Samuel, unsurprisingly, was the first to reach the peak. Grimr followed close behind him, leaping to the flat ledge just as Samuel’s feet touched the ground. The winds that had surrounded the young mage dispersed, and he staggered a bit from the exhaustion as he felt how much mana had been used in the effort. He slumped, hands on his knees to steady himself as Shigeru, breathing heavily, pulled himself up and into view.
“That was a miraculous spell, Samuel-san.” he panted, lowering himself to the ground. “You’re much stronger than when we first met.”
Samuel smiled around at him, also allowing himself to sit for a moment to recover. He pushed the long black hair, shaggy with sweat, out of his face. Out of the three of them, only Grimr seemed unaffected by the dash up the mountain. He watched his two companions slumped in exhaustion with a raised eyebrow, then turned his attention towards the cave entrance that lay a few feet away from them.
“It looks almost as it did on the day that Arcana fled,” He mused quietly, gently placing one hand on the ground at the entrance. “But I suspect Arcana has changed much of the tunnels below, in order to protect himself.”
Samuel looked up at the words, visibly confused. “You mean that he isn’t in that cave? What did we come all the way up here for, if we could have reached him from a lower point?”
Grimr turned a dry smirk upon him. “Even I wouldn’t be able to carve through that much rock before your mortal lifespan ended. No, this was the easiest way to reach him.”
Samuel snorted. There had hardly been anything easy about their grueling trek up the mountain. Even the last ten minutes, though it had reduced his climbing time by another half day, had been exhausting enough in its own right. He clambered to his feet, wincing as his sore muscles reminded him that they existed.
“Is it safe for us to go down?” He queried, moving to the mouth of the cave as Grimr had, and placing a hand down as well. “Isn’t Arcana sure to have some kind of trap in place to protect him?”
“He is sure to have many,” Grimr replied, his eyes closed in concentration. “But none of them are activating. He knows you are here, and he is welcoming you.”
Samuel caught the hidden words. “But not you or Shigeru.”
“Indeed.” The Ancient said. “He remembers me of old, but he knows that many years have passed. It seems I am not welcome. And Shigeru is an unknown quantity, a possible threat.”
“What threat can a mortal hold for a god?” Samuel asked, turning as Shigeru approached. “If he can reach into the minds of men, shouldn’t he be able to read your thoughts and know you are safe?”
“In the height of his power, he could indeed read the minds of men,” Grimr explained. “He could sense a man’s thoughts before even the man knew the thought existed. But he has lain trapped for many years, weakened by the passing of time.”
Samuel was about to ask how Arcana could reach his mind so easily but decided not to. The answer, when he thought about it, was obvious. For some unknown reason, Samuel had a stronger connection to Arcana, which allowed the two to communicate.
“Well, how can I survive any coming traps without you and Shigeru to cover for me?” Samuel asked, doubt filling his mind. He wasn’t much of a mage yet.
“Do not allow doubt to hinder you, Samuel-san,” Shigeru said, looking at him, rather than the opening of the cave. “This is your task, and you will not fail.”
“Easy for you to say,” Samuel said with a snort. “You’ve had a life of training in your field. I’ve barely got three months of learning under my belt.”
Shigeru placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently to offer his support. “You may only have a few months, but you are already a prodigious mage. What’s more, you are an honorable man. Do not let your life slip away from you. Grab a hold, and steer yourself.”
Samuel offered him a half-smile. The statement had a ring of ritual to it. Perhaps it was some mantra Shigeru had learned from his mentor. I would quite like to meet this Raveonic person someday. If he was even half as awe-inspiring as Shigeru, then he was a figure to be respected.
Samuel started to say something in reply, but then, without warning, Shigeru gave him a rough shove. He staggered back several paces.
“What?” He blurted out, automatically going into a defensive stance. Then he wondered why he had, as Shigeru wasn’t an enemy. “What the devil was that for?”
“I’m handing you the reins,” Shigeru said simply. Samuel noticed that Grimr too had stood up and was approaching him. “Now take control.”
Samuel knew what Grimr would do, a moment before he did. He tried to resist, to move out of the way, but he was too slow for the Ancient. Grimr leaped forward and slammed into him, the smaller body supplying a surprising amount of force. Samuel was knocked back another few feet, and before he could find his feet, he found that there was no longer a floor beneath him. Just inches into the cave, the ground had vanished, leaving a large tunnel that dropped away out of sight. He let out a yell as he felt himself beginning to fall.
Samuel felt a lot of emotions in quick succession. First, he felt angry at the other two for pushing him down into the tunnel. Then the fear of certain death registered with him as he realized that the tunnel, which continued in a constant straight line, was unlikely to be a fall he could survive. Then he reminded himself that he had the power of the arcane at his side, and some of the fear ebbed away. He felt a rush of adrenaline as he plummeted, moving faster than he could remember ever having moved.
We will wait for you here. Grimr’s voice echoed in his mind, barely audible above the sound of the rushing wind.
The hair was whipped out of his face as he slowly turned, and his robes blew about him as if in a storm. Squinting fiercely, Samuel tried to see the bottom of the shaft before he hit it so that he would have enough time to save himself. Then came the terrifying realization that he couldn’t see the bottom, or the walls, or even the top where he’d come from, so dark was the long vertical tunnel. He was just trying to conjure some flames to his hand, trying to decide the best way to do it without them being extinguished by the speed of his fall when he hit the ground.
His eyes opened with a snap and he lurched upright with a shout, arms in front of his face. Then he blinked, realizing that he was no longer falling. He was sitting on the ground of a stone cave. The floor of the cave was made of some kind of soft sand that looked soft to the touch. Did this sand break my fall? No, that was impossible. He was falling so fast that it wouldn’t have mattered what he’d hit. Even water would have killed him at that speed.
He reached out to scoop some of the sand up, and found, with some concern, that his hand passed right through it. He tried again. And again. Each time, he felt no contact with the sand lat lay strewn about the cave floor.
“That’s odd.” He said aloud. His voice echoed around the cave like the faint whispers of a ghost. “Am I dead?”
As he asked himself the question, he turned around and saw himself. He blinked hard, rubbing his eyes. At least he could touch his own body. But then he looked again. This was no hallucination. There he was, lying slumped on the sandy floor, limp and lifeless. And yet here he stood, a few feet away. Maybe he really was dead. He walked over to his lifeless body, noting with dull curiosity that his feet made no noise as he crossed the floor.
His body was still warm, he noted. There was still a faint sense of warmth radiating from it as he leaned in close. He couldn’t touch it, however, much like how he couldn’t interact with the rest of the cave and its interior. Looking closely at his own neck, Samuel saw, with a surge of relief, that a pulse still beat there. It was strong, too.
“Well then,” Samuel said, standing and glancing down at his hands. Now that he’d become accustomed to the sensation, he noticed that he could see through his hands, barely, to the sand underfoot. “What a strange predicament this is.”
Had he perhaps instinctively used some kind of magic to separate himself from his body before the impact? He knew no such spell, obviously, but that didn’t mean that the imminent fear of death hadn’t triggered some kind of instinctual response. Well, in any event, if his body wasn’t dead, that should mean he’d be able to enter it again, right? But how could he if he couldn’t touch it?
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Please do not interfere with your body. The voice came without warning, and he whirled around. He tried to conjure flames to his hand in preparation to attack, but he found he couldn’t work his mana. He tried lightning. Even wind. Nothing worked. There had been something oddly familiar about that voice, he told himself.
“Arcana?” He spoke tentatively into the silence. “What is this?”
I am currently in the process of rebuilding your body. It was horribly damaged by the fall. I had no way to prevent this, and so I pulled you from your body while I mend the damage.
Samuel paced around the cave, trying to find the exit. The only way out he could see was the dark tunnel he’d fallen through. There were no passages leading off from this cave. He was stuck in this room, it seemed.
“I should have activated my spell sooner,” Samuel said aloud, sure that Arcana could hear and understand him. The very walls seemed to radiate his essence, so Samuel knew he was close, closer than he’d ever been.
Even if you had, your magic would have failed you. Arcana’s voice responded. Once you draw near this cave system, magic holds no power. No magic save for mine, that is.
“How can that be?” Samuel asked. He’d never heard of the ability to completely nullify magic. So now not only could Samuel not move on, but he had no ability to fly back up, either.
It is my unique ability. I stand unchallenged, atop the mysteries of the arcane. They are mine to freely manipulate.
“If you say so,” Samuel replied with a shrug. “How long will it take for my body to mend?”
There was a pause after he asked the question, and he heard a gut-wrenching crack. He was sure he’d just heard one of his bones snap back into place. He tried to ignore the sound.
It should only take another minute or so for a full recovery. The true problem is that I am also shifting it into a new type of being. One that is capable of bearing my essence.
“Hold on,” Samuel said, more than a little worried at that statement. “Why is that necessary? I don’t appreciate my body being manipulated without my consent!”
Would you prefer to be destroyed by my essence when I give it to you?
“Well, no,” Samuel admitted, feeling rather stupid for his outburst. “But I thought I was just here to find you. I didn’t know about any of this.”
That is by design. You were to come and find me so that I may take you as Champion, and finally have the strength to leave this dark space. Now come.
Samuel turned. He couldn’t be sure what had given him the direction. All he knew was that, at the command, he suddenly knew where to go. He hesitated a moment, looking back at his still body where it lay on the sandy floor, then, with a deep breath, he moved onward. He approached the wall of the cave and placed a hand against the stone. Surprisingly, he found that he could touch this part of the wall. As soon as his hand made contact, the wall began to dissolve into fine sand, nearly identical to the sand that was on the ground. It fell away in a shower, revealing another tunnel.
The next tunnel was very short, just over fifty feet in length. It felt more like a hallway than a tunnel, Samuel thought. As soon as it came into view, Samuel could see the intricately carved pillars that replaced the smooth walls of the previous cave. He continued on cautiously, keeping an eye out for more holes in the ground that could lead to nasty falls. Then he wondered why, as his current form wasn’t likely to sustain damage from such trivial physical things.
The short tunnel opened up to a circular chamber, and Samuel recognized it at once. It was the same room he had visited in the dream that started it all, he realized. The finely etched pillars, the deep red carpet on the floor, even the brazier was exactly as he remembered it. Yet, there was one crucial difference.
Arcana, or rather the image of Arcana that Samuel had maintained in his mind, was not there in the brazier. As far as Samuel could tell, the chamber was deserted save for himself. Then he felt Arcana’s presence awaken, and he appeared before Samuel in an instant. Being there in person, instead of in a dream, was even more potent than he could have imagined. Arcana radiated massive amounts of mana as he floated in the large brazier.
Samuel instinctively covered his eyes, protecting them from the blinding visage of the fallen god, but realized it was a futile attempt. As he could see through his own hand, it could do nothing to block Arcana from his sight. He lowered his arm and began to walk in a wide circle, inspecting the mass of light from all angles.
Welcome, Samuel Bragg. Arcana’s voice didn’t boom as it had on the previous times they’d spoken, but it was still powerful nonetheless. It reverberated around the room and Samuel’s own brain and even seemed to echo out from the depths of his own soul. I have waited many years for you to come to me.
Samuel stopped once he had reached a full circle. There was nothing else to Arcana, save for that mass of white energy that floated, untethered to either body or earth. Then he realized that Arcana, having no physical body, was quite literally a mass of sentient mana that was forced to float here, in this chamber under the mountain, for its own protection.
If it weren’t for your lack of a physical body, I’d question why you even needed my help. Being proficient in the ability to direct his thoughts by now, Samuel was finally ready to get down to the reason he had been called here and had no trouble expressing his intentions. Your power is unlike anything I’ve seen so far. I doubt even Grimr could match you.
No amount of power in the world can save me now, Samuel Bragg. If I am to be truly free, I need one to carry my essence.
By essence, I take it you mean your mana? It was an easy assumption. There was nothing else to the thing.
Yes. You must bear it as my Champion.
And if I do this for you, you will be saved?
If you do this for me, I shall ascend once again. Your mind is strong enough to keep me alive in my divine form.
Samuel began to pace back and forth again. He couldn’t tell how long he’d been here. Between his blackout after hitting the floor of the long shaft, and his strange disconnect from the physical world in this form, time was not a construct that he could easily track. He could have been here mere minutes, and he could have been here several days without knowing the difference.
Do I have a choice in the matter? Samuel could definitely understand that this was the most pressing matter for Arcana. Nevertheless, he was asking a great deal from Samuel. To allow his body to be fundamentally changed and become the carrier of a god’s life was a monumental responsibility for a simple mortal to undertake. Do I have the ability to leave here without accepting, and go home?
This time, Arcana did not reply at once. There was a very long, pregnant pause as the ancient being took some time to consider his reply. Despite the lack of a face, Samuel knew that his question had surprised Arcana. No mortal refused such power, let alone the chance to help such a powerful being.
I confess I did not expect this from you. But I will not lie, as I am incapable of dishonesty. You may leave this cave, yes. But if you turn and abandon me, I will wipe all memory of my existence from your mind. And unlike Lucian, you do not know the spell necessary to stop my intrusion.
Samuel couldn’t help a wry smile. So his choices were to leave, and have all memory of this trip and anything associated with it, which would doubtless include Shigeru and Grimr, from his mind, or stay, and agree to help Arcana, placing himself into a dangerous role. That was not a choice to be made lightly.
Take your time. I will not coerce you into this. Nor will I attempt to persuade you with promises of power and knowledge.
And so Samuel did just that. He leaned himself against the smooth circular wall and sat down to consider the offer.
It only took Samuel nearly five minutes to reach a decision. Though, as with all the other events that had transpired since his fall, he couldn’t be sure how long he’d sat there thinking it over, contemplating what he realized would be the most pivotal choice of his life. He would have liked to take more time, but he knew that Shigeru and Grimr were waiting for his return, and he didn’t want to stall them too long.
In the end, it was Shigeru and Grimr that swayed him. Meeting and getting to know the two legendary figures had been the most exciting part of his life so far. Sure, achieving his life-long dream of escaping Harlest and getting to travel were novel experiences. Even joining the prestigious Mage’s College, not counting his negative experiences with Lucian had been a great privilege beyond his wildest dreams. But if he was honest, and he always strived to be, he didn’t want to lose the memory of what had become his two best friends.
He stood up slowly, dully noting, pleasantly, that at least he’d been able to escape the aches and pains of his travel-weary body. There was a lightness in this form that he enjoyed. It was as if, should he wish to, he could lift off the ground and soar as high as he wanted. And if Arcana was true to his word, that was just one of the nearly infinite things he could learn by accepting his role as the god’s Champion.
“Alright,” He said softly, more to himself than Arcana. “You’ve made your decision, now it’s time to commit.”
Arcana could obviously read the decision he’d reached in his mind. Very well. I will now send you to your allies with my blessing. I have not finished recreating your body, however, so I will create a temporary clone for you to use until my work is complete. Finish the quest you have taken on, and return to me here.
As Arcana finished his instructions, innumerable strands of that white energy branched out and coiled in the air between them. They flashed and sparked brightly as they worked, then dimmed as they formed an exact replica of the body that was currently lying in the sand back at the entrance. There was no discernable difference between this body and the one he was used to.
The spell finished, Samuel felt himself being pulled irresistibly towards the new body, reconnecting with it as flawlessly as he’d connected with the old one. He even noted, with mild surprise, that this temporary body seemed to be made of flesh and bone as well. He was aware of a warm sensation, doubtless from the blood that flowed throughout the body. He’d gotten used to the sensation of floating free of a body, and so hadn’t noticed how cold it was to be without one.
That body is just as fragile as the one you came to me in. It is charged with my mana instead of yours, however. In addition, I will provide you with one more gift.
Then Arcana gave him his first piece of knowledge. It was nothing more than a few flashing images and a few words in his mind, but the knowledge of it filled him completely as if he’d known it for many years.
A weapon, lost to the ages, fit for my Champion. Take it and go. Let your thirst for knowledge guide you like a beacon, so that you may never tire.