Eighteen volleys and a few shrieking ectos gone burning in vivus later, we were done.
Commander, could I borrow your Baneskull and Token there? I asked him calmly. He unclipped them and handed them over without a word, and I affixed them to Clavus.
My target was a spectre. With a Baneskull attached, I didnt need to power up Banespell... which just told I needed more damage tas for flexibility.
Whatever, the unlucky fat fellow in the suitcoat ate seven full-force Shards, expending a vial of Alchemists fire for an additional slew of healthy damage.
7d6 for the Shards, d6 for the Vivus, 3d6 for Sanctified, 2d6 for the Baneskull, 5 for Clavus, d6 for the Token, 2d6 for Alchemist Fire, 3/Shard for Augnted Healing and Power in the Blood, 6 for Foe Hunter and Ghost-Scarred, and 6 for my Warcaster Razor.
Seven jetsilver tears wound about with flas black, white, and crimson slamd into it and blew it out of existence faster than it believed possible. Everyone watching whistled despite themselves. One-shotting a buffed spectre was not a small thing, if you actually knew what you were seeing.
And with Shards, no less, mused Briggs after seeing that. Whats the damage rating? he had to ask.
Sothing around 16d6 38, I noted, checking the math.
He looked at , I looked back, and he said helplessly, And youre a One?
Yes.
He raised his eyes to the dark Shroud, and sighed heavily.
So did his shooters.
But thats not the GOOD thing, I smirked. He gave another hairy eyeball as I turned to Master Fred. Ever use Eldritch Theurgy, Master Fred?
I HAVENT EXACTLY WORKED WITH A LOT OF SPELLCASTERS IN THE FIELD, MISS TRAVELER, he replied with his normal calm.
No problem. What is going to happen here is youre going to be offering your Wrath; Im going to spin it about my Shards and send them out as a conjoined spell, just like an Eldritch Theurge would do, but well be using a minor Ritual instead.
He was interested, and everyone looked on curiously as I demonstrated the pattern of Wrath he should use, how he should spin it about and offer it to so I could draw it in and apply it to my Shards smoothly. The Sanctified ta actually took his Wrath rather easily, and would actually have added more damage if it wasnt already capped.
And, of course, they all crowded to the battlent with the others to watch who I threw the spell at.
It was a platoon of spectral marines down on the ground, two hundred yards away... an elite swordwraith unit of undead, basically here to watch the damned civilian spirits flitter around, screaming and wailing at their fate, basically not paying much attention.
There were six of them, so they each got a Shard, with the Sergeant in charge getting two.
Explosions of fla in seven different hues blew through them, the Wrath using their own Unit Resonance to apply to each of them through their links, and the links of the Shards. Combined with the stacking damage of the Shards, it was enough to wipe the entire unit out instantly, acting like a no-save, pretty powerful AoE spell as it did so.
Normally, Master Freds Wrath would only have applied to one of the targets. But since swordwraith units were linked together in undeath, they all got to sample the damage via harmonic convergence between the Sanctified Shards, and they all went away in a very eye-catching eruption, dissipating to reveal nothing left behind.
Now thats a neat trick, Commander Briggs noted, getting agreents all around. Bet you cant do that very many tis right now, however.
That is correct... and it likely wont even hurt soone who is magic-resistant, as Ive not managed to work my way up that tree, either. I unclicked the Baneskull and Token, and gave them back to him. Much as I might want them, as a Forsaken, he actually needed them more, and I did have Banespell.
Ill get the Slaughter on Boor and Endure, and give you the Skull when I do, he told calmly. Hed naturally have little use for it once Bane/Undead was among those in the Slaughter on his Weapons. I was actually surprised he didnt have it already.
I wanted a Token, too, but all things in ti.
I turned to address everyone else. Everyone should have Advanced their Weapons, and earned a little bit extra on the side. Were going to be coming back tomorrow to follow up on this, and will continue for several days while I await word on a personal commitnt. If this stops abruptly, its because Ive gotten news and had to depart imdiately.
Everyone nodded that they understood, recognizing that people had obligations and so shit had to get done.
Fifteen minutes after dusk, we were on our way back down the Wall, to the amusent and chagrin of the soldiers stationed there. But we did let them know that, all things being equal, we should be back tomorrow.
------------
Baltimore doesnt want you running around all night? I inquired, as I bounced down on the repaired couch, which Fred had purged of any remnant Scorn with his Wrath. As Id been picked up right from the library and gone off to shoot, I hadnt brought too many books with , only a backpack full hed stowed in Sleipners saddlebags.
Id be going through them tonight.
SHE DOES, BUT I PROBABLY DID A MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF BUSYWORK FOR HER TODAY, REMOVED TWO CLOGS IN HER SYSTEM, AND ADDRESSED SEVERAL MORE. SHE CAN WAIT. Obviously, he wasnt going to feel too obligated to a Citypact he was going to drive away from sooner or later, so it couldnt pressure him. That said, he knew his job and he was doing it, and it couldnt fault him for being so good at it.
Good enough. I am going to read through these books here very quickly, getting ever closer to the normal things a ten-year-old knows, and Ive barely scratched the surface of the fact she grew up in France. I had to roll my eyes. Aelryinth had learned French via Polyglot, because it only took an hour and so why not learn a dead language? I was a few Int points and languages shy of doing the sa.
YOUR HUMAN LANGUAGE IS ALREADY CAUSING MASSIVE DISRUPTIONS ON THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL... SO GOOD, SO BAD.
How very unexpected. Are the archconservative language adherents so terrified we all might speak the sa language and their heritage will be lost?
CHINA HAS BARRED IT COMPLETELY...
My eyes narrowed. Thats because transford Daoists arent human and cant understand it. They have to learn and morize it like any other language, and they wont sound human unless they invest a lot of ti and effort into it... and youll still be able to trip them on vocabulary. I inhaled sharply. They being able to do that ans they dominate the whole country. Has India? Other nations?
MOST OF SOUTHEAST ASIA, BARRING AUSTRAILIA AND PARTS OF THE ISLAND NATIONS...
Clearly showing the limits of their influence, and they are probably fanning the flas elsewhere...
His fingers began to tap. I WILL NOTIFY THE HALL OF THIS...
I let him tap away before asking, So, how many views does that video have? I had to ask.
974 MILLION, he replied promptly, and I had to blink.
Uh, wow? I had to say. That was a lot of people... in a very short period of ti. My computer knowledge was not extensive, but that sounded like sothing that could have lted a bunch of servers. They would have had to ramp it up VERY quickly to keep up with the demand.
Then again, they probably expected it to explode right from the beginning...
THE HARSITES DID IT RIGHT, MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE TO COPY AND TIED TO YOUR IMAGE, SO IT CANT BE CUT OUT OR SPLICED, ONLY WATCHED IN ITS ENTIRETY. AFTER THE FIRST FIFTY THOUSAND, THEY CHARGED A PENNY TO VIEW IT, AND ARE PUTTING IT INTO AN ACCOUNT FOR YOU, AFTER MAINTENANCE COSTS AND THE LIKE.
I lifted an eyebrow in chagrin. Okay, trust the Harsites to act above board on sothing like this. My face was going to be known everywhere. If it lasted longer, that Disguise Self spell would actually be useful...
Let guess that there are now so really powerful movents to require the Human language for international travel, uniform standards to be made up for all countries, and so wags are even calling for a world governnt?
AND ALL THE SIGNS SHOULD BE CHANGED, he agreed, as unruffled as ever. ALSO, THERES ALREADY CLASSES FOR OTHER RACES TO LEARN IT SPRINGING UP TO ET THE DEMAND. HALF-BLOODED LIKE YOU CAN LEARN IT EASILY, AS DO THE HYN, BUT THE ORCS, ELVES, DWARVES, AND GOBLINS ARE FINDING IT SOWHAT HARDER, AS ARE OTHER RACES.
The funny thing about magical creatures is how fast they can pick up magical changes to languages. He thought that over, and just nodded slowly. It certainly wasnt going to discomfit the ex-human undead long, as their thought processes were centered in Necrus anyways, and dumping knowledge of a stylized and inefficient language for a universal one with a magic hook to it was not a problem.
Im sure all the book publishers are going nuts wondering exactly what to do. It is unfortunate that using computers to translate Human isnt going to work too well...
THEYVE NOTICED, AND ARE VERY ANGRY ABOUT THAT. THE FLEXIBLE SYNTAX AND PUNCTUATION ANNOYS A LOT OF LINGUISTS WHO WANT ADAMANT RULES. CORRECT IF IM WRONG, BUT THE CENTRAL PRECEPT OF THE LANGUAGE IS ABSOLUTE CLARITY OF ANING, RIGHT?
Ideally, yes. Its not as multi-level aning as Elven or as chanical as Denthek, or as precise as Gnomoi. You can tell just by how Human addresses slang and multiple anings, as the tonals indicate whether the words an what they say, or are a slang reference. Not using them ans you are deliberately trying to mislead people... which you can do, but its in the language.
I NOTICED THAT THERE IS A GREAT ALLOWANCE FOR SLANG, BUT ITS CLEARLY SPOKEN AS SUCH, he agreed. IT DOESNT FORGIVE ACCENTS VERY WELL, EITHER.
Nope, I agreed. Accents are generally a sign that you arent human. The nature of the language ans that youll be able to speak it quickly if you are human, simply because you know how it is supposed to sound and how to make the sound. Accents are glaring. Human is one language, not a language with variable pronunciation.
ITS A DEFENSIVE CHANISM AGAINST INFILTRATION AND SUBVERSION, he deduced, his silver pupils visibly glowing as he realized that.
Very good. Not perfect, but its there. Spread the knowledge that Daoists cant auto-learn the language because they arent human anymore. The truth is going to hurt.
He started tapping buttons again...
How long before they get you a new Vaccine programd in Human? I asked, amused, and he just smiled slightly and kept at it. Always things to see on the internet, I rembered that much...
Master Fred, I said suddenly, and he looked up sharply. Does my video have comnts?
YES, he confird.
Can you go through the old comnts and parse out those who actually knew who I was from here in Arica? If Complareao saw that vid, he or his associates would recognize , and they might bite on the comnts...
He blinked, and started tapping again...
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