Transcendence?

***Eastern Planes, Arcane Academy***

***Ascathon***

“~Shanana.~”

I got permission from Celestial to use my immoral spell again! It has been a while since I used the spell Takeover.

Fortunately we had some test subje... hrm prisoners from Phenex. My men fished them out of the ocean when they attacked us at Sera's birthday. We kept them alive, just in case. Right now I am inside the body of one of their higher ranking officers.

My current body is a little bit too muscular and hairy for my taste. I look like a body builder. The muscles on my chest look like tits. I will never understand how a man can train himself to this point.

Strangely enough Celestial chose this body. Did she want to tell me something by doing so?

We decided that it was best if nobody knew of our attempt to form a secret alliance. Our enemies could use this knowledge against us. Open cooperation between Norfolk and Phenex is a bit difficult according to Celestial.

Most of Norfolk's nobles are willing to accept us, but there is no way to tell how many would take action against an alliance with Phenex.

So I went on a top secret mission, using the body of a prisoner. Of course I am wearing the casual clothes of a merchant. Running around dressed like a soldier from Phenex wouldn't get me far.

My first action was to use a Gate from Sarn to get to one of the less important towns in Norfolk. From there I jumped to a secret Gate in the Eastern Planes. Of course I could try to hack one of the Gates in the Academy, but that would be too much of a headache in this case.

Celestial informed me that the Jarl's former wife gave her a lot of valuable spying information. The former Jarl built a very secretive and effective spy organisation. They have access to enormous resources and possibilities.

One of them are Gates which were officially destroyed, but repaired later. The Jarl paid an enormous sum to the Academy as an apology for the missing Gates. The Academy normally wants damaged Gates back, even if they are returned just in pieces.

I have no idea how the Jarl explained the complete destruction of several Gates to the Academy. In any case, the result are eleven Gates at strategic locations all over the continent. Norfolk's own little Gate network. I have no doubt that other countries might have done the same.

From the unimportant town in question, I travelled to the secret Gate in Norfolk. From there, I was just one step away from the Academy. I have a strong feeling that the Immortal Empress is sitting on an important place like the Academy like a chicken on an egg.

By staying here, she is able to prevent anyone from taking the Academy over.

I have just one problem. How do I get inside the city? The guy who was guarding the secret Gate couldn't help me with that. Norfolk's spies retreated from the city when Phenex attacked. I guess I will simply try to walk through the Gate?

No, they surely locked the city down. You can't have people walk in and out of the city without control. And I have no caravan or equipment to cross the desert. It will look suspicious if I come out of nowhere.

So that means flying over the walls? Right now I am on a dune, watching the city. It's architecture consists of many towers and layered rings of buildings until they reach the city wall. I know the place very well. After all I studied here for several years.

Maybe I could get in through the sewers? No. There are very big rats down there. I hate those things.

I will simply watch the town until night falls. Maybe I will be able to sneak inside with a big caravan? They come from time to time to the city for trading.

Otherwise I will have to fly over the wall in the cover of the darkness.

I start to draw patterns on the sand while I wait. There is nothing else to do. The hours pass, but no caravan shows up.

In the evening I decide to act. The sun is low on the horizon right behind me and the last rays of light are disappearing. I stand up and use the growing shadows of the dunes to hide myself while walking closer to the city.

The outer walls are impressive chunks of solid rock, about fifty metres high. I decided against flying above it. This is a world of magic and the Academy is a city of magicians. I don't believe that there aren't any precautions against something like levitation magic.

I pull a small fist sized globe out of a pocket on my belt and use it to check for guards. There are soldiers every hundred metres and a few are patrolling around the city.

The last rays of light disappear while I memorize their walking pattern. A big patrol of ten people is passing me every hour and there are small groups of two every ten minutes.

So I wait until the next big patrol and another small group are gone. I chose a lonely section of the wall, far away from the city gate. As soon as the next small patrol is gone, I leave the shadows and run closer to the wall. My dark clothes hide me in the darkness.

Unless the soldiers have some neat vision enchantments on them I should be safe until I arrive at the top of the wall. There are magical lights at the top and the wall-walk is well lighted.

Arriving at the bottom of the wall, I cast a spell to increase the adhesion between myself and any other matter. Then, after reinforcing my legs with magic, I place my left foot on the wall to test my spell. Once I am sure that it worked, I jump and stand horizontal on the wall. One might mistake me for using a gravitational spell while I walk leisurely up the wall. But that's not the case at all.

A flick of my finger destroys the lamp which is illuminating my area. Then I run. It takes me a few seconds to bridge the distance and just as I arrive at the top, the face of a guard appears. He is looking down the wall to check for the noise.

To me it looks like a head appeared from the ground. Just right!

*Bang*

Everything the guard ever saw of me was my boot, as I placed it directly in his face. The kick was perfect! The guard goes limp, hanging there like inspecting something at the bottom of the wall.

I waste no time and jump down the wall on the other side, gently floating to the ground with levitation magic. Less than ten seconds passed since I planted my boot in the guards face and as I touch the ground, the guards on the wall behind me start to get busy.

Alarms are sounded and torches are used to enlighten the dark section of the wall. It doesn't concern me as I walk slowly down the street. I am a citizen of the Academy from now on.

I head directly for the lively parts of the city. My path leads me down one of the busy main streets. There are always people here, even during the night.

My next action is to find the location of the Empress. For that purpose I enter one of the many bars and order a drink. “The strongest stuff you have!”

A fat barkeeper brings me a jug of something that smells like petrol. I could probably build a working engine with this. I drink it in one go and order another one. There are drunks in every city and I already have a plan on how to get rid of this body.

The barkeeper is easily entangled in a little conversation. After all I start consuming his drinks like a good customer.

I spend half an hour in the bar while talking to the barkeeper and drinking as much as I can. Barkeepers know a lot about their city. There are always idiots who mourn over something while trying to drink their problems away.

Of course that never works.

I got the information I needed in any case. It's not like the residing place of the city's ruler is a big secret. But that the Immortal Empress resides in the Inquisition's headquarters still surprised me.

Wobbling down the street and reeking like a drunk... well I am drunk. And I really can't walk straight. The world is spinning too and I really want to barf. No matter how I look at this, drinking too much sucks. At least it's not my body.

I take another gulp from the bottle in my hand. A good drunk needs a bottle, so I took one from the barkeeper when I said goodbye.

The Immortal Empress' new residence comes into view after a few minutes of walking and staggering. Luckily there are no cars on the streets of this world. I wouldn't have gotten very far otherwise.

This building is a big tower and can't be missed from anywhere inside the city. There is just one entrance, which is guarded by two guards. The big door is closed.

I grumble about my bad luck. Taking over a standing guard isn't good. It will look strange if I suddenly leave in his body. I had hoped for something like a patrol, walking in and out of the residence.

As I wait for several minutes, heaven sends me the answer. A group of servants is approaching the entrance. I know their outfits. They are the same as the ones from that time when I saved Sera!

I check out the faces of the approaching women and pick a nice one. Actually all of them have acceptable looks. The staff of the Empress seems to be chosen by appearance. In hindsight, it's not necessary for a servant to have any special qualifications. Cleaning and doing chores can be done by everyone.

I grab into my pocket and place the crystal ball in my hand with the bottle. The ball may still be needed.

The women try to avoid me as I stand up and intercept them on their path. “Niceee, lalaladiees! Woouuldn't you lik to spendd the night with mee?”

They fan out and walk past me with disdainful expressions. But another step gets me close enough to grab my target's butt. She is a nice brown haired one with a fair face and a slender built.

“Hiiii.....”

“....iiiii!”

I snap my mouth shut. This hurts! I grabbed my butt too firmly! Stupid body builders! I turn and slap my former self. He is just staring at me with a dumbfounded expression.

Then I grab the bottle from his hand, which he is still holding in front of him. The crystal ball wanders into my other hand while I place my knee between his legs.

He folds over and the bottle strikes down at the back of his head. The glass breaks and the body builder goes down on his belly, twitching a little.

I kick him in the guts and spit on him while he starts to barf. “Take that pervert! Drunkard!”

Oh, wow! I have a nice voice.

Then I look at the other shocked servants and the closing guards. They left their post.

“What happened?” One of the guards starts to interrogate me. Ah, damn. Didn't they see?

“That drunken pervert grabbed my butt and I delivered punishment! It hurts!” I rub my butt while the guards start to grin.

“It's true. I saw everything.” Another servant helps me.

“Go inside. We will clear up the scum.” The other guard waves towards the entrance and the servants bow and start walking again. I follow their example and walk along while the guards grab my former self, who is lying in his own barf and booze.

He will be out of the game for long enough. Even if he wakes up, nobody will believe his story of being a prisoner and waking up here without memories.

Somehow I like being a soul magician. Fireballs, ice shards who needs flashy magic with an ability like this.

“Marina? Are you okay? That person was scary.” One of the servants says and I am a little late to realize that she was talking to me.

So I am Marina? Ok, that works. “Ah. Sorry. I think I am okay. I am just a little spaced out. My body moved on its own back then.”

The other servant smiles and pats my back to reassure me. I return the smile and continue to follow them. After a while I found out that they belong to the staff of the Immortal Empress. So I took exactly the right choice.

After a while of following them around, I silently sneak away by taking another corridor as they walk towards the servants quarters. From their chit chat I gathered that the Immortal Empress is living on the top floor of this tower.

So I head to the stairs. My attire doesn't cause any mistrust from the guards and they seem to know me. I walk right into the private quarters of the Immortal Empress. She isn't there, so I take my time and search her belongings. I find many magical toys from Sarn and a bottle of very expensive wine.

There is probably no point in searching for her. I will simply wait here until she comes back. The chair at her office table looks comfortable. I take a seat and place my feet on the table. Then I start reading some documents which were lying around.

Top secret espionage! Wow. Jackpot! Ah, I see. So that's how they got access to the Academy. I keep reading until my eyes wander to a box with cigars. “Ohohoh...” Nice service.

I keep enjoying the luxury around me until the door opens and three familiar faces enter.

It's the Immortal Empress and the spy girl. Both of them are lightly dressed. Looks like they are returning from a bath. Too bad that I didn't walk in on them. The bath has to be on another floor.

Following them is the old headmaster of the Academy. His name is Saggisomething, I think. He is carrying a really big and heavy stash of papers. It looks almost as if the old fart became their minion!

“I tell you! There are many reasons against it! We shouldn't...” The spy girl walks further into the room while complaining about something. Then they become aware of my presence.

All three faces turn in my direction. I drop the documents on the table and take the cigar out of my mouth. “Hi! How are you guys doing?”

The spy girl turns and runs to hide behind the Immortal Empress. What a weak reaction.

“What are you doing Tjena? Remove that insane servant from my private quarters. I can't believe that someone from my staff could be so cheeky. Does this girl even know what she did by reading those documents?” The Immortal Empress shakes her head.

“Jazira! Don't get near her! It's him! I feel it! And that grin! Don't get fooled.” The spy girl proves to have superior survival instincts.

“~Ahahaha. I just came to say hello!~”

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