063. 2/2

Erick woke up late, covered in sweat. The sun had risen and brought light to the world from the eastern sky, on the other side of the house. Erick’s room was still dark, but it was certainly past morning. Ophiel faintly whined in flutes, as Erick threw off his covers, revealing that all of him and his bed was soaked through. His shirt clung to him; a thin white fabric that made him look like the fifth place runner up at a wet t-shirt contest. He sat up, and everything swam left and right, but he didn’t fall back down. He clutched the edge of his bed, remaining upright, still seated. He flashed a [Cleanse Aura] through the room. After the thick air passed, his shirt was still soaked, but it was just water, now.

‘Jane?’

Jane sent back, ‘You okay?’

‘Woozy.’

The air blipped dark blue. Jane stepped into the room, frowning slightly. “Good morning.”

She touched him with a deep blue glowing hand. The air seemed to clear, his eyes focused again, as the world calmed, stabilizing under his feet. Ophiel rubbed against his side. Erick pet him, a little, then blinked out sleep, and breathed in the morning.

“Thank you.” Erick said, “That’s a lot better.”

She frowned. “Healed sense organs take a while to rejoin the rest of the body, but one night should have been more than enough.”

Erick joked, “I’m slow to integrate.”

Jane smiled. She said, “We got a message from Messalina. Two of them, actually.”

Erick listened.

“The first letter was full of warnings regarding the Headmaster. Poi read it, but… It could be propaganda. So I did not. You can make that choice for yourself.” Jane said, “Poi said it was all rather standard warnings for dealing with known dragons, as well as a few specific dangers regarding the Headmaster himself. The second letter was thanks for killing the Toxic Hydra, and an apology for dosing you with the Dream Worm, as well as a claim that the worm would have vanished on its own if you would have played along.” Jane frowned. “But that’s me being generous with her words. I read the second letter. I don’t like this woman.”

Erick decided, saying, “I don’t want contact with her, so I’m not reading them. This was enough. Thank you, Jane.”

“More than past time for you to get up, though. It’s time to rain on the farms.”

A twinge of panic passed through Erick. He summoned another Ophiel and instantly sent him out to the farms. Jane was right; people were standing around in the fields. Erick began flowing mana through Ophiel, into silver clouds. He set Ophiel into the center of the Harvest Temple, as the platinum rains began to fall.

Erick came back to himself, saying, “You could have woken me.”

Jane smiled as she held out her hand. “I was just about to. You’re only a few minutes late.”

Erick took her hand, and she pulled him to his feet. He said, “Valok was probably pissed.”

“Yeah. Well.” Jane held Erick upright, saying, “He can be pissed, Dad.”

Erick tested his sense of balance, moving his head back and forth. No wooziness. Not right now, anyway. He asked, “Anyone show up to figure out what happened? Merit, maybe?”

“Merit and Felair came over this morning. They left hours ago.” Jane added, “No answers. Merit was pissed.”

Erick nodded, and he felt stable. He let go of Jane’s hand, and said, “I’d like to do some brainstorming with some magic and some defenses. You and Kiri free for a bit?”

“Yes.” Jane added, “We can find Kiri.”

– – – –

Erick stood in front of a blank blackboard. Kiri stood in front of her own blackboard, while Jane leaned against the wall, near her own similar setup. [Distortion Ward]s covered the windows. Poi stood in attendance, but less for mental cover and more because he had heard what Erick wanted to discuss, and he wanted to be a part of it. He also stood beside his own chalkboard, but he refused to pick up the chalk. Teressa and Rats were woken up, at Poi’s insistence; those two sat sleepily in their own corners. They did not care to really participate.

But Ophiel was all happy to be surrounded by all these people. He sat on a perch next to Erick’s blackboard, humming in violins, eyes open all across his body.

“Thank you all for participating in this.” Erick said, “This is just the brainstorming session, anyway.”

Kiri smiled as she spoke, “This is all highly unorthodox and I love it.” She added, “I must repeat, for the sake of thoroughness, that I have the recipes for some really good spells.”

“I know, Kiri.” Erick said, “And I’ll probably go that route, anyway. But before we get to the proper schooling, I want to see if there is a way to do this stuff without all the ‘proper’ recipes. I would also just like to know about some of the larger spells, and how to defend myself in this world.” Erick looked to Poi, adding, “Which is why I didn’t want to involve Merit or any of the others in this discussion. At least not yet.”

“Of course!” Kiri bubbled. “Don’t want to taint your thinking with overly orthodox measures. I can appreciate that.”

Poi watched, waiting.

Erick began, “Let’s start with the big one.” He started writing on his blackboard, as he said, “[Teleport Lock]. In my mind, it’s [Teleport], [Dispel], and Aurify. But there are problems with this. According to my own maths, this would require so, so much mana, every second. This is likely not what Shades do.”

Jane added, “It would also cover a thousand kilometers in every direction if this is what they did.”

Kiri’s face dropped to concern.

Erick nodded, saying, “Maybe they drop the cost by considerably dropping the range. Not sure how to do that, though.” He wrote on the board ‘less range for cheaper costs’, and said, “But it’s an obvious avenue to success. If it works.”

Kiri shook her head, saying, “This does not work. You can’t really… decrease the cost of something.”

Erick said, “My [Crystalline Air] would disagree.”

Kiri added, “And that right there is crazy, you know?” She shrugged, saying, “Maybe that is exactly how a Lock works, but I doubt it. Someone would have gotten it by now if this was all it took. [Teleport], [Dispel], and Aurify together, make tier 2, meaning you can try again every single day.”

Erick nodded. “This is true. But do you know of any spells that are like [Crystalline Air]? With the costs reduced by having a smaller area?”

Kiri said, “Anything with [Find Target], of course. Scanning magic in general is cheaper with smaller areas. Though none that I know of are adjustable in the completed spell like your [Crystalline Air].”

“Are there cheaper forms of [Teleport] than [Teleport]?” Jane asked. “Perhaps this lock is just an application of [Shadowalk]? But what is [Teleport], exactly?”

Erick channeled mana through [Teleport] producing a white double glow from his hands. He moved his hand through the air, and the double glow split, leaving one behind and the other in his hand. He said, “I have no idea how to describe this.”

Jane said, “It’s not dimensional magic. That’s blocked. Is it speed magic?”

“Is there speed magic?” Erick asked.

Kiri frowned, saying, “It’s not speed magic. All of that old magic has been lost to time.”

“No [Haste] or [Slow], Dad.”

Erick said, “I don’t even know what those are.”

Jane sighed, saying, “I know you don’t.”

Teressa joined the conversation with, “No speed magic. No slow magic either.” She turned to Rats and Poi, asking, “Right?”

Rats yawned, saying, “Right.”

Kiri said, “We’re getting off topic, anyway.”

“Well. No.” Erick asked, “What is [Teleport], anyway?”

Kiri said, “Spatial magic. You put yourself into a different, known, part of the manasphere.” She explained, “Historically, the spell used to be vastly more complicated. The Old Wizards had to have perfect control, or they’d end up inside rocks or splatted against a wall. When the Script codified all magic, it streamlined the spell and removed much of the danger; if your [Teleport] isn’t perfect, it still works well enough.”

“Regarding a Block:” Kiri continued, “[Teleport] doesn’t work inside a [Teleport] blocked location, until you throw enough [Teleport]s around to break the block.” She said, “A Block, constructed of [Teleport] and [Dispel] runes, and charged with rad dust, is valued based on the amount of mana it takes to break it. For every 250 mana of rad dust spent to charge a blocked space, a properly made [Teleport] blocked room will block 1 [Teleport]. Like most things, this is just a deterrent from most attackers.” She clarified, “A space usually has a dozen Blocking runes, each holding at least 500 mana. When the block activates, it pulls 250 mana evenly from the network.”

Jane asked, “So does it… Block the [Teleport]? I mean. The [Teleport] goes off, but then it fails to work?”

“Yes,” Kiri said.

Poi said, “Yes.” He added, “A [Teleport] with an end of the spell in a blocked area will result in a smattering of light, and no movement.”

Kiri said, “This is yet another difference from a Shades’ Lock, versus a Block. In the Lock, you lose access to the spell. You can’t even spend mana on it. But in a Block, you can; it just fails to work.”

Jane said, “On my first day in the Army I entered the edge of Fallopolis’ Lock and was able to [Teleport]. But I ended up to the side instead of going forward. Though once I was inside the city, and actually inside the Lock, I couldn’t even spend mana on the spell.”

Kiri nodded. “Yup.”

Erick held out his hand to Ophiel, as he strummed mana through [Teleport], creating a double of his white glow, saying, “Ophiel? Can you copy this sound?”

Ophiel stared at the white glow, and began to hum a sound. It was a pure sound, and Erick finally understood what he was hearing. Travel and exploration. The journey and the destination.

Erick said, “I’m thinking a Lock is just destructive interference, somehow.” He wrote down ‘destructive interference’ on the blackboard, then patted Ophiel, saying, “That’s enough. Thank you.”

Ophiel hummed the [Teleport] sound, but at a much lower intensity.

Jane asked, “But how?”

Kiri, wide eyed, asked, “What is ‘Destructive Interference’?”

Poi said, “Undoubtedly a very large topic that does not need to be discussed right now.”

“Fine,” Kiri said.

Erick said, “Quite right. This is further than we’ve gotten with a Lock, anyway. What comes next is testing.” He said, “Next topic. How to defend against parasites.”

“Deal with them as they happen,” Rats said, yawning. “Hard to be preventive with those.”

“Rats is right.” Poi said, “Mostly, we try to fix the damage before it gets too catastrophic.”

“There’s a [Bug Ward].” Jane asked, “But no [Parasite Ward]?”

“None.” Rats said, “The problem is that parasites make themselves a part of your natural biome and then they wreak havoc. You can’t clear them out without hurting yourself in the process; they become part of your Health Status.”

Jane asked, “How about some way to make your biome hostile to parasites?”

“It already is,” Rats said. He amended, “Well. It isn’t. Actually. It is in the beginning, but then it’s not.”

Erick saw something in that statement. He asked, “How are these parasites made?”

Rats said, “They create them out of lumps of flesh and corruption spells.” He yawned. “It’s more complicated. But that’s the gist of it.”

“Corruption spell? Elaborate, if you can?” Erick asked, writing in another section of his chalkboard ‘parasites and corruption’.

Rats said, “[Blind]. [Deaf]. [Dumb]. [Weak]. They’re all Health abilities. Like [Strike]. Range of touch.” He yawned. “Dunno how you actually make the parasites themselves, but it involves a lump of human flesh and then imbuing that lump with one of those spells, and then that flesh somehow comes to life, and then you put that parasite in a human. You use dragonkin flesh to infect a dragonkin. Orcol for orcol. Etcetera. Very disgusting. Very disgusting.”

Erick touched the left side of his face, and tried not to think about some person’s flesh crawling around inside his ear. He shivered.

Poi added, “Accomplished parasiteers can also put mind magic into the parasites.”

Erick declared, “Table that, for now! No more parasites!”

Jane chuckled.

Erick asked, “Is there a way to solve this shadowspider prowling, thing?”

Poi smiled, saying, “Yes.”

Erick felt a rush of small joy, saying, “Oh thank gods. How?”

Rats frowned. “Ugh. Really?”

Kiri winced. “I can’t sleep anyway. Might as well make it all the way terrible.”

“This means I can’t do a lot of stuff, too, Dad,” Jane said.

Erick looked around the room at all the unhappy faces. “What is this reaction!” Erick said, “Just tell me.”

Poi answered, “[Lightshape] and [Ward]. Banish all shadows in an area.”

Everyone except Erick and Poi groaned.

Erick said, “I can see how that would be hard to live in.”

Kiri said, “No shadows anywhere. Including under your covers. Behind your eyelids. Anywhere. The base version of the spell is [Banish Shadows], and it’s one of the few magics that is already combined well.”

Erick went ahead and spent 3 points, for all the other shaping spells.

 

 

 

 

He said, “I needed the other shaping spells, anyway. I’ll look into [Banish Shadows] later.”

Kiri offered, “You could also work on your mana sense? You likely already have a high affinity for this skill, but I do not, so I cannot help you with this. A high mana sense would allow you to see the world sort of how Jane sees it, as a spider.” She looked to Jane, adding, “If I’m correctly understanding what you said you could see?”

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“You are—” Jane paused. Her face flushed red. She said, “If I had transformed… If I had been a spider at any point in time during that entire Feeding Frenzy, I probably would have seen those hunters.”

Erick instantly said, “It’s okay, Jane.”

“It’s not okay, Dad.” Jane said, “It’s… It’s not okay.”

Kiri did not look to Jane, but she went quiet.

Erick frowned, as he wrote ‘Mana Sense’ on the board. Ramizi had told him about Mana Sense before, but he had just not pursued that option. Now, he would.

Poi spoke up with, “There’s also…” He hesitated. Then he said, “There’s also a mind sense you could work on. Increasing your mental capacities should increase your ability to resist things like a Dream Worm, or other mind control in the future. A good enough mind sense and you could have seen those guys, too.” Poi admitted, “I should have seen those hunters, as well, but I was too focused on the wyrms. I apologize, sir.”

Erick just smiled small, and said, “Don’t worry about it, Poi. It’s okay.”

Jane shared a silent look with Poi, as Erick wrote ‘Mind Sense’ on the board, and then a large question mark.

Jane asked, “[Telepathy] transformed into some sort of detecting spell, and Aurify, for a [Mind Sense]?”

Poi said, “It’s not a spell you can buy or achieve. This is also a topic for another time. I merely brought up the possibility.”

“Okay.” Erick said, “Let’s talk about that [Ward] wyrm, then. I felt useless. It was sheer dumb luck that lightning struck that monster at all.”

“I could teach you about more fire magic.” Kiri said, “[Death Spiral Fire] really is a ‘one spell, one kill’ kind of magic, and now that you have [Fireshape], you likely have all of the necessary pieces. It would have worked through all of those [Ward]s, though the [Cold Ward]s would have smothered some of the spell as long as the monster was inside one.”

Erick wrote on the board, ‘[Death Spiral Fire]’ and ‘Fire Magic’.

He turned to the group, and asked, “Here’s another topic: What am I actually expected to defend against? What necessary spells and such do you think I need for the good of Spur?”

Poi instantly said, “The murder of monsters such as the Toxic Hydra. The deployment of [Stillness], in the event of a sonic attack, such as [Pulse Wave], which is the most common form of attack and taunt from the Shades. The defense of yourself, firstly, and Spur, secondly. Everything else beyond this is welcome, but not expected. Though with as much as you are doing for the farms, if you fail to keep up this responsibility you have assumed you would likely be punished by thousands of people, and not just Silverite.”

Erick laughed. He could already imagine Valok punching him if he ever stopped raining.

Rats said, “You’re already doing a great job, sir.”

Jane smiled, softly, as Kiri and Poi looked on, at Erick.

“I need better goals than this.” Erick said, “I’ve already been told in very explicit terms that there will be no more overt plotting to kill Shades, even if a Kill and Exterminate Quest is involved.”

Erick was still totally plotting to Kill All Shades, though. It would just take a while.