“Settle down, Frankenstein,” Tashome muttered wanly at Samantha, obviously having gotten the reference by way of Uriel at some point. “We’re not even close to there yet. This might be a promising angle and more likely to provide the miraculous results we hope for, in addition to other benefits, but it’s also going to be many multiples more complex than any other potential project. Are you sure you want to wait it out?”

  Ash quickly added, “Again, with my assistance, at least one multiple will be reduced. But yes, I imagine it will not be a ‘tomorrow off the chalkboard’ sort of equation.”

  Sammy was not at all moved from her enthusiasm. With a big grin, she gave a big thumbs up. “No problem, chief! You’re talking to a mutual super nerd, here. I get it. Do it right and take the time you need to. Haste makes waste. Just be sure to delegate as needed!”

  “On that note,” Uriel said as he was removing his mask and gloves, “I’d like to request some Servitor specialists to reinforce our efforts. As spots are freed? But because you can basically just add new skills to our repertoire, including difficult-to-find varieties, well… we’d like some more nerds! We don’t have a great shapeshifter, which would be nice, for one. I checked into skills you can get away with. [Zoology]. Thank you, Aristotle? Believe it or not, someone with [Mathematics] would be nice to have on hand, too…”

  “Uh, sure! Let me guess, you want one of the brand-spanking new Sirens as your shapeshifter. For the physical specimens. I know who, too. But I want you to say it! Tell me your future girlfriend, Uriel.” She smirked at him teasingly.

  He blushed and rubbed his neck. “I-it’s not like that! Really, Madam! It’s just, well, you gave one of them [Anatomy], after all…”

  “Oh, did I? Hmm. What was her name, again? I forget.”

  Wincing and sighing, Uriel finally muttered simply, “Teles.”

  “Ohhh. Yeah, that’s right. I think her name means ‘perfect.’ Don’t you think she’s perfect, Uriel?”

  “Please stop, Madam!” he protested breathlessly.

  “Eh hehe! Okay, I’ll stop, but don’t think she won’t tease you twice as relentlessly.”

  “Did y-... Did you make her particularly ruthless, Goddess!?”

  “Well, I fashioned you Angels to fade into the background. That’s not at all the case with Sirens. They’re loud and proud! They’ll insinuate themselves into an advantageous position one way or another, in any given social scene. Their strategy depends on their personality and skill set. Thelxie is the real seduction artist, though.”

  “Ah. Well, that’s a relief. I’ll certainly steer clear of her.”

  Sammy squinted her eyes at him. She wasn’t at all sure about the actual conviction in his voice with that statement, but she let it go. Meanwhile, Tashome was carrying on with a bit of cleanup, perhaps with a slight note of amusement, while Ash was observing even this matter clinically, squinting her eyes at Uriel in what might’ve been a mirror to Sammy.

  Shrugging it off, Sammy said, “Okay, I’ll get on those two new nerds and try to amp up their brain power and such. You might also rope in some of the Cat Siths, including the new alchemist, Hermes. I kind of figured he’d be an understudy of Tashome and Zephyr.”

  “Planned on it,” Tashome called as he was picking up a fallen tool, not looking in her direction. “Your javelin is ready, by the way.”

  “What? Oh, the transmuted arrow.” She felt a combination of curiosity and anxiety. “It turned out well?”

  “Of course. It’s in a long box propped on the wall of your study.”

  “Alright… um, I have another project…”

  Tashome sighed. “Of course you do.”

  “I think it will be fun! And I really see it, if that makes any sense. I can feel the affinity.”

  “What do you mean? Existing affinity to you?”

  “Between Dreixia’s weapon and my staff. Like they could be consolidated. Fused.”

  Tashome turned his head to her finally, curiosity piqued. “Hmm. The sonic-based traits. What could harmonize easier than harmonics? Interesting. Have the bell-thing delivered first for me so I can study it, but you’ll eventually need to surrender Foolmaker, too. Possibly even be present for such alchemy.”

  “Alright, will do.” She glanced at the gory remains of the troll, green blood spilled everywhere. “Good luck cleaning up that mess. I’m not green with envy for it.”

  Tashome rolled his eyes disgustedly.

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  “That’s what phantasmal servants are for, Goddess!” Uriel added.

  “Yeah, only a real greenhorn would do it themselves.”

  Uriel cringed as if in pain. Ash frowned — wisely, she said nothing, lest she be the next target.

  Her work done, Sammy departed, Mirror Walking back to the hideout and making a beeline for her study and locating the javelin Tashome mentioned.

  It was a fine and aerodynamic-looking small spear, with one variation — a heart-like tip that was unlikely to be ideal for injury. She was happy about that and knew it was a sign that the buff ideas for it had worked out.

  She took it up and cast Allspell Core to identify it.

  Incredible.

  Her eyes welled with tears as she read the first part of it — it was obvious that Tashome wrote it. She felt… incredibly grateful to him for those words and for the artifact itself.

  I can buff a party or buff a whole damn army with this. Turn the tides at the critical moment and save some lives in the process.

  Sammy sat down to admire it for a bit in quiet contemplation, eventually stowing it into her dimensional sack.

  Having missed the reset ‘Shoot The Goddess Hour’ that would charge up her specialized [Pneuma] FE, there were nonetheless plenty of people still snaggable and ready for it in the after-dinner period. So she went out and got blasted by energy from almost forty Followers, a dozen or so using items and the rest using priestly light beams.

  Two of the new merfolk recruits were on hand to observe — Heizon and Alkai. Heizon was very curious and chatted up Canmore while observing. Sammy was at that moment lightly bantering and taunting her Followers good-naturedly to ‘try harder’ as she absorbed their attacks without harm. Meanwhile, Alkai watched wide-eyed as though at a trainwreck she couldn’t look away from, entirely scandalized.

  You have absorbed energy damage from multiple sources and gained 38 FE (Pneuma).

  There’s no energy quite like free energy! It’s almost as good as free real estate.

  While she was still inspired, she took a little time for spell research. She didn’t need to rush the cloaking spell for Ash’s mission, as she had many days, but she spent an efficient thirty minutes bumping it up a little more from the two-thirds state she left it in. Chipping away, essentially.

  She shifted back to her last efforts for a level six spell, which was an Abjuration-based damage aura. The basic idea was to protect herself in a radius with continuous, miniature traps, or glyphs. Get too close to the spell goddess, get stung!

  It was too complex, too unique, and too close to her level to finish in one go, but she poured a couple of hours into getting it rolling, working through initial kinks, and pushing it to over two-thirds complete. At that point, she exhausted any efficiency on the effort.

  Her next task was scouting out Itha Ranon finally, which she shifted to the spirit realm to do for the initial efforts.

  The planetary-associated location was rather easy to get to, still having a referential connection to Geirkos’s vague proto-realm, which had maybe been filled out very, very slightly since she’d first explored it. [Deific Pneumamancy] indicated this was her doing from her divine activities in general.

  The island was nonetheless far more distinct. She could fully ‘go’ there, like a pocket realm. It had density and gravity to it. However, it was incredibly hostile, basically coated with the spiritual equivalent of bright warning colors screaming ‘Stay the fuck out!’

  Her urge to defy it and barrel right in was strong, but Azure and her realm as a whole would throw an absolute shit fit if she did, so she stuck to the game plan of just being a girly girl scout scouting only and not being a decisive goddess that did whatever she wanted.

  Stupid fuddy duddies. I bet I’d be fine if I barged in. I’m super powerful here, after all. Her brain forced her to remember the archer, though, thus betraying its owner's hubris and giving her some personal-level pause. She was great — World Class — in the ‘wild, wild west’ of Limbo, not necessarily so great in the realms of others.

  Sammy probed the realm from afar, extending her senses as well as utilizing ad hoc informational spells by way of [Pneumamancer].

  Ghosts. That was what she got. Lots of ghosts haunting the ruins. And they were not just fragmented spirits as she would’ve thought, either. They were mortal spirits with Fate Ties. Ties like strings that wound down, down, down into the deep off the shores of the surface. Deeper than merely the ocean. It was into an underworld, and what she gleaned to be some sort of Afterlife.

  A mad power resided there, what had to be the king. And more.

  A god.

  Peas be-leaf me, I can't stop punning!

  Next Chapter...

  Meeting a new, interesting fellow.

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