Millennial Mage Nove Chapter 261: I Need Some Answers

Chapter 261: I Need So Answers

Tala stood in the cool light of an incredibly early winter morning and looked back toward the southwest.

She could easily see the mountains beyond Platoiri, but the city itself was hidden by so slightly higher hills between them.

What do you think? Weve co a bit more than a hundred miles?

-Id say so. I think Ive figured out a way to determine where we are, by the way.-

Oh?

-I can tell the exact direction toward a city, by its Archive link, and we are in range of all of them, at least for our access to our personal Archival records.-

Tala frowned, even as she turned and began to move toward the northeast, using the sun to help her find her way. That seems far? Has our range increased?

-I believe it has. Especially after gate-breaking, our magical density has vastly improved. From the records we saw back in Bandfast, I believe that our density and capacity are at least equivalent to weaker Paragons, if those even actually exist. Theyd still have superior quality to their magics, of course.-

Thats going to complicate things when we Refine, isnt it?

-It might actually help, from what little we know. Youd think so too, if you devoted the thought to it, not that you should.- Alat conveyed a smile. -I believe that youll have to wield your magical weight against your own bodys impurities, augnted by specialized scripts and procedures. Id even considered Refining as a way to deal with our little dasgannach, but without knowing more, it would be a coin toss on if it would actually work.-

Tala grunted as she took a running leap to clear the shorter distance across a deep, long valley. Not quite a crevice, the sides arent nearly steep enough.

-Agreed. Now, navigation.-

Right!

-Based on our perfect mory, I can compare the angles between the various cities, and even without knowing the distance to them, that should give

an incredibly exact location.-

Tala closed her eyes, relying on her bloodstars for their mirrored perspective for a mont. Oh, Im an idiot. That is a really obvious solution.

-We were a bit silly for not thinking of this before, yes.-

So? Where are we?

-Trying to give exact locational details in what is effectively a verbal exchange would be aningless, even if I have them. I can show you a map, though.- A map of the region overlaid her vision, while remaining mostly transparent, a small blinking dot indicated where she was.

So, likesix-hundred miles south of Makinaven?

-Give or take, yes.-

Tala had a thought, then. Hey, Alat?

-Oh, thats an interesting idea. Yes, let

check-

She ran in silence for a mont before Alat huffed a laugh.

-Yes, I do believe that the arcane city that you and Rane saw from Makinaven was Platoiri. What are the chances?-

Tala grunted, taking another running leap. Well, Platoiri has fairly easy access to the human lands, so it makes sense that arcanes coming from there would be more likely to be found in our area?

-I suppose so. Those further away would be more inclined to find gated humans elsewhere. We never really discovered if all the major Houses send prospective Pillars up north, or if that was just the House of Blood. But speaking of probabilities, it was a blessing that we found the voidsword and lded it with Flow. Without voidsight, and the void magics in the elk-leathers, wed never have gotten out of the Doman-Imithe.-

That one was tilted in our favor from the start, though. Thron said that the majority of ether holds have so sort of void item, even if they arent all as useful as a sword.

-Well, its still a fortuitous thing that lined up to give us the tools we needed.-

Tala shivered. Im not going to lie, it was a bit terrifying to be without my inscriptions. The voidsight and magics were absolutely a boon and a half.

After that, they fell into a companionable silence, Tala loping across the rolling hills of the plains.

Terry ca out of Kit around mid-morning; shed been checking in on him every hour or so.

He hunted and ran with her until just after noon, when he squawked at her until she let him back into the sanctum.

Well, I suppose theres no real need for both of us to run.

Aside from the bit of company, nothing truly of note happened until mid-late afternoon.

The ze had been slowly weakening as she traveled, but it finally dropped below the threshold for an arcane Childs power density.

It was official.

She was out of arcane lands.

Tala let out a whoop! Jumping and throwing her arms into the air in a mont of celebration, but thats all she gave herself.

How far are we from Platori?

-About two-hundred and seventy miles.-

That was an impressive distance to cover in what amounted to a bit more than twenty-two hours of running.

Alat had done the estimations, and in total Tala had in the neighborhood of a thousand two-hundred miles to run from Platoiri to Alefast, Waning. That was the closest human city she could reach without passing through the Leshkin forest, and she really, really didnt want to do that.

Alright, just four or five more days of running.

That was less than ideal. Sure, it was well under the deadline, but she knew that sothing would happen before then. It always did.

There is a high probability that so low probability event will happen.

-Ahh, statistics. How deceptive you can be.-

And like clockwork, less than half an hour later, she started to hear rumblings in the ground around her in a regular, but infrequent, cadence.

Like the movent of a giant who took a single step every couple of minutes.

It was hard to get a direction on the sound, but it was definitely becoming louder as she ran onward, though she couldnt tell if it was more north or east.

Anything truly massive that would block her way should have been visible. Aside from sothing striding across the plains, the only other thing that ca to mind was sothing underground.

That that wasnt a pleasant thought.

Both humans and arcanes had a habit of burying difficult-to-deal-with threats under the ground.

Now that I think about it, if Ze isnt a complete world, there might be underpinnings that make it a much better prison than I ever really considered.

-Theres a lot of guesswork in that statent.-

Sure. It was a guess after all.

Another hour passed before Tala spotted a group of people up ahead.

She was still outside of the range of an unenhanced eye to see, but she ducked low, nonetheless.

She almost turned away, assuming it was so arcane squad, but to her utter bafflent, her montary focus allowed her enhanced eyesight to clearly see that it was a group of five humans.

What in ze?

Her magesight conveyed sothing even more strange. Only two had gates.

A mix of gated and non-gated humans, and the gated are in the minority Any ideas, Alat?

-I have no record, from either the human cities or arcane, on humans in this part of the continent.-

Yeah, I didnt rember anything either.

Odder still, the three humans without gates clearly had vestiges in so of their gear. The two that she thought had gates could have perfectly positioned vestiges in their back armor, but they didnt give that feel to her.

Tala grimaced, shifting from foot to foot for a mont as she crouched low.

Im going to go around. Im really curious, but investigating seems like a good way to get delayed.

-That sounds wise. I recomnd going around to the north.-

The ground shook again, and Tala took off.

She decided to stick more to the valleys than she had been. If that group wasnt alone, which it would be odd if it was, then she would be making herself too visible up on the ridges.

It made her progress a little slower, but she chose her valleys well, so it wasnt too much of a delay.

Unfortunately, by limiting her visible profile, she also cut down on her own sight lines.

In that way, she ca to the end of a valley and passed through a group of crags into the next, only to find her path blocked by over a dozen heavily ard humans.

Now, Tala would almost never call anyone heavily ard in a serious manner.

There had been so new Guards back in Bandfast who shed seen who strapped on as many weapons as they could, and it just limited their actual combat abilities.

Eskau and other arcanes often used weapons that were heavy, but that was just ard for them.

In this case, these humans being heavily ard ant that they carried more magic in the form of weaponry than Tala had ever seen.

Each one carried at least two items that together shone brighter than protian weapons to her magesight, and collectively, they outshone even a Pillars full regalia.

What the eternal rust? The were obviously not a set, and so wouldnt actually have their powers combined, but it was still a lot of magic to be able to bring to bear.

Surrender any weaponry and co with us. One of the n in the middle of the group spoke clearly, and concisely, his voice carrying the tone of authority. If you do not resist, and you an us no harm, no harm will be done to you.

Tala looked more closely at the group as she slowed to a stop so dozen yards from them.

They were well muscled in the manner of the Guards back in Bandfast, or the Eskau shed fought with. These were professional soldiers, though she couldnt tell whose they were. They held their weapons with the ease of familiarity, and their gear was clean and in good repair. Beyond that, there was sothing viscerally relieving to be near other humans again.

Even so, Tala was in a hurry. Im going to decline. Im sort of on a tight tiline here, and Im just passing through. I dont know, nor do I want to know, why you all are out here.

The one who had spoken shook his head. I apologize, but that isnt good enough.

-Theyre looking really squishy, right about now.-

Indeed, of the dozen n, only four of which had gates, none were anything but mundane. Not even inscribed.

Look. You all are bringing on a real feeling of nostalgia, and I genuinely dont want to hurt you, but I am going to continue on my way, and there really isnt anything you can do to stop .

The statent was probably not a bluff. Either way, she was about to find out.

She crouched and leapt upward, right as the two n whod been trying to sneak up on her from either side activated their weaponry.

A net of lighting sprang between the two devices, raking the ground where she had just been.

She was among the larger group before the first one of them called out in alarm.

One siege orb, wipe the group out, and be on my way.

Her hand was halfway to Kit when she paused. What am I doing?

Tala hadnt had many interactions with humans in the arcane lands, so this was the most human interaction shed had in months.

And what? Im just going to kill them all?

Its what shed have done as an Eskau. They crossed her, they are inconveniencing her.

-Tala?-

Tala ntally shuddered, even as she landed, darting forward.

I am not Tali. There was absolutely no way that she was going to turn this into a bloodbath.

Morality is worth a few extra seconds. She forced that belief into her own mind. She wanted to believe it was true, so she would act like it.

Rust take any who said otherwise.

So, Flow stayed in its sheath at her hip, and she broke ankles.

Because she was feeling a bit irritated, she only broke the left ankle of each opponent she ca across.

Even so, she did grow a glove of white tal over her fists and feet so that the dasgannach couldnt even have the option of harming them.

It would be rather embarrassing to aim to incapacitate and simply suck the iron from them instead.

Clubs with crystalline magic flowing through them, swords with fire or ice, knives coated in poison power, and many others struck out, all wielded by skillful hands.

Magical traps activated, cages ford of various elents, or alterations to the terrain to impede or harm her, shields of power, and myriad other tools were used to a degree of effectiveness that told Tala one thing: These n practiced with their gear, and they knew the strengths and weaknesses intimately.

Unfortunately for them, it didnt matter.

Tala hesitated half-a-heart-beat longer than they expected, shifted a quarter inch more to one side than they were used to, or dropped lower than theyd seen a human attempt in combat before.

Her footing was too sure for the ground on which she tread.

She deflected attacks that should have thrown her aside.

Her blows were both faster and heavier than they had any right to be.

She barely turned her head, but she reacted to anything that she needed to, regardless of its source.

In a storm of deadly warriors, all striving to kill her, Tala moved untouched.

A smile pulled at her lips as she profited from the Way of Flowing Blood, altering it to be nonlethal.

It is mine now. I will do with it as I please.

The screams of broken warriors followed after her, but she barely had to breathe.

From the first instant, it had been obvious to them that she was enhanced and using magic to overco them, and so she ignored shouts to that effect.

The leader, the one who had challenged her, took her only an extra two seconds to deal with.

He swung twin blades, which seed wrought of magma, with a skill that would have impressed Adam, the Guard who had taught her so much back in Bandfast.

Indeed, if Tala were to draw Flow and cross swords with the man, he would have outclassed her in raw skill.

This wasnt a contest of skill with a blade.

He cut for her head with his right sword, and she ducked in and to his right with inhuman speed and flexibility.

He thrust with the left hand even as the other blade swept in a tight arc to continue to threaten her.

A half twist got her directly beside him.

He headbutted her, a surprising move to be sure, and one that succeeded.

Unfortunately for him, her head was both harder and quicker to recover than his own.

He staggered slightly from the rebound of his own blow, and Tala broke his left ankle.

I wonder if theyll even notice that I gave them all identical injuries?

-Does it matter?-

It would be nice if they acknowledged how much better I am than them, yes.

-That way lies madness, Tala. You shouldnt be taking the extra ti for a showy victory.-

Yeah youre probably right.

Even so, she broke the left ankle of the last guy in her way, and crouched to take off, continuing on the way ho.

No. The pain-laced word from the leader ca along with the crack of sothing breaking, and a pulse of power.

Her mirrored perspective showed that the man had broken a heavily inscribed clay disk, and now the thing was blazing with power and magical weight that was as horrifying as it was impressive.

Half of the spell-lines were floating in mid air as power pulsed out from the thing.

-Tala!-

I know, I see it! It was an anti-magical pulse.

She had never seen its like before, but sothing in her knew and could identify it on sight.

She sprang away, but it wouldnt be far or fast enough.

Rust these people. I should have just killed them all from a distance.

Tala only had an instant to shore up her defenses, harden her aura, and brace.

They must have assud that she was a temporary enhancer. They thought that all they had to do was knock her magics free for a bare mont, and she would be reduced to mundane humanity.

They were wrong, but the effect would do sothing worse, sothing that they couldnt have expected.

Its going to force the Archon star to finish forming.

She had a brief thought that maybe it would kill the dasgannach or rip it free, but the creatures magic wasnt like human magics. It would be too much to hope that it would be affected at all.

The anti-magic pulse slamd into her, finding cracks in her iron covering and blasting through the rest, barely impeded.

More than anything, all that it was doing was grabbing all magical power and throwing it outward.

This would be devastating to an arcane. It would likely empty them entirely in an instant, if it overca their will.

She joined with Alat, fighting to keep the trickle of power flowing to the Archon star, but that wouldnt be enough. The connection was too tenuous.

They threw more power into the working, knowing that they were burning their ti, but that was better than having no ti at all.

Hold on!

-One mont more!-

But it wasnt enough.

The anti-magic was ant to level the playing field between mundane humans and high-level arcanes.

Tala just didnt have the strength to resist it.

The wave passed, and their power was temporarily dispelled, her power density dropping to nothing.

Even the free-floating power in the air was driven away.

The Archon star snapped into form, fully complete if not as fully powered as it could be, and her body rejected it.

Her finger felt like it was going to explode, even as her gate continued to gush power, allowing her inscriptions to flare back to life.

She usually cut Archon stars free the mont they were ready, so it had never been an issue, but now? Now, it was.

As she grit her teeth against the pain that was to co, and prepared to say goodbye to Alat all over again, sothing unexpected happened.

She felt the dasgannach stir within her as it oriented more fully on the Archon star or, more accurately, the iron inside its structure.

As the spellform moved to leave her finger, the full conceptual might of the dasgannach fell upon it, and Talas conscious mind interpreted the instincts and actions of the mindless creature once again.

MINE.

And the Archon star stopped, unable to leave her finger because the dasgannach wouldnt let the bit of iron get away.

The creature still did not eat it as it still would not bond her, but it would not let it escape either.

The stalemate had ended, and a new, stranger impasse had been ford.

Well I was not expecting that.

The power in the air ca crashing back down upon them all, and Tala staggered.

Without thought, she imdiately slapped a hand down on Kit and dumped power into the storage device. Blessedly, while it was on empty, it hadnt been drained dry. That makes sense, they wouldnt want to destroy their loot, just drain it montarily.

The n on the ground around her were pulling back in horror, and Tala quickly realized why.

Her through-spike had been temporarily disabled, and she would look rather arcane to them without it.

While she was relieved to be alive, she was rusting livid.

This is what rcy gets you, Tala. She grit her teeth as she mostly mastered her emotions and forced herself to think as she wanted to think, not as an Eskau would. No. This can be dealt with.

She spun on the leader who had barely seed to keep his feet.

Flow flicked into her left hand as she transford it into a void-sword, just before her through-spike returned her semblance of humanity. It seems like I have more ti than Id thought, and now? Now, I need so answers.