In a way, Nym almost felt cheated. He’d been working on this for months now, getting lessons from an archmage no less. He’d been so sure he was close, that he had nearly accomplished his goal. And then Ferro had shown up, turned all his progress on its head, and shown him how wrong he’d been about his most basic assumptions.
It had been so easy to do, once he’d been shown the right way to do it. The correct path across the third layer moved with the Astral Sea and crossed less than half the distance. The surge of arcana split the Bulwark almost like it wasn’t even there. Nym probably wouldn’t get it exactly right himself the next time he forged that conduit, but there was no doubt in his mind that he’d get close enough to reach the fifth layer anyway.
Ferro was here to assist Exarch Niramyn. As long as he thought Nym was working towards the goal of regaining his past memories and power, he probably wouldn’t be a threat. What Nym wasn’t sure of was how the ascendant would react if he found out that Nym wasn’t racing headlong to take up his former life again.
“Well, I guess I just keep on practicing until I can reach the next layer,” Nym said, scratching his head. “That’s the whole idea of being an ascendant, right? To go past the fifth layer, which humans can’t do.”
“They can, but in order to do it, they have to stop being a human. You helped me cross that chasm a long time ago.”
“Oh. I guess that’s what I’ll start working on next.”
“Yes, that’s probably a good strategy. Once you’ve grown strong enough to break the memory lock curse, you’ll have to move quickly to regain your full strength before Myzalik’s lackies find you and report back to him.”
Nym felt a brief surge of panic at the idea of other ascendants finding him. He doubted he’d be so lucky as to meet a friendly one twice in a row. “Speaking of that, how is it that none of them have found me before now?”
“I’ve been taking care of the ones who figured out your identity and followed the trail. Almost invariably, they end up coming to this place. I’ve ambushed six ascendants now and dispersed their temporal anchors. That is of course a temporary solution. One of them will latch back onto the time stream soon enough and inform Myzalik.”
“Then I don’t have much time. How strong could I get in so little time though?”
“Your own protections have kept you safe as well, you understand?” Ferro gestured around. “Even now, with you standing in front of me, I can’t find you with my magic. I have to use my own eyes to see you. A shroud of arcana would be more than enough to hide you if an ascendant wishing you harm appeared before you.”
“Then how did you find me?”
“I did not. I have watched your pet human to ensure her safety, as you appeared quite fond of her before you disappeared from the timestream. I saw her talking to someone, but there was no one there in my scrying, so I came to investigate. And here you are, my master.”
Nym didn’t know exactly what Ferro meant when he said a shroud of arcana would hide him, but if he understood what the ascendant was saying, then perhaps he had the same kind of magic shielding him that the memory cube did. That appeared as though it were nothing to any scrying he did and his magic couldn’t grip it at all.
But no, Ferro’s magic could clearly affect Nym. Then again, it wasn’t likely that an ascendant was using something as weak as a second or third circle spell. Nym wondered if an arcana shroud was something that was still beyond his capabilities. If not, persuading Ferro to show it to him was at the very top of his priorities list now.
“Can you teach me how to conceal myself from any ascendant that might physically confront me, just in case?”
“Certainly, Master. You will need arcana from the Echoing Vastness to complete this spell. Just form a conduit like you did a few minutes ago and I’ll guide you through it.”
“The what now?” Nym had never heard of that layer.
“The fifth layer. Humans call it… something else. Something with religious overtones, I believe.”
The process wasn’t as smooth, but this time Ferro didn’t interrupt. Nym reached the fifth layer and let the arcana fill his soul well. It poured in, more and more, until he was as full as he could possibly be. Ferro watched silently, perhaps measuring Nym’s capabilities, or perhaps just disappointed that the boy wasn’t as strong as a god.
“Good,” the ascendant said finally. “That should be enough. Now, let me show you how to properly cast an invisibility spell.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Ferro did the spell once, slowly, while he lectured what each part did and how it connected to the whole. It was complicated, at least on the level of the long range communications and scrying spells he’d learned, but somehow thicker. It was the arcana he was using as raw material that made the difference, Nym thought.
Just as the spell was completed, Ferro let it fall apart. He gestured for Nym to try, simply saying, “Remember that for this type of arcana, you must build the channels that guide it along. Do not attempt to control its path directly. You are far too weak to do such a thing as you are now. Think of it as heavy, heavy water flowing through the canals you’ve dug to give it the shape you desire.”
That took a few attempts to wrap his head around. Nym was very used to weaving spells, bending and twisting strands of arcana into the shape he desired, and of using his intent to imbue the arcana with whatever properties he needed to make it work. Even with third circle magic, he’d found that once he’d calmed it down, it functioned much the same way. It just took a greater effort of willpower to force it to be still.
Building a framework that would wrap around the arcana and guide it rather than just making the spell out of arcana itself was new, and it was taxing. It took far more effort to make even the simplest patterns than he was used to, but he managed it. If he’d been as limited as he was a month ago before the aging curse was broken, he didn’t think he could have done it.
It was probably sloppy and inefficient. He knew his soul well was many, many times bigger than Archmage Veran’s, so he could afford to waste far more energy to achieve the same result, but he had no doubt that he was using the same basic technique to define the parameters of the spell. He’d seen his mentor do it, after all.
Nym finished crafting the spell and everything went white. He reached out a hand and swiped at it, but nothing changed. “Hmm… I don’t think I did this right,” he said. “Everything is just… gone, like I’m in a big, endless white void.”
“You took too long to finish forming the spell. Go ahead and dismiss it and I’ll show you where you went wrong,” Ferro’s voice came from in front of Nym.
The world returned in all its colorful and shape-filled glory as Nym let the spell collapse. That was an interesting experience in itself, practically staggering him back a step as the arcana fell out of shape. He made a mental note to be more careful with discharging fifth layer arcana for any future pinnacle spells.
“Alright, watch closely please. The issue you ran into is a symptom of the two problems you’re having. Your will is not strong enough to hold arcana from the Echoing Vastness in shape, and you aren’t casting the spell fast enough to fully form it before your will gives out. Because of that, arcana started to spill out of the channels. You see this part here? This is where it bled through and ruined the portion of the spell that allows you to see.”
“So I need to reinforce the channels with my will, or cast the spell faster, but preferably both,” Nym said.
“No, of course not. The channels need to be as strong as they need to be to hold the shape until the spell is complete. Any stronger would be wasted effort to achieve the same result. That will take some practice to achieve, of course.”
“Oh, of course.”
Ferro was kind of an abrupt teacher. It was a sharp contrast to his time with Archmage Veran, who very much liked to tease answers out of Nym with hints and subtle guidance towards logical conclusions. Ferro just kind of plopped the answer down in Nym’s lap and left him to figure out what he wanted to do with it.
In some ways, it was refreshing to just have the solution handed to him, but it certainly took some of the challenge out of learning a new spell. He supposed that from Ferro’s point of view, he wasn’t teaching Nym so much as hastening the return of Exarch Niramyn. Once he regained his old memories and personality, he would already know everything Ferro was telling him, so there was little point in laying down a foundation to build upon.
Nym spent another half an hour practicing the spell under Ferro’s guidance until he could cast it without error. He looked at the world around him, fully visible with no blurring or warping like the camouflage spell he’d been using. Then he looked down at his own body, completely invisible to his mundane sight. He could see the crushed leaf under his foot, but not the foot itself.
“Amazing. True invisibility,” Nym said.
“Yes. This combined with your current… extratemporal state… should allow you to hide from even an ascendant. It’s not foolproof, of course. I would still be able to see you cast a spell just by seeing the arcana form around you, but that’s a limit of such a low layer of arcana that you won’t be able to get around. And if I absolutely needed to, I could just destroy everything within a few miles of here to make sure I hit you.”
“Those are valid points,” Nym agreed. “But it’s better than nothing.”
“Yes, Exarch. What else can I do to assist you?”
Nym considered telling him about the cube, but decided against it. Once that secret was out, there was no taking it back, and he didn’t know if he trusted Ferro. So far, the ascendant had been nothing but helpful. If that changed, Nym was a dead man. He didn’t think he could bluff Ferro like he had the last time someone who knew he was an ascendant wanted something from him. Some measure of the truth was necessary.
“For now, nothing. I have a few memories left to me from my past life that are guiding me along the path I determined was best for myself. If I need your assistance, I will leave a message for you at the mortal’s home. You’re monitoring it anyway, you said?” At Ferro’s nod, Nym continued. “Then you should note the appearance of a simple piece of paper with instructions for you on it easily.”
“Yes. That is a good plan, considering the circumstances. Please let me know whenever you need me to do something for you. My skills are at your full disposal.”
“Thank you, Ferro. For now, I’m going to finish my visit with the mortal. I will be in contact next time I need you.”
“Of course. Then, if that is all, I shall return to my watch. Rest assured, none of your enemies will reach you by following any timeline that leads to this mortal.”
Then Ferro was gone, and Nym breathed out a massive sigh of relief. He teleported to Ciana’s house immediately. He needed to get her out of there before a god-like being appeared in front of her and obliterated her. That was going to be a fun talk, he knew.