"Sure. No problem."

Almort stays quiet the rest of the way to the wall and I leave him alone. He is obviously worried and he has every right to be, something is fishy about this. When we get to the wall I walk straight to it and put my hands on it so I can scan it with my mana.

Almort deals with the guards that are supposed to keep people away from the wall. Meanwhile, I am trying to make sense of what my scan is telling me, it is a lot of information. The mana that makes up the wall is in a crystalline structure, but it is different from the small piece I studied before.

The structure throughout the wall is all organized and forms a pattern. Which means that something changed the structure, it makes me even more suspicious. The problem is that there is a purpose to the pattern that I am having trouble figuring out.

It seems to be a spell, but I can't quite figure it out, there seems to be something missing. Trying to figure out what the spell does without being able to see all of it is difficult. However, it also makes sense, the wall won't do anything until the last piece is added.

Of course, that last piece being added would probably be a bad thing for the city. Whatever the spell does, I do figure out that the more stone is put together the bigger the spell gets. Even if I can't figure out what it does, the method used is really impressive.

Almort says "What have you found?"

"The entire wall is a spell, but I haven't figured out what the spell does yet. The more stone that is added, the bigger the spell gets. It is a really unique way of using magic. I need to study it for longer."

Almort says "At this point it doesn't matter what it is meant to do. It means that we can no longer trust the wall and need to work on contingency plans."

"Don't do anything drastic just yet. Let me see what I can figure out first."

Despite my request, I notice Almort sending a guard running off with a message. I ignore him and go back to studying the spell that the wall is supposed to create. First, I figure out what part of the spell holds the wall together and makes it so strong.

Then I separate the rest of the spell and start figuring out what each piece does. Surprisingly, part of the spell is used to draw in natural mana to maintain the wall and strengthen it. The longer the wall stands, the stronger it will get and the more mana it will contain.

What is left after that is removed is half of a spell that I can somewhat recognize. I can't tell which specific spell it is, but I can tell that it is an explosive type spell. Meaning that when the last part of the spell is added, the entire wall will blow up.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

"So, I've got good news and bad news."

Almort says "What's the good news?"

"I've figured out the entire spell and what it is meant to do."

Almort says "Alright. Then what is the bad news?"

"If the final part of the spell is added the entire wall will explode and take half of the city with it."

Almort says "What?! Please, tell me you are joking!!"

"I'm afraid not. I don't recognize the exact spell, but I can tell it is an explosive spell. However, until the last part of the spell is added, nothing will happen."

Almort says "Oh gods! We are going to have to tear the wall down and build a normal one! This is a disaster!"

"Maybe, maybe not. I might be able to do something, but I need to study the wall some more first."

Almort says "I've got to go report to the council. We need to start preparing other plans in case you can't figure something out."

"Alright. I will be right here."

Almort runs off looking extremely worried, but I can't really blame him. I go back to studying the wall and start trying to think of ways to alter the spell. Since the spell isn't complete, there might be a way to complete it with a different result.

It is kind of like casting a spell, but switching to a different spell in the middle of it. Luckily, I have time to sit and study the spell instead of trying to do it on the fly. Unfortunately, the wall is too big for me to change the spell that is already there, I can only choose what to add.

Whatever I add has to start out matching what is there and then twist to a new effect. This is really not my area of expertise, so I ask one of the guards to go ask Lin to come over. When she arrives I quickly explain what is going on and describe the spell in detail.

Lin says "I recognize the spell, but turning it into something non-explosive will be difficult. Do you have any ideas?"

"Explosive is okay if we can keep it from affecting the city. Anything that can be contained?"

Lin says "Contained, no. Directed, maybe."

"Directed could work. If you have a spell in mind, teach it to me."

Lin says "I think I know one that might work, but I'm not completely sure."

"Alright. Teach it to me and I will see what I can do with it."

Lin takes about half an hour and teaches me two spells that can work with the wall. Neither one, if left alone, would be a good thing for the city, but I plan to modify one. There is no way that I can think of to turn it into something harmless, but I just need to protect the city.

Really, all I need to do is to release all the built up energy slowly instead of all at once. If I can do that, then the surrounding buildings of the city should be mostly safe. By the time Almort returns, I have a pretty good idea of how to bring down the wall.

Almort says "Our mages have confirmed what you found, but they don't have any ideas on how to fix it. The council has ordered for all buildings within two blocks of the wall to be evacuated. Have you found anything that will help?"

"Yes. With Lin's help I have found a way to bring the wall down. However, I can't be one hundred percent sure that it will work. There is another problem, it will be visible for miles. So, if we do this you will need to be prepared for demonic beasts to be attracted to it."

Almort says "Just how visible are we talking?"

"It will probably be a wall of fire that reaches the sky and will last for an hour or more."

Almort says "Alright. We will definitely need to make preparations before that. We will probably need to have the adventurers make a sweep and clear out the demonic beasts before we destroy the wall."