ULTRAMagic Interval - Chapter 16
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Buster and Zoltan arrived at the specific room in the medical wing to see Trumna and Jackson scolding Will. A nurse was next to the bed Will sat on, going down a checklist of things to make sure he was doing alright. It was a relief to see Will safe and sound as Olivia gestured for Buster to come over. He then glanced over to the corner of the room and saw Reynard making some calls. One could easily guess who he was contacting.
“...well that would have been great if you could have stopped him, but you didn’t,” Trumna rebuked. “Will, no more going out, period. At least not until we have some troops here…”
Reynard ended his call. “Alright, enough playing around. Milan, Aelia, and GRENADIER are all on their way. Once they’re all present, we’ll begin getting ready to secure Bethany’s tomb.”
“Aelia?” Sam seemed excited. “She’s on her way?” Reynard nodded.
“Who’s Aelia?” Will asked.
“Aelia Albus, Boyo. She’s the head of The Devil’s Brew Coven. Her and Ellen go way back.”
“Morana did mention she was going to notify Aelia before I left Romania,” Zoltan added.
“Wait, hold up!” Faustus interrupted. “Devil’s Brew Coven? Excuse me?”
“I concur,” Mayhem put in. “Isn’t that just another name for coffee?”
Sam chuckled. “Yup, Aelia is fully aware.” After a brief bout of laughter, she composed herself. “You see, she was in a bad mood that day and felt like being edgy. She later found out what the name meant and decided to commit to it.”
This made Will laugh. “Ha, oh geez. Not going to lie, I like her already.”
Jackson had gone quiet, but now had something to say. “Not to interrupt, but does anyone want to lend Will another soul fragment? If ULTRAMagic is going to screw over Valentin, then we might want to expedite the process.”
“You read my mind, Jack,” Faustus replied. “Now let’s see if I can do this… how does it go?” He began snapping his fingers, trying to do something.
“You don’t have to do that for me, Faustus…” Will started to say.
He then got an orange flame to appear in his hand. “Ha, there we go! Champ, I insist… especially after what just happened.”
“Alright then…” Will took the fragment into him. This one gave him a slight spicy sensation on his tongue. “Agh, weird…”
Sam realized that Will was almost done at that point and patted him on the back. “Almost there, Will.”
“Oh? Thanks, Sam. So nurse, am I good to go?”
After reporting to Antares and getting a very concerned dressing down from the captain, Will went back to Reynard’s quarters. Will’s energy and mood was somewhat drained from the encounter at the construction site, as it was incredibly overwhelming. While he did not have any overt nightmares that night, his dreams were incredibly surreal. They kept waking him up, preventing him from sleeping. Eventually he got to a point where he could not close his eyes. His heart was beating rapidly and his mind was incredibly hyper.
Glancing over to Sam, she was fast asleep, so she would not notice if he got up. Will calmly left the room and quietly shut the door behind him. It was four in the morning, which meant the sun was nowhere near up yet. In the dark of the living room, he noticed the lounge above the kitchen was illuminated. Curious, Will made his way up the winding, metal stairs.
The lounge was fairly modest, consisting of a couch, several recliners, and a nice flat screen television. VHS tapes and DVD cases lined the wall, with multiple photos and small portraits hanging above them. There was even a neon tube lined clock that looked fantastic amongst the setup. Reynard was finishing up a movie and seemed to be drinking what smelled like root beer when he noticed his drowsy guest.
“Oh, hello, Will. Can’t sleep?”
Will yawned. “Uh huh, sorry if I bothered you…” he began to head back down.
“No, it’s alright. Come and sit.”
The couch creaked a little as Will sat down, but it was comfy regardless. “My dreams are all screwy tonight.”
“I can imagine how you feel, given what you just went through,” Reynard said as he reclined a little on the opposite end of the couch. “Will, I have to ask: Why’d you do it? You know Valentin’s been gunning for you since day one.”
“I don’t know, I just felt stronger because of the soul fragments. Plus there was the dummy thing…”
“I can’t fault that boldness, and what is bravery without a dash of recklessness? You need to know your strength and pick your battles wisely, however.”
“Well, I did create a pretty big fireball…”
“True, but do you think you could do that again?”
“Not at the moment.”
Reynard paused. “You should listen to Trumna more often… but on the other hand, how are you supposed to know your limits if you don’t test them? Sometimes we have to be brought to our lowest to reach our highest.”
“I take it that happened to you?”
“A long, long time ago.”
“How long?”
Reynard shifted a little in his seat. “Let’s just say before the Cosmos was properly formed.”
“So you are one of those primordials everybody has been mentioning?”
“I was The Sulfur of Old. One day I got together with my wife, The Mercury of Old, to create three children. They were The Fear, The Hunger, and The Child of Old. And in case you’re wondering, Jack and Mary have nothing to do with those three.”
“Okay, so what happened to you?”
“God wasn’t thrilled about our little project as primordial children were off limits. In hindsight I don’t blame him. Eventually The Evangelist and Watchman of Old showed up to revoke our honors and we were ordered to reincarnate. As for our kids, God let them go as they had done nothing wrong. The Fear and Hunger are still running around, with Hunger even helping to keep the Cosmos safe. As for The Child, he actually chose to reincarnate, ending up in Atlantis, I believe.”
Will was amazed. “Wow… so what happened to your wife?”
“Are you familiar with Erika Storm over at the Liger Brigade?”
“Oh, I see. So do you regret all of that stuff you did?”
Reynard stretched a little. “It took me a while to realize that on one hand I don’t regret creating my first three kids. On the other hand, we did cause God a lot of trouble. The takeaway? Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. They will always lead to learning and bettering yourself. Don’t beat yourself up over Valentin, but also be a little more careful next time.”
Will smiled. “Me and Faustus will definitely have to figure out what that fireball spell was.”
“That’s the spirit. Hey, I was in the mood for a little Top Gear. Want to watch some episodes?”
“Sure. I was watching some compilations on the web and they were hilarious…”
Sam woke up later on to find that Will was not beside her. Fortunately he was at the island countertop eating breakfast when she stuck her head out of the bedroom. She was worried about him, but Will assured her he was okay. It was just a bout of anxiety at most. Sam still gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek regardless.
Later that day, Bran pulled Will aside to his laboratory. Vlastimir, Ekaterina, Mayhem, and Faustus were already there. Accompanying all of them was Sirius Fractal, who was tinkering with one of Bran’s machines. Seeing him up and doing stuff was just as bizarre as before. Will was not sure back when he first met him, but now he could quantify what he saw. Fractal was like a figment of a dream manifesting in the real world. His movements were surreal and it seemed like he could vanish at any moment.
Fractal noticed Will and turned to face him. “Ah, Will, you’re finally here. Have a seat.”
“So what’s up?”
“Sirius is going to spill the beans on Valentin’s magic,” Bran answered as he sat down at his big desk. “Took him long enough…”
“Well to be fair, Bran, I needed more data to confirm my suspicions…”
“Aren’t you supposed to be 5th or 6th dimensional?”
“I’m 0 Dimensional, Mr. Lommel.”
“Potato tomato…”
Fractal gave him a slightly displeased look, then went to get a chalkboard. He quickly drew a diagram that depicted a process that could keep going. “We’ve all seen Valentin’s magic by now. Those weird cards seem to do everything, but what are they? The answer is Hex Magic!”
Will nodded. “Reynard mentioned that to Jack. Self-perpetuating magic he said.”
“Precisely. Invented by Delphine, The Discordant God of Desire, hexes are a lesser form of curse magic, which were sealed away from the Cosmos. These spells can compel an individual to perform a spell even if they have no magic potential whatsoever. You can see why this magic is widely regarded as forbidden.”
“That is… what even?” Will was amazed, yet confused.
“Vexation, the creator of curses, was teaching Blood how to do them before we left The Iron City,” Vlastimir added. “No idea if he pulled it off though.”
“Well I heard from Tusk a while back that Blood-Wraith had gotten the hang of it,” Mayhem pointed out.
“Awesome!” Ekaterina said as she high fived Vlastimir. “We’ll have to congratulate him next time we see him.”
Mayhem cleared his throat. “In regards to hexes, Delphine likes to hand out decks to people she deems worthy. Aureolus of the ULTRAMagic Guild has one… which makes Valentin’s deck a bit confusing.”
“So wait, Mayhem, you’ve encountered this magic before?” Will inquired.
“Yes.”
“Then what happened at the construction site?”
Mayhem took a second to speak, processing his thoughts. “Well despite going toe to toe with Delphine before, she doesn’t actually use hex magic. I’ve also not properly fought a hex caster until now…”
“So it’s a skill issue?” Bran interjected. He got another displeased look, but Bran responded with a cheeky smile. The others quietly chuckled.
“Anyways, as for Valentin, I didn’t expect him to attack Faustus and I. I’ve mostly fought Wulfric in the past, who is honorable to a tee. Delphine also shares in this honor, for the most part.”
“So are we up against a wall with Valentin?” Faustus asked, a degree of concern in his voice.
“No. Valentin may be powerful, but he’s still human at the end of the day. Besides, I’ve faced many foes in my time…”
“Despite the skill issue?” Bran interrupted again.
“WOULD YOU STOP?” Mayhem snapped.
Bran fell back in his chair laughing. “Sorry, I’ll stop, I’ll stop.”
Mayhem took an exasperated breath. “I have faced many foes in my time and he doesn’t peg me as the type to repeat something that doesn’t work.”
“Well of course you wouldn’t” Bran stated. “An experiment done with the same parameters is going to yield the same results as before. Valentin is going to do something different now that he knows we're on to him.”
“A good point indeed, Bran” Fractal complimented.
“So what do we do now then?” Will wondered.
“Well since you’re one fragment away from ULTRAMagic, I’d say that’s our best bet,” Fractal replied. “Mages with ULTRAMagic seem to be resistant to curses and hexes, on account of them being able to comprehend any form of magic. Not immune, but able to figure out what’s going on.”
Vlastimir had an idea, but needed to think about it for a second. “You know, Eka? I wonder if Will would be able to learn void magic. It is very similar to necromancy…”
She also thought about it. “It’s a shame we can’t get a hold of Aureolus or Dunja at the moment…”
Faustus nervously chuckled. “Guys, let’s not put the cart before the horse here. Will still needs to master necromancy, nevermind ULTRAMagic or void magic. Once he gets the hang of fire, I’m bringing Mira in so he can get the hang of ice.”
“A good idea, Fastus,” said Mayhem. “Having him master opposing forces could vastly bolster his learning of other types of magic.”
“Opposing? Boy, have you been hanging out with the chaos nutters that think everything is chaos? Fire releases energy and ice absorbs energy. They go hand in hand!”
Mayhem laughed. “Fair point, Faustus. Fair point indeed.”
“Speaking of mastering some magic, I was also looking to study Will’s soul a bit” Fractal clarified. “I have some exercises in mind that could help, if you’re interested, Will.”
“Sure, Sirius…”
“Ah ah ah!” Bran cut in, standing up and putting his hands on the desk. “Not in the lab.”
Fractal chuckled. “Of course not, Bran. I was looking at one of the training rooms for these activities.”
“Welp, I’m game,” Faustus said as he got up. “Come on, Champ, we got work to do. Lead the way, Mr. Fractal.”
“Very good,” he replied. “All of you are welcome to come with us. The more data the merrier.”
Vlastimir stood up, eager to go along. “Coming! Eka?”
“Sure. I’ve been wanting to show Will what my ribbons can do, after all.”
Bran sighed with a chuckle. “I got nothing else better to do today, so count me in too.”
Next: Chapter 17
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Master Post - Patreon
Buster and Zoltan arrived at the specific room in the medical wing to see Trumna and Jackson scolding Will. A nurse was next to the bed Will sat on, going down a checklist of things to make sure he was doing alright. It was a relief to see Will safe and sound as Olivia gestured for Buster to come over. He then glanced over to the corner of the room and saw Reynard making some calls. One could easily guess who he was contacting.
“...well that would have been great if you could have stopped him, but you didn’t,” Trumna rebuked. “Will, no more going out, period. At least not until we have some troops here…”
Reynard ended his call. “Alright, enough playing around. Milan, Aelia, and GRENADIER are all on their way. Once they’re all present, we’ll begin getting ready to secure Bethany’s tomb.”
“Aelia?” Sam seemed excited. “She’s on her way?” Reynard nodded.
“Who’s Aelia?” Will asked.
“Aelia Albus, Boyo. She’s the head of The Devil’s Brew Coven. Her and Ellen go way back.”
“Morana did mention she was going to notify Aelia before I left Romania,” Zoltan added.
“Wait, hold up!” Faustus interrupted. “Devil’s Brew Coven? Excuse me?”
“I concur,” Mayhem put in. “Isn’t that just another name for coffee?”
Sam chuckled. “Yup, Aelia is fully aware.” After a brief bout of laughter, she composed herself. “You see, she was in a bad mood that day and felt like being edgy. She later found out what the name meant and decided to commit to it.”
This made Will laugh. “Ha, oh geez. Not going to lie, I like her already.”
Jackson had gone quiet, but now had something to say. “Not to interrupt, but does anyone want to lend Will another soul fragment? If ULTRAMagic is going to screw over Valentin, then we might want to expedite the process.”
“You read my mind, Jack,” Faustus replied. “Now let’s see if I can do this… how does it go?” He began snapping his fingers, trying to do something.
“You don’t have to do that for me, Faustus…” Will started to say.
He then got an orange flame to appear in his hand. “Ha, there we go! Champ, I insist… especially after what just happened.”
“Alright then…” Will took the fragment into him. This one gave him a slight spicy sensation on his tongue. “Agh, weird…”
Sam realized that Will was almost done at that point and patted him on the back. “Almost there, Will.”
“Oh? Thanks, Sam. So nurse, am I good to go?”
After reporting to Antares and getting a very concerned dressing down from the captain, Will went back to Reynard’s quarters. Will’s energy and mood was somewhat drained from the encounter at the construction site, as it was incredibly overwhelming. While he did not have any overt nightmares that night, his dreams were incredibly surreal. They kept waking him up, preventing him from sleeping. Eventually he got to a point where he could not close his eyes. His heart was beating rapidly and his mind was incredibly hyper.
Glancing over to Sam, she was fast asleep, so she would not notice if he got up. Will calmly left the room and quietly shut the door behind him. It was four in the morning, which meant the sun was nowhere near up yet. In the dark of the living room, he noticed the lounge above the kitchen was illuminated. Curious, Will made his way up the winding, metal stairs.
The lounge was fairly modest, consisting of a couch, several recliners, and a nice flat screen television. VHS tapes and DVD cases lined the wall, with multiple photos and small portraits hanging above them. There was even a neon tube lined clock that looked fantastic amongst the setup. Reynard was finishing up a movie and seemed to be drinking what smelled like root beer when he noticed his drowsy guest.
“Oh, hello, Will. Can’t sleep?”
Will yawned. “Uh huh, sorry if I bothered you…” he began to head back down.
“No, it’s alright. Come and sit.”
The couch creaked a little as Will sat down, but it was comfy regardless. “My dreams are all screwy tonight.”
“I can imagine how you feel, given what you just went through,” Reynard said as he reclined a little on the opposite end of the couch. “Will, I have to ask: Why’d you do it? You know Valentin’s been gunning for you since day one.”
“I don’t know, I just felt stronger because of the soul fragments. Plus there was the dummy thing…”
“I can’t fault that boldness, and what is bravery without a dash of recklessness? You need to know your strength and pick your battles wisely, however.”
“Well, I did create a pretty big fireball…”
“True, but do you think you could do that again?”
“Not at the moment.”
Reynard paused. “You should listen to Trumna more often… but on the other hand, how are you supposed to know your limits if you don’t test them? Sometimes we have to be brought to our lowest to reach our highest.”
“I take it that happened to you?”
“A long, long time ago.”
“How long?”
Reynard shifted a little in his seat. “Let’s just say before the Cosmos was properly formed.”
“So you are one of those primordials everybody has been mentioning?”
“I was The Sulfur of Old. One day I got together with my wife, The Mercury of Old, to create three children. They were The Fear, The Hunger, and The Child of Old. And in case you’re wondering, Jack and Mary have nothing to do with those three.”
“Okay, so what happened to you?”
“God wasn’t thrilled about our little project as primordial children were off limits. In hindsight I don’t blame him. Eventually The Evangelist and Watchman of Old showed up to revoke our honors and we were ordered to reincarnate. As for our kids, God let them go as they had done nothing wrong. The Fear and Hunger are still running around, with Hunger even helping to keep the Cosmos safe. As for The Child, he actually chose to reincarnate, ending up in Atlantis, I believe.”
Will was amazed. “Wow… so what happened to your wife?”
“Are you familiar with Erika Storm over at the Liger Brigade?”
“Oh, I see. So do you regret all of that stuff you did?”
Reynard stretched a little. “It took me a while to realize that on one hand I don’t regret creating my first three kids. On the other hand, we did cause God a lot of trouble. The takeaway? Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. They will always lead to learning and bettering yourself. Don’t beat yourself up over Valentin, but also be a little more careful next time.”
Will smiled. “Me and Faustus will definitely have to figure out what that fireball spell was.”
“That’s the spirit. Hey, I was in the mood for a little Top Gear. Want to watch some episodes?”
“Sure. I was watching some compilations on the web and they were hilarious…”
Sam woke up later on to find that Will was not beside her. Fortunately he was at the island countertop eating breakfast when she stuck her head out of the bedroom. She was worried about him, but Will assured her he was okay. It was just a bout of anxiety at most. Sam still gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek regardless.
Later that day, Bran pulled Will aside to his laboratory. Vlastimir, Ekaterina, Mayhem, and Faustus were already there. Accompanying all of them was Sirius Fractal, who was tinkering with one of Bran’s machines. Seeing him up and doing stuff was just as bizarre as before. Will was not sure back when he first met him, but now he could quantify what he saw. Fractal was like a figment of a dream manifesting in the real world. His movements were surreal and it seemed like he could vanish at any moment.
Fractal noticed Will and turned to face him. “Ah, Will, you’re finally here. Have a seat.”
“So what’s up?”
“Sirius is going to spill the beans on Valentin’s magic,” Bran answered as he sat down at his big desk. “Took him long enough…”
“Well to be fair, Bran, I needed more data to confirm my suspicions…”
“Aren’t you supposed to be 5th or 6th dimensional?”
“I’m 0 Dimensional, Mr. Lommel.”
“Potato tomato…”
Fractal gave him a slightly displeased look, then went to get a chalkboard. He quickly drew a diagram that depicted a process that could keep going. “We’ve all seen Valentin’s magic by now. Those weird cards seem to do everything, but what are they? The answer is Hex Magic!”
Will nodded. “Reynard mentioned that to Jack. Self-perpetuating magic he said.”
“Precisely. Invented by Delphine, The Discordant God of Desire, hexes are a lesser form of curse magic, which were sealed away from the Cosmos. These spells can compel an individual to perform a spell even if they have no magic potential whatsoever. You can see why this magic is widely regarded as forbidden.”
“That is… what even?” Will was amazed, yet confused.
“Vexation, the creator of curses, was teaching Blood how to do them before we left The Iron City,” Vlastimir added. “No idea if he pulled it off though.”
“Well I heard from Tusk a while back that Blood-Wraith had gotten the hang of it,” Mayhem pointed out.
“Awesome!” Ekaterina said as she high fived Vlastimir. “We’ll have to congratulate him next time we see him.”
Mayhem cleared his throat. “In regards to hexes, Delphine likes to hand out decks to people she deems worthy. Aureolus of the ULTRAMagic Guild has one… which makes Valentin’s deck a bit confusing.”
“So wait, Mayhem, you’ve encountered this magic before?” Will inquired.
“Yes.”
“Then what happened at the construction site?”
Mayhem took a second to speak, processing his thoughts. “Well despite going toe to toe with Delphine before, she doesn’t actually use hex magic. I’ve also not properly fought a hex caster until now…”
“So it’s a skill issue?” Bran interjected. He got another displeased look, but Bran responded with a cheeky smile. The others quietly chuckled.
“Anyways, as for Valentin, I didn’t expect him to attack Faustus and I. I’ve mostly fought Wulfric in the past, who is honorable to a tee. Delphine also shares in this honor, for the most part.”
“So are we up against a wall with Valentin?” Faustus asked, a degree of concern in his voice.
“No. Valentin may be powerful, but he’s still human at the end of the day. Besides, I’ve faced many foes in my time…”
“Despite the skill issue?” Bran interrupted again.
“WOULD YOU STOP?” Mayhem snapped.
Bran fell back in his chair laughing. “Sorry, I’ll stop, I’ll stop.”
Mayhem took an exasperated breath. “I have faced many foes in my time and he doesn’t peg me as the type to repeat something that doesn’t work.”
“Well of course you wouldn’t” Bran stated. “An experiment done with the same parameters is going to yield the same results as before. Valentin is going to do something different now that he knows we're on to him.”
“A good point indeed, Bran” Fractal complimented.
“So what do we do now then?” Will wondered.
“Well since you’re one fragment away from ULTRAMagic, I’d say that’s our best bet,” Fractal replied. “Mages with ULTRAMagic seem to be resistant to curses and hexes, on account of them being able to comprehend any form of magic. Not immune, but able to figure out what’s going on.”
Vlastimir had an idea, but needed to think about it for a second. “You know, Eka? I wonder if Will would be able to learn void magic. It is very similar to necromancy…”
She also thought about it. “It’s a shame we can’t get a hold of Aureolus or Dunja at the moment…”
Faustus nervously chuckled. “Guys, let’s not put the cart before the horse here. Will still needs to master necromancy, nevermind ULTRAMagic or void magic. Once he gets the hang of fire, I’m bringing Mira in so he can get the hang of ice.”
“A good idea, Fastus,” said Mayhem. “Having him master opposing forces could vastly bolster his learning of other types of magic.”
“Opposing? Boy, have you been hanging out with the chaos nutters that think everything is chaos? Fire releases energy and ice absorbs energy. They go hand in hand!”
Mayhem laughed. “Fair point, Faustus. Fair point indeed.”
“Speaking of mastering some magic, I was also looking to study Will’s soul a bit” Fractal clarified. “I have some exercises in mind that could help, if you’re interested, Will.”
“Sure, Sirius…”
“Ah ah ah!” Bran cut in, standing up and putting his hands on the desk. “Not in the lab.”
Fractal chuckled. “Of course not, Bran. I was looking at one of the training rooms for these activities.”
“Welp, I’m game,” Faustus said as he got up. “Come on, Champ, we got work to do. Lead the way, Mr. Fractal.”
“Very good,” he replied. “All of you are welcome to come with us. The more data the merrier.”
Vlastimir stood up, eager to go along. “Coming! Eka?”
“Sure. I’ve been wanting to show Will what my ribbons can do, after all.”
Bran sighed with a chuckle. “I got nothing else better to do today, so count me in too.”
Next: Chapter 17
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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