Ends of Magic

Faline stood behind the podium disguised as Nol dho Chokiz, influential enslavement mage and host of the current gathering. Her posture was commanding, reminding Nathan of politicians speaking to the camera.

“The honored founders established Giantsrest after the Ending of Elements.” Her voice was similarly resolute, and carried clearly over the last murmurs of the crowd. “They raised their hands and conquered the dungeon of the Giants, then shaped it to shelter the weary survivors of the Ending. They established the Ascendant Academy from those ruins, and trained the first mages.”

Faline’s gaze was distant as she talked, like she was seeing something from the pages of history. “We were new to the light of magic, but they taught us its secrets. ‘Seize power with your own fists,’ they said. ‘Conquer the continent, and civilize it. Gain wealth and Insights, that the Academy will stand past the Ending of History, and all Endings that follow.’ That is the task they set for us.”

Her voice grew mournful, but didn’t diminish in volume. “But then they left. They promised to return when needed, and they did. Each time Giantsrest was threatened, a founder has led us to victory, taught us new magic and departed once more. That will be true so long as we hold their command to our breasts, and continue expanding Giantsrest.”

Faline lowered her gaze from the past to focus on the audience. “We have fulfilled their command. Giantsrest spreads across the land, and our power flows clean. Where once we were bare hundreds, now ten thousand mages command hundreds of thousands of slaves. We conquer dungeons and grasp new lands, with riches and Insights flowing back to the Academy.”

The disguised assassin gestured, growing more animated and speaking faster as she approached the crux of the argument. “We learn new magics, and create new power from the resources of Davrar. The [disintegration] spell, automatic healing enchantments, the slave-elites and their enchanted gear. All of these are our own development, new sources of power. My own slaves work the forges that make weapons and armors for our soldiers, and I supply one-sixth of the enchanting materials in Giantsrest.”

She stopped, letting the room fall into expectant silence. Her retelling of the origin story and the destiny of Giantsrest had the crowd dangling on her words.

When she spoke again it was slow and ominous. “But our enemies have grown as well. The elemental tribes in the north have grown in number, and their hordes challenge us every Solstice. The Sklian Nechrarchy in the south sends poison clouds and soul eaters to attack our slaves, while every year more dungeons awake. The environment of threats has developed, and for the good of the Academy we must exert our new strength to win regardless.”

Another moment of silence stretched before Faline’s voice rose once again. “Then there is Gemore.” Several indrawn breaths from the audience indicated that this was a sensitive topic, but she pushed on. “Gemore, the city of slaves and barbarians, a strayed child in need of a firm hand.”

Her expression grew ugly. “Or so we thought! But then they conquered Halsmet and killed a hundred mages. It was a prophecy of woe, the greatest setback Giantsrest has suffered! But then a Founder arrived. Badud, called forth from history to conquer our challenges. We offered to be his hands, as would any loyal graduate of the Academy. The Founders have ever led us to victory and power.”

She let the audience hang yet again. “But then Badud lost. Four archmages are dead, along with hundreds of our most powerful mages. They raised their hands at the command of a Founder, and were cast down by slaves and barbarians! Badud lies defeated with a cursed wound, though he swears to deliver us inexorable victory.”

Faline pressed her point, speaking emphatically and stabbing her finger toward the crowd. “There is a lesson here, for every student of the Academy. Founders do not have a prophecy of victory! The survivors of the battle speak of the mage-breaker, a man whom spells cannot touch. He is a new threat to Giantsrest, one we must confront ourselves, without asking the honored Founders to cast aside all obstacles, as a child asks their father.” Her eyes burned suddenly, lit with an internal fire.

“For how else will a child grow? We are the leaders of Giantsrest! The Founders are a part of the Academy, but we must grow from the children they knew, and seize our destiny for ourselves. We must find our own Path for….” Faline paused mid-word, a sudden shiver running through her entire body.

Her mouth worked and she coughed deeply, clutching at her chest. Then she collapsed to the ground, eyes moving to meet Nathan’s behind the cover of the podium. One of them flashed pink.

That’s my cue.

Nathan, still dressed in the robe of a Nail, dashed a few steps forward and seized Faline’s body. It was heavier than any of the times he’d lifted her recently, but he’d activated his Rage to make the task easy. He hefted her limp shape and sprinted out of the room just as the first shouts of alarm rose.

As soon as they were out of the line of sight Faline squirmed and reached for her pouch. She pulled out a potion of fire and hucked it at the two corpses as Nathan pivoted to change direction and leave the dressing room and get into the back hallways of the mansion.

The bodies roared up in a sudden inferno that overtook the small dressing room, and without Nathan’s aura it would have flash-burned both of them. More yelling spread behind them, accompanied by the sounds of many people casting spells and giving chase.

But Nathan was already accelerating, leaping down the stairs in two [Airwalk]-assisted steps. A slave carrying a stack of dirty plates was slammed aside, bouncing off the wall as plates shattered on the ground.

Nathan took the first left, bracing his feet on thin air to help him make the sudden sideways leap. He identified the biggest window in the next room and thrust his aura forward like a battering ram to disable all of the wards and spells that made the thin glass as tough as a stone wall. Then his body impacted the window, spinning to break the glass with his back while curling around Faline to protect her from the collision.

He went right through the window, bursting into the night and completing his spin to take off once more. The shattered had torn his robe and scratched his back, but the wounds healed immediately as Nathan took off, focusing entirely on getting gone.

Acceleration 3 achieved!

He zipped over a flower garden, making for the trees and staying close to the ground. He was trying to get into the treeline and out of sight of the mansion as quickly as possible. If somebody took to the air and started chasing them it would be hard to achieve a clean getaway. The foliage ahead was dense, and it would be easy to break the line of sight in there.

Both his and Faline’s stealth skills kicked in, making them hard to spot in the relative darkness. The barest flash of fire mana made Nathan juke sideways, and a bar of fire narrowly missed him. It carved a line through the greenery ahead, a half-dozen fires flaring up along the path of the spell.

Effortless Dodge 2 achieved!

But then Nathan was amongst the trees, and stayed beneath the canopy as he zig-zagged through them, kicking from side to side. Faline shifted in his arms, reverting to her normal size and shape. The reduced weight made Nathan’s job easier as more spells landed around them. The magic accomplished nothing except demolishing several trees and lighting up the night with confusing shadows.

The spells from behind stopped as a calmer head prevailed, and a detection spell pinged across the entire area. Nathan absorbed the portions of the spell that got close to them, and he knew that the mages behind him were frowning at the failure of their spell. Unfortunately, he didn’t know the fastest way out, and was generally just moving away from the spells behind. But for all he knew he could be headed straight towards a barracks of slave-elites.

A powerful enchantment thrummed to life ahead, and a blue glow shone through the trees in front of them. The magic spread up into the sky, a shimmering veil of force that rose up in all directions to encapsulate the estate in a shielded dome.

Nathan chuckled and shot straight for the closest part of the shield. He broke out of the cover of trees and ran towards the base for the shield, which was the inner wall of the estate. Instead of rushing straight through the barrier he slowed to examine it first, wanting to ensure it wasn’t a [Disintegrate] barrier that would vaporize Faline.

It wasn’t. It wasn’t even a particularly strong shield. It appeared to be built to repair itself extraordinarily quickly, so much so that it would be difficult to blast a hole in the barrier and pass through before the hole closed. But a brief circle of antimagic aura did the job just fine, and Nathan accelerated again as he passed over the wall and into the industrial section of the estate.

This wasn’t the same area that they’d entered. It seemed dedicated to finer work, with many rows of small workshops. Lights shone from within to indicate that Chokiz’s slaves were still hard at work as the night wore on. Nathan didn’t stick around to see more, instead running just above the rooftops and towards the distant edge of the property where they would be able to blend in with the general population.

He glanced back. The shielded dome was still up, and a flash of magical light shone inside. From the vestiges of the spell Nathan was pretty sure it was supposed to dispel invisibility spells, which wouldn’t do them any good. The important thing was that nobody seemed to be following them in the air. With all of the buildings and walls Nathan was flying over, somebody on the ground would need Brox’s speed to keep up.

The only remaining obstacle was the magical protections on the outer wall. Nathan flew over it once more, relying on their combined stealth skills to fool any watchers for the seconds they were silhouetted.

Then he peeked over the edge of the next building, into the street. The curfew was in effect, and it was deserted for a hundred feet in both directions. Nathan dropped to the street and deposited Faline gently on the cobblestones. “You’ve become a good passenger.”

Void of Magic has leveled to 309! You and your companion have raided a Giantsrest compound, killing an important mage and escaping retaliation!

She chuckled, eyes wide and cheeks flushed. “What an escape! My bones say they’re still searching the gardens for us. Much simpler than my last assassination.” She quickly pulled the pink robe from before out of her bag and started changing, stuffing Chokiz’s green robe away in efficient motions.

Nathan swapped out his own black robe for the green of an enforcement mage. A moment later they were disguised once more as brother and sister touring the city.

“Let’s celebrate.” Faline said once they had reached a main thoroughfare and put some distance between them and the mounting uproar from the Chokiz estate. She gestured towards a quiet restaurant on the side of the road, with four tables set around a quiet fountain.

They sat down and a pretty young woman approached with eyes downcast. She listed a few food and drink options and then took their orders back to the kitchen, leaving Nathan and Faline alone with the gentle tinkling of water and a few privacy enchantments set into the fountain..

Nathan exhaled slowly, relaxing for the first time in hours, though it felt like it had been much longer.

Faline gave him a knowing smile, satisfaction radiating off her like a physical force. She looked like a cat which had gotten the cream, which seemed appropriate. After all, they’d just committed a masterful piece of political sabotage.

Damn. We really did it.

Only minutes later the slave returned with a second helper, placing a bottle and glasses before them along with a few cheesy appetizers.

Faline poured the pale yellow liquid before flicking her glass to produce a resonant chime. “Health to the Giant.” It sounded like a ritual phrase, if a little sarcastic. Nathan copied the motion and words, receiving a nod of approval. They drank.

The liquid was wine-like in taste, if a little lighter. It paired wonderfully with the cheeses before them, and Nathan gave a groan of appreciation. Giantsrest might have been an evil slaving empire, but they sure had their luxuries.

For the ruling class at least, which composes a small percent of the population. This is similar in quality to the best restaurants I’ve eaten in on Earth, but that’s because the slaves here become slave-soldiers if things aren’t excellent.

Once the main course was served, Nathan started the conversation, intentionally staying vague. “Your words were excellent. I can’t imagine a better way to achieve the desired result.”

The assassin smirked back at him, looking every inch the smug twenty-year old she was pretending to be. “My aim is true, isn’t it?” She sighed fondly, eyes going distant as she considered the day’s accomplishments. “Now we watch for the response. We might need to do more, but so far we’ve had Algoa’s luck in our mission.”

“No kidding. Everything turned out better than I would have expected.” Nathan replied, thinking back over what they’d done today. Faline had gathered the information and handled the social and most of the stealth aspects, while Nathan had taken care of the magic and combat. “We work well together, my capabilities complementing yours.”

The assassin idly twirled her glass and looked around to be sure that nobody was near enough to overhear. “Hear me that’s true. I have long lacked a solution to wards, as well as a method for a quick escape. If we continue to strike from stealth, we can drive the mages to kill each other and intervene if any seem to gain the advantage. We will bring Giantsrest to its knees, and they will not threaten Gemore or Halsmet for a generation.”

Nathan frowned slightly. He didn’t want to weaken Giantsrest enough that it wouldn't threaten others for a generation. He wanted to outright destroy them for what they represented, for what they’d almost done to him and had done to so many others. He wanted to free every slave who wore a collar of mental magic. But that was impossible, and the reason why towered into the sky like a pillar of heaven.

He studied the building with a set jaw before turning back to Faline. “Tell me about the academy. Who are the students? How do they graduate?”

“Later.” Faline said, eying a few mages making their way down the street. They were making a show of examining everybody they passed. “Some earlier acquaintances are on patrol.”

The two of them reverted to silence, digging into the meal with gusto until they were interrupted somewhat rudely by the trio of mages. “Have you seen anybody fleeing this way? Or anything strange?”

Faline looked up at the man who’d asked, the picture of surprised innocence on her face. “What occurs? We haven’t seen anything. Was it a slave escape?”

The second of the trio, the only one who wasn’t an enforcement mage, circled to get a good look at Nathan’s face, and he forced himself to return the woman’s gaze calmly. He didn’t think many people had gotten a great look at him at the party, since he’d kept his hood up the entire time. He also had [Forgettable], a class skill to ensure people forgot details about him.

There was no flash of recognition on her face, and she answered Faline’s question with a shake of her head. “No. An assassination at the Chokiz mansion.” The woman’s face twisted in hatred. “The Nails. I swear doom on those fools.”

“By the giant!” Faline’s reply was high-pitched. “The Nails! Should we leave? Will there be fighting?”

Nathan caught one of the enforcement mages rolling their eyes. “If your hands are idle, you should leave. The Nails are gone, but…” He bit his lip and darted an eye at the other two mages. “There’s a splintered spell looming over all of Giantsrest.”

Faline gasped, then motioned for the waitress to come over. She pulled out a purse and dumped currency into the slave’s hand before standing and gesturing for Nathan. “We will get to our home. Blessings of Algoa upon you.”

Nathan rose more slowly, escorting Faline away. The mages let them go with hardly a second look, continuing down the street in the opposite direction. He walked in the general direction of the safehouse, and she didn’t correct him.

When he’d turned the corner he gave her a gimlet eye. “Did you pay with Chokiz’s money?”

She snorted and looked up with a sheepish grin. “The meal was worth a dragon’s hoard. I wasn’t going to pay for it!”

Nathan just sighed, finding himself tense once more as they traversed the nighttime streets. The glow from the academy and the magic around it served to light all of the streets adequately, but it only illuminated more patrols of mages on the streets.

Some were led by enforcement mages, and they seemed to be moving systematically in their search. Others seemed to be groups of mages roaming the streets, looking for an outlet for their anger. When these groups met there was usually yelling, but no spellcasting.

Nathan glanced over at Faline. “Should we take advantage, pick off a few groups, leave the bodies to be discovered?”

She hesitated, considering the idea. “Too risky, and too likely to reveal us as non-mages. I don’t have enough potions of fire to burn many more victims. We will stoke this flame tomorrow, with another deliberate strike.”

The sound of a detonating fireball sounded from back in the direction of the Chokiz estate, and the assassin smiled. “Though I don’t know if this fire needs to be stoked any more.”

They kept their disguises but started sneaking through the night, trying to avoid the attention of any of the scattered groups. It wasn’t hard with their skills. Soon enough they had truly cleared the area and were approaching Faline’s safehouse, leaving behind the roaming mages.

The city still felt like it was holding its breath. Nobody moved in the streets, but people watched out of half of the windows. Their eyes skated right over Nathan and Faline, but he still felt like an ant under a microscope. Neither of them thought anybody was following, but they still ducked into a park and did a loop to shake a tail before diverting to the safehouse.

The tension still hadn’t left Nathan’s gut after they’d ascended the staircase, and he didn’t move towards bed. He sat on one of the two chairs in the kitchen, closing his eyes and using [Battle Meditation] to calm himself as Faline spread out the loot she’d taken from the enslavement mage and started sorting through it.

It’s not unreasonable to be tense. We just pissed off a lot of people, and it’s not outside of the realm of possibility for somebody with a high-level tracking skill to find us. Or for somebody to scry Faline. Though if it was that easy she would have died a long time ago.

He was a lot calmer when she sat down in the chair opposite him a few minutes later, and he opened his eyes to see her back in her accustomed shape, elegant face and dark hair streaked with color cascading down her back. She was back to wearing the thin garment from last night, its diaphanous material clinging to her body.

“Extinguish your doubts. We are winning. Would you like to celebrate?” She slowly dragged a finger from her stomach up between her breasts to her neck, leaving no doubt what she was suggesting.

Nathan sighed and put his elbows on the table.

Again, very tempting. A bit of distraction sounds nice after all the tension of today. But I decided not to mess around yesterday, and I’m going to stick with that decision. I didn’t give her an explicit no yesterday, I need to do it now.

He looked up again, meeting Faline’s expectant and glowing eyes. “No, I don’t.” He paused, considering his next words. “Faline, while we’re in Giantsrest I want to keep my focus on the mission.” Then he gave a small smile and made his voice slightly teasing. “Afterwards…”

She sighed, leaning forward and planting her own elbows on the table. “Stalker shit. After today, I need a release.”

He shrugged, resisting the urge to explain. “Sorry.”

Faline looked up glumly. “Hear me, I understand how you’ve blazed your own path. Would you rather talk about the Ascendant Academy?”

Nathan nodded in return. “Yes please.”

I can hear the teenage me screaming in the back of my head. Picking a lecture on a school system over having sex with a beautiful, powerful woman practically throwing herself at me. But I can’t shake the feeling that sleeping with Faline would backfire epically.

Status of Nathan Lark:

Permanent Talent 1: Aura of Antimagic 9

Permanent Talent 2: Perfected Body 9

Permanent Talent 3: Airwalking 4

Class: Void of Magic level309

Deepened Stamina: 6991/9570

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: Magekiller level 139

Regenerative Focus: 1322/1490

Catastrophic Blows

Battle Stealth

Mage Infiltration

Forgettable

Unsuspecting Strike

Antimagic Stealth

Spell Redirection

Lethal Index

Utility skills:

Battle Meditation 10

Inspiration 1

Acceleration 3

Wizard Senses 4

Alertness 5

Wizard’s Intuition 4

Effortless Dodge 2

Mental Fortress 7

Tutoring 2

High-tier Tumbling 10

High-tier Noticeability 4

Mid-tier Disguise 2

Mid-tier Battle Cry 7

Mid-tier Aura Manipulation 6