Chapter 38: Chap. 31 : Finishing Up

Zoemie woke up from bed feeling slightly tired, but otherwise fine. She had handled Xajymzia's remaining items to curse after the dinner of the day before, and now was unsure of what she was going to do after setting up the next item to fuse.

She teleported to the kitchen, still uncertain, and started to eat breakfast. She would at least handle Xajymzia's few remaining items to be fused, but beyond that she didn't have much of an idea of what she would do. For the shoes I need my fusion up and I can't do that while already working.

Maybe I'll just do some gaming while the items fuse. Yeah, sounds good. Satisfied with her decision, Zoemie teleported to the lab and activated the fusion process before going to her computer and starting to play.

She'd play a bit, go do her bath, and then play some more. A magic training session in there as well. No need to overdo it, just a bit every day. She kind of looked forwards to it, she found it pleasant to channel her magic and throw spells faster. Lightning today, I think. Yeah, sounds good.

Zoemie opened her computer and started playing. Alright, today we'll do... that one, she decided. Sounds like an excellent plan. She had been meaning to continue further in that game, but frustration had gotten the better of her playing it before, so she was planning on stopping before she got frustrated.

She advanced through the game, adapting strategies and play, testing out various weapons. Hmm, the issue with this helmet is that it kills your accuracy, so you really need a piece of equipment to countera... "Wait", Zoemie stopped, suddenly jerking awake as if she had been electrified. "This is the solution."

She could add curses to her fused equipment. "I literally just did that yesterday." Just add a super powerful accuracy boost to all moves curse on my mask. Wow, I'm a fucking idiot sometimes. "Why didn't I think of that before ?"

Zoemie shook her head. "Gotta do this no before I forget, but man, I should've figured that one out when I first made my armor." She teleported to her workshop and carefully picked up her mask, adding a massively powerful accuracy-boosting curse. The sheer amount of mana she had pumped left Zoemie exhausted, but she would have been unsatisfied with anything less. I need this shit. No way around it. Otherwise the superpowered sword and all the magic in the world ? Not gonna help.

She ended up quitting her run early and going for her bath, having gotten her rhythm of play broken by her sudden realization.. I'm probably gonna take a nap after this. Wiped me the hell out. "No regrets though.", Zoemie thought as she lowered herself within the warm water.

Will need to see for my mana and magic training. Not right now, though. Maybe I'll skip over the magic training for today. "What I'm gonna have to work out is gonna be the spring shoes, actually." Been meanin' to do these for a while, but... Zoemie shook her head. "Better late than never, I guess."

---

Xajymzia confirmed her new equipment, feeling almost giddy. She wished she could stay calm about it, but her upgraded body's new powers were a heady thing. It would take her some time to fully reintegrate herself.

When eveything would be set up and installed, she would equal Zoemie in terms of sheer power, although with different specialties and abilities. She channeled magic through her new autocannon arm, feeling power whirl and surge in her wrist as it blasted the cursed slab of rock with an unmatched combination of firerate and raw power.

Her new defences were also exceptional. Even an explosive blast with over 80 megatons of force couldn't take her down now, and she had full immunity to so many types of damage it wasn't even funny. Helium hydride ? Nope. Radiation ? Try again. Lava ? Not this time.

The scanner eyes were fully ready and currently being fused, and compared to that mess setting up the larger, dungeon-bound one had been so far an utter cinch. In concept, it was still much the same as the original handheld scanner, with the same basic output and analysis system, simply on a much larger scale and operating much more systematically. Nothing her current suite of arcanoengineering knowledge couldn't handle.

None of her enemy's weaknesses would escape Xajymzia's eyes – her information gathering abilities would be peerless. A part of her wished her old enemies would return, just so she could crush them utterly, but she dismissed the thought. Zoemie wouldn't want that. Too bothersome.

Speaking of her charge, she was currently napping in her bed. Thankfully it seemed like she wouldn't be tormented by dreams this time around, but Xajymzia wasn't going to complain. Thanks the ancestors your jruterjir was still charging, after all. Or as they would say in the other world, never look a gift horse in the mouth.

She refocused her attention, feeling confident. For now, everything was going fine. It was best to not rest on her laurels, still, but she wasn't in as much of a hurry anymore. If adventurers like those who crossed the line before were to return... she could handle them all without Zoemie even having to lift a finger.

And in a sense, that was the best possible outcome.

---

Zoemie looked at her plans for her upgraded shoes. She had woken up half an hour ago, and after a quick warp to drink, had sat down and decided to work on these properly. While she couldn't make these right now, because Xajymzia's item was still in the process of fusion, it didn't mean she couldn't start working on the plans.

It would give her more time to make her decision, which was something she appreciated in case a better idea in terms of materials came up to her. She had overall decided for a boilerplate set of enchantments identical to the rest of her equipment, plus a boost to her balance. Her old shoes had simply been curse-boosted, steel-toed sport shoes. They would be integrated within the new ones.

"I mean, I could use spring and curses to like slow 'em down and catch up quick, but all the speed in the world ain't gotta help if I keep trippin' over myself." It's always kinda the same problem, huh ? I can't just brute force my way through that problem. "Kind of a pain, tho. Would be much easier if I could."

Zoemie shook her head. She was satisfied, for now, so she decided to do something else. While she considered continuing her gaming session, she decided to go for a walk instead. Weather's too nice to not enjoy it. I'll reread my plans later, anyway. "Make sure I've got everything I need and didn't overlook anything dumb."

I'll return to gaming later. Her realization earlier had interrupted her session, but now that it was done, and she had worked on her shoes somewhat, she could do something enjoyable with her time. "At worst, after dinner."

Zoemie emitted a low sigh as she left her dwelling for a walk in the forest, playing herself some metal as she stepped out. Been a bit I last went out, no ? It was starting to get sunnier, now, and she found herself wondering about something for a little. Are seasons in this world the same length ?

"Meh, whatever. Let's focus on more important shit. Like what am I gonna play next, and what am I gonna do in it ?", Zoemie decided as the warm breeze flowed on her skin, a pleasant feeling.

---

Two persons looked at each other, sitting in a quiet retreat in the wilderness, far away from all eyes and ears. One of them was a woman, of purple hair, wielding a scythe, her expression confused and wary alike. The other was in full armor, with no visible hints to their gender. Mejanqa closed her eyes.

One of the maids had talked about them, a mysterious, quiet person in full armor, but he had expected them to have perished. That she could meet them so... she was going to make the most out of it. Get as many answers as she could.

It was the armored figure that spoke first, however, their voice hollow and whispery. "I remember her. Them. She told me of your existence. Once." They lowered their head. "...I am sorry. I should have been stronger. Better." There was something within the words, it made it clear to any who listened that it was not their first experience with such failings.

Mejanqa swallowed, closing her eyes, and shaking her head. "Her maids told me about an quiet person in full armor that was with her sometimes, a little bit. How did you even survive ? Were you even with her when... that happened ?"

"I was.", the figure answered, pain clear within their voice. "But I was defeated before I could act. Was it not for the... complicated nature of my existence, I would have been destroyed without a doubt." They rose their head. "What it is that you seek ? Revenge ?"

"I don't know.", Mejanqa answered, looking away." I'm confused. Just... I'm so confused about... well, everything. How she could do that to those maids, and why didn't I know earlier... If I stay longer at that manor I'm going to... I don't know, but it'd be ugly." There was a short lull before Mejanqa continued. "Do you want revenge ?"

There armored figure looked at Mejanqa for a moment. "...Revenge has been my entire life. If you seek it, I shall not stop you. I may even assist you. But I cannot guarantee it a path that will make you happy." They crossed their arms as they continued. "If you do not seek it, know that I will not attempt to change your mind."

Mejanqa swallowed thickly, thinking. And then she looked at the armored figure. "I think... I want... This whole thing is messing with my mind, but I think that what I want is... the truth. About... about everything. About my sister, and about her... about the whole enslaved maids thing, and..." She stopped, her gaze fierce. "Can't you tell me the truth ?"

The armored figure started talking, slightly stern as they looked away. "She and that duke had... an arrangement. The maids were part of it. I never laid a hand upon them,", they started. "...not that I can anyway. I was... not privy to the details of it. She did's the duke's bidding, and was paid in turn."

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"I don't know what the duke is going to do, though... I hope the maids will be alright while I'm gone.", Mejanqa whispered, more to herself than to the armored figure. "He told me that you were in the Greatwoods doing... something ? With a Warden ? What happened there ?"

The armored figure scratched their chin, before answering. "My... return has scrambled the exact details, but what I can say is that... we were... negotiating. It went poorly, needless to say." They refocused their gaze on Mejanqa. "Watch out for that Warden. They are extremely dangerous in combat. You may be stronger than your sister, but you're alone."

"That's not right. She's always been stronger than me.", Mejanqa countered, confused, before refocusing her attention. "But, what was she even doing trying to negotiate with a Warden ? Wardens means... dungeons, right ? What did she even need that for ? Or maybe it was for the duke, but once again, what does a duke even needs a dungeon for ?", she continued, talking once again more to herself.

The armored figure shrugged, creating an oddly comical noise of jingling metal as they did so. "I do not know, for sure... but I do have one conclusion you may be interested in." Mejanqa looked at them, nodding. "...She got... impatient. Her career was stalling, she had complained about it."

"You had responsibilities... Curses ! Couldn't you have been more careful ?", Mejanqa grumbled under her breath. "Is it because of...", she started, unable to continue as mist gripped her eyes, her knuckles whitening around her scythe. The figure nodded solemnly.

"They... definitely were among the reasons why her career stalled." The figure paused. "Her arrangement with the duke was... stable, she could have rested on it and have a comfortable life, but she wanted more glory still."

Mejanqa considered for a bit. "...Thank you. Do you even have a name ?" It was the least of politeness, and a part of her felt silly for not asking such a question before. It was... if she was frank rather improper of her, but her confusion was getting the better of her.

"...They call me Varnec.", the armored figure answered.

"Mejanqa."

"What will you do, now ?", they asked, something within their voice that sounded almost like concern. Mejanqa sighed. She really wasn't sure of what she wanted to do. But she knew what she was looking for, and in a sense, that made things easier. Allowed her to ground herself properly, keep her eyes on the goal instead of getting sidetracked.

"Maybe I'll go into the Greatwoods ? Try to ask the Warden the truth. And if that fails, I... I wouldn't win that fight, so I'll just ask or try to leave ?" She looked at Varnec. "Or maybe I won't go into the Greatwoods ? I'm not sure, still... It might be dangerous, and I can't fail like she did. I'm the one who has to deal with what she left behind. Can't leave that mess to anyone else."

She looked at Varnec, her gaze once again calm. "But. I thank you for the offer, but revenge isn't what I want. I'm dubious I could even become powerful enough for it to be possible, or that I want to invest that time and energy in becoming so, but beyond that..." Her gaze became fiercer. "What I want is the truth."

"Very well, then.", Varnec acknowledged with a nod. It was strange, there was something within it that gave Mejanqa the impression they were congratulating her for making that decision.

"I shall leave, then.", Mejanqa nodded, starting to rise from her seat, feeling unsure still, but she appreciated the meeting. It had clarified some things, something she greatly appreciated. "And thank you for your time."

"It is no issue.", Varnec answered. "I wish you luck in your future endeavors. And I hope, in the best way possible, that we never meet again. Farewell."

"The same to you.", Mejanqa answered in kind, before Varnec rose up as well, and they went their respective ways.

---

Zoemie looked at the dummy. This accuracy boost is really fucking good. She couldn't quite do magic training due to her prior exertions in magic, so she had settled on a bit of sword training to try out her new accuracy boost.

Yeah, this was a good idea. Zoemie found it strange to explain how the accuracy boost worked. She couldn't tell if it was improved coordination, better reaction speed, or better ability to quickly notice details. But she knew for certain that it worked, and it worked very, very well.

She swung her sword, and managed to slice in half a flying piece of straw. I'm still clumsy as hell with that thing. But the accuracy boost should help. Zoemie grumbled as she prevented the sword from falling with her summon to hand enchantment, and gave it a few more swings. Frankly, I'm kinda tired. Maybe I'll call it a day soon.

There was another sword swing. I really don't feel like I'm getting better with this... Urgh. Am I missing something ? Zoemie shook her head. "Whatever... I guess there's no other thing to do than keep training, though, huh ?" That kinda sucks.

"Still, that accuracy boost approach was the right one, so... guess I didn't fuck up for once ?" Zoemie braced her knees, and swung another time, slicing the strawman in two halves of roughly equal size. Still, how did I manage to not come up with that one earlier ?

Zoemie considered continuing her training for a while, but she was getting kind of physically tired and didn't want to overdo it, so she stopped her training session, sheathing her sword and returning to her room, letting the fan cool her down as she opened up the game she was playing before, and started to play.

---

Xajymzia smiled, patting the massive machine that rested in her laboratory. It was the enlarged scanner device, with Zoemie-comprehensible output on attached white panels. She had connected its range to the dungeon, something that had been made possible by her past tenure as Warden of the dungeon.

It would be a powerful, reliable, staunch tool from now on, mercilessly acquiring the data from any trespassers and exposing it for strategizing and planning. Not only that, but Xajymzia had set up a arcanomemory unit to store that data. Any proper computer engineer would probably have done a more efficient job, but Xajymzia could make up for her lack of skill in those areas by throwing more resources at the problem.

Besides, if some parts of the memory unit turned out to be unnecessary, she could dismiss them later to recover the cost. And the large area of terrain the dungeon covered offered decent passive recovery, as well. She would not run out soon.

Xajymzia had already added to the unit the informations of the three adventurers that perished by their hands. It was kind of pointless now, but it was still information that could be valuable. There had been little of surprise to her in what she had discovered.

One thing that Xajymzia wanted to go was get a better idea on how she could upgrade the analysis to obtain even more information. But that was for later. For now, she was wholly satisified with her results.

Bechamel spinach with eggs. Zoemie's dinner for tonight. All she had to do now was wait for her upgraded body to come along. It would take some time, but it had been an incredibly worthwhile investment.

May it been adventurers, the duke, the monarch, Zoemie's old enemies – if they were looking for a fight, they would be defeated. Assuming, of course, they were looking for a fight. The other three adventurers hadn't been, after all. Maybe they were smarter, in that sense.

She had also added their information to the memory unit, from traces of magic on the seats they used, but there was relatively little of note about them. The two groups were, as Xajymzia expected, wholly unrelated to eachother, and that was, if nothing else, convenient. Xajymzia smiled as an alarm told her another item finished fusing.

She had been watching each fusion process carefully, and had gotten a pretty strong idea of the basic mechanics at play. Xajymzia had no idea who was competent enough to create this spell, but they were to be watched out for.

Simulating it would require a lot of magical power. At least as much as the portal, so she was prioritizing the portal first. The improved technology of Zoemie's homeworld would be an endless source of inspiration. It would probably be the better choice for Zoemie's sake, as well.

She could not wait until her upgrades were completed.

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