Ends of Magic

Gemore was built up the slope of the mountain shaped like a curling wave just about to crash. When Nathan had first climbed to the very top to swear the Adventurer’s Oath upon the Seal, he’d passed by the council chambers. They were built at the very back of the shallow cavern formed by the overarching stone of the mountain. At the time he’d thought them incredible works of craftsmanship, rivaling the best that Earth had to offer. The council chambers were an original construction of Old Gemore and had a swooping artistic architecture that pleased the eyes. Since then he’d seen dozens of examples of ancient architecture, including the Ascendent Academy itself. The Council Chambers were still equal to any of them in style, if not in size.

It was also definitely a dungeon at some point. Likely conquered when Giantsrest first established a colony out here to loot the surrounding ruins. Before their slaves revolted.

The guards on the building opened the front doors as he landed in the courtyard before the grand building. Off to the side was another gate, this one leading to the staircase tunneled out of the mountain that led up to the Seal. It was locked and barred.

Nathan nodded to the guards as he strode into the council building, finding a wide stone corridor inside took him deeper into the building before splitting to go in two directions. There were helpful signs stuck onto the stone, and Nathan followed them towards the central council chambers. He passed by clerks carrying scrolls or clay tablets. Glancing through an open door he saw a grand vaulted room with a defaced stone statue on the other side. It had been converted into administrative space, and the room was busy with people sorting through shelves to find old records.

He was interrupted by a crash as a clerk dropped her load. The woman’s eyes were fixed on the book in Nathan’s hands, her eyes wide and shocked. She looked up and met his eyes before blushing scarlet and turning to flee. He blinked at the interaction but decided not to pursue.

Likely a skill of some kind. Maybe it let her read some of what’s in here, or just told her of its value. I should have brought it in a dimensional bag if I wanted it to stay secret.

Soon enough he arrived at the council chambers proper and walked into the center of a surprisingly small room with a raised semicircular dais at one end. From the magical circuitry scattered around the room it was obvious that something massively powerful had once occupied the central space, and it looked like dozens of statues had once occupied the dias. But now that space had been filled by seven large desks. Behind each of them sat the council of Gemore, elders all.

Nathan knew Sudraiel and Herdin, but he didn’t recognize the other five. They represented the seven guilds of Gemore. Beyond the Adventurers and Crafters there were the Guards, the Villagers, the Farmers, the Gatherers, and the Traders. Three for Gemore, three for the villages and one to tie them all together. All of the Guildmasters were old and grizzled, and each looked down on Nathan with the weight of long experience.

Sudraiel was the first to speak. “The Antimage has returned with urgent words for us. But first, let us recall your deeds. You recently freed Halsmet and defeated the army sent to reclaim it. Then you became an Assassin to infiltrate Giantsrest, where you defeated a Questor and cast down the Ascendent Academy." She paused, looking around at the other councilmembers. Her words hadn't been intended for Nathan, but to remind the other councilmembers who they were dealing with. She turned her gaze back to Nathan again. "What more blasphemous secrets of Kalis do you bring to us?”

“You struck at Halsmet without so much as a warning.” The speaker was a gray-bearded man wearing a breastplate with a sword at his side. He was likely the guildmaster of the Guards. “A single upset archmage could destroy this city.”

An old woman sitting to his left shot the man a venomous glare. “And a war mage could annihilate a village.” She transferred the glare to Nathan. “Tell us, antimage, this news that demands our attention. What other dungeons have you awoken, and will now leave in our care?”

“Hold the stalker shit.” Herdin cut in sharply. “He’s destroyed Giantsrest. Don’t complain when the dragon’s hoard contains some curses.” She gestured to Nathan. “Speak, and by the Endings I hope you bring more gold than smoke and blood.”

Time for the shit sandwich. Good news, bad news, good news.

“In Giantsrest I killed four archmages and Badud. The Academy was destroyed in the fighting. All of the powerful mages had been summoned there, and I think most of them died. The only archmage I know who survived was Hibril dho Bonaz, the leader of Azamar. I convinced him to join Myrla in Giantsrest.”

An old man with skin like leather interrupted with a snort. He seemed disgusted, not surprised. “That message arrived this morning. What kind of blasphemous fool leaves an archmage alive when they have the power to kill him?”

Nathan returned the hostile gaze evenly. “Somebody with divine magic to see the truth. He truly intends to work with Myrla to build something new, without slavery. I also crippled his magic. He will never again be able to cast a spell larger than a [Grand Fireball]. Instead he'll teach Giantsrest's magic to the freed slaves.”

The man’s gaze turned pensive. He dipped his head towards Nathan apologetically and shot a meaningful look around the room at the other guildmasters.

When no further interruptions were forthcoming, Nathan continued. “There were a few more powerful mages in Ardglass, but we saved them from an undead army and sent them back to Giantsrest too. Faline is hunting powerful mages in Lerwick and Skargess. But more must be done. Myrla is making something new out of Giantsrest. You should support her in any way you can.”

He looked around, seeing that a few of the guildmasters were nodding along while others wore guarded expressions.

Ahh, politics.

He continued laying out his case. “Right now the reborn Giantsrest is in a pivotal moment. They need… everything, and the next few weeks, months and years will set the tone for the nation they become. If you want a strong ally for Gemore, one with the Insights of the Ascendent Academy, the secrets of Antimagic and the fire of freed slaves, then help them now, with adventurers, food and enchantments. They won’t bow to a new master, but they won’t forget it. Which do you want to replace Giantsrest, a strong ally forged in the same fires that birthed Gemore, or broken chaos?”

Some of the Guildmasters made to speak, but Sudraiel waved them down and gestured for Nathan to continue. Her raised eyebrows indicated that it was time for him to switch topics.

With a thankful nod, he did so. “When I killed Badud, I got a notification. He’s not dead. Apparently, you cannot kill Questors. But, the notification said that he can’t return to the continent until those who knew them should have died of old age. He won’t be able to interfere with what’s going on here for fifty or sixty years.” Nathan paused, and the gazes of every single guildmaster weighed heavily upon him.

“What more?” Said the guildmaster of the Guards. “What prophecy of death do you fear to speak? Our ears are the only ones listening.”

Nathan tilted his head in acknowledgement of the man’s point and resumed. “When I had Badud in my grasp, but before I’d killed him, Badud said he’d bargain what he had to with the other Questors to make the Ending of History come to this continent early.” He raised a hand against the angry inhalations that greeted that statement. He didn’t have to reach into his memory to recall the Questor’s words. They’d burned themselves into Nathan’s brain.

“He said these exact words, ‘A hundred years, a hundred and fifty, and then all of the horrors of history will awake and scour the land clean. Have you even delved into the depths? Looked for the hidden fortresses in the sky? I anticipate watching joyfully on the day Gemore drowns in ancient magics and monsters beyond imagination.’” Nathan looked around the room. “Then I killed him.”

The guildmasters exchanged worried looks, conflict forgotten for the moment as they absorbed what Nathan had said.

Herdin summed it up nicely, swearing sharply. “What a muckgrabber’s asshole. Angry at the loss and swore a prophecy of death against us all.” She glanced around the room. “Can we hope that the price was too high? That he reconsidered calling an Ending down upon our heads?”

Sudraiel’s eyes had gone shadowed, and her gaze was calculating. “We don’t know. Questors have always been the darkest dungeons. Nathan, it sounds like you knew his ways better than we do. What do you say?”

Nathan shrugged. “Badud is a vindictive bastard, and he was mad. I was only keeping him alive because I was trying to cut him off from magic. It didn’t work, but I definitely damaged his casting. I think that would leave a grudge. If he had some time to cool down and the price was too high then he might reconsider, but in that moment I think he would have paid any price to spite me.’

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“Blight and bane!” The swear erupted from the weathered old man, his mouth puckered as if he’d just eaten a pile of lemons. “You belong in a dungeon of fools. You angered a Questor, and now he will destroy us all.” The other guildmasters started muttering similar recriminations.

Sudraiel rolled her eyes and spoke up, her voice cutting through the rising noise like a blade. “You swore your Adventurers’ Oath to fight the Endings themselves. Now it seems that your path is clear. Will you walk it?”

Nathan answered her question directly, ignoring the chatter of the shocked guildmasters. “Before he died, Brox told me where to find Sarya Pamaris, another Questor hostile to Badud. She was the one that Badud mentioned negotiating with to start the Ending. She will at least be able to tell me if they actually made a deal, and maybe how to stop it. I’ll hunt Badud across Davrar if I need to. I have a hundred years at least. If I can’t prevent the Ending before that, then I’ll come back to fight the Ending personally.

Herdin chuckled. “Will you save Gemore as an ancient man?”

“One of my unique Developments means that I don’t age,” Nathan said with a small smile. He forestalled the next question, clear on every face. “I don’t believe it can be taught.” There was some grumbling to that statement, but it wasn't angry. The Guildmasters were used to the vagaries of Insights, and if he said it couldn't be taught they wouldn't contradict him.

Not without the equivalent of a masters degree in mammalian cellular biology. Maybe Shom will figure it out, but I’m not going to be holding my breath.

Sudraiel’s glare was penetrating. “Will the Heirs go with you?”

“They will. We’re being chased by assassins. We’ve been attacked by two, and have gotten messages from Myrla that more are following us. So we’re leaving for Litcliff later today to find a ship and hopefully get away from them.”

“Maybe the Questor decided assassins were cheaper than an Ending,” Said the old woman whom Nathan was pretty sure was the representative from the villages. She sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

Herdin’s eyes had found the book. “You have a gift for us before you leave.” She held a hand out, one eyebrow went up in a silent question.

Nathan grinned at her, stepping forward to drop the Liber Physicae onto the desk before her. He spoke directly to her, though the words were loud enough for everybody to hear. “The Heirs helped me write it over the last few days. This is why we were late. We call it the Liber Physicae.”

Some of the guildmasters had started talking urgently with each other, ignoring his conversation with Herdin. Nathan stepped back to the center of the room and pitched his voice louder to capture their attention. “It is a book of Insights.” Those were the magic words, and everybody turned back towards him, glancing at the book as Herdin pulled it towards her and started leafing through the figures, pausing on a diagram of a thermal cycle.

“That book can change Gemore.” Nathan said once the room had quieted down. There are dozens, hundreds of Insights in there.” Herdin’s face jerked up in surprise, and she looked at him questioningly.

“You mean, all the Insights behind the guns, the ones you forbid to us…”

Nathan met her gaze levelly. “Every Insight behind the guns, and more. I release you from your Oath to me, and empower you to release every other crafter who swore it. Those Insights will let you make gunpowder and other, better explosives from air, water and magic. They will let you make massive amounts of high-quality steel, and give you ideas what to do with it. There are details of fertilizers there that will help with crop yields, and suggestions for new tools and weapons. Weapons that will let low-leveled people destroy a Grave Tangle from miles away”

He raised his hands defensively as the guildmasters looked on in shocked silence. “I don’t know what will work and what will not. You’ll need to develop new skills and magics to fill in the gaps, but I’ve provided a number of basic Insights that should help with that. Stella’s added a number of magical Insights to help, but there’s a lot more to be discovered.”

He turned towards Sudraiel. “I know you wanted more Insights for the Archive. The basic information here is the foundation for at least four different schools of magic, likely including air, metal and lightning mana, as well as a few completely new things.”

Maybe there’s heat mana, or steam mana. That would be interesting.

“Gemore already has a lot of crafters who can make powerful enchantments. With these Insights and the ideas behind them they’ll be able to do incredible things. If you start an industrial revolution and never stop, then there’s a chance that Gemore can survive the Ending even if I can’t stop it.”

He stared challengingly at the Guildmistress of the Adventurers. The one who’d founded the Adventurer Archives, who’d promised to open-source powerful Insights to raise up all of Gemore. “But only if they’re shared widely. Don’t hide this information. People already know I brought it here, and it will work best if every Adventurer, every crafter and every villager can build upon it.”

He clasped his hands together and looked around the room. Every single guildmaster was focused on the book in Herdin’s hands like it was priceless - which it was.

Sudraiel swallowed and spoke, her voice faint. “By your light, this Dragon’s hoard will be used.”

The withered old man clicked his tongue. “No book can save us from the Ending of History.”

“Hold your noise,” Herdin replied absently, looking down at one of the diagrams Stella had made describing how to make an oxygen filter. “Get the scribes in here. I want a dozen copies made before the sun goes out, and I will not let this book from my sight until then.” The brown-skinned woman looked up at Nathan, faint tears in her eyes. “Thank you. Gemore will provide you aid as long as it exists, sworn on my guild."

The guildmaster of the guards harrumphed, but Sudraiel cut him off. "Agreed."

Nathan nodded his acknowledgement. “I was being silly about hoarding my knowledge. I’m sorry it took me so long. Heed the warnings in the book, for many of those Insights can cut the hand that wields them.”

Herdin chuckled, continuing to leaf through the pages. “You’ve left us much to discuss and a mountain of work for me. Is there anything else?”

Nathan hesitated, then blew out a breath. "The Grave of All Giants - the dungeon that the Academy was built on. It was something special, something called a 'Grand Dungon.' When we destroyed the last of the golems we got a notification that there were 80 grand dungeons left on the continent, and that defeating the grand dungeon would boost our future class Developments."

Sudraiel's face was fixed in a frown, but she didn't appear to consider this groundbreaking information. At least not compared to the bombshells Nathan had already dropped. "Thank you. Will you be at the guild if we have questions?"

He shook his head. “We’re leaving soon, before nightfall, to avoid the assassins. But a [Message] to Stella can reach me.”

Sudraiel gave him a firm nod. “We will follow your flame. May it burn bright.”

It was a clear dismissal, and Nathan turned and left the room. Before the door closed behind him he heard one of the other guildmasters ask, “Where did these Insights come from? That other world nonsense? How powerful could they be?”

He smirked, wondering how Sudraiel and Herdin were going to handle that. They might not have to - the benefit of his Insights would be apparent soon enough. Once he was out of the council chambers he turned his attention upwards, towards the cresting mountain of Gemore that loomed overhead.

Time to see what my new senses can reveal about the Seal.

Status of Nathan Lark:

Permanent Talent 1: Arcane Nullfield 7

Permanent Talent 2: Immortal Body 5

Permanent Talent 3: Airwalking 7

Class: Void of Magic level 718

Deepened Stamina: 20303/21840

Void of Feeling

Antimagic Momentum

Raging Thrill

Implacable Inertia

Unarmored Resilience

Magic Anathema

Airborne Agility

Hand-to-hand Expertise

Voluminous Aura

Denial of Wizardry

Mana Severance

Class: Spellslayer level 504

Regenerative Focus: 5140/5140

Catastrophic Blows

Battle Stealth

Mage Infiltration

Forgettable

Sneaky Blow

Antimagic Stealth

Magical Manipulation

Lethal Index

Wizard Resistance

Magic Jammer

Controlled Failure

Utility skills:

Wizard’s Meditation 10

Inspiration 8

Acceleration 10

Wizard’s Detection 9

Alertness 10

Wizard’s Understanding 10

Effortless Dodge 10

Mental Vault 5

Tutoring 6

Parkour 8

Visibility Control 4

High-tier Disguise 4

High-tier Battle Cry 2

Aura Control 3