Chapter 21: Chapter 20. Status: Negative Rise
October 27th, 2010. London.
11:11 AM.
A secret place in White Tower of Mages. The Order Intake Department.
It was a huge underground room, the layout of which was exactly the same as a stadium. In the place where the stands should have been there were an infinite number of tables, behind which many "office" mages were working. And in the middle, where the center of the football field should have been, stood a huge transparent column, twenty meters in diameter. Each employee sat at his table and, like by an algorithm, did his job.
One of these "office employees" did his, unremarkable, routine: having answered the call and received the necessary information, he wrote the request on paper and then placed it in a specially made metal tube.
At the end he approached the wide transparent column in the middle and inserted the tube into one of the numerous metal pipes which perfectly fit this metal tube.
*Swoosh*
With a characteristic sound, the tube was sucked in. It quickly went through a winding pipe path covered with metal and magical inscriptions. Passing the numerous holes and branches, the tube moved at a great speed in a certain direction before reaching its destination, the so-called mission dispatch department.
This was a spacious room, decorated like a customer service room. Rows of tables were neatly arranged with several computers on top of them. Each of these workstations was connected to a conveyor belt from which the same metal tubes emerged continuously. In turn, the administrative staff analyzed and sorted the newly arrived documents on their computers.
The administrative worker, dressed in all black, pulled out the paper from the metal tube that had just appeared from the nearest hole, and began to quickly type, loading the necessary information.
Initiator: Mephisto Pheles
Requirement: Complete annihilation
Status: Secret
Location: Milan, Italy
Starting Date: Year 2010, October 27th
Reward Amount: 120 gold coins
Difficulty Rating: Medium
Assignment Record:
Missing…
Update on Assignment Information: Tracking and eliminating the Rogue Mage "Franchisco the Ghost Fox". Target's whereabouts are inconsistent, thus requiring immediate action… *Further information is confidential*
Authentication… Authentication approved.
Assignment Information Updated.
666.6.1, Codename - Master of Hundreds (Third Circle Mage) [Awaiting Results].
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At the same time in Berlin, I was meditating in my room to cleanse my mind and stabilize the Magic Circles. As any other mage, I was trained in meditation. This helped with the main tasks of meditation such as accelerated magical power recovery and increased general amount of power.
On the other hand, now I was using meditation for unorthodox purposes. From Nagi Springfield's memories I learned about a special technique based on meditation that allowed me to optimize my body and mind for battle in a short amount of time. However, I currently lack the ability to control my body for such "tricks" which is the main reason for "calibrating" the body. Only mages of the Sixth Circle and higher possess such power.
As I mentioned before, Nagi Springfield's meditation technique allows not only to optimize the body, but also to cleanse the mind, preparing it for battle. I was tuning my mind to the right frequency, which made me more concentrated, resilient, and combat-ready.
"I used to overlook the fact that Master of a Thousand was not only a mage of the Seventh Circle, but also a strong master of martial arts. Of course, most of the acquired knowledge was about magic, so it is natural that I did not give the necessary importance to his martial arts. But after sorting out all the knowledge I had gained, I was able to find something! And one of such findings was his meditation technique."
My phone vibrated a couple of minutes later, signaling the start of my mission. With it came access to all possible information about my mission. Let's start with someone simpler, namely the Fugitive Mage... Although the more I read, the less simple this goal becomes.
Franchisco Bernulli is a Fourth Circle mage.
Specialization: Magic of the Schools of Element, Illusion, and Force.
Location: 45.506456, 9.150259
Danger: High
Description:
Franchisco Bernulli is a thirty-five year old Fourth Circle mage. The eldest child in a family of mages who had achieved good results in the field of combat magic. From childhood he showed talent in magic. Upon entering the academy, he quickly developed in the magic of such Schools as Illusion and Strength. Subsequently, he took second place in an academy tournament in combat magic...
However, at the age of twenty-nine, Franchisco received a psychological trauma, due to which he could no longer use the magic of the Strength School (Reminder! The problem is exclusively in the mental instability and mistrust of Franchisco to the magic of Strength, so there is a chance that he will be able to recover and use the magic of this School).
After suffering a psychological trauma, Francisco decided to delve deeper into the magic of the Element School. He achieved excellent results there, although not as high as in the Schools of Illusion and Force. Becoming a runaway mage, Francisco stole the secret spell of the Element School [Solar Worm]. (Reminder! This is one of the strongest fire spells of the Fourth Circle)
Francisco Bernulli is unbalanced, easily loses his head from a sharp surge of emotions, gets an incredible pleasure from the suffering of his victims, stretches out murders. At the same time, he is cunning, absolutely ruthless and can make plans. (Reminder! Most of Francisco's plans fail due to his psychological instability. And when Francisco goes out of control, he uses the spell [Solar Worm] without any restrictions, destroying everything in sight)
…
Good luck!
Sic semper tyrannis!
So, what do I know about the first target? A talented mage who, due to a certain accident, became psychologically unstable and lost the ability to use magic from the School of Force. Such incidents are also called "loss of faith in magic", which is incredibly dangerous and painful for any mage. The simplest example of such a loss of faith is when a mage uses the flight spell and, for various reasons indifferent to the mage, it stops working at the most important and tense moments. Subsequently, the mage will subconsciously deny the possibility of flight and simply will not be able to use such magic anymore.
Nevertheless, let's return to our Fugitive Mage. After the accident that robbed him of the ability to use half of his magical arsenal, no one was able to help him. As a result, he became disillusioned with the association and deserted, taking with him one of the most powerful fire spells.
In the end, what we get is the typical portrait of a typical Fugitive Mage.
"But the spell Sun Worm..."
The so-called Secret Spell is a spell that, for various reasons, is not found in the Magic Library of the Magic Tower. There are four reasons for this: a death-causing side effect, an overly high threat and destructiveness, origin from clans or noble families, and unrighteousness.
[Sun Worm] is a spell of one of the noble families, the essence of which is that it worked like a super powerful flamethrower. And when I say super powerful, I mean that this spell burns, with rare exceptions, almost any material and energy with rare exceptions. And if it weren't for the relatively small radius of action and the high cost of magical power, this spell would be at least of the Fifth, if not the Sixth Circle ... Although, as far as I know [Sun Worm] is the basic version of another spell which itself is already the strongest fire magic of the Sixth Circle.
This mission already looks difficult, doesn't it? But this is only the beginning ... And here's the continuation of this banquet.
George Faust - Lost Dimension; a mage at the peak of the Fourth Circle.
Specialization: Magic of the Element, Astrology and Strength Schools.
Location: 41.941775, 12.533587.
Danger: Deadly.
Description: George Faust is a twenty-year-old Fourth Circle mage. A current member of the Grau Zauberer association. Owner of the high-level Longinus, "Lost Dimension". Descendant of George Faust, who made a contract with the legendary demon Mephisto Feles.
George is an orphan, raised in a shelter near the magical academy. A genius mage who showed an extraordinary predisposition to Space Magic since childhood, and therefore studied the Element and Astrology Schools, in which he achieved outstanding results, becoming a promising mage of the association. He also studied the Strength School, in which he also achieved excellent results.
But still, George's main force is his Holy Mechanism.
Lost Dimension - a Sacred Gear, one of the 13 Longinus. This mechanism has the ability to manipulate a special mist that can be used for various purposes. It is documented that George used it to block attacks, cover targets with mist and then teleport them wherever he wishes (Reminder! The radius of such teleportation is at least planetary).
Despite the fact that this mechanism has no directly attacking abilities, it is considered the strongest mechanism among those whose abilities are related to barriers and space.
Georg can be described as a capable, responsible and intelligent strategist. In most cases, he is able to control his emotions well and can make quick and correct decisions in critical situations. However, if Georg is facing an opponent one-on-one and his "Sacred Artifact" or magic is useless against the enemy, he starts to panic and is afraid, causing him to lose clarity of mind and a large part of his fighting power.
...Best of luck!
Ab uno disce omnes!
What can be said about this task...It's a real headache, these Sacred Mechanisms. Who even came up with the idea of creating something so disruptive to the established order and power system of this world? Oh right, they're also called "God's Artifacts" in honor of their creator.
On a serious note, I have a hunch that this is an impossible task. Who said that a mage who has just crossed over to the Fourth Circle will have the chance to spy on a user of the Sacred Mechanism that focuses on barriers and space? After all, he is also a mage at the peak of the Fourth Circle, studying the magic of the Astrology School, specializing in the interaction with space and time. Mephisto Feles? I refuse to believe him.
If George was a simple yet talented mage of the School of Astrology and Elements, it wouldn't be hard for me to keep track of him with my experience of Nagi Springfield. But, alas, I have to develop a plan on paper, and then most likely improvise with yet another plan, just to avoid crashing into the Lost Dimension.
However, it is precisely what seems impossible at first glance that makes me take up this challenge. You may say that pride is involved here... But I think it is a virtue, a trait of character that is not worth living without.
"Hm? And this task has a different motto. Is that because the first task is murder, and the second one is espionage?"
But as interesting as it may be for me to learn about the secrets and history of something as fascinating as the mottos of various missions, a huge obstacle was now before me that I had to overcome. So, guys, now I'm going to teach you how to kill a mage stronger than you. And then, if I survive, I'll teach you how to keep track of a user of the Holy Mechanism like the Lost Dimension.
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A bit of post-chapter coddling:
Up to eleven chapters are available here: patreon.com/watson_
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