Ends of Magic

Nathan chuckled lightly. “I also hit 243. I took my next class.”

The Heirs rolled their eyes as one. Aarl threw his hands towards the sky and raised his voice in mock outrage. “You didn’t stop to consider the most blasphemously important choice in your entire build?”

Nathan scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Not when Kia and Faline are both staring at you, demanding you make the choice.”

“Waking giants, my mother did that?” Khachi turned his head sharply, surprised and concerned.

“Well, he and Faline were having a stare-off over executing the captured mages. You can guess who was in favor of killing them all.”

“Ah, that was the argument we saw.” Sarah said, shaking her head. “Hear me, I was wondering what was going on down there. How many choices did you have?”

“Six.” Nathan said without inflection. Six choices was a lot for a 243 class Development. People normally got fewer classes at higher levels, though he suspected that was mostly because they settled into a style and didn’t do much experimentation. Both he and his teammates had rocketed up in levels from the sheer number of deadly encounters, too fast to become set in a specific style. “I had some some time to think it through, and ended up taking a class that can sever people from magic permanently. I’m happy with the decision, and I know Kia is because it meant we could spare the mages. We can talk about the details later.”

He turned expectant eyes on Stella before anybody could formulate a response. “What about you? Are you excited about your options?”

The short mage was almost bouncing from foot to foot as she walked. “Yeah! I have four choices. [Skymaster] would give me flight, but…”

“Not now!” Sarah’s sharp voice cut across Stella’s excited babble. “We can speak on this later, but be conscious of who may hear details of your build.” Her eyes went sideways, indicating the mass of freed slaves they stood near. Several of them had noticed Nathan and he saw some whispering and pointing, but none seemed to want to disturb him.

Then the tall woman smirked. “I also leveled to 243. Davrar favors those who kill archmages.”

Aarl groaned. “My spark is drowned. I leveled only a stalker’s weight from that battle! All of the fighting was from afar until the very end”

His hand came out of his pouch brandishing empty air, but Nathan’s senses could tell that he held the invisible ax. His new skills informed him it bore the mark of wizardry as well as more standard enchantments.

Ah, so you can enchant with wizardry. Good to know. I bet Brox’s swords have a ton of wizardry on them too.

The wiry man’s voice was aggrieved. “I can’t throw this as far as my sister can shoot! I should ask for a rifle in addition to the shotgun, then…”

“Wait hold on, we need to go get something!“ Nathan said, glancing around quickly. “Aarl, we need to run to the other side of the battlefield for a moment.”

He turned to Stella.”Aarl and I need to go. Can you hold down the fort for twenty minutes or so - [Message] somebody if necessary?”

“Yes.” She said decisively, suddenly serious. “You’re acting like your butt is on fire. Go, there’s time.”

Nathan turned, gesturing for Aarl to follow. “Follow me.”

They took off, moving faster than they could have managed as a group. Aarl and Nathan were the fastest of the Heirs, though Stella could manage surprising bursts with her magic. But neither Khachi or Sarah had a resource that allowed them to run faster, and the wolfman’s heavy armor slowed him down dramatically.

Aarl managed to keep up despite Nathan’s new skills, though that probably wouldn’t be true if he took to the skies to avoid the difficult terrain. The magical armor whined slightly as it boosted the shorter man’s speed, and they both zipped across the battlefield.

“Where are we going?” Aarl wasn’t even breathing hard, though it was a bit hard to hear with the wind of their sprint.

“You’ll see. I’ve got another little present for you.” Nathan could almost feel his friend’s anticipation. He chuckled. He wanted to see Aarl’s surprise, but he didn’t want to get his hopes up in case they couldn’t find what he was looking for.

Nathan consulted his memory skill as they ran, looking for landmarks and references to pinpoint the right spot. The pair of Adventurers blitzed past the others roaming the battlefield, canvasing the area for survivors and loot.

Just like we are. I just want one very specific piece of loot.

It took a little while to cross the entire battlefield and go some distance in the other direction - towards Giantsrest. Aarl tensed, looking around carefully. There were signs of a harried retreat, where Adventurers had barraged a small group of retreating mages. Nobody was in sight, though Nathan thought it was likely that at least one team was keeping watch from the hills above.

He found the right general spot and closed his eyes, reaching out with his magical senses. After his class Development he could detect things from farther away, and was tuned towards deeper magic. Nathan wasn’t quite used to the extra sense, it was like being able to feel temperature when all you’d previously gotten was texture.

He repositioned a few times, trying to cover as much ground as he could. They spiraled out from his best guess before Nathan's senses brushed against an object buried in the ground, heavy with enchantment and positively dripping with wizardry.

“Aha!” Nathan ran over to the location, finding an unremarkable gouge in the ground. He turned towards his skeptical companion, pointing downwards. “Dig here. It’s a few feet down.”

Aarl shrugged, pulling a shovel out of his dimensional bags and digging with abandon. His class meant his combat skills applied to the weapon, and it took Aarl less than a minute to excavate a black-bladed sword that had been buried a few feet in the ground.

The enchantment was inactive, but Aarl’s eyes went round. “Dragon’s Breath… the weapon of a Questor.” He reached down tentatively for the handle before pulling his hand back and looking toward Nathan with naked longing. “Is it safe?”

Nathan scanned the sword, carefully looking for danger. None of the mana-based enchantments would attack a wielder, but he wasn't sure of the wizardry. After a minute he shrugged. “I think so. If it’s not, then it’s the kind of trap that nobody will be able to disable. I might be able to catch anything dangerous before it hurts you.”

“This is a game worth playing.” Aarl said with a grin, reaching down to grab the handle of the enchanted blade. He hefted the black sword carefully, smiling wider as nothing happened. “Surprisingly heavy, but I’m free of regret. The weapon of a Questor.” He hesitated, then sighed and stored the weapon away in his dimensional pouch. “We should return quickly.”

They ran back across the battlefield, and Nathan could feel the confused eyes on them from adventurers, elites and freed slaves as they ran back so soon after they’d left.

“Care to share the prophecy of joy?” Sarah’s voice was inquisitive, and aimed at her brother’s wide smile.

Her brother shrugged nonchalantly. “You may have gotten levels, but I got the blade of a Questor.”

Khachi chuckled at the dumbfounded expression on Sarah and Stella’s faces. “Brox may have been a questionable ally, but he left us with treasures aplenty. Aarl received his sword, I received knowledge of the Divine, and Nathan was directed towards more enemies.”

Stella’s response was biting. “I received a hatred of social skills.”

“And I got nothing at all.” Sarah said with a shrug. “Except the opportunity to send a bullet through an Archmage’s face.” She smirked. “The people who escaped probably don’t even know what killed him. One moment there’s an angry archmage, and then he doesn’t have a head.”

Another group of freed soldiers were filing down the nearby hillside and towards the large group, guided by Gale, the old crowfolk woman. There had to be nearly six hundred recently freed slaves here, and not many Adventurers. Nathan waved to Gale, but she just clasped her hand to her breast in a Gemore salute and flew away again.

“I’ve never seen the other members of the Seven Fools.” Nathan said. “Is it just Gale?”

“There are at least four, maybe as many as eight” responded Stella. “They disguise themselves as each other, and often roam far apart, staying in contact with some kind of developed [Message] spell. They love to confuse and…” She held up a hand, clearly receiving a [Message] of her own.

Then the short mage looked around worriedly at the growing mass of humanity. “We’re supposed to lead this group back to Halsmet. All of them. I’m asking for clarification.” She cast [Message] herself. The response came back immediately and Stella shrugged helplessly. “No, it’s our problem to kill. It’s just us, to take care of all of them.” She waved her hand to encompass the entire mass of people.

Nathan surveyed the milling crowd. Many of them were watching the Heirs, but nobody was approaching. There was a group of about thirty elites keeping to themselves off to the side, shooting distrustful looks at both Adventurers and the slave soldiers whose mind magic had been broken.

“I think I know why they put us in charge.” Nathan’s voice was tired.

The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.

He glanced towards Aarl. “You studied the maps. To get to Halsmet we just go down this road, right? How long will it take to walk back?”

The swordsman hesitated. “About half a day at a normal pace.”

“Good enough.” Nathan turned to Stella. “I’ll get them moving. Make sure you talk to Egall or somebody in Halsmet and let them know we’re coming. They’re gonna need food and support for these people when we arrive. They’ll know how to organize that better than we do.”

His last question was for Sarah. “Did Davrar tell you the name of the archmage you killed?”

She nodded. “Heyo dho Declan.”

“Thanks.” Nathan leapt up into the air, waking over the crowd. Absent any other source of authority people turned to watch him, whispering. They all seemed cowed by his presence. Most of the people below wore the standardized armor of the normal slave-soldiers, those who were supposed to act as meat shields while the mages cast their magic.

The elites looked at Nathan distrustfully, some of them snarling at his appearance. They still carried their weapons, and a few looked ready to use them.

I actually don’t know if they’ve chosen to leave Giantsrest behind. I think they’ve been caught in illusions and mostly been shepherded around by Gale. I didn’t say much as I blitzed by to break the mind magic. They’ve been guided here but haven’t made any choices yet. They were raised to fight for Giantsrest and didn't get the chance.

Nathan stood on thin air above the road that led towards Halsmet and safety. He turned back towards the crowd and his voice boomed across the valley, boosted by Stamina and the [Battle Cry] skill.

“Giantsrest is defeated.”

There’d been a low but continuous murmur from the crowd, but his words quieted it. He let the statement lay in the air for a moment, enough time for the words to echo back from the mountains around them.

Mid-tier Battle Cry 7 achieved!

He repeated the phrase. “Giantsrest is defeated. The archmages Exea dha Humal, Chennal dho Pelogi and Heyo dho Declan are dead. So are most of the other mages that were with your army. Some of them have had their magic stripped, and will never again cast a spell. The escaped slaves of Gemore have won this battle.”

The crowd was reacting with alarm and confusion, the defeat of their masters impossible to comprehend. Nathan kept an eye on the elites, half-expecting them to react with rage. Several of them watched him with calculation, while others appeared distressed at his words. None moved to attack him.

“Down this road lies Halsmet, which was liberated from Giantsrest a week ago. All of the mages and slavemasters fled or were killed, and now the army sent to recapture it is destroyed. Nobody in Halsmet wears a collar or suffers from mental magic. Their leader is a woman named Myrla, she was a scribe-slave owned by Exea. Now she is the leader of the city.

“She chose her own path, and works to guide Halsmet to a better future. A future for ex-slaves like you. If you follow me there they will feed you, give you a place to sleep and help you find your own Path. If you walk down this road, you will no longer be a slave. You will need to work, but you will have choice in that work, and nobody will be your master. Because all of the masters of Halsmet are dead.”

His last words were said viciously, but it couldn't shock the crowd more than they’d already been shocked. His gaze panned over the crowd of ex-soldiers, seeing all sorts of people. Old, young, men, women. It looked less like a group of fighters than a cross-section of humanity. “Follow me down this road, and take the first step on a Path of your own making.”

He dropped to the surface of the road, landing and turning his back on the crowd to begin walking down the road towards Halsmet. He didn’t look back. He didn’t need to. The sound of a large number of people following him down the road was audible enough.

Leadership 8 achieved!

Just gotta get enough people moving, then the herd instinct takes over. Let’s hope none of the elites try to stab me.

There wasn’t much to do after that except lead the group and keep an eye out for monsters. The Heirs spread out around the crowd, ready to defend them against any threats. Aarl was closest to the elites in his full armor, with the helmet up.

—

A few hours later, Nathan led the crowd of freed slaves down the slope and towards Halsmet. A welcoming committee was waiting for them, just outside the dirt trenchworks that were being dismantled by a mildly disgruntled group of workers.

Yeah, I’d be a bit annoyed if I spent all that effort digging and then had to fill in all the holes after the fortifications didn’t get used at all. But they did serve their purpose as a giant decoy rather well.

Myrla was at the head of the group, her assistant Liluce right next to her. Spread out behind them were hundreds of other citizens of Halsmet. Nathan recognized a bunch of the proto-therapists, the people who’d helped before when he’d spent a whole day stripping mind magic from every person in Halsmet.

The mayor of the city bowed to Nathan as he approached and started speaking formally, voice pitched to carry. “I greet the mage-breaker, and those who follow him.”

Her tone hardened, and her gesture excluded Nathan but took in the crowd behind him. “Giantsrest has no hands here. We are free, and will fight to keep that treasure. You are freed of their magics, and if you enter Halsmet, you burn all allegiance to that accursed empire.”

Myrla paused, looking around with a serious expression before clasping her hands together in a Giantsrest-style salute. “May you all find your homes here, and reclaim what was stolen.”

The old scribe waved in a prearranged gesture and the crowd behind her came forward, dividing up to split the crowd into individuals and start guiding them back into the city. Nathan watched as Myrla and Liluce walked over to the elites. She wasn’t armed and was only escorted by two elites of her own, but she didn’t seem nervous.

The old woman spoke authoritatively to them, pointing back towards the city and then around at the deserted farms. Finally she pointed back at Nathan and chopped her hand downwards.

Nathan walked closer to hear what she was saying. “...always be monsters to fight. Fight to protect the people, not just the mages.”

Then she turned to Nathan. “Ah, mage-breaker. I am asking these elites to help us clear the farmland, and ensure no monsters lurk to eat those who must grow our food. If your hands are idle, will you help as well? A northern wyvern was seen in the upper valleys yesterday.”

She turned and pointed north, towards a desolate-looking valley.

Nathan narrowed his eyes, then shrugged and turned back to look at the Heirs, who’d followed him over. “Sure.” He glanced at Stella. “Do they need us back at the battlefield?”

“No blood from our wounds.” Stella said. “Sudraiel has everybody returning. She doesn’t want to give vengeful Giantsrest mages a still target. The Guardians and half of the Adventurers are flying back to Gemore with prisoners. Are we really hunting a wyvern now?”

Sarah pursed her lips and nodded agreeably. “I’ve always wanted to wing a northern wyvern and watch it fall.”

Nathan turned back to Myrla. “Any more details?”

Liluce stepped forward, the pretty assistant reciting details from memory. “The farmer said it was a large northern wyvern, and brought a chill wind with it. He said that it was ‘endings-damned big’ and that it flew high in the sky except when it came down to eat livestock. The farm is located at the end of the northern road.”

“Alright. We’ll be back before dark. Have Egall [Message] Stella if anything comes up.”

The Heirs turned away and started jogging north, quickly leaving behind the crowd as it slowly drifted through the trenchworks and into the city.

“Why are we hunting a wyvern?” Stella asked, sounding bewildered and a bit irked. “We just won a prophesied battle. Hear me, that tally of deeds should earn us a break. I want to eat a meal made by a cook with levels.”

Nathan snorted at the blunt words, reflecting that she’d exercised restraint by waiting until they were out of earshot to ask. “Because Myrla needed to show the elites that she has enough authority to order us around, and that we'd listen. Also to demonstrate that they’re not being handed the shit work. Those elites saw us defeating their army. If we turn around and patrol for monsters then they’re more likely to do it too. I think she’s trying to get them working for Halsmet through momentum. Now the the battle is won, a bunch of the Adventures are going to leave. She desperately needs good fighters, people who can kill a siegeboar that’s chewing up a field. Those elites represent decades of training she can't afford to lose.”

Then he gestured around at the group. “Besides, do you expect us to have trouble with a wyvern? Think of this as a few hours of exercise in the wilderness so we can talk over the battle and our class Developments in privacy. We’ll be back in time for dinner, and we can bring them wyvern to cook for us. One of the books at the Adventurer’s guild said it’s supposed to be delicious.”

“It is a worthy endeavor. A wyvern is a dangerous foe to those without magic or the ability to strike from range. But we must not underestimate the foe.” Khachi spoke mildly, before he turned his attention back to Nathan. “You said you had developed your class to allow you to permanently sever mages from magic. What else?”

Stella shivered. “Waking giants, that’s right. Permanently? What kind of grand Insight led to that?”

Nathan smirked slightly, but then schooled his expression. “Yeah, it’s permanent. I break their mana pool. I think their mana will always be empty afterwards. The Insight was based on what that fire elemental was doing, along with something else I learned from Badud’s magic. Kind of.”

That statement earned him a few questioning looks, and Nathan scrubbed his hand through his hair, trying to figure out how to explain. “Badud’s magic was more than just mana. There’s a deeper kind of magic that he casts. It’s the same thing as the transit roads of Old Gemore. You remember when I said that Badud reversed time? That too. He was losing, so he cast a spell to start the battle over. No mana can cast that spell, you need a deeper magic.”

Aarl shook his head in exasperation. “I am good with swords. And he reverses time? Endings-damned Questors.”

Nathan chuckled sardonically. “At least he lost the second time too. Well, he retreated with Brox’s sword in him. But that's the situation that caused him to reverse time the first go-around too."

“Why didn’t he return to the fight?” Sarah asked. “I saw the wound. It was bad, but a mage like Badud should be able to heal any wound that isn’t death.”

“The blade was cursed.” Nathan said, shrugging. “Before Badud reversed time I saw him try to heal a wound from the sword, and he couldn’t. He had a powerful healing artifact that saved him the second time, but it broke. I hope the wound kills him, but it probably will just take him a while to recover. Faline should know.”

Nathan waved his hands around. “Anyway, back on topic. That kind of magic is called wizardry. It goes beyond mana, touching concepts like space and time. Probably more too. Mana pools are partially made of wizardry, and my class lets me interfere with them. Some of the archmages can do a little bit of it, it’s what makes their spells so powerful.”

Stella’s eyes opened wide. “Tell me more.”

Status of Nathan Lark:

Permanent Talent 1: Aura of Antimagic 9

Permanent Talent 2: Perfected Body 9

Permanent Talent 3: Airwalking 3

Class: Void of Magic level297

Deepened Stamina: 8987/9210

Void of Feeling

Antimagic Momentum

Raging Thrill

Implacable Inertia

Unarmored Resilience

Magic Anathema

Airborne Agility

Hand-to-hand Expertise

Voluminous Aura

Denial of Wizardry

Mana Severance

Class: Magekiller level 117

Regenerative Focus: 1270/1270

Catastrophic Blows

Battle Stealth

Mage Infiltration

Forgettable

Unsuspecting Strike

Antimagic Stealth

Spell Redirection

Lethal Index

Utility skills:

Battle Meditation 10

Leadership 8

Acceleration 2

Wizard Senses 2

Alertness 4

Wizard’s Intuition 1

Effortless Dodge 1

Mental Fortress 6

High-tier Lecturing 7

High-tier Tumbling 10

High-tier Noticeability 2

Low-tier Quiet Movement 4

Low-tier Disguise 4

Mid-tier Battle Cry 7