Ch 149

  Matt couldn't help but feel like a mouse being toyed with by a cat as he considered Radoznaormr's words. His life relied on being unpredictable and novel in his approach. Yet, at the same time, that was likely what Radoznaormr was expecting, so perhaps continuing on as planned would be for the best. Either way, he could tell that his next words or actions were likely to determine his fate, so he just did what he felt made the most sense and asked a pointless question while staring up at the swirling colors overhead.

  "So, is the light show your doing?"

  "Yes, and no. I simply nudged along the natural processes to create it and give us some nice scenery to chat under. Truly, those bound to planets know not the beauty that is out there." Radoznaormr's scaled fingers twitched slightly as he gestured toward the sky.

  "Alright, so how long before you kill me?"

  "Right after you refuse my offer," stated Radoznaormr, smiling like a true devil, his teeth gleaming in the multicolored light. "Though, I should say that it won't be quick, as I intend to learn everything about how your particular physiology works."

  "Have fun with being disappointed," retorted Matt with a chuckle. "Unless you can gain complete control of my body on a cellular level, I doubt that you will be able to do much, but that is just the opinion of someone who knows nothing compared to you."

  "No need to feel like I am toying with you and get all defensive over something beyond your control. Besides, you haven't even heard my offer—"

  "And I never will, as if I do, it will never be accepted," interrupted Matt. "Instead, I'll tell you my plan, and then you can either take it or try to kill me. I'll give you your giant gem or dump it on my world after I'm sent there—your choice. In exchange, you'll act as a backer of Scattered Stars and aid us in establishing trade routes between the various organizations that are currently isolated from each other."

  "Are you trying to spur on a new era of innovation?" asked Radoznaormr, seemingly intrigued. "No, you simply wish to avoid having to build up the numbers needed to maintain control of two worlds without ending up taking a dozen more. Perhaps you just want to see everything the universe has to offer. Either way, this deal works for me. The problem is that you have to return to your own world soon, and it will take too long for you to do anything in the universe personally."

  "I figured that Rudan and—"

  "No, you need to be the one negotiating all of this."

  "If I created a puppet, would it be forced back—"

  "A puppet is no good," cut in Radoznaormr, before smiling. "That is unless it is a tool to facilitate instant transference. I take it you can already create a puppet using your own cells from what you are saying. The problem is that such creations are always extremely weak and not worth much in the grand scheme of things. The few times I have seen them be more than a way to safely send a message have been when the creator could swap between the puppets at will, and whichever they resided in became the real one, so to speak."

  "I can already swap between them, but only this body retains all my stats. Still, I have other ways to use my clones that are effective in a fight if needed."

  "Oh, care to share?" inquired Radoznaormr, scales glimmering as he tilted his head.

  "Do you agree to my deal?" asked Matt.

  "No, that would be too simple. You need to prove a few things before I'll agree to anything. First, that you can make a clone or puppet; second, that it survives me taking it into space; and finally, you need to show me that if you have to prove your strength, it will be able to do so."

  Matt smiled as he held out his hand to shake Radoznaormr's scaled one, but the gesture was left unreciprocated, his arm hanging awkwardly in the space between them.

  "What, are you too good to shake on a deal?" asked Matt, frowning as he waited to see Radoznaormr's reaction.

  "Such things are done between equals, and while I will agree that if you survive, you could one day reach where I am, the same could be said about all those who never try if they did try. So, you need to earn the right for me to see you as an equal."

  "Then how is any deal we make supposed to work?" pressed Matt.

  "I can see why Tempormr is frustrated by you. He and I are not on bad terms, all things considered. Had you left my experiment alone and left my anchor where it was, I would have ignored your very existence. Now, I feel as if you owe me a new experiment, and your world can house my anchor. So, take the fact that I see your wish to attempt to create a trade network—with your organization acting as a neutral faction to facilitate it—as the experiment, and the deal you offered being enough for me to let you live and be grateful. If you want to have some kind of gesture to signify that we've made a deal, you can kiss my foot and thank me for my benevolence, but something tells me that isn't something you will do."

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Matt suppressed the urge to start yelling as Radoznaormr finished speaking. After all, the handshake was primarily an attempt to surreptitiously transfer some of his cells onto Radoznaormr’s body to potentially infiltrate it. Nonetheless, there was a more straightforward solution, so Matt forced himself to remain composed. He produced a puppet the size of his hand before sitting down and taking out some food for it to consume.

  "One issue I have is that I must use my own cells to create a puppet, and while it can increase its mass by eating, it can only eat while I am directly controlling it. It also has to go through all the normal biological functions. Still, if you are patient enough to wait for it to reach full size, it will be what I send with you."

  "I see. This isn’t the first time I have encountered such restrictions. Tell me, have you ever allowed one to grow to your full size?" Radoznaormr inquired with curiosity.

  "No," Matt replied. "I've never had a reason or the time to do so. Especially since the main use I have found is that I can use my ability to heal the injuries of others through them, but it costs its mass to do so."

  "Intriguing, though rather useless for those like myself," commented Radoznaormr, with a hint of disinterest. "It seems that the first course of action should be to test if your puppet can survive in space. If you will hand it to me."

  Matt smiled warmly as he shifted his focus to the puppet before walking over to Radoznaormr. Radoznaormr picked up his puppet as he concentrated on shedding a few of his cells, allowing them to lodge themselves under Radoznaormr’s claw-like fingernails. Then, he wrapped his entire body around Radoznaormr’s wrist, grabbing his own legs and transforming his puppet to have a protective shell made from tooth enamel. With that accomplished, he returned his attention to his main body and spoke.

  "That should allow me to hold on and not worry about the situation, as long as I can stop and get a breath and a bite to eat every few weeks. Though I have yet to conduct any experiments to determine how long I can stay in such a state before the puppet dies, or whatever you would call it no longer functioning."

  "Yes, and is there a reason you want a few of your cells under my claws?" asked Radoznaormr, giving Matt a knowing look. "I must say, seeing your abilities up close is quite fascinating, if not entirely unique. Now, tell me, what would your cells do if I simply ignored them, as you hoped?"

  "Hopefully, they would find their way inside you, eventually locating cells they can mimic well enough for you to overlook them and integrate with your body. At that point, I could listen in and keep track of your location to a certain extent. I am currently doing the same with a few individuals who have recently attempted to kill me."

  "Interesting, not anything you just said, but the fact that you actually admitted it all to me."

  "Why lie?" Matt asked, his tone nonchalant. "I am certain you can destroy them with a mere thought, and I didn't expect it to work. It was more of a test of your senses and to see what you would allow me to get away with."

  "Yes, though you'll need to have your puppet move before I travel far with it, as my true form is much larger, and it would take years to move through the universe as I currently am."

  Radoznaormr gestured to his humanoid form as he finished speaking, and before Matt could respond, he vanished. Shifting his perception to his puppet, Matt found himself gazing at a planet unlike anything he had ever expected. Where Earth was mostly covered in vast oceans, what Matt saw below him was a world dominated by small continents, fragmented by jagged lines of water only a few hundred miles wide at most. If he had to make an educated guess, he would estimate that over 85% of the world was land, at least from the part he could see, and he marveled at how different each world could be.

  "It is always something to see things from this perspective, isn’t it?" Radoznaormr's voice resonated in Matt’s mind.

  "Is communicating like this a necessity while in space?" Matt inquired, wondering if the laws of physics still held sway, considering his puppet should have been destroyed with the speed at which they had escaped the planet.

  "Yes, even if I can move in ways that defy the logic you are accustomed to, a sound wave still requires a medium to travel through for you to hear it. Unless I wish to maintain a bubble of air around me for no good reason," Radoznaormr explained.

  "Right," Matt responded, pondering the implications of Radoznaormr not requiring air to breathe. "Can all S ranks move freely through space like you?"

  "Only those who manage to eliminate all reliance on breathing from their surroundings and can self-regulate their bodies in the void for extended periods. As you see me now, I can only do so for a few hours, and it is one of the major advantages of what I consider my true form."

  "Let me guess, that form is some kind of dragon."

  "As you understand, yes," stated Radoznaormr. "Though I am not sure if you would be familiar with the type my form is."

  "Long snake-like body with antlers?" asked Matt.

  "Yes, I am surprised, as I can tell that you think more of a four-legged lizard with wings when you say 'dragon.'"

  "Greg and Emily explained it to me. 'Ormr' is a word for worm, serpent, or dragon, and I doubt one of your level would want to be called a worm. 'Dragon' just sounds better. Besides, I doubt you or Tempormr were born with your current names."

  "We didn't have names as you speak of them," Radoznaormr said, his voice resonating with ancient knowledge. "What have you been told about us?"

  "Little to nothing concrete," replied Matt. "A rumor that you have prime bloodlines, but other than that, all I know is that you're not respected but are feared. It doesn't add up to me, if I am honest."

  "We are akin to natural disasters, and to most, we are simply something to be weathered when we show up. As for having prime bloodlines, we don't, but we know many of those who do once it is confirmed what they are. As a rule, if someone is on the level of Tempormr and myself, and their name ends in 'ormr,' we don't have a bloodline at all as you would think of it. We simply are an aspect of the universe, and there are more of us than anyone knows." Radoznaormr's eyes seemed to reflect distant stars as he spoke. "After all, even I don't know everything in an infinite expanse, and who knows if the system we live under is even the only system? Not that you should believe anything I tell you. Now, let's return to the ground before you try to flee."