Chapter 51: Chapter 51: What Magic Makes Us

Chapter 51: What Magic Makes Us

L’vay’s pixie grew, limbs elongating as the body floated forward, looking like a strange balloon. Eventually the torso and head changed to match it, and it crouched down over Rhamal’s charred remains.

He had to say he was disappointed.

Mordunaal's torch wasn't impressive, spending the entire fight as a distraction that could have easily been ignored. Sure, she was a member of the Dumabi tribe, and that was interesting. So too was the idea that that old tribe had lost their connection to the veil. But that girl, despite being an exception, couldn't even win a mana tug-of-war and hadn't wielded a spell that reminded L'vay of the worst of them. She didn't even use Mordunaal's flame, which would have ended this fight without a scar on her body, and had it not been for that dragon child, she wouldn't be alive at all.

L’vay could go and kill her and end Mordunaal’s plan faster than he could have ever done before.

But killing her would be boring, especially since he wanted to see what type of terror she could be.

It'd definitely be more fun to kill her later too. Perhaps he'd even drag her body to the old dragon's feet and mock him for his poor choices. It did mean something, after all, that she could bear his flame, but what was the point of a torch that could be blown out by a facsimile of a demon? Ah, but he was getting ahead of himself. Before he could even think about meeting her, he'd have to get there first.

As his "pixie" gazed down at Rhamal's corpse, he found that Hoka's magic created an interesting little subspace. It wasn't just controlling the shape, repositioning the people inside, and sensing their life force. It could contain the life force too, keeping a person's soul from leaving the body behind.

He ran a finger down Rhamal and opened him up, dipping his hand into a cosmic sea and pulling his inner world out. To a normal eye, it might look no different than a marble, but L'vay could see where the Dumabi blood informed his core, and where the disconnection from the veil started. That was its own intricate spell, not unlike Hoka's in the way L'vay couldn't copy it. He could see where this boy had started becoming a demon too, the life layer of his core transforming still.

He probably could have rushed it if he wasn’t chasing the ghost of his familial power. If he used the mana as a sort of beacon for magyeon, he could have taken on a demonic form for each element he wanted to wield. The Wyada part of him held that power inside. L’vay could see floral, fire, and wind mana swirling inside Rhamal’s core, looking for a proper outlet. This, too, was disappointing, but there was at least something to salvage.

He dropped the core back inside the boy and sealed the incision. Leaving his hand on his chest, L'vay forced a regeneration, restoring the cooked flesh, the beat of the heart, and the things the mind needed to remember it was alive. In seconds Rhamal looked like himself again, except for clothes, and rather than let him wake, L'vay kept his mind asleep.

"Can't have you getting me in trouble now, can I?" He sang as the boy's chest rose and fell.

He leaned in, pressing himself against the young man’s body as his fingers sank into his chest. He stirred his inner world, giving this boy what he wanted.

"It won't quite be the same as being an awakened Dumabi, but it should make you happy." His words poured into Rhamal's ear. "Remember that it was L'vay who did this for you."

“L’vay…” Rhamal exhaled.

“Yes, that’s right.” L’vay’s fingers rose from inside him. “Tell L’vay what else you desire.”

Rhamal whispered almost imperceptibly, but L'vay responded, another pixie finding a dead spirit vessel and healing him too. This was the one who had fought the other spiritualist, what was his name? Lalohett? L'vay didn't care why he wanted him alive, because their fate would ultimately be the same.

“There you go.” He smiled. “Now one more thing. When you long for more, remember Osheandre. Remember the one who imprisons L’vay.”

"Osheandre." Both Rhamal and Lalohett said.

L’vay’s pixie rose and the two smiled with him. Osheandre hadn’t responded. It meant he wasn’t breaking any rules. There was no guarantee that these two could free him, but he had all the belief he wouldn’t be trapped for much longer.

“This is fun, Mordunaal,” He thought of the dragon and his torch. “I see why you gave that girl your fire. The world should remember that we still live.” He laughed, running his fingers through his bangs.

If Osheandre couldn’t stop him, he’d go on. That girl had said some interesting things after all. Astral Wraiths and another world? Maybe it wasn’t so bad that he was sealed so long. There were things he didn't know, but ways he could find out.

Back at Hoka's globe, he scanned the life force within her spell for those he had ignored. There was one of those beast people, he thought they called themselves myrin. Two homunculi were as well, one of them was one of the demons he sensed before. But an astral wraith? No, he couldn't feel anything like that. A shame, he supposed, but a mystery made for more fun. For now, he'd watch that little elf. He was sure that'd be more fun than watching Mordunaal's torch.

○○○

Danson put his wanderer's note away with a furrowed brow. Between Keigo's update about the missing wraith, Kiara's comment about a battle she wasn't prepared for, and what felt like a storm of magic raging around him, he felt like this battle was out of their control.

What happened to the conductor behind this rhythm? She had done a fantastic job, giving him fights that made his first encounter funny. But now he felt like his guard had to be up, especially with his path leading him into some sort of cave.

Where stone would otherwise make the walls, vines made a tunnel around him, some dangling down with luminescent flowers. Despite the level of worry he was steeped in, he couldn't say this didn't make for a stunning backdrop, and couldn't say it didn't sort of ease his mind.

He couldn't be all that worried, really. With the way he responded to the Frost Folk curse, he didn't feel like the same elf he was when he stepped into this domain. Once again he owed it all the Leyu. When he first saw him five years ago, the only thing that stood out was that he was a kid too.

There was Danson, his ufanyn friends Tasyl and Tynye, and then there was Leyu, who felt like a lot of magic but didn't seem to have that much power. At the time he wore a bracelet and mostly hid behind the older members of his group. They all seemed exceptionally strong, but neither Leyu nor Tsukee seemed like a person he'd think about again.

Then the festival games started, and this almost nothing "magical entity," proved to be better than those that were better than the elf. Even after Danson lost, Leyu went on, and when that bracelet came off Danson realized how he had been so blind. He went up to Leyu immediately after the games wrapped up and asked him a question without a hint of embarrassment.

“How do I get as strong as you!”

Leyu seemed uncertain, but a spider-woman crouched beside him, placing one hand on his shoulder as she replied instead.

“He can’t tell you yet, but give him some time.”

They both were confused. Tsukee, however, was quick to back her up.

“Make sure you’re ready though! It’ll blow you away!”

Danson laughed, like he did back then, more certain than Leyu was in how right those two were. And then he went off and became both the Infinite Spell and the Librarian of Infinity. When he gave Danson the frost folk ring, he knew that Leyu had taken the fastest route to answer that five-year-old question.

To stop the curse the magic had to go somewhere, and there was no way to constantly pull the mana apart without keeping your mind on the earring. Unless, of course, you trained yourself to move the mana right away. There was almost a cloud of water mana around Danson, growing bigger the more the earring tried to curse him. What started as training to harness the mana through noise had turned into training to harness the mana with finesse. Drawing too much would make his spells more powerful but hypercharge the curse.

Danson laughed again. The Infinite Spell was insane. It was no wonder the Magic Council put such a heavy bounty on that name. Danson understood their fear to such a level, that when the tunnel opened into a cavern, he felt something wrong in how the mana interacted. He didn't even need the web a magyeon closing the exit behind him to know he had walked into an opponent's trap.

“Let me ask you something, elf.” There came a man’s voice. Danson looked up and found a sect member sitting on a mushroom sticking out of the wall. A staff of sorts was stabbed into the flesh beside him. “Why is an elf involved with this battle?”

Danson shrugged, “I got a meddlesome friend who doesn’t like what you guys are doing to the spiritual balance.”

The man laughed, “So the elves haven’t gotten involved. Guess I’m relieved.”

Danson laughed in response. “What have the elves gotten involved with in several centuries?”

“Other than the six-year-siege?”

“That doesn’t count, that was mostly the Ufanyn.”

The sect member shrugged. “You gotta see it from my perspective. All the stories my old man told me about elves made me join the Jade Wardens when I was old enough. The way you guys treated humans back then? Yeah, it gave me nightmares about what demons might do if they came into power.”

Danson chuckled, “So are you undercover then?”

The man chuckled, ripping off his top and mask.

He was the type of handsome guy who made Danson sneer without realizing it. Too luxurious hair fell over an undercut to right beneath his ear, putting a model in front of him instead of a warrior. Except, scars marred an almost bared and all too chiseled upper body. Danson found that he was suddenly exhausted with annoyance, which only seemed to get worse when he thought about the ripped remnants of the Jade Warden shirt that only covered this man's left arm and shoulder.

“A bit much, don’t you think?” He said.

“I’m not in here trying to pick up girls, kid, this is just how we disciples of Yuzuko dress.”

“I fought a few of you guys,” Danson crossed his arms. “They kept all their clothes on.”

“Those guys are newer disciples, more trainees than the real deal. They weren’t that far along to begin with, though far enough along that the Harrabaren’s forces would have trouble. Surprise you didn’t, really.”

“So what are you, a former warden?”

“Name’s Hyunwoo, and yeah. I was a warden for a long time. I was actually hoping I’d run into Jun Mi instead of you, wanted to recruit her to our side.”

“How’d you go from elf tales making you militant against demons to bowing your head to one?” Danson smirked.

Hyunwoo touched a sizeable scar right above his hip. “I fought a couple of those demons at the same time. A literal couple, I’m talking in love and everything. It was a routine mission for me, and I was going to make quick work of them. They fought for their lives though. They lost in the end, but you know how there’s a difference between a warrior and a survivor?”

Danson didn’t quite know, but he could guess what Hyunwoo meant. A warrior fought with the skill to kill, they went into every battle to take a life or have theirs taken. Survivors fought like cornered animals, every moment an act of desperation just so they could get away. He supposed that made Hyunwoo an assassin that day.

“Didn’t like that the higher ups gave you a hit job?”

Hyunwoo frowned, “Didn’t like how it made me feel. Before that? Being a warden was about the power. Sure, I started because of elf tales, but then I knew what it was like to be powerful. I was good at my job. There were plenty of would-be sects that had my face up on wanted posters. If they heard I was coming, their whole force showed up. I wasn’t stationed near the Yoshiki Sect territory so I never really clashed with any of them, but demons knew to be afraid of me.”

Danson almost asked where this was going, but this was his best chance to figure out what the sect was doing. They could defeat the rest of them, but the real victory would be in knowing their plan.

“So you got used to being the guy that solved the problem, huh?” He said, not sympathetically, but taking some of the amusement out of his voice. “And fighting survivors made you wonder what the problem was?”

“I searched their camp for all the clues in the world. They were just people. They were heading to Yoshiki territory, sure, but it was pretty damn clear they were looking for refuge.”

“So what? You went to Yoshiki territory instead?”

Hyunwoo laughed humorlessly. "Nah, more like Yoshiki territory came to me. I really was a big deal. Shiomi showed up to take me out." This time he did have humor in his laugh. "I'll tell you this much, I wouldn't have been ready to fight her even if I wasn't injured."

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“Why’d she let a Jade Warden live then?”

“I asked her who the hell the two of them were.”

“And?”

Hyunwoo let out a deep breath. “Who’s the biggest baddest elf you know?”

He was talking about elf tales, little stories humans told each other about the times when the elven kingdoms would terrorize the East Wing. It wouldn't have been called the East Wing back then, just a bunch of nations who feared the sight of elven ships on the sea. Some bowed to elves with the hope of getting power. Others fought desperately to push them back. That's where Elf Killers came from, the East Wing’s attempt to never fear an elf again. And the biggest baddest elf? If Danson had to go off of those stories…

“Probably Tevoshen.” He shrugged.

Hyunwoo shuddered. “Scary. I know that one. That’s the Laeshi with the nightmarish transformation. He would haunt the dreams of whole towns, and then pop out on them. Their kings would get one survivor out of there, and all they could say was that guys name. Tevoshen, Tevoshen. Kings thought that was how he got around undetected, right?”

“That’s how I hear it.” Danson nodded. Even he was afraid of Tevoshen’s elf tales. The real way he got around was still a mystery.

“Now, imagine if, after Tevoshen died, you could find away to get his power and give it to one of your henchmen. Warden’s use the power of slain demons you know? But demons don’t really die do they? You can’t kill something that’s just magyeon made flesh, after all.”

“So your hit was your bosses trying to get the magic of powerful demons.” That made Danson shudder.

“Yoshiki Shiomi told me that the white hair of the Cardinals are a response to their own demonic metamorphosis. Yoshiki Hanzo’s magyeon came in contact with them, and next thing they knew, they were demons with his power. My guess is that the couple had the power of demons who mattered back during the serpent dynasty. Don’t know how the bosses knew, but they did and I was sent because I probably wouldn’t die.”

This was…interesting…but it didn't surprise Danson. His brother-in-law had been a human about fifty years ago and had become a demon to live as long as his sister. Humans could become demons, that wasn't a surprise, and the right bit of magyeon could let you revive demons. The fact that the Jade Wardens were looking for certain powers though? That was interesting. Maybe it even meant the Orchid Triumvirate wouldn't be a Triumvirate for much longer.

But what did that have to do with the Yoshiki Sect and Spirit Domains?

"I guess the sect was pretty lucky to have you join up with them. You gave them some pretty valuable information."

Hyunwoo laughed. “Nothing they didn’t already know!”

Was there any way to ask this next question subtly? He didn’t think so. He just had to hope this guy stayed in a talkative mood.

“Well, what are they going to do about it?”

The humor left Hyunwoo’s eyes again. “Nothing that an elf needs to concern himself about.”

Danson smiled at him. “Come on, I thought we had a good thing going on here.”

Hyunwoo smiled back, “Well, if you were an important elf I might have told you. But, since you’re just some kid with a meddlesome friend?” He raised his left arm, and ripples rode down the staff beside him. Horns grew up from his head, and Danson drew on the mana cloud around him. “I’m going to get you out of the way and look for better options.”

Danson didn’t give him the chance to attack. With the mana already at his fingertips he swung his arm and launched a barrage of seeds.

“Wave Out!” Ripples pulsed out from Hyunwoo’s hand, pushing the seeds wide and burying them in the wall behind him.

He took off after that, hopping across mushrooms, and Danson pulled on the seeds and sent a spell after him.

“Aen sif Tanaes Sadant.”

The birds went fast, cutting forward like sparrows. With ripples on his hand, Hyunwoo knocked them aside and kept going like he knew Danson was grabbing their mana.

“How long do you think you can run?” The elf asked with fingers pressed against his palm. “Aen sif Paraf Efda.” He flicked a blast ahead of Hyunwoo and an ice wall erupted, stopping him dead. “Aen sif Espet!” Swords erupted from the wall, hitting him dead on.

Hyunwoo dropped from the mushrooms to the cavern floor.

Danson crouched and touched the ground. “Demons aren’t easy to kill, but that just makes being frozen alive worse. Aen sif Sisos.” A wave rushed forward.

“Seismic Wave.” Hyunwoo answered with his hand on the ground, and Danson watched his ice leave a circle around him.

He hadn’t been stabbed either. While the swords knocked him down they lay scattered in the grass. Danson frowned. The demon smiled.

“I bet this is pretty frustrating for you.” He laughed. “But you can’t be all that surprised. I got a lot of experience. Elves are different, but a magical entity is a magical entity.”

Danson sighed. “You’re killing my streak here. All the sect members I fought since the first two haven’t been of note. Now I have to think to beat you.”

Hyunwoo laughed again, “Cocky little guy, aren’t you?”

“Don’t need to be cocky when I’ve already won.” Beyond his mana cloud there was plenty of ice in this room. He just had to figure out how Hyunwoo’s ripples worked.

Trial and error then?

He weaved his bow together, “Aen sif Presi,” and spewed a hail of arrows.

Hyunwoo’s hands came up with his palms already rippling and he pushed out to make a shield. He didn’t stay with it though, running across the ice as the arrows went wide.

Danson noticed the mana didn't cling to his feet

as he forged a sword and slid in.

It came down and Hyunwoo stopped it with a rippling palm. He pushed the sword back and Danson spun around, forging another that sliced for the demon’s body.

Hyunwoo jumped high, and Danson stabbed the swords into the ground. He leveled a bow and shot, but the arrows soared toward the ceiling instead of his foe.

Hyunwoo came down gracefully.

“Aen sif Espet Presi.” Swords rained from the arrows, consuming the demon in their torrent.

A mist swept through the cavern, but Danson didn't need it to be clear to know Hyunwoo was still standing. He sucked his teeth, but as it cleared to reveal the man with his fingers tented, he at least thought he figured it out.

“So disciples of Yuzuko are all about manipulating energy, huh? Your trainees made bows and arrows. I guess that’s about learning control. But you? You create some sort of magyeon ripple.” It wasn’t just transmutation like the normal sect members, this was a demonic influence. Sure, the horns should have given that away, but he didn’t feel like a demon. Was he still at the start of a metamorphosis?

Hyunwoo smiled, “Do you think I’ll confirm it if you say your theory out loud?”

“It would be nice.” Danson smirked.

“Well, tell me this. Would confirming it help you avoid my attack?”

He had only defended so far, but whatever was coming, Danson was sure he’d be able to block it. It wasn’t like he was going to let him attack either. Drawing on the mana he prepared a powerful spell. Worse come to worse, it’d make more mana for another one.

“Exposure Quake.” Hyunwoo clapped, and Danson trembled as ripples ran down his body.

The mana slipped from his fingertips as he lost his balance and dropped to a knee.

“Exposure Triplicate.”Hyunwoo touched his pinkies, middles, and thumbs together. Three rippling points made a line down Danson; forehead, throat, and chest.

If he was going to stand, he couldn't remember how. It took a moment for his atoms to feel like they were no longer buzzing. He looked at Hyunwoo and knew he was aware of this effect.

“Duplicate.” Pinky and thumbs. Ripples shot down Danson’s arms. “I guess the difference between elves and demons is pretty wide. A weaker demon would have started breaking apart after that.”

Danson forced himself to his feet, wincing all the while. “I’ll try to ignore that you just called me a weaker demon.”

This was still bad. The magic that made his flesh felt less whole than it ever had. The mana hadn't just slipped from his fingers before, he had lost the feeling in his hand. The only saving grace was that Hyunwoo didn't attack again, but nothing about this pause had anything to do with mercy. Another rotation of those spells would either kill Danson or leave him in a state of un-life. So, what did it mean that Hyunwoo didn't immediately attack?

Danson took in the cavern again. Mushrooms still covered the walls like shelves, and a web of magyeon still blocked the exit. Mana seeped out of the spells he had cast, but beyond that, this arena was still the same. Hyunwoo hadn't done anything new to enter an attack phase. Which meant…? Based on the spell words, there was only one option. The demonic influence didn't just make magyeon potent enough to block mana flow, it also placed a curse.

Which meant there was a trigger? But what and where? Danson looked around again and his eyes landed on the rippling staff, stabbed into a mushroom. And mushrooms produced spores? He grinned.

"I've figured your demonic influence out." He met Hyunwoo's eyes.

The half-demon didn't care about Danson's scanning. Why would he, when stalling worked to his advantage? "I'm still not going to confirm it."

“No, probably not, but still, I’m a little impressed. Your influence has layers. First,” he jabbed a thumb at the webbed entrance. “You could make your attacks way more physical, but why do that when, second, you can trigger them to attack the form rather than the body. Third, it’s entirely your choice because once you place your staff down, its curse is carried to anything near it.” If not for the spores, it’d probably be the air. “Your opponent and you. Which is why none of my attacks can freeze you." Danson did want confirmation, but he was stalling too. His body still needed a moment to repair itself.

Surprisingly still, Hyunwoo applauded him. "Gotta say, that's pretty astute. Most demons I fought panic and go feral. Though, my influence is a little different than how it was when I was a warden. Perks of demonic metamorphosis, I guess." Ripples rolled up between his fingers like arcs of electricity. A coin-sized ball came together. He raised his first two fingers like a wand or a crossbow, and Danson got the implication.

“Paraf,” was all he could say, bringing up a wall as Hyunwoo fired. It rippled, unsurprisingly, but he didn’t linger to see with those ripples would do.

Instead, he took off, casting ice birds that hit the ground and made rising stairs. On the last one, he casts with his feet, flinging himself toward the wall, running across the mushrooms.

"Wave in," came Hyunwoo as ripples drew inward beneath his feet and flung him in the air. He leveled his fingers and fired at the wall.

Danson cast ice over his skin in response.

Ripples flowed inward and spewed a multi-barbed spike at him. As it pierced, he cast his armor off and pushed himself back, rolling into a run, he continued across the mushrooms. Hyunwoo landed in his path. Danson forged an ice sword and kept going, swinging for the man’s neck as he drew close.

Hyunwoo slipped under it and slapped Danson’s calf.

Danson spun after him with a frozen trail, and his sword was caught and pushed back. Hyunwoo threw two quick punches. Danson caught them both with his ice skin, casting pieces off the moment Hyunwoo’s hands moved back.

They kept at it, sword slicing and fist flying, neither dealing damage but the onslaught going still. Until…

"Liwo eoda Nevas." The shards of ice skin erupted, freezing the mushroom beneath them. Hyunwoo kept going unimpeded until Danson pulled some of the mana away.

The mushroom cracked and the half-demon plummeted to the ground below. Danson took that chance to spin, launching his sword into the mushroom that held the staff. It froze and he drew on all the mana around him.

“Aen sif Ydagyo!” His ice dragon flew, not just to freeze but to crush Hyunwoo against the ground.

“Exposure Quake!” Hyunwoo clapped before the dragon hit him. The curse poured into the elf, crashing violently in his chest.

He dropped to his knees as the dragon smashed Hyunwoo into the ground. The demon didn't come up unscathed but still recovered quicker.

“You were close, elf! But you forgot your own theory! Yuzuko’s disciples deal in energy! You thought I was using spores to spread my curse, right?”

Danson clutched his chest. That spell tried to crush something inside him. And to make matters worse, drawing on mana had been his undoing? He wanted to laugh. This was no simple opponent for him. It was as if Hyunwoo was chosen to take him down, and if he doubted Kiara's suspicions before, he definitely didn't now.

Hyunwoo raised his coin-sized shot.

“Wave out.” He said, and Danson got a premonition. Wave in drew the energy inward, Wave Out did the opposite. This would be the half-demon’s final attack.

“Wys eoda Nevas!” He almost yelled in response, stamping a snowflake onto Hyunwoo’s chest.

Mana drew into it immediately, but not nearly fast enough. Danson couldn't guide it, casting the spell on himself would make that next shot a sure kill. His mind raced until he realized fur was growing up his arm. He smiled, and Hyunwoo smirked below.

“Came to terms with your death, kid?”

Danson shook his head, “Nope…I just think things got a little heated…” He didn’t need to cast Wys eoda Nevas on himself, he just had to give it mana. He did laugh this time. "Maybe we should cool off!" The pain made speaking hard, but the moment called for it. “Bryr sif Nevas.” He spoke to the snowflake, and its fractals grew more intricate.

Before Hyunwoo could finish cooking his spell or lining up his shot, it was over. The mana cloud was the start, already set to become a powerful spell. Then all the mana in the room followed, flowing into the half-demon too fast for him to react. Now he was a glittering ice sculpture, unable to break this curse that gave him to the winter.

Danson pulled out his wanderer's note. There were things to discuss. He'd meditate for his well-being afterward, but the others had to be prepared for what their fights might bring…

[Chapter 51 ends…]