Chapter 67: Warped Developments

Chapter 67: Warped Developments

Nathan studied the spectacle that was the top of the Ascendent Academy. From this vantage point it was a shifting wonderland of color that lit the stone towers in beautiful hues.

The magic wasnt enough to keep him totally hidden if he tried to run between the towers, so he scanned the rooftops and windows below for those who might see him. Between all of the towers and windows there were enormous number of places for a watcher to be hiding. He was less worried about people, because the late hour, the magical display and his stealth skills would hide him. But the golems of the Academy were at least immune to [Noticeability], though Nathan thought [Disguise] and [Mage Infiltration] still had some effect on them.

After a few minutes, he caught sight of statues set in disguised and magically hidden alcoves on the central tower. They looked to be about the same size as the golems that patrolled the Academy, with a more feminine body shape. Each was armed with a giant metallic bow. They looked a bit like some statues of Artemis that Nathan had seen on Earth.

Alertness 8 achieved!

I wonder if they shoot magical or physical arrows? Doesnt really matter, since the real danger is an alarm of some kind. I dont think I can fly to the center tower without being spotted.

He frowned, gauging the sight lines. He thought there were enough beams of magical light around that hed be able to cross from one tower to another so long as he was careful. It was a risk, but so was traveling through the Academy. Flying would be a lot faster too.

Once he thought he had the path figured out Nathan took off, zipping through the air with stealth and movement skills active. He followed the path hed mapped out, though he had to make a last-second adjustment when one of the intervening streamers of magical light shifted its position. He made it to the top of the next tower without any obvious reaction from the golem archers, and crouched among the tiles while deciding how to enter. He positioned himself where the bedroom should be if this tower was rotationally symmetric with the others, then bored straight down.

Unfortunately, there was another protection spell woven into the stone. This one seemed to be made of fire and earth mana that maintained a layer of searing hot magma in the walls. There was a subtler detection network behind it paired with a cooling enchantment to prevent the defenses from turning the suite into an oven. Nathan sighed as he examined the protections with his magical senses. These archmages were paranoid. But he couldnt blame them. He was trying to murder them all.

The detection spell would not only detect anybody trying to teleport or otherwise bypass the molten stone, but it would also set off an alarm if the heat was interrupted in any way. Nathan modeled a few different ways of getting through the barriers before he figured out a way to short-circuit the heat-sensing portion of the enchantment to always report the correct temperature.

Wizards Meditation 4 achieved!

He hotwired the detection spell and used his aura to rapidly cool a portion of the magma, sucking the magical heat out of the spell to replenish the Stamina hed spent running between the towers. Then he bored a peephole through the wall to look into the suite beyond. Like hed hoped, hed breached into the master bedroom. But it was empty, which was a surprise at this late hour. The room wasn't luxurious, with a cleanly made bed and a stern dresses on individual racks. A few sheaves of notes were scattered on almost every flat surface, interspersed with books open to specific pages.

Nathan dropped into the room and landed gently on the carpet. He needed to stay here for a couple of minutes to stabilize his entry point until the Academy sealed the hole, or else hed risk molten rock dripping down into the room. It was a balancing act to use his antimagic to hold back the molten stone without inhibiting the wizardry that repaired the ceiling, but he managed it. Once the ceiling was repaired, he started prowling through the suite, checking for inhabitants. The library was absolutely overstuffed with old tomes. He tiptoed through the narrow corridors between stacked books, but saw nobody in the cramped space. But there was a large mana pool through the next wall.

He poked a peephole in the wall next to the door, seeing that the dining room had converted into a study. Schematics of human anatomy had been affixed to the wall haphazardly, and multiple workbenches were covered in stone arms and legs. In the center of a room was an armature, supporting a partially-constructed human-sized golem. It was missing one leg and both arms. Unlike most Giantsrest golems, this one was threaded with wizardry in addition to mana.

A somewhat older woman in a plain dress sat at a desk off to the side, surrounded by notes as she pored over a detached arm. Her hair was brown with streaks of gray and cascaded messely around her shoulders. The apparent Archmage sighed and leaned back to run her fingers through her hair before grabbing a steaming mug and downing the contents.

The empty mug made a thunk as it hit the desk, and an older man Nathan hadnt seen stepped in from the corner of the room to refill it with a carafe. He was dressed in a fancy outfit that looked something like a tuxedo, though with billowing sleeves and a stylish metal collar imbued with mind magic instead of a tie.

Nathan made the hole slightly larger, watching the enslaved butler as he stood in the corner of the room. The man was a problem, since hed be a witness if Nathan attacked the archmage while she worked.

Well, I could free him, or kill him. It looks like hes got a privileged position. He might be loyal to Giantsrest even without the magic. I could try and distract him, then hide her body on the roof again. Its riskier with a manservant that hell notice shes nowhere to be found. Maybe Ill sabotage her enchantment, cause it to blow up in her face? No, thats not much less suspicious, and risks the archmage surviving. She's got tough mage-armor.

He decided to wait at least a few minutes to see if anything would give him an opening. If more than a half-hour went by hed act, probably by freeing the man and then potentially locking him in the kitchen if he seemed ready to sound an alarm, or killing him if absolutely necessary. Nathan didn't want to have to kill a slave, but like the slave soldiers he'd do it if he had to.

The woman toiled on, hunched over her golem arm and occasionally swearing as she worked. Her mug was refilled twice, but the carafe didnt seem close to running dry. Eventually she yawned, right as Nathan was about to bust into the room.

The man spoke up. Mistress Shua, the Founder has scheduled a meeting of the Ascendent Council early tomorrow morning.

The woman waved her hand dismissively. Baduds plans won't accomplish anything. Even if it is a strange new Talent from Gemore, its wasted mana. The golems of the Academy will protect us as they always have.

As you say, Mistress. The man said, his tone overly patient.

The archmage signed heavily at his voice and pushed herself to her feet, rubbing at her temples. Fine, Ill go to bed. The magic in this golem wont flow clean tonight. She turned towards the door into the library, knuckling her back before shuffling over to the door.

Nathan withdrew as the woman approached, hiding behind a bookshelf.

He heard her pause, and speak in a confused voice. Milt, why is there a hole in the wall?

I do not know, mistress. The enslaved man said, as confused as she. You work with the Giants own tools, perhaps a reaction to your magic?

Nathan was tense and ready to act if she cast a [Message] or did anything else to suggest that she suspected an intruder.

But the spell the archmage cast wasnt a communication spell. It was the same spell Badud had used to try to catch Nathan inside the amphitheater, imbued with only faint tendrils of wizardry. The magic wasnt as coherent as when the Questor had cast the spell, but Nathans proximity and the potency of his Talent presented a separate challenge. He had his work cut out for him in guiding a clear space in the spell in the half-second before the magic engulfed him without tripping any of the detection threads. But his new skills let him thread the gap cleanly.

She pushed the door open to examine the other side of the hole. Perhaps. Its healing itself. Something to study tomorrow. Go check for more and then go to bed. Wake me in time for the meeting tomorrow.

Yes, mistress.

Goodnight, Milt.

Nathan was faintly exasperated at himself for waiting so long and letting her notice the holes. He was on a time limit, he shouldnt be wasting time trying for perfect stealth. Hed been proud of his last two kills, and wanted the third one to go just as cleanly. But his pride had involved, and had intended to go after every single archmage before he angled for Badud, and try to kill them all without any alarm being raised.

This is dumb. The Questor is more important. There isnt an achievement for perfect stealth kills on all of the archmages, and Ive wasted time and taken risks here by wanting to leave no trace. I need to get the [Magekiller] Development, then go after Badud. If he goes down quietly then I can resume targeting the archmages. But sooner or later Im going to get unlucky or waste enough time that the alarm gets raised. Then Badud gets to prepare for me.

Nathan moved quietly from his hiding place, walking on the air above the haphazard stacks of books as the archmage moved into the bedroom. The hole hed made to enter the library had completely healed over while hed been waiting, but he opened it up again to find the woman flopped on the bed facedown, still fully clothed and already starting to snore.

He walked up and drove his elbow into her back, putting his whole body behind the motion. The blow snapped her spine and drove bits of bone into her heart and lungs. It was a lethal blow, and no healing enchantments activated. Nathan quickly turned his attention to the ceiling, stepping into the air and peeling back the lava again, not waiting for the stone to fully cool before he bored into the stone above . Droplets of molten rock fell into the bedroom, scorching the carpet.

Whoops. I hope the slave doesnt notice the smoke.

Magekiller has leveled to 243! You have assassinated Archmage Cani dha Shua. Please choose a developed class from the following list to continue leveling, as you have unlocked a higher level than 243.

Class skill: Unsuspecting Strike -> Sneaky Blow: Attacks against unaware targets are quieter and harder to notice. They will also more easily bypass armor and other protections. Class skill Antimagic Stealth: Your antimagic hides you from magical sensors and detection, and even spells tuned to detect an absence will not detect you. Class skill Lethal Index: You will be able to assess if injuries you cause are lethal, and how long your foes will survive them. New Class skill Wizard Resistance: Your inherent antimagic will protect you from Wizardry. The more powerful the spell in question, the more effective the resistance. New Class skill Magic Jammer: Communication, coordination and information-gathering spells will fail around you, even without direct contact with your antimagic. New Class skill Controlled Failure: You can control the effect of your antimagic on spells, ranging from only disabling a portion of a spell to causing the entire structure to fail catastrophically. Class skill:Sneaky Blow: Attacks against unaware targets are quieter and harder to notice. They will also more easily bypass armor and other protections.

Deepened Stamina: 10050/10440

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: Spellslayer level 260

Regenerative Focus: 2523/2700

Catastrophic Blows

Battle Stealth

Mage Infiltration

Forgettable

Unsuspecting Strike

Antimagic Stealth

Spell Redirection

Lethal Index

Utility skills:

Wizards Meditation 4

Inspiration 3

Acceleration 4

Wizard Senses 10

Alertness 8

Wizards Intuition 10

Effortless Dodge 3

Mental Fortress 10

Tutoring 3

Parkour 2

High-tier Noticeability 8

High-tier Disguise 1

Mid-tier Battle Cry 7

Mid-tier Aura Manipulation 10