The Wandsmith [LitRPG, Isekai, Harem]

"Good sleep?" Freya asked, her buzzing wings making slow circles around Ori's forehead, doing little to improve his groggy mood. He wanted to ask what time it was but instead tilted his head back, squinting up at the cloudy sky framed by the vast, dark walls of the ravine. He glanced around, surprised to find Ruenne'del the normally late riser, already up and packing.

Catching his gaze, Rue smirked. "You were poking me in your sleep."

Fucksake, Ori thought, realising with mortification that his morning wood was even worse than usual after an entire dreaming spent doing everything but actual sex with his earthbound warlock.

"Sorry," Ori apologised. They had been sleeping close together for practical reasons, space, and body warmth, given their lack of camping gear and only a dusty waxed canvas for shelter. Ori did not mind the idea of multiple partners, in theory, but the practical implications and complications were multiplying. No one ever warned you about the strange guilt of sharing dreams with one woman while snuggling another. It might not be cheating, but it certainly felt disrespectful.

"Who were you dreaming with?" Rue asked, her voice curious rather than accusing.

"Raven," Ori replied absently, focusing on packing his gear.

"How is she?" Rue pressed, her genuine interest catching him off guard.

"She's good. Happy. Horny," he looked up, with a chuckle. "You know she couldn't walk before, because of an injury. She's dealing with that now. More than that, actually. I can't wait to bring her here. She deserves to experience this world with the rest of us."

"And how are you?" Rue asked, tilting her head.

"You do seem better," Freya added, hovering nearby.

"Yeah. Got something like a plan now," Ori said, exhaling slowly. "And..."

"And?" Freya prompted.

"And well... I am the Wandsmith, the White Mage, the Duælist, and the Bondweaver. I've made progress with all my classes except the last one. I think, not only do I need more bonds to progress it, but I need ways of strengthening them, boosting you permanently or temporarily. Then I thought about what you said. Fighting together."

Ori paused, letting out another long breath.

"What conclusion did you come to?" Freya asked.

"It'll be a long-term project," Ori said. "But I want to find or develop powerful bonded. People as strong or stronger than me. Companions I can fight beside."

"A battle harem," Rue said, nodding sagely.

"Indeed," Freya sighed.

"Wait, what? That's a thing here?" Ori asked, blinking.

"Uncommon, but yes," Freya said. "Different races call it different things. The elves call it Lethwan'deim. Some human cultures have formalised polyamorous arrangements, especially among guild parties."

"Right. So... it's not just about having more bonds. It's about what I can do for them too. I have an idea I want to try, but it might take time to set up."

"Oh?" Freya's curiosity sharpened.

"You know how I was mortal for a long time? How I kept racking up accolades way past the point when I should have awakened?"

"You want to find other mortals and repeat the process?" Freya said, catching on quickly.

"Exactly. What if I could give them an artefact, or an enchantment, that made them ten times stronger? Then set them on the same kind of path, bound by a contract like the one we had."

"You know that original contract was—"

"It's fine," Ori said, cutting her off gently. "You had every reason to be cautious, and spiteful. Besides, it worked out, didn't it?"

Freya hesitated, then nodded.

"As for your idea, it could work," she said. "But do you think it will be enough to face the Name Eater?"

"No," Ori admitted. "This is a long-term plan. My immediate goal is different. I need to get stronger, quickly, and to do that I have to unlock the Nameless Black Mage's memories. Which I cannot do as I am. I need to get smarter. I could spend billions of points raising Intelligence by a few dozen points, but it would not be enough to matter. Or... I could try to unify Intelligence with Wisdom, Will, or Spirit."

"You have a way to do that?" Freya asked sharply.

"I think so. I might have unified my first characteristics during the Void trial within Crucible, or maybe in the Astral. I'm not sure which. But I can try again. If I do it backed by the power of an Aether Rift, my chances should be better."

"So... you want to use this Rift to attempt to unify characteristics?" Freya concluded.

Ori shook his head. "No. First, I need to create my signature spell. Without it, many future Rifts would remain out of reach. If I can stabilise a true signature spell, it will let me push deeper into more dangerous regions, absorb more Rifts, and give me more chances to enhance my Aethermancy, my mana, my spellcraft, and my soul capacity."

"That sounds good for a start. What happens next?" Freya asked.

"I'll need your help, Rue," Ori said. "I had a glimpse at the method Nameless used to track the Name Eater, but I can't make heads or tails of it. It's full of karma and Fate-based theory. Maybe if I explain it to you, you'll have a better shot at figuring it out?"

Ruenne'del nodded.

"And after that," Ori pulled up the ability description once again, his eyes narrowing in thought.

Ability Name: Curse Inversion

Type: Passive, Transcendent

Characteristic Requirements: Spirit ≥ 1000, Intelligence ≥ 1000

Other Requirements: Curse Affinity

Effects: Grants the ability to invert the detrimental effects of curses to a maximum of plus two ranks over the originating curse. Inverted curses are transformed into beneficial enhancements, lasting half the duration of the original curse.

Description: Curse Inversion is a Transcendent Rank passive ability, that enables the user to subvert the foundations of malediction, twisting hostile curses into sources of empowerment. A curse intended to sap strength might instead grant endurance; a malediction meant to cloud the mind might sharpen clarity beyond mortal limits. This ability protects against curses up to two ranks higher than the user's own, causing either failure or inversion of their effects based on the relative strength of the curse versus the user.

Notes: Curse Inversion emerged as a desperate weapon during the final battle between a nameless archmage and an entity of Power recognised by Fate as the Name Eater. Where no conventional defence could shield the soul from annihilation, Curse Inversion, born from the collision of Aether, corrupted Grace, and the defiance of a dying archmage, carries the echoes of that cataclysm within its eternal matrix. Those who wield it bind themselves to that ancient conflict, weaving the last memories of the lost into the fabric of their own existence.

Though a potent defence against curses, its influence upon Fate is neither benign nor without consequence. In regions where it is heavily used, the foundation of reality itself may fracture, spawning unstable Aether Rifts. At the same time, the laws governing spellcraft may rebel, turning against casters regardless of intent or alignment. Caution is not merely advised but essential, for Curse Inversion is not simply a shield, but a living remnant of the endless war between will, identity, and oblivion.

"I need to understand this ability. Right now, it's greyed out because I don't meet the requirements, but it's supposed to protect me from curses up to two ranks higher. So... up to Sovereign rank. So if I ranked to Sovereign rank—"

"Which is impossible, despite your many accomplishments and accolades," Freya cautioned. "And even if it were possible, it would harm your long-term growth."

Ori nodded grimly. "Yeah. Which is why I need to study this transcendent ability properly, and then make a more tailored version. Something better suited to my affinities and strengths."

"It needs a Curse Affinity to function," Ori said quietly. "I can see it on my Page of Fates... but it's greyed out and I can't turn it on." He glanced towards Freya. "Is it even possible to just... learn an affinity? If I spend enough time studying curses, could I pick one up that way?"

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"Maybe through a bond," Freya said, tapping her chin. "Otherwise... unlikely. You cannot just read a few books and suddenly develop a Curse Affinity. You would need more than knowledge. You would need real desire. A genuine connection to the aspect, beyond what it can give you in spells or abilities."

She gave him a meaningful look, her wings flickering as she added, "And even then, there is the risk of antipathy. If your soul rejects the aspect on an essential level, no amount of study or effort will make it yours."

Ori sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Figures. Nothing's ever simple."

He frowned thoughtfully. "Still, I'll give it a shot. Spend a few weeks learning the basics. Worst case, I get a better understanding of curses. Best case, maybe I can get Curse Inversion working, if I can use it enough, maybe I could upgrade it into something that fits me better."

"Upgrading a Transcendent rank ability… Is likely impossible." Freya said, instantly dashing Ori's dreams.

"Fucksake."

"But the rest of your plan is sound. Let's take it a day at a time."

"Yeah, one out of a hundred more days. Fuck! I hate these deadlines."

Ori sat cross-legged before the Aether Rift, the fractured eddies of primordial energy swirling close enough for him to taste. The misty metallic tang shimmered like fractured sapphire, thick with a power so dense that every breath seemed to thrum against the inside of his chest.

This rift was different. It was five times more saturated than any he had encountered before with a depth to it that suggested a lake of power far larger than its outward size alone would imply. Knowing now how this series of rifts had formed, and who had once lain at its centre, Ori was not surprised.

He rested his hands on his knees allowing the hum of the Aether to bleed into his bones as he descended into meditation.

The groundwork was already laid. The concepts and ideas for his spell had been shaped, tested, trimmed, and reforged in his mind through countless iterations. Now, here, at the edge of this rift, he could finally begin the process of turning thoughts into reality.

High Magic, his foundations established with Freya and recently reinforced by Nameless, had been the beginning. The synthesis of affinities and contrasting flows of power, mana forming self-reinforcing conduits of feedback and control. Through it came laws; temporary rules that could overwrite natural order for fleeting moments.

But now Ori saw beyond.

According to Ori's limited understanding, Arch Magic bound more than mere affinities or elements. It tied concepts directly into constructs at the same level as affinities producing spells whose laws not only supplanted those of nature, but sunk beyond, forging a resilience deeper than mere intent could ever reach.

And beyond even that, Prime Magic. A magic that could take a law and refine it into a truth, concepts so powerful that they strode the boundaries of existence itself. Ori was far from using Prime Magic, but his mere surface understanding had already given him insights he intended to exploit.

His signature spell would not be a mere weapon. It would be a seed, a system of judgement and destruction layered in mind and law.

He had laid out its objectives clearly:

It must produce extreme amounts of wide area-of-effect damage and control.

It must discriminate clearly between friend and foe.

It must discriminate between good and evil.

It must scale exponentially with his understanding.

It must, not unlike Law of Radiance, possess memory, computation, and adaptability; a mind without will, recording every judgement, every stay of execution, and every redemption for all eternity.

It would be a synthesis of every affinity he commanded.

Void would embody the space between stars, the silent, pitiless gulfs between existence and oblivion.

Quintessence and Aether would tether the spell to the deeper laws of Fate and Freedom, ensuring its adaptations and insights did not simply vanish, but carved themselves into the record of reality.

Celestial would impose order and judgment, the unwavering discrimination between true good and true evil. Astral would reach into the hearts and minds of those caught in the spell's domain, exposing their intentions, magnifying their fears ten thousandfold, and laying bare their naked egos.

All of this would be driven by Cosmic and Flux affinities, the engines of creation, change, and destruction, binding Fate and Freedom into a living cycle of transformation.

The guilty would not simply be destroyed. Their souls would be judged, and redeemed through soulcraft, but never erased.

The spell would consume as much Peritia as it generated, storing every outcome within itself, an eternal record that no force could erase, his only concession towards his scheduled contest against the Name Eater. Mana, Duælism, Modern Warfare, and Material would govern its mind: a cold and impartial executor of Ori's will.

He inhaled slowly, withdrew the remaining nugget of Quintessence from his void storage ring, placed it on his lap, then raised his hand, his fingertips sparking the moment they brushed the Rift's surface. The unrelenting pressure of the Aether bore down on him, almost as heavy as the challenges he faced and the expectations he had placed upon himself.

The memories he had inherited from Nameless had stripped away much of his naïveté. He had glimpsed the monstrous cruelty of the Underworld affinity and accepted that some aspects of magic, no matter how powerful, would never be his to master.

But he had the Void, and within lay terrors beyond hatred, evils beyond malice, hungers and darknesses so profound they did not burn with fire, but with the absence of meaning itself.

The Void was the final silence, the end that even the stars feared, and Ori would wield that terror like a scalpel, its shadow the ideal backdrop for a field of stars, its contrast the perfect engine between light and dark. Through it, he would forge laws strong enough to breach the threshold of Arch Magic.

He opened his eyes, and beyond the actinic blue of the rift, the reflection of countless unborn stars shone within.

"Another day, another Aether Rift," Ori mused aloud.

After forging his new spell and absorbing the Rift's power, he felt more hopeful about the future, and for good reason. The deepening of his mana nexus, the growth of his soul and the completion of his Transcendent-ranked signature spell left him feeling more determined, and a better match for the challenges to come.

Spell Name: Starfield

Type: Damage, Control, Conceptual, Evolving

Characteristic Requirements: Intelligence ≥ 200, Will ≥ 250, Spirit ≥ 150

Other Requirements: Void Affinity, Hamonic Affinities, Quintessence Affinity, Flux Affinity, Aether Affinity, Mana Affinity, Soulcraft affinity

Effects: An evolution of Light Field, Starfield transforms illumination into a battlefield construct of conceptual judgement. Within the affected area, the spell identifies friend from foe, good from evil, inflicting suppression, physical destruction, and soul redemption based on the User's comprehension and Will.

Description: Starfield creates a constellation of Hamonic and void-touched stars across a wide zone, each acting as a node of detection and enforcement. Hostile targets are stripped of concealment and protective magic, exposed to Astral magnification of guilt and fear, and subjected to Celestial and Cosmic forces that dismantle bodies and refine souls.

Rather than mere destruction, souls are judged and, where necessary redeemed, with all outcomes stored within the spell's astral memory. Starfield evolves over time, refining its accuracy and discrimination with each casting based on accumulated Peritia.

Notes: Starfield retains and amplifies the illumination and anti-shadow properties of Light Field, but now operates across paracausal and physical boundaries. Its range, intensity, and discriminatory functions scale with Intelligence, Will, and Spirit. Mana costs are significant and increase with the volume of space affected.

As a Transcendent-ranked spell, Starfield leaves lasting marks upon Fate. Each casting strengthens the brilliance of distant stars, while the Void grows deeper, whispering to troubled hearts and unsettled minds. Prolonged use in one area may permanently alter local magical structures, altering the balance of light, darkness, and cosmic order.

Now, after trekking at a pace far faster than their usual careful amble through the forest, Ori and his companions stood once again at the edge of the Worm Nest's territory.

The forest had thinned almost to nothing, replaced by broken earth and shattered stone. Cracks split the ground in chaotic patterns, each fissure pulsing faintly with residual Aetheric corruption.

Ori stopped at the edge of a vast scar in the earth, the same place where the ground had swallowed him days ago. His fingers brushed the dirt lightly, feeling the tremors beneath. The worms were still there, their ceaseless churning causing the entire region to quake with micro tremors and suddenly collapsing earth.

The air was thicker here, heavy with the scent of mud. Beneath their feet, the ground was laced with cracks and tunnels, a reminder of the sovereign-ranked half-elemental monsters lurking below.

"You seem confident," Freya said, her voice light.

Ori nodded once.

"Confident enough for me to come?" Rue asked. Ori's nod hesitated briefly before continuing in answer.

"Yeah. Besides, I kind of want to see what you think."

They stopped at the familiar crack in the earth, the place near where the monsters had once swallowed him whole. Ori crouched, touching the dirt, then pulsed his domain outward.

He stood, exhaled slowly, and raised Seraphine's Beacon, casting his signature spell for the first time in anger.

Reality folded into fractal patterns. Light spilt from seams between existence and shadow and in an instant, a personal supercluster of stars bloomed covering a region the size of a field. They emerged from cracks in the earth and tears in space, soft white, prismatic holes upon a sky darkened by the spell's birth. Their light was intense, vital, and infinitely dangerous.

This was no gentle illumination like Light Field. Each star pulsed with judgement and Flux, stripping shadow and deceit from the world.

The trembling of worms beneath the ground faltered, their instincts screaming in warning.

Each star pulsed with conceptual force, weighing hearts and wills without mercy. Shadow, deceit, and malice unravelled in their presence. The world dimmed, the stars blazed brighter, and the very air grew heavy under the weight of unspoken judgment.

Though the spell spared Ori and his bonded, he could feel Fate turn under the pressure of its laws. Meanwhile, deep beneath the soil, hundreds of Sovereign rank creatures perished in silence. Some souls, stripped of corruption, passed beyond this realm in a shimmer of release. Others, judged and found irredeemable, simply shattered, dispersing without sound or violence, almost as if they had never existed at all.

A tide of Peritia roared across the landscape thick enough to stir the distant, dead forest back into life. The void between the stars drank deeply from the Peritia, feeding the growing mind of Starfield, which now recorded every redemption, every destruction of body and mind, with cold precision.

Even the king amongst Sovereign-ranked worms fell still, its vast presence buried deep pausing with an instinctive fear, reverence and the desperate hope that silence alone might hide it from the all-seeing gaze of the Progenitor and the enhanced reach of Seraphine's Beacon.

There might once have been a time when Ori would have let the remaining cowering creatures be, unwilling to chase down those who no longer sought to oppose him.

Now, however, retaliation was only an excuse. He had a weapon to test and Peritia to claim and these once-formidable creatures were simply too dangerous and too unlucky to be left alive.

Ori took a single step forward and Starfield followed.

With a gesture, the spell descended, falling like a rain of burning stars. Streaks of light and darkness cut through earth and stone without resistance. Distance, force, mass, none of it mattered to the laws manifested from the Arch Magic within. Ori's judgement pierced the world itself, an act of retribution from which nothing of the nest could escape.

The worm nest shook as the slaughter began.