Ends of Magic

The Heirs carried trays of food into the dining room, sitting and tucking into the well-prepared meal with gusto. The food in the wilds had been good, but there was nothing quite like a five-dish meal cooked by somebody with a class in the profession and a kitchen enchanted to the gills.

The Guardians were already present in the room, and continued their discussion after Dalo re-cast the privacy spells.

“... My place is with my team. I do not know how to work with the Heirs, and there is risk to you if I leave.” Kia said, her arms crossed and face serene.

Dalo frowned. “But the Heirs are in the dragon’s lair, not us. They need you.”

“They have faced danger every moment since their Blooding Patrol.” she replied calmly. “Their Path has not ended yet, and I would not steal away the confidence they have earned.”

Nathan studied Kia as she continued arguing with Stella’s father. When he’d first seen her she’d looked like a magazine advertisement of an olympic athlete, with long red-gold hair, high cheekbones, and a strong jaw. A product of photoshop, too perfect to be real. Now the effect was even more pronounced. She looked like the masterpiece of a famous sculptor, filled in by an aesthetic painter. Her hair was a few shades lighter than before, almost a golden blonde with a fiery tint.

But unlike when he'd first seen her, Nathan could feel the divine mana buzzing beneath the woman’s skin, and he knew the source of her perfection. She had a shard of divinity inside her, and it didn’t just guide her. It shaped who she, from her appearance to her ethics.

I wonder where her Path leads. Could she ever become a god? Can the gods be reborn? Given what I’ve seen, the gods of Davrar are inflexible, uncompromising avatars of principle. I like Kia’s principles, but there always needs to be room for extenuating circumstances. I wouldn’t worship her.

Nathan pushed aside a few horny and sarcastic thoughts and glanced over to Khachi, studying his friend for any changes to his appearance since they’d first met.

The wolfman caught Nathan looking between him and his mother and drew the correct conclusion. “You are thinking of our Path. Will you ask to include our Insights in your library?”

The argument about Kia joining the Heirs for the battle had wound down without Kia budging an inch, so Khachi’s question caught everybody’s attention.

“A library?” Kullal prompted gently, her smile kind.

Nathan pushed away his plate and wiped his face, shooting Khachi a disgruntled look. He’d definitely intended to get the Guardian’s input on his idea, but he would have preferred more control over how it was introduced. “Yeah. I want to write down a set of Insights that people can access to improve their builds. Halsmet is going to need its own Adventurers, and there are more and more new Adventurers coming to Gemore from the villages. They don't have Insights from their parents, and being able to find a few that suit them from a public source would make both cities stronger.”

“Then I’ll ask the riddle of Kalis." Stanel said, eyes sharp. "Where do these public Insights come from, and how powerful are they? If the Insights are small, like those Jolba teaches in the training course, then the library is worthless. If they are strong, then all the next generation will use them. We will become Agmon, all Adventurers the same, with the same weaknesses.”

I’m not sure I wanted to have this argument now. But Khachi started it, so here we are.

Nathan met the weaponmaster’s challenging gaze. “I think there’s a lot of room in between those extremes. People still want to blaze their own Path, but being able to get a few strong Insights from elsewhere will make those paths smoother. I also think Insights will build off one another. If there are enough weak Insights, somebody could assemble them into something stronger, or use their own private Insights in new ways with public ones. I also think all Adventurers should have something like the Bho [Notice], and I have the leverage to get it."

He looked around the room, at the rest of the Guardians. “I also want to put a version of my [Regeneration] in there, as well as a few more I can think of and anything I can bargain for.”

“Including your antimagic?” Dalo asked quietly.

Nathan nodded. “I don’t think I can write it down, but I will try to pass it on to some people in Halsmet after the battle. If there's time.”

The old man’s lips thinned, but he didn’t object.

“This just continues the direction of Sudraiel’s changes.” Nathan said when it became clear Dalo was done. “Gemore needs this library, Halsmet needs it. It’s how you build up a large guild of powerful Adventurers able to truly challenge the Endings. It’s how more Adventurers live past their blooding patrol, and how Gemore clears dungeons and expands into the wilderness.”

“Have you spoken these words to the Guildmistress?” Kullal asked, her head tilted curiously. “Will you propose that she demands Insights for the library from all Adventurers?”

Nathan sighed. “No, I haven’t spoken to her yet. I'm going to do that after the battle. I also think that all of the Insights for the library need to be given freely, not demanded.”

“Good. Demanding Adventurers to give up Insights passed down generations…” Stanel tapped his chin pensively. “Better to use the hoard you accumulate to leverage more. Trade Insights for access to your library.”

Nathan’s brows came down in frustration. “No. These Insights will be freely available to all. I want it to become part of the duty of an Adventurer. Contributing Insights to the library should be seen as a public good. I know that’s not the culture, and it will take a lot of work to get there, but it’s worth it.”

“You ask Adventurers to give up hundreds of years of hoarded strength.” Dalo said. “It will not go easily. They will take your Insights and leave you with nothing.”

“Insights aren’t a physical object!” Nathan found himself speaking louder than he meant to, and reined his voice back in. “The library can only grow as long as it exists. The only reason to keep Insights secret is competition, and Sudraiel has spent decades trying to unite the guild so that Adventurers aren’t always at each others throats! I think winning Halsmet might be the key that makes that finally true.”

He grabbed a tankard of water, asserting calm as he drank. “Besides. The Bhos owe me a hefty favor for the guns Insight, and they promised that I would be due favors from everybody who purchased one. This is what I'll spend those on."

Stanel’s eyebrows shot towards his hairline, and he guffawed. “I thought they’d given you coins for dragon’s teeth. That... that is a start.” He leaned back, still chortling. “You might consider establishing it in Halsmet. Make this library part of their traditions and maybe it’ll spark the flame you want.”

“No, it needs to be in Gemore.” Dalo shook his head decisively. “You need the Insights of the Adventurers of Gemore, and they would never give more than crumbs of charity unless the library was close enough to benefit. Halsmet Adventurers can train in Gemore, and eventually you can establish a second library.”

Kia raised a sculped eyebrow at her teammate. “Does that include you? Would you put an Insight into this library? ” She looked around challengingly. “I would inscribe several of my own Insights.”

Everybody gaped at her, but she returned a small smile. “I do not want the Insights of the Divine to be tokens to be traded, but I believe I have the wisdom to decide which are dangerous, and which are not. I will not share much of the worship of Deiman, but the general shape of Divinity is knowledge that should be known.”

Her face darkened for a second. “If only to know the dangers.” She looked around at the other Guardians with an expectant look.

Stanel shrugged. “I’d consider some smaller Insights. [Footwork], [Fast Draw]. I’ll keep the edge of the larger Insights closed.” His gaze lingered on Aarl and Sarah.“Until my children make their own decisions, at least.”

Dalo’s voice was controlled. “I will not add any Insights to this - fool’s dungeon. Insights are dangerous in the wrong hands.”

“Dalo!” Kullal’s voice was sharp. “Some Insights are dangerous. I would contribute some basic force Insights. I may add more, if there were levels of access for more trusted Adventurers.”

“But who would judge?” Dalo shot back. “The Guildmistress? That name already has enough power. With control of Insights the master of the Adventurers could raise whoever they wanted. They could make their friends elite, and hold down all others!”

The Heirs glanced around at each other, and Stella gave Nathan an apologetic shrug. He rolled his eyes in return.

The older generation will argue about stuff, and not let us get a word in edgewise. It’s what they’re used to.

Kia caught the byplay and raised a calming hand. “Pardon my ax. This skirmish can wait for another day. We are here to spend time together, for tomorrow will be a day of Endings. Our time is as expensive as adamant. The Heirs need to rest soon.”

Dalo’s face had started to turn pink as he argued, but he bowed his head and sighed. “Apologies for farting ice.” He turned to Stella. “So! Tell us of this fire elemental!”

She rolled her eyes, responding in a bored tone like she'd expected the question. “It felt like the all-consuming nature of fire, but smart. I didn’t get a good sense of it through the shields, and I’m free of regret for that." Then a certain grin entered her voice. "I didlearn a new magic, but not from the Elemental.”

Kullal gasped. “We spoke of lasers, but dragon’s breath, another new mana type?” The foxfolk woman's voice was suspended between wonder and horror.

Stella shook her head quickly. “No. But I’m sure it’s an Insight worthy of a class. It uses light to strike from far away with the power of a fireball, and guides lightning spells too. I also got a mental protection Development.”

Relief passed across both of her parents' faces, and Kullal reached out to grip Stella’s hand across the table.

Stanel broke in to change the subject, raising his mug plaintively. “I want to hear about the archmage. What a hefty patrol, for a dead archmage to be the third topic.”

“Look to Nathan. He killed her while we slept.” Sarah said wryly, jerking a thumb at him. “One blow.”

Nathan shrugged. “I detected her coming with my skills, then jumped up and grabbed her. Not much more to say about it.”

The Heirs spent the next hour talking to the Guardians about their adventures. They already knew all of the big news from [Message], but spent a fair amount of time going over the details. It wasn’t an interrogation or even a debrief, more parents being proud of their children’s accomplishments. Nathan spent nearly twenty hilarious minutes discussing the trapped equipment of the Archmage of the Nails as Sarah and Stella pulled out examples.

Stanel shook his head in dumbfounded wonder. “What a dragon’s hoard. You have the wealth of a dozen dungeons.” He chuckled. “When I was your age I had enchanted blades and thought myself rich.”

“Good thing we didn’t specialize in dungeons after all, it would have been taking up hydra farming.” Aarl said wryly, glancing towards his sister. "More treasure in fighting Giantsrest."

She rolled her eyes in response. “It would probably be safer than what we’ve been doing. We did get abducted by a Questor, and I almost attacked another a few days ago.”

“Speak of Brox.” Kia said, her voice cooling down the jovial tone of the conversation. “He caused the death of the slave-elites?”

Aarl tilted his head side to side uncertainly. “Sure as stone prevented us from ambushing the Giantsrest team. He killed the Nail like they were a goat to a castlebear. Could have ended the rest, but left them for us instead.”

Nathan chewed on his lip for a moment, remembering how much of a mess that fight had been. “I yelled at him for ruining the ambush. He punched me. Faster than I could see. Is speed his main skill?”

The Guardians glanced around at each other, then Stanel spoke slowly. “Speed, and the power and skill with weapons to use it. He bears many items enchanted by Kalis. That is literal, not a saying. You have not seen him fight seriously, for he leaves shockwaves behind him and wields swords that leave cuts in the fabric of the world itself.”

Sonic booms? Damn, talk about fast. I don’t know what kind of sword would leave behind cuts in space.

“How could anybody fight that? Can he just kill the entire army of Giantsrest?” Sarah asked slowly.

Kullal shook her head sadly. “Questors are powerful beyond knowing. If Badud were a normal archmage then Brox may be able to kill them all. But he is a Questor himself. He will know magic beyond Endings. He may make a barrier Brox cannot break, or slow time, or lengthen space. I do not know who will win that fight.”

She looked over at Dalo, her face grim. “We have been studying what is known of Badud, but there is not much. I do not believe we could defeat him, but with Algoa’s own luck we hope to hold him off while the Adventurers savage his army.” Her gaze drifted to Nathan. “We need others to counter the archmages in the army, so the mages are vulnerable.”

Kia kept her eyes fixed on Nathan. “Why did Brox leave? Did he make more demands of you than were in the [Message]?” Her tone was blunt, and the other Guardians shifted uneasily at the question.

I think they’re worried about what Brox might have tried to do.

“No.” Nathan sighed, answering both the asked and unasked question. “He wanted to go into the Fortress of the Face, after the fire elemental. He kept bringing it up, and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Eventually he threatened to leave if we didn’t go. I thought he was bluffing.”

Stanel’s mouth twisted into an ugly grimace. “True aim. That dungeon… I am glad you didn’t follow him.”

“We all are.” Kullal said, shooting significant looks to Dalo and Kia. They both nodded dutifully.

She looked back over the Heirs. “You should go take your rest. But first, hugs.”

–

The Heirs retired to their rooms, finding a pair of elites outside the door. Nathan greeted them. “Turbang, Honsk, good to see you! I see you’re guarding my door again. How’s it hanging?”

They looked at each other in confusion, then back to Nathan. Turbang ventured a hesitant answer. “It hangs… well?

Nathan clapped the armored man on the shoulder, careful not to disrupt the enchantments in the flexible scale armor. “The right answer is ‘one beneath the other.’ Hope you get some sleep of your own tonight.”

The slave elite furrowed his brow for a moment, then chuckled and shook his head as he got the joke. “We go off watch before the evening meal. You are resting early. Were you unable to sleep well on the patrol?”

That’s right. They don’t know about the plan. I guess they'll get woken up a bit before dawn and hustled out of the city to get flown to the battlefield by the Guardians.

Stella yawned dramatically. “Yup! And beds are so much more comfortable than bedrolls. We want to be sure we’re rested for tomorrow.” She stepped between the two elites, heading into the room.

“Brox Thastus, the Questor. Will he return? A mission with him must have been a handful of glory.” Turbang looked hopeful, clearly wanting to be in Brox’s presence.

Nathan paused for a moment before shaking his head. “No. He’s out doing some last-minute scouting. I think he will return directly before the battle.”

“Ah.” The elite’s voice was disappointed.

Nathan gave him a commiserating nod and then entered into the room, shutting the door behind them. He found the Heirs getting ready to sleep, and moved to sit on his own bed. He wasn’t particularly tired, but the tension of the upcoming battle was making him feel anxious.

We haven’t often had so much warning before a big scary fight. It’s been eating at my nerves for days.

Nathan looked around at the rest of the Heirs. “We’re ready?”

Khachi snorted quietly. “We’re ready. Go to bed. We wake in eight hours, then have twelve hours to get to our target.”

“Yeah. Ok.” Nathan lay down in bed as Stella extinguished the magical lights on the ceiling of the room.

Tomorrow we fight Badud, and the army of Giantsrest. It feels like a litmus test for my purpose here on Davrar. I’m bringing all of my allies into this battle, and if we lose then that’s it. Halsmet gets reconquered, Gemore gets conquered. My goals become unachievable. I’ll probably find Faline and try to assassinate every archmage I can find if that happens, but it won't save Gemore.

He lay there for a little longer, hearing his companions drop off to sleep one by one as their breathing grew slow and even.

This feels surprisingly similar to the night before a few big tests back on Earth. I guess the human mind processes stress similarly, regardless of the source. It expected the night before a battle to feel bigger, grander. But I’ve just got this gnawing worry that I’m not ready, and that I’ve already screwed things up beyond retrieval. I can’t help thinking of everything bad that will happen if we lose. Even if we win, it’s not over. Giantsrest still stands and my next task will be bearding the lion in its den.

Nathan realized he was spiraling. Unless something changed, he’d roll around in bed for hours, unable to sleep. He sat up, took a deep breath and started to meditate, blanking his mind and stretching out with his senses. With [Battle Meditation] the process was easy, straightforward. The spiraling thoughts slowed, then ceased as he split his attention across every sensory input, and mapped out how everything felt inside of his head.

Some time later Nathan opened his eyes and took one more deep breath. He felt calm, at peace. Focused. He pulled up his status, looking down the list of Talents and skills.

I don’t want to sleep quite yet. Let’s take inventory and think through any Insights, in case I have the opportunity to Develop some things during the upcoming battle.

Status of Nathan Lark:

Permanent Talent 1: Aura of Antimagic 7

Permanent Talent 2: Perfected Body 8

Talent 3: High-tier Slow Fall 10

The Talents were the most foundational parts of his build. He was definitely ready to finally Develop [Slow Fall].

It features into Aarl’s plan, so that shouldn’t be a problem. I'm very much looking forward to that. It should be a blast.

[Perfected Body] was also getting closer to rank 10, where it would be ready for a new Insight.

I might be able to pull out some more knowledge from Earth to help that along in some direction or another. Maybe I could focus more on changing shape or something, but I’m more interested in the Insight I touched on after that head wound. The one about using Focus to refuse to give up or fall unconscious, even with a cracked skull. I wonder if that could lead to a Development that would prevent me from getting insta-killed, even if my head was obliterated.

[Aura of Antimagic] was also close, but Nathan was pretty sure it wouldn’t rank up to 10 anytime soon. It was his only ability where he’d developed a unique Talent into an even better one, and he was pretty sure that it would require a monstrous Insight to develop further. He didn’t currently have any ideas about that.

If Badud’s a ‘mage beyond endings’ I should pay attention to his magic. What makes it special? It seemed pretty normal when he captured the Heirs, but he might have been hiding something.

His classes were next.

Permanent Talent 1: Aura of Antimagic 7

Permanent Talent 2: Perfected Body 8

Talent 3: High-tier Slow Fall 10

Class: Implacable Antimage level237

Deepened Stamina:7372/7410

Antimage’s Impassivity

Antimagic Momentum

Raging Thrill

Implacable Inertia

Unarmored Resilience

Improved Antimagic

Strenuous Agility

Hand-to-hand Expertise

Nathan was excited for the level 243 Development of [Implacable Antimage], but he didn’t think there was much he could do to guide the class towards more powerful future options. He’d already pulled off some pretty impressive feats since the level 81 Development, and was hopefully going to do a few more to push it over the line to 243.

Finally were the Utility skills.

Utility skills:

Battle Meditation 9

Leadership 6

High-tier Sprinting 8

Magical Perception 8

Alertness 2

Magical Intuition 8

High-tier Dodging Footwork 10

Mental Fortress 4

High-tier Lecturing 7

High-tier Tumbling 8

Mid-tier Noticeability 8

Low-tier Quiet Movement 4

Low-tier Disguise 4

Mid-tier Battle Cry 3

There was a lot of potential there. Nathan hadn’t really taken the time to consider his upcoming utility skill Developments recently. He had a lot of skills that were almost ready for Development. [Dodging Footwork] was ready, and both [Sprinting] and [Tumbling] were close.

I’ll probably try to combo those with [Airwalk] somehow. I feel like being able to push off of thin air is going to be pretty transformative for those skills, and will lead into Insights pretty easily. I should think about sources of inspiration though. Parkour? Gymnastics?

[Battle Meditation] was also nearly ready for Development, but Nathan wasn’t sure if he had any more Insights for that skill. He’d never delved too deeply into meditation on Earth, and it felt like that particular well was mostly tapped. Maybe he could ask Stella for some advice? He knew she had several skills to help with concentration and focus for spellcasting.

I might be able to turn it into another mental defense skill. That’s probably not a bad idea. I know there are stealth skills that can bypass perception skills, so there are probably social skills that can bypass mental defense skills.

The last set of upcoming skills were [Magical Perception] and [Magical Intuition], which had been essential to Nathan’s use of his antimagic thus far. He wanted them to keep Developing in parallel to his aura, and hoped that he could somehow use his new ability to redirect magic to push them in new directions.

It feels like I could start doing really cool things with magic, but I lack fine control over my aura. Some of it I can get with practice, but I think there’s going to be a hard limit there. I wonder if I can get better aura control from a new class skill at the [Implacable Antimage] Development. Or I could drop a skill and go for some kind of [Fine Aura Control] Utility skill? My stealth skills are great, though maybe [Quiet Movement] will be redundant if [Airwalk] is silent.

Nathan’s eyes landed on the last skill on the list. [Battle Cry] was undoubtedly useful… but its place in his build wasn’t set in stone yet. If he decided he needed better aura control, he’d be willing to drop it for something like [Fine Aura Control] or something similar.

And that was that. [Lecturing] wasn’t too far off, but Nathan doubted that a battle would push it over the line.

I’ll have plenty of chances to Develop it later. Teaching new antimages, founding the library. We just need to win this battle first. And destroy Giantsrest, no big deal.

That thought didn’t cause a spike of panic, but rather calm acceptance. They would fight, and Nathan was confident that he and his friends would do all that they were capable of.

Status of Nathan Lark:

Permanent Talent 1: Aura of Antimagic 7

Permanent Talent 2: Perfected Body 8

Talent 3: High-tier Slow Fall 10

Class: Implacable Antimage level237

Deepened Stamina:7372/7410

Antimage’s Impassivity

Antimagic Momentum

Raging Thrill

Implacable Inertia

Unarmored Resilience

Improved Antimagic

Strenuous Agility

Hand-to-hand Expertise

Class: Magekiller level 89

Regenerative Focus: 990/990

Catastrophic Blows

Battle Stealth

Mage Infiltration

Forgettable

Unsuspecting Strike

Antimagic Stealth

Spell Redirection

Lethal Index

Utility skills:

Battle Meditation 9

Leadership 6

High-tier Sprinting 8

Magical Perception 8

Alertness 2

Magical Intuition 8

High-tier Dodging Footwork 10

Mental Fortress 4

High-tier Lecturing 7

High-tier Tumbling 8

Mid-tier Noticeability 8

Low-tier Quiet Movement 4

Low-tier Disguise 4

Mid-tier Battle Cry 3