Chapter 309
Bartering for Something You Didn’t Really Want, but Kinda Sorta Needed
“Well, hello,” I begin, only after speaking do I realize that I am speaking in that odd Mana Language that the Teleiotís use to speak.
I say mana language, as that is the only way my brain can kind of process the odd mana disbursing impulses that are being released and manipulated.
Honestly, their entire system of communication is fascinating. The way they instinctively used the release of mana to dictate first emotions and then entire thoughts is truly impressive.
I really don’t know how the AI came up with that form of use, but it is masterful.
First, of the two energies that these Teleiotís have, mana is the one utilized by all, making it a universal medium of understanding. Second, the fact that mana is less dense, more volatile, and easier to manipulate than Qi makes it ideal for such interactions.
“Oh, my gods, thank you,” one of the Teleiotís comes up and starts talking like a crazed fan boy.
Blink.
I blink, or at least I try to blink, it does nothing as I’m still blind and can only see with my Angel’s Sight, but it does help me to mentally focus by taking control over certain body movements.
Turning to the new and speaking Teleiotís, I realize something kind of creepy about the MaMes in question. That is, a Mana using Terminator type robot, one of the weakest available. Also, looking at this one, he is even weak compared to his peers as he looks emaciated. Everything from his weakly formed shafts and pistons to his smaller mana core used to power his different energy compartments indicates that this creature is weak.
Well weak for a Teleiotís, no clue what that would put him on the power indexes.
The weakened frame alone is not all that I notice about this creature, as there is something else about him. Something that sends a chill down my spine.
“Wait, you’re a regressor?” I ask, again using the odd mana language to speak.
“Yes, oh, thank gods you are here. Please help me, I made a huge mistake. I thought it would be cool to be a killer robot, but now I’m down to my second to last life. And I was given the task of caring for this pixie. It is apparently very important, but he is so annoying, all he does is complain all day. Worse, he doesn’t speak our language, so it is literally just him complaining,” The Teleiotís goes on.
“Whoa there,” I reply in the odd mana language of the Teleiotís, as I wave a hand to draw his attention away from this rambling.
The Teleiotís looks like he wants to protest more, and yes, this Teleiotís is a male, I can somehow tell that. Or at least he was a male before beginning again here.
“So you are a regressor?” I ask, using the sacred phrase, one that would come up as incomplete gibberish to those that aren’t first from the outside world.
There is a pause, as his eyes flash wide with energy, before he nods. “Yes, that’s what the word is, wow…” he begins, and he is about to go off into another tangent.
“Yeah, calm down and focus with me. So, you are a regressor who has died multiple times?” I ask.
At this, his entire mechanoid body hunches in on itself and her looks down to the floor and sighs before answering, “yeah.”
At that, I nodded.
“Okay, and I take it you were given a quest to guard this person?” I ask, gesturing towards the still sleeping pixie. A pixie that looks terrible, broken ephemeral wings. Weak pixie dust everywhere, and multiple broken bones.
“Yeah, I was assigned as I have Human Healing as an ability. I wanted magic, and I got it, but the problem for us is that trying to use magic comes at the direct cost of our life force. So, I have tried to save him, resting up as long as I can, then trying to Heal him, but its too much. It hurts so bad,” he wined.
Odd to hear both his body and mana language voice whine in near unison.
“Calm down, you did well, and I thank you.” I reply, with that I reach out to his body and feel that this is likely why his body looks so frail. He literally was killing himself to save my stupid ex-husband, well apparently my still stupid husband.
Shaking my head at the situation, I try to repay kindness with kindness.
“Hold still,” I tell the Teleiotís, as I prepare to cast the modified version of Perfect Resurrection, but before I do, I call in assistance.
“Hey, up for helping me reward a good deed?” I ask Zero mentally through my Telepathy Trait.
Tired and sluggish.
Those are the first impressions that I get from Zero, it is clear that he is still adjusting to being back. I know I am too, which is why I keep moving, knowing that if I rest for even a second, it might be a long time before I can get back up.
“Wha? Huh, yeah,” Zero replied groggily, as the words tumbled through his mind and finally found purchase. As soon as he realized I needed his help to Heal, or Resurrect in this case, he awoke and pulled himself partially out of his tattoo like form.
“Whoa, is that him?” The Teleiotís asked, his energy usage high and clearly in an excited form.
“Yes, now don’t resist, this shouldn’t hurt too much,” I tell him.
“Okay, wait? What?” Was all he managed before Zero started using Arcane Geomancy, which I grabbed and started fusing with Perfect Resurrection.
The process was almost routine by now, after having done so with so many of the Skill Books.
At least, it was mostly routine, there were a few problems, drive shafts and pistons as opposed to pages and type fonts. Margins for readability versus locations for pistons, power conductors, and converters, but by and large it was mostly the same process. You take wild energy in, shed away the unwanted parts, melting them with energy and reform the body new, easy peasy.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
There are of course locks and fail safes for this regressor, or former inhabitant of the world I too once lived on. A person who for some stupid reason chose to be a killer robot as his next life.
Looking through his baseline coding, I saw the reason why he was a Teleiotís, one who also had the Tier VII magic core.
He took the Merit Tier VII Core, just as I had. The basic one that offered a random class of magic, in this case Healing. Not bad, and this would normally be a blessing, had he been any other race of creature.
Which of course leads me to the one noticeable Flaw that he also took, Second-Class Citizen. For whatever reason the aptitude for magic remained, but his core was shattered after his first death, meaning that he literally was using his own life force to try to heal my moron of an ex.
Seeing that he chose both a Merit and Flaw that I had made me feel an odd sort of connection to him, this complete stranger. Added to that, the fact that somehow during my month-long absence the creatures that I created, the Teleiotís, became a playable race all but added to the sense of connection to this person.
This was why, I offered a Perfect Resurrection. While I couldn’t pump this one up to the grandiose levels that I had managed for the Skill Books, as the creator of this race, I did have a bit more leeway with what was available to me.
As such, I had access to coding that I likely shouldn’t have access to.
Having modified the pups at their birth, I kind of knew where to look for hidden Merits and Flaws. Looking in that same section, I saw the still brightly glowing Flaws section, but I also saw the faint silhouette of where his Merits should be.
Figuring it is only fair for me to pay it forward and to reward this man for self-sacrifice to save others, I rewarded him. Turning on every light that had been turned off.
I found four tightly clustered lights, next to two still lit lights. It took my mind a second to realize that these were his so-called Extra Lives, or his re-rolls. I turned those back on and instantly felt threads of golden karma reaching out from me and binding the two of us together. It was clear that this was appreciated by the system. At least, that is what I took this process to mean. From there I looked for other Merits that had gone dark, I soon found his magic core and again flipped it to the on position. Once again, more golden karma tied us together, but not as much as before. Then with a bit of force, I locked the gear in place. No more Karma, but the damage had been done, and I felt relieved that this person would be able to go about their next few lives as a full magician, not just a self-sacrificing Healer.
From there, I searched around some more and found what were likely more Merits, or places where Merits could go, but there was nothing to indicate what or how these should be activated. I’m sure if I looked around more Teleiotís, that I would eventually find the clues needed, but decided this was enough messing around with his Merits for now. I did not want him to suddenly have powers that got him into trouble, or ended up hurting him.
From there I searched around a bit more and soon found the Flaws section. For a moment, I thought about getting rid of his flaw entirely, but the moment I reached out for that, I felt a line of dark karma reaching out from me and all but encircling the noted Flaws.
Taking a few last checks of the actual body of the Teleiotís, I further strengthened his mana core, and gave him the basis for a Qi core. There was no Qi in this core, but I was curious if I could help offer a secondary way for this person to bypass their chosen flaws. I wasn’t able to turn off the noted Second-Class Citizen flaw directly, but indirectly, I could give him a way, and he deserved that much.
I looked around a bit more, amazed by the complexity and seemingly smooth lines of the Teleiotís body. Yet, I soon found myself out of things to tinker with and analyzed.
Then like that, I realized I was done.
Nothing else needed to be worked on or improved, and I was surprised that I managed to fix this Teleiotís so easily.
Wow, the system was getting odd. I already had a quest for this guy to evolve into a DiMes variant, but if I shared the quest with him, then I would have to split my rewards with him?
I paused wondering why I wouldn’t want to do this in the first place, but then realized that this likely meant that any other regressors who chose or were stuck with this race would likely seek me out for something similar if I did share the quest details with him.
For a moment, I debated telling him. But then realized that this quest was entirely upon his work, and I would just be gaining rewards from his actions, not my own. As such it felt a little cheap for me to try to keep everything for myself. It was with this last thought that I shared the quest with him.
What? That is slander.
My king?
No, I was not rewarding him for saving the King. I was just rewarding him for being a good human, well machine. A good killing machine, that is all, is it too hard to want to reward the Schwarzenegger variant, for not being the Robert Patrick variant?
I am so lost in my own thoughts that I almost miss the moment when a clearly exhausted Zero just nuzzles next to me. I gently caress the left side of his muzzle as he takes in a deep and calming breath, before nodding and shrinking back into his full tattoo form.
“You did well, and thank you,” I tell him through our Telepathic link.
I get the equivalent of a mental nod from him, before he seems to constrict tighter within himself before having his tired consciousness fade away completely.
He’s tired, but more than willing to help, which is amazing.
I have no doubt that he would come out again if needed, though it is clear he would prefer a nap. A much needed, and well-deserved nap.
There is a moment when I am so focused on Zero that I almost miss the true threat in the room.
“That is awesome? All my lives back? My Merits too? Oh wait, and there is now a quest. One where I can evolve into a DiMes?” The Teleiotís begins buzzing excitedly. I almost want him to calm down, to not explain this to the world. But then I realize, he is still talking in the odd mana language of the Teleiotís, meaning it won’t be interpretable to anyone else but me. At least that is what I hope to be the case.
“Calm down, I am trusting you to keep this a secret but know that this is my way of thanking you for being a decent person,” I responded, trying to calm the guy down.
Then with a pause, the Teleiotís looks at me and seems to finally see me as if for the very first time.
“You are truly the messiah,” the Teleiotís stated.
“Wait, what?” I ask, feeling that there is likely more to this than is being stated.
“Nothing, uh, just wait here. I need to let the others know that you came. They told me you’d come, and that I would be rewarded for my faith, but I never knew it would be like this.” The odd Teleiotís, began as he shakily stood up. Only to realize halfway through his rise that his body was now stronger and easily able to move. All that forced erosion was now gone and the sign of what a healthy body of his should be now apparent.
Then with a few shaky steps, he began walking forward, only to begin sprinting forward and out the door by his third step.
Seeing him reminded me of the time when I first got here and realized I could do deep knee bends again, it was great. Despite nearly falling to my death almost a day later.
Shaking my head, I realized needed to move quickly, before likely more overly zealous and active Teleiotís began buzzing with their mana language right next to me.
Realizing I only had a few moments to react, I turned to see the still and broken form of Rob. My Rob.
I’d know his form almost anywhere, and even glowing brightly in pixie dust and broken bones, I could clearly make out the odd spirit that had attracted me so long ago.
Moving quickly, I decided to go over and check him for internal wounds.
Using my third eye I stared at him and took in every contour of his body. His underdeveloped mana core, his abysmal Qi core that clearly had never been used once.
Just looking at him, caused a wave of nostalgia, anger, rage, and finally acceptance.
Sigh.
I wanted to hate him so much. If there was anyone I should hate, it was him. But even looking at him now, his body broken and barely alive, all thanks to the actions of one masochistic killer robot, I had the chance to save him.
Healing.
Before I even realized what I was doing, I began Healing him inside and out. Healing his broken bird like bones. Bones that were supposed to be hollowed out for me to help with my cycling of Qi. Had he but cycled once in his life, he likely would be able to walk. Or at the very least make it so each breath didn’t seem like a chance to be impaled by his own broken ribs.
Shaking my head, I found myself speaking to him. Using my real words for once, not just the silent mana language of the Teleiotís.
“You sure got yourself deep into it this time,” I stated to no one in particular. I knew he couldn’t hear me, his mind had long ago collapsed into unconsciousness. Knowing that he couldn’t hear me, let me feel even more emboldened to say what I truly felt, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to wiggle his way out of this with his honey covered words.
“You probably thought it was a blessing to come in here. That you would be able to take all of my work over the past few years and claim it as your own. Or at least come in right now, and make an easy run of it,” I begin as I continue to quickly Heal him, the rest of the outside world shrinking down into nothing.
Vibrations.
I can feel the ground vibrating around me, signifying that other Teleiotís have gathered around. This is no bother to me, as they are just there and not bothering me. Which is nice, as it allows me to work.
Knowing that I will not be disturbed, I continue to talk to my Rob, hoping that my words find him in his consciousness and finally begin to take root.
“You always take the easy road, always bailing out at the first sign of trouble. Then try to come back when you realize the storm has past. Even now, you attempt to bypass all the work that millions have before you and come in here attempting to usurp it all..” I state, but am cut off by a message. A wonderfully evil message that seems to satiate the darker thoughts I am now having right now. Thoughts of revenge and more.
More words and text came, but I felt an evil smile forming on my lips as I already knew the perfect last name to offer him and those that would follow from his lineage.