by Luka Petrov
As for the Magi Staff, well I have hidden that in my castle. It is hidden away from all magic-users so they cannot use it. I have sworn an oath to protect the magic spell book and the Magi Staff and to keep them hidden away until the one who is deemed worthy to use and read them will materialize. The Magi Staff is hidden in the castle behind a false wall. I had to protect both of these items and not let them fall into the wrong hands, or I would risk having the curse put back on me. And Frankly, I could not live like that.
“All right! I have answers now,” I announced, proudly that I had finally had something of substance to report.
“Well, let’s hear it,” Yves shouted, still sifting through papers while she sat on the floor. Agnes had gotten up and stood by the chest of draws and the mirror facing me.
“It seems that Archmage McAllister was banished to the Abyss after he lost a battle against the Lord of the Calden Castle, Lord Almer, and Lord Abraxas. Lord Almer gained both the magi staff and the magic spell book and hid both of them. We have the magic spell book already, and the magi staff is located somewhere here in the castle behind a false wall,” I explained.
“Huh! Interesting!” Yves replied, tucking her brown hair behind her ear.
“Wow, Ed! You found out a lot,” Agnes replied. “Now all we need to do is figure out which room has the false wall, and we will have the magi staff and could battle Lord Abraxas. So, this Lord Almer did not allow Lord Abraxas to have the spell book nor the magi staff?”
“No. He said it would have disrupted the world too much and put it out of balance. He stated in the journal that he took some oath to hide these items until the one who was deemed worthy to have them came into this world,” I replied.
“I think that is you!” Agnes shouted.
Yves retorted, “How can we be sure? Who did he swear this oath to?”
“That, I don’t know. The journal didn’t state,” I answered. “All it says regarding that was if the items fell into the wrong hands the Eldritch god would put the curse back on him.”
Flashes came from the mirror, and a cloud of smoke emerged from the mirror. A man came from the mirror. He resembled one of the men was in the paintings in the throne room. He wore velvet breeches, a white ruffled shirt, and an ascot. “An Eldritch god!” the newly emerged figure shouted. “I made an oath with an Eldritch god to have the curse reversed,” he repeated. “How rude of me. Allow me to introduce myself. I believed you are acquainted with me, but proper introductions are in order, my name is Lord Almer, and I am the warden of the sea. A pleasure to meet you. I see you have gone through my belongs and have made yourself a home. I am glad you got yourselves so comfortable,” Lord Almer said.
Yves chimed in, “You have the magi staff! We need it for a battle with Lord Abraxas. Give it to us!”
“Oh dear, you think I will just give you the most powerful items in this world just because you asked?” Lord Almer responded. “And you young ones think you could battle a Demon Lord. Lord Abraxas was powerful when I knew him. Since he returned from the Abyss as a Demon Lord, he is unstoppable. It is just best to accept your fate. It will be much easier that way.”
Agnes quickly cast protective ward, granting Yves and me plus two to my AC.
This battle starts with Agnes casting protective ward, granting everyone plus two to their AC.
The evil Lord took his first two strikes at Yves. It appeared he did not like her ordering him to give over the Magi Staff to use. I actually understood that sentiment. She dodged the first strike, but the second one hit her, and she took damage.
The Lord struck multiple times at Yves, missing one strike, and hitting with another for 4 points of damage.
I quickly cast Magic Missile, watching the green ovals lead my palms and hit three direct strikes on the evil Lord, which dealt him eight points of damage. Agnes then managed to cast a firebolt at the Lord and hit him for three more points of damage.
Edward cast Magic Missile at the Lord dealing 8 points of damage, Agnes hit the Lord with firebolt, rendering him 3 more points of damage.
Yves shot a bolt from her palm, hitting Lord Almer dead on, rendering him damage.
Yves cast a firebolt at the lord, hitting him for 3 points of damage.
The Lord regained his wits and could get two strikes off yet again, one against me and one against Agnes, both of using taking damage.
The Lord used his full round action to make two strikes yet again but this time one at Edward and one at Agnes. Both taking a whopping 8 points of damage.
“Huh? What was that?” Agnes asked.
“What’s what?” I hastily asked, looking over at Agnes who was by the mirror.
“No, I heard a whisper just over my shoulder,” she replied. Before I looked up to see what Agnes was talking about, she gave a blood-curdling scream, “Aaaaaaahhhhhh! Stop! No! Help me!” I looked up just in time to see her feet being dragged into the mirror. Agnes struggled to not be taken into the mirror, but it was too late. Her feet were the last thing I saw before she disappeared into the reflection.
“Oh no! What in the hell is going on?” I shouted.
Yves screamed, “Quick, Ed! Save her! I will handle the Lord.”
Without hesitation, I ran toward the mirror and dove in after Agnes. Thankfully, I was able to make it through the mirror before the portal closed. What in the hell is going on here?
Before Agnes could cast another spell, she was sucked in the mirror world with Edward chasing after her. It was now Yves turn. Yves casts chaos bolt, the bolt exploded at Lord Almer, dealing 6 points of damage.
Once I crossed the threshold of the portal, I was launched into a different dimension. I plugged down on the floor of the very bedroom chamber I had just left, but everything was in reverse. Not only is everything in reverse in this alternate dimension, but all of the furniture pieces were also distorted. The bed was on the ceiling, the chamber of drawers was not perfectly aligned, and it stood on a slant. The window that I had just been looking through had a sea of lava where the ocean once was.
I looked through the mirror, the portal to the dimensions that I was used to, I saw Yves doing her best in defending herself against Lord Almer. She was doing an incredible job, but I needed to hurry and get Agnes back so we could get back and help Yves.
Surveying my environment quickly, I didn’t see Agnes right away.
“Agnes, I’m here. I was able to get through the portal before it closed,” I shouted to her so she would know that she was not alone. I caught a glimpse of her in the hallway. She was confused by the distorted arrangement of everything.
“This is really strange. It looks like where we just were, but everything is in reverse and upside-down,” Agnes commented on our surroundings. The same paintings that we had just seen in the castle hung upside-down or sideways, some of the paintings were different.
“Agnes, we must get back and help Yves,” I suggested.
“Wait for a second, Ed. I think there is something in here that we are going to need,” she replied.
“What do you think we need?” I asked.
“Didn’t the journal say that the Magi Staff was hidden in the castle somewhere behind a false door?” Agnes reminded me.
“Oh yeah, it did,” I confirmed.
“Don’t you think we just came through the false door?” Agnes asked.
“Hmmm, I guess. I never put the two together. I was thinking more along the lines of a room on the other side of a false wall, but this makes more sense,” I replied, realizing that Agnes was brilliant for putting the two of these things together. The journal was actually referencing a portal to an alternate dimension. “Huh! Yes, I do believe that you are on to something here,” I finally muttered. Dejected that I did not put these two things together myself. “Where do you think the Magi Staff is in this huge castle?” I asked, realizing time was of the essence and we could not leave Yves alone with Lord Almer for too much longer.
“You can’t expect me to come up with all of the answe
rs now, can you?” Agnes mused.
“Right, right. Ok, let’s run down to the first floor and work our way up. We must move quickly,” I suggested. We both ran toward the stairs, intending on heading to the throne room.
We reached the end of the hallway and found that the stairs that we used in the other dimension were turned upside down like a surreal painting. “How do we get down to the first floor?” I asked, halted at the edge of the stairs.
A moment later, the stairs shifted and moved sideways. “We jump from stair to stair,” Agnes said. “Like this.” She lunged on to her right foot and leaped toward her left, landing right in the middle of the stair that had just come to a stop. The stairs were now all floating as they repositioned themselves from going upward to the ceiling to now moving down toward the first floor.
“This is going to take us a while,” I replied, as I needed to wait for each step to come to a stop before I jumped on it. Each stair shifted and moved as we jumped from one stair to another. “I am sure glad to be done with that,” I said as I jumped from the last step. We finally landed on the solid ground on the first floor.
Agnes jumped down from the step before I did. She responded, “Now we have to look for the Magi Staff. Let’s go room by room to see if we can find it.” We went to the first room off from the staircase. This room should have been the kitchen, however, this room appeared to be a library or a study. There was not one of these when we first explored the rooms in the other dimension.
As soon as we entered the room, which was full of books, the doors locked behind us.
“Did you hear that?” Agnes asked.
“I did. It looks like we are trapped,” I responded. “Wait a second. Do you see that?” O asked excitement filled my voice.
Agnes glanced up to see what I was referring to. There on the back wall on a stand and under an aura of light laid the Magi Staff. It was exactly how the journal described, wooden with a metal casing and glyphs and runes inscribed all over it. It laid on the pedestal and it was under the guard of the protective aura that surrounded it.
Using detect magic, it became apparent that the protective aura was, in fact, a barrier surrounding the Magi Staff. “Shit! The Magi Staff is protected by a barrier and even if we can get the Magi Staff, how are we getting out of here?” I explained to Agnes.
“We will figure it out,” Agnes whispered. Her undying confidence in me was quite astonishing.
I closed my eyes and began concentrating on the Magi Staff. It turned out that I was able to see runes and glyphs all around the Magi Staff. Then I noticed that there was a spot to insert the stone that we got from the Temple of Terror. In order to dispel the protective barrier, I would need to manipulate these runes, but how? I noticed one of the glyphs was highlighted. Then I remembered the chant that Hamon made me say during one of my dreams.
I whispered under my breath, “First left, then down, then up and to the left again.”
Agnes asked, “Ed, what are you saying?”
I repeated my words a little louder, “First left, then down, then up and to the left again.” Moving the highlighted glyph left one character, then down another character. Then taking the character I just replaced it with and moved that one up and to the left, then I placed the stone in where it fit perfectly. The aura protecting the Magi Staff suddenly disappeared.
“Wow! How did you do that?” Agnes asked.
“Hamon taught it to me in one of my dreams,” I replied.
I ran over to the Magi Staff to grab it, only to realize that almost all of my mana was depleted. I could barely move. Manipulating those runes must have drained most of my mana. Fatigued and barely able to move, and slowly crawled my way to the Magi Staff. I was able to grab it and held it in my hands. This is the moment of truth; the ancient Magi Staff and the magic spell book were together once again. This is what will give me the edge over Lord Abraxas and thwart his demonic plans. I took the magic spell book out from my sack that was strapped to my back. I laid the magic spell book next to the Magi Staff on the pedestal and admired my work. I had worked so long and hard for this moment. I had finally brought these two items back together and I could now become the most powerful wizard that ever lived.
Agnes shouted, “I can’t believe this moment came! I never thought we would get these two items and have a glimmer of hope against the Demon Lord!”
“Glimmer of hope,” I said to Agnes while looking at her through the sides of my squinted eyes. “You thought this moment would never happen? You were the one encouraging us all along,” I shouted.
“It was easier than to say what I was really thinking,” she relented. “All through the Abyss, or the ice maze, I thought we were done. Many nights I wondered how we made it through to see another day. I was glad that we did each time. I was glad that I had another chance to spend time with my dear friends. The only thing that I’ve regretted on this journey has been the fact that Cecily and Walter haven’t been here. I hope we find them soon. I know Cecily would have loved battling the Ice Wolf. Walter would have enjoyed being with us. He admires you, Ed. He just loves being part of the group. He comes across as jealous, but he really looks up to you.”
I was both disheartened by what Agnes was saying but elated as well. I had wished that both Cecily and Walter were here, and I missed Cecily’s rebellious nature. I was surprised to actually think I felt these things. I am in this to become the greatest mage that ever walked in this world and to get all of the things that I missed out in my prior life. Thinking about friendships and wishing that teammates were present to relish in the adventure and the journey was what I was not about. I don’t want to have feelings for people, I don’t want to have to care if they live or died. I just want to focus on my development as a mage. That is what I was in this for. As a constellation prize for not becoming my dream of being a doctor in my prior life, I needed to become the greatest mage of all time. I needed this for me and everything that I had worked up to up to the point. I cannot allow wishing Cecily and Walter were both here at this moment. Hell, Yves missed out of seeing the two items together for the first time in ages because she is helping us hold off Lord Almer. Why did Agnes have to bring all of this up? Why now?
I took a moment to admire my work, then I said to Agnes, “We have to get out of here now. We have to get back to Yves before it’s too late.”
She nodded in agreement, but then chimed in, “But the door is locked. It locked behind us.”
“Oh shit, that’s right,” I muttered. I was overcome by the emotion of obtaining both the Magi Staff and the magic spell book that I had forgotten that fact. “I wonder how we get out of here. Perhaps there is a spell that I can use.
“Not sure,” Agnes responded. “But, look. In the middle of this study is a pedestal with nine small metal cylinders on it. Do you think that it is a puzzle, and if we solve the puzzle it will activate the lock and allow us out of here?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. I would hope we would have some notion to move forward on rather than attempting to break the lock ourselves,” I replied.
Agnes mused, “Ed with your Strength, we’d never get through a door if it required your physicality. Even spells would not be helpful now because you have used up all of your mana.”
“Well, then a puzzle is our best shot, and thankfully we have one to solve,” I retorted. Agnes was getting sassy since she decided to divulge that she never thought we would make it this far.
I put the Magi Staff and the spell book in my nifty backpack, the Bag of Holding, and both of us went to the pedestal in the middle of the room. We both observed the pedestal. Agnes explained, “Interesting. There are nine small metal cylinders of varying heights on this pedestal. They all appear to be the same diameter despite them being different heights.” Agnes appeared to be thinking out loud.
“Right,” I affirmed. “That would mean that they are different weights. Interesting. There is also a lever at the side of the pedestal and atop of is etched a pattern of ni
ne circles. The center of the pedestal appears to be movable since there is a gap between it and the outside of the pedestal. What do you think that is for?” I asked.
“Good question. Let’s pull the lever and find out what happens,” Agnes suggested. I pulled the lever, and the pedestal made a grinding sound and tilted slightly in the direction where there was the majority of the cylinders.
“Fascinating. It’s like it is trying to move, but it is off balance,” I explained.
“So let’s get it on balance,” Agnes suggested.
I took a look at the metal cylinders further. “We must have to balance each of these nine weights on each quarter of the circular pedestal to activate the switch to unlock the door,” I suggested.
“That idea makes sense. How do we get the pedestal to have equal weight over each of the four quarters of the circle?” asked Agnes.
“It appears that these weights have an order. Based on how tall they correspond to how much they weigh. We just need to balance them based on their opponents and then average them out on each of the four quarters,” I suggested.