Isil quickly arrived at the ground floor. This floor served as both a trophy room and a storage room. Many statues decorated the hall, as well as multiple murals decorating the walls, and a single, large fresco adorned the ceiling. Most of the murals were simply for aesthetic value, but the fresco on top depicted the history of the Kalixkto, the world Endless Conquest was set in. It was a rather standard creation myth: the gods and goddesses of Kalixkto, called Aeteurs, created the world of man, and gifted them with magic. However, too soon, the Daemons (the divine version of the mortal Demon race) went to war with the Aeteurs and drove them away from the mortal realm. From what she could remember, the divines had not directly intervened in the world in many thousands of years.
There were 11 chief Aeteurs, with many more minor deities and angels. On the other hand, there was only 7 Daemons, but countless other, non-divine demons. Surprisingly, the two sides were not depicted as good and evil in classical texts, but rather as order and chaos, bound to the Aeteurs and Daemons respectively. However, if one were to classify either sides’ actions into good or evil, there would be very little of the opposite on a single side. But in her current era, none of that mattered, as interactions with the divine are scarce. Be it Aeteurs or Daemons, there was very little presence of either on Kalixkto, aside from the occasional avatar.
But while history called to her, she was already on the phone with the present. She turned her attention to the figure rapidly approaching the base of the tower. Outside the tower, there was only a loose collection of patrolling guards, no other fortifications of any kind. Thus, it would be easy for someone that fast to break into Dirak-Feûr. The guards on the outside, however, were no mere pushovers. Whoever it was that was rushing over was intercepted by a guard in leather armor before he could step even a foot inside the tower.
“Halt!” The guard shouted out, thrusting out his left arm in front of the runner’s path.
“Out of my way!” The runner, who’s voice was strained, replied, a magic bullet erupting from his hand.
Isil was caught off guard when the bullet impacted the guard’s chest, and sent him flying back. She instantly recognized the runner as hostile, and magic arose in her body. For a moment, however, she hesitated. Her soul was still that of a young human from Earth, that hadn’t so much as hit another person, not a battle-hardened Dynast Mage like Isil was supposed to be. It was only a moment, and instantly after that she banished her doubts and cast a restraining spell on the runner. The runner’s high speed instantly ground to a halt as glowing silver chains wrapped around him and anchored him to the ground.
“Guh!” The runner grunted, quickly unleashing his magic as pure aura, hoping to repel the spell that bound him. However, Isil was leagues above him in magic ability, and the chains did not budge one bit.
“Don’t bother.” Isil stated, her hand outstretched in front of her. “Be silent and don’t resist.”
“Or what, going to kill me?” The runner panted, speaking with a haughty tone.
“...” Isil was silent for a moment, as she desperately tried to remember if she knew the person. She needed to be careful, and killing someone that might be on her side would not be ideal for her purpose. A quick use of a new addition to her magic arsenal, Mental Intrusion, assured her that the runner did not belong to Fallen Crescent.
Isil took a moment to observe the runner. He was a small amount taller than her, and his eyes were as red as blood, and seemed thirsty for it as well. His clothes were soaked in sweat, and his brown hair clung to his forehead like a bandage. The man’s clothes were shabby, and his dirty appearance seemed to signify him as a peasant. However, a peasant would not normally be able to cast magic, and no normal peasant could toss around one of Dirak-Feûr’s guards so easily. It slightly aggravated her that the man did not know of her guild, and dared to so openly attack one of its members.
“With an attitude like that, I assume you must be someone of importance. But if that is so, why is it that I don’t recognize you? Surely I would remember your haughtiness?” Isil asked, still using her Mental Intrusion spell.
“With an attitude like that, I assume you must be more than just some hot back-land bitch. But if that is so, why is it that I don’t recognize you? Surely I would remember your bitchiness?” The man mocked.
Isil’s eye twitched, but she ignored the snide remark.
“Is that so? It does not matter. Since you seek death so, it was wise of you to choose us as a provider. We are well-versed in every manner of death. So please, continue, I wish to hear how you desire to die.” Isil said, keeping a cold smile on her face.
“Really?” The man raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Since your establishment is so professional, I assume your prices must be very high. Tell me, can I afford it?” He broke out into laughter.
“Why, of course. In fact, since you are our first customer, I’ll let you have your product for free! How does that sound?”
“Perfect...” The man’s demeanor quickly changed as he sinisterly growled out the word.
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Suddenly, the man’s mana increased rapidly, and it was immediately projected into an aura of magical force, seeking to cast of the chains Isil had bound him in. His power had doubled, which allowed him to just barely shake off the chains. As soon as he was free, a dagger appeared in his hands, having flow out from within his sleeve. His speed increased manifold as he burst forward towards Isil, dagger aimed at her heart.
“Wonderful.” Isil muttered, quickly using the short-distance teleport spell Blink to appear behind him.
A quick Mana Cancel ended his physical enhancement, and a simple Mana Bolt followed it, impressing his figure unto the ground. Once again the chains wrapped around him, tighter and stronger than before. Isil walked over to the struggling man, and strongly stamped her foot on his back, stopping his resistance in its tracks. She had already known the man would move like he did due to Mental Intrusion, and decided to show off a little by letting him break out, and then bring him down.
“I welcome your initiative, but detest your rashness,” Isil said, leaning closer to the man’s ear and lowering her voice. “However, I assume both of those will fade away once the interrogation begins. Prepare yourself, I don’t want the maids to be cleaning up after much.”
She removed her foot from the back of the now-trembling man, and quickly waved towards the guard that had been attacked. Seeing that he was fine, she ordered him to take him to the interrogation chamber, which, for reasons unknown, they had. The guard moved to carry out her orders, the weakened man unable to resist as he was picked up and hauled away by the guard.
Isil sighed, distraught by the fact that she already had enemies. Her mind instinctively began deducing the man’s most likely affiliation, but she stopped immediately. She just had to wait for the answers, it would do her no good to think of possibilities. Feeling the desire to clear her mind, she took deep breaths of air, and then began to fly.
Flight was normally restricted to the avians, who had wings, but will enough skill, a mage could begin to fly through the air as naturally as a bird. Isil had long since surpassed the attainment point, and had been able to flying for a long time. It was more liberating than she remembered. Though the air was thinner the further she rose, it did wonders for her mind. Seeing the world from above, where the eagles soared… Isil had no words. Her eyes wandered upwards, towards the sky above.
Though it would strain her lungs, she cast the spell Sustained Breathing, causing the air she exhaled to be reverted to oxygen, and once again be used by her lungs. She rose further and further away from the planet, eventually casting a ward that prevented her body from ballooning in the low-pressure atmosphere. As she rose, her Flight spell slowly lost it’s effectiveness, and she was eventually forced to stop.
To her, it was worth it. She viewed the planet below her, her height allowing her to see the planet’s curvature. She turned her gaze elsewhere, and saw the stars of outer space gleaming brightly. Faintly, she saw multi-colored nebulae, and she could barely make out the steady reflection of other planets. Above her was the massive star, Lux, that gave the planet light. Behind her she could make out Kalixkto’s moons Reme and Rume. The sights took her breath away – which proved nearly fatal to her as her spells wavered.
Sensing the immediate threat to her life, she began decreasing her altitude, reinforcing the ward around her so as not to burn up in the atmosphere. Isil smiled widely. For the first time in her life, she experienced the vastness and beauty of space with her own two eyes. Earth’s sky no longer had the captivating view that it did many years ago. Light pollution had dashed away the idea of seeing the night sky in it’s true glory, and the night sky of Endless Conquest had no impact on her, as it had been fake at the time. An unhindered view of space brought joy to her heart, and, for a long moment, had made her forget about her desire to return home.
As the tower grew in her eyes, Isil began releasing the ward that kept her body together. And as she neared the top of the tower, she released Sustained Breathing. She pushed Flight to its limits and rapidly brought her velocity to zero. She floated down slowly, allowing the wind to flutter her robes. She landed softly on the dirt, then turned around and entered the tower, her mind now calm and serene.
-_Minutes Pass_-
“Raiesa, I need you to do something for me.” Isil told the old woman in front of her.
“Anything you desire.” Raiesa responded, bowing slightly.
Isil was back in her office, having finished her tour of her tower. Once she returned to her office, she called upon Raiesa, a member of the Jiao species, a human-like species that have a sixth sense that allows them to perceive life without any of the five senses. Because of this, they had extremely weak five senses. It is not unnatural for a Jiao to be lacking sight or hearing. Raiesa herself was a blind Jiao, but also an unmatched mind mage.
Mind magic was a major discipline of the School of Illusion, which was Raiesa’s main School of Magic. She had been the elder and sole teacher of a hidden Jiao village. She held great power, but used her mind magic mostly for helping her students with memorization. She taught the Jiao village for a long time, but was always left with regret. To Raiesa, the world was something she must see. To her, it was an amazing thing to “see” lives through her sixth sense. She had sensed wars, brutality, death and destruction through her powerful “sight”. As she was very wise, she knew that she could not possibly end all wars and save mortal-kind from their evils. However, through her sight, she saw the practices of mind mages, and how they forced allies and good friends to turn on each other.
Raiesa was a strong individualist, and seeing the wicked twisting of the minds of others, she desired to prevent such a thing from happening again. By the time Raiesa had finally seen everything she needed to, she had grown too old, and was not able to change the world as she saw fit. She knew that the Jiaos were a poor choice, the loss of life being far more painful for them than any other species. Despite her age, she set out in search of a useful instrument for her desires.
She found Isil rather quickly, and, through her sixth sense, saw the great potential Isil held. In a few conversations, she quickly saw that Isil would work very well for her purposes. Raiesa then set Isil on a chain quest of eliminating prominent mind mages from the nations of Kalixkto. Raiesa taught Isil much about the workings of the mind and how best to utilize another’s. While Isil and Raiesa disagreed in many subjects, the two still became very close. Eventually, the last chain quest came around. The last prominent mind mage had died, and Raiesa was ready to take her own life. She had stooped to immoral actions, using others as pawns to kill important people, and she saw this as nearly unforgivable. However, Isil convinced her to spare her own life, and Raiesa joined her as a companion after a tearful scene between the two. In the time they spent, Raiesa became more and more liberal with her mind magic, and while she refused to alter someone’s personality, she allowed herself to use many other spells she had previously neglected to use.
While Isil might’ve had some reservations about talking to a mind reader with her recent change, her prestigious class allowed her the passive skill Mental Serenity, which prevented anyone from casually perusing her mind, and could even resist moderate-strength mental attacks by itself.
“We captured an attacker, and I need him interrogated. I need to find out who he belongs to and why he attacked us.” Isil said, folding her hands and leaning forward.
“An attacker? Did he not care about who he was offending?” Raiesa asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I thought as much, but he held nothing back when talking to me. What concerns me, however, is that he chose now to strike, when we are at our weakest. Find out everything he knows about us, and more.”
“Of course, you can consider it already done.”
“I knew I could count of you.” Isil smiled.
Raiesa smiled as well, bowed slightly, then took her leave. Once the door shut, Isil sighed.
“Hopefully I can get a report soon...”