ULTRAMagic Interlude BC - Chapter 33
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“Alright, Desislav, try lifting me up” Dragoslava instructed as she metalized her body.
“Really?”
“Yeah, considering I’m about as heavy as a guy. And there’s also the metal skin.”
Desislav shrugged, took a breath, and readied himself. “Okay, upsy-daisy!” With a large heft, Desislav was holding Dragoslava in his arms. “No sweat.”
She ruffled his hair before he set her down. The God of the Abyss had brought forth a small colosseum for Desislav to rough around in. The ULTRAMagic seemed to be settling within him, allowing for all sorts of feats. Desislav was not a superhuman, but his physical skills had grown considerably. He could run faster, jump higher, and punch harder. And making the deal even better, Desislav found it easier to understand his obsidian spells. At some point he took a moment to consider what he could do, with the end result being him learning how to cover his entire body in the volcanic glass.
“Looking good!” Dragoslava said with a whistle. “How do you plan to use that with your organic armor though?”
He dispelled the obsidian. “Hm… I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.”
Dragoslava snickered. “Well don’t put it off for too long. You got quite the technique on your hands.”
“I know. I just need to sit down and think about it.” Desislav then covered his arm in obsidian. “Hum, maybe… Jeez, I wish I could have done this back on Earth. It could have solved a lot of problems…”
Dragoslava gave a mischievous chuckle. “Hit first, ask questions later?” She asked with a few shadow punches.
This made Desislav think about what he had just said, giving him a moment of reflection. “Yes and no…”
“Oops, sorry about that then.”
“No, it’s alright. I just have to stay level headed is all.”
The God of the Abyss then appeared next to them and put her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, dear, I know you can handle it.”
“You looked at my future, didn’t you?”
“That, and your past for good measure.” Of course she saw more than just those, but she elected not to mention that part. Desislav needed the vote of confidence after all.
“God of the Abyss, why are you helping us out? For real this time.”
“Why shouldn’t I? Do you think us gods don’t get bored every once in a while?”
“You guys get bored?” Dragoslava questioned.
“Well only a handful of us do. The others are content with being with God and tend to get annoyed when we discuss this stuff.”
Desislav nodded, laughing to himself. It was quite the thing to hear that higher entities got tired of monotony. “It’s a small world after all… anyways, Drago, let’s head topside. I want to show Blood our progress.”
“Fine with me” she replied as she got her stuff together.
“Oh! Before you return home…”
“What’s up, your divinity?”
The God of the Abyss conjured up a cloud of smoke that showed the image of a small figure and a tall figure. “In about a week, The Fear of Old will show up due to what’s going on in Shadowland. His brother, The Hunger of Old, will also show up in no time to protect him. Make sure you tell Englehart about this immediately.”
“Will do,” Desislav assured.
“And here, let me save you the walk…” The god snapped her fingers, causing the couple to vanish.
As soon as they appeared outside the building leading to The Ancient Cave, Desislav looked around, a bit disoriented. “Well that was something else...”
“Drago, Desislav!” Radovan called out as he walked over. “Where in The Unlight have you two been?” He then looked at the building. “Drago, you didn’t go to The City of the Abyss, did you?”
She took a breath. “Yes, but we were invited.”
“Invited? On whose authority?”
“The God of the Abyss.”
Her father was confused. “Well, can’t say I’ve heard of that one before.”
“She’s new in town,” Desislav added. “Due to what’s going on with Milosh.”
That was fair enough for Radovan. “Makes sense. Englehart and I will have to head down there when we get the chance.”
“Speaking of that, dad…” Dragoslava gave him a brief rundown of what had happened and what they were told.
“You don’t say. Well then, I’ll go let his majesty know right now.” He then shook Desislav’s hand. “And well done on achieving ULTRAMagic, my boy.”
“Thanks. We’re going to go tell Blood now.”
After a quick visit to the mansion to give Rose and Kresimira the good news, Desislav and Dragoslava went straight to Blood-Wraith’s house. Both of them were antsy to show off Desislav’s ULTRAMagic. The door was unlocked, so the two went right in. Blood-Wraith was sitting there with a paper and pencil, but he was not studying. Instead, he was drawing with a goofy cartoon on the television in the background. This was not what they were expecting.
“Uh, hey, Blood,” Dragoslava said as she shut the door.
“Hey sister. Hey Desislav.”
“What are you up to?”
He stopped to sharpen his pencil. “Just taking it easy while Vex is off doing stuff with Tiberius.”
“And you’re not studying?” Desislav asked, receiving a guilty groan in response. “Blood, you have a responsibility to fulfill…”
“I know, but it’s my favorite episode.”
Desislav slightly frowned as Blood-Wraith burst out laughing at a particularly funny scene involving a scooter exceeding speeds well beyond the speed limit, a banana cream pie, and an extensive joke about the main character overthinking a comment about his chef’s hat and how it affected the rotation of the Earth. The timing of the gags were spot on and the goofy, energetic music added to the chaos of the scene in question. Desislav was trying his hardest not to laugh alongside him and Dragoslava’s laughter did not help in the slightest. Eventually the scene ended with the pie flying in the main character’s face with perfect timing lining up with the climax of the music. The three laughed hard altogether as they could just not help themselves.
“Alright, hand me a piece of paper…” Desislav said with a chuckle.
“What do you have in mind, Desislav?” Dragoslava asked as they sat down.
“That riddle, what was it? Exists, doesn’t exist…”
The cartoon concluded, so Blood-Wraith glanced over to Desislav’s chicken scratches. “Do I have to?”
“What if, and humor me on this one; What if there’s some kind of process that you can do to get around the seal instead of opening it?”
“Well… um… I don’t know.”
“Think about it, Blood. What if there’s some kind of mind trick or state of being that allows such a thing?”
Blood-Wraith pondered the idea. “I guess it’s possible. Vex has mentioned all sorts of weird stuff in relation to curses.”
“Think about it and see if you can come up with something.” Desislav slid forward the notes, indicating for Blood-Wraith to study them.
He sighed. “Alright then… hey, Desislav? Is there something different about you?”
Desislav smiled and grabbed Blood-Wraith’s hand. A surge rushed through their bodies that felt amazing. “You could say that.”
Blood-Wraith knew that feeling all too well. “Desislav, you did it?”
“Absolutely, buddy.”
“Congratulations, Desislav!” Blood-Wraith gave him a celebratory hug. “Are you going to join the guild?”
“I don’t see why not. And considering how much help you need…” Desislav pointed at the drawings.
Blood-Wraith chuckled as he organized them. “Right. Would you mind being our cook? Your food is so good.”
“Again, I don’t see why not. Here’s hoping the guild doesn’t get too big though…”
“Don’t worry, Desislav, we’ll bring in other cooks” Dragoslava assured. “Right, Blood?”
“Of course…” He then looked at the time. “Vex said he would be back by now.”
Naturally Vexation showed up right then and there. “I’m back, Blood…” He looked and sounded worn out, as if he had hiked up a mountain. The three could see his legs and arms hurting from an ungodly amount of physical activity. “Do whatever you want today. I need to lie down and rest. We’ll resume our studies tomorrow…” He said as he trudged up the stairs.
Blood-Wraith took the remote and turned off the television. “Hey, sister? Can we watch TV at your house?”
After writing Vexation a note, the three hopped over to the Raynot mansion. It was clear that the ancient mage needed some peace and quiet. Rose was elated to have her son over, but she was not going to let him sit around and watch cartoons all day. While she could not do what Vexation was teaching, she could have him practice his alchemy. Desislav laughed when Blood-Wraith protested this. To make things easier for her brother, Dragoslava got out an old VHS tape that had an episode of an educational television show for kids that centered around Alchemy. Blood-Wraith utterly enjoyed it.
“That was so cool! Are there more?”
“Of course, Blood,” Dragoslava answered. “There’s all sorts of episodes on different branches of alchemy, physics, chemistry, astronomy, biology…”
“What about history?” Desislav inquired.
“You’d want Cosmos Encyclopedia. Schoolyard Alchemy is purely alchemy and science.”
“And that’s not to say the program doesn’t cover history from time to time,” Rose pointed out. “It’s just that it only discusses history relevant to the topic.”
Blood-Wraith got up and went to rewind the tape. “I want to watch more of these when I get the chance.”
Dragoslava giggled. “Well maybe you should go to school then…”
“School?”
“I don’t see why not, other than the guild” Rose noted. “How much longer do you think it’s going to take, Blood?”
“Um…” He gave it some thought. “One more month, although it may be two if earlier was any indicator.”
Rose clapped. “Then let’s give them an extra month or two… ooh yes, a semester at Iron City Academy would be a grand time for you. It’s where Drago and Kresimira went when they were children.”
“Oh boy, that brings me back.” Dragoslava’s memories of her school days came flooding in. “Let’s get him into Mr. Aarens’ class… he’s still teaching, right?”
“Wait, so I’d be going to school?” Blood-Wraith asked. “I’m not sure what to make of that.”
“It would just be for three months,” Rose answered. “You’re in luck as the first semester is going to start next month.”
“Technically it’s the second semester since… well, you know,” Dragoslava clarified. “Don’t worry, you should fit right in…”
“You’re sure about that?” Desislav questioned.
“Uh, yes?”
“I mean, he is a knight that helped save the Cosmos after all…”
Rose chuckled. “Don’t worry, dears. I’ll speak to Headmaster Julius and get this all squared away.”
The rest of the day consisted of studying, but Rose figured out ways to make it fun and engaging for Blood-Wraith. Since Vexation was most likely still sleeping, Rose had her son stay for dinner. He was happy to oblige as this meant he could avoid studying. Just as everyone sat down to eat, Radovan returned home. The duke was exhausted, but nowhere near as much as Vexation was. Given all that he had encountered, he was more than happy to sit down and enjoy dinner with his family.
“Blood-Wraith going to school? A wonderful idea,” Radovan stated after swallowing his food. “Keep your eyes peeled and you’ll see some of your sister’s awards, Blood.”
“Dad, please…” Dragoslava was a little embarrassed.
“Is school hard?” Blood-Wraith asked.
“Not at all, my boy,” Radovan replied. “Just pay attention, stay focused, do your homework, and you should be fine.”
Blood-Wraith ate some more of his food, then had a realization. “Wait, can I use the knowledge Englehart taught me about our history in school?”
“Um…” Rose was unsure.
“Ooh, that is a conundrum…” Radovan knew Blood-Wraith was privy to certain things the king preferred to keep out of the public eye. “We’ll have to discuss this with Headmaster Julius.”
“On the bright side, he’ll probably ace his history tests either way” Desislav pointed out. This made everyone else laugh and chuckle.
Another thought occurred to Blood-Wraith as he finished up his food. “Is making friends easy?”
“Yes and no, brother,” Dragoslava answered. “Just be yourself and you’ll be fine. It’s easy to tell when someone is being fake.”
Desislav nodded. “Yeah. You could even use that advice for the guild.”
That was a fair point, which made Blood-Wraith think. “Duly noted…” He said as he drank his water.
Next: Chapter 34
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Master Post - Patreon
“Alright, Desislav, try lifting me up” Dragoslava instructed as she metalized her body.
“Really?”
“Yeah, considering I’m about as heavy as a guy. And there’s also the metal skin.”
Desislav shrugged, took a breath, and readied himself. “Okay, upsy-daisy!” With a large heft, Desislav was holding Dragoslava in his arms. “No sweat.”
She ruffled his hair before he set her down. The God of the Abyss had brought forth a small colosseum for Desislav to rough around in. The ULTRAMagic seemed to be settling within him, allowing for all sorts of feats. Desislav was not a superhuman, but his physical skills had grown considerably. He could run faster, jump higher, and punch harder. And making the deal even better, Desislav found it easier to understand his obsidian spells. At some point he took a moment to consider what he could do, with the end result being him learning how to cover his entire body in the volcanic glass.
“Looking good!” Dragoslava said with a whistle. “How do you plan to use that with your organic armor though?”
He dispelled the obsidian. “Hm… I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.”
Dragoslava snickered. “Well don’t put it off for too long. You got quite the technique on your hands.”
“I know. I just need to sit down and think about it.” Desislav then covered his arm in obsidian. “Hum, maybe… Jeez, I wish I could have done this back on Earth. It could have solved a lot of problems…”
Dragoslava gave a mischievous chuckle. “Hit first, ask questions later?” She asked with a few shadow punches.
This made Desislav think about what he had just said, giving him a moment of reflection. “Yes and no…”
“Oops, sorry about that then.”
“No, it’s alright. I just have to stay level headed is all.”
The God of the Abyss then appeared next to them and put her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, dear, I know you can handle it.”
“You looked at my future, didn’t you?”
“That, and your past for good measure.” Of course she saw more than just those, but she elected not to mention that part. Desislav needed the vote of confidence after all.
“God of the Abyss, why are you helping us out? For real this time.”
“Why shouldn’t I? Do you think us gods don’t get bored every once in a while?”
“You guys get bored?” Dragoslava questioned.
“Well only a handful of us do. The others are content with being with God and tend to get annoyed when we discuss this stuff.”
Desislav nodded, laughing to himself. It was quite the thing to hear that higher entities got tired of monotony. “It’s a small world after all… anyways, Drago, let’s head topside. I want to show Blood our progress.”
“Fine with me” she replied as she got her stuff together.
“Oh! Before you return home…”
“What’s up, your divinity?”
The God of the Abyss conjured up a cloud of smoke that showed the image of a small figure and a tall figure. “In about a week, The Fear of Old will show up due to what’s going on in Shadowland. His brother, The Hunger of Old, will also show up in no time to protect him. Make sure you tell Englehart about this immediately.”
“Will do,” Desislav assured.
“And here, let me save you the walk…” The god snapped her fingers, causing the couple to vanish.
As soon as they appeared outside the building leading to The Ancient Cave, Desislav looked around, a bit disoriented. “Well that was something else...”
“Drago, Desislav!” Radovan called out as he walked over. “Where in The Unlight have you two been?” He then looked at the building. “Drago, you didn’t go to The City of the Abyss, did you?”
She took a breath. “Yes, but we were invited.”
“Invited? On whose authority?”
“The God of the Abyss.”
Her father was confused. “Well, can’t say I’ve heard of that one before.”
“She’s new in town,” Desislav added. “Due to what’s going on with Milosh.”
That was fair enough for Radovan. “Makes sense. Englehart and I will have to head down there when we get the chance.”
“Speaking of that, dad…” Dragoslava gave him a brief rundown of what had happened and what they were told.
“You don’t say. Well then, I’ll go let his majesty know right now.” He then shook Desislav’s hand. “And well done on achieving ULTRAMagic, my boy.”
“Thanks. We’re going to go tell Blood now.”
After a quick visit to the mansion to give Rose and Kresimira the good news, Desislav and Dragoslava went straight to Blood-Wraith’s house. Both of them were antsy to show off Desislav’s ULTRAMagic. The door was unlocked, so the two went right in. Blood-Wraith was sitting there with a paper and pencil, but he was not studying. Instead, he was drawing with a goofy cartoon on the television in the background. This was not what they were expecting.
“Uh, hey, Blood,” Dragoslava said as she shut the door.
“Hey sister. Hey Desislav.”
“What are you up to?”
He stopped to sharpen his pencil. “Just taking it easy while Vex is off doing stuff with Tiberius.”
“And you’re not studying?” Desislav asked, receiving a guilty groan in response. “Blood, you have a responsibility to fulfill…”
“I know, but it’s my favorite episode.”
Desislav slightly frowned as Blood-Wraith burst out laughing at a particularly funny scene involving a scooter exceeding speeds well beyond the speed limit, a banana cream pie, and an extensive joke about the main character overthinking a comment about his chef’s hat and how it affected the rotation of the Earth. The timing of the gags were spot on and the goofy, energetic music added to the chaos of the scene in question. Desislav was trying his hardest not to laugh alongside him and Dragoslava’s laughter did not help in the slightest. Eventually the scene ended with the pie flying in the main character’s face with perfect timing lining up with the climax of the music. The three laughed hard altogether as they could just not help themselves.
“Alright, hand me a piece of paper…” Desislav said with a chuckle.
“What do you have in mind, Desislav?” Dragoslava asked as they sat down.
“That riddle, what was it? Exists, doesn’t exist…”
The cartoon concluded, so Blood-Wraith glanced over to Desislav’s chicken scratches. “Do I have to?”
“What if, and humor me on this one; What if there’s some kind of process that you can do to get around the seal instead of opening it?”
“Well… um… I don’t know.”
“Think about it, Blood. What if there’s some kind of mind trick or state of being that allows such a thing?”
Blood-Wraith pondered the idea. “I guess it’s possible. Vex has mentioned all sorts of weird stuff in relation to curses.”
“Think about it and see if you can come up with something.” Desislav slid forward the notes, indicating for Blood-Wraith to study them.
He sighed. “Alright then… hey, Desislav? Is there something different about you?”
Desislav smiled and grabbed Blood-Wraith’s hand. A surge rushed through their bodies that felt amazing. “You could say that.”
Blood-Wraith knew that feeling all too well. “Desislav, you did it?”
“Absolutely, buddy.”
“Congratulations, Desislav!” Blood-Wraith gave him a celebratory hug. “Are you going to join the guild?”
“I don’t see why not. And considering how much help you need…” Desislav pointed at the drawings.
Blood-Wraith chuckled as he organized them. “Right. Would you mind being our cook? Your food is so good.”
“Again, I don’t see why not. Here’s hoping the guild doesn’t get too big though…”
“Don’t worry, Desislav, we’ll bring in other cooks” Dragoslava assured. “Right, Blood?”
“Of course…” He then looked at the time. “Vex said he would be back by now.”
Naturally Vexation showed up right then and there. “I’m back, Blood…” He looked and sounded worn out, as if he had hiked up a mountain. The three could see his legs and arms hurting from an ungodly amount of physical activity. “Do whatever you want today. I need to lie down and rest. We’ll resume our studies tomorrow…” He said as he trudged up the stairs.
Blood-Wraith took the remote and turned off the television. “Hey, sister? Can we watch TV at your house?”
After writing Vexation a note, the three hopped over to the Raynot mansion. It was clear that the ancient mage needed some peace and quiet. Rose was elated to have her son over, but she was not going to let him sit around and watch cartoons all day. While she could not do what Vexation was teaching, she could have him practice his alchemy. Desislav laughed when Blood-Wraith protested this. To make things easier for her brother, Dragoslava got out an old VHS tape that had an episode of an educational television show for kids that centered around Alchemy. Blood-Wraith utterly enjoyed it.
“That was so cool! Are there more?”
“Of course, Blood,” Dragoslava answered. “There’s all sorts of episodes on different branches of alchemy, physics, chemistry, astronomy, biology…”
“What about history?” Desislav inquired.
“You’d want Cosmos Encyclopedia. Schoolyard Alchemy is purely alchemy and science.”
“And that’s not to say the program doesn’t cover history from time to time,” Rose pointed out. “It’s just that it only discusses history relevant to the topic.”
Blood-Wraith got up and went to rewind the tape. “I want to watch more of these when I get the chance.”
Dragoslava giggled. “Well maybe you should go to school then…”
“School?”
“I don’t see why not, other than the guild” Rose noted. “How much longer do you think it’s going to take, Blood?”
“Um…” He gave it some thought. “One more month, although it may be two if earlier was any indicator.”
Rose clapped. “Then let’s give them an extra month or two… ooh yes, a semester at Iron City Academy would be a grand time for you. It’s where Drago and Kresimira went when they were children.”
“Oh boy, that brings me back.” Dragoslava’s memories of her school days came flooding in. “Let’s get him into Mr. Aarens’ class… he’s still teaching, right?”
“Wait, so I’d be going to school?” Blood-Wraith asked. “I’m not sure what to make of that.”
“It would just be for three months,” Rose answered. “You’re in luck as the first semester is going to start next month.”
“Technically it’s the second semester since… well, you know,” Dragoslava clarified. “Don’t worry, you should fit right in…”
“You’re sure about that?” Desislav questioned.
“Uh, yes?”
“I mean, he is a knight that helped save the Cosmos after all…”
Rose chuckled. “Don’t worry, dears. I’ll speak to Headmaster Julius and get this all squared away.”
The rest of the day consisted of studying, but Rose figured out ways to make it fun and engaging for Blood-Wraith. Since Vexation was most likely still sleeping, Rose had her son stay for dinner. He was happy to oblige as this meant he could avoid studying. Just as everyone sat down to eat, Radovan returned home. The duke was exhausted, but nowhere near as much as Vexation was. Given all that he had encountered, he was more than happy to sit down and enjoy dinner with his family.
“Blood-Wraith going to school? A wonderful idea,” Radovan stated after swallowing his food. “Keep your eyes peeled and you’ll see some of your sister’s awards, Blood.”
“Dad, please…” Dragoslava was a little embarrassed.
“Is school hard?” Blood-Wraith asked.
“Not at all, my boy,” Radovan replied. “Just pay attention, stay focused, do your homework, and you should be fine.”
Blood-Wraith ate some more of his food, then had a realization. “Wait, can I use the knowledge Englehart taught me about our history in school?”
“Um…” Rose was unsure.
“Ooh, that is a conundrum…” Radovan knew Blood-Wraith was privy to certain things the king preferred to keep out of the public eye. “We’ll have to discuss this with Headmaster Julius.”
“On the bright side, he’ll probably ace his history tests either way” Desislav pointed out. This made everyone else laugh and chuckle.
Another thought occurred to Blood-Wraith as he finished up his food. “Is making friends easy?”
“Yes and no, brother,” Dragoslava answered. “Just be yourself and you’ll be fine. It’s easy to tell when someone is being fake.”
Desislav nodded. “Yeah. You could even use that advice for the guild.”
That was a fair point, which made Blood-Wraith think. “Duly noted…” He said as he drank his water.
Next: Chapter 34
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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