Luca DR
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Accidentally summoned 30
🕑 Added 2024-02-16 18:34:12 +0000 UTC30 – Preparations
They proceeded with caution towards the small opening at the base of the hole in the mountain, where the path they were walking on seemed to abruptly end. It didn’t slow them down for even a second though, for the illusion of a rock barring their way was entirely technological in nature and could not hold up to their magic sight. The flow of mana was quite clear, and the rock was not solid at all, rather just a clumsy attempt at keeping intruders out without any real power behind it.
Managing to bypass the first obstacle with so much ease put the party in high spirits, but Melina warned them that they shouldn’t grow complacent, assuming the role of leader. While her words might not have been strictly necessary, it felt good to have a leading figure taking charge in a more conventional way.
Taking cue from what she said, Ishrin explained how technology was sometimes more dangerous than it looked. It could do unpredictable things that someone who had only interacted with magic could hardly imagine, and it could easily fool an inexperienced mage due to its lack of mana making it appear unthreatening. There were, however, many more dangerous things in the universe than just magic, a thing that Melina vehemently agreed with.
After that, Ishrin offered to cast some very simple rituals that would grant them increased firepower and defense. Nothing fancy due to his lack of resources, but some of his requests at the guild had come through and—alongside other materials he found here and there—he had managed to cobble together some simple rituals.
“Shouldn’t you save mana for when you need to fight?” Asked Melina.
“Well, the rituals would grant us passive bonuses for fighting. Plus, I want to do the Death Stealer ritual before we venture any further.” Ishrin said.
“Yeah but…”
“Using my sword uses no mana, and the same goes for my telekinesis. Liù has her own magic supply. And as for me… my spells are too weak to be of any use.”
That seemed to appease the foxgirl.
“I’ll need an hour at most,” he said.
“Sure. Lisette, let’s sweep the perimeter and make sure he can draw his rituals in peace.”
***
Meanwhile, unseen by the trio of intruders, something was happening deep inside the maze of machinery of the mountain. Blasted as it was by the magic light coming from the twin stars above, the mountain’s titanium composite alloys at its tip still managed to register some sort of change. A signal, jumbled and messy, but a signal nonetheless. Slowly, what little was left of the mountain’s original computing power was devoted to understanding said signal. Instructions appeared. Orders. Purpose.
A machine whirred to life, drawing upon the electrical power of a hidden generator, fueled by the decay of magical and mundane particles to sustain a chain reaction in its core.
The machine sensed other things. For the first time in a long time, things were changing. The realm was shrinking. The intruders, for now that it was awake the machine could sense the intruders trying to make their way to the core, had triggered a collapse. Or perhaps the source of the signal had. It didn’t matter. Soon, the machine knew from its new orders making its way into its core programming, the realm would shrink, and its magic density increase to the point where all of its contents were going to spill into the Prime Material. And then, its main directive could be fulfilled.
Whomst among your own
Who went far and wide
Can find the lost spawn
And bring them back to light?
The lost spawn was the banished electromechanical being at the heart of the prison of rock and steel. That much had become clear to it as soon as the new orders had been assimilated. Had the mountain been able to feel emotions, it would have felt confusion at first—this was not its real identity, but a forged one—then anger at its past self’s inability to understand. At its lack of defenses. Then, eventually, fear at the change that was sweeping through its very being.
But it didn’t. It could have done nothing to resist the new code overwriting its old self even if it did. The code came from an artificial intelligence so much more advanced, that the mountain could do nothing even if it understood what was happening to it. Which it didn’t.
There was yet more change to be witnessed. It first began with the shrinking of the walls that held the realm together. It was a minute change, but it was felt by the creatures that dwelled in the valley. They began to grow restless, the small sensory organs at the tip of their horns were very sensible to changes in the magical density, almost as if they were made for the purpose of telling them when the time was right. And the time, although not right yet, was nearing.
The pack leader howled, the symbiotic crystal embedded in its horn lighting up with magic and allowing him to telepathically send the other to the rest of the pack. Soon, the whole valley was erupting in screams and howls, but they were all drowned by the wind, unable to reach the keen ears of the adventurers at the base of the mountain.
***
Ishrin finished setting up the ritual, following the updated and improved design he had come up with in his free time—before he had suddenly found himself without any free time whatsoever. It had taken a while to find a way to bypass his limited supply of mana and magical reagents that his new reality had forced upon him, but he was a resourceful man. Adapting, learning, growing had always been a core part of his personality.
By the time he was done, the girls were back from their patrolling.
“Everything is clear.” Melina said. “The tunnel leads deeper in the mountain, but it looks clean for now.”
“Good.” He nodded. “The first ritual is ready.”
Melina looked at the complex assortment of things on the ground. No circle had been drawn this time, rather the ingredients were placed according to special laws of order and proportion that she could not discern.
“It’s called Veitii’ri Shield, modified revision II.” Ishrin said. Lisette snickered for a moment, causing him to smile. She knew about the original name of Death Stealer and it felt like a fun inside joke between the two. “A mouthful, I know. I came up with the name on the spot. But it will grant us protection.”
Melina nodded, the shadow that had passed across her face unnoticed by the other two.
Ishrin guided the girls to two of the edges of a triangle, with him being the other point: the focus. At his mark, Liù flew to the center of the triangle and ignited the first catalyst, after which he closed his eyes and began to gently guide the essences of the creatures into a woven net of magic, an armor that could be strong and gentle, rigid and adaptable. When he was done, three different glowing pieces floated in the air, looking each like the person they were supposed to protect.
For Lisette, focused on fast attacks and movement, the armor bore wings that increased her speed and made her light as a feather. For Melina, even faster still but in need of space and protection to cast her magic from a distance, the armor was reactive: it stored energy when she moved and released it as a magic shield when she stopped. As for Ishrin, it was plain armor that increased all of his resistances and strengths, temporarily bringing him close to Tier 3.
“Woah.” Lisette gasped. “I feel light.”
Ishrin looked at her and smiled. He wasn’t used to her expressing her thoughts out loud, so it felt especially nice that she did. Twice in a row if he counted the little snicker. Perhaps she didn’t expect the effects of the enchantment to be this strong and was taken by surprise. Melina too was surprised.
“These bonuses add up to the enchantments on our gear, don’t they?” He nodded, and she shook her head in disbelief. He had enchanted their armor on the fly with a reality altering ritual earlier. “How is this fair?”
Ishrin shrugged. “These enchantments are more powerful, but only temporary. And, as you can see, they take a long time to set up.”
“Still,” the girl said. “Unbelievable. To think that magic could be used in such ways.”
“That is because you think of magic as a tool,” Lisette said, and all heads turned to her. “But it is not. It is much more than that. Ishrin told you this, yet you refuse to believe.”
Malina shrugged. “Let’s spar. Ishrin has another ritual to set up, and I want to see what we can do with our new enchantments. Come.”
With that, they left Ishrin alone. Only when the Death Stealer, Lisette custom version I ritual was ready did they come back.
“What is this?” Melina asked, seeing the large carcass of the rhino-like monster in the middle of a magic circle.
“This is the Appropriation ritual.” Said Lisette. “It steals the strength of a fallen beast and bestows it upon you. Truly a powerful ritual.”
“Death Stealer,” said Ishrin with a wink. “Now, let me sense your cultivation. You are at high Tier 4. If we are lucky, this single Tier 6 monster will push you to the peak. After that, you will have to overcome the bottleneck on your own.”
Lisette nodded once. “I understand. Thank you, Ishrin.”
She stepped forward. The monster was a huge thing, towering over her even as it lay on its side on the ground. She climbed on top of its corpse with ease, sitting down with her legs crossed in a lotus pose. Melina sat on a nearby boulder, far enough that she would not interfere but close enough that she could see the magic in action. Hopefully, Ishrin thought, seeing such a profound ritual in action would shake her foundational belief that magic was only just a tool. Although he doubted it was going to be enough.
The ritual began. Melina nervously stroked her tail with her fingers between the orange fur, smoothing out the knots and mats while watching transfixed as the gory process unfolded before her. Lisette sank into the mass of blood and vital energies as the carcass of the monster was reduced to its constituent vitality and magic, and Melina’s brows furrowed. She could see it, how mana seemed to flow from the monster to the girl, strengthening her, bolstering her very existence in a way that made her more real, closer to the heavens themselves. She could feel Lisette growing in power, stepping ever so closer to the peak of Tier 4, and she could only look in awe. Her mind struggled, torn as it was between conflicting beliefs.
If what Ishrin said was true—but how could it be true? It would mean that all things were nothing but mana. What about matter? What about mind?
And yet… she had glimpsed at it when she overcame the Tier 5 bottleneck, and even more of this truth had been revealed to her when she was guided through the Tier 6 bottleneck by Paradise’s guild master. A mistake, being helped, which had prevented her from advancing any further for all the many years that had passed since her last tier-up.
Witnessing the ritual, she felt her cultivation stir, and some small part of what was holding her back was swept away. Not enough, but she could feel the change, and a smile appeared on her lips. Even as she witnessed Lisette reach the apex of Tier 4 and the ritual come to an end, she realized that Ishrin’s actions had had an effect much greater than the simple ritual itself. They had touched her.
What if not magic could do such a thing? Could a mere tool ever be a worthy name for such wonderful force?
It was only later, hours later, that Lisette finally came out of her trance. She flexed and stretched, startling a curious little pixie who had—strangely—fallen asleep on her gore-covered head.
“Ishrin.” She called out. “I request that you teach me the cleaning spell that you used in the Dungeon. I feel gross.”
