Chapter 21 – Magical Shenanigans

“Now what, buddy?” I asked Gr’ex.

“Now what? What do you mean, now what?” Gr’ex asked incredulously.

“Yea. You are the magic expert.” I commented.

“Expert?! What part of ‘apprentice’ in my class title do you not understand?! I say we blow this place and find a new place to settle.” Gr’ex replied.

“What about everyone we just saved and your fellow goblins?” I asked.

“Hey, I am not related to them, and even if I was, it would not matter. If I didn’t have an oath with you, I would’ve already been running anywhere that wasn’t here.” Gr’ex exclaimed.

“Wait a minute. Why are we freaking out so much?” I asked for a minute.

“What do you mean? Do you see those things starting to form?!” Gr’ex replied.

My system once again answered my question.

Query Accepted

You are under a minor fear effect caused by the ritual being performed. As a side effect of the Eldritch magic being used, the ritual is generating a minor fear aura to make anyone not participating in the ritual want to run away rather than interfere.

Now that I knew what to look for, I mentally resisted by focusing on my intent to stop this from coming to pass. A moment later, my system let me know my efforts were a success.

You have resisted a minor fear aura. You are no longer frightened.

“Thanks System. Gr’ex, check your status. The ritual is giving off a minor fear aura. Focus on your will and you should be able to resist it.” I explained.

Gr’ex had that far off look in his eyes like he was reading his status sheet. The panic on his face slowly fell away. “Ah, that is so much better. Thanks for the warning. Once I knew it was from the ritual, my mind was able to rationalize the effect was not completely real. Knowing what I do about Undead Abominations, I still have a healthy fear of them, but they aren’t made yet.”

I patted the goblin on the shoulder. “Well now we have to figure out how to stop or at the very least delay those rituals.”

“The fact that they are five ritual circles means they have to be drawing in more power from somewhere.” Gr’ex commented.

“Um, you mean besides all these goblin warriors and casters?” I asked in surprise.

“Yes. Blood magic is strong, but Tek’tar isn’t a blood mage and though he has Eldritch and probably demonic energy at his disposal, that is not the same as being a true blood mage. They have to be using some kind of magic item or artifact to act as a conduit. If we can find that and damage it, that would delay the ritual.” Gr’ex further explained.

“Delay? Not stop?” I asked.

“That is the power of demonic and Eldritch magic, like Celestial, they can fill in the gaps or partially simulate a type of magic, some magic types better than others. If we find that magic item and damage it, their progress would dramatically slow down.” Gr’ex stated.

“Slowed down by how much?”

“Right now, based on the rate of blood and mana being circulated, I would say these rituals should be done in a day at most. Take out the magic item and I would say the time to complete would slow to about three to four days.” Gr’ex calculated.

“You sure about that?”

“Not exactly, maybe more, maybe less. Either way it would at least buy you two days minimum to come up with a plan to stop them and close the portal.” Gr’ex replied.

“Fair enough. Okay, how do we go about finding this magic item?” I inquired.

Gr’ex offered some insight. “Most likely it should be close by. Because Tek’tar is attempting to do five rituals at the same time it has to be outside each of those circles. Knowing Tek’tar, he would also keep it out of sight for fear of some greedy goblin stealing it out from under him.”

“So could he have it on him?” I asked.

“Not likely. This much power, it would be too big to haul around. No, it has to be something he could hide yet keep an eye on.” Gr’ex stated.

“Could it be in town hall? It’s not that far from here and I don’t see the typical command tent like with Jek’jon.” I hypothesized.

“Bone Marrow goblins are notorious for using what they conquer if they all plan to stick around, otherwise they just raise everything to the ground. As for the town hall. It would be a good place for it.” Gr’ex replied.

I cast my spell and shadows wrapped around the both of us. I started to do short hops between the shadows we saw. I started to get glimpses out of the corner of my eyes. Little creatures grey or black as night in color and of various sizes could be seen in the distance if I looked fast enough. They easily blended into the shadows. Some looked like shadow bats, others like wolves, and a few humanoids in shape.

‘These things must be what the spell description referenced. I’m going to have to experiment later when we aren’t in the middle of an enemy camp.’ I thought as we continued to jump from shadow to shadow.

There seemed to be more denizens of shadow that started to appear. First it was less than a handful, but as we reached the town hall there were dozens of them. I could feel Gr’ex trembling as we entered the city building.

I whispered to him when I noticed no one was around. “Are you alright Gr’ex?”

“D-Drop... y-your... s-spell.” Were the only words Gr’ex stuttered out.

After double checking that no one was around I dropped my spell.

Gr’ex audibly gasped in relief. “Ah! So much better. Thank all that is holy for that being over!”

“Huh? I wouldn’t have thought a goblin necromancer would thank the Light when he had served the Dark.” I commented.

“Yea, well being around you makes one reevaluate things! Especially after that fiasco!” Gr’ex replied.

His words confused me, so I spoke up. “What fiasco? It was comfortable to me, like shade on a hot sunny day.”

“Did you not see all those Shadow denizens getting closer and closer?! Those things are some of the more dangerous entities to any creature not of shadow. Their bite or scratch for some can inflict a shadow disease that weakens the body, mind, and spirit. Most health potions won’t do anything to fix it. You need someone like a Life or Light master to cast the higher-level healing spells to cleanse you of such taint. The only beings I know immune to such things are those infused with Purity magic like archangels.”

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“Huh. Interesting. I have an ability that lets me purify things. It’s what I use to clean clothes and the like. Remember I used it on you when you soiled yourself.” I replied.

“First off, I will deny ever doing so. Second, I soiled myself because your Dark Mantle is one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever seen! Lastly and more importantly, you mean to tell me you’ve been using an ability with the power to purify anything to clean yourself and others?!” Gr’ex looked at me incredulously.

“Yea pretty much.” I answered.

Gr’ex just stared at me for a moment before replying more to himself at first. “Of course, cause why not... luckiest son of a...”

I interrupted his little ty raid “What are you going on about now?”

Gr’ex took another moment to breathe. “True Purity magic is one of the rarest forms of magic in the universe. It is said to be a key component in the creation process. The lore I found stated that it is critical in harnessing the various magics to bring order to chaos or chaos to order. Not exactly sure what that means but I do remember hearing my old master share how much Eldritch beings are antithetical to the order of the universe. They are beyond chaos. Then there is the fact that any high-level healing spells that can cleanse or remove things like curses contain some aspect of Purity, but it is always mixed with something else. For you to possess a Purity ability, well, how do I put this? That has to be the most unique ability I have ever heard of.”

“Well yea, I created it.” I retorted.

Gr’ex’s jaw dropped before he started mumbling to himself again. “He created it he says. Unbelievable! His Luck stat must be off the charts... no wonder he’s not worried about the denizens of Shadow...”

“Okay, okay, can we get back on topic? Mind helping me look for this thing. I’m not exactly sure what I’m looking for.” I called back to the flustered goblin as we scanned each room.

“With your Luck stat you’ll probably stumble upon it anyway.” Gr’ex grumbled.

“Not helping.” I said back to him as I opened a door that led to a small office.

The room was pitch black and as I entered, I was looking back at my frustrated companion. This led me to not pay attention as I tripped over something, falling flat on my face.

THUD

“Owe!” I said as I rubbed my face.

“Ha! Now I feel better.” Gr’ex chuckled at my misfortune.

As I stood up, I cast PURITY!!! to clean myself up and illuminate the room. The golden glow brought light into the room allowing me to see what I tripped over. Sitting in the middle of the floor was a grotesque effigy totem.

The thing had figures of demons and what I guessed some Eldritch beings might look like, all tentacles and mouths. In between those were runes that once again, like the runes I saw in the magic circles, looked wrong somehow. I couldn’t place it. That’s when it clicked for me.

“This is it, isn’t it?”

Gr’ex realized what had just happened. “You literally stumbled upon it!”

I interrupted him before he could get started again. “Not another word... unless it’s how we destroy this thing.”

That was when I felt it. The totem seemed to be reacting to my PURITY!!! ability. It was like a wave of malice was radiating off the thing. The runes seemed to flare a sickly red and green. Red energy around the effigies of demons and green energy near the effigies of the Eldritch beings.

Gr’ex dropped to his knees clutching his chest in pain. “Uhhh! What is… happening? Can’t…” My companion called out as he tried to breathe.

I could feel an intense weight trying to settle on top of me, the pressure slowly bringing me to my knees. The room was so thick with malice it felt tangible and seemed to make the air thick and difficult to move in. The force continued to bear down on me.

As the weight settled, I could feel emotions creeping into my psyche. First were feelings of fear, despair, and an overwhelming sentiment of not being enough, that I such an insignificant being would dare to be in the presence of greatness. It made me want to crawl away and hide.

My analytical mind reared its head. ‘Wait a minute, those feelings are not my own!’

This realization made me angry that I would even entertain such a notion. ‘I came back to save my friend, to save others. No! I will not be cowed by some alien entity. I CONTROL MY EMOTIONS NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!’ Mentally, I cried in outrage.

Then the red runes seemed to react to my anger. Red flashed on the totem, and I was filled with pure rage. It was like the demonic red energy was fighting with the Eldritch sickly green energy.

The rage boiled inside of me. Rage at the stacked odds against me. Rage at the goblins who dared to invade my new home. Finally, a rage so primal that it burned away any fear or despair that had crept in.

One thought ran through my mind. ‘How dare these Eldritch beings try to make me subservient!’

This thought prompted me to activate my Dark Mantle ability. The red runes instantly died out. The weight and pressure attempting to bring me to my knees felt like a feather compared to the weight of the Dark Mantle’s authority. I rose to my feet and snarled at the totem.

“You want to dance, then let’s dance you ugly…”

My taunt interrupted as tentacles made of a sickly green energy lashed out at me from the Eldritch effigies on the totem. They physically impacted my aura causing me to take a few steps back. It was an odd sensation to feel like you were hit both physically and spiritually.

My mind raced as to what to do as I took a few more slaps that sent me flying back into the side wall.

“Ugh.” I moaned in pain.

I looked over at my goblin companion who was now unconscious yet had a horrified look on his face. That was when I remembered how effective my Dark Mantle’s active effects were on others. I triggered those effects and fed power into them. The tentacles went from slapping me around to reeling back like they had been batted away.

This fact seemed to piss of the Eldritch entity as the tentacle swings increased in speed. Unfortunately for the tentacles every hit they made impacted solid walls as my aura tangibly solidified, the resulting impacts felt like a lite thud against my aura. I could not advance but neither could the tentacles reach me.

We were at a stalemate. I could no longer be harmed by the tentacles, but I was no closer to destroying this corruption. And that’s when it hit me, “Corruption can be purified.”

I could just cast my ability, but I would need to get closer.

‘If I could only get within range, but those constant attacks on my aura make it hard to advance. Wait a minute? Isn’t my aura just an extension of myself?’ I thought, as an even crazier idea came to me.

A dear friend of mine had once told me, “You don’t ask for permission, you just go and do it. That is what sets you apart from others, you don’t even know or think you can’t do something.”

I focused on those words in my mind as I harnessed my will and intent, I attempted to try something new. I had no idea if abilities could be combined, but it didn’t matter, I would make them combine.

Normally, I would cast my PURITY!!! ability through my hands. This time I willed it to activate in tandem with my Dark Mantle. In my mind, I grabbed both abilities and slammed them together. My friend’s words echoing in my mind, I refused to not allow this to work.

The mental pressure was more intense than anything I felt before, even when going through the phases of absorbing the Ancient Celestial Dragon core.

“I HAVE BEEN GRANTED THE AUTHORITY! I AM THE MASTER HERE!” I cried out as I felt something click and my Dark Mantle swept out.

Little did I know at the time, but the active effects went far past the town hall building. Most of the town felt the pressure of my Dark Mantle. My words were like a cry echoing across the town. Goblins and humans alike fell to their knees. The rituals almost ended at that moment, but Tek’tar held it in place, if just barely.

‘What is this pressure?!’ Tek’tar thought as he too was on his knees.

Knowing none of this at the time, I did one last-ditch effort to deal with the totem. I poured all my remaining mana and stamina into both my abilities.

I roared. “PURITY!!!”

My Dark Mantle flared out with a new golden white glow so bright that I was blinded for a moment. The whole town lit up in golden light. I began to use the totem’s own magic and transform it to my own needs. The pulsing light that now radiated across the entire town, this time it did make the rituals immediately fall apart and collapse. Those goblins involved cried out in agony both from the backlash of a failed ritual and the power of my aura.

Tek’tar screamed, “NOOOOO!!!!!” just before his eyes started to bleed as he took the brunt of the ritual backlash.

The human prisoners had their wounds healed, and for the first time since the apocalypse felt hope fill their hearts.

The building shook as the different energies warred with each other. Sadly, for the Eldritch being using the totem as a conduit, could not withstand the power that was its antithesis. My two abilities sucked the power out of the totem and used it to further fuel what I was doing. An otherworldly screech of pain echoed across the whole town.

ERRRRRR ARRRRR!!!!!

Then I heard it.

CRACK!!!

Like a soundproof door being physically slammed shut, the sounds of something shattering cut the screeches of pain off completely. Just before the sounds cut off it cried out vengeance for daring to take some of its power as my own.

“Screw you!” I taunted back in response.

As my vision cleared, I saw the totem both shatter and begin to melt at the same time. Then what was left started to violently vibrate in place before it imploded in on itself. The only thing left was a scorch mark on the floor where it had once sat.

That was the last thing I saw before I collapsed, fell flat on my face... again... and passed out.