Chapter 53: A Message from the Founder

Chapter 53: A Message from the Founder

Faline stood behind the podium disguised as Nol dho Chokiz, influential enslavement mage and host of the current gathering. Her posture was commanding, reminding Nathan of politicians speaking to the camera.

The honored founders established Giantsrest after the Ending of Elements. Her voice was similarly resolute, and carried clearly over the last murmurs of the crowd. They raised their hands and conquered the dungeon of the Giants, then shaped it to shelter the weary survivors of the Ending. They established the Ascendant Academy from those ruins, and trained the first mages.

Falines gaze was distant as she talked, like she was seeing something from the pages of history. We were new to the light of magic, but they taught us its secrets. Seize power with your own fists, they said. Conquer the continent, and civilize it. Gain wealth and Insights, that the Academy will stand past the Ending of History, and all Endings that follow. That is the task they set for us.

Her voice grew mournful, but didnt diminish in volume. But then they left. They promised to return when needed, and they did. Each time Giantsrest was threatened, a founder has led us to victory, taught us new magic and departed once more. That will be true so long as we hold their command to our breasts, and continue expanding Giantsrest.

Faline lowered her gaze from the past to focus on the audience. We have fulfilled their command. Giantsrest spreads across the land, and our power flows clean. Where once we were bare hundreds, now ten thousand mages command hundreds of thousands of slaves. We conquer dungeons and grasp new lands, with riches and Insights flowing back to the Academy.

The disguised assassin gestured, growing more animated and speaking faster as she approached the crux of the argument. We learn new magics, and create new power from the resources of Davrar. The [disintegration] spell, automatic healing enchantments, the slave-elites and their enchanted gear. All of these are our own development, new sources of power. My own slaves work the forges that make weapons and armors for our soldiers, and I supply one-sixth of the enchanting materials in Giantsrest.

She stopped, letting the room fall into expectant silence. Her retelling of the origin story and the destiny of Giantsrest had the crowd dangling on her words.

When she spoke again it was slow and ominous. But our enemies have grown as well. The elemental tribes in the north have grown in number, and their hordes challenge us every Solstice. The Sklian Nechrarchy in the south sends poison clouds and soul eaters to attack our slaves, while every year more dungeons awake. The environment of threats has developed, and for the good of the Academy we must exert our new strength to win regardless.

Another moment of silence stretched before Falines voice rose once again. Then there is Gemore. Several indrawn breaths from the audience indicated that this was a sensitive topic, but she pushed on. Gemore, the city of slaves and barbarians, a strayed child in need of a firm hand.

Her expression grew ugly. Or so we thought! But then they conquered Halsmet and killed a hundred mages. It was a prophecy of woe, the greatest setback Giantsrest has suffered! But then a Founder arrived. Badud, called forth from history to conquer our challenges. We offered to be his hands, as would any loyal graduate of the Academy. The Founders have ever led us to victory and power.

She let the audience hang yet again. But then Badud lost. Four archmages are dead, along with hundreds of our most powerful mages. They raised their hands at the command of a Founder, and were cast down by slaves and barbarians! Badud lies defeated with a cursed wound, though he swears to deliver us inexorable victory.

Faline pressed her point, speaking emphatically and stabbing her finger toward the crowd. There is a lesson here, for every student of the Academy. Founders do not have a prophecy of victory! The survivors of the battle speak of the mage-breaker, a man whom spells cannot touch. He is a new threat to Giantsrest, one we must confront ourselves, without asking the honored Founders to cast aside all obstacles, as a child asks their father. Her eyes burned suddenly, lit with an internal fire.

For how else will a child grow? We are the leaders of Giantsrest! The Founders are a part of the Academy, but we must grow from the children they knew, and seize our destiny for ourselves. We must find our own Path for. Faline paused mid-word, a sudden shiver running through her entire body.

Her mouth worked and she coughed deeply, clutching at her chest. Then she collapsed to the ground, eyes moving to meet Nathans behind the cover of the podium. One of them flashed pink.

Thats my cue.

Nathan, still dressed in the robe of a Nail, dashed a few steps forward and seized Falines body. It was heavier than any of the times hed lifted her recently, but hed activated his Rage to make the task easy. He hefted her limp shape and sprinted out of the room just as the first shouts of alarm rose.

As soon as they were out of the line of sight Faline squirmed and reached for her pouch. She pulled out a potion of fire and hucked it at the two corpses as Nathan pivoted to change direction and leave the dressing room and get into the back hallways of the mansion.

The bodies roared up in a sudden inferno that overtook the small dressing room, and without Nathans aura it would have flash-burned both of them. More yelling spread behind them, accompanied by the sounds of many people casting spells and giving chase.

But Nathan was already accelerating, leaping down the stairs in two [Airwalk]-assisted steps. A slave carrying a stack of dirty plates was slammed aside, bouncing off the wall as plates shattered on the ground.

Nathan took the first left, bracing his feet on thin air to help him make the sudden sideways leap. He identified the biggest window in the next room and thrust his aura forward like a battering ram to disable all of the wards and spells that made the thin glass as tough as a stone wall. Then his body impacted the window, spinning to break the glass with his back while curling around Faline to protect her from the collision.

He went right through the window, bursting into the night and completing his spin to take off once more. The shattered had torn his robe and scratched his back, but the wounds healed immediately as Nathan took off, focusing entirely on getting gone.

Acceleration 3 achieved!

He zipped over a flower garden, making for the trees and staying close to the ground. He was trying to get into the treeline and out of sight of the mansion as quickly as possible. If somebody took to the air and started chasing them it would be hard to achieve a clean getaway. The foliage ahead was dense, and it would be easy to break the line of sight in there.

Both his and Falines stealth skills kicked in, making them hard to spot in the relative darkness. The barest flash of fire mana made Nathan juke sideways, and a bar of fire narrowly missed him. It carved a line through the greenery ahead, a half-dozen fires flaring up along the path of the spell.

Effortless Dodge 2 achieved!

But then Nathan was amongst the trees, and stayed beneath the canopy as he zig-zagged through them, kicking from side to side. Faline shifted in his arms, reverting to her normal size and shape. The reduced weight made Nathans job easier as more spells landed around them. The magic accomplished nothing except demolishing several trees and lighting up the night with confusing shadows.

The spells from behind stopped as a calmer head prevailed, and a detection spell pinged across the entire area. Nathan absorbed the portions of the spell that got close to them, and he knew that the mages behind him were frowning at the failure of their spell. Unfortunately, he didnt know the fastest way out, and was generally just moving away from the spells behind. But for all he knew he could be headed straight towards a barracks of slave-elites.

A powerful enchantment thrummed to life ahead, and a blue glow shone through the trees in front of them. The magic spread up into the sky, a shimmering veil of force that rose up in all directions to encapsulate the estate in a shielded dome.

Nathan chuckled and shot straight for the closest part of the shield. He broke out of the cover of trees and ran towards the base for the shield, which was the inner wall of the estate. Instead of rushing straight through the barrier he slowed to examine it first, wanting to ensure it wasnt a [Disintegrate] barrier that would vaporize Faline.

It wasnt. It wasnt even a particularly strong shield. It appeared to be built to repair itself extraordinarily quickly, so much so that it would be difficult to blast a hole in the barrier and pass through before the hole closed. But a brief circle of antimagic aura did the job just fine, and Nathan accelerated again as he passed over the wall and into the industrial section of the estate.

This wasnt the same area that theyd entered. It seemed dedicated to finer work, with many rows of small workshops. Lights shone from within to indicate that Chokizs slaves were still hard at work as the night wore on. Nathan didnt stick around to see more, instead running just above the rooftops and towards the distant edge of the property where they would be able to blend in with the general population.

He glanced back. The shielded dome was still up, and a flash of magical light shone inside. From the vestiges of the spell Nathan was pretty sure it was supposed to dispel invisibility spells, which wouldnt do them any good. The important thing was that nobody seemed to be following them in the air. With all of the buildings and walls Nathan was flying over, somebody on the ground would need Broxs speed to keep up.

The only remaining obstacle was the magical protections on the outer wall. Nathan flew over it once more, relying on their combined stealth skills to fool any watchers for the seconds they were silhouetted.

Then he peeked over the edge of the next building, into the street. The curfew was in effect, and it was deserted for a hundred feet in both directions. Nathan dropped to the street and deposited Faline gently on the cobblestones. Youve become a good passenger.

Void of Magic has leveled to 309! You and your companion have raided a Giantsrest compound, killing an important mage and escaping retaliation!

She chuckled, eyes wide and cheeks flushed. What an escape! My bones say theyre still searching the gardens for us. Much simpler than my last assassination. She quickly pulled the pink robe from before out of her bag and started changing, stuffing Chokizs green robe away in efficient motions.

Nathan swapped out his own black robe for the green of an enforcement mage. A moment later they were disguised once more as brother and sister touring the city.

Lets celebrate. Faline said once they had reached a main thoroughfare and put some distance between them and the mounting uproar from the Chokiz estate. She gestured towards a quiet restaurant on the side of the road, with four tables set around a quiet fountain.

They sat down and a pretty young woman approached with eyes downcast. She listed a few food and drink options and then took their orders back to the kitchen, leaving Nathan and Faline alone with the gentle tinkling of water and a few privacy enchantments set into the fountain..

Nathan exhaled slowly, relaxing for the first time in hours, though it felt like it had been much longer.

Faline gave him a knowing smile, satisfaction radiating off her like a physical force. She looked like a cat which had gotten the cream, which seemed appropriate. After all, theyd just committed a masterful piece of political sabotage.

Permanent Talent 1: Aura of Antimagic 9

Permanent Talent 2: Perfected Body 9

Permanent Talent 3: Airwalking 4

Class: Void of Magic level309

Deepened Stamina: 6991/9570

Void of Feeling

Antimagic Momentum

Raging Thrill

Implacable Inertia

Unarmored Resilience

Magic Anathema

Airborne Agility

Hand-to-hand Expertise

Voluminous Aura

Denial of Wizardry

Mana Severance

Class: Magekiller level 139

Regenerative Focus: 1322/1490

Catastrophic Blows

Battle Stealth

Mage Infiltration

Forgettable

Unsuspecting Strike

Antimagic Stealth

Spell Redirection

Lethal Index

Utility skills:

Battle Meditation 10

Inspiration 1

Acceleration 3

Wizard Senses 4

Alertness 5

Wizards Intuition 4

Effortless Dodge 2

Mental Fortress 7

Tutoring 2

High-tier Tumbling 10

High-tier Noticeability 4

Mid-tier Disguise 2

Mid-tier Battle Cry 7

Mid-tier Aura Manipulation 6