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Alone in the classroom, Erick dismissed all of the blackboards except his own; it was the only one with notes on it. With a few sheets of actual paper, he recorded what he had written down, and then dismissed that final blackboard, too. And then he bought a lot of spells; 11 points worth, out of his remaining 14.

--

Force Crash 1, instant, long range, 50 MP

Rain small destruction in a medium area, dealing 10 + WIL damage per crash. Lasts 1 second. 5 crashes.

Exp: 0/100

--

Force Bomb 1, instant, long range, 25 MP

Launch a quick ball of mana that explodes on contact in a medium area for 25 + WIL damage.

Exp: 0/100

--

Force Wave 1, instant, close range, 15 MP

A pulse of rolling mana deals 10 + ½ WIL to all around you.

Exp: 0/100

--

Force Wall 1, instant, medium range, 25 MP

Create a stable, stationary wall of hardened mana. Absorbs 500 damage before breaking. Lasts 10 minutes per level.

Exp: 0/100

--

Force Platform 1, instant, close range, 25 MP

Create a mobile, hovering platform of hardened mana that moves with you. Absorbs 100 damage before breaking. lasts 10 minutes per level.

Exp: 0/100

--

Prestidigitation 1, instant, close range, 10 MP + 1 MP per effect

Create minor magical effects that last for 5 minutes per spell level. Prestidigitation lasts 1 hour.

Exp: 0/100

--

Detect Magic 1, instant, medium range, 10 MP

Detect ongoing magical effects.

Exp: 0/100

--

Identify 1, 1 minute cast time, touch, 50 MP

Discover the properties of an object.

Exp: 0/100

--

Find Target 1, concentration, close range, 5 MP + 5 MP per meter searched

Find a target.

Exp: 0/100

--

Interception 1, instant, close range, 5MP + 5MP per 10 meters moved

Instantly move to intercept an attack meant for another. Lasts 1 minute or until used.

Exp: 0/100

--

Rebound 1, Variable MP

A spell bounces.

Exp: 0/100

--

There were still several spells left to buy or acquire, namely: [Fabricate], [Control Item], [Envelop Item], [Adjust Scent], [Husbandry], [Alter Size], [Alter Friction], and [Polymorph]. The last one came from a potion; not points. Jane had bought her potion from the Mage Trio. Erick would have to see them about getting one of those for himself, but he had a lot of skills to level, and not a whole lot of time to get it done. Maia had said that Erick was expected ‘whenever he arrived’, but Erick wanted to be there, at Oceanside, within the week. Which meant not only would he have to level all of this magic, but he would also need to find the [Teleport] path to the arcanaeum. That path apparently went over the Letri Ocean; the ocean that spanned the whole equator south of the continental Glaquin.

Looking over his new spells, the damaging ones looked… not very important. What was much more interesting were the utility ones. [Force Platform] and his [Stone Travel] he made the other day looked like they could mark the beginning of a flying castle, or at least a flying platform large enough to carry a lot of people.  

Oh! Add in [Teleport] and he’d have a [Teleporting Platform], maybe. That’d be cool.

And what the heck did [Rebound] do? All the really nifty HP abilities had tiny texts, exactly like [Rebound]. Jane’s [Greater Shadowalk] was just ‘You are the everlasting night’. [Hunter’s Instincts] was just ‘You are the predator’.  

Could [Rebound] bounce spells off of him? Like, could someone shoot a spell at him, and he’d bounce it back? Or would that be [Reflection]? [Reflection] came from [Ward], somehow, but it was probably related to [Rebound].

And what about [Find Target]! It was just ‘Find a target’, but that mana cost was huge. Erick recalled that [Find Target] was a component of [Scan], and [Scan] scanned over 10 km, if Erick recalled correctly, so that definitely explained why [Scan] cost 5000 mana a pop.

Speaking of 5000 mana a pop. Erick brought up the Kill and Exterminate Quest. It had changed, slightly.

--

Atunir has identified a global danger to Veird!

Kill and Exterminate!

Denutha Odaari of the Halls of the Dead,

and their creation:

the monstrous Daydropper Vine.

Fully grown, the Daydropper transforms living air into dead air at an unprecedented rate.

Reward: 10 ability points, to each of the 1000 people who most contribute to completion of this Quest!

Adjustment to Divine Scan: Burn daydropper seeds within your area.

--

Erick ignored the adjustment, for a second, because Denutha’s name was still on there, and that sight made him frown. A lethargy took hold in his chest, like a denial of hope. He did not envy the people deciding on Denutha’s fate. From what Yetta had said, and the fact that Denutha turned herself in, knowing they would kill her, just so she could tell her side of the story, Erick had a hard time believing that she knowingly and willingly worked with the Halls of the Dead in order to create a genocide-plant.  

Erick sighed, then mentally pressed on the quest, trying to trigger the [Scan].  

The blue box vanished. A brilliant orb of yellow light appeared. That was different.

The orb pulsed, and Erick winced. This was really different. A ring of yellow light appeared around the orb, then settled horizontally around the sphere. The orb pulsed again, forming another ring, below the first. Erick took a step back as a third pulse created a third ring, above the other two.

“Okaaaaay—”

Erick eep’d as the world flashed yellow. Light tore form the orb, ripping through the room and into the beyond, unaffected by walls or ground, expanding, expanding. Erick raced to the window. He watched at yellow light washed across the sky, looking green along the edges; the wave was already past the city walls. As Erick watched, the glow vanished completely, likely traveling well beyond the horizon.

Poi appeared at the door to the classroom, asking, “Sir!”

“It’s the Kill and Exterminate Quest!” Erick said, “I just chose the second option!”

Tendrils of thought flew around Poi’s head.

Erick continued, “I didn’t know it was going to do that.”

Erick could only see the yellow returning to him through the sky, out of the corner of his eyes, before it washed through him, turning everything bright, bright yellow, for one radiant moment.

A blue box appeared.

--

Scan complete.

No Relevant Targets within 5000 kilometers

No Daydropper Vines within 5000 kilometers

Burned 3809 seeds and 0 adult plants.

Please supply 5000 mana or wait 24 hours if you wish to scan again.

--

“It scanned 5000 kilometers.” Erick said, “And burned 3809 seeds.”

Poi frowned, saying, “Silverite is aware. She—”

Silverite’s voice came to Erick, full of sarcasm, ‘Thank you for this sudden crisis.’

‘Burned 3809 seeds,’ Erick instantly replied, hoping to head off whatever steam Silverite was building up.

There was a long pause.

‘… Just… warn me, next time.’

‘I had no idea it was going to do that!’

‘… It usually only does that for a Champion.’ Silverite sighed, ‘Or the leads in the Quest. Which is you, I suppose, so that makes perfect sense. I honestly should have expected this and been prepared, or at least prepared you. Talk to you later.’

She cut the connection.

Erick looked to Poi, and said, “I guess I’m a lead in the Quest.”

Poi lost his frown. “I guess so.”

Erick clapped his hands together. “Let’s go cast some magic!”

Ophiel clapped his wings together, mimicking Erick.  

Poi did not sigh, but his look was one of those long-suffering sort he got every so often.

- - - -

Crystal Mimics raced away, across the ground, their blue-white crystalline arms churning sand and stone as the horizon turned to fire, to Force, to Decay. Explosions rocked the land, pulsing light and thunder across a tiny part of the world, and the mimics ran.

An archmage hovered in the sky, leveling his skills. A pointed finger carved a tiny explosion against a stone pillar one second, and a massive, all consuming fireball the next, completely obliterating the stone target. Force rolled out from the archmage’s flying form like a ripple expanding; horizontal one cast, vertical the next, half the size the next time, and four times as large the next, but super thin, like a ring of dilating laser light.  

He hung walls of Force in the sky, then blasted them apart with crashing rains of fire, and of light. Rains of force flew sideways, or upside down, or at 45 degree angles, or condensed down to a small area where a dozen bolts of force, summoned over the course of one second, blasted the same space with destruction. Mostly those crashes just flew off into the Crystal Forest, or dissipated into the sky, but sometimes they hit the ground, throwing up huge plumes of sand and stone. Thunder rocked the land, as spell after spell crashed and blasted.

Fires burned on the ground, and then became whirlwinds of flame under his gentle touch, while shadows and light flickered and flashed. The touch of magic was small at first, but quickly turned from motes of change, to tendrils, to rushes meters wide. The world flashed dark around the archmage, then bright, then became a dual play of shadow and light.

The archmage smiled the whole time, happy to see the light show, like this was the Fourth of July and he was the fireworks. He purposefully picked an area with as few agave as possible, but that just meant it was full of mimics. The archmage took no such measures to avoid hitting the mimics; most of those kind had taken the hint and run away, when they realized they couldn’t attack the flying target.

The archmage methodically emptied his mana into the sky, or against targets, or against nothing in particular, getting a feel for the magic he had acquired.

By the time he was done, the land was a melted, burned, charred thing. Seeing what he had done, and done with his magic, for now, the archmage went over the ground with [Stoneshape], turning it back into sand. The archmage had cast magic into the air for hours, and he was done, for now.  

The archmage extended a hand to his sapphire guard, who had watched the whole thing from within the safety of a crystallized sphere of air. Hand in hand, the archmage and the guard vanished in a blip of white.  

Brown worms peeked up from the sand, to begin remaking their burrows

- - - -

Almost everyone went their own way for dinner, or in Teressa and Rats’ case, breakfast, but Erick had gotten enough sandwiches from ‘Meat! Bread! Cheese!’ for them all. He put the extras in the cold box, and sat down at the kitchen table to eat with Jane and Kiri.  

He pulled out three boxes and handed them over, saying, “So I leveled these to 10, along with most of the rest. These changed a lot, but the rest didn’t.”

--

Force Crash X, instant, long range, 100 MP

Rain small destruction in a medium area, dealing 15 + WIL damage per crash. Lasts 1 second. 15 crashes.

--

Force Bomb X, instant, long range, 50 MP

Launch a quick ball of mana that explodes on contact in a medium area for 50 + 2x WIL damage.

--

Force Wave X, instant, medium range, 25 MP

A pulse of rolling mana deals 10 + WIL to all around you.

--

Jane took a bite of her sandwich, reading over the boxes, and looking into the air.

Kiri said, “What are you going to make with them?”

Jane’s eyes went wide as she read, saying, “[Force Crash] is so much freaking better than bomb!”

Kiri shook her head, saying, “No it’s not. It’s a stylistic choice.”

Jane paused. “What am I missing here? 50 Willpower means… Ah? [Force Crash] is really random?”

“Yes.” Kiri said, “To make it work as well as it can, you’d need to apply mana shaping every time, which massively increases the cost. And even then, it’s not that much better. You’d go from 2 out of every 5 blasts hitting a small size target, to 4 out of every 5.”

Erick said, “That’s not a problem. I have Sculpt Spell and that’s basically a hundred free mana every cast.”

Kiri added, “Don’t forget: HP is a shield. The bodies of many monsters are basically immune to the smaller spells, and that includes [Force Crash]. For the vast majority of those fights with those wyrms, they were at 0 HP.”

Erick nodded, saying, “I wondered about that.”

Kiri continued, “[Force Crash] is great for knocking out a lot of that Health shield, but to actually do damage against a wyrm? Your [Crystalline Air] ripping through their body was much more effective than hundreds of [Force Bolt]s, for example. Lightning was also pretty good. Physical objects or high-powered spells do a lot more than a hundred tiny taps.”

Jane ate a fry, nodding.

Kiri added, “Those firebolts that those hunters used? I’m 95 percent sure those were also shaped from some combination of [Force Bomb] and Mana Altering to Fire, but instead of exploding outward, all that destructive force was condensed to a single strike.” She held a fry in her talons, saying, “It’s really a stylistic choice for which one you prefer. Though Bomb is one strike, and Crash is, like, 8. For me, anyway. Crash’s cost expands very, very fast, too.” She asked, “How many crashes were you able to make strike a single target?”

“Eleven.” Erick said, “They start shooting wide near the end.”

Kiri smirked, saying, “That’s pretty good.”

“I’m going to try to get ‘unerring’ on it,” Erick said.

Kiri nodded. “[Force Bolt Crash]. Though getting ‘unerring’ onto any spell beyond the basic [Force Bolt] is quite diffi—” She amended, “Usually quite difficult. You did manage to get ‘unerring’ on [Pure Force Beam Bolt], and [Ice Spike], after all. But just like the firebolts from those hunters, once you get enough power behind the spell, ‘unerring’ doesn’t do much besides basic course correction.”

Erick looked up [Force Bolt Crash].

--

Force Bolt Crash X, instant, long range, 500 MP

Rain unerring small destruction, dealing 15 + WIL damage per crash. Lasts 1 second. 15 crashes.

--

Jane asked, “Show me?”

Erick plucked the box from the air and handed it to Jane.  

Kiri said, “It’s around a thousand damage but it takes a second to happen, you can roll out of the way of a lot of it, if you time it correctly, and 500 mana is not a cheap spell.”

Jane dismissed the spell, asking, “Is this how you get to [Comet Swarm]?”

Kiri said, “Adding ‘Unerring’ makes that recipe much too expensive, and [Comet Swarm] is… tier 8? Yes. Tier 8.” She said, “I’m guessing, but [Stoneshape] and [Teleport] are in there, for sure.” She amended, “Sorry. Not [Teleport]; [Teleport Object]. [Comet Swarm] falls down from above the clouds. It’s super long range. At least that’s what the books say.”

“What about the ‘Generate new effects’, from Mana Altering?” Erick asked. “Instead of trying for [Stoneshape].”

Kiri nodded. “That’s an option. But… You know how Particle magic is so cheap? That’s because it uses what’s already there. For the vast majority of magical history, according to what I was told, everyone thought that the primary elements of Stone, Air, Fire, Water, Shadow, and Light, were the ‘particles’ of Reality. This is because when you used them to create magic, they end result was much cheaper than a Force version of whatever you were trying to do.” She added, “So, prevailing theory is that you use [Stoneshape] instead of Alternate Effects, or even Altering to Bludgeoning, because using actual stuff in the spell makes it cost less, and it does more damage.” She added, “Of course, you actually have to have the stuff there with you, in order to do such a thing. Force has no such restrictions.”

Jane said, “This is why weapons do more damage than spells. Actual damage, I mean.”

“Correct,” Kiri said.

Jane said, “So Particle Magic is just really efficient magic.”

“Gods yes.” Kiri said, “But it took a planar guy with knowledge that…” She paused. She said, “I don’t think we ever would have gotten this knowledge of atoms or electrons without outside intervention. The Elements as we know them obviously exist, but… they might have been the components of Reality from our pre-Sundering universe. When my ancestors were translated to this universe… everything else was translated, too?” Kiri paused. She said, “I have no idea.”  

Erick ate his sandwich, while Jane and Kiri did the same.

Kiri said, “I just find it hard to believe that no one else thought to check on what this Reality was actually made of. Sure, the arcanaeums are full of pompous asses, but we also have more than enough insightful geniuses of our own.”

“That’s an easy answer.” Erick smiled, saying, “Magic is easy, and great. What need is there of knowing anything more?”

Kiri hummed, not approving. She paused again, then said, “I guess… There’s something to be said for a life without magic, since it forced your people to adapt to this Reality in order to travel to your moons without needing a ritual [Gate].”

“Just ‘moon’.” Jane smiled. “We only had the one.”

Erick took a bite and swallowed, then said, “Let’s talk about [Comet Swarm] some more. What sorts of ways do you envision the spell coming together?”

“Okay.” Kiri ate a fry and said, “You know how I said I have the recipes for a majority of the nicer high tier spells? The fact is, is that there are ways to get to something that look like them without actually being them. Alternate Combinations, they’re called. So keep that in mind, as I tell you how I would combine to get [Comet Swarm]. The first half I know is correct. The second half is conjecture.”

She summoned a tiny blackboard, next to the dinner table, already filled with a branching diagram.

--

t1[Teleport] + (other) = t2[Teleport Object] (This is arguably the most difficult part)

t1[Force Wave] + Mana Alter Fire, over stony surface = t2[Lava Pool]

t2[Lava Pool] + Mana Shaping, extreme = large range t3[Lava Sea]

t1[Stoneshape] + t1[Fireshape] = t2[Lavashape]

t1[Force Crash] + Mana Shaping, extreme = extend to Super Long Range t2[Force Crash SLR]

t2[Lavashape] + t3[Lava Sea] = t4[Lava Orbs]

t4[Lava Orbs] + t2[Teleport Object] = t5[Lava Rain]

t5[Lava Rain] +t2[Force Crash SLR] = t6[Lava Swarm]

t6[Lava Swarm] + Mana Alter, Bludgeoning = t7[Meteor Swarm]

t7[Meteor Swarm] + Mana Alter, Fire = t8[Comet Swarm]

--

Kiri said, “The big cost increases here are the mana shapings. The big decrease, here, is [Teleport] to [Teleport Object], and only combining two spells at a time, so that you can combine them for minimal costs. Everything else, should, if it’s made correctly, be kept below Apparent Costs.”

Erick read over the blackboard.

Jane asked, “What’s Apparent Costs?”

“Ah?” Kiri had taken a bite of her sandwich. She chewed and swallowed, then said, “The costs it should increase by, according to the basic math of it. Take [Telekinesis], for example—”

 --

Telekinesis X, medium range

Move large objects around you for 5 minutes per level of the spell. Fine control. 100 MP

Quickly move large objects around you for 1 minute per level of the spell. Fine control. 50 MP

--

“—The ‘Quick’ version, according to the math, should cost you 300 mana to keep running for an hour. But when you Aurify this, according to the math, it should only cost you 1 mana every 20 seconds. This is the Apparent Cost. But because Auras are a constant drain, it’s rare to see the listed cost of an aura cost less than 1 mana per second. In the case of Aurify, the Apparent Cost is out of touch with the Actual Cost.” Kiri said, “That’s because the opportunity cost of being able to turn your aura on or off is also worth some number Rozeta only knows. And the area is increased by a lot, of course.”

Erick looked over the board, and threw out a number that felt right. “This [Comet Swarm] is 3500 mana?”

Kiri smiled. “If you’re lucky. Maybe. The [Teleport Object] and the Mana Alterings at the end add a considerable multiplier because of the vast amount of material that is being ‘ported and altered. If your [Teleport Object] is fractionally worse than perfect, your costs could go from 3500 mana, to 10,000 mana.”

Jane waved a hand at the board, saying, “Couldn’t you just… not do a lot of that? Like just use stone, by itself? And focus on impact damage?”

Kiri said, “Sure. You can make [Comet Swarm] a lot of ways. Just like you can make [Fly] a lot of ways.”

“Ah!” Erick said, “Right. You’re not referring to an actual spell when you say [Comet Swarm]. You mean the idea of [Comet Swarm].”

“Sort of.” Kiri said, “There is an actual [Comet Swarm] in the Script, and its about where I guessed at, I think. For the spell itself, if I recall correctly, it’s 10,000 mana, and throws 10 flaming boulders down from two kilometers up. The listed damage is 0, but it's still boulders dropping from the sky and setting fire to stuff.”

Jane smiled, and said, “How about… none of this fire magic, except to propel the stone faster into the target? No [Lavashape] at all.”

“But the point is to do widespread damage, and fire does that. Stone is just—” Kiri thought, then said, “Wham, slam, and you’re done. Fire decimates everything that wasn’t directly damaged, leaving lava where it struck the surface.”

“What do you need this for, though?” Erick asked, “What monsters?”

Kiri said, “Ah. Well. [Comet Swarm] is usually used against armies. Or cities. Like Spur. What monsters? Not many. A Cloud Giant castle, sure? Maybe— Oh yeah. A Desert Rose. For sure.”

That was interesting, but all Erick could focus on was the fact that [Comet Swarm] was an existential threat to Spur. He asked, “How do you defend against that?” He added, “Since you’re using raw material… [Dispel] doesn’t work, does it?”

“Not on the whole spell, but [Dispel] will remove the vast majority of the damage of a properly made [Comet Swarm]. Since there are so many individual comets, you won’t have to guess with the amount of power to put behind your [Dispel], either. You can safely guess at 1000 mana per comet; unless they’re using an aberrant version that costs twenty thousand mana, or such.”  

Jane said, “And then your side would have wasted time and mana throwing ineffectual defenses at the swarm.”

“Exactly. [Dispel] doesn’t de-spell unless you spend the full amount of mana to unmake whatever you’re trying to unmake, though it will punch holes in auras, and it partially works when a spell is carved into parts, like [Comet Swarm]. Clarity does work when calculating [Dispel] costs, but every mage has Clarity, so that hardly helps you.” Kiri said, “But even with [Dispel] you still have multi-ton comets coming toward your front lines, or your buildings.” She swiftly added, “This is all academic, mind you. I have no actual experience fighting against a [Comet Swarm].” She said, “I don’t know who wo— Merit would. Guardmaster Merit would have that information. And Killzone. And Silverite.” She held a fry, saying, “Lots of people in Spur would have that sort of experience.”

Jane said, “I’d like to try my hand at this idea of spell creation.” She gestured toward an empty space beside the kitchen table. A blackboard appeared, with a detailed diagram of creation. “Ah. No.” She gestured again, and a slightly different board appeared. “Yes. That’s it.”

Kiri read the board, teasing, “Don’t worry, Jane. You’ll get the hand of correct item conjuring eventually.”

Jane exaggerated, “Haaa.”

Erick smiled as he read.

–

t1[Force Crash] + Mana Alter Extreme = t2[Sky Fall]

t2[Sky Fall] + [Force Bomb] = [Sky Bomb]

t3[Sky Bomb] + Mana Alter, Bludgeon = t3[Sky Crash]

t4[Sky Crash] + Ice = t5[Sky Ice Crash]

t5[Sky Ice Crash] + Fire, to propel it faster = t6[Comet Swarm]

And no need for stone to start!

–

“Nope.” Kiri said, “You won’t get [Comet Swarm] at that level. You might get [Meteor Swarm].”

“What?” Jane asked, “Why?”

“Because each tier has a...” Kiri paused. She said, “Prevailing theory is that each tier has a certain amount of damage it is able to do. Higher tiers can do more damage, or have larger effects. Erick’s [Call Lightning] kinda broke that theory, though.” She added, “And fire and ice? Really?”

“You saw what Erick was able to do with ice and fire.” Jane said, “Besides! Comets are ice and stone. The only reason they have a fiery tail is because the sun boils away the icy surface into a plume of particulates the closer the rock gets to the sun.”

Kiri frowned. “There is a lot to be said for the validity of sympathetic magic with proper imagery… But...” Her frown deepened. “This is the point where I would normally argue that you have no idea what you’re talking about. But I can’t tell if you’re teasing me, or not.”

“This is one of rare the times Jane is not teasing.” Erick said, “Comets are hunks of ice and stone. And you don’t want one anywhere near your planet. A real comet would cause the death of everything if it actually hit Veird.”

A silence filled the room, as Jane nodded.

Kiri breathed at her sandwich. She looked up to Erick, asking, “Really?”

Erick said, “They’re multi-kilometer wide hunks of rock and ice, traveling at….” Erick looked to Jane. “Help me out here.”

“50 kilometers per second?” Jane guessed. “That seems right. And yes. You don’t want them anywhere near Veird. The impact of an actual comet would kill all life… Actually. I’m not sure. You guys have gods.”

“Yeah.” Erick agreed. “The gods would likely step in at that point in time. Hopefully.”

“There’s a lot of terrifying shit out there.” Jane said, “Black Holes.”

“Gamma Ray Bursts,” Erick added.

“Comet and meteor impacts.”

“Antimatter explosions.”

“Oh yeah. The Tuskegee Event thing?”

“Yup. That’s what I was thinking of.” Erick added, “And black holes traveling at the speed of light could just suck up the whole planet in a millisecond. All very terrifying.” He looked to Kiri, and suddenly reconsidered what he was saying. “Uh. But none of that is likely to happen!”

Kiri breathed harder, more focused. Her green face seemed to be a slightly different green.

Jane looked at Kiri. A slow smile crept upon Jane’s face. She almost said something, but Erick shook his head. Jane settled back into her chair, wearing a wider smile

Kiri softly said, “Okay.” She returned to eating her sandwich. She whispered, “I don’t even know what all that is… but... it sounds… not great.”

Jane said, “An actual realistic [Comet Swarm], would be like a mini-Sundering. But I guess there’s some artistic license when it comes to naming spells. And your gods already protected against one Sundering already.”

Kiri sharply inhaled.  

Erick whispered, “That’s enough, Jane.”

Jane rolled her eyes, whispering, “Yeah, yeah.”

- - - -

The sun rose in the windows of the classroom, while Erick stood with Kiri, in front of two blackboards; one was his, the other hers. The goal was [Death Spiral Fire]; Erick wanted to kill wyrms without putting other people in danger, and he wanted to do it efficiently.  

Kiri’s board read well.

–

t1[Force Beam] + Mana Alter: Fire = t2[Fire Beam] 30 mana

t2[Fire Beam] + t1[Conjure Weapon] = t3[Fire Whip] 100 mana, lasts until dismissed

t3[Fire Whip] + t1[Fireshape] = t4[Fire Wrap] 500 mana, lasts until dismissed, drop down to WIL damage to keep the costs down. (Range is still touch. This is the point where the spell can get wildly expensive)

t4[Fire Wrap] + Mana Shaping, 500 mana = t5[Endless Fire Wrap] 1000 mana, change range to close.

t5[Endless Fire Wrap] + Mana Shaping, 500 mana = t6[Death Spiral Fire] 1500 mana, increase range to long, size to cover the whole body. Damage might become 2xWIL.

–

Erick’s board read not so well.

–

t1[Force Bomb] + Mana Alter: Fire = [Fireball]

t2[Fireball] + [Conjure Item: Napalm] = t3 [Cloying Fireball]

–

Kiri read his board, and said, “So.”

Erick agreed, “So.”

“What’s Napalm?”

“I’m not sure. It’s stuff that burns and doesn’t stop.”

Kiri frowned. “Alchemist Fire?”

“Maybe.”

“[Conjure Item] doesn’t conjure magical items. And besides, as soon as a conjured item takes damage, the Force matrix that gives you the illusion that the item is there, disintegrates. [Conjure Item] isn’t very useful for further spell creation.”

“Ah. Right. Napalm isn’t magical, but yeah… the ‘disintegrating’ part of that negates the ability to use it as fuel for a fire, anyway.” Erick asked, “What about [Teleport Object], for something you make yourself? I saw that spell as part of your [Comet Swarm] last night.”

“[Teleport Object] is one of the necessities for creating many of the higher magics; [Comet Swarm] is only one of those. Your theoretical ‘nalpalm’ spell would be another, if you made the napalm yourself and kept it in a secure location somewhere. But at that point, you could just use Alchemist’s Fire. But this is not the way to get an endless fire spell; Alchemist’s Fire burns away.” Kiri said, “And you don’t want the [Teleport Object] in the Script.”

--

Teleport Object, touch, instant, 250 MP per kilogram.

An object you touch moves to another known location, max 10km distance.

--

Erick agreed, “One kilogram per 250 mana… Not great.”

“Yup.” Kiri said, “And the one in the Script doesn’t allow you to [Teleport] something to yourself, or something from some other place, to some other place. I’m still working on my [Teleport Object]. It’s only tier 2, so I try every day. Never turns out well.”

Erick nodded, then glanced at a different blue box he had open.

--

Prismatic Ward, instant, close range, 12 hours, Solid Ward, 100 MP + Variable

Create a small, solid area that absorbs Variable damage before breaking.

You may only have one Solid Ward active at a time.

Purchase Prismatic Ward for 1 point? Yes/No

--

‘No.’

Not only was [Prismatic Ward] just a spot of solid air, that Erick doubted he could even walk around in himself, but it was limited to size Small. The [Prismatic Ward] in the Script was a house locked tight; a fortress. Not a home, at all.

Erick dismissed the box, asking, “What happens when I have two Solid Wards?”

“You’re asked which one you want to keep.” Kiri said, “The other is destroyed.”

“I don’t have to tear apart [Crystalline Air] before I try?”

“No?” Kiri asked, “Why would you think that?”

Erick waved her off, saying, “Overthinking.” He looked over Kiri’s [Death Spiral Fire], and asked, “So… What is this spell supposed to look like?”

Kiri stared at her blackboard, and said, “Like a rippling red [Personal Ward], with fire burning through the surface to the core, leaving behind nothing but the grand-rad at the center.” She got a far off look in her eyes, as she said, “I saw a Tower Mage use it when I was a child. Looking back, she probably cast the spell more than once…  

“A [Shadowshape] wyrm had just left the treeline. It evaded detection until it made it all the way to my home village. Hunger must have gotten to it by then, because it came over the walls like a shadow. Everything went dark, as it pulled shadows around itself, and began devouring people. It tore through our house…” Kiri breathed. She said, “Then she showed up. Flying in the sky, glowing like a torch. The wyrm instantly went for her. She dodged. She cast. One spell. One second. And that was all it took. The fight was decided. The wyrm burned too brightly to hide in the shadows. But it wasn’t a flickering flame. It was steady, solid fire, that wrapped around the monster; layers of orange and yellow. The wyrm chased her, and she evaded. The wyrm died atop the walls. Nothing else burned; just the wyrm. It was… it was a fantastic fire spell. Control and destruction, all together.”

Erick felt Kiri’s words in his soul, for she had seen the jaws of death, and she had seen the flame of hope burn away those jaws. It was a powerful image.

Kiri looked up at the blackboard, saying, “It was…” She said, “That’s who I hope to be. Someday.”

Erick said, “You will!”

Kiri chuckled.

Erick said, “I don’t have [Conjure Weapon], though. So I can’t do this.”

“You can use [Conjure Armor], but you have to make the offensive version of that spell, first.” Kiri said, “It’s called [Bind]. Many consider this version of [Death Spiral Fire] to be a better version, because this drops the spell a whole tier. If you make it right, you can skip the part where you transform the whip into the wrap.”

--

Bind, instant, touch, 100 MP

Conjure restrictive binds upon a target. Lasts until the target can free itself.

--

Kiri added, “But this version of the spell allows the target the ability to free itself by trashing around enough, which is the opposite of what you want. So.”

Erick nodded. “So I need [Conjure Weapon].”

“It’ll also allow us to spar without your weapon breaking all the time. [Conjure Item] for a staff just doesn’t compare to [Conjure Weapon] for a staff.”

Erick went ahead and bought [Conjure Weapon]. He said, “You sold me.” He looked over Kiri’s spell again, asking, “Do you mind if I try for this, using your method? It seems like a spell that’s close to your heart.”

Kiri smiled softly, saying, “I would love for you to successfully craft this spell.” She looked at the blackboard again, saying, “I’ve got 27 years to go before I can try again.” She added, “I might try for an inferior version before that, though.”

Erick’s eyes widened slightly. 27 years was a long time to try to remake a spell.  

… Erick couldn’t help but be reminded of his own mortality. He was already 48. He could live to be 120, on Veird. There was something to HP and [Cleanse] and the constant struggle that ensured long lives on this planet, or at least that’s what people said. Erick was happy for that. These days, he was feeling his age less and less. He was practically a young man, according to the idea of 120 being ‘old’. But still...

Mortality was a part of reality, but hardly anyone ever made it the full run. Monsters took their fair toll. Other people took the vast majority of the rest.  

Erick flashed a [Conjure Weapon] sword into his hand, then dismissed it, then summoned another, saying, “I guess I have more skills to level.” He dismissed the sword, and summoned another, getting a feel for the magic as he created a whip, this time. The length of white Force curled to the ground. Erick asked, “Want me to tell you when I try for this spell? It’s going to be today.”

Kiri breathed. She stared at the blackboard. She said, “Thank you. But no.”

Erick said, “Very well.”

- - - -

The morning rains came and went, and so did lunch. Inside of his mage tower, Erick summoned countless weapon variations, from daggers to swords, from maces to spears. And then he summoned a bow. It was a fantasy staple, was it not? Elven archers, or rogues, or what-have-you. Erick only knew the vaguest sort of information about all of that, but only because Jane loved it, and he had to purchase so much of it in the form of presents or gifts. When they could afford the extra expenses, anyway. They weren’t rich, back on Earth. But they had enough.

They were filthy rich on Veird, though. It was a nice change, but Erick could do without the monsters and assassins and hunters and worldwide politics.  

Erick ignored all of that train of thought, for a moment, as he held his bow. It was white and completely typical, in the way that Erick thought a typical bow should be.

Erick sent, ‘Hey, Jane? Busy?’  

Erick turned the bow over in his hands, and plucked the string. With another summon of [Conjure Weapon], he had an arrow. The bow did not bend well, or Erick wasn’t strong enough. So he remade the bow, and this time, it bent, as he slotted the arrow on the string, and pulled back.

Jane’s reply came, ‘Not really. What’s up?’

He sent her an image of looking down the sights of the bow, his left eye closed, his right eye just above the notch in the back of the arrow, sending, ‘They don’t have bows on Veird, do they?’

Erick loosed the arrow at the wall. The bow cracked, the string broke, the arrow flopped over and tumbled to the ground, where it disintegrated into so much ambient mana. He chuckled.

‘Don’t close your eyes when you shoot.’ Jane sent, ‘And nope, no bows on Veird. They have [Force Bolt]. And I think the process of making a bow is too involved. If they couldn’t do it in hours, then I don’t think it got done. It’s like metal working. Not many metal workers on Veird, either. Or at least not many on Glaquin.’ Jane asked, ‘So you got [Conjure Weapon]?’  

Erick remade the bow, focusing on flexible strength, sending, ‘Yup. It’s a large component of [Death Spiral Fire].’

‘You know… All these big spells you’re looking at… They’re vastly illegal in most of the world. But since you’ve been declared an archmage by the Headmaster and you’re already famous, people expect you to have these spells already.’ Jane said, ‘I hope you’re taking this seriously, Dad.’

Erick nocked a new arrow on his new and improved bow. The string broke as he pulled it back. He remade the weapon, and re-nocked the arrow, sending, ‘I am, Jane. Very seriously.’

He loosed the arrow. The white arrow cracked against the stone walls of his tower, shattering into ambient mana. He nocked another arrow, better made this time.

‘I hope so, Dad.’

Erick loosed the arrow. It sunk into the stone, two inches, sending a wild crack two foot up through the stone. He smiled. He dismissed the bow, and [Stoneshape]d the wall back together, sending, ‘See you tonight?’

‘Yeah. I’ll be back for dinner. I’ll head to Firemaw Mountain in the morning.’

‘I will have to make a special dinner, tonight!’

‘I’d be more impressed seeing a [Death Spiral Fire], Dad.’

‘… I’ll have to make that, too.’

- - - -

Erick stood under the afternoon sun, in a desolate stretch of the Crystal Forest, different than the one from yesterday. Except for Poi and a trio of Ophiels he was alone; Erick and Poi had both become much more diligent about checking for hunters and people in the area ever since the incident the other day.  

Erick pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket, and read it over again. He put the paper away.

He channeled mana through Mana Altering, feeling the heat of Fire wash across his skin, like being in the center of a non-existent bonfire, as flickering white light rolled up from his hand, like a plasma. [Force Beam] produced an even, cutting light; this was also a plasma, but something deeper. The sounds were close. Very close.  

Ophiel took those sounds, and all three of him began to sing a chorus of plasma and heat.

Erick started the cast, and a blue box appeared the very moment a radiant line of red fire erupted from his pointed finger, to strike the sands. The spell practically came together, all on its own.

--

Pure Fire Beam, instant, medium range, 25 MP

A burning beam of fire deals 3x WIL damage per second for 10 seconds, and WIL damage for 10 more seconds.

--

Erick moved the beam across the sand, leaving a trail of clinging fire where the line of radiance touched.  

The spell ended. Ophiel stopped singing.  

Erick channeled mana through [Conjure Weapon], producing a spike of light that laid in his hand, ready to be gripped and wielded against the world. It was the empowerment of self. The ability to carve a bloody hole in this monstrous world, and then to make a home from the carcass. It was the sword on the mantle. The triumph of intellect to create weapons to match the claws and maws of the beasts roaming the land.

[Conjure Weapon] was the most powerful tool in the world, in the right hands.  

Ophiel took up that song, and married it to [Pure Fire Beam].

It was a song of cutting. Of the edge of a primal fire, slicing through worries and fears with bright flame, disintegrating enemies into pieces, and warming oneself with those burning remains. It was a violent song, for a violent time in a violent world.  

It was a hair-thin line, weaving between destruction and safety; a line that moved based on the flow of battle, but that would come back to lop his own head off if he wasn’t careful.

Erick was totally going to lop off a limb if he tried to make a [Fire Whip].  

This was a bad idea.

Erick had Ophiel halt his song, and strung magic through [Telekinesis]. It was control at a distance; a faint white light on his palm, but an intent that spread far, meters, even, out from Erick’s glowing hand.  

Ophiel took up the song of [Telekinesis] and [Conjure Weapon]. It was ranged destruction. A song of someone calling the shots from afar. Of sending swords to distant shores to guard the vulnerable homeland.

Erick cast.  

A meter long sword, sharp and white, hovered in front of Erick, along with a blue box.

--

Flying Weapon, instant, close range, 100 MP + Variable

Create a nigh unbreakable weightless weapon that flies at your command. Lasts until dismissed.

--

With a mental push, Ophiel took up this new song and joined it to [Pure Fire Beam]. The resultant harmony sounded like a degree of resigned separation; a divorce of power from intent, that would allow that power to run rampant, to do what it must, while the center controlled the fight from the outside.  

Erick focused on that idea, on a song fulfilled, on the perfect harmony of wanton destruction wielded at a distance.

The flying sword vanished. In its place, appeared a dagger made of white flame.

--

Plasma Cutter, instant, medium range, 133 MP + Variable

Create a controlled, flying weapon of flame that deals weapon damage, and leaves burns for 3x WIL damage per second, for 10 seconds. Weapon lasts until dismissed.

--

Erick dismissed the dagger, then recast [Plasma Cutter], creating a line of white fire in the air. Erick controlled the thread-like weapon to dance like a snake, and it did; perfectly. Erick moved the line of fire till one end held the other. He set it spinning. Motes of white plasma laced from the burning ring; a buzzsaw blade of flame.

Erick thought about Allan, of Yetta’s former team, and was conflicted. He tried to kill Jane, but he didn’t really. He would have know that Jane would have felt that invisible buzzsaw coming for her, right? It was all just an act? Whatever the case, it was hard to feel bad for a guy who knowingly sacrificed himself to kill Planter.

… Erick wasn’t strong enough to kill any Shade. Not like this.

He dismissed the thread-weapon, then pulsed another burst of sword-like [Plasma Cutter] into the air, twice, three times. Soon, seven white blades, each five foot long and flaming, hovered in front of Erick, like the bars of a jail cell. White flame transformed to yellow and orange as plasma flowed away from the blades, into the air. But the air was not overly hot; the force of the fire was contained to the flying weapons. Erick looked back to Poi, who was suddenly standing another twenty yards away. Erick smiled.

Erick called out, “I was just about to ask you to stand back!”

Poi replied, “I could tell!”

Erick set the flaming swords around himself, handle pointed toward him, blades pointed outward, equidistant from each other. With a push, he sent the blade spinning, like the world’s most scary hula hoop. Waves of heat rolled up from the spinning, circled blades, as they spun faster and faster, whirring in the air like the sounds of a helicopter. Erick held the reigns of this power, and knew that this was not his way. He would not use this weapon like this; it was too foreign.  

Adding to that, the constant drain of that ‘Variable’ part of the spell had eaten away a thousand mana in under thirty seconds, even with his regeneration being as high as it was.  

He stopped the spin, dismissing all but one of the blades. With [Fireshape] he pressed upon the weapon, and while the flames moved at his command, the weapon had been made; it wouldn’t budge. Erick dismissed the sword, and brought back the thread. This time, [Fireshape] flared the flames of that thread out into a blanket of controlled destruction.  

Erick held that weapon in the air, and turned to the ground. [Stoneshape] pulled a curving, mini-wyrm from the ground. It was a crude sculpture, with exaggerated eyes and limbs all organized down the length; not at all the crazy jumble and decay of a real wyrm. But it would serve.  

Erick wrapped the thread around the wyrm. It sizzled; a tiny char burned the stone under the flaming thread, but it was most ineffective. He dismissed the thread and summoned a length of chain, a hundred individual links, each brilliant white, each covered in fire. He wrapped it around the stone wyrm, and saw that, yes, this might work. Sort of. The extra width of the chains charred an inches-thick band of space under the chains.

… But if one of those lengths broke, the entire spell would break.  

The solution, was obviously, slimes. No wonder Phagar liked the little guys. Erick smiled, as he summoned another [Plasma Cutter], imagining a cloying, moving flame, a thing that started as a ball, but splattered into a covering goo.

A white flaming orb appeared in front of Erick. He threw it at the stone.  

It bounced. It landed on the ground, and rolled; a tiny line of fire licking up from the ground where it touched.

“Ah.” Erick said, “Let’s try this.”

[Flameshape]. [Plasma Cutter].

An undulating ball of white materialized, sputtering with fire, and much more liquid than the previous incarnation. Erick threw the ball of not-water at the stone wyrm. It struck, like a booger spat out. It did not move much, but the flames of the snot ball did crawl across the stone.

… This was not what Erick wanted.

He went back to chains, but combined in them the idea of sticky metal, able to meld in with itself and stick. This attempt broke apart under its own internal stresses before it touched the stone; as soon as the ‘weapon’ part of the spell broke, the spell broke.

Erick pulled Kiri’s plan out of his pocket, and read it over again.  

… At this point in the combination process, Kiri was still working with a touch spell. Erick was not. But that didn’t help him.  

He stuck the paper back into his pocket, and began channeling mana through [Plasma Cutter]. The sounds of a ranged strike came to him; something to cut the enemy and burn the land. But Erick needed something deeper for [Death Spiral Fire]. Something to end the threat, completely.  

Shades and wyrms needed more than a blade to their throat.  

Erick cast.  

[Flameshape]. [Plasma Cutter].

White flames splashed across the stone wyrm, enveloping the statue, burning, crawling around limbs, joining to itself. Stone blackened. The spell held like a living flame, searching the stone for something more to burn. It wasn’t a slime. It was flame given solid existence, and meaning: to burn until nothing was left.

--

Plasma Wrap, instant, close range, 599 MP

Wrap a target in fire, dealing 2x WIL damage a second until the target dies.

--

Congratulations!

You have combined parts of the Script to create your first tier 4 spell!

May your journey into magic be wide and fruitful!

+3 ability points!

--

A twinge of hope flowed through Erick’s chest. This was a good spell. It was fire given form. But it could be better.  

He channeled mana through the spell, and heard the idea of burning away a problem till not even ash was left. But it was an impure sound. A sound of holes in the attack, and danger left for someone else to deal with. It was chaotic destruction.  

Erick needed organized destruction. Methodical.  

Erick had Ophiel sing, while he listened to the clicks and pops in the music, the unbalanced… balance. There was something there, for sure, but it could be better. Smoother.  

Yes. Smoother. That was it, exactly. Erick smiled to himself, happy that he had picked a winner in Kiri; she knew what she was talking about, for sure. Her story came to Erick, and one part stood out from the rest: a fire that coated completely, that burned away until it killed, leaving nothing behind.

Erick dismissed the partial white fire over the stone wyrm, and then cast.

[Mana Shaping]. [Plasma Wrap].

Flickering white covered the entire stone wyrm; a layer of fire, inches thick, and focused entirely inward. The only thing that leaked from the spell was light.  

--

Endless Plasma Wrap, instant, close range, 1101 MP

Wrap a target in fire, dealing 3x WIL damage a second until the target dies.

--

Congratulations!

You have combined parts of the Script to create your first tier 5 spell!

May your journey into magic be wide and fruitful!

+4 ability points!

--

It was a good spell.  

The stone wyrm crackled and popped, as moisture trapped in the stone violently escaped. The stone cracked; the head of the sculpture tumbled to the ground. [Endless Plasma Wrap] remained on the body of the sculpture.  

The tail broke off.  

This spell would leave a lot of debris, wouldn’t it?

Erick had an idea for how to improve this spell.

Erick loved [Cleanse], anyway, and clean air caused fire to burn better. Might as well keep going to tier 6, but in a slightly different way than Kiri outlined. Close range was close enough; Ophiel would be administering this spell, anyway.

Erick channeled mana through [Cleanse], and discovered something he hadn’t known. He had channeled through [Cleanse] before, of course, but today’s creation had altered Erick’s perceptions, or something else had happened, because Erick was open to the magic, right now, and it was speaking to him of deep secrets.  

[Cleanse] produced a clear, brilliant fractal of light, that poured out of his hand in every direction, like complicated snow. It was an endless, recursive magic, that reflected the body of its user upon the rest of the world. It was, perhaps, the most complicated tier 1 spell Erick had ever thought to hear. [Cleanse] was an artful mess of clean perfection. A restoration of order through endless complexity, where everything could go wrong, and yet nothing did; there was something simple to this magic, and yet not.

[Cleanse] was the most gentle doctor’s scalpel, and the words of a kind matriarch. The touch of a father, holding his daughter upright for her first bike ride. [Cleanse] was both the training wheels on that bike, and the helmet on the girl’s head. It was a guidance to a nicer place, where certain dangers were guarded against.  

It was the touch of a god. A guiding, divine hand, and Erick was going to use it to make a harmful spell burn brighter. It seemed wrong; it seemed to go against the very nature of the spell itself.  

Erick stopped channeling mana through [Cleanse], and the snow of the spell dissipated into the manasphere.  

He breathed out into the flowing air of the [Crystal Forest]. Ophiel sang a tiny song of [Cleanse]. The sun shown down from a clear sky; hot, and bright. Sweat dripped down under Erick’s loose clothes. The stone wyrm cracked and broke, finally ‘dying’; [Endless Plasma Wrap] ended, the white glow around the stone vanishing into so much ambient mana.  

Erick [Stoneshape]d the wyrm back together, and after his mana came back, he went for [Death Spiral Fire]. 500 more mana journeyed through Mana Shaping, to meet [Endless Plasma Wrap], combining into a spiky sheet of crawling, tearing magic, that ripped into the stone wyrm like it was soft clay, breaking the wyrm down faster than the fire could burn it apart.

--

Death Spiral Plasma, instant, close range, 17,009 MP

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

--

Congratulations!

You have combined parts of the Script to create your first tier 6 spell!

May your journey into magic be wide and fruitful!

+5 ability points!

--

Erick hummed. ‘Is this success?’ he thought to himself, as the stone wyrm churned into flaming pieces. It was certainly a kind of success, but not the best kind; not one he could ever cast himself.

Erick smiled at the sky, and opened himself up to the manasphere. He said, “Thank you for helping me to create this spell.”

The sky did not respond. But Erick had said his piece, and felt better about giving thanks where thanks were due. The wind blew across his body, and Erick relaxed into the feeling, as Meditation ticked his mana back to full.  

After a while, Erick was ready to continue.

Erick had already strung his mana through all the Shaping spells, and come to one conclusion: Each of them were a piece of a puzzle. Each of them were a lens with which to view the world. The energy of Fire, the life of Water, the solidity of Stone, or the freedom of Air. The brilliance of Light, and the depth of Shadow. Each of them were sides of the same coin, a fraction of Reality.

And Erick was going to build them a home, through love and care.

Erick summoned three more Ophiel to assist, bringing his number up to six. He gave each one of them a piece of the puzzle, while holding onto the endless, mutable protectiveness of [Ward] himself.

He sang a song at the deep blue sky, his words traveling across the Crystal Forest, catching on the wind.

“Free to roam, but here to play                [Airshape]

“A protected space, free of strife           [Stoneshape]  

“A hearth of flame, a place to stay         [Fireshape]

“Drink deep, and nurture gentle life      [Watershape]

“A light protects the door; a knife          [Lightshape]  

“A dark to sing defensive chord             [Shadowshape]

“A home for us, [Prismatic Ward].          [Ward]

The air shifted over the Crystal Forest, like a storm brewing, as Ophiel sang his six-fold parts, and Erick sang the words to bring those parts together.

Thick air formed around Erick; a [Ward] taking shape, in small, flickers of rainbow. Light shifted. Dark swirled. Heat and moisture balanced. Then broke. The air cracked. Solidity broke against freedom. Light warred with Dark; they separated toward their own corners. Fire boiled moisture, as Water turned frosty along the edges of the angry space. The [Ward] distorted, like a sphere smushed in, dented; imperfect.

--

Prismatic Ward, instant, close range,12 hours, Solid Ward, 309 MP + Variable

Create a medium, solid area that absorbs three times Variable damage before breaking.

Prismatic Ward regenerates integrity based on your Rested mana regeneration rate.

You and those you permit are able to pass through Prismatic Ward at will. You may grant or revoke this permission at will.

You may only have one Solid Ward active at a time.

--

Followed by another blue box.

--

Choose which Solid Ward to keep:

Prismatic Ward

OR

Crystalline Air

--

[Crystalline Air].  

[Prismatic Ward] broke apart inside Erick’s mind; like friends parting till tomorrow. He breathed as the rainbow air disintegrated, like so much ambient mana. He trailed a hand through the breaking spell. Flickers of mana curled around his body as he moved, filtering through his fingers like so much rainbow air.  

He had messed up somewhere. Ophiel ceased their song. Erick would go back to the drawing board tonight, and try again when he could. Erick relaxed.

One more spell to try for.  

For the next hour, Erick cast [Teleport], holding onto a rock, trying to move the rock, and not himself.  

Now that, was a complete failure. Erick had no idea what he was even doing wrong. He [Teleport]ed back and forth; his entire self, and not just the rock. He even sang a song at the spell, but all he got was a minor Error. Poi walked over and tapped him with the rod of [Treat Wounds], and Erick decided he needed to know much more about Teleport before he decided to continue this line of spellwork. Erick went home with two and a half failures out of three attempts, and headache.

But [Endless Plasma Wrap] was still more than good enough.

Probably.

- - - -

With a Handy Aura, a rough plan, a quick trip to the market, and a stop by Spice Lady Ratchet’s store, Erick had all the pieces to start dinner. He had three hours to go till dinner, and more than enough food to make; he might not even make it, dinner might be late.

He started with dessert first. Lemon bundt cakes soon filled a table, while iced cookies filled four baskets. Two of the cakes were destined for other people, but those cookies were for Jane and the household.

Dinner would, of course, prominently feature Potatoes. So Erick got right on that. Sliced, fried, then set aside until he could fry them again right before go-time, the potatoes were easy to make. Chicken came next. It was carved into popcorn sized pieces and breaded and fried, with spices so pungent, Erick had to conjure gloves and a face mask to stop his skin from burning.  

When Rats woke up, Erick sent him out for beer. The redscale man smiled and gladly accepted this wonderful new responsibility. He would get the best beer, and it would only cost a few hundred gold. That was okay, money would not be tight for tonight’s service. Erick also told him to buy some fancy breads, too. Rats nodded; he knew just the place.

Erick roasted all sorts of vegetables, from carrots to corn, and not-eggplant and not-zucchini. He even managed to make a passable Ranch dressing with the spices Ratchet sold him, and sour cream he had made the day before. It was slightly different Ranch than how Erick remembered, but when Teressa woke up and tried it, she thought it was wonderful.  

Jane showed up half an hour before sunset, walking home with Rats, both of them carrying kegs and bags of food.  

Erick had decided to make pizza, too. Buffalo fried chicken pizza. The two-foot wide pizza came out of the oven, perfectly melted and singed, just as Jane tapped the first keg.

As the sun set over western Spur, and the sky turned cold, as winds flowed from the north, Erick laid out dinner for his daughter, and everyone else in the household. It was a nice, calm event. Erick burned his mouth trying out the spicy fried chicken, though he was not alone in that regard. The only one able to stomach the powerful spice was Jane, who absolutely loved it. Kiri almost managed to eat a whole fried tender, but rushed for the milk one bite to the end. Jane laughed, while Teressa and Rats chuckled. Poi ate his non-spicy chicken, smiling as he watched. The pizza was an absolute hit. The Ranch went fast, too; Erick had to make more of that, so he did.

Erick felt a joy, in this moment, in this time.

After dinner, Jane made coftea, while Erick sliced up cakes and set out cookies. Dessert was nice, too. Teressa spoke of the places she had seen and the monsters she had killed, while Rats talked of the people who had come through Spur. Poi spoke of history and facts, while Kiri talked of magic. Jane would go hunt Flame Essences tomorrow, but before she went, Erick had presents to give.

It had only taken him twenty minutes, scattered throughout the afternoon cooking, to go to his tower and actually enchant the blanks he already had, and now, he was going to give them to his people; if they wanted them. Erick excused himself from the kitchen table, and went to his tower to collect the presents.  

Erick came back to the kitchen. Dirty plates and half eaten cakes laid scattered across the dark wooden table, while warm mugs of coftea steamed into the air, and people spoke of other places and different times. Nothing had changed between him leaving and coming back, but now, Erick carried ten rings in his pockets, and they felt heavy.

Poi was the first to go silent, and look up to him. Kiri looked up next. Conversation ceased.

Erick said, “I made rings for everyone. But these are special. If anyone ever finds out you have something like this, you might become a target, but we’re already targets. So...”

Kiri breathed in, sharply. Teressa and Rats frowned. More silence.

Jane said, “I think it’s a good idea. You all could do with some more defenses.”

Poi asked, “What are they?”

Erick pulled out his ten rings, and Handy Aura’d them out. The rings floated on unseen hands, to sit beside their designated people. The rings were unassuming things; a silver, plain sphere, set in a thin band of iron. There were no flourishes upon the jewelry, but everyone stared at them like they were priceless, or dangerous, or interesting.

Jane put hers on, first. Left ring finger, right ring finger, and done. She tilted her head, then sat calmly, saying, “That’s some good quality.”

“They’re a bit better than mine, but only by a few points.”

Jane said, “A few points adds up a lot.”

“Well. Yeah,” Erick agreed.

Rats took off his old rings and put on his new ones. He shivered. A moment passed, as he read the air, blinking. His mouth dropped open. He almost said something, but he chose to remain silent.  

Poi, Kiri, and Teressa quickly put theirs on.  

Erick watched, as eyes lit up, and brows furrowed, and Poi glared daggers at absolutely everyone except Erick. Poi’s look was one that declared that questions would remain questions.

Poi looked up to Erick, and said, “Thank you. These will do nicely.”

Kiri chuckled. “Oh my gods— I don’t want to know how. But I want to know. You know?”

Rats said, “Best not to.”

“Yes.” Teressa said, “Don’t poke around at this, Kiri.” She looked at the rings on her fingers, and said, “I’m not even sure we should have these.”

Rats said, “This solves so many problems for me. I’m using them.”

Kiri said, “Me too.”

“Me three.” Teressa said, “But… There is a danger, here.”

Jane said, “Danger is everywhere. Rats almost died the other day.”

Poi said, “The argument is a valid one to have. But we are using these rings. They solve a lot of problems for me, too.”

Kiri glanced up to Erick with a hunger in her eyes, but she looked away, to the rings on her fingers, and said nothing.

Jane looked to Kiri, then to Erick, smirking, as she asked, “How’d your [Death Spiral Fire], go, Dad?”

Erick exaggerated a frown at his daughter, as he glanced to Kiri.

“What!” Jane asked, all falsely innocent.

Erick decided to pull the bandage off quickly. “I did not get it—”

Kiri sighed out a happy, silent chuckle.  

“—but I got something very similar—”  

Kiri held her breath.

“—and something that is good enough to use in the place of [Death Spiral Fire].”

Kiri deflated, but quickly regained her composure.  

Erick pulled out the box for [Endless Plasma Cutter], and handed it to Jane, across the table. At Kiri’s barely concealed look of supreme want, he handed her a copy, too. Kiri’s eyes went wide, as her breath hitched.

Jane took the spell, and spoke for the group, “Three times Willpower damage until the target dies. 1101 mana. Close range, though that’s not a big deal with Ophiel.” She dismissed the spell. “That’s a wyrm-killer!”

Kiri smiled softly, as she read the spell. She said, “It will serve.”

Erick changed the subject. “Anyone have any idea how [Teleport] works? I couldn’t get anything past the basic spell.”

Kiri kept her soft smile; remaining silent.

Poi said, “I have no idea.”

Teressa and Rats both shrugged, each of them touching the rings on their fingers.  

Kiri said, “Uh! Yeah. It’s difficult to get [Teleport Object]. Proper training will help.”

“[Prismatic Ward] didn’t get made well, either.” Erick sat down and carved himself another slice of lemon cake, saying, “I did the rhyme and everything, but I think it was too simple. That spell is seven moving parts, all at once.”

Kiri asked, “How bad was it?”

“It was better than the Script version, for sure. But it was only 3 times Variable, and an unchanging area. Medium sized.”

Kiri paled, guttering out a long, drawn out, “Haaaa.”

Jane laughed loud.

Erick ignored Jane, saying, “So, Kiri. I was thinking to try a few Particle spells, and see about having you make them, and me copying them. Would you be interested in this?”

“Yes!” Kiri said, instantly.

Jane laughed again.

While dessert rolled on, and they spoke of magic, Erick went ahead and bought the rest of the spells necessary for Oceanside.

--

Fabricate 1, 1 minute, close range, 50MP + Variable

Using provided materials, create a permanent object you know how to create.

Exp: 0/100

--

Control Item 1, instant, touch, 5MP + Variable

Control a non-living item to move how you desire, for 10 minutes per spell level.

Exp: 0/100

--

Envelop Item 1, instant, touch, 50MP + Variable

Envelop an item in nigh-unbreakable mana. Lasts for 1 hour per spell level.

Exp: 0/100

--

Adjust Scent 1, instant, close range, 10 MP + Variable

Change a Scent.

Exp: 0/100

--

Alter Size 1, instant, touch, 10 MP + Variable

Increase or decease the size of a target. Damage breaks effect. Lasts 1 minute per spell level.

Exp: 0/100

--

Alter Friction 1, instant, close range, 10 MP

Increase or decease Friction upon a small target. Damage breaks effect. Lasts 1 minute per spell level

Exp: 0/100

--

Husbandry 1, instant, touch, 50 MP + Variable

An animal’s opinion of you improves.

Exp: 0/100

--

He’d have to work on leveling those tomorrow, along with all the rest of the spells, as well as take another shot at [Prismatic Ward].

- - - -

Jane left in the morning, with a pack of lemon cookies and a lot of leftover chicken, and a large stone jar of the pepper spices Ratchet had made her. Erick’s rings were dull things on her fingers, while her eyes were bright brown, and full of joy. They spoke of talking every other night, or at least when they could; though Erick’s night would end up being hours ahead of Jane’s, and Jane might actually go out of range. [Telepathy] covered a vast, vast distance, but it wasn’t world-wide.  

Oceanside was on an island country, south east of the Greensoil Republic, near the equator, while Jane would be traipsing all across continental Glaquin, as well as a final pass through the islands of Nergal, on the southern hemisphere.   

Erick could barely get a [Telepathy] signal from here to Oceanside; he would have enough trouble providing the rains for the farms. Talking across double that distance was just unfeasible. At least with Erick’s basic tier 1 [Telepathy], anyway.  

Jane was prepared for a long journey. Months, maybe. But she would be back in Spur, sooner or later. Spur was home, and her father was here, after all.

Erick cried as he hugged Jane beside the garden of their house, one final time. Wind rustled the lemon trees, and the vines and the corn stalks.

“I love you, Dad.”

“I love you, too, Jane.” Erick hugged her tight, asking, “You got a map, right? You know where you’re going?”

“I have a plan.” She said, “I know where I’m going.”

“I know you do.” He said, “I love you.”

Jane giggled, saying, “I love you, too, Dad.” She pulled away, then wiped away a tear of her own. She blinked up at the sunlight, shining across the roof. “Kiri can not have my tower.”

Erick laughed. “Okay.”

“I’m serious about this, now.” Jane smiled. “I’ll see you later, Dad.”

“Later.”

Jane blipped dark blue, and she was gone. The air was empty. Wind blew through the space that had just held his daughter, while she, herself, was a thousand kilometers away, and likely already blipping again, headed north, back to the Wyrmridge Mountains. Firemaw Mountain was her goal; to work on her [Fire Body], before she tackled the unicorn.

Erick stared at the air where his daughter had been.  

Then he went back inside, to his tower. He stared at the ceiling, where the model of the Solar System hung. He stared for a while. Thinking, and not thinking. When he was done with that, ten or twenty minutes later, he got to making diamonds. Liquid had one more order of 50 rings left to fulfill, while Odaali and Cyril had 50 coming to them, too.  

Erick sent Ophiel out to rain on the farms at the appropriate time, while he continued to toil in his tower. Diamond dust flew from jewelry lathes, and layered against Erick’s skin, and his face mask. Exalted rain funneled through gutters, into a cistern. Maskwards layered over pools of platinum water, as Ultramarine, Cyan, Cinnabar, and Crimson, sunk into spherical gems, to be sealed inside, under layers of platinum-laced diamond.

Artifacts were born, five, ten at a time.  

Liquid got her order in the middle of the afternoon. At the same time, Erick delivered two lemon cakes to High Priest Darenka. She loved them.  

Cyril, and Odaali, would have to wait till the morning for their shipment, because not only did Erick have no way to contact them, but Poi said they were not accepting anything from him. Well fuck that! Erick made a promise, and they were going to accept their items, dammit.  

Erick would have pursued that conversation more, but at that moment, Al showed up at Erick’s front door, half an hour till sunset, wearing nicer clothes than normal.  

- - - -

Al was a 9 foot tall hunk of orcol man, with light brown-green skin, short black hair, deep black eyes, and light scars that crisscrossed much of his face. The scars were barely noticeable in normal light, though from his time in the bath house, Erick knew those scars covered a lot of the man’s body. But he was fully clothed, right now, and wearing an impeccable gangster-sultan’s loose, black and gold suit, over his massive muscular frame; Erick was completely unprepared for such a sight.  

The sun glinted through the solid, flat [Crystalline Air] that surrounded the house, separating Al from Erick, who stood in the doorway, wearing a diamond dust covered tunic and breeches, looking rather destitute. He brushed sparkles out of his hair, and realized he needed a haircut. Shaving was hard enough—

“Good evening, Erick.” Al asked, “May I call upon you tonight, for a night on the town?”

Erick stood, stunned.

Al cleared his throat, adding, “This is not a date. I don’t date.”

Erick broke out in a laugh, while Al’s face turned darker and his arms loosened on his sides. He frowned, as his open hands clenched.

Al said, “I am sorry for the imposition.” Al turned to walk—

Erick quickly said, “Sorry! Not laughing at you. Just— Yes! I want to go on a non-date.” He patted himself down, adding, “I am quite underdressed, though.”

Al froze. He turned back to Erick, his face bright, as his eyebrows went up and his dark eyes sparkled. He stood straighter, stating, “Apologies. I… I have not done this… in a long time.” He tentatively asked, “Your… Your flirting, was real, yes?”

“Yes,” Erick said with a smile. He moved aside from the door, mentally pushing at the [Crystalline Air], giving Al permission to enter, saying, “Come on in. I. Uh. I need to get ready?”  

Al looked over the [Solid Ward] around the house, then touched the surface. The solid air parted at his touch. Al pushed through, breaking the [Ward] into fractals across his entire body, as he stepped into the house. He overshadowed Erick by at least two feet. Erick smiled to look up at the man, as Al’s face flushed. The tall man looked away, smiling.  

Erick stepped back, again, asking, “What’s the plan for tonight?”

Al glanced back to the [Solid Ward], touching it again, eliciting cracked air around his finger.  

“Oh yeah!” Erick said, “I never showed you this, did I?” Erick pulled out the spell and handed it to Al.

Al briefly read over the spell, and smiled to say, “You are a lot more prepared for the trials of this world than you were when you first arrived upon my own doorstep.” He dismissed the blue box. “I am greatly pleased by this.”

“I am too.” Erick said, “Jane’s still worried, though. I sent her off today. She’s out gathering forms for Polymage. Oh! I did make this spell that burns a thing til it dies. It’s not [Death Spiral Fire], but it’s close. Still working on the rest of the standard archmage-repertoire, though.”

Al smiled wide, his lower fangs peaking out. He laughed, happy, saying, “This is good! Are you trying for that pesky mana sense skill, yet?”

“Just got [Detect Magic] the other day, and Kiri says that will help develop the skill, but I’ve yet to actually sit down and attempt such a thing.”

“It is a difficult skill.” Al smiled, saying, “But this is good! We shall celebrate!”

Erick smiled, softly, repeating, “What’s the plan for tonight?” He pulled at his clothes, scattering diamond dust, adding, “How much better should I dress?”

Al said, “I would be honored if you would accompany me to see the opening fights.”

Erick didn’t know if he heard that correctly. “The fights?”

Al paused. “Did you not know they were happening?”

“I have been kinda… occupied. Lately.”

Al smiled. He said, “In three to five days, the underground river will drop to a trickle, and water will have to be manually pulled up from below. This is when we hold the fights.” Al said, “Blood is spilled in friendly combat, to bless the lands and in prayer that the water will come again. Whoever has the most points by the time the water drops, wins. The fights this week promise to be the largest fights in a hundred years.” He added, “That’s the rumor, anyway.” He frowned at Erick, asking, “Did you really not know of them?”

Erick looked back toward Teressa, standing on the edge of the room in her monolithic grey [Conjure Armor]. She stood firm, without her helmet. She looked resigned; maybe slightly sad.  

He asked her, “There are fights?”

“Yes, sir.” Teressa said, “I talked about it while you were making that dinner for Jane, and this morning, but it seems your mind was in another place.”

“Sorry. Yeah.” Erick agreed, “Probably.”  

Teressa simply nodded.

Erick asked, “I guess I’m going to them. Wouldn’t you want to go, too? Or, Poi can be the guard? And you can just go to them. You didn’t ask me for the night off, did you? Or… did you ask Poi?” Erick looked around. “Where is Poi, anyway?”

Teressa brightened, but she settled down, saying, “It’s me and Rats here, tonight. Poi is off doing whatever. We can go, though. Uh.” She said, “If you wish.”

Al readily said, “Yes! Yes. Let us all go!” He whispered to Erick, “This is not a date.”

Erick grinned. “I’ll go get ready.”

- - - -

Teressa watched Erick walk up the stairs to his room, then turned to Al, smiling wide, before she rushed off to her own rooms to go change. At a sudden thought, she burst into Rats’ room, waking him up, saying, “We’re going to the fights!”

Rats froze in his bed. He was awake, for sure. Teressa heard his heartbeat sledgehammer in his chest. Slowly, wide eyed, he turned over in his bed, glaring death at Teressa.

Teressa only smiled wider, saying, “We’re going to the fights.”

Rats breathed deep, then said, “Fucking hell and heaven, Teressa. Please don’t ever wake me up like that ever again.”

“Why are you still in bed, anyway!” Teressa said, “Get up, get up!”

Rats began extracting himself from his covers, muttering, “Bloody gods damned orcols and your bloody blood sports.”

Teressa squee’d just a bit, saying, “Yes yes! And we get to see them in person, this year!”

“Yeah yeah...”

- - - -

Erick rushed to his room. Once inside, he promptly stripped and then [Stoneshape]d the diamond dust off of his body. He cast a [Cleanse] and put on his best outfit; a pure white set of what he normally wore, and since this was a nightly event, Erick grabbed his nice brown cloak, too.
 

Ophiel watched him the whole time. He had watched Erick while Erick was shaping diamonds, too. As Erick walked out of his room. Ophiel followed, hovering through the air like he was floating on a lazy river.

Erick was the last one to enter the foyer; Teressa and Rats were waiting for him, alongside Al. Erick’s guards had dressed nicely, both of them wearing finer fabrics than their usual army-assigned armor, with nice belts and nicer cloaks.  

Al looked up at Erick stepping down the stairs, and smiled. “Ready?”

“Ready!”

Rats said, “I’ve already checked in with security, so we’re cleared for arrival.”

Erick asked, “Security?”

Al smiled, saying, “People are throwing around high tier magic and weaponry. Of course there’s security.”

- - - -

The northern gates of Spur had been set opened. A ten meter wide, thousand meter long, road had been made out of sand, linking from the city, to a hill of lights off in the distance. Light orbs hung on the sides of that road, while countless people walked north, with friends, or family, or adventuring partners. Guards did not line the road, but they did man the gate from Spur.

The walk was a short one, all things considered. Cold threatened on the air, but a lot of people were here, on the road, and Erick’s cloak was thick enough without needing to resort to some [Conjure Armor]. Others on the road were not so lucky; Erick clearly saw, in the singular colored cloaks or the singular colored armors, that some people were outsiders, who needed to learn how to dress for the hot and cold climate of the Crystal Forest.

Stone rose high at the end of that road; the hill was not a hill at all, it was a coliseum. It was a structure that was not there yesterday, and might not have been there this morning, either. Thick columns supported high walls, with arches on top of those columns, and stadium seating beyond. Lightorbs and lightsculptures of weapons, and explosions, and beams, and people of all sorts, locked in a battle, hovered in a ring of multicolored light atop those columns and arches, providing a diffuse, rainbow of color, that added up to a prismatic glow, bathing everything in the colors of a festival.  

In the center of that veritable wall of the exterior coliseum, sprung a fountain. Cascading from on high, blue and white lights flowed inside that water, to crash upon layers of stone; pools for which the water only took a brief break, before falling down again, to other waiting shelves.  

“I need to see that fountain,” Erick said.

“And so you shall!” Al declared, just one loud voice among the throng of people, walking to the fights.

Ophiel rested on Erick’s right shoulder, his eyes open wide to the world.

The roar of the cheering crowd on the other side of that stadium wall rocked across the twilight Crystal Forest, but the noises of the exterior of the coliseum were loud, too. People were everywhere.  

And as they got close, the scents of food washed over Erick. Fried things. Cheesy things. Sugar and sweets. Meats and breads. Overhangs of stone and tables made of rock were everywhere across the sands, providing ample seating or respite, while countless food stalls sold brisk business to people eagerly awaiting their food.

Erick smiled. “I want to try some of everything.”

“And so we shall!” Al said, “But the fountain is over there.”

They made their way through the crowd, to stand at the base of the fountain. Water poured from on high, like glowing blue and white rain. The final crash of water ended in a bright pool, littered with light orbs and copper coins, though Erick spotted glints of gold and silver here and there amongst the rippling water.  

All around Erick, other people were tossing in coins, and then closing their eyes in prayer, while guards watched from the sides of the pool. A sign in front of the glowing pool declared, ‘All donations go toward the Interfaith Church of Spur.’

As Al threw in a gold coin, Erick looked at the fountain again. The gods were in the waters; statues or reliefs, here and there, in muted glory. Rozeta hovered high on the multi-story fountain; a long dragon weaving among stone clouds; the water started among those stone clouds by Rozeta, before falling down onto other stone clouds, then all the way to the pool at the bottom. On one of those clouds stood Koyabez, while Atunir stood under the rain among stone wheat grown all around her. Phagar stood to the side, in a secluded space, with several slimes around his feet.

Erick threw in a gold coin, and made an indistinct prayer for a good future.  

And then it was time to get back to the party. Al led the way back to the food carts, and promptly ended the idea of a discussion about who was going to pay; Al was paying. Erick revived the conversation by shoving money at the next stall before Al could. Al just laughed. From one eatery to the next, the balance of who-paid-for-what might have been even; Erick was already three beers into the night.

In the middle of their fourth food stall, Poi showed up.

Erick shoved some beer at the dour man, saying, “Drink up! It’s a festival, didn’t you know!”

Poi took the beer, almost saying something that was surely a buzzkill, but he stopped, and said, “Very well.” He sipped his beer, and said, “Teressa and Rats want to participate in the fights, you know? They left you behind twenty minutes ago.”

“No!?” Erick said, “I did not know!” Erick turned to Al, declaring, “We must go cheer them on.”

Al pointed over the crowd, saying, “Onward! To the arena!”

Erick finished his beer and got a fifth on his way through the crowd, to the arena proper.  

The coliseum was only half of a coliseum, specifically, the southern half. There were no two sides to this conflict, only the one side: Spur. The seating for all of Spur took up hundreds of rows, up and down the veritable mountain of stone that had been moved to for this event. Three such seating areas had been made, and all of them looked down onto a hundred meter wide oval of bare rock and sand, and the dark expanse of the north, at night.

With [Ultrasight] Erick saw two groups of people already fighting in the oval, under bright spotlights that illuminated everything, though one of the fighters was in the sky, shooting [Force Bolt]s. Ophiel trilled to see the man in the air, as though asking, ‘Why aren’t they all flying?’

Erick asked, “Only half an arena?”

Al carried his beer in one hand, and pointed with a tray of donuts in the other, saying, “They start down there, but they often end up elsewhere.” He added, “And besides! It’s bad form to use the audience as a shield, even accidentally. These guys look like rookies, but we might see a real fight by the end of the night.”

Erick glanced backward at the fight, as they walked up the seating area, to find a nice spot. Swords flashed under spotlights. Beams carved across the sand. A man leapt at a woman, as the woman vanished, and reappeared behind the man, striking hard. The man crashed across the arena to spack against a boulder. The audience all around Erick both cheered and winced.  

People on the sidelines at the arena edge rushed to the downed man, but the man stood back up, to a minor cheer from the crowd.

“Hello there!” Al said, to someone.

Erick turned back to see Al greeting Mog. A few other people Erick had never seen before, sat with the guildmaster. All of them wore armor; all of them looked ready for a fight. Mog wore a powerful red armor that protected her more than anything else Erick had ever seen her wear, hiding much of her massive musculature, and making her look twice as huge as normal. A powerful smile finished off her powerful look.  

Mog said, “Why hello there, you two beautiful men.”

“Mog!” Erick said, “Hello! The Hydra is dead.”

“I know.” Mog smirked, asking, “What about the rest of them?”

“Ah. Well.” Erick said, “Soon I’ll be off to Oceanside for some archmage training, if that what you’d want to call it. But if you get any sightings, I’m always open to a [Telepathy]. Or Poi is.” Erick looked behind him, to see Poi. “Maybe?”

Poi spoke up, “Any time, Guildmaster Mog.”

Mog said, “I’ll hold you to that.”

Al said, “We must talk about this Oceanside trip, Erick.”

A man with Mog leaned over— It was Draz, from Erick’s remedial adventuring training. Erick smiled to see the man, as a tendril of thought connected him to Mog.

Mog sighed, looking over Erick and Al, and said, “We’re up—”

“You are! Already?” Al asked.

“Yup.” Mog and her team stood from their seats. “Keep our seats warm, would you? I’d like to talk to you about Oceanside, too. After we win.”

Erick said, “Certainly! Good luck.”

Mog smiled, to say, “We make our own luck.”

“Good fight, Mog,” Al said.

“Later, Al.”  

Mog walked down the aisle, as other people walked up. The half-stadium was getting full, as twilight ended, and stars took hold of the northern sky. A cool wind should have blown… But the air was rather still. It was chilly, but someone must have had [Weather Ward]s out there.

Al sat down where Mog had been. Erick sat down beside him. People in the crowd occasionally blipped away, only to reappear later with more food, and to a guard standing where they blipped back; scoldings played out across the stadium, here and there, while most people just watched the battles down below, cheering, and booing, and laughing, and roaring at the good show.  

Al looked like he had something to say, but nothing came.  

Erick said, “Thank you for inviting me out, Al. I had no idea this was happening. I was going to [Teleport] out to Oceanside the day after tomorrow… But I was going to see you right before that.” He looked up to the blushing orcol, and said, “I was beginning to wonder if you had gotten cold feet, after I dropped on you that I was over 50.”

Al sat straighter. “I understood what you meant.” He reluctantly added, “I just did not know… What to do with this information. Spur is a melting pot, but I have no idea how to interact with a human… in this scenario. We haven’t had humans in Spur in a very… Ever since I moved to the city.”

Erick smiled. “I don’t bite, unless you want me to.”

Al laughed loud. It was a good sound.

Erick joked, “I was actually trying to flirt with Mog the other day, since it looked like you weren’t interested—”

Al blushed dark.

“— But I think I might have done something to offend her.”

Al suddenly laughed again. “Mog loves to flirt, but as soon as affection is returned, she shuts down. It is an old problem with her.” He added, “But this is good news for me. It means I have at least a year to make a move on you. If we are your only suitors, that is.”

Erick laughed.  

Al asked, “Are there any other rivals for your affections I should be aware of?”

Erick forced falsely-serious words through his smile, saying, “I’m hot stuff. Everyone wants a piece of this platinum rain action.”

Al laughed loud.

- - - -

When Team Mog’s turn came, the arena cheered like thunder rolling across the land.  

Her opponents never stood a chance. Mog instantly zipped through the space between her and those four unfortunate people. By herself, in bright red armor, she bashed a leg in half, sent a guy flying, turned an arm into a broken thing, and accepted the surrender of the fourth guy.

The crowd cheered, again.

Erick sent Ophiel down for more beer. And fried chicken. And fries. Couldn’t forget the fries!

The vendors were only slightly worried about Ophiel’s half-enlarged appearance, but everyone knew who he was from his time providing rain for the farms. Ophiel handed over gold, too, so that soothed a lot of ruffled feathers.  

- - - -

Mog walked up the stairs, without her group, and without her armor. She wore a red dress, instead. A warm cloak wrapped around her shoulders, but her dress was cut to reveal. Erick’s Vitality had already prodded at him this entire night, but now, with Al sitting on one side and Mog suddenly sitting down on the other side, Erick just chuckled to himself, as his pants were a bit too tight.  

Mog leaned into him, asking, “How’d you like our fight?”

Erick smiled, saying, “Was that a fight? It looked like a beating.”

Al laughed, saying, “You never gave them a chance, Mog!”

Mog leaned back, putting on a false offense, as she said, “They were our opponents! I did what anyone should do.”

“You smacked them up right good,” Erick said.

“I did.” Mog grinned, looking down at the fights in the arena, adding, “It’s what rivals deserve.” She looked to Al, saying, “My very best.”

Erick looked up from Mog, to Al, saying, “You know? For the longest time, I thought you two were an item.”

Mog laughed at that, while Al coughed up his beer. The people on the seats below looked up; Erick mouthed ‘Sorry’, but they just turned back around, eyes intent on the arena.

Mog said, “We would have been.”

Al added, “You wanted what I could not give.”

“And it’s an old argument that doesn’t bear repeating.” Mog said, “But now, we’re just friends who meet around town, and occasionally in each other’s beds.”

Al choked on his beer again, but contained the spilled beer to himself this time.

Erick just smiled to himself, saying, “Ah. Well I’m not that… Ah.”

Mog sat straight, saying, “I didn’t mean to imply that you were. Uh.” She went silent. She stared down at the fight. She said, “Sorry.”

She vanished in a blip of grey.

Al said, “Sorry about… Uh.” He looked to Erick, and said, “Oceanside will be good for you. Very good. Just don’t get taken in by the Headmaster. Uh.” He paused. He said, “This is all very awkward, now. She should not have said that.”

Erick looked up to the man, and said, “Don’t worry about it.”

A bright flash of light on the arena drew Erick back toward the action.

As the arena turned to flame, and the crowd went quiet, Erick added, “Ah! Let’s watch this one.”

Al agreed, glad for the sudden distraction.

Three people set out against three others, one team in blue, the other in yellow. Blue light streamed down from the sky, striking yellow adventurers, exploding into blue conflagrations. Sand melted, as yellow men and women vanished and reappeared in the blue formation. Yellow pulses rocked the arena, like drops hitting a calm pond, striking blue armor and fracturing into further explosions.  

A blue arm went flying.  

Somewhere in the middle of that, blue swords carved against yellow helmets. A yellow breastplate streaked with red; first blood. They were out of the fight. They were also unconscious.

The chaff was culled, only two people were left.  

A blue man stood against a yellow woman, the others having already fallen. The heavens opened up again, raining blue [Force Bomb]s that scattered across the field, exploding in blazes of glory. But yellow moved faster than blue. She pulsed with rings of yellow; Force exploding where it touched something that was not already yellow.  

Blue flew into the air, away from the audience. Yellow chased, flying, sword drawn, a seven meter length of unwieldy weapon. Not a drop of blood yet spilled from either of them.

The sky opened into crashes of blue, while Yellow retaliated with explosions of her own. A cacophony filled the night as yellow and blue light danced a song of destruction.  

A stray bolt struck near the original arena, sending sand into the audience. Some cheered. Guards stood up and cast [Force Wall]s.  

Whoever Yellow and Blue where, they were not rookies; they were veterans, and evenly matched. Blue struck with waves of lightning. Yellow deflected with barriers of Force. Yellow struck with a [Teleport] and a swipe. Blue retaliated with a reactive explosion that sent Yellow hurling backward, and faintly on fire.  

Beams of green light ripped through the air from a dozen different sources around Blue, converging on Yellow, as Yellow swiped a hand through the air, and the beams reflected back to Blue.  

“How did she do that!” Erick asked.

Al answered, “[Reflection]. An exceedingly good version. You get it through [Ward].”

“How?”

“[Rebound] and [Ward]. Somehow.” Al said, “Very difficult to get right.”

“Wait! I think I knew that. Did I? I might be drunk.” As the arena flashed with a hundred small blue explosions, Erick added, “I need [Reflection].”

Al smiled, saying, “It is a good spell.”

Tiny sized Ophiel stared at the fight, with a hundred open eyes. Being that he was only, all together, five linear foot of wings, a hundred eyes upon him made him look quite nightmarish. Erick went to pat Ophiel, to calm him down a bit, but was unsure of where to touch to not touch an eye. Ophiel solved Erick’s hesitation by pressing his open eyes against Erick’s hand.

It was not the most pleasant experience. It wasn’t wet; Ophiel wasn’t organic. But it was… icky. But Erick just laughed, and petted anyway. Erick returned his own eyes to the fight in front of him, burning [Ultrasight] to see more clearly.

After ten minutes, a winner appeared; Yellow. But only because Blue fell out of the sky, mana spent. With nothing left to give and too tired to move, Yellow stabbed Blue in the side; a tiny cut, releasing a tiny bit of blood onto the sands.

Erick turned backward toward Poi. “Are Rats and Teressa going out later?”

Poi said, “They’re not going to fight. They weren’t willing to disclose their enchanted equipment under truthstone.”

“Probably for the best.” Erick said, “I was waiting for them, but that’s enough for me, Al.”

Al smiled. “Me too. Let me walk you home.”

Erick smiled.

- - - -

At Erick’s front door, Poi went inside while Erick and Al remained a few feet outside of the [Crystalline Air]. Erick looked over Al, briefly remembering their time at the bath house, and everything that those clothes hid, while Al looked down at Erick, with a slight smile and his lower fangs protruding.  

Al stepped away from Erick and gave a quick bow, saying, “Thank you for the fun night.”

“Thank you, Al.” Erick said, “That was unexpected, and thoroughly enjoyable. Though I must admit I enjoyed the company more than the blood sports.”

Al chuckled, then said, “Enjoy your time in Oceanside. I eagerly await your return.”

Erick opened his mouth, but then shut it. He said, instead, “I’ll see you later, Al, but the rains will still come. You have [Telepathy], right? You can contact me, if you wish.”

Al smiled softly, then said, “Learn lots, Erick. Talk to you later.”  

And then he left. Erick watched him go, for a little while. Al turned around and waved. Erick felt his face heat, as he waved back, and went inside.

Erick did his evening routine; even washing himself off with a [Watershape]d orb of soapy water; a rarity, in Spur, while he held [Cleanse Aura] open. After that, Erick went upstairs. Kiri was awake and busy in the classroom, working on ideas for spells; Erick had told her he would help her make a Particle spell, but only if she made something that would be useful and not destructive. She was working on that. She was still in the idea phase, too.  

So Erick went to bed. Ophiel curled up on the pillow beside him. It was already midnight. Jane had not checked in, so Erick bothered her with a [Telepathy]. She yelled at him; she was sleeping. Erick just laughed, happy that she was okay. He wished her a good night, and she reluctantly did the same.  

 Erick dreamed of black dragons, both the long kind, and the kind with tails and wings the size of their body.