Prismatic Education Begins With A Spark 39 (MTG/Multicross)

Prismatic Education 39

My hand trembled, then stilled. Carefully, I set the point of my quill onto the paper once more, and completed the final character. The final raise of my arm wasn’t the flourish I had in mind, but a jerking action desperately reaching for the finish line.

A glowing magic circle appeared around me, and the words on the paper blazed into light. Unlike the sparkling lights of before, it was now glowing streams of energy that flowed into my body, filling it with a visible radiance. I could feel the internal framework develop further, growing even stronger inside me. At the same time, I siphoned a bit of it off towards a separate one, carefully packing in a methodical manner-

It crumbled, most of the energy flowing back to the original structure. The remains were still there, but just not at the level I had in mind. Still, it was a bit more than before.

Two steps forward, one step back. Gotta review it again to see where it needs to be adjusted.

Releasing the breath I was holding, I set down my writing tool, now no longer weighing like Zald’s heavy sword in my hand. A quick application of water and fire magic took off the worst of the sweat, followed by a mild chilling spell to deal with the elevated temperature. After that, I replaced the blank paper with my journal, and set about noting down the results.

My current research topic was to see whether I could improve my body-tempering spell further, just like I had suggested during my dissertation presentation. But so far it wasn’t very successful, which was annoying for me.

From my investigation, the falna could be described like paper and inkpot, with the latter part collecting the excelia from whatever the holder experienced. The god would then write on the paper with said ‘ink’, and if the type of ‘ink’ was right, something special could be generated. That reminded me a lot of some of the Lorehold Order spells that cast from olden text.

I’ve got some useful parts from examining the falna’s function, but integrating them and making it all work together… I ran a hand through my hair in frustration. Then there’s the spirit-enhancement Lorehold spells. I feel like there’s something there that can tie it all together, but what?

One reason why I was focusing so much on this line of research was the degree my body-tempering spell had grown after my Level Up. While the gravitational pressure had always felt the same no matter how much my Status went up while I was still Level One, taking on the Mage Development Ability now made it even stronger; I couldn’t even finish writing the whole poem sometimes.

On the other hand, the returns saw a similar growth, as indicated by the brighter lightshow I had just witnessed. I didn’t doubt that my next update was going to see points rise across the board. 

And it’s barely been a week since I became Level Two. My schedule is moving faster than I expected… Won’t be long before I depart from Orario again. With another sigh, I packed my things away and got ready to head out.

Baldr was very accepting of my decision when I informed him that I was intending to travel away from this city, to go searching for the source of my memory fragments. For the time being though, I would be staying until I accomplished a few more things. One of them being the defeat of a Goliath.

“Good morning, Mr Roy!” I was greeted by some of my fellow familia members.

“Hey, you all. Ready for today’s dungeon dive?” 

“Equipment all checked and ready!”

Today’s group was a small one consisting of four members, with two Level Twos and two Level Ones. Mico Kunst, a male werewolf who had been Level Two for a year already, and was hoping to hit Level Three soon. Cynthia Nyland, a female human who just reached Level Two a few weeks before I did. For the Level Ones, there was Pira Mishle, a rabbitgirl who wore her hair slicked back because she was irritated by how her bangs tickled her forehead, and Iggy Marth, a male dwarf who resembled a pallum with how short he was.

It initially felt a bit awkward being treated by them as a senior when they had been adventurers longer than I had, but I quickly got used to it. 

Because I really didn’t want to have their deaths on my conscience, not from having hangups over such things in a place as dangerous as the Dungeon.

“Need help!” Mico called as he dodged and slashed against a pair of Ligerfangs.

“Your fangs are-” I broke off into wheezing, but managed to finish, “-swift and sharp!”

“Thanks!” His movements sped up significantly, the dual swords he wielded leaving heavily bleeding wounds on the monsters, and the werewolf finished them off with stabs through the eyes.

“Hard Armoreds!” Pira called a warning, spotting a large tumble of those rolling monsters heading towards our group.

“Leave it to me!” A confident voice spoke out above the din of battle.

Cynthia stepped out in front, her large shield ready to receive them. The sound of crash after crash could be heard as she deflected each one in turn, standing as firmly as she could. I could see the moment her stance slipped, just as the last one was about to land.

“RALLY!” I roared, and winced as a fierce pain stabbed at my throat.

She recovered swifter than one would expect, realigning her shield with a firmness that wasn’t present before. “HAAAAH!” 

The monster ground against her shield for a few seconds, but failed to shift Cynthia. It uncurled, opting to use its claws and teeth instead, but she parried the strikes and returned a few of her own.

“Iggy!” She called.

“SMAAAASH!” The dwarf leapt forward, swinging a heavy hammer with both hands. 

Cynthia slipped out of the way, letting the monster receive the full force of the strike on its head. While not a head-ripped-off strike I could deliver with my enhanced strength, the Level One was able to decisively break the monster’s neck.

“Hellhounds from the left next! Mr Roy, please take care of it!” Pira announced.

“Got it…” I croaked out. Anti-fire enchantments, applied! 

Immune to the fire-breathing dogs’ worst attacks, the four adventurers charged into the fray and put them down quickly. Meanwhile, I took out some of the other monsters that Pira hadn’t noticed. A few ice needles shot the Bad Bats out of the air before they could disrupt our group’s teamwork with their supersonic shrieks.

“Iggy, you’ve got Orcs coming next!” The rabbitgirl warned the dwarf, who had ventured away from the rest.

He gulped at the sight of the towering figures approaching him, then glanced back at me. “Can I use it now?”

I forced myself to nod. “Go ahead.” 

Iggy pulled out a small scroll from his pouch, bringing it up to his mouth to bite off the knot keeping it closed. A flick of his wrist unrolled it, revealing the glowing words inscribed on its insides.

From the scroll, my voice spoke, with intense words of empowerment. “Set your heart ablaze! Right here, right now, surpass your limits! Plus Ultra!” 

“UUUUOOOOHHHH!” It almost looked like Iggy’s body bulked up in muscle. “ULTRAAAA… SMAAAAASH!”

The first orc swung with its landform weapon, meeting Iggy’s own swing. The rough axe-like weapon shattered instantly, while his hammer followed through to hit the monster’s thick body. 

“Ooooh…” The other three made sounds of awe as the orc was sent flying, knocking down its fellows like bowling pins.

Hmm… looks like that combination of words worked pretty well. I think it’s worth mass producing. My eyes flicked towards another approaching monster, this one far larger than the others so far. Infant Dragon…

“Hurry up and finish the orcs off!” I ordered, creating a ball of water above my hand.

A flick of the wrist set it spinning, before I turned it into ice. A touch of lightning, and I sent it floating ahead of me. Lining up my staff with it, I thrust forward with a twist of my other hand.

Guh… it’s not my usual smoothness…

As expected, the spell, despite its Spin-infused power, only severely wounded the monster instead of ripping it apart like it should have. 

“Nice one, Mr Roy! Come on, everyone! Let’s finish it off!”

In the meantime, I centered myself again, murmuring a saying I had learned before. “It is only through hardship that we come to learn our limits… and only through learning our limits do we learn to shatter them…”

After the fight was over, Pira dashed over to me, holding out a potion vial. Nodding in thanks, I uncorked it and gulped it down, feeling the sensation of poison fade away as the antidote did its work. 

“It’s amazing you can fight so well while enduring Purple Moth poison!”

I smiled at her. “The spirit is inconquerable, it folds in upon itself, it grows, ever strengthening,” I quoted a saying in one of the books I had read for research.

“Will this really help you get the Abnormal Resistance Development Ability?” Cynthia wondered. “Aren’t you overdoing it?”

“It’s a proven method,” I answered the female adventurer. “Now, let’s go over how you all did, shall we?”

As the Unseen Servants took care of the magic stone harvesting, I reviewed their performance with the members of the group, pointing out things they could improve. Cynthia’s tendency to lock down with repositioning would be better, Mico being a bit too reckless in engaging, and so on… 

I focused on emulating Dean Shaile’s complimenting method, and they responded well to it. With every battle they got into, their performance became smoother and more effective. Seeing them improve so quickly was heartening for me, though I made sure to impress upon them the fact that I wouldn’t always be around to cover for any mistakes they might make.

“So all in all, another successful lesson,” I reported to Baldr later. 

“Thank you, Roy.” The god replied. “Do you wish to update your Status?”

“Not right now. Let the others have their turn.”

“You know, they really appreciate how much your guidance has helped them grow. They tell me so when I’m performing the update for them.”

“I’m just passing on the knowledge accumulated from past adventurers.”

That statement was truer than most would realize. The records collected by the Guild might have been revised and rewritten many times by generations of Guild staff, but that dilution didn’t change the fact that the history had weight. It was that weight that I called upon, leveraging my meager pastcalling skills to enhance the effect of my words as I directed each group I trained with. With a bit more effort on my part, I could even make something the general adventurer could use.

Unlike the female renard character in my memories, my enhancing spell didn’t reduce the amount of excelia the recipients gained, but increased it instead. I knew that eventually, the other gods would realize that our familia was growing faster than others, and then that attention would lead to action…

“Put those concerns to rest, Roy,” Baldr said, as though seeing right through me, “Hold onto hope, and it will all turn out well.”

Now that reminds me of what Glen said… “Sounds like you got a plan?”

“Hringhorni’s renovation is expected to be completed soon. Are you interested in visiting Melen to take a look?” Baldr invited.

I blinked. “That’s faster than I thought.”

The god smiled, and began telling me about some of the arrangements the School District union was making. Small traveling groups leaving Orario, heading in the direction of various cities along the intended route, to make arrangements to dock for resupply and other things. 

I could read the underlying meaning. My departure from Orario would most likely be hidden among several others.

“Sure, let me know when you’re planning the trip. I’ll keep that day open.” And perhaps I’ll see if I can form a mana bond with a fortress-sized ship.

…

I idly read the pages I had copied from a journal as I walked at the back of the group, following them as we headed back to the Baldr Familia home.

‘In my travels across the Blind Eternities, I was always on the lookout for new lands to form mana bonds to.’ The pages bearing the chronicled journey of a Planeswalker said. ‘However, my propensity towards developed structures made it difficult to bond to lands of the wild and untamed.’

The journal mentioned how he had been informed about a plane named Mirrodin, an artificial world constructed by another Planeswalker of amazing power. Hearing that the plane had lands that could provide all five types of mana despite being artificial in nature appealed to the writer, particularly the description of the bridges that linked lands of different mana types. Apparently they could provide either of those two colors when drawn on for power.

Hmm… I’d be interested too, except…

‘I was warned to avoid that plane because of some guardian. ‘Beware Memnarch’, I was told, but no further detail was forthcoming. A warning like that is no warning at all. I will go to see Mirrodin for myself.’

Considering that was the end of the journal, it was safe to assume that whoever this Planeswalker was, they never did return from Mirrodin. 

However, the details they managed to glean regarding those bridges were somewhat helpful.

Paths to various concepts being forged in various triggers? I think I’m getting an idea of how Hringhorni can eventually become a land to mana bond to. 

“Heeeeeey! Welcome back, everyone!”
“Lord Baldr, how was Melen?”
“Bring us any souvenirs, Leon?”

I looked up to see some of the familia members who had stayed behind waving at us from in front of the building. With a smile, I tucked away my reading material.

It won’t be happening anytime soon, so no need for me to rush. More importantly, we’ve got a big event to prepare for. I met Leon’s eyes from where he was standing in the group, and we nodded to each other.

The next morning, several members of the Baldr Familia gathered in the open square before Babel Tower, all fully kitted out and ready for a long dive into the Dungeon. Leon was settling into the role of the leader, talking to the others, making final checks before we set out.

I was about to join them when a recognizable voice called out to me from behind. “Ron.” 

I turned around. “Alfia.” I knew I wasn’t mistaking that void I sensed.

“Where were you yesterday?” She demanded, “I went by your place, but they told me you were out.” 

“I was accompanying Baldr to Melen. We just got back yesterday,” I answered concisely. 

“And what are you doing with that noisy brat and the rest of these little chicks?” Her head turned, observing the rest of my familia through her practically-closed eyes.

Leon’s personality has changed over time, but to her, he’s still a ‘noisy brat’, huh? “We’re going to challenge the Goliath.”

My answer made her open her eyes slightly, giving me a quick glimpse of her green and grey heterochromatic eyes, before she closed them again. “I see. I’m coming along.”

“...alright.” Not like I can dissuade her. 

When I informed Leon about her accompanying us, he accepted it with a nod and smile. “Just you watch, Alfia. The gap between us and the Zeus and Hera Familias is beginning to shrink.”

Her reply was direct and to the point. “Back up your words with actions.”

Leon nodded, and turned to the rest of the familia. “Baldr Familia, let’s move out!”

“OHHHH!”

Compared to the previous times I went down in the company of others, this time we were greater in number, allowing for rotation to let people rest and recover while others handled the frontline roles. I didn’t have to do a single thing, other than casting a healing spell on Alfia once or twice to keep her condition healthy.

“Just leave it to them. They’re capable of handling monsters like these.” I assured her in a soothing voice. 

“...” 

And she still chooses to keep that antimagic armor of hers up… At least Mage has made my spells better at penetrating it. I glanced at her from the corner of my eye as she walked next to me.

While Alfia’s presence had the lower-ranked members on edge, I did my best to keep her from expressing any frustration she might have had. Most of my methods involved magic, such as sound-dampening spells or Silverquill verbal spells. Normally they would have triggered her synesthesia, but Alfia made no mention of them this time. More than once, I felt as though she was staring at me, but when I chanced a look, Alfia was just looking off into the distance. 

Eventually, we reached the 17th Floor, where the Goliath would spawn. As we headed for the entrance to the next level, it became clear that there was a difference to how things usually were.

“Oi, can you feel that?”
“No. What is it?”
“Listen…”
“I don’t hear anything.”
“Exactly.”

This is what they call a pregnant silence… I glanced at Alfia, before recalling her Alias, and quickly looking away to hide any change in my expression. Okay, that might not have been the right choice of words.

But it was true; the Dungeon was too quiet, as though every monster was in hiding, afraid of something that was about to be born.

Our group ventured onwards, and finally reached the last chamber. Unlike the rest of the floors above it, this one was very tall and wide, with the entrance to the next floor at the far end. The walls and ceilings looked like multiple rocks fitted together, except for the left one… which was completely smooth with no lines to be seen. It was an unnatural feature that stood out prominently in this place.

“The Great Wall of Sorrows…” Somebody whispered the name this location was known by.

“Here it comes.” Alfia’s announcement split the silence, drawing looks from many of our number.

“Everyone! Get ready!” Leon shouted.

CRACK

A single jagged split appeared in the smooth wall, some distance away from where we were. It was followed by several more, each one appearing with the terrifying sound every adventurer learned to recognize as the sign of an impending monster attack.

Then the section exploded outwards, revealing the Goliath pushing its way out through a cloud of dust. At least five times my height, grey-skinned and extremely heavyset, its very presence proclaimed a disparity in power between it and the rest of us. 

“-Oooo.” Red eyes looked around, then locked onto us.

SHWING.

The sound of swords clearing their sheaths echoed through the place, mine and Leon’s. While his was for attacking, mine was for a different purpose.

[Prismatic Magic: Solar Guidance Rays]!

From the shining sword raised above my head, multiple rays of light stretched out. As I shifted it around slightly, the rays converged, focusing tightly on certain parts of the Goliath’s body. Left ankle, right thigh, solar plexus, back of the neck.

“Four points! Focus on those!” I called out. “All teams, get into position!”

“YES!!!” Everyone responded.

The Goliath’s chest swelled, then it unleashed an enormous roar. 

“OOWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-”

The adventurers of the Baldr familia, as one, responded.

“UUUUOOOOOHHHHH!”

I drew in a breath of my own. “Overcome despair! This is your moment! Prove yourself and RISE!” 

Like a living tide of steel, we surged towards the Monster Rex.

Afterword: I really wonder where my muse is going with this. I thought leaving Orario would be faster, but apparently not. I had considered a brief departure, perhaps a short visit to Black Clover again, but after my muse suggested the idea of staying until certain objectives were fulfilled… well, this is what it developed into. 

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