The OP Lich is a Returnee, Book 2 Prologue (Patreon)

Come on, you knew I couldn't resist having some Trade Chat fun.

Prologue – Trade Chat

(Magical World Disharmony Server, General Chat)

UsualSuspect, manoutoftime, muon, MewTwo, Avariel, Chummer, Golddigger, CrazyCelt, Blaze, DoYouEvenLyft?, MarcoPolo, MightMakesRight, MacD, Inquisitor, OrangeQueen, Lizard, RedFox, SemiSolidSnake, BabyShark, Not_the_Face!, Scholar, Anonymous3, Anonymous4, Anonymous7, Anonymous9, WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot, DigDug, Backlog, DarkAvariel, Knocker, GrimDark, BloodForTheBloodGod, BackDat@55Up and DarkAngel are in the chat.

muon: So, the Magic Soccer World Cup is coming up. Brazil is looking like a big favorite this year.

Blaze: You’re kidding, right? They’ve got that one superstar, and a bunch of scrubs. Italy all the way.

MarcoPolo: I don’t know. I think we’ll see a couple dark horses this year.

RedFox: Whatcha mean, Polo?

MarcoPolo: Remember that little demonstration that the Lost Sleeper allowed those college students to put online?

MacD: Sure, it was like dropping a boulder in a puddle. EVERYONE saw that.

MarcoPolo: Well, I know for a fact that some of the teams that don’t have a big talent pool have started working to try and incorporate those ideas into their training.

BabyShark: Huh. That makes sense. Trying to get an edge. But the World Cup is in a couple months. The Lost Sleeper had forty years to build up to what she showed off on that vid.

Scholar: That’s true, but you wouldn’t need much to bridge the gap between the magical skills of the higher-skilled teams, allowing them to focus on physical skills, which most countries have plenty of, thanks to FIFA.

UsualSuspects: Yeah, but they’ll be taking time away from training to figure out how to do what she showed them.

Knocker: But if they have nothing left to lose…

UsualSuspects: True.

BabyShark: Anyone know if the Lost Sleeper will get involved somehow? I know undead are prohibited from competition, but there are still ways she could get involved.

muon: Does she even care about the Cup?

Avariel: Huh. She hasn’t mentioned anything about sports, that I know of.

TheLichQueen has entered the chat.

Backlog: Even if she is interested in the Cup, does she even have time for such things? I heard she was starting up a studio or something?

CrazyCelt: Yeah, there was a blurb in the news about it. She was going to start making those not-CADs they used in that world she and the other Sleepers were yoinked to, right?

Not_the_Face!: Like any of us will ever be able to afford something like that. Probably something for the uber-rich, until more people figure out how to do it.

BackDat@55Up: Yeah, but she’s an Akagawa, and the paparazzi saw her visiting some of the family’s business holdings. Specifically, the ones that manufacture CADs.

TheLichQueen: It seems I logged on at an opportune time.

UsualSuspects: Who are you?

OrangeQueen: Look at the name, Sus.

UsualSuspects: Oh, come on! Isn’t that a bit too on the nose to be real?

TheLichQueen: Would you prefer NotArthas?

UsualSuspects: What?

SemiSolidSnake: I get that reference!

Scholar: It is a reference to a fifty-year-old game. One of the big characters was a guy named Arthas, who became the ruler of the undead horde threatening to overrun the world.

GrimDark: That’s not ominous at all.

TheLichQueen: Hell, I earned the name. Why wouldn’t I show it off?

Golddigger: So, are the rumors about you starting a crafting studio true?

TheLichQueen: Yes. The plan is to get some traditional crafters together, and give them some solid backing so that they can make their products, while giving them a bit of a magical boost. From what I’ve seen, this world still hasn’t discovered proper Enchanting yet, for instance.

Scholar: What about the rifles the Purifiers used in that attack on you?

TheLichQueen: Good question. Weapons like Sanctified Spellrifles are really just extremely specialized CADs. Sure, they’re ‘dumb’ CADs, so anyone can pick one up and use it without TOO much difficulty, but at the end of the day, they’re just CADs.

Scholar: And Enchanting is something different?

TheLichQueen: Of course. A CAD is a device that, like a focus, directs mana (or magicules) to fit the user’s will. An Enchantment is a permanent effect, augmenting the item’s base state in some way.

TheLichQueen: For instance, I have an item that suppresses my power passively, limiting how much of my magic I can call on, but also keeping my power from overwhelming those around me just from being in the same room.

TheLichQueen: That is an example of an Enchantment, not a Focus, because the ring’s effect is sustained by ambient mana, rather than my fueling it.

muon: So, Miss LQ, we were actually wondering about the Magic Soccer World Cup, and whether you were going to get involved in it somehow.

TheLichQueen: Surely. you’re not asking if I’ll be a contestant? I’m pretty certain there are some rather clear rules about qualifications, and being a living dead girl, I don’t qualify.

muon: Sure, but there’s no rules against undead being coaches, or advisors. There was even Anton Tilea, a vampire who coached for the Romanian national team, before the Purifiers killed him.

manoutoftime: Those fuckers deserve a special hell for that. Tilea was a wonderful man, by all accounts. And under him, the Romanians made the finals twice!

GrimDark: The locals were none too happy with them. Never went to trial, because the locals got to the cell before the cops could. Day after Tilea’s funeral, a line of pikes showed up outside the stadium, with the entire cell impaled upon them like a pig on a spit. And the cell’s leader had a sign around his neck, saying, “For Anton.”

BloodForTheBloodGod: Yeah, I remember seeing pics. That was brutal. Didn’t police think it was the rest of Tilea’s vampire family?

Inquisitor: Sure, they did. The kind of strength needed to jab steel rods into concrete isn’t exactly ‘normal human’. But all the vampires had alibies, so the police dropped it.

GrimDark: Not that they bothered looking too hard in the first place, seeing as the ‘victims’ were terrorists.

muon: Anyways, are you going to be involved at all in the World Cup, LQ?

TheLichQueen: Well, I know the students I was playing around with when I was visiting my sister learned a lot from my demonstration. And pretty much every sporting organization in Japan, as well as the Self-Defense Force, have reached out to me to help devise training regimens. But if you’re talking about any kind of active involvement beyond that, then no.

Avariel: Any particular reason why?

TheLichQueen: Well, One: I’ve only been back for a few months, and I haven’t even tried the sport, yet. Two: Doing more than I already have would probably give the team an unfair advantage. And, Three: I’m busy with other things, like my studio.

Scholar: So, when can we expect to start seeing items from your studio? And what is it called?

TheLichQueen: The studio is Athelian Arms. And while we get the studio up and running, and get working on products, we’ll be doing a partnership with Phantomline. I can’t go into details, but I think people will love what we have planned.