NOVEL NEXT Chapter Thirty: Applied Mage Combat
I spent the following day at work serving up a bunch of units of ultra-refined flamesteel to people who spoke in a strange tongue that I couldn't even remotely place. It wasn't like Ongu or Hua-Long, nor was it like Ceylish or Hydref's language, nor did it even resemble any other language I'd ever heard. Yet at the same time, it was clearly linguistic, its patterns steady and clean, not like gibberish at all, merely a language I'd yet to learn. Stranger still, despite purchasing flamesteel, a solid three quarters of those who came in had a potent bloodline aligned with flame, yet not of any sort of creature I'd ever smelled before. It wasn't dragon, nor phoenix, nor elemental, it was something new.
In the end, most of the transactions had to be done in the bloodline tongue of fire, with a handful in the bloodline language of dragons or angelli. It was far from the first time that I'd had people come in speaking languages I didn't know, or even languages that I couldn't even place, but it was certainly the strangest one, and it furthered my theory that Fable's affinity magic was helping the shop open to places far away.
Initially, I'd thought that the shop just opened doors elsewhere in the world. After all, I'd worked weeks where dozens of people came in speaking Hua-Long and asking to purchase herbs, stones, and monster parts that were useful in the creation of cultivation-based alchemy. But after today, I was beginning to wonder if perhaps the door didn't just open elsewhere on this plane, but into entirely different planes of Etherius altogether.
Etherius was endless, after all. It had existed before the Age of Fire, and would exist long after the Age of Stars. Its planes sprawled out endlessly, and even professor Toadweather acknowledged that the designation of five types of plane was a useful tool for discussion, not a hard rule of the universe. Was it really so staggering to think that some band of ancient people had left our world and settled in the cities of other planes of Etherius? Perhaps they'd even gone on to found some of their own.
When I brought the topic up to Charm, who came in to relieve me, he got an awkward look on his face, and rubbed at his well-groomed beard.
"Ah, bugger me. I hate bein' the one who's gotta handle this. Fable's much better at this sorta thing. Alright, so I won't say you're wrong, not exactly. There's a reason Fable was impressed ya' found us before the school year started, and that we're able to sell so many goods so cheaply, while also paying our employees three times the mandated minimum silver rate."
"I remember the day Fable opened a portal to let you collect wood from another plane."
"Right. Does that answer your question?"
"Not really. You said I'm not exactly wrong, but didn't explain what's actually happening."
"Right on ya'. Listen, you're aiming to be a dragon mage and an archmage, right?"
"I am," I answered cautiously, still caught off guard by the sudden change in topic.
"Well, if you get both of those done, come back and ask these questions to Fable. He might be able to explain it better, and you'll be better equipped to deal with the answers."
On that ominous note, Charm clapped me on the back and gently pushed me in the direction of the door.
"Off ya' go then. You've got plenty of fun in store tomorrow."
That was true – I did have the first class of Applied Mage Combat tomorrow, and that would always be… unique. I also had my transmutation class after that, which I was quite looking forward to. Self study had been interesting, sure, but it was no match for proper teaching.
I spent much of the rest of the day storing some extra spells in my ring. The disintegration spell that the Erudite had placed within sat like a heavy stone in a cart, consuming much of the ring's capacity to store spells, but I was able to successfully add a few particularly useful curses in.
With that done, I created a spellglyph and stored it in my locker, then turned to practicing Jadis' remodel until my ether ran dry. With no more power to practice, I turned to reading on the sealing portion of my affinity. That was still deeply complex, and outside of my ability to cast, but I was at least far enough along that I could construct some diagrams on paper of hypothetical spells.
Eventually, Salem joined me on our loveseat, working on the construction of his empathy sense knot, and some time after that, I wound up passing out. I woke up the following morning with Salem's head resting on my chest, one arm flung around the back of the loveseat, and the other drooping off my side and resting on the ground. Though I was hesitant to move, I poked Salem in the side to slowly prod him up. He snapped awake, blinking rapidly and looking around, then flushing crimson.
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"M' gonna shower!" he said, then turned and fled. I turned a bit red as well – our relationship was official, but this was still the first time in several years I'd slept with someone, even if in a completely innocent way.
After a shower, I was also feeling back to normal, and we met back with Jackson and Yushin on the lawn of campus, ready for the Applied Mage Combat course. Nearby, Wesley glowered at everyone, while the team of now-third year students led by the guy with the affinity that produced spheres of voidlike energy sat a ways away.
As soon as the clock ticked over to start class, the Erudite appeared, folding out of a wave of blue light, staff in hand, professor Alydia to his left, and professor Emir to his right. Alydia peeled away to deal with the older students, while Emir walked to Wesley, and the Erudite joined us.
"Alright, everyone," he said, stretching and blinking rapidly, as if he'd just rolled out of bed. "So, this year is going to be a bit different. Yeah, I could just keep throwing you up against tougher and tougher monsters, but that's…"
He sighed, his breath puffing out long and slow.
"Well, there's a lot more to mage combat than blowing things up. Any mercenary can manage that much. Of course, combat skill is important. Some of your assignments this year will involve that, and thanks to Emrys, I've arranged for a few of your class meetings to involve slapping down some particularly heinous Dreki who will inevitably turn on Gerhard and need slapping down. That should give you all plenty of opportunities to do grunt work."
"How do you know that they will do this?" Yushin asked. "Also, how did you arrange for it to happen in class time?"
"Oh, I don't. Maybe they'll surprise me, and bend the knee, but… I doubt it. As for how I arranged for it, it's less that I arranged for it to happen then that I worked out a deal for Gerhard to arrange it, in exchange for me covering the teleports. But of course, he might still contact you all on his own, like he already did once."
He shook his head and waved his hand, trying to brush past that part of the conversation.
"But that's not important, those exercises are just to keep your direct combat skills sharp. Like I said, applied mage combat is more than that. If you ever work with courts, militaries, or any other quasi-governmental position, then you'll find that the skills of stealth, statesmanship, and subterfuge are just as important for a mage as the ability to blow things up. Arguably more so."
"Sufficient force is enough to overcome most obstacles," Yushin said skeptically. "The Divine King conquered a landmass twice the size of Cendel through force of arm, and has remained unassailable through personal power."
Henry snorted, but seemed to choke on his own spittle, as he started to cough, while laughing at the same time. After an uncomfortably long time, he wiped at his eyes.
"The fact you even think that is, in and of itself, proof that he's a much better statesman than you give him credit for. Do you think I could kill the Divine King?"
"No."
"You're probably right. Even if I was able to push him to the point of ascending, I don't think I'd be able to beat him. Especially not right now, I'm too drained from my battle with the Matriarch. But could Elder Tywyll?"
"No," Yushin repeated, shaking her head. "This is only proving my point. His personal power means that even if other powers attack, he can drive them off at worst, and kill them at best."
Henry nodded to Salem, and I glanced at my boyfriend. He had a contemplative look on his face, and when the Erudite nodded to him, he started to speak.
"Well, assumin' you're right about Tywyll – which I'm not sure you are, jus' to be clear – what about the other members of the Hydref Elder Council? Elder Feat Lienn is an Erudite, an' even if she's not as powerful as ours, she's no' exactly a weaklin'. Elder Talisid is officially the mos' powerful on the Council, an' his Ellyllon magics an' druidry are dangerous. Elder Afon's water magic was strong enough ta' let 'er rip apart an' invadin' fleet'a demons. Could he really beat the entire Elder Council?"
Yushin's lips pressed together, and she seemed contemplative, but before she could say anything, Henry continued to speak.
"The only reason any power at the upper echelons are able to operate is because they've enough skill at statesmanship to soothe bruised egos, and to stop their every move from causing an international incident. If the Divine King attempted to reach his forces into Ongu, for example, Fuyuko would be a dangerous opponent. And if things got bad enough, she might call on Magda, me, or other members of our coven. The Divine King knows this, so even when he pushes at their borders, it's calculated."
"I… can see your logic," Yushin ceded. "Statesmanship is important."
"I'd hope I don't need to convince you on the utility of the others?" Henry asked, giving Yushin a meaningful look. She nodded.
"I am well aware of the utility of stealth and subterfuge."
"Excellent. Then we can get onto today's training exercise. Over the summer, someone who was interviewing at Erudite Olivine's school successfully stole a trove of seventh and eighth circle spell guides, as well as several large ether crystals, and a bottle of Veleese's Ichor."
I squinted, trying to remember who Veleese was. I was pretty certain he was a minor god of… baking? Butchery? Hunting? Something like that. But a minor deity or not, the blood of a god had to be a powerful component.
"Unfortunately, this individual is a prominent member of the Northern Stellthone Army Corps. Officially speaking, spying on him to confirm that he'd stolen it could set off an international incident, and both he and the Five Stellthones deny that he stole anything. I can reasonably place the stolen spell guides at a tower in Northern Stellthone."
He gestured to us, a smile creeping over his face.
"Your all's job is to break in and recover the stolen spell tomes, at which point we can write him a letter, thanking him for returning them, and requesting the other items. Since the goal of this mission is recovery, killing or injuring anyone is strictly forbidden, as it would spoil diplomatic relations between us. So would getting caught."
He removed a familiar looking paintbrush from his own Etherius locker and held it up.
"So, I'm setting the recall spell to bring you back if you use any magic that could cause serious harm, if anyone notices that you all do not belong, or if you fail to retrieve the tomes before class is over. Everyone hold out your hands."