un : deft hand of little deaths (voice)

[scrapgege]

So, Uhm, I don't know how many people were up there and saw exactly what happened, but...

The Beastmaster is dead.

I guess that brings our headcount to two for undead lords so far.

I don't know what became of the Huntress. I don't think anyone has seen her since the fighting began, but I'm not sure she's around here anymore.

[A small sigh.]

... Did anyone else get suddenly given a large sum of money?

Comments

[scrapgege]

What did he do to me, or in general?

He was drunk and he groped me and I kind of just ... reacted. But he's not a very good person in general.

They thought you were a ghost? Why?

[somebadnews]

And they paid you after the fact? ...How hard did you hit him?

[ He has no sympathy for Taksui, but that sounds more like he had some secret bet going. As for the ghost thing — ]

They're idiots. I guess they jumped to conclusions after I disappeared in the forge. [ Of course they didn't assume anyone else in that group died, which is mildly insulting. ] I don't know what they thought a ghost was going to do with money, but I couldn't disagree with their terms.

[scrapgege]

Well, he flew back quite a few feet?

... You 'disappeared'? How?

[somebadnews]

[ ...So he has super strength. Five suspected, but he's never actually seen him punch someone. Noted.

He's always surprised when someone doesn't already know about his ability, but it's not like he goes around telling people. He just does it. The 'how' is a much more complicated question, so he keeps it simple. ]

Not literally. I blinked away and they assumed.

[scrapgege]

... But how did you do it?

[Please explain, Five, because inquiring minds want to know.]

[somebadnews]

[ He doesn't think the details will help him understand, but since he asked, he gives him a real answer. ]

It's not magic, if that's what you're wondering. I was born with the ability to manipulate space-time. A spatial jump isn't all that difficult, once you've got the calculations down.

[scrapgege]

... And that's not magic where you're from? Humans can just do stuff like that?

[somebadnews]

Not everyone. [ He's special. ]

You could say anything you don't understand is magic, but you'd be wrong. What I do is much more complicated than that.

[scrapgege]

Well, teleportation is not... hard. I can't do it myself, but I know a lot of people who can. Just in space, though, not in time. That sounds dangerous.

[somebadnews]

[ Squinting. It's not hard, but he can't do it. But any mention of the dangers of time travel makes him defensive, and he's the one who brought it up. ]

Extremely. [ You can wind up reliving puberty or cause an apocalypse, for example. ] Most people have no business messing with it.

[scrapgege]

[He... technically can teleport with help, but it's not his power doing it, really. Transportation arrays might count as that, but with his curses, he doesn't have enough power to create any.

And here is a human saying he can travel through time.]

Bu you did mess with it, didn't you? I can't think of anything good coming from it.

[somebadnews]

[ Sometimes it's the only thing that can save the world, but he doesn't say that. Because that hasn't exactly been an easy road. and he can't definitively prove it worked until he gets back to check.

Still, he's the last person who needs a lecture. He looks like a teenager, it's very obvious he's messed with it. ]

You've met me. Do you really think I need you to remind me of the consequences of time travel?

[scrapgege]

Did that happen because of that? You looking younger than you really are?

[somebadnews]

Minor mathematical error.

[scrapgege]

Minor, huh?

What were you trying to do?

[somebadnews]

[ He shouldn't let that get to him, but it's... so easy for it to get to him. ]

I wasn't trying to do anything. I succeeded. But when I was projecting my consciousness across every possible instance of time, I misplaced a decimal.

[ It doesn't help that he's reminded of that mistake every single day, but there's nothing he can do about it. It is what it is. ]

I still got to exactly when I meant to. The rest is inconsequential.

[scrapgege]

... That sounds like a very bad idea, honestly, it's lucky nothing worse happened to you.

[somebadnews]

[ He's absolutely not lucky. ]

That's really a matter of perspective.

[scrapgege]

Would you rather have died, or exploded, or something? At least you're still alive and in one piece.

[And you know in Xie Lian's perspective, that's tremendous.]

[somebadnews]

[ He makes it sound like he did it on a whim. (Which... he did when he was a kid, but he learned his lesson.) But it's true, he didn't die or explode, because he's not that bad at time travel. ]

Like I said, it doesn't matter. There wasn't another way.

[scrapgege]

I am sure that's what it felt like for you at the time, yes.

[somebadnews]

It still does. [ Why is he justifying himself? He stopped the apocalypse, it shouldn't matter how he did it. ]

Everything I did was for a reason.

[scrapgege]

... Well, most people do things for reasons. In general, I mean.

[somebadnews]

Then you'll just have to trust that I knew what I was doing.