47: Spell Lore
Liam
Liam closed his eyes and considered his situation. He'd always found that careful consideration of a situation was helpful. There wasn't always time to for careful consideration, but he certainly seemed to have time now.
"Are you taking a nap?” Albert asked.
He felt the cat move up on his legs. He twirled around a couple of times and then plopped down. Liam idly moved a hand up to scratch at the back of his neck, and the sorcerer of legend stretched out and let out a contented sigh.
"Says the one who's stretching out on my lap."
"I might as well enjoy the little break if we're taking one," he said. "But you should eventually do something."
"Quiet," Liam said. "I need you to think of a spell I can use to get out of this. A spell I’m capable of casting without blowing myself up with it, mind you. I don’t have a lot of wiggle room in this enclosed space.”
"I'm not sure that’s possible, considering all those qualifiers.”
Liam opened his eyes and looked down at the cat in surprise.
"What?" Albert asked, pitching an ear in his direction. It was the only indication he'd noticed Liam looking at him.
"You actually agree with me?" Liam asked.
"What you said makes sense," Albert said. "It's going to be a pretty poor working relationship if I don't listen to you when you make sense."
"Thank you," Liam said.
"Of course, don't count on making sense all that often. I do know far more than you could ever dream of. I've forgotten more about magic than those bastards at the Academy have learned."
"And there it is," Liam said, still scratching at the cat's neck ,and then just behind his ears.
"Oh yes. That’s a good spot right there," Albert muttered as an ear twitched.
"So we have Inquisitors all around us," Liam said. "I need to get a count of them."
"Good idea," Albert said.
"I need to figure out what Ascension we’re talking about for all of them.”
"That's also a good idea," Albert said.
"How many Inquisitors of a higher Ascension do you think I could take on?"
Albert paused for a moment. When he spoke again, he was quiet.
"I honestly don't know," he said. "This is new territory. I never thought we’d get to the point where a human actually had an arcane and infernal core inside them, and I certainly didn't think it would work to the point you started gaining Ascensions with that infernal core. Your levels must be off the chart for where you are."
"What's that?" Liam asked.
He opened his eyes and looked down at Albert. The cat turned and looked up at him this time. Apparently this conversation was worth more than an ear twitch.
"Your strength for the Ascension level you're at," he said.
"What are you talking about?" Liam asked.
Albert stared at him for a moment, and then he shook his head. Though he didn't shake it like a human would shake their head. No, he did that thing cats sometimes do where they're trying to get some water off of their head or something, and so they shake it. His ears flopped as he did it.
"Right," he muttered. "I keep forgetting you weren't educated in the Academy."
"Is that a bad thing?" Liam asked.
"It depends on who you ask," Albert said. "I think it's wonderful. If you talk to any of those bastards at the Academy, they'd disagree."
"I guess it's all about your point of view," Liam said.
"The point is, there are levels that are involved in reaching your Ascension, and there are average amounts of mana a person can hold for that level.”
“What does that have to do with my strength?” Liam asked.
“The thing with averages is there are always outliers in both directions. With the mana you absorbed, you blasted through those averages and then some. Suffice it to say, you should be quite a bit more powerful both for your level and for your Ascension.”
"Is there a way for me to figure out exactly where I stand?” Liam asked.
"There is," Albert said.
There was a pause.
"So could you teach me how to do that?" Liam asked.
"Right," Albert said. "Sorry. I keep forgetting that you don't know all of this. Again, I've..."
"You've forgotten more about mana and casting magic than most people will ever learn," Liam said, finishing the thought for him.
"That was rather rude," Albert said.
"Weren't you the one who was just saying the mark of a great intellect is being able to finish someone's sentence before they even start the thought?”
"Well, yes, but it's only useful when I do it. It was rather rude for you to do that to me."
"And now you know what it feels like," Liam said, smiling down at the cat.
He let out a sniff.
"You can figure out where you are roughly, but you would need to go to a mage who specializes in that sort of thing.”
“You can’t do that?” Liam asked, the hint of a smile playing across his face.
“What’s that tone?” Albert asked.
“I thought you were this great sorcerer who could do anything,” Liam said.
“I could do that before I was quite literally stabbed in the back,” Albert said. “But since I don't seem to have access to any of my mana any longer, I unfortunately can't do that for you."
"I see," Liam said with a sigh. “Is it possible for me to be able to tell someone else's level with precision?"
"With precision, no," Albert said. “Unless you are someone who has the spell and the machinery that goes with it. Then you can. Otherwise it’s just a lot of experience. Being able to feel how much mana someone is putting out, and the intricacy of the spellwork they’re attaching to that output. It’s something that takes experience.”
“Which is something I’m lacking, and that’s the whole problem that has me trapped here,” Liam muttered.
"But you should be able to get a vague sense of how powerful someone is. The closer they are to you, the easier it is to ascertain their Ascension."
“Except I’m far more powerful than other people at my Ascension?” Liam said.
“Theoretically, yes,” Albert said. “If everything worked out the way… well, you should be, but we won’t know for sure until you actually start casting spells.”
Liam’s mouth compressed to a thin line. That felt like the cat bastard had been on the verge of admitting something, but he decided to leave well enough alone for now.
He could question the sorcerer more after he’d escaped the Inquisition.
"This all seems very complicated," Liam said.
“Remember that this is the kind of thing that most people spend the equivalent of a lifetime learning before they even start going out into the world and casting spells," Albert said.
"Well, when you put it that way…” Another pause. "How long did it take for you to go out into the world and start casting spells?"
"Well within the bounds of a mortal lifetime," Albert said quietly. "It was a fun time. Learning new things. Being at the Academy. Meeting new people."
"So what happened?" Liam asked.
The cat looked up at him. He opened his eyes, this time unblinking. Eyes with a faint purple glow to them stared at him, and then looked away.
"I'd rather not get into that now, if you don't mind."
"Sure thing," Liam said, continuing to stroke his hand through the cat's fur. "Just figured I'd ask."
"Maybe I'll tell you about that someday,” Albert said. “But that day isn't today. You have to figure out how to get out of here and live."
"I have to figure out how to get Ana out of here too,” Liam said.
There was another long pause from the cat. Liam looked down at him, and he immediately looked away. Though his tail swished this way and that.
"Why do I get the feeling you're thinking something I'm not going to like?" Liam asked.
"Probably because I am thinking something you're not going to like," Albert said.
"Out with it," Liam said.
"You don't have to rescue the demon," Albert said.
Liam's eyes narrowed. Sure enough, he didn't like the sound of that one bit.
"I'm rescuing her," he said.
"Look, I understand as much as any man the allure of a pretty face attached to magical ability on a woman who tried her best to kill you, but that doesn't mean you have to chase after her. There are other women in the world. Maybe not demonesses. Certainly not a High Princess of the Demon Realms, assuming she's telling the truth about who she is, but still."
"I said I'm rescuing her," Liam said.
"Because you're besotted with the woman," Albert said.
"Because it's the right thing to do."
Albert snorted.
"What?"
"You'll quickly find that when you start running with the great powers in the world, the right thing to do becomes a little hazy and grey."
Liam stared down at the cat, and then he looked off in the direction of Isai. There was a larger amount of mana he could sense off in that direction, and he assumed that was the fallen city.
"People not doing what's right has resulted in a lot of death and destruction."
"I'll back you up on that," Albert said.
"I'll remind you that you had a lot to do with that death and destruction,” Liam said, turning a look on the cat.
"And I'll remind you that it was those bastards at the Academy double-crossing me and literally putting a knife in my back that caused the fires to rage out of control in the first place."
Liam held his tongue. He didn’t remember anything from that night, and so he wasn't sure what version of the truth was the actual truth. He just had the feeling that Albert was the kind of person who would tell a very self-serving version of events.
Finally, he moved to get up. Which had Albert letting out a slight hiss as he leapt down to the floor.
"What?" Liam said.
"You could give me a little bit of warning before you do that," Albert said, shaking himself off and turning to look up at Liam in annoyance.
"I could," Liam said with a slight smile, "but it was much more fun to watch you scrambling."
"And you say I'm doing the asshole cat routine," Albert said, licking at his paw and rubbing it across his head. Which seemed to be a thing he did whenever he was irritated.
"Did you think of a spell that might be helpful in getting us out of here?" Liam asked.
"I thought of several spells that might be helpful in getting us out of here," Albert said.
“And?” Liam asked.
"Well, the problem is you wouldn't be able to actually cast any of them," Albert said. “Not safely, at least.”
Liam turned and stared at the cat. The cat stared back at him.
"What?"
“You should've led with that," Liam said.
"Yes, I suppose you're right," Albert said.
"Let me guess. You assumed I’d already know that any of the spells you could give me would be useless."
"Look, Liam. I'm getting used to this as much as you are. You're not exactly finding me at my best,"
Liam blinked. He was surprised to get that much of an admission from the sorcerer turned cat familiar.
"Well, I suppose we'll both have to muddle through," Liam said, hitting the cat with a smile as he hunched over so his head wouldn’t bump into the roof.
"Yes, I suppose we shall," Albert said, staring off into the distance for a moment.
Meanwhile, Liam figured if the cat wasn't going to be any assistance to him, then he might as well figure something else out. So he moved to look out the bars on the back of his mobile prison again.
"What are you doing?" Albert asked.
"I figure I might as well have a conversation with my captors."
"You know that's not going to do any good," Albert said.
"I don't know that it's not going to do any good until I try it," Liam said with a shrug. "You'd be surprised what you can get out of life by just asking nicely from time to time."
The cat hit him with a skeptical look, and an even more skeptical tail swish. Liam ignored it and went to the back to stare out through the bars. Sure enough, the same two Inquisitors were back there talking quietly with one another and looking over at the box he was trapped in from time to time.
So the one on Liam's right was quick to notice when Liam's face appeared behind the bars.
"Um, hello," Liam said. "I was wondering if one of you, or both of you, might want to have a quick chat about this unfortunate situation we find ourselves in?”