Wielding the Stars to Craft War (Warcraft/Starcraft)

“You may begin.”

Korialstrasz watched as Kyle centered himself and then hovered his hand over the brass shaft of an ornamental floor candelabra, which was in turn resting on a block of transmuted crystal. His eyes glowed in that familiar blue-white, and then both psion and observers alike, as well as everything in the empty, windowless room were bathed in that same light as both brass shaft and crystal glowed and was soon engulfed in the radiance.

The blinding display lasted all of nine seconds. When the light finally subsided, the crystal block was missing, and the candelabra shaft had noticeable changed. Rather than a sculpted, decorative rod, it now took on a far more utilitarian appearance, though the sheen it took on now seemed closer to gold than brass.

It seemed more like the shaft of a pole-weapon missing its weapon head, and upon Kyle cautiously lifting it for closer study, Korialstrasz noticed the hollow, socket-like hole on one end of the shaft.

Beside the disguised dragon, the human facade of Vasyrgos clicked his tongue in annoyance, and Korialstrasz could sympathize. For all the showy and undeniable effects, neither dragon could detect anything truly amiss on the magical plane. There was no disruption in mana, either within Kyle or around his immediate surroundings, and neither did the transmuted item radiate anything that might suggest it had undergone what must have been a magical process.

Korialstrasz felt a bubble of annoyance within himself at another lack of any solid information to work with. It was his idea to scale up the psionic transmutation from a scepter to a much longer candle-holder shaft, after all, and it was hard to deny the…dislike of having his theory be proven so utterly wrong like this.

Kyle held the transmuted staff firmly in both hands. His eyes glowed again, and again, without any indication at all, the socketed end of the rod erupted in a thin blade of light Vasyrgos was starting to call ‘psionic blue’.

“Well, at least the end result is somewhat consistent,” the blue dragon grumbled as he continued to stare hard at the weapon in Kyle’s hands. “Do you feel any strain?”

Their student shook his head. “Not any worse than when I used the earlier piece.”

The scepter had converted into a mace with a pattern of holes on its bulbous head. Kyle’s powers had caused small spikes of light to fill those holes, turning the mace into a significantly more imposing weapon. Apparently both that mace and this polearm only required some extra focus on Kyle’s part, compared to projecting the blade from his bracer.

Taken by itself, it was a trivial piece of information. But at this stage, with everything about psionics being new, even the smallest bit of trivia might help to paint a better picture.

Kyle fell into guard position with the polearm, and then gave a few practice swings and stabs before both the blade of light as well as the glow in his eyes vanished. The bladeless staff was then gently lowered to the floor before he regarded his tutors. “So…still nothing, huh?”

Vasyrgos growled in full annoyance. “I swear, I’ll be taking you with me when I give my report on your psionic ‘magic’.” The last word was voiced with thick distaste. “Otherwise I’d be laughed out as an imbecile.”

“The implications of psionics’ imperceptibility during casting definitely brings up disturbing potentials,” Korialstrasz added evenly. “Though I suppose we should be fortunate that its results have been overt, at least thus far.”

Indeed, it was probably the biggest boon so far that beyond the lack of mana distortion, there were still definite tells to Kyle’s magic, the distinctive glow being the more obvious one, often with the boy’s eyes lighting up first. The psionic version of telepathy also had a…sterility to it that made it clearly stand out from the corruptive whispers of the Fel or the Void, though it would be a challenge relaying that information across to others…

Besides, from what little experimenting that’s been done, Kyle required a lot more training to control his telepathy. While he could ‘speak’ through his mind easily enough, he had trouble ‘listening’ as apparently he couldn’t effectively focus on a single person nor filter their thoughts just yet. It could be a matter of lacking the required mastery over psionics, or, as Vasyrgos speculated, a limitation of the human frame. For the time being, it was a moot point, as both draconic tutors had agreed with Kyle to focus on the more obvious and practical side of his magic.

“Still, it’s not like it’s worse than the darker forms of magic,” the blue dragon mumbled. “That you’re not sprouting extra eyes or tentacles, or growing horns and breathing green fire is already speaking very well for psionics. Though I suggest you experiment with transmutation after you grow up a bit more, and can afford the more exotic materials.”

Korialstrasz rolled his eyes at the advice even as Kyle shrugged at it. “It sounds too much of a hassle. Transforming quartz and brass is good enough for now, I guess.” The draconic archmage frowned a little as he detected an underlying…something in his student’s voice. Did Kyle have a clearer idea, or perhaps more realistically, has he somehow managed to form his suspicions on what his transmutation spell could and could not work on?

While Korialstrasz found himself mulling over that, Vasyrgos resumed grumbling. “Your crystal blocks are interesting enough, but if you really want to stockpile them for further experimentation, see if your psionics allows you to create pocket dimensions to store them in. Otherwise, artifacts that provide that effect are damnably hard to come by, and I’m not going to be at your beck and call as a convenient warehouse.”

“I’ll figure something out,” Kyle answered with a lop-sided smirk. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to make my magical advisor into a glorified spell encyclopedia.”

“Good that you know it,” Vasyrgos snorted.

With Soridormi’s revelations, both red and blue dragons had spent some time discussing before coming to an agreement in regards to Kyle. For the time being, he would be kept out in the dark over the matter of the future. Considering that he had already hinted about some knowledge of the dragonflights, who knows what other supposedly obscure information he might come across, and how he might act on it if he understood the implications of the bronze flight’s quandary.

It was convenient that the boy had a spot for an advisor and tutor for when he ascended Alterac’s throne, so Valoghan would take up that role which also allowed him to monitor the young king’s growth. Krasus would have to return to his role as reclusive archmage, where other matters within the Kirin Tor require monitoring.

And with how he is shaping up so far, Korialstrasz admittedly felt a bit optimistic that Kyle wouldn’t need too much guidance or nudges away from perilous paths. Though considering that the boy was sure to suffer the full brunt of human puberty and all the erraticness it comes with…

Vasyrgos had been briefed on what to look out for. Hopefully Kyle wouldn’t lower himself into using his psionics to achieve more base satisfaction.

“Now, what’s this I hear about you threatening a girl with magic?” the blue dragon teased, causing Kyle to shrink back a little with embarrassment. “I’m sure there’s better ways of seeking a prospective mate, no?”

The boy began to sputter a protest of innocence, causing Vasyrgos to break into a laugh and further dig into the issue.

Korialstrasz found himself frowning as a new cause of concern reared its head. Would it be prudent to…cultivate an appropriate partner for Kyle? At the very least, prospective candidates would require vetting so that he isn’t exploited…

Vasyrgos’ words dragged him out of his thoughts. “What do you think, Kor- Krasus? Have the humans here been cowed enough?”

Quickly discerning what was meant, the archmage nodded. “I’m told that responses should be on the way from the kingdoms of Quel’Thalas, Khaz Modan and Gnomeregan. Unless they wish to risk tarnishing the reputation of the kingdoms they represent, the current regents will have to remain passive...until a consensus has been achieved on how to proceed with Alterac.”

He turned to fix Kyle a heavy stare. “Are you sure you wish to continue with this?”

The young human shrugged. “I’d rather continue studying magic as a normal student, but if I’m going to be put as the head of a kingdom, I might as well take the job seriously, right? I mean, lives are at stake and all…”

“It is an admirable decision,” Korialstrasz replied with an approving smile.

“Besides, considering that we all agree that psionics should be kept out of public knowledge for now, it’s probably easier to practice in privacy here than in Dalaran.”

“Very true,” Vasyrgos agreed heartily. “With how much you’ll have to clean up after yourself, it is only a matter of time before one of the more curious mages starts poking about and finding something…annoying.”

Kyle nodded at that, and then shrugged again. “I still find it weird that no one can just create a portal so I can attend classes and govern at the same time.”

The blue dragon let out a sigh of exasperation. “The amount of power and attention required to maintain portals like that is significant, even for dragons. And I reckon you’re not that important that the magi would simply create portals according to your whims.”

“And contrary to what you think, hearthstones are exceedingly rare to be simply loaned out,” Korialstrasz added, preempting Kyle’s next line of reasoning. “Even if anyone manages a breakthrough in recreating them, realistically there would be other people of significance who would be more deserving of receiving them.”

The boy slumped with a sigh. “Fine. So I’ll stick to ruling then, and keep magic as a secondary.” He straightened as he fixed Korialstrasz with a look. “You’re sure that I’ll be able to get the throne with nobody breathing down my neck?”

“Not nobody,” the dragon corrected. “But considering the current state of Alliance politics power plays, you would most likely have appointed advisors rather than regents, though their role of mitigating their peers’ influence would be similar.”

“But Pelton said the non-human realms don’t do that sort of thing?”

Korialstrasz nodded, not hiding the smirk that formed on his elven disguise’s lips. Old memories of climbing his elven guise up the Kirin Tor’s ranks bubbled up in him. “Not in the way of the human realms, no. While Khaz Modan and Gnomeregan might happily remain apart from the posturing, trust that whoever represents Quel’Thalas will enter the political fray with their own distinctive approach.”

“So, out-arrogant the competition?” Kyle asked bemusedly, and Vasyrgos snorted at that.

“Hah! The kid’s onto something there. Out-arrogant and out-condescend them!”

Korialstrasz ignored his blue-scaled colleague. “Not quite. Elven courtiers tend to operate with more long-term views in mind, and the changes they might propose will be more gradual in scope. Though given their perpetual state of conflict with the Amani trolls, any immediate action they would suggest would be decisive and far less subtle than outsiders might expect.”

“Hm… But they’d still be good counters to Lordaeron and the others?”

“In ensuring that your options are free of external interference? Most assuredly. However, the three kingdoms would have their own needs met, of course. King Anasterian might send an advisor just out of spite, but the assignment would likely have an added agenda to it. It might be as simple as demoting an unfavored courtier, or putting a prospective one to the test. Or it could be as…vexing as Anasterian wishing to establish a new network of influence while further secluding his realm.”

Kyle took a few seconds to digest the information before he spoke again. “Eh, still better than dealing with humans who actually want something out of Alterac.”

“Indeed. On the upside, the dwarves and gnomes would be more direct in what they might require of you, and would require minimal concern as you have already made plain the agreement with them. While King Magni is a cunning ruler and not to be underestimated, in your case, so long as you remain honest with Khaz Modan, whoever he sends should generally stay out of your way and offer reliable advice.”

“Reliable from a dwarf’s point of view,” Vasyrgos helpfully pointed out. “Even I can tell that human and dwarven values have their inconsistencies.”

“The same applies with any advisor offered by Gnomeregan,” Korialstrasz went on. “Even with difference of values between races, they should still remain reliable advisors-”

“Giving actual advice,” the blue dragon rudely cut in.

“-so long as they are treated with appropriate respect. Act as a dutiful and responsible ruler would, and you would have at least three advisors you might rely upon.”

“A shame it can’t be four.”

Korialstrasz shook his head slowly. “Dalaran has kept out of such affairs as a matter of policy. Besides, you wish to keep your psionic studies out of curious eyes.”

Kyle blinked a few times as he remembered what having a Dalaran representative would mean, and then he sighed. “That’s true… So, unless things go really weird and unexpected, I can be looking forward to being king in what? A couple of months?”

The draconic archmage hummed as he calculated the required events in his mind. “Four months, as King Genn would require mollifying and convincing to attend the meeting. Three, if he and King Thoras somehow do not engage in diplomatic insults over the regency council’s failure.”

“Huh. So I guess I still have some time to return to Dalaran and catch up on some subjects I’ll likely never be able to take again?”

“At least for the near future,” Korialstrasz corrected. “Once you have stabilized your rule, and should relations remain cordial, I’m sure the Kirin Tor might be easily persuaded to send over a tutor.” At least to ensure that Quel’Thalas doesn’t send one of their own and put a black mark on the magocracy’s reputation as a place of arcane learning.