What is this? What is wrong here?
The insight was bright and even painful. Yar almost screamed when he realized what the unusual feature of the girls was.
There it is! Finally!
For obvious reasons, the elves had nothing in their ‘spells’ section, but this empty space was huge. Yar frantically compared their sections with his own, where all his spells were inscribed. The girls’ sections were several times larger than his own.
I have to compare them visually, Yar realized as he reduced his two sources without doubt. He looked closer and was horrified: the empty place, where the spells were supposed to fit in, was actually very small.
How many spells do they actually have? Surprised Yar thought. A hundred, two hundred, a thousand maybe?
Yar looked at these two seemingly fragile girls, with whom it was pleasant to sit side by side and listen to their enchanting voices. They were like playful light breezes tearing down the delicate petals of blossoming cherry trees.
At the same time, he already understood that he had stumbled upon something incredible, perhaps something very ancient: a message or even a legacy. Fortunately, the girls did not oppose and persistently advocated not for replacing their sources, but for a complex and painful operation in order to preserve their sources. Of course, they knew nothing about the presence of those huge sections. The girls remembered only five spells that they had used in their childhood. Yar planned his actions almost immediately. However, it was another innovation or just an idea that seemed like it might work.
I should try to help them, Yar decided. I can always get it all back if something goes wrong.
He said calmly, “It will be painful, very painful, perhaps even more painful than it was in your childhood, when the Watchers infected you with the EWIS.”
“Master, we are ready for everything. Even death.”
Yar nodded and looked over at the enthusiastic elves, who now competed in shooting accuracy, using ‘The Archer of Darkness’. Yar remembered that he needed to check the hidden mechanisms of this spell, because he had already fulfilled the conditions for unlocking the ‘Lord of Shadows’. Moreover, he also had to look at ‘the Shadow Brothers’, where there seemed to be the same conditions. However, now I need to get down to business.
“Gelic, are you there?” Smiling, Yar addressed a void, having drawn attention to a strange, brilliant puddle nearby about ten minutes ago.
“I’m always as close as possible,” the amorph replied, instantly rising to his full height near Yar.
“Call the elves,” the head of the clan requested as he pointed to the nearby group of spell-testing elves.
When everyone ran closer, Yar addressed them. “Make yourself comfortable. Listen carefully! I’m gonna tell you what we have to do and what the degree of your participation will be in the upcoming action.”
“Yes, Master,” Leil answered for everyone.
Yar nodded in satisfaction and began, “We know that Mist and Geir have several implanted energy parasites. I offered them two choices in my conversation with them. Unfortunately, we have only these two possible options. The first is a complete replacement of their source—it is safe and painless. I have already done such work and have experience.
There are both advantages and huge disadvantages, though. I won’t be able to reproduce such powerful sources as these two elf-girls currently have. However, there is a major drawback …”
Yar truthfully talked about his assumptions about the huge hidden block of spells invested in both infected girls, and then he moved on to cover the possibility of the ancient legacy of the Shadow clan or of all dark elves in general.
After a short pause, he continued, “Everything is simple: if I replace the sources, we will lose all the hidden knowledge, but I really wouldn’t want to do that. I have a second option, but it’s risky and possibly very painful with many complications. I will list only those that immediately come to mind.”
Yar began to straighten his fingers for greater clarity.
“Until now, I have only caught single instances of the EWIS.” He unclasped the thumb of his right hand. “I don’t know how this petty energy creature will behave if one of them is destroyed. But for some reason, it seems to me that we shouldn’t expect anything good.” Yar unclasped his index finger.
“The difficulty lies in the complexity of recovery measures. I will have to greatly rebuild the wired paths and many more procedures. All of which I will be doing for the first time.” Yar unclasped his middle finger.
“Finally, the fourth and the highest difficulty, arising from the foregoing. I will have to do all these manipulations without any anesthesia. The girls will feel pain, moreover, it will lead to a decrease in their health stats. Alas, this can’t be avoided. It’s the only correct way to track every moment of the progress of the operation and respond accordingly with healing.” Master Yar unclasped his ring finger.
“Is that clear?” he asked.
“Of course, Master,” Leil Elsi answered. Yar nodded and scratched his chin in thought.
“Well.” He looked around the hushed Shadows, “Your task is to keep the stats of health of the operated elves in the green sector. You must handle. Got it?”
Of course, Master, we are ready, Uyu said, looking at the determined faces of her friends.
“Be attentive. If something goes wrong, and the girls’ stats begin to fall into the red sector, then take me out of the trance immediately.
“Gelic, you should secure the elves.” Yar turned to the amorph. “Control the peaks of all complications. Moreover, your task is to fix the operated elves and relieve their acute pain.”
“I understand the task. It’ll be executed, Master,” the amorph gurgled loudly with a bright smile on his flat face. The elves were no longer afraid of the amorph. Yar was surprised at just how calmly the Shadows now treated his gelatinous assistant.
Yar entered the Constructor, instantly capturing the contours of the elven bodies and their dim magical structure. He quickly transferred these color schemes into reality, having increased the proportion twice. The elves gasped. Yar also thought it looked impressive.
“Well,” Yar continued, “I propose to divide the upcoming operation into three stages for greater clarity. First, I’ll work with the wired channels.”
Yar highlighted all the pathways with bright white. He also pointed out the problem areas with a red beam, and they immediately turned red.
“The first stage is Creation. One of the serious problems is the result of the gross Watchers’ intervention. Apparently, at first, they wanted to chop the pathways, but they couldn’t do it fully because the paths are so wide and powerful. As a result, there are several terrible tangled knots, and I can’t straighten them. Moreover, when I start the source, the elf-girls I am operating on will experience wild pain because of these nodes. Therefore, it would better to create additional nodes of a slightly larger size in these places. They will improve almost all parameters: both in speed and terms of power. Moreover, the additional nodes will allow me to run the sources more smoothly and remove a significant percentage of their pain spasms.
The second stage is Lure. I’ll create an additional energy source in the subspace of each of the operated-on elves. Then, I’ll connect both sources with the help of a power pathway. These EWIS will surely feel the energy, in my opinion, and they should rush toward this bright lure.
The third stage is Destruction. As soon as I make sure that all the parasites have left the basic source, I’ll cut the power pathway. The EWIS will be trapped. Then I’m gonna put them into ‘The Cage of Oblivion’ and destroy additional sources just in case.
The fourth and final stage is Adaptation. I’m planning on installing the maximum possible doubler and restoring the pathways, while the launch and transformation of the original source should occur as if by itself. I’ll be watching harmonization, and if everything is normal, I’ll put the set of spells in. That’s all!” Yar said loudly, looking
at the Shadows. They seemed to be impressed, At least, their faces were concentrated, and their eyes glowed with confidence.
Yar waved his hand and ordered in a calm voice: “Start.”
Everyone heard their Master: those who were near, those who were farther away, the forest, and even every ant in the grass.
From the very beginning, everything went suspiciously rather successfully, as it was intended, and even faster than Yar could have ever expected. He created beautiful knots, though he would like them to be rounder and not elongated like cylinders. The EWIS were caught in the exposed trap and now rested in ‘The Cage of Oblivion’. Yar destroyed the small lure sources with great care. The recycled energy served as a part of new excellent source doublers, which he filled to the limit, and in just a couple of minutes, he connected to the almost extinct energy bases of the two elves.
Then Yar shouted for joy, celebrating an impressive ending to the procedure.
He had never seen such rampant power before. Yar literally heard the low humming vibration of these fundamentals, and for the first time, he had to create a filter to watch and enjoy looking at these monstrous sources that were bursting with heat inside the two elf-girls.
Hooray! Hooray! This is a success! We did it! Yar was happy. I wonder if I'm right about the legacy? Doubt slightly cooled his uncontrolled joy.
He looked on and froze in amazement: strange incomprehensible symbols with elements of small plant ornaments were in their ‘Spells’ section after a small amount of free space, and then he saw this .
There were lists of spells, written in transparent, as if ice, lettering. The listing took a whole sheet and was written in a very small print. This masterpiece looked like something fascinating. The more Yar looked at it, the more it seemed to him that he saw snow and a real blizzard more than just words.
“Stop it!” the freezing Yar shouted, realizing that someone was pulling him out of this freezing state.
He woke up with pleasant sensations: the three elf-girls hugged him tightly and passionately kissed him.
They found a great way to get me out of a trance, so it’s okay. That and they are acting exactly according to my instructions. I wouldn’t mind this happening more often. It gives a life-affirming tone—and a crush for the whole day or night ahead, Yar thought with no small amount of pleasure.
He didn’t want to interfere with the elf-girls, but he needed to calm them down and reduce their diligence, so he took a deep breath and whispered, “Everything is good. I’m fine, I’m fine.” Yar didn’t open his eyes. He needed to read messages coming in from the system instead.
Attention!
The outstanding achievement of the Belt of the Worlds was performed by Wizard ??? and his group.
A global hidden quest has been completed: The Dark Legacy
Achievement unlocked: Mission
Achievement unlocked: First Energy Surgeon
Awards:
Unique access to the Legacy
Exclusive Skill ‘Master of Energy Surgery’
10,000 Stat points premium, the unlimited MPD (the main points of distribution)
100,000,000 gold
Restriction: the disclosure of the Heritage occurs in blocks of 8 spells. The transmission time is random.
Chapter 11. Dark Legacy
Y ar felt goosebumps running down his back. With a sinking heart, he glanced at his spell list. He couldn’t get a hold of his emotions, and he embraced the three girls with unbridled joy—and even kissed them, despite the fact that unknown spells shone before his eyes.
The TGMFR
Fourth
Light Servants
Weed Warriors
Climber Argshi
Water Creature
Lord of the Crystals
The Owner of Underground Spaces
Finally, Yar came out of the Constructor and was very surprised: all this huge mass of Shadows approached him and selflessly danced something close to the jig dance under very fiery music. He felt a kiss on his ear and heard a languid voice.
“Master, it wasn’t the slightest bit painful. We have an unpaid debt.”
His other ear also didn’t go unheeded.
“Sir,” Uyu whispered with passion, as if occasionally, “Can you tell us why we’ve received these great awards?”
Yar showed his last message from the system for all to see. At first, there was a lull, and then a rumble of thunder struck! The Shadows raised Yar, like a blade of grass, without his consent, and they carried him in their hands all over this joyful ‘sea’ of Shadows.
At this time, he, yielding to the general impulse, was also yelling something, but he was thinking solely about the elf-girls. Intervention in their energy sources reflected in the color of their hair. It was gray, like a mixture of salt and pepper. The beautiful elves must have already noticed these changes. They obviously suffered, but they didn’t show that, because the main thing had been achieved. Something that they had dreamed about for so long.
Yar shook his head, chasing away his thoughts, Hey, hey, it’s time to get down to business. What am I doing? What am I thinking about? It’s time to start freeing people.
Yar signaled, and everything subsided as if by magic. He looked at the sky: the evening was coming.
Yar gave the order. “Get ready. We leave in ten minutes.” He liked the way things came to order. After a couple of moments, the Shadows lined up in full readiness, like hounds before harassment, all, as one, in a predatory stance.
“Cool!” Yar gasped in admiration and then ran. He saw the Shadows following him, but they soon seemed to disappear in the forest. Yar was running with great speed—he seemed to be flying, choosing the direction with his eyes. He felt an indescribable delight from this incredibly beautiful place, from his love towards this forest, and from the realization that it was his native place. Yar was almost omnipotent, like a god overseeing the Pulkovo Heights.
Having stopped ten yards from the border of the forest, Yar exhaled loudly. He still had goosebumps from his most recent experience. He ordered the Shadows to crawl to the edge of the forest, and the detachment stopped at a huge oak. There was a great view of the take-off field and the airfield opened from there.
Uyu looked questioningly at their clan leader, waiting for the signal to start. Yar nodded and six hundred elves silently retreated into the forest. The head of the diversion groups showed six fingers and made a strange sharp gesture with both hands. Yar understood: they would strike to the rear and from both flanks. He answered the elf in an earthly way, giving him a thumbs-up.
Master, may I suggest that you use the ‘The TGMFR’ spell, the muffled voice of his assistant sounded in Yar’s head.
What is it? he asked mentally.
This spell is considered to be a combat improvement of the interface. It is referred to in the registries, as the ancient lost knowledge. Presumably, ‘The TGMFR’ is an abbreviation and stands for: the Tactical Guardian of Misty Forest Rangers. This is the only information available to me.
Wow, I’m gonna try it, Yar said.
It seemed to Yar that space seemed to shatter into small fragments. It darkened in his eyes, something littered and began to move, and then it changed color several times and finally fell into place, as if it was calibrated.
“Glory to the System. I can see again.”
There have been some minor changes.
“Wow!” They continued to happen right in front of Yar’s eyes. It seemed that some sort of adjustment was taking place, and the radius of the review increased by ten percent every second. Yar could only wait. In ten seconds, he could see three hundred and sixty degrees, like a dragonfly. His vigilance and range of vision also increased significantly, and now he could not only enlarge any object in sight and examine it in detail, but also the main stats, temperature, and a lot of other information popped up when they were necessary.
Yar could control everything with the help of his eyes—thoughts or orders. A small window with an insc
ription appeared on his right:
The tactical event map.
“Expand”, he ordered. Yar had a hypothesis already what this map could be, but, as usual, the reality was far more stunning than he had supposed. He couldn’t even imagine how amazing the knowledge of dark elves would be.
Yar saw everything as usual, and at the same time, a very clear and detailed stylized map superimposed itself over his vision. He immediately found himself marked by a small black crown, and all the others—the moving units headed by centurions. Of course, their opponents were highlighted in red. As soon as Yar kept his gaze on one of the tags or miniature figures, then a live image with a full list of stats appeared. Yar wanted to try and study all the numerous settings of the program.
Now the main question is: is there a connection with subordinates? Yar thought on this a little, and then he transferred his attention to the black star, determining the identity by location. This is definitely my most beautiful intelligence chief in the universe.
He was right. A small window with the image of the goddess of smile and seduction appeared immediately in front of him.
Uyu, come to me urgently, Yar ordered, and he saw how the elf shuddered in fright and immediately crawled in his direction.
He was dumbfounded. How can Uyu be so beautiful? She even crawls in such a fascinating way that it’s impossible to look away.
Yar didn’t explain anything, still finding himself lost under the impression of such an erotic spectacle. He simply installed The TGMFR to her and her brother, who was also nearby. Yar received brilliant delight in his eyes and a hot kiss in gratitude from Uyu; her brother showed an ordinary earth gesture—a protruding thumb.
Then Yar looked at the tactical map carefully, noting that there were thirty or forty minutes left before the start of the hostilities. He called to both Elsi, deciding that he needed to get used to the new interface and use it more often.
“Uyu, Leil, you have another task: my relatives, members of the clan, will be here soon. They are weak. They will need your help, and they should not suffer in any way.”
Dark Legacy Page 5