by Alston Sleet
I was eager for this guy to leave so I could absorb the bodies and their gear, and I started to mentally scream when he looted his friends since he chucked some of the equipment outside my domain when he was searching.
Eventually, he sorted everything out that he would keep and pushed the gear and corpses into the deeper part of the overhang before grabbing what was left of the torch and marching off. I absorbed the bodies and clothing and felt my [Etheric Pattern Formation] ticking off like crazy. The memories and new materials combined to give me so many new patterns.
Ding!
New pattern, Brown Bear.
Ding!
New pattern, Deer.
Ding!
New pattern, Rabbit.
Ding!
New pattern, Sirdle.
Ding!
New pattern, Grey Wolf.
Ding!
New pattern, Green Slime.
Ding!
New pattern, Blue Slime.
…
The list just scrolled on and on. The partial patterns from Jorgen matched with the patterns I gained from Jous, Frankle, Tres, and Merce. Most were things like plants and animals they had eaten, hunted, or harvested. But some of what I learned was the way magic flowed to make lightning spells and ward spells, the way to train to sense mana, as well as what not to do if you wanted to stay in the army.
These five were deserters from [Baron] Fahs regiment. They had decided to head north and ‘ask’ local traveling [Merchants] for donations. The work had been lean, they had killed a few merchants and had to flee even further north, but then Tres had sensed mana from the mountains, and they had rushed off to try and find a dungeon and make a load of money. The manastone had been a godsend, and Tres had been thinking about buying out his contract and purchasing real spell training…and then the memories were gone.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Whatever Remains, No Matter How Improbable…
Josedus ducked as the goblet of red wine smashed into the wall near his head. The splash of the sweet liquid on the back of his neck reminded him of the spray of blood from a beheading.
“You found nothing? Nothing? There was a rebellion. I felt it,” the king snarled as he leaned back in his chair after his outburst.
The thick blond locks the king once had as a youth had slowly thinned, his body once thick with muscle from training at the sword now thick with mostly food and wine. He was not like most of the nobility, obese and witless from generations of inherited power, but he had grown soft in the kingdoms years of plenty during his reign. His eyes still shown sharp, his responses always quick and on point.
Remaining kneeling, Josedus continued his report, “Your Highness, I traveled with my company to the school grounds. We investigated. We found no rebellion. As reported, we found the scene of the head [Wizard’s] death and the destruction of the school’s tallest tower.”
“And?” the king asked as his diviner paused.
Eyes still turned away Josedus raised his voice slightly, “My king, I will speak bluntly as it has always been what you have asked for.”
“We found nothing, and I have no idea what happened. I only have possibilities, and none of them are good,”
Tapping his chair, hardwood without cushion or ornamentation, before he spoke to his kneeling subject.
Waving his hand towards his subject the king responded, “Oh, get up you old windbag. My uncle loved the groveling when he was angry not me.”
Slowly rising to his feet dusting off his knees that were still sore from his weeks in the saddle as well as the harsh stone floor. Gesturing to the chair opposite the king's work desk, with the king's nod of assent, he sat and composed himself.
“My King, I had Merick ask around and it appears that Gasdon was not involved with whatever it was that happened. I put him forward as confirmed, and I would caution you to post-date a letter in agreement to that fact, he is a toady, but he is your toady.”
The king agreed, marking this need for some scribe to complete barring his signature.
“As to a rebellion in the school or the surrounding village, I found nothing beyond a bit of local thievery and smuggling. Merick suggested we put in a spy with the group and I agree.”
Again with the king's nod, though it was slower this time. He was still haunted from his days in rebellion, working with slavers and smugglers to obtain magical weaponry and collared [Mage-Slaves]. Their eventual freedom didn’t clear away the scars their bodies held or the effects of mind magic on a person. That it was to stop the rape and tortures committed in open court by the [Tyrant King] still made it a poor exchange.
“I hired a team of workers to reassemble some of the tower's stones, and some had definitely been removed. It was not caused by an explosion, and the edges of the stone did not exhibit the standard dissolution dusting effect nor did they have the typical melting of high heat.”
The king leaned back now in his chair, his forced calm fading before he yelled.
“Jendo. Jendo! Damn it, man. Jendo!”
The king’s dining room door opened and his personal servant entered. His eyes flicked to the splash of wine on the wall, the mislaid goblet, and the lack of refreshment on the king's table.
“Jendo, get me a red would you,” gesturing to Josedus, he continued, “and a glass of that tart Sentarian white that Josedus likes. Maybe some snacks as well.”
Silently the servant bowed and stepped backward, closing the double doors in front of himself without turning his back to his king.
Pinching his forehead the king gestured for his diviner to continue.
“It appeared to be a small radius spell, perfectly spherical though I can’t be sure if that was chosen for its effect or because they couldn’t control it precisely. There was no other signature beyond the mana of the [Arch-Wizard] and his apprentice. The room was being used as a heavily reinforced containment structure. It’s possible they were performing demon summonings, but given Delgan’s views on that it’s doubtful.”
The snicker from the king was at the jest, almost [Arch-Mage] Delgan had more than once gone out of his way to destroy demon summoners. Claiming that demons were only useful in dying for experience and summoners not even in that.
“What about necromancy? He had been toying with soul spells according to my [spies], maybe he tried to reanimate some lich, and it killed him?”
Bouncing his head left and right at the idea Josedus considered the possibility, “I don’t believe so. The room had no taint of decay or necromantic mana, soul mana yes, but that’s mixed in with almost all forms of divination magic.”
The knock and then entrance of Jendo and two [Maids] cut short their discussion. While Jendo poured the red and the Sentarian white wines, the two [Maids] quickly scrubbed the walls and removed the goblet. Before Jendo had turned to leave, the [Maids] had finished their tasks and exited. Nodding to his master, Jendo backed away and closed the doors once again.
“The magic used in that room was unlike anything I had seen before. I felt no signature, but the two targets and the stones were stretched slightly at the edges but not melted, then cut in a perfect sphere. The options here are few, your Highness.”
Sipping his red again the king gestured for him to continue. Josedus’ hesitation before continuing told the tale of how he feared his king's response.
“I see one of two equally impossible things. A high level [Assassin Mage] entered the school and even the room with the highest level mage in the kingdom, leaving no trace of himself, then used a spell unlike any we know of to disintegrate himself and his two targets, or…”
The king stared hard at the first impossibility, [assassin mages] were almost unheard of since they would only work for a king's ransom and one that was willing to kill himself in a suicide attack? Not likely.
“Or?”
“Or…there is a caster with a spell which can target from a distance, that we have no ward that can match, that leaves no discernable trace, and this mage is also abl
e to confound your skill, a skill which has never been fooled before.”
The king and his advisor sat in silence and considered the possibility. Either impossibility explained the situation, and either one was frightening. An [Assassin Mage] which had such a spell and would use it that way could only mean someone even higher level using a mind control spell of unimaginable strength. Stories of legendary [Thrall Masters] or a [Mental Oppressor] of such a high level that they could capture and control even dragons were not beyond possibility. That kind of power, over the distance of kingdom borders, could crush continents.
The other possibility was more likely, but more frightening for the king directly. This could be seen as a dry run in an assassination attempt on the king himself. The castle wards were not more capable than Delgan’s and would be just as useless.
“If I detect this rebellion again you will ride with the army in haste. I will direct the army to destroy whichever city houses the caster. You will act as my link to the army, I will send my orders through your apprentice to you. Your apprentice will remain here and cast the communication spells.”
Josedus flinched but did not contradict his king. These were the kind of orders the [Tyrant King] might have given in his worst moments. With his daughter as his apprentice, refusing the king's edicts would not be possible.
I love my new lizard pets! I’m having the most fabulous time ever!
The next day and night they failed to visit me, Romeo being in charge of guarding my entrance most of that night, his day being mostly free to rest. But the night after that, oh man, those two love lizards came back!
Shortstop tried out the copper level of my agility platforming challenge. When he ran the challenge, he made the entire thing look easy. The dungeon crawl method was too slow for him. When he started his trial, he just strolled in carefully, checking for traps but not in a paranoid manner, then hopped across and scooped up his coins and left. Total time? Maybe five minutes.
He probably spent as much time walking in the hallway as he did the challenge itself. His casual stroll as he exited the Hall of Champions spoke volumes. The annoyed look Lady Lizard gave him spoke louder.
I didn’t know much about women, but showing off by trying to show them up? That never went well. Pandering to them by letting them win? Also never went well. In fact, I don’t think I had ever been in a competition with a woman and then come out ahead, no matter what the scoreboard said.
Food for thought that.
The Lizard Queen-to-be made some comment which wiped the crocodile smile off Shortstop’s face and returned it to the Lady Lizard’s. He made some gestures and explained what he did, and she seemed to get angrier as he went. After his explanation, she turned and followed his route into the agility challenge. She spent far more time running the trial than the short guard did. She used a hooked pole she drew out of her back pouch then assembled it to tap her landing places to be sure they would support her and were not trapped.
After her success, she collapsed her pole and then returned to the vestibule and made some rude sounding comment to her guard. He seemed disgruntled but accepting. She then strolled down the challenge hall, but she turned to the agility challenge again instead of the magical challenges!
I was going to get to watch the tin agility challenge! The copper challenge was just platforms you had to jump between, the tin challenge upped things nicely. This was my first room which had a more vertical arrangement. Once you enter through the doorway into the challenge room, there was only a platform of stone which was five foot by five foot.
The platform was mounted on a central column of stone in a round room, the bottom of the room was lined with spikes, now with an additional poison that my recent patterns gave me. Arranged around the large central column were metal bars that extend from the inner structure to the room's wall. It was like a sloping set of monkey bars. The exit and prize pedestal were mounted almost fifty feet down and on the far side of the column. Each bar was three feet or so from each other. More difficult than the copper platforms, but still something even a moderately in shape kid could do, if they were brave enough.
Lady lizard took one look into the room from the entrance doorway and stopped to yank out her small metal hook and metal pole again from her back pouch. Fitting them together looked awkward, the metal was heavy and might have been part of the frame in her bag rather than some lightweight collapsable pole. It looked like iron or steel, not a lightweight aluminum like we might use for a tent pole. It was only three feet long but more than long enough for her to stretch out on the ground and use to tap the entrance platform.
Once she determined the stability of the platform, she entered and considered the challenge. The challenge looked pretty straightforward to me, grab the bars and monkey along! But Lady Lizard didn’t seem particularly impressed. She hung over the edge of my platform and looked below it before she pulled herself back up. I’m almost sad I didn’t add some kind of prize token under the thing just for her to find. More ideas to implement later. Maybe difficult to find tokens made from manastone? The response from the deserters to just that small manastone was terrific, I now knew that the mineral was worth large sums to [Mages] and [Artificers].
Hooking the pole over the first bar, our intrepid lizard adventurer yanked on it attempting to dislodge the thing. Finding it sturdy and stable she let the hook hang free then jumped next to it and latched on with both hands and did a very professional muscle up. Pulling herself on top of the bar she grabbed her hook and braced herself against the stone column and her metal seat. Hooking the next bar, she yanked a few times to confirm its stability. Stepping lightly across to the new bar she sat down, her tail hanging below her, and continued the pattern.
I mostly watched flabbergasted. I never intended someone to scoot across the bars on their butt! She was just walking daintily from bar to bar! The process took almost an hour, she even sat for rest and drank some water from her pack before continuing. Most of her time was spent yanking and pushing at each bar, she tried to wiggle the bar like she thought either end would snap off at any time. I might build such a thing in the future. Maybe an agility challenge which combines collapsing supports of different types? An interesting possibility.
Once she reached the bottom, she was quick to reach for her coins, but this time I had stacked the deck with her reward. I was eager to try out a new prize. If it worked, then I had something unusual to bribe people with. If it failed, then she was about to get a perfectly round stone that when mana entered it, it would glow brightly. Once and never again.
The marble of stone was given the scaled side eye treatment. Then the sniff…and now the single claw quick tap. I was starting to see a pattern of testing here. Since none of these things resulted in fires, explosions, melting death, or spontaneous flatulence, she picked the stone up.
Now comes the lick test, and it passes with flying colors! I was waiting for the touch of magic inspecting the stone, I set it up that it would trigger when someone put just a bit of mana into the rock, in which case it would affect whoever was holding it. That way even those who couldn’t use mana could still use the stone if someone else were willing to push the mana in. Not a perfect solution, but better than nothing.
I knew the moment she tried it out, beyond the light glowing, because she stared into space for a long moment. After the space-out moment, she began to curse and yell. I didn’t know for sure that she was cursing, but somehow, cursing seems to be universal. The cursing was intermixed with excited happy yelling though. I wasn’t sure she got everything though.
Given that I had just given her something so huge, I was almost sure about what she was about to try, and I watched her breathlessly to see if kobolds were exactly like humans. Dismantling her hooked rod and putting it away, she exited my challenge room before preparing herself. She stood up straight, extended her hand, twitched her fingers in a specific pattern and said: “dooa gah dund tel.”
She was left with a look of confusion as
her proclamation had no results, her hand held out imperiously at the air. She repeated her actions a few more times, her movements very precise but her accent terrible before she stopped and returned to her ‘thinking lizard’ pose.
My idea had been to see if I could push the memories from Tres into the stone, mainly his impressions and memories around the spell [Gertara’s Lightning].
The spell was what would happen if a nature hippy got the idea that lightning was the imbalance of the energy of air and earth. Lightning was just a realignment of this energy, the exchange of these two powers…through the body of the target. The caster releases more of their energy bound up in the air, and the target acts to channel the energy into the ground as it’s converted to earthen energy.
The spell had a short chant, a set of words in Teltendin, which conveyed the memetic of the structure of the spell. It was shorthand for a whole host of concepts. The words didn’t matter, they just got the caster thinking in the right way, the point was the mental state and the mana. She had the memories of his work to ingrain the concepts and the practice casting the spell. She just didn’t have the memetic engram. I doubt the words made any sense to her since the memory of learning the spell itself didn’t contain actual words, just the concepts which were the basis of the words. The memory of casting the spell had the words but not the engram that Tres had worked so hard to create to link them.
Her paused consideration took a few minutes, but after she was done, she held her hand out, made no hand movements, and then stood there. I could feel the mana swirling around her, the mana shifting from one kind of alignment to another, air and earth both firmly in the mix. The amount of mana she was gathering was huge (for her) and was probably half of her supply.
With a last burst of her will, a tiny spark of green lightning jumped from her hand to the wall, the stone barely scorching from the spell. It wasn't perfect, but Tres's memories from his early training told me this was how pell casters first start. First weak and expensive, but things improve as the caster develops their concept and mana usage with the spell.