A Vulpine Spanner in the Works
Chapter 47: Magically Hamming the Stage
[Prince Barbro]
The golden light finally died down to reveal a woman in similar white attire to the priestess peasant. Though, unlike her, there were quite a few extreme differences that I noticed almost instantly. There were the pair of golden-furred ears that stuck out through her strange hat, the ten matching golden tails that swayed behind her, and her extremely voluptuous form. Of what little I could see of her face; the rumors of her beauty had not been untruthful.
A smirk grew on my face as I looked upon the fox princess standing before me. Obviously, I called this bluff of hers and scared her into finally coming out of hiding. Like any cowardly mage, when she was put against the might of the Re-Estize Kingdom, she finally conceded.
"No longer hiding, are you, witch?" I commented with amusement.
"I was never hiding, Prince Barbro. I was actually in the middle of other important matters before I was informed that my followers were in danger." She replied while motioning to the two other peasants to leave. I made no motion to stop them as they were insignificant next to the real prize of the one organizing all of this chaos. "Now, why is it that you are threatening my people?"
What a jest for this woman to not know! She still tries to pretend like I haven't already deduced her true purpose here. "Do you think me daft, woman? Why wouldn't I threaten those working with the Baharuth to destabilize my kingdom?"
"Because neither I, nor any of the people behind me, are working with the Baharuth Empire or attempting to harm the Re-Estize. In fact, my people worked with the E-Rantel branch of the Re-Estize military to try and repel two different undead armies just about a week ago." The Fox Princess replied. This earned a chuckle from me as the idea of two undead armies somehow appearing deeply within the borders of the kingdom without being noticed was absolute absurdity.
"I admire your commitment to the lie, but it is growing tiring and testing my patience. You will tell me everything about this plan that the Baharuth has set up. Then, you will tell me everything else that you know. Depending upon how satisfactory your answer is, I'm certain that we can come to an arrangement to lessen your punishment. After all, I could always use a mage in my court whose skills I would be able to take great pleasurable use of. But this deal will only apply to you, as the rest need to be dealt with to act as a message."
What I didn't add is that with her under my thumb, I could make claim to be in control of a goddess. That would probably silence any other talk among the common rabble who actually believed her to be divine. In fact, they'd probably worship me as the future-king who tamed a goddess.
Before the witch said anything, it felt like the air had turned hot, like the midst of a warm day of the summer. "Barbro, I'm trying to be diplomatic to prevent any type of political incident from happening, but you're managing to wear out my patience for your arrogant and narcissistic bullshit. Since arriving here, you've insulted me in numerous ways, said in veiled terms that you'll make me sleep with you to save my life, and followed that by openly stating how intend to kill a great many innocent people for no real reason besides a badly cobbled-together theory on my allegiances."
My eyes narrowed at the impudent witch's words, "Daft wench, you would dare to give such insult as to spur the extremely generous offer given to you by the future-king?!" As I said this, the noise of blades being drawn by my men filled my ears as they anticipated my impending command.
I couldn't resist the malicious smirk that grew on my face at the punishment this peasant and her people would receive for this insolence. While I'd much prefer to have been able to use her while presenting to the court in Re-Estize that the goddess was under my command, I'd have to settle with bringing her head back instead.
"What is a would-be king to a goddess, Barbro? You've no doubt already seen what I did to your cousin who ran Eight Fingers, alongside heard what I've been doing to the rest of their members." Really, threats to my life? I was about to speak when what she said next made a chill run down my spine, "What do you think I'm going to do to the lackey of Hilma's who has been working with her for years, Fingerling Barbro?"
She knew too much! Just the mere utterance of my hidden ties to one of the leaders of Eight Fingers made this witch too dangerous to let live. I have to execute her now. "Kill her!" I commanded while giving the signal to the rest of my calvary units to charge the settlement.
That was until golden ethereal chains burst from the ground and wrapped around my horse, my body, and that of my ten men and their mounts before all of us were dragged off our horses and onto the ground! The harsh screams of fright of the horses, filled my ears as the chains held all of the horses in place. Mixed in with this were the shouts of struggle from my soldiers.
"What have you done, you vile witch?!" I demanded while attempting to struggle against these chains. At the same time, I looked around at my calvary who were waiting for my signal to see that none of them had budged an inch. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! SAVE YOUR PRINCE!" I shouted to them, yet I received no movement.
"Sorry to tell you, Barbro, but none of your soldiers are going to move an inch, since none of them actually know that you are in danger. The moment that I sent Puraimu and Evelyn away, I threw up an illusion to cover us. From their perspective, you and the riders accompanying you, are still on top of your horses talking down to me." Hearing the witch say this made me pause in horror.
None of my men could see me because of this magical trickery, and that meant that my army couldn't even attempt to save me. Ominously, looking up to the woman, I saw a pair of glowing golden eyes looking at me with something akin to boredom, "Chilling, isn't it? To know that you have no power here, nothing to protect you from your own terrible choices. For the first time in your life, your name and title mean absolutely nothing."
I furiously renewed my struggles to escape this witch, but I couldn't break free. None of my men could either. "You can't do this! I'm the future-king of this country!"
A chilling laugh came from the woman, and I found the words drying up in my throat. "No, that's exceedingly unlikely to happen. Especially," The witch leaned close to me and said silently to me, "because I'm helping Renner to take the throne as Queen. After all, unlike you, she's competent."
I found myself silenced from sheer disbelief at what she said. Renner? Queen?!
"With you and your soldiers like this, I think that it's time for me to talk to the rest of your people since you are unreasonable and I have no more wish to talk with you." I don't exactly know when she did it, but the way that my calvary reacted informed me that the witch had dropped whatever illusion she was using to cover us.
Then, before my soldiers had time to react, her voice seemed to echo all over the area, amplified by more of her vile magics.
"Soldiers of the Re-Estize Kingdom that came here today, I have captured Prince Barbro after he tried to attack me and have multiple innocent people killed. I give you all the chance to stay here in peace, without conflict or bloodshed, and rest after many long days of travel. Or you may return back to your homes, be with your families and loved ones. Don't take this only offer of kindness I give you as weakness, for I will annihilate any that try to attack those under my protection." In demonstration of this threat, I watched as a massive meteor grew into existence over a good portion of my calvary and just hovered there, like an executioner's blade ready to fall.
It seemed like this witch only did so over the main gathering of my forces, as the rest of my calvary was too spread of for whatever magic she used to summon a meteor. Still, it seemed like enough of a scare tactic to be effective.
Already, I could see many of the newer members of the calvary break away in retreat, like the cowardly peasants and low-born nobles that they were, against any orders their commanders gave to stay put. This was absurd! This had to be an illusionary trick that this woman had conjured! Even were it not, my men had been trained to fight the filthy Baharuth battle mages. This was just one witch!
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! BEGIN THE CHARGE AND KILL THIS WITCH! YOUR PRINCE DEMANDS IT!" I roared out to my soldiers in hearing distance of me. Yet, they remained hesitant and skittish at obeying such a simple command.
Again, the witch's voice boomed around the area, "Let me inform those of you thinking of loyally following Prince Barbro to your dooms, your prince shares no such loyalty for any of you. Barbro cares for none but himself, and he will let all of you die to save his own hide. So little, does he care about any of you, that he's willing to make your lives worse if it enriches his." The conjured chains then lifted me from the ground and raised me aloft into the air in an undignified manner that I futilely struggled against.
"For many years, he has worked closely with one of the leaders of Eight Fingers, Hilma Cygnaeus, to help both the drug and slave trade. Ask yourselves, how many of you know of someone, be it family, friend, or neighbor, that has been hurt or impacted by Eight Fingers? And then, realize that Barbro is one of the people intentionally helping it happen. Do you really want to die for him?" I found my eyes worriedly looking at my soldiers as this pretentious peasant was somehow convincing a good number of the simple-minded peasants as a number of them either sheathed their blades or raised their spears back into resting position.
Some even had the audacity to openly glare at me!
I found a growl growing in my throat at how this bitch was ruining what should have been a moment of triumph for me. "ARE YOU HALFWITS ACTUALLY PLANNING TO BELIEVE WHATEVER LIES THIS WITCH SPEWS COMPARED TO YOUR PRINCE?!" I screamed out to all of them that could hear me. All of those who showed such traitorous actions would be whipped and executed once this witch was dealt with!
"Barbro," the bitch said, her voice only audible to me, "realize that most of your soldier have no wish of needlessly dying against such an overwhelming threat when given the option to live at the cost of absolutely nothing. Most of them only care about earning their pay and returning home at the end of the day. Holding a meteor over their heads scared some away. Telling them your illicit history dissuaded a few more from bothering to help or listen to you. Now, the only ones left…"
Much to my glee, a few hundred soldiers remained loyal and did their duty to obey my command by charging towards the bitch or, looking over my shoulder, I saw a more of my calvary charge at the settlement. "You should have taken my generous offer when you had the chance, witch! Your head is going to decorate a pike now!" I said with a large measure of satisfaction.
Yet, instead of a look of fear at her impending doom, the witch looked mildly disappointed, "No, it won't." Raising her hand, a circle of magic appeared at her fingertips and a wave of blue fire erupted from it. I didn't even get to see what was happening to my soldiers in front of me as a wall of blue obscured them from sight, but I could hear screams of man and horse that quickly became silent.
But that wasn't the same for the calvary units encircling this settlement as large foxes with multiple tails rushed out from between the buildings to meet the soldiers with tooth and claw or they used more cowardly magic to shoot any number of spells that instantly killed them.
Looking back ahead, the wave of blue flames died down, leaving a field of scorched earth that had become a hardened like brick or turned to glass. There was absolutely no trace of any of the calvary that had been caught in it. But gazing over to the soldiers that hadn't followed their comrades in the charge, their faces seemed ashen and horrified.
For a battle that normally would've taken hours, it was ended in minutes. I couldn't understand how things had come to this. Such power shouldn't be possible. It had to be some kind of trick!
The witch's voice erupted around the area once more, "Those of you that were wise enough to not join your comrades in such unnecessary deaths, I still hold firm on my peacefully stay here to rest, recover, and tend to what remains of your comrades in any manner you see fit or to leave. If you wish to speak further with me, then send a representative of your choosing to discuss about this cessation of hostilities." The meteor hovering over the largest group of calvary moved slightly closer to them so as to punctuate the ultimatum.
I heard the barking of orders from my remaining commanders to stand down and regroup. It made me vibrate in rage at how this pretentious bitch had cowed my entire army! I watched as my army came back together and the few remaining commanders deliberated amongst each other, along with my ten fellow captives, while the bestial woman conjured a golden throne and sat in it. And insultingly, a multi-tailed fox would come to the witch and speak quietly with her or bring her refreshments.
It took almost a half-hour before a delegation of two men arrived. One was my commander, Ashton, and the other was my second commander, Leopald. Both men had grim expressions on their faces as they approached. Ashton gave a glance to me and the ten other soldiers before focusing back upon the witch once more.
"Greetings, Fox Princess. I am Commander Ashton Baldric Carthil. Besides me is Commander Leopald Roland Wrestgol. We are here to discuss the terms of surrender along with the release of your current prisoners." Ashton stated as he and Leopald dismounted their horses.
"Surrender?!" I shouted incredulously as I almost felt my eyes bulge out of my head. "We would surrender to this forest witch? The royal army of the Re-Estize Kingdom?!"
Ashton looked at me, and I saw an unfamiliar anger stare back at me, "Your Highness, almost a third of our original troop count fled the field when the Fox Princess summoned a meteor over our heads which, I might add, is still there." He emphasized the point by gesturing to said meteor, "We lost 237 men from being immolated or slaughtered by foxes, 200 more who fled after seeing this massacre. A quarter of those that remain are openly speaking of what you've been accused of, with the rest speaking quietly about it. We've lost, your Highness."
I found myself speechless upon hearing this open defiance as Ashton looked back to the witch, "Continuing on; Lady Fox, would you be amenable to this?"
The witch nodded, "Certainly," she said while waving her hand as a golden table and two matching chairs appeared in front of her. "Would you care to take a seat?" Both commanders seemed slightly startled at the sudden conjuring of this witch.
"I-Is this real gold?" Leopald asked in astonishment as he removed his helmet to reveal his round face of salt and pepper hair alongside a goatee.
"Yes, and it is just a simple thing of which to conjure," the witch held out her hand over the table as a circle appeared at her hand and a large pile of gold coins filled her hand to the point of overflowing onto the table. She eventually ceased the magic and dropped whatever coins remained in her hand onto the decent pile of her conjured coins created. "If you want, you can keep the gold since I do not need it."
One of her tails gently swept the coins over to the two commanders who each picked one up and examined it. In their eyes, I could see a hint of greed that I would be a liar if I didn't also share such thoughts. If she truly was capable of conjuring more than just this, and it wasn't one of her illusions, then whoever controlled her would have the commerce of every country in their control! I could control the world with that power!
And right now, she stood with my sister. Why didn't I ever get rid of the little bitch? She had interfered with things like the drug and slave trade which affected Hilma and I. Was it because I thought that she was insignificant when I could just focus on the throne or is it because I had been afraid of what Father might do?
Perhaps both, but I now knew that I should've killed her. It's my throne! Mine! Not Zanac's, and not Renner's! I am the strongest and oldest so it should be mine since that is what I deserve!
"So, what are your terms of surrender?" As the witch asked this, both commanders ceased their observations on the gold and took a seat.
Ashton began, "Our soldiers need a day to rest before leaving as they, and their mounts, have been overworked getting here. Additionally, would you be amenable to removing the meteor hovering over our troops as they do rest here?" This earned a nod from the witch, "Before I make another request, can I ask what your intentions are for the kingdom? Is this place territory that you are claiming for yourself?"
"You have no need to worry about if I'm trying to carve off chunks of your kingdom to rule for myself. Most of the people in this settlement are citizens of the Re-Estize Kingdom. I'm here because they prayed to me for help. But that doesn't mean I have no intentions for the Re-Estize." As she said this, both of my commanders paled, earning a laugh from her.
"I promise you that it's nothing bad." The witch said in assurance, though I bit my tongue at everything I wished to say, "I want to spread worship of myself throughout the kingdom. I also want to help fix many of the issues that are plaguing this kingdom. For instance, I've been hard at work dismantling Eight Fingers, like Princess Renner has been doing, unlike many of your nobles. Additionally, I am ending the senseless bloodshed that your kingdom and the Baharuth have every year."
"WHAT?!" I found myself exclaiming with the commanders. A part of me would be happy for the war to be ended, but that was only if I was the one to end it! It should be my glory that enters the annals of history of how I triumphed against the Baharuth Empire, not some bestial witch!
"How?" Leopald inquired with astonishment.
"By taking to the field and preventing both sides from moving towards each other if necessary. I would prefer to accomplish this without any loss of life, but as Barbro has clearly demonstrated," the chains holding me in the air shook me, "sometimes, I need to get the point across with stick instead of the carrot."
"W-We understand, Lady Fox. We will ensure to tell King Ramposa about this mistaken act of hostility and inform him of your benevolent intentions and, if agreeable to you, potential for an alliance. I can't promise that anything might come from this as I do not speak for his Majesty, but we can put in a good word that would allow for further discussion." Leopald explained.
The woman's lips could be seen growing into an amused smile through her veil, "I would be interested in having a talk with King Ramposa about further ways we could work with one another. But I feel it will happen sooner than the time it would take you to inform the king of the events that have transpired, because, if we move onto prisoners, Barbro stays with me. That's non-negotiable."
"L-Lady Fox, please, if Prince Barbro were to be released, it would help immeasurably to convince his Majesty to work with you. Holding his Highness in captivity would only cause his Majesty to look at any talks you may have with suspicion and doubt." Ashton attempted to reason while I felt a cold sweat run down my neck at what may happen were I to be left in this witch's hands.
I remembered clearly what happened to Alecto. The witch also knew my ties to Eight Fingers through Hilma. What would she do to me?
She wasn't intimidated by force as the witch didn't even take an entire army seriously. The witch also didn't care about my title, even less so with nobles who weren't even princes. Perhaps I can appeal to her kindness or, better yet, attempt to woo her enough to let me go. It might even be enough to end her backing for Renner and instead aid my rightful claim to the throne.
After all, whatever magic and power the Fox Princess might have, she was still a woman underneath it all. With a weaker mind ruled by emotion. There might be a hurdle to overcome due to the attempt on her life, alongside my affiliations, but it was possible. Especially because seducing women has never been a challenge for me before.
"Wait, Fox Princess." I interrupted, turning the focus of my commanders and the woman on me as the chains holding me aloft in the air began to lower me to the woman's eye-level. "My commanders are correct that holding me hostage would be seen badly by my Father. Bu-" The witch put a clawed finger to my lips to silence me.
"Barbro, you've said more than enough for me to stand from you today. You are nothing more than a pig wearing a crown. All that comes from your lips are oinks and squeals with constant demands that everything be handed to you. No one has ever said 'no' to you without being killed or punished for it. Forgetting how blatantly you went about insulting me and insinuating that you would fuck me, there's also your disregard for others' lives besides your own." As she said this, I saw her tails move over to me and begin ripping my armor off.
"Even if I were to ignore how much of a terrible human being you are, I can't ignore your ties to Eight Fingers. And I punish all of their members as a rule." As soon as the words left her lips, I renewed my struggles in my chains.
Looking over to my commanders and other soldiers, they made no motion to help me. They stayed where they were and remained silent like cowards. I looked back to the woman, whose golden eyes were now glowering at me. "I am a prince! You can't-"
"I'm a goddess. Your point's invalid." She interrupted and put the tip of her nail to my nose. "Since you're obviously a terrible human being, let's change you into something that you are actually good at being. Oink for me."
"Wha-" I found the words stuck in my throat as my body felt warm while my clothes felt tight. Looking down, I quickly discovered why as my clothes began to stretch. Then, I felt like my fingers were sticking together, and when I looked, I was horrified to see my fingers were merging together into two stubby digits. As I tried to cry out in fear, a pig's squeal erupted from my throat.
My clothes felt even tighter than before as my expanding body finally hit the limit of how much it could stretch before finally tearing, with the same occurring to my trousers as my boots fell from what my feet turned into. All the while, I continued to squeal and oink as I understood how this witch was debasing me.
She was turning me into a pig!
And with the elongated snout that I could see and feel growing on my face, it only confirmed the fact.
It wasn't much longer until my body finished its horrid transformation as my limbs turned into stubby legs and my former clothes hung off of me in tatters. That was when she finally released most of the chains binding me, except for a single chain around my neck that acted as a leash.
I tried to stand up, but my body felt too awkward and heavy for me to do so. Instead, I was forced to remain on all fours squealing for help that none of my soldiers would provide.
"What did you do to Prince Barbro?!" Ashton shouted in shock.
"I punished Barbro by turning him into a fitting form. For a punishment, this is quite light compare to what I've done to the other members of Eight Fingers. For instance, I'm fairly certain that one of them has starved to death at this point after being trapped in a gold statue for days on end." The woman explained, making me terrified as to what else she could have done to me.
"But that's just barbaric." Leopald stated.
"What's barbaric is to torture thousands of men, women, and children until their wills break before sending them off to be raped until their bodies are too worn out to be useable. What I've done is enact justice for all those wronged. I'm certain that you can understand my actions, considering that your government tends to execute members of Eight Fingers." The witch replied before looking to me, "Though, I could always go for a side of bacon if I'm feeling peckish." This caused me to squeal in fright.
"Please, Lady Fox. I beg you to not harm his Highness, regardless of whatever he has done in the past." The witch gave an amused giggle, before sighing at Ashton's request. Then, I felt the chain around my neck pull me with a strength I couldn't resist until I was at the woman's side. She ominously rested her hand on my rag-covered back and lightly thrummed her claws on my skins, making me shiver in fear.
"I was only jesting, Ashton. Worry not, Barbro will be perfectly safe in my custody when I take him with me to meet with your king. But as a consolation," the witch made a motion with her hand and the chain binding down the ten other prisoners faded away, freeing all of them. "I will give you the other prisoners for free as a sign of my generosity."
The former captives slowly stood up from the ground while rubbing feeling back into where their bonds had been. All the while, they looked at us, and especially me, with heavy tension on their features. The looks I received while trapped in this form were a mixture of humiliating and mortifying for someone of my station. I'm a prince! These lowborn nobles and peasants shouldn't be looking down upon their prince.
"Thank you, Lady Fox." Ashton said in gratitude, but that only left me burning with anger at how he could even be happy or thank this bitch when his prince was still trapped in the form of a swine while a prisoner, "But please, can you enlighten us on when you plan to speak with his Majesty and what you will do with his Highness?"
"I will see Ramposa within the week. As for the royal swine? You just need to know that I don't plan on killing him anytime soon. Aside from this, I have nothing further that needs to be discussed with you on terms of surrender. You have nothing that I would want, aside from the criminal instigator that I've already made my prisoner." The witch stated with finality.
As this happened, the meteor that had been hanging over the army broke apart into motes of blue light that eventually faded away, much to the amazement of the lowborn subjects of my army. "Since you plan to remain here for the day to rest and recover, I'm willing to offer your troops food and water if they need it."
"That would be appreciated, Lady Fox." Leopald said with a nod, "Yet, why help what was once an enemy force like this? Most others wouldn't aid a defeated army in this way."
"I'm not most others. And while I can be wrathful, I prefer to be kind and help others in need as is the duty I have placed upon myself." My eyes glared at the witch.
Kindness? No, she was just planning to fool the simple minds of the gullible lowborn. She was going to steal my throne, with the help of my traitorous sister!
I shouted what accusations I could at the witch, but all that came out were more squeals and oinks until she turned her attention to me, "I don't understand swine, piggy." She then looked to my commanders one last time, "But I believe that this is a good place for us to conclude this meeting. I'll have my people bring out supplies for your troops in a short while."
The witch stood from her seat, alongside my daft commanders, and the chairs and table that had been sitting at dispersed, but the gold coins remained as they fell to the ground with loud jingling, drawing the gaze of the ten soldiers who looked at the resting wealth with interest.
A tugging was felt at my neck as the golden chain followed after the woman. I tried to fight against the pull, but this fat bestial form lacked the strength to do so. I tried begging my soldiers, with swinish cries, but all of them just gave me looks of pity or fear, with none moving an inch to aid me.
Eventually, I was being dragged on the ground until I found my footing on the stubby limbs and crawled across the ground like a beast as I was forced to follow after the witch. This shouldn't be happening.
I'm a prince! This shouldn't be happening!
[Ninya]
It had been over an hour since mom had left suddenly in the middle of teaching us. She had been in the middle of going over the stabilization of spell arrays while forming the symbols inside of it with Nero and Tuare. As they learned this, I continued to try performing [Kitsune Illusion] to mixed results, at first.
I had managed to get parts of my tail hidden, but large parts of it still remained visible alongside my eyes, ears, and fangs. Yet, it was good progress since I could feel how my mana flow was affecting the hidden parts of the limb. It was more just a matter of replicating that same success across more of my tail until it was fully hidden. Then, I'd apply that same lesson to the rest of my kitsune features until they were disguised as well.
Before she left, while explaining that something was happening at the temple, she told us to continue practicing while she while she was gone. There was a multitude of worries that instantly came to mind on what may have happened, like another demon attacking, an undead army, or something else. At best, all we could do is just wait for mom to return.
"How's the whole 'human disguise' magic going for you?" Nero asked as he glanced over to me while continuing to maintain just enough focus to continue powering his spell array. Both he and Tuare were doing well in that regard as they grew better at stabilizing their arrays.
"About as well as can be expected. I've mostly figured out the basis for hiding parts of my body. I just have to get used to applying it all at once." I answered while demonstrating my progress with half of my tail being fully hidden.
Nero gave me a congratulatory smile, "That's great. By the way, with you having been a mage a lot longer than Tuare and I, how long will it take us to start learning magic spells after getting this array stuff figured out." Even Tuare seemed interested as she flicked her eyes over to me.
I gave both a sympathetic look. "I'm not the best to ask about this since my Talent allows me to cut down the time to learns spells by a huge amount. For most people, it could take weeks or longer to learn a 0 Tier spell. It only gets longer the higher up the Tiers you go."
"Really? That seems a bit ridiculous. Isn't it just about making some stable symbols with mana?" Nero questioned.
"Not exactly." I began, "It's an integral part when casting a spell, but that is still only just a part. Besides stable symbols that need to be memorized, there's also the precise amounts of mana needed at each section of the array along with the understanding of how to manipulate it. What makes learning spells so long is also related to an inherent aspect of mana."
This time, Tuare was the one to ask, "What might that be?"
"The amount of mana that a spellcaster has access to each day, and the many hours it takes to regain that spent mana." I answered. "For instance, most new mages, when trying to learn a new spell, have such a small mana pool that they may have one to three attempts to try casting a spell they just learned before they run out of mana and have to wait an entire day to try again."
"Does it at least get easier the more mana you have?" Nero questioned. I nodded.
"Spellcasters able to cast spell of higher Tiers generally have a faster time learning other spells of lower Tiers since they have more mana, giving them more attempts to cast a spell in a day than weaker mages." I explained before adding, "What's different for me, compared to other casters, is that I just have this innate ability to memorize the spell arrays I see and know when a spell I'm trying to cast is going to fail. That saves me time and mana needed to try and learn spells."
"I can't help but wonder if Kashia and her people are able to learn spells faster than us?" Nero pondered, which I couldn't help but agree with. From how I've been getting taught, it seemed like kitsune had better teaching methods compared to the Re-Estize Kingdom as least.
"Well, we'll have to master spell arrays first if we ever want to start working on actually learning spells." Tuare commented. That got a chuckle from Nero.
"Yeah, guess you're right about that."
I found myself smiling at the interaction as Nero and Tuare went back to focusing on their spell arrays once again.
Meanwhile, I continued to work on hiding my tail to start with. I found myself growing excited at each inch my tail became invisible. But with that excitement, also came the realization that I was already below half my mana pool. I'll have to ask mom to cast [Mana Font] on me once she got back.
Throughout this time, I couldn't help but notice that my body felt oddly warm, even though the temperature in the room was quite comfortable. To try and alleviate this, I ended up taking off my gloves and looping them onto my belt to keep them out of the way.
I glanced over to Tuare and Nero and didn't see any discomfort on their features at the heat. That was odd.
Pushing that away for later, I went back to practicing [Kitsune Illusion].
It was a little bit later when a flash of gold appeared in the middle of the room and mom stepped out, thankfully not looking any different than when she had left. Though, mid-step, her clothes swapped from the goddess outfit of her to her usual black clothes.
"Sorry about the wait. Had to take care of a few things before I returned." Mom said with an easygoing grin.
Tuare and I perked up at this as Nero watched in interest. "What happened?" Tuare asked.
"The Re-Estize army came to the temple, led by Prince Barbro, threatening to kill everyone. I had to get involved and try to prevent any unnecessary bloodshed. Sadly, some of their soldiers died following orders from Prince Barbro." Mom replied with a disappointed tone.
But her disappointment at the bloodshed couldn't compare to the shock Tuare, Nero, and I felt at hearing mom fight the Re-Estize Kingdom's army! And, more specifically, Prince Barbro.
"What happened after that?" I piped up as the three of us made our way over to mom.
"Well, the nice way to answer it is that the conflict between the army and I ended." Mom said quickly.
My eyes narrowed as this answer didn't exactly inspire confidence. "And the bad way to answer it?"
Mom gave a wry grin, "Prince Barbro was rude, entitled, and an all-around ass. He was also affiliated with Eight Fingers. I took him prisoner after informing his people about his crimes. Then, I turned him into a pig."
The jaws of Tuare and I dropped, while Nero blinked and remarked, "A royal swine?"
"The man was a pig, so I thought his form should match his personality." Mom explained, which didn't exactly help calm me when the prince of the kingdom had just been transformed into an animal!
"Mom, you do realize that this is is going to cause a diplomatic incident?! What if the entire Re-Estize declares war on you because of this?" I rapidly questioned. Mom simply walked up to me and gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
"I'd like to see them try," she said confidently. "But that's unlikely to be the case for a myriad of reasons. For instance, once news of Barbro's hidden affairs is known to the public, it will be hard for King Ramposa to justify a war for his rightly punished son among his subjects. Trust me, I've got this handled."
I found myself sighing at how relaxed mom seemed with all of this, but I ended up just accepting it since nothing could change what happened. "I trust you, mom."
"What did you end up doing with Prince Barbro?" Tuare wondered.
"He's locked up in a temporary pigpen made just for him. But enough talk about his royal Swine-ness. How have you three been progressing since I've been gone?" Mom said as she changed the subject.
"Nero and I are getting closer to more consistently maintaining our spell arrays." Tuare answered for Nero and herself. I gave my answer by showing her my half-missing tail.
"Excellent work, you three!" Mom praised with a broad smile. "But while I plan for the three of you to continue with your magical training today, I'll need to borrow you two for a little personal discussion." Mom said while pointing to Tuare and I, much to our confusion and curiosity.
"Why just us two and not Nero as well?" I asked.
"Because it's matters related to kitsune that Nero doesn't need to hear right now." Mom answered, making me slightly nervous. What does that mean? I kept silent as mom looked over to Nero, "You'll be good on your own for a bit, right?"
"I'll be fine, Kashia. See you three in a bit." Nero waved off. Then mom began to escort us out of the room.
Tuare and I sat at a simple circular table with mom in one of the palace's study rooms. Once we had all taken our place, I had to ask, "Can you tell us what this is all about?"
"Since the pair of you are newly-made or soon-to-be-made kitsune, there's a few things that you should be aware of as part of the species." Mom answered.
"Oh." Tuare and I said together in understanding.
"To start with, here's a little history lesson; Foxes were originally created by my mother, Inari. At least, in all of Yggdrasil before it became connected to this realm, foxes were originally her creation. But over time, she required emissaries that could more easily interact and blend with the people who worshipped her or needed help. So, Inari searched all the realms for foxes that were the most devout to her before she blessed them with her power. This created the first kitsune. It started with ten or so who were transformed."
"And they just multiplied until they became an entire race?" I inferred. Mom nodded in answer. "That probably took a while to grow to the numbers we're seeing now if Grandma didn't help out."
Mom gave a sly grin and chuckle. "Not as long as you might think. You've heard this, Ninya, but Tuare hasn't." Mom began as she nodded to my sister, "A few things you should know about kitsune biology is that regardless of whatever race a kitsune breed with, the resulting child will almost always come out as a kitsune, and if the child doesn't, then they'll eventually become one before the age of ten. The other thing of note is that foxes, which kitsune spawned from, typically have multiple kits in a litter."
That helped explain how they could grow from a few members to a realm-spanning race within a short period of time. They produced large amounts of children, and all of those children were almost guaranteed to come out as kitsune. And thinking more about it, I felt my face heat up as I quickly realized that if I ever became pregnant in the future, then I was likely going to have multiple children.
"Yet, even with high birth rates, there have been events that have greatly cut our species' population down. One of them was when the dragon, Nidhoggr, assaulted Yggdrasil and destroyed many realms in the process. Much of the Realm of Foxes was victim to this cataclysm. The branch holding it broke and mom had to use most of her power to save as much of the realm as she could, weaving the remnant between two of the other branches of the World Tree with Yggdrasil's assistance."
My mind flashed to the small realm I had seen in that vision when I first drank mom's blood, nestled between two of those large branches of the World Tree. It had been held in place by tiny branches, vines, and roots unlike the other realm being held up by branches.
"The second time this happened was during the war between the kitsune and dwarves. Conflict broke out over resources the dwarves wanted, alongside enslaving kitsune for pleasure, as a labor force, or to harvest from them." Mom said, making Tuare and I cock out heads in question.
"Harvest from them?" Tuare asked.
"Like farmers harvesting meat, leather, and milk from a cow." Mom elaborated with a grim expression, filling us with fear at the thought. "Our bodies are highly magical, both mortal and deity alike. And as the dwarves are crafters, they always sought out resources that could improve their crafting. Such as fur from our tails to make durable clothes, bones to be crushed to powder and mixed into their blades, blood to quench their weapons in the forge."
"How many died?" I found myself asking.
"I'm not certain, but I know that it was plenty on both sides, especially when gods of the other realms got involved when the war began spilling out and affecting them. I wasn't alive when the war happened, and much of what I know has been told to me by Inari or other kitsune. What I do know is that the Realm of Foxes is still recovering from it. Other than that, you'd need to learn specifics from someone who was alive during the war."
A spark of realization appeared in Tuare's eyes before it died down. But before it did, I thought I could see her mouth out Saizo's name. And thinking about it, depending on how recent that war was, then it could be that most kitsune with two or three tails had been alive to see it.
"Now, continuing on from the topic of kitsune biology," mom began, pulling me from my thoughts, "while similar to humans in a lot of ways, we've got our obvious difference. As girls, we have our time of the month, except that we enter a cycle of heat that tends to make us more receptive to others."
"We're going to end up like you were a few weeks ago?" Tuare pointed out.
"Probably not. I'm a bit unique in that my mom's a fertility goddess while I'm also blessed by another fertility goddess. It boosts my instinctual urges to a major degree."
"If you say so. Anything else you need to tell us?" I responded.
"Well, on the subject of ears and hearing…"
[Later]
After hearing more topics on kitsune biology that I already knew but Tuare didn't, we eventually rejoined Nero who had remained hard at work improving on his spell array's stability. It was near the end of the day that I managed to fully hide my tail. Tomorrow, I'd work on my ears, eyes, and teeth before finally trying to attempt the entire transformation at once.
It was after all of this that we had dinner and I finally went off to my room and tried practicing [Foxfire Will O' Wisp] for a while to use up all of my mana like mom had recommended I do. Yet, try as I might, I kept finding myself getting distracted, like my body wanted to do something but my mind couldn't figure out what it was.
I also still felt warm, even in my sleepwear.
After a long enough time at failing to concentrate for this, I gave up and used up all of my mana in a large ball of [Foxfire] until I ran out. Then, I went to sleep.
I found myself in the confines of a dark cave that appeared to have no obvious exit. The two paths that I could take led to further darkness. With no good option to go with, I took the right path and began walking down it.
The floor of stone and earth was cold on my bare feet, and an icy chill filled the cave that my nightwear couldn't block me from. I couldn't understand why I was here when I had just been in my bed moments prior?
Each step I took caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up as the fur on my tail bristled. This cave seemed empty, so why was I feeling this odd terror? Was I even alone?
"Hello?" I called out, hoping that nothing would answer me from the darkness.
"Ninya…" My heart began pounding at the voice echoing from ahead of me as a pair of yellow dots appeared from the darkness and the stomping of metal boots told me she was getting closer.
"I told you that I'd come back and finish what I started." As if to punctuate her threat, a green glow appeared in her left hand, highlighting the right side of her armored form in the darkness of the cave.
Albedo!
I quickly began backing away from the demoness as she continued marching towards me in a slow and steady pace. Each step punctuated by a loud metallic echo that made my heart beat all the faster.
"Y-You're gone! Mom locked you away!" I said in denial. This couldn't be real. She couldn't be here!
"It wasn't enough. Stay where you are, whorespawn. I'll make you my pet soon enough." As she got closer, the seam in her helmet's visor widened until it split apart and began moving like a set of jaws as laughter escaped from it.
Before I could back away any further, I found my back touching something. When I attempted to pull away, I found myself stuck in place, and looking over my shoulder, I found out why as I was now stuck in a wall of webs that had formed from behind me!
And from different corners of the cave, multiple sets of eyes glowed before the spider-women crawled out from the shadows along the web, growing closer to me with their jaws split apart and dripping venom.
"NO! NO!"
"Don't worry, whorespawn." My attention was drawn forwards as Albedo stood in front of me with her ring-covered hand getting closer to my face and glowing more intensely. "It will only hurt for a moment, then you won't even remember."
I saw the ring get closer to me as I started screaming! My vision was completely covered in that sickly-green glow!
I sat up on my bed covered in sweat while heavily breathing. My eyes flickered around my surroundings to see that I was in my room in the palace. It was all just a nightmare.
"It wasn't real. Just a bad dream." I said to myself in reassurance as I got out of bed. The urge to sleep had long since left me. "The spiders are dead, and Albedo was locked away. They can't hurt you."
This mantra was repeated a few more times until my heartbeat finally slowed down and didn't feel like it was about to burst from my chest.
They're gone. All of those monsters are gone. Yet even so, why did they still have to haunt my dreams like this? Why couldn't I just escape them in my sleep as well?
Moving to the door of my room, I opened it and let the light of the hallway stream into my room, helping to banish the dark thoughts of those monsters as I stepped out of my room and into the hallway. For a moment, I found myself lost on where I wanted to go until I made my decision.
Walking through the hallway, it wasn't long until I ended up in front of the door to the room that Nero was staying in. On approach, I raised my hand up in preparation to knock on the door until I found myself becoming hesitant. I couldn't decide if I should attempt to wake him or not since he could still be sleeping.
Maybe I should just let it go and not drag someone else into my case of insomnia.
Just as I was about to lower my hand and walk away, the door's handle suddenly twisted before opening to reveal the blond standing there with a look of surprise on his face. "Ninya? What are you doing here?"
I hesitated for a moment to answer as it made me feel a little self-conscious, but I finally swallowed that nervousness down and spoke, "You mentioned yesterday for me to see you if I ever had another case of insomnia."
Nero chuckled and scratched the back of his head, "I did, didn't I? Bad dream, I take it?"
I nodded, "You as well?" I asked.
"Same." Nero answered before giving me a friendly smile, "Up for another walk again?"
"I am if you are." I said with a smile in return. Nero then stepped out of his room and closed the door behind himself. Then, we both started walking the hallways with nowhere particular in mind to go to. "Did the same nightmare keep you up like it did last night?"
"Yeah." Nero admitted with a hint of hesitation, "Bad memories that just won't leave me. Though, I'm not the only one in my village that has been haunted by bad memories in their sleep."
Nero's answer made me look at the blond with a curious look. "Why are people in your village haunted by nightmares?" I questioned.
That earned a glance in turn from Nero, "I'm not certain how much you've been told by Kashia, but we were attacked by demons a few weeks ago. It was extremely traumatic, and some of the villagers that hadn't chosen to have their memories of the torture they went through removed have had some issues sleeping."
I remembered being told by mom that she had saved the village from demons, but she had avoided going that far into detail about it. "I'm sorry that you and the people of your village had to go through that." I said in sympathy.
"It's fine, Ninya. We were saved in the end. Not all of us may have made it, but I am extremely appreciative of those that I still have." Nero said, though there was a heavy sorrow in his eyes that the blond couldn't hide. He seemed to wish to change the subject as he asked, "So, I didn't ask much about it yesterday, but what's being an adventurer like? Any good stories?"
That got me smirking, "If I'm going to be honest, my early adventuring career was extremely stale, like most other copper-plates. I'd get dull missions like clearing out a few undead from the cemetery, hunt a wolf or two, retrieve ingredients. It was when I got to the rank of silver-plate with my teammates that we were given more interesting missions." I explained.
"So, as a silver-plate, what would you say was the most exciting job you've done?"
"Technically, I'm a gold-plate now. Got promoted just a few days ago after my team and I hunted down a bunch of barghests which were different from the normal monsters we've fought before. I think it's got to do with how smart they are, since they worked together better than the goblins or ogres we've defeated before."
Resting my chin in my hand, I thought about it for a moment before adding, "As for interesting? Well, a few days after we hunted the barghests, we got into a massive fight against two undead armies lead by some liches alongside some Slain Theocracy soldiers, Re-Estize soldiers, kitsune, and adventurers. I'm also positive that a dragon or two showed up."
Nero blinked with his jaw dropped. "Is that a normal occurrence for the Re-Estize?"
"Oh, yes. We deal with undead armies quite often. Isn't it the same in the Baharuth?" I answered completely seriously. Nero's eyes were wide at this point, and I snorted at his surprise and laughed, "I'm just joking. Even for the Re-Estize, that was an extremely uncommon event."
Nero gave off a sigh of relief at that revelation. "Okay, you got me with that one." Nero stated with a laugh of his own. I found it slightly surprising that joking about that day helped to make it more palatable for the events that happened soon after. The unconscious soft wagging of my tail also helped to confirm my thoughts.
"I have to have some way of teasing you, Ruthy." I said with a grin.
"Then I'll make sure to remember to pay you back for that, Reezy." Nero promised with a grin in turn. "So, is that the only interesting tale you've got?"
"There was the time that my team and I found out that a troop of goblins was living and working with one of the outskirt villages as their protectors." I said, recalling that weird moment. I wondered how Carne Village has been doing since we last saw it?
Nero's eyebrow rose up and he gave me a narrowed look, "Even if you say that your country is normal, everything I've heard right now tells me otherwise."
My shoulders shrugged, "No idea on what to tell you about that. Maybe the Baharuth Empire is just boring in comparison." We both began laughing at my remark. It went like this for a while after, where I told him a few more interesting jobs I've done as an adventurer until we eventually parted ways and went back to our rooms after the urge for sleep became too overpowering.
"Have a good night, Ninya." Nero said in farewell.
"You as well, Nero. See you in the morning."
[Theo Rakheshir]
Day 41:
It had taken almost a month, but we finally arrived at the capital faster than I had originally expected. But it did help that my fellow guildmaster, Martimus Darwill, had been extremely receptive to the revelation of the Fox Princess, though to me, she would always be my mistress, Kashia Blanc.
Martimus was an intelligent man, one had to be if they were to run any branch of the Magician's Guild. That intelligence allowed him to understand the truth I spoke when I revealed the tome and a small flask of the elixir made from Lady Kashia's blood.
I watched with excitement as he skimmed through the pages of the tome, with realization dawning upon his face. I became elated when Martimus decided to drink some of the elixir, enhancing his mana and spellcasting as he felt that divine connection to Lady Kashia in that instant. It might not be as intense as that of Lady Kashia's Maidens, but it was still enough for any person to realize that Lady Kashia is real.
From there, I gave him what teachings from the tome we had that some of my mages had dutifully copied down during the journey to the capital. Alongside this was the bottle of elixir and the knowledge on how to produce more of the substance from the small amount left in the flask I had given him.
My mistress' blood was an amazing substance of magic and divinity. Using only a small drop of blood from the original flask that she had given us, one needed to mix it into water that was infused with highly concentrated mana. From there, Lady Kashia's blood would almost seem to spread out from its point of initial contact with the water. It was as if her mana was consuming the mana within the water before replacing it with her own. This process would take less than 20 minutes, faster if those making the water prayed over it.
From there, this elixir could be mixed with more quantities of mana-infused water to produce the same result. It was both fascinating and captivating to watch happen. We had tested to see if this would also happen to regular water, but nothing seemed to occur until prayer was sent to the water. Sadly, the potency was lessened unless more mana was infused into that water, where upon the blood in the elixir would absorb and convert that mana.
It made me ponder if a similar process might be possible for the blood of any who consumed the elixir. It would be something to investigate at a later time.
After this fortuitous meeting with Martimus, he gifted us supplies for the rest of the way to the capital, along with a message stamped in wax with his seal to be given to the grand guildmaster.
During our continued trek to the capital, all of us who were magically attuned felt a massive burst of mana as a golden pillar rose into the air from many miles away towards E-Rantel. We all knew that this was Lady Kashia's doing as we were more than familiar with it. What we didn't understand was why, at first.
It was when Teresia, another of Lady Kashia's Maidens, said that she felt our goddess had grown in power, that we finally understood. That night, we had all been almost celebratory as it meant that our devotion to our goddess was working. That only hurried our pace with a renewed vigor. And since then, I've noticed that Teresia's eyes have become more golden since that night.
Upon making it through the gates of the capital, we had been surprised at the activity on the streets that was impossible to miss. There was talk of Princess Renner personally heading an assault upon all of Eight Fingers' operations. There was talk of nobles being arrested who had been working with said organization. But all of this seemed to stem from a singular connection.
Supposedly, the King's cousin, Alecto, had actually been the leader of the entire organization. The talk of how this had been discovered seemed to vary in version or scope. Some say that he arrived in a portal from hell, turned into a grotesque creature of flesh and gold. Another said that he had been tortured by a goddess before arriving in a flash of light.
A different tale said he had been turned into a throne, before a monster dropped him in the middle of the throne room and disappeared. But all of them agreed that it had been a punishment inflicted upon him by the goddess known as the Fox Princess, where he then gave up everything he knew of the group he had once run.
Regardless of the truth, it meant that Lady Kashia has decided to reveal herself to more of the kingdom. This excited me, but also filled me with worry at the way the Church was now fully alert about a new goddess. Already, we noticed that a few priests were out on the streets preaching the gospel of the Four Great Gods, as if this would be enough to get everyone to forget about Lady Kashia.
Further thoughts on dealing with the Church would have to be put on hold until after my meeting with Grand Guildmaster Arlan Zammicus.
As our group arrived to the large marble building of the capital's branch of the Magician's Guild, we carefully unloaded the chest containing both the flask of Lady Kashia's blood and the tome of her teachings. Two mages carried the chest while I and Teresia led from the front and the rest of the mages followed behind.
Upon entering through the guild's entrance, I was happy to note that Arlan was already waiting for us in the entrance hall. To the side, the black-robed mages manning the visitor's counter were looking at us with immense curiosity. They were not the only ones as any guild member in the area was equally as curious at the arrival of a group of mages from the E-Rantel branch. It wouldn't be that surprising if some of them were able to sense the powerful mana being emitted from what we carried.
I know that Arlan was able to do so as his normally tanned face was pale with a cold sweat running down the side of his face. Amusingly enough, almost like a surprised cat, the hair of his long, white beard was untidy and raised when I knew it to normally be kept neat and well-combed. Arlan was a tall man, at almost 6 and a half feet, but he seemed smaller now with the way he seemed to shrink into himself at our approach, and the closing distance of Lady Kashia's blood.
"Guildmaster Theo Rakheshir, I would like to say that it's a pleasure to see you after so long, but I can feel that you have brought an object of extraordinary magical power with you. What have you brought to my guild?" Arlan asked with a hardened gaze as he met my eyes.
"We will need a place of complete privacy for me to show you, Grand Guildmaster Arlan." I replied calmly. Arlan nodded and motioned for us to follow. I gave a silent command to my mages, and we all followed after Arlan. We went with him through the hall, moving around the statue of blue crystal in the form of a robed figure casting a spell. This had once been Gavlin the Dauntless until a tragic accident turned him to crystal.
He remained here as an overt warning to mages of the guild on the dangers of untested magical research. It was both a morbid and effective warning as there had been a significant decrease in magical accidents among the newer mages of the capital's guild branch. At least, that is what I've heard. Since this wasn't my branch, I couldn't verify if that was the truth or not.
Eventually, Arlan took us to a stairway that went further down under the guild proper. The stairway down was made up of walls of stone inscribed with runes as copper helped to reinforce it.
"To reassure you, Theo," Arlan began, "this underground facility, which also houses the guild's repository of knowledge and artifacts, is the most secure place in all of the city. It's made of a mixture of an outer sheath of copper that's been enchanted with wards to repel scrying attempts, an alloyed skeletal frame of mithril and steel, followed by an inner sheath of warded granite that is reinforced with more copper. Besides being some of our greatest work in repelling arcane methods of spying, it is also extremely durable and can repel all but the most powerful attempts to breach it."
To hear about the layers of security that had been designed was impressive to say that least. Even gazing at the stonework, I found it far smoother than was possible with normal tools, "Were earth spells used to form the granite?" I asked in interest. While I have visited this capital's guild branch on a few occasions, I've never had the chance to tour this section of the build. I actually helped to give me a few ideas on security implementation in the Re-Estize branch.
"Good eye." Arlan confirmed. "Yes, we had a team of mages specialized in earth magic to form the stone. Magic was used, instead of tools, because it made the work faster and more perfected in addition to reducing the immense costs already being taken up by the mithril."
"How did you manage to afford the costs for the mithril? Even with guild funds, the amount it would take to create framing for an entire underground facility would be astronomical." I questioned with great interest. Part of it was me wondering if this branch had much greater hidden funds that the Re-Estize branch? The other part pondered if he knew a supplier that gave him a massive discount?
Arlan looked over his shoulder and gave me a wry grin, his eyes constantly flickering to the chest behind me, "While I can't fully say since my source needs to remain hidden, just know that they were able to acquire the smallest amount of mithril necessary to accomplish this project without bankrupting the guild while doing so."
It was very odd to hear him say this. Additionally, the only place known for having a large amount of mithril with an industry build to mine it was in the Azerlisia Mountains by the Dwarven Kingdom. And even then, the Dwarven Kingdom has had extremely limited trade with the Re-Estize Kingdom due to a lack of interest from the Re-Estize's leadership. Actually, the only ones that they had good trade relations with was the Baharuth Empire. Did Arlan have some other hidden trade deal with the dwarves that no one else knew of or could it be that he knew of where some hidden deposit of mithril could be found within the kingdom's borders?
"Unfortunate, but understandable." I acknowledged as diplomatically as I could.
Once at the bottom of the stairs, we stopped at a doorway of pure metal that seemed a mix of steel and mithril. Just this door alone could probably afford an entire mansion. Yet, I could understand the amount of money and effort that went into just the door, considering how many extremely dangerous objects of power were locked within. I couldn't help but think that we were being led down here, instead of in one of the easier to access offices upstairs because…Arlan was afraid of what we carried.
Carved into the door was an odd set of symbols that seemed to be made of a multitude of rounded dimples in the metal that formed into a star-like symbol. Arlan then reached for his neck and pulled out a spherical object of what looked to be orichalcum tied to a metal chain of steel. With a practiced ease, he unhooked the object from his neck and began inserting the object into different dimples of the door and making a few twists of what I assumed was a key each time.
Arlan did his best to hide whatever actions he made, and once he had finished, the symbols on the door lit up blue with mana. Then, the door slid aside with a grinding noise of stone against metal. Looking further within, there was a hallway split into different doorways that had more of those symbols on them.
Along the walls were lanterns lit by flames that I could only guess were kept alight by an enchantment that absorbed ambient mana in the air and powered themselves through it. "Theo, as per protocol of entering the first vault defenses, I can only allow you, as a guildmaster, and those whose backgrounds have been thoroughly investigated and verified, entrance into this place." I nodded in understanding and turned to my subordinates.
"I understand. Hand me the chest and wait for my return." The two mages holding the chest brought it to me and allowed me to take it from them. The weight pulled on my arms, but I could carry the precious cargo the rest of the way. "Teresia, you will be in charge of the others while I speak with Grand Guildmaster Arlan."
She nodded in reply, "Understood, Guildmaster Theo." Once said, she, and the rest of my subordinates went back up the stairs, leaving Arlan and I alone. Once Arlan was satisfied, he motioned me to follow and we walked inside. The moment I stepped inside, Arlan put his key into a slot in the wall and the door slid back into place behind us.
With this, we walked to the first door reachable in the hallway that Arlan unlocked with his key. Then, we entered into the room where a table of stone sat in the center while the walls held numerous arcane conduits, weapons, and a few scrolls. "Please, set the chest on the table." Arlan requested.
Doing as Arlan requested, I set the chest down and gently opened it to reveal my mistress' bottled blood that glowed in the confines of the chest, alongside the tome that she had given me. Following this, I stepped aside and allowed Arlan to approach the chest and gingerly reach a shaky hand out to lightly touch the glass holding the blood.
"Theo, please, tell me what this is?" Arlan asked tensely as his gaze remained fixed upon the golden blood, "There's more mana within just this liquid than there has been in any mage I've ever seen or any of the objects that have ever been locked in the vault."
"Arlan, how much have you heard about the being known as the Fox Princess?" I lightly prodded as I wanted to know how well he would take what I said next, depending on his next response.
This made the elder mage quickly turn and gaze at me, and it seemed that his eyes scanned my form for a moment before finally meeting mine. "What I know is from everything I've heard from his Majesty. A mage of mine was sent to try and free his Majesty's cousin from an enchantment put upon him to no success. I was called in to investigate it after this first failure, but none of the spells I knew or the objects I used had any effect. What I do know about the Fox Princess is her claims of divinity."
"Before I set out for the capital, I had an expedition led into the Great Forest of Tob after a massive structure in the form of a stone tree had been spotted. It was originally believed that this may have been caused by a powerful relic of magic, but we were quickly proven wrong when we became surrounded by intelligent magical foxes with multiple tails. They led us to the Great Lake where we found a palace of gold built at the foot of this tree."
I leaned against the table and smirked to myself in amusement, "None of us had been prepared to find an actual goddess inside this palace. We spoke with her, and the Fox Princess confirmed that she had been the one to create this tree with a spell of a Tier beyond the 10th." A sharp intake of breath was heard from Arlan before I continued, "We wanted to know more from her, to even trade knowledge of spellcraft with her, and she showed interest as well."
That was when I pointed to the bottle that Arlan's fingers were still lightly touching, "But she wished to know of our powerful spells, and when I told her that it would require speaking with you and proof to even access our more esoteric knowledge, she conjured that bottle with pure magic and cut her hand before filling it with her blood."
Arlan's eyes comically widened as his gaze turned back to said blood, "You're saying that this- that this pure concentration of mana in liquid form is actually blood?!" I nodded in answer.
"More than just that, but to explain that portion, I have to explain the book." I said with a gesture of my hand. Arlan quickly took the book from the chest and opened it before flipping between the pages. With each second passing, his hands trembled more as his eyes became filled with a look of hunger that I was familiar with. An urge to know more.
Arlan somehow managed to pull his attention away from the pages of the book with a good deal of effort and gazed at me. "There are tomes locked away in the vault that are filled with knowledge which could potentially kill many, possibly even destroy this city, if a mage with enough power and talent could understand the tomes and learn the spells. And yet, this," Arlan closed the book and waved it at me.
"This tome is so detailed and meticulous that I bet one could learn the spell within a year or two. It says that [Greater Slow] is a 4th Tier spell. Texts on spells of 4th Tier and above are either esoteric at best and maddeningly unhelpful at worst. Yet this one isn't. D-Do you understand the amount of power there is in this? The amount of danger?" He questioned.
My eyes slightly narrowed in question, "Danger? While all magic carries risk, this knowledge isn't dangerous, it's miraculous and could change the world of spellcraft as we know it by implementing teachings from it to entirely different spells." I responded.
Arlan set the book back into the chest and rubbed his brow for a moment, "The danger I speak of, Theo, is that knowledge like this is could be learned by any two-bit mage lacking sense. If powerful and destructive spells were easy for mages to access, then the world would likely be in great peril if some lunatic was to gain access to this knowledge. Perhaps nothing would happen or perhaps this lunatic would discover a way to prolong the effects of [Greater Slow] to slow down the growth of a field of crops?"
"All knowledge can be dangerous in the wrong hands." I countered.
"Yes, but magic can have much dire consequences if used for dubious ends. One of the positives for the length of time it typically takes to learn spells is that it weeds away those without discipline and whose thoughts are only about instant gratification of power. While this doesn't prevent every callous mage from learning a spell, it does prevent a greater number of these callous mages from ever getting to that point. Where did you get this?"
My superior's tone on this subject worried me, but I answered him, if only to try and help convince Arlan that he was overthinking this knowledge, "I was able to get a personal audience with the Fox Princess after she gave us her blood. She agreed to give me the tome of her knowledge on just that spell as a test. From there, it led to both mine, and many others' revelations on her divinity. Enough so for us to found a new belief around her."
For a moment, Arlan froze as he processed my words. "She has this much knowledge on spells?"
"Yes. She would as she is a goddess of magic."
"And this belief?" Arlan asked.
"As mages, we once had no god or goddess of magic. Where those who find worship in the Four would get power from faith, mages had no one to truly turn to. We founded a faith that believes in the one deity that cares about magic, that we have actually seen walk among mortals. And if that isn't enough to believe, then the elixir can help quell any doubts." I explained as I pulled out a vial from my robe of the golden water and held it to Arlan.
"This is her blood." He commented with a flicker of his eyes from the blood in the chest and the vial in my hand, "What have you done?"
"Originally, we experimented with a little of the blood to better understand its properties. We found that, when place in mana-infused water, just a drop of the blood would absorb and convert the mana in the water into more of itself, hastened if one were to pray to the blood. And then, we decided to drink it, and that was when we became enlightened and enhanced."
"Theo, you drank a substance that converted differing sources of mana into more of itself? Do you understand the absolutely massive risks that such a thing could do? What it still might be doing to you?" Arlan questioned, which I nodded to.
"Yes, I did. And yet, I wasn't afraid when I drank it. And the benefits I, and the others who have drunk it, attained were more than worth it." I stepped over to the older mage and gently put my hand on his shoulder in reassurance, "Any who have consumed it have had their mana increased, and their spells made easier to cast, with a few women being enhanced even further, marked by a golden ring in their eyes. Mages have spent centuries looking for ways to increase their mana and ability through potions and elixirs.
Most have failed in this task, received barely enough reward for the amount of effort it took, or the ingredients have long since gone extinct. We've finally found something that does it all. What more could we ask for?"
Arlan shook his head. "What more could we ask for? What more could she ask for? Everything you've shown me is everything that we could ask for, but sometimes things are too good to be true. Freely given power like this is never truly for free."
"Please, Arlan. This isn't one of those moments. The Fox Princess is benevolent, and I have spoken with her enough to know for certain. And more than that, she might be the one thing that can save our kingdom from the Baharuth since we're both smart men, we know how the constant war with them is going to end." I said, attempting to appeal to his sense of logic.
The elder mage slowly brushed my hand off his shoulder and slowly paced to the wall, looking tiredly at the artifacts hanging upon it, "And instead of the Baharuth taking over, we could have a different tyrant's boot at our necks. We need to study these items, potentially look into a way of dealing with this woman if necessary, and try to undo what has been done in mistaken haste. Likely, we will have to study the woman with golden eyes that you brought along with you on why the blood affects her like this, which can hopefully tell us how to undo this."
My eyes fully narrowed in suspicion at Arlan. "What are you talking about, Arlan? Why would we undo this? This is a blessing that we need, not one to push away and reject. Perhaps I was mistaken coming here if you aren't willing to see reason and realize what good this would do for us." I said with disappointment.
"You were far from wrong to come here, Guildmaster Theo. What you've informed me is of immense help to the Magician's Guild, especially when it alerts me as to how much of a problem and threat that this Fox Princess is." Arlan responded, receiving a shake from my head as I closed the lid of the chest and prepared to pick it up.
For once, I had been unable to convince one of my colleagues, especially one with as much weight to his voice as Arlan. I thought that he, of all people, would be absolutely ecstatic about such a development. Turns out that I was wrong. "My people and I shall be leaving since I fear that we're never going to find common ground on this. I appreciate the time you took to hear me out, Grand Guildmaster."
"Leave that chest where it is, Theo."
I slowly turned my head to look at Arlan with his back still facing me. "What?"
"That chest contains a powerful magical artifact and a tome of knowledge that is too dangerous to be allowed to the public." Arlan said calmly.
"Arlan, while you may be my superior, these items are property of the E-Rantel branch of the Magician's Guild. They aren't staying here." I replied with an even tone. To be fully honest, despite the calm front I was putting up, my heart was pounding in my chest.
I had never believed that I would ever have to stand up to the Grand Guildmaster in my life like this, but I was the head of the E-Rantel branch. While I may listen and obey some of his orders, my duty was to my branch of the guild in addition to the kingdom. And most recently, also to my mistress, Kashia.
"Additionally," Arlan added, "you and your people will also need to remain here. We can't allow for those infected by this substance to walk around freely until we understand more about it. Along with this, we will need to know who else you may have infected with this substance before you came here." I found my jaw slightly dropping as I felt taken aback at what the elder mage was saying.
"This jest of yours is made in very poor taste. My people aren't staying here, and neither am I." I warned while moving to pick up the chest.
"Theo." Arlan said sadly, and I found myself turning to look at the man. "I'm trying to protect the guild. And while you see salvation with this Fox Princess, I see damnation compared to if we are ruled by the Baharuth who we already know."
My head cocked at this. The Baharuth were an enemy who planned to conquer us while the Fox Princess wished to aid us. It was extremely obvious to know which side was better for this kingdom. "Arlan, please jus-"
"I'm sorry it's come to this." He turned around with a wand in his right hand.
My eyes widened in shock, "ARLAN!" And before I could react, a blue light filled my vision.