Chapter 162

Smoke And Death Mirrors

(Mallory)

What do you give someone who can make and do anything they put their mind to? That was what Mallory had found herself asking.

What do you get your best friend, who means the world to you as a birthday gift something that is both meaningful and practical, while not coming across as opulent or wasteful. That was the problem Mallory had found herself in for months, as she wondered what she could get as a gift for Cass that would be meaningful and something that would show just how important she was to Mallory.

The woman, her best friend, and most trusted supporter had done everything for her. In less than a year, she had saved her life, created an empire for her guild, and even created a school that she got credit for, for just providing the ground. Mind you the ground that the school was built upon was only possible due to Cass’s own inventions and hard work of creating a lush environment from a desert.

Honestly, Mallory had no clue whatsoever on what to get her. But she did have feelers out.

Also, with Cass’s real world birthday looming, a day she likely didn’t even keep track of, Mallory and Gwen both felt that this would be a perfect time to show her importance not only to them, but also as a valued guild member.

That was why when details of how a legendary Mirror of the Dead came to be part of higher end rumor mills, Mallory’s ears perked up.

Then speaking about the item to Gwen, and the fact that Cass could use it to possibly talk to her parents one last time, Gwen was ecstatic about the idea.

This of course led to the fact that they had to keep everything hush-hush, as even writing about it was tantamount to being discovered. As such all communications were either in person, or done via voice transmitters, or what was more and more often the case, Mallory and or one of her information brokers going out and finding more details.

Of course, everyone asked why she didn’t have Cass go out and spend an afternoon looking either for the item in question, or on information about it, as she was still known as one of the greatest information brokers of all time, and still had a cult following from her exploits as an unclassed street urchin.

However, once it was explained that this was seen as a gift idea for Cass, almost every member of the guild brought into this information gathering event bought in fully to the idea of making this a surprise gift idea. Where they would all leave to pick up the gift, which Cass would verify with her hoodoo powers of magical knowledge.

Honestly, after all these months of working with her, Mallory still had no idea how Cass was able to verify true relics from false ones from miles away. She knew that it was due to her odd Angel’s Sight, but that would only be responsible for half of her ability at most. As her father always said, anyone can be born with god given talent, but the truly great took that talent and pushed it to its limits.

For a while there, Cass inspired many people to take the Angel’s Sight merit upon entering the world. Each trying to gain the advantage with magic that Cass herself had. Yet, none of those that have joined since have had a tenth of the ability to learn magic the same way that Cass herself can. Well, that is not entirely true, Gwendolyn, Cass’s daughter does show remarkable ability, but it’s clear to most everyone, especially Gwen herself, that without her mother’s guidance and teachings the merit and bloodline she held and tried to utilize would be wasted without Cass’s constant insights.

At first Mallory thought she loved magic, and for the most part she does, but Cass lives and breathes it, then tries to hold her breath and experience it for just a micro fraction longer, before exhaling a different form of magic.

Her whole scientific process to magic and magic manipulation is impressive to watch.

Also, there have been signs of late, she seems to be getting restless. Honestly, Mallory was glad that the quest for the school came along, and the fact that her name was the first name of the school was pure genius, as it meant she would almost be forced to stick around for the next three years at least.

Which Mallory thought would be enough, but it’s clear that Cass has that explorer’s itch, that need to push herself to try to go further. Honestly it is hard to explain how Mallory could just feel her need to get out and explore, but it was there, and it frightened her.

She remembered a conversation from a little over a month ago, when Cass asked in passing. “Would you ever want to go back to the Arcanarus Tower?”

Scoff.

No, honestly the place had given Mallory the creeps. The realm of the dead, a place that would slowly dissolve mortals apart if they didn’t have any form of protection while in that alternate realm. A realm that was filled with a constant film of dust and smoke. A realm that looked like the act of breathing would burn apart your lungs from the inside. And that realm did, at least until Cass covered her with her permanent Death Shroud, arguably the rarest and weirdest healer class only Merit that Mallory had ever heard of.

Yet, with that one merit, she had gone through the realm of the dead for over two hundred floors. Getting a first explorer badge for each major floor. The trip through the realm of the dead was almost bad enough to give her the creeps, add to it the fact that she had to spend most of her time flying hundreds of floors up a seemingly never-ending tree. A tree that looked like it was visibly rotting form the inside out, and was. Yet, that rotting tree was a secondary quest for Cass, as she had to not only fly, climb, and avoid the dead, but then also cure a dying spirit tree from falling over while climbing up. Honestly, there was nothing about that place that Mallory wanted to ever see again. That was why Mallory had thought Cass had been joking, and had laughed loudly at her friend’s jest.

It was only after seeing the slight drop of her face, and heard her “oh, okay.” Reply that Mallory realized what it all meant.

Her friend was probably looking to go back to the tower.

Honestly, Mallory wanted to go, just to protect her, but deep down she knew she couldn’t. First, her obligations to the guild were increasing, especially with the fact that they had just established a permanent base of operations almost a thousand miles away from the entry point to the Tower. But there was also the fact that at the end, it was clearly Cass and her unwavering determination that forced her and Mallory through the finish line of the two-hundredth floor.

As a Valkyrie, she should be immune to death, but after seeing how high that tree was, and how she was constantly pushing herself to fly from branch to branch only made things worse. All it would take was one careless flap, one mistimed leap, one toss or turn in her sleep and she would be a Valkyrie pancake.

Even now she still had fears about rolling out of bed and falling down the massive tree trunk of Yggdraspirit.

No, she couldn’t do it again.

That was when she also remembered part of a conversation they had when they first started traveling. In that time, Cass said something along the lines of, “part of me wonders that if I climb to the very top of this tower, will I be able to find the entry point into the realm of the dead, where I can finally speak to my parents again.”

That conversation struck a cord within Mallory, who realized that the parents who raised Cass were likely really good people, considering how she turned out.

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A quick investigation into their past lives made Mallory feel squeamish at first, as she realized that she caused their first deaths during a stupid war that Mallory had somehow been called into. Now, years later Mallory couldn’t even remember why she was there, nor why she had conducted such widespread death and destruction as she had through the course of that fateful battle. Yet she had, and Mallory felt nothing about her actions from that day, not until nearly twenty years later when she met Cass.

Of course, Cass being Cass, she never even held a grudge against Mallory, something that she was forever grateful for. Mallory could only imagine how her life would be if Cass held anger at that first life, as she knew she would be dead right now.

This was why, despite being the cause of her parents’ inevitable downfall, Mallory hoped that with this gift she could do two things. Well, many things really, but two main points. First, she hoped that this gift, if it really was the fabled Mirror of the Dead, could allow Cass to get closure by speaking to her parents. The second, and much more selfish reason was that Mallory hoped this would be a good enough offering for why they should give up their attempts to begin re-climbing the Arcanarus Tower.

Due to those reasons, and a few dozen other minor reasons all related to Cass and her relationship with Cass, the Mirror of the Dead, was the birthday gift of choice. Nothing else would do, as everything else would just be a pale imitation of this gift, at least in Mallory’s eyes. That was why she went through great lengths to track down every lead possible. Even re-engaging old contacts that she had long ago dropped, and swore she would never speak to again.

Yet, for Cass she would sacrifice both her pride and her previously established morals and open lines of potentially peaceful resolutions with the scum of the world, if it meant making Cass happy.

That was how she found herself here, that was how she now found herself forced to make small talk with Rick “The Prick” Troll. Even though every instinct of hers told her that this was a bad idea of possibly allowing Rick back into the guild, especially now that they were clearly on the rise from being the number two guild in the world, to the clear and prominent front-runner. Their fame got them the initial lines of communications, which then required special meetings with Cass herself, the legendary Martial and Mana Master. This was why Mallory agreed to forging the meeting between this Mr. Bones, who Mallory already knew was Reginal Val’Roth, a fellow spirit bloodline holder, which was likely why he was able to handle the destructive mirror in the first place.

All Mallory was doing by talking to Rick was two things. First, she was testing to see how trustworthy Rick was, which given everything she had heard throughout most of the ride over was seen as being at most half truthful, at least according to her other sources.

Yet for some reason Reginal wanted to have Rick as his front man, this was a fact that was confirmed by multiple sources. So here they were.

Everything was going smoothly until they entered the airspace over the city. As soon as they entered the area something happened. For a moment, the deepest parts of her mind swore that she had somehow re-entered the Arcanarus Tower. At least that was the same feeling of death and macabre air she felt that she was breathing in. While the air here didn’t quite burn, it did have that faint taste and smell of smoke and vapors.

Rick continued to speak, but Mallory’s attention was pulled in by Cass who suddenly turned her head and placed all her attention squarely on Rick.

This wasn’t just her normal look, nor could Mallory truly tell what she was looking at, as her hood was up currently, an executive decision that was made to help conceal her from scrutiny as much as possible. Yet, at this moment Mallory could tell that Cass’s full attention was posed squarely on Rick as there was a tangible weight to her stare and focus. Cass probably didn’t realize it, but when she focused her mind on something, on one point in space, people near that space could feel it. There was a mental weight that followed her intense focus, as everything else seemed to be covered in layers of wet blankets, where the only way out was to also focus your attention on that same point. Seeing that Cass’s full attention was being focused on Rick, Mallory asked.

“What is it?”

Rick then replied, but the words were distant as if traveling through water. At first Mallory couldn’t understand the words, but then after a second of intense focus, her mind finally managed to make sense of the words.

“Oh, we must be nearly there.” Rick said, “I can already feel his pull on me now.”

“What is happening?” Mallory demanded, trying to understand why the world was acting so disjointed all the sudden.

“Justice,” Rick shouted, then raising his right hand, he snapped together his fingers and instantly an eruption exploded out.

Mallory just stood there, right at ground zero, and felt a burst of flame and force violently push her backwards. Fortunately, her instincts kicked in and she managed to drag her heels into the ground, slowing her momentum after she slid back a few feet.

Then before she realized what was happening, black ash was falling down, and seeing it, Mallory could tell instantly what it was, Death Sulfur, something that only happened when the most violent of Spiritual attacks were unleashed.

Seeing the falling ashes, Mallory remembered that this is likely what killed Cass’s parents, and most of the other civilians that were caught up in the random battle she had been part of almost twenty years ago.

Seeing the falling ash, Mallory thought she would need to do something to survive, as Death Sulfur also had the ability to stop even magical spells and Traits from activating. Yet, out of the corner of her eye, a miracle happened. Crazy Cass was already out there working her magic, or anti-magic in this case as she held out her hands and began pulling in the deathly poisonous flakes that would cause crops to fail for a year, and water sources to be polluted for a decade if any substantive quantity fell. The amount falling here, that was easily twice of what fell when Mallory unleashed her then ultimate attack to stop an enemy army that had taken refuge in an out of the way village.

Just as Mallory thought she could relax slightly, Rick made his move. The bastard had silver, seeing him pull out a silver blade proved that he had planned this ambush.

Activate.

Lightning stun damage.

Mallory held up her hands and attempted to activate an internal class power on reflex, only to feel her body burst to life with fire and flames as she felt the reaction of the Death Sulfur interacting with her mana discharge, causing her body to tighten on reflex.

Then it happened.

The world stopped, at least that is all Mallory could understand as something had happened. The weight, the oppressive atmosphere that had been weighing over everyone had suddenly dissipated. For a moment it felt like Mallory could breathe. Instinctively, Mallory knew that her healer had somehow removed the status effect that had been locking up her body.

How?

That didn’t matter, as Cass always seemed to be able to do the impossible at the exact right time. This time was no different, as she felt her body able to move, and just in time, as she raised her arm up to block an incoming blow.

Crunch.

There is a feel that a warrior gets, especially after being in so many fights to the death as Mallory had, she felt the impact and sudden cracking and grinding of bone against bone. For a moment Mallory thought the break was done by her, as she had been through a lot recently, an explosion, probably stabbed, nope just checked, definitely stabbed. There was a momentary stun, then she was able to move. Now her block ended up with her attacker crumpling to the ground in a withering heap of pain and cries of agony.

Looking around, Mallory found Cass, though she was somehow on the other side of the room, likely Teleported, at least that was what she assumed.

Then before Mallory had any time to fully come to terms with what she was experiencing around her, Cass always the prophet of bad news spoke up. “Prepare for impact.”

Then she rushed towards a nearby pillar.

Looking forward, Mallory saw the problem, as the burst had apparently hit the stabilizers or something, as the ship was dropping quickly. Not only was the ship now dropping, but the city they were going into was beginning to become more apparent as taller and taller buildings began to fill the skyline.

Looking out, Mallory saw an oddly beautiful scene. There was the primary tower of the city’s Mage’s Guild, highlighted by a full moon in the background, that was covered by a dense purple haze. Honestly, Mallory saw the moment and realized she wished she had a camera to take a picture, then she saw the tower and moon slowly shrink from her vision as the side of the Mage’s Guild hall got bigger and bigger with each second.

Mallory tried to think of something to do, when she felt the intense tingling of Spirit mana nearby. This was nothing new, at least it shouldn’t be as the cabin had been full of it for the past few minutes. At least that is what Mallory thought, it was only once she heard the cries of her bodyguards crying out, that she turned her head.

“AHHH!”

They cried out as the bodyguards looked to be floating uncontrollably towards the opening rift in space. Looking on in horror, Mallory saw the very realm she feared the most. A realm that should not bother her so much, given her unique class, but somehow did. Then before she could figure out what was happening, she felt her own body lift up from the ground and get flung straight towards the rift in time and space.

As she flew past, she saw the black uniform of Cass, who threw Mallory into the hole quickly. Where she plummeted to the ground a few feet below quickly, before having her momentum stopped entirely, before she managed to land on her feet gracefully, as her superior physical conditioning kicked in.

Then just as Mallory turned to stop the crazy woman, a broken and crippled body of Rick Troll flew through, the rift, crashing into the ground and sliding forward, before ultimately stopping at Mallory’s feet.

Mallory half expected Cass to join her right then and there, but could only look on in horror as Cass clearly began the process to close the rift in space, only to disappear before the hole completely closed.

“What is she?” Jhonny asked, suddenly jumping to his feet, as he went right up to the hole that he too had been thrown through.

As they all looked up, towards the spot in space where they had just fallen, they could see the ship they had just departed in the real-world barrel forward, before crashing into the wall of the Mage’s Guild, before erupting into a violent ball of flames as the automatic defenses of the Mage’s Guild building sprung to life, burning away any form of possible kinetic attack aimed at their premises.

Mallory felt her jaw drop as she realized Cass had just saved them all.

“What happened?” Vickard, Mallory’s own primary bodyguard spoke up.

“She saved us.” Was all Mallory could say, wondering if Cass had survived that explosion.

There was nothing left, just a violent burst of debris being atomized in the night sky as if it was an oversized firework that went off far too close to the ground.

Silence.

There was a moment of silence, as everyone looked up to see what had happened, then she heard the sound that caused her heart to feel a bit lighter.

Cough, cough.

Hearing the sound, Mallory turned to see Cass holding the pilot and co-pilot of the now exploded airship under her arms. Having apparently jumped forward, grabbing the two before they were both atomized by the Mage Guild’s defenses.

“Come with me, she says. You need to be more social and go out and see the world she says.” Cass began, saying as she trudged froward with the two pilots held firmly under each arm.

Blurry.

At that, Mallory’s eyes began to water as she found herself charging forward to grab and hold Cass tightly.

“Don’t worry, it will be a milk run, she says… bleh.” Cass continued, until her words were forcefully stopped by Mallory who had picked up the healer and held her tightly in an overly protective bear hug.

“Okay, okay, can’t breathe.” Cass said, dropping the two bodies and then gently patting Mallory, who was not crying, she just had dust in her eyes. Death Sulfur dust, and it was very painful at the moment and would likely require a moment to get flushed from her system.

Then when she could finally speak, Mallory said the only words she could at the moment. “Thank you so much for coming.”

“Yeah, of course. How could I miss a party like this?” Cass said, patting Mallory.

At that Mallory loosened her grip as she held out Cass at her full arm’s length, “wait, how did you know?”