The First Archmage

(Gavin)

"Nali-ho!" The Dwarf leader greets me as I approach.

He holds up a plate covered in food.

"Come and join us!" He says. "This beast is quite delicious! A group of Elves here caught it!"

I look around, spotting Lyari and a few other Elves celebrating near one of the bonfires set up for the celebrations.

"Thanks," I accept the plate from him and sit beside him.

"Ye've got quite the Order here!" The Dwarf tells me. "We like it! Alright if we join? We can mine out them old mountains for resources! I'm sure they must be brimming with metals, if it's been a thousand or more years since they were last touched! I'm sure the boys would love to mine the ores and forge 'em into gear for yer men!"

"If you wish," I say. "Let me know what kind of homes you want, and I can-"

"We'll get 'em constructed ourselves!" He tells me. "Thanks for the offer, though!"

I nod, then eat the food, watching the celebrations. Ryan's eating, but he's also sitting with a Fairy who's generated a small orb of light so my apprentice can study.

Why is he so focused on learning runes, now? He used to hate them immensely.

Standing, I walk over to him, tapping him on the shoulder. By the way he jumps, one would think he saw the avatar of death behind him. The Fairy illuminating his papers giggles.

"What are you studying for?" I ask. "Everyone else is partying."

"Yeah, I know," he says, looking back at the papers. "Warren was playing around with some illusions while you were gone, and they looked pretty cool. I want to do that, too, so I've been studying the runes like crazy, but memorizing them is hard 'cause my Skill for it isn't high enough yet."

"Stop studying and party," I tell him. "There's a she-Kemmel that's been giving you longing looks since before I came out here, and probably wants to dance with you."

"I can't dance," his face blushes furiously.

"She probably can't, either," I grab the back of his neck and pull him to his feet, setting him down a few feet from the table, then gently push him. "Go party."

He sighs, then turns and grabs the papers, stuffing them into his ring before taking off. I look at the Fairy, who's now turning the orb of light into an illusion of a dragon fighting a bear.

"You don't have to cater to his whims, you know," I say.

"I know," he smiles. "But it's fun watching children play and try to master illusions."

"How old are you?"

"Two hundred, nine."

"You look nice," I say, and he blushes.

With that, I leave him, then mingle with others. The party lasts until early into the morning, and I return to bed, grabbing a few more hours of sleep before waking, though the Order seems to be still sleeping.

I can't blame them, though – most of them were up until just a few hours ago, and the sun's begun to rise.

"Nali-ho!"

Though the Dwarfs seem as energetic as always.

"Nali-ho," I dip my head to the approaching trio of Dwarfs. "How did you sleep?"

"Quite well!" The Dwarf leader exclaims. "The temporary lodges ye made were wonderful! We'll get to work on working the mines later, my boys said they found some nice metals down in them! Once we find some nice stones, we'll also be building our homes and forges! Got anything ye'd like us to build for you, too?"

That would actually work for one of the things I want.

And… he's already got some miners out and locating stuff? The Dwarfs move fast! I'll have to be careful around them, lest I lose my mind again.

I've had enough of rapid changes and occurrences to last me several lifetimes, and would like to take some time to actually relax. In the way that I relax, that is.

"Yes, actually," I answer. "If you'd be so kind."

"Just tells us what yet want, and we'll construct it for ye!" He tells me.

"Two buildings," I answer. "I'd much prefer it if they had two rooms, one smaller, more like the entrance, while the other one is at least fifty feet on each side, including high. The second room needs to be able to be enchanted with magics later, but not immediately. However, these aren't light enchantments.

"I could make the place myself, once I finish the preparations," I say. "Except that there are some flaws to that, such as the resources made would likely not be as quality, if you know of good ones, and I might make the dimensions and such wrong. I want these rooms to be exceptionally stable and able to hold this enchantment for pretty much eternity."

"Aye!" He says. "We can make yer rooms, bud! Just give us some time and we'll get it done! What kinds of enchantments are going into it?"

"Spatial and temporal," I answer, and he raises an eyebrow. "And could you keep that part hush-hush?"

"Secret's safe with me!" He grins. "Though know that we might be able to do it even better if we make it as ye enchant it! It'd hold much better!"

"That's fine," I say. "I do still need to figure out the proper enchantments, first, so this would help me anyway. How much will it cost?"

We don't have a currency for around here yet.

I'll grab Michael and Eli for that once they wake.

"Nothing at all, for ye!" He tells me. "Glad to help build up yer Order, friend of Michael's!"

Ah. He's really doing this for Michael. What kind of bond did they form while Michael was with them?

"Thanks," I say. "Enjoy your day, Thomas."

"Nali-ho!"

"Nali-ho."

He walks off to chat with some of his Dwarfs, and I look around at the people who are waking. As I do, I notice one of the Fairies from Norahl's group floating by lazily, one of the rare Fairies who wears pants and a tunic. I noticed before that he could resist my Appraisal, which means that he has a Divine Appraisal Resistance of at least Level 3, since my Divine Appraisal is Level 2.

That's always confused me, as Norahl's assured me they're all mortal, no Demigods, which means that my Appraisal should work just fine on him.

As if sensing my gaze, the Fairy looks at me, then gives me a lazy, early-morning wave and a yawn, which he promptly covers with the hand he was waving with, blushing.

Divine Appraisal is Now Level 3!

Immediately, I see the Fairy's status… or rather… the not-a-Fairy's status.

Eia Elder Faeborn (III) 9 Grand Enchanter (II) 18

Faeborn find me, huh? Seems like I found one. The name declared on his status matches the same one he uses, so calling it out won't make him suspicious.

"Eia, right?" I call out.

"Yeah," the Faeborn responds as I walk towards him, and he floats towards me. "Thanks for allowing us to live here, Archmage. Your Order is quite wonderful."

"Thank you," I say. "Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Not at all," he yawns again.

"Is the yawning as much of an act as you being a Fairy is, Elder Faeborn?"

He blinks at me several times, then gives me a shy smile.

"The yawning's real," he says. "I suppose you have a Divine Appraisal at Level 3, then?"

"I acquired it upon looking at you and using it a moment ago," I nod. "How long have you been hiding out among his people?"

"Around a century," he yawns. "Forgive the yawning, Archmage, I really am quite tired. I've gotten into the habit of sleeping among his people."

"No worries," I answer. "I was actually looking for one of your kind. Does the Dekami Scholar know of your presence?"

"He suspects," Eia shakes his head. "But believes me to probably just be a Demigod who's had to resist Appraisal a fair bit. He's only got a Divine Appraisal Level 1. Why were you looking for a Faeborn?"

"Subspecies," I answer. "Along with knowledge of your peoples' Runic Language. Advancing my knowledge of it will help me enchant a project of mine to contain a complex spell that uses both spatial and temporal magic. I'll have to use my limited knowledge of Kurew to forge them together, but I'm sure I can manage it."

"If keep the secret of who I am," he yawns again. "I'll give you a tome containing our knowledge. Hrm. How would we guarantee-"

"I swear on the blood in my veins," I say. "That I will not reveal who you really are without your consent. Keeping your identity a secret is why I created the barrier surrounding us, which I'm sure you are aware of."

"I was wondering why you had a privacy barrier," he says as I glow. "I suppose Nies's confirmation works for me. Hrm. Here. Let's try this."

He lifts his hands up, then spreads them out, weaving Aether and Arcane together, the tome coming into existence a few moments later.

"That should do," he says. "Did you want anything else?"

"No," I answer. "Thank you, Eia."

"You're welcome," he yawns again. "Now to find the Kemmel I was wanting to sleep with. See you around, Archmage."

The Faeborn floats away, and as he does, I check my available Subspecies, confirming that his Species has been added to the available ones.

I send the tome into my ring, then make my way to the Tower, where Tristan is already up and studying one of the texts within it. We talk for a few minutes, then I head back out and make my way to the training hall.

Why is Ryan already up and studying runes?

"Ryan?" I ask, and he turns to face me, giving me an inquisitive look. "Why are you awake already?"

"Like I said last night-"

"You do know I can tell when people lie, right?" I ask, and he pauses. "And read runes a lot more fluently than you?"

He deflates, then frowns, looking between my forearms.

"Didn't you only have one of yesterday?" He asks. "The zierna thingy? I could've sworn you only had it on your right arm, but you have it on both.

"You're probably imagining things," I tell him. "I have two of them, matching zierna. They amplify my physical attacks if I activate them while also allowing me to create a nigh-impenetrable barrier. So why are you trying to make a spatial pocket when you can barely weave spells?"

"I…" he starts, then sighs heavily. "I think it'd be cool to have one without needing a ring or anything."

"The rings are more efficient."

"Are you sure?" He asks, and I stare at him. "You've tried it before."

"I've put together the runes for it," I say. "But never actually activated the spell. The rings are more efficient."

"Hey, Gavin," Dylan pokes his head into the training room. "You don't normally walk around shirtless, but were yesterday and now, and didn't you only have a zierna on your right arm last night?"

"I had two," I state. "And the Fairy Secondary Species wants me to be nude. The Human side allows me to resist it enough to wear pants without issue."

"Ah," he says. "I was wondering if you were going to be using your wings more often."

"I use my wings."

"Not normally," he says.

"What do you mean?"

"Uh, dude," Ryan says. "You usually manipulate air to fly, not fly with your wings and innate flight powers. Even when you have your wings out."

I… didn't realize that. I got into the habit of using manipulated air to fly, so much so that once I acquired innate flight magics, I never even used them. I don't actually need my wings for that, but they do help some with control.

"I actually don't need the wings, either," I admit. "I'm just in the habit of it from before I became an Ascendant Human."

"Ah," he says.

"Yeah," I say, then return my gaze to my brother. "Were you looking for me?"

"Yeah," he responds. "Do you know of any runes for fire from the Dekami Runic Language that aren't in our tomes?"

I draw several on the air, then imprint them onto a parchment I manifest before rolling it up, tying it with a ribbon, then tossing it to him.

"Thanks," he catches it. "Um… you didn't write their explanations."

"You didn't ask for those."

He sighs.

"The parchment's enchanted," I tell him. "It has eight runes on it, but you'll only see one at a time, similar to Tristan's Grimoires. Each form of it will tell you the relevant information."

"Ah," he says.

"I need your brother and Michael," I tell him. "Can you have them meet me for breakfast in half an hour?"

"Sure," he says. "Where at? And do you need me, too?"

"You can come if you want," I say. "Ryan, too. However, you two aren't needed, and let's do my place. I want Michael because he's most familiar with the different currencies in the world, and Eli because he's more scholarly than you. No offense."

"None taken," Dylan shrugs. "What do you need them for?"

"To figure out what the currency here will be," I answer.

"Ah," he says. "Alright, I'll go let them know."