Antimage: An Isekai LitRPG Adventure (Ends of Magic Book 1), page 45
Well, it seemed this was who Sudraiel had meant to introduce Nathan to. He hadn’t expected to meet that person so quickly. Regardless, Nathan was sure he’d see her again.
Maybe next time she won’t have to rescue me.
Chapter 50
Divine Upbringing
The next morning a guard stopped by to check in with Nathan, making sure he hadn’t unleashed a soul-eating monster that had been hiding within him for the past few days. The Heirs assured the guard that he was doing no more soul-eating than usual, and Nathan went on with his day.
That afternoon, Kia beckoned him over along with Khachi. Kadid was also there, and threw up his arms as if to say, “Oh, come on!” Nathan shrugged apologetically, but he wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity to talk to Kia.
Today she was wearing something closer to full plate, but without the gorget, thigh or shoulder pieces. Nathan bet that those pieces were stowed in the slim fanny pack resting below her enormous greatsword. The fiery-haired Adventurer was still intimidating as hell, but Nathan had interacted with her enough to know that she wasn’t crazy. Just… zealous. Committed, not insane.
Nathan followed her and Khachi to an obscure corner of Gemore, the foot traffic on the street dwindling away.
As they walked, Kia spoke, turning her head to look at him. “Faline’s in town again. She’s taken an interest in you, Nathan Lark. She has said she won’t try to remove you from the other Heirs’ company, but you will be entangled in her plots going forward.” She grimaced. “None else can play politics in Giantsrest and return unscathed, and she is an invaluable source of information on their doings.”
She sighed and turned to address Nathan directly. “But I mislike her ways. They are brutal, and she slits throats without a pause for thought. There are depths to her that none can gauge, least of all me. And I am used to being able to judge what lies in the hearts of others.”
I honestly don’t see a problem with that, as long as she slits Giantsrest throats. They can rot in hell as far as I’m concerned.
“Thank you for the warning. She told me to level up before I could help her.”
Kia’s brows furrowed. “Then I suggest you take that advice. The more powerful you become, the more likely you are to survive whatever her plots entail. It is another thing for me to consider in my decision on this Insight you ask for.”
The three of them had arrived at Kia’s home. It was a rather ramshackle house tucked against the the stone wave that arched over the upper regions of Gemore.
Not far away was a small stone fortress built into the ridge. Nathan knew it was a shelter, a bunker for civilians to hide in when Gemore was seriously threatened.
Kia pushed through the door, which wasn’t locked. The home was bare bones, with only a few rooms. The furniture was rough, bulky and cheap. Past the entryway Nathan saw a large area had been cut out of the rock of the ridge, forming an open room not unlike the practice chamber under Kullal and Dalo’s mansion, though with a much higher ceiling.
Kia waved Nathan to a seat at the crude table, while Khachi stood awkwardly to the side because there weren’t enough chairs. Kia addressed Nathan directly. “You ask after the Insight that allows me to walk upon air as if it were solid ground. To confirm the lay of things, you have a free Talent slot and wish to use this Talent for yourself? You do not wish to trade it to others?”
Nathan nodded. “If I can use your Talent, I think it will make me much more effective at Adventuring, and especially at fighting mages. I’m very willing to swear to never pass it on to another. I just want to be as capable as I can be.”
Kia pursed her lips. “Yes, I can see your reasoning. Do you not worry it will provide you no benefit inside a building? Or underground? Most dungeons are enclosed, and the monsters that Adventurers must kill are often found in underground lairs.”
“I think its value is hard to overstate,” he said, spreading his arms wide. “From what I saw, you can use the Talent in the middle of another motion, to exert force and reorient in midair. With practice, it seems like it could enable running faster and dodging attacks while moving or airborne.”
Kia pointed at him with a gauntleted hand. “Yes. Not many who ask understand the advantages to normal motion. And the fact that you do speaks that you would use this Talent to its full potential. I am glad you understand the value of what you ask for, and I also believe you are one of few who could survive gaining this Talent.” She clasped her hands, studying Nathan.
“We come to the question of what Insight you would trade in return. I have all the Talents and skills I wish for. I appreciate you saving the Heirs’ lives, but it is expected to do so for the members of your team. Unless you have something of great worth to offer Khachi or the other Heirs, an agreement is unlikely.”
Nathan had a response to that. “I may have some useful Insights to offer Khachi, but I don’t think they’d balance the scale.” He nodded to the armored cleric, who returned the nod but didn’t speak, letting Nathan continue. “I have also been teaching Stella Insights that I believe will allow her to master lightning and light mana. If you owe Dalo or Kullal any favors worth your Insight, they may call them in if I succeed in helping Stella gain two mana aspects without Davrar’s assistance.”
Kia’s eyebrows arched in mild disbelief, but Nathan plowed on.
“Furthermore, I am attempting to build a new kind of weapon that I believe will be of great interest to Sarah and Stanel. I believe it likely they have never seen anything like it before. It is possible that they would believe it worth an Insight as well.”
Mid-tier Earnestness 6 achieved!
Kia’s face now bore the faintest trace of a smile. “An Insight worthy of lightning? A weapon unknown to Stanel?” She glanced at Khachi, who gave her a slight nod.
She shrugged slightly. “Regardless of practicality, those would be worth something. However, I do not hear any certainty in your statements. I will acknowledge that if either or both of your efforts succeed, I would consider trading favors with my peers to teach you the Insight.
“However, there are certain things I want to ensure are clear as flawless gems before we continue. This Talent is not quick to acquire. It will require many rank-ups before you are able to use it as you desire. The early Developments are dangerous. The later Developments are difficult, and those are the Insights that are of true value. I would set your feet upon the path, then let you walk until you need future Insights to Develop the Talent correctly. I do hope that your plans come to fruition soon, for you will need the time to rank up this skill before it sees serious use.”
She paused, then fixed him with a stern look. “I only consider this because you have shown yourself to be on the Righteous Path, and a valuable friend of the Heirs.”
That all sounds pretty reasonable. I should check in with Beatred and Poppy, and hopefully get a prototype revolver to Sarah soon. That’ll turn Stanel’s head. Unfortunately, I think I’ve got a ways to go with Stella, and we might need some practical demonstrations before she can connect theoretical understanding with magic.
He nodded again. “Sounds good to me. I’ll ask again when my plans pan out. Is that all? Should I go?”
Khachi laughed, standing. “You didn’t think you were getting away that easily, did you?”
Kia stood and started buckling on more pieces of armor. They seemed made specifically to allow her to armor up quickly and without help. “No. I would see your ability before you go, and train you as recompense for what you have done for Khachi. I also wish to test out your resistance to magic for myself. If that is amenable?"
I did want more experience with Divine magic. Khachi’s seems incomplete somehow.
They went into the practice room, and Kia placed her greatsword on a rack before picking up a duplicate. It looked nearly identical but without the enchantments or razor-sharp edge.
Nathan gestured at the swords. “Do you ever grab the wrong one?”
Kia grounded the tip of the sword and leaned the crossguard against her shoulder as she used both hands to negotiate her braided hair under her helmet. “No.” Then the tall woman in full plate grabbed the sword and bounded across the room at him.
Ah!
Kia rained blows down upon him, and it was all Nathan could do to survive the torrent of steel.
Mid-tier Dodging Footwork 2 achieved!
Ow.
After a little while, Nathan ran out of Stamina from healing the bruises and cracked bones Kia had given him thwacking his bare arms. She wasn’t using magic, but she was strong, and hit significantly harder than the sentry constructs.
He wiped his bloody mouth with the back of his hand. “Can you start using magic on me?”
In response, the holy warrior muttered a short prayer under her breath, so quickly and quietly that Nathan barely caught the words blade and strength mixed in. The sword took on a golden glow, which extended out to nearly a twenty-foot length. Nathan suddenly realized why the room was so large.
She pointed the sword at him, and the tip flicked towards his chest.
Nathan leaned backwards, but Kia merely stepped forward and jabbed. The glowing image of a sword impacted his chest. The tip sizzled apart into motes of light, scorching his skin. Just like when he was healed after the battle with the Grave Tangle, Nathan felt Kia’s mana as warm prickling needles.
I’d be a Nathan-kebab right now if I didn’t resist her magic.
This spell clearly wasn’t a healing spell. The spell Kia had cast when she healed the villagers had carried a component of righteous anger, but the emotion in it had primarily been a soothing feeling, inspiring the recipient and encouraging them with courage.
This spell was trying to cut Nathan apart. It felt simpler than the complex knots of mana that mages normally used. Instead of being woven together in a defined shape, the mana flowed in a looser configuration. If this was normal mana, it should’ve been spilling everywhere and fizzling out.
But instead, the mana in Kia’s divinely blessed sword coursed with a feeling of righteous wrath. The will to cut and burn infused the spell, every part of it radiating the sheer power of its intended purpose. The spell knew its function, and attempting to constrain and bind the surging fury in a more complex weave would only have obviated its terrible agency. If normal mana was a powerful flow of water that needed to be carefully guided, divine mana was a water elemental that only needed to be pointed at its target.
Mid-tier Spellsense 3 achieved!
I can feel [Identify] working on this, but it’s not ranking up. I wonder if I can get Kia to cast more spells for me to pick apart for practice. That skill is hard to rank up.
Nathan opened his mouth to ask. “Can you cast more…”
He didn’t get any further before Kia muttered another prayer and the glowing intensity of the sword doubled.
The feeling of Divine wrath on Nathan’s skin intensified, and he backed away from the blade quickly, leaving a raw and bleeding mark on his chest. It wasn’t trying to cut him anymore. It was trying to disintegrate him. The spell had become more complex, switching functions to something similar to Taeol’s [Disintegrate] spell.
What the shit—
He frantically dodged as Kia swung the enormous blade at him. She advanced, and Nathan had to lean into more and more acrobatics to dodge the truly stupidly sized sword.
This is like fighting Yhorm the Giant from Dark Souls. Can hit me from across the goddamn room. Roll!
He recognized that Kia was going easy on him, giving him just enough time after each blow to regain his footing to dodge the next one. The blade annihilated Nathan’s clothes and left angry red marks on his skin that wept blood, giving him plenty of motivation to keep dodging even as the magical blows refilled his Stamina. Nathan got faster, optimizing his movements to return him to the ground quickly so he could redirect before the next strike came.
Low-tier Tumbling 6 achieved!
Kia sped up as he did, mixing in more divine spells. Her armor flashed with blinding light. Nathan had already seen that spell from Khachi, but this time it was much stronger. The mana itself tried to stun him into inaction. It fought his absorption like a living thing, attacking his eyes and ears with bursts of sound and light.
Maybe I really do need to think of it like a living thing.
Next, Kia raised her sword vertically, almost scratching the ceiling of the chamber. She spoke another quick prayer. “I command you, be still.”
Mana pulsed from the raised sword, washing over Nathan and trying to lock his limbs in place. It was like Taeol’s [Paralysis] spell, but more active, responding to his attempts to resist. After Nathan broke the hold on his muscles, the remaining mana tried to construct force barriers to keep him still.
Can I prevent it from adapting?
Kia thrust a free hand to unleash a loose orb of light at Nathan. It struck like a whirling disk of blades but failed to find purchase on his skin. Nathan reached out to the spell, feeling for the motive behind the loose weave of writhing mana. There was something there. The spell had been cast with a core purpose, and that purpose was what allowed it to continue attacking Nathan even through his [Magic Absorption]. He needed to break that purpose.
Low-tier Identify 9 achieved!
He thrust a hand into the ongoing spell. The spell was already changing to a burning radiance that dried his skin. But Nathan followed the threads of agency, wrapping his hand around something insubstantial at the core of the spell. He closed his fist and felt the spell shatter. There was still power there, but without direction or a stable weave, it dissipated without effect.
Magic Absorption 4 achieved!
Divine mana: understood. Hell yes. Pun not intended.
They ramped down the training soon after, eating a plain but filling dinner of savory porridge. Nathan looked to Khachi. “Do you usually train like that?”
The armored wolffolk snorted, watching his adoptive mother. “That training would kill me. But yes, Kia is good at pushing people to their edge. It helps with ranks.”
No kidding. I got four ranks from an hour of training. That's never happened to me before. Of course, that training would have killed most people. Or left them requiring some pretty extensive healing. I suppose Kia's positioned to provide that.
They chatted about Adventurer politics for a bit longer before Nathan and Khachi returned together to the Adventurer's Guild.
More tutoring with Stella ensued, and Nathan felt like he should be really sore. But – [Regeneration]!
Status of Nathan Lark:
Permanent Talent 1: Magic Absorption 4
Permanent Talent 2: High-tier Regeneration 4
Talent 3: None
Class: Spellbreaker Juggernaut level 43
Stamina: 530/530
Juggernaut's Wrath
Antimagic Momentum
Raging Thrill
Juggernaut's Inertia
Unarmored Resilience
Utility skills:
High-tier Focused Mind 2
Mid-tier Earnestness 6
Mid-tier Sprinting 2
Mid-tier Spellsense 3
Mid-tier Notice 3
Low-tier Identify 9
Mid-tier Dodging Footwork 2
Mid-tier Enhanced Memory 7
Low-tier Lecturing 6
Low-tier Tumbling 6
Chapter 51
Clandestine Operations
Weeks passed. All the trainees finished their Blooding Patrol. No teams were wiped out, though one lost three out of five members when a stalker ambush drove them into a building which collapsed. The survivors were folded into the team which had lost their frontliner to a siegeboar.
Lessons continued, and Nathan learned more details about Gemore and its environs. They had a whole lesson on common enchantments – what you could get enchanted, and what you couldn’t. Apparently Gemore’s enchanters were of a high level, both because there was a lot of demand and a good supply of materials – and an abundance of ancient artifacts to learn from.
Now that he wasn’t as worried about being kidnapped in the streets, Nathan spent more time in the afternoons with Beatred and Poppy. The short orc was in the process of moving his shop next to Beatred’s, and Nathan got the sense that they had meals together daily, discussing the firearm project and trying out new designs for cartridges and chambers. He shared some meals with them and would have felt like a third wheel except that they spent much of the time poking and prodding him about technical problems with gunpowder, cartridge and firearm manufacture.
Nathan helped out as much as he could – but he’d already shared everything he’d read in various history books and Wikipedia articles. At this point, he was just helpful as another viewpoint on the problems, since the crafters couldn’t bounce ideas off the people they were used to relying on.
Despite some remaining issues, their reported progress was very promising. Poppy was making a good amount of reliable black powder, and together with Beatred had devised a device to quickly and safely pack the casings. She had also figured out rifling and built an effective trigger mechanism that dropped an enchanted hammer to spark the gunpowder through a thin disk of paper without requiring primer.
I am so glad I farmed all this work off to people who can actually make shit.
The first real surprise came when Nathan was called to celebrate them finalizing the cartridge design. When Nathan entered her workshop, Beatred proudly displayed a few of the assembled cartridges to him, ready to be loaded and fired. They were beefy – almost half an inch across – and clearly carried a large powder load.
Nathan blinked at the giant round of ammunition, then looked up at Poppy and Beatred. “Why is this so big?”
