Slumrat Rising

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I was very explicitly not flirting.

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I kind of imagine you peeling off your skin and flensing away your muscles and organs in a desperate attempt to be rid of the clinging wetness of it all.

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Cannot emphasize enough how she is not my type. I am the product of my upbringing. I’m not into the bodybuilding physique. Dainty, elfin beauties, and Etenesh. That's what I like.

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Eh?

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The System started madly cackling. >

Not all the people all the time! I have to use the poison intentionally and you know it!

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There is no evidence that is true, or works the way you are implying.

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Did you, somehow, miss the bit where she got very, very close to killing me, several times? And that she only yielded when I literally paralyzed her?

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Truth thought about that one a minute as he left the office building Anak and Sons was in. Actually… that would fit with the spell. Incisive, I mean. Reshaping the world around you. Classifying people into food, mates, or predators to be avoided.

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It was a bland part of Harban. Not really convenient for anywhere. A shocking number of people worked here. All those bland offices, laboratories and light commercial operations forming the middle layer of commerce in the city. Or they used to. An awful lot of “OFFICE SPACE FOR RENT” signs in windows. A lot of trash was piling up on the streets.

Truth watched some discarded wrappers and plastic bags blow around. You really didn’t see that outside of the slums. You didn’t used to see it. It was probably a lot more common now. Air demons would do the work very cheaply. You could even get talisman devices to do it, if you didn’t want to work with demons for some reason.

He sighed and blended in with the worried looking workers lining up for the bus. If there was trash flying around, either it was no longer economical to pay the demons, to run the machines, or just nobody cared enough to pay for it. Possibly a combination of all three. He heaved a big sigh, to the silent agreement of the rest of the queue. He would have to work extra hard visualizing from now on. That Nephilim trick of sealing up the body and keeping all the cosmic rays inside was only getting more urgently necessary.

Speaking of, how is it going breaking down that manual?

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In the meantime, Cup and Knife.

Truth made his way back to the hotel, letting the Prince enrobe him as he entered his suite. Butler and Maid were waiting for him, bowing as he entered. He ordered some snacks and a drink, then set about properly healing himself. The wound had long since clotted, but the muscle damage lingered. As did the scrapes along his bones.

He let the spell slowly form around him, trying to remember what he knew about Manda, the patron origin of the spell, and Johannes Vek, its creator. Very little, as it happened. Manda was an angel associated with revelation. Vek was prolific, with hundreds of spells to his name, but all so idiosyncratic, they were used purely for inspiration. That’s why he found the spell without an introduction in one of Merkovah’s big reference books. It was literally just there for reference. No sensible person would actually use it.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Truth grinned at that thought. He considered himself quite sensible. Did the Prince grin? He was mindful of his dignity of course, but yes. If the Prince wanted to grin, he would damn well grin. Very well then. To work.

Manda was described as appearing as both an old man and a young child. He was also compared to a river, or the guiding bell in the fog. Not sure how the human bit fit in, but… revelation pouring in. And you can’t force revelation. You can only leave yourself open to it. Truth toyed with that idea for a second. What did it mean to be open to revelation? Presumably to align your thoughts as closely as you could with the source of revelation, then wait.

He wasn’t bad at waiting. Truth directed the spell towards the clotted wound on his back. It wasn’t supposed to look like this. Muscles were supposed to be better connected. More vital and full of life. The skin stretched across them was supposed to be supple, strong, and smooth.

The spell appeared to agree, rolling over him. Truth could imagine the healing rolling down along the path of his spine, like water along a dry riverbed. It didn’t feel quite like anything else. It didn’t even really feel like “healing.” There were problems, then there weren't. He didn’t even have to send the damage somewhere. Now just why was that? He did with the dog in front of the shrine, or the damage done by the geas on the MegaShroom employees.

He had no idea. He’d just have to wait for it all to be revealed. The healing didn’t take very long. The Meditations had given him a strong body. Appreciating that fact, he moved directly into practicing them. Letting the visualization guide him. Leaning on the Nine Worms for support. And they were supporting him on this. They didn’t object to modifications based on Nephilim biology. That was interesting, in an alarming sort of way. He didn’t linger on the thought, just pressed on. The gains were small, slow, but very steady. Every day, he was a little more real. A little closer to wrapping his hands around the levers controlling the world.

A little closer to wrapping his hands around the System Astrologica, and squeezing.

When he was done meditating, he set up the cosmic ray concentration array Merkovah had sent over in a corner of the suite. It worked about as well as the cultivation room in the hotel. Well, he was staying in one of the very nicest hotels in Jeon. And Merkovah’s spell was portable. A whole lot better than nothing.

“A bath, and dinner. Bring your trainee. I will feed him personally. After dinner, I will explain how he will make himself useful.”

The succubae bowed and murmured their obedience. Dinner was exquisite, naturally. Roast duck, over a bed of gemlike rice. He remembered rice like this from the one time he flew first class. This was apparently the real deal version. Both the duck and the rice had been enhanced with cosmic energy.

Even five years ago, this plate of food would have been worth more than most people made in two years. More than a denizen made in five. Now? When elixirs were becoming unavailable at any price?

It was delicious. He left a small portion on his plate, then looked over at the man standing patiently at the foot of the table. Eyes fixed firmly on the floor.

“You were born a minor child of a wealthy family attached to a powerful family. And now your Grandmother decided the single best use of you was to serve me. All that accumulated family influence… worthless. Your existence was, for them, a burden. One they were overjoyed to turn into a benefit. For them.”

Truth’s voice was conversational. No need to press hard. Everyone in this room was coiled in Incisive. Truth had been working hard at understanding the Prince and Botis both. It was paying off. The former Barton remained silent. He hadn’t been asked a question.

“Today, I walked into the corporate offices of a minor criminal enterprise. Perhaps you have heard of MegaShroom. I broke the CEO, and killed their chief lawyer. I then found those who truly control that firm and forced one of their number into submission. They offered to let me do as I wished with MegaShroom. I wished to replace the CEO with one of my own, and use the company to my own ends. They obeyed. From a stranger, to running a near-billion-wen business in… perhaps two hours. Most of which was travel time.”

The former Barton kept his eyes fixed on the floor. His face didn’t twitch, but Truth could see his eyes darting through the thin skin of their lids.

“Your name will be Niles Bowman. See to it that it is changed legally. You will be installed as the CEO of MegaShroom. Tonight, you will be instructed on the nature and habits of the Nephilim, as it is they who truly control that company. You may keep the salary as walking around money. The company’s profits, such as they are and will be, will continue to go to the Anak family. Your actual job will be to ferment a religious nationalism in the Company’s servants. All those ambassadors and representatives.”

Truth’s expression only looked like a smile. Everyone in the room other than him shivered, even if they couldn’t see his face.

“You will institute a new policy. Where before merely hitting sales goals and purchasing product from the company was enough to move them up tiers, now they have to give. Servants must donate up to twenty percent of their gross income to their local Praegerite church. They are to provide receipts of this. Failure to do so will result in dropping tiers and less favorable pricing. However, every wen and credit spent to this end will count twice for their promotion to the next tier.”

His expression turned stern. “You will change the branding and promotional materials. You will show happy people in stable families in traditional, old fashioned dress. You will emphasize that the core of MegaShroom is Faith, Family and Prosperity, the same tripod that holds up the nation of Jeon. And MegaShroom is a proud Jeon company. You will increase the patriotic language and branding material as well.”

Niles bowed silently.

“And once you have done this, you will work with the major churches around Harban and the rest of Jeon to integrate the reporting requirements. You will remind the priests that the more they push your servants, the more they can donate. The more prosperous the Church becomes, the richer the Treasury of God, the more powerful God’s servants shall be in the face of the coming darkness. And you will remind them, as you will remind your servants, of one, obvious, truth.

“Starbrite-the-man is not from Jeon. He is a foreigner, an outsider. He has stolen the country’s wealth and genius for himself. Oh, he made a few very rich. But remind your servants. Would they be selling MegaShroom if they were one of the ones Starbrite blessed? Or are they scared? Afraid of what is coming? Do they feel the future will be better than the past?

“They do not. Starbrite is the Demon of Poverty that has bewitched the nation, brought it low. But thanks to the hard work of the Church and MegaShroom, the Tiger of Jeon shall rise once more.”

Truth smiled at the shivering Niles. “You may eat.”

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