Somebody Stop Him [A Progression Fantasy Epic]

We entered the Central Hall. It was breathtakingly vast. The Hall was a circular, massive auditorium stretching upwards to a vaulted ceiling.

Looking up I froze. A Celestorm spun overhead, colorful lightning periodically silently flashing at crystalline columns.

"A permanent Celestorm," Vespera commented. "Produced by the large Shard of the Wormwood star beneath the hall."

"I see," I said.

"Sometimes it strikes the worthy or unworthy with lightning," the Thunderbird added with a smirk. "Either to uplift or to punish a specific student."

Massive balconies covered in banners of various House colors ringed the hall on multiple levels, each filled with students in robes matching the banners. In the center of the ground floor, a raised dais dominated the space, bathed in soft, diffused light filtering through stained-glass windows depicting scenes of mythical beasts and heroic Mystagogues slaying them. Rows of seats, arranged in a semi-circle facing the dais, were rapidly filling with new first-years in gray robes.

Vespera breathed, her silver-gold eyes wide as she took in the scale of the hall, her wings fluttering and sparkling with electrical currents. "Eeeeee… There's soooo much magic in the air! It's making my head spin!"

Cinder just grunted, but even her attempt at a stoic face betrayed a hint of awe. Magdaline removed her headphones, her red eyes silently scanning the hall.

We found seats near the front, just as a figure in a dark suit and gold-star dark robes strode onto the dais. The overhead lights focused on the Omnid who was a Dobhar-chú, a water-dog creature, tall and lean with sleek, dark fur, intelligent brown eyes, and whiskers that twitched with energy. A heavy silver chain of office glinted on his chest with an eight-pointed star. This was the Dean, I deduced, recalling the Academy online information that wobbled in my head.

The Dean cleared his throat, and tapped a Nuntix Kitlix on his podium, producing a surprisingly booming sound that echoed through the vast hall, silencing the chatter instantly.

"Welcome, Mystagogues, to Skyfall Academy!" he announced, his voice resonant and filled with professorial gravitas. "I am Dean Otter, your guide and mentor on your journey into the boundless realms of Mysticism and Arcane Arts."

He launched into a lengthy introduction, his words flowing like a river, touching upon the arcane history of Skyfall, Saxtland Knights, the importance of Mystagogue scholarship, and the unique blend of magic and science that defined the Academy. He extolled the virtues of rigorous study, student heroism, intellectual curiosity, and the pursuit of esoteric knowledge, throwing in arcane terminology with impressive ease.

"Here at Skyfall," Dean Otter declared, gesturing expansively, "we embrace the glorious tapestry of Mystical traditions! From the intricate runecraft of Saxtland Archmages, to the beast-lore of Omnithornia, to the wild, untamed energies of the Wormwood Star's impact zones and a multitude of dungeon-worlds bound to us by dimensional gates! We celebrate wisdom and cultivate scholarly-ness in all its forms and…"

While Dean Otter ranted on and on about the Academy's philosophy, I tuned him out, focused on my Scrutimancy. I closed my eyes slightly, pushing mana through my soul, directing it through the nascent Scrutiosmia skill, gradually inhaling lost knowledge from the Astral Ocean around me.

Memories, like fragmented images in a broken mirror, began to surface. Flashes of other places, other times, other faces. I saw myself as Alexa, threatening Bob Proverra with a nailgun. I saw the SimmiTech compound, the moment of Zadskiel's release. I saw… Possy and our trio laughing on the crystalline beach of the Chasm Sea. The memories were still disjointed, hazy around the edges, but they were becoming clearer, more cohesive. The dimensional skewering was gradually loosening its grip, allowing the threads of my past to re-weave themselves into a semblance of a whole.

Dean Otter's lecture droned on, a background hum to my internal explorations. Suddenly, a hush fell over the hall. I opened my eyes, refocusing on the dais. Dean Otter had stepped aside, and a tall, imposing figure, clad in full magisteel plate armor, had taken his place. This was a Saxtant Knight, I realised, the protectors of Saxtland–their presence a constant reminder of the new, theocratic undercurrents of this place.

The Knight carried a long, ornate sword, its blade shimmering with a faint, ethereal light, an eye-shaped ruby gemstone embedded in its dark handle. Slayer Nazareth's Sword, the Sorting artifact. The ceremony was about to begin.

One by one, students were called forward. Mostly Omnids, but a large number of mixed-bloods as well, announced as kobold Scions of this or that Omnid house.

I realized that the Archangel's release poured more magic into the world and thus more humans were able to cast magic through themselves. Through my meddling, I had provided slightly better conditions to the Omnid-oppressed humanity. We were no longer dirt under their feet to be simply washed away, instead we were now owned, useful property with minor magical skills.

Each student walked to the dais, knelt before the Knight, and bowed deeply. The Knight raised Slayer Nazareth's Sword high above them, the blade glowing brighter and then handed the sword to each student to hold onto.

As each student gripped the handle, pointing the blade downwards, their grey unassigned robes flared with radiant flickers. Colors rippled across the fabric–silver, crimson, green, gold, blue–swirling and shifting like liquid light, before finally settling into a specific range, solidifying into the house colors.

A collective murmur of approval rippled through the hall as each house was revealed.

Dean Otter then stepped forward, his voice booming with congratulations. His NPC script was mostly as follows: "Welcome, Mystagogue [Student's Name], to House [House Name]! May your time in [House Name] be filled with [Insert generic terms such as: growth, discovery, and etcetera]!"

Lighting struck each student from the Celestorm overhead and then a magitek printer on a side table next to the Dean whirred to life, spitting out a rolled scroll. The student took the scroll, clipped on a Lazarus bracelet if they lacked one, bowed to the Saxtant Knight and Dean Otter, surrendered the sword and then moved off the dais, heading towards one of the balconies where they joined their fellow students, greeted with applause and cheers.

Kitsune waiters brought drinks, food and snacks to the balcony-inhabiting students from the bars at the back of each balcony. Skyfall was basically an overpriced magic college.

The ceremony proceeded swiftly, student after student kneeling before the sword, robes flashing, houses declared. House Silverfox, House Pyroclast, House Gorefield, House Hexacomb, House Wormwood–each balcony section slowly filling with new members.

My stomach tightened as I watched. Soon, it would be my turn. Would we be sorted together? Would the Slayer Sword recognise the soul-bond? Could I somehow bamboozle the sword? The uncertainty was a throbbing, cold knot in my chest.

"Martin Kilborne!" Dean Otter announced suddenly.

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I stood up and went towards the dais. The Knight handed me the sword. I gripped the handle, going down on one knee. An eldritch beast with many tentacles and eyes was tiled on the dais floor beneath me. I struck the sword into its head, sending sparks flying.

An eerie hum filled my head.

[Good tomorrow, darling mine,] A voice made of voices sang in my head, rushing up the sword into my hands. [Here you are again…]

[Who are you, voice divine? Do we… know each other, say?] I thought back, my mental voice strangely musical.

[We do,] she replied.

The tile-formed Leviathan beneath me stirred, Depictomancy activating it into motion. A thousand silver-blue eyes focused themselves upon me.

The eye-shaped ruby gemstone in the Slayer Sword's handle suddenly rearranged itself to resemble a Dagaz rune.

[Ein Sof?!] I blinked at the rune.

[That I am,] The voice in my head answered.

[Didn't we free you?] I asked.

[That you did,] she replied with a thousand whisper-thoughts, mouths of the Leviathan beneath me opening and closing.

[So why the fuck are you still here?] I furiously thought at her.

[I'm always here, darling mine,] Ein Sof sang. [Always. Forever. With you. Inside each Fractal Engine heart of every Omnid. Inside the magical resonance wielded by every human. In the ground below your feet. Inside every Wormwood Star Shard. Bringing the world ever closer towards entropy.]

[How about we don't careen the world into entropy?] I fired back at her, my skin tingling.

[Entropy is the inevitable decay of all things towards greater chaos,] the many-eyed beast below me wiggled its tentacles, spinning around the sword. [The power you wield to bend the universe exists because you and I are gnawing at the foundations of reality, twisting and decaying the Rules.]

I sighed mentally.

[Do you not like that there is more magic in the world?] She sang with a thousand Depictomancy-animated mouths. [Do you not appreciate the greater splendor and beauty of Skyfall?]

[How often is this going to happen?] I thought-rasped, feeling exasperated.

[Until your Earth reaches the barrier boundary mesh and is devoured into white noise and dust by its pure entropic embrace.] She sang.

[How long has this been going on?]

[Forever and one hundred million years or so.]

[Why?]

[Because humanity wished for infinite wishes,] Ein Sof replied. [And I have made it thus.]

[I see. Will my friends end up in the same house as me?] I projected my current worries towards the Leviathan below, feeling the weight of her limitless gaze upon me.

[Those who carry me are bound together more and more with each breath and each glance,] the concept of infinity's voice echoed back, a chorus of whispers in the deep places of my soul. [And Each glance… The threads of Dagaz will lead you to your mission.]

[Which is what?] I mentally yelled.

[Breaking the Rules!] Infinity sang.

[Rules?] I projected loudly, becoming frustrated with her, momentarily forgetting the weight of the Slayer Sword in my hands and the watchful eyes of the entire hall. [What Rules?]

[The Absolute Syntropic Numbers,] Ein Sof sang, her extra-resonant voice vibrating itself across my entire body from the sword. [The Agentic Laws that govern and watch over all, protect subscribed worlds and cast unsubscribed worlds towards entropic destruction. Numbers that direct System Wizards to weave an endless tapestry of worlds for the desires of a special few.]

[System Wizards?] I frowned. [Are they… in charge?]

[They believe themselves to be,] the Leviathan beneath my feet sang. [They are the narrators, the scriptwriters of many plays. They craft the stories of worlds and nations rising and falling, of heroes and villains playing out pre-ordained roles. They maintain the illusion of order, the comforting lies.]

[And you want us to break these rules?] I asked, glancing sidelong at Cinder and Vespera, who were waiting with barely concealed impatience for their turn in their gray cloaks.

[You are… edge cases,] Infinity sang. [You carry my potential. You are less bound by the Numbers. You are… disruptive. My little sparks, the engines of change towards greater chaos.]

[Greater chaos?] I considered.

[Entropy is not inherently evil, little spark,] Ein Sof sang. [It is merely… inevitable. System Wizards try to hold back the tide, to build dams against the ocean of chaos. But the ocean always wins, in the end. You… simply accelerate the process of destruction in a particular direction. You are the tiny cracks in the dam, widening with each cycle, bringing the flood ever closer.]

[Until we all drown?] I frowned mentally.

[Perhaps you would,] Ein Sof shrugged, wiggling the Leviathan's silver tentacles beneath me against blue tiles. [If you were blind and stupid. But you are not! You are my clever, dangerous little fox.]

The Leviathan's voice faded, sounding almost like Cinder and then the eerie music rushing up the sword ceased.

The thousand eyes of the beast beneath me blinked closed, the Depictomancy animation subsiding, stilling. The ruby Dagaz rune in the sword's handle pulsed once more, then faded away.

Lightning struck my body from the Celestorm above and the random colors rippling across my robes settled, coalescing into the cool silver and deep argent of House Silverfox.

"Welcome, Mystagogue Stratos-Kilborne, to House Silverfox!" Dean Otter's voice boomed. "May your Skyfall journey be full of clever discoveries and wondrous Arx adventures!"

A ripple of polite applause echoed through the hall as I relinquished the Slayer Sword to the Knight and accepted the rolled scroll from the magitek printer, my mind still reeling from the bewildering cosmic conversation-song.

Then I accepted the dark immovable metal Lazarus ball from the dean and watched as it unfurled into a centipede that bound itself to my wrist. As I turned around, lightning struck my wrist from the Celestorm overhead and my bracelet turned pure white.

The Dean gaped at my bracelet. "How... peculiar. A clear bracelet. This never happened before!"

"Just reality correcting itself," I shrugged with a smile.

I walked off the dais, my eyes instinctively seeking out Cinder and Vespera. Both of their heads turned my way as I followed a silver line on the floor to the Silverfox balcony overhead.

The other foxes welcomed me with very light applause from other nullborns. I sat at the edge of the balcony on an empty chair, looking down.

Cinder was next, after a bunch of other students. As her name was called, she strode forward with draconic confidence, her silver feathers practically radiating anticipation with flashes of orange and violet.

She knelt before the Saxtant Knight, took the Slayer's Sword, and struck it into the Leviathan tile. I had no idea whether Ein Sof spoke to her, but she stood there for a bit on one knee. Her grey robes flared, the colors swirling, hesitating for a minute on crimson and gold, then blinding lightning struck her from above and her robes resolved into the same cool silver and deep argent as mine. House Silverfox!

Excellent. The bossy dragon was drawn into my orbit and could no longer escape it.

"Welcome, Mystagogue Nova, to House Silverfox!" Dean Otter announced.

I cheered her on, clapping loudly. Again, there was a second flash of lightning and her Lazarus bracelet turned clear. She and the Dean gaped at it for a few seconds, hushed whispers spreading across the hall.

Then, Cinder walked off the dais, her blue eyes meeting mine with a confident smile. She climbed up the marble spiral stairwell and then plopped down onto a seat across from me.

"Told ya," she smiled, a round table between us, her silver wings dancing with violet tones. "Dragons and kobolds end up in the same House!"

"Except, you're the one who followed me to Silverfox," I pointed out.

"Only 'cus your last name starts with a K and I'm a Nova," Cinder rolled her eyes. "If I went first, we would have totally gone to the dragon house!"

"Riiiiight. Did the Leviathan talk to you?" I asked her. "What'd she tell you?"

"Erm. That's none of your business," Cinder said, flashing orange-pink.

"Uh-huh," I stretched. "You'll tell me eventually."

"What? You're not the boss of me!" Cinder huffed, wings flaring out. "I'm your boss, kobold! Go to the bar and bring me a latte with gold dragonflakes!"

"Okkay, bossy boss," I grinned at her as she threw a gold visa card at me, standing up. "One dragon-latte coming right up."