Prismatic Education Begins With A Spark 29 (MTG/Multicross)

Prismatic Education 29

“So yeah,” I finished as I indicated the image I had generated from their records, “Fighting the Black Dragon is going to be very much different from facing the Behemoth or Leviathan.”

Perhaps it was their typical bull-headed style, but the Zeus and Hera Familias had a habit of confronting their enemies head on, with heavy reliance on power built through multiple Levels and super high stats. However, that resulted in heavy casualties against the likes of the Three Great Quests. 

The Behemoth with its poisonous aura that felled many high-ranking adventurers, even some with the appropriate antidotes and poison resistances, and whose poison still weakened Zald even now. The Leviathan that sent many seasoned warriors down into the depths of the ocean with powerful waves that even their Levels and Skills couldn’t handle. Right now, while their executives were still capable of fighting, the rank and file were greatly diminished.

So they had no choice but to gather everyone for the final fight, even the weakest of them. I thought of Cymba, the guy who had guided me to this meeting. 

According to the records of the One-Eyed Black Dragon, after its eye had been wounded, the beast had fled north, where it summoned all the dragons on the surface to its position. The moment they had all gathered, a spirit had sacrificed itself to create a seal, locking all the dragons behind a magical storm in a place called the Dragon’s Valley. 

So if they planned to confront the Black Dragon, the two familias would have to expend effort to penetrate the barrier first, and then they would have to contend with who knows how many other dragons at the same time, all while being stuck on the ground against the swarm of flying enemies. Even with that impressive flying slash technique that not all of them were able to pull off, they were still at a severe disadvantage.

Maxim’s face was granite, while Juno wore a slight grimace. Several of the others looked like they were thinking of having me thrown out, but none of them voiced any such intention. 

Because I had spoken the truth.

If it had come from anyone else, even from one of their own, they might still have rejected it. But I had several advantages going up for me. For one, I earned a great deal of goodwill with my help against the Leviathan. Secondly, I could back up my words with hard data, data that they themselves provided at my request, and summarized into comprehensible points. And lastly, I had word magic on my side to make my speech sound more convincing.

Thank you, Strixhaven Linguistic Class…

Maxim finally moved his hand from in front of his face, to slam onto the table. Though it wasn’t his full strength, the thump resounded around the room, causing the windows to rattle. The pressure he was putting out ratcheted up sharply, and I felt myself tensing up involuntarily.

“Are you telling us… to withdraw from the last of the Three Great Quests?” He asked softly, almost dangerously.

As if on cue, the others began to glare at me as well, almost crushing me with the pressure of the Level difference. My breath caught in my lungs, sweat started to pour from my whole body, and my knees were buckling. Part of me was screaming to run, another part was pushing me to recant my words, and one small part was just gibbering, on the verge of passing out.

Holy fuck… what the hell…?! My fingers were clenched tightly, and I could feel my staff creaking underneath my grip.

However, I wasn’t going to submit so easily. The light within me might have been diminished in the face of their strong gale, but I had made up my mind.

Exhaling sharply, I met Maxim’s gaze. “No.”

“Then what do you mean?” He asked instantly in response.

“I’m telling you… to prepare.” As I voiced the words, the rest of it came more easily. “Prepare to face flying monsters that can hurt or kill you from a distance with their breath, in a situation where their miasma weakens you.”

“I expect you have a plan, instead of just saying words?” Juno demanded, with some of the other Hera members murmuring agreement.

“...yeah.” I nodded, more to myself. “Yeah, I think I do.”

Do I? I wondered at the back of my mind as I began lining out the steps I thought were necessary.

…

“Your application has been received, and will be stored in our records.” The uniformed staff member informed me with a polite smile. “Roy Staff, we look forward to working with you as an adventurer.”

I nodded my thanks, and headed off to my next destination.

In some ways, Orario was quite similar to Strixhaven, being a melting pot of races here to pursue their dreams. If Strixhaven was a society built on the development of mages and magic, Orario was one that focused on the development of adventurers. The term adventurers in this case referred to the members of exploration-type familias who worked to explore the Dungeon and bring back the spoils from the monsters they slayed within. While the Zeus and Hera Familias were at the forefront, there were many smaller familias who did the same, mainly because it was very lucrative. 

As expected, a system with so many people involved needed oversight, and that was what the Guild was for. They managed the various familias, supporting them on their endeavors in several ways. Buying the gathered magic stones and drop items was the basic service, but they also provided advice and information to help other adventurers grow, usually gathered from adventurers who had gone before. However, while the people in the Guild didn’t have any falna, the organization as a whole was not weak. 

They held economic power, and could direct the force known as public reputation. So any familias that tried to break the rules they imposed would end up getting cut off from the trading service. Without monetary support, even the most belligerent would have to fall into line. Such a familia could try to force things by strength, but then they would have disrupted the general order within Orario, and the other familias would move against the rulebreaker. 

Of course, being the biggest and strongest, the Zeus and Hera Familias had more leeway than others.

Aside from the Guild, the other supporting services were the equipment-makers and potion-makers, which were handled by the crafting-type familias. Adventurers needed to replace the weapons they wore out against the monsters, and stronger ones that could handle the ones from the Lower Floors, to say nothing of the armor to stay alive. And when they were wounded, potions would help them recover, or at least stay alive enough to seek proper treatment. The main blacksmiths were Hephaistos and Goibniu familias, while there was the Dian Cecht and Miach familias for the potion-makers.

It was all very complicated, but something I was told I would properly learn over time. Perhaps it might trigger more in my memories than just mild deja vu.

“Okay, Mr Roy, shall we?” Leon straightened up from where he had been waiting for me.

“Lead the way.” Now this is quite the Lorehold experience…

Compared to how I usually saw him, Leon was now carrying a short sword and a few pieces of armor protecting his vital organs. As he led me down the spiraling stairs to the Dungeon, he explained that an adventurer’s gear was crucial to staying alive. It was obvious, but I supposed it needed saying.

“I won’t step in unless necessary, but I don’t think you’ll need it.” The blond teenager told me. “Anyway, welcome to the Dungeon. Don’t let your guard down.”

I blinked at the yawning cavern in front of me, into which several adventurers were going. Okay, this definitely feels more dangerous than I expected. 

The monsters on the first floor were goblins and kobolds, easy enough for any falna holder to defeat, let alone me with my tempered body. I could easily kill them with magic, so after confirming I had no problems doing so with the various spells I had, I started resorting to physical means to fight. Using my staff to crack skulls wasn’t a pleasant feeling, but I worked on getting used to it. Apart from that, I also used the steel balls, which helped me understand the nature of Dungeon-spawned monsters better.

They were apparently alive, but when the magic stone in their bodies were extracted or destroyed, the physical structure would decompose into ashy dust. What was curious was how they spawned, just breaking out from the solid walls like they just grew inside there. After a few instances of this, I couldn’t help but indulge my curiosity. Leon patiently kept watch as I cast my analysis spells on a seemingly innocent patch of rock.

My eyes widened as the knowledge filtered back into my mind. It’s a sustained transmutation effect. Corrupted natural mana concentrates and solidifies to form the core that sustains it after it’s done, but the granted form is fragile still. Hence it losing cohesion when the core is broken.

Ceasing the spell, I flung one of the steel balls at the wall, where it stuck there, spinning furiously. A few moments later, a section of the wall fell out, revealing a misshapen form of a goblin that looked partially petrified, partially decomposed into ash.

The Dungeon rumbled as though rocked by an earthquake, but we only felt a tremor under our feet.

“I think it didn’t like that.” I remarked as I retrieved the green ball.

“I think so too.” Leon agreed with me, looking around warily.

As we wandered around the upper floors of the Dungeon, I quickly developed an understanding of what sort of place it was. A living environment that sought to devour anything that didn’t belong to it, and it did so by transmuting parts of itself into living creatures, which wandered around until they inevitably emerged from the Dungeon, or got killed. If I could form a mana bond with it, it would certainly be Black. However, the monstrous alien will of the Dungeon itself didn’t seem inclined to let me do so.

“Say, Mr Roy,” Leon said as we waited for the Unseen Servant to extract the magic stones from the monsters I had slain, “Could you tell me more about how you learned your magic?”

“Sure, I don’t mind.” 

As we continued to go deeper into the Dungeon in search of a floor that would be challenging enough, I demonstrated a few of the magics I knew as I explained them to him.

The mix of elemental magic that was my tried-and-true basic, and how I could merge them together for powerful magicks.

Cursing monsters into helpless wrecks with ink magic and words, with a secret introduction to my inkling Lyric, who was happy to show itself from my grimoire.

Smaller fractal summonings, along with other examples of fractal magic, to open his eyes to the wonders of mathematical magic.

The various color effects of prismatic magic, which massively expanded what I could do with my other spells, all usable at a moment’s notice from my grimoire.

By the time we called it a day and started heading back up to the surface, Leon had that starry-eyed expression of awe on his face again. I had taught a few fellow students back in Strixhaven, and they sometimes looked at me like that, but having that reception from someone who was above me in strength and fighting skill was…

Kind of nice, maybe? I scratched my cheek.

As we emerged onto the ground floor, we were met with the scene of many discussions going on at the same time. A bit of listening quickly clued us in to what was going on. The two familias had made the announcement that they would not be setting off to subjugate the Black Dragon just yet. 

Reactions were mixed.

“What are the Zeus and Hera Familias thinking?”
“Did we expect too much of them?”
“No, no, they said they were preparing, that’s all! They haven’t given up!”
“They’ll say anything, you know how they’re like!”
“Maybe they’re trying to keep up appearances. They might not be as strong as they appear.”
“Are you insane? Their top-class members are all still around. You want to challenge them still?!”

Looks like the ants nest has been kicked… I thought as I turned in my spoils and received a small pouch of money in return. For now, the only thing I can do is to prepare and grow.

“When we get back, I’ll teach you the next step to writing that poem.”

“Yes, Mr Roy!”

…

“Ready?”

The redheaded man nodded. “Do it.”

With a flick of my wrist, I set the green sphere spinning. Keeping an eye on the displayed screens, I placed it down on the broad back, which had an ominous coloring of black. After taking note of the changes it caused, I picked up another sphere and did the same, just on a different spot. I repeated the process several times, until seven spinning spheres were on the man’s body.

“Uuurrrggh…” He let out a loud groan.

“Bear with it.” I told Zald, before I started on the next step.

My grimoire opened up by itself, readying the spell I had in mind as I picked up my staff. Silver light shone down from the tip of the staff, purifying in nature.

In the fight against the Behemoth, when Zald ate some of the monster’s flesh to power up with his Skill, he ended up taking in the poison that permeated its flesh, which was gradually weakening him, even with his strengthened body and resistances. From the descriptions of how the poison killed the familia members who couldn’t resist it, I assumed it was actively corrosive to any organic material that wasn’t the Behemoth, which probably was why the area it inhabited was called the Black Desert.

This procedure was something I came up with on the fly, after hearing that the other treatments they tried had failed. Elixirs and empowered healing spells only eased his condition, so the Zeus Familia came to me again.

Might not have taken Witherbloom healing classes, but I still remember some of the things from Magical Physiologies… combined with my Spin experiments with Nivali… My brow furrowed slightly as I focused the light into a tighter beam. Even then, it’s still a toss-up as to whether this works.

The darkened parts of his skin began to move, concentrating into the veins. A few dark lines snaked, from his torso down to his left arm. The tips of his fingers gradually turned a sickly-looking black, darker than the patches on his body.

“Can you move your fingers?” I asked my patient.

They twitched slightly. “A little numb,” Zald reported, “But nothing serious.”

“Alright. Then I’ll move on to the next part.”

I adjusted the position of the spheres, causing the black veins to fade, but his fingertips were still black. Picking up one final sphere, I set it down on the back of his hand. Almost instantly, the flesh around it twisted fiercely.

“Grrrgghh… that feels weird…” Zald complained.

“Bear with it.” I repeated.

A dangerous miasma began to exude from his hand, and I quickly cast a protection spell on myself. Slowly, black droplets seeped out from his fingers, dripping down into the container I had prepared. I continued to channel the silver light until a slight grey tint was all that was left on his fingers, and no more came out, with one final blast clearing any residue from Zald’s hand.

Ceasing the spell, I carefully closed the container, sealing it off completely. It was only a few thimblefuls worth of liquid, but I didn’t doubt that it had the potential to kill off an entire city’s population.

“Are we done?” Zald asked me, his head to look at the extracted poison.

“It’s a start. Next is to find someone who can mix up something to counter this.” I handled the small container carefully. 

Zald moved into a sitting position. “You can’t do it?”

“I didn’t study how to mix potions together. Better leave it to someone who’s an expert in that field.”

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “We could ask the Dian Cecht Familia…”

“Well, if you’re willing to pay through the nose for it.” I retorted. “More importantly…”

There was a loud crash that sounded like several walls getting broken, accompanied by shouts of anger and annoyance. The familia members had settled back into their usual habits, and that apparently involved destructive tussles among themselves.

“It might be safer if this was handled where it’s less likely to get broken or spilled.”

Zald didn’t reply, but he clearly agreed with me.

His treatment was likely to take a great deal of time, but he was resolute about seeing it through.

Now if only my other patient would be more cooperative…

Afterword: Reading the latest chapters of Danmachi for research really made me wonder whether the two familias were doomed against the OEBD, and I tried to present my reasoning in this chapter. Yet now that their low chances of success have been pointed out, I expect that things will start to change. Let’s keep exploring to see where it takes us, shall we?