by Erik Rounds
But he had been trying to teach her how to channel mana through her chakra points for over a month. Most dark-elven children picked it up right away. Long ago, the dark elves had learned that it was possible to amplify the effect of any magic spell by purifying mana as it left the body. Mana had varying levels of quality, completely independent of stat points.
Stat-point augmentation and magic-boosting equipment amplified a person’s natural magical capability, which was why mastering mana control had to be done before leveling.
After the seventh attempt, the princess sat down on the floor and crossed her arms. “This is taking too long. Why am I not getting any better?”
“Stand up, child. You aren’t done yet. Impatience is the prerogative of those who age and wither, but you and I will live forever.”
The princess slowly got back to her feet. “You could be a bit kinder to me, you know.”
The magus just laughed. “Tell me, why do you think your attacks are so weak?”
“It seems okay until the energy moves into my chest, and then it gets stuck there. Only a small amount of mana makes it to my throat and head.”
“I thought as much. That isn’t an uncommon problem. The blockage is most likely due to unrealized emotion.”
“If you thought as much, why didn’t you say something?”
“I had hoped you would realize the problem on your own. I won’t always be here to solve your problems for you.”
“Okay, so what do I do to… clear the emotional blockage?”
The dark-elven sorcerer circled around her. “Rage. Frustration. Jealousy. Hatred. For a dark elf, these are the most powerful and purest of emotions. You must harness the anger in your heart, covet the strength that others have and you do not, and use your hate as a cudgel, a tool to amplify your power. Doing so will clear the mana blockage in your heart chakra.”
“But I’m not a dark elf, and I don’t hate anyone.”
“What about the humans? They capture us one by one and use us as though we aren’t superior beings. Don’t you hate them?”
“I’ve never met a human. I’m sure they’re not that bad.”
“Then what about me? I’m the most powerful elven sorcerer in the whole of the Questgivrian Empire. Aren’t you jealous of my power?”
“Not really. Besides, you’re trying to help me.”
The magus put his hand on his forehead. A headache was coming on. “I’m baffled by how you high elves can survive with so little enmity.”
“I’m going to try something.” Kiwi again began to focus on her mana, gathering it into her core and then upward through her solar plexus and into her chest. She filled her mind with emotion, but not hate as the magus had suggested. Instead she focused on the love that she held for her father, a wise and strong man. The flow of mana began to increase. She pictured her mother, who had always shown her such love. Again the flow of mana increased as if floodgates within her were being opened.
As the spell activated, her eyes turned a brilliant white, and a fireball appeared, ripped through the intervening distance, and slammed into the dummy.
Kiwistafel hits Training Dummy for 1.25 hearts of damage.
“That’s much better,” said the magus. “We’ll make a mage out of you yet. I’m glad you took my advice. So what emotions were holding you back? Envy? Spite?”
Kiwi was beaming. “No, I don’t think I have any of that. I just thought about how much I loved my mom and dad.”
The magus shook his head. “Really? You used the emotion of… love? How incredibly bizarre.”
“Loving my parents is weird?”
“It is. Dark elves might feel respect for their parents, but that tends to translate to jealousy and anger. Rage pushes us forward and makes us more determined and passionate about our goals. Whatever. As long as it works for you, that’s good enough for me.”
“I’m going to try again. It still feels weaker than it should be. Like only half my mana is getting through.”
She drank another mana potion and once again began to draw mana. This time, when the energy reached her chest, she pictured her friends. Hermes, the dwarf that had been her best friend since childhood. Kaze, the dragon prince who went on adventures with her and once let her ride him. Who else? She thought of Slimon, the funny slime in town who’d played with her when she was younger. She fondly remembered the tickle fights they used to have as children and how he always said the right thing to make her feel happy. The floodgates that had been restraining her mana opened completely. As the spell completed, she opened her eyes.
Critical Hit! Kiwistafel hits Training Dummy for 2.75 hearts of damage.
When she opened her eyes, the training dummy was wreathed in flames. One of its arms had been torn completely off by the force of her blast.
“Nicely done,” said the magus. “If you can keep producing mana at this level of power, you may be formidable indeed.”
Kiwi was still thinking about Slimon. Was it wishful thinking to hope that he still thought of her? She pushed thoughts of the slime from her mind.
“Can you teach me advanced spell-scripting techniques?” She had always enjoyed spell programming but lacked understanding of the more intricate techniques used by master mages.
The dark elf chuckled. “Of course, Princess. Demonstrate that you can focus this quality of mana reliably, and then we can move on to spell scripting. I’ll have the dummy replaced with a fire-resistant one. There didn’t seem to be much point in doing so until now.”
The child raised her arm toward the charred remains of the training dummy, and her eyes shone a luminescent white.
♦ ♦ ♦
Several decades passed, which was but the blink of an eye to an elf. If Princess Kiwistafel were human, she would be in her late teens. In only a few more decades, her physical appearance would stop changing altogether.
Two rapid light knocks came at her door. She placed her hairbrush back on the dresser and got to her feet. “Come in.”
Her father, King Iolo, stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him. “Daughter, can we speak?”
“Of course, Father, I’m always glad to see you.”
“Um… yes. Likewise. Listen, I’ve just finished speaking with your friend, Sir Slimon.”
“Oh, how is he?”
“He’s… in good health. When you suggested that I consider him for knighthood, I had my doubts, but he’s more than proven himself to be a worthy addition. But that’s not what I’m here to speak with you about.”
“Okay, then what is it?”
“The thing of it is… Slimon just asked for your hand in marriage.”
“It’s about time,” said the princess. “It certainly took him long enough to speak with you.”
“You mean that you knew about this?”
“Of course. It was my idea. We’ve been talking about marriage for years.”
The king paced for a moment as though trying to very carefully consider his words, “Listen, I know that the two of you were dating, and I didn’t say anything at the time, but this is different. You can’t marry him.”
Kiwistafel’s smile vanished. “But… why not?” Tears began to form in her eyes. “Is it because he’s not elven royalty?”
“No, that’s not it,” said the king.
“Then is it because he’s not an elf?”
“No, that’s not it, either. I wouldn’t mind if you married someone of a different elvenoid race.”
“Then why?” She was barely holding back tears.
He looked uncomfortable as he answered. “Honey, he’s a slime.”
“You bigot! I don’t care about his race. We love each other.”
“I’m not bigoted against slimes,” he protested.
“You just don’t want one of them to marry your daughter.”
“Kiwi,” he said, trying to reason with her, “the country needs you to produce a legitimate heir. Slimes reproduce through cellular mitosis, which means that he can’t giv
e you an heir. If you weren’t my only child, I might allow it, but producing a successor to continue the bloodline is essential to the survival of the nation.”
“But why?” She sniffed. “Couldn’t we just adopt?”
“No,” he said, “it has to be a legitimate child. I’ve told you of the contract that we arranged with Snickers. If there isn’t a legitimate heir, the throne would fall to him. Though we are immortal, you will feel the call to return to our homeland. When that happens, if there is no heir, the kingdom will fall into ruin.”
“There has to be some way…” she said.
“Kiwi, dear, you need to understand, slimes only live long enough to reproduce. When a slime’s body splits to create their children, the parent is lost. All slimes eventually die, giving rise to the next generation. One day, when that time comes, you will be alone.”
“He said he wasn’t going to do that. He said he would stay with me forever.”
“Forever is a concept that mortals cannot understand. One day, he will tire of this world, and the love that you have will die. It is the way of mortals. If you love him, you should let him go before that happens.”
“No… he wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t leave me. Please, you have to let us try.”
The king paused. “I’ll make you a deal. If you can find some way to bear Slimon’s child, I will allow the marriage. There are many things we still don’t know about this world. There may be some spell or artifact that would make it possible.
“It is still at least several decades before you are old enough to marry, according to Questgivrian law. If that time arrives, and you still haven’t found a way, please let him go and consider taking a different husband.”
Princess Kiwi nodded and wiped the newly formed tears from her eyes with a red embroidered handkerchief. Iolo kissed her on the forehead and went to the door, shutting it behind him.
♦ ♦ ♦
The captured princess sat in a dusty room at the top of the tower, surrounded by a number of bored-looking shinobi, all of whom were clad fully in black. She’d been here for over a day since being captured.
None of the princess’s escape attempts thus far had been successful. She’d tried stringing together some bedsheets to form a makeshift rope to climb down with, but they only reached about a quarter of the way to the ground. She’d tried to bribe the shinobi, but none of the ninjas would take her money. What kind of mercenary for hire didn’t take bribes?
She considered feigning illness and then taking the ninjas by surprise, but that tactic never worked outside of badly written fiction. Also, it would have required two people, one to play the victim and one to attack the unsuspecting guard.
Nevertheless, she wasn’t going to give up. She knew that her friends would come for her. That is, if they could find her.
The princess stood from the chair, and under the watchful gaze of her captors, gracefully walked to the tower’s single window. After opening the window, she cleared her throat and began to sing.
Her powerful voice was smooth and clear. It rolled over the valley in sorrowful waves, a haunting melody born of longing and pain. She sang of her hero, a stalwart warrior poet, a man of honor and grace, and of the love that the two of them had shared.
The princess had been born with high charisma, and like most politicians, she had socketed the bulk of her stat points into charisma. Her high charisma served to amplify her naturally brilliant singing talent. Her voice was so good that she could have chosen bard as her primary class, but her natural aptitude for magic and training under the high magus led her to choose a caster class.
As her song ended ten minutes later, one of the taller shinobi kidnappers walked up to her, asking, “This true love, this man among men whom you sing of, who is he?”
She sighed. “He is my true love, a paladin, a warrior poet and a knight of the kingdom. Though he is not of royal birth and also a slime, I hope one day the two of us might wed. Of course, as I’m only ninety-two years old, I’m still too young, but I hope someday…”
“Well, he’s a lucky man, Princess Kiwistafel,” said the ninja through his black face mask, “So… do you know any other songs?”
“Just call me Kiwi. I know a few other songs you might like. Let me sing some of my favorites for you.”
The princess opened the window and began to sing into the surrounding hills. As she reached the third stanza of her second song, a small fairy garbed in black flew into the room and started screeching, “STOP IT! Stop the singing! What the hell is going on?”
“Sorry, boss,” the human ninja said. “It’s just that she has such a beautiful voice and was pining for her true love. The least we could let her do was let her sing about it.”
The small fairy hovered before him at eye level and crossed her arms. “Idiots! I’m surrounded by morons! Let me explain this to you. She’s. Trying. To. Escape. Anyone within miles will be able to hear her voice.” She turned to Kiwi. “But don’t worry, Princess. There’s no one nearby who can hear you.”
“Who are you?” said Princess Kiwi.
“She’s the leader of our village, Trista Twinklebottom,” one of the other human ninjas said.
Trista flew up behind the ninja and whacked the back of his head. “Don’t give the captive that sort of information.”
“Sorry, boss. So did you find a way for us to get the princess out of the kingdom? We don’t want to keep the queen waiting.”
The fairy facepalmed as she hovered in the air. “The captive is standing right here. She. Can. Hear. You. I literally just said not to give her that kind of information.” She groaned with exasperation. “Whatever, I don’t actually care. If nobody else wants to be professional and take this kidnapping seriously, then I don’t see any reason why I should either.
“Yes, to answer your stupid question, I’ve put up job postings at the capital city for mercenaries to help you bozos smuggle her out of the kingdom. Once you’re up to full force, make a dash for the southern border. I’m going back to the base to set up a diversionary force. We’re going to attack the blockade while you idiots sneak past it.”
Princess Kiwi nodded with approval. “That seems like a good plan. I can see that you’ve really thought this through.”
Trista Twinklebottom flew up to the princess’s eye level. “You’re not supposed to be complimenting your kidnappers. Don’t you know that’s a basic violation of victim-kidnapper etiquette? You’re supposed to be screaming and crying and shit.” She threw her tiny hands in the air. “Why am I the only one who’s taking this affair seriously?
“This is about all I can stand of you morons. I’m off to set up the diversion. Take off as soon as you’re ready. Later, losers.”
The fairy flew through the window and off into the horizon.
“What a strange woman,” Princess Kiwi observed. Half of her kidnappers were nodding their heads in agreement.
They sat in silence for several minutes before one of the ninjas spoke up, “So, do you know any other songs?”
A smile crossed Kiwi’s face as she went to the window and started to sing.
Chapter 18
Honor Among Thieves
Ari was glaring daggers at Tasha through the jail cell bars. “I leave you alone for half an hour, and you murder five guards and destroy a marketplace.”
“I’m sorry. It was all just a misunderstanding. I thought that they were the kidnappers, and they were all ganging up on this girl. Besides, technically I only killed three of them. One of them ran away, and the other was just knocked out.”
But then she thought back to when she died and came back to life. Though her memories were intact, she wasn’t the same person. Not really. She was wrong to have killed them.
“I do feel badly about it. I guess I just sort of overreacted. It’s this new body and mind; it tends to act without thinking.”
She wondered if maybe she should send a fruit basket to the victims’ families, sort of as a “sorry I changed your orc’s pe
rsonality” gift. She would have to escape first, of course.
Ari, Pan, the dwarf, and the slime were all gathered outside her cell. They had found one another in the aftermath of the incident.
“I… saw it happen,” Pan said.
“Then why didn’t you stop her?” her father asked.
“Too far. It happened too f-fast.”
Ari turned back to Tasha. “Anyway, the constable says that your trial is set for this evening.”
Tasha looked at her feet. “Will I get an attorney? What do you think of my chances for acquittal?”
“Not likely. The evidence against you is pretty overwhelming.”
“Don’t be sad,” Pan reassured her. “We’ll visit you in prison.”
“Your confidence overwhelms me,” Tasha said dryly. “In any event, I can’t wait that long. We still need to rescue the princess, and the menu clock is still counting down. Besides, this is boring! Why aren’t the slime and the dwarf in jail? They did more damage than me, after all.”
The dwarf, who was standing alongside Aralogos, said, “My friend’s name is Sir Slimon, and he’s a knight of the realm. My name is Prince Hermes, and I’m the crown prince of Dwarselvania. Slimon didn’t do any real property damage, and I was able to claim diplomatic immunity.”
“You shot up an orphanage with a machine gun!” she cried. “How does that qualify for diplomatic immunity?”
The dwarf wasn’t meeting her eyes. “The orphans will all be fine—this can be a learning experience for them. Besides, it was an accident. I’ve decided to join up with Ari and Pan since they’re also trying to find the princess. Tasha, I was impressed by the way you killed those guards and then overpowered Slimon and myself. If you weren’t in jail, I’d ask you to join us as well.”
Tasha just shrugged. “I don’t plan on being here for long. Do we have any leads?”
“No, I’m afraid the ninja that the guards were trailing escaped. We know that they are hiding the princess within a hundred miles of the castle. Slimon and I were both with the princess when she was kidnapped. We were killed trying to protect her. As soon as we respawned and I told King Questgiver, he set up dragon patrols at key points to keep people from leaving the area unchallenged.”