Beyond?

“Many are saying that the emperor is a genetic regression to a former evolutionary state of our people. But if that's true, then why are his powers so far beyond us? Did something happen in our past, which caused our people to lose their magical abilities?

If that's the case, then this event must've taken place thousands of years ago. Right now the population of magicians within Nict is growing, but we can't tell for certain if the emperor's arrival has anything to do with it.”

-Old research document.

***Free City States of Nict, Capital***

***Azir***

“I hate you, Azir! It's your fault.” Stella is in her bed and complaining about me. To be more accurate, she is complaining about everything recently, about me, the world, her life, even herself. Maybe her hormones are running rampant or something like that. I hand her today's breakfast, which is very substantial.

Cooked eggs, with shells, bread, a bowl of diced vegetables and fruits, a sausage, beans with tomato sauce and a collection from yesterday's leftovers.

“To think that there are two! I'll bloat up like a whale! You'll still love me Azir, right? Despite how I look? You know that I love you? It doesn't matter to me that you are a little strange in the head... and a mass murderer. I don't understand how anyone could place so little value on a life.”

She continues to ramble on, stuffing herself with the food. Yesterday she mustered her courage to take a look at the babies, yes plural. Of course it's no surprise to me.

I know of them since I could discern between the two embryos with my mana sight. I've simply no luck at all when it comes to matters like this. At least the poison doesn't seem to affect my ability to sense mana. The opposite is the case. Since the control over any mana escapes my grasp, I can fully concentrate on my senses. It's similar to secluding yourself from the world by using the mana stream. Maybe poisoning myself with small amounts of manatite is a good training exercise.

I would do it if there wouldn't be the issue with disabling your control over mana. At least the manatite has no permanent effects. I am not happy to train myself by entering a vortex of energy and radiation.

I return my attention to Stella, who is still drowning in self pity. She thought that there was only one child. Apparently laying two eggs is a really rare event for a woman of our species. It only happens once every three hundred pregnancies. The problem is that having two eggs in her belly is very straining on a woman's body. She has to avoid straining activities during the last two months of her pregnancy. And then there is the issue with the size and the increased appetite. “Don't worry, I love you for who you are.”

“Really?” Her expression turns a little more relaxed, but then she focuses on the mechanical arm at her bedside. “Why are you feeding me with that? It's like you are trying to keep your distance!”

“Dear, your had a few very unreasonable mood-swings recently. I am just taking precautions. After all I am without magic at the moment! To say that I am the weak gender was never as true as it is right now.

Don't let it out on your helping hand. Isn't the robot arm really helpful? It helps you into your wheelchair and holds the books which you are reading.” I step a little closer and pat her head since it doesn't seem to be dangerous right now. “I'll even have a floating deckchair ready for you tomorrow.”

What can I do besides building stuff when I have no magic. Though building machines is troublesome when you can't melt iron with a spell, or bend it into the proper shape with a thought. This poison is really annoying. I feel like being thrown back in time. At least I have Ivy to help me out.

Stella grabs my hand and rubs it against her cheek. “I wouldn't be able to take this without you! You can't imagine how horrible it is to be grounded like this. And to think that there are still almost two months left!”

“You can still cast gravitation magic to float around. It's not like you have to lie absolutely still, so you are better off than someone from the normal townsfolk. I don't understand why you don't want to go outside. It's no shame to be pregnant, imagine yourself as a balloon and simply float where you want to go. Of course you should find proper clothing before you attempt something like that.” I try to calm her down, but somehow I achieve the opposite effect.

“A b- b- b- balloon!? So I am fat after all!” Tears well up in her eyes and I sigh. I wasn't aware that she is that concerned about her outer appearance.

But on the other hand... she has lived her whole life with the ability to change everything about her appearance on a whim. She likes to play with her hair and her eye colour. I never saw her choosing clothing which fits her, she simply changes her sizes according to the dress she likes! That's why she always looks perfect, even when she uses dresses which don't belong to her.

Telling someone with such an ability to do nothing about the big, unwieldy belly is like cutting off an arm. “You will do fine. It's just a short time and then you can change your body all you want.”

A woman's pregnancy lasts only four months in this world. After the eggs are laid, it takes them another three to five months until they hatch. The times always vary a little according to temperature and humidity.

“What about our guests? Are they really doing nothing stupid, like trying to convert our population to their belief?” Stella asks about Leon and Giana, who were allowed to visit our capital. Strangely enough they acted very respectful towards us after I roasted the nomads.

In the interest of good relations between our countries Helen invited them to stay in Nict, while their expedition force is returning with a stepper disc to Quinn.

Since I am the only one who can teleport that far without help, we are restricted to the existing network of discs for now. I already instructed my research team to build a big flying transporter, which can carry several discs wherever we want.

This is because I am not eager to teleport blindly to the second continent where we assume our enemy to be.

“They are under permanent surveillance by Ivy and me. So far they haven't done anything offensive. Though they are gathering information about us by talking to the townsfolk and officials.” That sums up their activities up until now. “I think my little doomsday fortress impressed them.”

“And the dagger, what's your judgement on that item? You invested a lot of time in that thing.” Stella asks with an expectant expression.

I would rather like not talking about my failure. The dagger is a frustrating device. “The only thing I can say with certainty is that the creators of the helmet and the dagger were different. Rather than different, it's more accurate to say that the helmet and the dagger are worlds apart in terms of technology.”

“The helmet was a very blunt controlling device for the satellites up in the orbit. It had a few other nice functions besides that, but it in the end it was a standard application of standard technology.

The dagger is a few generations beyond the helmet. If the dagger and the helmet were created by the same culture, then they learned a lot between the creations of those two artefacts. I already consulted Helen about this, but unfortunately her books don't tell her when the Emperor created his artefacts.”

Stella nods. “The Empire existed for several hundred years. Who says that some artefacts weren't overhauled, or exchanged with better performing equipment? There may even be more of the same artefacts for all we know.”

I nod. “It's certainly possible. Anyway, the dagger is a highly miniaturized tool for shifting space with spacial magic. The user turns black because space is warped around him, even sucking up the light. That's causing the misconception that it lets you walk through shadows. It's a very tricky, miniaturized version of the City Gates. I need to build the proper machines and push this world's technology to the same level which allows the creation of the City Gates. Without that I have no chance of analysing the dagger any further.”

“So, how long will it take?” Stella asks.

This question isn't easy to answer. “The people are willing and the knowledge is there, but we have do this step by step. All I can say is that it certainly won't happen fast. Micro magical circuits are delicate stuff and creating the needed machinery is complex. We have to create the tools to create new tools, to create other tools and so forth. This'll take years, though some of the knowledge in the library will certainly help us.”

I reach into my pocket and stroke over the small device inside it. I took my time to repair it since the important parts were undamaged. It's the clock which I brought from my old world and maybe it's the answer to our problems. If I can get it to work properly...

“Stella?”

“Yes?”

“Could I have my hand back now?”

“But it's so warm and it smells good.”

“... stop rubbing please.”

“I don't wanna!”

.