Ends of Magic

Nathan spent the next few hours helping Stella apply his lessons on plasma. His better mana senses made the whole process much easier than when he’d been trying to help her gain light mana, and his control over his antimagic helped him snuff the experiments before anything went out of control.

Stella was also a better mage than she had been. Her control was better, and she could more easily construct a spell of several different kinds of mana, which was necessary for these spells. It was looking like effective plasma spells would require fire, lightning, magnetic and air mana. They found that light mana helped too.

Dalo and Kullal were doing their own experimentation alongside their daughter, but Nathan wasn’t paying them as much attention beyond occasionally checking to make sure they weren't doing something stupid. Overall they seemed much more safety-conscious than their daughter and Nathan felt confident leaving them to their own devices.

After all, they figured out a good deal of this without me. Pretty impressive.

Kia and Stanel seemed to be playing some kind of drinking game they’d devised a long time ago for whenever Dalo and Kullal started talking about magic. They were teaching the rules to Khachi and Sarah, and it appeared that the game might become a tradition of the Heirs as well as the Guardians.

Over time it became clear that Stella’s class gave her a significant advantage in trying to apply Nathan’s Insights into the natural world. She was a [Mage of the Natural Law], and had skills to boost her magic when it aligned with the principles of the physical world. Those same skills let her know when her experimentation was on the right track, and over the course of the evening she assembled a crude and misshapen mass of a spell that nonetheless was capable of creating and manipulating a vibrating orb of purple plasma with diffuse edges.

Nathan watched as Stella tweaked the magnetic containment. “Well done. Let’s see if you can get a handle on accelerating it with an electric field.”

“Hear me, that spellwork is atrocious!” Kullal said, glancing over from where she was working with a multi-layered orb of force and flame. “You can’t hit the target with something so… so inelegant.”

“It’s just for experimentation.” Stella said absently as she prodded the sphere with different kinds of mana. “I need to understand the mana, feel its essential nature…”

Kullal turned her glare on Nathan. “That can’t be an effective way to learn! Every spell she makes will bear the scars of this... this stalker shit spell.”

Nathan smirked. “I disagree. You always need to experiment to learn. Once you understand what you’re doing, then it’s time to optimize.”

The best scientific equipment is usually the kind that’s kludged together somewhere. If you’re using standard equipment and reagents then you’re usually not doing something new.

Dalo watched the whole conversation with a frown, chewing on his lip without interjecting. He could generate plasma easily, but hadn’t been able to manipulate it much at all.

Stella could. Her gaze was intent as she started to spin the ball of plasma, then her eyebrows rose in surprise as the edges grew notably brighter than the center, and the hazy mass became more clearly defined.

Nathan stepped up, ready to swallow the spell in antimagic if it looked to break free. But the spell was stable and he studied it for a second before making a suggestion. “Try putting a magnetic field in the middle, so you have a disk with a hole in it.”

The orb flattened out as it spun further, then the center dented in to form a torus that wobbled alarmingly. Stella’s voice was still distracted. “A tube with no end. The charges respond better to the magnetic field if they’re moving. It’s more stable if they’re not just sitting there…”

The vibrating toroid flexed slightly, then adapted a slight spiral around its length. The plasma condensed even farther and grew slightly brighter, but the faint vibration stilled out entirely. Stella’s mouth was open in astonishment, and then she shot both hands into the air in triumph. “Yes!”

Dalo and Kullal watched with alarm as the spell in front of Stella destabilized, starting to cast their own magics to control the blast as a puff of sizzling heat escaped. But Nathan beat them to it, swooping in with his aura to wipe the magic away before it filled the room with fire.

Stella’s parents rounded on her with expressions of annoyance, but before they could say anything she gestured to Nathan with both hands. “He’s right here! The best safety mechanism for chasing a grand Insight.”

Then she smiled wide, and her eyes shining with a distinctive purple glare. “It worked, too. I got plasma mana!”

High-tier Lecturing 5 achieved!

Nathan clapped his hands together and cheered . Dalo and Kullal looked astonished. Everybody else took a shot.

After processing for a moment, Dalo looked like he was going to start pulling his hair out. “My daughter, be careful of your mana storage! Too many mana types may interfere. That would prophecy a disaster.”

She smirked at him, refusing to let the mood be brought down. “Oh, I didn't mention. We looted a dragon's hoard of prismatic diamond from an Edrani Empire fortress.” She reached into one of the dimensional pockets of her robes and pulled out a head-sized chunk of the crystal that had been serving as the power core of that particular dungeon. “It’s unnaturally made, but there’s about fifty pounds of it.”

This time even Stanel and Kia gaped in amazement.

Dalo sighed and shrugged, but his face was split in a satisfied smile. “Success beyond prophecy.”

From there the night degenerated into another party, and Nathan had to convince Stella it wasn’t a good idea to try inventing plasma spells while drunk. At least not powerful ones.

—

The Heirs woke up bright and early the next morning because Sudraiel sent somebody to bring them food. They’d definitely gone to bed later than they should have. Aarl had gotten to their rooms slightly before they did, looking smug and freshly bathed.

At least the food was good. Stella was still over the moon about her new mana type. “I can put it into fireballs. Force and fire and plasma!”

She was nearly bouncing off the walls. Nathan was somewhat doubtful she'd slept much at all.

“I bet it’ll be great for giving lightning spells more punch, or guiding them! Or with I can combine light and plasma to make the perfect channels for lightning to flow through!”

Aarl shook his head. “I am free of regret. My night was excellent entertainment. But it would have been nice to see this Insight develop.”

“You missed learning the magic drinking game.” Sarah said with a snort. “But we can teach you later. We’ll need it again, sure and certain.”

Khachi leaned in. “We’d need alcohol for that. But it is righteous to abstain. I do not think I will carry the hoard my mother keeps.”

Sarah met her brother’s eyes, her voice full of mirth. “I suppose we’ll have to handle it.”

“I hate to break up the party, but we need to go meet Brox.” Nathan said, slapping his knees and standing up. He looked around the room to make sure they weren’t leaving anything behind.

The rest of the Heirs deflated and got up to do last minute packing.

“Do you think Brox will still use us as Castlebear bait if we’re funny?” Aarl asked.

Everybody looked at Nathan, who shrugged. “I get the sense he’d love it if we were entertaining, but I don’t know if it’ll make him really care about us. Maybe a little. Remember, our big goal is to keep our distance, and not be too impressed.”

He met Stella’s eyes. The red-haired mage was suddenly subdued. “It’ll be fine. Just be conscious of yourself, and focus on your mental skills.”

They left the room, bidding goodbye to the elites on either side of the door. It was Turbang and Datur, who seemed relieved to hear that the Heirs wouldn’t need to be guarded anymore.

“Algoa’s luck ride with you.” Datur said, clasping his hands in a salute. “You might need it with your final companion.”

Good to know that not all of the Halsmet elites worship Brox.

They were supposed to meet Brox in the courtyard, but he wasn’t there. The Heirs moved into the garden, which was starting to show some rough edges. It hadn’t been totally abandoned, but the manicured greenery was clearly being allowed to slip from absolute perfection to something more reasonable.

They watched people stream in and out of the mansion as petitioners and messengers came and went, while a group of Halsmet citizens did weapon practice under the command of Stanel.

Oh yeah, he trains the Gemore Guard. Makes sense he’d start that up for Halsmet.

Brox did eventually show up, strolling leisurely into the central courtyard from the lower city, yawning and rubbing sleep out of his eyes. His eyes locked onto Nathan and his teammates and in a flash and with a small gust of wind the Questor stood before them, arms wide and a smile on his face.

“My friends! Let our journey begin. I will allow you to set the pace - but by the oaths of Edes it better not be too slow.” He raised his eyebrows and waggled his finger on the last line, then gestured towards the gate.

Seems like kidding-not-really kidding.

Khachi nodded mechanically, then turned towards the gate and took off at a jog. The rest of the Heirs followed, blowing past the group of trainees. Brox caught up in a moment, running backwards just a bit to the side.

Nathan caught Stanel throwing a venomous look towards the Questor, but Brox didn’t seem to notice or care.

“Ah, a good effort. Now we shall see how long you can maintain it! I always say, good legs and good lungs are as important as a strong arm.” The Questor declared, not breathing any differently despite running backwards at a fast pace.

They exited the mansion and began heading down the broad road that was the quickest way to the east gate. Brox kept on running backwards, dodging around anybody in his path with quick bursts of speed. He wore an indulgent expression as he kept talking. “A few hundred years ago I was leading an army out of the city-state of Aflela to fight Keihona over a trade route. We were both racing ti the pass of Lightning. Archery armies desire the high ground, I tell you.”

He smirked. “Verified truth, we got there first. Sarya tried to hold us off by herself until her army arrived, but I chased her off and we took the position. She had better archers, but with the high ground it wasn’t an even contest. We won that war off legs, not bows. Took her a decade to forgive me for that one.”

The Questor’s eyes panned around across Heirs, waiting for a response to his story. His social skill was still going, but it didn’t seem to be as powerful as before. Either he was reigning it in or it worked better for first impressions.

The pace meant they were all breathing intentionally, but not so hard nobody could spare a word. Instead of responding, Nathan and Khachi just met Brox’s gaze calmly, while Aarl and Sarah were more reserved. Stella was as far away from Brox as she could get. The mage's mouth was set in a thin line and she kept her eyes on the paving stones as force mana carried her feet in large swooping steps.

After an awkward moment Nathan agreed. “Yeah, that makes sense. Sarya’s another Questor? Has she ever visited Gemore?”

The Questor snorted, dancing between Nathan and Khachi to avoid a man pulling a cart full of fabric up the hill.

“That’s repeating prophecy. She’s a Questor from my grid, but she never budges from her precious Keihona. Wants to build it up into a new Edrani, a place to survive Endings.” He shook his head. “But that’s not what the Endings are for.”

Nathan’s eyes sharpened at Brox’s words, but the man frowned and changed the topic before Nathan could ask a follow-up.

“She’s an archer, like Sarah here. It's good to see Stanel with Heirs of his own. Funny to set one on the path of blades and another on the path of bows, though both seem aimed at the same destination. Do you both plan to pursue your father’s Path?” The question was a bit perfunctory, as if the Questor didn’t really care about the answer.

Sarah looked up with a proud smile. “We’re on the Path to power, wherever that takes us. I’m blazing my own Path towards my own target.”

Next to her Aarl grunted his agreement.

Brox laughed. “Good! Good. Powerful Insights can give great power, but it never pays to copy a Path to the bone.” He held up one finger like a teacher imparting a great lesson. “It always leads to a flawed copy. The best warriors always come from those who follow their own Path. An Insight you discover will always be yours in ways that cannot be matched by any other.”

The benevolent smile was back, and Brox gestured around at all of them. “I should tell you about the Immortals, a group I knew back in the days where Old Gemore stood! Unique fighters all, but linked by a single Talent…”

Nathan and the other Heirs listened as Brox told them a few stories, reacting calmly even as the stories grew more and more outrageous. He was a good storyteller.

I don’t think he’s lying, or even necessarily stretching the truth. He’s been on Davrar for hundreds if not thousands of years, and lived through a few Endings. I fully believe he’s killed gods. With help.

Stella was trying to stay as far away from Brox as she could, and avoided making eye contact with him. However, even over the course of the brief trip through the city she started warming up to the Questor, grinning and laughing at some of his stories.

They exited the city, waved out of the gates by a team of Adventurers and another pair of Halsmet elites. The terrain before them was rocky and broken, though not barren. Trees and bushes covered the mountains, while a solid and well-built road snaked between farms and towards a broad pass that led to the city of Giantsrest.

Khachi raised a pointing finger, aiming away from the road at a shallow angle. “Fireface Pass is that way.”

“By Olita’s flaming underpants, so it is. Keep up! I could be there and back before you finished lunch.” Brox said, finally turning around and surveying the terrain as they set out at the same jog.

“Then why don’t you? It’d save us a trip.” Aarl asked, his voice laced with a hint of bite.

The Questor spun back, throwing his arms wide. “Ah, because I wish to know you!” He waggled his finger. “Can’t do all the labor, else you will be incapable when I leave.”

Then Brox’s expression grew more serious. “Such a trip would tire me, even if only a sliver. If I should meet Badud out there, with a team to support him, then this war could be over before it's even begun. Badud was always a wily one, I could see him reading the board and laying this trap here. Besides, the duty is to keep watch, and I need to sleep.”

The Heirs looked around at one another, faces grim.

Brox picked up on it. “Oh, do you think to question prophecy? Will you abandon your duty if it means facing a Questor?” His tone was vaguely mocking, and held a sliver of disappointment.

Nathan snorted. “Nope. Just want a rematch. He didn’t fight fair the first time.”

The Questor’s eyebrows rose. “Tell me.”

Nathan pursed his lips, trying to decide how much detail to share. “There was this archmage of Giantsrest.Taeol dho Droxol. Student of Badud’s, I think. Taeol had a hard-on for capturing me. We spanked him the first time he tried ambushing us. Then he woke up an old Gemore Fortress Foundry and waited for us to come and deal with it.”

Brox interrupted, his eyes shadowed. “I knew the Fortress Foundries were a bad idea. But Gemore loved their constructs - they did make them feel safe.” He refocused on Nathan. “You took one down?”

“We defeated the army with lightning and steel.” Khachi said seriously. “To save the village of Tarren. Then joined with others to destroy the Foundry.”

“Lightning?” Brox glanced at Stella, whose eyes sparked in response. He dipped his head. “I see.”

Nathan broke in before Stella could respond. “Taeol ambushed us after we fought all day taking down the Fortress Foundry. But he still wasn’t confident, so he brought Badud along. Flying, invisible. Used [Soporific Bubble] to knock the others out, then levitated and teleported my friends away. That’s what started this whole mess.” He waved back at Halsmet. “So I Killed Taeol, freed the Elites, killed a bunch of mages. Exea got away, though she left an arm behind.”

The Questor waggled a finger at Nathan like a disappointed teacher. “Bad idea, that. No better path to rivalry. But do you aim to rival this silly archmage, or the Questor?” The question was said probingly, as if Brox was daring Nathan to take up a thrown gauntlet.

Nathan met Brox’s eyes. “I’d love to topple their academy, kill Badud and all his pet archmages.”

Pretty damn sure they all deserve it.

The Questor nodded slowly. “Good. Excellent.” His mouth spread into a contented grin. “A worthy companion.” He glanced around at the rest of the Heirs.

“Do you share Nathan’s fire? You are his team. Gemore swears the Adventurers Oath, and you swore with him. Will you fight by his side until his quest is done?” The Questor’s gaze sharpened. “Once the god of Oaths was Edes. Now he is slain, and only his fragments enforce what is sworn, without the wisdom of the eldest of the Divine. Only the letter of a vow matters in these days, not its spirit.”

Man, this guy knows things way beyond anybody in Gemore. The stuff he could teach us, if only he felt like it…

Khachi’s attention was laser-focused now that Brox was talking about gods, but the Questor gestured around to the Heirs instead of continuing. “Tell me about yourselves. You’re the Heirs of the most powerful Adventurers in Gemore. But what of your parents do you want to keep? How will you grow beyond them?”

Status of Nathan Lark:

Permanent Talent 1: Aura of Antimagic 6

Permanent Talent 2: Perfected Body 7

Talent 3: High-tier Slow Fall 10

Class: Implacable Antimage level 210

Deepened Stamina: 6020/6600

Antimage’s Impassivity

Antimagic Momentum

Raging Thrill

Implacable Inertia

Unarmored Resilience

Improved Antimagic

Strenuous Agility

Hand-to-hand Expertise

Class: Assassin of Gemore level76

Regenerative Focus: 860/860

Catastrophic Blows

Stealthy Movement

Infiltration

Forgettable

Unsuspecting Strike

Utility skills:

Battle Meditation 8

Leadership 6

High-tier Sprinting 7

Magical Perception 6

High-tier Notice 10

Magical Intuition 4

High-tier Dodging Footwork 9

Mental Fortress 3

High-tier Lecturing 5

High-tier Tumbling 7

Mid-tier Noticeability 7

Low-tier Quiet Movement 4

Low-tier Disguise 4

Mid-tier Battle Cry 1