Anti-Mage

Anton stepped back as his family and friends stepped through the Archway into the Pillar 10 Node Room. The portal closed as Anton called out, “Paeral, let the adults get the node before we move on.

“As you wish,” Paeral said

“What’s he talking about Anton?” Amelia asked.

“Just put your hand on the orb Paeral is standing near and unlock the Pillar 10 Node. Trust me you may want it for later.

“Okay, what do I do?” Amelia asked as she walked over to the node.

“Just put your hand on the node, and read what pops up in your vision. When you get the ‘Yes or No?’ choice, think, or say, ‘Yes’”

Amelia touched the orb. A moment later her eyes glaze over and then she smiles, “That was easy!”

“Dave and Sue, Mr. and Mrs. Kendall, and your son and daughter-in-law, it’s your turn,” Anton said.

“Their son has a name, It’s Rodger and my wife is Alice, our baby is Ezekiel, named after Alice’s father.”

“Okay,” Anton Shrugged, “ Dave, Sue, Mr. and Mrs. Kendall, Rodger, and Alice, if you’d please take your turns,” Anton said with a smile. No need to be rude, these would probably be the only humans he’d get to interact with for a while.

The six adults quickly touched the orb, accepted it as a node point, and stepped back. When they were done Paeral stepped forward and pulled up the location he was going to send them all to. The Archway solidified into an image of an entryway. From the node, Paeral said, “If you would all step through and stay in the entryway, I’ll come through last and then explain where you are.”

Everyone stepped through and waited for Paeral. After he stepped through, the Archway disappeared. Where the portal had been there was now a double door with glass windows on each side. Everyone could see that the doors led outside. Anton looked around and realized they were inside a giant tree but this one wasn’t as big as the one where he’d met the elders.

The children were wide-eyed as they looked around until Carla, the twelve-year-old, walked over to Paeral and asked, “Are you an elf, a real elf?”

“I am,” Paeral said as he stepped back from Carla and addressed everyone, “Hello everyone, I am Paeral. For the time being this is your new home. As you can see from looking around you are inside what looks like a tree. That is because it doesn’t look like a tree, it is a tree. The staircase winds up around the inside opening onto three levels that have been built around the trunk. Like Earth, it is not always safe outside, though you are in the elvish city of Melamar so it is probably safer right outside this home than it was outside your home on Earth. This Treehouse has 12 rooms which should suit all of your needs as well as a kitchen, bathing facilities, bathrooms, and even a place for the children to play up on the 1st and 2nd above-ground levels.”

What do you expect us to do while we’re here?” Dave Ellis, Anton’s stepdad, asked.

“Anton has asked that we see to your safety while he helps us with a few issues. Tomorrow I will be arranging for someone to stop by and teach all the adults how to speak and read elvish. After that others will take you around town and introduce you to your new existence with The SYSTEM here in Melamar. As I understand it none of you knew what the SYSTEM was before the accident.”

“We don’t know what it is now, “ Mr. Kendall said bitterly.

“Just so,” Paeral agreed. “So the first thing we’re going to do is teach all of the adults to speak and read elvish, so we can communicate easily and then we’ll see what each of you can do to serve your new home.”

“Isn’t it going to take weeks, if not months, to learn elvish?” Amelia, Anton’s 25-year-old stepsister asked.

“Actually it will take just the day, We have a mage that can impart the knowledge to you through an Artifact he has from before all of our class levels were reset. As you acclimate to being here and see all the magical wonders that exist, please remember that every elf here has had all of their levels and skills reset, just like you. We’re all starting at level 0 and we have to earn back everything we’ve lost.”

“Even you?” Sue Ellis asked.

“Even me. I once watched one of your movies. I think it was called Lord of the Rings. If you are wondering what I was like before the reset I would say that I resemble the character Gandalf.

“You’re a druid?” Jack asks with wide eyes

“Gandalf wasn’t a druid he was a mage?” Carla said

Before an argument can start Dave Ellis raises his voice, “You two can talk about Gandalf later,”

Paeral nodded his thanks and continued, “You’ll be staying here until Anton has finished helping us with a task which should then allow us to transfer you to another settlement where there are more humans.”

“There are human settlements on Melamar?” Anton asked.

“Of course,” Paeral answered.

“Okay, we are here, wherever here is. Will we be able to return to Earth at some point?” Rodger Kendall asked.

“Let me show you around the residence and once the children are playing I can better explain what is going on.” When no one objected Paeral started giving everyone a tour of their new home. Anton followed. The first level is the entryway with two doors and a stairway that winds up around the inside and one off to the side that drops underground. The stairs going up are wide enough for two people to stand side by side as they make their way to 1st level and exit into a plush living area with everyone someone would expect in a million-dollar apartment in New York City. There was a full kitchen with a dining room that could easily seat 20 people. There was also a bar next to the living area with couches and chairs that 20 people could rest in facing a mounted television which currently has a scene overlooking a city intermingled with trees that were the size of buildings.

Paeral pointed at the monitor, “That is an image of the city you are now in. The tree we are in is on the far side of the image, almost exactly opposite that camera.”

“You have television?” Amelia asked.

“Of course,” Paeral said as he put his hands to his chest as if mildly affronted. “Anton already knows this but Minerva, the planet you’re on now, is not from the same Universe as the Earth you all came from. In our Universe, there was an Earth and we watched them for quite a while. Though we had the System and some things were different they had technology and even televisions. It was simple enough to bring that technology home and get our local stations up and running to get announcements as well as some programming. Before the accident, we even had a link to the satellites in orbit so we could watch programming from Earth. The satellite that allowed for that is gone now though.”

“Why not just direct your radar dishes at Earth and get the signals directly?” Carla asked.

“Line of Sight,” Paeral said. When the children looked confused he continued, “The Sun is directly between Earth and Minerva, the planet you’re on. Our relay station was in the same orbit offset by 90 degrees allowing for us to send communication from one side of the sun to the other by bouncing it around the sun. Earth and Minerva are both 93 million miles from the Sun. Our relay station was also 93 million miles from the Sun. If you remember your math from school with two sides of any triangle you can figure out that third side. In that case, our signals traveled 131 million miles to the relay station and 131 million miles to Earth which takes just around 23.5 minutes. So while our television was 23 minutes behind what was actually happening on Earth we could still watch your programs,” Paeral explained

“And now?” Anton asked.

“And now, the accident wiped out our relay station. The only way we know what is happening on Earth is through Scrying Items,” Paeral said.

“You mean magic items,” Amelia said.

“I mean magic items. Why don’t we get the kids into the play area so I can let you know what is happening on Earth,” Paeral said.

All of the parents nodded and they were led upstairs and onto a balcony that was as big as a modest-sized backyard. There was a tree house with a slide from the 3rd level that could be accessed here where children could run around and play. There was also a nice-sized sandbox and even a pool of water that seemed to steam gently

Anton pointed at the pool and asked, “How?”

“That? Oh, that is inside the trunk of another tree nearby. While the pool is only about 6 feet deep at the deepest point the pool sits inside a tree trunk with the machinery and pumps and magical runes all located inside the trunk. From ground level, it looks like another tree that grows up into the floor of the house. The structure is so large that it needed to have other supports to the ground so we used tree trunks. It was easier to build when we had our high-level druids. We couldn’t build this structure right now but eventually, we should be able to do this again,” Paeral explained.

The children on the other hand were having a ball. Alice even took baby Ezekial over to the sandbox to play while Paeral led Anton, Amelia, Dave and Sue Ellis, Mr. and Mrs. Kendal, and Rodger Kendal over to an outdoor table where they all sat down. A few moments later an attendant came out with a pitcher of tea and glasses. After everyone had a drink Paeral looked around the table and then asked, “Did all of you read the messages provided by the SYSTEM?”

After everyone nodded in agreement he asked, “So, how does it make you feel knowing that there could be copies of you running around?” When no one answered immediately Paeral nodded, “Exactly! Now imagine that a society based around magic finds out their world is slated to become fuel for one of their copies, how would you feel about that?”

“That’s horrible,” Mrs. Kendall called out,”

“Yes, it is, and many here agreed with your statement…” Paeral starts to say before he’s interrupted.

“Are you saying that your world took steps to subvert our world and would have become the primaries if the accident hadn’t happened?” Dave Ellis asked.

“Initially, no. However, there is a faction on this planet that did not care about the other nine copies of Minerva and once it learned of their location, they were no longer issues,” Paeral stated flatly.

“Someone on this planet killed nine worlds worth of people?” Amelia asked horrified.

“Honestly, when magic is in play, it’s not hard. When magic and technology are both in play it is easy. To answer your question, yes, someone from this planet killed every living creature on the other nine copies of Minerva. In fact, those other nine copies were destroyed so that if Universe 10 was chosen this planet would be spared,” Paeral explained.

“How do you mean?” Dave Ellis asked.

“The last reset was approximately 25,000 years ago. Some of our elders were around then and remembered what happened. They spent an incredible amount of time and effort finding the pillar on our planet and then deciphering the embedded magical runes within. It took almost 20,000 years to find the other 9 pillars because there was the 10th pillar which was the control pillar which was on your planet. Actually, it was only blind luck that we found it because there was no direct link back to it from the other 9 pillars. We were lucky one of our research teams was at our pillar when a beacon came through.”

“If you destroyed the pillars…” Mr. Kendall started to say.

Paeral looked at Mr. Kendall with a little confusion then said, “My apologies, The pillars were all on Earth. Minerva on each of the other 9 universes was obliterated and replaced with a singularity of approximately the same mass to ensure nothing untoward happened to each solar system.”

“You make it sound like the death of billions of beings doesn’t mean anything?” Sue Ellis asked.

Paeral nodded, “Which brings me back to my first question, how does it make you feel knowing that there could be copies of you running around? For us, our society, it didn’t feel good. For one of the undead on this planet who was an Elf before he became a Lich who also happened to be around during the last activation of the pillars, it was not tolerable. What was that one series you had that had the saying, ‘There can be only one?’”

“Highlander,” Rodger Kendall offered.

“Highlander,” Paeral agreed. “Most of us here actually liked that show. Anyway, the Lich sought out and destroyed every copy of Mirvana that could interfere with our continued existence, which the elders here didn’t really oppose. Why would we, the Lich was taking care of copies of the originals, as we viewed ourselves and he wasn’t being a nuisance on this planet so he was left alone.”

“What does that have to do with Earth now?” Dave Ellis asked.

“It’s funny you should ask. Where all of you, except Anton, were in North America was pretty far removed from the major population centers, as well as the magical areas on the Earth from the Universe containing Pillar 6. The Universe everyone on this planet is from. We have been scrying various parts of your planet while we were testing Anton and then coming to get you and we have discovered that the humans of the 10 planets are not doing very well when it comes to acclimating to the SYSTEM or working with copies of themselves.

“Define not doing well,” Rodger Kendal said.

“Imagine that you have nine terrorist leaders that all want to kill the infidel. Now there are 10 times as many ‘imposters’ trying to take control of you and your network of terrorists. On the macro-economic scale, like in Korea, imagine if there were 10 copies of that dictator trying to tell the armies there what to do. Or in America’s case, 10 different versions of the U.S. Military, each with the same level of firepower. Then add the areas that were already hot spots or where conflict was already in play. Then increase the size of planet Earth, make it so all supply lines are harder to keep, and then kill all satellite uplinks…Then add random monster spawns, spatial rifts, and events as well as add SYSTEM-based leveling, magic, and the SYSTEM Shop, which we didn’t have before the accident here either.

“The SYSTEM Shop?” Sue Ellis asked.

“I haven’t been able to visit it yet either but it’s my understanding that one pops up anywhere there are at least 1 million SYSTEM users in the local area. Supposedly you can buy anything at these shops, and I do mean anything, if you have the credits. You can also sell anything you find for credit. It’s all automated and there’s no haggling so it goes quickly.”

“How do you find the SYSTEM shops?” Anton asked.

“On Earth, they’re all in regions where Universe 10 people and structures have been placed.”

“So a strategic resource can only be found in the copy of a city from Universe 10,” Dave Ellis said. “Let me guess there is major fighting going on all over the world?”

“No need to guess. As soon as the announcement went out various countries and factions around the world started trying to figure out how to best take advantage of the changes, that is until the monster spawns started.”

“Monster Spawns?” Almost all of the adults echoed.

“Monster Spawns. Mana and magic are now in your world. While you had technology to support you it means nothing compared to magic and those that can wield it. Everyone on Earth, except for those from Universe 6, is having a hard time adapting to a universe with magic,” Paeral explained.

“We were doing fine up in North Dakota!” Dave Ellis declared with certainty

“You were doing fine in an area that best resembled your Minot North Dakota because the population density of all 10 copies of the area of Minot stuck together in one place barely reached 480,000 people,” Paeral said.

“Why does that matter? Mrs. Kendal asked.

“Because mana density, the ambient mana, and the mana tied up in all living things has a direct effect on the environment. The more mana an area needs to support the more mana is drawn from the various planes and alternate dimensions. No one knows for sure but it seems like a population of 1 million sentient beings tends to muck up the SYSTEM enough that it corrects whatever mana problems it’s having by creating random Monster Spawns, Spatial Rifts, and various other Anomalies.” Paeral explained.

Dave Ellis was the first to put it together and asked, “Are you saying that in a place like New York City, which has 8.4 million people…Are you saying in the new version of New York City where approximately 84 million people reside there are monsters spawning…”

Paeral looked at them sadly. Once everyone had a minute to think about the question Dave Ellis failed to articulate he continued, “When the reset happened everyone, including the monsters that were randomly spawning started at level zero. Of course, as monsters killed people they leveled. As people killed other people and monsters, they leveled. Add to this that if you kill someone higher level than you, sometimes you get a bonus to the experience you earn and if you kill someone lower level than yourself you don’t get as much experience. On that note, if only one person survived what’s happening in New York City they could easily break level 1,000 maybe even level 4,000.”

“Why does any of this matter?” Sue Ellis asked.

“Because we’re behind the power curve,” Rodger Ellis said.

“Yes, because you were keeping your heads low out in the middle of nowhere, you are already behind anyone that has survived anywhere the population broke 1 million. By the way, that isn’t to say random mana events don’t happen where the populations are lower, they do, especially along leylines. They just happen a lot more often in highly populated areas.”

“So what do we do?” Mr. Kendall said.

“What you do is get settled in here for tonight. Pick your bedrooms, relax, and let the staff cook your meals. Tomorrow someone will stop by to teach you all elvish and you’ll receive more training. Unlike Earth, Minerva didn’t multiply in size by 10 times. Our population is still about the same as it was and we are dealing with normal random mana events instead of a lot of localized ones. Also, I should have explained this part. Even if someone went and killed all 84 million people in New York the area would still be saturated with their mana for years to come and it would continue to express itself as mana events. The best they can do there is try to survive. The survivors then have to hope that they can level faster than the monsters that are spawning in. Since there getting roughly 84 random mana events a day, probably more, they’re going to have their work cut out for them.

“What about me?” Anton asked.

“You,” Paeral repeated, “You, get to learn Elvish the long way because your unique situation makes it impossible for us to implant the language using magic. We have sent for someone that might be able to help but they live on the other side of the planet. It might take them a couple of days to get here so for now, spend time with your family and try to pick up as much Elvish as you can from them after they learn the language.”

Anton looked at Paeral thoughtfully and remembered how the female elvish mage’s first instinct had been to kill the soldiers he had been with. As that thought crossed his mind he looked at Paeral and asked, “Why are you doing this for my family, why are you doing this for me?”

Paeral smiled, “What? You haven’t figured that out yet? I already told you we have elders with memories dating back tens of thousands of years. In all that time, no one has displayed the abilities you have. No one. You are completely unique. Additionally, the uniqueness that you’ve shown can be quite useful in specific circumstances and I believe I mentioned a Lich already?”

Anton had played Role-Playing Games in high school and even with some college kids he’d known. A Lich was an Undead Wizard of some sort in the games he’d played but they were also Undead…”A Lich. Really?”

“Really,” Paeral said as he made his way to the entrance and let himself out.