Andromeda laid down in her bed, her entire body was sore and her head was killing her. She had no one to blame but herself, but it didn’t make her feel any better. The others were down stairs, Alice took on the responsibility of giving them the rundown of what was happening. She knew that doing what she did so soon would be a bad idea, but for it to break down so suddenly is what caught her off guard.
In the days following the events in Aeroae, when Andromeda and Alice were bouncing back and forth between King’s Grove, The Capital, and Betel, Andromeda had found that the state of mind she entered when she spoke with Entai had a strong effect on her mind, body, and soul. Ferdinand’s theory about it was that her abilities through the Arch had activated in response to her trauma and “death”. She knew better though, It didn’t make sense by itself, she could heal herself and others even before she was an Arch Mage, not to mention that she could do it without access to magic.
Considering this, she thought it was something else entirely. The name she started using was related to what Entai told her that day.
White Mage: A name for a Mage with aspirations to heal, analogous to being called Naive or Reckless.
Both words were too perfect to describe her, at least that’s how Alice thought about it when she heard the title, and said it fit Andromeda. Between White herself, the fitting nature of the title, and the text she remembered on the back of the amulet that was destroyed the night she came back from the brink, there was no better name for it. Now lacking the ability to use magic herself. She thought “What would you call the abilities of someone called a “White Mage”?”. The only phrase that came to mind would be White Magic.
That is how the “name” for her abilities were now called. She learned later that night that Carrion and Rapture both had names for their own abilities. With Carrion’s being “Putrification”, and Rapture’s being “Reality Enraptured”. It was for some administrative purpose she was told, and especially Ferdinand wasn’t thrilled about giving these unnatural abilities that bent the fabric of reality childish nicknames. But the law was the law, and the mountain of paper work she would be forced to deal with should she break said law was deterrent enough.
While she experimented with it, she discovered several things. The first was that her choice of calling it “Magic” was more accurate then even she expected. Unlike with Carrion and Rapture, who seemed to have an innate understanding of their abilities, she was unaware of what she was capable of. Ferdinand theorized it was due to how she wasn’t properly introduced to The Arch, and without much reason to disagree, that was the idea she ran with. Another similarity was that it seemed to draw on something inside her, similar to how magic draws on mana. But of course, her soul being nearly destroyed meant that whatever it was, it wasn’t mana.
For all intents and purposes, her abilities acted exactly like how learning magic was for her. Only she had no instructions, no guidance, and had to deal with all the same troubles everyone else did. That last part being why she was now in pain.
One thing she hadn’t had to deal with before now was that because of her overflowing mana, she never ran short on it for even the most extreme technique. She was the magical equivalent of a sledgehammer, no finesse, no style, no refinement, just pure volume and quantity in every technique. So what she did then was the same swinging a hammer made of glass and being surprised it shattered almost instantly.
As much as it hurt to move, and as much as her head killed her, she couldn’t stay in bed all day. There was work to do, and they still had a lot to talk about. So she got up, and slowly hobbled to the door.
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A few hours passed, and everyone was still trying to come back down from the surprise of Andromeda’s reveal. In an attempt to calm Chi down, Andromeda and Alice took off for town to get some clothes for her to wear, as she had none with her. Leaving Garret alone in the hall.
Because he wanted to feel helpful, and because the slowly creeping terror of the fact an Arch Mage had to carry him to bed the night before, he started moving some office supplies into the office room. He had a feeling he’d be spending a lot if time here so it only felt right to set it up. While he was negotiating the rather large chair through the doorway, he heard someone calling out from outside, after investigating he saw that it was Eli. They caught sight of each other and met in the front doorway.
“Where’d everyone go?” Eli asked, surprised to see Garret alone.
“Arch Mage White, Alice, and Chi to down to purchase some clothes for Chi. Packing wasn’t a major concern before we left because we assumed there would be accommodations when we got here.” Garret said, but Eli gave him a sideways look.
“I don’t know why you’re calling her by her whole title, its not like she really needs you putting her up on a pedestal like that.” Eli said while he walked inside and settled down in a chair.
“Because its the proper thing to do, she is only a few steps below the king in terms of rank, me and you both barely count for anything compared to her.” Garret said. This only soured Eli’s mood more.
“I want set one thing straight right now. I spent every hour of my life for an entire month marching beside that woman, clear up until the day that she nearly killed an entire ship full of people. I may hate her and the fact that I’m working for her, but I feel like I know her well enough to say that trying to treat her like a goddess is only going to make her hate you.” Eli said.
“Be that as it may, I’d rather not take the risk of disrespecting her. Even if she doesn’t care for it, if any member of the government were to hear of what she had to do for me, I’d be crucified within days.” Garret said.
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“Look, I know we don’t know each other very well. But I’m just saying you should trust me on this. Just knowing her is probably going to make you re-evaluate everything you’ve ever known, and whether that makes you better like it did with that Alice girl, or worse like with me, will entirely depend on luck. So instead of trying to avoid offending her someone, try and figure out how you’ll get out when the roof starts caving in.”
Garret didn’t want to keep arguing, Eli didn’t seem to be the kind of person to listen to logic, so he just sat down.
“Anyway, while their all out, I’m curious. You’re some kind of expert in Artifacts right?” Eli said, Garret nodded and reached around his belt. He unlatched two leather belts and slowly pulled out a small, wrapped object. He handed it over to Eli still in the cloth and gestured for him to open it. It was heavy in his hand and solid, and despite having been in a pocket it was cold. He barely had to unwrap it to know that it was a small dagger. When he uncovered it, he looked to see that he was right… in a way.
It was small, about as long as his hand was from wrist to finger tip, and crudely made. Its metal surface was pocked with holes, and discolored lines, there even seemed to be delamination alone its edge, and what passed for a grip was a few pieces of ragged leather strips. Overall, it was a terrible knife, barely worthy of being called one.
“This is?” Eli asked.
“A personal item of mine, the first Artifact I encountered when I was a young man. I’ve come to call it The Ragged Dagger.” He said. Eli was still unimpressed, he hadn’t actually held it yet, but just looking at it he couldn’t imagine someone actually using this for anything worthwhile.
“Its trash.” He said rather coldly. Which instead of disheartening Garret, it instead made him smile.
“Ah, that is what it would have you believe.” Garret said. He reached into the same pocket he produced the knife from and pulled out a small glass monocle. Only the size of a coin, but faintly blue and every so slightly glowing.
“This is an item I’ve had enchanted. it is specially imbued with anti-magical properties, specifically in this case it can see through illusions. Go ahead and look at the dagger through it.” Garret said, Eli did as he was told and took the monocle in his one hand and held the dagger in the other. To his shock, it looked entirely different now.
Instead of terrible iron poorly molded, its blade was resonant and polished silver, as hard as he looked he couldn’t find a blemish on its surface, the edge was sharp enough to cut with a look, and the pommel was embedded with beautiful gems just under its surface, and instead of ragged leather binding its grip, strips of what he could only describe as golden fabric, wrapped in blue silk could be seen. The longer he looked, the more details caught his eye.
“Do you see now? This Artifact is a minor one, at some point its creator forged the knife as you see it now, but they, or perhaps another enchanted it to look like a waste of metal. This by itself would not be impossible, but what makes it exceptional is that this enchantment has been verified to not degrade in ten years. Not even the greatest thaumaturges of our time could enchant something and have it last this long.” Garret said.
Eli was now impressed, more then impressed even. It was at this moment where he took the dagger out of the cloth, and held it in his bare hand.
Garret watched as Eli’s casual wonder dropped from his expression, and his eyes seemed to glaze over. As he held the dagger in his hand, Garret watched as Eli seemed to subtly change before him. His relaxed posture changed to a strong and focused one, he held the dagger like it he was born with it in his hand. As he slowly swayed it through the air Garret got the impression that Eli could casually rend Garret’s finger from the bone without him even noticing.
Then things got stranger, the dagger’s ragged form started to ripple and change. The colors distorted, and the imperfections he had known so well since he discovered it a decade ago started to slither along its surface. Finally, another massive ripple tore through its illusionary surface, and then faded away. Revealing the plain and masterful construction of its true form underneath.
“What in the name of all that is holy…” Garret whispered. Eli was still in a trance, and he stood slowly. Garret didn’t protest, and when Eli started walking towards the rec room, he followed without a complaint. With every step, Eli seemed like a man possessed. His every moment was precise and calculated, not a single ounce of effort was wasted.
The only thing Garret could compare it to was the one time he witnessed King Alderaus’ honor guard travelling through King’s Grove to retrieve his body after the destruction a few months ago. They moved as though they could eliminate any being, alive or dead, in a moment’s notice.
It wasn’t so much that Eli was exuding power like a mage might, where you could almost feel your hair stand on end when near them. It felt as though Garret was looking at a master move with practiced skill, so casual to him that he doesn’t even think about it, but so otherworldly to onlookers that he might as well have been a sphere of death.
Now in the rec room, Garret stood in the doorway while Eli stood in the center. He lifted the dagger, and with one lightning fast motion thrust forward. The dagger was only a few inches in length, but for how he held it, Garret would have sworn it grew ten feet during every thrust. Eli stabbed and slashed not randomly, but with precision and dexterity that felt unreal.
After a few minutes, he finally stopped. But when he turned to Garret, and their eyes locked. Garret felt true fear in his heart. He felt like he would die.
“I don’t know what that was, but…” Eli said, and the knife’s illusion reformed while still resting in his hand. “You should take this back, I think I’m going to lay down.”