NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 24 - Interlude: Upward and Onward
Donovan Goldwatch
Cleaving his favorite sword through the harpy matron, Donovan flourished, stepping through the air and somersaulting over to a floating platform. He sent a torrent of golden flames onto the heads of five more of the gross, bee-like pests.
The dashing, golden-haired prince spun around, vivisecting several of the vespid humanoids who had flown close to try and ambush him. His heavily enchanted armor automatically reflected several strikes, and he took the opportunity to charge up a massive [Aura Slash], ending the lives of every other creature in sight.
Donovan activated his most used skill. “[Ruler’s Domain]!” he shouted. Though he was several places away from being crown prince (and thankfully so) the Goldwatch family bloodline skill was an invaluable boon within the territories of the ringed city.
Pulsing out, his aura didn’t reveal any more of the offputting creatures in the nearby area.
“Alright men, rest. We’re clear.” the young man commanded. Having been sent out for training by Javier Castallane, the captain of the crown guard, Donovan relished the ability to spread his wings and make a name for himself. Cleansing the Wax Ring of the rebelling beast-folk was admittedly not his dream training location, but he relished the adventure anyway.
This view doesn’t get old, though. Maybe if the harpies surrender, we can turn this into a tourist trap or something. Meh, that’s probably Arty’s job.
Donovan was alerted to a twinkling chime in his pocket.
Oh! Speak of the devil.
Donovan gripped the crystalline device in his gauntleted hand, pressing down on the surface with a bit of his mana.
<@PartyG1RL: yo bitches, wild situation brewing at the crystal castle. Missing kids or something. @GoldenDON don’t u have ur little friends there?????>
Ugh, she’s so manipulative.
<@GoldenDON: M, you know that I do. What’s going on?>
<@PartyG1RL: sheesh, no need to be so mean :< jean boy and rika are like totes lost in the dungeon or something. E.V. has it covered tho. SPEAKING OF SCHOOL I wonder if @LongHairDontCare is reading thisssss hiiiiiii brotherrrrrrrr >
<@EternalSuffering4EverPlsHELP: Merlia, you know he doesn’t read this chat. He’s got children to punish or something stupid. @LongHairDontCare COME BACK AND TAKE YOUR SPOT BACK MOM IS KILLING ME>
<@PartyG1RL: ARTY USE CODENAMES OR ILL BLOCK U>
<@BEDHED: why are you guys blowing up my crystal rn>
Closing the communication artifact with a click, Donovan looked off into the sky, at the towering crystal at the center of his family’s territory.
Jean and Rika… I hope they are safe. Stupid nerds and their fancy true magic. I like being a good, old-fashioned swordsman. The system agrees with me.
“Sire, is everything alright? You look… pensive.” Said Henriot, his right-hand man.
“What? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about the school. Maybe I’ll visit sometime soon. For now, let’s break out some food!” Donovan shouted, earning a chorus of hearty yells from his men.
Eudoria Vespertine
Eudoria watched gleefully as Alexander transformed into a storm of bone and blade, sending out ghastly red visions of warriors long since dead to butcher the onslaught of [Living Armor] that endlessly respawned in this part of the highway.
I love it when he’s scary. One of the only students I’ve ever had who picked up on that particular trait of mine. Well, let’s use the time he bought me!
She surveyed the third member of her little party, a young enchanting professor who looked to be keeping up at a surprisingly adequate pace. The girl was a recent addition to the staff, but new blood was always good.
Eudoria sank into a trance as easily as breathing. She circulated her titanic supply of crystal mana, and aspected a lion’s share into darkness, then light, then air.
[Vespertine Occultations] she thought, invoking the spell without verbalizing.
Tendrils of blue mana emanated outwards, slipping into the little tears that hid at the edge of reality. Her magic allowed her to see and feel things beyond space, and through barriers, wards, enchantments, and the like.
She mentally canvassed the whole of the highways, stopping just before reaching the untread depths of the frontier, so many miles below. She did take a brief moment to ascertain the status of the friendly forces at the never-ending battle at the untread depths of the school.
Oh, I see my darling daughter is doing such a fine job! I should send her something nice.
Just before she was about to retreat from the magic, Eudoria sensed a wild spike in light-aspected mana coming from an old part of the dungeon, many miles away, and through several different sectors of the multitude of sub-realities that the mind-bending Crystal Ring maintained.
Oh? Something is happening in the old nobility district! How exciting, I’d never have thought!
“Alexander! Kimia! Come, We FLY!” She screeched, cackling off into the distance.
Activating a bizzare application of her specialty, Eudoria used her occultation to hide spacetime from herself and her allies, folding sub-reality into sur-reality and tesselating them across the dungeon in an instant.
“Oh, come now, Kimia. If you must vomit, make it quick. We’re almost there!”
_____
Eudoria faced a wall.
This wall, like every other wall in the dungeon, was solid. Unlike every other wall in the dungeon, this wall had a secret.
Mere moments ago, Eudoria detected a surge of light mana coming from this exact location. Eudoria activated [Vespertine Occultations] and felt. She examined every atom of the wall in front of her, searching for any telltale signs of tampering or magical interference, and nearly came up short.
There!
In the exact center of the wall, she ripped a thread of mana out, causing a miraculously complex knot of mana to unwind, revealing a petite keyhole, about the size of a pinhead. She deftly inserted the barest amount of her pinky nail and torqued down on it, hard.
Her indestructible nail polish wouldn’t chip under hellfire, so unraveling a storage enchantment was as easy as breathing.
She summoned a quick ward, as a doorway appeared out of nothing, and with it a blasphemous amount of death mana began billowing out.
“Alexander, you’re up to bat. Do something about this mana.” She ordered.
“At your command, Headmaster.”
_____
Divina deGloria
Divina stepped cautiously into a small, well-lit office at the prestigious Burgundy Company.
The Burgundy Company was a legend in the scribe community. The multifaceted company touched everything from logistics, inter-ring business management, and material-source agreements. The sprawling company even worked down through some really delicious finer details like subsidiary asset management.
When Divina got the call that she was invited to meet with one of their senior project managers, she actually screamed. Her husband, ever the bastion of faith and hope, talked her up enough that she felt somewhat confident today. She had all of the fine details of her portfolio and strategy for the meeting in completely pristine form.
Divina notified the receptionist that she was waiting for her meeting exactly 16 minutes early.
_____
“Mrs. deGloria, I am so pleased that you could make it here today.” smiled the man sitting across from her.
A smile right off the bat? A disarming technique. What have I done?
She smiled back. “A pleasure to be here, Mr. Candlebury. I was rather surprised to receive this meeting. I hate to cut to the chase so early, but I am ever so busy, what is this meeting about?”
Don’t take the bait. Cut to the point. Defeat his tactic before it has a chance to unfold.
“And that’s perfectly fine! You see, I am in the business of a specific kind of talent. I recently received a tip from a rather surprising source that told me there was an actuary in the Copper Ring who had the kind of business mindset that I need in spades in my department.” The man said, smooth as butter.
Oh, he’s a master.
“So, what I need from you, Mrs. deGlora, is the portfolio you no doubt have prepared. Assuming it is up to my standards, we will talk about employment. Is this amenable to you?”
_____
Maxwell deGloria popped the cork of a bottle of the finest (affordable) champagne he could find.
“And then he says; “If you are willing to start next week, I’ll cover your expenses for contract termination at the insurance company, and double your starting salary!” I can’t believe it! I feel like I’m in a fairytale, Max!” Divina whispered, in a voice that was somewhere between “My kids are sleeping” and “This is the best day of my life”.
“Honey, you’re a hard worker. I’m just glad that someone finally saw it.” Max chirped, massaging his wife’s shoulder.
“But that’s just it, Max. I don’t know how he saw it. I’ve never acted on any case related to the Burgundy Company. When I grilled him about his sources, he just said; “Someone very hard to please.” like that means anything to me.”
Knocking back a glass of champagne, Divina was reminded of how little she drinks.
“Ooh, I should take it easy on this. I want to be on my A game tomorrow to try and gently explain this situation to my boss. She’s going to have a conniption.” she said.
“I wish Gio was here to celebrate. I know he thinks he’s clever, eavesdropping on our strategy meetings. We should write him a letter soon.” Maxwell sighed.
“Yeah. My baby is all grown up, probably off gallivanting around that crazy dungeon. I just hope he’s safe and snug there.” Divina sighed in agreement.