The Runic Alchemist

For most people, once a spell was chanted, it was hard to keep it ready. It took immense focus, and even the slightest distraction could cause it to dissipate. But for Damian, it was less of a challenge. Once he drew the runic circle and connected his mana thread to it, he could keep the spell in place as long as he wanted without activating it.

However, maintaining it came at a cost—it consumed a significant amount of mana and strained his mind just like normal chanting but less demanding. The mana regeneration in his body would slow down considerably, making it impractical to keep spells prepared at all times. But if his mana pool were to increase significantly one day, maybe he could walk around with a dozen spells at the ready.

That would be the day.

Damian moved closer to Vidalia, who used her vine spell to pull him toward her. Once beside her, he thought through their situation. The air was getting thinner and thinner. No spell could last forever, and sooner or later, they would fall—unless they were hurled out of the atmosphere entirely, escaping the planet's gravity.

The huge size of the runic circle was likely meant to strengthen the spell so that they would never return. It seemed that ugly butterfly casually sent people into the sky. Damian needed to keep them within the atmosphere for as long as the spell's effect lasted.

Easier said than done, though.

He figured the moment the air became too thin, he should activate one of his wormholes, and that's exactly what he did. He created an entrance above them, and they fell through, emerging 700-800 meters lower. But he'd have to do it again soon—two wormholes wouldn't be enough. Damian created as many as he could, continuously passing through portal after portal.

He even had Vidalia cast as many as she could, though her range was limited to just 10 meters, and her portals only worked in straight lines. Damian, with her authority, connected his mana threads to her spell and modified them to suit their needs. With his adjustments, her portals became more powerful, making much larger jumps compared to his. Giving them more time.

After several minutes of falling and repeatedly casting wormhole spells, Damian and Vidalia suddenly lost the spell's effect from their bodies. They plummeted, falling at five times the speed they had been risen.

This, Vidalia could handle. She quickly chanted a flying spell as they descended. Damian held her by the waist, staying close as the wind whipped at their clothes, revealing her bare legs. He cursed himself for focusing on such things while they were hurtling toward the ground, plummeting to their deaths.
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Mid-fall, Vidalia conjured the massive aura blade she had used against Moondancer and aimed it directly at the butterfly's head. The creature had long forgotten about them—clearly accustomed to always one shot its enemies.. What a life.. But Vidalia caught it off-guard, slicing it in half from head to tail.

"What the hell kind of spell was that..?" she muttered, tearing at the creature's remains to retrieve its mana stone once they landed.

"Aren't you supposed to be the Spellmaster..?" Damian responded, keeping his distance from the stinking monstrosity. He wanted its magical blood, but without proper tools to store it, he didn't want to contaminate his spatial storage with the foul-smelling liquid.

"Spells that pull you towards themselves are known, but I've never seen one where you lose all control and just fall into the sky endlessly. This is absurd and dangerous... Where did this thing even come from?"

"Don't worry, I doubt many people can use it. The mana required rivals yours—it used nearly 70% of its mana to cast that spell. No human would ever risk leaving themselves manaless doing such a spell in a battle."

"Did you... copy it? Show me."

"It doesn't work like that. I have to work on it first," Damian squinted at her. "Do you really want me to hurl people into the sky without knowing how to counter it?"

"Hmm. You'd better show me once you've perfected it," said the Spellmaster, being greedy.

"Do you have something I can store its blood in?" Damian asked, his heart aching at the sight of all that precious mana blood going to waste.

"No, but I can send people to collect it once we return. It won't be as potent, but it won't be too bad either. It'll deteriorate during the ink-making process anyway."

"Thanks."

"Hmm."

They extracted the enormous mana stone, weighing several kilos, from the creature. Storing it, they flew through the beautiful night sky once again, back to her residence on the fourth floor of the building. The room had been cleaned, and as soon as they landed, Vidalia began repairing the damaged wall with her wood-shaping spells. Naturally, Damian silently stole the spells, wholeheartedly.

When she finished, she turned around, and Damian hastily hid the new book he had obtained back into his spatial storage.

"Why are you still here?" she asked, her eyes locking onto him.

"I'm just leaving," Damian said awkwardly, heading toward the window he had entered from. He muttered a few random words to create the runic circle for the vine spell he used for such situations.

"Come back tomorrow morning. I have something I need to give you. I'll also be waiting for your answer by then," Vidalia said.

Damian just nodded and jumped out of the window, heading back to his room in Tristan's building. The perimeter was secure, and his job for the night was done.

****

The next morning, Damian saw Einar and Yovan talking with Tristan when he arrived at the dining table, but they didn't discuss much in front of him. Tristan only asked a few questions about the perimeter and enemy sensing. Then he inquired about Vidalia sending people into the forest with equipment, and Damian recounted the events of the previous night—how they had killed the giant butterfly.

That made them stop eating and stare at him as he ignored them and ate in peace.

After getting refreshed and having breakfast, Einar and Yovan left to meet Valoris and report the completion of their mission. Sam stayed behind, still asleep. The cousins returned to their duties, well-rested and more determined than ever.