Natasha the Halve

Well, here we are again. Volume Three of “That time I got reincarnated into an overpowered World-protecting Futanari Warrior, but I have to obey the World's Will or I get killed off!”.

My second journal ran out of pages, much like the first. I suppose I could have just stopped, but then what would you, dear reader, scavenger, or hapless wanderer, do without my story to brighten your life? You’re welcome, by the way.

This time, I thought I’d try starting off properly, in case you missed Volumes One and Two. Those were rougher, more chaotic, like I was when I started writing them. Consider them... drafts of me. Now, you hold something better. More polished. Not just in my writing, but in my understanding of who I am.

Who am I, you ask? Natasha Novak, a Halve. Yes, the Natasha Novak: Eternal Protector. My beauty? Transcendent. My strength? Absolute.

If you’ve stumbled upon this without the earlier volumes, good luck piecing it all together. You’ll miss the context of my actions, but if you’re clever (and you must be, if you found this), you’ll keep up.

Let’s continue.

I stared at the helmet in my hands in conflicted contemplation, reading the line that said [Wearer's judgment is unclouded in the face of Anger] over and over.

On one hand, it felt wrong—letting some outside force control or limit my emotions, or how I responded to them. That authority belonged solely to Galeia, the world itself.

On the other hand, the enchantment implied my judgment was inherently clouded when angry. That notion itself was infuriating. I've made great strides in controlling my anger, and the enchantment simply invalidated all my efforts in regards to self-control.

The was no positive twist to that particular addition in my mind.

I tossed the piece of gear to Tylke.

He caught it effortlessly with one hand, the motion fluid and unhurried.

“Change the bit about anger,” I simply requested with an arched eyebrow. “It's insulting.”

“Very well,” the God of Craftsmen agreed, his tone carrying the faint resignation of someone who had expected this outcome. “Do you have any requests or suggestions, Young Protector?”

I thought for a while, not verbally replying since the Divine could hear each and every one of my thoughts.

“What do you think of this?” Tylke offered after a moment. “Wearer’s voice cannot be drowned out by noise unless the wearer chooses to whisper

I hummed, considering the option but finding it lacking. “Would it be possible to make it so I can talk with someone even if they're very far away?” I asked, thinking of a magic telephone. “Whether Mortal, Eternal, or Divine? They'd get a notice of some sort, like: 'Natasha Novak is trying to contact you, do you accept?' Or something like that?”

“No,” Tylke denied. “The recipient would need to have a similar item, like the one you just thought of. It could, however, send one-way long messages, but you're able to do that with Celestial and Bond messages.”

I frowned, folding my arms across my chest as I tugged my lower lip in thought. “Would the messages be understood by anyone?”

“No,” he answered flatly. “Knowledge of Celestial would still be required.”

I frowned, a little dissatisfied with the God.

Sending a long, one-way message sounded pretty okay, but it'd waste an enchantment “slot”.

I sighed and asked, “What can you do?”

“That question is too broad, Young Protector,” he said with a faintly amused edge. “What part of yourself would you like to enhance? Since we’re working with a helmet, we could focus on sight, hearing, voice, smell, or glow.”

I considered the options. “True Sight and Changeling Spotter are good enough for sight enchantments. My hearing is pretty sharp and so is my smell. You can't make it so I can talk with people over great distances, I can speak three Power Tongues, and my Warcries have pretty good reach... so voice would be a waste. As for glow... what can you do with it?”

Tylke gestured toward the helmet, making it spin in the air. “Your equipment blocks your glow,” he pointed out an obvious fact. “I could make it so your glow passes through your gear, unhindered.”

My brain tingled in confusion for a moment, thinking on the mechanics of light passing through solid matter. But then, I gave it another thought, since when wearing my entire gear, only my hair is out. Long and indestructible as it was, it only let through a fraction of my light when worn as a scarf.

I gave him a shrug. “Let's go with that, then,” I accepted.

“Very well,” he agreed.

The helmet stopped spinning, then trembled for a second.

Eleven clumps of E'er emerged form the piece of equipment, each with myriad layers of E'er arranged in lines of what felt like text, forming rings around incredibly complex letter-like shapes.

It made no sound and had no smell.

One of the clumps grew to the size of a watermelon, hovering in front of Tylke.

The God of Craftmen touched it with a finger-shaped amalgamation of tools.

Layers, lines, rings, symbols and E'er itself unwound and unfurled, leaving the clump empty and going back to ambient E'er as if it was never arranged into an enchantment in the first place.

He opened a hand and E'er flowed.

The particles gathered, lined up, took shape, formed rings, became symbols, and tightly connected to each other.

Then, the clumps went back into the Helmet.

With a wave, Tylke sent the helmet floating toward me.

I nodded, awed by the display. “Let’s see,” I muttered, catching the item and inspecting it.

The line about anger was gone, replaced with [The wearer’s Eternal Glow shines through all equipped gear, illuminating as though no barrier exists].

“Much better,” I said with satisfaction, storing the helmet in my inventory. “Thank you, Tylke.”

“You are most welcome, Young Protector,” he replied with a note of joy.

I turned to Nilenna.

The silver Halve was still inspecting her items, her eyes going from her large transparent bow to her deep night blue and silver robes.

Not wanting to bother her, I focused on Tylke again. “How do I attune?”

“Wear them and you will see,” he simply said.

“Alright,” I sighed and equipped the improved ensemble.

The first poke came as a wordless whisper in my mind—a gentle acknowledgment from the helmet, almost as if it were asking for permission.

I exhaled and allowed it in.

The sensation spread like a thread weaving into my core, the helm syncing to my being.

One by one, I repeated the process with the remaining pieces.

The chestplate hummed as it adjusted to the rhythm of my breathing. The gauntlets warmed as they recognized my hands, molding themselves to my grip. When I finally reached the boots, I felt a grounding presence like an anchor to the earth beneath me.

Each piece of equipment felt alive now, not as mere tools to wear but as extensions of my body. They moved when I moved, their weight negligible.

The leather pieces were similar, molding their shape beyond the physical to match mine.

Hot and gold E'er flowed from my core towards each of them, infusing them with Solar Energy from the skill [Heavenly Rebuke of the Conquering Golden Suns] and giving them a solid, golden hue.

My Glow went through unimpeded, piercing the equipment and illuminating the snow outside the cave, and the inside of the cave as well.

The spear came last, the now heavy weapon offering its assistance in killing whatever and whoever stood before me.

There was a small difference from the rest of the gear, though. It felt more alive than the rest.

I let it in.

A thread, thicker and brighter than the others, ran its course toward my core and into my skills, connecting to [Heavenly Weapons of the Conquering Golden Suns]. It roared like an engine coming to life, the rings that signified the knowledge of the skill rotating at tremendous speeds, E'er ready to activate the conjuration as if tempting me to step on the accelerator.

A smile spread across my face as I walked away from Tylke and Nilenna and activated [Heavenly Weapons of the Conquering Golden Suns]'s main use.

E'er flowed from within me, instantly rotating the skill and its core, which connected to a previously untouched section of myself: My glow. Five Spears made of Golden E'er materialized around me, each three meters long and equal in shape to [Natasha's Raging Pike].

“How cool is that!?” I gushed in excitement, looking at the conjured weapons and feeling my heart squeeze in wonder.

I had finally cast a spell! I was actually using magic!

With a simple mental command, the conjured spears moved around me like satellites orbiting a planet, slow but constant in their motion.

Gleeful laughter escaped me as I played with them, making them move faster and faster—pointing outward, forming into formation above me, stabbing in front of me one at a time, thrusting forward all together, then piercing a nearby rock from five different directions.

I gathered the spears horizontally like a surfboard, hopped on, and made them hover forward, gliding over the snow on the mountainside.

Who knew magic could be so fun!

“Little sis,” Nilenna called.

I turned the spears around, hovering over to her. “Yeah?”

“I have to go now,” she told me, her glow and expression both conveying a hint of sadness. “My companions are waiting in Giant lands.”

I gave her an understanding nod. “I see. Thank you for the help, Nilenna.”

She arched a silver eyebrow at me. “That's all you have to say?”

I hopped off the spears and gave her a tight, warm hug. “We'll meet again, eventually. Take care of yourself. We'll play Galeian Armory next time we meet.”@@novelbin@@

The silver Halve nodded, returning the hug. “I'll let you off for now since you must have shit cards, but next time I won't show mercy.”

A chuckle escaped me and I broke the hug. “Until next time, then.”

Nilenna nodded, a big smile on her face. “I'm glad we met, Natasha.”

My eyebrows rose slightly at her calling me by name for the first time. “Me too, Nilenna,” I said softly, running a hand through her hair.

She pouted. “That was the perfect time to call me big sis!” she complained.

I shook my head. “I was the older sister in my past life, Nilenna. I can only see you as a friend… or maybe a tummy to put a baby in—keke!” I joked, nudging her shoulder.

“What a bastard, haha!” she laughed, patting my shoulder. “Even though you’re the quiet type, you’ve got a pretty unexpected perverted side, little sis. Meeting you was fun.”

“I can say the same,” I replied, giving her a knowing look. “You’re a fun person, Nilenna.”

She reached into her robe and produced a rolled-up parchment. “Here,” she offered. “A map of the world as we Halves have explored. Tia, Shia, and Kia are included, too.”

I accepted the parting gift with a smile, then retrieved a set of clothes from my storage. The colors matched her silver skin and hair. “Here, if you ever feel like dressing up. Not as cool as an interactive world map, but it’s a little something.”

The silver Halve took them, gave the clothes a quick look, and stored them in her robe. “They’re beautiful. Thank you,” she said before walking over to Tylke, producing a large bag. “Alright, Tyl. I’ll drop you off on the way back.”

The Divine placed a hand on my shoulder. “May your travels be fruitful and every conflict illuminating,” he told me before breaking down into hundreds of tiny tools, each flowing into the bag Nilenna was holding.

“Thanks for the gear, Tylke,” I said again, watching the entity fill the sack.

Nilenna tucked the bag into her robe and retrieved her bow. “See you soon, little sis,” she said, aiming at the distant western horizon.

“See you,” I replied with a nod and a smile.

She loosed her arrow and vanished along with it.

I turned toward the cave, alone once more. “Solo leveling is so fucking boring,” I grumbled to no one in particular.