060 Beginning Book 3 (Patreon)

The Harvest Temple in the center of Spur’s green farmland was the same as Erick remembered. Eight pillars with a domed roof, a dozen meters across on the inside. The main floor of the temple was several steps raised from the ground, while the whole temple was surrounded by the Ring of Gods; a holy space filled with the statues of various deities, each sitting upon their own waist-height pillar, each pointed in their own direction.  

Erick walked past the statue of Koyabez. The half-incani, half-human God of Peace held his gaze at the road to the Harvest Temple, his grey stone body wearing nothing more than a loincloth. Erick seemed to feel a sight upon himself as he walked by the statue, though nothing watched him from the manasphere; Meditation revealed no [Scry] eyes, or anything else, really.  

There were more than a few farmers watching him walk to the temple, though. They were in the fields, and ready for work. They were waiting for him to start the rain. Erick hadn’t actually shown up in person in a week, though, so some of the farmers were noticeably startled when they saw Erick walk down the dirt road to the Harvest Temple.  

Erick ignored Koyabez’s statue, wondering where the God of Peace actually drew the line when it came to committing violence to prevent the larger confrontations between the incani and the human nations of the world.  

The sun shone down, warm and inviting, while the green land all around gave a sense of life and moisture to the otherwise dry Crystal Forest air. Erick breathed deep.  

He never expected to like living in a brown and orange land of sand and crystal, but he did, he liked living here quite a lot. Maybe he wouldn’t like Spur if it was truly a desert, but his [Exalted Storm Aura] provided more than enough water for everyone, and the farms.  

But water season was ending soon. The underground water table would drop a hundred meters; Erick’s rain would be the only way that Spur could survive with all its new farmland intact, and productive. Normally they survived through heavy trade with Portal, but they wouldn’t need to do that this year.

Erick started up the temple steps, thinking.

Poi spoke from behind Erick, “Heads up, sir. Business men from Portal are coming here, and Silverite can’t stop them this time. They’re threatening to enact a trade embargo if they are not allowed to speak with you.”

Erick had been expecting this. He paused at the top of the temple steps, saying, “Thank you for the warning. Time frame?”

“Ten minutes.” Poi followed behind Erick, saying, “It appears that after the merchants in Odaali failed to get to us, the people from Portal decided to up their game.”

Erick nodded, then walked to the center of the temple, to pause and stand before the statue of Atunir that dominated the back half of the holy space. The grey stone the statue matched the stone of the temple, while platinum leaves curled up and around the edges of the stone; the coftea tree at the statue’s back had grown since the last time Erick was here.  

Atunir’s left hand rested on the head of a happy cow, while her right hand held a round fruit outward. All around here were stone sculptures of fruits and vegetables; copies of that which grew on the farm all around Erick. Some of the stone harvests displayed here were fruits and vegetables from Earth; Erick had added those himself.  

Erick bowed to the statue, then stood and said, “I hope the rest of the Daydropper quest goes well. I pray for Odaali’s recovery, and for Yetta and Cyril to have a better future.”  

A full silence filled the air.

Erick nodded and turned away from the statue. He started the rain. Silver mists materialized all around the green land, to then fall upward. Soon, the sky was filled with roiling silver glows in heavy, thick clouds, blocking out most of the sunlight overhead. Platinum rain began to fall.  

Golden wheat stretched up from tilled fields. Green stalks sticking up in rows in ponds, grew up, then split, spilling out stalks of golden rice. Potato vines of all kinds, red, brown, white, and gold, filled out with above-ground potatoes. Grape vines drooped with purple fruits. Tomato vines filled out with purple orbs, though some people had planted the red tomatoes Erick had made. Carrot stalks grew tall. Trellises filled with vines, and then with bean pods, like thick orcol fingers growing downward from nodes of leaves. Apple trees filled with juicy red, or pink, or golden apples.  

Bees buzzed, hiding from the rain, while cows mooed, reveling in the downpour. Fish in rice ponds schooled together, the sliver flash of their scales an organized flicker under the water’s surface. The standing water of the rice ponds did not turn platinum; the rice sucked up that magic as soon as it touched down. Cats raced to hide under roofs and the [Weather Ward]s of farmers scattered throughout the land. Chickens, so many chickens absolutely everywhere, clucked and picked, trying to eat whatever they could—

… What did they feed all the chickens?

Erick paled, as he remembered corn. Erick had forgotten about corn. He needed to make corn, to make fat cows and fatter chickens. Like, holy crap, how had he forgotten about corn?

Why hadn’t he made corn yet? Cornflour for cornbread. Cornstarch for crispier fried chicken. Popcorn. Cornflakes. Corn for vegetable oil. Tortillas and chips. Corn was necessary, and Erick needed to make it as soon as possible. Seriously! How had he forgotten about corn?

 Erick smiled. Corn was next on the list.

Erick gazed out over the fields as more than a thousand farmers plucked their harvests with [Telekinesis], while a thousand more replanted as necessary. Incani, orcol, dragonkin, and even a few humans… Human? When did they show up? Erick paused, trying to remember if he had missed the human additions to the fields. No… He had not. When did that happen? Where were they living?

Erick smiled wide, saying, “There are humans, Poi. That’s new.”

Poi said, “And here comes more.”

Erick stepped over to see what Poi was seeing.  

Three humans, two men and one woman, were walking down the [Weather Ward] covered road, leading from town to the Harvest Temple. All of them wore the loose, billowing white fabrics common to the people of Crystal Forest, when they weren’t farming, anyway, but these three also wore shoulder cloaks. The man in front of their group wore a black shoulder cloak, while the man and the woman in back wore blue. All of them had short hair; buzzed short. Erick would have mistaken them for monks, if he didn’t know better.

The man in the back looked around at everything around him, but the flanking woman and the front man stared directly at Erick. Erick’s stomach dropped, seeing the awful look in the front man’s eyes. This was not going to be a fun conversation.

Erick stepped to the top of the stairs leading into the Harvest Temple, and waited.  

The people from Portal entered the Ring of Gods and stepped to five meters away; coming no closer.  

Black shoulder-cloak said, “Greetings, Archmage Erick Flatt of Spur.” The man paused, waiting.

Erick just looked at him. When two more silent moments passed, Erick frowned.

Black cloak asked, “You have no idea who we are, do you?”

“Am I supposed to?”

The woman glared. The other man, who was still looking all around, fixed his gaze at Erick. Now all three of them were looking at him like he was a slab of meat, or an unruly child; probably a mix of both.

Black cloak said, “Anyone else would have. Take a gander at the farmers nearby.”

Erick glanced at the nearby fields. In every direction, people stole glances at this confrontation. Erick looked back to Black Cloak, and then behind him. Valok and Apogough, two of the three people on the Farmer’s Council of Spur, were coming down the road, moving fast, toward the temple.

Noticing Erick’s glance, the woman looked behind her. She said, “Here they come.”

Black Cloak said, “Intercept. Do no harm.”  

The man and woman moved to intercept Valok and Apogough.

Erick said, “This strongarm stance is doing you no favors.”

Black Cloak said, “We are not here to win favors, archmage. I am Caradogh Pogi, the Lower-Trademaster of Portal. You may call me Caradogh.”  

The man and the woman stood on the road to the Harvest Temple, blocking Valok and Apogough at the edge of the Ring of Gods. They did not use violence; violence wasn’t necessary. Valok and Apogough stopped two meters before reaching the man and woman.

Caradogh continued to speak to Erick, “We have sought you out to deliver a message, and a desire. You are hereby ordered to cease your disruptive activities—”

Valok heard Caradogh’s proclamation, and shouted, “Fuck off, Portal. Go home!”

Several nearby farmers also heard Caradogh. They raced out to tell others. The rumor mill was kicking into full gear. In seconds, other farmers were standing nearer to the Harvest Temple area, while still more were coming from farther afield.  

Caradogh didn’t care about any of that. He continued, “You must cease this rain. Let Spur’s growing season end. We demand that you set this spell aside, forevermore. You are causing people all along the supply chain from the Republic to the Kingdoms to go poor and hungry.”  

“They should move to Spur.” Erick said, “We have lots of room left.”

“Spur dies; routinely. And not just with Water Season. Monsters attack and kill dozens. The Shades are gearing up to do something horrific, no doubt.” Caradogh says, “So what happens when you die? These people will be uprooted yet again. Spur cannot live like this. Your foolishness produces hardships for everyone. Please see reason and stop this rain while it is still a novelty. Stop this before it becomes a deadly way of life, doomed to catastrophic failure.”

Erick had deep worries of what would happen to the people of Spur if he ever let them down, or if he died. But everyone here wanted this rain, as far as he knew. And Erick wanted to give it to them. So who was this asshole to deny new, better ways of living, just because it disrupted the old ways?

He was either scared, or angry; which was probably just another form of fear. There was a third option, of course: He was greedy.  

Erick calmly said, “The people of Spur want this rain. They want a new way of life in a new place, or they have always liked Spur and just couldn’t stay the whole time, or a myriad of other reasons. As far as I know, I am providing an opportunity that they want, and that I want to give.” Erick said, “You’re going to have to provide some other reason for me to deny local prosperity than ‘other people in other parts of the world’ are losing money.”

Caradogh asked, “Do you wish for a trade embargo?” He said, “Ninety percent of all trade into the Crystal Forest passes through Portal; we are the gateway to the rest of the world. We are the bottleneck to the rest of the world. If you wish for this, almost everything in Spur that is not made here will vanish over the coming months.”

“Ah.” Erick nodded, then had an inspiration. “So! You are wishing for me to create permanent [Gate]s between all the major cities, now? Maybe I’ll start with one from Spur to Odaali. That would be pretty awesome, wouldn’t it? Gods know they need the help.”

Caradogh almost said something, but the words caught in his throat. Valok and Apogough already stood at rapt attention, but at Erick’s proclamation, they smiled. The man and the woman with Caradogh turned to stare at Erick, disbelieving what they had just heard.

After a moment, Caradogh caught up to himself again, asking, “Can you do that?”

“I haven’t thought to try! No reason to, you know? [Teleport] is convenient on a personal level, but I can see how the mana and opportunity cost of [Teleport] would put it out of the realm of moving tons upon tons of cargo. But I saw Yetta use [Gate] a few times and it looked really useful. I bet I could make a big one. Large enough to drive a wagon train through.” Erick asked, “How would you feel about Portal becoming obsolete, because of your actions here today?”

Caradogh paled. By now, more farmers had shown up to stand outside the temple. Twenty people, some incani, some orcol, and some dragonkin, stared daggers at Caradough, but said nothing. Some of them looked to Erick, with mixed expressions, but mostly expressionless.  

Erick added, “Or maybe there’s no need for such a thing. At least not right now.” Erick said, “Besides! Aren’t you tired of all this empty Crystal Forest, filled with nothing but agave and mimics? If you block me now, how am I supposed to turn back the mimics and reclaim all this land? You’re being really short sighted, here.”

Caradogh stood straight. “I am prepared to offer you double what you already make, in order for you to never again spread this platinum rain.”

“Denied.”

Caradogh soldiered on, saying, “Two-point-five times what you already make and an estate in Portal, much greater than what you have here. You may employ this rain there, providing just as much opportunity to these people, as well as a much larger opportunity to drive back the Crystal Forest, without the threat of Shades looking to kill all the people here just because they feel like it.”

“I like this town, and this town seems to like me.” Erick added, “Or at least they like what I can do for them. So. Again: Denied.”

“If you are being held hostage by your ‘bodyguards’, then we are prepared to—”

“I am here of my own volition, and it is rude of you to suggest otherwise.”

Caradogh slowly said, “I am the incentive, Archmage Flatt. You do not want to see the alternative.”

“Firstly, I want to thank whoever told you to come at me with this anger and with these vague stories of people’s livelihoods in trouble in some other part of the world. I am responding to your desires with as much honesty and clarity as possible, because you have come at me with a similar honesty and clarity.” Erick said, “If you had tried to sugarcoat this bitterness you’re selling, then… Well… That simply wouldn’t work. So good on you for doing your research.” He added, “But I am not going to change my mind, and I hope you do not enact this trade embargo, for if you do, then none of us are going to be happy with the outcome.”

Caradogh calmly listened, then said, “Thank you, Archmage Flatt. I had hoped to resolve this issue without getting everyone involved, but I see now that you are adamant in going forward with your desires to make Spur a breadbasket.” He said, “Our business is thus concluded. I will take your word with me back to Portal. Expect a response in the coming days.”

“Good day then, Lower-Trademaster Pogi.” Erick added, “And your response better not be assassins.”

Caradogh frowned, saying, “I do not deal in those kind of people.”  

Erick did not believe him for a second.

Caradogh quickly bowed, then whipped around and walked away. His man and woman fell into line beside him, as they moved aside from Valok and Apogough. Caradogh paused for the briefest of moments, whispering some quick words to Valok, but even though Erick immediately activated [Perfect Hearing], he had no idea what had just been said. The redscale farmer turned a bit redder, though he gave no response to Caradogh, except to glare at the man’s back, as Caradogh walked away.  

The other farmers who had gathered to hear the confrontation, also dispersed back to their plots of land; the rain was still falling, plants were still growing.  

Erick called out, “If it’s assassins, you won’t be happy with the outcome!”

Caradough waved his hand up through the air, but gave no further response. His woman briefly turned back to Erick and smirked at him, before she too, turned to face forward, continuing to walk to Spur.  

The other man continued to glance around at everything. And then he telekinetically stole a potato off of a farmer’s wagon. The farmers, Erick, Valok, and Apogough, all watched as the wandering-eyed man bit into the raw potato. He spit out the bite and threw away the potato, into the rain, where it promptly started to grow in another farmer’s wheat field.

Erick didn’t know how he felt about all of what had just happened. Annoyed, for sure. A spark of anger fluttered around inside his chest, yes. But it was only one potato. Best to let that sort of thing go.

- - - -

Valok and Apogough walked up to the temple, then up the stairs.  

Erick smiled to see them approach, saying, “Hey guys. How’s the farm been?”

Apogough started the pleasantries with, “It’s going—”

“Fantastic.” Valok launched into anger, saying, “But that asshole is trying to ruin everything. You need to never speak to him again. He is a shadowspider. He will twist your words to put you under his power. He’s been talking to our people; putting the fear of gods into their hearts, trying to make them give up on this life we’re building.”

Erick smiled softly, saying, “He backed off, though I doubt that’s the last we’ll see of him.”

Valok frowned. “Yes. Especially after you threatened a permanent [Gate].”

Apogough scrunched his face in thought, as he asked, “Can you do actually that?”

Erick shrugged. “I don’t know. Never thought to try. Never been a need and I didn’t even know if it was possible.” Erick asked, “… is it possible?”

Valok said, “Possible, though not likely.”

Apogough said, “There used to be permanent [Gate]s between the Old Dragonkin cities in the forests north of the Wyrmridge Mountains. They hail from the first years after the Sundering, before the destruction of all halves. People have tried to get at them, but they’re hundred ton metal structures; the most anyone has ever gotten is images of them, and images of all the wyrms defending them.”

“Really? I pulled that out of my ass, but they actually exist?” Erick laughed, then asked, “Maybe I should go get one? Try to remake it?”

Apogough said, “That’s walking yourself to the executioner’s block.” He looked down the road to Spur, but Caradogh and his flankers were already long gone. “Worse than that whole exchange was asking for the same.”

Erick grumbled, then groaned out, “Assassins.”

Valok joined them looking down the road to Spur, and said, “Maybe. It’s… really hard to tell. I’ve been coming to Spur for every Water Season for the last twenty years. I’ve been on the Farmer’s Council for fifteen. There’s always been some friction getting our goods to market. But it’s never been this bad. They like us dependent. Independence scares them.”

Apogough said, “A trade embargo would be bad.”

Poi stepped into the conversation, saying, “Silverite has been watching this unfold. She would like me to inform the Farmer’s Council, and you, sir, that whatever this business with Caradogh was, Spur is prepared to weather the storm and come out smelling like money. There will be no changes to any farming practices.”

Valok smiled, saying, “Good.” He nodded to Erick, before stepping down the stairs of the temple. “Back to work then. Good to see you, Erick.”

Apogough lingered in the temple, saying, “I heard about Odaali.” He added, “Tough business, that. Glad you stopped the Breach Demon.”

Erick looked out over the fields, glancing at the incani here and there. He asked, “I’m worried I won’t be seen as neutral. Have you heard anything?”

“There’s been some grumbling, sure. But there’s also been a lot of relief. No one here really wants a war. Trade is getting really big, and that means that a war is a huge interruption.” Apogough asked, “Want me to let you know if that changes?”

“Yes, please.” Erick said, “Oh. And what do you feed the chickens and cows? There’s a feed grain that I was thinking of creating for them that might be good.”

“Feed grain?” Apogough said, “Chickens eat pretty much everything. Bugs. Greens. If you want to make a feed grain, then I won’t stop you. Not sure how much good it’ll do. There’s no shortage of food anywhere, Erick, and that’s all thanks to you.” Apogough said, “But I gotta go. Glad to see that guy didn’t ruffle you. Take care.”

Erick said, “Later.”  

The tall orcol walked away, under [Weather Ward]s, back down to the fields while platinum rain fell all around.

After being alone with Poi for a minute, Erick turned to his guard, asking, “Assassins?”  

Poi stared out into the rainy distance, lines of [Telepathy] flickering out of his head, saying, “We’ll keep our eyes open, as always.”

Erick said, “Thank you for looking out for me, Poi.”

“It is my honor, sir.”

- - - -

Ophiel flew high above the clouds, wings unfurled all the way, catching the easterly wind like it was a river in the sky, and he was the fastest fish in the ocean. He raced over cloud peaks, while the land far, far below seemed to move at a standstill.  

A caress of control fluttered through his body. He trilled out the sounds of a hundred violins before vanishing in a blip of white. Erick needed him! Time to work.

- - - -

Erick smiled as Ophiel appeared in the center of the Harvest Temple, wings unfurled and singing a song of strings, a dozen new eyes flickering open across his body to take in his surroundings.  

Erick said, “You’re taking over the rain for a bit, then you can go back to flying around later.”

Ophiel trilled. Erick flowed [Exalted Storm Aura] through Ophiel, briefly filling the sky with two silver storms, before he cut off his own aura.  

Erick asked, “Do you want to stay in here, or float above the temple?”

Ophiel made a quizzical trill, but nothing else.  

Erick wasn’t sure Ophiel was learning, or not, but Erick wanted him to do the job right, so Erick said, “You can stay inside. And then later you can go back to flying.”

Ophiel gave another uncomprehending trill.

Erick just said, “Okay. Good boy. See you later.”

Erick left Ophiel there to rain on the farms. Originally, he had planned on sticking around and creating the rain himself, but the confrontation with Caradogh reminded him: He had skills to level and HP to spend, and a mighty need for a wand of [Rejuvenation] to speed up the process. He needed to be prepared for the unknown future…  

The mostly unknown future.  

Assassins were pretty much assured, now. It’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you!

- - - -

Erick walked down to the end of Market Street, to shop at a store near the wall, where most of the light came not from above, but from lightwards of all colors and shapes, plastered over every shoppe entrance. Ulrick’s Unusual’s was the same, nice little shoppe as it was the last time Erick was here. Through the window, Erick saw counters of enchanted knives and shelves full of wands and rods. The door chimed as he swung it open, and strode inside.

Ulrick’s pinkscale cashier, Soux, smiled from behind her counter, saying, “Greetings, Archmage Flatt.”

“Hello, Soux.” Erick was the only one in the store right now. He asked, “I need a wand of [Rejuvenation].”

“Certainly. Just one?”

“I’ll take four. They’re a hundred gold apiece, yeah?”

“Yes, sir.”

Erick took out his Mage Guild badge, which doubled as his bank account authentication, and said, “Four then. Thanks.” He asked, “Is Ulrick in right now?”

Soux pulled out a box from below the counter. She counted out four wands, as she said, “Not right now. He’s at the Mage Guild.”

“That’s fine. Can you tell him I said hello?”

“Of course, sir.”

- - - -

Erick had another task today, before he could go back home.

The Adventure’s District was as packed as it usually was, and it seemed to be even bigger, still. Buildings seemed taller, and that’s because they probably were. Construction happened on the third and fourth floors of buildings on both sides of the street. Some people shaped the stone up there to make the walls and the staircases and everything else, while others stood on the streets, near carts laden with raw, orange stone. The people by the carts floated the raw stone to workers waiting above, [Stoneshape] doing just as much work as the people using the spell.

Erick smiled at the new construction as he made his way to the Guildhouse.  

In the center of the Adventurer’s District laid the wilderness log house mansion that was the Guildhouse. It was situated between four towering trees, each with four meter-wide trunks and canopies that tangled into a green cloud that cast almost all of the district into a cool shadow.  

Erick cross the threshold from the roads to the Guildhouse property, and felt caressed by cool forest air; he had passed the threshold of some unknown [Ward] created by the four pillar trees. He liked this part of the city. The guildhouse itself stood open, like always; yellow light spilling out from open doorways and the windows. If there weren’t so many people around, the effect would have reminded Erick of a cabin in the woods, but with all the armored and robed and strong looking adventurers loitering around or drinking or hanging out, the space felt boisterous, and happy.  

Erick walked right in.  

Within moments, he was seated with Mog at a table on the third floor, with a leather folder open in front of him, and dossiers spilled out over the table. Erick looked them over, while Mog waited. Each one of the monster reports came with a last known location map, and an image of the monster. This one was about a red snake with white feathered wings. That one was about a rocky looking thing. That one was—

Mog pointed to one with a seven-headed black hydra, saying, “This one is the most dangerous monster. It kills anyone it sees, and leaves kilometers of poison in its wake. A Toxic Hydra. No one knows what the beast is doing this far out of the Wasteland Kingdoms. What’s worse, is that no one knows how it has able to survive this long. It’s been two weeks since the initial sighting, and the monster only looks to be getting stronger.”

Erick looked over the papers. There were twenty one monsters here. Mog had gathered the reports of every monster that no one but an archmage would be able to safely kill.  

Erick’s eyes caught on the description under the red flying snake, called a ‘Flare Couatl’. He read it again, to make sure he read it right, then looked up at Mog, asking, “It helps adventurers by killing hunters? What’s a hunter, again?”

“Hunters are those who kill other adventurers. Either for gear or gold, though most start down this path because of experience gains. For a level 10 to kill a level 60 person, even with just 1% Participation means level 45, right there.” Mog frowned, saying, “I had to deal with a whole group of Hunters last month. Seven executions, all in all. Zago told me she had four of them, just last week. It’s getting worse, now that Spur is getting better.”

Erick felt an indistinct pain, as he said, “That’s awful.”

“I’m not sending you after Hunters.”

Erick smiled softly, saying, “Thank you.” He asked, “There’s no way to force 0% Participation, is there? Like how Silverite forces 1% for human and incani around here?”

“You can do that by taking a monster into seclusion and healing it before you kill it completely. If you do this enough, you’ll drop the participation of other people in the fight to 0. Phagar doesn’t like that, though, so you have to have a good rapport with the god before you attempt such a thing.” Mog shook her head, saying, “Other than that? No. Can’t force people to automatically get 0% participation, and especially not in an assassin scenario.”

“Ah. Well. Okay.”

Erick read the report for the Flare Couatl again. The monster had been responsible for interrupting three verified hunting attempts in the last two weeks. Attached to the monster report were the individual reports of the three teams saved by the monster, as well as speculative reports on the nature of the beast.

Erick asked, “How did a Flare Couatl get it into its mind to help people, like this?”

Mog frowned deeply, saying, “The going theory is that it could have been some Beast Master’s pet, but no one really knows. I’d hate to put it down because it’s obviously a variant couatl and raised with great care, but the master is nowhere to be found, and the beast is going to go insane, sooner or later.” She poked at the Toxic Hydra’s information, saying, “This one and that one showed up at the same time, about two weeks ago. The Toxic Hydra might have killed the master. Least that’s the theory. That hydra is already incredibly vicious, so it tracks. I’ve looked into the theory on my end, but no one seems to know a Beast Master who had either of these monsters. So this ‘Beast Master’ theory doesn’t seem to hold much weight. At least not right now.”

“The Flare Couatl is obviously still a good beast. Right? Can some other Beast Master take the couatl?”

Mog shook her head, saying, “A Beast Master imbues a control ring onto a monster’s rad while they’re young. This control ring allowed the Beast Master to alter the monster’s tendencies into something productive. But make no mistake, Erick. They’re still monsters. Once they get loose from their old masters, they must be put down. Control rings are unique to each Beast Master. No one else can control another Master’s beast.”  

Erick frowned at the images of the Flare Couatl and the Toxic Hydra, saying, “I guess… I understand.” He began packing away the dossiers, saying, “I’ll let you know what happens.”

Mog smiled, saying, “Thank you, Erick.”

Erick said, “Anytime.”

Erick did not rush to leave, but he was also done. And Mog hadn’t flirted with him, once. He was prepared to return that flirt, but the expected interaction never happened.  

Erick left the Adventurer’s Guildhouse, feeling slightly down.

- - - -

On the way back home, Erick stopped to pick up lunch from ‘Meat! Bread! Cheese!’ Jane really did love the place, and it was growing on Erick. The place itself was growing, too. The husband and wife team of Rendar Skytouch and Julli Skytouch had needed to expand the business a week ago, to take advantage of the increased popularity of Spur, and the addition of fries to their menu. Erick felt that they pulled off their expansion quite well. Huge new glass plates separated a grilling station with three different cooks, from the people waiting for their meals, while huge vats of hot oil simmered with [Heat Ward]s, already bubbling with fries held in metal baskets.

Noon was minutes away, so the place was starting to get packed. But the sit-down area of the restaurant wouldn’t get full until after the farmers came off of the farm; a lot of places were like that these days. People had started to plan accordingly. Erick stood in line with people who were not farmers, but likely merchants or adventurers, based on their clothing.

When it was Erick’s turn to order, Julli Skytouch, the bluescale wife half of the husband and wife team, who also manned the register, instantly joked, “Shouldn’t you be raining out there?”

Erick smiled. “I got it covered.”

“What’ll you be wantin’ today?”

“Seven sandwiches, one basket of fries.”

Julli smiled. “That’s what I like about you. Always buying for other people. 1 gold, 1 silver.”

Erick paid her two gold, saying, “No change.” He asked, “How are you liking the fries? Have you tried out the method I told you about, yet?”

Julli took Erick’s gold as she said, “Yes. It works well. Fry them once, freeze for the next day. Fry again. Crispy fries!” She smiled, “Thank you, Archmage. People love these fries in a way I don’t really understand.”

“That’s easy to explain!” Erick said, “Everything tastes better fried.”

Rendar, husband to Julli and co-owner of the establishment, and currently cooking up a storm of meats on the grill, called out over the glass divider, “Everything tastes better fried!”

Erick smiled.

- - - -

Walking everywhere and running errands took long enough that Erick stopped the rains, right at noon and right on time, as he reached the front door to his house. Ophiel gleefully returned to the skies above, while Erick walked into his own home, carrying lunch.  

He set the food on the kitchen table. Poi started in on his own sandwich, but Rats and Teressa were likely asleep, so Erick set their lunches into the cold box. He renewed the [Cold Ward] inside the box, then went to go find Jane and Kiri.  

Erick heard his daughter and his apprentice arguing in Jane’s mage tower well before he saw them.

Erick paused around the corner, listening.

“It doesn’t work that way, Jane!”  

“It obviously does.” Jane said, “And now we’re being listened to, so you can tell him yourself.”

Ah. That was Erick’s cue. He walked around the corner to see Kiri and Jane each in front of their own chalkboards. Kiri’s was full of magic circles and arcane diagrams. Erick recognized a few of them from his enchanting books, but he never understood them then, and he certainly didn’t understand them now. Jane’s chalkboard only had a few words that filled up the whole space; ‘you are wrong’.

“Ah. Hello.” Erick said, “Didn’t mean to listen in. All I heard were the last two whatevers— I got lunch! From that place you like, Jane. It’s on the table.”

Jane smiled wide, mocking Kiri, “It’s like the taste of victory, I think. Something like that is happening right now, and I love it.”

Kiri suddenly looked both ashamed and furious.

Erick controlled his own frown, asking, “What’s happening here?”

Jane answered, “She thinks you’re fucking up all of your future magic for short term gains.”

“That is not—!” Kiri said, “That is not what I said.”

Jane waved her hand at Kiri’s chalkboards, saying, “I summarized.”

Erick felt a tiny panic, and said, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Kiri said, looking mollified. And then she found her backbone, saying, “But your approach to magic is incompatible with several of the well established schools of thought that have already produced some of the greatest, most stable archmages Veird has ever known.”  

Kiri hit her stride, saying, “[Airshape], for example. You claim it is ‘playful and free’, but after I got to thinking, I remembered something from the my time at Tower Arcanaeum. There was a Primal Wind Mage who who rose to prominence in the 1105 War of the Sands. I forget his name; it’s not important. What is important is that he cast for South Nelboor and was famous for scouring the flesh from the bones of entire armies with his [Grand Sandstorm]. He went on to found the School of Wind.” Kiri stressed, “The School of Wind was an emotionally based school of magic.” She said, “That was the problem. He pounded into people’s heads that proper [Airshape] required hatred and pain. He’s actually a cautionary tale because his technique was wildly successful...”

Kiri paused. She said, “This is what I was referring to when I mentioned your naturally high empathy. You have latched onto a branch of magic that does very, very well, in certain things, but that unfortunate Arch Wind Mage could do nothing with [Airshape] except flay people. Ten years after founding his school, he killed all of his students, saying that the wind told him to do it. And then he killed himself.”

Erick frowned.

Jane listened, then added her own spin, saying, “Sounds like a tragedy broken down into such a small factoid, that there’s no way it’s not completely wrong. Maybe he had intestinal rads. Maybe he turned monster.”

Kiri ignored her, saying, “Though it is rare, some people are capable of using their state of mind in order to facilitate greater magic. I feel you are one of these people, sir. It’s not a bad thing, and especially not since you are obviously using positive emotional reinforcement. But the danger actually comes from what happens when you try to combine all those emotions you’ve imbued into your magic, into higher tier magic.” She asked, “How do you reconcile the creation of a higher tier spell with two parts, one part a positive emotional [Airshape], while the other part has a negative emotional [Airshape]? How would you combine a magic that is made by thinking one way, with another magic that was made by thinking the opposite way?”

Jane crossed her arms, waiting.

Erick looked between the both of them, then turned to Kiri, saying “Uh? That’s… not really that difficult.” Erick thought of Yin and Yang, of Life and Death, of Dark and Light, of Good and Evil. He said, “Duality is an easy concept. Death gives way to Life. Trees grow in the light, but the roots reach down through darkness. The sun gives way to the night, and the night gives way to the sun, and thus we all live in a world of multiple forces, each of which contains some of the other.”

Jane smirked, uncrossing her arms to say, “I told you!”

But Kiri’s frown deepened. “I don’t think its that easy, sir, but I will admit that I do not have nearly as many accomplishments to my name as you.” She said, “I merely wished to discuss this issue before it became an issue.” She added, “And you might not want to ever discuss the idea of Dark and Light coexisting. That just… doesn’t make sense at all. The sun makes the light, and without the light, we would all fall to complete darkness.” Kiri looked straight at Erick, and said, “There is no balance between light and dark. There is a constant fight of the light against that which would kill us all.”

“Well that’s true,” Jane agreed.

Erick admitted, “You’re correct about that. The analogy is more about the duality inside of people, not about any real thing.” Erick said, “I might need to look into Arcanaeum techniques.”

Kiri said, “Maybe. Maybe not. I was also reminded of a test for this sort of thing, if you want to try?”

“Sure.” Erick said, “Hit me.”

Jane interrupted Kiri’s question, saying, “It’s an expression.”

Kiri squinted at Erick, then relaxed and said, “[Force Bolt], Altered to Ice to create [Ice Spike]. Then you Mana Alter [Ice Spike] to Fire. The goal is not to produce [Steam Spike] or [Water Spike], but to produce a spike with a great deal of force behind it. If you get it right, you create [Glacier Spike]. If you make it wrong you usually produce a blob of hot water, and no spell creation. In this way you can try multiple times without actually creating a spell. Mana Altering is very useful for this method, in fact. As long as you’re actively denying [Water Spike] or [Steam Spike], this type of spell creation will not lock Mana Altering or [Force Bolt] from rejoining multiple times in a single day.” She said, “This separation of opposing natures to feed creation is easily understood with—”  

Kiri pointed to two diagrams of circular words, then to a third one. The only thing Erick really recognized about it all, was that the circles were Ancient Script, but written weird, circular. They were all the spells and alterings Kiri talked about, but written very different from how they were written in Ecks, and then combined in a way that left a rift between the words. This was how his enchanting books had written out their spells, but Erick still barely understood any of it. The circular words certainly looked pretty, though. Like multiple disks of words overlapping to produce an ever more complicated kaleidoscope.  

“—with this diagram, here. Do you know Ancient Script?”

“Yes.” Erick looked at the diagrams, and said, “But I’ll try my way and see what I get.”

Kiri smiled softly, saying, “That is good, but knowing these diagrams is also important, because this is how you can create larger, more permanent magical effects. Like a [Teleport] locked room, or such.”

“Oh?” Erick looked at the circular words again, suddenly more interested, but still not comprehending very well. “Is that how you do it?”

“There’s a method to finding out the diagram to any spell you create. I don’t know much about this aspect of magic, but that’s not important right now. What I do know, is that if you know this diagram, and you can inlay the diagram into a space, to create the spell effect in that space.” Kiri said, “Creating a [Teleport] locked room requires the diagram for [Teleport] and the diagram for [Dispel] overlaid and then inlaid in high-quality wrought-level metal, in precise manners around a room, by someone with those magics, and for those diagrams to be maintained with the proper concoctions of potions. Most of these potions are daily applications of dusted rads. For a ten by ten meter room, you’re looking at a hundred gold worth of rads per day of use.”

“Can you put these diagrams into an item, to create a rod or wand of whatever?” Erick immediately followed up with, “Is this related to a Shade’s [Teleport Lock]?”

Kiri paused. “Uh. Yes… I think so. But no one bothers with these diagrams for that. It’s much easier to just rhyme at the metal… I think. Uh. I wasn’t very good at enchanting. Um...” She thought, then said, “About the [Teleport Lock]: I’ve been in a [Teleport] blocked room, and experienced a Shade’s [Teleport Lock]. They feel nothing alike. This works from the outside in, and requires a set up—” Kiri paused. She turned to Jane, her eyes alight, hope in her voice. “Did you ever see any strange symbols like this in the shadows?”

Jane shook her head. “Nope.”

Kiri cursed, then composed herself, and said, “That’s not how a Shade’s [Teleport Lock] works, then.”

Erick waved a hand at the chalkboard, saying, “I’ve got my method, but that’s all very interesting. So the takeaway is, is that you can’t make a magic without first having it, right?”

“Correct.”

“But this [Teleport] lock on a room… is not the spell [Teleport Lock].”

“I see what you’re saying, but that is not what is happening here. This is basically the counterspell function of magic in action. A Shade’s [Teleport Lock] seems to be a complete denial… somehow.”

Erick mumbled, “Counterspell?”

Kiri looked at Erick like he was an uneducated child, but she quickly shoved that expression off of her face, and said, “We’re getting way off track...”  

Erick said, “I agree. So basically, you want to see if I can pass this test, to see if my method is able to go further up the tiers, where the magic requires ideas and emotions that run directly counter to one another?”

Kiri looked at Erick for a blank second, then said, “Yes. Exactly.”

Erick nodded, saying, “I got lunch for everyone, first. We eat, then we can go magic making— Ah. Wait.” Erick asked, “Before that: I offered to Mog to kill some of the more dangerous monsters prowling the Crystal Forest.” He asked Kiri, “Do you know how to get a [Familiar] to track down a target?”

Kiri shook her head. “Academically, yes. Practically? Not really. You’d need to use like… [Tracker’s Instinct], I think. At least.”

Jane said, “We’re working on that. And then [Hunter’s Instincts], too.”

Kiri asked Erick, “You’re going for some HP abilities, too?”

“Yeah.” Erick said, “But if you don’t know, then that’s fine. I needed to talk to the Mage Trio, anyway, so I’ll save that question for them. They’re still hunting for that necromancer from Nergal, last I heard.”

Jane said, “Wait a second. You’re just going to kill Mog’s monsters from here? With Ophiel?”

“That’s the plan.”

Jane said, “That’s cheating!”

“You want to see the dossiers Mog gave me? These monsters deserve to be cheated out of a fair fight.”  Erick added, “Except for the Flare Couatl. It’s helped people fend off hunters, but it runs away after the fight, every time. That one will be the hardest to put down, but Mog says that Beast Master pets always go insane when the master dies.”

Jane’s eyes went wide. “Flare Couatl, you say?”

Kiri, who had been quiet as soon as she heard the word ‘Flare Couatl’, suddenly said, “Oh! I bet some Beast Master was experimenting with dragon essence. Flare Snakes and Couatls should not be able to breed, but dragon essence is a melting pot.” She added, almost dismissively, “You likely don’t have to worry about that one. Some hidden dragon is probably already salivating at the thought of eating it.”

Jane’s takeaway was, “Not a [Polymorph] target?”

Erick jumped in to say, “You’re not allowed to go after these targets, Jane. They’re all nine-star melee threats. Besides. How would you feel about eating someone’s pet that has done nothing but kill hunters?”

Kiri paled, “It’s killing hunters? Oh. Wow. Okay. That’s a dangerous monster.”

While Jane sighed, saying, “I’m not eating someone’s pet, no matter how cool it would be to be a flying Flare Snake.” She asked, “Did you see the images of Flare-Snake Basil tearing through Planter’s minions? That was spectacular. He just touched them, and poof! Ashes.”

Kiri smiled softly, saying, “It was nice to see, wasn’t it.”

- - - -

Out in the Crystal Forest, on the ten meter by ten meter stone platform where Erick had created [Zone of Peace] and [Wintry Sea], he was now prepared to try for [Glacial Spike], to see if his magical methodology was capable of combining conflicting natures. ‘Conflicting natures’, according to standard magical practices, anyway.

Kiri, Jane, and Poi were in attendance, standing away from Erick.  

Out in the desert, ten meters away, was a stone pillar Erick had raised from the ground with [Stoneshape]. The pillar flared out into a meter-wide target; perfect for testing his magic, but not his aim. [Force Bolt] always struck the target unless something else interfered.  

Erick looked over his base components.

Force Bolt X, instant, long range, 5 MP

A bolt of mana unerringly strikes a target for 15 + ½ WIL

Mana Altering X

Bludgeon, Slash, of Piercing Damage

Force to Light, Blinding, Variable Cost

Invisible Force, Variable Cost

Force to Thunder, Disorient, Variable Cost

Force to Fire, Burn, Variable Cost

Force to Ice, Slow, Variable Cost

Force to Lightning, Paralyze, Variable Cost

Force to Decay, organic damage, Variable Cost x1.5

Chain, Variable Cost x2

Combine Effects, Variable Cost x3

Generate new effects. Variable Cost

Requirements: 10 Willpower

Erick pointed at the target.

Mana Altering: Ice.

[Force Bolt].

A spike of white ice shot from Erick’s finger and struck the target in the very center. It shattered to a layer of cold, maybe a hand across, in the center of the target; like Erick had tossed a snowball at the stone pillar.  

That seemed rather unimpressive.  

The Script likely agreed, as no spell had been created. Erick wasn’t really trying, anyway, so this much was expected.

Erick channeled mana through [Force Bolt], producing an even hum, like the unheard, unfelt background noise of the universe, heightened to the barest whisper.  

Mana Altering for Ice was a bit tougher. Flowing mana through that skill produced a cacophony of noise and feeling; a chill flame, zapping across his skin, leaving mush in its wake and numbness everywhere. Not actually, though. That’s just what it felt like. The flare of white produced by the skill was similarly chaotic.  

Erick channeled mana through Mana Altering, focusing on narrowing to just the ‘ice’ portion of the skill. His mana vibrated through cold and heat, through light and lightning, but he kept as it. Success came all at once. The race to absolute zero. The heat death of the universe. An end to light, to dark, to everything. The chill touch of not the grave, but of the end. Erick felt his arms go numb, like he had been out on a cold day for too long, and it was too late to make it back inside.

Erick pulled back from that feeling, releasing the flare of cold mana from his hand. He wrapped his arms around his shoulders, rubbing his arms through his tunic, trying to warm himself. The sun beat down, hard and strong, helping to chase away the cold. Erick stood there, in the light, happy to feel the warmth of that sun upon his skin.

After a moment, he resumed his experiment.  

This time, he envisioned that emotional cold, like a spike of frost, so dense and compacted by time and gravity, that it was clear and blue; all the air squeezed out. A chip of a cold eternity, broken off from the whole and sent flying—

Mana Altering: Ice

[Force Bolt].

A spike of blue crinkled the air, milliseconds before it launched from Erick’s finger. The spike hit the target, impacting into the stone, sending a wild crack up through the target. A blue box appeared.

Ice Spike, instant, long range, 22 MP

A bolt of pure ice unerringly strikes a target for 55 + WIL

Erick searched the Script for ‘ice spike’.  

Ice Spike, instant, long range, 20 MP

A bolt of pure ice strikes for 50 + WIL

Erick turned to Kiri, saying, “My [Ice Spike] does 55 plus Willpower for damage, for two more mana than the original. And it kept the ‘unerringly’ portion.”

Kiri laughed, small and happy, as she narrowed her eyes, saying, “That’s great? Wow. Uh? Really? Ah. Keep going.”

Erick turned back toward the target.  

He didn’t want to see like an asshole when Kiri had brought this up as a problem, so he did not directly counter her thoughts, at that moment. But now, he would. There was a duality to almost everything, and ice and fire were no exception. Erick knew this, for sure, especially after what he had felt as he channeled Mana Altering.

Erick did not want to go this big, but started off with imagining the Big Bang. That cosmic beginning to everything, that spewed out creation; that would end in cold death.

He channeled mana through Mana Altering’s Fire, and felt the never ending heat of that primordial explosion; a ripping tear in reality that sent forth everything else. A burning, consuming conflagration, a soup of particles so densely packed, that they had nowhere to go but out.  

Erick pointed at the target. He lined up his spells, and he cast.

A rocket of ice, a meter long and almost black it was so blue, launched from his hand, ripping into the stone target, shattering it completely before continuing on to strike the land beyond. A dull thunk reverberated through the soil, sending up a plume of sand into the air. All around, the glow bugs of the crystal agave dimmed, while the brown worms that usually lifted up from the soil here and there, vanished underground; loud noises always made them retreat.  

Glacial Crash, instant, long range, 55 MP

A shard of pure ice strikes a target for 200 + 2 WIL

He looked up [Glacial Spike].

Glacial Spike, instant, long range, 50 MP

A shard of ice strikes a target for 90 + WIL

“Huh,” Kiri said. “That shouldn’t have happened. It should not have been that easy.”

Erick stepped toward her, handing out copies of his spell. Jane took a look, but didn’t seem to care overmuch. Poi politely declined.  

Kiri said, “It costs more. But the damage is a lot more, too.”

Erick said, “It lost the ‘unerring’, this time.”

“That you kept ‘unerring’ into [Ice Spike] was surprise enough.” Kiri dismissed the spell, saying, “Your [Glacial Crash] is a variant, and a great stepping stone to the other, deeper ice magics, than [Glacial Spike]. You want very simple spells when making higher tier spells. The more lines of text you get, the harder it is to make the next tier.”

“What’s the top tier ice magic?”

“[Iceberg] is the big ice spell. Tier 8. There are a few ways to get there, but I only know half the steps. This [Glacial Crash] is tier 3, and a good start along that journey.” Kiri shook her head, saying, “But— I still don’t understand. How did you make a directly contradictory spell combine correctly at all, without knowing the formulas?”

Erick said, “I had a very good foundation for this specific idea. Do you have another test?”

“Uh.” Kiri thought for a moment. “Besides the [Prismatic Ward] of all the shaping spells and [Ward] together?… Uh. Hmm. Oh. No...”

“If it helps, I was really bad at making Ophiel.” Erick added, “Though, I think that was only because I was failing to grasp the many nuances of magic.”

Kiri paused. She looked to Erick. She lowered her gaze, and said, “If it works, it works. I am the student, here, and I accidentally forgot that fact.” She lifted her head. “Thank you, Archmage. But if I could ask…” Her words seemed to stick in her mouth. “What emotion did you use for this?”

Erick began, “Let me tell you of the Big Bang, and of the endless march to Entropy.”  

Jane smirked.

Erick said, “It all began with the Big Bang; a spot of immense energy at the beginning of everything that exploded out and made the universe. No one knows what came before, though some believe that the spot of energy that would explode into the universe was the result of the death and gravity-combination of the previous universe, into that spot of energy. Some believe that the universe is cyclical. Others, and me included, believe that the universe started with a bang, and it will continue on into infinity, and when the spaces between what is, get too large, it will all rip apart.”

Kiri paled.

Erick said, “And then another spot of energy will form, creating another Big Bang, and a whole new universe, completely unlike what came before.” Erick continued, “That’s what I imagined when I cast that [Glacial Crash]. A spot of deep, endless cold, propelled into infinity by a strong starting explosion.” Erick said, “The emotions were tied into all that.” He flared some mana through Mana Altering for Ice, then for Fire, producing a chill white light, and then a flickering, snapping glow, saying, “Cold and hot go together very well.”

Poi smirked, looking off in the distance. Jane rolled her eyes a bit, but not a lot.

Kiri shivered in the sun, saying, “That’s the most frightening thing I’ve ever heard.”

Jane laughed. “What? You have Shades and wyrms right next door— You were there for Yetta’s trip through the Dead City! And yet the Big Bang scares you?”

“To know the universe could… could rip apart at any moment!” Kiri said, “Yes. This is terrifying.”

Jane said, “Veird’s universe already ended though, according to your own history.”

“Yes!” Kiri said, “And it’s fucking terrifying to consider that this universe we ended up in could end, too!”  

Jane said, “But what are the chances of that happening in your lifetime? Zero. Not gonna happen. Besides! Magic doesn’t even extend past the moons, and its too thin to be worked out past the atmosphere of Verid.” Jane said, “If Veird got transported to my universe, or if I got transported to where ever your planet ended up, I’ll never know. But if this universe is anything like my old one, you do not have to worry about the universe ripping apart. It’s literally never going to happen in our puny mortal lifetimes.”

Erick added, “I agree. Estimates for the age of our old universe were… what? 14 billion years old?”

Jane said, “13-point-8 billion years.”

“Close enough,” Erick said.

Kiri, with a pale green face, declared, “That’s enough magic for me for today, please.”

Erick looked to Kiri, asking, “Are you okay?”

“… I will be.” Kiri shook a little, but stood strong, saying, “I will. Thank you for your concern.”

Erick narrowed his eyes, but said, “Okay. I have monsters to hunt and skills to level, anyway. I’m working on [Hunter’s Instincts], next.”

Kiri regained some color to her face, saying, “This is a good ability. You should consider [Precision]. [Hunter’s Instincts] is 10 HP per second.”

“I got a long way to go.” Erick said, “Maybe I will, maybe not. Ophiel is going to be the one to use it, anyway, and he can’t use my skills. And speaking of which, you’ve just reminded me that I have to test their ability to search for what I want them to search for.”  

Erick opened his arms and poured mana into the summoning of four new Ophiel. The air filled with the sounds of violins, as a hundred white wings pulled apart into four new Ophiel, each with dozens of white eyes blinking open over all of their wings. He imbued them with [Ultrasight], to help them see from high above. Two of them immediately burned mana to use their new ability; their eyes taking on a brilliant white sheen, as they gazed out across the sands, and at Erick. Then Erick gave them a mental push, into the air, to search for large discrepancies among the Crystal Forest. Something larger than an agave.

They rocketed into the air, each headed a different direction.  

Erick said, “I have no idea if they even know what I’m asking, but we’ll see.”

“Right…” Kiri looked off into the distance, and shivered again, saying, “Right.”

- - - -

Erick had not been home ten minutes, had not yet finished making afternoon coftea, before one of the Ophiel reported in something interesting.  

It was a porcupine. A whole little family of crystal porcupines, actually.  

Porcupines were clearly smaller than an agave. Erick sent disapproval, and sent the Ophiel onward.

Three seconds later, another Ophiel reported in that he saw people. Erick checked in on that one. Adventurers were firing spells at him, but Ophiel dodged and flew faster. He got away perfectly okay. Or   

A different Ophiel danced in the sky, evading a different set of adventurers’ [Force Beam]s from three increasingly ‘desperate to kill the monster’ adventurers. Ophiel just trilled out violin vibrations, happy to play around with people, like he played around on the battlefield.

Erick told that Ophiel to move on, too.

The first Ophiel noticed yet more crystal porcupines—

The third noticed more people—

The fourth noticed a particularly interesting rock. It got closer, and from its new perspective, Erick saw that the rock was actually a toilet some adventurer had [Stoneshape]d out of the ground, and then failed to disassemble. Erick turned it back into sand and [Cleanse]d the area, and made that Ophiel move to the next target.

After five more quick interruptions, Erick sent out a gentle pulse of thanks, and dismissed the four searching Ophiel. This was obviously not working out like Erick had hoped.

He checked up on the Ophiel over Odaali, while he was at it. They were still flying high in the sky. The battlefield looked organized, now. Bodies laid in lines, waiting for the pyre, which sent up plumes of black smoke into the sky. The three Ophiel did not like that black smoke, they flew well clear of the body fires.

Erick gave a small, indistinct prayer for the dead, as he watched the gloomy work.

He came back to himself, standing in the kitchen, with a pot of cooling water in one hand and a setup to make coftea still waiting for him on the table. And Jane standing there.

Jane smiled, asking, “You gonna finish making that coftea? I want some.”

Erick set the jug of cooling water down, saying, “Have at it. I need to ask some mages about [Familiar] training. Ophiel is just going after everything.”

Jane took the parts of the coftea set up, and said, “Have you considered normal pet training? Or even child training? You did alright with me, you know.”

Erick felt a warmth spread in his heart. He said, “I always hoped I did.”

“You should probably keep the little guy with you all the time. That would probably help.” Jane cast a [Heat Ward] into water; watching it come back to a boil, saying, “It’s probably not good for him to spend all that time on his own, away from you. You want a coworker, right? Or what? What exactly are you going for with Ophiel, anyway?”

“A defender.” Erick summoned a tiny, four winged Ophiel, who instantly fluttered onto his shoulder and started looking around. “And you’re right. He should stay with me at all times. Or… at least one of him, anyway.” Erick walked away, saying, “I’ll be back later. Gotta ask some mages about some training.”  

- - - -

As Erick followed Maia into their living room—  

Eduard rushed down the stairs, his brown hair a mess, his face flushed, as he gushed, “I didn’t know he could turn small!” Eduard stepped to several feet from Erick, purposefully not getting closer as he composed himself. Eyes opened up across Ophiel, taking in the new person. Eduard asked, with a happy voice, “His entire body is malleable, isn’t it?”

“Yes, he is.” Erick smiled, gently petting Ophiel on his shoulder. The little guy was focused on Eduard and Maia, though; he keep his eyes on the new people and did not care at being touched. Erick said, “He’s very well behaved. I guess. But I’m wondering about how to raise him right. And how to get him to focus on the right targets, when I assign him to go hunt targets in the forest.”

Maia said, “I already offered him a set of [Familiar] rearing books, but we waited for you.” Maia said to Erick, “Like I said, Eduard practically raised all three of our [Familiar]s. They’re very well trained, and only because of him. Rozeta knows I’m shit at raising anything.”

Erick smiled, saying, “If you have any tips, I’d love to hear them.”

Eduard instantly said, “Keep him with you at all times. Don’t make extra ones unless you need them for specific tasks; he needs to be focused on you, and your needs.” He asked Maia, “Which books?”

“The Headmaster’s gui—”

“No no no. He’s very accomplished, but he hasn’t had to raise a [Familiar] in Rozeta knows how long.” Eduard said, “They might have a copy of ‘Greendale [Familiar]s: Rise of the Sentinels’ at the Mage Guild library. It’s one of the absolute best training guides to come out in recent years.” Eduard asked, “What is your goal for this [Familiar]?”

“To be able to do anything I ask of him.”

Eduard scrunched his mouth sideways. “Unreasonable. This is not a being. It is a creature that only resembles a being. Go smaller.”

“Uhh…” Erick said, “I want him to be able to search for targets I want in the Forest, to evade attacks, and to look out for danger. And to recognize and understand all of most things.”

“Much more reasonable. Though that last point will likely never materialize.” Eduard said, “You know… I think I have a copy of Rise… Actually— I’m sure I do— You’re going to want it. Hold on.”

“Okay—”

Eduard rushed upstairs. Erick heard him crashing around in a room up there. In a minute, he came rushing back down. He held a book in his hands. He almost handed the book to Erick, but he paused.  

He said, “I want to test him.” Eduard looked to Ophiel. Then he glanced down. A brilliant blue fox materialized out of the manasphere. The fox slinked around Eduard’s legs, almost like a cat. It was sleek thing, with spines sticking out of the fur along its back, and eyes of brilliant cerulean light. Eduard said, “This is Icy. Sit, Icy.”

The blue fox went from serene, to sitting, just like that. It looked up at Erick, and at Ophiel. It yawned, with jaws opened wide, showing off its large icicle fangs.

“That is a pretty fox,” Erick said.

Eduard said, “It won’t take long, and the process will help me gauge where he falls on the trainability spectrum. This in turn will allow me to recommend some specific books for you.”  

“Ah? Sure. Actually. Yes. That would be a great help. Thank you, Eduard.” Erick was all for a little ‘dog-show’ as it were. “When? Now?”

Eduard’s eyes lit up. He controlled his excitement, and said, “Yes.”

He handed Erick the book.

In a minute, Erick, Eduard, Maia, and Poi, had relocated to the backyard. The flat orange stone of the Human District was as inviting as any other training location. Eduard quickly set out, then stopped twenty meters from the house, and began to masterfully craft sculptures of ice, running his hands through the air, cyan ice forming where he paused. In three seconds, he had made vertical ring of ice, a meter from the ground, and a meter wide.

Eduard was going to make a whole obstacle course, wasn’t he? Erick felt like he was using the man; he had only come over to ask a few questions, not to get a training lesson.  

Eduard expertly duplicated his magic three more times, creating and carving three more ‘hoops’, each a few meters from the last, though only the first one was an actual hoop. The others were a triangle, a square, and a tall oval.

Ophiel watched, entranced, the tiny claws hidden in his lower wings pinching into Erick’s shoulder, like a cat kneading dough.  

Eduard came back to the waiting group, asking, “How old is he? I forgot to ask. And his name?”

“Ophiel is only a few days old, but he’s been very good about dodging and attentiveness.” Erick said, “He was dodging on his own in…” Erick went silent. He said, “He was already dodging on his own against half an army, as of a few days ago.”

Eduard smiled, looking at Ophiel as he said, “You’ve already started raising him as a dodging type, then. This is good. He must be pretty smart, too. Has he ever taken instruction from someone else? Meaning a telepathic connection?”

“I don’t think so.”

“I would like to try, if I could.” Eduard said, “You’d need to control him if he gets overly agitated. This can rile a new [Familiar] up something fierce.”

“Uh?” Erick touched Ophiel, and the little guy looked all around, at everyone looking at him. Erick said, “Go ahead. I got him.”

Eduard said, “Hello, Ophiel.”

A telepathic connection filtered through the air, connecting Eduard to Ophiel, and then it flashed with white and cyan light, like a tiny bolt of lightning. Ophiel whined loud, digging into Erick’s shoulder as even more eyes glared open across his body, staring at Eduard, as Eduard clutched his head and a flash of blue cascaded across the man’s body. He groaned.  

It happened so fast.  

Erick almost panicked—

But Maia laughed.

Erick mentally held down Ophiel, as Ophiel struggled to reach for Eduard, to claw his eyes out, to rip him apart. Erick easily stopped Ophiel’s rampage, but the imagery coming out of the little guy gave Erick pause. Blood and viscera. Death and fire. Erick held Ophiel until he calmed. It took a hot ten seconds.

When Ophiel was once again calmly sitting on Erick’s shoulder, Erick asked, “What happened?”

Eduard squeaked, “Too young. My mistake.” He held his head, saying, “Too early for that.” He pointed at the book in Erick’s hand, then at the obstacle course he had set up. “Ouch. Uh.” He squinted, saying, “This training course is all explained in there. I can’t continue. Sorry. Try it out on your own.”

“Oh shit. Are you okay?” Erick mentally held onto Ophiel, asking, “Are you?”

“My mistake.” Eduard squinted as he waved off Erick. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.”

Maia giggled, saying, “It’s fine, Archmage. He’s had worse experiences, I’m sure.”

“I’m going to bring by some deserts later.” Erick said, “Sorry.”

Eduard nodded as he went back to his house.  

Maia lingered, watching her brother walk away. She hummed. She asked Erick, “Can I see the box for Ophiel?”

Erick instantly produced Ophiel’s blue box and handed it to her, asking, “Is something else wrong?”

Maia’s eyes briefly went wide as she read. He hummed again. She relaxed, and dismissed the box, saying, “We’re just going to need to use the rod of [Treat Wounds]. That’s a very good summon you got there. He’s either going to be a handful when he grows up, or an absolute fortress.” She bowed, saying, “Good to see you, as always, Archmage. If you’ll excuse me, I need to go treat my brother.”

Erick’s heart sank. “Is he going to be okay?”

“Yes. He likely got hit for a few thousand points of metal shock. It will take some time to recover.” Maia said, “It can’t kill you, but it can make you much easier to kill. Good day.”

Eduard had already entered his house, leaving the door to the backyard open. Maia did not rush to follow, but she did walk quicker than a normal pace. Erick watched as Maia entered her house and shut the door behind her.

“Fuck.” Erick said, “I’m going to need to make it up to them. That was… not great.”

Poi hummed, then said, “He really should have known better. Connecting to another mage’s [Familiar] is a hazard, at best. But connecting to an archmage’s [Familiar] is asking to be laid out on the ground.”

Erick still frowned, holding the book Eduard gave him, saying, “I’ll need to make it up to him.”

Poi nodded.

- - - -

Back home, Erick immediately set to work making a lemon cake with buttercream frosting. Ophiel watched. When Jane turned up, she declared that she wanted one, too…  

So Erick made two lemon bundt cakes.  

Maia was glad to receive the cake, but Eduard was still sleeping off the mental shock.  

Ramizi was still out and about; out picking up supplies from Portal and elsewhere. Erick still needed to talk to Ramizi, too, to ask after Force magic and to see if he could make a trade, or even if what he had in [Pure Force Beam Bolt] was worth a trade; he had already made and traded a pair of fire and ice spells to Maia and Eduard, after all.

- - - -

Under the light of the afternoon sky, with the sun on the other side of the house, the experimental garden on the east side of the house was under shade; it was perfect for working on a new project. Erick took some of the beans produced by [Exalted Storm Aura] and tried his hand at making corn.  

Ophiel watched as Erick planted beans. Stalks of not-corn rose from the ground like bamboo; straight up, but then branching into leaf-covered fruits. When the plant was grown, Erick pulled off an ear, and pulled off the leaves, revealing a jumble of beans that spilled out on stringy tendrils.  

Erick said, “This might take a few iterations.”

It took twenty-three iterations, in fact, along with bouts of [Exalted Storm Aura], [Stoneshape], and lots and lots of [Grow].

The sun was beginning to set on the other side of the house, by the time Erick stood before a true field of real corn. The sky was purple, the wind was cool, and Erick stood in front of a field that smelled of life and success.

Jane came up beside him. She said, “Corn?”

Erick laughed. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“It’s not… But why?”

“Tortillas. Cornbread. A third grain to add to the rice and the wheat of Spur’s farms. And this one regrows from the stalk so you don’t have to cut down and regrow the whole plant. I’m thinking it will be very popular, considering you don’t have to thresh it… Well. Not much anyway.”

Jane tilted her head back and forth, then said, “Okay. You’re right. I agree. I miss tortilla chips and salsa, anyway.”

“And cornstarch.” Erick picked off an ear of corn, revealing rows upon rows of bright yellow kernels. “Though I’m not sure how to get that from this.”  

“Someone will figure it out when you tell them it’s possible. You probably gotta blend them. Separate the bits somehow.”

“Yeah.” Erick looked out into the coming night, then down to a pile of cooked and barely eaten corns, next to a cistern of water he had used to boil them. He had gotten the form of the plant correct after only ten iterations, but it took thirteen more to get the taste correct. He handed Jane the ear of corn in his hand, saying, “How about corn for dinner?”

Jane smiled, saying, “I showed up at the farmer’s market in town for the first time in a month and every little old man and woman working their stalls practically shoved their vegetables at me. For free. It was nice. Really nice.” She looked out at the night, saying, “Dinner’s ready. It’s vegetables.”

Erick smirked, saying, “Good thing I like vegetables.” He said, “I grew up beside a farm. We got lots of free vegetables there, too.” He added, “I tried to give that to you, but…”

Jane wrapped her arms around Erick, saying, “You gave me lots, Dad.”

Erick hugged her back. Ophiel cooed, as he stepped from Erick’s shoulder, onto Jane, then spread his tiny wings over both of them. Jane giggled, then pulled away. Ophiel casually transferred on Jane’s shoulder, and decided to stay there. Erick smiled.

The three of them stood there for a moment, in front of the gentle corn, watching the dark take over the sky, beyond the walls of Spur. Stars began to appear; tiny pinpricks of twinkling light.  

Jane turned and walked into the house, saying, “Time for dinner,” while Ophiel clung to her shoulder.

Erick followed Jane into the house. Yellow sunwards glowed in the windows, spilling light into the cool, twilight evening.  

Monsters prowled outside the walls of Spur. Adventurers died to threats outside of their ability to handle. Assassins were likely coming for him. Businessmen wanted a piece of him, too, and likely for completely selfish reasons. Erick did not truly believe Caradogh’s story that ‘people were going hungry’ because of him; the times were just changing.  

Particle Mage would be available for everyone in 300 days. So would [Exalted Storm Aura].  

If Caradogh thought one Erick was bad for his business, what would he think when every town had the ability to produce all this bounty on their own?

Erick did not believe, not for a single second, that he was unique, at all. He just knew a little more about some small aspects of life that other people were already discovering. The only reason that he was good at magic, at all, was probably exactly for the reason Poi once told him; Erick simply knew who he was, and what he was about.

… After he got over his initial fears, anyway.  

Erick glanced back at the dark night, and did not shiver at the sight of the giant shadow that loomed in the gloom. Erick just walked into the light streaming from the open door to his house, and used 4050 mana to cast a [Crystalline Air] across the whole exterior of the house. It would absorb 4000 damage before it broke, and would regenerate 17,000 per hour, for 24 hours. Erick considered getting all the shaping spells and trying for [Prismatic Ward], or whatever the all-shaping [Solid Ward] was, but this [Solid Ward] was good enough for now.

Erick watched as panes of not-glass layered across the entirety of the orange stone, bunching up around the exterior edges of the house like precipitated crystal, while the flat surfaces of the house, as well as the windows, remained perfectly clear. Erick quickly designated Poi, Jane, himself, Kiri, Ophiel, Rats, Teressa, and air, as permissible entities for the [Solid Ward] to let through. He stuck his hand in and out of the layer of not-crystal, the spell deforming into sparkling fragments as he did, just to make sure that yes, it was working as it claimed to work.

But when the shadow touched the not-crystal layer of air around the house, a tiny crack appeared. The shadow backed off, the top half of it opening wide and closing rapidly; it was laughing, silent and only visible to Erick. The crack healed soon enough.

Erick stood in the doorway, rimmed with light, as he watched as the shadow outside move through the tiny cornfield, then up and over the walls of Spur, into the night.

Erick shut the door, and went to dinner.

- - - -

Kiri laid awake in her new room, in the dark, her green eyes locked on the ceiling. A distortion in the air layered across the walls; no one outside of this room could see her, or hear her. She had adopted the habit of sleeping inside [Distortion Ward]s ever since she entered Spur’s Army. It was hard enough to sleep in a room full of people, let alone with the lights on. The [Distortion Ward] did not block all the light and the sound, but it blocked about half, and turned the rest into a nice, even rustling sound, that reminded Kiri of trees.  

Kiri missed the trees. Spur did not have enough trees. Spur had more than enough existential crises, though.

So Kiri laid in bed, in the dark, and with her eyes still open. She couldn’t sleep.

She had heard a tale today. A tale that stuck in her mind. A tale of a universe without magic, but born from a primal fire. She had teased out enough of Jane’s previous world over the course 25 days, fighting with the woman and fighting beside the woman, to be able to paint a grand picture of ‘Earth’, and of the ‘Science’ Erick had used to create Particle Magic.

Her time in Ar’Kendrithyst was pandemonium and death, but she was glad for it. She was level 54 now, and with dozens of extra points to her name. Her Class would be Particle Mage, for sure, so she’d have to wait a year for that, but that was not a problem, not really. With her apprenticeship to a man who was obviously going to be one of the greatest archmages Veird has ever seen, she was set for life. All she had to do was walk the path she had forged for herself.

She even made a few strides forward with her own magic using Erick’s methods.

Flare Nova, instant, long range, 8771 mana

A designated spot explodes into a large conflagration, igniting flammables and enemies, dealing 350 + WIL damage every second for ten seconds. Enemies slain by this fire explode into small conflagrations, igniting flammables and enemies, dealing a quarter as much damage every second for five seconds.

Fire Wrap, instant, touch, 19501 mana

Wrap a target in fire, dealing WIL damage a second until the target dies.

They were both horrible failures, but only because of the costs. The first one was just an extension of a spell she already used. It was more a test than anything. She didn’t need it, it was just an experiment, really…

She repeated that thought silently, to herself, hoping that it would stick one of these times.

The second one, though…

Horrible! But… also not horrible.

[Fire Wrap] was tier 4 —the lowest possible tier for this sort of magic— so she would have to wait a hundred days to remake the spell, because she had to remake it, once she understood what she was doing better. [Fire Wrap] was horrible in every way, except the way that mattered. She had made it using a non-standard combination, anyway; it didn’t limit her planned future tiers.  

But it was a damage spell that worked until the target died. [Death Spiral Fire] was the pinnacle of fire magic, and Kiri had reached one of the milestones to that ultimate magic, using a non-standard combination. At age 19.

Did Erick have any idea what he was truly capable of?  

Thank the gods he was a pacifist.  

Kiri thought… was his method… perhaps… the correct way to make magic? Was Kiri limiting herself with her academic mindset?  

Kiri mulled over that thought for a while.

She decided that her methods worked. But so did his. At least in the short term.

Perhaps she didn’t stress enough that complicated magics were end-tier magic. That to have more than a single line of text in a spell meant that making any other good spells out of it were practically impossible. But what need were there for tier 8 spells when Erick did all of what he did at tier 1? It was Particle Magic that he had invented himself, sure, but it was still vastly more powerful than other tier 1 spells.  

Kiri had a thought for how Rozeta would handle this problem, of how she might alter all Particle Magic to make it fit with the rest, but Kiri’s thoughts were so unformed, that to call them premature would be a kindness.

Too much happened today. There were dozens of conversations that she had wanted to have, but there just wasn’t time. She would have time to bring up this concern, in detail, tomorrow. Or the next day.

There was a discrepancy here, and Kiri planned to get to the bottom of it.  

… As soon as she stopped thinking about the birth of a universe from one impossibly hot seed that bloomed out into infinity, for 14 billion years.  

Kiri stared at the ceiling, considering the Old Cosmology she had learned about at Tower Arcanaeum.  

The professors and the history books claimed Veird was hundreds of thousands of years old, and born from the bodies of dead gods that accumulated in the Old Mana Ocean. There were even two independent expeditions that managed to survive the journey to find the fabled Core of Veird. They saw that core, bringing back samples and images and tales of horror alike. So Kiri knew, for sure, that Veird was a created planet. Veird had been created long before the Sundering tossed everyone into this universe. Veird’s core was some hundreds of thousands of years old, though it was scattered with the dream-remnants of other much older worlds, from the Old Cosmology, and those worlds were much older.  

But billions of years old? No one ever considered that anything might be that old.

There was a vast discrepancy here.  

Kiri didn’t know where that discrepancy lay, but it certainly existed.  

Was Erick’s universe really billions of years old? Both Jane and he seemed very sure about that number. They must have had a test for such a thing. Was there a way to test to see if Veird had landed in Erick’s universe, using their method? If the ages lined up, that would answer some very interesting cosmological questions.

Very interesting indeed.  

Kiri stared at the ceiling, thinking.  

Eventually, her thoughts turned to whispers, and her eyes closed on their own. She fell asleep thinking very large thoughts. Her dreams were filled with worlds.