Ar'Kendrithyst

Chapter 136, 1/2

There were multiple uses for resonances, Erick thought, as he walked across the courtyard of the Castle, hurrying to get back into his guest room and distract himself from watching Tenebrae almost die.

Anyway. Resonances.

There were positive feedback loops, which would be a small physicality that built damage over time. There was the idea of making two spaces harmonically identical, which was Erick’s current guess at one of the major pieces of the [Gate] puzzle. And then there was the idea of denying the harmful sound magics of others, or, what was more likely, was denying the harmful side effects of his own harmonic magics.

Magic itself also had harmonies. Many of Erick’s experiences with creating spells was based upon the idea of discarding disruptive aspects and heightening positive aspects; to refine mana until it was as close to perfectly aligned with other parts of itself and with Erick’s own intent, thus resulting in a better spell.

But working with actual, physical sound was different than working with magical ‘sound’. Magical ‘sound’ certainly had a soul-aspect to it that you could only hear through non-physical means. Particle Sound Magic would have to be solely based on wavelength, amplitude, and medium; on mana affecting the material world. All of these ideas were largely unexplored by Erick, though, and from Tenebrae’s disregard for ‘Sound Magic’, he suspected that they were largely unexplored by everyone else on Veird, too. Except for maybe one people, in one particular place.

The Songstresses of the Songli Highlands in Nelboor probably knew much of what Erick was already thinking about… Or maybe they didn’t? Maybe they hoarded their knowledge, too. Whatever the case, that leg of this Worldly Path was yet to come, and right now, he was pretty sure that there were three categories to resonance.

Positive, neutral, and negative.

To make any of these spells, he would need to be able to target the physical resonances of a target.

Erick ran into his first problem.

Targeting the ‘resonance of an X’ was a non-starter. People, plants, rocks— Okay, maybe not all rocks. Anyway. All of those were systems with millions of smaller parts that all resonated differently. It was only when most of an object was in harmony that—

Ah. There’s the solution, and the hurdle to overcome; putting a target into a single resonance state. That was one of the spells; the starter one, perhaps.

Or maybe not?

That idea knocked loose a few others that Erick had forgotten about, and that’s when his ideas finally began to crystallize.

Back on Earth, an object was said to have a number of ‘normal vibrational modes’ intrinsic to itself, as a matter of its molecular makeup and a whole lot of other factors, and in a bastardization of the term ‘superposition’, objects as wholes could be said to vibrate in a superposition of all of these modes at the same time. Harmonizing those molecular ‘normal modes’ down to one, which could then be excited or diminished or whatever, would be the responsibility of the magic that Erick was going to make, and would thus allow two spaces, or any number of spaces, to actually be harmonically the same.

This was just a better explained version of what Erick was trying to do with [Gate].

It was probably a good thing that Erick wasn’t out there, right now, singing a song to make new magic for Tenebrae to witness; his ideas were there, but the depth of his ideas could use some work. So Erick took out an empty notebook and started writing, trying to see the problem from multiple angles and to understand exactly what he wanted. Magic could fill in a lot of gaps, but Erick needed to get as close to the goal as he could, and the closer he got, the better the end result.

Attuning a collection of objects to one harmony didn’t seem like it would be a problem, but attuning a person to themselves might be a problem, and [Gate] needed to attune the people that went through it, right? And that meant getting through Health to affect the person shielded by that Health—

Or. No.

This was an ‘outside-in’ problem. Magic worked from the outside toward the inside, so attuning a person might not actually be all that difficult. It wouldn’t be a damaging spell, anyway. Actual damage would be blocked by Health, but status effects? Not so much. Erick’s new spells would likely create a brand new status effect, called ‘Harmonized’. Yeah. That would work, wouldn’t it?

Erick probably didn’t need to consider souls or Health when making this new magic. This was physical magic, after all.

Anywho! Work work.

Erick wrote, thought, made dinner for himself and his family when Jane and Teressa got back, and then worked some more. He went to bed for a few hours, which was enough, honestly, and then he got up and continued to write in his notebook. He wrote by wardlight, in the courtyard, while the stars glittered overhead, Rockys and the occasional Senior walked through, and everyone else slept.

He had never used a notebook before, because he never wrote down any ideas, because he never wanted any of his ideas to be stolen and used by the wrong people. But his current series of ideas were likely not a big deal, because there were only four spells here, and one of them would automatically negate the other three; three to turn a targeted system into an actual system, and one more.

Positive, harmonized, negative, and ‘restore natural superpositions’.

[Restore All Normal Modes] would be the first spell to make. Whereas the first three would empower, solidify, or weaken vibrational effects, the last one would be able to negate these adjustments. Since Erick wanted these spells to go into the Open Script, Erick felt good about himself for first making the counterspell to this entire new branch of magic. Well. Mostly new. He had already made one ‘sound magic’ spell already.

His spell, [Stillness].

That spell took all the minor physical effects in a Super Large Area, read: loud noises, and turned them to light. [Stillness] was outside of this current 4 part theory, though. That would be the fifth part; the shifting of sound into some other element.

Maybe he could try reversing that spell, in order to turn light into vibrations. He already had a light Domain, and there was probably something interesting lurking in a combination of all five of these spells...

The sun rose. Erick made breakfast, ate with his people, then went back to work on his ‘Sound Magic’.

Tenebrae did not wake under his own power. Palodia said that he was getting better, but he was not good enough to see any new magics.

Erick went back to his ideas and continued to refine them. When they were good enough, he sat back in a reclining [Scry] chair, flickered on his mana sense to become one with the mana, and then took a small step outside of the current timestream as he sent off a hundred mana to the God of Death and Time. He had some questions of new Particle Magic, and Phagar had the answers.

The world crystallized into stained-glass fractures. Divine fire filled the mana.

A god in the shape of Erick stepped out of that glass and pulled up a chair out of the ether, saying, “Hey, Erick. I’m not actually the God of Death, you know. That’s just what people think.”

Erick happily said, “And I am one of those people, it seems.”

Not-Erick grinned, saying, “What kinda magic are you making today?”

“Maybe not today, but soon enough.”

Erick laid out his ideas, while Phagar listened.

Erick ended with, “Broad strokes: Positive, Neutral, Negative, and Normalize. Four new spells based on a Particle understanding of the world, but I want them to be open to everyone, so I won’t make them at full power. They should be at the same level of power as [Stillness].”

Phagar said, “Sounds like you have a good plan. It’ll work, too. But just so you know, the magic that you are trying to make has already been made.”

Erick’s mind blanked, briefly. “… What!”

Phagar laughed, then said, “Song magic was made long ago at the dawn of the Script and then, with a century of stagnation and with the clarity that it would never be strong enough to be its own field of magic, ‘Song Magic’ was subsumed into Elemental Thunder; pruned into what it is today. Never improved upon beyond that, either, for no one had the skill or the understanding to do so, and everyone confused Sound and the natural actions of Force.” He got up from his chair and the stained-glass of the world turned back into fragmented Reality, as he cheerfully said, “So go ahead. Rewrite the book on Sound Magic. Good luck!”

Phagar’s divine fire vanished as Erick came back to himself.

Erick went back to working on his theories and his applications, though there wasn’t much more to do. He was mostly waiting for Tenebrae to get better. He didn’t know how long that delay would be, so...

Erick decided to take Phagar’s words to heart, and literally write a book on Sound Magic. Just a small one. It might not even be correct, if his spells didn’t come out exactly as he plotted. But he wrote down what he knew in the most concise manner possible, giving broad strokes first, and then refining those ideas down into something more manageable.

For the first time in his time on Veird, he missed having a computer. Writing by hand sucked!

Another day came and went.

Palodia was scheduled to cook again. Tenebrae was finally healthy enough to not need eyes on him 24 hours a day. They still kept eyes on him all the time, though, but he was getting better. Erick looked forward to Palodia’s cooking, but he had magic to make, so he sat in the courtyard, writing in his notebook. Hours passed.

Dinner was an hour away, and so was sunset. Erick wrote in the shadows, and he hoped that the shadows weren’t being too nosy, but they probably were.

The door to Tenebrae’s tower opened.

Erick looked up.

Tenebrae walked out of his tower under his own power. He did not walk fast, but he did not walk like the old man he was, either. Rock and Obsidia walked on either side of the old archmage. Erick stood up, and smiled.

“Hello there!” Erick called out.

“Yes yes. Hello hello. Pleasantries everywhere and all that shit.” Tenebrae’s voice was weak as he walked up to Erick, saying, “Time to prove that the squiggles in your notebook are real and not the delusions of an idiot-savant.”

“I’m glad you think enough of my squiggles to spy on me,” Erick said, with good cheer. “I was worried it was just Melemizargo out here.”

“Bah! Call not his name. Are you a dumbass? Oh wait. It’s you. Of course you are,” Tenebrae said, without any heat to his voice. He pointed at the notebook. “I want to see that in action.”

“I was just waiting on you! But before we do that.” Erick pulled a small box out of his pocket. He held it toward Tenebrae, saying, “Want some Stat gems?”

Tenebrae eyed the box, but he did not reach up to take them.

Erick could already see why, for an Ophiel turned on [Blood Sight] as soon as Tenebrae’s door opened. The man could barely hold himself together. His muscles looked atrophied. His heart pumped slow. He was drugged up right now, for sure, and with a bit of [Mana Sight], Erick saw that he was supporting himself with several magics. [Force Platform] derivatives, no doubt. Tenebrae was not walking under his own power.

Erick had overheard most of the inadequacies of healing magic over the last few days. [Greater Treat Wounds] was great to repair physical damage that could be repaired, and that did not have time to set in. [Regeneration] was great for bringing back lost limbs or body parts, or healing chronic damage. [Soul Healing] was a rare magic that adjusted the soul to better heal the body. [Restoration] was decent for healing age-related problems, but even that failed past a certain point.

For while healing did not accelerate aging, it could not decelerate aging, either.

The one solution he could have taken, he did not. Tenebrae could have gotten a new [Polymorph] form, and lived a whole new life. ‘Tenebrae’ would die, though, eventually. That ‘Familiar Form’ wouldn’t age if it wasn’t lived in, but eventually, death came for all living things.

And besides that, the ‘[Polymorph] Solution’ was abhorrent to every civilized nation in the world, and was not a viable option for those who still had their morals. For all of his bluster and power, Tenebrae was not the sort of person to take another’s form, even if it would save his life, even if he could take the form of someone who was already doomed to die, like any of the people headed for any executioner block in any city the world over.

Now that was a very loud conversation between Obsidia and everyone else. The black rock woman had argued that ‘all these bodies just lying around after executions the world over! Just take one! They’re not using them anymore!’. No one confronted her words, directly. Most people just went quiet when she started arguing her points. The only people inside the Castle that Obsidia did not talk to, to try to get them to convince the rest, was Erick and his people. Erick had no idea what he would say if Obsidia did try to talk to him about ‘the [Polymorph] Solution’.

Erick could not do anything for Tenebrae’s actual problem, but he could help in his own way, and thus, the gems.

Erick continued to hold the box toward Tenebrae, saying, “I know that Stats can’t really help, but they might be able to make you feel better. I know they made me feel a whole lot better. I should have offered them days ago, but… I know they won’t actually help you.”

Tenebrae took the small stone box. He could move his arms! Erick smiled.

Tenebrae thumbed open the box, revealing silver spheres nestled in fabric. He asked, “What kind are they?”

“All Stat.” Erick added, “Well. All of the four original Stats. If you want one of the New Stats—”

Rock stepped in, saying, “No. We have no idea what the new Stats do.”

Tenebrae softly said, “I can decide for myself, Rock. But you’re right. No experimenting with Stats, today.”

Rock scowled at Erick, then said to Tenebrae, “You shouldn’t even use those. Stat sickness would be just as bad as an unknown New Stat.”

“There’s no Stat sickness with true All Stat gems.” Erick said, “At the most, it feels like waking up in the morning, or something like that. Perfectly natural. But, you’re right. I don’t know how they’ll react to someone with health issu— You don’t have to use them if you don’t want. They’re each plus 10 to All Stats, and I made them all at the same time, so there shouldn’t be any resonance issues with attaching them to a single item, or splitting them up.”

‘Resonance’. Ha! Erick had laughed when he looked back at his Stat enchantment books and their mention of ‘resonance’. Completely wrong, and yet, not. It was little things like that, and a whole mess of preconceived notions from immortals, that likely confused the Arcanaeum Consortium into teaching that Force and mana had some relationship with sound and light.

Tenebrae flipped the box shut and handed it to Rock, saying, “I’ll look at them later. Let’s go see you make some magic.”

“Do you want to go in person? Not through a [Scry]?”

“I have witnessed new base spells only once in my life, and that was when the Headmaster made that [Condense Hydrogen] spell in front of us at your little talk at Oceanside, and then again, when I made my own tiny Particle spells, later.” Tenebrae stoutly said, “I wish to see new magic shake the heavens before I die, Erick. The entire sky, if you would be so kind.”

Rock turned concerned. Obsidia frowned, then wiped away a silver tear.

Tenebrae, however, was completely engrossed in the moment.

Erick said, “I think I can do… exactly that, perhaps. So… We need somewhere without anything destructible. We can’t do this here. Want to take a trip to the northern coast? That’s only a few lightsteps away.”

“We will not be doing that.” Tenebrae said, “Rock here will take us wherever you want in the world. You can do your magic there, and then we can come back.”

Erick knew he wouldn’t lose his Worldly Path Quest unless he actively chose to abandon it, so a little trip through a [Gate] wouldn’t be a problem at all. If it was, he would have already lost his Quest, just by stepping into the Green Labyrinth.

So going through a [Gate] to somewhere else? Sounds like fun!

Erick excitedly said, “Let’s go somewhere I haven’t seen before, with wide open spaces. Big spaces and an open sky.” He added, “And water. By the ocean? Not Oceanside. But yes. By the Ocean.”

Tenebrae said, “Pick a location, Rock.”

Poi stepped out of the guesthouse, saying, “Teressa and Jane are out hunting and if Ophiel leaves here, something will attack.”

Tenebrae scowled, saying, “We’ll be back soon enough and Slate and the others can defend the castle for an hour or four. We are fifteen kilometers up. All the big monsters can’t get up here. So get your [Greater Treat Wounds] rod ready, Poi.” He chuckled, weakly, then said, “I want to see Erick bleed for his magic.”

“… Ha?” Erick chuckled nervously, saying, “I hope it won't be that bad.”

Poi leisurely closed his eyes, as though processing that the old man wanted to see blood. Then he said, “Okay.” He walked into the room and came right back out wearing his armor with the healing rod in hand. He placed the rod in the pocket of his thigh armor, and said, “I have sent messages to Jane and Teressa. They will come back here to help defend the place while we are gone.”

Erick perked up. “Oh. Okay! That works. Thank you, Poi.”

Rock gestured to the left. A purple shimmer coalesced in the air—

“Oh!” Erick said, “We’re going already?”

“Yes,” Tenebrae said. “I’ve got five good hours in me, then it’s back to bed.”

Erick looked around with his [Greater Lightwalk], checking his supplies both on hand and in his room.

… Nothing he couldn’t live without.

—Purple light expanded, dilating, becoming a window to another land, and then a door. A breeze blew onto the beach beyond, scattering white sand away from the purple portal. Tenebrae and Obsidia wasted no time as they stepped through. Erick and Poi followed, while Rock took up the rear.

Erick had already peeked through the [Gate] well before he walked through, using his sunform to scout out the place. He saw nothing untoward.

With a single step, he had moved across the world!

Erick marveled at his new life, again. And then he marveled at their new location.

White sand stretched for kilometers upon kilometers from south-ish to north-ish, while the wind blew in from the ocean to the west, and green prairie stretched toward the east. In the distant east, across the sandy dunes, trees grew. In the west, laid an ocean that was as clear and as pure as few places were on Earth. There were sand bars under those waters; the ocean was shallow for a long ways away, as far as Erick could see.

This was actually a really nice place.

Yggdrasil’s [Scry] eye came through the [Gate] along with a few Ophiels, but then the purple portal snapped shut and the caster of the ethereal eye and all the Ophiels not right beside Erick were way out of range. The [Scry] eye popped. Erick lost feeling for the remaining Ophiel; they dissipated, too.

Not really a problem. Erick just started summoning more Ophiel. Yggdrasil’s [Scry] eye could return in his own time.

A cool breeze blew in from the ocean’s surface. The sky was blue. Few clouds marred the heavens, and Erick felt pleasant, watching the sun shine brightly above the horizon. It was almost sunset here, too. They must be near-enough the same longitude.

Erick said, “This is a nice beach!” He cast a [Cascade Imaging] through one of his Ophiel, atop the dunes and twenty meters out of the way, searching for rads; searching for monsters. He let that run.

Tenebrae eyed the misty spell as it became less misty. “What is that for?”

“Searching for monsters,” Erick answered. One cursory examination later, and not thirty seconds into the run time of the spell, he said, “Doesn’t appear to be many monsters. The spell needs a few minutes to be sure, though.”

Tenebrae dismissed caring about Erick. He said to Obsidia, “Chair.”

“Of course.” The black rock woman conjured a fluffy black chair onto the beach. “Let me help—”

Tenebrae grumbled as he patted away her hands, not accepting that much help, and set himself in the chair. He relaxed into the fluffiness, then said, “It’s too hot!”

“Of course, dad.” Obsidia cast a [Temperature Ward] across her father.

“Too windy! Too bright!”

Obsidia cast a [Weather Ward] and then a disk of shadows above and behind him, blocking some of the light. Erick smiled, then decided to help out.

He [Stoneshape]d some of the white sand into stone, then into a pair of sunglasses without the ‘glasses’ part. For that missing piece, he cast a permanent lightmask on them, creating some polarized glasses, exactly as he had made for his own strolls through the Crystal Forest, and for the workers and delvers of the light dungeon he had left in the Headmaster’s care.

He handed the pair to Tenebrae, saying, “Here. Sunglasses. Makes these sunny places easier on the eyes.”

In the center of the handoff, Rock said, “No magic, father. Don’t [Inspe—”

“Bah! I can use some! Doctor said I could.” Tenebrae took the glasses. He put them on, then looked around, pausing to look at the water the most. “This is a weird fucking lightward. How come can I see into the water better? My [Inspect] isn’t helping me identify the effect.”

“I can’t answer that without giving a lot away, but the [Ward] is permanent and should come back if you don’t disturb the effect too much. Have fun figuring it out, when you get better.”

Tenebrae frowned, hummed, then said, “Very well. I’m going to pick apart your gems, too, so it’s a good thing you gave me eight of them.” He waved a hand forward. “Get on with it.”

Erick checked the map. No nearby monsters. He switched it to search for people, then said, “I’m mapping for people, now. Soon as that clears, we're clear. No monsters nearby, though, which is kinda unexpected. Where are we, anyway?”

Tenebrae scoffed at Erick. “No monsters at all?”

Erick amended, “There are some 20 kilometers from here. In the water and on land. Mostly in the water.”

“We’re somewhere in Archipelago Nergal, though. One of the many small islands,” Tenebrae said. “Did you pick a rare, monsterless island?”

Rock said, “West of the North Arc of the Archipelago. It’s a good location. About 10,000 kilometers from Eidolon and Continental Nergal, which are down past the East Arc, and around 7000 kilometers from Nergal in the west.”

Tenebrae said, “Rather uninhabited, I would say.”

Erick looked to the map. Zero people, except for the four currently around Erick, which made five. “This seems like excellent land, though. Why no people?”

“There’s nothing here and extra land doesn’t matter. Obviously.” Tenebrae said, “If there was something here, then there would be people!”

“Okay. Well… That… Makes sense.”

Rock said, “No powerful people means no defense means no people at all.”

“Right.” Erick nodded. “I knew that.”

Tenebrae smirked and chuckled. “Did you? Hard to tell what you know sometimes.”

“Hard to tell what I know most of the time.” Erick clapped his hands, then stepped forward on the beach, saying, “So let’s test my thoughts, and see if the mana agrees with me!”

“Yes! Yes! On with the show!” Tenebrae snapped at Rock, “Down in front!”

Rock had been slightly in front of Tenebrae, between him and Erick, but at his father’s outburst he moved to his father’s side, to guard the old archmage between him and Obsidia.

Erick made a [Prismatic Ward] to the side, for Poi, which Poi gladly took, then he looked to the other three people. “Are you going to defend yourself? Or do you want me to? I can, if you want.”

Tenebrae harrumphed, eyeing Obsidia. Obsidia moved into action, and suddenly, a splash of massive, Solid Ward crystal, flashed around Obsidia, Tenebrae, and Rock. Tenebrae nodded from inside the protected space. Erick nodded back. He had no idea how good of a protection Obsidia had provided, but he trusted them to know what they were doing.

Erick turned toward the ocean.

He breathed in the humid air, feeling the salt on his skin and the taste of brine in his mouth. He focused on the world before him, on the tiny sounds of birds flitting across the sands in the distance, on the crashing waves that made the water seem inviting, on the sounds of the wind rustling through the grassy dunes, and the shuffling of sand.

Ophiel’s violin sounds seemed to echo, somehow, in the vast open space all around them, in time to the crashing of waves, and the flow of the sky.

He breathed, and became one with the world, his sense of the mana around him becoming like an extension of himself. Perfectly normal perfection manifested in his mind, and everything he saw was good. Everything was normal, and exactly as it should be. This would be the first spell; the one that would negate the other three, and possibly a lot more.

He spoke,

“The banshee’s wail is gone today.

“The drummer’s drum has no reprise.

“The piano’s gone, it’s so passe.

“Hear now of death! We eulogize

“past lows and highs. We [Normalize].”

Wind rustled, waves crashed, the sun shone down on everything, and nothing was out of order.

Magic filled the world, and nothing changed.

And yet, everything changed, as it had done before, and as it would do again.

Erick knew his eyes glowed white, and that Poi tapped him with the rod because blood dripped down from his nose, but the normal release that happened at the end of every spell did not happen. The mana held him, waiting. He had teased a new possibility as he reinforced normality, but the mana wanted more than that.

As blue boxes blinked into Erick’s sight, he blinked them away.

Tenebrae said something but Erick didn’t hear. Poi quickly realized something was wrong, but all Erick heard was the vibration of the universe, and that vibration demanded a voice.

So Erick went right into the next spell.

He spoke again,

“The singer’s come again today

“The band is here with more allies

“A symphony doth start to play

“Now hear this! A galvanize

“of all that’s here. We [Harmonize]!”

The world crystallized.

Waves suddenly began to crash upon the sand in sync. Grasses waved in harmony. Wind blew in lockstep. Schools of fish became perfectly organized, which would not normally be odd at all, but then they started to swim in cube formations, and tetrahedrons, and rectangular prisms.

The three hearts of the three mortals on the beach each began to beat in sync.

Obsidia’s crystalline Solid Ward did not block this new magic.

If Erick had been able to, he would have seen this:

Tenebrae gasped, just a bit, a smile on his own face to match the one on Erick’s, and the tiny one on Poi’s. Rock leaned over on one side of his father, suddenly concerned like the world was ending. Obsidia did the same thing on Tenebrae’s other side. Both of them did not realize that they moved like mirrors to each other, and then both of them suddenly realized that they did.

Erick felt a pain in his chest that mirrored the pain in Poi and Tenebrae’s chest, but then Poi healed Erick and no one bled at all. Erick felt older. Poi likely felt older, too. But Tenebrae felt, and looked, briefly, like a man half his age.

A blue box appeared. Erick couldn’t see it.

Mana was already rushing out of his throat.

He spoke,

“A note is held, to high refrain!

“The chorus sings to glorify

“A power builds, of high arcane!

“Now hear this! We purify

“all that’s here. We [Amplify]!”

The waves crashed higher. The wind turned sharp, like kitchen knives. The ground began to shake. Everything fell out of resonance with everything else, and into its own personal hell.

Erick bled from his eyes, his ears, his mouth and his nose. Poi tapped him with the rod, telling him to stop. Tenebrae, Rock, and Obsidia were gone. Erick did not notice their departure. He was in the grip of the mana and it would not let him go.

From outside of himself, Erick watched.

He didn’t so much speak as simply will the world to shift.

Sand blasted away. Erick floated in the light. The beach dropped out from under his feet, becoming a crater that extended into the ocean. Saltwater rushed away from him. Poi, unable to hold his ground, was flung backward, through the [Prismatic Ward] and into the dunes beyond.

Words came forth from every part of Reality.

“A song is snapped; fragmented breaks.

“Chaos walks, there’s no accord.

“A power stills, and nothing shakes.

“Now hear this, and be floored.

“Witness the apple of [Discord]!”

Harmony broke.

Waves crashed and did not rise again. Schools of fish broke apart, the individuals each swimming in different directions. The wind stilled, unsure of which way to go. Ophiels flew in every direction, unprepared for whatever Erick had done, and with no idea how to act. Poi was somewhere in the dunes, crawling out of the sand. The rod had been in his hands before, but now, it was not.

The only semblance of normalcy was when the ocean broke the bank of the beach and crashed into the crater that Erick had dug out of the sand. Erick, though, crashed into his body, all semblance of harmony with the universe gone, completely. And then he fell down into the churn of seawater below him, into the crater he had made. He was already unconscious.

- - - -

Poi watched as Erick did some stupid shit that no one would have considered as stupid until after the fact. Erick got hurt, again.

Don’t anyone worry, though! Poi was there to save the day, as always.

Anyway.

Poi pulled himself out of the sand, [Dispel]ed the effect in the sky, then found his rod of [Greater Treat Wounds] with a quick application of [Telekinesis]. And then he briefly despaired. The rod was almost dead. The light at the bottom of the silver object was barely visible; low charge.

Half a second had passed since the magic ended and Erick fell into a crater filled with water.

Poi almost wasted time cursing at how the rod had been at full charge not five minutes ago. He was already diving into the new crater in the beach and reaching for Erick with mental force.

He found Erick fast enough. The crater was five meters deep and a swirl of water and sand and a few rocks, but Erick was there, bleeding out, like always.

Poi did not let himself get angry. He just tugged Erick onto the beach and did a quick check. Ah. Yeah. Lungs full of water and blood. Not breathing. Not good. He tapped Erick with the rod of [Greater Treat Wounds] and the rod broke; the last charge used.

The magic took hold, though. Erick’s body began to repair, but the magic could only do so much while there was water in his lungs. Time to fix that.

Poi telekinetically hoisted Erick into the air, by his feet, then [Airshape]d a breeze into his open mouth. Bloody water came out, as well as the contents of a recent snack. Cheese and crackers, Poi remembered.

Erick gasped, coughed most heartily, and pure disorientation flooded out from him. Poi had to gird his own mind in order to stop from falling over himself, but he managed to set Erick back down before the man could get even more disoriented. Erick retched for a while, then calmed, then went unconscious again. This time, he breathed just fine.

Poi avoided the sick on the sand and sat down beside Erick.

Barely ten seconds had passed since Erick had finished his magics and gone under the waves. It was good that Poi was already sitting down, because he would have passed out otherwise. That was too much excitement. When he took this assignment, he was hoping to guard an old man who only wanted to grow some vegetables. Ahhh. Oh well. Plans change.

He looked to Erick.

Erick breathed well enough. Poi threw a [Cleanse] over the two of them, turning saltwater into normal water, and vomit and blood into thick air. Erick began to breathe better; calmer.

Ophiels fluttered overhead, watching the whole thing happen.

Poi waved at Ophiel, “Think you can make us some housing for the day? They planned on leaving us here, so we might as well get comfortable.”

Ophiel responded by turning small as they pranced up to Erick. Some landed on his chest. One of them threw another [Cleanse] over everyone, which did nothing for anyone.

Poi asked them, “Are you sapient yet? Sentient?”

Ophiel twittered in concerned and unsure violins and guitars.

Poi sighed. “Not sapient yet.”

An Ophiel landed on Poi’s shoulder and threw a [Cleanse] on him.

Poi laughed. He grinned as he looked to Ophiel. Then he turned his attention back toward Erick, and then the ocean. The waves lapped against the shore. The sun shone down. The wind blew.

And Poi waited.

If he hung his head and vented about Erick almost killing himself, again, at least no one was around to hear him. Ophiel didn’t count. Not yet, anyway.

- - - -

A [Scry] orb that did not belong to Yggdrasil appeared in the air above Poi. He hadn’t moved much except to make himself and Erick’s sleeping form a bit more comfortable on the beach. The [Scry] orb went to Erick, watched him for a few seconds, then turned toward Poi.

Poi purposefully sighed in the direction of everything that the orb was and who it belonged to.

The orb vanished.

Ten seconds later, a purple [Gate] opened twenty meters away.

Teressa and Jane stood on the other side, looking through the purple hole in reality, trying to comprehend what they were seeing. Poi got an impression from them fast enough. They had both just come back from killing monsters in the Forest, and were still armed for such occasions.

They both raced through the [Gate].

Both of them had been lied to about some monster attack and that Erick was unconscious and a whole slew of smaller, perfectly crafted lies, except for one. Rock and Obsidia had ‘needed to get Tenebrae out of there as soon as possible’. The old archmage had been exposed to Erick’s new magics, and while he wasn’t truly injured, they had not wanted to take any chances.

Their whole ploy, taken as a whole, was easily seen through, but some of the Senior Rockys carried some of the Mind Magic within them that Tenebrae had collected over his long life. They had used that magic against Jane and Teressa, and thus, here was Jane, and right behind her, Teressa. It was a violation, but whatever. Tenebrae was practically untouchable, and this ‘violation’ wasn’t something to get mad over.

The [Gate] closed behind Jane and Teressa.

Jane raced for her father and slapped him with a handful of [Greater Treat Wounds]. Erick gasped, as even more healing flowed into him, but he did not wake. Only Teressa had noticed that the [Gate] had shut behind them.

Before Jane could get even more worried—

Poi spoke, “Erick is fine! But keep healing him, Jane. As you can see, Ophiel is still here. Erick is still alive. There is no lasting damage. There is no monster. You were lied to about a lot.”

Teressa was the first to understand Poi’s words; it only took a bit of mana sense to confirm the world around her, and to see what had just happened with a manual use of [Witness]. She discarded the helmet to her armor and wore her displeasure openly. She was now about 70% mad that Tenebrae had tried shit, and an assorted other percentage of various other feelings, most of which centered around concern for Erick’s wellbeing, and disappointment at the looming reality that they would not be further exploring the Green Labyrinth. Poi would have to shift most of her anger with a few choice words, because he highly doubted that this was the last they had seen of Tenebrae, or the ‘Green Labyrinth’, which was not its real name. Further anger would be disruptive to that eventual future.

And speaking of anger...

Jane stared at her father, and then at Poi. She went from raging warrior, to scared little girl in the blink of an eye, and then she swung back toward some halfway point that would probably swing again soon enough. And… Yup. There’s the swing. All of Jane’s emotions pointed in one direction: Anger at Tenebrae. Poi would have to shift her rage, too.

“Lied—” Jane’s eyebrows danced as her words stuck in her throat. She calmed, for a certain definition of ‘calm’. Rage became cold, and calculating. She said, “There was no monster that ‘came out of the ocean because he was making magic’. Did Tenebrae knock him out and toss him here? Why? To—”

Poi stood up, and tried to discourage any misunderstanding. “They did not injure your father. He injured himself making magic. What has happened to us is that the Senior Rockys obtained Arbor Redarrow’s full prognostication from Erick himself, and with that, they managed to convince their father to abandon his current quest for [Gate], and to shove Erick onto the next step of his Worldly Path—”

Far down the beach, a purple [Gate] spawned and spat out a collection of luggage, and then closed.

Ah. Good. Poi had hoped that they wouldn’t have everything stolen from them. How much had Tenebrae returned? Probably none of the magic books.

Poi continued, “… They conspired to shove Erick out of Tenebrae’s life and onto the next part of Erick’s Worldly Path. Their hope is that when Erick finally figures out [Gate] that he will come back and teach Tenebrae.” Poi stressed, “Erick was here, and he was making magic, and Tenebrae had high hopes that he would be able to witness Erick creating his four new sound spells, but even witnessing him create two of his four new spells was too much for the old archmage.” Poi said, “Rock and the others finally convinced Tenebrae to accept being humbled, instead of accepting the other option, which was death.” He spread his arms down and around, as he said, “And so, we are here.”

Jane went through a dozen emotions. She settled on resigned anger.

Teressa discarded her anger. She changed the subject, asking, “Where is here?”

“Erick currently thinks we’re in the Northern Arc of Archipelago Nergal, and the sun is setting on the horizon, but that was a lie.” Poi said, “We’re actually in the Southern Islands of Nelboor, a few thousand kilometers from the mainland, and that sun is rising.”

Jane frowned, looking down at her father. “And he didn’t see through that lie? You didn’t tell him?” She narrowed her eyes, and sent, ‘Testing. Message for Poi.’

‘Yes. Hello, Jane. Good use of proper protocol to check the validity of the people around you. And of course I didn’t tell him. I am honor bound to not use the knowledge that I have gained through mental means either against or for anyone.’

Teressa didn’t need confirmation. She had [Witness] to see it all, almost first hand. Jane didn’t check on Poi’s claim until she was sure her father was safe, though, and that was a breach of protocol. Upon seeing him next to her father, she should have probed him right away, but… Whatever. Poi let that slide, for now.

Teressa said, “Nelboor is a shit continent.”

Poi nodded, saying, “As for why Erick did not see through Tenebrae’s lies: Your father had his doubts, but he prefers to see the good in people, and I’m sure that if he were awake, he would not care that they shoved him further along his Path.” Poi shook his head. “But enough of that. We are in the lands of eternal war and I am not as constrained when we are in danger. Erick is unconscious, and healthy, but we can’t [Teleport] the unconscious, and he will likely be unconscious for a while longer. He did a lot of magic. I don’t think that there will be much actual trouble in the near future, for that [Cascade Imaging] back there shows all nearby people in 500 kilometers, and it’s only showing us four. So now that we all understand the situation, let us work to minimize our chances of death.” He said, “Jane, look after your father. Heal him like you are already doing. Teressa. How does Erick look to you?”

Teressa had already checked him out with her various Sight spells, but Jane didn’t know what Teressa knew yet, and Poi wanted everyone on the same track.

Teressa said, “Soul damage. Minor compared to the damage from Shadow’s Feast. Already healing, too. Blood damage is healing. With that Immunity to Health Exhaustion and a younger body, he shouldn’t have any healing complications. He’s just exhausted. Or something. He’ll wake soon enough. If not, we have a difficult journey ahead of us, to get back to civilization.”

Jane tapped her father with another cast of [Greater Treat Wounds] as she looked down at him, worried.

Poi declared. “Teressa. You and I are on shelter-building. Everyone keep an eye on the Imaging. If anyone shows, we will erase the Imaging with a [Dispel] and we will make new plans based on whatever shows.”

Jane said, “Okay,” as she picked up her father on a bed of shadows.

Teressa pointed at the supplies down the beach, saying, “I’ll get those.”

Poi said, “I’ll start on the shelter.”

They got to work.

- - - -

Erick woke to the smell of barbecue and the twittering of Ophiel, and then he blinked. He had half a thought and then his world became vibrating pain. Light spiked his eyes. He jolted out of bed, reflexively, out of control, and disgorged watery bile as roiling, head-splitting pain shocked through all of him.

Jane was suddenly there, at his side, touching him with a glowing blue hand and speaking in muted sounds. Erick puked again, but nothing came up. Ophiels sang, as though underwater. Everything sounded as though it was unde—

His hearing came back with an inner-ear pop.

The world stopped shifting under his hands and knees. He breathed. He puked some blood.

And then he felt better.

But darkness came on, anyway.

- - - -

Erick woke to quiet words spoken on the other side of the room.

Jane slapped down a card on a conjured table, followed fast by Teressa, and then Poi. Poi took the pile and that floor of the Wizard’s Tower.

Jane frowned. “I’m starting to think mind reading is a better way to cheat than shadow spying.”

“Wizard’s towers is a game of skill more than luck.” Poi smiled as he said, “So take your loss and slap down another warrior so I can steal that floor, too.”

Teressa set down her cards. “He’s awake.”

Jane was suddenly beside Erick, having slipped through the shadows to be there. Deep worry filled her eyes, and then she softened. She breathed. She touched his arm. “Hey there, dad. Feeling better this time?”

“A lot—” He sat up and the world swam, but then the world calmed. He had some messages, but he ignored those for right now. He breathed. He said, “I feel a lot better.”

They were inside a stone building that was not the guesthouse at Tenebrae’s Castle, for it was only one story tall, and the windows showed a beach just outside. They were still at the beach? Either a lot of time had passed, or not much at all, for the sun shone outside. Erick guessed that a lot of time had passed, because Tenebrae had vanished with Rock and Obsidia when he was halfway through making his new magic, but they didn’t come back. How long had he been out? A day? It had to be some length of time because the others had conjured furniture and were playing card games.

Erick asked, “Is Tenebrae okay?”

“He’s fine.” Jane’s voice sounded more hurt than angry, as she said, “He abandoned us, but that’s Tenebrae for you.”

“… Ah.” Erick understood. “I see.”

“Yup,” Poi said.

Erick sighed. “I was hoping he could see all the spells I made. They weren’t supposed to be that… powerful.”

“And then they were,” Poi said.

Teressa said, “I saw the whole thing through [Witness]. That was some strong magic. You were floating without a flight spell. Super Large Area, too.”

Jane asked, “The first one negates the other three, right? That’s what you planned on.”

Erick mentally flipped through his latest blue boxes, reading them as he went. “… Yeah. It negates... Er. No. It also weakens, uh, other magics? Huh. That one turned out weird.”

Normalize 1, instant, super large area, 250 mana

Lasts 10 minutes.

Exp: 0/100

Harmonize 1, instant, super large area, 250 mana

Lasts 10 minutes.

Exp: 0/100

Amplify 1, instant, super large area, 250 mana

Lasts 10 minutes.

Exp: 0/100

Discord 1, instant, super large area, 250 mana

Lasts 10 minutes.

Exp: 0/100

To Erick,

That was a lot of magic, and all at once, too. Good job!

+12 points to you, as is appropriate.

All of your new spells are alpha spells with those little alligator teeth, as you have called them, because what they do is not what is written, and they are supposed to be basic tier spells. I’ll figure out the proper wording after I see you use them for a while.

As for the spells themselves:

My first instinct was to deny them from the Open Script and make them Particle Mage only, for I can see what they can do, as I am sure you can, too. But denying this new branch of magic would be wrong. Unless anything truly breaking happens, your new spells will be absorbed into the Open Script in a year and a day, like normal, but only Normalize, and likely a lesser version of it; Medium size, perhaps. People will have to study and understand that one in order to get the others, like people have to do for the Worldly Path Quest, from [Blink], to [Teleport], and then all the rest.

Thanks for your hard work!

-Rozeta

As always, this message will delete after it is read and understood. Thanks again!

Erick watched as Rozeta’s words vanished, then he read over his new spells again. He said, “These are going to be confusing for a lot of people.” He handed them out to his daughter and his people, saying, “What do you think?”

Poi dashed the boxes away, saying, “Now that you’re awake, I think we need to talk about where we are, and what we’re doing next.”

Erick blinked. “… Right. That is a good point. Is Tenebrae actually okay? I considered that we would be abandoned, but I didn’t think… Well. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Jane was reading the spell boxes, but she looked to Erick, and sighed. Teressa grunted disapproval at further mention of Tenebrae.

Poi said, “Tenebrae will eventually be fine. He’s not getting near us again, though.”

Erick sighed. “Yeah. Probably for the best. Good for him for deciding to be with his kids instead of denying their requests. I was hoping that he’d pick that option. Where is ‘here’, though?” He looked to the window. “How long was I out? It’s already the afternoon?”

“You’ve only been asleep for a few hours,” Jane said.

Poi explained everything.

Erick listened.

And then he went, “Huh. I noticed the lies, but I did not notice that the sun was rising, instead of setting. I feel like I should have noticed that.”

Jane snorted.

Erick clapped once, then rolled himself out of bed and stood up, saying, “So! We’re in Nelboor! And close to the Highlands? I think I know our next step!”

Teressa laughed, then said, “Let’s slow that [Teleport], Boss. Nelboor ain’t like any other continent. Did you read about this place?”

Erick sat back down on his conjured bed. “Yeah, I read about it. Lotta war, all the time.”

Jane said, “A lot less monsters.”

“A point in its favor.” Teressa said, “But there’s a reason for that.”

Poi said, “There are roving bands of mercenaries that call themselves soldiers or clans, depending on how they operate. They’re great at keeping the monsters mostly dead, but they tend to threaten the same against everyone else they meet who doesn’t fly their colors. You might as well call them privateers.”

“Or bandits,” Teressa added.

“Yes, but we won’t antagonize them by calling them that, will we?” Poi asked.

Teressa happily raised her hands and mocked, “I surrender, sir! Please take only all of my money and possessions.”

Jane frowned. “Please tell me it’s not going to be that bad.”

“It might be!” Teressa said. “I’ve heard stories about this continent.”

“So.” Poi asked, “Are the four of us going to pretend to be a clan? Or soldiers? Either choice will be difficult. With a fake clan-name, other clans we find will challenge us for duels, and if we call ourselves a known clan name, we might have to fight for our lives, or we might find unexpected friends that will hate us even more if they find out we lied. If we pretend at being soldiers, then… That’s complicated. We probably shouldn’t do that. If we pretend to be adventurers, we will likely be press ganged by armies, or be toyed with by clans, or maybe even killed if we’re found outside of towns, and we will be found outside of town, because there are no inns for adventurers. Adventurers are violently discouraged from being here, but mostly it's just beating and robbing. But, we could pretend to be adventurers, anyway. It would be the closest to the truth, and thus easiest to fake.” Poi said, “But, more importantly, didn’t you want to go incognito, now, Erick? That’s gonna dictate how we do everything from here on out.”

Erick smiled wide. “Yes! I want to go incognito.” He briefly thought of the clothes he had left behind in Spur, along with everything else he had put together in order to be incognito, and decided that he could always get more, or make more himself. “How do we buy stuff if they don’t like adventurers? Can we just be people on a world tour? Or sightseeing? A fourth option?”

Teressa said, “This place isn’t like Spur, or Treehome, or Oceanside. Every city is owned by a clan or an army. Or… Maybe it’s the other way around. Anyway: You have to be approved to enter cities, and adventurers are automatically un-approved, far as I heard. Even the Mage Guild isn’t appreciated, but they are tolerated, if only to empower the massive anti-Spatial magic spells that blanket every city. If we go as unaligned tourists then we will get targeted and then attacked. No matter how we do this, we’re going to have trouble.” She smiled as she said, “We were not prepared for this leg of the trip.”

Erick chuckled. “Do you want to beat people up?”

“I would not be against such outcomes,” Teressa said. “But the problems I see happening is that these people are going to take it too far, and I don’t think you would like that. I can keep my anger in check.” She looked to Jane. “Can you? This won’t be like those Celebration Hunt duels.”

Jane frowned a little at Teressa, and asked, “All we’re doing is going to the Songli Highlands, though?” She said, “I admit, I did not read up on them too much, but I did read that the Highlands were neutral ground. We’re just going to lightstep in there, right? Shouldn’t require too many lies or fights.”

Teressa went, “Ehhh.”

Poi raised an uncertain eyebrow.

Erick had read up on the Highlands, though. He said, “The Songli Highlands are a bunch of villages and a few major cities located to the west of the Wanzhi river. They try to teach anyone who shows aptitude for Song Magic, but they only allow those who become part of the clan to actually learn their major secrets. I’ve heard that they’re peaceful in their interior, and that they’ll trade with anyone, but they’re ruthless to those who try to take what’s theirs.” He looked to Teressa and Poi, and said, “And I heard that they liked tourists. We’re just going to have to stay in the designated parts of the towns and such.”

Teressa shrugged. “You might be right. It is a large continent.”

Poi said, “I did [Blink] past a lot of detail, this is true. Nelboor is almost twice the size of Glaquin, and home to as many different cultures as there are Clans and Armies, and there are a lot. But, broadly, we are going to have problems in Nelboor that we could solve now with a bit of preparation.”

Erick nodded, “Of course. I’m going to prepare by leveling these new spells I just made, and… Did I smell barbecue before? Is there any left?”

Teressa said, “Yup! Poi cooks a good fish.”

“Yeah.” Jane walked over to a stone box set against the wall and opened it, saying, “I did not expect Poi to be able to cook out here just as good as he could cook at home.” She took out a stone tray of fillets, smothered in sauce. “This guy just walked through the dunes and found some spicy weed growing in the sand and turned it into a sauce.”

Erick’s mouth began to water as he caught the scent of the cooked fish.

Poi practically beamed. “Thank you, Jane.” He added, “Sweetgrass grows wild almost everywhere that people have fished the ocean. Not so much in inhabited places, but everywhere else. It spreads like dune grass and almost looks the same, but it has a slight orange tint. Anyone can do what I did.”

Jane conjured a table in front of her father and handed over dinner, which was actually more like lunch according to the sun’s position outside. Erick cast a [Heat Ward] on the plate. It started to sizzle, slowly, but it would take a minute to heat up. He breathed in the smell. It was full of umami with a hint of sugar.

“How did you make the sauce?” Erick asked.

Poi said, “Dry and pound sweet grass to a powder in a stone bowl, then mix it with [Cleanse]d ocean water and bring to a boil in that same bowl. Easy as can be.”

“Convenient!” Erick said, “Someone made that a long time ago, I guess?”

“Yeah, but no one knows who.” Poi said, “So about our plans and the dangers ahead…”

Erick dismissed the [Heat Ward] and conjured a fork, as he said, “Love to hear about it.”

Poi nodded, then spoke in detail about clans and armies and expectations of the pervasive tribe-like culture of Nelboor, but most of it was generalizations. Most of it likely wouldn’t happen, but it was better to be prepared than not. Teressa added her own knowledge to the talk, while Jane asked questions. Erick mostly listened and ate dinner. The fish was delicious.

While they were talking, he experimented with his new spells through an Ophiel hovering a good ten kilometers out to sea. Erick got a good idea of what they all did, and then he started power leveling them, dumping mana into [Normalize], [Harmonize], [Amplify], and [Discord] until they all became level 10.

Erick fully came back to the conversation when Poi dropped a minor bomb.

Poi said, “And the Quiet War is in full effect in this land, so you two, Erick and Jane, will likely get some challenges, but they should all be open and honest challenges as I have already discussed. We’ll have to watch for assassinations at night, especially if we don’t use [Prismatic Ward], but I think we should use [Prismatic Ward], and if someone finds out who Erick is, we’ll deal with it.”

Jane frowned. Erick grumbled.

Teressa’s eyes brightened as she happily said, “I could take those challenges for you! That would be fun.”

Poi said, “That would be bad. Don’t forget that code of honor I talked about.”

Erick said, “Eh. We’ll be fine.”

Jane said, “I’d be happy to slap down an uppity young master.”

“A ‘young master’?” Erick said, side-eyeing his daughter.

Poi sighed.

“Oh, Poi!” Erick said, “We’ll be fine! The Songli Highlands are supposed to be friendly!”

Poi said, “None of this is going to go how you think it will go. The Songli Highlands are only friendly because they have the power to be friendly; we will have to submit to certain measures if we want in any of the towns. If we break those measures, then they will go after us like they would any other lawbreakers. Maybe even more so.”

“Eh! The more you tell me, the less worried I am.” Teressa said, “All anyone says about Glaquin is that we’re all a bunch of adventurers who knife each other in the back and sell our souls to Shades, but I know that isn’t true.”

Jane laughed. “Some people do sell their souls to the Shades, though! Don’t forget about Bulgan.”

Erick said, “It’ll be fiiiiine!”

Jane asked, “But what are we going to call ourselves?”

And so began a debate, with much arguing, and laughter, and jokes. Even Poi started to smile and get into it when Jane started throwing out names like ‘Dragon Killers’ and ‘Demon Hunters’, which would surely draw the exact wrong kind of attention. Poi suggested ‘World Conquerors’ and Erick groaned.

Jane suggested, “Oh oh! Treehuggers. Because of Yggdrasil.”

Teressa laughed loud while Poi gave a sensible chuckle.

Erick helpfully supplied, “I heard that ‘treehugger’ refers to someone who fucks trees. Or rather, treants. Or possibly trees that they have [Treeshape]d. I am unsure.”

Teressa laughed louder.

Jane said, “So no to the ‘Treehugger’, then.” More laughter. Jane added, “I’m not hearing ‘no’!”

- - - -

Tenebrae opened his eyes. He reclined in his bed, his arms and legs feeling like antirhine weights, but a fire of pure magic blossomed in his chest. A raging hope. An audacious series of thoughts tangled in his mind, clashing with each other like a thousand conflicting [Lightning]s. Those strange thoughts had woken him.

Something fell to the stone floor. He turned his head. Palodia had gotten up from her chair and dropped her book; she was already walking toward him. Rushing toward him, really. Asking if he was okay.

He said he was fine. She nagged at him again and again, and he said that he was fine, again and again, but his heart and his mind wasn’t really focused on her, anyway. He had woken up under his own power, this time, and then he remembered.

The world; harmonized. Reality made subjective. His own heart beating in time to Poi’s and Erick’s, while the waves crashed in perfect sync with each other.

He laughed.

Erick had called out to the world with his stupid little song, and the world responded. That idiot-savant managed to do it again.

Tenebrae laughed.

“Oh gods, he’s hysterical. A potion reaction?” Palodia called out, “Obsidia! Rock! Slate!”

The others rushed up the stairs, their stone feet smacking stone like the tumbling of several boulders. Bah! His children were too damn loud.

Tenebrae decided to say as much, “Too damn loud. I’m fine. I’m awake. I’m better.”

Rock instantly declared, “No you are not! We agreed—”

“Bah!” Tenebrae felt a tension inside of his chest, so he relaxed. He breathed. He said, “I know. I’m not going into the Green Labyrinth ever again. But…” He smiled wide and looked to his children, and to his oldest friend and the best cook in the world. “I don’t have to go in there ever again. Erick will figure it out. And if he doesn’t?” Tenebrae laughed. “I’ll throw him at the Dragons, and he and I can both get [Gate] that way. Erick is a Wizard.”

Rock, Slate, and Obsidia each startled in their own way.

Palodia stared down at Tenebrae with focused eyes. “Have you any proof?”

“I don’t.” Tenebrae said, “I saw no mana come from him. I can prove nothing. But I know. Palodia. I know he is a Wizard.”

Palodia leaned back, a slight frown on her lips. “If there’s no proof, then he’s not a Wizard.”

“Rock.” Tenebrae asked, “What did you see out there? Obsidia?”

Rock frowned.

Obsidia said, “What I saw was that you failed to be healthy enough to witness the entire spectacle, and that my barrier did nothing.”

Tenebrae sighed, with a smile. “All true. It was a status-effect. Not direct damage. An oddity that somehow got through your barrier, perhaps. It matters not. What matters is that Erick is a Wizard.” With great effort, Tenebrae lifted his hand and held it out, palm up. “Give me his notes.”

Rock stared down at the upturned palm. “No. You can barely lift that arm.”

Tenebrae didn’t fight. Instead, he dropped his arm, saying, “Fine. I have time. We took everything of his, did we not? Is the Estate moving yet?”

“We took his notes but gave back everything else. We’re already headed back to Wyrmridge.” With obvious distress, Rock said, “We’ll be there in a few days, and then Slate, Obsidia, and I will depart. You should be better by then and I am sure you don’t want us here.”

“No.” Tenebrae said, “Don’t leave. Stay. You already moved back in, so make it more permanent.”

Tenebrae felt lighter after saying those words. He was never able to say those words before, but he suddenly found himself able to speak the desire he had buried for so long. It was a stupid system they had created all on their own; every new not-Rocky rushing away as soon as they could. They had thought he wanted them gone. He used to want them gone, this much is true. But no longer.

As the words he had spoken settled into the room, everything felt right for the first time in a long time.

Rock, Obsidia, and Slate, each startled in their own way, again.

Slate smiled first, and said, “We will stay.”

“Yes!” More softly, Obsidia repeated, “Yes. We will stay.”

“Of course, father,” Rock said.

“Good.” Tenebrae felt lethargy claim his excess energy. He had glimpsed new magic, and he wanted to do everything, but he couldn’t; not right yet. And so, he closed his eyes again, saying, “I feel like sleeping again, so go away, but not too far.” He remembered something. He opened his eyes, and put a little heat in his words, as he said, “Ophelia needs to write me an apology! Two pages. I won’t ever see her again until she does.”

That was a lie. He’d see her if she showed, even without the apology.

Obsidia chuckled, while Rock and Slate smiled.

Almost timidly, Palodia whispered to the other three, “Is Erick a Wizard?”

Already drifting off to sleep, but still able to hear and respond, Tenebrae said, “Probably, Palodia. Probably.”