Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Um... Sorry for missing a week. I've been trying to platinum a game and, well... 

Don't see me trying it again for a while so it shouldn't be an issue.

“You’re really letting me take this?” I said as I looked over the strange goggle-like device, “I could just run off with it and sell it.”

Calvin handed me a metal plate, “I think you’re smart enough to not piss off the strongest mage for miles.”

I took the metal plate, “Right… yeah.” I looked at the metal plate, “Why are you giving me a piece of metal from your…” I turned to the device he was building, “thing?”

Calvin didn’t bother looking at the device, “It’s enchanted. Should stop the ticks from getting at your neck. Got a lot of panels lying around and I thought it’d help.” He paused and considered something, “Should have given some to my guards the last time they went…”

I was very happy he’d thought about it at all, “Yeah… Thanks for thinking about it before I went.”

Calvin scratched the back of his head and looked away for a moment, “Just… don’t tell them, okay?”

I shrugged, “Yeah. Got it.” I touched the bag of Soul Dust at my waist, “Guess now all I need to do is level up my Soul Gem, and I’ll go tick hunting.”

Mula finally spoke up for the first time in a while, “Tamana is sure she doesn’t want to change her height? Women of tall stature don’t attract as many men.”

Calvin, who was shorter than me nodded his agreement, “Yeah. Never liked woman taller than me much, although… if you had bigger tits and…” he glanced at my mask, “the right kind of face, I might go for it.”

I shrugged, “I’m… well… not one for dating and… well… I don’t really care about stuff like that anymore.”

Calvin put a hand on his chin and nodded to himself as he thought, “You know… I’ve been thinking of going back full human. Kinda miss the pleasures of life, ya know? Maybe have some kids, get married. Sure, I’ll start aging again and all those other things, but after twenty years I’m not sure I want to be immortal while everyone else grows old and dies around me.”

I understood where he was coming from. I already missed the taste of food, and sleep was a nice way to reset at the end of the day, “I guess I can see that.” I reached for my pouch and pulled out one serving of Soul Dust, “But I just want to be able to see colors again. I think level three should do it?”

Calvin shrugged, “Maybe. Every Golem is different. My sense of smell was the last thing I got back. Sight and hearing are usually first. Still can’t taste anything.”

Mula looked irritated, “Tamana will become shorter first?”

I wondered why Mula was so worried about me not getting shorter, “I actually kinda like being tall. I think I’ll stay like this.”

The only downside I could see to being this tall was that I was taller than almost everyone but Fodders. It made me wonder if all Ieroquin were this tall or if it was just my master’s family.

Mula crossed her arms, but backed off.

Calvin looked mostly indifferent, “I don’t know, you kind of stand out at your height. Not the best thing for an assassin to stand out.”

Calvin did have a point, but it didn’t bother me enough, “I’ll just hunch over. It’ll be fine. Got plenty of practice while gaming.”

Calvin laughed at that, “I bet! Wasn’t much of a gamer myself, but I had some friends.”

“What year did you come here?”

“1997. What year is it now?”

I had been here a little over a year and a half, so, “2022. Probably.”

Calvin looked a little sad, “Sounds about right. I’ve been dead twenty five years, huh.”

I tried to recall what I was doing in 1997, “I was five years old, but man the 90’s were so much better than now.”

Calvin’s ears perked up a little, “Do I even want to know?”

I shook my head vigorously, “No. It’ll just depress you. Most of it’s the government’s fault and the morons that keep voting them in, though.”

Calvin cracked a smile, “Yeah, the government usually makes things worse. Let me guess, the socialists and Commies are taking over?”

I wasn’t quite sure about that, “Mmm… More like corruption?” I wasn’t comfortable talking about politics, “Can we not talk about this? Not like it matters to us, right?”

Calvin looked disappointed, “Okay, but if you want to talk more about it later…”

I shook my head, “Nah.” I held up my bag of Soul Dust again, “Just wanna get this over with and get to work.”

I laughed awkwardly.

Calvin sighed, “Yeah, I’ll go let my guards know what’s up while you do that.”

Mula turned to follow Calvin, glancing back at me with a disappointed look, before continuing after him, “Can we talk about something after?”

I wondered what Mula wanted to talk about, but decided to ask her later. For now, it was time to level up! 

I pulled out a single pouch from my bag of Soul Dust and held it in front of me. I then opened the draw string keeping it closed and stuck my finger into the fine dust within. 

The Soul Dust immediately reacted to my touch and began swirling out of the bag and around my body until settling across my body and disappearing. Next, I felt a tingling as I felt my strength and magic power grow slightly. I also noticed my vision changing and the world slowly changed from black and white to being able to see color.

I sniffed the air and licked the back of my hand to see if I had gotten my sense of smell and taste back, but didn’t notice any change.

Still! Color vision was what I wanted back the most. 

I found myself grinning as I looked around. Calvin’s lab wasn’t the most colorful place, but even the browns of wood and leather, the metal of his prototype and tools, the slightly pinkish color of the marble of the tower… It was amazing!

I looked for a polished piece of metal and walked over to it. I had always wondered what color my eyes were. I immediately noticed my hair was white, like I had thought, but was surprised by the color of my eyes. I had imagined they were blue or a light green like I’d seen from most cats, but peering back at me from behind the sandstone colored mask I wore, I saw a pair of gold colored eyes.

They were probably the most beautiful thing on this body and I was happy that they were the one thing people would see through my mask.

I focused on my mask, wondering what my face looked like now that I could see colors. I imagined my birthmark was a dark brown or purple, maybe red. Should I look? Once I finished my job with Calvin, the birthmark would be gone so this might be my last chance.

I lifted up the mask, revealing my dark purple birthmark. Strangely, it didn’t bother me much. It was still hideous, but seeing what color it was didn’t really change how I saw it very much. In a way, it looked less unsightly.

I put my mask back on and turned to the trap door where Calvin and Mula had descended, pushing the temptation to do some quick snooping through Calvin’s stuff while he was gone.

I walked to the trapdoor and opened it, finding two guards watching me with Magic Vision, “Um… Where’d Calvin go?”

One of the guards pointed down the stairs, “Calvin and the woman left just a moment ago.”

I nodded and walked past, only realizing once I had gone down the stairs that I probably should have thanked him.

I jogged down the stairs, thinking I’d catch up to them pretty fast, but made it to the base of the tower without catching up.

I ignored the guards and stepped out of the tower.

Not far to the south, I saw Calvin and Mula standing on a gravel path in one of the many gardens.

Calvin saw me and raised a hand in a sign asking me to wait as he talked to Mula.

Mula was looking a little haggard, and glanced at me before turning back to Calvin.

I wasn’t in a hurry and I didn’t feel like eaves dropping so I leaned against the base of the tower and waited for them to finish. Still, I had to wonder what Mula would want to talk to Calvin about, and judging by their looks it wasn’t a casual conversation.

Now that I could see color again, I looked the two over. Calvin had dark blonde hair, blue eyes, and light skin and wore dark clothes. Mula’s host was just as I thought, but had tanned skin and muted clothes that told me she wasn’t wealthy.

Not much later, they walked over to me.

Calvin put a hand on my shoulder, “Good luck with the job.” He glanced at Mula then turned back to me, “Mula is at her limit in that body, so I need to see to it that the owner gets looked at now.”

Calvin took his hand off my shoulder and entered the tower.

I turned to Mula, who looked about ready to pass out, “You okay?”

Mula shook her head, “This body needs rest from this one. It seems this one doesn’t have the skill to inhabit living bodies for long and doesn’t want to kill her.”

I nodded in understanding, “She’s not gonna be happy.”

The woman’s body collapsed, leaving a spectral Mula floating just above, “Shall we go?”

I put a hand on the bag Calvin had given me to help carry my things, “Yeah…”

Mula smiled and walked in the direction of the edge of the floating fortress, “Tamana can use wind magic better now?”

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I got what she meant and followed her, liking the idea, “Yep! I’ve got more magic now, so it should be safe.”

Mula stopped and looked at me, “This one can’t tell if Tamana is stronger.”

I looked at a bed of flowers filled with some variety of yellow flowers I didn’t know, “Yup! I can see colors now too. I forgot how nice it was to see colors.”

Mula gave me a genuine smile that made me feel she felt happy for me, “This one is happy for Tamana. Can Tamana taste or smell too?”

I shook my head and continued walking, “Nope. Probably next level though.”

Mula continued on, enjoying the trees and flowers of the gardens. I was amazed at how well taken care of they were, and saw several human and Avree gardeners working throughout. 

I was kind of jealous of Calvin. Sure he had an awesome floating fortress and a city below it, but this garden just made me feel so at peace I found myself sad that I had to leave. Maybe if I got in Calvin’s good graces I could live up here too?

Mula stopped at the wall at the edge of the fortress. It wasn’t terribly tall and I could see through the crenellations to the land below. There weren’t any guards nearby either so I took my time looking for a good place to land.

I pulled out a map of the city and looked it over. It wasn’t too detailed, but Calvin had circled where the entrances to the Grounder tunnels were.

I found one after checking the map and the city a couple of times, then turned to Mula, “Found one. You ready?”

Mula was looking at me with mild concern, “Tamana will be okay?”

I shrugged, “Should be, but a couple of broken bones should only slow me down for a little bit.”

Mula raised an eyebrow, “This one does not want to see that.”

I gave Mula a smile, then climbed onto the wall, “I don’t either.”

I jumped.

The ground wasn’t terribly far below, maybe fifteen hundred feet, so I wouldn’t have too much time to think.

I used wind magic to push me in the general direction using as little magic as I could. As long as I landed safely, being a few blocks off target wouldn’t be that big of a deal.

I tested my wind magic to help slow me, and adjusted it until I felt I’d found the right amount of power to almost completely stop me. Now I just needed to get the timing right and I wouldn’t have to regret jumping from so high.

I had to make a last second use of wind magic to avoid landing on an unsuspecting person, and ended up having to stop myself at an angle, but thanks to my catlike reflexes stayed on my feet as I skidded to a halt.

The man I’d almost hit looked shocked, and stepped back defensively, muttering a mild curse of surprise.

I raised my hand apologetically, “Um… sorry for dropping in… Uh… gotta go.” 

I left the man with a confused look on his face and began looking around to try and catch my bearings as I ran.

Mula floated down next to me and pointed to a side street to my right, “It is that way.”

I nodded and headed down the street, “Thanks! Uh… how was my landing?”

Mula thought for a moment, “Tamana was very good.”

“You think so? Used up a lot of my magic, but I think I could have done that even as a level two.”

Mula looked at me, “Does Tamana need to rest before starting?”

I felt I was okay at the moment, “No. I’ll be okay.” I reached in my back and pulled out the metal sheet, “Maybe I should put this on first…”

Mula nodded and we continued on our way to the entrance to the Grounder area of the city, but not before I found a rag on the street and used it to fasten the metal to the back of my neck, barely slowing down enough to reach down and pick up the rag..

The entrance inside the city wasn’t guarded, but I saw several Grounders, humans, and Avree congregating around the entrance manning several shops. The shops looked unremarkable and only sold food and other knick knacks. 

I still felt uncomfortable approaching the entrance. Yes, I was now here legally but… I really needed to get over my fear of people seeing me. Once I got this job done and Calvin got rid of my birthmark, I could finally blend in better by not feeling I had to hide behind a mask.

I slipped into the tunnels along with a group of Grounders. I then slipped out the goggles Calvin had given me and put them on.

The dark tunnels lit up, the goggles showing me the heat sources of everything I looked at. 

I smiled to myself at seeing the IR goggles at work. I’d always wanted a pair of my own to take to a haunted house or maybe look for Bigfoot in the woods. I just wished I didn’t need them to go looking for giant brain eating ticks.

The Grounder tunnels were massive, but not as crowded as I’d thought they’d be. Mostly I passed by a lot of closed doors, probably houses. I also actively avoided busier areas as I doubted I’d find any ticks in places like that.

I paused as I came upon a Grounder peering through one of the air vents looking onto the streets above.

From what I’d seen so far, pretty much everyone had ignored these vents, myself included, but I guess it wouldn’t be unusual for someone to look through one occasionally if there was something interesting going on outside.

I noticed something odd about the back of this Grounder’s neck. It looked slightly cooler than the rest of their body and was about the size of a small dog.

I looked at the ceiling and noticed some faint warm spots. I then took off the goggles and used Magic Vision just in case where I thought I saw the telltale signs of something using invisibility magic.

I’d found them.

I didn’t know if this Grounder was a recent victim or was here to lure people over, but if I wanted to deal with him, I’d have to deal with the ones on the ceiling first.

I raised a hand to the ceiling. I never used fire magic because of how flashy it was, but I was in a position where I didn’t need stealth once I’d gotten the drop on my target. I also had more magic power at my disposal so I didn’t feel the need to be as careful using it too much.

A jet of flame burst from my hand and I soon saw the burning shapes of giant ticks. 

The ticks hissed as they burned in the fire, and soon fell from the ceiling.

Calvin had been right that they weren’t tough.

I felt something slam onto the back of my neck, and I felt what were probably legs wrap around my neck. 

I looked like I had missed one, but judging by the fact I hadn’t yet felt anything being shoved into my skull, the metal plate was probably working.

I channeled magic power into my fist, then punched the tick trying to eat my brains, causing it to go flying into a wall, before slumping lifeless onto the ground.

I felt another tick land on my shoulder, but I punched it out of reflex, sending it flying down a hallway.

I checked the ceiling and found no more signs of ticks, but as I did so, to my surprise, Mula rushed towards the infected Ground and entered their body.

The Grounder had turned towards me and looked like they were going to charge me, but froze as soon as Mula entered what I now saw was a man.

The man clutched his head and soon fell to the ground, dead, the tick detaching from a now gaping hole in the back of his skull.

I shot a bolt of fire at the last tick, killing it.

Mula emerged from the man’s body, and rushed off the way we’d come, “This one knows where they are! Come!”

I was confused for a moment. Mula had found out where the mages controlling the ticks were just by possessing the man?

I turned to follow her, I could always ask her how she did it later.

Mula led me through the corridors, into an area that looked like it was used for workshops. 

Here, many of the doors were open and I caught glimpses of artisans working on things inside, but not enough to see exactly what.

Of course, it wasn’t just me wondering what was going on, and I got many curious looks as I sprinted full on through the tunnels.

Finally Mula took me to a closed door and passed through.

I waited, hoping she’d come back and tell me what she saw on the other side.

Thirty seconds or so later, she reappeared, “Two human mages and three Fodder are waiting. This one thinks they felt this one discover them and are waiting in ambush.”

I crossed my arms and considered my options. Should I call for backup?

I put my hand on my bag of poisons. No, there was something else I could do.

Looks like most of you want Tamana to keep her current height, so that's how it'll be. 

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