Abyssal Road Trip

Amdirlain’s PoV - Outlands - Outpost of the Monastery of the Western Reaches

Amdirlain crossed the fifty metres to the closest sparring area without looking back at the audience taking their seats. However, Master Payam waited until all his students, along with Master Lu and Sarah, had selected seats before he followed Amdirlain through the blue barrier. His pause had given Amdirlain time to move a couple hundred metres inside the barrier, and she turned to face him as he crossed the distance between them.

“You glide at a smooth pace even when walking,” commented Payam as he reached a conversational distance again. “You have an impressive amount of physical control, Lady Am.”

“I’ve faced some challenges, but walking is no longer one of them,” replied Amdirlain.

Payam tilted his head in confusion at her phrasing. “You’ve had trouble walking?”

“No, I had trouble with how I walked. It was too inviting for some individuals,” clarified Amdirlain. “There is nothing to be concerned about now.”

“I have more self-control than to be influenced merely by how a lady walks,” replied Payam. “I would have fought you closer to the barrier, as I’m not sure what they’ll make out this distance away.”

“I created the platforms to provide the audience with a perfect view of events,” reassured Amdirlain. “Even if we’re at the far reaches of the sparring arena, we’ll seem barely five metres away to them.”

Payam gave her a bow with one hand covering a fist before him, and Amdirlain returned the gesture, not taking her gaze from him. “You are not fighting with your eyes closed this time?”

“I’m concerned some might find it mocking, and I’m trying to pay more attention to local etiquette,” explained Amdirlain, her hands relaxed at her sides.

Stillness weighed the distance between them, and Payam’s brows furrowed; his bushy eyebrows seemed to blend into an unbroken line. His mix of patience and curiosity was clear, but Amdirlain didn’t move.

After a few minutes, Payam snorted. “Master Cyrus told me tales about elves; I might as well try to wait out a tree.”

Amdirlain appeared beside him, and Payam’s gaze widened, but he didn’t hesitate to fling himself into a roll backward, away from a flurry of punches aimed at his chest and face. He rose into a long stance from his roll, only to find her right before him. A grab snatched at her sleeve, and the shadow vines retracted, leaving Amdirlain in a sleeveless tunic and skin-tight pants. With his fingers grasping only empty air, Amdirlain took his hand in a dance-like motion and spun inwards. Face to face, she grabbed the front of his robes, and before Payam could slip free, Amdirlain threw herself backwards into a roll and thrust out with her legs.

As her legs straightened, Amdirlain released him and sent a struggling Payam sailing. Fully airborne, Payam contorted, and Amdirlain heard his Ki State surge with Air Mana to help Ki Movement halt his tumble. Stabilised, he spun to face her, standing sideways in midair and flung his hand forward. An arc of eight long knives raced out from his palm, and Amdirlain sidestepped the one aimed directly at her and bent backwards beneath the invisible wire of Ki that joined the line of them.

A Ki Blast technique.

Once the wire passed over her, Amdirlain bent further into a handstand and rose three body lengths, her head still pointing towards the ground. A thought had her dangling shoulder-length hair transformed into a bare scalp. Though they were airborne, Payam rotated his position to face her, his feet orienting relative to the ground. The lack of tension from either airborne position spoke of a feigned weakness. As they repositioned, the flung blades finally struck the distant barrier, which soaked them up without strain and fed the energy into the crystal anchors.

The air blurred around him, and notes within his Ki rang out as Payam surged directly at her. Though her mind could follow every millisecond, her body responded too slowly, and she made the wrong choice. The momentum of Ki Movement was a hurricane of force that added to the initial strike, and Amdirlain felt the impact even through her Ki State. The punch’s energy grounded in her chest, bypassing the armouring Ki, and Pain Eater reported tiny fractures in her sternum. Having shed the momentum into the first blow, his follow-up elbow strike didn’t have the same strength, and Amdirlain slipped away from it to take advantage of his feet braced in midair. As the point of his elbow glanced off her cheekbone, Amdirlain trip-hammered punches into his floating ribs. The first cancelled the last of his forward motion, and the second sent him spinning.

I should have been moving instead of holding still. I still need to embrace that lesson properly. Was that the Ki Movement technique that progresses towards Sword Light or something else?

Her mind was working overtime, as it far outpaced her physical motions, and Amdirlain’s mental control over her Ki Flight flitted her alongside Payam. When her next attack struck, he let himself tumble and the vicious knee strike to his ribs was as effective as shooing at a leaf on the wind. The energy added to his dragon tail kick that came back at her head, but Amdirlain let herself drop. He twisted in midair and fell with her, the same foot leading the way in an attempted axe kick. With her aerial motions fully under mental control, his attacks remained too slow. Her shifting position kept her beyond his reach each time, even when he charged through the air again.

Payam landed first with his hands raised defensively, and Amdirlain positioned herself across from him but didn’t quite touch the ground.

“You’re dazzlingly quick, but there is a barely detectable stutter in your grace ‌as if your mind is faster than your body,” Payam observed. “It is best to be balanced and act without conscious thought.”

“That ideal isn’t always possible,” countered Amdirlain.

“True, but with you, there is a massive difference between your body’s movements and your control over Ki Flight,” noted Payam. “Shall we keep to the ground?”

“It’s your sparring session, Master Payam,” said Amdirlain.

“Then let us keep ourselves to the ground, Lady Am,” replied Payam. “Even with the wind heightening my rush, you could always flow away in time, which does neither of us good in improving our arts.”

“Your intent made the moment of decision clear,” explained Amdirlain. “I would move even as your attack launched.”

Payan frowned and huffed thoughtfully. “My focus gave me away?”

Amdirlain nodded.

“Then I shall endeavour to improve,” said Payam. Ki entered his Ki State, expanding it to sit outside his clothing and he flowed towards her.

Rather than evading directly, Amdirlain moved in and sought to counter or block his attacks. Amdirlain restrained her Resonance and, without its predictive insights, the advantage between the pair slipped back. Without the rush attack backing his blows, each had a speed she could manage, and those sly attacks that seemed ready to slip through gaps slid off her Ki State without coming close to breaching its protection again. As they exchanged blows and counters, a relaxed state settled over Amdirlain, and intuitively guided by Harmony, she flowed in time to Master Payam’s unheard tempo.

While Master Payam shifted smoothly from one style to another, Amdirlain’s style remained erratically inconsistent. Strikes and kicks he used against her slowly appeared within her fighting style, executed with a crispness as though she had used them for years. As Amdirlain sunk deeper into Harmony’s meditative state, more techniques became incorporated into her style.

Amid a rain of blows from Payam, she slipped a front kick in, sending him hurtling away. Amdirlain raced with him and slipped through his defences again while he attempted to recover. The momentum of her flowing motions transmitted through the hip throw; in midair he tried to shove away, but Amdirlain adjusted and drove him into the ground. Stone cracked under the force, and Payam’s projected armour shattered. As the helm dissipated, Amdirlain’s fist pistoned down and gently brushed his Adam’s apple. Payam slapped the ground to concede the point.

Amdirlain glided back to allow Payam to regain his feet. By the time he was upright, the cracked floor was flawless again.

Settled in a loose stance, Payam gave her a wary look. “You are stronger than you look, Lady Am.”

“Something to allow for,” said Amdirlain.

“There are techniques to handle foes stronger than you,” confirmed Payam. “You’ve not used any of the shapeshifting Master Cyrus mentioned.”

“I only use that when I’m intending to kill someone,” said Amdirlain, and she touched her bald scalp. “Other than getting rid of unnecessary hand holds.”

“Most don’t consider their vanity unnecessary,” replied Payam, and he motioned to his beard.

“My choice of appearance is vanity enough,” chuckled Amdirlain. “I could as easily look like a plain individual, but I normally adopt forms I’d find pleasing to the eye. Has your Ki State recovered?”

“It has,” admitted Payam. “I wondered why you were giving me time.”

Amdirlain motioned for him to come at her, and he was happy to oblige.

Her swirling motions provided a distracting background of false openings that encouraged him to spend energy or disrupt his attacks even as she launched counters. Payam’s reactions to her manoeuvres continued to adapt, his strikes increasing in precision, and his transitions between styles quickened under pressure. However, his attempts to pin her or use pain reactions to incapacitate her remained fruitless. Though the advantage shifted back and forth between them, Amdirlain dominated most of the exchanges. As the session’s end chimes sang across the mountain, Amdirlain huffed in disappointment.

“It’s already that time.”

Master Payam stepped back and bowed stiffly from healing injuries. “I appreciate you didn’t dance around me again, Lady Am. I found our session very insightful and appreciate your time today. You’ve given me much to meditate on and practice.”

[Harmony [G] (17->18)

Ki State [S] (120->121)

Devouring Cacophony [G] (1->4)

Muse’s Insight [S] (109->111)

Perception [S] (145->146)]

What was Harmony doing?

“I also found the session insightful,” said Amdirlain, and she gave him a fractionally deeper bow.

Payam’s brows lifted in slight disapproval. “I believe you might be mistaken about our relative seniority. I’m not an Immortal.”

“We sparred because of your job request, and doing so also provided me insights,” countered Amdirlain. “Please accept it as a gesture of appreciation and respect for what I learned.”

“This once,” grumbled Payam.

His calm expression was in place when they turned back towards the students and headed towards the entrance. Sarah dropped to the ground from the second level and waited while the students and Master Lu descended the stairs.

“Master Payam, you appear to have had an enjoyable session,” said Sarah.

“Indeed I did,” replied Payam. “Your disguise is excellent, Grandmaster Artificer Sarah. I’ve spoken to dragons many times, and there was always something about them that revealed their difference, yet I didn’t sense that from you.”

“I’ve had a few lifetimes as a Human. This makes it easy to present myself convincingly as one in this life,” advised Sarah.

Payam nodded in understanding. “Perhaps so, but not all can embrace the lessons from past lives. Would you be open to having tea together?”

“I look forward to your invitation,” replied Sarah. “Master Kadaklan advised us you are married. Would we be able to meet your wife as well?”

I’m pretty sure Payam was including me, but it doesn’t hurt to be sure.

“Of course,” confirmed Payam. “The invitation will come from her when it’s the correct time. Unfortunately, I’m hopeless at properly balancing such things.”

“Thank you for your time today,” said Amdirlain. “I hope you found it worthy of your request.”

Payam chuckled, dipped into a pouch at his waist, and offered Amdirlain a folded paper. “I already had my confirmation written and chop placed, as I was sure you wouldn’t disappoint.”

Amdirlain took the paper and tucked it away without looking at it. “If you wish to spar again, just send word, and we can arrange something. There is no need to go through a duty pavilion job, as we both benefit.”

“When you come over, please don’t bow so deeply. My wife will never let me hear the end of such an excessive gesture,” murmured Payam, his words audible to only Sarah and Amdirlain.

“I’ll behave,” reassured Amdirlain.

‘Badly?’ projected Sarah.

Payam turned back to Sarah. “Do you provide her reminders on such matters as my wife does for me?”

‘Looks like I’ve not fooled him either,’ returned Amdirlain.

“Am decides her path. I merely support her as best I can,” Sarah replied.

“The best Dao mates always take such an approach,” said Payam.

“I thought Dao mate was a term used for student flings,” said Amdirlain.

Payam chuckled. “I take it Kli is your source for that understanding. I can’t imagine Master Cyrus or Master Livia discussing such with you.”

He might be surprised at what Livia will discuss with me.

“Kli is passionate,” Amdirlain noted blandly.

“The best Dao mates walk their path beside you without expecting change from you. You can trust them to hold up a mirror that shows your true self, but let you find your own answers,” clarified Payam.

“To be true to oneself is to walk your Dao to the best of one's ability,” said Amdirlain.

Payam nodded. “It is easy to get lost in executing actions related to one’s Dao rather than embracing its fullness. Merely following a routine composed of suitable actions isn’t enough, but such a trap has made fools of many. It helps to have someone close who knows when to prompt you to step back and reexamine your pursuits.”

“Your etiquette and references have many layers of meanings that I’ll have to learn,” said Amdirlain.

“Life isn’t something one learns from a distance, and customs sometimes take immersion to appreciate fully,” said Payam. “I spent decades in the East Wind’s Court surrounded by my wife’s family. Let me just say that by the end of our time there, they’d ironed out my etiquette.”

“Did one of her parents take you under their wing?”

Payam smiled. “Not directly. Sometimes it takes observing parents instructing children to see the layers build. Though I’d catch her mother glancing at me when particular lessons were being conveyed to the grandchildren.”

“The question is, did she know you’d caught her looking?” inquired Sarah.

“Don’t mothers have an uncanny sixth sense about such things?” Payam rejoined with a laugh. “As soon as my students are all in order, we’ll be on our way.”

Amdirlain stepped back and let Master Payam sort the students out. While she waited, her outfit resumed its original layered appearance, reminiscent of the monastery’s Persian style, but in dark green.

Jinfeng turned to Sarah first and exchanged bows before addressing Amdirlain. “I look forward to our sparring this afternoon, Lady Am. I saw you adapting to Master Payam through the lesson, but I doubt I’ll press you.”

“I look forward to it as well, Master Lu,” said Amdirlain. “Insights can be found in many places. Would you like to use the facilities here, or should I come to your hall?”

“If you’d please host,” replied Jinfeng. “You have considerable space here, and the enchantments on the viewing platforms are remarkable. Might I also have the privilege of bringing some observers along? My students from the martial pavilion would find your unique style insightful.”

“Was observing the exchange of pointers beneficial to you?” inquired Amdirlain.

Jinfeng nodded respectfully. “It was indeed, Lady Am.”

“That’s good. Then I shall see you and any observers you care to bring this afternoon,” acknowledged Amdirlain.

With a last exchange of pleasantries, they departed. Sarah nudged the door shut as the students exited the courtyard.

“That was fun,” said Amdirlain.

“You always look like a dervish whirlwind to me,” said Sarah. “It looked like you took a solid hit during your initial exchange, but after that slipped the blows that landed off.”

“No, he whacked me pretty good at other times, but his rush attack transferred momentum through the punch,” replied Amdirlain. “I learned a lot from sparring with him.”

“From the glee in his mind, you weren’t the only one,” offered Sarah.

Amdirlain shrugged. “Muse’s Insight gained a couple of levels, so I was certainly inspiring him.”

“Did you intend to do that?”

“No,” admitted Amdirlain. “I think it’s a bit like Femme Fatale because it has a passive component that is always operating. However, I won’t complain as I’m not constantly projecting sensuality. I’ll have to experiment and see how far I can help someone improve with it. Did you have a pleasant chat with Lu Jinfeng?”

“You weren’t listening in?”

“No,” replied Amdirlain, turning Resonance back on and unfurling it fully. It encompassed the mountain and all of Livia’s Domain, and Amdirlain noted the few petitioners and archons. The archons’ age made it clear the Domain’s wellspring wasn’t responsible for their appearance.

Has Ebusuku or someone else helped with recruitment? Do I ask or keep my nose out?

“I had Resonance turned off, and increased Harmony and Perception,” continued Amdirlain. “I think I caught a sense of his Ki the way Jinfeng commented about you.”

“We spoke about that,” commented Sarah. “Ki is the energy of life, and since dragons are so...”

“Robust?” interjected Amdirlain. “Large? Hefty?”

“That hole you’re digging is getting pretty deep,” grumbled Sarah playfully.

Amdirlain grinned and tapped her foot. “It feels pretty flat here. Do you need more equipment in either of your workshops?”

With a roll of her eyes, Sarah motioned to the nearest unused space. “You can always set up your obstacle course if you want something to do. Restless children need a large playpen.”

“Playpen indeed,” huffed Amdirlain. “Though speaking of them, I created a large space for mating flights and got more levels out of it.”

“That’s getting ahead of yourself,” said Sarah. “We don’t even know when any dragons will arrive.”

“I wanted something to stretch my True Song, but it still wasn’t enough of a challenge,” admitted Amdirlain. “My next project might have to be a hollow-Earth type Demi-Plane.”

“How large a space did you set up for the mating flights?” asked Sarah.

“Hemisphere, the base has a ten thousand kilometres diameter split up by eight mountain ranges from a central spoke,” advised Amdirlain. “I packed it full of different biomes in a balanced state and got another eleven levels.”

Sarah frowned. “How is your True Form doing with all your level increases?”

“I don’t look so pretty anymore,” admitted Amdirlain, her mouth twisted at the sour notes of her concealed form.

“You said your skin is now scarred and melted,” Sarah said. “Don’t expect scar tissue to dissuade me.”

“Yeah, that was just the start. It has changed further,” clarified Amdirlain. “The form’s posture has changed, and my body’s changing, elongated fingers, etc.”

“Etc, can cover a lot.”

“Bristles,” huffed Amdirlain. “Well, more like spines.”

“Are you up to showing someone?”

Amdirlain shrugged. “I hadn’t planned to show anyone.”

“Does it feel like something you must hide?” asked Sarah.

“I don’t know, I’ve always been good at ignoring the price I need to pay for my goals,” admitted Amdirlain. “It’s easier to ignore it than deal with it, but that got me in trouble last time. Let’s hop over to a Demi-Plane, and we can play doctors and nurses.”

Sarah snorted in disbelief. “You told me not to flirt with you, and now you’re offering to play that game. There will be consequences.”

“I didn’t think you ever played doctors and nurses,” remarked Amdirlain.

“I didn’t, but if it involves checking your temperature, that’s fine with me,” purred Sarah playfully.

Amdirlain lifted an eyebrow. “That sounded so bad.”

“I don’t have any smooth pick up lines for you,” Sarah replied with a tiny shrug. “You’re too important to me, and they all sound too trite. I’ll stick with the lines I know you’ll find funny.”

“That’s more flattering than the smoothest line,” said Amdirlain. “I’ve got Cyrus here after lunch, so do I show you now or wait until after Master Ju’s training session this afternoon?”

“Is it bothering you?” asked Sarah.

Amdirlain clenched her hand as it lifted to scrub at her hair. “Unconscious cues are a bit of a giveaway, so I’d say yes.”

“What’s your new form got to do with your hair?”

“Easier to show you,” admitted Amdirlain. “Ready to go?”

Sarah gave a sharp nod, and Amdirlain’s Planar Shift delivered them back to the large Demi-Plane she’d recently made. Their arrival point was on a beach positioned towards its outer edge and the ocean. The Radiant orb positioned just below the uppermost curve of the hemisphere’s dome, and the trees’ shadows stretched across the beach into the waters.

“No waves,” critiqued Sarah after she’d looked around.

“No moon,” rebuffed Amdirlain, and she snorted at Sarah’s dry look. “Fine, I’ll add a wave machine effect. Happy?”

“You don’t go to the beach for a glassy ocean, you go to the beach for waves,” declared Sarah. “Even dragons go to the beach for waves—the salt water is good at scouring grime from your hide.”

“The things I’m learning, hide hygiene for dragons,” sighed Amdirlain. “What’s next?”

“I think lots of fussy Human etiquette,” replied Sarah.

Amdirlain snorted and waved Sarah off. “You can’t give me that. I know some dragons are far worse.”

“Yes, but an upset Dragon will look to eat you. Someone trying to kill you for not including all their titles is a little different from someone just getting their nose out of joint and snubbing you at the banquet table,” countered Sarah.

“So, by your reckoning, the threat level elevates it from mere fussy behaviour?” asked Amdirlain.

“Indeed,” agreed Sarah. “Anyway, time to show me what you’ve been hiding, Am.”

Inventory drew in her clothing, and Amdirlain transformed, growing to nearly eighteen metres in height, but her hunched-over posture robbed her of several metres. Though her azure blue hair was still present, it was now a lifeless colour, with sections missing and others protruding oddly from her scalp because of growths underneath them. The base of Amdirlain’s original wings had extended, turning a simple socket joint into a broad-based hinge joint that ran down a third of her back. Extending from that base, what had once been the bone ridge of a wing had become a spectral translucent flame. The wings retained their mix of angry red and golden flames, but now emitted clouds of foul-smelling soot.

The muscles around the wing’s base contoured her spine, aggravating the hunched posture of her upper body. Her shoulders and hip had broadened disproportionally, and the hip shift further exaggerated the angle the hunch had placed on her back. Patches of skin across her body had ruptured, and layers of jagged spines jutted out from the inflamed openings. The sharp angularity of her cheekbones blurred into a flattened muzzle formed from hardened plates, and her teeth were now merged into a solid serrated ridgeline.

Her fingers were double the length they should have been in proportion to her palms, and the last third of each finger was a hooked talon. The previously isolated patches of melted skin were now a solid sheet of scars from beneath her chin to nearly her ankles. It gave the appearance that melted wax had been poured down her body, and it pressed tight across thousands of spikes, highlighting those that hadn’t yet breached her skin. The strangest change was the six-metre-long prehensile tail that had extended from her lower back, more spines showing beneath its still bubbling skin.

Concern rather than revulsion sang through Sarah, and Amdirlain felt a knot of tension ease from her guts.

“Sections of your hair are falling out,” observed Sarah. “That might be why you’ve been scrubbing at your scalp. Your various stress factors might have helped guide this change.”

“Do you think I’ve got a self-actualisation issue going on?” asked Amdirlain, tapping a large section of spines jutting from her stomach. “These spines are coming out of my scalp, and the ones furthest along are where my hair has fallen out. The buds are close to breaking through.”

I once told Torm I hoped to keep the hair colour, but I’ll also lose it.

“Mind if I examine some of them?” asked Sarah.

“They’re hollow,” said Amdirlain. “But knock yourself out.”

Sarah’s eyebrows rose. “Hollow, like in a bird’s feather? Aside from the enlarged base, your wings are just this impression of flames now, yet you’re sprouting feathers?”

“I don’t know what I’m sprouting,” groaned Amdirlain. “They remind me of the spikes that used to hold down the statues in the lake.”

The concern evident in Sarah’s theme deepened as she approached. She lightly touched a spike extending from Amdirlain’s outer thigh, and her nose twitched as she studied its end.

Kadaklan is right, I’m a freak.

“The scent reminds you of something,” noted Amdirlain.

“Flames like Kadaklan’s Phoenix form,” replied Sarah. “They look like the inside of bird feathers. Your sigil might have influenced your True Form.”

“Phoenixes don’t have forelimbs,” argued Amdirlain, clicking her talons together.

The noise had Sarah releasing the spike she’d been examining, and she glanced up. “Am I making you uncomfortable?”

Amdirlain shrugged, and the motion sent up a wave of soot. “Thoughts?”

“I wonder if your tail will continue to lengthen. At present, you look like a moulted fledgling, scales trying to extend from their sheathes,” commented Sarah, and the term shuddered through Amdirlain. “Problem?”

“The hags used that term,” advised Amdirlain. “The issue with perfect memory is that things can prompt unpleasant recollections.”

“Oh,” groaned Sarah, fists clenching until her knuckles went white. “I’ll avoid it in the future. That is one bitch I’d like to end, scheming with Viper to destroy you.”

Glad for a change in topic, Amdirlain shared more details of the plans she’d kept to herself. “Atonement will screw her up.”

“What?” asked Sarah, stepping far enough back to see Amdirlain’s face easily. “I thought it was for dealing with the damned going to the Abyss.”

A predatory gleam appeared in Amdirlain’s gaze. “She’s gaining power because of the false and faithless going to her realm. They’ll go instead to Atonement once I’ve got it working properly.”

“According to the accords, her servants take them all from Judgement,” said Sarah. “Are you going to intercept them on the way to her Domain?”

“They have to get to Judgement first, in a state that deems them worthy of her,” countered Amdirlain. “Because of the intrinsic nature of the Astral Plane, I’ve got some flexibility in what I can do. Initially, once I open the first astral pools, it will draw in the damned heading to the Abyss that realised the foulness of the lives they lived and just failed to make amends. Once we get their treatment sorted out, secondary pools will open, allowing me to draw in souls being routed from the Astral Plane to Judgement that originated on Vehtë.”

“So you’re not breaking the accords. You’re just intercepting them?” questioned Sarah.

“The result won’t be just intercepting them. I’ll release them once they’ve made amends so they can continue their journey to Judgement,” replied Amdirlain. “The only thing is, they won’t get to Vehtë’s region because their last life won’t have been on Vehtë. So sad, too bad. Nor will they arrive in a state considered suitable for her collection. They’ll either have atoned or been reset.”

“And stymie her continued power growth,” Sarah hummed thoughtfully. “That’s an interesting plan, and I hope you intend to test the details. How can you pull it off without her detecting the issue?”

“The pools will be conditional. If someone follows a Soul and isn’t suitable for Atonement they’ll find themselves in the Outlands,” clarified Amdirlain.

“You’re playing games with the planar framework,” cautioned Sarah. “That could go sideways.”

“Not games, merely some dimensional fun. The pool will allow anyone to use it, but if they’re not meant to be in Atonement, then the pool’s event horizon will feed them straight into the Outlands pool,” said Amdirlain.

“How?” asked Sarah.

“I’ve picked up some dimensional tricks that will handle the routing. They enter the Plane out of phase with the physical dimension, so they can’t even sense it. Then they’ll slingshot straight to one of the normal exits.”

“That’s something you’re going to want to test out thoroughly,” advised Sarah.

Amdirlain re-assumed her Wood Elf form, and her dark silk robes enfolded her form again. “I’ll be testing it with demons and other inhabitants of the lower planes, plus celestials and maybe a Fallen or twelve before I activate it. I plan to have the entry point bristling with our towers, so anything that phases in and shouldn’t be there will not have a fun time.”

A quick melody eliminated the lingering stench and soot released by her wings.

“Is your True Form uncomfortable at all?” asked Sarah.

“No, it’s not physically uncomfortable, and it could be worse,” replied Amdirlain.

Sarah’s gaze narrowed suspiciously. “How?”

“I could still be a Succubus or have evolved into a Brood Mother,” offered Amdirlain.

At the last suggestion, Sarah made a gagging sound.

“Exactly. I’m not birthing a few hundred succubi at a time. It is what it is, and I can’t change it,” Amdirlain shrugged. “Since I’ve not gotten enough levels for Empress Malfex yet, I can’t halt it. So, in for a penny, in for a pound, let’s see how weird I look by the end.”

“What are you planning to do?”

“Escalate my levelling,” replied Amdirlain. “I will see if I can set up a Demi-Plane like a hollow Earth tonight. For as long as it takes, I’ll train my Monk skills during the day and True Song and level at night. I need to figure out how to push my Quickness higher, maybe a quickness-based Combat Class that synergises with Monk. Ki Strike allows me to breach armour, so raw Strength isn’t as important.”

“I heard Payam’s comment about balance,” said Sarah.

Amdirlain smiled grimly. “Right now, my body can’t keep up with my brain.”

“You’d need a Scout Class or maybe something like Duelist,” advised Sarah. “There is an Arcane Duelist you’d qualify for, but the other option is to drop your free points into Quickness instead of Willpower. You’ve continued to level Olindë?”

“Yes,” sighed Amdirlain. “But Willpower is important for Phoenix’s Rapture and many other powers and skills I rely on. I can feel the difference in them whenever it increases.”

“Maybe level up Ascetic Triumvirate since it gives you Willpower and Intelligence, then drop its free points into Quickness,” proposed Sarah. “Though the amount of free points you get from Olindë outstrips it.”

“What do you think, level 400 in everything?”

Sarah’s disgusted snort matched the hard look in her eyes. “Really? Are you joking right now?”

“True, 500,” laughed Amdirlain. “I’m going to need it high if I want Grand Empress instead of Empress.”

“Can I strangle you?” huffed Sarah. “I hope the next one Gideon offers is ‘Grand Poobah’ if you do that.”

“Our mutual friend advised me that the experience increases would reach a point where they’ll seem exponential compared to my current ones,” noted Amdirlain. “That sounds more like a challenge than an impossibility.”

“109,848,754,651,136,000,000,000,” Sarah rattled off the number in one breath.

“Excuse me?” laughed Amdirlain. “Do you want to not shorthand your explanation?”

“That’s the total accumulated experience you need to get to level 415,” proclaimed Sarah, giving a mock glare. “And it takes 10,298,320,748,544,000,000,000 just to get from the previous level, 414, to 415. Does the sheer ridiculousness of that number turn you off?”

“Well, now,” gushed Amdirlain, deliberately poking Sarah’s frustration. “It seems like I should push Analysis to get some information for goals. I hadn’t asked for the experience requirements beyond level 380 since I hadn’t intended to push any Class beyond that level.”

Sarah’s mock glare turned stern. “I remember you blowing up multiple weekends and evenings grinding away at that South Korean game with the level soft cap. You almost missed out on a girls’ night out.”

“I told him I could reach level 61 in two months and did it in one,” protested Amdirlain. “Stupid arse didn’t know how to grind efficiently and called me a liar. But that hardly matters now. What matters is that I got level increases in True Song and other items from singing this place into existence.”

“While I don’t believe you’d need to get to that level to crush Balnérith, I fully support developing your powers and skills,” sighed Sarah. “Try to ensure you’re doing a variety of things, not just continually going into mass production mode. Payam spoke about getting lost in the actions of one’s Dao and not seeing the whole. It might be advice for a Dao, but it applies to getting proper insights to advance powers and skills.”

“With a hollow-earth style Demi-Plane, I could set up regional controls and then avoid having to do thousands of demi-planes for Qil Tris,” offered Amdirlain. “Then I could return to my projects to restore life to those planets sooner.”

Sarah’s glare evaporated. Stepping close, she affectionately kissed Amdirlain’s cheek. “And there is your happy glow.”

“Speaking of cheerful things, I almost forgot to mention this to you,” said Amdirlain. “I remembered a life where you were a singer and a living vampire.”

“Oh shit,” groaned Sarah, raising a hand to cover her eyes.

“You were such a goth boy,” giggled Amdirlain. “I remember your mum spotting one of your dominatrix outfits and thinking you were going goth. That was so funny, especially since she thought all goths were devil worshipers.”

Though laughter bubbled in Sarah’s theme, she put her hands on her hips, and the glare returned. “She looked like she was going to have kittens, and you didn’t help.”

Amdirlain burst out laughing. “Your mum was cool. After that conversation, she took finding out you were a dominatrix almost calmly.”

“Groupie,” snorted Sarah.

“Huh?”

“Your Soul was in a vampire girl groupie.”

“She wasn’t a groupie,” protested Amdirlain. “She was security and his mate.”

“His mate because she was pregnant, but they used their loyal groupies for security,” corrected Sarah. “Groupie.”

The conviction in Sarah’s tone had Amdirlain scrubbing at her hair. “That I didn’t pick up. I guess it’s a matter of perspective. I will find a life that I get to tease you about.”

“The advantage of so many memories is that they let me put embarrassing events into perspective,” argued Sarah, gently catching Amdirlain’s hands. “Good luck finding a life’s memories at random that I’ll find embarrassing. I think it's unlikely and will take a more complete examination than sampling random snippets.”

“Is that supposed to be a challenge?”

Sarah grinned broadly. “Statement of fact, sweetie.”

Klipyl advised the chief’s son to build intimacy. Do I need to build up to the idea that anyone would want me for me? I had trouble with Torm and didn’t believe anyone would love me.

Amdirlain kissed Sarah’s cheek. “Challenge accepted. Now, we’d better get back. Master Cyrus is pretty punctual.”

“Do you mind if I stay for a bit to fly?” asked Sarah.

“No worries, it is bigger than your Demi-Plane. Though you’ll have to complete the survey for these honeymoon suites,” quipped Amdirlain before she vanished.