189, 2/2

An hour after practicing with his new magic, but without gaining any true understanding, Erick joined a joyful Fairy Moon and a rather humble-looking Maid Maria in the dining room. Maria wouldn’t meet Erick’s eyes. Erick decided to ignore that for now.

Nine of his newly-cast and higher-Stat Ophiel surrounded the node on the other side of the room, each of them joyfully either twittering and regenerating mana, or casting [Renew] into the pink and green abyss. A tenth Ophiel remained on Erick’s left shoulder, though; the Ophiel with the highest effective Stats, from back when Erick still had his Stat rings and his Normal Form was categorically stronger than his Other Form.

The gap between Erick’s Normal and Other had closed considerably, but his Normal Form still won out a lot simply due to his Class Abilities for Double Mana and Double Mana Regen, and Scion of Focus for four times Mana Regen. Once he managed to get his Class Abilities to work with his Other Form, and once he actually got Scion of Balance in his Other Form, his Other Form would actually be a little bit better than his Normal Form, Stat-wise.

That was without the boost provided by Stat-light rings, though.

… Erick would figure all that out later.

For now, Erick was in his Normal Form, and while he was physically weaker by a lot, he actually had a good amount of Mana and Mana Regen, for once. And so, he had still left that gaudy crystal amulet back in his room. It was unneeded.

He kinda wanted to turn right back around and resume testing Elemental Benevolence, but securing the terms of this alliance needed to happen, too. Whatever the case, Erick would likely stay in Ar’Cosmos for a little while, if only to put off rejoining Veird and dealing with the next headache.

He was a Wizard, people knew, and [Gate] still had to be made.

All that could come later.

Erick asked Fairy Moon, “We’re not [Teleport]ing through Ar’Cosmos like you did yesterday?”

Fairy Moon said, “Today is not an emergency.”

Erick felt a little chill crawl up his spine. “Ah. Yesterday had been an emergency, then.”

“Several major and several minor, all wrapped up in your Path and threatening to push people over the precipice.” Fairy Moon said, “But today is tamer. Today, they have distance, and those destined to die are already being born again, so your words might have gained weight with those who have the brightest of smiles.”

Well, that was good news, then?

Fairy Moon had probably been correct to pull Erick out of there when she did.

Fairy Moon obviously wanted this to work out, and she had obviously seen some of what Erick had seen yesterday in that room with Bright Smile. But how much had Fairy Moon seen, exactly? Yesterday, when she burned her hand while touching his Elemental Benevolence, she had taken off that flesh and bone like she was removing a long glove, revealing a completely unharmed hand underneath. Then she had taken that glove of burned flesh and turned it into a ring of bright white diamond. That ring still held on her left hand, and it seemed to glow to Erick’s sight. Did that ring, perhaps, grant her his own [Benevolence Sight], or whatever it was he had made?

Erick simply asked, “Yesterday, with Bright Smile. Did you Sight what I Sighted?”

“Did I Sight the warning round Bright Smile’s neck? Or did I catch sight of your own eyes wandering in specific ways?” Fairy Moon shrugged. “Who’s to say? I prefer to judge based on actions undertaken, but there is something great and good to say about woeful warning given well and true.”

Ah.

So yeah.

Fairy Moon warned everyone about whatever lines she didn’t want them to cross, before they crossed them… Yup.

But while there was a similarity between Fairy Moon’s warnings and the warning given by Benevolence, Benevolence was not just an early warning system.

“I hope Benevolence becomes a warning system of opportunity and problems; not just problems.” Erick let loose a fear that he had not given a voice to, until now, “I don’t want Elemental Benevolence to only pick out who will create problems, for that way leads to assassinations and tyranny and evil. I want Benevolence to do more than that. I want Bright Smile to represent an opportunity to create great things. I don’t want her to be the node upon which the entire world might break… Even if she looks like she could be that, and all my instincts are telling me that she might be exactly that. But at the same time, maybe Bright Smile is a great person, and the problem she will create is a thousand years in the future. Is creating a thriving civilization a good thing, if you know that civilization will eventually grow to take over the world and crush all others? I don’t believe it is, no matter what sort of good might come about in the short term, and yet… There needs to be short-term good, too, and the long-term bad might not ever happen.”

Maid Maria’s eyes were wide as she gazed upon the floor, not willing to meet Erick’s bright white sight.

Fairy Moon had no trouble looking him in his eyes, as she said, “I judge based on actions, not futures, for anything else is tyranny, and Chaos can always cause Fated futures to falter, anyway.”

Erick frowned a little. That was already his stance, and it had been his stance many times before. And yet, that way lay the Chelation War, and the burning of the Farms of Spur, and the Hunter attacks on Spur, and probably countless other problems that could have been prevented if Erick had acted sooner. He was trying to be a lot more proactive in his life, especially since the Chelation War. He had succeeded in being proactive with the grass travelers, and with that dragon who lived there, and also with the Sects of Nelboor, and that had turned out fantastically.

Erick openly wondered, “If I just told her that I know that she will one day change the world, for good or for ill, will she choose to step away from the edge of evil, herself? Or will she take it as Fate that she is destined to decide the future of a great many people, all on her own, and she best get to positioning herself to make that happen?”

Fairy Moon nodded, like an expert seeing a child make a correct decision. “All you can do is give warning, and if they gainsay your wisdom, then make your warning a reality.”

Ah.

So there it was.

Maid Maria looked up, her eyes darting from Fairy Moon to Erick, and then back to the floor.

Erick spoke softly, “So many small lessons coming together, I see.” He raised his head, and said, “I will tell her when I am no longer vulnerable to her desires.”

“A genuinely good stance to stand.” Fairy Moon said, “Perchance you might make a phylactery and make yourself truly Immortal, Erick Flatt, and then you can go around warning whoever you wish, fixing it all forever, or as long as you love to live.”

Erick felt his heart beat hard.

“No. I won’t be doing…” Erick breathed. “… Probably not that—” And then he narrowed his eyes at Fairy Moon, asking, almost incredulously, “You didn’t just add another step to my Worldly Path, did you? To the Fractured Citadels of Quintlan? To Quilatalap?”

Fairy Moon giggled brightly, then gestured to the left and the wall opened into a door. She jumped through, like a gazelle leaping through a field, trailing a beckoning hand behind her as she called out, “Come what may, come what may! But for today, there’s dragons to sway!”

Erick followed after her, but he was still stuck on the ‘phylactery’ bit. Was she playing a trick on him? Had she added a step, and was playing it off like she hadn’t? Or did she not add a step, and she chose to act as though she had?

Could go either way.

– – – –

Somehow, five fast minutes later, Erick spotted Redflame’s castle through a break in the canopy.

An hour’s walk had taken them a fraction of the usual time.

As they stepped to the grey door at the base of the cliff, Erick asked, “So it only took 5 minutes of walking to get here, right? I’m not imagining that?”

To the side, Maid Maria was looking just as surprised as him.

Fairy Moon just grinned happily, saying, “It might not be [Teleport], but you are yielding a lot of mana into the matrix of Ar’Cosmos; some convenience is sure to be coming, and especially when time is of consequence.” She tapped on the door, transforming the grey stone to white and opening the way to the flame-lit hallway beyond, as she added, “The present is precious at this precipice; more so than a bit of mana.”

Fairy Moon leapt through the portal.

Erick and Maria followed close behind.

After the transition into the main house, the three of them stood in the main greeting hall where a large red transportation crystal held in the center of the hallway. Almost instantly, a beleaguered and very contrite half-dragon man stepped out of the giant red crystal, spotted Erick like he knew who he was looking for, and started talking about how thankful he was that Erick had finally shown. And then came the begging.

“I need another ring!” The large half-dragon fell to his knees, pleading, “Not for me! But for my son! He would never survive the Trial of the Wyrm but he’s otherwise so healthy so he’s going to be so far down the list of candidates to use your rings and—”

Erick wanted to back away, but he did not, for the transportation crystal flashed again, as three more people stepped out. And then came more.

Erick held his ground as suddenly ten different people were all suddenly on their knees begging for more [Renew] rings—

The fires in the hallway suddenly flared bright, swirling high into the air before they came together to form Redflame’s fiery visage, hovering in the air of the hallway like a bright red festival lantern. A rather angry festival lantern. He shouted at the gathered people, calling them out by name, but it was more a disappointed shout than an angry shout.

The begging turned on him, instead.

Redflame told Erick, “Come to the laboratory!” Then he turned to the people, “Your children and brothers and sisters will get their turn! I won’t let the houses take this from you but you have to be civil about this!”

Fairy Moon gestured to a door that was not there before, and then she stepped through.

Erick and Maria raced to follow.

The door shut behind them, even though some of the people in that hallway desperately wanted to follow Erick, too. They could have followed. Some almost did. But they did not.

Erick did not expect violence, but he was glad that he had taken the time to cast [Unbreakable Form] earlier.

– – – –

Erick took it all in as fast as he could, for he surely would be busy rather soon.

Yesterday, the aircraft-sized enchanting room had been filled with machinery-like bits of rune work that had been strewn about like discarded airplane parts, like they were awaiting inspection before the plane was put back together.

All of that was still there, but most of it had been unceremoniously shoved to the side. What remained were the larger, circular parts, waiting to be transformed into workable runic devices, and the prototypes.

Two burned prototypes, each looking like they would have been 5 meters tall if they had not failed, held to the side of the room. One was a melted mess of a glass container the size of a person, held inside the similarly melted half of a [Renew] ring. It looked like some catastrophic failure had burst out from the top center of the artifact, briefly liquefying everything it touched and then splashing that touch outward. The second one had a layer of crackled soot on the inside of the glass pod, inside the [Renew] ring, while the ring itself was intact, save for the connecting non-joint at the top.

A third prototype held in the center of the room, separated from everything else. That one had worked.

The [Renew] ring itself was seven meters wide and set into a stone foundation, while the glass pod inside the ring was filled with bubbling liquid, with a naked man floating inside that liquid. The man floated in a relaxed sort of way, but vertically and held loosely in place by some sort of magics inside the artifact. The [Renew] ring itself was glowing brightly, with ten thousand runes strung all across the surface in a spiraling pattern that interlocked with itself. A flow of power circled through that larger ring, like waters under a frozen lake surface.

The man was a half-dragon, with horns and a tail and scales, but everything about him was malformed. A massive left hand, and right foot. One shoulder larger than the other. One horn larger than the other. A tail that bent horribly and then split to become two tails halfway down its length. His lower left fang jutted out of his mouth, and was sized to an actual dragon’s fang; it laid against his forehead like a sword resting against his skull.

And yet, he was not dead, and he was getting better.

Redflame, in human form, stood to the side of the ring, where he held a hand against the metal and channeled power into the ‘machine’. That power flowed through the runes like red light, flowing upward, becoming pink and then white well before it hit the angled space in the ring and turned into glowing white rain. That rain fell into the opening above the glass container, and soaked into the waters of the tank.

And little by little, the man’s features transformed.

Redflame looked to Erick, and nodded in acknowledgment of his appearance, seeming to relax a great deal in that moment. But then he turned back to the machine and kept channeling. He wasn’t the only one casting magic into the ring, for there were two sides that one could stand upon. On the other side of the ring stood an older woman who held her hand to that side of the ring and channeled maroon-colored magic into the massive runic web. That maroon coloring rapidly faded as the woman’s power joined the ring, turning to white light, becoming part of the flow that then joined Redflame’s power; to become part of the magic that split from the flow to fall into the tank from the top.

The white rain falling from the gap mirrored the tears of joy falling down the woman’s face.

Aside from the people Erick had expected to see, which was mainly just Redflame, there was an entire crowd packed onto one side of the room. About thirty five people. Many of them wore the colors of House Carnage, and some of those people were mages or servants that Erick had already seen, but some of the people were from House Fae, or House Death. Some people looked unaffiliated. All of them looked on in wonder, and surprise.

Their faces were a mix of joy and trepidation and desire, as they gazed up at the guy in the tank. Some of them had been whispering, but now that Erick was here, they fell silent, to watch him, and to watch the patient undergoing treatment.

Erick could barely take his eyes off the guy. He watched, transfixed, as scales sloughed off of the man in the water. The twin tail broke apart, both ends falling away, leaving exposed bone to hang out in the water, leaking blood. None of the blood or bone remained, nor did the water cloud at all, for as parts fell away, the water swished, and cleared, removing the evidence of the man’s disfigurement.

And it wasn’t just his body that was transforming. Erick stepped forward, close enough to catch the guy in his mana sense. The guy didn’t have a core, his soul filled out his body, matching his flesh like souls usually did. Except, little by little, the [Renew]ing waters soaked into his soul, chipping away at his mutated Dragon Essence bloodline, erasing every part of him that wasn’t a normal orcol. And then the flesh fell away next.

The guy was clearly being selected for an orcol body, but Erick wasn’t sure how that worked exactly. He had thought that a user would have to transform into their selected body first, and then his [Renew] ring would work. But Redflame was doing everything, all at once.

Erick had had no idea of how —in practice— the nuances of Familiar Forms would have worked, but apparently Redflame figured it out. Or someone here had. Erick glanced around the room and noticed quite a few of the mages who had helped set up Redflame’s [Renew] presentation ten days ago. Some of those people were just watching the transformation along with the rest of the crowd, but a few were writing down observations and having small discussions with each other.

Maid Maria, almost absentmindedly, walked up to step nearer to Erick, but she wasn’t paying any attention to him at all. She gazed up at the person in the pod, tears flowed down her face. Her breath was shallow. This was a miracle to her.

That thought suddenly hit Erick like a train.

He looked around the room. This was a miracle to most of them.

Fairy Moon took notice that Erick was finally back from his own short reverie, and stepped forward, speaking into the otherwise silence of the room, “A minor miracle of magic. A wonderful wonder to be sure. So what happens now that a known nadir looks like to pass by without preamble, or preparation?”

Redflame spoke, as though reading from a script, which, perhaps, he was, “I look to our savior Wizard Erick Flatt for that pronouncement. How do you wish Ar’Cosmos to repay you for this priceless kindness?”

Not a single person in the audience looked surprised at the use of the word ‘Wizard’.

They wanted answers. Direction. Security. Only one or two expected and hoped for benevolence, for that was all Erick had ever shown anyone. Most of them expected some sort of price paid in blood. The woman who stood beside the man’s pod looked ready to lay down her life for Erick…

Which was a big deal that Erick wasn’t ready for.

He wasn’t ready for the cat to be out of the bag, either, but here they were.

Well.

Okay.

Erick rapidly organized his thoughts, then said, “I plan on opening up the Crystal Forest to habitation, and for now, that opening will happen near Candlepoint. Eventually, I hope to spread civilization all across the desert, pushing back the crystal mimics and replacing the desert with forest and plains and rivers, like it used to be before the mimics poured out across the land. I am not looking for a place of power among the people I help, for all I want is to be the support of any and all who need support.

“Currently, Ar’Cosmos needs some support, and so I am here to lend that support. I wish to help this land and its people expand past its borders, and get back out into the world.” He turned toward the pod, saying, “And it seems like the [Renew] ring works. It seems like the people who use this won’t have any dragon essence inside of them anymore, so therefore, you’re just normal people, and you need homes. I offer you those homes.

“But, I am a Wizard… apparently.

“I don’t wish to bring my problems to you, but if you would stand beside me, together, we can weather any storm.” Erick tried to end on a bit of levity, “For I can control the weather, but I can’t and don’t want to control people.”

A moment passed in breathless silence.

By the worried, yet hopeful faces of the crowd, Erick could tell that he had hit on a lot of their dreams, and yet, he had not promised them what they had actually wanted to hear.

Erick added, “To that end, I will be founding a new House of Ar’Cosmos, using the Element I created the other day, and which I am sure all of you saw. It will be House Benevolence, named after the Element of the same name—” Suddenly, an idea came to Erick. One that spoke to his heart, and all of his experiences on Veird. A culmination. He spoke, “But benevolence without the power and will and action to cause good and prevent evil is not benevolence at all; it is just wishful thinking. And to that end, I will be helping Redflame create many more of these pods—”

People started to break down in joyful tears.

“—and to help him ensure that this healing goes well. So.” Erick stepped toward Redflame—

He took in several facts rather quickly.

Redflame’s hand touched a specific point upon the large apparatus, and that point was where Erick’s own runic [Renew] ring had been embedded into the larger structure. That ring appeared to be the ‘Null’ ring. The woman on the other side of the apparatus had her ring on a blank spot that was surrounded by runic inscriptions. The woman looked exhausted, but was still putting mana into the machine. Redflame looked tired, too.

He had likely stayed up all night to create this machine.

Neither Redflame nor the woman had [Renew], so both of them were putting in bare mana to try and get an effect out of it. As Erick glimpsed the sight of red mana flowing out of Redflame’s hand, into the machine, and through watching how much transformed into white mana versus how much simply disappeared, Erick guessed that the rate of proper conversion had to be… 25%? Maybe 35%?

Erick offered, “I have [Renew]. Want me to cast it into the machine?” He turned back to Fairy Moon. “Is Ar’Cosmos healed yet? Can I take Ophiel off of that node?”

Ophiel perked up at his name.

Fairy Moon said, “In four hours you may move Ophiel, and not a moment before.”

Redflame was relieved anyway.

He raised his voice and spoke to the crowd, “All unapproved people may leave; you have your answers. Healing will proceed as fast as it can and with as quick of an organization as we are able to create. There will be a list, and you will be on that list or you will not get healing, and the list will be organized as I have already discussed.” His voice took on an uncomfortable edge. “Get out of this room. Now.” He rapidly added to the woman on the other side of the apparatus. “You will stay.” He turned to the mages taking notes. “Stay.” He turned to everyone else. “LEAVE. NOW.”

People rapidly vacated the room, rushing out of the door or being hurried along by the mages who had been dismissed. In less than ten seconds, the doors to the room had been slammed shut.

Time seemed to relax a bit, though that could have been Erick’s imagination.

Redflame sighed out in relief, his head drooping a fraction. Then he lifted his head, stared at Erick, and said, “I did not intend for your affairs to be so vastly spread, or so quickly, Erick. Apologies for that. Tell me how I can make it up to you and I will.”

Erick shook his head lightly, saying, “It’s fine. It was going to get out, anyway.”

“I do not accept that answer, but I will accept an answer at a later date.”

Erick smiled at that, and then he gestured at the tank. “So that works, huh?”

The woman on the other side mumbled about miracles and saviors and reincarnation, trying to keep silent but silence was impossible, so she contented herself with quiet reverence. Erick did not miss the use of his own word that he had put out into the world, ‘Reincarnation’, but he let it pass unremarked.

Redflame began explaining, “It works. The runic devices you gave work on their own, but they do nothing to heal an unconscious person, unable to select their own Form. The rate of mana loss is too great, too. I think, somehow, you made your machine to work better on people with a core, but not everyone has a core. No one died in those first experiments because we’ve seen practically every failure of mutated essence transformation, and we prepared accordingly, but we did go through a lot of rats. Your ring itself was not enough, though, for the stated reasons. So now we’re here.” Redflame glanced up at his creation, saying, “This, then, has been enough. But it could be better.”

Erick looked back up at the gradually-transforming man in the tank. “I did expect the user to have a core, and no, I did not foresee this level of… remaking. I can already tell where I went wrong, and I can make a new system for you that will work better for this… I think. How much mana are you spending right now?”

“Good. Yes. I want a new system.” Redflame said, “I’m hardly using any mana to do this, though, for I’m mostly channeling Mystical which takes well to [Renew]-type magics. With that gained efficiency and a loss of efficiency through not actually having [Renew], I believe I’m powering the system at a 1-for-1 rate of mana-into-[Renew]. You could likely quintuple my current rate using the actual spell, but as with most Soul Magic, this is a delicate operation and excess power is not the answer. The next machine I make will be less finicky; more throughput.” He corrected himself, “The next machine we make together.”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Erick nodded. “I see you’re using the Null Ring. What happened to the Replacer Ring?”

“Burned out.” Redflame said, “Had high hopes for that one but it melted the very first time we tried to use it. This Null Ring works well, though. Hasn’t burned out at all. Just seems to be getting more and more solid. Strips out every single bloodline a person has, though; no [Dragon Body] for any of the people who go through this process. Which is fine. But it means no easy [Greater Lightwalk]s, either.”

“Huh.” Erick said, “Well… That’s disappointing about the Replacer Ring. Perhaps it does need to be made out of Light Essence?”

Redflame shook his head. “Unknown. With any luck, the actual problem there is simply my personal lack of the spell, [Renew].”

“I’m going to try for a Benevolence Ring.” Erick said, “[Benevolence Body], I think.”

Redflame’s eyes went a bit wide. “I heard your speech there, but I did not believe that you would actually found a House Benevolence—” He caught on fast. “It won’t be Draconic Benevolence?”

“You are correct. It won’t be Draconic Benevolence.” Erick said, “Should be functionally the same as [Greater Lightwalk], though… But I don’t know. Benevolence is strange. Not like Lightning at all, even though that’s what it looks like— That’s something I’m still trying to understand.” Erick gestured at the [Renew] machine, asking, “How did you arrive at this design?”