Orphan At The Edge Of The World - 253 The Magician 11

When they were wrapping up, Venito said. “Help Therridel get stronger so… he can help you deal with your weakness to illusion. Gan can help you get some insight into domain. It galls me to admit it but I received an enlightenment about domain from him myself…

“Don’t worry about Droya. I can save our foster father since I’m not going to the Long Garden in this run. Believe it or not, he had pretty strong feelings for her that he only pieced together after he died… She was miserable later on, little brother. Let her go be who she was meant to be. She’ll be happier this time. Those kids you saved can have a mother and a father who’ll care for them.”

The magician nodded, not wholly convinced but resigned. Venito knew a lot more details on how things went on Amoril. And even if there might be selfish motives mixed in here and there, he was still fair minded where it mattered. The important thing was that Orison didn’t want to play shepherd to people’s personal lives or guardian to the academy. Venito didn’t think the first was right and he volunteered for the second long enough for the academy to sink or swim on its own merits.

“Here, I finished transcribing a set of material for Thorrinson. If you help him limber up his mind, magic channels and grant him a touch of life extension, he should be able to handle being head master.” the magician said as They handed over a thick volume full of condensed magic theory and spell models.

A little short of breath, Venito handed over the ring. “I removed cultivation specific thing and what won’t survive conversion to an eternium based source. The laws inside should shift to be more compatible after a couple of boundary crossings. I think it’ll be good in the low dimensions but after you hit the mid, it’s going to start breaking down.

“Here’s a couple of jade talismans. This one will transport up to eight people back here and this one will let me signal you when it’s time to return… Look, I know you think it’s high handed but Portia saved you a lot of work on explaining things to your trio of feather heads in the inn. It’s just a light touch of false memories. They all agreed to go of their own free will.”

Orison grumbled. “I never intended to do much with Corvinus.”

“It came a bit too late but I wished I had listened to your advice in the embassy that day. I loved my children but I came to resent them too. Over 200 years of a steadily larger burden to bear. The grandchildren and great grandchildren, it was all my fault and I did what a good man should. That didn’t stop me from getting desperate and feeling trapped. That’s how you ended up finding me in Long Garden, moments away from losing the rest of my possibilities.”

The magician smirked. “Does that mean you’re going straight and narrow. hanging up the manwh*re hat?”

Venito snorted. “To the Abyss with that! I plan on having more fun than ever! Cultivators don’t have kids unless they want them… Uh, look, little brother. I know I need your help this time. But after we meet back up in four years, have a good and long reunion, you need to let go and move on.

Orison sighed, “It’s a shame that Osomo’s a death trap for cultivators. It would have been neat to go on an adventure with you. A short one, at least.”

Laughing Venito said, “It would be the Abyss for both of us. You can’t stand the way I live and I’m still unsettled by your ability. Maybe once I’m old enough inside that I don’t care about much of anything except the most important things.”

A voice cut in, “You two are on greatly diverging roads and they don’t meet until the very other end of existence, according to the ancient scrolls.”

Master Kretch stood there looking as unassuming as a person can but there was a sense of threat about him that Orison had never felt before. “Cultivators souls grow closer to the material realm as it forms greater connection with their bodies. They tend to develop a stronger sense of duality and its importance. Physical desires and animal instinct instilled at birth only grow stronger with time, kept manageable with discipline and fear of developing heart devils.

“By virtue of what Orison is, a body becomes little more than an extension of Their soul with which to accumulate experience. Entities like Them tend to develop a stronger sense of the gray area BETWEEN duality and its importance. Physical desires fade with time, kept manageable with emotional tethers, with the fear of apathy and madness.

“In comparison, the journey of the unknowing soul ranges widely and isn’t limited to any particular way of being at all. Yet, only the most distilled of important experience is kept while all else is discarded… I digress.

“I am here to volunteer myself to be the head master of your academy. The one you have selected for the job has been whisked away along with Ganga and Corvinus by a young man and an older gentleman with the power to manipulate time. At least they had the courtesy of informing important peoples of their decision.”

Orison rubbed Their head in frustration. “If the Sigil Order was interested in such a thing, why didn’t they do it ages ago!?”

The old obsidian elf grimaced. “We are custodians of the world’s will. Our ability to influence world affairs is even more limited than a mundane person’s. However, now that the change has been affected, I have volunteered to take up the burden of keeping the course of its development within the bounds of what the will allows. It will still need its protectors from external and internal threats and, by no means, do we intend to interfere with its ability to become a safe haven for the supernatural communities.”

Venito said, “It’s a safe haven for the people we care about. If your order ruins that, then Amoril will know no peace and will have NO hope of ascending to the mid dimensions. Bank on that!”

Master Kretch took his own turn rubbing tension out of his head. “As I am given to understand, Mistress Droya is the proprietress who owns the land right? I am only asking to be Head Master for a time, not the owner or final decision maker. I only have done so because of an illumination of purpose distilled from interacting with young Patrick and Orison’s moving speech.

“Allow me to phrase it another way. Do either of you want to be Head Master? Do you know someone more qualified and less likely to turn it into another kingdom ran travesty? With my replacement of Thorrinson, what dramatic changes to your plans do you anticipate?

“My order is not interested in it as a whole. I am. If some recruitment for my order happens within its future halls, what does that represent outside of more opportunities and long term stability for the academy? It is never an easy pill to swallow but life is filled with such uncertainties and surprises.”

After a whirlwind of of spitfire arguments that Kretch crushed with irrefutable logic, the two brothers conceded.

Once the old elf left, Venito said, “Well, there’s people you know on Osomo. Snatch one of them up. I’d have thrown Winter your way but she doesn’t exist anymore. Yeah, the woman you ended up shacking up with, her core fragment was that woman you brought back from the Marshlands. The reason you thought it was Rose was because THAT woman possessed Iliyani. That Obsidi-er, Craig Elf was a fragment of Winter. I don’t know how it ALL played out.”

Orison was getting too weary of it all to be surprised. “Alright then. Guess it’s just me, Duran and… Therridel for now… Duran, I need you.”

The boy appeared in front of Orison unconscious with a field of force surrounding both himself and the magician.

Seeing that Orison was about to take off to the caves to check on the children and the two young adults there, Venito said, “Those six are fine. Nub lead them to a hidden teleport beacon connected to our base. They’re probably in Evergreen by now. Duran hung back. He said that Amoril didn’t like him and he was safe in the cave.”

Orison sighed, “Even powerful people aren’t safe when they’re alone.”

Their musings were interrupted by a wooden mask falling to wobble on the floor. Unlike the first time Orison saw the water breathing mask, there was a strong Abyssal presence wafting from it.

“Rozcherek! What did you do to my friend!?” Orison bellowed at the mask.

Startled by a stranger knowing his name, the weakened Abyss lord possessing the object said, “I was ordered to investigate an inactive gate that was used. The new ruler of my realm was trying to get rid of me because I was a fallen rival.”

Orison snorted. “You were so cocky in the alternate timeline. So sure that my summoning you cost your victory, it’s more like you were blaming your weakness on me! You were a loser this time all by yourself.”

Angered, the abyss lord tried to possess the magician only to find himself in a very bad situation.

As the first layer of Orison’s space ripped and tore at him, he yelled, “I swear to serve you a year and a day… a life time… Loyally and dutifully for an astral cycle and I bequeath my most treasured possession to you, damn it! I’d rather die that promise more.”

The demon wouldn’t have lasted that long but with each oath, greater than the last, the desolate inner realm of Orison’s protected him from dissolution a little more. Upon the last oath, a plain iron staff with a fancy knob appeared in Orison’s hand and the demon was pulled into the desolate realm.

Inspecting the staff while Venito looked on, slightly stunned, the magician said, “I remember this piece of sh*t. A shady RNG polymorph staff is your most treasured possession?”

Too late, Orison discovered a subtle curse on the staff. When handing it off for Venito’s curious inspection, it slipped through Their fingers. Venito managed to grab it but the head dipped down and tapped Duran. Thinking quickly, Orison pulled out the Entanglement Key and twisted the resulting change to best possible result until They could get Their hands on a way to reverse affect.

Since the staff had to pay for that, it broke. A spiritual wail of frustrated depression echoed out to the magician from Their inner spiritual realm, bringing a temporary smirk to Their face as They checked to make sure Duran was alright. That smirk faded when They saw that Duran was in pain.

Out of all the possibilities of the staff, They had chosen cambion because Duran would still be himself. It was only a temporary thing anyway. The ‘problem’ was that Duran was carrying a sizable amount of golden fake karma from the world where the undead had been. Wick had left their share for the boy to figure out a use for it as well.

When Orison had pulled Duran’s pattern from the dead reality branch, that lost and unclaimable karma had came back with it. Boiling away as ‘virtuous grace’, it redeemed the unasked for demonic change in its host. The battle between virtuous and corrupted essence didn’t cancel each other out. Rather, it had turned into a sparse mote collection of unknown supernatural bloodline. A change prompted by something deep within Duran himself.

Outside of a touch otherworldly and idealistic maturing of Duran into a youth on the cusp of manhood, much like Venito and Orison, less mortal features failed to express. A few wisps of coppery gold began circulating around the relatively mundane spectral blue of Duran’s soul. The color evoked the image of armor belonging to a noble and righteous knight who had waded into the thick of battle with the common soldiers.

A few additional bloody motes drifted up through the floor into Duran before his eyes opened wide in a panic and said, “Get me off the world, now!”

Venito let out a bloody cough as the world’s will slammed into the man’s formation with desperation fueled, annihilating intention. Catalyzed into action, the magician flicked Their key to boost range for planar travel. Allowing it to pull Themselves and Duran to the nearest ‘entangled’ target outside of Amoril’s influence, the two appeared in a vacuumed space hostile to life.

Duran immediately released a field of force that established some pressure but didn’t make air. The young man started grabbing at things like his life depended on it and Orison did the same once They realized They were holding a conduit, the one that they had subconsciously created when They were still Al. If there had been breathable air, Orison would have laughed at how practiced and smooth Duran’s thievery was.

Not to be outdone, the magician utilized Their telekinesis to its full advantage for the last few seconds it took before the two were floating towards a giant mountain of eternium floating in the vast. Both quickly packed away their gains before being drawn inside the eternium mountain. No message was played nor welcome given. There was only a scan of Orison’s spark and a request of identity for Duran. Using the deliberation shortcut and a use of the badge Duran had grabbed, the young man was given an adopted First Family member spark. Afterwards, the two appeared in a familiar transporter.

Not wanting to play time wasting games, the magician grabbed onto Duran and transported them inside of the Greed Temple. After playing the swap game, the random junk was made quick work of. While they were doing that, the map conduit snatched a few items for itself and disappeared. Internally, They felt it communicate with the Entanglement key, take the dragon bloodline hiding within Them and race off to a Draconos man that Orison was all too familiar with.

“Where the hell did I get more dragon bloodline?…Oh… The friggin scary one Baulder fought to the death with alongside all those ‘fallen heroes of old’,” They muttered.

Looking over to Duran, They asked, “How are you feeling?”

“Used and lied to,” the young man said sadly.

Poleaxed by the ‘left field’ response, Orison said, “I hope that’s not my fault.”

Eyes wide, Duran snapped out of his thoughts and waved his hands emphatically. “No! Of course not! By Wick. Wick lied to me… It’s not important anymore. We know why Amoril wanted me dead now.”

Orison said, “Pretend I’m dumb and explain.”

Duran looked at the magician in surprise and said with the ghost of a smile, “One of my parents was used in their experiment, Avenar or one of his associates’ experiment. We saw what they were doing but it wasn’t only demon’s blood. There was a couple of different shrine gods’ blood and some other things. Whatever was used that passed dormant onto me, it’s tied with whatever powerful dead supernatural creature that Amoril was birthed from the remnants of.”

With dawning understanding, the magician said, “And that makes you the rightful inheritor.”

Duran scowled and said, “More like victim. I would have been overwritten by it. Amoril would have turned into a dying world too.”

Orison was about to respond to that when an emergency summons by Osomo, boosted by a great deal of power, managed to reach them where they were hiding out. Duran responded with a surprised smile but the magician was overwhelmed as a random mass of stuff poured from the spark into the first layer of Their space.

It was the third time Orison had been pulled forcefully into the desolate realm but it was the first time They were glad it had. Momentarily fighting against the life saving pull that kept Them from rupturing under the mountain of stuff that got shunted into Them, the magician used the key to sort out the utmost important items into the first layer.

They got a brief glimpse of the nearly repaired foundation and a confused looking Rozcherek before They found themselves being tended to, weak and naked, by a woman who was a complete stranger but felt familiar. “I’d stay and thank you properly but it seems that you have urgent matters to attend to. I’ve left a karma mark for you that will activate in a few years. Call me if you need a helping hand.”

As soon as the woman left, Orison found that They couldn’t remember what she looked like. “Same story, different hotel.”

Orison felt for the presence of a TSSR suit signature and activated it with a great deal more happiness than it probably deserved. That happiness got Them through the rough news of the current situation. It was a situation that They had to piece together to completely figure out.