Immovable Mage

– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 96 –

“Lady Beatrice!” a man dressed in the clothes of a butler entered the room and waited at the entrance.

A woman with a light scar on her face lifted her head. “What? You know I don’t like to be disturbed in the morning. I have many meetings to attend to later.”

“There is an irregularity with one of our targets in the Proving Grounds,” said the butler.

Beatrice pushed her pen and documents aside. “I assume there is more to it if it cannot wait until the daily briefing. Give me the short version.”

“It’s about the Arcanian,” began the butler.

Beatrice’s eye twitched. The Arcanian again.

Originally, Beatrice had not cared about Terry. After she had learned about the death of her sister during her deployment in Tiv, Beatrice had only wanted to settle her blood debt with Elizabeth Castelan.

When Beatrice had discovered the relation between the Castellan woman and the famous Captain of Tiv’s Nine Blademasters, Beatrice had thought she could aim higher instead.

Who would have thought that not only had Beatrice failed to achieve either of her goals, she had even earned herself a nasty soul wound?

Beatrice was used to succeeding in her plans, but she was far too rational to let a single foiled plan shake her composure. There were always possible unknowns that only came out during the execution. However, the sheer indignity of having her soul injured by an opponent she had never even accounted for did sting her pride severely.

Beatrice understood the risks of unorthodox spellwork, but it was not easy to exploit the vulnerability in the spell that was channeled through the soul. That is why Beatrice had judged the risk of remaining in close proximity to the Captain and the sensory abilities of her freakish scout much bigger.

Who would have thought that the Arcanian brat that tagged along would carry a completely unknown item and would be willing to waste a whole mana core for a single shot?

Beatrice gritted her teeth when thinking about the mana sublimator. One of her new opponents in the Bloody Hall – a man called Damian – had recently submitted the device for research and he had earned himself a few notable allies with it.

“First…” Beatrice interrupted her butler and pulled another stack of papers from her desk. “Did we already figure out how Terry won the last match?”

“No, Lady Beatrice,” said the butler. “I’m afraid none of our sources in the Proving Grounds have any idea yet.”

Beatrice let out an irritated growl. Initially, she had thought of Terry as a fly, an annoying fly he might be, but a fly nonetheless. When she had first seen Terry in the arena, the fly had already grown so much bigger than she had remembered it from the Bulwark.

Beatrice still remembered her own feeling of incredulity when she had sensed the Arcanian reveal his mana for the first time.

Even so, Beatrice had thought she could easily deal with Terry in the arena, but somehow the brat always weaseled through. It felt as if the pressure was increasing on herself instead.

Whenever she blinked, the brat’s mana pool had grown bigger.

Whenever she took a breath, his casting speed improved.

Whenever she slept, he would come up with something unheard of.

Beatrice had gotten unnerved after seeing Terry’s disruption field and whatever he had done to take out her hired cleaners.

Beatrice had been taken aback when she learned that General Eli might be paying attention to the Arcanian.

When Terry had founded an alliance together with the felan mana martialist, Beatrice had wasted a lot of time and money to put a stop to their progress in the arena. She had thought that the problem would solve itself from there, but then the Arcanian whipped up something unheard of again.

Something no one could explain to her.

Beatrice hated facing unknowns. At this moment, she did not think of Terry as a fly anymore.

“Report,” ordered Beatrice.

“One of my sources about the Arcanian’s activity has not sent a message today,” said the butler.

“That’s it?” Beatrice raised an eyebrow.

“He always sends a message,” stressed the butler. “Always at the same time. He gets paid for each message. He would never miss a chance to get paid.”

Beatrice narrowed her eyes. “...send someone over to investigate, but be discreet.” When the butler turned around to leave, she stressed once more: “Discreet, you hear me. It is possible that General Eli’s people are related to the information blackout. Whatever you do, do not step onto the general’s toes.”

Beatrice lowered her gaze and muttered to herself. “A single annoying youth isn’t worth this much.”

***

“Is this really necessary?” asked Rafael in a whining tone.

“I don’t have another helmet and there is no good reason to run around with a scent mask,” said Terry. “I can wear my helmet. Most people have only seen me without my armor. Together with the Thanatos uniform—”

“Yeah yeah, but…” Rafael looked with disgust at his paws full of wet soil. “Most of the smoothskins couldn’t distinguish one felan from another and—”

“I’m pretty sure that most folks here can tell the difference between tiger stripes and leopard spots,” refuted Terry. “And felans are rare enough to begin with. At least make sure to hide your spots. Once this is all over, you can take a proper bath…” Terry paused and smirked. “Or is it that you are afraid of water?”

“Afraid your mother!” exclaimed Rafael and slapped his head with the soil to change the appearance of his fur. “I’m not afraid of anything.”

Wow, I can’t believe he fell for such a stupid taunt… Terry tried to maintain a deadpan expression but not very successfully. He averted his face and pretended to observe the surroundings.

In a way, this was true. Terry was responsible for scouting ahead with his mana sense and mana touch to make sure that the path was clear. “At the rate they are moving, there should be a gap we can exploit in about two minutes…”

Terry confirmed again that his own mana was fully cloaked and then handed his magic necklace to Rafael. “Take this. The mana around here appears unaspected, which means this is more useful to you than it is to me.”

Rafael eyed the magic necklace suspiciously, but decided to trust Terry. After he put it on, he exclaimed. “Buddy, what the hell?” He was about to take it off again. “This thing is sucking my—”

“Mana, yes,” said Terry. “Passive effect to conceal your mana signature. It emits a mana signature to match the surroundings. I’ve mastered the first two stages of cloaking my own mana to hide my mana signature. Unless you can do the same, take the necklace. The direction you have pointed out leads to an area with many folks. It won’t be as easy to avoid detection from now on.”

Rafael lowered his hands and nodded with a somber expression.

***

“Second Elder!” A woman in yellow combat robes barged into the meditation hall. “Our tracking device indicates movement! At the current pace, they—” The woman calmed herself. “We might be able to exploit an opportunity before Thanatos can interfere. We might be able to retrieve…” She stopped herself. Even though she was extremely agitated, she did not dare show impropriety in front of the Second Elder.

“Hmm…” An old man opened his eyes after waking from deep contemplation. “Are we certain that we are tracking the right target?”

“The elders from the Blazing Sun Sect have assured us that this is the thief we are looking for.”

The second elder nodded. “Prepare a squad of enforcers. We’ll have to ask the guest elders from the Northern Stride Sect to borrow their airship. Pay what they demand.” His eyes grew fierce. “We have to teach the thieving rat that the Thunderous Palm Sect is not easily bullied. Otherwise, everyone might get the idea to step on our heads.”

“I will relay your orders!” The woman agreed hurriedly. If they were able to retrieve the entrance key, then she would be one of the possible candidates to use it. Her eyes were gleaming with anticipation.

“Oh and do not forget to inform our contacts in the Blazing Sun Sect,” added the Second Elder. “They might be of use, but make sure that we get a headstart. Wait before you pass the news.”

“Understood…”

***

[Stop.] Terry held up his hand.

[What is it?] Rafael replied with his own thought transmission.

Terry closed his eyes and concentrated on his mana sense. [People moving swiftly around the contestant area.]

[You mean that…?] Rafael’s expression darkened. [Already?! Shouldn’t we have more time?]

[I guess we’re not that lucky…] Terry took a deep breath. [No matter. We can only move forward.]

[Do you think they’ll have a way to track us?] asked Rafael worriedly.

[I checked all my items several times over and I inspected yours too.] Terry pondered. [If they have a way to track us, then I’m not able to detect it. We will see how they move. Normally, one would expect fugitives to flee the city as quickly as possible.]

Terry moved his eyes towards their real destination. He glanced at Rafel and whispered. “They shouldn’t expect that we’re moving further into the city instead. If their movements indicate differently, then we’re in trouble.”

“I know that Thanatos has people trained in different tracking methods,” remarked Rafael. “Even if they have not been actively tracking us, it’s only a matter of time until they pick up our trail.”

Terry nodded. Let’s hope they don’t utilize mages with the means to scry the present. Otherwise, this will be a really short escape. Terry shook his head. No. We’re not that important. They shouldn’t waste their resources like that…

“We cannot control what they’ll do, only what we are doing. Let’s just continue.” Terry looked ahead and glanced once more at Rafael. “Are you sure that we have to go there? It seems like we’re heading towards the richest district of the city…” Terry added in his thoughts: Which probably means private security on top of the regular patrols.

“Absolutely sure,” replied Rafael with full confidence. “I could find my way to the entrance ticket from anywhere.”

***

Fate frowned. The blue eyes underneath her hood radiated mana luminescence… and worry. “Not here…”

“What do you mean?” asked Xuan impatiently. His worldview had been expanded, and now the confines of the tunnels and streets in Thanatos seemed all the more suffocating to him. He felt unbearably claustrophobic. He felt eager to get away. Impatient to get moving and focus on the real battle ahead.

“Remember why you are alive,” said Fate. “Remember… how you… nearly died.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Fate… fickle.” She shook her head. “There are debts to be paid.”

“I want to see the others,” said Xuan.

“They’re close,” said Fate. “Have to be… cautious.” She looked around with confused eyes. “So much more entangled… twisted…” Her gaze grew sharp. “There are others at work here.” She tightened her hold on her mage staff. “Others… magic that reveals… interference…”

“I want to see the others,” repeated Xuan with more emphasis.

Fate looked calmly at Xuan. After a moment of pause, she nodded. “Fate is… not to be forced… We’ll get them first.” Her eyes showed determination. “We’ll try again afterwards… Debts to be paid.”

Xuan subconsciously glanced at his storage ring. The ring contained the few items he had taken from Terry that were still in his possession. The possessions of the Arcanian that had inspired Xuan’s rage in the Proving Grounds.

The Arcanian that had forced Xuan to beg for his life, an indignity Xuan had thought he would never live down. An indignity that paled compared to what Xuan had learned since then.

Thinking about the others of his tribe, the warden wyvern, the initiate… Complicated thoughts flashed through Xuan’s red eyes.

***

“You’ve got to be kidding me…” Terry blurted out quietly. He and Rafael were hidden on a roof and peeked down. While Rafael had led Terry, the number of pompous buildings in the vicinity had increased with time. Each one of the mansions was gated off and many guards were patrolling inside the fenced areas.

Terry could not help but sigh inwardly. This would have been so much easier if Damian’s bill regarding security systems had been implemented already. I would much rather face a bunch of crime-averting silent alarms than a whole garden of crime-shifting guards and defensive mechanisms.

Terry paused when he realized how he had progressed from being an innocent prisoner due to a freakish dungeon incident to an aspiring full-out criminal.

Involuntarily, Terry remembered the time he had first purchased his Gravitational Attraction glove. Terry had to solemnly promise to the distrustful city guards in Arcana City that he wouldn’t use the imprinted glove for pick-pocketing. He even had to provide character references before he had been able to finalize the purchase.

Technically, I’m not using the glove… I already lost it to Xuan. Terry thought defensively. I never made any promises about the bidirectional attraction glove from Aunt Brynn.

Come to think of it, is it even stealing if we are just retrieving something that belonged to Rafael?

The entrance ticket was his before they took it from him…

Then again, Rafael does seem to have a pair of sticky paws himself. Terry glanced at his felan companion.

No matter. I need to get back to Arcana. The teleportation from the entrance ticket is the best chance I have…

Terry stared grimly down at the large mansion where the entrance ticket was supposed to be.

I can only hope that we can retrieve it without casualties. I don’t suppose the guards would just step aside if I explain my situation?

Probably not… Terry sighed. Definitely not, but…

Terry thought back to the two books in his dimensional storage.

The Warlord would clearly advise Terry to proceed decisively. If violence couldn’t be avoided, then he should kill quickly and mercilessly.

Terry knew that it was the rational choice.

There was not any room for half-assing a situation like this. If his situation in Thanatos had been uncertain before – after all, he had never been sentenced officially – then now, there were definitely several crimes he had committed on Thanatos soil.

Decisive action to leave the Thanatos Empire was the rational choice.

However, Terry’s thoughts kept returning to the second book in his dimensional storage, the Path of a Mage.

There was a short story told about how the Veilbinder had once extracted a hostage. The Veilbinder had plenty of spells to reach his target, but then something went wrong. A small mistake by the hostage and their position was exposed. The Veilbinder could have stopped their position from being leaked by killing decisively.

The Veilbinder didn’t.

The Veilbinder gave the enemy soldiers a chance. They didn’t know what their master had been doing. The Veilbinder told them the truth. To all of them.

Unfortunately, the soldiers didn’t believe the Veilbinder. Everyone stood against the Veilbinder despite his honest words.

In the end, there were only two people left standing: The Veilbinder and the hostage. A bloody battle. An insane risk. An entirely unnecessary risk if judged by the Warlord’s standards.

‘They deserved a choice, even if they ended up choosing wrongly.’

Terry recalled the quotes from the Veilbinder that Saint Petra had noted down in the Path of a Mage.

‘It doesn’t matter that they didn’t believe me. I didn’t know that before. Anyone of them might have chosen differently. That would have been a death on my conscience. My conscience is clear. I would do the same again.‘

Terry remembered Damian’s evaluation of the Veilbinder.

‘Lucky.’

‘Industrious.’

‘Ingenious.’

Lucky… Damian has a point. Terry frowned while paying attention to the guards moving below. I wonder if the Veilbinder would have said the same if he had received a permanent injury in the battle?

Probably.

If he had lost the hostage?

Maybe…

They’re just doing their jobs… Terry bit his lip.

Another image sprang up in Terry’s mind: a scar-faced elf fiddling around with a safe in a storage facility in Tiv.

‘Do you care for the reason a beast bites?’

Terry lowered his gaze when pondering over the words from Clarence, the elf that had assisted the Preacher in Tiv. A dry chuckle escaped from Terry’s lips. That could also apply to me, couldn’t it?

What point is there to my explanations? My motivation?

If I draw my weapons on the guards, what do my reasons matter?

‘Maybe it doesn’t fucking matter?! The critical point is: It bloody bites! When you bare your fangs, then you have entered the world of beasts.’

Terry took a deep breath and shook his head. He didn’t know what to think anymore.

“We could simply barge through,” suggested Rafael. “I think we can take them if we catch them off-guard. We only need to get to the entrance key and then we’re out of here.”

“How can you even be sure that it’s there?” asked Terry. “The walls seem to be prepared to block mana…” He paused. “Okay that actually makes sense, if that is where they store their valuable magic items.” Terry blinked and furrowed his brow. “Wait, isn’t that painting a giant target? They should prepare the whole building if they want to avoid drawing attention.”

“Look at you, little Arcanian, do you have any idea how freaking expensive something like that is?” Rafael stared at Terry as if he was looking at an idiot. “Buddy, I don’t know much of anything but even I know that much.”

“Okay, but how can you be sure that the entrance key is there?” Terry tried to change the conversation.

“I know,” stressed Rafael. His nose wiggled slightly. “Trust me, buddy.”

“Okay…” Terry nodded. Not like I have any better ideas.

“So how shall we go about this…?” It was clear that Rafael was becoming antsy and impatient.

Terry’s lips parted but before he spoke, another image flashed in front of his mind. It was the back of an aged, dwarven woman that was staring down an army.

‘I believe in choices.’

The memory of his aunt Sigille helped Terry to resolve himself. “Hear me out, can we…”

***

Yesenia held her face in her hands and calmed herself. She lowered her hands again and looked at the messengers. “What did you say?”

“It’s not just the Arcanian that has escaped. There are two more escapees.”

“‘Two’ more?” Yesenia raised an eyebrow. “Two? Who aside from Rafael?”

“The lizan cultivator from the Soaring Mountain Sect: Xuan.”

Yesenia closed her eyes. Her mind worked hard to find an explanation that made sense. First the outside interference during the match. Now this?

Could it be that they had been allies to begin with? Could it be that all their earlier matches were staged? Perhaps to pass items to Xuan? There would be countless simpler ways to achieve that.

Was the final match and Xuan’s admission of defeat real or not?

Yesenia involuntarily recalled her conversations with Yana and what she had to say about Terry.

Exceedingly strange.

Incongruous.

At this point, Yesenia felt inclined to wholeheartedly agree, which made her remember Yana’s theory that Terry might be an operative of the magic sovereigns.

“What are our scryers saying?” Yesenia brought up another question.

“They can’t get a good reading, unfortunately…”

Yesenia’s inquisitive eyes moved from person to person, waiting for one of them to elaborate.

“They are claiming there is at least one other reader and an exceedingly masterful one at that. They also complain that there are currently too many factors pulling into different directions. Too many shifts in fate. Everything is changing rapidly. Too fast to pin anything down with certainty. They have trouble even scrying the present. Any future precognition is out of the question.”

“Prepare a priority message to Yana,” ordered Yesenia gravely. “And try to get a hold of the shadow they planned to use here.” She stepped towards the door. “Then find me in the contestant lodgings. I want to see their cells myself.”

“We have already made the preparations to pursue the escapees.” One of Yesenia’s assistants spoke up while walking next to her.

“Good…” Yesenia’s forehead showed deep wrinkles. “...but keep a distance for now. If possible, I would like to learn about what they are trying to do here.”

“Should we assign priorities?” asked the overseer.

Yesenia walked silently for a minute. “Prioritize Terry— no wait…” Yesenia ordered her thoughts again. “Prioritize Xuan. Xuan’s crimes weigh the heaviest. Terry hasn’t even been charged with anything officially.” She paused and moved her eyes along the hallways. “And if Yana’s theory is right, then there is a chance that the Arcanian came here for Xuan. I just can’t see why…”

Yesenia narrowed her eyes and shook her head slightly. “...and I still have trouble believing that this was all an act.” She clicked her tongue. “But even so, it seems like too much of a coincidence.”

Yesenia looked intently at her assistants. “Prioritize recapturing Xuan. Try to catch them alive if possible. However, there is only one among them that I want to see alive without question: Terry. I have questions for the Arcanian and given everything that happened, I have to take the theories seriously. We have to be careful. Very careful.”

“This…” One of the assistants grimaced. “I’ve just received a message and this might get more complicated than we thought.”

“Of course it had to be that way…” Yesenia groaned with annoyance. “What is it?”

“After the last incident, we have put some eyes on the Blazing Sun Sect, like you ordered us to do.”

Yesenia put a hand to her forehead, already anticipating the next words of her assistant.

“They’re on the move…”

***