Olivander fell from a portal high in the air above a valley. Based on his very rough knowledge of the area, and the fact that this was near the border with Verenci, he figured the area to his left was the outskirts of Verenci, and the cliffs to his right marked the edge of kingdom territory. The valley just beyond the cliffs was a point of some contention. Olivander didn't personally care too much about the squabbles of kingdoms and empires despite having been a pawn in such wars before, but he knew the Queen had a distaste for their neighbors to the north.

More than just being able to see the remnants of a brutal battle, he could feel it. A dungeon had ruptured here, and the area was rife with monsters. Whatever had happened, this border was no longer something either country would want to claim. Rather it would serve as a natural barrier for centuries to come.

Monsters roamed the area, occasionally fighting with one another, but more often feeding on the small rifts where power from another realm flowed into the world. The rifts glowed with red and orange light and gave off a feeling of immeasurable heat.

"Realm of Fire? How is that possible?"

He slowed his fall with a ritual and touched the ground. A fire elemental monster turned on him and blasted a bar of molten fire in his direction, but it glanced harmlessly off one of his wards. He swapped back to his Magus class because it increased his resistance to magical effects dramatically. Being exposed to the raw magic of another Realm could be dangerous. Especially a Realm like fire, which did not have a physical plane.

He summoned a series of ice and water elemental swords under his control, and used them to pick his way through the battlefield with minimal interference. The monsters were dense, but not especially powerful.

After a time, he found the spot he was reasonably certain had been the location of the final conflict. The remnants of a destroyed tower marked where the original dungeon aperture had broken. Looking around from that spot, he tried to understand what happened.

A series of rituals let him measure aspects about local mana composition. There was heavy interference from the broken dungeon, but he opened portals in line of sight but far away. He stepped through each portal and completed measurements at a distance. The measurements from each of the outside locations, and from within the battlefield itself confirmed one thing — there was no naturally occuring mana from the Realm of Fire in the area. This dungeon should have never formed, and it certainly shouldn't have been connected to fire.

Either the battle had dozens of pyromancers, or the fire mana had been intentionally pulled into the area to trigger dungeon creation. He would bet it was the latter. There weren't a great number of fire mages in the Queen's army, the hammer didn't like them because once released, fire was often indiscriminate. As for Verenci, they had some powerful magicians, and even one or two Magi in their army, but most of their might was of a traditional military aspect. Well trained troops and time tested battle strategies were Verenci's bread and butter.

That left one very obvious possibility. Olivander didn't want to believe it, but Amegnon's irrational behavior had gone on long enough. Olivander had revealed the custom balancing rituals to his former apprentice, and they could indeed be used indiscriminately to rip apart the very fabric of the world.

Had Amegnon's bonding with the Eye of Madness broken him? Olivander couldn't think of another explanation. Amegnon had never expressed an interest in anything other than advancing his power and becoming a Magus. Perhaps he should have asked the man what his plans were when he finally attained his goal. Olivander had been a poor mentor though, and had never been interested in the end goal of his student, only his mission to make him as powerful as he could. On that count, and much to his chagrin, he had succeeded.

That was one mystery. The dungeon's origin was probably an awful plan of Amegnon's to…what? Eliminate an army by dropping a dungeon on top of them? If so, it wouldn't be the first time it happened. It was an incredibly dangerous and short sighted tradeoff, but the occasional Arch-magus grew desperate enough to try it. So long as they didn't make a habit of it, it didn't harm the world too much. That forced dungeon breaching, though? That was dangerous. Dangerous enough that it happening once warranted Olivander's intervention with his former apprentice.

If he faced Amegnon again, he would need to be prepared.

Before Olivander could travel down that path, he needed to figure out what had happened to the dungeon and on the battlefield.

He could continue to do more research, but the area was destabilizing by the hour. When a dungeon breached, the area changed, forming something like a pseudo dungeon. Gregory was experiencing one himself, but that one was old, and very nearly recovered. Another ten years and the miasma would fade, and the monsters vanish. He would have to keep an eye on that. Those mines would become quite the valuable location when they weren't immediately deadly.

All that aside, he could ask someone what happened, someone who had been here. Not Amegnon. If he had been here, he certainly wouldn't tell the truth about it. He didn't need Amegnon though, he recognized a lingering power in the area. The Hammer had been here. Whether it was before, after or during the dungeon event, he did not know, but she would have some information. Assuming she didn't try to beat him to a pulp. He had been removed from his post, and technically, had no right to call on either the Queen or her Strong Right Hand.

With a lot of questions, and not as many answers as he would like, there was only one spot to go.

He glanced around, to make sure no one was watching, but there weren't any people within a hundred miles of his location. Probably.

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Olivander drew out a ritual. It was unusual for him to need to draw out a portal ritual, since he had complete mastery over a few different portal abilities, but there were locations where portals couldn't be opened. Places that required special keys to enter, like his dimensional space. One such place didn't require a key or a token, but a specific ritual. He powered the glowing lines of mana once he finished the diagram, and a blue portal manifested in front of him.

He arrived in a waiting room on the other side. There were a few people in the room, and an attendant at a desk.

"Excuse me! There are no portals allowed here! Portals can't be opened anywhere on campus!"

Olivander dismissed the portal and smiled at the attendant. "Ah, excuse my rudeness. I forget about that old rule. Is the professor in?"

One of the people in the waiting room, a man in dark blue robes and a literal stack of books in his lap gave Olivander a dirty look.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"An old standing appointment, yes. Let him know that Olivander has decided to finally meet with him. I'll wait right here."

He eyed the uncomfortable waiting room seats and conjured his plush chair.

The attendant looked confused, but she finally left once Olivander started ignoring her. He pulled out a book to read.

"Standing appointment?" a young man nearby asked. A peer of Herman most likely. "It's almost impossible to get time with the professor, how'd you do it?"

Olivander looked up from his book at the probable graduate student who had given him the dirty look.

"Oh, it's quite easy. You just need to be important enough that he wants to book an appointment with you. That no longer applies in my case, but I never cashed in my appointment time."

"Are you an expert in transmutation magic?"

Transmutation, the magical art of changing the specific properties of existing objects and materials, was the professor's specialty.

"I've been known to dabble, but the professor is far beyond my meager understanding of the topic. No, the professor wanted to meet with me because he wanted a grant for a line of magical research. I bet it really annoyed him when I refused. He should have just waited a few years for his daughter to become the Hand of the Queen." Olivander shrugged. "Sometimes things just don't work out."

The grad student looked at Olivander with confusion until the attendant came back out, trailed by an extremely irritated looking magician.

"Olivander, Professor Corvin will see you now."

The irritated magician started when the attendant said Olivander's name, squinted at him, then made a hasty bow and practically sprinted out of the room.

"Wonderful. Sorry to cut in line, everyone."

Olivander entered a back office that was well lit with floating orbs of light. A two story window rose behind a dark wooden desk. It was storming in the capital, and rain pelted the window. Behind the dark desk was a huge man wearing gray robes.

The door clicked shut, and Professor Zuris Corvin looked up from a document he was writing.

"I never thought you would actually grace my office with your presence, Olivander."

"In truth, I didn't either," Olivander said, nodding in approval at the plush chairs across from the professor's desk. He sat down in one and steepled his hands. "I need some information and, if possible, an audience with your daughter."

Professor Corvin took off his reading glasses and laughed, shaking his head.

"What a twist of fate that the mighty former Arch-magus needs a favor from me? Why should I help you, when you never helped me? Are you even allowed in the city?"

"Because the world keeps turning, regardless of whether or not we're suffering from wounded pride. You know your proposal was garbage when you brought it to me. What I am coming to you with is a genuine need, and a worry about the future of the kingdom."

Professor Corvin was as powerfully built as his daughter, and if the rumors could be believed, a skilled fighter in his own right. He leaned back in his chair to study Olivander.

"What is your concern?"

"That our new Arch-magus might potentially be corrupted by madness."

Corvin took a sharp breath in apparent surprise, but his face didn't give away his thoughts. An accusation like that by Olivander Casumus was nothing to dismiss out of hand, but the man still didn't trust Olivander. "You truly think so? I have not had the opportunity to question Zemena about the boy, but by all accounts he seemed to be a stand-up individual, and a powerful Magus."

"And by many accounts I am a terrible person. But I've never done anything to jeopardize the future of our kingdom. I've just returned from a battlefield near the Verenci border where there is now a dungeon breach wasteland forming. I have strong suspicions that Amegnon called the magic that triggered the dungeon formation intentionally. I may no longer be Arch-magus, but that doesn't mean I've stopped trying to protect the kingdom from threats. I need to find out what happened on that battlefield, and figure out if our Arch-magus is capable of doing his job."

Olivander leaned forward and studied the Professor's now concerned expression. He finished with his ask.

"I felt Zemena's power on the battlefield. She was there, and I need to know what she encountered. I wouldn't have come if I didn't think it wasn't important. I couldn't reach out directly, since your daughter is as likely to pulverize me as she is to listen to me."

Professor Corvin scoffed. "I know you jest, Olivander, but Zemena has always respected your council. She would not turn you away, but I understand why you've come to me. I can send her a message. If you're right, that is quite concerning. Are you worried about his participation in the Conclave? It's next week."

Olivander hadn't realized the meeting would be so soon. He needed to get to the bottom of what happened on the northern border before the Conclave began.

"I am. There are some disturbing possibilities that I wouldn't dare even guess at. Suffice it to say if my hunches are correct, then this year's conclave could prove to be a disaster."