Sworded Affair

Chapter 130: The Social Network

Ten long minutes later, Emma’s got back on her feet; both of them, now that her leg was done regrowing. Noah hadn’t been idle in that time either, and even from the back garden she could hear the hum of fans and the crackling of fat as the oven did its work. The air, too, was pungent with the sharp scent of raw onions, enough to dissuade Emma from swapping back to her homunculus just yet.

[Weave connection established.

You have 3 new messages!]

Instead of heading straight for the kitchen, Emma decided to deal with the mail first of all. Three messages in a day wasn’t much by email standards, but she’d already realised the magical community was a very small part of wider society before the apocalypse, something reflected in the online space too.

“Of course, even with only three messages, one of them is still spam,” Emma huffed, deleting the first message almost immediately after opening it. “Please tell me it doesn't work like that.”

[Basilisk secretions have some limited use in ritual magic, mostly for traditional, druidic traditions. Admittedly, its use has mostly fallen out of fashion, both due to the decline of druidism since the rise of the Roman Republic, and the discovery of other substances that serve the same purpose but are much less dangerous to harvest. That said, it most certainly cannot double the size of someone's snake, but that doesn’t stop men from trying year on year, driven by rumours they should know better than to trust.]

“And here I thought snake oil salesmen were just a metaphor,” Emma shook her head, darkly amused. “At least the other two messages have titles that might be real.”

The first was a fairly standard invitation to the Summer Solstice, addressed to Emma herself. Included were directions to the main event, a map of nearby amenities, and a room number. There was even an FAQ section with some commonly asked questions, one of which caught Emma’s eye.

[That’s a new addition, published only three days ago.]

“Demons really are appearing everywhere,” Emma murmured, scrolling down the list of commonly identified demonic forms, each with a short summary of their appearance, known abilities and overall threat level. “I mean, I knew that already, intellectually, but it’s another matter to see them all laid out in black and white.”

[Thankfully, most of the Empire’s strongholds were outside the big towns and cities, so they remained largely intact. With the entire network dedicated to draining and dispersing ambient mana, it will take a long time before the demons that spawn start growing in level. Long enough for capable humans to get a head start in protecting their interests.]

“It won’t last forever though,” Emma noted. “Sooner or later, every settlement is going to have to be able to deal with big demons, and guns alone aren’t good enough.”

[That’s just how it is. There’s a limit to how hard we can bottle up the mana. It’s a matter of pressure; squeeze too hard, and it all ends with a bang.]

Resisting the urge to make a dirty joke, Emma sent a quick reply confirming receipt of the invitation along with her attendance, before scrolling down to the final message.

“New legislative session, request for proposals?” Emma blinked. “Um, does the Weave still think I’m you? Because I know nothing about the law, magical or otherwise.”

[Then you’ll fit right in.]

“I love democracy,” Emma rasped, doing her best Palpatine impression.

[Jokes aside, the Empire is not an autocracy; there is no single person with absolute power. Major decisions that impact the Empire as a whole are decided between Overmind and myself. Once we reach consensus, our decision is binding. If we cannot reach consensus, Paradox holds a casting vote, and can choose to support either one of us, allowing our view to prevail, or she may abstain, in which case nothing happens and the status quo is maintained. Besides acting as tiebreaker in such instances, Paradox does not participate in the governance of the Empire, preferring to focus her attention on maintaining the timeline.]

“Huh, that’s pretty convoluted; I honestly thought Paradox was at the top of it all. The System calls her the Queen of Hours, and she has the biggest throne of the three of you.”

[Paradox is the strongest of us, but not so powerful that Overmind and I working together would not prevail. She’s also the least bothered in the day-to-day realities of ruling; it turns out that when your power stretches across space and time, to everything that once existed and might one day come into being, there’s more interesting things to look at than trade quotas and marriage contracts.]

“I can believe that,” Emma grimaced. “You still haven’t answered the question though.”

[Hmm? Oh, the request for proposals. Whilst Empire-wide matters are decided at the top, affairs local to a single nation are subject to a degree of self-governance, in the preferred tradition of the land.

In England, that means all resident citizens of the Empire, the six thousand or so recognised as Practitioner or higher, are entitled to voice their opinions and suggestions on the state of the land. The thousand or so who bear the title of Magus can turn these ideas into actionable laws, and propose them to council. The council consists of any Masters who show up for the sitting, twice a year; they choose which proposals to hear, assign them to committees to iron out, before bringing the ones with widespread support to a final vote of the entire council.

It’s not far off how any parliamentary system works, except that the discussions are held in private; there are no observers or television broadcasts here.]

“That sounds mind numbingly boring.”

[They are, and the worst part comes afterwards, when the council sends the most argumentative Masters to bring the proposals that passed to us founders. It was worth dying, just to get out of those meetings and make Overmind take the brunt of them.]

Emma considered that for a long moment, then deleted the message.

[50 EXP gained for an act of wisdom.]

—

Status update

Practitioner Emma Knight - Level 14 Damned Apostle

Anima: 5000

EXP: 7410/8000

Abilities

Summon Unholy Sword {Epitaph} (Cost: 20% current Anima)

Toxovolia: Epitaph can transform into a Bow, firing arrows made of anima. The more anima invested, the more powerful the shot; the arrows can also apply the effects of other Weapon Enhancements.

No Pal of Mine: Capture the souls of the worthy, gaining a simulacrum of equal level to the User. Maximum 1 active per 10 levels, rounding up. 1 hour cooldown when simulacrum is defeated. Captured:

The Leech King, Sir Bearington, Earthbound Immortal, Antipode

Weeping Scar: Wounds inflict periodic poison damage until they are healed.

We’re All Mad Here: The first Wound dealt to an enemy inflicts 1 of 3 Status Conditions (User’s choice).

Angel of Extinction (Cooldown: 12 days): Summon an Angel within line of sight. The Angel is invulnerable and departs after 12 seconds, inflicting Instant Death to anyone who saw it.

Oversoul: Instantly possess the body of a living, lower-level target within the user's line of sight. No component of this ability will activate unless the target can be possessed.

Ephemera (Cost: 1% base Anima /second): Become intangible while active.

Null and Void (Cost: 5% base Anima): Disrupt a spell before casting completes.

Parallel Lives (Cooldown: 1 minute): Swap places with your active Summon.

Return (Cooldown: 24 Hours): Teleport Home. Cooldown resets when Home is in danger.

Traits

Arcanivore: Enemies restore Anima when wounded or slain.

Wolf, Ram and Heart (TOGGLE: ON): When active, attacks are imbued with Death magic, significantly increasing damage and carrying a [Level]% chance of inflicting Instant Death.

One with Everything (Cooldown: 1 hour): If Anima would be reduced to 0, stop at 1.

It's About Time: Immune to Time Magic (ineffective against casters 30+ Levels higher).

Babble Fish+: You are fluent in every language known by the System, with newly encountered languages added retroactively.

Rorschach's Blot: Attempts to observe you remotely produce inaccurate, nonsensical images to those bearing ill-intent towards you. You will be alerted when observation commences.

Home Is Where the Hearth Is - Experience gains are doubled for 1 hour after eating a home-cooked meal.

Divine Conduit (Anathema): ?

Inventory - Eden's Echo A ring containing fifty cubic metres of storage space, capable of instant transfer. Living beings stored are held in stasis and slowly heal. All sapient creatures are less likely to attack the wearer. This item is invisible except to the wearer, who cannot wear other jewellery. Currently contains:

Black Candle: When lit, consumes all nearby light, leaving impenetrable darkness.

Half-Demon Homunculus (Level 1): A body in Emma's original image. Now with extra damnation.

Saddlebag

5050 Thrones

Victorian Gown (3-piece)

Fox (Level 1)

Quests

It’s the Green You Need

Objective: Raise the Potted Hydra until it blooms.

Objective: Convince the Hydra to give Saint a vial of its blood.

Bonus Objective: Form a summoning contract with the Hydra

Reward: A powerful ally from the Age of Myth, Saint’s Divine Item

Bonus Reward: ??