Ruinous Return

The warrior-caste and elder Vehenna arrived with Vael guiding them through the traps. "Good. I want a full catalogue of what is here before we take it back."

The elder nodded and pulled out a scroll, "Of course, my Lady."

Lyn stood next to the elder as the warrior-caste removed the various items from the room. But one of the pieces caught her eye – an ornate choker that seemed to match the armor. "Let me see that," she instructed the man who had picked it up to place into a satchel. He handed it to her reverently, and she looked over it with a critical eye. Ah, a storage inscription. A fairly advanced type of inscription to create, and this one was extremely intricate, because it combined math using Elenthir numbers. I hated math. "Vehenna, your parchment and quill for a moment."

The woman handed them to Lyn, and she did some quick math on the back. Whoever decided storage spells used algebra was a real asshole. First, she had to translate the inscription from Elenthir to English, and then do a complex formula. But, after five minutes of putting her answer back into the equation, she came out with the maximum storage capacity. 125 cubic feet. She handed the parchment back to the elder and put the choker on. The armor seemingly melted away to allow her to affix it.

Let's see what's in here. She diverted the roiling, calm, bubbling mana in her chest into the choker, and felt it respond. Storage external spells created pocket dimensions tied in relative space to the item that activated them – and only the person using the spell could see and interact with the extradimensional space. This one was empty. Disappointing. She let the mana dissipate and the aperture shut.

The remaining fifteen minutes passed and the elder bowed. "My Lady, the coins will require re-counting, but I estimated the total at 15,000 Gold Eagles, and an equal amount of the other currencies."

"Thank you. I want the body enhancing tinctures brought to my chambers. Then, elder, I want you to attend me."

"My Lady?"

"You are the one who treated my wrist injury, correct?"

"Yes, my Lady."

"Good. I plan on utilizing all the body enhancing items as soon as possible. The pain will be excruciating, and I need you to ensure I do not die again. We're doing this as fast as possible."

Vehenna's eyes went wide, but she nodded firmly, "Yes, my Lady. Whatever you decree."

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Lyn left the chamber, flanked by Gael and Vael. "You two will guard my chambers. One inside, one outside, until it is done."

"Sir!" the recruit rode up to Kory.

He turned to the young man. No older than fifteen. His mercenary outfit used recruits to scout the mountains surrounding valley. Kory and fighters mostly stuck to the pass leading into the dark forest surrounding the dread fortress. "Report!" He shouted, channeling years of leading armies and his father's military-household upbringing into his tone.

"Sir! I spotted a man scaling the mountains. Entering the forbidden territory!"

Kory narrowed his eyes, "Describe them."

The recruit reached into his satchel and pulled out a rolled-up bit of parchment. Unrolling it, Kory saw a decently drawn image of a cloaked figure, bristling with two quivers and a bow, climbing with some type of picks and foot-claws. You mad bastard. He handed the drawing back to the youth, "Ignore him."

"But sir, he's entering the forbidden lands."

Kory turned to face the North-East where the scout had come from, "He's a hero, he can do whatever he damned well pleases." He looked back to the recruit, reached into his pocket, and handed the lad a few Gold Eagles, "Go get yourself a woman."

The youth nodded and let out a whoop as he rode off towards one of the border towns Kory's groups frequented.

The Berserker hero chuckled and turned to his current squad – twenty-four men: all veterans of the wars with the Demonic Dragon's forces, and the war between Khrelardia and Valagonia. One that broke out only two years after the villain's defeat and lasted for three years before ending in an uneasy truce. Kory had never liked James – the fantasy nerd turned Paragon hero – and he decided to side with Cecily in the conflict. Any excuse to beat James after years of hearing him exhort them to virtues that Kory didn't give two shits about.

I wish I could've crushed that fucker's spine. He imagined grinding him to dust under his hammer, the vivid blood and guts spraying as he slammed the body over and over. He got the best class because what, he read fucking fantasy books? Bullshit. Kory vividly recalled facing off against James in the penultimate battle of that struggle, a fight between champions to prevent wholesale slaughter. He ground his teeth as the loss stung at him. The mercy he was shown. The fact that the weakling became the strongest.

And why? Because he read books instead of doing something important with his life, like getting fit and laid. Hell, this whole fucked up summoning was the best thing that happened in that little bastard's life. Tightening his grip on the horse's reins, he felt the bloodlust rising in him. He had to kill something. But all the Demonic Dragon's forces recently had stayed within the mountains. "We're going to fuck something up!" he shouted as he rode South – towards the few villages on the border of Valagonia. And fuck you too, Cecily. You think you can just throw me away after I almost die for you? I don't think so.

Lyn lay down in the tub. She had taken off the armor – which thankfully simply removed itself upon her mental command and placed both that and Cataclysm's hilt into the storage choker. Vehenna stood next to the tub, with Gael at the door to the chamber. Vael was just outside the sealed doors. "Quite a collection, but they're all suited to defensive pursuits," Vehenna stated as she grabbed the first vial from the table. "Ironhide to start." She came over to Lyn, "My Lady, forgive my misunderstanding…but body enhancement would be much more comfortable in your bed."

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Lyn shook her head, "I don't want to waste a single drop of any of these. In a bed they could get soaked into the sheets. I want the most bang for my buck." She paused. Fuck. Why'd I use that phrase?

The elder raised a quizzical eyebrow but didn't respond to her turn of phrase, instead just nodding. "Very well, my Lady." She pulled the stopper on the black liquid tinged with silver and poured it over Lyn's head. The vial was large, two liters, the largest Lyn had ever seen, and it gave her plenty of liquid. I don't even need to dilute it to cover my whole body. Diluting would mean multiple sessions to reach full saturation; but in its undiluted form, she would not have to repeat the treatment.

As fast as she could she rubbed her body all over. Every part of her that she could reach with fingers and hands – inside and out. She'd seen what happened to the Demonic Dragon, and she did not plan on letting that happen to her as well. After coating her body, she scooped some of the liquid and held the cupped ichor into her hands before dipping her eyes and blinking to ensure they were treated as well. She then slurped some up, gargling it in her mouth before swallowing it down.

Sparing a glance at the two present for her procedures, she grinned on the inside at their reactions. Gael had a look of sheer horror on his face, and the elder immediately began a lengthy incantation from parchment.

Laying back, she braced, gripping the sides of the tub. The pain started dull at first, but it ramped up quickly. It was the worst type of itching one could imagine, combined with the tingling of a foot falling asleep – but all over the body, inside the orifices, and on her eyes. That was the worst part, the itching, scratching, numb-buzzing pain she felt in her eye sockets. She breathed heavily, trying to keep calm and relaxed to prevent the muscle cramping that would inevitably come next. Fucking putting it inside of yourself. She was future-proofing her body, was her reasoning. But if not for the incoming spell…she didn't even want to think about what would happen.

The elder's incantation ended, and Lyn felt…nothing. Her body's physical sensations were disabled by biology. Thank fuck for Trisha, she thought. Trisha was the one out of the heroes who knew something about the human body, and with help from either Misty, Lyn, or Thomas (being the only three with fluency in Elenthir), she devised and created amazing spells never before heard of on Ghomar. And thank fuck that Duskari biology is similar.

"The most important part of surgery combined with spells," Trish explained way back when she was fixing James' shoulder after a troll had crushed it, "Is that you use a spell to turn off the Parietal lobe in the brain. That's the one that deals with physical sensation." Ghomar had herbs and other medicines that could dull pain, but nothing compared to pharmaceuticals on Earth. Thankfully, Trisha had studied anatomy and was on the doctor track for college. Hence why she was granted the Healer hero core. "Before doing any type of healing – mundane or magical – make sure that you turn off that part of the brain. It makes the patient experience so much easier." Her voice was soothing, almost a velvety caress. No wonder Ben fell for her so hard. Lyn smiled fondly at watching her allies slowly fall in love during their travels, their cute little faces they made at each other, and the slight touc-

"My Lady? It appears the elixir is finished. I'm ceasing the spell."

Lyn's awareness of her physical form returned, and she flexed her arm, marveling at the marbled look of her skin. The pale flesh contrasted with tiny black lines of inlay in a geometric pattern. From a distance, no one could tell she had been enhanced. "Gael, your knife." Gael walked forward and held out his knife hilt first. Lyn took it and cut along her skin. It did not pierce or slash. Perfect. Mundane weaponry was no threat anymore. Mana charged weaponry could still harm her, but the average soldier couldn't do that. Weapons with inscriptions etched upon them could harm her if they were charged with mana, as could artifacts – whose inner workings were a mystery to her.

Almost all monsters' bodies flowed with mana naturally, and would be able to harm her. Still, despite all the other qualifiers, it was an excellent addition to her body. And, she thought, looking at Gael as she handed back his knife, letting her gaze linger on his muscles. Ironhide does nothing to your sensitivity. She would be able to enjoy her body just as much as she had before, and that brought a salacious smile to her lips.

Gael utilized a simple verse to put water into the tub, and after rinsing the excess from her body, Lyn drained the tub before drying it by simply letting her mana flow into her mana channels, heating the air around her. The roiling in her core was still present, however, and she ordered Gael to pull up another huge bucket as she ejected a stream of lava into it. He immediately quenched it, and she felt the bubbling resume its low simmer. It didn't do this in the armor, she thought as Vehenna prepared the next tincture. Maybe the armor and weapon sort of…tame the core? She glanced at the next one and felt a chill go down her spine. Fuck. That one is going to suck. Or it would, if not for Trisha's work. The liquid was poured over her, and she repeated the process – inside and outside of her body. Why does this one have to be sticky like syrup?

"What brings you by?" Ben shouted as Thomas landed his wyvern in the empty, just-fertilized pasture that was being prepared for planting. Several of the healing trainees cleared the field and ran past Ben, and the warrior trainees took up boxer stances. "Oh, calm down, it's just the Knowledge hero," he said as the healers passed by. "You're perfectly safe." They slowed slightly but kept walking away. The warriors lowered their stance and slowly resumed their labor, keeping an eye on the two heroes.

Thomas dismounted and went around the front of the massive, winged creature, pulling out a strip of jerky and feeding it to him. "Who's a good Hector? You are!" The creature purred – a mix between a draconic growl and a jungle cat purring. "Alright, you can go hunt the wild animals, none of them with brands or collars. Understood?" The wyvern nodded and launched itself into the sky, circling off to the North. Thomas turned and gasped as Ben gave him a bear hug.

"How have you been?!" Ben asked with a chortle as he cracked Thomas' back from the force of his gesture. Setting the thinner man down he waved his hand in front of his face, "You stink."

Thomas chuckled and took a sip from his hip flask, "And you got fat."

Ben laughed, "Hey, a boxer's body isn't always cut lean. I'm in my bulk phase right now."

Lyndra and Lawry ran up to the Knowledge hero, "Uncle Thomas!" Lyndra shouted as she raised her hands to be lifted.

Thomas laughed and lifted the kid up, "How are you doing kiddo?"

"You're smelly," she giggled. "I got to ride the pony again!"

Thomas nodded, "Wow! You're getting big. And how are you getting along with your brothers?"

She pouted, "Eli is spending for-e-ver on Epona."

Thomas gave Ben a look, "Really? You named the pony after a video game horse?"

Ben picked Lawry up with a chuckle, "Do you remember Uncle Thomas?" Lawry nodded shyly before burying his face in his dad's shoulder. "It's always good to see you, Thomas. But this is an out-of-the-blue visit. What brings you by?"

Thomas' face darkened and he set Lyndra down. "We need to talk. All three of us."

Ben picked up the tonal shift immediately and nodded, setting Lawry down. "Hey, buddy. I need you to go with your sister, go get Eli, and do a big, important errand. Can you do that? Can you be my big man?" Lawry nodded and Ben reached into his pocket, pulling out 20 Silver Kestrels. "Go and get Jeremy." Lawry nodded again at the reference to one of the oldest trainees at Ben's boxer-fighting school, a man who Ben loved like a brother and the kids treated like family. "You give him five of these, and he'll take you three into town. Go get some honey bread."

Both children's eyes lit up and they ran off to get their brother. Ben chuckled at their enthusiasm, but his demeanor darkened as his eyes met Thomas'. "Is it bad?"

Thomas squinted and looked to the South, "It might be."