Chapter 164, 1/2

Chapter 164, 1/2

Erick felt warm all over, luxuriating in the afterglow as he lay upon a conjured mattress, staring at the night sky overhead. Countless stars twinkled up above, while down here, sweat dried on naked skin, but only on his. He was alone; Linxel had already left. Both of them had a good time. A good three and a half times, actually. Could have been more, but eventually, words and feelings had become more important than physical need.

So after that final aborted round, they spoke about nothing in particular for the next hour.

Eventually, words and feelings revealed a deep incompatibility.

Linxel wanted a partner, and he wasn’t going to do a [Teleport] relationship ever again; he had done that too many times before. It seemed that even on Veird, where genders didn’t really matter for most people of power, that ‘people of power’ was a large qualifier. People of all walks of life married for all sorts of reasons, but ‘love’ was rarely one of them. Children and a stable future won out over love almost all the time, but some people just couldn’t do that.

Linxel had been alone for the last ten years, and he would likely continue to remain alone for the foreseeable future. He had spoken of how he was okay, but Erick could tell he was lying to himself.

Erick didn’t confront that lie; not directly, anyway.

Erick only spoke about how he wasn’t sure where he would end up, or what he would do with his life, but his life was too dangerous for a relationship right now. It had been the easy way to close the door on this fling, and Linxel seemed to be happier after Erick agreed with Linxel’s denial of a possible future between them.

But before that... It... It had been nice.

- - - -

Linxel’s hand rested in Erick’s, their grips tight, as the both of them laid on their backs and stared at the stars. Linxel pointed at a bright red star and named it the ‘Serpent’s Eye’ of the constellation ‘Red Snake’; the first star in a series of ten that formed a string of stars ten long, with a tail eventually pointed directly at the ‘North Star’.

For Veird had a North Star, too, because of course it did, because Veird was a globe like any other planet. It was a bit dimmer than Earth’s North Star, though, and Linxel seemed to find this funny, as he went on with his explanation.

“Some people call the North Star the ‘Other Eye’, because—” Linxel pointed between the Red Snake constellation and the North Star, toward a near-perfect square of bright stars, saying, “That is called the ‘Sumtir’s Sawblade Shield’, and the story goes that the Shield cut out the Snake’s eye in the Shield’s battle to chase the Snake away from the top of the world. My great grandmother had a different tradition about the Red Snake constellation, though. She said that every star beyond the first three were shed skins, and that the North Star was the first shed skin, ripped off by the ‘Adventuring Team’, which is what she called the Shield.” Linxel smiled, for he couldn’t seem to do anything else but grin, as he said, “She was from Archipelago Nergal, so there was a different tradition there.”

Erick listened and gazed at the sky and loved every moment of it.

Erick wasn’t fully present in the moment, though. A lot of his attention was spent watching out for magical effects all around them, all the time.

They had used a lot of magic in the act, and Erick learned all sorts of interesting things that he didn’t know before, but which he had guessed at long before tonight.

As Linxel spoke, Erick noted that the man’s horns had shrunk, allowing Linxel to lay back on the ground without poking his horns into the mattress Erick had conjured. Linxel said that his horns shifting size was a variation of [Alter Size] magic that he had already displayed, much to both Erick’s horror and delight. Linxel’s Class was Giant Warrior, after all, and he could grow to twice or three times his height when he wanted, but [Alter Size] was practically laced into Linxel’s aura, so after years of use, all of him had eventually just grown bigger. He could still control it, though, but you’d never guess he used to be barely 18 decimeters tall.

Other parts of Erick only noticed Linxel’s eyes, and his muscles, and all the rest of him. How he breathed, and how he spoke. Linxel, in turn, couldn’t keep his eyes off of Erick when Erick spoke of stars, planets, and Earth and whatever. They spoke a little about the new politics of the grasslands, and of threats to the people here, and elsewhere, but mostly they smiled at each other’s genuine words, and feelings.

- - - -

But Linxel and Erick were not meant to be.

Linxel wanted something long term, and nearby. While Erick was not willing to live a life on the grasslands, for he had way too many responsibilities back home, in Spur.

And so, Linxel had taken his leave, first.

And now Erick laid on the conjured mattress, staring up at the sky, watching the stars slowly crawl across the heavens, enjoying and lamenting the moment. A Privacy shielded most of him from the outside world, so he was still in contact with everyone, if he needed to be, but he did not need to be; not right now. As soon as he moved on from this shielded space then... Then it would be time to move on; away from the grasslands, to the next spot of this Worldly Path.

He’d do one more thing before he left, though.

Maybe two more things.

... But for now, he stared at the stars above. There was no danger in being found by anyone, for Erick had moved both he and Linxel through multiple [Sealed Privacy Ward]s, leaving behind a trail of Privacy magics... like the shedding of a snake’s skin, running from an imaginary adventuring team.

Erick smiled as he stared at the sky. This was the best he had felt in...

In over a year.

Huh.

Well wasn’t that fucking sad.

...

Erick got up and turned off the [Heating Ward] that kept the space nice and warm. A chill wind blew across the plains, drying off the sweat still on his skin. He gave himself another [Cleanse] then started putting his clothes back on. Another switch of intent burst every Privacy he had cast upon the grasslands, and Erick stood revealed upon the plains.

For another moment, he gazed at the stars. Then he stared at the dark land all around. He breathed. He sighed.

And then he lightstepped back to his yurt.

- - - -

As dawn broke across the world, bringing light to the darkness, Erick cast a [Small Spark] onto a block of iron and set that block of iron into its holder, on top of the motor. The rotor instantly began to spin, and spin, without breaking. The commutators sparked a little, for the brushes were still made of copper like all the rest of the electrical parts. Erick still hadn’t made a graphite block system, so the commutator or the brushes would eventually wear down due to the friction of the brushes, but someone else could solve that problem. He had made an engine that was a good, near-finished product, and he hadn’t used [Duplicate] to do it. The windings were even sealed with a pretty decent varnish, and with [Particle Vacuum] on top of that; those windings wouldn’t be coming apart like the previous iterations.

... Something might break after a full day of use, though.

There was lots of room for improvement.

Erick still needed to find a replacement for Jane’s silk. And he needed to make a brushless DC motor... Which required transistors. Or he could make an AC motor!... Which required DC to AC conversion. He could also work on transformers, which would be necessary to make [Battery] a usable spell for something other than combining with other spells.

There was a lot of road left on that path, but Erick would walk it some other day.

Erick let the motor run; this was a duration test, now. So far, the motor seemed to be passing.

He turned to his other project.

The frame of a car sat on stone blocks, atop a stone platform. Erick had yet to create or install a prototype differential, but he had a few new ideas to try out. For starters: worm gears. When a worm gear was in contact with a spur gear, the worm gear could rotate the spur gear, but a spur gear could not move a worm gear. This was a necessary solution to a problem he didn’t realize he had, until after he had gotten through two prototype differentials.

When one tire was free to turn (like what happened when the wheels got stuck in mud), all power went to that wheel, while the other wheel got nothing. He probably should have seen the slipping problem coming; this was the major hurdle to overcome to make a differential work properly.

So Erick included some worm gears in his differential along with a bunch of things that just seemed right. In less than twenty minutes, he solved the slipping problem.

Erick began sticking pieces together while he explained his process to his [Familiar]s, with Ophiel sitting on one shoulder and Yggdrasil’s [Scry] eye floating above on the other. “Now you have these two separated axle halves, and you put the worm gears on them, like this, see? And then you hold them together and you attach these parts we’ve already made. And now, you turn it all to light, and slip on this drive wheel that I forgot to put on earlier, like this— Yes, Ophiel, that was a mistake, and so I fixed it like this, see. And here you have the completed project. This is called a torque sensing differential, and it’s copyrighted on Earth, but we don’t care about that on Veird. And now... We start over because I forgot to put some spur gears on these spur gears, but that’s okay, because...”

An hour later, Jane, smiling, brought him a bowl of congee topped with berry jam. Erick was in the middle of refining his ideas, creating a second differential that wouldn’t break under normal stresses, but he was ready to eat, so he took the bowl.

“Thank you.”

Jane asked, “Sooooo. How are yooooou?”

“I’m good.” Erick looked back toward the differential sitting between his legs. He conjured a little floating platform and sat the bowl of breakfast on top. “Unless something else happens, we might be moving on as soon as I get these last few obligations out of the way.”

Jane instantly frowned. “What? But if we’re moving on, then... Did nothing happen?”

“Nothing permanent.” Erick said, “Which is fine.”

Jane’s frown lessened. “Well. Okay. It’s just that you seemed happier, and... That was nice to see. You’ve been smiling all morning long.”

“Ah. I have?” Erick pulled a face. “Is this better?”

Jane returned an exaggerated frown. “Not really.” She changed the subject, “So we’re leaving today, then?”

“Probably.”

“Then I’m going to wrap up a few things; head to Eralis for a little bit. I’ll be back by noon. I assume we’re not taking any of our stuff with us?”

“I’m not sure what to do with most of it, but yeah. We’re traveling light again.” Erick said, “Want Ophiel to take you to Eralis? Save on mana that way.”

“No.” Jane said, “I think Nirzir would want to move some stuff back to Eralis, too, so I’ll probably go with her. She should be awake soon enough.”

Erick nodded.

Jane walked off.

Erick ate his congee. It was pretty good. Warm and filling. The people here had been rather good to him, considering all the shit he stirred up, and he hoped he had been good to them, in return.

... He decided to make a few more things to hand off to the grass travelers.

And two more ‘inventions’.

- - - -

Elder Uriol, Elder Teer, and Elder Puuroi, stood beside the platform with Erick’s various models, motors, and lightward prototypes, looking over everything he had made. There were a few more people beside that, but they were Smiths and Drivers, and only here to understand how to better implement the ideas presented; they had been introduced to Erick, but he didn’t pay them much mind for they were, almost entirely, terrified of him. Erick tried to be personable, but that just freaked them out even more, so he decided to stay away from them instead.

Koori and Niyazo had also come along to the presentation. Erick had invited them and thus they were obligated, but he suspected that they would like what he was showing off as soon as they understood what it meant. Right now, they had no idea what the spinning motor represented, and they had a lot of shit to do, but Erick did not feel bad about pulling them away from whatever else they had planned.

And so, with everyone gathered, Erick spoke of differentials, how the motor worked, and a few of the basics of electromagnetism. It didn’t take long to get through the first iteration of his explanations of what everything was. What did take longer, was when people finally understood what this stuff represented.

Uriol was excited about the new gear designs, while Teer was only interested in the motor. Puuroi was happy about all of it, and vocally excited about all the new possibilities presented. Koori was rather unimpressed until Erick got to explaining how the motor actually worked, though; until she understood the implications of this ‘new magic’.

Koori’s eyes were wide, her jaw slack, her breathing calm, yet excited.

Erick smiled at that.

As Erick finished speaking of the basics of electromagnetism, Erick let everyone in on the implications, topping off his talk with, “And thus, through [Small Spark], you can build a civilization of electricity, with as little or as much magic as you want, for making a rotor turn is the least of what electricity can do. Behold~” Erick pulled a blanket off of a covered box.

A lightbulb, and a toaster; these were the extra inventions Erick had created this morning.

Both were easy to make, too. [Particle Vacuum] along with some Shaping spells and the metals that he had extracted from some of the iron bars was enough to make a rudimentary light bulb. Krypton or argon gas would have been better for the filling medium, but vacuums were easier to understand and implement, or at least they would be in a year. Luckily, Erick had gotten some tungsten out of his metal bar destruction, so at least the light bulb’s filament was exactly what it should have been.

The toaster was similarly easy, though it was not a proper toaster; this one was more like a cooktop. It was horizontal. Erick made it that way so that people could imagine for themselves the multiple ways to use such a device—

Erick realized that he could make a Grand [Prestidigitation] Stove using electricity and cooktops. That method of cooking specifically used radiant heat to mimic a burning fire, with [Heat Ward]s being disdained for their ‘microwave like’ cooking effects, where the Maillard reaction was hard to achieve. But with an electric stove, one could cook with very high heat, and for a fraction of the cost of a Grand [Prestidigitation] Stove, and a fraction of the mana it took to cook with the actual [Prestidigitation] spell. [Small Spark] was only 5 mana for 10 minutes of work!

—But for this small cooktop here, it was basically a toaster. And for this toaster, all he needed to do was make some curled metal filaments that didn’t burn when exposed to air, they simply heated to red hot. But by that time, he had run out of tungsten, so he had to make do with some other metals. In this case, he used a mix of nickel, chromium, and iron, which he remembered was great for high temperature jobs exactly like this. He wasn’t sure of the actual amounts to use for a proper heat-resistant metal, but he got close enough for a prototype.

The lightbulb would last for a while until it eventually burned out the inside of the bulb. The toaster was going to fail due to melted filaments sooner rather than later. Nothing was perfect, but it was functional, and Erick wasn’t willing to [Duplicate] any parts of anything he did here in order to make it easier on himself, or on those who were yet to come.

Erick tapped a metal bar in front of the lightbulb, saying and casting, “[Small Spark].”

The metal bar crackled, then the lightbulb lit like a brilliant yellow flame.

He moved on to the toaster, saying and casting, “[Small Spark].”

The ‘toaster’ cooktop fired to life; concentric circles of red hot wires radiating heat under a grate. Erick took a piece of bread and placed it on top of the grate. Soon, the bread would turn into one-sided toast.

Koori let out a happy sigh as she saw the cooktop and the light, and she knew exactly what they meant. Niyazo smiled, but not at the experiments; he only had eyes for his happy wife. Happy wife, happy life!

Good for them.

Erick said to everyone there, “All of these are proofs of concept. Basic frameworks to copy and understand in your own ways. Prototypes that work, but barely.

“The gears in the differential and the car need actual Smiths that can make them tough enough for actual, hard use. The lightbulbs need better materials. The toaster needs insulation between the cooking surface and the heating element to prevent someone from accidentally setting a house on fire, or from accidentally electrocuting themselves to death. There are problems everywhere, but I’m not going to solve those problems for you.” Erick said, “I’m giving you the basic tools to create a society with a lot less magic in it, if you want that. Personally, I’m going to try for some sort of incorporation. [Mend], for broken parts; [Cleanse], for dirty parts; [Metalshape] is going to be important; [Alter Friction]; [Control Machine]. The list goes on and on, but the opportunity starts with [Small Spark], and that’s only one point away in the Open Script.” Erick joked, “And I didn’t even invent that one.”

There were a few laughs around the presentation.

Erick continued, “For five mana, you get a spell that lasts 10 minutes, and which has more than enough power to do a lot, if you know how to leverage that power.

“These tools are how you can leverage that power but there are many more tools waiting to be found.” Erick said, “The physics here is complicated, for sure, but it’s a lot easier than enchanting, for all this stuff is based in pure physicality, instead of in Truth. Anyone arranging these physical materials in the same physical configuration will produce the same effects. This is not magic. It is engineering.” Erick smirked, as a thought came to him. “Magineering, if you will.”

Teer was the first to speak, saying, “I did not expect you to come through with a full presentation and a revelation of your secrets like this, but I suppose I should have. Shame on me for not believing what other people had been telling me.”

Uriol was already smiling wide, but he laughed at Teer’s words, and said, “I told you we’d get something good! This is beyond my largest imagination!”

Puuroi said, “We’ll have to find a substitute for the spider silk wrappings. That might be the hardest part.”

The three elders almost started an argument amongst themselves over materials, but Erick spoke up, saying, “You can keep all of this stuff here, and there are notes on electricity in that booklet right there.” Erick gestured to a small black notebook on the nearby table. “I had some crazy ideas on how I was going to explain electricity to everyone, but most of those were ill-formed. If you were listening in on the left hand and right hand rule stuff, then you might be confused about what’s in that book, but hopefully, I explained it all better in there, than I did earlier.”

Teer smirked a little bit. She was perfectly fine with being called out on her spying. Uriol and Puuroi were a bit less fine on being called on, but the two of them caught up to Teer’s nonchalance about everything, soon enough.

Uriol said, “Thanks for the explanations, Erick. I’m sure that’ll answer a lot of our Smiths’ questions.”

“I copied the book and sent it out to a few different people, too, so I hope I answered the larger questions simply, and succinctly. If not, then there are other people learning this stuff alongside you. Seek them out, if you wish.” One copy had gone to Zolique, the Lightning Mage down in Eralis, who had helped Erick with learning [Small Spark], [Insulate], and [Superconductor]. Xue of Star Song had gotten a copy, too, along with Riri. Jane had asked Erick to give the Spider Polymage one, too, for the spidery would likely be responsible for a lot of wire production in the future. Erick agreed with her decision. Erick said, “You’ll have to find out the rest on your own.”

Koori excitedly asked, “How bright can the lights get?”

“Very bright.” Erick said, “But I used basic materials, and...”

From there, Erick spent a bit of time answering questions from everyone, and even a few from some of the Smiths that had come with the elders. He took the toast off of the cooktop, and showed it off, while speaking about a dual-sided cooktop that could be made that could toast the bread on both sides.

He showed Koori, and everyone else, how to use the cooktop. She absolutely loved everything about electricity. The elders were downright frosty compared to her enthusiasm, but even they had the Sight to see the power laid out before them, for the taking.

The power multiplier of [Small Spark] applied to a proper motor was massive. Many utility spells achieved a similar level of strength for a similar level of mana, with [Grow] being 5 mana to make a small tree, or [Rejuvenation] being 5 mana to restore 20 times Willpower in Health, over ten seconds.

But it was hard to use [Grow] to accomplish actual work, and to get work out of [Rejuvenation] required a fleshy, living target to do the work. Sure, all [Small Spark] did here was make a rotor spin, or make a cooktop hot, or turn on a light, but [Small Spark] was reliable, varied, strong power, only bottlenecked by a back-end production of goods that anyone could make, or repair, if they knew how. And that’s what made all the difference.

In a moment of excited thoughts about the future, Koori asked, “Will you stay here and help teach some children?”

Erick announced, “No. Thank you for the offer, but I am moving on. Today. Right after we’re done here, actually.”

Koori’s joy briefly collapsed. The elders stopped arguing to look to him. Niyazo, though, knew it was coming.

The leader of Clan Pale Cow said, “Thank you for showing when you did, Erick. You revealed ten thousand problems and then solved nine thousand and nine hundred of them. It might not be my place to say it, but the grasslands will always be in your debt.”

The elders nodded in agreement. Teer almost said something—

Koori asked, “So soon? You don’t have to go so soon.”

“I do, though.” Erick smiled softly. “It’s been wonderful to be here. Clan Pale Cow has treated me very well for a person who came in unannounced, and barged their way onto the scene.”

Koori waved a hand, “Don’t worry about that. You’re welcome here. Always.”

“Yes. But I’m still moving on.”

Koori reluctantly nodded, saying, “Then... Thank you, Erick.”

Erick nodded back.

Teer inclined her head toward the space outside of Erick’s magical protections, where people waited with applications in hand for their turns to speak to Erick. “Our merchants will miss you most of all, for you brought them lots of money with this new interest you thrummed up.”Ñøv€l-B1n was the first platform to present this chapter.

It seemed that every answer the dragon gave only led to another ten questions.

Erick directly asked, “But what about eggs hatched in the Forest? I heard that the survivor goes out and hides among other people, [Polymorph]ing themselves into a child to hopefully be raised by adoptive parents, while the rest become wyrms. This seems to indicate that [Polymorph] is rather instinctive.” He said, “I heard that from the Dragon Stalkers, but was that a lie?”

Ordoonarati’s man frowned a little, but he did not sound angry as he said, “You push your goodwill to a breaking point. How would you like it if I asked you of your dead children, forced to live in a world that cannot support them all?”

“I would get over myself and answer the important questions when they were asked, because these unanswered questions have a way of festering, leading to misunderstandings that would then paint my whole species as pure evil.”

Briefly, Erick felt bad about what he had said, because it was clear that Ordoonarati was truly hurt by the pointed question. Or he could be acting. Whatever the case, Erick needed to know, but he could tell this conversation would end well before he was ready for it to end. He was pushing his goodwill, for sure.

Ordoonarati erased the frown from his face, going impassive, letting the world pass him by, as he answered, “Children must be born here, on Veird, for... Many reasons. And so they are, with most of those births taking place in small hatching sites in the Forest of Glaquin. But when the groups of eggs hatch they—” It clearly pained the man to speak of this, but he did anyway, his voice faltering a little as he said, “When they hatch they take the mana in the air and also the Curse and... It is like you have seven children, but only enough food for half a child, and all of that food is poisoned. A prospective parent will fill their nest with grand cores and true artifacts and powerful sources of elemental mana to offset some of this lack of natural sustenance and it works to a certain extent... But Veird has not been kind to dragons. So we parents must watch our kids kill their brothers and sisters, with only the strong surviving, for that is how it has to be.

“Perhaps one or two might survive. Most do not. Those that fail to thrive become wyrms. Most of those wyrms are culled by their grieving parents, watching over the nest, but some always get away for other dragons like to hunt at this time, and unmoving parents are a great target. Those wyrms that do escape are usually killed by the Forest before they get too big...” He sighed. “Though I suspect with your culling of the moon reachers and deathsoul shrooms this year’s hatching will be rough for the rest of Glaquin.”

Erick listened, and then he said, “I am not unsympathetic, but I suspect that Wizardry is the only real way to save the children.”

“You are correct.” Ordoonarati sighed. “I wish you would have questioned me about Wizards, then perhaps I could tell you what to look for, but perhaps one day you will notice one all on your own.” Ordoonarati’s voice took on a hint of needful enthusiasm, “If you bring the Wizard to me I could use them to prevent the Curse from sticking upon an entire clutch of eggs. Ten dragons or more would never have to go through what we parents have had to go through. They could live their lives free of the dragon fights that only end when one person is dead, and the land has been turned to fire, killing countless innocents.”

He painted a good picture, but...

“I wouldn’t hand over power like that to anyone I couldn’t fully trust.” Erick said, “Especially if the Wizard wouldn’t live through whatever process is required to produce this miracle.”

Ordoonarati pulled back his emotions. “Ideally the process would not kill the Wizard. Ideally, I could extract their power from them without killing them, and I could do this multiple times.” He said, “Ideally, I could even let them go before the process Ended them. They would be broken beyond basic Script spellwork, but that would be better than death. I think this is a fair result when dealing with powers that could break this world wide open, killing us all. Whatever the case, I must say this.” Ordoonarati said, “I shall give you a better deal for whatever captured Wizards you bring me; better than any other party you can think of.”

Erick nodded, satisfied. “Then. It was good meeting you, and I am glad we did not need to fight.” Erick stood. “Till we meet again.”

The man holding Ordoonarati’s consciousness stood as well, the green shadows in his eyes going dull, as his eyes turned back to brown. He said, “Till next time.”

The man walked away as Erick canceled the Privacy surrounding them.

The man had kept the scale under his arm and wrapped in paper the whole time, and Erick hadn’t asked after it, either. Perhaps Erick would have gotten the scale if he had asked after it, but he did not. It wasn’t even enchanted, anyway. Soon, the man reached the white square of land Erick had created to act as a Teleport Square, and then he blipped away in a flash of grey light.

Erick returned to his own yurt, with Poi following at his side.

He kept his emotions and thoughts under tight wraps, for the moment.

But once inside dense air, and surrounded by the power of his [Undertow Star], Erick sent to Poi, ‘Do you have any concerns or comments about what just happened? I’d hear your thoughts if you want to give them.’

‘Since the man was meeting us through an intermediary, I can actually speak my full mind—’

Erick smirked, and teased, ‘Do I make you feel like you can’t speak up, Poi?’

‘Jokes aside, Ordoonarati wasn’t there, so there’s nothing stopping me from telling you how I feel, and how I feel is this: You handled yourself well, but another Mind Mage, and possibly Ordoonarati, too, would be able to tell that you were acting out what you thought Ordoonarati wanted to see.’ Poi sent, ‘But if anyone else saw you like that, they’d wonder how close you are to turning into a dragon cultist.’

They reached the yurt, but Erick paused a meter from hopping aboard. ‘There are dragon cultists?’

‘Yes.’ Poi said, ‘You probably have cultists worshiping you, too, but I haven’t seen any yet— Ah. Actually. The people you Blessed might be going that way from what I’ve been able to tell from your own perceptions.’

‘... oh no.’

Erick’s stomach seemed to drop down to his feet.

Poi smiled wide as he hopped aboard the yurt, sending, ‘That’s a good reaction to that sort of news. Best not ever get a big head about you, or else someone will feel the need to knock it off.’

Erick stared at Poi as he hopped aboard the yurt. ‘You’re not serious, are you? You don’t think I’m actually being worshiped, do you?’

‘I haven’t personally seen any.’

‘... So that means you’ve heard of it.’

Poi shrugged. ‘Anyway: You probably want to stay away from Wizards. Nothing good will ever come from pursuing that power. I will also add that if you keep tempting dragons with that sort of power but never produce a Wizard, then they’re going to get really, really mad. Dragon fight, sort of mad.’

‘I’m not going to be pursuing that sort of power anytime soon, but it would be nice to know more about Wizards.’ For a long, surreal moment, Erick debated with himself if he wanted to actually broach the entirety of this sensitive topic with Poi. He never wanted to, before, because speaking of it with someone else would make it real, and Erick didn’t want this reality to be that sort of real. And yet... Erick asked, ‘Do you know anything about them? Anything I haven’t heard, anyway.’

Without any emotional weight either for or against Wizardry, or any indication of anything, Poi sent, ‘I have no idea how Wizardry works and I hope to never learn. It would probably be best if we never encountered one.’

Against his better judgment, Erick asked, ‘How can you tell if a person is a Wizard?’ and then, ‘How would a Wizard know if they were a Wizard?’

‘... I don’t know, Erick. A dragon would be able to find out if the Wizard wasn’t careful, though.’

Finally, Erick asked the question he had dreaded, ‘What would you do if I—’

‘I once said that Wizards could become beacons of civilization. This is still true. But it would be better for all involved if we did not have this conversation, and if we pretended that you never brought up the subject so directly.’

Erick paused.

Then he gave a half nod; lowering his head and barely raising it.

Poi pretended like nothing had happened.

And like that, the moment was over; left behind and best forgotten.

Erick went into the yurt behind Poi. Teressa, Nirzir, and Jane were already packed, with almost all of Nirzir’s stuff gone back to Eralis, save for a single backpack. Jane and Teressa had culled a lot of their belongings in the recent hours, too. It seemed all Teressa had was a single backpack, which was lightly filled with some clothes and a few books. Most of her books were gone, though.

Erick struggled for a moment to pretend like everything was fine, but he latched on to what he saw before him, asking, “Did you give your books to the kids, Teressa?”

“I sure did.” Teressa leaned back in her chair. “Are we ready to move on?”

“Almost. Looks like Poi never got much on this trip.”

“Nope.” Poi said, “A few reading books is all, and they’re staying with me.”

“Jane? Your stuff is...?”

“Hidden away, in my own spots.” Jane said, “I prefer it that way.”

“And Nirzir, you took your stuff back to your home?”

Nirzir quietly nodded, but she seemed like a dam ready to burst. If she said a single word, a lot would come tumbling out, for sure... But she held herself back, not wanting to get her emotions all over everyone. Erick gave her another moment, to see if she was going to speak, but she did not.

Maybe she’d say something later. Whatever it was couldn’t be that bad if she wasn’t willing to speak on it.

“Well okay.” Erick’s own stuff was packed up by Ophiels while he was doing other things. He had gotten a lot of necessary stuff on this trip, as had everyone else, but it seemed that they all got rid of their excess before he did. “I still have a lot of books of my own...” He glanced to Yggdrasil’s eye on his shoulder. “You want to hold onto some books for me?”

Yggdrasil spun at recognition, and then he bounced twice.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Erick had an Ophiel wrap his book bags with light and step them to Yggdrasil. He spared a glance through Ophiel at the hand off, setting the book bag near the upper crook in Yggdrasil’s branches, sending to him, ‘Thank you, Yggdrasil.’

‘You’re welcome, father!’

Erick smiled and came back to himself. “Okay then!” He clapped his hands together, asking, “And now that I think of it, I’m going to give the yurt to Yggdrasil, too. The bookbag can actually go inside and he can rest the yurt on his branches and—”

Nirzir stepped forward, opening her mouth—

And then she shut it.

But now, everyone was looking at her.

Now that Erick truly noticed her, Nirzir had been skittish this morning, and Erick hadn’t seen her practicing magic like she usually did. Something was up. Hopefully she wasn’t mad at him for his night out with Linxel, because that would be truly awkward.

Ah. Shit. That’s exactly what this was, wasn’t it.

Nirzir blurted out, “You should find that dragon and kill him! And why did you give away all that magic technology to these people? They won’t know what to do with any of that. You could have given it to Eralis. And why... And why did you go out with that man!”

Jane covered her face with her hand fast enough that she made an audible slap. Teressa tried to stop herself from sighing, and she mostly succeeded, but air still escaped her lips in a rather faster manner than usual. Poi frowned.

Erick casually grabbed a chair and sat down. This was not a conversation that he could shove off, so he told Nirzir, “Please sit with me, and we can talk about your concerns.”

Jane hopped up from her chair and walked out of the yurt, saying, “I’ll be back! I realized I wanted some cheese for the road.”

Teressa rapidly followed Jane, “Me too.”

Poi, however, grabbed a chair and set it in front of Erick, near to Nirzir, then he stepped to the side. He waited.

Nirzir looked ashamed, but she transformed that shame into a coat of armor as she stepped to the provided chair and sat down. After a moment, she answered, “I apologize for even mentioning the... relations. I don’t need to know about that. But I would like to know about the dragon and the metals and... Stuff. Those events have actual strategic importance.” Nirzir almost said something else, but she stopped herself.

Erick gave a small smile. “I accept your apology.” Then he answered her questions, “I didn’t fight the dragon because they’re keeping a low profile, so, despite all my capability to find people, I have no idea where they actually are. I admit, that I have not truly tried, though, and that is because even if I did manage to find them and engage them in combat, I would likely, and rather suddenly, have two or even three dragons to fight, for I doubt the other lurking dragons around here would be able to stop themselves from fighting. They are Cursed to kill each other, after all. In that case, I doubt I could actually win.” Erick added, “But even if I should win, then my previous stance of never getting involved with dragons would be threatened, and I would be making enemies the world over. You might not know this yet, but I have just now spoken directly with the dragon in question, and he is very much the type that would ruin my life without ever making himself present.”

Nirzir’s eyes went wide.

“I’ll be going over what we discussed after this talk we’re having right now.” Erick said, “As for the technology, and metals, and all of that, I gave all that information away in the middle of a crowded field, and people have been spying on me ever since I showed myself in Songli. So, in this way, I did give out this technology to the people of Songli, for I know people from there are spying on me even now. But in a more direct manner, I did give out those books on electromagnetism to people in Songli, some of which will remain nameless.”

Nirzir's emotional armor instantly crumbled. Shame won out over all bravado.

Erick said, “As for Linxel: He—”

Nirzir rapidly said, “You don’t have to tell me; I should never have asked. I am sorry. I should have trusted you to spread your knowledge to all corners, too. It was... I was being selfish... exactly how I hate when other people are selfish.” She whispered, “I did not know this part of me, but... I suppose... of course I am.”

“That is a masterful attempt at shoving the conversation to a new topic, but I’m bringing it back to your original grievance of me having relations with Linxel. I know why you decided to follow me, and now is as good a time to speak on that as any.”

Nirzir’s pale skin paled even further. Her eyes went wide and pure dread filled her heart. Perspiration broke out across her forehead as she looked away, whispering, “Oh, merciful gods.”

“There’s no reason to be embarrassed. You have a crush on me, and that’s understandable, but it will not be reciprocated.” Erick said, “You and I will never have a physical relationship like that. Ever.”

Nirzir didn’t breathe. She didn’t move.

Erick said, “There need not be awkwardness between us, either. I know some people at your age get married to widowers my age, but I will not be doing that. This is nothing against you. This is my personal decision.”

Nirzir whispered toward the floor, “I think I should depart back to Songli.”

Erick smiled softly, and said, “You may do whatever you wish, though you are still welcome to journey with us across Nelboor. I have appreciated your presence, and your skill. It has been nice to know someone who does magic like I do magic, and I can tell that you have enjoyed that, too. Unless I’m wrong?”

“You’re not wrong.” Nirzir said, “But.” She frowned a little. Tears collected in the corners of her eyes. She tried to wipe the tears away, but she only succeeded in breaking the dam holding back even more. She didn’t sob, but the waterworks opened, full blast. “I thought... I have uncles that are fifty years older than...” She sighed, and more tears fell. “Auntie Lingxing said this would happen. I didn’t believe her. But...” All the air seemed to leave Nirzir. She sobbed, once, and then she breathed again, and sobbed again; quietly, and to herself.

Erick’s heart went out to the girl. She was technically of marrying age, and she had a lot of female cousins who married older, richer, more powerful men. She had male cousins that wed older women, too. But that wasn’t going to happen here. The idea of wedding someone under the age of thirty aside, Erick wasn’t ready for a relationship. The thing with Linxel had been a matter of a lot of pent up emotions bursting a physical barrier the second he had found a willing partner that wasn’t in it for some money, or power.

A lot of people around Erick had given him looks and sent him signals that were impossible to misinterpret. If he wanted, he could have bedded any number of about a hundred separate people in his last month in Songli, and now the grasslands. But the only one who actually seemed both willing and not a gold digger, had been Linxel. Linxel had even said beforehand that he wanted to court Erick, officially. That had been a massive swing in the man’s favor, and was probably the only thing that truly allowed Erick to fully (mostly) lower his guard.

But everyone else? Erick’s guard was up, 100%.

And beyond those hundred people who Erick could have bedded, there were even more. People like Nirzir, who was too young, and who idolized Erick. Going down that route would have been a very bad idea.

... Bedding Linxel might have been a bad idea, too, but Erick had done it, and it was over, even though a part of him wished it wasn’t over at all. Erick felt a bit lonely, honestly. He had been lonely for years, actually. A few dates here and there were not good enough.

Best not to think too much about all of that, though, or else he would start crying. He was already having a hard time of it, watching Nirzir.

Erick said, “I’m sorry, Nirzir. You have been a joy to be around, and I wish you to stay with us for a while longer, but not if you’re uncomfortable, or if you are too hurt by this news.”

“... Do you mean that? Do you actually want me to stay?” Nirzir’s voice held poorly-disguised and sudden hatred, but also a lot of hope.

“I want you to stay. I also want you to be comfortable here.”

Nirzir’s face relaxed. She sighed. She looked away, then she looked at Erick, and asked, “Just tell me... Did I ever have a chance?”

“No. You’re about 15 years too young for me, but don’t take that as a time table.” Erick said, “It’s a matter of life experiences, and we’re not on the same level. When you’ve had your heart broken a dozen times, and you’ve had a failed relatio—” Erick thought for a second in an attempt to not put his foot in his mouth. “I believe your people marry for life, and at a young age, don’t you?”

“We try to, but there is a period of courtship. I haven’t ever dated anyone but I could have. I could have broken my heart already. I haven’t...” Nirzir’s voice trailed off. Then she said, “We’re not as stodgy as the more cosmopolitan cultures out there would have you believe. We’re certainly not as free with love as adventurers, though.” Nirzir looked to Erick with a glimmer of hope in her eyes, “I was prepared for that.”

“I’m going to do what I want to do with regard to any possible future relationships, and you’re going to do what you want with any people you meet, but we won’t be doing anything together. Though if you wish for someone to vet whoever you do find, you have my promise that I will do that for you.” Erick said, “If you need me to scare away an unwanted suitor, I’ll do that, too.”

“Ha.” Nirzir breathed deep. She dried her tears with a wave of magic, and said, “I apologize for my childish behavior and would prefer to forget it ever happened. I would also remain in the party, if you truly do still want me around.”

“I do.”

Nirzir smiled, tiny and sad, then she banished that emotion. She asked, “Where are we headed next?”

Erick moved right along, saying, “Everyone thinks we’re going to the Adamantine Smiths, so we probably should go there for a bit. I need to learn about magical metals, and it’s either them, or the wrought, and there’s not many wrought on the surface. Also, I promised Jane a sword, Poi some armor, and Teressa a decent side-weapon. I have no idea what I would want from them, though; maybe a wand? And whatever you want, too, of course.”

“A ritual dagger would be nice. For carving formations.” Nirzir said, “They get better with time and having an adamantine one would be perfect.”

Erick smiled gently, saying, “Then maybe I need to get myself a dagger, too, though I am terrible at enchanting.” He stood, saying, “I’m glad you’re staying, Nirzir.”

Nirzir tried to say something but her voice failed, and her words came out as a whisper, “I want to stay, too.”

Poi said nothing, as he watched from the side.

- - - -

The five of them stood outside, on the ground. Dense air protected them from all outsiders, while an [Undertow Star] shone high above, granting even more protection under its light. The yurt where they lived for a week had served them well, with its bright white exterior and its sculpture of Yggdrasil on the front door. It had been nice.

A pair of Ophiel wrapped the vehicle in light and stepped it away, taking the mobile home down south, to rest upon a flat space atop the branches of Yggdrasil. Erick’s stuff he had already handed off to Yggdrasil went into the yurt, to stay. Erick watched as the structure touched down on glowing white bark, and that bark parted, just a bit, creating divots to hold the wheels in place.

Erick returned to himself and looked up. At a switch of intent, the [Undertow Star] broke like a small supernova that became a small nebula, which then vanished altogether. Erick took down the seven-layered [Prismatic Ward] next.

The unfiltered wind flowed from the north, as it had for every single previous day, though this time that wind was accompanied by the sounds of petitioners that had shown up after Erick cleared them all. The people over there right now saw what Erick was doing and they were worried that they wouldn’t get their chance at using the friendly archmage for their own gain.

None of their needs were pressing; Erick had already checked.

So he ignored the petitioners and gave one final wave to the people of Clan Pale Cow. A hundred meters away, Amasar watched, and bowed; he had discharged his duty to pay Erick for saving his life, in the little way that Erick had allowed. Koori and Niyazo looked on, impassive and thankful for multiple reasons, and then they too took small bows. Yorila, their Speaker, and the boy who wanted to know how to make a [Fireball] to defend his people, and the caretakers at the hawkery, and the kids that Erick had given lightwards to, all bowed.

Erick waved goodbye as he curled light around his five people.

And then he moved on.

Seconds later, the mailbox of applications at the petitioner’s platform also vanished. It was replaced with a stone sign that read, ‘estimated time of return: maybe never’.