31

Aevum Limen Mirus, the foremost user of Barrier Magic and the greatest scholar of magic of the era, rushes down a dark hall. Though he’s in a hurry, he cannot move quickly. His aged body can only move so fast without anyone to aid him, and as an educator he would feel too ashamed to wake Linea so late in the night just for something as simple as walking. His cane will have to do. His cane clacks against the ground as he slowly moves closer to his study. He had suddenly awoken in the middle of the night, and had started moving at just that moment. He is on the cusp of uncovering the mystery of the magic surrounding Sagax Academy.

Mirus himself is no stranger to casting large-scale spells with only a single person. In general, due to their purpose, Barrier Magic requires far more people than other kinds to cast powerful spells, for without that sort of preparation, it will be too lacking in longevity to be very useful. Mirus was the one to develop many of the modern techniques for reducing the required force, both reinventing those of antiquity to be more easily understood by those who are not scholars and increasing their basic efficiency. His streamlined techniques changed the way that nations looked upon Barrier Magic. Whereas once a simple ward over a city might have taken dozens of skilled mages to cast, with Mirus’ techniques it would take no more than ten, and Mirus himself could cast it with only a single mage.

Indeed, the area of study Mirus has focused most on is the history of magic. The apprentice to one of, if not the most esteemed lineage of mages, the Mirus name, he has never doubted the wisdom of the mages of antiquity and was long searching for anything that may have been lost. He has already revived a vast number of spells that may have been lost, and iterated upon them at the same time. And yet, the spell once employed to defend the academy confounds him.

Mirus had never been able to make an excuse to get the time to truly delve into the inner workings of this spell as described in what few notes remain, making this the first time he had actually tried to make sense of it. However, even to him, indisputably the most qualified man for the task, it does not come easily. The spell is a mess of interwoven parts, and with only incomplete notes at his disposal he cannot find the logic that ruled over it. All he has been able to do is extrapolate and speculate, and that has only gotten him so far.

However, he had a dream. His dream was of the past, as his often are. He half-relived and half-remembered a story of when Linea was still very young. The dream began with Linea and him already in his lab. He was explaining to her proper safety precautions when one of his former research assistants walked inside, painfully jabbing the door knob into his stomach as he did so. At that, Linea had gone over to him and cast a weak healing spell that relieved the pain. At the time, all Mirus could think about was how many ways there are to cast even just a simple spell.

He awoke from that dream with the memory still fresh, and the wheels began to turn. One major part of the Mirus school of thought, from which many others have branched out, is to value the single practitioner, aiming for the development of each individual rather than units and privileging adaptability in spells over specificity. This is the framework that Mirus and most mages operate within. However, the spell used by Sagax was one that could not let itself be easily understood by outsiders, crafted by a group of skilled mages, and all for only a single place it could be used. When Mirus began to think like that, it became so obvious to him that he must look at the spell within a different framework entirely and he could not stop himself from rushing to his study.

Mirus opens the door to his study and sees Linea already sitting there, only a small light to aid her. Linea raises her head automatically when she hears the door open, then shrinks down slightly in the chair when she sees her master. Mirus sighs.

“Young lady, you ought to be asleep right now. You still have a full day of classes tomorrow.” She waits a moment before answering him.

“Yes Master… I’m sorry.”

Mirus sighs again as he looks upon her downcast face. He knows that no matter how remorseful she truly is at this moment, she will do the same thing again and again, as in this respect she had a terrible role model. He walks to the desk slowly, his cane tapping against the carpeted floor softly. He comes to his desk and turns the knob on the lamp, making it shine much brighter, illuminating the cluttered room. Linea looks up at her master.

“And remember, young lady, it will do you no good to read with such a dim light. Won’t do anything but strain your eyes. What have you been working on, this late?” He looks at the book in front of her on the desk, and realizes it to be the very same as what he has been researching, her notes adding to his.

“I was looking into the barrier spell you intend to cast. It seemed like you were struggling with it, Master, so…”

“It’s quite strange, isn’t it? Have you reached any conclusions?” Linea is a girl who loves magic and a girl loved by magic, and as such, unlike many other old scholars, Mirus would never be so foolish to ignore her counsel.

“I believe that the common ways in which magic is cast were not used in the spell.” Mirus smiles.

“Very clever, Linea. I had just come to the same conclusion myself.” Linea is pleased.

“Then it seems I was on the right track. However, I don’t know enough to progress beyond this point…” Mirus gives a low chuckle.

“It appears I was too lax in my instruction in this subject, though it is my specialty. I’ll prepare more thorough lessons for once the spell is cast. However, for now, young lady, it is time for you to get to bed. Sleep well, Linea.” Though somewhat hesitant, Linea makes her case.

“But Master, I could still help you here, I’m sure of it.”

“I’m sure as well. But young minds need rest. I’ll call upon you when the time is right, but for now it’s off to bed with you.” Linea is slightly disappointed, but will fight no more.

“Very well, Master. Good night.” Mirus bends down and places a gentle kiss on Linea’s forehead.

“Good night, Linea.”

Linea stands from the desk and leaves the study, bound for her bedroom to retire for the night. Mirus, meanwhile, sits at his desk and returns to his work. He reads over what notes Linea had left and smiles.

The next morning comes. Mirus sits up slowly in his small cot in the study. He gets out and walks to his desk. He looks over his notes once more and decides there’s nothing left but to test the hypothesis. He checks the clock on the study wall and finds that classes are already in session for the day.

Mirus walks through the halls of Sagax Academy, students and faculty both greeting him politely as he passes by. He comes to a door and pulls it open. He takes a step into the classroom. As he walks in, the students sit up straight to look more proper. The teacher, one of the younger ones working at Sagax, too is shocked, and turns towards Mirus.

“H-headmaster Mirus, what brings you here this morning?”

“My apologies for giving you such a surprise so early in the day. I’ve just come to collect Linea. I need her for a task.” Linea stands up.

“Yes, Master.”

Linea joins him at the door and the two of them depart. Linea assists Mirus in walking, letting him move quite a bit faster. They walk to a spire near the center of the academy grounds. At the top of it they enter a room with a single magical apparatus in the center. They stand around it and Mirus begins to talk.

“First, let’s discuss what I have found. It seems we both took a step too far in a single direction. Rather than the spell working in a single way unique to the Sagax of antiquity, I now believe that they simply overlapped three separate spells with three separate ways of functioning. They were interwoven with each other so well that it would simply be too lengthy to disable them one by one and nearly impossible to disable all three at once.”

“Then we’re to test this theory now?”

“Indeed. Though I can cast two of the three, I will need you to complete the composite.”

“What will I need to do?” Mirus hands her several pages of paper with scrawled notes.

“I will cast the spell that shifts the buildings from the apparatus, and at the same time I will cast the selection barrier around the academy. On those papers are instructions for casting the misdirecting fog. I trust that it will not be an issue for you?” Linea reads over the papers quickly.

“Of course not, Master.”

They begin to cast the three spells. The room thrums with their great magic power, far surpassing even a group of average mages in pure force. In a single burst, the spells are cast. The barrier appears and the surrounding region becomes impassable for those without permission.

“It is done. Linea, return to your classes.”

“Very well, Master.”

Linea leaves while Mirus lingers for a while longer. Now that his disciple is not there to know, he prepares to cast another spell. He intends to cast a two-tiered barrier around the whole city of Messis, one being a ward against monsters—there mostly to deter Gitsung the Desire and any others if there are more like her—and the other being a simple barrier that would defend against any long-range artillery or magic they might try to use instead. While Sagax Academy has its apparatus to handle maintaining any magic, for a barrier of this size, even with his own personal tools, it will take some toll on him to keep the barrier running. Without hesitation he casts the spell. He shakes slightly as it is completed, then walks down the stairs of the spire as though nothing had happened. He’s already prepared himself to let nothing show until the day this barrier is no longer necessary.

Outside of the city lurks a True Dracabanan Army spy. His arms are completely bandaged, tightly constricting the muscles. He sees the slight shimmer of light as the barrier takes form. He grabs a knife from his belt and grits his teeth. He plunges the knife into his arm, just before where his wrist is, then drags it up to his shoulder. As the cut bandages begin to fall away, he is enveloped in light, and then he is gone.

The spy reappears in a dark room within the hidden base of the True Dracabanan Army. A large, pale man with cold eyes stands imposingly above him, a long scepter with a blade at its end in his hand. The spy scrambles to prostrate himself before this man, even as blood flows from his obscured arm.

“Supreme Commander! I have something urgent to report!” The man, the Supreme Commander of the True Dracabanan Army, looks down at the spy, then off to the side. His voice is deep and commanding.

“Hyrtan! Come! There’s an injury I need you to look at!” A thin and almost sickly man in a labcoat emerges from the dark. He looks down on the spy, his eyes crawling over him. The spy panics when he sees him.

“Master Hyrtan! I-I!” Hyrtan looks displeased.

“Silence, knave. I haven’t asked you to speak.”

“My apologies!” Hyrtan clicks his tongue, then turns to speak to the Supreme Commander.

“Lord, there’s no need for us to do anything at all. This is one of the ones I tried to make self-healing. Show your arm to him, knave.” The spy does so. His arm is covered in fur, the muscles bulging inhumanly, claws on his fingers, the wound on his arm already closing up. The Supreme Commander responds.

“I see. Then give your report.”

“Yes, Supreme Commander! A large barrier has been made around Messis. And I wouldn’t be surprised if the same were true just for Sagax.”

“Then it seems Plan A is no longer wise to pursue.” He looks back to the man in the labcoat. “Hyrtan, we prepare now for war. Is it true that you became involved in outside research?”

“It is, Lord, it was unavoidable. But if you ask it of me, then I shall leave that lab without a second thought.”

“No. That research might help our efforts. Shift your focus, Hyrtan. No longer do we require a mass-produced army. Focus on creating a singular absolute force. Whether in the form of a weapon or a super-soldier does not matter.”

“Very well, Lord, whatever you ask for. I shall redouble my efforts to craft the perfect body suitable for you, and a weapon to match your greatness.”

“Thank you, Hyrtan. I shall inform Gitsung of her orders myself. Return to your duties.”

“Yes, Lord.”

“Yes, Supreme Commander!”