Ends of Magic

On the other side of the door was the blue-robed mage that Faline had chatted with before they’d walked into the barracks. The middle-aged woman had put a thick pane of force over the doorway before opening it, and was further protected by [Mage Armor].

But her eyes still widened as Nathan charged towards her with a manic grin on his face. She took a half-step backward on the landing, speaking a command and flicking out a spell. “Capture him.”

[Enhanced Paralysis]

Nathan crashed through the barrier without slowing in the slightest, leading with his hands aimed towards the mage’s throat. A slave elite was standing to the side and reacted instantly, enchanted blade cutting through Nathan's right elbow in an arc of metal.

That didn’t stop his left hand from piercing the [Mage Armor] and fastening around the woman’s neck before he bodily slammed into her. The steps dropped away from underneath them as they flew away from the building, and Nathan felt a burning in his back as something stabbed into his kidney.

He yanked the mage’s head down as he accelerated downwards with [Slow Fall]. Her body flipped upside down and Nathan slammed her head into the cobbles as hard as he could.

Assassin has leveled to 26! Congratulations, you have killed the Enforcement mage Kiere dha Soma

I’m not getting very much experience for these last two kills, despite them being pretty high-ranking mages. But they weren’t really ‘assassinations’, were they? This is straight up-combat to protect somebody.

He rolled away from the impact, but not before another sharp object slipped between his ribs and found its way into a lung. The roll forced the blades in deeper, and Nathan reached back to yank two daggers out as he came to his feet. Each wound was surrounded by the telltale numbness of a neurotoxin, but Nathan banished the poison with a thought.

The four elite slave-soldiers didn’t show any sign of surprise as Nathan rose to his feet, and they didn’t hesitate. They just attacked swiftly and without mercy. A dual-wielding swordsman pushed Nathan from the front, while another with a spear jabbed from the left. The third stayed behind, whipping poisoned daggers whenever it looked like there was an opening. The fourth rushed around to the right, fading into the shadows and unlimbering a mace.

They were told to capture me, if that command still holds. I need to break the mind magic on one of them, turn this into a 2v3. Or 3v3, if Egall helps.

But it was all Nathan could do to hold off the onslaught over the next few seconds, even burning Focus. He danced away from thrown daggers aimed at the joints of his legs, and swept aside a spear thrust that would have gutted him. The swords swept in at Nathan’s shoulders, and his dodge was perfectly accounted for by the black-masked swordsman.

This sword guy is as good as Aarl.

The magically-sharp blade on Nathan’s left cleaved through his upper arm, dropping that limb to the ground even as the enchantment on the weapon died. But the other sword had been the one to cut his right arm off at the elbow, and the enchantment was frayed and dying. The blade merely cut to the bone and failed to sever the half-regenerated limb.

Nathan stepped into the man, embracing him with what remained of his right arm. He swept his antimagic through the man’s head and neck, not analyzing the magic at play before tearing it to shreds.

Great, one down. Three to go before I’ve flipped the tables.

Then the haft of the spear swept Nathan’s left foot out from under him as a dagger slammed home in his right hip. He stumbled backwards as the swordsman dropped his blades and screamed. It was the first sound Nathan had heard from the four soldiers, and the man stumbled away and clawed at his full-face helmet.

That could have been a bit more helpful - I wonder if I missed a trap in the spell.

That was when the fourth elite appeared from the darkness, swinging his mace in a two-handed grip towards Nathan’s spine. But Nathan hadn’t lost track of the man and smoothly ducked under the blow.

High-tier Notice 7 achieved!

His limited pool of Focus ran out, and Nathan couldn't keep up with all of the attacks anymore. Another dagger hit him in the hip, and his dodge turned into a fall as his leg buckled. The spear had cut most of the way through his achilles tendon as it yanked him, and his hip grated against the blade embedded there.

Shit, this is going south fast. They’re dealing me wounds faster than I can heal them, and not simple ones.

The mace-wielder loomed over him, cocking the weapon for a quick blow to Nathan’s chest.

[Frost Floor]

All four elites slipped and crashed to the ground as the cobblestone of the square became coated with a layer of incredibly slick frost. The mace-wielder rolled on his side to strike Nathan regardless, lashing out with an awkward one-handed blow.

The skill-enhanced strike broke Nathan’s mostly healed left arm to a forty-five degree angle. But the daggers popped out of his hip and the frost didn’t hinder him, so he propelled himself forwards and purged the magic from the mace-wielder.

The man froze in place for a moment, eyes darting in confusion behind his helmet.

Nathan rolled to his feet, then offered a hand down to the elite.

The man snarled viciously and swung his mace again, leaving himself completely open. The berserk and unexpected swing clipped Nathan’s heel and shattered his ankle.

Nathan went down again, slamming to the cobbles as his Rage spiked.

What the fuck? I just broke the enslavement enchantment!

He rolled away from the soldiers, seeing the other two struggling to regain their feet. The spell had a radius of nearly thirty feet, and ground in the entire area was almost frictionless.

Has to be Egall. Good spell, but pretty useless on any surface but smooth stone.

Shaking his head to clear it, Nathan focused his magical senses on finding Egall as he gingerly got to his feet. She was still invisible, booking it away across the plaza. Nathan followed. His ankle was clicking with every step, but he could run. There was shouting behind him that didn’t come from the elites, but he vanished into the darkness.

High-tier Sprinting 4 achieved!

Now if only I could get a rank of [Slow Fall]!

He stopped limping as he crossed the square, the movement helping pop the myriad broken bones back into place so they could heal properly. Lost blood regenerated itself, and Nathan was left whole, though covered with his own blood.

Perfected Body 7 achieved!

He reached Egall as she caught herself on the wall of the clothing shop they’d agreed to use as a rendezvous. Her breathing was loud and ragged, and she jumped with a muffled yell as Nathan stumbled to a halt nearby.

“Are you - where do we go now? You said there was a safehouse.”

Nathan nodded, flicking blood from his legs. “Yeah, follow me. We need to move. They’re going to be hunting for us.”

Implacable Antimage has leveled to 158 You have successfully killed several mages of Giantsrest, and escaped from several slave-elites!

As they left the square, the wave of the detection enchantment ping passed over them. The magic pooled around Egall for a moment, and Nathan tensed. Then the stolen ring activated and the clinging magic dispersed.

I don’t know how long that mages mark will last, but we need to get back to the saferoom soon anyway. I wonder if I can use my aura to protect somebody from the enchantment? Maybe.

He led Egall through the dark streets. She’d become visible again to conserve mana, and they had to avoid the scattered patrols. It wasn’t very difficult, since Nathan could sense their detection spells from a block away. A few of them were converging on the mage barracks. He could hear more shouting coming from that direction.

I hope Faline gets out. I bet she’s great at taking advantage of chaos, and it’s pretty obvious that I escaped, which means they won’t be looking there. I would really rather she didn’t get caught.

Nathan’s memory skill let him flawlessly navigate the city regardless of necessary detours. They soon reached the small gate that he and Faline had used to enter the inner city. He poked his head around the corner of a townhouse, studying the small opening that blocked the narrow alley.

A half-dozen soldiers still guarded it, though the slavemaster had been replaced. The new one seemed more alert than the last.

Damn. I don’t think I can fast-talk my way past this one, especially without Faline’s social skills. Unless Egall knows the password?

Nathan pulled away from the corner, looking back at Egall. She was tense but determined, and clearly ready to follow Nathan’s lead.

“Do you know the password? To get to the lower city. Otherwise I can just run through and you can sneak through invisibly,” His voice was quiet, very aware of the guards ahead of them.

She flinched slightly, looking contrite. “A thousand apologies, Jaxis didn’t send me on errands that required passwords. And there are anti-invisibility spells on all the gates.”

I think she’s expecting me to get angry at her for that.

She kept going before he could respond. “But I could knock all the guards over with [Frost Floor] and we could run past. I can’t run on the spell, but you could clear a path for me?”

He could probably take out the slavemaster and all of the soldiers without too much trouble, but then that’d give Giantsrest more clues to follow. Nathan frowned in thought, and noticed Egall hunch in on herself even more.

This is a problem. Not one I can fix right now, except by not showing her any sign of being upset at her. The focus now is getting back to safety.

He looked away, examining the streets and the buildings around them. The buildings here were built right up against the wall between the inner and outer city. It was a tall barrier, standing about forty feet tall and about five feet wide. “I’d prefer they didn’t have a clue that we left the inner city. Is there a reason we can’t go over the wall?”

Egall followed his gaze, looking up. “There are enchantments on these walls to detect anybody going up, or flying over. And I can’t get up there.”

“I can. Can I carry you?”

She took a step back unconsciously, then reconsidered. She still didn't look happy with the suggestion. “If you need to.”

Nathan scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Ok. Here’s the plan. I’m going up to the roof to get to the wall. I can definitely disable the enchantments so we can go over it if you want to come up with me. Or I can get to the top of the gate and try to disable the anti-invisibility enchantments. Then you sneak through and we meet up on the other side. Which do you prefer?”

Egall bit her cheek, looking uncertain.

Nathan didn’t want to rush her, but he didn’t want to wait for a patrol to come by. “Is there a way you can climb up with your magic? Maybe by making platforms of force to stand on?”

Egall looked up at the building above. “It will use most of my mana.”

“That’s fine. Let’s go.”

She flinched again and nodded, then dispelled her [Mage Armor] and started making a staircase of force mana.

Nathan gauged the building they were trying to climb. It was three stories tall, and looked like a townhouse of some kind. There was a balcony on the second floor, the base of which was fifteen feet above his head.

He took a few steps and leapt up, kicking off the pillar and grabbing onto the base of the balcony before hoisting himself up. The balcony itself wasn’t enchanted, but the door into the third floor of the building was, and Nathan wondered if they should break in and hide inside.

No. Might set off another alarm, and we’ve got a timer because of the ring.

He turned back to Egall, watching as she constructed her third step. It was fascinating to sense the magic as she delicately summoned slivers of force mana together to form a fractal-like pane, muttering a spell under her breath over and over again.

[Force Block] [Force Block] [Force Block]

It was a completely different style of force mana manipulation compared to Stella. It looked less flexible than how Nathan’s friend wove bands of force together, but the resulting magical construct was completely transparent, and didn’t flex at all under her feet. Nathan was also pretty sure that Egall’s method used less mana.

I bet there’s an Insight there that allows casting mage armor. That’s a spell nobody in Gemore can cast. I wonder how Giantsrest protects it? Or if you just need to learn force magic their way from the beginning.

Nathan hissed, extending his arm down. Egall looked up, then gently took his offered hand. He lifted her smoothly up to the balcony. He could have thrown her up to the roof, but that wouldn’t be quiet - or polite.

Instead, he clambered up the decorative stonework to the top of the building, lying on his stomach once more to hoist her up again. The climbing was easy for him, Nathan’s enhanced strength letting him easily grip the solid stone. The problem was not putting too much weight on any one piece of stone. His enhanced body was heavy, and his grip crushed and cracked a few sculpted details.

If anybody examines these carvings too closely, they’ll see somebody climbed up here. Nothing I can do about that.

Pending utility skill: Low-tier Climbing

You have successfully ascended a difficult surface to escape danger, giving yourself a tactical advantage. This skill will help you climb and hang onto difficult surfaces in the future.

That’s a skill that will be completely useless as soon as I get the [Airwalking] Talent.

Nathan declined the skill, rolling to his feet and setting out across the tiles of the roof. His first step crushed a tile with a loud cracking sound, and he froze, wincing as Egall flinched.

[Stealthy movement] won’t help much if I’m breaking roof tiles. I’m not sure how the guards would get up here, but they might just move far enough down the street to get a good view of the roof.

He dropped to all fours, trying to spread his weight evenly to avoid crunching through the fragile ceramic. He spent some of his regenerated Focus to ensure he made no mistakes, and only put his weight on the edge of the tiles. It seemed to work, and Nathan scuttled forward with his butt in the air.

Egall wasn’t heavy enough to crush the tiles and walked normally, giving a single quiet snort at Nathan’s undignified scramble.

Pending utility skill: Low-tier Quiet Movement

You have successfully muffled your movement in a situation where being loud would alert enemies. This skill will help you move silently in the future.

You know what, that seems useful. I’ve done great things stacking movement skills, let’s do the same thing with stealth skills.

He accepted the skill, skipping through the accompanying notification. They ascended the roof with ease, approaching the inner city wall that the townhouse was built against. It only stood five feet over the roof, but Nathan gestured for Egall to stay back as he felt the powerful enchantments set into the core of the stonework.

There were a lot of enchantments in there, some of which burned at the farthest reach of Nathan’s magical perception.

I think there’s enchanted metal inlaid deep in the walls, holding one of the largest enchantments I’ve ever felt - the basis for the city-wide detection enchantment probably. And more. I can’t disenchant the city from here, I can’t even reach the primary enchantment without digging into the wall. I might be able to do it if I’d taken [Magicsunder Siegebreaker].

But he could disable the set of magical sensors that was built to detect anybody crossing the wall. There appeared to be two of them, one using dream mana to detect intelligent thought crossing overhead, and the other based on illusion mana and likely more of an optical sensor. Each of them wouldn’t give any visual alert they’d been triggered, instead sending a signal somewhere else through magical conduits buried deeper in the wall.

Paranoid. But not paranoid enough. Is that all of them?

Nathan stopped, took a deep breath and looked again. There were more small-scale enchantments in there, though most seemed designed to enhance the endurance of the wall. One of those, focused around water mana, caught Nathan’s attention. It took a moment to tease through its function, but it seemed like it would detect a person-sized quantity of water moving within a few dozen feet above it.

Magical Perception 5 achieved!

I bet that thing goes haywire in the rain. But it would have caught us now.

He stepped up and carefully disabled each of the three enchantments, trying to make his sabotage as small-scale as possible. He didn’t want to set off some kind of failsafe or cascading damage that would alert anybody monitoring the enchantments of a problem.

Then he turned back to Egall. She hadn’t said a word, remaining patiently waiting with a blank face.

“It’s done. Let’s go over. Can I lift you up?”

She nodded, and Nathan sprang to the top of the wall, keeping an eye on the enchantments within. They didn’t react to his presence in the slightest. The roof on the other side was almost fifteen feet below. He lifted Egall to the top of the wall, then hopped down, using [Slow Fall] to land quietly.

Low-tier Quiet Movement 2 achieved!

He turned around to look up at Egall, gesturing that he’d catch her.

She seemed frozen, and emotions warred across her face. Then she closed her eyes and leaned back, mouthing a word.

Nathan was pretty sure it was ‘trust.’

Then she got down on her butt, lowered herself as far as she could with her hands, and let go.

He caught her under the armpits, gently lowering the young woman to the roof before they turned to go.

A patrol came hustling up the street from the lower city, blowing through the gate and into the upper city with a quick exchange of words. Nathan tried to listen in on the password - but the speech was magically muffled.

Glad we didn’t blow through the guard post. We probably would have run into them. Or they would have found our path and started chasing us.

They proceeded across a few more roofs to get away from the gate, finding a few lower roofs that let them easily descend to the street. From there it was easy to make their way back to the slums and the safehouse. The streets seemed deserted, with all the patrols seemingly having gone back to the inner city.

Nathan knocked on the door a few times, then pushed it open.

Aarl and Sarah were on the other side, both alert and ready to attack. They relaxed the moment they saw it was him, then tensed again as he waved Egall into the room.

“Nathan, why did you bring a mage of Giantsrest to our safehouse?” Sarah’s voice was light, but with a core of heat.

Status of Nathan Lark:

Permanent Talent 1: Aura of Antimagic 3

Permanent Talent 2: Perfected Body 7

Talent 3: High-tier Slow Fall 9

Class: Implacable Antimage level 158

Deepened Stamina: 2723/5040

Antimage’s Impassivity

Antimagic Momentum

Raging Thrill

Implacable Inertia

Unarmored Resilience

Improved Antimagic

Strenuous Agility

Hand-to-hand Expertise

Class: Assassin level 26

Focus: 9/360

Vital Targeting

Stealthy Movement

Utility skills:

Battle Meditation 7

High-tier Earnestness 10

High-tier Sprinting 4

Magical Perception 5

High-tier Notice 7

High-tier Identify 8

High-tier Dodging Footwork 7

High-tier Enhanced Memory 9

Mid-tier Lecturing 9

High-tier Tumbling 4

Mid-tier Noticeability 3

Low-tier Quiet Movement 2