ULTRAMagic Eon 1 - Chapter 6
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Since there was time to spare, Eloise chatted with the group in one of the castle’s many, comfortable parlors. Dunja and Dragoslava were interested in talking to her while Tiberius was a bit hesitant to discuss their business so openly, but Eloise was also open to discussion in regards to Valerie. In recent times the rogue mage had grown to like dessert-themed magic, using soul magic to modify her alchemy. Desislav definitely admired the work on display and was interested in learning from Valerie.
As for Blood-Wraith, Eloise was enjoying flustering him. Dunja could tell that not only had Eloise read a great deal about Blood-Wraith, she had come to admire him. Given that she was most likely around the same age as him, relatively speaking, her behaviour was not surprising. All of it was quite endearing and made Dunja realize that Valerie was never truly on Milosh’s side back in the day. How could she have been when Eloise was so sweet and fun loving? There was not a single bad bone in her body.
Upon dinner time drawing near, Eloise showed the group to the dining hall. It was a grand room that was full of classical decor, paintings, and curios from Valerie’s travels over the years. Some of the paintings seemed to have been appropriated, as deduced by Dunja and Tiberius, but Eloise hand waved it as borrowing. Already sitting at the elegant dining table was a beautiful woman with long, black hair and magenta eyes. Notably it looked like she was wearing a bodysuit made of what appeared to be black licorice… or perhaps her body was made of it? Either way, she looked up from her grimoire once everyone had sat down.
“Why hello there…” she started to say in a somewhat quiet tone.
“Alright, everyone!” Eloise interrupted. “This here is my younger sister, Guinevere.”
Guinevere frowned for a second, then put her people-face back on. “It is a pleasure to meet you all.”
“Likewise, dear,” Dunja replied. “I take it that Valerie did not want to stop at Eloise?”
Guinevere chuckled. “You know how it is. Eloise was a success and she grew lonely, so here I am.”
“I was hoping for a younger brother, but Guinevere is a cool bean,” Eloise remarked. “Despite being a pyromancer.”
“A pyromancer?” Tiberius inquired. “How intriguing, Guinevere. Ermenrich fancied himself one after studying Leif’s firebreath, prior to developing curses. It was more of a brief interest, but he has expressed interest in pursuing it again in recent times.”
Guinevere snapped her fingers, causing a magenta flame with traces of red to appear in her hand. “Hehe, it’s just something I can do,” she said as she closed her hand.
Dragoslava quickly jotted down some notes. “Say, Guinevere? I know this is sudden, but can you teach me that eventually?”
“Oh, well, it’s nothing special, just standard fire magic…”
“Sure, but I still want to learn it.”
Desislav chuckled while patting her on the shoulder. “Metal skin is not enough for you, Dragy?”
She then metalized her hand. “This ability ain’t exactly smoothing sailing, Desi.”
This immediately caught Eloise’s attention as she leaned over the table. “Ooh, what’s that and where did you get it?”
“Oh, um, well I had a near death experience with The Lich of Old…”
“Interesting, at the Metal Oasis no doubt. I’ll have to look into it sometime…”
“Sister!” Guinevere chided. “It is not your room to pry. Besides, you should’ve known this already. You have been studying the information that mother has collected, right?”
“Yeah… mostly the parts about Blood…”
Blood-Wraith sighed as he looked at Eloise next to him. “So you have been spying on me?”
“You have our sincerest apologies, Blood,” Guinevere replied. “Just know that we did our research with utmost reverence for all of you.”
He nodded in reluctant acceptance. “Alright then… Eloise, why are you looking at me like that?”
She giggled. “Want to go get dinner some time?” This made Blood-Wraith go red in the face.
Saving Blood-Wraith from mild embarrassment, Valerie swung open the doors. “Hello, everyone! Sorry I’m late…” Valerie was quite beautiful with gorgeous, long, dark blue hair and brilliant orange eyes. She wore a white, steampunk-esque bodysuit with a white, witch hat atop her head. “Dunja! Is that you, girl?!” she exclaimed as she approached the table.
“Good to see you again, Valerie,” Dunja said as she got up, only to be bear hugged and swung around. It was surreal to see as Dunja was nearly as tall as Englehart.
“I am so happy to see you away from that slime and back with Englehart!” Valerie said as she set Dunja down. “You two were always such a cute couple.”
“Wow, you’ve gotten strong…” Dunja quietly commented as she returned to her chair, with Valerie taking a seat at the head of the table. “Valerie, I was so close to snapping Milosh’s neck the night before Leif and Blood flew over Shadowland.”
“Oh? How bad was it? What did he do?”
“Aside from screaming at Gummi for the umpteenth time? He revealed that he had gone to that infernal Gudrun in order to begin arranging the creation of super beast blood.”
Valerie winced. “Ouch, that sucks. Remind me to send Gummi some gifts when there’s a free moment. Honestly you should have killed Milosh on the spot, especially considering he never actually paid me. Is it any wonder that I jinxed him that fateful night? Aside from sabotaging that stupid cult of his?”
“Hindsight is a pain in the arse…” Dunja lamented.
Blood-Wraith felt bad for Valerie and had an idea. “Hey, Valerie? I was given Milosh’s fortune. I could pay you…”
That kindness took Valerie off guard. “Oh no no no, dear! It’s alright, you keep that money and do great things with it… Hey! Sir Blood-Wraith Andrew Raynot, the man of the hour! How are you doing tonight?”
“Pretty good, pretty good. Got the guild up and running and had a tussle with Eloise. No big deal. Oh, excuse me one second, Valerie; Eloise? Can we have that recipe for the ice cream fireballs? Barry really liked it and would not stop bugging me to ask you for it.”
“Oh, sure, Blood…” Eloise paused for a second, then looked at her mother. “Um, is it okay if we give it to them? I don’t mind…”
“I don’t see why not, as it’s a fairly good recipe,” Valerie replied. She then leaned in on the table a little. “So, Blood-Wraith, I heard you were putting the moves on my daughter earlier.”
Blood-Wraith’s face went bright red while the others chuckled and Eloise laughed. “WHAT!? NO I WASN’T” he protested.
Valerie laughed. “It’s okay, sport. My little darling needs a big, strong man in her life!”
“STOP,” Blood-Wraith complained as he sank in his chair, trying to pull his knight’s beret over his face. Dragoslava and Desislav felt bad for laughing, but could not help themselves.
Valerie laughed one more time before clapping twice. “Alright, enough chit chat, let’s eat. I am famished.”
A series of butler golems made out of cake began wheeling in trolleys full of steaming, delicious food from the kitchen. Despite Valerie’s obsession with dessert, all of the food on offer was the standard meats and vegetables one would expect to find at the dinner table. Valerie explained that the majority of the meal was based on old Feuerlandian recipes, as she was a scholar of that long since fallen kingdom’s culture and customs. And while the golems had prepared the food, they were all created and cast based on Valerie’s knowledge. Desislav was thoroughly impressed given his skills as a cook. Not only did Valerie put great effort into her magic, there was clear passion in the food she had prepared.
“Valerie, one chef to another,” Desislav said as he finished a succulent piece of steak. “This food is utterly amazing.”
“Why thank you, Mr. Robles. Regardless of which one of us comes out on top, you are more than welcome to come and study under me.”
“I happily accept your offer, Ms. Ter Avest,” he replied. Desislav knew the others were questioning him, but he did not care.
Seeing the perfect opportunity to address why they were there, Tiberius cleared his throat and wiped his face. “If you’ll permit me to speak, Valerie, this is a fantastic meal, but obviously we didn’t just come here for the feast. Valerie Ter Avest, on behalf of the ULTRAMagic Guild, I wish to inquire as to what your plans are.”
She gave a light sigh. “Alright, enough beating around the bush. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we can all agree that the Cosmos is in great danger at the moment. The Eternal Order is using the Unlight as an attack vector and we need to do something about it. I’ve got a fairly hairbrained idea, but here me out: I want to consolidate the Unlight and unite everyone against The Eternal Order. I may or may not have taken inspiration from the ULTRAMagic Guild for this plan…”
The group all gave Valerie incredulous looks for a second and anyone who knew her could tell she was secretly sweating bullets. Tiberius glanced around the table, noticing Eloise looking enthusiastic while Guinevere was clearly not into it. “That is… that is quite the ambition, Valerie,” he stated. “I mean, The Unlight is fairly disparate, surely you must understand that…”
She nodded, albeit in a more concessionary manner. “I’m aware and am making plans for that eventual roadbump.”
Dunja leaned forward, put her hands together, and rested her chin on them. “It is quite the plan, something Milosh and The Lich could never accomplish… Valerie on the other hand? I can potentially see her pulling it off. It makes me wonder if I wouldn’t have attempted such a feat had I had Milosh executed…”
“So you’re going to unite The Unlight, Valerie?” Dragoslava questioned.
“Yes, that’s the idea.”
“Really? You think you can get groups like the Red Giants and the Mortis Birds to cooperate with each other?”
Valerie looked a little nervous again. “Um, hopefully…”
“Ha, getting those two tribes to work together would be like getting the Discordant Gods Benedictus Thrax and Yorath Zeelen to focus on something other than skirmishes…”
Blood-Wraith looked confused. “Who are they, sister?”
“Agreed,” Desislav added. “There’s even more Discordant Gods of Chaos?”
She nodded, looking a little guilty in the process. “Oops, sorry, nerding out a bit. Yeah, they’re two of the ancient Discordant Gods that stick to the far north of The Realm of Chaos and war with each other for honor and glory.”
“Anyways,” Tiberius interjected. “Valerie, we at the guild are also trying to stop The Eternal Order, so how about we work together?”
“Intrigued…” she replied. “I’m not against the idea, but what’s in it for me, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“You would have to drop the consolidation plan, but in turn you would gain the support of the guild, The Iron City, The Unending Forest, Shadowland, and you would have access to our vast wealth of knowledge and arcane technology.”
Truthfully Valerie was unsure of her plans deep down. Tiberius’ offer sounded very appealing and he seemed genuine. “You drive a hard bargain, Tiberius…”
“Indeed mother,” Guinevere added. “I imagine we’ll make great progress with their libraries and mages…”
“Really, sister?” Eloise cut in, annoyed.
“Yes, sister. Really.” There was clear frustration in Guinevere’s voice.
“Girls, please,” Valerie hushed. “Mom is thinking…”
“Valerie, you are more than a capable mage at this point,” Dunja complimented. “I’d happily make you a member of my blades,” she assured.
Valerie’s resolve was starting to weaken. “So tempting… the only fly in the ointment is how do I know you're all strong enough? That's why I’m issuing this challenge in the first place.”
Blood-Wraith was content to let the adults speak, as they were making great progress and he could see the finish line in sight… but something told him to throw his two cents in. The young knight tried to ignore it, but the urge kept pushing its way to the surface until… “You know what? Challenge accepted!!” he exclaimed as he shot up from his chair.
Everyone was taken aback and silent, with the realization of what had just happened hitting Dunja and Tiberius. “BLOOD-WRAITH!” they both scolded as they slammed their hands on the table.
“Now that’s what I love to hear!” Valerie said proudly as she and Blood-Wraith stepped over to meet each other face to face. “What do you say, Blood?”
“If we win this bout, you join us!”
“And if I win, will you join me?” She asked with expecting charm in her voice.
“DEAL!” he replied. They both firmly shook hands on this.
“YES!” Eloise cheered, with Guinevere face palming.
“I love it when things work out in the end!” proclaimed Valerie. “Now I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to dessert. All of you will spend the night here and we’ll resume our little contest tomorrow once you’re all home safe and sound.” She then noticed she was getting some rather incredulous looks from her guests. “Oh come now, turn those frowns upside down, guys. This will be fun! And look, if things go south, we’ll drop this whole shindig and work together, sounds good? Now where’s that sundae? Mama’s got a craving for chocolate and ice cream!”
Next: Chapter 7
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Master Post - Patreon
Since there was time to spare, Eloise chatted with the group in one of the castle’s many, comfortable parlors. Dunja and Dragoslava were interested in talking to her while Tiberius was a bit hesitant to discuss their business so openly, but Eloise was also open to discussion in regards to Valerie. In recent times the rogue mage had grown to like dessert-themed magic, using soul magic to modify her alchemy. Desislav definitely admired the work on display and was interested in learning from Valerie.
As for Blood-Wraith, Eloise was enjoying flustering him. Dunja could tell that not only had Eloise read a great deal about Blood-Wraith, she had come to admire him. Given that she was most likely around the same age as him, relatively speaking, her behaviour was not surprising. All of it was quite endearing and made Dunja realize that Valerie was never truly on Milosh’s side back in the day. How could she have been when Eloise was so sweet and fun loving? There was not a single bad bone in her body.
Upon dinner time drawing near, Eloise showed the group to the dining hall. It was a grand room that was full of classical decor, paintings, and curios from Valerie’s travels over the years. Some of the paintings seemed to have been appropriated, as deduced by Dunja and Tiberius, but Eloise hand waved it as borrowing. Already sitting at the elegant dining table was a beautiful woman with long, black hair and magenta eyes. Notably it looked like she was wearing a bodysuit made of what appeared to be black licorice… or perhaps her body was made of it? Either way, she looked up from her grimoire once everyone had sat down.
“Why hello there…” she started to say in a somewhat quiet tone.
“Alright, everyone!” Eloise interrupted. “This here is my younger sister, Guinevere.”
Guinevere frowned for a second, then put her people-face back on. “It is a pleasure to meet you all.”
“Likewise, dear,” Dunja replied. “I take it that Valerie did not want to stop at Eloise?”
Guinevere chuckled. “You know how it is. Eloise was a success and she grew lonely, so here I am.”
“I was hoping for a younger brother, but Guinevere is a cool bean,” Eloise remarked. “Despite being a pyromancer.”
“A pyromancer?” Tiberius inquired. “How intriguing, Guinevere. Ermenrich fancied himself one after studying Leif’s firebreath, prior to developing curses. It was more of a brief interest, but he has expressed interest in pursuing it again in recent times.”
Guinevere snapped her fingers, causing a magenta flame with traces of red to appear in her hand. “Hehe, it’s just something I can do,” she said as she closed her hand.
Dragoslava quickly jotted down some notes. “Say, Guinevere? I know this is sudden, but can you teach me that eventually?”
“Oh, well, it’s nothing special, just standard fire magic…”
“Sure, but I still want to learn it.”
Desislav chuckled while patting her on the shoulder. “Metal skin is not enough for you, Dragy?”
She then metalized her hand. “This ability ain’t exactly smoothing sailing, Desi.”
This immediately caught Eloise’s attention as she leaned over the table. “Ooh, what’s that and where did you get it?”
“Oh, um, well I had a near death experience with The Lich of Old…”
“Interesting, at the Metal Oasis no doubt. I’ll have to look into it sometime…”
“Sister!” Guinevere chided. “It is not your room to pry. Besides, you should’ve known this already. You have been studying the information that mother has collected, right?”
“Yeah… mostly the parts about Blood…”
Blood-Wraith sighed as he looked at Eloise next to him. “So you have been spying on me?”
“You have our sincerest apologies, Blood,” Guinevere replied. “Just know that we did our research with utmost reverence for all of you.”
He nodded in reluctant acceptance. “Alright then… Eloise, why are you looking at me like that?”
She giggled. “Want to go get dinner some time?” This made Blood-Wraith go red in the face.
Saving Blood-Wraith from mild embarrassment, Valerie swung open the doors. “Hello, everyone! Sorry I’m late…” Valerie was quite beautiful with gorgeous, long, dark blue hair and brilliant orange eyes. She wore a white, steampunk-esque bodysuit with a white, witch hat atop her head. “Dunja! Is that you, girl?!” she exclaimed as she approached the table.
“Good to see you again, Valerie,” Dunja said as she got up, only to be bear hugged and swung around. It was surreal to see as Dunja was nearly as tall as Englehart.
“I am so happy to see you away from that slime and back with Englehart!” Valerie said as she set Dunja down. “You two were always such a cute couple.”
“Wow, you’ve gotten strong…” Dunja quietly commented as she returned to her chair, with Valerie taking a seat at the head of the table. “Valerie, I was so close to snapping Milosh’s neck the night before Leif and Blood flew over Shadowland.”
“Oh? How bad was it? What did he do?”
“Aside from screaming at Gummi for the umpteenth time? He revealed that he had gone to that infernal Gudrun in order to begin arranging the creation of super beast blood.”
Valerie winced. “Ouch, that sucks. Remind me to send Gummi some gifts when there’s a free moment. Honestly you should have killed Milosh on the spot, especially considering he never actually paid me. Is it any wonder that I jinxed him that fateful night? Aside from sabotaging that stupid cult of his?”
“Hindsight is a pain in the arse…” Dunja lamented.
Blood-Wraith felt bad for Valerie and had an idea. “Hey, Valerie? I was given Milosh’s fortune. I could pay you…”
That kindness took Valerie off guard. “Oh no no no, dear! It’s alright, you keep that money and do great things with it… Hey! Sir Blood-Wraith Andrew Raynot, the man of the hour! How are you doing tonight?”
“Pretty good, pretty good. Got the guild up and running and had a tussle with Eloise. No big deal. Oh, excuse me one second, Valerie; Eloise? Can we have that recipe for the ice cream fireballs? Barry really liked it and would not stop bugging me to ask you for it.”
“Oh, sure, Blood…” Eloise paused for a second, then looked at her mother. “Um, is it okay if we give it to them? I don’t mind…”
“I don’t see why not, as it’s a fairly good recipe,” Valerie replied. She then leaned in on the table a little. “So, Blood-Wraith, I heard you were putting the moves on my daughter earlier.”
Blood-Wraith’s face went bright red while the others chuckled and Eloise laughed. “WHAT!? NO I WASN’T” he protested.
Valerie laughed. “It’s okay, sport. My little darling needs a big, strong man in her life!”
“STOP,” Blood-Wraith complained as he sank in his chair, trying to pull his knight’s beret over his face. Dragoslava and Desislav felt bad for laughing, but could not help themselves.
Valerie laughed one more time before clapping twice. “Alright, enough chit chat, let’s eat. I am famished.”
A series of butler golems made out of cake began wheeling in trolleys full of steaming, delicious food from the kitchen. Despite Valerie’s obsession with dessert, all of the food on offer was the standard meats and vegetables one would expect to find at the dinner table. Valerie explained that the majority of the meal was based on old Feuerlandian recipes, as she was a scholar of that long since fallen kingdom’s culture and customs. And while the golems had prepared the food, they were all created and cast based on Valerie’s knowledge. Desislav was thoroughly impressed given his skills as a cook. Not only did Valerie put great effort into her magic, there was clear passion in the food she had prepared.
“Valerie, one chef to another,” Desislav said as he finished a succulent piece of steak. “This food is utterly amazing.”
“Why thank you, Mr. Robles. Regardless of which one of us comes out on top, you are more than welcome to come and study under me.”
“I happily accept your offer, Ms. Ter Avest,” he replied. Desislav knew the others were questioning him, but he did not care.
Seeing the perfect opportunity to address why they were there, Tiberius cleared his throat and wiped his face. “If you’ll permit me to speak, Valerie, this is a fantastic meal, but obviously we didn’t just come here for the feast. Valerie Ter Avest, on behalf of the ULTRAMagic Guild, I wish to inquire as to what your plans are.”
She gave a light sigh. “Alright, enough beating around the bush. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we can all agree that the Cosmos is in great danger at the moment. The Eternal Order is using the Unlight as an attack vector and we need to do something about it. I’ve got a fairly hairbrained idea, but here me out: I want to consolidate the Unlight and unite everyone against The Eternal Order. I may or may not have taken inspiration from the ULTRAMagic Guild for this plan…”
The group all gave Valerie incredulous looks for a second and anyone who knew her could tell she was secretly sweating bullets. Tiberius glanced around the table, noticing Eloise looking enthusiastic while Guinevere was clearly not into it. “That is… that is quite the ambition, Valerie,” he stated. “I mean, The Unlight is fairly disparate, surely you must understand that…”
She nodded, albeit in a more concessionary manner. “I’m aware and am making plans for that eventual roadbump.”
Dunja leaned forward, put her hands together, and rested her chin on them. “It is quite the plan, something Milosh and The Lich could never accomplish… Valerie on the other hand? I can potentially see her pulling it off. It makes me wonder if I wouldn’t have attempted such a feat had I had Milosh executed…”
“So you’re going to unite The Unlight, Valerie?” Dragoslava questioned.
“Yes, that’s the idea.”
“Really? You think you can get groups like the Red Giants and the Mortis Birds to cooperate with each other?”
Valerie looked a little nervous again. “Um, hopefully…”
“Ha, getting those two tribes to work together would be like getting the Discordant Gods Benedictus Thrax and Yorath Zeelen to focus on something other than skirmishes…”
Blood-Wraith looked confused. “Who are they, sister?”
“Agreed,” Desislav added. “There’s even more Discordant Gods of Chaos?”
She nodded, looking a little guilty in the process. “Oops, sorry, nerding out a bit. Yeah, they’re two of the ancient Discordant Gods that stick to the far north of The Realm of Chaos and war with each other for honor and glory.”
“Anyways,” Tiberius interjected. “Valerie, we at the guild are also trying to stop The Eternal Order, so how about we work together?”
“Intrigued…” she replied. “I’m not against the idea, but what’s in it for me, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“You would have to drop the consolidation plan, but in turn you would gain the support of the guild, The Iron City, The Unending Forest, Shadowland, and you would have access to our vast wealth of knowledge and arcane technology.”
Truthfully Valerie was unsure of her plans deep down. Tiberius’ offer sounded very appealing and he seemed genuine. “You drive a hard bargain, Tiberius…”
“Indeed mother,” Guinevere added. “I imagine we’ll make great progress with their libraries and mages…”
“Really, sister?” Eloise cut in, annoyed.
“Yes, sister. Really.” There was clear frustration in Guinevere’s voice.
“Girls, please,” Valerie hushed. “Mom is thinking…”
“Valerie, you are more than a capable mage at this point,” Dunja complimented. “I’d happily make you a member of my blades,” she assured.
Valerie’s resolve was starting to weaken. “So tempting… the only fly in the ointment is how do I know you're all strong enough? That's why I’m issuing this challenge in the first place.”
Blood-Wraith was content to let the adults speak, as they were making great progress and he could see the finish line in sight… but something told him to throw his two cents in. The young knight tried to ignore it, but the urge kept pushing its way to the surface until… “You know what? Challenge accepted!!” he exclaimed as he shot up from his chair.
Everyone was taken aback and silent, with the realization of what had just happened hitting Dunja and Tiberius. “BLOOD-WRAITH!” they both scolded as they slammed their hands on the table.
“Now that’s what I love to hear!” Valerie said proudly as she and Blood-Wraith stepped over to meet each other face to face. “What do you say, Blood?”
“If we win this bout, you join us!”
“And if I win, will you join me?” She asked with expecting charm in her voice.
“DEAL!” he replied. They both firmly shook hands on this.
“YES!” Eloise cheered, with Guinevere face palming.
“I love it when things work out in the end!” proclaimed Valerie. “Now I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to dessert. All of you will spend the night here and we’ll resume our little contest tomorrow once you’re all home safe and sound.” She then noticed she was getting some rather incredulous looks from her guests. “Oh come now, turn those frowns upside down, guys. This will be fun! And look, if things go south, we’ll drop this whole shindig and work together, sounds good? Now where’s that sundae? Mama’s got a craving for chocolate and ice cream!”
Next: Chapter 7
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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