I am not going to lie to myself. This feels like being cast out of my home. Well, I am being cast out. Whether one deems me to be cast out of my home depends on one’s stance on the right of conquest. On a more practical note I’ll miss the comforts this base provided. Even if I could recreate them, which I probably could in principle, I am unlikely to find that much time and magic to spend on activities that are not going to keep us alive, that is fed, warm and defended. Our defenses are already weaker than I’d like and now I’ll need to ward and maybe even build a house. I can build a basic house made out of wood easily. Yet there is the rub. I am not happy with the defensive properties of wood. Yet it is unclear whether I will have much of a choice of domicile.
Our two elves have gotten a sending. It may be ungentlemanly from me, but Hildegard is toting our bag of holding, while I am ready to do harm to unexpected enemies I am watching out for. I am shutting down the blockade on the entrance to the underground for good. The elves say nothing though I expect that they will try to take the power source. I honestly wish them good luck.If they learn enough from it they’ll lose their main incentive to go after us. I actually don’t know whether they are going to go after the village we’ve conquered. I have learned something from this debacle. No more complicated plans.
?We are going to meet your hearth witch about two thirds of the way to Naples, where one of our operatives is going to meet us. I am going to start the trip through the underways now. My cousin is going to provide the termination, as we discussed. Please do not observe your surroundings. I do not mean this as a way to defend our secrets. They are not all that secret. If you had the time and the willingness to pay for our lessons, you’d doubtlessly be able to learn this magic. But this kind of magic is influenced by observation.“ the elven man declares.
Experience has taught me that nobody but me would appreciate a joke about quantum phenomena where observation changes the result. Then it strikes me. Nuclear fusion is a quantum phenomenon. The particles fuse using the tunnel effect. Copper has one proton more than nickel and nickel, specifically nickel-62, is the most stable nucleus there is. Natural copper has two isotopes, copper-63 and copper-65, both of which have a stable equivalent in nickel if you remove a proton. Marental used a quantum effect to convert nuclear binding energy into mana. That is the fundamental secret of the Atlanteans I had missed. I almost miss a step. But how do they deal with the hydrogen? Simply making hydrogen and nickel would be an energetic loss.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
?Are you alright, wizard?“ the elven woman asks with suspicion in her voice. I need a distraction. Quickly. ?Why do we meet a single elf with our witch, but you need to be two to let us walk the underways?“ I reply. The woolen caps they are wearing keep their ears from moving. Her voice is carefully under control as she answers ?We have told you the truth. He or she is using a well established path that does not need to be closed again. We meant it literally when we said that you’d have to pay to be taught the secrets of the underways.“. Has she bought my hastily found question? I make a pause before I reply. ?What you have just told me makes using the underways less attractive. Two of us would need to learn this magic. We don’t have people to spare, let alone two. Yes, strategic mobility is worth a lot, but other needs are even more pressing, specifically sturdy shelter and combat power. That does not mean that I would refuse further business with your clan. Especially in the area of arms and slaves.“. There. I said it aloud. Surviving this will need slavery. Screw it. A man with a family has to do whatever it takes. She nods. That I take to be meaningless. She’d do it in any case.
Lesyal almost wishes he could retain credibility while kicking his own arse. Reading an aura is hard enough while you do no great feat of magic. While navigating the underways it is flat out impossible. He has to resort to reading voice, even the wizard’s body language hidden by the need to look ahead into the magic realm. They’ll have to discuss this when stopping for a rest. He resolves to use the earlier of the two ideal stops for the night.
Our camp site turns out to be the scene of a recent battle. It is littered with the corpses of centipedes and a dinosaur. A true dinosaur. Yes, they are quite feathered, though some areas like the head or the inner thighs show scutes, at least in this species, which is no longer than a large sheep. Though sheep don’t have those impressive claws.
Our elven companions are more interested in the other elf, who is not quite dead. I cannot blame them for that. In fact I feel kind of bad for standing around frozen staring at a dinosaur corpse for many seconds. Approaching him I notice an unconcious woman, better called a girl behind him. The reason for her lack of conciousness is not apparent to me in contrast to the elf, whose chest a broken arthropod mandible sticks through. A human being would not have survived this for long. We heard no commotion, so I am assuming that elves are tougher than humans.
I cannot hesitate. Yes, she seems a pretty girl, but the elves are leading us through an environment I really don’t dare teleport out of and my companion is my pregnant mistress. I start healing him and simply order my companion to check on the girl. Well, this means that we stop for the night early.
