Immovable Mage

– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 215, Season of the Rising Sun, Day 95 –

“This one looks interesting,” judged Miguel. He pulled out a pamphlet for a corrupted culling mission from the pre-approved list provided by the local Guardian advisors.

The three groups of Terry and his siblings had all agreed to team up and travel together in order to get some broader experience with various mission types. They had already reached Arcana’s C-zone.

Mission variety, however, had turned out to be a sensitive topic.

“I would rather take this one,” said Alrik while he placed a different pamphlet on the table.

“Another courier mission?” groaned Miguel. He looked the information over. “It doesn’t even pay that well.” He narrowed his eyes and watched Alrik. “Normally, you’re the biggest money hawk among us. What’s up with you?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” replied Alrik casually. “It looks like a good mission.”

“I would also prefer to do a corrupted hunt once in a while,” interjected Siling.

“How about starting with ‘once,’” grumbled Miguel. “This entire trip we have done nothing but courier and escort missions.”

“But this mission seems important,” retorted Lori. “The destination is a healer in Chaba and it is marked as urgent. Isn’t it our duty as Guardians to jump in here to help?”

Jorg raised an eyebrow. “I guess…”

Terry and Tiana immediately nodded. Their mixed team had experienced several such disagreements during the past few days. Often, it had fallen to Terry’s group to act as the tie-breaker.

Having convinced both Tiana and Terry, the matter was practically settled, and Alrik smiled contentedly.

***

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” exclaimed Miguel aghast. “Another courier mission? Seriously?!” He threw his hands up in the air and shook his head.

“I don’t know what you have against courier missions.” Alrik shrugged.

“Nothing, absolutely nothing. But that does not mean I want to be married to them,” retorted Miguel. “I thought we were aiming for variety. Is this supposed to classify as ‘variety’? Five courier missions and one escort mission?”

“Even you have to admit that the corrupted hunts available here are less than satisfactory.” Alrik pointed out with a smirk.

“Not the most interesting creatures, no,” remarked Siling with a slight frown.

“Heck, at this point, I am willing to settle,” grunted Miguel gruffly. “I’d shoot a chilly chicken just to get it out of my system.”

Siling snorted and guffawed.

“That’s fine for you, but others may want a challenge,” retorted Lori. “We’ve all lost contribution points when we had to retake the bounty hunting exam.” Her tone was oddly high-pitched and tense. Elena, who had noticed it, placed a comforting hand on Lori’s shoulder while the dwarf continued speaking. “I don’t want to waste my time.”

Miguel scoffed. “How exactly does that fit with us going to…” He examined the pamphlet again. “Danang? A place that barely qualified for a tertiary gate? Yes, that sounds like a really worthwhile excursion. Next stop, Podunk Hollow?”

“Miguel’s got a point, Lori,” interjected Jorg.

“Bum Burrow back of beyond?” grumbled Miguel, which evoked a suppressed grin on Elena’s face.

“Yeah, I’m also not sure if we can count on the missions in Danang being any better than here,” Siling to concur with Miguel.

“Middle of the Backwater Belt?”

“Hmph,” grunted Alrik.

“Silent Settlement at the arse-end of nowhere?”

“Alright!” snapped Lori with a glare at Miguel. “We get it.”

“Shucks,” uttered Miguel with a deadpan face and defiant eyes. “I have not even reached Pissant Anytown yet.”

Alrik clicked his tongue while wearing a sullen expression.

“Terry, what do you think?” asked Lori.

Terry scrunched up his face and looked over the documents listing their options. “The hunts here really aren’t all that interesting.”

Alrik’s lips curled upwards.

“However, I think Siling made a good point,” continued Terry. “I would not expect the missions to get better down there. So we are really investing in a two-way trip just for the courier mission.” He looked towards the tall woman next to him. “Tiana? Your thoughts?”

“The bigger cities aggregate the most challenging missions of the surrounding areas,” said Tiana while thinking. “There may be a few interesting missions exclusive to the smaller places, but then there are usually local Guardians settled there as well. If the mission has not been reported to the major cities, then they do not require additional hands. I would rather work where my support is actually wanted instead of snatching the work from others.”

“If we want a better mission pool to pick from, we should probably stick to the primary or at least secondary cities,” said Siling.

Alrik’s smile had vanished at this point.

“Makes sense to me,” agreed Miguel, while both Jorg and Gellath nodded.

Lori made eye contact with Alrik, and the dwarven mage clicked his tongue. “How about we rest for the day?” suggested Alrik.

Jorg furrowed his brow. “It is only late afternoon.”

Alrik shrugged. “If we want to go back to the primary cities, then that would take a while. The fee at the inn here is probably lower. Who knows when we will have the chance to come back here? We should at least experience the local specialties, no?”

Miguel rolled his eyes and groaned quietly.

“And maybe tomorrow the missions will look different?” Alrik smirked.

Terry shrugged. “I would not mind having a look around and settling in for the night.”

“Great,” exclaimed Alrik. “Any objections?”

Miguel glared at him, but did not raise his voice.

When they were about to separate, Alrik nodded at Lori. “Jorg, do you have a minute?” asked Lori.

“Huh? Yeah, sure.”

While Alrik, Lori, and Jorg stayed behind, the rest all moved along.

“Hey Miguel, you know what a chicken and coldfire have in common?” prompted Gellath.

“Oh boy,” sighed Miguel. He pressed his hand against his forehead.

“Another one.” Tiana chortled.

Gellath watched them happily and waited for the cue.

“Alright,” muttered Miguel in resignation. “Please, enlighten me.”

Gellath grinned broadly. “They’re both blue except for the chicken.”

Miguel displayed an almost pained expression. He exhaled a strange noise – a mixture of laughing and sobbing.

Terry could not help but snort and chuckle.

“Of course,” declared Miguel, who had recovered a deadpan expression. “Why did I not think of that?” He shook his head.

“It’s so obvious once you hear it, right?” exclaimed Siling. “You learn something new every day.”

Tiana rolled her eyes.

Despite herself, Elena had to smile with an almost envious expression. Her eyes darted between the people engaged in friendly banter until her eyes rested on the cheerful jokester dwarf in front of her. “It’s almost like he feeds off of others’ cringing. Amazing.”

“Please don’t,” pleaded Miguel. “You’re encouraging him.”

“Want to know why Goblins can’t clap their hands?” asked Gellath with anticipation.

“See?” Miguel gestured at Gellath and looked exasperatedly at Elena. “Now look at what you’ve done!”

“I’ll bite,” said Terry. “Why?”

Gellath changed his expression and spoke with a grave tone. “Because they’re extinct.”

Miguel groaned and looked to the heavens. “Make it stop.”

Siling giggled while Elena smiled silently.

***

Late in the evening, Terry stood over his mattress in his room at the inn. He had spread out the blanket to prepare for his most recently invented training exercise. The blanket and mattress were supposed to cushion falling items to prevent any noise disturbances.

Terry summoned metal balls from his storage bracelets. He juggled five balls over the mattress – three octavum, one septimum, one tertium – and then began to incorporate his Immovable Object spell. He transfixed one ball in the air before summoning another from his storage bracelet to fill up the gap.

Some balls had been imprinted with the Immovable Object spell. For others, Terry first had to properly cast the spell. While he continued to juggle five balls at all times, the number of balls that were transfixed in the air increased steadily.

Terry had thought of the exercise together with Isille and Samuel.

The first goal was to have the balls become transfixed in a specific pattern, like a straight line. Aside from training his hand-eye coordination, this also forced Terry to get the timing right for the activation of his spell or the spell imprints. It needed to be adjusted depending on the target position, the force used when throwing the ball, the ball’s material, and the difference between activating a spell imprint and casting a spell from scratch.

Isille, in particular, encouraged Terry to train with imprinted throwing weapons based on octavum. Samuel was the one who insisted on including some non-imprinted balls so that Terry would also train his spell control, mana sense, mana reach, and casting concentration.

Soon after Terry had started, the second aspect of the exercise was revealed when the Immovable Object spell for the first ball wore off. The ball fell and Terry had to add it to his juggling without losing his rhythm.

This was not intended as an exercise in reflexes. Instead, it was an exercise in control. Terry was supposed to control how long the spell was active by controlling the amount of mana used during activation. If he messed up, then there would be multiple balls falling down at the same time – which, in turn, would mess up his juggling completely. While it was possible to make up for control with speed and reflexes somewhat, it only worked up to a point.

Currently, Terry allowed himself to keep his mana sense active and watch the mana movement with mana sight in order to estimate the spell duration of the transfixed balls. The long-term goal, however, was to rely solely on his mana control without resorting to reflexes or mana sense as a crutch.

Terry continued like this for an hour. Before going to bed, he still intended to do some ring training. To his chagrin, the juggling was surprisingly exhausting. Even ignoring the mental fatigue, juggling for longer periods was exhausting in a purely physical manner. Therefore, he adjusted his plans and decided on a brief break.

Terry retrieved his notebook and pen. Then he sat down on the floor and looked over his notes. He was trying to identify improvements for his armor parts that had been imprinted with the Immovable Object spell. He was satisfied with the mechanism in his boots for now. However, the bracers were a different topic.

Terry was hoping for better mobility in the air, but he discovered that his movement was very limited, with a bracer plate transfixed in place. The bracers were useful for anchoring himself, for example, when he wanted to do a two-legged kick. They could also come in handy when trying to stop or redirect his movement.

Unfortunately, Terry always had to be very careful when activating them, or he would risk breaking his own arms. After all, an elbow joint did not support free movement in all directions.

For the kind of melee mobility that Terry yearned for, he would need to come up with something better. His current scribbles and sketches focused on an idea he thought of when thinking back to his first experiments that had led to Jorg’s bloody nose.

Instead of imprinting the bracer plate, the plate would have an imprinted spherical object embedded. The bracer plate – and with it Terry – could rotate freely around the transfixed spherical object.

Imprinting only the spherical object had the additional advantage that only the sphere would necessitate septimum for the low activation delay. The rest of the bracer plate could be made from a cheaper material with similar durability.

On the other hand, an unimprinted plate would be susceptible to damage when blocking unless Terry cast the Immovable Object spell himself. Terry was not sure yet if the savings from the cheaper material would be worth it.

The problem with the idea was still how to incorporate the sphere into the armor. The sphere needed to be large enough for Terry to imprint it. Another challenge was the need to get used to the weird rotation axis. Transfixing a metal spear and then swinging around it at the location of your hands or hips felt different from rotating around a location at your forearm.

The additional mobility came at a price. With the imprinted plate, Terry could transfix himself in any position at any angle. All it required was enough body tension. In contrast, if only the sphere was imprinted, then gravity would act on him and rotate him accordingly.

I should probably keep both the plate and sphere imprinted…

Terry pondered. He subconsciously played with the pen and rotated it around his fingers.

***

“I’m in favor of doing the courier mission,” stated Jorg.

Miguel, who had been leaning back on the chair until this point, straightened himself and blinked. He shook his head and snapped his fingers next to his ears.

“Beg your pardon?” Miguel scrunched up his face.

Terry’s group was just as surprised, but they remained silent.

Gellath shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t mind. If Jorg wants to do it, too, then why not?”

“Excellent,” exclaimed Alrik. “Then that makes at least five of us.”

“We should inform the Guardians that we will accept the mission as soon as possible,” said Lori, and stood up immediately.

“Good idea,” praised Alrik and stood up as well.

Before Miguel had any chance to object, the two were already on their way.

“W-what just happened?” asked Miguel. “What the what now?!” He turned to Jorg and whined. “Whyyy?”

Jorg looked around and considered his words. “I heard once that smaller places occasionally have investigatory missions. You know, unverified suspicions or a time window before the missions get communicated to the bigger cities. That kind of mission could be a fresh experience. Since we’re already this close, we might as well try our luck. I have a good feeling. Call it a hunch.”

***

“Ugh, welcome to Woop Woop Nowheresville,” grumbled Miguel.

“Oh, cheer up Mister Grumpy Pants!” exclaimed Siling. “Look, it doesn’t seem so bad.”

“Over three houses, yay,” uttered Miguel in a flat voice.

“You’re exaggerating,” said Jorg. “Maybe a quarter of one of Arcana’s districts?”

“I always suspected you were bad at math,” retorted Miguel with a dry grumble.

Jorg squinted at his friend and companion. When he heard Lori giggle, he turned to her. “No comments from the cheap seats, please. Such information is classified as Family Secret.”

“The tower over there is the destination with the recipient,” declared Alrik.

“I guess there are upsides to having only a single tall building around,” snarked Miguel.

“Give it a rest,” replied Jorg. “If the missions are of no interest, we can take a trip to hunt for some food.”

Miguel considered the idea. He looked expectantly at Siling. The elven woman smiled back and assured: “You can have free access to Grumpy.”

That seemed to cheer Miguel up. “Deal. No backsies.”

***

“So much for your hunch,” groaned Miguel.

“Guess you’re not going the clairvoyant path anytime soon,” added Gellath.

Jorg was unperturbed. “Then how about the hunting trip?”

“There is a good spot north of here,” stated Alrik.

“How do you know?” questioned Tiana.

“I’ve been here before not too long ago,” explained Alrik. “My father manages caravans and I accompany some of them occasionally.”

“You don’t seem like a hunting enthusiast,” said Miguel with narrowed eyes.

“No, but there were others…” Alrik spoke while already walking ahead.

***

“What exactly did your caravan escorts hunt?” Miguel surveyed the area. “Field mice? Because this does not look like a place for normal game.”

“I don’t even sense field mice,” said Siling with a furrowed brow.

“Wasps? Maybe?” Miguel squeezed air through his closed lips. “Okay, I give up. What are we supposed to hunt here?”

“The hunting spot is further north,” replied Alrik.

“Then why are we stopping here instead of there?” pressed Miguel.

Alrik smiled. “I have a better mission for us: dungeon work.”

That caught everyone’s attention.

“What are you talking about?” asked Tiana. “There was no such mission available at the Guardians.”

“That’s because the dungeon isn’t public yet,” explained Alrik. “I discovered it the last time I was here.”

“And you did not report it?” questioned Tiana.

“Why would I?” scoffed Alrik. “To lose the opportunity for the first dungeon dive? Perhaps miss the once in a lifetime chance to recover a dungeon core? What kind of fool do you take me for?”

Tiana chose not to answer that particular question.

“Hold up right there,” interjected Terry. “Dungeon work? A secret dungeon? A dungeon that has not been explored with a pioneer mission before? Are you out of your mind?!”

“I’ve made the necessary inquiries,” assured Alrik dismissively. “I measured the mana concentration and mana suppression at the entrance. The measurements show a very weak dungeon – even weaker than the one in which we had our dungeon work examination. That is exactly what makes me believe the dungeon has formed recently. Why else would I have hopes of getting my hands on a dungeon core?”

“Even if it is a weak dungeon, dungeon work still requires preparation.” Tiana pointed out. “You can’t just spring this on us in the middle of nowhere. At the very least, we should buy Mark-and-Recall scrolls.”

“All here.” Alrik summoned a bundle of scrolls. “One for everyone. My treat.” He handed three to Tiana, three to Jorg, and one each to Lori and Elena.

Jorg excitedly distributed the scrolls to Miguel and to Gellath.

“I even have some spares with me just in case,” said Alrik. “No one has to enter the dungeon without a Mark spell in place.”

“This— What— No!” Terry blurted out. “You can’t be serious!”

“We’ve already had a vote in our group,” said Alrik. “Lori and Elena are in. Jorg?”

“Of course, I want to,” assured Jorg instantly. “Gellath, Miguel, what do you think? This is a better mission, right?”

Gellath nodded enthusiastically.

Miguel contemplated a moment longer. “Are you sure about the measurements?”

Alrik nodded. “Naturally. And if we notice any trouble, we can always leave with the scrolls. So what’s the harm?”

Miguel shrugged. “Fair enough. Sounds interesting to me.”

Tiana turned to Terry and Siling. “I don’t know about this, but if you want to, I don’t mind.” In contrast to the others, she had attended the regular dungeon introduction class, which did not include the warnings that Samuel had emphasized and built his lecture around.

Terry was getting frantic. He recalled Samuel, Bjorln, Isille. All of his family that would be worried beyond belief and protest in horror. “No. You can’t do this!”

“Oh?” Alrik perked up and jeered. “You don’t want to go? All this whaka stuff is just for show then?”

“Leave him alone, Alrik!” barked Jorg. “No one has to go if they don’t want to.”

“Alrik has a point,” interjected Lori. “I am going. And you are going, Jorg. Aren’t whaka supposed to stand together against danger?” Her disappointed eyes rested on Terry. “Such a weak dungeon hardly qualifies as any real danger, but still.”

“This— I—” Terry searched for words. “That cuts both ways. I am pretty sure that you are not supposed to drag your whaka into unnecessary danger, either. Normal dungeon work is one thing, but this— We should at least tell Ma and Pa about this.”

Lori and Jorg grimaced and became wide-eyed.

Alrik scowled. “I discovered this dungeon. This was my secret.” He turned to Lori. “Didn’t you say they were alright? What the Wastes, Lori! I trusted you!”

“Th-they are. T-Terry did not mean that. Right?” Lori looked pleadingly at Terry. “You would not betray our trust and rat us out!”

“Terry look,” started Jorg. “You do not have to go into the dungeon if you don’t want to. It’s a weak dungeon. It’s fine if you want to wait outside, but there is no need to involve Ma and Pa.”

“Then, will you stay away from it, too?” retorted Terry.

“I am going,” insisted Lori.

Jorg shook his head as well. He did not meet Terry’s gaze.

“Then—”

“Wait a second,” interjected Tiana. “You expect us to keep this a secret? From everyone? I dislike the idea of entering an unknown dungeon without at least informing my brother. What about afterwards? Do you expect me to lie to my brother about this mission?”

“Afterwards, you can do what you want,” replied Alrik with a shrug. “If there is any chance for us to get the dungeon core, it will be in the first run. Once we are done, you can inform your brother, the Guardians, or whomever you wish. This was my information to share. If you want to join, then my condition is that you let us have the first dive in peace. Now, let’s hurry. Everyone that wants to go, follow me.”

Terry’s expression became sullen, and he turned to Tiana and Siling. “What do you think?”

“To be honest, I would like to go,” responded Siling with a slightly guilty expression. “Perhaps I can find a good match for my new soul spirit spot. Still, I understand if you two don’t want to and I’ll stay with you.”

“I don’t know,” said Tiana with a furrowed brow. “Tempting, but I am also getting a bad feeling. However, nevermind us. What about you, Terry? Are you going?”

Terry nodded with a pained look. “They’re my whaka. If they encounter danger, then I want to be there. I don’t want to drag anyone else into this though. You—”

“Then that settles it.” Tiana cut him off. “We’re not letting you go in there alone, right?”

“Right,” agreed Siling.

***

“Are you sure that’s a dungeon entrance?” questioned Miguel. “Looks like a wall.”

“There is mana flowing,” stated Terry sullenly.

“Precisely! That’s how I first discovered it,” said Alrik with a proud grin. “I suspect the reason no one has noticed it before is that the entrance and mana reservoir room on this side are not fully developed yet. It is easily dismissed as a wall if you do not pay attention with mana sight.”

“How do we fill the reservoir limit like this?” asked Jorg.

“We’ll have your sister help out the dungeon construction a bit.” Alrik pointed a thumb at Lori.

“Raise Wall and Harden Rock should suffice to improvise a proper reservoir room,” elaborated Lori. “Once the room is in place, we accumulate our naturalized mana inside to open the passage door.”

***