Ar'Kendrithyst

“I don’t mean to impose too much upon you. My questions shouldn’t take longer than twenty minutes,” Erick said, after sipping his tea and sitting down across from Matriarch Lingxing.

He had attended Lingxing in her office at the top of the remade Void Temple. The décor was comfortable Greek, though they would have certainly called it something else here on Veird. There were shiny white stone floors, walls, and a vaulted ceiling, which were undoubtedly eternal stonewood. The pillars to the sides of windows, which revealed the civilization of Eralis to the north, west, and east, were stark white and thickly made. The white furniture was likely also eternal stonewood. Now that Erick knew what to look for, he saw that stuff everywhere.

For all the austerity in the general architecture of the room, it was still comfortable because of all the violet fabrics and cushions upon every sitting surface, and in the stylized, deep purple rugs upon the ground. The room was purple and white and not much else, yet it still managed to look nice; Lingxing had done well with her limited palette.

Lingxing matched her room. She was a white-skinned elderly woman with deep purple eyes, who composed herself with a feeling of strength-through-adversity. It was not a bad look.

The young woman —the girl, really— who stood behind Lingxing looked much the same as the matriarch of Void Song, but only if you took 70 years off of the older woman. Erick hadn’t been introduced to the interloper yet, but whoever she was, she stood back and patiently waited in a way that was not like a guard at all. Lingxing didn’t seem to be in too much of a hurry to introduce the girl, either.

Lingxing set down her own teacup. “It is not lightly that we give out the secrets of the Void Song, and it is not lightly that I take to this conversation. I may be busy, but I have time for you, Archmage Flatt.” She added, “Erick.”

“Then… Thank you for your time.”

“Thank you for visiting. I do wish we could have been in simpler times. We could have shared another meal at the cafeteria downstairs, but I am equally disappointed that I never got to introduce you to some of my favorite eateries out in the city. But time streams along, and now we are here. You’re leaving Songli soon, aren’t you?”

“I am. Within days, if I can help it. Perhaps four. Preparations are complete except for a few obligations I have made, and a few magics I wish to make before I go looking for some dragons.”

“Then let us discuss the other person in the room.” Lingxing gestured to the girl behind her. The girl took three steps forward to stand beside the matriarch’s chair and bowed slightly. Lingxing said, “This is Nirzir Void Song. We are related by blood, but the family genealogy is likely uninteresting to you. She is a niece, and she is on her way to becoming one of the most gifted Singers of our age. And, according to what our Enforcer Kaffi told us, and according to what we have heard and seen for ourselves, since you make very little attempt at obfuscating your methods, she casts magic almost the same as you.”

Nirzir remained completely stoic.

Erick asked, “But I thought all Singers did that?”

“We do, but we also use standard arcane notation to parse out the deeper magics. Nirzir here has not needed to do that, at all. She is only 17, and yet she casts with the ease of an old master.” Lingxing remained stoic, saying, “What I am telling you is an open secret in the clan but which we are trying to keep quiet for now, for Nirzir’s sake. Nirzir has achieved tier seven spells. One day soon, she will be an archmage.”

Erick’s eyes went wide. He took in the slip of a girl again. White hair and skin. Purple eyes. Thin. A strong sense of purpose around her, too. Then he glanced back to Lingxing.

… What was going through the old woman’s mind? What was this introduction truly for?

Lingxing continued, “She simply needs time, learning, and patronage to get there.”

Erick felt himself pale. He desperately hoped that Lingxing wasn’t asking him what he thought she was asking of him. Was she?

Erick narrowed his eyes. “Patronage?”

“Yes. Patronage. Preferably from an already established archmage.”

And there it was.

Lingxing said, “If you do not wish to take her with you on your Worldly Path, then I will accept this decision, but since you will likely need someone to answer your various Singer questions, then this is one of the best ways I can think of to accomplish this.” She added, “As you have allowed us to benefit from your daughter, it is only right that we allow you to benefit from one of ours.”

Erick said, “You know I’m going to hunt dragons and kill outsized threats, yes? I plan to go to the Core, and to the Fractured Citadels of Quintlan, as well as deal with some uppity dragons soon enough.” Erick looked to Nirzir, and saw that the listing of Veird’s deeper horrors was... not budging the girl’s decision. Oh? This wasn’t a plot from Lingxing, was it? Nirzir had done this all on her own? This little girl had gotten one over on the Matriarch of her High Clan, somehow? Yes; that seemed right. Well wasn’t that odd. Erick faced Nirzir, and asked, “What do you want?”

Nirzir’s voice was calm, and quick, “I wish to journey with you until you leave the rest of us behind on your Worldly Path, because I have never met someone who can make magic exactly as I can make magic, and I feel that I need to make this connection while I can. I ask for no secrets except for those you are willing to give. In return, I will give you everything that is mine to give.”

… Okay?

Well. Eh...

If he said ‘no’, then this conversation would likely end before he could ever get any of his own answers. Lingxing was sitting, and Nirzir was standing, but Lingxing was deferring to the younger girl. Nirzir was in charge, here.

Erick said, “I am planning on going incognito whenever I next get the opportunity. You will have to wear commoner clothing, and you will be expected to pull your own weight, and the weight of others. I cook for my people just as much as they cook for me.”

Erick’s words had not been a part of Nirzir’s plan.

“Cook? Bu—” Nirzir changed tacks, and solidly said, “I am willing to do this. I will cook.” She seemed to find her stride, as she continued, “I have the full arcanaeum-mandated basic spell list, and have worked hard to ensure that I have as many utility spells as necessary, and more besides. I am fully capable of keeping watch with both my extensive spellwork and my own eyes, as well as following orders and acting as a group. My personal specialty is in defensive magics, though I am a Singer by Class.” She added, “You mentioned Quintlan, where necromancers roam free and soul attacks are common. I may be young, but I am confident in my ability to defend myself and others from most soul magics. I am also reasonably confident in my ability to act independently and with aplomb. I am a Scion of Focus. I can also cast all basic Healing Magics, including [Greater Treat Wounds].”

She had more things to say, more skills and abilities she wanted to mention, but she cut herself off there. Probably because that had been… a lot.

Too much for a 17 year old.

Erick listened, then he looked to Lingxing. “She’s not Kaffi, right?”

Lingxing casually said, “No; she is not. Kaffi is elsewhere. Nirzir is exactly who she appears to be. You, more than anyone, should know how quick an archmage progresses.”

“That may be true.” Erick said, “If this happens, I’m going to have Poi look her over, and if Nirzir says no to a scan, then I will not accept her.”

Lingxing said, “Nirzir will submit to this.”

Nirzir had stood silent, as if knowing what Erick would have demanded of her ahead of time. Well… He did have a track record for having the Mind Mages scan people, didn’t he? Yeah, he did.

Erick asked the young woman, “Why do you want to journey with me?”

“Because you are an archmage willing to become involved in the world. The decisions you make affect us all, and I wish to be there when those sorts of decisions are being made, even if I am no more than a guard in the background.” Nirzir said, “To put it another way: You have culled a thousand threats from my homeland, saving millions of lives, and your actions with the Mind Mages have saved countless more. I wish to learn from you, and I feel that you can learn from me, too.”

Erick frowned, not because he was unhappy with her answer, but because the young woman was winning him over.

But on the other hand, he did not need another person to tag along with him in this Worldly Path. Except... Fine. Erick had come here to ask about Void’s antimagic uses, anyway.

Let’s see what kind of answer she can give.

Erick looked to Nirzir, saying, “I have made a spell that could be cast on the border of a town, or anywhere that needs defending, which makes a wall of Abyssal Void that is basically Permanent, if it can be kept going through a modicum of maintenance that anyone with Mana or Health is able to provide. There is no need for special training to provide this maintenance. An Abyssal Void wall, fully powered, is worth millions of points of defense. This wall simultaneously Drains the Health and Mana from everyone within a medium-to-large range of one side of the wall. Monsters are Drainable—” Erick had tested that much when he was making bank last night “—and their resources count toward the maintenance needed to keep the spell Permanent. This is the spell.”

While Erick spoke about the spell, he handed out blue boxes for [Undertow’s Edge].

Lingxing controlled her surprised reaction to something smaller, but Nirzir’s eyes went fully wide. Then they read the spell. Lingxing turned politely incredulous and angry, while Nirzir seemed to sparkle with surprised joy.

Erick continued, “It’s a painless Drain if you’re far away, but it begins to hurt like any other if you get close to the wall. This spell, and others like it, is why I asked for this meeting.” He said, “I want to add Void’s antimagic effects to this spell, or another spell using this same ‘Undertow’ effect which I have already isolated into its own tier 2 working. I want to add the Void Song to this Undertow. How would you do that?”

Lingxing had already gone completely stoic, but at Erick’s question of the Void Song, she went calmer. Nirzir wanted to speak, but she did not. She waited for her aunt. Lingxing then looked to Nirzir and gave her a tiny, almost imperceptible nod.

So the Matriarch of Void Song wasn’t just a figurehead, then. Good to know.

Nirzir attempted to be calm as she said, “When an initiate is starting out, we first transform [Force Wave] with Elemental Void and Aurify into a second tier, low grade Void Song. Through sparring and combat, we learn to tune this Void Song to the magics of others and literally Void opposing magics. This skill requires precise hearing and targeting. Some people require years of experience to learn this technique. This is how the Void Song works.” Her excitement grew, as she said, “The problem most initiates often encounter when Singing is that they cannot tune properly; they cannot hear the Song of True Magic. They can still do as a true Singer can do, but these initiates end up spending mountains of mana to accomplish the same thing that a true Singer can do with a whisper. True Singers still need power, though. Every mage needs power, both for range, and for effect. Properly aligned power is what allows a Singer to cooperate with other Singers and spread the Void Song all throughout Eralis.” She gestured with the blue box for [Undertow’s Edge], saying, “And this Undertow would provide a lot of power. If you learned to Void Sing, you could even…” Her eyes went wide. “You could replace every single Singer of Songli.”

Nirzir had said the words as though gazing upon a wonder of the universe.

But Lingxing and Erick both realized the danger of Nirzir’s words.

Lingxing said, “I doubt Erick means to replace our entire High Clan with a simple spell.”

Erick said, “Of course I would not want to do that.”

Nirzir looked less sure. “But you could! You could spread this Song across all of the Highlands and bring safety and peace to everyone, and then prosperity could flow from there!”

“Nirzir,” Lingxing said, with a slight edge to her tone.

Nirzir’s eyes went wide. Ah. She realized she had fucked up.

Erick spoke, “I am going to be fighting dragons soon enough, and bargaining for trades with others, no doubt. I have spoken personally with gods of all kinds. My World Tree will connect this planet with the others of this New Cosmology in a hundred years, and I am definitely going to live that long. I have suffered and survived a dozen assassination attempts, with many of those attempts out in the open for everyone to see. Don’t misunderstand; I am not bragging. I am telling you this because these are all alarming things. My very existence has already been a cry to war from multiple nations. I don’t intend many of these occurrences, but alarmist things happen around me, because I am changing this world.” He looked to Nirzir, “So if you wish to travel with me, you will attempt to mitigate any potentially alarmist words coming out of your mouth that are not in line with the things I actually intend to do. I do not intend to move into Songli and solve every problem you have. I am not putting Void Song out of a job. I am not threatening anyone with this spellcraft, or with my desire to learn the Void Song. I just need better personal defenses.”

Lingxing was tense when Erick began his little speech, but then she relaxed, and solidified her calm when he came to the end of it.

Nirzir, however, went red with deep embarrassment. Her voice was a small thing, “I did not mean to imply… what I implied. Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this—”

“You are exactly where you are meant to be, Nirzir.” Lingxing spoke to the young girl, “Archmage Flatt is correct about everything he said. While your own experience will hopefully be lesser, your very existence as an archmage will be fraught with tribulations such as this very conversation right now. You are too bookish. You must be exposed to these things while you are not the one standing in the light.” She turned to Erick. “For Nirzir will be an archmage, Erick, and I don’t want her turning into a hermit like all the rest of them. She is too close to that already. Please take her with you as far as she will go, even if all she does is accompany you around the surface of Nelboor. Don’t let her become insular like all the rest of the archmages of this world.”

Nirzir straightened, and looked ahead.

Erick said, “She might die through no fault of anyone’s. It’s dangerous out there.”

“If she does, then, no offense meant to you or your capability, but you will likely be dead before she is.” Lingxing said, “Nirzir is very, very good at active defense.”

Yet another tick in the girl’s favor.

Erick needed better defenses, anyway.

Ugh!

Was he really considering this?

He was, wasn’t he.

Well. Maybe keeping her around while he was in Nelboor would be fine. She probably knew a lot more about this land than he did. Maybe more than Poi, too. Yes; he could take her around Nelboor, at least.

Erick turned back toward Nirzir. “You really want this?”

“I do,” Nirzir said, “I don’t want to become a hermit, and I foresee myself going that way if nothing changes.”

“Then… I already have an apprentice, but I suppose this benefits me as much as you… You can stick around with us while we’re moving around Nelboor, at least. We can speak more of your capabilities and of magic back at the house—”

Nirzir lit up, her purple eyes glittering.

“—as soon as Poi looks you over, to see that you are who you say you are, and that this isn’t some sort of trick of some kind.”

Lingxing spoke first, “We expected this to happen, so do what you must.”

Nirzir spoke strongly, “I am ready to do what is needed of me.”

Erick glanced behind him, where Poi and Teressa waited by the door. “Poi?”

Poi stepped forward.

Nirzir nodded, and moved to stand in front of Poi.

Poi asked, “I will be checking to see that you are who you say you are, and that there are no hidden desires for traveling with our group. Do you consent to a scan as outlined by my targeted search?”

“I consent.”

Tendrils of soft blue light came out of Poi’s body to reach into Nirzir’s arms and head. No one spoke. As seconds became half a minute, then a full minute, Nirzir had lost some of her composure. She had readily agreed to the scan, but she obviously did not expect it to be like it was. Soon, the young woman was sweating bullets, and Erick wondered what Poi had fou—

Poi stepped away, saying, “She is cleared, but she and I will be having a private discussion later.”

Nirzir startled, freezing in place; she had not expected that.

Lingxing did, though; proof of that was written on her face. Lingxing knew that Nirzir wanted something more from Erick than what she said she wanted. Erick fully expected something like that to happen, though. If Poi said it was fine, then it was probably fine; he trusted his man.

Erick said, “Then Nirzir is with us for the time being.” He turned to Lingxing, saying, “I thank you for your assistance. Eralis was wonderful. I hope to visit again soon, but not too soon. Not while I’m still on the Worldly Path.” Erick stood, ready to leave. He could get all of his questions about the Void Song answered by Nirzir.

Lingxing stood, saying, “We thank you for your benevolent assistance with Terror Peaks, and with all that you have done for Songli. We will never be able to reciprocate what you have done for us, but that does not mean that we will not try. Nirzir’s assistance is only the smallest part of this debt we owe to you. Farewell, Erick.” She bowed, slight and purposeful, as a matriarch should.

“Farewell, Lingxing.” Erick bowed only his head, then he said to Nirzir, “We’ll be taking the quick way. It’s a few steps, so bear with it.”

Before the young woman had a chance to say anything, Erick wrapped his people and Nirzir in light, and then stepped out of Lingxing’s office.

- - - -

He reappeared in his temporary home in Holorulo.

Nirzir’s eyes went wide as she looked around. “That wasn’t a [Teleport]!”

Teressa chuckled. “Nope; it wasn’t.”

“We’ll talk about some of that later.” Erick said to Nirzir, “But first, some small rules. We all provide for the safety of everyone else in the group, and since you are with us for the time being, you will benefit from that obligation, as well as be obligated to reciprocate in return. We can set you up with a room, but I cannot provide for your garments or whatever; you might want to make a trip back to your permanent home to bring anything you want, but we try to travel light. You carry all of your own stuff. Poi is your commanding officer. It goes: Me, Poi, Teressa, Jane. We can figure out everything else as needed.”

Nirzir glanced to Poi, then nodded, saying, “Yes. Of course. Uh. I understand.”

“Let’s sit down in the sunroom and go over some preliminary discussions.” Erick walked past the dense air, into the house proper, “You’re keyed in to the [Prismatic Ward] now, so come on in.”

“I’ll go make some lunch,” Teressa said, as she headed toward the kitchen.

Poi eyed the young woman, then followed Teressa, saying, “I’ll help. I want fish.”

Erick waited down the hall, past the dense air, while Nirzir hesitated at the separation between the private space and the front room, but she followed fast enough, her face relaxing after she entered the [Prismatic Ward] and found herself accepted. She briefly smiled, then followed Erick in the sunroom.

When the two of them had taken their seats across the coffee table from each other, Erick said, “I need to understand how to rely on you, if at all. Let us begin with some basic capabilities that aren’t in the Open Script. Do you have an Elemental Body?”

Nirzir instantly answered, “[Greater Air Body] and [Water Body].”

“Reflective spells? Crowd control spells? Aura control? How do you fight?”

“Reflective hand-held shield. Spell denial is what I do, by trade as a Singer; not much more control than that, though. I have aura control as well as a mana sense, and I have Remade many Basic Tier spells, but not gone much beyond the Force spells. Singing is my greatest contribution to a fight and also my greatest power, with a focus on denial of enemy abilities and the ripping apart of enemy spellwork. I can even sing under-audible. You spoke earlier of being incognito, and I have prepared for this. I can fully pretend to be a Healer, as I have the full capability of one. [Greater Treat Wounds] as well as [Greater Inflict Wounds].”

He said, “A healer? Well we do need one of those. How old are you, anyway?”

“17. I Matriculated last year.”

“Lingxing did say that... I guess I didn’t believe it.” Erick said, “Well. I’ve only been at this magic thing for a little over a year, myself, so I guess it’s believable.”

Nirzir smiled, showing a true emotion for a brief moment, and then she locked that away and turned semi-professional again. She was young, but she was already accustomed to this life of power and ability. She was polite enough, too.

Erick was under no obligation to actually have her with him, but...

He needed allies. More allies. Better allies. If Nirzir was going to become an archmage, then it was probably best to know her before she became famous. A good working relationship here would also bode well for a good working relationship with High Clan Void Song in the future.

All good reasons to take Nirzir with him when he left Songli, but there was another more pertinent reason: nightly watches.

Poi and Teressa could not take on all the watches that were necessary for anyone to get a good night’s sleep. Ophiel filled in quite a lot on that front, but he was still young. He also wasn’t able to see future threats like Teressa, nor could he talk to people the world over, like Poi. Jane, though…

Erick desperately hoped that Jane would keep with the party as they moved out of the Highlands, but Jane really liked it here. She might stay behind.

… Whatever the case, Nirzir would be one more capable person able to see possible problems at night before they became real problems.

And… Nirzir was a healer. That alone made her halfway necessary for good travel. Redundancy was good. Erick still wasn’t sure about the young woman, but Nirzir seemed to be a perfect fit for a Healer-shaped hole. And… Again… If Jane was leaving…

Erick shoved that thought away.

Nirzir watched Erick as Erick thought in silence. He had only been thinking for a few seconds, but this was a large decision, and both of them knew that. And it wasn’t a sure thing, yet. But.

Yeah.

Okay.

Erick decided. Sure. This might as well happen.

“I look forward to a good working relationship.” Erick moved right along. “So let’s talk magic. Tell me what you think of Undertow.”

Nirzir smiled brightly, then happily said, “I am guessing that you went for Healing Waters to control for the uncomfortableness of Drains, and then you went down the Shadow spectrum to arrive at Abyss and then Void, mimicking the Mana Ocean of the Old Cosmology. Inspired. But what’s more impressive is this ability for your Undertow spell to drag mana into itself and sustain itself. This is unprecedented. It’s touching the Propagation Ban, but not breaking it. I had heard you were working on this [Renew] spell and thought it a flight of fancy, but now that I have seen it, I still cannot believe it. It gives me hope for my own magical goals of—”

“Sorry. I have to clarify: Undertow is not [Renew]. I’m still working on that.” Erick asked, “What sort of goals?”

“It’s not [Renew]? But—” Nirzir let that drop, and answered, “[Inviolable Defense] is my ultimate goal. I don’t want to be a hermit. I haven’t even made a [Familiar], for I know that the moment I do, I will withdraw from the world. No. What I want is an [Inviolable Defense]. Skin unmarred, like the finest jade. Bones as hard as a clan mountain. Flesh as resilient as an orcol’s and a soul untouchable like those of the strongest liches. Able to deflect a sword or a spell with a fingertip, and walk through Void without bleeding, or fall from the sky without breaking.” She came back from her dreams, saying, “I have been working on this spell since before I Matriculated. I still haven’t managed to make it, though. Every day, I try a different, lower tier combination, and every day I fail again. But I won’t give up!”

Absolute protection wasn’t that odd of a concept to pursue, but something had obviously happened to the young woman to make her feel this way about this magic.

Nirzir handed him a blue box. “This is my best attempt yet.”

Immaculate Form, instant, self, personal ward, 6450 mana

Your body becomes extraordinarily resistant to damage. Your internal spells become extraordinarily hard to disrupt. Healing effects are heightened. This spell is extraordinarily resistant toward dispelling effects.

Lasts 24 hours.

Nirzir’s [Immaculate Form] had to be one of those non-exact spells that did a lot more than what the box described. Erick wondered if such a spell would be good for him, too. Perhaps, if he had an [Immaculate Form], then he could simply be ‘immune to damage’ instead of having a 100k damage shield? Constitution didn’t work for the normal absorption-type [Personal Ward], after all, but if he didn’t have a [Personal Absorption Ward] and he instead had yet another damage mitigation [Ward]…

It was an idea, for sure. But there was a problem with this idea.

Nirzir said, “It has gotten me through a lot, but it does nothing against enemy spells. I have the Void Song for that, though.”

Well, sure; that was a problem with her spell, too. But that’s not what Erick had meant.

Erick dismissed the box, and said, “I have heard that Wizards and mages of the Old Cosmology could cast the protective magics you wish to cast, but I’ve been told more than a few times that the Script specifically removed this capability; all mages are now just as vulnerable to murder as all warriors.”

Without even a moment of disappointment, Nirzir asked, “I’ve been told the same thing, but my sources have been other people. Have you heard otherwise? From some higher source?”

A twinge of desperation tainted her voice, but that was understandable, if this was her (young) life’s goal.

“I heard it from the Shades. I think the gods implied the same, but they never outright said as much.”

Nirzir lamented, and with a sigh, said, “That is farther than I have gotten.”

Erick guessed. “If you’re trying to add in [Immortality] functionality, then that, I know, is specifically forbidden. Phagar said.”

Nirzir didn’t even bat an eye at that. “There are ways around mortality that don’t require deep magics or the mutilation of the soul. I have faith that I can learn one of those techniques later in life.”

Erick smirked. “Apparently all it takes is a good application of [Polymorph].”

“And the desire to leave everything you are behind. That is a large demand; it is a rare personality that is able to do that to themselves.” Nirzir said, “But that’s just what I’ve been told; I have no personal experience with that.”

Erick nodded—

The moment stilled.

He had a brief mental flash of Nirzir casting the Void Song at him, ripping him apart before he could do anything to stop her.

The moment resumed.

Erick winced with a tiny smile that quickly went away as he took great pains to silence the sudden shitstorm of paranoia raging in his mind. If Nirzir had noticed, then she gave no reaction.

From one moment to the next, Erick decided to take his paranoia and strangle it with as much force as he could. Nirzir would be welcome here as long as she showed no signs of something untoward, and that was that.

Erick said, “If you figure out the rest of your immaculate spell, I’d like to learn that one.”

Nirzir brightened at that. And then she calculated, and chanced, “You will have to give me something commensurate in return. I will accept [Renew].”

Erick laughed. “I would make that trade. But for now: Got any spells you want to make? I’d like to see how you make your magic.”

“I would be delighted!” After a moment, and after looking suddenly guilty, Nirzir added, “It would only be fair, for I have already watched you make some of your magic. It wasn’t… It wasn’t outright spying. But...” Her voice trailed off.

Erick smiled. “A lot of people have; I made little secret of the actual creation.”

Nirzir looked tense, as though she wanted to ask something but wasn’t sure how. So she just blurted, “Why do you make your magic so publicly?”

There was a lot more to her question that she wasn’t saying. Erick guessed it had to do with Wizardry. He wasn’t willing to speak on that subject, though; not fully.

He said, “Because I didn’t want to scare people with the magic I made, so I made it in the open, and shared the blue boxes with the people I invited to watch.”

Nirzir nodded.

She wasn’t convinced that was the whole answer.

If Nirzir was already at tier 7, and since the international ‘archmage’ designation was at tier 8, perhaps both of them had intimate experiences with being called Wizards. But Erick wasn’t willing to voice that word, and neither was Nirzir. Maybe they would broach that topic some other day.

- - - -

Erick and Nirzir stood upon a field of sparse grass to the far east of Holorulo, where the sun beat down and heat mirages marred the horizon in every direction. Poi stood behind the two of them; far behind, so as not to be exposed to whatever dangers the archmage and the would-be archmage were planning on bringing into existence. Five Ophiels, however, flitted wherever they wished, with one standing on the ground next to Nirzir, looking up at her with eyes shining bright.

Nirzir glanced at that Ophiel, but then turned back toward Erick.

“This is a spell that I have made a few times, but it’s never turned out exactly as I wanted.” Nirzir said, “All Singers are trained to provide for their accompanying soldiery. I am no different in that regard. To that end, we have the house spell. I can manage the normal house spell just fine, but I am aiming higher than that. Much higher.” She held out her hand, and channeled purple mana, speaking as she went, “[Stoneshape] and [Watershape] and [Grow], but targeting grasses and other small plants in the area.” The purple jet of mana flexed from solidity to liquid flows, to strong growth. Then the plume shifted to light, and then shadows, and then became invisible, as Nirzir said, “Then the components to [Illusionshape], along with [Invisibility].” She gestured with her other hand, adding in the demarcations of [Ward], saying, “And finally, [Ward], to tie it all together, to provide the framework to allow chosen people to see through the working. Can’t have soldiers unable to see the place, after all.”

Nirzir closed her eyes, briefly. And then she opened her shining violet eyes, and a soft hum filled the air as the space surrounding the young girl began to vibrate with power, thrumming the manasphere with intent. She moved her right foot back, and lifted both arms forward in a languid pose. Spots of purple color filled her aura like polka dots, each one thrumming differently, each one joining to the rest, as purple light flowed to her outstretched hands. Magic built. Air and light condensed, and then suddenly popped; purple light vanishing in a single instant.

The spell was cast. The land in front of Nirzir shifted.

Grasses flowed like twining vines, up, and up, into invisibility, becoming seen only through the use of Erick’s mana sense, or Ophiel’s Sight spells. [True Sight] made the working fully visible, and so Erick switched to that. He watched as sands evened out like liquid and walls rose from the joining of light and shadow. In less than ten seconds, Nirzir had conjured a small house in the pagoda style. It was two stories tall and eight sided, with a flat roof for soldiers to stand upon, to scan the horizon while on watch.

The windows were arrow slits in the half-meter-thick walls, made that way to deny the entry of monsters while still allowing people to look outside. On Veird, they called them ‘slit windows’, though. The entrance had no door. Instead, it was a switchback that led to a kill room. The whole place could probably house twenty soldiers, if half of them were on watch at any one time. The place looked ready for war. Erick flicked off his [True Sight] and the conjuring vanished from sight. The only hint that it was there was in the odd flatness of the land it occupied.

Nirzir was looking to the air, waiting for the blue box, no doubt.

Erick asked, “Does it take you a while to get your blue boxes, too?”

“Oh yes.” Nirzir said, “Longest I ever had to wait was one minute and tw— Ah! There it is.” She glanced at it, then frowned, and handed it over to Erick, saying, “Another failure.”

Hidden Fort, instant, medium range, 1007 mana

Create a large invisible fort. The fort will remain even when the magics do not. Recasting this spell upon an existing hidden fort has a chance to replace the missing spellwork. People you designate at the time of casting will be able to see through the obscuring magics.

Erick asked, “What’s wrong with it? Aside from the missing duration.”

“I used to get durations listed on this spell, but that stopped happening months ago. That doesn’t matter anyway.” She gestured at the fort and cast again. This time, Erick did not need [True Sight] to see the structure; he had been given permissions. Nirzir said, “But now you see the problem, yes?”

Erick did not. The fort looked perfectly serviceable. She hadn’t made an ‘eternal stonegrass’ fort, which is what Erick was expecting her to make, based on the combination of spells she was using. The walls were simple stone, while the vines were here and there, perhaps making the structure look old and natural. Like it had been there all along and there was no one inside? Maybe?

There could be any number of problems here.

Erick said, “Explain the problem.”

For a brief moment, Nirzir was crushed. And then she shoved that emotion away, and said, “Ah. Right. You have to try going inside of it, then. Or Ophiel could?”

An Ophiel took off, into the fort, passing through the kill room and twirling through the rooms.

Fully visible.

“Ah. I see the problem,” Erick said.

Nirzir smiled softly. “Not only is the spell supposed to make the land look normal, [Invisible] is supposed to make everyone I designate also [Invisible], with the fort itself obscuring detection even if someone were to come through with a [True Sight].” She added, “I’ve gotten parts of this spell to work well before, but not the whole thing.”

Erick grinned. “Okay. I want to try making this spell, then.”

Nirzir was shocked, suddenly standing straight. “… Okay?” And then she realized something, and said, “I have heard that you can make the White Tree. Uh. The point of a house spell is to be taken down afterward. Nothing permanent.”

Erick paused. “… Okay. There goes that idea. Well.” He added, “I can try to do all the rest, then.”

Nirzir ceded her ground.

Erick turned away from her fort, to face the other direction. With a mental command, he counted out six Ophiel, one for each part of the spell, and had them gather. With only five of them nearby, one more had to come in from where he was standing guard over Teressa and First Devouring Nightmare Mountain. Four were still back there, so that should be more than enough for any normal problem that might occur while he was out and about.

Erick looked to Nirzir, confirming, “So a hidden fortress, that hides everyone inside, and that blends into the world around itself. That’s everything, yes?”

Nirzir watched Ophiels dance around Erick as she said, “Yes.”

Erick nodded. “I think making it invisible to mana sense is a bit too much for a tier two spell, so I will leave that out, for now. You can always add that in with another spell layered over the first. I know it is not ideal, but it might be necessary to do it that way.”

Nirzir scrunched her face, but said nothing.

Ophiels took to the points of a hexagon, floating around Erick as they were wont, while Erick had each of them pick up a part of the tune. [Stoneshape] was a big part of this spell, forming the basis to which everything else was attached; he made that Ophiel sing loud and pure, the sound of foundation. [Watershape] and [Grow] was another large part of the working. That pair of Ophiel sang together, harmonizing into a small beat of life springing up from the stone, crawling over the ground as natural as could be. The [Shadowshape] and [Lightshape] Ophiels were there to hide the—

No.

That didn’t sound right. The sound was destabilizing; discordant.

Erick went over the other parts of the spell, and restarted the whole thing with [Ward].

[Ward] was the largest part of this working. It was the basis of everything, wasn’t it? Inside the [Ward] the designated people would be free of the confounding effects of the fort, while being [Invisible] themselves. Everyone else would merely see illusions and falsities.

Yes.

Erick had been wrong about [Stoneshape]. [Ward] was the true backbone of this working.

Everything slipped into place from there as Ophiels floated around Erick, like revelers dancing around a maypole, singing in harmony about the creation of a home away from home; a small tower hidden in the middle of hostile territory. For his own part, Erick added in the standard Permanency functionality he always did these days.

And then he cast.

The world shifted in front of him, the grassland bulging upward, dirt pushing aside dirt as rooms and hallways and otherwise formed underground, creating a small hill that was similar in stature to all the other small hills everywhere else, except without any grasses upon it. And then that fact changed, as light greenery spread over the single-basement house. In moments, Erick’s working became exactly the same as the surrounding lands.

Except it wasn’t.

An invisible second floor rose from that slight hill, looking like a mirage brought close. Erick flicked on his [True Sight] and saw the second floor. It was a short, eight-sided pagoda, with no roof and plenty of places to hunker down and watch the world. With his mana sense, Erick saw that the basement was similarly shaped, but without the defensive battlements and arrow slits and thick door of the top, invisible floor. While Nirzir preferred a killzone, Erick liked doors, so his working had doors.

A blue box appeared.

Obscuring Redoubt, instant, medium range, 2597 mana

Create a large stone redoubt using local materials. The final shape is malleable, but will always consist of two parts: an invisible, exposed floor of varying size, and an underground, fully hidden floor of varying size. Non-accompanied items brought into these hidden spaces will gradually become invisible. Anyone designated by you at the time this spell is cast is able to see through the obscuring magics, and become invisible when they are inside the obscuring redoubt.

Lasts 12 hours. Recasting this spell on the same location will renew the duration.

Erick handed the blue box out to Nirzir and Poi while simultaneously recasting the spell and designating them, and Ophiel, and himself, as participants in the spell. The top floor of the redoubt suddenly appeared, though it was still rimmed in light mirages.

Erick said, “I think that does it.”

Poi smiled, saying, “Now that makes me happier about a journey to the Core.”

Nirzir had yet to say anything. She just read the spell, looked up to the redoubt, then read the spell again, then looked up again. There was a slight disbelief in her eyes, that turned larger as more seconds passed. Erick let her have her moment while he walked toward the redoubt, wanting to get a look at the inside, from the inside. Poi followed.

Nirzir rushed to catch up, saying, “How did you do that!”

Poi smirked, but said nothing.

“It’s hard to hold all of that spellwork inside my head when the spells have more than four moving parts.” Erick patted Ophiel on his shoulder, and the little guy cooed in violins. “Ophiel helps to make sure the magic comes out right.”

As Erick passed into the [Invisibility] of the redoubt nothing changed for him, but if anyone else was watching, they would have watched Erick vanish halfway through his step. The redoubt looked perfectly serviceable on the inside. The rooms were bare, the floor was solid, the walls were thick with ample protection. Poi’s reaction was easy enough to tell; it was good enough for him.

Nirzir had much the same reaction, saying, “Well this looks pretty good on the inside, too.”

Erick had been quite worried that Nirzir was going to be an uppity princess, needing to be cared for and demanding everything. She was, after all, technically, a princess; every direct family member of the High Clans were considered royalty by the commoners of Songli. He was pleasantly surprised that Nirzir was not like that; not at all.

Nirzir did have one odd reaction, though. She glanced at an Ophiel sitting in an arrow slit, who was watching the world outside while also watching everyone inside with his multiple eyes pointed in every direction. Nirzir said, “[Familiar]s are great… I suppose. My brothers have [Familiars]. They’re shaped like Thunder Birds. But…” Her voice trailed off. “We originally thought you were some long lost Scion, what with Ophiel pretending to be more… birdlike, back when you were Ezekiel. I’m still not sure I want one, though.”

Erick smiled. “[Familiar]s are great, but they’re a big responsibility.”

“I’m not ready for that.”

“Understandable. You could try for some [Conjure Force Elemental] sound enhancers, instead. Might not work, though. There’s a deep link between the soul and magic, and if your summon doesn’t have a soul, then that whole endeavor might be for naught.”

“That is exactly correct.” And then Nirzir dropped that line of thought, and looked around. “So this is how other people feel around me. Did not expect that.”

Erick laughed.

Nirzir fought off a smile.

“I think your only problem was that you didn’t spend enough mana on the working. [Invisibility] is an expensive spell. 100 mana for ten minutes of action, for a single person.”

“True, but… Hmm.” Nirizir said, “[Invisible Squad] is cheap enough.” She flashed him a blue box. “I would expect [Hidden Fort] to be cheap, too.”

Invisible Squad, instant, close range, 350 mana

You and up to 10 close targets become invisible for 1 hour. If a selected person commits Health harm, their individual invisibility will fail.

Nirzir said, “I just removed the ‘incurs a cost while moving’ and replaced it with the other variant restriction of [Invisibility].”

Erick shrugged. “Try again tomorrow?”

“I suppose so.” Nirzir silently ripped up a tiny bit of her soul, removing the spell she had just made, as she offered, “Do you wish to learn some spell Voiding, now?”

Erick looked to Poi. “We probably have some time.”

Poi said, “Teressa is not done with lunch yet. Maybe 30 more minutes.”

Erick nodded, then turned back to Nirzir. “Let’s go back outside and return our structures to nature.”

Nirzir readily agreed.

Soon enough, the three of them were back out on the grasslands, and their two small towers had their spellworks removed, and then a Shaping applied to return them to the ground.

And then they took their positions, twelve meters from each other.

Nirzir asked, “Do you have a Void Song ability already?”

“Not quite. I was going to use this.” Erick shut off [Greater Lightwalk] and switched to [Physical Domain]. Nothing visibly changed, but the air for a good five kilometers in every direction was now under his power. “It might not wor— ah. You can sense that, eh?”

Nirzir’s eyes were wide as she looked around in every direction. Her skin was already white, but she paled just a bit further. “Ye—” Her voice broke. “Yes. I can sense that. Can you—”

Erick pulled his [Physical Domain] closer, keeping it at roughly ten meters radius. Nirzir stood about eleven meters away from him, so she was now out of the spell’s effect, and it showed. She relaxed, and breathed deeper.

… Erick had no idea why he didn’t conjure his new aura as a smaller size. He had done that before? Why didn’t he do that this time? Just to show off?

Erick said, “Sorry about that.”

“Thank you.” Nirzir continued, “So this is how we do it back in the temple: The attacker will cast normal [Force Bolt]s at the defender, and the defender has to Void the spells coming at them. At first, you target the spells themselves with your aura. This is the easy part. Then, you learn how to automatically target certain spells with your aura. This is slightly more difficult. The final step is working toward shutting down the casting of targeted spells by interfering in their ability to be cast correctly. Simple in design; hard in practice, because the Script does many things for people, and one of the things it does is allow them to effortlessly cast small magics. Because these small magics are so easy to cast, it is very, very difficult to automatically counter them.”

Erick inwardly smirked, because Nirzir was giving him the same lesson that Quilatalap had given him about counterspelling.

Nirzir continued, “But you’re not actually using a Void aura, are you?”

“Nope.” Erick said, “But I want to try with this aura, anyway.”

“Okay. I’m not sure how— We can do it this way.”

Erick said, “Go ahead and state your concern.”

“… Void Magic naturally interferes with any magic that is not Void Magic. The only two schools of Elemental Magic that connect to Void are Abyss and Starlight. By contrast, Shadow and Light each connect to half of everything. So if you’re trying some sort of Light-based aura, then… It won’t be able to easily disrupt my [Force Bolt]s.”

Erick pondered. Something didn’t sit right with what Nirzir said…

Oh.

He said, “I’m not using a Light or a Shadow aura, but shouldn’t a Shadow aura rip through spells as well as Void? [Dispel] is Shadow-based.”

Nirzir brightened, “[Dispel] is shadow-based, but Void is so much better at disrupting spellwork! Or at least, it would be. The Script demands a parity of cost when it comes to erasing spellwork, but if not for that, then you could Void a thousand mana working for three mana worth of Void. As it is, you have to get rather good with Void to get anywhere near that original usage of the Element.” She added, “By this same restriction, though, Void is made tamer. Under the Script, Void won’t annihilate a Singer’s body unless the Singer is completely uncaring for their own wellbeing.”

Huh. Well that was interesting.

Erick flapped a hand in the air, saying, “This is a physical aura.” A [Physical Domain], actually. “It might work to break apart your Bolts, or not. I made it in preparation for coming to Songli, but I never got a chance to use it except for shutting down some thunder birds.”

“Is it… A Force Aura?”

“No. A physical aura.”

Nirzir’s eyes went wide as she understood. “Oh!” She looked to the air around Erick. Her lips scrunched. “Some people have luck with other types of negation auras. I imagine that using a [Physical Aura] would be like using an [Air Aura]? Not sure. Not sure how to help you check your spellwork, either. Let’s try it? See what happens?”

Erick nodded. “Whenever you’re ready.”

With absolutely no hesitation, a Bolt of violet light zipped out of Nirzir’s shoulder to curve through the air and head straight to Erick’s chest, rapidly passing the edge of his [Physical Domain]. Erick reacted with a pulse of power through his aura, attempting to Discord the spell; to take what he knew of [Force Bolt] and invert that power upon the physical world.

Discord X, instant, super large area, 250 mana

Lasts 10 minutes.

Particle Mage Only

The violet Bolt got all the way through his aura and struck him in the chest, feeling like a punch from a strong toddler, briefly flickering his white [Personal Ward] to visibility. Discord had done nothing.

“Hmm.” Erick said, “Again.”

Nirzir rapidly obliged.

The second and third Bolt struck true, along with the fourth and then the fifth. After the sixth failed interception, Erick switched it up, and instead of using a Discordant force to negate the mana based spell, he went for a more direct approach.

Particles were not based in Force Magic or Elemental Magic, after all, so there was bound to be some issues with getting one to work on the other. Erick had done well against the Thunder Magic of the thunder birds, but their large booming spells were a rather easy thing to stop, since their magic was attempting to vibrate the physical, and Erick had direct control over the physical. But against Force magic? It was as though he was using a spoon to cut a steak.

So, instead of directly countering and ripping apart the opposing spellwork, what if he just… solidified the natural, physical world, so that the mana wasn’t present? Oh, sure, mana flowed through everything, but it still had trouble getting through denser objects, after all.

The seventh violet spell arced through the air, entering Erick’s space, while Erick used the Normalize function of his aura to empower the natural world.

Normalize X, instant, super large area, 250 mana

Lasts 10 minutes.

Particle Mage Only

The Bolt struck him in the chest like the fist of a sleepy toddler. Erick readily noticed the change.

Nirzir noticed, too. She paused in sending out Bolts, to say, “That one worked. At a proper range, I think whatever you are doing would be enough against a Bolt.”

“Or other, lesser magics.” Erick said, “But that’s not good enough.”

Nirzir nodded, solemnly. “No; it is not. I have [Force Beam]s, too?”

“Hit me with more Bolts, first.”

“You know!” Poi suggested, “You could intercept spells thrown at a target instead of spells thrown at your self.”

Erick chuckled. “Maybe when we move to [Force Beam]s and otherwise.”

Nirzir did not like Poi’s suggestion. “The final test to become a Singer is to negate a barrage of spells coming at you, including [Stoneshape] being applied underfoot and third tier [Force Beam]s of all kinds, including Decay and Void types.” Nirzir said, “Getting ready for that day can sometimes awaken the aura of a person.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Erick said, “But maybe after I figure out this small stuff, first. Hit me with some more Bolts.”

A pair of violet Bolts arced out of Nirzir, one going right and the other going left, and then both aimed straight for Erick. This time, Erick prepared to Normalize the air around the spells, while also Harmonizing his own Normalize in an attempt to make the physical world even more solid.

Harmonize X, instant, super large area, 250 mana

Lasts 10 minutes.

Particle Mage Only

The [Force Bolt]s struck the edge of Erick’s [Physical Domain] like they had struck water, slowing down, the air around the violet Bolts turning thick. The Bolts continued on, but they lost power much, much faster than they should have. The Bolts managed to travel three meters before petering out into motes of purple light. The effect was exactly what would have happened if the Bolts had gone past their maximum range.

Erick smiled. It worked. Not perfectly, but after a fashion, it worked.

Nirzir frowned a little; puzzled. “Spatial Magic— No. Oh. You just made the air thicker. That’s not like an [Air Aura] at all.” Her eyes went wide. “Oh. That has a lot of applications.”

“Try a [Force Beam] this time.”

Poi cringed—

Nirzir obliged.

A radiant violet light exploded from her knee and impacted Erick’s chest, eliciting a bright white flash from his [Personal Ward].

Nirzir rapidly moved the beam away from Erick before canceling it altogether, her eyes going wide as she rushed forward, exclaiming, “Oh Rozeta! I didn—” She had only gotten two steps closer, before stopping. “Oh. You’re fine. Right. You probably have some mythical defenses, too.”

Erick smiled as he patted his chest where the Beam had struck. A small [Mend] fixed a tiny cut the violet beam had ripped into the fabric, as he said, “Just a [Personal Ward]. Back up and try again, and then I want to see how your own Void Song works against my small spells.”

Nirzir stepped backward. “Ready?”

Erick readied Amplify, prepared to combine it with Harmonize and Normalize.

Amplify X, instant, super large area, 250 mana

Lasts 10 minutes.

Particle Mage Only

He said, “Read—”

A violet beam of light erupted from Nirzir’s right shoulder and entered Erick’s [Physical Domain] like it was a stream of water flowing into a river. The beam was swallowed up completely, turning into nothing more than diffuse purple light that rapidly faded back into the manasphere like spellwork breaking down. It was kinda pretty.

Nirzir saw this. She rapidly moved the beam left and right, trying to find an opening in Erick’s spellwork. She found several. The beam briefly continued forward like water from a sputtering hose, but Erick moved his power around, blocking the beam. In three seconds he solved the weakness problem entirely by flooding his entire Domain with Normalize, Harmonize, and Amplify.

When Nirzir’s first [Force Beam] faded, she instantly cast another one. The second violet beam met the fate of the first one, becoming little more than purple light upon the edge of Erick’s power. And then Nirzir unleashed ten beams at once, each one criss crossing and overlapping with each other as she prowled for weakness. She found none.

Erick found it much easier to simply hold his Domain in this trio configuration than to try and counter in specific areas. Perhaps he was cheating to use his Domain instead of an actual [Physical Aura], but they were practically the same thing, right?

… No; they weren’t the same thing at all.

Erick would make a proper [Void Aura] later, though.

And besides that, Erick was pretty sure that the Void Song was actually a Domain, anyway.

But back to the current problem. Nirzir’s beams of power were still getting too far into his Domain, so he added [Discord] back into the mix, targeting Force spells, like he had originally tried to do.

Nirzir’s violet spellwork crashed against the edge of his Domain, and died. Force transformed back into broken mana. Complete protection! Complete success!

As her spells faded, Nirzir stood there, eyeing Erick’s aura. “So… I don’t know what you are doing, exactly. I can’t help you refine that into something that can help you erase other spellwork. Want to try yourself against my Void Song?”

“Yes.”

Erick decided to play around with his [Physical Domain] through Ophiel, later. He shut off that aura, and turned on his [Greater Lightwalk]… Come to think of it, with [Greater Lightwalk] and [Lodestar], he wondered if he could shift his sunform into Extreme Light, and shut down magics that way.

… He might even be able to achieve something like with an Undertow spell, too. ‘Stars in the Void’ seemed like it should be an achievable idea. ‘Stars in the Void that emit Extreme Light’ seemed like a logical extension of that idea.

He turned his attention back to Nirzir. The young woman had turned on her aura, but to his mana sense, it was barely active. A highlighting rim of pale shadow clung to her skin and extended out along the ground for ten meters in every direction. Whatever she was doing was highly controlled.

Nirzir stated, “Ready.”

Erick launched a [Force Bolt] from his chest, aimed directly at Nirzir.

The Bolt vanished the second it passed within her power. The effect was too fast to see. Nirzir smirked a little, knowing that she had surprised Erick, and then she crushed that emotion off of her face. She was a reserved, proper type of girl, for sure.

Erick threw another Bolt at her.

This time he saw as the Bolt entered her aura and vanished, for lack of a better word; like a light had simply been turned off. ‘Voided’ was the proper term, but seeing it happen was different than knowing what had happened.

Nirzir asked, “Care to try a slightly larger spell?”

She was teasing; trying to be playful. She was enjoying this.

Erick was kinda enjoying this, too.

He responded with a [Force Beam] that tried to carve across the air beside her, but the beam hit her Void, and vanished, like a magician hiding a rabbit in their hat.

Nirzir giggled.

Erick said, “That’s rather much more solid than I assumed it to be.”

Nirzir paused. “Did you never try to cast spells under the Void Song while inside Eralis?”

“Nope.” Erick said, “I didn’t spend too much time inside the city proper, either. I could hear the Song everywhere I went; it was not the most comfortable thing to hear.”

“Ah. True.” Nirzir said, “I had to live outside the city for the same reasons. I cried a lot as a baby until they moved me outside Eralis.”

Poi spoke from the sidelines, “Lunch is ready.”

Erick instantly decided, “Then let us stop here, for now. You’ve given me a lot to think about, Nirzir.”

“And you as well.” Nirzir turned serious, and bowed. “I thank you for your instruction, Archmage Flatt.”

“You can call me ‘Erick’.”

Nirzir rose, looking a bit happier than before. “I shall, Erick.”

“And during lunch, we can talk about dragons and how best to find them.”

Nirzir’s purple eyes went a bit wide, but then she steeled herself, and said, “I know of several things that I am never supposed to do, or else I will draw the gaze of a dragon. But. I suppose…” She couldn’t help but smile a bit. “Now is the time to do all of those things.”