Ends of Magic

The next day started with a messenger from Myrla delivering a few new maps before dawn. Some showed new collection points for slaves who needed their mental magic removed. Others showed a few scattered golem sightings, and the last few showed the locations of fortified mansions that needed to be cracked open.

There were a few other notes requesting other kinds of help from various members of the Heirs. Several of the elites and fighters had been wounded beyond basic healing magics, and they wanted Khachi’s help restoring the wounded to fighting shape. Myrla had also penned a request to Stella that she help them figure out how to control the outer defenses of Giantsrest.

The mage frowned down at the note, furrowing her brow before looking up at Nathan. “This isn’t my strength. It’s yours.”

Nathan took a moment to answer because he was busy making his way through a stack of pancakes flavored with condensed fruit juice. “They’re asking me for a lot already, so I bet they just didn’t want to put more on my plate. Besides, you can ask for some treasures in return. I bet they’d give up some prismatic diamond from some archmages' stash if you asked nicely.”

Stella’s eyes lit up, and she glanced down at the note.

Sarah snorted. “What a phrase. Here’s some more for your plate.” She tossed a few sausages from her plate onto his before standing up and joining Khachi in the kitchen to clean up.

Nathan shrugged and grabbed the sausages. “Besides, they want to know how to manipulate the towers with magic, not antimagic. But tell me when and where you’re going to take it on, and I’ll show up to help out.”

“Let’s just do it before we take out the…” Stella frowned at one of the maps spread across the table. “The Nhir estate? It’s close to the walls. We’re planning to do that one around midday?”

“Yup.” Nathan replied. “Everything is probably waiting on me regardless. But we’ll do everything we can for a few days, then head south.”

“I look forward to challenging a city from the outside.” Khachi said, wiping his hands as he walked into the room and starting to put on his armor. “I will declare my intent and dare the enemy to meet me.”

“Now that’s a blasphemously dumb idea.” Sarah replied. “They’ll shoot you from afar with [Disintegrate] or hold their own slaves hostage against you.”

Nathan raised an eyebrow. “Not… necessarily. It would be a good way to get them to mobilize, to concentrate their forces and decision-makers in one place. Ideas for the future. For now, let’s get moving.”

“As your flame calls.” Khachi replied.

–

Nathan’s first stop was to see Shom’s students. They were waiting for him in the garden of a nearby villa. It wasn’t quite as opulent as the Chokiz estate, but the accommodations were certainly luxurious. The students hadn’t succumbed to the lure of their surroundings and were busy following Shom’s sister Hetal through a series of physical exercises, accompanied by the other antimages. It looked like dance practice, and the willowy girl moved with evident grace.

That’s right, I think Hetal was a dancer. Before.

They all snapped to attention as soon as Nathan alighted on the ground, and he nodded to Hetal, Shom, Shai, and Raf in turn. “Nice to see you.” He noticed that Raf seemed embarrassed at being caught in the exercise and was looking resentfully at Hetal. Nathan raised an eyebrow at the impetuous teenager. “Not a fan of dance practice, Raf?”

The brown-skinned young man glared back through messy hair. “We are fighters, not dancers. This practice is not worthy of the antimages.”

“To the contrary!” Nathan declaimed gleefully, falling into the dancing drill that Emerald had taught him long ago. “I thought I taught you this. Dancing teaches you to move better. Antimages can’t wear armor, so we need to dodge. One of my best utility skills started out as a dancing skill. Now it is [Effortless Dodge] and it’s saved me from a few deaths.”

Hetal looked smug at Nathan’s words, but Raf sighed and threw his arms up. “I’m still killing more problems than anybody else.”

Nathan had been ready to give each of the students a once-over, grant them antimagic and then move onto the next thing. But he hadn’t known all of the antimages would be here, and now he wanted the chance to chat with them. Or offer advice, as the case may be. He addressed Raf directly, tone stern. “That’s not always a point of pride, Raf. I heard you keep charging in when you should wait for reinforcements. Not only will that get you killed one day, but it will kill others too.”

“But you challenged Giantsrest on your own, without backup!” Raf protested.

“I had Faline.” Nathan contradicted his student. “And a plan. What I did was the best way to accomplish my goal. If there was somebody coming who could have helped me, I would have waited.” Then his mouth quirked in a smile. “But, Davrar rewards risk. Just make sure the risk is reasonable and you’ll do great.”

Then he turned to Shai, the young woman having grown only more beautiful since he’d last seen her. Her curly black hair pooled around her shoulders like a curtain of cascading shadows. She blinked up at him coquettishly, then snorted out a laugh when he returned the gaze with stubborn annoyance. “It’s good to see you, Nathan.”

“You too,” he replied with a chuckle. “Still breaking hearts?”

Shai blinked at the phrase, then tilted her head to the side with a grin. “Yes, I am. What a blasphemous phrase!” She gave a courtly bow, hands spreading out to either side. “I accept the light in your eyes, and will accept the title of heart-breaker.”

She reminds me a bit of Faline. I should probably warn them about her.

He sighed. “Something else. I had a fight with Faline, the Assassin. She used a social skill to manipulate me into killing children, then tried to do it herself when I refused. She’s still out there, still fighting what’s left of Giantsrest. I don’t think she knows how to stop. But she might come and recruit you. Train you as an [Assassin], like she did for me.” He paused, chewing over his next words.

“It’s up to you if you accept. But take this caution seriously. She will try to manipulate you. I taught you all to have a mental defense skill - keep it alert around her. Her social skills are strong. Watch out for each other, and if the others tell you that you’re in trouble, listen to them.” He looked around at each of them, meeting the antimages’ eyes. “But she is a powerful teacher, with weighty Insights. Be cautious. And know that I will come for you myself if you commit an atrocity.”

He shrugged. “Don’t worry too much about it. I warned her about it, and I'll kill her if she oversteps. But I’ll be leaving soon, and it might be a while before I come back. I need to follow up with the Questors." Then he turned to Hetal and Shom, both of whom were looking at him with alarm. "How are you two doing?”

“Well,” said Shom, speaking for both of them as per usual. Hetal dipped her head with a quiet smile barely visible through her curtain of dark hair. “We’ve both developed our antimagic to high-tier.”

“Good.” Nathan replied with a slight frown, before deciding to pass on another Insight. “If you want to develop the antimagic as an aura, push it beyond your body. The key Insight for me was to push it away from myself to extend it at the cost of making me vulnerable to magic.” All of his students grimaced at the explanation, and Nathan nodded in understanding. “It does feel unnatural. Your antimagic is a protective cloak, and to extend you need to start by pushing it away and making yourself vulnerable. It might be a difficult Insight, I only Developed my antimagic when fighting my first archmage.”

He hesitated once again. There was a good chance he wouldn’t see his students again for a long time, if ever. This might be his last chance to pass on some more key Insights. And there was one that was far and away the most important. But there was something else that had to come first.

He gestured towards the three students, having them step forward for his study and asking them to introduce themselves. Then he moved on to other questions. “You all have Regeneration?” A series of nods. "You want to become antimages?” More aggressive nodding. “Do you know what being an Antimage means?” The nods were more hesitant this time.

Nathan reached back in his memory for the words he’d spoken last time. He’d noticed that rituals had weight in the eyes of Davrar. He’d gotten certain class offerings because of Faline’s tutoring. There was a reason that the Gemore Adventurer’s Oath was sworn on the solstice atop the Seal. If he could establish becoming an Antimage as a ritual, then that could only improve their class quality.

“Being an antimage is about denying somebody else’s power. Mages of Giantsrest can throw fireballs and cast [Earthquake] to destroy cities. The mages of the past could topple mountains and bring down the sky. Their smallest leavings threaten everybody. Most of the dangers of Davrar are rooted in magic.”

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

He waved his arms to indicate the ruined city all around them. “Magic is how the mages controlled Giantsrest. They hoarded Insights and channeled their wealth to enchantments that allow each mage to control hundreds or thousands of people. Magic enables power and dominance in a way that other classes do not. Mind magic, flight, invisibility, mass destruction. Each of those things is something that a high-leveled elite can accomplish without magic, if they dedicate their build to it.

“But a mage can do them all, at half the level. Magic is the most powerful Path on Davrar. It is easy for a mage to dominate those without magic. Even those without the Insights of a mage can use enchantments, placing those with wealth above those without it.”

Nathan stabbed his finger towards the three soon-to-be antimages waiting in front of him. “Equalizing those imbalances is the Path of the Antimage. You will bring down those who rely on magic and wealth. Tear away their advantages and see what they are without them. What is left to a mage when their magic is gone? What power does a warrior have when you break their enchanted blade? The power of their body, and the power of their spirit. The antimage must be tougher, more resilient than anybody else, to triumph when all advantages are stripped away. That is your Path.”

Inspiration 7 achieved!

That speech was what Developed [Leadership] to [Inspiration] last time. Glad it still carries weight. Here’s hoping they carry the tradition onwards. I know Shom has a memory skill. I hope he gives the same speech if they ever induct new antimages.

The new recruits were looking at Nathan with starry eyes, as if they’d been struck by divine revelation.

Nathan turned his attention back to the original four antimages. “I need to tell you a few more Insights before I go. There’s another layer of magic, beyond mana. Davrar and the Questors call it wizardry. A wizard can use it to overwrite the rules of reality with their spells, to make certain things true. There are spells that can only be cast with wizardry, and it can also reinforce spells, making them harder to beat with antimagic. But you can overcome it. And the start is to learn how to cut people off from magic. That is half of how you give people antimagic. The other half is to extend your aura and purge all ambient magic from their bodies. Step closer, to feel what I'm about to do.”

All four of his students did so, and Nathan reached the smallest part of his aura out. He moved slowly as he sunk the intangible extension of his will into the first of the new students, then looked up at the four clustered close around “Feel it?”

Shom’s brows furrowed as he reached his hand out towards the subject of Nathan’s focus. “Yes - dragon’s breath. It’s so… dense.”

Nathan raised his eyebrows at the other antimages as they crowded around, all trying to detect what Nathan was doing. “Now that I’ve purged all of the magic from his body, I must cut off his connection to magic. This connection is made of wizardry, and every person has it.” His mouth twisted into a lopsided grin. “Except for us. This is why any antimage can never wield magic."

He started spinning his aura demonstratively, forming the pattern that would drill through the wizardry and sever his target’s potential connection to magic. “Do you see what I’m doing?” He moved slowly, drawing out the process as long as possible.

“It’s a knot weave,” Shom breathed out slowly. “Around and around, to choke off something at the center.”

The young man that Nathan was focused on inhaled suddenly, gritting his teeth as the magical connection stretched and tore. Nathan bore down to sever the connection entirely and reached out to steady the guy he’d just used as a demonstration. He spoke comforting words and confirmed that the new antimage had been offered [Low-Tier Magic Resistance].

Then Nathan looked up to Shom with a smile. “I think of it like a drill, or a whirlpool. But yes. Let’s do it again. Did the rest of you feel that?”

Shai nodded hesitantly, while Hetal furrowed her brow and grimaced. Raf shook his head and spoke bluntly. “I couldn’t feel much beyond a blur.”

Nathan shrugged. “Let’s do it again.” He turned to the next antimage student. “Assuming you’re still ready.”

Both of the remaining students agreed fervently, so he proceeded to cut them off from magic, moving his aura around slowly first before closing it around the wizardry like an irising blade. He explained what he was doing, trying to communicate some of the Insight that would grant resistance to Wizardry.

Tutoring 5 achieved!

Then before him stood seven antimages where before there had been four.

“Congratulations on your new Talent.” Nathan said, meeting the eyes of the three new antimages. “Don’t misuse it. Remember what I said - this is a power meant to topple the powerful, not dominate the weak. Celebrate, and then help the people around you.”

He turned towards the other antimages. “It’s harder to do this to a mage, but if you do they will lose their magic. They won’t gain the antimagic Talent unless you also purge their bodies of magic. Don’t do it lightly. As far as I know it’s permanent, and a lot of mages will choose death first.”

Then he gave them a respectful nod. “I’ll be around for another couple of days, but then I’m going to make sure the Questors don’t come back. Killing Badud has caught me up in their games, and they’ll make Giantsrest into a battleground unless I deal with them. Good luck, and good hunting.”

All of the antimages stood straight and offered him a Gemore-style salute, fist clenched over their sternum. They stayed that way as he jumped back into the air to head to the next stop on his schedule.

–

“Is this even the control mechanism?” Stella asked in confusion as she studied a symbol-studded panel set into the wall. They were inside one of the giant towers that ringed Giantsrest, studying the enchantments that let the fortifications fire massive spells in defense of the city.

Nathan pursed his lips. The panel certainly had connections throughout the rest of the enchantment built into the bones of the tower, but it didn’t feel like it was used to fire the thing. “I don’t think so. The control panel should have a view of what the tower’s firing at. I think this is to help with maintenance. Try pushing that symbol there.” He pointed at a circular glyph.

Stella pushed the button and a couple rows of illusory text appeared above the panel. She read them aloud. “Forty-second Finger of the Founder, all systems synchronized. Warning: Minor damage to the wall-circuit is detected.” She snorted. “Huh. I suppose that would be where we blasted our path through. That’s the conduit you showed me in the foundation, right?”

“Probably.” Nathan said. “Let’s go up and find the actual control panel. I don’t know if Myrla wants to try and maintain these, but just knowing how to fire them on command would probably be pretty useful for her.”

It didn’t take long to figure out the firing mechanism atop the tower, though figuring out how it worked was a little bit more involved. It was designed to be easy and fast to use, but the pair of dials used to aim weren’t obvious in their use.

Before they left Nathan held out a hand. “I want to try something. Let’s go back to that central chamber with the maintenance panel. Can I have some paper and a writing implement?”

Stella complied without question, handing him the requested implements.

I suppose she’s used to me doing weirder things.

He sat down and took the proffered tools, drawing a quick sketch of the tower in two dimensions. Then he closed his eyes, stretching his magical senses out to the bounds of massive enchantment that made up the tower. He mapped the enchantment, building it up in his head piece by piece until he held the whole thing in his head. It was like a large circuit diagram, one used to channel massive amounts of power.

Wizard’s Meditation 8 achieved!

Nathan opened his eyes and proceeded to copy down the circuit, marking it with magical notation to indicate where the flow went and what the purpose of each junction was. After a few minutes he handed the sheet to Stella, then stood and dusted off his hands. “Alright. All good.”

She eyed the complicated diagram and rolled her eyes. “Your mana sense is blasphemous.” Then she shrugged and tucked the diagram away. “I’ll give it to Camran later. It’ll help any mages who get interested. Time to get to the Nhir estate?”

"Yup. Let's root out some paranoid mages."

Status of Nathan Lark:

Permanent Talent 1: Arcane Nullfield 6

Permanent Talent 2: Immortal Body 4

Permanent Talent 3: Airwalking 7

Class: Void of Magic level 628

Deepened Stamina: 11720/19140

Void of Feeling

Antimagic Momentum

Raging Thrill

Implacable Inertia

Unarmored Resilience

Magic Anathema

Airborne Agility

Hand-to-hand Expertise

Voluminous Aura

Denial of Wizardry

Mana Severance

Class: Spellslayer level 472

Regenerative Focus: 4009/4820

Catastrophic Blows

Battle Stealth

Mage Infiltration

Forgettable

Sneaky Blow

Antimagic Stealth

Magical Manipulation

Lethal Index

Wizard Resistance

Magic Jammer

Controlled Failure

Utility skills:

Wizard’s Meditation 8

Inspiration 7

Acceleration 10

Wizard’s Detection 6

Alertness 10

Wizard’s Understanding 7

Effortless Dodge 9

Mental Vault 3

Tutoring 5

Parkour 7

Visibility Control 2

High-tier Disguise 3

Mid-tier Battle Cry 10

High-tier Aura Manipulation 10