ULTRAMagic Eon 1 - Chapter 23
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Given all of the excitement that had occurred, Blood-Wraith figured he would spend the night at the guild hall. He was awoken the next morning from his somewhat uneasy sleep by a knocking at his door. It was Dragoslava and Tiberius, who had something important to show him. Blood-Wraith made his way over to the entrance, with the morning light flooding in and overwhelming his eyes as he opened it. Being a slight mess with his hair all over the place, he rubbed his eyes and yawned.
“Hey, guys. Good morning…”
“I see you were up a bit late last night, as it is already 10 o’clock,” Tiberius pointed out.
“Um, yeah, I just had a lot on my mind.”
Dragoslava produced an envelope with a print that was all too familiar. “Well I don’t mean to rush this upon you, but guess who…”
Blood-Wraith nodded as he took the envelope and read who it was from. “I see. Come on in, guys,” he invited with another yawn. He then snapped his fingers, causing the curtains to open and an energetic orb of light to dance from sconce to sconce before settling down in a small chandelier. “Alright, let’s see what Valerie wants this time…” Blood-Wraith said as he took a seat at his desk, going for his letter opener.
“Would you believe it’s been nearly a month already, Blood?” Dragoslava asked.
“Wow, time certainly does fly…” he remarked as he unfolded the letter.
“A mere afternoon for someone as old as myself,” Tiberius stated. “As an aside, we should consider ourselves fortunate that The Eternal Order has not attacked us, for better or for worse.”
Blood-Wraith nodded as started to read. “Yeah, I hear you there…” The letter detailed Valerie’s acquisition of ULTRAMagic and also complemented Blood-Wraith and the others on their infiltration of her castle. She was taken off guard by the affair and resolved to improve her security in the future. The last part was the most interesting, taking Blood-Wraith by surprise. “Well then!” he exclaimed, feeling his morning energy coming to him.
“What is it, bro?” Dragoslava inquired.
“Valerie wants a magic duel, winner takes all… oh, and she also wants me to put in a good word with Uncle Deimos.”
Tiberius could not help but laugh as it felt like a massive weight had been removed from the guild’s back. “Well then, we’ll have to oblige Miss Ter Avest on both matters. When does she want to do this, Blood?”
“A week from now, suggesting I use this time to get ready.”
“Well then hop to it, Blood,” Dragoslava suggested. “I mean, you challenged her and she accepted, so it’s only fair that you reciprocate on this.”
Blood-Wraith groaned a little as she shifted in his chair slightly. “I’m a bit nervous, not going to lie. Am I up to the task? We haven’t had a true test of my magic in some time and, well… you all know how my duel with Dunja went…”
“A perfectly valid concern, Blood,” Tiberius reassured. “But keep in mind that these situations are vastly different from each other. Dunja had had decades to perfect her magic whereas Valerie is a lot like you at the moment. And this duel is significantly less serious than the circumstances surrounding Dunja’s return to The Iron City. Despite our back and forth with Valerie, we all wish to stop The Eternal Order. And even if you lose to her, I will work with her to make sure her plan does not go south. You have my word.”
Thinking about it, Blood-Wraith stood up and put the letter back in the envelope. “Thank you, Tiberius. That does make me feel better about it… for the most part. Either way, let’s grab Guinevere and go tell Englehart about this. I’d imagine he’d want to get this all underway as soon as possible, ha.”
Guinevere was in the main hall with some of the others, letting her little Ceratosaurus run around the room. Edmund (as she had named it) was a feisty little hatchling, hopping up and down from the tables and trying to bite at the hands of anyone who got too close. It was a hysterically fun situation and Edmund was quite adorable despite his reptilian nature. Upon Blood-Wraith coming to notify everyone of what was going on, Edmund promptly ran over and began chirping and hissing at him. Given that Edmund was around the size of a big puppy, he was a little nervous, with Guinevere needing to retrieve her dinosaur. Edmund naturally started bobbing his head up and down, causing everyone to laugh.
Alexia agreed to look after Edmund while Guinevere went to the Singing Storm Tower with Blood-Wraith, but Edmund promptly tried to follow his mother out of the guild. There was no getting around the dinosaur’s need to be with Guinevere, so Blood-Wraith suggested they bring him with them. He knew Englehart and the royal court would love to meet him. Guinevere was a little nervous, but Tiberius assured her that the city would most likely be safe and that they would help her keep an eye on Edmund. Tiberius was met with a few growls, but Edmund warmed up to him when he offered him a treat.
Aureolus saw all of this as his cue to take Will to the tower, going with Blood-Wraith and the others as Will was utterly enthralled with Edmund. Of course Will’s fascination shifted to the tower as Englehart’s castle was truly magnificent, the golden tower being second to none in terms of majesty and beauty. It was also quite the honor for Will as the tower was radically different in his time for reasons he could not disclose. Aureolus was naturally curious to hear about Earth, asking Will all sorts of questions that made him a little nervous. The assurance that it was okay due to Aureolus being a timeless entity only went so far, and in truth he was not sure about that as he had let his curiosity get the best of him.
As the two made their way past the busy stewards and guards, Will was finishing up venting about Earth. “...so prior to the Red River incident, there was a bit of a lull in Liger Brigade activity, despite the chaos in Washington. President Donovan had managed to clean things up from Hector Fang’s mess and I even got to go to The Pentagon a couple of times. You can bet I made a few Dr. Strangelove references while I was there, haha. Now given my newfound down time, I used it to go back to posting art on the internet and worked on an AU for one of my favorite video games.”
“Sounds like a lot of fun,” Aureolus said with a chuckle as they came to a stop in a moderately active, spacious lounge. “How did the internet stuff go?”
“Well evidently I had the wrong audience because one day when I announced an update on my usual website, I had a couple of people come in-long time followers supposedly-and make fun of me. I promptly blocked them and kind of lost interest in the project. Thankfully it was all right before Bethany paid me a visit, ha.”
“Aw, well that sucks,” Aureolus sympathized.
“Not to pry, Private Ford, but that’s all a good reason why The Iron City doesn’t really dabble in computing technology,” a nearby guard put in. “I’ve heard of all sorts of horror stories in regards to ‘social media’ from The Great Uncity.”
“Hey, good call, good call,” Will said with another laugh, then sighed. “Aye yai yai… Jack would have a good time here. He hates the internet and thinks it's nothing but trouble.”
Aureolus then patted Will on the shoulder. “Hey, don’t let those fools get you down, Will. You are doing more good than they could ever dream of. If they refuse to grow up, ignore them. Some ignorance is bliss, but I’d argue that’s a double edge sword. That lack of knowledge leads to fear which never ends well for anyone really. Not to throw you under the bus, but look at what happened to you…”
Will laughed once more, taking it all in stride. “True, true. Honestly I want to kick the internet to the curb when I get back home.”
“It’s probably for the best, given how busy you’ll be with the guild, The Liger Brigade, and M.A.I.G. Plus who needs it when you’ve got a Cosmos of adventure an Unlight away, you know what I mean?” Aureolus then noticed Albrecht walking by. “Hey, Albrecht!”
“Aureolus! How are… you?” The young prince was stunned. “Aureolus, is that you?”
He nodded with a smile. “I figured I should start acting my age given all the chaos that just went down.”
“Well then…” Albrecht said as he stepped over to them. “Hello, Will. It’s nice to meet you. I’ve been hearing about what happened with you and Valerie.”
“Nice to meet you too, your highness,” he replied as they shook hands. “And yeah, not one of my greatest moments…”
“I know how you feel, as the Shadowland liberation was a hassle and a half.”
“Oh, Albrecht?” Aureolus cut in. “Could you go get your mother real quickly? I need her expertise on void magic.”
Albrecht glanced out into the hallway as he thought about it. “Um, I think she’s busy at the moment, but I’ll tell her anyway.” As he stepped out into the hall, something caught his attention. “Oh, Mal. Will’s in there if you’d like to meet him…”
“Oh goodie!” an echoey, female voice said.
“Mal?” Will questioned.
Aureolus nodded. “She’s a primordial who was around with Leif, Tiberius, and the others during the Epoch…”
Will was shocked when a tall, slender humanoid stepped into the room. She was a bizarre sight to behold, alien and simplistic, but still registering as something that could plausibly exist. The metallic silver body was somewhere between synthetic and organic, with something compelling Will to touch her to see if what he was witnessing was actually real. “Goodness…” he choked out as he held out his hand. “He-hello, Mal…”
“Hello, Will! It’s nice to meet you.” She could feel how nervous he was as his hand shook as she gripped it. “Pardon my asking, but are you new to The Unlight?”
Will promptly snapped out of his funk with an awkward look of guilt on his face. “Ha, kind of. Also my apologies for acting weird, Mal. I’ve met Sirius who’s a dream construct, Orion who’s an astral entity, and Bethany who is a type 4 ghost. I have no idea why I’m so weirded out at the moment.”
Mal smiled. “It’s alright, Will. To be fair I am a pretty strange primordial all things considered.” She then leaned as if to whisper. “And don’t tell anyone, but even Duke Radovan himself was quite nervous around me when we first met.” The two chuckled, followed by Mal noticing the elephant in the room. “Aureolus, you grew!”
“Haha, yes indeed,” he replied. “I figured it was about time.” Aureolus then gestured for the three to sit down at a table near the windows. “I mean jeez, I spent 17 years in Milosh’s basement. I can’t stay a kid forever.”
Mal nodded as that was a fair point. “So what brings you two here today?” she asked. “Pardon how busy things are. Adriana has been worried about Lia Ascher and that Tower of Babel thingy. Everybody’s concerned that it could show up early.”
“Yeah, Serjiel and Yoshihiro were talking about that,” Will commented as he stroked his beard, a group of people discussing the tower passing by the lounge as he did. “Anyways, I’m having trouble with my necromancy and Aureolus has an idea on how to fix it.”
“I’m going to have Dunja see if she can teach him void magic,” Aureolus added. “I’ve got a good feeling about this.”
Will gave a slight groan as he relaxed in his chair. “I'm a little nervous, not going to lie.”
“I see,” Mal said with a nod. “Void is certainly a very powerful and strange form of magic, but I think you can do it, Will. You’ve come this far and I believe everything happens for a reason, thanks to Leif…”
“Me too, Mal-the happening for a reason part. Just look at Red River and everything that brought me here. It’s not shaking my anxiety though. I had a similar stage fright when I joined the guild, despite how cocky I was at the time…”
To alleviate Will’s worries, Mal figured she would discuss her adventures in learning magic back during the Epoch. It was definitely comforting to hear about her countless instances of trial and error, but the conversation drifted towards the Epoch in general. Will was utterly fascinated by Mal’s strange stories about the ancient and eldritch era and wanted to know all she could tell. The subjects discussed also attracted the attention of a few guards, stewards, and nobles who gathered around to eagerly listen in. Mal did not mind as she had fond, nostalgic memories of the Epoch and loved discussing them. Dunja eventually entered the lounge and smiled at the gathering. She had been concerned about Mal fitting in, but seeing her recount her tales put those anxieties at ease.
Mal had noticed the queen entering and knew she had to wrap things up. “... and as much as I would love to discuss how Leif and I helped win the 7th Catastrophe War with sneakiness, her majesty is here and Will and Aureolus need to speak to her.” This caused the group to disperse, with them thanking Mal for her time and giving their regards to Dunja as they left, returning to their jobs and duties.
“Well it looks like you three had a fun time,” Dunja noted. “So what’s the matter, Will? How can I help?”
Will stood up and cleared his throat. “Firstly, your majesty,” he said with a bow.
“Please, call me ‘Dunja.’”
“Right! Ahem, Dunja, I’m sure you’re aware of the lead up to Eloise and Valerie capturing me. I have no idea how to use my necromancy in the past, and my alchemy is sub par…”
“I think void magic is the solution,” Aureolus put in. “What do you think, Aunt Dunja? Can you teach him?”
Dunja took a second to visually inspect Will, nodding steadily. “Hmm, I do sense potential, but we’ll need to see if he has what it takes. Seeing if he can enter the Nexus would be a good start…”
That suggestion made Mal shudder a little. “Ooh, that place gives me the heebeegeebees…”
“No problem, dear, as Albrecht needs some help organizing his trading cards.”
Mal immediately perked up and got out of her chair. “Oh, cool! Sorry to bounce on you, Will, but the Nexus is super eerie. Good luck learning void magic.”
Will gave a slight nervous chuckle. “No worries, Mal. Best of luck to you too,” he said as she left with a wave. “Is this ‘Nexus’ really that bad?”
“As much as I would love to say she was overexaggerating, I have to concede that it is a very strange place,” Dunja answered.
Aureolus got up and went to Will’s side, reassuring him with a pat on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, Will. We’ll be here for you every step of the way.”
“Yeah, right, thanks.” Will then took a breath to ease his nerves as a subtle knot of anxiety formed in his chest. “If I could make it through Bethany’s nightmares, I can handle whatever this ‘Nexus’ is…”
Next: Chapter 25
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Master Post - Patreon
Given all of the excitement that had occurred, Blood-Wraith figured he would spend the night at the guild hall. He was awoken the next morning from his somewhat uneasy sleep by a knocking at his door. It was Dragoslava and Tiberius, who had something important to show him. Blood-Wraith made his way over to the entrance, with the morning light flooding in and overwhelming his eyes as he opened it. Being a slight mess with his hair all over the place, he rubbed his eyes and yawned.
“Hey, guys. Good morning…”
“I see you were up a bit late last night, as it is already 10 o’clock,” Tiberius pointed out.
“Um, yeah, I just had a lot on my mind.”
Dragoslava produced an envelope with a print that was all too familiar. “Well I don’t mean to rush this upon you, but guess who…”
Blood-Wraith nodded as he took the envelope and read who it was from. “I see. Come on in, guys,” he invited with another yawn. He then snapped his fingers, causing the curtains to open and an energetic orb of light to dance from sconce to sconce before settling down in a small chandelier. “Alright, let’s see what Valerie wants this time…” Blood-Wraith said as he took a seat at his desk, going for his letter opener.
“Would you believe it’s been nearly a month already, Blood?” Dragoslava asked.
“Wow, time certainly does fly…” he remarked as he unfolded the letter.
“A mere afternoon for someone as old as myself,” Tiberius stated. “As an aside, we should consider ourselves fortunate that The Eternal Order has not attacked us, for better or for worse.”
Blood-Wraith nodded as started to read. “Yeah, I hear you there…” The letter detailed Valerie’s acquisition of ULTRAMagic and also complemented Blood-Wraith and the others on their infiltration of her castle. She was taken off guard by the affair and resolved to improve her security in the future. The last part was the most interesting, taking Blood-Wraith by surprise. “Well then!” he exclaimed, feeling his morning energy coming to him.
“What is it, bro?” Dragoslava inquired.
“Valerie wants a magic duel, winner takes all… oh, and she also wants me to put in a good word with Uncle Deimos.”
Tiberius could not help but laugh as it felt like a massive weight had been removed from the guild’s back. “Well then, we’ll have to oblige Miss Ter Avest on both matters. When does she want to do this, Blood?”
“A week from now, suggesting I use this time to get ready.”
“Well then hop to it, Blood,” Dragoslava suggested. “I mean, you challenged her and she accepted, so it’s only fair that you reciprocate on this.”
Blood-Wraith groaned a little as she shifted in his chair slightly. “I’m a bit nervous, not going to lie. Am I up to the task? We haven’t had a true test of my magic in some time and, well… you all know how my duel with Dunja went…”
“A perfectly valid concern, Blood,” Tiberius reassured. “But keep in mind that these situations are vastly different from each other. Dunja had had decades to perfect her magic whereas Valerie is a lot like you at the moment. And this duel is significantly less serious than the circumstances surrounding Dunja’s return to The Iron City. Despite our back and forth with Valerie, we all wish to stop The Eternal Order. And even if you lose to her, I will work with her to make sure her plan does not go south. You have my word.”
Thinking about it, Blood-Wraith stood up and put the letter back in the envelope. “Thank you, Tiberius. That does make me feel better about it… for the most part. Either way, let’s grab Guinevere and go tell Englehart about this. I’d imagine he’d want to get this all underway as soon as possible, ha.”
Guinevere was in the main hall with some of the others, letting her little Ceratosaurus run around the room. Edmund (as she had named it) was a feisty little hatchling, hopping up and down from the tables and trying to bite at the hands of anyone who got too close. It was a hysterically fun situation and Edmund was quite adorable despite his reptilian nature. Upon Blood-Wraith coming to notify everyone of what was going on, Edmund promptly ran over and began chirping and hissing at him. Given that Edmund was around the size of a big puppy, he was a little nervous, with Guinevere needing to retrieve her dinosaur. Edmund naturally started bobbing his head up and down, causing everyone to laugh.
Alexia agreed to look after Edmund while Guinevere went to the Singing Storm Tower with Blood-Wraith, but Edmund promptly tried to follow his mother out of the guild. There was no getting around the dinosaur’s need to be with Guinevere, so Blood-Wraith suggested they bring him with them. He knew Englehart and the royal court would love to meet him. Guinevere was a little nervous, but Tiberius assured her that the city would most likely be safe and that they would help her keep an eye on Edmund. Tiberius was met with a few growls, but Edmund warmed up to him when he offered him a treat.
Aureolus saw all of this as his cue to take Will to the tower, going with Blood-Wraith and the others as Will was utterly enthralled with Edmund. Of course Will’s fascination shifted to the tower as Englehart’s castle was truly magnificent, the golden tower being second to none in terms of majesty and beauty. It was also quite the honor for Will as the tower was radically different in his time for reasons he could not disclose. Aureolus was naturally curious to hear about Earth, asking Will all sorts of questions that made him a little nervous. The assurance that it was okay due to Aureolus being a timeless entity only went so far, and in truth he was not sure about that as he had let his curiosity get the best of him.
As the two made their way past the busy stewards and guards, Will was finishing up venting about Earth. “...so prior to the Red River incident, there was a bit of a lull in Liger Brigade activity, despite the chaos in Washington. President Donovan had managed to clean things up from Hector Fang’s mess and I even got to go to The Pentagon a couple of times. You can bet I made a few Dr. Strangelove references while I was there, haha. Now given my newfound down time, I used it to go back to posting art on the internet and worked on an AU for one of my favorite video games.”
“Sounds like a lot of fun,” Aureolus said with a chuckle as they came to a stop in a moderately active, spacious lounge. “How did the internet stuff go?”
“Well evidently I had the wrong audience because one day when I announced an update on my usual website, I had a couple of people come in-long time followers supposedly-and make fun of me. I promptly blocked them and kind of lost interest in the project. Thankfully it was all right before Bethany paid me a visit, ha.”
“Aw, well that sucks,” Aureolus sympathized.
“Not to pry, Private Ford, but that’s all a good reason why The Iron City doesn’t really dabble in computing technology,” a nearby guard put in. “I’ve heard of all sorts of horror stories in regards to ‘social media’ from The Great Uncity.”
“Hey, good call, good call,” Will said with another laugh, then sighed. “Aye yai yai… Jack would have a good time here. He hates the internet and thinks it's nothing but trouble.”
Aureolus then patted Will on the shoulder. “Hey, don’t let those fools get you down, Will. You are doing more good than they could ever dream of. If they refuse to grow up, ignore them. Some ignorance is bliss, but I’d argue that’s a double edge sword. That lack of knowledge leads to fear which never ends well for anyone really. Not to throw you under the bus, but look at what happened to you…”
Will laughed once more, taking it all in stride. “True, true. Honestly I want to kick the internet to the curb when I get back home.”
“It’s probably for the best, given how busy you’ll be with the guild, The Liger Brigade, and M.A.I.G. Plus who needs it when you’ve got a Cosmos of adventure an Unlight away, you know what I mean?” Aureolus then noticed Albrecht walking by. “Hey, Albrecht!”
“Aureolus! How are… you?” The young prince was stunned. “Aureolus, is that you?”
He nodded with a smile. “I figured I should start acting my age given all the chaos that just went down.”
“Well then…” Albrecht said as he stepped over to them. “Hello, Will. It’s nice to meet you. I’ve been hearing about what happened with you and Valerie.”
“Nice to meet you too, your highness,” he replied as they shook hands. “And yeah, not one of my greatest moments…”
“I know how you feel, as the Shadowland liberation was a hassle and a half.”
“Oh, Albrecht?” Aureolus cut in. “Could you go get your mother real quickly? I need her expertise on void magic.”
Albrecht glanced out into the hallway as he thought about it. “Um, I think she’s busy at the moment, but I’ll tell her anyway.” As he stepped out into the hall, something caught his attention. “Oh, Mal. Will’s in there if you’d like to meet him…”
“Oh goodie!” an echoey, female voice said.
“Mal?” Will questioned.
Aureolus nodded. “She’s a primordial who was around with Leif, Tiberius, and the others during the Epoch…”
Will was shocked when a tall, slender humanoid stepped into the room. She was a bizarre sight to behold, alien and simplistic, but still registering as something that could plausibly exist. The metallic silver body was somewhere between synthetic and organic, with something compelling Will to touch her to see if what he was witnessing was actually real. “Goodness…” he choked out as he held out his hand. “He-hello, Mal…”
“Hello, Will! It’s nice to meet you.” She could feel how nervous he was as his hand shook as she gripped it. “Pardon my asking, but are you new to The Unlight?”
Will promptly snapped out of his funk with an awkward look of guilt on his face. “Ha, kind of. Also my apologies for acting weird, Mal. I’ve met Sirius who’s a dream construct, Orion who’s an astral entity, and Bethany who is a type 4 ghost. I have no idea why I’m so weirded out at the moment.”
Mal smiled. “It’s alright, Will. To be fair I am a pretty strange primordial all things considered.” She then leaned as if to whisper. “And don’t tell anyone, but even Duke Radovan himself was quite nervous around me when we first met.” The two chuckled, followed by Mal noticing the elephant in the room. “Aureolus, you grew!”
“Haha, yes indeed,” he replied. “I figured it was about time.” Aureolus then gestured for the three to sit down at a table near the windows. “I mean jeez, I spent 17 years in Milosh’s basement. I can’t stay a kid forever.”
Mal nodded as that was a fair point. “So what brings you two here today?” she asked. “Pardon how busy things are. Adriana has been worried about Lia Ascher and that Tower of Babel thingy. Everybody’s concerned that it could show up early.”
“Yeah, Serjiel and Yoshihiro were talking about that,” Will commented as he stroked his beard, a group of people discussing the tower passing by the lounge as he did. “Anyways, I’m having trouble with my necromancy and Aureolus has an idea on how to fix it.”
“I’m going to have Dunja see if she can teach him void magic,” Aureolus added. “I’ve got a good feeling about this.”
Will gave a slight groan as he relaxed in his chair. “I'm a little nervous, not going to lie.”
“I see,” Mal said with a nod. “Void is certainly a very powerful and strange form of magic, but I think you can do it, Will. You’ve come this far and I believe everything happens for a reason, thanks to Leif…”
“Me too, Mal-the happening for a reason part. Just look at Red River and everything that brought me here. It’s not shaking my anxiety though. I had a similar stage fright when I joined the guild, despite how cocky I was at the time…”
To alleviate Will’s worries, Mal figured she would discuss her adventures in learning magic back during the Epoch. It was definitely comforting to hear about her countless instances of trial and error, but the conversation drifted towards the Epoch in general. Will was utterly fascinated by Mal’s strange stories about the ancient and eldritch era and wanted to know all she could tell. The subjects discussed also attracted the attention of a few guards, stewards, and nobles who gathered around to eagerly listen in. Mal did not mind as she had fond, nostalgic memories of the Epoch and loved discussing them. Dunja eventually entered the lounge and smiled at the gathering. She had been concerned about Mal fitting in, but seeing her recount her tales put those anxieties at ease.
Mal had noticed the queen entering and knew she had to wrap things up. “... and as much as I would love to discuss how Leif and I helped win the 7th Catastrophe War with sneakiness, her majesty is here and Will and Aureolus need to speak to her.” This caused the group to disperse, with them thanking Mal for her time and giving their regards to Dunja as they left, returning to their jobs and duties.
“Well it looks like you three had a fun time,” Dunja noted. “So what’s the matter, Will? How can I help?”
Will stood up and cleared his throat. “Firstly, your majesty,” he said with a bow.
“Please, call me ‘Dunja.’”
“Right! Ahem, Dunja, I’m sure you’re aware of the lead up to Eloise and Valerie capturing me. I have no idea how to use my necromancy in the past, and my alchemy is sub par…”
“I think void magic is the solution,” Aureolus put in. “What do you think, Aunt Dunja? Can you teach him?”
Dunja took a second to visually inspect Will, nodding steadily. “Hmm, I do sense potential, but we’ll need to see if he has what it takes. Seeing if he can enter the Nexus would be a good start…”
That suggestion made Mal shudder a little. “Ooh, that place gives me the heebeegeebees…”
“No problem, dear, as Albrecht needs some help organizing his trading cards.”
Mal immediately perked up and got out of her chair. “Oh, cool! Sorry to bounce on you, Will, but the Nexus is super eerie. Good luck learning void magic.”
Will gave a slight nervous chuckle. “No worries, Mal. Best of luck to you too,” he said as she left with a wave. “Is this ‘Nexus’ really that bad?”
“As much as I would love to say she was overexaggerating, I have to concede that it is a very strange place,” Dunja answered.
Aureolus got up and went to Will’s side, reassuring him with a pat on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, Will. We’ll be here for you every step of the way.”
“Yeah, right, thanks.” Will then took a breath to ease his nerves as a subtle knot of anxiety formed in his chest. “If I could make it through Bethany’s nightmares, I can handle whatever this ‘Nexus’ is…”
Next: Chapter 25
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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