Currents And Corruption

I don't have time to truly react to the sudden appearance of my water-spirit friends before I myself hit the water. My wolf companion and I begin to sink beneath the waves almost immediately, and before I consciously direct my actions I hear the familiar voices of the spirits I have fed twice as of earlier today.

"Hi there Mateo! Do you know how to swim?" One of them asks.

"Don't be silly, it doesn't matter if he KNOWS how to swim, he'll be able to do so because of our blessing!" The other states, causing me to open my eyes and look at them curiously.

I am currently sinking to the bottom of a shallow part of the water just off the coast of the strange landmass I call home. The bottom of the area I'm in is some thirty feet below me, and as I look around and study my surroundings pirates begin to hit the water and sink as well.

After a few seconds of distractedly studying my surroundings I gasp, letting out the breath I was just holding, but I don't begin to drown. Water surges into my mouth, but the water that does isn't threatening to drown me. The spirits look at me, delightedly, and giggle when I realize that I can breathe.

"Oh hey, he got it a lot faster than I thought he would!" One of them says, delightedly. My wolf ally also realizes that it can breathe and doggy-paddles over to me quite cutely. When he touches my side I note that he's dry, and this causes me to give myself a once-over and realize that I am also completely dry.

"This is… whoa." I remark, amazed by the fact that I can breathe underwater.

"It gets even better! You can swim really fast." The other spirit tells me, a brilliant smile on its face as it speaks. I look at it and notice what is indisputably a book in its hands. The book is somehow staying completely dry, and radiates an aura of mildly powerful magic as I study it, I feel a flash of supernatural insight provided to me by "That Looks Interesting", a perk that allows me to psychically gain insights into things I find interesting. The spirit notices me glancing at the book and lets out a beautiful sounding laugh.

"Do you like this thing? It's a book of curses! We're actually supposed to offer it to you." The creature explains causing my eyes to widen in shock. The other spirit notices this and lets out a soft, spritely laugh.

"The lords of the deep were delighted by your humility, and wanted to give you a gift befitting your kindness. This is a simple trinket to us beneath the waves, but on the surface I'm told it'd be seen as a fairly valuable grimoire for young dabblers in the arcane," The spirit says, happily. "The lords of the deep would like to pursue a mutually beneficial relationship with you, and we hope that this little tease of the treasures of the deep will entice you to come below the waves!" The creature adds, smiling at me, as its peer gives me the book.

As I take the book I get a notification informing me that it is a skill book, a supernatural item that when read actually allows me to gain new skills and even, on occasion, perks! It is known as "Beginner's Book Of Curses", and the notification I receive asks me if I'd like to absorb the skills and/or perks it offers me.

I eagerly inform it that I would, and the book vanishes as the knowledge contained within seeps into my mind. I memorize every word, and I feel new perks, all related to water, seep into my mind.

I see a notification telling me about "Hydrokinetics", that also reveals that my new perks come in two categories: generalized perks, such as ones that allow me to breathe underwater, and do something akin to water-bending, and also as part of the "Hydrokinetic" origin. The ones related to the specific origin are all about inflicting and manipulating curses, which is great for me since I can use curses on my foes to weaken the amazons I need to defeat.

The totality of the contents of the book are burned into my mind. Not just every word, but every symbol as well. I know the exact positions of every punctuation mark, and the intent behind every sentence according to the ancient authors of the potent grimoire. All of the basic curses in the book are etched into my memory, which cements my ability to use my new, origin-specific perks.

"Whoa! Where'd the book go?" One of the spirits asks, a delighted grin on its face as it looks at me curiously. I turn my attention back to the spirits and ask them why they can speak so much better than they could before, which gets a hearty laugh from them.

"We're only basic nature spirits. Our lords and ladies, the masters of the deep, are much greater spirits and can assign intelligence to us at will. They only assigned us the bare minimum we needed to patrol the coast before, since we got no meaningful offerings. But since there's a culinary warrior who can bolster beings with his food… They are intrigued by you." One of them says, smiling thoughtfully at me.

That makes sense. My ability to improve people, both through the food I make and the other means at my disposal, is a powerful bargaining chip. With it, so long as I can make a good first impression, I can do a lot as far as diplomacy goes.

"I'd be happy to visit your home sometime soon. But as for now… There's a battle raging up on the surface. Pirates are attacking the city of Oceanos. I need to get back up there and help out." I say, causing the spirits to nod at me.

"Okay! But before you do, remember the name 'Neptunia'. She's the lady of the deep that is the most intrigued by your presence." One of the spirits tells me, which I do immediately. I have "Communion" an ability which lets me communicate with higher beings, including nature spirits, if I know their names. I thank the spirits and turn in the direction of the ship at the back of the battle, the one where Atlanta and the woman I assume must be the captain of the pirates lurks.

I recall my newly gained perks, and smile as I wrap an arm around my companion. As soon as I do I begin to dart forward, propelled by water under the control of my mind, dragging the tamed wolf along with me. In moments we are moving underneath various ships, and as we do I begin to move us closer and closer to the surface.

We eventually stop hiding underneath pirate ships, emerging atop the surface of the ocean, and we begin to do something vaguely akin to surfing around the pirate ships. I hear more and more pirates entering the fray, and I decide to intervene a little. My companion and I are standing atop a psychically driven wave, one that is under my complete control. I will it to grow tall enough that I can peek out over the edges of the ships and spot pirates on them with ease, before I physically grab some of the water underneath me.

The water in my hand is cold, and I shape it into small projectiles by pouring tiny amounts of magic into them. When the projectiles are ready I infuse pieces of my will into them, transforming them into weapons that transmit curses. The curses that fill my mind are not advanced curses, nor are they even particularly long-lasting, but they don't have to be to be absolutely devastating in the context of a battle like this.

I fling them at some of the nearby pirates and as they escape my hand they enlarge and become potent spears of water that streak through the air and impale nearby pirates. The pirates all survive the blows but are drenched, and even as they are flung back their allies freeze in place as the curses that affect the pirates that got hit by my spears virulently spread from the original infectees to the allies closest to them.

The curses I inflicted on my foes are themselves nasty debuffs, and the pirates immediately turn on each other, frenzying and filling with rage. This causes fatalities almost immediately, as pirates slash and stab each other haphazardly, and will deprive the pirates at the forefront of the fighting of allies.

I turn my attention to other amassed clumps of pirates, for a brief moment, before refocusing on my actual objective. I quickly begin to dart towards the last ship, even as I idly take aim at the distant birds that caused me grief and "Overcharge" my taming ability right as I distantly destroy their collars.

The birds freeze in confusion before they are hit with my taming ability and become allies of mine. The amazons they were attacking notice the explosions caused by their slave-collars being destroyed and let out a cheer, even as the birds turn to face the nearest group of pirates and fly towards them, their steel-like-feathers already regrowing.

I reach the edge of the final ship and leap onto it, joined by the wolf, right as the strange woman I assume is the ship captain points in my direction and tells her allies to kill me. The five amazon women emit bloodthirsty groans and lunge at me. The captain herself has a strange aura…

The pirates I've fought, with the exception of the tamers, have all had entirely purple-pink auras. The tamers have all had red auras, filled with their frustration and rage. The captain's aura is an eerily calm green, but there is a slight tinge of pink at the very edge of the light that radiates from her, so slight I can't help but wonder if she is even cognizant of the strange supernatural energy that must be ever so subtly inside of her.

I glance at the captain and smirk, as I will the wave behind me to hurl itself at her. Atlanta, the fastest of the amazons, moves into place to block the blow and tanks the full force of the potent wave smashing into her, but that only makes my smirk grow wider. For a split second it seems as though Atlanta has at least partially resisted the curse, but I only retain that impression for little more than half a second.

The nature of the curse I hit Atlanta with, the "Curse of Weakness", becomes apparent almost immediately and causes the mighty amazon to fall to her knees, gasping for breath. This confuses the strange woman who seems to be leading the assault, and her confusion only grows when the other amazons noticeably slow in their attempt to assault me. The amazons, creatures that are well-beyond peak human in their physiques, are not able to even run at me, and when the one closest to me reaches me and hurls a punch my way I easily deflect it with my hand before striking her in the chest.

My punch, a punch with peak-human force, does not make the woman crumple but I can sense that it does meaningful damage to her even through her dense wall of abdominal muscle. I surge forward, closing the distance between the fighter and I even as my fingers dart out and strike several of her pressure points, further weakening her. I utilize the strange knowledge provided to me by "Tenderizer", a "Culinary Warrior" perk, to accurately weaken the woman, striking over and over until she collapses next to me.

This is evidently an achievement, as I am suddenly informed that I have unlocked the first two perks of the "Chi-Manipulator" origin, "Master of Territory" and "Meaningless Talent". To be fair, the notification tells me that defeating an amazon in unarmed combat without sustaining any damage is a real feat, which explains why I didn't just earn the first perk like I did for "Chemist" since I unlocked "Chemist" by drinking a potion…

The first of the two perks manifests immediately, altering my awareness of the space around me and giving me enhanced perception as far as my ability to move and react to things goes.

I can see a perfect circle around me that marks exactly how much reach I have with any and all of my limbs, which would have been very handy earlier in this fight… The things offered by the second perk are not as immediately handy, and require me to make choices which I learn, right now, I cannot do in the middle of combat.

Her allies reach me seconds later and I find myself dodging several strikes back to back, and during this time I notice that the actual enemy I need to defeat has not been affected by my curse. That's unsurprising, and annoying, but my actions have weakened the amazons and rendered them not truly a threat to me.

As I dodge the seventh blow in a row I've dodged, my foe loses balance. This gives my wolf companion a chance to strike, which he takes as he lunges at my attacker. The wolf, taking advantage of the fact that its foe is off balance, easily trips the hulking amazon and I point at Atlanta and will the bondage gear she is strapped in to violently explode. The enchantments on the gear that is affixed to her body begins to glow vibrantly for a few moments before it violently rips apart.

I hear my real foe curse as she is sent flying backwards, and even as Atlanta stills smokes I fling a low-cost magical projectile at her which impacts her body and allows me to almost immediately purge her of the corruption that has afflicted her. She immediately looks around in confusion, as she swiftly regains true consciousness.

"What in Otera's name?" She asks, as she weakly studies her surroundings. I immediately undo the curse, even as I turn and shout for my companion to leap off of the amazon he has tackled. The beast does as I command and I will the equipment that has been affixed to the bodies of the other amazons to explode. I am almost knocked off my feet by the forceful bursts that hit me from different angles but I am able to roll with the forces that threaten my balance.

"Atlanta! You're back in Oceanos, and for some time you've been the prisoner of that asshole." I say, before pointing at the strange style warrior I've come here to stop. This causes the amazon's eyes to narrow and she turns and glares at the woman who somehow gained possession of her body.

"You… motherfucker!" My true foe shouts, clearly referring to me, even as Atlanta lunges at her. I aim at my remaining foes and hurl several magical projectiles, one after another, until all four of the remaining amazons have been hit. The seconds after I hit them I expend much of my remaining magic to purge the corruption that has tainted the minds of the amazons.

I sense my depleted reserves of arcane energy, and I let out an annoyed sound as I wordlessly activate one of my more unusual perks. "Second Serving", a "Culinary Warrior" perk lets me spontaneously get a second activation out of things like potions, buffs, and other positive things, which I utilize to forcefully trigger the effects of the potion I imbibed last night. The potion's primary effect is that it both immediately restores some arcane energy and also that it enhances my arcane energy recovery rate.

As the potion's effects course through me, I begin to refocus on my last remaining enemy. I turn just in time to see Atlanta come within arms reach of the strange woman, and suddenly vanish. Half a second later Atlanta reappears, next to me, in the middle of launching a strike that I am able to deftly redirect using the awareness provided to me by "Master of Territory".

Atlanta attempts another strike, only to look at me and immediately realize who she's attacking, which causes her to stop moving and begin to apologize profusely. I ignore her apology, aware that she wasn't aware of who she was attacking, and I glare at my foe.

"You ruined everything!" My actual enemy roars, even as the other amazons begin to get up and look at Atlanta and I, before spotting our actual foe at the other end of the ship's main deck.

Atlanta, hearing the woman's words, turns to face her and glares at her. Without taking her eyes off of the figure she speaks.

"Can you understand that lady?" She asks me, her voice filled with curiosity. I nod, and she smirks.

"Do me a favor, would you? Tell her I'm gonna kick her ass." Atlanta adds, a second later. The woman's eyes narrow and she almost spits out what she says next.

"I can understand you, you damn bear," She growls, speaking in the language of the Amazons and Atlanta's eyes widen in surprise. "And, you're gonna 'kick my ass'? Please. You can't even touch me." She tells us, and this comment annoys Atlanta, who suddenly lunges at the woman again. I mentally note both Atlanta's temper, and the stranger's pride, as weak points that can be pushed if need be. This time the champion is only trying to tackle the stranger, and none of the other amazons rush off to aid the figure.

When Atlanta is closer to the captain than she was before, the pink that is present in the pirate's aura surges, taking over a vast quantity of the light that the captain is radiating and Atlanta vanishes again. She reappears in mid-air between the pirate and I, but the pirate's eyes widen in surprise when she spots Atlanta hurtling towards the space between the two of us.

"Shit!" She says, as she points her hand in the direction of Atlanta. I watch the captain emit magic and am pleasantly surprised when it fizzles out before ever touching Atlanta. Atlanta, unsurprisingly, is decidedly less pleased when she continues to descend towards the boat and then howls in annoyance when she crashes through the floor of the main deck. The captain attempts to rush forward and I sense an opportunity, which I take without hesitation.

I hurl myself at the stranger, a grin on my face, as I put both hands on the hilt of my sword. The woman looks at me in alarm, and when her foot touches the floor the second after she notices me coming for her she vanishes. I stop, my momentum coming to a complete halt the instant I want to stop, and I let out an annoyed growl. I turn around just in time to notice the woman standing over Atlanta's fallen form. The amazon is only partially conscious, and the stranger has begun to howl a string of expletives as her clothes coil violently around her.

The strange yellow clothes that wrap around the figure protectively are moving as though they were well and truly alive. I don't have to use "Upgrade" on them to realize that they must be, and this time before I can physically react the other amazons drop into the crater created by Atlanta's fallen form. As they drop down I take aim at one of them and cast a healing spell, which not only heals them but also the distant amazons who are the closest to me and my allies. My spell fully restores their strength, and restores Atlanta's as well.

As the amazons crash into the interior of the ship, the clothes that wrap around the stranger more fully animate and extend. They quickly lash out, snaking towards the amazons and attempting to strike them, as the captain focuses on Atlanta. I take advantage of this moment and dart down behind the amazons, which lets me see the full interior of the boat and lay my eyes on what I immediately realize is the source of the magic miasma that, to my eyes, has casually tinted the entire battlefield as long as I've been here.

Not far behind the ship's captain is a large statue of what appears to be some sort of demonic, or possibly vampiric, woman. The statue is milk white and depicts a winged woman seemingly screaming, and it is the single most magically powerful object I've seen in the days since I arrived in this world. The magic it radiates forms a pink-hued cloud around the statue. The captain notices me immediately and gestures towards me, which sends some of her clothing flying in my direction.

Her sleeves sprint through the air and when they almost immediately close the lion's share of the distance between us I can't help but close my eyes and shrink back. I wait for a feeling of pain which never comes and a second later I open my eyes and find that Atlanta is holding onto the living sleeve.

The end of the thing is still writhing around trying to get me, but it can't quite seem to reach me so I take a second to back up and shout a quick "Thank you!" to Atlanta. I then glance at the statue, and to her credit, the ship's captain manages to notice me looking at the statue and even as I raise my hand in the direction of the thing she shouts for me to wait. I ignore her, and I utilize "Violent Disjunction" on the statue, and as the thing begins to glow, the captain turns to face the statue.

Within what must amount to nanoseconds the amount of light the statue was shedding was blinding. I have to cover my eyes to avoid being blinded, at least temporarily. A few moments later all of the radiant light vanishes completely and when I stop covering my eyes I look and find that the statue I've just destroyed is both not destroyed and no longer a statue. Standing where the statue once was is the woman who was somehow imprisoned in or transformed into the statue.

"Ah… Freedom, at last." She says, even as the stranger attempts to leap away from her. The former statue's voice is melodic and I can immediately tell that it is a supernatural ability of hers. The woman does not bother moving and she smiles at me, even as her eyes glance in the direction of the stranger.

"Hmm… What's this? It seems that I have some servants!" She exclaims, delightedly. Her eyes are multicolored at the moment and I can sense the power she is gently exerting to make sense of the work done by the pirate captain.

"Sophia, you did a wonderful job… I suppose there was a reason you could seal me away," The woman utters, admitting something a bit surprising. I step forward and look directly at the stranger. "Though you weren't able to use my powers with any real finesse." She states, complaining.

"You said you have… 'Servants'? If you're controlling the pirates, please stop them from attacking the city!" I say, causing the strange woman to turn her full attention to me.

We lock eyes, and I sense her appraising me somehow. For a moment all of us, amazons, pirate captain, strange beings, and I, are all silent as I am studied by the curious woman.

"Hmm… I suppose I DO owe you a debt, young stranger. After all, you did free me," She concedes. "I can call off my new servants. Going to war with the gods doesn't sound like a great plan, at least not in my current state." She adds, a second later, and I begin to hear the sounds of distant bodies dropping off of boats and into the waters on which the boats float.

"And… You can keep the bodies of the ones who perished. I'm sure a resourceful stranger can do a lot with the bodies of fierce pirates." She says, winking at me even as the captain, "Sophia", turns on her and roars in anger.

"No! I won't let you take my crew!" She hisses, before chanting a spell and attempting to unleash her magic in the direction of the strange creature I released from a bizarre form of supernatural captivity. Her arm is flung in the direction of the woman, but when nothing happens the stranger girlishly giggles and vanishes before reappearing centimeters from me. She wraps her arms around me and lightly kisses my lips, pressing the fullness of her unholy lips against mine.

Her soft, warm lips eagerly wrestle against mine, almost immediately maneuvering my mouth open. Before I am able to react to the sensations she is inflicting on me she slides her tongue against mine, devilishly. It only lasts a moment, but it is enough to electrify the nerve endings that line my tongue, and I shiver as I feel the strange, supernatural pleasure this odd creature has inflicted on me.

"Bye bye young hero! I'll be sure to keep an eye on you. My name is Rebeza, and if you try to look me up… Don't believe everything you read." The strange creature explains, before laughing and then vanishing in a puff of pinkish-purple smoke. I turn to try and contain Sophia, but as soon as I lay my eyes on her her foot touches the floorboards beneath all of us and she vanishes, disappearing as abruptly as Rebeza did but without the thematic smoke.

"Shit!" I say, huffing in annoyance. Nonetheless the woman is well and truly gone, even my enhanced senses do not detect even a trace of her presence for the hundreds of meters in every direction that my sharp senses allow me to be aware of. I get a notification alerting me that the quest has been completed, and that I've fulfilled all of its objectives.

I mentally scan the lengthy notification and note that despite my efforts a handful of amazons perished… I quickly realize that they must have died during the end of the quest, in the period during which I was fighting Sophia and the amazons. The birds I tamed earlier land next to Atlanta and I, and they look at the six amazons and myself curiously.

The birds are positively gigantic up close. Even the smallest of them is close to a horse in size, and now that they are close to me I can understand how their feathers can be hard enough to destroy the wooden planks that allowed the mindless pirates to cross over and threaten Oceanos.

"Well… I think the fighting is over." I remark, as one of the birds looks at me and I smirk at the thing. The amazons look at me and then the birds, and after a quick conversation they mount the animals. We're all eager to get back to the city and to figure out what comes next, so none of them protest when I recommend we fly back to the shore. I touch the head of one of the things and it makes an animalistic noise of excitement. I get on top of the animal and the thing immediately begins to flap its wings, the first of the animals to do so, but not the last either.

In seconds the animals, both those with amazons on their backs and those who are not ferrying amazons, are in the air and moving towards the remaining amazons. I get to see Cladora, Beth, Raquel, and Ophelia all cheer when they spot me amid the rescued amazons. I momentarily wonder if they recognize the amazons I rescued, but I don't get to know right away.

When the birds are not over boats they descend, landing on the dock, and we quickly dismount. A throng of amazons arrives from deeper in the city, appearing from behind one of the buildings that stand between the docks and the rest of the city, and the amazons who were boarding boats begin to reach us. Everyone is confused when they see Atlanta, and no one knows what to do with the realization that she is still alive, until a single loud voice cuts through the astounded din that Atlanta's presence causes.

"Is that… Atlanta?" A familiar voice asks, as Ophelia appears, looking down on the birds, amazons, and I from atop the closest pirate ship. Atlanta looks in the direction of the voice and gasps happily when she spots the city's high-priestess.

"Ophelia!" She says, as she begins to walk towards the plank that would lead her to who I assume must be a dear friend of hers. The crowd parts to allow her to reach her friend, and right when Atlanta reaches the top of the plank I watch her body language shift and I chuckle when she asks "Who are those people?", which is clearly in reference to my doll.

"Those are some of the figures who helped protect the city from the people who kidnapped you." Ophelia says, quickly jumping to conclusions, but since she was able to determine that I am a cleric with a glance it's entirely possible that her remarks here are based on facts.

"They, along with the young man who helped you, are friends of the city." Ophelia explains, turning to face me with a smile on her face.

"Now… Would you like to come with me? I'll be taking our friend, and his peers, to the temple." Ophelia offers, causing Atlanta to nod at her and turn to face me, declaring that she'll be "Protecting" me a bit longer. I chuckle as my dolls walk past her and return to my side, greeting me quite happily. I hug the two of them, shortly before Ophelia and Atlanta reach our sides and ask us to accompany them to the city's center of religious life.

I agree to accompany the amazons, right as a string of notifications fill the view of one of my lesser trains of thought. They all relate to the quest I have just completed, and they bring a smile to my face.