Sufficiently Advanced Magic (Arcane Ascension Book 1)

by Andrew Rowe

  Even he wasn’t invincible.

  We carefully made our way through Derek’s hand-made tunnel, emerging behind the colossal form of the fallen spire guardian.

  Derek hadn’t been kidding about how large it was. The golem must have been thirty feet tall when it was standing. Now, fallen on its side, its shoulder was just about as high as I was tall.

  That realization made me look up. The ceiling of this room was absurdly high, probably thirty meters up.

  Across the room, I could see a series of runes on the wall that were generating the blasts of wind. If we could neutralize those runes somehow, we could stop the gale.

  Between the runes was, of course, another door. No sign of a lock on this one.

  “How high up do you think the wind goes?” I asked Orden.

  “Interesting. If you’re thinking I could levitate someone above the wind, and then lower them next to the door... You’re probably right, but the winds would still catch them on the way up.”

  “Can you disable the runes if you get close enough?”

  “Yes.”

  I still wasn’t very familiar with how to disable existing enchantments, but I knew it could be done. If Orden said she could do it, I had no doubt that she could.

  I turned to Vera. “Vera, can you check how high the wind goes?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, I can detect that if I touch the wind. One second.” She stuck a hand into the wind, jerking it back a second later. “Only goes up about twenty feet.”

  I turned back to Orden. “Could you levitate Derek up, then across the room once he’s out of the wind, and then lower him back down in front of the door? I don’t see a rune right next to the door itself.”

  “Certainly, but Derek could not turn off the runes. Ah, you want to use Derek as an anchor, then I can teleport to him. Yes, that will work.” She turned to Derek. “Derek, brace yourself up against the wall. I’ll lift you, but the wind will be pushing against you full-force for a bit, so use your shroud defensively.”

  Derek nodded. “Yes, Professor Orden.”

  Derek walked over to position himself with his back up against the wall and braced against it. That’d prevent the wind from slamming him straight into the wall, at least.

  “Levitate.”

  Professor Orden raised her hand and Derek floated upward. When he rose above the level of the golem, the wind visibly bombarded him, pushing against his clothes. He just stretched his hands outward, pushing right back.

  He floated upward more slowly with the wind causing him to drag against the wall, but when he got above twenty feet, he slipped free of the wind’s force. Orden moved her hand and he floated safely across the room, then back down right in front of the door. As we’d predicted, there was no wind right in the doorway. He was safe there.

  “Teleport.” Professor Orden disappeared, reappearing next to Derek.

  “Keep me steady,” she told him.

  “Yes, Professor Orden.”

  Derek held onto Professor Orden as she reached into the wind and pushed her arm toward the closest wind rune. Within a moment of her hand touching the rune, it visibly dimmed until the glow was completely gone.

  They repeated the process, walking around the room until the last of the wind runes was extinguished.

  “Great idea, Corin.” Derek gave me a friendly nudge. “I was not looking forward to having to try to walk all the way across the room in that. The wind was getting more intense the further I pushed through it.”

  I nodded. “No problem. Glad I could help. Also, way to make an entrance there.”

  He laughed. “I do love my entrances. C’mon.”

  We made our way to the door. I glanced back toward the golem, pondering if I could salvage any part of it, but I didn’t know the first thing about how they worked. Maybe I’d ask after we saw what was in the next room.

  “Everyone ready? You may want to step out of the way of the door, just in case we get another nasty surprise.”

  We all quickly complied.

  Derek swung the door open.

  Inside was a simple square room with a large fountain flowing with fresh water. There was a door directly on the opposite side, as well as a door to our left.

  The doors were heavy stone rather than the wooden ones we’d been seeing in most of the rooms, but they looked fairly ordinary otherwise.

  Aside from that, the room looked completely empty.

  Derek glanced back at Vera. “Vera, check for death traps?”

  “You bet.” Vera knelt down at the doorway, touching the tile, then touching the wall above it. “Seems safe right at the entrance. Give me a couple minutes to poke around?”

  None of us were in a hurry.

  While she checked for traps, I turned to Derek. “That golem have any worthwhile parts we could take?”

  He shook his head. “Not unless you’re a Caelish engineer. Huh.” He glanced at Vera. “Actually, maybe she could do something with it. I don’t know much about golems, but they’re mostly mechanical. Mana powered, but they’re mostly mechanical parts. I wouldn’t know how to get to the mana core without breaking it, but she might.”

  It was a couple more minutes before Vera came back. “Room seems safe. Fountain seems safe, too.”

  “Thought so. It’s a mana fountain. They’re commonly found in safe rooms.”

  I blinked. “Mana fountain? As in, that’s liquid mana flowing in there?”

  Derek laughed. “Nothing quite so grand. It’s just water infused with a bit of life mana and water mana. Helps speed up recovery after a particularly dangerous room, or right before one. Bad news is that I’m pretty sure the room we just went through was the easy room.”

  “Meaning that the next room — or rooms — will likely be exceptionally dangerous,” Orden finished. “Very well. We should all head inside and indulge in the fountain.”

  We headed in, but I frowned when I sat at the fountain’s side. “Is it really clean for us to drink from this? Wouldn’t there be, like, hundreds of years of diseases?”

  Professor Orden laughed. “It’s self-cleaning. Look at the runes over here.”

  Huh. I didn’t recognize most of the runes she showed me, but I was able to pick out the ones that made it refill with water, as well as ones that called mana and life mana into it.

  I borrowed some of Vera’s paper and sketched the remaining runes down, tucking the notes away in my backpack, then drank the water.

  It was cold. Like, goddess, I didn’t know I could feel that cold without experiencing pain.

  As strange as the feeling was, though, it wasn’t strictly uncomfortable. After the first sip, I started to acclimate to it, drinking my fill.

  Out of curiosity, I checked my mana watch afterward. 39/48.

  So, it was restoring a bit of my mana, or at least accelerating my natural recovery a bit. But it wasn’t a mana potion, and it wouldn’t get me back to full strength immediately.

  That was fine. I was more worried about Sera. She was drinking it as quickly as she could, and I didn’t blame her.

  After she’d drank her fill, I passed her the mana watch again, and she registered at -10/112. Still pretty bad, but she’d recovered more mana than I had.

  I looked around. “Any objections to resting here for a few hours?”

  “Actually, I think we might want to plan to spend the night here. It’s very unlikely we’re going to find another safe spot like this.” Derek scratched his chin.

  “I would advise against tarrying here quite that long, but a few hours might be tolerable.” Orden sat at the base of the fountain.

  “Why? Are we in any sort of hurry? Thought we had days.” Derek asked.

  “On Katashi’s deadline, yes. But it would appear that Edrian agents are active in our city, and I would prefer to resolve this before they have a chance to learn about where we are and plan a counterstrike.”

  Derek nodded. “Makes sense. Few hours, then. Vera, want to help me take a crack at that golem? Maybe w
e can pry the core out of it.”

  “Really? Maybe you really are a gentleman.” Vera grinned and looped her arm in his. “Let’s go take a swing at that bucket of metal.”

  While they worked, I rested. And for a just a little while, I felt like we were finally safe.

  I was, of course, dangerously mistaken.

  Chapter XXI — Venom

  My first order of business was making sure that Sera’s condition was stable. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any kind of medical expertise, so that meant the best tool at my disposal was the mana watch. I prodded her with it every few minutes until the result was a greater than zero value, after which we both relaxed a little.

  She still wasn’t talking, but we scribbled notes to each other on borrowed paper. Mostly speculation about where we should be going next and general strategy.

  Jin seemed content to stare at a wall most of the time, meditating or something similar. Maybe he was just considering tactics. I couldn’t blame him for that.

  Professor Orden busied herself with drawing protective runes on the walls, writing some notes, and occasionally whispering into the air. Reporting to her superiors, I imagined. That wasn’t a bad idea.

  Once I was convinced that Sera wasn’t getting worse, I followed Orden’s example and got to work.

  My first order of business was writing down the runes from the previous room. There were three types; one clearly generated the wind, but I wasn’t sure about the other two. The second had a symbol of transference on the top, so I guessed that it might have been the one designed to recharge the main runes — especially since it was centrally positioned in the room.

  The third rune? No idea. I’d assumed it was to exclude an area around the exit door from the wind, but it turned out there just weren’t any runes that were directing wind at that particular spot, so an exclusion rune wasn’t needed. Maybe the third one was a part of a puzzle that was meant to turn off the runes?

  There had to be a way to handle that chamber without a powerful Enchanter to turn the runes off; maybe that third rune was an off switch.

  After a while of studying in that room, I came to the belated realization that Derek and Vera were flirting nearby. And by “I came to the realization”, I mean Derek eventually told me, “We’re flirting, can we please have some space?”

  Fair enough, Derek. Fair enough.

  So, I, Corin Cadence, master of understanding human mating rituals, left that room to the two of them and tried not to think about that too much.

  I decided early in the break that I wasn’t going to do anything reckless that could get us into more danger. That resolve lasted about as long as it took for me to get bored: meaning not particularly long at all.

  In fairness, my idea was one that could have been beneficial.

  When Derek and Vera (presumably) concluded their flirtations and asked Professor Orden to help them examine some of the golem’s components, I took my chance to sit down and open up my book.

  No new replies since I’d last checked, which was somewhat disappointing, and maybe a little disconcerting. I’d been hoping for descriptions of each of the rooms we’d passed through. Now that Orden had told me that the Voice of the Tower was a person, though, it made sense for them not to be monitoring the book — or me — at all times.

  Dear Voice of the Tower,

  As previously indicated, I have entered the tower with the intent to rendezvous with Katashi. If you could render any assistance to make this process easier — such as alerting Katashi to our presence and sending him directly to us — it would be most appreciated.

  Due to your previously stated concerns about Lyras Orden seeing the book, I have been careful not to open it while in her sight; as such, I will most likely be unable to see if and when you reply unless it is within the next few minutes.

  Best,

  Corin

  Professor Orden didn’t return for the next several minutes, so I kept the book ready. About five minutes later, I received a reply.

  Corin,

  Your message has been received and your caution is appreciated.

  I will endeavor to make certain that Katashi finds you at the proper time.

  Sincerely,

  Mysterious Book Entity

  Aww, it still liked that name.

  Or, he or she, I suppose? It was a little strange to think about there being a person sending those messages.

  Anyway, the book was being vague as usual, but I was comforted to know that it was aware of the situation and might lend help. I’d have felt better if it wasn’t quite as mysterious, but it was living up to its name, and there was still a degree of comfort in predictability.

  It was about an hour later that Professor Orden finally returned to the room, with Vera and Derek right behind her. She was holding a crystal sphere the size of a fist. A quick attunement activation told me it had a thick jade aura. I didn’t know much about golems, but I assumed that had to be the creature’s core, and if it was an Emerald-level crystal that was a very valuable find.

  They all looked pretty pleased and I didn’t blame them.

  “There’s no need to panic,” Orden began, immediately inducing my reflex to panic, “But I’ve received a message from another Wayfarer that a group of climbers from Edria has entered the tower. There is a possibility that this is a coincidence, but I believe it would be prudent to expedite our journey. How is Miss Cadence’s recovery coming?”

  We checked the mana watch. 24/112. Not a lot of mana to work with, and it was definitely coming back more slowly than it normally would. Going beyond her safe value must have wrought some serious havoc on her lungs. “She’s still extremely low on mana and she can’t talk,” I answered, and she nodded in agreement. “I think we should give her another hour or two.”

  Orden shook her head. “We can’t take the risk. I have been speaking with Derek and Vera, however, and we believe it may be wise for the three of us to press on ahead without the rest of you.”

  I stood up. “I should go with you. I have a responsibility to see this through, and Katashi asked me to handle this. It may be easier to talk to him safely if I’m present.”

  And I want to make sure I get any information I can out of the talk with Katashi. I still don’t know enough about everything that’s going on here.

  Derek turned his head to Orden. “He’s got a point.”

  Orden sighed. “No, he doesn’t, Derek. He’s just being egocentric. Katashi will be overjoyed to meet with Vera regardless of who brings him, and we can always have Katashi follow us to Corin’s location afterward to remove the mark.”

  Derek’s jaw tightened, but his reply sounded cheerful enough. “You’re right, Professor Orden. He does not have a point.”

  Something seemed...off about that exchange.

  “We will not be a burden.” Jin stepped closer to me, taking up a position at my right side. “Sera has proven valuable thus far. Corin and I will endeavor to carry similar weight.”

  Professor Orden pointed at the door on the other side of the room. “Let’s see how dangerous the next couple rooms look before we make a decision. Derek, why don’t you go take a look at the other rooms?”

  “Yes, Professor Orden.” He headed toward the door near me immediately, turned the handle, and opened it.

  There it was again. His formality, his eagerness to agree to everything she was saying immediately. Something wasn’t right.

  As he turned his back to us, I activated my attunement and looked at him. Beneath his usual shimmering Emerald aura, I saw a few other sources of magical energy. The glow from his swords was unsurprising, and I noted that his tunic also carried an enchantment. He was wearing two enchanted rings as well, one on each hand.

  The one that Professor Orden had given him wasn’t glowing, but it was leaving a trail. A crimson trail of mana that connected him directly with her.

  It faded almost as quickly as I’d noticed it, but I was certain I’d seen it — and I understood what I was se
eing.

  Okay, Corin. Don’t panic. You know she said the ring was a precaution. Investigate, prepare, but don’t panic.

  I offered Sera a hand and helped her stand up. She accepted it wordlessly.

  We looked inside the door that Derek had opened. It was one of the largest rooms I’d seen so far, dome shaped and covered in what looked like spider web, but with strands as thick as my arm.

  I didn’t see the spider itself, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

  There was another door on the other side of the room, but it was a wide stone one with runes on the surface. I didn’t see an obvious door handle. It was probably meant to open and close under specific conditions.

  “Looks like a spire guardian room,” Derek explained. “And I think I can see where the stairway will appear.” He pointed at a square tile in the middle of the room. “It should manifest once we beat the guardian, but I can’t say if it’ll go up or down. If it goes up, we’ll have to keep pushing on. The way down probably wouldn’t be much further.”

  “How dangerous is the guardian likely to be?” Sera asked.

  “Probably not too bad, given that we’re still on the first floor. As a general rule, a group of six Carnelians — or one or two Sunstones — can usually handle the guardians dedicated to blocking off the first few stairways. Obviously that means it won’t be much trouble for me.” Derek flexed his arms, and Sera rolled her eyes in response. “Better check that other door.”

  Derek headed to the last door we hadn’t checked, which was directly opposite from where we’d entered. He opened it as soon as he got there, peering inside.

  I considered our current placement while he was out of arm’s reach.

  Vera was standing over by the entrance to the wind room, next to Professor Orden. That was bad.

  Derek was about as far from Orden as possible, though, which was good.

  Jin and Sera were right next to me, which was also good.

  “Hey, Vera, come here a sec.” I waved to her and she approached.

  One preparation in place.