ULTRAMagic Prelude - Chapter 13
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“THIS… STUPID STUPID STUPID!” Blood-Wraith shouted as he threw his experiment against a wall, smashing it. Three days had passed since his previous trip to the Market District. “RARGH! WHY IS THIS SO HARD TO DO!?” He was encountering proper trial and error for the first time. It was not a fun experience.
Desislav just so happened to walk by when Blood-Wraith hurled another experiment. This one exploded and left a scorch mark on the wall. “Whoa! Take it easy, kiddo. Everything’s going to be alright” he said, walking over to prevent another fit.
“No, because this stupid experiment won’t cooperate…”
“Let me see your book, Blood…” Desislav tried to read Valentina’s book, but it was written in the language of the angels. “Uh…um…”
Blood-Wraith sighed. He could read it, thanks to Valentina giving him the knowledge to comprehend angel language. “It says that I need a catalyst of the earth, to influence the form and control the function of the crystals. I assumed sulfur was good enough, but it makes them burn out every time.”
“Okay then… What are we trying to make?”
“Crystals that produce light.”
Desislav thought about what the catalyst could be. “Maybe try something like sugar?”
“Sugar? Pardon?”
“Well the catalyst needs to be of the earth, so what if it’s calling for something organic?”
Blood-Wraith pondered this idea. “What’s your logic?”
“Maybe sulfur is too harsh for what the transmutation is trying to do. Inorganic materials might be messing everything up… Here, let me grab some stuff from the kitchen!”
“Uh, okay then…” Blood-Wraith tried to reply as the eager satyr left the room.
A minute later, Desislav was back with bags of ingredients. “Alright, let’s try some of these instead.”
The procedure was fairly straightforward: melt a rock into lava with the fire-infused iron, drop the materials in, and transmute it. The sulfur would cause the resulting crystals to glow brightly and burn out… followed by the smell of rotten eggs. Other rocks such as flint or sandstone caused similar burnouts with varying smells. First up was sugar, which produced a crystal that admitted white light. Evidently this was the result that Blood-Wraith wanted. This satisfied him, causing him to take a breath of relief.
Desislav wanted to keep going as he saw potential with this project. Curiosity had gotten the best of him. The next ingredient to be tested was flour. This created a crystal that produced yellow light, albeit fainter than the white light crystals. Adding pepper caused the resulting crystal to give off a red light and heat up when held. The use of honey led to the crystal in question to be golden and admit a sweet smell in one’s hand. Herbs all had the same type of results: a blue light that had a very fragrant smell. All very interesting results to be sure.
“OH! Let’s try sugar and pepper” Desislav suggested.
“Okay…” Blood-Wraith got everything ready, adding the two ingredients. This crystal gave off pink light, but holding it caused a warm beam to shoot out from it. The two quickly realized this was a laser of sorts, capable of heating things up.
“Well ain’t that nifty? This would beat out flint any day of the week” Desislav commented as he held the crystal in a way as to not activate the laser.
“Organic catalysts… did she…” Blood-Wraith exhaled. “Yup. Right here. I completely missed it.”
“Hey, no big deal. Everyone makes mistakes. Plus how young are you again?”
“A couple of months?”
“Exactly. The fact that you’ve gotten this far at such a young age is impressive in and of itself” Desislav pointed out.
Something then occurred to Blood-Wraith. “Hey, where’s Drago? I haven’t seen her yet today.”
“I believe she got up early to go check out a new location.” Desislav had to get out of the way as Blood-Wraith bolted for the doorway.
“Where did she go?”
“The Storm Plateau, I believe.”
Blood-Wraith was not sure where that was, but he had Leif. “Alright, feel free to keep messing around…” he trailed off.
“...but I can’t… read your book.” Desislav looked at the table and shrugged. What could he do at the moment?
Leif was resting in a park when Blood-Wraith came flying over. “Ah, Blood-Wraith. Getting the hang of your dragon form?”
“No time for chit chat, take me to where my sister is heading!”
“The Storm Plateau? Dragoslava isn’t in any danger, as it’s a fairly normal place. If you insist on going, hop up on my back.”
Blood-Wraith was shocked that Dragoslava went off on her own. Was it really that boring of a place? Or was his sister being impulsive? Regardless, the two were catching up to her. She was riding a motorcycle across the dusty landscape, another custom modified vehicle of hers. The bike roared as she sped along the dusty landscape. Dragoslava had sensed that Leif and Blood-Wraith were approaching, but she had to focus given that she was going at top speed. Upon reaching what appeared to be a thunderstorm, the three came to a stop. They arrived at an expanse of land…just land. Thunderclaps continuously went off and the wind gusts battered the area.
“Sister, why’d you leave without me?!”
“Hey, Blood! I just figured since this is a chill locale, I’d leave you to your studies” Dragoslava said as she took off her helmet. “Also jeez, Leif. Just how fast were you going? I started at the crack of dawn.”
“Well hey, you can’t outrun time” Leif answered with a chuckle.
For some reason that response gave Dragoslava a bit of a chill. “Right. Since you’re both here, let’s roll.”
The plateau was mundane, yet very interesting. Plantlife there had the properties of electricity and magnetism. This was also observed in the rocks and boulders. Wanting some of the flora for Kresimira’s gardens, Dragoslava collected as many seeds as she could while taking notes. The humming and buzzing of the environment seemed to be in rhythm with the storms above them. Leif surmised that the land was influenced by thunderstorms across the Cosmos. There was a distinct lack of rain, possibly indicating that this part of the Unlight was guessing as to what stormy weather was like.
“Well that was fun, but I think we’ve seen enough, ha” Dragoslava remarked. “What say you guys?”
Leif nodded. “Fine with me, but why do I have this odd feeling?”
“What do you mean, Leif?” Blood-Wraith inquired.
“It feels… like we’re meant to be here at the moment.”
The ground then shook for a brief moment. “Leif, it’s been a while” a slightly gravelly voice boomed. Across from the group a stone formation trembled, shaking away loose rock. A giant face was revealed that appeared to be made of stone. It did not move, but both of its glowing eyes opened.
“Colossus!? You’re…alive? No, wait… you’re asleep? Didn’t you finish your duty? Why didn't you…”
“THIS IS CONFUSING!” Tyrant exclaimed.
The colossus chuckled. “My apologies. When my duty was finished, I laid down to rest. I had a premonition a long time ago that one day I would need to fulfill a new task. This led me to decline reincarnation.”
Leif was confused. “Really? Are you… do you… what possible task could that be?”
“It is unclear at the moment. I assume I will be elucidated when the time comes.”
Leif paused in terror, having just realized something. “Oh God… please don’t tell me this place is going to be destroyed...”
“Sadly it will be, brother. A silver haired mage with a great rage like few others will raze this land with lighting and glass. On the bright side, this will lead to my reinvigoration… Leif, you need to let go.”
“I know,” Leif whined. He then walked off to pout and complain.
Blood-Wraith was lost. “What’s the matter with him? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“He has lost several of his favorite places in the past. Once in the epoch of the Cosmos, and twice in the Unlight itself. I imagine he’s also feeling a surge of emotions right now” The Colossus answered. “While my brother calms himself; Blood-Wraith, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“Another primordial that knows Blood?” Dragoslava questioned. “Alright, spill the beans. What’s going on here? Why are all of you so familiar with him?”
“He’s the son of The Nightmare of Old… or one of them, at least.”
“What?” Blood-Wraith was at a loss for words, yet he had a feeling that this made sense.
“As you can probably tell by now, not all primordials are the same, nor share the same fate,” The Colossus began to explain. “In regards to the Nightmare, they are numerous. The same goes for the counterpart, The Dream of Old. Now some primordials gave birth to children. One such case was The Sulfur of Old and The Mercury of Old. They were originally forces of creation, but fell in love with each other. This led to them producing three children. This was forbidden by God, however. As a result, the power of these two lies with the Evangelist and Watchman now. Despite all of this, Blood-Wraith is a special case. The primordial that fathered him had reincarnated, then was reborn in the image of his original form. As for the rest of the birthing process, I am not at liberty to say.”
“Oh… so does that make me a primordial?” Blood-Wraith wondered.
“No, but we do view you as our nephew. Even the Lich realizes this. Speaking of him, do you two know what you are doing by accepting the task of dealing with him?”
“There’s something else to this?” Dragoslava was a bit confused.
“Well of course, Ms. Raynot. You’re continuing the task of your ancient ancestors. Where did you think your people’s namesake came from?” The Colossus chuckled. “If you don’t believe me, explore The Lunar Archive of The Singing Storm Tower. It’ll tell you more than my hazy memories ever could.”
Dragoslava stared at the colossus for a moment, processing what he said. “We need to head back. This has got me intrigued.”
“Before you two go, allow me to bestow a gift to Blood-Wraith…” A green flame appeared before the face of the Colossus, then calmly went into Blood-Wraith. “A fragment of my soul.”
“YES, that one felt right! Thanks, Uncle Colossus!”
The Colossus laughed. “You’re very welcome, nephew. Stay on the path you’re on and you will attain the answers you desire. Personally I have a good feeling about you, Blood-Wraith.”
Leif had returned, rambling and ranting. “You know what? FINE! If it means the return of one of my brothers and the continuation of our mission, FINE!!” he proclaimed.
“Easy, brother,” the Colossus cautioned. “No need to get so worked up…”
Leif groaned. “Why are you always right? Fine, but I am coming back to check up on you periodically.”
“Fine with me. The monotony is getting quite bothersome after all.”
After saying goodbye, the trio began their return home. Blood-Wraith was feeling confident with his wolf form, so he elected to race Dragoslava back to the city. It was obvious that he was not fast enough to compete with a motorcycle yet, so his sister let him win. Afterwards they made their way to the lift station while Leif returned to his park to brood. He had a lot of thoughts and feelings to process.
Back at the tower, Blood-Wraith and Dragoslava were immediately greeted by Desislav. He brought them to the dining hall where the others were, all of them sampling various cakes. The curious satyr had been toying around with food-based alchemy while the two were off on their adventure. While the creations were a bit out there, they all looked very creative. Either way the room smelled very nice, like they had entered a restaurant serving nothing but dessert.
“I got a little carried away with my crafts,” Desislav admitted. “You two are hungry, right?”
“Yeah, I’d say so after everything we just did,” Dragoslava replied.
Kresimira wiped some frosting off of her face. “Welcome back, Drago, Blood-Wraith. Have a good time?”
“Yeah!” Blood-Wraith answered as he sat down. “I even got to meet another one of my uncles”
"Uncle's you say?” Corentin remarked. “How fascinating…”
Tusk then noticed Blood-Wraith’s newest eye color. “Blood, you found another fragment?”
“Yup, Uncle Colossus gave it to me. Now which cake first?”
Kresimira pointed to the one closest to him. “Try the chocolate with mint frosting. It is amazing.”
“Where’s Leif by the way?” Desislav inquired.
“Oh don’t worry, he’s off being a mood,” Dragoslava answered. “He’s got a lot on his mind.”
Blood-Wraith nodded. “Yup. If everything goes right, one of his brothers will return,” he added. He then ate his slice of cake. It was quite delicious.
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“THIS… STUPID STUPID STUPID!” Blood-Wraith shouted as he threw his experiment against a wall, smashing it. Three days had passed since his previous trip to the Market District. “RARGH! WHY IS THIS SO HARD TO DO!?” He was encountering proper trial and error for the first time. It was not a fun experience.
Desislav just so happened to walk by when Blood-Wraith hurled another experiment. This one exploded and left a scorch mark on the wall. “Whoa! Take it easy, kiddo. Everything’s going to be alright” he said, walking over to prevent another fit.
“No, because this stupid experiment won’t cooperate…”
“Let me see your book, Blood…” Desislav tried to read Valentina’s book, but it was written in the language of the angels. “Uh…um…”
Blood-Wraith sighed. He could read it, thanks to Valentina giving him the knowledge to comprehend angel language. “It says that I need a catalyst of the earth, to influence the form and control the function of the crystals. I assumed sulfur was good enough, but it makes them burn out every time.”
“Okay then… What are we trying to make?”
“Crystals that produce light.”
Desislav thought about what the catalyst could be. “Maybe try something like sugar?”
“Sugar? Pardon?”
“Well the catalyst needs to be of the earth, so what if it’s calling for something organic?”
Blood-Wraith pondered this idea. “What’s your logic?”
“Maybe sulfur is too harsh for what the transmutation is trying to do. Inorganic materials might be messing everything up… Here, let me grab some stuff from the kitchen!”
“Uh, okay then…” Blood-Wraith tried to reply as the eager satyr left the room.
A minute later, Desislav was back with bags of ingredients. “Alright, let’s try some of these instead.”
The procedure was fairly straightforward: melt a rock into lava with the fire-infused iron, drop the materials in, and transmute it. The sulfur would cause the resulting crystals to glow brightly and burn out… followed by the smell of rotten eggs. Other rocks such as flint or sandstone caused similar burnouts with varying smells. First up was sugar, which produced a crystal that admitted white light. Evidently this was the result that Blood-Wraith wanted. This satisfied him, causing him to take a breath of relief.
Desislav wanted to keep going as he saw potential with this project. Curiosity had gotten the best of him. The next ingredient to be tested was flour. This created a crystal that produced yellow light, albeit fainter than the white light crystals. Adding pepper caused the resulting crystal to give off a red light and heat up when held. The use of honey led to the crystal in question to be golden and admit a sweet smell in one’s hand. Herbs all had the same type of results: a blue light that had a very fragrant smell. All very interesting results to be sure.
“OH! Let’s try sugar and pepper” Desislav suggested.
“Okay…” Blood-Wraith got everything ready, adding the two ingredients. This crystal gave off pink light, but holding it caused a warm beam to shoot out from it. The two quickly realized this was a laser of sorts, capable of heating things up.
“Well ain’t that nifty? This would beat out flint any day of the week” Desislav commented as he held the crystal in a way as to not activate the laser.
“Organic catalysts… did she…” Blood-Wraith exhaled. “Yup. Right here. I completely missed it.”
“Hey, no big deal. Everyone makes mistakes. Plus how young are you again?”
“A couple of months?”
“Exactly. The fact that you’ve gotten this far at such a young age is impressive in and of itself” Desislav pointed out.
Something then occurred to Blood-Wraith. “Hey, where’s Drago? I haven’t seen her yet today.”
“I believe she got up early to go check out a new location.” Desislav had to get out of the way as Blood-Wraith bolted for the doorway.
“Where did she go?”
“The Storm Plateau, I believe.”
Blood-Wraith was not sure where that was, but he had Leif. “Alright, feel free to keep messing around…” he trailed off.
“...but I can’t… read your book.” Desislav looked at the table and shrugged. What could he do at the moment?
Leif was resting in a park when Blood-Wraith came flying over. “Ah, Blood-Wraith. Getting the hang of your dragon form?”
“No time for chit chat, take me to where my sister is heading!”
“The Storm Plateau? Dragoslava isn’t in any danger, as it’s a fairly normal place. If you insist on going, hop up on my back.”
Blood-Wraith was shocked that Dragoslava went off on her own. Was it really that boring of a place? Or was his sister being impulsive? Regardless, the two were catching up to her. She was riding a motorcycle across the dusty landscape, another custom modified vehicle of hers. The bike roared as she sped along the dusty landscape. Dragoslava had sensed that Leif and Blood-Wraith were approaching, but she had to focus given that she was going at top speed. Upon reaching what appeared to be a thunderstorm, the three came to a stop. They arrived at an expanse of land…just land. Thunderclaps continuously went off and the wind gusts battered the area.
“Sister, why’d you leave without me?!”
“Hey, Blood! I just figured since this is a chill locale, I’d leave you to your studies” Dragoslava said as she took off her helmet. “Also jeez, Leif. Just how fast were you going? I started at the crack of dawn.”
“Well hey, you can’t outrun time” Leif answered with a chuckle.
For some reason that response gave Dragoslava a bit of a chill. “Right. Since you’re both here, let’s roll.”
The plateau was mundane, yet very interesting. Plantlife there had the properties of electricity and magnetism. This was also observed in the rocks and boulders. Wanting some of the flora for Kresimira’s gardens, Dragoslava collected as many seeds as she could while taking notes. The humming and buzzing of the environment seemed to be in rhythm with the storms above them. Leif surmised that the land was influenced by thunderstorms across the Cosmos. There was a distinct lack of rain, possibly indicating that this part of the Unlight was guessing as to what stormy weather was like.
“Well that was fun, but I think we’ve seen enough, ha” Dragoslava remarked. “What say you guys?”
Leif nodded. “Fine with me, but why do I have this odd feeling?”
“What do you mean, Leif?” Blood-Wraith inquired.
“It feels… like we’re meant to be here at the moment.”
The ground then shook for a brief moment. “Leif, it’s been a while” a slightly gravelly voice boomed. Across from the group a stone formation trembled, shaking away loose rock. A giant face was revealed that appeared to be made of stone. It did not move, but both of its glowing eyes opened.
“Colossus!? You’re…alive? No, wait… you’re asleep? Didn’t you finish your duty? Why didn't you…”
“THIS IS CONFUSING!” Tyrant exclaimed.
The colossus chuckled. “My apologies. When my duty was finished, I laid down to rest. I had a premonition a long time ago that one day I would need to fulfill a new task. This led me to decline reincarnation.”
Leif was confused. “Really? Are you… do you… what possible task could that be?”
“It is unclear at the moment. I assume I will be elucidated when the time comes.”
Leif paused in terror, having just realized something. “Oh God… please don’t tell me this place is going to be destroyed...”
“Sadly it will be, brother. A silver haired mage with a great rage like few others will raze this land with lighting and glass. On the bright side, this will lead to my reinvigoration… Leif, you need to let go.”
“I know,” Leif whined. He then walked off to pout and complain.
Blood-Wraith was lost. “What’s the matter with him? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“He has lost several of his favorite places in the past. Once in the epoch of the Cosmos, and twice in the Unlight itself. I imagine he’s also feeling a surge of emotions right now” The Colossus answered. “While my brother calms himself; Blood-Wraith, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“Another primordial that knows Blood?” Dragoslava questioned. “Alright, spill the beans. What’s going on here? Why are all of you so familiar with him?”
“He’s the son of The Nightmare of Old… or one of them, at least.”
“What?” Blood-Wraith was at a loss for words, yet he had a feeling that this made sense.
“As you can probably tell by now, not all primordials are the same, nor share the same fate,” The Colossus began to explain. “In regards to the Nightmare, they are numerous. The same goes for the counterpart, The Dream of Old. Now some primordials gave birth to children. One such case was The Sulfur of Old and The Mercury of Old. They were originally forces of creation, but fell in love with each other. This led to them producing three children. This was forbidden by God, however. As a result, the power of these two lies with the Evangelist and Watchman now. Despite all of this, Blood-Wraith is a special case. The primordial that fathered him had reincarnated, then was reborn in the image of his original form. As for the rest of the birthing process, I am not at liberty to say.”
“Oh… so does that make me a primordial?” Blood-Wraith wondered.
“No, but we do view you as our nephew. Even the Lich realizes this. Speaking of him, do you two know what you are doing by accepting the task of dealing with him?”
“There’s something else to this?” Dragoslava was a bit confused.
“Well of course, Ms. Raynot. You’re continuing the task of your ancient ancestors. Where did you think your people’s namesake came from?” The Colossus chuckled. “If you don’t believe me, explore The Lunar Archive of The Singing Storm Tower. It’ll tell you more than my hazy memories ever could.”
Dragoslava stared at the colossus for a moment, processing what he said. “We need to head back. This has got me intrigued.”
“Before you two go, allow me to bestow a gift to Blood-Wraith…” A green flame appeared before the face of the Colossus, then calmly went into Blood-Wraith. “A fragment of my soul.”
“YES, that one felt right! Thanks, Uncle Colossus!”
The Colossus laughed. “You’re very welcome, nephew. Stay on the path you’re on and you will attain the answers you desire. Personally I have a good feeling about you, Blood-Wraith.”
Leif had returned, rambling and ranting. “You know what? FINE! If it means the return of one of my brothers and the continuation of our mission, FINE!!” he proclaimed.
“Easy, brother,” the Colossus cautioned. “No need to get so worked up…”
Leif groaned. “Why are you always right? Fine, but I am coming back to check up on you periodically.”
“Fine with me. The monotony is getting quite bothersome after all.”
After saying goodbye, the trio began their return home. Blood-Wraith was feeling confident with his wolf form, so he elected to race Dragoslava back to the city. It was obvious that he was not fast enough to compete with a motorcycle yet, so his sister let him win. Afterwards they made their way to the lift station while Leif returned to his park to brood. He had a lot of thoughts and feelings to process.
Back at the tower, Blood-Wraith and Dragoslava were immediately greeted by Desislav. He brought them to the dining hall where the others were, all of them sampling various cakes. The curious satyr had been toying around with food-based alchemy while the two were off on their adventure. While the creations were a bit out there, they all looked very creative. Either way the room smelled very nice, like they had entered a restaurant serving nothing but dessert.
“I got a little carried away with my crafts,” Desislav admitted. “You two are hungry, right?”
“Yeah, I’d say so after everything we just did,” Dragoslava replied.
Kresimira wiped some frosting off of her face. “Welcome back, Drago, Blood-Wraith. Have a good time?”
“Yeah!” Blood-Wraith answered as he sat down. “I even got to meet another one of my uncles”
"Uncle's you say?” Corentin remarked. “How fascinating…”
Tusk then noticed Blood-Wraith’s newest eye color. “Blood, you found another fragment?”
“Yup, Uncle Colossus gave it to me. Now which cake first?”
Kresimira pointed to the one closest to him. “Try the chocolate with mint frosting. It is amazing.”
“Where’s Leif by the way?” Desislav inquired.
“Oh don’t worry, he’s off being a mood,” Dragoslava answered. “He’s got a lot on his mind.”
Blood-Wraith nodded. “Yup. If everything goes right, one of his brothers will return,” he added. He then ate his slice of cake. It was quite delicious.
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