Technomagica 50. The Land of Ghosts (Patreon)

From what Delta told me, Charisma could be resisted by diving into the Astral. 

After Giovashi pushed me into the Astral with her violet fire spell, my human body felt a lot less like my flesh and more like clothing or perhaps a meaty shell that I could easily remove at any time, disconnect from.

Thus, as soon as my mind became consumed with desire for gold offered by a person that didn't exist, I simply dove into the Astral.

Untethered from my human mind, my thoughts became orderly and logical once again. I was only a single level down into the Ocean of the Dead. I felt the thick, jelly-like membrane separating the deep Astral from the local shallows a few levels beneath me. It was only a little bit cold here, slightly unnerving.

The physical world around me appeared smudged, blurred as if a layer of fluttering shadows was overlaid over every object. New things came into existence all around me. I saw them all around my body, their little, little silver wings fluttering.

It was the Silent Moths!

The little bugs had somehow amplified the [Charisma-Silence] with their [Resonance] skill to conceal their presence. The moths were sitting atop of my head and also all over our hovercraft. Plenty of them were LV 20 and they had stacked, combined their powers together, completely obliterating my ability to resist them in the physical world.

"I like gold," my human body said.

"Yes," Kliss agreed with a very greedy look. "We could use more gold! Take us to the Basq glider, hunter. We shall help you procure it!"

“There is enough gold for everyone,” the non-existent hunter nodded as silver-blue moths fluttered around his grimy, cloak-wrapped figure. He turned around and started walking through the swamp, his feet barely sinking into the deep, dark water. In the Astral he appeared as a flickering, silver figure woven from [Charisma-illusion] currents, eyes glowing with unnatural radiance. He was definitely not a man, but some kind of a memory, a projection of a human, an Astral imprint reinforced into existence by the local aetheric field.

"Welp, he got you two good," Delta commented, her squid-like silver threads flickering next to me. Her voice came through the Astral as pure vibrations, Alanian song-speech without words.

"Yeah, Kliss and my body are completely under the Charisma effect," I replied. "I'm fine, though."

"I never knew that my brother loved gold so much!" Delta giggled.

"You'd love gold too if you had a bunch of moths pushing [Desire] into your head," I commented.

"Excuses, excuses," she tutted. "So, what's the plan? Why are you letting moths ferry your poor body to wherever? Why not grab a few of them and leave?"

"The Silent Moths broadcast [Resonance]," I replied. "I'm looking for a creature that resists Charisma, remember? The moths are a nice bonus though, we should definitely collect as many as possible. They would be pretty handy since they can rebroadcast and amplify all magic. They have crystalline structures in their wings acting like parabolic mirrors for magic."

"All… magic?" Delta repeated. "So, if I conquer the Queen Bee, I could extend the minimum range of her Charisma-control!"

"Exactly," I affirmed.

As the hovercraft slowly moved after the ghost hunter, I resumed sending my Infoscopes out across the swamp, looking for any signs of life other than the moths. The result so far was negative, but I didn't give up hope. There had to be something in this biosphere that fought Charisma, the theory of Evolution practically demanded it!

A rocky island suddenly rose from the mists. The hunter walked out of the water and up. The hovercraft bumped into the rocks, unable to conquer the rapidly rising terrain. I momentarily extended a thread into my arm and pulled on the breaks.

"Is the Basq crashed ship on this island?" Kliss asked impatiently as she climbed out of the hovercraft onto the mossy rocks.

"Yes," the ghost nodded. "Right this way, excellency. It's on the eastern edge!"

"Alright," Kliss responded. I watched quietly as she and I followed the ghostly figure uphill.

The island had sparse vegetation, but it was quite large. Pine trees grew on the hills of the western side where the soil was more fertile. I sent all three of my Infoscopes in search patterns in every direction. If this section of the Cascadia river delta marshes contained life, it would have to be here, safe from the rot-filled water.

As we walked, I kept my Infoscopes moving, alert for any sign of magic on this island. It was unnervingly quiet, the only sound was the soft crunch of our footsteps on the mossy ground. The ghostly figure led us deeper into the island, his form wavering in the Astral like a mirage.

Suddenly, my Infoscope picked up a faint pulse. My heart raced as I analyzed the data. It was a small animal, about the size of a kitten, hiding in the ferns at the edge of the small forest.

I grabbed control of my legs and began to veer away from wherever the ghost was leading us to.

"Where are you going?" The illusory hunter saw that I was getting distracted. "The glider is..."

More glowing moths landed on me, trying to redirect my attention. My feet moved away from the forest, refusing to cooperate.

"Looks like someone can't control their body," Delta commented.

"Shush and help me get rid of these bothersome moths," I said.

"With pleasure," Delta uttered. Her threads unfolded into sharp, silver blades.

Thirteen lymphagons armed with [Sectus-Anima] disconnected from me as I gave them the order to attack all nearby moths.

In a flurry of silver blades, Delta, my Infoscopes, my lymphagons and I descended upon the glowing bugs. The tiny creatures had little defense against the spectral blades that struck their minute souls.

They didn't die since Astral Phantoms couldn’t affect the physical world that well, but their magic pulse became disrupted and they instantly scattered away from us.

The figure of the ghost wavered slightly, but didn't vanish.

"What?" Kliss blinked, her unfocused expression becoming annoyed. "Wait... this feels like a trap."

"It is no trap, I assure you," Klav said.

"You're dead Klav," I said as I returned to my body. "You've been dead for a very long time. You likely drowned here."

"Have I...?" The old man stared at me with glowing, pale eyes. "You can tell?!"

The armacus on my companion's wrist unfurled. A mana sword went through the old man's illusory neck, disrupting the magical currents holding him together. With a wail, the ghost fell apart into wisps of silver mist.

"Bloody hells," Kliss exhaled.

She took a step back, her emerald eyes wide. Then, she raised her arm, a flicker of magic dancing at her fingertips. With a sudden burst, a wave of [Repulsor] energy pulsed from her armacus, sending the moths scattering further into the foggy air.

"Are you alright?" I asked, turning my attention to her.

"Yes... I think so," she responded, her breathing heavy. “I… don’t understand. My armor's Ward was supposed to withstand attacks of Level 70 Charisma! How in Equality’s name did I get ensnared by a bunch of Goddess-damned bugs? They don't even look that pretty!”

“They’re not charismatic,” I nodded. “All they're doing is amplifying existing magic."

“So, they didn’t make me see Klav?” Kliss rubbed her face.

“They’ve made him seem more real,” I said. “Sort of like two predators working together. Please don’t scatter the moths next time, we need them too.”

“What? Why?” Kliss demanded.

“Because,” I explained. “If we relocate one of their colonies to the Mystic tree, they should amplify the [Green-Vitality] pulse instead of the local Ghost-summoning [Charisma].”

“Oh,” Kliss blinked. “Fair enough. So… were you able to locate a creature that resists Charisma?"

“Yes,” I nodded. “Follow me, please."

We moved across the island towards the forest, the moss-covered ground giving way to a dense underbrush. Soon, I spotted the small gray creature with my own eyes. It was a fox cub, its sleek fur glittering with silver sparks in the dim sunlight filtering through the trees.

Infoscope 2, hanging directly above it, identified the blue-amber eyed beastie as a

[LV 3 Mesmerbane Fox cub].

"There," I pointed. "See that little gray fox between those two ferns under the pine?"

Kliss squinted, peering through the undergrowth. "Hrmm? Yeah, I see it. You’re sure that thing is immune to Charisma?"

"Yes,” I affirmed. "It's a magical creature with a grape-sized crystalline core aligned to [Dispel-Charisma], the opposite of the Silent Moth’s [Magnify-Resonance]. We should capture it."

"Can do," the Overseer nodded.

She eyed the target for a few tense seconds.

I saw that mana rushed into her muscles from her soul. In another moment, Kliss moved forward with inhuman grace through the bushes. Before I could blink, the Overseer fired a sleep spell at the cub. In another minute she was back, cuddling the small fox in her arms.

"Got it," she said with a smile.

We walked back to the hovercraft and placed the sleeping fox into a reinforced wooden basket.

[Does it have parents? Siblings? Relatives?] Delta asked through the Astral, brushing a silver thread on me.

[Not that I can see,] I replied. [There's nothing else alive in the forest.]

"Are we done, then?" Kliss asked, wearily eyeing the creeping tendrils of fog.

"Can you capture a bunch of moths too?" I asked.

"Fine," she sighed.

She began firing the sleep spell at the fluttering bugs as they began to approach us once again. In another ten minutes she collected about fifty moths from the ground and stuffed them into another wooden container. "Happy?"

"Yep," I nodded.

A human figure manifested in the distance. It was Klav.

"Please come back!" He begged as he approached us.

"Frig off," Kliss snarled. "You're dead! Don't make me cut you in half again, Phantom!"

"I… I know," the white bearded hunter uttered, suddenly looking despondent. "I confess, I am dead. Please… come with me to the Basq glider, lady Overseer."

"Why the hell should I?" Kliss barked, aiming her armacus at the hunter. "Be gone ghost!"

"I… I cannot depart," Klav lowered his eyes. "The Silent Glade won't let me leave."

"And that's my problem, how?" Kliss arched an eyebrow. "My responsibility is to the living of Skyisle. You're dead. Is there even gold there?"

"Erm," the hunter sighed deeply. "There's no gold, only corpses. I'm sorry. I… I lied to you. I just want you to take my bones to Skyisle and bury me properly, so that I can be free of this place. Please! I beg of your mercy, Overseer!"

Klav fell on his knees in a motion of a prayer.

"No," Kliss said.

"Yes," I answered.

"What?!" The Overseer's head snapped to me.

"Klav isn't alone here," I said as the data from my 3rd Infoscope returned to me. "There’s more than one human soul trapped on this island at the edge of the magogenic fault, suspended between life and death.”

Three men and one woman dressed in tattered violet and gold uniforms, their armaci raised into the air, stepped out from the fog.

“Halt, interlopers!" a lanky, bald man at the head of the ghostly brigade barked with an accent. “You are trespassing on territory of the Basquenate Republic! Lower your weapons or perish!”