Chapter 411 – News
A flaming sword slashed down through a Wind Wolf. The C Rank Demonic Beast fell to the ground, joining numerous other of its kind scattered about the forest floor. Elicia was training in the Avalon labyrinth on the C Rank floors. Damion had been missing for weeks now, and she had not been idle.
Every day Elicia would travel into the labyrinth with Phil and train. The Blizzard King would keep a watchful eye out for any Demonic Beasts that were too powerful or any groups of them that the Wind mage would not be able to handle. She was determined not to fall behind Damion. He was already B Rank, and she would have to work twice as hard as him to keep up.
Another Wind Wolf jumped out from the underbrush at her. Elicia sidestepped the lunging wolf, slashing the Demonic Beast across its flank. The flaming sword singed the fur on the creature, and the blade opened a gash, but the beast was able to land on its feet and spin to charge at Elicia again.
Elicia raised her palm and cast Whirlwind Sphere. The ball of Wind magic left her hand and slammed into the Wind Wolf. The swirling mana sliced into the Demonic Beast and slashed through the creature’s neck, slicing through fur and throat. The Wind Wolf tried to cry out in pain, but before it could the Demonic Beast collapsed.
Once the Wind Wolf fell to the ground, Elicia let out a sigh of relief. She had been training on the sixteenth floor for almost a full day. With the entire pack of Demonic Beasts killed, she felt it was finally time to take a break. If she could train all day everyday she might, but she had a young son at home, and it was torture for her to be away from him during these training sessions.
“Well, Phil, I think it is time to go home,” Elicia told Damion’s familiar.
One by one she began to collect the dead Wind Wolves in her spatial artifact. Mage Fletcher had been generous with the creation of the artifacts. Apparently, the upper A Rank floors of the labyrinth contained Spatial affinity Demonic Beasts, and the S Rank Spatial mage had been busy creating spatial artifacts for the people of Atlantis. Most of the artifacts were being loaned to teams going into the labyrinth, allowing them to collect large amounts of spoils. This in turn helped generate more wealth for the growing city.
The Blizzard King gave an affirmative cry and Elicia climbed onto the Demonic Beast’s back and Phil took to the sky. She was smaller than Damion and the Demonic Beast was still growing, allowing her to ride the winged beast. Phil quickly flew from floor to floor. The pair only slowed down on the fourteenth floor, to pass through the catacombs. Once that hurdle was overcome, reaching the exit of the labyrinth did not take long and Elicia was able to get home in time for dinner.
“Elicia dear, how was training today?” Sharon, Damion’s mother, asked as the younger woman stripped off the armor that Damion had ‘paid’ her with during their time at the academy.
“It was good. When Damion makes it back here I’m sure he will be surprised at how strong I’ve become. I never realized that crossing the threshold into C Rank would make such a difference.”
“I will take your word for it,” Sharon answered. Not being a mage and not having spoken with Damion much about his advancement from to C Rank or even B Rank there was not much she could comment on.
“I feel remarkable. I guess it is the reported boost to my life force that comes with Ranking up. Best of all, most things below C Rank can’t hurt me anymore.”
“That is good,” Sharon said as she began to put dinner on the tablet. “Helga asked you to come by the council chambers tomorrow.”
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“Do you know what she wants?”
“She did not say, but I believe she and Mage Thresbane, wish to discuss something with you. They were rather circumspect about it, but it seemed rather important.”
“Do you think it is news about Damion?”
“It will do you no good to pester me about it. I know nothing aside from what I have already told you. Go and speak with them tomorrow.”
The news that Mage Teft and Mage Thresbane wanted to see her tomorrow and the theories of what they wanted caused Elicia to spend most of the night worrying over what they were going to tell her. After feeding Helge in the morning, she set off right away to the council chambers.
“Elicia, here first thing. I guess you are eager to know,” Mage Teft greeted Elicia as the younger woman entered the chamber.
Mage Thresbane, Mage Fletcher and Mage Levine were also in attendance. Elicia was not sure where Mage Strand or Mage Chaparro were, but she thought there was a good chance one or both of them were in the labyrinth.
“Sharon made it sound like you had news of Damion,” Elicia answered.
“In fact, we do,” Mage Thresbane said. “However, it is best if we do not widely disclose the information, or how we obtained it.”
“I don’t understand,” Elicia said, looking confused. Hearing from Damion was good news, right?
“Exile, the tier 5 Spatial affinity spell connects a place, any place, to its origin.”
“To the Mother World. Mage Teft said that is what you call that place.”
“Yes. And since the spell connects to that place, it is possible cast Exile and send a message through.”
“Then why isn’t it possible to cast Exile and let Damion come back through it?” Elicia demanded.
“You are familiar with Portal and how a Spatial mage can make it a one-way or a two-way Portal?”
“Yes.”
“For that very reason. Exile is a one-way spatial rift. Anything can only flow from point A to point B. If we try and send something through the wrong direction it is either destroyed or denied entry.”
“But we could cast Exile and send a care package through, even if no one wants to go there to help him, we could send supplies to him, can’t we?”
“Do you think Damion would remain in one place?” Mage Teft asked.
“No,” Elicia admitted. “He probably left wherever he ended up fairly quickly.
“And what do you suppose would happen to the supplies we sent through?”
“They would go to waste.”
“That,” Mage Thresbane said, “and they would be an indication that we sent someone through. The rift Exile creates is detectable by the races on the Mother World. If we sent supplies that are left at the entry point, others would know someone important is in their world.”
“Can we send a message? Like with a tablet?”
“Any signal could be intercepted, perhaps even traced to Damion.”
“Fine, we can’t send him a message, and we can’t send him help. I thought you called me here because you had news of him?” Elicia asked, getting frustrated.
“We did. While we can’t send him messages, that does not mean someone cannot send us messages,” Mage Thresbane pointed out.
“Damion sent a message?”
“No. Friends that I have on the Mother World did. After a bit of a bumpy introduction, Damion is safe in their care and will likely soon start his training.”
“He’s okay! Are you sure? I mean, I had that dream, and Bethany had it too, but it was the only one. I was hoping I might dream of him more. To be able to communicate with him that way.”
“Your dream is quite the aberration,” Mage Thresbane told her. “Aside from a Mind mage, I have never heard of such a method of communication and as far as I know, Damion had not acquired that affinity.”
“Not that I am aware,” Mage Teft added. “But he also shared a dream with Bethany before he left Silver Spire, so I doubt that the dreams are related to an affinity. Perhaps there is some greater magic at work which creates the connection.”
“You two can theorize about dreams later,” Elicia said impatiently. “What else can you tell me about Damion’s situation and how long before we know more?”
“There is not much else I can tell you, holding Exile open is costly, so messages are usually very brief. As for when we can expect contact again, that is a difficult question. You see, since Exile only anchors the point of origin, the Mother World, when they are trying to send a message to us, they have to cast Exile dozens, maybe hundreds, of times before they connect to our world. And that exhausts quite a few mages. It could be sometime before we hear from them again. But I wanted to make sure you knew that we have confirmed he is safe.”