Immovable Mage

– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 19 –

Terry stared at the approaching Matteo with an odd feeling in his stomach.

Matteo walked slowly but steadily along the gravel road. His eyes were drowned in a milky white fog and only a hint of his glowing, purple iris was visible. He was grabbing the dagger at his left hip so tightly that the skin of his fingers seemed completely different from the rest of his body.

“Matteo!” Emily ran over to the fog-eyed man.

Matteo evaded the elven girl by stepping to the left. He did not pause. He did not slow down.

“Matteo, I…” Cadence walked forward hesitatingly and with shame in her eyes.

Matteo dodged to the right. He did not stop.

“Listen, kid…” Wallace attempted to approach Matteo, but he was evaded with a single, silent step.

Terry did not walk towards Matteo. Instead, he quietly followed Matteo as soon as his whaka passed by him.

“Haah…” Wallace sighed deeply and then turned to follow them into the room for Sigille’s wake.

As on the day before, many people were gathered in the room and countless eyes followed Matteo as he walked towards Sigille’s cold body.

Tara had been kneeling with closed eyes in one corner of the room with her spears in front of her. Now she opened her eyes.

Amelia and Dargones were observing Matteo solemnly.

Emaldine was leaning against the wall with crossed arms and a scowl.

Most of Sigille’s students were still sitting on the floor with gloomy eyes.

Matteo trembled during his last steps before he arrived in front of Sigille’s corpse. He knelt down on both knees and took slow, measured breaths. He inhaled deeply…

…and let go of his heart-seeker dagger. The white fog vanished from Matteo’s eyes and the eyes quickly turned blood-shot with tears when he saw the face of his deceased mother while exhaling the air from his lungs.

The tears froze on Matteo’s grey face. His exhaled breath was visible as a white haze. A layer of white frost appeared on Matteo’s skin.

Matteo stared at the bruised face of his accepted mother for a handful of breaths. The signs of violence on her corpse stood in stark contrast with the lush grass and beautiful field flowers that served as her peaceful resting place.

Matteo removed the heart-seeker dagger together with its sheath from his hip. He breathed shakingly while placing the sheathed dagger into Sigille’s cold hands.

Matteo stopped blinking and inhaled deeply. He undid the strap for Soul Fury. He took the scabbard with both hands and he placed the sheathed katana on top of Sigille’s body.

Matteo breathed deeper and deeper while staring at Sigille’s cold face…

Each breath a cold fog…

“For everything…” Matteo grit his teeth. “Nama.”

Booming thunder echoed through the sky as Matteo pulled Soul Fury from its sheath. He stood up and turned towards the outposts’ management facilities. Lightning sizzled through his eyes and he stepped forward while leaving the katana’s sheath with Sigille’s body.

Before Matteo had fully unsheathed Soul Fury, Amelia already flicked her wrist and her mage staff appeared in her hand. Next to her, Dargones drew the enormous axe from his back.

“What do you think you’re doing?” a hostile-looking channeler from the Bright Lady stepped into Matteo’s path with a greatsword in his hands.

Matteo walked forward, unfazed. One hand was tightly gripping the katana, whose blade was pointing down to the floor. A cold rage radiated from every fiber of his being.

“Finally, someone with some backbone!” growled Emaldine loudly. She equipped her two explosive spears that seemed way too long for her body. She hurriedly followed behind Matteo, Amelia, and Dargones.

All around, Sigille’s former students and comrades grimaced with clenched jaws.

“That’s far enough,” said the gold-skinned man that was channeling the power of the Bright Lady. “You’re not getting to our bright.”

When Matteo refused to stop, the channeler charged forward with his greatsword raised high for a slash.

Before the channeler could even reach Matteo, the large canan Tara had already pierced the channeler’s body from the side with one of her long spears.

One of the hired Guildheads tried to ambush Tara from the shadows…

Emaldine was dashing forward with glowing inscriptions on her boots. She jumped over Tara’s back and smashed the explosive tip of her spear into the attacking Guildhead.

With a loud boom, the Guildhead’s shoulder was blown to pieces.

Emaldine landed back on the ground and looked at Tara appraisingly. “Welcome to the family.”

Tara grunted in response while eying the next enemies walking into their path. She and Emaldine continued forward together to help clear the path towards Guardian management.

“My my my,” exclaimed one of the hired Guildheads. The woman punched into their direction and a gigantic wave of poison-aspected mana rolled towards them.

Dargones jumped forward and used his own nullification discharge to cancel the poison.

“I think we can entertain you for a bit,” said Amelia, while a terrifying aura rose around her. “Or actually, screw that! Why not take the chance to do some more good and eradicate the Venom Siblings once and for all?”

Amelia swung her staff and the poison-aspected woman with her two siblings were bombarded by spell after spell while Dargones charged unhesitatingly through the spells to add his own assault on top.

“Activate the defenses!” shouted one of the management-loyal Guardians.

In a different location, Vhida snarled with loathing eyes and channeled mana into the defense system that had been mostly created by her. After several breaths, the system had been sabotaged and permanently deactivated.

After destroying the culmination of her own life’s work, Vhida grabbed her bottle of wine and left the area.

“Dhruv?! Dhruv! Why aren’t you out there doing anything?” An older Guardian with the signature of the Bright Lady ran towards the dwarf with his haunted look. “I thought you made it your mission to protect this outpost?!”

“Yes, I have promised my life’s chosen that I would protect this outpost.” Dhruv turned to the man with cold eyes while thick vines rose from the earth to wrap around the Guardian that had spoken. “As far as I am concerned, however, the spirit of this outpost already lies dead over there in the room.

“If I had been there during the assault on Sigille, I would have ripped Willow apart myself.” Suppressed fury flashed through Dhruv’s eyes. “Now, however, I can’t do anything to save my old friend. She is gone and I can’t bring her back. You are right that I hate to see this outpost torn down, but I would never stand against her children in this.”

Dhruv stared without blinking. “You are lucky that I am betting on her children to succeed. If I see the lives of Whaka Sigille’s children seriously threatened, I may finally forget myself.”

Dhruv left the trapped Guardian and walked towards Sigille’s resting place while retrieving a bottle of whisky from his storage item.

“Get me out of here,” shouted the trapped channeler. “Stop the Mad Kid!”

Another Guardian was looking at the follower of the Bright Lady with a deadpan expression. “I would like to, but see…” He picked up something from the floor. “I have to watch this rock.”

“You…”

“Very important rock,” insisted the Guardian, and left to follow Dhruv.

A younger Guardian looked at his mentor. “Don’t we need to do something?”

The older woman, whom he had addressed, acted confused. “I think I have something in my eye. I can’t see anything.” She looked at her disciple and spoke sternly: “Neither can you.”

In the room of Sigille’s wake, an elven man that had been a student of Sigille was sitting on the floor with a pained expression. He threw away the short spears in his hands. “I’m pathetic…”

A human woman sat down next to him and put her arm around him. “I can’t do it either… and you still have your little brother to think of.”

Terry moved his eyes away from the pair and he glanced one more time at Sigille. For a moment, Sigille’s face was overlapping with Isille’s in Terry’s mind. The simmering fury inside of him welled up even further.

Terry glanced at Matteo’s back and then he summoned his own barrier spears.

“Where are you going?” asked Wallace.

Terry did not turn around to face him. Instead, he burst his mana. “To my whaka.” He dashed forward with speed that took most of the observers by surprise. He rammed his barrier spear into the head of a management-loyal Guardian that had joined the attack on Tara and Emaldine.

“Hrm.” Thena, the short dwarven girl, stood up and nodded to herself with resolved eyes. She pulled the axe, that was way too big for her, from her back.

Before Thena had made a single step, a wooden bow smacked her lightly on the head from behind.

“Ouch.” Thena dropped her axe in surprise and held her head while turning around to glare at Wallace, who was the offending party.

“Don’t give me that look, missy. You stay put.” Wallace spoke firmly. He moved his eyes over to Clayson, whose hands had stopped mid-draw.

Clayson nervously lowered his hands, that were about to grab his axes after he had seen Thena stand up.

“But…” Next to Wallace, Emily was trembling with tears. “Matteo… Big Brother…”

“I know, but I promised your mother that I would keep you safe,” said Wallace. He glanced at Thena, who was looking confused. “Not yours, but you will stay put as well. You’re Jee’s sister, right? I’m pretty sure he would ask the same of me. This is not a stage you can walk on lightly.”

“He’s right.” Dhruv arrived in the room with a weary expression. “You stay put.” He sat down on the floor and summoned four shot glasses, which he then filled with whisky.

Dhruv raised one of the filled glasses to Sigille’s body, drank it in one shot, and immediately refilled it again. The ground and walls shook from the nearby battle. Magic roots sprouted from the floor to reinforce the structures.

Thena pouted anxiously. “What about Junior Brother Terry?”

“If I could stop him, I would, but I can’t, so that is that,” retorted Wallace.

Emily was looking at Wallace pleadingly.

“Look…” Wallace sighed. “If Matteo’s life is seriously threatened, I can try to throw what little ability I have around.” He shook his head. “Even though I don’t see any of us making much of a difference in a fight that has the likes of Amelia and Matteo cornered.”

Wallace raised a hand to his forehead and sighed again. “But no matter how this ends, there will be an aftermath and I absolutely do not want you to be involved in that.”

Emily hugged her father while crying.

Cadence walked into the room with hollow eyes. She tottered over and sat down next to Dhruv. “I can’t do it. I can’t do anything. I don’t know where I should stand…” She buried her face in her hands.

Dhruv silently retrieved another glass from his storage item, filled it with whisky, and placed it next to Cadence.

“Do you drink?” asked Dhruv.

“No,” replied Cadence. Despite her answer, she took the glass and downed the contents. She grimaced in disgust.

“Is this the room for the weak, bound, and self-loathing?” Rachel smiled bitterly. “Perfect, I’ll fit right in.” She led a group of students, as well as several full-fledged Guardians and even a few instructors into the room. All of them were wearing gloomy expressions.

“Have you seen Vhida?” asked Dhruv.

Rachel nodded. “Left the outpost. I don’t think she will come back. Like… ever.”

Dhruv sighed wearily.

In the training grounds, fights broke out one after the other.

“Heeheehee.” Eric giggled happily at the sight of so many of his hated opponents provoking the wrath of so many parties.

Further away, he could see Matteo approaching while cutting down anyone that was trying to block his way.

Eric glanced at Apex, who was standing on his left, and at Carlos, who was standing on his right. “Heeheehee.”

Apex scowled and observed everyone with clenched fists.

“Heeheehee, finally the Kid will die.” Eric could not be more pleased with the situation. “Just like the decrepit hag.”

Apex’s expression hardened as she glanced at Eric.

“Old hag…” Apex’s eyes then wandered to the direction where Sigille’s body was located.

Apex’s gaze moved on to examine her own palm. A small snake of thunderfire was coiling around her arm. Her thunderfire had undergone a change recently. It was now an azure flame surrounded by faintly golden lightning. Apex had progressed in her martialist cultivation after she had stopped chasing the spirit-infused lightning and had instead focused on her central flame.

Before Eric knew what had hit him, a fist of intense thunderfire had smashed a hole in his chest.

“Wh… Hurgh…” Dark blood oozed out of the wound while Eric was trying to recover with his channeled abilities. “Wh-what are you doing?! You have accepted the guard mission!”

Apex moved her head from side to side and cracked her knuckles. “The old hag deserved better than this.”

“If you obstruct a Guild-mission you have accepted before, the Guild will put a bounty on you,” said Carlos emotionlessly.

“That’s right!” said Eric. “In this situation, Guardian management will, too. As will the Tiv Empire. If the Kid actually manages to get to Willow, then the Circle of the Bright Lady won’t let this go either. She is a Bright in their ranks! Piss off if you don’t want to help, but if you obstruct us, there will be nowhere for you to hide!”

Apex bared her teeth in a vicious grin. “Don’t threaten me with a good time, you little shitstain!” She lunged out and the image of a flood dragon appeared behind her.

Carlos teleported behind Apex, but before he could unleash his sneak attack, he was hit by a sonic blast, followed by a vibrating fist that was accompanied by a sonic boom.

Without uttering a word, Palmer continued his assault on the Guild’s first-ranked rookie. Palmer’s sonic sonar covered the entire area and no matter where Carlos teleported while hiding his presence, Palmer was there to greet him.

In a different location, Terry was faced with a person he had once thought of as a friend.

The gold-skinned man was glaring at Terry.

“What do you think you are doing?!” demanded Harrison. “Are you seriously trying to continue the slaughter your aunt started?”

Terry’s eyes became cold, and he readied his barrier spears. “This has been Willow’s doing, and she deserves what’s coming to her. She chose this. Everyone that stands with her made the same choice.”

“Don’t you dare blame this on Bright Willow!” A switch seemed to flip in Harrison and his face contorted. “This is it! You threaten our Bright? Fine then! No more mercy! We’ll fight until one of us is dead!”

“Got it.” A corner of Terry’s lips rose in a bitter smile. “We’ll fight until you die.”

“Big words for someone that has never won a single spar,” sneered Harrison. He summoned gold to create himself a large saber and channeled lightning through it.

From the corner of his eye, Terry could see Apex rampaging some distance away.

Spars mean jack shit.

Terry burst his mana to close the distance to Harrison.

First objective: Lock him into close combat.

Terry recognized the spell structure of Burning Hands in Harrison’s left palm. He angled his right spear and channeled mana to block the attack.

Harrison’s gold saber slashed downward with all the force that Harrison could muster.

Terry thrusted his left spear towards Harrison’s throat and ignored the looming lightning saber that threatened to behead him.

Harrison’s Burning Hands spell and Terry’s barrier activated simultaneously.

Before Harrison’s saber could connect with Terry’s neck, Terry’s own spell activated.

“ARGH!” screamed Harrison when his violent slash broke his own finger against the golden ring that symbolized his faith as a follower of the Bright Lady. The ring had been transfixed by Terry with the Immovable Object spell..

Harrison’s saber dropped to the ground.

Terry did not hesitate. He pushed his spear into Harrison’s throat and the man’s scream turned into a gargle.

Harrison was momentarily caught off-guard and his eyes widened in fear.

Terry prepared a second strike when he caught mana movement from behind him and felt himself being pulled back by a Kinetic Pull from some Guildhead.

Terry rapidly transfixed his equipment and used his immovable items to push himself forward. Simultaneously, he transfixed one of his spears to use the free hand and hurl a throwing needle into the pulling force.

While Terry successfully forced the Guildhead to interrupt his Kinetic Pull spell, Terry himself also had to abandon his attack on Harrison.

Two more channelers of the Bright Lady had appeared. One was supporting Harrison, who was already busy channeling healing light from the Bright Lady. The other stood to hold off Terry. He was wearing a full set of plate armor and held a one-handed sword.

Terry could sense the beginning of an Ice Spike spell from the Guildhead and he dodged without turning around to see.

In front of Terry, more Guardians from Willow’s faction had gathered. Terry picked up his second spear again and charged forward.

During his charge, Terry noticed a few more familiar signatures approaching. He hoped that they, at least, would stand on his side instead of Willow’s.

The Guildhead let out a gut-wrenching scream and then blacked out from the pain inflicted by his unseen assailant.

“As haunting as always,” muttered Derek. “Try to stay hidden and don’t get too far away.” Even if he could not see Rosheen, he was counting on her.

Derek then used his Kinetic Pull imprint on another channeler that was making her way to Terry.

“No need to interfere there,” said Derek coldly. “I can play with you.”

Further ahead, Terry summoned the barriers of his two spears and burst his mana to push them forward and separate the arms of his current opponent. Simultaneously, Terry stepped forward with his right foot.

The channeler attempted to step back, but discovered that his left foot did not budge an inch. A part of the man’s sabaton had been transfixed by Terry, who had relied on his own foot to cast the Immovable Object spell.

Terry changed the angle of his spears and pressed into his opponent.

The channeler fell. The weight of his whole armor and person broke his ankle that could not move with him.

Terry walked forward while circulating mana through his feet. He transfixed more of the armor pieces while using a spear to lift the visor of the downed channeler.

“YOU BASTARD!” a woman screamed and hurled herself at Terry from the side.

Terry recognized a familiar spell structure and trusted his instincts. Instead of dodging the new attacker, he struck his spear to finish the downed opponent before he could use the healing abilities of the Bright Lady.

To the attacking woman’s horror, she found herself paralyzed by a Shadow Bind spell. Instead of striking Terry down with her sword, she was greeted by a spear without being able to block or dodge.

With a powerful thrust, Terry’s spear tunneled through her hardened gold skin and into her head.

“I’ll kill you,” growled a livid Harrison. He was covered in his own blood, but his wounds had already closed again. “I’ll kill you all.”

Don’t sing it, bring it.

Terry growled and charged forward.

***