5.16 A green hat

Difference: Minimal

AN: Some of you may have noticed a mild retcon. If you don't know what happened, don't worry about it. It's just a tidbit from volume two that I accidentally contradicted. Just making this statement here to say that the current version applies.

Also, sorry about the delay. Had an important exam earlier today (well, yesterday since its well past midnight) and couldn't quite justify to myself staying up until 6 am to finish the chapter rather than pushing it back a day. Enjoy now.

The floating towers were mildly fascinating to Irwyn. Meaning, they were very curious, but only briefly. Like glancing at a painting which was visually pleasant, but did little to actually inspire emotion. He was sure there was depth to them… Irwyn just wasn’t in the right mindset to enjoy it. With the backdrop of their inquisitorial work as well as a less-than-stellar direct superior, his thoughts were mostly elsewhere.

Each of the spires contained a small world of its own. They all had an individual theme, which was then meticulously followed. Some contained vast gardens with tens of thousands of exotic flowers. Others were deep isntead, leading into cavernous halls with vast ceiling tapestries. The group witnessed one that focused solely on creating hundreds of visual illusions born purely from lines of sight without a speck of magic.

Almost all of them were blatantly larger on the inside than outside. Sometimes in diameter, but other times there were hundreds of floors, or the exact dimensions simply didn’t make sense. As if there were more than 360 degrees in turning around. Or a crescent that looked like a square from the outside.

Moving between the towers could also be somewhat complicated. They formed a network of sorts, with chain-like sequences of portals that had to be trodden one step at a time. Many required magical puzzles to access, but none of those were really a match for Alice with her Concept. At worst, she could bypass them by finding the portal and teleporting right to it.

Though it may not feel like it, given their recent company, Conception mages could be considered the starting rank of ‘elites’ when it came to magical power. Anything that a talented one like Alice couldn’t crack would likely be practically impossible for most people without a Domain - so the kind of warding that would be used to guard something strategic rather than the integrity of a puzzle in such a public space.

Sometimes, the portals met in hubs of sorts, like the platform they had started on, or towers with up to a dozen other portals. But more often than not, they had just three or four exits. Fewer had only a single way to reach them and then only one path out. A couple were actually even dead ends. 

Occasionally, someone would think of taking issue with their presence, but those were stimied by the writ that Elizabeth eventually wore attached to her magic-wrought dress. At most, a few words were needed to get the locals to back off. This also became progressively less common as the word of the Inquisition’s visit spread.

Their group tried to be thorough in their exploration. With their main means of detection being Irwyn’s nose, there was no need to linger long in any of the individual places. The most important thing was sheer coverage. The main delays were thus caused by what Irwyn could only call ‘street stalls’, despite the lack of a ‘street’ to speak of, and shops.

Most of the towers had some combination of thematic markets, densely inhabited areas, and private sections. That being said, the population was relatively small from what Irwyn could see, a fraction of what he would expect of a Beacon city. Yet almost everyone they had met was a mage. Most of them very weak mages, not more than a step into imbuement, if even that, but mages nonetheless. 

“Isn’t it a bit wasteful?” Irwyn asked. “To have a Beacon in a place like this? Where are the warehouses or the people to make real use of all the logistical marvels? The people here could be supplied by a simple road and a few fields.”

“Outside the inner city,” Elizabeth explained. “If you leave the Spireholm proper, there is a military base. And further out from it is a major population center with an inverse mage to non-mage ratio. I am sure some of the groups had been sent there instead.”

“This is actually really good!” Alice interrupted his logistical talk while waving around a stick with some kind of a meatball she had just purchased. “Two more!” 

Irwyn had a feeling Alice wasn’t taking the entire thing the most seriously. Or, optimistically, she just trusted his nose enough to relax a bit. That involved trying anything edible they stumbled upon. Irwyn had partaken a few times at first, but it had happened enough times that it began to feel improper while they were supposed to be searching for the Rot. He had to admire Elizabeth’s professionalism for keeping off entirely.

Hours passed by them in such a manner. Eventually, Alice had to start storing the snacks and meals rather than eating them directly. Desir had also picked up a large collection of novelty knick-knacks along the way. Since the city existed in deep luxury, they had plenty of hobbyist products. Irwyn grew progressively more embarrassed by the appearances of that, though decided not to mention it. 

Eventually, they made their way through seemingly most of the flying towers. It was actually hard to keep track of where they might have missed a diverging path. Next were the platforms, positioned mostly around the central elevators, but several were also built in other spots across the cylindrical dimension. Then they had a short jaunt across the empty space where no structures floated nearby. Finally, they ventured to the very bottom.

And there, right by the pit of rubble, Irwyn finally caught the first slightest whiff of something. The smell was weak enough to be called unpleasant rather than actually rotten, so he took another deep breath to ensure he was even correct. But there was no mistaking it. Something undead was near. He relayed as much to Elizabeth, who quickly went on to spread the word. Minutes later, perhaps half of the Domain mages, including several Inquisitors had arrived to assess the situation

“And you are certain?” A Domain mage from the Duchy of Purple questioned. He wore plated armor forged out of purple metal with many inlaid crystals. Curiously, his personal entourage was made up of five sapient golems.

“The presence is extremely weak, but I am certain there is something,” Irwyn confirmed.

“The rubble pit is one of the most closely scrutinised areas in the entire Federation,” Senior Inquisitor Parado said. Irwyn had actually managed to retain his name over the previous hours. “A High Inquisitor will sweep through it at least once every year during wartime, and my peers check much more often. A major infestation had already been found and purged right her after the incident at Abonisle. That the Rot would still somehow infiltrate is a disturbing thought.” 

“Maybe then we are not looking for someone actually dead then,” Elizabeth suggested. “Just stained by their dealings with the Rot.”

“Is that how your courtier’s ability works?” The purple donning mage asked with a frown.

“The ability is rather esoteric and of unknown origin, but it is a sense that has not lied to me before,” Irwyn explained. 

“Is anyone from Green not here?” The Senior Inquisitor looked around. Indeed, there was no group wearing those colours down with them. “I will summon them.”

A minute later, a Domain mage with a Life element approached. It was a seemingly an athletic young man in a well-fitted green suit that had a square cut out around the bellybutton as well as a bowler hat of the same colour. Irwyn vaguely recalled seeing him earlier while surrounded by all their seniors. Though that apparent youth was likely deceiving. Irwyn was also still struggling to distinguish the exact Domains of everyone as their auras mixed and interfered with each other, so he couldn’t tell what the man specialized at. 

Everyone gave him a berth to cast. Irwyn watched in astonishment as four additional mouths opened across his body as soon as he started. One on the forehead, an extra in each palm, and the final over the bellybutton crop. All of them began simultaneously murmuring incantations in a way that actually ended up muffling the individual words. This continued for several seconds before Irwyn felt a tidal wave of mana be discharged downward and then spread.

“I may have something. Let me make sure,” he declared, then began to cast again. The spell had to be extraordinary to take a Domain mage several seconds to manifest even with the inhuman chanting. Again, the same wave of mana rushed down, but the following dispersal was much more directed than the first time. Most of the magic travelled in a specific direction.

“Yes, that is quite something. I believe… those were undead bacteria. As in, actual non-magical bacterial bodies that had been subverted, then arranged to form a primitive brain of sorts. Since there was no Soul present, I can see how it had been missed. I would have likely also not noticed them without being told there was something extraordinary to look out for.”

“How dangerous was this?” The Senior Inquisitor asked.

“Hard to say. Non-magical, so not capable of magic. Without any biological matter, the ‘brain’ as I called it was hibernating and probably wouldn’t have been able to form many thoughts before burning out of energy and crumbling. Nor would it think at even a fraction the speed of even a mortal mind. My best guess is that it could become a scout of sorts: Evaluate the current state of defenses before an attack. Alternatively, it had some latent potential to become more dangerous once provided with energy. Like if a traitor fed it.”

“But it is wiped out now.”

“Yes,” the Life mage confirmed. “I dissolved the biomass back to the composite elements. I also plan to send a message back home to have a look through the annals for similar methods.”

“I will do the same,” Parado affirmed.

Afterwards, the crowd dispersed and went back to their own investigations. Alice convinced them to go for seconds of her favorite ‘street’ food, which Irwyn felt a lot less embarrassed about now that they had some kind of accomplishment under their belts. Two hours later, the call went out that they were all to gather at one of the platforms. Once the whole ‘crusade’, as people were calling their outing, assembled, their whimsical Truthmage reappeared to take everyone away. In a blink, they were back at that very same military campsite.

“Four hours break, then we go for our next deployment,” Marmian announced and swiftly vanished to who knows where.

Irwyn noticed that seemingly not everyone had gone to Spireholm. Several dozen weaker mages were already scattered across the camp before the returners could have dispersed that far. They seemed to be wearing Teal colours, so maybe they were staff assigned to keeping the camp itself running. Irwyn wasn’t exactly sure how everything was organised. One of those people soon approached their group of five and led them to a stone building that had apparently been assigned to them.

Like most temporary military construction Irwyn had seen, it had been mostly raised from stone by a Realm mage, next to several other such buildings. Inside was a room of middling size with a bit of empty space and four beds, stacked in two bunks. Irwyn was confused for a moment, then realised they had probably not counted Waylan. 

Speaking of the sneak, he quickly announced he was going to take a nap, then vanished again. Reasonable, since he probably needed to sleep more than the rest of their group combined. Elizabeth ventured out with Desir, wanting to make acquaintances with the various Domain mages and also figure out what other locations they would be choosing from for their next task. 

Alice also quickly departed, wanting to finally talk with some other Time mages about ideas she had. And probably bribe them with her abundant snacks while she could still keep them fresh. Irwyn didn’t know how long she could manage that with just the Concept of Time, but it would probably be at least a few days, yet less than multiple weeks.

That left Irwyn alone. He left Waylan to his rest and instead decided to explore the camp by himself. Walking outside of their assigned housing, Irwyn quickly noted they were on the edge of the area that could be said to belong to the Duchy of Black. To their left, several mages in dark clothing were discussing something in a group outside a small building. They glanced up at Irwyn after he looked at them, but quickly returned to their discussion.

He wasn’t exactly sure how this didn’t compromise the purpose of shielding their group from further scrutiny by the noble Houses of Black. Even if the singular Domain mage was loyal to Avys, how were they going to ensure that none of the weaker mages flipped in a few weeks’ time? Not to mention the mages from other Duchies that could probably also be bribed. Their shield was supposedly obscurity and that no one knew where they had gone, but it seemed a flimsy aegis.

Not that he could do much about it, besides trying to not attract attention. In a way, he had already failed at that with his performance in Spireholm. The Inquisition was certainly taking increased note of him. But at least that had not revealed his actual magical prowess, which would cause a much bigger uproar. People could likely accept a unique ability they did not understand rather than a seemingly impossible speed of growth within a well-known system. 

Looking the other way, that part of the camp belonged to the Duchy of Red. It seemed to be a pattern, that the groups were divided by what Duchy they had come from. Irwyn noted several Flame golems among their numbers, usually contained by platemail armour and seemingly participating in smalltalk with their fellow mages. He briefly contemplated trying to strike up a conversation, but quickly reconsidered. Instead, he walked around the camp, getting a better feel for the layout and their forces.

Most Duchies had sent exactly one Domain mage to accompany the ‘cleansing crusade’. In a way, even the Duchy of White had only sent one. There was a single group from there that was distinctly not part of the inquisition, occupying a few of the stone buildings. Naturally, the most common were the mages from the Duchy of Teal. But surprisingly, not all of them actually wielded Time.

Irwyn first noticed that from a distance, when a man in a Teal getup began to train with Flame. It was something Irwyn had rarely seen before in the Duchy of Black, which made him curious. When he began looking for other mages like that, the pattern became much more apparent. And in a way also telling.

Teal, Cyan, and Purple had a clear tendency to employ people with other elements than the dominant one of their Duchy. In a way, that made perfect sense to Irwyn. Those were the three elements that leaned the most towards utility over direct combat power. Especially so for the Duchy of Purple. Essence didn’t really even have a good way of directly attacking from what little Irwyn understood. 

Their part of the camp was a bit larger than the others and several of their mages were actively inscribing crystals with magic. Some of them were capturing spells from other elements with the help of their fellow mages of attack-oriented elements, presumably to unleash later. For some, Irwyn couldn’t guess what they were actually working on. Just like the Duchy of Red, they also had a sizable entourage of sapient golems, though theirs were diverse in elements. Most of the other groups didn’t have even a single one.

As for the other five Duchies, they seemed confident in their own element. The Duchy of Black did not seem to have sent even a single mage that didn’t wield Void from Irwyn’s admittedly short time observing. The rest seemed to have brought at least some utility, like middling diviners and Time mages with a Concept or two. Or at least dedicated healers. Those would mostly utilise Light or Life, though Irwyn could easily spot only the former. 

As for the Inquisition, they seemed scattered across the camp. Their assigned housing was in whichever crack had not been occupied by the other Duchies. Sometimes it was just an individual building with an Inquisitor standing in front of the door. Not that they seemed keen on resting. Even in camp, few of them seemed to actually relax or let their guard down.

Irwyn eventually reached the edge of the camp. There stood a low wall delineating the edge, alongside a shimmering distortion above it, which Irwyn assumed would be a barrier. He tried to examine it, but besides the visual effect, which had probably been left there on purpose, he could not determine anything about it. It did not even leak any mana.

“You know, you are pretty strange,” he heard the voice of Magelord Marmian behind him. “Somehow, after seducing an astounding beauty with incredible talent, you spend your free time blankly staring at walls while she is with another man.”

“Good day, Magelord, sir,” Irwyn deadpanned.

“Really? Not the slightest reaction? You know, that Desir fellow has some of the younger mages swooning just walking by. Who knows what could happen?”

“His sense of self-preservation is actually quite strong.” Irwyn shrugged. 

“So, what, you would burn him alive?” He asked with a sudden gleam in his eyes.

“No. Elizabeth might, though. And he knows that, which is why he doesn’t cross any lines.”

“Your group is so infuriatingly boring,” the Truth mage immediately lamented with a groan. “You are a clearly attractive group of five that has been in constant close quarters contact for who knows how long, yet somehow managed to not ferment any real drama. Really? Not even a bit of unrequited desires? No complex love triangles that result in eventual betrayal and death duels?”

“Is that… common?” Irwyn had to ask.

“I have personally had to kill 13 people because of relationship drama! Two of those even involved me.”

“That doesn’t answer my question. I wouldn’t expect a great mage such as yourself to be defined by what is ‘common’.”

“Fine, you flatterer. It can happen quite often. I once saw what can only be called a ‘love circle’, when everyone in a group of seven had a one-sided obsession with another member, coincidentally forming a perfect loop. Now that was incredible entertainment. They all eventually died to the Rot two Wars ago, but it had been continuously hilarious until that point.”

“I am afraid you will need to search for amusement elsewhere.”

“No. I think you lot will end up interesting in different ways. And at worst, I get to gather embarrassing stories that I can then constantly bring up if you ever make it to a Truth. You should see the Archduke’s face whenever I mention eggs in front of him.”

Irwyn paused, unsure what to say to that. So instead, they fell into silence. Marmian squirted at him for a moment, then sighed and vanished. Irwyn tried to go back to staring at the barrier, but when that still failed to yield results for a few more minutes he moved on. Nothing else managed to grab his interest, so he simply returned to their designated house, made himself a chair, and got in a few hours of practice. He would have sat on one of the beds, but there was no way to be sure which one Waylan was already resting in.

Eventually, Elizabeth and Desir returned, not long before their time was up. They woke up the sneak through trial and error, then headed for the centre of the camp, where the stone ballot box still stood. Alice was already waiting for them there, animatedly talking with a small gaggle of Time mages with one to three Concepts.

Once the serial instigator, that technically happened to also be in charge of everyone, appeared, everyone quickly tossed in their cards. Even Elizabeth had prepared one, though Irwyn didn’t particularly care what was written on it. He would certainly not recognise the name anyway. 

“And here is our picker,” the Magelord announced… and who appeared to be a simple farmer appeared in front of the box.

The man wore rough and stained linen and was literally carrying a basket full of seeds. In fact, he was in the middle of throwing some, a gesture he quickly finished. Since he was facing the ballot box, it now also contained a handful of grains.

“What?” The man exclaimed, clearly confused by the whole situation. Then he quickly grew nervous, probably because of the imposing crowd surrounding him.

“Reach into the box and pick a ballot, please,” one of the Senior Inquisitors instructed. Irwyn felt a bit of mana briefly resonate in those words, so there was perhaps some mild compulsion added to them.

The farmer hesitated only for a few moments longer, then took a single step forward and reached inside the stone box. After a second or two of shuffling, he removed one of the paper cards. “What no…” and promptly vanished in the middle of that sentence. The card stayed levitating in the air, then rotated around to show everyone the words on it. ‘Fortress Bar-dir’. Not a familiar name.

Nonetheless, a moment later, Irwyn was there. The smell of Rot hit him instantaneously.