Ends of Magic

The Heirs traveled a few miles away from the site of Khachi’s class Development, putting some distance in between themselves and the giant beacon that had temporarily lit up the night sky.

They found a replacement campsite, placed in a saddle between two hills. There was a convenient depression there that hid them from every direction except directly atop either of the two adjacent hills. Then the Heirs crashed, with Nathan grumpily staying awake to keep watch.

The night was still cold, and Stella hadn’t set a magical fire before she fell asleep once more, not that it would have done too much good to keep Nathan warm. It was probably for the best - it didn’t emit much smoke at all, but any light and magic at all would probably make them easier to track. Nathan would prefer to be a bit paranoid if it kept them hidden from Taeol or this Badud character.

It would be nice to get my level 81 class Development before that happens. You know, the one I’m two levels off from. Would I feel better if I was one level off from it? Probably not. But the Terrorghast was just a single monster, and one that any one of the Heirs could have killed pretty easily. I’m pretty sure Sarah and Aarl both worked through the fear effect, and it clearly didn’t hinder Khachi much. And Stella is just a deep sleeper. I wonder if anybody got anti-mental magic ranks from that.

Nathan spent some time musing over class Developments, making sure to keep his eyes moving, to ensure he had all angles of approach covered.

If anybody’s class Development was going to be accompanied by a fireworks display, Nathan would expect it to be Stella’s. Sarah and Aarl’s had been without drama or fireworks, but Khachi’s class development had been a surprise. Stella hadn’t developed her class yet, though she probably would quite soon.

I do want to hear more about what class skills and such she’ll get. She only mentioned the one that lets her make her magic stronger when it is aligned with the natural laws of the world.

But that wasn’t Nathan’s primary question - why had Khachi’s class development involved him absorbing a splinter of divinity?

I think it’s just the issues with being a cleric to a dead god. There’s not enough magical oomph in the vending machine, eventually you have to learn how to can your own soda. I dunno, I’m not a mage or a cleric. This is just spitballing. I could ask him, but that’s very much intruding on the most important Insights he has.

Nathan daydreamed about his own Development - what did he want? Were there any last-minute things he could try to guide his class choices at level 81? The Guardians had indicated that what he needed was more mobility and better dodging. If Nathan could get a class skill that enhanced his capacity to dodge and synergized with his three existing mobility skills, that would be great.

But I’ve been doing a lot of dodging already, thank you very much. And bleeding all over everything, but that’s just par for the course. I wonder if there’s a class skill for bleeding all over things. Maybe something that means lost body parts and blood retain my antimagic? It currently ends as soon as something isn't a part of me anymore.

Other things - Nathan would enjoy another way to regenerate Stamina, or expand his Stamina pool. As it stood he was nearly unstoppable and very hard to kill or even wound - so long as he had Stamina. Any injuries would just heal, and he could Rage to compete with melee fighters who had builds otherwise superior to his.

But that was only true as long as he had Stamina. So long as there was magic flying around a battlefield he’d be able to get it back, but if Nathan was separated from his allies and his enemies wised up and stopped casting magic at him he might run into issues. He’d think about if there was any way to increase his stamina pool - maybe he was already on the right track in getting pumped past his Stamina cap on a regular basis.

There were certainly more things on Nathan’s wishlist - he couldn’t wield weapons or wear armor very effectively. His skin could act as a natural suit of armor, but he did always end up basically naked after every fight. A skill to protect his clothing might be nice.

But that’s basically just cosmetic. I should not give a shit about that if the alternative is to actually be stronger and be better at my chosen purposes - Giantsrest and the Endings. And more generally promoting benevolent civilizations.

Nathan sighed, hunching a little farther down in his blankets. He could imagine a bunch of improvements - maybe something that would interface with his enhanced body?

The Guardians also mentioned stealth. My only idea is to use [Perfected Body] to make pigments for camouflage. It’s something to keep in mind. My antimagic would work well with skills to help be sneaky, but I don’t know how to get into that. Would probably be easier if I had a stealth utility skill. I’d kind of been intending to drop [Lecturing] eventually but I’m really not sure that’s a good idea. I promised to teach Stella more magic Insights, and it helps a ton with that. If I ever want to spread more earthly Insights - the printing press, crop rotations, whatever, it will be invaluable.

Nathan shook his head, considering. What else? Something that would enable him to be capable of wielding weapons? He’d been offered some kind of fighter class at every Development so far. Maybe it was time to take one?

No, that’s probably a terrible idea. I think I’ll just have to see what I get offered. I'll keep focusing on dodging, though. And antimagic. It’s kind of my whole thing, and I know it’s not perfect. I lost a hand to the siege-spike, after all, and that was just magic.

Nathan spent the rest of his watch scanning the barren earth around them, waiting for a group of mages or another monster to come over the rise and attack. But the night was serene, and Nathan kept thinking about what he wanted from his next class Development.

I kind of wish I could pick up [Airwalking] before my class Development. Class skills that explicitly synergized with [Airwalking] would be sick. But I don’t think that’s going to happen.

After Nathan’s shift was up he woke Stella, which was annoyingly difficult. The red-haired mage was deeply swaddled in an absurdly soft blanket, and didn’t respond until Nathan basically picked her up and dropped her on the bedroll underneath.

She glared up at him. “I’m sure you could have found a better way to do that.’

He looked back without much pity. “Maybe. But not after the night we’ve had. I want to hear about your new class.”

Stella smiled. “I’m planning on Developing it soon. Do you want to stay up and hear about it?”

Nathan looked from Stella to his bed. “Correction. I want to hear about it once I get some sleep.”

Then Nathan wrapped himself tightly in his own blanket before going to sleep. The sun started shining down from directly overhead before long, but Nathan just rolled over and went back to sleep.

—

The Heirs slept in a bit, allowing themselves to delay the morning exercise for the sake of catching up on sleep they’d missed in the nighttime attack and the subsequent hasty departure from their first campsite.

Eventually, Nathan woke up and had an unremarkable breakfast with the rest of the Heirs around the fire Stella had set during her watch. They all sat staring into the dancing flames for a time, waking up after the difficult night. There was a lot of stretching and complaining from sleeping on an uneven surface.

Stella broached the conversation, gesturing to Khachi. “Congratulations on your Development. I developed my own class and am free of regret for my choice. I hope you are too?”

Khachi nodded slowly, looking thoughtful. “My new skills are to my satisfaction. I am specializing more in Divine magic than my mother did, at the cost of martial ability. My new class skills will enable me to cast strong defensive spells with Divine magic that are capable of adapting to the threat we face. I believe this is a fine trade-off in this party.” He gestured around at the other Heirs, specifically at Aarl, Sarah and Nathan.

Aarl was checking his new pistols for grit as he spoke agreeably. “Makes sense. Kia’s the primary melee powerhouse of the Guardians. That’s me n’ Nathan, here. But we’ve got one Stella to their Dalo & Kullal.”

Sarah looked at her brother with raised eyebrows. “A little early in the dungeon to compare ourselves to the Guardians, isn’t it?”

A smile spread across Stella’s face. “Our aim is higher still! If we weren’t staying sneaky I’d cast a lightning bolt to the sky! This is good. I focus on destruction, you handle defense. My new class Development will let me unleash a true maelstrom on our foes.”

Nathan looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Care to share?”

Stella stood pacing around the camp as she spoke, unable to keep still from excitement. “I am now a [Mage of the Natural Law]. The first class skill I’ve already mentioned. [Natural Magic] will make my spells more powerful and harder to counter when they’re aligned with the natural laws of the world! If I cast lightning by setting up a charge differential and guiding the flow of charge with magnetic fields the spell will be more powerful than if I just throw lightning mana around.”

She paused in her stride, looking to Nathan with a wince. “It will also move it half a step from the magical into the natural world, making the effect harder to block and… probably circumventing your magic immunity a bit.”

Nathan shrugged. “But you’ll be able to control if it happens or not, right? So you can not use that ability when you’re catching me in the area of effect, right?”

She nodded, biting her lip. “Yes, but I'll need to practice both ways with every spell.”

Nathan waved a hand to brush the issue aside. “I’m in favor of things that make your magic more powerful, and this is a downside we can work around. We can test it later. What else?”

She resumed her pacing, raising a hand to conjure a force construct that danced with lightning and sparkled with motes of light. “[Kaleidoscopic Mana]. It makes it easier for me to cast spells with multiple mana types, without them interacting badly. Such a skill is an important prerequisite to many spells, especially with a broad range of mana types.”

Then she grinned broadly. “And the last is [Multicasting]. A skill I’ve wanted since my mother told me of it, to be able to cast multiple spells at once!” She spun in place, throwing her arms wide. “All of the skills improve my spellcasting, and I didn’t get any new mana types. But it would be a waste of skills to learn mana types from them. Especially when I can get their Insights from Nathan!”

The Heirs all smiled at her enthusiasm. It was good to know their mage was getting ever more powerful.

But she wasn’t done. “And my other skills developed! [Mana Channeling] became [Mana Torrent], so I can shove mana even more quickly into spells, and [Worldly Mana] improved too, for an even higher mana regeneration rate.” Stella rubbed her hands together. “A normal mage would need to be 243, or even 729 to have so many general class skills to facilitate easier and better spellcasting. But I have them all now, and few limits to the number of spells I can cast. Just the channeling rate, and that's already high."

During Stella’s rant Aarl had pulled out a preserved sausage and started toasting it over the fire. He started chewing on it, looking around the fire. “Well and good. Let us find another fight to level Nathan to 81. Is there anything for us? Stella, have you heard from the Guild?”

She frowned. “I haven’t sent them anything. I’ll mention we killed a Terrorghast and ask if there’s anything in the area.” She sat down and took up her now-familiar ‘I’m concentrating on [Message]’ face.

Sarah glanced over at her brother. “Is there a task for us? I'd hunt a dangerous monster.”

Aarl gave her a wry look. “I doubt Nathan would level that way. Did you level at all from the Terrorghast?”

She shook her head, acknowledging his point.

Khachi rumbled. “I wish to protect a village from a foe. My magic will be more potent when used in direct defense, and I would test it. Nathan, what is your suggestion?”

Nathan gave it a moment of thought, remembering the train of thought from his watch this morning. “I would like to fight something hand-to-hand. I want to get class skills that help me when I fight foes who don’t use magic, or who are physically powerful regardless. I didn’t feel like I could have seriously injured the Terrorghast, and without the spear I don’t have a weapon to fight something like that.”

Stella looked up, face lit with excitement. “Tomorrow is a Delve Day. We should go delving!”

Everybody looked askance at that. Sarah spoke up questioningly. “It is? Would they even let us delve a dungeon?”

Stella shrugged. “That’s what I said. Do we want to do one? If we tell Siltul that we’re over 81 he would likely approve us for a smaller dungeon, if there are any around here. We’re far enough out that there should be some.”

Nathan nodded without special conviction. “I’d like to see a true dungeon, something a little more involved than the Tomb of the Mage-Lord of Necromancy. We’re a little far from some of the dungeons we’ve seen earlier, and they’re not quite so common around here. I suppose the Guild will probably assign us one.”

Nodding, Khachi spoke up. “Indeed - if there is one that is appropriate. Stella, can you ask?”

She nodded, and cast [Message] once more.

Sarah frowned. “A dungeon would be at close range. With this weapon and class, I would prefer to stay at distance from any foes we face.”

Aarl clapped her on the shoulder. “Come, sister, don’t be so picky. We’ll need to fight in many circumstances, and experience with a dungeon Delve will be useful. And it will definitely level Nathan up past 81. If we survive!” He said that last part cheerily, as if daring anybody to disagree.

Stella replied. “I think Siltul was just waiting for us to ask, and knew about where we were from us being with the Dusteaters. There’s a dungeon south of Cromer that we’re being directed to. It’s an Edrani Empire defense outpost, and the magical artillery is restricting the grazing grounds. Every now and then a goat wanders too close and gets vaporized.”

Nathan blinked. “Magical what now?” Then he cast back in his memory for what he’d learned of Edrani dungeons.

The Edrani empire had been very skilled with enchanting and magic - not so much as the Kalis Conclave, but their relics were a bit less weird and a bit more useful. They’d also made up any lack of sophistication with scale, and were fond of magical traps and summoned guardians. They’d also been quite good at magical emplacements. One of the more common types of Dungeons around Gemore was Edrani defense outposts, which were usually built around some kind of powerful ranged magic that was well-suited to the local environment.

After all, the defense outposts had been intended to control the countryside for miles around, and be defensible while manned with only one or two people. That meant they had a lot of automatic defenses like traps and triggers that would conjure a battalion of magical guardians. And that their ranged magic could fire autonomously at anything that got too close.

Khachi was frowning. “I am surprised we are being trusted with this. If this Delve goes wrong, the outpost could decide to target Cromer. We will need to ensure that does not happen.”

Aarl began to pack up the camp. “We know we were being favored already. This would be much more political if we were in Gemore, but out here there’s nobody to argue. Everybody wants to do this, right?”

After a round of nods, the Heirs set off, following Khachi’s excellent sense of direction and the instructions Stella had been sent. It was time to go deal with a dungeon.

And finally get past level 81. Probably a ways past 81, but I’ll be stuck at 81 until I make my class choice. Looking forward to seeing what my options are.

Status of Nathan Lark:

Permanent Talent 1: Magic Absorption 8

Permanent Talent 2: Perfected Body 3

Talent 3: High-tier Slow Fall 6

Class: Spellbreaker Juggernaut level 79

Stamina: 828/890

Juggernaut's Wrath

Antimagic Momentum

Raging Thrill

Juggernaut's Inertia

Unarmored Resilience

Utility skills:

Battle Meditation 2

High-tier Earnestness 7

Mid-tier Sprinting 9

High-tier Spellsense 6

High-tier Notice 1

Mid-tier Identify 8

Mid-tier Dodging Footwork 8

High-tier Enhanced Memory 7

Mid-tier Lecturing 7

Mid-tier Tumbling 6