Prismatic Education Begins With A Spark 31 (MTG/Multicross)

Prismatic Education 31

The consequences of Cymba’s deed was felt by the whole of Orario in the weeks following the reveal. Hera quickly figured out that only a member of the Zeus Familia could be responsible, and was demanding to know who it was. It didn’t take a genius to guess what fate awaited that person. 

I didn’t know what the all-male familia did in response, but it developed into a cold war of sorts, with both familias engaging in occasional duels. Most of them took place in the Ganesha familia’s colosseum, but the ones that occurred in public resulted in quite a lot of collateral damage. Given the strength of the fighters involved, none of the usual guards could stop them, only evacuate the area until the duel ended.

Eventually, a War Game was proposed, and both familias accepted. 

Somehow, that cleared up most of the worry plaguing the general population, and actually replaced it with a somewhat festive mood. It was another interesting trait about this city’s culture, that a decisive battle between two groups could be viewed as such. Perhaps it was due to the influence of the gods living here, who saw the whole event as some interesting spectacle.

“Since the Guild frowns on all-out war between familias within Orario, they came up with this way for both sides to settle their differences.” That was the explanation I received from someone who knew more about it.

Saves me the time of reading from the records stored in the Gnome Library. “But it’s still called a War Game, so what’s the difference between it and actual wars?” I inquired.

The old man scratched his head. “Uh… sorry, can’t really recall when I’m thirsty.”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, and just ordered another round of drinks for him.

“Puhaaa~h!” He burped after gulping down his ale. “Yeah, now I remember. For one, they don’t go out of their way to kill each other. Adventurers aren’t so easily killed either, ya know?”

I nodded to acknowledge that fact.

“And just like the name says, it’s more of a game. Two gods bet something against each other, winner gets what they want.”

“Uh huh.” 

“It’s not always a straight up fight either. Wouldn’t be fun if one powerful familia crushed a weak one, y’see.” The old man paused to take another drink before continuing, “So the gods gather up in Babel to decide the type of battle.”

“So, like one-on-one, or team battle, or tournament style?”

“Heh heh, you guessed right! But there are some types that ain’t fights at all!” He cackled. “Wonder if this will be one of those. Well, just gotta wait and see what the gods decide!”

He gave me a look, and I obliged by ordering another refill for him.

A short while later, the announcement was made at the Guild, and in a few hours, spread to the rest of Orario. It was a twist to the Siege-type format called Plunder, with the Zeus Familia playing the part of invaders while the Hera Familia defended a base. Except…

Yeah, the gods are definitely enjoying this way too much, I thought to myself, after I found out the full list of details regarding the War Game through Zald. This is more like a challenge to prove one’s love than a war.

The setup was for a certain person to make his way to a designated spot, like a thief reaching a treasure vault, in order to claim victory by a certain time. Failing to meet that deadline, or getting taken out before then, would mean his familia’s loss. 

So for the Zeus Familia to achieve victory, Cymba Cranel had to get into the castle that the Hera Familia was guarding, and reach the throne room where Meteria would be waiting.

“Isn’t he the weakest one when you count both Familias?” I asked the redhead.

“Yeah. I didn’t figure he had the guts to do such a thing. He’s usually the first to flee from battle.” Zald shrugged, then paused. “Oh.”

“What is it?”

“I think I know now just when he met the Silence’s sister.” Seeing my curious expression, Zald continued, “He goes with the old man to go peep on girls sometimes, and I think one of those times was in the Hera Familia base.”

“...how is he not dead yet?” Those women scare even me, and I’ve only known them for a short time.

Zald just laughed. “But surprisingly, he’s decided not to run this time. And because of that, we’re all going to give him a helping hand.”

On the appointed day, I joined the rest of the crowd as the gods used their divine power to create viewing screens, the only aspect of their Arcanum they were allowed to use in the mortal realm. 

Reminds me of a Mage Tower match… I took note of the bets being exchanged, both between the gods, and between the mortals. 

“Let the War Game… begin!” One of the gods up on Babel announced, ringing a bell to start things off.

The cheers from the watching audience shook the floor… or so I thought, before realizing that the shaking came from the ongoing clashes. Through the screens, I could see the landscape getting reshaped, through blasts of magic and exceedingly powerful weapon swings.

Holy shit… just how powerful are these Level Seven and Eight adventurers?! I wasn’t the only one watching with an open mouth. This is like Ichigo versus Aizen!

I blinked as the memory fragment hit me.

Another fictional story? Damn, past me must have really enjoyed all kinds of fantasy stories. I wonder if that was all past me did. 

Focusing back on the battle, I compared what I was seeing to the scenes I could recall, and found them scarily similar; simple weapon clashes saw the rocky surroundings around the fighters getting chopped up or exploding into fragments, and destructive bursts of magic that could be seen over the horizon were deflected or even countered by a powerful body swinging a giant sword.

“So who’s the thief?” Someone wondered.
“We don’t know yet. That’s the fun of this game type!”
“I bet it’s Maxim!”
“Nah, I think it’s that knife-user there- Ah, he just got taken out. Guess it’s not him.”

My eyes darted across the various screens floating in the sky. Where’s Cymba… there! He’s still in the game.

The man was huddled behind a rock, flinching as stray blows destroyed the area near him, but he didn’t flee. Instead, he continued to advance slowly, staying out of sight from the more powerful fighters.

“Gospel.”

A colorless explosion sent many of the Zeus Familia members flying. One of the screens adjusted its viewpoint, revealing a very recognizable silver-haired woman.

“It’s the Silence! She’s on the field!”
“Damn, she looks pissed as hell!”
“Kyaaa Lady Alfia!”

No use hoping that she doesn’t push herself… I watched as she shrugged off some of the magic spells shot at her in return. That anti-magic armor of hers is unfair…

While I could Counterspell her sound blast magic, it was a slight shock for me to realize that she had a second spell that covered her in a magic-negating shell. Not only that, she even kept it up nearly constantly, which should have been a drain on her mana. As for how she was using it in this fight, it was to serve as a shield against the magic spells from the Zeus Familia.

With her playing that role, the Zeus Familia’s attack was slowed down to a near halt, until Maxim called a temporary retreat.

Over the next few hours, the two familias clashed again and again. However, Alfia’s sickly condition meant that she couldn’t appear all the time, and so the battle lines pushed closer to the fort.

“I don’t think they’ll make it. There’s not enough time!”
“Oh no… I bet a lot on the Zeus Familia…”
“Hera must be very happy to see her familia dominate like this.”
“The Empress still hasn’t made an appearance yet, has she?”

“There he is! Zald the Gluttony!” 

My eyes widened as I caught sight of the giant figure in full armor on the battlefield. I thought he was sitting this one out to focus on his recovery!

“Bwahahaha! When my familia member is trying so hard, I feel motivated to help as well!” He took a stance, preparing to swing his large sword that had ignited with flames. “GO!”

He swung, and an enormous arc of flame shot forward.

On another screen, a female figure leapt into action, and swung as well. Once more, the ground beneath my feet shook as the two attacks met.

“Seriously, Zald?” Juno called, standing at one end of a large crevasse sliced into the earth.

At the other end, Zald resumed his stance again.

“He’s a Level Seven, but he’s standing against a Level Nine!”
“This is goddamn unbelievable!”

The entire battle was filled with such epic moments as powerhouses on both sides clashed, and I couldn’t help but write down some of the details in my journal as I watched. It was only when the bell rang, that I finally realized I had forgotten about the crucial character.

“Zeus Familia WINS!” The god doing the commentating boomed.

One screen expanded to dominate the viewing space. On it, a woman with a remarkable resemblance to Juno seethed in anger. Her attention lay on Cymba, who was kneeling before another white-haired woman with blue eyes. She was giving him a look of deep concern, for he was covered in bruises and wounds, but his own expression was of relief.

“WHAAAAAT?!!!” Shouts of shock echoed around Orario as the War Game came to a sudden end.

Guess love managed to prevail this time…

A few days later, it was announced that Cymba had managed to Level Up, among several others in the two familias. I just shook my head in exasperation.

…

“Are you sure you’ll be okay alone, Mr Roy?” Leon asked me.

I waved off his concern. “Yes, I’m sure. I’ll be fine. You just work hard on your skills. Don’t just sit around trying to write the poem the whole time, now that you’ve learned how to do it.”

He gave an embarrassed chuckle. “I can’t even keep it up for a few seconds.”

“The fact that you can actually activate it is a start. Keep on trying, and eventually you’ll be able to pull it off.”

While the general opinion of magic was that the mage needed to chant spells, my guidance had taught Leon how to call on the light. It was still unstable, but I had faith that as long as he kept putting in effort, he would be able to do it. Baldr already confirmed that the improvement to his Status was more than usual.

The god himself was present at this sendoff as well. “I and the rest of the familia await your return, Roy,” He told me.

“I’ll try not to take too long,” I replied with a shrug, “Though it might not be up to me.”

“Hey~!” 

We turned to see Zald approaching from a distance, wearing his full armor as usual. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the blond teenager’s scowl.

“Heh, I like that fire in your eyes, kid,” The redheaded man commented as he joined our small group, “But leave the duel for later.”

“What brings you here, Zald?” I asked him, “I just saw you yesterday.”

The result of that meeting was stored in a sealed canister in my bag, awaiting delivery to a specialist I had in mind for examination. 

“Yeah, and thanks for that. Just wanted to pass you this.”

He took out a potion in a fancy glass bottle, and handed it to me. The liquid within was glowing a soft white, indicating it was an elixir of some kind.

“The alchemists that were working on my cure said this had some effect on the poison.” Zald noticed the look I gave him. “I tried it, but it didn’t do much for me. You’re going to see some master alchemist, right? Maybe he can figure something out with it.”

It’s a she, actually. And I don’t even know if she’ll accept. 

But I just nodded and tucked the bottle away in my bag. “Alright, no harm in trying. Take care of yourself, yeah?”

“Yeah, I will. You hurry back too. Maxim won’t take forever, you know.”

I had been considering how I wanted to make my departure. With the number of gods lurking around Orario looking for anything interesting, I didn’t think it was a good idea to just Planeswalk right out where they could see me. Nor did I feel like walking all the way out of the city, having to pass through the inspections at the gate. So…

I tapped my staff on the ground, releasing a burst of thick mist that engulfed my body, hiding it from sight. Then before it cleared-

SPARK

And I was hurtling through the Blind Eternities once more. It was a simple matter to follow the tethers I had to Arcavios, though this time I decided to take a little risk by dropping off instead of going all the way to the end to where the snarl was.

I popped back into reality, only stumbling a little. A quick glance around let me know that I was on the side of some hill, and more importantly-

No dragon around. Good. With the safe conditions of my surroundings confirmed, I took stock of myself next. Huh, the falna’s still active. Well, that explains why the travel was smoother. My magic’s more powerful.

In the weeks I had spent in Orario, I had managed to grind all of my stats all the way up to S-rank, though they were stuck at S-999, except for magic, which had broken past into the SS-rank. My body-tempering spell was just too broken for that world’s setting. The only thing I lacked for a Level Up was some high excelia-granting event.

I had a theory about how the falna’s function was related to the god who applied it, based on the records I could find in the Gnome Library. The gods were like extradimensional beings who shaped a portion of themselves into a mortal vessel. Most of their powers were sealed, but that small portion carried a link to the rest, which was how they could inscribe the falna on mortal races, which stayed active so long as the god’s mortal vessel was alive.

However, when the god returned to the divine realm, every part of that mortal vessel dissolved. That included the blood they used in the falna. Without that support, the falna would turn inactive. 

So the connection works even across the planar gap… Well, I just hope that Baldr doesn’t ‘die’ all of a sudden.

With a tap of my staff on the ground, I raised a pillar of rock before me. Then I punched a hole straight through it with my fist. Withdrawing my hand, I blew the rock dust off my knuckles, which weren’t bruised at all. 

As much as I’d like to research to see how my understanding of the falna can develop my ‘cultivation technique’ further, this isn’t the time for it. With a twitch of my fingers, I summoned my grimoire from its pouch, and used its magic to manifest a map. Let’s see… 

“That way!” 

With a smile, I turned slightly, slid my staff underneath me, and ascended into the sky with the flight enchantment.

Flying wasn’t something I did often for several reasons. Not wanting to draw the attention of the gods in Orario was one explanation. Now that I was back in Arcavios, however…

The wind in my face felt nice, after spending so long in that city. The only place to really get good wind was either on the walls, which was technically a restricted area for citizens, or on the higher floors of Babel, but then it would depend on the weather. Other than that, there was the Dungeon, and the only wind that could be found there were ominous ones.

The thickly forested valleys and hilly landscape swiftly passed by beneath me, with the only interruption being an ornery giant eagle I fended up with a spat ink-laced word. What was previously a small dart of black now came out as a large spear, which made the bird back off and watch warily until I was out of its territory. 

So when I start going up in Levels, and stack other Skills that enhance it… how big would it become? A row of lights caught my notice, and I smiled to myself. “There it is.”

The Torches of Enlightenment. 

They were just beacon towers with perpetually burning magical flames on top, which was what I had located with my map, but their importance was what they represented. A way to Strixhaven, or more specifically, the Biblioplex. It could be said that one of the reasons for Strixhaven’s fame as the pre-eminent school of magic was due to these Torches.

How nostalgic… the five lines stretching from the Biblioplex to the colleges, and beyond. I began to descend, to take a closer look at the directions at the base of the towers. I heard that they go for more than a hundred miles out into the countryside… 

It was apparently true, because the info marked on the base mentioned that I was sixty-nine miles away.

“Nice.” I couldn’t help saying when I saw that number.

Since it was starting to get dark, I decided to find a place to rest for the night. Fortunately, there was a small town nearby, and I was able to gain entrance, as well as obtain a room at one of the inns.

“You’re a mage, aren’t you?” The half-elf server asked me. “Headed to Strixhaven?”

“Yeah. See a lot of people like me?” I inquired.

“Usually earlier in the year. If you’re planning to join, you’re a bit late, I think. But not to worry,” She said hastily, “There are a few others in the same situation. You can try joining them if you want?”

Sounds interesting… I decided to take her up on her offer, and she led me over to a large table where several other people were sitting. 

“Yeah, Strixhaven’s great and all, but they’re a bit too elite, you know? They keep telling other nations that their magic schools aren’t good enough. It’s nonsense, I tell you.” A dark-skinned human male was telling the others.

“Really?” A halfling asked, slight worry on her face.

“Yeah, it’s-” The man cut himself off when he noticed us approaching. “A fellow mage too?”

“Yes,” The server confirmed, “Is it okay-?”

“Sure, sure! Join us. Have a seat.” He tapped a finger on the table in time with his words.

“Don’t mind if I do…” I slipped one of the green balls from its carry pouch into my palm, and set it spinning on the table’s surface as I sat down.

Hidden from sight by my loose sleeve, the lines in the wood shifted, taking on the shape of a figure wearing a mask I had seen before, on a trio of mages that previously attacked me.

…well, I eyed the man as he spoke in a welcoming tone, his finger still tapping the table with an almost-hypnotic cadence. Of all places to run into another Oriq recruiter…

Afterword: Real life sucks… messed up at work and it affected my muse to write. I had ideas that didn’t form properly, and even when they did, the words just didn’t come. Had to rewrite this chapter a few times. 

Anyway, it’s a temporary trip to Strixhaven, because as fun as it was to write Danmachi, I didn’t want to get stuck in it too long. Thanks again to all my supporters!