Chapter 333: The Shedding of Filth

“King Athelstan will be most pleased with what you’ve done here, Professor Jules,” Reginald said, bowing his head to the professor from the back of his horse. Around him, the entire Thameish delegation looked on, mounted and ready to depart under the morning sun.

“Court Wizard Errol will also be pleased,” a representative of the court wizard said. “So pleased that I have a feeling—with what we’ve seen here—he’ll want to witness your achievements first hand. If I know him, I suspect he’ll be with the next delegation when it’s time for another visit.”

“Then I’ll look forward to meeting him and joining with another wizard interested in advancing knowledge. Don’t be strangers,” Professor Jules said, standing in the midst of a gathered crowd.

Despite the early hour, many of the Generasians had come to see the delegation off. Most would be returning to the university later: as the Thameish were heading home, there’d be a changing of the staff in the expedition.

Seated low in the saddle, Cedric smiled, flashing his gold tooth at Isolde who was smoothing her hair and returning his smile. “The same goes fer all o’ you: don’t be a stranger. ‘specially you, Lady von Anmut. I enjoyed our conversations. Your lands sound like a truly magical place. Maybe when this war’s all done an’ dusted, I’ll hop on a ship—or get some mighty wizard to teleport me—an’ come see ‘em for myself.”

A slight shadow crossed Isolde’s face, disappearing in a blink. “You’re welcome at any time.” She paused. “By which, I mean you are all welcome here at the expedition. Post war, perhaps there will be time to discuss diplomatic journeys, I suppose.”

Her voice was neutral, but strained. Alex and Khalik exchanged knowing looks, and the young Thameish wizard decided to help out his cabal-mate.

“Yeah,” Alex agreed. “Come back. Take a load off. See what horrors we’ve cooked up. Have some fun.”

“We will,” Drestra said enthusiastically, nodding to Theresa. “I look forward to our return.”

Hart grinned at Grimloch with a definite challenge. “Until next time.”

“Bring bigger stones,” Grimloch growled, and Alex wondered if the shark man realised how his words could be taken.

“Yeah, bring big stones!” Tyris whooped, and Alex had no question she knew exactly how her words could be taken. Several of her friends yelled, “Tyris!” in reprimand, but she was already laughing so hard, she was snorting.

Hart looked absolutely delighted.

“Well, safe travels, friends,” Prince Khalik said with Najyah perched on his arm.

“Kick some dungeon core ass for us,” Thundar added.

“Good hunting,” offered Theresa.

Brutus barked once as though agreeing with his master.

“We’ll be seein’ you all again. Real soon,” Cedric vowed.

“Yeah, too bad Baelin didn’t have time to come and teleport you guys this time,” Alex said. “Ah, well, maybe soon you’ll be the one teleporting people, Drestra.”

“I look forward to that day,” Drestra’s eyes lit up above her veil.

And with those final words—and a few more goodbyes—the delegation rode through the gates and into the hills of Greymoor. The expedition team watched them shrink into the distance, and Alex’s eyes fell on the sandy-haired Rioran’s back.

His body language had been nearly unreadable, but, as he left the gates behind, it seemed some of his control eased a bit. He rode stiffly, glancing back more than once as though expecting someone, or something, to be following them.

Eventually, he kept his eyes ahead, riding a little faster and pushing his mount a little harder than his companions. Soon, the visitors' forms shrank so far in the distance, Alex couldn’t tell them apart from the horses they were riding. “Well, time to pack up I guess,” he shrugged as he and his friends turned away from the gates to gather up their belongings and head through the portal to Generasi.

In the end, the only eyes left watching the disappearing delegation were sharp, and avian…

…and a few even followed, winging their way unnoticed across the sky.

“Treachery,” one of the hags grinned. “So much treachery. We could use this, sister.”

“How?” her sister asked, pulling her senses away from the birds. “All I see is wasted time!”

The first hag glanced at the entrance to the grotto they’d dug beneath the windmill. Their beast-goblin slaves also watched it with keen eyes; the silence-spider servants of their…‘ally’ had a distressing habit of going places where they weren’t invited. In silence, and with unnerving speed.

The hags had learned to always keep their own servants watchful.

Once she was sure they were still alone, the first hag—clad in bird feathers—turned to her younger sister.

“Patience. Patience—” she started.

“Patience? It’s not your land that these filthy outsiders squat in! I want them gone!” her sister growled.

“And gone they shall be,” the elder one said. “Think, little sister. We turn beast-goblins and birds into servants. They fight in place of us while we remain in safety. Why not do the same now? Why risk ourselves when our enemies can kill each other?”

Now, her younger sister paused.

“Explain.”

“It is simple. We follow the one who crept about, betraying his own allies. The one who was confronted by that delicious looking, young mortal.” The hag licked her lips, imagining how succulent the red-haired human’s meat would be. Tough, with all that muscle, but juicy all the same. “We’ll learn where the traitor goes and we will learn all of his secrets. Then, we whisper those secrets into human ears. The humans will distrust each other and kill or drive each other out. It is the way of humans. I’ve seen it time and time again: mortals will kill each other for little reason.”

“Mmmmm, yesssss I like this! But! But!” The younger of the hags stared at the entrance, then leaned forward, speaking in a whisper. “But what of our ‘friend’? What do we do with it? Do you think it will leave us be when our mutual enemies are dead?”

“These are the Lean Times, sister,” the elder said. “The Ravener seeks to kill mortals, not those like us. It will leave. And if it doesn’t? Well, humans could be told where it is. And once again, our enemies will kill our enemies.”

“Yessss! Yes, sister! You’ve thought of everything! In the end, we win!” the younger snarled, revealing her tattered fangs. “The moon and stars shift in our favour.”

“That they do, sister. That they do.”

“And you have no theories as to what might have happened?” Baelin asked, glancing up from a strange map on his desk.

“None,” Alex said. “Which is why I just wanted to mention it to you and mention it briefly.”

“Hmmmm,” the ancient wizard mused. “Interesting. Rioran, you said this young man’s name was?”

“That’s right,” Alex said.

“I will keep an eye on him should our paths cross.”

“Thanks…like I said, it might be nothing, but I just thought you should know.”

“Thank you for telling me and thank you for your discretion. Not that I think you would scream this out to the world, but we really must not chance having wild accusations levelled against our own allies. We have enough problems as it is.”

Alex’s heart skipped a beat. “Oh? Problems?”

The ancient wizard sighed. “I’ve been having some…folk look into things in the Irtyshenan Empire in an attempt to learn what we can about the clawed beast that attacked you in the countryside. Unfortunately…that investigation has hit something of a wall.”

“Oh? Why, what happened?”

“The Irtyshenans have shut their borders and are preparing for another war. Anyone snooping about in the empire would likely be targeted by their…agents. As such, my ‘friends’ shall we say, can no longer move with ease or without risk.”

“Oh,” Alex said, disappointed. “Well, that’s alright, I suppose. I’ve got enough to worry about as it is. Hopefully, we can get back to that eventually.”

“Indeed. Now, let us start with the demon summoning…actually…before we begin. Have you been…doing something lately? Your shoulders seem broader, even for you. You haven’t been mucking about with shapeshifting, have you?”

“Oh, didn’t I tell you?” Alex asked excitedly. “So, I kinda came up with a method to enhance myself physically.”

“Oh? And what sort of method would that be?”

Alex, in great detail, told Baelin about what he’d been doing, explaining every aspect and how he’d conceived of the idea. The more he talked, the more the ancient wizard leaned in.

“—honestly, I’ve just about doubled my strength and I’m not showing any signs of slowing down. I’m making my bones denser too, and I’ve got so much power in my limbs, that I’m a lot faster.” He rubbed his hands together in excitement. “I think I’ll hit a limit eventually. I’m reinforcing my body with my own mana and accelerating its growth, so I think I’ll hit some kind of biological strength limit—at least that’s my hypothesis based on what I’ve been reading in the anatomy books.”

Alex tapped his chin. “I’m also considering if maybe I can exploit life enforcement…see if I can kinda copy its processes for an extra boost…” He teetered his hand back and forth. “I might be able to use Warp Flesh—or a more advanced version—to remove impurities from my body, but with the Mark, there’s no way I could reinforce it with the power of the natural world without cultivating. That just might be a death sentence. Still, with such a strong foundation, any body enhancement spell’s going to give me a lot of power.”

“That it wiiiiill,” Baelin said, with pure delight shining in his eyes. “What a fascinating solution to a problem. Hmmm…hmmm…you should write a book about this.”

“Oh, you mean like a manual?” Alex asked.

“Indeed, an instruction manual or even a full-on short textbook. The issue with your method is that it requires a grand talent for mana manipulation in a way that most will never achieve. Your Mark lets you reach it, but to do so naturally…very few wizards would be able to copy it. Have you tried using your method on other creatures?”

Alex grimaced. “I experimented with insects before I did it on myself. But, the problem is that I kinda need my own body’s feedback to figure out if I’m doing it properly. It’s pretty delicate work, to put it mildly. If I were to do it for someone else, I’d need to study their body for a long time—over a lot of different circumstances—and then maybe…somehow connect my senses to theirs so I’d know if I was screwing up. But, I wouldn’t want to take the risk.”

He tapped his shoulder. “The Mark doesn’t interfere with the process since it’s only making micro-tears in tiny fibres and helping my muscles. One screw up with someone else though, and I could really hurt them, which means the Mark would start interfering, then I could hurt them even more, and then the whole thing would spiral.”

“Mmmm true,” Baelin mused. “I could see why you would only take such risks with yourself. No matter. By recording the method, you’ll certainly help blood mages and also make some good, solid coin in the process. I’m sure there’d be a market for it.”

“Right…” Alex ran his hand along his chin where stubble seemed to be establishing itself from days of not shaving. Baelin’s beard-braids got him thinking about how he might look with a full beard covering his chin. Maybe he’d avoid shaving for a while longer. “You know, I think I just might do that. But, I’ll wait ‘til things come to their natural conclusion first. Doesn’t make sense to write a manual when I don’t have all the data. yet”

“Quite right,” Chancellor Baelin said. “Then just as we are about to focus on demon summoning, you will need to focus on your training.”

“Will do,” Alex said. “Will do. Let’s see how far I can push myself.”

Over the next few weeks, Alex put everything into keeping his word: pushing himself as far as he could. Most days were about training, eating, sleeping, resting and meditation.

He only deviated from that routine to go to Greymoor and back, study, work at Shale’s, go to class and write his midterms. Every moment he could spare was spent on building his body and pushing it as far as he could, which included trying to improve his special kind of training.

The more he practised with Warp Flesh, the more refined his control became. After a week, running the current through his muscles was reaching the point where he could say it was becoming easy, plus, he’d refined how he ran the current, and how much mana he used. With each contraction during weight lifting, he’d focus on the muscle and be sure to spike the current.

Two weeks of improvements later, he hit another breakthrough: by combining control over his lifeforce with Warp Flesh, his mana currents, and Cleanse Flesh, he did something that would change his body forever.

“Hurrrrrgh!” Alex retched into a bucket on the balcony. “Why…why didn’t anyone tell me it feels like your insides are on fire? By the Traveller! Hurrrrgh!”

“Alex!” Selina ran onto the balcony. “Alex what’s wro—It stinks! Why does it stink so bad?”

Shaking, he turned to his sister. “Because I’m bringing up just about every nasty thing that was in my body. I found a way to do something similar to the first part of what Theresa does.”

He turned the bucket, revealing a vile black substance inside.

“Ewwwwww!” she screamed, running back inside.

He gave a wry smile, wishing he could do the same.

Alex Roth might not have been able to try life enforcement, not with the Mark of the Fool interfering with divinity…but he’d found a way to take some of that process’ power for himself.

At least the first stage of it.

Now, he could go even farther.