A Dangerous Mage

Shortly after Ashtin teleported to Settlement 266, Basttias made his way to the top floor of the mages' guild and walked toward the counseling wing. Finding an empty room in the middle of the hallway, he entered, closing the door behind him, and reclined on the sofa inside. A few minutes later, a gynoid entered and locked the door behind her.

“Basttias, how unexpected.” The gynoid tilted her head. “You had counseling just a few days ago. Is something bothering you?”

“Ashtin’s staff.”

As Basttias answered, the gynoid sat down at a small desk close to the sofa. “It frightens you?”

“No. Well, maybe a little, but mostly, I’m jealous.”

“Very understandable. It makes casting magic easier, and it amplifies his abilities, but even with the staff, his magical output does not rival yours. You have no reason to be jealous.”

“That’s not it. I… I want to be able to explore my magic too. Just a little bit, in a controlled way, like Ashtin did, but my proposals have all been denied. It makes me feel like you trust Ashtin more than you trust me, and that’s what I’m jealous of.”

“Basttias, what I am about to tell you must never leave this room.”

“Understood.” Basttias began casting privacy spells around the room. Every mage had a different way of casting spells. Ashtin liked to wave his hands around, but Basttias placed his index fingers on his temples and visualized the spells in his mind. These actions weren’t strictly required to cast spells. They were habits that mages had trouble breaking.

“More,” the gynoid urged him as she sensed Basttias was about to finish. “Secrecy is of paramount importance.” When she was satisfied that no one would overhear them, she said, “We trust you just as much as we trust Ashtin, and depending on how things go with him, we may allow you to conduct similar experiments. We started with him because his magic is weak. If things went horribly wrong, we were confident that we could terminate him.”

“I don’t understand. You started with him? Started what? Why would you risk the life of a historian mage?”

“Because using any other mage is too risky. You have seen what happens to mages who are driven mad by their own magic. They lose themselves to it, but not completely. Should a historian mage ended up in that state, we would have a good chance of getting through to them, and in the worst case, convincing them to destroy themselves for the greater good.”

“That doesn’t answer my question. Why take the risk in the first place?”

The gynoid hesitated before answering. “We have no choice. Few outside the council know this, but we have a means of faster-than-light communication with every other settled planet. A few months ago, we lost contact with one of these planets. Two weeks after that, another planet fell silent after transmitting two words: dangerous mage.”

“Are you trying to tell me a mage traveled between planets? They destroyed these planets?”

“It has happened before, long ago. If you wish to know the details, I will tell you, but it will place a heavy mental burden on you.”

“This is already a lot to think about,” Basttias said. “Even if every mage on the planet worked together, it would take us hours to destroy a planet. We’d also need the council’s assistance to manage the spell.”

“We do not wish to destroy, only to protect. To do that, we need a mage powerful enough to match this dangerous mage, one we can control.”

“And you plan on making Ashtin this mage?”

The gynoid shook her head. “No. Even if Ashtin took full control of his magic, he would not be powerful enough to teleport between planets. However, he might be able to perceive the galaxy and locate the dangerous mage. That would provide the intelligence we need and potentially point the way to safely allow a more powerful mage to claim their full magic.”

“Or, more likely, he’ll go mad in the attempt.”

“He is aware of that possibility, as are the other historian mages, on this planet and others, who have begun the process of guided exploration of their magic.”

“But does he know about this dangerous mage?”

“We informed him of our need for stronger historian mages. He declined further explanation, but we will have to tell him if he progresses further.”

Basttias took a moment to collect his thoughts and then asked, “Why send him on an assignment? Shouldn’t he be focusing on his magic?”

“The situation in Settlement 266 is a serious problem, assuming this planet is not destroyed. Ashtin really is the best fit for the job. We also determined that a short break to interact with the outside world will strengthen his mental fortitude.”

“But every delay is—”

“We cannot rush the process,” the gynoid interrupted. “We must optimize for the highest chances of success. There are close to a million settled worlds. At the rate they’re going, it will take millennia for this dangerous mage to destroy them all. But if we’re not careful, we could end up creating more dangerous mages.”

“You’re right. It’s just frightening to think that we could be destroyed at any time without warning.”

“This is why we do not burden people with this information unnecessarily. We will be counting on you in the future, Basttias.”

“I understand. Thank you, you have resolved my jealousy issues. Perhaps we can work on my newfound anxiety next.”