Chapter Two Hundred and Eighteen. Magical Discourses.

Chapter Two Hundred and Eighteen. Magical Discourses.

"Congratulations?" Austan said, his tone hesitant.

Bob let out a long breath and stood up slowly.

He'd been sitting for at least a few hours, judging by how stiff his muscles were.

"Thanks," Bob grunted as he slowly stretched, testing the tension. "How long did that take?"

"Just over three hours," Austan replied, "which is a little odd, as it looked, to my untrained eye, like a simple Control Earth ritual, which should have taken one hundred seconds. Which leads me to ask, what did you just do, and why were you so concerned that you wanted me on hand with a regeneration ritual at the ready."

"That was a Control Earth ritual," Bob groaned as he leaned forward to touch his toes. "I just didn't use the System to cast it, I controlled the mana on my own."

Bob held the toe touch for ten seconds before leaning further forward and placing his palms on the ground. He walked his legs back slowly, pausing to stretch as he went.

When Austan finally spoke, he sounded puzzled. "Why?" He asked.

"You know how messed up my skills are, right?" Bob responded with a question of his own.

Austan snorted, "I'm aware," he replied.

"Well, when I do finally reincarnate, depending on my path, I may not be able to take all the skills I currently have," Bob explained. "Which would suck because some of them are useful. So I took it upon myself to figure out how to cast spells without the System."

He looked up to see Austan shaking his head incredulously. "That takes years," he protested, "and even once you succeed, you basically have to repeat the process for each spell. I don't know anyone who has done that with ritual Magic, although I've read that it has been done before."

"By Vi'Radia's blessed light, you've been here for less than two years; how long have you been working on this?" Austan asked incredulously.

"More than six months, less than a year?" Bob replied hesitantly. "I didn't exactly mark my calendar when I started, and I've been kind of busy."

Austan rolled his eyes. "Seeing you do incredible things ought not to surprise me," he muttered.

"It's all pretty much driven by necessity," Bob said. "I never wanted to be a curator, Thidwell asked me to handle the Dungeon in Holmstead while he reincarnated, and I owed him."

It was Bob's turn to shake his head. "That being said, while I'm getting really tired of building out Dungeons, I recognize exactly how useful it is to have the skills to do so."

He lowered his voice, despite the fact that they were alone. "I've got a feeling that at some point, people are going to come for me. Maybe they'll be mad that I spread the word about the Affinity Crystals. Maybe they'll be from my world, and they'll blame me for the destruction wrought by the integration."

Bob sighed. "Maybe I'm being paranoid. But I read a book once that had a great line; 'Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face.'"

Austan blinked. "Stars and stones, you've got a bleak outlook," he shook his head, "but I can see your concerns. And while Vi'Radia lights our paths, a prudent man brings a lamp into the Dungeon."

Bob nodded, "Exactly, if I have to run, I need to make sure I can build out a Dungeon if I need to. So, I've managed all my control spells without the System, and now I'm going to make sure I can cast them ritually."

"Well, my evenings are mostly free, although now that I know it takes hours, I'll grab an early dinner," Austan replied.

Her men, all save for Martin, had accepted a Divine Blessing of Fidelis in order to gain access to the Divine Magic they would be using as Curators. Martin, always the scholar, had accepted a Divine Blessing from Logos and was ecstatic to be able to read any written word.

Of her men, Martin was the only one likely to become devout in his new faith.

"Which bring us back around to our original question," The Queen began, "if mana flows through the gods to give us divine magic, where does the direction for arcane magic."

"All mana passes through the gods to reach us," Huron explained. "Arcane Magic is a reflection of Divine Magic, recognizable by the manner in which it shares similar skills. It was the scholarly priests of Logos who sought a more... condensed form of Magic."

Elizabeth leaned back as Huron spoke.

"Despite our advancement as we rise through our levels, and then through our tiers, we aren't able to perceive the truth of the mana that flows through the gods and into our world. The devout worshippers of Logos, who revere the pursuit of knowledge, had long been frustrated by this fact." Huron shook his head, "They begged Logos for his intervention, and he replied by allowing them to access raw mana while protected under his aegis. It took centuries, but they were able to manipulate the mana with enough consistency that the rest of the gods recognized that this experiment wasn't going away. The gods agreed, and they codified the mana constructs and patterns as 'Arcane.' This allowed mortals to access Arcane Magic without the blessings of the gods."

"There isn't anything wrong with Arcane Magic," he assured her, "it's simply another way to interact with mana, and if it is more limited than Divine Magic, well, such is the price of seeking power without seeking the favor of the gods," he smiled.

"The documents we perused suggested that I branch out into Divine Magic at some point," The Queen admitted. "We believe the precise wording was 'In a world where you can regrow limbs and organs, choosing not to be able to do so is stupid.'"

"I've read that document," Huron smiled, "several versions of it, actually, including one where the author was rather adamant that the instructions be followed exactly as prescribed, owing to their source being 'He Who Walks Before,' which, going by the sketch at the front, is Bob."

Elizabeth cocked her head to the side, waiting for an explanation, which Huron was happy to supply.

"Bob, despite being rather inept, socially, is apparently quite the orator. He gave several rather stirring speeches regarding path choices during his time in Holmstead, one of which sparked a movement named 'The Endless.' Their stated objective is nothing less than to safeguard every life in Greenwold, utilizing the knowledge of Affinity Crystals in conjunction with The Path of the Endless Swarm." Huron shook his head. "Without an Affinity Crystal, the Path of the Endless Swarm is terribly weak at lower levels and mediocre once at the level cap. With an Affinity Crystal, however, it is incredibly powerful. Six young men and women heard Bob's initial lecture, and they dedicated themselves to the plan he'd laid out. When the next wave arrived, they proved themselves to be the saviors Bob had promised they would become. They've attracted hundreds of members, in no small part because they are nearly fanatical, delving for hours each day, for weeks, even months, without advancing, in order to ensure they have Summoning Affinity Crystals for anyone who wishes to join them."

Elizabeth nodded while Huron took a sip of his wine.

"During the most recent wave, The Endless deployed themselves to every single settlement in Greenwold, where they stood against the wave, fighting to ensure that no one died. And they succeeded," he admitted, "which has seen their numbers grow even further. The Church of the Light has since approved a mandate to accelerate the advancement of an entire novitiate, that they might be assigned to the Endless, as they have made clear their plans to build a tower for their group near every settlement in order to provide support and refuge during wave or tide."

"All this is to explain that when a rather serious young woman decided that Bob was a Divine Emissary, sent to blaze a path for them to follow, the results of The Endless as a whole uplifted that message, causing it to be taken rather more seriously than it might otherwise have been received," Huron finished.

"And having a priest of the Church of the Light in each of the Endless's buildings would help to diffuse that," The Queen murmured.

"In addition to providing their aid to the members," Huron agreed, "there is no reason to offer spiritual guidance as well." He grinned brightly, "Also, while I can't claim to know the man well, I'm fairly certain that Bob will be horrified when he finds out that someone is attempting to make him into a saint."

"Do you feel it would be a worthy endeavor to set our men to seeking out these Affinity Crystals when they reach level twenty-three?" She asked.

"That's a difficult question," Huron hedged. "You have a limited amount of time to secure shelter for your people, so you have to measure the worth of an Affinity Crystal against the crystals they could otherwise be obtaining. Certainly, someone with an Affinity Crystal, and the proper path to make use of it, will be able to gather mana crystals much quickly."

"Therein lies the problem," Elizabeth mused. "Time is of the essence, and only in hindsight will we be able to judge how well we utilized ours."

She stood slowly, still unaccustomed to not needing to find her balance, and nodded gracefully to the High Priest.

"We appreciate your counsel and conversation," she smiled, "but we must be up with the dawn to delve the Dungeon again, so we must take our leave."

"Your Majesty," Huron nodded, still smiling. "Until tomorrow."