The Mick leaned against Hopper, his legs feeling like rubber. Hopper wasn’t much better, of course, but both of them were extremely satisfied at what they’d done.
The Thunderbird was without a doubt the greatest master of Lightning in the world. There was no magical effect of Lightning beyond Him, as, indeed, any Sage could imitate any spell of Lightning with their understanding.
But there was imitating, and there was taking the true thing to a grand and glorious new high.
There were countless roads that could lead to the same point, but the true Starpath would always be the purest and the greatest, and that was what they had been demonstrating: Wizardry!
Hopper had a lot more raw Mana than the Mick did, but the magnetic aspect of Earth Magic was basically the other half of Lightning, as Fae had revealed and shown them all. There was tons of Lightning Mana invested in the clouds, but much less in the ground here. The electromagnetic alchemical Patterns in his Glaive, transposed to the ground, had been enough to show the Thunderbird that there was a whole other branch of power to Lightning that He had not tapped, and there was a great deal more He could do with it.
Which was probably why they hadn’t been killed or sent flying for daring to come pay tribute to The Thunderbird, even if they had easily bamboozled the interfering Ruling Eagle who had thought itself capable of stopping them.
The Mick stared at the sky, a feeling of momentous magic moving through him and the spell he and Hopper had woven. He felt that crackling barrier of comprehension fall away. It was a limit he hadn’t really known was there, and now that it was, he saw it wasn’t much of a limit at all. He had already passed it by; he just hadn’t seen it was there and how to step on by and into a greater realm.
He was empty of Lightning and Earth Mana, but that just made him a better conduit of the power flowing between Heaven and Earth. On the top of his Matrix, a new Starfield opened, only a tiny thing, swirling with clouds and wind as seven Stars coalesced.
On the bottom, the vastness of a great Galaxy of crystalline Stars of Earth glowered and coalesced in thousands of Stars, the foundation for a mountain of power that was reaching for the sky, as likewise thousands of Lightning Stars sparked and gathered thickly between them, exploding out and replicating the Matrix and Valence structures in the jetsilver glittering of the Void that contained them all.
It had only been two years. He had taken a step most Mages would not take in their whole lives, and in grand and domineering fashion, seizing the power that was his to take... and without stealing from others, without scrambling for money or prizes or stealing from the Land, or writhing in self-doubt and watching others less deserving of power march on past him.
The Mick sat there and cried as he looked up at glory and the future, Hopper’s head resting on his shoulder as they stared at the sky together. Mage became Archmage, and with it, his Contracted Beast was already starting to grow, to turn purple and white, and become a Storm Runner, a true Noble of the Runner tribe of Avians!
His Void Stars weren’t even topped off properly, and now he had to work on Air, too! He smirked despite himself at that vast foundation of Earth and Air, Lightning connecting them and promising him levels of power no Lightning Mage on this world had ever truly touched when he finally brought it all together.
“WHO TAUGHT YOU SUCH MAGIC?”
The words were pure force of will, communicated right to his soul, not even Psychic Magic. His power was just so great that it bypassed the need for magic, not that The Thunderbird couldn’t use Sound to do the same thing if He desired.
The Thunderbird could tell they were both drained of magic, but that didn’t mean their Wills had faded. The Mick slowly sat up, gathered his legs under him, and took a knee to the Thunderbird. Next to him, Hopper prostrated himself fully, yet somehow fiercely, before the Sovereign of Avians.
“Your Imperial Majesty, this one was taught this by the Lady Fae,” he responded, aware The Thunderbird could probably hear an ant fart on the horizon, let alone his voice. He projected up the image of her in Holo. “If Your Majesty has contacts in the Beast Realm, you may have heard her name there.”
That was enough to earn Thunderbird’s undivided attention, all the hairs on The Mick’s arms standing up at being the focus of a Beast Emperor. “SHE IS KNOWN IN THE BEAST REALM?” Thunderbird Emperor asked carefully, the weight of the words daring the Mick to lie.
“Her Emperor there was Flowing Silver Emperor, of the Nine-tailed Silver Foxes, and her name is known to dozens of Emperors and countless Noble Beasts, and even the Beast Lord Himself,” he stated calmly. “She did break the invasion of the Underworld into the Beast Realm, and heal many of the powerful Nobles of injuries of the flesh, spirit, and soul suffered in that long fight.
“She was returned to the mortal realm once more, but her battles against the Dark Magic have not ended, they have merely moved to a new territory.”
“A HUMAN WHO IS BATTLING THE DARK MANA?” The Thunderbird asked, subtle overtones of skepticism in His Voice. “OF ALL BEASTS, HUMANS ARE THE MOST SUSCEPTIBLE TO THE TEMPTATIONS OF THE DARK MANA.”
“Aye, Your Imperial Majesty, that is true. But Humans are not the only Beasts who have embraced it, merely the most numerous... and it takes only a tithe of our number, rather than whole Bloodlines.
“She’s brought us the vivic fire of the Land, the key and tool to devouring the Dark Mana and rendering it toothless.” He reached into his Pocket and pulled out a Vivic Brazier, unfolding the Lotus cap so the Vivic Eternal Light could be seen clearly. “A simple tool to start the process.”
The Thunderbird wasn’t going to bend down to inspect it; the Brazier was pulled directly from the Mick’s hands and floated up before one great golden eye, which stared at the coolly misting flame, studying in detail what it was doing.
“THIS... IS BURNING THE DARK MANA,” the Thunderbird murmured. “IT REMOVES THE DARKNESS AND MAKES OF IT NORMAL ELEMENTAL MANA...”
“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. It is called vivic fire, the Fire of Life. It feeds on the unnatural energies of the Underrealm, much as the living feed upon the dead, and turns it into new strength for the Land.
“To the vivus, Dark Mana is a meal, not Taint, nor Corruption.
“But as You know, the Dark Mana is very, very entrenched into our world, and there is a great deal of it to Burn Away. This process will not be done overnight, and it cannot be done by the Beasts, for the vivic fire is of no Element, and cannot be raised or wielded by the Great Beasts, who are wed to the Manafield.” He grimaced himself. “This one and Hopper cannot truly wield it, either, as we are also tied to the Elements. Only Typeless Mages, who are tied to no Element, can call it forth and instill it as Your Majesty sees before You.”
“THIS IS WORKING... SLOWLY, ALTHOUGH THERE IS LITTLE DARK MANA HERE...”
“Your Imperial Majesty, that spell can burn enough Dark Mana in a day to sustain itself, which is the nature of vivus,” the Mick relayed. “We know it is a not a lot, considering the thousands of years and millions of beings who have drawn Dark Mana from the Underrealms and diffused it into the Manafield, and continue to do so now.
“But it is a start, and Lady Fae and those she instructs can make many, many more of them.”
The Thunderbird considered the misty white Light burning there for long moments more. “I WOULD MEET A MORTAL WHO HAS DARED TO GO TO THE BEAST REALM. BRING HER TO ME.”
“As His Imperial Majesty decrees!” the Mick agreed promptly, Hopper chirping his own acknowledgement, their instructions on such matters extremely clear. The mere fact that he was being given an order meant the Thunderbird had acknowledged and recognized him as someone capable of delivering that order! That was actually an incredible level of prestige in the Beast Realm, especially for a Human! Of course, most humans wouldn’t see it that way, but most humans didn’t understand or acknowledge the reality of the world they lived in.
It was the exact reason why the Thunderbird wanted to see her, too. A Human recognized by a Beast Emperor was someone playing the game at a very high level, indeed, and not one to dismiss lightly without offending that Emperor.
That recognition alone would make Hopper possibly the most important Runner in the whole continent! The Mick could feel just how thrilled his feathered friend was at being directed to do anything directly by Thunderbird!
And here two years ago I almost died to a freaking horde of Spiders, the Mick mused to himself, shaking his head in wonder at how much his life had changed, and just how much bigger his role in the world had become...
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They didn’t have to ‘deliver’ me the order, but they did, because there’s a formality to those kinds of things... and nobody said The Thunderbird couldn’t be listening in from the length of the continent away as the Mick and Hopper drew up and politely issued me my Summons.
The Soundhouse was opening in Memphis, to the city’s utter astonishment, as they’d had not a hint of warning. There was no doubt whatsoever that it meant the city was going to become the music capital of the continent, if not the world.
At the same time, the Icehouse was getting its Adept Spells, causing a new furor in Colorado.
Even months after giving the Novice spells away, there was not much let-up in the Houses. After all, they weren’t that expensive, and everyone wanted the ‘best’ version of the spells. The fact they still couldn’t replicate the ‘best’ version independently was annoying a lot of Mages and more, and the fact the same effect seemed to be applying to the Adept spells was also generating a lot of interest.
Archmages were naturally testing the spells right and left, comparing them to the magicks they could wield, and even some Sages were getting in on things and chiming in with their findings. It basically came down to the fact that, no, they couldn’t replicate the efficiency and power of the Spells just with their control of the appropriate Element and Mana. Sure, by using MORE power, they could exceed them... but that wasn’t the point.
The fact there were twelve such spells per Element meant... what? And what did it mean for spells at Mage-Class?
Archmage? Was their great control of magic... just an illusion to the fact they should be following a more structured path?
I wasn’t surprised at some of the debates raging out there in the magical world. Scholars all over the place were screaming at me to reveal my theories and foundations to the magical community as a whole, in service to all of magic... and I was ignoring them roundly. Everything (well, not everything) I was doing was right out there in the open: Typeless Magic, Typeless Mages, extra Spells. If they wanted to imitate them, they could go right ahead and do so... but they were only going to get an inferior version when they did so.
Wizardry would be our ace in the hole. Nobody was going to take that from us.
Human Mages and higher Tiers wielding magic they’d created from nothing and built up to whole Galaxies and Star Palaces of magic and more were gossiping about all this, so it wasn’t surprising that Thunderbird Emperor was greatly interested in what was going on magically, too, and for the exact same reasons. Learning to wield any form of magic not just in any manner, but in the most efficient manner, could only enhance His strength, and certainly His understanding.
Of course He would want to see me. It naturally meant I would have to travel to get there. The Mick hadn’t requested a Seal Focus right there, leaving that to me, and I should use a Lived-Line connection, anyway. I could borrow the Teleport Focus he left on a boulder twenty miles away from the Nest, sure, but why? Reynard was totally into taking an overland trip. If any dumb Wolves tried to bother him, he was going to shred their little brains for daring to pick on a Fox of his unique Bloodline! Did they think his five Tails were just for show?!
Of course, the Mighty Turk was all for it, too, especially since we could just Teleport back home after a night of progress...
That said, Reynard was not one to discount the summons of an Emperor, either, given he had one for a great-grandfather or something. So, when we were running that particular route, taking a different one than the Mick had, we made excellent time, Void and Air Magic sliding us through space at great speed as we raced through the territories of multiple Ruling Beasts and several Emperors, none of whom decided that chasing us was something they wanted to do.