Ends of Magic

The sun’s appearance in the sky awoke Nathan from a dream of him locking Yelun, Roni and Hibor in a room. Only this time, he had also trapped Suse in the room with the students before a laughing Badud had engulfed the entire area in suffocating stone. He jerked awake, reaching towards Badud before realizing it had been a dream. Relief flowed through him, followed by guilt. They were almost certainly dead, and there were things he probably could have done to prevent that.

If anything, I should have taken into account the chance the Academy didn’t survive the night. In the future, I’ll make more accommodations for mass destruction. Especially with Stella around.

Nathan rose slowly, stretching and looking around with new eyes. He didn’t feel fully refreshed, but the dull itch at the back of his eyes had disappeared. He changed into a fresh set of clothes thoughtfully placed in front of the door and washed his face in a basin. Then he headed downstairs in search of friends and food.

Sarah was in the ground floor room, eyes focused on a single enchanted cartridge sitting in the middle of the table. Without looking up or saying a word she gestured Nathan towards a pot of porridge bubbling near the fire.

He shrugged and moved to serve himself, getting a cup of water from the cistern and sprinkling a handful of dried fruit that had been left out into the dish before sitting across from the [Sniper] and blowing on the bowl to cool it before he started eating.

Just because I can heal a burned tongue doesn’t mean I can taste with one.

Nathan held off saying anything. It seemed like Sarah was intently focused on her ammunition, and he didn't see a reason to bother her. He trusted her to tell him if she needed him to do anything. He just calmly ate his porridge, then went back for seconds and more water. It must have been half an hour later when there was a faint ‘pop’ and suddenly there were two of the enchanted cartridges on the table.

Sarah exhaled slowly, then dropped her head to the table. “Uhhhgh. That’s exhausting.”

Nathan pointed to the pair of bullets, which both felt identically enchanted to him. “Congratulations, I know you were worried about your ammunition supply. When did you figure that out?”

The dark-haired girl reached out to grab the pair of cartridges, slipping them into her bandolier. “A few days ago. Dad told me about some arrow-creating Insights, and found a scroll in mom's things from somebody who had a class skill like mine and could make enchanted arrows with it. It takes most of my Focus to accomplish. Much slower and harder than making unenchanted ammo.”

“Still impressive. You should think about putting a copy of the scroll in the Adventurer archive.” Nathan replied, cleaning out his bowl. “Where is everybody?”

Sarah waved a hand towards the door. “Khachi’s breaking slavery enchantments, Aarl and Sella are going to retrieve the Giantraiders from outside the walls and guide them here. They’re flying, so it will be fast.”

“Has Stella cast [Fly] on you yet?” Nathan asked curiously.

Sarah shook her head. “The spell isn’t reliable when Stella casts it on others. She’s getting better, but Aarl has been bruised through his armor several times.” She paused, considering. “My jumping Talent allows me to reach vantage points, and I would prefer to go unseen, not float obviously in place.”

Nathan shrugged, heading towards the door. “You can hide in the air, the key is not silhouetting yourself. The spell makes you immune to melee unless the other people can also fly. It seems like the domain of the true elite. You would also be able to get another Talent."

The dark-haired woman frowned and changed the subject as she got to her feet. “If you’re done eating we should see what occurs. Stella and Aarl said they would scout as they flew, since we saw little of the city last night.”

Nathan nodded, getting up and tossing his bowl into a tub of soapy water before following Sarah out the door. He looked around the street, seeing a few people hurrying to and fro while carrying various burdens. They watched him with wide eyes, and a few gathered to whisper before dispersing under his gaze.

I don’t know if I will ever get used to that. Or if I want to. That’s how you end up like Brox.

What he didn’t see were any of the other Heirs. He looked up, shading his eyes against the sun overhead, and was about to leap up into the air for a better view when a rolling explosion sounded in the distance.

Sarah snorted. “Stalker bones to dragon teeth, that's Stella. Go find them, I’ll get Khachi.”

“Sounds good.” Nathan replied, climbing above roof level like he was ascending a steep staircase. He scanned the horizon as he started running towards the explosion, spending Stamina like it was infinite. With Stella around again, it might as well be. His eyes picked out Stella and Aarl in the distance, each of them weaving and dodging in the air as magical and physical projectiles flew up at them from the ground below.

There were also a couple of flying mages engaging them, but they stayed at a distance. Nathan saw why as Aarl darted forward and they fled away from him like fish fleeing a shark. Massed fireballs flew up at Stella, but she whipped up a powerful gust of wind and sent them raining back down to the ground, with only a few making it through to detonate on a shimmering sphere of force that surrounded the Nathan's friend.

In retrospect, it may not have been the smartest thing to split up. But It looks like they’re handling themselves just fine.

Then the unmistakable nauseating flicker of four [Disintegrate] spells speared upwards. Stella’s shield held for only a split second before popping, allowing the lethal spells to continue their paths. Stella put the moment to good use and twitched aside, avoiding the spells by inches.

Nevermind. That was too close.

His friend seemed to agree, sending out a crackling web of lightning before diving for cover. The spell didn’t have much direction and the magical energy grounded itself against the nearby rooftops, but it served to blind the mages below long enough for Stella to get into cover on the next street over. Aarl paused to hurl something downwards before he followed Stella into hiding.

Nathan stayed low over the rooftop, zipping over the last row of shops and landing in the street in time to hear Stella finish swearing.

“...asshole archmage, hiding among the enslavement mages. And two war mages, wearing the wrong colors too!” She snarled and lapsed into furious concentration, building a pair of lasing tubes piece by piece. They came together quickly, and she started feeding power into them.

“They never agreed to wear a sign.” Aarl said wryly, turning to face Nathan. “Forty or fifty mages, a few hundred slave soldiers, a couple dozen elites. I used the invisible ax to make a ghoul, but they’ll be on us like a pouncing stalker. Should we retreat until Sarah and Khachi catch up?”

After a moment of consideration, Nathan nodded. “I could probably take this group, but we don’t want the mages to scatter or kill their slaves when they realize what’s happening. Let’s draw them in and then ambush them hard enough that we get all the mages and free all the slaves.”

He looked over to see if Stella was paying attention, but her gaze was split between the charging lasers and the rooftop she’d just escaped over.

“Now!” She muttered. Nothing happened. The short girl scowled, brows drawing down furiously. “Now?”

A trio of mages flew over the rooftop, cautiously scanning the street and keeping their distance. Nathan stepped towards the wall of the building and flared [Visibility Control] to stay hidden. Their eyes passed right over him, focusing on Stella and her building spell.

The lasers fired with a loud crack, blasting enough light to melt metal straight at two of the three mages. Their [Mage Armor] spells stopped most of the light mana but the effort caused them to pop with faint hisses. Lightning coursing down the path of ionized air a split second later and two smoking corpses bounced off the rooftop before falling into the streets on the other side. The last mage dove down behind the roof before any of them could respond.

Huh. She’s toned down the spell some. Makes sense, this one is a lot faster to cast and gets the job done. Not every spell needs to leave a crater I could lie down in.

“Let’s go. Stay low.” Nathan said urgently, indicating the direction that led back towards where he’d left Sarah. “Can I get a disguise? They might retreat if they see me.”

Aarl tossed Nathan a slightly bloodied green mage robe that he pulled on quickly as they flew down the street. He probably couldn’t trick the mages into believing he was on their side, but this might prevent them from realizing it was him for a bit longer.

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I don’t know how far my reputation has spread yet, but I bet Giantsrest mages are going to start running away whenever I show up.

“Stop.” He said at the next intersection, watching the corner that their pursuers would come around. “Onto the ground. We need to let them keep up with us. Stella, put up a shield behind us. I’ll block anything that gets through. We need to make them think they’re just about to get us. If they're busy chasing us they won't stop to think.”

His friends complied, though Stella huffed at having to run. They waited until the tromp of boots was just around the corner before taking off, running down the street in a frantic sprint that was nonetheless slower than the maximum speed they could manage with skill and spell.

High-tier Disguise 3 achieved!

Nathan glanced over his shoulder to see the Giantsrest formation speed up to catch them. It was a sight to behold, with ranks of slave-soldiers carefully spaced in front of each mage to give them cover without blocking their view. Fireballs and other spells started flying after them but impacted onto the shimmering shield Stella was dragging behind them.

Another four [Disintegrate] spells flew for Stella’s back and cracked the magical shield like an egg. Nathan used his aura to subtly redirect the beams, making them fly wide and impact nearby buildings. Dust billowed over the street as a three-story storefront partially collapsed, obscuring them from more spells. The next round of fireballs was thrown blind and Nathan absorbed the ones that would have gotten close. The spell after that was a strong wind spell that dispersed the dust, though it wasn’t strong enough to interfere with their running.

By that point Stella had recast her shield. They were pulling ahead of the Gaintsrest formation, and took the next corner at speed to break line of sight and head back towards the Chokiz estate and the other Heirs.

More long-range spells flew towards them, but they were out of range of easy fireballs and it seemed like the [Disintegrate] casters weren't confident in their aim anymore. A spiky orb of ice flew overhead instead, aimed at the street ahead of them. Nathan took a second to understand the spellwork to make sure it wouldn’t be a problem. The spell was designed to summon a couple inches of slick ice over a broad area, making an area slippery and potentially engulfing people’s ankles in solid ice. It also had a bit of anti-fire magic worked in, to make the spell harder to melt or block with fire mage.

What it didn’t have was defenses against plasma mana, and Stella’s purple-tinged fireball blew the spell into a warm mist.

They turned another corner and Nathan saw Khachi and Sarah down the street ahead. He called out to them, modulating his voice to be audible to them but difficult for their pursuers to hear over the tromping of hundreds of boots. “Ambush as soon as they come around the corner.”

Mid-tier Battle Cry 10 achieved!

Khachi responded by accelerating into a full-out sprint, pounding down the street towards them. His glow intensified until it was obvious despite the bright sun overhead. Sarah leapt atop a nearby building, finding cover behind a window that protruded out from the roof. She seemed to fade from sight after a second, though Nathan’s skills let him pick her out regardless.

Oh good, she’s got some stealth skills. Probably class skills from [Sniper].

He turned around and stepped back towards the corner they’d just come around, not looking but preparing to pounce as soon as his enemies came into view. Stella and Aarl came to a halt next to Nathan, looking to him for instruction even as they readied their own attacks.

Nathan spoke in a low but clear voice. “I’m going for the archmage. My aura will pop shields and block big spells. Aarl, go for the other mages. Stella, clear the fliers. Don’t kill the slaves.”

The Giantsrest formation rounded the corner as a unit, smoothly pivoting to continue the pursuit down the street. There was a hitch to their organization as they saw Khachi’s headlong charge, and all of the other Heirs launched their own attacks.

The most eye-catching was definitely Khachi, the huge wolfman glowing like an avatar of the sun and yelling in a voice suited to a giant. “I am bane to the oppressor, and balm to the enslaved! Let your spirits be free.” He flashed even brighter on the last word, crashing into the shield wall as spears deflected from his shield. Khachi’s aura billowed out, subsuming the first ranks of slave soldiers and crushing the slavery enchantments in a wave of divine power.

Nathan, Aarl and Stella all launched themselves into the air, going over the lines of soldiers as Khachi crashed into it. Four more [Disintegrate] spells rose to meet them, but Nathan was done hiding his abilities. All four spells vanished into his aura, one of them bearing a touch of wizardry.

He homed in on that magical signature, arrowing towards a nondescript man in the simple green robe of a low-ranked Enslavement mage. As Nathan zipped through the formation he threw out a dozen tendrils of antimagic, popping [Mage Armor] spells and breaking flight spells. Five mages dropped out of the air with squawks of dismay.

High-tier Aura Manipulation 8 achieved!

They were easy prey for Aarl as he zipped back and forth behind Nathan, both arms moving independently to decapitate mages here or bisect them there. The weapons in his hands continually swapped with flickers of movement, trading the enormous reach of the disintegration-edged greatsword for the elemental strikes of the Sklian sabers or the magic-penetration of Brox’s black-bladed shortsword.

Stella fired lasers and threw out homing fireballs, dropping three flying mages in seconds as two more fell from Sarah’s bullets. The skies were clear in moments and she raised a hand skywards, spending a second conjuring a jagged ball of lightning before three ragged tendrils reached out to smite mages standing on the edge of the group.

The disguised archmage’s eyes went wide as the Heirs tore through his formation. He blinked once before belting out a quick spell.

[Teleport]

Nothing happened because Nathan’s aura had already surrounded the man completely. His slave-elite bodyguard tried to get in Nathan’s way by throwing themselves and their weapons forward to block his path. Nathan dodged high and then low, passing through the maze of weapons without issue. Burning both Focus and Stamina made it feel like everybody was moving in slow motion.

Effortless Dodge 7 achieved!

His fist went through the archmage’s chest, pulping his heart and throwing the lifeless body to the stones of the street in a spray of blood.

Spellslayer has leveled to 454! You have assassinated the archmage Dennar dho Ozor on the field of battle without harming his bodyguards!

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 566

Deepened Stamina: 16840/17280

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 454

Regenerative Focus: 3165/4640

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 7

Inspiration 5

Acceleration 8

Wizard’s Detection 5

Alertness 9

Wizard’s Understanding 6

Effortless Dodge 7

Mental Vault 2

Tutoring 3

Parkour 7

Visibility Control 2

High-tier Disguise 3

Mid-tier Battle Cry 10

High-tier Aura Manipulation 8