Can succubus wield essence, Achilles?” Jerome asked.

Achilles was quiet for a while like he didn’t want to answer, or maybe he didn’t know the answer. Jerome’s gut however told him he definitely knew the answer.

“I believe you already know the answer to that, Xerae. But I fear what you might do to the little succubus in your anger when you receive confirmation of your suspicions. Or when you find out more about them. Remember though, Mother Nature brought her here for a reason. Even I couldn’t stop it.”

“So they can’t,” Jerome said, choosing to ignore the part about Csala being some sort of piece of puzzle in the grand plan of the world. He chose to tackle the problems he had in front of him now.

“I’m not going to hurt her. I also want to know why she didn’t have sex with me when she could have,” Jerome said. That last part didn’t sound right to him.

“You are angry at her, Xerae.”

“I am,” he deadpanned. “And I’m finding it hard to reconcile what I know of the myths of the succubi from my previous life with what I see now.”

There was a little bit of uncomfortable silence after that. Jerome waited. He wouldn’t be the one to break this silence. And he wouldn’t budge until his questions were answered.

“Knowing that, Xerae…could change you.”

“Everyone changes.” Jerome crossed his arms, willing his determination into his words and demanded, “What don’t I know about them, Achilles?”

“Very well,” Achilles said and Jerome felt the AI reach for his mind. A memory poured slowly into his mind and Jerome closed his eyes to concentrate on it.