Anti-Mage

Anton followed Paeral Ulahana, once Arch Mage up the street. Anton noticed that the elves that were out and about were looking at him and whispering in elvish, which he could not understand. As he followed Paeral the two guards followed Anton and kept a close watch on him.

Paeral led Anton to steps that went up to a huge doorway at the base of a humongous tree. Anton looked up and around and realized that what he had thought was a wall was the trunk of a tree that went off at least 100 feet to his left and right. Paeral knocked once then pushed on the huge doors which opened soundlessly inward.

Anton followed Paeral into the room, the two guards following closely. Anton watched as Paeral bowed to three elderly elves who were sitting behind a desk that overlooked the room from opposite the entrance. While Anton couldn’t understand the words he could tell from their tone that they were agitated about something. Since all three took turns pointing at Anton, he was pretty sure the reason they were agitated had something to do with himself.

One of the Elders stared at Anton intently then shot a scathing look at Paeral as he issued a command and gestured toward Anton. Anton wondered what the elder wanted when one of the guards behind him grabbed his elbow and started leading him toward a door off to the side. He was led below the chamber into a room with holding cells where he was locked in. The guard took a position right outside the door.

What seemed like at least an hour later, though honestly, Anton had no idea how long he’d been in the cell, Paeral stepped up to the guard who opened the door to the cell and allowed him to enter the room. Paeral stepped inside and sat on a bench across from the cot Anton was resting on.

Anton looked at the elf questioningly before he asked, “So, what is going on?”

“First, I need to apologize,” Paeral said.

“Apologize?” Anton asked curiously.

“Yes apologize. While you’ve been sitting here we were able to use an artifact on you?

“Why use an artifact?”

“It was the only thing that could Identify you?” Paeral answered honestly.

“You used magic on me, I didn’t feel or see anything?” Anton said.

“Nor should you be able to. Besides being in another room when it was activated with you as the target, one of your abilities makes you immune to magic. While you might be able to see a spell if it's cast in front of you if there is a visual component, how exactly would you feel something magical affecting you?”

Anton thought about what Paeral said for a moment and then realized he was right, “Yeah, that makes sense. So how did you use it on me if I’m immune to magic?” Anton asked.

While you are immune to most magic, it seems that there are a few types that can still affect you. One of those is Divine.”

“Divine, as in Godly magic?” Anton asked.

“Just so.”

“So, a god could smite me?” Anton asked.

“I don’t know. While a God could get past your Anti-Mage ability and use divine magic on you, Your unique ability Immortal is another thing altogether. Before you ask, Unique is not a rarity anyone here has ever seen or heard of before,” Paeral said.

“Why are you letting me know all of this and being so nice?” Anton asked.

The elders didn’t believe me when I told them you returned after you’d been backstabbed, nor did they believe me when I told them how you dissolved and reappeared. After they knew what your abilities were, their attitudes changed,” Paeral said.

“So, what now?”

“Now we would like to conduct some tests on you to determine the power of your Immortal ability.

“Wait a second, to test something like that you would need to actually kill me, what if it doesn’t work and I, you know, die?

“How many times have you died now,” Paeral asked.

“I don’t know,” Anton said unbelievably before he added, “What if I don’t want to get killed over and over?”

“Honestly, that’s a valid point. However, you seem to be immune to magic so how do you propose we test you?” Paeral asked.

“I have no idea,” Anton said.

Paeral looked thoughtful for a moment before he asked, “Do you even feel pain at this point?”

Anton thought about it. Then he really thought about it. Ever since he’d received that boost in Willpower pain had become abstract, “Actually, no, I do not feel pain anymore. It’s just kind of shunted to the side.” Anton said.

“Well, instead of killing you, why don’t we test your pain threshold and your ability to heal or recover from wounds then?” Paeral said.

“That sounds like a lot better idea than killing me over and over and also, I’d like to know as well so it’s a win-win for me?” Anton agreed.

Paeral led Anton out of the cell, the guard did not follow. Anton was led to a room that looked a lot like a surgeon’s room and had Anton sit down in a chair, “We’re going to start small and work our way up,” Paeral said as he picked up a scalpel and turned to Anton, “Hold out your hand, please. Well, try something simple, like a shallow cut to the palm of your hand.

Anton was curious to see if he really couldn’t feel pain, so he held out his hand and watched as Paeral drew the scalpel across his palm lightly which created a shallow cut. He watched as the scalpel cut his hand and the skin separated which then closed just as quickly. The wound closed up and within 3 seconds was completely gone. More importantly, he didn’t feel a thing.

“Did that hurt?” Paeral asked.

“Honestly, I didn’t feel a thing,” Anton said.

“Let’s try a little deeper this time,” Paeral said.

Paeral repeated the test three more times, cutting a little bit deeper each time. Each time Anton watched the knife break his skin and then seal back up before he started bleeding. Each time, Anton knew that he’d been cut, knew where, and could feel the skin as it separated and then reformed but he did not feel pain of any sort. As he explored the feeling he realized that there was pain, his mind was being told that his body was being affected but it was so dull that he didn’t react, even when cut. This must be what someone with leprosy feels like, which was ironic because one of his favorite fantasy-based characters had been afflicted with leprosy.

“Okay, superficial cuts don’t seem to do anything, no matter how deep they are. Let's see what punctures do,” Paeral offered.

“Whatever,” Anton said. Maybe this would hurt. Anton watched as Paeral pushed the scalpel down into his hand while Paeral watched his face. When the blade was halfway into his hand, about half an inch, Paeral stopped pushing.

“Anything,” Paeral asked.

“If you’re asking if I can feel that there Is a scalpel in my hand, yes I can feel the scalpel. If you're asking me if it hurts, no,” Anton said wonderingly as Paeral let go of the scalpel which stood straight up.

Both Paeral and Anton watched the scalpel in his hand as it was pushed up and out of his hand in less than a second and the wound that the scalpel had made was completely sealed and healed within 14 seconds.

“Amazing,” Paeral said wonderingly, “It expelled it from your body and then you were fully healed.”

“Yeah, not gonna lie, that felt kind of weird but again, it didn’t hurt,” Anton said as he rubbed his hand to make sure the wound was gone.

“What do you think will happen if an object is all the way through your hand? Will it get pushed out as you heal, or will it remain?”

“No idea,” Anton said as he wondered how Paeral was going to test that.

Paeral went over to a drawer and found an I V needle, “We could be barbaric, but since you're not feeling pain I was thinking we could test what happens by putting this needle through the fleshy part of your hand between your thumb and your pointer finger. There are a lot of nerve endings there and it would normally be painful but if you’re not feeling pain this is the least invasive spot with the smallest thing I can think to impale you with. Also, we can test two things this way. Your ability to ignore pain and what happens to objects that impale you.”

“Okay,” Anton said.

Anton watched as Paeral pushed the needle through his hand so that about a half inch was sticking out of each side of his hand. Again, he felt nothing. No pain, no discomfort, nothing. Anton watched the needle as he slowly counted. After 8 seconds the needle started to wiggle on its own as the flesh around it started to push against it. At 11 seconds the needles started to visibly move out of his hand and at 13 seconds it dropped to the table. The next second his hand was completely healed again.

“That is interesting,” Paeral mused out loud, “It seems that objects that enter your body are expelled within 20 seconds.

“14 seconds if you want to be exact,” Anton said.

“14 seconds?” Paeral asked.

“Yep, 14 seconds. I’ve been counting each time you’ve cut or stabbed me. Each time I completely healed after 14 seconds.”

“When you died you dissolved and reformed though?” Paeral said.

“Yep, I’ve done it so many times now it doesn’t even phase me,” Anton said.

“And you didn’t feel any pain from the tests we just conducted?” Paeral asked.

“Nope, Nothing,” Anton affirmed. After a moment he asked, “So, what’s next?”

“When I first came in here I was supposed to apologize and then let you know that my elders have asked me to make it clear that we do not wish to make an enemy of you and we are looking for ways to make amends for the attack on you earlier,” Paeral said.

“Why would the elders care about that?” Anton asked.

“If you are truly immortal, there will come a day when you are more powerful than the eldest of us. The Elders have made it very clear that they do not wish to make an enemy of someone that has the potential to become extremely powerful,” Paeral said.

“Okay, I can see how that makes sense. Still, as my people say, why does that matter now?”

“As I said, we’re trying to figure out how to make amends. Since it seems like you’re immune to pain and I know you can come back from death, what do you think about testing your immunity to magic?

“That sounds fine, how do you suggest we start?” Anton asked.

Paeral led Anton to another room where Anton was given a chair to sit in. For the next couple of hours, various elves would walk into the room, wiggle their fingers, or yell something in elvish which all failed to do anything to him. Every once in a while Paeral would come in and check on him while someone would come by with drinks and snacks between each visit. The visits didn’t last long as every single spell failed to get within five feet of him.

As the sun set, Anton was led to a room with a bed, table, and chair. Food and drinks were provided. There was also a guard posted outside the door. The next morning Anton realized one thing that he hadn’t thought about in a while now. He hadn’t had to use the bathroom, nor had he used the bathroom since the Pillar had killed him. Also, he didn’t feel hungry or thirsty, though he could eat, and the food tasted good, great even, but he wasn’t really hungry when he ate.

Before Paeral arrived he showered and put his clothes back on. When he arrived back at his room to wait for Paeral a light breakfast was waiting for him. He ate while he waited for Paeral to arrive. Paeral appeared just as he finished his meal, and he was led back to the room where the magical tests were continued. He was given snacks and drinks as various individuals came through and either cast spells or tried to use magical weapons on him. None of them had an effect.

When the sun started to set Paeral came up to him, “That’s it for today Anton,” Paeral said as he walked in after the last mage left.

“Have you learned anything yet?” Anton asked.

“Quite a bit actually. We’re also calling in mages from all over, which is what’s taking so long. With everyone’s levels being reset we’re having to pull in people with various magical items that mimic some of our higher-level spells,” Paeral said.

“Well, I’m not going anywhere and just sitting around is boring. Is there anything I can study while I wait around all day?” Anton asked.

“Normally, I’d just give you a skill crystal, but they work by magic and magic doesn’t work on you so let me see what I can put together for you.

The next day Paeral dropped off some books that contained some very simple translations from English to Elvish. Anton would read between visits, which were reduced to once an hour. When the day ended Paeral escorted Anton to what appeared to be an outdoor play with various characters that portray a story of heroic deeds. His Elvish was still very basic so he didn’t understand even 10% of what was said, but he did start to recognize some of the words. When the play was over Paeral escorted him back to his home. Now that he’d seen some of the Elvish culture Anton started to feel a little more at home. Of course, no one had tried to kill or hurt him in a couple of days, he wasn’t counting the spells being cast because both the elves and he knew that they couldn’t affect him. Plus, they were really helping him come to terms with magic and that it existed, even if he couldn’t influence or be affected by it.

Anton kept to this new schedule for days and then weeks. Finally, Paeral showed up one morning and the monotony changed. Anton followed him to breakfast where they sat down and Paeral spoke, “Well, as far as we can determine you are impervious to magic, at least everything we can throw at you. That’s going to make it hard to teleport you back to Earth. You do seem to be able to use the node system and the Arch which indicates that at least some portion of that is technological in nature.”

“Why does that matter?” Anton asked.

“Well, If you ever wish to return to Earth, I can return to the Pillar 10 Node open a portal for you with the Arch, and bring you back there. From the Pillar Node and Arch you should be able to go anywhere on the planet. Of course, Earth isn’t doing so well right now.”

“What? What’s happening on Earth.”

“Well, the accident increased the size of your planet which has had a significant impact on the weather, not to mention how the SYSTEM decided to bring it all together. Instead of separating each world’s population into different areas of the globe, it kept everything localized within the same geographical area. If there hadn’t been an accident, Earth wouldn’t have changed at all.

“What do you mean?” Anton asked.

“If everything had worked right, everyone from Universes 1-5 and 7-10 would have been destroyed and our universe would have started anew with our nation in control. Now though, Now everyone must start from nothing. Well not nothing, we still have our magic items which are what we’re using to help us level quickly. Even so, it’s still going to take years.”

“So, what you’re saying is that you have 10 times the normal pissed-off humans on Earth, and you all are going to do your thing over here on Mirvana and let it fall to anarchy?” Anton asked.

“Let it fall to Anarchy?” Paeral asked, “We don’t have to let it do anything.” The fighting started right after we returned here. We’ve been scrying Earth to see what has been happening. It’s chaos over there although the natives of Earth 6 seem to be doing much better than everyone else.”

“Why is that?” Anton asked.

“From what we’ve been able to gather it seems like none of the other universes had magic available, or it was unknown which resulted in them having no access to The SYSTEM. As such, everyone from Universe 6 has a much better idea about what they need to do to level and take advantage of the SYSTEM.”

“How much of an unfair advantage does that create?” Anton asked.

“Short term, a lot. Long term, we don’t know. The availability of the shop and SYSTEM merchants is new. We didn’t have a SYSTEM shop before the accident. We had merchants who had SYSTEM-sanctioned shops, but they weren’t run by the SYSTEM. If the Shops have access to good equipment, spells, and magic items no one is going to have an advantage for very long. Especially since everyone can loot monster corpses upon their death. That means that anyone can kill a couple of monsters, loot their corpses, and visit The SYSTEM Shop to purchase items that help them become more powerful.

“It sounds like the elves on Mirvana are doing okay for themselves,” Adam said.

“You misunderstand, Mirvana isn’t only a world of elves. We have a kingdom here, but we are but one of many. Before the reset, we were one of the most powerful Nations on the planet. We’ll be relying on our magic items and martial skills to keep others from taking what is ours until we level back up to our previous levels.

“Sounds like you’re going to have issues,” Adam said.

“Not as many as I think you are,” Paeral said.

“What do you mean?”

“One of the reasons I’m talking to you now is that killing you does not garner experience, I checked that with the assassin that backstabbed you back on Earth. As you are probably level 0 our Combat Logs state we don’t get XP for killing you. If you read the SYSTEM messages when they came out I’m sure you saw that when anyone dies they lose all the experience they’ve earned toward their next level and the last level they had. So, if you keep coming back but you’re easy to kill…You might live forever, but you’ll be losing any levels you gain.”

Anton raised an eyebrow as he looked at the Elf in thought before he said, “And if I can’t level I can’t grow stronger in the SYSTEM?”

“Got it in one,” Paeral agreed.

“Well, shit.”

“Exactly. After speaking with the elders, we have decided that helping you could help us so we’re willing to make you an offer if you’ll agree to join us.”

“What kind of offer?” Anton asked.

“Since you can’t use magic we can’t just magically gift you with knowledge and languages, but we can continue to teach you normally. We can help you learn other languages for the various races you will interact with. We can also teach you how to use weapons like swords and bows. We don’t have a lot of firearms here, though it looks like Earth isn’t lacking so if you ever return you could probably train with those weapons there.”

“If you’re going to train me you’re not going to want to keep me at level zero so what do I have to do for the elvish people to receive this training?” Anton asked.

“Well, you’re impervious to magic. There are monsters and other races that rely heavily on magic. We would expect you to utilize the weapons and skills we teach you to protect the Elven Nation as well as help us. Also, we’d like you to help us deal with any individuals we might have issues with.”

“So, I’ll be the spell shield for whatever group you stick me with?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, that sounds fine, as long as I get a bed to sleep in. I do have two questions for you,” Anton said.

“Of course, you do, what is your first question?” Paeral asked.

“How did you learn to speak English?”

Paeral laughed, “That’s easy enough to explain. When I was growing up, I scryed the Earth in my universe. I did this for many years and picked up English from watching television shows.”

Anton looks up as a thought comes to him, “How long have I been here?”

“Just under two weeks, why?” Paeral asked.

“I have a stepmother and stepfather I’d like to bring here if possible.

“That’s doable if they’re still alive. I think I have explained how chaotic things are on Earth,” Paeral said.

“You have, but my Stepfather was what some people called a crackpot. He believed that the end of the world was coming and that he needed to be prepared for a zombie apocalypse or some other such nonsense,” Anton said.

“You do realize zombies and the undead are real?” Paeral asked.

“I did not. Good to know, anyway, My stepdad bought a house and set up an underground bunker that could withstand anything but a direct hit from a nuke. If the nuke detonated in the atmosphere, it would survive. If there was a Flood, it would survive, it even had a way to float a tube up to the surface to get more air if the area was ever completely underwater… Anyway, a lot of people thought he was a real nutcase.”

“How many people could the bunker hold?” Paeral asked.

“If he was able to get people he trusted into it, ten. Some are my foster brothers and sisters, but it should be no more than 10. For up to a year. If he really needed to, he could cram 20 people in there, but it would be a bit crowded,” Anton said.

“Okay, let me go ask. That will mean we need to move you and your family to another area, but it shouldn’t be a problem. So, I’ll go ask and then if they say yes, a portal will open here. When we go get them, they’ll get everything ready here. If everything goes right We’ll portal them into the Arch and then open a different portal to the place you all will be staying. They will have to help our society in some way but that is a topic for another time. Just wait here for a few minutes please.”

Anton nodded as Paeral walked towards a stairway that led up to one of the observation rooms. He could see Paeral and the elder talking until Paeral stepped back and vanished. A minute later a portal opened up in front of Anton. Without being asked Anton stepped through and the portal closed.

“Okay, you’re going to need to pull up the image and open the arch because I have no idea where they are?” Paeral said.

Anton nodded as he moved over to the node and placed his hand on it. He concentrated for a moment and zeroed the image in on his stepfather's home in Minot. With a little concentration, he shifted the image into the basement and through the false wall where he found a group of people going about their day. It looked like the whole family was there, including his foster sister who had been in Fargo. If the SYSTEM messages had been accurate, that would have taken close to 40 hours to drive.

Though, she had earned her pilot's license so maybe she’d been able to fly the Cessna back? Also, it wouldn’t have been hard for her to find a place to land. The airport was in town and his Stepdad's house was right at the south end of the runway. Anton pulled the view out of the house and looked 2,000 feet to the East and a little bit North. Right there at the end of the runway was a Cessna parked in the grass. Way to go sis. It was kind of ironic that her first name was Amelia and she had survived this apocalypse by flying.

“Anton, what are you doing?” Paeral asked.

“Just checking to see how my sister made it home from a city I used to live in,” Anton said as he brought the view of the holographic image back to the underground bunker. He quickly moved through each room and counted. There was Sara, the 7-year-old his step-parents had taken in last year. They had taken a break from adopting for 3 years so the next child was Jack at age 10, and Carla at age 12. Anton had an older stepbrother who had died in a tragic car accident about five years ago which left Amelia, who was 25, and him at age 27. So, every member of the family was accounted for. In addition to his six family members, it looked like there were five more, for a total of 11.

Mr. and Mrs. Kendall from across the street were family friends and it looked like their son, his wife, and their baby may have been visiting. If Anton remembered right they only had one son, though he couldn’t remember his name.

Anton turned to Paeral, “It looks like there are eleven people in the bunker. Six are from my family and the other five are friends of the family from across the street. There are five adults and six children. Will the place you’re going to put us up in be able to handle kids?”

“Let me check,” Paeral said as he took Adam’s place and opened a portal to the elder. They stared intently at each other for a moment and then the portal closed as Paeral motioned for Anton to take his place at the node again. As Anton put his hand on the node Paeral said, “It should be fine. There is a residence that is for visiting dignitaries. It will be a simple thing to get all of them language packages and determine where they can help in the city or what schooling the children will need.”

“Thank you,” Anton said.

“Think nothing of it. We have a vested interest in helping you and your family and friends as long as it's understood that you will help us in return,” Paeral said.

“Of course,” Anton said before he added, “Though getting backstabbed sucked, not gonna lie. The testing though, that was kind of easy.”

“And now you know that you have an extremely high pain tolerance and that anything that gets put in your body will be ejected within 20 seconds. Also, I bet you haven’t even noticed it, but we have. None of us detect even an ounce of fear from you. Your confidence that you’ll return has instilled a sense of fearlessness in you that is unheard of in one so unskilled that is not also a child.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Anton said hesitantly.

“You're welcome, now if you would zoom up and out so I can see where this is in comparison to other landmarks and the other 9 copies of that city that are laid out around it, then further out so I can see where it is in North America. Then zoom back in slowly,” When Anton looked at him questioningly he said, “Because I’m going to have to hold the Arch open so you can go talk to your family and bring them through before we head back to Minerva.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Anton said as he did what Paeral had asked him to. When Anton stepped away, Paeral pulled up the location with no issues and chose the location for the portal to open to be right to the side of the exit door where no one was standing currently. Anton stepped over to the Arch and waited.

The Arch solidified into an image of a common room with 5 adults watching after the 6 children as they did homeschool or watched some T.V. Anton’s Stepdad was reaching for the shotgun beside his chair when he froze as he made eye contact with Anton, “Anton is that you?”

“Is that an Elf?” Jack said. He had a better angle into the portal and could see Paeral at the node.

Anton stepped through the portal and said, “Yes, it’s me. I need all of you to grab whatever you think you're going to need that you can carry. My friend and I are going to take you to a place that is much safer than Earth is right now.”

“How…” Anton’s stepdad asked.

“Questions later. I’m going to step back through the portal, and it will close. In half an hour the portal will open again, and we’ll be leaving. Make sure to shut everything down and be ready to go when the portal opens again. Also, it will be a short trip so don’t worry about hiking or anything like that. Just grab the things you need that you can carry and lock this place down,” Anton said as he stepped back through the portal. A moment later it closed.

Paeral and Anton watched the 11 people scramble through the bunker. His Stepdad put everything in power saver mode and shut down the lights to the bunker as he cut off all access to the outside world. Once that was done, everyone was waiting for the portal to open with five minutes to spare.

Anton stepped back in front of the Arch and smiled at his family and their friends as the portal opened, “Who wants to go live in an elven city?”