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Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.103 (218)
🕑 Added 2024-08-21 22:30:01 +0000 UTCAmbassador Ironwick stood directly in front of the teleportation room receiving area with a pronounced frown on his face. He hadnât so much as twitched since heâd arrived. If it werenât for the slow, grumbling sound of his breath, which inexplicably carried throughout the room, he could easily be confused with a dwarf-shaped statue made in his likeness.
The Hennings teleportation team monitoring the equipment didnât dare breathe a word, already having been informed of the ambassadorâs fiery temper. Instead of speaking out loud, they were currently relying on their links for communication. As a result, there was no warning given when the teleportation array activated.
Even in the face of the alarmingly bright golden light, the ambassadorâs expression didnât change at all. Aside from his pupilsâ involuntary reaction, he remained steadfastly in place.
When the light died down, four robed figures could be seen standing in a row behind a fully armored dwarf carrying an axe as tall as he was with the blade resting over his shoulder.
For the first time since heâd arrived, Ambassador Ironwick spoke. His voice resembled the sound of cracking granite. âSo they decided to send you, did they? Well, I suppose youâre about as well-liked at the moment as I am, so I shouldnât be surprised,â he growled unhappily.
The armored dwarf blinked away the after-effects of the odd human technology, reasserting his connection to the ground under his feet. After a second or two, he got his bearings, focusing on the ambassador standing not ten feet in front of him.
His expression adopting a scowl, the armored dwarf replied, âDonât get all high and mighty with me, General Ironwick! Iâm not the slagging idiot who decided to upend two years of careful preparation because he couldnât put up with living among the humans!â
Trembling in rage, Ironwick shouted, âThatâs an infernal lie! Who told you that?!?â
Walking forward to step off the astra-teleportation platform, the armored dwarf grinned at the sight of Ironwick losing his composure. Using the hand not carrying his axe to wave away the question, he replied, âLetâs just get this over with. We need to seal the agreement with the humans and get these rune mages to our new mountain as soon as possible⌠Weâve got kobalds to kill!â
The ambassadorâs eyes widened in surprise while his taught fists weakened until his hands unclenched. âAlready? But what about the preparations for the immigration? And whoâs army will we be using? Why wasnât I asked about any of this?â he stuttered.
The armored dwarf stood directly in front of the ambassador, his presence pressing down on the old dwarf. With a wry grin on his face, he declared, âYou werenât consulted, because your opinion no longer matters. The kings believed they had years to prepare for setting up a colony, but instead, theyâre facing a war. Rather than let you continue to bungle things, they sent me to clean up your mess. Now, any other pointless questions? Or can we go and claim my new mountain?â
Ambassador Ironwickâs jaw firmed under the constant barrage of insults, his inner fire reigniting itself in the face of the challenge.
Narrowing his eyes, Ironwick asked, âDo you even know anything about the mountain I chose for our people? Itâs already abandoned, the kobalds youâre so interested in killing arenât even there. Theyâre in the mountain adjacent to the human city, Dorchester.â
Bursting into laughter, the armored dwarf replied, âOf course I know that! Weâve had priests scrying the region from the moment we found out about your idiocy. Everythingâs already been decided, no thanks to you. Iâll be leading my forces to help the humans clear out the threat while my clan makes our new home fit for dwarven living.â
Off balance again, Ironwick muttered, âWait? You? Youâre going to be the new king? Why would they pick you?â
Looking at Ironwick like he was an idiot, the armored dwarf replied, âObviously because they wanted me out of their lands and out of their beards. They needed someone who could lead a new dwarven city and that someone also had to know how to fight. Who else would they pick? You? Try to think things through before you speak, you sound like an idiot when you donât.â
Growling, Ironwick stepped forward, practically bumping heads with the armored dwarf. Shouting into his face, he yelled, âYour clan is disgraced because you ran from a fight. You arenât fit to lead anything, let alone a city! Youâre a coward and fallen king, youâve no right to BE here!â
The armored dwarfâs grin didnât falter in the face of Ironwickâs wrath. Keeping the same lighthearted tone heâd used since heâd arrived, he replied, âThat may be what you think. They may be what the other kings think. But I, Mathros Mithrilstrike, know who I am.â
Firming his shoulders and widening his stance, the armored dwarf let the bottom half of his 4 ft. tall axe slide through his fingers to hit the floor with a bang. His presence unfurling into the room, the ether warping around him, he declared in a firm and unyielding voice, âI am and always will be a king. I am the protector of my clan and a proud and noble dwarf. I will lead my people into their new city. One which you foolishly chose right next to a kobald city with multiple portals already in place. Aye, itâs true that the mountain you chose is not currently under threat of kobalds. But Iâd be a pretty poor king if I ignored a threat growing in the same range as my home.â
Ambassador Ironwick unconsciously took a step back, before straightening his back in defiance of Mithrilstrikeâs pressure. âSo they gave you this city to get you out of dwarven lands and hope you will die without their support. I suppose they wonât be sending any troops or supplies other than what your clan can bring on its own. For what itâs worth, I didnât know about the portals. The humans didnât report anything about them. I⌠I didnât know. Iâm sorry.â
Despite being nearly the same height, Mathros Mithrilstrike seemed to look down on the ambassador, former general Ironwick, as he said softly, âNone of that matters now. My clan has a chance for a new life under a new mountain. Rest assured that no slimy stinking kobalds are going to stand in my way. Theyâll die, my clan will live. Thatâs all there is to it. So, you can either beg King Shimmershield to release you from your duties and join me, or you can stay here and play ambassador with the humans. Either way, youâre going to take me to this human king and GET ME MY MOUNTAIN!â
By the time Mathros Mithrilstrike was finished speaking, his voice was thundering about the room, shaking the very walls with its strength.
Standing there with his beard blown back over both his shoulders, Ambassador Ironwick stood frozen in shock at the barely contained power coming off the dwarven king in waves.
Unconsciously gulping to rewet his parched throat, Ambassador Ironwick replied, âAye, King Mithrilstrike. Thatâs what Iâll doâŚâ
â--
Nick, having given up on getting Nero to discuss anything other than magic, replied, âFine. Letâs start with something simple.â
Turning toward the center of the training circle they were standing around, Nick raised his hand and began carving a spell form into the ether.
Nero, fully utilizing his rapidly developing essence field, watched closely. He could feel that Nick wasnât simply carving the spell form, he was also somehow imbuing his essence with the intent to deliberately âshowâ Nero what he was doing. It was an odd feeling to both âseeâ and âfeelâ Nickâs essence imparting his will on reality.
While Nero had seen this type of technique being done before, heâd never been able to âseeâ the spells being formed so clearly. To him, it was like watching ink flowing out of pen over an invisible page. Even the subtle nuances he would have missed before were now clear to him. He really did find magic fascinating.
While Nero was enthralled with what he was seeing, Nickâs voice took on the familiar lecturing tone Nero had gotten used to hearing. âNow, first you must make sure you fully encapsulate my spell form with your essence field. Try and âfeelâ what Iâm doing. If you recall how you learned the elemental wheel spells, you shouldnât have any problems getting the general concept down rather quickly. From there, Iâll draw out the spell form on the ground, just as Specialist Howard did when he trained you. If youâre careful, you should be able to start trying it on your own. Now, before we get to that, this particular spell form isâŚâ
While Nero half-listened to his friend, his attention was focused on watching Nickâs essence form several familiar patterns in the ether, along with some others he didnât quite yet fully understand. Nevertheless, by the time Nick had completed the spell form, Nero was pretty sure heâd figured out what the spell form would do when activated. From what he could tell, it was a basic âfrost spearâ variant, mostly normal but with an additional component mixed in that he vaguely recognized. Several of the unknown elements he could see reminded him of the sections heâd used to make his âstickyâ spells.
At a guess, Nero thought the extra spell bits probably added a freezing effect to the target, either causing it to lose heat or more accurately add cold. He wasnât too proud to admit that he still didnât fully understand the temperature essences, but he knew from experience that he didnât need to as long as he got the general idea.
âAlright, I got it,â he said before carving into the ether a copy of the spell form.
Nick paused his lecture in surprise, stuttering as Nero slowly started carving. âAlready? I havenât even shown you a written example of the spell form. Even with me helping you see the shape, you shouldnât be able to see the spell form itself. Has your ability progressed to the point where you can actually âseeâ the spell forms taking shape? Thatâs quite impressive!â he said excitedly.
Neroâs attention was focused on his spell form, so he hadnât bothered looking over at Nick. Therefore, he unfortunately missed the eager and slightly deranged look on the manâs face.
âWell, no⌠or yes⌠I mean, Iâve always been able to see how other people cast their spells. Usually, some parts are a little fuzzy for the complicated spells, or I have to ballpark some of the shapes. Really simple spells I could always copy, but Iâve always had trouble with the complicated stuff. But lately, Iâve gotten better at isolating the essence streams Iâm looking at. Having the opportunity to watch people casting during the fighting definitely helped.
Now that Iâm standing right next to you, I can easily distinguish your essence from the essence flows floating around it. Itâs not all that difficult once you get the hang of it. The hard part is getting a good sense of the individual parts of the spell form.
Do either of you happen to have a primer or a list of all the different functions that the essence loops represent? Like a reference book or something?â he asked, his full attention still locked on the spell form he was fiddling with in between his hands.
Nick and Academian Quincy shared another one of their private looks before Academian Quincy replied, âYes. There are compendiums for known essence arrangments. They are often used in spell creation experiments and for enchantments. However, there is still a great deal to learn before you can apply them to existing spells. Those essence arrangements are conceptual applications of reality that need to be carefully adjusted to the spell form. They are recorded and logged by machines capable of observing the underlying structures that make up the material plane. You canât just arrange them however you like and expect a spell to work as you intended.â
Nero, still not paying too much attention, replied, âYeah, I noticed that too. Back during the fighting, when I was mixing together the pieces of the different spells Iâd learned, I kept having the spell forms fracturing and refusing to snap together. It was a real pain in the ass, and it took a while before I figured out how to feel out what I needed to change in order to get them to cooperate with me.â
Academian Quincy looked over at Nick and muttered, âSnap together?â
Nick on the other hand sounded exasperated, or more accurately⌠spiritually defeated. âOf course you did. Well, letâs set that topic aside for now. How about you try and activate the spell form? However, before you do, make sure that -â
Without waiting, Nero infused some more center into the spell form, activating it. He smiled widely as the spell sucked in several familiar essences from the ether. He never got tired of seeing magic do its thing.
Interestingly, he could feel both Nickâs and Academian Quincyâs essence fields interacting with the flows. It was like they were both there, but not in any way interfering with what he was doing.
Nero couldnât help but wonder what the difference was between now and when they were in an active combat zone. If their influence wasnât a problem when they were training, then why was it such an issue during a fight?
He understood the concept of layered essence fields, control zones, and how the âstrengthâ of the mage affected his ability to control the flows, but he didnât understand why thatâs the way it worked. To him, it was like understanding how hot air balloons stay up in the air due to the variations of air density as a result of heat, but not understanding how someone could possibly steer the damn thing. It just didnât make sense beyond, âthatâs just the way it isâ.
Lost in his thoughts, Nero watched as a small spike of ice emerged from nothingness and came into being. The moment the creation process finished, the foot-long spike launched itself at the ground like it had been shot from a potato gun.
As heâd expected, the moment it hit the well-packed dirt the surrounding areaâs temperature dropped drastically. Through his essence field, Nero watched with interest as the essence altered the material world around him. While the ice spike and the essence flows seemed illusionary, the resulting change in temperature was most definitely not.
âThis must be another example of environmental effects in action. If the essence from the spell had been stopped by someoneâs essence field before it could influence reality, then the cold effect wouldnât have happened at all. And if thatâs true, then it might be possible to surround someone with spells radiating cold until the temperature around them dropped to dangerous levels, thereby bypassing their essence fieldâs natural resistance?â he thought to himself.
Nick coughed lightly, playing off how annoyed he was at how quickly Nero had learned his spell. âYes, it seems youâve figured it out. Like the standard group of spells from the elemental wheel, this another example of a tier-one spell. The spell form is a hybrid spell utilizing features from several variations of the elemental wheel spells, combining both temperature, water, and earth forms to-â
âRight, I see that,â Nero said quickly. âBut what about some tier-two spells? Are those the ones that Specialist Howie was using? You know, the ones that looked like 3-dimensional puzzles?â
Academian Quincy chuckled at Neroâs deliberate mispronunciation of Specialist Howardâs name.
Nick replied, âYes. Spell forms become more complicated as you move up in the tiers. In order to achieve more varied spell effects, more essence structures are needed to be balanced into the spell form. As an example, take a look at this tier-two spell form, a relatively simple tier-two âfireballâ. Watch closely, and youâll recognize a lot of familiar elements. Although in this case, I doubt youâll actually be able to âseeâ anything. But, donât be discouraged, you should still be able to get a general sense of the elements involved.â
Nero did as instructed, carefully watching how Nick carved the spell form into the ether. Just as the man had said, Nero could see several parts that had commonalities with the fire spells he already knew. What he found most interesting however was how the spell form seemed to wrap around itself, interacting with the layers underneath what Nick was carving.
By the time Nick was done, Nero could only describe the spell form as a ball of yarn, or a rolled-up image ready for a trash bin. Had he not witnessed the spell formâs creation process, he doubted heâd be able to interpret what he was seeing.
Shaking his head in defeat, Nero asked, âIâm sorry, I missed too much of it. Can you do it again?â
Surprised, Nick asked, âWait, you can still see the actual essence patterns, not just recognize the shape? Arenât they overlapping and interfering with each other?â
Nero looked over at Nick and replied, âYeah, I can still see them, kind of. Itâs just all tangled up. How do people usually learn them?â
Academian Quincy chimed in, âUsually, a mage will start with a written description of the spell form. For tier-one spells, they will memorize the theoretical form of the spell before carefully copying it into the ether. From there, they will have to meditate on the various elements that make up the spell form, thoroughly understanding each section and tailoring it to their personal understanding of the required essence flows. For more complicated spells, like ones utilizing multiple essence flows that they donât yet understand, the mage will need to practice with the spell form until it activates on its own. There is, of course, an element of trial and error involved as the understanding of essence flows is not a simple matter. Finally, the spell form becomes ingrained in their mind, allowing the mage to fully comprehend and apply the spell form and subsequently cast the spell.â
Nick eagerly took up the next step of the explanation. âFor tier-two spells, itâs a much more complicated process. Typically, mages learn them in sections before ultimately combining them into a workable spell form. Itâs not easy, and I myself have only learned a few.â
Academian Quincy voiced his admiration for the budding mage beside him. âThatâs more than most mages at your level. You should be proud that youâve been able to incorporate that tier of spells into your understanding of the ether. Especially considering the environment youâve been living in.â
Nero just barely stopped himself from mocking his good friend for blushing at Academian Quincyâs praise. âPerhaps I really am growing as a person,â he sarcastically congratulated himself.
Coughing lightly to move the conversation along, Nick continued, âWell, regardless, tier-two spells require a great deal more effort than tier-ones. While they are still written out in spell tomes in two dimensions, there are annotations on the page that show you the rotational angle that needs to be applied when carving them out in the ether. A lot more guesswork is involved, along with a great deal more danger. Mishandled tier-two spell forms can cause a significant backlash during training if you arenât careful. Learning them is not something a low-level mage should attempt.â
Nero nodded, as he could tell they wouldnât be as easy as just writing out what he was seeing. However, he also didnât think it would be all that difficult to learn how to do it. When it came down to it, they were just 3-dimensional models. As far as he was concerned, rather than trying to learn how to read the blueprints, he should just study the completed product and copy that directly.
âAlright, I get it. Tier-two spells are tricky. How about you show it to me again, and this time carve it slowly,â he said while crossing his arms and concentrating on the area in front of Nick with every bit of his focus.
During the fighting, Nero had seen the kind of destruction Specialist Howie had wrought among the kobalds and that was without the benefit of his cheat-like ability to borrow power from the soul stuff in the ether. If he were to be able to learn a few tier-two spells, and then fuel them with souls, Nero was sure to raise his combat level further into the realms of absurdity.
Of course, stable spell forms would also probably be much less likely to cause damage to the essence flows in the ether, so Jennings wouldnât have to clean up after him again⌠hopefully⌠possibly.
Comments
Jeffrey Shabel
What's the over/under on how many chapters before Ironwick joins the Wackos?
