Eli POV

“No, keep your mind empty. Don’t think about the rest of the craft, just the shape you’re trying to make, be it a circle, square, triangle, or connecting line” I said to Salamede on the opposite side of me from our table as the couch and fireplace were behind her as the shifting shadows from the flames played across the black marble of our walls with the occasional bit of white.

We were on the first floor of our home eating our breakfast two days after my arrival back home, or at least I was. The steaming bowl of oatmeal Salamede had made for herself went unattended to her right as she worked a finger over a plain wooden board that was lit under the mana lamp above on the ceiling. Her grey furred head had an eager expression with a biting lip and the movements of her human, grey skinned hand had the intensity of a painter working on the piece that would define their legacy. Which was quite unnecessary considering she was using a plain wooden board as the bones of a watercraft to create a water triangle, like the first craft I had made for her.

Come the morning after my arrival from the expedition out west, Salamede had told me about how she was rendered unconscious for nearly a whole day after I left. Cell had been content to let her sleep in, thinking she was just depressed, and it wasn’t until later that night when she still didn’t wake up that Cell went to get Veronica’s bird familiar Chattox to see about bringing Veronica or a doctor in. When they had gotten back, Salamede was already awake.

Which was good because Salamede might have started talking about how she saw blue flickering lights wafting around the sky with a person who we weren’t ready to let hear that information. The golden mana from necrosis was the wind and water elements combined into their dual healing element. But the plain blue mana had no element, which meant her crafter eyes could see it. Cell told me she yelled and whooped that she was a mage when he used his image communication to tell her what her seeing mana meant.

Of course, I hadn’t been getting her magically enhanced meats or plants. After I explained to the new mage how magical growth actually worked, about how it only involved mana enhanced food not rituals, sacrifices, or complex equations, there was a moment of confusion. Which was when she looked down between my legs. We both had a good laugh when we realized where she had gotten her ‘magical resources’ from. But even so, I felt like I had gotten the better part of the deal at the end of the day.

“I know, it’s just really hard to think about just the one piece and not what it feeds into.” Salamede pouted as she looked up at me with puckered lips. Her eyes, even though they were pure white, showed irritation in her flared snout that had a white nose ridge.

“It takes practice. I know it’s frustrating at first, but I can make a crafting pod like they have at the school. Once you get it down, you’ll be able to make crafts out in the field in a few minutes.” I said encouragingly as I ate the last of my oatmeal and gulped down the rest of my water from the mug. “I’ll look more into magical growth rates and food. If it’s semi-plausible that I could have gotten enough resources to make you a mage are you sure you want to enroll at the academy?”

“Yes!” Her two ivory horns sticking straight up swung with her vigorous nod. I took a deep breath as I felt a ball of worry drop into my stomach.

“Salamede. I love you.” I said as I put a hand across the table to hold her right one. Her face softened even as her grey fur hid any blush on the smooth cheeks of her human shaped face. “And I only want what is best for you. You marrying the quad mage has created a lot of hatred for you. You having the quad mage get you enough magical resources to join the ranks of mages may send a mob at our door, to say nothing of how horrendous your treatment at the academy will be. Are you absolutely sure this is what you want?”

She got up from her seat and came around the table. Wearing her typical green dress, she carefully lifted her left leg over my blue and white student robe covered lap and sat down on me. Placing her arms around my neck, she took a moment to plant a light kiss on my lips before pulling back, leaving her sweetness on my tongue.

“I want this more than anything I’ve ever wanted that wasn’t named Eli. But I’d rather be a peasant Kelton woman than bring you grief. Now is not the right time for me to enroll, absolutely, but maybe a few months or years from now, when things have calmed down, I could become an official mage. Ancestors, Eli! A Kelton mage! I’m already a community hero for wedding you. Becoming a mage myself? Oh, I’d be a local legend for generations to come, to say nothing of what I could accomplish with that status. Yes, I desperately want this, but only when it’s safe to do so. Especially if my mother is going to be moving in once we work out the details.”

That was the other item that we had discussed. Her mother was older, getting lonely staying in her house all by herself, and apparently paying for the house all on her sole income was becoming a tight thing. It seemed like Salamede expected me to object, probably over the end to our many escapades around the house, but the small brown furred Kelton woman was my wife’s mother and I had no intention of seeing her left uncared for.

My wife had bit her lip in silence before she took me into a deep hug and rubbed her quivering snout over my shoulder, blubbering on with barely coherent words about how great a man I was. The happy memory brought a smile to my face as I nodded and rubbed my cheeks against hers, relishing the soft feel of her body on mine. Her growth into being a crafter was actually a good thing, despite my initial worries. The more powerful Salamede was the easier it would be on me when I wasn’t around to protect her.

“Good,” I said with a squeeze on her bum, trying to just be happy she had this new development to help keep her mind off the potential execution in the future. “Now I need to go. They’re releasing the results for our performance today and conducting the ceremony for official graduation two days from now. We’ll need to get you a new dress for the occasion sometime tomorrow. Tell me if your trips knocking on lawyers’ doors produces anything.”

“Once I’m done with that, I’ll have to go to mother to work out a contract to rent the house out and decide on a nice dress for the graduation ceremony. It’ll probably be well into the late afternoon before I get back.”

“That’s fine, Cell and I will continue working on the airship. Got to work out some kind of thrust mechanism. I’m on the very edge of finishing the balloon and the next item is the impact wind enchantments.” As I moved to get up, Salamede pushed the table back and got on her knees as she pulled up the white inner robe of my student outfit and hooked another hand around my white underwear.

“Woah, Eli. I still haven’t gotten second breakfast.” Salamede scolded like I was a child who forgot to take out the trash, with just a hint of playfulness.

“But you haven’t even finished your first breakfast.” I teased, looking towards her untouched bowl of oatmeal.

‘I’m in the mood for dessert first,’ She said in a spirit connection as I felt the wet heat of her mouth envelope my manhood. Her attack was so swift and vicious I had to quickly lean forward to grip the table while maneuvering my arms around the wild swing of her horns as she shot back and forth like a high-powered piston. I had found out the previous morning she would knock me backwards over the chair and be perfectly content to continue her work in that position.

Oh, yes, I was definitely the winning party when it came to her ascension as a crafter. Mages the world over were known for their all-consuming obsession over magical resources, and as I walked out of the front door with a slight limp and irrepressible grin, it occurred to me that Salamede could be as greedy as the worst of them. Sadly, the fast wind and bitter cold knocked that satisfaction right out of me as I took the first step out of my happy little corner of the world. My robes provided some protection and my metal mask that I had slipped on provided more than most people got, but winter wanted to make sure everyone knew it was here as snow blanketed the field with only the occasional bit of golden mana seeping out.

The trip passed with a nervous energy gripping the students. The men didn’t scowl at me, nor did the girls try for a touch. As we got into the metal carriages, everyone was a mess of biting lips and hand rubbing. With the flower in the middle of the carriage roof barely keeping the carriage livable, we all immediately rushed inside through the wide double doors of the main classroom tower in a mini stampede. It was one of those rare days where studying wasn’t really the point of the academy.

Tansen was already here, up on the top floor going over the reports and staff recommendations from our trip in the same room that I first showed off my new crafts to become a mage-in-training. Still, while I waited for my turn, I went about looking for every book about the intake of magical resources and how it affected the growth of the body’s ability to handle mana.

It was a surprisingly difficult thing to pin down. The two biggest variables were the amount of mana enhancement the food had undergone, and the individuals own inherent ability to grow their magical abilities. The same water-element deer that could make two people crafters might make three or only one person grow into crafters depending on the individuals involved. Add in the complication of Salamede being another species, and I was well on my way to nowhere when I was finally called up to the top floor near mid-day.

Coming up the massive central staircase, I finally made it to the room. It was a massive white wall covering the right side of the floor, a bright contrast with the towers typical inner grey stone color. Going through the oak door, I saw the same leather wrapped stones on the red carpet that helped stop sound from getting out with their air enchantments. Going further down a narrow hallway, I went through the next door on the right and into the wide room.

In the middle of the wide, white walled room was a dark oak table with my inspectors sitting behind it, only this time Tansen had Aki on the left and Agatha on the right.

“Morning, Eli” Tansen called, wearing his black and sapphire kimono. His black eyebrows were raised in eager anticipation as his brown eyes shimmered in the soft glow of the mana lamps along the ceiling. His black shoulder length hair twirled as he looked to the left and right and picked up the papers in front of him when his two companions nodded. Although I noticed clear irritation in Agatha’s face, her sharp cheek bones having a few strands of blond hair from her bun over them and her typical black working dress. Aki, however, got the first word in.

“This meeting is here to discuss your assessment. Your work on the expedition was incredible.” The old man said with a smile that barely showed below his puffy white beard and mustache. His brown eyes got a look of irritation with him turning towards Agatha’s irritated sigh ruffling his previously immaculate blue and white striped robes.

“Incredible is certainly… a word.” Agatha said, her blue eyes taking me in like I was an enigma “One problem that cropped up was his lack of decorum for his station. A mage serving the servants will leave a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths.”

Tansen interrupted with a polite cough.

“We are here to assess his magical abilities, that is all.” His sweet smile molded his goatee, even as a hint of steel crept into his voice. Agatha, however, didn’t bother hiding her true feelings as red crept up her face.

“Of course that’s what we’re judging. Because if we weren’t the only reports we would have on him would be covered with ‘Hasn’t sired any children’ in big red letters.” She said with a flare in her nose. Aki’s long grey hair shifted as he moved forward to look past Tansen at her.

“That is how it’s always been. Eli could walk out of here and immediately start blasting women and children in the street, and as long as he did so with competence, it would cause no stain on our reputation. Now, if he was still a student, sure. Our asses would be boiled. But he isn't a student anymore. The Diamond academy approving someone for graduation, like all academy graduations, is based on their skills, not how they use them or their overall moral character.”

Agatha leaned over closer to Tansen to look Aki in the eyes.

“Well, I suppose if one of the most important obligations Eli has as a mage means absolutely nothing, then he’s fine to graduate.”

Tansen leaned back with his hands over his stomach before he finished the conversation with a happy tone.

“I’m so glad we could all come to an agreement. Your skills are without question, as demonstrated on the expedition and many times over on other occasions. Your time in these halls has come to an end. But know that as a graduate, you will always have access to our books, though payments will have to be prepared if you still want to eat at the canteen’s. If you were a typical student, we would have grilled you harder on your failings, if only we had some aspect of your crafts or spell technique we could criticize. And if my hopes do bear fruit and you do apply to an association, know that they will be far harsher on your lack of bedtime vigor. But that is for another time. You will be at the front of the graduation ceremony with Ryan, Andrew, Jeff, and Veronica. Do you have any idea who you want to accompany you on this most momentous of occasions?”

“My wife, obviously” Agatha got a sour look at that, but I plowed ahead, “And probably her mother. We’re going to go shopping tomorrow for a new dress, but aside from that, I’ll be wearing my usual hawk armor.”

That got an approving nod from Tansen and Aki, though Agatha still had a put-out expression.

“But there is one item I wanted to discuss, with the Coalition trying to kill my wife -“

“Eli,” Tansen said with a very quick lean forward and hardening face. “Execution is just a possibility at this moment. It is entirely feasible that no charges of any kind will be levied against her. An outcome we are using every possible resource to make happen, I assure you.”

I nodded, making sure to not grimace, even if it would be hidden under my metal mask.

“Efforts I greatly appreciate, but I would still like to know when the vote is to take place.” I replied.

The academy head sighed as he turned to Aki, who coughed into his hand before speaking.

“It appears they’re trying to work their charge of treason against Salamede in with the bill to officially remove your censor. Congressional procedure is a tricky art and I feel somewhere between one week or a month would be a good estimate. But such things have typically been beyond our purview and the answers we’re getting are often second or third removed from the congress members themselves.”

A tired sigh was my response. Shaking away my worries, I kept my mind on the things I could do: work on the air ship and see what Gula would say about my letter. I had sent it after my welcome home from Salamede and I should be getting a response today or tomorrow, if she responded immediately.

My question answered yet still left unsatisfied, I nodded to the three and turned around to leave the room. After catching a quick steak with rolls from the canteen, I headed back home to continue my work. The air ship had its balloon finished before dinner and I had made good progress on the impact enchantments as I pushed my meal past the setting of the sun.

After a long afternoon of testing, I rewarded myself with a nice steaming bowl of meaty stew and ale from the dwarves stall but brought them home to enjoy on the couch while I looked at the flames pushing back the cold of winter. Cell was still down stairs working on the impact enchantment with particular enthusiasm while I did some rough calculations in my head.

“The square foot of the balloons space would allow for thrusters of sever-“

A thunderous crash and burst of wind laced with the crisp air of verdant spring from my left interrupted my idle calculations. The splinters of wood and bits of iron that flew around the room said it was the door. By the time I looked up, my newest house guests were already in the room.

Tall with clothes that showed an inhuman skill in tailoring as their brown and green vests, robes, and pants fluttered about their bodies, the blades they displayed showed a similar craftsmanship with flowing vines and leaves embroidered in the shining steel of their single sided swords. Craftsmanship I could witness up close and personal as one of their members put a blade an inch away from my neck. This one had long brown hair, with multicolored eyes that shifted between light purple, green, pink, turquoise, and gold in the irises all at once on different parts of the eye. That and the impossibly smooth porcelain skin with sharp ears told me all I needed to know.

“If the elves were so eager to visit-“

His left open palm shot out with like whip, moving at such speeds I was only just able to track his hand with my eyes as it struck my cheek with a crack and sharp sting.

“Humans ought to know their place.” He spat on me as he did so, looking at me like I was a bug who got in between his favorite shoe’s treads as his puckered lips above his sharp chin emphasized his disdain. “Speak when spoken to.” The other elves nodded, a man and a woman.

Arrogant, fast and strong. Probably even stronger in magic.

Cell was the wild card here. The plank by the door wasn’t the only thing that made a sound to let us know inhabitants were here. There was two thin leather strips hidden in the door that would set off another sound like that of crashing wood through the whole building, letting Cell in the basement know we had unwelcome visitors.

“Beleg!” someone shouted from the door.

Looking past the elf in front of me, I saw Dior coming through the scattered remains of my door. Behind him came a small procession of regular humans wielding crude weapons and more elves, two women and three men. The elf with long blonde hair, deep green eyes, and tan skin looked furious as he took out a small dagger.

“What are you doing?! This was supposed to be a diplomatic visit to the quad mage.” Dior said, his blond hair having a few strands flowing around his sharp cheek bones as the rest of the elves just looked at him like an annoyance.

“Diplomatic is a flexible word. Belom decided it was better to bring this prize home rather than risk leaving him out of our grasp” Beleg said with a nasty scowl.

“Kidnapping is not a form of official diplomacy. Do not besmirch house-“

Beleg spat at Dior as well.

“Just because lord Aeson recognizes you as his son, don’t think that means your opinion carries the same weight as ours. You deformed thing.” There was a real scorn in the multicolored eyes of him and the other elves. “You were tolerated because you knew the local lands enough to get us here and emissary Eldrin is too important to risk on a matter such as this. Though it appears the quad mage is not the dragon we thought he could be.”

Sadly, the switch I had to set off the stone spikes that would kill these people was by the fireplace. I had set up the main trap thinking that a near full two inches of iron in the door would leave me more than enough time set it off, but the near mythical nature of elves had left no real way to measure their strengths.

Not that fortifying against elves would have been high on my to-do list even if I did have that information, considering they know nothing of my true history. Fortunately, I wasn’t totally unprepared for this occurrence. I felt the faint spirit connection from Cell telling me he was in the small tube hidden in the back-left corner of the wall which allowed him to move between floors undetected. If I was going to do this, it was as good a time as any to start.

“But what about his brother? Surely the one who was sent to calm the heart of his beloved Albine, Abniss, Albina… Oh I can’t remember what her name was, but surely Dior being sent to find such an ambitious personality would mean he holds some great value?” I asked nonchalantly.

All the elves stopped looking towards Dior and turned their gazes on me.

“What do you know of him?” Beleg said, his voice a low menace as he put his blade up against my neck. Dior stood behind him, looking at me with a blank, unreadable expression.

“Only what his journal said.” I replied with a small smile.

The elves were looking at me with stunned expressions as Beleg stood still, clearly weighing his options until he finally spoke.

“And where, pray tell, is that?”

I swung my eyes to the staircase a few feet behind the couch I was sitting on.

“You humans,” Beleg called without taking his gaze off me for a second. “Head upstairs. After we’re done, you can take whatever you want our of this… place.”

The scruffy men looked nervously at the elves before they shuffled up the staircase in a skittish line. Once the last of them went up the stairs and no blood or screams followed, Beleg motioned with his head for me to get up. Leaving my meal on the couch, I slowly got up to stand at my full height.

“One speck of mana absorbed, one errant move of your hand, and my blade will forever be known as ‘quad mage killer’.” Beleg warned as he kept his shining steel trained on me. I felt the threat was a bit late in our dance but when the tip of his blade produced a bit of blood on my chest from him using it to push me forward, I suppose being late in the delivery didn’t make it less deadly.

We moved up the stairs, the pounding of footsteps and movement of their human members being completely obvious. The elves could be compared to a procession of ethereal wraiths in the soft glow of the mana lamps above as they remained almost totally silent following behind me, a comparison that fell short only due to the smell of virulent nature that covered them. Some of the humans were perusing the mannequins holding the armors, stomping on the copper floor with confused expressions, or poking at the various scattered wood and metal bits laying around the place as three of the scavengers slinked their way upstairs.

“Where?” Beleg asked impatiently.

I nodded towards the chest in the right corner on the stone part of the floor that covered it and a good foot from the stairs going up and down.

“You,” Beleg motioned to one of the men working my armor and towards the chest. He was a buff man with short brown hair who didn’t look thrilled to be the one testing the potentially explosive chest, but he did as he was bidden. The elves put up water shields while the men rushed upstairs to safety. When the goon got up to the chest, he stood awkwardly beside it as he worked its latch off it. After a moment of hesitation, he threw open the lid and skirted back in anticipation.

When it was clear he wouldn’t be blasted into a thousand bloody chunks, he moved to the front of the chest and ruffled through it. After a few moments of perusing the chest and moving aside the blankets on top of it, the man pulled out the fine silver circlet crown. Beleg sucked in a deep breath behind me. That was until he grabbed my right shoulder and slammed me against the wall. Another pair of hands took my shoulders holding me against the black marble with white flecks and streaks.

Ah, good. I was just a foot from one white streak with a slight scratch in the middle. That was one of several places where you could push spirit magic into the wall with the phrase ‘flow’ being repeated constantly. Acting as a hidden switch, it would feed a mana battery into a metal enchantment craft that would shift the power from the forges heating coils into the copper floor. Beleg walked up and cut off the head of his grunt with a casual swipe of his blade through the air, even as no hint of emotion came from him as he took the crown from the dead man’s hands.

The rest of the humans scurried upstairs in fear while the elves looked at Beleg, who was now leaning into the chest and rummaging its contents. Which stopped when he found the greyish green book with gold leaf designs. Sadly, the elves weren’t mindless grunts and the one behind me still had their arms on me.

Beleg’s long brown hair swirled with his eyes browsing the books contents. Reading the book was clearly affecting his mood, despite his utter silence. His shoulders rose and fell with increasing intensity as his breathing now became audible from my side of the room. As he did so, I made sure to quietly use my internal mana generation to fuel summon spells for small bits of dirt under my feet. He suddenly turned around and looked towards his group.

“Aetha, Eroan, get upstairs and go over everything.” He growled as his eyes then, surprisingly, turned on Dior as two of the elves walked away from the other five.

“What? What ‘s the news of my brother?” Dior asked as he came up beside the chest, looking at me suspiciously then towards his friend Beleg. Who responded by scowling at him and looking like he wanted to stab him with the sword he now gripped with white knuckles.

“So, that’s where it’s been going.” Beleg growled, now seemingly feral as spit flew out of his math. The change was so sudden and pure even the other elves raised their immaculate eyebrows in surprise.

Dior’s green eyes went wide in confusion as he took the book and started reading it as Beleg stood there, getting angrier and angrier.

“What are-“

“Master’s stone!” Beleg yelled.

That brought the elves to a complete stillness as even their compatriots right by the stairs were stunned.

Dior furrowed his blonde eyebrows as he got a hurt look from something in the book and turned back to Belegs’ quickly reddening face as the brown haired elf’s verbal skills struggled to re-engage.

“Your family has been hoarding it. That’s…. Oh it wasn’t just luck that saw your house flourish. You-“

At that I felt the hands of my captor leave my back as he and several others tensely stood around sizing each other up. As fascinating as elven politics is, it didn’t quite beat staying alive.

Sending my spirit magic into the recession in the wall, a wave of heat filled the room. Looking behind me, the elves were frozen in place as their muscles locked from the volts pumping through their bodies. The elves by the stairs and chest were too shocked to react at first, which gave Cell more than enough time to drop out of a hole in the back left corner of the ceiling and shove the one closest to the copper floor with a blast of stone.

That brought on the waft of searing flesh as the elves skin burned and their clothes slowly smoked, before proper flames whipped up the quickly blackening clothes. Smoke from the wooden bits on the floor joined the wafting black air coming off the elves and looking over the whole group I saw… Dammit!

There was one silver haired one with a sharp chin in the back who wasn’t quite on the copper floor. Whoever these elves were, they were certainly well trained. He hadn’t stupidly rushed in to save his friends and instead started sucking in mana to prepare a spell. I tried to summon a stone block to crush him, but the elves unnatural speed meant I got the spell out just as he summoned a huge water blade.

It cut through the grey stone block like butter and it was only my initial advantage of surprise that let me jump off the dirt and onto the table, whose legs had been given stone stumps that wouldn’t conduct the electricity. I sucked as much of the mana from my opponents’ side of the room as I could. While he did the same and his target was far less mobile, my simple plan required less casting time. A crude spell to summon a thick slab of stone blocked his vision of the rest of the fight and the crack that suddenly ran up and down it told me he couldn’t quite get through it in one blast.

Turning around, I saw Dior and Beleg in a vicious struggle. Beleg seemed to have the advantage in raw strength, but the blood and small cuts all over him said Dior’s dagger was the better weapon in the cramped space where death was only one step away and Beleg seemed unbalanced at the revelation of the journal and the loss of his companions. Cell was facing off against the elven woman by the stairs, who was desperately trying to stab the weird black blob of geometry and its crystal sphere with two small dual blades. The faint shifting colors in Cell’s body would always turn to the wind mana green and allows him to shoot up and down at breakneck speed at the last moment. Still, he wasn’t being given the ability to launch any kind of counterattack.

I pushed past the smell of now properly burning flesh and launched a water blade at the woman. Her incredible reflexes allowed her to easily shift her head up to avoid decapitation, but that gave Cell the opening he needed to get down and behind her left leg. He summoned stone spikes to impale her right leg against the wall as he sucked out her life force with a vampiric healing spell.

Before I could decide how to kill the woman screaming and pulling her ruined leg away from the wall, a sharp crack behind me said my opponent had gotten through. He sent the stone all over the floor with a water blade and I saw the blue mana construct above his right hand, presumably preparing another one for me. Jumping off, I landed by the stairs, just out of arm’s length of the now shriveled and weaker woman, who was uselessly trying to get a vampiric healing spell on Cell as he zipped around her body.

The faint whistle in front of me prompted me to shift further right as a huge horizontal water blade just barely clipped my left shoulder, slamming into the wall behind me with a loud crunch and the rending of steel. My opponent then made his way across the room using the stones scattered all over the floor. One earth spell from me shoved the broken wall further back, but he was close enough to push off the last stone and make it all the way across the smoke and body filled room with a cat-like leap. His swordsmanship didn’t falter even then, as he kept the tip of his steel blade trained on my head as he came down.

Cell sent a fireball at him, forcing him to awkwardly shift in midair. I was preparing some nice stone spikes for him to land onto, but this time my spell craft wasn’t fast enough. The silver haired elf slammed into me with his back turned and towards what I thought would be the wall by the bedroom staircase. But the sudden night sky above me, biting cold, and twisting stomach said I was falling out of the tower now. Finishing the spike spell, I shot them into his back as he fell above me. Sadly, the elves cloth, while still vulnerable to fire and electricity, had a toughness of something closer to steel as the spikes slammed into the flowing green cloth without leaving a scratch on the flapping cloth.

He responded with another water blade, which only missed me because I kicked the left hand he was going to launch it from upward. Or downward. The constant interchange of the starry sky and the snow covered ground as we fell made it hard to orient myself. The sudden crack and splintering of stone above my head from the part of the house lawn he hit told me we were approaching land very soon.

When I turned to get the air spell ready, he got a slapdash kick into one of my ribs, breaking it. That sent me further down and when I saw us going through a large hole in the stone floor, I could see surprise across his face as the vast cavernous expanse of my real workshop came into view with us falling from the grounds above. I gritted my teeth as I launched the air spell I had been preparing, the sudden shift in momentum sending white hot agony through my chest as the broken rib protested.

Fortunately, the elf wasted his time sightseeing around the vast, dark, empty space where the only illumination was the starlight from the hole above. When he looked down and saw the rapidly approaching stone floor, I kicked him away. He was only a few feet from the ground when he got off his air spell. Even so, that elvish strength was the only reason he survived. Had he been human, that speed would have still shattered every bone in his body. My only consolation prize was the twisted pain in his face as his leg still got a nasty snap upon landing to the left of my airship. I managed to land a good distance in front of him, and as he looked over the air ship and the stone block now crushing the left side of its hull, I used that time to heal my rib pieces back together and suck all the mana I could out of the room. My reasoning being my internal mana generation could see me through this fight if I took out the ambient mana.

He wasn’t that distracted this time though. When he saw the mana in the room zipping away, he pulled out a bottle with red liquid inside his coat pocket and drank it. Whatever similarities it shared with the regular healing potions at the academy, they ended at the effectiveness as the visibly broken leg bone under the scuffed pants shifted and healed in the few seconds I had to suck in as much mana as I could.

Apparently, he decided to stop the water blade strategy for now and stuck to the tried and true method of stabbing the enemy to death. He rushed forward with a clear intention to end this fight in a single double handed slash. His run forward, however, was tripped up as I made the stone floor bend under his steps. Still, that damned elven strength and grace came through for him as he used it to push his foot through the hard stone with another sharp crack, only keeping him off balance as opposed to on the floor.

A swish accompanied his blade swing at my midsection with only a bare miss, the air filling with the elves smell of fresh spring as he got in close. But I didn’t give him the chance to try again when I sent a wall of flame over him. The flames barely singed his clothes before he got a water shield up but his moment on the back foot gave me the space I needed. I used more of the flames this time, putting a wide wall of the orange and red death in front of me and then mixed it with air spells. This bought me enough time to prepare for my killing blow. Behind it I saw him hold off the flames with no effort at first, but when the heat suddenly spiked to furnace proportions, his water wall quickly bubbled away, and he abandoned a close offense as he leapt to the left.

He tried to summon more water blades with his right hand, but his time was now up. While he was holding off the flames, I prepared spells of nearly every variety. Lightning shot out from my right hand and hit another of his water blades before it could fully form even as pellets of white-hot flame shot off like firefly’s towards his left side, boiling the water shield he only just got up. Which was then thrown upwards when a metal spell twisted his sword hand. That meant it couldn’t block the wave of stone spikes, wind blades twisting around to his back, and steaming balls of water that burst into a searing mist on impact. To say nothing of trying to do this all while working around the mud I aimed at his feet.

I hammered him with a whirlwind of every easy, dumb spell I could think of as the orchestra of carnage sounded off and reverberated around the large room with sharp cracks and sizzles. One would be lethal to a human, two or three would be a test for what I could now vaguely guess was the elves abilities. But the sheer diversity of the barrage I was bearing down on him left no counter measure that his water element could properly stop, no matter how strong its elven user was. As his last water shield failed, I saw a look of anger and humiliation on his face when the realization he had lost finally came to him.

When his clothes burned away from the flames, he was quickly reduced to shredded meat. Yeah, his flesh was tougher than a human’s, but it appears flesh of any variety still has its limit. Aside from the bones, the only discernable bit of him left was the feet still stuck in the quickly disappearing mud.

I stood in the dark room, the only light coming from the hole in the ceiling above. The moment of rest was too precious not to take, so I took it, tasting the rapidly cooling air and feeling the soreness in my muscles from so much simultaneous spell casting. After the moment passed, I summoned a flame in my palm to light my path to the door on the right. As the orange flame played across the grey stone of the wall until I came to the door, I mentally prepared myself for whatever awaited me.

Going through the main underground entrance and up the hatch, I came back into the first floor. The door was still a thousand pieces, but I didn’t care. However, with the view now unobstructed, I saw a large crowd with torches in the distance. The light was too poor from this distance to make out much, but I could at least see a lot of the local guards and Tansen tensely standing in front of two elves, who were looking slightly nervous as their heads constantly shifted between the hole in the lawn and the tower when they weren’t looking at the people who dared challenge them. Satisfied that there were no elvish re-enforcements immediately out the door, I thought over what to do next.

Before I could even start the thought process, Cell came out of the hole in the left corner of the ceiling. My familiar sent a feeling of warmth to me before flooding my mind with the impression that Dior was still alive and Cell might need help taking him down if he fights back. He sent another sense of warmth to me and then shot back up through the hole in the corner and back to the middle floor.

Making my way up the oak staircase and back into my fake workshop, I was relieved to see the fight was over. The stone bits across the floor had since disappeared but the bodies weren’t magically slinking into nothingness as the smell of charred meat and smoke invaded my nostrils. The armor mannequins strewn about looked a little warm but at a glance I could tell the leather components that held all the enchantments were burned away and would have to be replaced.

Across the room in the right corner was Beleg, his clothes singed and the wounds from stone spikes in his body made it look like he was more hole’s than flesh, although the long cut around his throat was still entirely recognizable. To the left of the chest was Dior, on his knees with his hand behind his head. Cell was on his lap looking up at him before he turned to me. My familiar shot towards me with a wind spell as he hopped along the floor and onto my left shoulder.

He sent a few images to me. Cell had sucked a lot of the life out of the elven woman, but he underestimated how strong she still was and when he threw himself out the hole in the wall to help me, she got a good stab at his body. That had weakened him and while he was using a healing spell to repair the crack in his sphere, Dior was in danger of falling onto the electric copper floor. Cell rushed to shut the electric flow off by using the spirit magic in another one of the trigger spots, and from his wounded spot on the floor, he launched spells. The men upstairs decided that the dangerous blob being down and Dior being safe on the copper floor meant it was as good a time to escape as they were going to get, running out of the second floor in a mad panic as Cell shot spells around them, finishing the woman and distracting Beleg long enough for Dior to finish the job. Cell then rushed to check up on me. My familiar did a happy little rub against my neck with the completion of his story.

Nodding and giving his sphere a little pet, I looked over Dior. The blonde elf had his dagger on his left, far out of reach and I could see he wasn’t absorbing mana.

“Well, I would offer you some hospitality, but you’ve made yourselves so comfortable already.” I said tiredly.

Dior lifted his head and I could hear a sigh from his lips as he put his hands down on his legs. The elf looked as tired as I felt, and his lightly tanned skin had far more blood on it.

“Even in times such as this, you still play at the edge of humor? They were truly foolish to come here bearing ill-will. Especially when they didn’t even know your true magic level.” He said, his lips contorted into a small smirk as he made a meaningful look towards Cell.

“Indeed. But I want a little bit to think things over. So, silence please.” I said.

Dior happily obliged as he sat down on his hind and closed his eyes as I stood among the wreckage of my fake workshop.

Shit.

Salamede is probably a mess right now.

I pushed down that sickening worry and forced myself to focus on what would do the most good right now. Killing the two elves outside would be possible if I used some of my spell immune crafts or the leftover powder bomb, but that wasn’t a guaranteed thing and the strain of spell casting was starting to make itself known. Besides, not having an army of elves sent after me for this was another issue. Word of this incident was going to get out and the elves probably wouldn’t stand having a human mage who could challenge them. But this involved Elven culture and I had only gotten a piece of that in the exchange between Dior and Beleg. I cleared my throat, prompting the blond elf to open his eyes again. The serenity in those green eyes was something to aspire to.

“All right, I think you have somethings I need.” I said.

“What could I offer an ultimate mage?” He asked calmly.

I puckered my lips at that, feeling a sense of dread and the thrill of discovery. Here I was, bloody and battered, but the answer to all the mysteries that brought me here was delivered in one night.

“Ok, you know about ultimate mages, and that I am one. So, talk. What is with the necromancers? Why have-“

He put up a hand to interrupt me.

“You are clearly strong. Aldewan was amongst the best fighters we had, and yet it is you who stands here after your flight,” He said with a meaningful wave towards the big hole in the wall by the staircase. It was painful seeing my loving work reduced to ruin with a few steel beams sticking out of the hole. “Yet that doesn’t mean I have no means of defense. I’m sure you know what these events mean.”

“Yeah,” I huffed “You lot are going to raise an army to come and kill me, and I can’t very well protect myself, let alone the entire Kelton community, from your wrath, so I guess Aldewan might win in the end.”

He got a small smile in the corner of his lips.

“Ah, but that assumes they’ll think you’re responsible for all of their deaths. Or that we will have a stable enough government to raise such an army. Once the journal is exposed, a lot of us dying in a feud will be perfectly understandable.” He said with a playful tone.

I licked my lips as I thought it over, re-imagining the look of rage on Beleg’s face after he read the journal.

“That stuff in the book, exactly how bad is it, politically speaking?”

He extended his lips from the smile into a coy look.

“To say that the various leaders of our land would find the severed heads of their children to be a more welcome item at court would be a dramatic, yet not entirely untrue assertion.”

I gave a low whistle for a moment as I worked out my next question.

“But why would you let them discover it? Afterall, it’s your house that will bear the brunt of this and your brother’s widow has no doubt suffered greatly already. Are you really willing to put them through all that?”

His smirk grew into a proper smile.

“Abina is, or rather was, my betrothed.”

Ouch.

Looking him over now, that serenity wasn’t spiritual enlightenment, it was more like an arsonist musing on his favorite kindling.

“That my father knew of this, that he and my brother would apparently be so… amicable to my disappearance. Is… no. I have had enough. If my house is to burn, then I will be more than happy to provide the first spark.”

I clapped my hands together and forced a strained smile across my face.

“Great. Fantastic. Now if you could just spare a few words about the entire reason for my current existence, I would-“

Dior put up his hand again.

“I’m sorry. I will gladly betray my house, but betraying my whole species? No. Kill me if you’re willing to risk letting my father hide his activities and come baying for your head, but your arrival is not something that I can answer. There are somethings even one as lowly as I must abide.”

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment before looking at him with anger in my gaze. There was a moment where I was tempted to beat the answers out of him, but a fight between me and him would be a death sentence no matter the outcome. Once the last elves finally abandoned their posts to see what that fall out of the tower was about, or what was taking so long to finish kidnapping me, I would be too weak to defend myself even with the other tools here. To say nothing of losing my one chance to not get smeared on the road by an elven battalion at a later point. As frustrating as it was, the calculus of the situation demanded more words than action.

“Well, you see that kind of puts me in a bit of trouble since, as much as I respect cultural boundaries, I didn’t exactly have a choice when that bit of cultural heritage sucked me in through the great expanse of death. When they find out I’m an ultimate mage, they will come down even harder to make sure I’m dead“

This time, Dior just laughed. It was a lighthearted thing, like someone had told a joke he hadn’t heard before and it managed to get a light chuckle from its prey.

“I will not answer questions about your arrival, but I suppose questions about your own body are not unreasonable. No, them knowing you are an ultimate mage will not make them more eager to catch you. In fact, they will be even more reluctant to take action.”

I raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him, looking him up and down, for what I couldn’t say.

“And what math did you perform to reach that conclusion?” I demanded.

“Do you know why escaped ultimate mages only stay around for two or so years?”

I took a moment to think, biting my lip as I mulled over that previously innocuous question.

“I assumed it was because that’s typically how long it takes for an exposed ultimate mage’s organization to get infiltrated and then the people who brought them here kill them, or when they have to actually fight but they’ve overestimated themselves, or-“

“Do you think the only failsafe for dealing with your kind was whatever guards were on premises? That such a great and powerful secret was safeguarded by a dozen thugs in robes?” He asked flatly with a raised right eyebrow.

I stared at him for a moment, taking in all that sentence implied.

“Dior, as much as I love your company, keeping me in suspense like this is rather rude.” I said with a strained smile.

“Your body. We don’t fully understand the process ourselves, but eventually your body breaks down from mana generation and reticence in using it will do nothing to stop what’s coming. How long that takes is more likely to be four or five years as most ultimate mages don’t make as big of a mess of things as you have, at least not as quickly. But that is ultimately what will happen. In the early days, an elven emissary will whisper about the problems in years to come.

A scoff and a handwave will usually rebuff such words, often with their recipient expounding on the limitless power and prestige they have been given. But, inevitably, the aches surrounding every bone set in. Their skin starts to feel like it’s on fire whenever they make mana and their eyes become unable to see mana. They are by all accounts crippled, but the outward appearance of their body is the same as their earliest memories of this world. When this happens, those words, so mocked and dismissed, are then remembered and we elves who spoke them now have the only thing the ultimate mage needs: the medicine to freely live.

But take heart, Eli. We have studied this and, again for reasons unknown to us, healing mages typically get a few more years on the rest of their kin.”

I’m sure the medicine that they never come back from using is quite effective. Or perhaps truly effective depending on what it’s actually intended for.

As far as bad news goes, it wasn’t the worst. That put everything on a time limit, but once the AI chips were fixed, cloning facilities could be done in short order afterwards. Sure, Salamede might have to carry a five-year-old version of me on her back for a while if this degradation couldn’t be held off with cloning certain bits of my body one at a time, but it was completely doable in the time frame given. And if it kept the premier power of this world from breathing down my neck? I was all the better off for it.

His explanations all made sense and the rage and humiliation I had seen in his former companions was too real to dismiss. I was on the home stretch of getting out of this mess, if he was telling the truth, but one last item remained.

“Even if this spot of trouble puts the elves in a position where they can’t respond immediately, won’t they eventually come just to make sure my seed doesn’t spread? After all, having me be able to take on even one elf would be disastrous for their reputation.”

He nodded with a stir of his golden hair before waving away the concern.

“I understand that, but unless you feel spry enough to take on the two fresh soldiers outside, we need to present a situation where not fighting is preferable. You possibly killing them may not be enough to convince them to stay their swords as it complicates the matter of their pride and the anger of my household may not be enough either, but if we use both at once I’m convinced it would give them the excuse they need to obey their fear. Once we’re back home, I’ll tell them that their friends actually died at the hands of each other and a few of your traps while I was merely trying to mitigate the political damage.

From there they will ask what caused the fight and I, having foolishly left the journal out where the guards could find it on the way back home, will have no real lie to tell and must tragically sit back as they find out the quad mage was the product of my oh so grand, powerful, cunning brothers failure. That his reputation will be reduced to ashes is a burden his loving younger brother will simply have to bear to his dying day.”

“And they’ll be happy to let that perception stay out there?” I asked in a tone that did nothing to hide my disbelief. “A human mage being known for being stronger than elves won’t prick their pride?”

“You fail to see how we elves view humans, through no fault of your own. Our pride is something more near and dear to us than actual power or sense, but it is founded on certain unshakable pillars. One of these is the inferiority of those who can’t even bend mere steel with their hands or craft works of art depicting animals that in a few hours of effort are indistinguishable from the real thing. For us to attack you later, since you aren’t an inconvenience and no longer a part of a scheme, would mean that you were a real threat to us.

Even if our people back home felt you were a genuine threat and took steps to put you down, it would involve an admission we could never take back. Whether or not you were dead would be almost irrelevant at that point. By acknowledging that a human, any human of any ability or lineage, could beat an elf in a clean fight would permanently make real the possibility of another human in the future doing the same.

No. I will give them the mental escape route they need to protect their precious self-image. Whatever chittering it causes amongst the lowly dregs outside our forests will be of no concern as we can ‘rectify’ the opinion at a later date. To say nothing of certain… research opportunities your line might present for us later on”

My hairs stood up at that last bit, but I fought it down.

‘What do you think of all this, Cell?’ I asked my familiar in a spirit connection.

He sent me an image of Dior using a wind blade against Beleg. Then images of Dior seeing Cell leave the room to check up on me, followed by him going through the hole in the wall and using magic to glide to the remaining two elves to have them come finish me off.

True, Dior going to get the guards for backup when Cell left would be a far less convoluted way of killing me. Especially since the humans here presented no real threat to them.

“All right, we have an agreement. But before we start, I would like to know something else. The druids, those plant women you send out-“

He shook his head in denial again.

“Another society destroying secret?”

He got a pained grimace and only looked towards the ceiling for a moment before turning back to me with a blank smile.

I huffed as I set about filling the hole in my wall with crude, permanent stone. Dior picked up the journal and crown from the chest before he grabbed one of the burned legs of the elves and started dragging the body downstairs. It took a few minutes, especially when Cell had to use stone to wrap the remains of my silver haired opponent into a small coffin but we eventually got all the bodies to the main entry and Dior promptly left out the empty doorway. While he walked up to start the show, I looked around for those packet-switched crafts. I eventually found the leather bracer and wooden handle in the mess of items laying about the floor from the ransacking that had happened. That the bomb wasn’t anywhere to be seen was worrying but I was in a hurry and if this plan failed, I would be too close to the elves to use it anyway.

I went out the doorway with Cell in my metal mask’s back neck strap to look like the piece of jewelry that typically stayed there. Looking out over the windy, snow-covered plains, my vision ignored even the starry sky as it was pulled towards the group of people being held off by the two elven bodyguards. Seeing Salamede off on the left with her hands stuck together in a prayer position as she looked nervously at our house made my heart ache, as did her sudden wave at me. Sadly, I had to make sure no one got a good look at what lay beneath the stone yard on the left side of the tower. Walking over to the hole in the yards stone, I merged the decorative stone of the yard into a solid cover.

Making my way back towards the torch wielding humans and the two elven bodyguards, both of whom were now scowling at me, I stopped just out of what would be a quick dash with their swords. The looks of relief across the faces of the crowd was far more pronounced now as they saw that I felt confident enough to come closer to the elves. The sound of the elves drawing their swords was the only noise aside from the wind as torchlight played across the shining steel. Dior moved to stand in front of them, blocking their line of sight to me.

“Before you try that,” He warned them, in a voice loud enough to carry his words to the small battalion of guards that had assembled around Tansen, Aki, a few other staff members, and the smaller Kelton crowd on the left. “At least help me get the bodies out of his tower before you die.”

That produced stunned expressions from the elves, humans, and Kelton’s.

“What?” The left guard said, his multicolored eyes showing clear confusion.

Dior motioned him towards the towers ruined door. The guards sharp chin came up with defiance as he stalked off towards the tower.

“At least come back with one of them, we have a long journey back home ahead of us and I want to set out as soon as possible.” Dior called as he turned towards Tansen.

The academy head was looking at the event with a blank face as Salamede moved closer behind him. She was breathing so heavily it looked like she had run all day at full sprint, but she managed to keep it together. It took a good minute of everyone awkwardly standing around before the elven guard came back. On his shoulder was slung one of the charred bodies, which he laid gently on the snow-covered ground.

The body was well burned, but the sharp ears and make of the now brittle cloak was unmistakable.

“What is the meaning of this, Dior? Where are the others?” The other guard said, his breath fogging up. He was breathing heavily now as his teeth jittered, though it didn’t seem to be from the cold.

“They’re dead.” The returning guard answered. “The rest of them are in a pile by the door.”

The air seemed to still as not even the bitter wind seemed to affect the most bare clothed peasant. The two guards looked at each other with blank faces, but it was Tansen who spoke up.

“H-How is that possible?” The academy head asked, his robe’s black color and sapphire jewels flapping in the wind.

“Eli killed them.” Dior said with a meaningful look to his two elven companions. “They only left four to look after him as they perused his home’s upper floors. When he had… dealt with those guards, he came back up the stairs and promptly saw to the rest of them. If they hadn’t been so foolish as to split up and instead attacked him as one group, maybe… Ah, who knows. But fortunately, I am here to mitigate this diplomatic disaster. If you continue this foolish endeavor, know that you will be marked enemies of my family.”

Every eye on the field looked at me with fear, awe, trepidation, or a mixture of all three. Even Salamede, my beloved wife, looked awestruck at the lie. Her blue dress now having her hands clutch it in a surge of emotion.

More importantly, the two elves had expressions that assuaged any doubts I may have still had about the plan, their faces contorting like they had just stepped on a worm that responded by bouncing up and slapping them in the face. Whatever they felt about the situation, the inclination to keep living was also playing out across their faces as they backed away from me with fear plain in their eyes. Seizing the moment, Dior stepped closer to his fellows.

“Now, kindly get our people’s corpses out of his home before the ambient healing re-animates them and we have yet another incident.” He said in a quiet and polite tone before turning towards Tansen again. “If you would, good sir. We require a carriage out of here. I know it isn’t terribly dignified, but these bodies will have to be burned on your pyres as well.” Dior finished with a meaningful look towards the ever-burning pyres by the gate off to the right, the one that lead to the open plains and the classrooms.

“U-Um. Sure.” Tansen said, his mouth trying to find the words to say.

The two guards took that as their leave and skittered towards the house.

Dior turned around and did a rather deep bow to me.

“I do hope this misunderstanding will not cause friction between our two great peoples. While the delegation was sent here to establish contact, the actions of one rash group are not to be construed as the will of the elven people. Here, as our smallest apology.” He came back up and handed me three of the elf’s potion vials. That caused a small gasp from some of the staff members present.

“Your actions have stilled my anger. Recompense for the damages alone will be all that I require.” I said in a calm, friendly tone.

“Indeed.” Dior said, producing a small sack of what sounded like coins. But when I palmed the silky-smooth sack and took out one of the coins to compare it in the torch light, the material turned out to be mana crystal. Something that produced slack jaws from all the mages present, including Tansen.

“A generous gift, Dior. I don’t know if I have the heart to spend it.” I said, this time sincerely.

“If I may be so bold, most grand of mages, those coins were crafted with the special artistry of our people and trading them only in weight of mana would be undervaluing them.” Another gracious nod from Dior punctuated the guards leaving the tower and trudging through the snow towards the pyres with two bodies each.

Looking out over the crowd, none of the people would meet my gaze. Even Salamede looked down with a slight bow when our eyes met. After a bit, the carriage was brought, and the bodies found their proper place in the fires. Their task finished; the two elves stood behind Dior as the rest of the crowd hung back in anticipation.

With a final bow from the three, one of the great mysteries of this world shuffled into the metal carriage, promptly taking off and leaving me to pick up the pieces.

Walking towards the crowd they parted for me with a new sense of reverence and possibly fear, my mind too tired to distinguish which. Salamede saw me approaching through the dissipating crowd and looked down with her hands together in front of her. When I got in arm’s length, I put a finger under her chin, lifter it up and planted a kiss on her mouth. Her body shook from the contact and her snout flared as I savored her sweetness. The way she moved her head forward when I pulled back told me her excitement was far greater than her embarrassment.

“It’s all right, love. I’m ok. Let me get our house in order and you can come in again.”

“Eli,” Tansen said behind me, “The guards need to look the place over to make sure they have a complete report for the many, many people that will be screaming about this in the higher ranks and you need to be inside the academy walls. Now.”

I took a deep breath and was prepared to countermand his order when Salamede started a spirit connection with me.

‘My lord, is everything hidden?’ She asked desperately.

‘I have the most troublesome items here. The hatch to the underground part was shut. There is the gunpowder bomb that I couldn’t find but that’s about it.’

‘Ok then.’ She said as she took off down the path to our house.

“Salamede!” I audibly yelled, but the guards quickly surrounded me with Tansen standing in the way of my line of sight towards Salamede.

“Eli, I can appreciate how stressed you are. But you need to be in a secured location and the guards need to look the place over for traps before you’re let back in.” Tansen said, his brown eyes looking at me with determination as his black hair whipped around in the flurries and wind. I stuck out my chin as leaned over to see Salamede going into the tower.

“When she gets back. I’m not leaving until she is back here safe and sound with her personal items.” I said defiantly.

Tansen got a soft look at that and nodded, turning around as he directed the guards and staff to form a meat shield around me as the Kelton’s, rather than walk away, formed another outer ring of defense.

A few minutes later, Salamede came back out. Her blue dress flapped in the wind as she came across the lawn, kicking up snow along the way. Some of the men parted for her and Tansen whistled for us to move out as my wife clung to my side, pressing herself fully against me as we trudged through the snow and wind.

‘When you put the bomb underground, did you seal the hatch back properly?’ I asked in a spirit connection. The big wooden cube was too large for her to hide on her person so I figured that would be the only place she could put it.

‘It was gone, my lord.’

I gave a tired sigh as I mentally wrote off the loss and hoped that whoever had taken it found out what it did when they had their faces right up next to it. After today, I was just grateful they hadn’t taken the packet-switched items as those would have given away my one real advantage in the future. Then I let my mind wander over to her words. I had skimmed over it the first time, but the second time she called me lord, it hit me how odd it was.

‘Salamede, why-‘

‘Please, your grace. Just focus on getting to safety’ She said, pushing herself into my right side with a reverent look in her white eyes.

As we came up to the academy’s white walls, we made our way past the gate and onto the main lawn. Tansen directed the group to the farthest back end to the middle dorm. The semi-circular stone building had several floors with an array of fine windows and shutters as it leaned against the wall of white stone.

We came up to the main entrance at the center and several staff members went on ahead to clear a straight path to the top floor. Once one of them came back with the all clear, a smaller contingent of guards whisked us in through the fine oak door as they kept around us in a shield of steel plated flesh and white and blue robed mages. We walked past the main dining hall on the left and lounging room on the right, much to the surprised squeaks and murmurs of the students. They lead me and my wife further up the dark wooden steps directly ahead of the entrance and up, and up we went. Along the way, students were pushed aside with indignant squeals as doors opened from people looking out to see what the commotion was. Even as well-lit as this place was with warm glowing mana lamps everywhere, we moved too quickly for anyone to get a good look at us.

The top of the staircase quickly came into view and we were rushed into a room four doors further down to the left. With a quick opening from a guard, we were pushed in and the door was quickly slammed shut behind us. The room had a big white bed with blue pillows. Tansen had clearly put us in the best rooms, from the fine oak wall, to the near cushion like softness of the carpet, it all screamed money. The central chandelier had two mana lamps that glowed a soft warm light on the furniture and room. Or rather rooms.

On the left was the entrance to a white tiled bathroom with magical appliances for a toilet and a shower. The nightstand by the right of the bed and wardrobe that sat directly on my right were up to a standard no less extravagant than the rest. They and the bed had ornate carvings with bits of gold around the edges.

“Wow. Not to say your work is lacking in any way.” Salamede said, with a regretful bow of her head.

“Nah, this isn’t much to look at.” I said casually as I put my right hand down her backside.

“Oh?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, our place has had you naked in it. That beats out any amount of gold or fluff.” I said with a firm swat on her butt.

She puckered her lips and leaned into me.

‘It’s still hard to believe, you really killed ten elves?’ She asked in a spirit connection.

I shook my head and responded by giving a quick summary of the events as we walked forward and sat on the bed. She seemed more relaxed when I said I didn’t kill all the elves but that odd hiccup in her behavior came back when I told her I did kill one of them. I was near the end of where Dior and I talked when a knock at the door interrupted us.

“Who is it?” I called.

“Doctor. Tansen sent me for an extensive checkup.” Came the voice beyond the ornate oak door. I got up and opened it and in came a middle-aged man with light blond hair and a strong chin. In his arms he carried a knapsack filled with vials and healing potions, which he used to motion me to sit back on the white bed before looked me up and down.

The doctor had me take my shirt off as he went over all the spots where I had told him I had been hit and after certifying that each spot was now unblemished, he moved on to testing for toxins. It was a long arduous process that I had considered telling him to stop but was dissuaded by the fact that such a thorough examination seemed to allay some of Salamede’s worries as it looked like she could now properly sit without seeming so jumpy.

“Right,” He said, his green eyes lighting up. “You’re good. I’d say you could tussle with the elves a few more times tonight and be just fine.”

We both got a good laugh from that, but Salamede just clung closer to me, killing the humorous atmosphere. The doctor gave an awkward cough before continuing.

“All right, sir quad mage. I officially certify that you are good to go. Just take it a little easy for tomorrow. Spell casting pain is one of those things where time beats out all potions, balms and ointments. Good night, my lord.” He gave a light bow before going out the door leaving me shirtless on the bed.

‘What was that?’ I asked Salamede in a spirit connection.

She turned to me with a confused look.

‘What do you mean?’ She responded. Her white stripe running down her nose shifted as she ran her snout up and down my left shoulder.

‘You’ve been calling me lord and your grace and now he’s doing it. What gives?’

She didn’t respond at first, only running her hand up and down my bare chest for a moment before getting down and putting herself on her knees right in front of me.

‘Calling someone lord means they are powerful but also someone who is in an exalted position. These are two different things and I guess people will naturally call you that now.’ She said. Her expression was one of devotion, though it was far more intense now than it had been before. Her hands went to both of my knees before her eyes flitted to my loins and back to my face. Moving forward, she leaned up and took off my mask. As she brought it down, I grabbed her right arm and lifted her further up for a kiss.

‘But nothing’s changed between us,’ I insisted as I forced my tongue down her throat. We spent a while sitting there, dueling tongues as she started vibrating with excitement. A long moan escaped her lips before she pulled away with a loud pop.

‘Nothing?’ She demanded. ‘You… you’re a quad mage. A quad scion ultimate mage. Your list of powers reads more like a poem than a title. Every woman in the world swoons for you, at least those not bitter at the prospect of never having you. You’ll surpass the brothers Rodring and Boding easily in a few months or years. What… What could have possibly possessed me to think I was worthy of taking the seed of such a man, much less his wedding vows?’

Her lips trembled at that as she refused to look me in the eyes, instead shifting her head right.

A low growl escaped my lips as my gut flared in anger. There was no way I was going to let such nonsense cloud my wife’s mind. Grabbing her by the shoulders, I pulled her back over the bed, pinning her into the soft, silky sheets and pillows.

‘You are my wife. That is all that matters.’ I said. She still refused to look at me, so I took her head in my hands and forced her to meet my eyes as her grey furred cheeks squished in my grasp. The tears I saw in her white pearly eyes hurt worse than any blow the elves had landed on me.

‘Eli! Come on! A man like you, having a half demon woman for a wife? What a joke. I get it now. The scorn people have for me, the loathing of the women, Congress’s desire to kill me. It all makes sense. A man stronger than an elf is having his seed stolen by a goat woman. I deserve everything they throw at me for letting things get to this point and fucking everything up for our whole continent. For their entire species’

Her tears flowed freely as she rubbed her eyes. I pushed my head past her grey skinned arms and planted a soft kiss on her lips.

‘Salamede. I. Love. You.’ I kissed her harder with every word, savoring her sweetness each time and repeating it until my feeling penetrated her self-loathing. Eventually she calmed down and started kissing me back as I fully pressed myself into her. Which was when I decided to finish talking her down.

‘We both know this doesn’t end with them getting what they want, at least for a good while yet. If you weren’t around, the only thing that would change is the letters would have been burned and the quad scion ultimate mage would be a lot more surly and unhappy. The point where you could have prevented any of this hasn’t passed you by because it was never there in the first place.’ I implored her, making sure to press my erection between her thighs.

‘You’re right. I know you are.’ She said sullenly, but it appears my efforts were not going unappreciated as she started breathing more heavily and rolling her thighs against my stem. ‘But, am I truly what you want to be your legacy as far as mothers to your children goes? There may be others later on, but the first wife is typically the one people associate most with the man.’

I planted a hard kiss on her lips, savoring her sweetness as I pulled her head back with my left hand.

‘Salamede, how many women do you think are here in the dorm right now?” I growled in the spirit connection as I did another thrust between her thighs. When I pulled out of her mouth, she was breathing harder now.

‘Dozens. Many dozens.’ She said with a seductive coo ‘And all more than ready to receive my lord at a moment’s notice.’

‘And who is going to receive me tonight?’ I demanded as I took my left hand off her cheek to work her blue dress down. No matter how tired I was, she was going to know my love tonight until she felt every bit the woman I knew her to be.

‘Your wife.’ She said coyly.

Salamede stopped for a moment as she looked below before giggling as she ran her thighs up and down my length sending shivers along my spine. ‘It appears my lord likes being called lord. Does my lord agree?’ She asked with a smug smile as she continued teasing me with her body.

It was all a blur of sheets, sweat, cries, and the slapping of flesh after that. Come morning, I only had a vague memory of Salamede on top of me, riding me like her life lead up to that moment. The next thing I knew the morning sun was shining down through the window behind our bed as Salamede softly snored on top of me. My body was still sore from the casting, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as when I took out the underground base. I spent more than a few minutes relishing the feeling of her naked body on mine until I felt it was time to wake her up.

A few soft kisses on her mouth and she gradually stirred into the land of the living. When she opened her eyes to find me tasting her lips, she kissed me back with a muffled good morning. It took a bit before we got out of the bed and headed over to the shower to freshen up. When we did, the glass around the shower soon steamed up from the hot water flowing around us from the enchanted wooden shell above. When I got a bar of soap to wash us both off, Salamede just hugged me. We spent some time just savoring each other’s presence and basking in the comfort of each other’s bodies.

‘How are you feeling this morning?’ Salamede asked in a spirit connection.

‘Better, a little sore but I’ll get better.’ I said as I nuzzled myself against the grey fur on her neck.

‘Good. I can’t believe you telling me that you love me over and over worked.’ She lightly pouted.

I just chuckled as we stood in the shower hugging each other for a little bit before we had to meet the rest of the day.

It was a good while before I came out of the room with my beaming wife behind me as the guards formed a four-man wall around us. We were both wearing a new change of the academy robes, with the crafts in Salamede’s pockets, as the maid who came by earlier said the staff would deliver our clothes back to our tower when they were cleaned. Of course, I was also wearing my metal mask that had Cell on the back-neck portion as a faux piece of jewelry.

The fact that we had forgotten his presence last night was a matter he was thankfully content to remain silent on.

Passing down the hall, a lot of the other dorm’s inhabitants, both student and staff, whispered with me catching snippets involving what happened yesterday. I considered stopping for a quick meal at the dorm’s little eatery, but I wanted to get back home. On the way out of the dorm’s door, I saw a wide array of students milling about the place whispering to each other. Our shoes crunching the snow, we made it by the tower when another guard came out and stopped us.

His hand wave towards the top of the tower told me everything I needed to know.

Heading through the doors and up to Tansen’s office, I got the same looks of adoration from everyone, but a few were sending really nasty looks Salamede’s way. When we came through the door to Tansen's office, our ever-present guards stood outside. The blue and white striped wall, single mana lamp in the central ceiling, and plain wooden floors looked the same as always, but the occupants gave the room a tense energy.

Tansen was behind his oak desk with Aki to his left and Agatha to his right. His older advisor was biting his lip that showed between the grey mustache and beard while Agatha had a redness in her face that went right up to the blonde’s sharp cheek bones as she held her hands behind her back. The worry in the brown eyes of Aki and Tansen was plain to see so I decided to start the conversation.

“I want to first thank you for your assistance last night. If yo-“

Agatha put out a hand and threw a yellowish stalk of celery on Tansen’s table. It was the unmistakable vegetable known as yook root, a universal contraceptive. The Front representative’s chest rose and fell in the black working dress as she puckered her lips.

Oh yeah, our yook root. I had been so busy going over the fight with the elves and world-shaking items they might find if they inspected my house that I forgot about the contraceptives.

“I don’t think going through our drawers was what you said they were there for.” I responded calmly. Tansen puckered his lips as he leaned forward, his black kimono pulling back as he bared his arms by clasping his hands together.

“They didn’t. The upper floor was trashed and the… offending items were in a mess with the nightstand by your bed.” He said.

“I suppose that means there were no traps in the place? Good. I thank you all for your assistance in this matter. If you want compensation for the room, I can-“

Agatha slammed her left hand on Tansen’s desk as she looked ready to explode, but she kept her voice to merely unfriendly.

“Eli, if the events yesterday did anything, it was to notify everyone around here of just how valuable you truly are.” She said as she strode forward. Her gaze, however, was on Salamede. “I had been content to stand by as you married her,” A raised finger in accusation punctuated the last word, “But this. Not only is she taking you away from your own people, she won’t even let the possibility of her own progeny carry your ability. You venomous snake with horns. What is driving your need to do this?!”

Agatha practically shouted the last part as she turned fully towards Salamede. Stepping in between her and Salamede, I made sure to keep Agatha’s blue eyes in mine. What surprised me was the genuine hurt in Agatha’s expression.

“What we choose to do about our family plans is our business alone. The use of the yook root was something I insisted on. So, before you start throwing accusations around and saying things you might regret, wait until you are in a calmer state of mind to say them. If for no other reason than my house was broken into yesterday and I’m not in the mood for anyone making threats against me or my people.” I said, trying to keep calm the whole time.

“Agatha,” Tansen said, trying to cool down the tempers that were heating up. “Whatever it is you suppose is going on, think long and hard on it before including it in the report. Our position is precarious and such outbursts only serve to strain the delicate balancing act we must perform.”

Agatha turned around with a whirl, her face looking like she bit into something bitter. Before she could say anything, Koal came in behind me. Her red robes billowed about the room as the mid-30’s woman looked around the room with a wave of her short black hair. Those light green eyes took in everything and the two moles along her lower jaw stretched with her puckered lips. She continued walking up to Tansen’s desk before she leaned towards the academy head.

“Tansen, as a guest here on behalf of the Ember association, I don’t expect personal reports on everything that happens here or even to Eli. But I am also here in an official capacity as the representative for the Coalition government to look into the causes around the quad mage’s circumstances. Yesterday when I asked about what the sudden shift in the guards was about, the answer I got was some off handed comment from a staff member about a ruckus near the Kelton quarter.”

“Yes,” Tansen. “And we-“

“So, you can readily imagine my shock when I found out about Eli slugging it out with elves from the two maids who were serving me my eggs and potatoes this morning. Those TWO FUCKING MAIDS heard about it before I did. I want the whole story here and now.” Koal said. Apparently, she had been given enough time to cool off, though, as no spike in heat came up with her volume.

“We were going to when we had the whole story. I was more concerned with keeping him alive, in that moment and from traps they might have left in his home. If you would have preferred I devote people and resources away from that and possibly let the elves come back and kill him, then I will make sure to do so in the future.”

“It’s true then?” Koal gasped in a shocked tone. “I thought it might be some wild rumor, but he really did take on the elves?” She turned around and looked to me. Her dark bottom lip was bitten between her white teeth as she appraised me with clear interest. Aki did a light cough before he moved things along.

“We will see when Eli gives us the whole story. If you would.” He said with a nod to me.

Since Cell was too good of a secret to just give up, I would have to take credit for his kill.

“Dior greatly exaggerated the events so that the last elves wouldn’t try to kill me. The truth is only I directly killed two of them. The others died to a trap I made.”

“Only two?” Koal said with breathless incredulity. The rest of the people present just looked on with eager expressions and bated breath.

“Yes, not five or four at once. When I took out those two, Dior came in. We talked for a while about how it was supposed to be an envoy, but some elven house decided to get greedy. Most of our time was spent talking about possible reparations and events coming out of this incident.”

“Eli,” Tansen said, pulling back into his chair with a child-like look of wonder. “You’re skipping over the most significant part. How, exactly, did you defeat the elves?” I felt everyone in the room move a bit closer to me.

“The elves seem to have wind and water as their elements. When I threw a storm of small, weak spells at them the wind elf had no real defense and the water elf had his water shield boil or dissipate from the rocks, even if the wind blades I sent at his back didn’t kill him.”

There was a long moment as everyone took that in. Tansen, being a water scion, was particularly interested. He stroked his goatee as he mused, more to himself than anyone else.

“Yes. Wind is the element we are typically weak against. Make a lot of fire and stone spells so that a thin shield becomes useless, but the wind blades mean we can’t use a thick shield as it would be too cumbersome to block them.” He took a deep breath and his brown eyes now looked at me with a newfound interest. “Would you mind performing a demonstration on the lawn?”

“Sure, as recompense for the room.” I said with a nod as I motioned towards the door. We all shuffled out of the room and past Tansen’s secretary desk to the snow-covered lawn outside. The rest of the group was on my left as Tansen stood a few yards in front of me. Of course, the students and staff all gathered around to see what was going on and the guards had to make sure they stayed out of the way of any wayward spells.

When Tansen summoned a big wall of water around a snow man, I unleashed the same barrage I had used on Aldewan. The snaps and sizzles of the stone and fire spells hitting it left no real strain on Tansen. That was until he tried to move it to protect the back side of the snow man, who was promptly decapitated when the edge of a wind blade took him in the neck. He tried again with a thinner shield, but it just burst from the heat and trying to hold up the stone.

Tansen looked over the melting remains of the snowman with puckered lips and a puzzled expression.

“I admit, short of an thick body covering bubble, any defense to this eludes me.” He finally said, apparently giving up. That caused quite a stir amongst the surrounding crowd, with those that had a water drop in their pins looking particularly upset.

“Can we call it a day? I have a lot of things I need to get in order.” I asked the academy head. But it was Agatha directly on my left that answered.

“We are not done here, but I’m sure you want to eat and get your house in order. Get breakfast and your home fixed up. Then come see me at the Front office tommorrow.”

The way she looked at Salamede as she came over to stand at my side was positively murderous.

“Agatha.” Koal said from behind the fuming blonde, “We both know that isn’t the problem.”

The Front representative stood still for a few moments before turning away in a huff back towards the tower. The demonstration finished, I was allowed to leave and headed back home. My stomach, however, disagreed and we promptly headed towards our favorite dwarven food stall.

As the morning crowd worked getting the goods to and from the various shops and stalls, the biting cold left the breath of every human and Kelton a foggy cloud as the richer loose crowd gave way to the packed peasant masses along the main road directly from the academy to the bridge at the opposite side of town. Walking down the stone street towards the now smaller assortment of colorful dwarven tents. We sat on two stools by the bar with a thick red tent now covering it, dulling the cold. As we ordered some eggs, hash, and sausages, the dwarven diplomat quickly found his seat next to my right with Salamede sitting on my left.

His copper hair seemed positively impoverished now, having only seven or so gold bands around his beard and mustache. Those emerald eyes spoke of a long night, and not a pleasant one either if the rough splotches of ink around the tan skin was anything to go by. Lifting himself onto the stool, his clothes were also rather rushed, having only a fine white shirt and dark red pants on.

“Aye, pleasant days and all that to you. How much for you to tell us what happened?” He said, the exhaustion coming clear through in the deep base of his voice as he stuck out his hand. As he shook my hand, he made sure a letter was pushed into my palm, which I quickly hid in the folds of my robe.

“Not a very diplomatic tact.” I noted with a teasing tone.

He snorted as a plate of toast, ham, and potatoes was put in front of him which he plied with a serving of dark beer.

“My diplomacy ran out several hours ago around the fifth letter I had to put out or respond to, it’s all quite a blur now, about what was happening in your tower. Graces! The first time the elves show up anywhere in force for blasted stone knows how long and it’s to douse everyone in oil before lighting the match. Damned bastards had me up nearly all night when the news of the attack came in and there is only so many ways to write ‘we’re looking into it’. So now I would very much like to know, perhaps for a fair trade.”

I resisted the urge to look into the letter as I tucked into my meal and started the negotiation.

“I will endeavor to let them kill me in the future, lest they steal another night of sleep from an upright and good man like you.” I teased. Salamede swatted my left arm as the dwarf chuckled.

“I appreciate that. I’ll tell people what a considerate soul you were with tears in me eyes.” He joked with a slight chuckle, which he forced down when Salamede reached around and slapped his arm.

“I’m sorry miss.” He said, not sounding the least bit regretful. “But time is of the essence with these things, as I’m sure you know.”

There was a hard moment where I had to decide on just what to tell him. I couldn’t think of anything that would explain a fight between the elves besides me being an ultimate mage. Revealing this might come back to bite me, but there is the possibility that being caught in a lie will damage the relationship I need most right now, and it might even foster more opportunities as well. Pondering over it for a while, I decided that if I trusted them to move my love, then I could pay the price of letting them know this. From there I used a spirit connection to relay everything except how my trap worked or what it exactly did. I trusted the dwarves, but I wasn’t going to give out how the thing that just saved my hide worked to anyone if I didn’t have to.

He crossed his arms on the bar and laid his head in them with no motion beyond his breathing chest.

‘Oh shit.’ Was the only response I got through the spirit connection. There was a few more seconds of silence which I promptly broke after finishing my food.

‘You wouldn’t happen to know what’s behind the elves getting ultimate mages, would you? I can of course imagine why they would want mobile sources of free mana and why they would want them back after several years of letting them roam free if one of us escaped, but any information about how it’s done or from where they get their materials would be greatly appreciated.’

He pulled himself back up and sat there for a moment staring into the mug of beer. The look he gave it said he was somewhere far away from here before snapping out of it with a sigh and turned to look at me.

‘The answer is not mine to give, not the least because of the issues around it.’

Politics. Such a simple word for such a tangled mess.

I sat in silence as I waited for them to finish their meals. When the diplomat finished, he turned to me and stuck out his hand.

“Gigan. I’m not usually on a first name basis, but it seems we will have a long-term relationship.”

“Thanks,” I said as I shook his hand before starting another spirit connection with him and Salamede. ‘Gashton mentioned an item your people needed my help with, which is why he agreed to help us. Do you know when I will be needed for that or what equipment I will need to bring with me?’

Gigan snorted.

‘We would have done all of this for free just to make sure we had good relations and we were ready for you to work on the item the day he asked. It was making the way for you to get to it without coming through our halls that took so long. The truth is we’re ready now but the more we’ve watched you the more reluctant the big beards have become in making demands of you, at least until it starts getting damaged.’

‘I appreciate the consideration. Perhaps if Salamede goes into the swamps with Gula, I could come fix it and use that as an excuse to visit my wife afterwards?’ I asked. I had no doubt that they had read the letter I sent to Gula with their couriers and made no attempt to pretend otherwise by explaining my plan.

His jaw got a grim set, but it was Salamede who responded.

‘Are you sure, Eli?’ I felt her hand on my shoulder, which I covered with my own as I turned back to her and started a separate spirit connection for our privacy.

‘Yes. The airship is probably too damaged for me to fix within a week and I don’t think they will slow down the vote after this. Even if I could fix it… Come on, Salamede. We both knew that was going to be a hard shot to land. Under the most optimistic circumstances, maybe the right person would see the airship and be curious enough to not just dismiss it as another quad mage wonder the Kelton woman was denying humanity, the right person would see their report, and maybe, just maybe, things would turn out well.

I’ll still work on the air ship since it’s too good of an angle to not have, but the people behind that treason charge aren’t going to start pushing for it with less fervor after yesterday. Please. Please tell me you will go when that time comes.’

She bit her lip as she looked me up and down, her white eyes betraying no emotion.

‘Fine but promise me that we will do everything we can before it comes to that point. If they discover we know, visit or associate in anyway with any orc, I can’t even begin to… Eli promise me that you will do everything in your power before we take such a step. I couldn’t bear living the rest of my life knowing you had to ruin your reputation for my sake.’

‘I will, if you will.’ I responded, making sure to keep the trepidation out of my voice.

We hugged, taking a moment to savor the moment before turning our attention back to Gigan.

‘Well, Gigan? What do you say?’ I asked again.

He took a moment, his face puckered from teasing out a hundred different lines of thought at the same time. When he finally finished, he looked at me with a measuring gaze. He closed his emerald eyes for a moment before opening them back up to look at me with a sense of resignation.

‘The high and mighty won’t like it, but I’m not under the impression refusing to help you would stop you from doing this crazy thing.’

‘You have a better understanding of the situation than most.’ I said with a gracious bow.

He did another snort as he took his large thumb and forefinger to pinch his nose in exhaustion as he leaned on the lip of the bar.

‘I preferred the peace of blind ignorance. We’ll help. Besides we will need more scouts down there to monitor the situation anyway, so it shouldn’t be a strain on us at all. At least resource wise. I’m telling you; we’re all covered in booze and playing with fire here.’

‘Would your people be able to take her in?’ I asked, making it clear I had already gotten an answer to this before.

‘We will have enough trouble when you leave the Coalition to visit us. You coming over constantly would only make us a target.’ He said with a helpless shrug.

Our business finished, we parted ways and went back to our tower. Two guards were still standing by the entrance and I suppose having them there is another layer of protection I’m in no position to refuse. Coming through the door with a nod to the two men, we scanned the mess left behind. The furniture was thankfully spared as the filth rummaging through my home were more preoccupied with finding something interesting as opposed to the regular pots, pans, and cloth strewn about the solid oak floor.

We set about picking up the various bits of wood and items of the floor and setting them aside for washing or remolding. I used a plant spell to reform the door and the instant the wood shaped into a cover from prying eyes, I had Cell go around an pick up all the small iron bits laying around from the previous doors inner layer and have them brought down to the forge. As he did so, I took out the letter and read over it by the couch where this whole mess began.

‘What’s it say?’ Salamede asked in a spirit connection as she finished picking up a particularly large pot from the floor and setting it on the kitchen counter by the right of the main door.

‘Request for food. She wants to know if we can actually deliver on anything we promise.’ I said as I set it on the couch and started going over what changes to the home would need to be done to prevent these kinds of attacks in the future.

‘Poor thing. I know it must have been lean for her even during the summer season. Be a good man and make sure to reward the woman with enough food.’ She said sweetly.

I nodded as I walked past her and went up the stairs, mentally going over how much of my precious time I wanted to spend repairing either the house, airship or equipment.