Chapter 8-249: Island Hopping (2/2)
Blessings and some Bannersworn, and the Obelisks letting them link into the World Wide Internet, made that suddenly a lot easier. They would just have to protect them, and doubtless those things would become a primary target of any raiders who knew about them.
Still, just getting advice on how to defend their communities from the sea, and how to make basic fortifications, was an improvement, as was the ability to train their Powered properly.
They were also pretty enthusiastic about Forsaken. That they would get this knowledge before the tribes inland did would also be a long-term advantage.
I handled each stop as quickly and professionally as I could, and used the elders in each place to alert the next stop I was stopping in; could they gather a proper assembly of people so I wouldn’t waste time?...
The arrival of Sleipner coming in over the water so fast actually became something of a celebratory event. A motorcycle that could run over the water was something, seeing the spirit of the unicorn in the spray made a lot of eyes go wide, and Master Fred and I were naturally pretty eye-catching. The changes we were bringing for the express purpose of getting rid of the Shroud only helped.
That we went off violently on any Cultivators present absolutely mercilessly and then explained why meant we also got a tremendous amount of respect. Being able to teach literally thousands of people The Human Tongue at one time with illusions was also amazing to them.
Connecting to the world’s internet through the Obelisks also generated a lot of excitement.
The Churches of Heaven naturally loved all this. I was helping bind the people ever closer together, opening up chains of communication for them across the world. Secular corruption was one of the factors that was limiting the Papuans the most, and there were already servants of Harse, Scriba, and Bulwark making ready to go out here and shake out their governments and law enforcement.
Different cultures had different mores and customs, of course, placing certain things as more important than others, as all peoples had. The Churches of Harse had no problem with that at all; it merely needed to be put down into law. Abusing government and law enforcement positions and the power that came with them lit cold fires in such people. They had no problem helping govern sophisticated trading cultures, rural agrarian areas, or pre-techno cultures, and even if they wanted to uplift such cultures and advance them into the greater world, they wouldn’t abuse their positions to do so.
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We did arrive at a coastal community that was in the process of being attacked by Deep Ones, and massacred the lot of the things, much to the disbelief of all involved. That we didn’t take any compensation and left behind a couple Blessed and the Human Tongue was something that would only increase our reputation, and I was sure that it would be spreading out behind us.
Oceania had a lot of islands, and we certainly couldn’t hit them all without spending weeks out here, so the next leg of our journey was basically zigzagging between islands and settlements on them, dropping Obelisks and data as we did... and stumbling into Cultivator nest after nest and exterminating them.
Singapore had a full Daoist Dojo with thousands of students and adherents, and only a very skilled assortment of Wavebound and Landbound native to the city had delayed their takeover. They weren’t happy to find out they’d delayed too long when we arrived.
Slaughtering thousands of erstwhile citizens didn’t go over well, but staring at the evidence of Powered being killed and rendered down for pills did tend to take care of any hard feelings, while those who were friends with the Cultivators had some VERY hard questions to answer...
In the meantime, I was still Leveling sideways, taking those /5’s.
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I would like to say such things were only of minor significance, a slow build-up, but once again I was slightly surprised by something.
The two Levels that came as we finished Australia were Minstrel/5 (8) and Lore Theurge/5, which took Minstrel to (9). This got me Heartsong V’s, Extra Spells Known Theurgic and Feat-based, and three other Feats. One of the Feats was nothing but a showcase/impressive effect, the Footsteps of a Mage, which basically let me zip along without actually walking, just gliding right above the ground, pheer me.
Metamagic Song, Lyric Spell, and Improved Arcane Pool/4, using Arcane Pool with Minstrel Music uses, blindsided me. Metamagic Song allowed me to spend uses of Minstrel Heartsong music to power Metamagic... and it ignored the Metacap, just like... Duskstopping Spell...
Lyric Spell allowed me to Cast a spell by paying its Valence Cost in Minstrel Magic uses.
That basically formed a clear line of cause and effect equating those things to Ki Points, Arcana, and Burned Ring Valences. Suddenly, I had rechargeable uses of Minstrel Heartsong magic, as it went from being an x/day Class-based ability to another force inside my Arcane Pool!
Just like melding spells...
The ‘real’ effect of it wasn’t much for the moment, except that it allowed me to Meta spells I currently couldn’t, and simply recover the uses with more Shards, if applicable... or convert unwanted uses of, say, Undead Wild Shape, or Contagious Touch, into Pool points, and then into Heartsong, if I wished.
I had, of course, wondered if I had a true unlimited loop effect of mana. I could recharge or refill a Slot or Engram up to a IV with one ki, two ki if a V, and I could convert any Slot or Engram into full Valences to refill my Arcana. Spend one to get four, spend four to get sixteen... infinite mana loop! I only needed one ki and I would eventually be able to fill EVERYTHING... right?