Chapter 3 Master Alexander.
“We have something that needs Identified that I think you will like.” Edward explained, getting straight to business.
“Darkness?” Isaac asked at the same time.
Alexander looked between both of them, giving Edward a raised eyebrow but addressing Isaac first. “It is customary to refer to demigods by their domains is it not?” He asked almost rhetorically.
It took Isaac a second before he nodded. “I suppose.” He answered.
Alexander then turned to Edward. “Are you in a rush or can we talk about it over tea?” He asked.
Edward looked at the fresh, hot, tea. “We should be quick about it. It died eight hours ago or so.”
Alexander nodded and beckoned them to follow him. He led them up seven floors to a ritual circle nestled in a small landing that looked almost as if it had been carved into the stone wall. If those present didn’t know any better they would think that it was a natural cave attached to the side of the tower. The cave was fifteen feet across in each direction and once there Alexander gestured towards a small open space in the center of the ritual. “Place whatever it is there please.” He directed.
“You don’t need to know anything about it beforehand?” Isaac asked as Edward did as he was told.
Alexander shook his head. “It’ll be faster to find out with the spell. This ritual is a combination of a few different spells that should tell me more about it than any of you could.” He wasn’t being demeaning but simply stating a fact of the magics that would soon be at work. Isaac nodded and then continued to watch from just outside of the ritual.
Alexander took a blank sheet of parchment, a quill, and an inkwell and placed them each at a different point in the ritual. Once completed he too moved out of the ritual circle. He regarded the heavily modified brain sitting on his floor for a moment before he shook his head. He would find out about it soon enough. “All that is left is to power the ritual. Lord Darkness, would it be possible for you to power it?” Alexander asked, curiosity clear in his tone.
Isaac furrowed his brow in thought for a long moment. “I don’t know.” He eventually said honestly. Alexander raised an eyebrow in question. “What would happen if it was only powered by dark mana?”
Alexander paused for a moment before his eyes went wide. “It would probably fail. I could set up a mana transmutation circle to change it from dark to neutral element mana to power the ritual. It would be quite inefficient but it would work fine. Would you mind?” He asked with hope in his voice and eyes.
Edward cleared his throat. “We should get on with the ritual Master Alexander. It is actively losing its residual mana is it not?” He spoke, pulling attention back to the decaying brain sitting on the floor.
Alexander was pulled out of his excitement back to the reality of why they were all there. “Yes, of course. I will get right to it then.” He said with a hint of disappointment. He walked over to a specific part of the ritual circle and outstretched both his hands. Mana poured out of him but he spoke no words. He simply kept funneling mana to the ritual until it had had its fill. His emerald eyes flared brightly and his robes rippled in a nonphysical wind. The parchment dissolved into nothing as did the quill and inkwell. Eventually the ritual finished and he dropped his hands to his sides. His robes ceased their billowing and his eyes dimmed. He closed his eyes and simply stood there in silence for a long moment before Isaac interrupted him.
“No projection?” Isaac asked. The only other time he had seen an Identify spell activate he had been its target and his first friend had been the one to cast it on him. Aria had her spell set up in a way that the information would be projected for all to see but it appeared that this one was set up to send the information directly into the caster’s mind.
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Alexander shook his head. His eyes were still closed as if he was reading off the inside of his eyelids. “No need. I have a perfect memory. There is a lot here. Do you want the long or the short of it?” He asked.
Edward spoke up before Isaac or Lenna could answer: “Only what we need to know. None of us plan on building a chimera.”
Alexander nodded. “The creation was level nineteen, made of giant mantis, falling shadow, basilisk, and shadow-wolf parts. The blue dragon scales were sown on as an afterthought as they were already using its eyes. The falling shadow hide was resistant to temperature in both directions giving the creature resistance to both ice and fire. The blue dragon scales were placed to direct lightning away from vital areas giving it a resistance to lightning magic as well. The basilisk skeleton was reinforced in a way to give it resistance to blunt impacts. The four brains caused it to be immune to pain related attacks and have an incredible resistance to mind magics of any kind. The monster would have to fail to resist a spell either four times in a row or be affected by a specific spell four times for any effect to be noticeable.” Alexander stopped to breathe and piece through more of the information.
“We gathered much of that from fighting it. The information about its level and magic resistance is worrying however.” Edward spoke. “If its creator was capable of making one of these then there is a high chance that they could make more.”
Alexander shook his head. “Creators. There were two. I do not know if one of them was only used as a power source for the ritual however. Also, it is safe to assume that the creators are both over level eighteen.”
Isaac furrowed his brow. “Level nineteen seems a bit high for this monster. It was tough, sure, but its offense was poor.”
Alexander nodded in understanding and then addressed Isaac’s issue. “The shadow field that it gave off. I imagine that it wasn’t a problem for you but it was a shadow based curse. The curse would continue to ramp up until either party was killed. The more levels of the curse the slower the recipient would become and the harder it would be to move until eventually even breathing would be impossible. It was guaranteed to win any engagement eventually. With its high durability and lateral movement it would simply brawl with its target until the curse killed them. It appears that the creators did not think the curse could be avoided nor negated. I am curious as to how you did so. At least until it was killed anyway.”
“How are you getting this much information? This is way more than any Identify spell I have ever seen.” Isaac questioned.
Alexander smirked before opening his eyes, he had finished looking through all of the information and could now recite any of it from memory. “The ritual I used pulls from the history of the object in question as well as any information within this library that could be useful to expand on what Identify would show me. Using the collective knowledge of millennia that is stored within these walls and the residual mana, intent, and mana signatures within the object as well as the mana scan from Identify, the ritual will tell me almost anything and everything that could be learned from the object.”
Isaac whistled. “That is quite the spell. What else should we know about our recently deceased monstrosity?” He asked.
Alexander frowned and shook his head. “Unfortunately the rest of the information I have is pertaining to its creation process and its final fight. Nothing left would be of any use nor interest to you.”
Isaac raised an eyebrow. “What kind of information about its final fight?” He pressed.
“Well,” Alexander began. “I know that there were four of you who brought it down but I do not know who the fourth one was. That is most likely because there is no information about them in either my mind or the library. Lightning, fire, cold, shadow, and steel were used to kill it.” Alexander thought for a moment. “Everything else is fuzzy. This brain was not in charge of memories so I can’t get much.” He explained honestly. Isaac frowned. “Do you know anything about this fourth individual?” Alexander asked.
Isaac nodded. “Yes.” He replied.
Alexander looked at him hopefully but Isaac did not elaborate. After a moment Alexander’s eyes fell, crestfallen. “Anything else I can help you all with while you are here?” He asked earnestly.
Isaac looked to Edward who shook his head. Lenna hesitated a moment. “What do you know about soul magic?” She asked tentatively.
All eyes turned to Lenna. Alexander thought for a moment and then frowned. “Not much I’m afraid. I would have to read up on some necromancy tomes or use this ritual on something related to it. Why do you ask?”
Lenna nodded her thanks. “It is nothing necromancy related. Not really. It is a rather complicated question for another time. Thank you.” She told the wizard and then nodded to Isaac that she was ready to go.
Isaac nodded in return and then turned to Alexander. “If you are not opposed we may request your assistance in the future.”
Alexander smiled and nodded. “Of course. I am here to serve the court and as guests of Duke and Duchess Arbencroft you follow under that purview. I would recommend knocking as the Guild Master did and not entering unannounced however. Many of the defensive scripts require no mortal input and would activate automatically.”
“Understood. We will stand on common courtesy should we return. Thank you for your hospitality Alexander…” Isaac’s voice trailed off to infer that he was waiting for the wizard’s surname.
Alexander shook his head. “I have no surname Lord Wexler. In court I am simply Alexander to those of higher station and Master Alexander to those of a lower station, politically speaking.” He informed.
Isaac nodded. “Thank you. I believe we should be off.” Isaac replied. He deliberately didn’t mention the wizard by name as he was not sure if he was above or below the man in the political hierarchy. That was a question for Lenna, later.
Alexander nodded and led them to the door. He bid them all a goodnight and with that the trio were finally given leave to do something that all of them desired: Sleep.