Ends of Magic

Chapter 68: The Skull of a Giant

It was easy to know where to go. All of the wizardry around Nathan subtly pointed the way towards his destination. Using [Mental Fortress] to triangulate, Nathan was able to pinpoint the theoretical control center, right underneath the point where the central tower joined the bulk of the Academy.

He beelined towards it, moving carefully through the body of the giant structure. There were more the closer he got, but with his senses and ability to walk through walls whenever he felt like it, it wasnt hard to avoid them. The biggest limitation was trying not to leave holes in the walls they could find before they sealed up behind him.

If I need to fight a patrol I probably can without an alert getting out. I kind of want to test out my new class skills.

Regardless of the temptation, Nathan stayed quiet and moved cautiously inwards. He probably had a few hours left, and this was the final stretch. His new class skills didnt make him faster at tunneling through the walls of the Academy, but he was still getting a bit faster at it with practice. His plan was to check out the locus of the wizardry in the Academy, then decide what to do next. If it seemed important, then he might mess with it. If it didn't, he'd go up the central tower and find Badud. Nathan was just so curious what he'd find where all of the wizardry converged. It could be a power source, a control center, some kind of routing node or something else he wasnt expecting.

He was hoping that if he destroyed whatever this thing was, then it would mean the end of the Ascendent Academy. Maybe it was a power source, and the Academy would become uninhabitable as doors stopped opening. Maybe it was the security center, and it would shut down all the golems and tracking spells, making the Academy vulnerable to attack from people without antimagic. In any of those cases, it was a priority target. Making the Academy uninhabitable was probably a higher priority than killing Badud. It wouldn't be as dramatic of a confrontation, but it would be a larger and longer-lasting blow to Giantsrest then the death of a founder.

Especially since I've got a suspicion that the Questors don't really die. Its definitely a setback, but Brox didnt talk like dying was his end. Especially given his stories of so many thousands of years of combat. I don't think I saw the death of a legend, just the end of a chapter.

While he thought, Nathan had crossed most of the remaining distance to the inner chamber. He was inside of a disused classroom that looked disconcertingly like an operating theater, but his magical senses told him the next wall over was special. It was thicker than usual, and the wizardry that flowed through the stone felt especially dense. Drilling into the wall, it soon became clear that there was only a thin layer of rock over a layer of shining metal several feet thick. But the metal was still conjured from wizardry, and it yielded to his aura.

The chamber beyond was a huge void in the center of the Academy, spherical and as large as the low-tier residence hall. In the center of the space floated an oblong orb made of stone that was the size of a small building. The only physical connection to the rest of the Academy was a spiraling staircase that stretched from the top of the chamber to the top of the orb, making it look like a Christmas ornament hanging by a slender spiral thread.

The effect was only enhanced by the streams of mana that emerged from the walls and crossed the space to the central object, carrying visibly pulsing power across the emptiness. In addition to the overwhelming power of normal mana were hundreds of threads of wizardry threaded through the room. The network of wizardry was all focused on the stone egg like it was the spider at the center of a vast web the size of the entire Academy. The interior surface of the room was shiny metal, and the light emitted by the mana and the wizardry alike ensured the entire room was lit brightly in a rainbow of slowly moving colors that made the entire space seem like it was underwater.

This looks important, but its probably not the Academys power source. Not with the energy flowing in instead of out. What is it instead? How strong are the defenses?

Nathan took a deep breath and looked around the chamber carefully, checking for anybody or anything that would see him cross the hundreds of feet to the central egg-shaped ball of stone. There was nothing in his line of sight, but the orb blocked a good portion of his view. That included the top of the egg, where the staircase connected. That was the most likely place for any guards.

The rooms walls were shiny enough for him to look around until he found a reflection of the spot where the staircase connected. The image was distorted and partially obscured by a glowing river of ice mana, but the colorful robes of several mages on guard were clear enough, as was the fact that the staircase continued downwards into the suspended orb of stone. There were also vague shapes that were probably at least one or two additional golems.

They probably wouldnt be able to see him if he moved out of their line of sight, unless they were specifically looking in the right spot and saw reflected movement. His gray robes just didnt stand out much among the chaotic mess of light for the reflection to draw attention.

Theres gotta be more security. The wall was tough but it wasnt invincible. If this is all there is to it, somebody could get across with a [Fly] spell. Maybe it's just not that important?

Nathan turned his attention forward, feeling outwards with his magical senses. Sure enough, there were layers of wizardry and mana wrapping around the whole room, hidden behind the overt display of magic. He closed his eyes and shaped his senses like a spike, trying to reach across the hundreds of feet toward the stone shell that was his target. His senses couldnt reach that far, but Nathan burned Focus and tried to treat his awareness like an aura, using his mental skills to enhance the effect. There was a moment where he felt the skill adapt, and it allowed him to expand the bubble of awareness in his projected direction just like it was another aura.

Congratulations, you have developed the [Wizard Senses] utility skill into [Wizards Detection].

Utility Skill: [Wizards Detection]

This skill lets you sense the mana and wizardry around you, and understand its purpose. You may expand and direct the reach of this sense by spending Focus.

Guiding the Development of a skill to use a suitable resource seems like a pretty easy and broadly applicable Insight. Useful, though I dont really need yet another demand on my Focus.

With his new skill, Nathan quickly built up a picture of the barrier that protected the stone orb hanging in the air in front of him while allowing mana and wizardry through. It was a multifaceted defense, a clever construction of subtle wizardry that blended into the flows of magic around it while making the open space hostile to any intruders.

First was a spatial distortion that dramatically increased the distance, a bit like how Baduds [Slow Shell] had worked. While the gap looked like a few hundred feet, Nathan could tell that any physical objects would need to cross nearly a half-mile of distance to approach the center of the chamber.

Second was a lack of air. A gradient filter of sorts seemed to exclude any kind of gas from the center of the chamber. It wasnt a firm line, but rather a pressure gradient that ensured the central orb hung in a large pocket near-vacuum, with an exception around the staircase.

The third was a ramping disintegration effect that lay tucked inside the low-pressure zone. It felt aggressive. Strong enough to rip apart gas molecules into their molecular components.

So to sum it up, theres a spatially expanded barrier of vacuum that actively tries to dissolve you on a molecular level. It lets magical energy through just fine, but anything physical will boil and disintegrate as it tries to cross a half-mile of distance thats less friendly than interplanetary space.

Nathan considered abandoning this objective and just going after Badud. But the enhanced security just made him more certain that he wanted to get inside the chamber. He didnt know what was inside, but it was looking more and more like a general control room for the Ascendent Academy. Or a vault of incredible treasures.

The question was whether to break through the wizardry in front of him, or to maneuver to the top of the chamber and approach down the staircase and fight the guards there.

Either would probably work, though theres a good chance they see me coming if I come down the staircase. Lets try to punch through this barrier. I can probably avoid tripping any alarm, and I can always back off and try the other approach.

He spent a minute thinking through the challenge in front of him, and how to deal with it. He would probably be able to negate most of the spatial expansion effect, and ignore the disintegration. The biggest problem was the lack of air - not because it would really hurt him, but because it would make [Airwalking] less effective. The Talent said it would use Stamina to push off of air. He didnt expect that to work in a vacuum. So hed need to bring some air in with him and build up enough speed to fly across the relevant distance.

Nathan stepped away from the wall, approaching the edge of the pressure gradient. He extended his antimagic in front of him to disrupt the air and allow air to flow in ahead of him. A gentle breeze started up, and the space in front of him shimmered as the inrushing air encountered the disintegration effect.

Whoops, hope the guards dont notice that. At least it's fairly subtle compared to the magical light show.

Without waiting much longer, Nathan sprinted forward, burning Stamina as fast as he could to move as quickly as possible. As he got closer he expanded his antimagic outwards, expanding the disruption of the magic that created the vacuum. More air rushed forward, giving Nathan a tailwind.

Acceleration 5 achieved!

The disintegration effect tried to latch onto him but failed to even touch his robes through the two class skills that countered wizardry. The spatial expansion was harder to beat because it worked on a grander scale, but Nathan extended tendrils of antimagic out to neutralize it in the local area. The air around him had been thinning out, but as he disrupted the spatial expansion it compressed down again. He kept running, spending a thread of Focus on [Noticeability] to push the guards attention away from his little part of the huge room.

He was more than halfway across the gap when the air thinned out again, all of the gas hed brought with him diffusing into the huge area. He took a few more steps on the thinning surface, each one harder than the last as his Talent grew weaker.

Airwalking 6 achieved!

Then the air was entirely gone, and Nathan soared forward. He let the air inside his lungs escape, not wanting to try to test if his enhanced body could resist exploding from the pressure differential. The vacuum pulled at his eyes and ears, but his inherent toughness and regeneration made the damage a non-issue. Gravity was still present, and Nathan threw all of his efforts into countering the space-expanding wizardry. Otherwise hed just fall back to the bottom of the huge chamber without ever coming even close to the orb.

He reached out to the magic that enforced the spatial expansion and realized he had more control than just breaking the magic. By staging his destruction of the wizardry, he could choose if the material within the spatial effect ended up in the final space. He ripped apart the wizardry ahead of him first before working backwards. The directed contraction seemed to hurl him forward and he stretched his aura forward to burrow out handholds in the smooth stone ahead.

I think that was [Controlled Failure] being useful.

Wizards Meditation 5 achieved!

Nathan slammed into the surface of the egg, managing to grab onto the new divots and halt his movement. He extended his antimagic forward, intending to burrow into the structure to get inside. A few feet in there was a rough white surface that resisted his antimagic. Redoubling his effort got him nowhere, and Nathan poked the surface with annoyance. It almost looked like yellowed bone, and wasn't made of wizardry at all.

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He elbowed it as hard as he could, hoping to break through. His strike didn't leave a mark, and Nathan sighed. Hed have to work his way around the outside of the orb to the entrance on the top. At least this way the guards wouldn't see him coming. But he would have to hold his breath as he clambered across the outside of the stone.

At least I know I can replace oxygen with Stamina from the whole fire elemental thing. Not a good exchange rate, but theres enough mana around here that I wont run out halfway.

It was a very uncomfortable few minutes of climbing, but at least he could make his own handholds. A detection spell washed across the chamber, but it wasnt enhanced by wizardry. There was no chance it detected him. It still indicated that the guards were suspicious of something, so Nathan redoubled his speed. He came up the side of the floating orb, trying to stay low and hidden. The slope became shallower until he could stand, albeit on a steep angle. He surveyed the top of the orb where the staircase connected. It was a flat area about thirty feet across that was demarcated by a spindly guardrail. A table in the center of the space looked to have some kind of card game spread across it.

The game was abandoned, with all four mages standing on the edges of the area, looking around. There were three enforcement mages and one war mage, all men. Something had alarmed them, probably the effects of Nathan messing with the vacuum or spatial enchantments. They looked more like people trying to figure out a computer glitch than guards looking for an intruder. Behind them the staircase connected to a landing on top of the orb, then continued down into the secured structure. Two golems stood on the landing, watching the top of the stairs attentively.

One of the mages seemed to be trying to cast a [Message] spell over and over, growing more and more confused as it failed. He looked up with worry in his eye, saying something that Nathan couldnt hear because he was still in vacuum.

If theyve noticed that magical communication spells dont work then I dont have much time. One of them will probably go up the stairs until they get out of my radius.

The war mage who had been looking in Nathans direction suddenly turned around, seemingly annoyed with the man whod been trying to cast [Message]. He raised his hands angrily, shouting at the other man.

Nathan took the opportunity. He spent Focus to direct attention away from himself and zipped forward, staying low. He felt a burning sensation in his muscles at this final bit of exertion, but directed Stamina to keep him going.

High-tier Noticeability 9 achieved!

One of the enforcement mages caught sight of him at the last moment, pointing and yelling. The war mage was just starting to turn when Nathan vaulted over the guardrail and dropped him with an elbow to the side of the head.

Spellslayer has leveled to 266! You have slain Brom dho Shakin, a war mage guard of the Ascendent Academy!

Nathan drew in a breath of sweet air and headed towards the mages, extending his mana towards the golems as they finally looked down. They both started with the laser eyebeams, which did absolutely nothing against Nathan. He noticed that their communication with the broader Academy had also been cut off as he approached.

One of the golems moved to intercept Nathan as he bounded towards the next enforcement mage, but he juked wide before cutting inside the golems movement. It overshot, and Nathan kicked the mage over the guardrail. The mans scream cut off as he crossed out of the safe zone and into vacuum, and Nathan saw the man start to dissolve in the disintegration field.

Parkour 3 achieved!

Spellslayer has leveled to 270! You have slain Girir dho Chun, an enforcement mage guard of the Ascendent Academy, with his own security measures!

He danced away from the golem as it chased him, dodging a kick that made the air whistle and a punch that shattered the floor to reveal white bone beneath. The giant stone statue was herding him towards its compatriot with the blows, but Nathan could feel the wizardry of the second golem behind him, and knew when it was about to attack without looking.

Wizards Detection 2 achieved!

As it lunged for him he dropped, kissing the ground as the stone satue passed overhead. It fouled the motions of the second golem for an instant, letting Nathan close in on the third mage, who had darted for the opening that led into the orb.

Effortless Dodge 4 achieved!

The fourth mage had backed up to the guardrail farthest from Nathan, and he finally succeeded in casting a spell with shaking fingers.

[Fly]

The enforcement mage took to the air, trying to fly up the staircase. But Nathans aura slashed through the spell, disrupting it in just the wrong way to send the man veering off course and right into the lethal security field.

Spellslayer has leveled to 275! You have slain Onrur dho Bug, an enforcement mage guard of the Ascendent Academy, with his own security measures!

The last mage was taking the steps downwards three at a time, frantically pulling something from a pocket as he approached the double doors at the bottom of the stairwell.

Nathan grabbed the neck of his robe and pulled him up into a descending elbow, cracking the mages skull like an egg before dropping him to the floor in front of the door.

Spellslayer has leveled to 281! You have slain Donon dho Verd, an enforcement mage guard of the Ascendent Academy!

Then the golems dropped down into the enclosed area. Their fifteen-foot wingspan covered the entire space, and they immediately set about battering him into paste.

Nathan spent a few seconds frantically dodging and blocking in the small area. His antimagic was draining their fuel tanks quickly, his new Talents and skills making the strategy more effective than it had been against the last golem Nathan had fought. He bounced off the floor, the walls, even caught some redirected momentum from one golems swing to dodge the other.

Parkour 4 achieved!

But they were fast and persistent. The two golems werent perfectly coordinated, but they were able to box him in and prevent him from escaping the stairwell. He had to block a solid blow with crossed arms that sent his back cracking against the wall, unable to react as the second golems fist surged towards his face.

There was a rushing sense of pain, then intense disorientation. He was on the floor, looking up at the two golems as they stood over him. Neither of them were looking down, and one seemed to be querying the wizardry of the Academy over and over again.

Immortal Body 2 achieved!

Nathan stayed on the ground, playing dead as his antimagic continued its work. It only took another couple of seconds before both golems collapsed like puppets with cut strings. He staggered to his feet before severing the magical connections of both giant stone statues to complete their destruction.

Arcane Nullfield 3 achieved!

Spellslayer has leveled to 299! You have destroyed two irreplaceable giant-golems of the Ascendant Academy!

He looked back at the wall where hed been punched. The stone was cratered and bloody, with fragments of bone and gray matter stuck into the stone wall. Nathan shuddered, reaching out a hand to touch the material of his own brain.

Lets not do that very often.

He took a deep breath and intentionally turned his attention to the door. It was a bit of a puzzle. The slab of metal wasnt a standard wizardry lock like the ones hed seen everywhere in the Academy, and a prod revealed that it wasn't susceptible to antimagic. The construction seemed to follow a fundamentally different architecture, including the fact that it was an actual door made of some kind of reddish metal, with no visible handle or lock. The thing seemed grafted onto the Academy, like it had been done later by a second part. He noticed that it wasnt connected to the wizardry of the broader Academy in any way.

Like it's an airgapped security measure. Its interesting they didnt want to lock the control room of the Academy with the magic of the Academy. Speaks to a distrust of the Academys wizardry. I bet the material is adamantium or something.

Nathan puzzled over the magic for a moment, noting that the door contained a powerful teleport-locking enchantment. But the authentication magic was completely new to him, and looked like it would take a while to figure out. He shrugged and reached down for the body of the mage hed killed down here.

The man had been reaching for an enchanted token, and Nathan forced his aura away from his hand before he grabbed the object and pressed it into the obvious indent.

With a sound like a vault unsealing, the massive slab of red metal swung wide.

Utility skill: [Wizard Senses]

This skill lets you sense the mana and wizardry around you, and understand its purpose.

Utility Skill: [Wizards Detection]

This skill lets you sense the mana and wizardry around you, and understand its purpose.You may expand and direct the reach of this sense by spending Focus.

Status of Nathan Lark:

Permanent Talent 1: Arcane Nullfield 3

Permanent Talent 2: Immortal Body 2

Permanent Talent 3: Airwalking 6

Class: Void of Magic level338

Deepened Stamina: 8972/10440

Void of Feeling

Antimagic Momentum

Raging Thrill

Implacable Inertia

Unarmored Resilience

Magic Anathema

Airborne Agility

Hand-to-hand Expertise

Voluminous Aura

Denial of Wizardry

Mana Severance

Class: Spellslayer level 299

Regenerative Focus: 2232/3090

Catastrophic Blows

Battle Stealth

Mage Infiltration

Forgettable

Sneaky Blow

Antimagic Stealth

Magical Manipulation

Lethal Index

Wizard Resistance

Magic Jammer

Controlled Failure

Utility skills:

Wizards Meditation 5

Inspiration 3

Acceleration 5

Wizards Detection 2

Alertness 8

Wizards Intuition 10

Effortless Dodge 4

Mental Fortress 10

Tutoring 3

Parkour 4

High-tier Noticeability 9

High-tier Disguise 1

Mid-tier Battle Cry 7

Mid-tier Aura Manipulation 10

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