065, 2/2

Ocean as far as the eye could see. Clouds piled high. Wind blowing hard.

Rats shivered, saying, “Where the fuck are we? I’m so damned cold.”

“Okay okay!” Erick said, “Just give me a minute! I already pathed it once. I must have over corrected somewhere in the last two jumps.”

Blip.

More ocean. More clouds.

Kiri frowned, sitting down on the [Teleport Platform], saying, “If we die up here, I’m going to be very cross.”

Poi said, “We’re not going to die up here.”

“He’s right.” Rats said, “We’re going to die screaming, falling into the ocean.”

Erick frowned.

Blip.

Green forests stretched out—

“Oh thank the gods!” Rats said, “But it’s still too cold.”

… Green forests stretched out ahead of Erick, and everyone else. Pinks and golds painted the sky, as the sun dipped down in the west; Oceanside would have a lot of nice sunsets, wouldn’t it? Erick smiled.

“There it is!” Kiri squealed.

A kilometer away, rose the hundred-meter tall, cream-colored towers of Oceanside Arcanaeum, and the crescent-shaped bay and mountain that the school grew upon. The entire place was a study in pastel color, blues and reds and yellows; mostly on the roofs, but some of the smaller buildings were colors aside from cream, too. People flew in the air, in patterns, and with a bit of [Ultrasight], Erick saw that they flew along paths laid in the air that glowed; likely [Permanent Special Wards]. People flew from towers to ground, from the forest to the city— Oh!

Erick stepped to the side of the [Teleporting Platform] and looked down. In the twilight forest below, houses and lights lit up the spaces between the fifty-meter tall trees. The people and their places were mostly hidden from the air, but as Erick moved the platform toward the city, he saw more and more houses and otherwise down in the forest.

And as Erick looked forward, with Meditation active, his breath caught in his chest as he saw a dual meaning in the word ‘Oceanside’.

The manasphere moved like a second ocean over Oceanside; a solid rush of mana that rolled in from the west, but filled with eddies and swirls. As that intangible ocean hit the crescent harbor of the city, and the city itself, mana rolled up and over buildings and rock and into the woods, like a crashing wave; an intangible hydraulic jump. Compared to the manasphere’s gentle flow in the Crystal Forest, this area was practically a river.

Erick stared into that river, and smiled.

“It’s beautiful,” Kiri said.

Poi said, “Incoming.”

Erick turned eyes-forward, ignoring the brilliance of the manasphere, just in time to see a trio of people in cream-colored robes flying up from the city. They flew directly at Erick’s platform.

Erick stepped forward, while Kiri, Poi, Rats, and Teressa, stepped behind him. He stopped the platform’s forward movement.

The lead person—

It wasn’t a person at all. It was a robe, and it hovered in front of Erick’s platform like it was a sentry. It was an animated, empty robe, with boots, and a mask, and it was all one color: cream. All three of the not-people were the same. All three of them set themselves in the air in front of Erick’s platform. They were magical constructs, and if Erick wasn’t wildly wrong, they were likely [Familiar]s.

The lead one spoke, “Name and business?”

“Uh.” Erick decided to answer, “Erick Flatt, here at Headmaster Kirginatharp’s… idea.”

The three not-people went still. Then the other two bowed as the lead one spoke with eloquence, saying, “You have been approved. Welcome to Oceanside Arcanaeum and City, Archmage Erick Flatt and guests. If you could please wait here, your appointed liaison will soon arrive to properly welcome you to our fair city.”

Erick said, “Thank yo—”

The world’s shortest orcol blipped into the air, ten meters away from Erick’s platform. She was the size of a tall human, maybe 6’5”, while her long black hair was tied in a braid down her back. She wore a cream-colored tunic and breeches while a short green cloak wrapped around her shoulders, complementing her seagreen skin. Erick knew this girl, but he had forgotten her name.

She immediately hovered closer, saying, “Greetings, Archmage Flatt! You might remember me? I’m Krigea Gadaroth. I was there during one of your original lectures.”

Erick smiled. “I remember, now. How have you been? Weren’t you on your way to a professorship?”

“It’s a process.” Krigea smiled wide, exposing her lower fangs, saying, “Welcome to Oceanside. For the duration of your stay, I have been appointed as your liaison.” The sunset turned her cream-colored clothes pinkish, as she asked, “Would you like to do some exploring before we go to Windy Manor? Or straight to the house? The Manor is always open and staffed with professionals, so dinner can either be provided, or you can seek sustenance in the city.”

Rats suggested, “Manor, please.”

Poi nodded.

Erick deferred to his companions, saying, “Manor first, if you could.”

 

– – – –

 

It was a short flight to Windy Manor. Krigea led the way, over the cliffs that stretched north of the city, over the tall forest, to a place where tall trees surrounded a well-tended property, and the crashing waves below were a distant, pleasant sound. Salt vaguely scented the air, but up here, the air was clean and clear, and moist.

The house itself was a wood and glass affair of several stories, set back from the cliffside by two dozen yards, and with no obstructions between the house’s tall windows and the ocean to the west. Sunlights illuminated the wood and stone interior, while the sun set on the horizon, painting everything a bit darker, a bit more red and gold. Erick stared out at that sunset, down on the water, for a good moment. He had never lived by the ocean; this would be a treat.

Krigea said, “Welcome to Windy Manor!”

Krigea set down on the space between the cliff and the house, on a granite stone walkway, amid a well maintained grassy yard. Erick set the platform down over the grass.

Rats immediately hopped off the platform, saying, “I love the ground.”

Erick followed, looking over the house, saying, “It’s quite lovely. Thank you.”

Krigea said, “It’s even better inside. Ah! And here come the groundskeepers.”

A door to the side of the house’s main windows opened. A man and a woman stepped out, both of them wearing black and white outfits similar to that of a butler and maid, but from a culture Erick had never known. The man was incani with small horns and pink skin, while the woman was human and pale, with blond hair.

While Teressa, Kiri, and Rats gathered the bags, Erick followed Krigea to the groundskeepers, while Poi stayed behind him.

Krigea introduced, “Groundskeepers Vinsez, and Powell. They will be overseeing their normal maintenance of the house and the grounds, until you tell them otherwise.”

The groundskeepers bowed, then stood.

The man, Vinsez, said, “Welcome to Windy Manor, Archmage Flatt.”

“Glad to be here!” Erick asked, “So this whole place is for us, for the duration?”

“Correct.” Krigea said, “For however long you decide to stay.”

“It will be a little while, but not overly long.” Erick said, “My daughter is out traipsing around the world right now and she might be gone for months. I might decide to do the same.”

Krigea’s seafoam green eyes lit up. “That would be wonderful.”

Vinsez and Powell both bowed, but said nothing.

Teressa moved up with some bags. “Which way?”

“Right this way,” Powell said, quickly taking point, showing Teressa into the house.

Erick walked inside, following the flow. The immediate structure of the house reminded him of the Adventurer’s Guildhouse in Spur; with the large open room and multiple floors open to that central space. Erick turned around, happy that this central space had a veritable wall of windows, overlooking the outside, and the ocean.

Nice, heavy furniture dotted the room, in nooks and corners, while other open areas on the top floors held space for semi-privacy, while still allowing for the view of the ocean. The other end of the house was filled with rooms, both for sleeping and work. A small library held hundreds of books; most of them in Ecks, too.

Erick explored, while Poi talked to Vinsez, and everyone settled in.

Krigea left soon after dropping everyone off at Windy Manor, and making introductions and plans for tomorrow. The groundskeepers stuck around a little while longer to explain some of the workings of the house, like the [Teleport] Blocking runes and the anti-[Scry] runes scattered around the house. None of them were powered, though. Erick was expected to do that himself, if he wished for such a safety measure.

Teressa fired up the kitchen down on the first floor, quickly filling the central room with the smells of meat, testing the kitchen, as twilight crept into the house, and the groundskeepers departed to their own house, on the eastern side of the property. Wardlights were either cast, or revealed, as Kiri went around flicking open iron spheres in the corners of most of the rooms, allowing the radiance within to shine. Erick looked out over the darkening ocean, listening to Rats joke about scales rotting in the moist air, as Kiri told the redscale off, telling him he just needed to take care of himself properly.

Erick thought, ‘This will be a nice place to stay, for a little while’.

 

– – – –

 

Soon, dinner was over, and the five of them were alone in the house. Erick surveyed the house and shaped a [Crystalline Air] around the property, while Poi did his detection magic and the other three went from room to room, scoping the place out.

They soon discovered that while the place looked like the guest house of a king’s palace, it was fortified like a wartime installation. The walls were a meter thick in some places, and solid throughout. If there were hidden passages in those walls, Poi could not find them.

Erick experimented with [Detect Magic] and Aurify, finding nothing but the magics of the lights, the rads they had brought with them, the magic on each person, and the rads in the appliances scattered in the kitchen, and in the bathrooms. This place had hot and cold running water. Erick could barely wait to take a real bath, but he would wait for the all clear from Poi.

After three hours of going over the home with all the magic at their disposal, they all gathered in the front room, beside the window overlooking the dark ocean, around a table with a large book upon its wooden surface. Kiri spoke of the anti-[Teleport] and anti-[Scry] runes she had found in the house, and declared them likely exactly what they appeared to be. If Erick wanted to use them, he could. Teressa and Rats found nothing untoward anywhere, either. Poi took that all in, and declared that the house was probably exactly as the Headmaster declared it to be: one of the finest places for visiting dignitaries to live, for an indeterminate amount of time.

Erick looked over the book on the coffee table; it was a primer for the Arcanaeum, and he had already looked it over and decided what he wanted. He gestured to the book, asking, “Anyone know what they want to do, yet? I’m going for Spatial Magic 1-point-1, Enchanting 1-point-1, Defensive Theory 1-point-1, which should cover Mana Sense and Anti-Parasite defenses, and Esoteric Magic, which should cover everything else. That last one isn’t part of a series, but more a round table discussion on theory. There’s also Warrior Training for Mages. Might take that, too.” Erick looked to Kiri, and said, “And whatever you’d like to do, too. Did you pick any classes out, yet?”

Kiri had been smiling ever since she saw the cliffs and city of Oceanside, but now her smile went wide. She said, “Those sound like fantastic choices! I got halfway through the second year of all of those before— No matter. The point is, is that I can help wherever you want. Maybe not in Enchanting but—” She added, “I would like to attend Destruction Magic for the Potential Archmage. It’s not in that book, but they should have that class here; it’s not a standard class and we might have to go looking for it. I think you would benefit from it as well.”

“Sure.” Erick asked the other three people, “Rats? Poi? Teressa? You three want to do anything in particular?” He looked to Rats, “What about working on your [Greater Treat Wounds] quest?”

Rats said, “Eh! Maybe.”

Poi interjected, “We’re here to guard you, sir.”

Teressa agreed with a wordless grunt.

“But aren’t we in one of the safest spots in the world?” Erick asked, “There’s no Dead City right out the door. There’s just the ocean, and a forest full of people living and going to school.” Erick pointed at the huge glass windows, saying, “And there’s a hundred meter cliff between the ocean and us, too.”

“Oceanside is one of the safest island nations in the world,” Kiri said, frowning at Poi. “The Headmaster’s Elite deal with any and all problems, including murder, and they track the offenders across the world.” She said, “I’m almost a hundred percent sure that Powell and Vinsez are Elites.”

Erick thought back to their groundskeepers, saying, “That makes me feel better.”

Poi sighed, saying, “If no single incident happens after a week, then we might think about relaxing our guard.”

“If nothing happens, I might go see about working on my quest,” Rats said. “They should have a hospital around here, somewhere.”

Teressa frowned, but said nothing.

Ophiel just watched everything and everyone from his perch on Erick’s shoulder.

Erick broke the silence, “I don’t want any of the anti-magic runes in this place on, because I would like to continue to be able to [Scry] and [Teleport] myself, but how would we go about charging all of that?”

Kiri piped up, saying, “Powell told me that they sold the potions for that sort of thing in town. Or we could crush up some of the grand rads we brought with us. One of them should provide a few days of [Scry] protection. If it’s not overly stressed.”

“I haven’t seen any [Scry] eyes since we arrived. It’s kinda nice, for a change.” Erick said, “Anyone seen any?”

“Nope,” Rats said.

Poi said, “None.”

Erick smiled. He had been popping a dozen eyes every day for two months, now.

 

– – – –

 

Erick sat in a cozy corner on the second floor, surrounded by thick walls and nice wooden paneling, reading from Eduard’s [Familiar] training manual, while the night sky twinkled beyond the thick glass paneling of Windy Manor’s main room. Ophiel rested on a conjured pillow on the floor.

Poi walked up the wooden staircase in front of Erick, saying, “Sir. The Headmaster wishes to know if he can visit for a short while.”

Erick flummoxed Eduard’s book down onto the table in front of him, saying, “Uh! Sure!”

Poi said, “He has been informed, and will be here in minutes.”

Erick launched to his feet, as Ophiel launched into the air to land on Erick’s shoulder. Erick said, “Do we have any coftea left?” He mentally commanded Ophiel to stay in the front room, saying, “Not right now. You can watch, though.”

Ophiel whined as he went back down to his pillow.

“Teressa has been informed, and is already making some.”

Erick smiled, walking past Poi to step down the stairs, saying, “You guys are really good.”

Poi said, “Thank you, sir.”

Erick reached the first floor, just in time for a bright flash of gold light to fill the night, outside of the glass windows. Kiri eep’d next to the staircase, but Erick just continued to the door, beside the windows. For the absolute briefest of moments, a gold shadow illuminated the night, but then that shadow condensed to a point; to a person. The Headmaster was a small, old human man, who stood with a regal bearing, wearing gold and white embroidered robes like he was some Chinese emperor or classical dignitary. His hair was white, his skin was tan, and his eyes glowed amber. In the dim yellow wardlights of the front lawn, he looked almost like a golden ghost.

Erick opened the door to the front lawn, saying, “Hello, Headmaster! Thanks for the invite.”

The Headmaster smiled, saying, “Thank you for accepting.” He turned to the lawn. A wooden table and a pair of chairs were suddenly there. The Headmaster conjured them, certainly, but it happened so fast and so precisely, that Erick never even knew he had cast a thing. “If we could please discuss your participation in Oceanside and the proceeding events of your stay?” The Headmaster sat down on one of his chairs. “It shouldn’t take long.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Erick paused, then said, “Sure.” He sat down in his chair, asking, “So what’s the plan?”

Teressa walked out of the house, wearing immaculate grey clothes that she was not wearing earlier, and carrying a small tray with glass cups and coftea in a glass pitcher. Steam rolled up from the coftea; a warm mist in the calm light of the night and the yellow wardlights scattered around the grassy lawn.

The Headmaster smiled wide, saying, “Oh, good! I was hoping for some of this.” His entire demeanor went from quietly professional to gushing happiness, as Teressa set down the tray on the table. He asked, “This is that ‘coftea’, correct?”

Teressa bowed and nodded like a professional butler, saying, “Yes, sir.”

“And milk and sugar, too.” The Headmaster said, “I’m glad the house has been properly opened and someone is there. Haven’t had a guest in years. Are you happy with the location, Erick? Teressa?”

Teressa answered, “Full pantry, full wine cellar. It’s great.”

“Thank you for your hospitality, Headmaster.” Erick said, “It’s all quite nice.”

Teressa bowed, and exited; back to the house.

The Headmaster served himself, but paused when it came to adding milk and sugar. He asked, “How do you drink it?”

Erick poured himself a cup, then added milk, saying, “I usually just do a bit of milk.”

“Then I shall try the same.” The Headmaster put milk in his coftea, then took a sip. He paused. He took another sip. He said, “Bitter, but there’s stimulants in here, and the milk does a lot to negate the bitterness. I take it you drink this for the perk of energy?”

Erick smiled, saying, “Yup. Everyone worked a lot of hours back on Earth, and coffee was a part of that culture.”

The Headmaster sipped more, saying, “I can see how that would happen.” He tentatively asked, “Would you, perhaps, [Grow] some of this, here? For us? Sometimes the students just are not prepared in the morning.”

“Of course.” Erick said, “Culture is best shared, and how am I going to get a cup when I’m out of the house if I’m the only one who has any?”

The Headmaster smiled, small and quaint, then said, “True.”

They both sipped coftea for a little while. Erick waited for the Headmaster to speak; this seemed like that sort of scenario.

The Headmaster said, “I heard Messalina wormed you.”

Erick frowned at nothing in particular. He set his drink down, and said, “Yes. But I pop dozens of [Scry] orbs every day. I think Poi intercepts and backlashes every [Telepathy] attempt made against me.” He looked to the air, saying, “I killed her Toxic Hydra, but her Flare Couatl is still killing hunters in the Crystal Forest. As long as her goals are to kill killers and there are no more incidents like with the Dream Worm, I can’t very well fault her for her methods of getting in touch with me.” He added, “If it would have actually gone away on its own.” He looked to the Headmaster, and said, “Well. I probably should fault her, for all of that. She mind controlled me, and was able to get a letter to me the next day. She had every chance to contact me without needing to enforce her will, first. She’s obviously not a good person, but she’s killing killers… So that’s that. For now.”

The Headmaster sipped his drink, then said, “Your unwillingness to involve yourself in the affairs of others is admirable, for power should never be used to inflict one’s self upon the world.” He said, “But power should be used to excise those who would do harm to others. Messalina is one such person, as you have already personally experienced, and will surely experience again.” He added, “Though I do not have to prove this to you; time will tell, and then you will become involved on your own volition.”

“Probably.” Erick said, “She wants me to make a Particle [Scan] spell that would work to find anyone without regard to how they hide themselves. She overestimates my capability.”

The Headmaster nodded, saying, “It would be a good spell, though it would certainly fall into a worldwide threat of a magic. You could uncover anyone hiding anywhere.”

Erick laughed, saying, “So even more surveillance than normal?”

“I take it that this was not the case on Earth?”

Erick knew he was being pumped for information by one of the most powerful people on Veird. He knew this. But he didn’t want it to be this way. He wanted comradery. So he acted like a friend, and hopefully that would be enough to make it a reality.

Erick looked out at the darkness, and said, “Surveillance on Earth was pretty bad, but you still couldn’t just spend some mana and [Scry] anything you wanted to [Scry]. Information never vanished, though. Here on Veird you have books and ‘Knowledge Mages’, though I’m still not sure what those are, but your information goes cold. Someone could disappear if they wanted, and it would be difficult to find them without a starting point.”

“Are you looking to get lost in the world?”

“… It’s what Archmages do, right?” Erick said, “I certainly don’t want to vanish, but I am aware of the violence of your world. I’m here to learn how to defend myself from that violence so that I don’t need to go into hiding.”