The members of the Basilisk Fang, Ophelia, and nearly every servant who had paused to watch him work threw themselves to the ground, desperately trying to avoid having their vision burned by the brilliance he was about to release.
Sometimes, Orion wondered if people thought he was an idiot savant. It was the only explanation he could think of for why they believed he would do something so foolish.
Light blossomed in his palm, warm and inviting, emitting the precise healing frequency that Light Mana was known for. Any pain he might have felt disappeared like snow under the summer sun, and from the sounds of pleased surprise all around him, he knew everyone else was feeling the same.
It wasn’t a genuine healing spell, but he’d managed to isolate a specific aspect of the [Torchlight] spell and pushed it so far that its original purpose became secondary.
As the entry-level spell for Light magic, [Torchlight] was so simple that even Initiates could learn it in an afternoon, and it was mainly used to help them get comfortable with summoning Light Mana.
That meant it not only illuminated but also carried the soothing and healing qualities that were unique to this particular type of energy.
That doesn’t mean all light spells contain it, but in such a simple piece of magic, designed to bring out all its qualities, it is present. And [Maximize Magic] can enhance it even further.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
+1 to Mind
+3.500 Exp
“Well, wasn’t that something?” Lorena asked, rising from the protective crouch she’d taken over Ophelia. As the group's designated ranger and the fastest member, she was also the one expected to pull their charge out of danger, and it seemed she’d instinctively tried to do just that here.
Orion smirked at the knowledge that if he had truly meant them harm, she would have been too slow to stop him. Not that he would have survived much longer after that, but it was the thought that counted.
Putting the extra point to work, he mentally reviewed the new formula he had devised. [Torchlight] had become so familiar to him that any minor adjustment would be immediately noticeable, yet he hadn’t felt the additional structure of [Maximize Magic] influence it at all, contrary to what he had initially expected.
My analogy of it being a focusing lens is probably more accurate than I initially thought. It doesn’t directly influence the actual spellform but instead allows a part of the magic to display itself more clearly.
He could have probably cast it across the entire formula, turning a simple [Torchlight] into a dangerous, lighthouse-level beam, but that wasn’t what interested Orion. He was fully capable of boosting his own magic, given his unique casting style and the presence of the CC.
No, what he wanted was the sheer freedom of options that metamagic granted, and he had just confirmed it was possible to target only specific parts of a spell. The grin he was sporting was several degrees too excited, considering the murmurs of the shocked servants, but he didn’t care.
I have a new toy to play with.
Unfortunately, whether there were new discoveries to explore or not, Orion still had to attend history lessons with Minister Ames.
Not that he didn’t appreciate being told the unvarnished truth—however humanly possible it was—but if it were his choice, he would have delayed the lesson until he'd had time to get the thrill of a new discovery out of his system.
He did not have that power, so he sat in the “classroom” that had been reserved for their sessions with Ophelia, waiting for her grandfather to show up.
In the short time he had known the man, Orion had never seen him be late for anything. In fact, Minister Ames seemed highly committed to punctuality, which meant that something significant was happening.
“Do you think it has to do with the Speaker stepping down? I know there is no official head of government, but as far as I was able to find, it is whoever holds that position that has to ratify and implement laws after the High Council votes on them.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
He wasn’t particularly interested in getting into the details of Cyril’s government, not when it was so obvious that it was intentionally kept in a constant state of clunkiness to prevent overreach, but as far as political upheaval went, the retirement of a Speaker ranked just below the rise or fall of a faction.
“It’s possible,” Ophelia replied, twirling a dark lock of hair, “grandfather has been very busy these past couple of days. He always tries to get back for dinner, but I know he’s been working late into the night. Everyone at the Magisterium is running around panicked at the thought of any of the other Councilors getting the Speakership.”
Orion leaned back. He hadn’t considered that possibility. Admittedly, it seemed obvious to him that another Archmage would get the nomination, but maybe it wouldn’t be so straightforward. After all, whoever put their name forward would need to wrangle every other faction to vote for them, and then have to come up with actual solutions for problems their predecessor hadn’t been able to solve, despite the long tenure and respect he commanded from everyone.
The door swung open, and Minister Ames entered, as perfectly elegant as ever. His gray hair was slicked back, and his eyes held the same intense magnetism he’d come to know, but there was a shadow hanging over him that spoke of exhaustion beyond physical tiredness.
Actually, given his level, I doubt that a few sleepless nights can significantly affect his health. More likely, he’s had to deal with unreasonable people too often.
The Magocracy existed because the alternative would be a devastating state of constant war between the factions; however, that didn’t mean individual actors wouldn’t poke at sore spots, despite the danger they brought to everyone by doing so.
No doubt, now that the person widely considered to be the most powerful Archmage was stepping down, many who had kept a low profile would come out of the woodwork, which called for a lot of diplomacy to prevent things from exploding, no matter how frustrating that might be.
“Children,” Ames murmured, sitting down heavily. A butler holding a silver tray was quick to offer him a crystal goblet, from which he drank a red concoction that Orion was pretty sure was some flavor of Stamina Potion.
Not that a universal potion exists, but depending on the needs, different types of energy restorers can be brewed. I know Mom can personally make a dozen with just basic ingredients.
“Minister, is everything okay?” Orion asked.
The question had to be pretty uncharacteristic, because the old man snorted. “If even you are worried about my health, I must look a fright. Yes, Orion, don’t worry. Things will be hectic for a while until the Collegium’s Senate holds the Plenary Session to elect the new Councilor, but everything is under control.”
Orion doubted that was actually the case, but even he had the social awareness to realize the poor man probably just wanted to get away from his stressful job for a while, so he stayed quiet.
“Now, then. Where did we leave off last time? Ah, yes, the formation of the Magocracy as a political entity. Today, we will discuss the rise of the second wave's major factions—those who did not gain prominence until the Magocracy was already established, and that led to the first true reforms.”
With his training dummies at the Radiant Vigil’s embassy temporarily out of reach, the places Orion could fully relax and experiment were limited.
His lab in the embassy wasn’t bad, and he used it occasionally to test the more unique parts of his magic, but he had come to realize that little could match field experience in speeding up progress, which was why he was currently facing Ophelia in a friendly spar.
“I’ll make you eat your words, Orion Voidwalker,” she grunted, eyes narrowing in contempt.
The girl seemed completely determined to show him up after he’d casually dismissed her offer to help with his research. He hadn’t even done it because he didn’t believe she could handle it, but rather because he was currently running through several iterations of [Maximize Magic] in an effort to isolate the part of the spell that let it interact with other magics, and her input would only add noise.
Yet his complaints fell on deaf ears, and so, after their latest lesson with Minister Ames, they faced off in the back gardens, much to the amusement of the Basilisk Fang, who were exchanging coins while they lounged a few steps back.
“Are you betting on this?” Orion asked, incredulous. He wasn’t exactly outraged that they would gamble, considering they were adventurers, but the fact that they thought Ophelia stood a chance was almost insulting.
“You better put that money on me, because I’m about to smash his pretty face in!” She yelled before stomping a foot. “Now, let’s get this started! Enough chatting.”
Still bewildered by how quickly things had unfolded, yet knowing that Ophelia wasn’t actually stupid enough to believe she could match him after the display he’d given on the Blessed Lady, Orion prepared to face whatever trap she was ready to set.
She is an extra ranker, so I guess I shouldn’t underestimate her, but it’s kind of hard when we had to drag her halfway through Cyril because she couldn’t defend herself.
Since he first met her, Ophelia had progressed from level twenty-seven to a respectable thirty. Compared to the average for their age, it was a very good achievement, but it couldn’t hold a candle to his own forty.
“Three, two, one, GO!” Seothyn called out from his spot on the grass, munching on figs and honeyed walnuts.
Ophelia didn’t hesitate. Her hands clapped together, and a sound echoed through the garden, ringing oddly like metal.
Out of pure instinct, Orion summoned a [Light Shield] around himself and thanked his lucky stars for it, because a sudden storm of tiny particles began raging around him, scratching at his barrier a thousand times per second at a pace he was sure would have shorn the flesh from his bones.
“[Golden Storm]” Ophelia called, then clapped again with a furrowed brow, clearly concentrating hard to maintain two spells at once.
“[Passage of Time]”
If the pressure from her spell had been intense before, it was now unbearable. The particles, which he was fairly certain were gold, became frantic, crashing against his shield with more force than Ophelia should have been capable of.
[Verification Principle] revealed the truth of things. Her second spell was another type of metamagic, designed to accelerate magical movement to its fullest extent.
It was also unnecessarily complicated for what it did, and Orion was pretty sure he could win the duel if he just managed to hold on for another dozen seconds. Ophelia simply couldn’t maintain that level of mana output.
The problem was, his shield was about to crack, and while he could spin up a new one capable of withstanding her wrath through the CC, it would feel too much like admitting she was right.
But seeing her second spell at work had given him an idea. He didn’t know nearly enough about gold magic, if that was even a real thing, to interfere with its casting, but he had been studying meta magic for several days now, and he understood the fundamentals pretty well.
For example, it didn’t count as aspected magic, meaning that any kind of mana could be used for it, and that unless a specific one was drawn from the Field, the dominant type of the local area would be used.
[Noether’s Lock] was the spell he chose for this occasion, and Orion felt his excitement build as he began freezing her mana into place.
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