Chương 10: The Chapel

I'd been taking Mystic Theurge Levels since I tipped over Seven and had used my Human Racial Class Level to grab U r /2. Right now I was sitting at the edge of Eleven with potential Sage Sorcerer/11, Wizard/10, and Ur-Priest/7 Casting ability, with a base Caster Level of 17 and access to Arcane V's, Divine VII's. I was a stronger spellcasting male than likely had existed on this world for centuries, totally capable of punching very above my weight… and that as a baby.

If everything worked out to Twenty, I'd reach Sorcerer/20, Wizard/15, U r /13 (equivalent, the Casting progression actually stopped at 10) and have a Caster Level of 30. With Spellpower bonuses from various sources, I could easily hit 40 or more, and I was adding them slowly and carefully. I didn't expect my Karmic Gains to be significant for some time. I was more worried with Leveling my mother, to be fair, and getting in all the rep counts I needed for Metas and spells.

Hundreds and thousands of rep counts, which all had to be done carefully. Virtua Reps would help tons, of course, and I had the Concentration check to do the microcasting, naturally. My first goal was naturally to get Still and Silent Spell made Efficient down to +0, which would save me two Valences on all my spellcasting! Of course, to get that effective to Level VII's would require sixty-four thousand rep counts, starting with 1k for I's, 2k using II's, 4k using III's, and on and on up the rep table to VII's.

I had a Firestorm spell slotted in my Ur VII Slots. I'd pay for the Still and Silent boost from Sorcery Slots if needed. It was a large and powerful Area of Effect spell if I required something, and definitely not something they'd expect from a baby. I was definitely going to have to do something about this baby status. That would necessarily involve a lot of shape-shifting. Hrmm. Maybe I could pick up Warshifter as a side Mastery with tons of shapechanging practice?

It was a really useful set of Masteries if you used it, and I'd be doing so for at least a few years… and longer if it was useful staying in disguise as a brownie. Alter Self was a II. It allowed me to disguise myself as a Small or Medium humanoid… or one my own size, of course. A brownie was pretty close to me overall, although I'd be missing clothes. Well, it would be best to make sure Mom knew first, or her reaction might be a problem.

We crested a hill, and I noted that Mom was sitting at the top, not advancing further. She was in the shadow of the scrub, but Devilsight ignored darkness of all kinds, so she was perfectly obvious to us as Clopper made his way up to her and nudged her shoulder. The magic made it much easier to focus, letting the spell do the work instead of my eyes as it re-interpreted reality for me. Looked like a ruined church or chapel built up against a hillside down there.

There was no holy symbol or iconography visible, and it looked like it had been abandoned for decades. I had the impression it most definitely had NOT been a church of Shoul originally, and the holy symbols had been deliberately removed. Probably a former Valusar Chapel, given the location. Side building for stables, rear storage in the stone of the hill, usable as a hunter's retreat or storm shelter. Reworked as a home for a bandit gang. Unsurprising, I supposed.

Hunting beasts being turning to hunting people was a natural adaptation, and Valus wasn't going to blight them for misusing the place, since He was missing just as much as Shoul was.

"What do you think?" Mother whispered to me, clutching her Axe readily. Detect Evil at V, Behold the Heart of Darkness, bored down there, punching through stone, and smacked me in the forebrain hard enough to make me squirm. -Crap! - was my reply as I clamped down a squeal from the pain. Mom glanced at me sharply, concerned.

"What's going on?" she asked urgently, looking about for trouble. -There is something REALLY bad in there! - I /answered, annoyed again at my inability to take a hit against my Detects sensing something powerful. She stared at me, then back at the ramshackle building that looked like a good storm should blow it over.

"Any idea what?" she asked softly, eagerness tempered by having seen a whole lot of dangerous shit during the military battles she'd been in. -A powerful undead, maybe a greater shadow, maybe a shadow demon of some kind. Mithar, what have these stupid bastards got themselves involved in? - I had to /blather back.

"Well, what do we do?" she asked, used to taking orders, and knowing my magic was really powerful.

"Can you kill it?" she asked, with the unspoken adage that if so, it had best be a one-shot, as I probably wouldn't survive a real attack! Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. -Yes, I can kill it, but not as a baby. I'm going to change to a form that can move around, however. - I closed my eyes and spent the IV Slot to get the Alter Self spell off. I could have Extended it, but it would lapse at Natural Renewal regardless, so there was no reason to.

The Morphing magic poured into me, finding little to resist it and a whole lot to just bring up to average. It was the preferred spell for spellcasters with poor physical abilities, as it could boost your Stats a little bit to get you up to snuff. For me, it would remove effective age penalties, which was my big thing at this point, and then align them to the level of a brownie. My soft and pudgy body slenderized and hardened.

I wasn't strong, but I was strong enough to move myself now, and the magic even provided the reflexes to do so, much like it would to swim, fly, or hop. I pointed at the blanket around me and murmured a word as my tiny but functioning fingers waggled. Yay, no need to spend extra Valences for now! My blanket vanished and reappeared instantly as a soft tunic, pants, and sandals for me, fitting perfectly.

Mom's eyebrows hit her hairline as I stood up, wavered for a moment, then got my balance as I adjusted to actually being able to stand. Then a small smile blossomed across her face as she loomed in closer, staring at me in wonder.

"What is this? A fairy form?" -A brownie, actually. One of the friendly house fey, yes. - I put my hands on my hips and lifted my chin. -Not a true fey, I just look like one. Enough to be able to move around. - She clapped her hands in delight, excited now.

"Can you turn into animals, too?" she asked eagerly. -I could, but it takes a more powerful spell that doesn't last as long, and it's difficult to Cast spells in such forms. - I flexed my arms slowly. -I can also exercise in this form, and it will carry over when I revert. - She realized something.

"You weren't joking when you were talking about shrinking down that staff, were you?" -No, mother, I was not, - I /nodded approvingly. -Now, would you like to go slaughter an ageless Evil and make a Level for yourself? - I /asked with a small smile.

"Ohhh, that sounds wonderful!" I'd had plenty of talks with her about Class Levels and what they meant over time, turning normal people into superhumans just by being awesome in a world of magic. She was plenty willing to become a hero of legends who could beat up Amazons! -Well, then, let's see what's actually down there, and what we'd have to do to kill everything there. - Her son could turn into a fairy! Hahaha!

He was Casting spells like an experienced sorceress now, clearly a sign that he was everything he'd told her, here to solve a big problem with the gods of Heaven, a champion who could do what others could not… and he needed a lot of help to do it. She was that help! Now she was going to help kill something really powerful that she probably shouldn't be messing with, but she trusted her son, who had proven over and over how much he was willing to help her, too!

Clopper (he'd named the gelding, it was as good as anything) was left below the ridge and off the trail, told to stay silent because other human hunters would be coming. That he could talk to animals was also going to be very useful, even if she doubted he would ever abuse the ability.

His brownie form was not as fast as she was, and the Disk was too easy to notice, so he simply rode on her back as he would normally, only this time with tiny hands holding on for an easier ride as she crept on in, Wave-Skating Steps keeping her above the ground and very quiet. It wasn't hard to see the lookout there, as he was bored and sitting dozing in the corner, probably confident that the scree on the hill would warn him of trouble, or that people would have torches or lanterns at night and be easy to see.

A tiny hand chopped down next to her eye. -Pit-bound, - Deuce /said sadly. That meant… a Purple soul, someone who used others without care or conscience, couldn't really be trusted, and had killed without remorse for their own benefit in the past and would do so again in the future without qualms. Brigands not afraid to kill their victims, in other words. To be expected of those who venerated the God of the Dark Moon.

The floor of the antechamber was kept clear, and the door was missing, so he didn't hear her as she came in, raised her axe, took two long steps, and brought it down smoothly on the back of his neck. The crunch of the steel biting into and through the fool's spine was pretty muted, and sufficed to kill the sentry instantly, no additional magic other than what was already lingering on her axe required. His head flopped forward, not managing to really wake up before he died, and blood started to spurt everywhere.

She grabbed his filthy leathers to set him off to the side and onto the floor, rather than fall out of the chair. -Go outside and wait on the side away from the trail for the other two scouts to return, - Deuce /proposed, and Tiya nodded. They'd come down with torches, very obvious, but they would be in familiar territory and not check the ir surroundings. She could come up behind them and kill them swiftly. She shot a look at the open door that led into the larger room beyond, holding up a questioning hand.

-I'll take a look. - He scooted out of her babypack and jumped off as she crouched, landing with barely a sound and taking off in an extremely graceful and quiet blur of movement through the door and into the chamber beyond. When no sound came after a few seconds, she knew nothing was there, and retreated from the room to take up position outside. The two stragglers should be here in a few minutes.

It wouldn't take them that long to check up on their dead friends, and they'd not get much done until the morning, regardless. She could not help smiling to herself as she wondered what her son sounded like as a brownie. His thought-voice, the telepathy thing, was measured, calm, focused, and rather melodic in how he communicated, as if there was a greater song waiting to burst out behind hi s words at any moment. She felt like she should be ready to dance whenever he spoke to her.

He also had those sacred, wonderful Words, things so grand and glorious she couldn't even remember them, only the fading echoes of them, so it made sense his voice would be exceptional. It would just be really, really funny to hear it as a brownie. Those clipped words he was using for spells were already kind of squeaky, although surprisingly deeper than she had expected. Part of turning into a fairy, maybe? Hee hee!