Weapons of Mass Destruction

Izzy is nearly twelve now, and every day she resembles her sister just a little bit more, though I can still see the ten-year-old girl in her.

She’s been here, locked away on the top floor of the tower, like a princess trapped by her evil stepmother or a damsel captured by a dragon, and surrounded by layers of defenses.

A huge smile spreads across her face as we enter, and she rushes over, hugging everyone in turn with all the strength she can muster. The inseparable Noodle is coiled around her left arm, his emerald green eyes level with Izzy's. The sneaky snake even pretends to "kiss" or lick the members of Group 4, though I notice him subtly siphoning some of their mana as he does.

When it’s my turn, Izzy shouts, "Dumbthaniel," and throws her arms around me. Her body is surprisingly warm—not from illness as far as I can tell; it seems to be related to her skill, a passive or a trait.

"It’d be nice if you stopped calling me that," I reply, returning the hug.

Noodle doesn’t try to "kiss" me like he did the others, but when he looks at me questioningly and I nod slightly, he takes the mana I offer. His eyes half-close as if savoring a delicious treat, his expression oddly human.

"I don’t think you've earned that right yet," she retorts, eyes flicking toward Biscuit. "I’ll tell you Sophie’s deepest secrets if you let me hold him for a minute."

"Izzy?!" shouts an outraged voice from elsewhere in the room.

"Sorry, Soph, one day you’ll understand." Izzy taunts, flashing a mischievous smile at her sister before turning to me and whispering, "I’ll even toss in Noodle to sweeten the deal."

The white snake shakes his head in disbelief, glancing at Izzy, who pretends not to see.

"Not enough," I reply, feeling the weight of Biscuit´s small body in my arms.

Izzy seems a bit more mature now; she doesn’t protest or threaten me with childish antics. Instead, she just nods and smiles, a mischievous glint in her eyes that, for a moment, mirrors her snake’s and I half expect her to flick her tongue at me.

Six months—it’s been that long, and I’m already eager to see what new tricks everyone’s picked up, and how many I can borrow for myself to improve my own skills.

Izzy shares some feelings with me, doing so very covertly, ensuring that Sophie doesn’t pick up on it. The feelings vanish as quickly as they came, but the message is delivered.

When she looks at me, a question in her eyes, I give an affirming nod and receive another hug—this one tighter and filled with gratitude.

I wake up early in the morning and the first thing I do is check on Biscuit, still fast asleep, nestled in a luxurious armchair under a pile of cozy blankets.

Creating a line to him, I teleport over, lift him up, and teleport back into bed, balling up under the blankets with the corgi pup in my arms.

Finally, a yawn escapes my mouth, and in the new morning light, I examine my room.

One wall is made entirely out of glass, laced through with metal wire, forming a set of defensive inscriptions that should make the glass more durable than some standard walls. The design is kinda nice too. There’s a lot of light, illuminating my bed, the thick carpets, a bevy of armchairs, and a door leading to a massive balcony. Then there’s another door leading to a dressing room and another leading to the bathroom.

The room is already littered with an assortment of things, most of the items from backpacks I, the twins, and Lily were carrying for me—the results of my experiments and materials I’ve set aside for experimentation and crafting. Naturally, this includes a few of the golden chains from my lab which I’ve teleported over, all in all, the whole affair takes up a huge chunk of the room.

I greatly prefer this over the almost clinical sterility from before.

Turning my eyes back to Biscuit, I reach out and boop his nose. And once again, he doesn’t react, so I brush his whiskers experimentally with the same lack of reaction.

Braver now, I carefully open his mouth, grab, and pull gently on his small pink tongue. When I let go, his mouth closes, leaving his tongue poking out slightly.

“How did you do that, you silly creature? Is your primordial energy so strong? Are you the chosen one? Main character? Some kind of regressor or reincarnator?” After each question, I boop his tiny nose.

There is no answer.

“I know I helped you; I know the beast was still chained, I know it wasn’t sane, it was wounded and terribly weakened. Still, don’t you think you took things a bit too far, devouring it so seemingly easily?”

Still no answer, so I move on and grab his tiny paw, poking at the soft pink beans of his toes.

“You completely devoured it, you didn’t even leave a single bone or drop of blood behind. I wanted some of that to experiment with , you know. It would’ve been nice to get a piece of that extremely durable bone, or part of an antler, or even some of its flesh to observe the regeneration process.”

And still, the corgi decides to sleep and keep his secrets, so I reach and touch the soft fur on his neck, right under the chin, and caress it with a single finger.

“The cave is gone too, and with it, all the things I wanted to loot. I still plan to return a bit later and look into getting some of the acid; the anchor I left should last a few more weeks, so at least there’s that.”

I finally let go and lay on my back, the sunlight gradually starting to creep across my bed. I close my eyes, listening to the gentle breathing of the small creature beside me.

“I forgive you because you’re cute,” I declare in the end. “But next time, at least leave me a piece of bone.”

Only once I’ve said it out loud do I realize the absurdity of it all, and jump out of bed, content in my amusement, to throw on some clothes before heading off to meet the tailor.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

After trying on the 5th set of clothes, I feel like I’m starting to get close to snapping. And the other members of Group 4 slacking around in the room aren’t exactly helping either.

“Lady Sophie, your bodyguard has a nice body and face, sure, but his taste in clothes is… unconventional.”

“Some would say he likes to dress like a homeless man,” Sophie says with a nod and a smug grin.

“I wouldn’t go that far, Lady Sophie, your bodyguard just seems to prefer a more casual style.”

“If you know, then why do you keep pushing these ridiculous clothes on me?” I lift a white shirt with a high collar and tons of buttons that serve no purpose. Even the cut is too wide, and moving my arms is a pain.

The middle-aged man, dressed in a more elaborate set of clothes than anything I’ve ever seen, looks at me like a child. “Lady Sophie holds a high position within the city. Your appearance, as her bodyguard and escort, reflects on her. You are a weapon that serves at her will, so it follows that the weapon must be an extension of herself.”

I glance at Fracture nearby and then back at the man.

“Sounds like bullshit. The only important thing is power. With enough power, I could walk in there in my underwear and they would still bow and kiss my feet if I tell them to. If I don’t have the power to back it up, not even the best clothes in the world will help me.”

The man looks like someone drank a protein shake, sealed up the leftovers, let it ferment for a few days, and reopened it by mistake.

It’s a nice look.

All this time, Sophie just sits back and seems to enjoy the situation, sitting on the sofa with Lily and Izzy, with Noodle slithering around. Lily seems to be the most excited, looking through a catalog of dresses she asked from the man, once in a while showing some to Sophie.

“Mister,” the tailor says, and his tone makes me wonder why no one’s thrown him from the top balcony of the highest tower, “you may rely on your strength, but elegance and propriety are as much a part of wielding influence as any skill. Even the finest sword deserves a polished sheath.”

Once again, I glance down at Fracture and the sheath I made for it and haphazardly wrapped a level 350 manta ray skin around. The result is… not polished.

“Hard disagree. Give me some simple clothes. Something comfortable and easy to move in; if it’s like that and not overly decorated, I won’t care.”

"I see, sir. Perhaps a minimalist approach would suit you—a fitted set of attire with clean lines made to highlight your figure, with refined stitching and subtle detailing, while still being appropriate for one in Lady Sophie’s service. I hope that will satisfy your… tastes.”

“Sure. If it’s comfy, you can make multiple sets in the same design.”

Once again, I get the same smell-of-forgotten-protein-shake expression and a giggle from Sophie.

“Do you have his measurements?” she asks the tailor.

"Indeed, Lady Sophie. By tomorrow, I shall have the attire prepared: a sleek, streamlined design in black and gray, with discreet detailing and a touch of pale blue stitching—for an air of understated refinement, should it meet your approval."

“Thank you, you can go. When you return tomorrow, I would like to ask you to take measurements for one more who will also be serving as my bodyguard and this young lady as well,” she states, gesturing at Lily, who seems very excited.

“That should be very possible,” he says, nodding towards them and giving me one last look, before leaving with a few more bows.

When the doors are closed, Sophie explains, as if she knows exactly what’s been going through my mind, “He is one of the Archon’s favorites; that’s why he’s still alive.”

“I can imagine someone pushing him off a balcony.”

“I heard someone tried once and got pushed off instead, even at level 200. He somehow managed to die, all the bones in his body were broken. I would like to laugh at you a bit more, but you are mostly right; if you’re powerful enough, you don’t have to care about things like protocol, so you should be fine.”

“It’s always like that.” I take a few quick steps and lift Biscuit from the armchair before Izzy can steal him as she tries to pretend she’s just passing by.

Acting as if nothing happened, she makes a lap around the armchair and moves to sit next to Sophie once more. Only then does she give me that scary look of hers, about as threatening as an angry kitten.

“What should I be expecting at that dinner we’re attending?” I ask.

“Mostly a wide range of people checking you out and maybe two or three bodyguards trying to test you. I’ll take care of the mind manipulators, but the bodyguards are up to you. If anyone tries to do anything improper, don’t be shy about it and be very direct; that’s how I’ve presented myself up til now, and you should do the same. Don’t hesitate to show off your strength.”

“I quite like that.”

“I knew you would,” Sophie says. “I think you should also keep your crown active. You’ll see a few people with rings and one or two with mantles.”

At that, my interest piques, “Have you learned anything new about that class of skills?”

“Not much, to be honest. Don’t quote me on this, but it should be more or less like this: Crowns for storage, rings refine and channel, and mantles resist. I read it in one of the books I found so I don´t know how reliable that information is.”

“That’s not a lot. Lily, what about your mantle?”

She perks up and stops petting Noodle, who slithers back over to Izzy. Noodle seems even smaller than before, barely as thick as two of my fingers combined, but I’m sure the little animal is hiding something.

“My mantle is very, very mana efficient, so I can keep it up for a really long time. It uses more mana when it attacks or gets hit, but it’s still much less than if I used the skill instead. It’s still very low level, so I will let you know what I learn as I use it more.”

Pulling Noodle’s tail, Sophie thinks for a moment before speaking once more, “Didn’t those two thylarin brothers imply that [Mana Mantle] could be used to power abilities based on mana and prevent others from taking control over the user’s mana? Wouldn’t that mean Lily’s [Disintegration Mantle] is nearly useless, as I don’t think Lily will be meeting many people with [Disintegration]?”

On that point, I disagree, “If the mantle can resist [Disintegration], wouldn’t that make it easier to resist weaker stuff like simple mana attacks, like stone manipulation, water, and fire, not to mention a few of the more obscure things?”

“Perhaps, but wouldn’t the efficiency be terrible if the mantle were used to block a different element than its own?” Sophie asks, “And wouldn’t that make simple mantles like [Mana Mantle] even more powerful, and make those based on super rare skills like [Disintegration] even weaker?”

I think about it a bit and can’t help but agree as I respond, “Yes, but that fits with what we know about the system’s asshole methods, and I bet it’s not that simple. But there’s probably something else to it; otherwise, the mantle and the ring would both come up short in comparison to the crown. They need to do something extra on top of amplifying your skill.”

“Your crown can store mana without you having to focus on upkeep, right?”

As we exchange our messages, Lily’s eyes jump quickly between me and Sophie. Noodle notices and, for a while, watches Lily doing so before copying her and doing the same.

Then, for some reason, and with a smile, Izzy starts doing it as well.

“Yes, the requirement on me is minuscule. If [Mana Ring] helps with control, it probably adds something else to it so it’s not as simple as [Mana Manipulation]. Maybe it makes things like compression easier, or maybe it lets the system take up some of the strain of channeling mana.” I muse.

“That could slow your growth or allow you to let the ring handle that kind of mana use while you focus on a different discipline… By the way, those annoying lines you’ve been making, what are they?”

Finally, she’s asked about my [Ley Lines]; I’ve seen her struggling to resist since we got here, and as someone who likes to use and deploy mana structures, not unlike her web, it comes as no surprise. The feeling is almost like a victory in itself, after all, I haven’t asked about the things she’s made either, and she must know why.

“I’ll tell you everything you want to know, in exchange, you get to help me with this cute little thing,” I quip, gesturing at Fracture resting against a wall nearby.

Unlike Lily, Sophie shows a deep interest and I recognize in her the same slightly crazed shine I often see reflected in the mirror.