ULTRAMagic Eon 1 - Chapter 7
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The rest of the night went without incident, but Tiberius and Dunja did not say much to Blood-Wraith. Dragoslava and Desislav would speak to him, albeit with a few awkward moments here and there. Fortunately Eloise was more than happy to talk to Blood-Wraith. Avoiding discussion of the obvious, the group went over a great deal with Valerie, focusing on her time with The Crimson Stars Guild as they sat around the fireplace of the main parlor. The flame crackled away as they enjoyed their tea and scones.
Valerie spoke fondly of her time with the guild, despite the unfortunate nature of her departure. While going off and experimenting with hex magic was fairly dangerous all things considered, hearing about her expulsion was incredibly disappointing. Given that Tiberius had dealt with the antics of Deimos and Vexation back in the Epoch, he felt bad for Valerie as he knew she needed the right teacher back in her time. Dunja was of the mentality that the Crimson Stars Guild had no idea what they had with Valerie, and that it was their loss for expelling her. The queen’s insistence of Valerie joining the blades throughout the night definitely made Valerie feel a lot better.
A train from The Iron City was present the next day, as Dunja had sent Turi with a letter detailing the complications that had arisen from Blood-Wraith’s Violet Train transformation. After Valerie and her daughters bid the group farewell, they boarded one of the passenger cars of the train and were off. The ride back was incredibly awkward as no one really said anything. Tiberius and Blood-Wraith were avoiding eye contact, with Dunja unsure what to say (a fact that was eating at her given that she was a queen). Aside from Dragoslava and Desislav’s occasional small talk, things were fairly silent.
Tiberius broke the silence upon nearing the area of The Iron City. “Blood-Wraith, if you are going to insist on handing the reins off to me and Alexia, you’d do best not to undermine my authority,” he chided. Blood-Wraith said nothing and kept looking out the window. “Look at me when I’m speaking to you, boy!”
“Whatever…” he grunted, slightly shifting his gaze.
“What were you even thinking!? I was this close to winning Valerie over!”
“She challenged us and I answered. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Tiberius could feel his blood pressure start to go up and exhaled into a groan. “Pride and honor? That’s your excuse?! Boy, this isn’t one of your juvenile video games or animated movies you insist on engaging with over your studies or practicing magic! This is real life we are talking about!” Blood-Wraith made no comment and moved forward a seat. “Bah, immature child…” Tiberius muttered, prompting another move forward. The two did not acknowledge each other for the rest of the journey.
Upon exiting Ironfire Station, Dunja made her way to the tower, Tiberius teleported to the guild hall, and Blood-Wraith went in the direction of his home. It was obvious he was going to go watch cartoons and play video games to blow off steam. After running a few errands, Dragoslava and Desislav returned to the guild hall. The two were met by Vexation, who remarked that it took a lot to truly get on Tiberius’ nerves. After receiving a quick rundown of what had happened, Vexation felt a weird mix of disappointment and pride. While not wanting to throw his good friend under the bus, it took guts to go against Tiberius like Blood-Wraith had. Still, Vexation felt he needed to go talk to Blood-Wraith. He had been at odds with Tiberius in the past, so he could probably calm the boy down.
A couple of days passed and an alert had come in, with Blood-Wraith stumbling out of bed after having slept in. Once he had the glowing-striped bodysuit that was his magical armor on, he ran over to the guild hall as Indigo Wolf. “Hey, Aureolus,” he said with a yawn as he changed back and walked up to the entrance.
“Blood, glad to have you back… you weren’t up all night playing video games again, were you?”
He hemmed and hawed a little. “Actually… Well, I was playing GRO last night. It’s… it’s a little intense for me. I think I’ll stick to Necropolis Requiem for now…”
Aureolus shook his head and sighed. “Oh, Blood… Ahem, it looks like Valerie is trying to grab Challenger’s Mine up north. Me, Razor, and John were going to head out to take care of it.” Razor and Jonathan then walked up behind him, looking ready to go.
Blood-Wraith paused for a second, thinking about the mine in question. “Hold up, isn’t that place abandoned because it ran dry?”
“Evidently not, given that Valerie is interested in it. Dad did say there was still stuff in it deep down.”
Razor quickly sniffed the air. “I can smell the ice cream all the way from here…”
“Many don’t guard their spent store houses,” Jonathan pointed out. “It allows anyone to set up shop right under your noses.”
“So many navies get screwed over because of that, let me tell you,” Brandr added.
Blood-Wraith nodded to that and looked like he was starting to get ready. “Alright then, I’m going along with you guys…”
“Then Cronus shall accompany you,” Tiberius stated as he approached the four with Cronus following him.
Blood-Wraith groaned. “Really?”
Cronus chuckled. “Don’t worry, Blood, I won’t ‘cramp your style’ as you kids say. Plus I’ve been eager to properly work with you for a bit now.”
“Fine…” Blood-Wraith said with a conciliatory sigh.
“Keep an eye on him regardless,” Tiberius quietly said to Cronus, with him chuckling in response.
“Excuse me, I’m right here!” Blood-Wraith complained, with the others laughing.
“Then behave yourself, boy,” Tiberius replied somewhat sternly.
Blood-Wraith groaned again, stepped away from the group a bit, and took on the form of Golden Dragon. It almost seemed like the giant dragon form that invoked memories of Leif had grown bigger, in accordance with Blood-Wraith starting to grow up. “Aureolus, Cronus, on my back.”
“Why thank you, Blood,” Cronus said as he climbed up.
“Alright, let’s roll!” Razor then assumed his wolf form. “Last one there’s a rotten egg!”
“A race you say?” Johnathan snapped his fingers. “Brandr?”
“Haha, one cyclone ball coming right up!” he said as he flew into Johnathan, turning his arms green like his. A ball of fierce wind then appeared, with Jonathan mounting it like a skateboard.
“Best of luck to all of you,” Tiberius wished, with all of them taking off.
The Iron City and Shadowland made use of a series of mines in The Roaring Mountains known as the ShadowIron Mine Network. The mines within the network were full of ores, minerals, and magic infused resources, all desired by the two kingdoms. Originally The Iron City kept to the west and Shadowland to the east, but in recent times they had consolidated as both sides of the network had things the kingdoms wanted and needed. Naturally Valerie also desired these resources. And since Blood-Wraith had egged her on, the guild had to address the acquisition she was attempting.
Making their way to the mine, the group passed by multiple abandoned quarries and vacant mine entrances. It was likely that the mines in the area were already running dry at the time of The Great Schism, with the Descendants abandoning them due to Dunja’s interference when she was affiliated with The Eternal Church, as there was no reason to go back at the time. Valerie presumably had managed to locate areas that were still rich with resources, with it seeming like she had known about them for some time. Upon arriving at a hill and laying low, the five watched as roughly 20 golems worked towards opening one of the mine shafts. They were bumbling about, but were making progress.
“Hum, more ice cream I see,” Cronus remarked. “On top of tricky footing, given the ledges and outcrops. Blood, perhaps Azure Spider could help us out here?”
“I guess so. Give me one second…” Blood-Wraith took a breath and began glowing blue, turning into a giant, skeletal spider made of black metal and blue lava.
“Impressive, matey,” Jonathan complimented with a nod. “But why a spider? Not sure that’d be useful on the high seas.”
“It was a spur of the moment kind of thing.”
Aureolus then got out a card from the deck case on his belt. “Ooh, hold on guys!” The card lit up, turning Aureolus into a giant scorpion made of silver metal and blue fire. “Not bad, aye?”
“Wow, color me impressed,” Razor replied with Johnathan nodding in agreement.
“Impressive, Aureolus,” said Blood-Wraith. “You’re really getting good with your hexes.”
“Thanks, Blood,” he replied. “I’ve certainly been practicing as of late.”
Cronus clapped. “Excellent. Blood, Razor, you take the right. Aureolus, John, you take the left. As for me, I’ll take the ones at the entrance. We’ll move on the count of 3…”
Once Cronus gave the signal, the group ran down the hillside, taking the golems by surprise. Razor dove into a rocky wall, emerging encased in earthen armor. As he began duking it out with the golems, Blood-Wraith covered him by shooting fireballs at the other golems. Aureolus was using his claws and stinger to dispatch the golems on his side while Johnathan used Brandr’s wind magic to deter the rest of the golems from ganging up on them. One ice cream golem planned to leap from the rocks above Blood-Wraith and Razor for a sneak attack, but Johnathan caught this and sent the golem flying with a wind burst. Blood-Wraith returned the favor by leaping up to a golem doing something similar on the left side and knocking it away.
Cronus was doing well on his end, slicing the golems in half with his scythe. Using alchemy to coat the blade in fire, he was making short work of them. Something was off, however, as Eloise was nowhere to be found. It was strange as she seemed like the type to be directly involved no matter what. After taking care of the last golem who nearly opened the iron doors to the mineshaft, Cronus quietly cast a void spell. His senses grew to encompass the entire area and he found what he was looking for. Eloise was nearby, appearing to take notes.
“Clever, very clever…” Cronus remarked to himself, prompting Eloise to run off, undetected by the others.
“Well done guys, let’s head back!” Blood-Wraith congratulated as he and the others reconvened. Notably he seemed a little uneasy.
“Um, are you sure about that, Blood?” Aureolus asked as he reverted back to normal.
“Yes.”
“Blood, is your argument with Tiberius still bugging you?”
“No…”
Aureolus could tell he was lying. “And you’re positive about that?”
“Aureolus, please. Let’s just head back and tell everyone the good news.”
Razor dispelled his armor and took a taste of one of the felled golems. “I don’t know, they seem still alive to me…”
“Guys, let’s not go overboard,” Blood-Wraith insisted.
“Fair enough, as you never want to expend too much energy while out on a hunt… but this is Valerie we’re talking about.”
“Agreed, matey,” Jonathan added. “If I was Valerie, I’d collect these remains, rebuild them, and send them out again…”
“...with the knowledge of the fight,” Brandr deduced as he half-manifested from Johnathan’s arm. “Good catch, John.”
Blood-Wraith took a breath as if annoyed. “Guys, it’s probably fine. I’m sure Valerie will accept this defeat. Cronus, the mine?”
Cronus could see the slight unease amongst the others. Truthfully he was not sure what to think given what he had noticed. “Don’t fret, I’ll seal the mine with a void spell so Valerie cannot get in.”
After the magic was set, Blood-Wraith turned into Golden dragon and began to head back with Aureolus and Cronus. Jonathan held back with Razor, however. “Is he always like that?”
“Um, hard to say, honestly,” Razor replied. “He’s just a pup after all.”
Jonathan sighed as he took a taste of one of the golems. “Butterscotch? Anyways, landlubber needs to get his bearings straight.” He then summoned his ball of wind again.
Razor assumed his wolf form and the two took off. “I smelled Eloise nearby during all that ruckus.”
“Oh lovely…”
“I can vouch,” Brandr’s voice replied. “A little surprising, truth be told. I guess we’ll just have to watch our stern’s closely, aye, John?”
He sighed. “Why do I get the feeling Blood is trying to tow the line way too much? I understand what he’s trying to do and commend his honor, but that courtesy would get you marooned or even keelhauled out on the waves. Blood’s playing with fire here.”
“I was just about to ask you what you think about Blood,” Razor said after he cleared a small boulder with a good jump.
“Honestly he reminds me of my dad when he was treasure hunting with David and Silver, back when he was a kid. Dad had bravery, but lacked the grit to deal with pirates.”
“Well I’d argue Blood has some grit in him from his past adventures,” Razor pointed out.
“Yeah, but that grit takes time to age before it becomes solidified,” said Brandr. “And obviously this is a bit of a curve ball for Blood.”
“Boy’s got heart, but has a lot of growing up to do before I’d take him sailing with me,” Jonathan concluded.
Razor went silent for a second, thinking about Johnathan’s words. “I hate how he got rushed into all of this. Mizuki went through something similar in her universe and I feel just as bad for Blood.”
“Yeah… Curiously, is Mizuki your lover? If you don’t mind me asking.”
Razor chuckled. “Nah, she’s got eyes for someone else from her home.”
“Ah, I see. Well let’s hurry up just in case Blood’s losing her mind over us.”
Brandr laughed. “Oh come now, John. I’m sure he knows we can take care of ourselves.”
“Well here’s hoping Mizuki is at the guild hall at the moment,” Razor commented. “She’s very smart and always has something helpful to say.”
Next: Chapter 8
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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The rest of the night went without incident, but Tiberius and Dunja did not say much to Blood-Wraith. Dragoslava and Desislav would speak to him, albeit with a few awkward moments here and there. Fortunately Eloise was more than happy to talk to Blood-Wraith. Avoiding discussion of the obvious, the group went over a great deal with Valerie, focusing on her time with The Crimson Stars Guild as they sat around the fireplace of the main parlor. The flame crackled away as they enjoyed their tea and scones.
Valerie spoke fondly of her time with the guild, despite the unfortunate nature of her departure. While going off and experimenting with hex magic was fairly dangerous all things considered, hearing about her expulsion was incredibly disappointing. Given that Tiberius had dealt with the antics of Deimos and Vexation back in the Epoch, he felt bad for Valerie as he knew she needed the right teacher back in her time. Dunja was of the mentality that the Crimson Stars Guild had no idea what they had with Valerie, and that it was their loss for expelling her. The queen’s insistence of Valerie joining the blades throughout the night definitely made Valerie feel a lot better.
A train from The Iron City was present the next day, as Dunja had sent Turi with a letter detailing the complications that had arisen from Blood-Wraith’s Violet Train transformation. After Valerie and her daughters bid the group farewell, they boarded one of the passenger cars of the train and were off. The ride back was incredibly awkward as no one really said anything. Tiberius and Blood-Wraith were avoiding eye contact, with Dunja unsure what to say (a fact that was eating at her given that she was a queen). Aside from Dragoslava and Desislav’s occasional small talk, things were fairly silent.
Tiberius broke the silence upon nearing the area of The Iron City. “Blood-Wraith, if you are going to insist on handing the reins off to me and Alexia, you’d do best not to undermine my authority,” he chided. Blood-Wraith said nothing and kept looking out the window. “Look at me when I’m speaking to you, boy!”
“Whatever…” he grunted, slightly shifting his gaze.
“What were you even thinking!? I was this close to winning Valerie over!”
“She challenged us and I answered. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Tiberius could feel his blood pressure start to go up and exhaled into a groan. “Pride and honor? That’s your excuse?! Boy, this isn’t one of your juvenile video games or animated movies you insist on engaging with over your studies or practicing magic! This is real life we are talking about!” Blood-Wraith made no comment and moved forward a seat. “Bah, immature child…” Tiberius muttered, prompting another move forward. The two did not acknowledge each other for the rest of the journey.
Upon exiting Ironfire Station, Dunja made her way to the tower, Tiberius teleported to the guild hall, and Blood-Wraith went in the direction of his home. It was obvious he was going to go watch cartoons and play video games to blow off steam. After running a few errands, Dragoslava and Desislav returned to the guild hall. The two were met by Vexation, who remarked that it took a lot to truly get on Tiberius’ nerves. After receiving a quick rundown of what had happened, Vexation felt a weird mix of disappointment and pride. While not wanting to throw his good friend under the bus, it took guts to go against Tiberius like Blood-Wraith had. Still, Vexation felt he needed to go talk to Blood-Wraith. He had been at odds with Tiberius in the past, so he could probably calm the boy down.
A couple of days passed and an alert had come in, with Blood-Wraith stumbling out of bed after having slept in. Once he had the glowing-striped bodysuit that was his magical armor on, he ran over to the guild hall as Indigo Wolf. “Hey, Aureolus,” he said with a yawn as he changed back and walked up to the entrance.
“Blood, glad to have you back… you weren’t up all night playing video games again, were you?”
He hemmed and hawed a little. “Actually… Well, I was playing GRO last night. It’s… it’s a little intense for me. I think I’ll stick to Necropolis Requiem for now…”
Aureolus shook his head and sighed. “Oh, Blood… Ahem, it looks like Valerie is trying to grab Challenger’s Mine up north. Me, Razor, and John were going to head out to take care of it.” Razor and Jonathan then walked up behind him, looking ready to go.
Blood-Wraith paused for a second, thinking about the mine in question. “Hold up, isn’t that place abandoned because it ran dry?”
“Evidently not, given that Valerie is interested in it. Dad did say there was still stuff in it deep down.”
Razor quickly sniffed the air. “I can smell the ice cream all the way from here…”
“Many don’t guard their spent store houses,” Jonathan pointed out. “It allows anyone to set up shop right under your noses.”
“So many navies get screwed over because of that, let me tell you,” Brandr added.
Blood-Wraith nodded to that and looked like he was starting to get ready. “Alright then, I’m going along with you guys…”
“Then Cronus shall accompany you,” Tiberius stated as he approached the four with Cronus following him.
Blood-Wraith groaned. “Really?”
Cronus chuckled. “Don’t worry, Blood, I won’t ‘cramp your style’ as you kids say. Plus I’ve been eager to properly work with you for a bit now.”
“Fine…” Blood-Wraith said with a conciliatory sigh.
“Keep an eye on him regardless,” Tiberius quietly said to Cronus, with him chuckling in response.
“Excuse me, I’m right here!” Blood-Wraith complained, with the others laughing.
“Then behave yourself, boy,” Tiberius replied somewhat sternly.
Blood-Wraith groaned again, stepped away from the group a bit, and took on the form of Golden Dragon. It almost seemed like the giant dragon form that invoked memories of Leif had grown bigger, in accordance with Blood-Wraith starting to grow up. “Aureolus, Cronus, on my back.”
“Why thank you, Blood,” Cronus said as he climbed up.
“Alright, let’s roll!” Razor then assumed his wolf form. “Last one there’s a rotten egg!”
“A race you say?” Johnathan snapped his fingers. “Brandr?”
“Haha, one cyclone ball coming right up!” he said as he flew into Johnathan, turning his arms green like his. A ball of fierce wind then appeared, with Jonathan mounting it like a skateboard.
“Best of luck to all of you,” Tiberius wished, with all of them taking off.
The Iron City and Shadowland made use of a series of mines in The Roaring Mountains known as the ShadowIron Mine Network. The mines within the network were full of ores, minerals, and magic infused resources, all desired by the two kingdoms. Originally The Iron City kept to the west and Shadowland to the east, but in recent times they had consolidated as both sides of the network had things the kingdoms wanted and needed. Naturally Valerie also desired these resources. And since Blood-Wraith had egged her on, the guild had to address the acquisition she was attempting.
Making their way to the mine, the group passed by multiple abandoned quarries and vacant mine entrances. It was likely that the mines in the area were already running dry at the time of The Great Schism, with the Descendants abandoning them due to Dunja’s interference when she was affiliated with The Eternal Church, as there was no reason to go back at the time. Valerie presumably had managed to locate areas that were still rich with resources, with it seeming like she had known about them for some time. Upon arriving at a hill and laying low, the five watched as roughly 20 golems worked towards opening one of the mine shafts. They were bumbling about, but were making progress.
“Hum, more ice cream I see,” Cronus remarked. “On top of tricky footing, given the ledges and outcrops. Blood, perhaps Azure Spider could help us out here?”
“I guess so. Give me one second…” Blood-Wraith took a breath and began glowing blue, turning into a giant, skeletal spider made of black metal and blue lava.
“Impressive, matey,” Jonathan complimented with a nod. “But why a spider? Not sure that’d be useful on the high seas.”
“It was a spur of the moment kind of thing.”
Aureolus then got out a card from the deck case on his belt. “Ooh, hold on guys!” The card lit up, turning Aureolus into a giant scorpion made of silver metal and blue fire. “Not bad, aye?”
“Wow, color me impressed,” Razor replied with Johnathan nodding in agreement.
“Impressive, Aureolus,” said Blood-Wraith. “You’re really getting good with your hexes.”
“Thanks, Blood,” he replied. “I’ve certainly been practicing as of late.”
Cronus clapped. “Excellent. Blood, Razor, you take the right. Aureolus, John, you take the left. As for me, I’ll take the ones at the entrance. We’ll move on the count of 3…”
Once Cronus gave the signal, the group ran down the hillside, taking the golems by surprise. Razor dove into a rocky wall, emerging encased in earthen armor. As he began duking it out with the golems, Blood-Wraith covered him by shooting fireballs at the other golems. Aureolus was using his claws and stinger to dispatch the golems on his side while Johnathan used Brandr’s wind magic to deter the rest of the golems from ganging up on them. One ice cream golem planned to leap from the rocks above Blood-Wraith and Razor for a sneak attack, but Johnathan caught this and sent the golem flying with a wind burst. Blood-Wraith returned the favor by leaping up to a golem doing something similar on the left side and knocking it away.
Cronus was doing well on his end, slicing the golems in half with his scythe. Using alchemy to coat the blade in fire, he was making short work of them. Something was off, however, as Eloise was nowhere to be found. It was strange as she seemed like the type to be directly involved no matter what. After taking care of the last golem who nearly opened the iron doors to the mineshaft, Cronus quietly cast a void spell. His senses grew to encompass the entire area and he found what he was looking for. Eloise was nearby, appearing to take notes.
“Clever, very clever…” Cronus remarked to himself, prompting Eloise to run off, undetected by the others.
“Well done guys, let’s head back!” Blood-Wraith congratulated as he and the others reconvened. Notably he seemed a little uneasy.
“Um, are you sure about that, Blood?” Aureolus asked as he reverted back to normal.
“Yes.”
“Blood, is your argument with Tiberius still bugging you?”
“No…”
Aureolus could tell he was lying. “And you’re positive about that?”
“Aureolus, please. Let’s just head back and tell everyone the good news.”
Razor dispelled his armor and took a taste of one of the felled golems. “I don’t know, they seem still alive to me…”
“Guys, let’s not go overboard,” Blood-Wraith insisted.
“Fair enough, as you never want to expend too much energy while out on a hunt… but this is Valerie we’re talking about.”
“Agreed, matey,” Jonathan added. “If I was Valerie, I’d collect these remains, rebuild them, and send them out again…”
“...with the knowledge of the fight,” Brandr deduced as he half-manifested from Johnathan’s arm. “Good catch, John.”
Blood-Wraith took a breath as if annoyed. “Guys, it’s probably fine. I’m sure Valerie will accept this defeat. Cronus, the mine?”
Cronus could see the slight unease amongst the others. Truthfully he was not sure what to think given what he had noticed. “Don’t fret, I’ll seal the mine with a void spell so Valerie cannot get in.”
After the magic was set, Blood-Wraith turned into Golden dragon and began to head back with Aureolus and Cronus. Jonathan held back with Razor, however. “Is he always like that?”
“Um, hard to say, honestly,” Razor replied. “He’s just a pup after all.”
Jonathan sighed as he took a taste of one of the golems. “Butterscotch? Anyways, landlubber needs to get his bearings straight.” He then summoned his ball of wind again.
Razor assumed his wolf form and the two took off. “I smelled Eloise nearby during all that ruckus.”
“Oh lovely…”
“I can vouch,” Brandr’s voice replied. “A little surprising, truth be told. I guess we’ll just have to watch our stern’s closely, aye, John?”
He sighed. “Why do I get the feeling Blood is trying to tow the line way too much? I understand what he’s trying to do and commend his honor, but that courtesy would get you marooned or even keelhauled out on the waves. Blood’s playing with fire here.”
“I was just about to ask you what you think about Blood,” Razor said after he cleared a small boulder with a good jump.
“Honestly he reminds me of my dad when he was treasure hunting with David and Silver, back when he was a kid. Dad had bravery, but lacked the grit to deal with pirates.”
“Well I’d argue Blood has some grit in him from his past adventures,” Razor pointed out.
“Yeah, but that grit takes time to age before it becomes solidified,” said Brandr. “And obviously this is a bit of a curve ball for Blood.”
“Boy’s got heart, but has a lot of growing up to do before I’d take him sailing with me,” Jonathan concluded.
Razor went silent for a second, thinking about Johnathan’s words. “I hate how he got rushed into all of this. Mizuki went through something similar in her universe and I feel just as bad for Blood.”
“Yeah… Curiously, is Mizuki your lover? If you don’t mind me asking.”
Razor chuckled. “Nah, she’s got eyes for someone else from her home.”
“Ah, I see. Well let’s hurry up just in case Blood’s losing her mind over us.”
Brandr laughed. “Oh come now, John. I’m sure he knows we can take care of ourselves.”
“Well here’s hoping Mizuki is at the guild hall at the moment,” Razor commented. “She’s very smart and always has something helpful to say.”
Next: Chapter 8
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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