Chapter 118, 1/2

Chapter 118, 1/2

The pair of them had moved outside of the house, to a plot of grasslands south of Quilatalap’s cottage, a little over a kilometer away. It was a nice place, with rolling green hills and scattered trees. It was a daunting area, though, for just a little bit away rose the 30 kilometer crystal cliffs that bounded the southern edge of the Palace District. Intellectually, those cliffs were so tall and so large that they seemed to be directly above, ready to crush down at any second. But the rainbow auroras hanging in the air blocked most of that enormity from sight. Thanks to those pretty lights, it was easy to put out of mind all of the danger looming all around.

And then there was magic, to completely distract him from the daily trauma of living in this land.

So let’s just forget about the impending deaths and destruction for a little while.

Quilatalap had offered to fill some deficiencies in Erick’s repertoire, and Erick had readily accepted. So here they were.

Quilatalap asked, “Have you made much ‘tricking magic’?”

“Not really, but!” Erick enthusiastically said, “It’s really quite interesting that you can trick the Script into cutting the spells of another mage— No. Wait...” Erick asked, “Is that what is happening with tricking magic?”

Quilatalap smiled. “The Script isn’t as limiting as some people would have you believe. At its heart, the Script is about chopping down highs and evening out lows, and streamlining spellwork. Tricking magic has also been streamlined to a certain degree, but tricking magic itself is as old as magic, and it hasn’t changed much since the Darkness first helped us to learn the first spells.”

“Right! Okay. Well. I have done some of this tricking magic before.” Erick popped out a few blue boxes, saying, “I learned about these [Intent Understanding] and [Spell Breaker] from another. And then I made this [Grand Dispel] from some of that.”

Quilatalap raised an eyebrow as he looked upon [Grand Dispel]. “This one. This is a good spell.” He dismissed the boxes, saying, “You won’t be able to make a [Grand Dispel] much better without going deep into Blood Magic or Wizardry. Your multiplier could have been larger, but you have a chaining sort-of [Dispel] instead. Don’t try to remake that; you’ll never get better. It’s really strong.” He said, “But, that said, [Grand Dispel] seems like an end-stage magic, to me. You might be able to work some higher spells out of that eventually, but don’t try for those today. Today, we’ll do the rest of these tricky [Dispel]s with [Spell Breaker] as the base magic.

“You’re going to want to make eight spells.

“Six spells, one spell aligned against each element, using the respective Elemental Shape. What you do is you take your [Stoneshape], for instance, invert it, and then attach it to your [Spell Breaker]. You will be decreasing [Spell Breaker]’s versatility of working against any small magic, to instead fully meld with all Stone-derived magics. As a word of caution: for any normal spell, this resulting ‘[Stone Breaker]’ will work just fine. For specialty spells, like when facing someone with a [Domain of Stone], you will have trouble making [Stone Breaker] work.

“These first six spells aren’t very great for the simple fact that a boulder thrown at you is still a boulder thrown at you. But a [Stone Breaker] against a spell-empowered wall of stone will destroy that wall of stone for much less than any other option. A [Grand Fireball], packed with a hundred [Force Bombs] and flying at your face, can be turned into a puff of flame with a properly made [Fire Breaker].

“Etcetera. Etcetera.

“The seventh spell is [Force Breaker]. The first six spells are easy to make, but this one is a complicated little spell, For this one, I recommend inverting [Force Wall], [Envelop Item], [Conjure Armor], and [Conjure Weapon], because those four spells are the most [Dispel] resistant Force spells in the Script, and the ability to strip a melee attacker of their weapons and defenses is often necessary.

“The eighth spell is [Ward Destruction]. Now this one is truly complicated, for [Ward] is among the most complicated spells out there, simply because it is so varied. I suggest trying this spell after you figure out everything there is to make with the base [Ward] spell, and more than a few other [Elemental Breaker] spells. You will know you have figured [Ward] out, when you are able to make a good version of every kind of [Ward] described in that way-too-big blue box.

“When you get to that point, then you just invert all of those various ideas into one coherent whole, and combine it with [Spell Breaker]. Thus, you will get [Ward Breaker].

“None of these spells should cost you more than 50 mana, if you’ve made them right. But they will be... What tier is your [Spell Breaker]? Tier four?”

“Tier four,” Erick said.

“So a thousand days to try again if you get any of these spells wrong.” Quilatalap said, “The only one that is truly necessary is [Ward Breaker]. You’re going to want to know every part of that spell before you try for that one. Better to spend a year experimenting, and then get it right, instead of almost three years in downtime.”

Erick thought for a moment. He asked, “So when you say ‘Invert’, what does that mean, exactly?” He added, “Also: Is there some way to [Teleport Spell]? I wanted [Spelleport] for the longest time, and if anything is tricking magic, that should certainly qualify.”

Quilatalap smirked, then said, “Inversion of a magic is rather simple to understand, now that you have a [Mana Sight]. And one small hint. I’ll see if you get it with [Mana Sight] before I divulge the hint.” He held out one hand to the side, “Watch this with your [Mana Sight].”

Erick turned on [Mana Sight], and saw the dense spells upon Quilatalap, like a layer of gravity upon his skin, and upon the world. And then Quilatalap cast.

In the palm of his hand, Quilatalap popped a [Ward]. He hadn’t called it as such, and the spell was invisible to normal sight, but to Erick’s [Mana Sight], and compared to his knowledge of what magic looked like what, Quilatalap had conjured a dense sphere of power that was unmistakably a [Ward]. The archlich moved his hand to the side of the dense space. He conjured a void.

Erick stared for a few moments. “Huh. It’s an inverted [Ward], correct?”

“Correct.” Quilatalap waited with a small smile on his face. His lower fangs showed, a little. “But that doesn’t tell you anything, does it?”

“... No.” Erick sadly agreed.

Erick turned his attention back to the void, trying to understand.

Calling it a ‘void’ was perhaps not correct. Quilatalap had already provided the words for such an item. It was an inverted [Ward]. Simple! Except... Not quite so simple.

Erick held out his own hand, and channeled mana through [Ward]. A sphere of white light held above his hand, sounding much like an edge. A demarcation, where the world was slightly different inside, than it was on the outside.

Erick held out his other hand, and channeled mana through [Ward], but... differently. It was an attempt at... At something else. White light flickered from his hand, and instantly became one with the surrounding mana. Like he was dropping ink into a world of bleach; the mana flowed away, reshuffling itself back into the manasphere.

No. That was incorrect. It wasn’t... It wasn’t destructive enough.

Oh!

It was Destruction!

That’s why [Ward Destruction] was called [Ward DESTRUCTION]! It was the Destruction Esoteric Element!

Or... Was it?

Erick had never touched a Destruction spell before. He had certainly read of them, though. So he tried what he had read, using the barest bit of Mana Altering, and condensed a breaking of the world into his mind, and into his magic.

A globe of flexed gravity took hold of the air; a denial of existence. A breaking. A Destruction.

“Huh.” Erick said, “Destruction mana?”

“Yes!” Quilatalap enthusiastically said, “You got it! You figured out the secret!” He strongly added, “Don’t try to actually use Destruction in a spell. You will kill yourself.”

Erick eyed his hand that he had just channeled Destruction from. “Uh... Okay.”

Quilatalap noticed, and said, “Channeling Destruction isn’t that bad. It’s like channeling Fire mana; that won’t actually hurt you.”

“... Right.” Erick had channeled Fire mana before, and it hadn’t hurt. He did so right then, producing a prominence of flame without actual heat.

“See! All good. Just don’t make a Destruction spell.” Quilatalap returned to being enthusiastic, as he laughed, and said, “That’s the secret to inverting spells. You combine the starter spell with Destruction, and you end with something attuned to the spell you want, but inverted.”

“Huh.” Erick looked at his hand, and channeled Destruction, producing a mana prominence that was more world-breaking white, than normal white. Archmage Opal had never spoken of Destruction mana, but then again, he hadn’t heard of that particular ‘element’ until well outside of his time at Oceanside. He looked to the two orbs still present in the air beside Quilatalap, and asked, “You do magic a lot differently than they do at the arcanaeums, and elsewhere.” He added, “All the Elements. And No math.”

“Math is useful for describing the world, but magic is more than the math.” Quilatalap said, “Magic is communion with the greater self to enact a change upon the world.” He added, “More cynically, magic is all about creating impressions in the manasphere, filling those impressions with your power, and enabling those impressions to do what you want them to do. Some people come to magic through math. Some don’t. No way is wrong.” He added, “But one thing is always true: In all my understanding of magic, the systems of mathemagic, the elemental systems, harmonic, spiritual, ritual, formation, talisman, tree-based, soul-based, or any other... When a person finds a way that works for them, if they continue along that path, then things usually work out for them.”

Erick listened, and then he acted.

He channeled a few inversions from his hands, listening to their Destruction, and their desire to break what had been whole. And then he cast to the left, flashing a breaking into the world. There was no target, because Erick didn’t need one for this.

And it worked. The ideology behind the first six spells was easy to understand. One blue box appeared. And then, with five more casts, each twenty seconds apart, came five more boxes.

Stone Breaker, instant, long range, 50 MP

Trick a spell of Stone into breaking.

Fire Breaker, instant, long range, 50 MP

Trick a spell of Fire into breaking.

Water Breaker, instant, long range, 50 MP

Trick a spell of Water into breaking.

Air Breaker, instant, long range, 50 MP

Trick a spell of Air into breaking.

Light Breaker, instant, long range, 50 MP

Trick a spell of Light into breaking.

Shadow Breaker, instant, long range, 50 MP

Trick a spell of Shadow into breaking.

“That’s six elemental breaking spells. 50 mana cost.” He asked, “Is there a [Prismatic Breaker]?”

Quilatalap smiled wide. “Yes.”

Erick channeled his new spells through his palm, all at the same time. This proved to be too much, though, so Ophiel helped. And then, surrounded by a harmonious destruction, Erick cast.

A burst of shadow erupted from his hands, impacting the land beyond.

A blue box appeared.

Prismatic Breaker, instant, long range, 300 MP

Trick an elemental spell into breaking.

Quilatalap’s smile got even wider.

“Huh.” Erick said, “That felt rather natural, actually.”

“How so?”

“Like... Like the cohesion of a disparate unwanting. A harmonious junction of denial.”

Quilatalap held his hand out to the right. “Break this, if you could?”

A small spire of multicolored, floating crystal appeared, two meters from the orcol archlich. It was perhaps three meters tall; a bit taller than its caster. Erick felt a strange sort of power roll off of the crystal, like a gentle breeze. As that breeze passed, he felt his nearby Ophiel grow intrinsically stronger, their lightforms shifting into something more powerful, while those in their sunform felt nothing.

“Oh.” Erick asked, “It’s a rift? Or something?” as he flicked ripping shadows at the working.

The crystal spire broke back into the manasphere, like it was never there.

Quilatalap laughed, a great big belly laugh. “Yes! It was a rift!” He said, “It usually takes students years to be able to [Dispel] that! And you just popped out your [Prismatic Destruction], just like that. Or— Which spell did you get?”

“[Prismatic Breaker].”

“A clean variant, then. Sometimes there is too much Destruction. But...” Quilatalap sighed; a contented sound. “Ah. This is nice. I don’t think I’ll be able to teach normal students for a long time. You’ve ruined me, Erick.”

Erick smirked. “I gave you that ring. A good 45 Intelligence should do wonders for new students.”

“That Intelligence is part of your current success, but I’ve seen more than my fair share of smart idiots in my life. Even if your Wizardry is helping you, I’ve sensed none of that so far. You’re just good at this. Giving my future students a lift up with something like 45 Intelligence would help most of them, but some would still never get it. Besides—” Quilatalap waved a dismissive hand, saying, “Intelligence is not sticking around. If the Relevant Entities and Melemizargo ever decide to come together to remake the Script, I do not see them allowing for the easy acquisition of magic.”

“You think so too, huh?”

“Hmm. Well. I said what I said, but perhaps a better way to think of it is... Intelligence was created to enhance the capabilities of the mind, and that is a rather taboo subject when it comes to the gods.” Quilatalap said, “Melemizargo created Mind Magic, and that’s been a horror show for as long as it’s ever existed.”

Erick’s eyes went wide for a long moment. And then he said, “Ah.”

“Intelligence is probably going to be another problem like Mind Magic, but vastly more limited, and possibly changed all together in the future.” Quilatalap said, “So let’s get you powered up while we can.”

Erick almost stopped everything by asking what Quilatalap got out of all this. If Ar’Kendrithyst went away, or rather, if all the Shades here died, then wasn’t he vulnerable to the rest of the world? Wasn’t he here, in this place, because it was the only safe place for him to be?

Or maybe that wasn’t true?

Whatever the case, Erick couldn’t continue to accept help from the man until he knew a little bit more about him. So Erick asked, “Why are you helping me, Quilatalap?”

“I’ve got three gods that like you, and that’s more than a good enough reason to entertain the idea of assisting you in your magical career. Just to entertain the idea, though.” The 3000 year-old archlich nonchalantly added, “But my reason for helping you is that you’re an exemplary archmage, and I like teaching good students. That is my joy in life, and my reason for being. And then there’s the fact that ever since Kirginatharp called you an archmage that you’ve done nothing but good with the power that came your way. And you’ve only been at this magic-thing for a year! That’s insane! So, I will do what I can to help you in some small way, and so, I’ve decided to help you fill some holes in your spellbook. It’s not power, for I don’t often teach people how to gain power. It is utility, and the ability to stay alive, and you, Erick, certainly need some help to stay alive when the meteors start falling.”

Erick tensed. He asked, “What will happen to the people caught in the crossfire?”

“They’ll try to get out of the way. Most will succeed.” Quilatalap said, “Gods willing, if this thing ends with me in any position of power and not running for my life, I will see about reviving those who wish for such a thing, but I doubt many will. The people around here generally don’t like accepting [Resurrection]s.”

For a long moment, Erick thought.

He didn’t want to be the man who put down the monsters. He never had. But he knew the necessity of such actions. He felt that he had broken himself of his tendency to shy away from the ultimatums of life on Veird. But at the same time...

Hollowsaur took joy in killing those who came for his creations, in setting a boundary and laying treasure just beyond that boundary. He wanted to kill people who he could easily label as thieves and intruders. Was it possible to help Hollowsaur turn his desire to kill into something less destructive? He obviously cared about his little green people, and they cared about him.

Or was that thought too naive, and to what degree was it naive? Did Hollowsaur actually care about his people, or was that another layer of his ‘this is mine; you come here, I kill you’ line in the sand?

And what about Farix? He wouldn’t harm a child, and he wouldn’t harm someone if that harm would cause harm to a child. ‘Don’t kill children’ was a low bar, but in being able to pass that bar, Farix had hinted that he still had some sort of morality within him.

“... Technically, yes. But... Such a [Dispel] would hinder your ability to properly gauge the strength of a particular magic with your mana sense, because once such a spell is in your grasp, you would never need to learn how to use your mana sense to properly gauge the strength of a spell. In such a case, you could just guess at a rough cost, instead of gaining finesse in your spellwork.” Quilatalap said, “Like I said already: You shouldn’t ever use an automatic [Counterspell] in combat, and for the same reason as you shouldn’t ever use an automatic [Dispel]. But for a [Suppression], automatic [Counterspells] are the best at ensuring your [Suppression] lasts for as long as it is able.”

“Then I guess I won’t be trying that, and will instead just move right along.” Erick rapidly harmonized [Counterspell] with [Intent Understanding]. The two spells went together like an understanding discordance, as the spell flashed from Erick’s hand to strike Quilatalap with a flicker of darkness.

Quilatalap’s gravity well flickered, then came right back after a full second. [Counterspell] did work better against auras than a straight-up [Dispel]... So that was interesting.

A blue box appeared.

Harmonic Counterspell, instant, long range, 10 + Special Cost

Drains you of the mana necessary to prevent a magic from being cast.

That blue box was also interesting.

“[Harmonic Counterspell],” Erick said.

“Not too unusual of a name.” Quilatalap said, “I won’t be going further with you for any more counterspelling, though. This field of magic requires the basic spells, and then a whole lot of skill in timing, and calculation, and basic mage battling. You can practice that with Ophiels fighting Ophiels. I also feel that you should try to create some clinging ooze spells of other kinds, before you try your hand at [Suppression]. But, for now, and later, you know what to do. Good luck with that.” He asked, “Anything else you’d like help with?”

Erick instantly said, “The problems of fighting with Elemental Bodies. I’ve got most of my own worked out, but I know I could be doing better.”

Quilatalap nodded, then asked, “Have you gone through the whole list? That’s something a lot of people skip over, but I find it best to start at the beginning.”

“The... List?”

Quilatalap conjured a chalkboard that looked hewn from a quarry, and not taken from any classroom except possibly from a room in the school of hard rocks. Erick almost made that joke to Quilatalap, but it was missing cultural context, and it would have fallen flat. Instead, Erick abandoned the joke and read the words that were written upon the board’s surface, in six different columns. The first column was for Fire.

-Flame Touch, finger fire

-Flame Strike, temporary flame coating on weapon

-Inflame, make flame bigger / burn faster

-Torch, make flame stronger

-Flame Breath, careful for backlash

-Flaming Steps, run across fire

-Flame Shield, reactive shield / no defense

-Flame Weapon, weapon of flame / no defense

-Blessing of Fire, immune to natural fire damage, half magical damage

-Flame Sustain, make a flame self-sustaining

-Flame Armor, reactive flame

-Fireblend, meld with fire

-[Fire Body].

“Oh.” Erick said, “That list. Yeah. I know that.” He read the one for ‘light’.

-Glow, finger-sized light

-Light Strike, blinding flash on hit

-Empower, make light bigger

-Light Orb, a real light source

-Bright Pulse, a small damaging flash

-Light Steps, walk on light

-Light Shield, heavy defensive shield

-Light Weapon, heavy weapon

-Blessing of Light, immune to strong natural light, half magical damage, see through nearby light

-Bright Light, make a light damaging to everyone nearby

-Light Armor, heavy defensive armor

-Lightblend, meld with light

-[Lightwalk]

“Haven’t read that list in a while, though.” And he’d never really practiced with those functions, either.

Quilatalap said, “Do you know the true difference between [Lightwalk] and [Greater Lightwalk]?”

Erick had not exactly known before Quilatalap had asked, but seeing it laid out there like this, Erick had an inkling. “I’m guessing that the only true change is the ability to extend the [Lightwalk] well past the limits of my normal aura. But all of these options... I should already be able to do all of this.”

“Mostly correct. The size of your influence is the only real difference between Greater and Normal. But in that size difference, there are things like a Light Weapon not activating at larger than a tiny dagger, unless you’re at that particular level of the Elemental Body. All of the ‘Step’ abilities fall under this category, quite solidly, for to truly use the stepping abilities you must also have the blending and the range of the Greater Elemental Body in question.” Quilatalap asked, “Have you tried all of these functions with your [Greater Lightwalk]?”

“Not really... But—”

Erick took his lightform, and bent it, rapidly copying the abilities he saw on the ‘chalkboard’. His hand became a flashlight, a glowing globe flickered out damaging rays, a two-meter long sword landed in his hand, and then armor covered his body. Most of the abilities listed up there were normal enough stretches of his lightform that he just hadn’t thought to really do... Except for the lightswords. He had definitely used that one before now. Swords made of light seemed a lot more natural than armor made of light. Erick much preferred his sunform to any sort of armor, though this would prevent the necessity of spending a cooldown on conjuring armor, so...

This was good.

Erick said, “There’s just...” He smiled. “There’s just so much magic out there, isn’t there?”

“More than you or I will ever know.” Quilatalap said, “I still make new spells every once in a while.”

“I’m still not very good at enchanting. Or shadow magics.” Erick said, “Still not sure of my problems with those two subjects.”

“It’s not uncommon for a mage to develop a deficiency in one area of spell casting. My own deficiencies are with plant biologies, but I’ve never met anyone who couldn’t learn how to enchant once they actually learned how. The enchanting skills taught in arcanaeum is like approaching a sword fight with your swords attached to poles attached to arms you’ve never used before; it’s just not very good.”

“Ha! I mean... What?” He added, “I know that some of what they teach in arcanaeum is not exactly necessary, but I didn’t think it was that bad.”

“There is a certain stigma against proper enchanting, for proper enchanting is just the application of soulwork into a container that can replicate that soulwork.”

“... Oh.” Erick tentatively asked, “Necromancy?”

“No. Necromancy is a very crude term for proper enchanting.” Quilatalap explained, “There is a spell called [Greater Conjure Soul], that is the basis of all good enchanting. It is derived from [Conjure Force Elemental], but taken up several tiers and balancings beyond that Basic Spell. The general working is thus: with a [Greater Conjure Soul] in one hand, and the unenchanted item that you have carved and created in the other, you bring them together to make an actual magical item. It’s more complicated than that, but this is what the Clergy does for all of their artifacts. They make their souls manually, and you could leap far ahead in your own enchanting by attempting to do the same.”

“... [Greater Conjure Soul]?” Erick almost didn’t want to ask, but he did. “Like. A person’s soul?”

Quilatalap smiled, knowingly. “Here is where the capable necromancers are separated from all the rest. You can use a person’s soul for the vast majority of crafting soul work. Some of the less scrupulous hedge mages out there will do so, and some of them will achieve much of the same outcomes as a true enchanter, but they’re also murdering people to achieve those outcomes. This is unnecessary, and harmful to proper workings. If you use a person’s soul, you first have to cleanse it of all the impurities that is the life that person lived if you wish to use it for enchanting...

“This is a complicated topic. In the case of enchanting, it is much better to use a conjured soul. In the case of bringing someone back to life, you must use the soul of the original person. Crossing these uses will cause major problems. So. Don’t use conjured souls to make a person; you have a very high chance of creating a monster that will then attempt to eat you. Don’t use sapient souls to create items. Not only is it cruel, but it is unnecessary, and you are making more problems for yourself down the line.

“Anyway. A conjured soul is what you get when you balance out the manasphere then add a spark of life in that balance with a resonant flex of your own soul, or, a tiny piece of your own soul. For the first method of soul creation, there is no cost besides a mild uncomfortableness. After this soul creation, you take the conjured soul and mold it properly to the item. In this way, what you are doing is akin to making someone else cast a spell.

“You have already achieved as much with your accomplishment of [Teleport Other], so this sort of enchanting should be within your capabilities.

“The second method of creating a conjured soul —the method where you use a piece of your soul— costs Experience to craft. You break off a piece of yourself that you are comfortable losing, that will cast the spells or cause the effects you wish to cause, and you stuff this nascent soul into an item, and then the item operates as you would.” Quilatalap said, “This second method does not usually need that much prompting in order to get the conjured soul to cast the spells of the item.

“So, you either teach the conjured soul to cast the spells you want, or you rip a piece of yourself off to then cast the spells without that teaching necessity. More teaching work in step two, or less teaching work in step two, but more personal cost.”

Erick heard and would remember all of that, but he was still stuck on one part in particular. He asked, “So... A conjured soul is... not alive?”

“It could be, if you stuck it in something that had the capability to live. A tree. A slime. Some other biological thing. You will likely end up with a monster if you attempt this. But if you stick that conjured soul in a to-be-created artifact, then the soul will grow to fill the purpose of the item, and then power that item. Some artifacts are alive in a rudimentary sense for this reason. Some artifacts made with actual people are actually alive, for this reason.” Quilatalap said, “It’s a lot more complicated than that. But that is the base idea. Ah! Don’t ever use your own soul to make something until you’ve done soul work on slimes, and such. Using your own soul is only for very, very high-level enchanting. Artifact enchanting. Enchanting where you’re not afraid of losing a part of yourself, forever, in order to have an artifact that does what you want it to do. Or, you know, when you know you won’t actually hurt yourself. Eventually, soul work gets easy, but... Not for a good sixty years of constant experimentation and testing.”

Erick was still concerned. It must have shown on his face.

Quilatalap added, “A conjured soul is a blank slate. A nothing, that has yet to become. By placing it in an artifact that already has a purpose engraved upon it, that soul becomes a working item. A sapient soul... even the barely-sentient souls of slimes, or other tiny things, are more. Real souls have personal choice in their lives. They have branching futures. A conjured soul is not that, for it has none of those things. But don’t trust me. Go ahead and work on some, and you will see.”

“... I don’t think I will be doing that any time soon.”

“Really?” Quilatalap looked at an Ophiel, flying free in the sky above. “He’s a rather good working. If I didn’t know better, then I would already think of you as a novice necromancer.” He added, “Or summoner, if you prefer that terminology.”

Erick changed the subject, “So! [Spelleport]?”

“Oh. Right.” Quilatalap said, “A niche spell, for sure, but I can see the uses. I am guessing you will have to use some combination of [Teleport Other] and [Intent Understanding]. But that might not work. Metamagic to adjust the spells of another is rather difficult. What is the goal of such a spell?”

“Defending from a Red Dot attack.”

Quilatalap thought for a second. He said, “This is just a guess, but you might want to pursue [Gate], instead. It would be rather easy to [Gate] a spell away from yourself, though I saw what you did with that Red Dot, so for such a working... You would need a heavily reinforced [Gate], lined with reflective magics, in order to have your [Gate] survive contact with a spell such as the Red Dot. But to actually [Teleport] a spell away from yourself? My first instinct with a [Spelleport] is that it is either Paradox Wizardry, or metamagic on the level of your [Renew].”

“Damn.” Erick asked, “How do you make that [Gate] spell?”

“I bought it for 10 points.”

Erick’s head drooped, as he cursed under his breath. “... Fuck.”

Quilatalap laughed. “I would never have been able to make it myself, Erick. I’m a hermit. I do know how to make it, though.

“What you do is you walk around the world, stopping here and there, enjoying yourself, then continuing on to parts unknown, or wherever your circumstance takes you. Do not use Spatial Magic to make your trip shorter, for that is an impossible task. That said, do manually cast whatever Spatial Magic you need; if it’s not as natural as breathing, you likely won’t get [Gate]. Do go into the Underworld. Do undertake a journey to the Core. Trust in the journey, for there is no destination.

“Take people with you for part of the trip, or the whole trip, if you want, but it is not necessary. Somewhere along the way, you’ll pick up some, and lose others. Somewhere along the way, you’ll step around a corner, and be exactly where you need to be. You’ll look back, and see that you passed through a [Gate], and the Quest will move on to part two, and the largest trial you will face will be right there in front of you.”

Erick thought for a moment. He said, “That actually sounds really nice. Why don’t more people know this method?”

“Because The Worldly Path is directly overseen by Melemizargo. You went on a small journey when you walked through Kendrithyst, but the Worldly Path is the truest form of the Journey into Darkness.”

“... Ah. I see.”

Quilatalap asked, “Ready for more magic, or got any more questions?”

“I think I’m done with questions for now. You’ve given me a lot of work.” Erick said, “I need to work on some of that, and then get ready for my meeting with Lapis in several hours.”

“Good luck with that. Don’t let her experiment on you. Keep up your soul defenses. Don’t use [Harmonic Counterspell] on her; she’ll notice and drain you dry, just to get you in a compromising position.” He added, “And I have a book for you about enchanting with souls. If the topic comes up, I don’t think she’d try to lie to you, but...” He paused. He said, “I have two books for you.”

Erick gave an involuntary shudder. He said, “I will gladly read those books, but maybe I need to work more on my Elemental Body, too.”

Quilatalap shrugged. “You won’t ever be able to match a Shade’s Elemental Body. The Script both helps and hampers you in this regard. You’re stuck to tier 1 or 1-point-5, if you include buffs. The Clergy has to manually make all their magic, but they’re not restricted to the lower tiers, at all.”

“Oh! That’s another question, then.” Erick asked, “How do I defend against someone turning my lightform into shadows?”

“A good soul defense will take care of much of that.” Quilatalap said, “Let us work on that, actually.” He held up a hand. Three shadow claws, each a meter long, appeared in the air. “These claws consume light. You won’t be able to defend against a Shade’s skills, but you might be able to defend against this, and the only way to defend against a Shade is to start somewhere.” He added, “[Greater Lightwalk] only. Aura only. Don’t put your body into this. Domain-work comes later.”

Erick flowed his light out to form a barrier two meters away from him. “Ready.”

Quilatalap’s shadowy claws tore right through Erick’s light, sucking his radiance into those three raptor talons like a never-ending sponge sucking up a lake. Light became tattered glows, as Erick’s aura ripped away, leaving him with nothing. He fell to his knees as cold enveloped him, like winter had come on while he wasn’t looking.

Erick shivered, whispering, “Holy crap.”

Still holding his shadow talons in the air, Quilatalap said, “Again. Soon as you’re ready.”

Eventually, Erick was ready.

Eventually, he used his Domain.

Eventually, he was able to resist some of Quilatalap’s [Shadow Talons], but all of the archlich’s attacks were glancing blows, and the 3000 year-old necromancer wasn’t even aiming directly for Erick. If he had, he would have struck, and Erick did not think he could have survived a strike from that spell.