Vanhaven Hoverfeld
Edge Of The Forest
“My, what a ghastly creature.” I said as the guard assisted in pulling me out of the mud that the thing managed to corner me into. “What took you so long? Your decorum states that you shall assist me when my life is put into imminent mortal danger. THIS,” I gestured to the light armor my father gave to me the previous day which was now covered in dirt and mud. “Is way past that point.”
Then, she really had the audacity to shush me, followed by her pointing her spear off into the direction she kicked the creature off to. “That thing is still alive, just pretend I wasn’t here, and you can capture it for your assignment.” I looked back at the guard with a look of disdain.
“Aside from your obvious disregard for my well being, you do have a point.” I pulled out my sword, if I can just get one hit on the creature then the magic imbued within will poison it with the most potent stuff known, so long as it doesn’t have a counter spell or a high enough resistance this should be a piece of cake. I looked over to the rock face with the creature still reeling at the bottom of, the guard had left at this point, off to watch from a distance like she is supposed to do.
I do say, I wish I didn’t have to get into this situation. Whenever a noble born close to the royal family wishes to gain respect and be able to work their way up the ladder of the government they have to complete a ceremony of sorts. This ceremony includes two parts; a sending off ceremony, and the hunt. The sending off ceremony is fairly straightforward, a lot of important senators and members of the royal family are present to send off the soon to be noble. The noble then has to partake in the second part of the ceremony. The hunt, where they travel through the forest and have to capture an animal that could be considered ‘game’ by our people which for all intents and purposes, is just an animal that isn’t poisonous, or is powerful enough to have been a monumental task to subdue or kill.
I watched as the creature slowly recovered from the blow, though it was still faster than what should have been possible, especially after getting its head smashed into a rock. It used that black goop to straighten itself and get back on its feet.
“Wasn’t expecting that, even ATLAS didn’t see it coming. What was it that your friend used to sneak up on me? Was it something similar to cloaking tech? No, this world isn’t advanced enough for that. So, tell me, what did that squirrel use?” I twisted my face into the most confused look I could muster. What the hell was this thing talking about? We speak the same language, that much is clear, but besides that, I couldn’t understand a single word that creature spoke.
“You can’t be serious right? For starters, I’m not a ‘squirrel’ whatever that is. I’m a Mikew and all the guard used was a simple concealing spell.” Even I could see through it, that was how simple it was. If this creature even had an inkling of magic then it should have seen right through the spell. It obviously does have some kind of magic, how else could it manipulate that black goop so effectively?
“It seems I will have to learn more about these spells…” it pulled its hand up to rub its chin, until it shook its head, and pulled its hand away. “Anyway, it seems this might be the first battle I loose in this world.”
“Heh, so you have already accepted your fate? Then just lie down like a good dog, and die.” The thing smirked at my statement, before pulling out a black sword from gods know where, and pointing it at me and getting into a fighting stance.
“Well, gotta make it believable.” Suddenly, it leapt at me, with the fury and grace of a charging rhinoceros. It swung its sword full force, aiming for my neck. I easily dodged it, mostly because I saw it a mile away. From the momentum of my dodge, I swung my sword up. I was attempting to connect with its side, but it blocked at the last second. Using its free elbow it let go of its sword with one hand, and elbowed me in the jaw. When it made contact, I swear I heard something in my chin break.
I pulled away from the creature to collect my bearings. I rubbed the part of my chin where the thing had hit me and definitely felt some kind of fracture in my jaw. “YOU FUCKING BEAST.” I screamed at the creature. That really fucking hurt, and I don’t have any potions with me right now. That was, until I remembered my trump card.
…
UNKNOWN ROYAL GUARD
In A Tree On The Edge Of The Forest
I watched as the battle below unfolded, “Is that thing toying with him?” I asked myself quietly. From the very start of the fight, it felt as if the thing was keeping it’s full power under wraps. It was as if the thing wanted to loose this battle, it did say something about my concealing spell earlier. But its impossible for it to not know about magic, right? I mean from this battle alone, it was obvious that it had to know some magic, otherwise just how did it get that sword? It didn’t have it earlier, so it had to have used creation magic to make one. Or used some concealing spell to hide it up until now.
As I pondered the implications of what the being said, Vanhaven finally used his trump card. Its a necklace that he always has worn which has the ability to take complete control over the mind of an individual, once, every two months. It does seem like a bit of a waste to use now, but I am not one to judge, maybe he thinks he still can’t win even though the thing has been full of openings during the fight.
I watched as he pulled out the necklace and started the chant. Slowly, as he continued his chant, a magic circle appeared right in front of him, facing the creature.
…
SERGEANT MAJOR ELEANOR USALDO
Edge Of The Forest
The squirrel finished the last word of his strange chant, and the circle that ATLAS was studying became opaque, filling in completely with a green glow. It became just a floating circle floating between us.
“Now, you are to listen to my words, AND OBEY MY COMMANDS!” He emphasized the last part, and as he finished, the circle rapidly grew. It stretched around my vision, slowly turning the environment around me into a green, glowing void.
“Wha-” I tried to say, before ATLAS suddenly gave me multiple warnings.
Background Magic-Radiation; 250% above normal.
WARNING: Magic found to be interfering with operator’s cognitive status.
Attempting to sever magic stream…
!!UNSUCCESSFUL!!
Reattempting to sever magic stream…
!!UNSUCCESSFUL!!
User has been deemed cognitively compromised. Backup memory drive complete. User has been stripped of all relative ATLAS related abilities until a time that normal brain functions have been confirmed.
…
Vanhaven Hoverfeld
Edge Of The Forest
“Finally.” I said as the spell took effect. I leaned over to catch my breath, that spell always takes a lot out of me. But finally, I won.
Looking back at the creature one could say that it looked like a zombie now, it had dropped its sword the moment the spell took effect, as well as looking down to the ground and staying completely still. The only thing that would tell you that it is alive is the fact that it is still standing up straight.
“Did it work?” I heard the guard say as she jumped out from a nearby tree.
“Yes, I think so.” I was still catching my breath, so it was more like I huffed out that last part. “Anyway, how much do you think I will get for this?” I asked, looking back at the guard.
“I don’t know.” She pulled out her sword as she said that, and got into a stance to strike the creature.
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“Wait, what are you-” Before I had the chance to finish, she striked the creature with all the power I assume she could muster. As I watched her pull the sword away from it, I noticed that the thing hadn’t moved at all. Not only that, the sword didn’t seem to make even a mark on the strange suit the thing wore.
“Was that really necessary?” I asked the guard. She turned from the creature to face me, also squinting from the rising sun behind me.
“Look,” She offered her sword to me, I hesitated, but took the sword after a second. Appraising the object, I noticed a new giant blemish that obviously wasn’t there before.
“What is this supposed to mean?” I gave the weapon back to the guard, who promptly placed it in its sheath.
“If you don’t know then it shows just how dumb you nobles can be.” She shook her head as she said that. My face turned red at her statement, how dare she say such insolence. “Anyway, it means that it had little to no reason to guard and protect itself throughout that fight, and it also had no reason to hold back in that fight.” I gave her a strange look when she finished.
“What do you mean? It was holding back?”
“Yes, I was watching its eyes throughout the fight, it saw every single opening in your stance that I noticed, and even some that I didn’t notice. I only found them after tracking its eye movement. This means that it not only could have killed you sooner, but it also had no reason to treat you as an equal throughout it.”
“I-I had no idea…” I looked back at the husk of a being that once was the creature, after the spell takes hold of an individual they are compelled to follow every order that I would give them, including to give information regarding say an enemy encampment. It is really useful for interrogation as you can imagine, the only downside is that it takes a lot of magic to cast it and it can only be cast six times a year, at best.
“Alright, well I suppose that the king can decide the fate of this creature.” The guard said as she walked past me back to the magic circle. “Tell the thing to follow.” She said, waiving her hand along behind her.
I swear this guard will pay for her insolence. “Oi, is that how you talk to a future noble?” I retorted while crossing my arms. She just ignored it and continued walking towards the circle, I swear I will report this insolence to the king himself. But for now, there is nothing I can do about it.
“Alright, come along now.” I said ushering towards the creature. It staggered a bit and then complied, stumbling behind me like some strange zombie. It was normal for creatures to do that after my mind control spell, but there was something strange about it this time. It seemed to walk slowly, like it was shackled to a boulder that it has to pull with it everywhere.
I looked behind me in confusion. “Why are you walking like that?” I asked the thing, under this spell, they cannot lie to me. Though it seemed to struggle to even speak, like something was holding it back on each and every move it made.
“T-The ATLAS… u-unit is currently… in… lockdown. It’s… preventing m-me from using its… abilities.” It’s speaking differently now, before it spoke with elegance and grace. But now, the spell is translating every word it says, from some other language which made it more jittery. Anyway, what does it mean, ATLAS? Is that a person?
“Atlas? Who is that?” It’s response was yet again, incredibly delayed.
“N-Not a who… a what. ATLAS i-it’s an… acronym, meaning Artificial Transformation & Lacuna based Armament Station.” The only thing I took from that was that Atlas or whatever it is, is not a person, but something inside of this thing’s bones?
I didn’t have time to think about it though, I stopped next to the guard as she prepared the ritual to open the teleportation circle.
“I heard the two of you talking, did it say something interesting?” I gave her a bored look.
“Nah, just some nonsense about something called Atlas.” She perked up at that.
“Atlas? Sounds familiar…huh, Anyway.” She finished the ritual and the magic circle in front of her moved onto the ground, forming a teleportation circle.
“Lets get going, we need to show the king his prize from your hunt.”
I nodded ecstatically in agreement, who knows what title I would receive from this prize. No one else has brought back an elf before, especially not one as powerful as this.
The three of us walked onto the circle, and the moment that the elf stepped onto the circle, it lit up the environment, drowning everything into a bright blue light, before dissipating. As the light dissipated, the environment revealed to have changed into a field. We were standing on a massive stone imbedded into the ground, surrounded by multiple other stones each with different markings and emblems written on them.
These were the teleportation stones that made travel through different realms possible. Of course you could take a carriage to the other realms and even walk there but that would take years, and some realms are even hidden behind a giant ocean. Off in the distance, in front of us stood the proud Ratatosk castle, of the Ratatosk clan. It served as our capital and a lasting monument to the power held by the Ratatosk clan.
Neither of us said much on the way to the gate, not much could be said. The two of us weren't supposed to talk to each other anyway. When we made it to the nearest gate, there was a visibly long line to get back into the city, comprised of a variation of colorful and exotic characters. Some were obviously from the south as they had a lighter tan fur color to blend in with the desert better, some were from the north, dictated by their whiter fur color to blend in with the snow. But only natives had the dark brown fur as apparent with myself and the guard.
The three of us strolled past the line like it was not even there, and the moment the guards managing the gate saw us, they immediately saluted and made a path for us to walk through. One of them, as soon as we were past, grabbed a small black stone that was set off to the side and shook it. The stone shone with a green light for a hot second before going out.
…
ATLAS
Ratatosk Capital Outskirts
!!Success!!
Magic stream severed,
Warning: Abnormal brain status has prevailed. Magic stream deemed to not be the cause of abnormal brain function.
Initiating brain scan…
Brain scan complete: Inherent magic particles detected, frontal lobe effected, magic particles appear to be suppressing Sergeant Usaldo’s higher brain function.
Warning: Due to magic particle location, transference of magical energy into electrical energy deemed too risky to complete.
Alternative solution: Creation of magic vacuum in the collarbone will not effect overall brain function and allow magic particles to be moved to a more agreeable location.
Alternative solution deemed agreeable and applicable.
Creating a magical vacuum in collarbone, stand by…
!!Success!!
Estimated time until extortion of magic particles from brain: 2 hours
Warning: Surroundings have been deemed hazardous.
No immediate danger detected, intelligence collection possible.
Conclusion: if outside risk factor goes past 30%, annexation of user’s control over vessel shall commence and evacuation to a location deemed safe shall follow.
…
Lord Gracious
Lord Gracious private study
There I sat, at my desk fiddling with a stack of paperwork. It had been a very long day, first there was the work I needed to complete in regards to the Acomore kingdom finding out about some of our teleportation circles within their territory, and not only that but our routine hunting of the forests in their territory. They don’t seem to mad about the hunting, more so how close the teleportation circles are to their capital.
The best thing I can do in this situation is to assure them that we have destroyed the teleportation circles and hide them better. The forests in their territory are ripe with animals and are the perfect spots to send nobles for their hunting ritual. I could send them elsewhere but nowhere is quite as perfect as those forests mostly because anywhere else the noble has a chance to die from the elements and not just from a creature.
I set aside the paperwork from the Acomore kingdom and set my eyes upon the rest of the reports for the day.
“Business trade increasing from the surrounding lizardmen tribes, goblin hideout still not found, dungeon exploration has yet to begin, and… oh!” I said in surprise as I looked closer at the report.
This is what it said;
“Scouting party 48 found a fallen meteor deep within the Durmire desert.
Meteor composition has been confirmed to be mostly that of a mostly iron compound. Meteor looks unnatural, possibly even crafted.”
The report continued to describe the manor in which the scouting party found the meteor as well as other aspects of the meteor itself.
I was about to call in my assistant, when suddenly, the very person burst through my large office doors. He appeared to be out of breath, but I decided to ignore it.
“Evening Jeremy, I was just about to call you in anyways.” Before I could continue, he looked up, I barely noticed due to him squinting his eyes from the setting sun. But I saw the worst look in his eyes, it was the look of horror one would expect to see in a person who was just running from a sabertooth lion.
“Me lord, I bring unprecedented news! Vanhaven Hoverfield has returned from his hunt.” I looked at the man confused.
“Isn’t that a good thing? What did he bring back with him?”
“That's the thing sir, the creature he brought back, we placed in the dungeon, and just an hour ago, it woke up from Vanhaven’s spell. It killed three guards and busted through three feet of solid magic reinforced concrete.”