The Arcane Emperor-Chapter 108: Ready for War

Chapter 108: Ready for War

Rainer looked at his completed Enchanter’s Guild. For some reason, these past couple of weeks Talvara not only sent more workers, but also her own enchanters to set up similar defenses to those at their own base. Compared to the anti-teleportation enchantments of Neutral City, it was the difference between copper and steel. Especially since they were designed against Elementals.

Whenever he had met with her in [Sleep Learning] her mood had jumped from seething rage, to embarrassed, to whatever the hell she was now. Really, her weird laughs when she thought she wasn’t being watched and strange smiles were disturbing him. He was deeply curious over what Francis was doing, but figured it’d be more fun to wait for the memories himself.

He glanced over the system messages he earned with his Avatar last night.

[General Enchantment has reached level 8]

[Attribute Enchantment has reached level 5]

[Sacrificial Enchantment has reached level 3]

[Spatial Enchantment has reached level 2]

He had not only recreated Kara’s bracelet - which hid her Demonic Aura - though a bit subdued from the original, but a thimble-sized spatial ring soon after. It turned out the hardest part of making a spatial ring wasn’t just the enchantment but attaching the created space to the ring. Something Rainer found easy to practice with his [Sleep Learning] space’s help. Working with a crutch and slowly removing it proved to be almost as effective in learning enchanting as having infinite Mana was.

The skills gained from the fine magical and mana-related work required to enchantment restrictions proved universally useful in pretty much every aspect of magic. He felt it made his level 9 [Arcane Manipulation] go from 9.2 to 9.3, if there were such a thing.

More and more he got the feeling that the final level of a manipulation skill was beyond anything he could imagine. Even Talvara when he asked didn’t have an answer for him. While her followers didn’t practice magic, they did have [Void Manipulation]. Something even her current greatest Void Lord only had level 9 of. And there was at least no record of what came when a manipulation skill reached level 10.

He, of course, had no plans of telling this to Sarah. The longer he could keep her from taking the likely ridiculous Trial for [Manaborne] the better. She had promised, and agreed herself, that taking the Tier 2 Trial before she had maxed out her class skills was stupid when you knew the reality of the situation. He now had plenty of time to create and design an enchanted set for improving her Mana-related abilities.

“I must admit I’m a bit jealous of your Northern origins. Such impressive workers,” Mala said from his side, though you could hear a strangeness in her voice. No doubt she, like many, had discerned his origins as fake and now was deeply disturbed by the sheer amount of resources and strange looking Dwarves he could mobilize.

It also didn’t escape their notice that Rainer could be in two places at once, and that many of these Dwarves arrived without his personal help as well. Completely invisible from them.

He almost applauded himself for his poor storytelling ability that made everyone think he wasn’t from some mystical far North prior to this new development. The jarring shock that some of the nonsense he said could be true would no doubt mess with their minds. Especially the inconsistencies.

Rainer glanced at her and wasn’t sure how to feel about this snake-tailed woman. Giving it any real thought, she had manipulated him in a bad situation. Not that it took much effort to manipulate someone with a temper.

That made him feel even more useless. People with tempers were only truly scary to spouses and children and that was exactly who he never wanted to become. Let alone becoming some patsy of Neutral City they pointed at whoever annoyed them with a few well chosen words. Given what happened, would they see hurting his companions and blaming someone else as an effective measure?

Rainer froze. Elelaria herself said Taranien Empire’s actions made no sense… but before he spiraled he realized that faking Divine Power wasn’t actually possible. And that perhaps being able to do that and sneak past Gunthar was a feat that would be better served elsewhere.

But the idea was still there.

He needed to control himself.

But this wasn’t anything new for him, so what could he do? Suppressing his anger, especially with Arcane flowing through his body, wasn’t working. His nightly training of resisting both Arcane and Void was helpful but it did nothing to what he naturally was.

Then what of delaying? Was not delayed gratification the difference between man and animal? All his anger towards the Tarainien Empire, pushed towards a future where he’d bring their Divines to their knees. It was odd how that single thought calmed him so much.

Rainer let out a long breath and followed it with a smile, surprising the Lamia next to him. Given that a thin tree several feet away swayed a bit made her wonder just what sort of magic was in that breath. She certainly didn’t feel any but could have never guessed his body was as powerful as it was.

Rainer glanced over the Lamia too, not feeling too much anger over being manipulated anymore either. That he wanted the information made it so he couldn’t take offense, but she clearly had wanted him to overact. It was the perfect manipulation to help someone do something they wanted to do in the first place. It didn’t matter if they were self-aware since it was their own desire.

He was far more thankful for Elelaria’s advice now. Even ignoring the usefulness of it, he wasn’t sure how he’d handle slaughtering so many basically innocent people if he hadn’t been slowed down and given an alternative in how to show his displeasure. No doubt he’d take out his misplaced resentment on the Lamia next to him.

“We are just about done with construction. I’m sure you’ve heard of the auction next month,” Rainer spoke, thinking of all the items his Avatar made. Many were quite simple, while others approached the armored set that the clan of Dwarves had only one of for their promising Trial takers. He was bound to make a ludicrous amount of money.

Plus his Avatar, and Luna - though he wasn’t too excited about her design ideas (why couldn’t Kara, Sarah, Gunthar, or hell, even Elelaria, be interested in this?) - were working on the standard ring for any who joined the Enchanters Guild officially.

It would function as both a small spatial ring, the standard of the Guild itself, a minor connection to a still unbuilt nexus Rainer could access in case they were in danger, and give access to the enchanted lanes that led to the Mana-Well in the central tower. Not that they would know the last part; the goal was for others to assume it was just a way of keeping copious amounts of Mana Crystals safe while still providing easy access.

Especially since there were only four more months till the Dungeon meet. Plus, he was planning on telling the Fae about it, who had their own trial coming up. They could send representatives if they wished, under the promise he’d protect them if they were revealed.

Now if only he could get Gunthar or Theodore into [Sleep Learning] so that he could copy Nalmar’s enchantments. No doubt they had seen enchantments far beyond anything this world had. Or, besides happily meeting his parents again, he was just as interested in seeing what enchanted items they had seen. Sarah was unfortunately not well versed enough in Runes to recreate anything accurately enough.

Gunthar might not be either for that matter, but Theodore definitely was.

Francis glanced around the house he had chosen for himself. It was the nicest house he could find next to the coast of the port city they now had. Apparently ‘beach houses’ were a modern thing, and he found none. He had to grab some mages to help him move this place even closer on the coast, just outside the port city itself. And then use magic to fix the foundation.

Their original plan had worked and it had only been a week before that the citizens of the port city had migrated away in a hurried, frightened frenzy. He had taken pity on them and kept away any truly strong monsters that tried to take advantage of the fallen barrier. Mostly because of his mother asking him to, but he still took full credit for it.

It seemed the monsters here, apart from ridiculous amounts of magic resistance, were nothing special. He didn’t even need to use anything but his physical abilities. Though it seemed their bodies were useful for making Mana recovery potions.

Rainer would no doubt be happy to hear that. Not even the Mana-Well was enough to keep Enchanters from eventually running out of Mana after all. Even more so if they lacked a high enough Mana Talent, and given Rainer’s indiscriminate recruiting plans, that would be more common than not.

Stupid Earth and it’s instilling that everyone has a right to education, and that it helps knowledge progress as a whole. How else could his uglier twin get stuck with all these ideas?

The system was truly powerful for any living being, it showed in how weak these monsters were. When it was time to slay Gods, he’d spare the ones blocking the system-enhanced from entering places they didn’t belong. Whatever their reasons, he couldn’t fault them.

The city itself seemed empty with only the 150 odd Mages, most of them too young to be of ‘use’. In fairness, anyone other than Francis and his family were arguably of little use, so perhaps being a useless child was better than a useless adult?

He guessed it wouldn’t be long before news spread of them occupying this place with the formly gone barrier back up again. And then once they succeeded in a major battle, any hidden Mages across the world might congregate here. His grandfather’s Avatar was already out looking for more Mages. He seemed oddly happy about the idea of having Mages to rule over. Perhaps a lifetime of living on the fringe of Magus society had left him wanting?

Francis was too weary to try creating an Avatar. He had no idea how much Rainer relied on the [Sleep Learning] space anchoring his soul when creating an Avatar. It did seem a bit too easy even for an [Archon] to learn how to use the legendary ritual that mimicked an ability otherwise exclusive to God-like beings. And Francis was the perfect example of what exactly could go wrong. What if he ended up with a living Avatar without his winning personality and charm?

It wasn’t worth the risk, as despite Francis’ lack of desire to be alive, his desire to recombine was stronger than his want for death.

Stupid Luna and Kara…

He grumbled inwardly, thinking he might have said ‘fuck Rainer’ and just ended himself if it hadn't been for them at this point.

Any time he was alone with his thoughts he’d drift to the Void. Invariably, he’d think of the end of all things, himself included. Not even he was immune to the dreadful presence that Void Will naturally instilled. Especially when he was alone for so long and without anything or anyone to balance it. Combined with the hole in his Soul, it was too much to bear.

He wanted them back, and the only way he could have them is if he became one Rainer again.

He frowned, wondering when his desire for death, and a sentimental allowance to wait for Rainer to be ready for his death, had transformed solely to a desire to recombine. Should he try to make himself more unique, more substantial, so that more of him remained in the recombined whole?

Was it a natural result of coming from Rainer’s Soul? An instinctive pull to return to what he once was? The small thought of Rainer technically birthing him, due to the pushing, the screaming, the pain, and the blood, derailed him and moved his thoughts to much more pleasant things.

Like that short shy blonde that gave him eyes earlier. Having high Charisma was wasted on Rainer…

A short blonde swung open the door to Francis’ new house just as Helen was about to enter. The younger of the two blushed and quickly ran away while Helen gave her a bemused glance. She had certainly expected Francis to sleep with others while she was away for a week, but definitely not the mousy little potioneer who blushed if a man looked at her for too long.

A rarity among this group who had little to do back when they lived in a deep dark underground basement for decades.

I guess you never really know someone…

The Mage thought as she entered the house, easily finding the unique presence Francis radiated.

Helen stared at the magic-made bathtub, confused. Creating a bath with magical water and then heating magic, was he a masochist? But dipping a finger into it she stood there stunned for a long time and then disrobed. There went her plan for making him work a bit. How many years had it been since she had an actual bath?

“Are you aware how impressive this is?” she suddenly asked, remembering and being simultaneously amazed once again at his young age. It had been a casual question of hers. Perhaps something to make herself feel better about how much stronger than her he was.

Despite their awe for the Arch-Magus Frederick Nvos, their knowledge that he was over a thousand years old kept it to normal levels of awe. It became more along the lines of, ‘of course a mage that old was powerful.’

Her attempt at making herself feel better obviously hadn’t worked. Instead it made her feel like a dirty old woman.

Normally, age differences were ignored with Mages. But that was only when comparing 80 to 200, not 374 and 20. Plus, once it became obvious what their relationship was, she kept getting dirty unapproving glances from his mom. Occasionally mixed in with begrudging respect when her blue eyes roamed over Helen’s figure. She was truly a strange mother.

Truly, Helen was embarrassed by the 300 years she had on Francis to where she almost considered not going back to him. Almost.

“Manipulating Earth, Water, and Fire? And I guess Wind too, the humidity builds up too quickly otherwise. I thought you knew I was an ‘Arch-Magus’ already?” he asked, confused, more focused on her recently unclothed body. The brown-haired Mage had curves in all the right places.

Helen froze. There went all her ego at her progress at his magical sexual skills. How could she even call herself a Mage when around him? Her earlier thoughts of shame due to how much younger he was vanished completely. How could she consider someone so much stronger than her as a junior? She could barely consider him human.

Was he a bored God treading among mortals for entertainment? He certainly acted like it. His casual act of knocking out the population of a city and fortress unconscious supported that little theory.

“No,” she said teresly, “that it is comfortable to bathe in.” She doubted anyone other than Frederick could match this feat. But no one obviously had the audacity to ask such a powerful mage to make them a bath.

Water created by magic always came with a major flaw: it felt off. It didn’t quench your thirst, and it felt simply gross unless infused with healing energies. The idea of bathing in it was more unpleasant than being dirty. When added in with a bath made of spell-created Earth and heated up by fire it was borderline torture.

Was it because he manipulated it rather than used a spell?

“I don’t follow.”

“Nevermind.”

“If you say so, but you aren’t getting in without showering first.”

“What do you-” Helen asked before a splash of cold water suddenly materialized and covered her.

“You ass!” she screamed before jumping into the hot bath. Though her anger quickly slipped away from how comfortable she was. It took too much work to be angry at the man who changed everything about their lives as suddenly as he appeared. Though the immediate benefit was more convincing.

“Cold to hot is beneficial you know. Increases metabolism, raises up the proper hormones, all that crap. Great for skin and for sleep quality. Plus it might be part of what makes Swedish girls the hottest in the world with all their saunas and cold climate. And men maybe? I can’t really comment on that.”

‘What?” she asked, wondering what the temperature of women had to do with cold climates. Among many other incomprehensible words.

“See, that’s how I felt when you asked if I was aware ‘how impressive this is’. Context is important you know?”

“What’s your world like?” Helen asked, changing the subject, and looking for some of this ‘context’. It wasn’t as if she particularly wanted to discuss how much more impressive his magic was compared to hers.

“Which one?” Francis asked, more interested in looking at her under the water.

Helen quickly resisted the urge to say ‘What?’. No doubt she’d just get another complaint about context given the grin on his face.

“The one you are from,” she felt was the best answer to the world-traveling man.

“Well for one, Mages rule the place. From the shadows that is. They let ordinary Humans develop on their own for whatever reason.”

“And they do not fear what might occur?”

Francis had been curious about that himself. Though from what his grandfather explained, the Mage’s Council was in full control of any nuclear arms. And most world leaders for that matter. Highly advanced mental spells made it quite easy, though they were pretty hands off; not really caring too much so long as it didn’t conflict with their interests. From what he was aware, in a few years the Mage’s Council would be working together to make the worst forms of pollution illegal.

Even they got annoyed with cleaning anything too damaging up with magic. Though they did enjoy how pollution weakened world energy, and therefore weakened Qi - in his terms, Aura - users. Hence why they had been ignoring it for centuries and even encouraged the mundane governments in the East to pollute more.

Unfortunately, they discovered ‘Qi’ wasn’t as inborn talent based as Magic and that pushing Qi users too far to the point where they became less discerning in their recruitment efforts wasn’t a good idea. They loved how exclusive and clannish China’s Qi users were and had no plans to change that to where Qi techniques became public knowledge.

“They stick their hands in places that need to be… ‘sticked in’ I guess. Plus, most of the anti-magi tech here would be impossible in any of the worlds I’ve been in. Ambient Mana is a rarity rather than a standard.” Though he fully planned on studying the inventions here. Who better to figure out how certain things could work with a different energy source than him? Or Rainer he supposed.

Helen raised an eyebrow at that. Then how did Mages even exist? That two Mages that were arguably stronger than any that have ever existed here came from such a place was a surprise. She had theorized the ambient Mana was special or even stronger from whence they came.

“Shall I stick my hands in places they need to be?” Helen asked.

“No.”

“What?” It had been an abrupt and perhaps a bit clumsy segue, but since when did men ever complain about that? Helen wondered.

“I’m stuck picturing a council of wrinkly old hands caressing me.”

Francis dodged a fireball aimed at his face. Did she expect him to be able to block that easily or something? Perhaps being overestimated as a Mage wasn’t a good thing. Was it the Mage girl version of a playful slap to the shoulder? Maybe he should have dated some Mages growing up.

Wait… had he? His grandfather shouldn’t have been immune to the idea of Rainer producing some Arcane-talented children...

“Did you think I’d let that assault go unanswered?” Francis said, moving over to her, leaving analyzing ‘his’ childhood romances for a later date.

“I’d hoped not.”

Francis stared awkwardly at the seat Talvara patted. She wanted to play videogames… again. He really just wanted to make a Void Sword at this point, or get [Void-walking] working at full capacity in the ambient Mana. Though he usually practiced the latter at daytime. She still gave him advice on controlling the Void daily, but he really didn’t have much time for self-experimentation.

Once more his night would be filled with their usual bet. The novelty of having the Void-Being doing embarrassing things quickly ended after a few weeks. He wouldn’t mind if it was just for fun, but she was getting far too competitive. He simply ran out of ideas he wouldn’t feel bad about making her do.

The latest thing he thought of was having her mud-wrestle with her own Avatar. Even that was borderline and he had mostly asked to see if she’d even be willing. It ended up being awkward for the both of them.

He was genuinely curious how Rainer would handle having that little memory.

Her refusing a bet would be an easy excuse to stop this nonsense, but he doubted she’d refuse anything short of killing herself at this point. He was completely out of ideas to where he bothered to suggest that she help Rainer more whenever his mother-brother? brommy?, brom? asked her.

That it would be indirectly helping Luna and Kara went unsaid. Damn his sentimentality.

He wondered if he should just let her win, but in the end he found her ‘losing face’ too entertaining.

Francis raised an eyebrow at Talvara’s frustrated growl before he returned back to his own task. He had used his most recent bet so that she had to help him make a Void Blade. Instead, she made it a competition to see who’d get there first.

Making a controlled [Void Call] that acted like a blade was simple. But it took up pretty much all his mind to control that, and was therefore useless as an actual blade. Not to mention there was little point pretending it was a blade when it was technically not connected to his hand in an important way.

What he wanted was a piece of Void that cut and acted like a blade, with the strength to bypass all known magic and barriers that a [Void Call] naturally had.

According to Talvara, while it wouldn’t kill them, not even the strongest Divine Avatar she’s seen could do anything other than dodge or just take the loss and burn energy to recover from a [Void Call]. Though hitting them in the first place was unlikely but a blade would be entirely different matter. Especially if he could make it a spell like [Arcane Blade].

Francis flashed back and forth as he Void-walked throughout the city. He finally reached the edge of the barrier only to cry in confusion as he crossed it, ended up higher than intended and far too disoriented to do anything other than slam into the ground.

Once it seemed he was okay, he got to enjoy the peal of laughter that came from his mother. She was on standby in case any healing was needed. Or on the off chance she got to watch her son make a fool of himself. Him falling from great heights was a lot more funny for her once she realized he was made out of steel.

Francis rubbed his butt, his fall enough to hurt even his enhanced body. He flicked a bit of increased gravity at his mother walking over and chuckled as she nearly fell over face first. The look she gave him promised a return of the gesture sometime in the near future.

“How is it?” she asked, more focused on seeing the rest of her family again.

“Maybe three weeks at most before I can bring you guys to Rainer and Sarah,” Francis replied after some thought. He was getting closer to being adjusted to the ambient Mana, and if he had to he could probably make a solo trip back.

An experiment with an enemy scout he found showed him that traveling with anyone else proved problematic for now.

“Let’s see then if we can’t accelerate things here,” his mother said with a devilish grin. She reasonably hated these Mage-slavers almost as much as the Mage’s Council back home, given their similar purposes when it came to her family.

They had already been working on preparing the Mages for how any future battles would go. However the goal in their training wasn’t winning, that was a given as far as they were concerned. It was rather how to win and send the greatest message possible.

And it wasn’t a question of If but when, as even if this country didn’t attack them others certainly would. None would risk letting a Mage rebellion continue longer.

“Let’s.”