ULTRAMagic Interlude BC - Chapter 38
Previous | First | Next
Master Post - Patreon
And Blood-Wraith was correct in his foresight. He noticed Turi flying into the tower the following day. Anticipating what would happen next, Blood-Wraith went to tell Vexation and Drusa, followed by him reporting straight to Englehart. When he arrived, the royal court was waiting patiently for everyone to show up so that they could begin the meeting. And of course they were all happy to see Blood-Wraith again. Everyone that was not in the know were eagerly awaiting to learn what was in the letters.
Radovan went to his desk and readied his papers. “Alright then, a quick roll call before we start…” Caius, Drazhan, Octavius, Regnault, and Theobold were all present. “And obviously the king, Rose, Blood-Wraith, and I are here. Blood, do Vexation and Drusa wish to attend this meeting?”
“Oh, you’re okay with them being here?”
“I don’t see why not,” Englehart replied. I’d imagine Vexation would be very interested in what we have to discuss. And obviously Drusa should also be included.”
Octavius was not as enthusiastic. “Vexation I trust. Drusa? She seems on the level, but I’m not sure yet.”
“I see no reason as to why a Spiritus Magni would betray us, Octavius,” Englehart stated. “Besides, if the secret note Blood and I are about to reveal is any indicator, Milosh doesn’t have a snowball's chance in Abaddon of defeating us.”
He sighed. “Fair enough, your majesty.”
“I’ll go call them then” Blood-Wraith said as he went to a phone.
“Radovan, would you like to call your daughters and the others?” Englehart inquired. “Given all that they’ve been through, I’d think they’d also be interested in what we have to discuss today.”
“I’ll get right on it, your majesty.”
After roughly 10 minutes, everyone else showed up. Following the greetings and everyone settling in, Englehart spoke. “Good morning, everyone. This is a very special meeting as we will be discussing the ongoing situation in Shadowland. The context here being that we have special information thanks to an unexpected spy.” He then held up an envelope. “This is the first letter we received a week and a half ago from Andelin…”
“May I ask as to why we have held off for so long on reading it, your majesty?” Caius questioned.
“Also it’s definitely a bizarre set of circumstances, all things considered” Drazhan pointed out. “Having Andelin just deliver a note to Blood-Wraith out of the blue? Unheard of.”
“That’s actually been bothering me for a bit now” Octavius cut in. “How did she even get into the city without us even noticing?”
Englehart cleared his throat. “I’ll answer your question in a moment, Caius. Just know that Andelin considers this to be incredibly sensitive information. Blood?”
“Right… Andelin has a secret tunnel going from my house to hers” he answered. This gave the council incredibly worried looks. “I’m electing to keep it operational because of Andelin’s letter. Don’t worry, this has been worrying me too.”
Octavius sighed again. “Assuming the information in the letter is that groundbreaking, I’ll trust your judgment, Blood-Wraith.”
Englehart took out the letter. “Then you’ll be happy to know that Andelin has some very crucial information for us. First, our suspicions that Milosh had been using a primordial to subvert Shadowland have been confirmed. Specifically it was one called The Fear of Old. Second, Andelin and Gratiana have apparently turned their backs on Milosh. Third, Andelin is in the process of sabotaging the cult due to being fed up with Milosh. She is even employing Weaver, Gabriella, and Sir Odo to do this. And lastly, Gummi is also planning to stab his father in the back…”
This information caused an excited uproar in the throne room, requiring Radovan to bang his gavel a couple of times. “Order, everyone. Order. Let’s not get overexcited.” He chuckled. “Corentin, would you like to comment?”
“Yes I would, your grace. While I appreciate that Gummi has come to his senses, he still has a lot to apologize for. To me in particular…”
Kresimira patted him on the back. “Don’t worry, Cotton, I’m sure he’s going to…”
“Kresimira! Why!?” Everyone else chuckled and laughed.
Blood-Wraith leaned over to Rose. “Mom, I’m confused…”
She giggled. “Don’t worry, dear. It’s a name that Gummi used on account of Corentin’s hair being pink, claiming it looked like cotton candy. While Gummi did use it to pick on Corentin, we never rejected the nickname as it was ultimately harmless.”
“Oh, I see…” He also chuckled to himself.
Radovan composed himself. “Given that information, I’d dare say it would behoove us to be diplomatic with Gummi, assuming he follows through. Now Drazhan, you were particularly vocal a moment ago. Would you like to comment?”
“Yes. I’m not sure how I feel about two cult higher ups turning coats like that. If we had words from Barna or Dunja…”
Englehart gave a quick chuckle. “Well today is your lucky day, General Thornefield. Blood and I have already taken a sneak peek at the newest letters…”
The king began reading Dunja’s letters, which detailed everything leading up to the destruction of The Eternal Church and the end of Milosh’s cult. This warranted a round of applause from everyone else. Dunja testified to the good will of Andelin, Graitana, and Gummi. She beseeched the council to forgive their past misdeeds and grant them pardon. It was certainly a quandary for the meeting, but eventually they came round to accepting the queen’s request.
“Shall I ratify their pardons then, your majesty?” Radovan asked.
“With haste, Radovan,” Englehart instructed as he handed him the documents. “Now I will say that there is a little bit of confusion here. Dunja states that The Fear of Old wandered off today…”
“Right here, your majesty.” Everyone was startled when a young, pale boy dressed in black robes appeared in the throne room. He quickly realized the upset he had caused. “Ohh, I’m sorry…”
“It’s alright, lad. Just come in through the door next time.”
“So this is The Fear of Old?” Caius observed. “Poetic given that he takes the form of a child.”
“That was not what I was expecting…” Octavius commented.
“What were you expecting then?”
“I’m not quite sure. The mind tends to assume the worst with a name like that.”
“Honestly I was expecting something similar to Nacht, The Discordant God of Terror,” Drahzan put forth.
“How would you know something like that, General?” Theobold questioned.
“I’ve gotten around before, Captain General. Do you think I just sit around in my office all day?”
Radovan invited the primordial to approach his desk. “Is everything okay in Shadowland?”
He nodded. “That big meanie, Milosh, is still out there though. Hey, is it alright if I stay here, in The Iron City?”
“Of course, my boy,” Englehart replied. “In fact, The God of the Abyss is expecting you.”
“Before you do that, Fear, may I ask that you sit in for the rest of the meeting?” Radovan requested. “We may need your expertise and I’d imagine you’d like to meet the other people that helped you get away from Milosh.”
“Sure, your grace.” Rose got out a chair and set it next to Blood-Wraith. The Fear quickly realized who it was. “Hey, you’re Sir Blood-Wraith, aren’t you? The one Aureolus told me about…” he said as he held out his hand.
“Yup, that’s me. How’s he doing?”
“Great. You had every reason to be scared, but he’s fine.”
“Okay, good…” Blood-Wraith said with a nervous chuckle.
The rest of the meeting went smoothly, with everyone being caught up on what had been happening to the east. Blood-Wraith wanted to ask The Fear more about Shadowland, but he quickly vanished after meeting the rest of the group. Englehart naturally gave Blood-Wraith permission to go down to The City of the Abyss if he wanted to. Not wanting to bother The Fear, he left the tower and returned to his house. Of course before he could sit down, Drusa informed him that someone was about to come home. Upon hearing thudding approaching, he went outside to see a familiar machine walking up to the square.
“Maximus!”
“Blood-Wraith, good to see you again, buddy… say, um, where’s Uncle Englehart?”
“The tower, I’d imagine…”
Not a moment too soon, Corentin came walking up with Kresimira. “Son!”
“Dad! Mom! Give me a second…” Maximus shrank down, his body creaking and groaning as it did. “Haha, still not used to that…ow.”
His parents then took turns hugging him, while being careful not to cause him any discomfort. “I didn’t know he could do that, dear,” Kresimira said to Corentin.
“Me neither. Where’d you learn to do that, Max?”
“The Beast of Old taught me before we went to see The Fear of Old… speaking of which, again, where’s uncle?”
“Right here, nephew,” Englehart said as he approached. Radovan and a couple of royal guards were with him. “We spotted you as you arrived. Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure I know who’s been following you.”
Blood-Wraith grew very concerned. “Wait, who’s coming? Who followed you?”
Maximus took a calming breath. “The Fear’s brother…”
Things went silent for a moment, with the only sounds being that of birds and vehicles in the distance. And then it happened. A geyser of blood-red flame erupted from the ground in the square. Emerging from it was a 10 foot tall man wearing ragged, leather armor and a well-worn cloak. His teeth were sharp, his eyes were a fiery red, and two gnarled horns traveled back over a mane of messy, black hair. The giant did not look happy as he snarled and growled, looking around frantically for something. Waving his twisted, black sword around, he noticed the king. Englehart stood still and firm as he was approached with heavy footsteps that bordered on stomping.
The giant let out a breath of embers as he stood over the king. “YOU! WHERE IS MY BROTHER?”
“Fret not, Hunger of Old. He’s here, in the city as we speak” Englehart answered, secretly a little worried. Everyone else (barring Radovan and Drusa) were terrified.
“WHERE IN THE CITY?” The Hunger demanded to know.
“Right here, brother!” The Fear replied as he appeared in a cloud of shadows.
The Hunger put away his blade and his body relaxed. “Brother, there you are” he said as he picked him up and gave him a hug.
“I’m sorry for going off with Milosh…”
“Don’t apologize, brother,” The Hunger replied as he set him down. “I’ll go kill that bastard right now…”
“Well actually, Gummi should be getting ready to take care of that at the moment.”
The Hunger was confused. “What? How?”
“Apparently he poisoned Milosh’s beast blood.”
“HAHA, You reap what you sow!” The two brothers laughed while the others calmed down.
“Hunger, would you like to visit The City of the Abyss with Radovan and I?” Englehart asked. “Both of you are expected there.”
“Really now? Brother?”
The Fear nodded. “Yup. Just wait until you meet The God of the Abyss. She’s really cool.”
“Alright then, let’s go. My apologies for scaring you, Maximus. I was worried for my younger brother. I’m certain you understand?”
“It’s fine, Hunger. I understand…” Truthfully, he was still unnerved.
Before departing, The Hunger turned his attention to Blood-Wraith. “Fear, is this the one Leif was talking about?” His brother nodded. “Huh, I figured he would have been bigger for someone inheriting The Dragon’s power…”
Blood-Wraith gave a nervous chuckle. “Well, I mean, Golden Dragon is quite tall at the moment…”
The Hunger laughed. “So it is! It's a pleasure and an honor to meet you, Blood-Wraith. If the guild ever needs help, don’t hesitate to ask. You’ll definitely need it once Gudrun and The Crimson God start rearing their ugly mugs…”
Once The Hunger of Old was out of sight, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Vexation in particular looked very concerned though. “Drusa, I need your fifth dimensional expertise” he said as he took her hand. “Suffice it to say there are some things we need to look into…”
“Right, agreed” she replied as they went inside.
“Guys?” Blood-Wraith started to ask, until Corentin put his hand on his shoulder.
“Hey, why not come over to our house? Those two probably need to focus.”
Blood-Wraith scratched his head. “Um, sure, Corentin.”
The four made their way to the warehouse, as Corentin wanted to show off some changes he made to Maximus. Once they were inside, Maximus returned to normal size. He noticed things were a lot more tidy. “Wow, this is a lot different from when I first built…” he then noticed a truly large object that looked like a mattress. “Wait, is that a bed?”
Corentin smiled. “Yes indeed. It was a pain to get it here given that it was a custom order that had to be delivered from The Market District and had to be constructed here, but we managed.”
“And don’t worry about the mattress, sweetie,” Kresimira added. “It’s made of a material that shouldn’t get caught in your joints.”
“Awesome.” Maximus went over to what looked like an armor rack. Once all of his armor was off, he laid down on the bed. “This feels good… Dad, I’m requesting a leave of absence from General Thornefield first chance I get.”
“I don’t blame you, given all that you’ve gone through. You didn’t get too banged up, did you?”
“No, not really…”
Kresimira shook her head. “Sweetie, we’re not going to be angry if you did. Please, tell us.”
“Okay… Rumbler did rough me up a little bit. And the cultists shot at me, but it bounced off my armor.”
Blood-Wraith panicked. “Guns!?”
“Oh no, Blood, don’t worry. Everyone is fine. Only the knights and soldiers went into the compounds and the church.”
Kresimira rubbed Blood-Wraith’s back to ease his nerves. “I trust that the church was destroyed?” she inquired.
Maximus nodded. “Absolutely. Grandpa Barna set off the explosives. Definitely one of the greatest moments of my life.”
“Source, I wish I could have been there,” Corentin remarked.
“Is Aureolus okay?” Blood-Wraith asked.
“Definitely” Maximus answered. “He’s doing fine and has this cool deck of cards that can cast magic. I believe he said it was hex magic.”
Blood-Wraith paused for a moment as he had heard of that before. “Hex? Vex mentioned that, saying it was a knock off of curse magic…”
This made Maximus feel a little awkward. “Oh… Um, hey, did you end up learning that curse magic I’ve been hearing about?”
He nodded. “Yup. Just finished it up yesterday.”
“Congrats, Blood.” Maximus shifted upright. “I think you’re going to like Torunn, Albrecht, and Weaver. In fact, Weaver is looking to join The ULTRAMagic Guild.”
“Really? Cool, but why?”
“It sounds like he wants to improve his skills and find his long lost brother.”
Corentin stroked his chin and nodded. “Not a bad motivation. Honestly, Blood? You’ll have quite the smith on your hands. Dad trained and mentored him.”
Blood-Wraith also nodded, with a smile on his face. “Fine with me then. I’ll just have to let Tiberius know and we should be good to go.”
Maximus yawned. “Hey, is it alright if I take a nap? The trip home was exhausting.”
“Of course you can,” Corentin said as he got up. “Come, let’s give him some peace and quiet.”
“Naturally,” Kresimira agreed. “We’ll be in the house if you need us.”
“Rest well, Maximus,” said Blood-Wraith. “See you later.”
Next: Chapter 39
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Master Post - Patreon
And Blood-Wraith was correct in his foresight. He noticed Turi flying into the tower the following day. Anticipating what would happen next, Blood-Wraith went to tell Vexation and Drusa, followed by him reporting straight to Englehart. When he arrived, the royal court was waiting patiently for everyone to show up so that they could begin the meeting. And of course they were all happy to see Blood-Wraith again. Everyone that was not in the know were eagerly awaiting to learn what was in the letters.
Radovan went to his desk and readied his papers. “Alright then, a quick roll call before we start…” Caius, Drazhan, Octavius, Regnault, and Theobold were all present. “And obviously the king, Rose, Blood-Wraith, and I are here. Blood, do Vexation and Drusa wish to attend this meeting?”
“Oh, you’re okay with them being here?”
“I don’t see why not,” Englehart replied. I’d imagine Vexation would be very interested in what we have to discuss. And obviously Drusa should also be included.”
Octavius was not as enthusiastic. “Vexation I trust. Drusa? She seems on the level, but I’m not sure yet.”
“I see no reason as to why a Spiritus Magni would betray us, Octavius,” Englehart stated. “Besides, if the secret note Blood and I are about to reveal is any indicator, Milosh doesn’t have a snowball's chance in Abaddon of defeating us.”
He sighed. “Fair enough, your majesty.”
“I’ll go call them then” Blood-Wraith said as he went to a phone.
“Radovan, would you like to call your daughters and the others?” Englehart inquired. “Given all that they’ve been through, I’d think they’d also be interested in what we have to discuss today.”
“I’ll get right on it, your majesty.”
After roughly 10 minutes, everyone else showed up. Following the greetings and everyone settling in, Englehart spoke. “Good morning, everyone. This is a very special meeting as we will be discussing the ongoing situation in Shadowland. The context here being that we have special information thanks to an unexpected spy.” He then held up an envelope. “This is the first letter we received a week and a half ago from Andelin…”
“May I ask as to why we have held off for so long on reading it, your majesty?” Caius questioned.
“Also it’s definitely a bizarre set of circumstances, all things considered” Drazhan pointed out. “Having Andelin just deliver a note to Blood-Wraith out of the blue? Unheard of.”
“That’s actually been bothering me for a bit now” Octavius cut in. “How did she even get into the city without us even noticing?”
Englehart cleared his throat. “I’ll answer your question in a moment, Caius. Just know that Andelin considers this to be incredibly sensitive information. Blood?”
“Right… Andelin has a secret tunnel going from my house to hers” he answered. This gave the council incredibly worried looks. “I’m electing to keep it operational because of Andelin’s letter. Don’t worry, this has been worrying me too.”
Octavius sighed again. “Assuming the information in the letter is that groundbreaking, I’ll trust your judgment, Blood-Wraith.”
Englehart took out the letter. “Then you’ll be happy to know that Andelin has some very crucial information for us. First, our suspicions that Milosh had been using a primordial to subvert Shadowland have been confirmed. Specifically it was one called The Fear of Old. Second, Andelin and Gratiana have apparently turned their backs on Milosh. Third, Andelin is in the process of sabotaging the cult due to being fed up with Milosh. She is even employing Weaver, Gabriella, and Sir Odo to do this. And lastly, Gummi is also planning to stab his father in the back…”
This information caused an excited uproar in the throne room, requiring Radovan to bang his gavel a couple of times. “Order, everyone. Order. Let’s not get overexcited.” He chuckled. “Corentin, would you like to comment?”
“Yes I would, your grace. While I appreciate that Gummi has come to his senses, he still has a lot to apologize for. To me in particular…”
Kresimira patted him on the back. “Don’t worry, Cotton, I’m sure he’s going to…”
“Kresimira! Why!?” Everyone else chuckled and laughed.
Blood-Wraith leaned over to Rose. “Mom, I’m confused…”
She giggled. “Don’t worry, dear. It’s a name that Gummi used on account of Corentin’s hair being pink, claiming it looked like cotton candy. While Gummi did use it to pick on Corentin, we never rejected the nickname as it was ultimately harmless.”
“Oh, I see…” He also chuckled to himself.
Radovan composed himself. “Given that information, I’d dare say it would behoove us to be diplomatic with Gummi, assuming he follows through. Now Drazhan, you were particularly vocal a moment ago. Would you like to comment?”
“Yes. I’m not sure how I feel about two cult higher ups turning coats like that. If we had words from Barna or Dunja…”
Englehart gave a quick chuckle. “Well today is your lucky day, General Thornefield. Blood and I have already taken a sneak peek at the newest letters…”
The king began reading Dunja’s letters, which detailed everything leading up to the destruction of The Eternal Church and the end of Milosh’s cult. This warranted a round of applause from everyone else. Dunja testified to the good will of Andelin, Graitana, and Gummi. She beseeched the council to forgive their past misdeeds and grant them pardon. It was certainly a quandary for the meeting, but eventually they came round to accepting the queen’s request.
“Shall I ratify their pardons then, your majesty?” Radovan asked.
“With haste, Radovan,” Englehart instructed as he handed him the documents. “Now I will say that there is a little bit of confusion here. Dunja states that The Fear of Old wandered off today…”
“Right here, your majesty.” Everyone was startled when a young, pale boy dressed in black robes appeared in the throne room. He quickly realized the upset he had caused. “Ohh, I’m sorry…”
“It’s alright, lad. Just come in through the door next time.”
“So this is The Fear of Old?” Caius observed. “Poetic given that he takes the form of a child.”
“That was not what I was expecting…” Octavius commented.
“What were you expecting then?”
“I’m not quite sure. The mind tends to assume the worst with a name like that.”
“Honestly I was expecting something similar to Nacht, The Discordant God of Terror,” Drahzan put forth.
“How would you know something like that, General?” Theobold questioned.
“I’ve gotten around before, Captain General. Do you think I just sit around in my office all day?”
Radovan invited the primordial to approach his desk. “Is everything okay in Shadowland?”
He nodded. “That big meanie, Milosh, is still out there though. Hey, is it alright if I stay here, in The Iron City?”
“Of course, my boy,” Englehart replied. “In fact, The God of the Abyss is expecting you.”
“Before you do that, Fear, may I ask that you sit in for the rest of the meeting?” Radovan requested. “We may need your expertise and I’d imagine you’d like to meet the other people that helped you get away from Milosh.”
“Sure, your grace.” Rose got out a chair and set it next to Blood-Wraith. The Fear quickly realized who it was. “Hey, you’re Sir Blood-Wraith, aren’t you? The one Aureolus told me about…” he said as he held out his hand.
“Yup, that’s me. How’s he doing?”
“Great. You had every reason to be scared, but he’s fine.”
“Okay, good…” Blood-Wraith said with a nervous chuckle.
The rest of the meeting went smoothly, with everyone being caught up on what had been happening to the east. Blood-Wraith wanted to ask The Fear more about Shadowland, but he quickly vanished after meeting the rest of the group. Englehart naturally gave Blood-Wraith permission to go down to The City of the Abyss if he wanted to. Not wanting to bother The Fear, he left the tower and returned to his house. Of course before he could sit down, Drusa informed him that someone was about to come home. Upon hearing thudding approaching, he went outside to see a familiar machine walking up to the square.
“Maximus!”
“Blood-Wraith, good to see you again, buddy… say, um, where’s Uncle Englehart?”
“The tower, I’d imagine…”
Not a moment too soon, Corentin came walking up with Kresimira. “Son!”
“Dad! Mom! Give me a second…” Maximus shrank down, his body creaking and groaning as it did. “Haha, still not used to that…ow.”
His parents then took turns hugging him, while being careful not to cause him any discomfort. “I didn’t know he could do that, dear,” Kresimira said to Corentin.
“Me neither. Where’d you learn to do that, Max?”
“The Beast of Old taught me before we went to see The Fear of Old… speaking of which, again, where’s uncle?”
“Right here, nephew,” Englehart said as he approached. Radovan and a couple of royal guards were with him. “We spotted you as you arrived. Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure I know who’s been following you.”
Blood-Wraith grew very concerned. “Wait, who’s coming? Who followed you?”
Maximus took a calming breath. “The Fear’s brother…”
Things went silent for a moment, with the only sounds being that of birds and vehicles in the distance. And then it happened. A geyser of blood-red flame erupted from the ground in the square. Emerging from it was a 10 foot tall man wearing ragged, leather armor and a well-worn cloak. His teeth were sharp, his eyes were a fiery red, and two gnarled horns traveled back over a mane of messy, black hair. The giant did not look happy as he snarled and growled, looking around frantically for something. Waving his twisted, black sword around, he noticed the king. Englehart stood still and firm as he was approached with heavy footsteps that bordered on stomping.
The giant let out a breath of embers as he stood over the king. “YOU! WHERE IS MY BROTHER?”
“Fret not, Hunger of Old. He’s here, in the city as we speak” Englehart answered, secretly a little worried. Everyone else (barring Radovan and Drusa) were terrified.
“WHERE IN THE CITY?” The Hunger demanded to know.
“Right here, brother!” The Fear replied as he appeared in a cloud of shadows.
The Hunger put away his blade and his body relaxed. “Brother, there you are” he said as he picked him up and gave him a hug.
“I’m sorry for going off with Milosh…”
“Don’t apologize, brother,” The Hunger replied as he set him down. “I’ll go kill that bastard right now…”
“Well actually, Gummi should be getting ready to take care of that at the moment.”
The Hunger was confused. “What? How?”
“Apparently he poisoned Milosh’s beast blood.”
“HAHA, You reap what you sow!” The two brothers laughed while the others calmed down.
“Hunger, would you like to visit The City of the Abyss with Radovan and I?” Englehart asked. “Both of you are expected there.”
“Really now? Brother?”
The Fear nodded. “Yup. Just wait until you meet The God of the Abyss. She’s really cool.”
“Alright then, let’s go. My apologies for scaring you, Maximus. I was worried for my younger brother. I’m certain you understand?”
“It’s fine, Hunger. I understand…” Truthfully, he was still unnerved.
Before departing, The Hunger turned his attention to Blood-Wraith. “Fear, is this the one Leif was talking about?” His brother nodded. “Huh, I figured he would have been bigger for someone inheriting The Dragon’s power…”
Blood-Wraith gave a nervous chuckle. “Well, I mean, Golden Dragon is quite tall at the moment…”
The Hunger laughed. “So it is! It's a pleasure and an honor to meet you, Blood-Wraith. If the guild ever needs help, don’t hesitate to ask. You’ll definitely need it once Gudrun and The Crimson God start rearing their ugly mugs…”
Once The Hunger of Old was out of sight, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Vexation in particular looked very concerned though. “Drusa, I need your fifth dimensional expertise” he said as he took her hand. “Suffice it to say there are some things we need to look into…”
“Right, agreed” she replied as they went inside.
“Guys?” Blood-Wraith started to ask, until Corentin put his hand on his shoulder.
“Hey, why not come over to our house? Those two probably need to focus.”
Blood-Wraith scratched his head. “Um, sure, Corentin.”
The four made their way to the warehouse, as Corentin wanted to show off some changes he made to Maximus. Once they were inside, Maximus returned to normal size. He noticed things were a lot more tidy. “Wow, this is a lot different from when I first built…” he then noticed a truly large object that looked like a mattress. “Wait, is that a bed?”
Corentin smiled. “Yes indeed. It was a pain to get it here given that it was a custom order that had to be delivered from The Market District and had to be constructed here, but we managed.”
“And don’t worry about the mattress, sweetie,” Kresimira added. “It’s made of a material that shouldn’t get caught in your joints.”
“Awesome.” Maximus went over to what looked like an armor rack. Once all of his armor was off, he laid down on the bed. “This feels good… Dad, I’m requesting a leave of absence from General Thornefield first chance I get.”
“I don’t blame you, given all that you’ve gone through. You didn’t get too banged up, did you?”
“No, not really…”
Kresimira shook her head. “Sweetie, we’re not going to be angry if you did. Please, tell us.”
“Okay… Rumbler did rough me up a little bit. And the cultists shot at me, but it bounced off my armor.”
Blood-Wraith panicked. “Guns!?”
“Oh no, Blood, don’t worry. Everyone is fine. Only the knights and soldiers went into the compounds and the church.”
Kresimira rubbed Blood-Wraith’s back to ease his nerves. “I trust that the church was destroyed?” she inquired.
Maximus nodded. “Absolutely. Grandpa Barna set off the explosives. Definitely one of the greatest moments of my life.”
“Source, I wish I could have been there,” Corentin remarked.
“Is Aureolus okay?” Blood-Wraith asked.
“Definitely” Maximus answered. “He’s doing fine and has this cool deck of cards that can cast magic. I believe he said it was hex magic.”
Blood-Wraith paused for a moment as he had heard of that before. “Hex? Vex mentioned that, saying it was a knock off of curse magic…”
This made Maximus feel a little awkward. “Oh… Um, hey, did you end up learning that curse magic I’ve been hearing about?”
He nodded. “Yup. Just finished it up yesterday.”
“Congrats, Blood.” Maximus shifted upright. “I think you’re going to like Torunn, Albrecht, and Weaver. In fact, Weaver is looking to join The ULTRAMagic Guild.”
“Really? Cool, but why?”
“It sounds like he wants to improve his skills and find his long lost brother.”
Corentin stroked his chin and nodded. “Not a bad motivation. Honestly, Blood? You’ll have quite the smith on your hands. Dad trained and mentored him.”
Blood-Wraith also nodded, with a smile on his face. “Fine with me then. I’ll just have to let Tiberius know and we should be good to go.”
Maximus yawned. “Hey, is it alright if I take a nap? The trip home was exhausting.”
“Of course you can,” Corentin said as he got up. “Come, let’s give him some peace and quiet.”
“Naturally,” Kresimira agreed. “We’ll be in the house if you need us.”
“Rest well, Maximus,” said Blood-Wraith. “See you later.”
Next: Chapter 39
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Comments
Post a Comment