Chapter 155: Enchanted Objects


    Stryg, you still need to practice your illusion restoration spells, Vayu nodded to himself. I have to admit though, your illusion spells have advanced quite fast. I think it soon may be time to begin teaching you mind spells.


    Really? Im done with the wind-chime room and all these annoying illusions? Stryg sat up excitedly.


    What? No, of course not, Vayuughed. No, you are nowhere near mastering illusions. When I deem you ready you will begin training mind spells <em>alongside </em>your illusion spells.


    Right, Stryg sighed. He shook his head and sat upright, I will not fail you. Tell me what to do and Ill have it done.


    Thats the spirit, Vayu smiled.


    Stryg nced past the open sliding doors and to the city spread across the horizon. It was difficult to truly grasp how enormous Hollow Shade was until you saw it from up high. Thousands of buildings sprawled across his view. He could tell which district the buildings belonged to based on their size and design. The Trade District was thergest of the citys sectors, followed by the poor Commoner District, then the middle-ss Bourge District where merchants and lesser Named Houses lived.


    With a plethora of dark interests such as brothels, ve markets, and beast-kin breeders, many folks visited the infamous Night District.


    Stryg turned his gaze further beyond, he could clearly see therge mansions of the Vi District from here, it was where the most powerful of Great Houses lived, including the Seven Ruling Families.


    The Central District was located at the center of Hollow Shade, it was easy to spot thanks to the looming Ebon Tower that stood proud at the very center of the city. The only more iconic structure of Hollow Shade was the Ebon Wall. Stryg still had no inkling of how the Ebon Lords had managed to create the titanic magestone wall, nor how they managed to ce thousands of shades within its eerie dark stone.


    Stryg nced down below at the mage academys campus. Dozens of buildings surrounded him. He spotted a variety of students rushing across the cobblestone paths, trying to get to their next ss. The Schr District epassed Hollow Shades four prestigious schools, the magic, martial, merchant, and civics academies.


    This ce really is incredible, Stryg muttered.


    Hm? What was that? Vayu asked.


    Professor z, I have some questions, Stryg looked up at the sky and stared at the sun.


    Fire away, the dark elf said.


    Stryg nced over at him, his lc irises had widened and spanned entirely across his eyes.


    Your <em>eyes</em>, Vayu leaned forward with interest.


    My master told me its an ocr mutation. It allows my eyes to handlerge exposures of light, Im not sure of its limits. What I do know is that I see light differently when my eyes are like this. Light appears to me as soft almost physical substances, like paint or ribbons. Stryg sighed, This probably doesnt make much sense.


    No, please go on. Im listening, Vayu nodded vigorously.


    Stryg cupped his hands together, pooled purple mana into his palms, and casted a small illusory grey orb.


    When I was at Castle Mora I encountered some illusions. The thing was, I could clearly see they were illusions, they were purple. I know mana is a form of energy and therefore ethereal and invisible in its natural state. I also know my mutation doesnt allow me to see mana. So, why did those illusions at the castle appear purple? Why does this illusory grey orb in my hands look purple right now?


    Vayuughed giddily, This is fascinating stuff, really. House z takes pride in being considered the most powerful Ruling Family and having extensive magical knowledge, especially regarding purple magic. Our founder was a true purple mage, you know.


    I didnt, Stryg shook his head.


    Vayu cleared his throat, Sorry, I digress. My point is, I have never heard of anything like this before. Sure, ocr mutations have been recorded in the past, but not one quite like yours. And to see illusions as purple, it is sort of like rity magic.


    rity magic? Stryg had heard Lord Elzri Noir mention it before.


    Yes, the true blue spell-form. rity spells have several capabilities, the most famous is being able to see mana in all forms, whether that be floating in the air in its natural state, being transformed into a spell, or even lying dormant within a mages body.


    But I cant see mana, Stryg frowned.


    Exactly! Which begs the question, why do you see illusions as purple? Vayu leaned back and rubbed his chin, Illusions areposed of matter, albeit very little. Perhaps that matter interacts with light differently? Or maybe the illusions themselves also give off some level of light that your eyes detect?


    I was hoping for a more concrete answer, Stryg sighed.


    This is new territory, jumping to conclusions so quickly could be very detrimental. If there is anything else you could tell me about the incident at Mora Castle, it would be very helpful. Such as what sort of illusions did you see.


    Hmm, Stryg closed his eyes in thought. Well, there were three illusions that all looked identical to the original, amia.


    You encountered amia? Im surprised you got out with your life, Vayu rubbed his neck.


    So am I, Stryg sighed. Anyway, the illusorymias moved in sync with the original. Whenever one of the illusions were damaged they would regenerate almost instantly.


    Illusion restoration, Vayu nodded. The purple mage who cast the spell must have been very skilled.


    There was no mage, just themia.


    Wait, what do you mean? Beast-kin have no magic, whether it be elemental or chromatic, Vayus forehead creased.


    She was wearing this golden belt with purple magestones embedded on it. Im guessing it was an enchanted belt since it had a bunch of arcane symbols engraved on its surface, Stryg shrugged.


    Incredible, Vayu said in awe.


    Huh?


    Enchantments are difficult spells to create, especiallyplex ones. While they are normally limited to the abilities of brown mana, if the enchanter is a manifold mage they could hypothetically create an enchanted object that mimics a spell from a different chromatic color.


    So, this one was enchanted by a purple-brown mage?


    Vayu stood up, Yes, but you dont understand the importance of this. It is incredibly difficult for enchantments to mimic spells from a different color. Even creating a staff that could shoot a basic orange fireball spell would take a powerful high-master mage a year to make and perfect. And thats only one spell. Trying to enchant an object with <em>several </em>spells, ones so advanced to be able to perfectly copy amia three times?


    Vayu ran his hands through his short grey hair, That would require years of work and the craftsmanship of an extremely skilled arch-mage enchanter. I know of no living manifold arch-mage enchanter who wields both purple and brown mana. Nor can I recall any in recent history. Even if there had been, an enchanted object of that level would be famous.


    So, how did something so valuable end up in the hands of amia? Stryg asked.


    Vayus lips grew thin, I dont know. Perhaps


    What? What is it?


    I have two possible theories, neither is promising for us.


    At least tell me, Strygined.


    Well, one possibility is that the enchanter came from a different Realm, which would exin how such a powerful enchanted object has gone unnoticed. It would also mean that our enemy, the Cairn Tribe, has the backing of another Realm. How they managed to contact another Realm after the Schism leads to implications I dont even wish to entertain.


    Stryg was surprised. What could get a high-master mage like Vayu scared? Okay, so what is the other possibility? Stryg asked.


    That there is a powerful arch-mage in the Cairn Tribe. Ive never heard of one of the Valley tribes having an arch-mage. The thought of an enemy arch-mage is unsettling, but certainly preferable to the previous theory.


    Stryg stood up and bowed his head, Thank you for the info. I should get going to my next ss. My teacher will get angry at me if Imte.


    Right, Ive held you up too long, Vayu smiled wryly. Oh, before I forget. The enchanted belt, you said it had several magestones? How many and howrge?


    Three, I think? They were a littlerger than my hand. Why?


    The more powerful the enchantment the more mana they use. Judging from the amount and size of the magestones I would guess they were a high-grade cut.


    High-grade cut?


    Not all magestones are equal. Some can absorb and hold more mana than others. Either way, that enchanted belt would consume its mana reserves fairly quickly. There has to be a powerful mage who is constantly recharging the magestones.


    So, they do have an arch-mage enchanter on their side? Stryg muttered.


    The possibility is bing more and more likely, Vayu sighed.


    ~~~


    Stryg ran down the stone steps and burst into the Frost Pool Chamber with a m of the iron door. Ismene sat on arge pillow at the other end of the chamber. Next to her was a gold filigree teapot and two cups of steaming tea.


    Ismenes beige eyes looked him over. Her wrinkled hands grabbed a teacup with a calm elegance Stryg had tried to emte but always failed.


    Yourete, Ismene sipped her tea.


    Im sorry, I got caught up with an interesting conversation about magic, Stryg bowed repeatedly.


    Everything about magic is interesting to you.


    Is that a bad thing?


    When it blinds you to your priorities, yes, it is.


    Right Stryg swallowed.


    He nced at the metal grate flooring, hoarfrost had formed at its edges. He could see the water beneath the grate slosh around with an all too familiar rage. Stryg tried to think quickly before the Tempest Arch-Mage doused him with freezing water.


    It had to do with the Mora Castle attack, Stryg spouted.


    Ismene stared at her tea, You have been through a lot these past few days.


    Uh-huh, Stryg nodded vehemently.


    His eyes never left the water beneath him.


    Comingte to your first day of the semester may set a bad precedent. A blue mage must always be in control of themselves, they have to take their training seriously, Ismene murmured.


    I promise I wont bete again! Stryg swore.


    Hmm In that case, I will make an exception for today. Ismene patted the pillow next to her, Well, what are you waiting for? Get over here and tell me about your travels.


    The cold metal floor vibrated as Stryg ran across. He took a seat on the pillow and grabbed his cup of tea graciously.


    Im listening, Ismene smiled warmly.


    The elder human seemed like a benevolent loving grandmother-like figure. No one would think that she was in fact the fearsome Tempest Arch-Mage, who had single-handedly in countless valley raiders and river pirates. The tribes of Dusk Valley feared her more than Elzri or any other mage.


    Strygs worries of the Cairn Tribes arch-mage suddenly melted away.


    He smiled and grabbed his teacup, I managed to cast a torrent spell.


    Ismene raised an eyebrow, I thought we were holding off casting blue spells until you managed to stop relying on your anger.


    Thats the thing! I mean, sure, I normally rely on my emotions to spellcast. But this time was different. We were in the Dire River in the middle of a storm.


    Mm, Ive been there, not fun, she said.


    I wouldnt have made it if my centaur hadnt saved us. Still, it was close. We were going to drown and all I could think of was how I didn''t want Rhian and Maeve to die.


    Yourpanions I assume?


    Stryg nodded, Right. I wanted us to live, thats all I wanted. And my blue mana responded to that. I was able to cast a torrent spell that created a wave to carry us to our ship.


    Ismene sipped her tea quietly. Using the will to live as your mental focus for spell-casting is very powerful, but ultimately unstable. Still, it is a start. Your meditation skills have made some progress as well Perhaps it is time I begin teaching you torrent spells.


    Great! Im tired of just sitting here and talking all the time, Stryg sighed in relief.


    Ismene stared at him.


    *<em>Ahem</em>* I mean, I am deeply grateful for this honor, professor Ismene, he bowed deeply.