Black Magus

Rather than summon Henry Cole right away, I emerged from my umbral dimension to find a cloth-wrapped bowl of food sitting by my tent. It was promptly reheated and tended to before I settled in for a few hours of meditation to repeat the same dream I'd been experiencing since my birth.

I stirred from my torpor to hear a wild rattling of wind threatening to tear down my lean-to from the ground up. So I tore it down and took refuge in my chair with a hot plate to cook up a light breakfast and admire the view.

And what a view it was.

From this altitude, most of the horizon was shrouded in a perpetual blanket of white. Yet, even then, mushroom caps could be seen peering above the clouds from the most inconceivable distances. The closest of them was due south. Our destination, the Bodhi Tree, appeared as nothing more than a blot on the horizon. Like a dark cloud amongst the perpetual fog surrounding our realm. At a higher elevation, the blanket broke apart to a scattered sky pocked with glimpses into the many realms scattered across the Mortal Plane. Through a combination of gravitational lensing and adjusting the way my eyes perceived light, I could see all the way to the band of rock gas billowing before the Terminal. Vagua was a red rim dominated by a black, red, and gold-hued tree that looked as large as Mercury did from the Venusian cloud tops. Paradise was like a lush ring of archipelagos swamped with vibrant blue waters that went on and on for literal light minutes, with only two singular landmasses breaking up the space. Betrarth, to the west, stretched from the Steam Line to the White Wall and rose from sea level to beyond the bed of clouds. Youtera was much the same. Only, it was on the far side of Tiatus and was separated from the likes of Betrarth and Nonus via a winding ‘river’ as thick as my arm, even from this distance. And then there was the White Wall.

Though I had ascended to the edge of the atmosphere, I hadn't even made it a tenth of the way to the summit. Yet even that height was child's play when compared to the height Tiatus ascended each day. Enough to place in those realms in its light, I was sure. Regardless, it made for a blissfully still environment in which to enjoy my meal. And after, I got down to business.

I created a domain of dilated time and went through some aerial combat drills. After dedicating an hour to training unarmed combat, my spearman-ship, and dagger play, I canceled the spell and returned to my chair to smoke and admire the views once more.

While the rest of the Mortal Plane was a sight to see, I couldn’t help but pay attention to the sprawling landscapes around me as well. To the east, was an unbridled view of the rest of the continent. As the books said, the entirety of it was completely lacking in flora. An untamed sea of dunes, broken apart only by the occasional outcropping or flicker of movement from some man or beast. It stretched on and on to the coasts, thousands of klicks away, wherein a few shrublands or savannas lined the jagged beaches in place of white sands and reefs. Past that, I could see more. The expansive sea and even Rook Island off the coast to the southeast. And beyond the eastern oceans, I could see the wide coast of Phaegrath and the thin strip of green from the voluminous forests on its high coast. And beyond that…

In an effort to turn my mind away from the prize, I turned my eyes away from reality and began looking inward. I began thinking of my few weaknesses in this life. Besides ego, the mental aspect, and my temporarily weak physicality, I became aware of one flaw that was keeping me from realizing my potential as a sorcerer.

I had no imagination.

Thus far, my focus had been on using magic according to the nature of its affinity. As far as I was aware, however, magic was about doing the impossible. It was about bringing the imagination into reality using the vehicle that was mana. Even now, however, I knew not how to use it besides making a weapon out of lightning or some type of radiation. But I was at an utter loss as to what I could do with my least used magics: Nuclear and Void. My mind was just too logical to think of something so abstract. So, with nothing else to go on, I decided to go with what I already knew was possible: giving things False Life. Like Grandpa Lich’s Necromentals and Azrael’s spell, I could create ‘living things’ with or without souls. So I thought long and hard about what I wanted to create before I put it into action.

I imagined something innocuous, small, and seemingly harmless. Yet terrifyingly devastating to anyone it turned its sights on. Thus I began recalling things I saw from the Menagerie or other creatures I’ve seen or heard of throughout my combined lives and started to mold them into mental shape. Hatchi’s barbed tentacles, Gero’s croak. Jake’s growth capacity. The eyes of the Umbral Iris. Shade Step. Shadow Pocket. The Flames of Moil. Leech Hand. Claws, carapaces, fangs, antennae, ooze. Anything I thought was terrifying, deadly, or both was solidified in my mind and merged with every ounce of Arcana within me. Save a tiny fraction, which was withdrawn and infused into my voice as I chanted. "Eldritch Emergence!"

My grimoire appeared at once to flip through its contents to find a blank page and document my new spell while my arcana was guided through my core almost remotely.

In tune with what I imagined, the majority of the energy was ejected after being attuned to shadows. But the guiding hand allowed a hint of death and twinge of the void to be added to the concoction and even threw in a pair of Rage Souls for good measure.

Followed by a couple of Aegis Souls to balance it out.

Within an instant, my Mana Well had been emptied and the eldritch abomination I spawned had condensed into a sort of... carapace-coated jellyfish. Or, more aptly, it was a sphere of roughly textured chitinous plates stacked haphazardly around an amorphous nucleus, forming both armor and a sunshade for the abyssal creature hidden within. Through those stacked plates, it writhed out a pair of stilt-like tendrils to feel its way around my chair, probing and tip-toeing; tip-toeing and probing with the utmost caution.

Meanwhile, I melted inside. “You’re adorable.”

As if in agreement, it let out a blood-curdling crack of its carapace. Allowing four tendrils to break through and be recoated by the armor to form legs that skitter-scattered up my arm to disappear into my shadow.

***

Roheisa Deapou.

***

“Finally!” I sighed, stowing my things away.

Since our travels began, I hadn’t had much time to document much of anything we’d done. I was thankful we set enough time aside so that I could catch up in my diary, even though that wasn’t our intention. Still, everyone seemed to share my mentality. Just like me and Lucia, they spend hours each day in their tents, going about their hobbies or interest. From what I could see, Jaimess and Edward spent most of their time as I did. Reading or writing in their tents whenever they weren’t eating, sleeping, or enjoying the views. Toril took part in the former as well, albeit to a much lesser extent than the rest of us. Instead, he sat on the twin peaks or sometimes, took to the sky with Amun to train in their magical affinities.

I thought about joining them on more than one occasion. Ever-increasingly, in fact, though with the academy on the literal horizon. I chose instead to make use of the little free time I had left and took to wandering the plateau.

“May I ask what you’re writing?” I asked, approaching Jaimess.

He shot his eyes up as if he were startled, then slowly turned back to his paper. “I’m taking inventory.” He explained with a flick of his quill towards two stacks of black fabric sitting behind him. “And preparing a shipment.”

“I see.” I nodded, both in admiration and annoyance. “Do you ever write anything else?"

“Like what?”

“Like a… logbook. Or something.” I awkwardly explained. “About what we’ve seen so far.”

He turned to me at last, gracing me with a raised brow. “You mean a journal?”

“Er. Yes.”

“Yes, I have a journal.” He muttered into his books. “No, you may not read it.”

“What, are you searching for ideas?” A sudden voice snickered behind me.

Just as I turned, Amun moved past me and stopped beside the smaller of the packages.

“I’m only trying to be friendly.” I hurriedly turned about once more to face him. “Since we’re partners, it’d be good to get to know each other, right?”

“Whatever you say, Princess.” Amun condescendingly snorted. “If you’re bored, watch this.”

I subdued my annoyance and watched him slip a small box into the fabric before he palmed the bundle. Then just stood there with his eyes closed for a long moment. With a sudden influx of mana, space around the parcel began distorting, bending, and warping under a field of crackling and whipping energy until it disappeared before our eyes. And in its place, sat a large clump of steaming snow. Intermixed with twigs and acorns that did not belong to this part of Maru.

“Was that-”

“Yes.” Amun grinned. “But there are limitations. I’ll let you wonder about what they are to appease your boredom. In the meantime, there are a few things you and Lucia need to think about.”

“Oh?” I turned. “Like what?”

“Well, like the others, you and Lucia will be in charge of different facets of the guild. You’ll essentially have your own sub-guilds. Jaimess will be in charge of the diplomatic and administrative side.” Amun gestured to him. “Ed’s in charge of engineering. He's also in charge of Letta and Giorno. And Toril will be in charge of warfare.”

“And what will you be doing?” I asked. “What is Jonet in charge of?”

“If I’m not exploring, I’ll be making enchantments or researching. Who knows, honestly?” Amun shrugged. Then casually murmured. “And Jonet’s in charge of espionage.”

“She’s a spy?!?” I gasped.

Amun shrugged again. “Every leader needs a good spy.”

“I suppose that’s true.”

“Since Lucia is a knight like Toril, it’d be wise for her to take up a specialty role within the military. Based on her affinity, she’d be a perfect fit to command an areal unit. But ultimately it's up to her. The real question is.” He splayed his finger out toward me. “What will you do?”

“Based on what you said, I picture you working as a scout when in the field. In that case.” I tapped at my chin. “With Toril in charge of the front lines and Lucia overseeing an elite air unit, I believe I’d be most useful in a support role. My Lava Magic excels at long ranges and has a wide area of effect. And if need be, I can fight up close as well.”

“Then it’s settled.” Amun smiled and began walking off. “Keep in mind, though, these things are subject to change before the guild is fully realized. Also, we’re going to be doing a little recruiting while we’re at the academy. Impress your classmates. Bring those you trust or respect to our side while we’re there. Cause when we come back to Maru, there’ll be no brakes on this train.”