Chapter 163: Syphon_Millennial Mage

Chapter 163: Syphon

 T frowned, forcing her thoughts in order against the subtle push from outside.

 I need a n. How should I handle this? The part of her that wasnt being influenced to go eat in the tavern wanted to burn the thing down, but that seemed unwise. First, find a way to remove the influence. Then, go tell Lyn. Then, go tell the Archons.

 That was a solid n. But how do I do the first?

 The other her had noticed the influence, and she only had ess to the same senses as T, herself.

 What am I missing?

 She delved through herself with her mage-sight and as she concentrated on her mind, she was able to see ripples of magic slowly moving through it.

 A weaker, but more precise one acting internally seemed to being from the inscriptions at the base of her neck and in her right breast. But then, there were other onesing from outside. They were broad, undirected, and strong.

 There you are. But how could she counteract them?

 Im resisting somehow, at least a bit. Probably my magical weight? That made sense. That also exins why I wasnt really affected during my first time passing by. I still had my iron salve at that point. She sighed. I wish Id known to keep it on. But no, that wasnt right. She hadnt been affected as strongly, but shed still been affected.

 So, magical weight. She bit her lip in thought, moving to the side of the street and pulling back from the tavern a bit.

 Can I shift my magical weight? It made some sense. It would likely leave the rest of her vulnerable to direct magical maniption, but she should be able protect her mind more fully.

 With a great effort of will, she forcefully guided her power up into her head. She didnt form it into any shape, she just packed it in there.

 There. As an Immaterial Guide, it wasnt a difficult process. And it seemed to have the desired effect.

 The external influence now felt more like a small hammer tapping on a rock than a finger poking a waterskin.

 Alright, now to go to Lyn and

 Ts eyes widened in horror as the rhythm of magical taps changed, speeding up and bing more focused on her.

 Still, she held her concentration and resisted with little difficulty.

 Hah, you cant ovee me that easily.

 It was then that two great eyes opened, high up on the walls of the tavern. They looked around, searching, and stopped to stare directly at her.

 Oh That wasnt part of the n.

 She quickly dove into her garments and sent power through the path that would reactivate the defensive magics. I really should have done that before leaving Hollys, or at the very least, made that step one of my n.

 Flow was in her hand in the form of a ive. All the better to stab you with, my dear. She let out a little giggle, more from nervousness than humor.

 Terrys head jerked up, and he looked around in the closest thing to a panic that shed ever seen him express. With a flicker of power, he was gone.

 She could sense him staying close by, within safe range for his cor, but he was hidden. Probably for the best.

 Now, what in zeme should she do, now?

 Crush it? No, there were people inside. Crushing the building would kill them all.

 Do I juststart hacking at the faade? What would that even do?

 Only one way to find out, I suppose. She hesitated. Wait. It hasnt attacked. Its just staring at me.

 She had a realization. If it attacks, it will likely be detectable to the citys defenses, or at least the Archons.

 She smiled, slowing moving down the street towards her home, keeping her eyes and weapon oriented on the syphon.

 Is it going to let me go? That didnt seem like its best option Was it? What is it thinking? What is it doing?

 She tore her gaze away from the monstrous eyes still staring straight at her. She looked through the windows and saw the forms inside beginning to slump. As she thought about it, she realized that the noiseing from inside had died down.

 Oh, rust me. Its draining them dry in ast grab for power. She no longer had a choice. People could be dying. She couldnt go for help and leave them to their fate.

 T growled and charged.

 As she came close, the front porch tore itself free with the audible snap, crackle, pop of wood breaking and fasteners pulling free. The newly ambtory limb whipped out, mming into her faster than she could dodge.

 Even though she got Flow in the way in time, mirroring her mass into the weapon, she was still lifted free of the ground and thrown to arc through the air before mming into the cobbled street.

 Shended in a tumbling roll further down the way, on the opposite side of the tavern from her home.

 Nothing was broken, but she could feel her scripts pulling more than their base rate of power. Strained but not ovee. She could work with that.

 She hopped to her feet and threw Flow with all her might, letting the weapon reshape into a sword so that it would be a spinning wheel of death as it approached.

 A gutter detached to p at the iing weapon.

 Flow sheared through the adornment-turned-limb but was still knocked aside. It would have missed the main body of the house, so T pulled her weapon back to her hand.

 They were making a LOT of noise, and people wereing out of their homes to stare in bemusement at what was happening.

 Good, someone will go for help.

 Incredibly, most simply looked at her with confusion, shook their heads and went back inside. T could feel the power radiating through the air, knocking at her mind, trying to ovee her cobbled together mental defense.

 In the doorway of the house closest to T, an olderdy turned to her and yelled. Whats wrong with you? People are trying to sleep. Those who drink too much should just go home. She then huffed and mmed the door.

 T stared after her for an instant of bewilderment. Dont let it distract you, T. Its still influencing their minds, but its thrown subtly out the window.

 Further down the street, T saw Lyn staring at her in obvious confusion.

 LYN! The tavern is attacking people.

 Lyn cocked her head. What are you talking about?

 Please! Go for the guard, even if just to arrest me. Attack the tavern if you can.

 Lyn gave her a long look, then shook her head. If I go to jail for this, youre paying bail, and you are paying to get me reinscribed.

 She lifted her hand, and T saw Lyn use battle magic for the first time.

 Brilliant golden inscriptions zed to life across the womans body, burning away in an instant of glory as she spoke a single word. Crumble.

 A spell with greater weight than two of Ts crush enactments tore down the street, and T witnessed the Conceptual magic in the air splinter and crumble.

 Lyns eyes widened now that she could seemingly suddenly see the tavern as it truly was.

 Her spell-working tore into the gigantic creature, and its material began to shred, revealing the twisted, disguised flesh that reallyposed the seemingly mundane establishment.

 Unfortunately, Lyncked the power to dispatch such a monster.

 Even so, its pained roar shook the surrounding city, causing both Lyn and T to stumble, and the beings aura was unleashed, fully visible to T for the first time.

 Blue filled Ts vision.

 Oh rust. Oh, rust! Why had she been able to resist it? Its power was defuse, and it was trying to remain undetected. That was gone, now.

 She felt something strike out at her mind, and frantically jerked her magical weight to the side. Somehow, that let the attack nce off, if only for a moment. In the distance, Lyn crumpled.

 Her mind was spinning. Too much was going on. Ive got to get to Lyn. I have to-

 -T-

 -That is really distractWHAT THE RUST IS THAT!?!?!-

 T began tough. At least were in agreement.

 -KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!-

 I dont have fire.

 -we should reconsider that. Alchemists fire is a good option to have at hand. Please dont die. I have work to do.-

 A staggering blow hammered against her mind, and Ts vision fuzzed. She barely held her magic in ce, focused around her mind.

 She thought she could hear a small whimpering from the back of her mind. Other me probably has the right idea

 Her vision returned asnces of fire and spikes of lightning began to rain from the sky. The city defenses had detected the threat and began the purge. As the first attacksnded, several cloaked figures seemed to materialize out of nowhere on the street in front of the monster-building.

 With waves of power in the form of various spell-workings, human bodies were pulled from the increasingly unrecognizable tavern, and once they were clear, the fight truly began.

 Some of the new arrivals were establishing a perimeter, erecting defensive and dampening shields to protect the surroundings.

 An Archon whose aura was utterly undetectable to T pointed at the syphon. A beam of pure light extended from the finger and as the Archon moved their finger in a random zig-zag, the beam sliced through the creature effortlessly.

 T saw another Archon on the other side absorbing the beam of light in a cloud of darkness so it wouldnt continue into the city beyond.

 The syphon didnt go down so easily, however, its body pulling together in new, mind bending shapes as it healed from every wound it received.

 Itshed out with body and mind.

 T staggered under another mental attack, but it was wide-area this time, and so it didnt cripple her even for a moment.

 Several of the other Archons, who were much closer, stumbled, one even going to a knee before recovering.

 After that initialrgely ineffective attack, the syphon mostly used fleshy tentacles to p and m anything it could reach.

 The Archons who were closest engaged the iling limbs as best as they could, but it was obvious that some were more skilled than others.

 A few in the group appeared to be healers, and they were tending to the humans who had been pulled out of the false-tavern.

 T ran over to them as they seemed like the least likely to be hurt if she distracted them. Is there anything I can do?

 A woman nced at T. You helped draw it out of hiding?

 Yes, Mistress.

 Then, youve done enough. Draw back so you dont get crushed in the crossfire. We know what were about. After a moment, she continued. Dont go too far. Well want to talk with you once the creature is dispatched.

 T nodded and moved past on the far side of the thoroughfare, skirting behind a shield Mage who was simply protecting the houses across the street from the raging beast.

 Once she was in the clear, T ran towards Lyn who was sitting up on the street holding her head, clearly in pain and just as clearly exhausted.

 T sat down next to her friend. Are you ok?

 The beast screeched, but it was dampened, the sound barely reaching them just a few dozen yards away.

 Lyn nodded tiredly. Ive not used that working very often.

 T snorted augh. What was that, anyway?

 My defense ofst resort, my foundational understanding made manifest.

 Oh?

 Words are power.

 Rust. Thats pretty cool. T chuckled.

 Lyn grinned. Yeah. Too bad its single cast. She sighed, leaning back to enjoy the show. I should be able to support a multi-cast variant when I reach a higher tier of advancement, but well have to see.

 When? Not if? T smiled mischievously at her friend.

 Lyn rolled her eyes. Yes, when. Im over the biggest hurdle. Basically, everything else just takes time, and Ill have that in gold. Im not going to stop now.

 T bumped her friends shoulder with her own. Good.

 Together they settled in to watch the show, and a show it was. The citys defenses were relentless, but they werent designed for this level of threat. Thus, they were only an aid to the true heroes of the moment. The Archons disyed a wide variety of abilities from earth rising up to crush parts of the enemy to the light beam that T had seen earlier.

 One Archon apparently favored fire, and used it liberally.

 There were a mix of other workings as well, but from where they sat, it all distilled down to a beautiful lightshow, punctuated by increasingly desperate, rage-filled roars and screeches.

 It took nearly an hour, and a truly staggering amount of power, but the Archons wore down the beast, cutting it apart, until it could no longer heal.

 T had watched as its aura slowly moved down the spectrum. When the aura had faded from red entirely, she knew that the fight was done.

 Less than a minuteter, a final, mournful cry escaped the mound of flesh, and it shifted for thest time, settling into a dead, bloody lump of used-to-be-creature.

 Lyn shook her head in wonder. Imagine: A Revered getting into the city. That shouldnt be possible. She barked a shortugh. And no one died! It was contained and destroyed.

 Yeah T frowned. It shouldnt have gotten in at all, but I doubt it was that powerful when it arrived. Its probably been gorging itself on power for weeks.

 True enough. Lyn shuddered, some of her good mood fading away. Ive gone to that tavern, T. I liked the food and ale. I drank so much I missed work the next day She shivered again, all mirth gone. I fed it

 T wrapped an arm around her friend. Youre okay now. Its gone.

 Lyn leaned into Ts embrace. I feel disgusting, vited.

 Anything I can do?

 Food. I want food, prepared by a human, while I watch. No crazy magical creature drawing me in with inhuman delights.

 T smiled at the attempted humor. I can do that. Lets find somewhere thats open. But we should check in with them first. The healer I talked to said theyd likely like to speak to us, now that its over.

 As they stood together, they garnered attention and one of the Archons came their way. You two. You fought the beast?

 They hesitated, then nodded.

 Tell me what happened, please.

 T shrugged and recounted what had led up to the fight, though she left out any mention of voices in her head.

 Clever use of your magical weight. Its a good skill to practice, if youre able, and youve a leg up as an Immaterial Guide.

 Next, Lyn filled in her side, short though it was, and the man nodded his acknowledgement.

 Thank you, both, for your assistance. He handed a token to Lyn. That will allow an Inscriptionist to charge us and cover the cost for reinscribing. He grinned. That was some spell. It lit up our detection grid like the breath of a god. I cant wait to see what youre capable of in a few centuries.

 Tughed, patting Lyn on the back, the other woman coloring at thepliment. Thank you, Master.

 He then turned to T. Mage protector, right? Blood Archon T?

 She blinked at him, processing the fact that he knew her name. She was instantly suspicious. Ummm Yes? How do you know who I am?

 He gave a half smile. We were briefed on your encounters and discovery. We were also asked to watch out for you, when possible. Im d you survived even such a small engagement with that thing.

 Sheughed nervously. Yeah Well, it does make sense that the Mages watching over the city would have been told about mind altering creatures within their walls. It also made sense that theyd be told who the source of the information was.

 You helped y it, so youre entitled to part of the rewards. Your friends pay is the reinscribing, and I imagine thats worth more than youll get, but here. He handed her a different token. Come to the Archonspound any time after tomorrow morning and turn that in for your portion of the calcted pay. He bowed and was about to turn away when he paused, sighed, and looked back to T. I was also instructed to inform you, if our paths ever crossed, that the city lord would still happily ept you into our ranks. He gestured at the group who had responded to this internal threat. I can promise its not a boring job.

 This time, he got a half-dozen feet away before he paused and turned back. In case it wasnt obvious, wed prefer you not spread information about this incident. If you choose to, or if you must, talk all you want, but it would be a kindness if you didnt. He bowed again. Good night, Mistresses.

 Without another word, he departed.

 Lyn and T shared a look, each holding back a smile and some stress-inducedughter.

 The older woman sighed, still clearly fighting down a smile. Food?

 Food!

 Terry flickered into being on Ts shoulder.

 There you are. I was worried about you. You vanished right as that thing showed its true form.

 Terry squawked at her irritably and headbutted her cheek.

 Im fine. She tried to wave the terror bird off.

 He squawked again, this time cking his beak near her nose.

 Alright. Im sorry. I didnt mean to worry you. She tossed him a bit of jerky and then scratched the back of his head and down his neck.

 He harrumphed but seemed to ept her apology as he curled up on her shoulder and tucked his head in to rest.

 Lyn shook her head, clearly barely holding backughter. Come on. Lets find something to eat.

 T nodded emphatically. Yes. Yes, please.

MillionNovel

Chapter 163: Syphon