Published at 16th of February 2024 2:25 pm

Chapter 2.70 Contract Complete

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Lillin Grey was no longer a mimic.

In fact, she became far more than just a mutated mimic several years ago. The change had occurred when Nox and Lillin snuck away from the Golden Isles for one of her regular feedings.

The floating islands often slowed their journey when passing large towns and small cities. The Trade Empire used the opportunity to find new clients and iron out contracts or update old deals. They were periods of hustle and social gatherings on the Golden Isles. The guards and House Gedge's employees had higher priority duties than keeping an eye on Nox and Lillin.

So, they used the opportunity to sneak away from the borderless nation’s traveling capital. The pair usually collected ingredients for Nox’s special projects or would take on bounty contracts. They earned Nox much-needed capital and also gave Lillin the perfect cover to feast without rousing too much suspicion.

One such journey took the pair to Sen’s Watch—a mid-sized city a half a week’s ride south of Ygg. During the time of their visit, serial murders of an arcane nature haunted villages and towns surrounding it. Now, when Lillin looked back at the cases, it was clear they were part of the start of a grand ritual. The local constabulary had pinpointed a missing surgeon but hadn’t discovered much else. Nox’s investigations suggested they were almost right.

There were three murderers. One of them was a Journeyman mage, a lesser nobleman, and a healer. The other two were her former employees. She acted as consultant and investigator, assisting the constabulary with the mystery, and threw her subordinates under the proverbial cart.

Instead of targeting the suspect, Nox and Lillin hunted the other two. The first was easy, but his death alerted the noblewoman. Her journeyman rank made confronting her directly challenging for the then-apprentice-ranked practitioners.

The Golden Isles had just resumed its journey along the leyline, and the pair were getting desperate. So, Nox brewed the gaseous version of his sleeping draught for the first time. They deployed it one evening while the target was pursuing a victim and knocked them both unconscious. Then, Lillin devoured the woman in two bites, leaving no traces behind. The meal pushed her past the threshold and made Lillin something more than a mimic.

The magic and knowledge from it sharpened Lillin’s control over her physiology. Most mimics naturally had the ability to change everything about themselves except their shell. They could change the skin and body they wore but not affect in any way besides conducting repairs. When she gained the ability to do something none of her kind could achieve, she became something more.

Since then, no meal had affected Lillin as significantly. She had gained new magic, knowledge, and memories, but nothing had changed her to such a degree until the feast on Terrastalia’s back. Her gluttony thus far had done nothing more than increase her arcane control and teach her a couple of new modifiers for her magic.

Everything changed when Lillin consumed Sif. First, her star expanded so fast that it almost devoured the planets and moon. Then, she felt an instant expansion of awareness as she and the dungeon became one. There wasn’t a lot of literature covering the matter, but Nox had deduced long ago that consuming a god wouldn’t end the same way as doing the same to a rift lord.

Unlike the latter’s worlds, a god’s domain existed in the physical realm and was, therefore, far more stable. It wouldn’t collapse when the ruler died if a sufficiently powerful replacement lived within its walls. Hundreds of delving parties had perished when they risked everything to eliminate the final boss and its lord, but then a lesser boss-ranked creature inherited the role and descended upon them.

Devouring Sif propelled Lillin to the same power level as the god. As a result, the mountain instantly picked her as its new ruler. She was now forever trapped in the mountain on Terrastalia’s back. On the bright side, she had inherited a roving dungeon. Which meant her life wouldn’t be as static as that of most dungeon lords. Lillin would still get to explore the world, and she’d someday have enough strength to perhaps visit Sundarshahar and assist Nox with his quest.

As Lillin’s consciousness expanded, she also sensed the location of all the traps, monster nests, and the layout of the dungeon. She registered new powers that let her alter the architecture, affect beast reproduction rates, and empower or modify her new subjects.

Much to Lillin’s disappointment, she lost her gravity magic. Only the powers to conjure pocket dimensions and portals remained. However, she sensed the ability to grant her new subjects gravity spells a moment later. Gravity orbs, spirals, and armor could now enhance their arsenal. However, each bestowal would drain a portion of her divinity. Only feeding on the mana and life forces of entities alien to her domain would restore it. It was an unfortunate trade-off, but Lillin reminded herself that she, her domain, and its inhabitants were now one. Anything that benefitted it and its residents also helped her.

A deep link to Terrastalia came next. Lillin could feel the titan. She sensed a forgotten sense of alertness, control, freedom, and the joy accompanying them. Terrastalia—no, Bi Xi was happy and finally released the portal spell. When she asked him nicely, he ceased marching toward Ygg, too. Then, the ancient dragon tortoise presented her with an assortment of images. They consisted of forgotten cities, snowy wastes, endless dunes, and forests full of mangrove trees.

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“Are these all the places your portals can take us?” Lillin asked as her and Bi Xi’s spatial magic combined and intertwined. She understood how to open portals with reasonable accuracy. Lillin, of course, needed Terrastalia’s reserves and presence in the outside world to navigate, but they could go anywhere together. Her personal portals would only let her travel within the mountain or teleport individuals out of it. The latter demanded far more energy and focus and would require the titan's cooperation. She laughed as Bi Xi projected thoughts into her head. “You’re nowhere near as entertaining as my last pet, but I’m sure we’ll be good friends. Would you mind doing me a couple of favors before we go?”

Terrastalia’s curiosity piqued.

“Release the girl that has you enamored. Help me fix my friend. And, finally, help me show the humans that you don’t mean him any harm.”

The titan didn’t use words to communicate. He didn’t need to. They were psychically linked, after all. He wordlessly made his thoughts on the matter clear.

“Not all humans are bad. I can show you everything I learned in the last twenty years. There are a lot of amazing specimens among them.” She paused as a rough idea came together. “Nox is an idealist. He wants humans and dungeon lords to live in harmony, and eliminate all uncooperative fallen gods, but that’s easier said than done. Both parties need to get something out of it. Instead of luring in starry-eyed delvers, perhaps we should attract and house the worst of humanity.” Lillin sighed, rolling her eyes. “Fine. I see you’ll need a little convincing after what Sif let happen to you. How about we focus on Nox first? Your guidance could help save the idiot’s life.”

The mana revolving around Nox’s star threatened to overload and collapse it. Overflowing excess energy twisted and burned his mana circuits. If Lillin didn’t act quickly, the damage would soon turn permanent. Fortunately, the contract still connected them. Its terms dictated she needed to reward him for completing his quest, and she hadn’t done so yet. Nox had only received the promised infusion of mana that came with every consumed rift or dungeon lord. The final minutes of the connection came with the ability to control mana flow in his body and impact his core.

First, Lillin contained the rampaging wild mana in Nox’s left forearm and brought a third of it to the surface, letting Joey absorb it through his djinn container. Her friend's mana circuits twisted and burned. Unfortunately, the nerves suffered moderate damage, too. She hoped Michelle or an equally competent life mage would know how to fix it. Otherwise, Nox would lose feeling and perhaps control of the limb. On the bright side, the rest of his arcane channels grew by twenty percent, gaining width, flexibility, and durability. Lillin suspected the change would improve mana flow, grant more resistance to further mana burn and perhaps expand his pathetic mana zone. Next, she turned to the matter of the excess mana in his system.

“We can do that?” Lillin asked, eyes widening as Bi Xi gave her three excellent ideas. After some thought, he melded them into a single complete image. “He’s going to love this!”

Lillin grabbed all but a minuscule mote of the excess mana and condensed then in an accelerating spiral. Nox’s star fought her, and the energy struggled to break free of her hold. Terrastalia’s will helped her keep everything together. Increasing the rotational energy significantly reduced the involved effort. Then Lillin gave the mana purpose, turning into a star.

Spell Weaving didn’t come as easily to her as it did Nox. She struggled to see all the patterns and commands in her head, and chaining them together to produce something extraordinary took her far more time than it did him. So, Lillin used the framework of Nox’s existing star and replaced the original Crystallize Essence spell at its heart with basic spatial magic. She didn’t know whether everything would work as she hoped but had enough confidence in Nox to figure it out. Lillin didn’t have a lot of time before the contract’s effects ended, and she needed to act swiftly.

“What?! This won’t give him dimensional storage?” Lillin sighed. “I certainly hope I didn’t mess everything up for him.” She paused, pondering a handful of options. “I’ll figure something out. Nox won’t be able to function without a pocket for all his tools, essences, and brews.”

Lillin used the leftover mana to construct a planet, which was a significantly easier process than making the star. Meanwhile, Nox's pain and discomfort had attracted the spirits currently in the dungeon. Otis was among them. She ripped a spirit fragment out of him and then did the same to herself. They fused, twisted, and melded together when she placed them in the planet's core, solidifying Nox's newest heavenly body.

“That should do it.” Lillin felt proud of her accomplishments. The gremlin would evolve into something more now that it had a fragment of a dungeon lord and spatial magic. She was sure Nox would get access to dimensional storage through Otis. When she transferred everything she had stored for him into the new space, the gremlin didn’t resist and accepted the pocket dimensions with excitement and amazement. “Nox just needs to make the trickster obey.” Lillin laughed when Bi Xi poked fun at her friend. “He’s a little naive and idealistic, but he’s a good man. Nox might’ve approached you hoping for a new spirit companion at first. But he abandoned the project a while ago in hopes of helping you. I’m sure he’ll take good care of Otis.”

After a final look at her oldest friend's soul, core, and face, Lillin disconnected herself from him. It was easy, and if not for Terrastalia’s presence, she believed an overwhelming sense of terror and loneliness would've taken over.

“Be a little patient, big guy,” she told the titan. “Cutting ties with all I’ve known since birth won’t be easy. Give me a few days to resolve my affairs and talk to a few friends. Then I promise we’ll move on. First, can you help me send my friends home?”

Portals opened under Nox and Joey. They fell through the spatial anomalies, returning to Pudge’s apartment. Then, she did the same to the fleeing Woodson siblings. Lillin ensured Caitlin appeared outside the window and fell a considerable distance. It wasn’t enough to kill the Woodson woman, just enough to leave her bottom and hips sore.

“No. We’re keeping the cultists here. Don’t worry. I won’t let any of them in the pyramid or anywhere near you. In fact, why don’t we dump them in the tunnels and ravines near the exterior and close all the exits?” Lillin felt excitement bubbling up inside as she explored means of extracting mana and life force from all the cultists stuck in her domain. “Ascension has left me famished, love. How about we rest a while and feed?” She grinned. “Perhaps we can play with our food first. Nox never lets me have fun during mealtime. You don’t mind, do you?”

Bi Xi sent her an answer.

“Good.”

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