Chapter 5 (An Old... Friend?)

  Mormerilhawn poked me in the shoulder and asked, “Ada, are you ok? You’ve been standing there for over a minute with your eyes glazed over.”

  “What? Sorry, you reminded me of the first time I had my head cut off. Did you know I was only level 128 when it happened? It was my first time on Pallos, and I hadn’t even made it an entire week. I was still trying to figure out what was going on, and .. well I guess I can’t actually tell you about that part.. Or that other part.. No, that part would make her mad if I told you.. Well, suffice to say, it was a bad time.”

  “Right.” Mormerilhawn scowled, “You still haven’t answered the questions I asked.”

  “What am I doing here and why am I so short?”

  “Er, yes.”

  “First answer is pretty simple. I’m picking up my position on the faculty again, but I can’t tell you why. The Mistress of Fates would not appreciate that. For the second answer, it’s because I haven’t made it to a market to buy the metals I need for a proper body. You don’t happen to know if there’s a smith around who can work with Aegea alloys, do you? Trying to use wizardry to force most of the magic metals to alloy is super annoying.”

  “I don’t believe so. There are a few merchants selling a variety of raw refined metals in ingot form, and some selling a selection of already crafted weapons and armor, but I didn’t see any crucible smiths when I walked through this morning.”

  “Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to make do. Did I ever tell you about how I used to be able to conjure already alloyed metals? Divine blessing nonsense.”

  “You have told me that story before, yes. You complained about not being able to do so then, as well. Then you went on to complain about having lived on over a thousand other worlds before coming back to this one. I’m curious, just how many lives has it been this time?”

  I sighed and rolled my eyes.

  “Look, kid, I don’t have a fucking clue. Between the last time you knew me and now, I’ve completely lost count. I’ve ascended several times, created a couple universes, destroyed more than a couple, joined and was then banished from multiple pantheons, sanctioned myself back to a mortal form, and sent my soul on slingshot rides across time in both directions. I witnessed this universe’s creation, I know how it ends, and I can’t tell anyone details about any of those events. At the end of all of that is me, here, right now, with a system display that lists an ‘error’ where my age should be. It has quite honestly been exhausting.”

  Mormerilhawn just blinked at me. I think he was probably being a bit indignant about someone appearing to be so much younger looking than him referring to him as a “kid”. Either that or contemplating what it would take for the system to give up on tracking someone’s lifespan was breaking his brain a bit. I tended to have that effect on people.

  The elves from the Tympestshard Council were arrogant and prideful, but at least they saw the rest of the mortal races as if they were children in need of guidance and protection. Mostly. I’d read up on what the elves in Urwa had been up to during this cycle, and they absolutely deserve what happens to them in the next war. I was considering taking a jaunt over there and finishing the job myself after getting Alex to safety. It wouldn’t really be all that much effort to relocate some of the sand I’d left in Ankhelt so many thousands of years ago and bury another nation. Or I could call it up from beneath as I did before. Decisions, decisions.

  Mormerilhawn was staring at me again.

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  “Oh, right, sorry, my mind wandered off again. Did you have anything else you wanted from me?”

  “I was trying to tell you that there was no possible way I was going to be able to calibrate a shield for you or teleport you from any danger. Also I’d appreciate it if you didn’t kill anyone if you do happen to decide to participate in any of the combat events. Now that I know it’s you, I’m unsure if any of my shields and triggered teleportations can act fast enough to keep you from harming anyone. Interesting thought..” The elf rubbed at his chin in thought, then continued, “Would you be interested in assisting me in testing?”

  “Eh, maybe later. We can probably find a vict, er, volunteer from one of the combat teams willing to assist at the school. Anyway, I’ll get out of your hair, as you seem to have collected quite a line. Bye!”

  I waved, removed my horns, and then [Displaced] myself directly from the armory to the area where the merchants had set up to sell their wares. Casting out my senses, I located three such stalls with varying amounts of adamantium and started walking in that direction.

  The merchant I ended up at turned out to have a considerable amount of a variety of magical metals, stored in a vault at the local World Bank branch, with only tiny samples on display as examples of what was available. Among the selection was almost all of what I was looking for, including adamantium, fallerite, eisite, mallium, mithril, and orichalcum. The samples were also vaguely familiar.

  After a few minutes, I was able to get the merchant’s attention, and I asked, “How much for all of it?”

  The man smiled down at me and replied, “I’m afraid you likely can’t afford even the smallest of my sample pieces.” He indicated my belt pouch, which appeared to be a small, mostly empty bag from the outside.

  I stared directly into his face as I casually removed the pouch from my belt, opened the ties keeping its mouth shut, and then plunged my left arm inside up to my shoulder. When I pulled my hand back out, I was holding onto a fistful of coins, a mix of diamond and ruby gemstones set into the centers of each. I placed that onto his countertop, then repeated the action a few more times, leaving a small mound in place.

  “Appearances can often be deceiving. If you’re going to be dealing in wares around the School, you should make it a point to learn that lesson. Now, how much for your entire supply.”

  The merchant, to his credit, recovered from the shock fairly quickly, and he must have had a skill that helped him rapidly tally up the value of the coins I had dumped out in front of him. “Ah, yes. That is entirely fair, and I apologize, miss.” I could see his eyes moving as he did some mental calculations. “This wouldn’t be enough for my entire supply, but I take it you have additional funds beyond this amount?”

  “I do, yes. If it helps, I can provide you with the specific mass or volume of the different metals I’m looking for.” I reached back into my pouch and fished around for a bit before I located a sheet of paper, which I withdrew and handed over to the merchant.

  “Er, yes. I don’t have all of these in the quantities listed on hand, but I believe between myself and another merchant I know who trades in magical metals, we should be able to supply everything on your list here,” he said.

  “Good. Have it shipped to the school under the name ‘Ada’, and I’ll arrange to have funds waiting.”

  I turned to leave, but the merchant called out.

  “Wait, I haven’t named the price!”

  “Double again the amount I already gave you,” I replied without looking back.

  “Oh, I see. Yes, that will be sufficient. Thank you for your business!”

  I waved back at the [Merchant], and then scowled as I saw a pair of armored people approaching me. I had known that it was only be a matter a time before the two found me and tried to fuck everything up. Althir and Amidin, the so-called [Champions] who totally weren’t the Fateweaver’s paladins.

  I opened a [Gate] behind myself, gave the pair a double one-finger salute, and walked backwards through the gate, slamming it shut as I passed through.

  “Oh, hey Flora, sorry about the intrusion. How have you been?”

  “Ada, what did you do this time?”

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  Based on the world from the original work by Selkie Myth

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  1 - Oathbound Healer -

  2 - Adventures in the Argo -

  3 - Ranger's Dawn -

  4 - Beyond the Wall -

  5 - Moonveiled Journeys -

  6 - Immortal Moments -

  7 - Return to Remus -

  8 - New Horizons -

  9 - Gladiator Gauntlet -

  10 - Under Ashen Skies -

  11 - Mandate of Heaven -

  12 - The Phoenix Peaks -

  13 - Moonfall -