《A Wizard's Soul》Chapter 8: Out of Hand
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2 Hours and 8 Minutes, for him to re-research Demand, after removing distraction time, with an extra 30 seconds when keeping that time. The 30 seconds from when the IA he left stationed outside his door reported that they all soon left after the dessert was served.
Of course many a reasonable person may wonder, 'Why not go straight for Wish', well, he had a bit of a past with wishes. Mainly, he had been abusing them to the point where he was told by a divine messenger that he was, quote, "On some real thin ice with the one in charge, so cut back on pushing the Weave so much,".
Apparently the Verbal component to Frostfell is not the correct response in that situation.
Memnol hadn't realized at the time that "The one in charge" meant Ao the Overdeity, and not just Mystra. From then on, anytime he tried to wish, by any means, an Antimagic Field centered on both him and the source of the would-be wish sprung up for a full 24 hours, and if it was an item it was disjoined at the end. Twice. Then on, he was stuck with Limited Wish, and as much as he was tempted to get started Wishing again, he figured he'd wait at least a week and a half after banishment before wishing at all, then stick to the somewhat 'intended' uses of Wish, and only his own Wish. No more trying to wish for free wishes or wish-granting creatures or items. He figured he'd just go about that the hard way.
After that brief rumination, Memnol went to bed at a somewhat reasonable hour, ordering his servants to wake him after no less than 8 hours. He mumbled and reached in his sleep, as he usually did.
He was awoken at 6:48, the sun ought to be rising or risen he figured. He still had 12 minutes until the first Bullhead for Vale arrived, 42 until it left, and it wasn't until 1:00 that the bullhead to Patch would disembark from Vale. While in Vale he knew he had an appointment at 10:15 to get his measurements for his uniform, though he had found it odd that he had to be the one to suggest to Ms. Goodwitch that he shouldn't put off acquiring a proper uniform. He supposed at the time that while she (from what he could tell) was on the right side, she wasn't quite so dedicated to Law as he was. He was definitely certain that she wouldn't go as far as he was. That reminded him, actually, "IA White, arrive," he ordered and stepped outside his mansion.
Soon enough the IA arrived, standing in front of him as he dismissed its incorporeality. He took out that deep, black gem from earlier in the week and handed it to the IA as well as his golden sheet that wasn't the transformed napkin and his Ring of Adaptation, and gave them to the IA.
Memnol's thought at the IA, "You are to travel in a random direction each morning without teleportation for thirty days, then halt to create and memorize a near-indistinct underground bunker entirely surrounded by earth, then teleport yourself into low orbit, twice. During this entire trip, you are to keep that Scroll visible to yourself at all times, and we both know how important it is. Now go!"
The IA soon ran off directly towards Memnol and passed him, beginning it's wildly inefficient journey.
Memnol thought to his other IA's "Test, what are you supposed to do in the event of my death?"
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Without hesitation, the response was, "Duplicate Last Breath after your body is scalped, within 6 seconds maximum. If you cannot be raised in such a manner, recover your body, or again at least the scalp, and trick or hire a cleric."
"Correct, however clerics are no longer an option, as such you may fall back on Reincarnate, prioritize the scalp," Memnol thought, "All remaining on standby, regroup in Vale when I give you my position. Town team, in 50 minutes purchase the Dust samples and turn in what you could identify simultaneously, remember, you were made corporeal again for these tasks, and I will drop the invisibility in 45 minutes. Speak to each other only in local Common if necessary, do not use my appearance. The two purchasing the Dust, meet me at the bullhead docks. The other two, once the return is complete, make certain you aren't tailed, then teleport out while unobserved. Ideal locations for this are alleyways, changing rooms, single-person bathrooms, and crowds. Teleport to the ruined tower I was initially banished to, from there, maintain invisibility through your own means until otherwise ordered, and patrol the academy perimeter if possible," As an afterthought, he added, "If I am still not present, one of you is to invisibly attend my current classes and relay the lectures to me in real-time, as well as retrieve and complete assignments."
While a certain Wizard was on a bullhead, a Valean police department's front office was being managed by a mildly groggy Officer Brown. Officer Brown had been a part of the police department for a good while, which is why he was only mildly surprised when two of the exact same guy walked in the front door, one carrying a cardboard box.
Now, they weren't the same guy in the sense of Junior's typical goons he sometimes ended up arresting, they seemed to be the exact same dude if you just Copy/Pasted him. Exact same clean brown hair, same slacks, same polished black shoes, same shades, same faces down to the muscle, and the exact same middle-of-the-road quality business suits with grey ties. Now you see, there's a point where you go from actually blending in, to trying to blend in so much it loops back around to suspicious, as a stand-up-comedian I cannot remember right now once said something similar, and a grey tie among all of that is almost exactly that point.
Of course, these are one pair of IA's, disguised by a single casting of Veil.
The one without the box said, "Pardon us, would this be the correct place to return lost property?"
Without so much as a single second of pause between them, the one with the box said, "We've found these wallets on the ground throughout the past week, and from what we could tell they all have proper owners."
Officer Brown had seen many odd things working in Vale P.D., but he could easily say he'd never seen something like this. He was honestly surprised that these people who fit the word "Lackey" perfectly were just, returning lost property.
It being rather early in the morning, barely 7, he said, "Yeah, you've got the right place. Uh, thanks for looking out for your fellow people, go ahead and leave the box on the counter."
Then, what properly woke him up that morning, was that when they exited in the opposite order they came in, this time the box one held the door, they both walked in the opposite directions, which made him reconsider if he should've pried more. Regardless, he just shouted towards the back for a few extra hands, since they had around 4 dozen wallets to find the ID's for and contact the proper owners. Every single one in the box had an ID of some kind.
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Meanwhile, at a higher-end dust shop with the rarer types of dust and a decent few people in it, another pair of the same person, looking exactly the same as our earlier pair, walked in. They didn't say anything, they just walked through the store in complete silence, and collectively grabbed one crystal of each type of dust, and a small sample of each kind of powdered, and when people started to worry it might be another robbery, they waited in line. They paid solely in cash, only placed the dust in their own leather bags once they had the receipt, and walked off in opposite directions, without saying a word.
Also meanwhile, in Beacon, two teams were having breakfast together when Weiss asked, "Ruby?"
Ruby said, "Yeah?"
Weiss said, "What exactly is that?", as she pointed towards Ruby's open personal notebook, on a page of which was a colorful side-view depiction of a train with eight mostly-empty cars, where if one followed the tracks to the end location they would find a large smiley face.
Ruby said, "This!" as she flipped it so JNPR could see it as well, "Is Ruby's Railroad to Redemption!"
Blake said, "Ruby, you aren't suggesting what I think you are, are you?"
Ruby said, "Yep!"
At this Yang groaned, "Come on, Ruby, I think it was pretty clear what he said yesterday."
Ruby said, "Yep, and this isn't pity, this is very different! If he doesn't think he can be good, then I'm going to prove him wrong, and I don't care if he's going to like or not!"
Jaune said, "You're talking about Memnol, aren't you?"
After the nods, he added, "Right, what crazy stuff has done lately?"
Ruby said, "He just invited us over for dinner,"
Pyrrha said, "We didn't see any of you here though?"
After a pause, Ruby said, "He invited us over to his mansion."
Ren said, "His mansion."
There were nods and Weiss said, "He can apparently just, will it, and there will be a shimmering door leading to a mansion stocked with food."
Nora asked, "Ooh! What kind of food?"
Yang said, still slightly nursing a hangover, "Really fancy stuff, and some really strong alcohol."
Jaune said, "I mean, how fancy could it have-"
Blake said, "Swan."
Jaune blinked and said, "Sorry?"
Blake said, "The main course was Swan, after the lobster and drinks, but before the cheese and grapes."
Jaune opened and closed his mouth a good few times, before Pyrrha put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
Ruby said, "Anyways~ The dinner didn't exactly go perfectly, and we kind of learned some personal stuff I'm not going to say, and that he pretty much doesn't think he can be good-"
Yang added, "And he confirmed that he was an assassin at some point, but isn't anymore."
Ruby said, "Yeah, that too. So, I've got this train, and I wanted to ask if any of you could come up with ideas! It's not exactly redemption, either, I just, couldn't think of a better name."
Now that they looked closer, they saw that the car that seemed to correspond to Ruby didn't have much, except for 'Power of Friendship' underlined and circled.
After a few moments of silence, Ren said, "Maybe we're looking at this wrong. Do we know why he doesn't think that?"
Ruby said, "Well- Uh… He didn't quite say that."
Blake said, "Now that I think about it, he just said he 'wouldn't exactly describe' his intended job as good."
Nora said, "But he's gonna be a hunter, right?"
Yang said, "Mostly going for bounties, 'cording to him."
Jaune said, "I mean, that's still leaning pretty good."
Weiss said, "Maybe… maybe that's not the right way to think about it either. What if he means in some kind of, definite way?"
Ren said, "You think he could be a moral absolutist? That's, rare, at our age."
Nora said, "Well, there are some things that're definitely bad, without a doubt."
Everyone looked at Nora for a solid second. Then she continued, bubbly as ever, "Like Grimm! Or nightmares! Or Professor Port's really long stories!"
Normalcy having returned, everyone there went about their normal Saturday, though at some point when Ruby wasn't looking Nora added 'Explosions' to her car in the drawing, and Weiss added 'Appeal to Pride'.
Once Memnol's bullhead landed, he and his current 5 IA entourage exited, and he paused and let himself say out loud, "The streets really are labeled down here too. Quite nice."
He soon turned to see two of the exact same exceedingly non-descript man walk towards him, and he greeted them with a nod, and they walked off in perfect unison, having decided their apparent personas in the span of the approach, just needing to purchase a few more accessories to really sell it, and one more thing to pass time.
After some time, Memnol and his IA's, plus his newly acquired chess set stored in one of their briefcases, had gone on to the Vale harbor. Soon enough he found what he was looking for, a decent looking cafe with some open table seating in the front, and a 'seat yourself' policy. Memnol sat down, his IA's playing the role of his lackey's (which they were regardless), pulling his chair out for him and setting up his chessboard, before ominously standing behind him.
Eventually, a waiter had plucked up the courage to walk over and ask, "Can I get you anything?"
Memnol looked him over in a moment, the waiter would be mildly shorter than him if he were standing, appeared to be in his early twenties, and utterly civilian based on the mild shaking of his hands.
Memnol said, "All things considered, I'd rather like to try the Fish and Chips."
"Anything to drink?"
"Yes, water with one Ice."
"Got that, Fish, Chips, and a water with one ice-" The waiter stopped, "S-Sorry?"
Memnol said, "I am uncertain as to whether the ice here is cubed or not, whatever shape the ice may be, I would vastly prefer only a singular one. As such, water with one ice."
The waiter nodded and went back in to do so. As he did, the IA's adjusted the seating so there would only be one chair other than Memnol's, directly opposite to him and slightly outwards, before they soon sat down just behind him. Memnol made the first move, putting a white pawn forward, and it was left like that by the time the waiter returned.
Memnol said, looking closely at that single, large ice cube in his water, "Thank you. I'd prefer to pay as I order, could I have the bill for these?"
"Of course, one moment."
Now Memnol, being in a slightly mischievous mood, was going to do what any Wizard would seemingly randomly do, and as such was going to repay a minor act far out of proportion. Though today was admittedly far from the beggar routine some wizards did, it was still close enough in some vague spirit.
This is why after the waiter came back, never there to see Memnol mutter and wave a free hand about, he didn't notice the absence of the ice when Memnol called for his attention just after he turned back around with the bill and lien.
Memnol said, "Don't forget your tip, for bringing me that ice," as he held a Sapphire.
The waiter just sputtered for a second, when Memnol said, "Best of luck figuring out how to report that in your taxes, though it isn't my concern."
Then even more shockingly to the waiter, he just lazily tossed a precious gem over to him like it was nothing and the waiter only caught it on instinct.
Memnol ate his lunch in relative silence for a while, slowly enjoying it as he took in the sights around him. Shame nobody was willing to take a chance, join him for a game of chess. Was it eccentric of him, this whole chain of things? Yes, but that just sort of comes with the whole 'wizard' thing, y'know? A lifetime of disregarding otherwise fundamental aspects of reality through sheer individual will tends to do that to a few people.
"Especially Chronomancers," Thought Memnol, "Those guys are ridiculous and I still utterly refuse to ever fight or try to become one. The spells are fine of course, anyone can use those, the real ones that actually use their rituals to wield swords they haven't made yet, those are the crazy ones. Much too wild, inane, meaningless, Chaotic."
Memnol thought of this and other probably inconsequential thoughts while sitting there. He enjoyed just taking in the sights without anything hunting him down for a change. The smell of the sea breeze, the sound of the waves, of people passing by, and the sights in those people passing by too! The fashion here was a shock to the senses in a lot of ways, though it wasn't so much as to believe it to be in itself chaotic or anything of the sort.
A little further away was a good few seagulls feasting on some fallen fries, buoys bobbing up and down, and a child who was just held back by his sad looking parents, a ram-faunus father by the horns and some sort of lizard-faunus mother by the neck scales, who looked down sadly himself after a moment.
The last one didn't add up to Memnol, though looking around found a rather quick answer to that, an ice-cream shop with a small 'No Faunus' sign, tucked into the corner of a window on the inside.
Memnol got up, as did his IA's, Though the fact they left a number of their belongings behind indicated they would return. The three walked in unison towards the family and Ice-Cream shop.
Once up to the family, the IA's said to the parents, in unison to absolutely nobody's relief, ""Wait here for a few moments.""
The parents did stay there, though the ram faunus did adjust closer to his family, long enough to see the three walk in, one of which calmly removed the sign and placed it into a bag in his briefcase while Memnol and the other ordered three ice-cream cones, blocking their view, and just walked back out. One of the people sitting down inside the restaurant or behind the counter that could see the sign being removed might have said something, if it wasn't for the whole 'silent threat of wealth and power' thing Memnol was deliberately playing up at the moment.
They went directly to the Faunus family, the IA wordlessly handing their cone to the mildly stunned mother, Memnol handing his to the mother and father as well, gesturing to their kid.
After this Memnol removed a glove, put a hand forward, looked the father in the eyes, and said, "Memnol Elodyr, Beacon general reserve, first year Hunter in training."
The father looked right back and shook the hand, "Carmen Slate, Chief Foreman and Founder of Slate construction for twenty-three years."
Memnol said as the handshake broke, "Raise him well. With a better taste in ice-cream, to start."
Carmen laughed for a moment as the handshake broke, and said, "Thanks, best of luck out there."
They both nodded down once, and went- well if I said 'their separate ways' that would be inaccurate. Memnol sat down at the cafe, which the family soon passed, but Memnol and Slate refused to acknowledge each other and muddle up the moment.
The child didn't seem to have that notion however, and said, "Thank you mister!"
Memnol just nodded and thought to himself, "'One Good deed per month of minimal ambiguity', the only dying bargain I've ever agreed to, and from an enemy at that. Well, effectively-dying bargain, they're still technically alive, just stuck in a Phthisic induced coma. And Soul-Trapped. Worse-than-dying bargain, I suppose."
Memnol's mind wandered onto the topic of Faunus, "I don't get all the discrimination, far as I can tell there's fewer differences between humans and faunus than humans and elves. The humans here just seem to be scraping the barrel, so to say, for some kind of difference. Still, maybe I'm just skewed myself since I've worked with weirder, one of the places I liked living the most was a Mind Flayer Arcanist colony, now that I really think about it. I've made weirder, I've crossbred creatures into what could be described as faunus myself. That reminds me actually, I need to crossbreed a tree to have a skeletal structure at some point, I should test if crossbreeding still works here at all first though. I'll just make a few Slithertoads to start."
Memnol, having no opponents as of the moment, decided to take out his spellbook and materials, and see how quickly he could manage to re-research spells of other levels with the remaining half-hour before he went for the bullhead. He did manage Fox's Cunning in 32 minutes, which was slightly longer than he intended, but he had planned to be early regardless, so he was just slightly late to being early and therefore on time like any sensible person. He left the visible IA's behind with the chessboard, but the other 5 remained around him.
The bullhead soon left for patch, ETA 2 hours. Qrow didn't say anything to him after confirming he was on the bullhead. He managed Fabricate in 1 hour 20 minutes, and Shatter also in 32 minutes. Shatter was always one of his favorites, the look on an enemies face when their precious Sunblade just breaks beneath their hands was priceless, sometimes it was disbelief, other times shock, other times horror, every time it was amusing. For the last 8 minutes, Memnol just took in the sights and reminisced.
Nothing even comparatively interesting happened the rest of that day. Memnol and Qrow didn't speak past what was needed for the mission, and they hadn't quite made it to where the other team was yet. They ended up spending that night in a Magnificent Mansion, as opposed to the initial plan of camping. Qrow actually slept, Memnol spent a full 8 hours creating a Thought Bottle.
He took a moment to utilize the thought bottle, to keep- he wasn't sure what to call it, frankly. It seemed like a near imprint of his soul, based on what it did, able to restore lost power and life, even in defiance of resurrection. Though it seemed too malleable, if that's what it was. Regardless, Memnol was simply glad that it kept that function through the transition. By now with all the Limited Wishing and the item creating, he had felt himself reduced by a non-negligible degree. With the time left before the morning, he managed to pick up Time Stop in 2 Hours, 14 Minutes.
The loss of soul was nothing a minor rampage among these Grimm couldn't fix, however, he figured.
This was, as they say, Definitely Not Worrying™.
Team JCTH (Jacinth) was not having the best days so far, given that Holly, their main scout, had had a broken leg for a few days from getting way too overzealous against a pack of Ursa Majors that Corinth had only barely been able to get her out of alive. The fact that they were tired, stressed, weakened, and unsure of if their reinforcements would arrive on time was not any particular help.
The lack of a scout led to them blundering about a decent amount of the time, such as right now, where they were facing down what felt like the majority of the forest. A very sizeable horde of a hundred and a half Beowulves, several dozen and some more Ursas, and a few King Taijutus all maybe 70 feet away, for variety in how they'd die. They hadn't realized that they were that deep into the forest.
During this rather tense standoff however, they heard a voice from behind them, Qrow shouting, "Keep your eyes on the Grimm and back up! Don't lower your weapons!"
It had taken Qrow and Memnol the rest of the previous day and a full half-day just to find them right now. As Qrow was trying to direct these second years away from this horde of Grimm and consider the best way for him to fight them, Memnol just walked forward, no particular concern on his face.
Then, once he was ahead of Team JCTH, he started the casting of a single spell, hands waving and plucking at the air, which caused the Grimm horde to charge immediately.
Before they could make it closer than 10 feet to Memnol, he finished casting Frostfell, excluding everything behind him by his Mastery of Shaping, and in a 370-foot radius half-sphere in front of him, the world went white.
As everyone else stood in silence, Qrow discreetly gathering some photos of what just happened, Memnol felt nearly overwhelmed by the sheer flood of power he felt. In that moment he understood how these people got by with mainly martial means.
Here, they would always grow some amount, however small in comparison to the total of their soul, any time they defeated a foe. Even if their souls improved in only minimal amounts based on the foe as his was, it was enough given a high body count.
Memnol slowly turned around, snow drifting peacefully onto perfectly still ice statues that were once Grimm, the light of the spring sun reflecting off of it all and contrasting with his grayish cloak and black robe. He considered that perhaps, given the apparent focus on spectacle that their normal fighting was littered with, that might be easier for them to understand than a Wail of the Banshee or swarm of Black Blade of Disaster.
He said, with a tone of mild curiosity, "Are there any more, by chance?"
Jade, the leader of Team JCTH said, "We- We don't think-,"
At that moment, a number of previously unseen and unfelt Creepers burst from the ground, both where the horde once was, and from directly beneath Memnol. Memnol reacted just before the ones beneath him appeared, and threw himself to the right, thanks to his Uncanny Dodging skills.
He mentally ordered it, and with some improvised, not actually component arm waving between his dodges, an IA cast it's own Frostfell, excluding some areas more precisely.
With more ice and snow added to the mix, Memnol realized that he didn't feel any growth from those Creepers. He thought to the IA that cast that Frostfell, "Report, have you felt any growth."
"No growth, as standard."
"Well then," Memnol thought to himself, "That's a mild limitation. Still, it was a perfectly fine power-hungry rampage, if rather tame."
Memnol faced them again, "Right then, I would say we ought to bring you back to civilization before we are ambushed again. Mr. Branwen has led the way here, I shall trust him to lead the way back."
The group soon started to make their way back through a route Qrow remembered after a certain point, and bar the one group of 5 Beowulves they encountered, which were all grouped up and wiped out with one Detonate from an IA, though they only saw Memnol waving his hands about, nothing of particular interest happened the rest of that day until they entered a new Mansion that Memnol created.
After both the dinner and the reactions of Team JCTH who were rather grateful at going from camping, which has a bit of a connotation in Remnant given the Grimm situation, to a luxury suite were out of the way, Memnol had turned in seemingly early, but really all he did was make one more Thought Bottle after storing his Experiences into the first.
Oh, and with the last couple hours before he figured they'd wake up, he researched Wish in 2 hours 24 minutes, that might be important.
Once Monday morning came and everyone was awake, Qrow began leading them out of the forest again, though partway he paused in place, as though remembering something.
Qrow took a long drink from his flask, and kept leading them out of the forest through what became a path, where eventually they came to a cliffside. Qrow led them up a winding path along the cliffside, and the group followed him diligently, not risking losing where he went, Team JCTH talking among themselves.
For a moment, Memnol thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye, and by some twist of luck, decided he would investigate at a later time.
They soon returned to civilization on Patch that evening, and rather than pay for a hotel as most hunters did, into the Mansion they went again, where that night, Memnol did indeed sleep and rest. Once he woke up that Monday morning, before going out of his room for breakfast, he decided on a strategy known as 'all or nothing'.
And he prepared Wish all 5 times he could. And he spoke aloud, in Infernal, in his room, "I Wish for an empty Thought Bottle."
He smiled a much-too-pleasant smile, when in his hands appeared a perfectly functional Thought Bottle. And he repeated himself 2 more times. Then he utilized his Vest of the Archmagi, and regained the 3 Wish slots. He considered how much further he might be able to push his wishes, before he needed to start nesting 3 of the now 5 Thought Bottles in his possession.
He decided that for safety, he'd keep the rest of them for now, and wished one more time for something less obvious, though very useful, a War Wizard Cloak. If asked, he'd just say he had made it in his spare time. Nobody noticed, aside from Qrow, who didn't ask and just silently noted it.
At around this time, when Qrow and Memnol were separately reporting their missions via scroll, back in Beacon in Doctor Oobleck's class, he had just asked if anyone had been discriminated against because they were a faunus.
A few moments after another student, perhaps slightly earlier than in some other time, Velvet raised a ringed hand, and Beacon life continued as it may from there.
Back with the now mostly complete Mission, Team JCTH and Memnol had been told by Qrow that the next Bullhead wasn't due until around 3, and that they had the day off, and the next day too if they'd like.
Apparently, for some reason that Memnol almost understood on an intellectual level, students were always offered at least one day off after their first time fighting against the endless dark horde of monsters fueled by negativity, or if they were injured by the aforementioned everlasting army seeking to destroy all they know and love.
Team JCTH, being second years, went into town to re-stock and celebrate being alive, whereas for Memnol, Qrow had said, "I mean, technically you're a first-year and all that, but if you can wipe out over a hundred Grimm without taking a step to the left, then honestly I'm more worried for whatever idiot tries to mug you. We meet at the bullhead dock, two-thirty."
While Qrow found his way to a bar, Memnol returned to his mansion briefly, and wished for a Ring of Sequestering, which drained most of what was left of him, and so afterwards drew that imprint from his first thought bottle, and repeatedly imprinted down to the third. After this he slipped on the Ring, which turned invisible. Then, he took the time to add a new ability to his gloves, something he figured wasn't worth the cost of Wishing for.
A good few hours later, he, Qrow, and JCTH were on the Bullhead back to Vale and Beacon, Memnol's gloves now being Gloves of Continuous Scholar's & Master's Touch, now also allowing him to proficiently wield any individual equipment he wore while wearing the gloves, and for up to 1 minute after taking the gloves off. Now he wouldn't exactly have to worry about the whole 'knowing how to use it' thing with these 'guns'.
After a good little while of being back in Vale, after Qrow reported the mission and what he noticed about Memnol to Ozpin, Memnol had gone to report to Ozpin himself as well.
The moment Memnol stepped into his office, with a mild smile, Ozpin said, "The state of our bets?"
Memnol said, "Draws on both. As such, either we both lose, and nothing changes in the least,"
Ozpin finished where he deliberately left it off, "Or we both win, and trade the answers to secrets, as well as 'particularly major' favors."
Memnol said, "As we are in your domain, I defer the choice to you."
Ozpin said, "Then I suppose we have both won. I will hold my question for now, as well as my favor. You may go first."
Memnol said, "I suppose given the state of things, I would quite like to know for my question and secret; Are we the only ones capable of magic? As part of that secret, if there are others, I wish to know at least the name of one that you are associated with."
Ozpin said, "We are not, though there are very, very few others. I am associated with one that goes by the name of Amber. I would like to ask a question of my own, but not the one from our bet."
Memnol said, "Go ahead, if it is too much I shall simply inform you of that."
Ozpin said, "Thank you. I have heard rumors spread that you were once an assassin. If I were to order that you find and kill someone, no complications to it, no ambiguity, simply ensuring their death, would you do so? Would it be that favor?"
Memnol said, "Headmaster, I am almost insulted. I had already presumed that was included in our initial agreement."
Ozpin said, "As did I, though certainty is preferable. Well, you may consider yourself ordered as such then."
Memnol asked, "Do we have details on any actions they have done recently? Enough for me to ask a 'Who' question."
Ozpin, knowing not to question too much the particulars a wizard may demand, said, "Yes, they have harmed Amber grievously, and they have partially stolen her ability to use magic."
The moment Ozpin mentioned their theft, Memnol's face expression went far more sinister, his smile much more malevolent.
He said, forcing out and nearly spitting each word, "Ah, I see. Wretched, mundanes, who dare try to rob their betters of what is not theirs. Do not be concerned, Headmaster, I likely may have done this regardless of our agreements had I heard of it. Consider them dead within a matter of days at the most, by tomorrow in all likelihood."
Memnol walked to the elevator down, but before he entered it he said, "Speaking as a Wizard to a fellow caster, it is clear that there are painfully few of us in these lands. If they require my aid, feel open to direct them to me. I am willing to be lenient in my dealings with them, if they are a novice."
Ozpin nodded silently.
Once he was in the elevator, he used a Limited Wish to duplicate a divination spell known as Identify Transgressor.
Memnol asked in his mind to The Weave and Magic with the spell, "Who is the one that dare stole magic from the associate of Headmaster Ozpin, who is known to me as Amber?"
The Weave and Magic responded with a name, as Identify Transgressor called for, "Cinder Fall."
He knew he got a correct answer, as part of that very magic would have informed him if the answer was incorrect.
Once the elevator was down, Memnol left for the Library to set up his preferred Mansion location. Within the hour, he had created a Scrying Shard, any Wizard that actually used a large mirror for their scrying deserved to be mocked for ignorance in his opinion, and had cast Scrying, seeing a black haired young woman in a red and orange dress. He observed them for the full 27 minutes available to him, seeing who was most consistently around them. Two others, one with green hair, another with grayish hair. Emerald and Mercury, by what he heard.
He had all he needed; An action to learn a name, a name by which to Scry, a Scrying by which to see them, having seen them by which to Discern Location- after resting that is. From there, a location by which to ever so helpfully be given directions and distance to with a single search on almost any modern scroll. Memnol ate his dinner and went to bed immediately afterwards.
At 3 in the morning the next day, Amber's body stirred, and the machines attached changed their readings.
At 8:37, Ozpin discovered this when he checked up on her, and soon informed his circle.
At 11:30, while Memnol was in Professor Port's class, housecleaning services at the sports themed Half-Time Hotel found three dead bodies in one room.
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The Ancient Tree's Journey
On a planet far away from Earth, an ancient tree lives inside a beautiful forest. When the tree realises that its life is coming to an end, it creates a seed without a soul. The seed begins a long journey, being passed from person to person, until it finally collides with the soul of a girl from Earth and sprouts. With her human knowledge, the girl tries to survive in this world... as a tree. Note: This is my first time writing a novel, so my writing style might be a little rough around the edges sometimes, especially the first twelve are still amateur style. I'll probably rewrite them at some point... later perhaps. Also, the MC will be introduced in chapter 13. The first twelve chapters are more of an introduction to the world, so they bear little significance to the main story. Still, I recommend reading it if you want to get a better view of the world. Chapter releases once every four days.
8 321The Orphan and the Thief
From the very beginning it was all Toad’s fault. A blundering, quick-talking thief, he was the one who cut a deal with the dangerous Edward P. Owl: track down the ingredients to the Seeking Solution, or else. Twenty-five thousand gorents, he’d said to her. That was all it took for Melena, a lonely orphan with a knack for potions, to pack her bags and join in on the quest. From the majestic forest of Holly-Harp Wood to the labyrinth caves of Dunthur to the frigid waters of the Blackens, they search for Owl’s ingredients. Toad and Melena must face sea dragons, cave monsters, birds as large as wagons, kidnappers, and thieves. Toad’s in it to save his head – cross Owl and start digging your own grave. Melena’s in it to get paid so she can start a new life, one that includes her missing brother. But you really can’t trust thieves. The Orphan and the Thief is also available on Kindle and in paperback via Amazon.com. Thanks for reading!
8 204The Arcane Chronicle: Nephilim's Odyssey
As her tenth birthday approached, Helen always dreamed about the same thing over and over again—a terrible dream about a past that should not had happened. From then on, Helen began to doubt her own memories and family history that her grandma always talked about. On that day, she graduated from primary school. But that day, her life took a sudden turn. A mysterious woman who came from her true past... An abomination who professed on how "unique" she was... A bloodthirsty beast massacre near where she lived... In a world full of anomalies and countless wonders, where even heroes fell and Gods were slain. Will she had what it takes to discover her true identity? "Twinkle, twinkle, little star. Have you wondered what you are?" _____________ DROPPED (at least for now)
8 99Tales of New World : The Magus
'What it feels like to be free from every shackle that holding you?'That's a question given to Volya Portar after someone rescued him from slavery in the past after he separated from his sister. As he grows older, he knows that he also could help everyone free themselves from their shackle even if they are a convict or something worse. And his opportunity arrives as he encounters several knights ambushed by bandits in the forest where he lives.And thus, his story begins
8 55The Fall of Vaasar
Everyone loves a festival in Vaasar. The town is peaceful and the townsfolk relish a good show. But shy Tamza is not enjoying herself. Her father, a celebrated bear tamer, is stepping down and the time has come for Tamza to take his place and perform on her own. Tamza is determined to make her father proud. Before she can reach the stage, the crowd's cheers turn to screams as Vaasar is brutally invaded by a bloodthirsty force hellbent on destroying everyone and everything in its path. Only Tamza has the magic powerful enough to save her people and her beloved bears - but first she must find the courage to use it.
8 93The Soulmate Of The Spider
A rival gang the Huntsman Spiders and the Avengers. Y/n Stark found her soulmate that matched her tattoo with the wrong but right person. "Wait! You're my-m-my- Soulmate?!"This can't be true! Y/n thought.(Endgame spoilers)
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