194 - Start of Book 7 (Patreon)

Poi approached the open door of Erick’s mage tower—

Erick turned away from his multitude of lists, to take in the sight of the sapphirescale soldier, and Mind Mage. The sun was barely up outside, turning the dark, wardlight-speckled night of Spur back into a land of orange stone and scattered greenery, and three hundred thousand people. Most people were still in bed at this hour, though. Poi, however, was dressed in his finest suit, as though he was ready for a very large day of very big things.

Erick needed to get ready, too, he supposed. He was still wearing a plain tunic and pants and shoes. Did he have time, though? Probably not.

“Is it time?” Erick asked.

He was to meet with Ascendant Prime today. Erick had no idea who Ascendant Prime was, exactly, only that they were high up in the organization of the Mind Mages. The very same Mind Mages who worked with the wrought and Kirginatharp in order to enact the Forgotten Campaigns of Veird’s history, in order to erase horrible magics from the world before those magics destroyed everything. They were also, as their names suggested, Mind Mages, which Erick was, perhaps, overly wary of meeting. It wasn’t too long ago that Fairy Moon had whammied him with mind control magic…

But Poi and the actual Mind Mages had always been honorable about that most horrible of magics. They routinely ensured that anyone caught abusing those magics were made to… Atone, or something. Erick wasn’t quite sure what happened to rogue Mind Mages, but it was probably the same thing that happened to all criminals of the worst sort. In addition to that, though, the Mind Mages saw to it that the mental monsters of the world were put down, ensuring the general safety of the populace in multiple ways, while simultaneously staying as far out of the public eye as possible.

Hopefully this meeting would clear up some lingering doubts Erick had about this whole Mind Magic thing, as well as pave the way to a less stressful future. Erick had plans to do a lot of good, but he was a Wizard, and much of the world would likely fall upon him for the crime of existing, as soon as they heard. Hopefully, the Mind Mages would not be a part of that conglomerate.

Hopefully, he could get them on his side.

Erick was already partnered with the wrought, after all. Or at least, before he had allied with Ar’Cosmos and Fairy Moon, he had partnered with the wrought of Geode Stratagold, and with Rozeta’s Inquisition forces who ran the Forgotten Campaigns. After he came out to them as a Wizard… That relationship was somewhat rocky, but it would likely repair with time and effort.

Poi heard and understood Erick’s concerns, without Erick needing to say a word. That was the power of a good Mind Mage, and Poi was certainly one of the best, as far as Erick knew. That fact didn’t used to worry Erick, but suddenly it did, and all because of fucking Fairy Moon and her disregard of the severity of Mind Magic.

And now, Erick was to meet with the Big Boss of the Mind Mages…

… His thoughts were going in unhelpful circles.

Poi cut through the spiral, saying, “Ascendant Prime will be ready to speak with you when you are ready to speak with him.”

“… I’m ready.” Erick steeled himself. He asked, “Through you?”

Poi nodded again. “He is already here.”

Ah.

Well if that wasn’t suddenly terrifying—

Erick gestured to an empty space on the floor of his mage tower, conjuring a chair with that same motion. “Welcome to my home, then, Ascendant Prime.”

Poi stood a little straighter. His gaze turned a little smoother. His breathing paused, and then restarted, as the irises of his eyes transformed from ocean-blue to iridescent gold that then spilled outward, completely filling his eyes with far-away divine fire. The constant tendrils of thought that always radiated off of Poi turned from several strands to several thousand, all of them laced with small threads of divine gold, spreading all up and down and across Poi’s entire surface, fanning out behind him, transforming his manasphere impression to that of a hedgehog, or a sea anemone. With the stiffness of a person briefly not used to having a body, and then suddenly remembering how everything worked, the person wearing Poi looked to Erick.

Erick got the distinct impression that the entity inside Poi was uncomfortable at being in such a small container, but that he would make do for as long as necessary. Probably not long, though. Erick was rather thankful that this conversation probably wouldn’t last more than half an hour; if that.

Just long enough to settle some nerves (hopefully!), lay some groundwork for future cooperation, and to pitch an idea Erick’s way, to see what he thought. Or at least that was the impression Erick got. It was probably a correct impression.

Not-Poi easily took his chair.

Erick sat down on his own.

Not-Poi said, “We Mind Mages desire freedom from wrongful persecution. To that end, we police our own and keep to strict codes of conduct. The reason for those codes is to prevent people like yourself from experiencing the horrors of Mind Magic, and thus feeling like you need to purge an entire population from the planet. Such an event has happened too many times before, and it is only through allying with the powers of this world that we have been able to step back from that brink of utter annihilation a dozen times over. Our situation is not too different from that of Wizards.”

Right to the heart of the matter, then.

This was good.

Erick nodded, and waited for the man to continue.

Not-Poi continued, “Since you have already allied with powers that we have already allied with —save for a conversation that still needs to happen with Kirginatharp— and since you are stepping out onto the world stage as a known Wizard, and since you have [Gate], we wish to officially offer our services and alliances to you, at this juncture. The unofficial alliances through Poi, and the work we have already done together to help rid some small parts of this world of mental monster threats, also bode well for future cooperation. What we desire is a continuance of non-aggression toward Mind Mages, to strengthen the bonds already formed, and to ameliorate the strife done to you by your recent experience with that fae, in whatever capacity we can, and which you will accept and participate in.”

Erick had a sudden thought. “She’s fucked up the equilibrium of your people several times, hasn’t she.”

“Yes. She has harmed our public image many times before.” Not-Poi was very good at hiding his emotions behind a body that was not his, and with the calmness of his words, but Erick could tell he was completely exasperated with Fairy Moon. He probably had some choice words for Erick’s decision to ally with Ar’Cosmos, but he could work the hand he was dealt— Not-Poi was about to say something, but then he changed his mind. He said, “I have to comment— Poi has made us aware of the phenomenon of your empathy, but experiencing it in person is altogether... different. This sort of experience is unnerving, but also rather novel to me, for I am usually on the other side of this situation. Physical language continues to be barely adequate, though, so some things will never change, it seems.”

Erick allowed himself a small smile. “I imagine you speak quite a bit faster when words are not strictly necessary.”

“A thousand times faster.” Not-Poi said, “Or deeper, depending on your perspective. Language is slow.”

Erick gave a simple nod, then decided that there was only one way for this conversation to have the best possible outcome. Luckily, it was an outcome that Erick already desired. “I accept your request for alliance, but I need to know what I get out of it, and what you want in return.”

Not-Poi nodded. “Our main desires are that you not create or enforce any rules specifically against Mind Magic that place a burden on those with Mind Magic capability. Rules against [Mind Control] and the like are acceptable and encouraged. The small rules you spoke of with the Darkness, That Fae, and Rozeta and her Inquisitor, are acceptable and desirable for us. No one should have to worry about mind control. We feel that your decision to allow that fae to use mind control to bring that Red Dot Dragon to court was a bad decision, but this is not a large issue right now; I only mention it so that it will not become an issue in the future.” Not-Poi said, “As for what you gain: Knowledge Mages are the least of our services. We can answer any historical questions you might have, and keep you up to date on all current events. We also provide anti-[Telepathy] services, of which Poi is already providing, along with coordination services.” He said, “As a note: It is our hope that we will continue to work together to erase many different mental monster threats from Veird.”

Erick almost smiled. This was great.

He had some reservations, of course...

“I need to know,” Erick asked, “If I hadn’t made [Gate], or Elemental Benevolence— If I was just a normal Wizard and was found out by Kirginatharp, or the wrought, or the dragons of Ar’Cosmos… What would have happened?”

For a moment, Not-Poi almost didn’t answer. He almost chose to deflect. Then he decided to tell the uncomfortable truth, “I will answer based on historical precedent, and not based on any personally gained knowledge. In all cases, they might have tried to work with you, first. But as that often fails… If you were a normal Wizard, with your level of power, there is a good chance that Kirginatharp would have sundered your soul and secured ten more easy years of life for Veird, for this planet does not run on wishes and dreams; it runs on mana. If the wrought would have gotten you then they could have attempted any number of controls, though they are more forgiving of foibles than Kirginatharp. I suspect that you could have won them over, completely, but historically, and based on percentages, this has not happened. A middle-road compromise would have likely taken place, and you would have been nullified, but you would have been allowed to live your own life however you wished. The dragons of Ar’Cosmos would have used you to make more of them, and then you would have been discarded or cherished, based on your own proclivities.”

The ‘sunder your soul’ part was unexpected, as well as the reason that Kirginatharp would have done so, but now that Not-Poi had said it, Erick could easily see why Kirginatharp would have sundered his soul. If a normal person’s soul made a small river of mana, a Wizard’s soul likely made a tsunami.

The wrought and Ar’Cosmos’s responses were already known to Erick, so those weren’t surprising at all. It did remind Erick of one more necessity he had to do, going forward, though. Erick got up, went to his chalkboard not a meter away, and added another bullet point to his lists of goals: ‘Get the former Wizards out of Ar’Cosmos.’

Not-Poi watched as Erick wrote, though his golden eyes had already taken in the entirety of Erick’s various lists.

Erick returned to his seat, saying, “Thanks. I had forgotten about that need. They didn’t let me see the Wizards in there, either, so this will be good… Maybe. As you can see, I have a lot of stuff that needs doing. Any idea where your people would like to fit in?”

Not-Poi seemed to relax. He gave a small nod, then said, “I have some people who would like to participate in your House Benevolence as secretaries and other general office work. In addition to those jobs —which we would consider more mundane uses of our people— I have some individuals who are interested in working with you on a more defensive basis, in order to ensure that hostile Mind Magic is never again employed against you. As for what this relationship would look like, you are aware of what we do for Kirginatharp, somewhat. We hope to enjoy the same sort of relationship with you.”

Erick paused in thought.

Then he asked, “Why does everyone say I have no ability with Mind Magic?”

Not-Poi blinked a bit, for he had not anticipated this segue. “Well… You…” And then he caught up to himself. “The term ‘Mind Magic’ is something of a false designation. To understand the truth of Mind Magic is to see the world through a mana sense of a different flavor. Imagine every living brain and soul as having a mental aura that showcases their ideas and thoughts and feelings; thought-slimes of various sizes, with brains at the center of each slime.

“When a person casts a spell, they put their intent into the mana, effectively spilling off a bit of their slime aura into the magical construct. That intent sticks around until the spell runs out... This gets very complicated, very fast, so I will move on.

“A proper Mind Mage instinctively sees these slime auras, and through viewing those auras and understanding them —for they don’t actually look like auras at all— a Mind Mage can understand what the minded-individual wants.

“All Mind Magic begins with the sight and feel of the mind; of the coloring, shaping, threading, murmuring, and other sorts of influencing the mental space of one’s self, or that of another. The Mind Magic that the Script has structured into expressions of mana and blue boxes is barely a tenth of what Mind Magic actually is.” Not-Poi said, “And since you have zero ‘mind sense’ —which is different from mana sense— this is why you have been told you have no ability with Mind Magic. And this is true. The slime-aura around your brain is like a paralyzed, atrophied limb. It is there; you can use it when you make magic and when you use your own aura. But you can’t actually move your mind-slime.

“Therefore, you have no ability with Mind Magic.

“But with over 10,000 Health and a strong sense of self, even the strongest, most offensive Mind Magics out there will have trouble accomplishing anything at all against your mind that you don’t wish to happen. Unfortunately, That Fae is an uncommon enemy, and when you’re inside Ar’Cosmos you have no Health. To combat this lack, I offer soldiers to keep your mind your own.” Not-Poi said, “I still advise against ever going back into Ar’Cosmos unless absolutely necessary, though.”

Erick sat back, thinking. “… An entire branch of magic forever out of reach, eh?”

“You might eventually awaken your paralyzed mind-slime with enough time and effort, but I’ve seen a million cases like yours and I can confidently say that working on anything else is a more productive measure of your time than working on Mind Magic.” Not-Poi said, “Normal magic is much more versatile and useful. With the Script, you might even be able to create an anti-Mind Magic [Personal Ward]. We can help you to create such a thing, though such a magic has obvious drawbacks of preventing [Telepathy] and other methods of easy battle coordination.”

Erick thought for a moment longer, then said, “We’ll talk about that some other day. For now, I want to reiterate what I hope for, going forward: I hope to make the world a more connected, more peaceful, less warlike land. I hope I am able to achieve this by making a Gate Network that everyone wants to use, and which they are willing to play nice to get. And so, a lot of historically-antagonistic forces are going to be coming together in odd ways. I will attempt to stop all the wars that come my way, but know now that this is the sort of thing you are signing up for, when you ask to be allies.” Erick asked, “Can I count on your support? If not in war, then to at least prevent Mind Magic problems and to help foster understanding and growth in the coming era?”

Not-Poi’s eyes shone with prismatic gold fire. “Absolutely. We are also not opposed to war, but we will not be employing our Mind Magic offensively, at all, or ever.”

Erick breathed out a little, happy that this meeting was going so well. “That is perfectly acceptable. Do you have a name other than ‘Not-Poi’ or ‘Ascendant Prime’?”

“I gave up my name and my individuality long ago, back when I gave up my body. If it helps, you can call me ‘Prime’.”

Erick nodded, and as the sky outside turned gold with the light of dawn, he began, “How do you envision such an alliance looking? What sort of people…”

The conversation went a little longer than Erick had expected, and he thought that perfectly fine.

They spoke until the sun rose all the way, and everyone else in the house woke up and got to doing whatever they felt like doing. Teressa made breakfast, looking half-dead all the while due to lack of sleep. Kiri had much the same weariness and worried look to her as Teressa, as she sat there at the breakfast table, barely touching her pancakes. Jane had no problem eating what Teressa had made, but…

She was worried, too. Jane was just very good at ignoring her worries.

While Erick and Prime spoke of the future, and what cooperation looked like, the people of Spur began to show up outside of Erick’s property, to stand outside the short wall separating Erick’s property from the rest of the Human District. Some of those people were soldiers, keeping the peace, but in the distance, between the mansions of various nobles, Erick saw Silverite and Killzone walking his way.

Erick glanced outward, focusing on Ophiel’s senses for a moment, making sure that what he was seeing was what was actually happening. Then he looked back to Prime, and stood up, saying, “It’s been nice talking to you, and I wish to speak more in the future, but duty calls.”

“It was good to speak with you as well.” Prime stood up, saying, “Duty calls.”

Threads of divine gold fire slipped out of Poi like the unweaving of a basket, or the unwrapping of a thousand folded hands. The gold left his eyes. Sapphire blue irises returned as Poi blinked hard, slumping a fraction before catching himself. Small puffs of fire escaped his mouth as he steadied. And then he stood straight, and breathed deep.

“Welcome back, Poi.” Erick said, “Your boss seems nice.”

“I was still here,” Poi said. “Never left. Just… briefly subsumed.” He shook his head, as though clearing out cobwebs— He paused, then looked around. “Oh. It looks like Kiri is having… a problem. I think Ascendant Prime might have been too much for her.”

Erick scowled a bit. Something was wrong with Kiri—?

Downstairs in the kitchen, Kiri had been sitting next to her half-eaten pancakes, looking pensive and worried. She had likely seen a lot through Sunny’s eyes, or her own developing mana sense. But now, she held onto both sides of her emeraldscale head as though that would be enough to hold herself still in the middle of a massive storm. She groaned.

A spike of worry struck Erick.

There was nothing wrong? No crisis. Ascendant Prime had moved on? Ophiel was steady on the outside corners of the house, sitting pretty right beside a slightly agitated Sunny, who had been agitated the whole night, so Erick mostly wrote off her continued agitation as nerves.

No dangerous looking people outside, either, aside from the various normal looking commoners and a few people in noble livery who had likely heard that Erick had made [Gate], or had seen that Ophiel was back in residence. Silverite and Killzone reached the gathered people outside of the walls, and began controlling that situation better than the guard were capable of doing.

Teressa moved to stand beside Kiri. She placed her hand on the young girl’s back, but her focus was divided between Kiri’s sudden change from pensive to ‘having an obvious problem’, and also Erick’s current location. Jane seemed to be talking about how it was all over now, and nothing was happening.

Erick took that all in in less than a second, then instantly started walking out of his mage tower, toward the newest development in his life, saying, “Everyone is still alive and a fight doesn’t seem to be happening, so let’s take it all as it comes and work toward the best.”

Poi followed, saying, “Kiri seems to be coming back out of it, too.”

And she was. Kiri dropped her hands away from her head and said some small words of ‘I’m fine’ to Teressa. And she seemed to be fine. Mostly.

Erick smiled, his own sudden worries flushing away like so much [Cleanse]d murk. “Good news all around!”

And then, from downstairs, like a raid siren, Kiri sounded off, “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!”

Poi rapidly said, “Most people don’t know of Ascendant Prime and while that is likely to change in the immediate area—”

“Right right.” Erick understood. “Don’t mention it too much.”

Calming Kiri down didn’t take much. Just the knowledge that Erick was on the case and everything would be fine seemed to be enough. And besides that, Silverite and Killzone were here. Kiri had already righted herself for that very reason; no matter whatever trauma might happen, one needed to be ready to respond to all new changes in any current situation, after all. Erick thought that Kiri was being a bit harsh on herself, but he didn’t have time to address any of that; not right now, anyway.

Because he suddenly remembered another problem.

Where the fuck was Sitnakov?

And did the man’s absence have something to do with Killzone also being an adamantium orcol? There weren’t many of those in the world, as far as Erick knew. Rozeta had said that he would show up right after Erick woke up, and that was hours ago by now.

He was probably scared of Killzone, or mad, or… Something. Or maybe he just didn’t want to approach the house? There had been a shell of unknown protective magics surrounding the [Prismatic Ward] of his house earlier in the morning, preventing all people from directly interacting with that dense air, or with the house at all. Erick had no idea all of the effects of those spells (though they were clearly to prevent people from [Dispel]ing his [Prismatic Ward]), though they hadn’t impeded him from blipping inside, nor had they stopped any of his people from doing the same, and using the house as normal. But now…

Erick opened the front door of his house, and there was nothing but dense air separating him from the Mayor of Spur, and her General of the Army.

Silverite looked happy to see Erick. Her pleasant-yet-professional white sundress flowed a little in the breeze, while her silver dragonkin body looked almost gold in the morning light.

Killzone was the same dour black metal orcol that Erick had always known. But there was something different about him today. He was very good at hiding it, but he actually looked a bit nervous, like he expected someone to jump out from behind one of the bushes in the front garden, or out from behind an edge of the house. Maybe Sitnakov had made a small appearance, after all?

“Morning, Silverite. Killzone.” Erick stepped back, saying, “Welcome to my home. You should be aware that I have no idea where Sitnakov is, but he’s around here somewhere. Rozeta promised that.”

“Fuck. I knew it.” Killzone breathed deep, then he calmed, and spoke with a casual southern twang, “Ya know what? That’s fine. So we hear you got [Gate].”

Silverite’s eyes went a little wide at the mention of Sitnakov, but after a glance at Killzone and seeing he was… okay, the Mayor turned back to Erick. “There were some concerning developments in the missive you sent through Poi, but we’re glad to see that you’re okay. Mind if we come in and talk?”

Erick stepped back, happily saying, “Come on in.”

They did.

They closed the door behind them.

And then, safely behind the walls and their anti-sound spells, Silverite dropped the act.

The Mayor of Spur started talking, her volume increasing with every passing word, “Do you have ANY. IDEA. What it means to ally with Ar’Cosmos! What it means to ALLY WITH THAT FAE! I won’t have fairies in this city! Erick! I just won’t!— Why are you smiling! This is serious!”

Erick was smiling, and he knew this was serious, but Silverite was normal-mad at him. Not ‘exile or kill’ mad. It was easy to tell the difference. “I’m glad you’re taking this Wizardry so well.”

Silverite rounded on him, pointing a finger. “You think you’re the first Wizard I’ve seen walk through this city! I had you marked as a possible Wizard after that Particle shit!”

“Bah!” Erick retorted, “No you did not!”

“I can pretend! … Though it is likely better to be true about my ignorance… for a while.” Silverite calmed a fraction, saying, “Gods above. You know how many people are up in my mind about this development? The [Gate] stuff, I mean. Not all the rest. Everyone wants a piece of you. What are you going to do when they find out the whole truth? Because— If I am understanding what Poi told us.” She glanced at Poi, then back to Erick. “You’re not hiding your Wizardly… WHICH IS JUST SO! Incomprehensible. Gods! It feels so odd to talk about this openly. This is not the way this is usually done, Erick.”

“There’s going to be a lot of changes. For starters, I’m going to start some sort of House Benevolence—”

Silverite muttered, “Gods above.”

Killzone, who was pitch black adamantium, probably would have paled if it were physically possible.

“—north of Candlepoint.” Erick said, “That’s where I’m going to go, and remain, so that I’m not bringing the world down on Spur.”

And now Silverite looked embarrassed, but thankful. Killzone frowned a little for similar reasons.

Silverite said, “So you’re moving.”

“I am. I have to. I won’t put Spur in danger like that.”

For a long moment, no one said anything.

And then Silverite said, “Spur will always be open to you, though we know that the near future might bring too much turmoil for you to take advantage of this offer. If you need supplies, our markets are open. If you need help setting up land and sewers, or whatever physical structures might be necessary, I’m sure Al would love to help with that. He is a rather great Stone Mage, as you already know… And a sewermaster. He’s going to miss you; He had a party planned… But you can have that over at Candlepoint, or wherever. Though… I’m not sure how he would deal with you being a Wizard. Everyone is going to have…” Silverite moved on, “I’m here if you need someone to speak to about administration. I’d tell you not to get involved with… a lot of things you’re already involved with. Dragons, for one. But… You’re already doing that. This house and property remains yours, of course, and...” She ran out of easy words as thick emotions clamped her mouth shut.

She had been holding it together well, but she had grown fond of Erick, and Erick had grown fond of her. He was going to miss Spur and its people a whole lot, for any visits to this land would have to be diplomatic-oriented visits; no time for antiquing or bar hopping or anything like that…

Not for a while, at least.

Erick smiled the whole time Silverite spoke, though, for it was fantastic that this was Silverite’s response, and not anything else that it could have been. “I’d like to open up trade with Spur whenever I get [Gate]s up and running, if you’re amenable.”

“Yes yes, of course.” Silverite regained much of her composure as the topic turned to trade. “It’s going to be dangerous to associate with you in the near future, but if we ride the line then we should all come out on top of the world when things finally calm down. Just don’t expect a miracle of cooperation from all the rest of the world. As far as I heard, Candlepoint was doing well after you took over because a lot of people want a Gate Network. About 20,000 people there right now, last I heard, but 95% of them are not natives. I would not be surprised if almost all of them leave once it turns out that you’re a Wizard.”

Erick chose to look on the bright side, saying, “Then at least I’ll have fewer people to work around.”

“The entire world is going to have to work around you, Erick, if half the stuff I heard turns out to be true.” Silverite said, “I’m very glad to know that you weren’t changed by that fairy—” She scowled, but there was barely any heat to her sight, as she said, “A completely reckless thing to do, to ally with them.”

“But it prevented a war.” Erick said, “No one likes what I did, but if I hadn’t, then the war would have already started.”

Silverite frowned a little. “… Probably correct.”

Erick moved the conversation along, gesturing to the hallway and the sunroom beyond, saying, “Want to talk trade? Taxes per person, or tonnage? Logistics? I’m assuming that trade between Stratagold and Candlepoint and Songli would be the main users, at first. Do you know Tasar?— You have to know Tasar.”

Silverite joined Erick for a walk to the sunroom, saying, “I know Tasar. She’s a good sort. Not much like all the other grounders from the Geodes. Wish she would have opened her Teleport Stations to the greater world, though. Always mad at her about that.”

Erick perked up. “You know of those? I thought they were a great secret.”

“An open secret among the leaders of the Geodes and other approved users, more like.”

They sat down in the sunroom. Killzone followed, and sat down beside Silverite.

Silverite asked, “Can you actually enchant a Gate, yet?”

“I’m working on it, but I don’t see why not.” Erick said, “The larger problem, for now, is that I can’t actually reach Spur from Yggdrasil. There are some limitations of distance, which...”

Erick gave up some small secrets of his [Gate], such as how far it could reach from Yggdrasil, and how free it was for him to cast the spell. Silverite laughed loud when he said that a [Gate] was only 50 mana, and anything could go through it as long as Erick held it open. The [Gate] you got in the Script was a lot more restricted, and was known to collapse as soon as you tried to put too much through; too many people, or too much tonnage. Erick, of course, opened a [Gate] to display the truth of his words, for while he could not open a [Gate] to Spur, from Candlepoint, the reverse was easy.

Silverite and Killzone both stared at the glowing ring of white lightning, and at Candlepoint’s Yggdrasil, sitting in the blue lake like a distant green mountain, surrounded by a rainbow crown. A jolt of lightning struck the stone floor of the sunroom, even though Erick had conjured it high enough that it shouldn’t have done that. That tiny jolt left a sprig of green lichen upon the floor. Both wrought stared at that lichen, their eyes going even wider.

Neither of them had broached the topic of Elemental Benevolence, but at seeing it in action, at seeing the revelation that it really was a different Element than the ones they knew before… Perhaps it really was the Anti-Sundering Element that they had been informed that it was.

Silverite caught on to that truth first. She gasped in realization.

Killzone followed, blinking several times, trying to clear his eyes, even though he wasn’t really using his eyes to see, anyway. He did manage to prevent his tears from falling, though.

Both of them were wrought. Both of them had probably participated, or been party to, a Forgotten Campaign or two in their lives. This new Element was supposed to be capable of making sure no Forgotten Campaigns ever needed to happen, ever again. And that meant a lot to both of them.

Erick said, “Elemental Benevolence is very good at long range, deep effect prognostication. With it, I can see turning points for weal or woe. Sometimes the truth of those points is obvious, and the best solution to prevent apocalypse is a quick, small kill. But I expect to eventually find a few people who will be able to cause great, good things to happen, if I only give them my support. That’s what I made Elemental Benevolence to be, and so that is what it is. I’m still trying to figure out all the smaller quirks, though, like the spontaneous generation of plant life, or other effects.”

Silverite laughed, soft and true, smiling wide. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. If anyone can, it’s you.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Erick said, “I hope I can live up to the expectations.”

“Y’ve already exceeded ma wildest expectations, Erick,” Killzone said, slipping into a happy southern accent. Then he realized that he had spoken with an accent, and simultaneously wondered why he had done that. He was usually a lot more put-together than this, since he routinely dealt with Shades. Perhaps he had gotten a similar vibe from Erick? ...Well wasn’t that shameful. He moved past it, and in a normal voice, said, “This is already a… A miracle.”

Silverite nodded, smiling gently. She couldn’t seem to stop smiling, either. A calm joy entered into her voice as she turned the conversation back to trade.

They spoke for a few hours.

Erick got a deep, yet quick lesson in Crystal Forest trade, along with a heavy caveat: He was going to destroy all current trade routes, so he needed to work with existing systems to ensure that as few of people fell through the floor as possible.

“And I know you don’t like them, Erick. But you gotta be willing to work with Portal.” Silverite said, “They destroyed the Farms, but 90% of everything that comes into the Crystal Forest goes through Portal, first.”

Erick heard and understood, and yet… “You’re right; I don’t like Portal. I am going to start up another Farms at Candlepoint, since Valok Greentalon and Daetroi Ooragh were both there last I heard.” With perhaps too much sudden vehemence in his voice, he said, “If Portal comes after me again because I chose to rise up against their monopoly and create new systems of trade then I’m going to cut the head off of that snake this time.”

Silverite nodded, as though expecting everything Erick had said. With an air of stately countenance born of five hundred years of working the systems of the Crystal Forest, and knowing exactly what had happened to the Farms with much more detail than Erick ever could have known, Silverite spoke, “Usually, the Pearl Kingdom is much more accepting of other players on the market; they are ruthless, of course, but in the several hundred years I have known that royal line, they have never before resorted to hiring Hunters to kill a competitor. In the construction of our Farms, they attempted to shut us down through financial hardships, but when it appeared that their hardships would not work, they resorted to the worst sorts of actions.

“Of course, the Pearl Throne and its nobility all blame what happened to us on Caradogh Pogi, stating that they did not know the full breadth of his treachery, and thus, I easily extracted vast discounts from them on the next ten years of bulk shipments. In light of [Gate], though, their trade rates don’t matter.” Silverite turned harsh, saying, “If they do it again, Erick, then remove them from power, with my blessing, and with the blessing of the entire Crystal Forest behind you. There’s always branch families that will take over the Pearl Kingdom’s throne, after all, and I already warned them once. Spur will not be trifled with again.”

Erick felt a deep kinship with Silverite at that moment.

And then Silverite turned back to how she had been; softer, but not actually soft at all. “However, I would suggest that you try to get concessions from them when they come to you and demand access to your network. If you sell through them, then they’ll get your products out to all the rest of the Letri Ocean, and that would be a better outcome than a war. Plus, Candlepoint will enjoy a great surge in population and prosperity. Of all the things to come out of this, I am most excited about the connection to Songli. The Crystal Forest has never had a stable, direct connection to that part of the world— We’ve never had a great connection to Stratagold, either… This is all so new, and I hope for the best for you, Erick. I hope for the best for us all.”

Erick felt a kinship at those words, too. He said, “You’re right, of course.”

“Another suggestion: start hoarding gold if you haven’t already.” Silverite said, “Mage Bank will shut down your accounts— Ah. Well. That’s what happens with normal Wizards. I’m not sure what they’ll do with you. The Headmaster will probably be the final arbiter of that decision, and since it doesn’t seem like you’re on his shit list then you might be good to go.”

“Yeah. I… Need to talk to him, I suppose. Rozeta said the same thing. Thanks, Silverite.”

Silverite blinked a bit, as though she had missed a step coming down a set of stairs. She reoriented fast, though, saying, “Just… directly talking to gods. Good to see some things haven’t changed.” Silverite smiled a little, then chuckled, saying, “In a century or two I’ll look back at these sorts of moments and be amazed that I got any time with you at all. I’ve had the same sort of experience with hundreds of adventurers before, but… You’re something special, Erick.” Silverite stood, saying, “And yet, that’s all the help I think I can give you, for now.”

Killzone stood, silently. He hadn’t said much this whole time, though he had had tendrils of thought coming off of his head, so he was obviously talking to someone. Erick wondered who, but he would not pry.

Erick stood as well, saying, “Thank you for the hospitality, Silverite. I’ll have Kiri keep up the rains like she has been, and when things start to calm down I’ll look into full scale crystal mimic eradication, and desert reclamation. I would like to help Spur with that, if you desire.”

“I look forward to seeing that day, but even before then, Spur wants you to succeed, for your success is all of our success.” Silverite said, “Don’t be a stranger, but… and I’m sorry I have to actually say this, but I do: Don’t get too physically close for a while, either. Letters and other correspondences are welcome.”

Erick mentally added another bit of magic to his ‘required magic list’; a long-distance viewing screen that allowed him to see a target, and which facilitated two-way communication. Kirginatharp had that sort of spell, exactly. Such an encounter had even been Erick’s first face-to-face with the Second to Rozeta.

Erick smiled softly, feeling good about this whole thing. “I’ll be seeing you around, Silverite, but not in person.”

Silverite nodded, then walked out of the room.

Killzone almost followed, but he lingered instead. He wanted to talk about Sitnakov, or something else serious, but he decided not to do that. With a normal voice, he said, “Thank you, Erick, for everything you’ve done for Spur. Good luck. If you ever need help; I’ll be there. Otherwise Poi, Teressa, and Kiri are going to stick with you, though I would ask for Teressa’s [Witness] services and Kiri’s widescale destruction services, when necessary.”

Erick smiled. “Spur has done a lot for me, and I’m thankful I was able to return the favor. Kiri and Teressa and Poi are free to go wherever they wish, of course, but I do know that they will be joining me at Candlepoint for the immediate future; we had that discussion last night.”

Killzone nodded, seeming relieved, and yet not at all; he still had yet to broach the topic he actually wanted to discuss. He decided to avoid speaking of Sitnakov again, and deflected toward something that actually did need to be mentioned, and which caught Erick completely off guard, “Shade Farix is likely going to want to move to Candlepoint in order to vacate Frontier, and to get away from the wrought takeover of Ar’Kendrithyst. I suspect many of the Shades you left living will try to move to Candlepoint as well. On one side, this means that war likely won’t happen, due to worries over retaliation, due to Candlepoint turning into the exact same danger that Ar’Kendrithyst used to represent. But on the other side… You’re going to be living near Shades. It might fuck up all of your plans for a Gate Network.”

Erick felt himself pale a little. But only a little. He was already prepared to deal with one Shade in his life, with Goldie, so he could probably fit more in there, somehow. “Thanks for the warning.”

Killzone said, “They’re exceedingly difficult to live with, and normally you’d find yourself wanting to murder them multiple times over. But they’ve been completely different since you Blessed them. Could be a scam— Well. It is a scam. But it’s a scam they’re willing to play out, so… Good luck with that, Erick.”

“Ahhh. Yeah.” Erick said, “Thanks, Killzone. Good luck with the transformation of Ar’Kendrithyst.”

Killzone gave an easy nod, looking relieved that he had discharged as much of his duty as he could, and then he left the sunroom, following Silverite out of the house.

Both wrought made it out the front door in short order, and then walked across the front yard to reach the gate that separated Erick’s property from the public lands just outside, where a rather large crowd was being held at bay behind a good twenty semi-nervous soldiers. Silverite started talking about [Gate], and the people started cheering even before Silverite got out half of her news. ‘It’s true! He made it!’ ‘I want to visit Songli!’ ‘I can see my cousin by Stratagold!’ And a bunch of other loud, happy words. Soon enough, Silverite was able to actually talk, and that is what she did.

Killzone simply stood beside Silverite like a black monolith, his senses peeled for sight of Sitnakov, or other dangers.

Erick put all of that out of his mind as he went to his daughter, and his people.

- - - -

In the kitchen, with Poi, Kiri, Teressa, and Jane standing around the table, Erick called a meeting.

“I know I told them that you’d be coming with me,” Erick started, “But I want you to know that this is going to be dangerous. You don’t have to come with me to Candlepoint if you don’t want to, but I do want you to come. This is a big change, though. Like. Really big. People will be coming after me… And I have no idea how dangerous that is going to get.”

Although the fallout of all these changes was yet to happen, or even truly start to happen, Erick was absolutely sure that everyone in that room understood some of the severity of the situation. Erick wasn’t sure if he, himself, understood it all, but he did have a good idea of some of the more immediate, material shifts.

To move to the city of shadelings. To start a new city in the Crystal Forest. To live upon Yggdrasil, high above the waters of the freshwater lake. To work on a Gate Network, and to become a part of whatever organization was to come. To challenge the established powers of the world in strange, and unknowing ways, and to create a new place for… Something new to happen. Erick still wasn’t sure what, exactly, he was going to make, or what the end result would look like, but it was going to be categorically Good; as much Good as he could make it, anyway.

Erick needed help, though.

He hoped his people came with him, but he was prepared for them to say ‘no’, now that they had a night to sleep on it.

This was a big ask.

… Maybe he was asking for commitment too soon.

Kiri, Teressa, and Jane had all found out that Erick was a Wizard, just last night. Jane didn’t seem to care much about the stories she had heard of Wizards, and was more interested in what ‘Wizardry’ meant, exactly. Erick had gone over a lot of those nuances with Jane last night, inside the white lightning domain of his [Gate Space]. The only thing that truly separated a Wizard from a normal person was their personal mana generation, though there were a lot of caveats to what that meant.

In the Old Cosmology, that mana generation meant that Wizards used to be able to create worlds, or destroy them, or travel all through time and space, but mostly it just meant that Wizards had a leg up on spellwork. But with the advent of the Script, that ‘leg up’ was mostly mitigated; the ultimate powers of Wizards had been removed (mostly), and everyone else had been gifted easy magic to match the challenges of this New Cosmology.

And yet the horror stories of the Sundering still lingered in the minds of popular culture. That single greatest abomination of (probable) Wizardry to ever happen, which killed all of the entire Old Cosmology, had forever tainted how magic was taught, and how mana was viewed.

Erick looked to Teressa and practically saw all those horror stories of Wizards rushing through the micro expressions of her face, as Erick laid down the gauntlet of ‘will she, or won’t she, come to Candlepoint’.

Kiri was having less trouble with her decision by far. With bright green eyes and set shoulders, she said, “I admit, I probably came off a bit scared last night, but of course I’m going to come with you. Now… I’m not too comfortable about… Candlepoint. But of course I’m going to come with! I said as much last night and my choice remains the same.”

Erick felt a rush of quiet joy at Kiri’s heartfelt words. He nodded. “Thanks, Kiri. My initial plan is to make a new city north of Candlepoint, or at least that’s where the Gate Network will go. If you want, I want to teach you runework so that you can help with all that, and also the Undertow effect, and how [Renew] works. All of that will be necessary for what is to come.”

Kiri smiled, saying, “Sounds wonderful.”

Jane said, “Well I’m coming, of course. I still want to go explore the world, but—” She smiled as an idea came to her. “You know the angels and demons who cast the [Gate]s that the Headmaster’s Elites use to go around the world, solving problems? I want to do that, dad. I want you to make that sort of system.”

Erick was absolutely thrilled to hear those words. “Yes! I can absolutely do something like that!— Though… People are going to find out that I’m a Wizard, since I’m not hiding that. So it might be dangerous for a while. Eventually, I want to set out my plaque again and take requests for monster kills, but it’ll be a while.”

“I don’t have to do anything like that right now.” Jane waved a hand, saying, “Just thoughts for the future. Anyway. I don’t understand the big deal about Wizards. Sure; Wizards make mana and mana is used to make magic, but anyone could have caused the Sundering, if I understand it right.”

Teressa let out a small sigh of worry.

Kiri questioned, “But only Wizards made mana in appreciable quantity, right? And it’s personal mana that makes it easier to make new magics.” Kiri paused in thought. She looked to Erick. “Did I get that right?”

“Yup.” Erick happily said, “As far as I know, the amount of self-generated mana one has is the only marker of a Wizard. Literally anyone can achieve the same results as a Wizard if they save up enough of their own mana.”

“So I just have to not cast spells for a week, or two, and I can make new magics more easily?” Kiri asked.

Jane nodded along; Erick had explained all of this to her a few times last night, but that was when it was just the two of them inside of Erick’s [Gate Space]. Kiri had only heard all this once, and she had been drinking beer at the time.

“Yup!” Erick said, “Most people make 10 mana per day. So if you don’t spend any mana for two weeks, you could have enough personal mana banked in order to easily create a 200 mana cost spell. As a side note, this is the reason why your first cast of any new spell costs full mana costs, and why Clarity and otherwise only kick in after you make the spell, and the Script solidifies that spell in your soul.”

Kiri’s eyes went a little wide as she connected several separate dots, saying, “There’s always some seemingly illusion-touched mage going on about the benefits of not casting anything for a week before trying a new magic. They keep those stories out of the updated Arcanaeum Consortium Anthology they release every 5 years, but those sorts of stories always make it into the lesser publications. School-publications, especially.”

Teressa frowned. Her voice was a softer thing than usual, “Imagine how many stories out there are complete lies.”

Erick had a lot of thoughts to say on that subject, but he held his tongue—

Because Jane nodded, saying, “A lot of them.”

“Well of course!” Kiri said, “Can’t hand out magical knowledge to just anyone. Like— Back at Tower Academy it was widely known that the common education would get you pretty far, but it was nothing compared to the noble track. Oceanside was a lot better about that sort of separation, but I suspect that was only because I was attached to Erick. And yet! All of it looks like shit education once you really get to know what they’re keeping hidden. I shouldn’t be surprised! But… I am.” Kiri said, “Like take gridwork, for example. I would have expected that to be taught everywhere. There’s absolutely no reason not to teach gridwork in introductory lessons.”

Jane countered, “But you’d need to know about the Remake Quests, and aura control, and how Elemental Bodies can be used in lieu of aura control, and how mana sense is necessary in order to see any of that at all, all before you get to the point where you can even understand what you’re actually doing when you use gridwork to construct a spell. All of those things are outside of of the Script.”

Kiri wasn’t convinced. Teressa was half-convinced.

“About all that:” Erick laid out another truth of what was to come, “I’m starting a magical revolution here, but I’m going to do it slowly, and securely. Benevolence seems to allow me to see any Sundering-level problems approach long before they actually get here, so I should be able to navigate any Forgotten Campaign-level issues, but still… I’m going to slowly go about changing the world. Teaching people real magic. Probably through creating magical appliances and small, helpful things that people will want to take apart to try and understand. Record players. Planes, maybe, if that seems like it will be a good idea. Better printing presses. Anti-magical devices that will shut down unauthorized magic in areas, like Songli’s Void Song. And a Gate Network to make it all possible. Teaching some of the stuff I learned on my Worldly Path to others will come in time, too. Of course you all will benefit first, but there’s also going to be a lot of oversight from the wrought and Kirginatharp and all the rest, so I’m going to go slow.”

Kiri smiled wide, almost too excited to contain herself.

Jane said, “You should try reinventing film and movies, too, dad.”

“Oh! That’s a good one!” Erick hadn’t considered that one. He said, “Added to the list. I can start with the lightboxes already out there that help a person use the spell [Painting] to capture images… Ah. Well… The [Painting] spell uses actual paints, so that doesn’t work for film. I’d need to do, like, chemistry, in order to go about affixing… Maybe I can just do black and white?” Erick smiled. “Cellulose stuff and dyes and whatever! I can figure it out. We can make some motion pictures! Records of history being made.”

Teressa’s eyes went wide. She spoke before her mind fully caught up to what she was saying, “I want to come too— I mean. Of course I will be there. Was there ever any doubt? … Sorry about not actually saying that fast enough. Yes. I want to go. Obviously.”

Erick smiled wide. “Glad to know. Glad to have you aboard, Teressa.”

Poi said, “And I’m coming too so let’s get moving before all the world starts showing up at the door.”

“Ah! Right.” Erick glanced outside. “… Ah. There’s a crowd, it seems.”

Luckily, none of the hundreds of people outside the property seemed willing to breach the low stone wall that surrounded the place, either due to etiquette or due to the extra guards out there, courtesy of Silverite. But those breaches would happen soon enough. A lot of those people out there were asking to be let in so they could conduct some ‘very important business with the archmage!’ and other such small demands.

… Erick still needed to actually make a house over at Yggdrasil, tho—

“Where are we living?” Jane asked, “On Yggdrasil? Or in Candlepoint?”

The answer to that question had been up in the air, actually, but Erick was already leaning toward living on Yggdrasil, as he had told Jane last night. Yggdrasil’s [Scry] eye, which had been floating in the room with them, bounced at the mention of his name. With no obvious objections, and Kiri and Jane looking excited at the prospect (Teressa and Poi were ambivalent), that cinched it.

Erick said, “On Yggdrasil’s boughs, of course! There’s no safer place in the world, and for a while, safety is necessary.”

Yggdrasil happily bounced and twirled. Ophiel twittered with violin sounds to see his brother so excited.

Erick added, “Everyone gets to design their own rooms and what they want out of the house, too, and if you want a separate house I can swing that as well. There is a lot of room on Yggdrasil’s branches. It’s at least fifty meters to both sides of the branches before the branch starts to curve down. There is a literal kilometer of distance to build upon, from the trunk to where the branch starts to split.”

At the mention of multiple houses, Poi, Kiri, Teressa, and Jane, all looked at each other. In that moment, Erick got the distinct impression that they had already had a discussion on this topic.

Poi announced, “Same house, if you please. As large as it can be to still fit your [Prismatic Ward].”

Erick said, “Sure. It won’t be much larger than this house, then.”

Poi nodded. “That is expected. This is plenty large enough for the five of us, though some rearrangement of rooms might be nice. I would like an office, for instance.”

“Of course! We’ll figure out all of that.” Erick moved on. “But we also need to discuss compensation. You’re all getting paid through Spur as a part of the Army, but that’s going to change, since we won’t be part of the Army anymore. What sort of compensation do you want? And what sort of work do you want to actually do? If anything? Guards are good, but you can be more than a guard if you want.” Erick stressed, “I’m starting a very large shift in the world right now, and you all are on the ground floor of that. Whatever you want to be, or do, in this new world, I will help make sure it happens.”

Poi and Teressa both frowned a little, and for similar reasons. Poi was unsure what he wanted, or what Erick was actually offering; possibly because Erick wasn’t sure what he was offering, either. Teressa was feeling much the same, but she also had a generalized trepidation over this whole new enterprise.

But Kiri laughed once, then instantly said, “Apprentices get paid in knowledge, and I still want to be an apprentice. No pay; same setup as before.”

With a put-upon expression, Erick instantly retorted, “You need money, though. I’m not sure that I can still get money out of Mage Bank.”

Kiri smiled. “I think my opening pitch to become your apprentice was me asking to be your secretary, and then getting told to go run off and vet myself with the Army, first. If you can’t get money out of Mage Bank, and people start just piling up gold in boxes you put beside the Gates, then I can count that money and set it aside, or something, while taking a cut. But really Erick. I don’t need money. Money will come later. For now, we need security, and money ain’t gonna buy any of that—” She briefly paused as she realized something, then she rapidly said, “Oh! I want my family to move to this new place. Get them out of Greensoil. Odaali has been good to them, but this changes everything.”

Erick nodded, saying, “Of course. We can move them to Candlepoint, too. Or perhaps, the new city to the north?”

“The city-to-be-built north of Candlepoint would be better.” Kiri added, “I don’t actually know if they would move… I haven’t asked them yet and Odaali has been good to them, but I’m going to ask them.”

“Sure,” Erick said, smiling a little.

Teressa finally decided something. “I would like to stay a personal guard until I know nothing bad is going to happen, but eventually I think I’ll join the Guard… or something.”

Erick said, “House Benevolence is going to need a Guard, Teressa, but a much larger need is for a prognostication branch. Almost all of what House Benevolence is going to do is going to be preventing large losses of life the world over, or spotting opportunities. I’d love to have you be a part of that, if you’re willing.”

Teressa perked up. “Yes. I will do that.”

Poi announced, “I’m just a personal guard, if that’s alright.”

“Perfectly fine! Glad to have you aboard.” Erick smiled, saying, “I’ll try not to run you ragged.”

“That would be appreciated, sir.” Poi added, “Though I understand that promise is rather dependent on factors outside of your control.”

Erick smiled brightly. “Yup!”

Jane said, “I’ll work with Teressa but I also… Kinda just want to explore all of the world, dad. Once things calm down here. Maybe I’ll go on missions for you? Kill monsters? You talked of wanting to set out your sign and accept kill missions, and I think I want to do that, for sure. The thing with [Gate]s leading to missions would be good.”

Ah! This was fantastic!

Erick said, “Of course, Jane. I plan on asking the Adventurer’s Guild if they want a [Gate] near their capital, so as soon as that’s done, I should have access to a great deal of the world. Not all of it, not right away, of course. But a great deal of it, soon enough.” He added, “I still need to actually talk to those people about that, but… Eh. They might say no? If that doesn’t work then there’s a Geode nearby that might say yes; Aranite, if I recall correctly.”

Jane perked up. “You need to go and ask them? Plant a Yggdrasil down there? I could go and ask them. It’s supposed to be a month-long journey through some of the most dangerous tunnels on Veird to get to Capital City, and you don’t have time for that.”

“… Uh.” It was actually only the work of a few hours to go through the embassy at Stratagold, take the t-station to Aranite, and then perhaps an hour through a well-maintained Main Road to get to Capital City, the home of the Adventurer’s Guild. Erick saw what Jane wanted, though, and though he knew that he needed to give it to her, he couldn’t. Not right now. He needed to be honest. “It would take a few hours to arrive at Capital City through the current diplomatic channels and already-enabled Teleport Stations.”

“… Oh. Well.” Jane frowned a little in confusion, then dispelled that emotion, saying, “I wasn’t planning on taking a month to do it, anyway. I’ll just stick around here for a while.”

Poi spoke up, “You know, we don’t need to move fast for anything besides setting up defenses in case the worst should happen. Taking a week or three to put out the first Gate is perfectly fine.”

Three weeks for the first Gate? Ha! Erick had a good chuckle at that, but no one else felt the need to laugh at Poi’s humor, since, apparently, it wasn’t an attempt to be humorous at all. Erick digressed, “Heard and understood! I gotta make us a house, anyway!” He clapped his hands. “So let’s get moving.”

Everyone started moving, off to their rooms or to the common rooms, to get ready to shift everything they owned into a new house.

Erick had moved houses before, back on Earth, and had gone through plenty of cardboard boxes in order to do so. They used wooden crates here on Veird, but there weren’t that many of those inside the house, and no one really needed any of that sort of stuff, anyway.

A thousand cheers for the convenience of [Gate]!

Never before had Erick moved houses faster than he moved houses now. It was as easy as picking up all of his room inside his sunform light, and stepping through a portal he had cast onto the wall. Suddenly, he was on Yggdrasil’s boughs, while the sun shone overhead and water stretched out in every direction down below.

And then he went back for more stuff.

Soon, all of his stuff was sitting out on a small section of Yggdrasil’s second-lowest branch; one of the biggest ones available. This particular branch stretched northeast. It was a good position, Erick figured, because Yggdrasil’s glowing green canopy started about a handspan or two above the horizon, allowing for an unobstructed view of sunsets and sunrises, and allowed for Erick to see the coast of the lake in every single direction except for to the southwest.

To the north would be ‘gatelandia’, or whatever Erick eventually ended up calling that place.

To the east, about 25 kilometers away, was Candlepoint, looking like a row of black dots upon the shore.

For a long moment, Erick just stood there on the ‘land’ which would become the foundation of his new house. And then he sent an Ophiel through a [Gate] to Stratagold to gather some supplies. With those supplies now secured, Erick got to work actually making the house.

Everyone else took a bit longer to move, and for a myriad of different reasons. Kiri had a lot of enchanting and other magical stuff scattered across four different rooms of the house, and all of that needed to be organized into boxes before it could be moved, while Teressa was on kitchen duty; clearing out all of the pantries and putting them in boxes, and moving all of the appliances that they had added to the house over their year of living there. Poi and Jane took over all the other assorted necessities, like the bathrooms and the libraries. All the while, Ophiel opened portals whenever anyone asked for one.

As they moved locations, Kiri, Poi, Teressa, and Jane, each had their own moment where they stepped onto the wide, white glowing branches of Erick’s largest [Familiar], and they just stopped, and stared, like they couldn’t believe that this was happening this fast, or that it was even happening at all. And then the moment passed, and they all went back for more stuff.

Halfway through the move, Jane went to her father because she had seen something she didn’t quite understand; something that had broken her brain, just a little bit.

Erick was turning a cubic meter of platinum into wires for his [Fairy Stronghold].

Jane eyed the cubic meter of very shiny silver metal, asking, “Is that… Is that platinum?”

“Technically it’s prismatic platinum, or ‘prismsteel’.” Erick drew out another long wire, laying it down with all the rest, saying, “I’m allied with the wrought, and that alliance comes with some special perks. This is only to be used for Gate Network stuff or personal defenses and I’ll give back what isn’t used, but otherwise… Yeah. It’s pure platinum. About 19 metric tons of it. I’ve got two tons of it stretched out to form the runic base.”

Wide-eyed, Jane stared at the pile of pure wealth. She whispered, “Holy fuck.”

Erick moved the conversation along, asking, “How do you want your rooms to be? I’ll start off with something small, at first, but [Fairy Stronghold] is expandable, so we could...”

Soon, all the contents of their house in Spur had been transferred onto the wide, wide white boughs of Yggdrasil, a kilometer above the lake waters, while Erick put the finishing touches on the preliminary runic web for his new house. After his first cast of [Fairy Stronghold] and a few dozen more casts to fill out the first floor, Erick stepped inside, inviting Kiri, Teressa, Poi, and Jane to join him…

And then he stepped right back out of the invisible, intangible [Fairy Stronghold] and spent an awkward but happy few minutes ensuring that all of them could actually see and approach the entrance, and then follow him inside into the first floor of their new home. It wasn’t long till Poi and Teressa began moving stuff into the actual house, while, after a bit more explaining, Kiri and Jane helped to string metal into new frameworks, which Erick then inscribed with runework and power.

Erick’s adamantium knife flitted through the iridescent metal like a lightning-knife through butter, and that was great. He was very happy to see that the shift in his [Greater Lightwalk] to [Pristine Benevolence] didn’t actually impact his runic capabilities.

Soon, new runework framing plotted out spaces for new expansions, and more floors. Once the whole place had a basic runic structure set, Erick began casting even more [Fairy Stronghold]s to fill it out, and then he went back and forth over the whole place, casting even more [Fairy Stronghold]s to add plumbing and cisterns and the required [Gravity Ward] spaces which would move the water around the house. This wasn’t going to be a Songli-style mansion, no sir! Baths, and showers, and toilets, and kitchen utilities with sinks in all the rooms that should have sinks, and all that. This place was going to have it all.

Erick couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend the rest of the day.

It was just so normal. Nice. Calm. Creative, too, because it wasn’t going to be a house of stone like the Spur house. This new place was going to have wooden floors, and nice carpets, drywall walls, and bay windows with little alcoves in which to read, and relax. The old house was wonderful; no doubt about that. Erick liked his home in Spur. But it was quite a lot of orange stone, and stone was not Erick’s favorite building material. After the Worldly Path, stone buildings reminded him too much of building-for-extreme-security, and not enough of home. This new place was downright homey, with white wood to mimic Yggdrasil’s coloration, and tan accents, and white paint…

It was all made of Fae Magic, of course, but that was fine. Fairy Moon wouldn’t come here without due cause… Probably.

Fae Magic was just too good to not use for both security, and convenience. The appliances and beds and such would be real, but they didn’t strictly have to be; for the first few weeks, there would be quite a lot of fake furniture in the house to fill it all out, but eventually that stuff would get replaced. Fae conjured items were just as strong and durable as the real thing, but they wouldn’t be connected to the runic web inside the house, and thus, if Fairy Moon or some other Fae Magic user came around, then those items would burst. The house would remain intact, though.

By the time the sun colored the western sky like a great big ball of red on the horizon, while the rest of Erick’s world was white and green and rainbow with the colors of Yggdrasil, Erick had finished the first floor along with half of the second. Everyone had moved into their respective rooms. The kitchen and a temporary cold storage room had been set up, and Teressa was just finishing up making a nice dinner of steaks and potatoes and grilled corn. Tomorrow, Erick would work on the rest of the house, but for now he just enjoyed the company of his people.

Conversation was stilted, in small ways. Awkward in many. Teressa spoke of how she was surprised that Yggdrasil was so solid to stand upon, even though he was a tree. Kiri commented the same, and Jane spoke of how he was a tree made of stone and other magics, so of course he was solid to stand upon. And then Poi rescued the conversation by telling the news. Everyone in the world was gradually finding out that Erick had succeeded in making [Gate], and the consequences of that action were spreading fast.

That was a much better, more easily-had ‘conversation’, for Poi spoke, and everyone else listened. Toward the end of dinner, though, Poi dropped a bomb. It was a bomb Erick had been expecting, but it was a bomb he would have rather let lie.

“The Headmaster wishes you well, Erick.” Poi said, “He wants to set up a meeting, in person, for whenever you are able. Sooner is better. He plans to ask to have Yggdrasil planted at Oceanside, among other things.”

Jane sighed, expressing Erick’s own thoughts as she said. “I hope that guy isn’t going to pull any shit. I used to like him.”

Kiri sipped her beer, looking at Erick. Teressa did the same.

Poi said, “If it makes you feel better, Erick, the Mind Mages have already secured a promise from him to ‘not to pull any shit’, though we did not use those words at all.”

Erick blinked a bit, thought a bit more, then said, “In an hour, here at Yggdrasil. I’ll set up a station on one of his roots down below, atop the water. That large root just southwest of here.”

Poi nodded, then said, “He has been informed. Also, we can start going over Mind Mage personnel whenever you wish, too.”

“Another day for all of that, Poi.” Erick said, “I still need to make a ‘clan mountain’ for House Benevolence, anyway— Can you find out where Sitnakov is? He should have been here, like, 12 hours ago.” He looked to everyone. “He’s probably going to be living with us for a while. Or something. Still not sure about that.”

Poi looked away, his tendrils of thought shifting; multiplying.

Teressa’s eyes went wide with excitement. “The Adamantium Wind is coming? Here?”

“Shoulda been!” Erick said, “Hours ago, actually.”

Jane smiled as Teressa’s cheeks turned darker green. She teased, “You’re an admirer, I take it?”

“Who wouldn’t be!” Teressa said, “He’s a 10 star adventurer! A true elite— I know the stories are always exaggerated but—” She paused. She breathed. She looked around, at the new kitchen, at the new tables, out the large kitchen window where Yggdrasil’s bright green leaves waved in the far distance. “Oh. This is really happening, isn’t it.”

Jane chuckled at that. “I know how you feel.”

“Same,” Kiri said.

Erick just smiled.

The thick-air tendrils around Poi’s head retreated, as he came back to himself. “Prince Sitnakov is at Candlepoint, alongside Geode Guardian Tasar and Inquisitor Kromolok. They’re talking to Mephistopheles and Justine.”

Teressa paled, because she knew who all of those people were. Kiri was apprehensive, but only because she didn’t actually know all the stories like Teressa did. All in all, Erick wasn’t that worried about Kiri adjusting well to all this new stuff. Teressa was going to have trouble, though; she was likely the worst off here. Why, though— Ah. Erick’s whole ‘Wizard-thing’ was throwing her for a large loop, not only because of the whole Wizard-thing, but also because it highlighted the vast power difference between her and everyone else here in this room. Teressa simply didn’t have enough power to play in these big leagues.

Which was true, at least currently. Once Erick got his prognostication part of House Benevolence up and running, and once Teressa was a part of that, most of her worries should vanish. She would be able to truly see what the future held, and prepare all of them for what was to come.

Hopefully.

But to ensure that they had time to get all that up and running, Erick had to stay on top of absolutely everything. Not only was Kirginatharp going to show up in an hour, but the wrought had already gotten to Candlepoint, and Erick needed to ensure that nothing bad happened there, too.

So Erick got up from the table. Dinner was mostly done, anyway. “I should go see whatever they’re doing with Mephistopheles before it becomes some other problem.”

Excitedly, Jane also got up from her chair. “Let’s go see some wrought and shadelings!”

Teressa steeled herself, ready to go out and do more things.

… Maybe this wouldn’t be too bad for Teressa, after all.

Poi, however, nixed those plans, “Inquisitor Kromolok has requested that you not interrupt their meeting. It is simply a meeting; nothing more, nothing less.”

Teressa instantly relaxed. Jane glanced at Erick, then back to Poi, then she sat back down. Kiri was thankful nothing was happening as well, because she was a lot more interested in the Headmaster than in whatever the people of Candlepoint and some wrought from some powerful Geode were up to.

And so, Erick sat back down, saying, “Well… Gotta prepare for Kirginatharp in an hour, anyway.”

Kiri offered, “Need any help with that?”

“Thanks, but no need.” Erick already had Ophiel at the meeting location, and at a few others, too, funneling orange sand though a [Gate] and onto the wide root of Yggdrasil, sticking out of the water. “I’m turning sand into stone and putting it together right now.”

Kiri was slightly disappointed, but she let that go, and said, “I’m ready to help change the world whenever.”

Kiri, unlike Teressa, was chomping at the bit for more responsibility. Erick would need to give Kiri and Jane both as much as they could handle. Poi was already comfortable with his current level of responsibility as Erick’s head guard, though, which was good. At least one person’s desires were being met!

“I want about a ten or fifteen kilometer arc of land to the north cleared and walled off, Kiri.” Erick asked, “You want to do that?”

Kiri smiled. “Absolutely!”

“As for the meeting with Kirginatharp, it’s just going to be me, and maybe...” Erick asked, “Do you want to be there, Poi?”

Poi said, “Yes, sir.”

“Teressa? Keep an eye out for any large events, please. I don’t see any right now, but I could be wrong.”

Teressa nodded, a fraction of her worries returning…

Maybe she already saw the future, and was worried about it? Perhaps.

Erick would worry about that later, though.

Erick looked to Jane. “Don’t throw your life away if he attacks. Just stay out of it.”

Kiri half-scoffed, disbelieving that Kirginatharp could be an actual threat, but she cut herself off when it was obvious no one else thought Erick was joking.

Jane lied, “I’ll stay away, dad.”

- - - -

A cold wind blew upon the surface of the lake, trailing chills from the north that caused waves to crest, ever so slightly. It would have been a foreboding, dark place, if not for the massive tree of light that stood out of the waters not a kilometer away. Yggdrasil reached far into the sky, casting green, white, and rainbow light into the world above, and also far down below, deep into the lake, his glowing white roots fanning out through the deep like a thousand twisting dragons. The lake was not dark at all; no; it was bright with twilight, banishing whatever sort of abyss could have existed. Some of those roots curved up and out of the lake’s surface, fully illuminating the waters around them as they crested here and there, sometimes close to the trunk where they were bare glows compared to the brightness that was Yggdrasil, and sometimes a dozen kilometers away, where they were the only bright thing around.

It was atop one of these arcing roots, a bare kilometer and a half away from the trunk, upon which Erick built a circular platform of stone. The root itself was one of the wider ones, at forty meters across and yet half submerged, only arcing fifteen meters out of the lake. The platform was much smaller by comparison; a simple flat surface about ten meters wide that sat directly atop Yggdrasil’s root. The platform, unlike Yggdrasil, didn’t let the light through.

Erick realized this small fact all too late. With this stone, made in this way, he was actually creating a shadowed space upon the lake. One of the only shadowed spots this close to Yggdrasil, actually. There was still plenty of light overhead and underwater, but the platform itself was definitely in shadow.

It was a bad look.

Erick frowned at the platform, saying to Poi, “Maybe I should have made it out of glass, or something like that. This might be construed as the opposite of welcoming.”

Poi stood straight and tall, saying, “I would say that the [Zone of Peace] you conjured into the area is actually less welcoming.”

All around them a [Zone of Peace] hung in the air like an invisible, intangible barrier.

“What? Why? It’s safety for us and for him…” Erick considered, then admitted, “Though he might take offense… For some reason. But I am worried, and he knows this… I really don’t know what to expect here, Poi.”

“Too late to change, anyway. He’s coming right now.”

Ah. Had that much time passed already?

Erick was already panicking, but there was always a point where one could not panic anymore, and Erick recognized that, in that moment, he had crossed that line. He fixed his face into an even expression— And then he found a bit more room to panic, as he glanced to the small table in front of him where a purple teapot and two mugs sat, along with a selection of tea and sugars. He hadn’t put any water in the pot yet, nor had he heated it up. With a quick bit of magic, Erick rapidly grabbed some water from the lake, [Cleanse]d it, put it in the pot, and cast a small heating [Ward].

There.

This was fine.

Erick was ready.

Two chairs, with Kirginatharp’s chair being a bit better than his own. A table with some hot tea… It’d be hot soon enough. A small bit of [Force Wall]s to the north, to fend off most of the chill wind. And even though it was night, the sky and lake were bright with Yggdrasil’s light—

A kilometer away, between Erick’s position and Candlepoint’s twinkling lights in the far distance, there was another light. A depth of radiance upon the lake’s surface, like the brief appearance of sun. That sun crashed down into itself as Kirginatharp —the Headmaster; Erick should think of him as ‘the Headmaster’— as the Headmaster appeared in human emperor form, controlling his light into something smaller; something less worrisome. With a lightstep, the Headmaster crossed most of the distance between them, stopping short of the [Zone of Peace] holding all around.

He was exactly as Erick had remembered; an older man with flowing gold and white robes, who would not have looked out of place on a Chinese emperor’s throne. Or any throne, for that matter. Erick had never actually seen him on a throne, though, or looking like he was a person of power at all. The Headmaster simply was, like a rock upon which so many other things had been built, like Oceanside Academy, and his Elite monster extermination squad, and Mage Bank, and the whole Arcanaeum Consortium which approved magic schools or denounced magic schools as ‘inferior’ the world over. He also controlled the Book Binders; the single greatest publishing house in the world, which used [Duplicate] to copy books for all people to read. It was the only open use of [Duplicate] in the entire world… The Headmaster was also the Second to Rozeta, tagged to take over her job as God of the Script should Rozeta meet some untimely end.

And Erick had briefly thought them equals of some measure, so he had been calling The Headmaster by his real name, as though he had some right to familiarity in that way. Perhaps, Erick did have some right to that sort of familiarity, but the Headmaster was an established power, and Erick was not. Not yet, anyway.

The Headmaster’s face was set in concern, but he didn’t seem overly angry… And yet, the dragon was likely well accomplished in subterfuge.

At least he didn’t have any Benevolence markers upon him. No ring of lightning around his neck. Not even a single jolt. Therefore, he likely wasn’t a danger to Erick, at all. Or at least not a conventional danger—

In an almost conversational manner, and well before Erick had gathered all his thoughts, or before even five seconds had passed, Headmaster challenged, “I am being told that you are Erick Flatt, though I would appreciate seeing that truth for myself. Please remove that offensive necklace.”

Erick did not do as requested. Instead, he said, “Though I doubt such a small spell would actually stop you, I invite you to actually step inside this [Zone of Peace]. Either way, I am not removing this necklace.”

The Headmaster stepped forward, into the [Zone of Peace]. Solid gold light splashed away from every mid-air footfall as he continued to enter the [Zone of Peace], walking toward Erick, approaching the platform. “I suppose, intellectually, I understand why you have chosen to ally with Ar’Cosmos. I am a threat to those who would harm this world, and yet, I have never moved against you at all, Erick. Ever. I cannot help but feel that you have heard way too many horror stories...” He sighed, but barely. “Of course I come in peace. I am not some barbarian. The barbarians are the ones inside Ar’Cosmos. The ones who already got in your head and flipped switches that you didn’t even know you had. What did they tell you? Though that hardly matters. What matters more is why do you still believe them?” He stepped down onto the stone, a mere ten meters away from Erick, saying, “Liars, cheaters. Schemers and killers. Slavers of minds and slavers of body. The only good thing I can say about any of those dragons is that they leave your soul alone, unless you are a Wizard.”

Erick stood strong, saying, “And so, we come to the actual crux of the issue. If all the world wasn’t rightfully scared of Wizards, then perhaps this could have gone very differently. But, being honest, I’m glad it went this way. The dragons of Ar’Cosmos are going to get an entire Fairy World to conquer, and so they will leave this one alone. No longer will those dragons have influence on any part of Veird, in any way, and if they want to have influence over here, then I’ll help them [Reincarnation] into a new life, bereft of their Dragon Body and their Dragon Curse.” Erick said, “The only time I expect this to change is when it is time for you to ascend to your own godly power in the next world as an actual God of the Script, and you take your Curse with you. By then, we should have some sort of actual system figured out that doesn’t require a berserking Curse to keep dragons from conquering everyone else.”

The Headmaster shook his head a little. “Attempting to buy my goodwill with the promise of an entire world is something that I have never thought would happen. So strange is this offer, that for a good ten minutes after Rozeta told this to me, I was actually tempted. That temptation was a personal failure. One of my largest in a long time. It seems, in retrospect, that I have made lots of failures in my dealings with you and yours. I had thought that by helping you rise to power, that by treating your daughter at my hospital, that by giving you connections with other archmages, that you would have thought me a friend. Never have I imagined that you would think of me as some sort of tyrant to be used and placated. I erred, obviously.” The Headmaster glanced at the teapot. “The tea is boiling over.”

Erick canceled the heating spell. “I would have liked to be friends, but you have a track record, and I am, apparently, a target for your kind. Is it truly any wonder that I stayed as far away from you as possible?”

The Headmaster said, “I had thought that you had merely heard unkind truths from the Shades. That the trauma of Last Shadow’s Feast still weighed on you. That if I gave you enough of an opening, that you would come to Oceanside and we could talk, and I could dispel unkind truths with actual truths, like how we spoke of Messalina. I had thought that you would have been above listening to rumors.”

“What I learned in Ar’Kendrithyst was a lot more than unkind rumors. I recently learned that you sunder Wizards to buy years of life for this world, but even before that, the rumors were more than enough to cause me to do what I did; to stay away as long as I could.”

The Headmaster said, “What I have done against the trespassing Wizards of this world is no more than what you have done to that Patriarch Xangu, and that Red Dot person. Execution when everything else fails.”

“I feel our definitions of ‘when everything else fails’ are very different.” Erick said, “Which is why I have been rightfully wary of you, and why I will continue to be wary of you, and the wrought, and the Shades, and all the people of Ar’Cosmos. And Melemizargo. And the gods. And even the Mind Mages. Tell me I am wrong, and I will call you a liar.”

Poi shifted uncomfortably behind Erick.

The Headmaster looked suddenly tired, as though he had gained a few decades on the face. “Perhaps it was a mistake to try and reconcile tonight.”

Erick flinched as though struck. “Reconcile?” He had not thought that this was about reconciliation at all. “I thought you were coming to attack, or to ensure that you would be right to attack at some later date.”

The Headmaster said, “I did not come here with ill intentions. I will not suddenly gain ill intentions no matter what you happen to say, for I know who you are, Erick. You are the embodiment of Benevolence. Of goodwill and hope for something better. Do you feel that I desire smallness and pain in this world? With your recent alliance with Ar’Cosmos, and with what you have likely heard… Do you think that I enjoy killing the only people who will ever truly understand me, in order to maintain power, so that others won’t rise up in my stead and cast the world into flames? That I enjoy the harm I cause, in order to ensure peace and prosperity for all? That I am somehow ‘evil’?”

“Of course not. This isn’t about good or evil.” Erick said, “I don’t believe that you’re evil at all, but I know that you will do what you must to ensure that this world remains intact. If I manage to survive and succeed in bringing the world together and opening new ones— I can already foresee myself in your current position in a century or three, talking to some terrifyingly young and powerful idiot who I have managed to offend based on my own past deeds, who will be changing some small part of the New Cosmology even more than I already have. Or maybe they’ll just be a normal person, out to do their own simple Good, but they won’t be aware of how much they will upend by doing whatever they feel is right. Such an event might even happen next year, or in the next month, when some good-seeming people I can’t stop with words and proof of my goodwill, come for me.” Erick said, “I expected you to be one of those people, and for you to be coming at me right now.”

The Headmaster took that all in, and regarded Erick. “It shouldn’t be this difficult for us to work together. Do you not know that I have worked with Wizards before? I have. Back when Rozeta’s Champion plucked [Rebound] out of Mana Altering all those centuries ago, and helped to destroy an old Shadowland, known as Shadehold. That Champion was a Wizard, too. One of the only ones to not go bad. But even of those who did turn to the Darkness... I have attempted to work with many of them before they went that way. I will not disclose the vast majority of events outside of serious protective magics, but they did happen, and they happened because I very much know that Wizards can be the best among us, if they are given the chance.” He asked, “Do you think I don’t respect what you’re trying to do here? I want a Gate Network, too. I want new worlds, too. As far as I know, I want for this world what you want for this world.”

For a long moment, the only sounds were those of the wind, and of small waves.

Erick softly said, “I had heard that Rozeta has tried to work with Wizards… And that it usually goes bad. I had thought you were the hammer to her gauntlet; those who corrected her goodwill gone bad. You, her paladins, and Kromolok, and the wrought. All the forces of good that keep this world running as well as you can, and yet here I am, a new cog trying to fit into the machine.”

“There have been many failures to thrive; this is true. Many failures to bring good things to good people. But I hope this time is different. Rozeta is firmly on your side, and I wish to be as well.” The Headmaster asked, “What can I do to bridge this canyon between us?”

Erick had planned for this conversation to go many different ways.

So far, it was going down the second best possible path. Better than he could have hoped! The absolute best possible path would have been an easy talk that likely lasted for several hours, in which Erick and The Headmaster spoke like actual friends, and not as they were speaking; like two powerful people (one of them vastly more powerful than the other) trying to understand how to operate around the other, without causing undue distress.

As far as possible outcomes were concerned, this was amazing.

Erick decided to go for reconciliation as much as he was able.

“I plan on being very open about who I am.” Erick said, “Therefore, people will come for me. So, I want you to help prevent that with whatever words and through whatever avenues you deem necessary… I am not asking you to fight for me, though. Leave that to me, if it should happen.

“In addition, I need some help running my House Benevolence. Do you have any personnel that could help me organize a worldwide Archmage service, such as you already do for your Elites, as well as help with the administration of the Gate Network? Just two or three people, for now. I will, of course, expect them to be spies. Reporting to you is fine, but undermining my goals, my plans, or acting improperly on my behalf is not acceptable.” He added, “And also, I’m going to have to call you Kirginatharp, because all the other powers I’m already working with will be using your actual name, and I won’t lose face by calling you ‘Headmaster’.”

Kirginatharp stood fractionally straighter with an unexpected, yet welcome surprise. “All doable. I will ask several of my people if they wish to move, and give you the resulting resumes. You can choose who you wish to assist you with your endeavors. How much are you planning on paying? A world class office worker goes for 2,500 gold a month, as well as extreme benefits.”

And just like that, almost all the tension of the meeting broke and vanished on the wind like so much canceled Force Magic. Accepting Erick’s small demands without balking was great. Talking about actual cost was good. It all meant that Kirginatharp was actually willing to come to the table.

Which was fantastic.

Of course, there would need to be several months of this and smaller, nicer meetings, and otherwise, to cement this sort of professional relationship. But this was a very good start.

“If I still have access to Mage Bank, and if our old deals for my Light Dungeon still hold, even though Yggdrasil supports Light Essence growth everywhere he is, then I expect to be able to pay very competitive rates. And that’s before we get into revenue from the Gate Network.” Erick said, “The benefits you speak of would have to be discussed in person, but I could probably make most things happen.”

“You still have access to Mage Bank, and our financial deals still hold. Your Windy Manor at Oceanside is still open to you, too.” Kirginatharp said, “I don’t mind that Yggdrasil supports Light Essence growth, Erick. I never would have cared about that.” Softer, he said, “You’ve done so many great things. Before this mess of history and circumstance drove you to flee… I wanted to congratulate you about everything you have ever done, from the Last Shadow’s Feast, to Yggdrasil, to the war in Songli and the creation of Chelation, and especially to your creation of [Gate] without needing my grandfather’s help. I have many gifts for you, to celebrate all of these wonderful deeds. Maybe in a few weeks, or a few months, after you organize some personnel and get your lands up and operational… I would like to actually sit down, have that tea, and talk about it all. I would very much enjoy pulling apart the lies and the truths of everything you’ve heard. I had hoped that tonight would have been such an occasion, but it was not to be. This is fine. We both have time; I can wait.”

Erick said. “I would like that.”

More awkward silence—

Erick asked, “Has the Angel and Demon treaty been successful, despite my absence?”

Kirginatharp shook his head a little. “No. Nothing solid. The Fate Magic of your Worldly Path has faded, and what little bit of headway I have managed to make on my own went up in smoke this very morning. Their delegations have returned to their sides, and it would take a great power to bring them to the same table again; something that I can no longer manage on my own. A friendly suggestion: you shouldn’t try on your own, either, or at least not for a long while. I suspect both sides will want to leave you alone, so you are likely secure as long as you take normal precautions… Ah. That is a long conversation to have, though I feel I have distilled it down as much as can be delivered in a scant thirty seconds, and in such a public area.”

Erick felt a warmth in his chest. He smiled faintly. “It was good to see you again, Kirginatharp.”

“… Ahah?” Kirginatharp balked, and then chuckled quietly. “It’s not often people use my name. I will need to get used to that; one more oddity among all the rest, I suppose. It was good to see you too, Erick.”

Kirginatharp stepped backward, into the air, splashing golden light from every footstep as he departed. When he got far enough away, he flashed brightly, briefly turning night into day, and then he was gone and his light left with him.

Twilight recaptured Yggdrasil’s lake.

For a long moment Erick just stood there, gazing out at the calm night, experiencing the gentle glows of Yggdrasil all around him, feeling the quiet wind rush around his [Force Wall]s and brush through his hair.

That meeting had gone well.

Erick asked Poi what he thought, and Poi shared Erick’s feelings; yes, it had gone well. Very well, in fact. And then Erick opened a portal back home. On the other side of that ring of lightning lay the living room of his new house on Yggdrasil’s boughs. Everyone was waiting for him on the other side, and while Teressa and Kiri looked relaxed, Jane had a conjured sword in her hand, and dark blue armor upon her body. Upon seeing that Erick was fine, though, all of Jane’s magic broke into so much scattered Force. And then the conversations started. They had all been watching, of course.

There was a lot of relief all around, all except for Kiri; she had never been worried at all. She seemed more vindicated than happy, though.

Kiri said, “Well of course it was going to go well! He’s the Headmaster! He doesn’t hurt people without good reason.”

Erick suddenly laughed.

Kiri instantly added, “Okay! Yes! I know how what I said was rather stupid, but… He’s the Headmaster. I never expected anything to happen, and I am very glad nothing happened. I still had Sunny out there waiting for things to go sideways, though, of course.”

Erick grinned. “Even though I told you to stay out of it?”

“Of course!” Kiri said, “Better safe than sorry. Though I doubt I could have done shit against him.”

“Yeah. Me too,” Erick said.

- - - -

Eventually, conversation ended. People went to their rooms, to sleep, or to read a bit, or, in Kiri’s case, to employ Sunny to rip out every possible monster and mimic from the lands to the north, while also moving a lot of sand around to make walls. She was burning off some nervous energy of her own, and also rather good at doing what Erick asked her to do. But eventually, everyone went to bed.

Nothing too concerning happened in the middle of the night. Erick didn’t even wake up with night terrors. Being near everyone he loved and cared about probably helped with that. He still woke up long before the sun crested over Candlepoint, though. Three hours of sleep had been enough, for now.

With the moons out in full, Erick decided to get to work.

It was time to finish building the house.

- - - -

The sun rose in the east, turning the sky over distant Candlepoint into a wash of pinks and golds. The city looked good from here, at Erick’s new breakfast balcony. Candlepoint was a string of dark gems and green trees, with a spire of glowing white crystal sticking up from the center.

Unless they had named that large crystal something new, that crystal was called the Crystal, and it formed the backbone of Candlepoint’s automated defense systems. When last Erick saw, that Crystal had been attuned for use by a few people in the guard, so that they could summon juggernaut-like melee summons, and robe-wearing mage summons, to patrol the lands around the city, to protect against unapproved people and monsters. Mostly, though, those automatons just kept the mimics and other monsters away from the walls of the city. People just blipped past all those defenses.

Erick would need to limit [Teleport] in the near future. Probably through some sort of Undertow effect, linked to his [Spatial Denial] spell. Soon. Not this very moment, though. Not without talking to everyone at Candlepoint first.

And so, Erick sipped his coffee as he sat there, half of his senses on the moment, the other half elsewhere, flying with Ophiel across the land.

Candlepoint looked rather decent these days. Nice walkways with grasses and trees here and there. Nice stores in nice, new market streets. People out everywhere, doing everything. A lot fewer shadelings than Erick had expected. A few more wrought than Erick had expected, as well—

Erick paused.

Far below Ophiel, in a strange mirror of another time and place, Tasar was getting a tour of the place from Justine, just like how Erick had gotten from Justine, back when Justine was a Shadeling, and Erick had gotten a tour through Ophiel. Now, though, Justine was an incani, with bright red eyes, and Tasar was taking her tour down main street in person, though she did have her blackberry-topped black crystal staff in one hand; she still had her summons with her.

Erick let them be.

He moved on.

The farms to the north of Candlepoint were doing well, with redscale Valok out there in the orchards, introducing a few floating orbs of gold to the myriad citrus. The orbs of gold had to be [Familiar]s, and if Erick had to guess, they were the mouthpieces of the Merchants of Stratagold; the gold caste. He could be wrong, though.

Back in the city, months and months ago when Erick had last been here, the courthouse was still being built and adorned with a bunch of big quartz crystals that Ava Jadescale, the snake shifter sewermaster, had made out of sand. Those crystals had been so that shadelings could move easily through those crystals; to attack and defend from them, if others should come to Candlepoint with less than honorable intentions.

The courthouse of today, though, had none of those spiky crystals. Today’s courthouse was a solid black building with thick, white crystal trim, and it was beautiful. Multiple floors, fountains in back, columns and large open halls. It would have fit well in any metropolitan city the world over. The whole city had that sort of look to it, with simple crystal trim here and there, though for every black building, there were two grey-stone buildings of equal quality. The whole city had a rather good look to it. Not exactly uniform, for there were many individual houses and apartment complexes and businesses that all looked different, with accents of color or outright ignoring the conventions around them. But the general scheme was similar all around.

Most of the original buildings of the original city had been torn down, leaving a lot of space where once it was jam packed to the brim with shadelings. There used to be 100,000 shadelings and maybe that many adventurers, too, back when Bulgan had run the place like a sinner’s paradise. That was before the ballooning spiders, though, which Bulgan allowed to run rampant just to get a rise out of Erick.

Erick scowled, remembering how Bulgan prevented him from helping, how Bulgan released the automatons to indiscriminately kill everything they found. That man’s actions had killed 9 out of every 10 shadelings. Most of the visitors could get away, but not the shadelings. And then, when Erick took Candlepoint from him…

And then Melemizargo drowned half of the city into the new lake…

Candlepoint had been reduced to a small fraction of what it had been, though that seems to have changed in recent months, since Erick had been gone. Fewer shadelings, still, but a lot more people of other sorts. One new arrival to Candlepoint stood out from the rest of those nearby; a minotaur.

Erick had been the one to ask Hollowsaur to fix the horrors he had made out of those adventurers unlucky enough to run afoul of him, to be turned into cow-people and harvested for their now-magical body parts and their meat. Hollowsaur’s first fix had transformed these people into horrors of a different sort. His second fix, after Erick had Blessed him, turned these people into what they were today.

Strong, with bronzed skin and healthy complexions, and almost orcol-like self-healing properties.

Erick had expected that all of those minotaurs would have accepted Melemizargo’s offer of [Reincarnation] to transform back into their original races. The shadelings had obviously taken advantage of this offer, so it made sense for others to try for it, too. Or maybe it didn’t work that way?

Whatever the case, Erick spotted the minotaur on market street, and traced their direction through the manasphere back to the south, to a compound that held most of the other minotaurs. It seemed that they liked to live with each other? Erick would have assumed that most of them would have moved on to other houses, or something, but Erick counted around six minotaurs per very large house, of which there were five houses all joined together to form the compound. Erick chose not to pry anymore than that.

He pulled back. Back into the sky, back to an overview of the land. From high above, and based on what he was seeing, with the size of Candlepoint being about 12 kilometers from north and south, 5 kilometers from the lake’s coast to the outer wall, forming an arc of inhabited land that stretched beside the lake…

There had been around 5000 shadelings when Erick had gained control of Candlepoint, and finally stopped the tragedies. Now, though? Erick briefly checked on the colors of eyes from afar, for shadelings had glowing eyes of white or off-white, while everyone else had normal eyes, and when taken into account with how shadelings were naturally crepuscular and most other people might not be awake at this early hour...

“I… Maybe a thousand? There’s a lot more non-shadelings than shadelings down there, though.” Erick frowned. “I have no idea how many shadelings are left.” He turned a bit, and asked, “Silverite gave some small numbers, but do you have any precise population figures for Candlepoint? Or other general news?”

Poi had been approaching from behind, having stopped at the kitchen before coming up here. He stepped through the open doorway, carrying a coffee in one hand and a plate with a cinnamon roll in the other; his own breakfast. He sat down next to Erick, saying, “About 1200 shadelings left. Most of the shadelings have tried their luck with what they’re calling Melemizargo’s [Reincarnation], but while some have died due to that procedure, most were successful. About 98%. It’s what came after that was bad for most of them. Almost all of those who tried to leave Candlepoint and retake their old lives.”

Erick exhaled deeply, already knowing the results of those attempts. “How many were killed? How many came back?”

Poi said, “Around 3,000 tried some sort of leaving measure. 2,100 of them came back. The stories they’ve told make us think that the others did not survive, or maybe they managed to actually escape the Sights looking out for those types. Shadow-kill squads in the Greensoil Republic, and Treehome, and the Wasteland Kingdoms, have likely killed at least 900. A few times some kill squads have chased former shadelings right back to the walls surrounding the lake. Those former shadelings had access to [Teleport], of course, but most of the kill squads out there have accounted for that. Most of those squads have access to [Tether]-like effects, if not that spell itself. Right now, there’s about 1,100 to 1,200 shadelings, most of whom are trying to make Candlepoint work and never stopped, or never felt the desire to retake their old lives. 3,600 transformed, most of whom are here against their will. All the rest of the people out there are investors looking to make it big on the promises you have given them.; about 15,000 of those types. Because of those investors, the shadelings and transformed who chose to stay are a lot better off than their compatriots. There’s something of a rift forming between those two peoples, though I have no real news on that front.”

Erick nodded slowly, deep in thought. He sipped his coffee.

Poi cut off a bit of his cinnamon roll, stuck a fork in it, and ate it.

Erick said, “I… I wasn’t sure what I expected. Tragedies all around, but… There haven’t been any full-scale attacks, have there?”

“Some assassination attempts but nothing full-scale.”

Erick frowned a little, thinking.

He would hear more about Candlepoint from Mephistopheles and Justine Erholme, soon enough.

He moved on, asking, “Was I too paranoid with regard to the Headmas— To Kirginatharp?”

“You were not unduly paranoid.” Poi said, “If it was known you were a Wizard before your Worldly Path was over, then you never would have been allowed to walk it. Everything would have been different. Wizards are targeted… They’re not known until Rozeta has a reason for making them known, though. It is hypothesized that Rozeta doesn’t tell on Wizards because then that would remove all possibility for them to prove themselves as Good. The system right now still makes it exceedingly difficult for Wizards, but… If you would have asked me years ago what I thought about Wizards, I would have easily said that they should all be killed, without being offered a chance at proving themselves good or evil, at all. I don’t think that anymore, but… Such is the trauma left by the Sundering.”

Erick glanced at Poi, a bit surprised. Then he said, “I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I think Teressa is going through that same sort of cognitive change, right now— Ah.” Erick changed the subject again, “Which reminds me. I want to see the letters you got while I was in Ar’Cosmos, to see if they’re the same ones I sent… Though that might be too much paranoia. Is that too much paranoia?”

Poi smiled a bit. “That’s the correct amount of paranoia to have, in my opinion.” He lost most of his smile, “And yeah; I have come around to the idea. Months ago… A lot later than I should have, if we’re being honest. I feel a bit ashamed, actually, that I was still judging you based on your capability and nature, and not on your deeds and your person.”

Erick nodded, knowingly. “If we’re being honest, I’ve been worried over you controlling my mind for the last few days and that meeting with the Ascendant Prime was terrifying, but that’s just lingering fairy trauma. But... I guess that sort of fear has always been a bit present.”

“Mind control is terrifying. It rips apart families and destroys trust and kingdoms and lives. But there is help for that sort of trauma.” Poi said, “We do have therapists.”

Erick smiled. “I know. Maybe I might actually go to one, eventually. It would be the healthy thing to do.”

“Do you want to talk about what that sort of therapy would look like?”

“… No. Not today.”

The northern breeze brushed past the house, swirling steam from the coffee pot. Both of the mugs were empty, but Erick fixed that problem by reaching through a small [Gate], to the kitchen. Soon, the two friends were enjoying more coffee. And then Poi finished his cinnamon roll, and another [Gate] retrieved two more cinnamon rolls; one for Poi, and one for Erick. They were good rolls. Teressa had made them two days ago.

While cutting into his second roll, Poi asked, “What do you want to do today?”

“If nothing is on fire…” Erick checked the manasphere, gazing slightly into the future. His [Future Sight] wasn’t that great, but if there were any massive events then he probably would have seen them. Maybe. He wasn’t wholly sure, but it felt like it… He decided: he needed to work on his [Future Sight]. But for now, Erick came back, saying, “I can’t see any fires on the horizon. So… What am I going to do today? Nothing.” Erick sat a bit straighter, feeling secure in that decision. “That’s what I’m going to do today: Nothing. A fat lot of nothing.”

Poi chuckled.

Erick asked, “Do you like the house? Did I get your rooms right?”

Poi smiled. “The office looks great. I love it. I’ll need to get some furniture to replace the conjured stuff, but these conjured [Fairy Item]s are as durable as the stone walls of the house back at Spur.”

“As long as no one else casts any Fae Magic around them, they’ll stick around like they were real.” Erick smiled at the horizon, thinking back to Spur. “And it was a good house. I’ll keep it around, but… This is more secure, by far.”

“Living on a World Tree, inside a [Fairy Stronghold] is something that not even kings and archmages can boast. It’ll take everyone a while to understand just how secure this location actually is… It’s not very secure against that one person, I suppose.”

Erick shrugged. “Can’t stop forces of nature, and the consequences of her messing with my family are very, very large. I don’t think that will stop her from interacting. But… We’ll be fine. Either way, I’ll have to go over this spellwork with everyone here so that they know all of those nuances.” Erick paused. He said, “Tomorrow, I think. Not today…” Erick changed his mind. “Later today, actually… if I feel like it.”

Returning to a better topic, Poi said, “I like how you transported the entire garden south of the house. So many people stole so many of those vegetables, just to see if they could, but they’re going to have a much harder time of it now.”

Erick smirked, saying, “The cocoa trees are still in the backyard at Spur. People can steal those if they wish.”

“They already were!” Poi said, “So much shit happened after we split ways.”

Erick smiled brightly, saying, “Tell me all about it.”

They spoke about everything and nothing in particular as the sun rose over Candlepoint, and passed into the greenery of Yggdrasil overhead. As the full day dawned, Yggdrasil tucked the world a bit back into shadows, casting his usual [Control Weather]. Clouds rolled across the clear blue sky of the Crystal Forest, providing shade for the shadelings of Candlepoint.