Jumpchain: A wish and a jump later

I open my eyes in a forest with a splitting headache. Hedge and Alice draped over me. I feel like Fen and Q looked after Eliot threw them that anniversary party around 5 years ago. The party lasted 5 days after they crashed hard. Eliot somehow was fine after. but that's the last time anyone tried to keep up with him. Only Margo came close. Even Bacchus passed out after the fourth night.

Everything is so loud. I know I am supposed to be in Valdamar at the start of Vans books, but I don't know how long I am supposed to be here, Cronos was kind of vague on that. I know his dominion is time, but he just said time wouldn't be an issue. I mean wtf man.

Looking around, I can see bodies lying around me. Closer inspection reveld them to be my friends scaterd around me I can see Alice and Hedge. I check their health they are all alive but afflicted with a debuff called blasted manna. The headake is going away slowly as I walk around, taking in our surroundings. The forest is reltivly flat. Coverd in underbrush. The canopy is rather thick, but it doesn't seem that difrint than a forest on earth maby a more northern one. it appears to consist of evergreens and similar trees to what you would find in Canada or England.

I can hear houling in the distance and check the map. There are a bunch of wyrsa. Around twenty of them, headed this way. I am the only one standing in our group. And my magic feals like fire running through my veins.

Acting quickly now that I know there are enemies, I go to each of my companions and have them drink some potions. I target those closest to me first. not having time to look for anyone in particular. Three of them are up and moving before the beasts are on us. Alice Hedge and Eliot. Eliot is the only one with some sword training. I gave him a sword. He wasn't wearing his. While Hedge had a gun as she always caried a pistol after Ember had messed with her memories, allowing the recall of the other persona with skills to mach apparently. I modified the Ruger with Alterworld tech, and it shot verious amo sized as 9mm. It could also shoot mana powed spells. It had a crystal core in the hilt, so it din't have to draw on its wealders' mana. As well as empowering the recoil dampened. It was a 9mm but had the recoil of a 22 and was about as loud if wanted.

Once Alice got up, I had her administring potions after she tried to cast a dignostic spell, and she shouted from the pain as the spell fizzled out. As the wersa had shown up, they had apeard to zero in on our position once she used magic. They looked like wingless drakes the size of dogs.

I got five of the things with spears before they got close, only incpastating two. While Hedge found out her magic shots simply disperced across their skin. Switching to physical, she was able to take out two more. And finished downing one of the injured. While Eliot had engaged the injured ones.

We were mostly working on guarding our comrads while they were down as Alice administerd potions. Eleanor joind soon after. and took over coordinating the injured.

My status ailment had a timer that ran out in 12 months. It looked as though they all had the same debuff along with portal shock. Though with difring cool downs. Once my companions were up and moving, they joined with us forming a defensive ring. But in a land without their magic to aid them, they were kind of nerfed. Though most were not defenseless as Q had his bow and Margo her ax. A fue of us got bit, but the doc. was on us in seconds with medical attention while the others moved them inside the incerclement.

After about half an hour of fighting, all the beasts are dead, and half of my team is out with injuries. We have potions and a healer, but the potons aren't curing the poison, just healing the damage it does. and the healer can't use magic. Just as I engage with the last of the pack, a group of three, I hear a grough female voice. Looking up, I see a rider on a white horse come up and charging into battle. With my momntary distraction, their pack leader lunged at me, and I use an imitation of a sword skill from Alterworld. It fails to have the same effects as it normally would. Failing failing to kill him, only distracting him long enough for Q to get a good shot off. Another one gets a nasty bight on my leg that manages to pirce my clothes with its crazy sharp teeth and has ahold of me and isn't letting go. My teeth are clenched in a rectus of pain, and it feels like lightning is running through my body. The third wersa lunges at me, but thankfully, the rider is on me in time. They reflect light into my eyes that I can't even close my eyes to sheild against. As my own sword skill that I bipased the interface to use had me stuned. No wonder the hot bar was all grayed out.

The skill was one that used mana to stun the opponent with electricity. While performing a combination of thrusts and slashes. I performed the slashes and thrusts, but the stun failed to activate. Stunning me instead. And now I almost get trampled by a horce. While the wersa goes for my throat.

Granted, I haven't lost much health given my total, but I have lost enough to kill any normal person twice over. I haven't stopped combat once in the last half hour for a potion. But my health bar is still basically full.

The wersa manages to latch onto my throat and take me to the ground, and I watch as a hoof connects with my head. I have projected from my body while trying to sheild my eyes from the glint of the horse. I don't fall and see the horce wince as it's hoof conets with my head. Thankfully, that's the last of the damage I take from the fight. Other than the poison negating most of my regen for a fue hours and my bleading throat. My health isn't even downed by a third.

The last of the pack having ben taken out by the hareld as it was still attached to my neck.

I "wake up," Savill thought her horce had knocked me out because the kick had shut my eyes, a fue muniuts later with the Hareld in full Whites arguing with our doctor Aparently, my doc. had confidence in my ability to basically walk it off. After wrapping my troat with some gause and a scarf. To stop the bleading. It wasn't really life threatening, just a fue health a second, but while I could do that all day, it was pretty messy. While the hareld wanted to take me to a proper healer. Saying I was just a kid. And I had lost a lot of blood. I would need a change of clothes. It looked like most of us would. The horce needed a bath as well. It had gotten my blood all over it. Seriously, Alterworld had allowed me to blead a lot. Thankfully, my people were able to see my status bars because some looked kind of green from all the blood. witch was starting to crystlize already.

 I dismissed the status knotification of the debuff after re-entering my body, getting up and telling Ellen that I would handel it from here and that she should continue tending Alice's injury. It looked as though something had happened to her hand. But it din't look that bad, glancing at her health. but she had nowhere near as much. Though more than a regular person. Dew to some power leveling in the Dungeon, everyone was at least level 100.

So I greeted Hareld. I could read Savils name above her head and had hailed her by name. I also addressed her horse by name as well as using their titles. Because it was only polite. She was taken aback. And I apologize for my not so regal entrencence. Telling her there was aperntly a problem with the gate spell, having not tried it over such a vast distance before.

 While I was talking with her, I was checking the chat and arranging for the carage to be sent over. It was of Filorian design. With some Filorian horses. So it was bigger on the inside. I asked the hareld for permishion. Before pulling out a portable portal arch. Witch was basically a magic outline of a gate to stabilize the rupture to keep the world fabric from getting a bunch of holes in it. With some magic glasses to find the best spot i had made those in the magishians, they had a lot of magic for glass to augment sight. aparentlyben Franklin was a magishian. I set up the portal arch. I wasn't using a spell for it. Once the arch was set up, someone from their side would cast the spell and send the carage threw. It had some better tires and a ton of magic woven into it. So it would be more all terrain and have better shocks. And it din't need a human driver. Though the horses could toggle an ilushion of one if needed.

Aparently, no one over there suffered from the debuff. So, I instructed them to set up the gate in a quarantine room. Basicaly a clean room. No mana, no radio waves, electromagnetic sheilding. Treating this as a contagen but not an imedate threat. But it would put most of our individual combat potential back a fue decades if exposed.

While I was setting everything up, I was explaining who we were and a little of why we were here to the Hareld. I obviously didn't go into much detail about how we were from another univirce. But said we were from another land. I baskicly said we were the leaders of our land and take us to your leader. So that we could nagoshate peacefull relations. And implied we already had for knolage of the contry and how they were at war with Carce.

 Penny and some of the others had opted to be in brakebills south when the shift acured, but I am unsure whether they fared any better. Contact threw the system was down dew to time dilation and no one was ansuring their phones. So likely. It appeared that the person on video chat was passed out in their security center. We had wanted to keep an open line to capture the transition. I had hoped the time dilation would allow for a better shot. The people who were in the castle din't report anything when asked and were in combat. I mentioned how we had ben passed out and only woke up 30 minutes before. And that they may have gone threw somthing simlar to the mana shock. Mentioning how the hareld told us that it was the gate spell that drew the wersa to us. They might want to send reinforcements to a phisical non skill baced team. But since it showed the same on their end for us while we were passed out, I wasn't frantic. Besides, the school had defenses both magical and mundain that were not being attacked according to the computer.

Everyone was aware of the plan when we went through the portal. The dock tells me that everyone is afflicted with the debuff in our party. The timer though seams to be different for each. But everyone has it for at least 6 months. The longest she had seen was 7. I inform her of my own that will last for a year. Everyone in the party had a large mana pool. Looking around, I could see the status of everyone and saw that the more magic power the person had, the more the debuff affected them.

I have everyone who is able to gather the loot. And pack up. We are in a forest near the capital of Valdimar according to my map. And Savill the Herald conferms. I contact the others over the phone and have them open a portal from their end. They didn't have any aflicted like we did. Once they open the portal, though, some of the people around the gate are aflicted with the debuff. Alice's father is one of them. But the gate is powered by a magic crystal witch, which means it doesn't automatically shut off without a portal mage. Only requiring one when we need to create new quardnitce without a gate stone on the other end. Some of our people go through with the wounded. Alice goes to help her dad. Eliot gets the stage coach. The horses not passing out were hit by the debuff. But it only seems to last a few days.

 I was in my suit while Q and Eliot in full cort regailia with the rest dressed in formal clothing of various verities. We had the royal coach out by the time we made it to the road. It had spashil enchantments on the inside like the Muntjack. So Savil was amazed when she entered. I opted to ride beside the coach in Armor wearing a crown simlar to the one Max had with defense against mind magic. After going inside for a quick shower. Using a spell and warm water on Kellan after asking permission.

 I apeard to be 16 or so. While Eliot and Q were in their 20s about what they were when I first met them. Alice and most of the women had also changed ages. The oldest was the librarian who now looked to be in her early twenties. Our cover story was that we were the royal diplomatic party from distant lands. Our holdings are being ruled over by a governing council. Like a parliament. But we had final say. Our word law. But we were not entirely nesasary for day to day govenence anymore. The reason we appeared so young was because we had magic to slow the aging process. Or so we told them. And while all that was true, it was not entirely acuret.

 Everyone was wearing enchantments against mind reading, including the talking horses that 'pulled' the stage coach. The stuff was enchanted using Filorian/Alterworld magic, though, so I wasn't sure how well they would work here.

 Savil had ben integrating us ever since we beat the wersa pack, asking all sorts of questions. About our wepons and our magiteck.

We had brought Q's wife, though we left the map maker at breakbills. They were not afflicted with the "Blasted Manna" debuff. Only those who had magic above a certain threshold were. They had one called manna shock that was a lot shorter in duration. Basicly master mage and above had blasted mana. It seemed to be baced on mana pool. Thus, Q's wife Fen and the mapmaker Benedict were not affected. When Fen cast a minor cantrip, she could feel the mana threw her raw chanels, but the spell didn't missfire, and she didn't scream.