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The horizon was an orange sandpit in every direction, with few clouds hanging in the blue above. Warm winds flowed from the north, and sand had gotten into Justine’s shoes. In a few hours, she’d have chaffing. She was only level twelve; most of her points had gone into the few spells she needed to advance, and to get up to 20 in Willpower and Focus, as well as the tripling Skills for more Mana and Mana Regen. Thank Erick for his rings and that extra Strength, else she’d have blood blisters, for sure, as well as a horrendous sunburn. Her white skin burned rather easily under full sunlight, and 600 Health helped to mitigate much of that possibility. Her eyes were still at risk of sun blindness, but she’d only be out here for a little while. All this place could offer her was level 32, or maybe 34, if she wanted to spend five hours in the sun, instead of two.

The road to high level was long, and dangerous, but even with all of that in front of her, she couldn’t help but feel happy. She smiled at the sky, and then turned toward Ophiel, and the white map hovering above the sands. Studying it had not taken long; there were no people within a hundred kilometers. Justine and Ophiel were alone out here, in the middle of nowhere. Erick was here in spirit and in the eyes of the Ophiel flying high above, but he wasn’t really here.  

The Ophiel currently controlled by Erick pointed north west.  

Erick said, “It’s a hundred meters that way. I could blip you closer?”

Justine chuckled. She began walking north west, saying, “I haven’t walked more than the length of your house, in a week. This feels good.” She said, “The sun. The wind.” She smirked, as she kicked the sand. “The sand.” She admitted, “Though I do need to make myself a better pair of shoes.”

“I could get you shoes?”

Justine shook her head. “No thank you. You’ve done a great deal for me already.” And he had. Justine arrived at Erick’s house with nothing. But he had given her fabrics and plants and shelter from the Darkness. One of the only ‘non essential’ spells she picked up since then was [Fabricate]. Her shoes were self-made, along with her brown pants and white blouse. She was not a seamstress, but she could get by, and [Fabricate] helped to smooth out the small mistakes that hand creation would have caused. Justine would never be selling her clothes in any sort of shop, but not many people could. She said, “I’ll make myself a better pair, once I get back and I have the mana to spare for more [Fabricate]s.”

Ophiel floated forward, slightly, as he casually wreathed himself in light.  

After a moment Erick said, “Only about sixty meters ahead, past those dunes.”

Justine smiled, and headed up the first of many dunes. Sand scattered down the slope as she trudged upward, her feet not sinking in too far at all. This was fine. When she reached the top, the vista of the Crystal Forest stretched out before her; undulating waves of orange under a blue, windy sky. Here and there sat crystal mimics, like splashes of glitter interrupting the horizon. The nearest one was only a dune away, its stigma barely visible on the other side of the sand. It was moving.  

Gently, like it was simply repositioning itself, the stigma of the crystal mimic rose above the dune. It was probably positioning to get into the sun better, but whatever the case for the movement, it didn’t really matter. The upper spikes of the mimic were coming into view.  

Justine waited for a good angle, and hoped that the mimic wasn’t preparing to attack her before she got a chance to attack it.

But honestly, though, she wasn’t in any real danger. The worst case scenario here, was that she embarrassed herself in front of Erick; unable to kill a mimic in one or two shots. Erick would certainly kill it if it got within ten meters of her. He had even said so, many times, probably to assure both her and himself that he wasn’t going to let her get hurt on his watch. That was good, and fine.

But Justine hoped to Koyabez that she wouldn’t embarrass herself. Erick might be an archmage, but Justine was twice his age, with many times his magical experience. She had killed much worse things than crystal mimics in order to survive, and at much lower levels than 12. The spell she had made for today was created in a corner of her room, against two expendable plants. It was adequate, but it wasn’t great.

The mimic came fully into view. It stopped atop the dune, and dug in with its bottom crystal spikes, securing itself to the crest. Ah, Justine realized, it was just repositioning for the sun. She knew that mimics positioned for the sun. Why had she thought that it was coming for her? She was too far away. Of course she was too far away.

She breathed. She could do this.

She did not point. She did not move, to give a hint that she was attacking. She just cast from the air around her body; from her aura. Red splashes of bright Decay pulsed from her body, one after the other, the first one still arcing in the air, toward the mimic, as Justine fired the third red Bolt. Red magics hit the mimic, center mass, like a rotten melon, splashing red light onto crystalline limbs, as Justine cast again, and again.

The mimic chimed into action like jumble of angry greatswords, clashing against itself, briefly, before it rotated and saw Justine.  

She had no idea how these particular monsters could see their prey from this far away, and yet, if you didn’t disturb them, if you just walked outside of ten meters from them, they would leave you alone, most of the time. But strike at one from well outside of their range, and they instantly recognized who had attacked them, from even this far away.

Justine’s red splashes kept striking as the mimic tried to rush down the dune. Red soaked into crystal. Crystal broke. Red splashed across the mimic’s central spike, finally doing enough damage to crack the stigma. The top spike of the monster fell to the ground, like so many other crystalline spikes, as the mimic kept rushing toward Justine, clawing forward on whatever crystal spikes it could.

She almost smiled. Her spells were actually doing enough damage, thanks to Erick’s rings.  

--

Plant Killer Bolt, instant, long range, 23 Mana

A bolt of splashing decay unerringly strikes a target, dealing WIL damage per second for 3 seconds. Deals 3x damage to plants.

--

The mimic survived the initial onslaught, but barely. It tumbled down the dune like a broken chandelier, all crystal and sludge and oozy juveniles tucked into its ‘leaves’. The babies were bubbling away like their parent, but not nearly as bad. They might survive her attack for they weren’t plants yet, since they weren’t actually [Polymorph]ed into crystal agave.  

Justine threw more bolts at the broken adult. Decay was great for a dozen different reasons, but its main selling point was that you could create spells that were artificially stronger against specific creatures, much easier than you could with the vast majority of other alters. In this case, Justine’s spell had been created to work well against ‘all plants’, and little else. She could have made a magic specifically against crystal mimics, but she would have needed to experiment on the creatures to create that magic. That would have been overkill, by Justine’s estimation, since extra damage versus all plants was fine for the long run. But still… She had hoped that her [Plant Killer Bolt] would have been better than it was. She had not killed one of these things in a long, long time. She had forgotten their toughness, and past a certain toughness, Decay’s failings became apparent; Decay just couldn’t harm like other magics. It certainly didn’t help that her base spell was [Force Bolt].

Justine threw another bolt of red sludge at the pile of blue sludge that had been the crystal mimic. And then another. Finally, a blue box hovered into the air.

--

You have slain Crystal Mimic A!

95% participation!

+20,693,935 exp

--

Justine smiled as she breathed deep the desert air. Just like that, she was level 24. 12 levels gained on one monster.

Erick spoke up, “Splashy bolts?”

Justine shared the blue box for [Plant Killer Bolt] with Erick, saying, “I’ll make something better once I can come out here on my own to cast and experiment, if for no other reason than to be able to kill a mimic in one spell.” She looked to the melting pile of mimic, saying, “I had forgotten they were this tough.”

“Do you need to rest?”

“Nope!” Justine said, “I’m doing great.”

And she was. Today was much better than last night. She smiled at the sky, as she dumped those thirteen levels of points into her Focus, bringing her natural Focus into the 40s. A few more mimic kills and she could get Scion of Focus— Hmm. Later. Not right now. Not when she was out here, killing mimics. When she got back home, though, then she would allocate that Skill. She didn’t want her Scion Revelation to knock her out when she was supposed to be hunting.

“Do you want the rad?” Erick asked, as Ophiel hovered a meter towards the blue sludge.

Justine looked at the dead mimic. “… I probably destroyed it. Decay isn’t very good about leaving intact corpses and I know I did not craft this spell well enough to have it ignore rads.” She looked closer at the body. It was utterly still. “Not even the juveniles survived.”

Ophiel dipped in acknowledgment, then pointed to the north east. Justine began walking down the dune, in the pointed direction.

Erick asked, “What sort of vision do you have when you allocate your Scion, as a shadeling?”

Justine almost faltered. “Uh.” She took a step down the dune, steadying herself, thinking of what she wanted to say. She decided to say, “It’s a talk with Melemizargo. Usually, it doesn’t go so well, with him not being all there, but last time… Last time he was rather present. That’s a recent change. I’ll get Koyabez, this time, though. Or maybe Rozeta. I’m not sure.” She added, “I even got [Shadow Healing] last time, and that’s never happened before.”

“I thought shadelings didn’t get healing spells?”

“They don’t. [Shadow Healing] isn’t a healing spell. It’s just called that. It’s all a recent change, too.” Justine made it back down to the flat land between the dunes. “Back before Particle Magic brought him back to some sanity, you were lucky to get the Scion you wanted when you picked a Scion. Sometimes your Stats would change to reflect his decision, too. One time, when I was working for Cludolphis, the Shade of Mending, she had me killed and brought back three times, because I needed Scion of Focus to assist with repairs to the city. I kept getting Scion of Vitality.” As Justine walked up another dune, she said, “This [Shadow Healing] is completely new.”

“What does it do?”

“Not a lot.” She said, “It was worse than [Rejuvenation]. I’m not sure why I got that spell, either.” She said, “I didn’t talk much during the Revelation.”  

“… I’m glad I made that [Shadow Radiance].”

Justine smiled as she neared the top of another dune; she was getting a real workout, out here under the merciless sun, atop these sandy dunes. She said, “I’m glad you made that [Shadow Radiance], too. I’m sure it will help a lot of people come back to themselves.” She crested the dune.  

The mimic was on top of another dune, thirty meters away.  

Erick said, “What kind of [Fly] are you going to make?”

“Just a platform… Maybe. Flat, unadorned.” She focused on the mimic, and cast. Red Bolts flowed through the air, slamming into the mimic, splashing from stigma to center, coating the mimic in bubbling red power.  

Fifteen Bolts later, Justine got another notification and gained more levels, then said, “It’ll be weird not having [Shadow Blend]. Usually I’d just make a [Crystal Platform] and Blend myself into it, and fly anywhere I needed to fly.” Ophiel pointed forward, and Justine walked. As sand followed her down the dune and got into her shoes, Erick’s question over [Fly] settled into her mind. She said, “Actually. I probably need to change that platform plan. As a Scion of Focus, I really should consider making an aura.”

“Auras are great!” Erick said, “I made mine with [Airshape], [Telekinesis], 500 Mana shaping, and Aurify.”

Justine almost shuddered. She knew about that spell of Erick’s, of course; it was part of her required knowledge for becoming the ‘face’ of Candlepoint for Erick, when he first arrived at the shadeling city. How he had ever managed to make that spell cost 1 mana per second was ridiculous.

She said, “I’ll try that one, but I doubt I can be that successful.”

“Maybe you can!”   

As she smiled, Justine threw a few more points in Focus, just to get up to 50. She had worked hard to get Meditation high enough to use in the field, and Clarity high enough to chop off some of her spell costs, but almost none of her Skills or Spells were at 10. She had barely done enough to do what she was doing right now, and would never have chosen to go mimic hunting if it weren’t for Erick’s oversight. His rings helped a lot. At 100 Focus, it was a little over 15 seconds to regenerate enough mana to fire a single [Plant Killer Bolt], meaning 4 minutes to regenerate enough to kill a single mimic. That was fine. The walk from one mimic to the next was almost enough to regenerate that much mana. But besides all that, this ‘hunt’ was much, much easier than even the nicest strolls on the most empty skyroads of Ar’Kendrithyst.  

But after the first twenty minutes, and five mimics, the sun was getting to be a bit too much. Maybe she should have made herself a hat, too—  

Ophiel handed her a wide brim, white hat, with holes for her horns, along with a pair of dark glasses, both of which were in a style completely unlike Justine had seen before; moreso the glasses, than the hat. They were full face coverage, and iridescent. The hat was just wide, stiff, and white.

Justine didn’t know what to say.

Erick said, “I see you squinting.”  

Justine smiled softly, then put the hat on her head, making sure to string her horns through the openings. Almost instantly, the hot day felt less oppresive, as the northern breeze brushed through her airy clothes, and across her shaded neck. “Thank you.” She held the glasses, but paused. She glanced at the rod of [Treat Wounds], stuck in Ophiel’s feathers, and decided that she could deal with a bit of sun blindness from wearing dark glasses. She put the glasses on.  

… There was something different about these glasses. Something cooler. They were easier to see through than other desert glasses she had worn before. Were they enchanted to remove the natural Blind effect of the light from the sun? They certainly seemed that way, but she wouldn’t be able to tell until the hunt was over, and she was back home, possibly nursing a Blinding headache.

Justine paid the glasses no more mind, and walked forward, up another dune, to spot another mimic on the ridge of another dune, just ahead. She blasted it from a few different parts of her body, getting a feel for her aura.

Yes; she would definitely make an aura flight spell, this time.

- - - -

Erick returned to himself, and looked down at his stomach. With a bit of concentration, a bolt of white light emanated from his stomach and slammed against the ceiling, chipping the orange rock.  

Poi looked up from his book. “… What?”

“I had never tried that before— on my own, I mean; cast from parts that aren’t my fingers. I do that with Ophiel all the time, but never tried on my own.” Erick reached up with a tendril of light and touched the tiny crater. [Mend] erased the damage, as he explained, “Justine is firing from every part of her.”

Poi returned to his book, saying, “Casting in odd ways is one of the first steps to aura control.”

Erick thought back to Al’s lesson. He frowned. He said, “Al started me on materializing my aura.”

Poi shrugged, as if to say, ‘There are several ways to start.’

Poi glanced back up from his book and stared at Erick, saying, “Your empathy is practically Mind Magic.”

Erick laughed. He asked, “Does this mean I can know more about your secret Mind Mage Cabal?”

“If empathy was all it took to make one a Mind Mage, then this whole world would either be a paradise, or a graveyard.” Poi said, “The greatest minds of Veird are still split on the most likely outcome.”

Erick took a moment to think about that, while he oversaw Justine kill another two mimics. He said, “Because then people would understand each other, and then people would understand each other.”

“Thank all the Gods that only the few are cursed with Mind Magic.”

“… You’re actually talking about this, now?” Erick said, “Do you mean to say that it takes something besides spending a few points and study to become a Mind Mage?”

Poi struggled with something for a moment, before deciding to say, “Yes. A lot more.”

Erick almost continued the conversation, but Poi resolutely turned to his book. That must have been enough Mind Mage talk for this month. Next month, Erick would ask about genetic predisposition; if the factor for becoming a Mind Mage was some inborn trait, either cropping up on family lines, or if certain conditions needed to be met, like unlocking hidden options in the Script. Maybe you need to be born with a ‘Mind’ Element, or something similar.

Poi grumbled.  

Erick turned his focus back to Justine.

- - - -

Two hours later, along with one break in the middle of that, Erick blipped Justine home. She appeared in the foyer, sweaty, but happy. She took off her hat and her glasses, revealing bright red eyes that were brighter than the days before, when she was recovering, somewhat, from her panic attack.

Justine handed Erick back the glasses and the hat, saying, “The glasses work great. Thank you. The whole experience was a world apart from how I’ve done it before.” She bowed. “Thank you, archmage.”

Erick smiled. “You did all the work, so raise your head.” With a dot of unraveling intent, Erick ended the conjured hat and glasses, turning them briefly to white light before that, too, vanished back into the manasphere. “There’s no need for this formality.”

Justine stood up, saying, “There is, though. Almost no one in power is as calm and dismissive of formality as you. I would get in to bad habits if I followed your lead.”

“… Probably true.”  

Justine said, “I might be headed back to Candlepoint today, or I might be headed off somewhere else entirely.”

“You can stay as long as you need, you know. They’re all level 55 over there, but you’re not.” Erick glanced through Ophiel, to see Candlepoint. He came back, saying. “The city seems fine.” He added, “Though if you don’t get back soon, then… Mephistopheles seems to be in a power struggle with Zaraanka, while everyone else just lets Slip do his own thing...”

Candlepoint could use a third and fourth person on site, though. And soon. Erick didn’t really count Slip among the powers of the city, but Ava might become a power. What little he had seen of the woman left him impressed at her drive.

Justine bowed again, then looked to Erick one more time, before saying, “Thank you for your hospitality. I will take your words under advisement.”

Erick nodded, then turned his attention back to Candlepoint.  

- - - -

Ophiel floated across Candlepoint, as Erick wondered at renewing [Control Weather]. The sky was still full of clouds that served to block out some of the sun, but the clouds were getting thinner. Erick decided: he cast, and the sky turned darker. It would not rain today, but it would be nicely overcast.

There was no immediate change down below. The sun had risen hours ago, yet most of the shadelings down there were half an hour from finding their way to a bed; they were largely active at twilight. Erick watched as some shadelings finished up the last touches on a road they had been carving out of dark stone, while others ensured that the trees and bushes they had raised from the nearby soil were good, and healthy. The demolition teams in the other parts of the city were almost done for the morning, too; in another few days, most of the rubble would be transformed into black blocks, for use in construction in other parts of Candlepoint.

With that overview done, Erick flew Ophiel to the center of the lake, and cast a [Cascade Imaging], near the surface, far away from sight of any shore, searching for eels. When the spell finally condensed enough to spit out results, the map was only half full of blue dots. The area near the city was almost completely clear, while other coastal areas were also similarly empty. Erick smiled. The mud flits in the lake had monsterized and multiplied, exactly as they should have, and they were winning their war against the eels.

He still sent an Ophiel down to the heaviest concentrations of blue dots, to fry those violet parasites with [Fulmination Aura]. And when that was over, and the map was fractionally clearer of dots, the Imaging had finally resolved enough to show that there were still only three springs.  

The eel problem was on its way out. In another few days the flits would clear out most of the violet eels, and at that point in time he could seed the lake with grasses, lilies, and other assorted plants. The monsterized mud flits would continue to eat eels, while both sides ignored the growing greenery in the water. As eels became less and less of a problem, and then finally vanished altogether, the monster mud flits would begin eating each other, and then enter the final stages of their life cycle, becoming red and engorged, preparing to birth thousands and thousands of eggs. The next generation would be born normally, and since there wouldn’t be any parasites to eat, they would be omnivores. A single mud flit would then live several years, growing slowly, naturally, until they too swelled red and began the last legs of their lives, repeating the process over again. If more parasites came in at some point in the future, then the other fish Erick planned to add would take care of those, as long as the next infections weren’t too large. Mud flits were just the emergency parasite and monster treatment. Rainbow flits, goldscale slippers, and silvertail, would keep the water clean, from then on out.

Slip had mentioned something about bobber worms and glowfish, though. He’d have to look into those fish, too; see what all that was about.

… Erick wondered if the lake would be okay, if Candlepoint would be okay, or if some other ecological disaster would fall upon this lake and the city on the shore.  

But that was the future. Right now, a person made herself noticed, near the black Crystal in the former center of Candlepoint.  

Erick transferred his senses to the Ophiel overseeing the gazebo under the Crystal. For a moment, he regarded the presumptive Sewermaster of Candlepoint, Ava Jadescale. He almost greeted her normally, she was wearing a dress. A really nice dress. It was green and it fit the thin woman rather well, matching the green of her eyes and the blacks of her hair. For a brief second, Erick wondered where she got it, since, at the moment, she was literally the nicest dressed person in Candlepoint. Even Zaraanka’s pink dresses did not compare to the couture gown hugging Ava’s body. Zaraanka had needed to make her own dresses, by hand, and Erick had even seen her doing such with a bit of [Telekinesis] in order to speed the process along. But the clothes upon Ava were not crafted that crudely.  

“Good morning, Ava,” Erick said. “That dress suits you well.”

She smirked, as she brushed a hand down the green fabric, saying, “I spent a few points here and there outside of the necessities, as one does when times demand. [Fabricate] is a wonderful little spell.” She added, “I look forward to what I can craft when my skill is where it used to be.”

Erick wondered how she had prepared for the mimic killing that was to come. Justine had prepared well; Erick had seen her hard at work leveling her key magics. But Ava simply did not have the time. She might have done some magic work in the middle of the night, but she couldn’t have done any before she appeared before Ophiel, for that would have drained her mana. Whatever the case, she couldn’t be more than level 5, right now. She certainly didn’t have any skills at level 10.

It was a mystery that he would solve before the day was done. But besides that, there was something he had prepared for her.

“I look forward to what you can do, too, and I might have something here that can help you with that, or at least grant you a few more resources than you had before.” Erick had Ophiel pull out a small stone box from behind the counter of the gazebo. He actually had several of these stone boxes back there, each filled with the same pairs of objects, but they were all behind the density of his [Prismatic Ward]. He didn’t really care if anyone discovered some way to steal them. He could always make more. He floated the box to Ava, saying, “Some Stat rings, for today, and as congratulations for coming back to yourself. They should also provide you with some decent defenses while we’re out there.”

Ava happily took the stone box and opened it, to see two rings sitting inside. She looked up at Erick, and said, “Thank you, archmage.” Hers was a put-upon expression, with words crafted to be pleasant, instead of any real emotion or expression. Perhaps she thought the rings were trash? That must have been it, for then she put the first ring on, and blanked. She blinked at the air. She almost said something, but she didn’t. She steadied herself, and said, “There have been some advancements in Stat rings since I last prowled a tunnel.”

Erick said, “Ah. No. That’s just me. They’re artifacts, too, so you don’t need to worry about stressing them. My own rings have lasted me months.”

“Oh,” she said, as though someone had revealed to her a wonderful secret. She put the second ring on, then held the box for a moment, unsure of where to place it. She settled on setting the box on the ground next to the gazebo. She stood back up, saying, “I had thought I was prepared for this conversation and jaunt into the desert, but I find myself already at a loss.”

At that, Erick couldn’t help but ask, “How did you prepare? Weren’t you level 0, like, 20 hours ago?”

“I was,” Ava said, with a smirk. “And I’m only level 5, right now. But you don’t have to worry about truly boosting me. You can just watch, if you want.” She shrugged. “But I’d take a [Teleport] out into a good spot.”

Back in Spur, Erick smiled. “Then prepare yourself.”

“I am in your care.”

- - - -

Ophiel floated alongside Ava, feeling the northern wind in his feathers as the steady breeze flowed across the desert. Erick watched from afar, gazing upon the world through dozens of eyes, each pointed in a different direction. Another two Ophiel flew much higher, but each of them were lightforms, with much better sight, including infrared, and ultraviolet. There were no invisible people anywhere near here, but it never hurt to be too safe.  

Ava, for her part, was having a grand stroll. Up the dunes and down the dunes, nary a toe sinking into the sand. Her being barefoot was only part of the conundrum of the hour. Most people wore shoes when they walked around, but apparently not Ava. The most confusing part was that as she walked, the very ground seemed to move with her, if only a fraction. For every step she took, she moved more than that.  

The two of them were a good seven hundred kilometers from Candlepoint, in another high-density mimic area, similar to the one where Erick had taken Justine. They had yet to reach the first mimic.

Erick started the conversation, “How are you moving upon the sand, without any spell at level 10?”

Ava glinted a smile at the sky. She kept walking, as she said, “Easily understood, but difficult to master. I attempted to teach every student who came across my sewer, but only five managed to learn the technique. Three surpassed me.” She hiked up her dress, showing off her legs as she exaggerated her footsteps, saying, “The narrow of it, is [Stoneshape].” She stepped forward. The sand deformed into a solid surface as she touched down. “The deep of it, is aura control.” She lifted her foot, and the stone turned to sand. “See?” She tapped the dune with her foot, turning sand to solid then back again three times, before moving on. She waved a hand, saying, “[Stoneshape] and Aurify is a cheater’s start. Real control lets you move the stone under your feet like it was an old friend, helping you in every task you do.” She pointed at the air around Ophiel, asking, “You’re already doing this, though, so why the question?”

Ophiel trilled to be complimented, as Erick spoke from the air around him, saying, “That’s Ophiel; not me.” He didn’t mention that he had never really played around with Ophiel’s own [Airshape] capabilities, but he had already shown his deficiency of expertise, as he admitted, “I will have to try this method with [Stoneshape], though.”

“Good luck. Flying is okay, if you’ve the wings for it, but I prefer the grounding of Stone all around me.” Ava stepped to the top of her dune, and stopped. The mimic stood perfectly still on top of the next dune over; it wasn’t going anywhere. Ava said, “I also prefer harder hunts than mimics, but I have been reset to zero, so I might be overestimating myself. I’m not even a Rookie, anymore.” She paused, then asked, “They still have ‘Rookie’ designations at the Adventurer’s Guildhouses, do they not? Or?” She lowered her voice a little, asking, “They still have the Guilds, do they not?”

“They’re both still around.” Erick said, “I was under the impression that the Guilds were millennium old traditions. Hard to see that vanish when immortals are around to keep the past in the present.”

Ava stared off into the sky, into nothing. The wind played with her black hair and long dress. She said, “The Jadescales were a millennium old clan. We traced our history all the way back to the Fall of Quintlan, and from there, up, and to the past, to the Cutting Scale Empire of the Old Cosmology, in the depths of Radiant Sphere.” She lowered her gaze to Veird, saying, “In the west, the Lori Dukedom is now the Wasteland Kingdoms. The Greensoil Republic survived and thrived, even with its many, many civil wars that somehow got resolved past my first death. I never could have predicted that.” She added, “The Nelboorites are still at war with each other, so at least it’s good to know some things never change.”

After a long moment, staring at the mimic twenty meters ahead of her, she said, “It’s all been a very large change, archmage.”

He said, “I know what it is to lose everyone. I am sorry that this happened to you.”

“… Thank you.” Ava said, “I suppose you would know more than most.” She clicked her tongue, taking on a harder demeanor, as she said, “But everyone and their sister has a tragedy of loss in their history. At least some of my people managed to escape and survive. Perhaps, one day I will visit them, and hear for myself what befell our people.” She looked to Ophiel, “But your story is stranger than mine. I cannot say that I have ever interacted with a true Planar, archmage.”

“Please, call me Erick.”

Ava paused. She said, “With your leave, I shall do this.” She tested the word, “Erick.”

“My whole world isn’t gone. It’s still out there. I’ll just never see it again. But I still have my daughter. We fell here together.” Erick said, “She’s enough for me.”

Ava’s whole being softened, for a moment. Then she stood straighter, saying, “That is good. You can treasure the most important things, and discard the rest.” She looked to the mimic, as her voice took on a conspiratorial edge, “Has anyone discovered the purpose behind the mimics, or their creator, since I’ve been dead?”

Erick thought for a moment. He said, “I’ve heard conflicting stories. Half of them say that the mimics were a creation of Ar’Kendrithyst. Half say that the mimics were a misguided attempt at starving Ar’Kendrithyst of resources.” He added, “Apparently there’s an open Kill and Exterminate Quest from Atunir to kill them all, but no one has received this Quest in 800 years and Atunir isn’t forthcoming. It is possible that both stories are true. Maybe a Shade created them to harm the other Shades.”

“Drat.” Ava said, “I was always hoping for someone to solve that mystery for me.” She asked, “How is Spur, anyway?”

“It’s doing well. Rains are feeding crops and the city is bustling.”  

Out of the blue, Ava asked, “Is Slip a Shade?”

“Ha!” Erick said, “I have no idea.”

“Are you going to try to kill him?”

Erick sighed, then said, “Not… No. I will not.” He said, “You were likely alive back when they were killing Shades every other week, and there were hundreds upon hundreds. But when Silverite pushed her city forward as a group to end them all, 104 years ago, they pushed back as a group. The Shades killed most of Spur, and Silverite changed who she was. Now, there’s only maybe-40 Shades. The first new Shade to appear in a long time was Bulgan, a little over ten months ago.”

“He was the one that controlled Candlepoint before, wasn’t he?”

“Yes. He also has a large grudge against my daughter, for showing him up when he was still a member of Spur’s Adventurer’s Guild.” Erick said, “He tried to kill my daughter and I, but he failed. After that happened but before we could do anything about it, he left for the Dead City. Apparently he’d been working for Tania Webwalker, the Champion of Melemizargo, for years, at that point.”

Ava, already pale, paled a bit further. Then she relaxed into the sun, saying, “That’s enough horror for now.”

“I have a hard time coming to terms with it all, as well.” Erick handed her a green hat, and sunglasses, saying, “Care for a hat and glasses?”

“Oh! Perfect.” Ava took the hat and the glasses, and put them on, saying, “It is rather bright today, and [Conjure Item] is too far down on the list of necessities, you know.” She stepped forward, saying, “And now the mana is finally full again. Let’s do this.”

Erick watched.

Ava dipped her hand down into the sand, and with fingers flared, she pulled up five stones, one at the end of each finger, each of them two centimeters across. She pointed. She fired. Like a bullet from a gun, the rock launched, breaking the sound barrier, scattering wind and flashing bright for the briefest of moments. The mimic faltered, then righted. Ava had struck center mass. She fired again. Two seconds had passed, and one crystalline spike, three meters long, broke off, as the mimic chimed into action, racing down the hill toward Ava.  

She fired three more times. Her final shot blew a bleeding blue hole large enough to see through in the central stalk, near the top. The mimic had only reached the bottom of its dune, and no further. Blood flowed from the monster as it rolled to a heavy crash and died. Ava relaxed. She gave the barest notice to the air; likely dismissing a kill notification, among other boxes.

“That was impressive,” Erick said. “And no level 10 spells? No tier 2 spells?”

“Not a single one!” Ava waved a dismissive hand, saying, “Altering is useful at all levels of spellwork. You just won’t know your true capabilities until you make the tier 2 spell box.”  

“… Right.” Erick knew that. “It’s been a while since I practiced with lower level spells.”

She added, “[Rock Bolt] was my very first spell. I could cast that in my sleep.”

Ophiel pointed toward the north, as Erick said, “That way to the next one.”  

Ava smirked, and took off walking, strolling down the dune, her feet never sinking below the surface. She was practically walking on concrete, or maybe something slightly softer.

As they reached the dip between sandy hills, Erick asked, “What level were you before?”

“85.”  

“Impressive!”

She shrugged. “I doubt I’ll get there again. But, you never know. Does wyrm season still exist?”

“Yes. Wyrm season is in five months, or thereabouts.” He said, “85 is rather high.”

“There are lots of monsters in the 90s near the Core. Melemizargo has been trying to breach that Script-blue orb since its creation.”

Script-blue? “… Really?”

Ava paused, then continued, saying, “Well… That’s what we all assumed. Fact and legend and truth are a lot more… not what I was raised upon. Fact is, the density of the mana that far down ensures that monsters grow a lot stronger than they can on the surface. Another fact is that the Geodes routinely kill as many of those high-leveled monsters as they can, trying to ‘keep others from the danger’ and to ‘protect the core’.” She balked. “As if! Here is another truth: Anyone who can reach the Core can easily kill at least one of those beasts, and thus gain massive power. Getting away is another task entirely, but that is doable, too.” She added, “I always felt that the Geodes worked to keep the power of those high level kills out of the hands of others. But the Dark Dragon is remarkably easy to talk to, these days. Maybe he is trying to breach the Core? I certainly don’t know, and I certainly wouldn’t even want to ask him.”

That was a lot to think upon.

While Ava hunted, and Erick oversaw, she asked of shopping opportunities in Spur, and other places. Erick admitted his ignorance on much of all of that; he didn’t get out of the house, much.

“Do you want me to pick you up something specific?” Erick asked. “I could look for something. I’ve already offered this to every other person of power in Candlepoint, and you will qualify for this once you become the actual sewermaster.”

Ava thought for a moment, but quickly waved him off, saying, “I’m going to gain it all, myself.” She smiled, adding, “My first step will be the sewer, of course, but that is only part of my myriad goals. As long as Candlepoint isn’t deemed blasphemy, heresy, and denounced by the world with a hundred thousand [Meteor]s, then my next step is beautifying the entire city. I’ve always wanted to work more in crystal, Erick. And now! Now, I will finally be able to do that, and more.” She exclaimed, “Can you imagine it! A city of crystal that is not full of Shades or wrought! As long as I can get everyone else to agree, of course.”

Erick could imagine Candlepoint as a city of crystal and brilliant architecture, but thinking on it a bit more…

Ar’Kendrithyst was full of shadows, because they could safely ensconce themselves deep in the red-purple crystal of the city. That was why even the strongest adventurers had trouble in there; attacks could come from literally any angle and yet not kill anyone, for they had all retreated into deep, dark crystals.  

By that same merit, crystals in Candlepoint would protect the shadelings.

But it would also be like declaring to the world that they were building defenses, and digging in, either forging a forward base, or a retreat. Some people might not like that.

Erick said, “As long as you go with some friendly coloring. The point is not to be a danger to civilization. Maybe that would be enough. The shadelings do need a defensive structure, but… It might be fine.”

With excitement in her voice, Ava crested the next dune, as she asked, “What are your feelings on green?”

“Mimics go crazy for green.”

“… Right. I had forgotten that.” Ava asked, “White, then?”

Erick looked to the mimic on the next dune. Its crystalline body was not just clear, but also white and blue. Erick offered, “White and blue?”  

“Ah, yes.” Ava scooped up five stone bullets from the sand at her feet, then pointed at the mimic, saying, “We have a lake to consider, as well.” Over the next five seconds, she killed the mimic with five expertly released [Rock Bolt]s. When it was dead, she said, “White and blue sounds good.”

“There’s everyone’s votes to consider, too.” Ophiel pointed toward the next dune. As Ophiel and Ava continued on, Erick said, “Whatever everyone decides is fine. Where would you get the crystal, anyway? From sand?”

Ava headed down the dune, saying, “Yes. White should be rather easy to create out of this sand.” She dipped a hand behind her, causing a minor avalanche in the dune as she strolled to the base, saying. “This stuff is mostly quartz. You simply have to know how to put it back together to make the crystal and I know how—”

The dunes rumbled below; a small tremor, but one that belied something shifting under the surface.

Ava went silent, as she stepped backward, then raced back up to the top of the dune.  

If there had been a danger, Erick would have gotten her out of there, but as his other Ophiel confirmed, this was just a simple rise of creatures that naturally lived here, that Ophiel’s and Ava’s passing had disturbed. They weren’t even headed in Ava’s direction.

Ava gasped as she gazed upon the shifting horizon, and the creatures rising from below.

In the short distance, two dozen dunes slipped down, as fins lifted up, spilling orange sands across the horizon, billowing clouds of dust into the sky. As grit fell away, gold and glittering scales appeared from a pod of creatures that seemed to have no interest in anything, except escaping the ground, and lifting to the sky as an orchestrated group. They were larger cousins to the goldfish that had once chased a wyrm toward Erick, Teressa, Poi, and Rats, and they were beautiful in a sharp sort of way. Each the size of a large house, and shaped roughly like tuna, these skyfish had lost the billowing fins and tails of their smaller cousins, but as the sand fully fell away, Erick witnessed those smaller cousins in the shadows of the behemoths, following along, keeping up with the larger skyfish.  

Erick smiled to see the procession before him. He found himself wishing he was there, in person…

But he could not be there. He would not put himself in that sort of reckless danger.

But Ava looked happy to be there. She stared at the flying fish, watching as the larger ones flew east, like gentle giants, and the smaller ones trailed behind; toddlers trying to catch up to their parents.  

As the skyfish filled the air with glittering gold, they crooned, one after another, a gentle sound that reverberated through Ophiel, that Erick heard in his heart, even though the experience was one step removed. As the school of skyfish ended their first song, the Ophiels above the one beside Ava joined in, crooning deep vibrations upon the world, echoing what they had heard, and yet changing it with the added sounds of violins.

The skyfish didn’t seem to care for Ophiel’s attempt at their song, but it made Erick smile to see Ophiel try to catch their attention.  

As the skyfish flew on, and Ava watched them go, she suddenly perked up, going from awe to active in a moment, calling out, “They dropped scales!” She rushed forward, saying, “I want some!”

Erick smiled as he made Ophiel follow Ava, across the orange sands, under the endless blue sky.  

Over the next two hours, Ava managed to get to level 30, as well as procure seven good gold scales out of the thousands of broken and discarded remnants that had been left in the skyfishs’ sand pit. Each of those scales were as large as dinner plates, and as bright as polished gold. Erick had no idea what Ava would use them for, but her eyes lit up as she gazed upon their luster; she had plans for them, for sure.

- - - -

With thirteen blips, Erick and Poi arrived at his destination; a nicely appointed reading room in a tower fifteen stories high, with large picture windows that overlooked the twilight purple ocean in the east. Books filled the shelves of the reading room, while a small tea pot steamed gently under a [Heat Ward].  

The Headmaster sat before the window, wearing his usual gold and white emperor robes. He greeted Erick’s entrance, “Welcome back to Oceanside.”

Erick stepped forward, saying, “Thanks for having me, and for helping with this problem.”  

“It is no trouble.” The Headmaster did not stand from his chair, as he gestured to the seat across from him, across from the table holding the tea pot and assorted accessories. “Please, sit. Let us talk.” He gestured to the room, adding, “And then you may make use of this space however you wish.”

Erick glanced around the library. When he asked around for help with forming a city charter and creating laws for Candlepoint, Silverite gave him a copy of Spur’s Charter, but her main suggestion had been to speak to the Headmaster; he had a library devoted to city building for all would-be ‘mayors’, with all the necessary knowledge that such an undertaking would require. This small library that Erick was in right now, was that bastion of selected knowledge. Getting access to it required a fair number of hoops to jump through, but the Headmaster waived all of those when Erick asked him for his assistance.  

Poi stepped backward, to the edge of the space, to stand tall and as unobtrusively as possible, while Erick walked forward.  

He sat down across from the Headmaster, saying, “Thank you again for this. It is not really for me, though.”

“I know for whom and what you require city building knowledge.” The Headmaster lifted a hand, palm upward. Three books, each on the same shelf five meters away, blipped to his hand. They were thick books, heavy bound with dark leather. He set the tomes individually down on the tea table. “These three are ones you should read, first. These first two are the histories of the major failed city states of Veird, and why they failed. The last one regards the failures of smaller city states, which may be more beneficial for you than the first two. As an overview: About half of the larger city states failed due to inability to hold off the interests of their stronger neighbors, whether through trade, or war, or a multitude of other, social reasons, including concerns over resources. Half failed due to monster incursions, and systemic failures of defense. The ratio changes depending on where you are trying to create a city.” He gestured to the last book. “Smaller cities almost always fail due to monster incursions, either of those outside the walls, or those that find their way inside, like the various mental monsters of this world, or parasites.” With another gesture, he cast around the room, surrounding several bookshelves with a tiny glowing shimmer. “These are the ones for building laws. [Duplicate] whatever you wish, and hand it over to whoever you wish.

“But that is for later.” The Headmaster’s face took on a serious mien; his amber eyes glinting gold for the briefest of moments. He studied Erick. “For now, I wish for you to tell me everything you have heard and seen in Candlepoint.” He broke his own countenance, to offer, “Would you join me for tea?”

Erick accepted, saying, “I would; thank you.”

With one hand on the tea pot and another holding back the drape of the cloth of his arm, the Headmaster poured steaming amber tea into two cups. The flow of the liquid did not cause bubbles, or disturb the surface it created. Erick took his cup. The Headmaster took his own. Together, they sipped.  

Then Erick started talking.  

The Headmaster occasionally asked questions. Erick obliged with answers. Small discussions were had over clarifications of events witnessed. Erick held nothing back. The Headmaster, similarly, revealed that he already knew a great deal of what Erick had seen. Hours passed. The tea pot was filled and emptied a few times. They took a small break, then came back together for more discussion. As Erick neared the end of what he had seen of the city, and its people, he revealed something personal that he had waited till now to speak upon.

“Besides being Untouchable, there is something else I would like your opinion on.” Erick said, “Melemizargo offered to kill every Shade for me.”

He did not say what the cost would be; that it would require him becoming a Shade himself. But that truth would likely come out soon enough.

The Headmaster went stock still for a brief moment. Emotions flashed behind his stoic face; amazement, anger, hatred, concern, then finally, decision. He sighed. He said, “After your daughter was offered a Blessing and a station as ‘house cleaner’, I had hoped that nothing more would come of this particular obsession of Melemizargo’s. That you were declared ‘Untouchable’ was something I had also heard, but this last part...” With the weight of the world behind his level, golden eyes, the Headmaster asked, “What would he require for this to happen?”

Erick put it out there, “That I take their place.”

The Headmaster frowned. He turned his gaze toward the window, to the ocean, and the stars hanging in the darkness above. Erick watched him, waiting for some sign of good or ill.  

The Headmaster sighed. “One life for countless is a good bargain.” He turned back to Erick, with a softer look in his now-amber eyes. “You would be dead, of course. Everything you were before, everything you made of yourself and your life… That would be over.”

“… That wasn’t the reaction I expected.”

The Headmaster laughed. “Were you expecting death and destruction?”

“Among other things.” Erick admitted, “I wasn’t sure where it would have been pointed, though.”

The Headmaster grinned, then lost his grin. He said, “I have a facade I show to the world. That facade demands your death, yes, but I am more than the parts of myself that others believe me to be.”

Now it was Erick’s turn to smile. He said, “That much is true of everyone.”

“Ah, Erick, Erick, Erick… You walk into the dragon’s maw far too often.” The Headmaster went silent for a time, then said, “You should—” He spoke with casual finality, “You should put Melemizargo’s idea out of your mind. This action of his is simply a longer confidence trick than most. He plans to make people believe that he is innocent of all evil, and then strike when we expose our necks. You have already accepted the burden of this city, and have chosen to perpetuate his plan. In a scant century, or less, Melemizargo will destroy us all. But that is still a century off, and it is possible for him to lapse in judgment and prove himself as the evil this world knows him to be.” He asked, “Or do you believe otherwise?”

“I don’t know about that.” Erick slightly changed the subject, asking, “Is there a way to prove the world is real?” At the Headmaster’s odd look, Erick clarified, “I don’t mean that as a rhetorical question. I mean in regards to Melemizargo’s insanity. How has he decided that this world isn’t real? Why has he decided that?”

The Headmaster nodded, then said, “There is no such thing as Objective Reality. There is only reality as a concept, and Reality, as it refers to the nature of existence around a specific viewpoint. Proving reality exists is fundamentally impossible, since we are beings that experience the world through senses, and senses can be fooled.” He frowned. “Bringing Melemizargo back to himself is therefore impossible. But it is true that he is more himself than he has ever been before.” The Headmaster said, “I have a theory on why this is, if you would like to hear it? It is not a complete theory, but it is better than what I have had before.”

“Yes. Please tell me.”

The Headmaster began, “To understand the depth of the problem, you must understand that Melemizargo was the God of Magic for an entire universe.” The Headmaster gazed out of the window. “Like the stars in these skies, the magics that made our worlds were uncountable and ancient beyond measure, and the worlds themselves were a higher count than that.” He turned back to Erick. “Floating cities the size of Glaquin, resting on the currents of the Mana Ocean. Sects of wizards, a thousand strong, responsible for the creations of millions of planes. Planes ten thousand times the size of Veird. Wizards that created magics, and then stabilized them, creating dynasties that lasted for thousands and thousands of years, and islands of stability like nowhere else in the Old Cosmology. But by that same token, wizards ran rampant, too, destroying worlds that were unprotected.

“The utter magnitude of what was lost… It is the difference between a million trillion, and one. Some would count the loss higher than that. I barely saw more than a dozen major sites and a hundred lesser locations, before the Sundering. I was only 300. I could adapt. Many could not.

“When we fell to Veird, and in the coming years… We lost thousands to suicide. The best minds in the Old Cosmology. The strongest shields. The most knowledgeable casters. We lost gods, too. Some of them had lost all their people, and so died to obscurity. Some simply decided not to continue, and so they laid down and died.

“The very nature of our reality had changed.  

“The Script was our salvation. It allowed the Old Cosmology to survive. But our reality had changed. Mana, in its pure state, is mutable. It is possibility, and it is wonderful. But this carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen? These are solid. These are immutable. And yes, they are mutable to you, and to us, but they are not Mana. They are not what ancient gods, like Melemizargo, were accustomed with.  

“And so, we come to the nature of Melemizargo’s Insanity.  

“As a dragon, he had a real body, but as the God of Magic, his body was also the mana. It is not untrue to say that he was the Mana Ocean that spread across countless known planes, and who filled the unknown where civilization had yet to touch. He was everything and nothing, all at the same time. He was Darkness. He was Light. He was Fire and Stone, Water and Air. He was Shadow.

“These were the building blocks of our existence. The Fundamental Forces of our Old Cosmology.

“And so, not only was almost all of him destroyed in the Grand Translation...” The Headmaster paused. He said, “All of him was destroyed, and all that was left was the part remaining on Veird. A land that was not him at all. A land with a Script, that forced most of his power out of his being. A land made of particles and forces that were vastly outside of his domain.”

Erick said, “And so, he went insane. Poisoned by particles?”

“It is entirely possible that this is the truth of Melemizargo’s insanity.” The Headmaster said, “His is a piteous tale of an existence as large as a universe, transformed into something smaller than a shaving of a claw, and then stuffed into a ball of feces.” He said, “Even in his more lucid moments, when he claims of being forced into a [Mesmerize]? This is a poor rationalization of his new existence. It is an attempt to explain to himself how he could have ended up like this. He cannot accept the truth, and so, he falls to madness.” The Headmaster said, “He was not the only one to fall to madness in those first years. The Fae…

“We say that the Fae died in the Sundering, but in truth, they did not. They were too numerous to die off like that. They lived on every plane, under the guises of every people. Each one was an eternal reflection of the Mana Ocean, and of Nature. Many were here on Veird when the Sundering hit, and the Script came into being.

“Not a single one could adapt. Some went quietly; falling asleep, and then deeper, then fading away entirely. Some did not go quietly. Those, we had to kill before they killed everyone else.” The Headmaster looked away. A sad glint appeared in his eyes, as he said, “The single dwarven Stoneship and every single dwarf that managed to make it to Veird, all took refuge in the Underworld, attempting to carve out new lives for themselves down below. They lasted three years before Melemizargo killed them all.” He looked to Erick, saying, “The elves were allowed Archipelago Nergal to make their own, but they could not survive the judgment of the rest of the refugees.” He said, “This whole world was mad, in the beginning. Many died. Few got better. Melemizargo did neither.”

Erick changed the subject, “Why hasn’t the whole world worked together to end him?”

The Headmaster heard Erick, but he did not answer right away. He reached down to the tea pot, and filled his own cup. When he gestured for Erick, for more, Erick shook his head with the slightest of movements. The Headmaster sipped his tea. He sat back. He said, “Because he could kill us all.”

“How is that possible?”

The Headmaster frowned a little. He said, “He is a dragon, and a god.”

“… That explains nothing.”

“Hmm.” The Headmaster looked to Erick. He said, “Dragons exist. They have bodies. Melemizargo is no exception. Gods normally don’t have bodies, and because of this, they exist as the gestalt of their peoples; as impressions in the mana. Beings greater than the sum of their parts.”

“I knew… Some of that.” Erick said, “What I meant, though, was: Why don’t the gods kill him?”

The Headmaster leveled a sad look at him, saying, “Really, Erick. This is basic Tenday sermon stuff.”  

“I understand about the agreements among gods to prevent divine wars.” Erick said, “But still!”

The Headmaster said, “The Script, Rozeta, and binding Divine Law prevents overt godly war. Gods must work through intermediaries when they wish to fight. Melemizargo has a body, so he is partially immune to this restriction. That is how he could kill us all; with his Wizardly power, using his true body. He’s already censured from almost all divine actions by the will of every single god of Veird, but that doesn’t matter when gods are not allowed to interfere directly in mortal affairs. Every single action he has ever undertaken, has been under his own, wizard power, for he is partially real.”  

“… Oh.” Erick said, “Okay. That’s…” He asked, “Then it should be easier to kill a big dragon than it is to kill a god, correct?”

The Headmaster blanked. Then he chuckled. He laughed. He said, “Oh, were it that easy!” He said, “For the sake of the thought, let’s consider that someone actually managed to kill his mortal body and somehow— No. That’s too many assumptions. He’d still be a god. No mortal could kill a god. No dragon living today could inflict any meaningful damage upon Melemizargo. But let us theorize, and assume he was killed. In such a case, he could just remake his body. He is divine fire when he wishes, and solid when he does not.” He added, “Melemizargo might even let you fight his real body, and if by a True Miracle you won, he would just remake himself and pat you on the back, and likely grant you a boon for the distraction you granted him.”

Erick found himself getting angry. “Why don’t the other gods make themselves bodies!”

Turning slightly serious, the Headmaster said, “Now this is blasphemous, so try not to repeat this anywhere else. But that’s what Champions are. Partially.”

“… That makes me incredibly angry, for some reason.”

“If you are thinking that it is a conversion of a person into a god or anything like that, it is not.”

“… I was thinking of some soul fuckery, yes.”

The Headmaster nodded, saying, “I don’t interact much with gods or Champions, and have never been privy to their inner working, but my limited understanding of the process is that it is more of a gestalt. A voice in your head and a guiding hand for your sword. A touch of the divine; not a sweeping away of the Champion in order to fulfill the purpose laid down by their god. Though some Champions have called down the full power of their god in order to fulfill their chosen Quest, and have thus burned their souls to fuel their purpose. It’s all very proper, with no one getting into anything they don’t understand.” He added, “I understand it was not this way back in the Old Cosmology.”

“That makes me… slightly less angry.” Erick thought for a moment. “Actually. A lot less angry.”

The Headmaster continued, “There is a way to end Melemizargo’s threat, for good, though the odds of it ever happening are… It’s impossible. But maybe you’ll find a way.”

Erick felt his heart beat hard.

“I hardly ever tell anyone this truth, because once they confront him with the option, he invariably kills them.” The Headmaster asked, “Knowing this, do you wish to know the way?”

Did he wish to know! What kind of! Yes! Erick’s anger faded completely, as curiosity took hold. “How?”

“If Melemizargo voluntarily gave up his divinity, if he decided to continue the procession of power that allowed him to become the God of Magic when his own mother passed on, the next God of Magic could fix a lot of the problems he has created.” The Headmaster said, “But Melemizargo has only been the God of Magic for 12,000 years. His mother lasted well over a hundred thousand before she turned her station over to him.”

“Well, fuck.”

“Quite.”

Erick moved right along to the next topic, saying, “So I was thinking of what Melemizargo’s long term goals could be, what with this new sanity and all that.”

The Headmaster waited, listening.  

Erick listed, “To find a way to create new mana. To find a way to contain that mana both on a space faring vessel, and on other planets, possibly with another Script-like magic. And to make a vessel capable of traveling to the other planets of this solar system.”

The Headmaster said, “Copying the Script’s basic functionality to contain mana to Veird would require Rozeta’s cooperation. A void vessel would require Koyabez’s.” He added, “The Demons or Angels could also work instead of the god of Peace, but I don’t see that happening.”

“Because Melemizargo could ask for a [Gate] up there, and then push off of the Silver Star with a lot less force than what is needed to leave Veird?”

The Headmaster nodded.  

Erick had been right! He asked, “But what about making new mana?”

“It is an evil process that involves soul magic.” The Headmaster said, “That is all I will say on the matter.”

Erick filed away that bit of information for some other day, and asked, “How likely is it that he could get Rozeta or Koyabez’s cooperation?”

The Headmaster said, “He doesn’t deserve cooperation. But Koyabez… I could see forgiveness if the right steps are taken. Rozeta would not happen unless all the other gods agree to forgive, and that won’t happen unless the people of the world agree to forgive, and that won’t happen. The Geodes, in particular, would never forgive Melemizargo. They have been burned far too often by his treacheries.”

Erick was slightly stunned. He asked, “You actually think it would be possible for… For Koyabez to forgive Melemizargo for what he’s done?”

“There are certain steps Melemizargo could undertake to show a reformation. There are also certain steps he could never take, simply by nature of the Wizardry he has used to harm Veird.” The Headmaster said, “He could stop appointing Ancients, for that is something he does, personally, for each and every one. But he could not end all monsters, for that has been woven into the very nature of the Script, under the Foundational Bans, and laying those required all the Relevant Entities of the Script, some of which no longer exist. There are other steps similar to these, but they are too numerous to list even in a full day of lecture, so I will leave it at that.”

Erick sat back in his chair, thinking. His thoughts rapidly turned back to other obligations. He checked on Candlepoint, through the several Ophiel he had scattered between Oceanside and the shadeling city.  

… Candlepoint was fine, for now. Nothing had changed in the last half hour, since the last time he checked on the city.

The Headmaster’s voice brought him back to the moment. “You are a good overseer, Erick. I wish you well on Candlepoint. When the rest of the world comes for you, know that I will not stand against this shadeling city, or against you.”

Erick blinked long. He looked to the Headmaster, and said, “Thank you.” On a whim, he asked, “Would you happen to know what’s wrong with my eyes? They’re white, now.”

“Usually, this happens to people of faith, though it also tends to happen to archmages who are also Scions of Focus. Few will ever experience this side effect, though, as it requires extensive, prolonged use of strong magics, coupled with pursuing your personal goals in life to an almost devoted degree. The specific spells I’m referring to are anything with a differently colored Script prompt, which, anyone who knows anything, and who has been watching your activities, would deduce that you have acquired, at least, [Greater Lightwalk]. And possibly something else, as well.” The Headmaster said, “Congratulations on that, by the way.” He asked, “Are you going to teach your apprentice your method?”

Erick almost laughed. “If she’s learned anything from me, she’s probably already tried using what I’ve already taught her. She might have even made it today. She was supposed to finish in the dungeon in the last few hours.” Erick glanced to the window. The sun was maybe two hours away. He said, “I actually might need to pick her up, soon.” He smiled, “And Jane.”

The Headmaster smiled, then stood, saying, “It is time for both of us attend to other duties, and for you to pick out some books. Good luck with Candlepoint. Try to keep yourself safe, if you can.”

Erick stood, saying, “Thank you, Headmaster. Your help has been greatly appreciated.”

The Headmaster smiled, then asked, “Is there any other pressing news? We are in a time of turmoil; if there’s anything else you think I need to know, then I can sit back down.”

Erick felt a warmth in his chest. It was a good feeling. He said, “Probably about a thousand things. But just a moment.” With a concentrated thought, he had an Ophiel near his house bilp himself, and an item from Erick’s tower, closer to another Ophiel down the chain, who then proceeded to do the same. After ten seconds, while the Headmaster looked to Erick, questioningly, an octahedron diamond flickered into Erick’s open palm. “I made this spell, but different. I understand the original belonged to an old friend of yours.” He cast, and the diamond turned void dark, sucking in all light, becoming like a piece of reality cut out from the whole. Erick said, “It works rather well for Stat enchantments.” He offered the gem to the Headmaster.

The two of them had been talking well, like old business friends, for hours. But when the Headmaster saw that dark gem...

The Headmaster stood rigid, expressionless, and distant, as he gazed upon the void diamond in Erick’s outstretched hand. He lifted his hand to reach for it. He hesitated. With a forced, smooth motion, he took the gem. He sighed, his professional mask breaking in small ways. In the crinkles to the sides of his eyes. In the slight frown of his lips. He breathed deep, and let out a small shudder. He smiled. He folded his fingers over the gem. Gold light spilled from the cracks, and when he opened his palm, the void gem was gone.  

“Thank you,” he said. He breathed deep, again. “Tulamana Blackvoid was a wonderful, infuriating, brilliant woman.” He laughed. “I would advise you to tread carefully with this spell, but you are already a Stone Elemental in a pottery shop and you’ve already created artifacts that outlast her [Blackvoid] rings by an order of magnitude.” He said, “Perhaps… Perhaps giving them away for free to empower a city, or as rewards… Perhaps this was the proper response to societal pressures. She tried to sell them. Mostly, she was successful. But then she wasn’t.”

“I heard she fell to the Shades.”  

“It wasn’t quite that simple.” The Headmaster said, “Hers was a simple time of dangerous new magics on Veird. Not unlike which has happened before, not unlike which will happen again, but her waves were smaller than the waves you have caused.

“She sold trinkets to kings for exorbitant amounts, and she spurned cities who wished to be her benefactor. She sold to both sides of wars, and played people against each other when they tried to play her.” The Headmaster said, “She did not want to live a simple life, at all. But yes, eventually the Shades wanted to play with her, and she spurned them, too. The only reason that history records her death at the hands of the Shades was because they were the first to succeed. Others were hot on her trail.” He looked to the dark skies outside, and said, “We will talk again, Erick. Thank you for this old man’s tangents. It is good to reminisce, sometimes.”

“See you later.”

“And you, as well.”

The Headmaster blipped away in a flash of gold.  

Erick had wanted to ask a few more questions, but that was more than enough for one night. He glanced down to the books left on the tea table, then turned and walked out of the library, hurrying fast to the bathroom. With the necessities out of the way, he began rummaging through the shelves. Hours passed. With Poi’s help, Erick picked out a hundred books, and copied them all. As the sun rose on the other side of the city, and night retreated past the western horizon, turning the sky back to bright blue, a good pile of books laid stacked on Ophiel’s [Teleporting Platform]. Erick sent the [Familiar] blipping on ahead, to deposit those books in the library of the house, back in Spur.

Erick glanced out the window one more time. The city was waking up. Soon, the shops would be opening, too. And right on time. He turned to Poi, and said, “Are Kiri and Jane ready for some shopping?”

“They are.”

The two of them blipped away in a flash of white.

- - - -

Erick stepped onto the grassy part of the lawn, outside of Windy Manor. The air tasted faintly of salt, but the land up here was far enough away from the ocean that the salt failed to overpower the smell of vanilla, citrus, and herbs. Erick breathed deep. The garden was growing in well; the groundskeepers, Vinsez and Powell, must be doing well. Had they had their baby yet? Maybe, but it was likely still too early. But that was a concern for another day, for Jane and Kiri stood outside of the picture windows of the manor, bereft of any bags; they must have sent them ahead, with Sunny.

Jane smiled. Kiri took second place next to Jane, stepping slightly further to the side.

Erick smiled wide to see his daughter, and his apprentice. With enthusiasm, he said, “Hello! Ready for some shopping?”

Kiri said, “Absolutely.”

“It’s the only reason I stuck around when I heard you were showing up.” Jane walked closer, teasing, “And you’re paying.”

Erick laughed. “Of course I am.” He said, “Let’s buy everything you want. And if you see anything you think Candlepoint could need, I’ll get that, too.”

He met Jane in a hug. His head pressed to her shoulder, while she did the same to him. They stayed like that for a moment.  

Jane muttered, “You pulled some crazy shit, dad.”

He countered, “Like you haven’t risked your life killing some monster or another in the last dozen days. You were supposed to be home ‘in just a few’, if I recall correctly.”

Jane giggled. “I certainly didn’t try to kill a Shade.” She added, “I haven’t killed any monsters, actually. I’ve been working to clear my Class Ability Quests.” She pulled away. “You’re looking at a fully Ability’d Prismatic Polymage.”

Erick smiled wide, then pulled her in for another hug. “That’s great!” He let her go, still smiling wide. “Fantastic.” He added, “We’re going to have to talk about upgrading all of your Elemental Bodies into their Greater versions.”

Jane winced.  

“Ha!” Kiri chimed in.

Erick glanced between Kiri and Jane, asking, “Did you already raise them?”

Jane sighed, then glared at the slightly younger woman. She turned back to Erick. “Your apprentice has. I have not.” Eager to move along, Jane said, “But whatever! Let’s go spend your money.”

Erick smiled, then turned to Kiri, who had been holding back a couple of meters. “Good job, Kiri. How long did it take you?”

“First try.” Kiri smiled, showing bright white teeth, as her feathered snake [Familiar] looked to Erick with bright green eyes. “Sunny helped.”

“Ah! Good. Just like I told you, then?”  

“Exactly as you told me.”

Erick teased Jane, “But you don’t want a [Familiar]~”

“You are right. I do not.” Jane asked, “By the way: What’s wrong with your eyes?”

“Something that might eventually affect you, and you too, Kiri.”

Kiri perked up.  

Erick explained, “The Headmaster said it like this...”

- - - -

One nice thing about being at Oceanside again, besides that he was near to Jane again, was that no one recognized him. Erick walked down the streets with his daughter at his side and Poi just one step behind, while Kiri walked ahead. Some people might have picked out this pseudo-formation grouping, but this was a land of students; the four of them were just another loose group of people on the streets, shopping at the Lower Market of Oceanside like everyone else. Only Poi wore armor, but he was not the only one encased in steel on these streets.

Vendors hawked their wares on carpets set to the sides of the wide stone road, or in stalls raised from the ground, under cloth awnings. Bowls and utensils. Maps and spices. Seeds and fruits. Fabrics and yarn and used books, and artistic sculptures that moved in interesting ways when [Control Item] was applied. And jewelry. Lots and lots of jewelry. But none of it was enchanted. They’d have to go up to the Upper Market for that.

Which they did, soon enough.  

In the Lower Market, cream-colored Robe automatons—

Ah! Dammit! Erick should have asked the Headmaster if there was a way for him to use the Crystal in the center of Candlepoint to create his own automatons. Oh well. He’d write the man a letter, and that would be that.

—The Robe automatons were spaced wide in the air, with good overviews of the market, but not an overbearing presence. The price for thievery was minimal by Veird standards; the severing of an arm, while all the healers in the city knew not to heal that sort of injury. But in the Upper Market, the price for thievery was exile or death, depending, and the Robes were spaced on every single corner, floating in the air; silent sentinels ready to enforce the Law at a moment’s notice.

Erick noticed the Robes, and wondered what laws Mephistopheles, Zaraanka, Slip, Justine, and Valok, would decide upon, after he sent them all those books on law. Some variation of Spur’s laws? Probably not. Mephistopheles was from… somewhere. Erick wasn’t quite sure. Possibly Nelboor, but Erick had no idea why he got that feeling. He wasn’t sure about Slip, either. Zaraanka was from the Greensoil Republic, for sure. Valok was from the Republic, too, but he was also from Spur. Justine was from a dead Underworld city—

If Ava truly became the Sewermaster, then she got a say in the city, too, right? That’s how it worked, and she was from the Underworld, too.  

… Candlepoint would likely end up with a mishmash of Underworld and Republic values—

No. That was jumping the gun. Erick had no idea what they would decide—

Jane asked, “What are you thinking about, dad? You went quiet.”

Erick looked at the stacks of books he had been staring at for five minutes. He turned to Jane. “Thinking about laws. What to institute in Candlepoint. Everyone there is from different places on Veird.”

“You’re not thinking of some full democratic system, are you?”  

She said the words with disguised disdain, but Erick heard her feelings loud and clear.  

After a moment, he decided, “It’ll be much easier to oversee a republic than a democracy.”

With relief in her voice, Jane said, “Good.” Then she asked, “So what book are you looking for?”

“Something called ‘Esoteric Elements’. Archmage Syllea said I should look into it.” He asked, “What are you looking for?”

“Monster guides and [Polymorph] suggestions.”  

“I’ll keep an eye out.”  

Jane nodded, as she went back to the stacks.  

In a few hours of shopping, Erick finally found what he was looking for at the fifth bookshop, with the help of a lovely older incani woman, who knew her bookshop back to front. But the book Erick wanted wasn’t in the shelves. It was kept separate from the rest. The woman pulled ‘Esoteric Element’s from a locked and runed chest, kept behind the counter, and set the book on the counter between them. It was a massive tome, 50 centimeters by 40, with over four hundred thick pages. She allowed him to view the work, but he could not do more than that. This was fine. As soon as Erick read through the first few pages, he knew he had found the right book.  

The brilliantly illustrated book cost him 2830 gold, but he bargained her down from 2900. He probably still overpaid, but maybe not. This book was practically an illuminated manuscript; a work of art written more like a fairy tale than a text book, with inked paintings all throughout. It was easy to see why the book wasn’t more widely published, when books normally cost 20-40 gold, and only text books got [Duplicate]d by the Book Binders. This was no text book. Flipping through the pages, he could easily see how a younger Syllea would have fallen in love with all the varied Elements.

Jane eyed the book the whole time Erick had gone through buying the thing, so with the transaction completed, and the bookseller happy and relaxed, he stepped aside and let Jane read. She did. She flipped through the first few pages, then read more. Her eyes went wide.  

She looked up to him, and said, “What the fuck?”

Erick laughed loud, then said, “I know! There’s more elements than six!”

Kiri stepped to them, asking, “What?”

Jane stepped aside. The bookseller grinned at the whole exchange, while Kiri stepped up and began to read.

Kiri read for a moment. She frowned. “Huh. They never taught us that.” She looked to the bookseller, saying, “I need to find a book on ‘Radiance’.”  

The bookseller said, “Aisle 3, fifth shelf forward on the left, bottom rows. ‘Dawning Sun Style’ or ‘Fire on the Sky’. These are the ones I recommend.”

Kiri thanked the woman, and went searching.

Jane stepped back to Esoteric Elements and flipped through, first to the front, then to the back. She read a little, then flipped through again, to somewhere in the center. She went silent. Erick watched, smiling, wondering what she was looking for.

Jane looked to the bookseller, saying, “I need to find books on Reflection and Illusion.”

“Overviews, or in-depth?”

“In-depth.”

The bookseller said, “For Reflection: Aisle 8, first shelf forward on the right, top rows. ‘Reflecting Magic and Melee’ is the definitive work on that subject. For Illusion—” She pointed to a shelf right beside her counter, saying, “I keep those books right there. Try the middle row.” She smirked, saying, “I keep that shelf in sight as much as I can.”

Jane went to find her books.  

While they went searching, Erick asked for books on aura control, Shadow and Light interactions, and tree [Familiar]s.

The older woman was happy to personally help him, as she pulled out three more 1500 gold tomes from the same chest she had retrieved ‘Esoteric Elements’. There was a problem, though. That chest was not big enough to hold all the books she had pulled from it, and she closed the lid every time she pulled out a different book.

Erick eyed the woman. She was an older incani, with two small purple horns, pale violet skin, and pale eyes to match her white hair. He looked around. The shop was nice, with hard woods and bright lights and well maintained shelves and floors, but it wasn’t overly nice. Erick and his people were the only shoppers in this place, too.   

Erick asked, “Is this some specialty book shop? You have everything I asked for. None of the other places did.”

The incani woman grinned, saying, “Oceanside is an arcanaeum town, so most everyone sells to the lowest common denominator. But this is an Elite shop, owned by the Headmaster himself. If it wasn’t for you, archmage, your girls would have been [Teleport Other]d outside the moment they tried to come in, as would anyone not already approved.”

Erick stood stunned for a moment. He said, “Ah. Well. Thank you for having everything I wanted.”

The woman bowed, just a little, then said, “That is what I’m here for.”

“What’s the name of your shop, again? I know I saw the name outside, but— What’s your name?” He rapidly remembered his manners, and said, “I’m Erick. Nice to meet you.”

“The Book Cellar. I’m Tapezry. A pleasure to meet you, too, archmage.”

Jane came up to the counter holding three books. Erick paid for them, then he paid for Kiri’s five. Jane had likely overheard everything that had happened, for she gave a small glance between Erick and Tapezry, but it was Kiri who came up to the counter like some sheep looking like she was in someplace she shouldn’t be. She still wanted her books, though.  

It was then, that Erick looked to Poi, and saw that he was keeping it together, but only just. Erick had kept the man up way too late. There was only one more place to go, though. This trip was almost over.

Erick thanked Tapezry for her help, and left the Book Cellar. It wasn’t far to go to reach their final destination: ‘Healer’s Light’.

Erick spent half a million gold at that swanky emporium for specialty services, and specialty items. 500,000 gold didn’t go that far. Just two rods of [Greater Treat Wounds] were 200,000 gold on their own, but Erick also got a fair number of rods of [Treat Wounds], both to replace the ones he requisitioned from Spur’s Army and to hand over to Candlepoint. The other major expenses came from a few truly expensive magical grasses that would spread in Candlepoint’s Lake, and ensure that the fish who swam near would remain healthy and free of parasites. He got enough to plant next to the city’s coast, just one glass orb containing a tuft of green, but not much more than that. Theoretically, he could have gone out into the wild and find some ‘Million Fish Grass’ on his own, and saved that cost, but that cost was only there for all the alchemical and magical warding placed upon the glass orb, and in the waters inside. Million Fish Grass didn’t tolerate replanting, at all.

… Erick wondered what was going on with that. He would have to try out [Teleport Other] on a small piece of the grass when it had grown upon the lake’s bottom. After all, [Teleport Other] worked to move something as though it had been in another place all along. It wouldn’t be ‘replanting’, in that case. And besides that: the little green tuft would survive through a [Teleport], according to the people at ‘Healer’s Light’.

But that was a project for another day.

With all their purchases in their bags, Erick, Jane, Kiri, and Poi, walked to the designated [Teleport] area inside Healer’s Light, and Erick summoned his [Teleporting Platform]. The shop was very aware of the prices of the items they sold, and Erick was more than happy to oblige their suggestion that he leave via the designated area, instead of risking a walk on the street.  

As they were blipping across the ocean, Erick thought back to a conversation he had in the middle of all the shopping.

Erick had inquired about Delia Greentalon; Valok’s daughter.  

Jane reported that she had stayed away from the young pinkscale, but she knew that Delia had attended her classes every day. Jane had no idea of anything beyond that.

Kiri had not stayed away from Delia. Kiri said, “I met with her, once, and talked to her teachers. She’s violent and dispassionate. She doesn’t talk to anyone except when they talk to her. But it’s hard to fault that. None of her teachers were overly concerned.”

Erick hoped Delia would be okay. He would ask Valok on his thoughts.

- - - -

The journey home sent them almost a quarter around the world, and back into the dark; the sun was barely rising.  

Poi immediately went to bed. Erick apologized to the man as he trundled up the stairs, to his room.  

As for himself, Erick went into the kitchen and started making breakfast, as well as conjuring a note under Justine’s door, telling her what to expect upon coming down stairs. Jane and Kiri were waiting.

Not too long later, Justine came down the stairs, alongside Teressa.  

The arguments started. Erick refereed.  

It was a great big thing, where everything about Candlepoint was all dredged up, again, and both Kiri and Jane raised their voices and twisted all the knives they could think to twist. Erick defended Justine when things got out of hand, but he might not have needed to. Justine was poised. She was calm. This level of vitriol from his daughter and his apprentice, was nothing to her. She could handle anger. She could handle unfounded and founded suspicion both just fine, with grit and aplomb. Her voice never strayed above an even keel.  

The conversation temporarily broke for breakfast, but resumed before Jane had finished her first slice of bacon. Erick and Teressa ate while words flew across the table to strike Justine, who sat adamant in her resolve to explain away as many concerns as she could, weather the concerns she couldn’t account for, and strive to prove, through calm words, that the shadelings of Candlepoint were not a trap for anyone, except the gods. When that came up there was a minor shit fit, but Justine explained her Scion Revelation:  

The Relevant Entities of the Script were withholding their response. The shadelings were Melemizargo’s attempt at a bridge between himself and the world, and many Relevant Entities wanted to see what that meant before they decided on open war.

Jane frowned, trying a different tactic, saying, “He’s giving out free [Resurrection]s, and that’s supposed to make him not guilty of all the evil he’s caused?”

Justine calmly said, “I have been informed that the process will not be called [Resurrection], but [Reincarnation]. It is not the restoration of the original, but the original brought back in a new form, with most of the memories of the original. Melemizargo wishes to bypass the [Resurrection] debate completely, but what people choose to make of this has yet to be seen.”

Jane balked—

Erick’s fork dropped to his plate. “He’s using my words?”

Jane turned to her father, saying, “You gave them that English word?”

“Yes. That is what happened. The concept has been accepted, according to Koyabez.” Justine said, “What that means, we will have to wait and see.”

Kiri went “Hmm,” She stuck her fork into a potato. She said no more.

Jane stared at Justine, then stabbed her pancake. She said no more.  

Breakfast continued in blessèd silence.