Augmented Aspects: Chapter 118 Reclamation Project (Patreon)

Chapter 118

Reclamation Project

Cass’s Personal Note to herself: (One month after leaving the Arcanarus Tower)

History, it would seem, is a story best told by the winners, or rather only told by the winners in some cases. Or maybe it is only told by the winners. Either way, it is clear that history sometimes has a way of correcting itself.

Take for instance, the fact that at one point a dying professor once tried to take the valid work of Octavia De’Arcaneri’s doctoral spell for himself. At the time, I thought the spell was brilliant, a Tier VII masterpiece that could only be wielded by the most elite of Wind and Water mages that would help eventually clear out the remaining residue of a blight touched land.

At the time, I was faced with a moral dilemma, one that I can’t help but feel that I failed at the time. See at the time, I thought that the mad professor who had at one time millennia ago knew Octavia when they were both students. I found said professor, who will not be named, and dictated the spell verbatim to the swine who after Octavia received her honorary doctorate degree, met her last remaining life goals by completing one action. See, she both created a spell to reclaim her homeland that had long since been overrun by the Blight and gotten her Doctorate degree from Arcanarus University while doing so.

Honestly, now that I think about it, there seems to be a bit of a double standard as I had to turn in Tier IX spells to get my Master’s Degree from Arcanarus University, then Tier XIs and XIIs to get my doctorates. But I digress, the point was a former colleague of Octavia’s tried to take credit for the spell, and likely would have too, had I not inadvertently started a chain reaction transformation project that turned the University into a Ghost tower. Not really my fault, I blame bad storylines and developers, but the point was, apparently everyone saw me interact with Octavia in the spirit world that surrounded Arcanarus University, so while the University grounds itself were off limits from being recorded upon, the spirit realm was fair game. That was coincidentally how I got on the eventual radar of Mallory, my best friend in this world, as her granddaughter used to listen to my audio recording sessions that first began as an afterschool project that I did with the ghosts that haunted Arcanarus University. Small world.

Anyways, the colleague professor had bribed me and held leverage over me not to inform anyone of their discovery, or their theft of Octavia’s spell. So, I remained quiet, but again, he got note of the spell’s creation out, but was then destroyed before the full spell could be implemented. Meaning that when I found the lost kingdom of Deolar, and then immediately began casting a modified version of Octavia’s Cleansing Rain spell, or whatever it was called, everyone knew that I was doing it for Octavia. Using the spell, she created in the forgotten kingdom that came about and was destroyed well before the game world went live so many years ago. In this way, I managed to give my friend Octavia the recognition she deserves, and why I will forever refuse to use the name of her fallen countryperson who attempted to claim her work as their own. Thus, how history has managed to write itself, credit was given where credit was due, and possibly most important I remain bribed, though for the life of me I can’t remember what the bribe itself was. Thinking back, it was probably gaining said colleague as an Ally, at which case I am fine with that ally being removed.

Though I too wonder if I one day will also be forgotten. Honestly, I hope so, as being remembered by people other than my loved ones likely means I will have ticked off a whole lot of people somewhere, somehow.

***

Sub Chapter – Mega Me (One and a half months after leaving the Arcanarus Tower)

Six weeks, it had been six weeks since I came up with the crazy plan to change the world, find new content and set up the Midnight Hunter’s guild for future success.

Nesting is the closest term that could come to what I felt. You know that feeling as a mother when you are about to give birth, so you spend the last few days trying to clean up the house one last time, in preparation for giving birth. This was sort like that, but only after the fact.

Only after I had seen my daughter, Jackie, well now known as Gwendolyn Spiritlight, or Gwenny as I like to think of her. As her mother, I get to choose which nickname I use for her right?

Anyways, she is finally coming. I saw her gave her my Ethereal Healer class, and then realized that I didn’t want her, nor our bloodline near anyone in the city that would dare to take advantage of our unique capabilities. Particularly with the ability to increase the magical tiers of people that were below our own.

Only after I proved that such an act could be done by simply touching someone, something I proved by doing the exact process to Mallory, taking her from Tier XI to Tier XIII did she believe me. That was also when she realized my express concern for finding a new base of operations that was far removed and remote from the rest of the world was truly valid and something we should work on immediately.

That was when Mallory and I hatched a plan. I would take a guild issued communications crystal that was on loan by the guild thus bypassing the last few days of my Broke flaw’s restrictions. See I was borrowing the equipment, and thus not technically in full ownership thereof, negating the cost of such an intricate item.

That said, keeping that stupid orb in place was ridiculous, it would try to fall out of pouches, randomly roll into awkward spots where I was likely to hit it, and so on. Basically, the sphere tried to make it so I would owe money to the Midnight Hunter guild. Fortunately, that didn’t happen as I tracked that ball like it was a mischievous child, trying to lick the light sockets and what not.

During my time away, Mallory promised that she would not only train Gwenny in the basics, but they would also look for Rob. Unfortunately, Rob had fallen in with a different crowd. As he had fallen in with the Shadow Brokers Guild.

After hearing that, I all but realized that he still, after all this time, had gambling debts and problems. One didn’t go to the Shadow Brokers Guild from the real world, unless they wanted certain ledgers to be erased permanently. With Rob, and the fact that he all but refused to leave, this seemed to be the case. In a way, I can’t help but feel that I am part of the problem, as I too do enjoy gambling, but I use number theory, odds and statistics to hedge my bets, and now I’ve learned the way of the pros, cheat.

These are all things that I doubt Rob himself can fully understand.

Which is why, I am now here in the helipad, well not a helipad per-se, but a landing field set up in the heart of the newly cleansed Deolar capital.

See as the lone vanguard, it was my job to come here. Clean up the area, set up a nature reserve of sorts, set a beaconing point, which was the expensive communications crystal that I loaned from the guild. Then once everyone felt it was safe to come out and assist me with claiming the land, I would get plenty of people and resources to come out here and help set up.

Thus, I have been tracking and following the slowmovement of a fleet of airships that are all lumbering from multiple kilometers away.

By now, the area that I can observe through use of my Angel’s Eyes is eight, almost nine kilometers in all directions. Meaning I have been able to watch these ships move for quite some time.

While they are moving relatively quickly, it still feels agonizingly slow to wait and see.

Worse, I know the two people that I want to see the most are not in the first air ship, but the second. Strategically this makes sense, as most people would likely target the leading airship first. While that does not seem to be a thing here, there are clearly concerns with attacks.

Plop.

I am so distracted by the airship, that I miss the moment that Kujo, one of the large dogs that I cleansed of the Blight on my second night here dropped a big diseased rabbit at my feet.

“Good boy.” I say, patting the puppy, and as I do, I cleanse the giant dog that easily sits taller than my small, but growing, frame on the ground. In my pat, I send a pulse of Lift and Spirit magic into the beast and heal him of any signs of damage from the hunt, or recent traces of the Blight that might arise from his constant trips out into the desert that surrounds our small little slice of heaven.

We have a deal, Kujo and I.

I heal Kujo and his pack and cleanse any food that he brings to me of the Blight. In return, he does not hunt on my lands, nor does he hunt any creatures that have been cleansed of the Blight.

Touching the creature with my foot, I create a connection to the beast and realize that Kujo was a bit rambunctious, as his teeth were deep within the brain stem of the small creature. That explains the reason the creature was completely comatose, and I do appreciate not having to hold down wild Blightedcreatures while performing surgeries like this, so I decided not to comment on Kujo’s roughness with the creature.

Cure Blight.

The creature is cured easily. Then I perform my second spell that has become a part of this process.

Perfect Copy.

This spell is a variation of the Perfect Resurrection that I learned a while back. In this case, all I do is create a copy of the creature. Mainly I just create a shell of a body, and then use Omni-Heal to add in all the fleshy bits, then I throw in a bit of Spirit and Holy magic to lure in wayward spirit energy and boom.

Breathing.

The second creature has life.

As it opens its eyes, they are dead and lifeless eyes, but this will go away after time. I don’t know if it is a sick part of the game or not, but slowly the creatures that I revive this way will eventually regain sentience and start creating relationships on their own.

Meanwhile, the animal that suffered severe trauma from both the Blight and by being attacked by Kujo and his pack are returned back to Kujo.

I think Kujo likes this better as the Blightedcreature is often a much higher-level creature, while the copy always starts off at level 1. Meaning the experience that Kujo and its pack gain from killing the original creature is always better.

“There you go.” I say, gesturing to the original creature provided by Kujo.

Kujo nods in understanding, and then gently bends down before me and gently grabs the cleaned creature within its massive maw, and when the creature is secure it takes a step backwards. This sounds easy, until you realize that Kujo is a thaumavore, meaning such movements are unnatural. I nod as it backs away, and with that it turns its head and gives a sidelong glance to the level 1 copy.

The imitation bunny just stares up at the massive beast, glassy eyes staring up with childlike innocence at the creature that could mean its death.

There is a moment.

Ahem.

I clear my throat, causing Kujo to shift its gaze back to me, and then I see it tremble slightly before leaving at a quick gallop.

With that, it is just me, a lost level 1 bunny, and two, no wait, one minute left on my daughter and Mallory’s arrival.

“Go on, shew.” I say to the rabbit, who just stares up at me in awe.

This is the annoying thing about this whole process. These animals invariably think of me as a mother figure, but I don’t have time to be their mother.

Realizing I need to give this bunny something so that it is not here when everyone comes, I decide to pull out a few seeds from my pocket and threw them off in the distance, using Telekinesis to push them further out towards what I perceive to be the edge of this landing strip. How much room do zeppelins actually need to land?

Anyways, as I have time, I begin channeling a lot of Nature magic into the seeds, getting them to take root, and grow rather quickly.

Just as I predicted I still have time, for while the first ship got here within a minute, they are all taking up a defensive formation first, before coming down. This means I have at least five more minutes.

Tap, tap.

Still, I distract myself by infusing more mana and energy into the seeds, thus getting them to bloom right at the edge, and then artificially pollenate the plants, and boom. Carrots begin growing at minute number six. Not the best use of my mana, but right now, it is a good distraction.

Seeing that one of the carrots is done, I Telekinetically grab the carrot and pull it over to my hand. Just like Darth Vader with a blaster, all except a carrot. Anyways, I take the morsel and then offer it to the rabbit.

Sniff, sniff.

The rabbit sniffs the item, and then almost on reflex bites into the item. Then stops once its teeth are in and takes a step back.

“It’s okay, eat it.” I say, then I drop the carrot.

I see that there is a slight look on the rabbit, but then it begins to walk around the carrot so that it is between me and the carrot. At first, I think it thinks I will take the carrot back, but then realize that once it moves so that its but is against my leg it begins to relax slightly. Only at this point does the rabbit loosen its muscles enough to begin eating.

Shaking my head, “you are going to have a hard life if you think eating a carrot is this scary.” I say to the creature.

Strong breeze.

Just as I say that, there is a huge updraft as the seals to the airships above finally start to open. Most of these airships are ones that are designed to be self sufficient and fly for years at a time. At least the ones that Mallory and her guild went in on purchasing the rights for, as the idea was that at least at first there would need to be a lot of trips out and back.

Drop lines were lowered, and then people began dropping on automated rigging equipment that would start and stop a descent based on gripping certain mechanical devices. Repelling harnesses, as for me, my job was to make sure to catch anyone whose harness broke or heal any injuries along the way.

The first people to land were the elite ground units. As soon as they do, one immediately comes over and greets me.

“Good morning Doctor, a pleasure to meet you.” The man says, while extending his gloved hand. I extend my also gloved hand to him and shake his. As this happens, I feel the bunny shift around me to my back side, as it never seems to leave contact with my right foot. Instead, it moves itself and the carrot around to be protected from being seen by the commander of this ground operation.

“Good morning commander.”

“Abel,” he begins. I pause, wondering if there was a last name, but he quickly shakes his head. “No last name, just Abel.”

“Well good to have you here commander.”

“I have to say, I saw the messages and I heard the prep plans. But nothing could have prepared me for this. It is truly impressive what you have done here…”

“Yeah, yeah…” I say, but I am already pushing past him, as the important person I want to see is on her way down.

Squee.

The rabbit, realizing I had left, suddenly turned to look for me, then seeing me bent down grabbed what remained of its carrot, before charging right after me.

“Mother.” My Gwenny says, trying to run to me, but getting stuck on her harness line that is still securely fastened to her uniform. Fortunately, there is a ground soldier on hand to help release her, so we can finally see each other.

“Look at you, you have grown so much.” I say, and I mean it, by my calculations she has grown at least three maybe four centimeters in the weeks that I have been gone, a sign of how much Endurance she has gained during this time.

“And you still look the same, short and cute as ever.” Gwen says, a playful smile on her lips. This is a comment back to when we were in the real world and Gwenny, well back when she was Jackie used to be Amazonian tall, so she would always say I was short back then too.

“I’m going to grow, and I will grow taller than you.”

“Uh huh, sure mom. Been waiting on that for what, half a century now?” She then pauses as she turns her head, “oh wait, and who is this?”

With that Gwen moves with exceptional speed, and swoops in to grab the confused level 1 bunny.

Chomp.

Then just as one could expect, the rabbit bit down with ferocity at the sudden intruder.

“Ow! stop that.” Gwen said, still holding onto the creature, but moving her hands out of the way. Still the rabbit tried to bite down angrily to free itself.

“Hey, you stop that!” I hiss at the rabbit.

Of course, it is my comment that pulls the rabbit out of its biting frenzy long enough to look at me.

Coo.

The rabbit then whimpers at me, and then tries to scamper out of Gwen’s arms and towards me.

“I don’t have time for you.” I say, and with that, the rabbit looks shocked at first, then you can almost see the moment it begins to cry and whimper.

“Aww, mom, you broke its heart.” Gwen says, as she tries to comfort the rabbit and receives no more resistance from the creature who has gone limp and docile in her arms.

“It’s okay, I created that heart, caused it to pump, so I am okay with-it being pressure tested a little.” I admit.

“As great as ever with animals I see.” Gwen says.

“Look, I am trying to keep some problems from the past from repeating themselves.” I state, then Telekinetically grabbing a fresh carrot from the far end of the pad, I pull it to my hand, around a few momentarily scared guards.

“What the…”

Then let the carrot rest in my hand, before handing it to Gwen, “look if you want the creature then you are going to have to take care of them.”

“I will.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that one before.” I say, remembering my aversion to animals in the first place, as I would always be asked to watch the family dog or cat for a week of vacation, or something. Then They would always end up staying with me, until they died, and I had to get them put down once the pain of daily living was too much for them.

“What is all of this?” Mallory asks, breaking into our conversation, then I can see her turning to Gwen with a confused look on her face. “You already got a pet?”

“Well, mom got it, I’m just going to take care of it.” Gwen said.

Mallory just looked at me, I opened my mouth to explain, but she just held up her hand to stop me. “Look I don’t even want to know.”

Then a quick look around.

Sharp Whistle!

Mallory did that thing where she twisted her tongue to do a loud whistle, and instantly I got jealous. Well, more jealous of the woman who had minions at her beck and call.

“Looks like this is it for the landing team. With this we will begin our land claiming. I hope you all are ready, as from this moment on we need at least thirty people to remain here to claim this valuable piece of property, until time elapses.” Mallory spoke, and as she did everyone still stared at her. “Everyone ready?”

There were a few head nods, a few people mumbled their response.

“Yes!” Commander Abel shouted.

“Good, let us begin.” Mallory said, then with that she visibly seemed to interact with her interface and suddenly everyone that was part of the Midnight Hunters, that was in the area got a Guild quest.

Midnight Hunters Guild Quest Initiated: A Land of Your Own. For years the Midnight Hunters have been without a true place to call their own, now your leadership has decided on a plot of land. Hold onto the plot of land for the next thirty days, and the land will be yours. Days Remaining (0/30). Rewards: Experience, Guild Title, Guild Land, Guild Badge.

That quest was what we all had expected. The message that came next was not one we were ready for.

Hidden Guild Quest Found: Reclamation Project (Upgradable): Your Guild: The Midnight Hunters, have begun to terraform the lands lost to the Blight, and have begun transforming it back into habitable land. Your goal is to change the land into a permanently sustainable place for life. Kilometers made inhabitable (0/20). Rewards: (unknown, variable).

Seeing that system message, everyone paused for a moment, then I could feel everyone’s gaze turn to me slowly.

“My girl does it again!” Mallory beams as she grabs me and pulls me off from the ground and straight into a bear hug.