Akhenamen stared at the strange gift he had obtained. It was an old and strange grimoire. Simply named [Empty Grimoire] [Artefact] [Unique]. That was already the second artefact that Akhenamen ended up obtaining.
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The first was Gale-Maker. But this new grimoire was, as its name implied, completely empty and seemingly didn’t allow him to learn any spells. He had been inspecting his grimoire for two hours, even giving it to “Sapphyr” to see if she knew what it was.
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She had no idea either, but she made it clear that some artifacts would only reveal their effects at a certain time; it was better to keep them out of the inventory to see if they reacted to anything.
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So now Akhenamen had built himself a swift and pretty rough-looking hostler for his grimoire to keep it out of his Inventory but out of his hands too. The sun was shining down on the trio who were enjoying small talk and snacking on some of the food they had bought for their travels.
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Each of them was a Transcendent, so they weren’t really worried about any ambush. Zenthia’s Coast seemed to be a mediterranean climate, hot, shining sun, blue waves crashing on sandy shores….
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Yet the fauna and the flora was obviously different, being a lot more tropical than it should be. For the first time, Akhenamen was truly watching Zenthia, taking the time to know this strange world.
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Watching two sea drakes dive down from a cliff alongside their mother, learning how to swim and hunt properly, and being smacked in the head by their mother’s tail when they tried to mess around when her back was turned.
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Tribes of kobolds settled on some beaches and apparently built catapults to try to launch themselves out into the sea. The Kobolds of this world seemed to be the scaly kind and to be actually a lot smarter than a certain counterpart of theirs.
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Yet Zenthia was also very dangerous, packs of strange four legged floating creatures, laying perfectly still on the water, their blue chitin hiding them completely until they sprung with immense speed and perfect silence to latch on to any unsuspecting prey.
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Scorpion’s tails sometimes sting prey passing next to one of their hiding places. Even a massive dragon-like turtle, big enough to be seen even from the shores, is shooting a powerful stream of water at an unknown adversary.
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Those were all kinds of frankly amazing and impressive sights for Akhenamen to see.
This also allowed Akhenamen to start his new personal quest that he had decided to call: Stalker. Because that would be literally what he would do.
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Using his brand new Fate Chosen's radar, which was, much to his disappointment, a simple map instead of what he had imagined, he could track the presence of every Fate Chosen the System wasn’t purposely hiding from him.
He had around fifteen small red spots around the map; in fact, one was at their destination: Megalora. The Sunken City. Even if the name was apparently misleading, according to both his companions.
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Whenever the night would come, they would stop and lay camp; they didn’t really need to, Sapphyr, least of all Sapphyr and Valencia, who apparently both had nyctalopie. Sapphyra because she was a literal cat goddess, and Valencia because her eyes did have the ability to see a sort of what Akhenamen would call heat vision from her Hydra bloodline.
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Akhenamen’s eyes were also powerful enough to not need much light at all, but it allowed the group to sit down, talk and even train together, mostly about Akhenamen sparring with Valencia using only his glaive or being introduced to Zenthia’s magic system by Sapphyra.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
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This had allowed him to learn quite a few things, in fact. As the conversation they were having right now did.
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“So… learning magic is decided at a person’s birth. It seems unfair that some would be born with magical talent and the ability to be as good physically as any other fighter.”
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“Well, the System agreed with you, so it changed the rules. Most mages receive huge debuffs to their physical stats as they level up. So no close combat for them.”
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“What about the Laws they master? Aren’t most Laws related to the elements and nature overall? Don’t they already learn that in their spells?”
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“No. A spell is just an equation. You don’t NEED to understand the core principles behind an equation to use it. You can just learn it and how to apply it without having to learn who, why and how it was made, right?”
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Akhenamen nodded.
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“It’s the same for spells. Of course, it’s better if you did learn all that and your mastery over a spell would skyrocket, but frankly, for almost every mage, it’s not worth it. Most magical duels aren’t won by one-trick ponies. It happens… but it's rare.”
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He stared at the glowing ball of pure magic summoned within his hand, the Mana Orb. A very simple spell belonging to no school of magic. Most mages used it as a base to learn Fireball, Ice Spheres and other oval/spherical shaped magic.
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But Akhenamen found it a pity to always include an element; mana was awfully pretty to stare at.
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“So… this seemed pretty easy to do.”
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“Of course it was, it’s the most basic spell, and you’re an Authority. Even if you never used magic before, you’ve comprehended Laws and Intents. A spell like that would take you seconds to master.”
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“What about Profane spells? What are those? How do I get some?”
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“Profane spells are frowned upon but not exactly forbidden; they tend to have… uh… bloody effects, we shall say. They are related to the bones, flesh and blood of living beings.”
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“As in?”
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“As in making your enemies' bodies explode from the inside, boiling their blood alive, shattering every bone in their body, to then use the shrapnel it leaves behind to tear it apart. Crush someone’s heart with your thoughts or even kill with a single word.”
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“Wow… that sounds like a bad guy’s magic.”
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Sapphyra laughed a bit, smiling as she crossed her arms under her bust. Recoiling back as if horrified by Akhenamen.
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“Oh no! Are you a bad guy? You’re gonna hurt me, aren’t you?!”
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“...”
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“Not even a laugh…?”
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“You ate my soul…”
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“T..that doesn’t count! I didn’t even know you were friends with a Singularity!”
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“So it would have been fine if I didn’t have a Singularity friend? You’re the bad woman. I will never present my daughter to you.”
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“Wait, you got a kid? Since when? I thought your robots didn’t have genitalia?”
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“We don’t. Doesn’t mean we can’t make children or adopt one. Yes, I do have a daughter. Her name is Syllena, and no, I will not tell you what she looks like because you will gloat.”
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“She took a Felinid’s shape, didn’t she? Gosh, she must be so adorable! Come on! Show me!”
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Akhenamen ended up accepting using some of his memories to project some images of Syllena. And Valencia quickly came herself to show off paintings of her own children, including quite a few of the current queen when she was a baby or child.
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This made Akhenamen think that he should start the production of cameras for all of Zenthia. It was a pity that parents couldn’t take proper photos of their children. Soon, it became a discussion between Akhenamen and Valencia on different tips and tricks related to raising a child.
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Leaving the Felinid goddess by herself, listening to the two.
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“What about you, Sapphyr? Don’t you have children?”
“No… let’s say my circumstances are a bit different.”
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Valencia nodded and didn’t press; some matters were private, and she had known Sapphyr for only a few days. She knew it took time to reveal private matters like that. Akhenamen didn’t ask either; he knew Sapphyra enough to know she wasn’t someone to shy away from something, if she didn’t wanna talk about something, then she truly didn’t want to.
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Still, he couldn’t help but wanna theorize.
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“Maybe she’s infertile? That would explain why she decided to master Laws and Intents related to the Moon. Try to find a solution?”
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But if she were a Dominion, he genuinely doubted she was infertile. It had to be something else.
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“Damn it… Now I’m genuinely curious.”
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Akhenamen stood up, gently held Sapphyra’s shoulder to show his support and followed behind Valencia, who had left to go and pick up a spear; it was their nightly spar after all.
Sapphyra, who stayed around the fire, summoned a simple spell, two little cats made of water playing with each other around the fire, manipulated by Sapphyra’s fingers.
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As she stared at the fire silently, she sighed, mouthing under her breath.
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“Lucky bitch…”
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