Ends of Magic

Nathan looked back into Faline’s burning eyes and considered how to answer her question as they sat in the darkened maze. He took his time.

What is my purpose?

“I want to protect people.” Nathan spread his hands wide. “There are so many threats on Davrar. Giantsrest is evil, and they use the worst magics to facilitate their empire.”

Faline nodded, but didn’t say anything. She was waiting for more.

Nathan continued. “But there are also all of the innate dangers of Davrar. Monsters, dungeons. Endings. The worst of those are magical. So, I am uniquely positioned to fight them. I want to ensure people can be happy, healthy and safe. That’s something I want for myself, as well. With my friends, Heirs and otherwise.”

Faline tilted her head, her eyes glowing in the darkness. They bore into Nathan as she evaluated his answer. It felt like she was judging Nathan and every action he’d taken since he’d come to Davrar.

Then she nodded. “Perfect.” The black-clad assassin sat down on the stone bench next to him. “That purpose - your Path - suits your class well. A denial of magic, and an unstoppable Rage against that which would harm.”

Her hips touched his, and Nathan became quite aware of how close Faline was.

I’d be happier with this proximity if I wasn’t so wary of her. She’s on my side, but I remember Stanel’s warnings. The whole leather-clad assassin thing is hot, but I’m pretty damn sure I don't want to give her that lever to control me. I have little doubt she’d use it.

Faline elbowed him lightly. “Now I have shone light in your eyes - how would you gain a second class?”

From what she’d said so far, the answer seemed obvious. “Have a second Path. Which means having a second purpose?” Then Nathan frowned, looking away. “But that seems too simple. There has to be more to it than that - or else a second class would be more common.”

The assassin dipped her head slightly in acknowledgement. “A powerful deduction.” Her lips tilted in a faint smile. “The detail is in the deed - the deed to earn a second class must be upon a different Path than the first, and impressive enough to boost you to level 9 all at once. You cannot do it in pieces."

Seeing Nathan’s confused look, she continued. “To earn your first class, you must be accomplished enough to reach level 9. Then, Davrar presents you with a choice of classes, which is truly a choice of Paths.” She pulled out a faintly glowing dagger and examined it.

“I am not certain, but I think it possible that a second class cannot follow any Path available in the first choice of classes. My first classes were all related to performing, traveling and manipulation.” Faline’s eyes grew shadowed, the glow within banked slightly as they looked backwards in time.

“It was only after the death of my mother and subsequent events that I was offered a second class, on a very different Path to the first.” The woman rolled the dagger through deft hands before it vanished.

She raised her eyes to meet Nathan’s once more, and they flashed brightly. “The requirements to reach a second class are higher. Tonight you will accomplish a deed from a different Path, which is sufficient to reach level 9 in one act.”

Nathan blinked at her for a moment. “How am I supposed to do that?” His thoughts, interpreting Faline’s comments over the last day. “Go kill somebody? That seems like it would align with the class I’ve got.”

Faline shook her head slightly, keeping eye contact. “The purpose of your Path is key. Your class focuses on protection. You Rage against the harm that would be caused, and seek to prevent it through violence.”

She flexed her fingers, and the knife reappeared. “Kill in chill calm, for no other reason than your own desire. Do not use skills from your current class. Do it because you have decided to kill, and you can dispense that death. From what I know of you, none of your offered Paths focused on lethal intent.”

Her face was inches from him, but the topic of conversation killed any physical intimacy that their closeness might have inspired. Nathan took a shuddering breath. He leaned back and looked out at the world above as he thought.

She’s trying to convince me to murder somebody I don’t know in cold blood. And succeeding. Anybody in a position of authority around here has signed their own death warrant. Evil needs to be challenged. Giantsrest is Evil.

He stood abruptly, getting farther away from the attractive woman. “Ok. Who do we kill? Exea?”

Faline snorted. “Once you gain this second class and some levels, maybe.” Her face became serious as she stood. “But she is protected by more than just magic. For now, we have a different target.” She started walking out of the hedges.

Nathan nodded, walking forward. “Fair enough. I guess if it’s a mage of Giantsrest it doesn’t matter exactly who.”

If I’m going to kill a random mage of Giantsrest, I’d almost prefer not to know too much about them. I don’t want them to be a person.

“It matters. On the Path of the Assassin, you should know who you kill, and kill them with purpose. This is death with intention, not unguided slaughter. Even if you strike on the battlefield, you mark your target and decide their death.” Faline had turned her head back, even as she grew taller and once again took up the disguise of a slavemaster.

Her eyes muted and her voice deepened as the transformation completed. “You will kill Histol dho Fulku, the leader of the enforcement mages in Halsmet. He is a trusted agent of Exea’s, and a reason why Halsmet runs smoothly.”

Nathan couldn't see Faline’s expression well without the light from her eyes, but caught a flash of teeth. “You met him yesterday. He was the blue-robed mage who stopped us as we escaped from Taeol’s mansion. He led a company of soldiers.”

So blue-robes are enforcement mages? If Histol’s part of the power structure propping up this hellhole of a city then I don’t have a problem killing him.

“He has two wives he treats well, and several children he is preparing to send to the Academy when they are old enough. He owns few guards, relying on powerful enchantments for security.”

Why did she tell me that? Not like it changes anything that he has a family. Even if he’s nice to them, he's still part of the Giantsrest system.

Nathan sighed deeply, drawing a wary look from Faline.

He shook his head. “Let’s go. How are we going to get in?”

“There’s a side door, locked by magic. Will you be able to kill that problem?”

Natan shrugged one shoulder. “Probably.”

[Aura of Antimagic] does let me break traps and triggers without ever touching them, after all. Even ones inside walls or on the other side of doors. And [Magical Perception] lets me figure out if they’re there in the first place.

They emerged from the unlit park like specters in the night, avoiding the magical lights. Faline moved like a gust of wind, her feet not making the slightest sound as they crept through the deserted streets.

Nathan tried to match her movements, but still felt like an ungainly oaf in comparison. He was dressed in light clothing and only wore thin shoes, so it was easy to move quietly and smoothly. Even so, every faint scrape or cast shadow stood out to him and his [Notice].

I’m looking forward to getting some stealth skills. That’ll be useful. I can sneak reasonably well because I don’t wear armor, but it's not enough against people with skills like [Notice].

Then Faline led him into an alley that looked like it was used for deliveries, with prominent wheel ruts. There were doors on both sides, but she pointed out a double door that looked large enough to drive a cart through.

Nodding, Nathan knelt down before the door. There was a keyhole and he placed his hand against it, feeling for the magic.

A powerful magical lock, and no way to unlock it from this side. Also a loud alarm if the door is smashed open or disconnected from its frame. But nothing more than that. I can just take out the central spell and the whole thing will fall apart.

For the first time today Nathan seized his antimagic, pleased at how responsive it was. He’d always shifted the magic-denying effect around with his intentions before, but it had never wanted to leave the confines of his body before. Now the antimagic flowed and shifted above his skin like water in a bowl. It was the work of a moment of focus to draw the aura into a spike that extended six inches from his hand.

Nathan activated [Battle Meditation], sinking into a state of calm focus. He pushed harder and the aura flowed further away, becoming almost a foot long.

I can push it farther, but only at the expense of a lot of attention and stripping the antimagic away from other parts of my body. As it is now I’m still immune to magic but instead of an aura I have a foot-long blade of immaterial antimagic. This is so cool.

Shivering with anticipation, Nathan smoothly pushed his hand against the wood, angling the antimagic to annihilate the magic on the door. Stamina flowed back into him and he pushed on the door, but it remained stubbornly closed, blocked by mundane methods as well as magical.

"My target." Faline gestured Nathan aside and slid a pair of lockpicks into the keyhole for a moment before the portal swung silently open to reveal a large room beyond.

The assassin ghosted forward, passing by Nathan as she examined the dark space. She had transformed back to a slim leather-clad woman, drawing daggers in each hand. After a few sniffs she gestured him forward with a whisper. “There may be more alarms and traps beyond. Move slow, and stay quiet. Never underestimate the paranoia of a mage of Giantsrest.”

He followed her instructions, stepping carefully across the room and feeling out for magic. There was magic around, and plenty of it - but none of it was harmful. Nathan let his antimagic spike lapse down to a shell a few inches above his skin. Instead, he focused on expanding his magical senses as far as they would go.

His attention was caught by a concentration of ice mana on the far side of the room, but a second’s probing revealed it was just a magical freezer. Just past it was a kitchen replete with more enchantments - but they mostly appeared to be for cooking. There were no traps that he could sense.

Nonetheless Nathan moved slowly, relying on [Notice] to help him pick up anything that stood out.

Everything stands out. You’re walking through a magical kitchen, sensing all of the magic that keeps it running. This place is loaded with magic - that’s a magical oven, there’s some kind of magical stirring contraption, a few cabinets are locked with magic. Wonder if there are expensive spices in there. None of this is what I’m here for.

Nathan was so caught up examining the magic of the kitchen with his skills he barely avoided tripping over somebody sleeping on a thin pad in the doorway out of the kitchen. He gently stepped over the still form, looking around to see that he was next to a narrow stairwell that climbed towards the next floor.

Struck by a sudden thought, Nathan turned to step back towards the sleeping slave - likely the cook.

I could probably break the mind magic on her.

Faline had followed closely behind him, and she bent down to check that the figure was really asleep. Her blade was positioned to plunge into the cook’s throat. Upon seeing Nathan’s glance, she narrowed her eyes and gestured up the staircase.

Nathan tilted his head to indicate the woman, and Faline shook her head firmly. She pointed down the corridor next to the stairwell. Nathan turned to follow her finger and saw a soldier standing guard. He had his back toward them, and appeared to be standing in the center of the grand entrance foyer into the well-appointed home.

Adrenaline flushed through Nathan’s body at the sight of a foe, and he walked quickly over to the base of the staircase to break the line of sight. His steps were quiet on the stone floor, and he started up the staircase.

Breaking the magic on her would definitely be a risk right now - just waking her up might alert that guard.

It was only thanks to [Notice] and [Battle Meditation] that Nathan noticed the magical tripwire before he blundered into it. It was a very faint wire at thigh-height, and even dispelling the wire would have caused the recipient enchantment to trigger.

There are so many enchantments here. I think the floors are enchanted to be clean and warm, the metal banister is enchanted not to patina and there are dormant light enchantments everywhere.

Nathan stopped still, taking a calming breath and pushing away the adrenaline - and the Rage that was never far behind. Then he set to work following the faint tripwires back to their source.

High-tier Notice 6 achieved!

It was really quite amazing. There was a secondary and tertiary series of spells that would detect if the primary alarm was tampered with, each setting off a different tier of response. The tripwire alone would trigger an alarm and a paralysis spell. The second would wrap the trespasser in electrified chains.

The third spell was extremely aggressive - following that thread drew Nathan’s attention to a series of explosive runes buried underneath the stairs that blended into the heating enchantments. If somebody managed to disarm the first two traps but set off the third, there wouldn’t be a staircase anymore.

Nathan was tempted to just jump over the tripwire, but there was a series of them farther up the stairs that would require a contortionist’s skills to navigate. So he disabled the traps in reverse - stabbing his antimagic into the stone wall to disable the connections of third trap, then moving onto the second where it was hidden behind a painting before disabling the tripwires themselves with a casual flick at the central nexus hidden in the carpet.

He shivered at the rush of Stamina, feeling it exceed his cap and make him jittery.

Move calmly. We’re not done with this yet.

Nathan let out a faint breath, and looked over his shoulder to see Faline watching his every move, tension in every aspect of her body. She looked apprehensive, as if this was new territory for her.

I suppose disabling traps like this is outside her skillset. I honestly don’t know how anybody without magic - or antimagic - could disable that trap buried in the wall.

He gave her a grin, and proceeded up the staircase. Upon reaching the top Nathan found a series of wooden doors, and another staircase. There was also another guard pivoting their head sleepily back and forth.

They were looking towards the other staircase when Nathan saw them. Their helmeted head started turning back towards him, and Nathan leapt backwards, using [Slow Fall] to yank himself out of sight and doing a backflip over Faline before moderating his speed to gently land at the bottom of the stairs.

The assassin spun around towards him, gesturing towards the top of the stairs with a dagger and a quizzical expression.

Nathan held up one finger, mouthing ‘one.’

Faline nodded, crouching low and gesturing for him to follow. She slid forward silently, the iridescent streaks in her hair dimming to a black curtain that blended into the dark house. The assassin’s head peeked above the stair and she waited a heartbeat before springing forward.

Nathan followed, barely managing to keep his feet from hammering into the stairs. He found Faline gently lowering the slave to the ground, one hand clasped over the man's mouth while the other held a dagger in his heart.

Casting his magical sense around the foyer, Nathan relaxed. Then his attention was drawn to the magic on the slave. A spell had reached out to somewhere else in the building, and was starting to activate. He crossed the gap quickly, slamming his palm into the side of the man’s head and dispelling every trace of spellwork connected to the dying man’s brain.

The guard’s eyes rolled with desperation, before fixing on Nathan with a confused expression. His attempts to bite at Faline’s hand were replaced by a series of choking gurgles.

Then he died. Nathan stood over the corpse, conflicted.

I could have saved that man from the magic that had enslaved him - maybe. I’m still not sure if many of the slaves of Giantsrest can be freed. But now he’s dead.

He raised his head to look around at the doors that surrounded him. Each looked similar, though the one the guard had been standing behind was the most decorated.

Faline was already stepping towards it, but Nathan held out his hand.

All of the doors were locked and seemed to have alarm spells on them, but they varied in design and complexity. The obvious door was indeed the most heavily warded, but Nathan wanted to try something. He closed his eyes and focused entirely on his new sense.

Earlier, he’d been able to sense the magic in his friends when they were close by - especially Stella. So, Nathan reached out with his new skill, looking for living sources of magic. There were dozens of enchantments around him, but the feeling of a living mage was distinct - and coming from the door opposite the one they’d been focused on.

Not as much raw power as Stella, but more… structured? Higher-level, if I had to guess. Probably over 243, but I really don’t have a baseline for this stuff.

Magical Perception 4 achieved!

Nathan pointed directly at where he felt the mage, opening his eyes to find Faline contemplating him. She tilted her head at the other door and Nathan nodded, then crossed to examine it.

These locks were more sophisticated and powerful than the one down below - but also entirely magical. It only took seconds longer for Nathan to get though - he quickly disabled a failsafe before destroying the magic on the frame and gestured for Faline to proceed.

She stepped forward, pulling a thin but completely opaque cloth from her dimensional bag and sticking it to the top of the doorframe with some sticky putty. She grabbed Nathan’s hand and pulled him underneath the cover, waiting for it to settle to the floor and block all external light.

Once again, Nathan was face to face with Faline, her skin warm against his own. Her eyes glowed green in the darkness, illuminating a predatory smile as her eyes met his and she winked, one eye flashing pink. Then the glow dimmed and she eased open the door to slip into the dark suite beyond.

The room was darker than the main house had been, though Faline’s cloth kept any stray light from giving away their entry. It took Nathan’s eyes a moment to adjust as he eased the door shut.

Maybe I can improve the speed of my eyes adapting with [Perfected Body]. It’ll take experimentation, and I don’t see having a lot of time for that in the near future.

There was a dim light emanating from a crystal on a shelf, very much like a night-light. It was enough to see the broad bed, and the three figures sleeping upon it. One of whom glowed to Nathan’s senses with powerful magic.

Histol. The man I’m here to assassinate.

Status of Nathan Lark:

Permanent Talent 1: Aura of Antimagic 1

Permanent Talent 2: Perfected Body 6

Talent 3: High-tier Slow Fall 9

Class: Implacable Antimage level 144

Deepened Stamina: 4620/4620

Antimage’s Impassivity

Antimagic Momentum

Raging Thrill

Implacable Inertia

Unarmored Resilience

Improved Antimagic

Strenuous Agility

Hand-to-hand Expertise

Utility skills:

Battle Meditation 6

High-tier Earnestness 9

High-tier Sprinting 3

Magical Perception 4

High-tier Notice 6

High-tier Identify 6

High-tier Dodging Footwork 6

High-tier Enhanced Memory 8

Mid-tier Lecturing 9

High-tier Tumbling 3